《林貝卡》
Rebecca Lin
昨天讀到雅歌在【美語世界】貼的【英文小說欣賞】《The Donkey》 By G.d. 莫泊桑, 我就想起了在國內讀中學時，讀過的莫泊桑寫的【項鏈】，趕忙就去網上查詢【項鏈】的中英版本，真高興，總算都找到了。
【項鏈】講的是美麗漂亮的瑪蒂爾蒂，她和她的丈夫被邀參加由教育部長, 在本部大樓舉辦的晚會。為了參加這次晚會，瑪蒂爾蒂買了高雅得體的裙子，借了好朋友伏來士潔太太的項鏈。他們如期前往了，那晚，她是晚會上最亮麗最迷人的女人，她陶醉了。然而，晚會結束後，正準備回家時，瑪蒂爾蒂突然發現項鏈不見了。她和她的丈夫到處尋找項鏈，也沒有找到。最後，他們不得不四處借錢，買了一條價值三萬六千法郎，外觀和伏來士潔太太的項鏈，一模一樣的項鏈還給她。為了償還買項鏈的債務，瑪蒂爾蒂和丈夫從此開始了長達10年的艱辛生活和工作，總算把債務還清了。
10年後的一天，瑪蒂爾蒂在街上再遇伏來士潔太太。伏來士潔太太已經認不出瑪蒂爾蒂了。10年還債的艱辛，瑪蒂爾蒂美麗不再，留下的隻是滄桑。瑪蒂爾蒂告訴了伏來士潔太太，她化了三萬六千法郎買了一條項鏈還給她時，伏來士潔太太告訴瑪蒂爾蒂，那項鏈是假的，才值五百金法郎，文章到此嘎然而止。讀到這裏，那份心痛真是不可言狀。
莫泊桑簡介
莫泊桑（1850年8月9日－1893年7月6日），法國作家。 莫泊桑的母親是福樓拜的朋友，而且對經典作品如莎士比亞的戲劇感興趣。十三歲前莫泊桑一直和母親一起生活，他喜歡室外運動，尤其是釣魚，並且深愛著自己的母親。在去裏昂上高中時，他表現出對詩歌和戲劇的濃厚興趣。
1870年莫泊桑畢業後不久，普法戰爭爆發，他誌願入伍，作戰勇敢。戰後，他離開諾曼底前往巴黎，在海軍部門作了十年的公務員。在這十年單調生活中，他唯一的娛樂就是周日在塞納河上劃船和假期。福樓拜指導莫泊桑的文學創作。在福樓拜家裏，莫泊桑遇到了屠格涅夫、左拉和都德等人。隨著短篇小說的發表和與名作家交流，莫泊桑名氣日隆。
1880年莫泊桑轉到公共教育部門任職，並擔任一些有影響力刊物的編輯。他利用空閑時間繼續創作短篇小說，完成了傑作《脂肪球》，獲得巨大成功。福樓拜稱之為“可以流傳於世的傑作”，於1880年收錄於《梅塘夜譚》。他的主要作品有：《一生》,《漂亮朋友》，《皮埃爾和讓》，《脂肪球 》 《項鏈》。
莫泊桑喜歡隱居，孤獨與沉思，他常常獨自前往各地旅行。同時他也保持著和其他作家比如大仲馬和泰納等的聯係。在1891年之後，莫泊桑越發喜歡孤獨的生活，1893年病逝。（來源：維基百科 ）
請點擊閱讀：【英文小說欣賞】《The Donkey》 By G.d. 莫泊桑 來源 【美語世界】雅歌
The Necklace Author: Guy de Maupassant
SHE was one of those pretty and charming girls, born by a blunder of destiny in a family of employees. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich and distinguished; and she let them make a match for her with a little clerk in the Department of Education.
She was simple since she could not be adorned; but she was unhappy as though kept out of her own class; for women have no caste and no descent, their beauty, their grace, and their charm serving them instead of birth and fortune. Their native keenness, their instinctive elegance, their flexibility of mind, are their only hierarchy; and these make the daughters of the people the equals of the most lofty dames.
She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury. She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs. All these things, which another woman of her caste would not even have noticed, tortured her and made her indignant. The sight of the little girl from Brittany who did her humble housework awoke in her desolated regrets and distracted dreams. She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five o’clock chat with the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and desired.
