Two days passed, and on the third day two things happened. First, I discovered that I had lost almost all my money through a hole in my pocket. I only had three of my uncle's thirty-eight pounds left. But worse was to come. While I was sitting on a rock, looking out over Iona, I suddenly noticed a small boat moving fast through the water. I jumped to my feet and shouted as loudly as I could. The two men in the boat were near enough to hear. They shouted back in Gaelic, and laughed. But the boat did not turn, and sailed on, right in front of my eyes, to Iona.
兩天過去了,第三天發生了兩件事。首先,我發現我幾乎所有的錢都從口袋上的一個洞那兒漏掉了。叔叔給我的38鎊錢只剩下3鎊。可是更糟糕的事接踵而至了。當我坐在一塊礁石上遠望比愛歐娜島更遠處時,我忽然注意到一條小船飛快地駛過水面。我突然站起來,竭盡全力地叫。船上的那兩個人離我近到了能夠聽到我的聲音的程度。他們用蓋爾語對我大聲回話,大笑著。但船沒有掉頭,繼續向前駛著,在我眼巴巴的注視之下直至愛歐娜島。
I could not understand why they did not come to help me. I continued shouting wildly, although I could no longer see them. And then, I lay down and cried for the second time. This time I wasn't sad, but angry, because I thought that they had left me to die alone in that terrible place.
我不明白他們為什么不來幫助我。雖然我看不見他們了,但我繼續狂叫著。接著,我躺下來,又一次哭了。這一次我并不傷心,而是氣憤,因為我想到他們把我留在這個可怕的地方,讓我孤零零地死去。
The next morning, I was surprised to see that the same men were sailing towards Earraid from Iona. At once I ran down to the rocky coast to meet them. The boat came near me, but stayed a few metres away in the water. There was a third man in the boat, who was talking and laughing with the others. Then he stood up and spoke fast to me in Gaelic, which I could not understand. But sometimes he used an English word, and once I heard the word 'tide'. This gave me a flash of hope.
第二天早上,我驚奇地看見正是那兩個人從愛歐娜島向伊銳德島駛來。我立刻跑下來,來到礁巖岸邊迎接他們。船到了我附近,但停在水中離我幾米遠處。船上除這兩個人外,還有一個人,他正和另外兩個人說笑著。然后他站起來,用蓋爾語對我飛快地說起來,那我聽不懂。但有時他也用一個英語單詞,一次我聽到“潮水”這個詞。這給了我一絲希望。
'Do you mean—that when the tide is low...?' I cried, and could not finish. 'Yes, yes,' he called back, 'tide,' and laughed again.
“您是說——當潮水退低時……?”我大聲地喊著,但沒能說完。“對,對,”他回話道,“潮水,”接著又笑了。
I turned my back on the boat and ran back excitedly to the east of the island, where Earraid was the closest to Mull. And sure enough, there was now only a little water between the is lands. I was able to wade through it easily, and reached Mull with a happy shout. How stupid of me not to realize that it was possible to get to Mull, twice a day, at low tide! Now I felt very grateful to the boatmen for guessing my problem, and coming back to help me.
我轉過身,背對著小船,激動地跑回小島的東端,在那兒伊銳德島離馬爾島最近。而且很肯定的是現在兩島之間的水很少。我能夠輕易地蹚過去,隨著一聲歡快的叫聲我到達馬爾。我多傻,竟沒有意識到我能乘低潮時一天兩次地到馬爾!我非常感激那些船夫,他們猜到了我的問題而且還回來幫助我。
I walked towards the smoke that I had seen so often from Earraid, and reached a long, low house built of stone. Outside sat an old man, smoking his pipe in the sun. He spoke a little English, and told me that the officers and sailors from the ship had all arrived there safely a few days before.
我向我在伊銳德島上曾這么多次地看到的那縷炊煙走去,到了一個長長的、低矮的石屋那兒。屋外坐著一位老人,正在太陽下用煙斗吸煙。他講一點兒英語,告訴我那條船上的高級船員和水手幾天前就已安全地到達了那兒。
'Was one of them dressed in fine clothes?' I asked.
“其中有一位穿著考究的人嗎?”我問道。
'Aye, there was one like that,' he smiled. 'Ye must be the lad with the silver button!'
“對,有像那么回事的一位。”他微笑著,“你一定是那個有銀扣子的小伙子!”
'Why, yes!' I said, surprised.
“哎,我是!”我說道,感到驚訝。
'Well then, your friend says that ye must follow him to the house of his clansman, James Stewart, in Appin.'
“那樣的話,你的朋友說你一定得跟著他到他族人詹姆斯·斯圖爾特的、位于阿平的家去。”
He and his wife gave me food and drink, and let me sleep that night in their house. In the morning I thanked them for their kindness, and started my journey to Appin.
他和妻子給我吃的和喝的,并讓我夜晚睡在他們家里。早晨我謝過了他們的好意,開始了去往阿平的旅途。
I walked across Mull to Torosay, where I took a boat across the water to Lochaline. Then I walked to Kingairlock, where I took another boat across Loch Linnhe to Appin. This took six days, and on my way I met and spoke to a number of travellers. I heard all about Alan's clan, the Stewarts, and their enemies, the Campbells. Although they were both High land clans, the Campbells and Stewarts had hated each other for years, and now the Campbells were helping the English army drive many Highlanders out of their homes. Indeed, in a day or two, I heard, red-haired Colin Campbell himself was coming to Appin, with King George's soldiers, to drive the Stew arts out and so destroy his enemies. But I heard also of James Stewart, head of the Stewart clan in Appin, and that he and his clansmen would dearly love to see Colin Campbell dead.
我穿過馬爾島來到托羅塞島,乘船來到洛哈林。接著我走到金蓋爾洛克,在那兒又乘船穿過林荷溯到達阿平。這花了我6天時間,一路上我遇到了不少趕路人并和他們進行了交談。我聽說了艾倫的氏族斯圖爾特人和他們的仇人坎貝爾人的所有的事。雖然他們都是蘇格蘭高地氏族,但坎貝爾人和斯圖爾特人互相仇恨已有數年之久,而且坎貝爾人現在正在幫著英格蘭部隊把很多高地人驅趕出他們的家園。事實上,我又聽說一兩天后長著紅頭發的科林·坎貝爾將帶領喬治國王的部隊到阿平驅逐斯圖爾特人,這樣就能打垮他的敵人。但我又聽說阿平的斯圖爾特氏族的頭領詹姆斯·斯圖爾特和他的族人將非常喜歡看到科林·坎貝爾被打死。