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摸彩：雪莉·杰克逊短篇小说选

美丽陌生人|The Beautiful Stranger

属类： 双语小说 【分类】双语小说 -[作者: 雪莉-杰克逊] 阅读：[15575]
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刚开始有那种隐隐约约的陌生感是在火车站，她带着两个孩子——儿子小约翰和小女儿——来车站接自己的丈夫。他从波士顿出差回来。在家时她莫名其妙地老是担心会迟到，所以在火车到达前的半个多小时就让孩子们穿戴整齐，安顿他们坐进汽车，从家里出发了。在经过一个星期的别离之后，她似乎对见到自己的丈夫并不感到急切。当然，他们不得不在火车站耐心地等待，没完没了地等待上演一场温馨的团圆：妻子拥抱丈夫，孩子拥抱父亲。可事与愿违，实际上演成了不合时宜和蹩脚的一幕：小约翰的头发乱糟糟的，一副闷闷不乐的样子；小女儿也很焦躁，一边用力拽着自己粉色的帽子和精致的蕾丝边的裙子，一边哭喊着。火车终于到了，就在两个熊孩子闹腾的当口，火车正点进了站。玛格丽特把宝贝女儿的帽子丝带系紧，小约翰正横跨在汽车座椅的后背上。他们手脚并用地爬出了小汽车，又被火车的轰鸣吓得缩手缩脚，不知所措。

1
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What might be called the first intimation of strangeness occurred at the railroad station. She had come with her children, Smalljohn and her baby girl, to meet her husband when he returned from a business trip to Boston. Because she had been oddly afraid of being late, and perhaps even seeming uneager to encounter her husband after a week’s separation, she dressed the children and put them into the car at home a long half hour before the train was due. As a result, of course, they had to wait interminably at the station, and what was to have been a charmingly staged reunion, family embracing husband and father, became at last an ill-timed and awkward performance. Smalljohn’s hair was mussed, and he was sticky. The baby was cross, pulling at her pink bonnet and her dainty laceedged dress, whining. The final arrival of the train caught them in mid-movement, as it were; Margaret was tying the ribbons on the baby’s bonnet, Smalljohn was half over the back of the car seat. They scrambled out of the car, cringing from the sound of the train, hopelessly out of sorts.

2
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约翰·斯尼尔站在车厢门口挥舞着手，不像他的妻子和孩子们，他看上去为这次归来做了充分的准备，似乎已经做了精心安排确保这次相见至少不是那么纠结。事实上，他站在车厢门口热诚地挥着手，大概已经有半个小时之久了，因为他要确保让他们相信他的手一直是挥着的，但他的手并没有抬得很高，好像并非在过度强调再次见到他们时的兴高采烈。

2
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John Senior waved from the high steps of the train. Unlike his wife and children, he looked utterly prepared for his return, as though he had taken some pains to secure a meeting at least painless, and had, in fact, stood just so, waving cordially from the steps of the train, for perhaps as long as half an hour, ensuring that he should not be caught half-ready, his hand not lifted so far as to overemphasize the extent of his delight in seeing them again.

3
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他的妻子有种时空错乱的奇怪感觉，当她此时此刻站在月台上，怀抱着宝贝女儿，小约翰紧挨在她身边，恍惚间她搞不清楚他是出差回家，还是他们站在这儿来送他。在他离开前，他们一直在争吵，在他不在的这一周里，她决定要彻底忘记他在家时自己感觉的恐惧和所受的伤害，也正好利用这段时间好好思考一下。她无时无刻不在告诫自己：在约翰离家的这段时间里，我要找回原来的自己。现在，直到最后她也没能确定这是一场迎接还是一场送别，这使她又觉得恐惧起来，一阵无法忍受的紧张感涌上了心头。不能这样，她心想，要相信自己，不能自欺欺人。当他走下车厢门口的台阶向他们走来时，她微笑着，把宝贝女儿紧紧抱在怀中，让孩子小身子的温暖传递给她，让她有勇气在微笑中带上真正的温柔。

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His wife had an odd sense of lost time. Standing now on the platform with the baby in her arms and Smalljohn beside her, she could not for a minute remember clearly whether he was coming home, or, whether they were yet standing here to say good-by to him. They had been quarreling when he left, and she had spent the week of his absence determining to forget that in his presence she had been frightened and hurt. This will be a good time to get things straight, she had been telling herself; while John is gone I can try to get hold of myself again. Now, unsure at last whether this was an arrival or a departure, she felt afraid again, straining to meet an unendurable tension. This will not do, she thought, believing that she was being honest with herself, and as he came down the train steps and walked toward them she smiled, holding the baby tightly against her so that the touch of its small warmth might bring some genuine tenderness into her smile.

