書蟲四級《三怪客泛舟記》：第十四章 干活、洗衣和釣魚

Chapter 14 Work, washing, and fishing

第十四章 干活、洗衣和釣魚

We woke up late the next morning, and it was about ten o'clock when we moved off. We had already decided that we wanted to make this a good day's journey.

第二天早晨我們很晚才醒，直到十點鐘才出發(fā)。我們已經(jīng)打定主意，今天要好好地玩上一天。

We agreed that we would row, and not tow, the boat. Harris said that George and I should row, and he would steer. I did not like this idea at all. I said that he and George should row, so that I could rest a little. I thought that I was doing too much of the work on this trip. I was beginning to feel strongly about it.

我們一致同意，今天改劃船，不拉纖了。哈里斯說喬治和我應(yīng)該劃船，他來掌舵。我根本不同意。我說應(yīng)該讓他和喬治劃船，而讓我休息休息。我覺得在這次旅程中，我干的活太多了，對此我愈發(fā)不能忍受了。

I always think that I am doing too much work. It is not be-cause I do not like work. I do like it. I find it very interesting. I can sit and look at it for hours. You cannot give me too much work. I like to collect it. My study is full of it.

每次我都覺得自己干的活太多了。這倒不是我不喜歡干活。我熱愛工作，也感到工作很有趣。我能坐著幾個小時看要干的活兒。你給我多少工作，我都不嫌多，因為我喜歡收藏，書房里都堆滿了。

And I am very careful with my work, too. Why, some of the work in my study has been there for years, and it has not got dirty or anything. That is because I take care of it.

這些工作，我可愛惜呢。很多放在書房里有年頭了，可是一點灰塵都沒有。那是因為我愛護它們。

However, although I love work, I do not want to take other people's work from them But I get it without asking for it, and this worries me.

盡管我喜歡工作，可我不想把別人的工作也攬過來。往往是我沒要求，它卻找上門來，真讓我煩惱。

George says that I should not worry about it. In fact, he thinks that perhaps I should have more work. However, I expect he only says that to make me feel better.

喬治勸我對這個問題不必太在意。實際上，他覺得我應(yīng)該再多干點呢。我把他說的這些只當成安慰我的話。

In a boat, I have noticed that each person thinks that he is doing all the work. Harris's idea was that both George and I had let him do all the work. George said that Harris never did anything except eat and sleep. He, George, had done all the work. He said that he had never met such lazy people as Harris and me.

我注意到，無論在哪條船上，每個人都覺得自己把所有的活都干了。哈里斯覺得喬治和我讓他干了所有的活。喬治說哈里斯除了睡覺吃飯，什么也沒干。只有他——喬治，才真正把什么都包了。他說，從來沒有見過象我和哈里斯這么懶的人。

That amused Harris.

哈里斯聽了此話又好氣，又好笑。

'George! Work!' he laughed. 'If George worked for half an hour, it would kill him. Have you ever seen George work?' he added, and he turned to me.

“什么?!喬治干活?”他笑道。“他只要干上半個小時準得要了他的命!你見過喬治干過活沒有?”他轉(zhuǎn)過臉來問我。

I agreed with Harris that I had never seen George work.

我同意哈里斯的話，確實沒見喬治干過活。

'You're always asleep. Have you ever seen Harris awake, except at meal times?' George asked me.

“哼!你們怎么會知道我干的活呢?”喬治反駁哈里斯一句。“你總在睡，睡，還是睡!你看見過哈里斯醒的時候嗎?除了吃飯?”他轉(zhuǎn)過臉來問我。

I had to tell the truth and agree with George. Harris had done very little work in the boat.

我只能說實話，支持喬治的說法，哈里斯在船上確實沒干過什么。

'Oh, come on! I've done more than old J., anyway,' Harris replied.

“哦，得了，我總比老杰干得多吧，”哈里斯回答說。

'Well, it would be difficult to do less,' George added.

“是的，想比他干得更少有點不大可能，”喬治附和道。

'Oh, him, he thinks he's a passenger and doesn't need to work!' Harris said.

“他呀，把自己當成船上的乘客，不必工作!”哈里斯說。

And that was how grateful they were to me, after I had brought them and their old boat all the way up from Kingston; after I had organized everything for them; and after I had taken care of them!

這就是他們對我的報答!我把他們兩個和這條破船從金斯敦一直拉到這里，為他們安排好一切，照顧他們一路，這就是他們對我的報答!

Finally, we decided that Harris and George would row until we got past Reading, and then I would tow the boat from there.

