書蟲四級《三怪客泛舟記》：第十一章 客棧和水果罐頭

Chapter 11 Hotels and tinned fruit

第十一章 客棧和水果罐頭

After breakfast I was sitting by the river, and thinking, when George said, 'Perhaps, when you've rested enough, you could help to wash the plates and things.' so I cleaned the pan with some wood and grass-and George's wet shirt.

早飯后我坐在河邊，陷入了沉思。喬治說：“喂，要是你休息得差不多了就幫忙洗洗碗碟吧。”我只好用樹枝和亂草洗鍋子，還用了喬治的濕襯衫。

Then we started to move up the river again, past Old Windsor, which is very pretty. After that, the river is not very interesting until you get to Boveney. George and I were towing the boat then. As we were passing Datchet, George asked me if I remembered our first trip up the river. On that trip we reached Datchet at ten o'clock at night. All we wanted to do was to eat and go to bed.

然后我們又沿著河上路了，經(jīng)過了古老的溫莎鎮(zhèn)那一片風景優(yōu)美的地方。過了那兒風景就單調(diào)得很，一無可取，一直到布文奈。我和喬治一起拉著纖。當我們經(jīng)過達切特時，喬治問我還記不記得第一次在河上旅游的情景。那一次，我們晚上十點鐘才到達切特，大家只想吃點東西然后趕快去睡覺。

I replied, 'Yes, I do remember it. 'I remember it well. In fact, it will be some time before I forget it…

我說：“記得，當然忘不了。”我的確記得很清楚。說實在的，要讓我忘了還真得費點時間呢。

It was one Saturday in August. There was George, and Harris, and me. We were tired and hungry. When we got to Datchet, we took out of the boat the basket of food, the two bags, and the coats and things. Then we began to look for somewhere to stay. We passed a very pretty little hotel, but there were no roses round the door. I wanted somewhere with roses round the door. I do not know why. Anyway, I said, 'Oh, we don't want to go there. Let's look for a little hotel with roses round the door. '

那是八月份的一個星期六，同游的還是我們?nèi)齻€。那會兒又餓又累，到達切特的時候，我們從船里拿出一籃子食物，兩個包，外套和其它一些東西。接著大家就想找地方安頓下來。我們經(jīng)過一家很漂亮的小旅店，只是門口旁邊沒有玫瑰花。我偏偏想找一家門口有玫瑰的，也不明白怎么會如此心血來潮。我說：“漫著，我們別進去!咱們再找找其它旅店，看看有沒有門口長滿玫瑰的。”

So we went on until we came to another hotel. That was a very nice one, too, and it did have roses. But Harris did not like the man who was standing by the front door. Harris said that he did not look like a nice man, and he was wearing ugly boots. So we went on. We walked for some time, but we did not see any more hotels. Then we met a man and we decided to ask him.

我們一直走，又來到另外一家旅店。那家旅店也不錯，而且門口的確有玫瑰花?？晒锼拐f，門口站著的那個人讓人討厭，看上去不象個好人，穿的靴子也那么難看。于是，我們只好再往前走，走了一陣子也沒有看到其它旅館。我們在路上碰到一個行人，便決定問問他。

'Excuse me, do you know any nice little hotels near here?' we said.

“勞駕，您知道附近有哪些好點的旅館嗎?”我們問道。

'Well, 'he said, 'you're coming away from them. Go back, and you'll come to the Black Horse. '

“喲，”他說，“你們走過了，往回走會看到黑馬旅館。”

We said, 'Oh, we've been there, and we didn't like it. There were no roses round the door. '

我們說：“喔，那里我們已經(jīng)去過了，可是不大喜歡那一家，它門口沒有玫瑰花。”

'Well, then, 'he said, 'there's the Travelers' rest just beyond it. Have you tried that?'

“哦，是這樣，”他說，“那一家旅館過來還有一個客來旅館，你們?nèi)ツ橇藛?”

Harris replied that we did not want to go there. We did not like the man who was staying there. Harris did not like the colour of his hair. He did not like his boots either.

哈里斯說我們不想去那家，不喜歡站在那兒的那個人。哈里斯不喜歡他頭發(fā)的顏色，也不喜歡他穿的靴子。

'Well, I don't know what you're going to do, then, 'the man answered, 'because they are the only two hotels here. '

“那我真不知道你們該怎么辦了，”那個指路人回答說，“因為這里只有那兩家旅館。”

'No other hotels!' Harris cried.

