英语PK台 第774期:阶级之下无平等? 《你是仆人的孩子》

 "I don't like you going," her mother said again. "It's a rich-people's party." "I’m going because I’ve been invited," she said. "And I’ve been invited because Luciana is my friend." "Ah yes, your ‘friend’," her mother grumbled 1. "Listen, Rosaura, that girl is not your friend. You know what you are to her? The maid’s daughter, that’s all." 

“我不想让你去。”她妈妈又说了一遍，“那是一个富人派对。”“我要去，因为我受到邀请了，”她说，“我受到邀请是因为卢恰娜是我的朋友。”“嗯，对，你的‘朋友’，”她妈妈嘟囔地附和道。“听好了，罗绍拉，那个女孩不是你的朋友。你知道她是怎么看待你的吗？女仆的女儿，仅此而已。”
Rosaura blinked hard: she wasn't going to cry. Instead, she yelled: "You know nothing about being friends!" Every afternoon she used to go to Luciana's house and they would both finish their homework while Rosaura's mother did the cleaning. Rosaura loved everything in the big house, and she also loved the people who lived there. 
罗绍拉用力眨了眨眼睛。她没哭，反而喊道：“你根本不知道什么是朋友！”每天下午，她都会去卢恰娜家，与她一起完成家庭作业，与此同时，罗绍拉的母亲会在卢恰娜家打扫房间。罗绍拉喜欢这所大房子里的一切，也喜欢住在里面的人。
"I'm going because it will be the loveliest party in the whole world! There will be a magician and he will bring a monkey!" The mother swung around, stared at her daughter angrily, and pompously 2 put her hands on her hips 3. "Monkeys at a birthday?" she said. "Nonsense!"
“我要去，因为它会是全世界最令人愉快的派对！派对会请来一位魔术师，他还会带来一只猴子！”母亲转过身，生气地盯着女儿，夸张地把双手放在臀部上，说：“生日派对请来猴子？这简直太荒谬了！”
"I'll die if I don't go," Rosaura now whispered, almost without moving her lips. And she wasn't sure whether she had been heard, but on the morning of the party she discovered that her mother had starched 4 her Christmas dress. And in the afternoon, after washing her hair, her mother rinsed 5 it in apple vinegar so that it would be all nice and shiny. Before going out, Rosaura admired herself in the mirror, with her white dress and glossy 6 hair, and thought she looked very pretty.
“不让我去，我宁可去死。”罗绍拉低声咕哝道，说话时嘴唇几乎没动。而且，她也不确定她妈妈是否听到她说什么了。但在派对的那天早晨，她发现她的母亲已经为她准备好了圣诞礼服。那天下午，妈妈还帮她洗了头发，之后又用苹果醋冲洗了她的头发，这让她的头发看上去非常光鲜亮丽。外出前，罗绍拉在镜子前好好地欣赏了一下自己，觉得自己穿着白色连衣裙，再加上满头顺滑的秀发，看起来非常漂亮。
Luciana’s mother, Senora Ines, also seemed to notice. As soon as she saw her, she said, "How lovely you look today, Rosaura." Rosaura blushed, said hello to her and Luciana and looked around, and saw more balloons, flags and confetti than she ever had seen in her entire life. Suddenly, a girl with a bow in her hair said to her: "And you? Who are you?" "I'm a friend of Luciana," replied Luciana. 
卢恰娜的母亲伊内斯太太似乎也注意到了她的美丽变身。她一见到罗绍拉就说：“罗绍拉，你今天看起来太可爱啦！”罗绍拉红着脸颊，羞涩地向伊内斯太太和卢恰娜打了招呼。然后环顾四周，她看到了许许多多的气球、旗子和五彩纸屑，比她之前一生中见过的都多。突然，一个头发上扎着蝴蝶结的女孩对她说：“你又是谁呢？”“我是卢恰娜的朋友。”罗绍拉回答说。
"No," said the girl with the bow, "you are not a friend of Luciana because I'm her cousin and I know all her friends. And I don't know you. “So what!?" said Rosaura. "I come here every afternoon with my mother and we do our homework together." The girl with the bow shrugged 7 her shoulders. "That's not being friends, so where do you know her from?" she said impatiently. Rosaura remembered her mother's words perfectly 8. She took a deep breath and said: "I'm the daughter of the employee." Her mother had told her very clearly: "If someone asks, you say proudly that you're the daughter of the employee; that's all!"
“不会吧？”扎着蝴蝶结的女孩说，“你不可能是卢恰娜的朋友，我是她的表姐，我认识她所有的朋友，可我不认识你。”“那又怎样！？”罗绍拉说，“我每天下午都会和我妈妈一起来她家，而且我们会一起做作业。”扎着蝴蝶结的女孩耸了耸肩，说：“那不算朋友。你是怎么认识她的？”她不耐烦地问道。罗绍拉清楚地记得母亲对她说过的话。她深吸一口气，说道：“我是雇员的女儿。”她的母亲曾经非常明确地告诉她：“如果有人问，你就自豪地说你是雇员的女儿，一个字也不用多说！”
"What employee?" said the girl with the bow. "Employee in a shop?”"No," said Rosaura angrily. "My mother doesn't sell anything in any shop!" "So how come she's an employee?" said the girl with the bow. Just then, Senora Ines arrived saying shh shh, and asked Rosaura if she wouldn't mind helping 9 serve out the hot-dogs, as she knew the house so much better than the others. "See?" said Rosaura to the girl with the bow, and when no one was looking she kicked her in the shin.
