索菲娅，冰冷的小房间里，大部分时间都回荡着争吵声，就像夫人独角连续剧，又被奇怪和不祥的沉默打断了。但是偶而先生好象失去了耐性，不再沉默，而是刺耳的、低沉的、生气的叫喊。夫人始终保持着高声的持续的尖叫而没有减弱，她的声音即使是在发怒时也带有一种奇怪的平板单调。但现在先生他在争吵声中的声音很高，柔和，带有强调性的语调而突然爆发，当他们都能听的见的，听起来就象一系列不同的形式的爆炸。呜呜呜呜，一只狗慢慢的的叫着。
过了一会儿，索菲娅不再注意他们的争吵了，修补着夫人的一个女式背心，修补时她必须得全神贯注，她感到很累，全身酸疼，又是一个辛苦天，昨天也是，前天也是，每天都很辛苦，她已经不再年轻了，两年前她都过五十岁了，从她有记忆时，每天过的都很辛苦，当她还是一个乡下小姑娘时，就经常背着成袋的土豆，蹒跚地走在泥泞的路上，每走十步就得歇歇，这永远没有个尽头，每天周而复始的重复着这繁重的工作。
She looked up from her sewing, moved her head from side to side, blinked. She had begun to see lights and spots of colour dancing before her eyes; it often happened to her now. a sort of yellowish bright worm was wriggling up towards the right-hand corner of her field of vision; and though it was always moving upwards, upwards, it was always there in the same place. And there were stars of red and green that snapped and brightened and faded all around the worm. They moved between her and her sewing; they were on with her work; Madame wanted her camisole most particularly tomorrow morning. But it was difficult to see round the worm.
她停止缝补抬起头，活动活动一下发僵的脖子，眨眨发胀的眼睛，感觉眼前金光乱飞，最近这种情况时常发生，一种黄色的虫子在她视野内蠕动，并且有红、绿的闪亮的星星围着这些虫子，它们有她与缝的衣服之前来回移动，当她闭上眼睛，仍然存在。过了一会儿，她继续缝补，夫人明天早上要穿她的长袖紧身外衣，但是这黄色的虫子在眼前晃动使得看手上的针线活很吃力.
There was suddenly a great increase of noise from the other end of the corridor. A door had opened; words articulated themselves.
“… Moi aussi,” Monsieur uttered a harsh, dangerous laugh.there was the sound of heavy footsteps in the passage, a rattling in the umbrella stand; then the front door banged.
突然另一个走廊的尽头的争吵声大了起来，门打开了，他们的争吵声清晰起来。
“要是你认为我是你的奴隶的活，我的朋友，那你就大错特错了，我做我自己想做的事”。
“我也是”，先生发出了一声刺耳的、吓人的笑声.
一阵阵有力的脚步声经过，咚咚地走进衣具间，然后前门咚的关上了。
Sophie looked down again at her work. Oh, the worm, the coloured stars, the aching fatigue in all her limbs! If one could only spend a whole day in bed- in a huge bed, feathery, warm, and soft, all the day long…
索菲娅又继续她的工作，哦，这个虫子，这些彩色星星，全身酸疼酸疼。如果能有一整天躺在一个很大的床上，轻软又暖和，持续一整天，真是太好了。
The ringing of the bell startled her. It always made her jump, that furious wasp-like buzzer. She got up, put her work down on the table, smoothed her apron, set straight her cap, and stepped out into the corridor. Once more the bell buzzed furiously. Madame was impatient.
夫人响铃叫她的声音打断了她的沉思，惊得她跳了起来，狂怒的声音就像蜂鸣器。她站起来放下手头的工作，展展围裙，整理好她的帽子。然后走向走廊尽头的房间，铃声再一次响起，夫人已没有耐心了。
“at last, Sophie. I thought you were never coming.”
“索菲娅，你总算出现了，我还以为你不过来了呢。”
Sophie said nothing; there was nothing to say. Madame was standing in front of the open wardrobe. A bundle of dresses hung over her arm, and there were more of them lying in a heap on the bed.
索菲娅一言不发，也没什么可说的，夫人站在打开的衣柜前，一捆衣服高高地堆在她的胳膊上，还有很多衣服堆在床上。
“Une beaute a la Rubens,” her husband used to call her when he was in an amorous mood. He liked these massive, splendid, great women. None of your flexible drain-pipes for him.”Helene Fourmont” was his pet name for her.
“真是一个鲁本斯式的美人”，当她丈夫含情脉脉地看着她，常常这样称呼她，他喜欢高大、热情的女人，那种体态窈窕柔软的细腿女郎可绝不合他的口味，Helene Fourmont，她每次都这样称呼她。
“some day,” Madame used to tell her friends, “some day I really must go to the Louvre and see my portrait. By Rubens, you know. It’s extraordinary that one should have lived all one’s life in Paris and never have seen the Louvre. Don't you think so?”
