評論
打印
A heated discussion about whether men are braver than women is settled in a rather unexpected way.
關于男人是否比女人更勇敢的一場激烈爭論以一種頗為出人意料的方式解決了。
The Dinner Party
晚宴
by Mona Gardner
莫娜·加德納
I first heard this tale in India, where it is told as if true — though any naturalist would know it couldn't be. Later someone told me that the story appeared in a magazine shortly before the First World War. That magazine story, and the person who wrote it, I have never been able to track down.
我最初聽到這個故事是在印度，那兒的人們今天講起它來仍好像實有其事似的——盡管任何一位博物學家都知道這不可能是真的。后來有人告訴我，在第一次世界大戰之前不久，一家雜志曾刊登過這個故事。但登在雜志上的那篇故事以及寫那篇故事的人，我卻一直未能找到。
The country is India. A colonial official and his wife are giving a large dinner party. They are seated with their guests — officers and their wives, and a visiting American naturalist — in their spacious dining room, which has a bare marble floor, open rafters and wide glass doors opening onto a veranda.
故事發生在印度。某殖民官員和他的夫人正舉行盛大的晚宴。筵席設在他們家寬敞的餐室里，室內大理石地板上沒有鋪地毯；屋頂明椽裸露；寬大的玻璃門外便是走廊。跟他們一起就座的客人有軍官和他們的夫人，另外還有一位來訪的美國博物學家。
A spirited discussion springs up between a young girl who says that women have outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse era and a major who says that they haven't.
席間，一位年輕的女士同一位少校展開了熱烈的討論。年輕的女士認為，婦女已經有所進步，不再像過去那樣一見到老鼠就嚇得跳到椅子上；少校則不以為然。
"A woman's reaction in any crisis," the major says, "is to scream. And while a man may feel like it, he has that ounce more of control than a woman has. And that last ounce is what really counts."
他說：“一遇到危急情況，女人的反應便是尖叫。而男人雖然也可能想叫，但比起女人來，自制力卻略勝一籌。這多出來的一點自制力正是真正起作用的東西。”
The American does not join in the argument but watches the other guests. As he looks, he sees a strange expression come over the face of the hostess. She is staring straight ahead, her muscles contracting slightly. She motions to the native boy standing behind her chair and whispers something to him. The boy's eyes widen: he quickly leaves the room.
那個美國人沒有參加這場爭論，他只是注視著在座的其他客人。在他這樣觀察時，他發現女主人的臉上顯出一種奇異的表情。她兩眼盯著正前方，臉部肌肉在微微抽搐。她向站在座椅后面的印度男仆做了個手勢，對他耳語了幾句。男仆兩眼睜得大大的，迅速地離開了餐室。
