《芳華》的作者嚴(yán)歌苓還有一本英文小說（雙語版）

由馮小剛執(zhí)導(dǎo)的 電影《芳華》，上映八天票房已經(jīng)超過6億，《芳華》不僅登頂賀歲檔當(dāng)日票房冠軍，成為同期上座率最高的電影，并收獲了不少口碑。

“Only someone who had never been treated well，can recognize and treasure kindness.

一個始終不被善待的人，最能識別善良也最能珍惜善良。”

隨著電影《芳華》的熱映，讓人們在熱評名導(dǎo)馮小剛的同時，也將關(guān)注目光集中到另一個人身上，她就是小說《芳華》的作者，著名作家嚴(yán)歌苓。

嚴(yán)歌苓還有一本英文創(chuàng)作的小說，叫《赴宴者》，講述了又一個小人物的故事，輕松筆調(diào)不失荒誕??

The Banquet Bug

《赴宴者》

精彩節(jié)選 一起感受

A couple of days later, Dan saw an employment ad in a newspaper. It said that a five-star hotel needed security guards, and that candidates must be taller than 1.8 meters. As a tall, strong, good-looking man, Dan figured he had a chance. He went to the hotel in his best outfit, a polyester sports jacket atop khaki slacks, with a pair of black leather shoes to match a fake Dunhill bag he borrowed from a neighbor.

過了兩天，董丹在報上看到一則招工廣告。一家五星級酒店征聘警衛(wèi)，要求應(yīng)聘者身高一米八以上，身強體健，五官端正。董丹穿上了他最體面的行頭：一件化纖合成料的西裝外套，一條卡其褲，腳上的黑皮鞋，配上跟一個鄰居借的“Playboy”手提包。

As he wandered into the lobby, a woman approached him asking if he was here for the meeting. He nodded yes, and she said the meeting had already started. She ran him up the escalator, through an indoor balcony, and out to a ballroom with tables laid for a banquet.

他剛晃進大廳，就迎上來個女人，問他是不是應(yīng)邀而來。他點點頭。她說他來晚了，會談早就開始了，說著就把他推上了電梯。下了電梯穿過中庭長廊，來到一間大宴廳，里面的宴會正要開始。

A banner hanging over the podium said "Donate Your Wealth, Plant Forests, Fight Desertification, and Take Back Our Green Fields!" The woman asked him to please sit down wherever he could find a seat, then disappeared.

前方麥克風(fēng)上方掛著條紅布幅，上頭寫著：“植樹造林，向沙摸索回綠地!”那女人讓他自己找位子坐下，一面就消失了。

He sat at a table next to the door. The banquet had already begun, and he was starved, so he swept through the dishes in front of him without knowing what they were.

他在靠門邊的一張桌子旁坐下。宴會已經(jīng)開始，他正好餓急了，就把面前盤子里的東西全掃進肚里，也不知道都吃了些什么。

A man sitting next to him introduced himself as a reporter from the Beijing Evening News and asked which press outlet Dan belonged to. Wishing to be left alone to enjoy the free lunch, Dan answered he was from the Beijing Morning News. The guy said he'd never heard of it, and Dan replied that it was newly established. A Web site? Yes, yes, a Web site.

他鄰座的一個男人向他自我介紹，他是的《北京晚報》記者，又問董丹是哪個單位的。董丹只希望誰也別理他，讓他好好地白吃一頓，隨口回答他是《北京早報》的。那人說他沒聽過，董丹說是家新媒體。網(wǎng)絡(luò)媒體嗎?沒錯，是網(wǎng)絡(luò)媒體。

After Dan was stuffed and was thinking about slipping out, the reporter asked if Dan would go with him to pick up their fee. What fee? Oh, just the two hundred yuan for their attendance, what they call "money for your troubles": submit your business card and the host will pay you two hundred yuan for the article you might write about the meeting.

董丹吃飽喝足了，正打算找機會開溜，那記者問他要不要一塊兒去領(lǐng)錢。什么錢?就那兩百塊車馬費呀，他們的“意思意思”勞駕大伙兒跑一趟，給這個會議宣傳宣傳，造造聲勢什么的。把你的名片交給他們，他們就給兩百塊，指望你回去寫篇報導(dǎo)唄。

Dan silently gulped the air: two hundred! That's several times a reserve worker's monthly salary, plus a meal fit for a king. And all it takes is a business card!

董丹干咽了幾下口水：兩百塊!等于他們下崗工人半個月的月薪，還吃得跟皇上似的——不過就是一張名片的事!

