1. Will the reader please cast his eye over thefollowing lines, and see if he can discover anythingharmful in them? “Conductor, when you receive afare, Punch in the presence of the passenjare! Ablue trip slip for an eight-cent fare, A buff trip slipfor a six-cent fare, A pink trip slip for a three-centfare, Punch in the presence of the passenjare!CHORUS: Punch, brothers! punch with care! Punchin the presence of the passenjare!”
各位看官，请高抬贵眼，读读下面诗句，看看是否一读着魔，好吗？
“售票员，你收钱，
检票时，当面检！
蓝色票，八分钱，
黄色票，六分钱，
粉色票，三分钱，
检票时，当面检！
合唱
检票了，伙计们！小心了，票要检！
检票时，当面检！检票时！当面检！”
（本段押韵译文摘自译者：颜林海。此处几行韵文的节奏是按华尔兹节奏撰写。华尔兹的节奏：每小节多为三步，也有二步或四步。三步节奏为：“嘣—嚓—嚓”，二步节奏：嘣—嚓；四步节奏：嘣—嚓—嘣—嚓。2,4,5,6，8句有九个音节，三步节奏，3，7，9句有十个音节，二步节奏，所有诗行末尾音节都押同形同韵，典型的顺口溜韵。）
2. I came across these jingling rhymes in a newspaper, a little while ago, and read them a coupleof times. They took instant and entire possession of me. All through breakfast they wentwaltzing through my brain; and when, at last, I rolled up my napkin, I could not tell whether Ihad eaten anything or not.
我不久前在报纸上看到了上面这段节奏明快的押韵词，于是连续读了好几遍。然后，我在很短的时间内被这段文字成功洗脑了。整个早餐时间，这段话一直在我的脑海里跳着华尔兹；甚至，当我用餐完毕，卷起餐巾时，我都记不起我究竟吃了还是没吃。
3. I fought hard for an hour, but it was useless. My head kept humming, "A blue trip slip for aneight-cent fare, a buff trip slip for a six-cent fare," and so on and so on, without peace orrespite. The planned day's work was ruined--I could see that plainly enough. I suffered allmorning and afternoon; suffered all through an unconscious and unrefreshing dinner;suffered, and cried, and jingled all through the evening; went to bed and rolled, tossed, andjingled right along; I got up at midnight frantic, and tried to read; but there was nothingvisible upon the whirling page except "Punch! punch in the presence of the passenjare." Bysunrise I was out of my mind, and everybody marveled and was distressed at the idiotic burdenof my ravings--"Punch! oh, punch! punch in the presence of the passenjare!"
我花了一个小时打算把这段话忘掉，但失败了。我的脑袋一直在嗡嗡作响地单曲回放——“蓝色车票票面8美分；浅黄色车票票面 6美分……”，完全不给我平静下来喘息一下的机会。毫无疑问，我一整天的工作计划就这样泡汤了。它让我整个上午和下午都备受煎熬；晚餐同样在煎熬中度过，吃下的每一口食物都变得索然无味；整个晚上，我的头脑里除了煎熬、呐喊，剩下的就只有那段节奏明快、合辙押韵的话语；我躺在床上准备入睡，于是我开始辗转反侧，那段话依旧萦绕在我耳边；午夜时分，我被惊醒了，然后，我起来试图读读书；但在翻动的书页间，除了那段““检票了，伙计们！检票了，当面检！””以外，我什么也看不见。直到日出时，我依然心不在焉。见到我的每个人，都被我嘴里不停念叨的那段愚蠢的话——“检票了，伙计们！检票了，当面检！”，弄得莫名其妙，痛苦不已。
4. Two days later, on Saturday morning, I arose, a tottering wreck, and went forth to see avalued friend, the Rev. Mr.------, to walk to the Talcott Tower, ten miles distant. When he sawme he said: "Mark, are you sick? I never saw a man look so haggard and worn and absent-minded. Say something, do!" Drearily, without enthusiasm, I said: "Punch brothers, punchwith care! Punch in the presence of the passenjare!"
两天后的星期六早上，我拖着自己疲惫不堪且看上去病病殃殃的身躯，去见我的一位挚友，牧师某先生，然后我们一起步行10英里去塔尔科特大厦。我们见面后，他对我说：“马克，你生病了吗？我从没见过谁如此憔悴、疲惫不堪、心不在焉。赶紧跟我说说怎么回事！”我满脸厌倦、冷淡地说：“检票了，伙计们！检票了，当面检！”
5. My friend eyed me blankly, looked perplexed, they said: "I do not think I get your drift,Mark. Then does not seem to be any relevancy in what you have said. What is--" But I heard nomore. I was already far away with my pitiless, heartbreaking "blue trip slip for an eight-centfare, buff trip slip for a six-cent fare, pink trip slip for a three-cent fare; punch in thepresence of the passenjare." I do not know what occurred during the other nine miles.
