牛津書蟲系列 金銀島 15 End of an adventure

15 End of an adventure

15 尋寶結(jié)局

The pirates could not believe it，but Silver remained calm and changed his plan quickly.

那幫海盜簡直不能相信這一切，但西爾弗仍舊保持鎮(zhèn)靜并迅速改變了計劃。

‘Jim，’he whispered，‘take that，and be ready for trouble.’And he passed me a pistol.

“吉姆，”他輕聲說，“拿著這個，以便應(yīng)付亂子。”他交給我一把手槍。

At the same time he began to move quietly and，after a few steps，the hole was between us and the other five.He looked quite friendly now，and I couldn't help whispering，‘So you've changed sides again!’

這時他靜靜地向前走了幾步，那個大洞把我們和那五個海盜隔開。他現(xiàn)在顯得十分友好，我禁不住嘀咕起來：“你又站到這邊來啦!”

The pirates began to jump into the hole，and to dig in the ground with their fingers.Morgan found a two-guinea coin，and it went from hand to hand.

那幾個海盜跳到洞里，用手指挖地。摩根找到一枚兩畿尼的金幣，那金幣在他們手中傳遞著。

‘Two guineas!’shouted George Merry，shaking it at Silver.‘That's your seven hundred thousand pounds!You're the man for bargains，are you?You're the one who never made a mistake!’

“兩個畿尼!”喬治·墨利喊道，向著西爾弗揚(yáng)著手中的金幣。“這就是你說的70萬英鎊嗎?你不是個做交易的老手嗎?你不是從不失手嗎?”

‘Wanting to be captain again，George?’said Silver.

“又想當(dāng)船長了，喬治?”西爾弗說。

But this time，everyone was on George Merry's side，and they began to climb out of the hole.

但這次所有的人都站在喬治·墨利一邊，他們開始爬出土坑。

‘There's just the two of them，’said George.‘The old one-legged man who brought us all here for nothing;and that boy who I'm going to have the heart of!’

“他們只有兩個人，”喬治說，“一個是個老瘸子，他把咱們騙到這兒來卻一無所獲;還有那個小雜種，我都想把他的心掏出來。”

He was raising his arm and his voice，ready to lead them，but there was a sudden CRACK!CRACK!CRACK!as three gunshots came from the woods George Merry fell head first in to the hole，and another fell on his side，dead The other three turned and ran.

他抬起手臂，說話聲調(diào)越來越高，顯然是要領(lǐng)頭發(fā)動攻擊，但忽然從樹林中傳來“呯!呯!呯!”三聲槍響。喬治·墨利第一個頭朝下栽到洞里，另一個也倒在他身邊，死了。其他三個人轉(zhuǎn)身就跑。

A moment later，Dr Livesey，Gray，and Ben Gunn joined us with smoking guns，from among the trees.

過了一會兒，李甫西大夫、格雷、本·葛恩從樹林里出來和我們會合，他們的槍口還冒著煙。

‘Keep them off the boats!’cried the doctor.

“別讓他們接近小船!”大夫喊道。

We began to run at a great speed through the trees，and Silver was soon thirty metres behind us.

我們在樹林中猛跑，不一會兒西爾弗就落在三十多米以外。

‘Doctor!’he shouted.‘There's no hurry!Look!’

“大夫!”他喊道，“不用著急，你們看!”

We saw he was right.In a more open place，we could see the three pirates，still running，and we were already between them and the Boats.So we sat down to rest while Long John came slowly up to us.

他是對的。我們看到在眼前的開闊地上，那三個海盜還在跑，我們已經(jīng)處在他們和小船之間。于是我們坐下來休息，高個約翰也慢慢地趕上了我們。

‘Thank you，doctor，’he said.‘You came at the right time to save me and Hawkins.’He looked at Ben Gunn.‘So it was you，Ben Gunn，playing the ghost!’

“謝謝你，大夫，”他說。“你來得正是時候，救了我和霍金斯的命。”他看著本·葛恩。“原來真是你，本·葛恩，扮鬼嚇我們。”

We walked down the hill to the boats and，as we did so，the doctor told Silver and me his story.But it was really Ben's story from beginning to end.

我們下山向小船走去，一路上大夫給我們講了他的故事，而這一切的主要角色都是那位本·葛恩。

Ben，in his lonely walks around the island，had found the skeleton and found the treasure.He had carried the gold on his back in many journeys，and had taken it to a cave on the north-east corner of the island，two months before the Hispaniola arrived.

在島上孤獨(dú)的本發(fā)現(xiàn)了那具尸骨和寶藏。他用肩背扛著寶藏，運(yùn)到島的東北角一個洞穴里，不知搬了多少趟，直到伊斯帕尼奧拉號抵達(dá)前兩個月才運(yùn)完。

Ben had told the doctor this，and the next morning the doctor gave Silver the map----which was now useless----and gave him the food at the stockade，because there was plenty in Ben Gunn's cave.That morning，when the doctor saw I had to go with the pirates to find the treasure，he had left the squire to look after the captain，then took Gray and Ben Gunn with him to be ready to help us.

本早就把這一切告訴了大夫，第二天早晨大夫就把那張無用的地圖交給了西爾弗，把補(bǔ)給品也給了他們，因為本·葛恩的山洞里有足夠的補(bǔ)給品。今天早晨，大夫發(fā)現(xiàn)我不得不和那幫海盜去尋寶，他就讓鄉(xiāng)紳照顧船長，然后帶上格雷和本·葛恩跟著我們以防不測。

‘I was lucky Hawkins was with me，’said Silver，‘or old John would be dead by now，for sure.’

