"Oh! Monsieur," I responded, weeping, "you would deprive an unfortunate of her fondest hope were you to wither1 in her heart this religion which is her whole comfort. Firmly attached to its teachings, absolutely convinced that all the blows leveled against it are nothing but libertinage's effects and the passions', am I to sacrifice, to blasphemies2, to sophistries3 horrible to me, my heart's sweetest sustenance4 ?"
I added a thousand other arguments to this one, they merely caused the Count to laugh, and his captious5 principles, nourished by a more male eloquence6, supported by readings and studies I, happily, had never performed, daily attacked my own principles, without shaking them. Madame de Bressac, that woman filled with piety7 and virtue8, was not unaware9 her nephew justified10 his wild behavior with every one of the day's paradoxes11; she too often shuddered12 upon hearing them; and as she condescended13 to attribute somewhat more good sense to me than to her other women, she would sometimes take me aside and speak of her chagrin14.
Meanwhile, her nephew, champing at the bit, had reached the point where he no longer bothered to hide his malign15 intentions; not only had he surrounded his aunt with all of that dangerous canaille which served his pleasures, but he had even carried boldness so far as to declare to her, in my presence, that were she to take it into her head to frustrate16 his appetite, he would convince her of their charm by practicing them before her very eyes.
I trembled; I beheld17 this conduct with horror. I strove to rationalize my reactions by attributing their origin to personal motives18, for I wished to stifle19 the unhappy passion which burned in my soul; but is love an illness to be cured? All I endeavored to oppose to it merely fanned its flames, and the perfidious20 Count never appeared more lovable to me than when I had assembled before me everything which ought to have induced me to hate him.
I had remained four years in this household unrelentingly persecuted21 by the same sorrows, forever consoled by the same sweetnesses, when this abominable22 man, finally believing himself sure of me, dared disclose his infamous23 schemes. We were in the country at the time, I alone attended upon the Marquise, her first maid-in-waiting had obtained leave to remain in Paris through the summer to look after some of her husband's business. One evening shortly after I had retired24, and as I was taking some air upon the balcony of my room, being unable to bring myself to go to bed because of the extreme heat, I suddenly heard the Count knock; he wished to have a word or two with me. Alas25! the moments that cruel author of my ills accorded me of his presence were too precious for me to dare refuse him one; he enters, carefully closes the door and flings himself into an armchair.
"Listen to me, Therese," and there is a note of embarrassment26 in his voice, "I have things of the greatest importance to say to you; swear to me you will never reveal any of them."
"Monsieur," I reply, "do you think me capable of abusing your confidence?"
"You have no idea what you would be risking - were you to prove to me I had made a mistake in trusting you!"
"The most frightful27 of all my woes28 should be to lose your trust, I have no need of greater menaces...."
"Ah then, Therese, I have condemned29 my aunt to die . . . and it is your hand I must employ."
"My hand!" I cried, recoiling30 in fright, "have you been able, Monsieur, to conceive such projects?... no, dispose of my life if you must, but imagine not you will ever obtain from me the horror you propose."
"Hear me, Therese," says the Count, reasoning with me calmly, "I indeed foresaw your distaste for the idea but, as you have wit and verve, I flattered myself with the belief I could vanquish31 your feelings... could prove to you that this crime, which seems to you of such enormity, is, at bottom, a very banal32 affair.
"Two misdeeds present themselves, Therese, to your not very philosophic33 scrutiny34: the destruction of a creature bearing a resemblance to us, and the evil with which this destruction is augmented35 when the said creature is one of our near kinsmen36. With regard to the crime of destroying one's fellow, be persuaded, dear girl, it is purely37 hallucinatory; man has not been accorded the power to destroy; he has at best the capacity to alter forms, but lacks that required to annihilate38 them: well, every form is of equal worth in Nature's view; nothing is lost in the immense melting pot where variations are wrought39: all the material masses which fall into it spring incessantly40 forth41 in other shapes, and whatsoever42 be our interventions43 in this process, not one of them, needless to say, outrages44 her, not one is capable of offending her.
Our depredations45 revive her power; they stimulate46 her energy, but not one attenuates47 her; she is neither impeded48 nor thwarted49 by any.... Why! what difference does it make to her creative hand if this mass of flesh today wearing the conformation of a bipedal individual is reproduced tomorrow in the guise50 of a handful of centipedes? Dare one say that the construction of this two-legged animal costs her any more than that of an earthworm, and that she should take a greater interest in the one than in the other? If then the degree of attachment51, or rather of indifference52, is the same, what can it be. to her if, by one man's sword, another man is transspeciated into a fly or a blade of grass? When they will have convinced me of the sublimity53 of our species, when they will have demonstrated to me that it is really so important to Nature, that her laws are necessarily violated by this transmutation, then I will be able to believe that murder is a crime; but when the most thoughtful and sober study has proven to me that everything that vegetates54 upon this globe is of equal value in her eyes, I shall never concede that the alteration55 of one of these creatures into a thousand others can in any sense upset her intentions or sort ill with her desires. I say to myself: all men, all animals, all plants growing, feeding, destroying and reproducing themselves by the same means, never undergoing a real death, but a simple variation in what modifies them; all, I say, appearing today in one form and several years or hours later in another, all may, at the will of the being who wishes to move them, change a thousand thousand times in a single day, without one of Nature's directives being affected56 for one instant what do I say? without this transmuter57 having done anything but good, since, by dismantling58 the individuals whose basic components59 again become necessary to Nature, he does naught60 by this action, improperly61 qualified62 as criminal, but render her the creative energy of which she is necessarily deprived by him who, through brutish indifference, dares not undertake any shuffling63, as it were, of the deck.... O Therese, it is man's pride alone erects64 murder as a crime.
