My Dream of Becoming a Hong Kong Millionaire
夢想成為香港百萬富豪
“To our happy future.” Betty Williams, one of the richest women in Hong Kong clinked her champagne glass against mine. I could not understand whether the “future’ meant a future as one of her workers or a future as a boyfriend! The fact that she was thirty years older than me didn’t seem to trouble her, ... but it troubled me!
「敬我們的美好將來。」貝蒂˙威廉斯(Betty Williams)用她的香檳杯與我碰杯慶祝，她是香港最有錢的一位女富豪。我不太懂她說的「將來」，指的是我成為她員工的那個將來，還是指我變成她男友的那種將來！她比我大上三十歲，對她來說似乎不成問題，……但對我來說卻是啊！
How did I get into this uncomfortable situation? It started while I was swimming in Repulse Bay in Hong Kong many years ago. Actually, I don’t think I would swim there now as it is so polluted. The beautiful old hotel and mansions have been replaced by ugly concrete tourist attractions, and the sea is not very clean.
我怎麼會落到這種尷尬的地步呢？那是在好多年前，我在香港的淺水灣(Repulse Bay)游泳。事實上，我現在可不會去那邊游泳了，因為它已經被嚴重污染。那些美侖美奐、古色古香的旅館與華屋，都已被水泥建材的醜陋觀光建築給取代，海水也不是很乾淨。
Anyway, while I was lying there soaking up the sun, I heard a girl’s voice calling me, “Brian! Brian! Do you remember me?” Of course, I remembered her from my San Francisco days. She was a British girl called Shirley. She was there on the beach with her equally pretty friend, Beryl. They had previously shared a nice apartment in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. I used to enjoy their wild parties.
總之，我當時躺在那邊曬太陽，聽到有女生在叫我：「布萊恩！布萊恩！還記得我嗎？」當然記得，我在舊金山認識她的。她是英國人，名叫雪莉(Shirley)。和她一起來到這沙灘的，是跟她一樣漂亮的朋友，貝麗兒(Beryl)。她們之前住在舊金山的海特－艾希貝利嬉皮區(Haight-Ashbury district)，兩人分租一間很不錯的公寓。我以前很喜歡去參加她們舉辦的派對，大家玩的很瘋。
She explained they were staying with a Betty Williams who was the owner and president of one of Hong Kong’s biggest advertising agencies. Shirley said, “Betty is having a cocktail party at 6 o’clock. Why not come along?” When I hesitated a bit, she added, “As you used to be in advertising too, Betty will really be happy to meet you.”
她說她們現在住在貝蒂˙威廉斯那邊，這個人是香港最大的一間廣告經紀公司的老闆兼董事長。她說：「貝蒂辦了個雞尾酒會，時間是六點。要不要一起來啊？」我有點猶豫，這時她又說：「你以前也是做廣告的嘛，貝蒂一定會很高興認識你。」
I couldn’t say “no’ to that invitation. So, duly at 6 o’clock, a taxi deposited me outside a huge mansion at the top of the Peak. The Peak is a small mountain that overlooks Hong Kong harbour. The very rich people, like Betty Williams, lived at the top. They owned Rolls Royces and drank champagne every day. Wealthy middle-class people with their Mercedes Benzes lived halfway down the Peak, while “the rest’ (who were not so lucky) lived at ground level at the bottom of the Peak. I guess that’s how the famous British “class distinction’ used to work in Hong Kong at that time.I felt very shy as Betty’s butler took my cheap old raincoat. I felt even shier as I entered a beautifully furnished reception room. It was full of well-dressed people engaged in animated conversation as they sipped their cocktails.
我沒辦法對那次邀約說不。所以，六點整，計程車把我放在位於太平山(the Peak 譯註：太平山，又稱「山頂」)最頂端的大房子前面。The Peak是一座可以俯瞰香港港口的小山。那些很有錢很有錢的富豪，像貝蒂那樣，都住在山的頂端。他們開的是勞斯萊斯，每天都有香檳可以喝。富有的中產階級則是開賓士車，住在半山腰，至於「剩下那些」(沒那麼幸運的人)則住在山腳下的平地。依我推想，這就是英國人把他們那出了名的階級區隔，搬到當時的香港吧。當貝蒂的管家接過我那件廉價又陳舊的風衣時，我覺得很不好意思。當我走進裝潢華麗的會客室時，我更加不好意思了。整間會客室的人都衣著體面，一邊熱烈交談， 一邊啜飲手上的雞尾酒。
So, I was very happy when Shirley and Beryl came towards me and I was offered a nice big glass of champagne. In fact, with the help of several glasses of champagne, I felt quite at ease when they introduced me to the famous queen of Hong Kong advertising, Betty Williams. She seemed like a nice, kindly, middle-aged lady. I couldn’t see her “dark side’ then. I was amazed that she knew my former boss in a London advertising agency quite well.
