三怪客泛舟記：哈里斯與天鵝

After lunch， we moved on to Wargrave and Shiplake，and then to Sonning.We got out of the boat there， and we walked about for an hour or more. It was too late then to go on past Reading， so we decided to go back to one of the Shiplake islands.We would spend the night there.

午飯之后，我們繼續(xù)駛向沃格雷夫和希普雷克，然后再去松寧。在那里下了船，游覽了一個小時左右。來不及趕到雷丁了，所以我們決定回到希普雷克，在那里找一個小島過夜。

When we had tied the boat up by one of the islands，it was still early.George said it would be a good idea to have a really excellent supper.He said we could use all kinds of things，and all the bits of food we had left.We could make it really inter-esting， and we could put everything into one big pan together.George said he would show us how to do it.

我們在一個小島上拴好了船，天色尚早。喬治說要是能真正做上一頓可口的晚餐那該多好啊!還說可以把所有的東西，剩的飯都做到一起，那才有味道呢!我們可以把這些東西都放在一只大鍋里。喬治要給我們露一手，表演一下怎么做。

We liked this idea，so George collected wood to make a fire.Harris and I started to prepare the potatoes. This became a very big job.We began quite happily. However， by the time we had finished our first potato，we were feeling very miserable.There was almost no potato left.George came and looked at it.

這個主意太妙了。喬治便去找木頭生火，哈里斯和我準(zhǔn)備弄土豆。真沒想到工程如此浩大。剛開始的時候我們還挺高興，可是剛削完第一個土豆，我們就已經(jīng)痛苦不堪了。一個土豆幾乎削得沒剩多少了。喬治走過來一看，說：

'Oh， that's no good. You've done it wrong!Do it like this!'he said.

“哦，這樣削可不行。你們把東西全糟塌了。看，象我這樣削。”

We worked very hard for twenty-five minutes.At the end of that time we had done four potatoes.We refused to continue.

我們辛辛苦苦地干了二十五分鐘，才削好了四個，我們堅決不干了。

George said it was stupid to have only four potatoes， so we washed about six more.Then we put them in the pan without doing anything else to them.We also put in some carrots and other vegetables. But George looked at it， and he said there was not enough.So then we got out both the food baskets.We took out all the bits of things that were left， and we put them in，too. In fact， we put in everything we could find. I remember that Montmorency watched all this，and he looked very thoughtful.Then he walked away.He came back a few minutes later with a dead rat in his mouth. He wanted to give it to us for the meal.We did not know if he really wanted to put it in the pan，or if he wanted to tell us what he thought about the meal.Harris said he thought it would be all right to put the rat in.However， George did not want to try anything new.

喬治說只有四個土豆也太不象話了，因此我們又洗了六個，沒削沒刮，就那么放在鍋里，又放了一些胡蘿卜和其它蔬菜?？墒菃讨慰纯?，說還是不夠。我們只好把兩個裝食物的籃子都拿出來了，把剩下的所有的東西都放進(jìn)鍋里。說實(shí)在的，我們把能找到的都放進(jìn)去了。我還記得在整個烹飪過程中，“元帥”一直心事重重地看著，又走開了。過了一會兒，他叼著一只死耗子回來了，想給我們的晚餐做點(diǎn)貢獻(xiàn)。到底它是真的想把死耗子放進(jìn)鍋里呢，還是想告訴我們這是它對晚餐的看法呢，我們不得而知。哈里斯說放進(jìn)去很好，可是喬治不想搞什么新的試驗(yàn)。

It was a very good meal. It was different from other meals.The potatoes were a bit hard， but we had good teeth， so it did not really matter.

這頓飯確實(shí)很好，與以往吃的都不同。土豆有些硬，但因?yàn)槲覀兊难篮?，所以也沒什么大問題。

After supper Harris was rather disagreeable—I think it was the meal which caused this.He is not used to such rich food.George and I decided to go for a walk in Henley， but we left Harris in the boat.He said he was going to have a glass of whisky，smoke his pipe， and then get the boat ready for the night.We were on an island，so when we came back we would shout from the river bank.Then Harris would come in the boat and get us.When we left， we said to him，'Don't go to sleep!'

哈里斯吃罷晚飯變得有些不太友好——我想這一定是那頓飯在作怪，他還不適應(yīng)那么豐盛的食物。喬治和我打算到亨利城里面轉(zhuǎn)一轉(zhuǎn)，把哈里斯留在船上。他說他要喝一杯威士忌，抽斗煙，再把船弄好，準(zhǔn)備過夜。我們停在一個島上，所以回來的時候只要在岸上喊上一聲，哈里斯就把船搖過來接我們。臨行的時候，我們叮囑他：“可別睡著了!”

Henley was very busy， and we met quite a lot of people we knew in town.The time passed very quickly.When we started off on our long walk back， it was eleven o'clock.

