張培基英譯中國現代散文選(一) 之《當 鋪》

當 鋪 
 ——蕭紅 
   “你去當吧！你去當吧，我不去！” 
   “好，我去，我就愿意進當鋪(1)，進當鋪我一點也不怕，理直氣壯。” 
    新做起來的我的棉袍，一次還沒有穿，就跟著我進當鋪去了！在當鋪門口稍微徘徊了一下，想起出門時郎華要的價目(2)——非兩元不當。 
    包袱送到柜臺上，我是仰著臉，伸著腰，用腳尖站起來送上去的，真不曉得當鋪為什么擺起這么高的柜臺(3)！ 
    那戴帽頭的人翻著衣裳看，還不等他問，我就說了： 
   “兩塊錢。” 
    他一定覺得我太不合理，不然怎么連看我一眼也沒看，就把東西卷起來，他把包袱仿佛要丟在我的頭上， 他十分不耐煩的樣子(4)。 
   “兩塊錢不行，那么，多少錢呢？” 
   “多少錢不要。”他搖搖像長西瓜形的腦袋，小帽頭頂尖的紅帽球，也跟著搖了搖。 
    我伸手去接包袱，我一點也不怕，我理直氣壯，我明明知道他故意作難(5)， 正想把包袱接過來就走。猜得對對的，他并不把包袱真給我(6)。 
   “五毛錢！這件衣服袖子太瘦，賣不出錢來……” 
   “不當。”我說。 
   “那么一塊錢，……再可不能多了，就是這個數目。”他把腰微微向后彎一點，柜臺太高，看不出他突出的肚囊……一只大手指，就比在和他太陽穴一般高低的地方。 
    帶著一元票子和一張當票，我怏怏地走，走起路來感到很爽快，默認自己是很有錢的人。菜市，米店我都去過，臂上抱了很多東西，感到非常愿意抱這些東西，手凍得很痛，覺得這是應該， 對于手一點也不感到可惜，本來手就應該給我服務，好像凍掉了也不可惜。路旁遇見一個老叫花子，又停下來給他一個大銅板，我想我有飯吃，他也是應該吃啊！然而沒有多給，只給一個大銅板，那些我自己還要用呢(7)！又摸一摸當票也沒有丟，這才重新走，手痛得什么心思也沒有了，快到家吧！快到家吧。但是，背上流了汗，腿覺得很軟，眼睛有些剌痛(8)，走到大門口，才想起來從搬家還沒有出過一次街，走路腿也無力，太陽光也怕起來。 
    又摸一摸當票才走進院子去。郎華仍躺在床上，和我出來的時候一樣，他還不習慣于進當鋪。他是在想什么。拿包子給他看，他跳起來了： 
   “我都餓啦，等你也不回來。” 
    十個包子吃去一大半，他才細問：“當多少錢？當鋪沒欺負你？” 
    把當票給他，他瞧著那樣少的數目： 
   “才一元，太少。” 
    雖然說當得的錢少，可是又愿意吃包子，那么結果很滿足(9)。他在吃包子的嘴(10)，看起來比包子還大， 一個跟著一個，包子消失盡了。

注釋： 
《當鋪》反映了1932到1934年她與蕭軍在哈爾濱生活的艱苦的日子。 
(1)“我就愿意進當鋪”譯為I wouldn’t mind，所采用的是正反表達法，把原文從正面表達的句子，在譯文中從反面來表達，以便提高譯文的效果。 
(2)“要的價目”譯為the asking price，為英語常用語，是從to ask a price轉過來的。 
(3)“這么高的柜臺”譯為a counter so forbiddingly high，其中forbiddingly作“令人生畏”或“難以接近”（unfriendly或unapproachable）解，原文雖無其詞但有其意。 
(4)“十分不耐煩的樣子”譯為Impatience was written all over his face，其中to be written all over (或on)作“顯露”解。為英語慣用表達法。 
(5)“他故意作難”譯為he was out to make difficult for me，其中to be out to do（或for）something作“企圖”（to intend或want）解，是英語慣用表達法。 
(6)“他親不把包袱真給我”譯為he simply wouldn’t let go of it，其中let go of是英語習語，作“放手”（to stop holding）解。 
(7)“然而沒有多給……那些我自己的還要用呢！”譯為But I couldn’t afford to give him more, for I needed the rest of the money to keep my own body and soul together!，其中to keep my own body and soul together作“勉強維持生活”（just to make both ends meet）解，是譯文中的添加成分，原文雖無其詞而有其意。 
(8)“背上流了汗，腿覺得很軟，眼睛有些刺痛”譯為My back sweated, my legs felt like jelly, my eyes stung，三句并列，都用不及物動詞，并采用連詞省略法（asyndeton），有助于提高譯文的表達效果。 
(9)“那么結果很滿足”譯為so that all’s well that ended well，其中all’s well that ends well是英語諺語，作“有了好結果就行了”（It is the end that matters）解。 
(10)“嘴”譯為cavernous mouth，其中cavernous是為襯托原意而添加的成分，作“大而深”（very large and deep）解。

