雙語·《刀鋒》 第四章 五

CHAPTER FOUR 5
第四章 五

We had arranged to meet at the apartment and have a cocktail before starting. I arrived before Larry.I was taking them to a very smart restaurant and expected to find Isabel arrayed for the occasion；with all the women dressed up to the nines I was confident she would not wish to be outshone.But she had on a plain woollen frock.
我們約好在公寓里碰頭，先喝杯雞尾酒，然后出發(fā)。我先于拉里一步抵達(dá)公寓。我約他們?nèi)サ氖且患液苤v究的餐館，出入那兒的女子一般都穿得光彩照人，所以我覺得伊莎貝爾也一定會盛裝打扮。我堅(jiān)信不疑：她一定不愿輸給別的女人。可誰知卻見她穿著一件樸素的羊毛長衫。

“Gray's got one of his headaches，”she said.“He's in agony. I can't possibly leave him.I told the cook she could go out when she'd given the children their supper and I must make something for him myself and try to get him to take it.You and Larry had better go alone.”
“格雷的頭痛病又發(fā)作了。”她說，“他痛苦得不行，我不能丟下他不管。我叮嚀了廚娘，讓她伺候孩子們吃完飯就可以走了。我必須親自下廚，給格雷做點(diǎn)飯讓他吃下去。你和拉里最好自己去吧?！?/p>

“Is Gray in bed?”
“格雷在床上躺著嗎？”

“No, he won't ever go to bed when he has his headaches. God knows, it's the only place for him, but he won't.He's in the library.”
“沒有。頭痛的時(shí)候，他從來都不肯躺到床上的。誰都知道病了就應(yīng)該臥床，可他硬是不肯嘛。他正在書房里呢?！?/p>

This was a little panelled room, brown and gold, that Elliott had found in an old chateau.The books were protected from anyone who wanted to read them by gilt latticework, and locked up, but this was perhaps as well, as they consisted for the most part of illustrated pornographic works of the eighteenth century.In their contemporary morocco, however, they made a very pretty effect.Isabel led me in.Gray was sitting humped up in a big leather chair, with picture papers scattered on the floor beside him.His eyes were closed and his usually red face had a grey pallor.It was evident that he was in great pain.He tried to get up, but I stopped him.
這是個(gè)小房間，鑲著棕色和金黃色壁板——壁板是艾略特從一座古堡里弄來的。書籍都放在鍍金的格子柜里，上了鎖，防止外人翻閱，也許這樣做倒好，因?yàn)檫@些書大部分是十八世紀(jì)的有插圖的淫穢書籍，不過，用摩洛哥皮面裝訂起來，看上去倒十分正經(jīng)。伊莎貝爾領(lǐng)我進(jìn)去時(shí)，格雷正弓著身子坐在一張大皮椅子上，腳下亂扔著一些畫報(bào)。他閉著眼睛，往日的那張紅臉呈現(xiàn)出死灰色，顯然痛苦萬分。他打算站起來，但我攔住了他。

“Have you given him any aspirin?”I asked Isabel.
“你給他吃阿司匹林了沒有？”我問伊莎貝爾。

“That never does any good. I have an American prescription, but that doesn't help either.”
“阿司匹林一點(diǎn)用都不頂。我有個(gè)美國藥方，但是，吃了也不見效。”

“Oh, don't bother, darling，”said Gray.“I shall be all right tomorrow.”He tried to smile.“I'm sorry to make such a nuisance of myself，”he said to me.“You all go out to the Bois.”
“唉，別管我了，親愛的?！备窭渍f，“明天我就會好的。”他勉強(qiáng)一笑。“很對不起，成了你們的累贅?！蹦┝?，他沖我說道：“你們都走吧，去布倫園林吧?！?/p>

“I wouldn't dream of it，”said Isabel.“D'you think I should enjoy myself when I knew you were suffering the tortures of the damned?”
“那怎么可能呢?！币辽悹栒f，“你痛苦得死去活來，你想我能玩得開心嗎？”