所以，我非常高興看到雪莉和貝麗兒朝我這邊走來，而且還給了我一杯份量不小的香檳。事實上，多虧我喝了好幾杯香檳，我開始覺得很放鬆，就連他們把我介紹給香港廣告界的知名女王貝蒂˙威廉斯的時候，我也一派自在。她似乎是一位和善的中年女性。當時，我還看不出她「黑暗的那一面」。我很驚訝她竟然熟識我以前在倫敦廣告公司工作時的老闆。
After chatting for a while, Betty suddenly turned to me and asked, “Would you like to work for me? You’ll get a good salary. Life in Hong Kong can be very nice for a young Englishman, with lots of sports, parties and a good social life.” I was a bit surprised that a job offer could be made so casually over a cocktail, so I cautiously replied, “It seems like a good idea.”
聊了一會兒之後，貝蒂突然轉過來問我：「你願意替我工作嗎？我會給你優渥的薪水。對年輕的英國人來說，香港的生活很棒，有很多娛樂、派對、還有豐富的社交生活。」一邊喝雞尾酒一邊徵才，我有點訝異竟然有這麼隨意的僱用方式，於是謹慎地答道：「這提議聽來不錯。」
“That’s fine,” she said. She then invited me to view the famous Hong Kong horse races from her private box the next day with Shirley and Beryl. “I know my own horse called Lucky Demon will win a race, so we can all celebrate together,” she said
「那好。」她說。然後她邀請我隔天和雪莉、貝麗兒一起，在她的私人包廂觀賞著名的香港馬賽。「我知道我的馬，幸運鬼(demon)，將會贏得比賽，我們大家就能一起慶祝勝利。」她說道。
So, the next day we all waited in suspense in Betty’s box at the race course as the race started. At first, Lucky Demon seemed to be ahead of all the other horses. We were all very excited, especially Mrs. Williams. “The prize is going to be MINE!” she shouted. Then I don’t know what happened. Lucky Demon seemed to stumble and came in last. Mrs. Williams was furious. She claimed the jockey had reined in the horse on purpose so it would come in last. “Somebody paid him to do that, and I’m going to find out who it was.”
於是，第二天，比賽開始的時候，我們就在賽場內貝蒂的包廂裡，個個緊張地等待著。一開始，幸運撒旦似乎超前贏過其他馬匹。我們都很興奮，威廉斯太太更是興奮。「大獎會是我的！」她大叫。接下來，我不知道那時發生了什麼事。幸運撒旦似乎絆了一下，成了最後一名。威廉斯太太氣炸了。她宣稱是騎師故意勒住馬匹，要它跑最後。「有人買通他這麼做，我要揪出來那人是誰。」
The poor jockey who had been riding the losing horse, soon had to face Mrs. Williams’ anger when he came up to the box. She shouted at him in a torrent of angry Chinese. At one time, I thought she was about to hit him on the head with the champagne bottle. Finally, she concluded in English, “I know you lost the race on purpose. I’ll see to it that you NEVER race again! Never! Now get the hell out of here before I hit you!”I felt very sorry for the poor jockey. I was very worried. I thought that if I worked for Mrs. Williams in her advertising agency, I might get the SAME treatment! That jockey could be ME.
可憐那位騎師，剛剛騎的馬才輸了比賽，立刻就又得來到包廂，面對威廉斯太太的怒火。她霹靂啪啦對著他生氣地大罵一串中文。有那麼一刻，我還以為她要拿香檳酒瓶打他的頭。最後，她用英文說：「我知道你是故意輸掉比賽的。我保證，你永遠都無法再下場比賽！永遠不能！現在，在我打你之前趕快給我滾出去！」
我真同情那位可憐的騎師。我也非常擔心。我想，要是我到威廉斯太太的廣告公司去為她工作，可能也會落得同樣的下場！那位騎師也可能就是我。
2024專利防護中