第五章（第10/13页）

It was strange...the prostitution to the bitch-goddess. To Connie, since she was really outside of it, and since she had grown numb to the thrill of it, it was again nothingness. Even the prostitution to the bitch-goddess was nothingness, though the men prostituted themselves innumerable times. Nothingness even that.

这真是令人费解的选择……将自己出卖给堕落女神。由于完全置身事外，丝毫体验不到激动的感觉，因此，在康妮眼中，成功同样难以跳脱虚无的藩篱。虽然这两个男人无数次地向堕落女神献身，但这种出卖灵魂的行为也根本没有任何意义。一切都只是虚无而已。

Michaelis wrote to Clifford about the play. Of course she knew about it long ago. And Clifford was again thrilled. He was going to be displayed again this time, somebody was going to display him, and to advantage. He invited Michaelis down to Wragby with Act I.

米凯利斯写信给克利福德，探讨剧本的创作。对此，康妮当然早已知情。克利福德再度陷入亢奋的状态。这次又捞到机会炫耀自己，且是假他人之手来吹嘘和抬高自己。他邀请米凯利斯带着剧本的第一幕，到拉格比做客。

Michaelis came: in summer, in a pale-coloured suit and white suede gloves, with mauve orchids for Connie, very lovely, and Act I was a great success. Even Connie was thrilled...thrilled to what bit of marrow she had left. And Michaelis, thrilled by his power to thrill, was really wonderful...and quite beautiful, in Connie's eyes. She saw in him that ancient motionlessness of a race that can't be disillusioned any more, an extreme, perhaps, of impurity that is pure. On the far side of his supreme prostitution to the bitch-goddess he seemed pure, pure as an African ivory mask that dreams impurity into purity, in its ivory curves and planes.

夏日时分，米凯利斯如约而至，身着浅色西装，手戴麂皮手套，将淡紫色兰花送给康妮，举止深情款款，而第一幕也写得精彩绝伦。甚至连康妮也激动不已……连骨髓里仅存的角落也为之陶醉。米凯利斯对自己非凡的魅力深感得意，康妮更是认为他无与伦比……玉树临风。在他身上，康妮发现不再幻灭的古老民族根深蒂固的静谧，某种猥亵到极致的纯洁。急不可耐地献身堕落女神固然可耻，但从远处端详，他却又似乎极其纯洁，如同毫无瑕疵的非洲象牙面具，那精雕细琢而成的曲线和平面，让人将所有的污点都想象成纯洁。

His moment of sheer thrill with the two Chatterleys, when he simply carried Connie and Clifford away, was one of the supreme moments of Michaelis' life. He had succeeded: he had carried them away. Even Clifford was temporarily in love with him...if that is the way one can put it.

米凯利斯与查泰莱夫妇相处得极其融洽，两人都为他而倾倒，这堪称其生命中的巅峰时刻之一。他获得了成功，让夫妻俩神魂颠倒。甚至克利福德都一度爱上了他……如果这个词能被用在同性之间。

So next morning Mick was more uneasy than ever; restless, devoured, with his hands restless in his trousers pockets. Connie had not visited him in the night...and he had not known where to find her. Coquetry!...at his moment of triumph.

因此，次日清晨，米克更觉得全身不自在，他坐立不安，心急火燎，插在裤兜里的双手也片刻不宁。康妮昨晚没来与他幽会……而他也不晓得到哪儿才能找到她。她竟然吊他的胃口！在他正觉春风得意的时刻。

He went up to her sitting-room in the morning. She knew he would come. And his restlessness was evident. He asked her about his play...did she think it good? He had to hear it praised: that affected him with the last thin thrill of passion beyond any sexual orgasm. And she praised it rapturously. Yet all the while, at the bottom of her soul, she knew it was nothing.

上午，他上楼去起居室找她。她早料到他会来。他烦乱的情绪表露无疑。他征求她对剧本的意见……问她是否觉得出色？他渴望听到她的赞美，这种赞美能够让他体验到最后一丝激动，甚至超过任何性高潮时的快感。她眉飞色舞地对剧本大加褒奖。但在内心深处，她却深知那作品其实毫无价值。

"Look here!" he said suddenly at last. "Why don't you and I make a clean thing of it? Why don't we marry?” "But I am married," she said, amazed, and yet feeling nothing.

“听我说！”最后他突然说。“为何你我不干脆把事情挑明？为何你不嫁给我？”“但我已经身为人妇。”她惊讶地说，但却没有丝毫多余的感觉。

"Oh that!.. he'll divorce you all right. Why don't you and I marry? I want to marry. I know it would be the best thing for me...marry and lead a regular life. I lead the deuce of a life, simply tearing myself to pieces. Look here, you and I, we're made for one another...hand and glove. Why don't we marry? Do you see any reason why we shouldn't?” Connie looked at him amazed: and yet she felt nothing. These men, they were all alike, they left everything out. They just went off from the top of their heads as if they were squibs, and expected you to be carried heavenwards along with their own thin sticks.