The Invisible Janpanese Gentlemen (2)

There were eight Janpense gentlemen having a fish dinner at Bentley‟s.They spoke to each other rarely in their incomprehensible tougue, 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.

八位日本绅士正在本特利餐馆享用鱼餐。他们偶尔用一种让人难以理解的语言相互交谈，并总是报以礼貌的微笑，还不时地微微躬身致意。除一个人外，其他七个人都戴着眼镜。坐在远处窗户边的漂亮姑娘间或扫他们一眼，但她自己的事情似乎太重要了，除了她自己和同伴外，她谁也无暇顾及。

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 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.”

她有着一头并不浓密的金发，好看的鹅蛋脸有着摄政时期流行的那种娇小玲珑的美丽，就像一幅微型画。只是她说话有点刺耳——这也许是她刚毕业离开的罗丁或者是切尔滕纳姆女子学院的口音吧。她左手中指上戴着一枚男式文章戒指。我在一张餐桌旁坐下，和他们之间隔着那8位日本绅士。这时就听她说：“你看，咱们下周就可以结婚了。”

“Yes?”

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 my self

“是吗？”

她的同伴显出些许不安。他往杯子里添了点夏布利酒，说：“当然可以，可我妈 ……”我没听见他们下面的谈话，因为这时餐桌旁最年长的日本绅士微笑着鞠了一躬，欠着身说了老长一段话。他的讲话就像大鸟笼子里传出的叽喳声。其余的人都朝他探着身子，面带笑容听他讲述。我自己也禁不住想听他在说些什么。

The girl’s fiance resembled her physically. I could see them as two miniatures hanging side by side on white wood panels. He should have been a young officer in Nelson‟s navy in the days when a certain weakness and sensitivity were no bar to promotion.

姑娘的未婚夫外表和她很像。我可以想象出他俩像两幅微型画似的并排挂在白木护壁板上。他或许可以成为纳尔逊海军里的一名年轻军官。在纳尔逊那个时代，有些文弱、有些敏感并不会成为晋升的障碍。

She said,”They are giving me an advance of five hundred pounds,and they‟ve sold the paperback rights already.” The hard commercial declaration came as a shock to me; it was a shock too that she was one of my own professsion. She couldn‟t have been more than twenty. She deserverd better of life.

她说：“他们要预付给我500英镑的版税，而且已经把平装本的版权卖掉了。”这么直白的商人口吻令我震惊；我感到震惊还因为她居然是我的同行。她最多不过20岁，应该享受更好的生活。

He said,”But my uncle…”

“You know you don‟t get on with him. This way we shall be quite independent.”

“You will be independent,”he said grudgingly.

10“The wine-trade wouldn‟t really suit you, would it? I spoke to my publisher about you and there‟s a very good chance… if you began with some reading…”

“But I don‟t know a thing about books.”

“I would help you at the start.”

“My mother says that writing is a good crutch…”

Five hundred pounds and half paperback rights is a pretty solid crutch,” she

said.

“This Chablis is good, isn‟t it?

“I daresay.”

她说：“可是我舅舅……”

“你知道你跟他合不来；而且这样的话我们就可以彻底了。”

“你倒是了，”他不大情愿地说。

“葡萄酒生意不一定真的适合你，对吧？我和出版商谈到过你，只要你开始读点书 …… 就有很好的机会 ……”

“可我对书一窍不通啊。”

“开头我先带着你呀。”

“我妈说写作是门不错的副业 ……”

“500英镑和平装本一半的版权——这可是相当可观的副业。”她说。

“这夏布利酒还可以吧？”

“还行。”

I began to change my opinion of him——he had not the Nelson touch. He was doomed to defeat. She came alongside and raked him fore and aft. “ Do you know what Mr.Dwight said?”

“Who’s Dwight?”

“Darling, you don‟t listen, do you? My publisher. He said he hadn‟t read a first novel in the last years which showed such powers of observation.

我对他的看法开始变了——他根本就没有纳尔逊的气质。他是注定了要失败的。她来到他身旁，从头到尾扫视了他一遍。“你知道德怀特先生怎么说吗？” “德怀特是谁啊？”

“亲爱的，你在听吗？他是我的出版商呀。他说，他有10年没有读过观察力如此敏锐的处女作了。”

“That‟s wonderful,” he said sadly, “wonderful.”

“Only he wants me to change the title.”

“Yes?”

“He does’t like The Ever-Rolling Stream. He wants to call it The Chelsea Set.”

