婚姻的精密科学
“我以前跟你说过，”杰甫·彼得斯说，“我是不相信女人的骗术的。即使是最天衣无缝的骗局，找她们搭档都靠不住。”
“这话有道理。”我说。“她们这样的才有资格被叫作诚实的人。”
“她们干嘛不诚实呢？”杰甫答道。“她们有男人帮她们布局撒网劳心费力的。本来她们也能成事儿的，但是一旦动了感情或者虚荣心膨胀，那就完了。到那时候还得你去找个男人收拾烂摊子。而那个男人呢，多半就是个扁平足，一把黄色大胡子，拉扯五个小孩儿，住一栋已被抵押了的房子。拿那个寡妇太太打比方吧，有一次我跟安迪在开罗拉了个幌子，搞了一个婚介所，就是找那个寡妇帮的忙。
“假如你有足够打广告的钱——大概碗口那么厚的一叠钞票吧——那办个婚介所挺来钱的。当时我们大概有6000块钱，指望它两个月翻一番。我们没拿到新泽西的执照，所以这买卖最多做两个月。
“我们拟了条广告，是这么写的：
“32岁迷人俏丽顾家女，丧偶，有现款三千加丰厚乡间田产。念及贫贱之中愈见真情，故此欲携资产觅品性温良之人与之结为连理，贫富年龄相貌均无所限，善于管理产业和投资理财即可。来信请注明详细信息，寄到伊利诺伊州开罗彼得斯塔克事务所。
“‘目前看着不错，’ 我们写完这篇文学大作后我来了一句，‘那现在，去哪儿找那位女士呢？’ 我问，
“安迪白了我一眼，一脸的不屑。
“‘杰甫，’他说，‘干这行你还搞什么现实主义么？为什么非得要有这么个女士呢？你会在华尔街卖的掺水股里面找美人鱼么？征婚广告非得和某个女士有什么关系吗？’
“‘听着，’我说道，‘你知道我的规矩的，安迪，凡我做的违法买卖，这买卖必须实实在在，看得见摸得着。守着这一条，然后再仔细研究城市条例和列车明细表，这样我才能避开所有麻烦，否则要是真出事儿了，五美元贿赂和一盒香烟可不能搞定警察。所以说，现在为了布这个局，我们必须得弄到一个货真价实的迷人寡妇，有没有广告上写的美貌和财产倒无所谓，否则治安官那儿都过不了。’
“‘好吧，’安迪想了想说道，‘这样更保险些，说不到哪天会来个邮政署治安官搞检查。但是，你从哪儿找个寡妇来征这个没有婚的婚呢？’
“我告诉安迪我已经有人选了。我一个老朋友，齐克·特罗特，原来在杂耍场卖汽水帮人拔牙的，经常喝的醉醺醺的。去年有一次他倒是没多喝，却喝了一个老医生给他开的治消化不良的药，结果把他老婆搞成了寡妇。我以前经常去他们家，也许能让他老婆跟我们合伙。
“特罗特夫人住在60里外的小镇上，我跳上火车赶到她那儿，发现她依然住在那个老农舍里，洗衣盆里种着向日葵，上面还站了一只大公鸡，一切和以前一模一样。特罗特夫人除了容貌年纪和财产以外，其他条件倒是很符合我们这个广告词。 总体来说也过得去了。而且这份工作还能给她钱，也算是对得起齐克了。
“特罗特夫人听完我的来意，问道：‘你们干的是正经生意吗彼得斯先生？’
“‘夫人，’ 我告诉她，‘安迪·塔克和我算了一下，全国这么大个地方，至少有三千名男士看中我们的广告，觊觎您的美貌和那笔不存在的财产呢。这三千人不是懒虫财迷就是倒霉蛋骗子和投机狂。’
“‘我和安迪打算给这群小崽子们好好上一课。我们能忍住没去设个德馨千禧婚姻中介所的公司去诓他们已经是很难了。现在您懂了吗？’
“‘明白了，彼得斯先生，’ 她回答，‘我就知道你们不会干坏事儿的。但是我可以做什么？我要一个个回绝你讲的那3000个无赖么？还是我直接把他们整批整批的往外赶？’
“我回答道：‘你要做的就是挂个名而已。你就住在一座安静的公寓里什么也不用干。我和安迪会打点好一切的。’
“‘当然啦，’我说，‘有些冲动脑热的小崽子出得起票钱可能会冲到开罗来死乞白赖哀跟你求婚。有这种事儿的话你就得当面回绝他们。我们每周给你25美元报酬，包吃包住。’
“‘等我一下，’特罗特夫人回答，‘我去拿我的粉饼再把大门钥匙给邻居下，然后从现在开始你就可以给我算报酬了。’
“然后我就把特罗特夫人送到开罗安顿在一个公寓里，离我和安迪住的地方不远不近，既不惹人怀疑又方便照应。”我告诉安迪。
“‘太好了，’ 安迪道，‘现在你该安心了吧，鱼饵都有了，我们该动手了。’
“于是，我们把广告登载了全国大大小小的报纸上。我们就登了一次，登多了还得多雇人办事员和女秘书，他们嚼口香糖的声音可能会把邮政总长惊动呢。
“我们打了2000美元给特罗特夫人的账上，存折给她保管，万一有人怀疑我们中介的信誉，她可以把存折拿出来给他们看。我知道特罗特夫人老实可靠，所以把存折放她那儿很保险。
“即使只登了一次广告，我和安迪也得每天花12个小时回复信件。
“一天有100多封信呢，我从来没想到天下会有这么多好心又贪心的男人愿意娶一位漂亮寡妇还劳烦自己帮她管钱。
“大部分应征者承认他们上了年纪，没了饭碗，不被理解，但是所有人都认为自己又重感情又有男人味，寡妇要是跟了他终生都不用愁了。
“每一个应征者都会收到一封来自彼得斯塔克中介所的回复，告诉他们特罗特夫人被他坦诚风趣的信件打动，希望他能有更多的信件往来；如果方便的话顺附照片最好了。同时还告诉他们，转交第二封信给特罗特夫人的时候得交手续费2元，随信寄来。
“看出这个骗局的巧妙之处了吧，十有八九他们会把钱寄过来。钱就是这么到手的。唯一要抱怨一下的是，我跟安迪每次都得拆掉信封才能拿钱，麻烦死了。
“也有少数人会要求单独见特罗特夫人。我们把他们带到她那儿，剩下就她来管了；除了有三，四个人折回来找我们报销车费的。从开始收信的那天起我和安迪开始一天进账200美元。
“有天下午我们两个忙得四脚朝天，我正往烟盒里塞钞票，安迪哼着”她才不结婚”的小调调，一个精干老练的小个子男人走了进来，扫了几眼墙，就像是在搜寻失窃的名画。我一看到他，不由得暗暗得意，我们这个局做得可是天衣无缝无懈可击。
“‘你今天收到了很多邮件嘛，’男人说道。
“我伸手拿起帽子。
“‘来吧，’我说。‘我们就等着你来呢。我带你去看看。你离开华盛顿后泰迪怎么样了？’我把他带到江景别墅介绍他和特罗特夫人认识。然后我给他看了她账户里面的2000美元。”
“‘倒是看不出什么不对呢’，侦探说。
“‘是的，’我答道。‘要是你还没结婚的话，我会让你跟特罗特女士单独聊一会儿的。也不用提那两美元劳务费了。’
“‘谢谢啦，’ 他回答。‘要是我没结婚我可能会这么做的。祝好，彼得斯先生。’
“到了第三个月我们已经赚了超过5000美元了，是时候该放手了。已经有人开始抱怨了；特罗特夫人似乎也厌倦这个工作了。太多应征者打电话要见她，她似乎已经没有耐心了。
