六八读书

四、12. 不吐不快：翻译参考（第2页）

「某些与会人员，明就会讲英文，觉得很冤枉，还气得跳起来──你各位『明就懂，』在那边──就是为什么我叫各位委员懦夫──」

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「all of you saw the ‘elephant in the room’ but chose to ignore it completely. if there is a pink elephant, let us point it out with our fingers—if there is a big wolf hiding in the wood, lurking to harm our kids—let’s get it, then! why—isn’t it ‘a perfect day for the wolf?’ i don’t see no points that we still sit here and wait for a messiah-like figure to save the day, to remove the threat for us, while we are still far from being late to take action.

「通通有，你各位，明就看见『房间里的大象，』还给我视而不见。要房里有粉红色大象，就给我指出来，用各位的手指头──要有一头大野狼，躲在树林里，等着害我们家小孩──就抓起来！为啥──今天不就『逮狼的良辰吉时？』搞不懂，我们干嘛坐着不动，枯等某个救世主般的人物，蹦出来拯救世界，替我们剷除隐患；明就还不算太迟，给我动起来！」

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「i regretted it, i deeply regretted that i failed to be that ‘catcher in the rye’ when there was a kid, an absolutely lovely sweetheart, who just ran straight toward the ‘crazy cliff,’ while still within arm’s reach—i could have caught her in my arms [a catch in her throat]. i regretted that we just let it happen, as she just fell over the nest, without the slightest chance to grow up and learn to flutter her little but brave[1] wings—」

「我很后悔，深深地后悔，没能扮演好称职的『麦田捕手，』明明就有个小孩，超级无敌可爱宝贝蛋，就这样直直衝向『扯到爆悬崖，』明就伸长臂膀搆得着的距离──我明就有机会紧紧接在怀里【哽咽】。我好后悔，我们就任由憾事发生；她就这样跌出鸟巢，根本没丝毫机会，没能长大、学会鼓动那对小小、美丽的翅膀──」

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「oh, oh, some people are sweeping away the person they disagree with—fine by me, i know i am never welcome here. the moment i stepped into this school, i’d already known you all hated me to the bone. you all see me as an outsider, if not a pariah—which is fine. i know the honest outsider always gets expelled from the city state just because she speaks the truth.」

. . .

「since this meeting gets us nowhere, now, please allow me to take my leave.」

「喔、喔，某些人急了，急着把跟自己意见不同的人扫地出门──我没差，早知道自己从不受欢迎。踏进这所学校的第一天，就知道你们这些傢伙『恨我』恨到骨子里去了。你们这些傢伙都把我当成外人，甚至当贱民一样排挤──都没差。我明白，当个诚实的异邦人就要被逐出城邦，就只是因为讲实话。」

「既然在这里讨论不出个所以然，那好，请容我先告退。」

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[1] “brave”: beautiful. see william shakespeare’s play the tempest: “o wonder!/how many goodly creatures are there here!/how beauteous mankind is! o brave new world,/that has such people in 't. (act v, scene i, ll. 203–206). 翻译译作「美丽新世界。」亦参见赫胥黎同名小说的标题。