2010-06-17 22:45:00 来自: (抑郁症)

Cat in the Rain 雨中的猫
-------- Ernest Hemingway


There were only two Americans stopping at the hotel. They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room. Their room was on the second floor facing the sea. It also faced the public garden and the war monument. There were big palms and green benches in the public garden. In the good weather there was always an artist with his easel. Artists liked the way the palms grew and the bright colors of the hotels facing the gardens and the sea. Italians came from a long way off to look up at the war monument. It was made of bronze and glistened in the rain. It was raining. The rain dripped from the palm trees. Water stood in pools on the gravel paths. The sea broke in a long line in the rain and slipped back down the beach to come up and break again in a long line in the rain. The motor cars were gone from the square by the war monument. Across the square in the doorway of the cafe a waiter stood looking out at the empty square.


呆在旅馆里的只有两个美国人。他们进出房间时，在楼梯上碰见的人，一个也不认识。他们的房间在二楼，面对着海，也面对着公园和战争纪念碑。公园里有棕榈树和绿长凳。天好时总有个艺术家带着画架来。艺术家们喜欢棕榈树的长势和面向公园与海的旅馆的明快的色彩。意大利人老远地跑来看那战争纪念碑。碑是用铜做的，在雨中闪闪发亮。天正下着雨。雨水从棕榈树上滴下来。砾石路上积水成池。海水在雨中突然变成一条长线，从沙滩下去又涌上来，在雨中又化成一条长线。汽车从战争纪念碑边上的广场开过去广场对面的咖啡店门口站着一个侍者，他正望着外面空荡荡的广场。


The American wife stood at the window looking out. Outside right under their window a cat was crouched under one of the dripping green tables. The cat was trying to make herself so compact that she would not be dripped on. 　　
'I'm going down and get that kitty,' the American wife said. 'I'll do it,' her husband offered from the bed

No, I'll get it. The poor kitty out trying to keep dry under a table.

The husband went on reading, lying propped up with the two pillows at the foot of the bed. 　　


美国人的妻子站在窗口向外看。他们窗口下面刚好有一只猫蜷伏在一张滴水的绿桌子底下，尽力把自己围的严摊实实的，好不给雨淋着。

“我要下去抓那只小猫”美国人的妻子说。

“我去”她丈夫在床上说。

“不，我去。可怜的小猫想在桌子底下躲雨呢。”

她丈夫继续躺着看书，用两个枕头在床头撑着。


'Don't get wet,' he said.
The wife went downstairs and the hotel owner stood up and bowed to her as she passed the office. His desk was at the far end of the office. He was an old man and very tall.
'Il piove,' the wife said. She liked the hotel-keeper.
'Si, si, Signora, brutto tempo. It is very bad weather.'
“别淋湿了。”

他妻子下楼去。她走过柜台时，旅馆的老板向她点头哈腰。他的办公桌在柜台远远的一边，他是个老头，个子挺高。

“下雨了！”美国人的妻子说。她喜欢旅馆的老板。
“是的，是的，太太。天气太坏了，太坏了。”


He stood behind his desk in the far end of the dim room. The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being a hotel- keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands. 　

他站在那阴暗的房间里远远的一边的办公桌后面。美国人的妻子喜欢他.她喜欢他那种任劳任怨的死板的严肃态度。她喜欢他举止端庄。她喜欢他那乐于为她效劳的模样。她喜欢他那当老板的自以为是的神态。她喜欢他那苍老而厚实的脸孔和一双大手。

Liking him she opened the door and looked out. It was raining harder. A man in a rubber cape was crossing the empty square to the cafe. The cat would be around to the right. Perhaps she could go along under the eaves. As she behind her. It was the maid who looked after their room.


她和他一样开门往外看，雨下得更大了。一个穿着橡胶披风的男人正穿过空荡荡的广场到咖啡店去。猫绕到了右边。也许她能沿着屋檐下面走过去.当她站在门口时，有人从后面给她打开了一把伞。这是照料他们房间的女侍者。

'You must not get wet,' she smiled, speaking Italian. Of course, the hotel-keeper had sent her.


With the maid holding the umbrella over her, she walked along the gravel path until she was under their window. The table was there, washed bright green in the rain, but the cat was gone. She was suddenly disappointed. The maid looked up at her.

'Ha perduto qualque cosa, Signora?'
'There was a cat,' said the American girl.
'A cat?'
'Si, il gatto.'

'A cat?' the maid laughed. 'A cat in the rain?'
'Yea,' she said, 'under the table.' Then, 'Oh, I wanted it so much. I wanted a kitty.'

When she talked English the maid's face tightened. 'Come, Signora,' she said. "We must get back inside. You will be wet.'
'I suppose so,' said the American girl.

They went back along the gravel path and passed in the door. The maid stayed outside to close the umbrella.

