标题：背影 The Sight of Father's Back
作者：朱自清 Zhu ziqing
—译文摘自张培基《英译中国散文选一》
I said,"Dad, you might leave now."But he looked out of window and said,"I'm going to buy you some tangerines.You just stay here.Don't move around."I caught sight of several vendors waiting for customers outside the railings beyond a platform.But to reach that platform would require crossing the railway track and doing some climbing up and down.That would be a strenuous job for father,who was fat.I wanted to do all that myself,but he stopped me,so I could do nothing but let him go.I watched him hobble towards the railway track in his black skullcap,black cloth mandarin jacket and dark blue cotton-padded cloth long gown.He had little trouble climbing down the railway track,but it was a lot more difficult for him to climb up that platform after crossing the railway track.His hands held onto the upper part of the platform,his legs huddled up and his corpulent body tipped slightly towards the left,obviously making an enormous exertion.While I was watching him from behind,tears gushed from my eyes.I quickly wiped them away lest he or others should catch me crying.The next moment when I looked out of the window again,father was already on the way back,holding bright red tangerines in both hands.
我说道：“爸爸，你走吧。”他往车外看了看说：“我买几个橘子去。你就在此地，不要动。”我看那边月台的栅栏外有几个卖东西的人等着顾客。走到那边月台，须穿过铁道，须跳下去又爬上去。父亲是一个胖子，走过去自然要费些事。我本来要去的，他不肯，只好让他去。我看见他戴着黑布小帽，穿着黑布大马褂，深青布棉袍，蹒跚地走到铁道边，慢慢探身下去，尚不大难。可是他穿过铁道，要爬上那边月台，就不容易了。他用两手攀着上面，两脚再向上缩；他肥胖的身姿向左微倾，显出努力的样子。这时我看见他的背影，我的眼泪很快的流下来了。我赶紧拭干了眼泪，怕他看见，也怕别人看见。我再向外看时，他已抱了朱红的橘子往回走了。
In crossing the railway track,he first put the tangerines on the ground,climbed down slowly and then picked the up again.When he came near the train,I hurried out to help him by the hand.After boarding the train with me,he laid all the tangerines on my overcoat,and patting the dirt off his clothes,he looked somewhat relieved and said after a while,"I must be going now.Don't forget to write me from Beijing!"I gazed after his back retreating out of the carriage.After a few steps,he looked back at me and said,"Go back to your seat.Don't leave your things alone."I,however,did not go back to my seat until his figure was lost among crowds of people hurrying to and fro and no longer visible.My eyes were again wet with tears.
过铁道时，他先将橘子散放在地上，自己慢慢爬下，在抱起橘子走。到这边时，我赶紧去搀他。他和我走到车上，将橘子一股脑儿放在我的皮大衣上。于是扑扑衣上泥土，心里很轻松似的，过了一会说：“我走了，到那边来信！”我望着他走出去。他走了几步，回过头看见我：“进去吧，里边没人。”等他的背影混入来来往往的人里，再找不着了，我便进来坐下，我的眼泪又来了。
生词笔记：
tangerine：n 橘子
vendor：n 摊贩，供应商
railing：n 栏杆
platform：n 站台
railway：n 铁路
strenuous：adj 费力的
hobble：v 蹒跚
skullcap：n 无边小帽
mandarin jacket：大马褂
huddle：v 蜷缩
corpulent：adj 发福的
tip：v 倾斜
enormous：adj 巨大的；极大的
exertion：n 努力；尽力；费力
gush：v 涌出；冒出
lest：conj 免得；以免
overcoat：n 大衣
pat：v 轻拍；拍打
relieved：adj 感到宽慰的；显得开心的
retreat：v 离去；后退
carriage：n （火车的）客车箱
visible：adj 可见的