[b][size=3][color=#660000]"The Luncheon"一文是英语著名小说家及戏剧家W. Somerset Maugham (威廉.萨特.毛姆)一部有名的短篇。该文并被《大学英语》(修订本)选用作为大学英语教材,但绝大多数学生除了在课堂上了解文中的字、词、句外，对小说的深意又有多少了解呢，本文试图对此经典文章做个比较全面的赏析及评论。
毛姆可以说是英语最受欢迎的作家之一。他出生在巴黎，先后在坎特伯雷的国王学院与德国的海得堡大学受过教育。他本来专攻医学却把大半生献给了文学。他的小说《人性的枷锁》、《月亮和六便土》﹑《蛋糕与淡色啤酒》﹑《力锋》确立了他小说家的声誉，而他的剧本《圈子》更显他机智﹑讽刺时的文风，但他最成功之作却是短篇小说。
在这篇脍炙人口的短篇小说《午餐》中，他充分展示了他那流畅精妙的文笔，他冷嘲热讽，却不露声色，无需更多笔墨，一个虚伪贪婪的中年女人，一个口笨脸嫩的青年作家，一个唯利是图的老练侍者三个市井人物的形象跃然纸上，令人久久难忘。
来看看小说的第一段，"I caught sight of her at the play, and in answer to her beckoning I went over during the interval and sat down beside her. It was long since I had last seen her, and if someone had not mentioned her name I hardly think I would have recognized her. She addressed me brightly: "We're none of us getting any younger. Do you remember the first time I saw you? You asked me to luncheon." Did I remember?
从此段描述中可以看到，“她”很高兴地与“我”打招呼，似乎他们之间不曾发生过任何不愉快的事情。而“我”，对她这个人已经快要不认识了，只因为旁边有人提起她的名字，才勉强记起，但是对于那件事，“我”是无论如何也忘不了的。一句反问句，短短三个单词“Did I remember？”，起到了非常重要的作用，一方面承上启下，引出对当年那件事的回忆，更重要的，这是一个修辞反问句，它不需要他人做出回答，在这里它强调，“我”无论如何都会记得这次远远超过了“我”——一个收入勉强能够糊口的穷作家的经济能力、花光了我一个月生活费、使我生活难以为继的奢侈“午餐”。
当年“我”住在拉丁区一个俯视公墓的房间里(in the Latin Quarter overlooking a cemetery)可见当年作家经济窘迫(barely enough to keep body and soul together)。可是这位素未谋面，只给我写过一封信，说她曾读过我写的一篇文章的女人，不久之后又给我来了一封信，说她要路过巴黎，问我能不能请她在Foyot’s小吃一顿(give her a little luncheon)。要知道Foyot’s可是法国参议员进餐的地方，作为穷作家，我可从来没有想过要到那儿去。可是作者接着开始运用他精妙的文笔，冷嘲热讽，达到很好的幽默效果，“But I was flattered, and I was too young to have learned to say no to a woman.(Few man , I may add, learn this until they are too old to make it of any consequence to a woman what they say.)”(但是有人拍我马屁，并且我还太年青了，还不知道如何拒绝女人的要求，另外，我要补充一点，很少有男人懂得如何拒绝女人，直到他们已经太老了，说什么对女人都已无足轻重了。) 于是“我”咬咬牙，决定砍掉接下来半个月喝咖啡的开支，请她在Foyot’s适度地、不太奢侈地吃一餐(a modest luncheon)。
然而事与愿违，虽然这个女人满口谈的是艺术、文学与音乐，甚至多年以后我们再次相见也是在一个戏院里欣赏戏剧的时候(I caught sight of her at the play), 但是在她热爱文学、艺术的恍子下却是贪婪虚伪的本性。先来看看“我们”当年共进午餐时作者对她外表的第一印象。“She is imposing rather than attractive. She is , in fact, a woman of forty (a charming age, but not one that excites a sudden and devastating passion at first sight), and she gave me the impression of having more teeth, white and large and even, than were necessary for any practical purpose, and she is talkative. (从外表来看，与其说她美丽动人，不如说她丰腴健硕。事实上，她已经四十岁了，仍然是吸引人的年纪，但已经不是那种让人能一见钟情的岁数了，她给我留下的最深印象是口里牙齿太多，又太大，很整齐的排列着，并且她很健谈。) 这段描述一方面给人以幽默感，另一方面，她那又多又大又整齐的牙齿，为下面她利用她的厚言、能言狠宰我这个穷作家埋下了伏笔。
侍者拿来了账单，开始点菜了，价钱之高超出了我的想象(the price were a great deal higher than I had anticipated)，但是“她”的话让我宽了心，她说“I never eat anything for luncheon, I never eat more than one thing. I think people eat far too much nowadays. A little fish, perhaps. I wonder if they have any salmon. (鲑鱼)” 鲑鱼刚刚上市，并且侍者说这是他们这家最高档的餐馆刚进的第一条鲑鱼，价钱不菲。然而这女人接着又说: “ I never eat more than one thing. Unless you have a little caviare (鱼子酱)”。 有一个习语‘Caviare to the general’，意思相当于汉语的“曲高和寡”，可见它不是一般收入的人消费得起的。此时“我”的心开始下沉了“My heart sank a little”，只给自己点了一份最便宜的羊肉块。可这个女人却批评我吃这种东西太油腻了，于是她又给自己点了一份香槟：“I never drink anything for luncheon. Except white wine, these French white wines are so light. They’re wonderful for the digestion.”