最后我們決定由哈里斯和喬治把船劃到雷丁，從雷丁以后由我來拉纖。

We reached Reading at about eleven o'clock. We did not stay long, though, because the river is dirty there. However, after that it becomes very beautiful. Goring, on the left, and Streatley, on the right, are both very pretty places. Earlier, we had decided to go on to Wallingford that day, but the river was lovely at Streatley. We left our boat at the bridge, and we went into the village. we had lunch at a little pub, and Montmorency enjoyed that.

將近十一點鐘，我們到了雷丁。我們沒在那里久留，因為河水很不干凈，然而雷丁以上那一段河上風光就非?？蓯哿?。左邊有戈靈，右邊是斯特雷特利，都是景致優(yōu)美的地方。我們本來打算當天趕到沃靈福德，可是斯特雷特利這一帶景色使我們流連忘返。我們便在橋邊棄舟登岸，走進了這個小村莊，在一個小酒館吃了午餐，“元帥”在這里也玩得很開心。

We stayed at Streatley for two days, and we took our clothes to be washed. We had tried to wash them ourselves, in the river, and George had told us what to do. This was not a success! Before we washed them, they were very, very dirty, but we could just wear them. After we had washed them, they were worse than before. However, the river between Reading and Henley was cleaner because we had taken all the dirt from it, and we had washed it into our clothes. The woman who washed them at Streatley made us pay three times the usual price.

我們在斯特雷特利住了兩天，把衣服洗了。這次是我們在河里自己洗的，喬治告訴我們怎么洗，我們就怎么洗。結(jié)果是令人不堪回首的失敗。沒洗之前，我們的衣服已經(jīng)很臟了，但是還可以對付穿?？墒?，洗了之后呢，反倒比以前更糟了。不過，從雷丁到亨利的河水一下子更清澈了，因為我們把河里所有污物都收集到一起，洗到我們的衣服里去了。斯特雷特利的洗衣婦管我們要了平常價格的三倍才肯給我們洗。

We paid her, and did not say a word about the cost.

我們照單付款，一聲也沒報怨我們的花費。

The river near Streatley and Goring is excellent for fishing. You can sit and fish there all day.

斯特雷特利和戈靈附近的河上可是個釣魚的絕佳去處，你可以坐在這兒，整整釣上一天。

Some people do sit and fish all day. They never catch any fish, of course. You may catch a dead cat or two, but you will not catch any fish. When you go for a walk by the river, the fish come and stand half out of the water, with their mouths open for bread. And if you go swimming, they all come and stare at you and get in your way. But you cannot catch them.

確實有人整天坐著釣魚，當然，不過就是釣不著。也許你能釣上一兩只死貓，可你別想釣著魚。你在河邊散步時，魚游過來，一半身子站在水外，張著嘴要面包。要是你去游泳，它們?nèi)加芜^來，瞪著你看，擋著你的路?？墒窍胱プ∷鼈?，沒門。

On the second evening, George and I and Montmorency (I do not know where Harris was) went for a walk to Walling-ford. On the way back to the boat, we stopped at a little pub, by the river.

第二天晚上，喬治，我，還有“元帥”去沃靈福德轉(zhuǎn)了一圈(哈里斯不知道上哪兒去了)?；貋淼臅r候，經(jīng)過河邊一家小酒館，我們歇了歇腳。

We went in and sat down. There was an old man there. He was smoking a pipe, and we began to talk to him.

我們走進去，坐下來。還有一位老先生也在那里，抽著煙斗，我們便和他聊起來。

He told us that it had been a fine day today, and we told him that it had been a fine day yesterday. Then we all told each other that we thought it would be a fine day tomorrow.

他對我們說，今天天氣很好。我們對他說，昨天天氣也不錯。然后我們一起預測，明天天氣大概也不會壞。

We told him that we were on holiday on the river, and that we were going to leave the next day. Then we stopped talking for a few minutes, and we began to look round the room. We noticed a glass case on the wall. In it there was a very big fish.

我們又告訴他我們在河上度假旅行，明天就又要啟程了。接著，談話沉默了一會兒，我們四處打量著屋子，最后眼光轉(zhuǎn)到墻上掛著的一個玻璃匣子，里面裝著一條大魚。

The old man saw that we were looking at this fish.

那位老先生看到我們正盯著那條魚。

'Ah,' he said,' that's a big fish, isn't it?'

“啊，”他說，“真是條大魚，是吧?”

'Yes, it is,' I replied.

“是啊，是啊，”我答道。

'Yes,' the old man continued, 'it was sixteen years ago. I caught him just by the bridge.'

“那是……”老人繼續(xù)說，“十六年前了，我在橋邊釣上來的。”

'Did you, really?' George asked.

“哦，是嗎?”喬治問道。

'Yes,' the man answered. 'They told me he was in the river. I said I'd catch him, and I did. You don't see many fish as big as that one now. Well, good night, then. 'And he went out.

