Trinity Journal of Literary Translation
At the Grand Theatre in Paris
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141
trans. Aaron Carr
Why is it that she has to push in front to buy the tickets? I’m ashamed. Is this person
not looking at me? This bald-headed Russian. And this woman: looking me right in the face. It’s true. And this chap, with the cigar in his mouth: looking at me. They’re all looking
at me. Yeah, I know what they’re thinking. They’re looking down on me. No, they’re
mocking me. I don’t understand why she has to push in front to get the tickets. Did she not
know I’d be offended by it? I’m a man. A gentleman. Has anyone ever seen a man taking a
woman – regardless what kind of woman she may be – to see a film, then letting her pay
for the tickets? Never. I, myself, certainly never have. I can feel my face getting hot: I’ve probably already gone bright red. Are there no mirrors in here? If not, how can one look at oneself? Christ, this person’s blatantly laughing at me! You dare to humiliate me in this
way? Did you not see her suddenly rush to the counter to buy the tickets? I had no way of
stopping it. Who expects for such a thing to happen? Ah, I can’t take it. I just want to take
myself back outside: stand for a while on the stairs. How has she still not got the tickets yet? It’s packed in here! I don’t get why she would struggle through such a crowd to buy the tickets. Is she really that unwilling to let me take her to the movies?
If so, then why was she willing last night? Why, last night, when I walked her to her
door, did she allow for me to take her out today? Did she think that, today, she would
return the favour? Preposterous! If she really did have such a thing in mind, I can just see us in the future: you treat me, I treat you, no one paying any mind. How straightforward!
Does she think that I took her to see a film because I wanted to be treated in return? Could it be? Or perhaps she feels embarrassed at the prospect of always letting me take
her out, and therefore decided that she’d buy the tickets today so as to not lose face? Yes, it’s certainly possible. Women often have these kinds of ideas. They can indeed be very much full of themselves at times. What on earth’s going on? Has she still not bought
the tickets? Why don’t I just squeeze to the front and buy the tickets myself? Would that not relieve me of all these peoples’ ridicule? I ought to. She still may not have got the
tickets yet. What are the prices like in this place? Downstairs: six Jiao1. And upstairs?
This damned head is in the way. I can’t see a thing. It’s probably eight Jiao. What? She’s walking over. She’s already bought the tickets. That’s very odd: how did not see her?
Oh well, never mind. Let’s go in. But, why has she give both thickets to me? Hold 1 The Jiao is a small unit of Chinese currency, currently equivalent to about one pence. Here, the six Jiao referred to is supposedly reflective of average European cinema ticket prices in the 1930s, when this story was written.