《浮生六记》英译(1.15)

卷一 闺房记乐（15）  作者：沈复         

吾父稼夫公喜认义子，以故余异姓弟兄有二十六人。吾母亦有义女九人，九人中王二姑、俞六姑与芸最和好。王痴憨善饮，俞豪爽善谈。每集，必逐余居外，而得三女同锡，此俞六姑一人计也。余笑曰：“俟妹于归后，我当邀妹丈来，一住必十日。”俞曰：“我亦来此，与嫂同榻，不大妙耶？”芸与王微笑而已。         

时为吾弟启堂娶妇，迁居钦马桥之米仓巷，屋虽宏畅，非复沧浪亭之幽雅矣。吾母诞辰演剧，芸初以为奇观。吾父素无忌讳，点演《惨别》等剧，老伶刻画，见者情动，余窥帘见芸忽起去，良久不出，入内探之，俞与王亦继至。见芸一人支颐独坐镜窗之侧，余曰：“何不快乃尔？” 芸曰：“观剧原以陶情，今日之戏徒令人断肠耳。”俞与王皆笑之。余曰：“此深于情者也。”俞曰：“嫂将竟日独坐于此耶？” 芸曰：“候有可观者再往耳。”王闻言先出，请吾母点《刺梁》《后索》等剧，劝芸出观，始称快。         

林语堂  译：

Six Chapters of A Floating Life

Chapter One: Wedded Bliss （15）

By Shen Fu

My father Chiafu was very fond of adopting children; hence I had twenty-six adopted brothers. My mother, too, had nine adopted daughters, among whom Miss Wang, the second, and Miss Yu, the sixth, were Yun's best friends. Wang was a kind of a tomboy and a great drinker, while Yu was straightforward and very fond of talking. When they came together, they used to chase me out, so that the three of them could sleep in the same bed. I knew Miss Yu was responsible for this, and once I said to her in fun, "When you get married. I am going to invite your husband to come and keep him for ten days at a stretch. '"I'll come here, too, then," said Miss Yu, "and sleep in the same bed with Yun. Won' t that be fun?" At this Yun and Wang merely smiled.

At this time, my younger brother Ch'it' ang was going to get married, and we moved to Ts'angmi Alley by the Bridge of Drinking Horses. The house was quite big, but not so nice and secluded as the one by the Ts'anglang Pavilion. On the birthday of my mother, we had theatrical performances at home, and Yun at first thought them quite wonderful. Scorning all taboos, my father asked for the performance of a scene called "Sad Parting," and the actors played so realistically that the audience were quite touched. I noticed across the screen that Yun suddenly got up and disappeared inside for a long time. I went in to see her and the Misses Yu and Wang also followed suit. There I saw Yun sitting alone before her dressing table, resting her head on an arm. "Why are you so sad?" I asked. "One sees a play for diversion," Yun said, "but today' s play only breaks my heart." Both Wang and Yu were laughing at her, but I defended her. "She is touched because hers is a profoundly emotional soul." "Are you going to sit here all day long?" asked Miss Yu. "I'11 stay here until some better selection is being played," Yun replied. Hearing this, Miss Wang left first and asked my mother to select more cheerful plays like Ch ' ihliang and Househ. Then Yun was persuaded to come out and watch the play, which made her happy again.