作者：Jack London 杰克·伦敦
出版社：外语教学与研究出版社
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PLANCHETTEby Jack London扶乩作者：杰克·伦敦"It is my right to know," the girl said.“我有权利知道。”女孩说道。
Her voice was firm-fibred with determination. There was no hint of pleading in it, yet it was the determination that is reached through a long period of pleading. But in her case it had been pleading, not of speech, but of personality. Her lips had been ever mute, but her face and eyes, and the very attitude of her soul, had been for a long time eloquent with questioning. This the man had known, but he had never answered; and now she was demanding by the spoken word that he answer.
她的声音沉着有力，透着坚决。这声音里没有流露出恳求的意味，然而要达到这种坚决的效果却需要长期的恳求。但就她来说，这已经是恳求了，只不过没有表现在言语中，而在性格上。她始终双唇紧闭，但有很长一段时间，她的脸和眼睛以及她内心深处的那种态度都显现出了疑惑。这一点这个男人是知道的，但他从不回答，而现在她需要他口头回答。
"It is my right," the girl repeated.“这是我的权利。”女孩重复道。
"I know it," he answered, desperately and helplessly.“我明白。”他回答道，绝望而又无助。
She waited, in the silence which followed, her eyes fixed upon the light that filtered down through the lofty boughs and bathed the great redwood trunks in mellow warmth. This light, subdued and colored, seemed almost a radiation from the trunks themselves, so strongly did they saturate it with their hue. The girl saw without seeing, as she heard, without hearing, the deep gurgling of the stream far below on the canyon bottom.
之后一阵沉默，她等待着，眼睛注视着滤过高处的枝杈的光线，柔和而温暖的阳光洒在粗壮的红木树干上。这光线柔和而又色彩斑斓，几乎就像是从树干本身发出来的，它们用自己的色调把这光线浸染得如此之强烈。女孩似看非看，似听非听，流经远处峡谷底部的小溪发出低沉的汩汩声。
She looked down at the man. "Well?" she asked, with the firmness which feigns belief that obedience will be forthcoming.
她低下头看着那男人。“嗯？”她坚定地问道，自认为这男人接下来会听她的。
She was sitting upright, her back against a fallen tree-trunk, while he lay near to her, on his side, an elbow on the ground and the hand supporting his head.
她坐得笔直，背靠着一棵倒下的树干，而他在她身边侧躺着，一只胳膊肘撑在地上，手托着头。
"Dear, dear Lute," he murmured.“亲爱的，亲爱的卢特。”他轻声唤道。
She shivered at the sound of his voice—not from repulsion, but from struggle against the fascination of its caressing gentleness. She had come to know well the lure of the man—the wealth of easement and rest that was promised by every caressing intonation of his voice, by the mere touch of hand on hand or the faint impact of his breath on neck or cheek. The man could not express himself by word nor look nor touch without weaving into the expression, subtly and occultly, the feeling as of a hand that passed and that in passing stroked softly and soothingly. Nor was this all-pervading caress a something that cloyed with too great sweetness; nor was it sickly sentimental; nor was it maudlin with love's madness. It was vigorous, compelling, masculine. For that matter, it was largely unconscious on the man's part. He was only dimly aware of it. It was a part of him, the breath of his soul as it were, involuntary and unpremeditated.
听到他的声音，她的身体微微颤抖——不是因为反感，而是在抗拒他那充满宠爱的温柔魅力。她很清楚这个男人的诱惑力——他说话时那温柔的语调，那仅是手手相触或是他在她脖子或脸颊处的微弱气息都流露出了无限的惬意与闲适。这个男人如果不用晦涩难懂的表达方式，他就没办法通过言语、神情、触觉来传达自己的信息，这种感觉就像有一只手经过，途中轻柔抚摸性地轻敲两下。这种无所不在的抚摸不是一种因太多的柔情蜜意而让人觉得腻烦的东西；不是无病呻吟,也不是为爱疯狂而伤感。而是生机勃勃，动人心弦，充满了阳刚之气。在这方面，这个男人很大程度上是没有感觉的。他只是模糊意识到这一点。这是他的一部分，可以说是他灵魂的气息，不由自主而非刻意。
But now, resolved and desperate, she steeled herself against him. He tried to face her, but her gray eyes looked out to him, steadily, from under cool, level brows, and he dropped his head upon her knee. Her hand strayed into his hair softly, and her face melted into solicitude and tenderness. But when he looked up again, her gray eyes were steady, her brows cool and level.
但是现在，她下定决心，孤注一掷，使自己在他面前坚强起来。他试着面对她，但她那灰色的眼睛却坚定地朝他看过来，双眉冷静，于是他低头躺在她的膝盖上。她的手轻轻地伸进他的头发里，她的脸上逐渐浮现出关切与柔情。但是当他再次抬起头的时候，她灰色的眼睛透着趁着，眉间带着冷静和坚定。
"What more can I tell you?" the man said. He raised his head and met her gaze. "I cannot marry you. I cannot marry any woman. I love you—you know that—better than my own life. I weigh you in the scales against all the dear things of living, and you outweigh everything. I would give everything to possess you, yet I may not. I cannot marry you. I can never marry you."“我还能告诉你什么？”男人说道。他抬起头，和她四目相对。“我不能和你结婚。我不能和任何女人结婚。我爱你——你知道——胜过我自己的生命。若是我把你与我生活中所有珍贵的东西作比较，你远胜过一切。为了你我可以不惜一切代价，但我不能。我不能和你结婚。我永远无法和你结婚。”
Her lips were compressed with the effort of control. His head was sinking back to her knee, when she checked him.
