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Recollections of a Boatman
一个划船者的回忆
He said to us: "I saw some very funny things and some funny girls when I was a boatman, and I have often been tempted to write a little book to be called On the Seine, telling all about that careless and vigorous, that merry and poor life, a life of robust and noisy enjoyment, which I led from the time I was twenty until I was thirty.
他对我们说： “在我从前划船的日子里，我见过许多非常有趣的事和有趣的姑娘。我时常想写一本名为《在塞纳河上》的小书，来讲述我在二十岁到三十岁之间度过的那种无忧无虑、精力充沛、既欢快又贫穷、既健康又喧闹的快乐生活。
"I was a mere understrapper without a half—penny, and now I am a man who has made his money, who has spent large sums on a momentary caprice. In my heart, I had a thousand modest and unrealizable desires which gilded my existence with imaginary hopes, though now, I really do not know that any fancy would make me get out of my armchair where I am dozing. How simple and nice and good it is to live like this, between my office in Paris, and the river at Argenteuil. For ten years, the Seine was my only, my absorbing passion.
“那时候我只是个身无分文的小职员，而现在我是个因为一时兴起而大把大把花钱的有钱人了。那时候我心里有上千个并不苛刻但难以实现的愿望，它们用各种虚构的希望给我的存在镀上了一层金色。但现在，我真的不知道还有什么喜好会让我从打瞌睡的扶手椅上起来。像曾经那样生活在巴黎的办公室和阿让特伊的河流之间是多么简单、多么美好、多么舒适啊！十年里，唯一能吸引我热情的就是塞纳河。
Ah! That beautiful, calm, diversified and stinking river, full of mirage and filth. I think I loved it so much because it seemed to give me a sense of life.
啊！这条充满着幻想和脏物的美丽的、平静的、多变的又散发着臭味的河啊！我想我是那么爱它，因为似乎是它赋予了我生命的意义。
Oh! What walks I had along the grassy banks, where my friends the frogs were dreaming on the leaf of a nenuphar, and where the coquettish and delicate water lilies suddenly opened to me, behind a willow, a leaf of a Japanese album, and when the kingfisher flashed past me like a blue flame! How I loved it all, with the instinctive love of eyes which seemed to be all over my body, and with a natural and profound joy.
啊！我沿着长满草的河岸散步，我的青蛙朋友在睡莲叶子上做梦；那婀娜多姿的、娇嫩的水莲花突然在一棵柳树后面朝我盛开，像一页展开的日本画册；翠鸟在我面前一闪而过时，像一团蓝色的火焰。多么美妙的散步啊！我多么喜欢这一切，这种眼睛里流露出的本能的爱，伴随着自然而深沉的欢乐，仿佛遍布于我的全身。
"Just as other men keep the recollection of sweet and tender nights, so I remember sunrises in the morning mist, floating, wandering vapors, which were as pale as death, before the sun rose, and then as its first rays glided over the meadows, lighted up with a rosy tint, which delighted the heart. And then again, I have recollections of the moon silvering the running, trembling water, with a brightness which made dreams flourish. And all this, the symbol of eternal illusions, rose up in me on that turbid water, which was carrying all the filth of Paris towards the sea.
“正如其他人怀有对温柔甜蜜的黑夜的回忆一样，我怀有对晨雾中日出、日出前那些漂浮的、游移不定的水蒸气的回忆，这些水蒸气白得像死人的脸。接着，第一缕阳光掠过草地，那红润的色彩照得令人心生喜悦。此外，我还怀有对月亮的回忆，它给颤动的流水镀上了一层银色，它的光亮使梦想之花变得繁茂。然而这一切，永恒的幻想的象征，对于我来说都产生于污水，它把巴黎一切的污秽都冲向大海。
"And then, what a merry life it was, with my companions. There were five of us, a band of grave men we are now; and as we were all poor, we had founded an inexpressible colony in a horrible eating house at Argenteuil, and which possessed only one bedroom, where I have certainly spent some of the maddest nights of my life. We cared for nothing except for amusing ourselves and rowing, for we all worshiped the oar, with one exception. I remember such singular adventures, such unlikely tricks invented by those five rascals, that no one would believe them at present. People do not live like that any longer, even on the Seine, for our mad fancies which we kept up, have died out now.
