Letters Live 丨英国版《见字如面》——Hermione Gingold to A. Friend
露易丝·布瑞莉 & 索菲亚·亨特 - Hermione Gingold to A. Friend
April,1950-1950
年4月
Dear Madam,
尊敬的女士，
Unless something is done at once about your disgusting exhibition in the filthy play you appear in every night,
如果你再不停止每晚那不知羞耻的表演的话，
I and several of my friends will do something very unpleasant about it.
我和一帮朋友们就要对你不客气了
What you and your co-partner Hermione Baddeley do nightly in public is aslur on English womanhood.
你和你的搭档赫敏·巴德利每晚的当众表演简直是对英国女性的侮辱，
“Fallen Angels”is disgusting as a play, but your performance in it makes it loathsome.
那个什么《堕落天使》就是一部十分恶心的戏剧，而你的表演更是令人作呕
How the powers that be could permit such an exhibition is past the understanding
怎么会允许这样的戏剧演出
of a God-fearing woman who supports the present Government—and thanks God for them.
作为一个敬畏上帝、支持政府的女性，我无法理解，谢天谢地还好有政府在
I give you fair warning to leave the play, or it will be the worse for you.
我郑重警告你：不要再继续表演了，否则会有严重后果
Our wrath will strike at you in your home, or maybe during a performance at the theatre.
把我们惹恼了，指不定你在家或者在演出时会受到攻击
A. Friend
一位朋友
Ambassadors Theatre W.C.2
大使剧院W.C.2
April 14th
四月14号
Dear Friend,
亲爱的朋友
How clever and capricious you are, cloaking yourself in anonymity,
你是多么聪明和任性啊，用匿名来掩盖你自己。
and I must confess I cannot for the life of me guess which of my many friends you can be.
而且，我必须承认，即使要我的命，我也猜不出你是我的哪个朋友。
You have sent my head spinning and my imagination whirling.
你让我头晕目眩，想象力高速运转。
Could you be found among my dear friends, intimate friends, close friends, childhood friends, pen friends, family friends, friends of a friend,
你可能是我的亲密朋友、亲近朋友、亲密的朋友、发小、笔友、家人亲友、朋友的朋友、
friends in distress, friends who are closer than a brother, friends in need, or school friends.
落难的朋友、好哥们，需要帮助的朋友还是学校的朋友？
Your letter shows quite clearly that you are not illiterate,
从你会写信看，你显然不是文盲，
and therefore we can rule out my school friends.
所以你应该不是我学校的朋友
Your masterly command of the language banishes the thought that you could be found among my friends from overseas.
你熟练的语言运用可以排除你是我国外的朋友
Your witty criticism of my performance makes me think that I might find you among my nearest and dearest “bosom friends,”
你对我表演的诙谐的批评让我觉得你可能是我的闺中蜜友。
that is, if you did not choose to address me as “Dear Madam"
如果你不称呼我为“尊敬的女士”的话，
a clever move this,
不过，你用这个称呼很聪明，
and one that reduces my last thought to mere stupidity and you to a "casual acquaintance.”
但这也让我觉得我那个想法很愚蠢，我和你应该是点头之交，但我又应该排除这点
For how many people are there in London today who realise that my “copartner”,as you wittily dub her, is none other than Hermione Baddeley,
伦敦现在还有多少人会意识到我的搭档是赫敏·巴德利，恐怕也只有你知道了，用‘合作伙伴’这个词你还真是幽默
and by the way ,she wants me to thank you for the facsimile letter you sent her,and say that she is getting on in years and feeble ,
另外她让我感谢你寄给他复印版的信，她说她最近几年身体不太好
and is not able to attend to her correspondence as she would wish ,and so she cannot answer your letter personally.
不能时常处理信件，所以不能亲自给你回信，请见谅
An awful thought has dawned.
一个可怕的想法渐渐清晰起来
it is all a joke
这完全是一个笑话
and you aren’t really my friend at all.
你根本就不是我的朋友。
I must try to dismiss this thought.
我必须尝试摒弃这个想法。
It depresses me..
这让我很沮丧。
To lose a friend like you in a few words, oh no
因为三言两语就失去一个像你这样的朋友。哦，不。
So, dear anonymous friend,
所以，亲爱的匿名的朋友，
if this should chance to meet your eye,
如果你有机会看到这封回信的话，
please keep your promise and come around one night—
请务必遵守诺言，晚上来看我们的演出
yes, and bring your friends, too,
还有，带上你的朋友，
for I know intuitively that your friends will be my friends.
因为直觉告诉我，你的朋友也会成为我的朋友的。
Cordially yours,
谨上
Hermione Gingold
赫米奥妮·金戈尔德
P.S. If you wish to strike at me with your wrath in my home,
附笔：如果你要来我家怒抽我，
I am always in between ten-thirty and twelve in the morning,
我一般上午十点半到十二点之间在家，
excluding Tuesday, which is a bad day, as a lot of tiresome tradespeople call for the same reason.
除了周二，周二是糟糕的一天，因为有很多烦人的推销电话
You will easily recognize my apartment,for,apart from the number 85 marked in plains figures on the door,
我家很好找的，门上有朴素的数字‘85’，
over the knocker there is a notice, “Strike twice and wait，bell out of order,”
门环上有个告示写着：“敲两次后等着，门铃坏了。”
