牛津書蟲系列 化學(xué)秘密 1 A new start

1 嶄新的開始

'Mr Duncan?Come in please.Mr Wilson will see you now.'

“鄧肯先生嗎?請進(jìn)。威爾遜先生現(xiàn)在要見你。”

'Thank you.'John Duncan stood up and walked nervously towards the door.He was a tall，thin man，about forty-five years old，in an old grey suit.It was his best suit，but it was ten years old now.He had grey hair and glasses.His face looked sad and tired.

“謝謝。”約翰·鄧肯起身膽怯地往門口走。他瘦高個子，大約四十五歲，身著一套灰色舊西服。盡管這套西服已穿了10年，但仍是他最好的西服。他頭發(fā)灰白，戴一副眼鏡，面帶憂郁和倦容。

Inside the room，a man stood up to welcome him.Mr Duncan?Pleased to meet you.My name's David Wilson.This is one of our chemists，Mary Carter.'

屋內(nèi)，一個男人站起來歡迎他。“鄧肯先生嗎?很高興見到你。我叫大衛(wèi)·威爾遜。這是瑪麗·卡特，我們其中的一位化學(xué)師。”

John Duncan shook hands with both of them，and sat down.It was a big office，with a thick carpet on the floor and beautiful pictures on the walls.David Wilson was a young man，in an expensive black suit.He had a big gold ring on one finger.He smiled at John.

約翰·鄧肯與他倆握手后坐下。這是一間寬大的辦公室，地上鋪著厚地毯，墻上懸掛著美麗的畫。大衛(wèi)·威爾遜很年輕，身著一套昂貴的黑色西服，一只手指上戴著一個碩大的金戒指。他對著約翰微笑。

'I asked Miss Carter to come because she's one of our best Chemists.She discovered our wonderful new paint，in fact.When…I mean，if you come to work here， you will work with her.'

“我讓卡特小姐來是因為她是我們最好的化學(xué)師之一。事實上是她發(fā)現(xiàn)了我們最美妙的新油漆……我是說，如果你來這里工作，你將與她一起工作。”

'Oh，I see.'John looked at Mary.She was older than Wil-son—about thirty-five，perhaps—with short brown hair，and a pretty，friendly face.She was wearing a white coat with a lot of pens in the top pocket.She smiled at him kindly， but John felt miserable.

“噢，我明白了。”約翰望著瑪麗。她比威爾遜歲數(shù)大——也許大約三十五歲，留著棕色短發(fā)，長著一副漂亮友善的面孔。她身穿一件白外套，上方的口袋里插著許多鋼筆。她友善地對約翰微笑，但約翰卻感到痛苦。

I'll never get this job，he thought.I'm too old!Employers want younger people these days.

他想：我永遠(yuǎn)不會得到這份工作。我太老了!雇主們現(xiàn)在想聘更年輕的人。

David Wilson was looking at some papers.'Now，Mr Dun-can，'he said，'I see that you are a very good biologist.You worked at a university…and then for two very famous com-panies.But…you stopped working as a biologist nine years ago.Why was that?'

大衛(wèi)·威爾遜正在看一些文件。“我說，鄧肯先生，我知道你是一個非常出色的生物學(xué)家。”他說道，“你曾在大學(xué)工作過，然后又在兩家著名的公司干過。但是你作為一個生物學(xué)家9年前停止了工作，這是為什么?”

'I've always had two interests in my life，'John said，'biol-ogy and boats.My wife was a famous sailor…Rachel Hors-ley…Perhaps you remember her.She sailed around the world alone in a small boat.'

“在我一生中我永遠(yuǎn)有兩種興趣，”約翰答道，“生物學(xué)和劃船。我太太是一位有名的水手……雷切爾·霍斯利……也許你記得她。她獨自乘小船環(huán)繞世界。”

'Yes，'said David Wilson，'I remember her.'

“是的，我記得她，”大衛(wèi)·威爾遜說道。

'So we started a business，'said John.'We made small boats together，and sold them.'

“所以我們開始做生意，”約翰說。“我們共同制造小船，并且出售。”

'And did the business go well?'asked Wilson.

“生意進(jìn)展得好嗎?”威爾遜問道。

'Very well at first.Then we wanted to build bigger，better boats.We borrowed too much money.And then my wife…'John stopped speaking.

“一開始很好，然后我們就想造更大更好的船。我們借了太多錢。其后我的太太……”約翰停住了講話。

'Yes，the Sevens Race.I remember now，'said David Wil-son.

