牛津書蟲系列 誘拐 1 David meets his uncle

1 David meets his uncle

1 戴維見到了叔叔

It was early in the month of June，1751，when I shut the door of our house behind me for the last time.All my life I had lived in the quiet little village of Essendean，in the Lowlands of Scotland，where my father had been the dominie，or schoolteacher.But now that he and my mother were both dead，I had to leave the house.The new dominie would soon arrive，and he would teach at the school and live in the dominie's house.So，although I was only seventeen，there was nowhere for me to live，and no reason for me to stay in Essendean.

我最后一次關(guān)上身后我們家的那扇門時，那正是1751年6月的頭幾天。我一直生活在蘇格蘭低地的埃森丁這個安靜的小村莊里。我的父親曾經(jīng)是那兒的教師。但既然他和我的母親都去世了，我就不得不離開那幢房子。新教師很快就要到了，他將在學校里教課并住在供教師住的房子里。所以說雖然我只有17歲，但已經(jīng)沒有我的棲身之地了，我也沒有理由待在埃森丁了。

But my heart was beating with excitement as I walked down the road，because in my hand I carried the letter that my father had given me just before he died.‘Davie，’he had said，‘when I am dead，take this to the house of Shaws，near Cramond.That's where I came from，and that's where you must go.Put this letter into the hands of Ebenezer Balfour.’

但是我走在路上時心激動地跳著，因為我手中拿著我父親臨終前給我的那封信。“戴維，”他曾說，“我去世以后，拿著這封信去克萊蒙德附近的肖家大院。那兒是我的出生地，也是你應該去的地方。把這封信親手交給埃比尼澤·鮑爾弗。”

Balfour!The same name as my own!It was the first time I had heard of any of our family outside Essendean.

鮑爾弗!和我一樣的姓氏!這是我第一次聽說埃森丁地域以外我的家族成員。

So I decided to walk to Cramond，hoping that perhaps this Mr Balfour，in his fine big house，would receive me kindly，and help me to become a rich man one day.With my plaid over my shoulder，I walked fast up the hill away from the village.What an adventure，to leave that sleepy place，where nothing ever happened，and go to a great，busy house，to be with rich and important people of my own name and blood!But when I reached the top of the hill，I turned a little sadly，to take my last look at the dominie's house，and Essendean churchyard，where my father and mother lay.

于是我決定走到克萊蒙德去，盼著有一天這個鮑爾弗先生能在他的豪華的大房子里友好地接待我并幫我變成富人。方格肩巾披在肩上，我大步流星地走上山崗，離開了那個小村莊。離開那寂靜的、從未發(fā)生過什么事的小村莊而去一個熱鬧的大宅院里與姓氏和血緣和我相同的、有錢有勢的人待在一起，這可真是一次歷險!但當我到達山頂時，我?guī)е唤z悲哀轉(zhuǎn)身看了最后一眼供教師住的房子和我父母長眠著的埃森丁墓地。

My journey northwards took almost two days.By midday on the second day I could see the smoking chimneys of Edinburgh in front of me，and soon I arrived in Cramond.

我往北差不多走了兩天。到第二天中午時我能看見前面愛丁堡冒煙的煙囪，很快我就到了克萊蒙德。

Now I began to ask people on the road for the house of Shaws.Their answers worried me a little.Some people seemed surprised，some afraid，and some angry，when I spoke the name of Ebenezer Balfour.I could not understand this，but it was too far to go back to Essendean that day， and I wanted to find the rest of the Balfour family very much So I continued on my way，and when I met a dark，wild-looking woman coming towards me，I asked her where the house of Shaws was She took me to the top of the next hill，and showed me a large building standing alone in the bottom of the next valley.Although the fields around were green，and the farmland was excellent，the house itself looked unfinished and empty.Part of its roof was missing.There was no road to it，and no smoke coming from any of its chimneys，nor was there any garden.

