第六讲:阶级歧视的升高
Now they hovered the edge; you couldn’t stop them listening. When the lillte girls turned round and sneered, Lil, as usual, gave her silly, shamefaced smile, but our Else only looked.
[And Isabel’s voice, so they very proud, went on telling. The carpet made a great sensation, but so did beds with real bedclothes, and the stove with an oven door.
When she finished , Kezia broke in. ’You’ve forgotten the lamp, Isabel.’]
‘Oh, yes,’ said Isabel, ‘snd there’s a teeny little lamp, all made of yellow glass, with a white globe that stands on the dining-room table. You could’t tell it from a real one.’
‘The lamp’s best of all,’ cried Kezia. She thought Isabel wasn’t making half enough of the little lamp. But nobody paid any attention. Isabel was choosing the two who were to come back with them that afternoon and see it. She chose Emmie Cole and Lena Logan. But when the others knew they were all to have a chance, they couldn’t be nice enough to Isabel. One by one they put their arms round Isabel’s waist and walked her off. They had something to whisper to her , a secret. ‘Isabel’s my friend. ’
Only the little Kelveys moved away forgotten; there was nothing more for them to hear.
Days passed, and as more children saw the doll’s house, the fame of it spread. It became the one subject, the rage. The one question was, ‘Have you seen Burnells’ doll’s house? Oh, ain’t it lovely!’ ‘Haven’t you seen it? Oh, I say!’
Even the dinner hour was given up to talking about it. The little girls sat under the pines eating their thick mutton sandwiches and big slabs of johnny cake spread with butter. While always, as near as they could get, sat the Kelveys, our Else holding on to Lil, listening too. While they chewed their jam sandwiches out of a newspaper soaked with large red blobs……
‘Mother,’ said Kezia, ‘can’t I ask the Kelveys just once?’
‘Certainly not, Kezia.’
‘Bit why not ?’
‘Run away, Kezia; you know quite well why not. ’ ]
At last everybody had seen it except them. On that day the subject rather flagged. It was the dinner hour. The children stood together under the pine trees, and suddenly, as they looked at the Kelveys eating out of their paper, always by themselves, always listening, they wanted to be horried to them. Emmic Cole started the whisper.
‘Lil Kelvey’s going to be a servant when she grows up.’
‘O-oh, how awful!’ said Isabel Burnell, and she made eyes at Emmie.
Emmie swallowed in a very meaning way and nodded to Isabel as she’d seen her mother do on those occasion.
'It's true--It's true--It's true,'She said.
Then Lena Logan’s little eyes snapped. ‘Shall I ask her?’ She whispered.
‘Bet you don’t,‘ said Jessie May.
作者翻译
现在她们在大圈圈边缘徘徊;你总不能禁止他们窃听。当其他小女孩对他们冷笑时,丽儿跟往常一样傻傻地、腼腆地笑着,宝贝艾尔西则只瞪着大眼睛瞧着。
伊莎贝尔继续不断地说着,她的声音充满了骄傲。那地毯引起了一阵轰动,铺着床单的床和带有炉门的火炉,也让大家激动不已。
她刚一讲完,姬采仪马上插嘴:“你忘了那盏灯了,伊莎贝尔。”
“喔,对了,”伊莎贝尔说,“那盏放在餐桌上的小油灯,全是用黄色玻璃做的,还有白色灯罩。他们简直看不出它和真的油灯有什么两样。”
“那灯才是最棒的!”姬采仪大嚷。他认为伊莎贝尔没说出油灯的一半好来。可是谁也在意她的话。伊莎贝尔正在挑选两个人,当天下午跟她们一同回去参观玩具屋。她选上了艾美·柯尔和伦娜·罗根。可是当其他孩子们知道她们全都有机会时,她们对伊莎贝尔亲热得无以复加了,一个一个地搂着伊莎贝尔的腰,拥着她走开了。她们有些悄悄话,有个秘密要告诉她。“伊莎贝尔是我的朋友!”
只有小凯尔维姐妹俩没人理会,自己走开了。再也没什么可让她们听的了。
几天之后,愈来愈多的孩子看过玩具屋了,它的名声传了开来,成了风靡的话题。大家都问:“你看过伯内尔家的玩具屋了吗?啊,真是可爱哟!”“哎呀!你还没看过吗?”
甚至在午餐时,大家都在谈这一件事。女孩子们坐在松树下,吃着厚厚的羊肉三明治和涂着奶油的厚片玉米烤饼。而凯尔维姐妹总是尽可能地坐在离她们最近的地方,宝贝艾尔西紧挨着丽儿,她们从染着大片红色油渍的报纸里咬食果酱三明治,一边嚼着一边侧耳倾听……
“妈妈,”姬采仪说,“我请凯尔维姐妹来一次行不行?”
