5 The Memento
5 纪念品
The window of Miss D’Armande’s room looked out onto Broadway and its theatres. But Lynette D’Armande turned her chair round and sat with her back to Broadway. She was an actress, and needed the Broadway theatres, but Broadway did not need her.
达曼德小姐房间的窗户正对着百老汇大街和那里的剧院。但琳内特·达曼德把椅子转过来，背对着百老汇坐着。她是一名演员，需要百老汇的剧院，但百老汇并不需要她。
She was staying in the Hotel Thalia. Actors go there to rest for the summer and then try to get work for the autumn when the little theatres open again. Miss D’Armande’s room in this hotel was a small one, but in it there were many mementoes of her days in the theatre, and there were also pictures of some of her best friends. She looked at one of these pictures now, and smiled at it.
她住在塔利亚酒店。演员们去那里度过暑假休息，然后等到秋天小剧院重新开张时再试着找工作。达曼德小姐在这家酒店的房间很小，但里面有许多她戏剧生涯的纪念品，还有一些挚友的照片。此刻，她看着其中一张照片，微笑着。
‘I’d like to know where Lee is now,’ she said to herself.
“我想知道李现在在哪里，”她自言自语道。
She was looking at a picture of Miss Rosalie Ray, a very beautiful young woman. In the picture, Miss Ray was wearing a very short skirt and she was sitting on a swing. Every night in the theatre she went high in the air on her swing, over the heads of all the people. When she did this, all the men in the theatre got very excited and stood up. This was because, when her long beautiful legs were high in the air, her yellow garter flew off and fell down to the men below. She did this every evening, and every evening a hundred hands went up to catch the garter. She did other things. She sang, she danced, but when she got onto her swing, all the men stood up. Miss Ray did not have to try very hard to find work in the theatre.
她正在看罗莎莉·雷小姐的照片，那是一位非常美丽的年轻女子。照片中，雷小姐穿着很短的裙子坐在秋千上。在剧院里，她每晚都会荡着秋千高高飞起，越过所有人的头顶。每当这时，剧院里的男人们就会变得非常兴奋并站起来。这是因为当她修长美丽的双腿高高扬起时，她的黄色吊袜带会飞落下来，掉到下面的男人堆里。她每晚都这样做，每晚都有一百只手伸出来抢那条吊袜带。她也做别的事情，唱歌、跳舞，但只要她一上秋千，所有的男人都会站起来。雷小姐在剧院找工作毫不费力。
After two years of this, Miss D’Armande remembered, Miss Ray suddenly left the theatre and went to live in the country.
达曼德小姐记得，这样过了两年后，雷小姐突然离开了剧院，搬到乡下去住了。
And seventeen minutes after Miss D’Armande said, ‘I’d like to know where Lee is now’, somebody knocked on the door.
就在达曼德小姐说完“我想知道李现在在哪里”十七分钟后，有人敲门了。
It was, of course, Rosalie Ray.
当然，来人正是罗莎莉·雷。
‘Come in,’ Miss D’Armandc called, and Miss Ray came in. Yes, it was Rosalie. She took off her hat, and Miss D’Armande could see that she looked very tired and unhappy.
“请进，”达曼德小姐喊道，雷小姐走了进来。是的，确实是罗莎莉。她摘下帽子，达曼德小姐可以看出她看起来非常疲惫和不开心。
‘I’ve got the room above you,’ Rosalie said. ‘They told me at the desk downstairs that you were here.’
“我就住在你楼上，”罗莎莉说，“楼下前台告诉我你在这里。”
‘I’ve been here since the end of April,’ Lynnette replied. ‘I begin work again next week, out in a small town. But you left the theatre three months ago, Lee. Why are you here?’
“我从四月底就一直住在这里，”琳内特回答道，“下周我就要去一个小镇重新开始工作了。可是李，你三个月前就离开剧院了，怎么来这里了？”
‘I’ll tell you, Lynn, but give me a drink first.’ Miss D’Armande passed a bottle to her friend.
“我会告诉你的，琳，但先给我一杯喝的吧。”达曼德小姐递给朋友一瓶酒。
‘Ah, that’s good!’ said Rosalie. ‘My first drink for three months.’ Yes, Lynn, I left the theatre because I was tired of the life, and because I was tired of men—well, the men who come to the theatre. You know we have to fight them off all the time. They’re animals! They ask you to go out with them, they buy you a drink or two—and then they think that they can do what they want! It’s terrible! And we work hard, we get very little money for it, we wait to get to the top—and it never happens. But most of all, I left because of the men.
“啊，真好喝！”罗莎莉说，“这是我三个月来的第一杯酒。”是的，琳，我离开剧院是因为厌倦了那种生活，也厌倦了男人——嗯，那些来剧院的男人。你知道我们总是得把他们赶走。他们简直是禽兽！他们约你出去，请你喝一两杯酒——然后就以为可以为所欲为了！太可怕了！而且我们工作辛苦，报酬微薄，等着出人头地——却永远等不到那一天。但最重要的是，我是因为男人才离开的。
‘Well, I saved two hundred dollars and when summer came, I left the theatre and went to a little village by the sea on Long Island. I planned to stay there for the summer, and then learn how to be a better actress.’