“而且，和朋友们一起生活是多么快乐啊！我们这一帮人共有五个，如今全都为人慎重。那时候我们都很穷，我们在阿让特伊一个令人生厌的小饭店里建立了一个难以形容的营地，只有一间卧室，在那里，我确实度过了一段我一生中最疯狂的夜晚。我们除了玩乐和划船以外什么都不关心，因为我们之中除了一人之外，其他人都视船桨为崇拜对象。我想起了我们五个坏蛋想出来的那样奇异的冒险和那样难以置信的诡计，现在没人会相信。即使在塞纳河上，如今也不会再有人过那样的生活了，因为我们所保持的那种疯狂的念头如今已经消失了。
"We five only possessed one boat, which we had bought with great difficulty, and on which we laughed, as we shall never laugh again. It was a large yawl, called The Leaf Turned Upside Down, rather heavy, but spacious and comfortable. I shall not describe my companions to you. There was one little fellow, called Petit Bleu, who was very sharp; a tall man, with a savage look, gray eyes and black hair, who was nick—named Tomahawk, the only one who never touched an oar, as he said he should upset the boat; a slender, elegant man, who was very careful about his person, and whom we called Only–One—Eye, in remembrance of a recent story about Cladel, and because he wore a single eyeglass, and, lastly, I, who had been baptized Joseph Prunier. We lived together in perfect harmony, and our only regret was that we had no boatwoman, for a woman's presence is almost indispensable on a boat, because it keeps the men's wits and hearts on the alert, because it animates them, and wakes them up and she looks well walking on the green banks with a red parasol. But we did not want an ordinary boatwoman for us five, for we were not very like the rest of the world. We wanted something unexpected, funny, ready for everything, something, in short, which it would be almost impossible to find. We had tried many without success, girls who had held the tiller, imbecile boatwomen who always preferred wine that intoxicates to water which flows and carries the yawls. We kept them for one Sunday, and then got rid of them in disgust.
“我们五个人只有一条船，是我们好不容易才买下来的。在这条船上，我们曾经欢笑过，但以后再也不会这么笑了。这是一只大的小船，名叫 ‘翻转树叶’ ，船体相当沉重，但是宽敞、舒适。我就不跟您描述我那些朋友了。其中一个是小个子，绰号叫 ‘小蓝’ ，非常狡猾；一个是高个子，面相粗野，灰眼睛，黑头发，绰号叫 ‘战斧’ ；一个是 “高帽子” ，我们之中唯一一个从不碰桨的人，因为他说他会把船弄翻；还有一个瘦长、风度翩翩、非常注意自己容貌的人，我们叫他 ‘独眼龙’ ，是为了纪念克拉代尔当时的一部小说，因为他戴着单片眼镜；最后就是我，被他们称为 ‘李子树约瑟夫’ 。我们相处得十分和睦，唯一的遗憾是我们没有女舵手。因为在一条船上，一个女人的存在是不可或缺的，因为她能使男人的心智保持警戒，使他们得到鼓舞，使他们振奋。而且，她打着一把红色的阳伞在绿色的岸边走动时，看起来也很漂亮。但是，我们五个人需要的不是一个一般的女舵手，因为我们这五个人极为与众不同。我们需要的是能让人出乎意料的、有趣的、为一切事情做好准备的人，总之，几乎是不可能找得到的女舵手。我们试了许多掌舵的姑娘，都没有成功。比起负载小船的流水，那些愚蠢的女舵手们总是更喜欢醉人的葡萄酒。我们试用了一个星期，之后就厌恶地摆脱了她们。
"Well, one Saturday afternoon, Only–One—Eye brought us a little thin, lively, jumping, chattering girl, full of drollery, of that drollery which is the substitute for wit among the youthful male and female workpeople who have developed in the streets of Paris. She was nice looking without being pretty, the outline of a woman who had some of everything, one of those silhouettes which draftsmen draw in three strokes on the table in a cafe after dinner, between a glass of brandy and a cigarette. Nature is like that, sometimes.
