果树园小夜曲(外研社双语读库)(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：Lucy Maud Montgomery 露西·莫德·蒙哥马利

出版社：外语教学与研究出版社

格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT

果树园小夜曲(外研社双语读库)试读：

第一章年轻人的想法

THE sunshine of a day in early spring, honey pale and honey sweet, was showering over the red brick buildings of Queenslea College and the grounds about them, throwing through the bare, budding maples and elms, delicate, evasive etchings of gold and brown on the paths, and coaxing into life the daffodils that were peering greenly and perkily up under the windows of the co-eds' dressing-room.

早春的阳光很柔和、很甜美，如蜂蜜一般洒满昆士利亚学院的红砖楼及其周围的地面。枫树和榆树才吐新芽，阳光透过疏朗的枝杈，把小径照得斑斑驳驳，像一幅金色和棕色的铜版画。女学生化妆间的窗外生着几株水仙，颜色嫩绿，生机勃勃，在阳光的沐浴下愈发生机盎然。

A young April wind, as fresh and sweet as if it had been blowing over the fields of memory instead of through dingy streets, was purring in the tree-tops and whipping the loose tendrils of the ivy network which covered the front of the main building. It was a wind that sang of many things, but what it sang to each listener was only what was in that listener's heart. To the college students who had just been capped and diplomad by "Old Charlie," the grave president of Queenslea, in the presence of an admiring throng of parents and sisters, sweethearts and friends, it sang, perchance, of glad hope and shining success and high achievement. It sang of the dreams of youth that may never be quite fulfilled, but are well worth the dreaming for all that. God help the man who has never known such dreams—who, as he leaves his alma mater, is not already rich in aerial castles, the proprietor of many a spacious estate in Spain. He has missed his birthright.

四月初的和风，清新、柔和，仿佛不是从脏乱的街道上吹来的，而是从记忆的原野上吹来的。风拂过树顶，发出低沉的咕噜声。主楼正面爬满常青藤，它的卷须并不紧贴墙面，而是随风摇摆。这风唱着很多首歌，但每个人听到的都只是合自己心意的那首。那些刚由昆士利亚学院严肃的院长“老查理”戴上学士帽并授予学位证的大学生，正被人群簇拥着，沉浸在父母、姐妹、恋人和朋友的赞赏里。也许在这些大学生的耳中，这风歌唱的是喜人的希望、耀眼的成功和非凡的成就。风里歌唱的年轻的梦想也许永远无法完全实现，但即便如此，这梦也值得一做。上帝帮助那从未有过这种梦想的人——他离开母校时，并没有多少空中楼阁般的梦想，现在却是西班牙许多块大型地产的业主。他已经丧失了自己与生俱来的权利。

The crowd streamed out of the entrance hall and scattered over the campus, fraying off into the many streets beyond. Eric Marshall and David Baker walked away together. The former had graduated in Arts that day at the head of his class; the latter had come to see the graduation, nearly bursting with pride in Eric's success.

人群涌出了大厅，分散到校园各处，熙熙攘攘地走进更远的街道里。埃里克·马歇尔和戴维·贝克一起走了出去。埃里克那天以全班第一的成绩毕业，并获得文学学士毕业，戴维来参加他的毕业典礼，为埃里克的成功骄傲不已。

Between these two was an old and tried and enduring friendship, although David was ten years older than Eric, as the mere tale of years goes, and a hundred years older in knowledge of the struggles and difficulties of life which age a man far more quickly and effectually than the passing of time.

两人是老朋友了，他们的友谊久经考验。仅从年龄上看，戴维只比埃里克大十岁；但从阅历上看，戴维要比他成熟一百岁，因为生活中的奋斗与艰难比时间的流逝更快速、更有效地催人衰老。

Physically the two men bore no resemblance to one another, although they were second cousins. Eric Marshall, tall, broad-shouldered, sinewy, walking with a free, easy stride, which was somehow suggestive of reserve strength and power, was one of those men regarding whom less-favoured mortals are tempted seriously to wonder why all the gifts of fortune should be showered on one individual. He was not only clever and good to look upon, but he possessed that indefinable charm of personality which is quite independent of physical beauty or mental ability. He had steady, grayish-blue eyes, dark chestnut hair with a glint of gold in its waves when the sunlight struck it, and a chin that gave the world assurance of a chin. He was a rich man's son, with a clean young manhood behind him and splendid prospects before him. He was considered a practical sort of fellow, utterly guiltless of romantic dreams and visions of any sort.

他们俩是表兄弟，可外貌上却一点儿也不像。埃里克·马歇尔个子高大、肩膀宽阔、体格健壮，走起路来大步流星、轻松自如，步态中不知怎地表现出一种蕴藏着的某种力量。那些不那么受到上天眷顾的人难免要想，怎么所有的优点都集中在了他一人身上。他不仅聪明、长得帅气，而且有一种难以言表的性格魅力，这魅力与外表之美以及头脑中的智慧完全无关。他一双灰蓝色的眼睛目光坚定，深栗色的卷发在阳光下闪出些许金光，下颌长得很饱满。他是个富家子，血气方刚、前途光明。在大家眼里，他是那种务实的人，完全没有任何脱离实际的梦想或幻想。

"I am afraid Eric Marshall will never do one quixotic thing," said a Queenslea professor, who had a habit of uttering rather mysterious epigrams, "but if he ever does it will supply the one thing lacking in him."“恐怕埃里克·马歇尔从不做堂吉诃德式的荒诞事，”昆士利亚一位习惯讲很难懂的警句的教授说，“但他要能做一回，就再没缺憾了。”

David Baker was a short, stocky fellow with an ugly, irregular, charming face; his eyes were brown and keen and secretive; his mouth had a comical twist which became sarcastic, or teasing, or winning, as he willed. His voice was generally as soft and musical as a woman's; but some few who had seen David Baker righteously angry and heard the tones which then issued from his lips were in no hurry to have the experience repeated.

戴维·贝克体型又矮又胖，脸长得既不好看也不端正，但却招人喜欢；他的眼睛是棕色的，眼神敏锐而诡异；嘴歪得有点儿可笑，并且随他的意愿表现出讽刺、嘲笑或胜利的神情。大多数时候，他的声音像女子的嗓音一样柔和悦耳。不过少数几个真正听过他生气时说话声调的人，可不愿意再领教一遍。

He was a doctor—a specialist in troubles of the throat and voice—and he was beginning to have a national reputation. He was on the staff of the Queenslea Medical College and it was whispered that before long he would be called to fill an important vacancy at McGill.

他是医生——喉咙及发声方面问题方面的专家——并且在全国逐渐有了声望。当时他在昆士利亚医学院任职，有传言说不久后他将被叫去麦吉尔大学填补空缺，那可是个重要的职位。

He had won his way to success through difficulties and drawbacks which would have daunted most men. In the year Eric was born David Baker was an errand boy in the big department store of Marshall & Company. Thirteen years later he graduated with high honors from Queenslea Medical College. Mr. Marshall had given him all the help which David's sturdy pride could be induced to accept, and now he insisted on sending the young man abroad for a post-graduate course in London and Germany. David Baker had eventually repaid every cent Mr. Marshall had expended on him; but he never ceased to cherish a passionate gratitude to the kind and generous man; and he loved that man's son with a love surpassing that of brothers.

他的成功之路充满艰辛和挫折，一般人经历过这些早就一蹶不振了。埃里克出生那年，戴维·贝克还在马歇尔公司一家大型的百货商店里当送货员。十三年以后，他以优秀的成绩从昆士利亚医学院毕业。马歇尔先生在戴维强烈的自尊心被劝说到能接受的范围内，提供了所有的帮助。现在，他坚持要送这个年轻人到伦敦和德国读研究生。戴维最终还清了马歇尔先生之前花在他身上的每一分钱，但他对这位善良慷慨的人所怀有的深情地感激却从未消退。他也爱这位先生的儿子，他们简直比亲兄弟还要亲。

He had followed Eric's college course with keen, watchful interest. It was his wish that Eric should take up the study of law or medicine now that he was through Arts; and he was greatly disappointed that Eric should have finally made up his mind to go into business with his father.

他伴随了埃里克度过大学时光，热心而仔细地关切着他的成长。由于埃里克读完了文学学士，他希望他应该去学法律或医学。然而埃里克却决定与父亲一起从商，钻研商学，这让戴维甚为失望。

"It's a clean waste of your talents," he grumbled, as they walked home from the college. "You'd win fame and distinction in law—that glib tongue of yours was meant for a lawyer and it is sheer flying in the face of Providence to devote it to commercial uses—a flat crossing of the purposes of destiny. Where is your ambition, man?"“这简直是浪费你的才华，”他们从学院回家的路上，戴维咕哝道，“你在法律界会取得名望的——你口齿伶俐，正适合当律师，而你却公然做违犯天意的事，将这种才华用于商业——你与该走的路背道而驰。老兄，你的雄心壮志在哪里呢？”

"In the right place," answered Eric, with his ready laugh. "It is not your kind, perhaps, but there is room and need for all kinds in this lusty young country of ours. Yes, I am going into the business. In the first place, it has been father's cherished desire ever since I was born, and it would hurt him pretty badly if I backed out now. He wished me to take an Arts course because he believed that every man should have as liberal an education as he can afford to get, but now that I have had it he wants me in the firm."“在合适的地方，”埃里克笑着回答说，“可能不是你想的那种，但是在我们这个年轻而充满活力的国家，哪一行都有发展空间，都需要各种人才。是啊，我就要进军商业了。首先，从我出生起，父亲就衷心希望我能走这条路，我要是现在食言，就太伤他的心了。他希望我读文科是因为他相信每个人都应该在条件允许的范围内，尽可能接受些自由的教育。不过既然我已经读过了，他就希望我能去他公司里。”

"He wouldn't oppose you if he thought you really wanted to go in for something else."“他要是认为你真想往别的方向发展，是不会阻拦的。”

"Not he. But I don't really want to—that's the point, David, man. You hate a business life so much yourself that you can't get it into your blessed noddle that another man might like it. There are many lawyers in the world—too many, perhaps—but there are never too many good honest men of business, ready to do clean big things for the betterment of humanity and the upbuilding of their country, to plan great enterprises and carry them through with brain and courage, to manage and control, to aim high and strike one's aim. There, I'm waxing eloquent, so I'd better stop. But ambition, man! Why, I'm full of it—it's bubbling in every pore of me. I mean to make the department store of Marshall & Company famous from ocean to ocean. Father started in life as a poor boy from a Nova Scotian farm. He has built up a business that has a provincial reputation. I mean to carry it on. In five years it shall have a maritime reputation, in ten, a Canadian. I want to make the firm of Marshall & Company stand for something big in the commercial interests of Canada. Isn't that as honourable an ambition as trying to make black seem white in a court of law, or discovering some new disease with a harrowing name to torment poor creatures who might otherwise die peacefully in blissful ignorance of what ailed them?"“他是不会。但我真没想——这才是重点，戴维老兄。你很讨厌商业，以致于不能愉快地同意甚至也想不到其他人可能会喜欢这一行。这世界上律师够多了——也许太多了——可是老实能干的商人永远不嫌多。我们需要他们堂堂正正地做些大事来造福人类和建设国家；为企业勾画宏伟蓝图，并用智慧和勇气来完成计划；需要他们的管理和操控；需要他们制定高远的目标并全力实现。说到这儿，我太高谈阔论了，最好还是就此打住吧。但要有点儿雄心壮志啊，老兄！嗨，我有的是——它在我的每个毛孔里奔腾。我要让马歇尔公司百货商店闻名世界。父亲小时候是新斯科舍农场上的一个穷孩子。他做的生意在全省都有了名气。我要把它发扬光大。五年内闻名于沿海地区，十年内闻名于整个加拿大。我希望马歇尔公司在加拿大的商界中能象征某个大型企业。这难道还比不上在法庭上试图颠倒黑白？比不上发现某种有着可怕名字的疾病来折磨一些可怜的人，而这些人本可以在愉快的无知中生病而安详地死去？和这些作为相比，我的雄心大志还不值得尊敬么？”

"When you begin to make poor jokes it is time to stop arguing with you," said David, with a shrug of his fat shoulders. "Go your own gait and dree your own weird. I'd as soon expect success in trying to storm the citadel single-handed as in trying to turn you from any course about which you had once made up your mind. Whew, this street takes it out of a fellow! What could have possessed our ancestors to run a town up the side of a hill? I'm not so slim and active as I was on my graduation day ten years ago. By the way, what a lot of co-eds were in your class—twenty, if I counted right. When I graduated there were only two ladies in our class and they were the pioneers of their sex at Queenslea. They were well past their first youth, very grim and angular and serious; and they could never have been on speaking terms with a mirror in their best days. But mark you, they were excellent females—oh, very excellent. Times have changed with a vengeance, judging from the line-up of co-eds to-day. There was one girl there who can't be a day over eighteen—and she looked as if she were made out of gold and roseleaves and dewdrops."“当你开的玩笑都不逗时，我就不跟你争了。”戴维耸了耸他肥硕的肩膀说道，“自行其是，自食其果。我希望你能从已选好的专业中回心转意，但这就像希望能成功地单手摧毁一座要塞城堡一样难。哟，这条街可不好走！咱们的祖先脑子着了什么魔，怎么能沿着山坡往上建城？十年前，我毕业的时候，不像你这么苗条、这么活泼。顺带提一下，你们班女生可真多——二十个，如果我没数错的话。我毕业的时候班里只有两位女士，她们可是昆士利亚女生中的佼佼者。她们早过了最懵懂的年龄，待人严厉、体格瘦削、一本正经。她们在最美好的青春岁月，基本是顾不得照镜子的。但你听着，她们是优秀的女性——哎，真的非常优秀。时代发生了颠覆性的变化，看看现在那些成排的女生就知道了。有个至多十八岁的女孩——看起来似乎就像是金子、蔷薇花叶和露珠做成的。”

"The oracle speaks in poetry," laughed Eric. "That was Florence Percival, who led the class in mathematics, as I'm a living man. By many she is considered the beauty of her class. I can't say that such is my opinion. I don't greatly care for that blonde, babyish style of loveliness—I prefer Agnes Campion. Did you notice her—the tall, dark girl with the ropes of hair and a sort of crimson, velvety bloom on her face, who took honours in philosophy?"“传达神谕的人用诗说话，”埃里克笑道，“她叫弗洛伦斯·珀西瓦尔，是班里的数学尖子，我拿命打赌。在很多人眼里她被看作是班花。可我不这么想。我不太喜欢她那种金发的、孩子气的可爱——倒是更喜欢阿格尼丝·坎皮恩。你看见她了吗？——那个高个子、深肤色的女孩，头发一绺绺的，脸上一抹柔和的绯红。她哲学学得很好。”