“Poor slut, I think she loves me，”said Gray, his eyes closed.
“可憐的小婦人，看來她是賴上我了。”格雷說完，合上了眼睛。

Then his face was suddenly contorted and you could almost see the lancinating pain that pierced his head. The door was softly opened and Larry stepped in.Isabel told him what was the matter.
接著，他的臉突然抽搐起來，看得出他的腦袋里痛如刀割。這時(shí)，房門被輕輕推開了，拉里走了進(jìn)來。伊莎貝爾把情形告訴了他。

“Oh, I am sorry，”he said, giving Gray a look of commiseration.“Isn't there anything one can do to relieve him?”
“真糟糕。”拉里同情地看了一眼格雷說，“有什么辦法能解除他的病痛嗎？”

“Nothing，”said Gray, his eyes still closed.“The only thing you can any of you do for me is to leave me alone；go off and have a good time by yourselves.”
“什么辦法都沒有?！备窭兹蚤]著眼睛說道，“只有一個(gè)辦法，那就是讓我一個(gè)人待著。你們都走吧，去玩你們的吧?！?/p>

I thought myself that was the only sensible course to take, but I didn't suppose Isabel could square it with her conscience.
我覺得唯有如此才是合乎理性的，卻又怕伊莎貝爾心里過意不去不會同意。

“Will you let me see if I can help you?”asked Larry.
“讓我來看看能不能幫你一把，好不好？”拉里問。

“No one can help me，”said Gray wearily.“It's just killing me and sometimes I wish to God it would.”
“誰也幫不了我。”格雷有氣無力地說，“頭痛起來真能要我的命。有時(shí)候希望還不如一死了之?！?/p>

“I was wrong in saying that perhaps I could help you. What I meant was that perhaps I could help you to help yourself.”
“要說我?guī)湍悖磉_(dá)上不準(zhǔn)確。我的意思是可以協(xié)助你自救?！?/p>

Gray slowly opened his eyes and looked at Larry.
格雷慢慢睜開了眼睛，看了看拉里。

“How can you do that?”
“怎么個(gè)協(xié)助法？”

Larry took what looked like a silver coin out of his pocket and put it in Gray's hand.
拉里從口袋里取出一樣?xùn)|西，看上去像枚銀幣，把它放進(jìn)了格雷的手心。

“Close your fingers on it tightly and hold your hand palm downwards. Don't fight against me.Make no effort, but hold the coin in your clenched fist.Before I count twenty your hand will open and the coin will drop out of it.”
“把這硬幣握緊，手背朝上。我叫你怎么做你就怎么做。不要用太大的勁，只要把它攥在手心即可。不等我數(shù)到二十，你的手就會張開，銀幣便會落到地上?！?/p>

Gray did as he was told. Larry seated himself at the writing-table and began to count.Isabel and I remained standing.One, two, three, four.Till he got up to fifteen there was no movement in Gray's hand, then it seemed to tremble a little and I had the impression, I can hardly say I saw, that the clenched fingers were loosening.The thumb moved away from the fist. I distinctly saw the fingers quiver. When Larry reached nineteen the coin fell out of Gray's hand and rolled to my feet.I picked it up and looked at it.It was heavy and misshapen, and in bold relief on one side of it was a youthful head which I recognized as that of Alexander the Great.Gray stared at his hand with perplexity.
格雷按他的吩咐做了。拉里坐到寫字臺前，開始數(shù)數(shù)。我和伊莎貝爾站在一旁觀看。一，二，三，四……數(shù)到十五時(shí)，格雷的手一動不動，后來好像抖了一下。不能說我看見，而只能說有個(gè)印象——他那緊攥著的手指慢慢在松開。最先離開拳頭的是大拇指。我清清楚楚看見他的手指在顫動。當(dāng)拉里數(shù)到十九時(shí)，銀幣從格雷的手里掉下來，滾到了我的腳邊。我拾起來，發(fā)現(xiàn)它沉甸甸的，呈不規(guī)則形狀，銀幣的一面有一個(gè)年輕人的浮雕像，我認(rèn)出那是亞歷山大大帝。格雷望著自己的手，一臉的困惑。

