(雙語(yǔ))月亮和六便士 第17章(1)

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Chapter 17

第十七章

It was about five years after this that I decided to live in Paris for a while. I was growing stale in London. I was tired of doing much the same thing every day. My friends pursued their course with uneventfulness; they had no longer any surprises for me, and when I met them I knew pretty well what they would say; even their love-affairs had a tedious banality. We were like tram-cars running on their lines from terminus to terminus, and it was possible to calculate within small limits the number of passengers they would carry. Life was ordered too pleasantly. I was seized with panic. I gave up my small apartment, sold my few belongings, and resolved to start afresh.

這件事過(guò)去大約五年之后，我決定到巴黎去住一個(gè)時(shí)期。倫敦我實(shí)在待膩了；天天做的事幾乎一模一樣，使我感到厭煩得要命。我的朋友們過(guò)著老一套的生活，平淡無(wú)奇，再也引不起我的好奇心了。有時(shí)候我們見(jiàn)了面，不待他們開(kāi)口，我就知道他們要說(shuō)什么話。就連他們的桃色事件也都是枯燥乏味的老一套。我們這些人就象從終點(diǎn)站到終點(diǎn)站往返行駛的有軌電車，連乘客的數(shù)目也能估計(jì)個(gè)八九不離十。生活被安排得太有秩序了。我覺(jué)得簡(jiǎn)直太可怕了。我退掉了我的小住房，賣掉為數(shù)不多的幾件家具，決定開(kāi)始另外一種生活。

I called on Mrs. Strickland before I left. I had not seen her for some time, and I noticed changes in her; it was not only that she was older, thinner, and more lined; I think her character had altered. She had made a success of her business, and now had an office in Chancery Lane; she did little typing herself, but spent her time correcting the work of the four girls she employed. She had had the idea of giving it a certain daintiness, and she made much use of blue and red inks; she bound the copy in coarse paper, that looked vaguely like watered silk, in various pale colours; and she had acquired a reputation for neatness and accuracy. She was making money. But she could not get over the idea that to earn her living was somewhat undignified, and she was inclined to remind you that she was a lady by birth. She could not help bringing into her conversation the names of people she knew which would satisfy you that she had not sunk in the social scale.

臨行以前我到思特里克蘭德太太家去辭行。我有不少日子沒(méi)同她見(jiàn)面了，我發(fā)現(xiàn)她有不少的變化，不僅人變得老了、瘦了，皺紋比以前多了，就連性格我覺(jué)得都有些改變。她的事業(yè)很興旺，這時(shí)在昌塞里街開(kāi)了一個(gè)事務(wù)所。她自己打字不多，時(shí)間主要用在校改她雇用的四名女打字員的打字稿上。她想盡辦法把稿件打得非常講究，很多地方使用藍(lán)色和紅色的字帶，打好的稿件用各種淺顏色的粗紙裝訂起來(lái)，乍一看仿佛是帶波紋的綢子。她給人打的稿件以整齊精確聞名，生意很能賺錢(qián)。但是盡管如此，她卻認(rèn)為自己謀生糊口有失身份，總有些抬不起頭來(lái)。同別人談話的時(shí)候，她忘不了向?qū)Ψ奖戆鬃约旱母哔F出身，動(dòng)不動(dòng)就提到她認(rèn)識(shí)的一些人物，叫你知道她的社會(huì)地位一點(diǎn)兒沒(méi)有降低。