《浮生六记》英译(1.23)

卷一 闺房记乐（23）  作者：沈复         

林语堂  译：

Six Chapters of A Floating Life

Chapter One: Wedded Bliss （23）

By Shen Fu

船家女名素云，与余有杯酒交，人颇不俗，招之与芸同坐。船头不张灯火，待月快酌，射覆为令。素云双目闪闪，听良久，曰：“觞政侬颇娴习，从未闻有斯令，愿受教。”芸即譬其言而开导之，终茫然。余笑曰：“女先生且罢论，我有一言作譬，即了然矣。”芸曰：“君若何譬之？”余曰：“鹤善舞而不能耕，牛善耕而不能舞，物性然也，先生欲反而教之，无乃劳乎？”素云笑捶余肩曰：“汝骂我耶！”芸出令曰；“只许动口，不许动手。违者罚大觥。”素云量豪，满斟一觥，一吸而尽。余曰：“动手但准摸索，不准捶人。”芸笑挽素云置余怀，曰：“请君摸索畅怀。”余笑曰：“卿非解人，摸索在有意无意间耳，拥而狂探，田舍郎之所为也。”时四鬓所簪茉莉，为酒气所蒸，杂以粉汗油香，芳馨透鼻，余戏曰：“小人臭味充满船头，令人作恶。”素云不禁握拳连捶曰：“谁教汝狂嗅耶？”芸呼曰：“违令，罚两大觥！”素云曰：“彼又以小人骂我，不应捶耶？”芸曰：“彼之所谓小人，盖有故也。请干此，当告汝。”素云乃连尽两觥，芸乃告以沧浪旧居乘凉事。素云曰：“若然，真错怪矣，当再罚。”又干一觥。芸曰：“久闻素娘善歌，可一聆妙音否？”素即以象箸击小碟而歌。芸欣然畅饮，不觉酩酊，乃乘舆先归。余又与素云茶话片刻，步月而回。时余寄居友人鲁半舫家萧爽楼中，越数日， 鲁夫人误有所闻，私告芸曰：“前日闻若婿挟两妓饮于万年桥舟中，子知之否？”姜口：“有之，其一即我也。”因以偕游始末详告之，鲁大笑，释然而去。        

The boatman's daughter was called Suyun. She was quite a likeable girl, and I had known her before. I beckoned her to come and sit together with Yun on the bow of the boat. We did not put on any light, so that we could the better enjoy the moon, and there we sat drinking heartily and playing literary games with wine as forfeit.

Suyun just stared at us, listening for a long time before she said, "Now I am quite familiar with all sorts of wine-games, but have never heard of this one. Will you explain it to me?" Yun tried to explain it by all sorts of analogies to her, but still she failed to understand.

Then I laughed and said, "Will the lady teacher please stop a moment? I have a parable for explaining it, and she will understand at once." "You try it, then!” “The stork," I said, "can dance, but cannot plow. while the buffalo can plow, but cannot dance. That lies in the nature of things. You are making a fool of yourself by trying to teach the impossible to her." Suyun pummeled my shoulder playfully, saying, "You are speaking of me as a buffalo, aren't you?" Then Yun said, "Hereafter let's make a rule: let's have it out with our mouths, but no hands! One who breaks the rule will have to drink a big cup. " As Suyun was a great drinker, she filled a cup full and drank it up at a draught. "I suggest that one may be allowed to use one's hands for caressing, but not for striking," I said. Yun then playfully pushed Suyun into my lap, saying, "Now you can caress her to your full." "How stupid of you!" I laughed in reply. "The beauty of caressing lies in doing it naturally and half unconsciously. Only a country bumpkin will hug and caress a woman roughly." I noticed that the jasmine in the hair of both of them gave out a strange fragrance, mixed with the flavor of wine, powder and hair lotion and remarked to Yun, “The ‘common little fellow’ stinks all over the place. It makes me sick." Hearing this, Suyun struck me blow after blow with her fist in a rage, saying, "Who told you to smell it?"

"She breaks the rule! Two big cups!" Yun shouted.

"He called me 'common little fellow.' Why shouldn't I strike him?" protested Suyun.

"He really means by the 'common little fellow' something which you don't understand. You finish these two cups first and I'll tell you."

When Suyun had finished the two cups, Yun told her of our discussion about the jasmine at the Ts'anglang Pavilion.

"Then the mistake is mine. I must be penalized again," said Suyun. And she drank a third cup.

Yun said then that she had long heard of her reputation as a singer and would like to hear her sing. This Suyun did beautifully, beating time with her ivory chopsticks on a little plate. Yun drank merrily until she was quite drunk, when she took a sedan-chair and went home first, while I remained chatting with Suyun for a moment, and then walked home under the moonlight.

At this time, we were staying in the home of our friend Lu Panfang, in a house called Hsiaoshuanglou. A few days afterwards, Mrs. Lu heard of the story from someone, and secretly told Yun, "Do you know that your husband was drinking a few days ago at the Bridge of Ten Thousand Years with two sing-song girls?" "Yes, I do," replied Yun, "and one of the sing-song girls was myself." Then she told her the whole story and Mrs. Lu had a good laugh at herself.