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不能这样，她心想，她的微笑变得更加真诚，在他走近她时，她大声招呼他。她感到很奇怪，当他伸出手臂拥抱着她和孩子时，她亲吻着他，可怀里的孩子一边大声哭喊，一边拼命往她怀里扎。周围走动的旅客都皱起了眉头，小孩子小脚乱踢着，尖声叫着：“不，不，不。”

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This will not do, she thought, and smiled more cordially and told him “hello” as he came to her. Wondering, she kissed him and then when he held his arm around her and the baby for a minute the baby pulled back and struggled, screaming. Everyone moved in anger, and the baby kicked and screamed, “No, no, no.”

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“这是怎么跟爸爸打招呼呢！”玛格丽特说道，她像是逗孩子似的摇了摇她，但是心中还是暗地里感激孩子移情般的支持。约翰转向了小约翰，把他举了起来，小约翰一边乱踢乱蹬着，一边忍不住大声笑着。“爸爸，爸爸。”小约翰叫喊着，而宝贝女儿在哭喊着：“不，不。”

5
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“What a way to say hello to Daddy,” Margaret said, and she shook the baby, half-amused, and yet grateful for the baby’s sympathetic support. John turned to Smalljohn and lifted him, Smalljohn kicking and laughing helplessly. “Daddy, Daddy,” Smalljohn shouted, and the baby screamed, “No, no.”

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因为没人能哄住不停哭喊的小女儿，他们赶紧转过身，逃命似的奔向了小汽车。当小女儿被放进了车里的粉色婴儿座里，小约翰也安静了下来，在女婴的身边拿着另一支棒棒糖舔着。车上本来应该有的嘘寒问暖很快被吓人的安静所填满。在玛格丽特哄孩子的时候，约翰坐到了司机的位置上。玛格丽特坐在他的身边，看着他握着方向盘的双手，感觉有种宿怨已久所带来的丝丝凉意。“我不能当作什么事都没发生过，”她心里恨恨地想，“过去的一周除了我以外，还没人开过这车。”因为她很清楚这种想法是没道理的——约翰拥有使用车的另一半权利，毕竟——她装作饶有兴致地问他：“你的旅行怎么样？那边的天气如何？”

6
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Helplessly, because no one could talk with the baby screaming so, they turned and went to the car. When the baby was back in her pink basket in the car, and Smalljohn was settled with another lollipop beside her, there was an appalling quiet which would have to be filled as quickly as possible with meaningful words. John had taken the driver’s seat in the car while Margaret was quieting the baby, and when Margaret got in beside him she felt a little chill of animosity at the sight of his hands on the wheel; I can’t bear to relinquish even this much, she thought; for a week no one has driven the car except me. Because she could see so clearly that this was unreasonable—John owned half the car, after all—she said to him with bright interest, “And how was your trip? The weather?”

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“好极了。”他说道。她再一次对他口吻中的温暖感到生气。如果她对小汽车使用权的想法是不理智的，那么对他这种沾沾自喜的高兴劲儿的反感也是没道理的。“一切都很顺利，我敢保证能得到那份工作，大家对合作都很开心，我两周后回去把事情搞定。”

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“Wonderful,” he said, and again she was angered at the warmth in his tone; if she was unreasonable about the car, he was surely unreasonable to have enjoyed himself quite so much. “Everything went very well. I’m pretty sure I got the contract, everyone was very pleasant about it, and I go back in two weeks to settle everything.”

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她心想：他总是言简意赅，如果他想让我了解事情的来龙去脉，便会娓娓道来的。我想不但我会为他得到合同而感到开心，大家也都会高兴的，这次回来的事我也就不想深究了。

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The stinger is in the tail, she thought. He wouldn’t tell it all so hastily if he didn’t want me to miss half of it; I am supposed to be pleased that he got the contract and that everyone was so pleasant, and the part about going back is supposed to slip past me painlessly.

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“那么，也许我可以跟你一起去，”她说道，“你母亲来照顾孩子们。”

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“Maybe I can go with you, then,” she said. “Your mother will take the children.”

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“好吧。”他说道，但是隔了好一会儿他才说这话，在他开口之前，她能够察觉到他在犹豫。

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“Fine,” he said, but it was much too late; he had hesitated noticeably before he spoke.