我開始向路上的行人打聽肖家大院。他們的回答使我心里有點兒擔憂。當我說出埃比尼澤·鮑爾弗這個名字時，一些人顯得驚訝，一些人恐懼，一些人憤怒。我不明白這個，但那天回埃森丁是太遠了，而且我也特別想找到鮑爾弗家族其余的人。于是我繼續(xù)走著走著;而且當我看見一位皮膚黝黑、看似野蠻的老婦人向我走過來時，我向她打聽肖家大院在哪兒。她把我領(lǐng)到下一座小山的頂峰，指給我看下一個山谷里的一幢孤零零的建筑物。雖然四周的田野一片蔥綠，莊稼長勢很好，但那幢房子本身好像沒有建完，也顯得空曠。有部分屋頂不見了。沒有路通到那兒，煙囪里沒有煙冒出來，也沒有花園。

‘That!’I cried.‘No，it can't be!’ ‘It is!’cried the woman angrily.‘That is the house of Shaws!Blood built it，blood stopped the building of if，and blood shall bring it down!Black is the heart of Ebenezer Balfour!Ye can tell him from me that I hope to see him die，and his house fall down around him!’

“那個?!”我驚呼著，“不，絕對不是!”“就是!”那個女人憤恨地說道，“那就是肖家!它是用血筑成的，血停止了修建，血還將把它給毀掉!埃比尼澤·鮑爾弗的心是黑的!你可以告訴他我說我希望看到他死了并看到他的房子塌下來把他給埋了!”

The woman turned and disappeared.I stood where she left me，shaking like a leaf，and looking down at the house for a long time.But when it began to get dark，I noticed some smoke coming out of the chimney，and felt a little more hope ful.‘There must be a fire，and cooking，and people in the house，’I thought.So I walked up to the front door.The house seemed locked up and unwelcoming，but there was fire light shining through the kitchen window，and I could hear someone talking quietly to himself.Bravely，I lifted my hand and knocked loudly on the strong wooden door.The house was suddenly silent，and there was no reply.I knocked and knocked，and shouted as loudly as I could.Finally，the win dow opened，and a man holding a gun put his head out.

那個女人轉(zhuǎn)身不見了。我在她離開我之處站著原地不動，像一片樹葉一樣顫抖，久久地俯視著那幢房子。但當暮色開始降臨時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)有煙從那幢房子的煙囪冒出來，便感到稍微有點希望了。“那里面一定有火，有人在做飯，也一定有人，”我心想。于是我走到前門。房子似乎緊鎖著，不歡迎來訪者的樣子，但是廚房的窗口透著火光，而且我能聽到屋里有人悄聲自言自語。鼓起勇氣，我舉起手，在那扇結(jié)實的木門上大聲地敲起來。屋子忽然間靜了下來，沒有人回答。我敲了又敲，還使勁地喊起來。最后，窗戶開了，一個手握一枝槍的男人探出頭來。

‘What do ye want?’he asked.

“你要什么?”他問道。

‘I've come here with a letter for Mr Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws.Is he here?’

“我?guī)硪环饨o埃比尼澤·鮑爾弗·肖先生的信。他在嗎?”

‘Who is it from?’asked the man with the gun.

“誰的?”持槍的男人問道。

‘That's none of your business，’I replied，getting angry.

“那與你無關(guān)。”我答道，變得生氣了。

‘Well，put the letter down by the door，and leave.’

“好，把信放到門邊，走。”

‘I will not!’I answered sharply.‘I'm going to give it to Mr Balfour himself.The letter introduces me to him.’

“我不!”我厲聲答道，“我準備把信交給鮑爾弗先生本人。這封信把我引薦給他。”

‘Who are ye then?’was the next question.

“那么，你是誰?”這是下一個問題。

‘I'm not ashamed of my name. It's David Balfour.’

“我才不為我自己的名字而感到害臊呢。我叫戴維·鮑爾弗。”

The man almost dropped his gun.After a long while，he asked in a changed voice，‘Is your father dead?’I was too surprised to answer，but he continued，‘Aye，he must be dead，and that's why ye have come.Well，man，I'll let ye in，’and he disappeared from the window.