When she sat down to dine, before a tablecloth three days old, in front of her husband, who lifted the cover of the tureen, declaring with an air of satisfaction, “Ah, the good pot-au-feu. I don’t know anything better than that,” she was thinking of delicate repasts, with glittering silver, with tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with strange birds in a fairy-like forest; she was thinking of exquisite dishes, served in marvelous platters, of compliment whispered and heard with a sphinx-like smile, while she was eating the rosy flesh of a trout or the wings of a quail.
She had no dresses, no jewelry, nothing. And she loved nothing else; she felt herself made for that only. She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after.
She had a rich friend, a comrade of her convent days, whom she did not want to go and see any more, so much did she suffer as she came away. And she wept all day long, from chagrin, from regret, from despair, and from distress.
But one evening her husband came in with a proud air, holding in his hand a large envelope. “There,” said he, “there’s something for you.” She quickly tore the paper and took out of it a printed card which bore these words:“The Minister of Education and Mme. Georges Rampouneau beg M. and Mme. Loisel to do them the honor to pass the evening with them at the palace of the Ministry, on Monday, January 18.”
Instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she threw the invitation on the table with annoyance, murmuring“What do you want me to do with that?”
“But, my dear, I thought you would be pleased. You never go out, and here’s a chance, a fine one. I had the hardest work to get it. Everybody is after them; they are greatly sought for and not many are given to the clerks. You will see there all the official world.”
She looked at him with an irritated eye and she declared with impatience:“What do you want me to put on my back to go there?” He had not thought of that; he hesitated:
“But the dress in which you go to the theater. That looks very well to me” He shut up, astonished and distracted at seeing that his wife was weeping. Two big tears were descending slowly from the corners of the eyes to the corners of the mouth. He stuttered: What’s the matter? What’s the matter?” But by a violent effort she had conquered her trouble, and she replied in a calm voice as she wiped her damp cheeks:
“Nothing. Only I have no clothes, and in consequence I cannot go to this party. Give your card to some colleague whose wife has a better outfit than I.”
He was disconsolate. He began again:“See here, Mathilde, how much would this cost, a proper dress, which would do on other occasions; something very simple?” She reflected a few seconds, going over her calculations, and thinking also of the sum which she might ask without meeting an immediate refusal and a frightened exclamation from the frugal clerk. “At last, she answered hesitatingly:
“I don’t know exactly, but it seems to me that with four hundred francs I might do it.”
He grew a little pale, for he was reserving just that sum to buy a gun and treat himself to a little shooting, the next summer, on the plain of Nanterre, with some friends who used to shoot larks there on Sundays. But he said:“All right. I will give you four hundred francs. But take care to have a pretty dress.”
The day of the party drew near, and Mme. Loisel seemed sad, restless, anxious. Yet her dress was ready. One evening her husband said to her:“What’s the matter? Come, now, you have been quite queer these last three days.” And she answered:
“It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on. I shall look like distress. I would almost rather not go to this party.” He answered:“You will wear some natural flowers. They are very stylish this time of the year. For ten francs you will have two or three magnificent roses.” But she was not convinced. “No; there’s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women.” But her husband cried:“What a goose you are! Go find your friend, Mme. Forester, and ask her to lend you some jewelry. You know her well enough to do that.”
She gave a cry of joy:“That’s true. I had not thought of it.”
The next day she went to her friend’s and told her about her distress. Mme. Forester went to her mirrored wardrobe, took out a large casket, brought it, opened it, and said to Mme. Loisel:“Choose, my dear.” She saw at first bracelets, then a necklace of pearls, then a Venetian cross of gold set with precious stones of an admirable workmanship. She tried on the ornaments before the glass, hesitated, and could not decide to take them off and to give them up. She kept on asking:“You haven’t anything else?” “Yes, yes. Look. I do not know what will happen to please you.”
All at once she discovered, in a box of black satin, a superb necklace of diamonds, and her heart began to beat with boundless desire. Her hands trembled in taking it up. She fastened it round her throat, on her high dress, and remained in ecstasy before herself.
Then, she asked, hesitating, full of anxiety:“Can you lend me this, only this?” “Yes, yes, certainly.” She sprang to her friend’s neck, kissed her with ardor, and then escaped with her treasure.