“总有一天”夫人常常对她的朋友说，“总有一天，我真得去卢浮宫看看我的画像，乘坐RUBENS，你知道的，这是另人兴奋的，有人一辈子住在巴黎却没去过卢浮宫，你也这样认为吧”。
She was superb tonight. Her cheeks were flushed; her blue eyes shone with an unusual brilliance between their long lashes, her short, red-brown hair had broken wildly loose.
今晚她状态好极了，脸颊红红的，蓝色的眼睛在经过长时间的争吵后闪着不同建党的光彩，她那短的、红褐色的头发零乱的松散着。
“Tomorrow, Sophie,” she said dramatically, “we start for Rome. Tomorrow morning.” She unhooked another dress from the wardrobe as she spoke, and threw it on to the bed. With the movement her dressing-gown flew open, and there was a vision of ornate underclothing and white exuberant flesh. “we must pack at once.”
“For how long, Madame?”
“A fortnight, three months- how should I know?”
“It makes a difference, Madame.”
“The important thing is to get away. I shall not return to this house, after what has been said to me tonight, till I am humbly asked to.”
她戏剧性地说，“索菲娅，明天我们去罗马，明天早上”，她边说边从衣柜里解开了另一件裙子的钩子，把裙子也扔在床上，随着她的动作她的睡袍飘了开来，那是一件有很多蕾丝的很暴露的内衣，“我们必须马上打包”。
“去多久呢，夫人？”
“两个星期、三个月，-我怎么知道去多久？”
“它是不一样的，夫人。”
“重要的事情是离开，在他今晚对我说过这样的话之后，我是决不会再回到这座房子里来了，除非他低声下气的求我”，
“we had better take the large trunk,then, Madame; I will go and fetch it.”
“那么，我们最好拿一个大的皮箱，夫人，我去取一个来”。
The air in the box-room was sickly with the smell of dust and leather. The big trunk was jammed in a far corner. She had to bend and strain at it in order to pull it out. The worm and the coloured stars flickered before her eyes; she felt dizzy when she straightened herself up. “I’ll help you to pack, Sophie,” said Madame, when the servant returned, dragging the heavy trunk after her. What the servant returned, dragging the heavy trunk after her. What a death’s-head the old woman looked nowadays! She hated having old, ugly people near her. But Sophie was so efficient; it would be madness to get rid of her.
存放箱子等杂物的储藏间里弥漫着灰尘和皮革的气味，一只大皮箱混杂在较远的角落里，她弯腰用力想把皮箱拉出来，虫子和彩色的星星又出现在眼前，当直起身时感到一阵眩晕。当她拖着一个沉重箱子回来后，“索菲娅，我帮你打包”，夫人说。今天这个老女人看起来象个骷髅头，她不喜欢老的丑陋的人在她身边，但索菲娅做事效率很高，解雇她是很愚蠢的行为。
“Madame need not trouble.” There would be no end to it, Sophie knew, if Madame started opening drawers and throwing things about. “Madame had much better go to bed. It's late.”
“夫人不需要麻烦”，那将没个尽头，索菲娅知道，如果夫人开始打抽屉扔一些东西，“夫人最好睡觉吧，已经很晚了”，
No, no. she wouldn’t be able to sleep. She was to such a degree enervated. These men… what an embeastment! One was not their slave. One would not be treated in this way.
不，不，她不能睡，她已经被折腾得虚弱不堪了，这些男人——简直是不把人当人看，谁也不是他们的奴隶，不能用这种方法对待呀。
Sophie was packing. A whole day in bed, in a huge, soft bed, like Madame’s. one would doze, one would wake up for a moment, one would doze again.
索菲娅打着包，一整天地躺在一个大的舒适的床上，一会儿睡，一会儿醒，又再睡一会儿是多么惬意啊。
“His latest game,” Madame was saying indignantly, “is to tell me he hasn't got any money. I’m not to buy any clothes, he says. Too grotesque. I can't go about naked, can I ?” She threw out her hands. “and as for saying he can’t afford, that’s simply nonsense. He can, perfectly well. Only he’s mean, mean, horribly mean. And if he’d only do a little honest work, for a change, instead of writing silly verses and publishing them at his own expense, he’s for, I should like to know? ‘ you must be proud of having a poet for a husband,’ he says,” she made her voice quaver like an old man’s.” it’s all I can do not to laugh in his face. ‘ and what beautiful verses Hegesippe writes about you! What passion, what fire!” thinking of the old man, she grimaced, wobbled her head, shook her finger, doddered on her legs.”and when one reflects that poor Hegesippe is bald, and dyes the few hairs he has left.” She laughed. “as for the passion he talks so much about in his beastly verses, ” she laughed- “that’s all pure invention. But, my good Sophie, what are you thinking of? Why are you packing that hideous old green dress?”