“所以我们决定付她最后一周的报酬，拿回2000美元的账户然后跟她道别。
“当我到她那儿的时候，我看到她正哭得像个不想去上学的小孩子。
“‘好了好了，’我问道,‘这是怎么回事儿？你跟人吵架了？还是你想家了？”
“‘不，彼得斯先生，’她哭道，‘我会告诉你怎么回事，你一直是齐克的朋友，我不介意告诉你真相彼得斯先生。我恋爱了。我爱上了一个男人，很爱很爱，我简直无法忍受不能和他在一起。他就是我的梦中情人。’
“‘那就和他在一起，’我说道，‘如果他也喜欢你的话。他是不是也像你爱他一样爱你呢？’”
“‘是啊，’她说，‘但是他也是看到广告才来找我的，除非我给他那2000美元他才会娶我的，他叫威廉·维尔金森。’然后她又开始歇斯底里哭了起来。
“‘特罗特夫人，’我说道，‘世界上没有哪个男人比我更能体会理解女人的感情了。更何况你还曾经是我好朋友的妻子。如果我一个人能做主得话，我一定马上给你这2000美元让你们在一起。
“‘我们已经从那些想跟你结婚的烂人那儿赚了5000美元。但是，’我讲道，‘我得先问下安迪·塔克，他也是个好人，就是做生意太精明了，但是他是我搭档，我必须问问他意见。’
“我回到我们的住处，将事情原原本本告诉安迪。
“‘我就知道会有这种事，’安迪说。‘你不能在任何骗局里面信任会投入个人感情和喜好的女人。’
“‘安迪，’我说道，‘想想看，让一个女人因为我们伤心不是什么好事儿。’
“‘是的’ 安迪说，‘让我跟你说说我会怎么做，杰甫。你一直都是个很温柔大度的男人。可能是我太世故太多疑吧。去特罗特夫人那儿，告诉她她可以从银行取2000美元出来给那个她爱上的男人，跟他好好过。’
“我冲上去握了安迪的手五分钟，然后跑回特罗特夫人那儿告诉她这个喜讯，她喜极而泣。
“两天后我和安迪收拾行李准备离开。
“‘你不想我们离开之前去见一下特罗特夫人么？’我问安迪。‘她很可能想认识你，表达一下她对你的感激。’
“‘为什么呢，我觉得不用吧，’安迪说。‘我觉得我们最好还是快点儿去赶火车。’
“我正像从前那样把钱塞进贴身的包里，安迪忽然从口袋掏出一卷钞票，让我把它们和剩下的钱一起收起来。
“‘这是什么？’ 我问安迪。
“‘特罗特夫人的2000美元。’安迪答道。
“‘你怎么会有她的钱？’我接着问他。
“‘她给我的，’安迪说。‘我一周有三晚上要给她打电话，都打了一个多月了。’
“‘你就是威廉·维尔金森？’我问道。
“‘是的，’安迪答。”
未写完的故事
如今我们提到地狱之火的时候不会再唉声叹气往头上倒灰了。因为现在连牧师都开始跟我们讲上帝就是镭或者以太，或者是别的什么化合物。我们这样的戴罪之人所遭受的最恶毒的报应也不过是个化学反应罢了。这话听着真让人开心啊。但是，东正教残存的老一套说法依然会让你觉得毛骨悚然。
这世界上有两种事情你可以天马行空，信口开河。一是讲做的梦；二是讲鹦鹉讲的话。睡神和小鸟都当不了证人；所以没人敢说你讲的不对。这个故事就是根据一个无凭无据的梦讲的，没有借漂亮鹦鹉的嘴巴说，因为它讲话有一搭没一搭的，只有对不起它忍痛割爱了。
我做了一个梦，跟考证《圣经》并无关系，但是与那个由来已久，让人敬畏的末日审判有关。
加百列吹响了喇叭；我们要是不照吹的话就得去受审。我发现旁边还站着一队职业保人，穿着庄严肃穆的黑色衣服，衣领后开扣；但是他们似乎自身难保，更不用指望他们还能保我们出去了。
一个长着翅膀的警察，也就是天使警察，向我飞过来，拽住我的左翅就走。在我旁边站着一队候审的人，一脸的得意洋洋。
“你跟他们一伙儿吗？”警察问道。
“他们是干嘛的？”我回答。
“他们啊，”他说，“他们是——”
但是这种不相干的闲话用不着多讲了。
杜尔西在一家百货公司上班。她卖卖汉堡边儿、辣椒，或者卖卖汽车啊，杂货铺有的小玩意儿。每周只能拿六美元。这些钱主要计入上帝的总账，噢，牧师你说那叫“原始能量”，好吧那就说计入“原始能量”的账上好了，还有其他剩余的就计入自己的账户。
在公司第一年，杜尔西一周只拿五美元。要是能知道她怎么靠这五美元过下去的话一定能让你受益匪浅。没兴趣？好吧！你可能对大一点儿的款子提得起兴趣，六美元算是一笔大款子吧。我来告诉你她怎么靠六美元过活的。
一天下午六点钟，杜尔西一边在离髓质八分之一远的地方插了根帽针，一边跟在旁边等她的闺蜜萨迪聊天：
“我跟你说萨迪，我今天晚上要和皮吉一起吃晚饭。”
“真有你的！”萨迪羡慕的大叫。“运气真好！皮吉可是个大款；他总是带女孩子们去些高消费的地方。有次他带布兰奇上了霍夫曼小屋，那儿的音乐太棒了，还能看到很多大款。你绝对会玩儿的超尽兴的杜尔西。”
杜尔西匆匆往家里跑去。她的眼睛闪闪发光，脸额也是红扑扑的，那是被生活——真实的生活的霞彩映红的。今天是周五，她上周的工资只剩下五十美分。
下班高峰期，街道上人挤人。百老汇电灯通明，飞蛾从几百英里外的黑暗地带蜂拥而来，被烤成了焦炭。那些衣冠楚楚的人们脸上的神情如同水手们刻在樱桃石上的人脸，模糊不清。他们转过头，目送着杜尔西毫不在意地掠过他们向前冲去。曼哈顿就像夜晚盛开的仙人掌，开始吐露它苍白馥郁的花瓣。
杜尔西跑到一家卖便宜货的店子，花了她仅有的五十美分买了个假花边衣领。这些钱本来要用到别的地方的——十五美分吃晚饭，十美分吃早饭，十美分吃午饭。还有一毛钱存进她紧巴巴的小账户里；剩下的五分钱要浪费在甘草汁上——这种甘草汁吃了后会让你的脸看起来像牙痛一样，而且持续的时间跟牙痛一样长。甘草汁就是一种奢侈的享受，几乎算得上是豪华畅饮了——但是，没有了享受的生活能叫生活吗？
杜尔西住在那种带出租家具的房子里，和那种包伙食的房子有些区别。住在这种房子里，你要是饿了可没人知道。
杜尔西走进西区一座褐色石头房子三楼的里间，这就是她住的地方。她点上煤气灯。科学家告诉我们世界上最硬的东西是钻石。他们错了。女房东们知道有种化合物，钻石跟它相比软得简直像烟灰一样。她们把它塞在煤气灯灯孔上；就算你站在椅子上，把手指抠得红肿起泡也没法把它抠出来。簪子也撬不动它；总之就是“它自岿然不动”。
灯点燃后，借着四分之一烛火的微光（微弱的烛光）我们来看看这个房间的样子。
一张沙发床，一个梳妆台，一张桌子，一个洗脸架，一把椅子——这些都是房东给的恩惠。剩下的东西就全是杜尔西自己的了。梳妆台上摆着她的宝贝们，萨迪送给她的瓷瓶，泡菜作坊给的日历，一本解梦的书，一罐装在玻璃瓶子里的扑粉，一束扎着粉红色缎带的假樱桃。
