雙語散文:女人想要什麼
【英文原文】
What Women Want
Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom.1 The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals. So the monarch offered him freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question.2
Arthur would have a year to figure out3 the answer; if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.
The question: What do women really want?
Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query.4 But since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition5 to have an answer by year's end.
He returned to his kingdom and began to poll6 everybody: the princess, the priests, the wise men, the court jester7.
He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer. Many people advised him to consult the old witch,8 only she would know the answer.
The price would be high; the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.9
The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no alternative10 but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer his question, but he'd have to accept her price first:
The old witch wanted to marry Gawain, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table11 and Arthur's closest friend!
Young Arthur was horrified12. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc.13 He had never encountered such a repugnant creature.14
He refused to force his friend to marry her and have to endure such a burden.
Gawain, upon learning of the proposal15, spoke with Arthur.
He told him that nothing was too big a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table.16 Hence, their wedding was proclaimed17, and the witch answered Arthur's question thus:
What a woman really wants is to be in charge of her own life.18
Everyone instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared.19
And so it was. The neighboring monarch granted Arthur total freedom.
What a wedding Gawain and the witch had!
Arthur was torn between relief and anguish.20 Gawain was proper as always, gentle and courteous.21 The old witch put her worst manners on display, and generally made everyone very uncomfortable.22
The honeymoon hour approached. Gawain, steeling23 himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But what a sight awaited him! The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen lay before him!
The astounded24 Gawain asked what had happened.
The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she'd appeared as a witch, she would henceforth be her horrible, deformed self half the time, and the other half, she would be her beautiful maiden self.25
Which would he want her to be during the day, and which during the night?
What a cruel question!
Gawain pondered his predica-ment.26 During the day, a beautiful woman to show off27 to his friends, but at night, in the privacy28 of his home, an old witch?
Or would he prefer having by day a hideous witch, but by night a beautiful woman with whom to enjoy many intimate29 moments?
What would you do?
What Gawain chose follows below, but don't read it until you've made your own choice.
Make YOUR choice BEFORE you read Gawain's answer!
Noble Gawain replied that he would let her choose for herself.
Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.
【重點講解】
1. 年輕的亞瑟王中了埋伏，被鄰國的國王關了起來。King Arthur: 亞瑟王，中世紀傳奇故事中的不列顛國王；ambush: 埋伏，伏擊；monarch /'m=n2k/: 君主，國王。
2. 因此國王表示可以給他自由，只要他能回答出一個非常難的問題。as long as: = so long as, 只要，如果。
3. figure out: <美口>想出。
4. 即便是知識最淵博的人也會被這樣的問題難住，對於年輕的亞瑟而言，這問題就更沒法回答了。 perplex: 使困惑，使茫然。
5. proposition: 提議。
6. poll: 對……進行民意測驗，這裏指“徵詢每一個人的意見”。
7. court jester: （中世紀時）宮廷中的逗樂小丑，弄臣。
8. consult: 請教；witch: 巫婆，女巫。
9. exorbitant: （價格、要求等）過高的，過度的；charge: 要（價）。
10. alternative: 供抉擇的解決辦法，供替代的抉擇。
11. the Knights of the Round Table: 圓桌騎士團（傳說中亞瑟王麾下的騎士們環桌而坐，故有此稱）。
12. horrified: 震驚的。
13. hunchbacked: 駝背的；hideous: 極醜的，可怕的；sewage: 污水，陰溝水；obscene: 討人厭的，可憎的。
14. encounter: 遭遇，遇到；repugnant: 令人厭惡的，使人極度反感的。
15. proposal: 提議。
16. 他告訴亞瑟，跟亞瑟的生命以及保全圓桌騎士團相比，做出什麼樣的犧牲都不爲過。
17. proclaim: 宣佈，公佈。
18. 女人真正想要的是能夠掌控自己的生活。
19. 所有的人都立刻意識到女巫說出了大實話，亞瑟有救了。utter: 講，說出。
20. 亞瑟同時被獲釋後的寬慰和虧欠好友的痛苦這兩種感覺折磨着。
21. 加韋跟平常一樣地高尚體面：溫文爾雅，謙恭有禮。
22. 老巫婆極盡無禮之能事，讓每個人都非常不快。
23. steel: 使堅強去面對。這裏指加韋給自己打氣，硬着頭皮去見新娘。
24. astounded: 震驚的，驚駭的。
25. 美女回答說，當她以一個女巫的面目出現時加韋對她還那麼好，所以今後有一半的時間她會是那個可怕醜陋的自我，而另一半時間裏，她將是另一個自我：一位年輕美麗的女子。
26. ponder: 沉思，考慮；predicament: 困境。
27. show off: 炫耀，賣弄。
28. privacy: 祕密，私下。
29. intimate: 親密的，密切的。