“再沒有別的了?”哈里斯叫道。

'None, 'the man replied.

“再沒有了，”那個人回答說。

'What are we going to do now?' Harris asked.

“那我們現(xiàn)在怎么辦?”哈里斯又道。

Then George spoke. He said, 'You two can ask someone to build you a hotel. I'm going back to the Black Horse!'

接著，喬治說：“你們倆不妨找人給你們新蓋個旅館住住，我可要回黑馬去了。”

So we went back to the Black Horse.

后來我們只好都回黑馬。

'Good evening, 'the man at the desk said.

“晚上好，”一個男人在前臺招呼道。

'Oh, good evening, 'George answered. 'We want three beds, please. '

“啊，晚上好，”喬治回答說，“我們要三個床位，謝謝。”

'I'm sorry, sir, 'the man replied, 'but we haven't got three beds. '

“對不起，先生，”那人回答說，“可是我們沒有三個床位。”

'Oh, well, it doesn't matter-two beds, then. Two of us can sleep in one bed, can't we?' George continued. He looked at Harris and me.

“哦，是嗎?沒關(guān)系——那就兩個也行。我們可以有兩個人睡在一張床上，是吧?”喬治接著說，看了看哈里斯和我。

Harris said, 'Oh, yes. 'He thought that George and I could sleep in one bed very easily.

哈里斯說：“對，可以。”他以為喬治和我可以舒舒服服擠在一張床上。

'I'm very sorry, sir, 'the man repeated. 'We haven't got any beds. We've already got three men in one bed. '

“非常抱歉，先生，”那個男人說，“我們的床位全沒了。我們已經(jīng)有三個人擠在一張床上睡了。”

We picked up our things, and we went over to the Travelers' rest. It was a pretty little place. I said I thought it was better than the other hotel. Harris said it would be all right. We would not look at the man with red hair and ugly boots.

就這樣，我們拿起行李又去客來旅館。那地方不大，卻很美。我說這家比另一家要好。哈里斯也說沒事，我們也不必去管那個長著紅頭發(fā)，穿著難看靴子的家伙了。

The people at the Travelers' rest did not wait to hear what we wanted. The lady at the desk said she had already sent away fourteen people. There was no room of any kind. We asked her if she knew somewhere we could spend the night. She said there was a little house along the roa.

可旅館里的人根本沒等我們開口。前臺的一位女士說她已經(jīng)打發(fā)走十四個人了，什么樣的房間都沒有了。我們問她附近還有哪些地方可以留宿一夜。她說沿著路走下去有一幢房子。

We did not wait. We picked up the basket, the bags and the coats, and we ran along the road.

我們二話沒說，抄起籃子，抓起包，拎著衣服，一溜煙兒沿著路跑了下去。

The people there laughed at us. There were only three beds in the house, and there were seven men there already.

到了那里，那兒的人直笑話我們，房子里只有三張床，可已經(jīng)住了七個人了。

Someone said, 'Why don't you try the little shop next to the Black Horse?'

有人說：“怎么不去試試黑馬旁邊的那家小雜貨店呢?”

So we went back along the road, but there were no beds at the little shop. However, there was an old lady in the shop. She said she had a friend who had some rooms. She added that she would take us there.

于是我們又原路折回去?？尚‰s貨店里也沒有床鋪了。有個老太太在雜貨店里，她說有個朋友有幾間屋子，還補充道愿意帶我們?nèi)ァ?/p>

The old woman walked very slowly, and it took us twenty minutes to get to her friend's house. During the walk, she told us about all the pains she had in her back. When we got there, there were already some people in her friend's rooms. From there we went to number 27. Number 27 was full. They sent us to number 32, and number 32 was full.

老太太走路很慢，我們花了二十分鐘才到那里。一路上老太太一直嘮叨著說腰上這也疼，那也疼。我們到的時候，她朋友家已經(jīng)住了幾個人了。從那兒我們又去27號，27號也住滿了，把我們送到32號，32號也滿了。

Then we went back along the road. Suddenly Harris sat down on the basket. He said he was not going to move. He added that it seemed to be nice and quiet there, and he said that he would like to die there.