那個男人差一點把他的槍扔了。過了好一陣子，他才變了腔道問道：“你父親去世了嗎?”我因太驚訝了而回答不出來，但他繼續(xù)道：“對，他一定是死了，那也是你來的原因。好吧，伙計，我會讓你進來，”并從窗戶那兒消失了。

Now the door was unlocked，and a voice from the darkness said，‘Go into the kitchen and touch nothing.’I obeyed，while the man locked the heavy door carefully again.I found myself in the emptiest kitchen that I had ever seen.There was a fire，but no other light.On the table was a bowl of porridge and a glass of water，in front of the only chair.Around the walls were several locked chests.There was no other furniture.The man who now appeared in the kitchen was small，mean-looking and white-faced，between fifty and sev enty years old，and wearing a dirty old nightshirt.The worst thing about him was that he could neither take his eyes away from me，nor look straight into my face.

門現(xiàn)在打開了，黑暗中有個聲音說道：“到廚房來，不準碰任何東西。”我照著他說的做了，與此同時那個男人小心翼翼地又把那扇沉沉的門鎖上了。我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己站在我所見過的最空蕩蕩的廚房里。那兒有一堆火，但除此以外再沒有別的光線了。唯一的一把椅子前的桌子上面放著一碗粥和一杯水。墻的四周擺放著幾個鎖著的柜子。除此以外，沒有別的什么家具?，F(xiàn)在在廚房里出現(xiàn)的那個男人身材矮小，形象猥瑣，臉色蒼白，約在五十歲到七十歲之間，穿著一件臟兮兮的舊睡衣。最糟糕的是他既不把視線從我身上移開，也不直視我的臉。

‘If ye're hungry，’he said，‘ye can eat that porridge.It's grand food，porridge!Let me see the letter!’

“如果你餓了，”他說道，“你可以吃那碗粥。粥，可是好東西!讓我看看信!”

‘It's for Mr Balfour，not you，’I replied.

“信是給鮑爾弗先生的，不是給你的，”我說道。

‘And who do ye think I am?Give me Alexander's letter!Ye may not like me or my house or my porridge，but I'm your born uncle，Davie，my man!’

“那么你以為我是誰啊?把亞歷山大的信給我!你可能不喜歡我、不喜歡我的房子或者不喜歡我的粥，但我是你的親伯伯，戴維，我的伙計!”

This was the end of all my hopes.I was too tired and miser able to speak，so I silently gave him the letter，and sat down to eat the porridge.

我所有的希望破滅了。我因太勞累、太難受而什么話也說不出來，于是我默默地把信交給他并坐下來喝粥。

‘Your father's been dead a long time?’he asked，giving me a quick look from his sharp eyes.

“你父親死了很久了?”他一邊問，一邊用他那雙厲害的眼睛飛快地掃視我。

‘Three weeks，sir，’I said.

“三周了，先生，”我道。

‘He was a secretive man，Alexander was.Perhaps he didn't talk much about me? Or about the house of Shaws?’

“他是個愛遮遮掩掩的人，對，亞歷山大是。也許他沒有怎么說起過我?或說起過肖家這房子?”

‘I never knew he had a brother，sir，or ever heard the name of Shaws.’

“我從不知道他有一個兄弟，先生，也沒聽說過肖這個名字。”

‘To think of that!’he replied.‘A strange man!’But he seemed very pleased，and began to look at me with more inter est.Soon he jumped up and said，‘We're going to get on well，Davie!What's mine is yours，man，and what's yours is mine.Blood's thicker than water，and there's only ye and me of the name of Balfour. Now I'll show ye to your bed.’

“想想看!”他回答道，“真是一個奇怪的人!”但是他看起來很高興，并且也開始更饒有興趣地打量著我。不一會兒他跳起身來，說道：“我們將會合得來的，戴維!我的就是你的，伙計，你的也是我的。血濃于水，鮑爾弗家只有你和我兩個人。現(xiàn)在我要把你帶到睡覺處去。”

He took me up some dark stairs and showed me into a room.I could not see anything.

他帶著我上了黑黝黝的樓梯，把我?guī)У揭粋€房間里。我什么也看不到。

‘Can I have a light，sir?’I asked.

“我能有盞燈嗎，先生?”我問道。

‘No，ye can't.No lights in this house!I'm afraid of fires，ye see.Good night to ye，Davie，my man.’And before I had time to reply，he pulled the door shut and locked it from the outside.The room was very cold，but luckily I had my plaid with me，so I covered myself with it like a blanket，and soon fell asleep.

