The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen
视若无睹
Graham Greene
格雷厄姆·格林
There were eight Japanese gentlemen having a fish dinner at Bentley's. They spoke to each other rarely in their incomprehensible tongue, but always with a courteous smile and often with a small bow. All but one of them wore glasses. Sometimes the pretty girl who sat in the window beyond gave them a passing glance, but her own problem seemed too serious for her to pay real attention to anyone in the world except herself and her companion.
本特利餐厅里八个日本男人正在享用他们的鱼。他们偶尔用一种难以理解的语言相互交谈;但他们一直谦恭有礼,面带微笑,还时不时地微微鞠躬。他们中只有一人没戴眼镜。离他们不远处,靠窗坐着位漂亮女孩,她朝他们看了一眼;但她似乎已有更重要的事,而没有心思去理会除自己和同伴以外的人。
She had thin blonde hair and her face was pretty and petite in a Regency way, oval like a miniature, though she had a harsh way of speaking—perhaps the accent of the school, Roedean or Cheltenham Ladies' College, which she had not long ago left. She wore a man's signet-ring on her engagement finger, and as I sat down at my table, with the Japanese gentlemen between us, she said, "So you see we could marry next week."
女孩有着一头金黄的秀发,不是很浓密;瓜子脸精致小巧,漂亮可人,浑然一帧袖珍肖像。不过她说起话来却粗声粗气,这可能是在学校时养成的腔调——也许她不久前刚从罗丁或切尔滕纳姆女子学院毕业。她的中指上戴着一枚男式图案戒指。我在自己的桌子旁坐了下来,中间隔着那八个日本男人。这时只听她说道:“那下个星期我们就要结婚了。”
Yes?
“啊?”
Her companion appeared a little distraught. He refilled their glasses with Chablis and said, "Of course, but Mother..." I missed some of the conversation then, because the eldest Japanese gentleman leant across the table, with a smile and a little bow, and uttered a whole paragraph like the mutter from an aviary, while everyone bent towards him and smiled and listened, and I couldn't help attending to him myself.
她的同伴看着显得有些心神恍惚。他又把酒杯倒满了沙布利酒,说:“当然了,只是妈妈她……”后面的谈话我没有听清楚。那个最年长的日本男人向前探了探身子,面带笑意,微微鞠了一躬,说了一大段话,声音很小,就像鸟舍传来的鸟的低鸣声。其他几个日本人都探着身子迎向他,面带笑容倾听着。于是我也不由主地倾听起来。
The girl's fiance resembled her physically. I could see them as two miniatures hanging side by side on white wood panels.
女孩和她的未婚夫很有夫妻相。我可以想象他俩就像两幅微型画似的并排挂在白木壁板上。