地下城(外研社双语读库)(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：Jules Verne 儒勒·凡尔纳

出版社：外语教学与研究出版社

格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT

地下城(外研社双语读库)试读：

CHAPTER I CONTRADICTORY LETTERS

第一章 矛盾的信件

To Mr. F. R. Starr, Engineer, 30 Canongate, Edinburgh.

致爱丁堡坎农格特30号，工程师F. R.斯塔尔先生。

If Mr. James Starr will come to-morrow to the Aberfoyle coal-mines, Dochart pit, Yarrow shaft, a communication of an interesting nature will be made to him.

倘若詹姆斯·斯塔尔先生愿于明日光临阿伯福伊尔矿区多查特矿的亚罗矿井，他将获悉一则令他感兴趣的信息。

"Mr. James Starr will be awaited for, the whole day, at the Callander station, by Harry Ford, son of the old overman Simon Ford."“前任工头西蒙·福特之子哈里·福特，将在卡伦德站全天恭候詹姆斯·斯塔尔先生。”

"He is requested to keep this invitation secret."“请他务必对此邀请保密。”

Such was the letter which James Starr received by the first post, on the 3rd December, 18—, the letter bearing the Aberfoyle postmark, county of Stirling, Scotland.

这是詹姆斯·斯塔尔在一八几几年十二月三日首次取信时收到的信件，信封上盖有苏格兰斯特林郡阿伯福伊尔邮局的邮戳。

The engineer's curiosity was excited to the highest pitch. It never occurred to him to doubt whether this letter might not be a hoax. For many years he had known Simon Ford, one of the former foremen of the Aberfoyle mines, of which he, James Starr, had for twenty years, been the manager, or, as he would be termed in English coal-mines, the viewer. James Starr was a strongly-constituted man, on whom his fifty-five years weighed no more heavily than if they had been forty. He belonged to an old Edinburgh family, and was one of its most distinguished members. His labors did credit to the body of engineers who are gradually devouring the carboniferous subsoil of the United Kingdom, as much at Cardiff and Newcastle, as in the southern counties of Scotland. However, it was more particularly in the depths of the mysterious mines of Aberfoyle, which border on the Alloa mines and occupy part of the county of Stirling, that the name of Starr had acquired the greatest renown. There, the greater part of his existence had been passed. Besides this, James Starr belonged to the Scottish Antiquarian Society, of which he had been made president. He was also included amongst the most active members of the Royal Institution; and the Edinburgh Review frequently published clever articles signed by him. He was in fact one of those practical men to whom is due the prosperity of England. He held a high rank in the old capital of Scotland, which not only from a physical but also from a moral point of view, well deserves the name of the Northern Athens.

工程师的好奇心被激发至顶点。他从未怀疑过这封信是否是个骗局。他和西蒙·福特这位阿伯福伊尔煤矿前任工头相识多年，詹姆斯·斯塔尔曾担任该矿经理二十年，按英格兰矿业的说法，他这个职位应该叫做“监工”。詹姆斯·斯塔尔身强体壮，五十五岁的他看上去与四十岁的人没多少差别。他来自爱丁堡一个古老的家族，是这个家族里最优秀的成员之一。他的努力为整个工程师团队带来了荣誉，他们正逐渐毁灭联合王国的含炭层底土，既包括苏格兰南部各郡，也包括加的夫和纽卡斯尔。然而，在阿伯福伊尔煤矿与阿洛厄煤矿的毗邻之处，在那占据着斯特林郡一部分的神秘煤矿的深处，斯塔尔才最负盛名。在那儿，他度过了人生大部分时光。此外，詹姆斯·斯塔尔是苏格兰古物协会的成员，曾被任命为协会主席。他也是皇家学会中最活跃的成员之一；《爱丁堡评论》经常刊登署有他名字的睿智文章。事实上，他是务实派中的一员，英格兰的繁荣与这些人紧密相关。他在苏格兰的古老首府爱丁堡身居高位。无论从物质方面抑或从道德方面来看，这座城市都绝对担得起“北部雅典”这一美誉。

We know that the English have given to their vast extent of coal-mines a very significant name. They very justly call them the "Black Indies," and these Indies have contributed perhaps even more than the Eastern Indies to swell the surprising wealth of the United Kingdom.

我们知道英国人给他们广阔的煤矿地区赋予了一个意味深长的名号。他们非常恰当地称之为“黑印度”，而在联合王国惊人的财富聚敛过程中，黑印度所做出的贡献可能比东印度更大。

At this period, the limit of time assigned by professional men for the exhaustion of coal-mines was far distant and there was no dread of scarcity. There were still extensive mines to be worked in the two Americas. The manu-factories, appropriated to so many different uses, locomotives, steamers, gas works, &c., were not likely to fail for want of the mineral fuel; but the consumption had so increased during the last few years, that certain beds had been exhausted even to their smallest veins. Now deserted, these mines perforated the ground with their useless shafts and forsaken galleries. This was exactly the case with the pits of Aberfoyle. Ten years before, the last butty had raised the last ton of coal from this colliery. The underground working stock, traction engines, trucks which run on rails along the galleries, subterranean tramways, frames to support the shaft, pipes—in short, all that constituted the machinery of a mine had been brought up from its depths. The exhausted mine was like the body of a huge fantastically-shaped mastodon, from which all the organs of life have been taken, and only the skeleton remains.

在这个时期，根据专业人员的预计，煤矿枯竭还为时尚早，不必担心煤资源短缺。在南美洲和北美洲仍有广阔的煤矿可供开采。制造厂若要制造机车、汽船或建煤气厂等等，它们不可能因为矿产燃料短缺就停产，但是近些年来矿产资源消耗急剧增加，导致某些煤床连最细小的矿脉也被采竭殆尽了。这些煤矿如今已荒废，只剩下无用的矿井和被遗弃的水平巷道，将土地毁得千疮百孔。这正是阿伯福伊尔矿的情况。十年前，最后一个采煤工头从该煤矿里运走了最后一吨煤。井下作业设备、牵引机车、沿着水平巷道轨道行驶的车皮、地下电车轨道、矿井支架以及管道——总之，矿井的所有设备都被从井下搬了出来。被挖掘一空的煤矿就像一个大得惊人的庞然大物的躯体，它被掏空了所有的生命器官，只剩下了骨架。

Nothing was left but long wooden ladders, down the Yarrow shaft—the only one which now gave access to the lower galleries of the Dochart pit. Above ground, the sheds, formerly sheltering the outside works, still marked the spot where the shaft of that pit had been sunk, it being now abandoned, as were the other pits, of which the whole constituted the mines of Aberfoyle.

什么都没留下，只剩下通向亚罗井的长木梯——这是目前进入多查特矿井下层水平巷道的唯一通道。地面上，以前用于遮盖露天设备的工棚仍旧标示着矿井以前的挖掘位置。现在这口井和其他井一样都被废弃了，它们共同构成了阿伯福伊尔煤矿的全貌。

It was a sad day, when for the last time the workmen quitted the mine, in which they had lived for so many years. The engineer, James Starr, had collected the hundreds of workmen which composed the active and courageous population of the mine. Overmen, brakemen, putters, wastemen, barrowmen, masons, smiths, carpenters, outside and inside laborers, women, children, and old men, all were collected in the great yard of the Dochart pit, formerly heaped with coal from the mine.

那是令人伤感的一天。那天工人们最后一次离开煤矿——那个他们曾经生活多年的地方。工程师詹姆斯·斯塔尔将几百名工人召集起来。这是一群勤奋勇敢的煤矿工人。工头、司闸工、运煤工、清理工、填土工、泥瓦匠、铁匠、木匠、井上和井下的工人，以及妇女、孩子和老人，所有人都聚集在多查特矿井的大院子里；这里曾经堆满了开采出的煤。

Many of these families had existed for generations in the mine of old Aberfoyle; they were now driven to seek the means of subsistence elsewhere, and they waited sadly to bid farewell to the engineer.

这里很多家庭世世代代都生活在这古老的阿伯福伊尔煤矿，现在他们被迫即将去别处谋生计；他们正伤感地等着与工程师道别。

James Starr stood upright, at the door of the vast shed in which he had for so many years superintended the powerful machines of the shaft. Simon Ford, the foreman of the Dochart pit, then fifty-five years of age, and other managers and overseers, surrounded him. James Starr took off his hat. The miners, cap in hand, kept a profound silence. This farewell scene was of a touching character, not wanting in grandeur.

詹姆斯·斯塔尔笔直地站在大工棚的门口，他数年来就是在这里监管着矿井里那些大功率的机器。多查特矿的工头西蒙·福特那时五十五岁，和其他经理及工头们一道围在斯塔尔身边。詹姆斯·斯塔尔摘下帽子。矿工们手拿帽子，一直鸦雀无声。这离别的场景很感人，又不失庄重。

"My friends," said the engineer, "the time has come for us to separate. The Aberfoyle mines, which for so many years have united us in a common work, are now exhausted. All our researches have not led to the discovery of a new vein, and the last block of coal has just been extracted from the Dochart pit."And in confirmation of his words, James Starr pointed to a lump of coal which had been kept at the bottom of a basket.“我的朋友们，”工程师说，“我们分别的时刻到了。阿伯福伊尔煤矿多年来将我们聚在一起，使我们共同从事这项普通的工作，如今煤矿已被开采殆尽了。我们所有的研究探测都没有发现新的矿脉，而最后一块煤也刚从多查特矿中开采出来了。”为了证明自己的话，詹姆斯·斯塔尔指了指放在筐子底部的那块煤。

"This piece of coal, my friends," resumed James Starr, "is like the last drop of blood which has flowed through the veins of the mine! We shall keep it, as the first fragment of coal is kept, which was extracted a hundred and fifty years ago from the bearings of Aberfoyle. Between these two pieces, how many generations of workmen have succeeded each other in our pits! Now, it is over! The last words which your engineer will address to you are a farewell. You have lived in this mine, which your hands have emptied. The work has been hard, but not without profit for you. Our great family must disperse, and it is not probable that the future will ever again unite the scattered members. But do not forget that we have lived together for a long time, and that it will be the duty of the miners of Aberfoyle to help each other. Your old masters will not forget you either.“这块煤，我的朋友们，”詹姆斯·斯塔尔继续说道，“就像流淌在矿脉中的最后一滴血！我们将保存它，正如我们保存一百五十年前从阿伯福伊尔矿区采出的第一块煤屑那样。在第一块煤到这最后一块煤之间，有多少代工人在我们煤矿里前赴后继！此刻，一切都终结了！你们的工程师最后要向你们说的就是道别的话。你们曾经生活过的这个煤矿，已经在你们手中被挖空了。工作曾是艰难的，但对你们来说也并非没有收益。我们这个大家庭得散了，各奔东西的成员将来也不可能重聚在一起了。但请不要忘记，我们曾在一起生活了这么长时间；也不要忘记，相互扶持是每一个阿伯福伊尔矿工的责任。你们的前任工头们也不会忘记你们的。

When men have worked together, they must never be stranger to each other again.

曾在一起工作过的人们，是绝不会再视彼此为陌生人的。

We shall keep our eye on you, and wherever you go, our recommendations shall follow you. Farewell then, my friends, and may Heaven be with you!”

我们将关注着你们，无论你们到哪儿，我们都会一直推荐你们。再见了，我的朋友们，愿上苍与你们同在！”

So saying, James Starr wrung the horny hand of the oldest miner, whose eyes were dim with tears. Then the overmen of the different pits came forward to shake hands with him, whilst the miners waved their caps, shouting, "Farewell, James Starr, our master and our friend!"

说完后，詹姆斯·斯塔尔紧紧握住最年长的矿工那粗糙的双手，老矿工的眼里因噙满泪水而视线模糊。随后，各个矿井的工头们上前与工程师握手；同时，矿工们挥动着他们的帽子，叫喊道，“再见了，詹姆斯·斯塔尔，我们的头儿！我们的朋友！”

This farewell would leave a lasting remembrance in all these honest hearts. Slowly and sadly the population quitted the yard. The black soil of the roads leading to the Dochart pit resounded for the last time to the tread of miners' feet, and silence succeeded to the bustling life which had till then filled the Aberfoyle mines.

这场离别将在所有这些人真诚的心里留下永久的回忆。人们缓慢而伤感地离开了院子。在通向多查特矿井的黑土路上，最后一次回响起矿工们行走的脚步声。那时阿伯福伊尔煤矿还是一派喧嚣景象，之后便沉寂了。

One man alone remained by James Starr. This was the overman, Simon Ford. Near him stood a boy, about fifteen years of age, who for some years already had been employed down below.

唯有一个人仍然留在詹姆斯·斯塔尔身边。这个人就是工头西蒙·福特。西蒙身旁站着一个男孩，大约十五岁，已经受雇在井下干了好几年了。

James Starr and Simon Ford knew and esteemed each other well. "Good-by, Simon," said the engineer.

詹姆斯·斯塔尔和西蒙·福特彼此十分熟悉，相互敬重。“再见了，西蒙。”工程师说道。

"Good-by, Mr. Starr," replied the overman, "let me add, till we meet again!"“再见了，斯塔尔先生，”工头回答道，“让我加上一句——直到我们再次见面！”

"Yes, till we meet again. Ford!" answered James Starr. "You know that I shall be always glad to see you, and talk over old times."“是的，直到我们再次见面。福特！”詹姆斯·斯塔尔回答道，“您知道，我将永远会为能见到您，并与您谈论昔日时光而感到高兴。”

"I know that, Mr. Starr."“我知道，斯塔尔先生。”

"My house in Edinburgh is always open to you."“我在爱丁堡的家永远为您开放。”

"It's a long way off, is Edinburgh!" answered the man shaking his head. "Ay, a long way from the Dochart pit."“爱丁堡啊，离得太远了！”工头摇着头回答道，“啊，离多查特矿井太远了。”

"A long way, Simon? Where do you mean to live?"“太远了吗，西蒙？您打算住在哪儿？”

"Even here, Mr. Starr! We're not going to leave the mine, our good old nurse, just because her milk is dried up! My wife, my boy, and myself, we mean to remain faithful to her!”“就在这儿，斯塔尔先生！我们不打算离开煤矿，我们善良的老乳母，我们不会仅仅因为她的乳汁枯竭了就离开她！我的妻子、我的儿子和我，我们将会继续忠实于她！”

"Good-by then, Simon," replied the engineer, whose voice, in spite of himself, betrayed some emotion.“那再见了，西蒙。”工程师回答道，他的声音不由自主地流露出些许激动。

"No, I tell you, it's till we meet again, Mr. Starr, and not just 'good-by,’” returned the foreman. "Mark my words, Aberfoyle will see you again!"“不，我对您说，我的意思是直到我们再次见面，斯塔尔先生，并不只是‘再见’，”工头回答道，“记住我的话，阿伯福伊尔会再次见到您的！”

The engineer did not try to dispel the man's illusion. He patted Harry's head, again wrung the father's hand, and left the mine.

工程师不想驱散工头的幻想。他拍了拍哈里的头，再次紧紧握了握哈里父亲的手，然后离开了煤矿。

All this had taken place ten years ago; but, notwithstanding the wish which the overman had expressed to see him again, during that time Starr had heard nothing of him. It was after ten years of separation that he got this letter from Simon Ford, requesting him to take without delay the road to the old Aberfoyle colliery.

所有这些都发生在十年前；然而，尽管工头曾表达过要再次见到他的愿望，但在那期间，斯塔尔却从未听到过他的任何消息。分别十年后，他收到了这封来自西蒙·福特的信，要求他立即启程前往旧阿伯福伊尔煤矿。

A communication of an interesting nature, what could it be? Dochart pit. Yarrow shaft! What recollections of the past these names brought back to him! Yes, that was a fine time, that of work, of struggle,—the best part of the engineer's life. Starr re-read his letter. He pondered over it in all its bearings. He much regretted that just a line more had not been added by Ford. He wished he had not been quite so laconic.

