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It was early in the month of June, 1751, when I shut the door of our house behind me for the last time. All my life I had lived in the quiet little village of Essendean, in the Lowlands of Scotland, where my father had been the dominie, or schoolteacher. But now that he and my mother were both dead, I had to leave the house. The new dominie would soon arrive, and he would teach at the school and live in the dominie's house. So, although I was only seventeen, there was nowhere for me to live, and no reason for me to stay in Essendean.
我最后一次關上身后我們家的那扇門時，那正是1751年6月的頭幾天。我一直生活在蘇格蘭低地的埃森丁這個安靜的小村莊里。我的父親曾經是那兒的教師。但既然他和我的母親都去世了 ，我就不得不離開那幢房子。新教師很快就要到了，他將在學校里教課并住在供教師住的房子里。所以說雖然我只有17歲，但已經沒有我的棲身之地了，我也沒有理由待在埃森丁了。
But my heart was beating with excitement as I walked down the road, because in my hand I carried the letter that my father had given me just before he died. 'Davie,' he had said, 'when I am dead, take this to the house of Shaws, near Cramond. That's where I came from, and that's where you must go. Put this letter into the hands of Ebenezer Balfour.'
但是我走在路上時心激動地跳著，因為我手中拿著我父親臨終前給我的那封信。“戴維，”他曾說，“我去世以后，拿著這封信去克萊蒙德附近的肖家大院。那兒是我的出生地，也是你應 該去的地方。把這封信親手交給埃比尼澤·鮑爾弗。”
Balfour! The same name as my own! It was the first time I had heard of any of our family outside Essendean.
鮑爾弗！和我一樣的姓氏！這是我第一次聽說埃森丁地域以外我的家族成員。
So I decided to walk to Cramond, hoping that perhaps this Mr Balfour, in his fine big house, would receive me kindly, and help me to become a rich man one day. With my plaid over my shoulder, I walked fast up the hill away from the village. What an adventure, to leave that sleepy place, where nothing ever happened, and go to a great, busy house, to be with rich and important people of my own name and blood! But when I reached the top of the hill, I turned a little sadly, to take my last look at the dominie's house, and Essendean churchyard, where my father and mother lay.
于是我決定走到克萊蒙德去，盼著有一天這個鮑爾弗先生能在他的豪華的大房子里友好地接待我并幫我變成富人。方格肩巾披在肩上，我大步流星地走上山崗，離開了那個小村莊。離開 那寂靜的、從未發生過什么事的小村莊而去一個熱鬧的大宅院里與姓氏和血緣和我相同的、有錢有勢的人待在一起，這可真是一次歷險！但當我到達山頂時，我帶著一絲悲哀轉身看了最后一 眼供教師住的房子和我父母長眠著的埃森丁墓地。
My journey northwards took almost two days. By midday on the second day I could see the smoking chimneys of Edinburgh in front of me, and soon I arrived in Cramond.
我往北差不多走了兩天。到第二天中午時我能看見前面愛丁堡冒煙的煙囪，很快我就到了克萊蒙德。
Now I began to ask people on the road for the house of Shaws. Their answers worried me a little. Some people seemed surprised, some afraid, and some angry, when I spoke the name of Ebenezer Balfour. I could not understand this, but it was too far to go back to Essendean that day, and I wanted to find the rest of the Balfour family very much. So I continued on my way, and when I met a dark, wild-looking woman coming towards me, I asked her where the house of Shaws was She took me to the top of the next hill, and showed me a large building standing alone in the bottom of the next valley. Although the fields around were green, and the farmland was excellent, the house itself looked unfinished and empty. Part of its roof was missing. There was no road to it, and no smoke coming from any of its chimneys, nor was there any garden.
我開始向路上的行人打聽肖家大院。他們的回答使我心里有點兒擔憂。當我說出埃比尼澤·鮑爾弗這個名字時，一些人顯得驚訝，一些人恐懼，一些人憤怒。我不明白這個，但那天回埃 森丁是太遠了，而且我也特別想找到鮑爾弗家族其余的人。于是我繼續走著走著；而且當我看見一位皮膚黝黑、看似野蠻的老婦人向我走過來時，我向她打聽肖家大院在哪兒。她把我領到下 一座小山的頂峰，指給我看下一個山谷里的一幢孤零零的建筑物。雖然四周的田野一片蔥綠，莊稼長勢很好，但那幢房子本身好像沒有建完，也顯得空曠。有部分屋頂不見了。沒有路通到那 兒，煙囪里沒有煙冒出來，也沒有花園。
'That!' I cried. 'No, it can't be!' 'It is!' cried the woman angrily. 'That is the house of Shaws! Blood built it, blood stopped the building of if, and blood shall bring it down! Black is the heart of Ebenezer Balfour! Ye can tell him from me that I hope to see him die, and his house fall down around him!'
“那個？！”我驚呼著，“不，絕對不是！”“就是！”那個女人憤恨地說道，“那就是肖家！它是用血筑成的，血停止了修建，血還將把它給毀掉！埃比尼澤·鮑爾弗的心是黑的！你 可以告訴他我說我希望看到他死了并看到他的房子塌下來把他給埋了！”
The woman turned and disappeared. I stood where she left me, shaking like a leaf, and looking down at the house for a long time. But when it began to get dark, I noticed some smoke coming out of the chimney, and felt a little more hopeful. 'There must be a fire, and cooking, and people in the house,' I thought. So I walked up to the front door. The house seemed locked up and unwelcoming, but there was fire light shining through the kitchen window, and I could hear someone talking quietly to himself. Bravely, I lifted my hand and knocked loudly on the strong wooden door. The house was suddenly silent, and there was no reply. I knocked and knocked, and shouted as loudly as I could. Finally, the window opened, and a man holding a gun put his head out.
那個女人轉身不見了。我在她離開我之處站著原地不動，像一片樹葉一樣顫抖，久久地俯視著那幢房子。但當暮色開始降臨時，我發現有煙從那幢房子的煙囪冒出來，便感到稍微有點希 望了。“那里面一定有火，有人在做飯，也一定有人，”我心想。于是我走到前門。房子似乎緊鎖著，不歡迎來訪者的樣子，但是廚房的窗口透著火光，而且我能聽到屋里有人悄聲自言自語 。鼓起勇氣，我舉起手，在那扇結實的木門上大聲地敲起來。屋子忽然間靜了下來，沒有人回答。我敲了又敲，還使勁地喊起來。最后，窗戶開了，一個手握一枝槍的男人探出頭來。
