评论
打印
At a certain corner he came to a standstill,
他在一个拐角上停住，
proposing to himself the question of turning back toward the showy and fashionable restaurant in which he usually dined on the evenings of his especial luxury.
心里盘算着，是不是要折回到挥霍的夜晚经常去的豪华时髦的饭馆去。
Just then a girl scuddled lightly around the corner, slipped on a patch of icy snow and fell plump upon the sidewalk.
正在这时，一个姑娘轻快地跑过拐角，在一块冻硬的冰上滑了一下，重重地摔倒在人行道上。
Chandler assisted her to her feet with instant and solicitous courtesy.
钱德勒连忙关切而彬彬有礼地扶她起来。
The girl hobbled to the wall of the building,
姑娘一瘸一拐地向一幢房屋走去，
leaned against it, and thanked him demurely.
靠在墙上，端庄地向他道了谢。
"I think my ankle is strained," she said. "It twisted when I fell."
“我的脚踝大概扭伤了。”她说。“摔倒时蹩了一下。”
"Does it pain you much?" inquired Chandler.
“疼得厉害吗？”钱德勒问道。
"Only when I rest my weight upon it. I think I will be able to walk in a minute or two."
“只在用力的时候才疼。我想过一小会儿就能走路的。”
"If I can be of any further service," suggested the young man, "I will call a cab, or--"
“假如还有什么地方要我帮忙，”年轻人建议道，“比如说，雇一辆车子，或者——”
"Thank you," said the girl, softly but heartily. "I am sure you need not trouble yourself any further.
“谢谢你。”姑娘恳切地轻声说。“你千万别再费心啦。
It was so awkward of me. And my shoe heels are horridly common-sense; I can't blame them at all."
只怪我自己不小心。我穿的的鞋跟会摔跤是常识，我不能怪我的鞋跟。”
Chandler looked at the girl and found her swiftly drawing his interest.
钱德勒打量了那姑娘一下，发觉自己很快就对她有了好感。
She was pretty in a refined way;
她有一种娴雅的美；
and her eye was both merry and kind. She was inexpensively clothed in a plain black dress
她的眼光又愉快又和善。她穿一身朴素的黑衣服，
that suggested a sort of uniform such as shop girls wear.
像是一般女店员的打扮。
Her glossy dark-brown hair showed its coils beneath a cheap hat of black straw whose only ornament was a velvet ribbon and bow.
她那顶便宜的黑草帽底下露出了光泽的深褐色发鬈，草帽上没有别的装饰，只有一条丝绒带打成的蝴蝶结。
She could have posed as a model for the self-respecting working girl of the best type.
她可以成为自食其力的职业妇女中最优秀的典型。
A sudden idea came into the head of the young architect. He would ask this girl to dine with him.
年轻的建筑师突然起了一个念头。他要请这个姑娘同他一起去吃饭。
Here was the element that his splendid but solitary periodic feasts had lacked.
这就是他辉煌但孤独的定期宴会所缺乏的东西。
His brief season of elegant luxury would be doubly enjoyable if he could add to it a lady's society.
他那短暂优雅奢华的宴会如果能邀请到这位女士，一定是双倍愉快。
This girl was a lady, he was sure--her manner and speech settled that.
他敢肯定这个姑娘是有教养的——她的态度和谈吐已经说明了这一点。
And in spite of her extremely plain attire he felt that he would be pleased to sit at table with her.
尽管她打扮得十分朴素，钱德勒觉得能跟她一起吃饭还是愉快的。