亨利城里面十分熱鬧，我們在那里碰見不少倫敦城里的熟人。時間過得真快，我們動身回來時，已經(jīng)十一點(diǎn)了，還有長長的一段路要走。

It was a dark and miserable night.It was quite cold， and it was raining a bit. We walked through the dark， silent fields，and we talked quietly to each other.We wondered if we were going the right way.We thought of our nice， warm， comfort-able boat. We thought of Harris， and Montmorency， and the whisky—and we wished that we were there.

那是個陰沉可怕的夜晚，冷氣逼人，又下著小雨。我們穿過黑暗寂靜的曠野，低聲談著話，心里直犯嘀咕，也不知道走的路對不對。一想到我們那個溫暖，舒適的小船，想到哈里斯和“元帥”，還有威士忌——真不如就呆在船上呢。

We imagined that we were inside our warm little boat， tired and a little hungry， with the dark， miserable river outside.We could see ourselves-we were sitting down to supper there; we were passing cold meat and thick pieces of bread to each other.We could hear the happy sounds of our knives and our laughing voices.We hurried to make it real.

我們想像自己拖著饑餓、疲憊的身子回到船上，周圍是陰森可怕的河水。我們仿佛看見自己坐下來吃著晚餐，互相遞著冷肉和一片片厚厚的面包;我們仿佛聽見刀叉叮當(dāng)作響，聽到自己陣陣的笑語。我們歸心似箭，要盡快實(shí)現(xiàn)這個夢想。

After some time，we found the river，and that made us happy. We knew that we were going the right way. We passed Shiplake at a quarter to twelve， and then George said， quite slowly.' You don't remember which island it was， do you?'

又過了一段時間，我們終于到了河邊，心中才高興起來，知道自己走的路沒有錯。我們經(jīng)過希普雷克的時候是十一點(diǎn)三刻，喬治慢吞吞地問道：“你還記得咱們住的那個小島，是嗎?”

' No，I don't，'I replied， and I began to think carefully.'How many are there?'

“不，記不得了，”我回答說，然后我也開始使勁想。“一共有幾個島啊?”

'Only four，'George answered.'It'll be all right，if Harris is awake.'

“只有四個，”喬治回答。“只要哈里斯醒著，準(zhǔn)能找到。”

'And if he isn't awake?'I asked.

“要是他沒醒著怎么辦?”我問。

But we decided not to think about that.

我們打定主意不去那么想。

When we arrived opposite the first island， we shouted， but there was no answer.So we went to the second island， and we tried there.The result was the same.

我們走到第一個島對面大喊大叫，可是毫無回音。我們又跑到第二個島對面又喊，還是沒有回音。

'Oh， I remember now，'George said.'It was the third one.'

“哦，我想起來了，”喬治說。“我們住的是第三個島。”

And， full of hope， we ran to the third one， and we called out.There was no answer.

我們滿懷希望地跑到第三個島又喊了一通，還是沒有回音。

It was now becoming serious. It was after midnight.The ho-tels were all full，and we could not go round all the houses and knock on doors at midnight!George said that perhaps we could go back to Henley，find a policeman and hit him.He would arrest us and take us to a police station， and then we would have somewhere to sleep. But then we thought， 'Per-haps he won't arrest us.Perhaps he'll just hit us，too!'We could not fight policemen all night.

這樣，問題就嚴(yán)重了。時間已過半夜，旅館也早已客滿，我們總不能走遍全城，半夜里一家一家挨著敲門吧!喬治說也許我們應(yīng)該回亨利城，找個警察，把他打一頓，他就會把我們抓起來帶到派出所。那樣我們就有地方睡覺了?？墒寝D(zhuǎn)念一想：“說不定警察不抓我們，倒是也把我們揍一頓呢!”我們不能整個晚上都和警察打架。

We tried the fourth island，but there was still no reply. It was raining hard now， and it was not going to stop. We were very cold， and wet， and miserable. We began to wonder if there were only four islands， or if we were on the wrong bit of the river.Everything looked strange and different in the darkness.

我們又摸索到第四個島，同樣毫無結(jié)果。雨下得越來越大，沒有停的樣子。我們又冷又濕，狼狽不堪。我們開始懷疑起來：到底是不是只有四個小島呢?還是我們走到了另一個河岸?漆黑一片，一切都變幻莫測。

Just when we had lost all hope， I suddenly saw a strange light. It was over by the trees， on the opposite side of the river.I shouted as loudly as I could.

正在我們絕望的當(dāng)間兒，我忽然看見一道奇異的光線，從河對岸的樹林里透了出來，于是我扯起嗓子喊起來。

We waited in silence for a moment， and then(Oh， how happy we were!)we heard Montmorency bark.

我們靜靜等了一會兒。啊!我們聽見“元帥”吠叫(哦!我們太高興了!)

We continued to shout for about five minutes， and then we saw the lights of the boat. It was coming towards us slowly.We heard Harris's sleepy voice. He was asking where we were.

