婚姻的精密科學
“我以前跟你說過，”杰甫·彼得斯說，“我是不相信女人的騙術的。即使是最天衣無縫的騙局，找她們搭檔都靠不住。”
“這話有道理?！蔽艺f?！八齻冞@樣的才有資格被叫作誠實的人?！?/p>
“她們干嘛不誠實呢？”杰甫答道。“她們有男人幫她們布局撒網勞心費力的。本來她們也能成事兒的，但是一旦動了感情或者虛榮心膨脹，那就完了。到那時候還得你去找個男人收拾爛攤子。而那個男人呢，多半就是個扁平足，一把黃色大胡子，拉扯五個小孩兒，住一棟已被抵押了的房子。拿那個寡婦太太打比方吧，有一次我跟安迪在開羅拉了個幌子，搞了一個婚介所，就是找那個寡婦幫的忙。
“假如你有足夠打廣告的錢——大概碗口那么厚的一疊鈔票吧——那辦個婚介所挺來錢的。當時我們大概有6000塊錢，指望它兩個月翻一番。我們沒拿到新澤西的執(zhí)照，所以這買賣最多做兩個月。
“我們擬了條廣告，是這么寫的：
“32歲迷人俏麗顧家女，喪偶，有現(xiàn)款三千加豐厚鄉(xiāng)間田產。念及貧賤之中愈見真情，故此欲攜資產覓品性溫良之人與之結為連理，貧富年齡相貌均無所限，善于管理產業(yè)和投資理財即可。來信請注明詳細信息，寄到伊利諾伊州開羅彼得斯塔克事務所。
“‘目前看著不錯，’ 我們寫完這篇文學大作后我來了一句，‘那現(xiàn)在，去哪兒找那位女士呢？’ 我問，
“安迪白了我一眼，一臉的不屑。
“‘杰甫，’他說，‘干這行你還搞什么現(xiàn)實主義么？為什么非得要有這么個女士呢？你會在華爾街賣的摻水股里面找美人魚么？征婚廣告非得和某個女士有什么關系嗎？’
“‘聽著，’我說道，‘你知道我的規(guī)矩的，安迪，凡我做的違法買賣，這買賣必須實實在在，看得見摸得著。守著這一條，然后再仔細研究城市條例和列車明細表，這樣我才能避開所有麻煩，否則要是真出事兒了，五美元賄賂和一盒香煙可不能搞定警察。所以說，現(xiàn)在為了布這個局，我們必須得弄到一個貨真價實的迷人寡婦，有沒有廣告上寫的美貌和財產倒無所謂，否則治安官那兒都過不了?！?/p>
“‘好吧，’安迪想了想說道，‘這樣更保險些，說不到哪天會來個郵政署治安官搞檢查。但是，你從哪兒找個寡婦來征這個沒有婚的婚呢？’
“我告訴安迪我已經有人選了。我一個老朋友，齊克·特羅特，原來在雜耍場賣汽水幫人拔牙的，經常喝的醉醺醺的。去年有一次他倒是沒多喝，卻喝了一個老醫(yī)生給他開的治消化不良的藥，結果把他老婆搞成了寡婦。我以前經常去他們家，也許能讓他老婆跟我們合伙。
“特羅特夫人住在60里外的小鎮(zhèn)上，我跳上火車趕到她那兒，發(fā)現(xiàn)她依然住在那個老農舍里，洗衣盆里種著向日葵，上面還站了一只大公雞，一切和以前一模一樣。特羅特夫人除了容貌年紀和財產以外，其他條件倒是很符合我們這個廣告詞。 總體來說也過得去了。而且這份工作還能給她錢，也算是對得起齊克了。
“特羅特夫人聽完我的來意，問道：‘你們干的是正經生意嗎彼得斯先生？’
“‘夫人，’ 我告訴她，‘安迪·塔克和我算了一下，全國這么大個地方，至少有三千名男士看中我們的廣告，覬覦您的美貌和那筆不存在的財產呢。這三千人不是懶蟲財迷就是倒霉蛋騙子和投機狂。’
“‘我和安迪打算給這群小崽子們好好上一課。我們能忍住沒去設個德馨千禧婚姻中介所的公司去誆他們已經是很難了?，F(xiàn)在您懂了嗎？’
“‘明白了，彼得斯先生，’ 她回答，‘我就知道你們不會干壞事兒的。但是我可以做什么？我要一個個回絕你講的那3000個無賴么？還是我直接把他們整批整批的往外趕？’
“我回答道：‘你要做的就是掛個名而已。你就住在一座安靜的公寓里什么也不用干。我和安迪會打點好一切的?！?/p>
“‘當然啦，’我說，‘有些沖動腦熱的小崽子出得起票錢可能會沖到開羅來死乞白賴哀跟你求婚。有這種事兒的話你就得當面回絕他們。我們每周給你25美元報酬，包吃包住?！?/p>
“‘等我一下，’特羅特夫人回答，‘我去拿我的粉餅再把大門鑰匙給鄰居下，然后從現(xiàn)在開始你就可以給我算報酬了?！?/p>
“然后我就把特羅特夫人送到開羅安頓在一個公寓里，離我和安迪住的地方不遠不近，既不惹人懷疑又方便照應。”我告訴安迪。
“‘太好了，’ 安迪道，‘現(xiàn)在你該安心了吧，魚餌都有了，我們該動手了。’
“于是，我們把廣告登載了全國大大小小的報紙上。我們就登了一次，登多了還得多雇人辦事員和女秘書，他們嚼口香糖的聲音可能會把郵政總長驚動呢。
“我們打了2000美元給特羅特夫人的賬上，存折給她保管，萬一有人懷疑我們中介的信譽，她可以把存折拿出來給他們看。我知道特羅特夫人老實可靠，所以把存折放她那兒很保險。
“即使只登了一次廣告，我和安迪也得每天花12個小時回復信件。
“一天有100多封信呢，我從來沒想到天下會有這么多好心又貪心的男人愿意娶一位漂亮寡婦還勞煩自己幫她管錢。
“大部分應征者承認他們上了年紀，沒了飯碗，不被理解，但是所有人都認為自己又重感情又有男人味，寡婦要是跟了他終生都不用愁了。
“每一個應征者都會收到一封來自彼得斯塔克中介所的回復，告訴他們特羅特夫人被他坦誠風趣的信件打動，希望他能有更多的信件往來；如果方便的話順附照片最好了。同時還告訴他們，轉交第二封信給特羅特夫人的時候得交手續(xù)費2元，隨信寄來。
“看出這個騙局的巧妙之處了吧，十有八九他們會把錢寄過來。錢就是這么到手的。唯一要抱怨一下的是，我跟安迪每次都得拆掉信封才能拿錢，麻煩死了。
“也有少數(shù)人會要求單獨見特羅特夫人。我們把他們帶到她那兒，剩下就她來管了；除了有三，四個人折回來找我們報銷車費的。從開始收信的那天起我和安迪開始一天進賬200美元。
“有天下午我們兩個忙得四腳朝天，我正往煙盒里塞鈔票，安迪哼著”她才不結婚”的小調調，一個精干老練的小個子男人走了進來，掃了幾眼墻，就像是在搜尋失竊的名畫。我一看到他，不由得暗暗得意，我們這個局做得可是天衣無縫無懈可擊。
“‘你今天收到了很多郵件嘛，’男人說道。
“我伸手拿起帽子。
“‘來吧，’我說。‘我們就等著你來呢。我?guī)闳タ纯?。你離開華盛頓后泰迪怎么樣了？’我把他帶到江景別墅介紹他和特羅特夫人認識。然后我給他看了她賬戶里面的2000美元?！?/p>
“‘倒是看不出什么不對呢’，偵探說。
“‘是的，’我答道?！悄氵€沒結婚的話，我會讓你跟特羅特女士單獨聊一會兒的。也不用提那兩美元勞務費了。’
“‘謝謝啦，’ 他回答。‘要是我沒結婚我可能會這么做的。祝好，彼得斯先生?！?/p>
“到了第三個月我們已經賺了超過5000美元了，是時候該放手了。已經有人開始抱怨了；特羅特夫人似乎也厭倦這個工作了。太多應征者打電話要見她，她似乎已經沒有耐心了。