"I did notice her," said David emphatically, darting a keen side glance at his friend. "I noticed her most particularly and critically—for someone whispered her name behind me and coupled it with the exceedingly interesting information that Miss Campion was supposed to be the future Mrs. Eric Marshall. Whereupon I stared at her with all my eyes."“我的确注意过她，”戴维很肯定地说着，他还敏锐地瞟了一眼他的朋友。“我是用相当批判的眼光特别地注意过她——因为我身后有人悄悄说起过她的名字，还提到了一个很有趣的说法，说坎皮恩小姐可能成为埃里克·马歇尔未来的妻子呢。因此我专心地盯着她看。”

"There is no truth in that report," said Eric in a tone of annoyance. "Agnes and I are the best of friends and nothing more. I like and admire her more than any woman I know; but if the future Mrs. Eric Marshall exists in the flesh I haven't met her yet. I haven't even started out to look for her—and don't intend to for some years to come. I have something else to think of," he concluded, in a tone of contempt, for which anyone might have known he would be punished sometime if Cupid were not deaf as well as blind.“这传言可没根据，”埃里克恼火地说，“阿格尼丝和我只是最要好的朋友，仅此而已。她是我认识的女人中我最喜欢、最欣赏的一个。但倘若未来的埃里克·马歇尔太太本人即便存在，我也肯定还没遇见。我甚至还从未有过刻意地去开始寻找她——接下来的几年之内也不打算去寻找。我有别的事要操心，”他语气轻蔑地总结道，恐怕人人都已经明白这回答会招来丘比特的惩罚，如果他不聋也不盲的话。

"You'll meet the lady of the future some day," said David dryly. "And in spite of your scorn I venture to predict that if fate doesn't bring her before long you'll very soon start out to look for her. A word of advice, oh, son of your mother. When you go courting take your common sense with you."“有一天你会碰上那位未来的女士的。”戴维冷冷地说。“虽然你不以为然，但我还是斗胆猜测，要是命运不很快把她带到你眼前，你便也会开始很快地去寻找她。给你提个醒，哎，小伙子。追女孩的时候，可要带着脑子。”

"Do you think I shall be likely to leave it behind?" asked Eric amusedly.“你以为我很可能会忘么？”埃里克顽皮地说。

"Well, I mistrust you," said David, sagely wagging his head. "The Lowland Scotch part of you is all right, but there's a Celtic streak in you, from that little Highland grandmother of yours, and when a man has that there's never any knowing where it will break out, or what dance it will lead him, especially when it comes to this love-making business. You are just as likely as not to lose your head over some little fool or shrew for the sake of her outward favour and make yourself miserable for life. When you pick you a wife please remember that I shall reserve the right to pass a candid opinion on her."“嗨，我可不信你，”戴维像智者一样摇了摇头，“你的苏格兰低地血统倒没有什么，可是你还从来自高地的祖母那儿遗传了一点儿凯尔特血统。这种基因不定什么时候会爆发，说不好会引导你做些什么手舞足蹈的事，尤其是在谈情说爱这件事上。你很可能会因为有些小愚蠢或者因为她外在的魅力而头脑发热喜欢她，从而导致一生的悲惨。你为自己选妻子的时候，请记得我将有权对她发表坦率的意见。”

"Pass all the opinions you like, but it is my opinion, and mine only, which will matter in the long run," retorted Eric.“随你怎么看，但这是我的看法，而且只是我的看法，从长远来讲才是重要的。”埃里克反驳道。

"Confound you, yes, you stubborn offshoot of a stubborn breed," growled David, looking at him affectionately. "I know that, and that is why I'll never feel at ease about you until I see you married to the right sort of a girl. She's not hard to find. Nine out of ten girls in this country of ours are fit for kings' palaces. But the tenth always has to be reckoned with."“去你的，是么，你跟你老子一样顽固，”戴维怒气冲冲地说，看他的眼神却满是慈爱。“我明白你的意思，这就是为什么在我看到你跟合适的女孩结婚以前，我都放心不下。合适的女孩没那么难找。咱们国家的女孩子，十个有九个登得了台面，进皇宫都合适。但总是也不能忘了还有第十个。”

"You are as bad as Clever Alice in the fairy tale who worried over the future of her unborn children," protested Eric.“你糟糕得就像童话里聪明的爱丽斯似的，孩子还没出生就担心上了他的未来。”埃里克反驳道。

"Clever Alice has been very unjustly laughed at," said David gravely. "We doctors know that. Perhaps she overdid the worrying business a little, but she was perfectly right in principle. If people worried a little more about their unborn children—at least, to the extent of providing a proper heritage, physically, mentally, and morally, for them—and then stopped worrying about them after they are born, this world would be a very much pleasanter place to live in, and the human race would make more progress in a generation than it has done in recorded history."“聪明的爱丽斯受到的嘲笑是不公正的，”戴维严肃地说，“我们做医生的明白。也许她是有点儿担心过度，但她的做法很在理。如果人们能在孩子出生前多考虑考虑——至少要想到如何给予并让他们在物质上、精神上和道德上得到恰如其分地继承——等孩子出生后就不再担忧这些问题的话，那么活在这个世上将会舒心得多，而且在一代人的时间里，人类取得的进步比有史以来的总和还要多。”

"Oh, if you are going to mount your dearly beloved hobby of heredity I am not going to argue with you, David, man. But as for the matter of urging me to hasten and marry me a wife, why don't you”—It was on Eric's lips to say, "Why don't you get married to a girl of the right sort yourself and set me a good example?"But he checked himself. He knew that there was an old sorrow in David Baker's life which was not to be unduly jarred by the jests even of privileged friendship. He changed his question to, "Why don't you leave this on the knees of the gods where it properly belongs? I thought you were a firm believer in predestination, David."“哎，如果你要讲你最爱的遗传学说，我可就不跟你争了，戴维老兄。不过，既然你催我赶紧娶妻，你怎么”——埃里克到嘴边的话是“你怎么不自己娶个那种合适的好女孩，给我树个好榜样呢？”但他忍住没问。他知道戴维·贝克有件伤心的往事，这件事哪怕是亲密的朋友开玩笑时也不该提起来过度地去刺激他。他换了个问题：“你为什么不放手让神来管这事呢？反正这事本该他们管。我觉得你好像是宿命论的忠实信徒，戴维。”

"Well, so I am, to a certain extent," said David cautiously. "I believe, as an excellent old aunt of mine used to say, that what is to be will be and what isn't to be happens sometimes. And it is precisely such unchancy happenings that make the scheme of things go wrong. I dare say you think me an old fogy, Eric; but I know something more of the world than you do, and I believe, with Tennyson's Arthur, that 'there's no more subtle master under heaven than is the maiden passion for a maid.’I want to see you safely anchored to the love of some good woman as soon as may be, that's all. I'm rather sorry Miss Campion isn't your lady of the future. I liked her looks, that I did. She is good and strong and true—and has the eyes of a woman who could love in a way that would be worthwhile. Moreover, she's well-born, well-bred, and well-educated—three very indispensable things when it comes to choosing a woman to fill your mother's place, friend of mine!”“恩，在一定程度上我是的，”戴维谨慎地说，“我相信，就像我一个年迈但聪明的姨妈说过的那样，该发生的就会发生，不该发生的有时也会发生。而且恰恰是这些不幸的事让人计划出错。我敢说，你觉得我又老又守旧，埃里克；但是我比你了解这个世界，而且我和丁尼生的亚瑟王一样，相信，‘天下没有比对于一位女郎的恋爱更灵巧的教师’。我希望能尽快看到你安稳地依靠在某个好女孩的爱意中，仅此而已。如果坎皮恩小姐不能成为你未来的夫人，我感到很惋惜。我喜欢她的样子，真的。她品行优秀、意志坚强且为人真诚——而且，眼神里透露出她的爱值得拥有。另外，她出身好、有教养，还接受了优质的教育——这三项可是选择一个像你母亲一样重要的女人时所不得不考虑的啊，我的朋友！”

"I agree with you," said Eric carelessly. "I could not marry any woman who did not fulfill those conditions. But, as I have said, I am not in love with Agnes Campion—and it wouldn't be of any use if I were. She is as good as engaged to Larry West. You remember West?"“我同意，”埃里克随意地说道，“我不会和任何不符合这些条件的女人结婚的。可我说过了，我并不爱阿格尼丝·坎皮恩，就算我说爱她，也没用。事实上，她已经和拉里·韦斯特订婚了。你还记得韦斯特吗？”

"That thin, leggy fellow you chummed with so much your first two years in Queenslea? Yes, what has become of him?"“是那个瘦瘦的，腿很长，你在昆士利亚的前两年和你很要好的那个？记得呀，他后来怎么样了？”

"He had to drop out after his second year for financial reasons. He is working his own way through college, you know. For the past two years he has been teaching school in some out-of-the-way place over in Prince Edward Island. He isn't any too well, poor fellow—never was very strong and has studied remorselessly. I haven't heard from him since February. He said then that he was afraid he wasn't going to be able to stick it out till the end of the school year. I hope Larry won't break down. He is a fine fellow and worthy even of Agnes Campion. Well, here we are. Coming in, David?"“第二年后，他由于经济原因，只得退学了。他上大学的时候按自己的方式，半工半读，这你知道。这两年来，他一直在爱德华王子岛省某个偏远的地方教书。他过得不太好，真可怜——他不是很强壮，学习起来也对自己很苛刻。我从二月以后就已经没了他消息了。那时，他说担心会不能支撑到这个学年末了。我希望拉里不要垮掉。他是个好人，甚至值得拥有阿格尼丝·坎皮恩。嗨，咱们到了。进来吗，戴维？”

"Not this afternoon—haven't got time. I must mosey up to the North End to see a man who has got a lovely throat. Nobody can find out what is the matter. He has puzzled all the doctors. He has puzzled me, but I'll find out what is wrong with him if he'll only live long enough."“不了——今天下午我没空。我得逛到北部，去看一个喉咙有毛病的人。没人知道是怎么回事。他把所有的大夫都难住了。也难住了我，但只要他活得够长，我就会弄明白他的毛病到底出在哪儿。”CHAPTER IIA Letter of Destiny

第二章昭示命运的来信

Eric, finding that his father had not yet returned from the college, went into the library and sat down to read a letter he had picked up from the hall table. It was from Larry West, and after the first few lines Eric's face lost the absent look it had worn and assumed an expression of interest.

埃里克见父亲还没从学院回来，就走进书房，坐下来读一封信，从门厅的桌上拿来的。信是拉里·韦斯特写的。才读了几行，埃里克原先挂在脸上那心不在焉的表情就不见了，取而代之的是一副饶有兴趣的神情。

"I am writing to ask a favour of you, Marshall," wrote West. "The fact is, I've fallen into the hands of the Philistines—that is to say, the doctors. I've not been feeling very fit all winter but I've held on, hoping to finish out the year.“我写信是想请你帮个忙，马歇尔，”韦斯特写道，“实际上，我落到庸人手里了——我是指医生。整个冬天我都不太舒服，但还是挺过来了，希望能坚持到年底。

"Last week my landlady—who is a saint in spectacles and calico—looked at me one morning at the breakfast table and said, very gently, 'You must go to town to-morrow, Master, and see a doctor about yourself.’“上周一次吃早餐的时候，房东太太——那个戴眼镜、穿白棉布衣服的圣徒——看了看我，非常温柔地说：‘少爷，你明天一定要进城一趟，看下医生了。’”

"I went and did not stand upon the order of my going. Mrs. Williamson is She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. She has an inconvenient habit of making you realize that she is exactly right, and that you would be all kinds of a fool if you didn't take her advice. You feel that what she thinks to-day you will think to-morrow.“我虽然不想去，可还是去了。威廉森太太的话一定得听。她有个习惯很让人头疼：她一定要让你知道她是完全正确的，如果不听从她的建议，你就会显得自己是个彻头彻尾的傻瓜。你会觉得，今天她的看法，明天，就成了你的看法。”

"In Charlottetown I consulted a doctor. He punched and pounded me, and poked things at me and listened at the other end of them; and finally he said I must stop work 'immejutly and to onct' and hie me straightway to a climate not afflicted with the north-east winds of Prince Edward Island in the spring. I am not to be allowed to do any work until the fall. Such was his dictum and Mrs. Williamson enforces it.“我在夏洛特敦看了一个大夫。他对我连敲带打，又把一些东西摁到我身上，他在另一头听。最后他说，我必须‘立马’停止工作，还要求我在春天的时候赶紧搬到一个吹不到爱德华王子岛省东北风的地方。秋天以前，我都不得工作。这就是大夫的建议，威廉森太太竭力主张这一建议。”

"I shall teach this week out and then the spring vacation of three weeks begins. I want you to come over and take my place as pedagogue in the Lindsay school for the last week in May and the month of June. The school year ends then and there will be plenty of teachers looking for the place, but just now I cannot get a suitable substitute. I have a couple of pupils who are preparing to try the Queen's Academy entrance examinations, and I don't like to leave them in the lurch or hand them over to the tender mercies of some third-class teacher who knows little Latin and less Greek. Come over and take the school till the end of the term, you petted son of luxury. It will do you a world of good to learn how rich a man feels when he is earning twenty-five dollars a month by his own unaided efforts!“我会教完这周的课，然后开始我为期三周的春季假期。我希望你能过来替我在林赛学校教一阵课，五月的最后一周和整个六月。之后学年就结束了，那时会有很多老师想要这个差事，可是我这会儿找不到合适的人来替我。我的几个学生正在准备参加女王学院的入学考试，我不想突然撇下他们，或者把他们交给既不懂拉丁语也不懂希腊语、温和仁慈的某个三流老师。贵公子，来帮我把这个学期教完吧。体验一下完全靠自己的感觉，每月挣二十五加元，你会受益匪浅的！”

