第36章 幸运的套鞋 The Goloshes of Fortune(2 / 2)

当青春的欢乐驱散一切忧虑,

when youthful pleasures banish every care,

我渴望财富只为获得一种力量,

I longed for riches but to gain a power,

佩剑、羽饰和军装我都想穿戴!

the sword and plume and uniform to wear!

财富和荣誉向我涌来;

the riches and the honor came for me;

然而我最大的财富仍是贫穷:

Yet still my greatest wealth was poverty:

啊,帮帮我,可怜可怜我吧!

Ah, help and pity me!

“在我青春年少、快乐自由的时候,

“once in my youthful hours, when gay and free,

有个少女爱上了我;她温柔的吻,

A maiden loved me; and her gentle kiss,

充满温柔的爱和纯洁,

Rich in its tender love and purity,

唉,让我懂得了尘世太多的幸福。

taught me, alas! too much of earthly bliss.

亲爱的姑娘!她只想着青春的欢乐;

dear child! She only thought of youthful glee;

她不爱财富,只爱童话和我。

She loved no wealth, but fairy tales and me.

你知道的:啊,可怜可怜我吧!

thou knowest: ah, pity me!

“哦,要是我富有该多好!这仍是我所有的祈求:

“oh were I rich! again is all my prayer:

那个孩子现在是个女人,美丽又自由,

that child is now a woman, fair and free,

像天使一样善良又美丽。

As good and beautiful as angels are.

哦,要是我有丰富的情诗,

oh, were I rich in lovers’ poetry,

能讲述我的童话,爱的最丰富的知识!

to tell my fairy tale, love’s richest lore!

但不,我必须沉默 —— 我很穷。

but no; I must be silent — I am poor.

啊,你会可怜我吗?

Ah, wilt thou pity me?

“哦,要是我在尘世中富有真理与安宁,

“oh were I rich in truth and peace below,

我就不必为我的贫穷而悲叹。

I need not then my poverty bewail.

我把这些悲哀的诗句献给你;

to thee I dedicate these lines of woe;

你难道不理解这悲哀的故事吗?

wilt thou not understand the mournful tale?

一片叶子上我倾诉我的悲伤 ——

A leaf on which my sorrows I relate —

命运更黑暗的夜晚的黑暗故事。

dark story of a darker night of fate.

啊,保佑我并可怜我吧!

Ah, bless and pity me!”

“嗯,是的;人们恋爱时会写诗,但明智的人不会把它们发表出来。一个恋爱中的中尉,还很穷。这是个三角关系,或者更确切地说,是命运那破碎的骰子的一半。”

“well, yes; people write poems when they are in love, but a wise man will not print them. A lieutenant in love, and poor. this is a triangle, or more properly speaking, the half of the broken die of fortune.”

中尉对此感受非常深刻,因此把头靠在窗框上,深深地叹了口气。

the lieutenant felt this very keenly, and therefore leaned his head against the window-frame, and sighed deeply.

“街上那个可怜的守夜人,” 他说,“比我幸福得多。他不知道我所说的贫穷是什么。他有一个家,一个妻子和孩子,他们为他的悲伤而哭泣,为他的快乐而高兴。哦,如果我能和他互换身份和处境,带着他那卑微的期望和希望度过一生,我该会多么幸福啊!是的,他确实比我幸福。”

“the poor watchman in the street,” said he, “is far happier than I am. he knows not what I call poverty. he has a home, a wife and children, who weep at his sorrow and rejoice at his joy. oh, how much happier I should be could I change my being and position with him, and pass through life with his humble expectations and hopes! Yes, he is indeed happier than I am.”

就在这时,守夜人又变回了守夜人;因为通过幸运女神的套鞋,他体验了中尉的生活,却发现自己并不像预期的那样满足,于是他更喜欢自己以前的状态,希望自己再次成为守夜人。

At this moment the watchman again became a watchman; for having, through the goloshes of Fortune, passed into the existence of the lieutenant, and found himself less contented than he expected, he had preferred his former condition, and wished himself again a watchman.

“那是个可怕的梦,” 他说,“但也够滑稽的。”

“that was an ugly dream,” said he, “but droll enough.