“一个星期六的下午，独眼龙给我们带来了一个身材瘦削、活泼可爱、蹦蹦跳跳、叽叽喳喳说个不停的姑娘，她满嘴都是玩笑话，这种笑话代替了在巴黎街头发展起来的那些年轻男女工人口中的俏皮话。她长得很可爱，但并不漂亮，她拥有女人该有的轮廓，她是画家们晚餐后在咖啡馆里，一杯白兰地和一支香烟之间，信手在桌上几笔描出来的其中的一个侧影。有时，大自然就是这样造就人的。
"The first evening she surprised us, amused us, and we could not form any opinion about her, so unexpectedly had she come among us; but having fallen into this nest of men, who were all ready for any folly, she was soon mistress of the situation, and the very next day she made a conquest of each one of us. She was quite cracked, into the bargain, and must have been born with a glass of absinthe in her stomach, which her mother drank at the moment she was being delivered, and she never got sober since, for her wet nurse, so she said, recruited her strength with draughts of rum, and she never called the bottles which were standing in a line at the back of the wine merchant's shop anything but 'My holy family. '
“第一个晚上她就让我们感到惊奇，让我们觉得很有趣，我们对她没有任何评价，她的到来是如此地出乎意料。但是，陷入我们这个什么荒唐事都干得出来的男人窝里后，她很快就驾驭了局面，就在第二天，她便征服了我们每个人。她这个人疯疯癫癫的，而且她肯定一生下来肚子里就有一杯苦艾酒，是她母亲在分娩时喝下去的，打那以后她从来没有醒过酒。因为她的奶妈，据她说，就是喝朗姆酒来恢复体力的。她自己也把排列在酒店柜台后面的那些酒瓶称之为 ‘我的神圣家族。’
"I do not know which of us gave her the name of Fly, nor why it was given her, but it suited her very well, and stuck to her, and our yawl every week carried five merry, strong young fellows on the Seine between Asnieres and Maison Lafitte, who were ruled from under a parasol of colored paper, by a lively and madcap young person, who treated us like slaves whose business it was to row her about, and whom we were all very fond of.
“我不知道我们之中哪一个人给她起了 ‘苍蝇’ 这个名字，也不知道为什么要给她起这样一个名字，但是这个名字非常适合她，所以就一直这么叫下去了。我们的小船每个星期都载着这五个心情愉快、年轻力壮的小伙子在阿尼埃尔和迈松拉菲特之间的塞纳河上游荡。这五个小伙子被一个在一顶彩色纸阳伞下的活泼的、狂妄的年轻女子统治着，她把我们看成是带她到处游荡的奴隶，而且我们都非常喜欢她。
"We were all very fond of her, for a thousand reasons first of all, but for only one, afterwards. In the stern of our boat, she was a kind of small word mill, chattering to the wind which blew on the water. She chattered ceaselessly, with that slight, continuous noise of those pieces of winged mechanism which turn in the breeze, and she thoughtlessly said the most unexpected, the funniest, the most astonishing things. In that mind, all the parts of which seemed dissimilar, like rags of all kinds and of every color, not sewn, but merely tacked together, there appeared to be as much imagination as in a fairy tale, a good deal of coarseness, indecency, impudence and of the unexpected, and as much breeziness and landscapes as in a balloon voyage.
“我们都非常喜欢她，开始时有许多种原因，但后来却只有一个。她在我们的船尾，就像一种不断磨出话来的小磨子，对着水上吹来的风叽叽喳喳地说个不停。她没完没了地絮叨，带着那种有翼的机械在微风中转动时持续的低微的响声。她轻率地讲一些最让人出乎意料的、最可笑的、最令人吃惊的事情。她脑袋里各个部分似乎都不一样，像是由各种质地和各种颜色的破布只是临时地粗缝在一起，而不是细致地缝在一起；她的脑袋里还有一些如同童话里的那种幻想，有许多粗糙的、无礼的、冒失的、出乎意料的东西，还有很多像乘气球旅行时那样的微风和景色。
"We put questions to her, in order to call forth answers which she had found, no one could tell where, and the one with which we teased her most frequently was: 'Why are you called Fly? ' And she gave us such unlikely reasons that we left off rowing, in order to laugh. But she pleased us also as a woman; and La Toque, who never rowed, and who sat by her side at the tiller the whole day long, once replied to the usual question: 'Why are you called Fly? ' 'Because she is a little Spanish fly. '
“我们向她提问，好引起她不知从哪儿找到的话来回答，我们最常揶揄她的问题是： ‘为什么把你叫作苍蝇？’ 她给我们的理由是那么令人难以置信，以致我们都笑得停止了划桨。但是作为一个女人，她也很讨我们喜欢。 ‘高帽子’ 从来不划桨，整天和她坐在舵柄旁边。有一次，她对我们经常提的问题 ‘为什么把你叫作苍蝇？’ 的回答是： ‘因为她是一只小斑蝥。’
"Yes, a little buzzing, exciting fly, not the classical, poisonous, brilliant and mantled Spanish fly, but a little Spanish fly with red wings, which began to disturb the whole crew of The Leaf Turned Upside Down. And what stupid jokes were also made about this leaf where this fly had alighted!