一面破镜子旁边挂着基钦纳将军、威廉·马尔登、马尔巴勒公爵夫人和本韦努托·切利尼的画像。墙上挂着一副头戴罗马式头盔的爱尔兰人石膏塑像，边上还有一幅色彩鲜艳的石板画，画上是一个淡黄色皮肤的小孩儿正在捕捉一只红色蝴蝶。杜尔西十分喜欢这幅画，并把它当成艺术极品。没人质疑过她的品味，也没人私下议论说这幅画是赝品，招她烦心，更没人来奚落她的小小昆虫学家的身份。
皮吉七点钟过来叫她。趁她忙不迭的梳洗打扮，我们暂且回避下，来聊点儿别的。
这个房间一周得付两美元房租。周一到周五早餐得花十美分；杜尔西一边换衣服一边用煤气烹煮鸡蛋和咖啡。周日上午她会花二十五美分奢侈地吃一顿小牛排骨和菠萝碎丁煎饼，还要给服务员十美分当小费。纽约的诱惑太多，能花钱的地方也太多了。每周她要花六十美分在公司食堂吃午饭；晚饭要花一点零五美元。晚报要花六美分，你们说说看有哪个纽约人不看报纸的！还有两份周日的报纸，一份是人事广告，一份是拿来看的，总共十美分。所有的加起来一共要花四点七六美元。还要买点儿衣服吧，还有——
我不想啰嗦了。我听说过有人用些边角料裁裁剪剪就能制出一件华丽的衣服，我不得不表示怀疑。由于那些不能言传又难以实施的、神圣的、自然的天堂公正法则，我得让杜尔西的生活增添点儿属于女人的乐趣。于是她去了两次康尼岛，也坐过旋转木马。这种以年为限而不是以日为期的快乐真让人郁闷。
讲皮吉的话一个词儿就够了。女孩们叫他皮吉简直就是在侮辱高贵的猪之族呢。在那本破旧的蓝色的拼音字典里，第一章提到的三字词简直就是皮吉的小档案。他是个胖子；他有着耗子般的灵魂，蝙蝠一样的习惯，猫儿一样喜欢玩弄猎物。他穿着昂贵的衣服，一眼就能看出来别人是不是在挨饿。他随便扫一眼就能告诉你，那个女售货员除了吃些棉花糖和喝点茶，好久都没吃些有营养的东西了。他在店子里飘来荡去，约人出去吃饭。那些牵着绳子遛狗的人都懒得看他一眼。他就是这样的人；我不想再说他了；我的笔墨可不是为他浪费的；我又不是木匠。
七点差十分，杜尔西收拾好了。她拿着一面破镜子看了看的自己，十分满意。她穿着没有一丝褶皱的深蓝色长裙，戴着顶黑色帽子，帽子上插着一根轻飘飘的羽毛，手上戴着还算干净的手套。这一身都是她辛辛苦苦确省吃俭用攒起来的。
一刹那，杜尔西有点忘我的陶醉在自己的美貌之中，生活即将为她揭开一角神秘面纱展现它的神奇绮丽。之前从来没有男人约她出去过。如今她终于跻身上流圈子并能享受片刻了。
女孩们说皮吉舍得砸钱。吃大餐的地方有音乐，还有盛装打扮的夫人小姐们，食物好吃到足以让她们惊得下巴都掉下来。不用说，杜尔西肯定会被再次邀请的。
她知道商店衣橱里有件蓝色的丝绸上衣，每周要是能多节约十美分出来那就是二十美分，啊，那还要存好多年才买得起呢。但是第七大街有家二手店子好像——
有人在敲门。杜尔西打开门。女房东站在门口，一脸假惺惺的笑，鼻子还在使劲儿地嗅着房间里有没有煤气泄漏的味道。
“楼下有位绅士想见你，”她说道，“姓威金斯。”
皮吉就是用这名字来忽悠那些把他当回事儿的可怜虫们的。
杜尔西走向衣柜取出她的手帕；突然她站住了，紧紧咬着下唇。她看到镜子里面的自己像是童话仙境中刚刚从酣睡中醒来的公主。她几乎要忘了房间里还有双忧郁，迷人，坚毅的眼睛在看着她，似乎在责备她所做的一切。衣橱上镀金的相框里高大清俊的基钦纳将军正在用他那双深邃的眼睛款款看着她，神情落寞哀伤，带着些许悲悯的斥责。
杜尔西木木地转向女房东，如同一个机械娃娃。
“告诉他我不能出去，”她的声音钝钝的。“就说我生病了，或者随便找个理由。告诉他我不出去。”
房门带上之后，杜尔西一头扑倒在床上，哭了足足十分钟，黑帽檐都压坏了。基钦纳将军是她唯一的朋友，也是她心目中英勇骑士的化身。他脸上带着隐秘的忧愁，他迷人的胡须引人入胜，看到他坚毅又温柔的眼神，她有点心悸。她时常幻想有朝一日他能到蹬着马靴，腰别配件出现在她门口唤着她的名字。一次有个小男孩拉着铁链碰到灯柱上咯吱作响，她竟然打开窗户向外张望看是不是他来了。结果当然大失所望。她明白基钦纳将军现在在日本带着军队攻打土耳其蛮子呢；他永远不可能为了她走出那个镶金边的相框。但是那天晚上他只是轻轻看了她一眼，皮吉就被她抛到九霄云外了。没错，那天晚上就是如此。
哭完了，杜尔西从床上爬起来，脱下她那身最好的衣服，换上那条旧旧的蓝色睡袍。她不想吃晚餐，哼了两段《萨米》的曲子。然后把注意力集中在鼻子的一个小红点上。她拖了把椅子放在那个摇摇晃晃得桌子前面，抽出一叠旧纸牌给自己算命。
“这个不要脸的家伙！”，她大声抱怨着。“他凭什么会觉得我对他有意思，我可什么都没做！”
九点钟，杜尔西从箱子里翻出一罐饼干和一小瓶子树莓酱，大吃了一顿。她给基钦纳在饼干上抹了些果酱递给他，但是他的表情就像是斯芬克斯瞅着一只蝴蝶般漠然——如果沙漠有蝴蝶的话。
“不想吃就不要吃，”杜尔西叫道。“别用一脸鄙视的眼神看着我。你要是一星期只拿六美元我看你还骄傲个什么劲儿。”
杜尔西开始粗鲁地对待基钦纳，这可不是什么好的开端。果然她接着把本韦努托切利尼的画像狠狠地翻转过来，让他脸朝下。这个倒是可以理解；因为她一直以为他是亨利八世，她并不喜欢他。
九点半，杜尔西看了最后一眼柜子上的画像，关掉灯，直接躺床上了。她挨个瞅了瞅基钦纳将军、威廉·马尔登、马尔巴勒公爵夫人和本韦努托·切利尼，算是道了晚安，真是让人不爽。
这个故事也没有尾声。要是下次皮吉再约杜尔西出去吃饭，她又刚好觉得孤单，而基钦纳将军眼睛刚好看着别的地方，那么这个故事还会有后续；然后——
就像我之前说的，我梦到自己站在一群得意洋洋的受审人中间，一个警察抓着我问我是不是跟他们一起的。
“他们是谁？”我问道。
“他们啊，”他答道，“他们是那些雇佣女工的老板们，每周给她们发六美元工资。你跟他们一伙儿吗？”
“我可没那么厉害。”我答道。“我只不过是放火烧了个孤儿院，又抢了一个瞎子的钱，然后把他干掉了而已。” （审核：盛君凯）
The Exact Science of Matrimony
O. Henry[1]
“As I have told you before,” said Jeff Peters, “I never had much confidence in theperfidiousness[2] of woman. As partners or coeducators in the most innocent line of graft[3]they are not trustworthy.”
