牛津書蟲系列 亡靈島 5 亡靈

5 A Dead Man

5 亡靈

I went into the room… and I was very surprised.

我進了房間……并感到很驚訝。

The room was full of strange things.Coloured shirts and suits.Three guitars.And there were posters and photographs on the walls.

屋里滿是奇怪的東西：花襯衫和花衣服，三把吉它。墻上還有一些海報和照片。

I looked at the posters.

我看著海報。

Jake Rosso's face looked down at me.

杰克·羅索的臉俯視著我。

I looked at the dead Jake Rosso's pictures，and I remembered all the photographs on the walls of my room in Hong Kong.I could never forget that face—the face of my favourite singer.

我望著已故的杰克·羅索的圖片，想起了在香港時我房間墻壁上的那些照片。我永遠也不會忘記那張臉——我最喜愛的歌手的那張臉。

Then，while I looked at his face，something strange happened.I began to see another face in the posters.An older face，and with a moustache，but the same face.

接著，正當我盯著他那張臉看時，奇怪的事情發(fā)生了。我開始在海報上看出另一張臉。這張臉顯得年齡大了一些，留著胡子，但又是一模一樣的。

I saw the face of Mr Ross.

我看到了羅斯先生的臉。

‘No!’I said.‘It's not true!’

“不!”我說，“這不是真的!”

But it was，I knew it was.

但這是真的，我知道這是真的。

‘Mr Ross is…Jake Rosso!’

“羅斯先生就是……杰克·羅索!”

‘No!'said a voice behind me.

“不是!”我身后有個人說。

I turned round and saw Mr Ross.He was standing in the doorway.He looked…afraid.

我轉(zhuǎn)過臉，看見了羅斯先生。他正站在門口。他看上去……害怕的樣子。

‘I don't believe you!’I said.

“我不相信你的話!”我說。

‘You have to believe me!’

“你應(yīng)當相信我的話!”

I looked at the posters.‘Who is that，if it's not you?’

我望著海報。“如果那個人不是你，那是誰?”

‘It's Jake Rosso.He was… my brother.’

“是杰克·羅索。他是……我兄弟。”

‘That's not true!I shouted.‘I don't believe you.Listen，Jake Rosso was my favourite singer—I had hundreds of pho tos of him.I still have all his records.I loved him，do you understand?Thousands of people loved him.’

“那不是真的!”我大聲喊道，“我不相信你的話。聽著，杰克·羅索是我最喜愛的歌手——我存有他幾百張照片。我現(xiàn)在還保存著他所有的唱片。我喜愛過他，你懂嗎?成千上萬的人喜愛過他。”

‘He's dead，'mr Ross said quietly.

“他死了，”羅斯先生平靜地說。

‘No!’I shouted.‘You're Jake Rosso!You look different now，yes.You've got short hair，you've got a moustache now，and you wear glasses.But you're… Jake… Rosso.You were my favourite pop star， so I know.’

“沒有!”我喊叫著，“你就是杰克·羅索!你現(xiàn)在看上去不一樣了，是這樣。留著短發(fā)，蓄著胡子，戴著眼鏡。但是你就是……杰克……羅索。你曾是我最喜愛的那位流行歌手，所以我知道。”

Mr Ross said nothing，and watched my face.

羅斯先生沒說什么，他看著我的臉。

‘He doesn't know what to do，’I thought.‘He knows I don't believe him，and he's afraid.’

“他不知道該怎么辦了。”我想，“他知道我不相信他的話，他害怕了。”

Then he said，‘It was you in the passage last night，wasn't it?’

然后他說：“昨天晚上是你在走廊里，對嗎?”

‘Yes，’I answered.

“是我，”我回答說。

He looked angry.‘I was wrong to give your mother a job，’he said.‘I thought it was OK because you came from Hong Kong.And I needed help with my work.I needed a good secretary.’

他看上去生氣了。“我給你媽媽工作給錯了，”他說，“我原認為不會有事，因為你們從香港來。而且我那時需要人幫我工作。我當時需要一個好秘書。”

‘Does your other secretary know who you are?’I asked.‘Do the other people on the island know?’

“你另外的秘書知道你是誰嗎?”我問道，“島上其他的人知道嗎?”

Mr Ross didn't answer，but walked across to the window.He was thinking.

羅斯先生沒有回答，但走到了窗戶旁。他正思考著。

‘What's he going to do?’I thought.