点香槟的同时“She gave me a bright and amicable flash of her white teeth，这里采用了移觉的修辞法，意思相当于“She gave me a friendly smile and showed her bright teeth.”，在作者看来她虚伪的笑容下白晃晃的牙齿简直是要把自己给“吃”掉。囊中羞涩，我只能给自己点了白水一杯“Just water.”。但是还没完，女人又发话了“I couldn’t possibly eat anything more unless they had some of those giant asparagus(莴苣).” 虽然我百分之百地希望侍者说：“不，还没上市。” 但是，“A happy smile spread over his broad , priest-like face, and he assured that they had some so large, so splendid, so tender, that it was a marvel.”表面上看，这个侍者服务周到，笑容可掬，甚至笑得嘴角都扯到耳朵那去了，并且面容和蔼，长着一张牧师般和善的脸，事实上却是唯利是图，他一切的周到都是为了让这个女人多点菜，越贵越好。然而，此时，我已经感到惊恐(“Panic seized me.”)，很可能我的钱已付不起这顿午餐了。一会儿莴苣端上来了“They were enormous, juicy, and appetizing. ”真是诱人啊！可怜的作者，此时只吃了一点羊肉块，喝了一杯水！但是，女人又点了咖啡，这时，我已是死猪不怕开水烫了“I was past caring now.”。接着又是桃子：“They had the blush of an innocent girl; they had the tone of an Italian landscape.”(这些桃子红红的，就像天真的少女红红的脸蛋，色彩艳丽如同意大利风景画。)女人继续着她的谈话，漫不经心的塞了一个桃子到嘴里。可怜的穷作家在一旁只有流口水的份了。
结账的时候到了，我掏出了所有的纸币和硬币，发现刚刚够付款，给侍者的小费就只有一点点了，女人心里又有想法了“Her eyes rested for an instant on the three francs I left for the waiter, and I knew that she thought she thought me mean(吝啬的).”临别的时候，她让我向她学习，多吃清淡的食物，接着跳上出租车，走了。多年以后，再见的时候，虽然我不是一个幸灾乐祸的人，但是我发现，如今，她至少已体重294磅！
短篇小说可以说是浓缩的精华，这篇小说描写了一个窘迫的青年作家受到一个所谓的忠实女读者的奉承，在她的要求下，不得不请她去福伊约餐馆用餐，这远远超过了他的经济承受能力。吃饭时那位女士一边一遍又一遍地说她从来只吃一道菜，却一边装作很随便的样子点了一道又道最昂贵最稀缺的菜。可怜的青年作家从硬充好汉热情好客到惴惴不安以致最后对账单已漠不关心，一顿饭的工夫就深深领教了虚伪外表下的贪婪与狡诈。方寸之间见世界，作者功底深厚，同时一些修辞手法的运用也功不可莫。
说到这篇小说的写作风格，以下四点不得不提：
1.使用修辞反问句(rhetorical question)
“Did I remember?” 它的作用在上文已提到，在此不再赘述。
2.对照法的使用(contrast)
如文中描写女客人大啖美食，高谈阔论，男主人满腹苦水的一段“She ate the caviare and she ate the salmon. She talked gaily of art and literature and music. But I wondered how much the bill would come to.”
3.使用排比句(parallelism)
文中排比句很多，主要用来描写这个女人的大吃大喝，贪得无厌，还有对那些美食的描述也用了排比句。如：___…she ate the caviare and she ate the salmon. ___…she talked gaily of art and literature and music. ___…he assured that they had some so large, so splendid, so tender, that it was a marvel. ___…they were enormous, juicy, and appetizing.
4.运用含蓄陈述(understatement)
含蓄陈述是一种讽刺或幽默的表达方式，也就是有意把一件事说得没有事实上那么严重的一种修辞法。如小说开头那个女人向我打招呼说“We’re none of us getting any younger.”其实是说我们都已不年青了，但西方人忌讳old(老)，就用“not any younger”作委婉陈述。再如女客人一再说“I never eat anything for luncheon”; “I never eat more than one thing”; “I never mind caviare”; “I never drink anything for luncheon except white wine”…都是用否定句式含蓄陈述的手法烘托这个贪婪的女人假意推辞实则狮子大开口的可笑嘴脸。
另外小说中还运用了personification(拟人)(如: The peaches had the blush of an innocent girl.)；hyperbole(夸张)(如: she gave me the impression of having more teeth, white and large and even, than were necessary for any practical purpose.)等多种写作风格与手法，加上文中简单生动的对话，(如：___Are you still hungry?” I asked faintly. ___ “Oh, no, I’m not hungry;… ___Oh, I see！)从作家怯生生的问“你还饿吗？”到一句加了感叹号的“Oh, I see！”(噢, 我明白了!)生动表达出了作家生怕女客人再提出过分要求的心情，及得知她总算没再继续下去时作家的如释重负。
所有这一切综合起来使这篇文章成为短篇小说里的名篇。既幽默又含蓄，既具讽刺意味又在让读者在开心一笑的同时回味无穷。这个女人的虚伪贪婪，侍者的唯利是图，“我”的囊中羞涩却又抹不开面子，对三个人物的刻画真可谓入木三分。(文：湖北 喻劲梅)[/color][/size][/b]
[size=2][color=#FF0000]I really wish you all like it , and at least gain sth from it[/color][/size].[s:298]
