Introduction：First published in the 1927 collection Men Without Women，“Hills Like White Elephants”is commonly studied in literature courses because，while brief and accessible，it contains ingenious symbolism，efficient and powerful dialogue，and it deals with universal themes applied to a controversial topic（abortion）which is explored without ever being explicitly stated。The story takes place at a train station in the Ebro River Valley of Spain。The time setting is notgiven，but is almost certainly contemporary to the composition（1920s）。This particular day is oppressively hot and dry，and the scenery in the valley is barren and ugly for the most part。The two main characters are a man（referred to only as“the American”）and his younger female companion，whom he calls Jig。
1 The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white。On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun。Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain，made of strings of bamboo beads，hung across the open door into the bar，to keep out flies。The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade，outside the building。It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes。It stopped at this junction for two minutesand went on to Madrid。
评注：开头的场景交代富于象征意味：车站在两条铁轨之间，这两条铁轨则代表了故事人物即将选择的人生方向。另外值得留意的是，故事发生在西班牙，时间大约是在20世纪20年代，正是“迷惘的一代”（the Lost Generation）所经历的行乐主义盛行的“爵士时代”（Jazz Age）。炎热的天气则似乎暗示了即将到来的紧张、不安的对话。
2 “What should we drink？”the girl asked。She had taken off her hatand put it on the table。
3 “It’s pretty hot，”the man said。
4 “Let’s drink beer。”
5 “Dos cervezas，”the man said into the curtain。
6 “Big ones？”a woman asked from the doorway。
7 “Yes。Two big ones。”
评注：“酒精”一直在海明威小说中占有重要地位，它始终和“迷惘的一代”那种放纵糜烂的生活相联系。
8 The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads。She put the felt pads and the beer glasses on the table and looked at the man and the girl。The girlwas looking off at the line of hills。They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry。
9 “They look like white elephants，”she said。
10 “I’ve never seen one，”the man drank his beer。
Ebro：n。埃布罗河：发源于西班牙北部坎塔布连山的一条河流，流程约925公里，注入巴塞罗那西南方的地中海
Barcelona：n。巴塞罗那（西班牙东北部港口城市）
junction：n。交叉点，汇合处
Madrid：n。马德里（西班牙首都）
Dos cervezas：西班牙语：意为“来两杯啤酒”
felt：n。毡11“No，you wouldn’t have。”
12 “I might have，”the man said。“Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything。”
13 The girl looked at the bead curtain。“They’ve painted something on it，”she said。“What does it say？”
14 “Anis del Toro。It’s a drink。”
15 “Could we try it？”
16 The man called“Listen”through the curtain。The woman came out from the bar。
17 “Four reales。”
18 “We want two Anis del Toro。”
19 “With water？”
20 “Do you want it with water？”
21 “I don’t know，”the girl said。“Is it good with water？”
22 “It’s all right。”
23 “You want them with water？”asked the woman。
24 “Yes，with water。”
25 “It tastes like licorice，”the girl said and put the glass down。
26 “That’s the way with everything。”
27 “Yes，”said the girl。“Everything tastes of licorice。Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for，like absinthe。”
评注：女孩点了一种新酒来尝，结果发现不过是甘草的味道。这种失望就像她当年期待尝苦艾酒结果发现也是甘草味时一样。苦艾酒据说具有催情的功效。这里面隐隐约约地暗示了女孩对于这种沉溺于酒精和性欲生活的失落感：无论如何变换纵欲的方式，最后的感觉无非大同小异。
bead：n。珠子
Anis del Toro：西班牙语，茴香酒
reales：n。雷阿尔，旧时西班牙和拉丁美洲国家通用的一种银币
licorice：n。甘草
absinthe：n。苦艾酒28“Oh，cut it out。”
29 “You started it，”the girl said。“I was being amused。I was having a fine time。”
30 “Well，let’s try and have a fine time。”
31 “All right。I was trying。I said the mountains looked like white elephants。Wasn’t that bright？”
32 “That was bright。”
