牛津書蟲系列 化學秘密 11 The Public Enquiry

11 The Public Enquiry

11 公眾聽證會

Two days later，the Enquiry began.Scientists came from London to ask questions about the disease that was killing the seals.Before he had gone to Scotland，John had been to see David Wilson about the Enquiry.David Wilson had asked John to speak for the company.

兩天后，聽證會開始。來自倫敦的科學家就海豹死亡的病因提了問題。約翰在去蘇格蘭之前曾為聽證會見了大衛(wèi)·威爾遜。大衛(wèi)·威爾遜要約翰代表公司說話。

'You're our chief biologist，John，'he said.'You're an im-portant man.They'll believe you.'

“你是我們的主管生物學家，約翰，”他說。“你是一個重要人物，他們會相信你。”

John said nothing.He didn't want to speak at the Enquiry，but he knew he had to.David Wilson smiled.Or at least，his mouth smiled.But his eyes watched John carefully，all the time，like the cold eyes of a fish.

約翰什么也沒說。他不想在聽證會上講話，但他知道他必須講。大衛(wèi)·威爾遜笑了，至少他的嘴是在笑。但他的眼睛像冰冷的魚眼自始至終小心地望著約翰。

'Think carefully about what you say，John.If you say the wrong thing next week，hundreds of people will lose their jobs.And the first person to lose his job will be you，John.I promise you that.'

“仔細想想你要說的，約翰。如果下周你說錯了，幾百人將失去工作，而第一個失業(yè)的將是你，約翰，我敢向你保證這一點。”

The Enquiry room was crowded.There were a lot of journal-ists and photographers there，and a lot of people from the town and the factory too.John's train was late，and he caught a taxi from the station.When he came into the room，he saw Simon，sitting with the journalists.Christine was near him，with Andrew and some young people from Greenworld.John smiled at her，but she didn't smile back.She looks very white and ill，he thought.It's probably the baby.He remembered how ill his wife Rachel had been in the mornings，before Christine was born，and he smiled sadly to himself.

聽證會大廳擠滿了人，有很多記者和攝影師，還有許多從鎮(zhèn)上和工廠來的人。約翰的火車誤點，他從車站搭了一輛出租車。當他進屋時，看見了西蒙與記者們坐在一起?？死锼雇≡谒浇€有安德魯及綠色世界的一些年青人。約翰沖她微笑，但她沒有理他。她看上去非常蒼白虛弱，他這樣想。也許是因為孩子。他記得他的妻子雷切爾在生克里斯汀前的那些早晨也很虛弱，他自己苦笑著。

'Mr John Duncan，please!'

“約翰·鄧肯先生，請!”

He walked to the front of the room.As he sat down，he saw David Wilson's cold，grey eyes watching him from the other side of the room.That man should be up here instead，he thought.He should tell his own lies.

他走到大廳前面。當他要坐下時，他看到大衛(wèi)·威爾遜那雙冷酷、灰暗的眼睛正從屋子的另一邊望著他。那個人本應在此，他想，他應該講述他自己的謊言。

A lawyer began to ask him questions.At first it was easy.John explained how long he had worked for the company，and how much paint the factory produced.Then the lawyer asked about the waste products.

一個律師開始向他提問。一開始很容易，約翰解釋了他在公司工作多久，工廠生產(chǎn)多少油漆。然后律師問到廢料。

'These are very dangerous chemicals，aren't they?'the lawyer said.

“這是非常危險的化學物質，是嗎?”律師問道。

'Well yes，of course，'John answered.'Most chemicals are dangerous if people aren't careful with them.But we're very careful with them in our factory.Everyone wears special cloth-ing.We haven't had a single serious accident in three years.'

“是的，當然，”約翰答道。“如果人們不小心謹慎，大部分化學制品都有危險。但是在我們工廠我們對它們非常謹慎。每個人都穿特制的服裝，3年里我們沒發(fā)生一件重大事故。”

'I'm pleased to hear it，'said the lawyer.'But what hap-pens outside the factory?Do you really put these very danger-ous chemicals into the river?'

