【翻译】THE LADY OR THE TIGER? 美女还是老虎？

THE LADY OR THE TIGER?

In the very olden time, there lived a semi-barbaric king, whose ideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by the progressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large, florid, and untrammelled, as became the half of him which was barbaric. He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts. He was greatly given to self-communing, and when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done. When every member of his domestic and political systems moved smoothly in its appointed course, his nature was bland and genial; but whenever there was a little hitch, and some of his orbs got out of their orbits, he was blander and more genial still, for nothing pleased him so much as to make the crooked straight, and crush down uneven places.

远古时代，有一位半野蛮的国王，他的思想虽然因远邻拉丁语系的扩张而有所精炼和开化，但仍然庞大、华丽、无拘无束，就像他野蛮的那一半一样。他想象力丰富，同时又具有不可抗拒的权威性，他可以随心所欲地将自己的各种幻想变成事实。他非常喜欢自言自语，只要他和他自己达成一致，事情就成了。当他的家庭和政治体系中的每一个成员都按照指定的路线顺利运行时，他的性情就会变得平淡而和蔼可亲；但每当出现一点小差错，他的一些球体脱离了自己的轨道时，他就会变得更加平淡而和蔼可亲，因为他最高兴的事情莫过于把弯曲的地方变直，把不平整的地方压平。

Among the borrowed notions by which his barbarism had become semified was that of the public arena, in which, by exhibitions of manly and beastly valor, the minds of his subjects were refined and cultured.

在他借用的、他的野蛮已经半文明化的概念中，公共竞技场是其中之一，通过展示人和野兽的勇气，他的臣民的思想得到了锤炼和培养。

But even here the exuberant and barbaric fancy asserted itself. The arena of the king was built, not to give the people an opportunity of hearing the rhapsodies of dying gladiators, nor to enable them to view the inevitable conclusion of a conflict between religious opinions and hungry jaws, but for purposes far better adapted to widen and develop the mental energies of the people. This vast amphitheatre, with its encircling galleries, its mysterious vaults, and its unseen passages, was an agent of poetic justice, in which crime was punished, or virtue rewarded, by the decrees of an impartial and incorruptible chance.

但是，即使在这里，野蛮的幻想也在张扬。国王的竞技场被建造，不是为了让人们有机会聆听垂死角斗士的狂想曲，也不是为了让他们观看犯人的宗教观点与野兽的饥饿下颚之间冲突的必然结果，而是为了更好地拓宽和发展人们的精神能量。这个巨大的圆形剧场，有着环绕的长廊、神秘的拱顶和看不见的通道，是诗意正义的代言人，在这里，罪行受到惩罚，美德得到奖赏，这一切都取决于公正廉明的机会。

When a subject was accused of a crime of sufficient importance to interest the king, public notice was given that on an appointed day the fate of the accused person would be decided in the king’s arena—a structure which well deserved its name; for, although its form and plan were borrowed from afar, its purpose emanated solely from the brain of this man, who, every barleycorn a king, knew no tradition to which he owed more allegiance than pleased his fancy, and who ingrafted on every adopted form of human thought and action the rich growth of his barbaric idealism.

当臣民被指控犯有足以引起国王兴趣的重大罪行时，国王就会发布公告，在指定的日子里，被告的命运将在国王的竞技场上决定；因为，尽管它的形式和计划是从远方借来的，但它的目的完全来自于这个人的大脑，从每一点来看，他都是国王（参见https://www.timesmojo.com/why-is-the-king-described-as-semibarbaric/#:~:text=What%20does%20every%20Barleycorn%20a%20king%20mean%3F%20The,every%20bit%20of%20him%2C%20he%20is%20a%20king.——译注），知道他不效忠于传统而是他的幻想，他把他野蛮的理想主义的丰富成长植根于人类思想和行动的每一种采用的形式上。