“不，你不能。這房子里不準有燈!你明白我怕火。晚安，戴維，我的伙計。”我還沒有來得及回答，他已把門關(guān)上并從外面鎖上了。房間里很冷，但幸運的是我隨身帶著肩巾，于是我用它像用毯子一樣地把自己蓋起來，很快我便睡著了。

The next day my uncle and I had a small bowl of porridge and a glass of water for breakfast，lunch and supper.He did not speak much to me，but was clearly thinking hard.I often noticed him looking at me，while pretending to do something different， and he never left me alone in the kitchen with the locked chests，in which，I supposed，he kept his money.I did not like the way he looked at me，and began to wonder if he was a little crazy，and perhaps dangerous.

第二天早、中、晚飯我和我的叔叔都只喝了一小碗粥和一杯水。他對我講話不多，但很明顯地他在使勁想什么。我經(jīng)常注意到他一邊假裝干別的事一邊看我，他也從來沒有讓我一個人單獨待在放有鎖著的柜子的廚房里。我想他一定在里面放了錢。我不喜歡他看我的那種樣子，開始想他是不是有點神經(jīng)不正常，而且或許是個危險人物。

After supper he said suddenly，‘Davie，I've been thinking.I promised your father a bit of money for ye before ye were born.A promise is a promise—and so I'm going to give ye…forty pounds!’ These last words seemed very painful to him.He added，in a kind of scream，‘Scots!’

吃過晚飯他突然說：“戴維，我一直在思考。你出生前我曾答應過你父親給你一點錢。承諾就是承諾——我現(xiàn)在要給你……40鎊!”最后的話語對他來說顯得非常痛苦。他用一種尖叫的聲音補充道：“蘇格蘭鎊!”

A Scottish pound was the same as an English shilling.I could see that his story was a lie，so I laughed at him，saying，‘Oh，think again，sir!English pounds，surely!’

一個蘇格蘭鎊相當于一個英格蘭先令。我能看得出他在說謊，于是我嘲笑他，說：“噢，再想想，先生!英鎊，確定無疑!”

‘That's what I said，'replied my uncle quickly.‘Go outside for a moment，and I'll get the money for ye.’

“那是我說的。”我叔叔很快答道，“出去一會兒，我給你拿錢。”

I was smiling as I went out，sure that he would give me nothing at all.It was a dark night，and I could hear wind in the hills.‘There may be thunder later，’I thought，not knowing how important the weather would be to me that night.

我出去時微笑著，敢肯定他什么也不會給我。夜晚天黑黑的，我能聽到山野里的風聲。“之后可能會打雷，”我想，不知道那晚的天氣對我來說將是何等重要。

But when my uncle called me in again，he counted thirty eight English pounds in gold into my hands.It clearly hurt him to do it，and he kept back the last two pounds，but I did not mind that.Surprised and pleased，I thanked him warmly.

但當我叔叔把我又叫進去時，他將價值38英鎊的金幣數(shù)著放在我的手里。顯然他是不情愿那么做的，他扣了最后兩個英鎊，但是我沒有在意。我又驚又喜，熱烈地感謝他。

‘Now，’he said，looking cleverly at me，‘ye can give me something，Davie.I'm getting old now，and I need help.’

“那么，”他狡黠地看著我說道，“你可以給我一些東西，戴維。我現(xiàn)在變老了，我需要幫助。”

‘Of course，sir，’I answered.‘What can I do?’

“當然可以，先生，”我回答道，“我能做什么?”

‘Well，go outside and climb the stairs at the other end of the house，where the building isn't finished yet.Go up to the room at the top，and bring down the chest that ye'll find there.It's got valuable papers in it.’

“好的，出去，爬上在那個還未建完的房子的另一端的樓梯。爬到位于房子的頂層的房間去，把你在那兒發(fā)現(xiàn)的柜子拿下來。里面有重要的文件。”

‘Can I have a light，sir?’I asked.

“我能點盞燈嗎，先生?”我問道。

‘No，’he said sharply.‘No lights in my house!’ ‘Very well，sir.Are the stairs good?’

“不，”他厲聲說道，“我的房子里不能點燈!”“好吧，先生。樓梯是好的嗎?”