“所以我們決定付她最后一周的報酬，拿回2000美元的賬戶然后跟她道別。
“當我到她那兒的時候，我看到她正哭得像個不想去上學的小孩子。
“‘好了好了，’我問道,‘這是怎么回事兒？你跟人吵架了？還是你想家了？”
“‘不，彼得斯先生，’她哭道，‘我會告訴你怎么回事，你一直是齊克的朋友，我不介意告訴你真相彼得斯先生。我戀愛了。我愛上了一個男人，很愛很愛，我簡直無法忍受不能和他在一起。他就是我的夢中情人?！?/p>
“‘那就和他在一起，’我說道，‘如果他也喜歡你的話。他是不是也像你愛他一樣愛你呢？’”
“‘是啊，’她說，‘但是他也是看到廣告才來找我的，除非我給他那2000美元他才會娶我的，他叫威廉·維爾金森。’然后她又開始歇斯底里哭了起來。
“‘特羅特夫人，’我說道，‘世界上沒有哪個男人比我更能體會理解女人的感情了。更何況你還曾經是我好朋友的妻子。如果我一個人能做主得話，我一定馬上給你這2000美元讓你們在一起。
“‘我們已經從那些想跟你結婚的爛人那兒賺了5000美元。但是，’我講道，‘我得先問下安迪·塔克，他也是個好人，就是做生意太精明了，但是他是我搭檔，我必須問問他意見?！?/p>
“我回到我們的住處，將事情原原本本告訴安迪。
“‘我就知道會有這種事，’安迪說?！悴荒茉谌魏悟_局里面信任會投入個人感情和喜好的女人?！?/p>
“‘安迪，’我說道，‘想想看，讓一個女人因為我們傷心不是什么好事兒。’
“‘是的’ 安迪說，‘讓我跟你說說我會怎么做，杰甫。你一直都是個很溫柔大度的男人?？赡苁俏姨拦侍嘁砂伞Ｈヌ亓_特夫人那兒，告訴她她可以從銀行取2000美元出來給那個她愛上的男人，跟他好好過?！?/p>
“我沖上去握了安迪的手五分鐘，然后跑回特羅特夫人那兒告訴她這個喜訊，她喜極而泣。
“兩天后我和安迪收拾行李準備離開。
“‘你不想我們離開之前去見一下特羅特夫人么？’我問安迪?！芸赡芟胝J識你，表達一下她對你的感激?！?/p>
“‘為什么呢，我覺得不用吧，’安迪說?！矣X得我們最好還是快點兒去趕火車?！?/p>
“我正像從前那樣把錢塞進貼身的包里，安迪忽然從口袋掏出一卷鈔票，讓我把它們和剩下的錢一起收起來。
“‘這是什么？’ 我問安迪。
“‘特羅特夫人的2000美元。’安迪答道。
“‘你怎么會有她的錢？’我接著問他。
“‘她給我的，’安迪說?！乙恢苡腥砩弦o她打電話，都打了一個多月了。’
“‘你就是威廉·維爾金森？’我問道。
“‘是的，’安迪答?！?/p>
未寫完的故事
如今我們提到地獄之火的時候不會再唉聲嘆氣往頭上倒灰了。因為現(xiàn)在連牧師都開始跟我們講上帝就是鐳或者以太，或者是別的什么化合物。我們這樣的戴罪之人所遭受的最惡毒的報應也不過是個化學反應罷了。這話聽著真讓人開心啊。但是，東正教殘存的老一套說法依然會讓你覺得毛骨悚然。
這世界上有兩種事情你可以天馬行空，信口開河。一是講做的夢；二是講鸚鵡講的話。睡神和小鳥都當不了證人；所以沒人敢說你講的不對。這個故事就是根據(jù)一個無憑無據(jù)的夢講的，沒有借漂亮鸚鵡的嘴巴說，因為它講話有一搭沒一搭的，只有對不起它忍痛割愛了。
我做了一個夢，跟考證《圣經》并無關系，但是與那個由來已久，讓人敬畏的末日審判有關。
加百列吹響了喇叭；我們要是不照吹的話就得去受審。我發(fā)現(xiàn)旁邊還站著一隊職業(yè)保人，穿著莊嚴肅穆的黑色衣服，衣領后開扣；但是他們似乎自身難保，更不用指望他們還能保我們出去了。
一個長著翅膀的警察，也就是天使警察，向我飛過來，拽住我的左翅就走。在我旁邊站著一隊候審的人，一臉的得意洋洋。
“你跟他們一伙兒嗎？”警察問道。
“他們是干嘛的？”我回答。
“他們啊，”他說，“他們是——”
但是這種不相干的閑話用不著多講了。
杜爾西在一家百貨公司上班。她賣賣漢堡邊兒、辣椒，或者賣賣汽車啊，雜貨鋪有的小玩意兒。每周只能拿六美元。這些錢主要計入上帝的總賬，噢，牧師你說那叫“原始能量”，好吧那就說計入“原始能量”的賬上好了，還有其他剩余的就計入自己的賬戶。
在公司第一年，杜爾西一周只拿五美元。要是能知道她怎么靠這五美元過下去的話一定能讓你受益匪淺。沒興趣？好吧！你可能對大一點兒的款子提得起興趣，六美元算是一筆大款子吧。我來告訴你她怎么靠六美元過活的。
一天下午六點鐘，杜爾西一邊在離髓質八分之一遠的地方插了根帽針，一邊跟在旁邊等她的閨蜜薩迪聊天：
“我跟你說薩迪，我今天晚上要和皮吉一起吃晚飯?！?/p>
“真有你的！”薩迪羨慕的大叫?！斑\氣真好！皮吉可是個大款；他總是帶女孩子們去些高消費的地方。有次他帶布蘭奇上了霍夫曼小屋，那兒的音樂太棒了，還能看到很多大款。你絕對會玩兒的超盡興的杜爾西?！?/p>
杜爾西匆匆往家里跑去。她的眼睛閃閃發(fā)光，臉額也是紅撲撲的，那是被生活——真實的生活的霞彩映紅的。今天是周五，她上周的工資只剩下五十美分。
下班高峰期，街道上人擠人。百老匯電燈通明，飛蛾從幾百英里外的黑暗地帶蜂擁而來，被烤成了焦炭。那些衣冠楚楚的人們臉上的神情如同水手們刻在櫻桃石上的人臉，模糊不清。他們轉過頭，目送著杜爾西毫不在意地掠過他們向前沖去。曼哈頓就像夜晚盛開的仙人掌，開始吐露它蒼白馥郁的花瓣。
杜爾西跑到一家賣便宜貨的店子，花了她僅有的五十美分買了個假花邊衣領。這些錢本來要用到別的地方的——十五美分吃晚飯，十美分吃早飯，十美分吃午飯。還有一毛錢存進她緊巴巴的小賬戶里；剩下的五分錢要浪費在甘草汁上——這種甘草汁吃了后會讓你的臉看起來像牙痛一樣，而且持續(xù)的時間跟牙痛一樣長。甘草汁就是一種奢侈的享受，幾乎算得上是豪華暢飲了——但是，沒有了享受的生活能叫生活嗎？
杜爾西住在那種帶出租家具的房子里，和那種包伙食的房子有些區(qū)別。住在這種房子里，你要是餓了可沒人知道。
杜爾西走進西區(qū)一座褐色石頭房子三樓的里間，這就是她住的地方。她點上煤氣燈。科學家告訴我們世界上最硬的東西是鉆石。他們錯了。女房東們知道有種化合物，鉆石跟它相比軟得簡直像煙灰一樣。她們把它塞在煤氣燈燈孔上；就算你站在椅子上，把手指摳得紅腫起泡也沒法把它摳出來。簪子也撬不動它；總之就是“它自巋然不動”。
燈點燃后，借著四分之一燭火的微光（微弱的燭光）我們來看看這個房間的樣子。
一張沙發(fā)床，一個梳妝臺，一張桌子，一個洗臉架，一把椅子——這些都是房東給的恩惠。剩下的東西就全是杜爾西自己的了。梳妝臺上擺著她的寶貝們，薩迪送給她的瓷瓶，泡菜作坊給的日歷，一本解夢的書，一罐裝在玻璃瓶子里的撲粉，一束扎著粉紅色緞帶的假櫻桃。
