小小说选译 | 《尝试改革》（1）

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春节临近，愉快的假期即将到来。每到此时，是否有人会隐隐感受到催婚、催生所带来的焦虑？这样的烦恼西方的年轻人是否也有过？最近两期为大家分享一篇小小说——《尝试改革》，从这篇小小说里我们可以一窥一百多年前他们的生活方式和心态。

作者奥古斯特·斯特林堡（1849—1912），是瑞典现代文学的奠基人。他13岁丧母，后受继母虐待，成年后又有过三次婚姻挫折。所以他成为了反叛者和批判者，可是他在书中却竭力反对妇女个性解放。他在世界文坛享有盛誉，一生创作了60多部剧本，所写小说数量也多。

An Attempt at Reform (1)

August Strindberg

尝试改革（1）

〔瑞典〕奥古斯特•斯特林堡

She had noticed with indignation that girls were solely brought up to be housekeepers for their future husbands. Therefore she had learned a trade which would enable her to keep herself in all circumstances of life. She made artificial flowers.

她看到女孩子都白养，长大了只能给丈夫当管家，很不服气。所以，她学会了一门本领，将来生活无论怎样变化都能自立：她会扎花。

He had noticed with regret that girls simply waited for a husband who should keep them; he resolved to marry a free and independent woman who could earn her own living; such a woman would be his equal and a companion for life, not a housekeeper.

他看到女孩子就等着嫁一个供养她的丈夫，觉得可惜，决心娶一个能自食其力、不依附于丈夫的自由独立的女人；这个女人与他处在平等地位，是终身伴侣，不是管家。

Fate ordained that they should meet. He was an artist and she made, as I already mentioned, flowers; they were both living in Paris at the time when they conceived these ideas.

命运注定了他们要相逢。他是一位画家，而她又如我前面所说，会扎花。他们抱着相同的想法时同住在巴黎。

There was style in their marriage. They took three rooms at Passy. In the centre was the studio, to the right of it his room, to the left hers. This did away with the common bedroom and double bed, that abomination which has no counterpart in nature and is responsible for a great deal of dissipation and immorality. It moreover did away with the inconvenience of having to dress and undress in the same room. It was far better that each of them should have a separate room and that the studio should be a neutral, common meeting-place.

他们的夫妻生活有独特之处。他们在帕西租了三间房，当中一间作为工作室，右边是他的房间，左边属于她。这一来就没有了两人合用的卧室和双人床，断了祸根；要说祸根，这些东西可算是首屈一指的，许许多多寻欢作乐、乌七八糟的事都与它们密切相关。另外，穿衣脱衣不在同一间房，省得大家不方便。他们的办法好得多，一人一间房，工作画室共用，相见就在这儿。

They required no servant; they were going to do the cooking themselves and employ an old charwoman in the mornings and evenings. It was all very well thought out and excellent in theory.

他们不用仆人，饭菜自己烧，只在早晚请一个上了年纪的女人干杂活。一切都想得周到，满有道理。

“But supposing you had children?” asked the sceptics.

“Nonsense, there won't be any!”

“你们有了孩子怎么办呢？”持怀疑态度的人问。

“哪儿的话，绝不会有！”

It worked splendidly. He went to the market in the morning and did the catering. Then he made the coffee. She made the beds and put the rooms in order. And then they sat down and worked.

事情进行得顺利。他上午上市场，操办吃的，然后烧咖啡； 她铺床，整理房间。然后两人坐下工作。

When they were tired of working they gossiped, gave one another good advice, laughed and were very jolly.

干累了，他们就谈天，互相帮着出主意，常常大笑，开心得很。

At twelve o'clock he lit the kitchen fire and she prepared the vegetables. He cooked the beef, while she ran across the street to the grocer's; then she laid the table and he dished up the dinner.

到12点钟，他生炉子，她洗菜、切菜；他烧牛肉时，她赶到街对过的杂货店买东西；摆桌子是她的事，端菜是他的事。

Of course, they loved one another as husbands and wives do. They said good night to each other and went into their own rooms, but there was no lock to keep him out when he knocked at her door; but the accommodation was small and the morning found them in their own quarters. Then he knocked at the wall.

“Good morning, little girlie, how are you today?”

“Very well, darling, and you?”

当然，他们仍然像夫妻一样恩爱。晚上互道晚安后各回自己的房间睡，只是如果他敲她的门，并不会被锁在门外。但这种情况很少，每到早上，他们总是各守本土。醒过来后他敲敲墙，问：

“早上好！小宝贝，今天怎么样？”

“很好，亲爱的。你呢？”

Their meeting at breakfast was always like a new experience which never grew stale.

早餐见面每次都像是初会，新鲜得很，从不乏味。

They often went out together in the evening and frequently met their countrymen. She had no objection to the smell of tobacco, and was never in the way. Everybody said it was an ideal marriage; no one had ever known a happier couple.

晚上他们常一道出门，多为拜访同乡。她不反对抽烟，从不干涉。人人都说这是美满姻缘，从没见过哪对夫妻比他们幸福。

But the young wife's parents, who lived a long way off, were always writing and asking all sorts of indelicate questions; they were longing to have a grandchild. Louisa ought to remember that the institution of marriage existed for the benefit of the children, not the parents. Louisa held that this view was an old-fashioned one. Mama asked whether she did not think that the result of the new ideas would be the complete extirpation of mankind? Louisa had never looked at it in that light, and moreover the question did not interest her. Both she and her husband were happy; at last the spectacle of a happy married couple was presented to the world, and the world was envious.

但新娘的父母着了急，又隔得远，只能写信，每次离不了问些不文雅的事。他们是等着抱外孙，说女儿路易莎该记住结婚是为了生孩子，不是为了自己快活。路易莎认为这是老观念。做母亲的问她有没有想到新观念的后果是人类会绝子灭孙，路易莎不这么认为，而且她对这个问题根本不感兴趣。她和丈夫都心满意足。久而久之，世人都看到这一对美满幸福的夫妇，羡慕得很。

（未完待续）

以上内容摘自《世界名作家小小说选译》，图片来自网络。

经典小说，名家翻译

本书精选并翻译了薄伽丘、马克·吐温、霍桑、哈代、莫泊桑、毛姆、契诃夫等世界名作家的38篇小小说，书后还附有简短的作家简介。这些作品题材广泛，风格各异，构思精巧，想象丰富，故事妙趣横生，具有很强的可读性。译文语言生动流畅，力求保持原作风味，可为读者理解欣赏英语原作和学习文学翻译提供参考与帮助。

译者张经浩，湖南长沙人。1993年获教授职称。先后任教于江西师范大学、湖南师范大学、上海理工大学。2017年获香港翻译学会“荣誉会士”衔。译有《欧·亨利短篇小说全集》《简·爱》《查泰莱夫人的情入》等文学名著，著有《译论》《高清当代英语语法》等。45家出版社曾出版过其作品。

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