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“我也想去，”小约翰说，“我能跟爸爸一起去吗？”

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“I want to go too,” said Smalljohn. “Can I go with Daddy?”

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他们一起回了家，玛格丽特带着最小的女儿，而约翰一边拿着行李箱，一边开心地和小约翰争论他们俩谁拿着的行李箱更重一些。房间都已经收拾妥当了，玛格丽特设法把房间拾掇得干净和整齐。毫无疑问，作为一名独自带着年幼孩子的妻子，她很称职。小约翰随意扔得到处都是的玩具已经被捡了起来，宝贝女儿的衣服（不管怎么说，在约翰走后根本没人登门拜访）也已经收好，这些衣服本来是搭在厨房的暖气片上烘干的。尽管这样，也掩盖不了这样的事实：这房间不像是给某个特殊人物准备的，而只是给某个有教养和整洁的人，能够配得上这个干净利索房间的人准备的。玛格丽特觉得它过去本来可以称为家，一个幸福的家庭可以在此平静地过上家庭生活的地方。她把女婴放到一个有护栏的游戏区，手里拿着她的帽子和外衣，转身看着她的丈夫。他弯下身子，很严肃地听着小约翰在讲着什么。“他是谁？”她突然感到奇怪，“他的个头是不是变高了？他不是我丈夫。”

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They came into their house, Margaret carrying the baby, and John carrying his suitcase and arguing delightedly with Smalljohn over which of them was carrying the heavier weight of it. The house was ready for them; Margaret had made sure that it was cleaned and emptied of the qualities which attached so surely to her position of wife alone with small children; the toys which Smalljohn had thrown around with unusual freedom were picked up, the baby’s clothes (no one, after all, came to call when John was gone) were taken from the kitchen radiator where they had been drying. Aside from the fact that the house gave no impression of waiting for any particular people, but only for anyone well-bred and clean enough to fit within its small trim walls, it could have passed for a home, Margaret thought, even for a home where a happy family lived in domestic peace. She set the baby down in the playpen and turned with the baby’s bonnet and jacket in her hand and saw her husband, head bent gravely as he listened to Smalljohn. Who? she wondered suddenly; is he taller? That is not my husband.

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她笑了起来，他们都扭过头看着她，小约翰觉得好奇，她丈夫脸上闪过一丝明知已经露馅的神情。她心想：“这是为什么，他不是我丈夫，他已经明白我看出来了。”在此之前，她曾考虑过半分钟，这是不可思议的，但是现在事情已经很清楚了，她却未感到震惊，事情明摆着了，吃惊也没有任何意义，但也不能说她感情上没有起波澜。她发现自己最初只有一些外在的表现：心跳得很厉害，双手在颤抖，手指冰凉，双腿也觉得发软，她不得不靠在椅子背上支撑着自己。匪夷所思的是，她发现自己竟然还在笑着，当感情终于平复下来以后，她明白了笑声的含义——那是一种解脱。

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She laughed, and they turned to her, Smalljohn curious, and her husband with a quick bright recognition; she thought, why, it is not my husband, and he knows that I have seen it. There was no astonishment in her; she would have thought perhaps thirty seconds before that such a thing was impossible, but since it was now clearly possible, surprise would have been meaningless. Some other emotion was necessary, but she found at first only peripheral manifestations of one. Her heart was beating violently, her hands were shaking, and her fingers were cold. Her legs felt weak and she took hold of the back of a chair to steady herself. She found that she was still laughing, and then her emotion caught up with her and she knew what it was: it was relief.

14
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“我很高兴你回来了。”她说道。她走上前去，把头靠在他的肩膀上。“在火车站跟你问好很难为情。”她说道。

14
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“I’m glad you came,” she said. She went over and put her head against his shoulder. “It was hard to say hello in the station,” she said.

15
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小约翰抬头看了他们一会儿，然后自己走到玩具箱处玩了起来。玛格丽特此时心中暗想：“面前的这个男人不是那个喜欢看我哭的男人，我没必要害怕。”她屏住了呼吸，安静了下来。没有什么需要挑明的了。

15
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Smalljohn looked on for a minute and then wandered off to his toybox. Margaret was thinking, this is not the man who enjoyed seeing me cry; I need not be afraid. She caught her breath and was quiet; there was nothing that needed saying.