“I didn't let the coin drop，”he said.“It fell of itself.”
“不是我有意讓銀幣掉落的，”格雷說，“是它自己落下去的?！?/p>

He was sitting with his right arm resting on the arm of the leather chair.
他坐在皮椅子里，右臂架在椅子扶手上。

“Are you quite comfortable in that chair?”asked Larry.
“你坐在這椅子上舒服嗎？”拉里問。

“As comfortable as I can be when my head's giving me hell.”
“頭痛欲裂的時(shí)候，只有坐在這兒才感到舒服一點(diǎn)?！?/p>

“Well, let yourself go quite slack. Take it easy.Do nothing.Don't resist.Before I count twenty your right arm will rise from the arm of the chair until your hand is above your head.One, two, three, four.”
“好，讓你自己徹底放松。不要緊張，不要慌，什么都不要做，一切順其自然。不等我數(shù)到二十，你的右胳膊將會從椅子的扶手上抬起，直至你的手舉過頭頂。一，二，三，四……”

He spoke the numbers slowly in that silver-toned, melodious voice of his, and when he had reached nine we saw Gray's hand rise, only just perceptibly, from the leather surface on which it rested until it was perhaps an inch above it. It stopped for a second.
他慢慢數(shù)著數(shù)，聲音優(yōu)美，如銀鈴一般。他數(shù)到九的時(shí)候，我看見格雷的手幾乎難以察覺地動了動，從皮面的扶手上抬起了大約有一英寸，然后稍微停頓了一下。

“Ten, eleven, twelve.”
“十，十一，十二……”

There was a little jerk and then slowly the whole arm began to move upwards. It wasn't resting on the chair any more.Isabel, a little scared, took hold of my hand.It was a curious effect.It had no likeness to a voluntary movement.I've never seen a man walking in his sleep, but I can imagine that he would move in just the same strange way that Gray's arm moved.It didn't look as though the will were the motive power.I should have thought it would be hard to raise the arm so slowly and so evenly by a conscious effort.It gave the impression that a subconscious force, independent of the mind, was raising it.It was the same sort of movement as that of a piston moving very slowly back and forth in a cylinder.
起先，手震動了一下，接著是整個(gè)胳臂開始向上移動，不再架在椅子扶手上了。伊莎貝爾有點(diǎn)驚恐，抓住了我的手。當(dāng)時(shí)的情形真是奇怪，那胳膊像是在不由自主地移動。我從來沒有見過誰夢游過，但可以想象夢游的人走動起來就像格雷的手臂移動一樣古怪，看上去不像是靠意志驅(qū)動的。我覺得，要是靠意志的力量，是很難把胳膊抬得那么緩慢、那么平穩(wěn)。這給人的印象是：一種不受大腦控制的潛意識力量在將他的胳膊抬起，動作就像活塞在汽缸里一上一下的，非常緩慢。

“Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen.”
“十五，十六，十七……”

The words fell, slow, slow, slow, like drops of water in a basin from a defective tap. Gray's arm rose, rose, till his hand was above his head, and as Larry reached the number he had said it fell of its own weight on to the arm of the chair.
那一個(gè)個(gè)的數(shù)字說出來，簡直慢極了，就像是盥洗室里的一個(gè)沒關(guān)嚴(yán)的水龍頭在滴水，一個(gè)水珠一個(gè)水珠慢慢地朝下落。格雷的胳臂一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)向上抬，直至把手舉過頭頂。當(dāng)拉里說完最后一個(gè)數(shù)字時(shí)，他的胳臂自動落回到了椅子扶手上。

“I didn't lift my arm，”said Gray.“I couldn't help its rising like that. It did it of its own accord.”
“不是我要抬胳膊的，”格雷說，“是它自己抬起來的，我就是想停也停不下來的?！?/p>

Larry faintly smiled.
拉里淡淡地一笑。

“It's of no consequence. I thought it might give you confidence in me.Where's that Greek coin?”
“怎么樣都不當(dāng)緊，主要是想讓你對我產(chǎn)生信心。那塊希臘硬幣呢？”