"Seriously, Marshall, I hope you can come, for I don't know any other fellow I can ask. The work isn't hard, though you'll likely find it monotonous. Of course, this little north-shore farming settlement isn't a very lively place. The rising and setting of the sun are the most exciting events of the average day. But the people are very kind and hospitable; and Prince Edward Island in the month of June is such a thing as you don't often see except in happy dreams. There are some trout in the pond and you'll always find an old salt at the harbour ready and willing to take you out cod-fishing or lobstering.“说正经的，马歇尔，我希望你能来，因为我没有任何其他人可以求了。虽然你很可能会觉得工作单调乏味，但却并不辛苦。当然了，这个北海岸的农业小镇可不是个很活跃的地方。基本上每天的日出日落就算是最有意思的事了。但当地人非常善良热心，而且六月的爱德华王子岛省美妙如梦，此景不可多得。池塘里有鳟鱼，而且你总会发现海岸边的老水手，他们乐意带你去钓鳕鱼或龙虾。”

"I'll bequeath you my boarding house. You'll find it comfortable and not further from the school than a good constitutional. Mrs. Williamson is the dearest soul alive; and she is one of those old-fashioned cooks who feed you on feasts of fat things and whose price is above rubies.“我把我租的房子留给你住。你会觉得住处很舒服，而且离学校不远，散个步就到了。威廉森太太是天底下最可爱的人。她是个老派的厨师，会给你做丰盛而又价值不菲的饭菜。”

"Her husband, Robert, or Bob, as he is commonly called despite his sixty years, is quite a character in his way. He is an amusing old gossip, with a turn for racy comment and a finger in everybody's pie. He knows everything about everybody in Lindsay for three generations back.“她丈夫罗伯特，虽然已经六十岁了，但大家还叫他鲍勃。他可是个特别的人物。这老头很有意思，爱嚼舌根，天生就爱发表些辛辣的评论，而且什么闲事都要管。林赛这里三代人的琐事他全知道。”

"They have no living children, but Old Bob has a black cat which is his especial pride and darling. The name of this animal is Timothy and as such he must always be called and referred to. Never, as you value Robert's good opinion, let him hear you speaking of his pet as 'the cat,' or even as 'Tim.'You will never be forgiven and he will not consider you a fit person to have charge of the school.“他们夫妇俩没有存活的孩子了，可有只黑猫是老鲍勃独有的骄傲，也是他的心头肉。这小家伙叫蒂莫西，无论是当面叫还是提起它来的时候，都必须这么称呼它。只要你把罗伯特的看法当回事，就千万别让他听见你管他的宠物叫‘那只猫’，叫‘蒂姆’也不行。他永远都不会原谅你的，也不会把你当作接管这个学校的合适人选。”

"You shall have my room, a little place over the kitchen, with a ceiling that follows the slant of the roof down one side, against which you will bump your head times innumerable until you learn to remember that it is there, and a looking glass which will make one of your eyes as small as a pea and the other as big as an orange.“你将会住我的房间。小屋在厨房边上。屋顶是斜坡，天花板也斜向一边，你得记住有一边屋顶矮，要不会在那边磕着好几次头。屋里还有面镜子，会把你照得一眼小似豆，一眼大如橙。”

"But to compensate for these disadvantages the supply of towels is generous and unexceptionable; and there is a window whence you will daily behold an occidental view over Lindsay Harbour and the gulf beyond which is an unspeakable miracle of beauty. The sun is setting over it as I write and I see such a sea of glass mingled with fire as might have figured in the visions of the Patmian seer. A vessel is sailing away into the gold and crimson and pearl of the horizon; the big revolving light on the tip of the headland beyond the harbour has just been lighted and is winking and flashing like a beacon,“尽管这些条件不好，但你会从别的方面得到补偿。毛巾很充足，没得挑剔。每天能从其中一个窗户瞥见西洋风格的景致，林赛港和海湾，远景美得难以言喻。我写信的时候，太阳正落到那儿，我看见交织着玻璃与火的海洋，或许先知帕特缅看到过这样的景色。一条船正驶向远方，天际呈现出金、绯红和珠光的混合色。海峡上岬顶的旋转灯刚点亮，如信号灯般闪闪烁烁。”

“'O'er the foamOf perilous seas in faerie lands forlorn.’”“‘望向泡沫浪花在遗失的仙城中震动了窗扉。’”

"Wire me if you can come; and if you can, report for duty on the twenty-third of May."

你如果能来，给我发个电报。要是可以的话，就五月二十三日报到吧。”

Mr. Marshall, Senior, came in, just as Eric was thoughtfully folding up his letter. The former looked more like a benevolent old clergyman or philanthropist than the keen, shrewd, somewhat hard, although just and honest, man of business that he really was. He had a round, rosy face, fringed with white whiskers, a fine head of long white hair, and a pursed-up mouth. Only in his blue eyes was a twinkle that would have made any man who designed getting the better of him in a bargain think twice before he made the attempt.

埃里克若有所思地把信折起来，这时，老马歇尔先生进来了。他看起来更像个仁慈的牧师，或是慈善家，虽然他实际上是一个敏锐精明、有点儿强硬、却又正直诚实的商人。他长着一张红润的圆脸，胡须全白，小小的头上一头白色长发，一张撅嘴。只是一双蓝眼睛亮晶晶的，透着些许威慑力，会使任何一个在谈生意时设法想从他那儿得到更多好处的人，不得不三思。

It was easily seen that Eric must have inherited his personal beauty and distinction of form from his mother, whose picture hung on the dark wall between the windows. She had died while still young, when Eric was a boy of ten. During her lifetime she had been the object of the passionate devotion of both her husband and son; and the fine, strong, sweet face of the picture was a testimony that she had been worthy of their love and reverence. The same face, cast in a masculine mold, was repeated in Eric; the chestnut hair grew off his forehead in the same way; his eyes were like hers, and in his grave moods they held a similar expression, half brooding, half tender, in their depths.

埃里克一定是从母亲身上继承了漂亮的外表和出众的外形，这点很明显就能看出，因为他母亲的画像就挂在窗户间深色的墙壁上。她年纪轻轻就去世了，那时埃里克才十岁。她一生都深受丈夫和儿子的喜爱；照片上那张漂亮、坚定、甜美的脸证明她值得他俩的敬爱。相同的面容在埃里克脸上重现了，不过带有更多男性气息。栗色头发在额头前的刘海同她一样，眼睛也像母亲。由于沉郁的心情，眼神也相似起来：半是深沉，半是温柔。

Mr. Marshall was very proud of his son's success in college, but he had no intention of letting him see it. He loved this boy of his, with the dead mother's eyes, better than anything on earth, and all his hopes and ambitions were bound up in him.

马歇尔先生对儿子在学校的成就深感骄傲，但他不想让儿子看出来。他深爱着儿子，这孩子有一双与逝去的母亲一样的眼睛，那简直是世间最美的东西。他所有的希望和宏伟的理想也都寄托在这孩子身上。

"Well, that fuss is over, thank goodness," he said testily, as he dropped into his favourite chair.“哎，乱七八糟的事总算过去了，谢天谢地。”他不耐烦地说着，一边坐在自己最喜欢的那把椅子上。

"Didn't you find the programme interesting?" asked Eric absently.

埃里克漫不经心地问道：“你觉得项目没意思？”

"Most of it was tommyrot," said his father. "The only things I liked were Charlie's Latin prayer and those pretty little girls trotting up to get their diplomas. Latin is the language for praying in, I do believe,—at least, when a man has a voice like Old Charlie's. There was such a sonorous roll to the words that the mere sound of them made me feel like getting down on my marrow bones. And then those girls were as pretty as pinks, now weren't they? Agnes was the finest-looking of the lot in my opinion. I hope it's true that you're courting her, Eric?"“全是胡闹。”他父亲回答道。“我唯一喜欢的只有查理的拉丁语祷告，还有为拿毕业证书跑来跑去的漂亮姑娘。我的确相信拉丁语是用来祈祷的语言——至少对像老查理那样有着好嗓子的人来说是这样。每个词的发音那样浑厚，仅是听那声音就让我想要跪下来。还有，那些姑娘们美极了，不是吗？要我看，阿格尼丝是她们中最好看的。我想，你追求她的传言属实，是不是呀，埃里克？”

"Confound it, father," said Eric, half irritably, half laughingly, "have you and David Baker entered into a conspiracy to hound me into matrimony whether I will or no?"“真讨厌，爸爸，”埃里克有些不耐烦，又带着微笑地回答道，“你是不是和戴维·贝克谋划好了要催我赶紧结婚，不管我愿不愿意？”

"I've never said a word to David Baker on such a subject," protested Mr. Marshall.“我可从来没和戴维·贝克说过这事。”马歇尔先生抗议。

"Well, you are just as bad as he is. He hectored me all the way home from the college on the subject. But why are you in such a hurry to have me married, dad?"“哎，你和他一样坏。从学校回家的一路上，他都拿这个话题威吓我。但你为什么这么着急让我结婚呢，爸爸？”

"Because I want a homemaker in this house as soon as may be. There has never been one since your mother died. I am tired of housekeepers. And I want to see your children at my knees before I die, Eric, and I'm an old man now."“因为我希望这所房子里能尽快有个主妇。你母亲去世后，这里一直缺一个这样的人。我已经厌倦请女管家了。我也想在有生之年看到你的孩子，埃里克，而且现在我是个老人了。”

"Well, your wish is natural, father," said Eric gently, with a glance at his mother's picture. "But I can't rush out and marry somebody off-hand, can I? And I fear it wouldn't exactly do to advertise for a wife, even in these days of commercial enterprise."“哎，你的想法很正常，父亲，”埃里克看了一眼母亲的画像，温柔地说，“可是我总不能匆匆忙忙就娶个人呀，是么？而且我怕，即使在当今商业企业的这个时代里，为选妻子而打广告也未必合适。”

"Isn't there anybody you're fond of?" queried Mr. Marshall, with the patient air of a man who overlooks the frivolous jests of youth.“你就没有喜欢的人吗？”马歇尔先生耐心地问道，他早就无视了年轻人的俏皮话。

"No. I never yet saw the woman who could make my heart beat any faster."“没有。从来没有一个女人能让我心跳加速，哪怕一点点。”

"I don't know what you young men are made of nowadays," growled his father. "I was in love half a dozen times before I was your age."“真不明白现在你们这些年轻人是怎么搞的，”他父亲抱怨道，“我在你这个年龄的时候，都心动过好几次啦！”

"You might have been 'in love.'But you never loved any woman until you met my mother. I know that, father. And it didn't happen till you were pretty well on in life either."“也许你对别人‘心动’过。但在遇到母亲以前，你还从未爱过哪个女人。这我可知道，父亲。而且，在你涉世较深以前，真爱也还没有来临。”

"You're too hard to please. That's what's the matter, that's what's the matter!”“你可真难伺候。这才是问题所在，这才是问题所在！”

"Perhaps I am. When a man has had a mother like mine his standard of womanly sweetness is apt to be pitched pretty high. Let's drop the subject, father. Here, I want you to read this letter—it's from Larry."“可能我就是这样。当一个男人要是有了像我妈妈这样的母亲时，那他对好女人的标准肯定是相当高的。咱们不谈这个了，父亲。我想让你看看这封信——是拉里写来的。”

"Humph!" grunted Mr. Marshall, when he had finished with it. "So Larry's knocked out at last—always thought he would be—always expected it. Sorry, too. He was a decent fellow. Well, are you going?"“哼！”马歇尔先生看完信后，咕哝了一声。“拉里最终是精疲力竭了——我就知道他会这样——早就预料到了。真抱歉。他也曾经是个体面人。那么，你要去吗？”

"Yes, I think so, if you don't object."“是啊，我想是的，如果你不反对的话。”

"You'll have a pretty monotonous time of it, judging from his account of Lindsay."“从他对林赛的描述看，你将会过得非常单调。”

"Probably. But I am not going over in search of excitement. I'm going to oblige Larry and have a look at the Island."“有可能。不过我又不是去那儿找乐子的。我要去帮帮拉里，顺便看看那个岛。”

"Well, it's worth looking at, some parts of the year," conceded Mr.Marshall. "When I'm on Prince Edward Island in the summer I always understand an old Scotch Islander I met once in Winnipeg. He was always talking of 'the Island.'Somebody once asked him, 'What island do you mean?'He simply looked at that ignorant man. Then he said, 'Why, Prince Edward Island, mon. What other island is there?'Go if you'd like to. You need a rest after the grind of examinations before settling down to business. And mind you don't get into any mischief, young sir."“嗯，有些时节，那里是值得看一看的，”马歇尔先生不情愿地说道，“我夏天在爱德华王子岛的那段时间，很能理解曾经在温尼伯市遇到的一个老苏格兰岛人。他总是说‘岛’。曾有人问他，‘你说的是哪个岛？’他只是看了看那个无知的人。然后说，‘当然是爱德华王子岛了。那儿还有什么别的岛么？'你要想去就去吧。经历了考试的煎熬，在干正事以前，你是需要休息一下了。还有，记着不要惹事，年轻人。”

"Not much likelihood of that in a place like Lindsay, I fancy," laughed Eric.“我觉得，林赛那种地方没什么事好惹吧。”埃里克笑着答道。

"Probably the devil finds as much mischief for idle hands in Lindsay as anywhere else. The worst tragedy I ever heard of happened on a backwoods farm, fifteen miles from a railroad and five from a store. However, I expect your mother's son to behave himself in the fear of God and man. In all likelihood the worst thing that will happen to you over there will be that some misguided woman will put you to sleep in a spare room bed. And if that does happen may the Lord have mercy on your soul!”“没准林赛悠闲的小岛上和别处一样有祸可闯。我听说的最糟糕的祸事发生在边远的农田，那里距离铁路十五英里，距离商店五英里。不过，我认为你母亲的孩子会守规矩的，你懂得敬畏上帝，也明白人言可畏。所有可能的祸事里，最出格的要数受到误导的女子让你睡在屋子里的一张空床上。要是这种事真发生的话，愿主宽恕你！”CHAPTER IIIThe Master of Lindsay School

第三章林赛学校的老师

One evening, a month later, Eric Marshall came out of the old, white-washed schoolhouse at Lindsay, and locked the door—which was carved over with initials innumerable, and built of double plank in order that it might withstand all the assaults and batteries to which it might be subjected.

一个月后的某个傍晚，埃里克·马歇尔从林赛学校刷白的旧校舍出来，锁上门。门上刻着无数个大写字母。门由两层木板组成，以抵抗一切可能会受到的袭击。

Eric's pupils had gone home an hour before, but he had stayed to solve some algebra problems, and correct some Latin exercises for his advanced students.