一则有趣的信息，那会是什么呢？多查特矿井。亚罗井！这些过去的名字唤起了他对昔日的无穷回忆！是的，那是一段美好的时光，是工作的时光，是战斗的时光——是工程师一生中最美好的时光。斯塔尔重读了西蒙的来信。他反复斟酌了信里所有的信息。他很惋惜，西蒙一行字也没多写。他希望西蒙不要如此惜字如金。

Was it possible that the old foreman had discovered some new vein? No! Starr remembered with what minute care the mines had been explored before the definite cessation of the works. He had himself proceeded to the lowest soundings without finding the least trace in the soil, burrowed in every direction. They had even attempted to find coal under strata which are usually below it, such as the Devonian red sandstone, but without result. James Starr had therefore abandoned the mine with the absolute conviction that it did not contain another bit of coal. "No," he repeated, "no! How is it possible that anything which could have escaped my researches, should be revealed to those of Simon Ford. However, the old overman must well know that such a discovery would be the one thing in the world to interest me, and this invitation, which I must keep secret, to repair to the Dochart pit!"James Starr always came back to that.

有可能是老工头已经发现了某个新矿脉吗？不会！斯塔尔记得，在确定终止工程前，煤矿曾被非常细致入微地勘探过。他曾亲自探测过最底层，向各个方向进行了挖掘，也没在土壤中发现丝毫煤的踪迹。他们甚至试图在那些通常处于煤层之下的地层中寻找，如泥盆纪的红砂岩，却毫无所获。所以，詹姆斯·斯塔尔断定煤矿里一块煤也不会再有了，便遗弃了它。“不可能，”他重复道，“不可能！怎么可能会有任何东西能逃脱我的搜寻，而被西蒙·福特发现了呢？但是，老工头必定清楚，这一发现会是这世上唯一令我感兴趣的东西，并且这个让我务必保密的邀请是让我回去修复多查特矿井！”詹姆斯·斯塔尔总是回到这一点上。

On the other hand, the engineer knew Ford to be a clever miner, peculiarly endowed with the instinct of his trade. He had not seen him since the time when the Aberfoyle colliery was abandoned, and did not know either what he was doing or where he was living, with his wife and his son. All that he now knew was, that a rendezvous had been appointed him at the Yarrow shaft, and that Harry, Simon Ford's son, was to wait for him during the whole of the next day at the Callander station. "I shall go, I shall go!" said Starr, his excitement increasing as the time drew near.

另一方面，工程师知道福特是个聪明的矿工，对他的职业尤其拥有敏锐的直觉。自从阿伯福伊尔煤矿被遗弃后，他就再也没见过福特，不知道福特现在在做些什么，也不知道福特和他的妻儿住在哪儿。现在，他所知道的全部信息是，在亚罗井已为他安排了一个约会，并且西蒙·福特的儿子哈里明天将在卡伦德站全天恭候着他。“我得去，我得去！”斯塔尔说道，时间越近，他便越发激动。

Our worthy engineer belonged to that class of men whose brain is always on the boil, like a kettle on a hot fire. In some of these brain kettles the ideas bubble over, in others they just simmer quietly. Now on this day, James Starr's ideas were boiling fast.

我们这位受人敬仰的工程师属于这样一类人，他们的脑袋总是十分活跃，就像旺火上的水壶那样。在有些人那类似水壶的脑袋里，各种念头高速沸腾着；而在另一部分人的脑袋里，它们只是慢慢煨着。如今，就在这天，詹姆斯·斯塔尔的念头正高速沸腾翻滚。

But suddenly an unexpected incident occurred. This was the drop of coldwater, which in a moment was to condense all the vapors of the brain. About six in the evening, by the third post, Starr's servant brought him a second letter. This letter was enclosed in a coarse envelope, and evidently directed by a hand unaccustomed to the use of a pen. James Starr tore it open. It contained only a scrap of paper, yellowed by time, and apparently torn out of an old copy book.

但突然间，一件意料之外的事情发生了。这像是一滴冷水，瞬间冷凝住工程师脑袋里所有的水蒸汽。大约在傍晚六点，斯塔尔的仆人第三次去取信时，带给他当天的第二封信。这封信装在一个粗陋的信封里，很明显是出自一个不习惯写字的人之手。詹姆斯·斯塔尔撕开了信封。信封里面只有一张因年久而发黄的小纸片，显然是从一本旧抄写本上撕下来的。

On this paper was written a single sentence, thus worded: "It is useless for the engineer James Starr to trouble himself, Simon Ford's letter being now without object.”

在这张纸片上只写了这样一句话：“工程师詹姆斯·斯塔尔没必要劳心费神，因为西蒙·福特的信如今已没有意义了。”

No signature.

没有落款。

CHAPTER II ON THE ROAD

第二章 在路上

The course of James Starr's ideas was abruptly stopped, when he got this second letter contradicting the first.

当詹姆斯·斯塔尔收到跟第一封信相矛盾的这第二封信时，他的那些念头陡然间止住了。

"What does this mean?"said he to himself. He took up the torn envelope, and examined it. Like the other, it bore the Aberfoyle postmark. It had therefore come from the same part of the county of Stirling. The old miner had evidently not written it. But, no less evidently, the author of this second letter knew the overman's secret, since it expressly contradicted the invitation to the engineer to go to the Yarrow shaft.“这是什么意思？”他自言自语道。他拿起撕开的信封检查起来。和另一封信一样，这封信也盖着阿伯福伊尔的邮戳。所以，信是从斯特林郡的同一个地方寄出的。显然信不是老矿工写的。但同样明显的是，这第二封信的作者知道工头的秘密，因为第二封信的内容明显与第一封信邀请工程师前往亚罗井相矛盾。

Was it really true that the first communication was now without object? Did someone wish to prevent James Starr from troubling himself either uselessly or otherwise? Might there not be rather a malevolent intention to thwart Ford's plans?

第一则信息现在真的没有意义了吗？是有人想阻止詹姆斯·斯塔尔为无谓的事劳心费神，还是另有所图？会不会是出于要阻碍福特计划的险恶意图呢？

This was the conclusion at which James Starr arrived, after mature reflection. The contradiction which existed between the two letters only wrought in him a more keen desire to visit the Dochart pit. And besides, if after all it was a hoax, it was well worth while to prove it. Starr also thought it wiser to give more credence to the first letter than to the second; that is to say, to the request of such a man as Simon Ford, rather than to the warning of his anonymous contradictor.

这是詹姆斯·斯塔尔深思熟虑后得出的结论。这两封信的矛盾之处不料却激发了他，他更渴望前去多查特矿了。再说，如果这归根到底只是场骗局，那也值得去证实一下。斯塔尔还认为，选择相信第一封信比相信第二封更加明智；换言之，相信西蒙·福特这个人的邀请比相信匿名反驳者的警告要更为明智。

"Indeed," said he, "the fact of anyone endeavoring to influence my resolution, shows that Ford's communication must be of great importance. To-morrow, at the appointed time, I shall be at the rendezvous.”“事实上，”他说道，“有人竭力想左右我的决定，这正表明了福特的信息一定很重要。明天，我一定会按照约定的时间赴约。”

In the evening, Starr made his preparations for departure. As it might happen that his absence would be prolonged for some days, he wrote to Sir W. Elphiston, president of the Royal Institution, that he should be unable to be present at the next meeting of the Society. He also wrote to excuse himself from two or three engagements which he had made for the week. Then, having ordered his servant to pack a traveling bag, he went to bed, more excited than the affair perhaps warranted.

晚上，斯塔尔做好了出发的准备。由于他此行可能会耽搁几天，他便写信告知皇家科学研究所的主席W. 埃尔菲斯顿爵士，他将无法出席协会的下一次会议。他还写信推掉了这周早已定好的两三个约会。随后，他吩咐他的仆人打包旅行袋，然后便上了床。他很兴奋，兴奋程度可能更甚于这件事原本应给人带来的激动。

The next day, at five o'clock, James Starr jumped out of bed, dressed himself warmly, for a cold rain was falling, and left his house in the Canongate, to go to Granton Pier to catch the steamer, which in three hours would take him up the Forth as far as Stirling.

翌日五点，詹姆斯·斯塔尔跳下床；由于正下着冷雨，他穿得暖暖的，然后离开了他在坎农格特的家，前往格兰顿码头搭乘轮船。轮船会在三小时后把他从福斯送到斯特林。

For the first time in his life, perhaps, in passing along the Canongate, he did not turn to look at Holyrood, the palace of the former sovereigns of Scotland. He did not notice the sentinels who stood before its gateways, dressed in the uniform of their Highland regiment, tartan kilt, plaid and sporran complete. His whole thought was to reach Callander where Harry Ford was supposedly awaiting him.

也许这是他人生中第一次在经过坎农格特时没有回头瞧瞧霍利鲁德宫——这座苏格兰前任统治者的宫殿。他没有注意到那些站在宫殿门口的哨兵，他们身着苏格兰高地兵团制服——苏格兰格呢短褶裙、毛呢长披肩，还有系于短裙前的毛皮袋。他满脑子想的都是即将要到达卡伦德，哈里·福特应该正在那儿恭候着他。

The better to understand this narrative, it will be as well to hear a few words on the origin of coal. During the geological epoch, when the terrestrial spheroid was still in course of formation, a thick atmosphere surrounded it, saturated with watery vapors, and copiously impregnated with carbonic acid. The vapors gradually condensed in diluvial rains, which fell as if they had leapt from the necks of thousands of millions of seltzer water bottles. This liquid, loaded with carbonic acid, rushed in torrents over a deep soft soil, subject to sudden or slow alterations of form, and maintained in its semi-fluid state as much by the heat of the sun as by the fires of the interior mass. The internal heat had not as yet been collected in the center of the globe. The terrestrial crust, thin and incompletely hardened, allowed it to spread through its pores. This caused a peculiar form of vegetation, such as is probably produced on the surface of the inferior planets, Venus or Mercury, which revolve nearer than our earth around the radiant sun of our system.

为了更好地理解这个故事，我们不妨来听听煤的起源。在地质时期，地球椭球体仍在形成的过程之中，厚厚的大气层包围着它，大气层中充满了水蒸汽，并富含碳酸。蒸汽逐渐冷凝形成洪积似的暴雨，暴雨就像是从成千上万的碳酸水瓶瓶颈中喷洒出来的那样倾泻而下。这种富含碳酸的液体汇成湍流，流过深层的软土，使得软土形态或突然或缓慢地发生了变化；由于同时受到地球内部热量和太阳热量的影响，而这两种热量的影响又势均力敌，它始终保持着半流体的形态。然而，地球内部的热量从未被积聚到地心。地壳稀薄且未完全变硬，热量得以从其中的孔隙中散发出来。这样就形成了一种奇特的植被形态，就像在金星或水星那些内行星的表层形成的植被形态一样。在我们的星系中，这些内行星绕发光的太阳运行，比地球距离太阳更近。

The soil of the continents was covered with immense forests. Carbonic acid, so suitable for the development of the vegetable kingdom, abounded. The feet of these trees were drowned in a sort of immense lagoon, kept continually full by currents of fresh and salt waters. They eagerly assimilated to themselves the carbon which they, little by little, extracted from the atmosphere, as yet unfit for the function of life, and it may be said that they were destined to store it, in the form of coal, in the very bowels of the earth.

陆地的土壤上覆盖着广阔的森林。十分适合植物王国发展壮大的碳酸大量存在着。这些树的树根淹没在一种巨大的咸水湖里；淡水或咸水不断注入湖里，使湖水总是满满的。它们一点一点地从大气中析出碳元素，并急切地吸收，尽管碳元素并不适宜生命的运行；或者可以这么说，它们注定了要在地球深处以煤的形态储存碳元素。

It was the earthquake period, caused by internal convulsions, which suddenly modified the unsettled features of the terrestrial surface. Here, an intumescence which was to become a mountain, there, an abyss which was to be filled with an ocean or a sea. There, whole forests sunk through the earth's crust, below the unfixed strata, either until they found a resting-place, such as the primitive bed of granitic rock, or, settling together in a heap, they formed a solid mass.

那时是地震周期，地球内部的波动引起地震，而地震又会突然间改变尚不稳定的地表特征。这里隆起变成了高山，那里陷落形成了深渊，又被填为大洋或大海。在那里，整片森林下陷，穿过地壳落到不稳定的地层之下。它们找到一个可依托之所之后，如花岗岩构成的原始岩床，方才停止下陷；或者，它们聚成一堆，形成一块固体。

As the waters were contained in no bed, and were spread over every part of the globe, they rushed where they liked, tearing from the scarcely-formed rocks material with which to compose schists, sandstones, and limestones. This the roving waves bore over the submerged and now peaty forests, and deposited above them the elements of rocks which were to superpose the coal strata. In course of time, periods of which include millions of years, these earths hardened in layers, and enclosed under a thick carapace of pudding-stone, schist, compact or friable sandstone, gravel and stones, the whole of the massive forests.

就像水流不会停留在河床，而是流向地球各处一样，它们也冲向想去的地方，同时还从几乎没有成形的岩石上扯走形成片岩、砂岩以及石灰岩的材质。这些流动的材质载着下陷后现已富含泥煤的森林移动，并在它们上面沉淀，形成覆于煤层之上的岩石成分。最终，历经数百万年的岁月，这些土壤层层变硬，把整片森林封闭在由圆砾岩、片岩、致密或易碎的砂岩、砂砾以及石块所构成的厚实外壳之下。

And what went on in this gigantic crucible, where all this vegetable matter had accumulated, sunk to various depths? A regular chemical operation, a sort of distillation. All the carbon contained in these vegetables had agglomerated, and little by little coal was forming under the double influence of enormous pressure and the high temperature maintained by the internal fires, at this time so close to it.

所有的植物材料都积聚起来，沉降在不同深处。在这个巨大的熔炉里上演着什么呢？一项常规的化学操作，一种蒸馏作用。这些植物里所含的碳全都已经聚集成块，在巨大的压力和地球内部热量产生的高温的双重作用下，煤开始一点一点地形成，在当时已经非常接近煤的形态。

Thus there was one kingdom substituted for another in this slow but irresistible reaction. The vegetable was transformed into a mineral. Plants which had lived the vegetative life in all the vigor of first creation became petrified. Some of the substances enclosed in this vast herbal left their impression on the other more rapidly mineralized products, which pressed them as an hydraulic press of incalculable power would have done.

就在这种缓慢但无法抑制的反应中，一个王国取代了另一个王国。植物转变成了矿物。各种植物最初均以充满活力的植物生命形态存在，而今都被石化了。一些物质被封闭在这本巨大的草本植物志中，在其他矿化速度更快的物质上留下了它们的痕迹，就像是有一种无法估量的液压作用在其之上。

Thus also shells, zoophytes, star-fish, polypi, spirifores, even fish and lizards brought by the water, left on the yet soft coal their exact likeness, "admirably taken off."

这样，同样被水带走的贝壳、植物状的海洋动物、海星、水螅体、石燕，甚至鱼和蜥蜴，也在尚还柔软的煤上留下了它们清晰的印模，“令人惊叹的痕迹”。

Pressure seems to have played a considerable part in the formation of carboniferous strata. In fact, it is to its degree of power that are due the different sorts of coal, of which industry makes use. Thus in the lowest layers of the coal ground appears the anthracite, which, being almost destitute of volatile matter, contains the greatest quantity of carbon. In the higher beds are found, on the contrary, lignite and fossil wood, substances in which the quantity of carbon is infinitely less. Between these two beds, according to the degree of pressure to which they have been subjected, are found veins of graphite and rich or poor coal. It may be asserted that it is for want of sufficient pressure that beds of peaty bog have not been completely changed into coal. So then, the origin of coal mines, in whatever part of the globe they have been discovered, is this: the absorption through the terrestrial crust of the great forests of the geological period; then, the mineralization of the vegetables obtained in the course of time, under the influence of pressure and heat, and under the action of carbonic acid.

在含碳层的形成过程中，压力似乎起着至关重要的作用。事实上，在不同的压力程度下会产生工业中所使用的不同种类的煤。这样，在最底层煤床里出产的是无烟煤，这种煤几乎已不含易挥发的物质，且含碳量最高。与之相反，在较高层的煤床里挖掘出的是褐煤和木化石，这些物质的含碳量极低。在这两个煤床之间，根据它们所受到的不同压力程度，会挖掘出石墨矿脉以及肥煤或贫煤。或许可以断言，由于缺少足够的压力，富含泥煤的沼层并没有完全转变成煤。所以，在地球上任何地方发现的煤矿，它的起源都是如此：地质时期大片森林陷入到地壳之下；然后，受到压力和热量的影响，并在碳酸的作用之下，植物最终得以在此时期矿化。

Now, at the time when the events related in this story took place, some of the most important mines of the Scottish coal beds had been exhausted by too rapid working. In the region which extends between Edinburgh and Glasgow, for a distance of ten or twelve miles, lay the Aberfoyle colliery, of which the engineer, James Starr, had so long directed the works. For ten years these mines had been abandoned. No new seams had been discovered, although the soundings had been carried to a depth of fifteen hundred or even of two thousand feet, and when James Starr had retired, it was with the full conviction that even the smallest vein had been completely exhausted.

