The Metamorphosis — Chapter 2 in Mandarin
By Franz Kafka
虽然格雷戈尔无法直接听到任何消息，但他确实听到了隔壁房间里说的许多话，每当他听到有人说话时，他就会急忙跑到相应的门前，把整个身体贴在门上。 Although Gregor wasn't able to hear any news directly he did listen to much of what was said in the next rooms, and whenever he heard anyone speaking he would scurry straight to the appropriate door and press his whole body against it. 尤其是起初，几乎没有任何对话不是以某种方式关于他的，即便只是在暗地里。 There was seldom any conversation, especially at first, that was not about him in some way, even if only in secret. 整整两天,每次进餐时大家谈论的都是他们现在应该怎么办;但即便在进餐之间,他们也在讨论同样的话题,因为家里总是至少有两个家庭成员在——没有人想独自呆在家里,而将整套公寓完全空置更是想都不用想。 For two whole days, all the talk at every mealtime was about what they should do now; but even between meals they spoke about the same subject as there were always at least two members of the family at home - nobody wanted to be at home by themselves and it was out of the question to leave the flat entirely empty. 就在第一天，女仆就跪倒在地，恳求格雷戈尔的母亲让她立即离开。 And on the very first day the maid had fallen to her knees and begged Gregor's mother to let her go without delay. 虽然不太清楚她对所发生的事情了解多少，但她在大约一刻钟后离开了，含泪感谢格雷戈尔的母亲解雇了她，仿佛母亲对她做了一件巨大的恩惠。 It was not very clear how much she knew of what had happened but she left within a quarter of an hour, tearfully thanking Gregor's mother for her dismissal as if she had done her an enormous service. 她甚至郑重地发誓，不会向任何人透露关于所发生事情的任何细节，虽然实际上没有人要求她这样做。 She even swore emphatically not to tell anyone the slightest about what had happened, even though no-one had asked that of her.
现在格雷戈尔的妹妹也必须帮他母亲做饭；虽然这并不是很麻烦，因为没有人吃得很多。 Now Gregor's sister also had to help his mother with the cooking; although that was not so much bother as no-one ate very much. 格里高尔经常听到他们中有人如何不成功地劝另一个人吃饭，而对方的答复无非是"不用了，谢谢，我已经吃饱了"之类的话。 Gregor often heard how one of them would unsuccessfully urge another to eat, and receive no more answer than "no thanks, I've had enough" or something similar. 没有人喝很多。 No-one drank very much either. 他的妹妹有时候会问父亲想不想喝啤酒，希望能有机会自己去拿。 His sister would sometimes ask his father whether he would like a beer, hoping for the chance to go and fetch it herself. 当他父亲沉默不言时，她就会补充说她可以派女仆去取，好让他不觉得自私。但他父亲随即会用很大的声音说一句"不"来结束这个话题，之后就再也没有人开口了。 When his father then said nothing she would add, so that he would not feel selfish, that she could send the housekeeper for it, but then his father would close the matter with a big, loud "No", and no more would be said.
甚至在第一天还未结束，他的父亲便已向格雷戈尔的母亲和妹妹说明了他们的财务和前景。 Even before the first day had come to an end, his father had explained to Gregor's mother and sister what their finances and prospects were. 他不时从桌边站起身，从那个小现金盒里取出一些收据或文件——那是五年前他的生意倒闭时保留下来的。 Now and then he stood up from the table and took some receipt or document from the little cash box he had saved from his business when it had collapsed five years earlier. 格里高尔听到了他打开了那把复杂的锁，然后在取出他想要的东西之后又把它关上了。 Gregor heard how he opened the complicated lock and then closed it again after he had taken the item he wanted. 他听到父亲所说的话是格雷戈尔自从被禁闭在房间以来听到的最早的一些好消息。 What he heard his father say was some of the first good news that Gregor heard since he had first been incarcerated in his room. 他曾想，他父亲的生意里什么都没有留下，至少他从未对他说过有什么不同的，而格雷戈尔也从未问过他这件事。 He had thought that nothing at all remained from his father's business, at least he had never told him anything different, and Gregor had never asked him about it anyway. 他们生意的不幸使整个家族陷入了绝望的深渊,而格雷戈尔当时唯一的关切就是想办法让大家尽快忘掉这件事。 Their business misfortune had reduced the family to a state of total despair, and Gregor's only concern at that time had been to arrange things so that they could all forget about it as quickly as possible. 于是他开始格外努力地工作，带着炽热的热情，几乎在一夜之间从初级销售员升至旅行代表，随之而来的是以截然不同的方式赚取金钱的机会。 So then he started working especially hard, with a fiery vigour that raised him from a junior salesman to a travelling representative almost overnight, bringing with it the chance to earn money in quite different ways. 格雷戈尔把他工作中的成功直接转换成现金，铺在家里的餐桌上，供他既惊讶又欣喜的家人受益。 Gregor converted his success at work straight into cash that he could lay on the table at home for the benefit of his astonished and delighted family. 那些曾经是美好的时光，再也没有回来过，至少没有以同样的光彩重现。尽管格雷戈尔后来赚得足够多，足以承担整个家庭的开支，而且他确实这样做了。 They had been good times and they had never come again, at least not with the same splendour, even though Gregor had later earned so much that he was in a position to bear the costs of the whole family, and did bear them. 他们甚至都已经习惯了，无论是格雷戈尔还是家人，他们感激地接受了那笔钱，他很乐意提供，尽管作为回报，他们已经不再给予太多温暖的感情了。 They had even got used to it, both Gregor and the family, they took the money with gratitude and he was glad to provide it, although there was no longer much warm affection given in return. 格雷戈尔现在只和妹妹保持亲近。 Gregor only remained close to his sister now. 与他相比，她酷爱音乐，是一位才华横溢、表现力丰富的小提琴家。他暗地里计划明年把她送进音乐学院，尽管这需要巨大开支，而这笔开支必须通过其他方式来弥补。 Unlike him, she was very fond of music and a gifted and expressive violinist, it was his secret plan to send her to the conservatory next year even though it would cause great expense that would have to be made up for in some other way. 格雷戈尔在城镇短暂停留期间，他与妹妹的谈话常常涉及音乐学院，但它只被当作一个永远无法实现的美好梦想而被提及。 During Gregor's short periods in town, conversation with his sister would often turn to the conservatory but it was only ever mentioned as a lovely dream that could never be realised. 他们的父母不喜欢听这些天真的闲谈，但格雷戈尔仔细考虑了这个问题，决定在圣诞节那天以隆重的宣告方式告诉他们他的计划。 Their parents did not like to hear this innocent talk, but Gregor thought about it quite hard and decided he would let them know what he planned with a grand announcement of it on Christmas day.
那是那种完全无意义的想法，在他当时的状态下闪过脑海，他紧靠着门站直，侧耳倾听。 That was the sort of totally pointless thing that went through his mind in his present state, pressed upright against the door and listening. 有时，他会累得无法继续听下去，疲倦的头会靠在门上，然后他会突然惊醒般地抬起头，因为即便是他发出的最轻微的声音也能被隔壁听到，他们便都会安静下来。 There were times when he simply became too tired to continue listening, when his head would fall wearily against the door and he would pull it up again with a start, as even the slightest noise he caused would be heard next door and they would all go silent. "他现在在做什么？"他的父亲过了一会儿会这样说，显然已经走到了门边，只有到那时被打断的谈话才会慢慢地重新开始。 "What's that he's doing now", his father would say after a while, clearly having gone over to the door, and only then would the interrupted conversation slowly be taken up again.