2024年1月19日发(作者：)

00600高级英语中英翻译B7_AceintheHole

Lesson Seven Ace in the Hole埃斯身陷困境

By John Updike ] 约翰?厄普代克

Text

No sooner did his car touch the boulevard heading home

than Ace flicked on the radio .

车子刚开上通向家的大街，埃斯便啪的一声打开收音机。

He needed the radio , especially today . In the seconds before

the tubes warmed up , he said aloud , doing it just to hear a

human voice , ― Jesus . She ?ll pop her lid . ―

他需要收音机，特别是今天。在电子管预热的几秒钟内，就是为了能听到人的声音，他大声地说，―天哪，她非炸了不可。‖`

His voice , though familiar , irked him ; it sounded thin and

scratchy .

他的声音尽管熟悉，却让他感到厌烦；声音听起来尖细刺耳。`

In a deeper register Ace added , ― She‘ll murder me . ― Then

the radio came on , warm and strong , so he stopped worrying .

埃斯用低音域的声音加了一句，―她非宰了我不可。‖这时收音机响了，传出的声音热情有力，所以他不再担忧了`

The five Kings were doing ― Blueberry Hill ― ;

五王乐团正在演唱《紫浆果山》；

to hear them made Ace feel so sure inside that from the pack

pinched between the car roof and the sun shield he plucked a

cigarette ,

听到他们的演唱使埃斯感到心里十分踏实，他从塞在车顶和遮阳板中间的烟盒中抽出一根烟

hung it on his lower lip , snapped a match across the rusty

place on the dash .

叼在下嘴唇上，在仪表盘的生锈处擦着一根火柴。

He rolled down the window and snapped the match so it

spun end-over-end into the gutter . ― Two points , ― he said ,

他摇下车窗，将火柴弹出窗外，火柴竖转着飞进路沟里。―两分，‖他说，

and cocked the cigarette toward the roof of the car , sucked

powerfully , and exhaled two plumes through his nostrils .

将香烟翘起冲着车顶，用力地吸了一口，然后从鼻子里喷出两股烟。

He was beginning to feel like himself , Ace Anderson , for the

first time that whole day , a bad day .

在这一整天里，这倒霉的一天里，他第一次觉得自己一切正常了，又是埃斯?安德森了。

He beat time on the accelerator . The car jerked crazily .

他用脚在加速器上打拍子。汽车疯了一样一冲一冲地前进着。

Ace decided to stop at his mother‘s place and pick up the

baby , instead of waiting for Evey to do it . 埃斯决定先到母亲那儿接孩子，而不是等着埃维去接。

His mother must have seen him drive up . She came out on

the porch holding a plastic spoon and smelling of cake .

他母亲一定是看见他的车子开过来了。她走出来站在门廊前，手里拿着个塑料勺子，身上一股蛋糕的香味

―You‘re out early , ― she told him .

―你回来得很早，‖她对他说。

―Friedman fired me , ― Ace told her .

―佛里德曼把我解雇了，‖埃斯告诉她

―Good for you , ― his mother said . ―I always said he never

treated you right . ― she brought a cigarette out of her apron

pocket and tucked it deep into one corner of her mouth , the way

she did when something pleased her .

―这对你很好，‖他的母亲说。―我一直说他对你不好。‖她从围裙

的口袋里拿出一根烟，深深地塞在嘴角里，有什么事让她高兴时，她总是这样。

Ace lighted it for her . ― Friedman was O.K. personally , ― he

said .‖ He just Wanted too much for his money . I didn‘t mind

working Saturdays , but until eleven , twelve Friday nights was

too much . Everybody has a right to some leisure . ―

埃斯给她点着烟。―佛里德曼本人还不错，‖他说，―就是用人用得太狠。周六工作我不在乎，

但周五也要干到夜里十一二点就太过分了。谁都有权利享受一些闲暇。‖

― Well , I don‘t dare think that Evey will say , but I , for one .

thank dear God you had the brains to get out of it . I always said

that job had no future to it ----no future of any kind , Freddy . ―

―我不敢说埃维会怎么说，但就我而言，感谢上帝你还有头脑能够摆脱它。我一直说这份工作没有前途——没有任何前途，佛雷德。‖

― I guess , ― Ace admitted . ― But I wanted to keep at it , for

the family ?s sake . ―

―我也是这么想的，‖埃斯承认，―但为了这个家，我还想继续干下去。‖

― Now , I know I shouldn‘t be saying this , but any time Evey

----this is just between us

―现在，我知道我不应该说这话，但不管什么时候埃维——这事只有你我知道

any time Evey thinks she can do better , there‘s room for

you and Bonnie right in your father‘s house . ―

不管什么时候埃维想攀什么高枝时，你父亲的家里总有你和邦尼的地方。‖

She pinched her lips together . He could almost hear the old

lady think . There , I‘ve said it .