“是的，一只嗡嗡作响的、令人兴奋的小斑蝥，不是那种典型的、背部有壳又闪闪发亮的有毒斑蝥，而是一只开始使 ‘翻转树叶’ 上的全体船员不安的、有着红色翅膀的小斑蝥。而且，关于这片停落着 ‘苍蝇’ 的叶子，我们又开过多么愚蠢的玩笑啊！
"Since the arrival of Fly on our boat, Only–One—Eye had taken a leading, superior part among us, the part of a gentleman who has a wife, towards four others who have not got one, and he abused that privilege so far as to kiss Fly in our presence, when he put her on his knee after meals, and by other prerogatives, which were as humiliating as they were irritating.
“自从 ‘苍蝇’ 来到我们船上以后， ‘独眼龙’ 在我们之中便扮演了一个占绝对优势的主要角色，一个对于其他四个没有妻室的人来说，那种有妇之夫的角色。他滥用这种特权，饭后他让 ‘苍蝇’ 坐在他的膝头上，甚至还当着我们的面亲吻她。此外他还有许多其他令人蒙羞、令人恼怒的特权。
"They had been isolated in the sleeping—room by means of a curtain, but I soon perceived that my companions and I had the same arguments in our minds, in our solitude: 'Why, and in virtue of what law of exception, or of what unacceptable principle, should Fly, who does not appear troubled by any prejudices, remain faithful to her lover, while wives in the best are not faithful to their husbands. '
“我们在卧室里用一条帘子把他们隔开。但我很快便发觉，在孤独中，我的同伴们和我，我们的脑子里有着相同的观点： ‘苍蝇似乎并不受任何偏见的束缚，那为什么，根据哪一条例外法则，哪一种不可接受的原则，她仍然对她的情人忠贞不渝，而最好的妻子也不一定忠实于她们的丈夫啊。’
"Our reflections were quite right, and we were soon convinced of it, and we ought only to have made them sooner, so as not to have needed to regret any lost time, for Fly deceived Only–One—Eye, with all the others of the crew of the Leaf Turned Upside Down, and she deceived him without making any difficulties, without any resistance, the first time any of us asked her.
“我们的想法十分正确，并且我们很快就确信了这一点。只不过我们早该这样想，以致不用为任何浪费的时间而感到惋惜。 ‘苍蝇’ 跟 ‘翻转树叶’ 上所有其他的船员一起欺骗 ‘独眼龙’ ，而且她毫不费力地就欺骗了他，我们之中任何人第一时间求她，她都不会有任何抗拒。
"Of course, modest people will be terribly shocked! But why? What courtesan who happens to be in the fashion, but has a dozen lovers, and which of those lovers is stupid enough not to know it? Is it not the correct thing to have an evening at the house of a celebrated and marked courtesan, just as one has an evening at the Opera, the Theatre Fran? ais or the Odeon? Ten men subscribe together to keep a mistress just as they do to possess a race horse, which only one jockey mounts, and this is a correct picture of the favored lover who does not pay anything.
“当然，有羞耻之心的人一定会极为震惊！但是为什么呢？那些正好走红的交际花，哪个没有十来个情夫，而这些情夫哪个会笨到连这一点都不知道？到一位鼎鼎大名的、受人瞩目的交际花家里去过一夜，难道不像在歌剧院、法兰西戏院或者是音乐厅过一夜一样是正确的行为吗？十个男人一起包养一个情妇就像十个男人拥有一匹赛马一样，只有一名骑师骑在马背上，而他就是最得宠的不用花钱的情夫的准确形象。
"From delicacy they left Fly to Only–One—Eye from Saturday night to Monday morning, and we only deceived him during the week, in Paris, from the Seine, which, for boatmen like us, was hardly deceiving him at all. The situation had this peculiarity, that the four freebooters of Fly's favors were quite aware of this partition of her among themselves, and that they spoke of it to each other, and even then, with allusions that made her laugh very much. Only–One—Eye alone seemed to know nothing, and that peculiar position gave rise to some embarrassment between him and us, and seemed to separate him from us, to isolate him, to raise a barrier across our former confidence and our former intimacy. That gave him a difficult and a rather ridiculous part to play towards us, the part of a deceived lover, almost a husband's part.
