1. Mme. Oreille was a very economical woman; to the point that even her husband was hardly allowed any pocket money. Although they were very comfortably off, it really pained Mme. Oreille to see any money spent. Whenever she had to spend anything, no matter how necessary it might be, she slept badly the next night. Her husband, Mr. Oreille, was continually saying to his wife: “You really need to be more liberal, we never get to enjoy our income.” “It is better to have too much than too little.” She used to reply to that. She was a little woman of about forty, very active, wrinkled, very neat and tidy, and with a very short temper.
奧萊依太太非常節(jié)儉，甚至連她的丈夫也幾乎得不到幾個(gè)零用錢。盡管他們經(jīng)濟(jì)上比較寬裕，但每次看到錢從手里花掉都會(huì)令?yuàn)W萊依太太感到十分痛苦。每當(dāng)她不得不花掉一筆錢時(shí)，無論這筆錢花的是否必要，她當(dāng)天晚上都會(huì)睡不安穩(wěn)。她的丈夫奧萊依先生一再對(duì)她說：“你確實(shí)需要手松一點(diǎn)兒，我們賺那么多錢都從來沒真正享受過?！薄板X多總比錢少好?！彼?jīng)這樣回答道。她是個(gè)四十歲左右、身材矮小、充滿活力的婦人，臉上已經(jīng)有些皺紋，很是干凈利落，但性子非常急。
2. Mr. Oreille frequently complained about his wife. For two years he had always come to his office with the same old patched umbrella, to the great amusement of his colleagues. At last he got so tired of their jokes that he insisted upon his wife buying him a new one, a good silk one, for twenty francs, and to bring him the bill, so that he could see that its quality was all right. She bought him one for eighteen francs, and said, getting red with anger as she gave it to her husband: “This will last you for five years at least.” Mr. Oreille felt quite triumphant, and received a small ovation at the office with his new acquisition. His colleagues were even jealous of him!
奧萊依先生經(jīng)常抱怨他的妻子害他缺這少那。兩年來，他總是帶著那把滿是補(bǔ)丁的舊雨傘去辦公室，這使得他總是成為同事們揶揄的對(duì)象。最后，他實(shí)在無法繼續(xù)忍受他們的玩笑，堅(jiān)持要妻子給他買一把價(jià)值20法郎，采用優(yōu)質(zhì)絲綢面料的新傘，并且必須把發(fā)票帶回來作證。后來，她花了18法郎為他買了一把，在交給他丈夫的時(shí)候，臉氣得通紅，說：“這把傘，你至少得用五年。”奧萊依先生感到相當(dāng)?shù)靡庋笱螅⑶耶?dāng)帶著這個(gè)新裝備來到辦公室時(shí)，同事們對(duì)他還有了那么一點(diǎn)兒肅然起敬。他們甚至開始嫉妒他了！
3. When he went home in the evening his wife said to him: “You must take care of your umbrella well, for I shall not buy you a new one.” She took it to put it away safe, but suddenly was dumfounded with rage; in the middle of the silk there was a hole! “What is that?” she screamed. Her husband replied quietly, without looking at it: “What do you mean?” “You—you—have—burned—your umbrella!” “What are you talking about? I have done nothing, I swear. I don't know what is the matter with the umbrella.” “You have been playing tricks with it at the office, to show it off!” she screamed. “I only opened it once, to let them see what a nice one it was, that is all, I swear.” But she shook with rage.
他晚上回到家時(shí)，他的妻子對(duì)他說：“你必須愛護(hù)好這把傘，因?yàn)槲也粫?huì)再給你買新的了?！碑?dāng)她接過傘，打算把它放到一個(gè)安全的地方時(shí)，卻被眼前的一幕驚呆了——這把傘的絲綢面料中間有一個(gè)洞！“這是怎么回事？”她尖叫道。她的丈夫看都沒看一眼便安靜地回答說：“什么意思？”“你……你……把……傘……燙了個(gè)洞！”“你在說什么？我發(fā)誓，我什么也沒做。我不知道那傘是怎么回事?！薄澳阋欢ㄔ谵k公室拿著傘耍著玩，顯擺來著！”她尖聲嚷道?！拔抑粨伍_了一次，讓他們也欣賞下好東西，僅此而已，我發(fā)誓。”但此時(shí)她已經(jīng)被氣得直發(fā)抖。
4. After hours of arguing, she mended it with a piece of silk cut out of the old umbrella, which was of a different colour. The next day Mr. Oreille went off with the mended article in his hand. He put it into a cupboard, and thought no more of it. But he had barely got home that evening when his wife took the umbrella from him, opened it, and the disaster that followed was immense. The umbrella was covered with small holes!
他們大吵了幾個(gè)小時(shí)后，奧萊依太太從那把舊傘上剪下了一塊顏色不一樣的面料，補(bǔ)在了新傘上。第二天，奧萊依先生手里拿著這把補(bǔ)好的傘走出了家門。他把傘往櫥柜里一塞，就不再想它了。但是，那天晚上，他剛剛到家，他的妻子就從他手中奪過了雨傘，撐開了，一場(chǎng)災(zāi)難也隨之而來——雨傘上到處是小洞！
5. After seeing this, she threw the useless umbrella at his head, screaming out in rage: “Oh! you brute! you brute! You did it on purpose, but I will pay you out for it. You shall not have another.” She was outraged he rest of the evening and refused to speak to her husband until he left for work the next day. Left by herself, Mme. Oreille could not get over the loss of her eighteen francs by any means.