“They deserve the compliment,” said I. “I think they are entitled to be called the honest sex.”
“Why shouldn’t they be?” said Jeff. “They’ve got the other sex either grafting or working overtime for ’em. They’re all right in business until they get their emotions or their hairtouched up too much.[4] Then you want to have a flat-footed, heavy-breathing man with sandy whiskers, five kids and a building and loan mortgage ready as an understudy to take her desk.[5] Now there was that widow lady that me and Andy Tucker engaged to help us in that little matrimonial agency scheme we floated[6] out in Cairo.[7]
“When you’ve got enough advrtising capital--say a roll as big as the little end of a wagontongue[8]--there’s money in matrimonial agencies. We had about $6,000 and we expected to double it in two months, which is about as long as a scheme like ours can be carried on without taking out aNew Jersey charter.[9]
“We fixed up an advertisement that read about like this:
‘Charming widow, beautiful, home loving, 32 years, possessing $3,000 cash and owning valuable country property, would remarry. Would prefer a poor man with affectionate disposition to one[10]with means, as she realizes that the solid virtues are oftenest to be found in the humble walks[11]of life. No objection to elderly man or one of homely appearance if faithful and true and competent to manage property and invest money with judgment. Address, with particulars,
Lonely, Care of Peters & Tucker, agents,Cairo, Ill.’
“‘So far, so pernicious,’[12] says I, when we had finished the literary concoction. ‘And now,’ says I, ‘where is the lady?’
“Andy gives me one of his looks of calm irritation.
“‘Jeff,’ says he, ‘I thought you had lost them ideas of realism in your art.[13] Why should there be a lady? When they sell a lot of watered stock on Wall Street would you expect to find amermaid in it?[14] What has a matrimonial ad got to do with a lady?’
“‘Now listen,’ says I. ‘You know my rule, Andy, that in all my illegitimate inroads against the legal letter of the law the article sold must be existent, visible, producible. In that way and by a careful study of city ordinances[15] and train schedules I have kept out of all trouble with the police that a five-dollar bill and a cigar could not square.[16] Now, to work this scheme we’ve got to be able to produce bodily a charming widow or its equivalent with or without the beauty,hereditaments[17] and appurtenances[18] set forth in the catalogue and writ of errors,[19] or hereafter be held by a justice of the peace.”[20]
“‘Well,’ says Andy, reconstructing his mind, ‘maybe it would be safer in case the post office or the peace commission[21] should try to investigate our agency. But where,’ he says, ‘could you hope to find a widow who would waste time on a matrimonial scheme that had no matrimony in it?’
“I told Andy that I thought I knew of the exact party. An old friend of mine, Zeke Trotter, had made his wife a widow a year before by drinking some dyspepsia[22] cure of the old doctor’s intead of the liniment that he always got boozed up[23] on. I used to stop at their house often, and I thought we could get her to work with us.
“ ’T was only sixty miles to the little town where she lived, so I jumped out on the I.C. and finds her in the same cottage with the same sunflowers and roosters standing on the washrubs. Mrs Trotter fitted our ad first rate except, maybe, for beauty and age and property valuation. But she looked feasible and praiseworthy to the eye, and it was a kindness to Zeke’s money to give her the job.
“Is this an honest deal[24] you are putting on,[25] Mr. Peters? she asks me when I tell her what we want.
“ ‘Mrs. Trotter,’ says I, ‘Andy Trotter and me have computed the calculation that 3,000 men in this broad and fair country will endeavor to secure your fair hand[26] and ostensible[27] money and property through our advertisement. Out of that number something like thirty hundred will expect to give you in exchange, if they should win you, the carcass[28] of a lazy and mercenary[29]loafer, a failure in life, a swindler[30] and contemptible fortune seeker.
“ ‘Me and Andy,’ says I, ‘propose to teach these preyers upon society a lesson. It was with difficulty,’ says I, ‘that me and Andy could refrain from[31] forming a corporation under the title of the Great Moral and Millenial Malevolent Matrimonial Agency. Does that satisfy you?”
“‘It does, Mr. Peters,’ says she. ‘I might have known you wouldn’t have gone into anything that wasn’t opprobrious.[32] But what will my duties be? Do I have to reject personally these 3,000 ramscallions you speak of, or can I throw them out in bunches?’
“ ‘Your job, Mrs. Trotter,’ says I, ‘will be practically a cynosure.[33] You will live at a quiet hotel and will have no work to do. Andy and I will attend to all the correspondence and business end of it.
“‘Of course,’ says I, ‘some of the more ardent and impetuous suitors who can raise the railroad fare may come to Cairo to personally press their suit[34] or whatever fraction of a suit they may be wearing. In that case you will be probably put to the inconvenience of kicking them out face to face. We will pay you $25 per week and hotel expenses.”
“‘Give me five minutes,’ says Mrs. Trotter, ‘to get my powder rag[35] and leave the front door key with a neighbor and you can let my salary begin.’
“‘So I conveys Mrs. Trotter to Cairo and establishes her in a family hotel far enough away from mine and Andy’s quarters to be unsuspicious and available, and I tell Andy.
“ ‘Great,’ says Andy. ‘And now that your conscience is appeased as to the tangibility and proximity of the bait.[36]
“So, we began to insert our advertisement in newspapers covering the country far and wide. One ad was all we used. We couldn’t have used more without hiring so many clerks and marcelled[37]paraphernalia[38] that the sound of the gum chewing would have disturbed the Postmaster-General.
“We place $2,000 in a bank to Mrs. Trotter’s credit[39] and gave her the book to show in case anybody might question the honesty and good faith of the agency. I knew Mrs. Trotter wassquare[40] and reliable and it was safe to leave it in her name.
“With that one ad Andy and me put in[41] twelve hours a day answering letters.
“About one hundred a day was what came in. I never knew there was so many large hearted[42]but indigent men in the country who were willing to acquire a charming widow and assume the burden of investing her money.
“Most of them admitted that they ran principally to[43] whiskers and lost jobs and were misunderstood by the world, but all of ’em were sure that they were so chock[44] full of affection and manly qualities that the widow would be making the bargain of her life to get ’em.
“Every applicant got a reply from Peters & Tucker informing him that the widow had been deeply impressed by his straightforward and interesting letter and requesting them to write again stating more particulars; and enclosing photograph if convenient. Peters & Tucker also informed the applicant that their fee for handing over the second letter to their fair client would be $2, enclosed therewith.
“There you see the simple beauty of the scheme. About 90 percent of them domestic foreign noblemen raised the price somehow and sent it in. That was all there was to it. Except that me and Andy complained an amount about being put to the trouble of slicing open them envelopes, and taking the money out.
