Rachel
Sooner or later, every writer feels the urge to write a story such as this one.
每个作家迟早都会产生一种冲动，想写一个这样的故事。
Every evening she came down through the darkness of the alley, emerging in the bright light of the street like the sudden appearance of a frightened child far from home. I knew that she had never reached the end of the alley before eight o’clock, and yet there were evenings when I ran there two hours early and waited beside the large green and red hydrant until she came. During all those months I had known her, she had been late only two or three times, and then it was only ten or fifteen minutes past eight when she came.
每天晚上，她都穿过黑暗的小巷走来，出现在明亮的街灯下，仿佛一个远离家门、受了惊的孩子突然现身。我知道她从来不会在八点以前走到巷口，可有些晚上，我还是会提前两个钟头跑去，站在那个红绿相间的大消防栓旁，等她出现。认识她的那几个月里，她只迟到过两三次，而那几次，她到的时候也不过是八点十分或一刻。
Rachel had never told me where she lived, and she would never let me walk home with her. Where the alley began, at the hydrant, was the door through which she came at eight, and the door which closed behind her at ten. When I had begged her to let me walk with her, she always pleaded with me, saying that her father did not allow her to be with boys and that if he should see us together he would either beat her unmercifully or make her leave home. For that reason I kept the promise I had given, and I never went any farther than the entrance to the alley with her.
瑞秋从没告诉过我她住在哪里，也从不肯让我送她回家。消防栓旁的巷口，就是她八点钟走出来、十点钟又在她身后关上的那扇门。我央求她让我陪她走时，她总是反过来求我，说父亲不准她和男孩子来往，要是看见我们在一起，不是狠狠揍她一顿，就是把她赶出家门。因此我信守了承诺，每回送她都止步于巷口。
“I’ll always come down to see you in the evening, Frank,” she said; and added hastily, “as long as you wish me to come. But you must remember your promise never to try to find where I live, or to walk with me.”
“弗兰克，我每天晚上都会下来见你的，”她说，又连忙补上一句，“只要你还愿意见我。不过你得记住答应我的话，不要打听我住在哪里，也不要送我回去。”
I promised again and again.
我一遍又一遍地答应她。
“Perhaps some day you can come to see me,” she whispered, touching my arm, “but not now. You must never go beyond the hydrant until I tell you that you may.”
“也许有一天，你可以到我家来看我，”她碰了碰我的胳膊，低声说，“但现在不行。除非我告诉你可以了，否则你绝不能走过消防栓。”
Rachel had told me that almost every time I saw her, as if she wished to impress upon me the realization of some sort of danger that lay in the darkness of the alley. I knew there was no physical danger, because around the corner was our house and I was as familiar with the neighborhood as anyone else. And besides, during the day I usually walked through the alley to our back gate on my way home, because it was a short cut when I was late for supper. But after dark the alley was Rachel’s, and I had never gone home that way at night for fear of what I might have seen or heard of her. I had promised her from the beginning that I would never follow her to find out where she lived, and that I would never attempt to discover her real name. The promise I had made was kept until the end.
几乎每次见面，瑞秋都会对我说这番话，仿佛要让我牢牢记住，小巷的黑暗里藏着某种危险。我知道那里不会有什么伤人的危险，因为拐过街角就是我家，这一带我熟悉得不比任何人差。况且，白天回家时我通常就穿过这条小巷，从后门进去；赶不上晚饭时，那是一条近路。可天一黑，小巷就属于瑞秋了。我从来不在夜里走那条路回家，生怕看见或听见什么与她有关的事。从一开始我就答应过她，绝不跟踪她打听她的住处，也绝不设法查出她的真名。这个诺言，我一直守到了最后。
I knew Rachel and her family were poor, because she had been wearing the same dress for nearly a year. It was a worn and fragile thing of faded blue cotton. I had never seen it soiled, and I knew she washed it every day. It had been mended time after time, carefully and neatly, and each evening when I saw her, I was worried because I knew that the weave of the cloth would not stand much more wear. I was constantly afraid that almost any day the dress would fall into shreds, and I dreaded for that time ever to come. I wished to offer to buy her a dress with the few dollars I had saved in my bank, but I was afraid to even suggest such a thing to her. I knew she would not have allowed me to give her the money, and I did not know what we would do when the dress became completely worn out. I was certain that it would mean the end of my seeing her. It was only the constant attention that she gave it and the care with which she laundered it each day that could have kept the dress whole as long as it had been.