一面破鏡子旁邊掛著基欽納將軍、威廉·馬爾登、馬爾巴勒公爵夫人和本韋努托·切利尼的畫像。墻上掛著一副頭戴羅馬式頭盔的愛爾蘭人石膏塑像，邊上還有一幅色彩鮮艷的石板畫，畫上是一個淡黃色皮膚的小孩兒正在捕捉一只紅色蝴蝶。杜爾西十分喜歡這幅畫，并把它當成藝術極品。沒人質疑過她的品味，也沒人私下議論說這幅畫是贗品，招她煩心，更沒人來奚落她的小小昆蟲學家的身份。
皮吉七點鐘過來叫她。趁她忙不迭的梳洗打扮，我們暫且回避下，來聊點兒別的。
這個房間一周得付兩美元房租。周一到周五早餐得花十美分；杜爾西一邊換衣服一邊用煤氣烹煮雞蛋和咖啡。周日上午她會花二十五美分奢侈地吃一頓小牛排骨和菠蘿碎丁煎餅，還要給服務員十美分當小費。紐約的誘惑太多，能花錢的地方也太多了。每周她要花六十美分在公司食堂吃午飯；晚飯要花一點零五美元。晚報要花六美分，你們說說看有哪個紐約人不看報紙的！還有兩份周日的報紙，一份是人事廣告，一份是拿來看的，總共十美分。所有的加起來一共要花四點七六美元。還要買點兒衣服吧，還有——
我不想啰嗦了。我聽說過有人用些邊角料裁裁剪剪就能制出一件華麗的衣服，我不得不表示懷疑。由于那些不能言傳又難以實施的、神圣的、自然的天堂公正法則，我得讓杜爾西的生活增添點兒屬于女人的樂趣。于是她去了兩次康尼島，也坐過旋轉木馬。這種以年為限而不是以日為期的快樂真讓人郁悶。
講皮吉的話一個詞兒就夠了。女孩們叫他皮吉簡直就是在侮辱高貴的豬之族呢。在那本破舊的藍色的拼音字典里，第一章提到的三字詞簡直就是皮吉的小檔案。他是個胖子；他有著耗子般的靈魂，蝙蝠一樣的習慣，貓兒一樣喜歡玩弄獵物。他穿著昂貴的衣服，一眼就能看出來別人是不是在挨餓。他隨便掃一眼就能告訴你，那個女售貨員除了吃些棉花糖和喝點茶，好久都沒吃些有營養(yǎng)的東西了。他在店子里飄來蕩去，約人出去吃飯。那些牽著繩子遛狗的人都懶得看他一眼。他就是這樣的人；我不想再說他了；我的筆墨可不是為他浪費的；我又不是木匠。
七點差十分，杜爾西收拾好了。她拿著一面破鏡子看了看的自己，十分滿意。她穿著沒有一絲褶皺的深藍色長裙，戴著頂黑色帽子，帽子上插著一根輕飄飄的羽毛，手上戴著還算干凈的手套。這一身都是她辛辛苦苦確省吃儉用攢起來的。
一剎那，杜爾西有點忘我的陶醉在自己的美貌之中，生活即將為她揭開一角神秘面紗展現(xiàn)它的神奇綺麗。之前從來沒有男人約她出去過。如今她終于躋身上流圈子并能享受片刻了。
女孩們說皮吉舍得砸錢。吃大餐的地方有音樂，還有盛裝打扮的夫人小姐們，食物好吃到足以讓她們驚得下巴都掉下來。不用說，杜爾西肯定會被再次邀請的。
她知道商店衣櫥里有件藍色的絲綢上衣，每周要是能多節(jié)約十美分出來那就是二十美分，啊，那還要存好多年才買得起呢。但是第七大街有家二手店子好像——
有人在敲門。杜爾西打開門。女房東站在門口，一臉假惺惺的笑，鼻子還在使勁兒地嗅著房間里有沒有煤氣泄漏的味道。
“樓下有位紳士想見你，”她說道，“姓威金斯。”
皮吉就是用這名字來忽悠那些把他當回事兒的可憐蟲們的。
杜爾西走向衣柜取出她的手帕；突然她站住了，緊緊咬著下唇。她看到鏡子里面的自己像是童話仙境中剛剛從酣睡中醒來的公主。她幾乎要忘了房間里還有雙憂郁，迷人，堅毅的眼睛在看著她，似乎在責備她所做的一切。衣櫥上鍍金的相框里高大清俊的基欽納將軍正在用他那雙深邃的眼睛款款看著她，神情落寞哀傷，帶著些許悲憫的斥責。
杜爾西木木地轉向女房東，如同一個機械娃娃。
“告訴他我不能出去，”她的聲音鈍鈍的?！熬驼f我生病了，或者隨便找個理由。告訴他我不出去?！?/p>
房門帶上之后，杜爾西一頭撲倒在床上，哭了足足十分鐘，黑帽檐都壓壞了?；鶜J納將軍是她唯一的朋友，也是她心目中英勇騎士的化身。他臉上帶著隱秘的憂愁，他迷人的胡須引人入勝，看到他堅毅又溫柔的眼神，她有點心悸。她時常幻想有朝一日他能到蹬著馬靴，腰別配件出現(xiàn)在她門口喚著她的名字。一次有個小男孩拉著鐵鏈碰到燈柱上咯吱作響，她竟然打開窗戶向外張望看是不是他來了。結果當然大失所望。她明白基欽納將軍現(xiàn)在在日本帶著軍隊攻打土耳其蠻子呢；他永遠不可能為了她走出那個鑲金邊的相框。但是那天晚上他只是輕輕看了她一眼，皮吉就被她拋到九霄云外了。沒錯，那天晚上就是如此。
哭完了，杜爾西從床上爬起來，脫下她那身最好的衣服，換上那條舊舊的藍色睡袍。她不想吃晚餐，哼了兩段《薩米》的曲子。然后把注意力集中在鼻子的一個小紅點上。她拖了把椅子放在那個搖搖晃晃得桌子前面，抽出一疊舊紙牌給自己算命。
“這個不要臉的家伙！”，她大聲抱怨著。“他憑什么會覺得我對他有意思，我可什么都沒做！”
九點鐘，杜爾西從箱子里翻出一罐餅干和一小瓶子樹莓醬，大吃了一頓。她給基欽納在餅干上抹了些果醬遞給他，但是他的表情就像是斯芬克斯瞅著一只蝴蝶般漠然——如果沙漠有蝴蝶的話。
“不想吃就不要吃，”杜爾西叫道?！皠e用一臉鄙視的眼神看著我。你要是一星期只拿六美元我看你還驕傲個什么勁兒。”
杜爾西開始粗魯?shù)貙Υ鶜J納，這可不是什么好的開端。果然她接著把本韋努托切利尼的畫像狠狠地翻轉過來，讓他臉朝下。這個倒是可以理解；因為她一直以為他是亨利八世，她并不喜歡他。
九點半，杜爾西看了最后一眼柜子上的畫像，關掉燈，直接躺床上了。她挨個瞅了瞅基欽納將軍、威廉·馬爾登、馬爾巴勒公爵夫人和本韋努托·切利尼，算是道了晚安，真是讓人不爽。
這個故事也沒有尾聲。要是下次皮吉再約杜爾西出去吃飯，她又剛好覺得孤單，而基欽納將軍眼睛剛好看著別的地方，那么這個故事還會有后續(xù)；然后——
就像我之前說的，我夢到自己站在一群得意洋洋的受審人中間，一個警察抓著我問我是不是跟他們一起的。
“他們是誰？”我問道。
“他們啊，”他答道，“他們是那些雇傭女工的老板們，每周給她們發(fā)六美元工資。你跟他們一伙兒嗎？”
“我可沒那么厲害?！蔽掖鸬馈！拔抑徊贿^是放火燒了個孤兒院，又搶了一個瞎子的錢，然后把他干掉了而已。” （審核：盛君凱）
The Exact Science of Matrimony
O. Henry[1]
?????“As I have told you before,”??said Jeff Peters, “I never had much confidence in theperfidiousness[2]?of woman. As partners or coeducators?in the?most innocent?line of graft[3]they are not trustworthy.”
