但那布鞋底声却愈响愈逼近，觉得终于停在她的身边了，于是不免转过眼去看，只见四铭就在她面前耸肩曲背的狠命掏着布马挂底下的袍子的大襟后面的口袋。
But the tread of cloth shoes drew nearer and nearer, till it finally stopped beside her.Then she could not help looking up to see Siming before her, hunching his shoulders and stooping forward to fumble desperately under his cloth jacket in the inner pocket of his long gown.
他好容易曲曲折折的汇出手来，手里就有一个小小的长方包，葵绿色的，一径递给四太太。
With many a twist and turn, he eventually succeeded in recovering a hand from the depths of his clothing.
It held a small rectangular package of sunflower green, which he handed to his wife.
她刚接到手，就闻到一阵似橄榄非橄榄的说不清的香味，还看见葵绿色的纸包上有一个金光灿烂的印子和许多细簇簇的花纹。
As she took it from him, she smelt a scent she couldn't quite put her finger on - that might or might not have been olive - and noticed the packet was emblazoned with a bright gold insignia, thronged by an elaborate network of finely wrought patterns.
秀儿即刻跳过来要抢着看，四太太赶忙推开她。
Xiu'er charged over to have a look, but was deftly pushed out of the way by her mother.
他看着她手里的纸包，说。
he answered, looking at the package in her hands.
于是这葵绿色的纸包被打开了，里面还有一层很薄的纸，也是葵绿色，揭开薄纸，才露出那东西的本身来，光滑坚致，也是葵绿色，上面还有细簇簇的花纹，而薄纸原来却是米色的，似橄榄非橄榄的说不清的香味也来得更浓了。
At this juncture the sunflower green package was opened.
Underneath the outside wrapper was a layer of very thin paper.
It proved to be sunflower green as well.
Only when this second layer was peeled away was the object itself revealed at last: it too was sunflower green and carried a few bouquets of fine-lined patterns, just like those on the outer wrapper.
Now one could tell that the thin second layer of paper was actually rice colored.
The odor, which Siming's wife could not quite identify but was something like an olive, grew heavier.
她捧孩子似的将那葵绿色的东西送到鼻子下面去，嗅着说。
she said, deeply inhaling the aroma of the package.She lifted it to her nose with all the loving care one might exhibit when handling a baby.”
她看见他嘴里这么说，眼光却射在她的脖子上，便觉得颧骨以下的脸上似乎有些热。
She saw his lips move to form these words but noted that his eyes were fixed on her neck; she seemed to sense a touch of warmth in her cheeks.
她有时自己偶然摸到脖子上，尤其是耳朵后，指面上总感着些粗糙，本来早就知道是积年的老泥，但向来倒也并不很介意。
Sometimes when she rubbed her neck, especially behind the ears, her fingers detected a roughness; and though she knew this was the accumulated dirt of many years, she had never given it much thought.
现在在他的注视之下，对着这葵绿异香的洋肥皂，可不禁脸上有些发热了，而且这热又不绝的蔓延开去，即刻一径到耳根。
Now, under his scrutiny, she could not help blushing as she looked at this green, foreign soap with the curious scent, and this blush spread right to the tips of her ears.
“有些地方，本来单用皂荚子是洗不干净的。”
"Well, when you come right down to it, there are certain places you can't get all that clean just using soap pods,"
“妈，这给我！”
'Give it here, Mother!”
秀儿伸手来抢葵绿纸；在外面玩耍的小女儿招儿也跑到了。
As Xiu'er reached out for the palm-leaf-green paper, Zhao'er, the younger daughter who had been playing outside, came running in too.
四太太赶忙推开她们，裹好薄纸，又照旧包上葵绿纸，欠过身去搁在洗脸台上最高的一层格子上，看一看，翻身仍然糊纸锭。
Mrs.Siming promptly pushed them both aside, folded the thin paper in place, wrapped the green paper round it as before, then leant over to put it on the highest shelf of the wash-stand.After one final glance, she turned back to her paper coins.
四铭记起了一件事似的，忽而拖长了声音叫，就在她对面的一把高背椅子上坐下了。
Siming, apparently having just remembered something or other, stretched out his voice and called his son.
That task completed, he sat down in a high-backed chair across from his wife.
她停下糊纸锭，侧耳一听，什么响应也没有，又见他仰着头焦急的等着，不禁很有些抱歉了，便尽力提高了喉咙，尖利的叫：“[纟全]儿呀！”
She stopped pasting coins to listen, but not a sound could she hear.When she saw him with upturned head waiting so impatiently, she felt quite apologetic.“Xuecheng!”^she called shrilly at the top of her voice.
这一叫确乎有效，就听到皮鞋声橐橐的近来，不一会，[纟全]儿已站在她面前了，只穿短衣，肥胖的圆脸上亮晶晶的流着油汗。
This last call proved eminently effective and the squeak squeak of approaching leather shoes was soon heard.
Before long Shuan'er stood before her.
He was wearing a T-shirt.
Glistening beads of sweat dripped down his fat round face.
怎么爹叫也不听见？”
“Why didn't you hear your father call?”
她谴责的说。
she scolded him. ^+1'Why didn't you hear your father calling you?'
他立即转身向了四铭，笔挺的站着，看着他，意思是问他什么事。
He now turned to face Siming, expectantly straight-backed.-
“学程，我就要问你：‘恶毒妇’是什么？”
"Xuecheng, what is an e-du-fu?”
胡闹！”
The idea!”
学程吓得倒退了两步，站得更挺了。
Frightened, Xuecheng retreated a step or two and stood at an even more wooden attention.
他虽然有时觉得他走路很像上台的老生，却从没有将他当作女人看待，他知道自己答的很错了。
Though his father's gait sometimes reminded him of the way old men walked in Beijing opera, he had never considered Siming as a woman.
His answer, he saw now, had been a great mistake.