四十七号房Finding No.47

四十七号房Finding No.47
四库全书的大主编,也就是掌故轶闻中常以机智幽默形象出现的纪晓岚,工作闲暇时,便回想往昔听闻过的乡野传奇、街谈巷议,并且写下来,陆陆续续集结成册,完成一部笔记小说《阅微草堂笔记》.以下故事来自其中第一大部分的【滦阳消夏录】(在夏天写一些让人毛骨悚然的故事,难怪会消暑啊).男主角是不怕夜半鬼敲门的正人君子,女主角则是个冲动、算术奇差的迷糊鬼,他们在夜半的科举会试考场擦撞出有蝴蝶乱飞的惊人火花.
先姚安公言:雍正庚戌会试,与雄县汤孝廉同号舍.汤夜半忽见披发女鬼,搴(音同千,表掀起)帘手裂其卷,如蛱蝶乱飞.汤素刚正,亦不恐怖,坐而问之曰:『前生吾不知,今生则实无害人事.汝胡为来者?』鬼愕眙(音同斥,此词意为惊视)却立曰:『君非四十七号耶?』曰:『吾四十九号.』盖前有二空舍,鬼除之未数也.谛视良久,作礼谢罪而去.斯须间,四十七号喧呼某甲中恶矣.此鬼殊愦愦(音同溃,糊涂之意),汤君可谓无妄之灾.幸其心无愧怍(音同做,义近愧),故仓促间敢与诘辩,仅裂一卷耳,否亦殆哉!
My deceased father once told me: When he was taking the Imperial Examination in the capital in 1730 (the eighth year since Yongzheng Emperor ascended the throne), his room and that of a recommended man, whose surname was Tang, from Xiong County were in the same line. At midnight, Tang suddenly saw a female ghost with disheveled hair holding up the curtain, coming in and tearing his exam paper, which fell in the air like dancing butterflies. As a decent man, Tang showed no fear but sat up and questioned the ghost, "I'm not sure what my previous life was like, but I'm quite certain that I didn't do anything meant harm this life. So, why do you come to me?" The ghost was astonished. She retrogressed a few steps and then stopped, asking, "Aren't you number forty seven?" "No, I'm forty nine." As it turned out, the ghost skipped two empty preceding rooms. She looked at him for a while, and then left after saluting with apology. Before long, a noise from the room number forty seven sounded that someone was possessed. How blundering the ghost was! What happened to Tang was really undeserved ill turn . Fortunately, his mind was clear of shame, so he dared to interrogate the ghost in a hurry and only got his exam paper torn at last. Otherwise, he would be in danger!
(英文部份是翻译练习,如果有谬误或辞不达意的地方,还请路过的高手多多指教.)