在我看来,我好像就是楼上的中尉,但我并不幸福。

It seemed to me as if I were the lieutenant up yonder, but there was no happiness for me.

我想念我的妻子和孩子们,他们总是准备好用亲吻把我淹没。”

I missed my wife and the little ones, who are always ready to smother me with kisses.”

他又坐了下来,点了点头,但他无法把这个梦从脑海中赶走,而且他的脚上还穿着那双套鞋。

he sat down again and nodded, but he could not get the dream out of his thoughts, and he still had the goloshes on his feet.

一颗流星划过天空。

A falling star gleamed across the sky.

“那儿有一颗!” 他叫道。

“there goes one!” cried he.

“不过,剩下的还很多呢;我很想更近距离地观察一下这些星星,尤其是月亮,因为它不会从人的手中溜走。我妻子给洗衣服的那个学生说,当我们死后,我们会从一颗星星飞到另一颗星星。如果这是真的,那将非常美妙,但我不相信。我希望我现在就能在那儿跳一小下;我很愿意让我的身体躺在这儿的台阶上。”

“however, there are quite enough left; I should very much like to examine these a little nearer, especially the moon, for that could not slip away under one’s hands. the student, for whom my wife washes, says that when we die we shall fly from one star to another. If that were true, it would be very delightful, but I don't believe it. I wish I could make a little spring up there now; I would willingly let my body lie here on the steps.”

世界上有些事情应该非常谨慎地说出来;当说话的人脚上穿着幸运女神的套鞋时,就更应该加倍小心了。现在我们来听听守夜人发生了什么事。

there are certain things in the world which should be uttered very cautiously; doubly so when the speaker has on his feet the goloshes of Fortune. Now we shall hear what happened to the watchman.

几乎每个人都知道蒸汽的巨大力量;我们已经通过我们在铁路上或在蒸汽船上穿越大海的快速旅行证明了这一点。但是这种速度与光的传播速度相比,就像树懒的移动速度,或者蜗牛的缓慢爬行速度一样;光的传播速度比最快的赛马快一千九百万倍,而电的速度更快。

Nearly every one is acquainted with the great power of steam; we have proved it by the rapidity with which we can travel, both on a railroad or in a steamship across the sea. but this speed is like the movements of the sloth, or the crawling march of the snail, when pared to the swiftness with which light travels; light flies nineteen million times faster than the fleetest race-horse, and electricity is more rapid still.

死亡是我们心中感受到的一次电击,在电的翅膀上,解脱的灵魂迅速飞走,太阳光到达我们地球九十五百万英里的距离仅需八分钟多一点;但是在电的翅膀上,思想只需一秒钟就能飞越同样的距离。

death is an electric shock which we receive in our hearts, and on the wings of electricity the liberated soul flies away swiftly, the light from the sun travels to our earth ninety-five millions of miles in eight minutes and a few seconds; but on the wings of electricity, the mind requires only a second to acplish the same distance.

天体之间的距离对于思想来说,并不比我们在同一座城市从一个朋友家走到另一个朋友家的距离更远;然而这种电击迫使我们在下面使用我们的身体,除非像守夜人那样,我们穿上了幸运女神的套鞋。

the space between the heavenly bodies is, to thought, no farther than the distance which we may have to walk from one friend’s house to another in the same town; yet this electric shock obliges us to use our bodies here below, unless, like the watchman, we have on the goloshes of Fortune.

几秒钟之内,守夜人就飞行了二十多万英里来到了月球,月球是由比我们地球更轻的物质构成的,可以说像新下的雪一样柔软。

In a very few seconds the watchman had travelled more than two hundred thousand miles to the moon, which is formed of a lighter material than our earth, and may be said to be as soft as new fallen snow.

他发现自己在我们在马德勒博士的月球大地图上看到的一座环形山上。

he found himself on one of the circular range of mountains which we see represented in dr. madler’s large map of the moon.

内部看起来像一个大的凹地,碗状,从边缘到凹地底部大约有半英里深。

the interior had the appearance of a large hollow, bowl-shaped, with a depth about half a mile from the brim.

