評論
打印
"Excuse me," she said in a changed voice. "Whose welfare are you thinking about?" She was on the verge of an emotional outburst, her cheeks flushed from brandy and anger. By contrast, Claire's mother had the appearance of a tombstone, chalk white and deadly still.
“等一下，”她說道，聲音都變了。“你考慮的是誰的幸福？”白蘭地和怒火使她的面頰漲 得通紅，情緒眼看就要爆發。與此形成鮮明對照的是，克萊爾的母親看上去卻如同墓 碑一樣，臉色煞白，身子一動不動。
"How is the fire?" Claire said, staring at it. On that cue her mother jumped up and sailed off with the coal scuttle.
“爐火怎么樣了？”克萊爾看著爐火說:接到那個暗示，她母親就立即起身，拿起煤斗，不露聲色地離開了客廳。
"I'll get it," Claire said following. The mother did not even wait until they reached the kitchen.
“我去取吧，”克萊爾說著跟了出去。母親還沒等她們到廚房就忍不住開口了。
"Tell me," she said, her blue eyes pierced with insult, "which of those two ladies is he married to?"
“告訴我，”她說，她藍色的眼睛顯露出受到侮辱的神情，“他是跟這兩位女士中的哪一 個結婚的？”
"It's not your concern,"Claire said, hastily. She had meant to smooth it over, to say that the pregnant woman had some mental disturbance, but instead she said hurtful things about her mother being narrow-minded and cruel.
“這跟你沒關系，”克萊爾急速地說。她本想說那懷孕的女人精神上有些毛病，借此把大事化小，但她卻說出了傷害母親的話，說母親思想不開通，言語刻薄。
"Show me your friends and I know who you are," the mother said and went away to shovel the coal. She left the filled bucket outside the living-room door and went upstairs. Claire, who had gone back to her guests, heard the mother's footsteps going into the bedroom overhead.
“看看你的朋友，我就知道你是什么樣的人了，”母親說完這句話就去鏟煤了。她把裝滿了的煤斗放在客廳的門外，隨即就上樓了。回到客人身邊的克萊爾聽到了樓上母親進她臥室的腳步聲。
"Has your mother gone to bed?" the husband asked.
“你母親去睡覺了？”那丈夫問道。