学生们一小时前就已经回家了，但埃里克留下来解了几道代数题，还批改了高年级学生的拉丁文练习。

The sun was slanting in warm yellow lines through the thick grove of maples to the west of the building, and the dim green air beneath them burst into golden bloom. A couple of sheep were nibbling the lush grass in a far corner of the play-ground; a cow-bell, somewhere in the maple woods, tinkled faintly and musically, on the still crystal air, which, in spite of its blandness, still retained a touch of the wholesome austerity and poignancy of a Canadian spring. The whole world seemed to have fallen, for the time being, into a pleasant untroubled dream.

温暖的黄色阳光穿过茂密的枫树林，斜射在楼的西侧。树下原本昏暗的绿色空气在阳光下泛起金光。操场上远远的一角里，几只羊正啃着茂盛的草；一只牛铃在枫树林的某处发出轻微而悦耳的声音。清澈的空气虽然静谧，但仍保留着些许加拿大春季有益于身心的冷冽与肃杀。那一刻，整个世界仿佛已经陷入美妙安宁的梦境里。

The scene was very peaceful and pastoral—almost too much so, the young man thought, with a shrug of his shoulders, as he stood in the worn steps and gazed about him. How was he going to put in a whole month here, he wondered, with a little smile at his own expense.

年轻人站在磨旧的台阶上环顾四周。景色十分宁静，很有田园风情，几乎都有些过头了。想到这里，他耸了耸肩。他自嘲地笑了笑，想着怎样才能在这里度过整整一个月。

"Father would chuckle if he knew I was sick of it already," he thought, as he walked across the play-ground to the long red road that ran past the school. "Well, one week is ended, at any rate. I've earned my own living for five whole days, and that is something I could never say before in all my twenty-four years of existence. It is an exhilarating thought. But teaching the Lindsay district school is distinctly not exhilarating—at least in such a well-behaved school as this, where the pupils are so painfully good that I haven't even the traditional excitement of thrashing obstreperous bad boys. Everything seems to go by clock work in Lindsay educational institution. Larry must certainly have possessed a marked gift for organizing and drilling. I feel as if I were merely a big cog in an orderly machine that ran itself. However, I understand that there are some pupils who haven't shown up yet, and who, according to all reports, have not yet had the old Adam totally drilled out of them. They may make things more interesting. Also a few more compositions, such as John Reid's, would furnish some spice to professional life."“父亲要是知道我已经厌烦了，会笑我的，”埃里克边想边穿过操场，往学校边上那条长长的红色公路走去。“不过，再怎么慢，一个星期也过去了。整整五天以来我都是自食其力，这是以前的二十四年的生活里我从未能谈过的事。想到这真让人兴奋。但在林赛乡村学校教书显然没什么好兴奋的。至少，在这样一个校风严谨的学校里是这样的，因为那儿学生们的表现好得令人头疼，所以我连抽打吵闹的坏男生这种传统意义上的乐趣也享受不到了。在林赛的教育系统里，一切都好像是按照钟点有条不紊地进行着。当然，拉里一定在组织和教学方面有明显的天赋。我感觉自己似乎只是一台自动有序运行的机器里的一枚大齿轮而已。不过，我知道有些学生还没来上课。根据现有记录来看，他们的顽劣天性还没有完全去除干净。有了他们，日子应该会更有趣吧。另外，还有几篇作文，比如约翰·里德的作文，会给教学生活加点儿料。”

Eric's laughter wakened the echoes as he swung into the road down the long sloping hill. He had given his fourth grade pupils their own choice of subjects in the composition class that morning, and John Reid, a sober, matter-of-fact little urchin, with not the slightest embryonic development of a sense of humour, had, acting upon the whispered suggestion of a roguish desk-mate, elected to write upon "Courting."His opening sentence made Eric's face twitch mutinously whenever he recalled it during the day. "Courting is a very pleasant thing which a great many people go too far with."

埃里克摇摇摆摆地沿着长长的山坡走到公路上，他的笑声激起了阵阵回声。那天早上给四年级上写作课，他让学生们自主选题。约翰·里德，一个头脑清醒、实事求是、毫无幽默感的小顽童，竟然听了流氓同桌低声给他的建议，选择了写一篇题为“求偶”的作文。那一整天，埃里克一想到文章的第一句话就忍不住脸笑得变形。“求偶是件令人愉快的事，但很多人做得太过火了。”

The distant hills and wooded uplands were tremulous and aerial in delicate spring-time gauzes of pearl and purple. The young, green-leafed maples crowded thickly to the very edge of the road on either side, but beyond them were emerald fields basking in sunshine, over which cloud shadows rolled, broadened, and vanished. Far below the fields a calm ocean slept bluely, and sighed in its sleep, with the murmur that rings for ever in the ear of those whose good fortune it is to have been born within the sound of it.

远处的群山和林木茂密的高地笼罩在春季珍珠色和紫色的薄雾里，微微颤抖、时隐时现。道路两边枫树绿油油的新叶，密密麻麻地挤到路的对面。但再往远处是翠绿的田野，沐浴在阳光中。云在田野里投下影子，继而卷曲，继而舒展，继而消失不见。在比田野低很多的地方是一片平静而蔚蓝的大海。海面风平浪静，大海沉睡着，睡梦中不时发出叹息和呢喃。这呢喃将在那些有幸伴着这些声音出世的人的耳畔不断响起。

Now and then Eric met some callow, check-shirted, bare-legged lad on horseback, or a shrewd-faced farmer in a cart, who nodded and called out cheerily, "Howdy, Master?"A young girl, with a rosy, oval face, dimpled cheeks, and pretty dark eyes filled with shy coquetry, passed him, looking as if she would not be at all averse to a better acquaintance with the new teacher.

埃里克偶尔能遇见一些稚气未脱的小伙子，光着腿、骑着马、穿着格子衬衫；也有可能是马车里一脸精明的农夫，在朝他点头，欢快地叫道：“您好吗，老师？”这时，一个面色红润的年轻姑娘从他身边走过。她长着一张鹅蛋脸，脸颊上有两个酒窝，一双乌黑的眼睛十分漂亮，眼中满是羞涩与妩媚。看上去，她似乎并不讨厌和这个新老师深交。

Half way down the hill Eric met a shambling, old gray horse drawing an express wagon which had seen better days. The driver was a woman: she appeared to be one of those drab-tinted individuals who can never have felt a rosy emotion in all their lives. She stopped her horse, and beckoned Eric over to her with the knobby handle of a faded and bony umbrella.

走到半山腰时，埃里克碰到了一匹老灰马，正踉踉跄跄地拉着一辆曾有过光辉岁月的特快马车。赶车的是个女人，一看就是个枯燥无味的人，一辈子都不会有浪漫爱情。她停下马，用一把掉色而多节的雨伞示意埃里克到她那儿去。

"Reckon you're the new Master, ain't you?" she asked.“我猜你就是新来的老师，是吗？”她问。

Eric admitted that he was.

埃里克回答说是的。

"Well, I'm glad to see you," she said, offering him a hand in a much darned cotton glove that had once been black.“嗯，很高兴见到你。”她一边说着，一边伸出戴手套的手，那棉手套缝补过好几次，看得出曾经是黑色的。

"I was right sorry to see Mr. West go, for he was a right good teacher, and as harmless, inoffensive a creetur as ever lived. But I always told him every time I laid eyes on him that he was in consumption, if ever a man was. You look real healthy—though you can't aways tell by looks, either. I had a brother complected like you, but he was killed in a railroad accident out west when he was real young.“很遗憾韦斯特先生走了，因为他真是个好老师，是世上最善良最温和的人。但我每次一见他，就总跟他说他憔悴了。你看起来真健康，虽然也不能总凭脸色来判断。我有个弟弟和你肤色差不多，可惜很小的时候死在了西部的一场铁路事故中。

"I've got a boy I'll be sending to school to you next week. He'd oughter gone this week, but I had to keep him home to help me put the pertaters in; for his father won't work and doesn't work and can't be made to work.“我有个儿子，打算下周送到你学校去。他本该这周就去的，可我之前得让他呆在家里帮忙收土豆。因为他父亲不肯干活，啥都不干，谁也叫不动他。

"Sandy—his full name is Edward Alexander—called after both his grandfathers—hates the idee of going to school worse 'n pisen—always did. But go he shall, for I'm determined he's got to have more larning hammered into his head yet. I reckon you'll have trouble with him, Master, for he's as stupid as an owl, and as stubborn as Solomon's mule. But mind this, Master, I'll back you up. You just lick Sandy good and plenty when he needs it, and send me a scrape of the pen home with him, and I'll give him another dose.“他叫桑迪，全名是随他爷爷和姥爷起的，叫爱德华·亚历山大。这孩子很讨厌上学，宁可干体力活，一直都这样。但他必须去上学，因为我仍决定要让他脑袋里多装点儿知识。我想，他一来，您就有麻烦了，老师，因为他笨得像只猫头鹰，固执地像所罗门的那头驴。但您放心，老师，我会支持您的。桑迪要人夸，您就多夸夸他，然后让他带回一张便签来，我会替您教训他的。

"There's people that always sides in with their young ones when there's any rumpus kicked up in the school, but I don't hold to that, and never did. You can depend on Rebecca Reid every time, Master."“有些父母看到自己的孩子在学校兴风作浪，就总是和他们同一阵线，但我就不赞成这么做，从来都不。丽贝卡·里德任何时候都靠得住，老师。”

"Thank you. I am sure I can," said Eric, in his most winning tones.“谢谢。这我很肯定。”埃里克用相当胜利的口吻答道。

He kept his face straight until it was safe to relax, and Mrs. Reid drove on with a soft feeling in her leathery old heart, which had been so toughened by long endurance of poverty and toil, and a husband who wouldn't work and couldn't be made to work, that it was no longer a very susceptible organ where members of the opposite sex were concerned.

他一直绷着脸，直到可以放松时才松懈下来。里德太太继续赶车，苍老而坚韧的内心萌生一种温柔的情感。长期以来忍受着贫苦的生活和艰辛的劳作，而且她丈夫又不肯干活，怎么叫都叫不动，以致于她的心早已变硬，不会再为异性动容。

Mrs. Reid reflected that this young man had a way with him.

里德太太仔细想了想，认为这个年轻人很有办法。

Eric already knew most of the Lindsay folks by sight; but at the foot of the hill he met two people, a man and a boy, whom he did not know. They were sitting in a shabby, old-fashioned wagon, and were watering their horse at the brook, which gurgled limpidly under the little plank bridge in the hollow.

埃里克已经亲眼见过林赛的所有人，但是在山脚下他遇到了两个陌生人，一个男人和一个小男孩。他们正坐在一辆破旧的老式马车里，在溪边饮马。清澈的溪水潺潺地流着，水上架着一座小木板桥。

Eric surveyed them with some curiosity. They did not look in the least like the ordinary run of Lindsay people. The boy, in particular, had a distinctly foreign appearance, in spite of the gingham shirt and homespun trousers, which seemed to be the regulation, work-a-day outfit for the Lindsay farmer lads. He had a lithe, supple body, with sloping shoulders, and a lean, satiny brown throat above his open shirt collar. His head was covered with thick, silky, black curls, and the hand that hung down by the side of the wagon was unusually long and slender. His face was richly, though somewhat heavily featured, olive tinted, save for the cheeks, which had a dusky crimson bloom. His mouth was as red and beguiling as a girl's, and his eyes were large, bold and black. All in all, he was a strikingly handsome fellow; but the expression of his face was sullen, and he somehow gave Eric the impression of a sinuous, feline creature basking in lazy grace, but ever ready for an unexpected spring.

埃里克好奇地审视着他们。他们一点儿也不像林赛地区的普通人。特别是那个小男孩，虽然穿着方格纹的棉布衬衫和手织的裤子，一副似乎林赛农民小伙子劳作时的装束，长得却明显像外地人。他身手敏捷，柔韧性好，两肩微斜，开衫领子上露出一段瘦长光滑的棕色脖颈。他有着一头浓密顺滑的黑色卷发，垂在马车边上的手不是一般的纤长。他的脸，不知怎的，虽然轮廓相当分明，但确是深深的橄榄色，只有两颊是暗红色的。嘴唇红艳迷人，像女孩子的嘴一样。一双乌黑的大眼睛炯炯有神。总的来说，他长得相当英俊。但他的面部表情很阴郁，使埃里克不知怎的想到了晒着阳光、身子蜷缩着的懒猫，虽然优雅，却随时准备着要出人意料地跳起来。

The other occupant of the wagon was a man between sixty-five and seventy, with iron-gray hair, a long, full, gray beard, a harsh-featured face, and deep-set hazel eyes under bushy, bristling brows. He was evidently tall, with a spare, ungainly figure, and stooping shoulders. His mouth was close-lipped and relentless, and did not look as if it had ever smiled. Indeed, the idea of smiling could not be connected with this man—it was utterly incongruous. Yet there was nothing repellent about his face; and there was something in it that compelled Eric's attention.

马车上的另一个人，年龄介于六十五到七十之间。他长着一头铁灰色的头发，留着又长又密的灰胡子，脸很粗糙，浓密粗硬的眉毛下是一双深陷进去的褐色眼睛。他又高又瘦、体态笨拙、双肩缩着。他嘴巴紧闭着，显得很无情，好像从未微笑过一样。的确，微笑和这个人根本联系不到一块，因为太不协调了。可他脸上也并没有什么讨人厌的地方，倒是有什么东西使得埃里克不注意他都不行。

He rather prided himself on being a student of physiognomy, and he felt quite sure that this man was no ordinary Lindsay farmer of the genial, garrulous type with which he was familiar.

他为自己学过相面术颇感自豪，而且非常肯定这个人绝不是他在这里熟悉的那种亲切的、爱唠叨的普通林赛农夫。

Long after the old wagon, with its oddly assorted pair, had gone lumbering up the hill, Eric found himself thinking of the stern, heavy browed man and the black-eyed, red-lipped boy.

旧马车的一对轮子配合得别别扭扭地缓缓驶上了山坡。过了很久，埃里克发现自己还沉思于那个严厉的浓眉男子和黑眼红唇的男孩。CHAPTER IVA Tea Table Conversation

第四章桌边谈话

The Williamson place, where Eric boarded, was on the crest of the succeeding hill. He liked it as well as Larry West had prophesied that he would. The Williamsons, as well as the rest of the Lindsay people, took it for granted that he was a poor college student working his way through as Larry West had been doing. Eric did not disturb this belief, although he said nothing to contribute to it.