“当然不行,姬采仪。”
“为什么不行?”
“走开吧,姬采仪,你明明知道为什么不行。”
最后,除了她俩之外,所有人都看过玩具屋了。那一天,这个话题已经淡了,正是午餐时刻,孩子们一块儿站在松树下,当他们看着凯尔维姐妹吃着从报纸里取出来的东西时——总是俩人一起,总是在偷听——她们突然想给她俩难堪。艾美·柯尔开始窃窃私语。
“丽儿·凯尔维长大后,就会去当佣人!”
“哦——哦!多可怕呀!” 伊莎贝尔·伯内尔说着,冲着艾美抛个眼色。
学着她母亲在这种场合所做的模样,艾美煞有介事地一边吞咽,一边朝伊莎贝尔点头。
“没错——没错——没错。”她说。
然后,伦娜·罗根眨了眨小眼睛,轻声地说:“我去问她一声怎么样?”
“我包你不敢去。”杰西·梅依说。
我的翻译
现在,她俩只能在人群外徘徊,只能远远地听者。每次里面的女孩转过身,嘲笑她俩时,Lil像往常一样,露出傻乎乎,讪讪的笑容。而宝贝Else 只是看着。
Isabel继续讲着——她们为此很自豪,地毯的触感和棒极了,并且,床铺带有真正的床单,火炉的门还可以打开呢。
Isabel讲完后,Kezia插话:“你忘记讲那盏台灯了,Isabel。”
“哦,确实。”Isabel道,“还有一个迷你台灯呢,它立在餐厅的桌子上,用黄色玻璃制成,灯罩是白色的。和真正的台灯没有区别。”
“台灯是最精致的,” Kezia尖叫道,她觉得Isabel没有把台灯的特色讲清楚。遗憾的是,没有人理她。
午后,Isabel正在挑两位朋友跟她一起观看玩具屋。她选了Emmie Cole and Lena Logan。他们最初意识到有此机会时,都拼命向Isabel示好。她们争先恐后地围在Isabel周围,甚至陪她散步。他们向Isabel低语——一个秘密:“Isabel是我的好朋友。”
只有小Kelvey姐妹默默走开了,她们没用听到任何消息。
日子一天天过去,越来越多的小孩参观了玩具屋,它的名声逐渐远扬。它成了大家的谈资。彼此见面,都会问:“你参观Burnell家的玩具屋了吗?它可爱极了!”“我知道了,你难道还没看过?!”
甚至,大家吃饭时间都在谈论它。每次小女生们坐在松树下,品尝薄肉松三明治和涂了黄油的厚蛋糕时,她们都尽量挤在一起,谈论Kelvey家的玩具屋。宝贝Else紧靠着Lil,在旁边听着。姑娘们嚼着三明治,下面的报纸浸透了大块红色 ……
“妈妈,”Kezia叫,“我能请求Kelvey去看她的玩具屋吗?就一次。”
“当然不能。”
“为什么呀?”
“想都别想,Kezia你很明白为什么。”
最后,所有人都看过玩具屋了,除了Kelvey姐妹。该来的总是会来。那是午饭时间,孩子们站在松树下,一撇眼,他们看到Kelvey姐妹姐妹在用餐——和往常一样,她们单独用餐,在一旁倾听。他们想去吓唬她们。Emmic Cole悄声说,“Lil Kelvey天生就是当佣妇的料。”
“哦——哦,真是糟糕透了!” Isabel Burnell边说边望向Emmie。
Emmie 心领意会,点头赞同。——这些场景她曾看过她妈妈的反应。
Lena Logan眨着小眼睛,悄悄说:“我想去问问她。”
“打赌你不敢。” Jessie May说。
自评
文采之美:
- 遭到嘲笑的Kelvey 姐妹的反应时什么?一个是'sneered'、'smile', 一个是'looked'。寥寥数字,展现人物不同个性。'looked'后无副词,放在末尾,恰到好处。因为垫尾,故友千钧之力。弱先写妹妹,后写姐姐,则豹尾之力瞬间消失。
- 午餐时间,Kelvey 姐妹孤立在一旁,却仍在窃听(always listening)。“仍在窃听”既写出了姐妹俩的卑微,又写出了小孩们极度不耐烦,睥睨的心态。
故事之美:在小孩们欺负、虐待姐妹俩之前,作者是如何一步一步,有头有尾地描写两者“矛盾”升级的?从最初的“耳语”,然后伊莎贝尔以‘O-oh’语气表示同意,再到后来,三个小孩一起表现出虐待的倾向。歧视、虐待的气氛越来越不可收。