“Some few clients called in person. We sent ’em to Mrs. Trotter and she did the rest; except for three or four who came back to strike us for carfare. After the letters began to get in from the r.f.d. districts Andy and me were taking in about $200 a day.
“One afternoon when we were busiest and I was stuffing the two and ones into cigar boxes[45]and Andy was whistling ‘No Wedding Bells for Her’ a small, slick[46] man drops in and runs his eyes over the walls like he was on the trail of a lost Gainesborough[47] painting or two. As soon as I saw him I felt a glow of pride, because we were running our business on the level.[48]
“ ‘I see you have quite a large mail today,’ says the man.
“I reached and got my hat.
“ ‘Come on,’ says I. ‘We’ve been expecting you. I’ll show you the goods. How was Teddy[49]when you left Washington?”
“I took him down to the Riverview Hotel and had him shake hands with Mrs. Trotter. Then I showed him her bank book with the $2,000 to her credit.
“ ‘It seems to be all right,’ says the Secret Service.[50]
“ ‘It is,’ says I. ‘And if you’re not a married man. I’ll leave you to talk a while with the lady. We won’t mention the two dollars.’
“ ‘Thanks,’ says he. ‘If I wasn’t, I might. Good day, Mr. Peters.’
“Toward the end of three months we had taken in something over $5,000, and we saw it was time to quit. We had a good many complaints made to us; and Mrs. Trotter seemed to be tired of the job. A good many suitors had been calling to see her, and she didn’t seem to like that.
“So we decides to pay her last week’s salary and say farewell and get her check for $2,000.
“When I get there I found her crying like a kid that don’t want to go to school.
“ ‘Now, now,’ says I, ‘what’s it all about? Somebody sassed[51] you or you getting homesick?”
“ ‘No, Mr. Peters,’ says she. ‘I’ll tell you. You was always a friend of Zeke’s, and I don’t mind. Mr. Peters, I’m in love. I just love a man so hard I can’t bear not to get him. He’s just the ideal I’ve always had in mind.’
“ ‘Then take him,’ says I. ‘That is, if it’s a mutual case. Does he return the sentiment according to the specifications and painfulness you have described?’[52]
“ ‘He does,’ says she. ‘But he’s one of the gentlemen that’s been coming to see me about the advertisement and he won’t marry me unless I give him the $2,000, His name is William Wilkinson.’ And then she goes off[53] again in the agitations and hysterics of romance.
“ ‘Mrs. Trotter,’ says I, ‘there’s no man more sympathizing with a woman’s affections than I am. Besides, you was once a life partner of one of my best friends. If it was left to me I’d say take this $2,000 and the man of your choice and be happy.
“ ‘We could afford to do that, because we have cleaned up over $5,000 from these suckers that wanted to marry you. But,’ says I, ‘Andy Tucker is to be consulted.’
“I goes back to our hotel and lays the case before Andy.
“ ‘I was expecting something like this all the time,’ says Andy. ‘You can’t trust a woman to stick by you in any scheme that involves her emotions and preferences.’
“‘It’s a sad thing, Andy,’ says I, ‘to think that we’ve been the cause of the breaking of a woman’s heart.’
“ ‘It is’ says Andy, ‘and I tell you what I’m willing to do, Jeff. You’ve always been a man of a soft and generous disposition. Perhaps I’ve been too hard and worldly and suspicious. For once I’ll meet you half way.[54] Go to Mrs. Trotter and tell her to draw the $2,000 from the bank and give it to this man she’s infatuated[55] with and be happy.’
“I jumps and shakes Andy’s hand for five minutes, and then I goes back to Mrs. Trotter and tells her, and she cries as hard for joy as she did for sorrow.
“Two days afterward me and Andy packed to go.
“‘Wouldn’t you like to go down and meet Mrs. Trotter once before we leave?’ I asks him. “She’d like mightily to know you and express her encomiums and gratitude.”
“ ‘Why, I guess not,’ says Andy. ‘I guess we’d better hurry and catch that train.’
“I was strapping our capital around me in a memory belt like we always carried it, when Andy pulls a roll of large bills out of his pocket and asks me to put ’em with the rest.
“ ‘What’s this?’ says I.
“ ‘It’s Mrs. Trotter’s two thousand,’ says Andy.
“ ‘How do you come to have it?’ I asks.
“ ‘She gave it to me,’ says Andy. “I’ve been calling on her three evenings a week for more than a month.’
“ ‘Then you are William Wilkinson?” says I.
“ ‘I was,’ says Andy.”
An unfinished story
We no longer groan and heap ashes upon our heads when the flames of Tophet are mentioned. For, even the preachers have begun to tell us that God is radium, or ether or some scientific compound, and that the worst we wicked ones may expect is a chemical reaction. This is a pleasing hypothesis; but there lingers yet some of the old, goodly terror of orthodoxy.
There are but two subjects upon which one may discourse with a free imagination, and without the possibility of being controverted. You may talk of your dreams; and you may tell what you heard a parrot say. Both Morpheus and the bird are incompetent witnesses; and your listener dare not attack your recital. The baseless fabric of a vision, then, shall furnish my theme--chosen with apologies and regrets instead of the more limited field of pretty Polly's small talk.
I had a dream that was so far removed from the higher criticism that it had to do with the ancient, respectable, and lamented bar-of- judgment theory.
Gabriel had played his trump; and those of us who could not follow suit were arraigned for examination. I noticed at one side a gathering of professional bondsmen in solemn black and collars that buttoned behind; but it seemed there was some trouble about their real estate titles; and they did not appear to be getting any of us out.
A fly cop--an angel policeman--flew over to me and took me by the left wing. Near at hand was a group of very prosperous-looking spirits arraigned for judgment.
"Do you belong with that bunch?" the policeman asked.
"Who are they?" was my answer.
"Why," said he, "they are--"
But this irrelevant stuff is taking up space that the story should occupy.
Dulcie worked in a department store. She sold Hamburg edging, or stuffed peppers, or automobiles, or other little trinkets such as they keep in department stores. Of what she earned, Dulcie received six dollars per week. The remainder was credited to her and debited to somebody else's account in the ledger kept by G-- Oh, primal energy, you say, Reverend Doctor--Well then, in the Ledger of Primal Energy.
During her first year in the store, Dulcie was paid five dollars per week. It would be instructive to know how she lived on that amount. Don't care? Very well; probably you are interested in larger amounts. Six dollars is a larger amount. I will tell you how she lived on six dollars per week.
One afternoon at six, when Dulcie was sticking her hat-pin within an eighth of an inch of her medulla oblongata, she said to her chum, Sadie--the girl that waits on you with her left side:
"Say, Sade, I made a date for dinner this evening with Piggy."
"You never did!" exclaimed Sadie admiringly. "Well, ain't you the lucky one? Piggy's an awful swell; and he always takes a girl to swell places. He took Blanche up to the Hoffman House one evening, where they have swell music, and you see a lot of swells. You'll have a swell time, Dulce."
Dulcie hurried homeward. Her eyes were shining, and her cheeks showed the delicate pink of life's--real life's--approaching dawn. It was Friday; and she had fifty cents left of her last week's wages.
The streets were filled with the rush-hour floods of people. The electric lights of Broadway were glowing--calling moths from miles, from leagues, from hundreds of leagues out of darkness around to come in and attend the singeing school. Men in accurate clothes, with faces like those carved on cherry stones by the old salts in sailors' homes, turned and stared at Dulcie as she sped, unheeding, past them. Manhattan, the night-blooming cereus, was beginning to unfold its dead-white, heavy-odoured petals.
