評論
打印
A young man finds it very difficult to say no to a woman and as a result he gets into trouble. The restaurant to which he has agreed to take his luncheon date is far too expensive for his small pocketbook. How, then, will he be able to avoid an embarrassing situation?
一個年輕人發覺很難拒絕一位女士，他因此陷入了困境。他同意進行午餐聚會的那家餐廳對他可憐的荷包來說實在太昂貴了。那么怎樣他才能避免這種尷尬的處境呢？
The Luncheon
午餐
W.Somerset Maugham
薩默塞特·毛姆
I caught sight of her at the play, and in answer to her beckoning I went over during theinterval and sat down beside her. It was long since I had last seen her, and if someone had not mentioned her name I hardly think I would have recognised her. She addressed me brightly.
我是在看戲的時候見到她的。幕間休息時，我應她的招呼走了過去，在她旁邊坐下。我上次見到她已是很久以前的事了，要不是有人提起她的名字，我想我幾乎會認不出她來。她興致勃勃地跟我談了起來。
"Well, it's many years since we first met. How time does fly! We're none of us getting any younger. Do you remember the first time I saw you? You asked me to luncheon."
"瞧，自從我們初次相見已經好多年了。真是光陰似箭啊！我倆都不年輕啦。你還記得我初次見到你嗎？你請我吃的午餐。"
Did I remember?
我能不記得嗎？
It was twenty years ago and I was living in Paris. I had a tiny apartment in the Latin Quarter overlooking a cemetery, and I was earning barely enough money to keep body and soultogether. She had read a book of mine and had written to me about it. I answered, thanking her, and presently I received from her another letter saying that she was passing throughParis and would like to have a chat with me; but her time was limited, and the only freemoment she had was on the following Thursday; she was spending the morning at the Luxembourg and would I give her a little luncheon at Foyot's afterwards? Foyot's is a restaurant atwhich the French senators eat, and it was so far beyond my means that I had never even thought of going there. But I was flattered, and I was too young to have learned to say no to a woman. (Few men, I may add, learn this until they are too old to make it of anyconsequence to a woman what they say.) I had eight francs (gold francs) to last me the rest of the month, and a modest luncheon should not cost more than fifteen. If I cut out coffee for the next two weeks I could manage well enough.
那是20年前的事了，當時我住在巴黎。我在拉丁區租了一套小小的公寓，從那里往下看去是一個公墓。我掙的錢只夠勉強維持生活。她讀過我的一本書，并曾跟我寫信談論該書。我回信向她致謝。隨即我又收到她的一封信，說她路過巴黎，想跟我談談。但她的時間有限，只有下個星期四有空。那天上午，她要去盧森堡宮，問我是不是愿意中午請她在福伊約餐廳吃頓便飯。福伊約餐廳是法國參議員光顧的地方，去那兒吃飯遠遠超過我的經濟能力，所以以前連想都沒有想過。但我當時受寵若驚，況且年紀太輕，還沒有學會對一位女士說個"不"字。（附帶說一句，沒有幾個男人學會這一招，而到他們學會時，往往年事已高，他們說什么對女人來講已無足輕重了。）我當月的生活費還有80法郎（金法郎），一頓便餐花不了15法郎。如果我下兩個星期不喝咖啡，還是滿可以對付過去的。
