通译双语文库:悲惨世界(牛津简读版)7. 爱与死|7. Love and Death

19世纪30年代的法国。富人乘坐马车，用金餐具吃喝。穷人没有工作，没有食物，没有希望——他们是穷苦人，起义一触即发。法国人民还记得1789年的法国大革命。当时，民众在巴黎街头筑起街垒，死去的人数以千计。这样的时刻又要到来了吗? 这是冉阿让的故事。他坐了19年的牢，终于恢复了自由身。可是，他怎么生活，到哪里去找工作呢?像他这样一个人，还有什么希望呢?这也是沙威的故事，他是一个督察，一个残忍的人，一个冷酷的人。他的人生只有一个目标——把冉阿让再次送进大牢。这还是芳汀的故事，芳汀和她的女儿珂赛特。她们的故事是怎样改变了冉阿让的一生?这也是马吕斯的故事。他是巴黎的一名学生，做好了为起义而牺牲的准备——或是为爱情而死。最后，还有伽弗洛什——一个在巴黎街头流浪的孩子，他没有家，没有亲人，没有鞋穿……可他的脸上总是挂着笑容，心中总是有歌儿在欢唱。
不过，我们要先从冉阿让讲起……
France in the 1830s. The rich ride in carriages, and eat from gold plates. The poor have no work, no food, no hope – they are Les Misérables, and rebellion is in the air. France remembers the French Revolution in 1789, when the people built barricades in the streets of Paris, and the dead were counted in thousands. Is that time coming again?
This is the story of Jean Valjean. A prisoner for nineteen years, now at last he is a free man. But how can he live, where can he find work? What hope is there for a man like him? It is also the story of Javert, a police inspector, a cruel man, a hard man. He wants one thing in life – to send Valjean back to prison. And it is Fantine’s story too, Fantine and her daughter Cosette. How does their story change Valjean’s life? And it is also Marius’s story. He is a student in Paris, ready to die for the rebellion – or for love. And last, there is Gavroche – a boy of the Paris streets, with no home, no family, no shoes... But a boy with a smile on his face and a song in his heart.
But we begin with Jean Valjean...

	FOREWORD [’fɔːwɜːd]	n.前言;序
	franc [fræŋk]	n.法郎
	candlestick [’kændlstɪk]	n.烛台
	past [pɑːst]	a. 过去的;
	dearest [’dɪərɪst]	n.最亲爱的人;最可爱的人
	dearly [’dɪəli]	adv.深深地;真挚地;昂贵地

7. 爱与死|7. Love and Death

引言

FOREWORD

这两个年轻人得知了一个意外的消息。冉阿让告诉他们，珂赛特有钱了，很大一笔钱。她拥有60万法郎。这让马吕斯的祖父十分高兴，不过这两个年轻人心里想的只有爱，并不在乎钱。

There is a surprise for the young people. Cosette has money, a lot of money, Valjean tells them. She has six hundred thousand francs. This pleases Marius’s grandfather very much, but the young people are only interested in love, not in money.

这笔钱是从哪儿来的呢？许多年前，在冉阿让还是开工厂的马德兰先生时，他是一个富有的人。离开蒙特勒伊之前，他把这笔钱和主教的烛台藏到了一个秘密的地方。他需要钱的时候，就到那里去取。

Where does it come from, this money? Years ago, when Valjean was Monsieur Madeleine with a factory, he was a rich man. Before he left Montreuil, he took his money and the bishop’s candlesticks to a secret place. When he needs money, he goes back there.

现在这笔钱是珂赛特的了，烛台则摆在武人街冉阿让的家里。它们看上去十分漂亮，杜桑每天都要把它们擦拭一番。

Now this money is for Cosette, and the candlesticks stand in Valjean’s house in the Rue de l’Homme-Armé. They look very fine, and Toussaint cleans them every day.

每个人都开始了新的生活，不过还有些过去的秘密，冉阿让想要告诉他们。他觉得自己老了，累了。他觉得死神终于要找上门来了。他把珂赛特和马吕斯叫到了自己的床边。

A new life begins for everybody, but there are still secrets from the past, and Valjean wants to tell them. He feels old and tired. Death is coming for him at last, he feels. He calls Cosette and Marius to his bedside.

“听好了，最亲爱的珂赛特，这是你妈妈的故事。”他说。珂赛特听到了芳汀一生悲惨的遭遇。她知道了冉阿让不是他的亲生父亲，可她对冉阿让说，她这辈子只有一个父亲，那就是冉阿让。

Listen, dearest Cosette, to the story of your mother,’ he says. Cosette hears the story of Fantine’s sad life. She learns that Valjean is not her real father, but in her life there is only one father, and that is Valjean, she tells him.

“靠近点，我的孩子们。”他说，“我非常爱你们，我现在可以高兴地闭眼了。靠近点，抓住我的手。”

Come closer, my children,’ he says. ’I love you dearly, and I die happy. Come closer, and take my hands.’

珂赛特和马吕斯偎依在他的床边，抓住他的手哭了起来。他的一双大手僵住了，再也不动了。他仰面躺在那里，主教的烛台上燃着的烛光照在他的脸上。

Cosette and Marius are by his bed, holding his hands and crying. His great hands are still, and do not move again. He lies with his head turned up to the sky, and the light from the bishop’s candlesticks falls upon his face.