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那天剩下的时间她都很快乐。可以从恐惧和不幸的重压下解脱出来，她如释重负，喜悦之情不断涌上心头，这是一种很纯粹的喜悦，她明白不会再有任何猜忌和怨恨的残渣出现了。当她叫他“约翰”的时候，似乎很认真，而心里明白他也在默契地配合她进行这场游戏。当他客客气气地回应她的呼唤时，她都能想象出他话语背后使劲憋住的笑声。他们似乎都清醒地认识到，把这层窗户纸捅破可千万使不得。事实上，那样做会威胁到目前的快乐和祥和的气氛。

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For the rest of the day she was happy. There was a constant delight in the relief from her weight of fear and unhappiness, it was pure joy to know that there was no longer any residue of suspicion and hatred; when she called him “John” she did so demurely, knowing that he participated in her secret amusement; when he answered her civilly there was, she thought, an edge of laughter behind his words. They seemed to have agreed soberly that mention of the subject would be in bad taste, might even, in fact, endanger their pleasure.

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晚饭时，他们都很愉快。在过去，约翰是不会给她调鸡尾酒的，但当她把孩子们安顿到床上，从楼上走下来时，这位陌生人在楼梯下面迎着她，仰着脸冲她微笑着，然后拉着她的手，把她领到起居室里。在那儿，鸡尾酒的调酒器和玻璃杯已经放在了炉火前面的小矮桌上了。

17
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They were hilarious at dinner. John would not have made her a cocktail, but when she came downstairs from putting the children to bed the stranger met her at the foot of the stairs, smiling up at her, and took her arm to lead her into the living room where the cocktail shaker and glasses stood on the low table before the fire.

18
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“多么美妙呀。”她说道，她很高兴地忙里偷闲梳了梳头发，又抹了些口红；很高兴起居室里摆放着她以前和约翰一起挑选的咖啡桌，无数次目睹约翰生起火的壁炉，以及约翰有时会在上面睡觉的沙发，所有的这一切，看上去都很适合且雅致地迎接这位陌生人。她坐在沙发上，微笑地看着他，他递给了她一个玻璃杯。周遭弥漫着一种莫名的、暧昧的兴奋气氛，她正在“款待”一个男人。稍微有些煞风景的是，他为她调制的马丁尼酒里，既没有放橄榄，也没放洋葱。其实放了这两种东西才是她最中意的马丁尼酒，显然他不清楚这一点。然而她又自我安慰地想到，在他来之前，他自然花了些功夫来了解这些，不过没法那么周全罢了。

18
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“How nice,” she said, happy that she had taken a moment to brush her hair and put on fresh lipstick, happy that the coffee table which she had chosen with John and the fireplace which had seen many fires built by John and the low sofa where John had slept sometimes, had all seen fit to welcome the stranger with grace. She sat on the sofa and smiled at him when he handed her a glass; there was an odd illicit excitement in all of it; she was “entertaining” a man. The scene was a little marred by the fact that he had given her a martini with neither olive nor onion; it was the way she preferred her martini, and yet he should not have, strictly, known this, but she reassured herself with the thought that naturally he would have taken some pains to inform himself before coming.

19
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他微笑着向她举起酒杯。她觉得他来这儿只是为了她。

19
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He lifted his glass to her with a smile; he is here only because I am here, she thought.

20
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“能在这儿真是太好了。”他说道。他其实在开车回家的路上就已经煞费苦心地让自己听上去跟约翰一个腔调了。在他明白她已经识破了他，知道他实际上不过是个陌生人以后，他就没再试图说什么像“回家”或者“回来”一类的话了。当然，她也不能表现出自己揣着明白装糊涂。她把一只手放在他的手掌中，靠着沙发，眼睛盯着炉火。

20
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“It’s nice to be here,” he said. He had, then, made one attempt to sound like John, in the car coming home. After he knew that she had recognized him for a stranger, he had never made any attempt to say words like “coming home” or “getting back,” and of course she could not, not without pointing her lie. She put her hand in his and lay back against the sofa, looking into the fire.

21
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“孤独是世界上最糟糕的感觉。”她说道。

21
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“Being lonely is worse than anything in the world,” she said.

22
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“你现在不感到孤独了？”

22
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“You’re not lonely now?”

23
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“你打算走吗？”

23
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“Are you going away?”

24
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“不走，除非你也走。”看到他对约翰拙劣的模仿，两个人都心照不宣地大笑了起来。

24
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“Not unless you come too.” They laughed at his parody of John.

25
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他们吃晚餐时是紧挨着坐在一起的。而以前她和约翰通常是很正式地坐在桌子的两端，彼此礼貌地让对方递一下盐瓶和黄油。

25
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They sat next to each other at dinner; she and John had always sat at formal opposite ends of the table, asking one another politely to pass the salt and the butter.

