1. "My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel," said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen; "in the meantime you must try and put up with me." Framton Nuttel endeavoured to say the correct things to flatter the niece without discounting the aunt that was to come. Privately he doubted more than ever whether these formal visits to total strangers would do much towards helping him cure his nerves.
“我姑媽最近情緒非常低落，努特爾先生，”一個15歲表情泰然自若的女孩說。“那你就必須試著忍受我了，” 弗拉姆頓·努特爾竭力用不貶損即將到來的姑媽的話語來恭維這位侄女。但他私下里比以往任何時候都更加懷疑這樣對陌生人家的正式拜訪，是否會有助于他緩解自己的精神壓力。
2. "I know how it will be," his sister had said when he was preparing to migrate to this rural retreat; "you will bury yourself down there and not speak to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever. I shall just give you letters of introduction to all the people I know there. Some of them, as far as I can remember, were quite nice."
“我知道事情會發展成什么樣，”在他準備來到這個農舍之前，他的姐姐曾這樣對他說，“你到那之后，肯定會躲在某個角落里，不跟任何人交流， 然后你的精神狀況會變得比以前更糟糕。我會給你幾封介紹信，把你介紹給我在那里認識的所有人。我記憶里，他們中有些人相當和藹可親。”
3. Mrs. Sappleton, the lady to whom he was presenting one of the letters of introduction came into the nice division. "Do you know many of the people round here?" asked the niece. "Hardly a soul," said Framton. "My sister was staying here, at the rectory, you know, some four years ago, and she gave me letters of introduction to some of the people here."
薩普爾頓太太就是被其中一封介紹信分類為“和藹可親”的一位女士。“您在這里認識很多人嗎？”侄女問道。“幾乎沒有，”弗拉姆頓說，“我姐姐大約四年前在這里住過，就在教區長家里，你知道，她給了我幾封介紹信，把我介紹給這里的一些人。”
4. He made the last statement in a tone of regret. "Then you know practically nothing about my aunt?" pursued the self-possessed young lady. "Only her name and address," he admitted. He was wondering whether Mrs. Sappleton was married or widowed.
他最后帶些后悔的語氣這樣說道。“那您實際上不認識我姑媽？”這位泰然自若的女孩追問道。“只知道她的姓名和地址，”他承認道。他挺好奇這位薩普爾頓太太究竟是已婚還是喪偶。
5. "Her great tragedy happened just three years ago," said the child; "that would be since your sister's time." "Her tragedy?" asked Framton. "You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on an October afternoon," said the niece, indicating a large French window that opened on to a lawn. "It is quite warm for the time of the year," said Framton; "but has that window got anything to do with the tragedy?" "Out through that window, three years ago to a day, her husband and her two young brothers went off for their day's shooting. They never came back. They found themselves all three suddenly in a treacherous piece of bog. Their bodies were never recovered. That was the dreadful part of it."
“三年前她經歷了非常悲慘的事情，”女孩說，“應該是在您姐姐剛離開這以后。” “悲慘的事情？”弗拉姆頓問道。“您可能會納悶十月份的下午我家怎么還敞著窗戶，”侄女說道，同時指向一扇通向屋外草地的大落地窗。“今年這個時候天氣比較暖和，”弗拉姆頓說，“但，這個窗口與那件悲慘的事情有什么關系？” “三年前的一天，她的丈夫和她的兩個弟弟就是從這個窗口出去打獵的。他們再也沒有回來。他們三人都陷入了一片危險的沼澤。而且，他們的尸體沒有被找到，這也是最可怕的部分。”

6. Here the child's voice lost its self-possessed tone and became human. "Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back someday, they and the little brown spaniel that was lost with them, and walk in at that window just as they used to do. That is why the window is kept open every evening till it is quite dusk. Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they went out, her husband with his white waterproof coat over his arm, and Ronnie, her youngest brother, singing. Do you know, sometimes on still, quiet evenings like this, I almost get a creepy feeling that they will all walk in through that window--"
此時，女孩語氣中的泰然自若消失了，變得更正常了。“可憐的姑媽始終認為他們有一天會回來，他們三人還有那條跟他們一起沒回來的棕色小西班牙獵犬，就像以前一樣從那扇窗戶進來。這就是這扇窗戶每天都會開到很晚的原因。可憐的姑媽，她經常告訴我他們是怎么出去的——她丈夫手臂上搭著他的那件白色防水外衣；她最小的弟弟羅尼唱著歌。你知道嗎，有時在今天這樣寂靜的傍晚，我幾乎會產生一種令人毛骨悚然的錯覺——他們真的會從那扇窗戶進來…
7. She broke off with a little shudder. It was a relief to Framton when the aunt bustled into the room with a whirl of apologies for being late in making her appearance. "I hope Vera has been amusing you?" she said. "She has been very interesting," said Framton. "I hope you don't mind the open window," said Mrs. Sappleton briskly; "my husband and brothers will be home directly from shooting, and they always come in this way. They've been out in the marshes today, so they'll make a fine mess over my poor carpets. So like you menfolk, isn't it?"