我知道瑞秋家里穷，因为将近一年，她穿的都是同一条裙子。那是一条褪了色的蓝布裙，磨得又旧又薄。我从没见它脏过，我知道她每天都洗。裙子补了又补，每一处都仔细整齐。可每天晚上见到她，我还是担心，因为我知道，那布料已经经不起多少磨损了。我总怕哪一天它忽然就碎成一片片的，也总怕那一天真的到来。我想拿出自己存在储蓄罐里的几块钱，给她买一条裙子，却连提都不敢提。我知道她不会肯收我的钱，也不知道等到裙子彻底穿破时，我们该怎么办。我确信，那会意味着我再也见不到她。它能完整地穿到今天，全靠她时时留心，每天小心洗护。
Once Rachel had worn a pair of black silk stockings. From the first she had come each night to the brightly lighted street in her white cotton stockings, and for a year she had worn no other kind. Then one evening she had on a pair of black silk ones.
有一回，瑞秋穿了一双黑丝袜。从最初相识起，每晚她走到灯火明亮的街上，穿的都是白棉袜，整整一年都没换过别的。可有一天晚上，她穿上了一双黑丝袜。
The next evening I expected to see her wearing them again, but when she came out of the alley, she was wearing the stockings of white cotton. I did not ask her about it, because I had learned never to say anything that might hurt her feelings, but I was never able to understand why she wore black silk stockings just that one time. She may have borrowed them from her mother or sister, and there were dozens of other ways she could have got them, and yet none of the reasons I could think of ever seemed entirely conclusive. If I had asked her, perhaps she would have laughed, touched my arm as she did when we were together, and told me. But I was afraid to ask her. There were so many ways of making her feel badly, and of hurting her.
第二天晚上，我以为还会见她穿那双袜子，可她从巷子里走出来时，穿的又是白棉袜了。我没问她，因为我已经学会，不说任何可能伤她心的话。可我始终不明白，为什么她只在那一晚穿过黑丝袜。也许是向母亲或姐姐妹妹借的，也可能有几十种别的来处，可我想出的理由，没有一个能让我完全信服。要是我问了，她也许会笑起来，像我们相处时常做的那样，碰一碰我的胳膊，然后告诉我。可是我不敢问。有太多事情，会让她难过，会伤害她。
Each evening when she came out of the black alley I met her there, and together we walked down the brightly lighted street to the corner where there was a drug store. On the opposite corner there was a moving picture theater. To one or the other we went each evening. I should have liked to have taken her to both the show and to the drug store, but I was never able to earn enough money for both in the same evening. The twenty cents I received every day for delivering the afternoon paper on a house-to-house route was not enough to buy ice cream at the drug store and seats at the picture show, too. We had to take our choice between them.
每晚她从漆黑的小巷走出来，我都在那里迎她，然后我们一起沿着明亮的街道，走到有一家药店的街角。对面的街角是一家电影院。每天晚上，我们总去其中一家。我本想既带她看电影，又带她去药店，可我挣的钱总不够让我们一晚上两处都去。我每天挨家挨户送晚报挣来的二十美分，买了药店里的冰激凌，就买不起电影票了。我们只好二选一。
When we stood on the corner across from the drug store and across from the theater, we could never decide at first whether to see the show or to eat ice cream. The good times we had there on the corner were just as enjoyable, to me, as anything else we did. Rachel would always try to make me tell her which I would rather do before she would commit herself. And of course I wished to do that which would please her the most.
站在药店和电影院对面的街角时，我们起初总拿不定主意，是看电影还是吃冰激凌。对我来说，在那个街角一起度过的时光，和我们做的其他任何事一样快乐。瑞秋总想先让我说出自己更愿意做什么，然后她才表态。而我当然只想做最能让她高兴的事。
“I’m not going a step in either direction until you tell me which you would rather do,” I would say to her. “It doesn’t matter to me, because being with you is everything I want.”
