Two and Three 两块和三块

张恒

In a small village there lived an old man and his wife1. Both were over seventy and both loved one another. Only five other families lived in this small village.

在一个小村庄里住着一位老人和他的妻子。两人都年过七旬，彼此相爱。另外只有五户人家住在这个小村庄里。

One cold winter evening the old man and his wife were sitting inside their house. Outside it was snowing. Suddenly2 the old man looked up and said， “I wish we could have some bread. I very much feel like eating bread today.”

一个寒冷的冬夜里，老人和他的妻子正坐在家里，外面正在下雪。突然，老人抬起头说：“我希望我们能吃点面包。我今天非常想吃面包。”

“Ill see if theres any flour3 in the house，” his wife answered. She got up and opened the bag of flour. “Oh， theres only a little here，” she said. “Its too cold to go out and buy more. So I shall make bread from this little flour.”

“我看看家里有没有面粉。”他妻子回答说。她站起来打开面粉袋，“哦，只有一点点面粉了。”她说，“天气太冷了，不能出去多买点。那我就用这一点面粉做面包好了。”

The old woman started the fire and made bread. She made five. She gave her husband4 three pieces of bread and herself two.

那位老妇人开始生火做面包。她做了五块，给了丈夫三块面包，她自己拿了两块。

But the old man would not take the bread. “How can I eat three when you are getting only two？” he said. “Take one piece of bread from me.”

但是老人不肯拿面包。“你只有两块，我怎么能吃三块呢？”他說， “从我这里拿走一块面包吧。”

“Two pieces of bread are enough for me，” his wife answered. “It is you who asked for them. You take three now. Tomorrow I shall get more flour from the shop and make bread. I can then take one more than you.”

“我吃两块面包就够了。”他妻子回答说，“是你要吃的。你现在拿三块，明天我要去商店多买些面粉做面包，到时我可以比你多拿一块。”

“Well see about that later，” the old man said. “But today you must eat three pieces of bread.”

“我们以后再说。”老人说，“但是今天你必须吃三块面包。”

They kept arguing5 like this all evening. Night came， but they had still not eaten the bread. At last they agreed on a plan. “It is quite late，” they said. “So let us go to sleep now. Tomorrow morning， the one who gets up first will have to eat three pieces of bread.”

他们整个傍晚都这样争吵着。深夜降临，但他们还没有吃上面包。最后，他们商定了一个计划。“已经很晚了。”他们说，“我们现在去睡觉吧。明天早上，先起床的人得吃三块面包。”

So they both went to sleep. Morning came. But still they kept lying in bed， eyes closed. Each wanted the other to get up first， for each wanted the other one to have three pieces of bread. It grew quite late and the sun came up high in the sky. But still they would not get up. The neighbours saw that their door was still closed. They got worried.

所以他们都去睡觉了。到了早上，他们还是一直躺在床上，闭着眼睛。两人都想让另一个先起来，因为他们俩都想让另一个人吃三块面包。时间不早了，太阳在天空中高高挂起，但他们还是没起床。邻居们看到他们的门还关着，感到很担心。

“What is the matter with the old couple？” they said. “They still have not got up. Let us go and find out if they are all right.”

“老两口怎么了？“他们说，“他们还没起床。我们去看看他们是不是好好的。”

The neighbours went to knock6 at the door. They called out to the old couple， but there was no answer from inside. Now they got really worried. “We shall have to break7 the door，” they said. “The old people may be ill.”

鄰居们去敲门。他们大声喊那对老夫妇，但里面没有人回答。现在他们真的很担心了。“我们得破门了。”他们说，“老人们可能生病了。”

So they broke open the door and then went in， they saw the old man and his wife on their bed with eyes closed. “Oh no，” they said. “They are both dead8！Let us take them to the burning place9.”

于是他们破门而入，看见老人和妻子闭着眼睛躺在床上。“哦，不。”他们说，“他们都死了！我们送他们去火葬场吧。”

When the old man heard this， he thought that they would both be burnt alive10. “Oh very well，” he cried. “I shall eat three and you can eat the other two.” On hearing this the old woman also cried， “Thats what Ive been telling you all this time. If you had listened to me， we could have eaten them last night. We wouldnt have gone hungry11 all night then. But we can eat them now.”

老头听到这话，想着他们俩都会被活活烧死。“哦，行了。”他哭着说道，“我吃三块，你可以吃另外两块。”听到这话，老妇人也哭了，“这就是我一直告诉你的。如果你听我的话，我们昨晚就可以吃了，就不会整夜挨饿了。但我们现在可以吃掉它们了。”

When the neighbours heard this they were scared. They ran out of the door shouting. “Run！Run for your life！The ghosts12 of the old man and his wife are after us！They are going to eat us all up！The old mans ghost will eat up three families， and his wifes ghost will eat up the other two families in the village！”

邻居们听到这话，感到很害怕，他们大喊着跑出了门。“快跑！快跑吧！老头和他妻子的鬼魂在追我们！他们要把我们都吃掉！老人的鬼魂会吃掉三户人家，他老婆的鬼魂会吃掉村里另外两户人家！”

The old man and his wife were surprised. They ran after the neighbors to tell them that they were not ghosts. At this the neighbors were even more scared. They ran faster still.

老人和他的妻子很惊讶。他们追着邻居说他们不是鬼。听到这个，邻居们更害怕了，他们跑得更快了。

Much later the old man and his wife told the neighbors about the bread. When they heard this， they started laughing. That day the old woman brought more flour from the shop and made lots of bread. Then she invited13 everyone in the village for afternoon tea. You see， she was sorry that she and her old man had given everyone such a fright14.

过了好一会儿之后，老人和妻子把面包的事告诉了邻居们。听到这些，他们大笑起来。那天，老妇人从商店里多买了很多面粉，做了很多面包。然后她邀请村里的每个人都来喝下午茶。你瞧，她很抱歉她和她家老头把大家吓了一大跳。

（英语原文选自：shortstoriesshort.com）

【Notes】

1. wife  n. 妻子，已婚妇女;夫人

2. suddenly adv. 突然地;忽然

3. flour  n. 面粉

4. husband  n. 丈夫

5. argue  v. 争论，辩论

6. knock v. 敲;打

7. break v. 打破，打碎; 破碎

8. dead adj. 无生命的;死的

9. burning place烧尸场，火葬场 10. alive  adj. 活着的;活泼的;有生气的

11. hungry  adj. 饥饿的

12. ghost n. 鬼，幽灵

13. invite  vt. 邀请，招待

14. fright  n. 惊吓;惊骇