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Published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press

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Beijing, China 100089

http://www.fltrp.com

图书在版编目（CIP）数据

坎特维尔的幽灵:王尔德奇趣短篇小说选：英汉对照/(英)王尔德（Wilde,O.）著；李家真译.—北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2009.11（2010.12 重印）

书名原文：The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories

ISBN 978-7-5600-9120-4

Ⅰ.①坎…　Ⅱ.①王…②李…　Ⅲ.①英语-汉语-对照读物②短篇小说-作品集-英国-近代　Ⅳ.①H319.4:1

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字(2009)第203112号

出 版 人：于春迟

责任编辑：郎　崧

插　　图：安宇宁　张邁峰

装帧设计：刘　冬

出版发行：外语教学与研究出版社

社　　址：北京市西三环北路19号（100089）

网　　址：http://www.fltrp.com

版　　次：2009年12月第1版　2010年12月第2次印刷

书　　号：ISBN 978-7-5600-9120-4

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LORD ARTHUR SAVILE'S CRIME
A STUDY OF DUTY
亚瑟·萨维尔勋爵的罪行
关于责任的研究

Chapter 1
第一章

It was Lady Windermere's last reception before Easter, and Bentinck House was even more crowded than usual. Six Cabinet Ministers had come on from the Speaker's Levée in their stars and ribands, all the pretty women wore their smartest dresses, and at the end of the picture-gallery stood the Princess Sophia of Carlsrühe⁽¹⁾ a heavy Tartar-looking lady, with tiny black eyes and wonderful emeralds, talking bad French at the top of her voice, and laughing immoderately at everything that was said to her. It was certainly a wonderful medley of people. Gorgeous peeresses chatted affably to violent Radicals, popular preachers brushed coat-tails with eminent sceptics, a perfect bevy of bishops kept following a stout prima-donna from room to room, on the staircase stood several Royal Academicians, disguised as artists, and it was said that at one time the supper-room was absolutely crammed with geniuses. In fact, it was one of Lady Windermere's best nights, and the Princess stayed till nearly half-past eleven.

在温德米尔夫人复活节前的最后一次招待会上，本廷克宅邸比平常还要热闹拥挤。六位阁员从下院议长招待会直接赶来，周身的勋章和绶带；优雅迷人的妇人们穿着自己最漂亮的衣装。画廊的尽头站着卡尔斯鲁厄的索菲娅公主，长相带有浓郁的鞑靼风情，黑色的眼睛小之又小，戴着品质极佳的翡翠首饰。她用最高的嗓门讲着十分糟糕的法语，无论对方说了什么都报以恣肆的笑声。与会人等显然是一盘妙不可言的大杂烩：珠光宝气的贵妇人温言软语地跟狂躁的激进分子谈着天，众人爱戴的牧师与赫赫有名的无神论者擦肩而过，一帮子主教大人跟着一位身材臃肿的歌剧女主角从一个房间转到又一个房间，楼梯上还站着几个装扮成艺术家的皇家艺术院院士。有人说，晚餐室一度被天才人物挤了个满满当当。事实上，这是温德米尔夫人办过的顶尖晚会之一，连公主殿下都呆到了将近十一点半才走。

As soon as she had gone, Lady Windermere returned to the picture-gallery, where a celebrated political economist was solemnly explaining the scientific theory of music to an indignant virtuoso from Hungary, and began to talk to the Duchess of Paisley. She looked wonderfully beautiful with her grand ivory throat, her large blue forget-me-not eyes, and her heavy coils of golden hair. Or pur they were—not that pale straw colour that nowadays usurps the gracious name of gold, but such gold as is woven into sunbeams or hidden in strange amber; and gave to her face something of the frame of a saint, with not a little of the fascination of a sinner. She was a curious psychological study. Early in life she had discovered the important truth that nothing looks so like innocence as an indiscretion; and by a series of reckless escapades, half of them quite harmless, she had acquired all the privileges of a personality. She had more than once changed her husband; indeed, Debrett⁽²⁾ credits her with three marriages; but as she had never changed her lover, the world had long ago ceased to talk scandal about her. She was now forty years of age, childless, and with that inordinate passion for pleasure which is the secret of remaining young.

Suddenly she looked eagerly round the room, and said, in her clear contralto voice, 'Where is my chiromantist?'

'Your what, Gladys?' exclaimed the Duchess, giving an involuntary start.

'My chiromantist, Duchess; I can't live without him at present.'

'Dear Gladys! you are always so original,' murmured the Duchess, trying to remember what a chiromantist really was, and hoping it was not the same as a chiropodist.

公主殿下一走，温德米尔夫人就回到了画廊里，跟佩斯利公爵夫人聊起天来。在那里，一位声名卓著的政治经济学家正在一本正经地解释音乐的科学道理，听众是一位表情愤慨的匈牙利艺术大师。公爵夫人艳色倾城，象牙色的颈项高贵非凡，大大的眼睛带着勿忘我的蓝色，还有一头浓密的金色卷发。头发是纯金的颜色——不是如今僭用金子高名的那种浅黄的麦秸色，而是织入阳光或是藏于珍奇琥珀之中的那种金色。她的面庞因之带上了圣徒的轮廓，完全弃绝了罪人的魅惑。她是个引人入胜的心理学样本，涉世之初就发现了一条重要真理，那就是轻率与单纯最为神似。经由一连串不管不顾的出轨行为——其中半数无伤大雅——她赢得了一个名人的所有特权。她换过不止一个丈夫，按《德布雷特英国贵族年鉴》的说法是结了三次婚；不过，由于她从来没有换过情人，大众早已不再拿她的丑闻当作谈资。她现年四十岁，没有子女，却还有着超常逾分的享乐激情，并借此留住了青春。

突然间，温德米尔夫人心急火燎地扫视了一下房间，然后用清晰的女低音说道：“我的手相师上哪儿去了？”

“你的什么，格拉迪丝？”公爵夫人叫道，不由自主地惊跳了一下。

“我的手相师，公爵夫人；这阵子缺了他我就没法过。”

“亲爱的格拉迪丝！你老这么有创意，”公爵夫人咕哝着，一边拼命回想手相师究竟是什么东西，一边暗自期望这跟手足病医生不是一类人。

'He comes to see my hand twice a week regularly,' continued Lady Windermere, 'and is most interesting about it.'

'Good heavens!' said the Duchess to herself, 'he is a sort of chiropodist after all. How very dreadful. I hope he is a foreigner at any rate. It wouldn' t be quite so bad then.'

'I must certainly introduce him to you.'

'Introduce him!' cried the Duchess; 'you don't mean to say he is here?' and she began looking about for a small tortoise-shell fan and a very tattered lace shawl, so as to be ready to go at a moment's notice.

'Of course he is here, I would not dream of giving a party without him. He tells me I have a pure psychic hand, and that if my thumb had been the least little bit shorter, I should have been a confirmed pessimist, and gone into a convent.'

'Oh, I see!' said the Duchess, feeling very much relieved; 'he tells fortunes, I suppose?'

'And misfortunes, too,' answered Lady Windermere, 'any amount of them. Next year, for instance, I am in great danger, both by land and sea, so I am going to live in a balloon, and draw up my dinner in a basket every evening. It is all written down on my little finger, or on the palm of my hand, I forget which.'

'But surely that is tempting Providence, Gladys.'

'My dear Duchess, surely Providence can resist temptation by this time. I think everyone should have their hands told once a month, so as to know what not to do. Of course, one does it all the same, but it is so pleasant to be warned. Now if someone doesn't go and fetch Mr Podgers at once, I shall have to go myself.'

“他定期来给我看手，每周两次，”温德米尔夫人接着说，“他对我的手非常有兴趣。”

“天哪！”公爵夫人暗想，“说到底，这还真是个医手足病的。太可怕了。他可千万得是个外国人啊，那样还不至于太糟糕。”

“我一定得把他介绍给你。”

“介绍他！”公爵夫人叫了起来，“你该不是说他就在这里吧？”说着，她开始环顾四周，看自己那把玳瑁做的小扇子以及旧的蕾丝披肩放在哪里，以便做好随时告辞的准备。

“他当然在这里，我搞聚会的时候可不会撇下他。他说我的手充满灵性，还说要是我的拇指再短哪怕一丁点儿的话，我就会是一个无可救药的悲观主义者，就该当修女去了。”

“哦，我明白了！”公爵夫人说道，一下子松了口气，“他是预言运气的，是吧？”

“也预言霉运，”温德米尔夫人答道，“一点儿都不遗漏。比方说，他说我下一年在海上陆上都有大灾，所以我打算住到气球上去，每天用吊篮取晚餐。这兆头要么是写在我的小手指上，要么是写在我的手掌上，我记不清是哪一个了。”

“这样做可是在挑战命运啊，格拉迪丝。”

“亲爱的公爵夫人，我肯定命运至今还经得起挑战。照我看，所有人都该每月看一次手相，这样就可以知道什么事不能干。当然了，你可能还是会照干不误，不过事先有个提醒总是件很让人高兴的事情。好了，要是没人立刻去叫波杰斯先生的话，我就要自己去了。”

'Let me go, Lady Windermere,' said a tall handsome young man, who was standing by, listening to the conversation with an amused smile.

'Thanks so much, Lord Arthur; but I am afraid you wouldn't recognise him.'

'If he is as wonderful as you say, Lady Windermere, I couldn't well miss him. Tell me what he is like, and I'll bring him to you at once.'

'Well, he is not a bit like a chiromantist. I mean he is not mysterious, or esoteric, or romantic-looking. He is a little, stout man, with a funny, bald head, and great gold-rimmed spectacles; something between a family doctor and a country attorney. I'm really very sorry, but it is not my fault. People are so annoying. All my pianists look exactly like poets, and all my poets look exactly like pianists; and I remember last season⁽³⁾ asking a most dreadful conspirator to dinner, a man who had blown up ever so many people, and always wore a coat of mail, and carried a dagger up his shirt-sleeve; and do you know that when he came he looked just like a nice old clergyman, and cracked jokes all the evening? Of course, he was very amusing, and all that, but I was awfully disappointed; and when I asked him about the coat of mail, he only laughed, and said it was far too cold to wear in England. Ah, here is Mr Podgers! Now, Mr Podgers, I want you to tell the Duchess of Paisley's hand. Duchess, you must take your glove off. No, not the left hand, the other.'

“让我去好了，温德米尔夫人，”一个颀长俊秀的年轻男子应道。他一直站在旁边，带着愉快的微笑听着她俩的谈话。

“太谢谢了，亚瑟勋爵，可我担心你并不认识他。”

“要是他真像你说的那么神奇的话，温德米尔夫人，我应该不会认错的。告诉我他长什么样，我马上就把他找来。”

“好吧，他看起来可一点儿也不像手相师。我是说，他的样子不神秘，不高深，也没什么浪漫色彩。他矮小结实，有个滑稽的秃头，戴着硕大的金边眼镜，像个家庭医生，又像个乡村律师。这么说很不应该，可我也没办法。这些人就是这么烦人。我的钢琴师看着都像诗人，诗人又都跟钢琴师一模一样。我还记得，上个社交季我请了个最可怕的阴谋家来吃晚饭。这个人炸死过很多人，身上总穿着铠甲，袖子里还藏着匕首。可是，他来的时候看着就跟个慈祥的老教士似的，而且整个晚上都在讲笑话，你们能想象吗？当然，他非常有趣，如此等等，可我却失望透了。我问他铠甲是怎么回事，他却只是笑，还说在英格兰穿那个实在是太冷了。啊，波杰斯先生来了！好，波杰斯先生，我要你给佩斯利公爵夫人看看手相。公爵夫人，你得把手套脱掉。不，不是左手，是另外一只。”

'Dear Gladys, I really don't think it is quite right,' said the Duchess, feebly unbuttoning a rather soiled kid glove.

'Nothing interesting ever is,' said Lady Windermere: 'on a fait le monde ainsi. But I must introduce you. Duchess, this is Mr Podgers, my pet chiromantist. Mr Podgers, this is the Duchess of Paisley, and if you say that she has a larger mountain of the moon⁽⁴⁾ than I have, I will never believe in you again.'

'I am sure, Gladys, there is nothing of the kind in my hand,' said the Duchess gravely.

'Your Grace is quite right,' said Mr Podgers, glancing at the little fat hand with its short square fingers, 'the mountain of the moon is not developed. The line of life, however, is excellent. Kindly bend the wrist. Thank you. Three distinct lines on the rascette! You will live to a great age, Duchess, and be extremely happy. Ambition—very moderate, line of intellect not exaggerated, line of heart...'

'Now, do be indiscreet, Mr Podgers,' cried Lady Windermere.

'Nothing would give me greater pleasure,' said Mr Podgers, bowing, 'if the Duchess ever had been, but I am sorry to say that I see great permanence of affection, combined with a strong sense of duty.'

'Pray go on, Mr Podgers,' said the Duchess, looking quite pleased.

'Economy is not the least of your Grace's virtues,' continued Mr Podgers, and Lady Windermere went off into fits of laughter.

'Economy is a very good thing,' remarked the Duchess complacently; 'when I married Paisley he had eleven castles, and not a single house fit to live in.'

“亲爱的格拉迪丝，我真的觉得这不太好，”公爵夫人一边说，一边勉为其难地脱下了污渍斑斑的小山羊皮手套。

“有趣的事情都不太好，”温德米尔夫人说，“这世道就是这样的。我得给你们介绍介绍。公爵夫人，这是波杰斯先生，我最可爱的手相师。波杰斯先生，这是佩斯利公爵夫人，要是你说她的月亮丘比我的还大的话，我就再也不相信你了。”

“我敢肯定，格拉迪丝，我手上根本就没有这样东西，”公爵夫人一本正经地说。

“夫人您说得很对，”波杰斯先生说道，一边瞥了一眼她那只多肉的小手，还有那些又短又粗的手指，“您的月亮丘没有发育。不过，生命线长得非常好。麻烦您弯一下手腕，谢谢。手腕上有三条清晰的线条！您将会非常长寿，公爵夫人，而且活得十分高兴。野心——非常有限，智慧线不是特别突出，心脏线……”

“好了，有什么就说什么吧，波杰斯先生，”温德米尔夫人叫道。

“再乐意不过了，”波杰斯先生边说边鞠了个躬，“要是公爵夫人也有同感的话。不过，抱歉，我得说我在您手上看到了极其持久的爱情，以及一种强烈的责任感。”

“请接着往下说，波杰斯先生，”公爵夫人说道，看起来相当满意。

“节俭是夫人您的一项重要美德，”波杰斯先生继续说，温德米尔夫人爆发出了阵阵笑声。

“节俭是好事情，”公爵夫人沾沾自喜地评论道，“我嫁给佩斯利的时候，他拥有十一座城堡，能住人的宅子却一座都没有。”

'And now he has twelve houses, and not a single castle,' cried Lady Windermere.

'Well, my dear,' said the Duchess, 'I like...'

'Comfort,' said Mr Podgers, 'and modern improvements, and hot water laid on in every bedroom. Your Grace is quite right. Comfort is the only thing our civilisation can give us.'

'You have told the Duchess's character admirably, Mr Podgers, and now you must tell Lady Flora's; 'and in answer to a nod from the smiling hostess, a tall girl, with sandy Scotch hair, and high shoulder-blades, stepped awkwardly from behind the sofa, and held out a long, bony hand with spatulate fingers.

'Ah, a pianist! see,' said Mr Podgers, 'an excellent pianist, but perhaps hardly a musician. Very reserved, very honest, and with a great love of animals.'

'Quite true!' exclaimed the Duchess, turning to Lady Windermere, 'absolutely true! Flora keeps two dozen collie dogs at Macloskie, and would turn our town house into a menagerie if her father would let her.'

'Well, that is just what I do with my house every Thursday evening,' cried Lady Windermere, laughing, 'only I like lions⁽⁵⁾ better than collie dogs.'

'Your one mistake, Lady Windermere,' said Mr Podgers, with a pompous bow.

'If a woman can't make her mistakes charming, she is only a female,' was the answer. 'But you must read some more hands for us. Come, Sir Thomas, show Mr Podgers yours;' and a genial-looking old gentleman, in a white waistcoat, came forward, and held out a thick rugged hand, with a very long third finger.

“可现在他有了十二座宅子，城堡却一座也没有了，”温德米尔夫人叫道。

“好吧，亲爱的，”公爵夫人说，“我就是喜欢——”

“舒适，”波杰斯先生说，“以及现代化的设施，还要每间卧室里都有热水。夫人您想得没错，文明能给我们的东西也就只有舒适了。”

“你把公爵夫人的性格看得准极了，波杰斯先生，现在再给弗洛拉夫人看看吧。”女主人微笑着向旁边点了点头，一个高个子女孩随之从沙发后面笨手笨脚地走了出来。这女孩一头威士忌色头发，肩胛很高。她伸出了一只修长而瘦骨嶙峋的手，手指好像一把把刮刀。

“啊哈，这是只钢琴师的手！我看出来了，”波杰斯先生说，“一位出色的钢琴师，但也许还算不上音乐家。非常内敛，非常诚实，对动物非常有爱心。”

“说对了！”公爵夫人叫道，转向了温德米尔夫人，“一点儿都不差！弗洛拉在麦克洛斯基养了两打牧羊犬，要不是她父亲拦着的话，她还打算把我们在城里的房子变成动物园哩。”

“是吗，刚好我每个星期四晚上都是这么打理我的房子的，”温德米尔夫人叫道，一边笑了起来，“只不过我喜欢狮子胜过牧羊犬。”

“您就这么个不是，温德米尔夫人，”波杰斯先生说，还夸张地鞠了个躬。

“女人就得把自己的不是变成可爱，要不就只能算雌性动物，” 温德米尔夫人答道。“你得再多给几个人看看。来吧，托马斯爵士，把你的手给波杰斯先生看看。”一位相貌可亲、身穿白马甲的老年绅士应声走上前来，伸出了一只厚实的手。他的手上满是皱纹，无名指特别地长。

'An adventurous nature; four long voyages in the past, and one to come. Been shipwrecked three times. No, only twice, but in danger of a shipwreck your next journey. A strong Conservative, very punctual, and with a passion for collecting curiosities. Had a severe illness between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. Was left a fortune when about thirty. Great aversion to cats and Radicals.'

'Extraordinary!' exclaimed Sir Thomas; 'you must really tell my wife's hand, too.'

'Your second wife's,' said Mr Podgers quietly, still keeping Sir Thomas's hand in his. 'Your second wife's. I shall be charmed;' but Lady Marvel, a melancholy-looking woman, with brown hair and sentimental eyelashes, entirely declined to have her past or her future exposed; and nothing that Lady Windermere could do would induce Monsieur de Koloff, the Russian Ambassador, even to take his gloves off. In fact, many people seemed afraid to face the odd little man with his stereotyped smile, his gold spectacles, and his bright, beady eyes; and when he told poor Lady Fermor, right out before everyone, that she did not care a bit for music, but was extremely fond of musicians, it was generally felt that chiromancy was a most dangerous science, and one that ought not to be encouraged, except in a tête-à-tête.

