現(xiàn)代英文選評(píng)：Natives Don't Cry 亨利小姐的信

Natives Don't Cry 亨利小姐的信

Kay Boyle (1902—1992)

作者凱·博伊爾為美國(guó)現(xiàn)代女作家，生于明尼蘇達(dá)州之圣保羅（St. Paul），曾在歐洲各處寄居多年，著書有長(zhǎng)篇及短篇小說(shuō)集多種。

博伊爾的文字很簡(jiǎn)單，故事亦不離奇曲折，然而輕描淡寫之中，言似未盡而意亦未盡，頗耐人尋味。其描繪人生，凄愴處有含蓄，挖苦處存忠厚，哀而不怨，謔而不虐，皆深得“簡(jiǎn)約”之妙者。本文原題直譯應(yīng)為“土人是不哭的”，與全文有何關(guān)系，在下面注解中再研究，今姑且譯為“亨利小姐的信”。原文見(jiàn)其短篇小說(shuō)集《維也納之白馬》（The White Horses of Vienna），1937年出版，1949年收入英國(guó)“企鵝叢書”。

We went to Austria that summer, and Miss Henley came to us the night before we left. She was not very pleased to come, but it was only for the month, so she came as a gift to us. She did not believe she would like us because of the hotel, where we were in London and because of the colour of mother's hair. She did not say these things to us in the same words, but she said them in other ways so that we knew.

● We：從下文看來(lái)，指的是一家到歐洲去旅行的美國(guó)人：父親、母親、兩個(gè)女小孩、一個(gè)男小孩。全篇敘事都是用一個(gè)女小孩的第一人稱的口氣。that summer：某年夏天。年代可能隔得很遠(yuǎn)。

● Miss Henley的職位是保姆兼家庭教師，所謂governess便是。她是英國(guó)人，臨時(shí)在英國(guó)受那美國(guó)家庭之聘，隨赴奧地利，照料孩子。

● 第二句說(shuō)她不大高興來(lái)，可是因?yàn)楹么踔挥幸粋€(gè)月，勉強(qiáng)答應(yīng)的。由此可見(jiàn)亨利小姐是個(gè)架子相當(dāng)大的人。

● gift 本意是“禮物”：自己沒(méi)有出錢、別人好意送來(lái)的東西謂之“禮物”。我們不好算是出錢雇她的，只好算是她來(lái)幫我們的忙的。

● 第三句還是說(shuō)明這位小姐架子之大，而且?jiàn)A著一點(diǎn)脾氣怪僻在里面。她以為她不會(huì)喜歡我們這一家人的，第一因?yàn)槭俏覀冊(cè)趥惗厮〉穆灭^（不中她的意）；第二因?yàn)槭悄赣H頭發(fā)的顏色（也不中她的意）。

● 她的話并不是這樣說(shuō)的。措辭雖然不同，話里的意思是一樣的，所以我們聽(tīng)得出來(lái)（so that we knew）。

We thought she was fifty because she had no colour in her face, and her hair was pinned back in a knot in her neck, and it was grey near the ears. Father took her passport on the French side, and when he came back to the car he said:

I think you're much too young to be leaving home, Miss Henley.

● colour：膚色之紅潤(rùn)。knot：發(fā)髻。pinned back：梳到后面去，用發(fā)針扣住的。頭發(fā)在腦后扣成一個(gè)髻，打扮不像少女。

● near the ears：耳旁之頭發(fā)，約相當(dāng)于中文的“鬢”。

● passport：護(hù)照。一行人到了法國(guó)，護(hù)照統(tǒng)歸父親拿去辦理過(guò)境手續(xù)。父親從她的護(hù)照里看見(jiàn)了她的年齡。

● to be leaving home在to leave home之外更多一層“正在路上”的意思。假如說(shuō)you're too young to leave home，這可能表示根本還沒(méi)有動(dòng)身。much加強(qiáng)too的意思。

Miss Henley's almost as young as you girls, said father, and we saw the colour run into her cheeks. "She's only twenty-five!"

How old did you think I was? she said, and Francis said: "A hundred."

But he was so young there was nothing to say to him. It was just a number he had heard somewhere.

