LESSON 55

THE FORTUNE TELLER

占卜者

Henry Mackenzie, 1745-1831, was born in Edinburgh, educated at the university there, and died in the same city. He was an attorney by profession, and was the associate of many famous literary men residing at that time in Edinburgh. His fame as a writer rests chiefly on two novels, “The Man of Feeling” and “The Man of the World;” both were published before the author was forty years old.

Harley sat down on a large stone by the wayside, to take a pebble from his shoe, when he saw, at some distance, a beggar approaching him. He had on a loose sort of coat, mended with different-colored rags, among which the blue and russet were predominant. He had a short, knotty stick in his hand, and on the top of it was stuck a ram’s horn; he wore no shoes, and his stockings had entirely lost that part of them which would have covered his feet and ankles; in his face, however, was the plump appearance of good humor; he walked a good, round pace, and a crook-legged dog trotted at his heels.

“Our delicacies,” said Harley to himself, “are fantastic; they are not in nature! That beggar walks over the sharpest of these stones barefooted, whilst I have lost the most delightful dream in the world from the smallest of them happening to get into my shoe.” The beggar had by this time come up, and, pulling off a piece of a hat, asked charity of Harley. The dog began to beg, too. It was impossible to resist both; and, in truth, the want of shoes and stockings had made both unnecessary, for Harley had destined sixpence for him before.

The beggar, on receiving it, poured forth blessings without number; and, with a sort of smile on his countenance, said to Harley that if he wanted to have his fortune told—Harley turned his eye briskly upon the beggar; it was an unpromising look for the subject of a prediction, and silenced the prophet immediately. “I would much rather learn” said Harley, “what it is in your power to tell me. Your trade must be an entertaining one; sit down on this stone, and let me know something of your profession; I have often thought of turning fortune teller for a week or two, myself.”

“Master,” replied the beggar, “I like your frankness much, for I had the humor of plain dealing in me from a child; but there is no doing with it in this world,—we must do as we can; and lying is, as you call it, my profession. But I was in some sort forced to the trade, for I once dealt in telling the truth. I was a laborer, sir, and gained as much as to make me live. I never laid by, indeed, for I was reckoned a piece of a wag, and your wags, I take it, are seldom rich, Mr. Harley.” “So,” said Harley, “you seem to know me.” “Ay, there are few folks in the country that I don’t know something of. How should I tell fortunes else?” “True,—but go on with your story; you were a laborer, you say, and a wag; your industry, I suppose, you left with your old trade; but your humor you preserved to be of use to you in your new.”

“What signifies sadness, sir? A man grows lean on ’t. But I was brought to my idleness by degrees; sickness first disabled me, and it went against my stomach to work, ever after. But, in truth, I was for a long time so weak that I spit blood whenever I attempted to work. I had no relation living, and I never kept a friend above a week when I was able to joke. Thus I was forced to beg my bread, and a sorry trade I have found it, Mr. Harley. I told all my misfortunes truly, but they were seldom believed; and the few who gave me a half-penny as they passed, did it with a shake of the head, and an injunction not to trouble them with a long story. In short, I found that people do n’t care to give alms without some security for their money,—such as a wooden leg, or a withered arm, for example. So I changed my plan, and instead of telling my own misfortunes, began to prophesy happiness to others.

“This I found by much the better way. Folks will always listen when the tale is their own, and of many who say they do not believe in fortune telling, I have known few on whom it had not a very sensible effect. I pick up the names of their acquaintance; amours and little squabbles are easily gleaned from among servants and neighbors; and, indeed, people themselves are the best intelligencers in the world for our purpose. They dare not puzzle us for their own sakes, for everyone is anxious to hear what he wishes to believe; and they who repeat it, to laugh at it when they have done, are generally more serious than their hearers are apt to imagine. With a tolerably good memory, and some share of cunning, I succeed reasonably well as a fortune teller. With this, and showing the tricks of that dog, I make shift to pick up a livelihood.

“My trade is none of the most honest, yet people are not much cheated after all, who give a few half-pence for a prospect of happiness, which I have heard some persons say, is all a man can arrive at in this world. But I must bid you good day, sir; for I have three miles to walk before noon, to inform some boarding-school young ladies whether their husbands are to be peers of the realm or captains in the army; a question which I promised to answer them by that time.”

Harley had drawn a shilling from his pocket; but Virtue bade him to consider on whom he was going to bestow it. Virtue held back his arm; but a milder form, a younger sister of Virtue’s, not so severe as Virtue, nor so serious as Pity, smiled upon him; his fingers lost their compression; nor did Virtue appear to catch the money as it fell. It had no sooner reached the ground than the watchful cur (a trick he had been taught) snapped it up; and, contrary to the most approved method of stewardship, delivered it immediately into the hands of his master.