Lord Arthur Savile, however, who did not know anything about Lady Fermor's unfortunate story, and who had been watching Mr Podgers with a great deal of interest, was filled with an immense curiosity to have his own hand read, and feeling somewhat shy about putting himself forward, crossed over the room to where Lady Windermere was sitting, and, with a charming blush, asked her if she thought Mr Podgers would mind.

把你的手给波杰斯先生看看。”一位相貌可亲、身穿白马甲的老年绅士应声走上前来，伸出了一只厚实的手。他的手上满是皱纹，无名指特别地长。

“您天性喜欢冒险，此前经历过四次远航，还有一次即将到来。碰上过三次海难。不对，只有两次，不过您下一次航行可能又会碰上。您是位强硬的保守派，十分守时，还喜欢收集稀奇物品。你在十六至十八岁之间生过一场大病，大概三十岁时获得了一笔遗产。您非常厌恶猫和激进分子。”

“了不起！”托马斯爵士叫道，“你一定得给我的妻子也看看，真的。”

“应该说是您的第二任妻子，”波杰斯先生平静地说道，并没有放下托马斯爵士的手。“您的第二任妻子。乐意效劳。”可是，面有愁容、长着棕色头发和多情睫毛的马弗尔夫人却全然不愿让自己的过去或是未来曝露人前。俄罗斯大使科洛夫先生更是连手套都不肯脱，温德米尔夫人怎么劝诱都不起作用。事实上，许多人都似乎不敢面对这个小个子男人，不敢面对他一成不变的微笑、他的金边眼镜以及他珠子一般的明亮眼睛。接下来，波杰斯先生当着大家的面坦白地告诉可怜的费莫尔夫人，说她对音乐全无兴趣，倒是对音乐家极度痴迷。这时候大家便有了共识，都觉得手相术是一门极其危险的学问，绝对不能提倡，除非是两个人私下里。

不过，亚瑟·萨维尔勋爵却对此产生了强烈的好奇，想让波杰斯先生看看自己的手。之前他一直兴致盎然地观察着波杰斯先生，并对费莫尔夫人的不幸遭遇一无所知。这会儿他觉得有点害羞，没勇气毛遂自荐，便走到房间对面的温德米尔夫人身边，脸上带着迷人的羞红，问她波杰斯先生会不会愿意给自己看手相。

'Of course, he won't mind,' said Lady Windermere, 'that is what he is here for. All my lions, Lord Arthur, are performing lions, and jump through hoops whenever I ask them. But I must warn you beforehand that I shall tell Sibyl everything. She is coming to lunch with me tomorrow, to talk about bonnets, and if Mr Podgers finds out that you have a bad temper, or a tendency to gout, or a wife living in Bayswater⁽⁶⁾ I shall certainly let her know all about it.'

Lord Arthur smiled, and shook his head. 'I am not afraid,' he answered. 'Sibyl knows me as well as I know her.'

'Ah! I am a little sorry to hear you say that. The proper basis for marriage is a mutual misunderstanding. No, I am not at all cynical, I have merely got experience, which, however, is very much the same thing. Mr Podgers, Lord Arthur Savile is dying to have his hand read. Don't tell him that he is engaged to one of the most beautiful girls in London, because that appeared in the Morning Post a month ago.'

'Dear Lady Windermere,' cried the Marchioness of Jedburgh, 'do let Mr Podgers stay here a little longer. He has just told me I should go on the stage, and I am so interested.'

'If he has told you that, Lady Jedburgh, I shall certainly take him away. Come over at once, Mr Podgers, and read Lord Arthur's hand.'

“当然，他当然会愿意。”温德米尔夫人说，“他来这儿就是干这个的。我这些狮子，亚瑟勋爵，都是耍把戏的，我叫他们钻圈儿他们就得钻。不过我得先提醒你，我会把一切都告诉西比尔的。明天她要来跟我一起吃午饭，聊聊女式帽子的款式，要是波杰斯先生看出你脾气不好，容易得痛风病，或者是在贝斯沃特养了个老婆的话，我可是什么都不会对她隐瞒的。”

亚瑟勋爵笑了起来，摇了摇头。“我不怕，”他答道，“西比尔了解我，跟我了解她一样。”

“噢，听你这么说我倒有点担心了。婚姻的真正基础正是彼此的误解。不，我这可绝不是愤世嫉俗，只是刚好有过这样的经历而已。波杰斯先生，亚瑟·萨维尔勋爵非常想看看手相。你可别跟他说他和伦敦最漂亮的一个女孩订了婚，因为一个月以前《早报》就把这消息登出来了。”

“亲爱的温德米尔夫人，”杰德伯格侯爵夫人叫道，“还是让波杰斯先生在我这儿多留一会儿吧。他刚跟我说我应该登台表演，这说法让我非常感兴趣。”

“要是他跟你这么说的话，杰德伯格夫人，那我一定得把他带走。赶快过来，波杰斯先生，给亚瑟勋爵看看手相。”

'Well,' said Lady Jedburgh, making a little moue as she rose from the sofa, 'if I am not to be allowed to go on the stage, I must be allowed to be part of the audience at any rate.'

'Of course; we are all going to be part of the audience,' said Lady Windermere; 'and now, Mr Podgers, be sure and tell us something nice. Lord Arthur is one of my special favourites.'

But when Mr Podgers saw Lord Arthur's hand he grew curiously pale, and said nothing. A shudder seemed to pass through him, and his great bushy eyebrows twitched convulsively, in an odd, irritating way they had when he was puzzled. Then some huge beads of perspiration broke out on his yellow forehead, like a poisonous dew, and his fat fingers grew cold and clammy.

Lord Arthur did not fail to notice these strange signs of agitation, and, for the first time in his life, he himself felt fear. His impulse was to rush from the room, but he restrained himself. It was better to know the worst, whatever it was, than to be left in this hideous uncertainty.

'I am waiting, Mr Podgers,' he said.

'We are all waiting,' cried Lady Windermere, in her quick, impatient manner, but the chiromantist made no reply.

'I believe Arthur is going on the stage,' said Lady Jedburgh, 'and that, after your scolding, Mr Podgers is afraid to tell him so.'

Suddenly Mr Podgers dropped Lord Arthur's right hand, and seized hold of his left, bending down so low to examine it that the gold rims of his spectacles seemed almost to touch the palm. For a moment his face became a white mask of horror, but he soon recovered his sang-froid, and looking up at Lady Windermere, said with a forced smile, 'It is the hand of a charming young man.'

“好吧，”杰德伯格夫人说道，从沙发上起身时还做了个小小的怪相，“你们要是不让我上台表演的话，总得让我当当观众吧。”

“当然喽，我们都可以当观众。”温德米尔夫人说，“好了，波杰斯先生，一定要给我们说点儿有意思的。亚瑟勋爵是我特别中意的一个可人儿。”

可是，一看到亚瑟勋爵的手，波杰斯先生的脸就变得出奇地苍白。他什么也没说，全身似乎猛地颤了一下。他浓密的眉毛以一种让人着恼的奇怪方式抽搐起来，每当他茫然无措的时候就是这个样子。接着，他黄色的额头上渗出了大颗大颗的汗珠，仿佛是带有毒性的露水，而他胖乎乎的手指也变得又冷又湿了。

亚瑟勋爵留意到波杰斯先生这些奇怪的焦虑表现，平生第一次感到了害怕。他首先想到的是从这屋子里冲出去，但却控制住了自己。不管事情有多糟糕，知道真相总比悬在这可怕的猜测之中要好。

“我等着呢，波杰斯先生，”他说道。

“我们都等着呢，”温德米尔夫人按捺不住自己的急性子，跟着叫道。手相师却还是没有回答。

“我看是亚瑟也要走上舞台了，”杰德伯格夫人说道，“就因为你刚才的斥责，波杰斯先生不敢这么跟他说了。”

突然间，波杰斯先生放下了亚瑟勋爵的右手，转而抓住他的左手，俯身察看起来。他身子俯得非常低，眼镜的金边都快碰到亚瑟的手掌了。有那么一瞬间，他的脸变成了一张写满恐惧的白色面具，不过他很快又镇静下来，抬头看着温德米尔夫人，勉强挤出一个笑容，说道：“这只手属于一位讨人喜欢的年轻男士。”

波杰斯先生俯身查看亚瑟勋爵的手。有那么一瞬间，他的脸变成了一张写满恐惧的白色面具，不过他很快又镇静下来。

'Of course it is!' answered Lady Windermere, 'but will he be a charming husband? That is what I want to know.'

'All charming young men are,' said Mr Podgers.

'I don't think a husband should be too fascinating,' murmured Lady Jedburgh pensively, 'it is so dangerous.'

'My dear child, they never are too fascinating,' cried Lady Windermere. 'But what I want are details. Details are the only things that interest. What is going to happen to Lord Arthur?'

'Well, within the next few months Lord Arthur will go on a voyage ...'

'Oh yes, his honeymoon, of course!'

'And lose a relative.'

'Not his sister, I hope?' said Lady Jedburgh, in a piteous tone of voice.

'Certainly not his sister,' answered Mr Podgers, with a deprecating wave of the hand, 'a distant relative merely.'

'Well, I am dreadfully disappointed,' said Lady Windermere. 'I have absolutely nothing to tell Sibyl tomorrow. No one cares about distant relatives nowadays. They went out of fashion years ago. However, I suppose she had better have a black silk by her; it always does for church, you know. And now let us go to supper. They are sure to have eaten everything up, but we may find some hot soup. François used to make excellent soup once, but he is so agitated about politics at present that I never feel quite certain about him. I do wish General Boulanger would keep quiet. Duchess, I am sure you are tired?'

'Not at all, dear Gladys,' answered the Duchess, waddling towards the door. 'I have enjoyed myself immensely, and the chiropodist, I mean the chiromantist, is most interesting. Flora, where can my tortoise-shell fan be? Oh, thank you, Sir Thomas, so much. And my lace shawl, Flora? Oh, thank you, Sir Thomas, very kind, I'm sure; 'and the worthy creature finally managed to get downstairs without dropping her scent-bottle more than twice.

“这还用你说！”温德米尔夫人答道，“可他会成为一个讨人喜欢的丈夫吗？这才是我想知道的。”

“讨人喜欢的年轻男士都会的，”波杰斯先生说道。

“按我看，做丈夫的可不能太讨人喜欢，”杰德伯格夫人忧心忡忡地咕哝起来，“那样太危险了。”

“我亲爱的小朋友，他们从来都不会太讨人喜欢，”温德米尔夫人叫道。“可我想知道的是具体的事情，只有具体的事情才有意思。亚瑟勋爵会遇上些什么事情呢？”

“呃，最近几个月之内亚瑟勋爵会出海航行……”

“对，他要去度蜜月，当然喽！”

“还会失去一位亲人。”

“该不会是他的姐姐吧？”杰德伯格夫人可怜巴巴地说道。

“当然不会是他的姐姐，”波杰斯先生答道，还不满地扬了扬手，“一位远亲而已。”

“噢，我可真是失望透了，”温德米尔夫人说。“明天我拿不出什么来告诉西比尔了。现在没人关心什么远亲，他们多年以前就已经过时了。话说回来，我看她还是准备上一条黑丝带比较好，上教堂总能用得着，你知道的。现在我们吃晚饭去吧。他们肯定把东西都吃光了，不过我们兴许还能找着点儿热汤。弗朗索瓦以前能做出非常不错的汤，可他现在太为政治伤神，搞得我对他的手艺也没了把握。但愿布朗热将军能保持安静。公爵夫人，你是累了吗？”

“一点儿也不，亲爱的格拉迪丝，”公爵夫人一边回答，一边蹒跚着走向门口。“我非常地自得其乐，那位手足病医生，我是说手相师，也十分有意思。弗洛拉，我的玳瑁扇子上哪儿去了？噢，谢谢你，托马斯爵士，太谢谢了。我的蕾丝披肩呢，弗洛拉？噢，谢谢你，托马斯爵士，你太好了，真的。”说着说着，这位可敬的夫人终于走下了楼梯，其间也只把自己的香水瓶弄掉了两次。

All this time Lord Arthur Savile had remained standing by the fireplace, with the same feeling of dread over him, the same sickening sense of coming evil. He smiled sadly at his sister, as she swept past him on Lord Plymdale's arm, looking lovely in her pink brocade and pearls, and he hardly heard Lady Windermere when she called to him to follow her. He thought of Sibyl Merton, and the idea that anything could come between them made his eyes dim with tears.

Looking at him, one would have said that Nemesis⁽⁷⁾ had stolen the shield of Pallas⁽⁸⁾ and shown him the Gorgon's⁽⁹⁾ head. He seemed turned to stone, and his face was like marble in its melancholy. He had lived the delicate and luxurious life of a young man of birth and fortune, a life exquisite in its freedom from sordid care, its beautiful boyish insouciance; and now for the first time he became conscious of the terrible mystery of Destiny, of the awful meaning of Doom.

这番忙乱之中，亚瑟·萨维尔勋爵始终站在壁炉边上，心里还是充满恐惧和大难临头的恶心感觉。他姐姐挽着普莱姆戴尔勋爵的胳膊从他身边飘然而过，粉色织锦衣服和珍珠首饰将她衬托得格外迷人。他哀伤地冲她笑了笑，温德米尔夫人叫他跟自己一起走，他也充耳不闻。他想着西比尔·默顿，想到他俩的事情可能会横生枝节，不由得泪眼蒙。

看他的样子，你会觉得是复仇女神偷来雅典娜的盾牌，给他看了戈耳工的头颅。他似乎变成了石头，忧伤的脸庞仿如大理石雕像。这以前，他一直过着高门子弟那种精致奢华的生活，没有肮脏卑贱的生计之忧，只有孩子般纯美的天真自在。如今，他却破天荒地意识到了命运的可怕与神秘，意识到了“末日”一词的恐怖含义。

眼前这一切是多么地疯狂诡异啊！难道他的手上，真的用他自己无法解读而别人可以破译的文字写着什么罪恶的可怕秘密，打着什么血红的犯罪印记吗？难道他已经无路可逃了吗？难道我们都不过是受制于无形力量的棋子，或是任由陶工摆布的器皿，荣辱全不由自主吗？理智让他拒绝相信，感觉却告诉他悲剧即将发生、无法承受的重担已在突然之间落到了他的身上。当演员的是多么幸运啊，他们可以自行选择出演悲剧或是喜剧，选择受苦或是作乐、欢笑或是哭泣。但现实生活却是另一回事，大多数男人和女人都不得不去饰演自己并不胜任的角色：我们的盖登思邓为大家扮演哈姆雷特，而我们的哈姆雷特却不得不像哈尔王子一般插科打诨。世界是一个舞台，演员却搭配得不伦不类。

How mad and monstrous it all seemed! Could it be that written on his hand, in characters that he could not read himself, but that another could decipher, was some fearful secret of sin, some blood-red sign of crime? Was there no escape possible? Were we no better than chessmen, moved by an unseen power, vessels the potter fashions at his fancy, for honour or for shame? His reason revolted against it, and yet he felt that some tragedy was hanging over him, and that he had been suddenly called upon to bear an intolerable burden. Actors are so fortunate. They can choose whether they will appear in tragedy or in comedy, whether they will suffer or make merry, laugh or shed tears. But in real life it is different. Most men and women are forced to perform parts for which they have no qualifications. Our Guildensterns⁽¹⁰⁾ play Hamlet for us, and our Hamlets have to jest like Prince Hal⁽¹¹⁾ The world is a stage⁽¹²⁾ but the play is badly cast.

Suddenly Mr Podgers entered the room. When he saw Lord Arthur he started, and his coarse, fat face became a sort of greenish-yellow colour. The two men's eyes met, and for a moment there was silence.

'The Duchess has left one of her gloves here, Lord Arthur, and has asked me to bring it to her,' said Mr Podgers finally. 'Ah, I see it on the sofa! Good evening.'

'Mr Podgers, I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer to a question I am going to put to you.'

'Another time, Lord Arthur, but the Duchess is anxious. I am afraid I must go.'

'You shall not go. The Duchess is in no hurry.'

'Ladies should not be kept waiting, Lord Arthur,' said Mr Podgers, with his sickly smile. 'The fair sex is apt to be impatient.'

突然间，波杰斯先生走进了房间。看到亚瑟勋爵，他吓了一跳，粗糙肥胖的脸随之变成了黄绿色。两人目光相接，一时间都没有作声。

“公爵夫人把一只手套落在了这里，亚瑟勋爵，所以叫我过来帮她拿，”波杰斯先生终于开了口。“噢，我看见了，就在沙发上！晚安。”

“波杰斯先生，我有个问题，你一定得给我个明确的答案。”

“下次吧，亚瑟勋爵，公爵夫人很着急。我恐怕得走了。”

“你不能走，公爵夫人的事儿不急。”

“让夫人们等可不好，亚瑟勋爵，”波杰斯先生说道，脸上挂着惨淡的笑容。“女性一般都不怎么耐烦。”

Lord Arthur's finely chiselled lips curled in petulant disdain. The poor Duchess seemed to him of very little importance at that moment. He walked across the room to where Mr Podgers was standing, and held his hand out.

'Tell me what you saw there,' he said. 'Tell me the truth. I must know it. I am not a child.'

Mr Podgers's eyes blinked behind his gold-rimmed spectacles and he moved uneasily from one foot to the other, while his fingers played nervously with a flash watch-chain.

'What makes you think that I saw anything in your hand, Lord Arthur, more than I told you?'

'I know you did, and I insist on your telling me what it was. I will pay you. I will give you a cheque for a hundred pounds.'

The green eyes flashed for a moment, and then became dull again.

'Guineas⁽¹³⁾ said Mr Podgers at last, in a low voice.

'Certainly. I will send you a cheque tomorrow. What is your club?'

'I have no club. That is to say, not just at present. My address is...but allow me to give you my card' —and producing a bit of gilt-edged pasteboard from his waistcoat pocket, Mr Podgers handed it, with a low bow, to Lord Arthur, who read on it,

亚瑟勋爵撅起了线条优美的嘴唇，毫不掩饰自己的轻蔑。此时此刻，可怜的公爵夫人对他来说完全无足轻重。他走到屋子对面波杰斯先生所在的地方，伸出了自己的手。

“跟我说说你看到了什么，”他说，“跟我说实话。我必须知道。我已经不是小孩子了。”

波杰斯先生那双藏在金边眼镜后面的眼睛眨巴了一下，不安地换了换脚，手指紧张地拨弄着一条颇为招摇的表链。

“亚瑟勋爵，你为什么觉得我从你手上看到了什么没告诉你的东西呢？”

“我就是知道你看到了，并且要求你告诉我。我给你钱，给你一张一百镑的支票。”

波杰斯先生绿色的眼睛闪了一闪，跟着又变得黯淡无光了。

“畿尼行吗？”最后，波杰斯先生低声说道。

“当然。我明天就把支票寄给你。你是哪个俱乐部的会员？”

“我没有加入什么俱乐部。我的意思是，目前还没有加入。我的地址是……我还是给你名片好了。”波杰斯先生从马甲口袋里掏出了一张镶有金边的卡片，深鞠一躬，把它递给了亚瑟勋爵。卡片上写着：

塞普蒂默斯·R. 波杰斯先生

专业手相师

威斯特穆恩街103号a

'My hours are from ten to four,' murmured Mr Podgers mechanically, 'and I make a reduction for families.'

