主题：The Lesson 听君一席话

     It was a ten-storey building served by four elevators. Three of them were assigned to the personnel in general, without regard to rank or position. But the fourth elevator--which was carpeted in red and had three mirrors and special decor--was reserved for the exclusive use of the company president, the members of the Board of Directors and the general manager. This meant that only they could ride the red elevator, but this would not prevent them from using the other three.

      公司大楼高10层，内设4个电梯。其中3个面向所有人开放，不论头衔与职位。而另外一个——铺红地毯，镶3壁镜子，带豪华装璜——则只供公司总裁、董事和总经理使用。也就是说，只有他们能使用这个红色电梯，当然这并不妨碍他们使用另外三个大众电梯。

 译者：Jacky Xiao

     I had never laid eyes either on the company president or the members of the Board of Directors. But, every once in a while, and always from a distance, I caught sight of the general manager, with whom, nevertheless, I had never exchanged a single word. He was a man of about fifty years of age, and had a "noble" and "lordly" bearing. I considered him to be sort of cross between an old-time Argentine gentlemen and a thoroghly incorruptible magistrate of some supreme court. His graying hair, his neatly-trimmed mustache, his conservative suits and his affable manners had made me--and I detested all my immediate bosses--feel some degree of fondness toward don Fernando. That is how they addressed him: don plus his given name and without the family name, a form of address somewhere between what might seem like familiarity and the veneration owed to a feudal lord.

      我从未和总裁、董事谋面，但却时不时远远瞥见总经理。然而，我和他没有任何语言交流。他五十上下年纪，浑身散发着一种高贵的、贵族的气质。在我看来，他就是一个旧时的阿根廷绅士和绝顶清廉的最高法庭的法官的结合体。他的头发正在变白，胡须修饰得很齐整，总是身着保守的西装，为人和蔼可亲。这一切使我——我讨厌我的所有顶头上司——不由得对“费南多先生”心生几分喜爱。他们就是这么称呼他的：“先生”加上他的名而不加姓。这种称谓方式听起来有几分亲切，也有几分像是向封建主致敬。

 译者：Jacky Xiao

     The offices occupied by don Fernando and his retinue took up the entire fifth floor of the building. Our section was on the third floor, but, since I was the least important employee, they would send me from one floor to another to run errands. On the tenth floor there were only some ill-tempered old men and ugly women who always seemed to be enraged about something or other. Up there a kind of dossier was kept active in which, five minutes before leaving the premises, I had to--without fail--leave a bundle of papers containing summaries of all the tasks carried out in our section that day.

      费南多先生及其下属的办公室占据了大楼的整个第五层。我所在的部门在三楼，但我不过是个最微不足道的小角色，因此他们经常叫我楼上楼下地跑腿。十楼上都是些脾气暴躁的老头和相貌恐怖的女人，他们总是为这为那地怒气冲冲。那层有个开放式的档案夹，每天下班前5分钟，我必须——不容有误——把一大堆我们部门当天完成的所有任务的总结文件放入其中。

 译者：Jacky Xiao

     One evening--having already handed in those papers--I was on the tenth floor, ready to go home. I was waiting for the elevator. I was no longer in shirt sleeves, I had put on my jacket, my hair was combed, I had adjusted my necktie and looked in the mirror. I was clutching my leather attache case.

      一天傍晚，我已经交了那些文件，人还在十楼，准备下班回家。我正等候着电梯。当时我已经脱掉西装，套了件夹克，头发刚弄过，领带也已松开，还照了照镜子，手里抓着个皮革的公文包。

 译者：Jacky Xiao

     "No, no; by no means, young man," don Fernando replied with a smile. "You go first."

      "No, sir, please. I couldn't. After you, please."

      "Get in, young man," he sounded impatient. "Please."

      This "please" was pronounce in such a peremptory manner that I had to take it as an order. I bowed slightly and entered the elevator. Don Fernando came in after me.

      “不，不，万万不可，小伙子。”费南多先生微笑着回答，“你先。”

      “不行，先生。怎么能这样呢？您先请！”

       “进去，小伙子，”他听起来不耐烦了，“请！”

        这声“请”说得咄咄逼人，我只能当它是命令。于是我微微鞠躬，进了电梯。费南多先生随后也进来了。

 译者：Jacky Xiao