When all the people had assembled in the galleries, and the king, surrounded by his court, sat high up on his throne of royal state on one side of the arena, he gave a signal, a door beneath him opened, and the accused subject stepped out into the amphitheatre. Directly opposite him, on the other side of the enclosed space, were two doors, exactly alike and side by side. It was the duty and the privilege of the person on trial to walk directly to these doors and open one of them. He could open either door he pleased. He was subject to no guidance or influence but that of the aforementioned impartial and incorruptible chance. If he opened the one, there came out of it a hungry tiger, the fiercest and most cruel that could be procured, which immediately sprang upon him, and tore him to pieces, as a punishment for his guilt. The moment that the case of the criminal was thus decided, doleful iron bells were clanged, great wails went up from the hired mourners posted on the outer rim of the arena, and the vast audience, with bowed heads and downcast hearts, wended slowly their homeward way, mourning greatly that one so young and fair, or so old and respected, should have merited so dire a fate.

当所有的人都聚集在长廊里，国王在宫廷的簇拥下高高地坐在竞技场一侧的王座上时，他发出了一个信号，他脚下的一扇门打开了，被告走出了圆形剧场。在他的正对面，封闭空间的另一侧，有两扇门，一模一样，并排而开。受审者有责任也有特权直接走到这两扇门前，打开其中一扇。他可以随意打开任何一扇门。除了上述公正廉明的机会，他不受任何指引或影响。如果他打开了那扇门，就会有一只饥饿的老虎从里面出来，这只老虎是最凶猛、最残忍的，它立即扑向他，把他撕成碎片，作为对他罪行的惩罚。罪犯的案子一经宣判，凄厉的铁钟就被敲响了，竞技场外围雇来的送葬者发出了巨大的哀号声，众多观众低着头，垂着头，缓缓地走在回家的路上，为一个如此年轻貌美或如此年长德高望重的人却遭到如此悲惨的命运而深感悲痛。

But if the accused person opened the other door, there came forth from it a lady, the most suitable to his years and station that his Majesty could select among his fair subjects; and to this lady he was immediately married, as a reward of his innocence. It mattered not that he might already possess a wife and family, or that his affections might be engaged upon an object of his own selection. The king allowed no such subordinate arrangements to interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward. The exercises, as in the other instance, took place immediately, and in the arena. Another door opened beneath the king, and a priest, followed by a band of choristers, and dancing maidens blowing joyous airs on golden horns and treading an epithalamic measure, advanced to where the pair stood side by side, and the wedding was promptly and cheerily solemnized. Then the gay brass bells rang forth their merry peals, the people shouted glad hurrahs, and the innocent man, preceded by children strewing flowers on his path, led his bride to his home.

但是，如果被告打开另一扇门，里面就会走出一位美女，她是国王陛下从他的臣民中挑选出来的最适合他的年龄和地位的人，他马上就会和这位美女结婚，作为对他清白的奖赏。他可能已经有了妻子和家庭，或者他的感情可能会投入到自己选择的对象身上，这些都不重要。国王不允许这样的附属安排干扰他伟大的报应和奖励计划。这次活动和上次一样，立即在竞技场进行。国王身下的另一扇门打开了，一位祭司在一队歌手和舞女的跟随下，吹着欢快的金角，踏着悦耳的舞步，走到了这对新人并肩站立的地方，婚礼迅速而欢快地举行了。然后，欢快的铜钟敲响了欢乐的钟声，人们高声欢呼，无辜的男人在撒满鲜花的孩子们的陪伴下，领着新娘回家了。

This was the king’s semi-barbaric method of administering justice. Its perfect fairness is obvious. The criminal could not know out of which door would come the lady. He opened either he pleased, without having the slightest idea whether, in the next instant, he was to be devoured or married. On some occasions the tiger came out of one door, and on some out of the other. The decisions of this tribunal were not only fair—they were positively determinate. The accused person was instantly punished if he found himself guilty, and if innocent he was rewarded on the spot, whether he liked it or not. There was no escape from the judgments of the king’s arena.

