評論
打印
‘But you're still alive．’
“可你還活著。”
‘My family know I'm alive， but no other people know．’He looked at me．‘But now you know．’
“我家人知道我還活著，但別人不知道。”他看了看我。“但現在你知道了。”
‘How did you do it？’I asked．
“你是怎么做的？”我問道。
‘I told my family about my p1an and I told Greta，my wife．At first they didn't like it．But after a long time，they said OK．Then I faked the car crash．’
“我把我的計劃告訴了我家里的人，還告訴了我的妻子格里塔。起初，他們不喜歡這個主意。可過了很長一段時間后，他們說‘行’。后來我偽造了那場車禍。”
‘Faked it？’
“偽造車禍？”
‘Yes，’he said．‘I put some of my things in the car．A guitar，and some clothes．Then I pushed my car over a cliff and burned it．The police found the burned car and thought I was dead．Everybody thought I was killed in the car crash．’
“是的。”他說，“我在車里放了些我的東西。一把吉它，還有一些衣服。然后我把車從峭壁上推下去并且把車燒了。警察發現了燒毀的車，認為我死了。大家都認為我在車禍中喪生了。”
‘But you faked the crash，’I said．
“可是車禍是你偽造的呀，”我說。
‘Yes．’
“是的。”
‘What did you do then？’
“后來你干了什么？”
‘My family hid me away for months．I tried to change into a different person— with shorter hair，a moustache， quiet suits．All my money went to Greta and she changed her name to Ross．I told her to buy this island．Now I invest her money，the money that was mine．And now I'm “James Ross．”
“我的家里人把我隱匿了幾個月。我盡力想變成一個完全不同的人——剪短頭發，留起胡子，穿著不顯眼的衣服。我所有的錢都歸了格里塔，她把姓改為羅斯。我叫她買下這個島。現在我用她的錢投資，這錢原來是我的。現在我是‘詹姆斯·羅斯’。”
‘What about“Jake Rosso”？’I asked．
“那‘杰克·羅索’呢？”我問。
‘Jake Rosso took drugs，’he said．‘Jake Rosso got drunk and crashed cars． He killed a young girl，so he had to “die”．I can never forget the girl．I think about her every day．’
“杰克·羅索吸毒。”他說，“杰克·羅索喝醉了酒，撞了車。他撞死了一個年輕姑娘，所以他不得不‘死’。我永遠也忘不了那個女孩。我天天想著她的事。”
‘And that's why you always look so sad，’I thought．
“而那便是你為何總是顯得那么憂郁的原因，”我想。
I looked around the room．‘Why do you keep a room like this？ Why do you keep the guitars，the posters and photographs？’
我環視了一下這個房間。“你為什么把房間保持這個樣子？你為什么保留這些吉它、海報和照片？”
James Ross did not speak for a minute．Then he said，‘I need to remember my old life， and what Jake Rosso was like．I'm never going to sing again and I'm never going to take drugs But I need this room，to remember．’
詹姆斯·羅斯沉默了片刻。然后他說：“我需要記住原來的生活，記住杰克·羅索曾是什么樣子。我決不會再唱歌，也決不會吸毒。可是我需要這個房間，以回憶過去。”
I looked at the posters and the photographs．And I looked at his sad face．‘I'm not going to say anything．I won't tell my mother，I won't tell anybody．’
我望著海報和照片。我還望著他那張憂郁的臉。“我什么也不會說的。我不會告訴我媽媽的，我誰也不會告訴的。”
James Ross looked at me．‘I think you understand，’he said．
詹姆斯·羅斯看著我。“我想你理解，”他說。
‘I do，’I said．‘I've done bad things．I want to forget them，too．I needed to get away，to hide，too．That's why we came to England，to begin a new life Yes，I understatld．’
“我理解。”我說，“我做過錯事。我也想把它們忘掉。我也想出走，隱藏起來。那就是為什么我們來到了英格蘭、來開始一種新的生活的原因。是的，我理解。”
He took my hand，and we walked out of the room and closed the door．
他拉著我的手，我們走出了這個房間并關上了門。
I never went into the room again，and I didn't tell anybody．
我再也沒進過這個房間，也沒把這件事告訴過任何人。
My mother and I left the island at the end of the summer．Soon after，I went to college．
夏末，我和我媽媽離開了那座島。不久之后，我上了大學。
My life is bettter now．I work on a farm in England and my mother works in an office． My mother doesn't worry about me，because I'm happier now．
現在我的生活好多了。我在英格蘭的一個農場工作，我媽媽在辦公室工作。她不為我擔心了，因為我現在快樂多了。
I haven't been back to the island．
我再也沒有回島上去過。
But I know there's a ‘dead man’living there．
但是我知道那兒住著一位“亡靈”。
