2. Magdalen’s Childhood

Magdalen, the youngest child, was very beautiful and, even in her early years, tall and well-developed like a girl of more advanced age. She was full of frivolity and seductive art. Her parents died when she was only seven years old. She had no great love for them even from her earliest age, on account of their severe fasts. Even as a child, she was vain beyond expression, given to petty thefts, proud, self-willed, and a lover of pleasure. She was never faithful, but clung to whatever flattered her the most. She was, therefore, extravagant in her pity when her sensitive compassion was aroused, and kind and condescending to all that appealed to her senses by some external show. Her mother had had some share in Magdalen’s faulty education, and that sympathetic softness the child had inherited from her.

2.玛达肋纳的童年

玛达肋纳是最小的孩子，她长得非常美丽，即使在年幼时，也比同龄女孩高大且早熟像少女年龄。她充满轻佻和诱人的魅力。她的父母在她只有七岁的时候就去世了。玛达肋纳从小对父母就没有特别大的孝爱，这是由于她的父母严厉的禁食。当她还是孩子的时候，她就虚荣得难以形容，惯于小偷小摸，高傲任性，喜欢寻欢作乐。她从不忠信，只执着于最令她愉悦的东西。因此，当她敏感的同情心被激起出来时，她就大发慈悲，对一切通过某种外在表现吸引她感官的事物都表现出仁慈和居高临下的态度。 她的母亲对玛达肋纳的错误教育负有责任，玛达肋纳也从母亲那里继承了她那富有同情心的柔情。

Magdalen was spoiled by her mother and her nurse. They showed her off everywhere, caused her cleverness and pretty little ways to be admired, and sat much with her dressed up at the window. That window-sitting was the chief cause of her ruin. I saw her at the window and on the terraces of the house upon a magnificent seat of carpets and cushions, where she could be seen in all her splendor from the street.

She used to steal sweetmeats, and take them to other children in the garden of the castle. Even in her ninth year she was engaged in love affairs.

玛达肋纳被她的母亲和她的保姆宠坏了。她们到处炫耀她，赞扬她的聪明和可爱的小举动，经常让她盛装坐在窗边。这种倚窗而坐是她堕落的主要原因。我看到她坐在窗前和房子的露台上，坐在一张铺着绒毯和靠垫的华丽靠椅上，从街上就可以看到她的光彩照人。她常偷甜食，并把它们带给城堡花园里的其他孩子。甚至在她九岁的时候，她就开始谈恋爱了。

With her developing talents and beauty, increased also the talk and admiration they excited.

She had crowds of companions. She was taught, and she wrote love verses on little rolls of parchment. I saw her while so engaged counting on her fingers. She sent these verses around, and exchanged them with her lovers. Her fame spread on all sides, and she was exceedingly admired.

But I never saw that she either really loved or was loved. It was all, on her part at least, vanity, frivolity, self- adoration, and confidence in her own beauty. I saw her a scandal to her brother and sisters whom she despised and of whom she was ashamed on account  of their simple life. (Vol. 1, pp. 335-336)

随着玛达肋纳的才华和美丽的展露，人们对她的谈论和羡慕的兴趣也增加了。

她有一群朋友。她被教导在小羊皮纸卷上写情书。我看到她如此专注地数着她的手指。她将情书在朋友间传阅，与情人交换情书，她名声广扬，她受到极大的羡慕崇拜。

但我从来没有看到她是真的爱过还是被爱过。至少对她而言，这一切都是虚荣、轻浮、自我崇拜和对自己美貌的自信。我看到她的兄长和姐姐们以她为耻，同样玛达肋纳也以他们为耻，因为他们过着简朴的生活。（第 1 卷，第 335-336）