13

Chapter 2

Just as Tom and Myrtle—after the first drink Mrs. Wilson and I called each other by our first names—reappeared, company commenced to arrive at the apartment door. 汤姆和茉特尔（第一杯酒下肚之后威尔逊太太和我就彼此喊教名了） 一重新露面，客人们就开始来敲公寓的门了。

The sister, Catherine, was a slender, worldly girl of about thirty with a solid sticky bob of red hair and a complexion powdered milky white. 她妹妹凯瑟琳是一个苗条而俗气的女人，年纪三十上下，一头浓密的短短的红头发，脸上粉搽得像牛奶一样白。Her eyebrows had been plucked(扯) and then drawn on again at a more rakish angle but the efforts of nature toward the restoration of the old alignment gave a blurred air to her face. 她的眉毛是拔掉又重画过的，画的角度还俏皮一些，想要抵抗自然的力量恢复旧观，弄得她的脸部有点眉目不清。

When she moved about there was an incessant clicking as innumerable pottery bracelets jingled up and down upon her arms. 她走动的时候，不断发出丁当丁当的声音，因为许多假玉手镯在她胳臂上面上上下下地抖动。She came in with such a proprietary haste and looked around so possessively at the furniture that I wondered if she lived here. 她像主人一样大模大样走了进来，对家具扫视了一番，仿佛东西是属于她的，使我怀疑她是否就住在这里。

But when I asked her she laughed immoderately, repeated my question aloud and told me she lived with a girl friend at a hotel. 但是等我问她时，她放声大笑，大声重复了我的问题，然后告诉我她和一个女朋友同住在一家旅馆里。

Mr. McKee was a pale feminine man from the flat below. 麦基先生是住在楼下一层的一个白净的、女人气的男人。He had just shaved for there was a white spot of lather on his cheekbone and he was most respectful in his greeting to everyone in the room.他刚刮过胡子，因为他颧骨上还有一点白肥皂沫。他和屋里每一个人打招呼时都毕恭毕敬。

 He informed me that he was in the ‘artistic game’ and I gathered later that he was a photographer and had made the dim enlargement(扩大,扩展) of Mrs. Wilson’s mother which hovered like an ectoplasm on the wall. 告诉我他是“吃艺术饭”的，后来我才明白他是摄影师，墙上挂的威 尔逊太太的母亲那幅像一片胚叶似的模糊不清的放大照片就是他摄制的。

His wife was shrill, languid(慵懒),handsome and horrible. 他老婆尖声尖气，没精打采，漂漂亮亮，可是非常讨厌。She told me with pride that her husband had photographed her a hundred and twenty-seven times since they had been married. 她得意洋洋地告诉我，自从他们结婚以来她丈夫已经替她照过一百二十七次相了。

Mrs. Wilson had changed her costume(服装,演出服) some time before and was now attired(正式) in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream colored chiffon, which gave out a continual rustle as she swept about the room. 威尔逊太太不知什么时候又换了一套衣服，现在穿的是一件精致的奶油色雪纺绸的连衣裙，是下午做客穿的那种，她在屋子里转来转去的时候，衣裙就不断地沙沙作响。

With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. 由于衣服的影响，她的个性也跟着起了变化。The intense vitality(生命力) that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur(法语表示-傲慢,自大的). 早先在车行里那么显著的活力变成了目空一切的人。

 Herlaughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected moment by moment and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot(支点) through the smoky air. 她的笑声、她的姿势、她的言谈，每一刻都变得越来越矫揉造作，同时随着她逐渐膨胀，她周围的屋子就显得越来越小，后来，她好像在烟雾弥漫的空气中坐在一个吱吱喳喳的木轴上不停地转动。

‘My dear,’ she told her sister in a high mincing shout, ‘most of these fellas will cheat you every time. All they think of is money. I had a woman up here last week to look at my feet and when she gave me the bill you’d of thought she had my appendicitus out.’ “亲爱的，”她装腔作势地大声告诉她妹妹，“这年头不论是谁都想欺骗你。他们脑子里想的只有钱。上星期我找了个女的来看看我的脚，等她把账单给我，你还以为她给我割了阑尾哩。”

‘What was the name of the woman?’ asked Mrs. McKee. “ 那女人姓什么？”麦基太太问。

‘Mrs. Eberhardt. She goes around looking at people’s feet in their own homes. “ 埃伯哈特太太。她经常到人家中去替人看脚。”

‘I like your dress,’ remarked Mrs. McKee, ‘I think it’s adorable.’“ 我喜欢你这件衣服，”麦基太太说，“我觉得它真漂亮。”

Mrs. Wilson rejected the compliment by raising her eyebrow in disdain(蔑视). 威尔逊太太不屑地把眉毛一扬，否定了这句恭维话。

‘It’s just a crazy old thing,’ she said. ‘I just slip it on sometimes when I don’t care what I look like.’ “ 这只是一件破烂的旧货，”她说，“我不在乎自己是什么样子的时候， 我就把它往身上一套。”

‘But it looks wonderful on you, if you know what I mean,’ pursued Mrs. McKee. ‘If Chester could only get you in that pose I think he could make something of it.’ “ 可是穿在你身上就显得特别漂亮，如果你懂得我的意思的话，”麦基太太紧跟着说，“只要切斯特能把你这个姿势拍下来，我想这一定会是幅杰作。”

We all looked in silence at Mrs. Wilson who removed a strand of hair from over her eyes and looked back at us with a brilliant smile. Mr. McKee regarded her intently with his head on one side and then moved his hand back and forth slowly in front of his face. 我们大家都默默地看着威尔逊太太，她把一缕头发从眼前掠开，笑盈盈地看着我们大家。麦基光生歪着头，目不转睛地端详着她，然后又伸出一 只手在面前慢慢地来回移动。

‘I should change the light,’he said after a moment. ‘I’d like to bring out the modelling of the features.And I’d try to get hold of all the back hair.’ “ 我得改换光线，”他过了一会儿说道，“我很想把面貌的立体感表现出来。我还要把后面的头发全部摄进来。”