2、A Psychical Prank 前四段翻译 ...
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A Psychical Prank
by John Bangs
Willis had met Miss Hollister but once, and that, for a certain purpose, was sufficient. He was s.mitten. She represented in every way his ideal, although until he had met her his ideal had been something radically different. She was not at all Junoesque, and the maiden of his dreams had been decidedly so. She had auburn hair, which hitherto Willis had detested. Indeed, if the same hirsute wealth had adorned some other woman's head, Willis would ha.ve called it red. This shows how completely he was s.mitten. She changed his point of view entirely. She shattered his old ideal and set herself up in its stead, and she did most of it with a s.mile.
威利斯遇到霍利斯特小姐，为了某个目的，但那已经足够了。他被迷住了。她代表着他所有的的理想，虽然他遇见她之前，他的理想型都是一些完全不同的东西。她一点也不高贵，他曾经的梦中情人正是如此。她有一头willls一直厌恶的褐色的头发。事实上，如果同样厚密的头发装点别的女人的脑袋，威利斯就会把它叫做红色。这显示他完全动心了。她完全改变了他的观点。她摧毁了他旧的理想型，亲自取而代之，并且她为此所做得最多的只是微笑。
There was something, however, about Miss Hollister's eyes that contributed to the s.miting of Willis's heart. They were great round lustrous orbs, and deep. So deep were they and so penetrating that Willis's affections were away beyond their own depth the moment Miss Hollister's eyes looked into his, and at the same time he had a dim and slightly uncomfortable notion that she could read every thought his mind held within its folds--or rather, that she could see how utterly devoid of thought that mind was upon this ecstatic occasion, for Willis's brain was set all agog by the sensations of the moment.
然而，关于霍利斯特小姐眼睛的某些促成了威利斯心中的迷恋。他们是圆形的，有光泽的，以及深邃的球体。他们是如此深邃，当霍利斯特小姐注视他的时候，威利斯的喜爱之深沉超过了他们的深度。同时，他有一个轻微的不舒服的想法，她能读懂他心中的每一个想法－或者说她可以看见，由于威利斯的大脑在此刻充满激动的感觉，他内心狂喜，脑中空无一物。
"By Jove!" he said to himself afterwards--for Willis, wise man that he could be on occasions, was his own confidant, to the exclusion of all others--"by Jove! I believe she can peer into my very soul; and if she can, my hopes are blasted, for she must be able to see that a soul like mine is no more worthy to become the affinity of one like hers than a mountain rill can hope to rival the Amazon."
Nevertheless, Willis did hope.
“天哪！ 他后来对自己说 - 威利斯，有时能够是个智者，是他自己的知己，仅有的/被所有人排斥的—— “天哪！我相信她可以窥探我的灵魂;如果她能，我的希望就完全破灭了，因为她必定明白，像我这样的灵魂，是比一条希望与亚马逊媲美的山上的小溪，更加不配成为她那样的人的伴侣的。
尽管如此，威利斯还是抱着希望。
"Something may turn up, and perhaps--perhaps I can devise some scheme by means of which my imperfections can be hidden from her. Maybe I can put stained glass over the windows of my soul, and keep her from looking through them at my shortcomings. Smoked glasses, perhaps--and why not? If s.moked glasses can be used by mortals gazing at the sun, why may they not be used by me when gazing into those scarcely less glorious orbs of hers?"
“可能会出现一些状况，也许——也许我能设计出一些能够使我的瑕疵向她隐藏起来的方案。也许我能把彩色玻璃罩在我灵魂的窗户上，令她不再通过它们看见我的缺点。墨镜，也许吧——为什么不呢？如果墨镜能够被凡人用来凝视太阳，那么墨镜为什么不能被我用来凝视和那个光球几乎一样辉煌的她呢？
作者有话说
第2章 A Psychical Prank