我的朋友茫然地看着我，看上去很困惑。他对我说：“我搞不懂你在说什么，马克。你说的话似乎毫无关联。那个——是什么意思？ ”但我根本没听到他在说什么，我的思绪早已被那段冷漠且令人心碎的“蓝色票，八分钱，黄色票，六分钱，粉色票，三分钱， 检票时，当面检！检票时！当面检！”；请当着乘客的面给车票打孔”带到了九霄云外。我完全不知道接下来的9英里路程都发生了什么。
6. However, all of a sudden Mr.------ stood there, very grave, full of concern, apparently, andlooked long at me; then he said: "Mark, there is something about this that I cannotunderstand. Those are about the same words you said before; there does not seem to beanything in them, and yet they nearly break my heart when you say them. Punch in the--how isit they go?" I began at the beginning and repeated all the lines.
突然，某先生站在那里，看了我好长时间，显然，他的目光里充满了严肃和关切。 然后，他对我说：“马克，有些事我无法理解。就是你之前翻来覆去说的那些话。那些话似乎毫无内容，而且，每次你说那些话，都会令我非常不舒服。什么给车票打孔什么的，怎么说来着？”于是，我从头开始，又给他说了好几遍那段话。
7. My friend's face lighted with interest. He said: "Why, what a captivating jingle it is! It isalmost music. It flows along so nicely. I have nearly caught the rhymes myself. Say them overjust once more, and then I'll have them, sure." I said them over. Then Mr. ------ said them. Hemade one little mistake, which I corrected. The next time and the next he got them right. Now agreat burden seemed to tumble from my shoulders. That torturing jingle departed out of mybrain, and a grateful sense of rest and peace descended upon me. I was light-hearted enoughto sing; so I did sing and even talked for two hours, straight along, as we went jogginghomeward.
我的朋友兴致勃勃地看着我说：这押韵词简直太让人着迷了！它简直可以称得上音乐作品。它的韵律如此美妙。我几乎已经学会了它的韵律。你再说一遍，我就能完全掌握了，我确定。”于是，我又说了一遍。接着，某先生也说了一遍。他犯了一处小错误，我帮他纠正了。然后，接下来的两遍，他都说对了。此时，我似乎有种如释重负的感觉。一直折磨着我的那段押韵词从我大脑中消失了，随之而来的是令人愉快的宁静和平和进入了我的身体。我的心情非常轻松，轻松到想开口唱歌。于是，我就唱了起来，甚至在步行回家的路上滔滔不绝地说了两个小时。
8. As I wrung my friend's hand at parting, I said: "Haven't we had a royal good time! But now Iremember, you haven't said a word for two hours. Come, come, out with something!" The Rev.Mr.------ turned a lack-luster eye upon me, drew a deep sigh, and said, without animation,without apparent consciousness: "Punch, brothers, punch with care! Punch in the presenceof the passenjare!" A pang shot through me as I said to myself, "Poor fellow, poor fellow! hehas got it, now." I did not see Mr.------ for two or three days after that. Then, on Tuesdayevening, he staggered into my presence and sank dejectedly into a seat. He was pale, worn; hewas a wreck.
当与我的朋友挥手告别时，我对他说：“今天可真开心啊！但，我记得你已经两个小时没说一句话了。快，快来说点儿什么吧！”牧师某先生向我投来了暗淡的目光，深深地叹了一口气，死气沉沉地说： 检票时，当面检！检票时！当面检！” 我心中感到一阵刺痛，自言自语道： “可怜的家伙，可怜的家伙！现在轮到他了！”之后的两三天，我没见到某先生。直到星期二的晚上，他步履蹒跚地出现在我面前，垂头丧气地瘫坐在椅子上。他脸色苍白，看上去十分疲倦且病病殃殃的。
9. He lifted his faded eyes to my face and said: "Ah, Mark, it was a ruinous investment that Imade in those heartless rhymes. They have ridden me like a nightmare, day and night, hourafter hour, to this very moment. Since I saw you I have suffered the torments of the lost.Saturday evening I had a sudden call, by telegraph, and took the night train for Boston. Theoccasion was the death of a valued old friend who had requested that I should preach hisfuneral sermon.
