A3--The-Use-of-Force.doc

Lesson Three The Use of Force

by William Carlos Williams

使用暴力

威廉·卡洛斯·威廉斯

○课文逐句翻译

他们是我的新病人，我所知道的只有名字，奥尔逊。

clean and apologetic who merely said, Is this the doctor?

然后带我进了屋。

And let me in.

在后面，她又说到，请你一定要原谅我们，医生，我们让她呆在厨房里，那儿暖

和，这里有时很潮湿。

In the back, she added. You must excuse us, doctor, we have her in the kitchen where

it is warm. It is very damp here sometimes.

在厨房的桌子旁边，这个孩子穿得严严实实的，坐在她父亲的腿上。

The child was fully dressed and sitting on here father’s lap near the kitchen table.

他父亲试图站起来，但我向他示意不用麻烦，然后我脱下外套开始检查。

As often, in such cases, they weren’t telling me more than they had to, it was up to me

to tell them; that’s why they were spending three dollars on me.

这个孩子用她那冷漠而镇定的目光目不转睛地盯着我，脸上没有任何表情。

The child was fairly eating me up with her cold, steady eyes, and no expression

on her face whatever.

她纹丝不动，内心似乎很平静。这是一个非常惹人喜爱的小东西，外表长得象小

牛一样结实。

She did not move and seemed, inwardly, quiet; an unusually attractive little thing, and

as strong as a heifer in appearance.

但是她的脸发红，而且呼吸急促，我知道她在发着高烧。

她发烧已经 3 天了，她父亲开口说，我们不知道是什么原因。

She’s had a fever for three days, began the father and we don’t know what it

comes from.

我太太给她吃了一些药，你知道，大家都是这样做的，可这些药根本不管用，而

且，附近有很多人都生了病，所以我们想请您最好给她检查一下，然后告诉我们

是怎么一回事。

there’s been a lot of sickness around. So we tho’t you’d better look her over and tell

us what is the matter.

As doctors often do I took a trial shot at it as a point of departure. Has she had a

sore throat?

父母两人一起回答说，没有……没有，她说她的嗓子不疼。

Both parents answered me together, No…No, she says her throat don’t hurt her.

But the little girl’s expression didn’t change nor did she move her eyes from my face.

I tried to, said the mother but II couldn’t see.

这个月碰巧她上学的那个学校已经有好几例白喉病。虽然到目前为止没有人

说出这件事，但很显然，我们心里都想到了。

As it happens we had been having a number of cases of diphtheria in the school

to which this child went during that month and we were all, quite apparently, thinking

of that, though no one had as yet spoken of the thing.

好了，我说，我们先看看嗓子吧。

Well, I said, suppose we take a look at the throat first.

我以医生特有的职业方式微笑着，叫着孩子的名字。我说，来吧，玛蒂尔达，张

开嘴，让我看一下你的嗓子。

I smiled in my best professional manner and asking for the child’s first name I said,

come on, Mathilda, open your mouth and let’s take a look at your throat.

没有任何反应。

Nothing doing.

听到这里我狠狠地咬了咬牙，要是他们没用“伤害”这个词，我也许能做点

As that I ground my teeth in disgust. If only they wouldn’t use the word “hurt” I

might be able to get somewhere. But I did not allow myself to be hurried or disturbed

but speaking quietly and slowly I approached the child again.

我刚将椅子拉近一点，突然，她像猫一样双手本能地朝我的两眼抓去，我差

一点被她抓到。

As I moved my chair a little nearer suddenly with one catlike movement both her

hands clawed instinctively for my eyes and she almost reached them too.

away from me on the kitchen floor.

父母两人都非常尴尬，充满歉意，你这个坏孩子，母亲一边说，一边抓着她，

并摇晃着她的一只手，你看看你做的事。这么一个好人。

embarrassment and apology. You bad girl, said the mother, taking her and shaking

here by one arm. Look what you’ve done. The nice man…

I’m here to look at her throat on the chance that she might have diphtheria and

possibly die of it.

但是她的呼吸却越来越急促。

Her breaths, however, were coming faster and faster.

接着一场战役开始了，我不得不这样做。

Then the battle began. I had to do it.

由于她的自我保护，我必须检查一下她的嗓子。

I had to have a throat culture for her own protection.

可是我首先告诉家长这完全取决于他们。

我说明了其危险性，但同时提出只要他们承担责任我就不会坚持做这次喉咙检查。

I explained the danger but said that I would not insist on a throat examination so long

as they would take the responsibility.

如果你不按大夫说的去做，你就要去医院了，母亲严厉地警告她。