26
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“我打算在那边放一套小架子，”他一边说，一边点头示意要把东西放在餐厅的角落，“那儿看上去很空，需要放些东西，有象征意义的东西。”

26
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“I’m going to put in a little set of shelves over there,” he said, nodding toward the corner of the dining room. “It looks empty here, and it needs things. Symbols.”

27
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“比如说？”她喜欢端详他。她觉得他的头发比约翰的更黑一些，他的双手也更大一些。这个男人能够构建起他想要的一切。

27
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“Like?” She liked to look at him; his hair, she thought, was a little darker than John’s, and his hands were stronger; this man would build whatever he decided he wanted built.

28
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“我们需要把一些东西放在一起，我们俩都喜欢的东西，一些精致、漂亮的东西。比如一些象牙制品。”

28
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“We need things together. Things we like, both of us. Small delicate pretty things. Ivory.”

29
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如果是以前和约翰生活在一起的时候，她肯定会马上说他们买不起这种精致、漂亮的东西，给他的想法泼冷水，但是和这个陌生人一起，她说道：“那我们得好好挑挑，不是每件东西都合适。”

29
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With John she would have felt it necessary to remark at once that they could not afford such delicate pretty things, and put a cold finish to the idea, but with the stranger she said, “We’d have to look for them; not everything would be right.”

30
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“我有一次见过一个小东西，”他说道，“像一个特别小的人，只是颜色就只有紫色、蓝色和金色几种。”

30
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“I saw a little creature once,” he said. “Like a tiny little man, only colored all purple and blue and gold.”

31
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她忘不了这次对话，它蕴含着的意义就像一件放在夜里的珠宝。又过了很久，她告诉自己这事是真的，要是约翰的话，他是不会说这些事情的。

31
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She remembered this conversation; it contained the truth like a jewel set in the evening. Much later, she was to tell herself that it was true; John could not have said these things.

32
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她很幸福，神采飞扬，丝毫没有负罪感。他在第二天上午乖乖地去了他的办公室，在家门口道别时，微笑中带着懊悔，似乎在嘲弄目前这套约翰过去一直在完成的规定动作。当她看着他在门口的路上走远时，禁不住思索这样的日子肯定不会长久，但她又无法忍受每天跟他分别这么长时间，她和约翰分别时从未感受过这种思念。然而，如果他不断地做每天约翰所做的事情，那么不知不觉地他可能就会越来越像约翰。“我们只需一走了之。”她心想。一想到这儿，她又变得开心起来，目送他钻进了汽车。她会很高兴和他分享一切——不折不扣地给他全部——约翰所拥有的一切，只要他作为陌生人跟她待在一起。

32
-

She was happy, she was radiant, she had no conscience. He went obediently to his office the next morning, saying good-by at the door with a rueful smile that seemed to mock the present necessity for doing the things that John always did, and as she watched him go down the walk she reflected that this was surely not going to be permanent; she could not endure having him gone for so long every day, although she had felt little about parting from John; moreover, if he kept doing John’s things he might grow imperceptibly more like John. We will simply have to go away, she thought. She was pleased, seeing him get into the car; she would gladly share with him—indeed, give him outright—all that had been John’s, so long as he stayed her stranger.

33
-

当她做家务和给小女儿穿衣时，会忍不住开口笑出声。她很满意地打开了他的行李箱。他已经把行李箱扔到了卧室的角落里，忘到了脑后，虽然他可能也做好了重新拿上它离开的准备，只要她不是他想象的样子，或者不想让他留下来。她从行李箱中拿出了他的衣物，令人释然，很像约翰的行头，她在衣橱前迟疑了一下，把他和约翰的东西放在一起他是否会介意？随后，她又告诉自己，不会的，他不会胡思乱想的，只要他能开始适应和约翰的妻子在一起。想到这儿，她又笑了。

33
-

She laughed while she did her housework and dressed the baby. She took satisfaction in unpacking his suitcase, which he had abandoned and forgotten in a corner of the bedroom, as though prepared to take it up and leave again if she had not been as he thought her, had not wanted him to stay. She put away his clothes, so disarmingly like John’s and wondered for a minute at the closet; would there be a kind of delicacy in him about John’s things? Then she told herself no, not so long as he began with John’s wife, and laughed again.