如今，在这个故事所发生的年代，苏格兰煤床中一些最重要的煤矿早已因过快的开采而枯竭了。阿伯福伊尔煤矿就位于从爱丁堡延伸至格拉斯哥的这片土地之下，绵延十到十二英里。工程师詹姆斯·斯塔尔曾有很长一段时间在这里指导工程。这些煤矿已经被遗弃了十年。尽管探测已经进行到地下1500英尺的地方，甚至深入到2000英尺之处，人们也未曾发现任何新煤层，在詹姆斯·斯塔尔离任时，他确信纵使是最小的矿脉也已完全枯竭了。

Under these circumstances, it was plain that the discovery of a new seam of coal would be an important event. Could Simon Ford's communication relate to a fact of this nature? This question James Starr could not cease asking himself. Was he called to make conquest of another corner of these rich treasure fields? Fain would he hope it was so.

在这种情况下，发现新煤层将会是一个非常重要的大事件，这一点显而易见。西蒙·福特的消息有可能是关于这个的吗？詹姆斯·斯塔尔不停地问自己这个问题。他是被召唤来征服这片富饶宝地上的另一个角落的吗？若是这样，他将十分乐意。

The second letter had for an instant checked his speculations on this subject, but now he thought of that letter no longer. Besides, the son of the old overman was there, waiting at the appointed rendezvous. The anonymous letter was therefore worth nothing.

第二封信曾一度引发他对这个问题的猜测，但现在，他不再考虑那封信了。而且，老工头的儿子在约定好的地点恭候着他。所以，那封匿名信再没有任何价值了。

The moment the engineer set foot on the platform at the end of his journey, the young man advanced towards him.

当工程师到达了旅程终点，踏上码头时，那个年轻人便向他走来。

"Are you Harry Ford?" asked the engineer quickly.“你是哈里·福特吗？”工程师急忙问道。

"Yes, Mr. Starr."“是的，斯塔尔先生。”

"I should not have known you, my lad. Of course in ten years you have become a man!"“我都该认不出你了，我的孩子。当然了，十年里你都长成一个大人了！”

"I knew you directly, sir," replied the young miner, cap in hand. "You have not changed. You look just as you did when you bade us good-by in the Dochart pit. I haven't forgotten that day.”“我立即就认出了您，先生，”年轻的矿工手里拿着一顶帽子，回答道，“您都没变。您看上去和我们在多查特矿井分别时一样。我忘不了那一天。”

"Put on your cap, Harry," said the engineer. "It's pouring, and politeness needn't make you catch cold."“戴上你的帽子，哈里，”工程师说道，“雨下得很大，不用为了讲礼貌而把自己弄感冒了。”

"Shall we take shelter anywhere, Mr. Starr?" asked young Ford.“斯塔尔先生，我们要找个地方避避雨吗？”年轻的福特问道。

"No, Harry. The weather is settled. It will rain all day, and I am in a hurry. Let us go on."“不用了，哈里。天气会持续这样的。雨会下一整天，而我很心急。我们上路吧。”

"I am at your orders," replied Harry.“听从您的吩咐。”哈里回答道。

"Tell me, Harry, is your father well?"“告诉我，哈里，你父亲好吗？”

"Very well, Mr. Starr."“很好，斯塔尔先生。”

"And your mother?"“那你母亲呢？”

"She is well, too."“她也很好。”

"Was it your father who wrote telling me to come to the Yarrow shaft?"“是你父亲写信让我前往亚罗井的吗？”

"No, it was I."“不是，信是我写的。”

"Then did Simon Ford send me a second letter to contradict the first?" asked the engineer quickly.“那西蒙·福特有没有寄给我一封内容跟第一封信相矛盾的信？”工程师急忙问道。

"No, Mr. Starr," answered the young miner.“没有，斯塔尔先生。”年轻的矿工回答道。

"Very well," said Starr, without speaking of the anonymous letter. Then, continuing, "And can you tell me what you father wants with me?"“很好。”斯塔尔说道，没再提及那封匿名信。随后，他继续问道：“你能否告诉我，你父亲让我来是想要我干什么？”

"Mr. Starr, my father wishes to tell you himself."“斯塔尔先生，我父亲想亲自告诉您。”

"But you know what it is?"“但是，你知道是怎么回事吧？”

"I do, sir."“我知道，先生。”

"Well, Harry, I will not ask you more. But let us get on, for I'm anxious to see Simon Ford. By-the-bye, where does he live?”“好吧，哈里，我不再多问了。那我们上路吧，我等不及要见见西蒙·福特了。顺便问问，他现在住在哪儿？”

"In the mine."“住在煤矿里。”

"What! In the Dochart pit?"“什么！住在多查特矿井里？”

"Yes, Mr. Starr," replied Harry.“是的，斯塔尔先生。”哈里回答道。

"Really! has your family never left the old mine since the cessation of the works?"“真的啊！工程结束后，你们一家就从未离开过老煤矿吗？”

"Not a day, Mr. Starr. You know my father. It is there he was born, it is there he means to die!"“一天也没有离开过，斯塔尔先生。您了解我的父亲。他在那里出生，也打算在那里死去！”

"I can understand that, Harry. I can understand that! His native mine! He did not like to abandon it! And are you happy there?"“我能理解，哈里。我能理解！那煤矿是他出生长大的地方啊！他不愿遗弃它！你们住在那儿快乐吗？”

"Yes, Mr. Starr," replied the young miner, "for we love one another, and we have but few wants."“是的，斯塔尔先生，”年轻的矿工回答道，“因为我们彼此爱护，并且我们的需求极少。”

"Well, Harry," said the engineer, "lead the way."“好吧，哈里，”工程师说道，“带路吧。”

And walking rapidly through the streets of Callander, in a few minutes they had left the town behind them.

他们快速走过卡伦德的街道，几分钟后已把城镇留在了身后。

CHAPTER III THE DOCHART PIT

第三章 多查特矿井

Harry Ford was a fine, strapping fellow of five and twenty. His grave looks, his habitually passive expression, had from childhood been noticed among his comrades in the mine. His regular features, his deep blue eyes, his curly hair, rather chestnut than fair, the natural grace of his person, altogether made him a fine specimen of a lowlander. Accustomed from his earliest days to the work of the mine, he was strong and hardy, as well as brave and good. Guided by his father, and impelled by his own inclinations, he had early begun his education, and at an age when most lads are little more than apprentices, he had managed to make himself of some importance, a leader, in fact, among his fellows, and few are very ignorant in a country which does all it can to remove ignorance. Though, during the first years of his youth, the pick was never out of Harry's hand, nevertheless the young miner was not long in acquiring sufficient knowledge to raise him into the upper class of the miners, and he would certainly have succeeded his father as overman of the Dochart pit, if the colliery had not been abandoned.

哈里·福特今年二十五岁，是个高大健壮的小伙子。因为他相貌看起来有些严肃，表情一贯冷漠，所以自他孩提时起，就极易从矿里的同伴中被认出来。他五官端正，一双深蓝色的眼睛，一头卷发呈栗色而非金色，有一种与生俱来的优雅气质，所有这些使他成为低地人的优秀代表。由于很早便习惯了在煤矿里工作，他强壮坚毅，且勇敢善良。在父亲的引导下，在他自身意愿的驱动下，他很早便开始了学习。在多数孩子尚处在学徒阶段时，他已使自己成为了一个重要人物，确切地说，已成为同伴中的领导者，而在这个竭力消除无知的地方，极少有人是十分无知的。尽管在青年时期的头些年里，哈里一直在挥镐劳动，但这个年轻的矿工从未耽搁过学习——充分学习知识，以使自己跻身矿工高层。如果煤矿不曾遭到遗弃，他必定会接替他父亲成为多查特矿井的工头。

James Starr was still a good walker, yet he could not easily have kept up with his guide, if the latter had not slackened his pace. The young man, carrying the engineer's bag, followed the left bank of the river for about a mile. Leaving its winding course, they took a road under tall, dripping trees. Wide fields lay on either side, around isolated farms. In one field a herd of hornless cows were quietly grazing; in another sheep with silky wool, like those in a child's toy sheep fold.

詹姆斯·斯塔尔依旧步伐矫健，但如果他的向导不曾放慢脚步的话，他是无法轻易追上向导的。年轻人拎着工程师的行李，沿着河流左岸行走了约一英里。而后他们走下蜿蜒的河岸，走上了另一条路，路旁种着高大的树木，这些树还在往下滴着露水。道路两旁是广阔的田地，周围零星散落着农场。在一块地里，一群无角的牛正静静地吃着草；另一块地里，一群羊在吃草，这些绵羊有着丝绸般柔滑的绒毛，就像儿童的羊栏玩具里的那些羊一样。

The Yarrow shaft was situated four miles from Callander. Whilst walking, James Starr could not but be struck with the change in the country. He had not seen it since the day when the last ton of Aberfoyle coal had been emptied into railway trucks to be sent to Glasgow. Agricultural life had now taken the place of the more stirring, active, industrial life. The contrast was all the greater because, during winter, field work is at a standstill. But formerly, at whatever season, the mining population, above and below ground, filled the scene with animation. Great wagons of coal used to be passing night and day. The rails, with their rotten sleepers, now disused, were then constantly ground by the weight of wagons. Now stony roads took the place of the old mining tramways. James Starr felt as if he was traversing a desert.

亚罗井距卡伦德四英里远。在行走过程中，詹姆斯·斯塔尔不禁被这个地方的变化所震撼。自从阿伯福伊尔最后一吨煤被装进火车，并被运至格拉斯哥后，他便再没见过这里了。如今，农耕生活已经取代了更加忙碌活跃的工业生活。因为冬季里田间的劳作都停止了，这反差就更明显了。但在从前，无论什么季节，地上和地下的矿工们使这个地方充满了生气。那时，铁路上的运煤大货车常常夜以继日地穿行着。铁路被货车的重量不断地碾压；如今，铁轨已被弃用，枕木也已腐烂。现在，石子路替代了昔日的采矿车轨。詹姆斯·斯塔尔感觉自己像在穿越一片沙漠。

The engineer gazed about him with a saddened eye. He stopped now and then to take breath. He listened. The air was no longer filled with distant whistlings and the panting of engines. None of those black vapors which the manufacturer loves to see, hung in the horizon, mingling with the clouds. No tall cylindrical or prismatic chimney vomited out smoke, after being fed from the mine itself; no blast-pipe was puffing out its white vapor. The ground, formerly black with coal dust, had a bright look, to which James Starr's eyes were not accustomed.

工程师满目伤感地凝视着周围。他不时地停下来歇口气。他聆听着。空气中不再充斥着远处的鸣笛声和引擎的振动声。再也没有生产者喜欢看到的那些黑色蒸汽，它们悬浮在跟云朵混成一团的地平线上。再也没有高耸的圆柱形或棱形烟囱在吸满煤烟后吐出烟雾；再也没有排气管吐出白色的蒸汽。从前满是黑色煤尘的地面，现在看上去闪亮光鲜，这在詹姆斯·斯塔尔看来很不习惯。

When the engineer stood still, Harry Ford stopped also. The young miner waited in silence. He felt what was passing in his companion's mind, and he shared his feelings; he, a child of the mine, whose whole life had been passed in its depths.

当工程师站立不动时，哈里·福特也停了下来。这个年轻的矿工静静地等待着。他感觉到了同伴的脑中正在想些什么，而他也有同感。他是煤矿里的孩子，在煤矿深处度过一生。

"Yes, Harry, it is all changed," said Starr. "But at the rate we worked, of course the treasures of coal would have been exhausted some day. Do you regret that time?"“是的，哈里，一切都变了，”斯塔尔说道，“但以我们开采的进度，煤矿宝藏当然可能会在某天被采竭殆尽。你为那段时光感到惋惜吗？”

"I do regret it, Mr. Starr," answered Harry. "The work was hard, but it was interesting, as are all struggles."“我确实为之感到惋惜，斯塔尔先生。”哈里回答道，“工作很苦，但很有意思，就和所有的战斗一样。”

"No doubt, my lad. A continuous struggle against the dangers of landslips, fires, inundations, explosions of firedamp, like claps of thunder. One had to guard against all those perils! You say well! It was a struggle, and consequently an exciting life."“确实如此，我的孩子。一场持续不断的战斗，抗击着塌方、火灾、水淹以及雷声般的甲烷爆炸这些危险。人们必须防范所有那些危险！你说得对！这是一场战斗，所以这也是一段激动人心的生活。”

"The miners of Alva have been more favored than the miners of Aberfoyle, Mr. Starr!"“阿尔瓦的矿工比阿伯福伊尔的矿工更幸运，斯塔尔先生！”

"Ay, Harry, so they have," replied the engineer.“是啊，哈里，他们是更幸运。”工程师回答道。

"Indeed," cried the young man, "it's a pity that all the globe was not made of coal; then there would have been enough to last millions of years!”“确实，”年轻人叫道，“遗憾的是整个地球并不是全由煤构成的，不然，那大概就够开采好几百万年的了！”

"No doubt there would, Harry; it must be acknowledged, however, that nature has shown more forethought by forming our sphere principally of sandstone, limestone, and granite, which fire cannot consume."“那是毋庸置疑的，哈里，但必须承认，大自然显示出它更有深谋远虑，它主要用砂岩、石灰岩以及花岗岩来构成我们的地球，这些材料都是火无法毁灭的。”

"Do you mean to say, Mr. Starr, that mankind would have ended by burning their own globe?"“斯塔尔先生，您是想说人类会因焚毁自己的地球而灭亡吗？”

"Yes! The whole of it, my lad," answered the engineer. "The earth would have passed to the last bit into the furnaces of engines, machines, steamers, gas factories; certainly, that would have been the end of our world one fine day!"“是的！彻底地灭亡，我的孩子，”工程师回答道，“地球将把自己的最后的一小块放进机车、机器、轮船、煤气厂的熔炉里；毫无疑问，那将是我们世界终结的那个好日子！”

"There is no fear of that now, Mr. Starr. But yet, the mines will be exhausted, no doubt, and more rapidly than the statistics make out!"“现在无需担心那个，斯塔尔先生。但是，煤矿会被采竭殆尽，这毫无疑问，并且会比统计数据所列出的进展还要快！”

"That will happen, Harry; and in my opinion England is very wrong in exchanging her fuel for the gold of other nations! I know well," added the engineer, "that neither hydraulics nor electricity has yet shown all they can do, and that some day these two forces will be more completely utilized. But no matter! Coal is of a very practical use, and lends itself easily to the various wants of industry. Unfortunately man cannot produce it at will. Though our external forests grow incessantly under the influence of heat and water, our subterranean forests will not be reproduced, and if they were, the globe would never be in the state necessary to make them into coal."“那会发生的，哈里，在我看来，英国用她的燃料去换取其他国家的黄金是极其错误的！我很清楚，”工程师补充道，“无论是水力还是电能，都尚未被物尽其用,总有一天，这两种动力会得以更加充分地利用。但没关系！煤很实用，并容易适应于各种工业需要。遗憾的是，人类无法任意生产煤。虽然我们地表的森林在热量和水的作用下不断地生长，但地下的森林却不会再生；即使它们可以再生，地球的状态再也无法使它们转变为煤。”

James Starr and his guide, whilst talking, had continued their walk at a rapid pace. An hour after leaving Callander they reached the Dochart pit.

詹姆斯·斯塔尔和他的向导一边说话，一边继续快步前行。在离开卡伦德一小时后，他们到达了多查特矿井。

The most indifferent person would have been touched at the appearance this deserted spot presented. It was like the skeleton of something that had formerly lived. A few wretched trees bordered a plain where the ground was hidden under the black dust of the mineral fuel, but no cinders nor even fragments of coal were to be seen. All had been carried away and consumed long ago.