【中文阅读】

哈特利坐在道边一块大石头上，拾起脚下一个小石子。这时，他看到远处有一位乞丐正朝他这边走来。他穿了一件宽大的外套，上面补着各色补丁，其中蓝色和黄褐色补丁尤为显眼。他手上拿着一根很短的有瘤节的棍子，顶端绑着一只公羊角；他没有穿鞋，覆盖脚和踝关节的那部分长袜也完全不见了踪影。然而，他圆润的脸上现出的却是愉快的神情。他迈着轻松的方步，一条腿上有伤的狗紧紧跟着他。

“我们的美餐，”哈特利自语道，“太诱人了；从根本上讲他们不是一路的！那位乞丐赤脚踩在最尖的石子上，就是这个碰巧进到我鞋里的最不起眼的东西，把我的美梦给搅了。”这时，乞丐来到近前，掀了掀帽子，求哈特利施舍。那条狗也做出摇尾乞怜的样子。简直无法拒绝他们。其实，没穿鞋和长袜不是求人施舍的必要理由，因为哈特利以前给过他六便士。

乞丐边接过钱，嘴里边念念有词说了些祝福的话；他脸上绽出微笑表示赞许，问哈特利是否想占卜财运——哈特利的目光迅速转向乞丐。对于预卜先知来说，乞丐的表情不会给人带来任何期许，于是，这位先知马上不做声了。“我倒想知道，”哈特里说，“你能告诉我什么。想必你说的话只不过博别人一乐而已。请坐在这块石头上，跟我讲讲其中的门道。我经常设想自己能做一两个星期的占卜者呢。”

“先生，”乞丐答道，“我非常喜欢你的坦诚，因为从孩提时代开始，我就刻意培养自己的幽默感；但是，这个世界上真的没有幽默的窍门——我们必须竭尽全力；正如你所说的，撒谎是我的职业。但是，在某种程度上我是被迫这样的。因为，我也曾经一句谎话不说。我是个工人，挣的钱足够我生活。确实，绝对不会没人理我，因为人们都把我当作爱说笑打趣的人了。而你呢，哈特利先生，我认为缺少幽默感。”“如此说来，”哈特利说，“你似乎很了解我啊。”“哎，在这个国家里我不了解的人还不多呢。除了占卜财运，我还能说些什么呢？”“这是大实话——请接着讲你的故事吧，你说过，你是做工的，是个爱说笑打趣的人；我猜想，你的勤奋都留给以前的工作了；不过，你的幽默感肯定能在做新工作时用上。”

“忧伤指的是什么，先生？一个人在成长的过程中离不开忧伤。但是，我的懒惰是逐渐养成的。首先，疾病使我丧失了继续工作的能力，从此我的胃老有毛病。但是事实上，很长时间以来我的身体一直很虚弱，以至于每当我打算找工作时就咯血。我要工作与不是为了维持生计，当我能开玩笑时，从未与一个朋友保持一个星期以上的交往。我被迫乞讨，我发现这个可悲的行当很适合我，哈特利先生。我在讲述我的所有不幸时是真诚的，可是那些人很少相信我说的话。在他们从我身边经过时，连半个便士都不会给的，他们所能做的就是摇摇头，禁止乞讨的命令并非指的是用一个冗长的故事来使他们心烦。简而言之，我发现人们并不在意在没有安全感的情况下给施舍物，把施舍物当做钱。譬如，一条木头腿，或者一只干瘪的胳膊。于是，我改变了计划，不再讲述自己的不幸，开始为别人占卜幸福。”

“结果我发现这个办法很灵。当故事的主人公是他们自己时，他们始终听得有滋有味。那些不相信占卜的人，很少对个人钱财不敏感。我提到的都是他们老相识的名字；在仆人和邻居中间很容易搜集一些风流韵事和吵嘴的事情；诚然，那些人本身就是这个世界上最出色的情报员。出于自己利益的考虑，他们不敢为难我们，因为每个人都急于想知道他们希望相信什么。那些一再重复的人，反而对自己做的事情嗤之以鼻，一般而言这要比倾听他们的人易于想象的更严重。由于记忆力颇好，在某种程度上也少不了狡猾，作为一名占卜者我能成功就显得合情合理了。再者，那条狗很会玩把戏，因此我就这样谋生。”

“我干的这一行算不上诚实，不过人们毕竟没有被骗多少钱，我曾听一些人说过，那些给几便士来占卜未来幸福的，都是一个人来到这个世界上的人。但是先生，我必须和你赌今天天气好，因为在中午前我还要步行三英里，向寄宿学校的年轻女士打听她们的丈夫是否是有身份的人，或者在军队担任军官；那时，我保证回答她们提出的一个问题。”

哈特利从衣袋里掏出一先令；但是，道德天使让他对应该把这一先令给谁略加思量。道德天使拽住了他的胳膊，不过这是一种温和的方式，是道德天使的妹妹，不像道德天使那样严厉。也不像怜悯天使那样庄重，他脸上浮出微笑。他的手指没有紧捏着那一先令，显然道德天使也不会紧攥着钱的。就在这一先令快要落地时，那条警觉的狗赶忙衔住，马上把钱交到主人的手上。