The Story of an Hour

By Kate Chopin

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.

[2] 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.

[3] She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its signif i-cance. 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.

大家都知道馬拉德夫人患有心臟病，所以在把她丈夫的死訊告訴她時都格外小心，盡量把話說得婉轉一點。

[2]消息是馬拉德的姐姐約瑟芬告訴她的。約瑟芬不敢直說，只能吞吞吐吐、遮遮掩掩地向她暗示。她丈夫的朋友理查茲當時也在場，就在她的身旁。鐵路出事的消息傳來時，理查茲正好就在報社?！坝鲭y者”的名單中，布倫特里·馬拉德的名字排在了首位。等到第二封電報證實了消息，他便急忙趕在那種做事輕率、魯莽的朋友之前把不幸消息捎了過來。

[3]許多女人遇到這種情況，一定是手足無措，無法接受現實，可她不是這樣。她立刻撲倒在姐姐的懷里，放聲大哭起來。一陣悲痛過后，她獨自回到自己的房間，不要任何人跟在她后面。

[4] 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.

[5] 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.

[6] 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.

[7] 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.

[8] 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.

[4]在敞開的窗戶對面，擺放著一把舒適寬大的扶手椅。她疲憊不堪地把整個身體陷在了椅子里——這疲憊不僅占據了她的身體，似乎也侵入了她的靈魂。

[5]她看見屋外的露天廣場上，樹梢新芽吐翠，一派春意盎然?？諝庵袕浡曳尖说挠甑臍庀?。下面的街道上，一個小販在叫賣東西。遠處有人在唱著歌，歌聲隱隱約約地傳到了她的耳邊，數不清的麻雀在屋檐下嘰嘰喳喳地叫個不停。

[6]從窗口望去，西邊的天空上，云朵聚在一起，層層疊疊地堆積著，間或露出一片片藍天。

[7]她坐在那兒，頭向后靠在扶手椅的軟墊上，一動也不動，只是在哽咽時身體偶爾顫動一下，就像一個哭著入睡的孩子在夢中仍在抽泣一樣。

[8]她很年輕，漂亮的臉蛋上沒有一絲兒表情，但從她面部的輪廓可以看出她內心的壓抑，甚至還透出某種堅毅。可現在，她目光呆滯，緊緊凝視著遠處的天空中那一片藍天。不像是在沉思，更像一時放空了大腦。

[9] 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.

[10] 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. 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.

[11] 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. 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.

[9]有一種感覺朝她的心頭襲來，她在惶恐地等待著。是什么？她并不知道。這感覺太微妙，說不清，也道不明。可她感覺得出來，它正從空中悄悄而來，穿過彌漫于空氣中的聲音、氣味和顏色朝她走來。

[10]這時候，她心潮澎湃。她開始意識到，那漸漸逼近、快要占據她的是什么。 她掙扎著，企圖用自己的意志力去打敗它——可這意志卻像她那雙雪白纖細的手一樣軟弱無力。當她放棄掙扎時，從她微啟的雙唇低聲蹦出了幾個字。這幾個字，她一連重復了好幾遍：“自由了，自由了，自由了！”隨之而來的那種茫然與惶恐從她的眼神里消失了，她的目光變得熱切而炯炯有神。她的脈搏在快速跳動，沸騰的血液溫暖了她身體的每一個地方，讓她感到渾身輕松。

[11]她并沒有停下來問自己，此時此刻，她滿心歡喜是不是很邪惡。一種清晰、興奮的感覺讓她根本無暇顧及這些個微不足道的瑣事。她知道，當她見到丈夫那雙溫柔親切的雙手變得僵硬，那張從來都不會對她吝嗇愛意的面孔變得毫無表情、灰白如紙的時候，她肯定還是會哭的。然而，在這痛苦之后，她看到了長遠的未來，那些完全屬于她自己的未來歲月。她張開雙臂去迎接它們。

[12] 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.

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

[14] “Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering.

[15] 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.”

[16] “Go away. I am not making my-self ill.” No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

[12]在即將到來的歲月里，她不再為別人活著，她要為自己而活。再也沒有任何強大的意志讓她屈服——人們總是盲目地堅信，他們有權將個人的意志強加于別人。在這茅塞頓開的剎那間，她覺得，無論是出于善意還是惡意，這種行為都無異于犯罪。

[13]不過，她還是愛過他——至少有時是愛他的，但更多的時候，她并不愛他。那又有什么關系呢！她突然意識到，她擁有了自我，只有這自我才是她活著的最大動力；而愛情，這個未解之謎，如何能與之相比！

[14]“自由了！身心這下都自由了！”她不停地喃喃自語。

[15]約瑟芬跪在緊閉的房門前，嘴對著鎖孔，懇求讓她進去。“路易絲，開開門！求求你，把門打開——你這樣會病倒的。路易絲，你這是干什么呀？看在上帝的分上，快把門打開?！?/p>

[16]“你走吧。我不會讓自己病倒的?！碑斎徊粫?。她正透過那敞開的窗子，吮吸著一種真正的長生不老藥呢！

[17] 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.

[18] 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.

[19] Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travelstained, composedly carrying his gripsack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the 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.

But Richards was too late.

[20] When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of the joy that kills3這篇小說最大的爭議點：“他們說，她死于心臟病——是極度歡喜要了她的命！”這是醫生的結論。其實,她的死是因為極度的失望，是對未來希望的破滅的結果：“不自由,毋寧死。”. ■

[17]她縱情地幻想著未來的歲月將會如何。春天，夏天，還有所有那些屬于她自己的日子。她匆匆地做了一個禱告，祈禱生命能長久一些。而就在昨天，一想到生命那么漫長，她就不寒而栗。

[18]最后，她站了起來,在姐姐的再三懇求下打開了房門。她的眼里充滿了勝利的激情，并情不自禁地擺出了一副勝利女神的姿態。她摟住姐姐的腰，一起走下了樓梯。理查茲站在下面等著她們。

[19]這時，有人用鑰匙開著前門。進來的正是布倫特里·馬拉德，只見他風塵仆仆，手里提著他的旅行包和雨傘，一副若無其事的樣子。事發當時，他離現場很遠，甚至根本就不知道發生了事故。他愣在那兒，不明白約瑟芬為什么會發出刺耳的尖叫，更不明白理查茲為什么會飛快地竄到他的面前，擋住他不讓妻子看見。

不過，理查茲的反應還是太晚了。

[20]醫生趕到的時候，他們說，她死于心臟病——是極度歡喜要了她的命！ □