三怪客泛舟記：返航歸家

We left Oxford on the third day， to go back home.The weather changed， and， when we left Oxford， it was raining.It continued to rain，not heavily，but all the time.

第三天，我們從牛津啟航回家。離開牛津的時候，天氣變了，下起了雨。從那以后，雨一直在下，雖然不大，可卻始終沒有停過。

When the sun is shining，the river turns everything into a golden dream. But when it rains， the river is brown and miser-able.

陽光燦爛的日子里，河水把一切都變成了金色的夢;可是天一下雨，河水變得渾濁而凄涼。

It rained all day，and，at first，we pretended we were enjoy-ing it.We said that it was a nice change.We added that it was good to see the river in all kinds of weather.Harris and I sang a song about how good it was to be free and to be able to enjoy the sun and the rain.

整天下著雨。起初，我們還裝出一副怡然自得的樣子。我們說換換口味也好，我們喜歡看不同天氣下的河流是什么樣子。哈里斯和我唱著歌，唱著自由多么美好，享受完了陽光享受小雨是多么美妙。

George thought it was much more serious， and he put up the umbrella.

喬治卻把事情看得嚴重得多，他一直撐著傘。

Before lunch， he put the cover on the boat， and it stayed there all afternoon. We just left a little hole， so that we could see out. We stopped for the night， just before Day's lock， and I cannot say that we spent a happy evening.

午餐之前，他掛起了篷布，整整掛了一下午。我們只留出一個孔，可以看到外面。在不到戴斯水閘的地方，我們停船過夜。我得說那個晚上我們實在沒有過好。

The rain came down without stopping.Everything in the boat was wet.Supper was not a success.We were all tired of cold meat， and we talked about our favourite foods.When we passed the cold meat to Montmorency， he refused our offer.He went and sat at the other end of the boat， alone.

雨下個不停，船上的東西全部都淋濕了，晚餐自然是個失敗。大家對冷肉都倒了胃口，便說起各自喜歡的食物。我們把冷肉遞給“元帥”，它才不要呢。它走過去坐在船尾，孤零零地。

We played cards after supper.We played for about an hour and a half， and George won ten pence. Harris and I lost five pence each.We decided to stop then， because the game was getting too exciting.

吃完晚飯，我們一起玩起了紙牌。玩了約摸有一個半小時，喬治贏了十個便士，我和哈里斯每人輸了五個。我們覺得不能再玩了，因為我們已經(jīng)賭得有點情緒激動了。

After that we had some whisky，and we sat and talked.George told us about a man he had known.This man had slept on the river， in a wet boat， like ours， and it had made him very ill. Ten days later， the poor man died， in great pain.George said he was quite a young man， so it was very sad.

之后，我們又喝了些威士忌，坐下來聊天。喬治跟我們談起他認識的一個人，也曾睡在河上一只潮濕的船里，象我們的一樣。結果，得了重病，十天后就在難以忍受的病痛中死去。喬治說他還是個年輕人，一想起來就傷心。

Then Harris remembered one of his friends who had camped out on a wet night.When he woke up the next morning，he was in great pain， and he was never able to walk again.

接著，哈里斯也想起他的一個朋友在潮濕的夜里，在野外露營。第二天早上一覺醒來，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己痛楚難當，然后再也不會走路了。

So then，of course， we began to talk about other illnesses.Harris said it would be very serious if one of us became ill be-cause we were a long way from a doctor.

既然如此，我們又很自然地談起了其它各種病癥。哈里斯說，如果我們有人得了病那可麻煩了，因為我們離醫(yī)生可遠著吶!

After this we really needed something to make us feel a bit happier， so George sang to us. That really made us cry.

談了這么多喪氣話，我們真需要點東西提提精神，放松放松。所以喬治給我們唱歌聽，可那歌唱得我們抱頭痛哭。

After that we could think of nothing else to do， so we went to bed.Well…we undressed and we lay down in the boat.We tried to go to sleep but it was four hours before we did so.At five o'clock we all woke up again， so we got up and had break-fast.

再后來，我們想不起還有什么事好做，所以就去睡覺了。于是，我們脫了衣服，躺在船里。我們想合眼就睡，可足足有四個小時才迷糊著了。早晨五點，大家又全醒了。于是就起床，吃早飯。

The second day was the same as the first. It rained all day.We sat in our raincoats under the cover， and we travelled slow-ly along the river. I did try to sing again， but it was not a suc-cess.

第二天的天氣，依然如故，雨下了一整天。我們裹著雨衣，坐在篷布底下，沿著河慢慢地漂。我還試著再唱支歌，可實在唱不下去。

However， we all agreed that we should continue our trip.We had come to enjoy ourselves for a fortnight on the river， and we were going to finish the trip. If it killed us-well， that would be a sad thing for our friends and families， but we would not give in to the weather.

不過，有一點我們一致同意——那就是一定要把旅行進行到底。我們來就是為了要在河上痛痛快快地玩兩個星期，我們一定要善始善終，即使因此送了命!——當然，這對親朋好友來說是件慘痛的事，但我們也絕不愿向天氣屈服。

'It's only two more days，'Harris said， 'and we are young and strong.Perhaps we'll be all right.'