在这个凹地里矗立着一座大城市;我们可以通过把一个鸡蛋的蛋清倒入一杯水中来想象它的样子。

within this hollow stood a large town; we may form some idea of its appearance by pouring the white of an egg into a glass of water.

它的建造材料看起来同样柔软,呈现出云雾般的塔楼和船帆似的梯田,完全透明,在稀薄的空气中飘浮着。

the materials of which it was built seemed just as soft, and pictured forth cloudy turrets and sail-like terraces, quite transparent, and floating in the thin air.

我们的地球像一个巨大的暗红色球体悬挂在他的头顶上。

our earth hung over his head like a great dark red ball.

不久他发现了一些生物,肯定可以称之为人类,但和我们大不相同。

presently he discovered a number of beings, which might certainly be called men, but were very different to ourselves.

只有比赫歇尔更富有想象力的人才能发现这些生物。

A more fantastical imagination than herschel’s must have discovered these.

如果把他们排成组并画下来,可能会有人说:“多么美丽的枝叶!” 他们也有自己的语言。

had they been placed in groups, and painted, it might have been said, “what beautiful foliage!” they had also a language of their own.

谁也不会想到守夜人的灵魂能听懂这种语言,但他确实听懂了,因为我们的灵魂拥有的能力比我们倾向于相信的大得多。

No one could have expected the soul of the watchman to understand it, and yet he did understand it, for our souls have much greater capabilities then we are inclined to believe.

在我们的梦中,我们不是展现出了非凡的戏剧才能吗?那时我们的每个熟人都以他们自己的性格和声音出现在我们面前;在清醒的时候,没有人能这样模仿他们。

do we not, in our dreams, show a wonderful dramatic talent? each of our acquaintance appears to us then in his own character, and with his own voice; no man could thus imitate them in his waking hours.

我们对多年未见的人记得多么清楚啊!他们带着所有的独特之处突然在我们的脑海中浮现,如同活生生的现实。

how clearly, too, we are reminded of persons whom we have not seen for many years; they start up suddenly to the mind’s eye with all their peculiarities as living realities.

事实上,灵魂的这种记忆是一件可怕的事情;它能召回每一个罪恶,每一个罪恶的念头,我们不禁要问,我们该如何为“心中所说或口中所言的每一个闲话”负责。

In fact, this memory of the soul is a fearful thing; every sin, every sinful thought it can bring back, and we may well ask how we are to give account of “every idle word” that may have been whispered in the heart or uttered with the lips.

因此守夜人的灵魂非常理解月球居民的语言。

the spirit of the watchman therefore understood very well the language of the inhabitants of the moon.

他们正在争论我们的地球,怀疑它是否有人居住。

they were disputing about our earth, and doubted whether it could be inhabited.

他们断言,大气层对任何月球居民来说一定太稠密了,无法在那里生存。

the atmosphere, they asserted, must be too dense for any inhabitants of the moon to exist there.

他们坚持认为只有月球有人居住,而且月球实际上是旧世界的人们居住的天体。

they maintained that the moon alone was inhabited, and was really the heavenly body in which the old world people lived.

他们同样也谈论政治。

they likewise talked politics.

但是现在我们回到东街,看看守夜人的身体发生了什么。

but now we will descend to East Street, and see what happened to the watchman’s body.

他毫无生气地坐在台阶上。

he sat lifeless on the steps.

他的警棍从手中掉落,他的眼睛凝视着月亮,他诚实的灵魂正在月亮周围游荡。

his staff had fallen out of his hand, and his eyes stared at the moon, about which his honest soul was wandering.

“几点了,守夜人?” 一个路人问道。

“what is it o’clock, watchman?” inquired a passenger.

但是守夜人没有回答。

but there was no answer from the watchman.

那个人然后轻轻地拉了一下他的鼻子,这让他失去了平衡。

the man then pulled his nose gently, which caused him to lose his balance.

身体向前倒下,直挺挺地躺在地上,像死了一样。

the body fell forward, and lay at full length on the ground as one dead.

他所有的同伴都非常害怕,因为他看起来确实死了;不过他们在报告了所发生的事情之后,还是让他留在那里;黎明时分,尸体被抬到了医院。

All his rades were very much frightened, for he seemed quite dead; still they allowed him to remain after they had given notice of what had happened; and at dawn the body was carried to the hospital.