33 “I wanted to try this new drink：That’s all we do，isn’t it—look atthings and try new drinks？”
34 “I guess so。”
35 The girl looked across at the hills。
36 “They’re lovely hills，”she said。“They don’t really look like whiteelephants。I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees。”
评注：白象的比拟是海明威在整篇故事中着力最深的一个象征，对它可以有各种开放式的解读。佛祖当年正是乘白象投胎迦毗罗国王，所以这个白象暗示了一种和生殖有关的隐喻。如果抛开这个东方宗教的典故，白象本身的颜色也代表了一种纯洁的希望，而似白象的远山则蕴含了遥远的期待。女孩反复提到白象，但男人却不耐烦地岔开话题，这也说明两人心灵交流的疏离。
37 “Should we have another drink？”
38 “All right。”
39 The warm wind blew the bead curtain against the table。
40 “The beer’s nice and cool，”the man said。
41 “It’s lovely，”the girl said。
42 “It’s really an awfully simple operation，Jig，”the man said。“It’s not really an operation at all。”
评注：这里终于谈到了“手术”。至于是什么手术，海明威并没有说明。女孩的名字Jig 在英语中有与性交相关的隐意，而该词作为工具的原意，似乎又暗示了美国男人对这个女孩的昵称不过代表了他将她视为满足性欲手段的一种渠道。
43 The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on。
44 “I know you wouldn’t mind it，Jig。It’s really not anything。It’s just to let the air in。”
45 The girl did not say anything。
46 “I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time。They just let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural。”
47 “Then what will we do afterward？”
48 “We’ll be fine afterward。Just like we were before。”
49 “What makes you think so？”
50 “That’s the only thing that bothers us。It’s the only thing that made us unhappy。”
评注：这段对白已经比较明显地说明了这个手术的性质，它很可能是堕胎手术。于是我们也就自然能理解为什么Jig会对那个象征孕育新生命的白象似的山大发感慨了。但也有评论家指出，这个手术也可能是绝育手术。联系上下文，两种解读都能说得通。这也说明了海明威模糊叙事的高度艺术性。
51 The girl looked at the bead curtain，put her hand out and took hold of two of the strings of beads。
52 “And you think then we’ll be all right and be happy。”
53 “I know we will。You don’t have to be afraid。I’ve known lots of people that have done it。”
54 “So have I，”said the girl。“And afterward they were all so happy。”
55 “Well，”the man said，“if you don’t want to you don’t have to。I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to。But I know it’s perfectly simple。”
56 “And you really want to？”
57 “I think it’s the best thing to do。But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to。”
58 “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me？”
59 “I love you now。You know I love you。”
60 “I know。But if I do it，then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants，and you’ll like it？”
61 “I’ll love it。I love it now but I just can’t think about it。You knowhow I get when I worry。”
62 “If I do it you won’t ever worry？”
63 “I won’t worry about that because it’s perfectly simple。”
64 “Then I’ll do it。Because I don’t care about me。”
65 “What do you mean？”
66 “I don’t care about me。”
67 “Well，I care about you。”
68 “Oh，yes。But I don’t care about me。And I’ll do it and then everything will be fine。”
69 “I don’t want you to do it if you feel that way。”
评注：围绕这次手术两人展开了争执。美国男子不断劝慰女孩，说这个手术很简单，能免除今后的烦恼。他还不断地表示这是为了女孩着想。不管这是堕胎还是绝育，男人的这种态度说明他并不希望要孩子，因为生育后代就意味着一种责任和负担，而这是他们“迷惘的一代”所不能接受的。
70 The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station。Across，on the otherside，were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro。Far away，beyond the river，were mountains。The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees。
评注：景色描写中提到“庄稼”显然别具匠心，它和“白象”的象征意义如出一辙，都代表了“生殖力”。
71 “And we could have all this，”she said。“And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible。”
72 “What did you say？”
73 “I said we could have everything。”
74 “We can have everything。”
75 “No，we can’t。”
76 “We can have the whole world。”
77 “No，we can’t。”
78 “We can go everywhere。”
79 “No，we can’t。It isn’t ours any more。”
