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皇家大战（2，双语）
拉尔夫-埃里森著
And then she began to dance, a slow sensuous movement; the smoke of a hundred cigars clinging to her like the thinnest of veils. She seemed like a fair bird-girl girdled in veils calling to me from the angry surface of some gray and threatening sea. I was transported. Then I became aware of the clarinet playing and the big shots yelling at us. Some threatened us if we looked and others if we did not. On my right I saw one boy faint. And now a man grabbed a silver pitcher from a table and stepped close as he dashed ice water upon him and stood him up and forced two of us to support him as his head hung and moans issued from his thick bluish lips. Another boy began to plead to go home. He was the largest of the group, wearing dark red fighting trunks much too small to conceal the erection which projected from him as though in answer to the insinuating low-registered moaning of the clarinet. He tried to hide himself with his boxing gloves. 然后她就开始跳舞，一种缓慢的激发美感的运动；一百支雪茄的烟雾缠绕着她就像一层最薄的面纱。她看起来就像是一个鸟女仙子被薄薄的面纱环绕着，从有些灰色的怒号而恐怖的海表面上招唤我。而我是被运送着。接着我才意识到是单簧管在演奏而那些大人物朝我大喊大叫。一些人在恐吓我们，如果我们看了，而另一些人却怕我们不看。在我的右侧，我看见一个男孩很虚弱。现在，一个男人从一张桌子上抓起一个银色水壶走近他把冰水泼在他身上，让他站起来并强迫我们两个扶着他，当时他的头垂着，呻吟声从他那发紫的厚嘴唇里流出来。另一个男孩开始恳求回家。他是那个最大的小组，穿着深红色战斗裤，战斗裤太小难以隐蔽里面的勃起，给予他的这种设计好像是在回答迎合低声区呻吟的单簧管。他试图用他的拳击手套把他自己那儿掩盖起来。 And all the while the blonde continued dancing, smiling faintly at the big shots who watched her with fascination, and faintly smiling at our fear. I noticed a certain merchant who followed her hungrily, his lips loose and drooling. He was a large man who wore diamond studs in a shirtfront which swelled with the ample paunch underneath, and each time the blonde swayed her undulating hips he ran his hand through the thin hair of his bald head and, with his arms upheld, his posture clumsy like that of an intoxicated panda, wound his belly in a slow and obscene grind. This creature was completely hypnotized. 而所有的金发女郎在继续跳舞，对着那些神魂颠倒地看着她的大人物微微一笑，也对我们的敬畏微微一笑。我注意到一个肯定是商人的人，如饥似渴地跟着她，他的嘴唇耷拉着垂涎三尺。他是一个大男人，衬衣上戴着钻石飾钉，衬衣下藏着个大肚皮，每一次那个金发女郎摆动着她那起伏的臀部而他则举起手臂让手滑过他那秃头上稀疏的头发，他的姿势笨拙得像个喝醉了酒的熊猫，害得他的腹部做一种缓慢的、猥亵的摩擦状。这个人是完全地入迷了。The music had quickened. As the dancer flung herself about with a detached on her face, the men began reaching out to touch her. I could see their beefy fingers sink into her soft flesh. Some of the others tried to stop them and she began to move around the floor in graceful circles, as they gave chase, slipping and sliding over the polished floor. It was mad. Chairs went crashing, drinks were spilt, as they ran laughing and howling after her. They caught her just as she reached a door, raised her from the floor, and tossed her as college boys are tossed at a hazing, and above her red, fixed-smiling lips I saw the terror and disgust in her eyes, almost like my own terror and that which I saw in some of the other boys. As I watched, they tossed her twice and her soft breasts seemed to flatten against the air and her legs flung wildly as she spun. Some of the more sober ones helped her to escape. And I started off the floor, heading for the anteroom with the rest of the boys.乐曲的节奏加快了。 Some were still crying and in hysteria. But as we tried to leave we were stopped and ordered to get into the ring. There was nothing to do but what we were told. All ten of us climbed under the ropes and allowed ourselves to be blindfolded with broad bands of white cloth. One of the men seemed to feel a bit sympathetic and tried to cheer us up as we stood with our backs against the ropes. Some of us tried to grin. "See that boy over there?" one of the men said. "I want you to run across at the bell and give it to him right in the belly. If you don't get him, I'm going to get you. I don't like his looks." Each of us was told the same. The blindfolds were put on. Yet even then I had been going over my speech. In my mind each word was as bright as a flame. I felt the cloth pressed into place, and frowned so that it would be loosened when I relaxed. 有些人仍然哭在叫喊而且叫得歇斯底里。但是当我们试图离开的时候却让我们停下来，要求进入圆圈。没什么事情可做，只是我们被告知的事请。我们十个人爬在绳索下，让自己用宽幅白布蒙住眼睛。有人似乎觉得有点同情心，试图让我们高兴起来，当时我们站着，背靠着绳索。我们中的一些人想笑。“看见那边的那个男孩了吗？”一个男人说。“我要你铃声一响就跑过去给他的肚子上狠狠地揍。如果你不揍他，我就要揍你。我不喜欢他那样子。”我们每个人都听说了同样的话。