34
-

宝贝女儿还是整天吵吵闹闹，而小约翰从幼儿园一回到家里，第一件事就是急切地四处寻找，“爸爸去哪儿了？”

34
-

The baby was cross all day, but when Smalljohn came home from nursery school his first question was—looking up eagerly—“Where is Daddy?”

35
-

“爸爸已经上班去了。”她又笑出了声，就在这一刻，她脑子里快速闪过一幅看起来自己很狡黠的画面，这未尝不是对约翰的羞辱。

35
-

“Daddy has gone to the office,” and again she laughed, at the moment’s quick sly picture of the insult to John.

36
-

在白天的时间里，她有六七次上楼，去看他的行李箱，而且轻轻地抚摩行李箱的皮子。当她经过餐厅时，眼睛不停地看着那个打算有朝一日放小架子的角落，告诉自己他们会找到人偶做摆设的。小人偶通体是紫色、蓝色和金色的，它站立在架子上，保护家人免遭侵扰。

36
-

Half a dozen times during the day she went upstairs, to look at his suitcase and touch the leather softly. She glanced constantly as she passed through the dining room into the corner where the small shelves would be someday, and told herself that they would find a tiny little man, all purple and blue and gold, to stand on the shelves and guard them from intrusion.

37
-

孩子们从午睡中醒来，她带着他们出门散步。可是一出了门，就好像又猛地回到了从前那种孤独的模式（和孩子们散步，无意义地谈论爸爸，渴望有个人可以在夜晚来临之前交流，拖延着不匆匆赶回家：他可能会打电话），她又开始感觉到害怕了。是她弄错了吗？她不太可能会弄错，要是今天晚上约翰回家了，对他来说是一种无以言表的残忍。

37
-

When the children awakened from their naps she took them for a walk and then, away from the house and returned violently to her former lonely pattern (walk with the children, talk meaninglessly of Daddy, long for someone to talk to in the evening ahead, restrain herself from hurrying home: he might have telephoned), she began to feel frightened again; suppose she had been wrong? It could not be possible that she was mistaken; it would be unutterably cruel for John to come home tonight.

38
-

随后，她听到了停车声，打开房门，向外望去，心中暗想：“不对，那不是我丈夫，我丈夫回家时不会带着这种高兴劲儿。”从他的微笑中，她知道他已经察觉到了她的怀疑。然而，毫无疑问他是一个陌生人，一看到就能明白，她没有必要说出来。

38
-

Then, she heard the car stop and when she opened the door and looked up she thought, no, it is not my husband, with a return of gladness. She was aware from his smile that he had perceived her doubts, and yet he was so clearly a stranger that, seeing him, she had no need of speaking.

39
-

相反，在那天晚上，她只是问了他一些差不多是毫无意义的问题，而他的回答则很重要，只是因为她要把这些回答储藏在记忆中，在他不在的时候能够让自己宽心。她问他，上大学时，教他们莎士比亚课程的教授叫什么名字？在他遇见自己前，喜欢的女孩是谁？他微笑着说他不知道，甚至连她告诉了他答案，他都不会想起那些名字。听到这样的回答的时候，她反而很高兴。这就说明，他并没有不厌其烦地掌握过去所有的细节；他已经了解了足够多的信息（孩子们的名字，家的住址，她喜欢喝鸡尾酒）来接近她，至于后面的事，也就不重要了，因为要么她想让他留下来，要么把约翰叫回来，把他打发走。

39
-

She asked him, instead, almost meaningless questions during that evening, and his answers were important only because she was storing them away to reassure herself while he was away. She asked him what was the name of their Shakespeare professor in college, and who was that girl he liked so before he met Margaret. When he smiled and said that he had no idea, that he would not recognize the name if she told him, she was in delight. He had not bothered to master all of the past, then; he had learned enough (the names of the children, the location of the house, how she liked her cocktails) to get to her, and after that, it was not important, because either she would want him to stay, or she would, calling upon John, send him away again.

40
-

“你最喜欢吃的食物是什么？”她问他，“你喜欢钓鱼吗？你曾经养过狗吗？”

40
-

“What is your favorite food?” she asked him. “Are you fond of fishing? Did you ever have a dog?”

41
-

“今天有人告诉我，”他又一次提到，“他听说我从波士顿回来了，但我确定他实际上是想说，听说我死在波士顿了。”

41
-

“Someone told me today,” he said once, “that he had heard I was back from Boston, and I distinctly thought he said that he heard I was dead in Boston.”

