Her first ball
她的第一次舞会
Leila found it hard to say exactly when the ball began.
莱拉很难确切说出舞会是从什么时候开始的。
Perhaps it began in the car taking her there.
也许是在送她去舞会的车上就开始了。
It did not matter that she shared the car with the Sheridan sisters and their brother.
虽然她和谢里丹姐妹以及她们的兄弟同乘一辆车，但这并不重要。
She sat back in her own little corner of it, and away she went, past dancing houses and fences and trees.
她靠在车厢属于自己的小角落里，车子一路向前驶去，掠过仿佛起舞的房屋、篱笆和树木。
‘Have you really never been to a ball before, Leila? But how strange—’ cried the Sheridan girls.
“莱拉，你真的从来没参加过舞会吗？太奇怪了——”谢里丹家的女孩们叫道。
‘We lived so far from anyone else,’ Leila said softly. ‘In the country we had no near neighbours.’
“我们住得离别人太远了，”莱拉轻声说，“在乡下我们没有近邻。”
Oh dear, how hard it was to be calm like the others!
天哪，要像其他人那样镇定可真难啊！
She tried not to smile too much; she tried not to care.
她尽量不笑得太多；她试着不去在意。
But everything was so new and exciting.
但一切是如此新鲜而令人兴奋。
Meg’s roses, Jose’s necklace, Laura’s little dark head above her white dress—she would remember these things for ever.
梅格的玫瑰、乔丝的项链、劳拉白色连衣裙上那乌黑的小脑袋——她会永远记住这些。
Her cousin Laurie reached over and touched Laura on the knee.
她的表哥劳里探过身来碰了碰劳拉的膝盖。
‘Listen,’ he said. ‘We’ll do the third and ninth dances together, as usual. OK, darling?’
“听着，”他说，“我们还是照老规矩，第三支和第九支曲子一起跳。好吗，亲爱的？”
Oh, how wonderful to have a brother!
噢，有个哥哥多好啊！
Leila was so excited that she suddenly wanted to cry, because she was an only child, and no brother had ever said ‘OK, darling?’ to her; no sister would ever say, as Meg said to Jose at that moment, ‘I’ve never seen your hair look so lovely as it does tonight!’
莱拉激动得突然想哭，因为她是独生女，从来没有哥哥对她说过“好吗，亲爱的？”；也从来没有姐姐会像此刻梅格对乔丝说的那样：“我从没见过你的头发像今晚这么漂亮！”
But there was no time to cry. They were at the hall already.
可是没时间哭了，她们已经到了舞厅。
The street was bright with moving lights and happy faces; little white shoes chased each other like birds.
街道上灯光流转，笑脸盈盈；一双双白色小鞋像鸟儿一样互相追逐。
‘Hold on to me, Leila; you’ll get lost,’ said Laura.
“抓紧我，莱拉，别走丢了，”劳拉说。
‘Come on, girls, let’s go straight in,’ said Laurie.
“走吧，姑娘们，我们直接进去吧，”劳里说。
Leila put her hand on Laura’s arm, and somehow the crowd carried them along and pushed them past the big golden lamp, along the passage and into the little room marked ‘Ladies’.
莱拉把手搭在劳拉的手臂上，人群不知怎么就把她们裹挟着向前推去，经过那盏金色大灯，穿过走廊，进入了标有“女士”的小房间。
Here it was even more crowded and noisy. Everyone was pushing forwards, trying to get to the mirror.
这里更加拥挤喧闹，大家都往前挤，想凑到镜子前。
There was a big gas light in the ladies’ room. It wouldn’t wait; it was dancing already.
女士房间里有一盏明亮的煤气灯，它似乎也不愿等待，已经在翩翩起舞了。
When the door opened, it jumped up almost as high as the ceiling.
门一开，灯光几乎跃到了天花板那么高。
Dark girls, fair girls were combing their hair, opening and closing bags, fastening buttons.
黑发姑娘、金发姑娘都在梳头、开关手提包、扣纽扣。
And because they were all laughing, it seemed to Leila that they were all lovely.