“幸虧霍金斯在我身邊。”西爾弗說，“否則我老約翰早死了。”

By this time，we were at the boats.The doctor smashed one with an axe，and then we all got into the other and rowed to North Inlet.The Hispaniola was moving by herself now，the sea high enough to take her off the beach.We went round to Rum Cove，the nearest landing place for Ben Gunn's cave of treasure，then Gray left us there before rowing back to guard the ship for the night.

這時我們已到停著小船的地方。大夫用斧子砸了一只船，然后我們乘上另一只船向北邊劃去。伊斯帕尼奧拉號在水上漂浮著，海水較深，使得大船漂離了海灘。我們繞道來到最靠近本·葛恩的藏寶洞的朗姆酒灣，然后格雷乘小船到伊斯帕尼奧拉號上過夜守船。

Mr Trelawney met us at the cave.He didn't blame me for my desertion，but he spoke differently to Silver.‘Silver，’he said，‘you're a scoundrel and a murderer，but I'm told that I must save you from the law.’

屈利勞尼先生在洞口迎接我們。他并沒責(zé)備我逃跑的事，但和西爾弗說話的口氣就截然不同了。“西爾弗，”他說，“你是個大壞蛋和劊子手，但是他們卻要我不對你提出控告。”

‘Thank you，sir，’replied Long John.

“謝謝你，先生，”高個約翰說。

‘I don't want your thanks!’cried the squire.

“我不需要你道謝!”鄉(xiāng)紳喊道。

We all entered the cave.It was large and pleasant，with fresh water coming from a place in the ground，and a floor of sand.Captain Smollett lay in front of a big fire，and in a corner I saw coins and gold bars.It was Flint's treasure!

我們都進(jìn)了洞穴。洞里寬闊而空氣流通，一股清泉從地上流過。斯摩列特船長躺在一堆篝火前，而在另一個角落我看見了金幣和金條。是弗林特的寶藏!

We had come so far to find this.Already it had cost the lives of seventeen men from the Hispaniola.And how many others?How many ships had gone to the bottom of the sea?How many brave men had been murdered for this?Perhaps no man alive could tell.

我們遠(yuǎn)道而來就是為了找到這些。伊斯帕尼奧拉號上已有十七人送了命。此外還有多少人呢?還有多少船沉入了海底?多少勇敢的人為此被人謀殺?恐怕沒一個活著的人能講清楚。

Next morning，we moved all the gold to the beach.Then we took it by boat to the Hispaniola.It was a big job for so small a number of men.

第二天我們把所有的金子都運(yùn)到海邊，然后用小船運(yùn)到伊斯帕尼奧拉號上。這是一項浩大的工程，尤其是因為我們只有這么幾個人。

The three pirates who were still on the island did not trouble us.They were not going to fight any more，and we decided we must leave them on the island.We left powder，food，clothes and medicine for them.

島上其余那三個海盜沒有再騷擾我們。他們不想再打仗了，我們決定把他們留在島上，給他們留下了火藥、食物、衣物和藥品。

Then at last，one sunny morning，we sailed out of North Inlet and towards the nearest port in Spanish America.Before afternoon，Treasure Island had disappeared from view，and I had never felt happier to leave a place behind.

最后，在一個陽光明媚的早晨，我們駛離金銀島北部水灣，駛往西屬美洲的一個港口。還沒到下午，金銀島就消失在視野中了，能離開這個地方使我高興不已。

The sun was going down when we sailed into the port，and the doctor and Mr Trelawney took me on shore.When we came back，Ben Gunn was waiting for us.

我們到達(dá)港口時太陽快要落山了，大夫和屈利勞尼先生帶著我上了岸。我們回來時，本·葛恩正在等我們。

‘Silver has gone，’he told us，‘but not empty-handed.He's taken one of the bags of coins，perhps worth three or four hundred guineas.’

“西爾弗跑了，”他說，“但不是空手走的，他帶走了一袋子金幣，大概值三四百畿尼。”

I think we were all pleased to lose the scoundrel at so small a price.

我覺得大家都為這么便宜就甩掉了這個惡棍而感到高興。

We found a crew for the ship at the port，and then had a good voyage home.Only five of the men who had sailed from Bristol with the Hispaniola returned with her.We all took a large piece of the treasure，and some used it sensibly，and some did not.

我們在港口找了幾個船員，一路平安回到英國。隨伊斯帕尼奧拉號從布里斯托爾出航的全體人員只有五個人回來。我們每個人都分得一大筆財寶，有的人花得很謹(jǐn)慎，有的人則不然。

Captain Smollett no longer goes to sea.Gray saved his money and is now half-owner and captain of a fine ship.Ben Gunn got a thousand pounds which he spent or lost in three weeks，then he came begging and was given a job as a gatekeeper.

斯摩列特船長不再出海了，格雷把錢存起來，現(xiàn)在已是一艘裝備優(yōu)良的船的合股船主兼船長。本·葛恩分得了1000英鎊但不到三個星期就花光了，成了一名乞丐，后來找到一個看門人的活計。

Of Silver we have heard no more.That frightening seaman with one leg has.gone out of my lift.I will never return to Treasure Island，but in my worst dreams I still hear the sharp，high scream of Captain Flint the parrot：‘Pieces of eight!Pieces of eight!’

至于西爾弗，我們沒有再聽到有關(guān)他的任何消息。那個可怕的獨(dú)腿海員總算從我的生活中消失了。我永遠(yuǎn)不會再回到金銀島上，但在我的噩夢中常常響起那只叫弗林特船長的鸚鵡那尖厲的叫聲：“八個里亞爾!八個里亞爾!”