Lesson 3 Rope《绳》by Katherine Anne Porter

Rope

by Katherine Anne Porter

On the third day after they moved to

the country he came walking back from

the village carrying a basket of

groceries and a twenty-four-yard coil of

rope. She came out to meet him,

wiping her hands on her green smock.

Her hair was tumbled, her nose was

scarlet with sunburn; he told her that

already she looked like a born country

woman. His gray flannel shirt stuck to

him, his heavy shoes were dusty. She

assured him he looked like a rural

character in a play.

他们搬到乡下的第三天，他从村上走回来，提着一篮吃的，还有一卷二十四码长的绳子。她一边在身上的绿罩衣上擦手，一边走出来接他。她的头发乱蓬蓬，鼻子给太阳晒得通红；他跟她说，

她看起来已经像个土生土长的乡下女人了。他的灰法兰绒衬衫紧紧地粘在身上，沉重的皮鞋上尽是尘土。她完全有把握地告诉他，他看上去好像戏剧中的乡巴佬角。

Had he brought the coffee? She had

been waiting all day long for coffee.

They had forgot it when they ordered at

the store the first day.

他带咖啡来了吗？她等咖啡已经等了整整一天了。他们第一天向食品铺订货的那会儿，把咖啡忘了。

Gosh, no, he hadn't. Lord, now he'd

have to go back. Yes, he would if it

killed him. He thought, though, he had

everything else. She reminded him it

was only because he didn't drink coffee

himself. If he did he would remember it

quick enough. Suppose they ran out of

cigarettes? Then she saw the rope.

What was that for? Well, he thought it

might do to hang clothes on, or

something. Naturally she asked him if

he thought they were going to run a

laundry? They already had a fifty-foot

line hanging right before his eyes? Why,

hadn't he noticed it, really? It was a blot

on the landscape to her.

啊呀，没有，他没带来。主啊，现在他只得回去了。可不是，哪怕是要他的命，他也会回去的。不过，他以为其他的东西他都办来了。她提醒这只因为他自己不喝咖啡。他要是喝咖啡的话，很快就会记起来的。假定说他们的烟卷抽完了，那会怎么样呢？接着她看到了绳。那有什么用？哦，他想，绳可以用来晾衣服，或是用在别的什么上。她顺理成章地问他，他是不是以为他们要开洗衣铺？他们不是已经明明有一条五十英尺长的绳挂在他的眼前了吗？嘿，难道他真的没看到吗？对她来说，这条绳破坏了风景。

He thought there were a lot of things

a rope might come in handy for. She

wanted to know what, for instance. He

thought a few seconds, but nothing

occurred. They could wait and see,

couldn't they? You need all sorts of

strange odds and ends around a place

in the country. She said, yes, that was

so; but she thought just at that time

when every penny counted, it seemed

funny to buy more rope. That was all.

She hadn't meant anything else. She

hadn't just seen, not at first, why he felt

it was necessary.

他以为绳儿可以用来派很多用处。她想要知道，绳有什么用，举个例子吧。他想了一会儿，一个用场也想不出。他们能等着瞧嘛，对不对？你把家安在乡下，需要各种各样稀奇古怪、零零碎碎的东西。她说，是啊，这话不错；可是眼下每个子儿都得掂掇着花，又去买绳

儿似乎有点怪。就是这么一回事。她的话并没有别的意思。她只是想不出，一开头就想不出，干吗他觉得需要这么办。

Well, thunder, he had bought it

because he wanted to, and that was all

there was to it. She thought that was

reason enough, and couldn't

understand why he hadn't said so, at

first. Undoubtedly it would be useful,

twenty-four yards of rope, there were

hundreds of things, she couldn't think

of any at the moment, but it would

come in. Of course. As he had said,

things always did in the country.

得了，少噜苏，他买绳儿，就因为他要买，事情就是这样，没有别的理由。她认为这倒算得上是个理由，可弄不懂他一开头干吗不这么说。不用说，绳总是有用的，二十四码绳嘛，能派几百种用处哪，眼下她一种也想不出，可是将来会用上的。当然喽。他刚才说过，乡下老是有这样那样的事情发生。

But she was a little disappointed

about the coffee, and oh, look, look,

look at the eggs! Oh, my, they're all

running! What had he put on top of

them? Hadn't he known eggs mustn't

be squeezed? Squeezed, who had

squeezed them, he wanted to know.

