雙語對照 | 書蟲二級《格雷絲·達林 》：10.人太多了
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10
Too Many People
Grace looked quickly behind her, and saw the people on the rock. They were waving, shouting, laughing. But there were eight, nine, perhaps ten of them! Too many for this small boat.
She looked back at the waves and pulled hard and carefully with her oars. It was more than a kilometre around the islands from the lighthouse to the ship, and every wave, every rock was different and dangerous. She was tired now, but the job was not finished. The wrecked ship on Harker's Rock was still fifty metres away.
'How many can you see, Grace?' her father shouted.
She looked again. 'Ten... twelve perhaps,' she said. 'It's too many, father. We'll all drown, if they try to get in.'
'Yes. Put me on the rock, lass, and then take the boat out again,' shouted William. 'I'll talk to them. We can't take more than five, the first time.'
It was very dangerous near the rock. In the best place, the waves went up and down two or three metres every minute. 'If we make one mistake,' Grace thought, 'the boat will break into fifty small pieces, and we'll be on the rock with the others.'
Carefully, slowly, Grace and her father tried to get the boat near the rock, but three times they had to pull away at the last minute. Then, the fourth time, William Darling jumped. The passengers pulled him onto the rock.
Grace quickly rowed the boat out to sea again. She was alone in the boat now, and the boat moved differently. She was tired, and her arms and back were hurting. But she knew about boats. 'Watch the sea all the time.' she told herself. 'The waves must meet the front of the boat first, or the boat will turn over. Forget the cold, and the rain, and the wet. God will help me.'
On the rock, William Darling spoke quickly. 'I'm going to take the woman back with me,' he said. 'And that man there, with the broken leg. Then I need three strong men, to help me row the boat.' He looked at Daniel Donovan, and two others. 'You, man, and you, and you. The others must wait here. We'll come back for you later.'
'No, by God! Why me?' shouted James Kelly. 'I want to come now!'
'You're going to stay here, sir!' shouted William angrily. 'Don't you understand? If you get in the boat, we'll all drown!'
'And my children,' cried Mrs Dawson, 'don't forget my children!'
William looked at her unhappily. He held out his arms. 'Give the children to me, mother,' he said.
Carefully, he took the boy and the girl from her, and put the little bodies on the rock, near the sea. They were dead and cold. 'They are in God's hands, mother,' he said. Then he spoke quickly and quietly to Daniel Donovan. 'When the boat comes, help me get the woman in. We can't take her children.'
Daniel agreed. William put his arm around Mrs Dawson, and waved to Grace.
Carefully, slowly, she rowed the boat in to the rock. It was harder without her father. The wind and the waves moved the boat more quickly, and Grace was very tired now. One mistake meant death for them all. She came closer — twenty metres, ten, seven, five... A big wave lifted the boat, then a smaller one behind it. She pulled hard on the oars, and threw a rope to a man on the rock. Then her father got into the boat, with a woman in his arms. She was screaming.
'My children! Bring the children, please!'
'No, mother.' William Darling took the oars. 'Help her, Grace.'
Grace went to the back of the boat with the woman, and held her. Daniel Donovan and two other men got in. They were carrying the man with the broken leg. The front of the boat was very near the rock now—too near. Grace looked behind her, and saw a big wave.
'Pull, father!' she shouted. 'Pull hard!' She stood up, and pushed against the rock with an oar. The boat was very heavy now, with all these people in it.
William pulled hard with his oars. The big wave came in, and broke into white water all around them. But the boat did not hit the rock. William pulled again, and shouted. 'You men help me! Take the oars. One each!'
The little boat was very full. The sides were only just above the water, and often the water came in. Grace threw it out with her hat. The wind and waves were against them now, and the four men had to row hard. But slowly, very slowly, the lighthouse came nearer. At last, from the top of the waves, they could see Thomasin Darling. She was standing in front of the lighthouse, and waving to them.
They were very tired when they got to the lighthouse. William and Daniel carried the man with the broken leg into the kitchen, and Grace and her mother helped Mrs Dawson.
Inside the kitchen, William smiled at his daughter. 'You did a good job, lass,' he said. 'Thank you.'
'I'll come back again with you, father,' she said.