这是国王半野蛮的司法方式。它的公正性显而易见。罪犯不知道美女会从哪扇门走出来。他想开哪扇门就开哪扇门，丝毫不知道下一秒他是会被吃掉，还是会结婚。有的时候老虎从一扇门里出来，有的时候则从另一扇门里出来。这个法庭的判决不仅公正，而且非常明确。如果被告被判有罪，就会立即受到惩罚；如果被告无罪，不管他愿不愿意，都会当场得到奖赏。国王竞技场上的判决是无法逃避的。

The institution was a very popular one. When the people gathered together on one of the great trial days, they never knew whether they were to witness a bloody slaughter or a hilarious wedding. This element of uncertainty lent an interest to the occasion which it could not otherwise have attained. Thus the masses were entertained and pleased, and the thinking part of the community could bring no charge of unfairness against this plan; for did not the accused person have the whole matter in his own hands?

这个机构非常受欢迎。当人们在某个大审判日聚集在一起时，他们永远不知道自己是要目睹一场血腥的屠杀还是一场热闹的婚礼。这种不确定性使人们对这一场合产生了浓厚的兴趣，这是其他场合无法达到的。这样一来，群众得到了娱乐和欢乐，而社会上有思想的人也不会对这一计划提出任何不公平的指控；因为整个事件不都是被告自己掌握的吗？

This semi-barbaric king had a daughter as blooming as his most florid fancies, and with a soul as fervent and imperious as his own. As is usual in such cases, she was the apple of his eye, and was loved by him above all humanity. Among his courtiers was a young man of that fineness of blood and lowness of station common to the conventional heroes of romance who love royal maidens. This royal maiden was well satisfied with her lover, for he was handsome and brave to a degree unsurpassed in all this kingdom, and she loved him with an ardor that had enough of barbarism in it to make it exceedingly warm and strong. This love affair moved on happily for many months, until, one day, the king happened to discover its existence. He did not hesitate nor waver in regard to his duty in the premises. The youth was immediately cast into prison, and a day was appointed for his trial in the king’s arena. This, of course, was an especially important occasion, and his Majesty, as well as all the people, was greatly interested in the workings and development of this trial. Never before had such a case occurred—never before had a subject dared to love the daughter of a king. In after years such things became commonplace enough, but then they were, in no slight degree, novel and startling.

这位半野蛮的国王有一个女儿，就像他最艳丽的幻想一样绽放，她的灵魂就像他自己的一样狂热和专横。在这种情况下，她通常是国王的掌上明珠，受到他高于一切的宠爱。在他的廷臣中，有一位血统纯正、地位卑微的年轻人，他是传统浪漫主义英雄中常见的皇室少女的爱慕者。这位皇室少女对她的爱人非常满意，因为他英俊勇敢，在整个王国都无人能及，她爱他，爱得热烈，爱得野蛮，爱得异常热烈和强烈。这段恋情幸福地持续了好几个月，直到有一天，国王偶然发现了它的存在。他毫不犹豫地履行了自己的职责。他立即把这个年轻人关进了监狱，并指定了一天在国王的竞技场上对他进行审判。当然，这是一个特别重要的场合，国王陛下和所有的人都非常关心这次审判的过程和发展。以前从未发生过这样的事情——从未有臣民敢于爱上国王的女儿。多年以后，这样的事情变得司空见惯，但在当时，却丝毫不是这样，显得新奇和令人震惊。

The tiger cages of the kingdom were searched for the most savage and relentless beasts, from which the fiercest monster might be selected for the arena, and the ranks of maiden youth and beauty throughout the land were carefully surveyed by competent judges, in order that the young man might have a fitting bride in case fate did not determine for him a different destiny. Of course, everybody knew that the deed with which the accused was charged had been done. He had loved the princess, and neither he, she, nor any one else thought of denying the fact. But the king would not think of allowing any fact of this kind to interfere with the workings of the tribunal, in which he took such great delight and satisfaction. No matter how the affair turned out, the youth would be disposed of, and the king would take an æsthetic pleasure in watching the course of events which would determine whether or not the young man had done wrong in allowing himself to love the princess.