What a silly thing to say. He had simply

brought them along in the basket with

the other things. If they got broke it was

the grocer's fault. He should know

better than to put heavy things on top

of eggs.

不过，她对喝不上咖啡有一点儿失望，啊呀，瞧，瞧，瞧那些鸡蛋！啊呀，天啊，蛋都碎啦！他把什么摆在鸡蛋上面来着？难道他不知道鸡蛋是压不得的吗？压，谁压它们来着，他倒想要知道。说这种话的人真蠢。他只是把鸡蛋跟别的东西一起放在篮子里提回来。蛋要是压碎了的话，那是食品商的过错。他应该懂得不要把重东西压在鸡蛋上面。

She believed it was the rope. That

was the heaviest thing in the pack, she

saw him plainly when he came in from

the road, the rope was a big package

on top of everything. He desired the

whole wide world to witness that this

was not a fact. He had carried the rope

in one hand and the basket in the other,

and what was the use of her having

eyes if that was the best they could do

for her?

她认为是绳。绳是提篮里最重的东西；他从大路上走过来的那会儿，她清楚地看到他，那一大卷绳压在一切东西的顶上。他巴不得全世界的人都来作见证，证明这不是事实。他是一只手拿绳，另一只手提篮的；要是她的眼睛对她最好的效劳只能是这样的话，那她长着眼睛有什么用呢？

Well, anyhow, she could see one

thing plain: no eggs for breakfast.

They'd have to scramble them now, for

supper. It was too damned bad. She

had planned to have steak for supper.

No ice, meat wouldn't keep. He wanted

to know why she couldn't finish

breaking the eggs in a bowl and set

them in a cool place.

得了，不管怎么样，有一件事情她知道得挺清楚：早饭没有鸡蛋吃了。他们现在就得把蛋炒好，当晚饭吃。糟透了。她原来晚饭打算吃牛排。没有冰，肉摆不久、他倒想要知道她干吗不能把蛋一股脑儿打在一个碗里，放在阴凉的地方。

Cool place! if he could find one for

her, she'd be glad to set them there.

Well, then, it seemed to him they might

very well cook the meat at the same

time they cooked the eggs and then

warm up the meat for tomorrow. The

idea simply choked her. Warmed-over

meat, when they might as well have

had it fresh. Second best and scraps

and makeshifts, even to the meat! He

rubbed her shoulder a little. It doesn't

really matter so much, does it, darling?

Sometimes when they were playful, he

would rub her shoulder and she would

arch and purr. This time she hissed

and almost clawed. He was getting

ready to say that they could surely

manage somehow when she turned on

him and said, if he told her they could

manage somehow she would certainly

slap his face.

阴凉的地方！他要是能给她到一个阴凉的地方的话，她哪会不高兴把蛋放在那儿。唉，那么，在他看来，他们满可以既烤牛肉又煮鸡蛋嘛，然后明天热上一热再吃。这主意简直要她的命。他们完全可以吃新鲜的，可偏偏要把肉热上一热。不做最好的打算，鸡零狗碎的，凑合应付，哪怕煮块肉也是这样！他轻轻地蹭蹭她的肩膀。这实在算不上什么大事情，对不对，亲爱的？有时候，他们开玩笑，他会蹭蹭她的肩膀；她呢，

会弓起身子，像猫似的高兴得喵呜喵呜叫。这一回，她却咬牙切齿地发出嘘嘘的声音，差一点没用手抓。他正准备说，他们当然能够想办法对付过去喽；这时候，她恶狠狠地冲着他说，他要是告诉她，他们能够想办法对付过去的话，她肯定掴他耳刮子。

He swallowed the words red hot, his

face burned. He picked up the rope

and started to put it on the top shelf.

She would not have it on the top shelf,

the jars and tins belonged there;

positively she would not have the top

shelf cluttered up with a lot of rope.

