Part 14 Chapter 1

我们从奥德萨街同电话公司的几个黑女人一起回到家里时已快到圣诞节的黎明了。火熄了，我们都太累了，于是便穿着衣服上了床。我的那个姑娘整个晚上都像一头豹子一样蹦蹦跳跳，我爬到她身上时她已睡熟了。我在她身上费了一阵劲儿，犹如在一个被淹死或闷死的人身上使劲儿一样。后来我放弃了努力，自己也睡熟了。

It was close to dawn on Christmas Day when we came home from the Rue¹ d'Odessa with a couple of Negresses from the telephone company. The fire was out and we were all so tired that we climbed into bed with our clothes on. The one I had, who had been like a bounding leopard² all evening, fell sound asleep as I was climbing over her. For a while I worked over her as one works over a person who has been drowned or asphyxiated³. Then I gave it up and fell sound asleep myself:

 

　　节日期间我们天天喝香摈，早上、中午和晚上，有最便宜的，也有最好的。过了年我就要到第戎去了，人家在那儿给了我一个微不足道的差使：当被交换的英语教师。这是促进法美和睦相处的一项安排。旨在增进这两个姐妹国家的互相了解和友善。对于这一前程菲尔莫比我更感到鼓舞，他这样想是有充足理由的，而对于我这不过只是从一个受苦受难的地方转到另一个受苦受难的地方去而已。我面前没有希望，这份工作甚至连薪水也没有。他们指望得到这份工作的人自认有福气，能够享受传播法美和睦这一福音的特权，这是为一个阔佬的儿子预备的工作。

All during the holidays we had champagne⁴ morning, noon and night – the cheapest and the best champagne. With the turn of the year I was to leave for Dijon where I had been offered a trivial post as exchange professor of English, one of those Franco-American amity⁵ arrangements which is supposed to promote understanding and good will between sister republics. Fillmore was more elated than I by the prospect⁷ – he had good reason to be. For me it was just a transfer from one purgatory⁸ to another. There was no future ahead of me; there wasn't even a salary attached to the job. One was supposed to consider himself fortunate to enjoy the privilege of spreading the gospel of Franco-American amity. It was a job for a rich man's son.

 

　　启程前一天晚上我们玩得很开心。天快亮时下起了雪。我们走过一个个街区，最后再看一眼巴黎。穿过晕多敏克街时我义。正在发生什么事情，正在上演一出哑剧，它没有使我完全惊呆，却也叫我惶惶不知所措。在全世界，凡有这些灯光黯淡的坟墓的地方你都会看到这一令人难以置信的场面，同样的恼人的温度、同样的朦朦胧胧的光线、同样的嗡嗡声。在特定的时辰内，整个基督教世界里穿黑衣的人都俯在祭坛前。牧师就站在那上面，手里拿着一本小书，另一只手里拿着一只吃饭铃或喷雾器。他对众人喃喃布道，他的话即使能叫人听懂也不再有一点儿意义。很可能他是在乞求上帝保佑他们吧，也保佑国家，保佑统治者，保佑枪炮、战舰、军火和手榴弹。祭坛上围在牧师身边的是一群小男孩，穿着打扮像上帝的安琪儿，他们唱男高音和女高音。全是纯洁的小羊羔，全穿着裙子，看不出性别，像牧师本人一样是扁平足和近视眼。真是绝妙的不辨雌雄的猫叫春、是符合J一mol节拍的松紧内裤里的性行为。

The night before I left we had a good time. About dawn it began to snow: we walked about from one quarter to another taking a last look at Paris. Passing through the Rue St. Dominique we suddenly fell upon a little square and there was the Eglise Ste. Clotilde. People were going to mass. Fillmore, whose head was still a little cloudy, was bent⁹ on going to mass too. "For the fun of it!" as he put it. I felt somewhat uneasy about it; in the first place I had never attended a mass, and in the second place I looked seedy and felt seedy. Fillmore, too, looked rather battered¹⁰, even more disreputable than myself; his big slouch hat was on assways and his overcoat was still full of sawdust from the last joint¹¹ we had been in. However, we marched in. The worst they could do would be to throw us out.

