美國語文第六冊 第74期:欠債諷誦(3)
唯一知道的就是他家住在哪兒，31號門牌是借錢的去處，31號門牌是能借到錢的地方。沒有一片紙上面記著31號。
It is an anonymous house; its owner pays his way to obscurity.
這是一幢大隱于市的房舍。它的主人謀世之道在于默默無聞。
No one knows anything about him, or heeds his movements.
沒有人了解他的情況，或者注意他的行蹤。
If a carriage be seen at his door, the neighborhood is not full of concern lest he be going to run away.
如果他家門口停著一輛馬車，除非他驅(qū)車飛一樣地跑掉，否則鄰居是不會很在意的。
If a package be removed from his house, a score of boys are not employed to watch whether it be carried to the pawnbroker.
倘若從他家里搬出行李，不會有人雇用幾個小伙子盯著這些家什是否搬到當(dāng)鋪老板那兒。
Mr. Payall fills no place in the public mind; no one has any hopes or fears about him.
債主先生在大眾心里沒有什么位置，沒有人對他抱以希望或者害怕他。
The creditor always figures in the fancy as a sour, single man, with grizzled hair, a scowling countenance,
債主在人們的想象中始終扮演一個壞脾氣的角色，孤家寡人，一頭灰白的頭發(fā)，總是悶悶不樂和專橫霸道的樣子，
and a peremptory air, who lives in a dark apartment, with musty deeds about him, and an iron safe,
住在一間光線幽暗的房子里，生活乏味，守著一個鐵柜，
as impenetrable as his heart, grabbing together what he does not enjoy, and what there is no one about him to enjoy.
就像他的心一樣無法一窺究竟，將他未必喜歡以及和他有關(guān)聯(lián)的人也不高興的東西放在一起。
The debtor, on the other hand, is always pictured with a wife and six fair-haired daughters,
另一方面，借主在人們心中始終是一副一位妻子領(lǐng)著六個頭發(fā)稀疏的女兒的形象，
bound together in affection and misery, full of sensibility, and suffering without a fault.
維系著她們的是愛和悲慘的生活，非常敏感，不容自己犯錯。
The creditor, it is never doubted, thrives without a merit.
毋庸置疑，債主就像沒有德性的竊賊。
He has no wife and children to pity.
他無妻無子，沒有人認(rèn)為他應(yīng)該有別的謀生手段。
No one ever thinks it desirable that he should have the means of living. He is a brute for insisting that he must receive, in order to pay.
人們認(rèn)為他堅持說自己必須得利，這樣才能支付各種生活費用，這種做法是殘忍的。