我们可以想象,如果这个人的灵魂偶然回到他身上,那可不是一件开玩笑的事情,因为很可能它会在东街寻找身体却找不到。

we might imagine it to be no jesting matter if the soul of the man should chance to return to him, for most probably it would seek for the body in East Street without being able to find it.

我们可以想象灵魂向警察询问,或者在地址办公室询问,或者在丢失的包裹中寻找,最后在医院找到它。

we might fancy the soul inquiring of the police, or at the address office, or among the missing parcels, and then at length finding it at the hospital.

但是我们可以放心,因为我们确定当灵魂按照自己的冲动行动时,它比我们更明智;是身体让它变得愚蠢。

but we may fort ourselves by the certainty that the soul, when acting upon its own impulses, is wiser than we are; it is the body that makes it stupid.

正如我们所说,守夜人的身体被送到了医院,在这里它被放在一个房间里准备清洗。

As we have said, the watchman’s body had been taken to the hospital, and here it was placed in a room to be washed.

自然,这里首先要做的事情就是脱下套鞋,灵魂立刻被迫返回,它立刻沿着直接的路回到身体,几秒钟后这个人就恢复了生机。

Naturally, the first thing done here was to take off the goloshes, upon which the soul was instantly obliged to return, and it took the direct road to the body at once, and in a few seconds the man’s life returned to him.

当他完全恢复过来时,他宣称这是他度过的最可怕的一个晚上;即使给一百英镑,他也不愿再经历这样的感觉了。

he declared, when he quite recovered himself, that this had been the most dreadful night he had ever passed; not for a hundred pounds would he go through such feelings again.

不过,现在一切都结束了。

however, it was all over now.

同一天他被允许离开,但套鞋留在了医院。

the same day he was allowed to leave, but the goloshes remained at the hospital.

4. 重大时刻 —— 一次极不寻常的旅程

thE EVENtFUL momENt — A moSt UNUSUAL JoURNEY

每一个哥本哈根的居民都知道腓特烈医院的入口是什么样子;但是很可能读这个小故事的一些人并不住在哥本哈根,所以我们将对它做一个简短的描述。

Every inhabitant of copenhagen knows what the entrance to Frederick’s hospital is like; but as most probably a few of those who read this little tale may not reside in copenhagen, we will give a short description of it.

医院和街道由一道铁栏杆隔开,栏杆上的铁条间隔很大,据说一些非常瘦的病人曾经从栏杆间挤出去,到城里去做短暂的访问。

the hospital is separated from the street by an iron railing, in which the bars stand so wide apart that, it is said, some very slim patients have squeezed through, and gone to pay little visits in the town.

身体最难挤过去的部分是头;在这种情况下,就像在世界上经常发生的那样,小头的人是最幸运的。

the most difficult part of the body to get through was the head; and in this case, as it often happens in the world, the small heads were the most fortunate.

这将作为我们故事的充分介绍。

this will serve as sufficient introduction to our tale.

那天晚上,一个年轻的志愿者在医院站岗,从身体方面来说,可以说他有一个大脑袋。

one of the young volunteers, of whom, physically speaking, it might be said that he had a great head, was on guard that evening at the hospital.

雨倾盆而下,然而,尽管有这两个障碍,他还是想出去仅仅一刻钟;他觉得不值得把这事告诉门房,因为他可以很容易地从铁栏杆间挤过去。

the rain was pouring down, yet, in spite of these two obstacles, he wanted to go out just for a quarter of an hour; it was not worth while, he thought, to make a confidant of the porter, as he could easily slip through the iron railings.

那儿放着守夜人忘记的套鞋。

there lay the goloshes, which the watchman had forgotten.

他从未想到这些可能是幸运女神的套鞋。

It never occurred to him that these could be goloshes of Fortune.

在这样的雨天,它们对他会非常有用,所以他穿上了它们。

they would be very serviceable to him in this rainy weather, so he drew them on.