 

　　我在昏暗的光线下尽量仔细地观察这儿的情况，既令人眼花镣乱，又叫人目瞪口呆。我自忖，整个文明世界、整个世界都是这样，真是太棒了。不论下雨还是天晴，下冰雹、雨夹雪、雪、打雷、闪电、战争、饥馑、瘟疫，都不受丝毫影响。总是同样的恼人温度，同样的胡言乱语，同样的在脚腕上系带子的鞋和上帝的小安滇儿唱男高音和女高音。靠近出口处有一只开了一个孔的小箱子，是为了继续天国的工作的，于是上帝的恩典便会像雨点一样落在帝王头上，落在国家里，落在军舰、高效炸药、坦克和飞机上，于是工人会增强臂力，有力气屠宰马、牛和羊，有力气在铁大梁上钻孔，有力气在别人的裤子上缀扣子，有力气出售胡萝卜、缝纫机和汽车，有力气消灭虫子、打扫马棚、倒垃圾箱、洗刷厕所，有力气写新闻标题、在地下铁道里剪票。力气……力气，原来这喃喃自语和戏弄人的把戏只是为了给人一点力气。

I was taking it in as best I could in the dim light. Fascinating and stupefying at the same time. All over the civilized¹² world, I thought to myself. All over the world. Marvelous. Rain or shine, hail, sleet¹³, snow, thunder, lightning, war, famine, pestilence¹⁴ – makes not the slightest difference. Always the same mean temperature, the same mumbo jumbo, the same high laced shoes and the little angels of the Lord singing soprano and alto. Near the exit a little slot box – to carry on the heavenly work. So that God's blessing¹⁵ may rain down upon king and country and battleships and high explosives and tanks and airplanes, so that the worker may have more strength in his arms, strength to slaughter¹⁶ horses and cows and sheep, strength to punch holes in iron girders, strength to sew buttons on other people's pants, strength to sell carrots and sewing machines and automobiles¹⁷, strength to exterminate¹⁸ insects and clean stables and unload garbage cans and scrub lavatories¹⁹, strength to write headlines and chop tickets in the subway. Strength… strength. All that lip chewing and hornswoggling just to furnish a little strength!

 

　　　一刹那间全部这些流涎水、翁动嘴唇的把戏几乎都有了意我们从一个地方挪到另一个地方，以通宵狂欢后的那种清醒意识审视这个场面。我们这样穿来穿去一定很惹人注意，因为我们的外衣领子竖着，从不画十字，除了低声说几句麻木不仁的话以外嘴巴一动也不曾动。若是菲尔莫不那么固执地要在仪式正进行了一半的时候从祭坛边走过，或许谁也不会注意到这一切。他在找出口，我估计他想到了出口那儿就好好看一看这最最神圣的场面，这就是说要近距离仔细看一看。我们一直平安无事，正在朝很可能是出去的通道那一道光线处走去，这时幽暗中猛地闪出一位牧师拦住了路。他想问问我们要去哪儿，正在于什么，我们相当有礼貌地回答说我们正在找出口。我们说的是英语的“出口”，因为当时太惊恐，我们一时想不起法语“出口”是怎么说的了。牧师一句话不说便紧紧抓住我们的胳膊，推开一道边门把我们狠狠推出去了，我们摇摇晃晃地跌进了刺眼的阳光中。这件事发生得那么突然、猝不及防，待我们到了人行道上仍没有完全反应过来。我们眯上眼睛走出去几步，然后又出于本能转过身来。牧师仍站在台阶上，苍白得像一个鬼魂，像魔鬼那样狠狠地瞪着我们，准是连肺都气炸了。后来又回想起这件事时我也不怪他，不过当时瞧见他穿着长袍、头上扣着一顶小瓜皮帽的滑稽相，我禁不住哈哈大笑。我看看菲尔莫，于是他也大笑开了。我们站在那儿当着这个可怜虫的面足足笑了一分钟，我猜他起初有一点儿茫然不知所措，不过他突然冲下台阶，一边还冲着我们晃拳头，像是认真了。待他冲出围墙便狂奔过来，这会儿某种保护自乙的本能提醒我快溜走。我拽住菲尔莫的袖子跑开了，他还像个傻瓜似的说，“别，别！我不跑！”“快跑！”我嚷道。“咱们还是快点儿离开这儿为妙，这家伙已经完全疯了。”于是我们逃了，拼命竭尽全力逃走了。