戴上了眼罩。虽然那时我已经将要演讲了。我脑海中的每个词如火焰一样明亮。我觉得蒙布压进了那个地方，皱了下眉头，就当我放松自己，当时我感觉真的就放松了。 But now I felt a sudden fit of blind terror. I was unused to darkness, it was as though I had suddenly found myself in a dark room filled with poisonous cottonmouths. I could hear the bleary voices yelling insistently for the battle royal to begin. "Get going in there!" "Let me at that big nigger!" 但是现在由于眼睛看不见了，我突然感到一阵恐惧。我不习惯于黑暗，那就好像我突然发现自己在一个黑暗的到处都是水栖蝮毒蛇的房间里。我能听到朦胧的声音在叫喊只因为混战开始了。 “快去那里！” “让我揍那个大黑鬼！” I strained to pick up the school superintendent's voice, as though to squeeze some security out of that slightly more familiar sound. "Let me at those black sonsabitches!" someone yelled. "No, Jackson, no!" another voice yelled. "Here, somebody, help me hold Jack." "I want to get at that ginger-colored nigger. Tear him limb from limb," the first voice yelled. 我紧张地模仿学校管理者的声音，仿佛从那略微更熟悉的声音里挤出来一些安全感。 “让我对付那些狗娘养的黑鬼！”有人喊。 “不，杰克逊，别！”另一个声音喊道。”这里，有人，帮我对付一下杰克。” “我想对付那个姜黄色的黑鬼。要撕碎他的四肢，”第一个声音喊道。 I stood against the ropes trembling. For in those days I was what they called ginger-colored, and he sounded as though he might crunch me between his teeth like a crisp ginger cookie. 我靠在绳索上颤抖。在那些日子里，我被他们所称为姜黄色的，而他那话听起来好像他可能张口嚼碎我就像嚼酥脆的姜汁饼干。 Quite a struggle was going on. Chairs were being kicked about and I could hear voices grunting as with terrific effort. I wanted to see, to see more desperately than ever before. But the blindfold was as tight as a thick skin, puckering scab and when I raised my gloved hands to push the layers of white aside a voice yelled, �Oh, no you don't, black bastard! Leave that alone!" 相当厉害的一常战斗正在进行。椅子被踢得到处都是，我能听到咕哝的声音犹如了不起的努力。我想去看，看到比以往更拼命。但蒙布紧得如同一层厚皮，折叠成厚厚一层，当我举起戴着手套的双手，把白色的布层推开时旁边的声音喊道，“哦，你不能，黑混蛋！别动那个！” "Ring the bell before Jackson kills him a coon!" someone boomed in the sudden silence. And I heard the bell clang and the sound of the feet scuffling forward. “铃响以前杰克逊杀死他这个浣熊！”在突然的寂静中有人说。我听到了铃当啷的响声和脚步向前的声音。 A glove smacked against my head. I pivoted, striking out stiffly as someone went past, and felt the jar ripple along the length of my arm to my shoulder. Then it seemed as though all nine of the boys had turned upon me at once. Blows pounded me from all sides while I struck out as best I could. So many blows landed upon me that I wondered if I were not the only blindfolded fighter in the ring, or if the man called Jackson hadn't succeeded in getting me after all. 手套打在我的头上。我回身，当有人走了过去时我击出了刚性的一击，觉得一种剧烈的震动波沿着我的长臂到达我的肩上。然后，仿佛所有的九的男孩都立刻转向我。从四面八方捶击我，而我也尽我所能。这么多的打击落在我身上，我不知道我是否不是在圈子里的唯一被蒙住眼睛的战斗者，或者是否那个叫杰克逊的毕竟没有成功地击败我。 Blindfolded, I could no longer control my motions. I had no dignity. I stumbled about like a baby or a drunken man. The smoke had become thicker and with each new blow it seemed to sear and further restrict my lungs. My saliva became like hot bitter glue. A glove connected with my head, filling my mouth with warm blood. It was everywhere. I could not tell if the moisture I felt upon my body was sweat or blood. A blow landed hard against the nape of my neck. I felt myself going over, my head hitting the floor. Streaks of blue light filled the black world behind the blindfold. 蒙着眼睛，我无法控制我的动作。我没有了尊严。我跌跌撞撞的像个婴儿或醉酒的人。烟雾变得越来越厚，随着每一个新的打击，那似乎要烧灼我，进一步让我喘不出气来。我的唾液变得如又热又苦的胶水。一只手套按在我的头上，我的嘴里满是热呼呼的血液。血液无处不在。我不知道是否我感觉到我身体被汗水和血液侵湿了。一击重重地落在我脖子的后颈上。我感觉自己已经昏过去了，我的头撞到了地板。蓝色的光充满了蒙面人后面的黑暗的世界。I lay prone, pretending that I was knocked out, but felt myself seized by hands and yanked to my feet. "Get going, black boy! Mix it up!" My arms were like lead, my head smarting from blows. I managed to feel my way to the ropes and held on, trying to catch my breath. A glove landed in my midsection and I went over again, feeling as though the smoke had be- come a knife jabbed into my guts. Pushed this way and that by the legs milling around me, I finally pulled erect and discovered that I could see the black, sweat- washed forms weaving in the smoky, blue atmosphere like drunken dancers weaving to the rapid drum-like thuds of blows.我俯卧着，假装我被淘汰出局，但感觉我自己被双手拽住了，并且突然猛拉我的脚。“走，黑孩！狠恨地揍！”我的手臂像灌了铅似的，我的头灵活地回避着打击。我设法摸索着靠近绳索赖以坚持住，试图稳住自己的呼吸。一只手套落在我的腹部，我再次走了过去，感觉仿佛是烟雾成了一把尖刀刺进我的内脏。就这么推着并用双腿在我的周身鏇削，我终于直立起来并且发现我可以看到那个黑色的汗水洗过了的身体在烟雾弥漫里的迂回，蓝色的空气像喝醉酒的舞者交织起快鼓状地重击。（2.未完待续） |
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