“你不告诉我更想做什么，我往哪边都不走一步，”我总这样对她说，“我无所谓，只要能和你在一起，我就心满意足了。”
“I’ll tell you what let’s do, Frank,” she said, touching my arm, and pretending not to be serious; “you go to the drug store, and I’ll go to the movies.”
“弗兰克，我告诉你咱们怎么办吧，”她碰着我的胳膊，装作开玩笑的样子说，“你去药店，我去看电影。”
That was Rachel’s way of telling me which she preferred, although I didn’t believe she ever suspected that I knew. But when she suggested that I go to the movies while she went to the drug store, I knew it to mean that she would much rather have a dish of ice cream that evening. The enjoyment of the show lasted for nearly two hours, while the ice cream could never be prolonged for more than half an hour, so all but two or three evenings a week we went to the theater across the street.
瑞秋就是这样告诉我她更喜欢哪一样的，不过我想，她从来没怀疑过我已经明白了。要是她提议让我看电影、自己去药店，我就知道，那天晚上她更想吃一碟冰激凌。看电影能快活将近两个钟头，吃冰激凌却怎么也拖不过半个钟头，所以一星期里除了两三个晚上，我们都去街对面的电影院。
There was where I always wished to go, because in the semidarkness we sat close together and I held her hand. And if the house was not filled, we always found two seats near the rear, in one of the two corners, and there I kissed her when we were sure no one was looking at us.
我总盼着去那里，因为在昏暗中，我们可以紧挨着坐，我可以握着她的手。要是影院没坐满，我们总会在后排的一个角落里找两个座位；确定没人看着我们时，我就在那里吻她。
After the show was over, we went out into the bright street and walked slowly towards the green and red hydrant in the middle of the block. There at the entrance to the alley we stopped a while. If there were no other people in the street, I always put my arm around Rachel’s waist while we walked slowly to the dark entrance. Neither of us spoke then, but I held her tighter to me, and she squeezed my fingers. When at last, after delaying as long as possible the time for her to go, we walked together a few steps into the darkness of the alley and stood in each other’s arms, Rachel kissed me for the first time during the evening, and I kissed her for as long a time as I had wished to in the theater. Still not speaking, we drew apart, our fingers interwoven and warm.
电影散场后，我们走上明亮的街道，慢慢朝街区中段那个红绿相间的消防栓走去。在巷口，我们总要停留一会儿。要是街上没有别人，走向黑暗的巷口时，我总会伸手搂住瑞秋的腰。那时我们谁也不说话，我只是把她搂得更紧，她则攥着我的手指。我们尽量拖延着她离去的时刻，最后才一起往漆黑的小巷里走上几步，站在那里相互拥抱。瑞秋在这时第一次主动吻我，而我也久久地吻她，就像在电影院里一直想做的那样。我们仍然没有说话，慢慢分开，手指却还温暖地交缠着。
When she was about to disappear into the darkness of the alley, I ran to her and caught her hands in mine.
她快要消失在小巷的黑暗里时，我又跑过去，把她的双手握在手中。
“I love you, Rachel,” I told her, squeezing her fingers tighter and tighter as she withdrew them.
“我爱你，瑞秋。”我对她说。她要把手抽走，我却把她的手指握得越来越紧。
“And I love you, too, Frank,” she said, turning and running into the alley out of sight for another day.
“我也爱你，弗兰克。”她说完转身跑进小巷，又要等到第二天才能看见她了。
After waiting a while and listening until she had gone beyond hearing distance, I turned and walked slowly up the street towards home. Our house was only a block away: half a block to the corner, and another half-block from there. When I had reached my room, I went to the window and stood there looking out into the night and listening for some sound of her. My window faced the alley behind the house, and the street lights cast a dim glow over the house-tops, but I could never see down into the darkness of the alley. After waiting at the window for an hour or more I undressed and went to bed. Many times I thought I heard the sound of her voice somewhere in the darkness, but after I had sprung from bed and had listened intently at the window for a long time I knew it was some other sound I had heard.
