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∴~Many things can change a woman. Things that happen inside; things that happen outside. But the thing that matters most is what she thinks about herself..~∴
When I sailed to Kiniwata, an island in the Pacific, I took along a notebook. After I got back it was filled with descriptions of flora and fauna, native customs and costumes. But the only note that still interests me is the one that says: "Johnny Lingo gave eight cows to Sarita's father." And I don't need to have it in writing. I'm reminded of it every time I see a woman belittling her husband or a wife withering under her husband's scorn. I want to say to them, "You should know why Johnny Lingo paid eight cows for his wife."
Johnny Lingo wasn't exactly his name. But that's what Shenkin, the manager of the guest house on Kiniwata, called him. Shenkin was from Chicago and had a habit of Americanizing the names of the islanders. But Johnny was mentioned by many people in many connections. If I wanted to spend a few days on the neighboring island of Nurabandi, Johnny Lingo could put me up. If I wanted to fish, he could show me where the biting was best. If it was pearls I sought, he would bring me the best buys. The people of Kiniwata all spoke highly of Johnny Lingo. Yet when they spoke they smiled, and the smiles were slightly mocking.
“Get Johnny Lingo to help you find what you want and let him do the bargaining,” advised Shenkin. “Johnny knows how to make a deal.”
“Johnny Lingo!” A boy seated nearby hooted the name and rocked with laughter.
“What goes on?” I demanded. “Everybody tells me to get in touch with Johnny Lingo and then breaks up. Let me in on the joke.”
“Oh, the people like to laugh,” Shenkin said, shrugging. “Johnny’s the brightest, the strongest young man in the islands. And for his age, the richest.”
“But if he’s all you say, what is there to laugh about?”
“Only one thing. Five months ago, at fall festival, Johnny came to Kiniwata and found himself a wife. He paid her father eight cows!”
I knew enough about island customs to be impressed. Two or three cows would buy a fair-to-middling wife, four or five a highly satisfactory one.
“Good Lord!” I said. “Eight cows! She must have beauty that takes your breath away.”
“She’s not ugly,” he conceded, and smiled a little. “But the kindest could only call Sarita plain. Sam Karoo, her father, was afraid she’d be left on his hands.”
“But then he got eight cows for her? Isn’t that extraordinary?”
“Never been paid before.”
“Yet you call Johnny’s wife plain?”
“I said it would be kindness to call her plain. She was skinny. She walked with her shoulders hunched and her head ducked. She was scared of her own shadow.”
“Well,” I said, “I guess there’s just no accounting for love.”
“True enough,” agreed the man. “And that’s why the villagers grin when they talk about Johnny. They get special satisfaction from the fact that the sharpest trader in the islands was bested by dull old Sam Karoo.”
“But how?”
“No one knows and everyone wonders. All the cousins were urging Sam to ask for three cows and hold out for two until he was sure Johnny’d pay only one. Then Johnny came to Sam Karoo and said, ‘Father of Sarita, I offer eight cows for your daughter.’ ”
“Eight cows,” I murmured. “I’d like to meet this Johnny Lingo.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wanted fish. I wanted pearls. So the next afternoon I beached my boat at Nurabandi. And I noticed as I asked directions to Johnny’s house that his name brought no sly smile to the lips of his fellow Nurabandians. And when I met the slim, serious young man, when he welcomed me with grace to his home, I was glad that from his own people he had respect unmingled with mockery. We sat in his house and talked. Then he asked, “You come here from Kiniwata?”
“Yes.”
“They speak of me on that island?”
“They say there’s nothing I might want that you can’t help me get.”
He smiled gently. “My wife is from Kiniwata.”
“Yes, I know.”
“They speak of her?”
“A little.”
“What do they say?”
“Why, just….” The question caught me off balance. “They told me you were married at festival time.”
“Nothing more?” The curve of his eyebrows told me he knew there had to be more.
“They also say the marriage settlement was eight cows.” I paused. “They wonder why.”
“They ask that?” His eyes lighted with pleasure. “Everyone in Kiniwata knows about the eight cows?”
I nodded.
“And in Nurabandi everyone knows it too.” His chest expanded with satisfaction. “Always and forever, when they speak of marriage settlements, it will be remembered that Johnny Lingo paid eight cows for Sarita.”
