第一章
    都是由概率演算的管辖这阴间领域的事件，伯爵阿贝尔Larinski和Mlle。瓦内特Moriaz几乎毫无疑问已经抵达各自职业生涯的终结而曾经遇到过。伯爵Larinski住在维也纳，奥地利; Mlle。 Moriaz从来没有从巴黎做得比科尔梅耶，她每到春天，在整个保持好天气。无论在科尔梅耶在巴黎有没有听说过她伯爵Larinski，他本人，他的一部分，是完全的Mlle的存在一无所知。 Moriaz。他的心被占领了自己的发明，它应该使他的财富，枪并没有取得它。他希望这种好战的武器，一个真正的/厨师d'oeuvre /，在他看来，在精度和范围的任何其他已知的，将不胜感激优越，根据它的优点，由主管法官，有一天会通过为整个奥设备匈牙利步兵。通过不懈的毅力的手段，他已成功地获得了一个官方委员会负责审查它。该委员会决定，Larinski步枪具有一定的优势，但它有三个缺陷：它太沉重，臀部也变得哽咽迅速从润滑石油，而制造成本过高。伯爵阿贝尔没有失去勇气。他投案自首的研究，专门讨论近两年的时间完善他的发明和应用他的所有技能，增加渲染他的枪重量更轻，成本更低。当置于考验，新的枪支爆裂，这无理取闹事件破坏了永远的Larinski枪的声誉。远远没有成为丰富，有沉没的发明者他的费用，他的每一种进步，肆意挥霍，他的收入和资金，其中可以肯定，是不是很可观。
    Mlle。瓦内特Moriaz有一个更幸运的命运比伯爵Larinski。她没有羽毛上有自己发明了一种新枪，也没有她发现自己聪明才智的生计依赖，她从她母亲的约十万里弗，这使她能够享受生活，让别人快乐年收入继承，因为她很慈善。她喜欢不爱说太多，她知道该怎么做没有它，有自己丰富的资源范围内的世界，是一个非常独立的性格。在冬天，她出去到社会的很多，在家里得到自由。她的父亲，研究所和化学教授成员，法国学院，就是其中之一/称之为天才/谁喜欢外出就餐，他也有品味的音乐和戏剧。瓦内特陪同他到处，他们几乎从不留在家里除了晚上后，对他们的接待，但随着燕子，这是对Mlle快乐的回报。 Moriaz飞往科尔梅耶而且通过7个月，降低到Mlle社会。 Moiseney，谁，后是她的教导，已成为她/蓑羽德总公司/。她住在露天相当多，在森林中散步，阅读，或绘画，以及树林，她的书，她的画笔，她说穷人的事，所以欣然占用的时间，她从未经历过一个小时的/厌倦季度/。她与她的内容也很多有丝毫改变的倾向，因此，她并不急于结婚了。她完成了24年，她的存在，拒绝了一些可取的优惠，并希望莫过于她保留处女。这是文章的唯一继承人关于本曾与身边的人讨论。当她的父亲把他的头把它增长愤怒的呐喊，“你必须！”她大笑起来，于是他也笑，说：“我不是这里的主人，事实上，我在一个庄稼汉的境地与牧师争论。”
    这是非常危险的税务人的大脑太多弄得出来时，一个经常。在1875年冬，米Moriaz进行了一项工作过剩，他被过驱动，他的健康受到影响。他对这些袭击贫血症是我们现在听到这么多之一，它可以称为/拉maladie一拉模式/。他不得不中断后，他每天例行的，聘请1名助理，并在7月初他的医生命令他定出恩加丁，并尝试在圣莫里兹的铁剂水治疗。从巴黎前往圣莫里兹不能，不经库尔通过。正是在库尔的Mlle。瓦内特Moriaz，谁陪同她的父亲，第一次会见了伯爵阿贝尔Larinski。当命运去法令规定，蜘蛛和苍蝇必然满足。
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    CHAPTER I
    Were the events of this nether sphere governed by the calculus of probabilities, Count Abel Larinski and Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz would almost unquestionably have arrived at the end of their respective careers without ever having met. Count Larinski lived in Vienna, Austria; Mlle. Moriaz never had been farther from Paris than Cormeilles, where she went every spring to remain throughout the fine weather. Neither at Cormeilles nor at Paris had she ever heard of Count Larinski; and he, on his part, was wholly unaware of the existence of Mlle. Moriaz. His mind was occupied with a gun of his own invention, which should have made his fortune, and which had not made it. He had hoped that this warlike weapon, a true /chef-d'oeuvre/, in his opinion superior in precision and range to any other known, would be appreciated, according to its merits, by competent judges, and would one day be adopted for the equipment of the entire Austro- Hungarian infantry. By means of unremitting perseverance, he had succeeded in obtaining the appointment of an official commission to examine it. The commission decided that the Larinski musket possessed certain advantages, but that it had three defects: it was too heavy, the breech became choked too rapidly with oil from the lubricator, and the cost of manufacture was too high. Count Abel did not lose courage. He gave himself up to study, devoted nearly two years to perfecting his invention, and applied all his increased skill to rendering his gun lighter and less costly. When put under test, the new firearm burst, and this vexatious incident ruined forever the reputation of the Larinski gun. Far from becoming enriched, the inventor had sunk his expenses, his advances of every kind; he had recklessly squandered both revenue and capital, which, to be sure, was not very considerable.
    Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz had a more fortunate destiny than Count Larinski. She did not plume herself on having invented a new gun, nor did she depend upon her ingenuity for a livelihood; she had inherited from her mother a yearly income of about a hundred thousand livres, which enabled her to enjoy life and make others happy, for she was very charitable. She loved the world without loving it too much; she knew how to do without it, having abundant resources within herself, and being of a very independent disposition. During the winter she went out a great deal into society, and received freely at home. Her father, member of the Institute and Professor of Chemistry at the College of France, was one of those /savants/ who enjoy dining out; he had a taste also for music and for the theatre. Antoinette accompanied him everywhere; they scarcely ever remained at home except upon their reception evenings; but with the return of the swallows it was a pleasure to Mlle. Moriaz to fly to Cormeilles and there pass seven months, reduced to the society of Mlle. Moiseney, who, after having been her instructress, had become her /demoiselle de compagnie/. She lived pretty much in the open air, walking about in the woods, reading, or painting; and the woods, her books, and her paint-brushes, to say nothing of her poor people, so agreeably occupied her time that she never experienced a quarter of an hour's /ennui/. She was too content with her lot to have the slightest inclination to change it; therefore she was in no hurry to marry. She had completed twenty-four years of her existence, had refused several desirable offers, and wished nothing better than to retain her maidenhood. It was the sole article concerning which this heiress had discussions with those around her. When her father took it into his head to grow angry and cry, "You must!" she would burst out laughing; whereupon he would laugh also, and say: "I'm not the master here; in fact, I am placed in the position of a ploughman arguing with a priest."
    It is very dangerous to tax one's brains too much when one dines out frequently. During the winter of 1875, M. Moriaz had undertaken an excess of work; he was overdriven, and his health suffered. He was attacked by one of those anemic disorders of which we hear so much nowadays, and which may be called /la maladie a la mode/. He was obliged to break in upon his daily routine, employ an assistant, and early in July his physician ordered him to set out for Engadine, and try the chalybeate water-cure at Saint Moritz. The trip from Paris to Saint Moritz cannot be made without passing through Chur. It was at Chur that Mlle. Antoinette Moriaz, who accompanied her father, met for the first time Count Abel Larinski. When the decree of Destiny goes forth, the spider and the fly must inevitably meet.