‘They're grand，’ said he.

“好的，”他說，“樓梯是好的。”

‘The stairs are grand.Out I went into the night.As I was feeling my way along the outside wall，there was a sudden flash of lightning，then darkness again.I found the stairs and started climbing.I was about fifteen metres above the ground，when there was another flash of lightning.That was lucky for me，because it showed me that the steps were uneven， and that I could easily fall to my death.‘These are the grand stairs!’I thought.‘Perhaps my uncle wants me to die!’Now I was very careful，and I felt each step with my hands before I put my foot on it.A few steps later my hand felt cold stone，and then nothing more.The stairs ended there，twenty metres above the ground.I felt cold with fear，when I thought of the danger that I had been in.Sending a stranger up those stairs in the dark was sending him straight to his death.

我走進夜色中。我沿著外墻摸索著時，一道閃電忽然閃過，緊接著又是黑黝黝的。我找到了樓梯并且開始爬起來。我已離地大約十五米高，這時又有一道閃電閃過。那對我來說是幸運的，因為它向我表明樓梯是不平的，我很容易摔死。“這就是不錯的樓梯!”我想道，“我伯伯可能想讓我死掉!”現(xiàn)在我很當心起來，踩每一腳前都用手仔細地摸摸踏腳處。又爬了幾步之后，我的手碰到了冰冷的石頭，然后再也沒有東西了。摟梯到頭了，離地20米高。我一想起我所處的險境就害怕得直發(fā)冷。讓一個陌生人在黑暗中上那樓梯，就是把他直接送到死神面前。

Angrily，I turned and felt my way down.There was a crash of thunder，and suddenly the rain came down.At the bottom of the stairs I looked towards the kitchen，and could see，in the next flash of lightning，a figure standing still in the doorway，listening. When the thunder sounded again，louder than before，he ran back inside，and I followed as softly as I could.I found him sitting in the kitchen，drinking whisky straight from the bottle，and shaking with fear.Quietly I came up behind him，and，putting my hands sud denly on his shoulders，cried，‘Ah!’

我氣呼呼地掉轉(zhuǎn)過頭，摸索著往下爬。雷電轟鳴，忽然間下起雨來。我站在樓梯的底端往廚房看，借助下一道閃電的光亮看見一個人靜靜地站在門口傾聽著。當雷聲又響起而且雷聲大過以前時，他跑回里面，我盡可能悄悄地跟著他。我發(fā)現(xiàn)他坐在廚房里，直接用酒瓶喝著威士忌，身體因害怕而在發(fā)抖。我輕輕地從他身后走上前去，忽然間把手放到他的肩上，大聲叫道：“啊!”

My uncle gave a kind of broken cry，and fell to the floor like a dead man.His face was a strange blue colour，and I began to think that he really was dead.

我叔叔急促地尖叫起來并摔倒在地上，像一個死人一樣。他的臉色顯現(xiàn)出一種奇怪的藍色，我開始琢磨他是不是真的死了。

At last his eyes opened，and he looked up and saw me.‘Oh man，are ye alive or a ghost?’he cried ‘Get me my medicine，Davie—it's for my heart.’I found the medicine bottle and gave him some.He soon began to look a little better. ‘Why did you lie to me?’I asked angrily.

最后他的雙眼睜開了，他抬起頭看著我。“噢，伙計，你到底是活著還是個幽靈?”他叫道。“把我的藥給我，戴維——治療我的心臟用的那種。”我找到藥瓶，給了他一些藥。他很快就開始看著好一點了。

‘Why did you give me money? And why did you try to kill me? Answer me!’

“你為什么對我扯謊?”我生氣地問道。“你為什么給我錢?你為什么還想殺死我?回答我!”

‘I'll tell ye tomorrow，Davie，I promise.Help me to bed now，will ye?’He still looked very ill，so I could not refuse.But this time I locked his bedroom door，and went to sleep in front of the kitchen fire.

