文/歐內(nèi)斯特·海明威 譯介/盧偉

There were many ways of walking down to the river from the top of the rue Cardinal Lemoine.The shortest one was straight down the street but it was steep and it brought you out, after you hit the flat part and crossed the busy traffic of the beginning of the Boulevard St.-Germain, onto a dull part where there was a bleak, windy stretch of river bank with the Halle aux Vins on your right.This was not like any other Paris market but was a sort of bonded warehouse where wine was stored against the payment of taxes and was as cheerless from the outside as a military depot or a prison camp.

從勒穆瓦納紅衣主教路這頭出發(fā)，步行到河邊有很多路線(xiàn)。最短的路線(xiàn)就是沿著這條街一直往下走，不過(guò)路有點(diǎn)兒陡，到平地后穿過(guò)車(chē)水馬龍的圣日耳曼大道路口，就到了河邊。這片河岸沒(méi)什么看頭，風(fēng)勁景蕭。右手邊是“酒庫(kù)”，跟巴黎其他的市場(chǎng)不同，這是一個(gè)保稅倉(cāng)庫(kù)，存在這里的紅酒不用繳稅；從外面看上去，它就跟兵站或戰(zhàn)俘營(yíng)似的沉悶無(wú)趣。

2Across the branch of the Seine was the ?le St.-Louis with the narrow streets and the old, tall, beautiful houses, and you could go over there or you could turn left and walk along the quais with the length of the ?le St.-Louis and then Notre-Dame and ?le de la Cité opposite as you walked.

2塞納河的支流對(duì)面是圣路易島。島上街道狹窄，房屋古老高大，非常漂亮。你可以過(guò)河去島上看看，也可以直接左轉(zhuǎn)，沿著濱河路走過(guò)與圣路易島平行的這段路，對(duì)面就是巴黎圣母院和西岱島了。

3In the bookstalls along the quais you could sometimes find American books that had just been published for sale very cheap.The Tour D’Argent restaurant had a few rooms above the restaurant that they rented in those days, giving the people who lived there a discount in the restaurant, and if the people who lived there left any books behind there was a bookstall not far along the quai where the valet de chambre sold them and you could buy them from the proprietress for a very few francs.She had no confidence in books written in English, paid almost nothing for them, and sold them for a small and quick profit.

3濱河路上有些小書(shū)攤，有時(shí)會(huì)賣(mài)新出版的美國(guó)書(shū)，價(jià)格很便宜。那時(shí)候，銀塔餐廳樓上的幾個(gè)房間往外出租，房客在餐廳吃飯給打折。房客走的時(shí)候，要是有書(shū)沒(méi)帶走，侍者就會(huì)拿去賣(mài)給附近濱河路上的一個(gè)書(shū)攤。只要幾個(gè)法郎，就能從女?dāng)傊髂抢镔I(mǎi)下這些書(shū)。她吃不準(zhǔn)英語(yǔ)書(shū)能值多少錢(qián)，以幾乎白拿的價(jià)格收購(gòu)，只想早點(diǎn)出手小賺一筆。

4“Are they any good?” she asked me after we had become friends.

“Sometimes one is.”

“How can anyone tell?”

“I can tell when I read them.”

“But still it is a form of gambling.And how many people can read English?”

4“這些書(shū)好嗎？”跟女?dāng)傊魇煜ぶ?，她?wèn)我。

“偶爾能碰到一本好的?！薄霸趺粗篮貌缓媚兀俊?/p>

“我一讀就知道了?！?/p>

“那還得碰運(yùn)氣啊。再說(shuō)，有幾個(gè)人看得懂英語(yǔ)??？”

“留著這些書(shū)，等我來(lái)翻翻?！?/p>

“那可不行，我不能老留著它們。你又不常來(lái)，有時(shí)候好長(zhǎng)時(shí)間不來(lái)一次。我得盡早賣(mài)掉。沒(méi)人知道這些書(shū)到底好不好。要是最后發(fā)現(xiàn)不好，可就再也賣(mài)不掉了?！?/p>

“Save them for me and let me look them over.”

“No.I can’t save them.You don’t pass regularly.You stay away too long at a time.I have to sell them as soon as I can.No one can tell if they are worthless.If they turn out to be worthless, I would never sell them.”

“How do you tell a valuable French book?”

“First there are the pictures.Then it is a question of the quality of the pictures.Then it is the binding.If a book is good,the owner will have it bound properly.All books in English are bound, but bound badly.There is no way of judging them.”

“那你怎么知道一本法語(yǔ)書(shū)好還是不好呢？”

“先看有沒(méi)有插圖，再看插圖的質(zhì)量，最后看裝訂。要是書(shū)好，原來(lái)的主人會(huì)好好裝訂一下?？捎⒄Z(yǔ)書(shū)都是裝訂了的，不過(guò)裝訂得不咋地，沒(méi)法判斷書(shū)好不好。”

5After that bookstall near the Tour D’Argent there were no others that sold American and English books until the quai des Grands Augustins.There were several from there on to beyond the quai Voltaire that sold books they bought from employees of the left bank hotels and especially the Hotel Voltaire which had a wealthier clientele than most.One day I asked another woman stall-keeper who was a friend of mine if the owners ever sold the books.

5過(guò)了銀塔餐廳附近的這個(gè)書(shū)攤，一直到大奧古斯丁濱河路，就沒(méi)有賣(mài)美國(guó)書(shū)或英國(guó)書(shū)的書(shū)攤了。從那里到伏爾泰濱河路還有幾個(gè)書(shū)攤，他們的書(shū)都是從左岸那些酒店的雇員那里收來(lái)的，尤其是伏爾泰酒店，房客最是有錢(qián)。有個(gè)女?dāng)傊饕哺液苁炝?。有一天，我?wèn)她這些書(shū)是不是被主人賣(mài)掉的。

6“No,” she said.“They are all thrown away.That is why one knows they have no value.”

“Friends give them to them to read on the boats.”

“Doubtless,” she said.“They must leave many on the boats.”

6“不是?！彼f(shuō)，“都是原來(lái)的主人扔掉的?？梢?jiàn)這些書(shū)沒(méi)什么價(jià)值。”

“是朋友送給他們坐船的時(shí)候讀的吧?！?/p>

“很有可能?！彼f(shuō)，“肯定扔了不少在船上。”

“是啊?！蔽艺f(shuō)，“船運(yùn)公司把它們收集起來(lái)，裝訂一下，就成了船上的藏書(shū)了。”

“They do,” I said.“The line keeps them and binds them and they become the ships’ libraries.”

“That’s intelligent,” she said.“At least they are properly bound then.Now a book like that would have value.” ■

“這辦法倒是聰明。”她說(shuō)，“起碼那些書(shū)能裝訂得像個(gè)樣子。那樣的話(huà)，就能值點(diǎn)兒錢(qián)了?！?□