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At the appointed hour the prince, powdered and shaven, entered the dining room where his daughter-in-law, Princess Mary, and Mademoiselle Bourienne were already awaiting him together with his architect, who by a strange caprice of his employer's was admitted to table though the position of that insignificant individual was such as could certainly not have caused him to expect that honor.
公爵扑过发粉，刮过胡子，在规定时间走进餐厅，在餐厅里，他的儿媳妇、玛丽雅公爵小姐、布莉恩小姐和公爵的建筑师都在等他，由于老公爵的怪癖，建筑师被准许和公爵一家人同桌吃饭，虽然就身份来说，像他这样的小人物是不能享受这种荣幸的。
The prince, who generally kept very strictly to social distinctions and rarely admitted even important government officials to his table, had unexpectedly selected Michael Ivánovich (who always went into a corner to blow his nose on his checked handkerchief) to illustrate the theory that all men are equals, and had more than once impressed on his daughter that Michael Ivánovich was "not a whit worse than you or I."
公爵家里平时等级森严，连省里的各级官吏也难得获准跟他同席，可就是对那在角落里用方格手绢擤鼻涕的建筑师米哈伊尔·伊凡内奇另眼相看，并拿他做例子证明人人都是平等的，他屡次教导女儿说，米哈伊尔·伊凡内奇一点也不比你我差。
At dinner the prince usually spoke to the taciturn Michael Ivánovich more often than to anyone else.
在饭桌上，最喜欢同这位沉默寡言的建筑师闲谈。
In the dining room, which like all the rooms in the house was exceedingly lofty, the members of the household and the footmen -- one behind each chair -- stood waiting for the prince to enter.
餐厅同住宅里其他房间一样极其高大，家属和仆人都站在每把椅子后面，恭候公爵出来。
The head butler, napkin on arm, was scanning the setting of the table, making signs to the footmen, and anxiously glancing from the clock to the door by which the prince was to enter.
管家臂上搭着餐巾，检查着桌上的餐具，向听差们使眼色，不安地时而看看挂钟，时而望望公爵将要进来的门。
Prince Andrew was looking at a large gilt frame, new to him, containing the genealogical tree of the Princes Bolkónski, opposite which hung another such frame with a badly painted portrait (evidently by the hand of the artist belonging to the estate) of a ruling prince, in a crown -- an alleged descendant of Rúrik and ancestor of the Bolkónskis.
安德烈公爵望着一个他以前没见过的大金框，框里装着保尔康斯基公爵家谱，家谱对面挂着一个同样大小的镜框，里面装着戴冕的当权公爵的粗劣画像（显然出自家庭画工之手），那个公爵一定是留里克的后代，也就是保尔康斯基家族的始祖。
Prince Andrew, looking again at that genealogical tree, shook his head, laughing as a man laughs who looks at a portrait so characteristic of the original as to be amusing.
安德烈公爵望望家谱，摇摇头，好像看到一张逼真得可笑的画像，忍不住笑了。
"How thoroughly like him that is!" he said to Princess Mary, who had come up to him.
“我看他真是一成不变哪！”他对走拢来的玛丽雅公爵小姐说。
Princess Mary looked at her brother in surprise. She did not understand what he was laughing at.
玛丽雅公爵小姐惊奇地望望哥哥。她不明白他在笑什么。
Everything her father did inspired her with reverence and was beyond question.
父亲的一举一动都使她肃然起敬，无可非议。
"Everyone has his Achilles' heel," continued Prince Andrew. "Fancy, with his powerful mind, indulging in such nonsense!"
“人人天生都有弱点，”安德烈公爵继续说，“以他那样的大智大慧，竟委身于这些琐事之中！”
Princess Mary could not understand the boldness of her brother's criticism and was about to reply, when the expected footsteps were heard coming from the study.
玛丽雅公爵小姐无法理解哥哥竟会说出这样大胆的话来，她正准备反驳，忽然听见书房里传出大家所期待的脚步声。
The prince walked in quickly and jauntily as was his wont, as if intentionally contrasting the briskness of his manners with the strict formality of his house.