“哪里的雇员？”扎着蝴蝶结的女孩问。“商店里的雇员？”“不是，”罗绍拉生气地回答道，“我妈妈不在商店工作，也不卖任何东西！”“那她怎么会是雇员呢？”扎着蝴蝶结的女孩追问道。就在这时，伊内斯太太来到她们面前，让她俩安静一下，并问罗绍拉是否愿意帮忙向客人们分发热狗，因为她比其他人更了解这栋房子的情况。“看到了吧？”罗绍拉对那个扎着蝴蝶结的女孩说，然后在没有任何人注意到的情况下，踢了一下那个女孩的小腿。
The best came after Luciana blew out the candles on the cake. Senora Ines had asked Rosaura to help pass the cake around, and she had enjoyed the task immensely, because everyone called out to her,shouting "Me, me.!" To Luciana, she gave the largest piece, and to the girl with the bow she gave a slice so thin one could see through it. 
最精彩的部分出现在卢恰娜吹灭蛋糕上的蜡烛后。伊内斯太太要罗绍拉帮忙向客人们递送蛋糕，她非常喜欢这项任务，因为每个人都会向她喊着：“来我这里，来我这里！”她把最大的一块给了卢恰娜，把薄薄的一小片给了扎蝴蝶结的女孩。
After the cake came the magician, a true magician! He could untie 10 handkerchiefs by blowing on them and make a chain with links that had no openings. A monkey was his assistant during all his tricks; a real monkey! Rosaura thought that this was truly the most amusing party in the whole world.
分完蛋糕后，魔术师闪亮登场，是位货真价实的魔术师哦！他在手帕上吹一口气，就能把手帕上的结解开，还可以将没有开口的铁环连接成一串。一只猴子是他所有表演的全程助演——是一只真猴子！罗绍拉觉得这次派对绝对称得上全世界最有趣的派对。
At the end of the day, her mother came to pick her up. Tired, but still very excited, Rosaura told her mother everything that had happened at the party, that there was a real monkey, and how wonderful it had been to watch the magician and the monkey performing. Senora Ines, smiling,overheard her and said: "Please wait here a second." Her mother suddenly seemed worried. "Why does she want you to wait? Did you misbehave?" she asked Rosaura. "It's nothing! Said Rosaura. She just wants to get the presents for those who are leaving! Like at all real parties!” Senora Ines came out into the hall with two bags, one pink and one blue. First she went up to a fat boy, gave him a yo-yo out of the blue bag, and the fat boy left with his mother. Then she went up to a girl with pigtails and gave her a bracelet 11 out of the pink bag, and the girl left too.
派对结束时，她妈妈来接她。罗绍拉玩累了，但仍然非常兴奋。她将派对上发生的一切都讲给了妈妈听——派对上真的来了一只真猴子，以及观看魔术师和猴子表演是多么美妙。伊内斯太太无意中听到罗绍拉在说话，于是微笑着对她说：“请在这儿稍等片刻。”她妈妈突然感到非常担心，问罗绍拉：“她为什么要你等一下？你做错了什么事吗？”。“没什么！”罗绍拉说。她只是要送给每个要离开的人礼物！就像所有真正的派对一样！”伊内斯太太拿着两个袋子来到门厅，一个粉红色的和一个蓝色的。她先走到一个胖男孩跟前，从蓝色的袋子里掏出一个溜溜球给了他，然后胖男孩和他的母亲一起离开了。随后，她又走到一个扎着辫子的女孩跟前，从粉红色的袋子里掏出一个手镯给了她，然后女孩也离开了。
Finally, she came back to Rosaura and her mother. She had a big smile on her face and Rosaura liked that. Senora Ines looked down at her,then looked up at her mother, and then said something that made Rosaura proud, "What a marvellous daughter you have, Herminia." For an instant,Rosaura thought that she'd give her two presents: a bracelet and a yo-yo.
最后，她回到罗绍拉和她的母亲身边，脸上露出灿烂的笑容，是罗绍拉喜欢的那种笑容。伊内斯太太低头看了看罗绍拉，然后抬头看了看她的母亲，又说了一些让罗绍拉感到自豪的话——“赫尔米尼亚，你的女儿棒极了！”一瞬间，罗绍拉认为这位太太会给她两件礼物——手镯和溜溜球。
Senora Ines bent 12 down as if she looked for something. She didn't look in the pink bag. Nor did she look in the blue bag. Instead she rummaged 13 in her purse. In her hand appeared two bills. "Just to remind you, your rent and electricity bill are due by the end of next week." she said while handing them over, and with a devilish smile she told Rosaura: "Thank you for all your help, my little pet." Rosaura felt her whole body stiffen 14, pressed herself against her mother's legs, and wished she never would become like the people that organized rich-people's parties.
伊内斯太太弯下腰，好像在找什么东西。她并没有向粉红色和蓝色的袋子里面瞅，而是在她的钱包里翻找着什么。然后，她的手中出现了两份账单。“只是想提醒您，您的租金和电费账单下周就到期了。”她一边说，一边把账单递了过来。与此同时，她露出恶魔般的微笑，并对罗绍拉说：“谢谢你能来帮忙，可爱的小家伙。”罗绍拉觉得自己全身都僵住了，紧紧地靠在妈妈的双腿上，心里唯一的念头是，希望自己永远不要变得像组织富人派对的那些人那样。