Frank R. Stockton(1834—1902),美国作家,擅长撰写幽默故事,从事写作前是一名木头雕刻师。他曾出版多部小说,如Rudder Grange(《鲁德·格兰奇》)、The Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine(《雷克斯太太与阿雷申太太的流亡记》)、The Adventures of Captain(《船长历险记》)等,然而其最为人津津乐道的作品还是这篇于1882年出版的短篇小说——The Lady, or the Tiger?(《美女,还是老虎?》)。
古往今来,公主与平民的爱情注定充满险阻,让深陷其中的人饱受煎熬,正如文中的这对苦命鸳鸯。公主深爱着他,却无法得到他;她不希望他死,却又不想别人得到他。处在这样两难的境地里,换了你,又会做出什么样的选择?故事看似简单,却饱含着对人性的拷问。
“The Lady, or the Tiger?”这个句子如今已成为一个习语,表示“两难境地”的意思。
本期刊登的该故事的英文版本是VOA电台的简化版。 —Lavender
文字难度：★★☆
Long ago, in a very olden time, there lived a powerful king. Some of his ideas were progressive. But others caused people to suffer.
One of the king’s ideas was a public 1)arena as an agent of 2)poetic justice. Crime was punished, or innocence was decided, by the result of chance. When a person was accused of a crime, his future would be judged in the public arena.
All the people would gather in this building. The king sat high up on his ceremonial chair. He gave a sign. A door under him opened. The accused person stepped out into the arena. Directly opposite the king were two doors. They were side by side, exactly alike. The person on trial had to walk directly to these doors and open one of them. He could open whichever door he pleased.
If the accused man opened one door, out came a hungry tiger, the fiercest in the land. The tiger immediately jumped on him and tore him to pieces as punishment for his guilt. The case of the suspect was thus decided. Iron bells rang sadly. Great cries went up from the paid mourners. And the people, with heads hanging low and sad hearts, slowly made their way home. They mourned greatly that one so young and fair, or so old and respected, should have died this way.
古时候,有一个非常有权势的国王。他有些想法颇有远见,有些却让他的国民受罪。
他的其中一个想法是设立一个公审场,作赏罚判定之用。是定罪受罚还是还其清白,全看被告的运气。当有人被指控犯罪,就会被推到那个公审场接受审判,一切听天由命。
所有人将聚集在那里。国王高踞宝座,他稍稍示意,宝座之下的一扇门就会打开,被告从那儿走出来,走进公审场。国王正对着两扇门,它们紧紧相邻,外观一模一样。受审的被告必须径直走向这两扇门,打开其中一扇。当然,选哪扇全凭其意愿。
如果被告打开的那扇门跳出的是一只王国里最凶猛的饿虎,饿虎就会立即扑向他,把他撕咬个粉碎,作为对其罪行的惩罚。于是,嫌疑犯的罪名就这么定下了。接着,丧钟悲鸣,雇来的哭丧人嚎哭,围观的群众则垂头伤心,缓步而归,为这么一个帅气小伙或那么一位可敬长者如此惨死而悲痛万分。
不过,要是被告打开另一扇门,走出来的是一位专门为其挑选的女子,那么,为了庆贺被告获得“清白”,即使被告已有家室或已选定结婚对象,他也得立刻和这女子成婚。国王不容许自己这个“伟大的”赏善惩恶方式受到任何阻碍。王座之下的另一扇门会走出一位牧师、一些歌手、舞者和乐师,为被告和那女子举行婚礼。婚礼迅速完成。接着,喜钟欢响,人群欢呼。这位“清白的”被告带着新妻回家,尾随的孩童把鲜花撒了一路。
But, if the accused opened the other door, there came forth from it a woman, chosen especially for the person. To this lady he was immediately married, in honor of his innocence. It was not a problem that he might already have a wife and family, or that he might have chosen to marry another woman. The king permitted nothing to interfere with his great method of punishment and reward. Another door opened under the king, and a 3)clergyman, singers, dancers and musicians joined the man and the lady. The marriage ceremony was quickly completed. Then the bells made cheerful noises. The people shouted happily. And the innocent man led the new wife to his home, following children who threw flowers on their path.
This was the king’s method of carrying out justice. Its fairness appeared perfect. The accused person could not know which door was hiding the lady. He opened either as he pleased, without knowing whether, in the next minute, he was to be killed or married. Sometimes the fierce animal came out of one door. Sometimes it came out of the other.