她双唇紧闭，努力控制自己。她审视他时，他的头又枕在她的膝盖上。
"You are already married, Chris?"“你已经结婚了吧，克里斯？”
"No! no!" he cried vehemently. "I have never been married. I want to marry only you, and I cannot!"“没有！没有！”他激烈地叫道，“我从没有结过婚。我只想娶你，可我做不到！”
"Then—"“那么——”
"Don't!" he interrupted. "Don't ask me!"“别！”他打岔道，“别问我！”
"It is my right to know," she repeated.“我有权知道。”她重复道。
"I know it," he again interrupted. "But I cannot tell you."“我明白。”他又打岔道，“可是我不能告诉你。”
"You have not considered me, Chris," she went on gently.“你没有考虑过我，克里斯。”她继续轻声地说道。
"I know, I know," he broke in.“我明白，我明白。”他插嘴说。
"You cannot have considered me. You do not know what I have to bear from my people because of you."“你不可能考虑过我。你不知道我因为你，在家里承受了什么样的压力。”
"I did not think they felt so very unkindly toward me," he said bitterly.“我认为他们对我的感觉不是那么不友好。”他愤愤不平地说。
"It is true. They can scarcely tolerate you. They do not show it to you, but they almost hate you. It is I who have had to bear all this. It was not always so, though. They liked you at first as...as I liked you. But that was four years ago. The time passed by—a year, two years; and then they began to turn against you. They are not to be blamed. You spoke no word. They felt that you were destroying my life. It is four years, now, and you have never once mentioned marriage to them. What were they to think? What they have thought, that you were destroying my life."“这是真的。他们几乎无法容忍你。他们不会当着你的面表现出来，但他们几乎是憎恨你。是我不得不承担这一切。可并不总是这样。刚开始他们喜欢你就像……就像我喜欢你一样。但那是四年前的事情了。岁月流逝——一年，两年；然后他们开始变得讨厌你。他们不应受到指责。你只字不提婚事。他们觉得你在摧毁我的生活。到现在四年了，你从没向他们提起婚事。他们会怎么想？他们所想到的就是你正在毁掉我的生活。”
As she talked, she continued to pass her fingers caressingly through his hair, sorrowful for the pain that she was inflicting.
她说话的时候，继续用手指温柔地捋着他的头发，为她正遭受的痛苦而伤心。
"They did like you at first. Who can help liking you? You seem to draw affection from all living things, as the trees draw the moisture from the ground. It comes to you as it were your birthright. Aunt Mildred and Uncle Robert thought there was nobody like you. The sun rose and set in you. They thought I was the luckiest girl alive to win the love of a man like you. For it looks very much like it,' Uncle Robert used to say, wagging his head wickedly at me. Of course they liked you. Aunt Mildred used to sigh, and look across teasingly at Uncle, and say, 'When I think of Chris, it almost makes me wish I were younger myself.' And Uncle would answer, 'I don't blame you, my dear, not in the least.' And then the pair of them would beam upon me their congratulations that I had won the love of a man like you.“刚开始他们确实喜欢你。谁能刻意不喜欢你呢？你好像能让所有活的东西对你产生感情，就像这些树从地上吸取湿气一样。你身上的这种能力好像是与生俱来的。米尔德里德姑姑和罗伯特姑父认为没人能像你一样。太阳升起来照耀着你。他们认为我能赢得一个像你这样的男人的爱情，是世上最幸运的女孩了。‘因为看起来像这么回事。’罗伯特姑父过去常常顽皮地对着我摇摇头，说道。当然，他们喜欢你。米尔德里德姑姑以前常常叹息，还取笑似的瞧着姑父说：‘每当我想起克里斯，我几乎都会想自己要是年轻点多好。’姑父就会答道：‘我不怪你，亲爱的，一点儿都不。’然后他们两口子就满脸笑容地看着我，祝贺我赢得了像你这样的男人的爱情。
"And they knew I loved you as well. How could I hide it?—this great, wonderful thing that had entered into my life and swallowed up all my days! For four years, Chris, I have lived only for you. Every moment was yours. Waking, I loved you. Sleeping, I dreamed of you. Every act I have performed was shaped by you, by the thought of you. Even my thoughts were moulded by you, by the invisible presence of you. I had no end, petty or great, that you were not there for me."“而且他们知道我也爱你。我如何掩藏呢？——这份伟大、美妙的感情进入了我的生活，吞噬了我所有的时光！四年了，克里斯，我只为你而活。分分秒秒都是你的。醒着，我爱你。睡着了，我梦到你。我所做的每一件事都是受你的影响，受你思想的影响。甚至我的思想也被你，被你无形的存在塑造而成。你不在我身边，不管是小的还是大的目标，我都没有。”
"I had no idea of imposing such slavery," he muttered.“我从未想过要奴役你。”他喃喃道。
"You imposed nothing. You always let me have my own way. It was you who were the obedient slave. You did for me without offending me. You forestalled my wishes without the semblance of forestalling; them, so natural and inevitable was everything you did for me. I said, without offending me. You were no dancing puppet. You made no fuss. Don't you see? You did not seem to do things at all. Somehow they were always there, just done, as a matter of course.“你什么都没施加于我。你总是让我自主行事。你才是听话的奴隶。你这样对我，我并不生气。你先发制人，阻止了我的愿望，却一点儿不像预先阻止；它们那么自然而又不可避免，是你为我所做出的一切。我说了，我并不生气。你不是翩翩起舞的木偶。你没有小题大做。难道你不明白吗？你好像什么事情都没有做。不管怎样，它们总是理所当然地做成了。
"The slavery was love's slavery. It was just my love for you that made you swallow up all my days. You did not force yourself into my thoughts. You crept in, always, and you were there always—how much, you will never know.“这奴役是爱的奴役。正是我对你的爱让你吞噬了我所有的时光。你没有驱使自己进入我的思想。你总是悄悄地进行，你总是在那儿——程度怎样，你绝不会知道。
"But as time went by, Aunt Mildred and Uncle grew to dislike you. They grew afraid. What was to become of me? You were destroying my life. My music? You know how my dream of it has dimmed away. That spring, when I first met you—I was twenty, and I was about to start for Germany. I was going to study hard. That was four years ago, and I am still here in California.“可是随着时间的推移，米尔德里德姑姑和姑父开始不喜欢你了。他们担心起来。我会怎么样呢？你在毁掉我的生活。我的音乐呢？你知道我的音乐梦想是怎样慢慢消失的。那个春天，我第一次遇见你的时候——我二十岁，那时我即将动身去德国。我是要努力学习的。那是四年前的事了，而我现在却仍然在加利福尼亚这儿。
"I had other lovers. You drove them away—No! no! I don't mean that. It was I that drove them away. What did I care for lovers, for anything, when you were near? But as I said, Aunt Mildred and Uncle grew afraid. There has been talk friends, busybodies, and all the rest. The time went by. You did not speak. I could only wonder, wonder. I knew you loved me. Much was said against you by Uncle at first, and then by Aunt Mildred. They were father and mother to me, you know. I could not defend you. Yet I was loyal to you. I refused to discuss you. I closed up. There was half-estrangement in my home—Uncle Robert with a face like an undertaker, and Aunt Mildred's heart breaking. But what could I do, Chris? What could I do?"“我有其他爱慕者。你把他们都赶跑了——不！不！我不是这个意思。是我把他们赶跑了。你在我身边的时候，我哪会在爱慕者，在意其他什么呢？可是就像我说的那样，米尔德里德姑姑和姑父开始担心了。还有一块儿说话的朋友，爱管闲事的人以及所有其他的人。时间一天天过去了。你还是不提婚事。我只是奇怪，奇怪。我知道你是爱我的。起初是姑父说很多不利于你的话，后来米尔德里德姑姑也说。你知道，对于我来说，他们就是父母。我不能帮你辩解。但是我对你是忠诚的。我拒绝讨论你。我避而不谈。我家里形成了半隔离状态——罗伯特姑父像个殡仪服务员一样拉着脸，而米尔德里德姑姑心都碎了。可是我能做什么呢，克里斯？我能做什么呢？”
The man, his head resting on her knee again, groaned, but made no other reply.