她紧抿着双唇。他差不多能听见老太太在想什么。瞧，我说出来

了。

― Look , Mom , Evey tries awfully hard , and anyway you know

she can‘t work

that way . Not that that ---I mean , she‘s a realist , too ….‖

―听我说，妈妈，埃维已经很努力了，而且你也知道她不能那样工作。并不是说——我的意思是，她也是一个很现实的人……‖

He let the rest of the thought fade as he watched a kid across

the street dribbling a basketball around a telephone pole that

had a backboard and net nailed on it .

看见街对面一个小男孩正绕着一根钉着篮板和篮网的电线杆运球。

― Evey‘s a wonderful girl of her own kind .But I ?ve always

said , and your father agrees , Roman Catholics ought to marry

among themselves . Now I know I‘ve said it before , but when

they get out in the greater world ----―

―埃维在她那类人中算是个不错的女孩。不过我一直说，你父亲也同意，天主教徒应该跟天主教徒结婚。我知道我以前就说过，但当他们走到天主教以外的世界时——‖

― No , Mom . ―

―不，妈妈。‖

She frowned , smoothed herself , and said , ― Your name was

in the paper today . ―

她皱着眉头，平静了一下后，说：―你的名字上今天的报纸了。‖

Ace chose to let that go by . He kept watching the kid with

the basketball .

埃斯故意没有搭腔。他一直在看着那个拿着篮球的男孩。

― Did you hear ?‖his mother asked

―你听到我说的话了吗？‖他母亲问

―Sure , but so what ?‖ Ace said . His mother‘s lower lip was

coming at him , so he changed the subject . ― I guess I ?ll take

Bonnie . ―

―当然，那又怎样？‖埃斯说。他母亲冲他撇了撇嘴，于是他换了个话题。―我想把邦尼接走。‖

His mother went into the house and brought back his

daughter , wrapped in a blue blanket .

他母亲走进屋内，将他的女儿裹在蓝毯子里抱了出来

The baby looked dopey . ― She fussed all day , ― his mother

complained .

孩子看上去有点迷迷糊糊的。―她闹了一天，‖他母亲抱怨说，

― I said to your father , ?Bonnie is a dear little girl , but without

a doubt she‘s her mother ?s daughter . You were the best –natured boy . ―。

―我跟你父亲说?邦尼是个可爱的孩子，但毫无疑问她像她妈妈。‘你小时候最乖。‖

― Well I had everything , ― Ace said with an impatience that

made his mother blink .

―我那时什么都有，‖埃斯说话时的不耐烦让他母亲直眨眼。

At the door of his car , it seemed stupid to him to drive the

measly half block

home .

在车门旁，他觉得只有半条街这点短的可怜的路还开车回家很愚蠢。

His old coach , Bob Behn , used to say never to ride where

you could walk .

他的老教练，鲍勃?本思，过去常说能走就决不要开车。

cars were the death of legs . Ace left the ignition keys in his

pocket and ran along the pavement with Bonnie laughing an

bouncing at his chest .

有了汽车腿就完蛋了。埃斯将车钥匙放在口袋里，沿着马路跑起来，邦尼在他的怀里笑着，颤颤悠悠地。

The run must have tuned Bonnie up .

跑了这一会一定是让邦尼兴奋起来了。

When they got back home , as soon as he lowered her into

the crib , she began to shout and wave her arms .

当他们回到家里，他刚把她放进小床里她就大声地喊，还挥动双臂。

He didn‘t want to play with her . He tossed some blocks

and rattle into the crib and walked into the bathroom , where he

turned on the hot water and began to comb his hair .

他不想跟她玩。他把几块积木和一个拨浪鼓扔到小床上，进了浴室，他打开热水，开始梳头

He ran the comb straight back on both sides of his head ,

then mussed the hair in front enough for one little lock to droop

over his forehead .