'Be quick,' cried Lord Arthur, looking very pale, and holding his hand out.

Mr Podgers glanced nervously round, and drew the heavy portière across the door.

'It will take a little time, Lord Arthur, you had better sit down.'

'Be quick, sir,' cried Lord Arthur again, stamping his foot angrily on the polished floor.

Mr Podgers smiled, drew from his breast-pocket a small magnifying glass, and wiped it carefully with his handkerchief.

'I am quite ready,' he said.

“我的工作时间是早上十点到下午四点，”波杰斯先生机械地咕哝了几句，“全家看相还有优惠。”

“快点儿，”亚瑟勋爵叫道。他面色十分苍白，又一次伸出了手。

波杰斯先生紧张地环顾四周，然后拉上了厚厚的门帘。

“这需要一点儿时间，亚瑟勋爵，你最好坐下来。”

“快点儿吧，先生，”亚瑟勋爵再一次叫道，还怒冲冲地在上光的地板上跺起脚来。

波杰斯先生笑了笑，从胸袋里掏出一把小小的放大镜，用手帕仔细地擦了一遍。

“可以开始了，”他说道。

Chapter 2
第二章

Ten minutes later, with face blanched by terror, and eyes wild with grief, Lord Arthur Savile rushed from Bentinck House, crushing his way through the crowd of fur-coated footmen that stood round the large striped awning, and seeming not to see or hear anything. The night was bitter cold, and the gas-lamps round the square flared and flickered in the keen wind; but his hands were hot with fever, and his forehead burned like fire. On and on he went, almost with the gait of a drunken man. A policeman looked curiously at him as he passed, and a beggar, who slouched from an archway to ask for alms, grew frightened, seeing misery greater than his own. Once he stopped under a lamp, and looked at his hands. He thought he could detect the stain of blood already upon them, and a faint cry broke from his trembling lips.

Murder! That is what the chiromantist had seen there. Murder! The very night seemed to know it, and the desolate wind to howl it in his ear. The dark corners of the streets were full of it. It grinned at him from the roofs of the houses.

十分钟以后，让恐惧和悲痛弄得面白如纸、目光狂乱的亚瑟· 萨维尔勋爵冲出了本廷克宅邸。巨大的条纹遮雨篷周围站着一群身着皮衣的男仆，他从这些人当中挤了过去，似乎目无所见，耳无所闻。晚上很冷，广场四周的煤气灯在刺骨的寒风中摇曳闪烁，可他的手却烧得滚热，额头更像是着了火。他走个不停，步态跟个醉汉差不多。一名警察满腹狐疑地看着他走了过去；拱门里一个乞丐无精打采地问他要施舍，却看到他的痛苦比自己还要深重，被他吓了一跳。其间他在一盏灯下面停了下来，看了看自己的双手。恍惚之中，他看到自己的手已经沾上了血污，一声微弱的叫喊从他颤抖的唇间迸了出来。

谋杀！这就是手相师在他手上看到的东西。谋杀！这个夜晚似乎也知晓这桩罪行，怒号的凄风将这个字眼灌进了他的耳中。这罪行满布在街道的黑暗角落，还站在各处的房顶上对他狞笑。

First he came to the park⁽¹⁴⁾ whose sombre woodland seemed to fascinate him. He leaned wearily up against the railings, cooling his brow against the wet metal, and listening to the tremulous silence of the trees. 'Murder! murder!' he kept repeating, as though iteration could dim the horror of the word. The sound of his own voice made him shudder, yet he almost hoped that Echo⁽¹⁵⁾ might hear him, and wake the slumbering city from its dreams. He felt a mad desire to stop the casual passer-by, and tell him everything.

Then he wandered across Oxford Street into narrow, shameful alleys. Two women with painted faces mocked at him as he went by. From a dark courtyard came a sound of oaths and blows, followed by shrill screams, and, huddled upon a damp doorstep, he saw the crook-backed forms of poverty and eld. A strange pity came over him. Were these children of sin and misery predestined to their end, as he to his? Were they, like him, merely the puppets of a monstrous show?

And yet it was not the mystery, but the comedy of suffering that struck him; its absolute uselessness, its grotesque want of meaning. How incoherent everything seemed! How lacking in all harmony! He was amazed at the discord between the shallow optimism of the day, and the real facts of existence. He was still very young.

After a time he found himself in front of Marylebone Church. The silent roadway looked like a long riband of polished silver, flecked here and there by the dark arabesques of waving shadows. Far into the distance curved the line of flickering gas-lamps, and outside a little walled-in house stood a solitary hansom, the driver asleep inside. He walked hastily in the direction of Portland Place, now and then looking round, as though he feared that he was being followed. At the corner of Rich Street stood two men, reading a small bill upon a hoarding. An odd feeling of curiosity stirred him, and he crossed over. As he came near, the word MURDER, printed in black letters, met his eye. He started, and a deep flush came into his cheek. It was an advertisement offering a reward for any information leading to the arrest of a man of medium height, between thirty and forty years of age, wearing a billycock hat, a black coat and check trousers, and with a scar upon his right cheek. He read it over and over again, and wondered if the wretched man would be caught, and how he had been scarred. Perhaps, someday, his own name might be placarded on the walls of London. Someday, perhaps, a price would be set on his head also.

他先去了海德公园，那里的阴沉林地似乎在吸引着他。他疲惫地倚在栏杆上，一边借着湿漉漉的金属给自己的额头降温，一边聆听着林中那片震颤不安的寂静。“谋杀！谋杀！”他念了一遍又一遍，就跟这样的重复能让这字眼不那么恐怖似的。他被自己的声音吓得战栗起来，心里却又模模糊糊地希望回声女神能听到自己的声音，将沉睡的城市从梦中唤醒。他有一个疯狂的念头，想随便找个过路人，将一切和盘托出。

然后，他漫无目的地穿过牛津街，走进了那些狭窄的陋巷。两个化了浓妆的女人冲他挤眉弄眼，一个黑暗的庭院里传来了咒骂和殴打的声音，跟着是几声尖叫。几个弓腰驼背、贫穷衰老的人影瑟缩在一处潮湿的门阶上，这情景让他产生了一种莫名的怜悯。难道这些罪恶与苦难的孩子也和他一样，结局早已注定吗？难道他们和他一样，都不过是一场大戏里的木偶吗？

不过，令他震撼的却不是这苦难的神秘莫测，而是它的荒唐可笑，是它的全无用处以及令人发指的意义缺失。一切都显得多么的没有逻辑、多么的不和谐啊！生活的肤浅乐观与生存的严酷真相之间的巨大反差让他惊诧不已。毕竟他还非常年轻。

过了一会儿，他发现自己来到了圣玛丽勒博教堂前。寂静的路面仿佛是一条长长的亮银带子，带子上到处点缀着摇动的黑色树影，好似阿拉伯风格的蔓藤图案。一排摇曳的煤气灯蜿蜒着伸到远处，一幢有围墙的小房子外停着一辆孤独的双轮小马车，车夫就睡在里面。他快步走向波特兰区，边走边不时地东张西望，就像担心有人跟踪似的。里奇街的拐角处站着两个男人，正在读招贴板上的一张小告示。他突然感到一阵莫名的好奇，于是走了过去。走到近处，黑字印刷的“谋杀”二字跃入了他的眼帘。他一惊，脸一下子变得通红。那是张通缉罪犯的告示，向提供线索的人开出了奖赏，罪犯是一个中等个头的男人，年纪在三十岁到四十岁之间，戴着一顶小礼帽，穿着黑外套和方格裤子，右颊上有个伤疤。他读了一遍又一遍，心里想着那个倒霉的家伙会不会被抓住，想着他脸上的疤是怎么来的。没准儿哪一天，他自己的名字也会张贴在伦敦各处的墙垣上。没准儿有哪一天，人们也会为他的脑袋定下一个赏格。

The thought made him sick with horror. He turned on his heel, and hurried on into the night.

Where he went he hardly knew. He had a dim memory of wandering through a labyrinth of sordid houses, of being lost in a giant web of sombre streets, and it was bright dawn when he found himself at last in Piccadilly Circus⁽¹⁶⁾ As he strolled home towards Belgrave Square⁽¹⁷⁾ he met the great waggons on their way to Covent Garden⁽¹⁸⁾ The white-smocked carters, with their pleasant sunburnt faces and coarse curly hair, strode sturdily on, cracking their whips, and calling out now and then to each other; on the back of a huge grey horse, the leader of a jangling team, sat a chubby boy, with a bunch of primroses in his battered hat, keeping tight hold of the mane with his little hands, and laughing; and the great piles of vegetables looked like masses of jade against the morning sky, like masses of green jade against the pink petals of some marvellous rose. Lord Arthur felt curiously affected, he could not tell why. There was something in the dawn's delicate loveliness that seemed to him inexpressibly pathetic, and he thought of all the days that break in beauty, and that set in storm. These rustics, too, with their rough, good-humoured voices, and their nonchalant ways, what a strange London they saw! A London free from the sin of night and the smoke of day, a pallid, ghost-like city, a desolate town of tombs! He wondered what they thought of it, and whether they knew anything of its splendour and its shame, of its fierce, fiery-coloured joys, and its horrible hunger, of all it makes and mars from morn to eve. Probably it was to them merely a mart where they brought their fruits to sell, and where they tarried for a few hours at most, leaving the streets still silent, the houses still asleep. It gave him pleasure to watch them as they went by. Rude as they were, with their heavy, hobnailed shoes and their awkward gait, they brought a little of Arcady with them. He felt that they had lived with nature, and that she had taught them peace. He envied them all that they did not know.

这样的想法让他害怕得直犯恶心。他赶紧转过身，急匆匆地走进了黑夜之中。

他不知道自己去了哪里，只是模糊地记得自己曾在一片破败杂乱的房屋之间乱走，还在一张昏暗街道织成的大网中迷了路。等他最终意识到自己身处皮卡迪利广场的时候，天已经很亮了。他朝着贝尔格雷夫广场的方向往家里走，路上碰到了前往柯文特花园的运货大马车。穿着白色工作服的车夫们有着生气勃勃的黝黑脸庞和凌乱的卷曲头发，车赶得又快又稳，把鞭子甩得啪啪响，还不时地互相打着招呼。一队吵吵嚷嚷的马儿中有一匹领头的大灰马，马背上坐着个胖乎乎的男孩，破破烂烂的帽子上插着一束报春花。男孩用小小的双手紧紧抓着马鬃，笑逐颜开。在清晨天空的映衬之下，大堆大堆的蔬菜仿如大块大块的玉石——绿色的玉石，背衬着某种美不胜收的玫瑰花那粉色的花瓣。亚瑟勋爵心里涌起了一种奇异的感动，但却说不出什么理由。不知道为什么，晨间这种精致脆弱的美让他觉得说不出的伤感，让他想起了所有那些开端美丽、结局凄惨的日子。还有这些乡下人，这些声音粗砺愉快、做派漫不经心的乡下人，他们眼中的伦敦该有多么的不同啊！一个没有夜之罪恶与昼之烟尘的伦敦、一座苍白如幽灵的城市、一座坟茔累累的鬼城！他想知道他们对这座城市的看法，想知道他们是否了解它的辉煌与耻辱、它如火光般耀眼的炽烈欢乐、它那可怕的吞噬欲望，以及它在晨昏之间造就和毁灭的一切。也许，他们眼中的伦敦不过是一个市场，他们到这里来售卖自己的劳动果实，在这里逗留最多几个小时，然后便在街道依然空寂、屋宇依然沉睡的时候离开。看着他们从自己身边经过，他觉得心情愉快。他们举止粗鲁，穿着钉了平头钉的沉重鞋子，走路的姿势也很难看，身上却依然带着一点世外桃源的韵味。他意识到，他们与自然母亲共同生活，从她那里学来了平和的心境。他羡慕他们的无知。

他快步走向波特兰区，边走边不时地东张西望，就像担心有人跟踪似的。

By the time he had reached Belgrave Square the sky was a faint blue, and the birds were beginning to twitter in the gardens.

等他走到贝尔格雷夫广场的时候，天空已经呈现出些许蓝色，园子里的鸟儿也已经开始鸣叫了。

Chapter 3
第三章

When Lord Arthur woke it was twelve o'clock, and the mid-day sun was streaming through the ivory-silk curtains of his room. He got up and looked out of the window. A dim haze of heat was hanging over the great city, and the roofs of the houses were like dull silver. In the flickering green of the square below some children were flitting about like white butterflies, and the pavement was crowded with people on their way to the park. Never had life seemed lovelier to him, never had the things of evil seemed more remote.

Then his valet brought him a cup of chocolate on a tray. After he had drunk it, he drew aside a heavy portière of peach-coloured plush, and passed into the bathroom. The light stole softly from above, through thin slabs of transparent onyx, and the water in the marble tank glimmered like a moonstone. He plunged hastily in, till the cool ripples touched throat and hair, and then dipped his head right under, as though he would have wiped away the stain of some shameful memory. When he stepped out he felt almost at peace. The exquisite physical conditions of the moment had dominated him, as indeed often happens in the case of very finely wrought natures, for the senses, like fire, can purify as well as destroy.

十二点钟的时候，亚瑟勋爵醒了过来，正午的阳光透过象牙色的丝质窗帘照进了房间。他起身望向窗外，只见这座庞大城市的上空悬着一片炎热的模糊雾气，一幢幢房子的屋顶就像没有光泽的银块。窗子下方的广场绿意盎然，孩子们像白蝴蝶一般穿梭其间，人行道上挤满了往海德公园去的人。他觉得生活从未像此时此刻这般可爱，而诸般邪恶也从未像此时此刻这般遥远。

男仆用盘子给他端来了一杯巧克力。喝完之后，他拉开一道沉重的桃红色丝绒门帘，走进了浴室。光线穿过顶上透明的缟玛瑙薄板轻柔地洒下来，大理石面盆里的水像月亮石一般闪着光芒。他一头扎进面盆，让凉水沾湿自己的喉头和头发，接着又把整个脑袋浸到水里，似乎是想洗去某个耻辱记忆留下的污迹。走出浴室的时候，他觉得自己已经差不多平静了。此时此刻，他已经被精致美好的物质环境所控制。事实上，像他这样教养高贵的人往往会如此，因为人的各种官能正如火焰，兼具净化与毁灭的功用。

After breakfast, he flung himself down on a divan, and lit a cigarette. On the mantelshelf, framed in dainty old brocade, stood a large photograph of Sibyl Merton, as he had seen her first at Lady Noel's ball. The small, exquisitely shaped head drooped slightly to one side, as though the thin, reed-like throat could hardly bear the burden of so much beauty; the lips were slightly parted, and seemed made for sweet music; and all the tender purity of girlhood looked out in wonder from the dreaming eyes. With her soft, clinging dress of crêpe-de-chine, and her large leaf-shaped fan, she looked like one of those delicate little figures men find in the olive-woods near Tanagra⁽¹⁹⁾ and there was a touch of Greek grace in her pose and attitude. Yet she was not petite. She was simply perfectly proportioned—a rare thing in an age when so many women are either over life-size or insignificant.

Now as Lord Arthur looked at her, he was filled with the terrible pity that is born of love. He felt that to marry her, with the doom of murder hanging over his head, would be a betrayal like that of Judas, a sin worse than any the Borgia⁽²⁰⁾ had ever dreamed of. What happiness could there be for them, when at any moment he might be called upon to carry out the awful prophecy written in his hand? What manner of life would be theirs while Fate still held this fearful fortune in the scales? The marriage must be postponed, at all costs. Of this he was quite resolved. Ardently though he loved the girl—and the mere touch of her fingers, when they sat together, made each nerve of his body thrill with exquisite joy—he recognised none the less clearly where his duty lay, and was fully conscious of the fact that he had no right to marry until he had committed the murder. This done, he could stand before the altar with Sibyl Merton, and give his life into her hands without terror of wrongdoing. This done, he could take her to his arms, knowing that she would never have to blush for him, never have to hang her head in shame. But done it must be first; and the sooner the better for both.

早餐之后，他一屁股坐到沙发上，点上了一根雪茄。壁炉架上立着一个用精美的古旧织锦做的相框，里面是一张西比尔·默顿的大照片，照片里的她正是他们在诺埃尔夫人的舞会上初次相见时的模样。她那线条优美的小脑袋稍稍偏向一边，仿佛是因为她那芦苇般纤细的颈项无法负担如此惊人的美丽；双唇微启，似乎是正要吐露美妙的乐声；蒙的双眼里带着惊奇，尽情诉说着她那少女的温柔与纯真。她穿着柔软的绉纱紧身裙，拿着一把叶子形状的大扇子，看着就像塔那格拉附近橄榄树林中的一尊精致的小雕像，而她的姿态与神情中也的确有一种希腊式的优雅。不过，她的身材并不纤弱娇小，只是拥有完美的比例——如今这可是件稀罕的事，因为有那么多女性的体型要么是大得过了头，要么就小到了可以忽略不计的地步。

看着她的相片，亚瑟勋爵心里充满了从爱意中生出的巨大憾恨。他觉得，在自己面临谋杀罪行的此时此刻，娶她过门无异于犹太的出卖行径，是连博尔吉亚家族都做不出来的罪恶勾当。如今他随时都可能奉召去执行写在手上的那个可怕预言，他们又哪里会有什么幸福呢？当命运的天平上还压着这个可怕砝码的时候，他们的生活又会是什么样子呢？不管怎样，婚期一定得往后推，这一点他已经决定了。他深深地爱着这个女孩，他们坐在一起的时候，碰碰她的手指都会让他的每一根神经快乐得颤抖。尽管如此，他仍然十分清楚自己的责任所在，也完全明白自己在完成谋杀之前是没有权利去娶她的。做完这件事情，他就可以西比尔·默顿一起站到圣坛之前，将自己的生命交到她的手里，不再有步入歧途的恐惧。做完这件事情，他就可以将她拥入怀中，确信她永远不会因他而感到羞愧，永远不会在耻辱中垂下头颅。不过，首先得把这件事情做完，而且对他们两个人来说，都是越快做完越好。

Many men in his position would have preferred the primrose path of dalliance to the steep heights of duty; but Lord Arthur was too conscientious to set pleasure above principle. There was more than mere passion in his love; and Sibyl was to him a symbol of all that is good and noble. For a moment he had a natural repugnance against what he was asked to do, but it soon passed away. His heart told him that it was not a sin, but a sacrifice; his reason reminded him that there was no other course open. He had to choose between living for himself and living for others, and terrible though the task laid upon him undoubtedly was, yet he knew that he must not suffer selfishness to triumph over love. Sooner or later we are all called upon to decide on the same issue—of us all, the same question is asked. To Lord Arthur it came early in life—before his nature had been spoiled by the calculating cynicism of middle-age, or his heart corroded by the shallow, fashionable egotism of our day, and he felt no hesitation about doing his duty. Fortunately also, for him, he was no mere dreamer, or idle dilettante. Had he been so, he would have hesitated, like Hamlet, and let irresolution mar his purpose. But he was essentially practical. Life to him meant action, rather than thought. He had that rarest of all things, common sense.

