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The girl was one of those pretty and charming young creatures who sometimes are born, as if by a slip of fate, into a family of clerks.
世上的漂亮动人的女子，每每像是由于命运的差错似地，出生在一个小职员的家庭；我们现在要说的这一个正是这样。
She had no dowry, no expectations, no way of being known, understood, loved, married by any rich and distinguished man; so she let herself be married to a little clerk of the Ministry of Public Instruction.
她没有陪嫁的资产，没有希望，没有任何方法使得一个既有钱又有地位的人认识她，了解她，爱她，娶她；到末了，她将将就就和教育部的一个小科员结了婚。
She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was unhappy as if she had really fallen from a higher station; since with women there is neither caste nor rank, for beauty, grace and charm take the place of family and birth.
不能够讲求装饰，她是朴素的，但是不幸得像是一个降了等级的女人；因为妇女们本没有阶级，没有门第之分，她们的美，她们的丰韵和她们的诱惑力就是供她们做出身和家世之用的。
Natural ingenuity, instinct for what is elegant, a supple mind are their sole hierarchy, and often make of women of the people the equals of the very greatest ladies.
她们天生的机警，出众的本能，柔顺的心灵，构成了她们唯一的等级，而且可以把民间的女子提得和最高的贵妇一样高。
Mathilde suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born to enjoy all delicacies and all luxuries. She was distressed at the poverty of her dwelling, at the bareness of the walls, at the shabby chairs, the ugliness of the curtains.
玛蒂尔蒂觉得自己本是为了一切精美的和一切豪华的事物而生的，因此不住地感到痛苦。由于自己的房屋寒酸，墙壁粗糙，家具陈旧，衣料庸俗，她非常难过。
All those things, of which another woman of her rank would never even have been conscious, tortured her and made her angry. The sight of the little Breton peasant who did her humble housework aroused in her despairing regrets and bewildering dreams.
这一切，在另一个和她同等的妇人心上，也许是不会注意的，然而她却因此伤心，又因此懊恼，那个替她照料琐碎家务的布列塔尼省的小女佣人的样子，使她产生了种种忧苦的遗憾和胡思乱想。
She thought of silent antechambers hung with Oriental tapestry, illumined by tall bronze candelabra, and of two great footmen in knee breeches who sleep in the big armchairs, made drowsy by the oppressive heat of the stove.
她梦想着那些静悄悄的接待室，如何蒙着东方的帏幕，如何点着青铜的高脚烛台，如何派着两个身穿短裤子的高个儿侍应生听候指使，而热烘烘的空气暖炉使得两个侍应生都在大型的圈椅上打盹。
She thought of long reception halls hung with ancient silk, of the dainty cabinets containing priceless curiosities and of the little coquettish perfumed reception rooms made for chatting at five o'clock with intimate friends, with men famous and sought after, whom all women envy and whose attention they all desire.
她梦想那些披着古代壁衣的大客厅，那些摆着无从估价的瓷瓶的精美家具；她梦想那些精致而且芬芳的小客厅，自己到了午后五点光景，就可以和亲切的朋友在那儿闲谈，和那些被所有女人羡慕的并且渴望的一众知名男子在那儿闲谈。
When she sat down to dinner, before the round table covered with a tablecloth in use three days, opposite her husband, who uncovered the soup tureen and declared with a delighted air, "Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that," she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry that peopled the walls with ancient personages and with strange birds flying in the midst of a fairy forest; and she thought of delicious dishes served on marvellous plates and of the whispered gallantries to which you listen with a sphinxlike smile while you are eating the pink meat of a trout or the wings of a quail.
然而事实上，她每天吃晚饭的时候，就在那张小圆桌跟前和她的丈夫面对面坐下了，桌上盖的白布要三天才换一回，丈夫把那只汤碗的盖子一揭开，就用一种高兴的神情说道：“哈！好汤！世上没有比它更好的……”她又梦想那些丰盛精美的筵席了，梦想那些光辉灿烂的银器皿，梦想那些满绣着仙境般的园林和其间的古装仕女以及古怪飞禽的壁衣了；她梦想那些用名贵的盘子盛着的佳肴美味了，梦想那些在吃着一份肉色粉红的鲈鱼或者一份松鸡翅膀的时候带着朗爽的微笑去细听的情话了。
She had no gowns, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that. She felt made for that. She would have liked so much to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after.
而且她没有像样的服装，没有珠宝首饰，什么都没有。可是她偏偏只喜欢那些，觉得自己是为了那些而生的。她早就指望自己能够取悦于人，能够被人羡慕，能够有诱惑力而且被人追求。
She had a friend, a former schoolmate at the convent, who was rich, and whom she did not like to go to see any more because she felt so sad when she came home.
她有一个有钱的女朋友，一个在教会女学里的女同学，可是现在已经不再想去看她，因为看了之后回来，她总会感到痛苦。
But one evening her husband reached home with a triumphant air and holding a large envelope in his hand. "There," said he, "there is something for you."
某一天傍晚，她丈夫带着得意扬扬的神气回来了，手里拿着一个大信封。“瞧吧，”他说：“这儿有点儿东西是专门给你的。”她赶忙拆开了信封，
She tore the paper quickly and drew out a printed card which bore these words: The Minister of Public Instruction and madame Georges Ramponneau request the honor of M. and madame Loisel's company at the palace of the Ministry on Monday evening, January 18th.
从里面抽了一张印着这样语句的请帖：“教育部长若尔日·郎波诺暨夫人荣幸地邀请骆塞尔先生和骆塞尔太太参加一月十八日星期一在本部大楼举办的晚会。”
Instead of being delighted, as her husband had hoped, she threw the invitation on the table crossly, muttering: "What do you wish me to do with that?"
她丈夫以为她一定快活得很，谁知她竟伤心而且生气地把请帖扔到桌上，冷冰冰地说：“你叫我拿着这东西怎么办？”
"Why, my dear, I thought you would be glad. You never go out, and this is such a fine opportunity. I had great trouble to get it. Everyone wants to go; it is very select, and they are not giving many invitations to clerks. The whole official world will be there."
“怎么了，亲爱的，我原以为你会满意的。你素来不出门，并且这是一个好机会，我费了多少力才弄到手。大家都想要请帖，这是很难弄到手的，也没有多少份发给职员们。将来在晚会上看得见政界的全部人物。”
She looked at him with an irritated glance and said impatiently: "And what do you wish me to put on my back?"
她用一种暴怒的眼光瞧着他，然后不耐烦地高声说：“你叫我身上穿着什么到那儿去？”
He had not thought of that. He stammered: "Why, the gown you go to the theatre in. It looks very well to me."
他并没有想到这一层；支吾地说： “不过，你穿了去看戏的那件裙袍。我觉得它就很好。”
He stopped, distracted, seeing that his wife was weeping. Two great tears ran slowly from the corners of her eyes toward the corners of her mouth.
瞧见他妻子流着眼泪，他不说话了，吃惊了，心里糊涂了。两大滴眼泪慢慢地从她的眼角向着嘴角流下来。