80 “It’s ours。”
81 “No it isn’t。And once they take it away，you never get it back。”
82 “But they haven’t taken it away。”
83 “We’ll wait and see。”
评注：Jig的这番感慨又是美国男子无法理解的。女孩愈发感觉到，如果去堕胎或者绝育，如果继续按照他们现在的生活方式生活下去，他们将越来越无法得到这个世界最美好的东西，譬如家庭、孩子。
84 “Come on back in the shade，”he said。“you mustn’t feel that way。”
85 “I don’t feel any way，”the girl said。“I just know things。”
86 “I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t want to do—”
87 “Nor that isn’t good for me，”she said。“I know。Could we have another beer？”
88 “All right。But you’ve got to realize—”
89 “I realize，”the girl said。“Can’t we maybe stop talking？”
90 They sat down at the table and the girl looked across at the hills on thedry side of the valley and the man looked at her and at the table。
91 “You’ve got to realize，”he said，“that I don’t want you to do it ifyou don’t want to。I’m perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you。”
评注：这句话颇具争议，它似乎在说这种绝育手术如果女孩不愿意做的话，他可以自己去做。但如果理解成堕胎与否带来的后果，也解释得通—为了女孩，他也可以承受生育下一代带来的麻烦和苦恼。
92 “Doesn’t it mean anything to you？We could get along。”
93 “Of course it does。But I don’t want anybody but you。I don’t want anyone else。And I know it’s perfectly simple。”
94 “Yes，you know it’s perfectly simple。”
95 “It’s all right for you to say that，but I do know it。”
96 “Would you do something for me now？”
97 “I’d do anything for you。”
98 “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking？”
99 He did not say anything but looked at the bags against the wall of the station。There were labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent nights。
评注：这个关于酒店标签的细节说明两人过的是一种什么样的生活—酗酒，纵欲，从一个酒店辗转到另一个酒店，永远漂泊，永远在路上，没有自己的家。
100 “But I don’t want you to，”he said，“I don’t care anything about it。”
101 “I’ll scream，”the girl said。
评注：美国男人已经让女孩感到气恼，因为他自私但却不敢承认，他不敢要孩子，却还非说这是为了女孩好。
102 The woman came out through the curtains with two glasses of beer and putthem down on the damp felt pads。“The train comes in five minutes，”she said。
103 “What did she say？”asked the girl。
104 “That the train is coming in five minutes。”
105 The girl smiled brightly at the woman，to thank her。
106 “I’d better take the bags over to the other side of the station，”the man said。She smiled at him。
评注：火车来了，男人执意拿着行李要登上去马德里的火车，这也说明他对手术的态度。
107 “All right。Then come back and we’ll finish the beer。”
108 He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the stationto the other tracks。He looked up the tracks but could not see the train。Coming back，he walked through the barroom，where people waiting for the train were drinking。He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people。They were all waiting reasonably for the train。He went out through the bead curtain。She was sitting at the table and smiled at him。
109 “Do you feel better？”he asked。
110 “I feel fine，”she said。“There’s nothing wrong with me。I feelfine。”
Comprehension Exercises
1 。How is the setting important for the understanding of this story？
2 。Does Jig want to take this operation？What’s her attitude towards the unborn baby？
3 。Towards the end of the story the man steps to the other side of thebarroom and orders an Anis by himself。Why would he order a drink alone when his girlfriend is in the next room？
海明威（1899—1961）：美国小说家。1954年度的诺贝尔文学奖获得者。生于乡村医生家庭，从小喜欢钓鱼、打猎、音乐和绘画，曾作为红十字会车队司机参加第一次世界大战，以后长期担任驻欧记者，并曾以记者身份参加第二次世界大战和西班牙内战。晚年患多种疾病，精神十分抑郁，经多次医治无效，终用猎枪自杀。他的早期长篇小说《太阳照样升起》（1926）、《永别了，武器》（1929）成为表现美国“迷惘的一代”的主要代表作。30、40年代他转而塑造了摆脱迷惘、悲观，为人民利益而英勇战斗和无畏牺牲的反法西斯战士形象。50年代后，他还塑造了以桑提亚哥为代表的“可以把他消灭，但就是打不败他”的“硬汉形象”（中篇小说《老人与海》1952）。在艺术上，他那简约有力的文体和多种现代派手法的运用，在美国文学中曾引起过一场“文学革命”，许多欧美作家都明显受到了他的影响。