我們又聲嘶力竭地喊了五分鐘，才看見小船上的燈光慢慢地向我們移過來，又聽見哈里斯迷迷糊糊的聲音，問我們在哪里。

Harris seemed very strange. It was more than tiredness. He brought the boat to our side of the river. He stopped， at a place where we could not get into the boat， and then immediately he fell asleep.

哈里斯顯得有點(diǎn)奇怪，困得不象是一般的疲倦。他把船靠到岸邊，停下來，可那個地方我們根本無法上船，而他自己卻又馬上睡著了。

We had to scream and yell to wake him up again.At last we did wake him up， and we got into the boat.

我們只能喊著，尖叫著才能把他弄醒。他好不容易醒過來，我們這才得以上船。

Harris looked very sad.In fact，he looked like a man who had had a lot of trouble.We asked him if anything had hap-pened， and he said，' Swans!'

哈里斯看上去十分難過，就好像經(jīng)歷了一場大劫難。我們問他到底發(fā)生了什么事兒，他說了兩個字：“天鵝!”

We had left the boat near a swan's nest， and， soon after George and I had left， Mrs Swan came back. She started to shout at Harris. However， Harris managed to chase her away，and she went to fetch her husband.Harris said he had had quite a hard battle with these two swans. But he had fought bravely and，in the end，he defeated them.

原來，我們把船停在了天鵝巢的旁邊。就在我和喬治起身剛走，天鵝太太回來了。她沖著哈里斯直嚷嚷，而哈里斯呢，使出渾身解數(shù)把天鵝太太趕走。于是她把她丈夫拉來了。哈里斯說他和兩只天鵝戰(zhàn)斗得異常激烈，哈里斯愈戰(zhàn)愈勇，最后大獲全勝。

Half an hour later they returned-with eighteen more swans.There was another terrible battle.Harris said the swans had tried to pull him and Montmorency from the boat and drown them.But，once again，Harris fought bravely，for four hours，and he had killed them all.Then they had all swum away to die.

過了半個小時，它們卷土重來——又帶來了十八只天鵝!又是一場昏天黑地的戰(zhàn)斗。那些天鵝要把哈里斯和“元帥”拖到水里去，淹死他們。哈里斯再次以大無畏的精神又戰(zhàn)斗了四個小時，把它們?nèi)繗灉?。它們只能游到別的地方，等死去吧!

'How many swans did you say there were?'George asked.

“你說一共有多少只天鵝?”喬治問道。

'Thirty-two，'Harris replied，sleepily.

“三十二只，”哈里斯半睡半醒地回答說。

'You said eighteen before，'George said.

“可你剛才不是說十八只嗎?”喬治說。

'No， I didn't，'Harris answered.'I said twelve.Do you think I can't count?'

“我可沒說，”哈里斯咕噥道。“我說的是十二只。你當(dāng)我不會數(shù)數(shù)啊?”

We never discovered what had really happened.We asked Harris about it the next morning， but he said， 'What swans?'And he seemed to think that George and I had been dreaming.

到底那場天鵝戰(zhàn)爭是怎么一回事，我們始終沒搞清楚。第二天早上我們問起哈里斯這件事，他卻說：“什么天鵝?”他以為喬治和我一直還做著夢呢!

Oh， how wonderful it was to be in the boat again! We ate a very good supper， and then we thought we would have some whisky.But we could not find it.We asked Harris what he had done with it， but he did not seem to understand. The expres-sion on Montmorency's face told us that he knew something，but he said nothing.

哦，重新回到船上可真好!我們美美地吃了一頓晚餐。本來還想好好地喝上點(diǎn)威士忌，卻怎么也找不著。我們審問哈里斯，把威士忌搞到哪里去了，他一派茫然無知的樣子，根本不懂我們在談什么。可“元帥”臉上的表情卻好像告訴我們，他知道些內(nèi)幕，但它什么也不說。

I slept well that night，although Harris did wake me up ten times or more. He was looking for his clothes. He seemed to be worrying about his clothes all night.

我那天晚上睡得很好，盡管哈里斯把我吵醒了十好幾回。他一直在找衣服，似乎一晚上盡擔(dān)心他的衣服了。

Twice he made George and me get up，because he wanted to see if we were lying on his trousers.George got quite angry the second time.

他把喬治和我推醒了兩次，就是為了看看我們有沒有壓在他的褲子上。第二次的時候，喬治氣壞了。

'Whatever do you want your trousers for? It's the middle of the night!'he cried.'Why don't you lie down and go to sleep?'

“你半夜三更起來找褲子，到底要干嘛?”喬治喊道。“干嘛不躺下來好好去睡覺。”

The next time I woke up Harris said he could not find his shoes.And I can remember that once he pushed me over onto my side.'Wherever can that umbrella be?'he was saying.

我第二次醒來時，哈里斯說找不著鞋了。后來我還記得他把我推了一個個兒，還在說：“我的傘能去哪兒呢?”