我又等了一会儿，听着她走远，直到再也听不见，才转身沿街慢慢往家走。我家只有一个街区远：先走半个街区到拐角，再走半个街区就到了。回到自己房间后，我便走到窗前，站在那里望着夜色，想听见一点她的声音。我的窗户正对着屋后的小巷，街灯给屋顶蒙上一层暗淡的光，可巷子深处的黑暗，我始终看不透。在窗前等上一个多钟头，我才脱衣上床。有许多次，我以为听见了她的声音从黑暗中的某处传来，可跳下床，在窗边凝神听了很久，才明白那是别的声音。
Near the end of summer I received five-dollars as a birthday present from an aunt. As soon as I got it, I began making plans for Rachel and me. I wanted to surprise her that evening with the money, and then to take her downtown on a street car. First we would go to a restaurant, and afterward to one of the large theaters. We had never been downtown together, and it was the first time I had ever had more than fifty cents at one time. That afternoon as soon as I could deliver all the papers on my route, I ran home and began thinking about the plans I had made for the evening.
夏天快结束时，一位姑姨辈的亲戚送给我五块钱作为生日礼物。钱一到手，我就开始为瑞秋和自己安排节目。我想那天晚上拿出钱来，给她一个惊喜，再带她坐电车到市中心去。先去餐馆，然后去一家大电影院。我们从没一起去过市中心，我也从没一次拥有过超过五十美分的钱。那天下午，一把沿途的报纸送完，我就跑回家，开始想着晚上的安排。
Just before dark I went downstairs from my room to wait on the front porch for the time to come when I could meet Rachel. I sat on the porch steps, not even remembering to tell my mother that I was going downtown. She had never allowed me to go that far away from the house without my first telling her where I was going, with whom, and at what time I would come back.
天快黑时，我从楼上的房间下来，在前廊等着和瑞秋见面的时刻。我坐在廊前台阶上，连告诉母亲自己要去市中心都忘了。她从不准我离家那么远，除非事先告诉她我要去哪里、和谁一起、什么时候回来。
I had been sitting on the porch steps for nearly an hour when my older sister came to the door and called me.
我在台阶上坐了将近一个钟头，姐姐走到门口来叫我。
“We have a job for you, Frank,” Nancy said. “Mother wants you to come to the kitchen before you leave the house. Now, don’t forget and go away.”
“弗兰克，有件活儿要你做，”南希说，“妈让你出门前到厨房来一趟。可别一转眼就忘了，自己跑出去。”
I told her I would come right away. I was thinking then how much the surprise would mean to Rachel, and I did forget about the job waiting for me in the kitchen for nearly half an hour. It was then almost time for me to meet Rachel at the hydrant, and I jumped up and ran to the kitchen to finish the task as quickly as I could.
我告诉她马上就来。那时我一心想着这个惊喜会让瑞秋多么高兴，果然把厨房里等着我做的活儿忘了将近半个钟头。眼看快到和瑞秋在消防栓旁见面的时间，我才跳起来跑进厨房，想尽快把事情做完。
When I reached the kitchen, Nancy handed me a small round box and told me to open it and sprinkle the powder in the garbage can. I had heard my mother talking about the way rats were getting into the garbage, so I went down to the back gate with the box without stopping to talk about it. As soon as I had sprinkled the powder on the refuse, I ran back into the house, found my cap, and ran down the street. I was angry with my sister for causing me to be late in meeting Rachel, even though the fault was my own for not having done the task sooner. I was certain, though, that Rachel would wait for me, even if I was a few minutes late in getting to the hydrant. I could not believe that she would come to the hydrant and leave immediately.
到了厨房，南希递给我一个小圆盒，叫我打开，把里面的粉末撒进垃圾桶。我听母亲说过老鼠钻垃圾桶的事，便没再多问，拿着盒子往后门去了。刚把粉末撒在垃圾上，我就跑回屋里，找到帽子，沿街跑去。我生姐姐的气，觉得是她害我和瑞秋见面迟到，尽管错明明在我自己，没早点把活儿做完。不过我确信，即使我晚几分钟到消防栓旁，瑞秋也会等我。我不相信她一到那里就会走。
I had gone a dozen yards or more when I heard my mother calling me. I stopped unsteadily in my tracks.
我刚跑出十几码，就听见母亲叫我。我脚下一晃，停了下来。
“I’m going to the movies,” I told her. “I’ll be back soon.”
“我去看电影，”我告诉她，“很快就回来。”
“All right, Frank,” she said. “I was afraid you were going downtown or somewhere like that. Come home as soon as you can.”
