評(píng)論
打印
As I was coming back, I met the owner of the public house.
我正往回走時(shí)，遇到了小酒店的主人。
'Good morning,' he said. 'Did ye come with Ebenezer?'
“早晨好。”他說道，“你是和埃比尼澤一塊來的嗎？”
'I did,' I replied. 'He isn't well liked, I understand.'
“是的，”我回答道，“他不招人喜歡，我明白。”
'That's true,' he answered. 'Nobody speaks well of him. It all started with that story about Mr Alexander, his brother.'
“那是真的。”他回答道，“沒有人說他好話。這得從他兄弟亞歷山大的故事說起。”
'What story?' I asked.
“什么故事？”我問道。
'Oh, just that Ebenezer had killed him. Did ye never hear that?'
“噢，就是埃比尼澤殺害了他。你從未聽說過那事嗎？”
'And why would he kill my f—, I mean, Alexander?'
“他為什么要?dú)⑽腋浮沂钦f，亞歷山大？”
'To get the house, of course, the house of Shaws.'
“當(dāng)然是為了房子，肖家大院。”
'Aye, man? Was my—was Alexander older than Ebenezer?'
“伙計(jì)，什么？難道我的——亞歷山大比埃比尼澤年長嗎？”
'Indeed he was! No other reason for killing him!'
“他就是！殺他再也沒有別的原因了！”
This was a great surprise to me! I had thought that my father was the younger brother, and I now understood why my uncle had lied to me, and wanted to kill me. The house of Shaws had belonged to my father, not my uncle, and now I had inherited it. The poor country boy who had walked from Essendean was the owner of a fine house and farmland! My head was full of the wonderful things that I could do in my life, as I looked, unseeing, at the sea.
這對我來說真是件驚奇事！我過去一直以為我父親是年幼的兄弟，現(xiàn)在我明白了為什么我的叔叔對我扯了謊而且要?dú)⑺牢摇Ｐぜ掖笤罕緛韺儆谖腋赣H，不是我叔叔的，現(xiàn)在我繼承了它。從埃森丁走出來的可憐的鄉(xiāng)下男孩成了大房子和農(nóng)田的主人！我視而不見地望著大海，腦袋里全是我想像的、我這一輩子可能干的美妙的事兒。
Just then my uncle and the captain came out of the public house. The captain smiled in a friendly way as he spoke to me. 'Sir,' he said, 'Mr Balfour has told me a lot about ye. I'm only sorry I haven't time to get to know ye better. But I'd like ye to come on to my ship for half an hour, before we sail, and have a drink with me.'
正在那時(shí)我叔叔和船長從小酒店出來。船長邊跟我說話邊友好地沖我微笑。“先生，”他說道，“鮑爾弗先生告訴了我很多關(guān)于你的事。我只是感到有點(diǎn)遺憾，我沒有足夠的時(shí)間來更好地了解你。但是我想請你在我們開航前到我船上來半小時(shí)并和我喝上一杯。
Now, more than anything in the world, I wanted to see the inside of a ship, but I remembered that I had to be careful. 'My uncle and I have to see the lawyer, sir,' I replied, 'so I'm afraid we may not have enough time.'
現(xiàn)在，在這個(gè)世界上我最想做的就是去看看船的內(nèi)部構(gòu)造，但是我記著我得小心。“我和我叔叔得去見律師，先生，”我答道，“所以恐怕我們可能沒有足夠的時(shí)間。”
'Aye, aye,' he answered, 'I know, but ye see, the ship's boat can put ye both down near Rankeillor's house, after ye've seen the ship, so ye won't lose any time.' Suddenly he said quietly in my ear, 'Watch out for the old man—he wants to hurt ye. Come and talk about it.' Putting his arm in mine, he said loudly, 'What can I bring ye back from my travels? A friend of Mr Balfour's is a friend of mine!'
“對，對，”他回答道，“我知道，但是你明白，船上的小艇能夠在你們看完之后讓你們二人在蘭基勒家附近的地方下船，所以你不會(huì)沒時(shí)間的。”忽然間他對我輕聲耳語道：“當(dāng)心這個(gè)老家伙——他想害你。來談?wù)劇！彼熘业谋郏舐曊f：“我旅行回來給你帶什么？鮑爾弗先生的朋友也是我的朋友！”
By this time we were on the beach, and he was helping my uncle and me into the boat. I thought that I had found a good friend and helper, and I was very excited as we came closer to the great ship, full of busy, noisy sailors. The captain and I were the first to climb up the ship's side, and at the top the captain immediately put his arm through mine and began to talk about the ship.
到這時(shí)我們已在海灘上，他幫著我和叔叔進(jìn)了小艇。我心想我找到了一個(gè)好朋友，一個(gè)可以幫忙的人；而且當(dāng)我們更加走近到處是忙忙碌碌、吵吵嚷嚷的水手的大船時(shí)，我心里很激動(dòng)。我和船長率先爬過船舷，在頂上船長立即用臂挽住我，開始談起船來。
'But where is my uncle?' I asked suddenly. I pulled myself away from the captain's arm, and ran to the side of the ship. Sure enough, there was the boat returning to Queensferry, with my uncle sitting in it. I screamed, 'Help, help! Murder!' and my uncle slowly turned to look at me.
“可我叔叔在哪兒？”我忽然間問道。我掙脫開船長挽我的胳膊，跑到船舷。千真萬確，一艘小艇正駛回昆斯費(fèi)里，我叔叔就坐在里邊。我尖叫道：“救命，救命！有人要?dú)⑽遥 倍沂迨迓鼗仡^看看我。
I did not see any more. Already strong hands were pulling me away. Then something hit my head; I saw a great flash of fire, and fell to the ground.
我再?zèng)]看見什么。強(qiáng)有力的手已把我拖開了。接著什么東西打了我的頭；我眼冒金星，接著倒在地上。