The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men were looking at her, inquiring her name, asking to be introduced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wanted to dance with her. The Minister took notice of her.
She danced with delight, with passion, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness made up of all these tributes, of all the admirations, of all these awakened desires, of this victory so complete and so sweet to a woman’s heart. She went away about four in the morning. Since midnight—her husband has been dozing in a little anteroom with three other men whose wives were having a good time.
He threw over her shoulders the wraps he had brought to go home in, modest garments of every-day life, the poverty of which was out of keeping with the elegance of the ball dress. She felt this, and wanted to fly so as not to be noticed by the other women, who were wrapping themselves up in rich furs. Loisel kept her back“Wait a minute; you will catch cold outside; I’ll call a cab.” But she did not listen to him, and went downstairs rapidly. When they were in the street, they could not find a carriage, and they set out in search of one, hailing the drivers whom they saw passing in the distance.
They went down toward the Seine, disgusted, shivering. Finally, they found on the Quai one of those old night-hawk cabs which one sees in Paris only after night has fallen, as though they are ashamed of their misery in the daytime. It brought them to their door, rue des Martyrs; and they went up their own stairs sadly. For her it was finished. And he was thinking that he would have to be at the Ministry at ten o’clock.
She took off the wraps with which she had covered her shoulders, before the mirror, so as to see herself once more in her glory. But suddenly she gave a cry. She no longer had the necklace around her throat! Her husband, half undressed already, asked“What is the matter with you?” She turned to him, terror-stricken:“I—I—I have not Mme. Forester’s diamond necklace!” He jumped up, frightened“What? How? It is not possible!” And they searched in the folds of the dress, in the folds of the wrap, in the pockets, everywhere. They did not find it. He asked:“Are you sure you still had it when you left the ball?” “Yes, I touched it in the vestibule of the Ministry.” “But if you had lost it in the street, we should have heard it fall. It must be in the cab.” “Yes. That is probable. Did you take the number?” “No. And you—you did not even look at it?” “No.” They gazed at each other, crushed. At last Loisel dressed himself again. “I’m going,” he said, “back the whole distance we came on foot, to see if I cannot find it.”
And he went out. She stayed there, in her ball dress, without strength to go to bed, overwhelmed, on a chair, without a fire, without a thought.
Her husband came back about seven o’clock. He had found nothing.
Then he went to police headquarters, to the newspapers to offer a reward, to the cab company; he did everything, in fact, that a trace of hope could urge him to.
She waited all day, in the same dazed state in face of this horrible disaster.
Loisel came back in the evening, with his face worn and white; he had discovered nothing. “You must write to your friend,” he said, “that you have broken the clasp of her necklace and that you are having it repaired. That will give us time to turn around.” She wrote as he dictated. At the end of a week they had lost all hope. And Loisel, aged by five years, declared:“We must see how we can replace those jewels.”
The next day they took the case which had held them to the jeweler whose name was in the cover. He consulted his books. “It was not I, madam, who sold this necklace. I only supplied the case.” Then they went from jeweler to jeweler, looking for a necklace like the other, consulting their memory,—sick both of them with grief and anxiety.
In a shop in the Palais Royal, they found a diamond necklace that seemed to them absolutely like the one they were seeking. It was priced forty thousand francs. They could have it for thirty-six. They begged the jeweler not to sell it for three days. And they made a bargain that he should take it back for thirty-four thousand, if the first was found before the end of February. Loisel possessed eighteen thousand francs which his father had left him. He had to borrow the remainder.
He borrowed, asking a thousand francs from one, five hundred from another, five here, three louis there. He gave promissory notes, made ruinous agreements, dealt with usurers, with all kinds of lenders. He compromised the end of his life, risked his signature without even knowing whether it could be honored; and, frightened by all the anguish of the future, by the black misery which was about to settle down on him, by the perspective of all sorts of physical deprivations and of all sorts of moral tortures, he went to buy the new diamond necklace, laying down on the jeweler’s counter thirty-six thousand francs.
When Mme. Loisel took back the necklace to Mme. Forester, the latter said, with an irritated air:“You ought to have brought it back sooner, for I might have needed it.”