“就只有兩天啦，”哈里斯說，“我們都年輕力壯，我們可能會安然無恙的。”

At about four o'clock we began to discuss our plans for that evening. We were a little past Goring then， and we decided to go on to Pangbourne and spend the night there.

下午四點左右，我們開始討論晚上的安排。我們剛過戈靈，決定再劃一會兒到潘本過夜。

'Another happy evening，'George said.

“又是幸福的一夜，”喬治說。

We sat and thought about it.We would be in Pangbourne by five o'clock. We would finish our dinner by half past six. After that we could walk about the village in the rain，or we could sit in a dark little pub.

我們坐在那兒，想著晚上的安排：大概五點鐘到潘本，六點半吃完晚飯，然后我們可以頂著雨在村子里轉一轉，或者在一家燈光幽暗的小酒館里坐坐。

'It would be more interesting to go to the Alhambra Theatre in London，'Harris said，and he looked out at the sky.

“啊，去倫敦的阿爾罕布拉戲院可比這有意思多了。”哈里斯說著，探出頭看看外面的天色。

'With supper afterwards at that little French restaurant，'I added.

“然后再在那家法國小餐廳吃頓晚餐，”我又加了一句。

'Yes， I'm almost sorry we've decided to stay on the boat，'Harris said.Then we were silent for a time.

“是啊，我真后悔我們決定還要呆在這條船上，”哈里斯說。一度，大家都沉默不語。

'I know we've decided to stay and die on this boat，'George said，'but there is a train which leaves Pangbourne soon after five o'clock. We could be in London in time to get something to eat，and afterwards we could go on to the theatre.'

“我明白咱們已經(jīng)下決心呆在船上，死在這里，”喬治說，“不過五點鐘馬上有一趟火車離開潘本，我們也許能及時趕回倫敦，好好吃上一頓;然后還可以去戲院看戲。”

Nobody said a word. We looked at each other， and we all felt badly about it. We did not speak， but we got out the bag.We looked up the river， and down the river. There was nobody there.

沒人答話，大家面面相覷，對這個想法都感到汗顏。雖然沒人說什么，可我們把包拿了出去。我們看看上游，看看下游，一個人都沒有。

Twenty minutes later， three figures and an ashamed dog qui-etly left the nearest boathouse， and went towards the station.

二十分鐘后，三條人影和一只蔫了腦袋的狗離開了最近的一家船塢，奔向火車站。

We had told the boatman a lie.We had asked him to take care of the boat for us until nine o'clock the next morning. We said we would come back for it then. However， if( only' if')something happened to stop us from coming back， then we would write to him.

我們向管船人撒了個謊。我們請他照看我們的船，明天早上九點我們會回來取的。要是(我們說“萬一”)，我們被意外絆住了腳，趕不回來，我們會寫信告訴他的。

We reached Paddington station at seven o'clock， and we drove straight to the restaurant.We had a light meal and left Montmorency there. Then we went to the theatre. For some reason everybody stared at us， and this made us very happy.Perhaps it was because of our interesting clothes， or because we looked so healthy.

七點鐘，我們趕到了帕丁頓車站，坐車徑直去了餐廳。我們略微吃了點東西，把“元帥”留在那里。接著又去了戲院。可那兒的人不知為什么都盯著我們看，這讓我們十分自豪。可能是因為我們有趣的著裝，或是因為我們看上去十分健康。

Afterwards we went back to the restaurant， where supper was waiting for us.

看完戲，我們又回到餐廳，晚餐已經(jīng)準備好了。

We really did enjoy that supper.For ten days we had lived on cold meat and bread， and not much else. We ate and drank without speaking，and then we sat back and rested.We felt good，and thoughtful，and kind.

那頓飯我們吃得痛快極了。十天來，我們一直只靠冷肉、面包和其它一些不多的東西過活。我們邊吃邊喝，誰也顧不上說話。吃完飯，我們靠在椅子上，愜意地休息著，覺得一切都那么美好，仁慈，意味深長。

Then Harris，who was sitting next to the window，pulled back the curtain and looked out into the street. It was still raining， and it was dark and very wet. One or two people hur-ried past. The rain was running from their umbrellas， and the women were holding up their long skirts.

這時，坐在窗口的哈里斯拉開窗簾，向街上望去。天還下著雨，陰沉沉，濕漉漉的。一兩個行人匆匆走過，雨水順著他們的雨傘滴下來，女士們都拎起她們長長的裙子。

Harris picked up his glass.

哈里斯端起杯子。

'Well，'he said，' we've had a good trip， and I'm very grate-ful to Old Father Thames.But I think we were right to give up and come back. Here's to Three Men well out of a Boat!'

“不管怎么說，”他說道，“我們完成了一次愉快的旅行，我衷心感謝老父親泰晤士河。我覺得咱們棄舟回來做得對!來吧，為三位下船的先生干懷!”

And Montmorency stood on his back legs in front of the window， looked out into the night， and gave a short bark to show that he agreed.

“元帥”站起身，站在窗前，凝望著窗外沉沉的黑夜，短短吠了一聲，表示同意我們的祝酒辭。