Thirty-four year old engineer Jean-Louis has just started a new job in Clermont. He leads a relatively solitary life not knowing anyone in town besides his work colleagues, he who has made a conscious decision that they should not become his de facto friends just because they work together. His choice not to socialize in town is due also in part to his situation and needing to make the long daily commute to/from Ceyrat where he currently lives. He has had his fair share of women over the course of his adult life, he now choosing to adhere more closely to his Catholic beliefs in approaching romantic and sexual relationships with women solely in the goal of love and marriage. Although not knowing her or having talked to her, he believes the pretty blonde he sees at church at Sunday morning services is the woman destined to be his wife. Within this situation of his new life, he has lately been reading the writings of Blaise Pascal, the mixture of mathematics and Catholicism in particular which he feels applies to his life. One day just before Christmas, he runs into Vidal, an old college friend he hasn’t seen in fourteen years, Vidal now a Philosophy professor at the college. Through the course of getting reacquainted over the next couple of days, Vidal invites Jean-Louis over to his friend Maud’s apartment the day after Christmas. Maud is a recently divorced pediatrician, and mother to a young adolescent daughter, Marie. Much of Jean-Louis, Vidal and Maud’s discussion that evening uses Pascal as a jumping off point, it veering into his philosophies in relation to sex and love, Vidal and Maud who have a different view than Jean-Louis in being atheists. This night, which Jean-Louis learns was not by accident on Vidal’s part, has the potential to reshape his life as he would have to admit his attraction to Maud, who is not the theoretical of the perfect mate for him. If he does stay true to his thoughts of the blonde, he may find that a happily ever after with her is not a guarantee, she who may have some baggage of her own.
参考翻译：
34岁的工程师让·路易斯刚刚在克莱蒙特开始了一份新工作。他过着相对孤独的生活，除了同事之外，他不认识镇上的任何人。他有意识地决定，他们不应该仅仅因为一起工作就成为事实上的朋友。他选择不在城里社交，部分原因是他的处境，以及他需要每天往返于他目前居住的杰拉特的长途通勤。在他的成年生活中，他与女性有着相当大的比例，现在他选择更紧密地坚持自己的天主教信仰，仅仅为了爱情和婚姻而与女性建立浪漫和性关系。虽然他不认识她，也没有和她交谈过，但他相信他在教堂周日早上的礼拜仪式上看到的金发美女就是注定要成为他妻子的女人。在这种新生活的情况下，他最近一直在阅读布莱斯·帕斯卡的著作，尤其是他认为适用于自己生活的数学和天主教的混合体。圣诞节前的一天，他遇到了维达尔。维达尔是一位大学老朋友，他已经14年没见了。维达尔现在是大学的哲学教授。在接下来的几天里，维达尔邀请让·路易斯在圣诞节后的第二天去他的朋友莫德的公寓。莫德是一位刚刚离婚的儿科医生，母亲是一个年幼的女儿玛丽。当天晚上，让-路易斯、维达尔和莫德的大部分讨论都以帕斯卡为出发点，转向了他关于性和爱的哲学，维达尔和莫德在无神论者的观点上与让-路易斯不同。这一晚，让·路易斯得知维达尔并非偶然，他有可能重塑自己的生活，因为他必须承认自己对莫德的吸引力，而莫德并不是他理想的伴侣。如果他真的忠于自己对金发女郎的想法，他可能会发现，与她永远幸福地在一起并不是保证，她可能有自己的包袱。
重点词汇释义
in town在城里，<英>在伦敦
should not不应该; 不应当; 不宜
de facto实际上存在的; 实际上，事实上
just because仅仅因为
work together一起工作
fair share合理份额
more closely精密地；紧密地；严密地；仔细地；接近地; closely的比较级
at church在教堂做礼拜