'No,' he said. 'You're too tired. I'll take two of these.' He looked at Daniel and the other two men. 'Which are the strongest?' he asked.
Daniel was very tired. There was a fire in the kitchen — a warm, beautiful fire. He wanted to lie down in front of the fire and go to sleep for a long, long time. But William Darling's quiet brown eyes were looking at him.
'I'll come with you,' Daniel said.
'I'll come too,' said Thomas Buchanan.
William Darling smiled. 'Good men,' he said. 'Can you two men row as well as my daughter?'
Daniel looked at Grace, who was busy helping Mrs Dawson. She looked very small, here, in the kitchen — like any young woman. 'I'll try,' he said.
'Right,' said William. 'Come on then.'
So Daniel and Thomas Buchanan followed the old lighthouseman away from the warm kitchen fire, out into the rain and wind again. Daniel looked at the angry sea with its terrible waves, and he felt cold and frightened. He remembered the small young woman alone in the boat by Harker's Rock. 'Great God,' he thought. 'You made that girl strong, like an angel. Make me strong, too, like her.'
The Times London, 19th September 1838
* * *
Mr Darling and his young daughter saved nine people from the wreck of the For farshire. The storm lasted for three days, and they stayed all that time with the Darlings in the lighthouse.
Queen Victoria thinks that Grace Darling is one of the finest young women in this country, and she is writing to thank her. One hundred years from now, people will remember this day.
* * *
different adj. unlike in form, quality, amount, or nature 不同的
hurt v. to have or produce a feeling of physical pain or discomfort (使)疼痛，引起疼痛
stay v. to continue to be in a place or condition 留下，保持
mean v. to have as a consequence; bring about 造成，導(dǎo)致
at last after a consider-able length of time; finally 終于，最終
last v. to continue in time; go on 持續(xù)，延續(xù)
fine adj. of high quality 很好的，優(yōu)秀的
10.人太多了
格雷絲回頭迅速掃了一眼，看到了礁石上的人。他們揮著手，呼喊著，大笑著。但一共有八個、九個，可能十個人!對于這艘小船來說，人太多了。
她回頭看著海浪，用力而小心地劃著槳。從燈塔到沉船，繞著群島一路過來有一公里多路程，而且每股海浪、每處暗礁都不一樣且各藏兇險。她現(xiàn)在很累了，但任務(wù)還沒完成。哈克礁上的輪船殘骸還在五十米之外。
“你看到有多少人，格雷絲?”她的父親喊道。
她又看了一遍。“十個……也許是十二個，”她說，“人太多了，爸爸。如果他們都要上來，我們?nèi)紩退赖摹?rdquo;
“是的。把我放到礁石上，女兒，然后再把船劃出去，”威廉喊道，“我跟他們談?wù)劇Ｎ覀兊谝淮巫疃嘀荒軒鍌€人。”
礁石附近非常危險。即使在情況最好的地方，波浪每分鐘也要起伏兩三米。“一旦出錯，”格雷絲想，“船就會撞得粉碎，我們就得和其他人一起待在礁石上。”
格雷絲和父親試圖將船小心地、緩緩地靠近礁石，但是試了三次，每次都不得不在最后一刻把船劃開。終于在第四次，威廉·達林跳了出去。乘客們把他拉上礁石。
格雷絲迅速將小船劃回海里?，F(xiàn)在她一個人在船上，船的行進與之前也不一樣。她很累，胳臂和背都很疼。但是她知道該怎么劃船。“要一直注意海，”她告訴自己，“海浪必須先碰到船頭，否則就會翻船。忘記寒冷，忘記雨水，忘記渾身的潮濕。上帝會幫助我的。”
礁石上，威廉·達林飛快地說著話：“我要帶上這位女士，”他說，“還有那邊那位先生，腿骨折的那位。我還需要三位強壯的先生，來幫我劃船。”他看著丹尼爾·多諾萬和另外兩人，“你，先生，還有你，還有你。其他人在這里等著，我們一會兒回來接你們。”
“不，老天作證!為什么是我?”詹姆斯·凱利喊道，“我想現(xiàn)在就去!”
“你得留在這里，先生!”威廉怒吼道，“你不懂嗎?如果你上了船，我們都會淹死!”
“還有我的孩子，”道森夫人哭喊著，“別忘了我的孩子們!”