Dulcie stopped in a store where goods were cheap and bought an imitation lace collar with her fifty cents. That money was to have been spent otherwise--fifteen cents for supper, ten cents for breakfast, ten cents for lunch. Another dime was to be added to her small store of savings; and five cents was to be squandered for licorice drops--the kind that made your cheek look like the toothache, and last as long. The licorice was an extravagance-- almost a carouse--but what is life without pleasures?
Dulcie lived in a furnished room. There is this difference between a furnished room and a boardinghouse. In a furnished room, other people do not know it when you go hungry.
Dulcie went up to her room--the third floor back in a West Side brownstone-front. She lit the gas. Scientists tell us that the diamond is the hardest substance known. Their mistake. Landladies know of a compound beside which the diamond is as putty. They pack it in the tips of gas-burners; and one may stand on a chair and dig at it in vain until one's fingers are pink and bruised. A hairpin will not remove it; therefore let us call it immovable.
So Dulcie lit the gas. In its one-fourth-candlepower glow we will observe the room.
Couch-bed, dresser, table, washstand, chair--of this much the landlady was guilty. The rest was Dulcie's. On the dresser were her treasures--a gilt china vase presented to her by Sadie, a calendar issued by a pickle works, a book on the divination of dreams, some rice powder in a glass dish, and a cluster of artificial cherries tied with a pink ribbon.
Against the wrinkly mirror stood pictures of General Kitchener, William Muldoon, the Duchess of Marlborough, and Benvenuto Cellini. Against one wall was a plaster of Paris plaque of an O'Callahan in a Roman helmet. Near it was a violent oleograph of a lemon-coloured child assaulting an inflammatory butterfly. This was Dulcie's final judgment in art; but it had never been upset. Her rest had never been disturbed by whispers of stolen copes; no critic had elevated his eyebrows at her infantile entomologist.
Piggy was to call for her at seven. While she swiftly makes ready, let us discreetly face the other way and gossip.
For the room, Dulcie paid two dollars per week. On week-days her breakfast cost ten cents; she made coffee and cooked an egg over the gaslight while she was dressing. On Sunday mornings she feasted royally on veal chops and pineapple fritters at "Billy's" restaurant, at a cost of twenty-five cents--and tipped the waitress ten cents. New York presents so many temptations for one to run into extravagance. She had her lunches in the department-store restaurant at a cost of sixty cents for the week; dinners were $1.05. The evening papers--show me a New Yorker going without his daily paper! --came to six cents; and two Sunday papers--one for the personal column and the other to read--were ten cents. The total amounts to $4.76. Now, one has to buy clothes, and--
I give it up. I hear of wonderful bargains in fabrics, and of miracles performed with needle and thread; but I am in doubt. I hold my pen poised in vain when I would add to Dulcie's life some of those joys that belong to woman by virtue of all the unwritten, sacred, natural, inactive ordinances of the equity of heaven. Twice she had been to Coney Island and had ridden the hobby-horses. 'Tis a weary thing to count your pleasures by summers instead of by hours.
Piggy needs but a word. When the girls named him, an undeserving stigma was cast upon the noble family of swine. The words-of-three- letters lesson in the old blue spelling book begins with Piggy's biography. He was fat; he had the soul of a rat, the habits of a bat, and the magnanimity of a cat. . . He wore expensive clothes; and was a connoisseur in starvation. He could look at a shop-girl and tell you to an hour how long it had been since she had eaten anything more nourishing than marshmallows and tea. He hung about the shopping districts, and prowled around in department stores with his invitations to dinner. Men who escort dogs upon the streets at the end of a string look down upon him. He is a type; I can dwell upon him no longer; my pen is not the kind intended for him; I am no carpenter.
At ten minutes to seven Dulcie was ready. She looked at herself in the wrinkly mirror. The reflection was satisfactory. The dark blue dress, fitting without a wrinkle, the hat with its jaunty black feather, the but-slightly-soiled gloves--all representing self- denial, even of food itself--were vastly becoming.
Dulcie forgot everything else for a moment except that she was beautiful, and that life was about to lift a corner of its mysterious veil for her to observe its wonders. No gentleman had ever asked her out before. Now she was going for a brief moment into the glitter and exalted show.
The girls said that Piggy was a "spender." There would be a grand dinner, and music, and splendidly dressed ladies to look at, and things to eat that strangely twisted the girls' jaws when they tried to tell about them. No doubt she would be asked out again. There was a blue pongee suit in a window that she knew--by saving twenty cents a week instead of ten, in--let's see--Oh, it would run into years! But there was a second-hand store in Seventh Avenue where--
Somebody knocked at the door. Dulcie opened it. The landlady stood there with a spurious smile, sniffing for cooking by stolen gas.
"A gentleman's downstairs to see you," she said. "Name is Mr. Wiggins."
By such epithet was Piggy known to unfortunate ones who had to take him seriously.
Dulcie turned to the dresser to get her handkerchief; and then she stopped still, and bit her underlip hard. While looking in her mirror she had seen fairyland and herself, a princess, just awakening from a long slumber. She had forgotten one that was watching her with sad, beautiful, stern eyes--the only one there was to approve or condemn what she did. Straight and slender and tall, with a look of sorrowful reproach on his handsome, melancholy face, General Kitchener fixed his wonderful eyes on her out of his gilt photograph frame on the dresser.
Dulcie turned like an automatic doll to the landlady.
"Tell him I can't go," she said dully. "Tell him I'm sick, or something. Tell him I'm not going out."
After the door was closed and locked, Dulcie fell upon her bed, crushing her black tip, and cried for ten minutes. General Kitchener was her only friend. He was Dulcie's ideal of a gallant knight. He looked as if he might have a secret sorrow, and his wonderful moustache was a dream, and she was a little afraid of that stern yet tender look in his eyes. She used to have little fancies that he would call at the house sometime, and ask for her, with his sword clanking against his high boots. Once, when a boy was rattling a piece of chain against a lamp-post she had opened the window and looked out. But there was no use. She knew that General Kitchener was away over in Japan, leading his army against the savage Turks; and he would never step out of his gilt frame for her. Yet one look from him had vanquished Piggy that night. Yes, for that night.
When her cry was over Dulcie got up and took off her best dress, and put on her old blue kimono. She wanted no dinner. She sang two verses of "Sammy." Then she became intensely interested in a little red speck on the side of her nose. And after that was attended to, she drew up a chair to the rickety table, and told her fortune with an old deck of cards.
"The horrid, impudent thing!" she said aloud. "And I never gave him a word or a look to make him think it!"
At nine o'clock Dulcie took a tin box of crackers and a little pot of raspberry jam out of her trunk, and had a feast. She offered General Kitchener some jam on a cracker; but he only looked at her as the sphinx would have looked at a butterfly--if there are butterflies in the desert.
"Don't eat it if you don't want to," said Dulcie. "And don't put on so many airs and scold so with your eyes. I wonder if you'd he so superior and snippy if you had to live on six dollars a week."
It was not a good sign for Dulcie to be rude to General Kitchener. And then she turned Benvenuto Cellini face downward with a severe gesture. But that was not inexcusable; for she had always thought he was Henry VIII, and she did not approve of him.
