Blanche Stroevewas in the cruel grip of appetite. Perhaps she hated Strickland still, but shehungered for him, and everything that had made up her life till then became ofno account. She ceased to be a woman, complex, kind and petulant, considerateand thoughtless; she was a Maenad. She was desire.

But perhapsthis is very fanciful; and it may be that she was merely bored with her husbandand went to Strickland out of a callous curiosity. She may have had noparticular feeling for him, but succumbed to his wish from propinquity or idleness,to find then that she was powerless in a snare of her own contriving. How did Iknow what were the thoughts and emotions behind that placid brow and those coolgray eyes?

But if onecould be certain of nothing in dealing with creatures so incalculable as humanbeings, there were explanations of Blanche Stroeve's behaviour which were atall events plausible. On the other hand, I did not understand Strickland atall. I racked my brain, but could in no way account for an action so contraryto my conception of him. It was not strange that he should so heartlessly havebetrayed his friends' confidence, nor that he hesitated not at all to gratify awhim at the cost of another's misery. That was in his character. He was a manwithout any conception of gratitude. He had no compassion. The emotions commonto most of us simply did not exist in him, and it was as absurd to blame himfor not feeling them as for blaming the tiger because he is fierce and cruel.But it was the whim I could not understand.

如饥似渴的欲念毫不留情地把勃朗什·施特略夫抓在手里。也许她仍然恨着思特里克兰德，但是她却渴望得到他，在这以前构成她生活的那一切现在都变得一文不值了。她不再是一个女性了，不再是一个性格复杂的女性——既善良又乖戾，既谨慎又轻率；她成了迈那德①，成了欲念的化身。

①希腊神话中酒神的女祭司。

但是也许这都是我的臆测；可能她不过对自己的丈夫感到厌倦，只是出于好奇心（并无任何热情在内）才去我的思特里克兰德。可能她对他并没有特殊的感情，她之屈从于思特里克兰德的欲念只是由于两人日夜厮守、由于她厌烦无聊，而一旦同他接近以后，却发现陷入了自己编织的罗网里。在她那平静的前额和冷冷的灰色的眼睛后面隐匿着什么思想和感情，我怎能知道呢？

然而，尽管在探讨象人这样无从捉摸的生物时，我们什么也不敢肯定，但对于勃朗什·施特略夫的行为还有一些解释是完全说得通的。另一方面，我对思特里克兰德却一点也不了解。他这次的行为与我平日对他的理解格格不入，我苦苦思索，无论如何也无法解释。他毫无心肝地辜负了朋友对他的信任，为了自己一时兴之所至，给别人带来莫大的痛苦，这都不足为奇，因为这都是他性格的一部分。他既不知感恩，也毫无怜悯心肠。我们大多数人所共有的那些感情在他身上都不存在；如果责备他没有这些感情，就象责备老虎凶暴残忍一样荒谬。我所不能解释的是为什么他突然动了施特略夫的念头。