这男人又把头放在她的膝盖上，含混不清地哼哼着，但没作其他回答。
"Aunt Mildred was mother to me, yet I went to her no more with my confidences. My childhood's book was closed. It was a sweet book, Chris. The tears come into my eyes sometimes when I think of it. But never mind that. Great happiness has been mine as well. I am glad I can talk frankly of my love for you. And the attaining of such frankness has been very sweet. I do love you, Chris. I love you... I cannot tell you how. You are everything to me, and more besides. You remember that Christmas tree of the children?—when we played blindman's buff? and you caught me by the arm so, with such a clutching of fingers that I cried out with the hurt? I never told you, but the arm was badly bruised. And such sweet I got of it you could never guess. There, black and blue, was the imprint of your fingers—your fingers, Chris, your fingers. It was the touch of you made visible. It was there a week, and I kissed the marks—oh, so often! I hated to see them go; I wanted to rebruise the arm and make them linger. I was jealous of the returning white that drove the bruise away. Somehow,—oh! I cannot explain, but I loved you so!"“米尔德里德姑姑对于我来说就是妈妈，然而我却不再和她谈我的知心话。我童年的书已经合上了。那是一本充满甜蜜情意的书，克里斯。有时想起它，我就会热泪盈眶。但这没关系。我还是感到极大的幸福。我很高兴我能坦诚地说出我对你的爱。而且拥有这样的坦诚是非常甜蜜的。我真的爱你，克里斯。我爱你……我说不出是多爱你。你对于我来说就是一切，而且要更多。你记得孩提时的圣诞树吗？——当时我们玩捉迷藏，你抓住了我的胳膊，你的手指抓得那么紧，疼得我叫了起来？我从没有告诉过你，但胳膊伤得很厉害。你永远也猜不到我却因此感到那么甜蜜。那儿，青一块儿紫一块儿的，都是你的指痕——你的指痕，克里斯，你的指痕。看得出是你的碰触。一周都那样，我亲吻那些印记——哦，如此经常！我讨厌看见它们消退；我想再次把胳膊抓伤，不让淤青消退。我很害怕皮肤恢复白皙，这会使淤青褪去。不管怎样，——噢！我无法解释，但我是这么爱你！”
In the silence that fell, she continued her caressing of his hair, while she idly watched a great gray squirrel, boisterous and hilarious, as it scampered back and forth in a distant vista of the redwoods. A crimson-crested woodpecker, energetically drilling a fallen trunk, caught and transferred her gaze. The man did not lift his head. Rather, he crushed his face closer against her knee, while his heaving shoulders marked the hardness with which he breathed.
两人陷入沉默，她继续抚摩他的头发，同时她漫不经心地看着一只又喧闹又有趣的灰色大松鼠在远处红杉林的景观中来回地蹦蹦跳跳。一只长着深红色羽冠的啄木鸟正精力充沛地在啄一段倒下的树干，这吸引并转移了她的视线。男人没有抬头。更确切地说，他把脸压得更靠近她的膝盖，从他起伏的双肩可以看出这个姿势令他呼吸不太顺畅。
"You must tell me, Chris," the girl said gently. "This mystery—it is killing me. I must know why we cannot be married. Are we always to be this way?—merely lovers, meeting often, it is true, and yet with the long absences between the meetings? Is it all the world holds for you and me, Chris? Are we never to be more to each other? Oh, it is good just to love, I know—you have made me madly happy; but one does get so hungry at times for something more! I want more and more of you, Chris. I want all of you. I want all our days to be together. I want all the companionship, the comradeship, which cannot be ours now, and which will be ours when we are married—" She caught her breath quickly. "But we are never to be married. I forgot. And you must tell me why."“你必须告诉我，克里斯。”女孩温柔地说，“这个秘密——它要把我折磨死了。我必须知道为什么我们不能结婚。我们总是要这样吗？——仅仅是情人，经常见面，这不假，但是见面的间隔时间不长吗？这就是世界给予你和我的一切吗，克里斯？我们彼此永远不能再进一步吗？噢，只是相爱是很好，我知道——你让我非常高兴；但是有时候人会渴望得到更多的东西的！我想要你更多更多的东西，克里斯。我想要你的一切。我想要我们两个天天在一起。我想要所有的陪伴和友情，现在它们不属于我们，但我们结婚时就会属于我们了——”她很快屏住了呼吸，“可是我们永远不会结婚。我忘了。你必须告诉我原因。”
The man raised his head and looked her in the eyes. It was a way he had with whomever he talked, of looking them in the eyes.