若是身处亚瑟勋爵的位置，许多男人都会选择轻浮放荡的享乐之路，不会去攀爬陡峭险峻的责任之峰。然而，亚瑟勋爵有着非常强烈的责任感，不能将享受置于原则之上。他的爱不只是一种激情，对他来说西比尔是一切美好高贵事物的象征。他一度对自己受命去做的事产生了本能的抗拒，但那种感觉很快就过去了。他的心告诉他这并不是一桩罪行，而是一种牺牲，而他的理性也提醒了他，眼前已经没有别的路可走。他必须得在为己而活和为人而活之间做出选择，肩上的任务无疑十分艰巨，但他知道自己不能让自私战胜爱情。或迟或早，我们都得对同样的问题做出回答——同样的问题终将摆在我们所有人的面前。对亚瑟勋爵而言，这个问题来得比较早——他的天性还没有被中年时期的斤斤计较和愤世嫉俗所污染，他的心也还没有被这时代那种浅薄的自大时尚所腐蚀，因此他对于履行自己的责任没有半点犹豫。他还有一点幸运之处，那就是他并不是一个只会空想的人，也不是什么游手好闲的半吊子。若非如此，他就会像哈姆雷特一样踌躇不决，在优柔寡断之中断送自己的目标。好在他有着脚踏实地的本性，生活对他来说意味着行动而非思考。此外，他还拥有一样最最稀罕的财富：常识。

The wild, turbid feelings of the previous night had by this time completely passed away, and it was almost with a sense of shame that he looked back upon his mad wanderings from street to street, his fierce emotional agony. The very sincerity of his sufferings made them seem unreal to him now. He wondered how he could have been so foolish as to rant and rave about the inevitable. The only question that seemed to trouble him was, whom to make away with; for he was not blind to the fact that murder, like the religions of the pagan world, requires a victim as well as a priest. Not being a genius, he had no enemies, and indeed he felt that this was not the time for the gratification of any personal pique or dislike, the mission in which he was engaged being one of great and grave solemnity. He accordingly made out a list of his friends and relatives on a sheet of notepaper, and after careful consideration, decided in favour of Lady Clementina Beauchamp, a dear old lady who lived in Curzon Street, and was his own second cousin by his mother's side. He had always been very fond of Lady Clem, as everyone called her, and as he was very wealthy himself, having come into all Lord Rugby's property when he came of age, there was no possibility of his deriving any vulgar monetary advantage by her death. In fact, the more he thought over the matter, the more she seemed to him to be just the right person, and, feeling that any delay would be unfair to Sibyl, he determined to make his arrangements at once.

到了这个时候，昨夜的狂乱与困惑已经完全消失了。回头想想自己当时走街串巷的疯狂举动以及情感上的巨大痛苦，他不由得感到有点儿羞愧。当时的痛苦是那样的真切，而正是那种真切感让现在的他觉得难以想象。他不能理解为何自己会蠢到如此地步，竟至于对着无法避免的命运徒劳叫嚷。如今他只剩下一个问题，那就是该把谁置于死地，因为他很清楚，谋杀跟异教世界里的那些宗教仪式一样，既需要祭师也需要祭品。他不是什么天才，因此便没有敌人，何况这也不是发泄私愤的时机，因为他将要完成的使命无比庄严、无比神圣。于是，他在一张信笺上列出了自己的朋友和亲戚，经过慎重考虑之后选中了克莱门蒂娜·比彻姆夫人。那位可敬的老夫人住在克尔宋街，是他的二表姐，大家都管她叫克莱姆夫人。他一直都很喜欢她，此外，由于他一成年便继承了拉格比勋爵的全部财产，本身十分富有，也没有人会认为他会因她的死而获得什么粗鄙庸俗的经济利益。事实上，他越想越觉得她就是最合适的人选。考虑到任何拖延对西比尔来说都是不公平的事情，他决定立刻着手安排这次行动。

The first thing to be done was, of course, to settle with the chiromantist; so he sat down at a small Sheraton⁽²¹⁾ writing-table that stood near the window, drew a cheque for ￡105⁽²²⁾ payable to the order of Mr Septimus Podgers, and, enclosing it in an envelope, told his valet to take it to West Moon Street. He then telephoned to the stables for his hansom, and dressed to go out. As he was leaving the room he looked back at Sibyl Merton's photograph, and swore that, come what may, he would never let her know what he was doing for her sake, but would keep the secret of his self-sacrifice hidden always in his heart.

On his way to the Buckingham, he stopped at a florist's, and sent Sibyl a beautiful basket of narcissi, with lovely white petals and staring pheasants' eyes, and on arriving at the club, went straight to the library, rang the bell, and ordered the waiter to bring him a lemon and soda, and a book on toxicology. He had fully decided that poison was the best means to adopt in this troublesome business. Anything like personal violence was extremely distasteful to him, and besides, he was very anxious not to murder Lady Clementina in any way that might attract public attention, as he hated the idea of being lionised at Lady Windermere's, or seeing his name figuring in the paragraphs of vulgar society-newspapers. He had also to think of Sibyl's father and mother, who were rather old-fashioned people, and might possibly object to the marriage if there was anything like a scandal, though he felt certain that if he told them the whole facts of the case they would be the very first to appreciate the motives that had actuated him. He had every reason, then, to decide in favour of poison. It was safe, sure and quiet, and did away with any necessity for painful scenes, to which, like most Englishmen, he had a rooted objection.

首先要做的事情当然是打发那个手相师，于是他在窗边一张小小的谢拉顿写字台前坐下来，开了张一百零五镑的支票，抬头是塞普蒂默斯·波杰斯先生。他把支票装进一个信封，叫男仆送去威斯特穆恩街，然后打电话去马房叫了自己的马车，穿好衣服出了门。走出房门的时候，他回头看了看西比尔·默顿的相片，暗自发誓无论如何都不能让她知晓自己为她所做的事情，要让这次自我牺牲成为永埋自己心底的秘密。

去白金汉俱乐部的路上，他在一个花店停了一下，给西比尔送去了一篮子水仙花。花儿有着可爱的白色花瓣和惹眼的雉眼状斑点。一到俱乐部，他便径直去了图书室，摇响唤人铃，叫侍者给他拿一杯柠檬苏打水和一本毒物学书籍。他已经完全确定，毒药是处理这件麻烦事情的最好办法。与身体暴力相关的一切东西都让他极其厌恶，而他也绝对不想采用可能引起公众注意的方法来谋杀克莱门蒂娜夫人，因为他不愿成为温德米尔夫人那些聚会上的谈资，也不愿看到自己的名字出现在那些低俗的大众报纸上。此外，他还得考虑西比尔父母的感受，他们都是非常老派的人，要是听到什么丑闻的话，就很可能会反对这桩婚事，尽管他确信只要他把整件事情讲清楚，他们会第一个对他的动机表示赞赏。这样一来，毒药就成了他最好的选择。这东西安全、可靠、无声无息，让他完全不用面对什么令人痛苦的场景。跟大多数英国绅士一样，他对那样的场景是深恶痛绝的。

Of the science of poisons, however, he knew absolutely nothing, and as the waiter seemed quite unable to find anything in the library but Ruff's Guide⁽²³⁾ and Bailey's Magazine⁽²⁴⁾ he examined the bookshelves himself, and finally came across a handsomely-bound edition of the Pharmacopoeia, and a copy of Erskine's Toxicology, edited by Sir Matthew Reid, the President of the Royal College of Physicians, and one of the oldest members of the Buckingham, having been elected in mistake for somebody else; a contretemps that so enraged the Committee, that when the real man came up they black-balled him unanimously. Lord Arthur was a good deal puzzled at the technical terms used in both books, and had begun to regret that he had not paid more attention to his classics⁽²⁵⁾ at Oxford, when in the second volume of Erskine, he found a very complete account of the properties of aconitine, written in fairly clear English. It seemed to him to be exactly the poison he wanted. It was swift—indeed, almost immediate, in its effect—perfectly painless, and when taken in the form of a gelatine capsule, the mode recommended by Sir Matthew, not by any means unpalatable. He accordingly made a note, upon his shirt-cuff, of the amount necessary for a fatal dose, put the books back in their places, and strolled up St James's Street to Pestle and Humbey's, the great chemists. Mr Pestle, who always attended personally on the aristocracy, was a good deal surprised at the order, and in a very deferential manner murmured something about a medical certificate being necessary. However, as soon as Lord Arthur explained to him that it was for a large Norwegian mastiff that he was obliged to get rid of, as it showed signs of incipient rabies, and had already bitten the coachman twice in the calf of the leg, he expressed himself as being perfectly satisfied, complimented Lord Arthur on his wonderful knowledge of toxicology, and had the prescription made up immediately.

然而，他对与毒物有关的科学一无所知。鉴于侍者似乎没法从图书室里找出《拉夫指南》和《贝利杂志》之外的东西，他便亲自去书架上翻寻，最终撞上了一本装帧漂亮的《药典》，外加一本厄斯金所著的《毒物学》。后一本书的编者是皇家医学院院长马修·里德爵士，他是白金汉俱乐部最早的会员之一，因为被错认成别人才当选了院长。这一意外事故令选举委员会大为光火，因此便在真人现身的时候一致投票取消了那人的候选资格。这两本书里的术语都让亚瑟勋爵很是头疼，他不禁有些后悔自己在牛津读书时没好好学古典学。就在此时，他在厄斯金著作的第二卷里找到了一篇关于乌头碱特性的详尽记述，文字是相当明白易懂的英语。看起来，乌头碱正是符合他要求的那种毒药。它很快就会发作——事实上，简直可以说是立竿见影——发作时完全没有痛苦，而且，要是按照马修爵士推荐的方法，把它装进胶囊服用的话，味道也绝对不算太差。他随即在袖口上记下足以致命的剂量，把书放回原位，然后溜达到圣詹姆斯街，去了著名药剂师佩斯透和哈姆比的店铺。佩斯透先生总是亲自为贵族顾客服务，听说他的要求后感到相当惊讶，接着便毕恭毕敬地叨咕了几句，说是得有什么诊断书才行。亚瑟勋爵向他做了一番解释，说自己有头挪威大獒显现出了早期狂犬病的征候，已经在马车夫的小腿上咬了两口，因此他不得不除掉这只畜生。听闻此言，佩斯透先生立刻表示完全理解，还恭维了一下亚瑟勋爵渊深的毒物学知识，随后按他的方子配好了药物。

Lord Arthur put the capsule into a pretty little silver bonbon-nière that he saw in a shop window in Bond Street, threw away Pestle and Humbey's ugly pill-box, and drove off at once to Lady Clementina's.

'Well, monsieur le mauvais sujet,' cried the old lady, as he entered the room, 'why haven't you been to see me all this time?'

'My dear Lady Clem, I never have a moment to myself,' said Lord Arthur, smiling.

'I suppose you mean that you go about all day long with Miss Sibyl Merton, buying chiffons and talking nonsense? I cannot understand why people make such a fuss about being married. In my day we never dreamed of billing and cooing in public, or in private for that matter.'

'I assure you I have not seen Sibyl for twenty-four hours, Lady Clem. As far as I can make out, she belongs entirely to her milliners.'

'Of course; that is the only reason you come to see an ugly old woman like myself. I wonder you men don't take warning. On a fait des folies pour moi, and here I am, a poor rheumatic creature, with a false front and a bad temper. Why, if it were not for dear Lady Jansen, who sends me all the worst French novels she can find, I don't think I could get through the day. Doctors are no use at all, except to get fees out of one. They can't even cure my heartburn.'

亚瑟勋爵在邦德街上的一个橱窗里看到一个漂亮的银制小糖果盒，将它买了下来。他把毒药胶囊装进糖果盒，扔掉佩斯透和哈姆比药店给的丑陋药盒，紧接着便坐车去了克莱门蒂娜夫人那里。

“啊，无赖先生，”他一进屋，老夫人便叫道，“你怎么这么久都不来看我呢？”

“亲爱的克莱姆夫人，我根本就没有自己的时间啊，”亚瑟勋爵笑着说道。

“照我的理解，你是说你一天到晚都在跟西比尔·默顿小姐一起挑衣服、说傻话，是吗？我真不明白，人们干吗要把结婚这件事情搞得那么复杂。在我那个年代，我们根本不敢在公共场合大肆宣扬这件事情，私底下也不行。”

“我向你保证，我已经有二十四小时没见西比尔了，克莱姆夫人。就我所知，她的时间都让那些卖帽子的人给占了。”

“当然喽，就因为这样你才会来看像我这样又老又丑的女人。要我说，你们这些男人都不懂得提高警惕。我都快要疯了，看看我，一个风湿缠身的可怜虫，装模作样，脾气糟糕。唉，要不是有亲爱的詹森夫人，要不是她把所有那些最蹩脚的法国小说找来给我，我都不知道该怎么打发时间。那些医生全都是废物，就知道收钱。他们连我的心口疼都治不好。”

'I have brought you a cure for that, Lady Clem,' said Lord Arthur gravely. 'It is a wonderful thing, invented by an American.'

'I don't think I like American inventions, Arthur. I am quite sure I don't. I read some American novels lately, and they were quite nonsensical.'

'Oh, but there is no nonsense at all about this, Lady Clem! I assure you it is a perfect cure. You must promise to try it; 'and Lord Arthur brought the little box out of his pocket, and handed it to her.

'Well, the box is charming, Arthur. Is it really a present? That is very sweet of you. And is this the wonderful medicine? It looks like a bonbon. I' ll take it at once.'

'Good heavens! Lady Clem,' cried Lord Arthur, catching hold of her hand, 'you mustn't do anything of the kind. It is a homoeopathic medicine, and if you take it without having heartburn, it might do you no end of harm. Wait till you have an attack, and take it then. You will be astonished at the result.'

'I should like to take it now,' said Lady Clementina, holding up to the light the little transparent capsule, with its floating bubble of liquid aconitine. 'I am sure it is delicious. The fact is that, though I hate doctors, I love medicines. However, I' ll keep it till my next attack.'

'And when will that be?' asked Lord Arthur eagerly. 'Will it be soon?'

'I hope not for a week. I had a very bad time yesterday morn-ing with it. But one never knows.'

“我给你带了治这种病的药，克莱姆夫人，”亚瑟勋爵一本正经地说。“这药是个美国人发明的，非常不错。”

“我恐怕不怎么喜欢美国人的发明，亚瑟。应该说就是不喜欢。最近我读了一些美国小说，简直荒唐得要命。”

“哦，不过这可不是什么荒唐的东西，克莱姆夫人！我保证它能把你的病治好。你得答应我，要试一试这种药。”说着，亚瑟勋爵从口袋里掏出那个小盒子，把它递给了她。

“呃，盒子挺漂亮的，亚瑟。你真要把它送给我吗？你可真体贴。这就是你说的神奇药吗？看着跟一块小糖果似的。我现在就吃。”

“天哪！克莱姆夫人，”亚瑟勋爵叫道，抓住了她的手，“你可千万别这么做。这是种顺势疗法药物，要是在没犯心口疼的时候吃，就会对你造成极大的伤害。等你发病的时候再吃吧，效果会让你大吃一惊的。”

“我还是想现在就吃，”克莱门蒂娜夫人一边说，一边把透明的小胶囊举到灯下，胶囊里的液体乌头碱晃来晃去。“我敢肯定它味道不错。说真的，我虽然讨厌医生，但却喜欢药品。不过，我还是把它留到下次发病的时候好了。”

“什么时候会发病呢？”亚瑟勋爵急切地问。“快吗？”

“我看一个星期之内不会。昨天早上刚发过一次，搞得我难受极了。不过这也没准儿。”

亚瑟勋爵掏出一个小盒子，把它递给了克莱门蒂娜夫人。

'You are sure to have one before the end of the month then, Lady Clem?'

'I am afraid so. But how sympathetic you are today, Arthur! Really, Sibyl has done you a great deal of good. And now you must run away, for I am dining with some very dull people, who won't talk scandal, and I know that if I don't get my sleep now I shall never be able to keep awake during dinner. Goodbye, Arthur, give my love to Sibyl, and thank you so much for the American medicine.'

'You won't forget to take it, Lady Clem, will you?' said Lord Arthur, rising from his seat.

'Of course I won't, you silly boy. I think it is most kind of you to think of me, and I shall write and tell you if I want any more.'

Lord Arthur left the house in high spirits, and with a feeling of immense relief.

That night he had an interview with Sibyl Merton. He told her how he had been suddenly placed in a position of terrible difficulty, from which neither honour nor duty would allow him to recede. He told her that the marriage must be put off for the present, as until he had got rid of his fearful entanglements, he was not a free man. He implored her to trust him, and not to have any doubts about the future. Everything would come right, but patience was necessary.

The scene took place in the conservatory of Mr Merton's house, in Park Lane, where Lord Arthur had dined as usual. Sibyl had never seemed more happy, and for a moment Lord Arthur had been tempted to play the coward's part, to write to Lady Clementina for the pill, and to let the marriage go on as if there was no such person as Mr Podgers in the world. His better nature, however, soon asserted itself, and even when Sibyl flung herself weeping into his arms, he did not falter. The beauty that stirred his senses had touched his conscience also. He felt that to wreck so fair a life for the sake of a few months' pleasure would be a wrong thing to do.

“这么说，你肯定月底之前就会发作一次吧，克莱姆夫人？”

“多半会吧。今天你可真有同情心啊，亚瑟！没错，西比尔已经让你大有改观了。好了，现在你该走了，因为我等下要跟一些特别无聊的人吃饭。他们是不聊八卦的，要是我现在不去睡一会儿的话，吃饭的时候就该打瞌睡了。再见，亚瑟，替我给西比尔带个好，万分感谢你送我的美国药。”

“你不会忘了吃吧，克莱姆夫人？”亚瑟勋爵一边起身，一边问道。

“当然不会，你这个傻孩子。你还能想到我，真是不错。要是我还想要的话，会写信告诉你的。”

亚瑟勋爵兴高采烈地离开了夫人家，心里觉得无比轻松。

当天晚上，他跟西比尔·默顿见了面。他告诉她，自己突然间遇上了巨大的麻烦，可为了荣誉和责任又不能选择逃避。他还说，他们的婚事必须暂时搁下，因为他要到这个可怕的麻烦解决之后才能获得自由。他恳请她相信自己，不要对他们的未来产生任何疑问。一切都会走上正轨，只是需要一点儿耐心。

这幕场景发生在公园巷默顿先生家的暖房里，亚瑟勋爵照例去了那里吃饭。西比尔显得比以往任何时候都要高兴，亚瑟勋爵一时间不禁产生了缴械投降的冲动，打算写信向克莱门蒂娜夫人要回那粒药、让婚事继续进行、就当这世上没有波杰斯先生这么个人。不过，他天性中更好的一面很快就占了上风，即便是在西比尔投入他的怀抱开始哭泣的时候，他也没有动摇。西比尔的美丽不仅令他感官眩惑，同时也触动了他的良知。他意识到，自己绝不能为了区区几个月的快乐就去伤害如此美好的一个生命。

He stayed with Sibyl till nearly midnight, comforting her and being comforted in turn, and early the next morning he left for Venice, after writing a manly, firm letter to Mr Merton about the necessary postponement of the marriage.

