In England I went back to school and my studies, but I didn't forget Allegra. I wrote letters to her and sent some small presents. She didn't answer my letters but I said to myself, 'Well, she's only five. Perhaps she can't write letters yet.'
回到英國(guó),我繼續(xù)上學(xué)讀書(shū),但卻沒(méi)有忘記阿利格拉。我給她寫(xiě)信,還寄去一些小禮物。她沒(méi)有回過(guò)信,不過(guò)我想:她才只有5歲,也許還不會(huì)寫(xiě)信呢。
Then a year after our holiday in Italy a letter arrived from Margaret Henderson. First she thanked me for my letters and presents. Then she wrote:
當(dāng)我們的意大利之行結(jié)束一年以后,我收到了瑪格麗特·亨德森的來(lái)信。她先在信中對(duì)我寄去的信和禮物表示感謝,然后寫(xiě)道:
I'm sorry that we didn't write to you, but it has been a very bad year for us. It is difficult for me to write now, but today is April 21st and I want to tell you that something terrible happened on the same day last year. Chiara and I are still very sad, and Chiara has been ill. She doesn't eat much and she doesn't want to speak to anybody. Now I'll tell you why. A week after your holiday our little Allegra got a fever. A few days later the fever was worse and we called the doctor. He said that he wasn't sure what the fever was. 'Perhaps she drank some bad water or ate food that was bad,' he told us. He gave her some medicine and she was better. But then the fever returned very quickly. We couldn't find the doctor and when he arrived, it was too late. Our dear little Allegra died on April 21st a year ago. Oh, it's like a terrible dream! Our darling child was only five years and three months old. Now she has gone and she will never come back to us!
很抱歉一直沒(méi)有給你寫(xiě)信,因?yàn)檫^(guò)去的一年對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)真是痛苦不堪。到現(xiàn)在我還是難以動(dòng)筆,但今天是4月21日,我想告訴你去年的今天發(fā)生了可怕的事情?;鶍I拉和我現(xiàn)在仍然很傷心,而且基婭拉一直病著。她吃不下東西,也不愿和任何人講話?,F(xiàn)在我就把原因告訴你。你們走后才一周,小阿利格拉就發(fā)燒了。沒(méi)幾天,她的病加重了,我們找來(lái)了醫(yī)生。醫(yī)生也不能確定病因,他告訴我們:“也許她喝了不干凈的水,或是吃了變質(zhì)的食物。”他給阿利格拉開(kāi)了些藥,而后她的病情有了好轉(zhuǎn)??墒呛芸彀⒗窭陀职l(fā)燒了。我們找不到醫(yī)生,當(dāng)他趕到時(shí),已經(jīng)太晚了。我們深愛(ài)的小阿利格拉就在一年前的4月21日去世了。這真像是一場(chǎng)噩夢(mèng)?。∥覀冇H愛(ài)的孩子只有5歲零3個(gè)月,可是她走了,再也不會(huì)回到我們身邊了!
When I read this, I was shocked. Allegra dead! I felt very sad and I began to cry. For a long time I just couldn't believe it. I remembered her face, her voice, and her child's talk. I remembered our games and our conversations. Allegra came back to me like a ghost and I was very unhappy.
讀了這封信,我震驚不已。阿利格拉死了!我傷心地哭了。很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間我都無(wú)法相信這是真的。我還記得她的面孔、聲音和充滿孩子氣的講話,記得我們?cè)谝黄鸬挠螒蚝徒徽?。?duì)阿利格拉的記憶不斷涌現(xiàn),像幽靈一般揮之不去,讓我陷入了悲傷。
When I was eighteen, I went to university to study Italian, but I often remembered Allegra and that strange week at the Villa Henderson. How could I forget it? And I often thought about Allegra's strange words: 'I want to see my Daddy before I die.' How did she know that she was going to die? And then there was the ghost Allegra in my room, saying, 'I want to see my Mamà before I die.' What did it all mean? I wanted to find the answer to this mystery. But how?
18歲那年,我上了大學(xué),學(xué)習(xí)意大利語(yǔ)。我依舊時(shí)常想起阿利格拉和在亨德森莊園度過(guò)的那不尋常的一周。我無(wú)法忘記那一切!阿利格拉那些難以捉摸的話經(jīng)常浮現(xiàn)在我的腦海里:“我想在死之前見(jiàn)到爸爸。”她怎么知道自己要死呢?還有那個(gè)出現(xiàn)在我房間里的幽靈阿利格拉,她總是說(shuō):“我要在死之前見(jiàn)到媽媽。”這些到底都意味著什么呢?我希望解開(kāi)這個(gè)謎團(tuán),可是我該怎么做呢?
In spring I went to Italy for my studies and I stayed in Florence with an Italian family. They had a little daughter. When they told me her name, I couldn't believe my ears.
春季學(xué)期我去意大利學(xué)習(xí),住在佛羅倫薩的一個(gè)意大利家庭里。他們有一個(gè)小女兒,當(dāng)他們告訴我她的名字時(shí),我簡(jiǎn)直不敢相信自己的耳朵。
We wanted a different name,' the mother told me, 'a name that you don't often find in Italy. Allegra came to me suddenly. It's a beautiful name and we hoped that she would be a happy child. But she isn't happy. She's a strange girl.'
