英漢對(duì)照
SATISFACTION GURANTEED
包君滿(mǎn)意
Larry Belmont worked for a company that made robots. Recently it had begun experimenting with a household robot. It was going to be tested out by Larry's wife, Claire.
拉里·貝爾蒙特在一家生產(chǎn)機(jī)器人的公司里工作。最近，該公司要對(duì)一個(gè)家用機(jī)器人進(jìn)行試驗(yàn)。這項(xiàng)試驗(yàn)將由拉里的夫人克萊爾來(lái)嘗試。
Claire didn't want the robot in her house, especially as her husband would be absent for three weeks, but Larry persuaded her that the robot wouldn't harm her or allow her to be harmed. It would be a bonus. However, when she first saw the robot, she felt alarmed. His name was Tony and he seemed more like a human than a machine. He was tall and handsome with smooth hair and a deep voice although his facial expression never changed.
克萊爾并不想把機(jī)器人留在家里，特別是在她丈夫離家三周的這個(gè)期間。但是克萊爾被拉里說(shuō)服了。他說(shuō)，機(jī)器人不會(huì)傷害她，也不會(huì)讓別人來(lái)傷害她。這樣會(huì)是個(gè)意外的收獲。然而她初次見(jiàn)到機(jī)器人的時(shí)候就感到有點(diǎn)吃驚。機(jī)器人名叫托尼，看上去更像一個(gè)人，而不像臺(tái)機(jī)器。他雖然面部表情毫無(wú)變化，但是個(gè)子高大，相貌英俊，頭發(fā)平整，聲音低沉渾厚。
On the second morning Tony, wearing an apron, brought her breakfast and then asked her whether she needed help dressing. She felt embarrassed and quickly told him to go. It was disturbing and frightening that he looked so human.
第二天早晨，托尼系著圍裙，給她端來(lái)了早餐，然后問(wèn)她是否需要幫忙穿衣打扮。她感到有點(diǎn)兒不好意思，很快就打發(fā)他走了。機(jī)器人如此通人性，這使她覺(jué)得心煩和害怕。
One day, Claire mentioned that she didn't think she was clever. Tony said that she must feel very unhappy to say that. Claire thought it was ridiculous to be offered sympathy by a robot. But she began to trust him. She told him how she was overweight and this made her feel unhappy. Also she felt her home wasn't elegant enough for someone like Larry who wanted to improve his social position. She wasn't like Gladys Claffern, one of the richest and most powerful women around.
有一天，克萊爾說(shuō)起，她覺(jué)得她自己并不聰明。托尼則說(shuō)，克萊爾一定是很不高興，才會(huì)說(shuō)出這樣的話來(lái)。克萊爾覺(jué)得，機(jī)器人會(huì)向她表示同情，這有點(diǎn)荒唐可笑。但是她開(kāi)始信任托尼了。她告訴托尼她太胖了，這讓她很不高興。還有對(duì)于像拉里這樣很想提高社會(huì)地位的人來(lái)說(shuō)，她的家也不夠高雅。她跟格拉迪斯·克拉芬不一樣，格拉迪斯是遠(yuǎn)近聞名的有錢(qián)有勢(shì)的女人。
As a favour Tony promised to help Claire make herself smarter and her home more elegant. So Claire borrowed a pile of books from the library for him to read, or rather, scan. She looked at his fingers with wonder as they turned each page and suddenly reached for his hand. She was amazed by his fingernails and the softness and warmth of his skin. How absurd, she thought. He was just a machine.
托尼為讓克萊爾高興，答應(yīng)幫助她，使她變得漂亮，使她的家變得高雅大方。于是克萊爾從圖書(shū)館借來(lái)一堆書(shū)給托尼閱讀，或者說(shuō)給他瀏覽一下。她驚奇地看著他的手指翻動(dòng)著書(shū)頁(yè)，忍不住突然伸出手來(lái)摸他的手指。他的手指甲和他那柔軟溫暖的皮膚使她感到大為驚異。她在想，這是多么可笑啊，他只不過(guò)是一臺(tái)機(jī)器呀！
Tony gave Claire a new haircut and changed the makeup she wore. As he was not allowed to accompany her to the shops, he wrote out a list of items for her. Claire went into the city and bought curtains, cushions, a carpet and bedding. Then she went into a jewellery shop to buy a necklace. When the clerk at the counter was rude to her, she rang Tony up and told the clerk to speak to him. The clerk immediately changed his attitude. Claire thanked Tony, telling him that he was a "dear". As she turned around, there stood Gladys Claffern. How awful to be discovered by her, Claire thought. By the amused and surprised look on her face, Claire knew that Gladys thought she was having an affair. After all, she knew Claire's husband's name was Larry, not Tony.
托尼給克萊爾換了個(gè)發(fā)型，又改變了化妝風(fēng)格。因?yàn)椴辉试S托尼陪克萊爾去商店，所以托尼就給她寫(xiě)了一份購(gòu)物清單。克萊爾進(jìn)城去買(mǎi)了窗簾、坐墊和床上用品。然后她去了一家珠寶店買(mǎi)項(xiàng)鏈。柜臺(tái)售貨員對(duì)她很粗魯，她就打電話給托尼，讓售貨員同托尼講話。售貨員馬上改變了態(tài)度。克萊爾對(duì)托尼表示感謝，并說(shuō)他是個(gè)“可愛(ài)的人”。她剛一轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身去，就看到格拉迪斯·克拉芬站在那兒。克萊爾想，被格拉迪斯發(fā)現(xiàn)了，這多么難為情啊！從格拉迪斯臉上的那種有趣而又驚奇的神色來(lái)看，克萊爾知道，格拉迪斯認(rèn)為她有風(fēng)流韻事了。畢竟格拉迪斯知道她的丈夫是拉里，而不是托尼。
When Claire got home, she wept with anger in her armchair. Gladys was everything Claire wanted to be. "You can be like her," Tony told her and suggested that she invite Gladys and her friends to the house the night before he was to leave and Larry was to return. By that time, Tony expected the house to be completely transformed.
