2006春──翻譯與習作

何春蕤(週三上午9-12A-105教室)

 

translation homework


最浪漫的一次外遇
The Most Romantic Affair
張華容翻譯

 
如果你是老婆,也發現丈夫居然出現外遇,你會如何?
當我發生這一段外遇時,結婚已九年了。有一天,我在辦公室收到一封「愛慕」我的信,它是用郵寄的方式,但沒有註明回信地址。這女子說她幾乎每天都看見我,並且愛上了我,她認為我很有吸引力,尤其特別喜歡我對別人的體貼,為別人著想的個性。她最後這部分是說對了,我的確是很善體人意,溫文儒雅。有一段時間,我幾乎每星期就會收到她的信一次。有時後,她會寄一些詩之類的東西來。
Imagine you were a married woman. What would you do if you find your better half having an affair? 
I had been married for nine years when I had an affair. One day, I got an 「affectionate」 letter at my office. It came through the mail system without a sender』s address. In the letter, a lady claimed that she saw me almost everyday, and she had fallen for me. She thought I was quite attractive, considerate, and altruistic. She hit the mark on this last part: I am pretty considerate and genial. For quite a while, I would receive a letter from her almost every week. Sometimes she would send me poems or things like that. 


老實說,我還真有點喜歡她這種寫信的方式,而且很放心,因為她似乎並沒有要求我付出任何東西。她從不要求和我碰面,也從不要求我必須回信給她。這些信件開始慢慢的影響了我。當我從鏡子中看到自己長得不夠英俊挺拔,就開始上健身房;我又去買了幾件新衣,這些都是我一向不會做的是。
Frankly, I was really enjoying her letters and I felt relieved that she didn』t seem to demand anything in return. She never asked to meet me, nor did she ask that I write back to her. Still, gradually, these letters began to take their effect on me. I would go and work out in the gym when I felt myself out of shape in the mirror; I even bought some new clothing. These were not what I would usually do.


她注意到了。她在信中告訴我,我看起來比以前健康,而且她也很喜歡我的新造型。她甚至送了我一條很棒的領帶。不幸的事是,我已開始覺得有罪惡感。我很愛我的太太,即使在結婚了九年之後,我們的婚姻仍維持得很好。雖然如大部分的男人一般,我也曾經「想」過,但卻不曾迷惑過。所以,當我那位仰慕者開始寄一些具挑逗性的信件來之後,真的給我很大的困擾。雖然寄來的並不是什麼污穢的,或春宮圖之類的東西,只是一些小故事或男女擁吻的圖片,即使我非常喜歡,還是無法抑制心中的罪惡感。因為我開始無時無刻不在注意、找尋這個女人了。
She noticed that. She said in a letter that I looked healthier and she liked my new dressing style. She even sent me a great necktie. Unfortunately, I began to feel the gnawing of guilt in my chest. I loved my wife. Even after nine years of marriage, our relationship was still in a good shape. Though not unlike most married men, I had thought about it, but I』d never lost myself on matters of this nature. That』s why it really unsettled my nerves when my admirer started sending me some titillating letters. They were not anything dirty or pornographic, just some short stories or pictures of men and women kissing. I liked them a lot, but I just couldn』t get rid of my guilt. For I found myself watching out and searching for this woman every instant of my day. 


又是幾個月過去了。有一天,我收到她寄來的一本書──《給情慾伴侶的情慾之愛》。書裡面都是一對對男女在各處(除了床上之外)做愛的圖片,如在桌上、在熱熱的澡盆裡,用油、香水和樺枝互相揉搓著、吮吸著、舔著,及愛撫著。這簡直令我發狂。她信上說,她是如何的想和我一起做這些事。我承認,我也很想和她做這些事。嗯,現在我的體格已鍛鍊得不錯了,穿著也有品味了,開始渴望愛與性。
Another few months went by. One day I received a book from her—Carnal Love for Sex Partners. The book was filled with pictures of men and women having sex everywhere except in the bed. They were doing it on the desk, rubbing each other with oil, fragrance, and birch sticks in a hot bath, sucking, licking and caressing each other. Reading the book drove me crazy. She wrote in her letter how she imagined doing all these things with me. I had to admit that I wanted to do the same things with her too. Hum, my body was in good shape and my taste in clothing had improved. I was longing and ready for love and sex.


一天, 一束很大的黃玫瑰被送到我的辦公室來。上面附著一張條子,寫著她決定要把握機會和我見個面,要求我在當天下午,到附近一間酒店大廳去見她。她會拿著一朵黃玫瑰,坐在大廳等我。我亂了分寸。我不能去,但我想去,而且我應該要去。我想我可以躲起來先觀察她。我到了那間酒店,直接朝側門走去,走上樓梯,來到那可以俯瞰整個大廳的中庭陽臺上。她就坐在那裡。穿著美麗的套裝。拿著一朵黃玫瑰。獨自坐在大廳中央的一張沙發上。她是我的太太。今天是我們十週年結婚紀念日。
One day, a huge bundle of yellow roses was delivered to my office with a note attached. The words said that she had decided to take the opportunity to meet me. I was to go to the lobby of a nearby hotel on that afternoon, and she would be waiting for me there holding one yellow rose. I was flustered. I couldn』t go, but I wanted to, and I should. I thought I could hide and just take a peek at her first. So I arrived at that hotel, entered through the side door, and walked up the stairs to the veranda where I could look down upon the entire lobby. There she was, in a beautiful suit with a yellow rose in her hand, right there on a sofa in the middle of the lobby. It was my wife, and it was our tenth wedding anniversary.