看到這觸目驚心的一幕后，她把這把沒用的傘扔在了他的頭上，并憤怒地大喊道：“??！你個(gè)混蛋！你個(gè)混蛋！你是故意的！我得讓你嘗嘗我的厲害。我絕對(duì)不會(huì)再給你買傘了！”那天晚上剩下的時(shí)間里，她的腦海中一直充斥著憤怒的情緒，直到第二天她的丈夫出門上班也沒跟他說一句話。此時(shí)家里只剩下她一個(gè)人了，但她還是無法平復(fù)失去那18法郎的壞心情。

6. She tried not to think of it anymore, and yet the thought of the loss struck her painfully. So she decided: “I will go to the fire insurance company, to get a reimbursement, and we will see what will happen.” At the Insurance building, she found herself in a large room where three solemn gentlemen in suits were talking. One of them asked her: “What do you want, Madame?” She, nervous, could hardly get out her words, but stammered: “I have come—I have come on account of an accident, something— “. “
她試圖不再想這件事，但是錢財(cái)損失的念頭還是令她痛苦不已。于是，她決定：“我要去火災(zāi)保險(xiǎn)公司，讓他們賠償我，看看他們?cè)趺刺幚怼！边M(jìn)入保險(xiǎn)公司大樓，她來到了一個(gè)大房間里，里面有三位西裝革履的先生正在交談。其中一個(gè)問她：“您有什么需要的嗎，太太？”她緊張地幾乎把準(zhǔn)備好的詞都忘了，結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地說道：“我來是……我來是為了一筆意外損失……”。
7. She could scarcely speak, as she knew she was not going to tell the entire truth, but at last she managed to say: “I have come for this.” She showed the damaged umbrella. “It cost me twenty francs,” she said, with some hesitation. He seemed astonished. “Really! As much as that?” The second gentleman in the room, the manager, said: “Sorry, Madame, we do not sell umbrellas; we cannot undertake such kinds of repairs.”
她幾乎說不出話來，是因 為她知道自己不能說出全部實(shí)情，但最后她還是組織好了語言：“我來就是為了這個(gè)?！彼贸隽四前哑苽??！拔一?0法郎買它，”她說話的語氣有些猶豫。那位先生看起來非常驚訝?！罢娴膯幔?？有那么貴？”房間里的另一位先生是經(jīng)理，他說：“對(duì)不起，這位太太，我們不賣雨傘。我們沒辦法幫您修它?！?br />8. Feeling challenged, the little woman felt her courage reviving; she was not even afraid any more, and said: “I only want you to pay me the cost of repairing it.” Both gentlemen seemed rather confused. “Really, Madame, it is such a very small matter! We are never asked to give compensation for such trivial losses.” Said the first. She got red in the face, and felt inclined to fly into a rage.
感覺受到了挑戰(zhàn)，這位身材矮小的婦人重新恢復(fù)了勇氣。她甚至不再感到害怕了，于是說：“我只想讓你們賠我修理雨傘的費(fèi)用?！边@兩位先生似乎都非常困惑。“說真的，太太，這是一件非常小的事情！從來沒人要求我們賠償這種微不足道的損失?！彼槺锏猛t，感覺自己就要大發(fā)雷霆了。
9. “Will you kindly tell me how the damage was done?” the third gentleman, who maybe pitied her or maybe was scared of her, asked. She felt that she had won, and said: “Most likely a piece of the burning candle in the hall, above the umbrella holder, had fallen between the folds and burned it. You can see how it has damaged it. —Look here, monsieurs, I do not want to make any money out of you, so I will tell you what we will do. I will take my umbrella to an umbrella maker, who will re-cover it in good, durable silk, and I will bring the bill to you. Will that suit you, monsieurs?”
“您能否告訴我整個(gè)事情的經(jīng)過嗎？”房間里的第三位先生問道（可能因?yàn)榭蓱z她，也可能因?yàn)楹ε滤龀鲞^激的事情）。她感到自己贏了，于是說：“很可能是大廳里傘架上方一根點(diǎn)燃的蠟燭掉落在了傘的折疊處，把傘燒壞的。您看看它都被燒成什么樣子了。你們看看，先生們。我并不想從你們那賺錢，所以我將告訴你們我們下一步要做什么。我會(huì)把這把雨傘帶到一家制傘店，讓他們用耐用的優(yōu)質(zhì)絲綢把它修好，然后我會(huì)把發(fā)票交給你們。這樣可以吧，先生們？”
10. The three men realized they had the choice between dealing with an outraged woman for hours or simply giving her what she wanted and continue their day in a few moments. “Perfectly, Madame; we will settle it so. Here is a note for the cashier, who will repay you whatever it costs you.” Said the manager. He gave Mme. Oreille a slip of paper, who took it, got up and went out, thanking him, for she was in a hurry to escape lest he should change his mind. She went briskly through the streets, and when she found a first-class shop she said, confidently: “I want this umbrella re-covered in silk, good silk. Use the very best and strongest you have; I don't mind what it costs.”
三位先生意識(shí)到，他們只能在“與一個(gè)憤怒的婦人糾纏幾個(gè)小時(shí)”與“用很少的時(shí)間，簡(jiǎn)單地滿足她的需要，然后繼續(xù)自己手頭的工作”之間做出選擇。“很好，太太，我們就這樣一言為定了。您把這張便條交給出納，然后他們會(huì)把您花的錢如數(shù)付給您的?！苯?jīng)理說。奧萊依太太接過了那張便條，一邊道謝一邊起身往外走。她這么急著就走，是因?yàn)樗滤麜?huì)反悔。她輕快地穿過街道，在看到一家一流的制傘商時(shí)，便走了進(jìn)去。她自信地說：“我要用優(yōu)質(zhì)的絲綢面料換掉這把傘的面料。用你們最好的、最結(jié)實(shí)的絲綢面料。價(jià)錢多少，我不在乎！”