So that’s the answer, I thought: vanity.
And then I saw her. I watched her enter the room to place flowers on the table. She stood still a moment to smile at the young man beside me. Then she went swiftly out again. She was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The lift of her shoulders, the tilt of her chin, the sparkle of her eyes all spelled a pride to which no one could deny her the right.
I turned back to Johnny Lingo and found him looking at me.
“You admire her?” he murmured.
“She…she’s glorious. But she’s not Sarita from Kiniwata,” I said.
“There’s only one Sarita. Perhaps she does not look the way they say she looked in Kiniwata.”
“She doesn’t. I heard she was homely. They all make fun of you because you let yourself be cheated by Sam Karoo.”
“You think eight cows were too many?” A smile slid over his lips.
“No. but how can she be so different?”
“Do you ever think,” he asked, “what it must mean to a woman to know that her husband has settled on the lowest price for which she can be bought? And then later, when the women talk, they boast of what their husbands paid for them. One says four cows, another maybe six. How does she feel, the woman who was sold for one or two? This could not happen to my Sarita.”
“Then you did this just to make your wife happy?”
“I wanted Sarita to be happy, yes. But I wanted more than that. You say she is different. This is true. Many things can change a woman. Things that happen inside, things that happen outside. But the thing that matters most is what she thinks about herself. In Kiniwata, Sarita believed she was worth nothing. Now she knows she is worth more than any other woman in the islands.”
“Then you wanted —”
“I wanted to marry Sarita. I loved her and no other woman.”
“But —” I was close to understanding.
“But,” he finished softly, “I wanted an eight-cow wife.”
(Edited from《Reader Digest》
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强尼·林哥的八牛之妻
°英汉对照° °短篇小说°
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∴~许多事物能使女人改变。内心里发生的和外面发生的。不过最要紧的是她对她自己的看法..~∴
我坐船到太平洋的基尼瓦塔岛去，随身带了一本笔记簿。回来时，簿子上满是关于岛上花草鸟兽、风俗服饰的记载。可是，只有一则记载使我至今还感兴趣：“强尼·林哥给了莎莉泰的父亲八条乳牛。”其实我不必把那件事写下来。每当见到女人不把丈夫看在眼里，或是被丈夫鄙视得抬不起头来，我便会记起那一件事。我很想对他们说：“你们应该知道，强尼·林哥为什么用八条牛娶个老婆。”