“好吧，弗兰克，”她说，“我还怕你要去市中心，或是什么那么远的地方呢。尽早回家。”
I ran a few steps and stopped. I was so afraid that she would make me stay at home if I told her that I was going downtown that I did not know what to do. I had never told her a lie, and I could not make myself start then. I looked back, and she was standing on the steps looking at me.
我跑了几步，又停了下来。我很怕一说要去市中心，她就会把我留在家里，一时不知道该怎么办。我从来没对她撒过谎，那时也没法让自己开这个头。我回头望去，她正站在台阶上看着我。
“Mother, I am going downtown,” I pleaded, “but I’ll be back early.”
“妈，我是要去市中心，”我央求道，“不过我会早点回来的。”
Before she could call me again, I ran with all my might down the street, around the corner, and raced to the hydrant at the alley. Rachel was not within sight until I had reached it and had stood for a moment panting and blowing with excitement and exertion.
没等她再叫我，我就使尽力气沿街跑去，转过拐角，一直冲到巷口的消防栓旁。直到跑到那里，站了一会儿，因兴奋和奔跑而气喘吁吁时，我才看见瑞秋。
She was there, though, waiting for me beside the fence, and she said she had just got there the second before. After we had started towards the corner where the drug store was, I took the money from my watch pocket and showed it to her. She was even more excited than I had been when I first saw it. After she had looked at it a while, and had felt it in the palm of her hand, I told her what I had planned for us to do that evening.
她果然在那里，靠着篱笆等我。她说，自己也才刚刚到。我们开始朝药店所在的街角走去后，我从表袋里掏出钱给她看。她比我刚见到那笔钱时还激动。她看了一会儿，又把钱放在掌心里摸了摸，我才告诉她，今晚我为我们安排了些什么。
We heard a street car coming, and we ran to the corner just in time to get aboard. The ride downtown was too fast, even though it took us nearly half an hour to get there. We got off near the theaters.
我们听见电车开过来，便跑到街角，正好赶上。到市中心这一路过得太快了，尽管车足足开了将近半个钟头。我们在电影院附近下了车。
First I had planned for us to go to a small restaurant, and later to a show. Just as we were passing a drug store Rachel touched my arm.
我原先打算先去一家小餐馆，再去看电影。正经过一家药店时，瑞秋碰了碰我的胳膊。
“Please, Frank,” she said, “I’m awfully thirsty. Won’t you take me into that drug store and get me a glass of water?”
“弗兰克，求你了，”她说，“我渴得厉害。能不能带我到那家药店里去，给我要杯水？”
“If you must have a drink right away, I will,” I said, “but can’t you wait a minute more? There’s a restaurant a few doors below here, and we can get a glass of water there while we’re waiting for our supper to be served. If we lose much time we won’t have the chance to see a complete show.”
“你要是非得马上喝水，我就带你去，”我说，“不过就不能再等一下吗？往前几家就是餐馆，咱们坐在那里等饭上来时就能喝水。要是耽搁太久，电影就看不全了。”
“I’m afraid I can’t wait, Frank,” she said, clutching my arm. “Please—please get me a glass of water. Quick!”
“我怕是等不及了，弗兰克，”她抓紧我的胳膊说，“求你——求你给我一杯水。快！”
We went into the drug store and stood in front of the soda fountain. I asked the clerk for a glass of water. Rachel waited close beside me, clutching my arm tighter and tighter.
我们走进药店，站在冷饮柜台前。我向店员要了一杯水。瑞秋紧挨着我等着，把我的胳膊抓得越来越紧。
In front of us, against the wall, there was a large mirror. I could see ourselves plainly, but there was something about our reflection, especially Rachel’s, that I had never been aware of before. It’s true that we had never stood before a mirror until then, but I saw there something that had escaped me for a whole year. Rachel’s beauty was revealed in a way that only a large mirror can show. The curve of her cheeks and lips was as beautiful as ever, and the symmetrical loveliness of her neck and arms was the same beauty I had worshiped hundreds of times before; but now for the first time I saw in the mirror before us a new and unrevealed charm. I strained my eyes once more against the surface of the mirror, and once again I saw there the new sinuous beauty of her body.