最冷漠的人都会被这个荒废之处所呈现出的面貌所触动。它就像一具以前某种生物的骨架。几株枯败的树木围着一块平地，地面上曾覆盖着矿物燃料的黑色尘土，但现在再也看不到那些煤渣了，甚至连煤屑也看不到了。一切都在很久以前被运走了，被消耗了。

They walked into the shed which covered the opening of the Yarrow shaft, whence ladders still gave access to the lower galleries of the pit. The engineer bent over the opening. Formerly from this place could be heard the powerful whistle of the air inhaled by the ventilators. It was now a silent abyss. It was like being at the mouth of some extinct volcano.

他们走进遮盖住亚罗井井口的工棚，井口的梯子仍然通向矿井下层的水平巷道。工程师俯身进入井口。从前，在这个地方可以听见通风机抽气时强大的呼啸声。如今，这只是个寂静的深渊。它就像处在某个死火山的火山口一样。

When the mine was being worked, ingenious machines were used in certain shafts of the Aberfoyle colliery, which in this respect was very well off; frames furnished with automatic lifts, working in wooden slides, oscillating ladders, called "man-engines”, which, by a simple movement, permitted the miners to descend without danger.

在煤矿开采期间，阿伯福伊尔煤矿的某些矿井里就使用了精制的机器，在机械化程度方面非常出色。支架上安装了自动升降机，它们滑行在木制滑槽里，摆动着梯子，被称为“坑内升降机”；这种升降机通过一个简单的运动便可让矿工们安全下井。

But all these appliances had been carried away, after the cessation of the works. In the Yarrow shaft there remained only a long succession of ladders, separated at every fifty feet by narrow landings. Thirty of these ladders placed thus end to end led the visitor down into the lower gallery, a depth of fifteen hundred feet. This was the only way of communication which existed between the bottom of the Dochart pit and the open air. As to air, that came in by the Yarrow shaft, from whence galleries communicated with another shaft whose orifice opened at a higher level; the warm air naturally escaped by this species of inverted siphon.

但在工程结束后，所有这些设备都已被运走了。在亚罗井里，只留下了一长串梯子，梯子每隔五十英尺就被狭窄的楼梯平台隔开。三十架这样的梯子以此方式首尾相连，引导参观者下到1500英尺深的下层水平巷道。这是多查特矿井底部和地面之间的惟一通道。至于空气，它是从亚罗井进入的，因为亚罗井的水平巷道连通着另一个井口开得较高的矿井，暖空气就通过这种倒置的虹吸管自然地散了出去。

"I will follow you, my lad," said the engineer, signing to the young man to precede him.“我跟着你，我的孩子。”工程师说道，并示意年轻人先行。

"As you please, Mr. Starr.""Have you your lamp?"“随您的意思，斯塔尔先生。”“你带灯了吗？”

"Yes, and I only wish it was still the safety lamp, which we formerly had to use!"“带了，我真希望它仍旧是我们从前必用的安全灯！”

"Sure enough," returned James Starr, "there is no fear of fire-damp explosions now!”“的确，”詹姆斯·斯塔尔回答道，“现在不用担心甲烷爆炸了！”

Harry was provided with a simple oil lamp, the wick of which he lighted. In the mine, now empty of coal, escapes of light carburetted hydrogen could not occur. As no explosion need be feared, there was no necessity for interposing between the flame and the surrounding air that metallic screen which prevents the gas from catching fire. The Davy lamp was of no use here. But if the danger did not exist, it was because the cause of it had disappeared, and with this cause, the combustible in which formerly consisted the riches of the Dochart pit.

哈里带了一盏简易的油灯，他点燃了灯芯。在煤矿里，煤如今已被挖空，较轻的碳化氢发生泄露的情况不会再出现了。因为不用担心爆炸，就无需在火焰与周围空气之间置入金属屏以防煤气被点燃。但如果危险不存在了，那是因为引发危险的因素已经消失了，而正是这个易燃因素的存在才造就了多查特矿井昔日的财富。

Harry descended the first steps of the upper ladder. Starr followed. They soon found themselves in a profound obscurity, which was only relieved by the glimmer of the lamp. The young man held it above his head, the better to light his companion. A dozen ladders were descended by the engineer and his guide, with the measured step habitual to the miner. They were all still in good condition.

哈里走下了上面那架梯子的头几个台阶。斯塔尔跟在其后。他们立即发现自己身处一片漆黑之中，只有安全灯的微光能带来点光亮。年轻人把灯举过头顶，以便更好地为他的同伴照亮。工程师和他的向导用矿工所惯用的缓慢而匀称的步伐爬下了十二架梯子。这些梯子仍然很牢固。

James Starr examined, as well as the insufficient light would permit, the sides of the dark shaft, which were covered by a partly rotten lining of wood.

詹姆斯·斯塔尔借着微弱的灯光，检查了黑暗矿井的内壁，内壁上覆盖着一排开始腐烂的木头。

Arrived at the fifteenth landing, that is to say, half way down, they halted for a few minutes.

当他们到达第十五个楼梯平台时，换言之，当下行了一半路程时，他们停留了几分钟。

"Decidedly, I have not your legs, my lad," said the engineer, panting.“显然，我的步伐不如你矫健，我的孩子。”工程师喘息道。

"You are very stout, Mr. Starr," replied Harry, "and it's something too, you see, to live all one's life in the mine.”"Right, Harry. Formerly, when I was twenty, I could have gone down all at a breath. Come, forward!"“您非常健壮，斯塔尔先生。”哈里回答道，“您知道，这也和一个人一辈子生活在矿里有关。”“不错，哈里。以前，在我二十岁时，我能一口气下到矿底。来吧，前进！”

But just as the two were about to leave the platform, a voice, as yet far distant, was heard in the depths of the shaft. It came up like a sonorous billow, swelling as it advanced, and becoming more and more distinct.

但正当两人要离开平台时，他们听见了从井的深处传来的一个声音，虽然声音很遥远。声音犹如滚滚袭来的巨浪，越来越响亮，越来越清晰。

"Halloo! who comes here?" asked the engineer, stopping Harry.“嘿！谁到这儿来了？”工程师拦住哈里问道。

"I cannot say," answered the young miner.“我不清楚。”年轻的矿工回答道。

"Is it not your father?"“不会是你父亲吧？”

"My father, Mr. Starr? no."“我父亲，斯塔尔先生？不会的。”

"Some neighbor, then?"“那某个邻居呢？”

"We have no neighbors in the bottom of the pit," replied Harry. "We are alone, quite alone."“在矿井下我们没有邻居，”哈里回答道，“就只有我们，仅仅就只是我们。”

"Well, we must let this intruder pass," said James Starr. "Those who are descending must yield the path to those who are ascending."“好吧，我们必须给这个闯入者让道。”詹姆斯·斯塔尔说道，“那些正在下井的人必须给那些正在往上走的人让道。”

They waited. The voice broke out again with a magnificent burst, as if it had been carried through a vast speaking trumpet; and soon a few words of a Scotch song came clearly to the ears of the young miner.

他们等待着。宏亮的声音突然再次响起，仿佛是经由一个巨大的传声筒传来的；没多久，一首苏格兰歌曲的几句歌词清楚地传入了年轻矿工的耳中。

"The Hundred Pipers!" cried Harry. "Well, I shall be much surprised if that comes from the lungs of any man but Jack Ryan."“百名风笛手！”哈里叫道，“噢，如果这不是从杰克·瑞安肺里发出来的歌声，我该会感到非常惊讶。”

"And who is this Jack Ryan?" asked James Starr.“这个杰克·瑞安是谁？”詹姆斯·斯塔尔问道。

"An old mining comrade," replied Harry. Then leaning from the platform, "Halloo! Jack!" he shouted.“一个昔日的采矿同伴。”哈里回答道。他随即俯在平台上，“嘿！杰克！”他叫道。

"Is that you, Harry?" was the reply. "Wait a bit, I'm coming.”And the song broke forth again.“是你吗，哈里？”那人答道，“等一等，我就来。”歌声再次响起。

In a few minutes, a tall fellow of five and twenty, with a merry face, smiling eyes, a laughing mouth, and sandy hair, appeared at the bottom of the luminous cone which was thrown from his lantern, and set foot on the landing of the fifteenth ladder. His first act was to vigorously wring the hand which Harry extended to him.

几分钟后，提灯映照出了一个明亮的锥形，在其底部出现了一个身材高大的二十五岁小伙子；他有着一头浅棕色的头发，满脸喜悦，眼带笑意，高兴地咧着嘴，并爬上了第十五架梯子的楼梯平台。他的第一个动作便是用力握住了哈里·福特伸出的手。

"Delighted to meet you!" he exclaimed. "If I had only known you were to be above ground today, I would have spared myself going down the Yarrow shaft!"“真高兴碰到你！”他叫道，“要是我知道你今天会在地上，那我就不必下到亚罗井了！”

"This is Mr. James Starr," said Harry, turning his lamp towards the engineer, who was in the shadow.“这是詹姆斯·斯塔尔先生，”哈里边说边把灯转向站在阴影里的工程师。

"Mr. Starr!" cried Jack Ryan. "Ah, sir, I could not see. Since I left the mine, my eyes have not been accustomed to see in the dark, as they used to do."“斯塔尔先生！”杰克·瑞安叫道，“啊，先生，我都没看见您。自从我离开煤矿后，我的眼睛就不再像以前那样习惯在黑暗里看东西了。”

"Ah, I remember a laddie who was always singing. That was ten years ago. It was you, no doubt?"“哦，我记得有个总是唱歌的小伙子。那是十年前了。肯定就是你吧？”

"Ay, Mr. Starr, but in changing my trade, I haven't changed my disposition. It's far better to laugh and sing than to cry and whine!”“啊，斯塔尔先生，虽然我的职业变了，但我的性情却没变。欢笑和歌唱远好过哭泣和哀鸣！”

"You're right there, Jack Ryan. And what do you do now, as you have left the mine?”“你说得对，杰克·瑞安。离开煤矿后，你现在干些什么呢？”

"I am working on the Melrose farm, forty miles from here. Ah, it's not like our Aberfoyle mines! The pick comes better to my hand than the spade or hoe. And then, in the old pit, there were vaulted roofs, to merrily echo one's songs, while up above ground!—But you are going to see old Simon, Mr. Starr?”“我在离这儿四十英里的梅尔罗斯农场干活。哎，它不像我们的阿伯福伊尔煤矿！和铁锹和锄头比起来，还是镐在我手中更好使。那时在老矿井里，拱形屋顶回荡着人们的愉快的歌声，而在地上——您是去见老西蒙吧，斯塔尔先生？”

"Yes, Jack," answered the engineer.“是的，杰克。”工程师回答道。

"Don't let me keep you then.”“那别让我耽误了您。”

"Tell me, Jack," said Harry, "what was taking you to our cottage today?"“告诉我，杰克，”哈里说道，“你今天来我们村舍是为何事？”

"I wanted to see you, man," replied Jack, "and ask you to come to the Irvine games. You know I am the piper of the place. There will be dancing and singing."“我想见见你，伙计，”杰克回答道，“并邀你参加在欧文举行的活动。你知道我是当地的风笛手。活动还包括跳舞和唱歌。”

"Thank you, Jack, but it's impossible.”“谢谢你，杰克，但是不行。”

"Impossible?"“不行？”

"Yes; Mr. Starr's visit will last some time, and I must take him back to Callander.”“是的，斯塔尔先生在这里会呆上一段时日，我必须送他回卡伦德。”

"Well, Harry, it won't be for a week yet. By that time Mr. Starr's visit will be over, I should think, and there will be nothing to keep you at the cottage.”“行了，哈里，这都不到一星期。我想那时斯塔尔先生也要回去了，你家里也没什么事要你打理了。”

"Indeed, Harry," said James Starr, "you must profit by your friend Jack's invitation.”“的确，哈里，”詹姆斯·斯塔尔说道，“你准能从你朋友杰克的邀请中得益的。”

"Well, I accept it, Jack," said Harry. "In a week we will meet at Irvine."“好吧，我接受邀请，杰克。”哈里说道，“一星期后我们在欧文见。”

"In a week, that's settled," returned Ryan. "Good-by, Harry! Your servant, Mr. Starr. I am very glad to have seen you again! I can give news of you to all my friends. No one has forgotten you, sir.”“一星期后见，就这么定了。”瑞安回答道，“再见，哈里！向您致敬，斯塔尔先生。我很高兴能再次见到您！我会将见到您的消息告诉我所有的朋友。没人忘记您，先生。”

"And I have forgotten no one," said Starr.“我也没有忘了任何人。”斯塔尔说道。

"Thanks for all, sir," replied Jack.“非常感谢，先生。”杰克回道。

"Good-by, Jack," said Harry, shaking his hand. And Jack Ryan, singing as he went, soon disappeared in the heights of the shaft, dimly lighted by his lamp.“再见，杰克。”哈里握着他的手说道。杰克·瑞安唱着歌离开了，很快便消失在矿井高处，那儿被他的灯光映照得模糊昏暗。

A quarter of an hour afterwards James Starr and Harry descended the last ladder, and set foot on the lowest floor of the pit.

一刻钟之后，詹姆斯·斯塔尔和哈里爬下最后一架梯子，站在了矿井的最底层。

From the bottom of the Yarrow shaft radiated numerous empty galleries. They ran through the wall of schist and sandstone, some shored up with great, roughly-hewn beams, others lined with a thick casing of wood. In every direction embankments supplied the place of the excavated veins. Artificial pillars were made of stone from neighboring quarries, and now they supported the ground, that is to say, the double layer of tertiary and quaternary soil, which formerly rested on the seam itself. Darkness now filled the galleries, formerly lighted either by the miner's lamp or by the electric light, the use of which had been introduced in the mines.

许多空旷的水平巷道从亚罗井井底向四周延伸。它们穿过片岩和砂岩的岩壁，其中一些靠劈得参差不齐的梁木支撑着，另一些则沿着厚厚的木制防护层排列着。四周都有护堤填补那些被挖空的矿脉。如今支撑地面的柱子是用邻近采石场的石头人工打造而成的；换言之，从前靠煤层自身依托的第三层和第四层这两层土地如今却由这些柱子支撑着。如今，水平巷道里一片黑暗，从前这里要么是被矿工的灯所照亮，要么是被电灯所照亮；电灯当时已被引进到煤矿里使用了。

"Will you not rest a while, Mr. Starr?" asked the young man.“您不需要休息一下吗，斯塔尔先生？”年轻人问道。

"No, my lad," replied the engineer, "for I am anxious to be at your father's cottage.”“不用，我的孩子，”工程师回答道，“我急着去你父亲的村舍。”

"Follow me then, Mr. Starr. I will guide you, and yet I daresay you could find your way perfectly well through this dark labyrinth."“那您跟着我，斯塔尔先生。我会为您带路，但我相信您完全能在这黑暗的迷宫中找到您的路。”

"Yes, indeed! I have the whole plan of the old pit still in my head."“是的，的确！老煤矿的整个平面图仍然在我脑子里。”

Harry, followed by the engineer, and holding his lamp high the better to light their way, walked along a high gallery, like the nave of a cathedral. Their feet still struck against the wooden sleepers which used to support the rails.

哈里走在工程师前面带路，他将手中的灯举得高高的，以便更好地照亮路途。他们沿着一个高高的水平巷道行走，那里就像是一个大教堂的中殿。他们的脚还是踢到了曾用来支撑铁轨的枕木。

They had not gone more than fifty paces, when a huge stone fell at the feet of James Starr. "Take care, Mr. Starr!" cried Harry, seizing the engineer by the arm.

