III. We Compare Notes III. Comparamos as notas III. Сравниваем ноты

We followed the cortege with our eyes until it was swiftly lost to sight in the misty wood; and the very sound of the hoofs and the wheels died away in the silent night air. Nous suivions le cortège des yeux jusqu'à ce qu'il soit rapidement perdu de vue dans le bois brumeux ; et le bruit même des sabots et des roues mourut dans l'air silencieux de la nuit.

Nothing remained to assure us that the adventure had not been an illusion of a moment but the young lady, who just at that moment opened her eyes. I could not see, for her face was turned from me, but she raised her head, evidently looking about her, and I heard a very sweet voice ask complainingly, "Where is mamma?" Je ne pouvais pas voir, car son visage était détourné de moi, mais elle leva la tête, regardant évidemment autour d'elle, et j'entendis une voix très douce demander en se plaignant : « Où est maman ?

Our good Madame Perrodon answered tenderly, and added some comfortable assurances.

I then heard her ask:

"Where am I? What is this place?" and after that she said, "I don't see the carriage; and Matska, where is she?"

Madame answered all her questions in so far as she understood them; and gradually the young lady remembered how the misadventure came about, and was glad to hear that no one in, or in attendance on, the carriage was hurt; and on learning that her mamma had left her here, till her return in about three months, she wept.

I was going to add my consolations to those of Madame Perrodon when Mademoiselle De Lafontaine placed her hand upon my arm, saying:

"Don't approach, one at a time is as much as she can at present converse with; a very little excitement would possibly overpower her now." « Ne vous approchez pas, un à la fois, c'est tout ce avec quoi elle peut actuellement converser ; un tout petit peu d'excitation la dominerait peut-être maintenant. »

As soon as she is comfortably in bed, I thought, I will run up to her room and see her. Dès qu'elle sera confortablement au lit, pensai-je, je vais courir dans sa chambre et la voir.

My father in the meantime had sent a servant on horseback for the physician, who lived about two leagues away; and a bedroom was being prepared for the young lady's reception.

The stranger now rose, and leaning on Madame's arm, walked slowly over the drawbridge and into the castle gate.

In the hall, servants waited to receive her, and she was conducted forthwith to her room. Dans le vestibule, des serviteurs l'attendaient pour la recevoir, et on la conduisit aussitôt dans sa chambre. The room we usually sat in as our drawing room is long, having four windows, that looked over the moat and drawbridge, upon the forest scene I have just described. La pièce où nous nous asseyions habituellement comme notre salon est longue, ayant quatre fenêtres, qui donnaient sur les douves et le pont-levis, sur la scène de forêt que je viens de décrire.

It is furnished in old carved oak, with large carved cabinets, and the chairs are cushioned with crimson Utrecht velvet. Il est meublé en vieux chêne sculpté, avec de grandes armoires sculptées, et les chaises sont rembourrées de velours d'Utrecht cramoisi. The walls are covered with tapestry, and surrounded with great gold frames, the figures being as large as life, in ancient and very curious costume, and the subjects represented are hunting, hawking, and generally festive. Les murs sont recouverts de tapisserie et entourés de grands cadres d'or, les personnages étant aussi grands que nature, en costume antique et très curieux, et les sujets représentés sont la chasse, le colportage et généralement la fête. It is not too stately to be extremely comfortable; and here we had our tea, for with his usual patriotic leanings he insisted that the national beverage should make its appearance regularly with our coffee and chocolate. Ce n'est pas trop majestueux pour être extrêmement confortable ; et ici nous avons pris notre thé, car avec ses penchants patriotiques habituels il a insisté pour que la boisson nationale devrait faire son apparition régulièrement avec notre café et chocolat.

We sat here this night, and with candles lighted, were talking over the adventure of the evening.

Madame Perrodon and Mademoiselle De Lafontaine were both of our party. The young stranger had hardly lain down in her bed when she sank into a deep sleep; and those ladies had left her in the care of a servant. La jeune étrangère s'était à peine allongée dans son lit qu'elle sombra dans un profond sommeil ; et ces dames l'avaient laissée aux soins d'un domestique.

"How do you like our guest?" « Comment aimez-vous notre invité ? » I asked, as soon as Madame entered. "Tell me all about her?"