● Miss Henley's=Miss Henley is。

● How old did you think I was? 你們現(xiàn)在是知道我的年紀(jì)了，你們本來(lái)以為我是多大了？動(dòng)詞用過(guò)去式。

● Francis是小弟弟的名字。他脫口而出地說(shuō)是“一百歲”。

● so young的后面省去了一個(gè)that。他年紀(jì)太小了，跟他沒(méi)有什么好說(shuō)的。他說(shuō)“一百”，并不是真懂什么意思，不知道他哪里聽(tīng)來(lái)這樣一個(gè)數(shù)目字而已。

She had been born in Burma, she was a civil servant's daughter, and she had no patience for the ways of any children except the children she and her brothers had been. In the hotels at night she took their pictures from her bag and set them on the bureau. She spoke of them all, and of the places they had lived. And she spoke of them only a little at a time, and not too often, as if they were too good to be given quite away.

● Burma：緬甸。civil servant：公務(wù)員。

● she had no patience for the ways of children：她對(duì)于小孩子們的那一套，是沒(méi)有耐心的。可是她自己一度也是一個(gè)小孩子，她還有哥哥弟弟，他們小時(shí)候也該跟別的小孩子一樣頑皮，一樣難侍候，可是她對(duì)于她自己小時(shí)候和她哥哥弟弟小時(shí)候的那一套，她就“受得了”了。She and her brothers had been是定語(yǔ)從句，前面省一關(guān)系代名詞that。

● In the hotels：他們已經(jīng)走了好幾處地方，住過(guò)不同的旅館，故hotels用多數(shù)。bureau照英國(guó)人的用法是“書桌”，照美國(guó)人的用法是“衣柜”（五斗柜）。本文作者是美國(guó)人，當(dāng)依后者為是。

● 她常講起她的哥哥弟弟，可是每次只講一點(diǎn)兒的事情，而且所講的次數(shù)也并不十分多，好像他們的事情是件寶貝，不可以全部送人（一次說(shuō)完）的。

Her family was dead, even the brothers, so there was no one left to write to, but there was Rudolpho. He was a name written out very big across an envelope.

She did not say these things or anything like them to mother. She never told her about Rudolpho although she wrote to him every day. She said to mother:

● Rudolpho照下文看來(lái)該是她的男朋友的名字。這是怎么樣的一個(gè)人，敘事的小孩子當(dāng)然并不知道，作者也不要讓讀者曉得。作者所要讀者注意的，只是她的信，而信封上大大地寫著的是一個(gè)男人的名字。這個(gè)男人，她是每天寫信給他的。

Where would be a safe place to have mail sent to? I have to know about my letters.

And mother would say: "Oh, I'm sure the American Express or Thomas Cook would do."

But mother never said which city because she scarcely ever knew which country she was travelling in. She could not remember the capitals of Europe even.

● 第一句用虛擬式的would：假如有信，該寄哪兒才妥當(dāng)呢？

● 第二句的would只是will的過(guò)去式：老師那樣問(wèn)，母親總是這樣答的。同句中的另一個(gè)would也是虛擬式。

● American Express即American Express Co.，通用譯名似為“美國(guó)通運(yùn)銀行”。該行之旅行支票，信用極好。Thomas Cook為著名英商旅行社，通用譯名似為“通濟(jì)隆”。那兩家商號(hào)一向辦理旅客服務(wù)，所以母親提議托他們代轉(zhuǎn)信件。

● never：一路之上老師與母親之間，常常有這樣的一問(wèn)一答?？墒悄赣H從來(lái)不說(shuō)明是什么城市，因此人家仍舊不知道信該寄到哪里。母親連自己在哪一國(guó)都不大知道，歐洲各國(guó)的首都她也記不清楚的。

But she knew from father that we were going to Salzburg.

Father said: "If your young man likes to read so much, Miss Henley, I think he must be quite literary."

Oh, he's not exactly like that! said Miss Henley, laughing. "He's foreign, of course, but so many people are these days that one gets accustomed to it. He's been ten years in London, too, so you'd scarcely know. I don't know what he's doing to cheer himself up, poor thing. He must feel like a duck out of water. He wanted me to go, of course, and he told me not to hurry back, but I know perfectly well what's going on inside him!"

You'll probably have mail waiting in Salzburg, said father.