?????“They deserve the compliment,” said?I.?“I think they are entitled to be called the honest sex.”
?????“Why shouldn’t they be?” said Jeff. “They’ve got the other sex either grafting or working overtime for ’em. They’re all right in business until they get their emotions or their hairtouched up too much.[4]?Then you want to have a flat-footed, heavy-breathing man with sandy whiskers, five kids and a building and loan mortgage ready as an understudy to take her desk.[5]?Now there was that widow lady that me and Andy Tucker engaged to help us in that little matrimonial agency scheme we?floated[6]?out in?Cairo.[7]
?????“When you’ve got enough advrtising capital--say a roll as big as the little end of a wagontongue[8]--there’s money in matrimonial agencies. We had about $6,000 and we expected to double it in two months, which is about as long as a scheme like ours can be carried on without?taking out aNew Jersey?charter.[9]
?????“We fixed up an advertisement that read about like this:?
‘Charming widow, beautiful, home loving, 32 years, possessing $3,000 cash and owning valuable country property, would remarry. Would prefer a poor man with affectionate disposition to?one[10]with means, as she realizes that the solid virtues are oftenest to be found in the humble?walks[11]of life. No objection to elderly man or one of homely appearance if faithful and true and competent to manage property and invest money with judgment. Address, with particulars,
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?Lonely,?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Care of Peters & Tucker, agents,Cairo,?Ill.’
?????“‘So far, so?pernicious,’[12]?says I, when we had finished the literary concoction. ‘And now,’ says I, ‘where is the lady?’
?????“Andy gives me one of his looks of calm irritation.
?????“‘Jeff,’ says he, ‘I thought you had lost them ideas of realism in your art.[13]?Why should there be a lady? When they sell a lot of?watered stock?on Wall Street would you expect to find amermaid?in it?[14]?What has a matrimonial ad got to do with a lady?’
?????“‘Now listen,’ says?I.?‘You know my rule, Andy, that in all my illegitimate inroads against the legal letter of the law the article sold must be existent, visible, producible. In that way and by a careful study of city?ordinances[15]?and train schedules I have kept out of all trouble with the police that a five-dollar bill and a cigar could not?square.[16]?Now, to work this scheme we’ve got to be able to produce bodily a charming widow or its equivalent with or without the beauty,hereditaments[17]?and?appurtenances[18]?set forth in the catalogue and?writ of errors,[19]?or hereafter be held by?a justice of the peace.”[20]
?????“‘Well,’ says Andy, reconstructing his mind, ‘maybe it would be safer in case the post office or?the peace commission[21]?should try to investigate our agency. But where,’ he says, ‘could you hope to find a widow who would waste time on a matrimonial scheme that had no matrimony in it?’
?????“I told Andy that I thought I knew of the exact party. An old friend of mine, Zeke Trotter, had made his wife a widow a year before by drinking some?dyspepsia[22]?cure of the old doctor’s intead of the?liniment?that he always?got boozed up[23]?on. I used to stop at their house often, and I thought we could get her to work with us.
?????“ ’T was only sixty miles to the little town where she lived, so I jumped out on the I.C. and finds her in the same cottage with the same sunflowers and roosters standing on the washrubs. Mrs Trotter fitted our ad first rate except, maybe, for beauty and age and property valuation. But she looked feasible and praiseworthy to the eye, and it was a kindness to Zeke’s money to give her the job.
?????“Is this?an honest deal[24]?you are?putting on,[25]?Mr. Peters? she asks me when I tell her what we want.
?????“ ‘Mrs. Trotter,’ says I, ‘Andy Trotter and me have computed the calculation that 3,000 men in this broad and fair country will endeavor to secure your fair?hand[26]?and?ostensible[27]?money and property through our advertisement. Out of that number something like thirty hundred will expect to give you in exchange, if they should win you, the?carcass[28]?of a lazy and?mercenary[29]loafer, a failure in life, a?swindler[30]?and contemptible fortune seeker.
?????“ ‘Me and Andy,’ says I, ‘propose to teach these preyers upon society a lesson. It was with difficulty,’ says I, ‘that me and Andy could?refrain from[31]?forming a corporation under the title of the Great Moral and Millenial Malevolent Matrimonial Agency. Does that satisfy you?”
?????“‘It does, Mr. Peters,’ says she. ‘I might have known you wouldn’t have gone into anything that wasn’t?opprobrious.[32]?But what will my duties be? Do I have to reject personally these 3,000 ramscallions you speak of, or can I throw them out in bunches?’
?????“ ‘Your job, Mrs. Trotter,’ says I, ‘will be practically a?cynosure.[33]?You will live at a quiet hotel and will have no work to do. Andy and I will attend to all the correspondence and business end of it.
?????“‘Of course,’ says I, ‘some of the more ardent and impetuous suitors who can raise the railroad fare may come to?Cairo?to personally?press their suit[34]?or whatever fraction of a suit they may be wearing. In that case you will be probably put to the inconvenience of kicking them out face to face. We will pay you $25 per week and hotel expenses.”
?????“‘Give me five minutes,’ says Mrs. Trotter, ‘to get my?powder rag[35]?and leave the front door key with a neighbor and you can let my salary begin.’
?????“‘So I conveys Mrs. Trotter to?Cairo?and establishes her in a family hotel far enough away from mine and Andy’s quarters to be unsuspicious and available, and I tell Andy.
?????“ ‘Great,’ says Andy. ‘And now that your conscience is appeased?as to the tangibility and proximity of the bait.[36]
?????“So, we began to insert our advertisement in newspapers covering the country far and wide. One ad was all we used. We couldn’t have used more without hiring so many clerks and?marcelled[37]paraphernalia[38]?that the sound of the gum chewing would have disturbed the Postmaster-General.
?????“We place $2,000 in?a bank?to Mrs. Trotter’s credit[39]?and gave her the book to show in case anybody might question the honesty and good faith of the agency. I knew Mrs. Trotter wassquare[40]?and reliable and it was safe to leave it in her name.
?????“With that one ad Andy and me?put in[41]?twelve hours a day answering letters.
?????“About one hundred a day was what came in. I never knew there was so many?large hearted[42]but indigent men in the country who were willing to acquire a charming widow and assume the burden of investing her money.
?????“Most of them admitted that they?ran?principally?to[43]?whiskers and lost jobs and were misunderstood by the world, but all of ’em were sure that they were so?chock[44]?full of affection and manly qualities that the widow would be making the bargain of her life to get ’em.
?????“Every applicant got a reply from Peters & Tucker informing him that the widow had been deeply impressed by his straightforward and interesting letter and requesting them to write again stating more particulars; and enclosing photograph if convenient. Peters & Tucker also informed the applicant that their fee for handing over the second letter to their fair client would be $2, enclosed therewith.
?????“There you see the simple beauty of the scheme. About 90 percent of them domestic foreign noblemen raised the price somehow and sent it in. That was all there was to it. Except that me and Andy complained an amount about being put to the trouble of slicing open them envelopes, and taking the money out.
