書蟲四級《三怪客泛舟記》：第八章 喬治開始干活

Chapter 8 George starts work

第八章 喬治開始干活

We decided that now George was there, he was going to do some work. He did not want to work, of course. 'I've had a bad day at the bank, 'he explained.

我們說既然喬治現在來了，就得干點活了。他當然不想干，還推托說：“我在銀行已經夠辛苦的了。”

Harris, who is sometimes a little cruel, said, 'Ah! And now you're going to have a bad time on the river for a change. A change is good for you. Come on! Get out of the boat and tow!'

可哈里斯有時真是冷酷無情，他冷冷地說：“啊哈!那你就換換工作，到河上來辛苦辛苦吧，這對你有好處。去，下船拉纖去!”

George could not refuse, really, but he did say, 'Perhaps it would be better if I stayed in the boat and prepared the meal. You two can tow the boat. 'then he added, 'It's very difficult to prepare a meal and you both look tired. '

說真的，喬治沒理由拒絕，可他卻說：“我還是在船上吧，我來做飯，你們倆拉纖。”說完又加了一句：“做飯可不容易，你們倆都累了，還是我干吧。”

Our only reply was to give him the rope. So he started walking, and he pulled the boat behind him.

我們給他的唯一回答是把繩子扔給他。他乖乖地拉起了纖，一邊走，一邊拉著身后的小船。

Sometimes people forget that they are towing a boat, and later, George told us a story about this…

有時候，人們會忘記自己身后還拉著船。后來，喬治給我們講了一段故事，說的就是這事……

George had once seen a man and a young lady who were walking by the side of the river. They were pulling a rope behind them and they were talking to each other. They did not notice that there was no boat on the end of the rope. Of course, they probably had a boat on the end of the rope when they started out. But it had disappeared. The two young people were not worried about this. They had their rope. They did not seem to care that there was no boat. George was going to call out to tell them about it But, just then, he had an idea. He took hold of the rope, and he tied it to his own boat. Then he and his three fat, heavy friends sat in the back of their boat, and lit their pipes. And that young man and young woman towed George and his friends up to Marlow. It was when they reached the lock that they looked back. Suddenly they understood that they had been towing the wrong boat. George said, 'I've never seen anyone look as sad as those two young people then!'

有一次，喬治看見一個男人和一個年輕姑娘在河邊散步。他們一邊拉著身后的繩子，一邊聊天，根本沒注意到繩子另一端沒有拴住船。顯然，那纖繩原來是拖著一條船的，但后來卻不見了蹤影。兩個年輕人也沒在意，反正手里拽著繩子，他們也不管后面有沒有船。喬治正想喊，提醒他們一聲，可是他忽然有了一個絕妙的主意。他抓住繩子，系在自己的船上，然后他和三個又胖又重的伙伴坐到船尾，點了煙斗，悠然抽了起來。那一對年輕人就這樣把他們四個一直拉到馬洛。后來船到水閘時，那一對回過頭看了看，這才明白自己拉錯了船。喬治說：“我再沒見過比他們更難過的表情了。”

The young man was a bit annoyed. In fact, he was probably going to say something angry to George and his friends. But just then, the young woman cried wildly, 'Oh, Henry, then where's Aunt Mary?'…'Did they ever get the old lady back?' Harris asked. George replied that he did not know.

那個男的有點火了，可能想罵喬治和他的朋友們一頓。就在那時，姑娘失聲喊道：“哎呀!亨利，那瑪麗姑姑到哪里去了?”“后來老太太找到了嗎?”哈里斯問。喬治說他也不清楚。

But the most exciting thing of all is to let girls tow your boat. Let me tell you about it…First of all, you need three girls. You always need three girls to tow a boat. Two of them hold the rope, and the other one runs here and there and laughs all the time.