She did not open the case, which her friend had been fearing. If she had noticed the substitution, what would she have thought? What would she have said? Might she not have been taken for a thief?
Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically. The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. They dismissed the servant; they changed their rooms; they took an attic under the roof. She learned the rough work of the household, the odious labors of the kitchen. She washed the dishes, wearing out her pink nails on the greasy pots and the bottoms of the pans. She washed the dirty linen, the shirts and the towels, which she dried on a rope; she carried down the garbage to the street every morning, and she carried up the water, pausing for breath on every floor. And, dressed like a woman of the people, she went to the fruiterer, the grocer, the butcher, a basket on her arm, bargaining, insulted, fighting for her wretched money, sou by sou.
Every month they had to pay notes, to renew others to gain time. The husband worked in the evening keeping up the books of a shopkeeper, and at night often he did copying at five sous the page. And this life lasted ten years. At the end of ten years they had paid everything back, everything, with the rates of usury and all the accumulation of heaped-up interest. Mme. Loisel seemed aged now. She had become the robust woman, hard and rough, of a poor household. Badly combed, with her skirts awry and her hands red, her voice was loud, and she washed the floor with splashing water. But sometimes, when her husband was at the office, she sat down by the window and she thought of that evening long ago, of that ball, where she had been so beautiful and so admired.
What would have happened if she had not lost that necklace? Who knows? Who knows? How singular life is, how changeable! What a little thing it takes to save you or to lose you.