Leaving the banquet, Dan went directly to a print shop. He picked out an expensive-looking design and had a bunch of cards made. The card said he was a reporter from some Internet news site. He had made some inquiries at the banquet and found out that many Web-based media outlets were going in and out of business every day.

一出門董丹就直奔一個印刷鋪子。他挑了最華貴的式樣，印了一大沓上頭有某網(wǎng)絡(luò)傳媒字樣的名片。在酒席上他早打聽清楚了，網(wǎng)絡(luò)傳媒這東西，反正每天有無數(shù)家開張、又有無數(shù)家倒閉。

Up to this morning in early May 2000, when he is taking a shower for the noon banquet that will mark a turning point in his life, Dan has made a nice living eating banquets.

直到2000年5月的這個將要在他生命中出現(xiàn)轉(zhuǎn)折的早晨，吃宴會成了他的正經(jīng)營生，日子過得挺滋潤。他站在淋浴的水流里，為今天的午宴做準(zhǔn)備。

Rubbing himself down with a rough washcloth, Dan asks Little Plum if she believes that he has tasted all the dishes of all of China's cuisines. Yes, she believes he has. He feels a bit unsatisfied. Every time he tries to impress her, she is too easily impressed.

他一面用塊粗糙的毛巾搓背，一面問小梅，信不信他已經(jīng)把全中國的美食都嘗過了。她說她信。這回答讓他不太滿足。每次他想要在她面前拽一拽，她都是這么容易就被唬住了。

If asked whether he qualifies as the banquet eating master, she would answer, of course, who else does? She gives him all the wide-eyed admiration he wants, and the lack of challenge bothers him.

如果問她，他是否夠格做個首席美食專家，她一定說：當(dāng)然，你不夠格誰夠格?她那睜著大眼睛的祟拜樣固然是討董丹歡心的，而正是缺乏挑戰(zhàn)性讓他覺得沒勁。

Looking up, he sees her face red with the effort of lifting the rubber tube. She is twenty-four, small but substantial, with a head of natural curls pulled back into a ponytail, exposing her smooth, still adolescent face.

他抬起頭，看見小梅雙手高高舉著水管，臉都累紅了。她今年二十四，又小又飽滿的身段，自來卷的頭發(fā)往腦后一系，露出一張小姑娘似的圓潤臉蛋。

"But you are wrong this time," he says. "There was one dish I had never set chopsticks on until yesterday." "What is it?" Little Plum asks.

“錯了。”他說，“有個菜我就從來沒吃過。” “什么菜?”小梅問。

"I couldn't make out what it was at the first bite. Then I looked at the menu and was shocked." He looks up at his wife through the streams of water. "Can you guess what it was made of?"

“一口咬下去，吃不出來。把菜單拿來一看，可嚇著我了。”他隔著水汽朝她看一眼，“你猜那菜是什么做的?”

She shakes her head, smiling: "Can't guess." Every time she is confronted by a word riddle or a guessing game, she surrenders before tiring her poor little brain.

她馬上搖頭，笑瞇瞇地：“猜不著。”每次跟她玩猜字或謎語，她總是這樣立刻投降：她的小腦袋才不去費那個事。

"The-dish-was-made-of-a-thousand-crab-claw-tips." Dan Dong sounds out every word. "A thousand. Just imagine how they cracked all those claws and shelled them. Imagine: all that meat was once the tiny fingertips of those poor little monsters."

“那道菜是用一千個螃蟹爪尖的肉做的。”董丹一個字一個字地說，“一千個!想想看，光是破碎每個爪子，把里面的肉摳出來得費多大工夫!就是那些螃蟹的手指頭尖兒啊!”

He waits for her to ask how many crabs they had to kill for that many claw tips. But she just quietly absorbs her astonishment.

他等著她繼續(xù)追問：那得宰多少只螃蟹才湊齊這么多蟹爪!可她沒做聲，默默地消化這條驚人的信息。

"When your chopsticks pick the little fingertips, they tremble and jiggle, almost slipping off before your mouth catches them." He lets the water run through his hair, rinsing off the rich shampoo lather. "I hope next time they put the menu on the invitation. If there is ever a crab finger dish again, I will smuggle you in. Trust me, it's worth the risk."

“那蟹爪肉又嫩又滑，筷子一挑，還沒擱嘴里，就滑下去了。”他讓水朝他頭上淋，好把洗發(fā)精泡沫沖干凈：“每回他們要是在邀請函上印菜單就好了。再有‘千蟹指’這道菜，我就帶你混進去嘗嘗。為它你冒一回險，值了!”