?????“Some few clients called in person. We sent ’em to Mrs. Trotter?and she did the rest; except for three or four who came back to strike us for carfare. After the letters began to get in from the r.f.d. districts Andy and me were taking in about $200 a?day.
?????“One afternoon when we were busiest and I was stuffing the two and ones into cigar boxes[45]and Andy was whistling ‘No Wedding Bells for Her’ a small,?slick[46]?man drops in and runs his eyes over the walls like he was on the trail of a lost Gainesborough[47]?painting or two. As soon as I saw him I felt a glow of pride, because we were running our business?on the level.[48]
?????“ ‘I see you have quite a large mail today,’ says the man.
?????“I reached and got my hat.
?????“ ‘Come on,’ says?I.?‘We’ve been expecting you. I’ll show you the goods. How was Teddy[49]when you left?Washington?”
?????“I took him down to the Riverview Hotel and had him shake hands with Mrs. Trotter. Then I showed him her bank book with the $2,000 to her credit.
?????“ ‘It seems to be all right,’ says the?Secret Service.[50]
?????“ ‘It is,’ says?I.?‘And if you’re not a married man. I’ll leave you to talk a while with the lady. We won’t mention the two dollars.’
?????“ ‘Thanks,’ says he. ‘If I wasn’t, I might. Good day, Mr. Peters.’
?????“Toward the end of three months we had taken in something over $5,000, and we saw it was time to quit. We had a good many complaints made to us; and Mrs. Trotter seemed to be tired of the job. A good many suitors had been calling to see her, and she didn’t seem to like that.
?????“So we decides to pay her last week’s salary and say farewell and get her check for $2,000.
?????“When I get there I found her crying like a kid that don’t want to go to school.
?????“ ‘Now, now,’ says I, ‘what’s it all about? Somebody?sassed[51]?you or you getting homesick?”
?????“ ‘No, Mr. Peters,’ says she. ‘I’ll tell you. You was always a friend of Zeke’s, and I don’t mind. Mr. Peters, I’m in love. I just love a man so hard I can’t bear not to get him. He’s just the ideal I’ve always had in mind.’
?????“ ‘Then take him,’ says?I.?‘That is, if it’s a mutual case. Does he return the sentiment according to the specifications and painfulness you have described?’[52]
?????“ ‘He does,’ says she. ‘But he’s one of the gentlemen that’s been coming to see me about the advertisement and he won’t marry me unless I give him the $2,000, His name is William Wilkinson.’ And then she?goes off[53]?again in the agitations and hysterics of romance.
?????“ ‘Mrs. Trotter,’ says I, ‘there’s no man more sympathizing with a woman’s affections than I am. Besides, you was once a life partner of one of my best friends. If it was left to me I’d say take this $2,000 and the man of your choice and be happy.
?????“ ‘We could afford to do that, because we have cleaned up over $5,000 from these suckers that wanted to marry you. But,’ says I, ‘Andy Tucker is to be consulted.’
?????“I goes back to our hotel and lays the case before Andy.
?????“ ‘I was expecting something like this all the time,’ says Andy. ‘You can’t trust a woman to stick by you in any scheme that involves her emotions and preferences.’
?????“‘It’s a sad thing, Andy,’ says I, ‘to think that we’ve been the cause of the breaking of a woman’s heart.’
?????“ ‘It is’??says Andy, ‘and I tell you what I’m willing to do, Jeff. You’ve always been a man of a soft and generous disposition. Perhaps I’ve been too hard and worldly and suspicious. For once I’ll?meet you half way.[54]?Go to Mrs. Trotter and tell her to draw the $2,000 from the bank and give it to this man she’s?infatuated[55]?with and be happy.’
?????“I jumps and shakes Andy’s hand for five minutes, and then I goes back to Mrs. Trotter and tells her, and she cries as hard for joy as she did for sorrow.
?????“Two days afterward me and Andy packed to go.
?????“‘Wouldn’t you like to go down and meet Mrs. Trotter once before we leave?’ I asks him. “She’d like mightily to know you and express her encomiums?and gratitude.”
?????“ ‘Why, I guess not,’ says Andy. ‘I guess we’d better hurry and catch that train.’
?????“I was strapping our capital around me in a memory belt like we always carried it, when Andy pulls a roll of large bills out of his pocket and asks me to put ’em with the rest.
?????“ ‘What’s this?’ says I.
?????“ ‘It’s Mrs. Trotter’s two thousand,’ says Andy.
?????“ ‘How do you come to have it?’ I asks.
?????“ ‘She gave it to me,’ says Andy. “I’ve been calling on her three evenings a week for more than a month.’
?????“ ‘Then you are William Wilkinson?” says I.
?????“ ‘I was,’ says Andy.”?
An unfinished story
We no longer groan and heap ashes upon our heads when the flames of Tophet are mentioned. For, even the preachers have begun to tell us that God is radium, or ether or some scientific compound, and that the worst we wicked ones may expect is a chemical reaction. This is a pleasing hypothesis; but there lingers yet some of the old, goodly terror of orthodoxy.
There are but two subjects upon which one may discourse with a free imagination, and without the possibility of being controverted. You may talk of your dreams; and you may tell what you heard a parrot say. Both Morpheus and the bird are incompetent witnesses; and your listener dare not attack your recital. The baseless fabric of a vision, then, shall furnish my theme--chosen with apologies and regrets instead of the more limited field of pretty Polly's small talk.
I had a dream that was so far removed from the higher criticism that it had to do with the ancient, respectable, and lamented bar-of- judgment theory.
Gabriel had played his trump; and those of us who could not follow suit were arraigned for examination. I noticed at one side a gathering of professional bondsmen in solemn black and collars that buttoned behind; but it seemed there was some trouble about their real estate titles; and they did not appear to be getting any of us out.
A fly cop--an angel policeman--flew over to me and took me by the left wing. Near at hand was a group of very prosperous-looking spirits arraigned for judgment.
"Do you belong with that bunch?" the policeman asked.
"Who are they?" was my answer.
"Why," said he, "they are--"
But this irrelevant stuff is taking up space that the story should occupy.
Dulcie worked in a department store. She sold Hamburg edging, or stuffed peppers, or automobiles, or other little trinkets such as they keep in department stores. Of what she earned, Dulcie received six dollars per week. The remainder was credited to her and debited to somebody else's account in the ledger kept by G-- Oh, primal energy, you say, Reverend Doctor--Well then, in the Ledger of Primal Energy.
During her first year in the store, Dulcie was paid five dollars per week. It would be instructive to know how she lived on that amount. Don't care? Very well; probably you are interested in larger amounts. Six dollars is a larger amount. I will tell you how she lived on six dollars per week.
One afternoon at six, when Dulcie was sticking her hat-pin within an eighth of an inch of her medulla oblongata, she said to her chum, Sadie--the girl that waits on you with her left side:
"Say, Sade, I made a date for dinner this evening with Piggy."
"You never did!" exclaimed Sadie admiringly. "Well, ain't you the lucky one? Piggy's an awful swell; and he always takes a girl to swell places. He took Blanche up to the Hoffman House one evening, where they have swell music, and you see a lot of swells. You'll have a swell time, Dulce."
Dulcie hurried homeward. Her eyes were shining, and her cheeks showed the delicate pink of life's--real life's--approaching dawn. It was Friday; and she had fifty cents left of her last week's wages.
The streets were filled with the rush-hour floods of people. The electric lights of Broadway were glowing--calling moths from miles, from leagues, from hundreds of leagues out of darkness around to come in and attend the singeing school. Men in accurate clothes, with faces like those carved on cherry stones by the old salts in sailors' homes, turned and stared at Dulcie as she sped, unheeding, past them. Manhattan, the night-blooming cereus, was beginning to unfold its dead-white, heavy-odoured petals.