现在问题是他能否挤过栅栏;他肯定从未试过,所以他站在那里看着它们。

Now came the question whether he could squeeze through the palings; he certainly had never tried, so he stood looking at them.

“我真希望我的头能过去。” 他说,立刻,尽管他的头又粗又大,却很容易地滑过去了。

“I wish to goodness my head was through,” said he, and instantly, though it was so thick and large, it slipped through quite easily.

幸运女神的套鞋在这方面很管用,但他的身体必须跟上,而这是不可能的。

the goloshes answered that purpose very well, but his body had to follow, and this was impossible.

“我太胖了。” 他说,“我原以为我的头会是最难过去的,但我肯定无法让我的身体过去。”

“I am too fat,” he said; “I thought my head would be the worst, but I cannot get my body through, that is certain.”

然后他试图把头缩回来,但没有成功;他可以很轻松地转动他的脖子,仅此而已。

then he tried to pull his head back again, but without success; he could move his neck about easily enough, and that was all.

他的第一感觉是愤怒,然后他的情绪低落到了极点。

his first feeling was one of anger, and then his spirits sank below zero.

幸运女神的套鞋把他置于这种可怕的境地,不幸的是,他从未想到许愿让自己解脱。

the goloshes of Fortune had placed him in this terrible position, and unfortunately it never occurred to him to wish himself free.

不,他没有许愿,而是不停地扭动着身体,但却没有离开原地。

No, instead of wishing he kept twisting about, yet did not stir from the spot.

雨倾盆而下,街上一个人影也看不见。

the rain poured, and not a creature could be seen in the street.

他够不着门房的铃,可他怎么才能脱身呢!他预见到自己得在那儿一直呆到早晨,到那时他们肯定得派人去找个铁匠来锯断铁栏杆,而那可是件费时间的活儿。

the porter’s bell he was unable to reach, and however was he to get loose! he foresaw that he should have to stay there till morning, and then they must send for a smith to file away the iron bars, and that would be a work of time.

所有的慈善学校的孩子们正好要去上学:而住在那个城区的所有水手们都会来看他站在耻辱柱里。

All the charity children would just be going to school: and all the sailors who inhabited that quarter of the town would be there to see him standing in the pillory.

会有一大群人呢。

what a crowd there would be.

“哈,” 他叫道,“血直往我头上涌,我要疯了。我觉得我已经疯了;哦,我希望我能自由,那样所有这些感觉就会消失了。”

“ha,” he cried, “the blood is rushing to my head, and I shall go mad. I believe I am crazy already; oh, I wish I were free, then all these sensations would pass off.”

这正是他一开始就应该说的话。他刚一表达出这个想法,他的头就解脱了。

this is just what he ought to have said at first. the moment he had expressed the thought his head was free.

他往后退了几步,被幸运女神的套鞋给他带来的惊吓弄得晕头转向。

he started back, quite bewildered with the fright which the goloshes of Fortune had caused him.

但我们可不能认为这就完了;不,事实上,更糟的还在后头呢。

but we must not suppose it was all over; no, indeed, there was worse to e yet.

夜晚过去了,接着是第二天的一整天;但没有人来取走套鞋。

the night passed, and the whole of the following day; but no one sent for the goloshes.

晚上,在一条很远的街上的业余剧院要举行一场朗诵表演。

In the evening a declamatory performance was to take place at the amateur theatre in a distant street.

剧院里挤满了人;观众中有那个从医院来的年轻志愿者,他似乎完全忘记了前一天晚上的冒险经历。

the house was crowded; among the audience was the young volunteer from the hospital, who seemed to have quite forgotten his adventures of the previous evening.

他穿着那双套鞋;还没有人来取走它们,而且由于街道仍然很脏,它们对他很有用处。

he had on the goloshes; they had not been sent for, and as the streets were still very dirty, they were of great service to him.

一首新诗,题目是《我姑妈的眼镜》,正在被朗诵。

A new poem, entitled “my Aunt’s Spectacles,” was being recited.

这首诗描述这副眼镜拥有神奇的力量;如果有人在一大群人面前戴上它,人们就会像纸牌一样出现,而且通过它可以很容易地预知未来几年的事情。

It described these spectacles as possessing a wonderful power; if any one put them on in a large assembly the people appeared like cards, and the future events of ensuing years could be easily foretold by them.