“他要干什么?”我想。

Then he turned round.‘OK，you're right.I…I am Jake Rosso.’

然后他轉(zhuǎn)過身來。“好吧，你說對了。我……我是杰克·羅索。”

‘I knew it!’

“我早就知道這點!”

He looked worried and unhappy.‘Can you keep a secret?A very important secret?’

他顯得有些不安和不快。“你能保密嗎?一個非常重要的秘密?”

I thought for a minute，then I said，‘Yes，I can keep a secret.’

我想了一下，然后說：“能，我能保密。”

Then he told me：

然后他把秘密告訴了我：

‘The other people on this island are my family.’

“島上其他的人是我家里人。”

‘Your family?’I said.

“你家里人?”我說。

‘Yes.My real name is James Duncan，and Mr and Mrs Duncan are my father and mother.Tony is my younger brother，and his wife， Lisa，is my secretary.It's she who's in hospital.’

“是的。我的真名叫詹姆斯·鄧肯，而鄧肯先生和夫人是我的父母。托尼是我的弟弟，他的妻子莉薩是我的秘書?，F(xiàn)在住院的就是她。”

‘And Stella and Dan Parks?’I asked.

“而斯特拉·帕克斯和丹·帕克斯呢?”我問道。

‘My mother's sister and her husband，’he said.

“是我姨媽和姨夫，”他說。

‘But what are you doing here on this island?I don't understand.’

“但是你在這兒的這個島上干什么呀?我不明白。”

‘I'11 tell you，’he said.He sat down on a chair and took a guitar in his hands，but he didn't play it.‘You were right.I was a famous pop star.I was very rich，and I had a beautiful wife.But things went wrong.’

“我會告訴你的，”他說。他在一把椅子上坐下來，拿起一把吉它，可他沒彈。“你說對了。我過去是個有名的歌星，那時我很有錢，還有個漂亮的妻子。可后來出事了。”

‘How?’

“怎么了?”

‘I took drugs，’he said.‘I drank a lot of alcohol.I got drunk and crashed cars.I did stupid，terrible things.I knew it was wrong but I couldn't stop doing it.I was… crazy，for a time.’

“我吸毒，”他說，“我酗酒。我喝醉了并撞了車。我干了些既愚蠢而又可怕的事情。我知道這不對，可我不能罷手。有一段時間，我簡直是……發(fā)瘋了。”

‘I can understand that，’I told him.‘I've taken drugs，too.

“我可以理解。”我告訴他，“我也吸過毒。”

He looked surprised.‘You have?’

他看上去很驚訝。“你吸過毒?”

‘Yes，’I said.‘After my father died，I was very unhappy and things went wrong for me too.But go on with your story.’

“吸過。”我說，“我父親去世后，我很不快樂，我也出事了?？山又v你的事吧。”

He went on.‘One night，I was driving my car.I was drunk and— and I hit somebody.A young girl.She…died.I killed her.’

他接著講了。“一天晚上，我開著車。我喝醉了，還——還撞了人。是個年輕姑娘，她……死了。我撞死了她。”

‘Oh，no!’

“啊，不!”

‘Yes，’he said.‘She was fifteen years old.I wanted to die，too.The money didn't matter any more.Nothing mat tered any more.’

“真的。”他說，“她15歲。我也想去死。錢對我來說已不再有意義了。一切都不再有意義了。”

‘What did you do after the accident?’I asked.

“出事之后你怎么辦了?”我問道。

‘I drove on in the car.I didn't stop，and I didn't tell the police.I had killed someone and I was afraid.’He looked afraid now.He put the guitar down and went on with his story.‘So I made a plan.Jake Rosso had to die，too.It was the best thing to do.And so… I “killed” him.’

“我接著開車。我沒停下來，也沒告訴警察。我撞死了人，我真害怕。”他現(xiàn)在看上去還很害怕。他放下吉它繼續(xù)講他的故事。“所以我訂了一個計劃。杰克·羅索也得死。這是最好的辦法。所以……我‘殺’了他。”

‘But you're still alive.’

“可你還活著。”

‘My family know I'm alive， but no other people know.’He looked at me.‘But now you know.’

“我家人知道我還活著，但別人不知道。”他看了看我。“但現(xiàn)在你知道了。”

‘How did you do it?’I asked.

“你是怎么做的?”我問道。

‘I told my family about my p1an and I told Greta，my wife.At first they didn't like it.But after a long time，they said OK.Then I faked the car crash.’

