【导读】
特拜厄斯·伍尔夫(Tobias Wolff, 1945~ )是美国当代最著名的短篇小说家之一。从20世纪80年代以来，伍尔夫笔耕不缀，佳作不断，其作品多次入选《美国年度最佳短篇小说集》和《欧·亨利短篇小说奖获奖作品集》等选集。
《隔壁》发表于1982年，是伍尔夫第一部为其获得声誉的短篇小说集《在北美殉道士的花园》(In the Garden of the North American Martyrs)的开篇之作，也是伍尔夫被各类小说选集收录最多的作品之一。小说的情节非常简单：第一人称叙事者“我”和妻子半夜被隔壁夫妇的争吵闹醒，于是“我们”或坐在床上，或站在窗旁，开始对邻居进行偷听或偷窥。后来，在隔壁夫妇的大声争吵中，“我们”开始观看一部名叫《厄尔多拉多》的电影。这个电影是关于寻宝探险的，一群寻宝人在一个瞎子的带领下，历经千辛万苦，即将到达藏宝之城，此时他们开始自相残杀，最后只有瞎子只身闯入藏宝地，却因为双眼失明而不知道自己身处何地。看电影的过程中，邻居夫妇开始安静下来，“我”妻子也睡着了，而“我”则无法入睡，开始思考人生并得出结论：我们对自己习惯的事情熟视无睹，这样的生活很可怕。接着，“我”给《厄尔多拉多》构想了一个不同的结局：那些人没有自相残杀，他们躺在一个鲜花覆盖的草地上睡觉，然后，“太阳升起来。他们站起身，高举手臂，就像人迹罕至的土地上生长的白树”。
I wake up afraid. My wife is sitting on the edge of my bed, shaking me. “They're at it again,” she says.
I go to the window. All their lights are on, upstairs and down, as if they have money to burn. He yells, she screams something back, the dog barks. There is a short silence, then the baby cries, poor thing.
我惊醒过来。妻子坐在我的床边，推搡着我，说：“他们又开始了。”
我走近窗边。他们的灯都亮着，不管楼上还是楼下，似乎他们有的是钱可以烧。他大吼，她尖声回应，狗也跟着吠叫。短暂的寂静过后，婴儿哭声乍起，可怜的东西。
[2] “Better not stand there,” says my wife. “They might see you.” I say, “I'm going to call the police,” knowing she won't let me.
“Don't,” she says.
She's afraid that they will poison our cat if we complain.
[2]“最好别站在那儿，”妻子说，“他们会发现你的。”我说：“我去叫警察。”心底知道她是不会让我去的。
“别去。”她说。
她担心，如果我们报警，他们会毒死我们的猫。
[3] Next door the man is still yelling, but I can't make out what he's saying over the dog and the baby. The woman laughs, not really meaning it, “Ha! Ha! Ha!,” and suddenly gives a sharp little cry. Everything goes quiet.
“He struck her,” my wife says. “I felt it just the same as if he struck me.”
[3] 隔壁男人还在吼叫，不过听不清他对狗和婴儿吼什么。女人在笑，但不是真笑，“哈!哈!哈!”，然后突然短促地尖叫了一声。一切都静了下来。
“他揍她了，”妻子说，“我感觉就像揍我一样。”
[4] Next door the baby gives a long wail and the dog starts up again. The man walks out into his driveway and slams the door.
“Be careful,” my wife says. She gets back into her bed and pulls the covers up to her neck.
The man mumbles to himself and jerks at his fly. Finally he gets it open and walks over to our fence. It's a white picket fence, ornamental more than anything else. It couldn't keep anyone out. I put it in myself, and planted honeysuckle and bougainvillea all along it.
[4] 隔壁婴儿发出一阵长长的哭号，狗又开始吠叫。那男人出门走到车道上，砰地关上门。
“小心点。”妻子说。她回到自己的床上，扯起被子，一直盖到脖子上。
那男人自个儿嘟哝着，使劲儿拉裤裆拉链。终于拉开后，他走到我们的篱笆旁边。篱笆是白色尖桩篱栅，完全是装饰，拦不住任何人。我自己立的这篱栅，沿栅还种了些金银花和九重葛。
[5] My wife says, “What's he doing?”
“Shh,” I say.
He leans against the fence with one hand and with the other he goes to the bathroom on the flowers. He walks the length of the fence like that, not missing any of them. When he's through he gives Florida1 a shake, then zips up and heads back across the driveway. He almost slips on the gravel but he catches himself and curses and goes into the house, slamming the door again.
[5] 妻子问道：“他在干吗?”
“嘘——小点儿声。”我说。
他一只手倚着篱笆，另一只开始帮着在花上小便。就这样，他从篱笆的这头走到那头，一朵花也没放过。撒完尿，他抖了抖他的佛罗里达，拉好裤子拉链，回头穿过车道。在砾石路上，他差点儿滑倒，但他稳住身子，诅咒着，进了房间，又砰地一声把门关上。
[6] When I turn around my wife is leaning forward, watching me. She raises her eyebrows. “Not again,” she says.