这个想法让他觉得自己非常想要这样一副眼镜;因为,如果使用得当,它们或许能让他看到人们的内心,他觉得这比知道明年会发生什么事情更有趣;因为未来的事情肯定会自己显现出来,而人们的内心却永远不会。

the idea struck him that he should very much like to have such a pair of spectacles; for, if used rightly, they would perhaps enable him to see into the hearts of people, which he thought would be more interesting than to know what was going to happen next year; for future events would be sure to show themselves, but the hearts of people never.

“如果我能窥探到坐在第一排的那些女士和先生们的内心,我就能想象到我会看到什么;我猜测,那位女士心中藏着各式各样的东西;我的眼睛定会在她的内心世界里徘徊;在许多女士的心中,我无疑会发现一个巨大的女帽店。还有另一位,或许她的内心空空如也,正好可以清理一番。也可能有些人的内心藏着许多好东西。啊,是的,”他叹了口气,“我认识一个人,她的内心充实而坚定,但那里已经有一个仆人了,这是唯一美中不足的地方。我敢说,从许多人那里,我都会听到‘请进’这样的话。我只希望自己能像一个小小的念头一样,悄悄溜进他们的心里。”

“I can fancy what I should see in the whole row of ladies and gentlemen on the first seat, if I could only look into their hearts; that lady, I imagine, keeps a store for things of all descriptions; how my eyes would wander about in that collection; with many ladies I should no doubt find a large millinery establishment. there is another that is perhaps empty, and would be all the better for cleaning out. there may be some well stored with good articles. Ah, yes,” he sighed, “I know one, in which everything is solid, but a servant is there already, and that is the only thing against it. I dare say from many I should hear the words, ‘please to walk in.’ I only wish I could slip into the hearts like a little tiny thought.”

这就是给那双套鞋的指令。

this was the word of mand for the goloshes.

那个志愿者缩成一团,开始了一段穿越第一排观众内心的非凡之旅。

the volunteer shrunk up together, and menced a most unusual journey through the hearts of the spectators in the first row.

他进入的第一颗心是一位女士的,但他觉得自己一定是走进了一家矫形外科诊所的一个房间,那里墙上挂着畸形肢体的石膏模型,不同的是,诊所里的石膏模型是在病人进来的时候制作的,而这里的石膏模型是在这些好人离开之后制作并保存下来的。

the first heart he entered was that of a lady, but he thought he must have got into one of the rooms of an orthopedic institution where plaster casts of deformed limbs were hanging on the walls, with this difference, that the casts in the institution are formed when the patient enters, but here they were formed and preserved after the good people had left.

这些是那位女士的女性朋友们身体和心灵上畸形的石膏模型,被小心翼翼地保存了下来。

these were casts of the bodily and mental deformities of the lady’s female friends carefully preserved.

很快他进入了另一颗心,这颗心看起来像一座宽敞的神圣教堂,无辜的白鸽在祭坛上方飞舞。

quickly he passed into another heart, which had the appearance of a spacious, holy church, with the white dove of innocence fluttering over the altar.

在这样一个神圣的地方,他很想跪下来;但他被带到了另一颗心里,不过,他仍然听着管风琴的声音,感觉自己变成了一个不同的、更好的人。

Gladly would he have fallen on his knees in such a sacred place; but he was carried on to another heart, still, however, listening to the tones of the organ, and feeling himself that he had bee another and a better man.

下一颗心也是一个圣地,他觉得自己几乎不配进入;它代表着一个简陋的阁楼,里面躺着一位生病的母亲;但是温暖的阳光从窗户射进来,可爱的玫瑰在屋顶的一个小花盆里盛开,两只蓝色的鸟儿唱着孩子般的快乐之歌,生病的母亲为她的女儿祈祷祝福。

the next heart was also a sanctuary, which he felt almost unworthy to enter; it represented a mean garret, in which lay a sick mother; but the warm sunshine streamed through the window, lovely roses bloomed in a little flowerbox on the roof, two blue birds sang of childlike joys, and the sick mother prayed for a blessing on her daughter.

