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Stroeve accompanied me unwillingly. His own plan was to run up and down the streets that led out of the Avenue de Clichy and ask at every house if Strickland lived there. My commonplace scheme was, after all, effective, for in the second shop we asked at the woman behind the counter acknowledged that she knew him. She was not certain where he lived, but it was in one of the three houses opposite. Luck favoured us, and in the first we tried the concierge told us that we should find him on the top floor.
施特略夫心有不甘地跟在我后面。他本來打算在同克利舍路相通的幾條街上前后跑一通，只要碰到一家寄宿公寓就進去打聽。結(jié)果證明，還是我的平凡的計劃奏效了。就在我們走進的第二家面包店，柜臺后面的一個女人說她認識他。她不太知道他到底住在哪兒，但是肯定是對面三座樓房中的一座。我們的運氣不壞，頭一幢樓的門房就告訴我們可以在最頂上的一層找到他。
It appears that he's ill, said Stroeve.
“他可能害病了，”施特略夫說。
It may be, answered the concierge indifferently. "En effet, I have not seen him for several days."
“可能是吧，”門房冷冷地說，“事實上，我有幾天沒看見他了。”
Stroeve ran up the stairs ahead of me, and when I reached the top floor I found him talking to a workman in his shirt-sleeves who had opened a door at which Stroeve had knocked. He pointed to another door. He believed that the person who lived there was a painter. He had not seen him for a week. Stroeve made as though he were about to knock, and then turned to me with a gesture of helplessness. I saw that he was panic-stricken.
施特略夫在我前面搶先跑上樓梯，當我走到最高的一層時，他已經(jīng)敲開一個房間的門正在同一個穿著襯衫的工人講話。這個人指了指另外一扇門。他相信住在那里的人是個畫家。他已經(jīng)有一個星期沒有看見他了。施特略夫剛準備去敲門，但是馬上又轉(zhuǎn)過身來對我做了個手勢，表示他不知道該怎么辦。我發(fā)現(xiàn)他害怕得要命。
Supposing he's dead?
“要是他已經(jīng)死了怎么辦？”
Not he, I said.
“他死不了。”我說。
I knocked. There was no answer. I tried the handle, and found the door unlocked. I walked in, and Stroeve followed me. The room was in darkness. I could only see that it was an attic, with a sloping roof; and a faint glimmer, no more than a less profound obscurity, came from a skylight.
我敲了敲門。沒有人應(yīng)聲。我扭了一下門柄，門并沒有鎖著。我走了進去，施特略夫跟在我后面。屋子很黑，我只能看出來這是一間閣樓，天花板是傾斜的。從天窗上射進一道朦朧的光線，并不比室內(nèi)的昏暗亮多少。
Strickland, I called.
“思特里克蘭德。”我叫了一聲。
There was no answer. It was really rather mysterious, and it seemed to me that Stroeve, standing just behind, was trembling in his shoes. For a moment I hesitated to strike a light. I dimly perceived a bed in the corner, and I wondered whether the light would disclose lying on it a dead body.
沒有回答。一切都實在令人感到神秘，施特略夫緊靠著我后面站著，我好象覺得他正在索索發(fā)抖。我猶豫了一會，是不是要劃一根火柴。朦朧中我看到墻角有一張床，我不知道亮光會不會使我看到床上躺著一具尸體。