因为大家都在笑，莱拉觉得她们个个都很可爱。
‘Aren’t there any hairpins?’ cried a voice. ‘I need some hairpins.’
“没有发夹了吗？”一个声音喊道，“我需要几个发夹。”
‘Be a darling and put some powder on my back,’ cried someone else.
“好心人帮我背上扑点粉吧，”另一个人叫道。
‘But I must have a needle and cotton! I’ve torn miles off my skirt!’ screamed a third.
“可我必须有针线！我的裙子撕了好大一块！”第三个人尖叫道。
Then a voice said, ‘Pass them along, pass them along!’ and the basket of dance programmes went from hand to hand.
接着有个声音说：“传下去，传下去！”一篮舞会节目单便在众人手中传递开来。
Lovely little pink and silver programmes with tiny pink pencils.
那是可爱的粉银相间的小节目单，还配着粉色小铅笔。
Leila’s fingers shook as she took one. She wanted to ask, ‘Should I take one, too?’
莱拉拿的时候手指都在发抖，她想问：“我也要拿一份吗？”
But then Meg cried, ‘Ready, Leila?’ and they pushed through the crowd towards the doors of the dance-hall.
但这时梅格喊道：“准备好了吗，莱拉？”于是她们挤过人群，朝舞厅大门走去。
The band was silent, waiting to begin playing, but the room was full of the noise of talking and laughter.
乐队静默着，等待开始演奏，但大厅里充满了交谈声和笑声。
Leila felt that even the little coloured flags which hung from the ceiling were talking.
莱拉觉得连天花板上悬挂的彩色小旗也在窃窃私语。
She forgot to be shy. She forgot how, earlier that day, she had sat on her bed with one shoe off and one shoe on and begged her mother to ring up her cousins and say that she couldn’t come.
她忘了害羞，忘了就在当天早些时候，她还一只鞋穿着、一只鞋脱着坐在床上，央求母亲给表亲们打电话说她去不了了。
The feeling she had had, that she wanted to go home, to be back at her dark lonely house out in the country, suddenly changed to a feeling of complete happiness that she was here at this ball.
那种想回家、想回到乡下那座黑暗孤寂房子的感觉，突然间变成了身处这场舞会的纯粹幸福。
She looked at the shining, golden floor, the flowers, the coloured lights, and at the stage, with its red carpet and golden chairs, and the band ready to play, and she thought, ‘How lovely! How simply lovely!’
她看着闪亮金黄的地板、鲜花、彩灯，还有铺着红地毯、摆着金椅子的舞台，以及蓄势待发的乐队，心想：“多美啊！简直太美了！”
All the girls stood together on one side of the doors, and the men stood on the other side.
所有的女孩都站在一侧门边，男士们则站在另一侧。
Older ladies, in dark dresses, walked with little careful steps over the shiny floor towards the stage.
年长的女士们身着深色礼服，迈着小心翼翼的小碎步，走过光亮的地板向舞台走去。
‘This is my little country cousin Leila. Be nice to her. Find her partners. I’m looking after her,’ Meg was telling all the girls.
“这是我乡下来的小表妹莱拉。对她好一点，帮她找舞伴。我来照顾她，”梅格正告诉所有的女孩。
Strange faces smiled sweetly at Leila. Strange voices answered, ‘Of course, my dear.’
陌生的面孔对莱拉甜美地微笑，陌生的声音回答道：“当然啦，亲爱的。”
But Leila knew that the girls didn’t really see her. They were looking at the men.
但莱拉知道那些女孩其实并没看她，她们的目光都在男士身上。
Why didn’t the men begin? What were they waiting for?
为什么男士们还不开始？他们在等什么？
They stood there, not talking, just smiling to themselves.
他们站在那里，不说话，只是暗自微笑。
Then quite suddenly, they were coming towards the girls, flying towards them over the golden floor.
然后突然间，他们朝女孩们走来，在金色的地板上飞奔而来。
A tall, fair man flew up to Meg, took her programme and wrote something in it.