● Salzburg：奧地利西部的一個(gè)城市，為大音樂(lè)家莫扎特出生地。

● literary：有文學(xué)修養(yǎng)的。

● like that即指literary；說(shuō)他有文學(xué)修養(yǎng)，還沒(méi)有完全說(shuō)對(duì)。

● foreign：Rudolpho不像是一個(gè)英國(guó)人的名字，所以她說(shuō)“他當(dāng)然（of course）是個(gè)外國(guó)人”。名字以“o”收尾的人，可能是意大利、西班牙、葡萄牙等國(guó)的人。

● So many people are的后面省去foreign一字：這個(gè)年頭兒，很多人都是外國(guó)人，所以也不足為奇。accustomed to it之it=his being foreign。accustomed：習(xí)以為常。

● so you'd…之'd為would的省寫：假如你看見(jiàn)了他，你也看大不出他是個(gè)外國(guó)人（因?yàn)樗趥惗刈∵^(guò)十年）。know的后面省去that he is foreign。

● cheer himself up：解悶消愁。poor thing：可憐的人兒（因?yàn)椴桓谝黄鹆耍Ｄ莻€(gè)男人似乎非但多情，而且還很識(shí)大體：他當(dāng)然要我到歐洲去的，他還叫我別忙著回去呢。inside him：他心里面的事。

Father went to the post office the first thing in Salzburg. He took the passports in his hand, and when he came back he was carrying a great many things. There were letters from America, and there was mother's picture playing golf in The Tatler, but there wasn't anything, there wasn't even a postcard for Miss Henley. She did not say anything. She sat quite still on the terrace of the coffee-house on the Mozart Place, and the sun was shining for a change. She looked straight into the sun, past father, smiling at what he said. He had said:

There wasn't anything for you today, Miss Henley. Better luck tomorrow.

● 就第一句看來(lái)，他們的信沒(méi)有托旅行社轉(zhuǎn)，而是由郵局代收，他們憑了護(hù)照去領(lǐng)回的。

● The Tatler：英國(guó)著名畫報(bào)。那位母親恐怕是交際場(chǎng)中有名人物，在英國(guó)住了沒(méi)有多久，她的玩高爾夫球的照片就在畫報(bào)上登出來(lái)了。

● terrace：（咖啡店前之）露臺(tái)。Mozart Place：莫扎特廣場(chǎng)。for a change：陰雨多日之后，天氣變晴了。

● past father：視線越過(guò)了父親，直向太陽(yáng)望去。past是介詞。

● smiling at what he said：對(duì)于父親所說(shuō)的話，她只報(bào)之以微笑。父親說(shuō)些什么話呢？下面接一句補(bǔ)充說(shuō)明。但是話先說(shuō)，她后微笑的，所以用過(guò)去完成式had said。

● 這許多人中間，老師似乎是最急著要看信的人，偏偏沒(méi)有她的信?？墒菦](méi)有信，她又是這樣地鎮(zhèn)定。人物的性格就此更值得玩味，而故事也更引人入勝了。

Mother opened her letters, and father opened his, and we did not look at Miss Henley. No one lifted their eyes, and no one felt easy in the silence at the table. Miss Henley sat with her cup of coffee and cream in front of her, and because she did not speak there was nothing for anyone to say. But Francis said:

Maybe nobody likes you, and mother said quickly:

Would you like to wander a bit by yourself this afternoon, Miss Henley? There's quite a lot to see here. You might go and see Mozart's skull.

Mozart's skull! cried Miss Henley. "How disgusting!"

● easy：輕松。女先生到底窘不窘我們不知道，但是大家都替她覺(jué)得很窘。小弟弟“童言無(wú)忌”，說(shuō)他那位老師“也許沒(méi)有人喜歡”，母親趕快出來(lái)解圍。

● wander：出去逛逛。Mozart's skull：莫扎特的頭骨。莫扎特在Salzburg的故居，已改建為“莫扎特博物院”，藏莫氏遺物頗多。其頭骨恐亦在彼處陳列。

● How disgusting!用北京話說(shuō)來(lái)，該是“多膩胃呀！”一個(gè)有教養(yǎng)，感覺(jué)敏銳的女子，是不會(huì)喜歡去看死人的頭骨的。可是連莫扎特的都不愿意去看（尤其是從英國(guó)遠(yuǎn)道跑來(lái)的人），未免太“特立獨(dú)行”了。大家正在替這位小姐覺(jué)得很窘，她的剛強(qiáng)的個(gè)性又表現(xiàn)出來(lái)了。

In the evening she was in the room still, she was sitting there in the half-darkness when we came home. She had been writing a letter by the window and she was putting the name on the envelope when we came in the door. Father came with us, and Miss Henley said:

Where would the best place to change English money be?