“當(dāng)時(shí)我們想起個(gè)與眾不同的名字,”她媽媽告訴我,“一個(gè)在意大利不常見(jiàn)的名字。然后我突然想到了阿利格拉。這名字很美,我們希望女兒會(huì)是個(gè)快樂(lè)的孩子。但是她并不快樂(lè),她是個(gè)很怪的孩子。”
I looked at the child. She was tall; her face was pale and beautiful. She had long brown hair and brown eyes.
我看著那女孩:高個(gè)兒;面孔蒼白,但很漂亮;長(zhǎng)發(fā)和眼睛都是棕色的。
How old is she?' I asked.
“她幾歲了?”我問(wèn)。
She's five.'
“5歲。”
Five? Are you sure — I mean, is she?' I said, stupidly.
“5歲?你確定嗎?——我是說(shuō),真的嗎?”我傻傻地問(wèn)道。
Yes, five.' The mother looked at me strangely.
“沒(méi)錯(cuò),是5歲。”這位媽媽不解地看著我。
Can I ask you when she was five? I mean, when is her birthday?'
“能告訴我她什么時(shí)候滿5周歲嗎?我是說(shuō),她的生日是什么時(shí)候?”
The mother looked surprised. 'In January. Why?'
媽媽感到很驚訝。“是1月,怎么了?”
But please tell me the exact day. You see, I'd like to buy her a present next year.'
“請(qǐng)告訴我確切的日期。因?yàn)?hellip;…明年我想為她買生日禮物。”
Now the mother was smiling. 'She was born on January 21st.'
這時(shí),女孩的媽媽露出了笑容。“她是1月21日出生的。”
When I went to my room that night, I was afraid and I didn't go to bed. I was thinking about Allegra Henderson. She died on April 21st when she was five years and three months old. So she was born on January 21st too! Was it possible that this Italian Allegra had the same name, the same birthday, the same age? I couldn't sleep so I tried to read a book about some English poets in Italy. But I couldn't. I was waiting, waiting...
那天晚上回到房間后,我沒(méi)有睡覺(jué),心中忐忑不安。我想到了阿利格拉·亨德森。她是4月21日去世的,那時(shí)她5歲零3個(gè)月。那么她的生日也是1月21日!難道這個(gè)叫阿利格拉的意大利女孩跟她同名、同歲、同一天出生嗎?我無(wú)法入睡,于是翻看起一本有關(guān)在意大利的英國(guó)詩(shī)人的書(shū)。但是我看不進(jìn)去。我其實(shí)是在等待著……
She came at midnight. I looked at my watch and then she was there in a dark corner of the room. A beautiful, blond child, her skin like milk, her eyes like the blue of an Italian sky. She wore a long white nightdress. Allegra.
她在午夜時(shí)分出現(xiàn)了。我看了看手表,而她忽然出現(xiàn)在房間黑暗的角落里。一個(gè)美麗的金發(fā)女孩,皮膚如牛奶般潤(rùn)白,眼睛像意大利的天空一樣湛藍(lán),穿著長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的白色睡裙。是阿利格拉。
Will you take me to my Mamà?' she asked in her beautiful English. 'She's at Bagno a Ripoli. It isn't far from here.'
“你能帶我去媽媽那兒?jiǎn)幔?rdquo;她用美麗的英語(yǔ)問(wèn)道,“她在巴尼奧阿里波,離這兒不遠(yuǎn)。”
I was very afraid now and I shouted, 'Go away! Go away!'
此時(shí)我害怕極了,朝她喊道:“走開(kāi)!快走開(kāi)!”
But she came and stood by my armchair.
但是她走了過(guò)來(lái),站在我的扶手椅旁。
I want to see Mamà before I die. Take me!' she said angrily.
“我要在死之前見(jiàn)到媽媽。帶我去吧!”她生氣地說(shuō)。
I ran out of that room very fast.
我拔腿逃離了那個(gè)房間。
Next morning I decided to go to Bagno a Ripoli. I drove there in my small Fiat 500. There were only a few houses, and a small church called Santa Maria dell'Antella. I went into the church but there was nothing special about it. Then I walked around the small cemetery behind it. But I didn't see anything different so I decided to go back to Florence. When I was going out of the cemetery, I saw a tombstone with some English words on it. I stopped and read:
第二天上午,我決定開(kāi)著自己那輛小菲亞特500去巴尼奧阿里波。那里只有寥寥幾座房屋和一座叫圣瑪麗亞德?tīng)柊驳倮男〗烫?。我進(jìn)了教堂,但是沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)任何特別之處。然后我繞到了教堂后面一塊不大的墓地,仍舊一無(wú)所獲。于是,我決定返回佛羅倫薩。就在即將走出墓地時(shí),我看到了一塊刻著英文的墓碑。我停了下來(lái),墓碑上寫(xiě)著:
Here lies Claire Clairmont
克萊爾·克萊爾蒙特長(zhǎng)眠于此
Died in Florence
1879年3月19日
March 19th 1879
卒于佛羅倫薩
Aged 81
享年81歲
The name Claire again! The name of the ghost Allegra's mother! I was very surprised but I still didn't understand anything.
又是克萊爾!幽靈阿利格拉媽媽的名字!我感到很吃驚,卻仍然不明真相。
In Florence that afternoon I decided to go to a bar and read the book about the English poets. And while I was reading about Byron and Shelley, I began to understand the mystery of Allegra.
回到佛羅倫薩的那個(gè)下午,我決定去酒吧,在那里讀讀那本關(guān)于英國(guó)詩(shī)人的書(shū)。當(dāng)我讀到拜倫和雪萊時(shí),漸漸明白了阿利格拉的秘密。