他们还没走到五十步，一块大石头就落在了詹姆斯·斯塔尔的脚下。“当心，斯塔尔先生！”哈里一边叫，一边抓住工程师的胳膊。

"A stone, Harry! Ah! these old vaultings are no longer quite secure, of course, and—”“一块石头，哈里！哈！这些旧的拱形结构也不再那么牢固了，当然，而且——”

"Mr. Starr," said Harry Ford, "it seems to me that stone was thrown, thrown as by the hand of man!"“斯塔尔先生，”哈里·福特说道，“依我看，这石头好像是被扔过来的，是被人用手扔过来的！”

"Thrown!" exclaimed Jamed Starr. "What do you mean, lad?"“扔过来的！”詹姆斯·斯塔尔叫道，“你是什么意思，孩子？”

"Nothing, nothing, Mr. Starr," replied Harry evasively, his anxious gaze endeavoring to pierce the darkness. "Let us go on. Take my arm, sir, and don't be afraid of making a false step."“没事，没事，斯塔尔先生，”哈里支支吾吾地答道，他焦虑的目光正试图穿透这片黑暗。“我们继续走吧。请抓着我的胳膊，先生，不用担心会走错路。”

"Here I am, Harry."And they both advanced, whilst Harry looked on every side, throwing the light of his lamp into all the corners of the gallery.“我来了，哈里。”他们一起前行，与此同时，哈里一边观察着四周，一边把灯光照向水平巷道的每一个角落。

"Shall we soon be there?" asked the engineer.“我们马上就能到那儿了吗？”工程师问道。

"In ten minutes at most."“最多十分钟。”

"Good."“很好。”

"But," muttered Harry, "that was a most singular thing. It is the first time such an accident has happened to me. That stone falling just at the moment we were passing."“但是，”哈里咕哝道，“这件事非常奇怪。这样的事是第一次发生在我身上。那块石头在我们正要经过时就落下来了。”

"Harry, it was a mere chance."“哈里，那纯粹是个巧合。”

"Chance," replied the young man, shaking his head. "Yes, chance."He stopped and listened.“巧合，”年轻人摇着头回答道。“是啊，巧合。”他停下来留心听着。

"What is the matter, Harry?" asked the engineer.“怎么了，哈里？”工程师问道。

"I thought I heard someone walking behind us," replied the young miner, listening more attentively. Then he added, "No, I must have been mistaken. Lean harder on my arm, Mr. Starr. Use me like a staff."“我想我听到有人跟在我们后面。”年轻的矿工一面回答，一面更专注地听着。随后他补充道，“不是，我准是听错了。请再靠我的胳膊近些，斯塔尔先生。就拿我当一根拐杖使。”

"A good solid staff, Harry," answered James Starr. "I could not wish for a better than a fine fellow like you."“一根很结实的拐杖，哈里，”詹姆斯·斯塔尔回答道，“我再也想不出比你更棒的好小伙了。”

They continued in silence along the dark nave. Harry was evidently preoccupied, and frequently turned, trying to catch, either some distant noise, or remote glimmer of light.

他们继续沿着黑暗的中殿静静地前行。哈里显然有心事，常常回头，试图去弄明白远处的某个声响，或是远处的一缕微光。

But behind and before, all was silence and darkness.

但他的身前身后全是寂静和黑暗。

CHAPTER IV THE FORD FAMILY

第四章 福特一家

Ten minutes afterwards, James Starr and Harry issued from the principal gallery. They were now standing in a glade, if we may use this word to designate a vast and dark excavation. The place, however, was not entirely deprived of daylight. A few rays straggled in through the opening of a deserted shaft. It was by means of this pipe that ventilation was established in the Dochart pit. Owing to its lesser density, the warm air was drawn towards the Yarrow shaft. Both air and light, therefore, penetrated in some measure into the glade.

十分钟后，詹姆斯·斯塔尔和哈里从主水平巷道中出来了。现在他们正站在一块空地中——如果我们可以用这个词来指代一个巨大而黑暗的洞穴的话。然而，这个地方并非完全没有日光。几缕光线通过一个废井的井口散射进来。多查特矿井正是通过这个管道来通风的。暖空气由于密度较低而被吸入亚罗井。因此，空气和光线多多少少地渗入到这片空地上来。

Here Simon Ford had lived with his family ten years, in a subterranean dwelling, hollowed out in the schistous mass, where formerly stood the powerful engines which worked the mechanical traction of the Dochart pit.

在这儿，西蒙·福特和他的家人已经住了十年。这处地下住所是从片岩堆中挖出来的；那儿从前放置着功率强大的引擎，多查特矿井机械牵引的工作便由它们来完成。

Such was the habitation, "his cottage," as he called it, in which resided the old overman. As he had some means saved during a long life of toil, Ford could have afforded to live in the light of day, among trees, or in any town of the kingdom he chose, but he and his wife and son preferred remaining in the mine, where they were happy together, having the same opinions, ideas, and tastes. Yes, they were quite fond of their cottage, buried fifteen hundred feet below Scottish soil. Among other advantages, there was no fear that tax gatherers, or rent collectors would ever come to trouble its inhabitants.

老工头就住在这样一个被他称之为“他的村舍”的居所里。福特一生辛勤工作，积攒了一些财富，他本可以生活在阳光下、林木间，或是这个王国里任由他选择的任何城镇上，但是他和他的妻儿宁可留在煤矿里；他们在那儿生活得很幸福，有着共同的观念、想法和兴趣。 的确，他们非常喜爱他们这个埋在苏格兰地下1500英尺处的村舍。在众多好处中，其中一项就是无需担忧收税员或收租员会来打扰这儿的居民。

At this period, Simon Ford, the former overman of the Dochart pit, bore the weight of sixty-five years well. Tall, robust, well-built, he would have been regarded as one of the most conspicuous men in the district which supplies so many fine fellows to the Highland regiments.

多查特矿井的前任工头西蒙·福特这时已六十五岁了，身板还很硬朗。他高大、健壮、身材匀称，本该被认为是当地最出众的男人之一。这个地方为高地兵团输送了许多好小伙。

Simon Ford was descended from an old mining family, and his ancestors had worked the very first carboniferous seams opened in Scotland. Without discussing whether or not the Greeks and Romans made use of coal, whether the Chinese worked coal mines before the Christian era, whether the French word for coal (houille) is really derived from the farrier Houillos, who lived in Belgium in the twelfth century, we may affirm that the beds in Great Britain were the first ever regularly worked. So early as the eleventh century, William the Conqueror divided the produce of the Newcastle bed among his companions-in-arms. At the end of the thirteenth century, a license for the mining of "sea coal" was granted by Henry III. Lastly, towards the end of the same century, mention is made of the Scotch and Welsh beds.

西蒙·福特出生于一个老矿工家庭，他的祖先曾在苏格兰第一批被开采的石炭纪煤层工作。不用讨论希腊人和罗马人是否使用煤，中国人是否在基督纪元前已开始开采煤矿，法语中的“煤”（houille）一词是否真的得名于十二世纪比利时的蹄铁匠Houillos，我们可以断言的是，大不列颠的煤床是首次被人类有规律地进行开采的。早在十一世纪，征服者威廉就在他的战友中分配了纽卡斯尔煤床的产品。十三世纪末，亨利三世授予了“煤海”的开采许可证。最后，该世纪结束之时，又有人提到了苏格兰和威尔士的煤床。

It was about this time that Simon Ford's ancestors penetrated into the bowels of Caledonian earth, and lived there ever after, from father to son. They were but plain miners. They labored like convicts at the work of extracting the precious combustible. It is even believed that the coal miners, like the salt-makers of that period, were actual slaves.

大约在这个时期，西蒙·福特的祖先进入到古苏格兰的地下深处，此后祖祖辈辈一直生活在那儿。他们只是普通的矿工。他们像服刑犯一样劳动，挖掘出珍贵的燃料。人们甚至认为，煤矿工人就像那个时期的制盐工一样，实际上就是奴隶。

However that might have been, Simon Ford was proud of belonging to this ancient family of Scotch miners. He had worked diligently in the same place where his ancestors had wielded the pick, the crowbar, and the mattock. At thirty he was overman of the Dochart pit, the most important in the Aberfoyle colliery. He was devoted to his trade. During long years he zealously performed his duty. His only grief had been to perceive the bed becoming impoverished, and to see the hour approaching when the seam would be exhausted.

无论怎样，西蒙·福特都为自己属于这个古老的苏格兰矿工家庭而感到骄傲。他在这里努力地工作，就在这同一个地方，他的祖先们也曾挥动着镐、铁撬以及鹤嘴锄。他在三十岁时当上了多查特矿井的工头，那是阿伯福伊尔煤矿里最重要的矿井。他全身心地投入到他的职业中去。在漫长的年月里，他积极地履行他的职责。他仅有的悲痛便是意识到煤床变得贫瘠、目睹着煤层枯竭的时刻渐渐临近。

It was then he devoted himself to the search for new veins in all the Aberfoyle pits, which communicated underground one with another. He had had the good luck to discover several during the last period of the working. His miner's instinct assisted him marvelously, and the engineer, James Starr, appreciated him highly. It might be said that he divined the course of seams in the depths of the coal mine as a hydroscope reveals springs in the bowels of the earth. He was par excellence the type of a miner whose whole existence is indissolubly connected with that of his mine. He had lived there from his birth, and now that the works were abandoned he wished to live there still. His son Harry foraged for the subterranean housekeeping; as for himself, during those ten years he had not been ten times above ground.

随后，他在阿伯福伊尔那些在地下彼此相连的矿井中竭力搜寻新矿脉。在工程的最后时期，他曾很幸运地发现过几处新矿脉。矿工的直觉给予了他极大的帮助，因此工程师詹姆斯·斯塔尔非常赏识他。可以这么说，他在煤矿深处探寻煤层，就像深水探视仪在地球深处探测泉水那样。他是个极为优秀的矿工，他的全部生活都与其在矿里的生活密不可分。他从出生起就生活在那儿，如今虽然工程已结束了，他仍愿意生活在那儿。他的儿子哈里为地下生活的给养四处奔波；至于他自己，在那十年间，他上地面的次数不超过十次。

"Go up there! What is the good?" he would say, and refused to leave his black domain. The place was remarkably healthy, subject to an equable temperature; the old overman endured neither the heat of summer nor the cold of winter. His family enjoyed good health; what more could he desire?“上那儿去！有什么好处？”他会这样说，并拒绝离开他的黑色领地。这个地方非常有利于健康，因为这里温度变化不大；老工头既不必忍受夏日的炎热，也无需忍受冬日的寒冷。他的家人身体很健康，他还能有什么要求呢？

But at heart he felt depressed. He missed the former animation, movement, and life in the well-worked pit. He was, however, supported by one fixed idea. "No, no! the mine is not exhausted!" he repeated.

但他内心里感到沮丧。他想念从前的活力、活动，以及矿井运作良好时的矿下生活。然而，一个坚定的念头支撑着他。“不会的，不会的！煤矿是不会枯竭的！”他反复说道。

And that man would have given serious offense who could have ventured to express before Simon Ford any doubt that old Aberfoyle would one day revive! He had never given up the hope of discovering some new bed which would restore the mine to its past splendor. Yes, he would willingly, had it been necessary, have resumed the miner's pick, and with his still stout arms vigorously attacked the rock. He went through the dark galleries, sometimes alone, sometimes with his son, examining, searching for signs of coal, only to return each day, wearied, but not in despair, to the cottage.

如果有人敢在西蒙·福特面前对老阿伯福伊尔终有一天会复苏这点表达出任何质疑，那无疑会深深地冒犯他。他从未放弃发现某个新煤床的希望，这新煤床将使煤矿恢复昔日的辉煌。是的，如果有必要的话，他愿意重新拿起矿工的镐，用他那依然结实的胳膊使劲敲击岩石。他穿过黑暗的水平巷道，有时独自一人，有时和他的儿子一起，检查矿井，搜寻煤的踪迹，结果却是每天满身疲惫地回到村舍，但他并不绝望。

Madge, Simon's faithful companion, his "gude-wife”, to use the Scotch term, was a tall, strong, comely woman. Madge had no wish to leave the Dochart pit any more than had her husband. She shared all his hopes and regrets. She encouraged him, She urged him on, and talked to him in a way which cheered the heart of the old overman. "Aberfoyle is only asleep," she would say. "You are right about that, Simon. This is but a rest, it is not death!"

马奇是西蒙的忠诚伴侣，用苏格兰话来说，是个“好妻子”；她高大、强壮且长相标致。马奇和她丈夫一样，不愿意离开多查特矿井。她和西蒙有着同样的希望和惋惜。她鼓励着他，督促着他，她说的话总是能够振奋老工头的心灵。“阿伯福伊尔只是在沉睡。”她会说，“关于这件事，你是对的，西蒙。这仅仅是休息，而不是死亡！”

Madge, as well as the others, was perfectly satisfied to live independent of the outer world, and was the center of the happiness enjoyed by the little family in their dark cottage. The engineer was eagerly expected. Simon Ford was standing at his door, and as soon as Harry's lamp announced the arrival of his former viewer he advanced to meet him.

马奇以及其他人非常满意这种与外界毫无联系的生活，这个小家庭在他们黑暗的村舍里享受着幸福，而她是这幸福的核心。他们急切地盼望着工程师的到来。西蒙·福特站在家门前，当哈里的灯告知他前任管理者的到来时，他便立即出迎。

"Welcome, Mr. Starr!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing under the roof of schist. "Welcome to the old overman's cottage! Though it is buried fifteen hundred feet under the earth, our house is not the less hospitable.”“欢迎您，斯塔尔先生！”他大声说道，声音回荡在片岩洞顶下，“欢迎来到老工头的村舍！尽管我们家被埋在地下1500英尺处，但它仍是那样热情好客。”

"And how are you, good Simon?" asked James Starr, grasping the hand which his host held out to him.“您好吗，善良的西蒙？”詹姆斯·斯塔尔握住主人伸出的手问道。

"Very well, Mr. Starr. How could I be otherwise here, sheltered from the inclemencies of the weather? Your ladies who go to Newhaven or Portobello in the summer time would do much better to pass a few months in the coal mine of Aberfoyle! They would run no risk here of catching a heavy cold, as they do in the damp streets of the old capital."“非常好，斯塔尔先生。我在这儿避开了那些恶劣的天气，怎么可能不好呢？您家夏天去纽黑文或波托贝洛的女士们，若是在阿伯福伊尔煤矿里待上几个月会更好！在这儿，与在旧首府潮湿的大街上不一样，她们不会患上重感冒的。

"I'm not the man to contradict you, Simon," answered James Starr, glad to find the old man just as he used to be. "Indeed, I wonder why I do not change my home in the Canongate for a cottage near you."“我是不会反对您的，西蒙。”詹姆斯·斯塔尔回答道，很高兴发现老工头仍旧和从前一样，“其实，我在想，为什么我不把在坎农格特的家换成您家旁边的一个村舍呢？”

"And why not, Mr. Starr? I know one of your old miners who would be truly pleased to have only a partition wall between you and him."“为什么不呢，斯塔尔先生？我知道，在您昔日的那群矿工中，有一个人真心地希望您和他之间只有一墙之隔。”

"And how is Madge?" asked the engineer.“马奇好吗？”工程师问道。

"The goodwife is in better health than I am, if that's possible," replied Ford, "and it will be a pleasure to her to see you at her table. I think she will surpass herself to do you honor."“女主人的身体比我还硬朗，如果可能的话。”福特回答道，“她会很高兴您出现在她的餐桌旁。我想，她会超水平地发挥来招待您。”

"We shall see that, Simon, we shall see that!" said the engineer, to whom the announcement of a good breakfast could not be indifferent, after his long walk.“咱们等着瞧吧，西蒙，咱们等着瞧吧！”工程师说道；对他而言，在长途跋涉后，有人告诉他会有一顿丰盛的早餐是不会令他无动于衷的。

"Are you hungry, Mr. Starr?"“您饿了吗，斯塔尔先生？”

"Ravenously hungry. My journey has given me an appetite. I came through horrible weather."“饥肠辘辘。我这一路赶过来，早已胃口大开了。我是冒着恶劣的天气来的。”

"Ah, it is raining up there." responded Simon Ford.“啊，那上面正下着雨。”西蒙·福特回应道。

"Yes, Simon, and the waters of the Forth are as rough as the sea.""Well, Mr. Starr, here it never rains. But I needn't describe to you all the advantages, which you know as well as myself. Here we are at the cottage. That is the chief thing, and I again say you are welcome, sir."“是啊，西蒙，福斯河的水和海水一样汹涌。”“噢，斯塔尔先生，这儿就从不下雨。但我不必向您描述所有的好处，您和我一样清楚。现在我们是在村舍里。这是最重要的事情，我再次欢迎您，先生。”

Simon Ford, followed by Harry, ushered their guest into the dwelling. James Starr found himself in a large room lighted by numerous lamps, one hanging from the colored beams of the roof.

