《美食祈祷和恋爱》Chapter 8 (15):赖爷的寓言
Then he asked if he could read my palm. I gave him my left hand and he proceeded to put me together like a three-piece puzzle.
而后他问我能否看看我的手相。我让他看左手,而后他将我组合起来,就像拼图。
"You're a world traveler," he began.
“你是个世界的旅人。”他开始说。
Which I thought was maybe a little obvious, given that I was in Indonesia at the moment, but I didn’t force the point . . .
这我认为未免也太明显了吧,毕竟我当时就在印尼,但我没怎么在乎这一点。
"You have more good luck than anyone I've ever met. You will live a long time, have many friends, many experiences. You will see the whole world. You only have one problem in your life. You worry too much. Always you get too emotional, too nervous. If I promise you that you will never have any reason in your life to ever worry about anything, will you believe me?"
“你是我碰到过最幸运的人。你活得很久,有许多朋友,许多经验。你看整个世界。你的生命只有一个问题。你过分焦虑,总是太情绪化,太紧张。假如我要你相信,生活中永远没必要去担忧任何事情,你信不信?”
Nervously I nodded, not believing him.
我紧张不安地点点头,并不相信。
"For work, you do something creative, maybe like an artist, and you get paid good money for it. Always you will get paid good money for this thing you do. You are generous with money, maybe too generous. Also one problem. You will lose all your money once in your life. I think maybe it will happen soon."
“工作上,你是搞创作的,类似艺术家,工作让你赚不少钱。你的工作永远让你挣不少钱。你对钱很大方,或许太过大方。另一个问题是,你这一生当中,有一次会失去所有的钱。我想可能再过不 久就要发生。”
"I think maybe it will happen in the next six to ten months," I said, thinking about my divorce.
“我想可能未来六到十个月内会发生。”我说,心里想的是离婚 。
Ketut nodded as if to say, Yeah, that sounds about right. "But don't worry," he said. "After you lose all your money, you will get it all right back again. Right away you'll be fine. You will have two marriages in your life. One short, one long. And you will have two children . . ."
赖爷点点头,仿佛在说:“没错,八九不离十。” “但用不着担心。”他说,“损失所有的钱财后,你会再拿回来。你立刻就会很好的。你这辈子会有两次婚姻。一短,一长。你会有两个孩子……”
I waited for him to say, "one short, one long," but he was suddenly silent, frowning at my palm. Then he said, "Strange . . . ," which is something you never want to hear from either your palm-reader or your dentist. He asked me to move directly under the hanging lightbulb so he could take a better look.
我等他说“一矮,一高 ”,但他突然沉默下来,看着我的手掌皱起眉头。然后他说:“怪了……”你可不想听你的手相师或牙医师这么说。他要我移到悬挂的灯泡底下,让他看个仔细 。
"I am wrong," he announced. "You will only have only one child. Late in life, a daughter. Maybe. If you decide . . . but there is something else." He frowned, then looked up, suddenly absolutely confident: "Someday soon you will come back here to Bali. You must. You will stay here in Bali for three, maybe four months. You will be my friend. Maybe you will live here with my family. I can practice English with you. I never had anybody to practice English with. I think you are good with words. I think this creative work you do is something about words, yes?"
“我错了,”他说道,“你只会有一个孩子。晚年的时候,是女儿。或许吧。假如你决定……还有另一件事。”他皱着眉,然后抬起头 ,突然非常肯定地说“不久之后,你会回到巴厘岛这儿。你不得不。 你在这里会待上三四个月,成为我的朋友。或许你会跟我的家人住在这里。我能跟你学英语。我从没跟任何人练习过英语。我想你很擅长文字。我想你的创意工作和文字有关,是吗? ”
"Yes!" I said. "I'm a writer. I’m a book writer!"
“是的 !”我说,“我是作家。我写书 !”
"You are a book writer from New York," he said, in agreement, in confirmation. "So you will come back here to Bali and live here and teach me English. And I will teach you everything I know."
“你是纽约来的作家,”他同意、认可地说道,“所以你会回巴厘岛来,住在这里,教我英文。我也会把我知道的一切教给你。”
Then he stood up and brushed off his hands, like: That's settled.
而后他站了起来,拂拂双手,像是在说,“就这么说定了。”
I said, "If you're serious, mister, I'm serious."
我说:“您若不是开玩笑,大师,我可当真。”
He beamed at me toothlessly and said, "See you later, alligator."
Eat, Pray, Love
他以无牙的微笑望着我,说:“回头见。”