Dulcie stopped in a store where goods were cheap and bought an imitation lace collar with her fifty cents. That money was to have been spent otherwise--fifteen cents for supper, ten cents for breakfast, ten cents for lunch. Another dime was to be added to her small store of savings; and five cents was to be squandered for licorice drops--the kind that made your cheek look like the toothache, and last as long. The licorice was an extravagance-- almost a carouse--but what is life without pleasures?
Dulcie lived in a furnished room. There is this difference between a furnished room and a boardinghouse. In a furnished room, other people do not know it when you go hungry.
Dulcie went up to her room--the third floor back in a West Side brownstone-front. She lit the gas. Scientists tell us that the diamond is the hardest substance known. Their mistake. Landladies know of a compound beside which the diamond is as putty. They pack it in the tips of gas-burners; and one may stand on a chair and dig at it in vain until one's fingers are pink and bruised. A hairpin will not remove it; therefore let us call it immovable.
So Dulcie lit the gas. In its one-fourth-candlepower glow we will observe the room.
Couch-bed, dresser, table, washstand, chair--of this much the landlady was guilty. The rest was Dulcie's. On the dresser were her treasures--a gilt china vase presented to her by Sadie, a calendar issued by a pickle works, a book on the divination of dreams, some rice powder in a glass dish, and a cluster of artificial cherries tied with a pink ribbon.
Against the wrinkly mirror stood pictures of General Kitchener, William Muldoon, the Duchess of Marlborough, and Benvenuto Cellini. Against one wall was a plaster of Paris plaque of an O'Callahan in a Roman helmet. Near it was a violent oleograph of a lemon-coloured child assaulting an inflammatory butterfly. This was Dulcie's final judgment in art; but it had never been upset. Her rest had never been disturbed by whispers of stolen copes; no critic had elevated his eyebrows at her infantile entomologist.
Piggy was to call for her at seven. While she swiftly makes ready, let us discreetly face the other way and gossip.
For the room, Dulcie paid two dollars per week. On week-days her breakfast cost ten cents; she made coffee and cooked an egg over the gaslight while she was dressing. On Sunday mornings she feasted royally on veal chops and pineapple fritters at "Billy's" restaurant, at a cost of twenty-five cents--and tipped the waitress ten cents. New York presents so many temptations for one to run into extravagance. She had her lunches in the department-store restaurant at a cost of sixty cents for the week; dinners were $1.05. The evening papers--show me a New Yorker going without his daily paper! --came to six cents; and two Sunday papers--one for the personal column and the other to read--were ten cents. The total amounts to $4.76. Now, one has to buy clothes, and--
I give it up. I hear of wonderful bargains in fabrics, and of miracles performed with needle and thread; but I am in doubt. I hold my pen poised in vain when I would add to Dulcie's life some of those joys that belong to woman by virtue of all the unwritten, sacred, natural, inactive ordinances of the equity of heaven. Twice she had been to Coney Island and had ridden the hobby-horses. 'Tis a weary thing to count your pleasures by summers instead of by hours.
Piggy needs but a word. When the girls named him, an undeserving stigma was cast upon the noble family of swine. The words-of-three- letters lesson in the old blue spelling book begins with Piggy's biography. He was fat; he had the soul of a rat, the habits of a bat, and the magnanimity of a cat. . . He wore expensive clothes; and was a connoisseur in starvation. He could look at a shop-girl and tell you to an hour how long it had been since she had eaten anything more nourishing than marshmallows and tea. He hung about the shopping districts, and prowled around in department stores with his invitations to dinner. Men who escort dogs upon the streets at the end of a string look down upon him. He is a type; I can dwell upon him no longer; my pen is not the kind intended for him; I am no carpenter.
At ten minutes to seven Dulcie was ready. She looked at herself in the wrinkly mirror. The reflection was satisfactory. The dark blue dress, fitting without a wrinkle, the hat with its jaunty black feather, the but-slightly-soiled gloves--all representing self- denial, even of food itself--were vastly becoming.
Dulcie forgot everything else for a moment except that she was beautiful, and that life was about to lift a corner of its mysterious veil for her to observe its wonders. No gentleman had ever asked her out before. Now she was going for a brief moment into the glitter and exalted show.
The girls said that Piggy was a "spender." There would be a grand dinner, and music, and splendidly dressed ladies to look at, and things to eat that strangely twisted the girls' jaws when they tried to tell about them. No doubt she would be asked out again. There was a blue pongee suit in a window that she knew--by saving twenty cents a week instead of ten, in--let's see--Oh, it would run into years! But there was a second-hand store in Seventh Avenue where--
Somebody knocked at the door. Dulcie opened it. The landlady stood there with a spurious smile, sniffing for cooking by stolen gas.
"A gentleman's downstairs to see you," she said. "Name is Mr. Wiggins."
By such epithet was Piggy known to unfortunate ones who had to take him seriously.
Dulcie turned to the dresser to get her handkerchief; and then she stopped still, and bit her underlip hard. While looking in her mirror she had seen fairyland and herself, a princess, just awakening from a long slumber. She had forgotten one that was watching her with sad, beautiful, stern eyes--the only one there was to approve or condemn what she did. Straight and slender and tall, with a look of sorrowful reproach on his handsome, melancholy face, General Kitchener fixed his wonderful eyes on her out of his gilt photograph frame on the dresser.
Dulcie turned like an automatic doll to the landlady.
"Tell him I can't go," she said dully. "Tell him I'm sick, or something. Tell him I'm not going out."
After the door was closed and locked, Dulcie fell upon her bed, crushing her black tip, and cried for ten minutes. General Kitchener was her only friend. He was Dulcie's ideal of a gallant knight. He looked as if he might have a secret sorrow, and his wonderful moustache was a dream, and she was a little afraid of that stern yet tender look in his eyes. She used to have little fancies that he would call at the house sometime, and ask for her, with his sword clanking against his high boots. Once, when a boy was rattling a piece of chain against a lamp-post she had opened the window and looked out. But there was no use. She knew that General Kitchener was away over in Japan, leading his army against the savage Turks; and he would never step out of his gilt frame for her. Yet one look from him had vanquished Piggy that night. Yes, for that night.
When her cry was over Dulcie got up and took off her best dress, and put on her old blue kimono. She wanted no dinner. She sang two verses of "Sammy." Then she became intensely interested in a little red speck on the side of her nose. And after that was attended to, she drew up a chair to the rickety table, and told her fortune with an old deck of cards.
"The horrid, impudent thing!" she said aloud. "And I never gave him a word or a look to make him think it!"
At nine o'clock Dulcie took a tin box of crackers and a little pot of raspberry jam out of her trunk, and had a feast. She offered General Kitchener some jam on a cracker; but he only looked at her as the sphinx would have looked at a butterfly--if there are butterflies in the desert.
"Don't eat it if you don't want to," said Dulcie. "And don't put on so many airs and scold so with your eyes. I wonder if you'd he so superior and snippy if you had to live on six dollars a week."
It was not a good sign for Dulcie to be rude to General Kitchener. And then she turned Benvenuto Cellini face downward with a severe gesture. But that was not inexcusable; for she had always thought he was Henry VIII, and she did not approve of him.
At half-past nine Dulcie took a last look at the pictures on the dresser, turned out the light, and skipped into bed. It's an awful thing to go to bed with a good-night look at General Kitchener, William Muldoon, the Duchess of Marlborough, and Benvenuto Cellini. This story really doesn't get anywhere at all. The rest of it comes later--sometime when Piggy asks Dulcie again to dine with him, and she is feeling lonelier than usual, and General Kitchener happens to be looking the other way; and then--
As I said before, I dreamed that I was standing near a crowd of prosperous-looking angels, and a policeman took me by the wing and asked if I belonged with them.
"Who are they?" I asked.
"Why," said he, "they are the men who hired working-girls, and paid 'em five or six dollars a week to live on. Are you one of the bunch?"
