与弟子晓峰英译的贾平凹先生中篇小说《黑氏》即将在美国的《新文学》New Letters刊出，该刊主编Robert Farnsworth 在给我的电子邮件中有关小说的译名一事谈了自己的看法。本来我们的题目英译文为Darky 他建议改为The Counruty Wife 《乡下女人》，在电子邮件中他说：

After reading of the concern about the association of the name, Darky, with the derogatory reference of American whites toward blacks, I reread the story carefully and slept on it. ’m convinced that once the reader enters the story there is very little ground for such confusion.  Early on the first page there is a sentence that reads, “In recent years the family became richer and richer, so the other members began to pull long faces at her and chided her for being ugly, dark and fat.”  This makes clear where her nickname comes from.  It is a derogatory term that calls attention to her skin color, but it is not racial.  It is class prejudicial.  Once the family begins to feel better off, it tries to distinguish itself from Darky’s country origins

At the same time I remember feeling some concern when I first saw the title, “Darky.”  Having worked as much as I have in the area of Black American Literature, I recognized the possible confusion.  When a reader first sees the title and doesn’t know the story, he may well confusedly expect some reference to the American racial scene.  Therefore, I would recommend a change of title to something like, “The Country Wife.”

Once the reader gets into the story I think the context makes clear what the name refers to, but it may be useful not to arouse confused expectations to begin with.

Reading the story for the fourth or fifth time impresses me again with what a good strong story it is. I also noted a few little errors that I assume are the basis for Bob’s insistence on some minor editing.

从Robert Farnsworth 先生的最后一段文字看出，他对贾平凹《黑氏》的评价是很高的。

看到Robert Farnsworth 先生提出的修改译名The Counruty Wife 《乡下女人》，想起了一个英国剧作家威廉·威彻利（William Wycherley，1640?-1716年）的作品The Counruty Wife 《乡下女人》。威廉·威彻利（William Wycherley，1640?-1716年），英国剧作家和诗人，出生于希罗普郡，15岁时到法国求学，开始出入于巴黎时髦沙龙中。20岁进入牛津大学深造，后在伦敦学习法律。他并未执行律师业务，却进入戏剧界，据说曾做过演员。他机智风趣、精心设计的喜剧讽刺了上流社会的堕落生活。剧本《乡下女人》The Counruty Wife于1675年演出，不少人认为是王政复辟时期喜剧中的最佳之作，成功地讽刺了当时庸俗、自私和虚伪的社会风气。《乡下女人》The Country Wife 及《光明磊落者》The Plain Dealer 描写邪恶堕落的上层社会，实际上是莫里哀的名剧《愤世嫉俗》的改编本。威彻利的这两个剧本被认为是复兴时期最有趣、最好的两部戏剧。威彻利的其他戏剧包括《森林中的爱情》，又名《圣詹姆斯公园》（1671年）及《舞蹈大师绅士》（1671或1672年）。威彻利的剧作不多，也未能摆脱王政复辟时期喜剧的浮华造作的格调，其中的情节也多是打情骂俏、勾心斗角之类。但作品也表现了其一定的社会洞察力和描写复杂人物的能力，在当时得到英国戏剧界极高的赞誉。德莱顿曾称赞过其作品中所表现的讽刺力量和机智。

从贾平凹的《黑氏》中，我们也能读得出其对社会的洞察力和描写人物内心复杂世界的能力。