埃里克所寄宿的威廉森家坐落在绵延起伏的群山顶。正如拉里·韦斯特之前所预言的那样，他喜欢这里。和其他林赛人一样，威廉森一家想当然地把他当成了像之前的拉里·韦斯特那样勤工俭学的穷大学生。埃里克既没纠正这一想法，也没说什么予以证实。

The Williamsons were at tea in the kitchen when Eric went in. Mrs. Williamson was the "saint in spectacles and calico" which Larry West had termed her. Eric liked her greatly. She was a slight, gray-haired woman, with a thin, sweet, high-bred face, deeply lined with the records of outlived pain. She talked little as a rule; but, in the pungent country phrase she never spoke but she said something. The one thing that constantly puzzled Eric was how such a woman ever came to marry Robert Williamson.

埃里克进门时，威廉森一家正在厨房喝茶。拉里·韦斯特管威廉森太太叫“戴眼镜、穿印花棉布的圣徒”。埃里克非常喜欢她。她是个头发灰白、身材瘦小的女人。一张瘦削、甜美、高贵的脸庞上深深刻画着历经苦难的印痕。她总是沉默寡言。不过，有句辛辣的乡下话说得好，她是不鸣则已，一鸣惊人。埃里克一直很纳闷，这样一个女人怎么会嫁给了罗伯特·威廉森。

She smiled in a motherly fashion at Eric, as he hung his hat on the white-washed wall and took his place at the table. Outside of the window behind him was a birch grove which, in the westering sun, was a tremulous splendour, with a sea of undergrowth wavered into golden billows by every passing wind.

她像母亲一样慈祥地朝埃里克微笑，看着他把帽子挂在白墙上，在桌边坐下来。他身后的窗外有一片桦树林，在夕阳的映照下，蔚为壮观。每当一阵风吹过，桦树下茂密的灌木就会随风摇曳，金光闪闪。

Old Robert Williamson sat opposite him, on a bench. He was a small, lean old man, half lost in loose clothes that seemed far too large for him. When he spoke his voice was as thin and squeaky as he appeared to be himself.

老罗伯特·威廉森坐在他对面的长凳上。他是个矮小瘦削的老头，身上的衣服对他而言似乎太过宽松，半个身体都已没入其中。他一开口，尖细的声音吱吱作响，声如其人。

The other end of the bench was occupied by Timothy, sleek and complacent, with a snowy breast and white paws. After old Robert had taken a mouthful of anything he gave a piece to Timothy, who ate it daintily and purred resonant gratitude.

长凳的另一头坐着蒂莫西，打扮整洁、得意洋洋、胸脯雪白、手指洁净。老罗伯特不论吃什么，尝过一口后都会给蒂莫西一份。蒂莫西一边优雅地吃着，一边还会咕噜咕噜地应和，以表感激。

"You see we're busy waiting for you, Master," said old Robert. "You're late this evening. Keep any of the youngsters in? That's a foolish way of punishing them, as hard on yourself as on them. One teacher we had four years ago used to lock them in and go home. Then he'd go back in an hour and let them out—if they were there. They weren't always. Tom Ferguson kicked the panels out of the old door once and got out that way. We put a new door of double plank in that they couldn't kick out."“您看，我们一直在等您呢，老师，”老罗伯特说，“您今晚回来得有点儿迟。罚哪个年轻人留校了吗？这样惩罚他们可不明智，您自己也不好过。四年前我们有位老师曾经把他们锁在学校，自己回了家。一小时后他回去了，准备把他们放出来——如果他们还在那儿的话。但他们总是不在。汤姆·弗格森有一次把旧门板踢掉了，然后从那里出来了。我们装了一个有双层板的新门，他们就踢不掉了。”

"I stayed in the schoolroom to do some work," said Eric briefly.“我留在教室里做了些事。”埃里克简短地说。

"Well, you've missed Alexander Tracy. He was here to find out if you could play checkers, and, when I told him you could, he left word for you to go up and have a game some evening soon. Don't beat him too often, even if you can. You'll need to stand in with him, I tell you, Master, for he's got a son that may brew trouble for you when he starts in to go to school. Seth Tracy's a young imp, and he'd far sooner be in mischief than eat. He tries to run on every new teacher and he's run two clean out of the school. But he met his match in Mr. West. William Tracy's boys now—you won't have a scrap of bother with them. They're always good because their mother tells them every Sunday that they'll go straight to hell if they don't behave in school. It's effective. Take some preserve, Master. You know we don't help things here the way Mrs. Adam Scott does when she has boarders, 'I s'pose you don't want any of this—nor you—nor you?’Mother, Aleck says old George Wright is having the time of his life. His wife has gone to Charlottetown to visit her sister and he is his own boss for the first time since he was married, forty years ago. He's on a regular orgy, Aleck says. He smokes in the parlour and sits up till eleven o'clock reading dime novels."“嗯，你没能见到亚历山大·特雷西。他到这儿来找你，问你会不会下跳棋。我告诉他你会，他让我转告你，赶紧找个晚上去和他玩一盘。即使你有那个本事，也别让他输得太惨。你得跟他统一战线，我跟你讲，老师。因为他有个儿子，等他一上学，可能会给你惹麻烦的。赛思·特雷西是个小顽童，还没学会吃饭就会捣蛋了。他想方设法把每个新老师都赶走，现在已经赶走两个了。可韦斯特先生在这儿，他算是棋逢对手了。现在，威廉·特雷西家的男孩子们一点儿麻烦都不会给您惹了。他们一贯表现良好，因为他们的母亲每周日都会告诫他们，在学校里要是不听话，就会直接下地狱。这挺管用。别多管闲事，老师。您知道的，我们家可不像亚当·斯科特太太那样，总干涉房客们的事。我想您也一点儿都不想别人干预您的事，对不对？对不对？”孩子他妈，亚力克说老乔治·怀特正在享受人生。他妻子已经去夏洛特敦看她妹妹了。现在是他自己当家做主，这可是结婚四十年来头一回。亚历克说他常常饮酒作乐。他在起居室里抽烟，熬夜读那些乱七八糟的小说直到十一点。”

"Perhaps I met Mr. Tracy," said Eric. "Is he a tall man, with gray hair and a dark, stern face?"“也许我见过特雷西先生，”埃里克说，“他是不是高个子、灰头发、表情阴沉严厉？”

"No, he's a round, jolly fellow, is Aleck, and he stopped growing pretty much before he'd ever begun. I reckon the man you mean is Thomas Gordon. I seen him driving down the road too. He won't be troubling you with invitations up, small fear of it. The Gordons ain't sociable, to say the least of it. No, sir! Mother, pass the biscuits to the Master."“不，他是个胖墩墩的快活家伙，叫亚力克。他还没怎么长个就不长了。我猜想，您刚刚说的是托马斯·戈登。我也看见他沿路开车走了。他不会邀请您，给您添麻烦的，不用太担心。戈登一家不和人往来，一点儿也不。从不！先生。孩子他妈，把饼干递给老师。”

"Who was the young fellow he had with him?" asked Eric curiously.“和他在一起的那个年轻人是谁？”埃里克好奇地问。

"Neil—Neil Gordon."“尼尔——尼尔·戈登。”

"That is a Scotchy name for such a face and eyes. I should rather have expected Guiseppe or Angelo. The boy looks like an Italian."“那样一张脸和那样一双眼睛怎么会有一个苏格兰名字？我原以为会是朱塞佩或者安杰洛呢。那孩子看起来像意大利人。”

"Well, now, you know, Master, I reckon it's likely he does, seeing that that's exactly what he is. You've hit the nail square on the head. Italyun, yes, sir! Rather too much so, I'm thinking, for decent folks' taste."“嗯，现在，您知道了吧，老师，我料想他就是个意大利人，看他的样子就知道了。您可是一针见血了。意大利人，是的，老师！肯定是的，我觉着，一般人都会这么认为的。”

"How has it happened that an Italian boy with a Scotch name is living in a place like Lindsay?"“一个意大利男孩怎么会有个苏格兰名字，还住在林赛这种地方？”

"Well, Master, it was this way. About twenty-two years ago—was it twenty-two, Mother or twenty-four? Yes, it was twenty-two—’twas the same year our Jim was born and he'd have been twenty-two if he'd lived, poor little fellow. Well, Master, twenty-two years ago a couple of Italian pack peddlers came along and called at the Gordon place. The country was swarming with them then. I useter set the dog on one every day on an average.“嗯，老师，事情是这样的。大约在二十二年前，是二十二还是二十四啊，孩子他妈？是的，是二十二年前，我们的吉姆就是那年出生的。要是没死的话，他现在就二十二岁了，可怜的小家伙。嗯，老师，二十二年前有一对意大利摊贩来到这里，拜访了戈登家。当时乡下到处都是摊贩。我过去几乎每天都要放狗赶走一个。

"Well, these peddlers were man and wife, and the woman took sick up there at the Gordon place, and Janet Gordon took her in and nursed her. A baby was born the next day, and the woman died. Then the first thing anybody knew the father skipped clean out, pack and all, and was never seen or heard tell of afterwards. The Gordons were left with the fine youngster to their hands. Folks advised them to send him to the Orphan Asylum, and 'twould have been the wisest plan, but the Gordons were never fond of taking advice. Old James Gordon was living then, Thomas and Janet's father, and he said he would never turn a child out of his door. He was a masterful old man and liked to be boss. Folks used to say he had a grudge against the sun 'cause it rose and set without his say so. Anyhow, they kept the baby. They called him Neil and had him baptized same as any Christian child. He's always lived there. They did well enough by him. He was sent to school and taken to church and treated like one of themselves. Some folks think they made too much of him. It doesn't always do with that kind, for 'what's bred in bone is mighty apt to come out in flesh,' if 'taint kept down pretty well. Neil's smart and a great worker, they tell me. But folks hereabouts don't like him. They say he ain't to be trusted further'n you can see him, if as far. It's certain he's awful hot tempered, and one time when he was going to school he near about killed a boy he'd took a spite to—choked him till he was black in the face and Neil had to be dragged off."“嗯，这两个小贩是对夫妻。女的在戈登家生了病，珍妮特·戈登便收留并照料了她。第二天，一个孩子出生了，那个女人死了。接着，大家知道的第一件事就是孩子的父亲溜了，什么东西都带走了，从此音信全无。把那个小家伙丢给了戈登一家。乡亲们建议他们把孩子送到孤儿院。这或许是最明智的做法，但戈登一家不愿这么做。托马斯和珍妮特的父亲——老詹姆斯·戈登那时还活着。他说他绝不会将一个孩子赶出门。他是个专横的老头，喜欢发号施令。乡亲们过去常说他对太阳都心存怨恨，因为日升日落都没经过他允许。不管怎样，他们收留了那个婴儿。他们给他取名尼尔，和其他基督徒的孩子一样受洗礼。他自此就住下了。他们对尼尔相当好。他们送他去上学，去教堂，视他为他们自己家庭中的一名成员。有些乡亲们觉得他们对他期望太高了。但教育那样的孩子，这招并不总是管用的。因为要是管教不好，很有可能会‘原形毕露’的。他们告诉我说，尼尔是个聪明的好工人。不过这一带的乡亲们并不喜欢他。他们说他不像看起来那样可信。他脾气火爆，这是肯定的。有一次去学校路上，他差点把一个叫他怨恨的男孩给杀了。他一直勒着那男孩，直到对方脸色发黑，有人把他拉走，这才罢休。”

"Well now, father, you know they teased him terrible," protested Mrs.Williamson.“哎，孩子他爸，你知道他们把他戏弄得有多惨，”威廉森太太抗议说，

"The poor boy had a real hard time when he went to school, Master. The other children were always casting things up to him and calling him names."“那个可怜的男孩在学校曾有一段日子真的很不好过，老师。其他孩子总朝他丢东西，给他取绰号。”

"Oh, I daresay they tormented him a lot," admitted her husband. "He's a great hand at the fiddle and likes company. He goes to the harbour a good deal. But they say he takes sulky spells when he hasn't a word to throw to a dog. 'Twouldn't be any wonder, living with the Gordons. They're all as queer as Dick's hat-band."“噢，我敢说他们没少折磨他，”她丈夫承认说，“他擅长拉小提琴，也喜欢交朋友。他常去海港。不过大家说他一找不到词骂狗就会生闷气。跟戈登一家住一起，这种事并不稀奇。他们一家都和迪克的皇冠一样古怪。”

"Father, you shouldn't talk so about your neighbours," said his wife rebukingly.“孩子他爸，你不该这么说你的邻居。”他妻子责备他说。

"Well now, Mother, you know they are, if you'd only speak up honest. But you're like old Aunt Nancy Scott, you never say anything uncharitable except in the way of business. You know the Gordons ain't like other people and never were and never will be. They're about the only queer folks we have in Lindsay, Master, except old Peter Cook, who keeps twenty-five cats. Lord, Master, think of it! What chanct would a poor mouse have? None of the rest of us are queer, leastwise, we hain't found it out if we are. But, then, we're mighty uninteresting, I'm bound to admit that."“好吧，孩子他妈，你知道他们的，只是你不实话实说罢了。可你跟老南希·斯科特阿姨一样，除非是正经事，否则从不说不厚道的话。你知道戈登一家和其他人不一样，过去不一样，以后还是会不一样。他们是我们林赛唯一的怪人，老师，还有一个就是老彼得·库克，他养了二十五只猫。天哪，老师，想想看！可怜的老鼠哪有活命的机会？我们其他人都没有什么怪异的，至少，我们还没发现。不过，我也一定承认，我们确实很无趣。”

"Where do the Gordons live?" asked Eric, who had grown used to holding fast to a given point of inquiry through all the bewildering mazes of old Robert's conversation.“戈登一家住哪儿？”埃里克问。他已经渐渐习惯于穿过老罗伯特云里雾里的谈话，直奔主题了。