We were moving about from one spot to another, surveying the scene with that clearheadedness which comes after an all night session. We must have made ourselves pretty conspicuous²⁰ shuffling²¹ about that way with our coat collars turned up and never once crossing ourselves and never once moving our lips except to whisper some callous²² remark. Perhaps everything would have passed off without notice if Fillmore hadn't insisted on walking past the altar in the midst of the ceremony. He was looking for the exit, and he thought while he was at it, I suppose, that he would take a good squint²³ at the holy of holies, get a close up on it, as it were. We had gotten safely by and were marching toward a crack of light which must have been the way out when a priest suddenly stepped out of the gloom and blocked our path. Wanted to know where we were going and what we were doing. We told him politely enough that we were looking for the exit. We said "exit" because at the moment we were so flabbergasted that we couldn't think of the French for exit. Without a word of response he took us firmly by the arm and, opening the door, a side door it was, he gave us a push and out we tumbled into the blinding light of day. It happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that when we hit the sidewalk we were in a daze²⁴. We walked a few paces, blinking our eyes, and then instinctively²⁵ we both turned round; the priest was still standing⁶ on the steps, pale as a ghost and scowling²⁶ like the devil himself. He must have been sore as hell. Later, thinking back on it, I couldn't blame him for it. But at that moment, seeing him with his long skirts and the little skull²⁷ cap on his cranium, he looked so ridiculous that I burst out laughing. I looked at Fillmore and he began to laugh too. For a full minute we stood there laughing right in the poor bugger's face. He was so bewildered, I guess, that for a moment he didn't know what to do; suddenly, however, he started down the steps on the run, shaking his fist at us as if he were in earnest. When he swung out of the enclosure he was on the gallop²⁸. By this time some preservative²⁹ instinct warned me to get a move on. I grabbed Fillmore by the coat sleeve and started to run. He was saying, like an idiot: "No, no! I won't run!" "Come on!" I yelled, "we'd better get out of here. That guy's mad clean through." And off we ran, beating it as fast as our legs would carry us.

 

　　去第戎的路上我们仍在为这件事情大笑，不过我的思绪又回到了另一件可笑的往事上。那件事同今天发生的事有点儿相似，是我在佛罗里达短暂停留时发生的。那是在出名的繁华时期，我同成千上万人一样冷不防遇到了麻烦，我试图解脱，结果却同一位朋友一道更深地陷入了困境。杰克逊维尔尤其处于被围困状态中，我们就在那儿被困了大约六个星期。天下所有的流浪汉和许多以前从未作过流浪汉的家伙似乎都游荡到杰克逊维尔来了，到处都住满了人—基督教青年会、救世军，消防队和警察局、旅馆和公寓。到处都挂着客满的牌子，绝对客满。杰克逊维尔的居民的心肠已经变得很硬，我觉得他们像是穿着甲胄在来回走。这一回又是食物这个老问题，食物和一个睡觉的地方。食物正从南方用火车运来。桔子、柚子以及各种水份很多的食品。我们常从货车棚旁走过，看看有没有烂水果，可甚至连这也很难得。

On the way to Dijon, still laughing about the affair, my thoughts reverted³⁰ to a ludicrous incident, of a somewhat similar nature, which occurred during my brief sojourn³¹ in Florida. It was during the celebrated³² boom when, like thousands of others, I was caught with my pants down. Trying to extricate³³ myself I got caught, along with a friend of mine, in the very neck of the bottle. Jacksonville, where we were marooned³⁴ for about six weeks, was practically in a state of siege. Every bum³⁵ on earth, and a lot of guys who had never been bums³⁶ before, seemed to have drifted into Jacksonville. The YMCA, the Salvation³⁷ Army, the firehouses and police stations, the hotels, the lodging³⁸ houses, everything was full up. Complet absolutely, and signs everywhere to that effect. The residents of Jacksonville had become so hardened that it seemed to me as if they were walking around in coats of mail. It was the old business of food again. Food and a place to flop³⁹. Food was coming up from below in trainloads – oranges and grapefruit and all sorts of juicy edibles⁴⁰. We used to pass by the freight sheds looking for rotten fruit – but even that was scarce.

1 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

2 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

3 asphyxiated   

v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的过去式和过去分词 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人

参考例句：

• The men trapped in the mine were asphyxiated by gas. 那些困在矿井中的人因瓦斯中毒窒息死亡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The men in the coal-mine were asphyxiated by the bad gas. 煤矿坑里的工人们为毒气所窒息。 来自辞典例句

4 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

5 amity   

n.友好关系

参考例句：

• He lives in amity with his neighbours.他和他的邻居相处得很和睦。
• They parted in amity.他们很友好地分别了。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 purgatory   

n.炼狱；苦难；adj.净化的，清洗的

参考例句：

• Every step of the last three miles was purgatory.最后3英里时每一步都像是受罪。
• Marriage,with peace,is this world's paradise;with strife,this world's purgatory.和谐的婚姻是尘世的乐园，不和谐的婚姻则是人生的炼狱。

