評論
打印
Intelligent she was not. In fact, she veered in the opposite direction. But I believed that under my guidance she would smarten up. At any rate, it was worth a try. It is, after all, easier to make a beautiful dumb girl smart than to make an ugly smart girl beautiful.
她不聰明。事實上，她有點笨。可我相信，經我指導，她會聰明起來。無論如何，值得一試。畢竟，塑靚者達智總比塑丑者達貌來得容易。
"Petey," I said, "are you in love with Polly Espy?"
“皮蒂，”我說，“愛上波莉·埃斯皮了吧？”
"I think she's a keen kid," he replied, "but I don't know if you'd call it love. Why?"
“她是個討人喜歡的姑娘，”他回答，“可不知道這是不是愛情。問這個干嗎？”
"Do you," I asked, "have any kind of formal arrangement with her? I mean are you going steady or anything like that?"
“正式約會了？我是說你們確定某種程度的關系了？”我問。
"No. We see each other quite a bit, but we both have other dates. Why?"
“還沒有，我們常見面。但我們各自也和別人約會。怎么了？”
"Is there," I asked, "any other man for whom she has a particular fondness?"
“她有其他意中人嗎？”我問。
"Not that I know of. Why?"
“好像沒有。怎么了？”
I nodded with satisfaction. "In other words, if you were out of the picture, the field would be open. is that right?"
我滿意地點點頭：“那么，如果你不在，場地就是空著的。對吧？”
"I guess so. What are you getting at?"
“我想是這樣。你什么意思？”
"Nothing, nothing," I said innocently, and took my suitcase out of the closet.
“沒什么。沒什么?！蔽已b作若無其事。接著從壁櫥里把手提箱拿了出來。
"Where are you going?" asked Petey.
“要去哪兒？”皮蒂問。
"Home for the weekend." I threw a few things into the bag.
“回家過周末?！蔽野褞准路舆M了皮箱。
"Listen," he said, clutching my arm eagerly, "while you're home, you couldn't get some money from your old man, could you, and lend it to me so I can buy a raccoon coat?"
“聽著，”他抓住我的胳膊急切地說，”回家后，能不能向你父親要點錢，借給我買一件浣熊皮大衣？”
"I may do better than that," I said with a mysterious wink and closed my bag and left.
“也許比這更好。”我神秘地眨了眨眼。合上皮箱就走了。
"Look," I said to Petey when I got back Monday morning. I threw open the suitcase and revealed the huge, hairy, gamy object that my father had worn in his Stutz Bearcat in I925.
“瞧！”我星期一早晨一返校就對皮蒂說。我猛地打開皮箱，露出那件肥大、毛茸茸、味道難聞的東西。這是我父親1925年開斯圖茲勇士敞篷車時穿過的那件浣熊皮大衣。
"Holy Toledo!" said Petey reverently. He plunged his hands into the raccoon coat and then his face. "Holy Toledo!" he repeated fifteen or twenty times.
“我的天！”皮蒂充滿敬佩。他兩只手即刻抓住皮大衣。接著把臉也埋了進去?！拔业奶?！”他不停地重復了一二十遍。