“聽你這么說我非常滿意，”律師說。“但是在工廠外發(fā)生了什么?你們真的往河里倒了這些非常危險的化學制品嗎?”

'Yes，we do，'said John.There was a noise in the room.Someone near Christine shouted something angrily，and a po-licewoman told him to be quiet.John went on.'Of course we put these chemicals in the river，but we don't put a lot in.Only two or three hundred litres every day.That's not much.And we check the river all the time—three times every day.There are usually only two parts per million，or less，in the water near the factory，and there is much less downstream.That's not dangerous.'

“是的，”約翰說。屋里傳出嘈雜聲。克里斯汀的附近有人氣憤地喊著什么，一個女警察讓他安靜。約翰繼續(xù)說：“當然我們把它們倒入水中，但不多，每天僅僅兩三百公升，那不算多。而且我們一日三次一直檢測河水。工廠附近水中通常只含百萬分之二或更少的成分，下游就更少了。那不危險。”

'Not dangerous，Mr Duncan?'said the lawyer slowly.'Are you sure?'

“不危險嗎，鄧肯先生?”律師慢慢地說，“你敢肯定嗎?”

'Yes，I am，'John said.He looked up，at the hundreds of eyes watching him.David Wilson's eyes，Christine's eyes，Simon's.

“是的，我敢肯定，”約翰說。他抬起頭，望著幾百雙正在注視著他的眼睛。大衛(wèi)·威爾遜的眼睛，克里斯汀的眼睛，西蒙的眼睛。

'I understand'，the lawyer said slowly，'that there has been an experiment with some rats.Some mother rats were given these chemicals in their drinking water，and some of their babies were born without legs.Is that right，Mr Duncan?'

“我知道，”律師緩慢地說，“曾經(jīng)有一個用老鼠做的實驗。一些母鼠喝了帶有這些化學物品的水，它們的一些幼崽兒生出來沒有腿，這是真的嗎，鄧肯先生?”

John looked at the lawyer for the first time.He was a small，uninteresting-looking man in grey clothes，with grey hair and a thin face.He looks like a rat himself，John thought.The man's eyes were small and bright，and for some strange reason he had a newspaper in his hand.John began to feel afraid of him.

約翰第一次看了一下律師。他個頭矮小，貌不驚人，穿著灰色衣服，灰色頭發(fā)，瘦長的臉。約翰認為他看上去自己就像一只老鼠。那人的眼睛很小，但敏銳，出于某種奇怪的原因，他手里拿著一份報紙，約翰開始對他產(chǎn)生畏懼。

'Yes，'he said.'That's right.But rats are much smaller than people，and they were given nearly five parts per million in their drinking water for ten days.That's very different.No one drinks the river water.It goes straight out to sea.'

“是的，”他說，“你說得對。但老鼠比人小得多，而且它們10天中一直喝含有將近百萬分之五成分的水。這是絕對不同的。沒人喝河水，河水直接流出去進入大海。”

He looked at the lawyer，and waited for the question about the seals.But it didn't come.Instead，the lawyer said：'So you won't be worried，Mr Duncan，if someone falls into the river by accident，and drinks a lot of river water.Your own daughter，for example.There's no danger in an accident like that—is that right?'

他望著律師，等著他問關于海豹的問題，但是律師沒有問，而是說：“所以你就不擔心，鄧肯先生，假如有人意外地墜入河中并喝了許多河水，比如你自己的女兒。難道這樣的意外沒有危險嗎?”

John looked at Christine across the room.How big her eyes look in that white face，he thought.It must be because of the baby.

約翰望著屋子另一邊的克里斯停他在想，她那蒼白臉上的眼睛顯得那么的大，這一定是由于懷孕。

'No，'he said.'There's no danger at all.'