"I like her extremely," answered Madame, "she is, I almost think, the prettiest creature I ever saw; about your age, and so gentle and nice."

"She is absolutely beautiful," threw in Mademoiselle, who had peeped for a moment into the stranger's room. — Elle est absolument magnifique, lança mademoiselle, qui avait jeté un coup d'œil un instant dans la chambre de l'inconnu.

"And such a sweet voice!" added Madame Perrodon.

"Did you remark a woman in the carriage, after it was set up again, who did not get out," inquired Mademoiselle, "but only looked from the window?" — Avez-vous remarqué une femme dans la voiture, après sa remise en place, qui n'est pas descendue, demanda mademoiselle, mais qui n'a regardé que par la fenêtre ?

"No, we had not seen her."

Then she described a hideous black woman, with a sort of colored turban on her head, and who was gazing all the time from the carriage window, nodding and grinning derisively towards the ladies, with gleaming eyes and large white eyeballs, and her teeth set as if in fury. Puis elle décrivit une hideuse femme noire, avec une sorte de turban coloré sur la tête, et qui regardait tout le temps par la fenêtre de la voiture, hochant la tête et souriant avec dérision vers les dames, avec des yeux brillants et de grands globes oculaires blancs, et ses dents serrées comme en furie.

"Did you remark what an ill-looking pack of men the servants were?" « Avez-vous remarqué quelle meute d'hommes déplaisants étaient les serviteurs ? asked Madame.

"Yes," said my father, who had just come in, "ugly, hang-dog looking fellows as ever I beheld in my life. « Oui », a déclaré mon père, qui venait d'entrer, « des gars laids à l'allure de chien pendu comme je n'en ai jamais vu de ma vie. I hope they mayn't rob the poor lady in the forest. J'espère qu'ils ne voleront pas la pauvre dame dans la forêt. They are clever rogues, however; they got everything to rights in a minute." Ce sont des coquins intelligents, cependant; ils ont tout réglé en une minute."

"I dare say they are worn out with too long traveling," said Madame. — J'ose dire qu'ils sont fatigués de trop longs voyages, dit Madame.

"Besides looking wicked, their faces were so strangely lean, and dark, and sullen. "En plus d'avoir l'air méchant, leurs visages étaient si étrangement maigres, sombres et maussades. I am very curious, I own; but I dare say the young lady will tell you all about it tomorrow, if she is sufficiently recovered." Je suis très curieux, je possède ; mais j'ose dire que la demoiselle vous racontera tout demain, si elle est suffisamment rétablie.

"I don't think she will," said my father, with a mysterious smile, and a little nod of his head, as if he knew more about it than he cared to tell us.

This made us all the more inquisitive as to what had passed between him and the lady in the black velvet, in the brief but earnest interview that had immediately preceded her departure. Cela nous rendit d'autant plus curieux de savoir ce qui s'était passé entre lui et la dame au velours noir, dans la brève mais sérieuse entrevue qui avait immédiatement précédé son départ.

We were scarcely alone, when I entreated him to tell me. Nous étions à peine seuls, que je le suppliai de me le dire. He did not need much pressing. Il n'a pas eu besoin de beaucoup de pression.

"There is no particular reason why I should not tell you. She expressed a reluctance to trouble us with the care of her daughter, saying she was in delicate health, and nervous, but not subject to any kind of seizure--she volunteered that--nor to any illusion; being, in fact, perfectly sane." Elle a exprimé une réticence à nous déranger avec les soins de sa fille, disant qu'elle était de santé fragile et nerveuse, mais qu'elle n'était sujette à aucune sorte de crise - elle l'a volontairement - ni à aucune illusion ; étant, en fait, parfaitement sain d'esprit."

"How very odd to say all that!" « Comme c'est étrange de dire tout ça ! I interpolated. "It was so unnecessary."

"At all events it was said," he laughed, "and as you wish to know all that passed, which was indeed very little, I tell you. « En tout cas, on l'a dit, dit-il en riant, et comme vous voulez savoir tout ce qui s'est passé, ce qui était bien peu, je vous le dis. She then said, 'I am making a long journey of vital importance--she emphasized the word--rapid and secret; I shall return for my child in three months; in the meantime, she will be silent as to who we are, whence we come, and whither we are traveling.' Elle dit alors : « Je fais un long voyage d'une importance vitale – elle insista sur le mot – rapide et secret ; je reviendrai chercher mon enfant dans trois mois ; en attendant, elle gardera le silence sur qui nous sommes, d'où nous venons et où nous voyageons. That is all she said. She spoke very pure French. When she said the word 'secret,' she paused for a few seconds, looking sternly, her eyes fixed on mine. I fancy she makes a great point of that. You saw how quickly she was gone. I hope I have not done a very foolish thing, in taking charge of the young lady."

