Night Drive 暗夜飛車

魯本·豐塞卡　巫和雄

I arrived home with my briefcase bulging with papers， reports， studies， research， proposals， contracts. My wife， who was playing solitaire3 in bed， a glass of whiskey on the nightstand， said， without looking up from the cards， ‘You look tired.’ The usual house sounds： my daughter in her room practicing voice modulation4， quadraphonic music5 from my son’s room. ‘Why don’t you put down that suitcase？’ my wife asked. ‘Take off those clothes， have a nice glass of whiskey. You’ve got to learn to relax.’

I went to the library， the place in the house I enjoy being by myself， and as usual did nothing. I opened the research volume on the desk but didn’t see the letters and numbers. I was merely waiting.

‘You never stop working. I’ll bet your partners don’t work half as hard and they earn the same.’ My wife came into the room， a glass in her hand. ‘Can I tell her to serve dinner？’

The maid served the meal French style6. My children had grown up， my wife and I were fat. ‘It’s that wine you like，’ she said， clicking her tongue with pleasure. My son asked for money during the coffee course， my daughter asked for money during the liqueur7. My wife didn’t ask for anything; we have a joint checking account8.

‘Shall we go for a drive？’ I asked her. I knew she wouldn’t go—it was time for her soap opera.

‘I don’t see what you get out of going for a drive every night， but the car cost a fortune， it has to be used. I’m just less and less attracted to material things，’ she replied.

The children’s cars were blocking the garage door， preventing me from removing my car. I moved both cars and parked them in the street， removed my car and parked it in the street， put the other two cars back in the garage， and closed the door. All this maneuvering9 left me slightly irritated， but when I saw my car’s jutting bumpers10， the special chrome-plated double reinforcement11， I felt my heart race with euphoria12.

I turned the ignition key. It was a powerful motor that generated its strength silently beneath the aerodynamic hood. As always， I left without knowing where I would go. It had to be a deserted street， in this city with more people than flies. Not the Avenida Brasil13—too busy.

I came to a poorly lighted street， heavy with dark trees， the perfect spot. A man or a woman？ It made little difference， really， but no one with the right characteristics appeared. I began to get tense. It always happened that way， and I even liked it—the sense of relief was greater. Then I saw the woman. It could be her， even though a woman was less exciting because she was easier. She was walking quickly， carrying a package wrapped in cheap paper—something from a bakery or the market. She was wearing a skirt and blouse.

There were trees every twenty yards along the sidewalk， an interesting problem demanding a great deal of expertise. I turned off the headlights and accelerated. She only realized I was going for her when she heard the sound of the tires hitting the curb14. The motor would go from zero to sixty in eight seconds15. I could see that the woman’s broken body had come to rest， covered with blood， on top of the low wall in front of a house.

Back in the garage， I took a good look at the car. With pride I ran my hand lightly over the unmarked fenders16 and bumper. Few people in the world could match my skill driving such a car.

The family was watching television. ‘Do you feel better after your spin？’ my wife asked， lying on the sofa， staring fixedly at the TV screen.

‘I’m going to bed，’ I answered， ‘good night everybody. Tomorrow’s going to be a rough day at the office.’

我回到家，鼓鼓囊囊的手提箱里塞滿了論文報告、研究資料和提案合同，等等。妻子正在床上玩著紙牌接龍，床頭柜上還放著杯威士忌。她看著牌，頭也沒抬地說道：“你好像很累啊?！蔽堇锏膭屿o一如往常：女兒在房間里吊著嗓子，兒子房里也傳出立體聲音樂。“你怎么不把包放下？”妻子說道，“衣服脫了吧，來喝杯好酒，你得學著放松放松?！?/p>

走進書房，我像往常一樣，什么也不做，享受著獨處。我把研究卷冊攤開在桌上，上面的字母和數字卻一個也沒看進去。我只是在等。

“你就知道工作。我敢說，你那些同事肯定連你一半的努力都沒有，人家卻掙得跟你一樣多。”妻子走進房間，手上還拿著杯子，“我讓她開飯啦？”

