牛津書蟲系列 織工馬南 9 Godfrey confesses at last

9 Godfrey confesses at last

9 戈弗雷終于坦白了

At the Red House Nancy was waiting patiently for God-frey to come home to tea.Suddenly one of the servants ran into the sitting-room，crying excitedly，'Madam，there are lots of people in the street!They're all running the same way，towards the quarry!Perhaps there's been an accident!'

紅屋里，南茜正在耐心地等著戈弗雷回家來喝茶，突然一個用人闖進(jìn)客廳，興奮地喊：“夫人，街上有好多人!大家全都在向采石場跑!可能出什么事兒了!”

'Jane，don't get so excited，'replied Nancy calmly.'I ex-pect it's nothing serious.Go and get the tea ready.Mr Godfrey will be back soon.'But secretly she was saying to herself，'I hope nothing's happened to Godfrey!'

“簡，別那么激動，”南茜平靜地說，“我想不會有什么重要的事。去拿茶來，戈弗雷先生快回來了。”可她心里對自己說，“千萬別是戈弗雷有什么事兒!”

So when he came into the room，a few minutes later，she was very relieved.'My dear，I'm so thankful you've come，'she said，going towards him.'I was beginning to think—'

幾分鐘后，當(dāng)戈弗雷進(jìn)屋時，她長出了一口氣。“親愛的，謝天謝地，你回來了!”她走上前，“我開始在想……”

She stopped suddenly when she saw Godfrey's shaking hands and white face.She put her hand on his arm，but he did not seem to notice，and threw himself into a chair.

她猛地停了下來。她看到戈弗雷雙手發(fā)抖，臉色慘白。南茜把手放在他臂上，可他好像沒感覺。他跌坐在一把椅子上。

'Sit down—Nancy，'he said with difficulty.'I came back as soon as I could，to prevent anyone telling you except me. It's terrible news for me， but I'm more worried about how you will feel about it.'

“坐下——南茜，”他艱難地說，“我盡可能快地趕回來，我真怕別人來告訴你。這對我是個可怕的消息，可我更擔(dān)心你會怎么想。”

'It isn't father or Priscilla?'said Nancy，trying to control her trembling lips.

“是爸爸或普麗西拉嗎?”南茜努力克制著嘴唇的抖動。

'No，it's nobody living，'said Godfrey.'It's Dunstan，my brother，who left home sixteen years ago and never came back.We've found him…found his body—all that's left of it—in the old quarry.

“不，不關(guān)活人的事兒，”戈弗雷說，“是我弟弟鄧斯坦，他從16年前離家后一直沒有回來。我們找到他了……找到了他的尸體——所有剩下的部分——在采石場里。”

Nancy felt calmer now.That was not terrible news.

南茜平靜多了，這并不是太可怕的消息。

'You know the men have been draining our fields near the quarry.Well，as a result， the quarry has suddenly gone dry，and we've found him lying at the bottom. We know it's him be-cause he's wearing his watch and his rings.'

“你知道我讓人給我們采石場邊上那幾塊地排水，結(jié)果采石場一下子被排干了，我們在坑底發(fā)現(xiàn)了他的尸體。我們從手表和戒指認(rèn)出那是他。”

Godfrey paused.It was not easy to say what came next.

戈弗雷停了下來。要說出后面的事兒很不容易。

'Do you think he drowned himself?'asked Nancy，wonder-ing why her husband was so shaken by the death of a brother he had never loved.

“他是自殺嗎?”南茜不明白丈夫為什么會對那個他從來沒喜歡過的弟弟的死而這樣難過。

'No，he fell in，'replied Godfrey in a low voice.'Dunstan was the man who robbed Silas Marner.The bags of gold were found with his body.'

“不，他失足掉下去的，”戈弗雷低聲說，“鄧斯坦是那個偷西拉斯錢的人，從他身上找到了錢袋子。”

'Oh Godfrey!I am sorry!'said Nancy.She understood how ashamed her husband must be.The Casses were so proud of their family name.

“噢，戈弗雷!我太難過了!”她知道丈夫一定感到非常恥辱。凱斯家族的榮譽(yù)是至高無尚的。

'I had to tell you.I couldn't keep it from you，'Godfrey continued，and then stopped，looking at the ground for two long minutes.Nancy knew that he had something more to say.Finally Godfrey lifted his eyes to her face，and said，'Every-body's secrets are discovered sooner or later，Nancy.I've lived with a secret ever since I married you，but I'm going to confess it now.I don't want you to discover it from someone else，or hear about it when I'm dead，I was weak and hesitating when I was younger—I'm going to be firm with myself now.'

