“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。