9 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

10 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

13 sleet   

n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹

参考例句：

• There was a great deal of sleet last night.昨夜雨夹雪下得真大。
• When winter comes,we get sleet and frost.冬天来到时我们这儿会有雨夹雪和霜冻。

14 pestilence   

n.瘟疫

参考例句：

• They were crazed by the famine and pestilence of that bitter winter.他们因那年严冬的饥饿与瘟疫而折磨得发狂。
• A pestilence was raging in that area. 瘟疫正在那一地区流行。

15 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

16 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

17 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 exterminate   

v.扑灭，消灭，根绝

参考例句：

• Some people exterminate garden insects by spraying poison on the plants.有些人在植物上喷撒毒剂以杀死花园内的昆虫。
• Woodpeckers can exterminate insect pests hiding in trees.啄木鸟能消灭躲在树里的害虫。

19 lavatories   

n.厕所( lavatory的名词复数 )；抽水马桶；公共厕所（或卫生间、洗手间、盥洗室）；浴室水池

参考例句：

• But there would be no public lavatories in a quarter like this. 可是在这样的地方是找不到公共厕所的。 来自英汉文学
• The lavatories are at the rear of the cabin. 盥洗室在机舱的尾部。 来自互联网

20 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

21 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

22 callous   

adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的

参考例句：

• He is callous about the safety of his workers.他对他工人的安全毫不关心。
• She was selfish,arrogant and often callous.她自私傲慢，而且往往冷酷无情。

23 squint   

v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的

参考例句：

• A squint can sometimes be corrected by an eyepatch. 斜视有时候可以通过戴眼罩来纠正。
• The sun was shinning straight in her eyes which made her squint. 太阳直射着她的眼睛,使她眯起了眼睛。

24 daze   

v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏

参考例句：

• The blow on the head dazed him for a moment.他头上受了一击后就昏眩了片刻。
• I like dazing to sit in the cafe by myself on Sunday.星期日爱独坐人少的咖啡室发呆。

25 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 scowling   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里，穿着灰色的衣服，漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

27 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

28 gallop   

v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展

参考例句：

• They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。
• The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。

29 preservative   

n.防腐剂；防腐料；保护料；预防药

参考例句：

• New timber should be treated with a preservative.新采的圆木应进行防腐处理。
• Salt is a common food preservative.盐是一种常用的食物防腐剂。

30 reverted   

恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还

参考例句：

• After the settlers left, the area reverted to desert. 早期移民离开之后，这个地区又变成了一片沙漠。
• After his death the house reverted to its original owner. 他死后房子归还给了原先的主人。

31 sojourn   

v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留

参考例句：

• It would be cruel to begrudge your sojourn among flowers and fields.如果嫉妒你逗留在鲜花与田野之间，那将是太不近人情的。
• I am already feeling better for my sojourn here.我在此逗留期间，觉得体力日渐恢复。

32 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

33 extricate   

v.拯救，救出；解脱

参考例句：

• How can we extricate the firm from this trouble?我们该如何承救公司脱离困境呢？
• She found it impossible to extricate herself from the relationship.她发现不可能把自己从这种关系中解脱出来。

34 marooned   

adj.被围困的；孤立无援的；无法脱身的

参考例句：

• During the storm we were marooned in a cabin miles from town. 在风暴中我们被围困在离城数英里的小屋内。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks. 埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。 来自辞典例句

35 bum   

n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨

参考例句：

• A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him.在火车上有人捏她屁股，她打了那人。
• The penniless man had to bum a ride home.那个身无分文的人只好乞求搭车回家。

36 bums   

n. 游荡者，流浪汉，懒鬼，闹饮，屁股 adj. 没有价值的，不灵光的，不合理的 vt. 令人失望，乞讨 vi. 混日子，以乞讨为生

参考例句：

• The other guys are considered'sick" or "bums". 其他的人则被看成是“病态”或“废物”。
• You'll never amount to anything, you good-for-nothing bums! 这班没出息的东西，一辈子也不会成器。

37 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

38 lodging   

n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
• Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?

39 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。

40 edibles   

可以吃的，可食用的( edible的名词复数 )； 食物

参考例句：

• They freely offered for sale what edibles they had. 他们很自愿地把他们的一点点可吃的东西卖给我们。
• Our edibles the wild vegetable. 我们只能吃野菜。