“为了照顾 ‘独眼龙’ ，大家把 ‘苍蝇’ 从星期六晚上到星期一早上留给他，我们只是在除周末以外的其他日子里，在远离塞纳河的巴黎欺骗他。对于我们这样的划船爱好者来说，这几乎不算是欺骗。这种情况有它的特殊之处——四个窃取 ‘苍蝇’ 欢心的强盗对他们之间的这种共享十分清楚，他们相互谈论这件事，甚至还说些隐喻的话引得她哈哈大笑。唯有 ‘独眼龙’ 好像一无所知。这种特殊的处境使他和我们之间产生了一些尴尬，好像把他和我们隔离开了，把他孤立起来了，在我们之前的相互了解和相互信任之中也筑起了一道障碍。对于我们来说，这件事让他扮演了一个相当可笑的困难角色，一个受骗的情人的角色，差不多是一个受骗的丈夫的角色。
"As he was very clever and gifted with the special faculty of not showing what he felt, we sometimes asked each other whether he did not guess anything, and he took care to let us know, in a manner that was painful for us. We were going to breakfast at Bougival, and we were rowing vigorously, when La Toque, who had, that morning, the triumphant look of a man who was satisfied, and who, sitting by the steers—woman, seemed to squeeze himself rather too close to her, in our estimation, stopped the rowing by calling out: 'Stop! '
“他这个人非常聪明，天生就有不露声色的特殊才能，我们时常相互询问他是不是猜到什么了，而他很小心地用一种令我们痛苦的方式来让我们知道。我们用力地划桨去布吉瓦尔吃早餐。那天早上， ‘高帽子’ 心满意足地坐在女舵手的旁边，一副得意洋洋的样子，据我们判断，他好像和她靠得有点紧了。他叫道： ‘停！’ 要大家停止划桨。
"The four oars were drawn out of the water, and then, turning to his neighbor, he said to her: 'Why were you called Fly? ' But before she could reply, the voice of Only–One—Eye, who was sitting in the bows, said dryly: 'Because she settles on all the carrion. '
“四只桨从水里抽了出来，接着他转向他身旁的女舵手，问道： ‘为什么把你叫作苍蝇？’ 她还没来得及回答，坐在船头的 ‘独眼龙’ 用干巴巴的声音说： ‘因为她停落在所有的臭尸上。’
"There was a dead silence, and an embarrassed pause, which was followed by an inclination to laugh, while Fly herself looked very much confused, and La Toque gave the order: 'Row on, all; ' and the boat started again. The incident was closed, and light let in upon the subject, and that little adventure made no difference in our habits, but it only re—established cordiality between Only–One—Eye and us. He once more became the honored proprietor of the Fly from Saturday night until Monday morning, as his superiority over all of us had been thoroughly established by that definition, which, moreover, closed one of the questions about the word Fly. For the future we were satisfied with playing the secondary part of grateful and polite friends who profited discreetly by the week days, without any contention of any kind among ourselves.
“当时一片鸦雀无声，一阵尴尬的沉默后，大家都想笑，而 ‘苍蝇’ 自己看上去却非常困惑。这时， ‘高帽子’ 命令道： ‘全体前进！’ ，接着小船又开始前进了。这个小插曲结束了，问题都弄清楚了。这个小小的历险并没有改变我们的习惯，它只是使 ‘独眼龙’ 和我们之间重建了真挚的友谊。从星期六晚上到星期一早上，他再次变成了 ‘苍蝇’ 的荣幸的所有者。他胜我们一筹的原因完全是由那个定义所决定的，而且这个定义结束了对 ‘苍蝇’ 这个词的那些提问。从那以后，我们都满足于扮演一个满怀感激之情的、礼貌的朋友的次要角色，大家都小心翼翼地受益于除周末以外的其他日子，我们之间没有任何形式的争执。
"That answered very well for about three months, but then suddenly Fly assumed a strange attitude towards us. She was less merry, nervous, uneasy, and almost irritable, and we frequently asked her: 'What is the matter with you? ' And she replied: 'Nothing; leave me alone. '
“就那样，大家相安无事地过了三个月左右。然而 ‘苍蝇’ 对我们大家的态度突然变得十分奇怪。她没有了之前的快乐，变得神经质、焦虑，几乎动不动就发怒。我们不时地问她： ‘你怎么啦？’ 她回答： ‘没什么。别管我。’
"Only–One—Eye told us what was the matter with her, one Saturday evening. We had just sat down to table in the little dining—room which our eating house keeper, Barbichon, reserved for us at his inn, and, the soup being finished, we were waiting for the fried fish, when our friend, who also appeared thoughtful, took Fly's hand and said: 'My dear comrades, I have a very grave communication to make to you, and one that may, perhaps, give rise to a prolonged discussion, but we shall have to argue between the courses. Poor Fly has announced a piece of disastrous news to me, and at the same time has asked me to tell it to you: She is pregnant, and I will only add two words. This is not the moment to abandon her, and it is forbidden to try and find out who is the father.’