王国的老虎笼子里搜寻着最野蛮、最凶残的野兽，从中挑选出最凶猛的怪兽上场；全国各地的少女和美人都被称职的法官仔细考察过，以便万一命运没有为年轻人安排另一个的命运，他也能有一个合适的新娘。当然，每个人都知道被告被指控的行为已经发生。他爱过公主，无论是他、公主还是其他人，都没想过要否认这个事实。但是，国王不会允许这样的事实干扰法庭的工作，他对法庭的工作非常满意。无论事情的结果如何，这个年轻人都会被处理掉，而国王也会以观看事件的发展过程为乐，因为这将决定这个年轻人是否错爱了公主。

The appointed day arrived. From far and near the people gathered, and thronged the great galleries of the arena, while crowds, unable to gain admittance, massed themselves against its outside walls. The king and his court were in their places, opposite the twin doors—those fateful portals, so terrible in their similarity!

约定的日子到了。人们从远处和近处聚集过来，挤满了竞技场的长廊，而无法入场的人群则聚集在竞技场的外墙上。国王和他的宫廷成员各就各位，站在双门对面——那是命运之门，其相似性如此可怕！

All was ready. The signal was given. A door beneath the royal party opened, and the lover of the princess walked into the arena. Tall, beautiful, fair, his appearance was greeted with a low hum of admiration and anxiety. Half the audience had not known so grand a youth had lived among them. No wonder the princess loved him! What a terrible thing for him to be there!

一切准备就绪。信号发出。王室下方的一扇门打开了，公主的爱人走进了竞技场。他高大、美丽、白皙，他的出现引起了一阵低沉的赞叹声和焦虑声。半数观众都不知道他们中间还住着一位如此英俊的年轻人。难怪公主会喜欢他！他出现在那里是一件多么可怕的事情！

As the youth advanced into the arena, he turned, as the custom was, to bow to the king. But he did not think at all of that royal personage; his eyes were fixed upon the princess, who sat to the right of her father. Had it not been for the moiety of barbarism in her nature, it is probable that lady would not have been there. But her intense and fervid soul would not allow her to be absent on an occasion in which she was so terribly interested. From the moment that the decree had gone forth that her lover should decide his fate in the king’s arena, she had thought of nothing, night or day, but this great event and the various subjects connected with it. Possessed of more power, influence, and force of character than any one 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 in which of the two rooms behind those doors stood the cage of the tiger, with its open front, and in which waited the lady. Through these thick doors, heavily curtained with skins on the inside, it was impossible that any noise or suggestion should come from within to the person who should approach to raise the latch of one of them. But gold, and the power of a woman’s will, had brought the secret to the princess.

当年轻人走进竞技场时，他按照惯例转身向国王行礼。但他根本没有想到国王，他的眼睛盯着坐在父亲右边的公主。如果不是因为她天性中的一丝野蛮，这位美女很可能不会出现在那里。但是，她强烈而狂热的灵魂不允许她在自己如此感兴趣的场合缺席。从她的爱人要在国王的竞技场上决定自己命运的命令下达的那一刻起，她日思夜想的都是这件大事以及与之相关的各种话题。她比以往任何一个对此类事件感兴趣的人都更有权力、影响力和人格力量，她做了其他人都没有做的事情——她自己掌握了门的秘密。她知道门后的两个房间中，哪个房间里有敞开的老虎笼子，哪个房间里有那位美女。通过这些厚厚的门，里面用厚厚的兽皮帘子遮挡着，如果有人走近去打开其中一扇门的门闩，里面就不可能传出任何声音或暗示。但是，金子和女人的意志力使公主知晓了秘密。