This method was a popular one. When the people gathered together on one of the great trial days, they never knew whether they would see a bloody killing or a happy ending. So everyone was always interested. And 4)the thinking part of the community would bring no charge of unfairness against this plan. Did not the accused person have the whole matter in his own hands?
The king had a beautiful daughter who was like him in many ways. He loved her above all humanity. The princess secretly loved a young man who was the best looking and bravest in the land. But he was a 5)commoner, not part of an important family.
One day, the king discovered the relationship between his daughter and the young man. The man was immediately put in prison. A day was set for his trial in the king’s public arena. This, of course, was an especially important event. Never before had a common 6)subject been brave enough to love the daughter of the king.
这就是国王维护正义的方法,其公正性看上去无懈可击。被告无法知道哪扇门后是女子,他按照自己的意愿选择,全然不知下一刻自己的命运是惨死还是与他人成婚。有时,猛兽是从这扇门冲出来,有时是从另一扇门出来。
这个方法很受欢迎。人们在这样一个大审之日聚集在一起,他们决不知道自己看到的将是一场血腥的残杀还是欢乐的婚礼,这就使所有人总是兴致勃勃。连王国里有“思考”权的上层阶级也不会指责其有欠公允。被告的命运不是掌握在他自己手里吗?
国王有一个漂亮的女儿,她在很多方面都像极了她父亲。国王把她视若掌上明珠。公主偷偷爱着王国里那个最英俊最勇敢的小伙子。但他是一介平民,而非生于权贵之家。
一天,国王发现了女儿和那小伙子相爱的事,马上就把他关进了监狱,并选好日子在国王的公审场决定其生死。这当然是一件特别重大的事。在此之前,还从未有哪个平民胆敢爱上国王的女儿。
The king knew that the young man would be punished, even if he opened the right door. And the king would take pleasure in watching the series of events, which would judge whether or not the man had done wrong in loving the princess.
The day of the trial arrived. From far and near the people gathered in the arena and outside its walls. The king and his advisers were in their places, opposite the two doors. All was ready. The sign was given. The door under the king opened and the lover of the princess entered the arena. Tall, beautiful and fair, his appearance was met with a sound of approval and tension. Half the people had not known so perfect a young man lived among them. No wonder the princess loved him! What a terrible thing for him to be there!
As the young man entered the public arena, he turned to bend to the king. But he did not at all think of the great ruler. The young man’s eyes instead were fixed on the princess, who sat to the right of her father. From the day it was decided that the sentence of her lover should be decided in the arena, she had thought of nothing but this event.
The princess had more power, influence and force of character than anyone who had ever before been interested in such a case. She had done what no other person had done. She had possessed herself of the secret of the doors. She knew behind which door stood the tiger, and behind which waited the lady. Gold, and the power of a woman’s will, had brought the secret to the princess.
即使小伙子选对门活了下来,国王知道他也将受到惩罚。而国王将饶有兴味地观看即将发生的一系列事件,它们将判定他爱上公主是否有错。
审判日到了,远近的民众纷纷聚集在那里,塞满了公审场的里里外外。国王和他的臣子站在两扇门对面,已经就位。一切都准备好了。国王发出指令,王座之下的门打开了,公主的情人走进了公审场。高大英俊、白肤金发,小伙子的相貌引起了人群中的一阵赞许和焦虑。有一半人不知道这么一位如此完美的小伙子就生活在他们之间。怪不得公主会爱上他!他落得这般田地,真是太糟糕了!
小伙子一进到公审场,便转身向国王鞠躬,但他并没把这位威严的统治者放在心上,而是把目光集中在公主身上,她就坐在国王右边。自从国王决定在公审场审判她的情人那天起,公主就满心挂虑着这件事。
公主比所有此前对这审判感兴趣的人都拥有更大的权力、影响力和更强的个性,她也做过别人没做过的事。她已经掌握了两扇门的秘密。她知道哪扇门后是老虎,哪扇门后有女子等着他。金钱以及一个女人强大的意志力,使她掌握了这秘密。
She also knew who the lady was. The lady was one of the loveliest in the kingdom. Now and then the princess had seen her looking at and talking to the young man. The princess hated the woman behind that silent door. She hated her with all the intensity of the blood passed to her through long lines of cruel ancestors.
Her lover turned to look at the princess. His eyes met hers as she sat there, paler and whiter than anyone in the large ocean of tense faces around her. He saw that she knew behind which door waited the tiger, and behind which stood the lady. He had expected her to know it.
The only hope for the young man was based on the success of the princess in discovering this mystery. When he looked at her, he saw that she had been successful, as he knew she would succeed. Then his quick and tense look asked the question: “Which?” It was as clear to her as if he shouted it from where he stood. There was not time to be lost.