"Not on your immortality," said I. "I'm only the fellow that set fire to an orphan asylum, and murdered a blind man for his pennies."
以辨義覓本真：關于第一次練習文學翻譯的總結
?第一次接到文學翻譯的任務，還是翻譯世界短篇小說巨匠歐亨利的作品，內心用“顫顫兢兢，如履薄冰”來形容也不為過，十分恐懼自己拙劣的譯筆無法再現(xiàn)大師的經典，貽笑大方。然而擔心焦慮無助于寫好翻譯，任何事情都是一點一點完成的。
在動筆之前我所做的第一件事就是回憶曾經學過關于歐亨利小說語言特色的介紹，歐亨利小說語言“簡潔凝練，幽默調侃”，被譽為“含淚的微笑”；后來通讀幾遍原文之后，初步發(fā)現(xiàn)《婚姻的精密科學》一文有相當多的對話，而《一個未寫完的故事》雖然多用敘述，用典和諧音，但是所用之詞十分平實，因此我做出的判斷是：譯文語言也應該盡量生動活潑，對話需要口語化。
語言風格確定之后，我開始著手翻譯。全文總共通翻了3遍，也找同門和同學幫助自己審譯了數(shù)次，然而每次再重讀譯文，對比原文，依然能發(fā)現(xiàn)無數(shù)問題，而最大的問題就是辨義不明造成的誤翻。就拿標題來說，翻譯《An unfinished story》這個標題我就前后改動了數(shù)次：第一次翻譯成為“一個未完成的故事”，后來修改時發(fā)現(xiàn)這個標題的含義與文章內容有所出入：“完成”在漢語中的意思是“事情按照預定目標做成”，然而原文中的這個故事其實是作者的一個夢境，而夢境恰恰是不能預設的，所以“完成”用在這里并不精準；第二次我將它改成了“未講完的故事”，后來在校對的時候再次動筆把它改成了“未寫完的故事”，原因是歐亨利在文中寫到“My pen is not the kind intended for him; I am no carpenter”，因此最終將它換成了“寫”。第二處是在翻譯《The exact Science of Matrimony》中一句很簡單的話，也是因為辨義不明造成了誤翻：“It seems to be all right”我直接翻譯成了“一切似乎進展得很順利”。但是后來校對的時候發(fā)現(xiàn)這句話實際上是便衣警察過來暗訪的時候說的。如果直接按照上文的翻譯感覺意思就是一個普通的評價，甚至還有“滿意”的效果在里面；而根據(jù)語境應該把它翻譯成“倒看不出有什么問題”更能體現(xiàn)便衣警察的身份。也是在《An unfinished story》里面有一句話是“He had……the magnanimityof cat”。最開始我將它翻譯成“貓兒的氣度”，然而“貓兒的氣度”在英語和漢語文化中并沒有特別的含義，既不是指氣度大也不是指氣度??；然后根據(jù)后文皮吉的性格特點（喜歡周旋于各色女孩子之間）將其翻譯為“貓兒一樣喜歡玩弄獵物”。
翻譯家和語言學家王宗炎先生說過，“辨義為翻譯之本”。此次翻譯練習讓我對這句話的領悟有了更深刻的體會：譯者一定要在充分領會原文意圖的基礎之上才可以斟酌用詞和用句?！傲x”不僅單指語言含義，更指語境和文化含義。在今后的翻譯中我將會更加嚴謹?shù)乃伎迹髦氐穆涔P，以期進步。
歸在語言異在文化——關于歐亨利兩篇短篇小說譯文的評析和對比
朱砂
摘要：本文從歸化和異化的角度分析歐亨利兩篇短篇小說《婚姻學的真諦》（以下簡稱《婚》）和《沒寫完的故事》（以下簡稱《沒》）的不同譯本，通過實例對比，將歸與異的處理劃分為語言和文化兩大類。分析表明，上述兩篇小說譯者譯文的歸化著力點主要都在語言層面上，而對文化的歸化十分節(jié)制，主要采取異化。由此得出結論，為保證譯文流暢可讀，歸化為首選；為體現(xiàn)源語文化的異域風情，異化為首選。歸在語言，異在文化，歸異相糅。
關鍵詞：歸化; 異化; 語言; 文化
Abstract:?On the perspective of domestication and foreignization, the different translations of O’Henry’s short novels The Exact Science of Matrimony (hereinafter referred?to as Matrimony)?and An unfinished story?(hereinafter referred?to as Unfinished)?are compared by examples. The classification?of domestication?and foreignization are in two levels: language and culture. The above two translations?are mainly focused on language level referring to domestication while there are a lot of limitations referring to culture elements and the translator?intended to adopt foreignization in this case. It is concluded that domestication is the priority in order to keep the translation work fluent and readable; foreignization is the priority in order to reflect the foreign culture. Domestication is mainly focused on language while foreignization on culture. And both methods are to be combined.
Key words:?domestication; forejgnization; language; culture
一.析歸異之偏愛，求歸異之平衡
歸化與異化的說法最早來源于1813年6月24日德國早期思想家斯萊爾馬赫（Schleiermacher）在柏林皇家科學院所作的題為《論翻譯的方法》的演講，他認為翻譯不是盡可能讓讀者靠攏作者，就是讓作者靠攏讀者。歸化與異化主要包含兩大類，一是語言層面，一是文化層面。然而歸化異化各自傾向于哪個層面，孫致禮教授認為：“翻譯的根本任務是忠實再現(xiàn)原作的思想和風格，而原作的思想和風格都帶有濃厚的異國情調，翻譯中不采用異化的方法，很難完成這一使命。與此同時，為了達到譯文像原作一樣通順的要求，譯者在語言表達中，又不得不作出必要的歸化。”由此可知，在翻譯過程中，異化側重于思想文化的處理，歸化側重于語言表達的處理。然而具體翻譯中，通常同時涉及到文化和語言的處理，因此析歸異之偏愛后，應該求歸化與異化的平衡，歸化異化互為補充。
二.譯海拾貝：小說《婚》和《沒》的譯本賞析和對比
1.譯文和譯者簡介
歐亨利小說以其出人意料而又合乎情理的結尾情節(jié)設計深受讀者喜愛。本文選取的兩篇小說《婚》和《沒》都體現(xiàn)了歐亨利對小人物的命運的同情和關心，同時也對他們自身的劣根性提出了辛辣的嘲諷和批評，是典型的歐亨利式小說。同時選擇的譯本分別是2010年中國對外翻譯出版社出版的張經浩先生的譯本和2010年人民文學出版社出版的王永年先生的譯本。選擇這兩種譯本的原因有三，第一是這兩種譯本在各大網上書店銷售量大；第二是這兩種譯本各有千秋，但是都能體現(xiàn)語言層面歸化和文化層面異化的雜糅；第三，同是采取歸化策略，張譯本和王譯本在表達方式上有所不同，可以作出比較，各取其長，各補其短。
2.歸化的具體體現(xiàn)
“欣賞翻譯的藝術就是要看譯者如何利用目標語的語言資源去克服翻譯困難。”漢語特有的語言資源有主要有量詞，疊字和四字格以及古體語。這四種處理方法，實際上是撇開了原語中的詞語和句法轉而迎合目的語的表達方式，盡量照顧目的語讀者的需要，是歸化的處理方法。
從張譯《婚》版本中，我們可以看到歸化的具體表現(xiàn)如下：
量詞：一卷鈔票；一大疊鈔票
疊詞：醉醺醺；
四字格：當之無愧；拼死拼活；笨手笨腳；胡子拉碴；應接不暇；興師動眾；懷才不遇；不三不四；十有八九；財源滾滾；滑頭滑腦；天衣無縫；絡繹不絕；兩廂情愿
