牛津書蟲系列 亡靈島 1 來到英格蘭

1 Coming to England

1 來到英格蘭

My name is Carol Sanders.

我叫卡羅爾·桑德斯。

I live in England now，but when I was younger，I lived in Hong Kong.My father was a businessman there and my mother worked as a secretary.We lived in Hong Kong for seven years.

我現居英格蘭，但我更年輕時住在香港。我父親在那兒經商而我母親是個秘書。我們在香港住了七年。

I was happy at school， with lots of friends，and we had a good time.I liked pop music—the Rolling Stones，David Bowie and Jake Rosso were my favourites.

我在學校很快樂，有許多朋友;我們玩得很愉快。我喜歡流行音樂——滾石樂隊、戴維·鮑伊和杰克·羅素是我至愛。

Jake Rosso was my favourite singer. He died in a car accident the year I left school， but I listened to his pop records all the time.I had hundreds of pictures and photos of him on my bedroom wall.

杰克·羅索是我最喜歡的歌手。我離校那年他死于一次車禍，但我一直在聽他的流行歌曲唱片。我在我臥室的墻上貼了成百上千的有關他的畫片和照片。

Then one day in winter when I was seventeen，things began to go wrong for me.

接著在我17歲那年冬季的一天，事情對我來說開始變糟了。

My father went to Australia on business.I loved him very much and didn't like him going away.

我父親去澳大利亞出差。我非常愛他，不愿意讓他離家在外。

‘Come home quickly，’I always said to him.

“快點回家來，”我總是對他說。

He was in Australia for two weeks.Then， on the day of his journey home， an aeroplane from Sydney crashed into the sea just south of Hong Kong.Everybody on the plane died.

他在澳大利亞呆了兩周。接著，在他要登上回程的那天，一架從悉尼起飛的飛機墜入香港正南部的海域。機上人員全部遇難。

I heard about the plane crash on television.At first， I did not think about my father.Then I remembered he was flying back from Sydney on that day.

我從電視上聽到飛機失事的消息。起初，我并沒有想到我父親。后來，我想起來那天他正從悉尼乘機返回。

‘Oh，no!’I cried.

“啊，不!”我叫了起來。

I telephoned the airport but they did not know the names of all the passengers then.

我給機場打電話，但他們那時還不知道所有乘客的名字。

‘Perhaps my father didn't get that plane，’I thought.‘ Oh，please!Please!’

“或許我父親沒乘那架飛機。”我想，“啊，千萬別乘!千萬別乘那架飛機!”

My mother was at work and I called her on the telephone.She came home quickly and we went to the airport and waited for news.

我母親當時正在上班，于是我給她打了電話。她很快回家;我們去機場并等待消息。

Later，we learned my father was on the plane.

后來，我們得知我父親正在那架飛機上。

‘It's not true!’I shouted.

“這不是真的!”我喊道。

But it was true， and I began to cry.

但這是真的，我哭了起來。

I cried for weeks and weeks.I spent many days alone in my room.I was lonely and sad and I wanted to die，too.

我哭了一周又一周。好多天我獨自一人呆在房間里。我既孤獨又傷心，我也想過去死。

I stopped going out with my friends. I didn't want to see other people.I stopped listening to Jake Rosso's records， and took his pictures off my bedroom wall. I didn't listen to music or watch television. Nothing mattered any more.

我不再和朋友們出去玩了。我不想見別人。我不再聽杰克·羅索的唱片了，還把他的圖片從我臥室的墻上取了下來。我不聽音樂了，也不看電視了。一切對我都不再要緊了。

Then I stopped crying.I stopped feeling sad and began to feel angry.

后來我不哭了。我不再傷心了，而開始感到憤怒了。

‘Why did it happen to him?’I asked my mother.‘Why do the best people die?Jake Rosso.My father.’

“為什么這事讓他碰上了呢?”我問媽媽，“為什么總是最好的人死呢?杰克·羅索。我爸爸。”

‘I… I don't know， Carol，'my mother said.She was unhappy，too.

“我……我不知道，卡羅爾。”我媽媽說。她也不愉快。

At the time of the plane crash， I was a student at college.I enjoyed the college work and life very much， but after my father's death I stopped doing my work at the college.I began to go out with some new friends.They were different from my other friends，and my mother didn't like them.

