有人爱用雨伞打我的头

单词:

　　 reproach /ri`pr9utH/ v.责备
　　 unprecedented /7n`presid9ntid/ adj.空前的
　　 railing /`reiliM/ n.扶手
　　 unrelentingly /`7nri`lentiMli/ adv.无情地
　　 uproarious /7p`r5ri9s/ adj.闹哄哄的
　　 interminable /in`t8min9bl/ adj.无限的；冗长的
　　 impervious /im`p8vj9s/ adj.不受影响的
　　 maniac /`meini2k/ n.疯子；狂人
　　 intimate /`intimit/ adj.亲密的；隐私的
　　 weird /wi9d/ adj.怪异的
　　 animosity /,2ni`m4siti/ n.仇恨；憎恶
　　 foreboding /f5`b9udiM/ n.预感；先兆
　　 ② show up 出现；到场
　　 ③ still and all 尽管如此
　　 ④ in any event 无论如何

正文:

That's why I slowed down to a walk. I looked at him. There was no trace of either gratitude or reproach on his face. He merely kept hitting me on the head with the umbrella. I thought of ②showing up at the police station and saying, "Officer, this man is hitting me on the head with an umbrella". It would have been an unprecedented case. The officer would have looked at me suspiciously, would have asked for my papers and begun asking embarrassing questions. And he might even have ended up placing me under arrest.

这就是为什么我又渐渐慢了下来，改成走路。我看着他。而他的脸上却没有流露出丝毫感恩或责难的神情。他只是继续用伞打我的头。我想到了去警察局，然后报警“警官，这个男的用伞打我的头”。这可是一个前所未有的案件啊。警官会心怀疑虑地审视我，要求我出示证件，并开始询问一些令人尴尬的问题。而最后，他甚至还会逮捕我。

I thought it best to return home. I took the 67 bus. He, all the while hitting me with his umbrella, got on behind me. I took the first seat. He stood right beside me, and held on to the railing with his left hand. With his right hand he unrelentingly kept whacking me with that umbrella. At first, the passengers exchanged timid smiles. The driver began to observe us in the rearview mirror. Little by little the bus trip turned into one great fit of laughter, an uproarious, interminable fit of laughter. I was burning with shame. My persecutor, impervious to the laughter, continued to strike me.

我想，最好的办法就是回家了。我上了67路汽车。而他，一直在用他的伞打我，也跟着我上了车。我坐在第一个座位上。他紧挨着我坐了下来，左手握住扶手。而右手则不停地用伞来打我。起初，乘客们只是偷偷地相视一笑。司机也开始通过后视镜来观察我们。渐渐地，车上的人忽然大笑起来，笑声肆无忌惮、没完没了。羞辱感席卷了我的全身。打我的那个人没有受到笑声的影响，继续打着我。

I got off - we got off - at Pacifico Bridge. We walked along Santa Fe Avenue. Everyone stupidly turned to stare at us. It occurred to me to say to them, "What are you looking at, you idiots? Haven't you ever seen a man hit another man on the head with an umbrella?" But it also occurred to me that they probably never had seen such a spectacle. Then five or six little boys began chasing after us, shouting like maniacs.

我——我们——在帕西费克大桥下了车。我们沿着桑塔菲大街行走。每个人都傻了吧唧地开始盯着我们。而我就对他们说：“你们看什么，白痴？没见过一个人用伞来打另一个人的头吗？”但在我看来，他们好像真的从来没有见过这样的景象。五六个小孩跟在我们身后，像疯子一样狂喊。

But I had a plan. Once I reached my house, I tried to slam the door in his face. That didn't happen. He must have read my mind, because he firmly seized the doorknob and pushed his way in with me.

我想好了一个对策。一旦我到了家，我就试着在他进来前用力关上大门。但这没有成功。他一定是看穿了我的心思，因为他紧紧抓住了门把手，推搡着我走进屋中。

From that time on, he has continued to hit me on the head with his umbrella. As far as I can tell, he has never either slept or eaten anything. His sole activity consists of hitting me. He is with me in everything I do, even in my most intimate activities. I remember that at first, the blows kept me awake all night. Now I think it would be impossible for me to sleep without them.

从那时起，他就不停地用他的伞打我的头。我能告诉你的是，他从来没有睡过觉或吃过任何东西。他唯一的活动就是打我。我做什么他都跟着，甚至是在我做一些最最隐私的活动时也是如此。我记得，最初的时候，这些敲打使我整宿夜不能寐。而现在，我却认为没有这些敲打我是睡不着觉的。

③Still and all, our relations have not always been good. I've asked him, on many occasions, and in all possible tones, to explain his behavior to me. To no avail: he has wordlessly continued to hit me on the head with his umbrella. Many times I have let him have it with punches, kicks, and even - God forgive me - umbrella blows. He would meekly accept the blows. He would accept them as though they were part of his job. And this is precisely the weirdest aspect of his personality: that unshakable faith in his work coupled with a complete lack of animosity. In short, that conviction that he was carrying out some secret mission that responded to a higher authority.

尽管如此，我们之间的关系总是不和谐。我曾经在许多场合，以各种语气要求他解释他为什么那样对我。这全然无用：他还是继续一声不吭地用伞打我的头。很多次，我曾经拳打、脚踢他，甚至——上帝宽恕我吧——用雨伞揍他。而他则会温顺地接受雨伞的击打。他能接受这些击打，仿佛那就是他的工作之一。而这恰恰就是他个性中最怪异的地方：其工作信念坚定，并且完全没有厌恶感。简而言之，就是他深信自己是在从事某项只向高层管理人员汇报的秘密任务。

Despite his lack of physiological needs, I know that when I hit him, he feels pain. I know he is weak. I know he is mortal. I also know that I could be rid of him with a single bullet. What I don't know is if it would be better for that bullet to kill him or to kill me. Neither do I know if, when the two of us are dead, he might not continue to hit me on the head with his umbrella. ④In any event, this reasoning is pointless; I recognize that I would never dare to kill him or kill myself.

尽管他缺乏心理上的需求，但我知道当我打他时，他感到了疼痛。我知道他是虚弱的。我知道他是个凡人。我还知道，我只用一颗子弹就能解决掉他。我不知道的是，这颗子弹到底是杀了我好呢，还是杀了他会更好一点。我也不知道，当我们两个都死了以后，他是否还会用他的伞来打我的头。但无论如何，这种推理是没有意义的；我意识到我是绝对没有勇气来杀掉他或干掉我自己的。

On the other hand, I have recently come to the realization that I couldn't live without those blows. Now, more and more frequently, a certain foreboding overcomes me. A new anxiety is eating at my soul: the anxiety stemming from the thought that this man, perhaps when I need him most, will depart and I will no longer feel those umbrella taps that helped me sleep so soundly.

而另一方面，我最近才意识到，没有这些敲打我是活不下去的。现在，某种预感越来越频繁地涌上我的心头。一种新的不安正在折磨着我的精神：这种不安是因为我想到了，这个人也许会在我最需要他的时候离开，而我就再也感觉不到这些帮我安心睡眠的雨伞敲打了。