女仆準備的是法式晚餐。孩子們都長大了，我和妻子也發福了。“這是你喜歡的那種酒?！逼拮訚M意地咂著嘴。喝咖啡的時候，兒子向我要零花錢，女兒則是在喝餐后酒時開的口。妻子什么都沒要，因為我們倆有一個聯名支票賬戶。

“要不要一起去兜風？”我問她。我知道她不會去的，這可是她看肥皂劇的時間。

“我真搞不懂，你天天晚上都出去兜風，有什么意思。不過買車也花了不少錢，是得多開開。對這些物質上的東西，我是越來越沒興趣了?！彼貞馈?/p>

孩子們的車堵在車庫門口，我的車沒法動。我把那兩輛車挪到路上，將自己的車開出來停好，再把那兩輛車開回車庫，關上了門。這一番折騰讓我有點惱火，可看見車前那凸出的雙層鍍鉻加固保險杠，我的情緒一下子又高漲了起來。

我轉動鑰匙點火，強勁的發動機在流線型引擎蓋下沉穩地輸出澎湃的動力。和往常一樣，我開出去的時候還不知道要去哪兒。在這個人比蒼蠅都多的城市里，我得去條偏僻的街道。巴西大道可不行——那兒太繁華了。

我來到一條光線昏暗的街道，路邊都是黑壓壓的樹——一個完美的地點。男人還是女人呢？其實沒什么區別，但是還沒有合適的人選出現。我開始緊張起來。我總是這樣，現在甚至都喜歡上這種感覺了：越緊張就越能得到釋放的快感。就在這時，我看見了那個女人。就她吧，雖然女人更容易對付，刺激感也會少一點。她行色匆匆，手上拎著不知是從面包店還是超市買的東西，用廉價的紙包著，身上穿著短裙和襯衫。

路邊每隔20碼就有棵樹。這倒是個有趣的問題，得有足夠的技巧才行。我關掉車頭燈，開始加速。直到聽見輪胎撞上路牙的聲音，她才意識到我是沖著她去的。車子從0到60邁加速只用了8秒。我能看見那女人被撞爛的驅體沾滿鮮血，委頓在一幢房子前的矮墻上。

回到車庫，我細細打量著車子，自豪地用手輕撫那毫發無損的擋泥板和保險杠。要論開這種車的技術，世上沒多少人能跟我相提并論。

家里人還在看電視。“兜過風感覺好點了吧？”妻子問道。她躺在沙發上，目不轉睛地盯著電視屏幕。

“我睡覺去了。”我答道，“大家晚安。明天辦公室還有得煩呢。”

（譯者單位：南京航空航天大學）

1巴西小說家，劇作家。一生創作類型多樣，包括短篇小說、長篇小說、電影劇本等，其中尤以短篇小說見長。其簡潔有力的筆觸、冷酷尖刻的語言，直指巴西社會最黑暗的一面。2003年獲得葡語文學的最高榮譽卡蒙斯獎，同年在墨西哥獲得胡安·魯爾福文學獎。Night Drive是豐塞卡的一篇代表性短篇小說。原文為葡語，經克利福德·E.蘭德斯（Clifford E. Landers）翻譯成英文，收錄在他編著的《文學翻譯指南》（Literary Translation—A Practical Guide， 2001）一書中。? 2英語語言文學博士，副教授。中國譯協專家會員、對外話語體系研究委員會委員、中國英漢語比較研究會會員、江蘇省司法廳法規規章翻譯特聘專家、天津外國語大學中央文獻翻譯研究基地兼職研究員。? 3 solitaire紙牌接龍，一種單人紙牌游戲。? 4 modulation轉調，變音，此處指練嗓子。? 5 quadraphonic music四聲道音樂。

6 French style法國風格的（晚餐）。? 7 liqueur利口酒，一種甜味酒精飲料，通常在飯后少量飲用。? 8 joint checking account聯名支票賬戶，可用支票從存款中支付款項。? 9 maneuver機動，移動。? 10 jutting bumpers凸出的保險杠。

11 chrome-plated double reinforcement雙層鍍鉻進行加固。? 12 euphoria特別愉快的情緒。? 13 Avenida Brasil巴西大道，位于巴西圣保羅的一條街道。? 14 curb路牙。

15 from zero to sixty in eight seconds汽車在8秒內從靜止加速到時速60英里。? 16 fender汽車擋泥板。