飛機失事的時候，我正是個大學學生。我當時很喜歡大學的學習和生活，但我父親去世后我在大學不學習了。我開始和一些新結識的朋友出去玩。他們和我的其他朋友不一樣，而且我媽媽不喜歡他們。

‘ They're bad people，Carol，'she told me.‘They do dangerous things.’

“他們不是正經人，卡羅爾。”她告訴我，“他們在干一些危險的事情。”

‘They're exciting，’I said.‘And I like them.’

“他們令人感到興奮。”我說，“而且我喜歡他們。”

I knew she was angry but I didn't care. But then I learned my new friends took drugs，and I began to take drugs，too.It was wrong and stupid，I know that now， but I was unhappy and angry.

我知道她生氣了，可我不在乎。后來我得知我新結識的朋友們在吸毒，我也開始吸毒了。我現在知道那樣做既錯又蠢，可那時候我心情郁悶。

The police came to the college to arrest some of the students.They didn't arrest me， but I had to leave the college.It was a bad time.

警察來到大學抓了一些學生。他們沒抓我，可我不得不離開那個大學。那段日子可真糟糕。

My mother was very unhappy with me.‘What am I going to do with you，Carol? she said.

我媽媽對我很不高興。“我拿你可怎么辦呢，卡羅爾?”她說。

‘I'm sorry，’I told her.

“對不起，”我告訴她說。

‘We'll go back to England，'she said.‘You can find a college there.Perhaps you can be happier in England.’

“我們回英格蘭吧。”她說，“在那兒你可以找所大學上。在英格蘭也許你會高興些。”

‘All right，’I said.‘I want to forget what's happened.I want to forget what I've done and begin a new life， be a new person.’

“好吧。”我說，“我想把過去發(fā)生的事忘掉。我想把我所干的事忘掉，開始新生活，成為一個新人。”

A month later， we came back to England.We lived in London，in a hotel.It was strange，at first， with all the red buses and everybody speaking English.It was the beginning of the summer，three months before college began in the autumn.London was full of tourists.

一個月后，我們回到了英格蘭。我們住在倫敦，呆在一家飯店里。起初，一切都很新奇：公共汽車是紅色的，人人都說英語。時值初夏，離秋季開學還有三個月。倫敦到處都是觀光客。

We looked at all the famous buildings—Buckingham Palace，the Tower of London.And we went to restaurants and theatres in the evenings.It was interesting and exciting and I began to forget the bad times in Hong Kong.

我們參觀了所有著名的建筑物——白金漢宮、倫敦塔。而且晚上我們去餐館和劇院。這令人感興趣、令人激動，我開始忘掉在香港的那些令人難受的時光。

‘I'm pleased we came to London，’I told my mother.

“我真為我們來到了倫敦而高興，”我對媽媽說。

But after a few weeks，she said，‘You need to find a college，Carol.You must go on studying. And I need a job.’

但是過了幾周之后，她說：“你得找所大學上，卡羅爾。你必須繼續(xù)你的學業(yè)。我也需要個工作。”

That evening， we looked in the newspapers.

那天傍晚，我們翻看了一下報紙。

‘What about this?’I said.I showed my mother a job in the newspaper.

“這工作怎么樣?”我說。我給媽媽看了看報上登的一條招工的消息。

SECRETARY

招聘秘書啟事

for the summer months

蘇格蘭一私人小島上

on a small private island in Scotland.

夏季招聘秘書一名。

Live with the family in a big house.

可與本家共享寬裕住所。

interseting work and good pay

若人選合適，

for the right person.

工作有趣，薪金豐厚。

Phone Greta Poss.Telephone number 071…

有意者請與格里塔·羅斯聯系。電話：071……

‘Well， that sounds interesting，'said my mother.‘I'd like to work as a secretary on an island in Scotland.It's a beautiful country， Carol， and you can go to a college there in the autumn.’

“嗯，聽起來挺有意思的。”我媽媽說，“我愿意在蘇格蘭的一個島上干秘書工作。它是個很美麗的地方，卡羅爾，而且你秋季可以在那兒上大學。”

‘And it's a place to live for the summer，’I said.‘Hotels are expensive.’

“夏季也可以在那兒過。”我說，“飯店很費錢。”

My mother telephoned Greta Ross.

我媽媽打電話給格里塔·羅斯。

Come and see me tomorrow， Greta Ross told her.‘Come to Savoy Hotel at eleven o'clock.’

“明天來見我吧。”格里塔·羅斯告訴她，“11點請到薩沃伊飯店來。”

I went to Savoy Hotel with my mother.It was big and ex pensive，bigger than our hotel，and in the centre of London.