“一个星期六的晚上， ‘独眼龙’ 告诉了我们关于她的事情。餐厅老板巴尔比雄在他的小酒店里为我们留了一间小餐厅，我们坐在饭桌旁，刚喝完汤，大家正等着上油炸鱼，我们这位朋友看上去也心事重重的，他抓住 ‘苍蝇’ 的手，随后说道： ‘我亲爱的朋友们，我有一件非常严重的事情要和你们谈，也许会引起长时间的议论，但是，我们可以在上菜的间隙中讨论。可怜的 ‘苍蝇’ 跟我说了一个不幸的消息，同时她要求我把这个消息告诉你们：她怀孕了。而且我只补充两句话。现在不是抛弃她的时候，而且，也不准设法查出父亲是谁。’
(Footnote: La recherche de la paternite est interdite. A celebrated clause in the Code Napoleon, whereby a man cannot be made chargeable for a bastard. —TRANSLATOR. )
（脚注：禁止亲子鉴定。《拿破仑法典》中一项著名的条款——男子不得为其非婚生子女负责。——译者）
"At first we were stupefied, and felt as if some disaster had befallen us, and we looked at each other with the longing to accuse some one, but whom?
“一开始大家都目瞪口呆，仿佛一场灾难降临了一样，我们相互望着，想把过失归咎于某一个人，但是，是谁呢？
Oh! Which of us? I have never felt as I did at that moment, the perfidy of that cruel joke of nature, which never allows a man to know for certainty whether he is the father of his child. Then, however, by degrees a sort of feeling of consolation came over us and gave us comfort, which sprung from a confused idea of joint responsibility.
哎！我们之中的哪一个呢？我还从来没有像当时那样，觉得大自然开的这个残酷的玩笑是如此不义，那就是永远不让一个男人确定地知道他是不是孩子的父亲。然而，我们逐渐感到了一种安慰，心里也舒服多了，这种安慰来自于一种模糊的共同承担责任的意识。
"Tomahawk, who spoke but little, formulated a beginning of reassurance by these words: 'Well, so much the worse, by Jove. Union is Strength, however. ' At that moment a scullion brought in the fried gudgeons, but they did not fall to on them like they generally did, for they all had the same trouble on their mind, and Only–One—Eye continued: 'Under these circumstances she has had the delicacy to confess everything to me. My friends, we are all equally guilty, so let us shake hands and adopt the child. '
“很少讲话的 ‘战斧’ 用下面这句话明确地表达了安抚的开始： ‘天啊，情况这么糟糕，但不管怎样，团结就是力量。’ 就在那时，一个厨房小伙子端来了油炸白杨鱼。但是大家并没有像往常一样马上就开吃，因为大家的心里有着一样的烦恼。 ‘独眼龙’ 接着说： ‘在这种情况下，她矜持地向我交代了她所有的心事。我的朋友们，我们都同样有罪。让我们携起手来，收养这个孩子吧。’
"That was decided upon unanimously; they raised their hands to the dish of fried fish and swore: 'We will adopt it. ' Then, when she was thus suddenly saved, and delivered from the weight of the terrible anxiety that had been tormenting her for a month, this pretty, crazy, poor child of love, Fly, exclaimed: 'Oh! My friends! My friends! You have kind, good hearts. good hearts.. Thank you, all of you! ' And she shed tears for the first time before us all.