老公爵照例迅速而轻快地走进来，仿佛有意用匆忙的行动来打破严格的家庭秩序。
At that moment the great clock struck two and another with a shrill tone joined in from the drawing room.
这时，大钟敲了两下，客厅里另一台钟也发出清脆的声音响应。
The prince stood still; his lively glittering eyes from under their thick, bushy eyebrows sternly scanned all present and rested on the little princess.
老公爵停住脚步，他那双灵活、明亮而严厉的眼睛从下垂的浓眉下把所有的人扫视了一遍，然后停留在小公爵夫人身上。
She felt, as courtiers do when the Tsar enters, the sensation of fear and respect which the old man inspired in all around him.
小公爵夫人这时就像臣子看到皇帝上朝那样诚惶诚恐，老人身边其他人的感觉也是一样。
He stroked her hair and then patted her awkwardly on the back of her neck.
老公爵摸摸小公爵夫人的头，又笨拙地拍拍她的后脑勺。
"I'm glad, glad, to see you," he said, looking attentively into her eyes, and then quickly went to his place and sat down. "Sit down, sit down! Sit down, Michael Ivánovich!"
“你来，我很高兴，很高兴，”他说，又注视了一下她的眼睛，迅速地走到自己的位子上坐下，“坐吧，坐吧！米哈伊尔·伊凡内奇，坐吧！”
He indicated a place beside him to his daughter-in-law. A footman moved the chair for her.
老公爵叫儿媳妇坐在自己旁边。仆人替她拉开椅子。
"Ho, ho!" said the old man, casting his eyes on her rounded figure. "You've been in a hurry. That's bad!"
“嗬嗬！”老头儿望望她圆圆的腰部说，“真性急，不好！”
He laughed in his usual dry, cold, unpleasant way, with his lips only and not with his eyes.
他不高兴地冷冷笑了笑，就像平时一样，眼睛不笑，只有嘴笑。
"You must walk, walk as much as possible, as much as possible," he said.
“要散步，尽量多散步，尽量多散步。”他说。
The little princess did not, or did not wish to, hear his words. She was silent and seemed confused.
小公爵夫人没听见或者不愿听他的话。她没作声，有点局促不安。
The prince asked her about her father, and she began to smile and talk. He asked about mutual acquaintances, and she became still more animated and chattered away giving him greetings from various people and retelling the town gossip.
老公爵问起她的父亲，小公爵夫人才说话，还微微一笑。他又问到一些共同的熟人，小公爵夫人更活泼了，滔滔不绝地说起来，替人家向老公爵问好，又讲了城里的流言蜚语。
"Countess Apráksina, poor thing, has lost her husband and she has cried her eyes out," she said, growing more and more lively.
“阿普拉克辛伯爵夫人死了丈夫，可怜的人把眼睛都哭坏了。”她越说越兴奋。
As she became animated the prince looked at her more and more sternly, and suddenly, as if he had studied her sufficiently and had formed a definite idea of her, he turned away and addressed Michael Ivánovich.
她越兴奋，公爵越严厉地望着她。然后，仿佛把她研究透了，对她有了清楚的理解，就转身同建筑师说话。
"Well, Michael Ivánovich, our Bonaparte will be having a bad time of it. Prince Andrew" (he always spoke thus of his son) "has been telling me what forces are being collected against him! While you and I never thought much of him."
“哦，米哈伊尔·伊凡内奇，我们的拿破仑要倒霉了。安德烈公爵，”他总是用第三人称称呼儿子，“告诉我，集中了多少兵力来对付他！可我们总是把他看作窝囊废。”
Michael Ivánovich did not at all know when "you and I" had said such things about Bonaparte, but understanding that he was wanted as a peg on which to hang the prince's favorite topic, he looked inquiringly at the young prince, wondering what would follow.
米哈伊尔·伊凡内奇实在不记得，“我们”什么时候说过拿破仑这样的话，但他知道这样可以转到老公爵喜爱的话题上来，他惊奇地瞧瞧小公爵，不知道这样谈下去会有什么结果。
"He is a great tactician!" said the prince to his son, pointing to the architect.
“他是个大策略家！”公爵指着建筑师对儿子说。