“沒有，”他說，“根本就沒有危險。”

There was the sound of voices in the room.The lawyer smiled a small，rat-like smile.He held his newspaper out to-wards John.

屋里開始有說話的聲音，律師露出細微的老鼠般的笑容。他向約翰舉出他的報紙。

'You've been away in Scotland，Mr Duncan，'he said.'Have you seen this?'

他說：“你去了蘇格蘭，鄧肯先生，你看過這報道嗎?”

As John read the newspaper，his hands began to shake，and he had to hold the side of the table.There was a picture of Christine，standing up in a boat near the factory，and another picture of her lying in an ambulance，with Simon beside her.The headline said：

當約翰讀報紙時，他的手開始顫抖，他不得不抓住桌子的一邊。上面有一張克里斯汀的照片，她站在工廠附近的一只船上，另一張照片是她躺在救護車里，西蒙在她身旁。標題是：

BIOLOGIST'S DAUGHTER NEARLY DROWNS IN RIVER

生物家的女兒險遭溺死

There was a long silence.He tried to read the newspaper carefully，but there was something wrong with his eyes.And his head was full of pictures of Christine in the river，drowning.And his wife，Rachel，drowning in the storm，long ago.

很長一段時間的寂靜。他努力仔細讀報紙，但他的眼前一片模糊，他滿腦子都是克里斯汀在河中被淹的情景以及很久以前他妻子雷切爾在暴風雨中被淹的情景。

He shook his head quickly from side to side，then took his glasses off and cleaned them.

他很快地搖動著腦袋，然后摘掉眼鏡，擦拭起來。

'No，'he said in a quiet voice.I haven't read this before. '

“沒有，”他輕聲地回答，“我以前沒有看過。”

'It's all right，Mr Duncan，'said the lawyer softly.'Your daughter is safe.Her husband saved her，and she hasn't lost her baby.But she did drink a lot of river water.It was near the factory，too.You're not worried about that，are you?'

“這沒關系，鄧肯先生，”律師溫和地說。“你的女兒很安全。她丈夫救了她，她沒有失去她的孩子。但是她確實喝了不少河水，而且是工廠附近的河水，你難道不擔心嗎?”

The lawyer's bright eyes were staring at him，like a rat that has just seen its food.Behind him，David Wilson suddenly stood up.

律師明亮的眼睛緊盯著他，像老鼠剛看見它的食物一樣。在他的后面大衛(wèi)·威爾遜突然站起來。

'That is a terrible question!'he shouted into the silence.'You can't ask a man questions like that!Of course he's wor-ried about his daughter!You must stop this Enquiry at once!'

“那是一個糟糕的提問!”他的叫喊打破了沉默，“你不能對一個人這樣提問!他當然擔心他的女兒!你必須立即停止聽證會!”

'Just a minute，Mr Wilson，'said the lawyer.'Mr Duncan can go in a minute.He just has to answer one question.Are you worried，because your daughter has drunk so much river water，Mr Duncan?Are you worried about her baby?'

“等一等，威爾遜先生，”律師說，“鄧肯先生一會兒就可以走，他只需回答一個問題。你為你女兒喝了那么多河水而擔憂嗎，鄧肯先生?你為她的孩子擔憂嗎?”

John Duncan stared at the lawyer with fear in his eyes.Sud-denly he hated him.He picked up the newspaper and threw it into the little man's rat-like face.'Yes!'he shouted wildly.'Yes!Yes!Yes!Of course I'm worried about the baby!Of course it's dangerous!Now let me go!'

約翰·鄧肯盯著律師，眼里充滿恐懼。突然間，他憎恨他。他抬起報紙朝著那個矮人的鼠臉上扔去。“是的!”他瘋狂地叫喊，“是的!是的!是的!我當然擔心孩子!那當然危險!現(xiàn)在讓我走!”

He ran down the room，out of the door，into the street.A hundred staring eyes watched him go.

他跑下會場，出了大門，來到街上。100雙凝視著的眼睛望著他離去。