“这个决定全体一致通过了。大家举手伸向那盘炸鱼，还发誓： ‘我们收养他。’ 之后， ‘苍蝇’ 突然得救了，这个可爱的、发狂的、多情的可怜女子终于从可怕的焦虑的负担中解脱了出来，她大声说道： ‘啊！我的朋友们！我的朋友们！你们的心真善良……心真好……心真好……谢谢大家！’ 她第一次在我们大家面前流下了泪。
"From that time we spoke in the boat about the child, as if it were already born, and each of us took an exaggerated interest, because of our share in the matter, in the slow and regular development of our mistress's waist, and we stopped rowing in order to say: 'Fly? ' 'Here I am, ' she replied. 'Boy or girl? ' 'Boy. ' 'What will he be when he grows up? '
“从那以后，我们在船里谈论孩子，仿佛他已经生下来了似的。每个人都带着一种夸张的兴趣，因为我们都分享着这件事，分享着我们女主人的腰身缓慢而有规律的变化。我们停止划桨，问道： ‘苍蝇？’ 她回答道： ‘我在这儿呢。’ ‘男孩还是女孩？’ ‘男孩。’ ‘他长大了会怎样? '
"Then she indulged in the most fantastic flights of fancy. They were interminable stories, astounding inventions, from the day of his birth until his final triumph. In the unsophisticated, passionate and moving fancy of this extraordinary little creature, who now lived chastely in the midst of us five, whom she called 'her five papas. ' She saw him as a sailor, and told us that he would discover another America; as a general, restoring Alsace and Lorraine to France, then as an emperor, founding a dynasty of wise and generous rulers who would bestow settled welfare on our country; then as a learned man and natural philosopher, revealing, first of all, the secret of the manufacture of gold, then that of living forever; then as an aeronaut, who invented the means of soaring up to the stars, and of making the skies an immense promenade for men; the realization of the most unforeseen and magnificent dreams.
“于是她沉迷于无限的奇妙的幻想之中。想出来的都是从出生那天起一直到最后胜利的没完没了的故事和令人惊奇的虚构。我们单纯、热情、感动地幻想着这个不寻常的小生命，他纯洁地生活在我们五个人当中，她把我们叫做 ‘五个爸爸’ 。她把他想象成海员，告诉我们说他将会发现另一个美洲；把他想象成将军，收归了阿尔萨斯和洛林为法国的领土；把他想象成皇帝，建立了一个有许多宽厚明智的统治者的王朝，这些君主给我们的国家带来了幸福和安宁；又把他想象成一个学者和自然哲学家，先是发现了制造黄金的奥秘，接着又发现了长生不老的奥秘；后来又把他想象成飞行员，发明了去其他星球的方法，把天空变成了人类无边无际的散步场所；他实现了最意外、最宏伟的梦想。
"How nice and how amusing she was, poor little girl, until the end of the summer, but the twentieth of September dissipated her dream. We had come back from breakfasting at the Maison Lafitte and were passing Saint–Germain, when she felt thirsty and asked us to stop at Pecq.
“一直到夏末，这个可怜的小姑娘都是那么可爱和有趣！但九月二十日这一天，她的梦想破灭了。我们从迈松拉菲特吃完早餐回来，在经过圣日耳曼时，她感觉口渴，要我们在佩克停一下。
"For some time past, she had been getting very heavy, and that inconvenienced her very much. She could not run about as she used to do, nor jump from the boat to the shore, as she had formerly done. She would try, in spite of our warnings and efforts to stop her, and she would have fallen a dozen times, had it not been that our restraining arms kept her back. On that day, she was imprudent enough to wish to land before the boat had stopped; it was one of those pieces of bravado by which athletes, who are ill or tired, sometimes kill themselves, and at the very moment when we were going to come alongside, she got up, took a spring and tried to jump onto the landing—stage. She was not strong enough, however, and only just touched the stones with her foot, struck the sharp angle with her stomach, uttered a cry and disappeared into the water.