古體語：見下文例3
王譯《婚》版本中：
量詞：一幢房子；一條人魚；一張五元鈔票；一支雪茄；一則廣告；一封回信；一卷大額鈔票
疊詞：冷冷地；咕嚕嚕；
四字格：酩酊大醉；游手好閑；唯利是圖；嬉皮涎臉；不可開交；無懈可擊；難分難舍；和盤托出
古體語：見下文例3
下面我們來對上述方法在譯文中的具體運用做簡要分析和對比：
例1：An old friend of mine, Zeke Trotter, had made his wife a widow a year before drinking some dyspepsia cure of the old doctor’s instead of the liniment that he always got boozed up on. （斜體部分為本文作者所加，下同）
張譯：我有位老朋友，叫齊克特羅特。平常他總是灌黃湯灌得醉醺醺，一年前有次沒灌好，吃了老醫(yī)生治消化不良的藥，讓老婆成了寡婦。（黑體著重部分為本文作者所加，下同）
王譯：我有個老朋友，齊克特羅特，去年喝了一個老醫(yī)生的消化藥，而沒有喝那種老是使他酩酊大醉的萬應藥，結果害的老婆當了寡婦。
此處，張譯版本在翻譯”got boozed up”時采用了ABB疊詞處理方法。疊詞能夠增強語言音律美和節(jié)奏感，使得譯出的漢語更有表現(xiàn)力，更易使讀者接受。如果此處不使用疊詞，而是直譯為”他總是灌黃湯灌醉”,意思表達依然完整，但是表現(xiàn)力大打折扣。而此處王譯版本將其處理為四字格亦可，表達力也較強。兩種處理辦法均可。
例2：Out of that number something like thirty hundred will expect to give you in exchange, if they should win you, the carcass of a lazy and mercenary loafer, a failure in life, a swindler and contemptible fortune seeker.(206)
張譯：你等著瞧吧，這三千人里有三千零一或者是懶漢，或者是見錢眼開的人，或者是倒霉鬼，騙子，存心不良搞錢財?shù)募一铩?張經浩，第48頁)
王譯：在那批人中間，假如他們僥幸贏得了你的心，約莫就有三千人準備給你一個游手好閑，唯利是圖的臭皮囊，一個生活的失意人，一個騙子手和可鄙的淘金者作為交換。（王永年，第161頁）
此處張譯本將”thirty hundred”歸化翻譯為漢語中的特有句式”三千人里有三千零一個”,從中可以看出譯者對原文的深刻理解和在表達上的匠心獨運。原文所對應的名詞直譯應該為”三千人”，但是此處譯者加入了自己的理解：就譯者看來，這些居心不良的求婚者不在少數(shù)，甚至人人都各懷鬼胎，因此譯者大膽使用漢語特有的夸張句式”三千人里有三千零一個”，使得讀者能充分感受到當時整個社會人們道德水平普遍低下的境況的言外之意，不失為一種歸化的妙譯。反觀王譯本當中直譯成“三千人”就缺乏夸張的效果。并且從句式上看，王譯本對原文幾乎是直接直譯過來，顯得拖沓生硬，而張譯本更符合漢語的表達。因此，該處張譯本采取歸化的方法處理更為恰當。
例3：Would prefer a poor man with affectionate disposition to one with means as she realizes that the solid virtues are oftenest to be found in the humble walks of life.(205)
張譯：念卑賤者往往忠厚，故寧擇貧而情篤者。(張經浩，第47頁)
王譯：……然性情必須溫良，因微賤之人多具美德。(王永年，第159頁到160頁)
此處，兩種譯本都采取歸化的方法將原文翻譯成漢語味道濃郁的偏古體句，巧妙的將英語中的長難句簡化成符合漢語習慣的短句，贏得了漢語讀者的好感。兩種譯本均可，然而張譯本更是運用了對偶句，加強了譯本的文學性和節(jié)奏感，因此略勝一籌。
3.異化的具體體現(xiàn)
翻譯的根本任務是忠實再現(xiàn)原作的思想和風格。然而有時候原作的思想和風格都帶有濃郁的異國色彩，或者說蘊含非常強烈的文化內涵，歸化的譯法無法傳達出其意義，此時就應該采用異化的方法。具體來說是就是直譯和解注文化負載詞。即，特意使用“不地道”的漢語，目的是保留原作的文化內涵。
據(jù)統(tǒng)計，張譯《沒》總共有注解11處，其中屬于文化負載詞的注解有6處；王譯《沒》總共有注解10處，其中屬于文化負載詞的注解有5處。以下舉例分析異化的具體表現(xiàn)以及對比：
例4：Dulcie went up to her room—the third floor back in a West Side brownstone-front.
張譯：達爾西走進西區(qū)一所正面用褐色石頭建造的房子三樓的一間后房，這兒是她的住房。
王譯：達爾西上樓到她的房間里去——西區(qū)一座褐石房屋的三樓后房。
此處，張譯本和王譯本最大的不同在于，張譯本對“褐色石頭建造的房子”加入了注解“19世紀時房子正面用褐色石頭建造表示房主人富有”，歐亨利將一個貧困的女售貨員的住處設計成代表富有的“褐色石頭房子”實際上是一種諷刺，既諷刺了社會貧富差距大，也暗指了女售貨員的虛榮心，她的生活和她幻想中的生活存在極大的落差，就如同褐色房子表面的富有和內在的貧困一樣。因此此處的注解對讀者正確理解原文作者意圖是不可或缺的。張譯使用異化的處理策略十分恰當。
例5：So, we began to insert our advertisement in newspapers covering the country far and wide. One ad was all we used. We couldn’t have used more without hiring so many clerks and marcelled paraphernalia that the sound of the gum chewing would have disturbed the Postmaster-General.(207)
張譯：“我們立即在全國各地報紙登征婚啟事，只登了一次，多登非應接不暇，鬧得興師動眾，露出馬腳不可。”(張經浩，第49頁)
王譯：我們在全國各地的報紙上刊登了廣告。我們只登一次。事實上也不能多登，不然就得雇用許多辦事員和女秘書，而她們嚼口香糖的聲音可能會驚動郵政總長。(王永年，第162頁)
此處，張譯連用“應接不暇”“興師動眾”“露出馬腳”三個四字短語，優(yōu)點是其形式簡潔明快，且具有模糊性和概況性，適宜用于處理冗長復雜的英文句子。并且易于被漢語讀者接受。但是此處歐亨利在原文中設計了“辦事員和女秘書嚼口香糖”的情節(jié)實際上是一種反諷，諷刺了當時社會行政人員工作態(tài)度的怠惰和工作效率的低下,換句話說，此處涉及到特殊的文化內涵。如果略去而是直接用四字短語替代，則不能體現(xiàn)原作者在此處的良苦用心，也沒有做到忠實。因此，該處應該采取異化當中直譯的方法處理。王譯的處理更為恰當。
例6：We no longer groan and heap ashes upon our heads when the flames of Tophet are mentioned.(60)
張譯：如今人們談起地獄的火焰時，不再邊哼呀咳呀邊往頭上倒灰了。(張經浩，第84頁)
王譯：如今人們提到地獄的火焰時，我們不再唉聲嘆氣，把灰涂在自己頭上了。（王永年，第33頁）
此處，在翻譯”heap ashes upon our heads”的時候，張譯和王譯都采取異化的方法，加注解釋“往頭上倒灰”是一種猶太的風俗，悲切懺悔時，身穿麻衣，須發(fā)涂灰。這種做法較好地保護了源語文化，同時讓讀者享受到異域特色。
三.譯語喃喃：歸化異化 相得益彰 歸異同心
通過作者的親身翻譯實踐和對以上譯本的對比分析后發(fā)現(xiàn)，歸化多用于處理語言層面，異化多用于處理涉及文化的層面，雖然各有偏愛但是不完全分開，即歸化異化是相得益彰的；歸異同心，這里的心就是指讀者能喜愛和接受的翻譯文本。無論是歸化的策略還是異化策略，不能一味采用一種翻譯策略，而是應該從實際出發(fā)，歸異相糅，才能是好的翻譯。
