第4章 IN A BARBER's SHOP[1]

As soon as[2] you enter a barber's shop,you lose your freedom.[3] You are not to regain[4] it till you have paid for it after a full hour's slavery.[5]

Well,[6]you may not wish to call it slavery.You may call it enjoyment.Many persons call it enjoyment; perhaps they enjoy slavery.Drunkards[7] enjoy being slaves to drink.[8] Young lovers enjoy being slaves of their sweethearts' caprices.[9]And many persons enjoy being slaves to a barber once a week!

I,for one,[10] do not enjoy being a slave to a barber.As soon as I enter a barber's shop,I feel I lose both my freedom and my dignity.[11] For I have to resign[12] myself,and especially that important part of myself,the head,to the control of an ignorant[13] or at least ill-educated[14]barber(I beg barbers' pardon).He turns about my head as though[15] it were his own instead of mine.He sometimes offers me a newspaper as much as to say,[16] "While I improve the outside of your head for you,you ought to improve its inside[17]yourself".But in fact[18],he does not care a bit[19] about what is in my head.He treats my head,which contains a knowledge of English grammar,rhetoric,[20] phonetics,[21] literary history,[22] versification,[23]etc.,in the same way as any head that does not contain a single word of English.

Talking of [24] English,I wonder[25] why the barbers in some fashionable shops in Shanghai often speak English - surely pidgin English[26]- among themselves.But this is by the way.[27]

To return to[28] the question of slavery.I feel my slavery more keenly as often as[29]I look into the glass before me.Is it not enough to make a slave of me? Is it necessary to remind[30]me that I am a slave?

I am glad that I do not make so much of [31] my hair as to require it to be shampooed[32] or singed[33]in a barber's shop.I want to have my hair cut,and have it cut,that's all.[34] Thus,if[35] I have to be a slave once every three or four weeks,my period of slavery is always a short one.

Emerging[36] from a barber's shop,I often heave a sigh of relief.[37]

注释

[1]barber's shop：理发店

[2]as soon as：一俟

[3]lose my freedom：失去我之自由

[4]are not to regain：不可复得

[5]a full hour's slavery：足有一小时之奴隶生活

[6]well：语气助词

[7]drunkards：酒徒

[8]enjoy being slaves to drink：以耽于狂饮为乐

[9]their sweethearts’ caprices：彼等之情人之任性

[10]for one：就我个人而言

[11]dignity：尊严

[12]resign：抛弃

[13]ignorant：无知识的

[14]ill-educated：教育不良的

[15]as though：宛如

[16]as much as to say：若曰

[17]improve its inside：改善其内部（意即增加知识）

[18]in fact：在事实上

[19]does not care a bit：毫不留意

[20]rhetoric：修辞学

[21]phonetics：语音学

[22]literary history：文学史

[23]versification：诗学

[24]Talking of：今既论及……

[25]wonder：不知；不解

[26]pidgin English：洋泾浜英语（一种中国人与欧美人间所用之极不纯正之英语，“pidgin”原系“business”之转误）

[27]by the way：偶然说及

[28]To return to：回至；再说

[29]as often as：每次

[30]remind：提醒

[31]make so much of：如是重视

[32]shampooed：用洗发水洗

[33]singed：烫

[34]that's（= that is）all：如是而已

[35]if：虽

[36]Emerging：走出

[37]heave a sigh of relief：因得安慰而叹息