《浮生六记》英译(1.11)

卷一 闺房记乐（11）  作者：沈复         

余性爽直，落拓不羁；芸若腐儒，迂拘多礼。偶为之整袖，必连声道“得罪”；或递巾授扇，必起身来接。余始厌之，曰：“卿欲以礼缚我耶？《语》曰：‘礼多必诈’。”芸两颊发赤，曰：“恭而有礼，何反言诈？”余曰：“恭敬在心，不在虚文。”芸曰：“至亲莫如父母，可内敬在心而外肆狂放耶？”余曰：“前言戏之耳。”芸曰：“世间反目多由戏起，后勿冤妾，令人郁死！”余乃挽之入怀，抚慰之，始解颜为笑。自此“岂敢”、“得罪”竟成语助词矣。鸿案相庄廿有三年，年愈久而情愈密。家庭之内，或暗室相逢，窄途邂逅，必握手问曰：“何处去？”私心忒忒，如恐旁人见之者。实则同行并坐，初犹避人，久则不以为意。芸或与人坐谈，见余至，必起立偏挪其身，余就而并焉。彼此皆不觉其所以然者，始以为惭，继成不期然而然。独怪老年夫妇相视如仇者，不知何意？或曰：“非如是，焉得白头偕老哉？”斯言诚然钦？         

林语堂  译：

Six Chapters of A Floating Life

Chapter One: Wedded Bliss （11）

By Shen Fu

I am by nature unconventional and straightforward, but Yun was a stickler for forms, like the Confucian schoolmasters. Whenever I put on a dress for her or tidied up her sleeves, she would say "So much obliged" again and again, and when I passed her a towel or a fan, she would always stand up to receive it. At first I disliked this and said to her, "Do you mean to tie me down with all this ceremony? There is a proverb which says, 'One who is over courteous is crafty.'" Yun blushed all over and said, "I am merely trying to be polite and respectful, why do you charge me with craftiness?” “True respect is in the heart, and does not require such empty forms," said I, but Yun said, "There is no more intimate relationship than that between children and their parents. Do you mean to say that children should behave freely towards their parents and keep their respect only, in their heart?” “ Oh! I was only joking," I said. "The trouble is," said Yun, "most marital troubles begin with joking. Don't you accuse me of disrespect later, for then I shall die of grief without being able to defend myself. " Then I held her close to my breast and caressed her until she smiled. From then on our conversations were full of "I'm sorry's" and "I beg your pardon' s." And so we remained courteous to each other for twenty-three years of our married life like Liang Hung and Meng Kuang [of the East Han Dynasty], and the longer we stayed together, the more passionately attached we became to each other.

Whenever we met each other in the house, whether it be in a dark room or in a narrow corridor, we used to hold each other's hands and ask, "Where are you going?" and we did this on the sly as if afraid that people might see us. As a matter of fact, we tried at first to avoid being seen sitting or walking together, but after a while, we did not mind it any more. When Yun was sitting and talking with somebody and saw me come, she would rise and move sideways for me to sit down together with her. All this was done naturally almost without any consciousness, and although at first we felt uneasy about it, later on it became a matter of habit. I cannot understand why all old couples must hate each other like enemies. Some people say, "If they weren't enemies, they would not be able to live together until old age." Well, I wonder!