我们面前的墙上有一面大镜子。我能清清楚楚看见我们自己，可镜中的身影，尤其是瑞秋的身影，竟有一种我从未察觉的东西。的确，在那以前，我们从没一起站在镜子前，可那一刻我看到了整整一年都不曾发现的美。瑞秋的美以一种只有大镜子才能呈现的方式显露出来。她脸颊和嘴唇的曲线一如既往地动人，脖颈和双臂匀称的秀美，也仍是从前我曾倾慕过无数次的美；但此刻，我第一次在眼前的镜子里看到了某种全新、从未显露过的魅力。我又一次凝神望向镜面，再次看见了她身体那种新鲜的、流动的曲线之美。
“Quick, Frank!” Rachel cried, clutching me desperately. “Water—please!”
“快，弗兰克！”瑞秋拼命抓住我，喊道，“水——求你了！”
I called to the clerk again, not looking, because I was afraid to take my eyes from the new beauty I saw in the mirror. I had never before seen such beauty in a girl. There was some mysterious reflection of light and shadow that had revealed the true loveliness of Rachel. The mirror had revealed in one short moment, like a flash of lightning in a dark room, the sinuous charm that had lain undiscovered and unseen during all the time I had known her. It was almost unbelievable that a woman, that Rachel, could possess such a new, and perhaps unique, beauty. My head reeled when the sensation enveloped me.
我又叫了一声店员，却没转头，因为我舍不得把眼睛从镜中那新发现的美上移开。我从没在一个姑娘身上见过这样的美。不知是什么神秘的光影映照，让瑞秋真正的美显露了出来。镜子在短短一瞬间，如同暗室里闪过一道电光，照出了我认识她以来始终未曾看见、未曾发现的柔美曲线。我几乎不敢相信，一个女人，瑞秋，竟能拥有这样新鲜、也许独一无二的美。这感觉笼罩着我，令我一阵眩晕。
She clutched my arm again, breaking as one would a mirror, the reflection of my thoughts. The clerk had filled the glass with water and was handing it to her, but before he could place it in her hands, she had reached for it and had jerked it away from him. He looked as surprised as I was. Rachel had never before acted like that. Everything she did had always been perfect.
她又抓了一下我的胳膊，像打碎一面镜子似的，打断了我心中的映像。店员把水杯斟满，正要递给她，没等他把杯子放进她手里，她已经伸手一把夺了过去。他和我一样吃惊。瑞秋从来没有这样失态过。她的一举一动，向来都是无可挑剔的。
She grasped the glass as if she were squeezing it, and she swallowed the water in one gulp. Then she thrust the glass back towards the clerk, holding her throat with one hand, and screamed for more water.
她紧紧攥着杯子，仿佛要把它捏碎，一口就把水喝了下去。接着她把杯子推回店员面前，一只手按着喉咙，尖声喊着还要水。
Before he could refill the glass, she had screamed again, even louder than before. People passing the door paused, and ran inside to see what was taking place. Others in the store ran up to us and stared at Rachel.
没等他重新把水倒满，她又尖叫起来，声音比刚才更大。门外路过的人停下脚步，跑进来看出了什么事。店里的其他人也跑到我们跟前，盯着瑞秋。
“What’s the matter, Rachel?” I begged her, catching her wrists and shaking her. “Rachel, what’s the matter?”
“怎么了，瑞秋？”我抓住她的手腕，摇着她，央求她告诉我，“瑞秋，你怎么了？”
Rachel turned and looked at me. Her eyes were turned almost upside down, and her lips were swollen and dark. The expression on her face was horrible to see.
瑞秋转过头来看我。她的眼珠几乎翻了过去，嘴唇肿胀发黑。她脸上的神情骇人极了。
A prescription clerk came running towards us. He looked quickly at Rachel, and ran back to the rear of the store. By that time she had fallen forward against the marble fountain, and I caught her and held her to keep her from falling to the floor.
一个配药员朝我们跑来。他匆匆看了一眼瑞秋，又跑回店堂后面。这时她已经向前倒在大理石冷饮柜台上，我赶紧接住她，抱着她，不让她跌到地上。
The prescription clerk again came running towards us, bringing a glass filled with a kind of milk-white fluid. He placed the glass to Rachel’s lips, and forced the liquid down her throat.