Then, one Sunday, as she was taking a turn in the Champs Elysées, as a recreation after the labors of the week, she perceived suddenly a woman walking with a child. It was Mme. Forester, still young, still beautiful, still seductive. Mme. Loisel felt moved. Should she speak to her? Yes, certainly. And now that she had paid up, she would tell her all. Why not? She drew near.
“Good morning, Jeanne.” The other did not recognize her, astonished to be hailed thus familiarly by this woman of the people.
She hesitated“But—madam—I don’t know—are you not making a mistake?” “No. I am Mathilde Loisel.” Her friend gave a cry“Oh!—My poor Mathilde, how you are changed.”
“Yes, I have had hard days since I saw you, and many troubles,—and that because of you.”
“Of me?—How so?”
“You remember that diamond necklace that you lent me to go to the ball at the Ministry?”
“Yes. And then?”
“Well, I lost it.”
“How can that be?—since you brought it back to me?”
“I brought you back another just like it. And now for ten years we have been paying for it. You will understand that it was not easy for us, who had nothing. At last, it is done, and I am mighty glad.”
Mme. Forester had guessed.
“You say that you bought a diamond necklace to replace mine?”
“Yes. You did not notice it, even, did you? They were exactly alike?”
And she smiled with proud and joy.
Mme. Forester, much moved, took her by both hands:
“Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine were fake. At most they were worth five hundred francs!” ( Source：http://bbs.tecn.cn/archiver/?tid-88869.html )
《項鏈》 作者： 莫泊桑
世上的漂亮動人的女子，每每像是由於命運的差錯似地，出生在一個小職員的家庭；我們現在要說的這一個正是這樣。她沒有陪嫁的資產，沒有希望，沒有任何方法使得一個既有錢又有地位的人認識她，了解她，愛她，娶她；到末了，她將將就就和教育部的一個小科員結了婚。
不能夠講求裝飾，她是樸素的，但是不幸得像是一個降了等的女人；因為婦女們本沒有階級，沒有門第之分，她們的美，她們的豐韻和她們的誘惑力就是供她們做出身和家世之用的。她們的天生的機警，出眾的本能，柔順的心靈，構成了她們唯一的等級，而且可以把民間的女子提得和最高的貴婦人一樣高。