"Away up yander, half a mile in from Radnor road, with a thick spruce wood atween them and all the rest of the world. They never go away anywheres, except to church—they never miss that—and nobody goes there. There's just old Thomas, and his sister Janet, and a niece of theirs, and this here Neil we've been talking about. They're a queer, dour, cranky lot, and I will say it, Mother. There, give your old man a cup of tea and never mind the way his tongue runs on. Speaking of tea, do you know Mrs. Adam Palmer and Mrs. Jim Martin took tea together at Foster Reid's last Wednesday afternoon?"“那边往上，离雷德诺街半英里。茂密的云杉把他们和外界的人隔绝开来。他们从不出门，除非是去教堂——他们从不错过做礼拜——但是别人都不去那儿。去的只有老托马斯、他的妹妹珍妮特、他们的一个外甥女，还有我们现在正说着的这个尼尔。孩子他妈，我敢说，他们就是一群性格古怪、阴沉暴躁的家伙。来，给你老伴我倒杯茶，甭管我胡言乱语。说到茶，你知道吗？亚当·帕尔默太太和吉姆·马丁太太上周三下午在福斯特·里德太太家一起喝茶了。”

"No, why, I thought they were on bad terms," said Mrs. Williamson, betraying a little feminine curiosity.“不知道啊，怎么会？我原以为她俩关系不好呢。”威廉森太太说，微微显露出女人的好奇心。

"So they are, so they are. But they both happened to visit Mrs. Foster the same afternoon and neither would leave because that would be knuckling down to the other. So they stuck it out, on opposite sides of the parlour. Mrs. Foster says she never spent such an uncomfortable afternoon in all her life before. She would talk a spell to one and then t'other. And they kept talking to Mrs. Foster and at each other. Mrs. Foster says she really thought she'd have to keep them all night, for neither would start to go home afore the other. Finally Jim Martin came in to look for his wife, 'cause he thought she must have got stuck in the marsh, and that solved the problem. Master, you ain't eating anything. Don't mind my stopping; I was at it half an hour afore you come, and anyway I'm in a hurry. My hired boy went home to-day. He heard the rooster crow at twelve last night and he's gone home to see which of his family is dead. He knows one of 'em is. He heard a rooster crow in the middle of the night onct afore and the next day he got word that his second cousin down at Souris was dead. Mother, if the Master don't want any more tea, ain't there some cream for Timothy?"“是的，她们是关系不好。不过，那天下午，她俩凑巧都去拜访福斯特太太，然后谁也不愿离开，因为那意味着向对方投降。所以两个人一斗到底，一边一个坐在客厅两头。福斯特太太说她一辈子也没过过这么难受的下午。她对这个人说一个字，然后又对另一个说一个字。她俩不停地跟福斯特太太说话，互相又说个没完。福斯特太太说她真以为自己一晚上都得招待这两位呢，因为她俩谁也不肯先走。终于吉姆·马丁来找他老婆了。他还以为她一定是陷在沼泽地里了呢。问题这才解决。老师，您怎么不吃东西呀？您别管我吃不吃。半个小时前您还没回来，我就吃过了，因为我有急事。我雇的那个男孩今天回家去了。他昨晚午夜听见公鸡叫，所以回家看看家里哪个人去世了。他知道有人去世了。以前他半夜就听见过一次公鸡叫。结果第二天就听说他住在苏里斯的远房表哥死了。孩子他妈，老师不想再喝茶了，不是还有些给蒂莫西吃的奶油吗？”CHAPTER VA Phantom of Delight

第五章快乐的幻影

Shortly before sunset that evening Eric went for a walk. When he did not go to the shore he liked to indulge in long tramps through the Lindsay fields and woods, in the mellowness of "the sweet 'o the year."Most of the Lindsay houses were built along the main road, which ran parallel to the shore, or about the stores at "The Corner."The farms ran back from them into solitudes of woods and pasture lands.

那天傍晚，就在日落前不久，埃里克去散步。不去海边时，他喜欢久久地徜徉于林赛的田野和树林，陶醉在一年中最香醇的季节。林赛的房屋大多是沿着与海岸线平行的主路或“转角处”商店的周围修建。房屋后的一些农场反向延伸，一直到远处一块块交错的树林和牧场。

Eric struck southwest from the Williamson homestead, in a direction he had not hitherto explored, and walked briskly along, enjoying the witchery of the season all about him in earth and air and sky. He felt it and loved it and yielded to it, as anyone of clean life and sane pulses must do.

埃里克从威廉森庄园向西南而行，朝着他到目前为止都从未探索过的方向走去。他一路上步伐轻快，享受着这个季节他周围所有的泥土、空气和天空散发出的魔力。他像任何一个生活清白、沉着理智的人一定会做的那样感受着、爱恋着，并沉醉其中。

The spruce wood in which he presently found himself was smitten through with arrows of ruby light from the setting sun. He went through it, walking up a long, purple aisle where the wood-floor was brown and elastic under his feet, and came out beyond it on a scene which surprised him.

很快他就置身于一片杉木林，鲜红的落日霞光像箭镞一样穿梭其中。他穿过树林，沿着一条长长的、紫色的小径向上。铺满枝丫的小径呈棕色，踩上去松松软软。走出树林，眼前的景致令他大吃一惊。

No house was in sight, but he found himself looking into an orchard; an old orchard, evidently long neglected and forsaken. But an orchard dies hard; and this one, which must have been a very delightful spot once, was delightful still, none the less so for the air of gentle melancholy which seemed to pervade it, the melancholy which invests all places that have once been the scenes of joy and pleasure and young life, and are so no longer, places where hearts have throbbed, and pulses thrilled, and eyes brightened, and merry voices echoed. The ghosts of these things seem to linger in their old haunts through many empty years.

目之所及，不见一间房屋。但眼前有个果园，一个老旧的果树园，显然早就被人遗忘，遗弃已久。然而，果树园的生命力是很强的。这片果树园曾经一定是个令人非常愉快的地方，如今依旧赏心悦目，尽管空气中淡淡的忧郁气息似乎笼罩着它。那些见证过愉悦、欢乐和青春，而今早已变样的地方，那些曾有心的悸动和脉搏的震颤，有过灼灼的目光，回荡过欢声笑语的地方都被这忧郁笼罩着。历经几多空虚岁月，这些事物的魅影仿佛依然萦绕于此。

The orchard was large and long, enclosed in a tumbledown old fence of longers bleached to a silvery gray in the suns of many lost summers. At regular intervals along the fence were tall, gnarled fir trees, and an evening wind, sweeter than that which blew over the beds of spice from Lebanon, was singing in their tops, an earth-old song with power to carry the soul back to the dawn of time.

果树园又大又长，周围是一道摇摇欲坠的旧篱笆，这些篱笆几番酷暑炙烤，褪作银灰色。篱笆边等距离地栽着高大多节的冷杉树。晚风在树冠里歌唱，其馨香远胜黎巴嫩香料上空的气息。这支古老的歌有着指引魂灵回溯鸿蒙初辟时的力量。

Eastward, a thick fir wood grew, beginning with tiny treelets just feathering from the grass, and grading up therefrom to the tall veterans of the mid-grove, unbrokenly and evenly, giving the effect of a solid, sloping green wall, so beautifully compact that it looked as if it had been clipped into its velvet surface by art.

东边有一株茂盛的冷杉。从刚刚从草间探出头来的细小的幼苗，逐渐在那儿长成这片冷杉林间高大的老树。树林绵延匀实，仿佛砌起一堵厚实的斜墙。墙面是如此地紧实，看上去就像是之前巧妙地嵌在天鹅绒般的表面里。

Most of the orchard was grown over lushly with grass; but at the end where Eric stood there was a square, treeless place which had evidently once served as a homestead garden. Old paths were still visible, bordered by stones and large pebbles. There were two clumps of lilac trees; one blossoming in royal purple, the other in white. Between them was a bed ablow with the starry spikes of June lilies. Their penetrating, haunting fragrance distilled on the dewy air in every soft puff of wind. Along the fence rosebushes grew, but it was as yet too early in the season for roses.

果树园的大部分地方都长满了茂盛的青草，但在尽头，也就是埃里克站着的地方却有一块没有长树的正方形地，显然过去曾是某户人家的花园。古老的小径仍旧依稀可见，路边铺满了石子和大块的鹅卵石。两簇丁香树幽然怒放，一簇开着蓝紫的花，一簇开着洁白的花。其间掩映着六月百合，璀璨的花穗从花床上倾泻下来。每当微风吹来，那沁人心脾、令人魂牵梦绕的芳香就会飘散在凝结着露珠的空气里。篱笆边上栽着玫瑰丛，不过还远没到花开的季节。

Beyond was the orchard proper, three long rows of trees with green avenues between, each tree standing in a wonderful blow of pink and white.

篱笆外就是果树园了，长长的三排果树，绿荫小径间隔其中。果树粉中带白，傲然挺立。

The charm of the place took sudden possession of Eric as nothing had ever done before. He was not given to romantic fancies; but the orchard laid hold of him subtly and drew him to itself, and he was never to be quite his own man again. He went into it over one of the broken panels of fence, and so, unknowing, went forward to meet all that life held for him.

果树园的魅力瞬间攫住埃里克，这种感觉他之前从未有过。他不曾有浪漫的幻想，但这果树园很微妙地控制住了他，将他吸引过去，他再也无法完全自己了。他越过一个篱笆的一个破挡板进入果园，往前走，迎接命运为他准备的一切，尽管他自己还没意识到。

He walked the length of the orchard's middle avenue between long, sinuous boughs picked out with delicate, rose-hearted bloom. When he reached its southern boundary he flung himself down in a grassy corner of the fence where another lilac bush grew, with ferns and wild blue violets at its roots. From where he now was he got a glimpse of a house about a quarter of a mile away, its gray gable peering out from a dark spruce wood. It seemed a dull, gloomy, remote place, and he did not know who lived there.

他沿着果树园中间的小径，穿过长而蜷曲的枝丫，上面托着玫瑰色的花朵，花开正艳。来到果树园南端，他索性扑倒在了围栏边一个绿草如茵的角落。这里也有一丛丁香，根部伴有蕨草和野生的蓝色紫罗兰。从他现在的地方能瞥见约摸四分之一英里外的一栋房子，灰色的山墙从幽暗的云杉林里隐约显露出来。那地方看起来沉闷、阴郁而偏僻，他不知道谁住在那里。

He had a wide outlook to the west, over far hazy fields and misty blue intervales. The sun had just set, and the whole world of green meadows beyond swam in golden light. Across a long valley brimmed with shadow were uplands of sunset, and great sky lakes of saffron and rose where a soul might lose itself in colour. The air was very fragrant with the baptism of the dew, and the odours of a bed of wild mint upon which he had trampled. Robins were whistling, clear and sweet and sudden, in the woods all about him.

他放眼西望，看到远处烟雾弥漫的田野和模糊的蓝色低地。太阳刚刚下山，远处碧绿的草场整个沐浴在了金色霞光中。长长的河谷两边坠饰着阴影，河谷对面是夕阳下的高地和巨大的湖泊，红得像藏红花和玫瑰，谁见了都会陶醉其中。露珠的浸润和他踏过的一床野薄荷使空气芳香扑鼻。知更鸟在他周围的树林里啼唱，歌声清新、甜美、轻快。

"This is a veritable 'haunt of ancient peace,'” quoted Eric, looking around with delighted eyes. "I could fall asleep here, dream dreams and see visions. What a sky! Could anything be diviner than that fine crystal eastern blue, and those frail white clouds that look like woven lace? What a dizzying, intoxicating fragrance lilacs have! I wonder if perfume could set a man drunk. Those apple trees now—why, what is that?"“这可真是名副其实的‘古静谧之地’，埃里克引了这句话，一边环顾四周，眼里满是兴奋。“我可以就此入睡做梦，看那些幻影。多美的天空啊！还有什么东西能比那东方水晶般清澈蔚蓝的天空以及那些如针织丝带般脆弱的白云更神圣的吗？丁香花的芬芳是多么令人目眩、让人陶醉啊！我在想，花香或许还能使人醉倒呢。那些苹果树现在——哎呀？那是什么？”

Eric started up and listened. Across the mellow stillness, mingled with the croon of the wind in the trees and the flute-like calls of the robins, came a strain of delicious music, so beautiful and fantastic that Eric held his breath in astonishment and delight. Was he dreaming? No, it was real music, the music of a violin played by some hand inspired with the very spirit of harmony. He had never heard anything like it; and, somehow, he felt quite sure that nothing exactly like it ever had been heard before; he believed that that wonderful music was coming straight from the soul of the unseen violinist, and translating itself into those most airy and delicate and exquisite sounds for the first time; the very soul of music, with all sense and earthliness refined away.

埃里克一跃而起，聆听着。一阵曼妙的音乐穿过醇香的静寂，和着林风的低吟，伴着知更鸟笛声般的啁啾传至耳畔，埃里克不由屏住了呼吸，又惊又喜。是他在做梦吗？不，是真实的音乐，有人在拉小提琴，琴声是受到了和谐氛围激发。他从未听过这样的音乐。不知为何，他很确定自己以前从未听过类似的东西。他相信那美妙的音乐直接源自那个未露面的小提琴手，第一次演绎成他所听过的最空灵、最精妙的声音。它正是音乐的灵魂，全无感官的肤浅和世俗的浮华。

It was an elusive, haunting melody, strangely suited to the time and place; it had in it the sigh of the wind in the woods, the eerie whispering of the grasses at dewfall, the white thoughts of the June lilies, the rejoicing of the apple blossoms; all the soul of all the old laughter and song and tears and gladness and sobs the orchard had ever known in the lost years; and besides all this, there was in it a pitiful, plaintive cry as of some imprisoned thing calling for freedom and utterance.

这旋律难以捉摸，撩人心弦，却惊人地和此时此地正相契合。这音乐里有风吹过林间的叹息，有青草结露时奇异的低语，有六月百合洁白的遐思，还有苹果花开的欢愉。果树园往昔见证过的所有的欢笑、歌唱、泪水、欣喜还有呜咽都包含在这旋律里。除此之外，这乐音中还有一声惹人怜惜、充满哀告的呼喊，仿佛是某样囚禁于此的东西在呼唤着自由、向往着诉求。

At first Eric listened as a man spellbound, mutely and motionlessly, lost in wonderment. Then a very natural curiosity overcame him. Who in Lindsay could play a violin like that? And who was playing so here, in this deserted old orchard, of all places in the world?

起初，埃里克像着了魔一样，一动不动地静静聆听着，沉浸在一阵惊诧之中。之后，好奇感油然而生。林赛有谁能把小提琴拉得那么好？又会是谁世上那么多地方不选，偏偏选在这里，这样一个废弃的老果树园拉小提琴？

He rose and walked up the long white avenue, going as slowly and silently as possible, for he did not wish to interrupt the player. When he reached the open space of the garden he stopped short in new amazement and was again tempted into thinking he must certainly be dreaming.