She had borne all the clutter she meant

to bear in the flat in town, there was

space here at least and she meant to

keep things in order.

他把这些火一样的话硬吞下去，脸臊得通红。他提起绳，把它往架子的顶层上放去。她不许把绳摆在顶层上，那上面得摆坛坛罐罐和铁皮听；她说什么也

不会让架子的顶层乱糟糟地塞上许多绳、她在城里的那套公寓房间里只得忍受到处乱塞东西，那她是有思想准备的嘛，这儿至少有的是地方，她打算把东西摆的整整齐齐。

Well, in that case, he wanted to know

what the hammer and nails were doing

up there? And why had she put them

there when she knew very well he

needed that hammer and those nails

upstairs to fix the window sashes? She

simply slowed down everything and

made double work on the place with

her insane habit of changing things

around and hiding them.

好吧，既然这样，他倒想知道铁锤和钉子干什么摆在那上面？既然她知道地挺清楚，他要用铁锤和那些钉子修楼上的窗框，那她干嘛要把它们摆在那儿呢？只因为她有把东西挪来挪去和藏起来的怪毛病，她才把样样事情都拖慢了，叫人在一件事情上费两番手脚。

She was sure she begged his pardon,

and if she had had any reason to

believe he was going to fix the sashes

this summer she would have left the

hammer and nails right where he put

them; in the middle of the bedroom

floor where they could step on them in

the dark. And now if he didn't clear the

whole mess out of there she would

throw them down the well.

她真心诚意地请他耐着性子听听她的想法，要是她有任何理由相信今年夏天他会修窗框的话，她原会让铁锤和钉子留在他摆的老地方的；卧房的地板中央，天一黑，他们就可能踩在那上面。现在，要是他不把所有的乱七八糟的东西都从那儿搬掉的话，她就会把它们撂到井里去。

Oh, all right, all right -- could he put

them in the closet? Naturally not, there

were brooms and mops and dustpans

in the closet, and why couldn't he find a

place for his rope outside her kitchen?

Had he stopped to consider there were

seven God-forsaken rooms in the

house, and only one kitchen?

啊，好吧，好吧——他能把那些东西放到壁橱里去吗？当然不行，壁橱里摆着扫帚、拖把和畚箕，再说他干吗不能在她的厨房外给他的绳个地方呢？难道他竟然想不到这所房子里有七间倒霉的房间，可只有一间厨房吗？

He wanted to know what of it? And

did she realize she was making a

complete fool of herself? And what did

she take him for, a three-year-old idiot?

The whole trouble with her was she

needed something weaker than she

was to heckle and tyrannize over. He

wished to God now they had a couple

of children she could take it out on.

Maybe he'd get some rest.

他想要知道，她到底怎么啦？她认识到自己在扮演一个彻头彻尾的大傻瓜

吗？再说，她把他当成什么，一个三岁的白痴吗？跟她在一起生活，麻烦就麻烦在她需要一个比她软弱的男人，能听凭她数落和作威作福。老天在上，他真希望他们有两个孩子，她可以拿他们出气。他也许能耳根清净些。

Her face changed at this, she

reminded him he had forgot the coffee

and had bought a worthless piece of

rope. And when she thought of all the

things they actually needed to make

the place even decently fit to live in,

well, she could cry, that was all. She

looked so forlorn, so lost and

despairing he couldn't believe it was

only a piece of rope that was causing

all the racket. What was the matter, for

God's sake?

一听到这话，她的脸顿时变；她提醒他，是他忘了买咖啡，还带回来一条毫无用处的绳。只要一想到，为了要像

样地住在这地方，他们确实需要那么许多东西，唉，她就恨不得哭，就是怎么回事。她看上去可怜巴巴、这么失魂落魄、这么绝望，他简直没法相信，只因为一条绳竟然引起这场争吵。看在老天份上，到底是怎么回事？

Oh, would he please hush and go

away, and stay away, if he could, for

five minutes? By all means, yes, he

would. He'd stay away indefinitely if

she wished. Lord, yes, there was

nothing he'd like better than to clear out

and never come back. She couldn't for

the life of her see what was holding him,

then. It was a swell time. Here she was,

stuck, miles from a railroad, with a

half-empty house on her hands, and

not a penny in her pocket, and

everything on earth to do; it seemed

the God-sent moment for him to get out

from under. She was surprised he

hadn't stayed in town as it was until she

had come out and done the work and

got things straightened out. It was his

usual trick.