向后梳，然后把前面的头发稍稍弄乱，让一小缕头发垂在前额上。

It made the temple seem lower than it was . Every day , his

hair-line looked higher . He had observed all around him how

blond men went bald first .

他用梳子将两侧的头发这使额头显得低了一点。他的发际线每天都在升高。他注意到周围金发的男人总是先秃顶。

He remembered reading somewhere , though , that baldness

shows virility .。

不过他记得在什么地方读过说秃顶代表阳刚气概。

He found a can of beer in the refrigerator behind some

brownish lettuce and those hot dogs Evey never got around to

cooking .

他在冰箱里发黄的莴苣菜和那些埃维从来也不做的热狗后边找到一罐啤酒。她随时都有可能回家。

She ?d be home any time . The clock said 5:12 . She ?d pop

her lid .

时钟显示是五点十二分。她非炸锅不可。

Ace didn‘t see what he could do but try and reason with

her .

埃斯不知道除了试着跟她讲道理以外，还能做什么。

―Evey , ― he‘d say , ― you ought to thank God I got out of it .

―埃维，‖他会说，―你应该感谢上帝我终于能摆脱它。

It had no future to it at all . ― He hoped she wouldn‘t get

too mad , because when she was mad he wondered if he should

have married her , and doubting that made him feel crowded .

这工作根本没有前途。‖他希望她不会太生气，因为她太生气时，他就会想他当初该不该娶她，而这种怀疑使他很烦闷。

It was bad enough , his mother always crowding him .

他母亲一直向他施加压力已经够糟糕的了

He hope Evey wouldn‘t say anything that couldn‘t be

forgotten .

他希望埃维不要说什么让人无法忘记的话。

What women didn‘t seem to realize was that there were

things you knew but shouldn‘t say .

女人似乎不明白有一些事情你就是知道也不能说出来。

Ace balanced the beer on a corner where two rails of the crib

met and looked under the chairs for the morning paper .

埃斯将啤酒在小床的两根栏杆相交处放稳，在椅子底下找到了晨报。

He had trouble finding his name , because it was at the

bottom of a column on

an inside sports page , in a small article about the country

basketball statistics :

他好不容易才找到自己的名字，因为是在中间体育版内某一栏目的最下边，在一篇有关县篮球统计数字的小文章中。

― Dusty ― Tremwick , Grosvenor Park‘s sure-fingered center

copped the individual scoring honors with a season‘s grand

( and we do mean grand ) total of 376points .

―尘土‖特雷姆威克，格罗斯文诺公园队的中锋神投手以一个赛季总分376分的好成绩（确实是好成绩）荣获个人得分第一名。

This is within eighteen points of the all-time rocord of 394

racked up in the 1949-1950 season by Olinger High‘s Fred

Anderson .

距1949～1950赛季中奥格林中学的佛雷德?安德森所创的最高记录394分差18分。

Ace angrily sailed the paper into an armchair . Now it was

Fred Anderson ; it used to be Ace .

埃斯生气地将报纸扔到椅子上。现在成了佛雷德?安德森；以前可是埃斯（王牌）。``

He hated being called Fred , especially in print , but then the

sportswriters were all office boys anyways , Behn used to say .

他讨厌他们叫他佛雷德，尤其是在报纸上，不过反正那些写体育报道的都是些坐办公室的人，本恩过去常这么说。

Ace went into the kitchen , without knowing what he wanted

there . He wasn‘t hungry ; his stomach was tight .

埃斯走进厨房，也不知道自己想拿什么。他并不饿，他的胃有点紧。

A key scratched at the door lock . Ace decided to stay in the

kitchen . Let her find him .

钥匙开门锁的声音。埃斯决定就待在厨房里，让她找到他。

Her heels clicked on the floor for a step or two ;

她走了一两步，鞋跟哒哒地敲在地板上

then the television set went off . Bonnie began to cry . ― Shut

up , honey , ― Evey said . There was a silence .

接着电视给关上了。邦尼开始哭了起来。―别哭了，宝贝，‖埃维说。一阵寂静。

―I‘m home , ― Ace called .

―我在家呢！‖埃斯喊道。

― No kidding . I thought Bonnie got the beer by herself . ―

―我以为邦尼自己拿的啤酒呢。‖

Ace laughed . She was in a sarcastic mood thinking she was

Lauren Bacall . That was all right , just so she kept funny .

