WIME ❚ NK走跳世界

Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

凱特‧蕭邦《一個小時的故事》

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

知道馬萊德太太受心臟問題折磨，所以盡可能小心地讓她知道關於她丈夫的死訊。

It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.

她的姊姊喬瑟芬告訴她，支離破碎的句子半隱瞞地透露著模糊的暗示。她丈夫的朋友理查茲也在那，就在她旁邊。是他在報社時收到關於鐵路意外的消息，死亡名單上印著布蘭特利‧馬萊德的名字。他只透過電報再次確認了消息的正確性，便急忙在任何不小心、不溫柔的朋友魯莽地說出這傷心的消息之前趕到。

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.

她並不像許多也聽到這種消息的女人一樣，麻木地無法接受。她立刻在她姊姊的臂膀中，放任自己嚎啕大哭。當悲痛的暴風雨過後，她獨自走進房間，不讓任何人跟著她。

There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.

在那兒擺著一張寬敞又舒適的沙發，面對著敞開的窗戶。她陷進沙發，身體的疲倦困擾著她，像要碰觸到她的靈魂似的，使她備感壓迫。

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

她在那敞開的方形裡，看到她的房子之前，先發現樹頂上充滿了興奮的新春生命。空氣中充斥著雨的美味氣息，下頭的街上有小販在叫賣著商品。一首模糊的歌微弱地傳到她耳裡，還有數不清的麻雀在屋簷間啁啾。

There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

面朝窗戶的西邊，被雲朵分成許多小塊的藍天一會兒出現在這，一會兒出現在那，相遇的雲朵一片一片地堆疊上去。

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

她坐著，頭仰靠在椅墊上，一動也不動。除非一陣嗚噎浮上喉嚨使她顫抖，就像個哭著睡著的孩子，仍舊在夢裡啜泣著。

She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

她很年輕，有著白皙又沉著的臉龐，上頭的線條訴說著壓抑，甚至有一股力量。但現在，雙眸裡的昏暗，固定在遠方的其中一片藍天。投射在眼中的並非倒影，確切的說，是懸浮著的理智思維。

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

有東西向她襲來，她也等著，帶著恐懼地等著。那是什麼？她不知道；它太微妙、太難以捉摸。但她感覺的到，在天空蔓延開來，隨著填滿空氣的聲響、氣味、顏色伸向她。

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been.

現在她的胸口升起，感覺激動。她開始意識到這東西不停靠近，控制著她。她努力地靠著意志將它擊回–就像她那雙又白又纖細的手一樣無力。

When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

她放棄，一個字悄悄地逃出微張的嘴唇。她一遍又一遍得低聲說著：「自由，自由，自由！」空洞又惶恐的眼神也隨著話語投射在雙眸。它們明亮又渴望。她的脈搏快速跳動，暖暖的血液奔馳著，放鬆著她身體的每一吋。

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.

她沒有停下來去想，抓著她的是不是狂喜，而一個清楚又興奮的感覺讓她拋開這不重要的猜測。

She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

她知道，當她再次看到那雙和善、溫柔的雙手交疊著死亡時，她會哭泣；那張從不會對她保留愛意的臉龐，變得僵硬、鐵灰、死沉。但她看到了，越過那苦澀的時刻，往後那些歲月將會完全屬於她自己。接著，她張開雙臂，迎接它們。

There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

接下來的歲月將不再為誰而活；她將為自己而活。不會再有權威的期許使她對盲目的堅持低頭，說什麼男人和女人相信他們有權利把私人的願望強加於他人。無論本意好壞，這樣的意圖讓此舉看起來不亞於犯罪，在那短暫時刻的啟發，她是如此看待它。

And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

她曾經愛過他–有時候，更多時候她並不愛。有什麼關係！愛情這個未知的謎團，面對這種她突然意識到自己擁有自我，就像是對她的存在最強烈的衝擊，還有什麼意義呢！

"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.

「自由！身體和靈魂自由！」她不停呢喃。

Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg, open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you doing Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."

喬瑟芬正跪坐在緊閉的門前，對著鑰匙孔懇求著。「露易絲，開門！我求你了，開門–你會讓自己生病的。你在做什麼，露易絲？看在老天的份上開門吧。」

"Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

「走開，我才沒有讓自己生病。」不會的；她正在那扇敞開的窗戶前，飲用著生命的甘霖。

Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

她的幻想正狂放地向著未來的日子奔去。春天、夏天、每一天都為她所有，她迅速地祈禱長壽。對於生命的長久感到害怕，不過才昨天的事。

She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.

在姊姊的強求下，她起身開了門，她眼裡散發了炙熱的勝利，沒有意識到自己看起來就像個勝利女神。她攙著姊姊的腰，一起下樓，理查茲站在下面等著他們。

Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

有人用鑰匙打開了門，進屋的是布蘭特利‧馬萊德，有些風塵僕僕，鎮靜地拿著手提包和雨傘。他離事故地點很遠，甚至不知道發生了意外。他對喬瑟芬的尖叫和理查茲迅速地擋住他妻子的視線感到吃驚。

But Richards was too late.

但理查茲太遲了。

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease-- of joy that kills.

醫生到時，他們說她死於心臟病–狂喜致死。