他和西比尔一起呆到了将近午夜的时候，一边抚慰她，一边接受她的抚慰。第二天清早，他给默顿先生写了一封豪气冲天、措辞坚决的信，说明了推迟婚事的必要性，然后就去了威尼斯。

Chapter 4
第四章

In Venice he met his brother, Lord Surbiton, who happened to have come over from Corfu⁽²⁶⁾ in his yacht. The two young men spent a delightful fortnight together. In the morning they rode on the Lido⁽²⁷⁾ or glided up and down the green canals in their long black gondola; in the afternoon they usually entertained visitors on the yacht; and in the evening they dined at Florian's⁽²⁸⁾ and smoked innumerable cigarettes on the Piazza. Yet somehow Lord Arthur was not happy. Every day he studied the obituary column in The Times, expecting to see a notice of Lady Clementina's death, but every day he was disappointed. He began to be afraid that some accident had happened to her, and often regretted that he had prevented her taking the aconitine when she had been so anxious to try its effect. Sibyl's letters, too, though full of love, and trust, and tenderness, were often very sad in their tone, and sometimes he used to think that he was parted from her for ever.

他在威尼斯碰上了哥哥瑟比顿勋爵，后者刚巧乘着自己的游艇从科孚岛那边来到了这里。两个年轻人一起度过了愉快的两个星期。早上他们会去丽都岛上骑马，或者坐着长长的黑色贡多拉在碧绿的运河里漫游；下午他们通常会在游艇上招待客人；晚上他们会去弗洛里安咖啡馆吃饭，然后在圣马可广场上抽掉不计其数的雪茄。然而不知怎的，亚瑟勋爵过得并不开心。他每天都在仔细阅读《泰晤士报》的讣告专栏，希望看到克莱门蒂娜夫人过世的启事，但却总是以失望告终。他开始担心她是不是出了什么意外，还常常后悔自己在她急不可耐要尝试乌头碱的时候阻止了她。西比尔的信中虽然写满了爱意、信任和温柔，但也往往洋溢着哀伤的情绪。有些时候，他不免觉得自己跟她已成永诀。

After a fortnight Lord Surbiton got bored with Venice, and determined to run down the coast to Ravenna⁽²⁹⁾ as he heard that there was some capital cock-shooting in the Pinetum. Lord Arthur, at first, refused absolutely to come, but Surbiton, of whom he was extremely fond, finally persuaded him that if he stayed at Danieli's⁽³⁰⁾ by himself he would be moped to death, and on the morning of the 15th they started, with a strong nor' -east wind blowing, and a rather choppy sea. The sport was excellent, and the free, open-air life brought the colour back to Lord Arthur's cheeks, but about the 22nd he became anxious about Lady Clementina, and, in spite of Surbiton's remonstrances, came back to Venice by train.

As he stepped out of his gondola on to the hotel steps, the proprietor came forward to meet him with a sheaf of telegrams. Lord Arthur snatched them out of his hand, and tore them open. Everything had been successful. Lady Clementina had died quite suddenly on the night of the 17th!

His first thought was for Sibyl, and he sent her off a telegram announcing his immediate return to London. He then ordered his valet to pack his things for the night mail, sent his gondoliers about five times their proper fare, and ran up to his sitting-room with a light step and a buoyant heart. There he found three letters waiting for him. One was from Sibyl herself, full of sympathy and condolence. The others were from his mother, and from Lady Clementina's solicitor. It seemed that the old lady had dined with the Duchess that very night, had delighted everyone by her wit and esprit, but had gone home somewhat early, complaining of heartburn. In the morning she was found dead in her bed, having apparently suffered no pain. Sir Matthew Reid had been sent for at once, but, of course, there was nothing to be done, and she was to be buried on the 22nd at Beauchamp Chalcote. A few days before she died she had made her will, and left Lord Arthur her little house in Curzon Street, and all her furniture, personal effects, and pictures, with the exception of her collection of miniatures, which was to go to her sister, Lady Margaret Rufford, and her amethyst necklace, which Sibyl Merton was to have. The property was not of much value; but Mr Mansfield, the solicitor, was extremely anxious for Lord Arthur to return at once, if possible, as there were a great many bills to be paid, and Lady Clementina had never kept any regular accounts.

两个星期过去了，厌倦了威尼斯的瑟比顿勋爵决定顺着海岸南下拉韦纳，因为他听说那儿的松树园有非常不错的猎野鸡活动。亚瑟勋爵一开始表示坚决不去，可他非常喜欢的瑟比顿最终说服了他，让他相信独自留在丹尼利酒店只会闷死。第十五天的早晨，他们便借着强劲的东北风驶入了动荡不安的海面。猎野鸡的活动十分精彩，自由自在的户外生活也让亚瑟勋爵的双颊恢复了神采。可是，到了第二十二天，他又一次被克莱门蒂娜夫人的事情弄得心神不宁，于是不顾瑟比顿的反对，坐火车回到了威尼斯。

亚瑟勋爵下了贡多拉，走上酒店门口的台阶，酒店老板拿着一沓电报上前来迎候他。他一把抓过电报，随即撕开了封套。大功已然告成。第十七天夜里，克莱门蒂娜夫人突然间死去了！

他首先想到了西比尔，于是发电报告诉她自己将马上赶回伦敦。这之后，他让男仆收拾行装准备赶当晚的邮递火车，用约摸五倍的船钱打发了贡多拉船夫，跟着便心情愉快、步履轻盈地跑进自己的起居室，在房里发现了三封写给自己的信。其中一封是西比尔本人写来的，里面充满了同情和抚慰，另两封则分别来自他的母亲和克莱门蒂娜夫人的律师。事情经过似乎是这样的：那天晚上这位老夫人刚巧和公爵夫人一起进了晚餐，席间谈笑风生，让大家开心不已。不过，她后来抱怨自己心口疼，早早地回了家。

Lord Arthur was very much touched by Lady Clementina's kind remembrance of him, and felt that Mr Podgers had a great deal to answer for. His love of Sibyl, however, dominated every other emotion, and the consciousness that he had done his duty gave him peace and comfort. When he arrived at Charing Cross⁽³¹⁾ he felt perfectly happy.

The Mertons received him very kindly, Sibyl made him promise that he would never again allow anything to come between them, and the marriage was fixed for the 7th June. Life seemed to him once more bright and beautiful, and all his old gladness came back to him again.

One day, however, as he was going over the house in Curzon Street, in company with Lady Clementina's solicitor and Sibyl herself, burning packages of faded letters, and turning out drawers of odd rubbish, the young girl suddenly gave a little cry of delight.

到了第二天早上，人们发现她死在了自己的床上，死之前显然没受什么罪。马修·里德爵士立刻奉命前来，不过当然，他也是无力回天。她将于第二十二日在比彻姆·查尔科特公墓下葬。去世之前几天，她立了一份遗嘱，把自己在克尔宋街的小房子以及所有家具、私人物品和图画留给了亚瑟勋爵，只有她的微缩模型收藏和紫水晶项链除外，那两样东西分别由她妹妹玛格丽特·拉福德夫人和西比尔·默顿继承。她那幢房子值不了多少钱，但律师曼斯菲尔德先生还是十分着急，希望亚瑟勋爵在可能的情况下即刻返回，因为未付的账单已经堆积如山，克莱门蒂娜夫人又从来都不记账。

克莱门蒂娜夫人的拳拳记挂令亚瑟勋爵深受感动，他由此认为波杰斯先生实在是罪大恶极。不过，对西比尔的爱压倒了其他所有情感，再想到任务已经完成，他更是觉得平静与快慰。到达查令十字车站的时候，他的心情已经好得不能再好了。

默顿一家十分亲切地接待了他，西比尔让他许诺绝不再让任何事物分隔他俩，而他们的婚期也定在了六月七日。生活又一次变得光明美好，从前的所有喜悦也重新回到了他的身上。

一天，克莱门蒂娜夫人的律师和西比尔正陪着他收拾克尔宋街的那幢房子，烧毁一捆捆泛黄的信件，清出一屉屉古怪的垃圾。

'What have you found, Sibyl?' said Lord Arthur, looking up from his work, and smiling.

'This lovely little silver bonbonnière, Arthur. Isn't it quaint and Dutch? Do give it to me! I know amethysts won't become me till I am over eighty.'

It was the box that had held the aconitine.

Lord Arthur started, and a faint blush came into his cheek. He had almost entirely forgotten what he had done, and it seemed to him a curious coincidence that Sibyl, for whose sake he had gone through all that terrible anxiety, should have been the first to remind him of it.

'Of course you can have it, Sibyl. I gave it to poor Lady Clem myself.'

'Oh! thank you, Arthur; and may I have the bonbon too? I had no notion that Lady Clementina liked sweets. I thought she was far too intellectual.'

Lord Arthur grew deadly pale, and a horrible idea crossed his mind.

'Bonbon, Sibyl? What do you mean?' he said in a slow, hoarse voice.

'There is one in it, that is all. It looks quite old and dusty, and I have not the slightest intention of eating it. What is the matter, Arthur? How white you look!'

Lord Arthur rushed across the room, and seized the box. Inside it was the amber-coloured capsule, with its poison-bubble. Lady Clementina had died a natural death after all!

突然之间，年轻的女孩儿发出了一声喜悦的叫喊。

“你找着什么了，西比尔？”亚瑟勋爵停下手里的事情，抬起头笑着问道。

“一个可爱的银制小糖果盒，亚瑟。这东西挺有趣的，不是吗？把它给我吧！要我说，要到八十岁以后我才适合戴紫水晶的东西。”

她拿的正是装过乌头碱胶囊的那个盒子。

亚瑟勋爵吃了一惊，脸上泛起了淡淡的红晕。他几乎完全忘了自己做过的那件事情，可西比尔却第一个给了他提醒。在他看来，这实在是一种离奇的巧合，因为他之前那段恐怖紧张的经历正是为了西比尔的缘故。

“你当然可以拿去，西比尔。那东西就是我送给克莱姆夫人的。”

“噢！谢谢你，亚瑟。这粒糖也给我好吗？我以前觉得克莱门蒂娜夫人特别睿智，不知道她还喜欢吃糖。”

亚瑟勋爵一下子面如死灰，心头涌上一个可怕的想法。

“糖吗，西比尔？你说什么？”他慢慢地说道，声音嘶哑。

“里面有粒糖，就是这样。它看起来已经放了很久，上面都有灰尘了，我可一点儿也不想吃。怎么啦，亚瑟？你的脸色好苍白啊！”

亚瑟勋爵冲到房间对过，一把抢过了那个盒子。那粒琥珀色的胶囊还在里面，胶囊里的毒液也依然如故。说来说去，克莱门蒂娜夫人原来是自然死亡的！

The shock of the discovery was almost too much for him. He flung the capsule into the fire, and sank on the sofa with a cry of despair.

这一发现所造成的打击几乎让亚瑟勋爵无法承受。他把胶囊扔进火里，绝望地大叫一声，瘫倒在沙发上。

Chapter 5
第五章

Mr Merton was a good deal distressed at the second postponement of the marriage, and Lady Julia, who had already ordered her dress for the wedding, did all in her power to make Sibyl break off the match. Dearly, however, as Sibyl loved her mother, she had given her whole life into Lord Arthur's hands, and nothing that Lady Julia could say could make her waver in her faith. As for Lord Arthur himself, it took him days to get over his terrible disappointment, and for a time his nerves were completely unstrung. His excellent common sense, however, soon asserted itself and his sound, practical mind did not leave him long in doubt about what to do. Poison having proved a complete failure, dynamite, or some other form of explosive, was obviously the proper thing to try.

婚期的又一次推迟让默顿先生非常沮丧，已经订好了婚礼服装的朱莉娅夫人更是不遗余力地劝说西比尔取消婚约。可是，西比尔已经将自己的整个生命交托给了亚瑟勋爵，虽然她很爱自己的母亲，却也不会因她的任何言语而动摇自己的忠诚。亚瑟勋爵自己也花了好几天的时间才战胜了心底的巨大失望，其间还有一阵子崩断了所有的神经。不过，他那卓绝的常识很快就得以恢复，而健全务实的心智也没有让他长时间停留在不知所措的状态当中。既然事实已经证明毒药彻底没用，很显然，炸药或者其他类型的爆炸品就成了合理的选择。

He accordingly looked again over the list of his friends and relatives, and, after careful consideration, determined to blow up his uncle, the Dean of Chichester⁽³²⁾ The Dean, who was a man of great culture and learning, was extremely fond of clocks, and had a wonderful collection of timepieces, ranging from the fifteenth entury to the present day, and it seemed to Lord Arthur that this hobby of the good Dean's offered him an excellent opportunity for carrying out his scheme. Where to procure an explosive machine was, of course, quite another matter. The London Directory gave him no information on the point, and he felt that there was very little use in going to Scotland Yard⁽³³⁾ about it, as they never seemed to know anything about the movements of the dynamite faction till after an explosion had taken place, and not much even then.

Suddenly he thought of his friend Rouvaloff, a young Russian of very revolutionary tendencies, whom he had met at Lady Windermere's in the winter. Count Rouvaloff was supposed to be writing a life of Peter the Great⁽³⁴⁾ and to have come over to England for the purpose of studying the documents relating to that Tsar's residence in this country as a ship carpenter; but it was generally suspected that he was a Nihilist agent, and there was no doubt that the Russian Embassy did not look with any favour upon his presence in London. Lord Arthur felt that he was just the man for his purpose, and drove down one morning to his lodgings in Bloomsbury, to ask his advice and assistance.

'So you are taking up politics seriously?' said Count Rouvaloff, when Lord Arthur had told him the object of his mission; but Lord Arthur, who hated swagger of any kind, felt bound to admit to him that he had not the slightest interest in social questions, and simply wanted the explosive machine for a purely family matter, in which no one was concerned but himself.

他又一次把目光投向了亲友名单，一番深思熟虑之后决定炸死自己的叔叔。他叔叔是奇切斯特的教长，知识渊博，极其喜欢时钟，还拥有一套从十五世纪直到如今的绝佳钟表收藏。在亚瑟勋爵看来，这位好教长的特殊爱好给了他一个实施计划的大好机会。当然，找地方弄来爆炸装置就不那么容易了。伦敦市的通讯录没能给他提供什么线索，而他觉得上苏格兰场去寻求帮助也不会有什么结果，因为他们似乎要等爆炸发生之后才能对爆炸分子的活动有所知觉，即便到那时所知也很有限。

突然间，他想到了自己的朋友鲁瓦罗夫伯爵，冬天的时候他在温德米尔夫人那里见过这个十分倾向革命的俄国小伙子。据说他打算写一本关于彼得大帝生平的书，因此到英国来研究相关资料，以便了解这位沙皇在英国当造船木匠时的住处。不过，人们普遍怀疑他是虚无主义分子派来的特务，毫无疑问的一件事情是他在伦敦的出现令俄罗斯使馆极为不悦。亚瑟勋爵觉得他是能帮自己达到目的的理想人选，于是在某天早上坐车去了他在布卢姆斯伯里的寓所，请他提供建议和帮助。

“这么说，你也打算认认真真地搞搞政治喽？”亚瑟勋爵讲明来意之后，鲁瓦罗夫伯爵问道。不过，亚瑟勋爵不喜欢任何形式的自吹自擂，因此觉得自己必须做一下澄清。他告诉鲁瓦罗夫，自己对社会问题没有半点儿兴趣，要爆炸装置纯粹是为了解决一个只跟他自己有关的家庭问题。

Count Rouvaloff looked at him for some moments in amazement, and then seeing that he was quite serious, wrote an address on a piece of paper, initialled it, and handed it to him across the table.

'Scotland Yard would give a good deal to know this address, my dear fellow.'

'They shan't have it,' cried Lord Arthur, laughing; and after shaking the young Russian warmly by the hand he ran downstairs, examined the paper, and told the coachman to drive to Soho Square.

There he dismissed him, and strolled down Greek Street, till he came to a place called Bayle's Court. He passed under the archway, and found himself in a curious cul-de-sac, that was apparently occupied by a French Laundry, as a perfect network of clothes-lines was stretched across from house to house, and there was a flutter of white linen in the morning air. He walked to the end, and knocked at a little green house. After some delay, during which every window in the court became a blurred mass of peering faces, the door was opened by a rather rough-looking foreigner, who asked him in very bad English what his business was. Lord Arthur handed him the paper Count Rouvaloff had given him. When the man saw it he bowed, and invited Lord Arthur into a very shabby front parlour on the ground floor, and in a few moments Herr Winckelkopf, as he was called in England, bustled into the room, with a very wine-stained napkin round his neck, and a fork in his left hand.

'Count Rouvaloff has given me an introduction to you,' said Lord Arthur, bowing, 'and I am anxious to have a short interview with you on a matter of business. My name is Smith, Mr Robert Smith, and I want you to supply me with an explosive clock.'

鲁瓦罗夫伯爵惊讶地盯着他看了一阵，终于明白他不是在开玩笑，于是在一张纸上写了个地址，签上自己的姓名首字母，然后隔着桌子递给了他。

“苏格兰场会出很高的价钱来买这个地址的，我亲爱的伙计。”

“他们买不着的，”亚瑟勋爵叫道，笑了起来。跟这位俄国年轻人亲切地握过手之后，他跑下楼梯，仔细看了看那张纸，然后叫马车夫赶车去索霍广场。

到了地方之后，他打发走马车夫，沿着希腊街慢悠悠地往下走，最后来到了一个名叫贝尔庭院的地方。穿过拱门，他发现自己走进了一条古怪的死胡同。占据胡同的显然是一间法国洗衣房，拉在房屋之间的晾衣绳织成了一张完整的网，白色的亚麻单子在早晨的空气中飘摆。他走到胡同尽头的一间绿色小房子跟前，敲了敲门。等门开的这一阵子，院子里所有窗户的玻璃上都贴满了窥探者的模糊面孔。开门的是一个样子相当粗野的外国人，操着十分糟糕的英语问亚瑟勋爵有何贵干。亚瑟勋爵把鲁瓦罗夫伯爵写的纸条递给了他，那人看完之后便鞠了一躬，把他请进了底楼一个十分简陋的前厅。没过多久，另一个人急匆匆地走进了房间，脖子上围着一条酒渍斑斑的餐巾，左手还拿着一把叉子。这人在英格兰的名号是“温克尔科普夫先生”。

“鲁瓦罗夫伯爵跟我介绍过你，”亚瑟勋爵说，一边鞠了个躬，“我非常想跟你聊几分钟，谈点儿事情。我叫史密斯，罗伯特·史密斯，希望你能帮我弄一个会爆炸的时钟。”

'Charmed to meet you, Lord Arthur,' said the genial little German, laughing. 'Don't look so alarmed, it is my duty to know everybody, and I remember seeing you one evening at Lady Windermere's. I hope her ladyship is quite well. Do you mind sitting with me while I finish my breakfast? There is an excellent pâté, and my friends are kind enough to say that my Rhine wine is better than any they get at the German Embassy,' and before Lord Arthur had got over his surprise at being recognised, he found himself seated in the back-room, sipping the most delicious Marcobrünner out of a pale yellow hock-glass⁽³⁵⁾ marked with the Imperial monogram, and chatting in the friendliest manner possible to the famous conspirator.

