今日美文：

刘春莹

I loved dressing both of my trophies. When my trophy husband and I separated, there was a whole wardrobe of Saks Fifth Avenue shirts at the laundry that was lost to history because neither one of us would pick up the laundry, he too passive, I too stubborn. He had ties to die for and a collection of cashmere socks that I used to wash by hand.

我喜欢打扮我的两个花瓶男人。当我和我的花瓶丈夫分开后，有一衣橱从萨克斯第五大道精品百货店买来的衬衫被丢在洗衣店里没人去领，因为我们俩都不会去，他太被动，而我太固执。他只剩了领带和一堆上羊绒袜，因为平时这些都是我来手洗。

He eventually wound up with a baby boomer who supported him with her great career and big salary while he made her breakfast, went out for the paper, ironed her clothes, packed her lunch: all those tasks I never could seem to get out of him. I could weep when I think of the care I lavished on his socks.

最后，他被一个在婴儿潮时期出生的女人迷住了，那个女人有很好的工作和收入，能够供养他，而他给她做早餐，帮她拿报纸、熨衣服，给她做午餐便当，他从来没有为我做过这些。每当我想到我曾经那么精心的照顾他，我就要哭。

Dressing Loeffler was much harder. He wouldn't let me take him shopping. He bought his clothes at the Goodwill on Federal Highway and the Church Mouse in Palm Beach. This meant he got the castoffs of the guys who went to St. Mark's and Harvard or Yale, so he was able to stay within his learned dress code.

打扮吕弗勒就难得多了，他不让我带他去商店。他自己在联邦大道的Goodwill以及棕榈滩的Church Mouse买衣服。这也就意味着他能够买到那些去了圣马克、哈佛或耶鲁的家伙们抛弃的衣服，所以他能够保持把自己打扮的像个知识渊博的人。

Once we were all dressed up, standing in line for tickets at the Society of the Four Arts, a peculiarly Palm Beach institution. If you're not a member, you can't buy tickets. But if you're standing at the box office, appropriately dressed, and there are unused members' tickets, you are allowed to purchase them. We were there because Loeffler was in love with Frederica von Stade.
I was happy about Loeffler's eccentric crushes. They were always appropriate for a trophy intellectual. He also adored Jamaica Kincaid and Jeanette Winterson. Some women feel threatened if their men exhibit any outward-directed passion. But I felt our relationship was enriched by these passions. Loeffler's passions were bread and wine to me.

一旦我们都穿着得体，那就是在排队买Society of the Four Arts的票，这是一家位于棕榈滩的特殊机构。如果不是这里的会员你就买不到票。但是如果穿着得体的站在卖票间里，也可以购买非会员票。我们去那里，是因为吕弗勒喜欢弗德莉卡·冯·斯塔德（美国次女高音）。我对吕弗勒古怪的爱好感到高兴。知识分子都有一些古怪的癖好。他还崇拜牙买加·琴凯德和珍妮特·温特森。有些女人在他们的男人对其他女人充满热情时会觉得受到了威胁，而我觉得这种热情让我和吕弗勒的关系更加充实。他的热情对我来说就是面包和酒。

But coming up with appropriate dress for this concert was proving to be a problem. After going through boxes and boxes, Loeffler finally found a $10 tux at Goodwill, and I discovered I fit into my youngest daughter's prom dress.

但是要为参加这场音乐会找到得体的衣服可是个问题。在遍寻之后，吕弗勒终于在Goodwill找到了一件10美元的晚礼服，而我发现我小女儿在班级舞会上穿的礼服很适合我。

We looked good. Rather, we looked good up close. From a distance, you could see that the crotch of Loeffler's tux pants fell at about knee level.

我们看上去很好。更确切的说，我们接近于看上去很好。从远处看，你可以看到吕弗勒礼服的裤裆都要掉到膝盖了。

When the von Stade concert was over, a woman sidled up to Loeffler and asked him a question. Soon he was arguing, his usual style of conversation. I moved a bit closer, curious to know what they were saying. Oh, no, she was arguing that everybody's reality is equally valid and that therefore there is no reality.

冯·斯塔德的演唱会结束后，一位女士走到吕弗勒面前问了他一个问题。很快他就以他一贯的谈话方式说了起来。我靠近一点，想听清楚他们在说什么。哦，不，她在说每个人的实体都是同样有效的，所以没有什么实体。

I knew what Loeffler thought of that.

我知道吕弗勒对这一点怎么看。

He looked over and inclined his head, which meant that he was ready to leave and wanted me to drag him away. I went over and said in a loud voice: "Your plane is at 8 in the morning. If you have any packing left to do, you'd better do it tonight."

他向上看并歪着头，这意味着他准备离开，并希望我把他拖走。于是我走过去，大声说：“你的航班是明天早上8点钟，如果你想打包行李，那最好是今天晚上弄好。”

He looked surprised, as if a stranger had told him that he had been elected to some office. "Me?" he seemed to say, although the tickets were in his jacket pocket.

他看上去很惊讶，就好像一个陌生人告诉他他已经被某件办公室录用一样。他好像在说“我吗？”尽管机票就在他的衣服口袋里。

He bowed to the Palm Beach woman, and we left, possibly looking more ridiculous as we moved farther away.

他向这个棕榈滩女人鞠了个躬，然后和我一起离开了，也许当我们走远的时候看上去更可笑。

And the next day there would be a farewell at the door, me still in my nightgown, Loeffler in his Church Mouse good suit and fresh white shirt, shaved and shining, on his way to Oaxaca, Mexico, to observe the Day of the Dead. And from that day on he would be dead to me, as he, in Oaxaca, would fall in love with someone else, and they would run away together, and it would be left to me to gather his notes and manuscripts and mail them off to him.

第二天我们将在门口道别，我仍然穿着我的睡衣，而他穿着从Church Mouse买来的上等西装和新鲜的白衬衫，胡子刮得干干净净，出发去墨西哥的瓦哈卡，庆祝墨西哥的传统节日亡灵节。从这一天开始，他对我来说以及死了，因为他在瓦哈卡爱上了别人，他们将一起离开，而我将会把他所有的笔记手稿整理好邮寄给他。

In such a relationship one is always the dreamer, and it falls to the other to be the practical party. With my two trophies I'd always been stuck in the role of the practical party. I'd been the one with the job, the means, the power and the will. And I suppose I liked that part of it. But over the long haul it wore me out.

在这样一种关系中，总有一个人是梦想家，而另一个人就要成为承担现实的角色。和这两个人在一起，我都摆脱不了做承担现实的角色的命运。我是这样一个角色，要工作，要想办法，要有能力，要有意志。我想我喜欢这样，只是长期下来，这让我筋疲力尽了。

What I'm looking for now is someone useful, a working man, a classic, the low-cut jeans. If he's not a plumber, he'll work at the power company or maybe BellSouth. He'll be someone I can watch football and basketball with, ice hockey even. No upkeep, no display, no occasions. Just a man who's hard working, dependable, loyal and in possession of necessary skills.

我现在找的是个有用的人，一个有工作的人，一个典型的、穿着低腰牛仔裤的人。如果不是水管工，在电力公司或者贝尔南方工作也行。他是那种我可以和他一起看足球、篮球甚至冰球的男人。不用保养、不用炫耀、不用去这种那种场合。只是一个男人，他努力工作，可以依靠，对我忠诚，拥有必要的技能。

Two mounted heads on my wall are enough.

有两个前车之鉴对我来说已经够了。

武勇刚

妈呀  ！  呵呵，不是很懂！！