张保红文学翻译作业6(小说EC)-原文

Nephew from Turkey

Ilyas Halil

One day last year, there was a sudden knock on the door. Without warning, my nephew had arrived from Turkey! When I had last seen him, he was knee-high to a grasshopper, with timid eyes, ears like two fans, two front teeth missing, short hair and continually dirty hands. You know, the look that fits every nephew. I liked and was closely attached to him. With that knee-high-to-a-grasshopper size, he used to look up at me as if viewing a telephone pole, his amber eyes smiling and secretly making fun of me. The legs sticking out of his short pants were a little crooked. Though his eyes were straight, he appeared a bit cross-eyed. I felt sorry when I looked at him…and I never got angry with him or hit him. When we talked, he seemed to have a weight on his shoulders and appeared offended. When he was guilty, this attribute definitely worsened. His eyes grew moist and his voice softened to where he could hardly be heard; it trembled like a leaf. Those who saw him, thought him an orphan and felt sorry. They felt like putting their hands in their pockets and giving him some spending money or candy. In spite of my hitting my other nephews for any old thing, this one I cou ldn‟t touch. I loved the little son of a gun!

At home, no matter who got angry, our nephew managed to keep his distance. If you spoke to him, he didn‟t reply. If he did answer, it was quietly. Even if you hit him, he was quiet. When taking a beating, instead of increasing, his wailing decreased. Thus, the anger of who ever was beating him turned to compassion and the boy was saved from further punishment. Only much later did I come to this conclusion. When talking with others I observed that our lad had neither crooked legs, cross-eyes nor big ears hanging like fig leaves. Furthermore, when he got mad, he knew how to yell his head off. It was only when he detected danger that his legs went crooked, his ears grew and his eyes crossed.

I hadn‟t seen my nephew for the fifteen years since I had emigrated to Canada. He had become a strapping young man, handsome and strong! After bidding him welcome, I asked a few questions about what he planned to do.

“What job will you take, Nephew?‟

“Golly, Uncle, I‟ll do any jo b there is. Nothing will get away fro m me. Just say it, I‟ll do it.

I‟ve done everything! I‟ve been a carpenter, electrician, peddler, shoemaker, tailor, auto mechanic; you want more? I‟ve been all of these!”

“Too bad! So you didn‟t get the chance to go to college?”

“What kind of talk is that, Uncle! I finished law school.”

“Very well, my boy, but how did you find time to do all these things? You‟re only twenty-three years old! How did you manage all these jobs and still go to college?”

“Uncle, don‟t worry about the details! Just eat the grapes and don‟t ask about the vineyard! If you don‟t believe me, show me a broken electric sewing machine, radio, electric shaver or a juicer and I‟ll repair it. You can‟t tell a suit I‟ve reversed the cloth on from a new o ne. If I turn that handkerchief pocket over it will look real sharp! It‟s not hard to sell old clothes for new! If it‟s food you want, let me cook for you today! See if what I cook isn‟t so delicious you can‟t eat enough of it? The flavor will stay on your palate a hundred years! There‟s nothing I don‟t know, Uncle!”

I saw that our boy certainly had learned “to shoot the bull.” I‟ve heard of all types but never one like this. The boy was a walking trades guild! Furthermore, he had studied law! Be logical, I thought to myself. If a person spent two years learning each job, it would take fifty years to learn all these professions. “Something‟s rotten in Denmark.” It‟ll probably surface later!

“What job can you get here? Forget law for now. The source of Canadi an law is not Roman law. Napoleonic Civil Law isn‟t in effect here, either, ” I told him.

“Napoleonic Law? What‟s that? We didn‟t study such law.”

“You mean you don‟t know who Napoleon was?”

“No,” replied our nephew.

“So-o-o, what kind of history did you s tudy?‟

“Ordinary history, Uncle! Only we didn‟t have a history teacher. A captain came to our class, a history buff from the nearby regiment. He gave us lots of lessons on soldiering and the repair of weapons. Because of him, I became a Number One gunsmith. Bring whatever you want! Blindfolded, I can take apart a machine gun and assemble it again, I can even repair heavy tanks. If you want, I‟ll make you a pistol form a water pipe! I know lots about weapons. Our captain used to say, “After you know weapons,you make history yourself. There‟s no need to learn history someone else has made!” I don‟t know who defeated whom in battle nor what year. What do I care?