一位高大白皙的男士飞到梅格面前，拿起她的节目单写了些什么。
Meg passed him on to Leila. ‘May I have the pleasure?’ He wrote in her programme, smiled at her and moved on.
梅格把他介绍给莱拉。“能请您赏光吗？”他在她的节目单上写下名字，对她一笑便走开了。
Then a dark man came up to Leila, then cousin Laurie and a friend.
接着一位黑发男士来到莱拉面前，然后是表哥劳里和他的朋友。
Then quite an old man—fat and rather bald, too—took her programme and said, ‘Let me see, let me see!’
随后一位相当老的男士——胖胖的，还有点秃顶——拿过她的节目单说：“让我看看，让我看看！”
He looked at his programme, which was black with names, and at Leila’s programme.
他看了看自己写满名字的节目单，又看了看莱拉的。
He seemed to have so much trouble finding a free dance for her that Leila felt ashamed.
他似乎费了好大劲才为她找到一个空档，这让莱拉感到不好意思。
‘Oh, please don’t bother!’ she said eagerly.
“哦，请别麻烦了！”她急切地说。
But the fat man wrote something in her programme and looked at her again. ‘Do I remember this bright little face?’ he said softly. ‘Have I seen this little face before?’
但胖男士还是在她的节目单上写了什么，再次看着她。“我记得这张明亮的小脸吗？”他轻声说，“我以前见过这张小脸吗？”
At that moment the band began playing; the fat man disappeared.
就在这时乐队开始演奏了；胖男士不见了踪影。
He was carried away on a wave of music that flew over the shining floor, breaking the groups of people into couples and throwing them out to the corners of the room.
他被音乐的浪潮卷走了，乐声掠过闪亮的地板，将人群拆散成一对对舞伴，抛向房间的各个角落。
Leila had learnt to dance at school. Every Saturday afternoon, the girls were taken to a little hall where Miss Eccles (of London) gave her ‘top quality’ lessons.
莱拉在学校学过跳舞。每个星期六下午，女孩们都会被带到一个小厅，埃克尔斯小姐（来自伦敦）在那里教授她所谓的“顶级”课程。
But the difference between that poor little hall—with an old woman banging on the piano and Miss Eccles shouting at the girls to lift their feet—the difference between that place and this wonderful place of music and golden light was so great that Leila felt she would die if she didn’t dance soon.
但是那个可怜的小厅——老妇人猛砸钢琴，埃克尔斯小姐冲着女孩们喊叫让她们抬脚——与这个充满音乐和金光的奇妙场所之间的差别实在太大了，莱拉觉得如果不马上跳舞她就要窒息了。
‘Our dance, I think.’ Someone smiled and gave her his hand. She didn’t need to die, after all. She floated away like a flower on a stream.
“我想这支是我们的曲子。”有人微笑着向她伸出手。她终究不需要窒息了，她像溪流上的花朵一样飘然起舞。
‘Quite a good floor, isn’t it?’ said a voice close to her ear.
“地板很不错，是吧？”耳边传来一个声音。
‘I think it’s most beautifully slippery,’ said Leila.
“我觉得它滑得美妙极了，”莱拉说。
‘Excuse me?’ The voice sounded surprised. Leila said it again. There was a tiny pause before the voice said, ‘Oh, quite,’ and they danced on.
“你说什么？”那声音听起来很惊讶。莱拉又说了一遍。短暂的停顿后，那声音说道：“哦，确实，”他们继续跳着。
He danced so beautifully. That was the great difference between dancing with men and dancing with girls, Leila decided. Girls bumped into you and stepped on your feet.
他跳得真优美。莱拉断定，这就是和男士跳舞与和女孩跳舞的最大区别。女孩们总会撞到你、踩到你的脚。
The flowers were no longer flowers; they were pink and white flags flying by.
花儿不再是花儿了，它们成了飞舞而过的粉白旗帜。
‘Were you at the Bells’ last week?’ the voice said. It was a tired voice. Leila wondered whether she should ask him if he needed to stop and rest.