男人抬起头，看着她的眼睛。这是他的方式，不管和谁说话，都看着对方的眼睛。
"I have considered you, Lute," he began doggedly. "I did consider you at the very first. I should never have gone on with it. I should have gone away. I knew it. And I considered you in the light of that knowledge, and yet... I did not go away. My God! what was I to do? I loved you. I could not go away. I could not help it. I stayed. I resolved, but I broke my resolves. I was like a drunkard. I was drunk of you. I was weak, I know. I failed. I could not go away. I tried. I went away—you will remember, though you did not know why. You know now. I went away, but I could not remain away. Knowing that we could never marry, I came back to you. I am here, now, with you. Send me away, Lute. I have not the strength to go myself."“我考虑过你，卢特。”他固执地说，“一开始我的确考虑过你。我本不该继续那样的。我本来应该离开的。这我知道。我考虑你是鉴于那份了解，可是……我没有走。天啊！我要干什么？我爱你。我不能离开。我难以自持。我留了下来。我下定了决心，但我又瓦解了我的决心。我像一个醉鬼。我为你而陶醉。我很软弱，我知道。我失败了。我不能离开。我努力了。我离开了——你会记得，虽然你并不知道原因。现在你知道了。我走了，可我不会一直离开的。尽管知道我们永不会结婚，可我还是回到了你身边。现在我跟你一起在这儿。送我走吧，卢特。我自己真的没有离开的力气。”
"But why should you go away?" she asked. "Besides, I must know why, before I can send you away."“可是为什么你应该离开？”她问道，“此外，我送你离开之前，我必须知道原因。”
"Don't ask me."“别问我。”
"Tell me," she said, her voice tenderly imperative.“告诉我。”她声音温柔而强硬地说。
"Don't, Lute; don't force me," the man pleaded, and there was appeal in his eyes and voice.“不要，卢特，不要强迫我。”男人恳求道，眼睛和声音里流露出恳求。
"But you must tell me," she insisted. "It is justice you owe me."“可是你必须告诉我。”她坚持道，“这是你欠我的公道。”
The man wavered. "If I do..." he began. Then he ended with determination, "I should never be able to forgive myself. No, I cannot tell you. Don't try to compel me, Lute. You would be as sorry as I."
男人犹豫了。“如果我告诉你……”他开口道，接着他最后下定决心说道，“我永远都不能原谅自己。不，我不能告诉你。不要试图强迫我，卢特。你会像我一样难过的。”
"If there is anything...if then are, obstacles...if this mystery does really prevent..." She was speaking slowly, with long pauses, seeking the more delicate ways of speech for the framing of her thought. "Chris, I do love you. I love you as deeply as it is possible for any woman to love, I am sure. If you were to say to me now 'Come,' I would go with you. I would follow wherever you led. I would be your page, as in the days of old when ladies went with their knights to far lands. You are my knight, Chris, and you can do no wrong. Your will is my wish. I was once afraid of the censure of the world. Now that you have come into my life I am no longer afraid. I would laugh at the world and its censure for your sake—for my sake too. I would laugh, for I should have you, and you are more to me than the good will and approval of the world. If you say 'Come,' I will—"“如果有什么事……如果有障碍……如果这个谜团的确会阻止……”她说得很慢，停顿时间也很长，在为她的思想框架寻找更加恰当的说话方式。“克里斯，我真的爱你。我深深地爱着你，程度不亚于任何一个女性的爱，我敢保证。如果你现在对我说‘过来’，我就跟你走。不管你领我到哪儿，我都跟着。我愿做你的侍从，就像古时候的女人跟着她们的骑士奔赴远方一样。你是我的骑士，克里斯，而且你不会做错事。你的意愿就是我的愿望。我曾经害怕世俗的指责。既然你已经走进我的生活，我就不再害怕了。我会嘲笑世俗以及因你的缘故受的指责——也是因我的缘故。我会笑，因为我应该拥有你，你对我来说比世间的友善和赞许更重要。如果你说‘过来’，我会——”
"Don't! Don't!" he cried. "It is impossible! Marriage or not, I cannot even say 'Come.' I dare not. I'll show you. I'll tell you."“别说了！别说了！”他叫道，“这是不可能的！不管结婚与否，我甚至都不能说‘过来’。我不敢。我会让你看到。我会告诉你的。”
He sat up beside her, the action stamped with resolve. He took her hand in his and held it closely. His lips moved to the verge of speech. The mystery trembled for utterance. The air was palpitant with its presence. As if it were an irrevocable decree, the girl steeled herself to hear. But the man paused, gazing straight out before him. She felt his hand relax in hers, and she pressed it sympathetically, encouragingly. But she felt the rigidity going out of his tensed body, and she knew that spirit and flesh were relaxing together. His resolution was ebbing. He would not speak—she knew it; and she knew, likewise, with the sureness of faith, that it was because he could not.
他坐在她身边，动作显示出下定了决心。他把她的手放在他手上，紧紧地攥着。他的嘴唇动了动，正要说话。这个谜颤抖着道了出来。空气因它的出现而打颤。似乎它是不可改变的法令，女孩让自己坚强起来去听。但是男人停住了，直直地朝自己的前方看着。她感觉到他的手在她手里放松了，她就又同情又鼓励地按着它。但是她感觉到他紧张的身体已不再僵硬，而且她知道他的灵魂与肉体正一起放松。他的决心正在减退。他不会说了——她知道。她也同样清楚地知道那是因为他不能说。
She gazed despairingly before her, a numb feeling at her heart, as though hope and happiness had died. She watched the sun flickering down through the warm-trunked redwoods. But she watched in a mechanical, absent way. She looked at the scene as from a long way off, without interest, herself an alien, no longer an intimate part of the earth and trees and flowers she loved so well.
她绝望地盯着前方，心里感觉一阵麻木，好像希望和幸福已经死去了。她看着太阳光忽隐忽现地从长着温暖树干的红木树林中照射下来。但她只是机械地看着，心不在焉。她远远地看着风景，毫无兴趣，自己像个陌生人，不再是她如此热爱的地球、树木和花朵那亲密的一部分了。
So far removed did she seem, that she was aware of a curiosity, strangely impersonal, in what lay around her. Through a near vista she looked at a buckeye tree in full blossom as though her eyes encountered it for the first time. Her eyes paused and dwelt upon a yellow cluster of Diogenes' lanterns that grew on the edge of an open space. It was the way of flowers always to give her quick pleasure-thrills, but no thrill was hers now. She pondered the flower slowly and thoughtfully, as a hasheesh-eater, heavy with the drug, might ponder some whim-flower that obtruded on his vision. In her ears was the voice of the stream—a hoarse-throated, sleepy old giant, muttering and mumbling his somnolent fancies. But her fancy was not in turn aroused, as was its wont; she knew the sound merely for water rushing over the rocks of the deep canyon-bottom, that and nothing more.