西蒙·福特把他们的客人领进了住所，哈里跟在福特身后。詹姆斯·斯塔尔发现自己身处一个用许多灯照明的大房间里，其中一盏灯吊在顶上的彩色横梁上。

"The soup is ready, wife," said Ford, "and it mustn't be kept waiting any more than Mr. Starr. He is as hungry as a miner, and he shall see that our boy doesn't let us want for anything in the cottage! By-the-bye, Harry," added the old overman, turning to his son, "Jack Ryan came here to see you."“汤好了，老婆，”福特说道，“不该让斯塔尔先生等久了。他饿得就像个矿工，他会看到我们的孩子让我们在村舍里什么都不缺！对了，哈里，”老工头转向他的儿子补充道，“杰克·瑞安来找过你。”

"I know, father. We met him in the Yarrow shaft."“我知道，父亲。我们在亚罗井碰见了他。”

"He's an honest and a merry fellow," said Ford, "but he seems to be quite happy above ground. He hasn't the true miner's blood in his veins. Sit down, Mr. Starr, and have a good dinner, for we may not sup till late.”“他是个真诚而快乐的小伙子，”福特说道，“但他似乎在地上过得很开心。他血管里流淌的不是真正的矿工血液。请坐，斯塔尔先生，请多吃一点，因为我们可能很晚才吃晚餐。”

As the engineer and his hosts were taking their places:

就在工程师和他的主人们就坐时:

"One moment, Simon," said James Starr. "Do you want me to eat with a good appetite?""It will be doing us all possible honor, Mr. Starr." answered Ford.“等等，西蒙，”詹姆斯·斯塔尔说道，“您希望我吃饭时有个好胃口吗？”“这将是我们极大的荣幸,斯塔尔先生。”福特回答道。

"Well, in order to eat heartily, I must not be at all anxious. Now I have two questions to put to you."“好吧,为了吃得痛快,我应该一点儿也不焦虑才行。现在，我有两个问题要问您。”

"Go on, sir."“请问，先生。”

"Your letter told me of a communication which was to be of an interesting nature."“您在信里告诉我会有一则有趣的信息。”

"It is very interesting indeed."“的确很有趣。”

"To you?"“对您而言？”

"To you and to me, Mr. Starr. But I do not want to tell it you until after dinner, and on the very spot itself. Without that you would not believe me."“对您和我而言，斯塔尔先生。但是，我想等到饭后再告诉您，并且只能是在现场告诉您。不然的话您是不会相信我的。”

"Simon," resumed the engineer, "look me straight in the face. An interesting communication? Yes. Good! I will not ask more." he added, as if he had read the reply in the old overman's eyes.“西蒙，”工程师继续说道，“请直视我的脸。一则有趣的信息？是的。好的！我不多问了。”他补充道，好像他己从老工头的眼中读出了答案。

"And the second question?" asked the latter.“第二个问题呢？”后者问道。

"Do you know, Simon, who the person is who can have written this?" answered the engineer, handing him the anonymous letter.“西蒙，您知道可能是谁给我写的这封信吗？”工程师问道，递给他那封匿名信。

Ford took the letter and read it attentively. Then giving it to his son, "Do you know the writing?" he asked.

福特接过信，专注地读着。随后，他把信递给他的儿子，“你认识这字迹吗？”他问道。

"No, father." replied Harry.“不认识，父亲。”哈里回答道。

"And had this letter the Aberfoyle postmark?" inquired Simon Ford.“这封信盖了阿伯福伊尔的邮戳吗？”西蒙·福特询问道。

"Yes, like yours," replied James Starr.“是的，和您的信一样。”詹姆斯·斯塔尔回答道。

"What do you think of that, Harry?" said his father, his brow darkening.“你怎么看这事，哈里？”他父亲问道，额头蒙上了一层阴影。

"I think, father," returned Harry, "that someone has had some interest in trying to prevent Mr. Starr from coming to the place where you invited him."“我认为，父亲，”哈里回答道，“有人有意阻扰斯塔尔先生到您邀请他来的地方。”

"But who," exclaimed the old miner, "who could have possibly guessed enough of my secret?"And Simon fell into a reverie, from which he was aroused by his wife.“但会是谁呢？”老矿工叫道，“谁能如此确切地猜到我的秘密呢？”西蒙陷入了沉思，他的妻子将他从沈思中唤醒。

"Let us begin, Mr. Starr," she said. "The soup is already getting cold. Don't think any more of that letter just now.”“我们开始吧，斯塔尔先生，”她说道，“汤快凉了。现在就不要再想那封信了。”

On the old woman's invitation, each drew in his chair, James Starr opposite to Madge—to do him honor—the father and son opposite to each other. It was a good Scotch dinner. First they ate "hotchpotch," soup with the meat swimming in capital broth. As old Simon said, his wife knew no rival in the art of preparing hotchpotch. It was the same with the "cockyleeky," a cock stewed with leeks, which merited high praise. The whole was washed down with excellent ale, obtained from the best brewery in Edinburgh.

在老妇人的邀请下，大伙各自入座了，詹姆斯·斯塔尔坐在马奇对面——为了表示他的敬意——父子俩相对而坐。这是一顿丰盛的苏格兰饭菜。首先，他们喝了一道“大杂烩”汤，上好的汤中漂着肉。照老西蒙的说法，他的妻子做大杂烩的手艺无人可比。“韭菜鸡”也是如此，用韭菜炖鸡，堪称一绝。整顿饭配着由爱丁堡最好的啤酒厂酿造的上好麦芽酒下肚。

But the principal dish consisted of a "haggis," the national pudding, made of meat and barley meal. This remarkable dish, which inspired the poet Burns with one of his best odes, shared the fate of all the good things in this world—it passed away like a dream.

但主菜是“羊肉杂碎布丁”，一种该民族用肉和大麦做成的布丁。这道菜非同凡响，它启发诗人彭斯吟出了他最优美的颂诗，它和世界上所有美好的事情有着相同的命运——它像梦一样的就下肚了。

Madge received the sincere compliments of her guest. The dinner ended with cheese and oatcake, accompanied by a few small glasses of "usquebaugh," capital whisky, five and twenty years old—just Harry's age. The repast lasted a good hour. James Starr and Simon Ford had not only eaten much, but talked much too, chiefly of their past life in the old Aberfoyle mine.

马奇得到了客人诚挚的赞美。这顿饭最后上的是奶酪和燕麦饼，还配上了几小杯“爱尔兰芫荽香甜酒”，这是一种上好的威士忌，已有二十五年的历史——恰好是哈里的年纪。这顿饭足足吃了一个小时。詹姆斯·斯塔尔和西蒙·福特吃了很多，也说了很多，他们主要谈了他们在老阿伯福伊尔的昔日生活。

Harry had been rather silent. Twice he had left the table, and even the house. He evidently felt uneasy since the incident of the stone, and wished to examine the environs of the cottage. The anonymous letter had not contributed to reassure him.

哈里显得相当沉默。他两次离开了餐桌，甚至离开了屋子。自石头事件以来，他明显感到不安，想要检查村舍的周围情况。那封匿名信并没有让他消除疑虑。

Whilst he was absent, the engineer observed to Ford and his wife, "That's a fine lad you have there, my friends.”

在他离席期间，工程师对福特和他的妻子说道，“你们有个好孩子啊，我的朋友。”

"Yes, Mr. Starr, he is a good and affectionate son," replied the old overman earnestly.“是啊，斯塔尔先生，他是一个善良贴心的儿子。”老工头由衷地回答道。

"Is he happy with you in the cottage?"“和你们一起住在村舍里，他幸福吗？”

"He would not wish to leave us."“他不会想要离开我们的。”

"Don't you think of finding him a wife, some day?”“难道你们没想过在哪天为他找个妻子吗？”

"A wife for Harry," exclaimed Ford,"And who would it be? A girl from up yonder, who would love merry-makings and dancing, who would prefer her clan to our mine! Harry wouldn't do it!”“为哈里找个妻子，”福特惊叹道，“那会是谁？一个从地上来的姑娘，她会喜欢玩乐和跳舞，她会更喜欢她的家族，而不是我们的煤矿！哈里不会那么做的！”

"Simon," said Madge, "you would not forbid that Harry should take a wife."“西蒙，”马奇说道，“你不能阻止哈里娶妻。”

"I would forbid nothing," returned the old miner, "but there's no hurry about that. Who knows but we may find one for him—”“我不会阻止任何事情，”老矿工回答道，“但这事并不着急。谁知道呢，但我们会为他找一个——”

Harry re-entered at that moment, and Simon Ford was silent.

此时，哈里又进屋来了，西蒙·福特也不出声了。

When Madge rose from the table, all followed her example, and seated themselves at the door of the cottage. "Well, Simon," said the engineer, "I am ready to hear you."

当马奇在餐桌旁起身时，所有人也随她起身，在村舍的门口坐下来。“好了，西蒙，”工程师说道，“我准备好听您说了。”

"Mr. Starr," responded Ford, "I do not need your ears, but your legs. Are you quite rested?"“斯塔尔先生，”福特说道，“我不需要您听我说，只要您跟我来。您休整好了吗？”

"Quite rested and quite refreshed, Simon. I am ready to go with you wherever you like."“休整好了，也恢复好了，西蒙。我准备好了同你一起去，去你想去的那个地方。”

"Harry," said Simon Ford, turning to his son, "light our safety lamps."“哈里，”西蒙·福特转向他的儿子说道，“点上我们的安全灯。”

"Are you going to take safety lamps?" exclaimed James Starr, in amazement, knowing that there was no fear of explosions of fire-damp in a pit quite empty of coal.“您打算带上安全灯？”詹姆斯·斯塔尔诧异地叫道。他清楚，在一个煤被完全挖空的矿井里是无需担心甲烷爆炸的。

"Yes, Mr. Starr, it will be prudent."“不错，斯塔尔先生，慎重起见。”

"My good Simon, won't you propose next to put me in a miner's dress?”“我善良的西蒙，接下来，难道您会建议我穿上一套矿工制服吗？”

"Not just yet, sir, not just yet!" returned the old overman, his deep-set eyes gleaming strangely.“还不是时候，先生，还不是时候！”老工头回答道，他深陷的双眼闪烁着怪异的目光。

Harry soon reappeared, carrying three safety lamps. He handed one of these to the engineer, the other to his father, and kept the third hanging from his left hand, whilst his right was armed with a long stick.

哈里很快回来了，手里拎着三盏安全灯。他把其中一盏灯递给了工程师，又将另一盏递给了他父亲，将剩下的那一盏灯挂在他的左手上，而他的右手握着一根长棍当武器。

"Forward!" said Simon Ford, taking up a strong pick, which was leaning against the wall of the cottage.“出发！”西蒙·福特说道，拿起一把倚在村舍墙上的结实的镐。

"Forward!" echoed the engineer. "Good-by, Madge.”“出发！”工程师附和道，“再见，马奇。”

"GOD speed you!" responded the good woman.“祝你成功！”善良的妇女回答道。

"A good supper, wife, do you hear?" exclaimed Ford. "We shall be hungry when we come back, and will do it justice!"“准备一顿丰盛的晚餐，老婆，听到了吗？”福特叫道，“我们回来时该饿了，要尽情地吃一顿！”

CHAPTER V SOME STRANGE PHENOMENA

第五章 某些奇怪的现象

Many superstitious beliefs exist both in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland. Of course the mining population must furnish its contingent of legends and fables to this mythological repertory. If the fields are peopled with imaginary beings, either good or bad, with much more reason must the dark mines be haunted to their lowest depths. Who shakes the seam during tempestuous nights? Who puts the miners on the track of an as yet unworked vein? Who lights the fire-damp, and presides over the terrible explosions? Who but some spirit of the mine? This, at least, was the opinion commonly spread among the superstitious Scotch.

在苏格兰高地和低地，流传着许多迷信的说法。当然，矿工们必然会把传说和寓言中的事件加到这类神话剧中。如果说这些地区住满了想象中的生灵，无论是善良的还是邪恶的，那就更有理由说明在黑暗煤矿的最深处必定有幽灵出没。是谁在风雨交加的夜晚晃动着煤层？是谁将矿工们带到尚未开采的矿脉小道上的？是谁点燃甲烷，并指挥了那些可怕的爆炸？除了煤矿里的某个幽灵外，还会是谁呢？这个观点至少在迷信的苏格兰人中间普遍流传着。

In the first rank of the believers in the supernatural in the Dochart pit figured Jack Ryan, Harry's friend. He was the great partisan of all these superstitions. All these wild stories were turned by him into songs, which earned him great applause in the winter evenings.

在多查特矿井，哈里的朋友杰克·瑞安在这些信奉超自然力的人中占有头等重要的位置。他是所有这些迷信的坚定信奉者。他把所有这些荒诞离奇的故事改编成了歌曲，这让他在冬日的晚上赢得了许多掌声。

But Jack Ryan was not alone in his belief. His comrades affirmed, no less strongly, that the Aberfoyle pits were haunted, and that certain strange beings were seen there frequently, just as in the Highlands. To hear them talk, it would have been more extraordinary if nothing of the kind appeared. Could there indeed be a better place than a dark and deep coal mine for the freaks of fairies, elves, goblins, and other actors in the fantastical dramas? The scenery was all ready, why should not the supernatural personages come there to play their parts?

然而并不只是杰克·瑞安一人有这种信仰。他的同伴们也坚定地断言，阿伯福伊尔矿井里有幽灵出没，人们在那里常常会看到某些奇怪的生灵，就如在高地看到的一样。听他们这么说，要是根本没出现那种东西，那才更离奇。的确，会有哪个地方比黑暗幽深的煤矿更适合那些妖精、精灵、妖怪以及其他怪诞戏剧里的角色呢？舞台布景一切就位，为什么那些具有超自然力的名角们不来出演他们的角色呢？

So reasoned Jack Ryan and his comrades in the Aberfoyle mines. We have said that the different pits communicated with each other by means of long subterranean galleries. Thus there existed beneath the county of Stirling a vast tract, full of burrows, tunnels, bored with caves, and perforated with shafts, a subterranean labyrinth, which might be compared to an enormous ant-hill.

杰克·瑞安与他在阿伯福伊尔煤矿的同伴们这么推敲着。我们已经讲过，不同的矿井由长长的地下水平巷道彼此相连。因此，在斯特林郡地下有一片广阔的地带，那里到处都是地道、隧道，还凿有洞穴、钻有矿井。这座地下迷宫堪比一个巨大的蚁丘。

Miners, though belonging to different pits, often met, when going to or returning from their work. Consequently there was a constant opportunity of exchanging talk, and circulating the stories which had their origin in the mine, from one pit to another. These accounts were transmitted with marvelous rapidity, passing from mouth to mouth, and gaining in wonder as they went.

尽管矿工们隶属不同的矿井，但他们前往矿井或收工回家时会经常碰面。因此，他们经常有机会交谈，在各个矿井间传播着那些源于煤矿的故事。这些叙述以口口相传的方式极其快速地传播着，并随着传播变得愈发离奇。

Two men, however, better educated and with more practical minds than the rest, had always resisted this temptation. They in no degree believed in the intervention of spirits, Elves, or goblins. These two were Simon Ford and his son. And they proved it by continuing to inhabit the dismal crypt, after the desertion of the Dochart pit. Perhaps good Madge, like every Highland woman, had some leaning towards the supernatural. But she had to repeat all these stories to herself, and so she did, most conscientiously, so as not to let the old traditions be lost.

不过，有两个人因为受过更好的教育，并拥有比他人更实际的头脑，所以总能抵制住这种邪念。他们丝毫不信幽灵、精灵或妖怪的介入。这两人就是西蒙·福特和他的儿子。为了证明这一点，在多查特矿井遭遗弃后，他们继续居住在阴暗的地穴里。和每个高地女人一样，善良的马奇也有些倾向于相信超自然力。但她不得不只在自己内心重复所有这些故事，她也非常认真地这样做了，只为使古老的传统得以保留。

Even had Simon and Harry Ford been as credulous as their companions, they would not have abandoned the mine to the imps and fairies. For ten years, without missing a single day, obstinate and immovable in their convictions, the father and son took their picks, their sticks, and their lamps. They went about searching, sounding the rock with a sharp blow, listening if it would return a favor-able sound. So long as the soundings had not been pushed to the granite of the primary formation, the Fords were agreed that the search, unsuccessful to-day, might succeed to-morrow, and that it ought to be resumed. They spent their whole life in endeavoring to bring Aberfoyle back to its former prosperity. If the father died before the hour of success, the son was to go on with the task alone.

