但是坐在那株爬上去一纵身就可 落在潭里的树下，想来想去，终没有力气跳了。
I sat under a tree on the shore of Jiumu Lake and thought of committing suicide. 1 wanted to climb the tree and dive into the water and drown myself, but, after thinking about it, I lost courage.
我就告诉她，请她代我借一笔 款，或向什么人家的小姐借些衣服或首饰去暂时当一当，免得王狼底 狼一般的绿眼睛天天在家里闪烁。
I told her what had happened and asked her if she could borrow some money for me, or some lady's dresses and ornaments that I could pawn to pay Wang Lang so that he'd no longer be prowling after me like a wolf.
可是沈家婆向我笑道： '你还将妻养在家里做什么呢，你自己黄也黄到这个地步了？
Shen only smiled and said, ' What do you keep your wife at home for?
但妻一---' "我当时想：'莫非叫我卖去妻子么？
But as for your wife..." T thought she meant that I should sell you, but she added.
"这样，她就直说出：'有一个秀才，因为没有儿子，年纪已经五 十岁了，想买一个妾，又因他底大妻不允许，只准他典一个，典三年 或五年，叫我物色相当的女人：年纪约三十岁左右，养过两三个儿子 的，人要沉默老实，又肯做事，还要对他底大妻肯低眉下首。
Starve her to death?' "Then she said straight out, "There's a fifty-year-old scholar who wants a concubine to bear him a son since his wife is barren.
这次是 秀才娘子向我说的，假如条件合，肯出八十元或一百元的身价。
The scholar's wife has told me that they are willing to pay from eighty to a hundred dollars for the right sort of woman.
我代 她寻了好几天，终没有相当的女人。
I've looked around for one for several days, but without any luck.
他底妻简直痴似的， 话一句没有。
Both she and her husband were speechless.
沈家婆 并将日子也拣定了---本月十八，五天后。
Shen has fixed the date for you to gO the eighteenth of this month, that is, five days from now.
" "倒霉的事情呀，我---一点也没有别的方法了么？
Can't we really do anything else?" "It's terrible, I know.
" "倒霉，我也想到过，可是穷了，我们又不肯死，有什么办法？
But we're poor and we don't want to die.
今年，我怕连插秧也不能插了。
I'm afraid this year I won't even be asked to do any transplanting." "Have you thought about Chun Bao?
春宝还只有三岁，没有娘，他怎么好呢？
He's only three.
她，却鸣呜咽咽地哭起 来。
She broke into uncontrolled sobs.
这时，在她过去的回忆里，却想起恰恰一年前的事：那时她生下 了一个女儿，她简直如死去一般地卧在床上。
Then, looking back upon the past, she remembered what had just happened one year before: She was lying on her bed more dead than alive after giving birth to a baby girl.
死还是整个的，她却肢 体分作四碎与五裂：刚落地的女婴，在地上的干草堆上叫："呱呀，呱 呀，"声音很重的，手脚揪缩。
The newborn infant was lying on a heap of straw on the ground, crying at the top of her lungs and twitching her little limbs.
脐带绕在她底身上，胎盘落在一边，她 很想挣扎起来给她洗好，可是她底头昂起来，身子凝滞在床上。
But she could only manage to lift her head while her whole body seemed to remain glued to the bed.
这样， 她看见她底丈夫，这个凶狠的男子，绯红着脸，提了一桶沸水到女婴 的旁边。
All of a sudden she saw her husband, fierce and flushed, come up to the baby with a bucket of boiling water. "Stop, stop! she threw what little strength she had into yelling at him.
"她低低地叹息了 一声。
He remained silent for quite a while.
一盏油灯点 在灶前，萤火那么的光亮。
In front of the stove stood an oil lamp, its light flickering like that of a fire-fly.
她，手里抱着春宝，将她底头贴在他底头发 上。
Holding Chun Bao close to her bosom, she pressed her head against his hair.
" 她擦一擦眼睛，孩子放松口子问： "妈妈哪里去呢？
The little boy became inquisitive, "Mummy, where are you going?
" "爸爸不再打你了，"同时用她底左手抚摸着孩子底右额，在这 上，有他父亲在杀死他刚生下的妹妹后第三天，用锄柄敲他，肿起而 又平复了的伤痕。
In three years Before she had finished talking the child sadly interrupted her, "Daddy will beat me!" "Daddy will never beat you again." Her left hand was stroking the scar on the right side of the boy's forehead a reminder of the blow dealt by her husband with the handle of a hoe three days after he killed the baby girl.
她似要还想对孩子说话，她底丈夫踏进门了。
She was about to speak to the boy again when her husband came in.