At half-past nine Dulcie took a last look at the pictures on the dresser, turned out the light, and skipped into bed. It's an awful thing to go to bed with a good-night look at General Kitchener, William Muldoon, the Duchess of Marlborough, and Benvenuto Cellini. This story really doesn't get anywhere at all. The rest of it comes later--sometime when Piggy asks Dulcie again to dine with him, and she is feeling lonelier than usual, and General Kitchener happens to be looking the other way; and then--
As I said before, I dreamed that I was standing near a crowd of prosperous-looking angels, and a policeman took me by the wing and asked if I belonged with them.
"Who are they?" I asked.
"Why," said he, "they are the men who hired working-girls, and paid 'em five or six dollars a week to live on. Are you one of the bunch?"
"Not on your immortality," said I. "I'm only the fellow that set fire to an orphan asylum, and murdered a blind man for his pennies."
以辨义觅本真：关于第一次练习文学翻译的总结
第一次接到文学翻译的任务，还是翻译世界短篇小说巨匠欧亨利的作品，内心用“颤颤兢兢，如履薄冰”来形容也不为过，十分恐惧自己拙劣的译笔无法再现大师的经典，贻笑大方。然而担心焦虑无助于写好翻译，任何事情都是一点一点完成的。
在动笔之前我所做的第一件事就是回忆曾经学过关于欧亨利小说语言特色的介绍，欧亨利小说语言“简洁凝练，幽默调侃”，被誉为“含泪的微笑”；后来通读几遍原文之后，初步发现《婚姻的精密科学》一文有相当多的对话，而《一个未写完的故事》虽然多用叙述，用典和谐音，但是所用之词十分平实，因此我做出的判断是：译文语言也应该尽量生动活泼，对话需要口语化。
语言风格确定之后，我开始着手翻译。全文总共通翻了3遍，也找同门和同学帮助自己审译了数次，然而每次再重读译文，对比原文，依然能发现无数问题，而最大的问题就是辨义不明造成的误翻。就拿标题来说，翻译《An unfinished story》这个标题我就前后改动了数次：第一次翻译成为“一个未完成的故事”，后来修改时发现这个标题的含义与文章内容有所出入：“完成”在汉语中的意思是“事情按照预定目标做成”，然而原文中的这个故事其实是作者的一个梦境，而梦境恰恰是不能预设的，所以“完成”用在这里并不精准；第二次我将它改成了“未讲完的故事”，后来在校对的时候再次动笔把它改成了“未写完的故事”，原因是欧亨利在文中写到“My pen is not the kind intended for him; I am no carpenter”，因此最终将它换成了“写”。第二处是在翻译《The exact Science of Matrimony》中一句很简单的话，也是因为辨义不明造成了误翻：“It seems to be all right”我直接翻译成了“一切似乎进展得很顺利”。但是后来校对的时候发现这句话实际上是便衣警察过来暗访的时候说的。如果直接按照上文的翻译感觉意思就是一个普通的评价，甚至还有“满意”的效果在里面；而根据语境应该把它翻译成“倒看不出有什么问题”更能体现便衣警察的身份。也是在《An unfinished story》里面有一句话是“He had……the magnanimityof cat”。最开始我将它翻译成“猫儿的气度”，然而“猫儿的气度”在英语和汉语文化中并没有特别的含义，既不是指气度大也不是指气度小；然后根据后文皮吉的性格特点（喜欢周旋于各色女孩子之间）将其翻译为“猫儿一样喜欢玩弄猎物”。
翻译家和语言学家王宗炎先生说过，“辨义为翻译之本”。此次翻译练习让我对这句话的领悟有了更深刻的体会：译者一定要在充分领会原文意图的基础之上才可以斟酌用词和用句。“义”不仅单指语言含义，更指语境和文化含义。在今后的翻译中我将会更加严谨的思考，慎重的落笔，以期进步。
归在语言异在文化——关于欧亨利两篇短篇小说译文的评析和对比
朱砂
摘要：本文从归化和异化的角度分析欧亨利两篇短篇小说《婚姻学的真谛》（以下简称《婚》）和《没写完的故事》（以下简称《没》）的不同译本，通过实例对比，将归与异的处理划分为语言和文化两大类。分析表明，上述两篇小说译者译文的归化着力点主要都在语言层面上，而对文化的归化十分节制，主要采取异化。由此得出结论，为保证译文流畅可读，归化为首选；为体现源语文化的异域风情，异化为首选。归在语言，异在文化，归异相糅。
关键词：归化; 异化; 语言; 文化
Abstract: On the perspective of domestication and foreignization, the different translations of O’Henry’s short novels The Exact Science of Matrimony (hereinafter referred to as Matrimony) and An unfinished story (hereinafter referred to as Unfinished) are compared by examples. The classification of domestication and foreignization are in two levels: language and culture. The above two translations are mainly focused on language level referring to domestication while there are a lot of limitations referring to culture elements and the translator intended to adopt foreignization in this case. It is concluded that domestication is the priority in order to keep the translation work fluent and readable; foreignization is the priority in order to reflect the foreign culture. Domestication is mainly focused on language while foreignization on culture. And both methods are to be combined.
Key words: domestication; forejgnization; language; culture
一.析归异之偏爱，求归异之平衡
归化与异化的说法最早来源于1813年6月24日德国早期思想家斯莱尔马赫（Schleiermacher）在柏林皇家科学院所作的题为《论翻译的方法》的演讲，他认为翻译不是尽可能让读者靠拢作者，就是让作者靠拢读者。归化与异化主要包含两大类，一是语言层面，一是文化层面。然而归化异化各自倾向于哪个层面，孙致礼教授认为：“翻译的根本任务是忠实再现原作的思想和风格，而原作的思想和风格都带有浓厚的异国情调，翻译中不采用异化的方法，很难完成这一使命。与此同时，为了达到译文像原作一样通顺的要求，译者在语言表达中，又不得不作出必要的归化。”由此可知，在翻译过程中，异化侧重于思想文化的处理，归化侧重于语言表达的处理。然而具体翻译中，通常同时涉及到文化和语言的处理，因此析归异之偏爱后，应该求归化与异化的平衡，归化异化互为补充。
二.译海拾贝：小说《婚》和《没》的译本赏析和对比
1.译文和译者简介