● 上段母親叫亨利小姐下午自己出去逛逛，本段是黃昏時(shí)分他們游畢返家（其實(shí)是旅館，但仍可用home一字），發(fā)現(xiàn)亨利小姐坐在屋子里沒(méi)有出去。

● had been writing是過(guò)去完成進(jìn)行式，接著又用一個(gè)過(guò)去進(jìn)行式was writing。兩種時(shí)態(tài)用在一句句子里，更容易體味它們的用法：我們回來(lái)之前，她就在寫信；我們回來(lái)的時(shí)候，信是寫完了，但是信封還沒(méi)有寫好；那時(shí)候她恰巧正在信封上寫名字。

● 問(wèn)話用虛擬式，并沒(méi)有說(shuō)她一定要去換錢。

Miss Henley stood, very small and thin, with her hand holding to the back of the chair. She wore high black shoes, and a blouse, and a skirt that had no year and season, wide at the knees, and dark. She had never worn anything else but this, no matter how the weather changed.

● 本段描寫亨利小姐問(wèn)話時(shí)的情形。我們出去玩了一個(gè)下午，她躲在家里寫信，已經(jīng)夠可憐的了；現(xiàn)在看看她的模樣，更覺(jué)得可憐。

● blouse：女裝的上身短衫。skirt：裙子。no year or season：看不出是哪一年的式樣，或者是該那一季穿的。裙子的顏色很深，上半節(jié)是緊的，到了膝蓋下面才張開(kāi)來(lái)。

Look here, said father. "If you'd like your salary in advance, you just tell us. I can pay it now or whenever you want it, just as you like."

Not at all, said Miss Henley. "I had no intention of asking for anything in advance. I just happened to find a few shillings in my pocket and thought I would change them here. I only want to buy a stamp."

● 父親因?yàn)樗崞鹨獡Q錢的事，以為她要錢花了。in advance：預(yù)支（薪水）。

● 可是她說(shuō)她決不要預(yù)支什么。had用過(guò)去式，表示她剛才問(wèn)話的時(shí)候，并沒(méi)有預(yù)支什么的意思（intention）。happened to find：碰巧找到（幾個(gè)先令）。

● 前面剛剛說(shuō)她很可憐，可是她傲骨非常，不要預(yù)支薪水。足見(jiàn)她不是一個(gè)求人哀憐的人物。可是她所要買的只是一張郵票；她收不到信，偏偏還把信看得這樣的重要，似乎又值得可憐了。若是亨利小姐只是一味的可憐，非但文章難有波瀾，而且將流入“傷感主義”（sentimentalism）的魔道。作者處處要把這個(gè)主角寫成一個(gè)個(gè)性極強(qiáng)的人，個(gè)性這樣的強(qiáng)，而其不知不覺(jué)中的言行又復(fù)如此可憐（有時(shí)抑且可笑），這才是真的可憐了。

At the end of the week we went away, we went up the valley into the mountains, and Miss Henley rode in the back with us. She held Francis on her lap, and she closed her eyes and told us of the places she had been. There were eight natives struck by lightning in the hills in Burma one night in summer, and she had seen them in the morning when the others carried them down. Their bodies were burned as black as logs in the fire.

● went up the valley：城在山谷里，今離城往高處走，進(jìn)入山里。in the back：汽車之后座。with us之us恐指三個(gè)小孩子。父母在前座。

● lap：大腿。the places she had been：在she前省去relative adverb "where"一字。she closed her eyes：閉起眼睛，足見(jiàn)想得出神；而且對(duì)于沿路風(fēng)景，似乎毫無(wú)興趣。亨利小姐對(duì)于眼前的東西，似乎都沒(méi)有什么興趣；從她的言談看來(lái)，她念念不忘的是她的過(guò)去；關(guān)于將來(lái)，她只有一個(gè)期待，那就是男朋友的信。

● struck by lightning：遭雷打。

● burned：燒焦。logs：木柴。

What did you give them to make them stop crying? Francis said.

Natives don't cry, said Miss Henley. "They don't feel things the way other people do."

