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When Doctor Burleigh told neighbour Rosicky he had a bad heart,Rosicky protested.

当伯利医生告知罗西基，说他心脏不好时，罗西基断然否定。

2 “So? No,I guess my heart was always pretty good.I got a little asthma,maybe.Just a awful short breath when I was pitchin’ hay last summer,dat’s all.”

2 “哦？不，我觉得这颗心一直都挺好的。我平时有点儿气喘，也许有点儿吧。只是今年夏天垛干草那阵喘得厉害些，就这么回事。”

3 “Well,now,Rosicky,if you know more about it than I do,what did you come to me for? It’s your heart that makes you short of breath,I tell you.You’re sixty-five years old,and you’ve always worked hard,and your heart’s tired.You’ve got to be careful from now on,and you can’t do heavy work any more.You’ve got five boys at home to do it for you.”

3 “嘿，得了吧！罗西基，你要是比我懂心脏，还来找我干吗？告诉你吧，你喘不上气就是因为你心脏出了毛病。你都六十五岁的人了，还一直拼命干活儿，你这颗心啊，累了。从现在起你必须得当心，不能再干重活儿了。你家里有五个小伙子，让他们替你干吧。”

4 The old farmer looked up at the Doctor with a gleam of amusement in his queer triangular-shaped eyes.His eyes were large and lively,but the lids were caught up in the middle in a curious way,so that they formed a triangle.He did not look like a sick man.His brown face was creased but not wrinkled,he had a ruddy colour in his smooth-shaven cheeks and in his lips,under his long brown moustache.His hair was thin and ragged around his ears,but very little grey.His forehead,naturally high and crossed by deep parallel lines,now ran all the way up to his pointed crown.Rosicky’s face had the habit of looking interested,—suggested a contented disposition and a reflective quality that was gay rather than grave.This gave him a certain detachment,the easy manner of an onlooker and observer.

4 老农夫抬起一双古怪的三角眼，用一种逗趣的目光打量医生。那双眼睛很大，很有精神，只是上眼皮以某种奇怪的方式在正中处高高翘起，结果让眼睛呈三角形。他看上去并不像个病人，黝黑的脸上有皱纹，但并非皱纹满面，刮得干干净净的腮颊红光焕发，那溜褐色小胡子下的嘴唇也很红润。他头发稀疏，蓬乱，耷拉在耳朵周围，但其中少有白发。他前额秃得很高，额头上平行的凹线如今已扩展到他尖尖的头顶。罗西基那张脸总显得对什么都感兴趣，显示出一种乐观知足、凡事都从好的方面去考虑的秉性。这使他多少有了点旁观者和观察家所具有的那种超然和悠然。

5 “Well,I guess you ain’t got no pills fur a bad heart,Doctor Ed.I guess the only thing is fur me to git me a new one.”

5 “唷，埃德大夫，我看你是没有治心脏的药吧。看来要解决我的问题，只有另外换颗新的了。”

6 Doctor Burleigh swung round in his desk-chair and frowned at the old farmer.“I think if I were you I’d take a little care of the old one,Rosicky.”

6 伯利医生从桌前转过身来，对着这个老农夫皱起了眉头。“我在想啊，罗西基，我要是你，我就会稍稍顾惜一下这颗旧的。”

7 Rosicky shrugged.“Maybe I don’t know how.I expect you mean fur me not to drink my coffee no more.”

7 罗西基把肩一耸。“兴许我不懂该怎样顾惜。我看你是想告诉我，就别再喝咖啡了。”

8 “I wouldn’t,in your place.But you’ll do as you choose about that.I’ve never yet been able to separate a Bohemian from his coffee or his pipe.I’ve quit trying.But the sure thing is you’ve got to cut out farm work.You can feed the stock and do chores about the barn,but you can’t do anything in the fields that makes you short of breath.”

8 “我要是你呀，就不再喝了。但这种事你得自己拿主意。我从来都没法让一个波希米亚人不喝咖啡，不抽斗烟。我不想再费口舌了。不过有一点是肯定的，你不能再下地干活儿了。你可以喂喂牛，养养猪，在谷仓里做点杂事，但千万不能下地干活儿，那会让你气喘的。”

9 “How about shelling corn?”

9 “剥剥玉米也不成？”

10 “Of course not!”

10 “当然不成！”

11 Rosicky considered with puckered brows.“I can’t make my heart go no longer’n it wants to,can I,Doctor Ed?”

11 罗西基皱起眉头想了片刻。“我没法让这个心脏跳多久了，没我以为的那么久，是吧，埃德大夫？”

12 “I think it’s good for five or six years yet,maybe more,if you’ll take the strain off it.Sit around the house and help Mary.If I had a good wife like yours,I’d want to stay around the house.”

12 “只要不让它太累，我想还能跳上个五六年，也许更久。就待在屋里帮帮玛丽吧。我要是像你这样有个好老婆，我就宁愿整天都待在家里。”

《邻居罗西基》是美国女作家薇拉·凯瑟（1873—1947）于1930年发表的一篇重要短篇小说。小说通过回忆和追述的手法，讲述了波希米亚移民罗西基朴素而充实的一生，展现了拓荒者及其后代善良、朴素、勤劳、热爱生活、眷念土地的可贵品质。小说主题深刻，结构匀称，笔触细腻，文字优美，人物性格刻画清晰，翻译时应注意描摹。

有篇名提示，此处neighbour 一词不必译出。捷克人名Rosicky 本该译作“罗西茨基”，但高校长期并广泛使用的教材《美国文学选读》（南开大学出版社，1991）在“作品介绍”中将其译作“罗西基”，故按约定俗成从之，以免增加读者的认知成本。

a awful = an awful，dat’s all = that’s all，移民罗西基讲英语发音不标准，作者模仿其发音拼写，后文还会出现此类拼写或语法错误，译者须结合语境加以辨别。last summer 指刚过去的那个夏天，后文讲罗西基离开诊所后下起了“今冬的第一场雪”，故事背景又是在美国中西部的内布拉斯加，故此处宜译作“今年夏天”。

首句中的it 还原为“心脏”（玄奘早就总结了“代词还原法”），末句中的it 省略（汉语使用代词的频率远不及英语）。不要一见boy 就译成男孩，应结合语境选择其义项。例如“A boy’s will is the wind’s will,/ And the thoughts of youth are long,long thoughts”（少年的心愿是风的心愿，/青春的遐想是悠长的遐想）。

请注意这段人物描写的翻译。译好描述性语言是翻译的基本功之一，这就像学绘画先得学好素描一样。有人把very little grey 翻译成“头发有些灰白了”，这是因混淆了little（否定用法：很少，几乎不）和a little（肯定用法：少许，一些）之故。

fur = for。英语男子名埃德华、埃德蒙和埃德温都可用“埃德”这个昵称（小说并未交代伯利医生的全名）。

注意译文在直接引语中添加了语气词“啊”，移动了称呼语“罗西基”的位置。比较一下不添不移的语气效果。

feed the stock 不宜翻译成“喂喂家畜”（汉语这么说略显生硬）。

注意对话体“口语”跟书面语的区别，如第12 段中的good wife 在家常话中译作“好老婆”就比译成“贤妻”更为合适。

小说就是故事（story），好的故事大凡都可读，可讲，可听，而且读起来要引人入胜，讲起来要娓娓动听，听起来要津津有味。翻译小说也是在讲故事，所以，译者应该把可读、可讲、可听作为检验译文的方法。译完后不妨自己先读读（出声朗读），看语句是否通顺，语气是否恰当，节奏是否和谐等，当然，前提是译文的思想内容要与原文一致。 □