I nod.
“Number one or number two?”
“Number one.”
“Thank God for small favors,” she says, settling back. “Between him and the dog it's a wonder you can get anything to grow out there.”
[6] 我转过头时，妻子正探身向前，盯着我。她扬起眉毛，说：“不会又干那事吧。”
我点点头。
“小的还是大的?”
“小的。”
“感谢上帝的小恩惠。”她说着，直起腰来，“有了他和那条狗，你能在那个地方种出东西来才怪呢。”
[7] I read somewhere that human pee has a higher acid content than animal pee, but I don't mention that. I would rather talk about something else. It depresses me, thinking about the flowers. They are past their prime, but still. Next door the woman is shouting. “Listen to that,” I say.
“I used to feel sorry for her,” my wife says. “Not any more. Not after last month.”
[7] 我在什么地方读过，说人尿的酸含量比动物尿的要高，但我没提这个。我宁愿说点别的。想起那些花，我就难受。虽然它们鲜艳不再，但还是很不错的。隔壁女人在大喊大叫。“听听吧。”我说。
“我原来还同情她呢，”妻子说，“现在不了，上个月后就不了。”
[8] “Ditto,” I say, trying to remember what happened last month to make my wife not feel sorry for the woman next door. I don't feel sorry for her either, but then I never have. She yells at the baby, and excuse me, but I'm not about to get all excited over someone who treats a child like that. She screams things like “I thought I told you to stay in your bedroom!” and here the baby can't even speak English yet.
As far as her looks, I guess you would have to say she's pretty. But it won't last. She doesn't have good bone structure. She has a soft look to her, like she has never eaten anything but donuts and milk shakes. Her skin is white. The baby takes after her, not that you would expect it to take after him, dark and hairy. Even with his shirt on you can tell that he has hair all over his back and on his shoulders, thick and springy like an Airedale's.
[8]“我也是。”我说，心里努力回忆上个月发生了什么事让妻子不再同情隔壁女人。我也不同情她，但我是从来都没同情过她。她对着婴儿大喊大叫，说实话，我可真不喜欢这样对待孩子的人。她常常吼什么“我说过要你待在自己卧室的!”之类的话，可那婴儿连话都还不会说呢。
单看长相，你得说她挺漂亮，但她的漂亮不会长久。她骨架不好，肌肉松软，好像除了油炸圈饼和奶昔之外就没吃过别的东西一样。她皮肤白皙，孩子长得像她，而不是大家期待的像他那样黝黑而多毛。即使他穿着衬衫，你也可以看出他的背部和肩膀到处都是毛，又厚又有弹性，像条艾尔谷犬似的。
[9] Now they're all going at once over there, plus they've got the hi-fi turned on full blast. One of those bands. “It's the baby I feel sorry for,” I say.
My wife puts her hands over her ears. “I can't stand another minute of it,” she says. She takes her hands away. “Maybe there's something on TV.” She sits up. “See who's on Johnny.”
[9] 现在，他们两个同时都在吼叫，还把音响开足了音量，里面播放着某个乐队的曲子。“我同情的是那个孩子。”我说。
妻子双手捂住耳朵，说：“我一刻也受不了啦。”之后，她又把手从耳朵拿开。“也许电视有好看的节目，”她坐直身子，“看看都有谁上了约翰尼的节目。”
[10] I turn on the television. It used to be down in the den but I brought it up here a few years ago when my wife came down with an illness. I took care of her myself – made the meals and everything. I got to where I could change the sheets with her still in the bed. I always meant to take the television back down when my wife recovered from her illness, but I never got around to it. It sits between our beds on a little table I made. Johnny is saying something to Sammy Davis, Jr. Ed McMahon is bent over laughing. He is always so cheerful. If you were going to take a really long voyage you could do worse than bring Ed McMahon along.
“Sammy,” says my wife. “Who else is on besides Sammy?”
[10] 我打开电视。它原本放在楼下小房间里，但几年前妻子染病后我就把它搬上来了。那时我亲自照顾她——煮饭烧菜全都做，连她躺在床上不动我都能换床单。妻子病愈后，我总想把电视搬回原处，但从未真去干。我的床和她的床之间有张小桌子，我做的，电视机就搁在上面。约翰尼正和小萨米·戴维斯说着什么，埃德·麦克马洪笑弯了腰。他总是那么开心，如果你打算长途出行，带上埃德·麦克马洪可能会快乐些。
“萨米，”妻子说，“除了萨米，还有谁上了节目?”
（转第二页）
文章来源于网络，如有侵权请联系我们，将会在第一时间处理
更多资讯可以关注微信公众号：IELTSIM。
[AD] 点击此处了解【雅思合集】【学习计划定制】【终生VIP服务】