Not only did she know in which room stood the lady, ready to emerge, all blushing and radiant, should her door be opened, but she knew who the lady was. It was one of the fairest and loveliest of the damsels of the court who had been selected as the reward of the accused youth, should he be proved innocent of the crime of aspiring to one so far above him; and the princess hated her. Often had she seen, or imagined that she had seen, this fair creature throwing glances of admiration upon the person of her lover, and sometimes she thought these glances were perceived and even returned. Now and then she had seen them talking together. It was but for a moment or two, but much can be said in a brief space. It may have been on most unimportant topics, but how could she know that? The girl was lovely, but she had dared to raise her eyes to the loved one of the princess, and, with all the intensity of the savage blood transmitted to her through long lines of wholly barbaric ancestors, she hated the woman who blushed and trembled behind that silent door.

她不仅知道那位美女站在哪个房间里，一旦房门被打开，她就会羞红着脸、容光焕发地出现，而且她还知道那位美女是谁。她是宫廷里最美丽、最可爱的少女之一，被选为被告青年的酬劳，如果他被证明没有犯下向远在他之上的人示爱的罪行的话；公主恨她。她经常看到，或者幻想看到，这位美丽的姑娘向她的爱人投去爱慕的目光，有时她还以为这些目光会被察觉，甚至会被回敬。有时，她还看到他们在一起交谈。那不过是一两秒钟的事，但在短短的时间里可以说很多。也许是一些无关紧要的话题，但她怎么会知道呢？女孩很可爱，但她竟敢把目光投向公主所爱的人，而且，由于她的祖先完全是野蛮人，野蛮人的血统传给了她，她恨那个在寂静的门后脸红和颤抖的女人。

When her lover turned and looked at her, and his eye met hers as she sat there paler and whiter than any one in the vast ocean of anxious faces about her, he saw, by that power of quick perception which is given to those whose souls are one, that she knew behind which door crouched the tiger, and behind which stood the lady. He had expected her to know it. He understood her nature, and his soul was assured that she would never rest until she had made plain to herself this thing, hidden to all other lookers-on, even to the king. The only hope for the youth in which there was any element of certainty was based upon the success of the princess in discovering this mystery, and the moment he looked upon her, he saw she had succeeded.

当她的爱人转过身来看着她，他的目光与她的目光相遇时，她坐在那里，脸色比周围焦虑的面孔中的任何人都要苍白，他凭借灵魂合一的人所具有的快速感知能力看到，她知道哪扇门后面蹲着老虎，哪扇门后面站着美女。他早就料到她会知道。他了解她的天性，他的灵魂确信，除非她自己明白这件事，否则她是不会罢休的，因为这件事对所有其他旁观者，甚至对国王来说都是隐秘的。对年轻人来说，唯一有把握的希望就是公主能成功地揭开这个谜团，而他一看到公主，就知道她已经成功了。

Then it was that his quick and anxious glance asked the question, “Which?” It was as plain to her as if he shouted it from where he stood. There was not an instant to be lost. The question was asked in a flash; it must be answered in another.

于是他急切地用目光问道："哪个？"她听得一清二楚，就像他站在原地大声喊出来一样。没有一秒钟可以耽搁。问题在一瞬间提出，必须在另一瞬间回答。

Her right arm lay on the cushioned parapet before her. She raised her hand, and made a slight, quick movement toward the right. No one but her lover saw her. Every eye but his was fixed on the man in the arena.

她的右臂搭在面前的护栏上。她抬起手，朝右边做了一个轻微而快速的动作。除了她的爱人，没有人看到她。除了他的眼睛，其他人的眼睛都盯着竞技场上的那个人。

He turned, and with a firm and rapid step he walked across the empty space. Every heart stopped beating, every breath was held, every eye was fixed immovably upon that man. Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right, and opened it.