● 小弟弟問(wèn)道：“你給了他們些什么東西，他們才不哭的呢？”小弟弟以為，天下的人同他自己一樣，哭的時(shí)候，只要有一塊糖來(lái)騙騙他們，就會(huì)不哭的。小弟弟話里的“他們”，不一定指什么人，可能就是那些遭雷擊的人，可能是他們的親屬。

● 亨利小姐的答復(fù)：“土人是不哭的。”他們對(duì)于一件事情，覺(jué)得是喜還是怒，或者是哀還是樂(lè)，都同別人不一樣（他們的感覺(jué)方式同別人的感覺(jué)方式不一樣）。the way在這里當(dāng)relative adverb用，引起下面一狀語(yǔ)從句：other people do。說(shuō)完全了應(yīng)該是in the same way as，但普通口語(yǔ)用the way兩個(gè)字已夠。

● 雷擊土人一段穿插，似和主要故事無(wú)關(guān)，可是“土人是不哭的”一句話，作者竟用作全文標(biāo)題，其意隱晦，頗難索解?？赡苤皇且?yàn)檫@句話在小孩子腦筋里所留下的印象特別深？可能這一句話表示人和人之間的感覺(jué)方式不都一樣，不哭之人也許正有可哭之由？可能這三個(gè)字只是代表一種剛毅堅(jiān)忍的精神，恰如亨利小姐的為人？也許這幾種意思只有這三個(gè)字才能充分表達(dá)，不說(shuō)明反而比說(shuō)明好？

It was cold climbing and father stopped the car for a glass of wine in a country tavern. We all went in and sat down by the stove, and mother and father and Miss Henley drank a pitcher of red, hot wine.

How do you like Austria, Miss Henley? mother said. "This is Austria, isn't it?"

● cold climbing：冷的爬行；山行愈高愈寒。tavern:小酒店。pitcher：酒壺。

● 母親常常弄不清楚歐洲那些國(guó)家（見(jiàn)前文），這里問(wèn)了人家喜歡不喜歡奧地利之后，再添問(wèn)一句：“這是奧地利不是？”

Oh, it's very like the country in Burma, you know, said Miss Henley. "I was telling the children. I've a friend who has a little car of his own. He drives it all over England. I told him we would be driving around Salzburg. It would be a joke, wouldn't it, if he suddenly turned up on the road?"

● the country in Burma：緬甸的鄉(xiāng)村。

● I was telling the children：我剛才還在對(duì)孩子們說(shuō)呢。這里用過(guò)去進(jìn)行式，接著三個(gè)動(dòng)詞都是現(xiàn)在式，講三件并不限定在某一個(gè)時(shí)間的事情：我有一個(gè)朋友，他有一輛汽車，他常在英國(guó)各處開(kāi)來(lái)開(kāi)去——她又講起她的男朋友來(lái)了。

● we would be driving是we will be driving的過(guò)去式。這里的will只表示將來(lái)，不表示意愿；第一人稱用will代替shall以表示將來(lái)，在口語(yǔ)里面是很普通的。

● turned up：出現(xiàn)（虛擬式）。假如忽然他駕了汽車在我們的公路上出現(xiàn)了，你說(shuō)這是不是一個(gè)很大的玩笑喔？

Perhaps he's going to surprise you by coming right over,said father. Miss Henley's face squeezed up with laughter.

It would be just like him to! she said. "I'll never forget the time we were asked to a fancy-dress party. He dressed up the same as two friends of his did, and I never knew until the party was over and everybody unmasked that I'd been dancing with somebody else all evening. He had got tired," said Miss Henley, "and gone home early."

● surprise you：嚇你一跳。coming right over：從英國(guó)徑自趕來(lái)。

● squeezed up：皺縮。

● It…like him to：他就是這樣子的（愛(ài)弄玄虛）。to之后省略surprise me等字樣。

● fancy-dress party：化裝舞會(huì)。as two of his friends did之did=dressed up：他的服裝打扮跟他的兩個(gè)朋友一模一樣的。

● unmasked：除去面具。她發(fā)現(xiàn)她一晚上一直是跟別人在跳舞。發(fā)現(xiàn)在后，用過(guò)去式，跳舞在先，當(dāng)用過(guò)去完成式，可是又是一直地在跳，故用過(guò)去完成進(jìn)行式。

● 她的男朋友愛(ài)作弄人，化裝舞會(huì)上把她交給別人伴陪著跳舞，自己因?yàn)槠＞?，早回去了?

That was a good joke, said mother.