“what did you say?”

25“I agreed. I do think that with a first novel one should try to keep one‟s publisher happy. Especially when, really, he‟s going to pay for our marriage, isn‟t he?”

“好，”他黯然道，“好极了。” “只是他希望我把书名改一改。”

“哦？”

“他不喜欢《潺潺的小溪》这个书名。他想改成《切尔西德名流》。”

“你怎么说？”

“我当然同意啦。而且我也认为出版处女作的时候千万不能得罪出版商。更何况咱俩结婚的钱还得要靠他呢，是吧？”

“I see what you mean.” Absent-mindedly, he tirred his Chablis with a fork——perhaps before the engagement he had always bought champagne. The Japanese gentlemen had finished their fish and with very little English but with elaborate courtesy they were ordering from the middle-aged waitress a fresh fruit salad. The girl looked at them, and then she looked against any future based on a first novel called The Chelsea Set. I was on the side of his mother. It was a humiliating thought, but I was probably about her mother‟s age.

“我明白了。”他心不在焉地用叉子搅动着夏布利酒——也许订婚前他都是买香槟的吧。日本绅士们此时已用完鱼餐，正向那位中年女服务员点一道鲜果沙拉，他们的英语说

得很不地道，态度却谦恭有加。姑娘看了他们一眼，又朝我这边看看，但我想，她眼里只有未来。我很想告诫她，不要把未来寄托在第一本叫《切尔西的名流》的小说上。我同意他母亲的观点。这是个令人羞愧的想法，但我可能跟她母亲的年龄差不多。

I wanted to say to her, Are you certain your publisher is telling you the truth? Publishers are human. They may sometimes exaggerate the virtues of the young and the pretty. Will The Chelsea Set be read in five years? Are you prepared for the years of effort, 'the long defeat of doing nothing well'? As the years pass writing will not become any easier, the daily effort will grow harder to endure, those powers of observation will become enfeebled; you will be judged, when you reach your forties, by performance and not by promise.

我想对她说，你确定你的出版商说的是真的吗？出版商是普通人，他们有时可能会夸大年轻人和漂亮女生的优点。《切尔西的名流》能流行五年吗？你准备好进行多年的努力和接受长期一事无成的打击了吗?随着时间的推移，写作并不会变得简单，每天的努力将变得更难忍受，观察力会将变弱。当你40岁的时候，你的表现而非承若将会受到评判。

'My next novel is going to be about St Tropez.

'I didn't know you'd ever been there.'

'I haven't. A fresh eye's terribly important. I thought we might settle down there for six months.'

'There wouldn't be much left of the advance by that time.'

“'我的下一本小说是有关圣特鲁佩斯的。”

“我想你没去过那里。”

“（虽然）我没有去过。但一对充满新鲜感的眼睛是非常必要的。我们可能在那居住6个月。

“到那时预付稿费将会所剩无几了。”

'The advance is only an advance. I get fifteen per cent after five thousand copies and twenty per cent after ten. And of course another advance will be due, darling, when the next book's finished. A bigger one if The Chelsea Set sells well.'

'Suppose it doesn't.'

'Mr Dwight says it will. He ought to know.'

'My uncle would start me at twelve hundred.'

'But, darling, how could you come then to St Tropez?'

'Perhaps we'd do better to marry when you come back. '

She said harshly, 'I mightn't come back if The Chelsea Set sells enough.'

“预付稿费仅仅是预付稿费。销量达5000本后我将得到其中百分之十五的利润，销

量达10000本后我将得到百分之二十。亲爱的，当下一本书完成了，另一笔预付费将会支付给我。如果《切尔西的名流》畅销的话，这笔支付费会更多。”

“假设她不畅销呢。”

“德怀特先生说会的。他应该知道。”

“如果我在我叔叔那工作我第一年的年收入将会有1200英镑。”

“可是，亲爱的，你去了圣特鲁佩斯后会回来吗？'

“或许等你回来再结婚是最好的方法。”

她严肃地说，“如果《切尔西的名流》集销售不好的话，我就可能不回来了。”

'Oh.'

She looked at me and the party of Japanese gentlemen. She finished her wine. She said. 'Is this a quarrel?'

'No.'

'I've got the title for the next book - The Azure Blue.'

'I thought azure was blue.'

She looked at him with disappointment. 'You don't really want to be married to a novelist, do you?'

'You aren't one yet.'