“明天我會告訴你的，戴維，我發(fā)誓。現(xiàn)在幫忙把我扶到床上，行嗎?”他看起來仍病得很厲害，所以我不能拒絕。但這一次我鎖上了他的臥室的門，然后在廚房的爐火前睡了。

When I woke up in the morning，I felt very pleased with myself.‘He thinks he's cleverer than me，but he isn't!’I thought.When I let my uncle out of his room，I asked him again for an explanation After a while，he said，‘Davie，I have some business with a ship's captain at Queensferry.Now，we could walk over there，and when I've done my business，we could visit the lawyer，Mr Rankeillor.He'll answer all your questions.He's an honest man，and he knew your father.What do ye say to that?’

第二天早晨當我醒來時，我對自己感到很高興。“他以為他比我聰明，但他不是!”我想。當我把我叔叔放出房間時，我又要他解釋一下。過了一會兒，他說道：“戴維，我和昆斯費里的一個船長有筆生意?，F(xiàn)在我們走到那兒去，我做完生意時我們可以拜訪一下律師蘭基勒先生。他將解答你所有的問題。他是一個誠實的人，他認識你父親。那么做你意下如何?”

I thought for a moment.I had never seen the sea，but had always wanted to!‘It's a grand idea，’I said.

我想了一下。我從未見過大海，但一直想見!“是個好主意，”我說道。

It was a morning's walk to Queensferry，Which was west of Edinburgh，but we did not say a word to each other on the way.Suddenly，at the top of a hill，we could see the Firth of Forth below us，blue and calm，with white sails on it.

昆斯費里位于愛丁堡西側(cè)，我們走了一上午才到，但一路上我們沒有互相說話。猛然，在山頂上，我們看見了下面的福斯灣，湛藍湛藍的，又風平浪靜，白帆點點。

‘Ye see that public house?’asked my uncle.‘Captain Hoseason's there，to do business with me.There's the ship's boat on the beach，waiting to take him to the ship.And there's the ship itself!A grand ship!’

“你看見了那個小酒店嗎?”我叔叔問道，“霍齊亞森船長在那兒，要和我做生意。海灘上有船上的小艇，等著把他帶到船上去。那就是那船本身!一條大船!”

I had to agree with him.The sailors were getting the ship ready for sailing，and I thought what an exciting adventure that would be—to sail away to a foreign country.

我得同意他的。水手們正在把船收拾停當以備遠航。我想著遠航去一個遙遠的國度將是一次多么激動人心的歷險埃

We walked down the hill to the public house and met the captain there.He was a tall，dark，serious-looking man，who shook hands politely with me.Stupidly，I left these two men to their business，and ran down to the beach，to talk to the sailors and look at the boats.It was all new and very interest ing to me.

我們走下山到了小酒店，在那兒見到了船長。他是個大高個兒，皮膚黝黑，表情嚴肅。他有禮貌地和我握握手。傻呵呵地，我讓這兩個人去干他們自己的事，自己跑到海灘上去和水手們聊天并去看那些小艇。這對我來說都是新鮮事，都很令人感興趣。

As I was coming back，I met the owner of the public house.

我正往回走時，遇到了小酒店的主人。

‘Good morning，’he said.‘Did ye come with Ebenezer?’

“早晨好。”他說道，“你是和埃比尼澤一塊來的嗎?”

‘I did，’I replied.‘He isn't well liked，I understand.’

“是的，”我回答道，“他不招人喜歡，我明白。”

‘That's true，’he answered.‘Nobody speaks well of him.It all started with that story about Mr Alexander，his brother.’

“那是真的。”他回答道，“沒有人說他好話。這得從他兄弟亞歷山大的故事說起。”

‘What story?’I asked.

“什么故事?”我問道。

‘Oh，just that Ebenezer had killed him.Did ye never hear that?’

“噢，就是埃比尼澤殺害了他。你從未聽說過那事嗎?”

‘And why would he kill my f—，I mean，Alexander?’

“他為什么要殺我父——我是說，亞歷山大?”

‘To get the house，of course，the house of Shaws.’

“當然是為了房子，肖家大院。”

‘Aye，man?Was my—was Alexander older than Ebenezer?’

“伙計，什么?難道我的——亞歷山大比埃比尼澤年長嗎?”

‘Indeed he was!No other reason for killing him!’

“他就是!殺他再也沒有別的原因了!”