他抬起头来，用那双灰蒙蒙的眼睛看着我的脸，说：“啊，马克啊，学习这种毫无意义的顺口溜几乎让我崩溃了。它们像噩梦一样折磨我到现在，无时无刻，不管是白天还是晚上。自从那天我见到你开始，这种迷失的折磨就与我如影随形。星期六晚上，我突然接到一封电报，然后我就乘坐当晚的夜间列车去了波士顿。我的一位老挚友去世了，他生前请求我为他的葬礼布道。
10. Of course it would be my luck right before the funeral to find a sorrowing and aged maidenaunt of the deceased there. She began to sob, and said: "'Oh, oh, he is gone, he is gone, and Ididn't see him before he died!' "'Yes!' I said, 'he is gone, he is gone, he is gone--oh, will thissuffering never cease!' "'You loved him, then! Oh, you too loved him!' "'Loved him! Lovedwho?' "'Why, my poor George! my poor nephew!' "'Oh--him! Yes--oh, yes, yes. Certainly--certainly. Punch--punch--oh, this misery will kill me!' "'Bless you! bless you, sir, for thesesweet words! I, too, suffer in this dear loss. Were you present during his last moments?” “'Yes.I--whose last moments?” “His. The dear departed's.” “Yes! Oh, yes--yes--yes! I suppose so, Ithink so, I don't know! Oh, certainly--I was there I was there!” "'Oh, what a privilege! what aprecious privilege! And his last words- -oh, tell me, tell me his last words! What did he say?'
就在葬礼即将开始之前，我幸运地遇到了死者的一个姑姑。她虽然已经年纪很大，但一直未婚。她悲伤地哭泣着说道：‘哦，哦，他走了，他走了，我都没能在他死前见他一面！’‘是的！’我说，‘他走了，他走了，他走了——哦，这种痛苦永远不会停歇！’‘那么，你是爱他的！哦，你也是爱他的！’‘爱他！爱谁？’‘为什么上天要带走我可怜的乔治！我可怜的侄子！’‘哦——是他！对的——哦，对的，对的。当然——当然。 检票时，当面检！检票时！当面检！”——哦，我已无法承受这痛苦！’‘祝福您！祝福您，先生，为您暖心的话语！我同样承受着这份失去亲人的痛苦。他最后的时间，您是否陪伴他身边？’‘是的。我——谁的最后时间？’‘他的。我亲爱的侄子离开人世时。’‘是的！哦，是的——是的——是的！我认为是的，我想是的，我其实不知道！哦，当然——我在他身边，我在他身边！’‘哦，您怎么会享受到这种特权！多么宝贵的特权！他的遗言——哦，告诉我，告诉我他的遗言！他最后说了什么？’
11. "'He said--he said--oh, my head, my head, my head! He said--he said--he never saidanything but Punch, punch, punch in the presence of the passenjare! Oh, leave me, madam!In the name of all that is generous, leave me to my madness, my misery, my despair!--a bufftrip slip for a six-cent fare, a pink trip slip for a three-cent fare--endu--rance can no fur--thergo!--PUNCH in the presence of the passenjare!"
‘他说——他说——哦，我的头，我的头，我的头！他说——他说——除了‘ 检票时，当面检！检票时！当面检！”他什么也没说！哦，夫人，请让我一个人待会儿！我请求您的宽宏大量，让我单独和我的疯狂、我的痛苦、我的绝望待一会儿！——浅黄色车票票面 6美分；粉色车票票面3美分——我再也——无法——忍耐了！’”
12. My friend's hopeless eyes rested upon mine a pregnant minute, and then he saidimpressively: "Mark, you do not say anything. You do not offer me any hope. But, ah me, it isjust as well--it is just as well. You could not do me any good. The time has long gone by whenwords could comfort me.”
我朋友那绝望的眼神，富有深意地盯着我的眼睛看了一分钟。然后，他说了一段令我十分难忘的话——“马克，你什么也不用说。你无法给我任何希望。但是啊，对我来说，幸好如此——幸好如此。你帮不到我什么忙。已经太迟了，话语的安慰已经对我没有意义了。”
13. To end his misery, I took him to a neighboring university and made him discharge theburden of his persecuting rhymes into the eager ears of the poor, unthinking students. How isit with them, now? The result is too sad to tell. Why did I write this article? It was for a worthy,even a noble, purpose. It was to warn you, reader, if you should came across those mercilessrhymes, to avoid them--avoid them as you would a pestilence.
为了终结他的痛苦，我把他带到了附近的一所大学，让他把他的那些令人感到困扰的押韵词传授给那些没头没脑，但又急切地想学习新东西的可怜的大学生。事情会发展成什么样？结果太过可悲，简直难以启齿。我为什么要写这篇文章呢？其实，我有一个很有价值，甚至崇高的目的。我是要告诫读者朋友们，当你遇到那种毫无意义的顺口溜时，一定要躲开它——要像躲避瘟疫一样躲开它！ |