'I was born one - Mr Dwight says. My powers of observation... '

“噢。”

她看了我和那一队日本绅士一眼。

她把酒喝完了，说道：“这是在争吵吗？”

“不是。”

“我已经想到下一本书的名字了 - 《蔚蓝的蓝色》”

“我认为是蔚蓝就是蓝色了。”

她失望地看着他。“你是不是真的不想嫁给一个小说家，是吗？”

“你还不是小说家。”

“我一出生就是了 - 德怀特先生说的。我的洞察力... ”

'Yes. You told me that, but, dear, couldn't you observe a bit nearer home? Here

in London.'

'I've done that in The Chelsea Set. I don't want to repeat myself.'

The bill had been lying beside them for some time now. He took out his wallet to pay, but she snatched the paper out of his reach. She said. 'This is my celebration.'

'What of?'

'The Chelsea Set, of course. Darling, you're awfully decorative, but sometimes - well, you simply don't connect.'

'I'd rather... if you don't mind...'

'No, darling, this is on me. And Mr Dwight, of course.'

“是的。你告诉过我了，可是，亲爱的，你就不能在离家近的地方观察吗？就在这里，伦敦。”

“我已经在《切尔西的名流》里写过（伦敦）了。我不想再重复。”

帐单在他们旁边已有一段时间了。他掏出钱包准备买单，但她一把抢过了帐单，说：“这是我的庆宴。”

“庆祝什么？”

“当然是《切尔西的名流》。亲爱的，你很聪明，但有时候 – 呃，你就是转不过弯来。”

“我愿意...如果你不介意...”

“不，亲爱的，我来买单，当然也有德怀特先生（的份）。”

He submitted just as two of the Japanese gentlemen gave tongue simultaneously, then stopped abruptly and bowed to each other, as though they were blocked in a doorway.

就在两个日本绅士两个同时说话的时候，他屈服了，然后，（那两个日本绅士）突然停下来并互相鞠躬，他们俩似乎在门口受到了阻碍。

I had thought the two young people matching miniatures, but what a contrast in fact there was. The same type of prettiness could contain weakness and strength. Her Regency counterpart, I suppose, would have borne a dozen children without the aid of anesthetics, while he would have fallen an easy victim to the first dark eyes in Naples. Would there one day be a dozen books on her shelf? They have to be born without an anesthetic too. I found myself hoping that The Chelsea Set would prove to be a disaster and that eventually she would take up photographic modeling while he established himself solidly in the wine-trade in St James's. I didn't like to think of her as the Mrs Humphrey Ward of her generation - not that I would live so long. Old age saves us from the realization of a great many fears. I wondered to which publishing firm Dwight belonged. I could imagine the blurb he would have already written about her abrasive powers of observation. There would

be a photo, if he was wise, on the back of the jacket, for reviewers, as well as publishers are human, and she didn't look like Mrs Humphrey Ward.

我原以为这两个年轻人的内心与他们精致的微型画般的外表是相符的，但事实上却存在着差别。同样娇小的类型有的人或许，有的人或许强大。我想她如果活在摄政时期，她不打麻药也能生一大堆的孩子，而他如果是一个年轻军官的话，他将很容易被在岸上遇到的第一个意大利妇女所骗。书架上摆满她所写的书的那一天会到来吗？（那么）这些书也一定是在没有打的情况下创作的。我希望《切尔西的名流》没有好的销量，这样，她将最终成为摄影模特，而他将在葡萄酒贸易上扎实自己在圣詹姆斯的基础。我不敢想象她成为像汉弗莱沃德太太那一代的人- 即使我不能活的足够久而亲眼见到。年老让我们逃开了见证恐惧的时刻。我在怀疑德怀特是属于什么出版社的。我可以想象得到他对于她那洞察力的吹捧短评早已写好，那是多么的令人厌烦啊。如果他聪明的话，应该在书的护封上加上她的照片，评论家和出版社都是普通人，而她并不像汉弗莱沃德太太般憔悴。

I could hear them talking while they found their coats at the back of the restaurant. He said, 'I wonder what all those Japanese are doing here?'

当他们在饭店后面取回大衣时，我能听见他们的对话。他说：“'我不知道这些日本人在这儿干什么？”

'Japanese?' she said. 'What Japanese, darling? Sometimes you are so evasive I think you don't want to marry me at all.'

“日本人？”她说： “什么日本人，亲爱的？有时侯你这样的回避我让我觉得你不想和我结婚。”