配药员又跑了过来，手里端着一杯乳白色的液体。他把杯子凑到瑞秋唇边，硬把液体灌进她喉咙里。
“I’m afraid it’s too late,” he said. “If we had known ten minutes sooner we could have saved her.”
“恐怕已经太迟了，”他说，“要是早十分钟知道，我们就能救她。”
“Too late?” I asked him. “Too late for what? What’s the matter with her?”
“太迟了？”我问他，“什么太迟了？她到底怎么了？”
“She’s poisoned. It looks like rat poison to me. It’s probably that, though it may be some other kind.”
“她中毒了。我看像是老鼠药。多半是，不过也可能是别的毒药。”
I could not believe anything that was being said, nor could I believe that what I saw was real.
他们说的话，我一句也不敢相信；眼前的这一切，我也不敢相信是真的。
Rachel did not respond to the antidote. She lay still in my arms, and her face was becoming more contorted and darker each moment.
解毒药对瑞秋没有起作用。她一动不动地躺在我的怀里，脸越来越扭曲，也越来越黑。
“Quick! Back here!” the clerk said, shaking me.
“快！到后面来！”配药员摇着我说。
Together we lifted her and ran with her to the rear of the store. The clerk had reached for a stomach pump, and was inserting the tube in her throat. Just as he was about to get the pump started, a physician ran between us and quickly examined Rachel. He stood up a moment later, motioning the other man and myself aside.
我们一起把她抬起来，跑到店堂后面。配药员拿过洗胃泵，正把管子插进她的喉咙。他刚要开动泵，一个医生就跑到我们中间，迅速检查了瑞秋。片刻之后，他直起身，示意我和配药员站到一边。
“It’s too late now,” he said. “We might have been able to save her half an hour ago, but there is no heart-action now, and breathing has stopped. She must have taken a whole box of poison—rat poison, I guess. It has already reached her heart and blood.”
“现在已经太迟了，”他说，“半小时前，也许还能救她，可现在心脏已经不跳了，呼吸也停了。她一定吃下了整整一盒毒药——我猜是老鼠药。毒已经进入她的心脏和血液了。”
The clerk inserted the tube again and began working with the pump. The physician stood beside us all the time, giving instructions, but shaking his head. We forced stimulants down her throat and attempted to revive her by means of artificial respiration. During all of that time the doctor behind us was saying: “No, no. It’s of no use. She’s too far gone now. She’ll never live again. She has enough rat poison in her system to kill ten men.”
配药员又把管子插了进去，开始操作洗胃泵。医生一直站在我们身边，一边指示，一边摇头。我们往她喉咙里灌兴奋剂，试着用人工呼吸让她苏醒。自始至终，身后的医生都在说：“不，不，没用了。她已经没救了。她再也活不过来了。她体内的老鼠药足够毒死十个人。”
Some time later the ambulance came and took her away. I did not know where she was taken, and I did not try to find out. I sat in the little brown-paneled room surrounded by white-labeled bottles, looking at the prescription clerk who had tried so hard to save her. When at last I got up to go, the drug store was empty save for one clerk who looked at me disinterestedly. Outside in the street there was no one except a few taxi-drivers who never looked my way.
过了一阵，救护车来了，把她带走了。我不知道她被送去了哪里，也没去打听。我坐在那间镶着棕色护墙板的小屋里，四周都是贴着白标签的瓶子，望着那个曾拼命救她的配药员。等我终于起身离开时，药店里已经空了，只剩一个店员漠然地看着我。外面的街上，除了几个出租车司机，没有别人；他们也没朝我这边看一眼。
In a daze I started home through the deserted streets. The way was lonely, and tears blinded my eyes and I could not see the streets I walked on. I could not see the lights and shadows of the streets, but I could see with a painful clarity the picture of Rachel, in a huge mirror, bending over our garbage can, while the reflection of her beauty burned in my brain and in my heart.
我恍恍惚惚地穿过空荡荡的街道，朝家走去。一路冷清，泪水蒙住双眼，我看不清脚下的街。我看不见街上的光与影，却痛苦而清晰地看见一幅画面：一面巨大的镜子里，瑞秋正俯身伏在我家的垃圾桶上；而她美丽的映像，在我的脑海里，在我的心里，灼烧不止。