然而最有趣的莫過于姑娘們?yōu)槟憷w了。讓我說說吧……首先，你需要三個姑娘。拉一艘船總是需要三個姑娘。兩個拉著纖繩，還有一個在周圍跑個不停，笑上一路。

They usually begin by tying themselves up in the rope. They get it round their legs, and then they have to sit down to untie it. Next, they get it round their necks. When they finally get it right, they always start by running. They pull the boat much too fast. After a few minutes, they are tired, and so they stop suddenly. They all sit down on the grass, and they start to laugh. Meanwhile, your boat goes out into the middle of the river, and it starts to turn round. Then they stand up and are surprised.

通常，她們一開始就給繩子纏住。一會兒纏住了腿，就得坐下來解開;一會兒又纏住了脖子。好不容易都弄停當了，她們就愛跑著走，船也給拉得飛快。沒跑幾分鐘，她們又累了，一下子又停住腳，坐在草地上，笑成一團。就在這當間，你的船跑到了河中央，開始打轉。她們卻站起來，滿臉驚訝之色。

'Oh, look!' they say. 'The boat's gone into the middle of the river!'

“哦!你瞧，”她們說。“船跑到河心去了。”

After this, they pull you along quite well for a time. Then one of them decides to stop for something else. So the boat runs aground in shallow water near the river bank. You jump up, and you push the boat off into deep water. You shout to them, 'Don't stop!'

接著，她們總算好好地拉上一段。突然有一位想干點別的，不想拉了，于是小船沖進岸邊淺水，擱淺了。你們跳起身，把船推回到深水。你高聲喊叫：“別停下來!”

'Yes, what's the matter?' they shout back.

“喂，出什么事啦?”她們高聲應道。

'Don't stop!' you cry loudly.

“別停下!”你大聲吼著。

'Don't what?'

“別什么?”

'Don't stop… go on… go on!'

“別停——繼續(xù)拉——繼續(xù)!”

'Go back, Emily, and see what they want, 'one of them says.

“愛米莉，快回去看看他們到底要什么，”其中一位說道。

And Emily comes back and asks, 'What is it? Is anything wrong?'

接著愛米莉就跑回來，問你們：“怎么了?出什么事了?”

'No!' you shout. 'It's all right! But go on! Don't stop!'

“沒事!”你又喊道，“什么事都沒有!就是繼續(xù)拉!別停下!”

'Why not?'

“為什么不能停?”

'Because we can't steer the boat if you stop.'

“你們要是停下來，我們就沒法掌舵。

'Why not?'

“為什么不能?”

'You must keep the boat moving!'

“你們要讓船老動著才行啊!”

'Oh, all right. I'll tell them. Are we doing everything else all right?'

“哦，那好吧，我去告訴她們。別的事我們干得還行吧?”

'Oh, yes, very nicely-but don't stop!'

“哦，是的，好極了，可就是別停下來!”

'I see. Oh, give me my hat, please. It's over there.'

“我明白了。哦，請把我的帽子遞給我，就在那邊。”

You find her hat, and you give it to her. But then another girl comes. She thinks she will have her hat, too. And then they take Mary's hat for her. Mary does not want it, so they bring it back. Then they want a comb. It is about twenty minutes before they start again. Then, at the next corner, they see a cow. You have to stop, and leave the boat, to chase the cow away…

你找到帽子遞給她。這時候，另一個姑娘走過來，也要帽子。接著她們把瑪麗的帽子也給她拿過去，可瑪麗不戴，她們又送回來。一會兒，她們又想要梳子。這樣至少過了二十分鐘，才又重新上路?？删驮谙乱粋€路口，她們又碰到一頭母牛，沒法子只得停下船，你們下了船，去把母牛趕跑……

Anyway, this time it was George who towed us on to Penton Hook. There we discussed the important question of where to spend the night. We had decided to sleep on the boat. There-fore we could stay there, or we could go on past Staines. In the end, we decided to continue to Runnymede.

不管怎么說，這次是喬治把我們拉到了潘登河灣。在那兒我們討論了在哪兒過夜這個重要問題。大家原來計劃在船上睡覺，這樣我們要么可以停泊在那里，要么就繼續(xù)走到斯泰恩斯。最后，我們決定繼續(xù)劃，一直到蘭尼米德歇腳。

Later we all wished we had stopped at Penton Hook.

可是后來我們都希望要是早點停在潘登河灣就好了。