The princess raised her hand, and made a short, quick movement toward the right. No one but her lover saw it. Every eye but his was fixed on the man in the arena. He turned, and with a firm and quick step he walked across the empty space. Every heart stopped beating. Every breath was held. Every eye was fixed upon that man. He went to the door on the right and opened it.
她同时也知道门后的女子是谁,那是王国里最娇俏的美人之一。公主从前时不时就看到她一往情深地望着自己的情人,还跟他搭讪。公主恨透了寂静的门后那个女人。公主的体内流淌着她那些残忍的祖先的血,她的恨如此强烈。
她的情人回头注视着她。他们四目相接,她就坐在那里,在围绕着她的那一大群焦虑的脸孔中,她的脸色愈显苍白。小伙子看出公主知道哪扇门后有老虎等着他,哪扇门后站着女子。他早料到她知道答案。
小伙子唯一的希望就在于公主能成功解开这个秘密。当他看着她,他知道她成功了,如他所望。接着,他迅速而一脸焦虑地示意道:“哪一扇?”这对公主来说已经问得足够清楚了,仿佛他站在那里喊出来一样。机不可失。
公主抬起手,向右短促而快速地指了一下。除了她的情人以外,谁都没有看到,因为所有的眼睛都盯着公审场上的他。小伙子转过身,迈着坚定的步伐快速走过空旷的场地。每个人的心都提到嗓子眼儿,人们都屏住呼吸,密切注释着小伙子的一举一动。只见他走向右边的门,把它打开了。
Now, the point of the story is this: Did the tiger come out of that door, or did the lady?
The more we think about this question, the harder it is to answer. It involves a study of the human heart. Think of it not as if the decision of the question depended upon yourself. But as if it depended upon that hot-blooded princess, her soul 7)at a white heat under the fires of sadness and jealousy. She had lost him, but who should have him?
How often, in her waking hours and in her dreams, had she started in wild terror, and covered her face with her hands? She thought of her lover opening the door on the other side of which waited the sharp teeth of the tiger!
But how much oftener had she seen him open the other door? How she had ground her teeth, and torn her hair, when she had seen his happy face as he opened the door of the lady!How her soul had burned in pain when she had seen him run to meet that woman, with her look of victory. When she had seen the two of them get married. And when she had seen them walk away together upon their path of flowers, followed by the happy shouts of the crowd, in which her one sad cry was lost!
现在,故事的关键点是:从那扇门出来的是老虎,还是美人?
关于这个疑问,我们想得越多就越难回答。它牵涉到对人心的探究。你不能从自己的角度考虑这个问题,而是要从那位热血沸腾的公主的处境出发。她的心在悲伤和嫉妒的烈火中炽烧,饱受着煎熬。她失去了他,但谁又该得到他呢?
多少个日夜,不管是清醒时还是在梦魇中,只要她一想到自己的情人打开对面的一扇门,而门后等待着他的是一只牙尖齿利的老虎,她就开始陷入强烈的恐惧中,两手掩着脸。
而更多时候,她想到的是情人打开另一扇门后的情形。当她看见他打开门后是美人的那扇门,他一脸欢欣雀跃时,她就咬牙切齿,撕扯自己的头发。当她看见他跑向那个女人,而那女人露出一脸胜利者的神色;当她看见他俩成婚,一起踏着花径离开,欢呼的人群尾随其后,她独自的悲泣被淹没其中,想到这些,她的心就痛苦至极。
Would it not be better for him to die quickly, and go to wait for her in that blessed place of the future? And yet, that tiger, those cries, that blood!
Her decision had been shown quickly. But it had been made after days and nights of thought.She had known she would be asked. And she had decided what she would answer. And she had moved her hand to the right.
The question of her decision is one not to be lightly considered. And it is not for me to 8)set myself up as the one person able to answer it. And so I leave it with all of you:
Which came out of the open door—the lady, or the tiger?
让情人快点死去,让他在天堂里等着将来与她重逢,这不是更好吗?然而,一想到那只猛虎,那些喊叫,那些血,让人怎么忍心!
她的决定,他很快看到了。那可是她经过日夜思索而做出的决定。她知道情人一定会问她那个问题,而她也决定了该怎么回答。于是,她把手指向了右边。
公主的决定不是你可以轻松猜出的,而我也不是那个能给出答案的人。所以,我把这个问题留给你们每个人:
那扇门打开后,出来的是美女,还是老虎?