I gave it to him.
我把硬幣遞給了他。

“Hold it in your hand.”Gray took it. Larry glanced at his watch.“It's thirteen minutes past eight.In sixty seconds your eyelids will grow so heavy that you'll be obliged to close them and then you'll sleep.You'll sleep for six minutes.At eight-twenty you'll wake and you’ll have no more pain.”
“你把硬幣攥在手里?！备窭装延矌沤恿诉^去。拉里看著表又說道：“現(xiàn)在是八點(diǎn)十三分。用不了一分鐘，你的眼皮就會發(fā)沉，那時(shí)你會閉上眼，然后入睡。睡上六分鐘，到了八點(diǎn)二十，你就會醒來。醒來后，你就不再感到頭痛了?！?/p>

Neither Isabel nor I spoke. Our eyes were on Larry.He said nothing more.He fixed his gaze on Gray, but did not seem to look at him；he seemed rather to look through and beyond him.There was something eerie in the silence that fell upon us；it was like the silence of flowers in a garden at nightfall.Suddenly I felt Isabel's hand tighten.I glanced at Gray.His eyes were closed.He was breathing easily and regularly；he was asleep.We stood there for a time that seemed interminable.I badly wanted a cigarette, but did not like to light one.Larry was motionless.His eyes looked into I knew not what distance.Except that they were open he might have been in a trance.Suddenly he appeared to relax；his eyes took on their normal expression and he looked at his watch.As he did so, Gray opened his eyes.
我和伊莎貝爾都沒有說話，眼睛盯著拉里看。拉里不再言語，目光注視著格雷——那目光雖落在格雷身上，卻好像不是在看他，而是穿越他的軀體瞟向他方。屋里一片沉寂，出奇的靜，就像夜間花園里那般鴉雀無聲。突然，我覺得伊莎貝爾抓著我的那只手猛地一緊。我望望格雷，只見他雙眼緊閉，呼吸通暢、均勻，已酣然入睡。大家都站在那兒，那段時(shí)間似乎永無止境似的。我的煙癮犯了，卻又不敢點(diǎn)煙。拉里一動不動，目光飄向遠(yuǎn)方不知道哪個(gè)地方，木木地睜著眼，仿佛處于恍惚狀態(tài)。驀然，他好像松弛了下來，眼睛里的神情恢復(fù)了正常。他看了看表。而就在他看表之際，格雷睜開了眼睛。

“Gosh，”he said，“I believe I dropped off to sleep.”Then he started. I noticed that his face had lost its ghastly pallor.“My headache's gone.”
“哎呀！”他說道，“我肯定是睡著了?！苯又?，他發(fā)了發(fā)愣。我注意到他那慘白的臉色不見了?！拔业念^不痛了?！?/p>

“That's fine，”said Larry.“Have a cigarette and then we'll all go out to dinner.”
“很好?！崩镎f，“抽根煙，然后咱們一起出去吃晚飯?！?/p>

“It's a miracle. I feel perfectly swell.How did you do it?”
“這簡直是個(gè)奇跡。我覺得舒服極了。你這是怎么弄的？”

“I didn't do it. You did it yourself.”
“不是我弄出來的。奇跡是你自己創(chuàng)造的?！?/p>

Isabel went to change and meanwhile Gray and I drank a cocktail. Though it was plain that Larry did not wish it, Gray insisted on talking of what had just happened.He couldn't make it out at all.
伊莎貝爾去換衣服。趁此機(jī)會，我和格雷喝了杯雞尾酒。拉里明顯不愿再提剛才的事，格雷卻不肯罷休，仍在滔滔不絕地講著。他怎么也弄不明白那一切是怎么發(fā)生的。

“I didn't believe you could do a thing, you know，”he said.“I just gave in because I felt too lousy to argue.”
“起初我并不相信你會有什么辦法。”他說道，“我聽從你的吩咐，只是因?yàn)槲覒械酶愣纷??！?/p>

