四位少婦的對話 A Conversation Between Four Young Wives

 
    
    某天中午，我趕時間要去辦事情，就在方便快速的麥當勞用餐。當我正坐下來準備享用食物，聽見耳邊傳來一連串對話，這會特別引起我的注意，除了因為他們說話聲音太大，最主要的原因是，我覺得他們的對話內容，有一種好不真實的感覺，似乎連續劇中的對白，卻在真實生活中上演！那是來自我隔壁桌，四位少婦的對談：

    At noon one day, I was short on time for running errands, so I got a meal in a McDonald's, quick and convenient. As I was sitting down to enjoy some food, I heard a series of conversations from the corner of my ear. This particularly caught my attention, but not just because their gossiping voices were too loud. The main reason was that I thought the content of their discussion had a kind of insincere feeling to it, as if it were a soap opera dialogue, but one that was being performed in real life! It came from the table next to me, a conversation between four young wives:

    甲婦面帶愁容，安靜聆聽她的朋友說話。

  乙婦說：「妳老公買了兩套衣服，妳也要跟著買，現在妳老公都不想帶妳出門了，如何抓住他的心。」

  丙婦說：「連妳老公、小孩都嫌棄妳了，妳要去整整衣服和髮型了。」

  丁婦說：「一天當中，只要有人（甚至路人）說妳好漂亮，氣色好好哇! 妳整個人就會高興不得了，精神就來了！」

  乙婦說：「妳悶著一張苦瓜臉，老實說，連我都不想接近妳了……」

  我實在忍不住轉頭看看她們說話的神情，是那麼「自以為是的自信」，我心想：「天啊！這是怎樣的一羣『朋友』啊！」

    The first woman looked rather worried as she quietly listened to her friends talk.

    The second woman said: " Your husband bought two sets of clothes, so you should buy two sets. Your husband doesn't even take you out anymore, how are you keeping him interested?"

    The third woman said: "Even though your husband and your children despise you, you should go all out for the clothes and hairstyles."

    The fourth woman said: "During the day, all you need are people (even people on the street) to say how beautiful you are and how great your complexion is! You'll be sooo happy, and energetic too!"

    The second woman said: "You and your bunched up bitter face, honestly, even I don't want to be near you...."

    I really couldn't help but turn my head and look at their expressions, which were just that "I am sooo self-confident" look. I thought to myself "My goodness, how is this a group of friends?!"

    就在此時，甲婦的兒子來找她，只對她說了一句「我要走了！」然後她小孩就真的掉頭就走、說走就走，非常有個性，也不管媽媽是否還要留下來……此刻，我終於聽見甲婦說話了，她大喊一聲「兒子~~」就追了出去，我望著她孤寂的背影，耳邊聽見她的朋友說：「她能怪誰呢？只能怪自己，誰叫她要讓小孩牽著鼻子走！」此時此刻，我覺得她的背影顯得更加孤寂無奈了……

    At that moment, the son of the first woman came up, and only said to her "I wanna go!" then her son turned and left—I wanna go so let's go. He was really rude, and also didn't care if his mom still wanted to stay or not.....then, I finally heard the first woman speak: she shouted, "…son!" and followed him out. I stared at her lonely silhouette and overheard her friend say "Who is she to blame? She can only blame herself. Who's the one letting her own child lead her by the nose?!" At that moment, I thought her silhouette looked even more lonely and helpless...

    雖然我不認識她，我卻為她感到難過，我幾乎可以想像，她的婚姻與家庭生活充滿了恐懼不安，她得不到家人的關愛與尊重，甚至週遭朋友也帶給她無形的傷害，她的遭遇真讓人有一種難以言喻的悲哀！

    Although I don't know her, I really felt sorry for her. I can almost imagine how her marriage and family life must be full of fear and anxiety, how she doesn't receive a family's love and respect. Even being around friends gives her an invisible pain. Her misfortune would really make people feel a kind of indescribable sadness!

    然而，在這同時，我也不由自主地想起我的先生和孩子，我內心突然升起由衷的感謝，因為我從來不必擔心要如何穿著打扮來取悅丈夫，從來不曾煩惱要如何抓住他的心，而我的孩子最愛對我甜言蜜語，似乎無論我看起來如何，我永遠都是他們心目中最最漂亮可愛的媽咪！我的家人是如此接納我、關愛我、肯定我，讓我的婚姻與家庭生活充滿安全感與自由！

    At the same time, however, I couldn't help but think of my husband and children. My heart suddenly rises to a heartfelt gratitude, because I've never had to worry about how to dress in order to please my husband, I've never once had to fret over how to keep him interested, and my children love to say the most sweetest things to me, it seems like no matter how I look, in their minds I'll always be the absolute most prettiest cutest mommy! My family accepts me like this, and loves me, the real me, which makes my marriage and family life filled with a sense of security and freedom!

    婚姻中那份安全感和自由自在是何其寶貴，遠勝過任何浪漫感受。聖經「箴言」中有一句話說：「艷麗是虛假的，美容是虛浮的，惟敬畏耶和華的婦女必得稱讚！」（箴言31：30） 我相信「自然就是美」，從內在生命所散發出的光芒才是真正的美麗，你同意嗎？也許我們都能愈老愈美麗！

     In a marriage, that sense of security and freedom is so precious, and far better than any kind of romantic feeling. In the Bible, the book of Proverbs has a saying, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised!" (Proverbs 31:30) I believe that "what is natural is beautiful" and that the brilliant radiance of life emitting from within us all is the only true beauty, don't you agree? Perhaps we all can become more beautiful as we age!

作者:譚亞菁 Oct.21, 2012

Translated by Parker Gadbois