“上周你去贝尔家的舞会了吗？”那声音问道。这是个疲惫的声音，莱拉想着是否该问他要不要停下来歇歇。
‘No, this is my first ball,’ she said.
“没有，这是我第一次参加舞会，”她说。
He gave a little laugh. ‘Oh, I say!’
他轻笑了一声。“哦，我说！”
‘Yes, it really is the first ball that I’ve ever been to.’ Leila felt quite excited, just talking about it. ‘You see, I’ve lived in the country all my life…’
“是的，这真的是我参加的第一场舞会。”光是谈论这件事就让莱拉感到很兴奋，“你看，我这辈子都住在乡下……”
At that moment the music stopped, and they went to sit down. Leila’s partner did not say very much. He stretched out his legs, played with a button on his jacket and looked around the room.
这时音乐停了，他们走过去坐下。莱拉的舞伴话不多，他伸开腿，玩弄着夹克上的纽扣，环顾四周。
But it didn’t matter. The band began to play again, and her second partner seemed to appear from nowhere.
但这没关系。乐队又开始演奏了，她的第二个舞伴仿佛凭空出现了一般。
‘Floor’s not bad,’ said the new voice. ‘Were you at the Neaves’ last Tuesday?’
“地板不错，”新的声音说道，“上周二你去尼夫家的舞会了吗？”
Again, Leila explained that this was her first ball. It was strange that her partners did not seem to find this more interesting. It was so exciting! Her first ball! She was at the beginning of everything.
莱拉又一次解释这是她的第一次舞会。奇怪的是，她的舞伴们似乎对此并不觉得更有趣。这多么令人兴奋啊！她的第一次舞会！她正处于一切的开端。
‘How about an ice-cream?’ said her partner. And they went through the doors, down the passage to the supper-room.
“吃点冰淇淋怎么样？”她的舞伴说。于是他们穿过门，沿着走廊来到宵夜室。
Leila’s face felt hot, and she was terribly thirsty. How sweet the ice-creams looked on their little glass plates, and how deliciously cold the spoons were!
莱拉觉得脸发热，渴得要命。小玻璃盘里的冰淇淋看起来多诱人啊，勺子也是多么冰凉可口！
When they came back to the hall, the fat man was waiting for her by the door. It gave Leila quite a shock to see how old he was; he ought to be on the stage with the mothers and fathers.
当他们回到大厅时，那位胖男士正在门口等她。看到他的年纪，莱拉吃了一惊；他本该和那些父母辈的人一起坐在舞台上。
And when she compared him with her other partners, his clothes looked old, too, and not terribly clean.
而且当她把他和其他舞伴相比时，发现他的衣服也显得陈旧，也不太干净。
‘Come along, little lady,’ said the fat man. He held her loosely, and they moved so slowly that it was more like walking than dancing.
“来吧，小姑娘，”胖男士说。他松松地搂着她，移动得如此缓慢，与其说是跳舞不如说是走路。
But he said nothing at all about the floor, ‘Your first ball, isn’t it?’ he said.
但他根本没提地板的事，“这是你的第一次舞会，对吧？”他说。
‘How did you know?’
“你怎么知道的？”
‘Ah,’ said the fat man, ‘that’s what it is to be old! You see, I’ve been doing this for the last thirty years.’
“唉，”胖男士说，“这就是变老的样子啊！你要知道，我已经跳了三十年舞了。”
‘Thirty years!’ cried Leila. Twelve years before she was born!
“三十年！”莱拉叫道。比她出生还早十二年呢！
‘Terrible to think about, isn’t it?’ the fat man said sadly. Leila looked at his bald head, and she felt quite sorry for him.
“想起来挺可怕的，不是吗？”胖男士悲伤地说。莱拉看着他光秃秃的头顶，不禁为他感到难过。
‘I think it’s wonderful that you can still dance so well,’ she said kindly.
