牛津書(shū)蟲(chóng)系列 弗蘭肯斯坦 08

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8

One day in summer a lady on horseback rode up to the house and knocked on the door. She had dark hair，and was very beautiful. The family were all very pleased to see her. I soon learnt that her name was Sophie.

夏季的一天，一位女士騎馬跑到了那所房子并敲了敲門。她有一頭黑發(fā)，人很漂亮。那家人見(jiàn)到她都很高興。我不久了解到她的名字叫蘇菲。

She could not speak the family's language， and each evening Felix taught her some words. This was a very great help to me， because I was able to learn the meaning of many words that I had not been able to understand before. Felix taught Sophie from books about what had happened in the world in the past.So I learnt about the Greeks and Romans，and about Christ， and about the first white men in America and the sad story of the Indians. I could not understand why men who knew all about good and evil could hate and kill each other.

她不會(huì)說(shuō)那個(gè)家庭的語(yǔ)言，菲力克斯每個(gè)晚上都要教她幾個(gè)單詞。這對(duì)我大有幫助，因?yàn)槲铱梢灾酪郧拔也欢脑S多單詞的意思。菲力克斯照著課本教給蘇菲這個(gè)世界上過(guò)去發(fā)生的事情。于是我了解到了希臘人和羅馬人，還有基督，還有關(guān)于美洲的第一批白人及印第安人的悲慘故事。我不能明白那些明白善惡的人們?yōu)槭裁匆ハ喑鸷藓蜌垰ⅰ?/p>

I learnt other things too. I learnt that people think it is very important to have money and to come from a good family.I learnt of the love between mother and father and child. And I realized that I had no family. The more I learnt， the more I thought，and the more unhappy I became.

我也了解到了別的事情。我了解到人們認(rèn)為有錢和好的家庭出身是非常重要的。我了解到了父母及孩子之間的愛(ài)。我并且意識(shí)到我是沒(méi)有家庭的。我了解得越多便想得越多，從而也越傷心。

Soon I discovered who Sophie was. The two families had met in France after Sophie and her father arrived there from Turkey， their own country. Sophie's father was put in prison by the French， but Felix and his father helped him to escape and leave France. When the French discovered this，F(xiàn)elix and his family lost all their lands and money， and had to leave France for ever. Now I knew why they were so sad， and why they were poor.

不久我便知道了蘇菲是什么人。在蘇菲和她父親當(dāng)初從她們的祖國(guó)土耳其到達(dá)法國(guó)后，他們兩家便相識(shí)了。蘇菲的父親被法國(guó)人投進(jìn)了監(jiān)獄，但菲力克斯和他父親幫他逃離了法國(guó)。法國(guó)人發(fā)現(xiàn)了這件事情之后，菲力克斯和他家便失去了所有的土地和錢財(cái)，還得永久地離開(kāi)法國(guó)?，F(xiàn)在我明白了他們?yōu)槭裁茨菢颖瘋约八麄優(yōu)槭裁簇毟F。

But that was not all. Sophie and Felix loved each other， and Sophie's father had promised that they could marry.Then，when he learnt that Felix had lost all his money， he broke his promise. But Sophie loved Felix very much，so she took some money and escaped from her father to search for Felix.

但是這還不是全部真相。蘇菲和菲力克斯彼此相愛(ài)，蘇菲的父親也曾答應(yīng)他們可以結(jié)婚的。后來(lái)，在他了解到菲力克斯已失去了所有的錢財(cái)后便背棄了自己的諾言。然而蘇菲非常愛(ài)菲力克斯，于是她便拿了些錢從父親那兒逃開(kāi)來(lái)找菲力克斯。

I had learnt to love these good people and I could not wait another day to introduce myself. I decided to speak first to the father， because he was blind， and would not be frightened by my terrible face and body.

我已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)去愛(ài)這些好人并再也忍不住要去介紹我自己了。我決定先和那個(gè)父親談?wù)?，因?yàn)樗窍棺樱粫?huì)被我那恐怖的面容和身體嚇倒。

One day the three young people went for a walk while the old man rested. When they had gone， I went to the door of the house and knocked on it.

一天，那三個(gè)年輕人出去散步而老人(在家)休息。他們走后，我便走到房屋的門前并敲響了它。

The old man told me to enter， and to sit down.

老人讓我進(jìn)去并坐下。

‘Thank you，’ I said.‘I am a traveller， and I'm tired and sad. I have no family or friends. The people that I want to have as my friends have never seen me.If they don't take me into their home， I shall be alone in the world.’

“謝謝您，”我說(shuō)道。“我是個(gè)旅行者，我又疲憊又傷心。我沒(méi)有家庭或朋友。我想和他們交朋友的那些人從未見(jiàn)過(guò)我。如果他們不接受我、把我納為其家的一員的話，我就會(huì)孤獨(dú)于世的。”

‘Don't be so sad，’ the old man said.‘You will find that the hearts of men are full of love. If these friends are good people， they will welcome you.’

“不要這樣悲傷。”那個(gè)老人說(shuō)道，“你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)人們的心中都充滿了愛(ài)。如果這些朋友是好人，他們就會(huì)歡迎你的。”

‘They are kind， and the best people in the world，’ I said.‘But when they meet me， they may not see a kind creature who has helped them. Instead they may see a monster， and they will hate me.’

“他們很善良，是世界上最好的人，”我說(shuō)道，“可是當(dāng)他們遇見(jiàn)我時(shí)，他們就看不出我是一個(gè)曾幫助過(guò)他們的善良的人了。相反，他們會(huì)看到一個(gè)怪物，并且他們會(huì)恨我。”

‘That mustn't happen，’the old man said.‘My family and I have had our difficult times， and we'll help you.’

“不會(huì)這樣的。”老人說(shuō)道，“我和我們家曾度過(guò)艱苦的日子，我們會(huì)幫助你的。”

‘You are a very good man，’ I said，‘and if you help me， I shall be able to live with my friends and enjoy their love.’

“你真是個(gè)好人。”我說(shuō)道，“如果你肯幫助我，那么我就能夠同我的朋友們生活在一起并享受他們的愛(ài)了。”

At that moment I heard the young people returning from their walk.I caught the old man's hand， and cried，‘Now is the time!Save me and help me! You and your family are the friends that I am talking about.’

就在那時(shí)，我聽(tīng)到那些年輕人散步歸來(lái)。我抓住老人的手并哭喊道：“現(xiàn)在正是時(shí)候!救救我，幫幫我!你和你的家人就是我所談?wù)摰呐笥褌儭?rdquo;

Then the door opened， and in came Felix， Sophie， and Agatha.Their faces were filled with horror and fear when they saw me.Agatha fainted， and Sophie ran out of the house.Felix ran forward and pulled me away from his father.He threw me to the ground and hit me again and again with his heavy stick.I did not lift a hand against him.I did not want to hurt him—or any of them. My heart was heavy， and all hope left me. I ran out of the house and later returned silently to my hut. Nobody saw me.

接著門開(kāi)了，菲力克斯、蘇菲還有阿加莎走了進(jìn)來(lái)。他們看到我時(shí)臉上都充滿了恐懼的神色。阿加莎暈了過(guò)去，蘇菲還跑出了屋子。菲力克斯跑上前來(lái)，把我從他父親手中拽開(kāi)。他把我摔倒在地并用沉重的棍棒不停地打我。我沒(méi)有還手。我不想傷著他——或者他們中的任何人。我的心情很沉重，所有的希望都破滅了。我跑出了屋子并在晚些時(shí)候悄悄地返回到我的茅屋中。沒(méi)人看到了我。