This vain creature, imagining himself the most sublime65 of the globe's inhabitants, its most essential, takes his departure from this false principle in order to affirm that the deed which results in his undoing66 can be nothing but an infamy67; but his vanity, his lunacy alter the laws of Nature not one jot68; no person exists who in the depths of his heart does not feel the most vehement69 desire to be rid of those by whom he is hampered70, troubled, or whose death may be of some advantage to him; and do you suppose,Therese, that the difference between this desire and its effect is very great? Now, if these impressions come to us from Nature, can it be presumed they irritate her? Would she inspire in us what would cause her downfall? Ah, be at ease, dear girl, we experience nothing that does not serve her; all the impulses she puts in us are the agents of her decrees; man's passions are but the means she employs to attain71 her ends.
If she stands in need of more individuals, she inspires lust72 in us and behold73! there are creations; when destructions become necessary to her, she inserts vengeance74, avarice75, lechery76, ambition into our hearts and lo! you have murders; but she has not ceased to labor77 in her own behalf, and whatever we do, there can be no question of it, we are the unthinking instruments of her caprices.
"Ah, no, Therese, no! Nature does not leave in our hands the possibility of committing crimes which would conflict with her economy; has it ever been known to happen that the weakest were able to offend the mightiest78? What are we in comparison to her? Can she, when she created us, have placed in us what would be capable of hurting her? Can that idiotic79 supposition consort80 with the sublime and sure manner in which we see her attain her ends? Ah! were murder not one of the human actions which best fulfilled her intentions, would she permit the doing of murder? May to imitate then be to injure her? Can she be incensed81 to see man do to his brethren what she herself does to him every day? Since it is proven that she cannot reproduce without destructions, is it not to act in harmony with her wishes to multiply them unceasingly?
The man who moves in this direction, who plunges82 ahead with all possible zeal84, will incontestably be the one who serves her best, since it will be he who most cooperates with the schemes she manifests constantly. The primary and most beautiful of Nature's qualities is motion, which agitates85 her at all times, but this motion is simply a perpetual consequence of crimes, she conserves86 it by means of crimes only; the person who most nearly resembles her, and therefore the most perfect being, necessarily will be the one whose most active agitation87 will become the cause of many crimes; whereas, I repeat, the inactive or indolent person, that is to say, the virtuous88 person, must be in her eyes - how may there be any doubt of it? the least perfect since he tends only to apathy89, to lethargy, to that inactivity which would immediately plunge83 everything back into chaos90 were his star to be in the ascendant. Equilibrium91 must be preserved; it can only be preserved by crimes; therefore, crimes serve Nature; if they serve her, if she demands them, if she desires them, can they offend her? And who else can be offended if she is not ?
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1
wither
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| vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡 | |
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blasphemies
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| n.对上帝的亵渎，亵渎的言词[行为]( blasphemy的名词复数 )；侮慢的言词（或行为） | |
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sophistries
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| n.诡辩术( sophistry的名词复数 )；（一次）诡辩 | |
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sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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captious
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| adj.难讨好的，吹毛求疵的 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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paradoxes
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| n.似非而是的隽语，看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 )；用于语言文学中的上述隽语；有矛盾特点的人[事物，情况] | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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malign
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| adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑 | |
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frustrate
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| v.使失望；使沮丧；使厌烦 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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stifle
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| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
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perfidious
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| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
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persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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woes
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| 困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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recoiling
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| v.畏缩( recoil的现在分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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vanquish
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| v.征服，战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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banal
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| adj.陈腐的，平庸的 | |
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philosophic
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| adj.哲学的，贤明的 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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kinsmen
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| n.家属，亲属( kinsman的名词复数 ) | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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annihilate
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| v.使无效；毁灭；取消 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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interventions
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| n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 ) | |
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outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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depredations
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| n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 ) | |
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stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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attenuates
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| v.（使）变细( attenuate的第三人称单数 )；（使）变薄；（使）变小；减弱 | |
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impeded
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| 阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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sublimity
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| 崇高，庄严，气质高尚 | |
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vegetates
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| v.过单调呆板的生活( vegetate的第三人称单数 )；植物似地生长；（瘤、疣等）长大 | |
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alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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transmuter
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| n.炼金师 | |
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dismantling
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| （枪支）分解 | |
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components
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| （机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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improperly
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| 不正确地，不适当地 | |
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qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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erects
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| v.使直立，竖起( erect的第三人称单数 )；建立 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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jot
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| n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下 | |
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vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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lechery
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| n.好色；淫荡 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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agitates
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| 搅动( agitate的第三人称单数 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论 | |
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conserves
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| n.（含有大块或整块水果的）果酱，蜜饯( conserve的名词复数 )v.保护，保藏，保存( conserve的第三人称单数 ) | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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