“是的，賽文斯比賽，我現(xiàn)在想起來了，”大衛(wèi)·威爾遜說道。

Both men were silent for a moment.Wilson remembered the newspaper reports of the storm and the lives lost at sea.He looked at the man who sat sadly in front of him.

倆人都陷入片刻沉默。威爾遜記起報紙上報道的那場風(fēng)暴和海上死亡事件。他望著憂傷地坐在他面前的這個人。

'So，after my wife died，'continued John，' I closed the business.That was five years ago.'

“所以，我太太去世后，”約翰繼續(xù)說，“我停止了生意，那是5年前的事了。”

'I see，'said David Wilson.'It's a hard world，the world of business.'He looked at John's old grey suit.'So now you want a job as a biologist.Well，this is a chemical company，Mr Duncan.We make paint.But we need a biologist to make sure that everything in this factory is safe.We want someone to tell the government that it's safe to work here，and that it's safe to have a paint factory near the town.That's impor-tant to us.'

“我明白了，”大衛(wèi)·威爾遜說，“生意界是很艱難的。”他望著約翰那灰色的舊西服。“這么說你想得到一份生物學(xué)家的工作。這是一家化學(xué)公司，鄧肯先生。我們制造油漆。我們需要一名生物學(xué)家以保證工廠的一切都安全。我們需要有人告訴政府在這里工作是安全的，并且告訴他們城市附近有油漆廠也是安全的。這對我們很重要。”

'And if something's not safe，then of course we'll change it，'mary Carter said.David Wilson looked at her，but he didn't say anything.

“如果有什么不安全的，我們當(dāng)然要改變它，”瑪麗·卡特說。大衛(wèi)·威爾遜看著她，但沒有說任何話。

'Yes，I see，'John began nervously.'Well，I think I could do that.I mean，when I worked for Harper Chemicals in Lon-don I…'He talked for two or three minutes about his work.David Wilson listened，but he didn't say anything.Ihen he smiled.It was a cold，hard smile，and it made John feel un-comfortable.He remembered his old suit and grey hair，and he wished he hadn't come.

“是的，我知道。”約翰緊張地說，“我想我能夠做。我的意思是，當(dāng)我在倫敦為哈波化學(xué)公司工作時，我……”他談了兩三分鐘關(guān)于他的工作的事。大衛(wèi)·威爾遜聽著，但沒插話，然后他微笑著。那是一種冰冷、嚴(yán)酷的笑，它使約翰感到很不舒服。他想起他的舊西服和灰頭發(fā)，他后悔來這里。

'You really need this job，don't you，Mr Duncan?'david Wilson said.'You need it a lot.'

“你真的很需要這份工作，是吧，鄧肯先生?”大衛(wèi)·威爾遜說，“你非常迫切地需要它。”

'Yes，I do，'he said quietly.But he thought：I hate you，Wilson.You're enjoying this.You like making people feel small.I hate people like you.

“是的，”他輕聲地回答。但是他想：我恨你，威爾遜。你喜歡看著我的這副樣子。你喜歡使人感到渺小，我恨你這樣的人。

Wilson's smile grew bigger.He stood up， and held out his hand.'OK，'he said.'When can you start?'

威爾遜的笑容變得更燦爛。他站起身，伸出手說：“好吧，你什么時候能開始?”

'What?'John was very surprised.'What did you say?'

“什么?”約翰很驚訝，“你說什么?”

'I said，“When can you start?”，Mr Duncan.We need you in our factory as soon as possible.Will Monday be OK?'

“我說'你什么時候能開始?'鄧肯先生。我們需要你盡快到我們工廠，星期一行嗎?”

'You mean I've got the job?'

“你是說我已得到這份工作了?”

'Of course.Congratulations!'Wilson shook John's hand.'My secretary will tell you about your pay.You'll have your own office，and a company car，of course.I'd like you to start work with Mary on Monday.Is that OK?'

“當(dāng)然，祝賀你!”威爾遜握著約翰的手。“我的秘書將告訴你有關(guān)你的工資的事，你當(dāng)然還有自己的辦公室和公司配給你的車。我想讓你星期一就開始與瑪麗一起工作，那樣行嗎?”

'I…Yes，yes，of course.That's fine.Thank you，thank you very much.'

“我……行，當(dāng)然可以。這很好，謝謝你，非常感謝。”