“您千万别搞潮了。”她微笑着，讲的是意大利语。不用说，是老板派她来的。
女侍者给她打着伞，她沿着砾石路走到他们窗子下面。桌子在那里给雨水冲洗得绿闪闪的，可是猫不见了。她突然很失望。女侍者望着她。
“找什么，太太？”

“刚才有只猫。”美国妇女说。
“猫？”

“是的，它跑了。”

“猫？”女侍者笑了，“雨中的猫？”
“不错。”她说，“在桌子底下。”有说：“啊，我太想要它了。我要只小猫。”
她说英语时，女侍者绷着脸。

“来吧，太太”她说：“我们该进去了，否则你要淋湿的。”

“我想也是”，美国妇女说。
她们顺着砾石路往回走，进了门，女侍者在门外合了伞。

As the American girl passed the office, the padrone bowed from his desk. Something felt very small and tight inside the girl. The padrone made her feel very small and at the same time really important. She had a momentary feeling of being of supreme importance. She went on up the stairs. She opened the door of the room. George was on the bed, reading.


美国妇女走过柜台时，老板从办公桌后面向她点头哈腰，她内心感到这是小事，也是麻烦事。老板使她觉得这事虽小，却也是挺要紧的。她一时感到这太重要了。她走上楼梯，开了放门。乔治正在床上看书。


'Did you get the cat?' he asked, putting the book down. 'It was gone.'
"Wonder where it went to,' he said, resting his eyes from reading. She sat down on the bed.'I wanted it so much,' she said. 'I don't know why I wanted it so much. I wanted that poor kitty. It isn't any fun to be a poor kitty out in the rain.'
George was reading again.

“抓到猫了吗？”他放下书问。

“跑了。”
“奇怪，往哪儿跑了？”他目光从书上移开说。
她坐在床上。

“我太想要它了，”她说，“我搞不清干吗这么想要它。我要那只可怜的小猫。让一只可怜的小猫在雨中淋着可不是好玩的。”

乔治又在看书。


She went over and sat in front of the mirror of the dressing table looking at herself with the handglass. She studied her profile, first one side and then the other. Then she studied the back of her head and her neck.
'Don't you think it would be a good idea if I let my hair grow out?' she asked, looking at her profile again. 　　George looked up and saw the back of her neck clipped close like a boy's.
'I like it the way it is.'
'I get so tired of it,' she said. 'I get so tired of looking like a boy.'
George shifted his position in the bed. He hadn't looked away from her since she stared to speak.

'You look pretty darn nice,' he said.

She laid the mirror down on the dresser and went over to the window and looked out. It was getting dark.
'I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel,' she said. ' I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I stroke her.'


她走过去，坐在梳妆台前面，用手镜照着自己，端详着侧面。先看一边,再看一边，然后细看头部和脖子后面。
“要是让头发长出来，你说好不好？”她问他，又看着侧面。

乔治抬起头来，看见她脖子后面剪得短短的象个男孩。
“我喜欢这个样。”
“这个样！我可烦死了。”她说，“象个男孩，我可烦死了。”
乔治在床上挪挪位置。她开始讲话以来，他目光一直不离她。

“你看起来美极了。”他说。
她把镜子放在梳妆台上，走到窗口往外看。天渐渐黑了。

“我要把头发往后梳，又紧又滑，在后面打个大结子，我能感觉到。”她说，“我要只猫坐在我怀里，我摸摸它，它就呜呜的叫。”

'Yeah?' George said from the bed.
'And I want to eat at a table with my own silver and I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to brush my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes.'

0'Oh, shut up and get something to read,' George said. He was reading again.

“是吗？”乔治在床头版头上说。
“我要用自己的银器吃饭，我要蜡烛，我要把它点燃，我要在镜子前面捋头发，我要一只小猫，我要几件新衣裳。”
“噢，别说了！找点书看看吧。”乔治说，他又在看书。


His wife was looking out of the window. It was quite dark now and still raining in the palm trees.

'Anyway, I want a cat,' she said, 'I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any fun I can have a cat.'
George was not listening. He was reading his book. His wife looked out of the window where the light had come on in the square.

Someone knocked at the door. 　　

他的妻子正望着窗外。天很黑了。雨水仍打在棕榈树上。
“不管怎么说，我要一只猫。”她说，“我要一只猫。现在我要一只猫,如果我不能有有长头发或什么好玩的，我能有只猫也好。”
乔治没听到，他看他的书。他妻子望着窗外。广场上的灯开始亮起来。
有人敲门

'Avanti,' George said. He looked up from his book. 　

　In the doorway stood the maid. She held a big tortoise-shell cat pressed tight against her and swung down against her body.
'Excuse me,' she said, 'the padrone asked me to bring this for the Signora.'


“进来，”乔治说，他放下书本，抬起头来。
门口站着女侍者。她贴身紧抱着一只龟纹的大花猫。猫从她身上跳下来。“对不起，”她说，“老板叫我把这只猫送给太太”