4
Nothing to See
It was half past two in the morning. In the lighthouse, Grace was asleep in her room. It was a small, tidy room, with white walls. Her dress was on the back of the door, and her other clothes were on a chair by the bed. There were some books on a desk, and some sea-birds' eggs on a table.
Someone knocked at the door. 'Grace!' her father's voice called. 'Wake up, lass. I need you to help me.'
'What is it, father?' She got up quickly, and opened the door. William Darling stood there with a candle in his hand. He was wearing his big black coat and heavy boots, and his hat was pulled down over his ears. His face was tired, and wet with rain.
'The storm is worse. The wind is coming from the north now, and it's stronger. We shall have to go outside and tie the boat down, or we shall lose it!'
'All right. I'll be down in a minute.' Quickly, Grace closed the door and put her clothes on. She often got up in the night. There was always work on a lighthouse, and the sea did not wait for morning. A minute later, she ran downstairs to the kitchen, put a coat over her thin dress, tied her hair under her hat, and followed her father out into the night.
The wind nearly lifted her off her feet. It was strong, black, hard, and wet. She opened her mouth to call to her father, but the words blew away into the night. Her coat and dress blew out behind her like paper, and the rain hit her face, like small stones.
She walked slowly after her father, to the boathouse. Her father was carrying a small lantern, and in its light Grace saw a great wave of white water. It broke against the rock in front of the boathouse, and white water crashed against the boathouse doors. William shouted something to Grace but she could not hear him — the sounds of the wind and the sea were too loud, too terrible.
In the boathouse, she helped her father tie the boat down to the rock. They tied down the oars, too, so that nothing could move them. Then they ran outside and carried everything into the kitchen — their chickens, their fishing things. Nothing could stay outside on a night like this.
Before they went back in, Grace stared out into the night. The light from the top of the lighthouse flashed out over the water, and for thirty seconds she could see very well. One after another, the big, black waves came out of the darkness — waves ten, twenty metres high! When they hit the rock there was a huge crash, and white water flew everywhere, thirty, forty metres up over the Longstone rock.
Grace stared out, over the waves, past the rocks and islands. But — thank God! — she could see no lights, no ships. No ship could live in that sea tonight.
'Grace! Come on in, lass!' Her father held the door open behind her. She went in quickly, and he closed the door behind them. Her mother had warm drinks ready for them.
'Go to bed now, father,' Grace said. 'You've had no sleep yet tonight. I'll watch the light now, and mother can come up at five.'
'All right, lass,' he said. William was very tired. He went upstairs with his wife, and in two minutes they were asleep.
Grace finished her drink quickly, and changed out of her wet clothes. Then she went up alone to the room with the big windows at the top of the lighthouse. The wild wind screamed and shook the glass.
It was half past three in the morning.
* * *
tidy adj. orderly and neat in appearance or habits 整齊的,整潔的
boot n. a covering of leather or rubber for the foot and part or all of the leg 長靴
boathouse n. a building at the water's edge in which boats are kept 船庫,船屋
watch v. to pay attention to; to take care of 看守,看護
4.什么都看不見
凌晨兩點半。燈塔里,格雷絲在自己的房間里睡覺。這是一個整潔的小房間,墻壁雪白。她的裙子掛在門后,其他衣服放在床邊的椅子上。書桌上有一些書,桌子上有一些海鳥蛋。
有人敲門。“格雷絲!”是她父親的聲音,“醒醒,女兒。我需要你的幫助。”
“怎么了,爸爸?”她飛快地下床,打開房門。威廉·達林手握蠟燭站在那里。他身著黑色大外套,腳穿一雙厚重的靴子,帽子拉低蓋住了耳朵。他滿臉倦容,被雨水淋得濕漉漉的。
“暴風(fēng)雨變大了?,F(xiàn)在風(fēng)從北方刮來,越來越猛。我們必須出去把船拴好,否則我們可能會失去它!”
“好的,我馬上下去。”格雷絲迅速關(guān)上門穿好衣服。她經(jīng)常半夜起來。在燈塔總有活兒可干,而且大海從不會等天亮再發(fā)作。一分鐘后,她跑到樓下的廚房,在單薄的裙子外面罩上一件外套,把頭發(fā)束到帽子里,然后跟著父親出門,走進夜色里。
大風(fēng)幾乎將她吹起來了。黑夜里,狂風(fēng)夾著雨水,兇猛而潮濕。她張開嘴要喊父親,但聲音被風(fēng)聲淹沒,消散在黑夜里。她的外套和裙子如同紙片一般被風(fēng)吹到身后亂舞著,雨水像小石子一樣打到她臉上。
她尾隨父親緩步來到船屋。父親拎著一個小提燈,借著燈光,格雷絲看到一個巨大的白浪打在船屋門前的礁石上飛濺開來,浪花飛到船屋的門上。威廉向格雷絲喊著什么,但她聽不見——風(fēng)聲和海浪聲太大,太猛烈了。
在船屋里,她幫助父親把船綁到礁石上;他們還綁好了船槳,這樣它們就不會被沖走。然后他們跑出來,把所有東西——包括他們養(yǎng)的雞和漁具——都帶回廚房。沒有什么能經(jīng)得住今晚外面的風(fēng)雨。
進屋前,格雷絲向茫茫夜色中眺望。燈塔頂上發(fā)出的光灑到水面上,有三十秒鐘她能看得很清楚。黑色的巨浪接二連三地從黑暗中撲出來——海浪足有一二十米高!它們撞擊到礁石就會迸發(fā)出巨大的聲響,水花四濺,飛到長石島上空三四十米高的地方。
格雷絲放眼眺望大海遠處,越過海浪望向礁石和島嶼的前方。但是——謝天謝地!——沒有亮光,沒有船只。今晚沒有船能從海上生還。
“格雷絲!快進去,女兒!”父親在她身后撐著門。她迅速進屋,他隨手帶上門。她的母親為他們準備好了熱飲。
“去睡吧,爸爸,”格雷絲說,“您今晚還一會兒都沒睡過呢?,F(xiàn)在我來照看燈,媽媽可以五點上來。”
“好吧,女兒。”他說。威廉非常疲憊。他和妻子一起上樓,沒兩分鐘就睡著了。
格雷絲很快喝完東西,換下濕衣服,然后一個人來到燈塔頂上有大玻璃窗的房間??耧L(fēng)呼嘯,搖撼著窗玻璃。
此刻是凌晨三點半。