她好像与现实隔离了，以至于她意识到她对存在于周围的东西有一种客观而奇怪的好奇心。她的目光掠过不远处的风景，落在一棵花开正旺的七叶树上，似乎她是第一次偶然看到的一样。她的目光停留在一簇黄色的长在一片空地边缘的第欧根尼灯笼花上（注：第欧根尼，古希腊著名哲学家，创立了犬儒派哲学，经常在白天点着灯笼四处走动）。一看见花，她总是马上就兴奋，但是现在她觉得索然无味。她陷入了沉思，慢慢地想着这花，就像是一个毒瘾很大吸食大麻的人，也许会思索一些搅扰自己视野的心血来潮之花。她听到溪水的声音——扯着沙哑的喉咙，昏昏欲睡的老巨人，在轻声低语，含混不清地说着他那使人困倦的幻想。但像往常一样，这并没有唤醒她的幻想；她知道这声音只是奔流在深深的峡谷底部岩石上的水声，仅此而已。
Her gaze wandered on beyond the Diogenes' lanterns into the open space. Knee-deep in the wild oats of the hillside grazed two horses, chestnut-sorrels the pair of them, perfectly matched, warm and golden in the sunshine, their spring-coats a sheen of high-lights shot through with color-flashes that glowed like fiery jewels. She recognized, almost with a shock, that one of them was hers, Dolly, the companion of her girlhood and womanhood, on whose neck she had sobbed her sorrows and sung her joys. A moistness welled into her eyes at the sight, and she came back from the remoteness of her mood, quick with passion and sorrow, to be part of the world again.
她的目光越过第欧根尼灯笼花游移着，看到了那片开阔地。两匹栗色马在山坡上齐膝深的野燕麦丛中吃草，它们真是完美的一对，阳光下它们显得暖洋洋的，闪着金光，春天新长出的皮毛发出彩色的光，像发光的珠宝一样闪烁着。她认出来其中一匹是自己的马，名叫多利，它陪伴她度过了她的少女时期和成年期，她曾趴在这匹马的脖子上哭诉她的悲伤，歌唱她的快乐，这一发现让她一惊。看到这，她的双眼湿润了，她很快带着激情与伤感把延伸的思绪收回来，再次回到现实中来。
The man sank forward from the hips, relaxing entirely, and with a groan dropped his head on her knee. She leaned over him and pressed her lips softly and lingeringly to his hair.
男人弯身坐下，完全放松了，咕哝着将头放在了她的膝盖上。她俯在他身上，嘴唇恋恋不舍地吻着他的头发。
"Come, let us go," she said, almost in a whisper.“起来，我们走吧。”她说道，几乎在耳语。
She caught her breath in a half-sob, then tightened her lips as she rose. His face was white to ghastliness, so shaken was he by the struggle through which he had passed. They did not look at each other, but walked directly to the horses. She leaned against Dolly's neck while he tightened the girths. Then she gathered the reins in her hand and waited. He looked at her as he bent down, an appeal for forgiveness in his eyes; and in that moment her own eyes answered. Her foot rested in his hands, and from there she vaulted into the saddle. Without speaking, without further looking at each other, they turned the horses' heads and took the narrow trail that wound down through the sombre redwood aisles and across the open glades to the pasture-lands below. The trail became a cow-path, the cow-path became a wood-road, which later joined with a hay-road; and they rode down through the low-rolling, tawny California hills to where a set of bars let out on the county road which ran along the bottom of the valley. The girl sat her horse while the man dismounted and began taking down the bars.
她半是抽噎地屏住了呼吸，然后紧咬双唇站了起来。他脸色惨白，因自己经历的思想斗争而不停发抖。他们彼此没有看对方，而是径直朝马走去。她靠在多利的脖子上，而他紧了紧马的肚带。然后她把缰绳收拢在手中，等待着。他弯下腰的时候看了看她，从眼神中看出他在恳求她的宽恕；就在那个时刻，她用眼神做出了回应。他用手托起她的脚，好让她跨上马背。他们没有说话，也没再看彼此一眼，只是掉转马头，踏上了狭窄小路，这条路蜿蜒而下，穿过暗色红木林里的羊肠小道，经过开阔的林中空地到达下边的牧场。这条小路变成了牛车道，牛车道变成了拉木材的路，过后又跟一条运干草的路交汇一处；他们骑马而下，穿过坡度舒缓的黄褐色的加利福尼亚山脉，来到了沿着山谷底部绵延的县里公路旁的一排护栏处。女孩坐在她的马上，而男人下了马，开始挪开护栏。
"No—wait!" she cried, before he had touched the two lower bars.“别——等一下！”在他挪动两个较低护栏之前，她喊道。
She urged the mare forward a couple of strides, and then the animal lifted over the bars in a clean little jump. The man's eyes sparkled, and he clapped his hands.
她驱马向前，几个大跨步，马儿就干净利落地跳过了护栏。男人双目闪烁，鼓起掌来。
"You beauty! you beauty!" the girl cried, leaning forward impulsively in the saddle and pressing her cheek to the mare's neck where it burned flame-color in the sun.“好样的！好样的！”女孩喊着，她把身体猛地向前倾，还把她的脸贴在阳光照耀下发出火焰一样亮光的马颈上。
"Let's trade horses for the ride in," she suggested, when he had led his horse through and finished putting up the bars. "You've never sufficiently appreciated Dolly."“我们换马骑吧，”当他引着他的马穿过护栏又把护栏装好时，她建议道，“你从没有好好地欣赏过多利。”
"No, no," he protested.“不，不。”他抗议道。
"You think she is too old, too sedate," Lute insisted. "She's only sixteen, and she can outrun nine colts out of ten. Only she never cuts up. She's too steady, and you don't approve of her—no, don't deny it, sir. I know. And I know also that she can outrun your vaunted Washoe Ban. There! I challenge you! And furthermore, you may ride her yourself. You know what Ban can do; so you must ride Dolly and see for yourself what she can do."“你认为她太老了，太文静了。”卢特坚持说道，“她才只有十六岁，和十匹马比赛它能超过九匹。只有她从不趾高气昂。她太沉着了，你不会赞许她——不，别否认，先生。我知道。并且我还知道她比你吹嘘的沃肖·班恩还要好。来吧！我向你挑战！而且，你还可以自己骑上它试试。你知道班恩能做什么,所以你一定要骑着多利亲自看看她能做什么。”
They proceeded to exchange the saddles on the horses, glad of the diversion and making the most of it.