欧亨利小说以其出人意料而又合乎情理的结尾情节设计深受读者喜爱。本文选取的两篇小说《婚》和《没》都体现了欧亨利对小人物的命运的同情和关心，同时也对他们自身的劣根性提出了辛辣的嘲讽和批评，是典型的欧亨利式小说。同时选择的译本分别是2010年中国对外翻译出版社出版的张经浩先生的译本和2010年人民文学出版社出版的王永年先生的译本。选择这两种译本的原因有三，第一是这两种译本在各大网上书店销售量大；第二是这两种译本各有千秋，但是都能体现语言层面归化和文化层面异化的杂糅；第三，同是采取归化策略，张译本和王译本在表达方式上有所不同，可以作出比较，各取其长，各补其短。
2.归化的具体体现
“欣赏翻译的艺术就是要看译者如何利用目标语的语言资源去克服翻译困难。”汉语特有的语言资源有主要有量词，叠字和四字格以及古体语。这四种处理方法，实际上是撇开了原语中的词语和句法转而迎合目的语的表达方式，尽量照顾目的语读者的需要，是归化的处理方法。
从张译《婚》版本中，我们可以看到归化的具体表现如下：
量词：一卷钞票；一大叠钞票
叠词：醉醺醺；
四字格：当之无愧；拼死拼活；笨手笨脚；胡子拉碴；应接不暇；兴师动众；怀才不遇；不三不四；十有八九；财源滚滚；滑头滑脑；天衣无缝；络绎不绝；两厢情愿
古体语：见下文例3
王译《婚》版本中：
量词：一幢房子；一条人鱼；一张五元钞票；一支雪茄；一则广告；一封回信；一卷大额钞票
叠词：冷冷地；咕噜噜；
四字格：酩酊大醉；游手好闲；唯利是图；嬉皮涎脸；不可开交；无懈可击；难分难舍；和盘托出
古体语：见下文例3
下面我们来对上述方法在译文中的具体运用做简要分析和对比：
例1：An old friend of mine, Zeke Trotter, had made his wife a widow a year before drinking some dyspepsia cure of the old doctor’s instead of the liniment that he always got boozed up on. （斜体部分为本文作者所加，下同）
张译：我有位老朋友，叫齐克特罗特。平常他总是灌黄汤灌得醉醺醺，一年前有次没灌好，吃了老医生治消化不良的药，让老婆成了寡妇。（黑体着重部分为本文作者所加，下同）
王译：我有个老朋友，齐克特罗特，去年喝了一个老医生的消化药，而没有喝那种老是使他酩酊大醉的万应药，结果害的老婆当了寡妇。
此处，张译版本在翻译”got boozed up”时采用了ABB叠词处理方法。叠词能够增强语言音律美和节奏感，使得译出的汉语更有表现力，更易使读者接受。如果此处不使用叠词，而是直译为”他总是灌黄汤灌醉”,意思表达依然完整，但是表现力大打折扣。而此处王译版本将其处理为四字格亦可，表达力也较强。两种处理办法均可。
例2：Out of that number something like thirty hundred will expect to give you in exchange, if they should win you, the carcass of a lazy and mercenary loafer, a failure in life, a swindler and contemptible fortune seeker.(206)
张译：你等着瞧吧，这三千人里有三千零一或者是懒汉，或者是见钱眼开的人，或者是倒霉鬼，骗子，存心不良搞钱财的家伙。(张经浩，第48页)
王译：在那批人中间，假如他们侥幸赢得了你的心，约莫就有三千人准备给你一个游手好闲，唯利是图的臭皮囊，一个生活的失意人，一个骗子手和可鄙的淘金者作为交换。（王永年，第161页）
此处张译本将”thirty hundred”归化翻译为汉语中的特有句式”三千人里有三千零一个”,从中可以看出译者对原文的深刻理解和在表达上的匠心独运。原文所对应的名词直译应该为”三千人”，但是此处译者加入了自己的理解：就译者看来，这些居心不良的求婚者不在少数，甚至人人都各怀鬼胎，因此译者大胆使用汉语特有的夸张句式”三千人里有三千零一个”，使得读者能充分感受到当时整个社会人们道德水平普遍低下的境况的言外之意，不失为一种归化的妙译。反观王译本当中直译成“三千人”就缺乏夸张的效果。并且从句式上看，王译本对原文几乎是直接直译过来，显得拖沓生硬，而张译本更符合汉语的表达。因此，该处张译本采取归化的方法处理更为恰当。
例3：Would prefer a poor man with affectionate disposition to one with means as she realizes that the solid virtues are oftenest to be found in the humble walks of life.(205)
张译：念卑贱者往往忠厚，故宁择贫而情笃者。(张经浩，第47页)
王译：……然性情必须温良，因微贱之人多具美德。(王永年，第159页到160页)
此处，两种译本都采取归化的方法将原文翻译成汉语味道浓郁的偏古体句，巧妙的将英语中的长难句简化成符合汉语习惯的短句，赢得了汉语读者的好感。两种译本均可，然而张译本更是运用了对偶句，加强了译本的文学性和节奏感，因此略胜一筹。
3.异化的具体体现
翻译的根本任务是忠实再现原作的思想和风格。然而有时候原作的思想和风格都带有浓郁的异国色彩，或者说蕴含非常强烈的文化内涵，归化的译法无法传达出其意义，此时就应该采用异化的方法。具体来说是就是直译和解注文化负载词。即，特意使用“不地道”的汉语，目的是保留原作的文化内涵。
据统计，张译《没》总共有注解11处，其中属于文化负载词的注解有6处；王译《没》总共有注解10处，其中属于文化负载词的注解有5处。以下举例分析异化的具体表现以及对比：
例4：Dulcie went up to her room—the third floor back in a West Side brownstone-front.
张译：达尔西走进西区一所正面用褐色石头建造的房子三楼的一间后房，这儿是她的住房。
王译：达尔西上楼到她的房间里去——西区一座褐石房屋的三楼后房。
此处，张译本和王译本最大的不同在于，张译本对“褐色石头建造的房子”加入了注解“19世纪时房子正面用褐色石头建造表示房主人富有”，欧亨利将一个贫困的女售货员的住处设计成代表富有的“褐色石头房子”实际上是一种讽刺，既讽刺了社会贫富差距大，也暗指了女售货员的虚荣心，她的生活和她幻想中的生活存在极大的落差，就如同褐色房子表面的富有和内在的贫困一样。因此此处的注解对读者正确理解原文作者意图是不可或缺的。张译使用异化的处理策略十分恰当。
例5：So, we began to insert our advertisement in newspapers covering the country far and wide. One ad was all we used. We couldn’t have used more without hiring so many clerks and marcelled paraphernalia that the sound of the gum chewing would have disturbed the Postmaster-General.(207)
张译：“我们立即在全国各地报纸登征婚启事，只登了一次，多登非应接不暇，闹得兴师动众，露出马脚不可。”(张经浩，第49页)
王译：我们在全国各地的报纸上刊登了广告。我们只登一次。事实上也不能多登，不然就得雇用许多办事员和女秘书，而她们嚼口香糖的声音可能会惊动邮政总长。(王永年，第162页)
此处，张译连用“应接不暇”“兴师动众”“露出马脚”三个四字短语，优点是其形式简洁明快，且具有模糊性和概况性，适宜用于处理冗长复杂的英文句子。并且易于被汉语读者接受。但是此处欧亨利在原文中设计了“办事员和女秘书嚼口香糖”的情节实际上是一种反讽，讽刺了当时社会行政人员工作态度的怠惰和工作效率的低下,换句话说，此处涉及到特殊的文化内涵。如果略去而是直接用四字短语替代，则不能体现原作者在此处的良苦用心，也没有做到忠实。因此，该处应该采取异化当中直译的方法处理。王译的处理更为恰当。
例6：We no longer groan and heap ashes upon our heads when the flames of Tophet are mentioned.(60)
张译：如今人们谈起地狱的火焰时，不再边哼呀咳呀边往头上倒灰了。(张经浩，第84页)
王译：如今人们提到地狱的火焰时，我们不再唉声叹气，把灰涂在自己头上了。（王永年，第33页）
此处，在翻译”heap ashes upon our heads”的时候，张译和王译都采取异化的方法，加注解释“往头上倒灰”是一种犹太的风俗，悲切忏悔时，身穿麻衣，须发涂灰。这种做法较好地保护了源语文化，同时让读者享受到异域特色。
三.译语喃喃：归化异化 相得益彰 归异同心
通过作者的亲身翻译实践和对以上译本的对比分析后发现，归化多用于处理语言层面，异化多用于处理涉及文化的层面，虽然各有偏爱但是不完全分开，即归化异化是相得益彰的；归异同心，这里的心就是指读者能喜爱和接受的翻译文本。无论是归化的策略还是异化策略，不能一味采用一种翻译策略，而是应该从实际出发，归异相糅，才能是好的翻译。