He went on to describe the onset of his headaches, the anguish he endured and the wreck he was when the attack subsided. He could not understand how it was that just then he felt his usual robust self.Isabel came back.She was wearing a dress I had not seen before；it reached to the ground, a white sheath of what I think is called marocain, with a flare of black tulle, and I could not but think she would be a credit to us.
接下來，他把自己的病情形容了一番，說他頭痛如山倒，病去如抽絲，發(fā)作之后身體處于崩潰邊緣。而這一次，醒來后精力充沛如初，這叫他簡直弄不清是怎么回事。伊莎貝爾換衣歸來，但見她穿一件我從未見過的拖地長裙，白顏色的，可能是用一種叫羅馬坎平縐的布料做的，外鑲一圈黑紗邊。我不由心想，她打扮得如此漂亮，全是為了叫我們看了高興。

It was very gay at the Chateau de Madrid and we were in high spirits.Larry talked amusing nonsense in a way I had not heard him do before and he made us laugh.I had a notion he was doing this with the idea of diverting our minds from the exhibition of his unexpected power.But Isabel was a determined woman.She was prepared to play ball with him as long as it suited her convenience, but she did not lose sight of her desire to satisfy her curiosity.When we hadfinished dinner and were drinking coffee and liqueurs and she might well have supposed that the good food, the one glass of wine he drank, and the friendly talk had weakened his defences she fixed her bright eyes on Larry.
到了馬德里城堡，那兒是一片歡樂的海洋，大家玩得興高采烈。拉里談笑風(fēng)生、趣話連篇（我以前從未見他這么風(fēng)趣過），引得大伙兒哈哈大笑。我有一種感覺，他這樣做是為了轉(zhuǎn)移我們的注意力，免得再詢問他那超凡的能力。不過，伊莎貝爾可是個(gè)意志堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的女子。她可以做些順?biāo)兄鄣氖拢罱K好奇心得不到滿足的她是不會罷休的。吃過飯后，大家喝咖啡和品酒。這時(shí)，伊莎貝爾可能覺得美味佳肴、香醪美釀以及友好的交談削弱了拉里的防線，于是就將一雙明眸盯住拉里，說道：

“Now tell us how you cured Gray's headache.”
“給我們講一講你是怎么把格雷的頭痛病治好的?！?/p>

“You saw for yourself，”he answered, smiling.
“那個(gè)過程你們自己都看見了么?！崩镄πφf。

“Did you learn to do that sort of thing in India?”
“這種妙手回春的本事是在印度學(xué)的吧？”

“Yes.”
“是的。”

“He suffers agonies. D'you think you could cure him permanently?”
“這病叫他受盡了洋罪。你能不能把他徹底治好？”

“I don't know. I might be able to.”
“不知道。也許可以吧?！?/p>

“It would make a difference to his whole life. He couldn't expect to hold a decent job when he may be incapacitated for forty-eight hours.He'll never be happy till he's at work again.”
“這會徹底改變他的生活。他的頭痛癥一發(fā)作，兩天兩夜都沒有行為能力，就是有工作也干不好的。而不干工作，他是絕不會開心的?！?/p>

“I can't work miracles, you know.”
“要知道，我是無法創(chuàng)造奇跡的?！?/p>

“But it was a miracle. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“可你已經(jīng)創(chuàng)造了，我可是親眼所見的?！?/p>

“No, it wasn't. I merely put an idea in old Gray's head and he did the rest himself.”He turned to Gray.“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“不，那不是奇跡。我只是向他灌輸了一種想法，其余的都是他自己完成的。”拉里說到此處，轉(zhuǎn)過頭問格雷：“明天你干什么？”

“Playing golf.”
“打高爾夫?！?/p>

“I'll look in at six and We'll have a talk.”Then, giving Isabel his winning smile：“I haven't danced with you for ten years, Isabel. Would you care to see if I still know how to?”
“我明天六點(diǎn)到你們府上，咱們坐下來談?wù)??！崩镎f完，沖著伊莎貝爾莞爾一笑，問道：“伊莎貝爾，十年沒和你跳舞了，愿不愿看看我是否還能舞起來？”