他们开始交换马背上的马鞍，为这次交换高兴并尽情地享受它。
"I'm glad I was born in California," Lute remarked, as she swung astride of Ban. "It's an outrage both to horse and woman to ride in a sidesaddle."“我很高兴出生在加利福尼亚，”卢特说道，同时她催促班恩迈开大步。“骑马时用偏座鞍无论对马还是对女人来说都是侮辱。”
"You look like a young Amazon," the man said approvingly, his eyes passing tenderly over the girl as she swung the horse around.“你看起来就像一位年轻的亚马逊人。”男人赞许地说着，当女孩扬鞭策马时，他的眼睛充满柔情地向女孩望去。
"Are you ready?" she asked.“你准备好了吗？”她问道。
"All ready!"“准备就绪！”
"To the old mill," she called, as the horses sprang forward. "That's less than a mile."“到老磨坊去，”她叫着，马儿大步向前跑，“不到一公里。”
"To a finish?" he demanded.“到终点吗？”他询问道。
She nodded, and the horses, feeling the urge of the reins, caught the spirit of the race. The dust rose in clouds behind as they tore along the level road. They swung around the bend, horses and riders tilted at sharp angles to the ground, and more than once the riders ducked low to escape the branches of outreaching and overhanging trees. They clattered over the small plank bridges, and thundered over the larger iron ones to an ominous clanking of loose rods.
她点点头，马儿感受到缰绳勒紧，就有了比赛的劲头。它们在平坦的路上一路飞奔，身后尘土飞扬。在转弯的时候他们左右摆着，马儿和骑马人的身体都明显地倾斜，角度很大，几乎要碰到地面，骑马人不止一次俯下身子以躲开突出来倒悬着的树枝。他们骑着马跑过了木板小桥，马蹄声连续而清脆，然后又隆隆地奔过巨大的铁桥，来到叮当作响的松垮铁棒处，这有点不祥预兆。
They rode side by side, saving the animals for the rush at the finish, yet putting them at a pace that drew upon vitality and staying power. Curving around a clump of white oaks, the road straightened out before them for several hundred yards, at the end of which they could see the ruined mill.
他们骑着马并排走，好让马儿为冲刺终点保存体力，然而既要让它们迈步的时候能用上力，还要保持体力。小路沿着一片白色的橡树转了个弯后，在他们面前笔直地向前延伸，有好几百码远，在路的尽头，他们看见了破败的磨坊。
"Now for it!" the girl cried.“现在去吧！”女孩喊道。
She urged the horse by suddenly leaning forward with her body, at the same time, for an instant, letting the rein slack and touching the neck with her bridle hand. She began to draw away from the man.
她的身体突然往前倾，策马加速，与此同时她马上放松缰绳，用手摸了摸马脖子借以管束马。她开始和男人拉开了距离。
"Touch her on the neck!" she cried to him.“摸摸她的脖子！”她对他大喊道。
With this, the mare pulled alongside and began gradually to pass the girl. Chris and Lute looked at each other for a moment, the mare still drawing ahead, so that Chris was compelled slowly to turn his head. The mill was a hundred yards away.
说这话的时候，马儿还是并排走着，然后逐渐开始超越了女孩。克里斯和卢特彼此对视了一会儿，母马仍然领先，所以克里斯不得不慢慢回头。磨坊离他们还有一百码的距离。
"Shall I give him the spurs?" Lute shouted.“我要不要赶一下马？”卢特大声喊道。
The man nodded, and the girl drove the spurs in sharply and quickly, calling upon the horse for its utmost, but watched her own horse forge slowly ahead of her.
男人点点头，女孩就又狠又快地赶了一下马，叫马儿能跑多快就跑多快，但她却注视着自己的马在她前面慢慢地稳步前进着。
"Beaten by three lengths!" Lute beamed triumphantly, as they pulled into a walk. "Confess, sir, confess! You didn't think the old mare had it in her."“赢了三个马身子！”女孩很得意，满脸笑容，同时他们走到了一块儿。“认输吧，先生，认输吧！你没想过它有老马的品质。”
Lute leaned to the side and rested her hand for a moment on Dolly's wet neck.
卢特身子斜向一边，把手往多利湿漉漉的脖子上放了一会儿。
"Ban's a sluggard alongside of her," Chris affirmed. "Dolly's all right, if she is in her Indian Summer."“班恩在多利旁边显得太懒了。”克里斯承认道，“要是多利正当年的话，它会很好的。”
Lute nodded approval. "That's a sweet way of putting it—Indian Summer. It just describes her. But she's not lazy. She has all the fire and none of the folly. She is very wise, what of her years."
卢特同意地点点头。“这种夸它的方式很有趣——正当年。这描述得很对。但它并不懒。它周身充满热情，一点儿也不蠢。它对自己的年龄很清楚。”
"That accounts for it," Chris demurred. "Her folly passed with her youth. Many's the lively time she's given you."“原来如此，”克里斯迟疑道，“它的愚蠢和它的青春一起流逝了。它把它的好时光都给了你。”
"No," Lute answered. "I never knew her really to cut up. I think the only trouble she ever gave me was when I was training her to open gates. She was afraid when they swung back upon her—the animal's fear of the trap, perhaps. But she bravely got over it. And she never was vicious. She never bolted, nor bucked, nor cut up in all her life—never, not once."“不是的。”卢特回答道，“我从不知道它真的会生气。我认为它给我惹过的唯一麻烦就是当我训练它开门的时候。当他们挥舞着手让它靠后时，它害怕了——或许是动物对陷阱的恐惧吧。但它还是勇敢地克服了这一点。而且它从来没有凶过。它从生下来到现在从来没有脱缰过，不撂橛子，不发脾气——从来没有过，一次都没有。”
The horses went on at a walk, still breathing heavily from their run. The road wound along the bottom of the valley, now and again crossing the stream. From either side rose the drowsy purr of mowing-machines, punctuated by occasional sharp cries of the men who were gathering the hay-crop. On the western side of the valley the hills rose green and dark, but the eastern side was already burned brown and tan by the sun.