“唉，我攒了两百美元，夏天来的时候，我离开了剧院，去了长岛海边的一个小村庄。我计划在那里过完夏天，然后学习如何成为一名更好的演员。”
‘But there was another person who was staying in the same house—the Reverend Arthur Lyle. Yes, Lynn, a man of the church! When I saw him for the first time, I fell in love with him at once. He was a fine man and he had a wonderful voice!’
“但是还有一个人也住在那栋房子里——亚瑟·莱尔牧师。是的，琳，一位神职人员！我第一次见到他就爱上了他。他是个好男人，声音也很动听！”
‘Well, it’s only a short story, Lynn. A month later we decided to marry. We planned to live in a little house near the church, with lots of flowers and animals.’
“好吧，故事不长，琳。一个月后我们决定结婚。我们计划住在教堂附近的一所小房子里，周围种满鲜花，养些动物。”
‘No, I didn’t tell him that I was an actress. I wanted to forget it and to put that life behind me.’
“不，我没告诉他我是个演员。我想忘掉过去，把那种生活抛在脑后。”
‘Oh, I was happy! I went to church, I helped the women in the village. Arthur and I went for long walks— and that little village was the best place in the world. I wanted to live there for ever…’
“噢，我当时真幸福！我去教堂，帮助村里的女人们。亚瑟和我经常长途散步——那个小村庄简直是世界上最美好的地方。我想永远住在那里……”
‘But one morning, the old woman who worked in the house began to talk about Arthur. She thought that he was wonderful, too. But then she told me that Arthur was in love once before, and that it ended unhappily. She said that, in his desk, he kept a memento — something which belonged to the girl. Sometimes he took it out and looked at it. But she didn’t know what it was — and his desk was locked.’
“可是一天早上，在屋里干活的老太太谈起了亚瑟。她也觉得他很棒。但随后她告诉我，亚瑟以前恋爱过一次，结局并不愉快。她说他的书桌里藏着一件纪念品——属于那个女孩的东西。有时他会拿出来看看。但她不知道那是什么——而且他的书桌是锁着的。”
‘That afternoon I asked him about it.’
“那天下午我问了他这件事。”
‘”Ida,” he said, (of course, I used my real name there) “it was before I knew you, and I never met her. It was different from my love for you.”‘
“‘艾达，’他说（当然，在那里我用的是真名），‘那是在认识你之前的事，我从未见过她。这和我对你的爱不同。’”
‘”Was she beautiful?” I asked.’
“‘她漂亮吗？’我问。”
‘”She was very beautiful,” replied Arthur.’
“‘她非常漂亮，’亚瑟回答。”
‘”Did you see her often?”‘
“‘你经常见她吗？’”
‘”About ten times,” he said.’
“‘大概十次吧，’他说。”
‘”And this memento—did she send it to you?”‘
“‘那这件纪念品——是她送给你的吗？’”
‘”It came to me from her,” he said.’
“‘是从她那儿到我手里的，’他说。”
‘”Why did you never meet her?” I asked.’
“‘为什么你从未见过她？’我问。”
‘”She was far above me,” he answered. “But, Ida, it’s finished. You’re not angry, are you?”‘
“‘她地位远在我之上，’他答道。‘但是，艾达，一切都结束了。你不会生气吧？’”
‘”Why, no. I love you ten times more than before.” And I did, Lynn. Can you understand that? What a beautiful love that was! He never met her, never spoke to her, but he loved her, and wanted nothing from her. He was different from other men, I thought — a really good man!’
“‘怎么会呢，不生气。我比以前更爱你十倍了。’我真的这么觉得，琳。你能理解吗？那是多么美好的爱情啊！他从未见过她，从未和她说过话，但他爱着她，对她别无他求。我觉得他和其他男人不一样——真的是个好男人！”
‘About four o’clock that afternoon, Arthur had to go out. The door of his room was open, his desk was unlocked, and I decided to look at this memento. I opened the desk and slowly I took out the box and opened it.’
“那天下午四点左右，亚瑟不得不外出。他的房门开着，书桌也没锁，我决定去看看这件纪念品。我打开书桌，慢慢拿出盒子并打开了它。”
‘I took one look at that memento, and then I went to my room and packed my suitcase. My wonderful Arthur, this really good man, was no different from all the other men!’
“我只看了一眼那件纪念品，就回到房间收拾行李了。我那了不起的亚瑟，这个真正的好男人，和其他所有男人没什么两样！”
‘But, Lee, what was in the box?’ Miss D’Armande asked.
“可是，李，盒子里装的是什么？”达曼德小姐问。
‘It was one of my yellow garters!’ cried Miss Ray.
“是我的一条黄色吊袜带！”雷小姐叫道。
0 条评论