A Hard Day in the Kitchen

厨房里的一场闹剧

shannon Hodge

香农·霍奇

Everything had gone wrong that morning. The chef had arrived late, nursing a hangover, and the kitchen hadn't been cleaned properly the night before, which put him in a worse mood.

那天早晨，一切事情都不对劲。厨师来晚了，昨晚喝多了，还没缓和过来，同时，本该及时收拾干净的厨房还是一团糟，使得他心情更糟。

The boss, having attended the same party, was in a similar state. He was holding his head and trying to do the accounts at the same time. Enclosed in his little glass-fronted office，Caroline could see his face growing more puce by the moment. He was just reaching for his first sherry.

同他一起出席聚会的老板也是一样，昏昏沉沉的。他用手托着脑袋试图要结账. 卡若琳坐在由玻璃窗围着的办公室里，看着他的脸变得更紫了。他在仲手拿第一瓶雪利洒。

Running backwards and forwards between the kitchen and the dining room, Caroline had no time to think for a while.

卡若琳在后厨和前厅之间忙碌着，无暇思索。

When shefd first managed to get the waitressing job in the restaurant, she was delighted, for she was at her first year at university and jobs were scarce. She sighed. She'd wondered at the time at her ease in getting employment. It now appeared that her boss’ reputation had preceded him, and no one else had applied. However, she had no time to think of that now. A portly blue-eyed man was giving her furious looks as he waited for his order. Damn! What was it again? She had been caught up with the

fussy woman who had been so particular about how her steak was cooked. In fact, the offending meal had been sent back to the kitchen twice. It was, the woman complained, too well done---she liked her steak “blue”. Yuk! thought Caroline. Give me a well-done piece of steak every time. The man continued to glower at her while he watched the gray-haired lady's antics.

当卡若琳首次得到餐厅服务员工作的时候，她非常高兴，因为那时她仅是一名大一学生，对于大一的学生来说，工作是很难找的。她又叹了口气，她在想当时怎 么就那么容易得到这份工作，现在算是明白了，她的老板声名在外，没人来他这应聘.但是，她现在没时间考虑那么多了。一个胖胖的蓝眼睛的男子正怒视着她好像在抱怨没及时给他点餐。该死，这回又是什么？她又被那个挑剔的女人纠缠上了，那个女人对她烹饪的牛排总是挑三拣四的。事实上，这份让客人恼火的菜己经反厨两次了。那个女人抱怨说这牛排太过火了，她喜欢五分熟的牛排。卡若琳想切，要是我吃，每次我都点熟过了的牛排。此时，那个要点餐的男子一边看着那灰白发的女人那古怪样子，一边继续怒视着卡若琳。

Sweetly Caroline went to him and made sure that his order was right. “I wanted，，， he enunciated in ringing tones, “just a moderate grill, French fries，and a well-done steak.” He glared dismissively at the woman at the next table “And a green side salad.” “Right，sir，，，she chirped with a cheer she did not feel. “Coming right up.” With that, she hastily retreated to make sure that Joseph the chef had it right this time.

卡若琳笑意盈盈地来到那个男子桌前并确认一下他点的菜。那个男子简直说给我一份五分熟的烤肉，还有法国炸薯条和一份熟透的牛排他不屑的瞅了那个女人一眼接着又说再加一份蔬菜萨拉” ”好的，先生，”卡若琳轻快的回道马上就给您上菜随即，她匆匆跑回厨房让厨师约瑟夫这次务必做好。

Yes, thank goodness it was ready. Caroline thought the side salad of lettuce with tomato, several slices of hard-boiled egg, cucumber and dressing looked very attractive.

谢天谢地，终于做好了。卡若琳想，这份用西红柿，几片煮鸡蛋，黄瓜和调料搭做出来的蔬菜萨拉实在是太诱人了。

In her haste, she did not see the young man at a comer table casting her sympathetic glances as he waited patiently. Tall and about 25 with tousled black hair and an impish grin, he was watching “the circus” as he mentally dubbed it.

匆忙中，她没注意到坐在角落的那个男子在耐心等待的同时向她投来同情的眼光。他个头挺高，大概25岁左右，一头蓬乱的黑发，一脸顽皮样，他一直注视着这出“杂耍式的服务”，并暗自给他所见的一切起了个绰号。

He could see the pretty young waitress getting more and more frustrated. Poor girl, she looked at the end of her tether. He wondered what he could do to give her a hand and pour oil on troubled waters.

他看到那个漂亮的年轻女服务员越来越沮丧了。“可怜的女孩，她看来已到了走投无路的感觉了。”他在想能做些什么来帮助这个女孩。

But all was not over. The man, Henry Savage, had finished his grill with much enjoyment and now turned to his salad. He poised with his knife and fork in mid-air, his expression a study. A green caterpillar was slowly crawling out from under the lettuce. It was large, fat, and apparently well-fed. It paused in its travels to survey the scene. Purple with fury, Henry could barely find his voice.