强尼·林哥不是真名。不过基尼瓦塔岛上宾馆经理沈金是那样称呼他的。沈金的老家是芝加哥，他有个把岛民姓名美国化的习惯。但是，许多人在许多方面都提起强尼。要是我想在相邻的奴拉班迪岛上逗留几天，强尼·林哥可以招待我住在他家。要是我想钓鱼，他可以指点我鱼最容易上钩的地点。如果我想要的是珍珠，他会把最值得买的带给我。基尼瓦塔岛的人个个对强尼·林哥都有好评。可是他们一讲到他便微笑，而且笑容略含讥嘲。
“让强尼·林哥帮你找你所要的东西并且由他还价，”沈金说，“强尼很在行。”
“强尼·林哥！”坐在旁边的一个小伙子一听到这姓名就发出嗤声，笑得浑身摇晃。
“怎么回事？”我问道，“人人叫我去跟强尼·林哥接头，然后又忍不住哈哈大笑。把那可笑之处也说来听听吧。”
“没有什么，人们喜欢笑就是了，”沈金耸耸肩说，“强尼是岛上最聪明最强壮的小伙子。在他那个岁数的人当中也最有钱。”
“可是如果他完全像你所说的，那又有什么好笑的？”
“只不过为了一椿事。五个月前在秋节里，强尼到基尼瓦塔来找到了一个老婆。他给了他丈人八条乳牛！”
我对岛上风俗有相当认识，对此不禁肃然起敬。两三条牛可以买个容貌平平到姿色中等的老婆，四五条就可以买个姣好得令人十分满意的了。
“我的天！”我说，“八条牛！她一定美得教人惊为天仙。”
“她不丑，”他微笑承认，“可是连厚道的人也只能称莎莉泰姿色平平。她父亲萨姆卡鲁生怕她嫁不出去。”
“然而他不是从她身上赚到八条牛吗？这岂非不寻常吗？”
“从没有人付过这么多的。”
“可是你说强尼的老婆姿色平平？”
“我是说心存厚道才称她姿色平平。她人瘦。走起路来缩头耸肩。她的胆子小得不得了。”
“啊，”我说，“我想爱情是无法解释的。”
“的确如此，”沈金同意，“所以村民一讲起强尼便笑起来。令他们特别高兴的是，岛上谈生意最精明的人竟搞不过脑筋迟钝的老萨姆卡鲁。”
“可是怎么会的？”
“没人知道，人人都觉得奇怪。所有的亲戚都劝萨姆开价要三条牛，直到他看准强尼只肯给一条时，才坚持要两条。后来强尼来看萨姆，说道：‘莎莉泰的老爹，我愿意以八条乳牛娶你女儿。’”
“八条牛，”我喃喃地说，“我真想见见这位强尼·林哥。”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
我要钓鱼。我要买珍珠。于是第二天下午，我把我的小船泊上奴拉班迪岛的海滩。在我向人打听到强尼家去的路时，我发觉本地人听见他的名字并没有发出狡笑。我见到那身材细长、神情严肃、翩翩有礼地欢迎我光临的年轻人时，庆喜他自己的老乡尊重他而丝毫不含讥嘲。我们坐在他家里谈话。他问道：“你是从基尼瓦塔来的吗？”
“对。”
“他们在那岛上可曾讲起我？”
“他们说我要什么你都能帮我弄到。”
他轻轻一笑。“我老婆是基尼瓦塔人。”
“对，我知道。”
“他们说起她吗？”
“说了一点。”
“说些什么？”
“嗯，只是。。。”那一问突如其来，我猝不及防，“他们告诉我你是庆节时结婚的。”
“没有别的吗？”他眉头一皱，显然表示他知道还有别的话。
“他们也说聘金是八条乳牛。”我停顿了一下。“他们想知道为什么。”
“他们这样问？”他的眼睛充满喜悦，“基尼瓦塔的每个人都知道八条牛的事？”
我点头。
“在奴拉班迪岛，人人也知道。”他高兴得挺起胸膛，“他们讲起聘礼时，永远会记得强尼·林哥以八条牛娶了莎莉泰。”
我心想原来是虚荣心作祟。
后来我见到了她。我看着她进入房间把花放在桌上。她站定片刻，对在我旁边那年轻人笑了一笑，然后急步走了出去。她是我历来所见最美的女子。她挺肩，仰颔，眼睛发亮，在在表现出没人认为她不该享有的自豪。
我转向强尼·林哥，发现他在朝我看。
“你可欣赏她？”他低声说。
“她。。。她美极了，但她可不是基尼瓦塔来的莎莉泰，”我说。
“只有一个莎莉泰。也许，她不像他们在基尼瓦塔所说的那种样子。”
“对，我听说她不好看，他们都开你玩笑，说你让萨姆卡鲁骗了。”
“你认为八条牛太多吗？”他咧唇微笑。
“不。可是她怎么会这样与众不同？”
“你可曾想到，”他问，“一个女人知道她丈夫已定下可能把她买到的最低价时，心里一定会有的感受？接着，女人又会在谈话中夸耀自己丈夫所付的价格。一个说四条牛，另一个也许说是六条。那身价只是一两条牛的女人会有什么感受？这可不会发生在我的莎莉泰身上。”
“你于是便那么做，来使你老婆开心？”
“对，我是要莎莉泰开心。可是我要的不仅是这个。你说她与众不同。一点不错。许多事情能使女人改变。内心里发生的和外面发生的。不过最要紧的是她对她自己的看法。在基尼瓦塔，莎莉泰认为她一钱不值。现在，她知道她比岛上任何别的女人的价值都要高得多。”
“于是你要—”
“我要娶莎莉泰。我爱她，不爱别的女人。”
“而且—”我差不多明白了。
“而且，”他轻声替我说完，“我要个八条牛的老婆。”
(摘自《读者文摘》，一九八八年 四月号)
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