"They turned out real nice," I say."But not like the cakes Addie used to bake." You can see that girl's washing and ironing in the pillow-slip,if ironed it ever was. Maybe it will reveal her blindness to her,laying there at the mercy and the ministration of four men❶ and a tom-boy girl❷.
“蛋糕烤得不错。”我说。
“可是不如艾琳烤得好。”你从那只枕头套可窥一二，那姑娘的洗熨本事究竟怎样。也许，这正好反映她对闺女盲目信任。毕竟她只能躺在那，听任四个男子和一个野姑娘来摆布。
"There's not a woman in this section could ever bake with Addie Bundren," I say."First thing we know she'll be up and baking again, and then we wont have any sale for ours at all❸."
“街坊邻居，没有一个女人烤食物能比得过艾琳，”我说，“只要她能起床再做蛋糕，我们能吃得一个都不剩。”
Under the quilt❹ she makes no more of a hump than a rail would,and the only way you can tell she is breathing is by the sound of the mattress shucks❺. Even the hair,at her cheek does not move,even with that girl standing right over her,fanning her with the fan. While we watch she swaps the fan to the other hand without stopping it.
她躺在床上，裹着被子，整个人骨瘦如柴，要不是听到床垫声，我们都不知道她是否还活着。她额旁头发纹丝不动，闺女站在身旁，用蒲扇给其扇风。我们看过去，那姑娘把蒲扇换了一只手，一直摇晃停下。
"Is she sleeping?" Kate whispers.
"She's just watching Cash yonder," the girl says. We can hear the saw in the board. It sounds like snoring. Eula turns on the trunk❻ and looks out the window. Her necklace looks real nice with her red hat. You wouldn't think it only cost twenty-five cents.
"She ought to taken those cakes," Kate says.
“她睡着了吗?”柯特悄声问道。
“她在看窗外的卡什。”姑娘说。我们能听见锯木板的声音。听起来像是有人打鼾。尤拉转过身子，望着窗外。配上那顶红帽子，她的项链非常漂亮。实际上，项链只值两毛五分钱。
“她应该把那蛋糕买下来，”柯特说。
I could have used the money real well. But it's not like they cost me anything except the baking. I can tell him that anybody is likely to make a miscue❼,but it's not all of them that can get out of it without loss,I can tell him. It's not everybody can eat their mistakes,I can tell him❽.
这笔钱本有大用。不过，除了烘烤，蛋糕实在不费多少钱。我可以跟他说，人无完人，金无足赤；出现失误，难免受损。我也可以对他说，出了纰漏，还能吃到肚子里。
Someone comes through the hall. It is Darl. He does not look in as he passes the door. Eula watches him as he goes on and passes from sight again toward the back. Her hand rises and touches her beads lightly,and then her hair. When she finds me watching her,her eyes go blank.
代尔穿过大厅走进来。他经过房门时，并没有朝里看。尤拉看着他走到后面去，从视野消失。她举起手，先是轻轻摸珠子，然后，又摸了摸自己的头发。当她发现我看她时，眼睛变得空洞起来。
By William Faulkner
威廉福克纳著
黄思明译
按：
❶the ministration of four men，如果我们通读小说就知道，这里的“四个男人”应该是指她三个儿子和丈夫安斯，所以我翻译时候就没有译成“男人”，而用了“男子”。ministration是“服务；帮助；救济”的意思，但此处为了显示老妇人的无助，我们不防翻译成“摆布”。
❷a tom-boy girl，本意是男人婆似的女孩，这里当然指老人那个闺女。tom-boy英语里面可以理解为“假小子，顽皮的女孩”等等，英文字典解释为a girl who behaves in a boyish manner，一个女孩行为中有些男孩子的举止，这就很明显了。突然想起一首粤语歌《野孩子》，演唱杨千嬅，倘若翻译成英语，不妨译tom-boy girl，推荐这首歌给大家，非常有趣的歌词，音律也很悦耳动听。
❸we wont have any sale for ours at all，倘若直译就是“所有蛋糕，我们都不用卖掉”，结合上下文意思，很显然蛋糕都被吃光了，那就译成“我们能吃得一个不剩。”
❹Under the quilt，quilt是“被子;加衬芯床罩”意思，直译就是“被子底下，被窝里”，直接写被窝不是中国人的习惯，所以我委婉一点，给译成“躺在床上，裹着被子”。下面的这句makes no more of a hump than a rail would,也不太好理解，hump是指“峰，土堆，隆起物”，这是形容老人太瘦弱了，被子看上去快平坦了一样，也就是“没有多少隆起”。rail指“栏杆;铁路;轨道;扶手;铁轨;横杆”，我们常见的指铁路铁轨，但是这里用的本意“横杆”，形容老人瘦得像竹竿一样。所以这句话“no more……than……”一起理解，would不妨倒装理解，she would makes no more of a hump than a rail，所以最终我把它译成“骨瘦如柴”。
❺the mattress shucks，shucks指“坚果或牡蛎、蛤等的)壳;外皮;(植物的)荚”英文解释是The shuck of something is its outer covering, for example, the leaves around an ear of corn, or the shell of a shellfish，这里当然指床垫的外壳很坚硬，以至于被压都有声音。mattress指“床垫”。
❻Eula turns on the trunk，trunk指“树干，主体，躯干;管道, 导管”，这里当然指“躯干”，故译为“艾拉转过身子”。
❼anybody is likely to make a miscue，miscue可以“mis+cue”，前缀mis-多表示一种失去的错误的，本就是“miss”这个词的所写，例如mistake(错误),miscarriage(失败)，misspell(误拼)，misunderstand(误解)等等。任何人都会犯错，所以我用中国习语翻译为“金无足赤，人无完人”。
❽It's not everybody can eat their mistakes,I can tell him，这一句有种抽象拟人化的意味，直译就是“不是每个人能够吃掉他们的错误，我可以这样对他说。”错误怎么能够吃呢？这里当然是指把蛋糕吃了。
