It was getting on toward six o'clock so I thought I'd buy myself a beer and go out and sit in a deck chair by the swimming pool and have a little evening sun. Just then I noticed a small, oldish man walking briskly around the edge of the pool. He was immaculately dressed in a white suit and he walked very quickly with little bouncing strides, pushing himself high up onto his toes with each step.
時間快到晚上六點了，我覺得是時候為自己買杯啤酒，然后出去躺在游泳池邊的躺椅上，享受落日余暉。就在這時，我注意到一位個頭不高的老人正沿游泳池邊快步地走著。他穿著一身整潔的白色西裝，行走時邁著輕盈的步伐，腳尖一踮一踮地。
He stopped beside me and smiled, showing two rows of very small, uneven teeth, slightly tarnished. I smiled back. "Excuse pleess, but may I sit here?" "Certainly," I said. "Go ahead." "A fine evening," he said. "They are all evenings fine here in Jamaica." I couldn't tell if the accent were Italian or Spanish, but I felt fairly sure he was some sort of a South American. And old too, when you saw him close. Probably around sixty-eight or seventy. "Yes," I said. "It is wonderful here, isn't it?”
他停在我身邊，微笑著，露出兩排非常小、參差不齊且沒什么光澤的牙齒。我也對他笑了笑。“打擾了，我可以坐在這兒嗎？”“當然可以，”我說，“請坐。”“傍晚的天氣多好啊，”他說，“在牙買加，每天傍晚的天氣都很好。”我說不清他的口音里夾雜著意大利語還是西班牙語，但我相當肯定他是來自南美。而且，當你靠近些看他時，你就會發現他的確很老了，大概六十八或七十的樣子。“說的沒錯，”我說，“這里的天氣很棒，不是嗎？”
Suddenly an American boy was standing in front of us. He was dripping wet from the pool and one English girl was standing there with him. "Are these chairs taken?" he said. "No," I answered. "Mind if I sit down?" "Go ahead." "Thanks," he said. He offered his cigarettes to the girl and she refused; then he offered them to me and I took one. The little man said, "Tank you, no, but I tink I have a cigar." He pulled out a crocodile case and got himself a cigar, then he produced a knife which had a small scissor in it and he snipped the end of the cigar.
突然，一個美國男孩出現在我們面前。他剛從游泳池出來，渾身濕淋淋的，旁邊還站著一位英國女孩。“這些椅子有人嗎？”他說。“沒人，”我回答。“介意我坐下嗎？”“坐吧。”“謝謝，”他說。他向女孩遞香煙，女孩拒絕了；然后他又向我遞了香煙，我拿了一支。那個小老頭說，“謝謝你，但不用了，我好像帶了雪茄。”他掏出一盒鱷魚牌雪茄，取出一支，然后又拿出一把小刀（小刀上帶著一個小剪刀），接著用剪刀剪斷了雪茄尾端。
"Here, let me give you a light." The American boy held up his lighter."Dat will not work in dis wind." "Sure, it'll work. It always works." "All-ways?" the little man said softly. "Sure, it never fails. Not with me anyway." "Shall we not make a little bet on whether your lighter lights?" "Sure, I'll bet," the boy said. "Why not?" "I make you very good bet. I am rich man and I am sporting man also. Listen to me. Outside de hotel iss my car. Iss very fine car. American car from your country. Cadillac. You strike lighter successfully ten times running and Cadillac is yours. You like to have dis Cadillac, yes?"
“我來幫您點煙吧。”那個美國男孩舉起他的打火機。“現在有風這東西不好使的！”“沒問題，好用。而且總是好用。”“總是？”小老頭輕聲問道。“當然啦，而且萬無一失。反正，我用時是這樣。” “我們打個賭吧，就賭你的打火機能不能打著火，怎么樣？”“當然可以，這賭我打了，”男孩說道，“我贏定了！”“跟我打賭，賭注一定得上點兒檔次。我很有錢，而且很喜歡冒險。我跟你說，我的車就停在酒店外面。車子非常好。是一輛你們美國產的汽車，凱迪拉克。你只要連續成功打著十次打火機，那輛凱迪拉克就是你的了。你想要那輛迪卡迪拉克，沒錯吧？”
"Sure, I'd like to have a Cadillac." The boy was grinning. "All right. Fine. We make a bet and I put up my Cadillac." "And what do I put up?" said the boy. “Perhaps, de little finger of your left hand." "My what! The boy stopped grinning. "Yes. Why not? You win, you take de car. You looss, I take de finger." "I don't get it. How do you mean, you take the finger?" "I chop it off." "Jumping jeepers! That's a crazy bet!" "Well, well, well," he said. "I do not understand. You say it lights but you will not bet. Den we forget it, yes?"