“我把我的計劃告訴了我家里的人，還告訴了我的妻子格里塔。起初，他們不喜歡這個主意?？蛇^了很長一段時間后，他們說‘行’。后來我偽造了那場車禍。”

‘Faked it?’

“偽造車禍?”

‘Yes，’he said.‘I put some of my things in the car.A guitar，and some clothes.Then I pushed my car over a cliff and burned it.The police found the burned car and thought I was dead.Everybody thought I was killed in the car crash.’

“是的。”他說，“我在車里放了些我的東西。一把吉它，還有一些衣服。然后我把車從峭壁上推下去并且把車燒了。警察發(fā)現(xiàn)了燒毀的車，認為我死了。大家都認為我在車禍中喪生了。”

‘But you faked the crash，’I said.

“可是車禍是你偽造的呀，”我說。

‘Yes.’

“是的。”

‘What did you do then?’

“后來你干了什么?”

‘My family hid me away for months.I tried to change into a different person— with shorter hair，a moustache， quiet suits.All my money went to Greta and she changed her name to Ross.I told her to buy this island.Now I invest her money，the money that was mine.And now I'm “James Ross.”

“我的家里人把我隱匿了幾個月。我盡力想變成一個完全不同的人——剪短頭發(fā)，留起胡子，穿著不顯眼的衣服。我所有的錢都歸了格里塔，她把姓改為羅斯。我叫她買下這個島。現(xiàn)在我用她的錢投資，這錢原來是我的?，F(xiàn)在我是‘詹姆斯·羅斯’。”

‘What about“Jake Rosso”?’I asked.

“那‘杰克·羅索’呢?”我問。

‘Jake Rosso took drugs，’he said.‘Jake Rosso got drunk and crashed cars. He killed a young girl，so he had to “die”.I can never forget the girl.I think about her every day.’

“杰克·羅索吸毒。”他說，“杰克·羅索喝醉了酒，撞了車。他撞死了一個年輕姑娘，所以他不得不‘死’。我永遠也忘不了那個女孩。我天天想著她的事。”

‘And that's why you always look so sad，’I thought.

“而那便是你為何總是顯得那么憂郁的原因，”我想。

I looked around the room.‘Why do you keep a room like this? Why do you keep the guitars，the posters and photographs?’

我環(huán)視了一下這個房間。“你為什么把房間保持這個樣子?你為什么保留這些吉它、海報和照片?”

James Ross did not speak for a minute.Then he said，‘I need to remember my old life， and what Jake Rosso was like.I'm never going to sing again and I'm never going to take drugs But I need this room，to remember.’

詹姆斯·羅斯沉默了片刻。然后他說：“我需要記住原來的生活，記住杰克·羅索曾是什么樣子。我決不會再唱歌，也決不會吸毒。可是我需要這個房間，以回憶過去。”

I looked at the posters and the photographs.And I looked at his sad face.‘I'm not going to say anything.I won't tell my mother，I won't tell anybody.’

我望著海報和照片。我還望著他那張憂郁的臉。“我什么也不會說的。我不會告訴我媽媽的，我誰也不會告訴的。”

James Ross looked at me.‘I think you understand，’he said.

詹姆斯·羅斯看著我。“我想你理解，”他說。

‘I do，’I said.‘I've done bad things.I want to forget them，too.I needed to get away，to hide，too.That's why we came to England，to begin a new life Yes，I understatld.’

“我理解。”我說，“我做過錯事。我也想把它們忘掉。我也想出走，隱藏起來。那就是為什么我們來到了英格蘭、來開始一種新的生活的原因。是的，我理解。”

He took my hand，and we walked out of the room and closed the door.

他拉著我的手，我們走出了這個房間并關(guān)上了門。

I never went into the room again，and I didn't tell anybody.

我再也沒進過這個房間，也沒把這件事告訴過任何人。

My mother and I left the island at the end of the summer.Soon after，I went to college.

夏末，我和我媽媽離開了那座島。不久之后，我上了大學(xué)。

My life is bettter now.I work on a farm in England and my mother works in an office. My mother doesn't worry about me，because I'm happier now.

現(xiàn)在我的生活好多了。我在英格蘭的一個農(nóng)場工作，我媽媽在辦公室工作。她不為我擔(dān)心了，因為我現(xiàn)在快樂多了。

I haven't been back to the island.

我再也沒有回島上去過。

But I know there's a ‘dead man’living there.

但是我知道那兒住著一位“亡靈”。