“最近以来，她身子已经变得非常笨重，这令她十分不便。她不能像过去那样到处跑，也不能像之前那样从船上跳到岸上去。然而，她不顾我们的警告和努力制止，要去尝试。要不是我们总是伸出胳膊去阻挡，她已经摔倒十几次了。那一天，她鲁莽地想在小船停下前就上岸。有时候，正是这种逞能的行为会使一个生病或是疲惫的运动员送掉性命。就在我们快要靠岸的时候，她站起来，向前一跃，试图跳上码头。然而她身子太弱，脚刚刚触到石头，肚子就撞到石头尖角上去了，她大叫了一声，然后消失在水中。
"We all five plunged in at the same moment, and pulled out the poor, fainting woman, who was as pale as death, and was already suffering terrible pain, and we carried her as quickly as possible to the nearest inn, and sent for a medical man. For the six hours that her miscarriage lasted, she suffered the most terrible pain with the courage of a heroine, while we were grieving round her, feverish with anxiety and fear. Then she was delivered of a dead child, and for some days we were in the greatest fear for her life; at last, however, the doctor said to us one morning: 'I think her life is saved. That girl is made of steel, ' and we all of us went into her room, with radiant hearts, and Only–One—Eye, as spokesman for us all, said to her: 'The danger is all over, little Fly, and we are all happy again. '
“我们五个人同时跳下水去，把这个可怜的、昏厥的女人拉了上来，她的脸色像死人一样苍白，已经遭受了巨大的痛苦。我们尽快把她送到最近的小酒馆，请来了一位医生。这次流产持续了六个小时，她以一个女英雄式的勇气忍受着这种极度可怕的痛苦。我们在她周围因为担心和恐惧而焦躁不安，悲痛万分。随后她生下了一个死孩子。接下来的许多天，我们都十分担忧她的性命。然而，终于在一天早晨，医生对我们说： ‘我想，她已经脱离生命危险了。那个姑娘真是铁打的。’ 于是我们一起高兴地走进她的房间。 ‘独眼龙’ 代表我们大家对她说： ‘脱离危险了，小苍蝇，我们大家又都非常高兴了。’
"Then, for the second time, she wept in our presence, and, with her eyes full of tears, she said, hesitatingly:
“于是，她第二次当着我们的面哭了，她的眼里噙满泪水，结结巴巴地说：
'Oh! If you only knew, if you only knew. what a grief it is. what a grief it is to me. I shall never get over it. '
‘啊！但愿你们明了，但愿你们明了……多么伤心啊……多么让我伤心啊……我永远也忘不了。’
'Over what, little Fly? ' 'Over having killed it, for I did kill it!
‘忘不了什么啊，小苍蝇？’ ‘忘不了是我杀了他，因为是我杀了他！
Oh! Without intending to!
啊！不是有意的！
Oh! How grieved I am!’
啊！我多么伤心啊! '
"She was sobbing, and we stood round, deeply touched, but without knowing what to say, and she went on: 'Have you seen it? '
“她抽泣着，我们站在她周围，深受感动，但不知道说什么好。她接着说： ‘你们看见他了吗? '
And we replied with one voice: 'Yes. ' 'It was a boy, was it not? ' 'Yes. ' 'Beautiful, was it not? ' We hesitated a good deal, but Petit–Bleu, who was less scrupulous than the rest of us, made up his mind to affirm it, and said: 'Very beautiful. '
我们齐声回答： ‘看见了。’ ‘是个男孩，是吗？’ ‘是的。’ ‘很漂亮，对吗？’ 我们踌躇了很久，顾虑最少的 ‘小蓝’ 决定来肯定这个事实： ‘非常漂亮。’
"He committed a mistake, however, for she began to sob, and almost to scream with grief, and Only–One—Eye, who perhaps loved her more than the rest of us did, had a happy thought. Kissing her eyes, that were dimmed with tears, he said: 'Console yourself, little Fly, console yourself; we will make another for you. '
“然而他错了，因为她开始哭泣，伤心得几乎要大声尖叫。 ‘独眼龙’ 也许比我们其他人还要爱她，他想到了一个绝妙的主意。他吻着她那被泪水模糊的双眼，说道： ‘想开些吧，小苍蝇，想开些，我们再给你生一个。’
"Her innate sense of the ridiculous was suddenly excited, and half—convinced, and half—joking, still tearful and her heart sore with grief, she said, looking at us all: 'Do you really mean it? ' And we replied all at once:
‘ ‘她与生俱来的幽默感突然间被唤起了，尽管眼睛仍在流泪，心里还很悲伤，她半信半疑、半开玩笑地看着我们大家，说： ‘真是这样吗？’ 我们立刻回答道：
'We really mean it. '”
‘真是这样。’”