For my part, I was delighted. I was longing to see and talk to her; and only waiting till the doctor should give me leave. You, who live in towns, can have no idea how great an event the introduction of a new friend is, in such a solitude as surrounded us.

The doctor did not arrive till nearly one o'clock; but I could no more have gone to my bed and slept, than I could have overtaken, on foot, the carriage in which the princess in black velvet had driven away. Le docteur n'arriva que vers une heure ; mais je n'aurais pas plus pu aller me coucher et dormir, que je n'aurais pu rattraper à pied la voiture dans laquelle la princesse en velours noir s'était éloignée.

When the physician came down to the drawing room, it was to report very favorably upon his patient. She was now sitting up, her pulse quite regular, apparently perfectly well. She had sustained no injury, and the little shock to her nerves had passed away quite harmlessly. Elle n'avait subi aucune blessure, et le petit choc à ses nerfs s'était passé de manière tout à fait inoffensive. There could be no harm certainly in my seeing her, if we both wished it; and, with this permission I sent, forthwith, to know whether she would allow me to visit her for a few minutes in her room.

The servant returned immediately to say that she desired nothing more.

You may be sure I was not long in availing myself of this permission. Vous pouvez être sûr que je n'ai pas tardé à me prévaloir de cette permission.

Our visitor lay in one of the handsomest rooms in the schloss. It was, perhaps, a little stately. There was a somber piece of tapestry opposite the foot of the bed, representing Cleopatra with the asps to her bosom; and other solemn classic scenes were displayed, a little faded, upon the other walls. Il y avait un sombre morceau de tapisserie en face du pied du lit, représentant Cléopâtre avec les aspics sur sa poitrine ; et d'autres scènes classiques solennelles s'étalaient, un peu fanées, sur les autres murs. But there was gold carving, and rich and varied color enough in the other decorations of the room, to more than redeem the gloom of the old tapestry. Mais il y avait de l'or sculpté et des couleurs suffisamment riches et variées dans les autres décorations de la pièce, pour plus que racheter la tristesse de la vieille tapisserie.

There were candles at the bedside. She was sitting up; her slender pretty figure enveloped in the soft silk dressing gown, embroidered with flowers, and lined with thick quilted silk, which her mother had thrown over her feet as she lay upon the ground. Elle était assise ; sa jolie silhouette élancée enveloppée dans la robe de chambre en soie douce, brodée de fleurs et doublée d'une épaisse soie matelassée, que sa mère avait jetée sur ses pieds pendant qu'elle s'étendait sur le sol.

What was it that, as I reached the bedside and had just begun my little greeting, struck me dumb in a moment, and made me recoil a step or two from before her? Qu'est-ce qui, alors que j'arrivais au chevet et que je venais de commencer ma petite salutation, me rendit muet en un instant et me fit reculer d'un pas ou deux devant elle ? I will tell you.

I saw the very face which had visited me in my childhood at night, which remained so fixed in my memory, and on which I had for so many years so often ruminated with horror, when no one suspected of what I was thinking. Je voyais le visage même qui m'avait visité dans mon enfance la nuit, qui restait si fixé dans ma mémoire, et sur lequel j'avais tant d'années ruminé avec horreur, quand personne ne se doutait de ce que je pensais.

It was pretty, even beautiful; and when I first beheld it, wore the same melancholy expression.

But this almost instantly lighted into a strange fixed smile of recognition. Mais cela s'est presque instantanément éclairé en un étrange sourire fixe de reconnaissance.

There was a silence of fully a minute, and then at length she spoke; I could not.

"How wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Twelve years ago, I saw your face in a dream, and it has haunted me ever since."

"Wonderful indeed!" I repeated, overcoming with an effort the horror that had for a time suspended my utterances. répétai-je, surmontant avec effort l'horreur qui avait suspendu pour un temps mes propos. "Twelve years ago, in vision or reality, I certainly saw you. I could not forget your face. It has remained before my eyes ever since."