马儿继续走着，还在因为它们的奔跑而喘着粗气。小路沿着山谷的底部蜿蜒，时而会穿过小溪。从路边传来了令人昏昏欲睡的割草机的轰鸣声，时而被收集干草的工人们高声大叫所打断。山谷西边是几座隆起的暗绿色的山，山谷东边已经被太阳晒成了褐色和棕褐色。
"There is summer, here is spring," Lute said. "Oh, beautiful Sonoma Valley!"“那儿是夏天，这儿是春天。”卢特说，“啊，美丽的索诺马山谷！”
Her eyes were glistening and her face was radiant with love of the land. Her gaze wandered on across orchard patches and sweeping vineyard stretches, seeking out the purple which seemed to hang like a dim smoke in the wrinkles of the hills and in the more distant canyon gorges. Far up, among the more rugged crests, where the steep slopes were covered with manzanita, she caught a glimpse of a clear space where the wild grass had not yet lost its green.
怀着对这片土地深深的爱意，她的眼睛闪闪发亮，她的脸庞也容光焕发。她的目光游移，望向果园，扫视着葡萄园的藤蔓，在寻找那在起伏的山峦和更加遥远的峡谷中像一股朦胧的烟雾一样垂下来的紫葡萄。高处更加崎岖的山顶之间，石兰科常绿灌木覆盖了陡坡，她瞥了一眼那块还未褪去草绿色的空野草地。
"Have you ever heard of the secret pasture?" she asked, her eyes still fixed on the remote green.“你听说过神秘的农场吗？”她问道，眼睛仍然注视着远处的青山。
A snort of fear brought her eyes back to the man beside her. Dolly, upreared, with distended nostrils and wild eyes, was pawing the air madly with her fore legs. Chris threw himself forward against her neck to keep her from falling backward, and at the same time touched her with the spurs to compel her to drop her fore feet to the ground in order to obey the go-ahead impulse of the spurs.
一声令人害怕的响鼻儿把她的目光拽回到了她身边的男人。多利直立着，张大了鼻孔和野性的眼睛，用它的前腿腾空，疯狂地刨着。克里斯俯身向前顶住它的脖子防止它往后倒，同时他用马刺迫使它把前腿放到地上，以便于马能听从命令往前走。
"Why, Dolly, this is most remarkable," Lute began reprovingly.“怎么了，多利，这太奇异了。”卢特开始责骂起来。
But, to her surprise, the mare threw her head down, arched her back as she went up in the air, and, returning, struck the ground stiff-legged and bunched.
然而，令她惊奇的是，当马儿腾空跃起的时候，它突然把头低了下来，拱起马背，返回来，马腿僵硬地踢着地面，缩成了一团。
"A genuine buck!" Chris called out, and the next moment the mare was rising under him in a second buck.“真是一跃而起啊！”克里斯叫道，接着，马儿又一跃，在他身下站起来。
Lute looked on, astounded at the unprecedented conduct of her mare, and admiring her lover's horsemanship. He was quite cool, and was himself evidently enjoying the performance. Again and again, half a dozen times, Dolly arched herself into the air and struck, stiffly bunched. Then she threw her head straight up and rose on her hind legs, pivoting about and striking with her fore feet. Lute whirled into safety the horse she was riding, and as she did so caught a glimpse of Dolly's eyes, with the look in them of blind brute madness, bulging until it seemed they must burst from her head. The faint pink in the white of the eyes was gone, replaced by a white that was like dull marble and that yet flashed as from some inner fire.
卢特看着，对马儿空前的举动感到吃惊，也很钦佩她恋人的骑术。他相当冷静，而且很明显他自己很享受这场表演。一而再，再而三，有五六次，多利把身子拱向天空，踢踏着，僵硬地隆起身子。然后它把头直直地向上伸，用后腿旋转地站起来，用前腿踢踏着。卢特打着转将她正在骑的马带进了安全状态，同时，她瞥见了多利的眼睛，那眼神里有一种难以觉察的兽性的疯狂，双眼鼓胀着，好像要鼓胀到从脑袋里爆炸为止。眼白里那淡淡的粉红色不见了，取而代之的是一种像是单调的大理石般的白色，却又好像是从某种内心热情中闪烁出来的白色。
A faint cry of fear, suppressed in the instant of utterance, slipped past Lute's lips. One hind leg of the mare seemed to collapse, and for a moment the whole quivering body, upreared and perpendicular, swayed back and forth, and there was uncertainty as to whether it would fall forward or backward. The man, half-slipping sidewise from the saddle, so as to fall clear if the mare toppled backward, threw his weight to the front and alongside her neck. This overcame the dangerous teetering balance, and the mare struck the ground on her feet again.
卢特在要说话瞬间克制住的一声恐惧轻叫，还是从嘴边溜了出来。马的一条后腿好像要支撑不住了，一会儿，整个身体抖动起来，直直地、垂直地前后摇动，至于往前倒还是往后倒还不确定。如果马往后倒下去的话，男人为了能干净利落地下来，就从马鞍的一边半滑着，把自己的身体往前挪，靠在马脖子旁边。这就又维持了即将被打破的平衡，脱离了危险，而马儿又用双腿踢踏地面。
But there was no let-up. Dolly straightened out so that the line of the face was almost a continuation of the line of the stretched neck; this position enabled her to master the bit, which she did by bolting straight ahead down the road.