克萊爾回到家里，坐在扶手椅上氣得直哭。格拉迪斯的一舉一動(dòng)都是克萊爾想模仿的。托尼告訴克萊爾說(shuō)，你可以同格拉迪斯一樣，還建議克萊爾邀請(qǐng)格拉迪斯和她的朋友到家里來(lái)玩，時(shí)間就定在托尼離去和拉里回家之前的那個(gè)晚上。托尼想在此之前將房子改裝得煥然一新。
Tony worked steadily on the improvements. Claire tried to help once but was too clumsy. She fell off a ladder and even though Tony was in the next room, he managed to catch her in time. He held her firmly in his arms and she felt the warmth of his body. She screamed, pushed him away and ran to her room for the rest of the day.
托尼有條不紊地搞著裝修。克萊爾有一次想來(lái)幫忙，但是太笨手笨腳了，竟從梯子上掉了下來(lái)。盡管托尼當(dāng)時(shí)在隔壁房間里，他還是及時(shí)趕過(guò)來(lái)把她接住了。他把她緊緊地?fù)г趹牙铮杏X(jué)到了他身上有股暖氣。她尖叫了起來(lái)，把他推開(kāi)，跑回她的房里，那天她就再也沒(méi)有出來(lái)過(guò)。
The night of the party arrived. The clock struck eight. The guests would be arriving soon and Claire told Tony to go into another room.At that moment, Tony folded his arms around her, bending his face close to hers. She cried out "Tony" and then heard him declare that he didn't want to leave her the next day and that he felt more than just the desire to please her. Then the front door bell rang. Tony freed her and disappeared from sight. It was then that Claire realized that Tony had opened the curtains of the front window. Her guests had seen everything!
聚會(huì)的那天晚上來(lái)到了。時(shí)鐘敲響八點(diǎn)，客人馬上就要到來(lái)了。克萊爾叫托尼到另一間房里去。就在那一瞬間，托尼彎曲胳膊摟著她，彎下身去把臉貼近她的臉。她大叫一聲“托尼”，然后聽(tīng)到托尼一本正經(jīng)地說(shuō)，明天他不想離開(kāi)她，而且他并不滿(mǎn)足于僅僅使她開(kāi)心。就在這時(shí)，前門(mén)的門(mén)鈴響了。托尼放開(kāi)了她，消失得無(wú)影無(wú)蹤了。也就在這時(shí)，克萊爾才意識(shí)到托尼早就把前邊窗戶(hù)的窗簾拉開(kāi)了。她的客人把這一切看得一清二楚。
The women were impressed by Claire, the house and the delicious cuisine. Just before they left, Claire heard Gladys whispering to another woman that she had never seen anyone so handsome as Tony. What a sweet victory to be envied by those women! She might not be as beautiful as them, but none of them had such a handsome lover.
克萊爾和他的房子、美食給女士們留下了深刻印象。就在她們離開(kāi)之前，克萊爾聽(tīng)到格拉迪斯跟另外一個(gè)女人小聲地說(shuō)，她從來(lái)沒(méi)有見(jiàn)過(guò)像托尼這樣英俊的男人。受到那些女士的妒忌，這該是多么甜美的勝利！克萊爾也許并沒(méi)有她們那樣漂亮，但是她們中沒(méi)有任何一個(gè)人擁有這樣英俊的情人。
Then she remembered—Tony was just a machine. She shouted "Leave me alone" and ran to her bed. She cried all night. The next morning a car drove up and took Tony away.
這時(shí)候，她記起來(lái)了——托尼只不過(guò)是一臺(tái)機(jī)器。她高聲嚷著：“ 讓我獨(dú)自呆一會(huì)兒！”就跑上床，哭了一個(gè)通宵。第二天早晨開(kāi)來(lái)一輛汽車(chē)，把托尼接走了。
The company was very pleased with Tony's report on his three weeks with Claire. Tony had protected a human being from harm. He had prevented Claire from harming herself through her own sense of failure. He had opened the curtains that night so that the other women would see him and Claire, knowing that there was no risk to Claire's marriage. But even though Tony had been so clever, he would have to be rebuilt—you cannot have women failing in love with machines.
公司對(duì)托尼同克萊爾相處三個(gè)星期的實(shí)驗(yàn)報(bào)告非常滿(mǎn)意。托尼保護(hù)了一個(gè)人免受傷害，他使克萊爾沒(méi)有因?yàn)樗氖「卸鴤ψ约骸Ｄ翘焱砩希_(kāi)了窗簾，讓其他女人看到了他和克萊爾在一起，他明白這么做對(duì)克萊爾的婚姻并不造成危害。但是，盡管托尼很聰明，他還得作一番改建——總不能讓女人和機(jī)器相愛(ài)吧。
