《兩位少女》，1854 年

two maidens, 1854

你見過一種 “少女” 嗎？

have you ever seen a maiden?

我指的是我們那些鋪路工所說的 “少女”，就是他們用來夯平道路上鋪路石的一種東西。

I mean what our pavers call a maiden, a thing with which they ram down the paving-stones in the roads.

這種 “少女” 完全是用木頭做的，底部很寬，還圍著幾圈鐵環。

A maiden of this kind is made altogether of wood, broad below, and girt round with iron rings.

頂部比較窄，有一根木棍橫穿腰部，這根木棍就成了 “少女” 的雙臂。

At the top she is narrow, and has a stick passed across through her waist, and this stick forms the arms of the maiden.

棚屋裡就立著兩個這樣的 “少女”。

In the shed stood two maidens of this kind.

它們和鏟子、手推車、獨輪車以及捲尺等放在一起；而所有這些物件都聽說了一個訊息，就是這些 “少女” 不能再叫 “少女” 了，而要叫 “手夯”，這個詞在鋪路工當中是最新的、也是唯一正確的叫法，用來稱呼我們從過去就一直熟知的那種叫做 “少女” 的東西。

they had their place among shovels, hand-carts, wheelbarrows, and measuring-tapes; and to all this pany the news had e that the maidens were no longer to be called “maidens,” but “hand-rammers,” which word was the newest and the only correct designation among the pavers for the thing we all know from the old times by the name of “the maiden.”

現在，在我們人類當中，有某些人被稱作 “解放了的女性”，比如，機構的負責人、專業單腿站立的舞蹈演員、女帽商以及護士；而棚屋裡的這兩個 “少女” 就把自己和這類 “解放了的女性” 聯絡到了一起。

Now, there are among us human creatures certain individuals who are known as “emancipated women,” as, for instance, principals of institutions, dancers who stand professionally on one leg, milliners, and sick-nurses; and with this class of emancipated women the tw