即便西蒙和哈里像他们的同伴一样轻信于迷信，他们也不会将矿井弃给魔鬼与妖精。这对父子十年如一日，带着他们的镐、拐杖和灯，执拗而坚定地秉持着他们的信念。他们四处搜寻，猛烈敲击岩石来进行探测，聆听是否会传回一个有所帮助的声音。只要探测还未推进到原始形态的花岗岩，西蒙·福特和哈里·福特就一致认为，今天搜寻不到，可能明天会搜寻到，而探测应该继续进行。他们一辈子都在为重现阿伯福伊尔往昔的繁荣而奋斗。如果父亲未等到成功之时便离去了，儿子将独自一人继续完成任务。

It was during these excursions that Harry was more particularly struck by certain phenomena, which he vainly sought to explain. Several times, while walking along some narrow cross-alley, he seemed to hear sounds similar to those which would be produced by violent blows of a pickax against the wall.

在这些征途中，哈里对某些他无从解释的现象印象尤深。有几次，当他沿着某个狭窄的十字小巷行走时，他似乎听到了类似用鹤嘴锄猛烈敲击岩壁的声音。

Harry hastened to seek the cause of this mysterious work. The tunnel was empty. The light from the young miner's lamp, thrown on the wall, revealed no trace of any recent work with pick or crowbar. Harry would then ask himself if it was not the effect of some acoustic illusion, or some strange and fantastic echo. At other times, on suddenly throwing a bright light into a suspicious-looking cleft in the rock, he thought he saw a shadow. He rushed forward. Nothing, and there was no opening to permit a human being to evade his pursuit!

哈里急忙寻找这神秘行为的源头。隧道是空的。年轻矿工的灯光映照在岩壁上，却不见任何刚用镐或铁撬动过的痕迹。随后，哈里自问这是否是某种幻听效果，或是某种奇异怪诞的回声。还有几次，当他突然将明亮的灯光投射在岩石上一处看似可疑的裂缝上时，他觉得自己看到了一个影子。他冲上前去。什么都没有，而且没有任何出口能让一个人摆脱他的追逐！

Twice in one month, Harry, whilst visiting the west end of the pit, distinctly heard distant reports, as if some miner had exploded a charge of dynamite. The second time, after many careful researches, he found that a pillar had just been blown up.

在一个月里曾发生过两次情况。有一次哈里正查看矿井西端时，他清楚地听到了远处的声响，就像是某个矿工引爆了炸药一样。。第二次，在他仔细搜寻多次后，他发现了一根刚被炸过的柱子。

By the light of his lamp, Harry carefully examined the place attacked by the explosion. It had not been made in a simple embankment of stones, but in a mass of schist, which had penetrated to this depth in the coal stratum. Had the object of the explosion been to discover a new vein? Or had someone wished simply to destroy this portion of the mine? Thus he questioned, and when he made known this occurrence to his father, neither could the old overman nor he himself answer the question in a satisfactory way.

借着灯光，哈里仔细检查了被炸过的地方。那不是由石头制成的简易填方，而是一整块穿进煤层深处的片岩。爆炸的目的是为了发现一处新矿脉吗？或许只是有人想毁掉这部分煤矿？他这样怀疑着。当他告诉父亲这件事时，老工头和哈里自己都无法对这个问题给出一个满意的答案。

"It is very queer," Harry often repeated. "The presence of an unknown being in the mine seems impossible, and yet there can be no doubt about it. Does someone besides ourselves wish to find out if a seam yet exists? Or, rather, has he attempted to destroy what remains of the Aberfoyle mines? But for what reason? I will find that out, if it should cost me my life!"“这很奇怪，”哈里常常重复道，“似乎不可能有陌生人出现在煤矿里，这一点毫无疑问。会是除我们之外的某个人想弄清是否仍有煤层存在吗？或者相反，他是企图毁掉阿伯福伊尔煤矿的剩余部分吗？但为什么呢？我会将它弄清楚的，即便会赔上我的性命！”

A fortnight before the day on which Harry Ford guided the engineer through the labyrinth of the Dochart pit, he had been on the point of attaining the object of his search. He was going over the southwest end of the mine, with a large lantern in his hand. All at once, it seemed to him that a light was suddenly extinguished, some hundred feet before him, at the end of a narrow passage cut obliquely through the rock. He darted forward.

在哈里·福特领着工程师穿过多查特矿井迷宫的两周前，他几乎快要找到他所要搜寻的目标了。他手拎一盏大提灯，仔细检查着煤矿的西南端。忽然，他似乎看到在他前面几百英尺处，就在一条从岩石中斜穿而过的狭窄通道的末端，一点光亮突然间熄灭了。他飞奔过去。

His search was in vain. As Harry would not admit a supernatural explanation for a physical occurrence, he concluded that certainly some strange being prowled about in the pit. But whatever he could do, searching with the greatest care, scrutinizing every crevice in the gallery, he found nothing for his trouble.

他什么也没有搜寻到。由于哈里不肯对一件实实在在发生的事件作出超自然的解释，因此他得出结论，必定有某个陌生人在矿井里出没。但是，无论他怎么做，不管是细致入微地搜寻，还是细查水平巷道里每个岩石的裂隙，他都没为自己的困惑找到答案。

If Jack Ryan and the other superstitious fellows in the mine had seen these lights, they would, without fail, have called them supernatural, but Harry did not dream of doing so, nor did his father. And when they talked over these phenomena, evidently due to a physical cause, "My lad," the old man would say, "We must wait. It will all be explained some day."

如果杰克·瑞安和矿里其他信迷信的同伴看到了这些灯光，他们一定会称它们为超自然力，但哈里从未想过这么做，他父亲也没有。当他们谈论这些显然是由一个真实存在的原因所导致的现象时，“我的孩子，”老工头会说，“我们必须等待。总有一天会水落石出。”

However, it must be observed that, hitherto, neither Harry nor his father had ever been exposed to any act of violence. If the stone which had fallen at the feet of James Starr had been thrown by the hand of some ill-disposed person, it was the first criminal act of that description.

然而，必须注意的是，迄今为止，无论是哈里还是他的父亲，都不曾遭到任何暴力袭击。如果那块落在詹姆斯·斯塔尔脚下的石头是某个心怀恶意的人扔出的，那么这是第一次发生此类罪行。

James Starr was of opinion that the stone had become detached from the roof of the gallery; but Harry would not admit of such a simple explanation. According to him, the stone had not fallen, it had been thrown; for otherwise, without rebounding, it could never have described a trajectory as it did. Harry saw in it a direct attempt against himself and his father, or even against the engineer.

詹姆斯·斯塔尔认为那块石头是从水平巷道的洞顶脱落的，但哈里不认同如此简单的解释。据他猜测，那块石头不是落下的，而是被扔下的；若不是如此，没有了反弹，它绝不会像那样在空中划出一道轨迹。哈里从中看到了一个直指自己和他父亲，甚至直指工程师的图谋。

CHAPTER VI SIMON FORD's EXPERIMENT

第六章 西蒙·福特的实验

The old clock in the cottage struck one as James Starr and his two companions went out. A dim light penetrated through the ventilating shaft into the glade. Harry's lamp was not necessary here, but it would very soon be of use, for the old overman was about to conduct the engineer to the very end of the Dochart pit. After following the principal gallery for a distance of two miles, the three explorers—for, as will be seen, this was a regular exploration—arrived at the entrance of a narrow tunnel. It was like a nave, the roof of which rested on woodwork, covered with white moss. It followed very nearly the line traced by the course of the river Forth, fifteen hundred feet above. "So we are going to the end of the last vein?" said James Starr.

当詹姆斯·斯塔尔和他的两个同伴出去时，村舍里的老钟敲了一下。一缕昏暗的光线从通风井渗进了空地。哈里的灯虽在这儿用不上，但它很快会派上用场的，因为老工头打算把工程师带到多查特矿井的最尾端。沿着主水平巷道走了两英里后，这三位勘探者——因为大家将会看到这是一次常规的勘探——来到一条狭窄隧道的入口处。它就像一个教堂的中殿，顶部靠木架支撑，上面覆盖着发白的苔藓。隧道的线路与上方1500英尺处的福斯河河道几乎一致。“我们是要去最后一处矿脉的末端吗？”詹姆斯·斯塔尔问道。

"Ay! You know the mine well still.""Well, Simon," returned the engineer, "it will be difficult to go further than that, if I don't mistake.”“是啊！您依旧对煤矿相当熟悉。”“好了，西蒙，”工程师回答道，“如果我没弄错，再往前走会有些困难了。”

"Yes, indeed, Mr. Starr. That was where our picks tore out the last bit of coal in the seam. I remember it as if it were yesterday. I myself gave that last blow, and it re-echoed in my heart more dismally than on the rock. Only sandstone and schist were round us after that, and when the truck rolled towards the shaft, I followed, with my heart as full as though it were a funeral. It seemed to me that the soul of the mine was going with it.”“是的，的确，斯塔尔先生。就在那儿，我们用镐从煤层里挖出了最后一块煤。这仿佛是发生在昨天的事一样，我现在还记得。最后我亲自敲了一下，那敲击声回响在我的心头，比岩石的回声更加沉闷。那之后，我们周围只剩下砂岩和片岩，当车皮开进矿井里时，我跟在后面，心里沉甸甸的，就好像那是一场葬礼。对我而言，仿佛煤矿的灵魂也随之一同离去了。”

The gravity with which the old man uttered these words impressed the engineer, who was not far from sharing his sentiments. They were those of the sailor who leaves his disabled vessel—of the proprietor who sees the house of his ancestors pulled down. He pressed Ford's hand; but now the latter seized that of the engineer, and, wringing it:

老工头说这些话时的庄重模样令工程师起敬，他完全能体会到老工头的情绪。他们就像那些舍弃自己破损船只的海员，就像那些目睹自己祖居被拆毁的业主。他紧握住福特的手；而现在，后者也抓着工程师的手，紧紧地握着。

"That day we were all of us mistaken," he exclaimed. "No! The old mine was not dead. It was not a corpse that the miners abandoned; and I dare to assert, Mr. Starr, that its heart beats still."“那天我们都错了。”他叫道，“不！老煤矿还没死。它不是矿工们遗弃的一具尸体，我敢断言，斯塔尔先生，它的心仍在跳动。”

"Speak, Ford! Have you discovered a new vein?" cried the engineer, unable to contain himself. "I know you have! Your letter could mean nothing else."“说下去，福特！您已经发现了新矿脉吗？”工程师不由自主地叫道，“我知道您已经发现了！您的信不可能是指其他事情。”

"Mr. Starr," said Simon Ford, "I did not wish to tell any man but yourself."“斯塔尔先生，”西蒙·福特说道，“除了您，我不愿告诉任何人。”

"And you did quite right, Ford. But tell me how, by what signs, are you sure?"“您做得非常对，福特。那告诉我，您是怎样确定的？通过什么迹象来确定的？”

"Listen, sir!" resumed Simon. "It is not a seam that I have found."“听我说，先生！”西蒙继续道，“我没有发现煤层。”

"What is it, then?"“那是什么呢？”

"Only positive proof that such a seam exists."“只是有这样一个煤层存在的确凿证据。”

"And the proof?"“那这证据是？”

"Could fire-damp issue from the bowels of the earth if coal was not there to produce it?”“如果地下深处没有煤产生甲烷，甲烷可能会从那儿涌出吗？”

"No, certainly not!" replied the engineer. "No coal, no fire-damp. No effects without a cause.”“不会，绝对不会！”工程师回答道，“没有煤，便没有甲烷。没有无因之果。”

"Just as no smoke without fire."“如同没有火便没有烟一样。”

"And have you recognized the presence of light carburetted hydrogen?"“那您识别出有重量较轻的碳化氢了吗？”

"An old miner could not be deceived," answered Ford. "I have met with our old enemy, the fire-damp!”“一个老矿工是不可能受骗的，”福特回答道，“我碰到了我们昔日的仇敌——甲烷！”

"But suppose it was another gas," said Starr. "Firedamp is almost without smell, and colorless. It only really betrays its presence by an explosion."“但倘若这是另一种气体，”斯塔尔说道，“甲烷几乎无味无色。只有爆炸才会真正地暴露出它的存在。”

"Mr. Starr," said Simon Ford, "will you let me tell you what I have done? Harry had once or twice observed something remarkable in his excursions to the west end of the mine. Fire, which suddenly went out, sometimes appeared along the face of the rock or on the embankment of the further galleries. How those flames were lighted, I could not and cannot say. But they were evidently owing to the presence of fire-damp, and to me fire-damp means a vein of coal.”“斯塔尔先生，”西蒙·福特说道，“请让我告诉您我做了些什么吧，好吗？曾有一两次，在去煤矿西端的路途中，哈里注意到某些不寻常的事情。突然间灭掉的火有时又沿着岩石表面或在较远的水平巷道填方上出现。那些火焰是如何被点燃的，我当时说不清，现在也一样。但它们显然是因为有瓦斯的存在，对我而言，甲烷就意味着矿脉。”

"Did not these fires cause any explosion?" asked the engineer quickly.“难道这些火没有引发爆炸吗？”工程师急忙问道。

"Yes, little partial explosions," replied Ford, "such as I used to cause myself when I wished to ascertain the presence of fire-damp. Do you remember how formerly it was the custom to try to prevent explosions before our good genius, Humphry Davy, invented his safety-lamp?”“有的，小范围的爆炸，”福特回答道，“就像我原来为了确定甲烷的存在曾亲自引发的爆炸一样。在咱们善良的天才汉弗莱·戴维发明他的安全灯之前，这种做法就是防范爆炸的惯例，您记得吗？”

"Yes," replied James Starr. "You mean what the 'monk,' as the men called him, used to do. But I have never seen him in the exercise of his duty.”“记得，”詹姆斯·斯塔尔回答道，“您是指人们称之为‘修道士’的人过去常做的事。但我从没见过他履行职责。”

"Indeed, Mr. Starr, you are too young, in spite of your five-and-fifty years, to have seen that. But I, ten years older, often saw the last 'monk' working in the mine. He was called so because he wore a long robe like a monk. His proper name was the 'fireman.' At that time there was no other means of destroying the bad gas but by dispersing it in little explosions, before its buoyancy had collected it in too great quantities in the heights of the galleries. The monk, as we called him, with his face masked, his head muffled up, all his body tightly wrapped in a thick felt cloak, crawled along the ground. He could breathe down there, when the air was pure; and with his right hand he waved above his head a blazing torch. When the firedamp had accumulated in the air, so as to form a detonating mixture, the explosion occurred without being fatal, and, by often renewing this operation, catastrophes were prevented. Sometimes the 'monk' was injured or killed in his work, then another took his place. This was done in all mines until the Davy lamp was universally adopted. But I knew the plan, and by its means I discovered the presence of firedamp and consequently that of a new seam of coal in the Dochart pit.”“确实，斯塔尔先生，尽管您五十五岁了，但您还太年轻，没见过那个。而我大您十岁，曾常常看到最后一位‘修道士’在煤矿里干活。他被这样称呼是因为他穿着一件长袍，就像一名修道士一样。他应当被称作‘消防员’。那时，没有其他方法能消除这种危险气体，只能在它升高并大量积聚在水平巷道顶部时以小的爆炸将之驱散。修道士就像我们称呼他的那样，戴着面具，头被包着，全身紧紧地裹在一件厚厚的毛毡斗篷里，沿着地面匍匐前行。当空气纯净时，他可以在低处呼吸，并用他的右手在头顶上方挥动着燃烧的火把。当甲烷积聚在空气中从而形成爆炸混合物时，会发生并非灾难性的爆炸。人们可以通过经常重复这项操作来防止灾难的发生。有时，‘修道士’会在工作中受伤或死掉，然后，另一个人就会接替他的位置。戴维灯被普遍运用之后，所有的煤矿里才停止了这种做法。但是，我清楚这种操作，通过这种方式我发现了瓦斯的存在，因而也发现多查特矿井里的一个新煤层。”

All that the old overman had related of the so-called "monk" or "fireman" was perfectly true. The air in the galleries of mines was formerly always purified in the way described.

老工头讲述的所谓“修道士”或“消防员”的事情都是千真万确的。从前，煤矿水平巷道里的空气一直通过上述方式净化。

Fire-damp, marsh-gas, or carburetted hydrogen, is colorless, almost scentless; it burns with a blue flame, and makes respiration impossible. The miner could not live in a place filled with this injurious gas, any more than one could live in a gasometer full of common gas. Moreover, fire-damp, as well as the latter, a mixture of inflammable gases, forms a detonating mixture as soon as the air unites with it in a proportion of eight, and perhaps even five to the hundred. When this mixture is lighted by any cause, there is an explosion, almost always followed by a frightful catastrophe.