Her smile had softened. Whatever I had fancied strange in it, was gone, and it and her dimpling cheeks were now delightfully pretty and intelligent. Tout ce que j'avais trouvé étrange dedans avait disparu, et elle et ses joues capitonnées étaient maintenant délicieusement jolies et intelligentes.

I felt reassured, and continued more in the vein which hospitality indicated, to bid her welcome, and to tell her how much pleasure her accidental arrival had given us all, and especially what a happiness it was to me. Je me sentis rassuré et continuai davantage dans la veine que l'hospitalité indiquait, pour lui souhaiter la bienvenue, et lui dire combien son arrivée accidentelle nous avait fait plaisir à tous, et surtout quel bonheur ce fut pour moi.

I took her hand as I spoke. I was a little shy, as lonely people are, but the situation made me eloquent, and even bold. She pressed my hand, she laid hers upon it, and her eyes glowed, as, looking hastily into mine, she smiled again, and blushed. Elle me serra la main, elle posa la sienne dessus, et ses yeux brillèrent, tandis que, regardant précipitamment dans les miens, elle souriait encore et rougissait.

She answered my welcome very prettily. I sat down beside her, still wondering; and she said:

"I must tell you my vision about you; it is so very strange that you and I should have had, each of the other so vivid a dream, that each should have seen, I you and you me, looking as we do now, when of course we both were mere children. "Je dois te raconter ma vision de toi; c'est tellement étrange que toi et moi aurions eu, l'un l'autre un rêve si vif, que chacun aurait vu, moi toi et toi moi, regardant comme nous le faisons maintenant, quand bien sûr nous étions tous les deux de simples enfants. I was a child, about six years old, and I awoke from a confused and troubled dream, and found myself in a room, unlike my nursery, wainscoted clumsily in some dark wood, and with cupboards and bedsteads, and chairs, and benches placed about it. J'étais un enfant, environ six ans, et je me suis réveillé d'un rêve confus et troublé, et je me suis retrouvé dans une pièce, contrairement à ma chambre d'enfant, maladroitement lambrissée dans du bois sombre, et avec des armoires et des sommiers, des chaises et des bancs placés à propos de ça. The beds were, I thought, all empty, and the room itself without anyone but myself in it; and I, after looking about me for some time, and admiring especially an iron candlestick with two branches, which I should certainly know again, crept under one of the beds to reach the window; but as I got from under the bed, I heard someone crying; and looking up, while I was still upon my knees, I saw you--most assuredly you--as I see you now; a beautiful young lady, with golden hair and large blue eyes, and lips--your lips--you as you are here. Les lits étaient, pensais-je, tous vides, et la chambre elle-même sans personne d'autre que moi dedans ; et moi, après avoir regardé quelque temps autour de moi, et admiré surtout un chandelier de fer à deux branches, que je reconnaitrais certainement, me glissai sous l'un des lits pour gagner la fenêtre ; mais alors que je sortais de sous le lit, j'entendis quelqu'un pleurer ; et levant les yeux, tandis que j'étais encore à genoux, je t'ai vu, assurément toi, comme je te vois maintenant ; une belle jeune femme, avec des cheveux d'or et de grands yeux bleus, et des lèvres--vos lèvres--vous comme vous êtes ici.

"Your looks won me; I climbed on the bed and put my arms about you, and I think we both fell asleep. « Votre apparence m'a conquis ; je suis monté sur le lit et j'ai mis mes bras autour de vous, et je pense que nous nous sommes endormis tous les deux. I was aroused by a scream; you were sitting up screaming. I was frightened, and slipped down upon the ground, and, it seemed to me, lost consciousness for a moment; and when I came to myself, I was again in my nursery at home. J'eus peur, je glissai sur le sol et, me sembla-t-il, je perdis connaissance un instant ; et quand je suis revenu à moi, j'étais de nouveau dans ma pépinière à la maison. Your face I have never forgotten since. I could not be misled by mere resemblance. You are the lady whom I saw then."

It was now my turn to relate my corresponding vision, which I did, to the undisguised wonder of my new acquaintance. C'était maintenant à mon tour de relier ma vision correspondante, ce que j'ai fait, à l'émerveillement non dissimulé de ma nouvelle connaissance.