'Explosive clocks,' said Herr Winckelkopf, 'are not very good things for foreign exportation, as, even if they succeed in passing the Custom House, the train service is so irregular, that they usually go off before they have reached their proper destination. If, however, you want one for home use, I can supply you with an excellent article, and guarantee that you will be satisfied with the result. May I ask for whom it is intended? If it is for the police, or for any one connected with Scotland Yard, I am afraid I cannot do anything for you. The English detectives are really our best friends, and I have always found that by relying on their stupidity, we can do exactly what we like. I could not spare one of them.'

'I assure you,' said Lord Arthur, 'that it has nothing to do with the police at all. In fact, the clock is intended for the Dean of Chichester.'

“很高兴见到你，亚瑟勋爵，”这位和蔼可亲的小个子德国人笑道。“别紧张，认识所有人是我的职责，而我还记得有天晚上在温德米尔夫人那里见过你。希望夫人她一切都好。你能陪我坐一会儿，等我吃完早饭吗？这酱很不错，朋友们还说我的莱茵葡萄酒比德国大使馆里的所有酒都好。”还没从被人认出的震惊里缓过劲儿来，亚瑟勋爵就发现自己已经坐进了里屋，端着印有帝国图标的淡黄色霍克杯啜着最美味的莱茵白葡萄酒，以最亲切友好的方式跟这位著名的阴谋分子聊起天来了。

“炸弹钟，”温克尔科普夫先生说道，“并不是非常相宜的出口货品。原因在于，就算能成功瞒过海关，铁路运输也没个准点，以致它常常在还没到达正确目的地的时候就爆炸了。不过，要是你打算在国内用的话，我可以给你搞一件相当不错的东西，效果包你满意。你能告诉我目标是谁吗？要是你打算去炸警察，或者是任何跟苏格兰场有联系的人，我恐怕就没法帮你的忙了。英国的警探是我们最好的朋友，而且我已经多次发现，借着他们的愚蠢我们便可以为所欲为。我可不愿意牺牲他们中的任何一个。”

“我跟你保证，”亚瑟勋爵说，“这事儿跟警方绝对没有任何关系。说实话，这个钟是用来对付奇切斯特教长的。”

'Dear me! I had no idea that you felt so strongly about religion, Lord Arthur. Few young men do nowadays.'

'I am afraid you overrate me, Herr Winckelkopf,' said Lord Arthur, blushing. 'The fact is, I really know nothing about theology.'

'It is a purely private matter then?'

'Purely private.'

Herr Winckelkopf shrugged his shoulders, and left the room, returning in a few minutes with a round cake of dynamite about the size of a penny, and a pretty little French clock, surmounted by an ormolu figure of Liberty trampling on the hydra of Despotism.

Lord Arthur's face brightened up when he saw it. 'That is just what I want;' he cried, 'and now tell me how it goes off.'

'Ah! there is my secret,' answered Herr Winckelkopf, contemplating his invention with a justifiable look of pride; 'let me know when you wish it to explode, and I will set the machine to the moment.'

'Well, today is Tuesday, and if you could send it off at once...'

'That is impossible; I have a great deal of important work on hand for some friends of mine in Moscow. Still, I might send it off tomorrow.'

'Oh, it will be quite time enough!' said Lord Arthur politely, 'if it is delivered tomorrow night or Thursday morning. For the moment of the explosion, say Friday at noon exactly. The Dean is always at home at that hour.'

'Friday, at noon,' repeated Herr Winckelkopf, and he made a note to that effect in a large ledger that was lying on a bureau near the fireplace.

“天哪！真没想到你的宗教情绪这么强烈，亚瑟勋爵。像你这样的年轻人现在可不多了啊。”

“恐怕你高估我了，温克尔科普夫先生，”亚瑟勋爵说道，脸都红了。“说实话，我对神学真的一无所知。”

“那么说，这是件纯粹的私人事务喽？”

“纯属私事。”

温克尔科普夫先生耸耸肩，走出了房间，几分钟之后才回来。他拿来了一块硬币大小的圆形炸药，还有一个漂亮的法国小闹钟，钟的顶上有一个仿金雕像：自由女神脚踏着象征专制的九头蛇。

看到这些东西，亚瑟勋爵的脸一下子亮了起来。“这正是我想要的东西，”他叫道，“现在告诉我它怎么爆炸吧。”

“啊哈！那可是我的秘密，”温克尔科普夫先生答道，一边带着合情合理的骄傲神情凝视着自己的发明，“告诉我你希望它什么时候爆炸，我好把装置调到那个时间。”

“好吧，今天是星期二，要是你能立刻把它寄出去的话……”

“那是不行的，我手头还有莫斯科一些朋友交托的大量重要工作。不过，兴许明天我可以把它寄出去。”

“噢，那样时间也很充足！”亚瑟勋爵彬彬有礼地说道，“要是它明天晚上或者星期四早上能发出去的话。至于爆炸的时间嘛，就定在星期五正午好了。那个时间教长都会在家。”

“星期五，正午，”温克尔科普夫先生重复了一遍，还把这件事记在了壁炉附近一个写字台上的一个大账本里。

他拿来了一块硬币大小的圆形炸药，还有一个漂亮的法国小闹钟。

'And now,' said Lord Arthur, rising from his seat, 'pray let me know how much I am in your debt.'

'It is such a small matter, Lord Arthur, that I do not care to make any charge. The dynamite comes to seven and sixpence, the clock will be three pounds ten, and the carriage about five shillings. I am only too pleased to oblige any friend of Count Rouvaloff's.'

'But your trouble, Herr Winckelkopf?'

'Oh, that is nothing! It is a pleasure to me. I do not work for money; I live entirely for my art.'

Lord Arthur laid down ￡4 2s. 6d. on the table, thanked the little German for his kindness, and, having succeeded in declining an invitation to meet some Anarchists at a meat-tea on the following Saturday, left the house and went off to the park.

For the next two days he was in a state of the greatest excite- ment, and on Friday at twelve o'clock he drove down to the Buckingham to wait for news. All the afternoon the stolid hall-porter kept posting up telegrams from various parts of the country giving the results of horseraces, the verdicts in divorce suits, the state of the weather, and the like, while the tape ticked out wearisome details about an all-night sitting in the House of Commons, and a small panic on the Stock Exchange. At four o'clock the evening papers came in, and Lord Arthur disappeared into the library with the Pall Mall, the St James's, the Globe, and the Echo, to the immense indignation of Colonel Goodchild, who wanted to read the reports of a speech he had delivered that morning at the Mansion House⁽³⁶⁾ on the subject of South African Missions and the advisability of having black Bishops in every province, and for some reason or other had a strong prejudice against the Evening News. None of the papers, however, contained even the slightest allusion to Chichester, and Lord Arthur felt that the attempt must have failed. It was a terrible blow to him, and for a time he was quite unnerved. Herr Winckelkopf, whom he went to see the next day, was full of elaborate apologies, and offered to supply him with another clock free of charge, or with a case of nitro-glycerine bombs at cost price. But he had lost all faith in explosives, and Herr Winckelkopf himself acknowledged that everything is so adulterated nowadays, that even dynamite can hardly be got in a pure condition. The little German, however, while admitting that something must have gone wrong with the machinery, was not without hope that the clock might still go off, and instanced the case of a barometer that he had once sent to the military Governor at Odessa⁽³⁷⁾ which, though timed to explode in ten days, had not done so for something like three months. It was quite true that when it did go off, it merely succeeded in blowing a housemaid to atoms, the Governor having gone out of town six weeks before, but at least it showed that dynamite, as a destructive force, was, when under the control of machinery, a powerful, though a somewhat unpunctual agent. Lord Arthur was a little consoled by this reflection, but even here he was destined to disappointment, for two days afterwards, as he was going upstairs, the Duchess called him into her boudoir, and showed him a letter she had just received from the Deanery.

“好了，”亚瑟勋爵一边起身，一边说道，“请告诉我，我该付你多少钱。”

“区区小事而已，亚瑟勋爵，我不好意思收什么钱。炸药的费用是七先令六便士，闹钟是三镑十先令，运费大概是五先令。能帮上鲁瓦罗夫伯爵的朋友，我真是太荣幸了。”

“还有你花的工夫呢，温克尔科普夫先生？”

“哦，那不算什么！那是我的荣幸。我不是为钱工作的，这门手艺才是我生存的全部目的。”

亚瑟勋爵在桌上放了四镑二先令六便士，感谢了这个小个子德国人的帮助，成功谢绝了下周六与一些无政府主义分子共同参加茶餐会的邀请，之后便离开这幢房子，往海德公园走去。

接下来的两天里，他都处于空前兴奋的状态。星期五正午十二点，他坐车去了白金汉俱乐部等消息。整个下午，面无表情的大厅门房都在张贴来自全国各地的电报，内容都是赛马结果、离婚案判决以及天气状况之类的东西。与此同时，收报机的带子滴滴答答地打出了一次下议院通宵会议，以及一次股票交易所小骚乱的无聊细节。到了四点钟，各种晚报都来了，亚瑟勋爵便拿着《朴尔莫尔报》、《圣詹姆斯报》、《环球报》和《回声报》去了图书室。此举令古德柴尔德上校极为不满，因为他当天早上在市长大厦就南非使团和在南非各省设置黑人主教的问题发表了一次演说，想看看关于自己演说的报道，却又出于某些原因非常地不喜欢《晚报》。可是，各家报纸的内容都与奇切斯特没有半点儿关系，亚瑟勋爵因此感到自己的计划多半又落了空。这对他来说是个沉重的打击，他一时间觉得自己已经心力交瘁。第二天他就去找温克尔科普夫先生，后者巧舌如簧地连声道歉，同时表示可以免费再给他一个炸弹钟，或者按成本价给他一盒子硝化甘油炸弹。可是，他已经对炸药完全没了信心，而温克尔科普夫先生也承认现在什么都有假，连不掺假的炸药都成了稀罕东西。不过，这个小个子德国人一边承认自己的装置可能出了毛病，一边也存着希望，觉得那个钟终究还是会爆炸。他举了个例子，说自己曾经寄了个气压计给敖德萨的军事长官，那东西的爆炸时间本来定在十天之后，但却等了差不多三个月才爆炸。由于长官已经在六个星期之前离开了敖德萨，所以炸弹只是将一个女仆炸成了碎片。尽管如此，这至少表明了在机械装置的控制之下，炸药终归是一种强有力的破坏力量，只是有点不准时而已。这番言论让亚瑟勋爵感到了些许慰籍，但即便如此，他也注定要尝到失望的苦果。两天之后，他正在上楼，公爵夫人把他叫进了自己的卧室，给他看了一封刚从教长宅邸寄来的信件。

“简写的信都挺有意思的，”公爵夫人说，“你一定得看看最近这封，简直跟穆迪借书馆寄来的那些小说一样有趣。”

'Jane writes charming letters,' said the Duchess; 'you must really read her last. It is quite as good as the novels Mudie⁽³⁸⁾ sends us.'

Lord Arthur seized the letter from her hand. It ran as follows:

The Deanery, Chichester,

27th May

MY DEAREST AUNT—Thank you so much for the flannel for the Dorcas Society⁽³⁹⁾ and also for the gingham. I quite agree with you that it is nonsense their wanting to wear pretty things, but everybody is so Radical and irreligious nowadays, that it is difficult to make them see that they should not try and dress like the upper classes. I am sure I don't know what we are coming to. As papa has often said in his sermons, we live in an age of unbelief.

We have had great fun over a clock that an unknown admirer sent papa last Thursday. It arrived in a wooden box from London, carriage paid, and papa feels it must have been sent by someone who had read his remarkable sermon, 'Is License Liberty?' for on the top of the clock was a figure of a woman, with what papa said was the cap of Liberty on her head. I didn't think it very becoming myself, but papa said it was historical, so I suppose it is all right. Parker unpacked it, and papa put it on the mantelpiece in the library, and we were all sitting there on Friday morning, when just as the clock struck twelve, we heard a whirring noise, a little puff of smoke came from the pedestal of the figure, and the goddess of Liberty fell off, and broke her nose on the fender! Maria was quite alarmed, but it looked so ridiculous that James and I went off into fits of laughter, and even papa was amused. When we examined it, we found it was a sort of alarum clock, and that, if you set it to a particular hour, and put some gunpowder and a cap under a little hammer, it went off whenever you wanted. Papa said it must not remain in the library, as it made a noise, so Reggie carried it away to the schoolroom, and does nothing but have small explosions all day long. Do you think Arthur would like one for a wedding present? I suppose they are quite fashionable in London. Papa says they should do a great deal of good, as they show that Liberty can't last, but must fall down. Papa says Liberty was invented at the time of the French Revolution. How awful it seems!

这封，简直跟穆迪借书馆寄来的那些小说一样有趣。”

亚瑟勋爵从她手里抓过了信，信的内容如下：

奇切斯特教长宅邸

五月二十七日

最亲爱的姨妈：

非常感谢您赠给多加协会的法兰绒和格子布。你认为他们根本不应该有穿漂亮衣服的想法，这我完全同意，可现在的人都非常极端，而且没有信仰，以至于我们很难让他们明白，自己不应该尝试像上流社会的人一样穿着。我完全不知道我们这样下去会有什么后果。就跟爸爸在布道时经常讲的一样，我们生活在一个没有信仰的时代。

上个星期四，一个不知道名字的崇拜者寄来了一个闹钟，我们从中得到了极大的乐趣。钟是从伦敦寄出的，装在一个木盒子里，运费也付过了。爸爸觉得，寄钟的人肯定读过他那篇非同寻常的讲道文章《放纵就是自由吗？》，因为钟顶上有个女人雕像，爸爸说她头上戴的是自由女神之帽。我自己觉得它并不怎么好看，可爸爸说它具有历史意义，所以我想这也不错。帕克拆开了包裹，爸爸把钟放在了书房里的壁炉上。星期五上午，我们都坐在那个壁炉边上，钟敲十二点的时候，我们听见了呼呼的声音，看到一小团烟雾从女神像底座里冒了出来，跟着自由女神就跌了下来，在壁炉的围栏上摔断了鼻子！玛丽亚很是紧张，可这场面实在太滑稽了，詹姆斯和我都忍不住笑个不停，就连爸爸也觉得很好玩。后来我们检查了一下，发现它是一个会发警报的钟，只要你给它定好时间，再把一些火药和一个盖子放到一个小摆锤下面，它就会在你指定的时刻爆发。爸爸说它会发出噪音，不能留在书房里，所以雷吉把它拿到了教室里，一天什么都没干，光顾着制造一次又一次小型爆炸。您觉得亚瑟会喜欢要一个来当结婚礼物吗？照我看，这样的东西在伦敦应该挺流行的。爸爸说，这东西有很大的好处，因为它表明自由不能持久，终将倾覆。他还说，自由女神是法国大革命时期的一个发明。那可真是太糟糕了！

I have now to go to the Dorcas, where I will read them your most instructive letter. How true, dear aunt, your idea is, that in their rank of life they should wear what is unbecoming. I must say it is absurd, their anxiety about dress, when there are so many more important things in this world, and in the next. I am so glad your flowered poplin turned out so well, and that your lace was not torn. I am wearing my yellow satin, that you so kindly gave me, at the bishop's on Wednesday, and think it will look all right. Would you have bows or not? Jennings says that every one wears bows now, and that the underskirt should be frilled. Reggie has just had another explosion, and papa has ordered the clock to be sent to the stables. I don't think papa likes it so much as he did at first, though he is very flattered at being sent such a pretty and ingenious toy. It shows that people read his sermons, and profit by them.

我等下就去多加协会，给他们读您那封富于教益的信。亲爱的姨妈，您认为他们这种阶级的人就该穿难看的衣服，这真是太正确了。我得说，他们对衣装的痴迷真是太荒唐了，因为今生和来世里还有那么多更为重要的东西。您送我的花府绸效果非常好，蕾丝也完好无损，真是让我高兴。星期三我打算穿那件黄缎子衣服——也是您好心送我的——去主教家参加聚会，看着应该还不错。您有没有蝴蝶结呢？詹宁斯说现在大家都戴蝴蝶结，还说衬裙应该滚上花边。雷吉刚刚又制造了一次爆炸，爸爸已经下令把闹钟送到马厩去了。要我说，爸爸已经不像一开始那样喜欢这件东西了，虽然有人送来这么个又漂亮又特别的玩具让他觉得很是受用。这说明人们的确在读他的讲道文章，而且从中得到了好处。

Papa sends his love, in which James, and Reggie, and Maria all unite, and, hoping that Uncle Cecil's gout is better, believe me, dear aunt, ever your affectionate niece,

JANE PERCY

P S—Do tell me about the bows. Jennings insists they are the fashion.

Lord Arthur looked so serious and unhappy over the letter, that the Duchess went into fits of laughter.

'My dear Arthur,' she cried, 'I shall never show you a young lady's letter again! But what shall I say about the clock? I think it is a capital invention, and I should like to have one myself.'

'I don't think much of them,' said Lord Arthur, with a sad smile, and, after kissing his mother, he left the room.

When he got upstairs, he flung himself on a sofa, and his eyes filled with tears. He had done his best to commit this murder, but on both occasions he had failed, and through no fault of his own. He had tried to do his duty, but it seemed as if Destiny herself had turned traitor. He was oppressed with the sense of the barrenness of good intentions, of the futility of trying to be fine. Perhaps, it would be better to break off the marriage altogether. Sibyl would suffer, it is true, but suffering could not really mar a nature so noble as hers. As for himself, what did it matter? There is always some war in which a man can die, some cause to which a man can give his life, and as life had no pleasure for him, so death had no terror. Let Destiny work out his doom. He would not stir to help her.