埃斯笑了。她现在是挖苦人的心情，把自己当作罗林?巴考尔。这样很好，只要她能保持玩笑的心态

Still smiling , Ace eased into the living room and got hit with ,

埃斯带着微笑走进卧室，兜头接了一连串问题

― What are you smirking about ? Another question : What‘s

the idea running up the street with Bonnie like she was a

football ?‖

―你傻笑什么？还有：你把邦尼当成是足球似的抱着在大街上跑，到底想干什么？‖

― You saw that ?‖

―你看见了？‖

― Your mother told me . ―

―你母亲告诉我的。‖

― You saw her ?‖

―你看见她了？‖

― Of course I saw her . I dropped by to pick up Bonnie. What

the hell do you think ---- I read her tiny mind ?‖

―我当然看到她了。我去接邦尼。你以为怎么了——我钻到她的小心眼里去吗？‖

― Take it easy , ― Ace said , wondering if Mom had told her

about Friedman .

―别着急，‖埃斯说，心里琢磨着不知道母亲是否已经告诉她有关佛里德曼的事。

― Take it easy ? Don‘t coach me . Another question : Why ?s

the car out in front of her place ? you give the car to her ?‖

―别着急？少教训我。还有：为什么你的车停在她的房子前？你把车给她了吗？‖

― Look , I parked it there to pick up Bonnie ., and I thought

I ?d leave it there . ―

―瞧，我只是把车停在那里接邦尼，而且我想把车留在那儿。‖

― Why ?‖―为什么？‖

― Whaddeya mean , why ? I just did . I just thought I ?d walk .

It‘s not that far , you know . ―

―什么为什么？我就是想把车留在那儿。就是想走一会。路又不远，你知道的。‖

― no , I don‘t know . If you ?d been on your feet all day a

block would look like one hell of a long way . ―

―不，我不知道。要是你整天都站着的话，一个街区就会显得很长。‖

―Okay . I‘m sorry . ――好吧。对不起。‖

She hung up her coat and stepped out of her shoes and

walked around the room picking up things She stuck the

newspaper in the wastebasket .

她挂上外衣，脱了鞋子，在房间里走来走去收拾东酉。她把报纸塞到垃圾桶里。

Ace said , ― My name was in the paper today . ―

埃斯说，―今天的报纸上有我的名字。‖

― They spell it right ?‖ She shoved the paper deep into the

basket with her foot . There was no doubt ; she knew about

Friedman . `

―他们拼对了吗？‖她用脚把报纸往垃圾桶里踹了踹。毫无疑问，她知道佛里德曼的事。

― They called me Fred . ―

―他们叫我佛雷德。‖`

― Isn‘t that your name ? What is your name anyway ? Hero

J. Great ?‖

―难道你不叫佛雷德吗？那你叫什么名字？英雄?杰?伟人吗？‖`

There wasn‘t any answer , so Ace didn‘t try any . He sat

down on the sofa , lighted a cigarette , and waited .

埃斯没有回答，他也不想回答。他坐在沙发上，点着一根烟，等着。

Evey picked up Bonnie . ― Poor thing stinks . What does your

mother do , scrub out the toilet with her ?‖

埃维抱起邦尼。―可怜的小东西都臭了。你母亲都干了什么，用她擦厕所了吗？‖

― Can‘t you take it easy ? I know you‘re tired . ―

―你不能不这么着急吗？我知道你累了。‖

― You should . I‘m always tired . ―

―你应该知道。我一直都很累。‖

Evey and Bonnie went into the bathroom ; when they came

out Bonnie was clean and Evey was calm .

埃维和邦尼走进浴室，他们出来的时候邦尼干干净净的，埃维也平静了。`

Evey sat down in an easy chair beside Ace and rested her

stocking feet on his knees .

埃维在埃斯旁边的安乐椅上坐下，将她穿着袜子的脚放在埃斯的腿上。

― Hit me , ― she said , twiddling(捻動) her fingers for the

cigarette .

―给我一支，‖她说，捻动手指要香烟抽。

The baby crawled up (爬)to her chair and tried to stand to

see what he gave her .

孩子爬到她的椅子前，想站起来看他递给她什么。`

Leaning over close to Bonnie‘s nose , Evey grinned , smoke

leaking through her teeth , and said , ― Only for grownups ,

honey . ―

埃维弯腰贴近邦尼的鼻子，烟从牙缝中冒出来，笑着说―只给大人的，宝贝。‖`

― Eve, ― Ace began , ― there was no future in that job . Working

all Saturday , and then Friday nights on top of it .

