英语PK台 第840期:彩民必读经典 契诃夫《彩票》

 　　Ivan Dmitritch, a middle-class man who lived with his family on an income of twelve hundred a year and was very well satisfied with his lot, sat down on the sofa after supper and began reading the newspaper. "I forgot to look at the newspaper today," his wife said to him as she cleared the table. "Look and see whether the list of drawings is there."

　　伊凡·德米特里奇是个家道小康的人，每年全家要花销一千二百卢布，向来对自己的命运十分满意。一天晚饭后，他往沙发上一坐，开始读起报来。“今天我忘了看报，”他的妻子收拾着饭桌说，“你看看，那上面有没有开彩的号码？”
　　"Yes, it is," said Ivan Dmitritch; "but hasn't your ticket lapsed 1?" "No; I took the interest on Tuesday." "What is the number?" "Series 9,499, number 26.""All right . . . we will look . . . 9,499 and 26."
　　“阿，有，”伊凡·德米特里奇回答，“难道你的彩票没有抵押出去？”“没有，星期二我还取过利息的。”“多少号？”“9499组，26号。”“好的，太太……让我来查一查……9499－26。”
　　Ivan Dmitritch had no faith in lottery 2 luck, and would not, as a rule, have consented to look at the lists of winning numbers, but now, as he had nothing else to do and as the newspaper was before his eyes, he passed his finger downwards 3 along the column of numbers. And immediately, no further than the second line from the top, his eye was caught by the figure 9,499!
　　伊凡·德米特里奇向来不相信彩票能带来好运，换了别的时间说什么也不会去查看开彩的单子，但此刻他闲来无事，再说报纸就在眼前，于是他伸出食指，从上而下逐一查对彩票的组号。像是嘲笑他的没有信心，就在上面数起的第二行，9499号赫然跳入眼帘！
　　Unable to believe his eyes, he hurriedly dropped the paper on his knees without looking to see the number of the ticket, and, just as though some one had given him a douche of cold water, he felt an agreeable chill in the pit of the stomach; tingling 5 and terrible and sweet!
　　他不敢相信自己的眼睛，来不及对票号，立即把报纸往膝头上一放，而且，像有人往他肚子上泼了一瓢冷水，他感到心窝里有一股令人愉悦的凉意：痒酥酥，颤悠悠，甜滋滋！
　　"Masha, 9,499 is there!" he said in a hollow voice. His wife looked at his astonished and panic-stricken face, and realized that he was not joking."9,499?" she asked, turning pale and dropping the folded tablecloth 6 on the table. "Yes, yes… it really is there!" "And the number of the ticket?" "Oh yes! There's the number of the ticket too. But stay…wait! No, I say!”
　　“玛莎，有9499号！”他闷声闷气地说。妻子瞧着他那张惊愕的脸，明白他不是开玩笑。“是9499号吗？”她脸色发白，忙问，把叠好的桌布又放到桌上。
　　“没错，没错……当真有的！”“那么票号呢？”“啊，对了！还有票号。不过，先别忙……等一等。先不看，怎么样？
　　“It is our series," said Ivan Dmitritch, after a long silence. "So there is a probability that we have won. It's only a probability, but there it is!" "Well, now look!" said his wife. "Wait a little. I say, what if we really have won?" replied Ivan Dmitritch. The husband and wife began laughing and staring at one another in silence. The possibility of winning bewildered them.
　　“有我们的组号，”伊凡·德米特里奇沉默很久后才说，“这么看来，我们有可能中彩。尽管只是可能，但毕竟大有希望！”“行了，你快看看票号吧！”妻子说，“啊？你听着，要是我们真的中了彩，那会怎么样？”他说，丈夫和妻子大声笑了起来，在一片寂静中凝视着彼此。中彩的可能性迷惑了他们。
　　"If we have won," Ivan Dmitritch said--"why, it will be a new life, it will be a transformation 7! The ticket is yours, but if it were mine I should, first of all, of course, spend twenty-five thousand on real property in the shape of an estate; ten thousand on immediate 4 expenses, new furnishing…travelling…paying debts, and so on…The other forty thousand I would put in the bank and get interest on it." "Yes, an estate, that would be nice," said his wife, sitting down and dropping her hands in her lap.
　　"如果我们中了彩，伊凡·德米特里奇说道，“这可是崭新的生活，这可是时来运转！彩票是你的，如果是我的，那么我首先，当然啦，花上二万五买下一份类似庄园的不动产；花一万用于一次性开销：添置新家具，再外出旅游，还债等等。余下的四万五全存进银行吃利息……”“对，买座庄园，这是好主意，”妻子说，索性坐下来，把双手放在膝上。
　　Pictures came up in Ivan Dmitritch’s imagination, each more gracious and poetical 8 than the last. And in all these pictures he saw himself well-fed, serene 9, healthy, felt warm, even hot! He dozed 10 sweetly, thinking of nothing, and feeling all over that he need not go to the office today, tomorrow, or the day after. "Yes, it would be nice to buy an estate," said his wife, also dreaming, and from her face it was evident that she was also enchanted 11 by her thoughts.