他转过身，迈着坚定而急促的步伐，走过空旷的空间。每个人的心跳都停止了，每个人的呼吸都屏住了，每个人的眼睛都一动不动地盯着那个人。他没有丝毫犹豫，走到右边的门前，打开了门。

Now, the point of the story is this: Did the tiger come out of that door, or did the lady?

现在，故事的关键就在于此：是老虎从那扇门里出来，还是那位美女从那扇门里出来？

The more we reflect upon this question, the harder it is to answer. It involves a study of the human heart which leads us through devious mazes of passion, out of which it is difficult to find our way. Think of it, fair reader, not as if the decision of the question depended upon yourself, but upon that hot-blooded, semi-barbaric princess, her soul at a white heat beneath the combined fires of despair and jealousy. She had lost him, but who should have him?

我们越思考这个问题，就越难回答。这涉及到对人类内心的研究，它引导我们穿过充满激情的迷宫，很难找到出路。亲爱的读者，请想一想，这个问题的答案不是取决于你自己，而是取决于那位情感强烈的、半野蛮的公主。她失去了他，但谁又该拥有他呢？

How often, in her waking hours and in her dreams, had she started in wild horror and covered her face with her hands as she thought of her lover opening the door on the other side of which waited the cruel fangs of the tiger!

多少次，在她清醒的时候，在她的梦中，当她想到她的爱人打开那扇门，门的另一侧等待着老虎残忍的獠牙时，她惊恐万分，双手掩面！

But how much oftener had she seen him at the other door! How in her grievous reveries had she gnashed her teeth and torn her hair when she saw his start of rapturous delight as he opened the door of the lady! How her soul had burned in agony when she had seen him rush to meet that woman, with her flushing cheek and sparkling eye of triumph; when she had seen him lead her forth, his whole frame kindled with the joy of recovered life; when she had heard the glad shouts from the multitude, and the wild ringing of the happy bells; when she had seen the priest, with his joyous followers, advance to the couple, and make them man and wife before her very eyes; and when she had seen them walk away together upon their path of flowers, followed by the tremendous shouts of the hilarious multitude, in which her one despairing shriek was lost and drowned!

但是，她在另一扇门看到他的次数又有多少呢？当她看到他打开那位美女的房门时欣喜若狂的样子时，她是多么咬牙切齿，多么撕心裂肺！当她看到他急忙迎向那位美女，她的脸颊红扑扑的，眼睛里闪烁着胜利的光芒；当她看到他牵着她走出来，他的整个身体都被重获新生的喜悦所点燃；当她听到众人高兴的呼喊声和欢快的钟声响彻云霄；当她看到祭司带着他欢快的追随者走到这对新人面前，在她眼前让他们结为夫妻；当她看到他们一起走在鲜花的小路上，后面跟着欢呼的人群，她那一声绝望的尖叫被淹没了！

Would it not be better for him to die at once, and go to wait for her in the blessed regions of semi-barbaric futurity?

对他来说，立即死去，到半野蛮的未来的福地去等她，不是更好吗？

And yet, that awful tiger, those shrieks, that blood!

然而，那可怕的老虎，那些尖叫，那些鲜血！

Her decision had been indicated in an instant, but it had been made after days and nights of anguished deliberation. She had known she would be asked, she had decided what she would answer, and, without the slightest hesitation, she had moved her hand to the right.

她的决定是在一瞬间显出的，但却是经过几天几夜的苦苦思索才做出的。她知道她会被问到，她已经决定了她会怎么回答，她没有丝毫犹豫，就把手移到了右边。

The question of her decision is one not to be lightly considered, and it is not for me to presume to set up myself as the one person able to answer it. So I leave it with all of you: Which came out of the opened door—the lady or the tiger?

她的决定是一个不容轻虑的问题，我也不能妄自尊大，自诩为唯一能够回答这个问题的人。所以，我把这个问题留给大家：从打开的门里走出来的——是美女还是老虎？