雙語散文:情人眼裏出西施

【英文原文】

Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder

摘要：無論男女，婚姻都是他們一生中做出的最重要的抉擇之一。男人選擇一個女人，是因爲在他眼裏她是他理想的妻子。每個男人對“理想”的妻子都有自己的定義。

For years men and women have been getting married. They say their wedding vows which bring them together as one. They promise to love and cherish each other until death do them part.

When a man and a woman get married, it is one of the biggest decisions they will make in life. A man may select a woman because he, in his own eyes, sees her as the just-right wife for him. Every man has his own definition of what the "just-right" wife is. For instance, the millionaire man and the poor man both may define their just-right wife according to her physical qualities.

A millionaire may describe his "just-right" wife as charming, beautiful, sexy, intelligent, and well developed. On the other hand, a poor man may define his "just-right" wife as pleasing, attractive, desirable, knowledgeable, and shapely. Both men describe their just-right wife by the same physical qualities but use different words. The millionaire's definition of the just-right wife is more elegant, whereas the poor man's definition is a more common, everyday description.

Although some men define the just-right wife by her physical qualities, other men describe their just-right wife by her athletic qualities. For example, the outdoors man may define his just-right wife as a woman who loves to fish, to camp, to hunt, and to water ski, whereas the inside sportsman may define his just-right wife as a woman who enjoys watching football, basketball, baseball, and wrestling. Both of these men define their just-right wife by her sports qualities but in two different atmospheres.

Still, there are other men who have their definitions of the just-right wife. For instance, consider the fit man and the fat man. The fit man may describe his just-right wife as a woman who gets up every weekday morning at six o'clock and runs two to three miles. After running, she prepares breakfast, washes the dishes, takes the children to school, and then goes to work. After work, she arrives home, washes a couple loads of laundry, goes to exercise class, picks the children up from school on her way home, and then cooks dinner. After dinner, she cleans the kitchen, bathes the children, and puts them to bed.

On the other hand, the fat man defines his just-right wife as a woman who gets up at eight o'clock in the morning, takes the children to McDonald's for breakfast, and drops them off at school. She then comes back home and lies on the couch watching soap operas all day. The children have to walk home from school in the afternoon. When they arrive at home, she instructs them to clean the house, do the laundry, and fix some hotdogs for dinner. Both men define their just-right wife with qualities that they admire within themselves.

Men from all nationalities also have their definition of the just-right wife. For example, the Italian man describes his woman as a woman who stands six feet one-inch tall with blonde hair and blue eyes, and who is well developed in the upper portion of her body. On the other hand, the French man may describe his ideal woman as a woman who stands only five feet three inches with brown hair and green eyes, and who is moderately built.

Other nationalities, such as the German man and the Spanish man, may define their just-right wife as a woman with style. The German man may describe his just-right wife as a woman who likes to drive expensive sports cars, a woman who visits a different foreign country every month and wears only the most expensive designer clothing, but the Spanish man may define his just-right wife as a woman who enjoys giving dinner parties every weekend, wearing a lot of jewelry, and drinking expensive wines.

In addition to the other men's definitions of the just-right wife, the bachelor also has a definition. He says that the just-right wife is someone else's wife. He picks her up in a bar, takes her to his house, and takes her home in the morning. The bachelor has no real definition for the just-right wife. That is why he is still a bachelor.

【中文譯文】

世世代代，男女結爲夫妻。婚禮上的誓言將他們融爲一體。他們發誓相親相愛，至死不渝。

無論男女，婚姻都是他們一生中做出的最重要的抉擇之一。男人選擇一個女人，是因爲在他眼裏她是他理想的妻子。每個男人對“理想”的妻子都有自己的定義。比如, 百萬富翁和窮人可能都會根據女人的形體特徵描繪他們理想的妻子。

一個闊佬描述“理想”的妻子是迷人、美麗、性感、聰明、身材勻稱的女人。而一個窮人心目中的“理想”老婆則是招人喜歡、可愛、動人、懂事明理、有身條兒。兩者對他們理想妻子形體特徵的描述大體相同，但用詞卻不一樣。闊佬對理想妻子的描述更文雅一些，窮人的描述則是較爲通俗的常用語。

雖然形體特徵是一些男人用來定義他們眼中理想太太的標準，但也不乏根據運動特徵來定義的男人。就拿愛好野外運動的男人來說吧，他們認爲理想太太應該是釣魚、野營、狩獵和滑水運動的愛好者；而愛好場地運動的男人眼中的標準太太或許應該是橄欖球、籃球、棒球和摔跤比賽的忠實觀衆。運動特徵是這兩類男人定義理想太太的共同標準，但他們各自的側重範圍卻不盡相同。

當然，其他男人也有自己的定義。就說身材適中和體態臃腫的男人吧。身材適中的男人會這樣描述他的理想太太：她每個工作日六點起牀，晨跑兩三英里，然後回家準備早飯，洗完碗盤後送孩子上學，再去上班。下班後先回家洗幾桶衣服，接着去健美班，回來順路接孩子放學，到家後準備晚飯。飯後清理廚房，給孩子洗澡，再安頓他們睡覺。

而肥胖男人則認爲理想妻子是早上8點起牀，帶孩子去麥當勞吃早餐，接着開車送他們到學校。然後回家，歪在沙發上看一天的肥皂劇。下午，孩子們得自己步行回家，到家後，她指揮他們打掃房間，洗衣服，做幾個熱狗當作晚餐。這兩種男人以自己所欣賞的特點作爲擇偶標準。

不同國家的男人對理想的妻子都有自己的標準。比如意大利男人願意娶身高6英尺1英寸，金髮碧眼，上身很豐滿的女人做老婆。而法國男人卻認爲，身高5英尺3英寸，棕發綠眼，體型勻稱適中的女人才是理想妻子。

其他國家的男人，如德國男人和西班牙男人，認爲完美的妻子應該是個時尚的女人。在德國男人的眼中，理想的太太應該喜歡駕駛昂貴的跑車，每個月都去不同的國家觀光，而且只穿最昂貴的名師設計的時裝。而西班牙男人則認爲理想的太太喜歡每個週末都舉辦晚宴聚會，渾身珠光寶氣，喝名貴的葡萄酒。

對於理想妻子，除了上述的幾種定義以外，單身漢也有自己的一套說法。他認爲理想的妻子就是別人的老婆。他在酒吧裏和她調情，把她帶回他的住處，第二天早上送她回家。由於單身漢對理想的妻子並沒有一個真正的標準，這正是他至今仍是個單身漢的原因。