“我當然想要一輛凱迪拉克。”那男孩笑嘻嘻地說。“好吧。很好。那我們就打賭，我的賭注是那輛凱迪拉克。”“那我該賭點什么？”男孩問。“也許是你左手的小手指。”“我的什么？！男孩的笑容僵住了。“是的。為什么不呢？你贏了，你開走我的車。你輸了，你的手指歸我。”“我不明白。你要怎樣？你要拿走我的手指嗎？”“我把它砍掉。” “天啊！這太瘋狂了！”“好吧，好吧，好吧，”小老頭說，“我搞不懂，你既然說打火機能打著，但你又不肯打賭。那就忘了這個賭局，好吧？”
There was a silence, and I could see that the little man has succeeded in disturbing the boy with his absurd proposal. It was obvious that a small tension was beginning to build up inside him. "Now just let me check up on this bet of yours," he said at last. "You say if I make this lighter light ten times running I win a Cadillac. If it misses just once then I forfeit the little finger of my left hand. Is that right?"
緊接著是一陣沉默。我可以看出這個小老頭已經用他的荒謬提議成功地讓這個男孩變得心神不寧。很明顯，一股不安的情緒正在男孩的內心不斷積聚。“現在，我跟您核對一下這樁賭局吧，”男孩終于開口了，“您說如果我連續十次成功地打著這個打火機，我會贏得一輛凱迪拉克；如果這十次里有任何一次失敗了，我就得失去我左手的小指。是這樣吧？”
"Certainly. Dat is de bet. But I tink you are afraid." The boy paused for just a moment and he glanced first at the English girl, then at me. "Yes," he said sharply. "I'll bet you." "Good!" The little man clapped his hands together quietly, once. "Fine," he said. "We do it now. And you, sir," he turned to me, "you would perhaps be good enough to, what you call it, to-to referee." He had pale, almost colourless eyes with tiny bright black pupils. "All right," I said. "I'll come along, but I don't like the bet." "You come too," he said to the girl. "You come and watch.
“沒錯。就是這個賭法。但我覺得你害怕了。”男孩停頓了一會兒，然后先看了看那位英國女孩，又看了我一眼。“好吧，”他抬高聲音說道，“我跟你賭。” “好！”小老頭平靜地拍了拍手。“很好，”他說，“我們這就開始。先生，您，”他轉向我說，“您或許能夠勝任一名裁判。”此時，他面色蒼白，亮黑色的瞳孔在眼睛里小得幾乎看不見。“好吧，”我說，“裁判就裁判，但我聲明我并不喜歡這樁賭局。”“你也來吧”小老頭對女孩說，“過來旁觀就行。”
We all went to the little man’s room, sat at a table, and the little man started tying up the boy’s left hand to the table. When he'd finished that, he positioned himself beside the table with a chopper in his hand. "We are all ready?" he said. "Mister referee, you must say to begin."
我們都進了小老頭的房間，坐在一張桌子旁，然后小老頭開始將男孩的左手綁在桌子上。完成后，他也坐在了桌子旁，手里拿著一把斧頭。“我們都準備好了嗎？”他說。“裁判先生，您說開始我們就開始。”
"Are you ready?" I asked the boy. "I'm ready" he said. "And you?" I asked the little man. "Quite ready," he said and he lifted the chopper up in the air and held it there about two feet above the boy's finger, ready to chop. The boy watched it, but he didn't flinch and his mouth didn't move at all. He merely raised his eyebrows and frowned. "All right," I said. "Go ahead."
“你準備好了嗎？”我問那個男孩。“我準備好了。”他回答說。“您呢？”我問小老頭。“準備好了。”他回答說，同時把斧頭舉高至男孩手指上方約兩英尺的位置，做好了砍下去的準備。男孩眼睛盯著斧頭，但他并沒有表現出退縮，也沒有說任何話。他只是抬起了眉毛，皺起了眉頭。“好吧，”我說，“開始！”
"One!" I called. The flame did not blow out. "Two!" The lighter lighted again. No one else said anything. The boy kept his eyes on the lighter. The little man held the chopper up in the air and he too was watching the lighter. "Three!" "Four!" "Five!" "Six!" "Seven!" "Eight!" I said, and as I said it the door opened.
