麥琪的禮物：Chapter 3

There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pierglass in an $8 flat. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Della, being slender, had mastered the art.

房間的兩扇窗子之間有一面壁鏡。也許你見過每周房租八美元的公寓壁鏡吧。一個(gè)非常瘦小而靈巧的人,從觀察自己在一連串的縱條影象中,可能會(huì)對(duì)自己的容貌得到一個(gè)大致精確的概念。德拉身材苗條,已精通了這門子藝術(shù)。

Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.

突然,她從窗口旋風(fēng)般地轉(zhuǎn)過身來,站在壁鏡前面。她兩眼晶瑩透亮,但二十秒鐘之內(nèi)她的面色失去了光彩。她急速地折散頭發(fā),使之完全潑散開來。

Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.

現(xiàn)在,詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·楊夫婦倆各有一件特別引以自豪的東西。一件是吉姆的金表,是他祖父傳給父親,父親又傳給他的傳家寶;另一件則是德拉的秀發(fā)。如果示巴女王①也住在天井對(duì)面的公寓里,總有一天德拉會(huì)把頭發(fā)披散下來,露出窗外晾干,使那女王的珍珠寶貝黔然失色;如果地下室堆滿金銀財(cái)寶，所羅門王又是守門人的話,每當(dāng)吉姆路過那兒,準(zhǔn)會(huì)摸出金表,好讓那所羅門王忌妒得吹胡子瞪眼睛。