埃里克起身，沿着长长的白色小径走去。因为不愿惊扰到演奏者，他尽可能地放慢脚步，不发出声音。走到花园的空地时，他驻足了一小会儿，又一次惊异于这优美的旋律，不禁再次怀疑自己肯定是在做梦。

Under the big branching white lilac tree was an old, sagging, wooden bench; and on this bench a girl was sitting, playing on an old brown violin. Her eyes were on the faraway horizon and she did not see Eric. For a few moments he stood there and looked at her. The pictures she made photographed itself on his vision to the finest detail, never to be blotted from his book of remembrance. To his latest day Eric Marshall will be able to recall vividly that scene as he saw it then—the velvet darkness of the spruce woods, the overarching sky of soft brilliance, the swaying lilac blossoms, and amid it all the girl on the old bench with the violin under her chin.

枝丫繁多的大白色丁香树下有条破旧的木凳，一个女孩正坐在上面拉一把棕色的旧小提琴。她的眼睛正注视远处的地平线，所以没有看到埃里克。他在那里站了好一会儿，注视着她。她像一幅画，每个微小的细节都刻印在了埃里克的脑海里，再也不会从他的记忆中抹去。即使在人生最后的岁月里，埃里克·马歇尔也能生动地回忆起那一幕，正如当时看到的一样——天鹅绒般乌黑的云杉林，头顶散发着柔和霞光的天穹，摇曳的丁香花还有花丛中的那个女孩，她下巴抵住小提琴，坐在破旧的长凳上。

He had, in his twenty-four years of life, met hundreds of pretty women, scores of handsome women, a scant half dozen of really beautiful women. But he knew at once, beyond all possibility of question or doubt, that he had never seen or imagined anything so exquisite as this girl of the orchard. Her loveliness was so perfect that his breath almost went from him in his first delight of it.

二十四年来，他见过的漂亮女人有数百个，长相俊美的有十来个，真正美丽佳人也有近半打。但他立刻就明白了，毫无疑问，自己从没见过甚至想象过任何东西，能像果树园里这位女孩一般精致。她实在是太可爱了，才一见她，他就满心欢喜，差点儿忘记了呼吸。

Her face was oval, marked in every cameo-like line and feature with that expression of absolute, flawless purity, found in the angels and Madonnas of old paintings, a purity that held in it no faintest strain of earthliness. Her head was bare, and her thick, jet-black hair was parted above her forehead and hung in two heavy lustrous braids over her shoulders. Her eyes were of such a blue as Eric had never seen in eyes before, the tint of the sea in the still, calm light that follows after a fine sunset; they were as luminous as the stars that came out over Lindsay Harbour in the afterglow, and were fringed about with very long, soot-black lashes, and arched over by most delicately pencilled dark eyebrows. Her skin was as fine and purely tinted as the heart of a white rose. The collarless dress of pale blue print she wore revealed her smooth, slender throat; her sleeves were rolled up above her elbows and the hand which guided the bow of her violin was perhaps the most beautiful thing about her, perfect in shape and texture, firm and white, with rosy-nailed taper fingers. One long, drooping plume of lilac blossom lightly touched her hair and cast a wavering shadow over the flower-like face beneath it.

她有一张像浮雕宝石一样精致的鹅蛋脸，表情纯洁无暇。这神情只有在天使和旧油画的圣母像那里才能看得到，是出脱得一尘不染的纯洁。她没戴帽子，乌黑浓密的秀发自前额分开，编成两条油亮的大辫子垂在双肩上。她的眼睛是那么的湛蓝，是埃里克从未见过的，就像是被日落后的宁静大海染了色一样。那双眼睛光华灿烂，有如日落后林赛港上空升起的星星。眼睛周围还缀饰着又黑又长的睫毛，两弯深色的眉毛线条极为精致。她的皮肤如白玫瑰花心般精致、洁白。她穿着一件没有衣领的淡蓝色连衣裙，露出光滑纤细的脖颈。她将衣袖挽过手肘。那只持弓的手兴许是她身上最美的地方，无论是手形还是皮肤都完美无缺，紧致白皙，纤纤玉指上有着玫红色的指甲。一枝纤长秾稠的丁香花枝垂落在她秀发上，在那如花的面颊上投下一道波动的暗影。

There was something very child-like about her, and yet at least eighteen sweet years must have gone to the making of her. She seemed to be playing half unconsciously, as if her thoughts were far away in some fair dreamland of the skies. But presently she looked away from "the bourne of sunset," and her lovely eyes fell on Eric, standing motionless before her in the shadow of the apple tree.

虽然身上还有一丝孩童的天真，但至少，她肯定是已度过十八年的甜蜜时光，才成就了眼前的她。她看上去并没有在一心一意地演奏，思绪仿佛在遥远天空的某个梦幻仙境中游荡。但是现在她将目光从“日落之溪”移开了，那双可爱的眼睛落到了一动不动站在苹果树附近的埃里克身上。

The sudden change that swept over her was startling. She sprang to her feet, the music breaking in mid-strain and the bow slipping from her hand to the grass. Every hint of colour fled from her face and she trembled like one of the wind-stirred June lilies.

惊愕瞬间袭过她全身。她吓得跳了起来，乐声戛然而止，弓子从手中滑落到草地上。她脸上失却了所有光彩，身体颤抖得像一朵风中凌乱的六月百合。

"I beg your pardon," said Eric hastily. "I am sorry that I have alarmed you. But your music was so beautiful that I did not remember you were not aware of my presence here. Please forgive me."“请原谅，”埃里克赶忙说，“很抱歉我吓到你了。但你的音乐是如此地美妙，我都忘了你并不知道我在这里。请原谅我。”

He stopped in dismay, for he suddenly realized that the expression on the girl's face was one of terror—not merely the startled alarm of a shy, childlike creature who had thought herself alone, but absolute terror. It was betrayed in her blanched and quivering lips and in the widely distended blue eyes that stared back into his with the expression of some trapped wild thing.

他不再说了，沮丧地站在那里。因为他突然意识到女孩脸上的神情是种恐惧——不仅仅是一个自以为独自一人在此的害羞孩子产生的惊愕，而是实打实的恐惧。从她那苍白颤抖的双唇，瞪大了向后盯着他看的蓝眼睛，还有那如某种身陷困境的野兽的表情都不难看出她的恐惧。

It hurt him that any woman should look at him in such a fashion, at him who had always held womanhood in such reverence.

居然会有女孩子这样的方式看着他，这让一直尊重女性的埃里克很难过。

"Don't look so frightened," he said gently, thinking only of calming her fear, and speaking as he would to a child. "I will not hurt you. You are safe, quite safe."“请不要这么害怕，”他温柔地说，像对小孩子说话一样，只想着抚平她的恐惧。“我不会伤害你。你是安全的，非常安全。”

In his eagerness to reassure her he took an unconscious step forward. Instantly she turned, and, without a sound, fled across the orchard, through a gap in the northern fence and along what seemed to be a lane bordering the fir wood beyond and arched over with wild cherry trees misty white in the gathering gloom. Before Eric could recover his wits she had vanished from his sight among the firs.

他急于安抚她，无意中向前走了一步。她立刻转身，一声不响地跑过果树园，穿过北边篱笆的缺口，沿着远处似乎是冷杉林边的一条小径逃走了。小径上方是交叠成拱形的野樱桃树枝，树木在越来越深的黑暗里白得朦胧。埃里克还没回过神，她已在冷杉树林中不见了，消失在他的视野里。

He stooped and picked up the violin bow, feeling slightly foolish and very much annoyed.

他弯腰捡起小提琴的弓子，感到自己有些蠢，但更多的是不悦。

"Well, this is a most mysterious thing," he said, somewhat impatiently. "Am I bewitched? Who was she? What was she? Can it be possible that she is a Lindsay girl? And why in the name of all that's provoking should she be so frightened at the mere sight of me? I have never thought I was a particularly hideous person, but certainly this adventure has not increased my vanity to any perceptible extent. Perhaps I have wandered into an enchanted orchard, and been outwardly transformed into an ogre. Now that I have come to think of it, there is something quite uncanny about the place. Anything might happen here. It is no common orchard for the production of marketable apples, that is plain to be seen. No, it's a most unwholesome locality; and the sooner I make my escape from it the better."“好吧，这事实在太奇怪了。”他有些不耐烦地说。“难道是我着魔了？她是谁？她是何方神圣？有可能是林赛的女孩吗？还有究竟是什么原因使她只是看到我竟然就这么害怕呢？我从未觉得自己是个多么恐怖的人。但当然了，此次经历也一点儿都没增强我的虚荣心。也许是我溜达进了一个施了咒语的果树园，然后在表面上就变成了怪物。既然我已经开始想到这里了，这地方真有些不可思议。这里什么事都可能发生。显而易见，这不是个普通的果树园，不是用来种苹果拿到市场上去卖的。不，这地方很不对劲，我最好还是赶快离开。”

He glanced about it with a whimsical smile. The light was fading rapidly and the orchard was full of soft, creeping shadows and silences. It seemed to wink sleepy eyes of impish enjoyment at his perplexity. He laid the violin bow down on the old bench.

他瞥了四周一眼，笑得很诡异。日光迅速退去，魅影和寂静轻轻地、缓慢地笼罩住整座果园。看他困惑不解，果树园似乎眨了眨惺忪睡眼，带着淘气的愉悦。他将小提琴弓子放在旧长凳上。

"Well, there is no use in my following her, and I have no right to do so even if it were of use. But I certainly wish she hadn't fled in such evident terror. Eyes like hers were never meant to express anything but tenderness and trust. Why—why—why was she so frightened? And who—who—who—can she be?"“好吧，追她徒然无益，就算有用，我也没权利这么做。不过我当然希望她没有那样惊恐地逃走。她那样一双美丽的眼睛除了温柔和信任，什么都不应该流露。为什么——为什么——到底为什么她如此害怕？还有，谁———谁——谁——她会是谁呢？”

All the way home, over fields and pastures that were beginning to be moonlight silvered he pondered the mystery.

回家路上，田野间、牧场上开始闪耀银色的月光，他还在苦思冥想这个谜。

"Let me see," he reflected. "Mr. Williamson was describing the Lindsay girls for my benefit the other evening. If I remember rightly he said that there were four handsome ones in the district. What were their names? Florrie Woods, Melissa Foster—no, Melissa Palmer—Emma Scott, and Jennie May Ferguson. Can she be one of them? No, it is a flagrant waste of time and gray matter supposing it. That girl couldn't be a Florrie or a Melissa or an Emma, while Jennie May is completely out of the question. Well, there is some bewitchment in the affair. Of that I'm convinced. So I'd better forget all about it."“让我想想，”他思考着，“威廉森先生那天晚上特意给我描述了林赛的女孩子们。如果我没记错的话，他说这地方有四个漂亮女孩。她们叫什么来着？弗洛丽·伍兹，梅利莎·福斯特——不对，是梅利莎·帕尔默——埃玛·斯科特，和珍妮·梅·弗格森。她会是其中一个吗？不，这种猜想完完全全是在浪费时间，徒劳无功。那女孩不可能是弗洛丽、梅利莎或埃玛，更不可能是珍妮·梅。嗯，这事有些蹊跷。这一点我毫不怀疑。那么，我最好还是把这事忘了吧。”

But Eric found that it was impossible to forget all about it. The more he tried to forget, the more keenly and insistently he remembered. The girl's exquisite face haunted him and the mystery of her tantalized him.

但埃里克发现根本不可能忘掉这件事。他越是努力去试图忘记，记忆反而越清晰持久。女孩精致的脸颊在他脑海中挥之不去，她的神秘令他干着急。

True, he knew that, in all likelihood, he might easily solve the problem by asking the Williamsons about her. But somehow, to his own surprise, he found that he shrank from doing this. He felt that it was impossible to ask Robert Williamson and probably have the girl's name overflowed in a stream of petty gossip concerning her and all her antecedents and collaterals to the third and fourth generation. If he had to ask any one it should be Mrs. Williamson; but he meant to find out the secret for himself if it were at all possible.

诚然，他知道，自己可以向威廉森一家打听她，大有可能轻而易举地解决这个难题。可不知为何，他不愿这么做，连他自己也对此感到讶异。他觉得如果向罗伯特·威廉森问起，很有可能就会有一大堆有关她的闲言碎语、奇闻异事，祖宗八代的事都会扯出来。就算他不得不向人打听，那个人也必定是威廉森太太。不过，如有可能，他还是想要凭借一己之力，自己揭开谜底。

He had planned to go to the harbour the next evening. One of the lobstermen had promised to take him out cod-fishing. But instead he wandered southwest over the fields again.

第二天晚上，他本来是打算去港口的。一个捕龙虾的答应了要带他去捕鳕鱼。但他没去港口，而是再次穿过田野向西南方向走去。

He found the orchard easily—he had half expected not to find it. It was still the same fragrant, grassy, wind-haunted spot. But it had no occupant and the violin bow was gone from the old bench.

他轻轻松松地找到了果树园——他本指望会找不到它。果树园依然芳香四溢、青草满地、微风披拂。但空无一人，旧长凳上的那把小提琴弓子也不见了。

"Perhaps she tiptoed back here for it by the light o' the moon," thought Eric, pleasing his fancy by the vision of a lithe, girlish figure stealing with a beating heart through mingled shadow and moonshine. "I wonder if she will possibly come this evening, or if I have frightened her away for ever. I'll hide me behind this spruce copse and wait."“也许是她借着月光悄悄回来拿走了，”埃里克心想，一边愉快地幻想着一个灵巧女孩穿过杂乱的影子和月光，心怦怦跳跳地偷偷拿走了琴弓。“不知道她今晚会不会来？还是我把她吓跑了，她永远都不会再来了。我躲到这边云杉丛里等等看。”

Eric waited until dark, but no music sounded through the orchard and no one came to it. The keenness of his disappointment surprised him, nay more, it vexed him. What nonsense to be so worked up because a little girl he had seen for five minutes failed to appear! Where was his common sense, his "gumption," as old Robert Williamson would have said? Naturally a man liked to look at a pretty face. But was that any reason why he should feel as if life were flat, stale, and unprofitable simply because he could not look at it? He called himself a fool and went home in a petulant mood. Arriving there, he plunged fiercely into solving algebraical equations and working out geometry exercises, determined to put out of his head forthwith all vain imaginings of an enchanted orchard, white in the moonshine, with lilts of elfin music echoing down its long arcades.