她的話中斷了，打了個輕微的寒顫。此時，姑媽匆匆忙忙地走進房間，并連忙為自己的遲到而道歉，這正好讓弗拉姆頓的心情放松了一下。“真心希望維拉一直在逗您開心。”她說。“她非常有趣，”弗拉姆頓說。“我希望您不介意窗戶一直開著，”薩普爾頓太太輕快地說，“我丈夫和我弟弟們打完獵會直接回家，他們總是從這扇窗戶進來。他們今天去沼澤那邊了，所以他們會把我可憐的地毯弄得一團糟。你們男人都這樣，不是嗎？”
8. She rattled on cheerfully. To Framton it was all purely horrible. He made a desperate but only partially successful effort to turn the talk on to a less ghastly topic, he was conscious that his hostess was giving him only a fragment of her attention, and her eyes were constantly staring past him to the open window and the lawn beyond.
她喋喋不休地說著，神情愉快。但對于弗拉姆頓而言，她說的一切都是那么恐怖。他不顧一切地想把談話轉向不那么可怕的話題，但效果并不明顯，他意識到他的這位女主人只給予了他片刻的關注，而她的雙眼一直都盯著他身后那扇敞開的窗戶和窗外的草地。
9. "The doctors are ordering me complete rest, absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of violent physical exercise," announced Framton, "On the matter of diet they are not so much in agreement," he continued. "No?" said Mrs. Sappleton, in a voice which only replaced a yawn. Then she suddenly cheered up: "Here they are at last!" she cried. "Just in time for tea, and don't they look as if they were muddy up to the eyes!" Framton shivered slightly and turned towards the niece. The child was staring out through the open window with horror in her eyes. In a shock of fear Framton looked in the same direction.
“醫生命令我要充分地休息，不要精神過于興奮，同時還要避免劇烈的運動，”弗拉姆頓宣布說。“飲食方面，他們并沒有達成一致意見，”他繼續說。“沒有一致意見？”薩普爾頓太太用一種類似于打哈欠的聲音說道。此時，她突然興奮起來：“他們終于回來了！”她喊道，“正好沒耽誤喝茶時間。天吶，他們看起來像是從泥里爬出來的！”弗拉姆頓打了個輕微的寒顫，然后轉向侄女的方向。女孩正通過那扇敞開的窗戶凝視著窗外，目光里充滿了恐懼。弗拉姆頓被眼前這恐怖的一幕震驚了，于是也朝著同一個方向看去。
10. In the deepening twilight three figures were walking across the lawn towards the window, they all carried guns under their arms, and one of them was burdened with a white coat hung over his shoulders. A tired brown spaniel walked close at their heels. Framton jumped up, grabbed wildly at his stick and hat and ran out.
在暮色深處，三個身影正穿過草地朝窗戶的方向走來，三個人腋下都夾著獵槍，其中一個人的肩上搭著一件白色外套。一條疲憊的棕色西班牙獵犬緊跟在他們身后。弗拉姆頓跳了起來，瘋狂地抓起了他的拐棍和帽子，跑了出去。
11. "Here we are, my dear," said the bearer of the white mackintosh, coming in through the window, "fairly muddy, but most of it's dry. Who was that who bolted out as we came up?"
“親愛的，我們回來了，”肩上搭著白色防水外衣的人邊說著，邊穿過窗戶進到了屋里，“太泥濘了，但大多數地方還是干的。我們進來時拔腿就跑的那個人是誰？”
"A most extraordinary man, a Mr. Nuttel," said Mrs. Sappleton; "could only talk about his illnesses, and dashed off without a word of goodbye or apology when you arrived. One would think he had seen a ghost." "I expect it was the spaniel," said the niece calmly; "he told me he had a horror of dogs. He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures just above him. Enough to make anyone lose their nerve."
“一個很奇怪的人，努特爾先生，”薩普爾頓太太說，“只談論了他的病情，你們一回來，連句再見或道歉也不說就一溜煙跑了。讓人感覺他見到鬼了。”“我估計是那條西班牙獵犬的事，”侄女冷靜地說，“他告訴我他非常怕狗。他曾經被一群狗追到了恒河岸邊的一個墓地里，然后不得不躲在一個新挖的墓坑里過夜，那些狗就在他頭上的地面上守著。這足夠把任何人嚇破膽了。”
Romance at short notice was her speciality.
“一眨眼就能編故事”正是她的特長。