Arrangement in Black and White
安排黑人与白人的会面
Dorothy Parker
多萝西·帕克
The woman with the pink velvet poppies twined round the gold of her hair crossed the crowded room and clutched the lean arm of her host.
那个金发上束着天鹅绒质地粉红罂粟花的妇女穿过拥挤的房间,一把抓住了主人精瘦的胳膊。
"Now I got you!" she said. "Now you can't get away!"
她说:“这下我可抓到你了!你跑不了啦!”
"Why, hello," said her host. "Well. How are you?"
“嗨,你好!”主人说道,“嗯,你还好吧?”
"Oh, I'm fine," she said. "Just simply fine. Listen. I want you to do me the most terrible favor. Will YOU? Will you please?"
她回答:“噢,我挺好,好极了。听着,我想让你帮我一个大忙。行吗?你愿意吗?”
"What is it?" said her host.
主人问:“是什么事?”
"Listen," she said. "I want to meet Walter Williams. Honestly, I'm just simply crazy about that man. Oh, when he sings! When he sings those spirituals! Well, I said to Burton, 'It's a good thing for you Walter Williams is colored,' I said, 'or you'd have lots of reason to be jealous.' I'd really love to meet him. I'd like to tell him I've heard him sing. Will you be an angel and introduce me to him?"
“你看,”她说,“我想见一下沃尔特·威廉斯。说实在的,我对他太着迷了。哦,当他唱歌的时候!当他唱那些灵歌的时候!嗯,我曾对伯顿说:‘沃尔特·威廉斯是黑人,这对你来说是一件好事。否则你会有许多理由去嫉妒他。’我真的很想见见他。我要告诉他我听过他的歌。你能做个大好人把我引见给他吗?”
"Why, certainly," said her host. "I thought you'd met him. The party's for him. Where is he, anyway?"
“哦,当然了,”主人回答道,“我还以为你已经见过他了。这个晚会就是为他举办的。可是,他现在到哪儿去了?”