但是并没有停止。多利挺直身子，这样它的脸就和马颈在同一条线上了，这个位置能使它掌控马嚼子，它沿路向前冲成功控制了马嚼子。
For the first time Lute became really frightened. She spurred Washoe Ban in pursuit, but he could not hold his own with the mad mare, and dropped gradually behind. Lute saw Dolly check and rear in the air again, and caught up just as the mare made a second bolt. As Dolly dashed around a bend, she stopped suddenly, stiff-legged. Lute saw her lover torn out of the saddle, his thigh-grip broken by the sudden jerk. Though he had lost his seat, he had not been thrown, and as the mare dashed on Lute saw him clinging to the side of the horse, a hand in the mane and a leg across the saddle. With a quick cavort he regained his seat and proceeded to fight with the mare for control.
卢特第一次真的感到害怕了。她用马刺刺了一下沃肖·班恩，让它去追多利，但这匹马根本不是多利那匹正在发疯的马的对手，因而渐渐落在了后面。卢特看见多利突然停下来，再次在空中后腿直立，就在马儿再次迅速跑时，她赶了上来。就在多利在一个拐弯处往前冲的时候，它又突然停了下来，腿也变得僵硬。卢特看见她的恋人扯开马鞍，由于猛然的颠簸，他大腿已使不上力了。尽管他已经离开了马鞍，他却没有掉下来，当马儿奔跑的时候，卢特看见他紧紧贴着马身子的一侧，一只手抓着马鬃，一条腿跨在马鞍上。他纵身一跃又回到了马座上，继续为控制马而和马搏斗。
But Dolly swerved from the road and dashed down a grassy slope yellowed with innumerable mariposa lilies. An ancient fence at the bottom was no obstacle. She burst through as though it were filmy spider-web and disappeared in the underbrush. Lute followed unhesitatingly, putting Ban through the gap in the fence and plunging on into the thicket. She lay along his neck, closely, to escape the ripping and tearing of the trees and vines. She felt the horse drop down through leafy branches and into the cool gravel of a stream's bottom. From ahead came a splashing of water, and she caught a glimpse of Dolly, dashing up the small bank and into a clump of scrub-oaks, against the trunks of which she was trying to scrape off her rider.
但是多利在路上突然转了向，沿着一条被无数蝴蝶百合映成黄色的长满草的山坡往下冲。底部一个古老的篱笆构不成障碍。它猛然突破了篱笆，似乎那是薄如蝉翼的蜘蛛网，然后就消失在灌木丛中。卢特紧紧跟着，骑着班恩从篱笆上的缝隙里穿过，冲进了灌木丛。她紧紧地贴着它的脖子，以免树木和藤蔓将她划破或是撕扯。她感觉到马儿穿过长满叶子的树枝，来到了小溪底部凉凉的石子中。前面溅起了水花，她瞥见多利正往一个小河岸上冲，进入了一片胭脂栎树丛中，它正用力地刮蹭着树干，试图摆脱骑在它背上的人。
Lute almost caught up amongst the trees, but was hopelessly outdistanced on the fallow field adjoining, across which the mare tore with a fine disregard for heavy ground and gopher-holes. When she turned at a sharp angle into the thicket-land beyond, Lute took the long diagonal, skirted the ticket, and reined in Ban at the other side. She had arrived first. From within the thicket she could hear a tremendous crashing of brush and branches. Then the mare burst through and into the open, falling to her knees, exhausted, on the soft earth. She arose and staggered forward, then came limply to a halt. She was in lather-sweat of fear, and stood trembling pitiably.
卢特在树林中几乎要赶上来了，但在后边毗邻的荒地上又无望赶上来，马儿撕扯着穿过去，不顾及泥泞的地面和囊鼠洞。当它大角度地急转身，冲进远处的灌木丛里时，卢特顺着一条长长的斜线走，绕过了灌木丛，在另一边勒住了班恩。她先到达了。从灌木丛里，她能听到灌木丛和树枝碰撞的巨大的声音。然后马儿冲出来，来到了空地，筋疲力尽地倒下来，倒在了柔软的泥土上。它站起来，踉踉跄跄一瘸一拐地往前走，然后停了下来。它因害怕而流下汗沫，浑身发抖，可怜地站着。
Chris was still on her back. His shirt was in ribbons. The backs of his hands were bruised and lacerated, while his face was streaming blood from a gash near the temple. Lute had controlled herself well, but now she was aware of a quick nausea and a trembling of weakness.
克里斯仍骑在它的背上。他的衬衫被撕成了碎片。他双手手背被划得皮开肉绽，脸上太阳穴附近一个深长的伤口正在不停地流血。卢特已经控制好了自己，但现在她突然觉得恶心，因虚弱而身体发抖。
"Chris!" she said, so softly that it was almost a whisper. Then she sighed, "Thank God."“克里斯！”她说道，声音那么轻柔，就像在耳边低语。然后她叹了口气说，“谢天谢地。”
"Oh, I'm all right," he cried to her, putting into his voice all the heartiness he could command, which was not much, for he had himself been under no mean nervous strain.“噢，我很好。”他对她喊道，说话时他把所剩无几的全部精力都用上了，他自己确实相当紧张。
He showed the reaction he was undergoing, when he swung down out of the saddle. He began with a brave muscular display as he lifted his leg over, but ended, on his feet, leaning against the limp Dolly for support. Lute flashed out of her saddle, and her arms were about him in an embrace of thankfulness.
当他纵身跃下马鞍时，他表现出他正经受的反应。他抬起腿展示他的强壮肌肉，但又停下来，站着斜靠在一瘸一拐的多利身上寻求支撑。卢特急忙从马鞍上跳下，伸出双臂抱住他，表示感恩。
"I know where there is a spring," she said, a moment later.“我知道哪儿有泉水。”过了一会儿，她说道。
They left the horses standing untethered, and she led her lover into the cool recesses of the thicket to where crystal water bubbled from out the base of the mountain.
他们松开缰绳让马站在那儿，她领着恋人进入凉爽的灌木丛林深处，到了大山底部，那里清澈的水冒着气泡。
"What was that you said about Dolly's never cutting up?" he asked, when the blood had been stanched and his nerves and pulse-beats were normal again.“你说多利从来不会生气是指什么？”他问道，当时他的血已经止住了，情绪和心率也再次正常了。
"I am stunned," Lute answered. "I cannot understand it. She never did anything like it in all her life. And all animals like you so—it's not because of that. Why, she is a child's horse. I was only a little girl when I first rode her, and to this day—"
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