Two and Three 兩塊和三塊

張恒

In a small village there lived an old man and his wife1. Both were over seventy and both loved one another. Only five other families lived in this small village.

在一個(gè)小村莊里住著一位老人和他的妻子。兩人都年過七旬，彼此相愛。另外只有五戶人家住在這個(gè)小村莊里。

One cold winter evening the old man and his wife were sitting inside their house. Outside it was snowing. Suddenly2 the old man looked up and said， “I wish we could have some bread. I very much feel like eating bread today.”

一個(gè)寒冷的冬夜里，老人和他的妻子正坐在家里，外面正在下雪。突然，老人抬起頭說：“我希望我們能吃點(diǎn)面包。我今天非常想吃面包。”

“Ill see if theres any flour3 in the house，” his wife answered. She got up and opened the bag of flour. “Oh， theres only a little here，” she said. “Its too cold to go out and buy more. So I shall make bread from this little flour.”

“我看看家里有沒有面粉?！彼拮踊卮鹫f。她站起來打開面粉袋，“哦，只有一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)面粉了。”她說，“天氣太冷了，不能出去多買點(diǎn)。那我就用這一點(diǎn)面粉做面包好了?！?/p>

The old woman started the fire and made bread. She made five. She gave her husband4 three pieces of bread and herself two.

那位老婦人開始生火做面包。她做了五塊，給了丈夫三塊面包，她自己拿了兩塊。

But the old man would not take the bread. “How can I eat three when you are getting only two？” he said. “Take one piece of bread from me.”

但是老人不肯拿面包?！澳阒挥袃蓧K，我怎么能吃三塊呢？”他說， “從我這里拿走一塊面包吧。”

“Two pieces of bread are enough for me，” his wife answered. “It is you who asked for them. You take three now. Tomorrow I shall get more flour from the shop and make bread. I can then take one more than you.”

“我吃兩塊面包就夠了?！彼拮踊卮鹫f，“是你要吃的。你現(xiàn)在拿三塊，明天我要去商店多買些面粉做面包，到時(shí)我可以比你多拿一塊?！?/p>

“Well see about that later，” the old man said. “But today you must eat three pieces of bread.”

“我們以后再說?！崩先苏f，“但是今天你必須吃三塊面包?！?/p>

They kept arguing5 like this all evening. Night came， but they had still not eaten the bread. At last they agreed on a plan. “It is quite late，” they said. “So let us go to sleep now. Tomorrow morning， the one who gets up first will have to eat three pieces of bread.”

他們整個(gè)傍晚都這樣爭(zhēng)吵著。深夜降臨，但他們還沒有吃上面包。最后，他們商定了一個(gè)計(jì)劃?！耙呀?jīng)很晚了。”他們說，“我們現(xiàn)在去睡覺吧。明天早上，先起床的人得吃三塊面包?！?/p>

So they both went to sleep. Morning came. But still they kept lying in bed， eyes closed. Each wanted the other to get up first， for each wanted the other one to have three pieces of bread. It grew quite late and the sun came up high in the sky. But still they would not get up. The neighbours saw that their door was still closed. They got worried.

所以他們都去睡覺了。到了早上，他們還是一直躺在床上，閉著眼睛。兩人都想讓另一個(gè)先起來，因?yàn)樗麄儌z都想讓另一個(gè)人吃三塊面包。時(shí)間不早了，太陽在天空中高高掛起，但他們還是沒起床。鄰居們看到他們的門還關(guān)著，感到很擔(dān)心。

“What is the matter with the old couple？” they said. “They still have not got up. Let us go and find out if they are all right.”

“老兩口怎么了？“他們說，“他們還沒起床。我們?nèi)タ纯此麄兪遣皇呛煤玫摹！?/p>

The neighbours went to knock6 at the door. They called out to the old couple， but there was no answer from inside. Now they got really worried. “We shall have to break7 the door，” they said. “The old people may be ill.”

鄰居們?nèi)デ瞄T。他們大聲喊那對(duì)老夫婦，但里面沒有人回答?，F(xiàn)在他們真的很擔(dān)心了?！拔覀兊闷崎T了。”他們說，“老人們可能生病了。”

So they broke open the door and then went in， they saw the old man and his wife on their bed with eyes closed. “Oh no，” they said. “They are both dead8！Let us take them to the burning place9.”

于是他們破門而入，看見老人和妻子閉著眼睛躺在床上?！芭?，不?！彼麄冋f，“他們都死了！我們送他們?nèi)セ鹪釄?chǎng)吧?！?/p>

When the old man heard this， he thought that they would both be burnt alive10. “Oh very well，” he cried. “I shall eat three and you can eat the other two.” On hearing this the old woman also cried， “Thats what Ive been telling you all this time. If you had listened to me， we could have eaten them last night. We wouldnt have gone hungry11 all night then. But we can eat them now.”

老頭聽到這話，想著他們倆都會(huì)被活活燒死?！芭?，行了?！彼拗f道，“我吃三塊，你可以吃另外兩塊?！甭牭竭@話，老婦人也哭了，“這就是我一直告訴你的。如果你聽我的話，我們昨晚就可以吃了，就不會(huì)整夜挨餓了。但我們現(xiàn)在可以吃掉它們了?！?/p>

When the neighbours heard this they were scared. They ran out of the door shouting. “Run！Run for your life！The ghosts12 of the old man and his wife are after us！They are going to eat us all up！The old mans ghost will eat up three families， and his wifes ghost will eat up the other two families in the village！”

鄰居們聽到這話，感到很害怕，他們大喊著跑出了門。“快跑！快跑吧！老頭和他妻子的鬼魂在追我們！他們要把我們都吃掉！老人的鬼魂會(huì)吃掉三戶人家，他老婆的鬼魂會(huì)吃掉村里另外兩戶人家！”

The old man and his wife were surprised. They ran after the neighbors to tell them that they were not ghosts. At this the neighbors were even more scared. They ran faster still.

老人和他的妻子很驚訝。他們追著鄰居說他們不是鬼。聽到這個(gè)，鄰居們更害怕了，他們跑得更快了。

Much later the old man and his wife told the neighbors about the bread. When they heard this， they started laughing. That day the old woman brought more flour from the shop and made lots of bread. Then she invited13 everyone in the village for afternoon tea. You see， she was sorry that she and her old man had given everyone such a fright14.

過了好一會(huì)兒之后，老人和妻子把面包的事告訴了鄰居們。聽到這些，他們大笑起來。那天，老婦人從商店里多買了很多面粉，做了很多面包。然后她邀請(qǐng)村里的每個(gè)人都來喝下午茶。你瞧，她很抱歉她和她家老頭把大家嚇了一大跳。

（英語原文選自：shortstoriesshort.com）

【Notes】

1. wife? n. 妻子，已婚婦女;夫人

2. suddenly adv. 突然地;忽然

3. flour? n. 面粉

4. husband? n. 丈夫

5. argue? v. 爭(zhēng)論，辯論

6. knock v. 敲;打

7. break v. 打破，打碎; 破碎

8. dead adj. 無生命的;死的

9. burning place燒尸場(chǎng)，火葬場(chǎng) 10. alive? adj. 活著的;活潑的;有生氣的

11. hungry? adj. 饑餓的

12. ghost n. 鬼，幽靈

13. invite? vt. 邀請(qǐng)，招待

14. fright? n. 驚嚇;驚駭