我們只好回到馬路上。忽然哈里斯一屁股坐在籃子上，說他一動也不想動了。還說這地方倒挺安靜，他寧可死在這兒算了。

Just then, a little boy came past. 'Do you know any old people that we can frighten, so that they will give us their beds?' we asked him.

正在這個時候，一個小男孩路過。我們問他：“你知不知道哪里有些老家伙們，我們可以嚇唬他們一下，讓他們把床計給我們?”

'No, I don't, 'the boy answered, but he added that his mother would give us a room. And that was where we spent the night-in two very short beds.

“哦，我不知道，”小男孩回答說，不過他又說他媽媽可以給我們一個房間。那天晚上我們就睡在了那里——在兩張?zhí)貏e短的小床上。

After that, we were never quite so difficult about hotels.

從那以后，對于旅館問題，我們再也不敢挑三揀四了。

On our present trip, though, nothing exciting happened. We continued slowly on our way, and we stopped for lunch near Monkey Island.

目前這一段旅程，我們還沒有碰到什么今人激動的事兒。我們把船慢慢悠悠劃到猴子島附近，停下來吃午餐。

We decided to have cold meat for lunch. Then, after that, George brought out a tin of fruit. We love tinned fruit, all three of us. We looked at the picture on the tin. We thought about the fruit. We imagined the taste of it. We smiled at each other, and Harris got out a spoon. Then we looked for the tin-opener. We took everything out of the big basket. We took everything out of the bags. There was no tin-opener. We pulled up the boards at the bottom of the boat. We put everything out on the grass by the river, and we shook everything. There was no tin-opener!

我們準備吃冷肉。接著喬治拿出一聽水果罐頭。我們?nèi)齻€都很喜歡水果罐頭?？粗揞^盒上美麗的圖畫，想著里面的水果，想像著它的滋味，大家樂滋滋的，相視而笑。哈里斯拿出了一把調(diào)羹。接著大家找起了啟罐器。我們把大籃子里的東西都拿出來，又把包里的東西都拿出來，可是找不到。我們把船底下的板子全拉開了，把所有東西都搬到河邊草地上，把每件東西搖了又搖，可就是找不到啟罐器!

Then Harris tried to open the tin with a little knife, and he cut himself badly. George tried with some scissors. The scissors flew up, and nearly hit him in the eye. I tried to make a hole in the tin with the sharp end of a piece of metal. But I missed. As a result, I fell in the water, and the tin flew away and broke a cup.

哈里斯想用小刀開罐頭，結(jié)果把自己狠狠劃了一刀;喬治用剪刀試了試，結(jié)果剪刀飛了，差點扎到他的眼睛;我想用鐵條的尖頭在罐頭上鉆個小孔，可是沒有對準，結(jié)果我摔進水里，罐頭彈起來，砸碎了一只茶杯。

Then we all got angry. We took that tin, and we put it on the grass by the river. Harris went into a field and got a big, sharp stone. I got a long, thick piece of wood. George held the tin, and Harris put the sharp end of his stone against the top of it. I took the piece of wood, and held it high in the air. Then I brought it down as hard as I could.

我們大家氣得發(fā)瘋。我們把罐頭拿到岸上放在草地上。哈里斯找來一塊又大又尖的石頭，我拿了一根又長又粗的木頭。喬治拿著罐頭，哈里斯把石頭尖對準了罐頭的頂蓋，我高高舉起木頭，使足了力量，狠命砸下去。

It was George's hat that saved his life that day. He keeps that hat now. On a winter evening, when men are telling stories about the dangers they have known, George brings out his hat. He shows it to his friends. Then he tells the story again-and he adds more details to it each time.

那天喬治全靠他的帽子才大難不死，他至今還保存著那頂帽子。每當冬夜來臨，大家聊著自己知道的各種各樣的歷險，喬治就會把這頂帽子拿出來向朋友們展示一番，并把他的故事復述一遍，而且還不免要添油加醋。

Harris was not hurt too badly.

哈里斯還好，傷得不太重。

After that, I took the tin away. I beat it until I was exhausted and miserable. Then Harris took it.