“是的，”老人答道。“他們說河里有一條這樣的魚。我就說，我要把它釣上來，真的就釣上來了?，F(xiàn)在這么大個的魚很少見了。好吧，再見吧。”說著就走了出去。

After that, we could not take our eyes off the fish. It really was a fine fish. We were still looking at it when another man came in. He had a glass of beer in his hand, and he also looked at the fish.

我們一直還目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地看著那條魚，真是條出色的魚。我們正看著，又進來一個人。他手里拿著一杯啤酒，眼睛也盯著那條魚。

'That's a fine, big fish, isn't it?' George said to him.

“可真是條大魚啊!”喬治對那人說。

'Ah, yes,' the man replied. He drank some of his beer, and then he added, 'Perhaps you weren't here when it was caught?'

“啊，是的，”那人回答說。接著喝了一口啤酒，又說道：“這條魚給釣上來的時候，你們也許還不在這兒吧?”

'No,' we said, and we explained that we did not live there. We said that we were only there on holiday.

“不在，”我們對他說，我們不住在這兒，只是來這里度假。

'Ah, well,' the man went on, 'it was nearly five years ago that I caught that fish.'

“啊，是這樣，”那人說，“五年前吧，我釣到了這條魚。”

'Oh, did you catch it then?' I asked.

“那么，這魚是你釣到的了?”我問。

'Yes,' he replied. 'I caught him by the lock…Well, good-night to you.'

“正是的。”他答。“在那邊水閘下釣到的……好吧，那么再見吧。”

Five minutes later a third man came in and described how he had caught the fish, early one morning. He left, and another man came in and sat down by the window.

五分鐘之后，進來了第三個客人，跟我們描述了一番他是怎么樣一大早就釣著這條魚的。他走了，又來了一位，在窗口坐下來。

Nobody spoke for some time. Then George turned to the man and said, 'Excuse me, I hope you don't mind, but my friend and I, who are only on holiday here, would like to ask you a question. Could you tell us how you caught that fish?'

有一會兒，我們都沒說話。然后喬治轉(zhuǎn)過去向那個人說道：“請原諒，希望您別介意。我的朋友和我在此度假，恕我們冒昧問您一個問題。能否請您談一談您是怎樣釣到那條魚的，好嗎?”

'Who told you that I caught that fish?' he asked.

“誰告訴你們說那條魚是我釣著的?”他問。

We said that nobody had told us. We just felt that he was the man who had caught it.

我們說，誰也沒有告訴我們，不過我們覺得那條魚是他釣著的。

'Well, that's very strange,' he answered, with a little laugh.' You're right. I did catch it.' And he went on to tell us how he had done it, and that it had taken him half an hour to land it.

“啊!真是奇事，”他回答道，笑了起來。“一點不錯，是我釣著的。”接著他又描述了他怎么釣著的，怎么花了半個小時才把這條魚拖上岸的。

When he left, the landlord came in to talk to us. We told him the different stories we had heard about his fish. He was very amused and we all laughed about it. And then he told us the real story of the fish.

他走了以后，酒店老板進了屋，來和我們聊天。我們就把剛才聽到的各人的故事給他又講了一遍。他覺得非常有趣，我們一起捧腹大笑。然后他告訴了我們這條魚真正的來歷。

He said that he had caught it himself, years ago, when he was a boy. It was a lovely, sunny afternoon, and instead of going to school, he went fishing. That was when he caught the fish. Everyone thought he was very clever. Even his teacher thought he had done well and did not punish him.

他告訴我們這魚是他自己釣上來的。那時他還是個毛孩子呢!記得那是個陽光明媚的下午，他沒去上學，溜出去釣魚，就是那會兒把魚釣上來的。大家都夸他聰明，就連老師也說他干得不錯，因此沒有懲罰他。

He had to go out of the room just then, and we turned to look at the fish again. George became very excited about it, and he climbed up onto a chair to see it better.

這時，老板有事要出去一下，我們又轉(zhuǎn)過頭來看著這條魚發(fā)呆。喬治心情激動，抑制不住，連忙爬到椅上看個真切。

And then George fell, and he caught hold of the glass case to save himself. It came down, with George and the chair on top of it.

突然，喬治摔了下去，他伸手抓住玻璃匣子支撐他一下，誰知它也滑下來，喬治連人帶椅一齊壓在上面。

'Is the fish all right?' I cried.

“魚沒事吧?”我叫了一聲。

'I hope so, 'George said. He stood up carefully and looked round. But the fish was lying on the floor-in a thousand pieces!

“但愿沒事。”喬治說著，小心翼翼地站起身，四下看了看。可是魚躺在地上——給摔成了幾千瓣了。

It was not a real fish.

原來，這根本就不是一條真魚。