　　于是他开始浮想连翩，那画面一幅比一幅更诱人，更富于诗意。在所有这些画面中，他发现自己都大腹便便，心平气和，身强力壮，他感到温暖，甚至嫌热了。他舒舒服服地打着盹，万事不想，整个身心都感觉到，不管今天、明天，还是后天，他都不必去上班。“对，买上一座庄园就好，”妻子说，她也在幻想着，看她的脸色可知，她想得都痴迷了。
　　Ivan Dmitritch stopped daydreaming 12 and looked at his wife. "I should go abroad, you know, Masha," he said. And he began thinking how nice it would be in late autumn to go abroad somewhere to the South of France ... to Italy ... to India! "I should certainly go abroad too," his wife said. "But look at the number of the ticket!" "Wait, wait! ..."
　　伊凡·德米特里奇收住脚，望着妻子。“我，你知道，玛莎，想出国旅行去，”他说，于是他开始构想：深秋出国，去法国南部，意大利，或者印度，那该多好啊！“那我也得出国，”妻子说，“行了，你快看看票号吧！”“别忙！再等一等……”
　　He walked about the room and went on thinking. It occurred to him: what if his wife really did go abroad with him? It is more pleasant to travel alone... Ivan Dmitritch imagined his wife in the train with a multitude of parcels, baskets, and bags; she would be sighing over something, complaining that the train made her head ache, that she had spent so much money.... At the stations he would continually be having to run for boiling water, bread and butter... He thought to himself: "What is the use of her going abroad? What does she want there? She would shut herself up in the hotel, and not let me out of her sight...I know!"
　　他又在房间里踱来踱去，继续暗自思量。脑子里突然冒出一个念头：如果妻子当真也要出国，那可怎么办？一个人出国旅游那才惬意；伊凡·德米特里奇想象着：妻子带着无数包裹和提篮进了车厢；她为什么事老是长吁短叹，抱怨一路上累得她头疼，抱怨出门一趟花去了许多钱；每到一个停车站就得跑下去弄开水，买夹肉面包和矿泉水……他暗自思量着，再说她何必出国？她在那边能见什么世面？准会在旅馆里歇着，也不放我离开她一步……我知道！”
　　And for the first time in his life his mind dwelt on the fact that his wife had grown elderly and plain, and that she was saturated 13 through and through with the smell of cooking, while he was still young, fresh, and healthy, and might well have got married again. His wife's face, too, struck him as repulsive 14 and hateful. Anger surged up in his heart against her, and he thought malignantly 15: "She knows nothing about money, and so she is stingy. If she won it she would give me a hundred roubles, and put the rest away under lock and key."
　　于是他平生第一次注意到，他的妻子老了，丑了，浑身上下有一股子厨房里的油烟味。而他却还年轻、健康、精力充沛，哪怕再结一次婚也不成问题。此刻他连妻子也感到面目可憎，令人讨厌。他对她窝了一肚子火，于是他幸灾乐祸地想道：“钱的事她一窍不通，所以才那么吝啬。她要是真中了彩，顶多给我一百卢布，其余的--全都锁起来。”
　　And he looked at his wife, not with a smile now, but with hatred 16. She glanced at him too, and also with hatred and anger. She had her own daydreams 17, her own plans, her own reflections; she understood perfectly 18 well what her husband's dreams were. She knew who would be the first to try to grab her winnings.
　　这时他已经没了笑容，而是怀着憎恨望着妻子。她也抬眼看他，同样怀着憎恨和气愤。她有着自己的七彩梦幻，自己的计划和自己的主意；她十分清楚，她的丈夫梦想着什么。她知道，谁会第一个伸出爪子来夺她的彩金。
　　Her husband understood her look; hatred was stirring in his breast, and in order to annoy his wife he glanced quickly at the fourth page on the newspaper and read out triumphantly 19: "Series 9,499, number 46! Not 26!"
　　丈夫明白她的眼神，憎恨在他胸中翻滚。他要气一气他的妻子，故意跟她作对，飞快瞧一眼第四版报纸，得意洋洋地大声宣告：“9499组，46号！不是26号！”
　　（希望与憎恨二者顿时消失，伊凡·德米特里奇和他的妻子立刻感到：他们的住房那么阴暗、窄小、低矮，他们刚吃过的晚饭没有填饱肚子，腹部很不舒服；而秋夜漫长，令人烦闷……“鬼知道怎么回事，”伊凡·德米特里奇说，开始耍起性子，“不管你踩哪儿，脚底下尽是纸片，面包渣，爪果壳。屋子里从来不打扫！弄得人只想离家逃走，真见鬼！我这就走，碰到第一棵杨树就上吊。”