42
-

他也是孤独的，她伤心地想道：“这也许就是他来这儿的原因，带来了某种宿命。现在我会每天晚上都看到他从门口进来，还会想到这不是我丈夫，在等他的时候，会情不自禁地想，我正在等一个陌生人。”

42
-

He was lonely, too, she thought with sadness, and that is why he came, bringing a destiny with him: now I will see him come every evening through the door and think, this is not my husband, and wait for him remembering that I am waiting for a stranger.

43
-

不管怎样，她说道：“你在波士顿没有死，也没有别的什么要紧事发生。”

43
-

At any rate she said, “you were not dead in Boston, and nothing else matters.”

44
-

早上，她看着他离开家，带着一种温暖和骄傲，她也开始做家务，给宝贝穿衣服。小约翰从幼儿园回到家，他什么也没问，只是迅速地用眼睛四下打量一圈，然后叹了口气。当孩子们睡午觉的时候，她想今天下午她可能会带他们去公园，然后又想起了另一个类似的下午，还有另一个除了孩子们没人陪伴的下午，以及另一个她做了寡妇的下午，现实无法让她继续设想下去。她心想：“我已经做得够多的了，受够了。今天除了面对孩子们以外，我必须再看些别的东西，没人能够忍受这样的孤独。”

44
-

She saw him leave in the morning with a warm pride, and she did her housework and dressed the baby; when Smalljohn came home from nursery school he did not ask, but looked with quick searching eyes and then sighed. While the children were taking their naps she thought that she might take them to the park this afternoon, and then the thought of another such afternoon, another long afternoon with no one but the children, another afternoon of widowhood, was more than she could submit to; I have done this too much, she thought, I must see something today beyond the faces of my children. No one should be so much alone.

45
-

她很快行动了起来，自己穿着打扮好，把房间也收拾妥当。她给一个高中女生打电话，问她是否可以替她带孩子们去公园。没有任何的负疚感，她忘记了无数次要给宝贝订制合适外套的事，也忘记了他们从公园回来，小约翰要吃的爆米花还有没有。她从家里逃了出来，边走边想：“我必须要找个人。”

45
-

Moving quickly, she dressed and set the house to rights. She called a high-school girl and asked if she would take the children to the park; without guilt, she neglected the thousand small orders regarding the proper jacket for the baby, whether Smalljohn might have popcorn, when to bring them home. She fled, thinking, I must be with people.

46
-

她打了一辆出租车到城里去，因为在她看来，唯一可能的事就是去给他买个礼物，她给他的第一份礼物。她想到也许她会送他一件小摆设，一个通身紫色、蓝色和金色的小人。

46
-

She took a taxi into town, because it seemed to her that the only possible thing to do was to seek out a gift for him, her first gift to him, and she thought she would find him, perhaps, a little creature all blue and purple and gold.

47
-

她在城里各式各样奇怪的商店里逛着，挑选一些可以摆在架子上的可爱的小东西。她用挑剔的眼光长时间地看着各种象牙制品，各种雕像，各种色彩鲜艳而又毫无意义的昂贵玩具，挑选适合作为礼物送给一个陌生人的东西。

47
-

She wandered through the strange shops in the town, choosing small lovely things to stand on the new shelves, looking long and critically at ivories, at small statues, at brightly colored meaningless expensive toys, suitable for giving to a stranger.

48
-

当她带着大包小包开始踏上回家的路时，天都快黑了。她从出租车的车窗向外注视着黑暗的街道，开心地想到，那个陌生人可能在她前面已经到家了，正从窗户那儿看着她匆匆忙忙地往家赶。当他看到她回来时，可能也会想：“她是一个陌生人，我正在等待一个陌生人。”“到了，”她边轻敲着玻璃，边说道，“师傅，就是这儿了。”她从出租车里走下来，付了车费，当出租车开走了以后，她面带着微笑。“我看上去一定不错，”她心想，“因为那位出租车司机都冲着我微笑。”

48
-

It was almost dark when she started home, carrying her packages. She looked from the window of the taxi into the dark streets, and thought with pleasure that the stranger would be home before her, and look from the window to see her hurrying to him; he would think, this is a stranger, I am waiting for a stranger, as he saw her coming. “Here,” she said, tapping on the glass, “right here, driver.” She got out of the taxi and paid the driver, and smiled as he drove away. I must look well, she thought, the driver smiled back at me.

49
-

她转过身，开始向家里走去，随后又犹豫了起来。“我该不会下车晚了吧？这不可能呀，”她心想，“不会吧，但我们家的房屋应该是白色的呀？”

49
-

She turned and started for the house, and then hesitated; surely she had come too far? This is not possible, she thought, this cannot be; surely our house was white?

