双语·面纱 第四章

4

Kitty, coming to Hong Kong on her marriage, had found it hard to reconcile herself to the fact that her social position was determined by her husband's occupation. Of course everyone had been very kind and for two or three months they had gone out to parties almost every night; when they dined at Government House the Governor took her in as a bride; but she had understood quickly that as the wife of the Government bacteriologist she was of no particular consequence. It made her angry.

“It's too absurd,” she told her husband. “Why, there's hardly any one here that one would bother about for five minutes at home. Mother wouldn't dream of asking any of them to dine at our house.”

“You mustn't let it worry you,” he answered. “It doesn't really matter, you know.”

“Of course it doesn't matter, it only shows how stupid they are, but it is rather funny when you think of all the people who used to come to our house at home that here we should be treated like dirt.”

“From a social standpoint the man of science does not exist,” he smiled.

She knew that now, but she had not known it when she married him.

“I don't know that it exactly amuses me to be taken in to dinner by the agent of the P. and O.,” she said, laughing in order that what she said might not seem snobbish.

Perhaps he saw the reproach behind her lightness of manner, for he took her hand and shyly pressed it.

“I'm awfully sorry, Kitty dear, but don't let it vex you.”

“Oh. I'm not going to let it do that.”

第四章

凯蒂婚后和丈夫来到了香港，却发现一时很难适应这里的社交场合，因为她的社交地位是由其丈夫的职业所决定的。当然每个人都对她很好，有那么两三个月他们夫妇几乎每天晚上都要参加聚会。在政府官邸出席晚宴时，总督对待她就像对待新娘子一般。但是她自己很快就明白了，作为一名政府雇用的细菌学家的妻子，其实大家并没把她太当回事，这让她很是郁闷。

“真是太荒唐了，”她对自己的丈夫说，“唉，这儿的人几乎没有人愿意来咱们家，如果来了待上五分钟都觉得麻烦。我母亲绝对不会愿意邀请他们到我们家来吃饭的。”

“你不必为这么点儿小事烦心。”他回答道，“真的无所谓。”

“当然无所谓啦，这只能显得他们很愚蠢。过去在英国时，大家都争着来我们家吃饭，而在这儿，我们被当作垃圾，这也太滑稽了。”

“从社交的立场上看，科学家就是微不足道的。”他笑着回答道。

她现在知道了这点，可当初嫁给他时，她还没明白这个道理。

“我还不知道自己是被半岛东方邮轮公司的代理人带着去出席晚宴的，这确实让我感到好笑。”为了让她的话听上去不那么势利，她笑着说道。

也许他听出了她故意显得轻松的话语中责备的含义，他拉起她的一只手，不好意思地放在自己的掌心里。

“我真的很抱歉，亲爱的凯蒂，别郁闷了，好吗？”

“噢，我不会再胡思乱想了。”