forbiddingly high!
A man in a skullcap turned the gown over and over to examine it. Before he could
open his mouth, I said,
“Two Yuan.”
He must have thought me too unreasonable, for he rolled up the gown without even
taking a look at me. Impatience was written all over his face as if he were about to throw
the bundle onto my head.
“If two yuan won’t do, then how much?”
“We won’t take it for anything,” said he, shaking his longish watermelon-shaped head,
the decorative red bead on top of his skullcap swaying.
I was aware that he was out to make things difficult for me. Therefore, bold and
confident, I reached out my hand for the bundle. But, just as I had been doubly sure, he
simply wouldn’t let go of it.
“Fifty cents! The sleeves are too tight. The gown won’t fetch much…”
“I won’t pawn it,” said I.
“Well, how about one yuan?...Can’t give you any more. That’s final.” He leaned back
a little bit, his bulging paunch concealed behind the high counter…Meanwhile, to signal
“one yuan”, he gestured with a finger raised as high as his temples.
Armed with a one-dollar note and a pawn ticket, I, unhappy as I was, walked with a
light step and felt like one of the rich. I visited the food market and the grain shop. I did not
tire of carrying an armful of purchases. My hands ached with cold, but this was as it should
be. I felt no pity for them. It was their bounden duty to wait on me—even at the cost of
suffering frostbite. I also bought ten steamed stuffed buns at a pastry shop. I was proud of
my shopping. Again and again I felt so thrilled that I completely forgot all the pain in my
frostbitten hands. When I saw an old beggar by the roadside, I stopped to give him a
copper coin. Why, if I had food to eat, he certainly had no reason to go hungry! But I
couldn’t afford to give him more, for I needed the rest of the money for keeping my own
body and soul together! Before I walked on again, I put my hand on the pawn ticket in my
pocket to make sure that it was still there. By then, the pain in my hands had become the
only thing I was conscious of. So I was anxious to be home again. My back sweated, my
legs felt like jelly, my eyes stung. At the gate of my home, it suddenly occurred to me that
this was the first time I had ever been out to town since I moved here and that accounted
for my legs feeling so weak and my eyes being so shy of light.
On entering the courtyard, I touched the pawn ticket again. Lang Hua was still lying
on the bed with the same aversion to a pawnshop. I wonder what was now in his mind. The
moment I produced the buns, he jumped up from his bed,
“I’m so hungry. I’ve been long waiting for you to come back.”
It was not until he had gulped down more than half of the buns that he began to
question me closely, “How much did you pawn it for? Did they cheat you?”
I showed him the pawn ticket and he eyed the pitifully small sum scratched on it.
“Only one Yuan? Too little!”
True, the money was too little, but the buns were good to eat, so that all’s well that %%網%文%檔%下%載%與%在%線%閱%讀%
ended well. One after another vanished the buns into his cavernous mouths—a mouth that
looked even bigger than a bun.
注释：
《当铺》反映了1932到1934年她与萧军在哈尔滨生活的艰苦的日子。
(1)“我就愿意进当铺”译为I wouldn’t mind，所采用的是正反表达法，把原文从正面表达的句子，在译文中从反面来表达，以便提高译文的效果。
(2)“要的价目”译为the asking price，为英语常用语，是从to ask a price转过来的。
(3)“这么高的柜台”译为a counter so forbiddingly high，其中forbiddingly作“令人生畏”或
“难以接近”（unfriendly或unapproachable）解，原文虽无其词但有其意。
(4)“十分不耐烦的样子”译为Impatience was written all over his face，其中to be written all over
(或on)作“显露”解。为英语惯用表达法。
(5)“他故意作难”译为he was out to make difficult for me，其中to be out to do（或for）something
作“企图”（to intend或want）解，是英语惯用表达法。
(6)“他亲不把包袱真给我”译为he simply wouldn’t let go of it，其中let go of是英语习语，
作“放手”（to stop holding）解。
(7)“然而没有多给……那些我自己的还要用呢！”译为But I couldn’t afford to give him more,
for I needed the rest of the money to keep my own body and soul together!，其中to keep my own body
a