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你在天堂里遇见的五个人 The Five People You Meet in Heaven(2)

我在一家酒吧里找到了一份工作,酒吧里很昏暗,我把自己藏在帽子和外套里面。一天晚上,酒吧最里面坐了一伙巡回游艺团的人。他们抽着雪茄,大声说笑。其中一个装着一条木腿的小个子,一直看着我。终于,他走过来。

    “By the end of the night, I had agreed to join their carnival. And my life as a commodity had begun.”
    “晚上收工的时候,我已经同意加入他们的巡回游艺团了。我将自己当作商品出售的日子开始了。”

    Eddie noticed the 18)resigned look on the Blue Man’s face. He had often wondered where the 19)sideshow cast came from. He assumed there was a sad story behind every one of them.
    爱迪注意到蓝皮人脸上无可奈何的表情。他过去常常好奇,杂耍团里的那些演员是从哪里来的。他相信,他们每个人背后都有一个悲惨的故事。

    “One winter, I came to this pier. Ruby Pier. They were starting a sideshow called The Curious Citizens. I liked the idea of being in one place, escaping the bumpy horse carts of carnival life.
    “一年冬天,我来到了这里,‘红宝石码头’。他们正开始上演一场名为‘怪异人物’的杂耍戏。能在一个地方住下来,不用再跟随巡回游艺团在马车上四处颠簸,这主意不错。

    “This became my home. I lived in a room above a sausage shop. I played cards at night with the other sideshow workers, with the 20)tinsmiths, sometimes even with your father. In the early mornings, if I wore long shirts and draped my head in a towel, I could walk along this beach without scaring people. It may not sound like much, but for me, it was a freedom I had rarely known.”
    “这里便成了我的家。我住在香肠店楼上的一个房间里。晚上,我跟其他杂耍演员、白铁工,有时还跟你的父亲一起玩纸牌。清晨,我穿上长袖衫,头上蒙住毛巾之后,就可以沿着这海边散步,而不会吓着别人。对别人来说这可能算不了什么,但是,对我来说,这是一种不寻常的自由。”

    He stopped. He looked at Eddie.
    他收住话头,望着爱迪。

    “Do you understand? Why we’re here? This is not your heaven. It’s mine.” 
    “你明白了吗?我们为什么会在这里?这里不是你的天堂。这是我的天堂。”

    Take one story, viewed from two different angles.
    取一个故事,从两个不同的角度来看。

    Take a rainy Sunday morning in July, in the late 1920s, when Eddie and his friends are tossing a baseball. Take a moment when that ball flies over Eddie’s head and out into the street. Eddie, wearing 21)tawny pants and a wool cap, chases after it, and runs in front of an automobile, a Ford Model A. The car 22)screeches, 23)veers, and just misses him. He shivers, exhales, gets the ball, and races back to his friends.
    那是二十年代末,七月里的一个星期天,在这个阴雨天的早晨,爱迪和他的朋友们正在玩棒球。突然,棒球从爱迪的头顶飞过,落到了街上。身穿黄褐色裤子、头戴绒线帽子的爱迪跑去捡球,冲到了一辆汽车前面,那是一辆福特A型车。汽车发出一阵刺耳的刹车声,掉转了方向,从他身边擦过。他浑身一颤,舒了口气,捡起球,跑回到他的朋友们那里。

    Now take that same story from a different angle. A man is behind the wheel of a Ford Model A, which he has borrowed from a friend to practice his driving. The road is wet from the morning rain. Suddenly, a baseball bounces across the street, and a boy comes racing after it. The driver 24)slams on the brakes and 25)yanks the wheel. The car skids, the tires screech.
    现在,我们从另一个角度来看同一个故事。一个男人正坐在一辆福特A型车的驾驶盘后面,这车是他从一个朋友那里借来练习驾驶的。由于早晨下过雨,路很滑。突然,一个棒球从街上横着弹过,一个男孩子跟在球后冲了过来。司机猛踩刹车,扭转方向盘。汽车打滑了,车轮发出刺耳的声音。

    The man somehow regains control, and the Model A rolls on. The child has disappeared in the rearview mirror, but the man’s body is still affected, thinking of how close he came to tragedy. The jolt of 26)adrenalin has forced his heart to pump furiously and this heart is not a strong one and the pumping leaves him drained. The man feels 27)dizzy and his head drops 28)momentarily. His automobile nearly collides with another. The second driver honks, the man veers again, spinning the wheel, pushing on the 29)brake pedal. He skids along an avenue then turns down an alley. His vehicle rolls until it collides with the rear of a parked truck. There is a small crashing noise. The headlights 30)shatter. The impact smacks the man into the steering wheel. His forehead bleeds. He steps from the Model A, sees the damage, then collapses onto the wet pavement. His arm throbs. His chest hurts. It is Sunday morning. The alley is empty. He remains there, unnoticed, slumped against the side of the car. The blood from his 31)coronary arteries no longer flows to his heart. An hour passes. A policeman finds him. A medical examiner pronounces him dead. The cause of death is listed as “heart attack.” There are no known relatives.
    那个男人终于把车控制住了,A型车继续向前驶去。那个男孩从他的后视镜里消失了,但是,他的身体还没有平复下来,心想险些闯了大祸。肾上腺素的突然变化,使他的心脏急速跳动。他的心脏本来就不健康,这样剧烈的跳动使他感到精疲力竭。他感到一阵眩晕,头立即垂了下来。顷刻之间,他的车差一点撞到了另一辆车上。另一辆车的司机按起喇叭,他赶紧掉转方向盘,脚踩刹车。他的车在大街上滑了一段路,然后拐上了一条岔道。车继续向前滑去,直到车头撞在一辆停泊的卡车车尾上,随即发出了一阵轻微的撞击声。车前灯粉碎了。冲力使他扑倒在方向盘上。他的前额流血了。他从A型车里走出来,看了一眼车撞坏的地方,然后,整个人瘫倒在湿漉漉的人行道上。他胳膊抽搐,胸口绞痛不已。这是星期天早晨。街上空无一人。他一直斜靠在车身上,没有人注意到他。冠状动脉里的血再也流不到他的心脏里了。一个小时过去了。一名警察发现了他。医务检查员宣布了他的死亡。死亡原因是“心脏病”。没有可以通知的亲属。

    In a city 32)morgue, one worker calls another worker over to marvel at the blue skin of the newest arrival.
    在市陈尸所里,一个工人把另一个工人叫过来看看刚被抬进来的尸体,他们对这尸体的蓝色皮肤惊叹不已。

    “You see?” the Blue Man whispered, having finished the story from his point of view. “Little boy?”
    “明白了吗?小男孩?”蓝皮人轻声说道,他的故事讲完了。

    Eddie felt a shiver.
    爱迪浑身一颤。

    “Oh no,” he whispered.
    “噢,不,”他低声说道。

    “Please Mister . . .” Eddie pleaded. “I didn’t know. Believe me . . . God help me, I didn’t know.”
    “求求你,先生……”爱迪辩解道。“我不知道。相信我……愿上帝帮助我,我真的不知道。”

    The Blue Man nodded. “You couldn’t know. You were too young.”
    蓝皮人点点头,说:“你不可能知道。你当时还太小。”

    Eddie stepped back. He squared his body as if 33)bracing for a fight.
    爱迪退后几步,两肩端平,摆出一付迎战的架势。 

    “But now I gotta pay,” he said.
    “但是,现在我得还债了,”他说。 

    “To pay?”
    “还债?”

    “For my sin. That’s why I’m here, right? Justice?”
  

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