小小说选译 | 《尝试改革》（2）

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An Attempt at Reform (2)

August Strindberg

尝试改革（2）

〔瑞典〕奥古斯特•斯特林堡

Life was very pleasant. Neither of them was master and they shared expenses. Now he earned more, now she did, but in the end their contributions to the common fund amounted to the same figure.

生活是愉快的。他们谁也不主宰谁，开销两人共同负担。有时候他挣得多，有时候是她，但两人对共同积蓄的贡献最终相等。

Then she had a birthday! She was awakened in the morning by the entrance of the charwoman with a bunch of flowers and a letter painted all over with flowers, and containing the following words:

“To the lady flower-bud from her dauber, who wishes her many happy returns of the day and begs her to honor him with her company at an excellent little breakfast—at once.”

She knocked at his door—come in!

转眼到了她的生日。早上醒来时她见干杂活的女人进来了，捧着一束花，拿着一封信，信上画满了花，还写着：

“献给花蕾般的爱妻，谨祝生日愉快，并请共进早餐——速来！”

她敲敲他的门。“请进！”他说。

And they breakfasted, sitting on the bed—his bed; and the charwoman was kept the whole day to do all the work. It was a lovely birthday!

他们坐在床上吃早饭，是他的床！干零活的女人留了一整天，包揽了所有的活计。真是个快乐的生日！

Their happiness never palled. It lasted two years. All the prophets had prophesied falsely.

It was a model marriage!

他们的幸福有增无减，就这样过了两年，那些预言家的预言全错了。

好一对模范夫妻！

But when two years had passed, the young wife fell ill. She put it down to some poison contained in the wall-paper; he suggested germs of some sort. Yes, certainly germs. But something was wrong. Something was not as it should be. She must have caught cold. Then she grew stout. Was she suffering from tumour? Yes, they were afraid that she was.

但两年过去后，妻子病了。她认为是中了墙纸的毒，他说是有细菌感染。对了，一定是细菌作怪。然而，出了反常的事。有些现象是不该有的。她一定是患了感冒。后来，她的身体变大了。难道她长了肿瘤吗？的确，他们担心是肿瘤。

She consulted a doctor—and came home crying. It was indeed a growth, but one which would one day see daylight, grow into a flower and bear fruit.

她找了医生，回家时哭哭啼啼。当真她身体里长了东西，然而是一个有一天会见到阳光、会开花结果的东西。

The husband did anything but cry. He found style in it, and then the wretch went to his club and boasted about it to his friends. But the wife still wept. What would her position be now? She would soon not be able to earn money with her work and then she would have to live on him. And they would have to have a servant! Ugh! those servants!

丈夫可没有哭。他觉到这事新鲜，这家伙到他的俱乐部向朋友说了开来。妻子一个劲儿地哭。她的处境现在会怎样变呢？很快，她不能干活挣钱了，以后便只能靠他养活。他们还得请佣人！哎唷唷！那帮佣人！

All their care, their caution, their wariness had been wrecked on the rock of the inevitable.

But the mother-in-law wrote enthusiastic letters and repeated over and over again that marriage was instituted by God for the protection of the children; the parents’ pleasure counted for very little.

他们用心良苦，最后遇上不可避免的事，气力全白费了。

但丈母娘的来信封封充满热情，还一再说，上帝注定结婚是为了生儿育女，至于父母乐不乐意，那是小事一粧。

Hugo implored her to forget the fact that she would not be able to earn anything in future. Didn't she do her full share of the work by mothering the baby? Wasn’t that as good as money? Money was, rightly understood, nothing but work. Therefore she paid her share in full.

丈夫雨果求妻子别再想以后不能挣钱的事。她养育孩子，不就是尽了她的全部本分吗？不就等于挣了钱吗？挣钱的正确理解不就是工作吗？所以，她就等于尽了自己的义务。

It took her a long time to get over the fact that he had to keep her. But when the baby came, she forgot all about it. She remained his wife and companion as before in addition to being the mother of his child, and he found that this was worth more than anything else.

她怎么也想不通，为什么她非靠他供养不可。但孩子生下以后，她把一切忘得干干净净。她与以前一样，仍是他的妻子、伴侣，不同的是又成了他的孩子的母亲，而他觉得最可贵的正是这一点。

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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