埃里克一直等到天黑，但都没有听到果树园里有乐声，也没看到有人来。他很吃惊，自己竟会如此失望。不，比这更严重，他是在恼火。太荒谬了！他居然会因为一个只见过五分钟的小女孩没有露面而局促不安。他的常识呢？就如老罗伯特·威廉森总爱说的他的“进取心”哪儿去了？男人爱看漂亮脸蛋，这很自然。但他之所以会感到生活平淡无奇、索然无味，难道仅仅是因为不能再见到红颜吗？他骂自己是傻瓜，然后怏怏不乐地回去了。到家后，他一头扎进代数等式和几何习题，决心把脑袋从那个月光下洁白的、中了魔咒的果树园里拉回来，不去想那些虚无缥缈的东西和那沿着长长的拱廊回响的精灵般的音乐。

The next day was Sunday and Eric went to church twice. The Williamson pew was one of the side ones at the top of the church and its occupants practically faced the congregation. Eric looked at every girl and woman in the audience, but he saw nothing of the face which, setting will power and common sense flatly at defiance, haunted his memory like a star.

第二天是周日，埃里克去了两次教堂。威廉森家的长椅在教堂顶部的一侧，坐在那里几乎可以看见全场。埃里克打量着人群里的每位女性，可就是没见到那张踏平他的意志力和理性、如星星般令他魂牵梦萦的面孔。

Thomas Gordon was there, sitting alone in his long, empty pew near the top of the building; and Neil Gordon sang in the choir which occupied the front pew of the gallery. He had a powerful and melodious, though untrained voice, which dominated the singing and took the colour out of the weaker, more commonplace tones of the other singers. He was well-dressed in a suit of dark blue serge, with a white collar and tie. But Eric idly thought it did not become him so well as the working clothes in which he had first seen him. He was too obviously dressed up, and he looked coarser and more out of harmony with his surroundings.

托马斯·戈登坐在他长长的空椅子上，和教堂顶部很接近。尼尔·戈登在坐在走廊前排长椅上的合唱团里唱歌。他的声音虽未经训练，但浑厚有力、悦耳动听，是唱歌的中坚力量，足以叫其他歌手那无力而普通的声音黯然失色。他穿着整齐，套着一件深蓝色的哔叽外套，衣领雪白，他还打着领带。但是埃里克无意间觉得初次见到他时的那件工装更适合他。他这打扮明显太招摇了，与周边的环境相比，显得更粗糙、更不和谐。

For two days Eric refused to let himself think of the orchard. Monday evening he went cod-fishing, and Tuesday evening he went up to play checkers with Alexander Tracy. Alexander won all the games so easily that he never had any respect for Eric Marshall again.

整整两天，埃里克不愿去想那个果树园。周一晚上他去捕鳕鱼，周二晚上去和亚历山大·特雷西下棋。亚历山大每局都赢得不费吹灰之力，对埃里克·马歇尔也就不再有任何敬佩可言了。

"Played like a feller whose thoughts were wool gathering," he complained to his wife. "He'll never make a checker player—never in this world."“这小子下棋跟个樵夫似的，脑袋就像缠满了羊毛一样，”他跟妻子抱怨，“他永远也做不了棋手——至少这辈子是没戏了。”CHAPTER VIThe Story of Kilmeny

第六章琦梅妮的故事

Wednesday evening Eric went to the orchard again; and again he was disappointed. He went home, determined to solve the mystery by open inquiry. Fortune favoured him, for he found Mrs. Williamson alone, sitting by the west window of her kitchen and knitting at a long gray sock. She hummed softly to herself as she knitted, and Timothy slept blackly at her feet. She looked at Eric with quiet affection in her large, candid eyes. She had liked Mr. West. But Eric had found his way into the inner chamber of her heart, by reason that his eyes were so like those of the little son she had buried in the Lindsay churchyard many years before.

星期三晚上，埃里克再次去了果树园，不过他又一次失望了。他回到家中，决心坦率地问个究竟，解开谜题。很幸运，因为他发现威廉森太太正独自一人坐在厨房西窗下，在织一只长长的灰袜子。她一边织补一边轻柔地哼着曲儿。蒂莫西在她脚边睡得正香。她看着埃里克，一双诚挚的大眼睛流露出沉静的慈爱。她曾经喜欢韦斯特先生。但是埃里克找到了俘获她内心的方法，因为他的眼睛和她那死去的小儿子的眼睛特别像。多年前，她将小儿子埋在林赛教堂的墓地里。

"Mrs. Williamson," said Eric, with an affectation of carelessness, "I chanced on an old deserted orchard back behind the woods over there last week, a charming bit of wilderness. Do you know whose it is?"“威廉森太太，”埃里克装作漫不经心的样子，“我上周偶然在那边的树林后面发现了一个废弃的老果树园，尽管一片荒芜却很吸引人。您知道那是谁家的吗？”

"I suppose it must be the old Connors orchard," answered Mrs. Williamson after a moment's reflection. "I had forgotten all about it. It must be all of thirty years since Mr. and Mrs. Connors moved away. Their house and barns were burned down and they sold the land to Thomas Gordon and went to live in town. They're both dead now. Mr. Connors used to be very proud of his orchard. There weren't many orchards in Lindsay then, though almost everybody has one now."“我想那肯定是老康纳斯家的果树园，”威廉森太太想了一会儿回答说，“我都已经把它忘得一干二净了。老康纳斯夫妇搬走肯定都有三十年啦。他们的房子和粮仓被烧毁了，于是就把土地卖给了托马斯·戈登，搬到镇上去住了。两人现在都已去世了。康纳斯先生曾经可为他的果树园骄傲了。虽然现在林赛几乎人人都有果树园，但那时候可没几个。”

"There was a young girl in it, playing on a violin," said Eric, annoyed to find that it cost him an effort to speak of her, and that the blood mounted to his face as he did so. "She ran away in great alarm as soon as she saw me, although I do not think I did or said anything to frighten or vex her. I have no idea who she was. Do you know?"“园子里有个年轻女孩在拉小提琴，”埃里克说，他发现自己得费一番劲才能提到她，而且一说起她，血就向脸上涌，他对此感到很烦闷。“她一看见我就惊慌失措地逃走了，尽管我觉得自己没有说了或是做了什么令她害怕或恼怒的事。我不知道她是谁。您知道吗？”

Mrs. Williamson did not make an immediate reply. She laid down her knitting and gazed out of the window as if pondering seriously some question in her own mind. Finally she said, with an intonation of keen interest in her voice,"I suppose it must have been Kilmeny Gordon, Master."

威廉森太太没有立即回答。她放下手中的针线活，注视着窗外，心里似乎在认真地思考着某个问题。最终她终于开口了，语气里带着强烈的兴趣：“我想那一定是琦梅妮·戈登，老师。”

"Kilmeny Gordon? Do you mean the niece of Thomas Gordon of whom your husband spoke?"“琦梅妮·戈登？您是说她是您丈夫说过的托马斯·戈登的外甥女吗？”

"Yes."“是的。”

"I can hardly believe that the girl I saw can be a member of Thomas Gordon's family."“真不敢相信，我之前见到的那个女孩居然会是托马斯·戈登家的人。”

"Well, if it wasn't Kilmeny Gordon I don't know who it could have been. There is no other house near that orchard and I've heard she plays the violin. If it was Kilmeny you've seen what very few people in Lindsay have ever seen, Master. And those few have never seen her close by. I have never laid eyes on her myself. It's no wonder she ran away, poor girl. She isn't used to seeing strangers."“嗯，如果不是琦梅妮·戈登，我不知道还能是谁了。那个果树园周围没有其他人家，而且我听过她拉琴。如果那真的是琦梅妮，那你可是少数几个见过她的人之一呢，林赛没几个人见过她，老师。那少数几个人即使见过她，也从未近距离跟她接触过。我自己也没亲眼见过。难怪她那时跑走了，可怜的姑娘。她不习惯见生人。”

"I'm rather glad if that was the sole reason of her flight," said Eric. "I admit I didn't like to see any girl so frightened of me as she appeared to be. She was as white as paper, and so terrified that she never uttered a word, but fled like a deer to cover."“如果这就是她逃走的唯一原因，那我就安心了，”埃里克说，“老实说，我不喜欢看到哪个女孩子像她看上去那样怕我。她脸色白得像纸一样，害怕得连一句话也说不出来，像只小鹿似的逃跑了，躲了起来。”

"Well, she couldn't have spoken a word in any case," said Mrs. Williamson quietly. "Kilmeny Gordon is dumb."“嗯，任何情况下她都不会说一个字的，”威廉森太太轻轻地说，“琦梅妮·戈登是个哑巴。”

Eric sat in dismayed silence for a moment. That beautiful creature afflicted in such a fashion—why, it was horrible! Mingled with his dismay was a strange pang of personal regret and disappointment.

好一段时间，埃里克陷入沮丧，一言不发。那个美丽的女孩竟受此折磨——天哪，太可怕了！他的沮丧中还奇怪地混杂着强烈的后悔和失望。

"It couldn't have been Kilmeny Gordon, then," he protested at last, remembering. "The girl I saw played on the violin exquisitely. I never heard anything like it. It is impossible that a deaf mute could play like that."“那不可能会是琦梅妮·戈登，”一番回忆过后，他终于反驳道，“我那时见到的女孩小提琴拉得出神入化。我从没听过那么美妙的琴声。一个聋哑人不可能会拉得那么好。”

"Oh, she isn't deaf, Master," responded Mrs. Williamson, looking at Eric keenly through her spectacles. She picked up her knitting and fell to work again. "That is the strange part of it, if anything about her can be stranger than another. She can hear as well as anybody and understands everything that is said to her. But she can't speak a word and never could, at least, so they say. The truth is, nobody knows much about her. Janet and Thomas never speak of her, and Neil won't either. He has been well questioned, too, you can depend on that; but he won't ever say a word about Kilmeny and he gets mad if folks persist."“噢，她耳朵不聋，老师。”威廉森太太回答说，透过眼镜热切地看着他。她拿起针线，又开始做了起来。“那就是最奇怪的地方，要是她身上没有更奇怪之处的话。她的耳朵和大家的一样好使，能听懂别人跟她说的所有的话。但她就是一句话也不能说，也说不出来，至少大家都这么认为。事实上，没人对她了解多少。珍妮特和托马斯从来不提她，尼尔也不提。相信我，人们也常常跟他打听她，但他从不讲一句有关琦梅妮的事，乡亲们要是执意问他，他会发火。”

"Why isn't she to be spoken of?" queried Eric impatiently. "What is the mystery about her?"“为什么大家不提她？”埃里克不耐烦地问道，“她身上有什么谜？”

"It's a sad story, Master. I suppose the Gordons look on her existence as a sort of disgrace. For my own part, I think it's terrible, the way she's been brought up. But the Gordons are very strange people, Mr. Marshall. I kind of reproved father for saying so, you remember, but it is true. They have very strange ways. And you've really seen Kilmeny? What does she look like? I've heard that she was handsome. Is it true?"“这事说来令人伤心啊，老师。我想戈登一家把她的存在视为一种耻辱。在我看来，他们抚养她的方式糟糕透了。但戈登一家都是些非常奇怪的人，马歇尔先生。我曾经有点儿怪孩子他爸这么说，您没忘吧，但这是事实。他们行为非常古怪。您是真看到琦梅妮了吗？她长什么样？听说她很清秀。是真的吗？”

"I thought her very beautiful," said Eric rather curtly. "But how has she been brought up, Mrs. Williamson? And why?"“我觉得她很美，”埃里克的回答相当简短，“不过她是怎么被抚养大的呢，威廉森太太？为什么会这样？”

"Well, I might as well tell you the whole story, Master. Kilmeny is the niece of Thomas and Janet Gordon. Her mother was Margaret Gordon, their younger sister. Old James Gordon came out from Scotland. Janet and Thomas were born in the Old Country and were small children when they came here. They were never very sociable folks, but still they used to visit out some then, and people used to go there. They were kind and honest people, even if they were a little peculiar.“好吧，我还是把事情原原本本地告诉你吧，老师。琦梅妮是托马斯·戈登和珍妮特·戈登的外甥女。她妈妈叫玛格丽特·戈登，是他们的妹妹。老詹姆斯·戈登来自苏格兰。珍妮特和托马斯在故国出生，来这里时还是小孩子。他们不大同人来往，不过那时候也曾经常拜访其他人，人们也经常去他们那。虽说有点儿怪，但他们友好诚实。

"Mrs. Gordon died a few years after they came out, and four years later James Gordon went home to Scotland and brought a new wife back with him. She was a great deal younger than he was and a very pretty woman, as my mother often told me. She was friendly and gay and liked social life. The Gordon place was a very different sort of place after she came there, and even Janet and Thomas got thawed out and softened down a good bit. They were real fond of their stepmother, I've heard. Then, six years after she was married, the second Mrs. Gordon died too. She died when Margaret was born. They say James Gordon almost broke his heart over it.“他们离开苏格兰没几年，戈登太太就去世了。四年后，詹姆斯·戈登回到苏格兰，又带回来一位妻子。我母亲常告诉我说她比他小很多，长得很漂亮。她待人友好，性格欢快，喜欢跟人打交道。她来后，戈登家就变了个样，就连珍妮特和托马斯都友好了好多，脾气柔和了不少。我听说过，他们是真心喜欢这位继母。然后，他们结婚六年后，这第二任戈登太太也去世了。她是因为生玛格丽特去世的。大家都说詹姆斯·戈登为此心都碎了。

"Janet brought Margaret up. She and Thomas just worshipped the child and so did their father. I knew Margaret Gordon well once. We were just the same age and we set together in school. We were always good friends until she turned against all the world.“是珍妮特将玛格丽特带大的。她和托马斯只好给这个孩子做礼拜，他们的父亲也一样。我有一阵和玛格丽特·戈登很熟。我们恰好是同龄，所以一块上的学。在她与全世界为敌之前，我们一直是好朋友。

"She was a strange girl in some ways even then, but I always liked her, though a great many people didn't. She had some bitter enemies, but she had some devoted friends too. That was her way. She made folks either hate or love her. Those who did love her would have gone through fire and water for her.

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