The Pawnshop 
          ——Xiao Hong 
    “You go and do the pawning! You go, but not me!” 
    “Ok, I go. I wouldn’t mind. I’m not afraid at all. I don’t see anything wrong about it.” 
     Thus, my newly-made cotton-padded gown, which had not been worn even once, accompanied me to the pawnshop. At the door of the pawnshop I hesitated for a while, recalling the asking price suggested by Lang Hua when I left home—“Nothing less than two Yuan.” 
     I stood on tiptoe, face upward and back straightened, to hand the cloth-wrapped bundle onto the counter. How strange the pawnbroker should have put up a counter so forbiddingly high! 
     A man in a skullcap turned the gown over and over to examine it. Before he could open his mouth, I said, “Two Yuan.” 
     He must have thought me too unreasonable, for he rolled up the gown without even taking a look at me. Impatience was written all over his face as if he were about to throw the bundle onto my head. 
    “If two yuan won’t do, then how much?” 
    “We won’t take it for anything,” said he, shaking his longish watermelon-shaped head, the decorative red bead on top of his skullcap swaying. 
     I was aware that he was out to make things difficult for me. Therefore, bold and confident, I reached out my hand for the bundle. But, just as I had been doubly sure, he simply wouldn’t let go of it. 
    “Fifty cents! The sleeves are too tight. The gown won’t fetch much…” 
    “I won’t pawn it,” said I. 
    “Well, how about one yuan?...Can’t give you any more. That’s final.” He leaned back a little bit, his bulging paunch concealed behind the high counter…Meanwhile, to signal “one yuan”, he gestured with a finger raised as high as his temples. 
     Armed with a one-dollar note and a pawn ticket, I, unhappy as I was, walked with a light step and felt like one of the rich. I visited the food market and the grain shop. I did not tire of carrying an armful of purchases. My hands ached with cold, but this was as it should be. I felt no pity for them. It was their bounden duty to wait on me—even at the cost of suffering frostbite. I also bought ten steamed stuffed buns at a pastry shop. I was proud of my shopping. Again and again I felt so thrilled that I completely forgot all the pain in my frostbitten hands. When I saw an old beggar by the roadside, I stopped to give him a copper coin. Why, if I had food to eat, he certainly had no reason to go hungry! But I couldn’t afford to give him more, for I needed the rest of the money for keeping my own body and soul together! Before I walked on again, I put my hand on the pawn ticket in my pocket to make sure that it was still there. By then, the pain in my hands had become the only thing I was conscious of. So I was anxious to be home again. My back sweated, my legs felt like jelly, my eyes stung. At the gate of my home, it suddenly occurred to me that this was the first time I had ever been out to town since I moved here and that accounted for my legs feeling so weak and my eyes being so shy of light. 
     On entering the courtyard, I touched the pawn ticket again. Lang Hua was still lying on the bed with the same aversion to a pawnshop. I wonder what was now in his mind. The moment I produced the buns, he jumped up from his bed, 
    “I’m so hungry. I’ve been long waiting for you to come back.” 
     It was not until he had gulped down more than half of the buns that he began to question me closely, “How much did you pawn it for? Did they cheat you?” 
     I showed him the pawn ticket and he eyed the pitifully small sum scratched on it. 
    “Only one Yuan? Too little!” 
     True, the money was too little, but the buns were good to eat, so that all’s well that ended well. One after another vanished the buns into his cavernous mouths—a mouth that looked even bigger than a bun.