“我得告訴你，我不能向你隱瞞，”戈弗雷停下來，眼睛盯著地板看了兩分鐘。南茜知道他還有話要說。終于戈弗雷抬起了眼看著南茜的臉，說：“每個人的秘密早晚都會被發(fā)現(xiàn)，南茜。我們結(jié)婚以后我一直隱藏著一個秘密，現(xiàn)在我要把它向你坦白。我不想讓你從別人那里發(fā)現(xiàn)它，或是在我死了以后再聽到它。年輕的時候我脆弱而且優(yōu)柔寡斷——現(xiàn)在我要堅強(qiáng)起來。”

Nancy could not speak.She stared at her husband in horror.What secret could he possibly have from her?

南茜害怕地看著丈夫，什么也說不出。他會隱瞞了什么呢?

'Nancy，'said Godfrey slowly，'when I married you，I hid something from you—I was wrong not to tell you.That woman Silas Marner found dead in the snow—Eppie's moth er—that poor woman—was my wife.Eppie is my child.'

“南茜，”戈弗雷慢慢地說，“娶你的時候，我隱瞞了些東西——我很不應(yīng)該不告訴你。那個被西拉斯發(fā)現(xiàn)死在雪地上的可憐女人——埃比的媽媽——是我的妻子。埃比是我的孩子。”

He paused，looking worriedly at Nancy.But she sat quite still，although her face looked rather white.

他停下來，擔(dān)心地看著南茜，可她仍然靜靜地坐著，只是臉更白了。

Perhaps you won't be able to love me any more，'he said，his voice trembling a little.

“你也許不會再愛我了。”他的聲音有些發(fā)抖。

She was silent.

她沉默著。

I was wrong，I know I was wrong to marry Molly and then to keep it a secret.But I loved you，Nancy，I only ever wanted to marry you.

“我錯了，我知道我不該娶了莫麗而又不說出來?？晌覑勰?，南茜，我只想娶你。”

Still Nancy was silent，looking down at her hands.And God frey almost expected her to get up and say she would leave him and go to live with her father and sister.She was so religious，and so firm in her ideas of right and wrong!

南茜看著自己的手，仍然沉默著。戈弗雷想她一定會站起來說她要離開他去和父親和姐姐生活在一起。她是那么的虔誠，那么的是非分明!

But at last she lifted her eyes to his and spoke.She did not sound angry，but only sad.'Oh Godfrey，why didn't you tell me this long ago? I didn't know Eppie was yours and so I re fused to adopt her.Of course I'd accept your child into our home!But—oh，Godfrey—how sad to think we've spent all these years with no children!Why didn't you confess the truth before we married?We could be so happy now，with a beautiful daughter，who would love me as her mother!'tears were running down Nancy's face But Nancy，'cried Godfrey，bitterly angry with himself，' I couldn't tell you everything!I was in danger of losing you if I told you the truth!'

但最后南茜抬眼看著戈弗雷，聲音悲傷，但并不憤怒：“戈弗雷，你怎么能那么長時間不告訴我呢?我不知道埃比是你的女兒，所以不同意領(lǐng)養(yǎng)她。我當(dāng)然應(yīng)當(dāng)接納你的孩子來我們的家。哦，戈弗雷——這么多年沒有孩子是多不容易呀!為什么結(jié)婚前你不告訴我實情?那樣我們多快活，會有一個漂亮的女兒，她會像愛她的媽媽那樣愛我!”淚水順著南茜的臉頰流了下來。

'I don't know about that，Godfrey.I certainly never want-ed to marry anyone else But it wasn't worth doing wrong just so that you could marry me.And our marriage hasn't been as happy for you as you thought it would be There was a sad smile on Nancy's face as she said the last words.

“可是南茜，”戈弗雷對自己很氣惱，“我不能告訴你這些!我怕說了實話我就會失去你!”“我也不知道，戈弗雷，我從沒想過要嫁給別人，可你不值得為娶我而做錯事，而且我們的婚姻也不像你想的那么幸福。”說到最后南茜苦笑了一下。

'Can you ever forgive me for what I've done，Nancy?

“你能寬恕我所做的嗎，南茜?”

You have only hurt me a little，Godfrey，and you've been a good husband to me for fifteen years But it's the other wom-an who you've hurt the most，and I don't see how you can put that right.'

“你對我的傷害并不嚴(yán)重，況且你已經(jīng)做了15年的好丈夫?？赡銓α硪粋€女人的傷害最重，我不知道你能怎么去彌補(bǔ)。”

But we can take Eppie into our home now，'said Godfrey.

“我們可以去把埃比接到家里來。”戈弗雷說。

'It'll be different now that she's grown up，'said Nancy，shaking her head sadly.'It'll be more difficult for her to get used to us.But it's our duty to take care of your child，and I'll ask God to make her love me.

“這并不那么容易，因為她已經(jīng)長大了，”南茜悲哀地?fù)u著頭，“接受我們對她更難。可我們有義務(wù)去照料你的孩子，我會求上帝讓她愛我。”

Then we'll go to the weaver's cottage tonight，'said God-frey，'and talk to Marner and Eppie about it.'

“那我們今晚就去織布匠的家，”戈弗雷說，“去對西拉斯和埃比說。”