Father said: "Have a little more wine."

Oh, I never take much, said Miss Henley, watching him fill her glass up. "If this friend I was speaking of did happen along the children would have a wonderful time with him. He's like a child himself," she said, and she began to gasp with laughter. "He'd be down on his hands and knees all the time playing with Francis if he were here."

● I never take much：我酒喝得不多。fill her glass up：把她的杯子斟滿。

● I was speaking of是定語(yǔ)從句，前面省一關(guān)系代名詞whom。

● did happen along：假如真的碰巧來(lái)了的話。did用以加重語(yǔ)氣，所以用did而不用does者，是要表示“不合事實(shí)的假定”。請(qǐng)參照本段末一句if he were here。

● gasp with laughter：笑得透不過(guò)氣來(lái)。

● down on his hands and knees：雙手雙膝爬在地上。

Day after day Miss Henley walked us slowly over the hillsides. Mother and father went up mountains together. Whenever we went back to the hotel, there would be letters on the table, but there would never be anything for Miss Henley.

Nobody writes to you, Mrs. Hen, Francis said.

My dear child, said Miss Henley. "As a matter of fact, Francis, if I wanted my letters sent here I could easily tell people to write to me here, couldn't I? So you see how silly you are."

● walk當(dāng)及物動(dòng)詞用是“帶著走”。

● Mrs. Hen是小弟弟替Miss Henley亂起的一個(gè)名字（老母雞？）。

● if I wanted my letters sent here：又是一句不合事實(shí)的假定。假如我要把信寄到這兒來(lái)的話，我隨便一句話就可以通知人家寄到這兒來(lái)了，是不是？話中自承不是沒(méi)有信，而是故意讓人家寄到別處去了。

But we never saw her writing any more letters. She did not even speak of Rudolpho. She would sit reading books that mother gave her, and she never found any of them very good, as the books she had read somewhere else at some other time.

Always the same old thing, she said, and she gave them back to mother. "Always love, love, love! It's just a bit tiresome I think, you know."

● 亨利小姐看得入眼的東西很少，母親的書她沒(méi)有一本愛(ài)讀的，她說(shuō)它們總沒(méi)有她以前在別的地方所看的書那么好。

● 我們不再看見(jiàn)她寫信了，她也不再提起男朋友的名字了。她也討厭小說(shuō)里老是講什么愛(ài)情愛(ài)情的。

Mother and father put their feet out by the fire and mother said Miss Henley wasn't a good thing for the children even if she was leaving so soon. She said it was the worst thing to have this for every meal with you, this pall, this bitterness, this dead, unspoken sorrow. What could we give her to take away her silence, and her sharpness, and her grieving face?

● 父親母親伸直了腿在烤火，母親說(shuō)：即使亨利小姐快要走了（她只來(lái)幫一個(gè)月的忙），她做孩子們的老師，總是不大好。thing可以解作person，這里的a good thing應(yīng)該就是a good teacher。最糟的是：每頓飯都要看見(jiàn)她棺材罩子（pall）那樣的神氣，她那股子怨氣（bitterness），那種半死不活（dead）、悶在肚子里的（unspoken）憂愁。我們有什么辦法可以把她的沉默、她的尖刻、她的愁容消除掉呢？

● 這里用了好幾個(gè)抽象字眼。在本段之前，全文所記都是具體事實(shí)。作者用了很經(jīng)濟(jì)的手法，記錄了很多件小事，不評(píng)不議，一切留待讀者自尋結(jié)論。但是這里母親要用兩三句話把她對(duì)這位家庭教師討厭的態(tài)度，概括地講出來(lái)，那就非藉抽象名詞之助不可。

● 就作文一般原則而言，如作者目的為求生動(dòng)，求含蓄，自宜多具體描寫；如為求扼要，求明辨，則非用抽象名詞不可。初學(xué)作文者，大抵喜具體，而不慣抽象；但抽象名詞如不能熟用，則散漫之印象，難以統(tǒng)一，思想之精微處，更無(wú)由表達(dá)。凡善文者，必定具體抽象，左右逢源，得心應(yīng)手者也。

Then one morning, father and mother took us up a mountain. We left very early, while it was dark still. When we got to the hotel it was six o'clock and Miss Henley was giving Francis his bath. There was a look of something else in her face, and whatever she said to us she couldn't keep from smiling.

