【英中对照】Springtime a la Carte 菜单上的春天 欧·亨利(2)
Sarah was crying over her bill of fare.
萨拉正对着菜单哭泣。
Think of a New York girl shedding tears on the menu card!
试想想，一个纽约少女正对着菜谱洒眼泪啊！
To account for this you will be allowed to guess that the lobsters were all out, or that she had sworn ice-cream off during Lent, or that she had ordered onions, or that she had just come from a Hackett matinee. And then, all these theories being wrong, you will please let the story proceed.
为了说明这一点，你会猜测，也许菜单上没有龙虾，也许她发过誓再也不在大斋期间吃冰淇淋，或许她要了洋葱，或许她刚从哈克特的日间招待会出来。然而，你的这类猜想都不对，还是让我把故事讲下去吧。
The gentleman who announced that the world was an oyster which he with his sword would open made a larger hit than he deserved. It is not difficult to open an oyster with a sword. But did you ever notice any one try to open the terrestrial bivalve with a typewriter? Like to wait for a dozen raw opened that way?
有位先生宣称，世界是个大牡蛎，他要用剑把它剖开，因此他便出了名。用刀子剖开牡蛎并没有多大难处，可是，你见过有谁试图用打字机剖开陆栖牡蛎吗？又有谁喜欢等候一打活牡蛎像这样被剖开呢？
Sarah had managed to pry apart the shells with her unhandy weapon far enough to nibble a wee bit at the cold and clammy world within. She knew no more shorthand than if she had been a graduate in stenography just let slip upon the world by a business college. So, not being able to stenog, she could not enter that bright galaxy of office talent. She was a free-lance typewriter and canvassed for odd jobs of copying.
萨拉正对着菜单哭泣。
Think of a New York girl shedding tears on the menu card!
试想想，一个纽约少女正对着菜谱洒眼泪啊！
To account for this you will be allowed to guess that the lobsters were all out, or that she had sworn ice-cream off during Lent, or that she had ordered onions, or that she had just come from a Hackett matinee. And then, all these theories being wrong, you will please let the story proceed.
为了说明这一点，你会猜测，也许菜单上没有龙虾，也许她发过誓再也不在大斋期间吃冰淇淋，或许她要了洋葱，或许她刚从哈克特的日间招待会出来。然而，你的这类猜想都不对，还是让我把故事讲下去吧。
The gentleman who announced that the world was an oyster which he with his sword would open made a larger hit than he deserved. It is not difficult to open an oyster with a sword. But did you ever notice any one try to open the terrestrial bivalve with a typewriter? Like to wait for a dozen raw opened that way?
有位先生宣称，世界是个大牡蛎，他要用剑把它剖开，因此他便出了名。用刀子剖开牡蛎并没有多大难处，可是，你见过有谁试图用打字机剖开陆栖牡蛎吗？又有谁喜欢等候一打活牡蛎像这样被剖开呢？
Sarah had managed to pry apart the shells with her unhandy weapon far enough to nibble a wee bit at the cold and clammy world within. She knew no more shorthand than if she had been a graduate in stenography just let slip upon the world by a business college. So, not being able to stenog, she could not enter that bright galaxy of office talent. She was a free-lance typewriter and canvassed for odd jobs of copying.
大杂院的对照组文
