He became silent for a moment, passed his hands over his eyes, and began:—
“To be understood clearly, the whole must be told from the beginning. It must be told how and why I married, and what I was before my marriage. First, I will tell you who I am. The son of a rich gentleman of the steppes, an old marshal of the nobility, I was a University pupil, a graduate of the law school. I married in my thirtieth year. But before talking to you of my marriage, I must tell you how I lived formerly2, and what ideas I had of conjugal3 life. I led the life of so many other so-called respectable people,— that is, in debauchery. And like the majority, while leading the life of a debauche, I was convinced that I was a man of irreproachable4 morality.
“The idea that I had of my morality arose from the fact that in my family there was no knowledge of those special debaucheries, so common in the surroundings of land-owners, and also from the fact that my father and my mother did not deceive each other. In consequence of this, I had built from childhood a dream of high and poetical5 conjugal life. My wife was to be perfection itself, our mutual6 love was to be incomparable, the purity of our conjugal life stainless7. I thought thus, and all the time I marvelled8 at the nobility of my projects.
“At the same time, I passed ten years of my adult life without hurrying toward marriage, and I led what I called the well-regulated and reasonable life of a bachelor. I was proud of it before my friends, and before all men of my age who abandoned themselves to all sorts of special refinements9. I was not a seducer10, I had no unnatural11 tastes, I did not make debauchery the principal object of my life; but I found pleasure within the limits of society’s rules, and innocently believed myself a profoundly moral being. The women with whom I had relations did not belong to me alone, and I asked of them nothing but the pleasure of the moment.
“In all this I saw nothing abnormal. On the contrary, from the fact that I did not engage my heart, but paid in cash, I supposed that I was honest. I avoided those women who, by attaching themselves to me, or presenting me with a child, could bind12 my future. Moreover, perhaps there may have been children or attachments13; but I so arranged matters that I could not become aware of them.
“And living thus, I considered myself a perfectly14 honest man. I did not understand that debauchery does not consist simply in physical acts, that no matter what physical ignominy does not yet constitute debauchery, and that real debauchery consists in freedom from the moral bonds toward a woman with whom one enters into carnal relations, and I regarded THIS FREEDOM as a merit. I remember that I once tortured myself exceedingly for having forgotten to pay a woman who probably had given herself to me through love. I only became tranquil15 again when, having sent her the money, I had thus shown her that I did not consider myself as in any way bound to her. Oh, do not shake your head as if you were in agreement with me (he cried suddenly with vehemence). I know these tricks. All of you, and you especially, if you are not a rare exception, have the same ideas that I had then. If you are in agreement with me, it is now only. Formerly you did not think so. No more did I; and, if I had been told what I have just told you, that which has happened would not have happened. However, it is all the same. Excuse me (he continued): the truth is that it is frightful, frightful, frightful, this abyss of errors and debaucheries in which we live face to face with the real question of the rights of woman.” . . .
“What do you mean by the ‘real’ question of the rights of woman?”
“The question of the nature of this special being, organized otherwise than man, and how this being and man ought to view the wife . . . .
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1 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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2 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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3 conjugal | |
adj.婚姻的,婚姻性的 | |
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4 irreproachable | |
adj.不可指责的,无过失的 | |
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5 poetical | |
adj.似诗人的;诗一般的;韵文的;富有诗意的 | |
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6 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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7 stainless | |
adj.无瑕疵的,不锈的 | |
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8 marvelled | |
v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9 refinements | |
n.(生活)风雅;精炼( refinement的名词复数 );改良品;细微的改良;优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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10 seducer | |
n.诱惑者,骗子,玩弄女性的人 | |
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11 unnatural | |
adj.不自然的;反常的 | |
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12 bind | |
vt.捆,包扎;装订;约束;使凝固;vi.变硬 | |
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13 attachments | |
n.(用电子邮件发送的)附件( attachment的名词复数 );附着;连接;附属物 | |
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14 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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15 tranquil | |
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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