“这是他最后的花招”，夫人愤怒的说，“告诉我他没赚到多少钱，我不能买任何衣服，太荒唐了，我不能不穿衣服，对吧？”她摊开两只手说，“就象他说他负担不起，简直胡说八道，他完全有能力，这仅仅是他的想法，他的想法，可怕的想法，如果他那怕一点正经的工作，做一点改变，代替他写那些可笑的散文并自己出钱发行，他有大量空闲”，她在屋里走来走去，“另外”，她继续说到，“他有个老父亲，我倒要问问，他这个当老爹的是干吗的？‘你必须感到骄傲，有一首诗是你丈夫的，他说”她使她的声音颤抖的像个老头似的，“这都使我看不起他，有关写你的这些诗多美呀，多么有激情啊！”一想到这老头子，她就开始做鬼脸，晃脑袋，摇手指，还颤抖着两条腿，“当反映可怜的Hegesipe是个秃头时，仅有的几根头发留在那里”，她笑道：“他富有激情地谈论那些糟透的诗时”，她继续笑道，“那是全部单纯的创意，但是我的好索菲娅，你想什么呢？你为什么要打包这条丑陋的绿裙子？”
Sophie pulled out the dress without saying anything. Why did the woman choose this night to look so terribly ill? She had a yellow face and blue teeth. Madam shuddered; it was too horrible. She ought to send her to bed. But, after all, the work had to be done. What could one do about it? She felt more than ever aggrieved.
-索菲娅一言不发地把那条裙子拿了出来，为什么今晚这个女人看起来象得了重病，她那一张蜡黄的脸和蓝色的牙齿，夫人颤抖了一下，这真是太糟糕了，她应该让她去休息，但是，毕竟，这个工作必须得做完才行，要做点什么呢？她感到比任何时候都烦恼。
“生活是多么可怕啊”，她叹着气重重地坐在床沿上，他们入睡前，快乐的气氛让她感到舒服过一次两次，“象这样我和一个男人结婚，我将很快变得又老又肥，再也不诚实，但是看看他是怎样对待我的”，她又站了起来，在房间里毫无目标的走动，“我不愿忍受了”，她爆发了，她站在一长镜子前，欣赏着自己优美的手指，没有人会相信，看着她是三十多岁的人了，镜子里她美丽的身形后面，有一个瘦的，不可思议的老怪物，一副蜡黄脸和蓝牙齿，俯身在整理箱子，真的太让人讨厌了，索菲娅就象一个在寒冷早晨，站在路边阴沟旁的乞丐，为什么不快点过去，尽量不看到他们？或者停下来，打开钱包，给他们个铜板和镍子，甚至多一点，给两法郎的票子，如果你没有改变，无论怎样你去做了，一直感到不舒服，你总是为自己穿了毛皮大衣而感到歉意，这就是走路招来的，如果你有车，但它又是另一个Hegesippe的意味，不看，人坐在关着的车窗后面就不必非得注意她们不可了，她转身离开了镜子。
“我不愿忍受它”，她说，尽力不去想那些女乞丐，长着蓝色牙齿的蜡黄脸。
“我不愿忍受”，她猛坐在椅子一。
但想到一个情人长着一个蜡黄脸和蓝色的高低不平的牙齿，她闭上眼睛，颤栗的想着，这足以使一个人生病的。她的感觉迫使她转向另一个方向，索菲娅的眼睛呈现浅绿色，没有生命力，这个人做什么呢？这个女人的脸被责备、控告；另外，她的眼神让她感觉贫病交加，她从没感觉这样无力过。
索菲娅扶着膝盖慢慢站起来，脸上呈上痛苦的表情，慢慢地她走向抽屉处，慢慢地数出六件长筒丝袜，转向大箱子，这个女人就象一个走路的僵尸。
“生活太可怕了”，夫人发自肺腑的重复着，“太可怕了，太可怕了。”她应该让这个女人去睡觉，但她自己不愿意打包，并且明天早上离开时，这个箱子很重要，她告诉Hegesippe她要走了，他只是笑笑，他不相信，这次她一定给他个教训，在罗马，她去看Luigino,一个相当迷人的男孩，也是个侯爵，也许---但除了索菲娅的脸，她什么也想不起来，一双没活力的眼睛，浅蓝色的牙齿，黄色皱皱的皮肤。
“索菲娅”，她突然说，很困难的控制她自己的尖叫，“看看我的梳妆台，你会看到一个胭脂盒，是朵琳24号，扑一点在你的脸颊上，在右手抽屉里有一管口红”。当索菲娅伴随着关节发出可怕的咔咔声中站了起来，她闭上了眼睛。索菲娅走向梳妆台，站在那儿，微弱的沙沙声，前后似乎花了很长时间，人生是什么啊上帝，这是什么人生啊，缓慢的脚步又走回来了，她睁开眼，哦，好多了，好多了。
“谢谢你，索菲娅，现在你看起来不那么疲劳了”，她活泼地让起来，“现在我们必须快点”，充满活力的她跑向衣柜，“仁慈的我”，她叫道，猛举起双手，“你忘了放我的蓝色晚礼服了，你也太愚蠢了，索菲娅？”。
温馨提示：答案为网友推荐，仅供参考