爸爸让我给您带好，还有詹姆斯、雷吉和玛丽亚。还有，希望塞西尔姨父的痛风病会有好转，相信我，亲爱的姨妈，永远挚爱您的甥女。

简·帕西

又：千万别忘了蝴蝶结的事情，詹宁斯坚持说这东西很流行。

看信的时候，亚瑟勋爵显得非常的严肃、非常的不开心。看到他的表情，公爵夫人发出了阵阵笑声。

“亲爱的亚瑟，”她叫道，“我再也不会给你看年轻女人的信了！可我该怎么说那个钟才好呢？我看这是个了不起的发明，我自己也想要一个。”

“我觉得这东西不怎么样，”亚瑟勋爵说道，脸上带着哀伤的笑容。他吻了一下母亲，然后离开了房间。

上楼之后，他一下子栽倒在沙发上，眼里充满了泪水。他已经尽了全力去完成这宗谋杀，两次尝试却都以失败告终，而且都不是因为自己的错误造成的。他努力去履行自己的职责，却仿佛是命运女神自己充当了叛徒。美好的意图全然落空，完善自身的努力全然无用，这样的感觉让他备感压抑。兴许还是干脆取消婚约比较好。没错，西比尔肯定会痛苦不堪，可痛苦也并不能真的损伤她的天性，因为她的天性无比高贵。至于他自己，这样的结果又有什么关系呢？这世上可以送掉男人性命的战场无时不有，值得男人付出生命的事业无时不有，既然他已经觉得生无可恋，当然也就死无可怖。就让命运女神自己去想办法毁掉他吧，他不会再劳神去帮她的忙了。

At half-past seven he dressed, and went down to the club. Surbiton was there with a party of young men, and he was obliged to dine with them. Their trivial conversation and idle jests did not interest him, and as soon as coffee was brought he left them, inventing some engagement in order to get away. As he was going out of the club, the hall-porter handed him a letter. It was from Herr Winckelkopf, asking him to call down the next evening, and look at an explosive umbrella that went off as soon as it was opened. It was the very latest invention, and had just arrived from Geneva. He tore the letter up into fragments. He had made up his mind not to try any more experiments. Then he wandered down to the Thames Embankment, and sat for hours by the river. The moon peered through a mane of tawny clouds, as if it were a lion's eye, and innumerable stars spangled the hollow vault, like gold dust powdered on a purple dome. Now and then a barge swung out into the turbid stream, and floated away with the tide, and the railway signals changed from green to scarlet as the trains ran shrieking across the bridge. After some time, twelve o' clock boomed from the tall tower at Westminster, and at each stroke of the sonorous bell the night seemed to tremble. Then the railway lights went out, one solitary lamp left gleaming like a large ruby on a giant mast, and the roar of the city became fainter.

七点半钟，他穿好衣服去了俱乐部。瑟比顿跟一帮年轻男人也在那里，他不得不和他们一起吃了饭。他对他们那些琐屑谈话和无聊玩笑毫无兴趣，咖啡一上桌便编了个约会的理由，就此离开了他们。走出俱乐部的时候，大厅门房递给他一封信。信是温克尔科普夫先生写来的，请亚瑟勋爵第二天晚上去找他，看看一打开就会爆炸的炸弹雨伞。那是个最新发明，刚刚才从日内瓦运来。亚瑟勋爵把信撕成了碎片，因为他已经决心不再进行任何尝试。之后，他漫无目的地走到泰晤士河堤上，在河边坐了几个小时。月亮从鬃毛般的茶色云彩中探出头来，就像是狮子的眼睛。无数的星星点缀着空洞的天空，如同洒在紫色穹顶上的金粉。不时会有驳船摇摇晃晃地驶入浑浊的水流，随着潮水漂向远方。火车尖叫着穿过大桥，铁路信号灯从绿色变成了鲜红色。又过了一会儿，威斯敏斯特那边的高楼上传来了十二点的钟声，每一记响亮的钟声都令夜晚为之震颤。再后来，铁路信号灯熄灭了，只有一根巨大的柱子上还亮着一盏孤灯，像一颗硕大的红宝石。城市的喧嚣声不那么嘈杂了。

两点钟时，他站起身来，向布莱克弗莱尔车站方向走去。一切显得多么的不真实啊！多像个离奇的梦啊！河对面的房屋仿佛是黑暗筑就，你不妨说银光和暗影已经让世界变了模样。圣保罗大教堂的巨大穹顶若隐若现，好似朦胧夜空里的一个气泡。

At two o'clock he got up, and strolled towards Blackfriars⁽⁴⁰⁾ How unreal everything looked! How like a strange dream! The houses on the other side of the river seemed built out of darkness. One would have said that silver and shadow had fashioned the world anew. The huge dome of St Paul's⁽⁴¹⁾ loomed like a bubble through the dusky air.

As he approached Cleopatra's Needle⁽⁴²⁾ he saw a man leaning over the parapet, and as he came nearer the man looked up, the gaslight falling full upon his face.

It was Mr Podgers, the chiromantist! No one could mistake the fat, flabby face, the gold-rimmed spectacles, the sickly feeble smile, the sensual mouth.

Lord Arthur stopped. A brilliant idea flashed across him, and he stole softly up behind. In a moment he had seized Mr Podgers by the legs, and flung him into the Thames. There was a coarse oath, a heavy splash, and all was still. Lord Arthur looked anxiously over, but could see nothing of the chiromantist but a tall hat, pirouetting in an eddy of moonlit water. After a time it also sank, and no trace of Mr Podgers was visible. Once he thought that he caught sight of the bulky misshapen figure striking out for the staircase by the bridge, and a horrible feeling of failure came over him, but it turned out to be merely a reflection, and when the moon shone out from behind a cloud it passed away. At last he seemed to have realised the decree of destiny. He heaved a deep sigh of relief, and Sibyl's name came to his lips.

'Have you dropped anything, sir?' said a voice behind him suddenly.

走到“克莱奥帕特拉之针”附近的时候，他看见一个男人倚在碑座的矮墙上。再走近一些，那人抬起了头，煤气灯光照亮了他的整个脸庞。

眼前正是波杰斯先生，那个手相师！谁也不会错认他那张肥胖松驰的脸、那副金边眼镜、那惨淡虚弱的笑容，还有那充满色欲的嘴。

亚瑟勋爵停住脚步，一个聪明绝顶的主意闪过心间，于是他轻手轻脚地从波杰斯先生背后走上前去。转眼之间，他抓住波杰斯先生的双腿，一下子将他扔进了泰晤士河。一声嘶哑的咒骂，再一声重物落水的巨响，一切便归于沉寂。亚瑟勋爵紧张地望向河里，手相师却已不见踪影，只有一顶高帽子在月光下的漩涡里打转。过了一会儿，那顶帽子也沉了下去，波杰斯先生的所有痕迹就此消失了。有那么一瞬间，他恍惚看见一个奇形怪状的巨大人影正挣扎着从水里往桥边的梯子上爬，失败的可怕滋味又一次攫住了他。不过，接着他就发现那不过是水里的倒影，月光一穿过云层就消失了。到了这时，他似乎才真正理解了命运的旨意。他如释重负地长叹一声，不由自主地念出了西比尔的名字。

“你掉了什么东西吗，先生？”一个声音突然从背后传来。

转眼之间，他抓住波杰斯先生的双腿，一下子将他扔进了泰晤士河。

He turned round, and saw a policeman with a bull's-eye lantern⁽⁴³⁾

'Nothing of importance, sergeant,' he answered, smiling, and hailing a passing hansom, he jumped in, and told the man to drive to Belgrave Square.

For the next few days he alternated between hope and fear. There were moments when he almost expected Mr Podgers to walk into the room, and yet at other times he felt that Fate could not be so unjust to him. Twice he went to the chiromantist's address in West Moon Street, but he could not bring himself to ring the bell. He longed for certainty, and was afraid of it.

Finally it came. He was sitting in the smoking-room of the club having tea, and listening rather wearily to Surbiton's account of the last comic song at the Gaiety⁽⁴⁴⁾ when the waiter came in with the evening papers. He took up the St James's, and was listlessly turning over its pages, when this strange heading caught his eye:

SUICIDE OF A CHIROMANTIST

He turned pale with excitement, and began to read. The paragraph ran as follows:

他转过身，看到了一个提着牛眼提灯的警察。

“不是什么重要东西，警官，”他答道，笑了笑，然后挥手截住了一辆路过的出租马车。他跳上马车，吩咐车夫赶车去贝尔格雷夫广场。

接下来的几天里，他在希望与恐惧之间徘徊，一会儿觉得波杰斯先生就要走到自己房里来了，一会儿又觉得命运不会对自己这么不公平。他到手相师在威斯特穆恩街的住处去了两次，但却没勇气摇响门铃。他一方面非常想知道事情的究竟，一方面又害怕不利的结果。

事情终于还是水落石出了。当时他正坐在俱乐部的吸烟室里喝茶，一边没滋没味地听瑟比顿讲欢乐剧院的最新滑稽歌曲。就在这时，侍者把各种晚报拿了进来。他拿起《圣詹姆斯报》，无精打采地翻了起来。一条古怪的标题跃入了他的眼帘：

“手相师自杀身亡”

他一下子兴奋得脸色苍白，赶紧读了下去。报道内容如下：

Yesterday morning, at seven o'clock, the body of Mr Septimus R. Podgers, the eminent chiromantist, was washed on shore at Greenwich⁽⁴⁵⁾ just in front of the Ship Hotel. The unfortunate gentleman had been missing for some days, and considerable anxiety for his safety had been felt in chiromantic circles. It is supposed that he committed suicide under the influence of a temporary mental derangement, caused by overwork, and a verdict to that effect was returned this afternoon by the coroner's jury . Mr Podgers had just completed an elaborate treatise on the subject of the Human Hand, that will shortly be published, when it will no doubt attract much attention. The deceased was sixty-five years of age, and does not seem to have left any relations. ⁽⁴⁶⁾

Lord Arthur rushed out of the club with the paper still in his hand, to the immense amazement of the hall-porter, who tried in vain to stop him, and drove at once to Park Lane. Sibyl saw him from the window, and something told her that he was the bearer of good news. She ran down to meet him, and, when she saw his face, she knew that all was well.

'My dear Sibyl,' cried Lord Arthur, 'let us be married tomorrow!'

'You foolish boy! Why, the cake is not even ordered!' said Sibyl, laughing through her tears.

昨天早上七点钟，著名手相师塞普蒂默斯·R. 波杰斯先生的尸体被河水冲到了格林尼治岸边，就在船舰酒店门前。此前，这位不幸的绅士已经失踪了一段时间，手相界人士为他的安全深感担忧。据推测，他自杀的原因是劳累过度导致的暂时性精神错乱，而验尸陪审团也于今日下午得出了同样的结论。波杰斯先生刚刚完成了一篇关于人手的详尽论文，将于近期发表，届时必将引起广泛关注。死者现年六十五岁，身后似乎没有任何亲属。

亚瑟勋爵冲出俱乐部，忘了放下手里的报纸。大厅门房吃惊不小，却也没能阻止住他。他立刻坐车去了公园巷。西比尔隔着窗子看见了他，突然间预感到他是带着好消息来的，于是跑下楼去迎接他。一看到他的脸，她就明白天下已经太平了。

“亲爱的西比尔，”亚瑟勋爵叫道，“我们明天就结婚吧！”

“你这个傻孩子！干吗，蛋糕都还没订呢！”西比尔说道，脸上又是笑容又是眼泪。

Chapter 6
第六章

When the wedding took place, some three weeks later, St Peter's was crowded with a perfect mob of smart people. The service was read in a most impressive manner by the Dean of Chichester, and everybody agreed that they had never seen a handsomer couple than the bride and bridegroom. They were more than handsome, however—they were happy. Never for a single moment did Lord Arthur regret all that he had suffered for Sibyl's sake, while she, on her side, gave him the best things a woman can give to any man—worship, tenderness, and love. For them romance was not killed by reality. They always felt young.

Some years afterwards, when two beautiful children had been born to them, Lady Windermere came down on a visit to Alton Priory, a lovely old place that had been the Duke's wedding present to his son; and one afternoon as she was sitting with Lady Arthur under a lime tree in the garden, watching the little boy and girl as they played up and down the rose-walk, like fitful sunbeams, she suddenly took her hostess's hand in hers, and said, 'Are you happy, Sibyl?'

'Dear Lady Windermere, of course I am happy. Aren't you?'

大约三个星期之后，婚礼正式举行，圣彼得教堂里挤满了兴高采烈的精英人士。奇切斯特教长以最令人印象深刻的方式主持了结婚仪式，所有来宾也一致同意新郎和新娘是他们所见过的最标致的一对新人。不过，他们可不仅仅是标致而已——他们还幸福。对于自己为西比尔所承受的一切痛苦，亚瑟勋爵从未有过哪怕是一瞬间的后悔，而她也给了他一个女人能给任何男人的最好礼物——崇拜、柔情和爱。就他们的情况而言，浪漫不曾遭到现实的戕害。他们始终保持着年轻的感觉。

几年之后，他们已经生下了两个美丽的孩子，温德米尔夫人到奥尔顿·普莱利宅子去看他们。那是幢可爱的老房子，是公爵送给自己儿子的结婚礼物。一天下午，温德米尔夫人和亚瑟夫人一起坐在花园里的一棵酸橙树下，看着小男孩和小女孩在玫瑰夹道的小径上玩耍。活泼可爱的孩子就像蹦蹦跳跳的阳光。突然间，夫人抓住了女主人的手，问道：“你觉得幸福吗，西比尔？”

“亲爱的温德米尔夫人，我当然很幸福，你呢？”

'I have no time to be happy, Sibyl. I always like the last person who is introduced to me; but, as a rule, as soon as I know people, I get tired of them.'

'Don't your lions satisfy you, Lady Windermere?'

'Oh dear, no! lions are only good for one season. As soon as their manes are cut, they are the dullest creatures going. Besides, they behave very badly, if you are really nice to them. Do you remember that horrid Mr Podgers? He was a dreadful impostor. Of course, I didn't mind that at all, and even when he wanted to borrow money I forgave him, but I could not stand his making love to me. He has really made me hate chiromancy. I go in for telepathy now. It is much more amusing.'

'You mustn't say anything against chiromancy here, Lady Windermere; it is the only subject that Arthur does not like people to chaff about. I assure you he is quite serious over it.'

'You don't mean to say that he believes in it, Sibyl?'

'Ask him, Lady Windermere, here he is'; and Lord Arthur came up the garden with a large bunch of yellow roses in his hand, and his two children dancing round him.

'Lord Arthur?'

'Yes, Lady Windermere.'

'You don't mean to say that you believe in chiromancy?'

'Of course I do,' said the young man, smiling.

'But why?'

'Because I owe to it all the happiness of my life,' he murmured, throwing himself into a wicker chair.

'My dear Lord Arthur, what do you owe to it?'

“我没工夫觉得幸福，西比尔。我总会喜欢上最新认识的人，一旦对他们有所了解，我又会立刻感到厌倦，事情总是这样。”

“你的那些狮子还不能让你满意吗，温德米尔夫人？”

“噢，亲爱的，不能！狮子只能管一季。一旦鬃毛被人剪掉，他们就成了世上最无趣的东西。还有，要是你真对他们好的话，他们的举止就会变得十分恶劣。你还记得那讨厌的波杰斯先生吗？他就是个招人烦的冒牌货。当然喽，这对我根本就无所谓，就算他找我借钱我也原谅了他，可我就受不了他向我求爱。他让我彻底厌倦了手相术。现在我改信心灵感应了，那东西要好玩得多。”

“你可千万别在这儿说讨厌手相术的话，温德米尔夫人，亚瑟就不喜欢别人拿这个事情开玩笑。你一定得相信，他可是很把这事情当真的。”

“你该不是说他相信这东西吧，西比尔？”

“你问他好了，温德米尔夫人，他来了。”就在这时，亚瑟勋爵拿着一大把黄玫瑰从园子里走了过来，两个孩子在他身边蹦来蹦去。

“亚瑟勋爵？”

“怎么了，温德米尔夫人。”

“你该不会真的相信手相吧？”

“我当然信，”年轻的男人答道，笑了起来。

“可为什么呢？”

“因为我生活里的全部幸福都是拜它所赐，”他低声说道，坐进了一把柳条椅里。

“我亲爱的亚瑟勋爵，它究竟赐给了你什么？”

'Sibyl,' he answered, handing his wife the roses, and looking into her violet eyes.

'What nonsense!' cried Lady Windermere. 'I never heard such nonsense in all my life.'

“西比尔，”他回答道，把手里的玫瑰递给了妻子，凝视着她紫罗兰色的眼睛。

“胡说什么！”温德米尔夫人叫道，“我这辈子都没听过这样的胡话。”

【注释】

(1)即 Karlsruhe，卡尔斯鲁厄，德国西南部城市名。

(2)《德布雷特英国贵族年鉴》，初版由英国出版家 John Debrett 于1803年编纂出版，主要内容是英国贵族的家谱及家史。

(3)社交季，起源于十八世纪的英国伦敦上流社会，是上流人士集中进行社交活动和户外活动的时节。按照《德布雷特英国贵族年鉴》的说法，伦敦的社交季是在每年的四月到八月。美国也有类似的社交季，时间与英国不同。

(4)月亮丘，指手掌下缘远离拇指的那片区域，按手相术的说法代表敏感性和直觉。

(5)这里的lion是双关语，因为lion既可指“狮子”也可指“社交名流”。

(6)贝斯沃特，伦敦西部的一片繁华区域。

(7)尼米西斯，希腊神话中的复仇女神。

(8)帕拉斯，即雅典娜，希腊神话中的智慧女神。她所持的盾牌上有戈耳工三姐妹之一美杜莎的头颅。

(9)戈耳工，希腊神话中的蛇发女妖三姐妹，看到她们的人会立刻变成石头。

(10)盖登思邓，莎士比亚剧作《哈姆雷特》中的角色，为哈姆雷特少时同学。

(11)哈尔王子，莎士比亚剧作《亨利四世》中的角色，即未来的亨利五世。

(12)这句话出自莎士比亚剧作《皆大欢喜》。

(13)畿尼，英国于1663至1813年间发行的金币，价值一镑一先令。

(14)据上下文及相对位置，此处的 the park 是指位于伦敦中西部的海德公园。

(15)埃可，希腊神话中的回声女神，因受天后赫拉惩罚而只能重复别人的话。

(16)皮卡迪利广场，伦敦西部的一个繁华路口，是大众喜爱的约会地点。

(17)贝尔格雷夫广场，位于海德公园附近、贝尔格雷维亚上流住宅区（Belgravia）中心。

(18)柯文特花园，伦敦市内的一个区域，当时那里曾有蔬菜花卉市场。

(19)塔那格拉，希腊雅典北边的一个地方，古时以制作雕像闻名。

(20)博尔吉亚家族，十四至十六世纪间意大利的一个显赫家族。该家族利用权势为非作歹，人称“历史上第一个罪犯之家”、“意大利黑手党的前身”。

(21)谢拉顿，流行于十八世纪末的一种英国家具式样，源自英国家具设计师托马斯·谢拉顿（Thomas Sheraton，1751-1806）。

(22)如前所述，一百零五镑等于一百畿尼。

(23)《拉夫指南》，应即《拉夫赛马指南》（Ruff's Guide to the Turf），自十九世纪六十年代开始出版的一本赛马指南。

(24)《贝利杂志》，应即《贝利体育娱乐杂志》（Bailey's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes），当时的一本体育运动指南。

(25)医学术语中多有拉丁词汇，拉丁语和希腊语都是古典学课程，故有此说。

(26)科孚岛，希腊西北海滨的一个岛屿，为著名旅游胜地。

(27)丽都岛，威尼斯本岛附近的一个岛屿。

(28)弗洛里安咖啡馆，威尼斯的著名咖啡馆，在圣马可广场东侧。

(29)拉韦纳，意大利东北部港口城市。

(30)丹尼利酒店，威尼斯的著名酒店，在圣马可广场附近。

(31)查令十字，伦敦的一个火车站。

(32)奇切斯特，英格兰南部城市。

(33)苏格兰场，伦敦的警察总部。

(34)彼得大帝（1672-1725），1682至1725年在位的俄国沙皇。为了学习西方各国的先进经验，他于1697年隐瞒身份访问欧洲列国，并在荷兰学习过造船。其间他曾访问英国，但并未在那里当过造船木匠。

(35)霍克杯，一种圆形细高脚葡萄酒杯，名字来自德国的葡萄酒产区霍克海姆（Hockheim）。

(36)市长大厦，伦敦的一处建筑，为伦敦市市长官邸所在地。

(37)敖德萨，乌克兰南部城市，在作者的时代属于俄罗斯。

(38)应该是指穆迪借书馆（Mudie's Lending Library），由英国出版家查尔斯·爱德华·穆迪（Charles Edward Mudie，1818-1890）于1842年创建，提供收费租书服务。

(39)多加协会，为穷人提供衣物的地方慈善组织，通常与教会相关连，名字来自《新约·使徒行传》中的一个同名人物。

(40)布莱克弗莱尔，伦敦的一个火车站。

(41)圣保罗大教堂，伦敦泰晤士河边的一座教堂。

(42)克莱奥帕特拉之针，安放在泰晤士河边的一座埃及方尖碑。该方尖碑是埃及总督送给英国的礼物，于1878年运抵英国。

(43)牛眼提灯，一种部分透明、灯光向一个方向投射的提灯。

(44)应即Gaiety Theatre，欢乐剧院，伦敦西区一座主要上演歌舞喜剧的剧院，于1939年关闭后再未重开。

(45)格林尼治，伦敦东南方向的一个市镇，濒临泰晤士河。

(46)验尸陪审团，用于确定死者身份及死因的陪审团，现已很少见诸实践。

THE SPHINX WITHOUT A SECRET
AN ETCHING
没有秘密的斯芬克司
一幅铜版画⁽¹⁾

One afternoon I was sitting outside the Café de la Paix⁽²⁾ watching the splendour and shabbiness of Parisian life, and wondering over my vermouth at the strange panorama of pride and poverty that was passing before me, when I heard someone call my name. I turned round, and saw Lord Murchison. We had not met since we had been at college together, nearly ten years before, so I was delighted to come across him again, and we shook hands warmly. At Oxford we had been great friends. I had liked him immensely, he was so handsome, so high-spirited, and so honourable. We used to say of him that he would be the best of fellows if he did not always speak the truth, but I think we really admired him all the more for his frankness. I found him a good deal changed. He looked anxious and puzzled, and seemed to be in doubt about something. I felt it could not be modern scepticism, for Murchison was the stoutest of Tories⁽³⁾ and believed in the Pentateuch⁽⁴⁾ as firmly as he believed in the House of Peers; so I concluded that it was a woman, and asked him if he was married yet.