“我觉得您还能跳得这么好，真是了不起，”她善意地说。
‘Kind little lady,’ the fat man said. He held her a little closer. ‘Of course,’ he said, ‘you won’t be able to go on as long as this. Oh, no,’ said the fat man, ‘long before you’re as old as I am, you’ll be sitting up there on the stage in your nice black dress, watching. And these pretty arms will be little short fat ones.’
“善良的小姑娘，”胖男士说。他把她搂得更紧了些。“当然，”他说，“你不可能像我跳这么久。哦，不会的，”胖男士说，“远在你到我这个年纪之前，你就会穿着漂亮的黑色礼服坐在那边的舞台上看着了。而这双漂亮的手臂也会变成短短胖胖的样子。”
The fat man shook his head sadly at the thought. ‘And you’ll smile just like those poor old dears up there, and point to your daughter, and tell the old lady next to you how some terrible man tried to kiss her at a ball. And your poor heart will ache, ache’—he held her even closer, to show how sorry he felt for that poor heart—’because no one wants to kiss you now. And you’ll say how awful these slippery floors are, how dangerous to walk on. Yes, little lady?’ the fat man said softly.
想到这儿，胖男士悲伤地摇了摇头。“你会像上面那些可怜的老太太一样微笑，指着你的女儿，告诉你旁边的老太太某个可怕的男人曾在舞会上试图吻她。而你可怜的心会痛啊，痛啊”——他把她搂得更紧了，以显示他对那颗可怜的心的同情——“因为现在没人想吻你了。你还会说这些光滑的地板有多糟糕，走在上面有多危险。是这样吗，小姑娘？”胖男士轻声说道。
Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing. Was it—could it all be true? Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball?
莱拉轻轻笑了一声，但她并不想笑。难道——这一切都是真的吗？这第一次舞会仅仅是她最后一次舞会的开始吗？
The music seemed to change. It sounded sad, sad. Oh, how quickly things changed! Why didn’t happiness last forever? For ever wouldn’t be a bit too long!
音乐似乎变了，听起来悲伤，悲伤。噢，事物变化得多快啊！为什么幸福不能永恒？永恒一点也不嫌长啊！
‘I want to stop,’ she said in a breathless voice. The fat man led her to the door.
“我想停下，”她气喘吁吁地说。胖男士把她领到门口。
‘No,’ she said, ‘I don’t want to go outside’.
“不，”她说，“我不想出去。”
She stood there by the wall, trying to smile. But deep inside her a little girl threw herself down on her bed and burst into tears. Why did he have to ruin it all?
她靠墙站着，努力挤出微笑。但在她内心深处，一个小女孩扑倒在床上放声大哭。他为什么要毁掉这一切？
‘I say, you know,’ said the fat man, ‘you mustn’t take me seriously, little lady.’
“我说，你知道的，”胖男士说，“你可别把我的话当真，小姑娘。”
‘Of course I don’t!’ said Leila, biting her lip.
“我当然不会！”莱拉咬着嘴唇说。
More people stood up to dance. The band was getting ready to play again. But Leila didn’t want to dance any more. She wanted to be at home, looking out of her bedroom window at the stars.
更多的人站起来跳舞。乐队正准备再次演奏。但莱拉不想再跳了。她想待在家里，从卧室窗户望着星星。
But then the lovely music started, and a young man came to dance with her. She decided to dance with him and then go, as soon as she could find Meg. Very stiffly, she walked out onto the dance-floor.
但随后美妙的音乐响起了，一位年轻男士过来邀她共舞。她决定和他跳完这支就走，只要找到梅格就行。她僵硬地走上舞池。
But in a moment her feet simply danced away with her. The lights, the flowers, the dresses, the pink faces, all became one beautiful flying wheel.
但片刻之后，她的双脚便不由自主地带着她舞动起来。灯光、鲜花、裙裾、粉嫩的面庞，全都化作了一个美丽飞旋的轮盘。
When her next partner bumped her into the fat man, she just smiled at him happily. She didn’t even recognize him again.
当下一位舞伴将她撞到胖男士身上时，她只是开心地对他笑了笑。她甚至都没再认出他来。
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