她覺得自己本是為了一切精美的和一切豪華的事物而生的，因此不住地感到痛苦。由於自己房屋的寒傖，牆壁的粗糙，家具的陳舊，衣料的庸俗，她非常難過。這一切，在另一個和她同等的婦人心上，也許是不會注意的，然而她卻因此傷心，又因此懊惱，那個替她照料瑣碎家務的布列塔尼省的小女傭人的樣子，使她產生了種種憂苦的遺憾和胡思亂想。她夢想著那些靜悄悄的接待室，如何蒙著東方的幃幕，如何點著青銅的高腳燈檠，如何派著兩個身穿短褲子的高個兒侍應生聽候指使，而熱烘烘的空氣暖爐使得兩個侍應生都在大型的圈椅上打盹。她夢想那些披著古代壁衣的大客廳，那些擺著無從估價的瓷瓶的精美家具；她夢想那些精致而且芬芳的小客廳，自己到了午後五點光景，就可以和親切的男朋友在那兒閑談，和那些被婦女界羨慕的並且渴望一顧的知名男子在那兒閑談。
然而事實上，她每天吃晚飯的時候，就在那張小圓桌跟前和她的丈夫對麵坐下了，桌上蓋的白布要三天才換一回，丈夫把那隻湯池的蓋子一揭開，就用一種高興的神氣說道：“哈！好肉湯！世上沒有比它更好的……”因此她又夢想那些豐盛精美的筵席了，夢想那些光輝燦爛的銀器皿了，夢想那些滿繡著仙境般的園林和其間的古裝仕女以及古怪飛禽的壁衣了；她夢想那些用名貴的盤子盛著的佳肴美味了，夢想那些在吃著一份肉色粉紅的鱸魚或者一份鬆雞翅膀的時候帶著朗爽的微笑去細聽的情話了。
而且她沒有像樣的服裝，沒有珠寶首飾，什麽都沒有。可是她偏偏隻歡喜這一套，覺得自己是為了這一套而生的。她早就指望自己能夠取悅於人，能夠被人羨慕，能夠有誘惑力而且被人追求。
她有一個有錢的女朋友，一個在教會女學裏的女同學，可是現在已經不再想去看她，因為看了之後回來，她總會感到痛苦。於是她由於傷心，由於遺憾，由於失望並且由於憂慮，接連她要不料某一天傍晚，她丈夫帶著得意揚揚的神氣回來了，手裏拿著一個大信封。“瞧吧，”他說：“這兒有點兒東西是專門為了你的。”她趕忙拆開了信封，從裏麵抽了一張印著這樣語句的請帖：
“教育部長若爾日·郎波諾暨夫人榮幸地邀請駱塞爾先生和駱塞爾太太參加一月十八日星期一在本部大樓舉辦的晚會。”
她丈夫希望她一定快活得很，誰知她竟帶著傷心而且生氣的樣子把請帖扔到桌上，冷冰冰地說：
“你叫我拿著這東西怎麽辦？”
“不過，親人兒，我原以為你大概是滿意的。你素來不出門，並且這是一個機會，這東西，一個好機會！我費了多少力才弄到手。大家都想要請帖，它是很難弄到手的，卻又沒有多少份發給同事們。將來在晚會上看得見政界的全部人物。”
她用一種暴怒的眼光瞧著他，後來她不耐煩地高聲說：
“你叫我身上穿著什麽到那兒去？”
他以前原沒有想到這一層；支吾地說：
“不過，你穿了去看戲的那件裙袍。我覺得它很好，我……”
瞧見他妻子流著眼淚，他不說話了，吃驚了，心裏糊塗了。兩大滴眼淚慢慢地從她的眼角向著口角流下來；他吃著嘴說：
“你有點怎樣？你有點怎樣？”
但是她用一種堅強的忍耐心鎮住了自己的痛苦，擦著自己那副潤濕了的臉蛋兒，一麵用一道寧靜的聲音回答：“沒有什麽。不過我沒有衣裳，所以我不能夠去赴這個晚會。你倘若有一個同事，他的妻子能夠比我打扮得好些，你就把這份請帖送給他。”
他發愁了，接著說道：
“這麽著吧，瑪蒂爾蒂。要花多少錢，一套像樣的衣裳，以後遇著機會你還可以再穿的，簡單一些的？”
她思索了好幾秒鍾，確定她的盤算，並且也考慮到這個數目務必可以由她要求，不至於引起這個節儉科員的一種吃驚的叫喚和一個幹脆的拒絕。
末了她遲遲疑疑地回答：
“細數呢，我不曉得，不過我估計，有四百金法郎，總可以辦得到。”
他的臉色有點兒發青了，因為他手裏正存著這樣一個數目預備去買一支槍，使得自己在今年夏天的星期日裏，可以和幾個打獵的朋友們到南兌爾那一帶平原地方去打鳥。 然而他卻回答道：“就是這樣吧。我給你四百金法郎。不過你要想法子去做一套漂亮的裙袍。”
晚會的日期已經近了，駱塞爾太太好像在發愁，不放心，心裏有些焦躁不安。然而她的新裙袍卻辦好了。她丈夫某一天傍晚問她：“你有點怎樣？想想吧，這三天以來，你是很異樣的。”於是她說：“沒有一件首飾，沒有一粒寶石，插的和戴的，一點兒也沒有，這件事真教我心煩。簡直太窮酸了。現在我寧可不去赴這個晚會。”
他接著說道：
“你將來可以插戴幾朵鮮花。在現在的時令裏，那是很出色的。花十個金法郎，你可以買得到兩三朵很好看的玫瑰花。”她一點也聽不進去。
“不成……世上最教人丟臉的，就是在許多有錢的女人堆裏露窮相。”
但是她丈夫高聲叫喚起來：
“你真糊塗！去找你的朋友伏來士潔太太，問她借點首飾。你和她的交情，是可以開口的。”
她迸出了一道快活的叫喚： “這是真的。這一層我當初簡直沒有想過。”