啊，请你闭上嘴，走开，要是他办得到的话，离开五分钟，好不？当然行，完全可以，他一定照办。只有她愿意，他就离开，要多久就多久。主啊，可不是，他没有比离家出走、永不回来更喜欢的事情了。她这辈子也闹不清是什么拴着他。这是个大好机会。她在这儿，离开铁路几英里，有一所半空着的房子要拾掇，兜里一个子儿也没有，事情多得干不完；对他来说，这是个天赐良机，正好开溜嘛。事实上他没有一直待在城里，等到她出来干活，把事情都拾掇好，他就赶来，这倒叫她感到惊奇。他老是耍这样的花招。

It appeared to him that this was going

a little far. Just a touch out of bounds, if

she didn't mind his saying so. Why the

hell had he stayed in town the summer

before? To do a half-dozen extra jobs

to get the money he had sent her. That

was it. She knew perfectly well they

couldn't have done it otherwise. She

had agreed with him at the time. And

that was the only time so help him he

had ever left her to do anything by

herself.

Oh, he could tell that to his

great-grandmother. She had her notion

of what had kept him in town.

Considerably more than a notion, if he

wanted to know. So, she was going to

bring all that up again, was she? Well,

she could just think what she pleased.

He was tired of explaining. It may have

looked funny but he had simply got

hooked in, and what could he do? It

was impossible to believe that she was

going to take it seriously. Yes, yes, she

knew how it was with a man: if he was

left by himself a minute, some woman

was certain to kidnap him. And

naturally he couldn't hurt her feelings

by refusing!

Well, what was she raving about?

Did she forget she had told him those

two weeks alone in the country were

the happiest she had known for four

years? And how long had they been

married when she said that? All right,

shut up! If she thought that hadn't stuck

in his craw.

She hadn't meant she was happy

because she was away from him. She

meant she was happy getting the

devilish house nice and ready for him.

That was what she had meant, and

now look! Bringing up something she

had said a year ago simply to justify

himself for forgetting her coffee and

breaking the eggs and buying a

wretched piece of rope they couldn't

afford. She really thought it was time to

drop the subject, and now she wanted

only two things in the world. She

wanted him to get that rope from

underfoot, and go back to the village

and get her coffee, and if he could

remember it, he might bring a metal

mitt for the skillets, and two more

curtain rods, and if there were any

rubber gloves in the village, her hands

were simply raw, and a bottle of milk of

magnesia from the drugstore.

He looked out at the dark blue

afternoon sweltering on the slopes, and

mopped his forehead and sighed

heavily and said, if only she could wait

a minute for anything, he was going

back. He had said so, hadn't he, the

very instant they found he had

overlooked it?

Oh, yes, well . . . run along. She was

going to wash windows. The country

was so beautiful! She doubted they'd

have a moment to enjoy it. He meant to

go, but he could not until he had said

that if she wasn't such a hopeless

melancholiac she might see that this

was only for a few days. Couldn't she

remember anything pleasant about the

other summers? Hadn't they ever had

any fun? She hadn't time to talk about it,

and now would he please not leave

that rope lying around for her to trip on?

He picked it up, somehow it had

toppled off the table, and walked out

with it under his arm.

Was he going this minute? He

certainly was. She thought so.

Sometimes it seemed to her he had

second sight about the precisely

perfect moment to leave her ditched.

She had meant to put the mattresses

out to sun, if they put them out this

minute they would get at least three

hours, he must have heard her say that

morning she meant to put them out. So

of course he would walk off and leave

her to it. She supposed he thought the

exercise would do her good.

Well, he was merely going to get her

coffee. A four-mile walk for two pounds

of coffee was ridiculous, but he was

perfectly willing to do it. The habit was

making a wreck of her, but if she

wanted to wreck herself there was

nothing he could do about it. If he

thought it was coffee that was making a

wreck of her, she congratulated him: he

must have a damned easy conscience.

