駱駝祥子(英漢翻譯)

15.09.2014英文翻譯《駱駝詳子》（片段）

CamelXiangzi(Excerpt)我們所要介紹的是祥子，不是駱駝，因?yàn)椤榜橊劇敝皇莻€(gè)外號(hào)；ThisstoryisaboutXiangzi,notaboutCamel,because“Camel”wasonlyhisnickname.那么，我們就先說(shuō)祥子，隨手兒把駱駝與祥子那點(diǎn)關(guān)系說(shuō)過(guò)去，也就算了。SoletusstartwithXiangzi,justmentioninginpassinghowhebecamelinkedwithcamels.北平的洋車夫有許多派：TherickshawpullersofBeipingfallintomanydifferentcategories.年輕力壯，腿腳靈利的，講究賃漂亮的車，拉“整天兒”，愛(ài)什么時(shí)候出車與收車都有自由；Therearestrong,fleet-footedyoungmenwhorentsmartrickshaws,andworkaroundtheclock,startingworkorknockingoffwhenevertheyplease.拉出車來(lái)，在固定的“車口”或宅門一放，專等坐快車的主兒：Theypulltheirrickshawstoarickshawstandorthegateofsomebighouseandwaitforfareswhowantafastrunner.弄好了，也許一下子弄個(gè)一塊兩塊的；Withluck,asingletripcannetoneortwosilverdollars;碰巧了，也許白耗一天，連“車份兒”也沒(méi)著落，但也不在乎。butitmayhappentoothattheyspendthewholedayidle,notevenrecoupingtheirrickshawrent.Still,theytakethisallintheirstride.這一派哥們兒的希望大概有兩個(gè)：或是拉包車；或是自己買上輛車-Thesefellowsgenerallyhavetwoambitions.Oneistogetajobonamonthlybasis,theotheristobuytheirownrickshaw.有了自己的車，再去拉包月或散座就沒(méi)大關(guān)系了，反正車是自己的。Forwiththeirownvehicle,itdoesn’tmatterwhethertheyhaveamonthlyjobortakeoddfares,therickshawistheirownpropertyanyway.比這一派歲數(shù)稍大的，或因身體的關(guān)系而跑得稍差點(diǎn)勁的，Thenthereisacategoryofslightlyoldermen,andotherswhoforhealthreasonscannotrunquiteasfast,或因家庭的關(guān)系不敢白耗一天的，orwhoforfamilyreasonscannotaffordtoletadaygobywithoutearningsomething.大概就多數(shù)的拉八成新的車;人與車都有相當(dāng)?shù)钠?，所以在要價(jià)兒的時(shí)候也還能保持住相當(dāng)?shù)淖饑?yán)。Mostofthempullfairlynewrickshaws,andbecausebothpullerandrickshawarequitesmart-lookingtheycanstilldemandarespectableprice.這派的車夫，也許拉“整天”。也許拉“半天”。Someofthemworkaroundtheclock,someonlyhalfdays.在后者的情形下，因?yàn)檫€有相當(dāng)?shù)木珰馍?，所以無(wú)論冬天夏天總是“拉晚兒”。Oftheselatter,themoreenergetictakethenightshiftalltheyearround.夜間，當(dāng)然比白天需要更多的留神與本事；錢自然也多掙一些。Atnight,morecareandskillareneeded,sonaturallythefeeishigher.

年紀(jì)在四十以上，二十以下的，恐怕就不易在前面兩派里有個(gè)地位了。Thepullersoverfortyandundertwentyfindithardtojoineitherofthesecategories.他們的車破，又不敢“拉晚兒”，所以只能早早的出車，希望能從清晨轉(zhuǎn)到午后三四點(diǎn)鐘，拉出“車份兒”和自己的嚼谷。Theirrickshawsareramshackleandtheydarenottakeonthenightshift.Sotheyhavetomakeaveryearlystartinthehopethat,bythreeorfourintheafternoon,theywillhaveearnedenoughfortherickshawrentaswellastheirdailyneeds.他們的車破，跑得慢，所以得多走路，少要錢。Theirbroken-downvehiclesandlackofspeedmeantheymustmakelongertripsforlowerpayment.到瓜市，果市，菜市，去拉貨物，都是他們；錢少，可是無(wú)須快跑呢。Theyaretheoneswhohaulmerchandisetothemelon,fruit,orvegetablemarkets;forthistheyearnless,butatleasttheycantaketheirtime.在這里，二十歲以下的-有的從十一二歲就干這行-很少能到二十歲以后改變成漂亮的車夫的，Theunder–twenties–somehavebeenplayingthistradesincetheywereelevenortwelve-rarelybecomecrackpullerslateron,因?yàn)樵谟啄晔芰藗?，很難健壯起來(lái)。becauseasboystheyhaveovertaxedtheirstrength.他們也許拉一輩子洋車，而一輩子連拉車也沒(méi)出過(guò)風(fēng)頭。Theymaypullalltheirlivesandnevermakethegrade,noteveninthistrade.那四十以上的人，有的是已拉了十年八年的車，Asfortheover-forties,somehavestrainedtheirmusclesbypullingforeightortenyears筋肉的衰損使他們甘居人后，他們漸漸知道早晚是一個(gè)跟頭會(huì)死在馬路上。andarecontentnowtotakesecondplace,inthegrowingawarenessthatsoonerorlatertheywillkeeloveranddieintheroad.他們的拉車姿勢(shì)，講價(jià)時(shí)的隨機(jī)應(yīng)變，走路的超近繞遠(yuǎn)，都足以使他們想起過(guò)去的光榮，Theirpullingposture,theira