―埃维，‖埃斯说，―这份工作没有前途。每周六要工作一整天，周五晚上也要工作。‖

― I know . Your mother told me all that , too . All I want from

you is what happened . ―

―我知道。你母亲也跟我说了这些。我只是想知道到底发生了什么。‖

She was going to take it like a sport , then . He tried to

remember how it did happen .

那么，她会宽容地看待这件事了。他努力去想到底是怎么回事。

― It wasn‘t my fault , ― he said .

―不是我的过错，‖他说。

― Friedman told me to back this ‘51 Chevvy into the line that

faces Church Street .

―佛里德曼让我把那辆1951年造的雪韦车倒进教堂街对面的那排车中。

He just bought it from an old guy this morning who said it

only had thirteen thousand on it

他早上刚从一个老家伙那儿买的，那人说他的车只跑过一万三千英里。

So in I jump and start her up . There was a knock in the

engine like a machine gun .

于是我跳进车里打着火。发动机就像机关枪一样发出爆破声。

I almost told Friedman he‘d bought a squirrel , but you

know I cut that smart stuff out ever since Palotta laid me off . ―

他差点就对佛里德曼说他买了一个灰松鼠，但你知道自从被帕罗

塔解雇以后我就再也不说俏皮话了。‖

― You told me that story . What happens in this one ?‖

―你告诉过我这些。这回又是怎么回事了？‖

― Look , Eve . I am telling ya . Do you want me to go out to a

movie or something ?‘

―瞧，埃维。我正想告诉你呢。你想让我出去看场电影或干点其他什么呢？

― Suit yourself . ―

―你自己看着办吧。‖

― So I jump in the Chevvy and snap it back in line , and there

was a kind of scrape and thump .

―我跳上雪韦车，把它倒进那排车里，接着听到了一种刮蹭声和砰的一声。

I get out the look and Friedman‘s running over , his arms

going like this‖

我下了车看看，佛里德曼正向我跑过来，他的胳膊挥舞着，就像这样‖

―Ace whirled his own arms and laughed ----―

——埃斯挥动着胳膊大笑起来。

and here was the whole back fender(防護檔)of a ‘49 Merc

mashed in . Just looked like somebody took a planer （刨子）and

shaved off the bulge凸出, you know , there at the back . ―

―一辆1949年产的墨丘利牌车的后挡泥板整个被刮下来了。就像有人拿了刨子把鼓出的部分刨平一样，你知道，就在后部。‖

He tried to show her with his hands . ― The Chevvy , though ,

didn‘t have a dent . It even gained some paint . but Friedman ,

to hear him ----Boy , they can rave when their pocket ---book‘s

hit . He said ― ----Ace laughed again -----― never mind . ―

他试图用手比划给她看。―那辆雪韦却连一个小坑也没有。还沾了点漆呢。但听听佛里德曼怎么说——好家伙，你一碰到他们的钱包他

们就像疯了一样。他说‖——埃斯又笑了起来——―不说了。‖

Evey said , ― you‘re proud of yourself . ―

埃维说，―你居然还感到很自豪。‖

― No, listen. I‘m not happy about it . But there wasn‘t a

thing I could do .

―不，听我说。我并不高兴发生了这样的事。但我毫无办法。

It wasn‘t my driving at all . I looked over on the other side ,

and there was just two or three inches between the Chevvy and

a Buick . ―

这不是我开车的问题。我小心地看着另一边，在雪韦和别克车中间只有两三英寸的距离。‖She said , ― you could have looked . ―

她说，―你应该先看一下。‖

― There just wasn‘t the space . Friedman said stick it in ; I

stuck it in . ―

―地方根本就不够。佛里德曼说让我塞进去，我就塞进去了。‖

― But you could have looked and moved the other cars to

make more room . ――但你应该先看一下，把其他的车移一下，这样就可以有更多的地方了。‖

― I guess that would have been the smart thing. ―

―我想这应该是个好主意。‖

― I guess , too . Now what ?‖

―我也这么认为。现在怎么样了呢？‖

― What do you mean ? ―

―你指的是什么？‖

― I mean now what ? Are you going to give up ? Go back to

the army ? Your mother? Be a basketball pro ? What ?