"I don't know which should be most afraid of the other," she said, again smiling--"If you were less pretty I think I should be very much afraid of you, but being as you are, and you and I both so young, I feel only that I have made your acquaintance twelve years ago, and have already a right to your intimacy; at all events it does seem as if we were destined, from our earliest childhood, to be friends. « Je ne sais pas laquelle devrait avoir le plus peur de l'autre », dit-elle en souriant à nouveau. « Si vous étiez moins jolie, je pense que j'aurais très peur de vous, mais étant comme vous êtes, tous deux si jeunes, je sens seulement que j'ai fait votre connaissance il y a douze ans, et que j'ai déjà droit à votre intimité ; en tout cas il me semble que nous étions destinés, dès notre plus tendre enfance, à être amis. I wonder whether you feel as strangely drawn towards me as I do to you; I have never had a friend--shall I find one now?" Je me demande si vous vous sentez aussi étrangement attiré vers moi que je le suis vers vous ; Je n'ai jamais eu d'ami, dois-je en trouver un maintenant ? » She sighed, and her fine dark eyes gazed passionately on me.

Now the truth is, I felt rather unaccountably towards the beautiful stranger. Maintenant, la vérité est que je me sentais plutôt inexplicablement envers la belle inconnue. I did feel, as she said, "drawn towards her," but there was also something of repulsion. In this ambiguous feeling, however, the sense of attraction immensely prevailed. She interested and won me; she was so beautiful and so indescribably engaging. Elle m'a intéressé et m'a conquis ; elle était si belle et si indescriptiblement attachante.

I perceived now something of languor and exhaustion stealing over her, and hastened to bid her good night. J'aperçus maintenant quelque chose de langueur et d'épuisement qui l'envahissait, et je m'empressai de lui souhaiter le bonsoir.

"The doctor thinks," I added, "that you ought to have a maid to sit up with you tonight; one of ours is waiting, and you will find her a very useful and quiet creature." « Le docteur pense, ajoutai-je, que vous devriez avoir une femme de chambre pour vous asseoir ce soir ; l'une des nôtres attend, et vous la trouverez une créature très utile et tranquille.

"How kind of you, but I could not sleep, I never could with an attendant in the room. "Comme c'est gentil de ta part, mais je n'ai pas pu dormir, je n'ai jamais pu avec un préposé dans la chambre. I shan't require any assistance--and, shall I confess my weakness, I am haunted with a terror of robbers. Je n'aurai besoin d'aucune aide, et, dois-je avouer ma faiblesse, je suis hanté par la terreur des voleurs. Our house was robbed once, and two servants murdered, so I always lock my door. It has become a habit--and you look so kind I know you will forgive me. I see there is a key in the lock."

She held me close in her pretty arms for a moment and whispered in my ear, "Good night, darling, it is very hard to part with you, but good night; tomorrow, but not early, I shall see you again."

She sank back on the pillow with a sigh, and her fine eyes followed me with a fond and melancholy gaze, and she murmured again "Good night, dear friend." Elle se laissa retomber sur l'oreiller avec un soupir, et ses beaux yeux me suivirent d'un regard attendri et mélancolique, et elle murmura encore : « Bonne nuit, cher ami.

Young people like, and even love, on impulse. I was flattered by the evident, though as yet undeserved, fondness she showed me. J'étais flatté de l'affection évidente, quoique encore imméritée, qu'elle me témoignait. I liked the confidence with which she at once received me. She was determined that we should be very near friends.

Next day came and we met again. I was delighted with my companion; that is to say, in many respects. J'étais ravi de mon compagnon ; c'est-à-dire à bien des égards.

Her looks lost nothing in daylight--she was certainly the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and the unpleasant remembrance of the face presented in my early dream, had lost the effect of the first unexpected recognition. Son apparence ne perdait rien à la lumière du jour, elle était certainement la plus belle créature que j'avais jamais vue, et le souvenir désagréable du visage présenté dans mon premier rêve avait perdu l'effet de la première reconnaissance inattendue.

She confessed that she had experienced a similar shock on seeing me, and precisely the same faint antipathy that had mingled with my admiration of her. Elle m'avoua avoir éprouvé un choc semblable en me voyant, et précisément la même légère antipathie qui s'était mêlée à mon admiration pour elle. We now laughed together over our momentary horrors.