我和媽媽一起去了薩沃伊飯店。這個飯店既大又貴，比我們住的飯店大，并位于倫敦的中心地帶。

‘Mum needs this job，I thought.‘And a private island in Scotland is a nice place to live.Perhaps I can forget what's happened if I go there.’

“媽媽需要這個工作。”我想，“蘇格蘭的一座私人島嶼還是個生活的好地方。我如果去那兒，也許就可以把過去發(fā)生的事情忘掉。”

‘Room twenty-two，'said the woman at the hotel desk.‘Go on up. Mrs Ross will see you now.’

“22號房間。”飯店服務臺的女士說，“上樓去吧。羅斯夫人現在就可以接見您。”

Greta Ross was waiting for us.She was about thirty years old and very beautiful.She wore an expensive red dress and her hair was very long and dark.

格里塔·羅斯正等著我們。她大約三十歲，很漂亮。她穿著一件很貴的紅色連衣裙，頭發(fā)很長很黑。

‘This is my daughter，Carol，'said my mother.

“這是我女兒卡羅爾，”我媽媽說。

‘Hallo， Carol，'said Greta Ross.

“你好，卡羅爾。”格里塔·羅斯說。

‘Hallo，’I said.

“您好，”我說。

‘Carol is eighteen years old，'said my mother.‘Can she come with me，if I get the job? Perhaps she can help in the house or in the garden.She likes gardening.She's studying farming at college.’

“卡羅爾18歲了。”我媽媽說，“如果我能得到這份工作，她可以跟著我嗎?也許她能幫助做些家務活或干些園子里的活。她喜歡園藝。她正在大學學農業(yè)。”

‘Perhaps， said Greta Ross.‘There's a small farm on the island.’

“也許行吧。”格里塔·羅斯說，“島上有個小農常”

‘I'd like to work on the farm，’I said.

“我喜歡在農場里干活，”我說。

Greta Ross looked at my mother.‘How long did you live in Hong Kong，Mrs Sanders?’

格里塔·羅斯看了看我母親。“你們在香港住了多久，桑德斯夫人?”

‘Seven years，’answered my mother.‘My husband died in a plane crash last year，so we've come back to live in England.’

“七年。”我媽媽說，“我丈夫去年因飛機失事去世了，所以我們回英格蘭住來了。”

‘Where did you live before Hong Kong?’

“住在香港之前你們呆在哪兒?”

‘We lived in India for three years.’

“我們在印度住了三年。”

Then Greta Ross took my mother into a room and asked her more questions.I waited outside.

然后格里塔·羅斯帶我媽媽進了一個房間，問了她更多的問題。我在外邊等著。

‘Greta Ross is nice，’I thought.‘I hope my mother gets the job.’

“格里塔·羅斯挺好的。”我想，“我希望媽媽能得到這份工作。”

Soon after，the door opened and my mother came out.She was smiling.

過了不一會兒門開了，我媽媽出來了。她微笑著。

Greta Ross said，‘Please wait here for a minute，Mrs Sanders.I want to make a phone call.'she went back into the room，and closed the door.

格里塔·羅斯說：“請在這兒等一會兒，桑德斯夫人。我想去打個電話。”她返回房間，并關上了門。

I was sitting on a chair near the door，and I could just hear Greta Ross's voice speaking on the phone.

我坐在門旁的一把椅子上，正好能聽到格里塔·羅斯打電話的聲音。

‘I think I've found someone，'she was saying.‘She has a daughter，but the girl can work in the garden or on the farm… Don't worry，they've been away from England for ten years… It'll be all right，I tell you… Don't worry.’

“我想我已經找到了一個人。”她正在說，“她有個女兒，但這個女孩可以在園子或在農場干些活兒……別擔心，她們離開英格蘭已有10年了……不會出事的，我告訴你……別擔心。”

After a few minutes， Greta Ross put down the phone and came ont of the room.

過了一會兒，格里塔·羅斯掛上了電話并從屋里出來了。

‘You've got the job，'she told my mother.

“你得到了這份工作，”她告訴我媽媽說。

My mother was pleased.‘Thank you，'she replied.

我媽媽很高興。“謝謝您，”她說。

I was pleased，too， but now I was worried about that phone call.I didn't understand it.

我也很高興，可現在我對那個電話感到憂慮不安。我不明白它的意思。