50
-

夜色变得越来越暗了，她只能看到房屋是成排的，还有更多的房屋在这排房屋的远处，远处还有更多的房屋，这些房屋中肯定有一栋是她的家，家里有一个美丽的陌生人，可她在外面迷了路。

50
-

The evening was very dark, and she could see only the houses going in rows, with more rows beyond them and more rows beyond that, and somewhere a house which was hers, with the beautiful stranger inside, and she lost out here.

序号 英文/音标 中文解释 更多操作

charmingly

['tʃɑːmɪŋli]

adv.迷人地;愉悦地

embraceable

[ɪm'breɪsəbl]

能被拥抱的；能被理解或接受的

sticky

['stɪki]

adj.粘的;闷热的;困难的;令人不满意的

whine

[waɪn]

n.闹声;抱怨;牢骚

Margaret

[ˈmɑːgrɪt]

n.玛格丽特(女子名)

cringe

[krɪndʒ]

vi.畏缩;觉得尴尬不安或难为情;阿谀，奉承

hopeless

['həʊpləs]

adj.没有希望的;绝望的;无可救药的

utterly

['ʌtəli:]

adv.完全;全然;绝对

painless

['peɪnləs]

adj.无痛的;不痛的

cordial

['kɔːdiəl]

n.兴奋剂;补品

liftable

[lɪftəbl]

a.1. 可以举起的

felted

['feltɪd]

v. 把 ... 制成毡(使 ... 粘结)

tenderness

['tendənɪs]

n.温柔;娇嫩;柔软

Daddy

['dædi]

n.爸爸

helpless

['helpləs]

adj.无助的;无依靠的

unreasonable

[ʌn'riːznəbl]

adj.不合理的;过度的;不切实际的

past

[pɑːst]

a. 过去的;

noticeably

['nəʊtɪsəbli]

adv.显著地;明显地

suitcase

['suːtkeɪs]

n.手提箱

pick

[pɪkt]

采摘，挑选；

meaningless

['miːnɪŋləs]

adj.无意义的;不重要的;晦涩的

residue

['rezɪdjuː]

n.残渣

hatred

['heɪtrɪd]

n.仇恨;憎恨;敌意;怨恨

demure

[dɪ'mjʊə(r)]

adj.严肃的;端庄的;矜持的

amusement

[ə'mjuːzmənt]

n.乐趣，娱乐;消遣

sober

['səʊbə(r)]

a. 清醒的；未醉的;

cocktail

['kɒkteɪl]

n.鸡尾酒;混合物;开胃品

downstairs

[ˌdaʊn'steəz]

adj.楼下的

illicit

[ɪ'lɪsɪt]

adj.非法的;违禁的;不正当的

entertain

[ˌentə'teɪn]

v.娱乐;使有兴趣;招待;考虑;抱有;容纳

mar

[mɑː(r)]

vt. 伤害；毁坏；搞糟;

olive

['ɒlɪv]

n.橄榄;橄榄树;橄榄色

parody

['pærədi]

n.仿作;拙劣的模仿

shelve

[ʃelv]

v.放在架子上;搁置;倾斜

dine

[daɪn]

v.用正餐;进餐

Ivory

['aɪvəri]

n.象牙;乳白色

conversation

[ˌkɒnvə'seɪʃn]

n.谈话;会话

jewel

['dʒuːəl]

n.宝石;受珍视的人或物

obedient

[ə'biːdiənt]

adj.服从的;顺从的

mock

[mɒk]

v.嘲弄;嘲笑;模仿

unpack

[ˌʌn'pæk]

v.打开取出;卸下

disarming

[dɪs'ɑːmɪŋ]

adj.消除敌意的;解除疑虑的,

intrusion

[ɪn'truːʒn]

n.闯入;侵扰

awaken

[ə'weɪkən]

v.醒;意识到;唤醒;激起;使意识到;使唤醒

nap

[næp]

n.小睡;绒毛;纳普牌

gladness

['ɡlædnəs]

n.愉快;高兴;喜悦

Shakespeare

[ˈʃeɪkspɪə]

n.莎士比亚(英国诗人、剧作家)

sadness

['sædnəs]

n.悲哀

destiny

['destəni]

n.命运

popcorn

['pɒpkɔːn]

n.爆米花

ivory

['aɪvəri]

n.象牙;乳白色

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