甲烷、沼气或碳化氢是无色的，几乎没有气味，燃烧时呈蓝色火焰，会令人窒息。矿工不可能居住在一个充满这种有害气体的地方，如同不能居住在一个满是普通煤气的储气库里一样。而且，甲烷和后者一样，是一种易燃气体的混合物，一旦它在空气中积聚至百分之八，甚至可能是百分之五，就会形成一种爆炸混合物。当这种混合物因任何原因被点燃时，爆炸就会发生，接踵而至的几乎总是一场可怕的灾难。

As they walked on, Simon Ford told the engineer all that he had done to attain his object; how he was sure that the escape of fire-damp took place at the very end of the farthest gallery in its western part, because he had provoked small and partial explosions, or rather little flames, enough to show the nature of the gas, which escaped in a small jet, but with a continuous flow. As they walked on, Simon Ford told the engineer all that he had done to attain his object; how he was sure that the escape of fire-damp took place at the very end of the farthest gallery in its western part,because he had provoked small and partial explosions, or rather little flames, enough to show the nature of the gas, which escaped in a small jet, but with a continuous flow.

西蒙·福特边走边对工程师讲述为达到自己的目的他所做的一切：他如何确定甲烷是从西端最远的水平巷道溢出的，因为他引发了小范围的爆炸，还有那极小的火焰，那都足以说明溢出气体的性质。气体从一个小喷口溢出，却一直源源不断。

An hour after leaving the cottage, James Starr and his two companions had gone a distance of four miles. The engineer, urged by anxiety and hope, walked on without noticing the length of the way. He pondered over all that the old miner had told him, and mentally weighed all the arguments which the latter had given in support of his belief. He agreed with him in thinking that the continued emission of carburetted hydrogen certainly showed the existence of a new coal-seam. If it had been merely a sort of pocket, full of gas, as it is sometimes found amongst the rock, it would soon have been empty, and the phenomenon have ceased. But far from that. According to Simon Ford, the fire-damp escaped incessantly, and from that fact the existence of an important vein might be considered certain. Consequently, the riches of the Dochart pit were not entirely exhausted. The chief question now was, whether this was merely a vein which would yield comparatively little, or a bed occupying a large extent.

在离开村舍一小时后，詹姆斯·斯塔尔和他的两个同伴已经走了四英里远。工程师好奇而充满希望地行走着，没有注意到走出了多远。他思索着老矿工告诉他的一切，脑子里斟酌着老矿工为证明自己论断所说的所有论据。他同意老工头的那个观点，认为源源不断溢出的碳化氢必定表明有一处新煤层存在。如果只是一个矿穴里充满了煤气，就像间或在岩石中发现的那样，煤气很快就会没有了，这种现象也会消失。但远非那样。根据西蒙·福特所言，甲烷在持续不断地溢出，从这一事实可以断定有一个重要的矿脉存在。因此，多查特矿井的宝藏并没有完全枯竭。现在，首要问题是，这是否只是一个产出较少的矿脉，或是一个范围宽广的煤床。

Harry, who preceded his father and the engineer, stopped.

走在父亲和工程师前面的哈里停了下来。

"Here we are!" exclaimed the old miner. "At last, thank Heaven! you are here, Mr. Starr, and we shall soon know."The old overman's voice trembled slightly.“就是这儿！”老矿工叫道，“终于到了，感谢上苍！就是这儿，斯塔尔先生，我们很快会知道的。”老工头的声音微微颤抖着。

"Be calm, my man!" said the engineer. "I am as excited as you are, but we must not lose time."“镇定点，我的伙计！”工程师说道，“我也和您一样激动，但我们不该耽搁时间。”

The gallery at this end of the pit widened into a sort of dark cave. No shaft had been pierced in this part, and the gallery, bored into the bowels of the earth, had no direct communication with the surface of the earth.

位于矿井这一端的水平巷道拓宽成了一个黑暗的洞穴。没有矿井穿过这个部分，而且水平巷道凿在地下深处，不与地面直接连通。

James Starr, with intense interest, examined the place in which they were standing. On the walls of the cavern the marks of the pick could still be seen, and even holes in which the rock had been blasted, near the termination of the working. The schist was excessively hard, and it had not been necessary to bank up the end of the tunnel where the works had come to an end. There the vein had failed, between the schist and the tertiary sandstone. From this very place had been extracted the last piece of coal from the Dochart pit.

詹姆斯·斯塔尔带着浓厚的兴趣检查了他们站立的地方。在洞穴的岩壁上，镐的痕迹依旧可见，甚至开采接近尾声时在岩石上爆破的洞孔都仍然可见。片岩坚硬无比，因此无需把将近完工的隧道末端封住。在片岩和第三层砂岩之间，矿脉已被采竭殆尽了。多查特矿井的最后一块煤正是从此处被挖出的。

"We must attack the dyke," said Ford, raising his pick; "for at the other side of the break, at more or less depth, we shall assuredly find the vein, the existence of which I assert."“我们必须敲击这个岩脉，”福特举起他的镐说道，“因为在裂缝的另一边，在差不多同样的深度，我们肯定会找到矿脉，我坚信它的存在。”

"And was it on the surface of these rocks that you found out the fire-damp?" asked James Starr.“您是在这些岩石的表层发现甲烷的吗？”詹姆斯·斯塔尔问道。

"Just there, sir," returned Ford, "and I was able to light it only by bringing my lamp near to the cracks in the rock. Harry has done it as well as I."“就在那儿，先生，”福特回答道，“只要把我的灯靠近岩石的裂缝，我就能把它点燃。哈里和我一样，也这样做过。”

"At what height?" asked Starr.“在多高的位置？”斯塔尔问道。

"Ten feet from the ground," replied Harry.“距地面十英尺，”哈里回答道。

James Starr had seated himself on a rock. After critically inhaling the air of the cavern, he gazed at the two miners, almost as if doubting their words, decided as they were. In fact, carburetted hydrogen is not completely scentless, and the engineer, whose sense of smell was very keen, was astonished that it had not revealed the presence of the explosive gas. At any rate, if the gas had mingled at all with the surrounding air, it could only be in a very small stream. There was no danger of an explosion, and they might without fear open the safety lamp to try the experiment, just as the old miner had done before.

詹姆斯·斯塔尔在一块岩石上坐了下来。仔细嗅了嗅洞穴里的空气后，他盯着这两个矿工，似乎在质疑他们的话，虽然他们非常坚定。实际上，碳化氢并非完全没有气味，工程师的嗅觉非常灵敏，他十分讶异地发现这儿并没有爆炸性气体的存在。无论怎样，如果煤气全混在周围的空气里，那也只是极小的一部分。这里没有爆炸的危险，他们可以毫无顾忌地打开安全灯尝试进行实验，就像老矿工之前所做的一样。

What troubled James Starr was, not lest too much gas mingled with the air, but lest there should be little or none.

让詹姆斯·斯塔尔感到困扰的不是空气中混有过多气体，而是只混有一丁点儿气体或是没有混入气体。

"Could they have been mistaken?" he murmured. "No: these men know what they are about. And yet—”“会是他们弄错了吗？”他咕哝道，“不会的，他们知道自己在做什么。然而——”

He waited, not without some anxiety, until Simon Ford's phenomenon should have taken place. But just then it seemed that Harry, like himself, had remarked the absence of the characteristic odor of fire-damp; for he exclaimed in an altered voice, "Father, I should say the gas was no longer escaping through the cracks!"

他无比焦虑地等待西蒙·福特所说的现象发生。但这时，哈里似乎和工程师一样也注意到了没有甲烷的特殊气味，他用变调的声音惊叫道，“父亲，我认为气体不再从这些裂隙中溢出了！”

"No longer!" cried the old miner—and, pressing his lips tight together, he snuffed the air several times.“不再溢出了！”老矿工叫道——他紧紧地抿住嘴唇，吸了几口气。

Then, all at once, with a sudden movement, "Hand me your lamp, Harry," he said.

随后，他突然动了一下，“把你的灯递给我，哈里。”他说道。

Ford took the lamp with a trembling hand. He drew off the wire gauze case which surrounded the wick, and the flame burned in the open air.

福特颤抖着用一只手接过灯。他抽掉了围着灯芯的铁纱罩，火焰在空气中燃烧起来。

As they had expected, there was no explosion, but, what was more serious, there was not even the slight crackling which indicates the presence of a small quantity of firedamp. Simon took the stick which Harry was holding, fixed his lamp to the end of it, and raised it high above his head, up to where the gas, by reason of its buoyancy, would naturally accumulate. The flame of the lamp, burning straight and clear, revealed no trace of the carburetted hydrogen.

和他们预想的一样，没有爆炸，但更糟糕的是，甚至连显示少量甲烷存在的轻微噼啪声也没有。西蒙接过哈里手中的棍子，将灯固定在棍子的末端，把灯高举过头顶，一直举到煤气因上浮而自然积聚到的地方。灯的火焰垂直而清晰地燃烧着，表明没有任何碳化氢的踪迹。

"Close to the wall," said the engineer.“靠近岩壁。”工程师说道。

"Yes," responded Ford, carrying the lamp to that part of the wall at which he and his son had, the evening before, proved the escape of gas.“好的，”福特回答道，把灯放到昨晚他和他儿子曾证实有煤气溢出的岩壁那儿。

The old miner's arm trembled whilst he tried to hoist the lamp up. "Take my place, Harry," said he.

当老矿工试图把灯举高时，他的胳膊在颤抖。“来替我，哈里。”他说道。

Harry took the stick, and successively presented the lamp to the different fissures in the rock; but he shook his head, for of that slight crackling peculiar to escaping fire-damp he heard nothing. There was no flame. Evidently not a particle of gas was escaping through the rock.

哈里接过棍子，不停地把灯放到岩石的各个裂缝处；但他摇了摇头，因为他没有听到甲烷溢出时特有的轻微噼啪声。没有火焰。显然，没有一丝煤气从岩石里溢出。

"Nothing!" cried Ford, clenching his fist with a gesture rather of anger than disappointment.“什么都没有！”福特叫道，紧紧攥着他的拳头，那架势与其说是愤怒，还不如说是失望。

A cry escaped Harry.

哈里不禁叫了一声。

"What's the matter?" asked Starr quickly.“怎么回事？”斯塔尔急忙问道。

"Someone has stopped up the cracks in the schist!"“有人把片岩上的缝隙堵住了！”

"Is that true?" exclaimed the old miner.“是真的吗？”老矿工叫道。

"Look, father!"Harry was not mistaken. The obstruction of the fissures was clearly visible by the light of the lamp. It had been recently done with lime, leaving on the rock a long whitish mark, badly concealed with coal dust.“看，父亲！”哈里没有弄错。裂缝的堵塞物在灯光下清晰可见。那是不久前用石灰堵上的，岩石上还留下了一条长长的发白痕迹，拙劣地用煤尘掩盖着。

"It's he!" exclaimed Harry. "It can only be he!"“就是他！”哈里惊叫道，“只会是他！”

"He?" repeated James Starr in amazement.“他？”詹姆斯·斯塔尔讶异地重复道。

"Yes!" returned the young man, "that mysterious being who haunts our domain, for whom I have watched a hundred times without being able to get at him—the author, we may now be certain, of that letter which was intended to hinder you from coming to see my father, Mr. Starr, and who finally threw that stone at us in the gallery of the Yarrow shaft! Ah! there's no doubt about it; there is a man's hand in all that!”“是的！”年轻人答道，“那个在我们领地上出没的神秘人，我瞧见过他上百次却没能追上他——他就是那个作者，现在我们可以确定，是他企图阻扰您来见我父亲，斯塔尔先生，也是他最后在亚罗井的水平巷道里朝我们扔石头！啊！无需怀疑，一切都出自于那人之手！”

Harry spoke with such energy that conviction came instantly and fully to the engineer's mind. As to the old overman, he was already convinced. Besides, there they were in the presence of an undeniable fact—the stopping-up of cracks through which gas had escaped freely the night before.

哈里说得非常有力，使工程师立刻对此深信不疑。至于老工头，他也深信不疑。此外，在那儿，他们面前摆着一个不容质疑的事实——溢出大量煤气的缝隙就在前一天晚上被人堵住了。

"Take your pick, Harry," cried Ford; "mount on my shoulders, my lad! I am still strong enough to bear you!"The young man understood in an instant. His father propped himself up against the rock. Harry got upon his shoulders, so that with his pick he could reach the line of the fissure. Then with quick sharp blows he attacked it. Almost directly afterwards a slight sound was heard, like champagne escaping from a bottle—a sound commonly expressed by the word "puff."“拿起你的镐，哈里，”福特叫道，“骑到我肩上，我的孩子！我仍然很强壮，可以撑住你！”年轻人立即明白了。他的父亲倚靠在岩石上。哈里爬到他父亲的肩上，这样他就可以用他的镐够到那条裂缝线了。随后，他快速猛烈地敲击着裂缝。他们几乎马上就听见了一声轻微的声响，就像是香槟从瓶中溢出的时那样——那声响通常用词语“噗”来表达。

Harry again seized his lamp, and held it to the opening. There was a slight report; and a little red flame, rather blue at its outline, flickered over the rock like a Will-o’-the-Wisp.

哈里再次拿着他的灯，举到开口处。从那儿发出了一声轻微的爆炸声，一小团红色的火焰在岩石上闪烁，火的外沿是蓝色的，就像一团鬼火。

Harry leaped to the ground, and the old overman, unable to contain his joy, grasped the engineer's hands, exclaiming, "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Mr. Starr. The fire-damp burns! The vein is there!”

哈里跳到地上。老工头抑制不住他的喜悦，抓住工程师的手叫道，“太好了！太好了！太好了！斯塔尔先生。甲烷燃了！矿脉就在那儿！”

CHAPTER VII NEW ABERFOYLE

第七章 新阿伯福伊尔

The old overman's experiment had succeeded. Firedamp, it is well known, is only generated in coal seams; therefore the existence of a vein of precious combustible could no longer be doubted. As to its size and quality, that must be determined later.

老工头的实验成功了。众所周知，甲烷只能在煤层中生成，因而，这里存在一条富含宝贵燃料的矿脉便是毋庸置疑的了。至于这条矿脉的规模和质量，日后一定能测出来。

"Yes," thought James Starr, "behind that wall lies a carboniferous bed, undiscovered by our soundings. It is vexatious that all the apparatus of the mine, deserted for ten years, must be set up anew. Never mind. We have found the vein which was thought to be exhausted, and this time it shall be worked to the end!"“是的，”詹姆斯·斯塔尔想道，“在这个岩壁后有一片我们未能勘探到的石碳层。伤脑筋的是，我们得把矿上所有废弃了十年的设备都重新安装好。不要紧。我们找到了一条人们原以为已经枯竭了的矿脉，这一次它一定会被开采殆尽的！”

"Well, Mr. Starr," asked Ford, "what do you think of our discovery? Was I wrong to trouble you? Are you sorry to have paid this visit to the Dochart pit?"“那么，斯塔尔先生，”福特问道，“您怎样看待我们的这一发现呢？烦您来这一趟，没错吧？您对这次的多查特矿井之行感到遗憾吗？”

"No, no, my old friend!" answered Starr. "We have not lost our time; but we shall be losing it now, if we do not return immediately to the cottage. To-morrow we will come back here. We will blast this wall with dynamite. We will lay open the new vein, and after a series of soundings, if the seam appears to be large, I will form a new Aberfoyle Company, to the great satisfaction of the old shareholders. Before three months have passed, the first corves full of coal will have been taken from the new vein.”“不，不，我的老朋友！”斯塔尔答道，“我们没有浪费时间，但是如果我们不立即返回村舍的话，那就是在浪费时间了。明天我们再来这儿。我们将用炸药把这个岩壁炸开。新的矿脉将呈现在我们面前。在一系列的勘探之后，如果煤层面积看起来很大的话，我将成立一个新的阿伯福伊尔公司，并将使老股东们感到十分满意。要不了三个月，第一批小型矿车将会满载煤炭从新矿脉里出来。”

"Well said, sir!" cried Simon Ford. "The old mine will grow young again, like a widow who remarries! The bustle of the old days will soon begin with the blows of the pick, and mattock, blasts of powder, rumbling of wagons, neighing of horses, creaking of machines! I shall see it all again! I hope, Mr. Starr, that you will not think me too old to resume my duties of overman?”

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