“一”我開始計數。火焰沒有熄滅。“二！”打火機再次點燃。此時只能聽到我一個人的聲音。男孩一直盯著打火機。小老頭高舉著斧頭，同時也看著打火機，三！”“四！”“五！”“六！”“七！”“八！”我繼續計著數。而就在此時，門被打開了。
We all turned and we saw a woman standing in the doorway, a small, black-haired woman, rather old, who stood there for about two seconds then rushed forward shouting, "Carlos! Carlos!" She grabbed his wrist, took the chopper from him, threw it on the bed, took hold of the little man by the lapels of his white suit and began shaking him very vigorously, talking to him fast and loud and fiercely all the time in some Spanish-sounding language. Then she hauled him across the room and pushed him backward onto one of the beds.
我們都轉過身來。一個身材矮小、黑色頭發的老婦人出現在門口。她站在那里約兩秒鐘后，突然沖進屋來喊道：“卡洛斯！卡洛斯！”她抓住小老頭的手腕，搶過斧頭扔在床上。然后，她又抓起小老頭白色西裝的翻領，開始非常猛烈地搖晃他，同時不停地用聽上去像西班牙語的語言快速、大聲、兇狠地跟他講話。隨后，她把他拖到房間的另一頭，并把他推倒在一張床上。
"I am so sorry," the woman said. "I am so terribly sorry that this should happen." She spoke almost perfect English. "It is too bad," she went on. "I suppose it is really my fault. For ten minutes I leave him alone to go and have my hair washed and I come back and he is at it again." She looked sorry and deeply concerned.
“我很抱歉，”那個婦人說，“發生這樣的事情，我真的非常抱歉。”她講的一口幾乎完美的英語。“太糟糕了，”她接著說，“我覺得這確實是我的錯。我就是去洗了個頭，讓他獨自呆了十分鐘。我回來卻發現，他又來這套了。”她看起來非常抱歉，同時陷入了深深的憂慮。
The boy wasuntying his hand from the table. The English girl and I stood there and saidnothing. "He is a menace," the woman said. "Down where welive at home he has taken altogether forty-seven fingers from different people,and he has lost eleven cars. In the end they threatened to have him put away somewhere. That's why I brought him up here. I suppose he bet you a car,"the woman said. "Yes," the boy answered. "A Cadillac.""He has no car. It's mine. And that makes it worse," she said,"that he should bet you when he has nothing to bet with. I am ashamed andvery sorry about it all." She seemed an awfully nice woman.
此時此刻，男孩正從桌子上解開自己的手；我和那個英國女孩則站在那里啞口無言。“他是個麻煩鬼，”婦人說，“我們還住老家時，他就總共砍掉了別人的47根手指，此外還輸了11輛汽車。最后，人們威脅要把他趕走。這就是我把他帶到這里的原因。我猜他用汽車做賭注跟你打賭了。“婦人說。“是的，”男孩回答道，“一輛凱迪拉克。”“他沒有車。那是我的車。這樣的話，就更糟了，”她說，“他跟你打賭時甚至沒有賭注。我感到非常慚愧，真是太抱歉了。”此時，她看上去非常善良、非常和藹。
"We were only having a little bet," mumbled the little man."He hasn't anything left to bet with," the woman said. "Hehasn't a thing in the world. Not a thing. As a matter of fact, I myself won itall from him a long while ago. It took time, a lot of time, and it was hardwork, but I won it all in the end." She looked up at the boy and shesmiled, a slow sad smile. I can see it now, that hand of hers; it had only onefinger on it, and a thumb.
“我們只是打了個小賭，”小老頭咕噥道。“他沒有什么可以賭的，”婦人說。“他現在窮困潦倒，身無分文。事實上，很久以前，這一切都是我從他那贏來的。這需要時間，很長時間，而且這并不容易，但我最終贏得了這一切。”她抬頭看著那個男孩，露出了微笑，是一種緩慢而又悲傷的笑容。直到現在，她的那只手還會浮現在我眼前——上面只剩下大拇指和另外一根手指。