接着他手脚并用地爬过一个塞得满满的肉店;无论他走到哪里,都是肉,只有肉;这是一个富有、受人尊敬的人的内心,他的名字无疑在电话簿里。

Next he crept on his hands and knees through an overfilled butcher’s shop; there was meat, nothing but meat, wherever he stepped; this was the heart of a rich, respectable man, whose name is doubtless in the directory.

接着他进入了这个男人妻子的内心;那是一个破旧的鸽舍;丈夫的画像充当着风向标;它与所有的门相连,门随着丈夫的决定而开关。

then he entered the heart of this man’s wife; it was an old, tumble-down pigeon-house; the husband’s portrait served as a weather-cock; it was connected with all the doors, which opened and shut just as the husband’s decision turned.

下一颗心是一个完整的镜子陈列柜,就像在罗森堡城堡里能看到的那种。

the next heart was a plete cabinet of mirrors, such as can be seen in the castle of Rosenberg.

但是这些镜子的放大程度惊人;在地板中央,像大喇嘛一样坐着主人那微不足道的自我,凝视着自己的容貌,惊讶不已。

but these mirrors magnified in an astonishing degree; in the middle of the floor sat, like the Grand Lama, the insignificant I of the owner, astonished at the contemplation of his own features.

在他接下来的一次拜访中,他觉得自己一定是进入了一个狭窄的针盒,里面装满了锋利的针:“哦,” 他想,“这一定是一个老处女的内心;” 但事实并非如此;这颗心属于一个年轻的军官,他佩戴着几枚勋章,据说他是一个有才智和心地善良的人。

At his next visit he fancied he must have got into a narrow needlecase, full of sharp needles: “oh,” thought he, “this must be the heart of an old maid;” but such was not the fact; it belonged to a young officer, who wore several orders, and was said to be a man of intellect and heart.

这个可怜的志愿者从这一排的最后一颗心里出来时,完全不知所措。

the poor volunteer came out of the last heart in the row quite bewildered.

他无法集中思绪,以为自己被那些愚蠢的幻想给带跑了。

he could not collect his thoughts, and imagined his foolish fancies had carried him away.

“天哪!” 他叹了口气,“我一定有大脑软化的倾向,而且这里热得厉害,血直往我头上涌。”

“Good gracious!” he sighed, “I must have a tendency to softening of the brain, and here it is so exceedingly hot that the blood is rushing to my head.”

然后他突然想起了前一天晚上的奇怪事件,当时他的头被卡在了医院前面的铁栏杆之间。

And then suddenly recurred to him the strange event of the evening before, when his head had been fixed between the iron railings in front of the hospital.

“这就是一切的原因!” 他叫道,“我必须及时做点什么。洗个俄罗斯浴会是个很好的开始。我希望我躺在最高的架子上。”

“that is the cause of it all!” he exclaimed, “I must do something in time. A Russian bath would be a very good thing to begin with. I wish I were lying on one of the highest shelves.”

果然,他躺在蒸汽浴室的上层架子上,仍旧穿着晚礼服,靴子和套鞋都没脱,天花板上的热水滴落在他脸上。

Sure enough, there he lay on an upper shelf of a vapor bath, still in his evening costume, with his boots and goloshes on, and the hot drops from the ceiling falling on his face.

“嗬!”他叫道,跳下来冲向冷水浴盆。

“ho!” he cried, jumping down and rushing towards the plunging bath.

服务员看到一个穿着全套衣服的人,大声喊叫着拦住了他。

the attendant stopped him with a loud cry, when he saw a man with all his clothes on.

然而,这个志愿者还算镇定,小声说道:“这是为了打赌。”但他回到自己房间后做的第一件事,就是在脖子上和背上各贴一个大膏药,希望能治好自己这疯狂的毛病。

the volunteer had, however, presence of mind enough to whisper, “It is for a wager;” but the first thing he did, when he reached his own room, was to put a large blister on his neck, and another on his back, that his crazy fit might be cured.

第二天早上,他的背很疼,这就是他从幸运女神的套鞋那里得到的全部。

the next morning his back was very sore, which was all he gained by the goloshes of Fortune.