● 父親母親帶我們?nèi)ヅ郎健拔覀儭笔恰拔摇蓖妹?，老師和小弟弟沒(méi)有去。我們回來(lái)的時(shí)候，她正在替小弟弟洗澡。她的臉上有一種特別的表情，隨便講什么，都忍不住要笑。笑容剛好和上段所說(shuō)的愁容成對(duì)比。

Did we get any mail? said mother.

Oh, all the mail was for me for a change today, said Miss Henley.

Oh, how nice, said mother.

It was quite a joke, said Miss Henley, her face squeezed up with laughter. "The porter came staggering up—three telegrams and seven letters! They'd never heard of such a thing here! You can imagine!"

● for a change：來(lái)信一向都是你們的，今天換過(guò)來(lái)了，都是我的了。

● staggering：踉蹌。手里的信多得路都不會(huì)走了！夸張正顯其得意。

● such a thing：一個(gè)人一天有這么多信。imagine：想象（他們的詫異情形）。

I hope your young man's well? said father.

Oh, he's awfully well, thank you, said Miss Henley. "He'd put the wrong address on all the letters and they were all returned to him. So that explains how it was, you see. He's awfully excited about the Lindberghs being in England. He's working on a newspaper now and he's been trying to find out where they are so as to get a peep at them and perhaps a word or two for a story."

● awfully=very。

● He'd put=he had put。前面她不是說(shuō)故意不讓人家把信往這兒寄嗎？怎么現(xiàn)在又說(shuō)是人家寫錯(cuò)了地址（address）呢？作者雖未加按語(yǔ)，但亨利小姐的話顯然自相矛盾。

● how it was：為什么老沒(méi)有信。

● Lindberghs：林白夫婦。Charles Lindbergh：美國(guó)飛行家，為不著陸飛渡大西洋第一人（時(shí)在1927年）。

● get a peep at them：看到他們一眼，a peep和下面的a word在修辭學(xué)上都是“弱說(shuō)法”（understatement），事實(shí)上當(dāng)然不止希望看到一眼或聽(tīng)到一兩句話而已。a story：新聞特稿，這里不作“小說(shuō)”解。

Well, we'll get a good bottle of wine tonight, said father, "and we'll all drink to Rudolpho!"

Oh, that's so nice of you, said Miss Henley, "but you know how little I drink."

● drink to Rudolpho：為他干杯。

● how little I drink：我多么的不會(huì)喝酒。亨利小姐得意之余，猶不失其小姐架子。但是她是真的得意嗎？

It wasn't until after the bottle of wine had been drunk and Miss Henley had taken Francis up to bed that father said anything about it. Then he said to mother at the table:

There wasn't any mail at all today. The bus broke down on the road and nothing ever came through. The porter told me when we came back this evening. The mailbag was still hanging there waiting in the hall.

I think the girls had better go up to bed, said mother. "They've been up a mountain and they're awfully tired."

● until是介詞。after the bottle…to bed是名詞性從句。

● at the table：在餐桌上。

● broke down：機(jī)件損壞，無(wú)法行走；俗語(yǔ)“拋錨”。mailbag：郵件袋（相當(dāng)于郵箱）。waiting：等候郵差到來(lái)，把信放進(jìn)去。

● 亨利小姐的高興，原來(lái)并無(wú)根據(jù)。做老師的撒謊，孩子們的母親也許不會(huì)原諒的，但是讀者會(huì)不會(huì)原諒她呢？我們細(xì)讀全文，看不出有什么跡象可以證實(shí)她確有一位名叫Rudolpho的男朋友。她說(shuō)收到了信固然是謊話，她的那些關(guān)于男朋友的話（雖然說(shuō)得那么活龍活現(xiàn)），可能也都是向壁虛構(gòu)。她撒了那許多謊，有什么動(dòng)機(jī)呢？當(dāng)然她不想害什么人，她假如存心想騙人，也無(wú)非想維持自己的尊嚴(yán)（她的自尊心非常之強(qiáng)，文章中屢次提到這一點(diǎn)），免得因?yàn)闆](méi)有男朋友，因?yàn)闆](méi)有親人和她寫信，而遭人看輕，受人憐憫。假如她是在自己騙自己，想從幻想里面得到感情的滿足，那么亨利小姐是個(gè)很可憐的人了。但是請(qǐng)記得：亨利小姐是不要?jiǎng)e人可憐的。