This was a great surprise to me!I had thought that my fa ther was the younger brother，and I now understood why my uncle had lied to me，and wanted to kill me.The house of Shaws had belonged to my father，not my uncle，and now I had inherited it.The poor country boy who had walked from Essendean was the owner of a fine house and farmland!My head was full of the wonderful things that I could do in my life，as I looked，unseeing，at the sea.

這對我來說真是件驚奇事!我過去一直以為我父親是年幼的兄弟，現(xiàn)在我明白了為什么我的叔叔對我扯了謊而且要殺死我。肖家大院本來屬于我父親，不是我叔叔的，現(xiàn)在我繼承了它。從埃森丁走出來的可憐的鄉(xiāng)下男孩成了大房子和農(nóng)田的主人!我視而不見地望著大海，腦袋里全是我想像的、我這一輩子可能干的美妙的事兒。

Just then my uncle and the captain came out of the public house.The captain smiled in a friendly way as he spoke to me.‘Sir，’he said，‘Mr Balfour has told me a lot about ye.I'm only sorry I haven't time to get to know ye better.But I'd like ye to come on to my ship for half an hour，before we sail，and have a drink with me.’

正在那時我叔叔和船長從小酒店出來。船長邊跟我說話邊友好地沖我微笑。“先生，”他說道，“鮑爾弗先生告訴了我很多關(guān)于你的事。我只是感到有點遺憾，我沒有足夠的時間來更好地了解你。但是我想請你在我們開航前到我船上來半小時并和我喝上一杯。

Now，more than anything in the world，I wanted to see the inside of a ship，but I remembered that I had to be careful.‘My uncle and I have to see the lawyer，sir，’I replied，‘so I'm afraid we may not have enough time.’

現(xiàn)在，在這個世界上我最想做的就是去看看船的內(nèi)部構(gòu)造，但是我記著我得小心。“我和我叔叔得去見律師，先生，”我答道，“所以恐怕我們可能沒有足夠的時間。”

‘Aye，aye，’he answered，‘I know，but ye see，the ship's boat can put ye both down near Rankeillor's house，after ye've seen the ship，so ye won't lose any time.’ Suddenly he said quietly in my ear，‘Watch out for the old man—he wants to hurt ye.Come and talk about it.’Putting his arm in mine，he said loudly，‘What can I bring ye back from my travels? A friend of Mr Balfour's is a friend of mine!’

“對，對，”他回答道，“我知道，但是你明白，船上的小艇能夠在你們看完之后讓你們二人在蘭基勒家附近的地方下船，所以你不會沒時間的。”忽然間他對我輕聲耳語道：“當心這個老家伙——他想害你。來談談。”他挽著我的臂，大聲說：“我旅行回來給你帶什么?鮑爾弗先生的朋友也是我的朋友!”

By this time we were on the beach， and he was helping my uncle and me into the boat.I thought that I had found a good friend and helper，and I was very excited as we came closer to the great ship，full of busy，noisy sailors.The captain and I were the first to climb up the ship's side，and at the top the captain immediately put his arm through mine and began to talk about the ship.

到這時我們已在海灘上，他幫著我和叔叔進了小艇。我心想我找到了一個好朋友，一個可以幫忙的人;而且當我們更加走近到處是忙忙碌碌、吵吵嚷嚷的水手的大船時，我心里很激動。我和船長率先爬過船舷，在頂上船長立即用臂挽住我，開始談起船來。

‘But where is my uncle?’I asked suddenly.I pulled myself away from the captain's arm，and ran to the side of the ship.Sure enough，there was the boat returning to Queensferry，with my uncle sitting in it.I screamed，‘Help， help!Murder!’and my uncle slowly turned to look at me.

“可我叔叔在哪兒?”我忽然間問道。我掙脫開船長挽我的胳膊，跑到船舷。千真萬確，一艘小艇正駛回昆斯費里，我叔叔就坐在里邊。我尖叫道：“救命，救命!有人要殺我!”而我叔叔慢慢地回頭看看我。

I did not see any more.Already strong hands were pulling me away.Then something hit my head;I saw a great flash of fire，and fell to the ground.

我再沒看見什么。強有力的手已把我拖開了。接著什么東西打了我的頭;我眼冒金星，接著倒在地上。