Conscience or no conscience, he

didn't see why the mattresses couldn't

very well wait until tomorrow. And

anyhow, for God's sake, were they

living in the house, or were they going

to let the house ride them to death?

She paled at this, her face grew livid

about the mouth, she looked quite

dangerous, and reminded him that

housekeeping was no more her work

than it was his: she had other work to

do as well, and when did he think she

was going to find time to do it at this

rate?

Was she going to start on that again?

She knew as well as he did that his

work brought in the regular money,

hers was only occasional, if they

depended on what she made -- and

she might as well get straight on this

question once for all!

That was positively not the point. The

question was, when both of them were

working on their own time, was there

going to be a division of the housework,

or wasn't there? She merely wanted to

know, she had to make her plans. Why,

he thought that was all arranged. It was

understood that he was to help. Hadn't

he always, in summers?

Hadn't he, though? Oh, just hadn't he?

And when, and where, and doing what?

Lord, what an uproarious joke!

It was such a very uproarious joke

that her face turned slightly purple, and

she screamed with laughter. She

laughed so hard she had to sit down,

and finally a rush of tears spurted from

her eyes and poured down into the

lifted corners of her mouth. He dashed

towards her and dragged her up to her

feet and tried to pour water on her

head. The dipper hung by a string on a

nail and he broke it loose. Then he

tried to pump water with one hand

while she struggled in the other. So he

gave it up and shook her instead.

She wrenched away, crying out for

him to take his rope and go to hell, she

had simply given him up: and ran. He

heard her high-heeled bedroom

slippers clattering and stumbling on the

stairs.

He went out around the house and

into the lane; he suddenly realized he

had a blister on his heel and his shirt

felt as if it were on fire. Things broke so

suddenly you didn't know where you

were. She could work herself into a

fury about simply nothing. She was

terrible, damn it: not an ounce of

reason. You might as well talk to a

sieve as that woman when she got

going. Damned if he'd spend his life

humoring her! Well, what to do now?

He would take back the rope and

exchange it for something else. Things

accumulated, things were mountainous,

you couldn't move them or sort them

out or get rid of them. They just lay and

rotted around. He'd take it back. Hell,

why should he? He wanted it. What

was it anyhow? A piece of rope.

Imagine anybody caring more about a

piece of rope than about a man's

feelings. What earthly right had she to

say a word about it? He remembered

all the useless, meaningless things she

bought for herself: Why? because I

wanted it, that's why! He stopped and

selected a large stone by the road. He

would put the rope behind it. He would

put it in the tool-box when he got back.

He'd heard enough about it to last him

a life-time.

When he came back she was leaning

against the post box beside the road

waiting. It was pretty late, the smell of

broiled steak floated nose high in the

cooling air. Her face was young and

smooth and fresh-looking. Her

unmanageable funny black hair was all

on end. She waved to him from a

distance, and he speeded up. She

called out that supper was ready and

waiting, was he starved?

You bet he was starved. Here was

the coffee. He waved it at her. She

looked at his other hand. What was

that he had there?

Well, it was the rope again. He

stopped short. He had meant to

exchange it but forgot. She wanted to

know why he should exchange it, if it

was something he really wanted.

Wasn't the air sweet now, and wasn't it

fine to be here?

She walked beside him with one

hand hooked into his leather belt. She

pulled and jostled him a little as he

walked, and leaned against him. He

put his arm clear around her and patted

her stomach. They exchanged wary

smiles. Coffee, coffee for the

Ootsum-Wootsums! He felt as if he

were bringing her a beautiful present.

He was a love, she firmly believed,

and if she had had her coffee in the

morning, she wouldn't have behaved

so funny . . . There was a whippoorwill

still coming back, imagine, clear out of

season, sitting in the crab-apple tree

calling all by himself. Maybe his girl

stood him up. Maybe she did. She

hoped to hear him once more, she

loved whippoorwills . . . He knew how

she was, didn't he?

Sure, he knew how she was.