威廉不快地看著她。他伸出手，說：“把他們給我，孩子媽媽。”
他小心地把男孩和女孩接過來，把兩個小小的身體放在靠近海的礁石上。他們已經(jīng)死了，身體冰冷。“他們已經(jīng)在上帝手里了，媽媽。”說完，他迅速而平靜地對丹尼爾·多諾萬說：“船一來，幫我把這位女士弄上去。我們不能帶著她的孩子。”
丹尼爾同意了。威廉摟著道森夫人，向格雷絲揮手。
她謹慎而緩慢地劃著船靠近礁石。父親不在，劃船變得更加艱難。風(fēng)浪對小船的沖擊更快了，而且格雷絲現(xiàn)在非常疲憊。一個錯誤就會導(dǎo)致所有人喪生。她靠近了——二十米，十米，七米，五米……一個巨浪將小船托起，接著又一個小浪。她努力地劃著槳，向礁石上的一個人扔出了一條繩子。片刻后，她的父親上了船，胳臂里摟著一個女人，女人在尖叫。
“我的孩子!帶上孩子們，求求你了!”
“不行，孩子媽媽。”威廉·達林接過槳。“你來照顧她，格雷絲。”
格雷絲和女人一起走到船尾并扶住她。丹尼爾·多諾萬和另外兩個男人也上來了。他們抬著斷了腿的男人。船頭現(xiàn)在很靠近礁石——太近了。格雷絲一回頭，看到一個巨浪。
“快劃，爸爸!”她喊道，“用力劃!”她站起來，用一只槳在礁石上使勁一撐。小船承載著這么多人，現(xiàn)在變得非常沉。
威廉奮力劃槳。大浪卷過來，在他們四周濺起白色的浪花。但是船沒有撞到礁石。威廉接著劃，喊道：“男人們動手幫我!拿起槳，一人一只!”
小船滿載，船舷剛剛高出水面，不時有水灌進來。格雷絲用帽子將水潑出去?，F(xiàn)在他們逆著風(fēng)浪前進，四個男人必須使勁劃。但是慢慢地，十分緩慢地，燈塔近了。最后，他們在浪尖上時，可以看得見托馬辛·達林了。她站在燈塔前，向他們招手。
到達燈塔時，他們都累極了。威廉和丹尼爾將斷腿的男人抬進廚房，格雷絲和母親扶著道森夫人。
在廚房里，威廉沖著女兒笑了。“你干得很好，女兒，”他說，“謝謝你。”
“我再和您去一趟，爸爸。”她說。
“不，”他說，“你太累了。我從他們中找兩人帶去。”他看著丹尼爾和另外兩個男人，問：“哪兩個最強壯?”
丹尼爾非常累。廚房里有爐火——溫暖而美麗的爐火。他想躺在爐火前，長長久久地睡上一覺。但是威廉·達林棕色的雙眼正平靜地看著他。
“我跟您去。”丹尼爾說。
“我也去。”托馬斯·布坎南說。
威廉·達林笑了。“好樣兒的，”他說，“你們兩個男人能劃得和我女兒一樣好嗎?”
丹尼爾看著格雷絲，她正忙著照顧道森夫人。在這兒，在這個廚房里，她看起來很瘦小——和一般的年輕姑娘沒什么兩樣。“我會盡力。”他說。
“好，”威廉說，“那么來吧。”
于是丹尼爾和托馬斯·布坎南尾隨著這位年老的燈塔守望人離開溫暖的廚房爐火，再次回到風(fēng)雨中。丹尼爾看著怒海狂濤，感覺又冷又怕。他回想起哈克礁旁那個瘦小的姑娘獨自劃船的景象。“偉大的上帝!”他想，“是您讓那個姑娘充滿力量，就像天使一樣。讓我也充滿力量吧，就像她一樣。”
《泰晤士報》 倫敦，1838年9月19日
* * *
達林先生和他年輕的女兒從福法爾郡號殘骸中救出了九個人。暴風(fēng)雨持續(xù)了三天，他們一直和達林一家一起待在燈塔里。
維多利亞女王認為格雷絲·達林是本國最杰出的年輕女性之一，并寫信向她致謝。一百年后，人們?nèi)詴涀∵@一天。