后來我又接過那個罐頭，又敲又打，直弄得我精疲力盡，垂頭喪氣。哈里斯又接著去錘打。

We beat it until it was long and thin. We beat it until it was square. We hit it with the wood until it was every shape there is-but we could not make a hole in it. Then George tried, and he knocked it into a shape which was strange, and terrible, and ugly. It frightened him, and he threw away the piece of wood. Then the three of us sat round that tin on the grass, and we looked at it.

我們把罐頭錘得又細又長，又敲得又正又方。我們拿著木頭把罐頭敲成了各種各樣的形狀——偏偏就敲不開一個小孔。然后喬治又拿過去敲打，敲得罐頭成了個稀奇古怪，猙獰可怕的形狀。喬治自己都害怕起來，干脆把木頭扔了。我們?nèi)齻€人圍著罐頭坐在草地上，愣愣地看著它。

There was one big line across the top of the tin that looked like a mouth. It seemed to be laughing at us, and this made us very angry. So Harris ran at it, and picked it up. He threw it, as hard as he could, into the middle of the river. As it went down into the water, we shouted awful things at it. Then we got into the boat, and we left that place, and did not stop until we reached Maidenhead.

罐頭頂上有一條粗粗的橫線，好象咧著的嘴，沖著我們獰笑。我們越發(fā)怒氣沖沖。哈里斯狠狠沖過去，一把抓起來，使勁扔出去，扔到河中心。我們看著它沉下去，用很難聽的話罵它，然后上了船，離開那個鬼地方，直到梅登黑德才停腳。

We went through Maidenhead quickly, but, after that, we travelled along more slowly. We stopped for tea just before we got to Cookham. By the time we got through the lock it was evening.

我們急急忙忙駛過梅登黑德，等過了它慢慢才把速度減下來。快到庫克姆時我們停下船，喝了下午茶。等我們通過水閘時已經(jīng)是暮色蒼茫了。

It was a bit windy, and someone had made a mistake because the wind was behind us. That does not usually happen. But that afternoon the wind actually helped us on our way, and the boat moved quite fast.

那天有點風，好象老天爺打錯了主意，風從我們背后吹來，這可真是十分難得。不過，那天下午的風的確大大助了我們一臂之力，船飛也似地奔馳起來。

There were no other people on the river, except for three old men. They were sitting in a boat, and they were fishing. As we got nearer, we could see that they were old. They were also quite serious, because they were watching their fishing-lines very carefully. The sun was going down, and it threw a red light across the water. It was very beautiful, and we felt that we were sailing into some strange land.

河上除了三個老頭兒，再沒有其他人影。他們坐在船上釣魚。我們靠上去的時候，才看清楚他們都上了年紀，而且還特別一本正經(jīng)的樣子，眼睛一眨不眨地盯著釣魚線。太陽快落山了，向水面射出萬道燦爛的金光，美不勝收，我們也仿佛駛進了一片神奇的國土。

We did not sail into some strange land. We went straight in-to that boat with the three old men in it. At first, we did not know what had happened. But then, from the words which rose on the evening air, we understood that we were near people. We also understood that those people were not happy. We had knocked those three old men from their seats, and they were all lying on the bottom of their boat. They were trying to stand up and they were picking fish off themselves. As they worked, they shouted unkind things about us-not just the usual things, but special things about us, and about our families.

可是，實際上我們并沒有駛進那神奇的地方，而是徑直地朝著三個老頭的船沖了過去。起初我們還不知道出了什么事情。但是從夜幕中傳來呼喊聲，我們揣測附近有人，而且人家還十分憤怒和不滿。原來，我們把三個老頭兒從椅子上撞落到船底擠成一堆。他們一邊吃力地爬起來，把撒落的魚兒從自己身上拿開，一邊沖著我們叫罵——不僅僅是些尋常的話，他們的叫罵還涉及我們本人，以及我們的三親六眷。

Harris called out, You ought to be pleased that something so exciting has happened to you!' He added that he was very unhappy to hear men of their age use those bad words.

哈里斯喊了一嗓子：“高興點吧!這么好的事攤到你們頭上。”他又說，象他們這么一把年紀的人還破口大罵人，實在讓他痛心。

But the three old men did not seem to agree with Harris.

可是三個老頭并不買哈里斯的帳。

At Marlow we left the boat near the bridge, and we went to spend the night in a hotel.

到了馬洛，我們在橋邊上了岸，去旅館過夜。