第二天，她到她這位朋友家裏去了，向她談起了自己的煩悶。伏來士潔太太向著她那座嵌著鏡子的大衣櫃跟前走過去，取出一個大的盒子，帶過來打開向駱塞爾太太說： “你自己選吧，親愛的。”
她最初看見許多手鐲，隨後一個用珍珠鑲成的項圈，隨後一個威尼斯款式的金十字架，鑲著寶石的，做工非常精巧。她在鏡子跟前試著這些首飾，遲疑不決，舍不得丟開這些東西，歸還這些東西。她老問著。
“你還有沒有一點什麽別的？”
“有的是，你自己找吧。我不曉得哪件合得上你的意思。”她忽然在一隻黑緞子做的小盒子裏，發現了一串用金剛鑽鑲成的項鏈，那東西真地壓得倒一切；於是她的心房因為一種奢望漸漸跳起來。她雙手拿著那東西發抖，她把它壓著自己裙袍的領子繞在自己的頸項上麵了，對著自己在鏡子裏的影子出了半天的神。
後來，她帶看滿腔的顧慮遲疑地問道：
“你能夠借這東西給我嗎，我隻借這一件？”
“當然可以，當然可以。”
她跳起來抱著她朋友的頸項，熱烈地吻了又吻，末後，她帶著這件寶貝溜也似地走了。
晚會的日子到了，駱塞爾太太得到極大的成功，她比一般女賓都要漂亮，時髦，迷人，不斷地微笑，並且樂得發狂。一般男賓都望著她出神，探聽她的姓名，設法使人把自己引到她跟前作介紹。本部機要處的人員都想和她跳舞，部長也注意她。她用陶醉的姿態舞著，用興奮的動作舞著，她沉醉在歡樂裏，她滿意於自己的容貌的勝利，滿意於自己的成績的光榮；滿意於那一切阿諛讚歎和那場使得女性認為異常完備而且甜美的凱歌，一種幸福的祥雲包圍著她。所以她什麽都不思慮了。
她是清晨四點鍾光景離開的。她丈夫自從半夜十二點鍾光景，就同著另外三位男賓在一間無人理會的小客廳裏睡著了；這三位男賓的妻子也正舞得很快活。
他對她的肩頭上披上了那些為了上街而帶來的衣裳，家常用的儉樸的衣裳，這些東西的寒傖意味是和跳舞會裏的服裝的豪華氣派不相稱的。她感到了這一層，於是為了避免另外那些裹著珍貴皮衣的太太們注意，她竟想逃遁了。
駱塞爾牽住了她：
“等著吧。你到外麵會受寒。我去找一輛出租的街車來吧。”
不過她絕不聽從他，匆匆忙忙下了台階兒。等到他倆走到街上竟找不著車了；於是他倆開始去尋覓，追著那些他們遠遠地望得見的車子。
他倆向著塞納河的河沿走下去，兩個人感到失望，渾身冷得發抖。末了，他倆在河沿上竟找著了一輛像是夜遊病者一樣的舊式轎車——這樣的車子白天在巴黎如同感到自慚形穢，所以要到天黑以後才看得見它們。
車子把他倆送到殉教街的寓所大門外了，他倆惆悵地上了樓。在她，這算是結束了。而他呢，卻想起了自己明天早上十點鍾應當到部。
她在鏡子跟前脫下了那些圍著肩頭的大氅之類，想再次端詳端詳無比榮耀的自己。但是陡然間她發出了一聲狂叫。她已經沒有那串圍著頸項的金剛鑽項鏈了！
她丈夫這時候已經脫了一半衣裳，連忙問：
“你有點怎樣？”
她發癡似地轉過身來向著他：
“我已經……我已經……我現在找不著伏來士潔太太那串項鏈了。”
他張皇失措地站起來：
“什麽！……怎樣！……哪兒會有這樣的事！”
於是他倆在那件裙袍的衣褶裏，大氅的衣褶裏，口袋裏，都尋了一個遍。到處都找不到它。
他問道：
“你能夠保證離開舞會的時候還掛著那東西嗎？”
“對呀，我在部裏的過道裏還摸過它。”
“不過，倘若你在路上失掉了它，我們可以聽得見它落下去的聲響。它應當在車子裏。”
“對呀。這是可能的。你可曾記下車子的號碼？”
“沒有。你呢，你當初也沒有注意？”
“沒有。”
他倆口呆目瞪地互相瞧著。末了，駱塞爾重新著好了衣裳。
“我去，”他說，“我去把我倆步行經過的路線再走一遍，去看看是不是可以找得著它。”
於是他出街了。她呢，連睡覺的氣力都沒有，始終沒有換下那套參加晚會的衣裳，就靠在一把圍椅上麵，屋子裏沒有生火，腦子裏什麽也不想。
她丈夫在七點鍾回家。什麽也沒有找著。
他走到警察總廳和各報館裏去懸一種賞格，又走到各處出租小馬車的公司，總而言之，凡是有一線希望的地方都走了一個遍。
她對著這種駭人的大禍，在驚愕狀態中間整整地等了一天。
駱塞爾在傍晚的時候帶著瘦削灰白的臉回來了；他一點什麽也沒有發現過。
“應當，”他說，“寫信給你那個女朋友說你弄斷了那串項鏈的搭鉤，現在正叫人在那裏修理。這樣我們就可以有周轉的時間。”
她在他的口授之下寫了這封信。
一星期以後，他們任何希望都消失了。並且駱塞爾像是老了五年，高聲說道：
“現在應當設法去賠這件寶貝了。”
第二天，他們拿了盛那件寶貝的盒子，照著盒子裏麵的招牌到了珠寶店裏，店裏的老板查過了許多賬簿。
“從前，太太，這串項鏈不是我店裏賣出去的，我隻做了這個盒子。”
於是他倆到一家家的首飾店去訪問了，尋覓一件和失掉的那件首飾相同的東西，憑著自己的記憶力做參考，他倆因為傷心和憂愁都快要生病了。
