The Way of Escaping

脱身妙法

■戴海涛 选注

Norah had a cottage on a cliff above a big bay.1 In winter it could be very nasty because of strong winds and sea spray.2 In fact, when a gale3 was blowing, Norah and her husband got used to sleeping in a small room downstairs, because their bedroom upstairs, which faced the gales, had a very gig window, and they were afraid that an extra violent gust4 might break it and blow pieces of broken glass over them.

Also, the salt spray from the sea put an end to5 many of the colourful plants Norah planted in her garden. She tried putting up a fence to protect them, but the wind just hit it, went up over the top and then down the other side, so in the end she filled the garden with trees and bushes that liked salt.

But most of the summer Norah enjoyed her cottage and garden very much. At weekends she could sit our-of-doors in the sun, looking at the beautiful view, with interesting ships and boats passing by, and she could very easily cycle down to the sea for a swim.

Now,6 Norah and her husband had plenty of friends and relations. These people never came to visit them in winter, when it was wet and cloudy, and the weather did not make the position of the cottage on the coast very nice, but in the summer lots of them used to come to enjoy the beautiful place, and in the end it really became quite annoying7 for Norah and her husband. When they were at home, they found friends and relations arriving, expecting to be given unlimited drinks and meals, and to sit in the sun for hours, talking as if Norah and her husband had nothing else to do but entertain8 and listen to them.

This went on for several years. Norah did not wish to appear rude by refusing to let her friends and relations in, but on the other hand, she was getting tired every summer.

Then one day Norah was complaining about this to her hairdresser while she was doing her hair.9

"You're disturbed by too many uninvited guests, are you?"10 said the hairdresser. "Why don't you try my way of escaping?"

"What's that?" asked Norah.

"Well," the hairdresser answered, "when the bell rings, I put on my coat and take my shopping bag. If it's someone I don't want to see, I say innocently,11 'I'm sorry, but I've got to go out.' But if it's someone I want to see, I say, 'How lucky! I've just come in!'"

1. 诺拉有个别墅，坐落在一个海湾边的悬崖上。bay: 海湾（一般小于gulf）。
2. 在冬天，强大的海风和海浪有时会使天气特别糟糕。
　　could:（表示偶然发生的可能性，常与表示频率、时间等的状语连用）有时会，时而有可能；
　　nasty: （天气）非常恶劣的。
3. gale: 大风（7级至10级的风，尤指8级的风）。
4. extra在此处不是形容词“额外的”，而是副词“特别地，非常”；gust: 一阵强风（狂风）。
5. put an end to: 杀死，毁掉。
6. now在这里并不是表示“现在”，而只是用以引出后面的话，相当于“喏、嗳”。
7. annoying/2#n0ii9/: 讨厌的，烦人的。
8. entertain: 款待，招待。
9. do one's hair: 做头发。
10. 不请自来的客人太多，让你烦得不行，是吗？disturb: [常用被动语态]使烦恼。
11. innocently/#in2s2ntli/: 坦率地。