但是事还没有完 。那位男子，亨利?萨维奇享受地吃完了烤肉，又转向他的色拉。忽然，他举起刀和叉停在了半空中，带着一种研究的表情看着它。一条绿色蠕虫正慢慢地从生菜下面爬出来。它很大，很肥，显然在里面吃得很好。它在旅途中停了下来以欣赏风景，亨莉气得脸色发紫，几乎无法言语。他生气地叫着：他用颤抖的手指指那条虫说：

“Waitress!” he thundered. “Come here this moment!” He sounded every inch the headmaster he was.

“女服务员！马上来这儿！”显然是一副十足的校长派头。

“What do you call this?” He pointed with a quivering finger at the caterpillar, which decided the world outside was not as copy as hiding behind the lettuce leaf and retreated.

“你说这是什么？”这时，这条虫肯定认为外面世界不如藏在生菜叶子里那么舒服，于是就缩回去了。

Caroline, petrified by the tone of the shout, came into the dining room at a trot.

卡若琳被他那喊叫声惊呆了，马上跑到餐厅里。

By now, the whole room had ground to a halt. The diners were all staring at her, mostly in sympathy.

现在整个房子里都没有任何声音。所有人都用同情的目光看着她。

Henry speechlessly gestured at the salad where the caterpillar, bored by its seclusion, had reappeared."

亨利默默地用手势指着那色拉，在那儿，那条虫又重新出现了。

Caroline blanched. Nervously she tried to speak, but failed, then managed, “Sorry, sir, it’s never happened before, we’ll make you a new one.” Grabbing the salad, she whisked it away into the kitchen. But Henry Savage was not to be deterred. After a shouted opinion of what he thought of the restaurant, he stormed out.

卡罗琳脸色变得苍白，她紧张的想说些什么，但没说出来。后来终于说出：“对不起，先生，这种事以前从来没有发生过。我们替你另做一份。”她端起那碗色拉，快步走着把它端进厨房。但亨利·萨维奇不肯就此罢休。他大喊着发表着餐馆应该是什么样的言论后，就猛地跑了出去。

Caroline, with a hastily prepared new salad in her hands, returned to an empty table. She didn’t know where to put herself with the rest of the customers peering at her. Bursting into tears, she rushed back to the kitchen. “Take that, you stupid man, next time make sure you wash the salad when you’ve got a hangover,” she ground out to the startled chef. “I’ll give you a tossed salad!” she snarled and threw the contents of the bowl over his head.

卡罗琳端着快速做好的新的色拉回到空桌子旁。她不知道自己该怎么办，所有人都盯着她。她哭了，然后跑向厨房。她对受惊吓的厨师尖叫般的大声嚷：“认错吧，你这愚蠢的人，下次你要是再酒后头痛，也得一定把生菜洗干净。”“我给你一份拌好的色拉！”她说着把那碗菜扣到他的头上。

The manager, by now completely sober, appeared. When a hasty explanation was made by one of the more lucid customers, he was remarkably nice about the whole episode. Maybe he had a guilty conscience. Caroline mused, remembering that sometimes he was the one who helped wash the lettuce if the staff were too busy. In any event, the whole incident was quickly smoothed over and everyone’s temper restored.

经理出现了，他现在已经是清醒状态。当一位头脑较机灵的顾客匆忙地向他做了一番解释以后，他非常理智得看待这件事情。也许他良心上也感到有罪恶感。卡罗琳沉思着，想起有时候如果员工们太忙的话，他就是帮助洗生菜的人。无论如何，整个事件很快顺利的发展着，而每个人有恢复了轩澜的情绪。

After Caroline had washed her face, tided herself up and resumed working, the young man beckoned her over. “I watched you handle that,” he said admiringly. “I think you did great. That old man really gave you ‘what for.’ Do you think you could do it all over again for a film I’m producing? It was far better than a custard pie any day, you did it so beautifully!” Here he chuckled. “But you really should have thrown it over the old boy’s head: he was being the unreasonable one.”

罗琳洗完脸后，整理了一下，又重新工作时，那个年轻人向她招手。他赞扬地说：“我看着你处理了这件事。我想你处理得很好。那老人确实给你一个“恶作剧”。你能考虑为我制作的一部影片再重演一遍刚才发生的事吗？无论如何，它比那些奶油派要好得多，你干得真漂亮！”这时他咯咯地笑了起来。“但是你真该把那碗色拉扣到那老家伙的头上，他那时挺不讲理的。”

They looked at each other. Caroline could feel the beginnings of a smile on her face. All of sudden both of them burst out laughing. Maybe it wasn’t going to be such a bad day after all.

他们看了对方一眼，卡罗琳开始感到自己露出了笑脸。突然，他们两人都大笑起来。也许，这并不算很糟糕的一天。

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