他們在故宮街一家小店裏找到了一串用金剛鑽鑲成的念珠，他們覺得正像他們尋覓的那一串。它值得四萬金法郎。店裏可以作三萬六千讓給他倆。
他們所以央求那小店的老板在三天之內不要賣掉這東西。並且另外說好了條件：倘若原有的那串在二月底以前找回來，店裏就用三萬四千金當郎收買這串回去。
駱塞爾本存著他父親從前留給他的一萬八千金法郎。剩下的數目就得去借了。
他動手借錢了，向這一個借一千金法郎，向那個借五百，向這裏借五枚魯意金元，向另一處又借三枚。他簽了許多借據，訂了許多破產性的契約，和那些盤剝重利的人，各種不同國籍的放款人打交道。他損害了自己後半生的前程，他不顧成敗利鈍冒險地簽上了自己的名姓，並且，想到了將來的苦惱，想到了就會壓在身上的黑暗貧窮，想到了整個物質上的匱乏和全部精神上的折磨造成的遠景，他感到恐怖了，終於走到那個珠寶商人的櫃台邊放下了三萬六千金法郎，取了那串新項鏈。
在駱塞爾太太把首飾還給伏來士潔太太的時候，這一位用一種不高興的神情向她說：
“你應當早點兒還給我，因為我也許要用它。”
她當時並沒有打開那隻盒子，這正是她的女朋友擔憂的事。倘若看破了這件代替品，她將要怎樣想？她難道不會把她當做一個賊？
駱塞爾太太嚐到了窮人的困窘生活了。此外，突然一下用英雄氣概打定了主意，那筆駭人的債是必須償還的。她預備償還它。他們辭退了女傭；搬了家；租了某處屋頂底下的一間閣樓下。
她開始做種種家務上的粗硬工作了，廚房裏可厭的日常任務了。她洗濯杯盤碗碟，在罐子鍋子的油垢底子上磨壞了那些玫瑰色的手指頭。內衣和抹布都由她親自用肥皂洗濯再晾到繩子上；每天早起，她搬運垃圾下樓，再把水提到樓上，每逢走完一層樓，就得坐在樓梯上喘口氣。並且穿著得像是一個平民婦人了，她挽著籃子走到蔬菜店裏、雜貨店裏和肉店裏去講價錢，去挨罵，極力一個銅元一個銅元地去防護她那點兒可憐的零錢。
每月都要收回好些借據，一麵另外立幾張新的去展緩日期。
她丈夫在傍晚的時候替一個商人謄清賬目，時常到了深夜，他還得抄錄那種五個銅元一麵的書。
末後，這種生活延長到十年之久。
十年之末，他倆居然還清了全部債務，連同高利貸者的利錢以及由利上加利滾成的數目。
駱塞爾太太像是老了。現在，她已經變成了貧苦人家的強健粗硬而且耐苦的婦人了。亂挽著頭發，歪歪地係著裙子，露著一雙發紅的手，高聲說話，大盆水洗地板。但是有時候她丈夫到辦公室裏去了，她獨自坐在窗前，於是就回想從前的那個晚會，那個跳舞會，在那裏，她當時是那樣美貌，那樣快活。
倘若當時沒有失掉那件首飾，她現在會走到什麽樣的境界？誰知道？誰知道？人生真是古怪，真是變化無常啊。無論是害您或者救您，隻消一點點小事。
然而，某一個星期日，她正走到香榭麗舍大街兜個圈子去調劑一周之中的日常勞作，這時候忽然看見了一個帶著孩子散步的婦人。那就是伏來士潔太太，她始終是年輕的，始終是美貌的，始終是有誘惑力的。
駱塞爾太太非常激動。要不要去和她攀談？對的，當然。並且自己現在已經還清了債務，可以徹底告訴她。為什麽不？她走近前去了。
“早安，約翰妮。”
那一位竟一點兒也不認識她了，以為自己被這個平民婦人這樣親熱地叫喚是件怪事，她支支吾吾地說：
“不過……這位太太！……我不知道……大概應當是您弄錯了。
“沒有錯。我是瑪蒂爾德·駱塞爾呀。”
她那個女朋友狂叫了一聲：
“噢！……可憐的瑪蒂爾德，你真變了樣子！……”
“對呀，我過了許多很艱苦的日子，自從我上一次見過你以後；並且種種苦楚都是為了你！……”
“為了我……這是怎樣一回事？”
“從前，你不是借了一串金剛鑽項鏈給我到部裏參加晚會，現在，你可還記得？”
“記得，怎樣呢？”
“怎樣，我丟了那串東西。”
“哪兒的話，你早已還給我了。”
“我從前還給你的是另外一串完全相同的。到現在，我們花了十年工夫才付清它的代價。像我們什麽也沒有的人，你明白這件事是不容易的……現在算是還清了帳，我是結結實實滿意的了。”
伏來士潔太太停住了腳步：
“你可是說從前買了一串金剛鑽項鏈來賠償我的那一串？”
“對呀，你從前簡直沒有看出來，是嗎？那兩串東西原是完全相同的。”
說完，她用一陣自負而又天真的快樂神氣微笑了。
伏來士潔太太很受感動了，抓住了她兩隻手：
“唉。可憐的瑪蒂爾德，不過我那一串本是假的，頂多值得五百金法郎！……”
(來源：http://www.clubsky.net/library/bookview_3498_3839.html)
來源: [ 美語世界 ]雅歌 於 07-07-06 17:03:16