一天下午，我坐在和平咖啡馆外面，一边看巴黎生活的辉煌与丑陋，一边啜着苦艾酒思忖眼前这道同时包容着豪奢与贫苦的古怪风景。就在这时，我听到有人叫我的名字。我转过头去，看到了默奇森勋爵。我们上次见面还是在一起念大学的时候，那已经是将近十年前的事儿了，因此我很高兴再次碰到他，我们热情地握了握手。在牛津念书的时候，我们是很要好的朋友。当时我非常喜欢他，因为他十分俊秀，十分热情，还十分让人敬重。那时我们总说，他要不老这么口无遮拦的话，就一定能成为我们这些人里最出色的一个。可照我看，他这股率真劲儿反而增添了我们对他的喜爱。这会儿，我发现他变了很多，看起来又焦虑又彷徨，似乎是心里有什么疑问。我觉得他那样子不应该是因为现代的怀疑主义，因为他是最无可动摇的托利党人，对上议院的信仰一如对《摩西五书》一般坚定。由此我断定个中原因在于女人，于是问他结婚没有。

'I don't understand women well enough,' he answered.

'My dear Gerald,' I said, 'women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.'

'I cannot love where I cannot trust,' he replied.

'I believe you have a mystery in your life, Gerald,' I exclaimed; 'tell me about it.'

'Let us go for a drive,' he answered, 'it is too crowded here. No, not a yellow carriage, any other colour—there, that dark-green one will do; 'and in a few moments we were trotting down the boulevard in the direction of the Madeleine⁽⁵⁾ .

'Where shall we go to?' I said.

'Oh, anywhere you like!' he answered— 'to the restaurant in the Bois⁽⁶⁾ we will dine there, and you shall tell me all about yourself.'

'I want to hear about you first,' I said. 'Tell me your mystery.' He took from his pocket a little silver-clasped morocco case, and handed it to me. I opened it. Inside there was the photograph of a woman. She was tall and slight, and strangely picturesque with her large vague eyes and loosened hair. She looked like a clairvoyante, and was wrapped in rich furs.

'What do you think of that face?' he said; 'is it truthful?'

I examined it carefully. It seemed to me the face of someone who had a secret, but whether that secret was good or evil I could not say. Its beauty was a beauty moulded out of many mysteries—the beauty, in fact, which is psychological, not plastic—and the faint smile that just played across the lips was far too subtle to be really sweet.

“我对女人还不够了解，”他答道。

“我亲爱的杰拉尔德，”我说，“女人是用来爱的，不是用来了解的。”

“要是不能信任，我就没法去爱，”他答道。

“我看你一定是碰上了没法理解的事情，杰拉尔德，”我叫道，“跟我说说吧。”

“我们先找辆车吧，”他答道，“这里人太多了。不，黄色的马车不好，其他颜色都行——好了，那辆深绿色的就可以。”不一会儿，我们的马车就顺着大街，一路小跑地往玛德琳大教堂方向驶去。

“我们要去哪里？”我问道。

“哦，你要去哪里都行！”他答道——“去布劳涅森林的饭店好了，我们可以在那里吃饭，你也可以给我讲讲自己的事情。”

“我想先听听你的事情，”我说道，“告诉我你的难题是什么。”

他从口袋里掏出一个带银扣钩的摩洛哥羊皮革小盒子，把它递给了我。我打开盒子，发现里面有一张女人的照片。那女人又高又瘦，朦胧的大眼睛和披散的头发给了她一种奇特的美。她身上裹着厚厚的皮衣，神情仿如一个具有超感官透视能力的神眼。

“你怎么看这张面孔呢？”他问道。“这是张诚实的脸吗？”

仔细审视之下，我觉得这张脸的主人应该藏着什么秘密，但却无法判断那秘密是好是坏。它的美是由许多秘密铸就而成的——实际上，这种美是心理上的，与外形无关——而凝在唇间的那一抹淡淡笑容也实在是太过莫测高深，绝不能说是真正的甜美。

'Well,' he cried impatiently, 'what do you say?'

'She is the Gioconda⁽⁷⁾ in sables,' I answered. 'Let me know all about her.'

'Not now,' he said; 'after dinner,' and began to talk of other things.

When the waiter brought us our coffee and cigarettes I reminded Gerald of his promise. He rose from his seat, walked two or three times up and down the room, and, sinking into an armchair, told me the following story:

'One evening,' he said, 'I was walking down Bond Street about five o'clock. There was a terrific crush of carriages, and the traffic was almost stopped. Close to the pavement was standing a little yellow brougham, which, for some reason or other, attracted my attention. As I passed by there looked out from it the face I showed you this afternoon. I fascinated me immediately. All that night I kept thinking of it, and all the next day. I wandered up and down that wretched Row, peering into every carriage, and waiting for the yellow brougham; but I could not find ma belle inconnue, and at last I began to think she was merely a dream. About a week afterwards I was dining with Madame de Rastail. Dinner was for eight o' clock; but at half-past eight we were still waiting in the drawing-room. Finally the servant threw open the door and announced Lady Alroy. It was the woman I had been looking for.

“好了，”他不耐烦地叫道，“你觉得怎么样？”

“她就是穿了貂皮的乔康达夫人，”我回答道。“把她的一切都告诉我吧。”

“等下再说，”他说道，“吃完晚饭之后吧。”接着，他便谈论起其他事情来。

侍者送上咖啡和雪茄之后，我便提醒杰拉尔德不要忘了自己的承诺。他站起身来，在房间里踱了两三个来回，然后坐进一把扶手椅里，给我讲了这样一个故事：

“一天傍晚，”他说道，“大约五点钟的时候，我在邦德街上走。路上的马车多得要命，交通几乎陷入了瘫痪状态。人行道边上停着一辆黄色的小四轮马车，莫名其妙地引起了我的注意。从车边走过的时候，我看到里面有个人正在往外看，就是我今天下午给你看的那个人。我立刻被那张脸迷住了，当天晚上一直都在想它，第二天又想了一整天。我沿着那条拥挤不堪的街道走来走去，往每一辆马车里窥视，盼着那辆黄色马车出现，但却始终找不到那个不知名姓的可人儿。到了最后，我开始觉得那只是一个梦境。大约一个星期之后，我约好了和德拉斯塔尔夫人一起吃晚饭。吃饭的时间是八点钟，可到了八点半我们还在休息室里等着。最后，仆人终于猛地拉开了门，宣布沃罗伊夫人驾到。来的正是我觅而不得的那个女人。她慢慢悠悠地走了进来，样子就像一道镶着灰色花边的月光。她让我领她去餐桌，我真是高兴得不得了。坐定之后，我口无遮拦地说了一句：‘沃罗伊夫人，前一阵子我好像在邦德街上看见过你。’她一下子面如死灰，低声对我说道：‘请不要说得这么大声，没准儿会让别人听见。’我为自己如此糟糕的开场白感到非常难过，便开始大谈特谈法国戏剧。她没怎么说话，说话的声音也总是又动听又低沉，就跟怕什么人偷听似的。我热烈而又愚蠢地爱上了她，她身上那种无以言表的神秘气息激起了我最强烈的好奇心。晚餐之后没一会儿她便打算离去，于是我问她欢不欢迎我登门拜访。她迟疑片刻，环顾四周看旁边有没有人，然后说：‘好吧，明天下午四点三刻。’我央求德拉斯塔尔夫人告诉我她的情况，但却只了解到她是个寡妇，在公园巷有一幢漂亮的房子。有个执迷科学的讨厌鬼由此开始了关于寡妇的长篇大论，说她们体现着婚姻中适者生存的道理，于是我便告辞回了家。

She came in very slowly, looking like a moonbeam in grey lace, and, to my intense delight, I was asked to take her in to dinner. After we had sat down, I remarked quite innocently, "I think I caught sight of you in Bond Street some time ago, Lady Alroy." She grew very pale, and said to me in a low voice, "Pray do not talk so loud; you may be overheard." I felt miserable at having made such a bad beginning, and plunged recklessly into the subject of French plays. She spoke very little, always in the same low musical voice, and seemed as if she was afraid of someone listening. I fell passionately, stupidly in love, and the indefinable atmosphere of mystery that surrounded her excited my most ardent curiosity. When she was going away, which she did very soon after dinner, I asked her if I might call and see her. She hesitated for a moment, glanced round to see if anyone was near us, and then said, "Yes; tomorrow at a quarter to five." I begged Madame de Rastail to tell me about her; but all that I could learn was that she was a widow with a beautiful house in Park Lane, and as some scientific bore began a dissertation of widows, as exemplifying the survival of the matrimonially fittest, I left and went home.

'The next day I arrived at Park Lane punctual to the moment, but was told by the butler that Lady Alroy had just gone out. I went down to the club quite unhappy and very much puzzled, and after long consideration wrote her a letter, asking if I might be allowed to try my chance some other afternoon. I had no answer for several days, but at last I got a little note saying she would be at home on Sunday at four and with this extraordinary postscript: "Please do not write to me here again; I will explain when I see you." On Sunday she received me, and was perfectly charming; but when I was going away she begged of me, if I ever had occasion to write to her again, to address my letter to Mrs Knox, care of Whittaker's Library, Green Street. "There are reasons," she said, "why I cannot receive letters in my own house."

“第二天，我分秒不差地到了公园巷，男管家却告诉我沃罗伊夫人刚刚出了门。我很不高兴地去了俱乐部，心里满是疑惑。想了很久之后，我给她写了一封信，问她是否同意我改天下午再去试试运气。几天都没有回音，不过最后我还是收到了一封短简，上面说她星期天下午四点会在家，还有一条非同寻常的附言：‘请不要再给我往这个地址写信了，见面时我会告诉你原因的。’星期天她果真接待了我，那天她也无比娇媚迷人。可是，在我告辞的时候她又央求我，万一还要给她写信的话，就把地址写成‘格林街惠特克图书馆转诺克斯太太’。‘我不能在自己家里收信，’她说，‘这是有原因的。’

'All through the season I saw a great deal of her, and the atmosphere of mystery never left her. Sometimes I thought that she was in the power of some man, but she looked so unapproachable that I could not believe it. It was really very difficult for me to come to any conclusion, for she was like one of those strange crystals that one sees in museums, which are at one moment clear, and at another clouded. At last I determined to ask her to be my wife: I was sick and tired of the incessant secrecy that she imposed on all my visits, and on the few letters I sent her. I wrote to her at the library to ask her if she could see me the following Monday at six. She answered yes, and I was in the seventh heaven of delight. I was infatuated with her: in spite of the mystery, I thought then—in consequence of it, I see now. No; it was the woman herself I loved. The mystery troubled me, maddened me. Why did chance put me in its track?'

'You discovered it, then?' I cried.

'I fear so,' he answered. 'You can judge for yourself.'

“那一季我跟她见了很多次面，她身上的神秘气息却从未消失。有时候我觉得她处于某个男人的控制之下，可她看起来是那样地难以亲近，让我没法相信这样的解释。我真的很难得出什么结论，因为她就像博物馆里展示的那种奇特水晶一样，一会儿清澈透明，一会儿雾气朦胧。最后，我决定向她求婚，我每次拜访她，每次给她写信，她都那么神秘，我实在受够了，厌烦了。于是我写信到那个图书馆，问她下周一晚上六点钟能不能跟我见面。她回覆说可以，我一下子觉得自己进入了七重天上的极乐世界。我迷上了她：当时，我想的是不去在意她的那些神秘——如今我明白，我对她的迷恋正是因为那些神秘。不对，我爱的还是她这个人本身。她的神秘让我烦恼，令我疯狂。为什么命运要让我撞破它呢？”

“这么说，你发现她的秘密喽？”我叫道。

“恐怕是吧，”他答道。“你自己判断好了。”

'When Monday came round I went to lunch with my uncle, and about four o'clock found myself in the Marylebone Road. My uncle, you know, lives in Regent's Park. I wanted to get to Piccadilly, and took a short cut through a lot of shabby little streets. Suddenly I saw in front of me Lady Alroy, deeply veiled and walking very fast. On coming to the last house in the street, she went up the steps, took out a latchkey, and let herself in. "Here is the mystery," I said to myself; and I hurried on and examined the house. It seemed a sort of place for letting lodgings. On the doorstep lay her handkerchief, which she had dropped. I picked it up and put it in my pocket. Then I began to consider what I should do. I came to the conclusion that I had no right to spy on her, and I drove down to the club. At six I called to see her. She was lying on a sofa, in a tea-gown of silver tissue looped up by some strange moonstones that she always wore. She was looking quite lovely. "I am so glad to see you," she said; "I have not been out all day." I stared at her in amazement, and pulling the handkerchief out of my pocket, handed it to her. "You dropped this in Cumnor Street this afternoon, Lady Alroy," I said very calmly. She looked at me in terror, but made no attempt to take the handkerchief. "What were you doing there?” I asked. "What right have you to question me?” she answered. "The right of a man who loves you," I replied; "I came here to ask you to be my wife." She hid her face in her hands, and burst into floods of tears. "You must tell me," I continued. She stood up, and, looking me straight in the face, said, "Lord Murchison, there is nothing to tell you." — "You went to meet some one," I cried; "this is your mystery." She grew dreadfully white, and said, "I went to meet no one." — "Can't you tell the truth?” I exclaimed. "I have told it," she replied. I was mad, frantic; I don't know what I said, but I said terrible things to her. Finally I rushed out of the house. She wrote me a letter the next day; I sent it back unopened, and started for Norway with Alan Colville. After a month I came back, and the first thing I saw in the Morning Post was the death of Lady Alroy. She had caught a chill at the opera, and had died in five days of congestion of the lungs.

“到了星期一，我去和叔叔一起吃午餐。大约四点钟的时候，我发现自己走到了玛勒博路。你知道，我叔叔住在摄政公园里面。我想去皮卡迪利大街，于是就抄了条近道，从一大堆破破烂烂的小街里穿过去。突然间，我看到沃罗伊夫人就在我的前面，蒙着厚厚的面纱，走得非常快。走到街尽头一幢房子跟前的时候，她走上台阶，拿出一把钥匙，开门走了进去。‘秘密就在这里，’我暗自想道，然后急匆匆地赶上去，仔细看了看那幢房子。那似乎是一所供人租住的房屋，她的手帕掉在了门口的台阶上。我捡起手帕，把它装进了自己的口袋。这之后，我开始琢磨自己该怎么办。最后我得出结论，自己没有权利监视她，于是坐车去了俱乐部。六点钟的时候，我上她家去见她。她躺在一张沙发上，穿着她平常总穿的那件茶会礼服，银色薄纱做的礼服上缀着一圈儿奇特的月亮石。她的样子非常可爱。‘看到你我真高兴，’她说，‘我今天一天都没出门。’我万分惊讶地盯着她，从口袋里掏出那条手帕递到她的面前。‘这是你今天下午丢在卡姆纳街上的，沃罗伊夫人，’我平心静气地说。她充满恐惧地看着我，但却没接手帕的意思。‘你去那儿干什么呢？’我问。‘你凭什么来问我？’她答道。‘就凭我爱你，’我答道，‘我是来向你求婚的。’她用双手捂住了脸，一下子泪如泉涌。‘你一定得告诉我，’我接着说道。她站了起来，直直地看着我的脸，说道：‘默奇森勋爵，我没什么可告诉你的。’——‘你是去那儿见什么人吧，’我叫道，‘这就是你的秘密。’她脸色一下子白得吓人，然后说道，‘我去不是为了见任何人。’——‘你干吗不说实话呢？’我大叫起来。‘我说的就是实话。’她答道。我一下子发了疯，发了狂。我不知道自己当时都对她说了些什么，不过肯定是些可怕的话，然后我冲出了屋子。第二天她写了封信给我，我开都没开就把信送了回去，然后和艾伦·科尔维尔一起去了挪威。一个月之后我回来了，在《晨报》上看到的第一条消息就是沃罗伊夫人去世了。她在歌剧院受了风寒，五天之后死于肺充血。我把自己关在了屋里，什么人也不见。我是那么地爱她，爱她爱得那么疯狂。天啊！我是多么地爱这个女人啊！”

我万分惊讶地盯着她，从口袋里掏出那条手帕递到她的面前。她充满恐惧地看着我。

I shut myself up and saw no one. I had loved her so much, I had loved her so madly. Good god! how I had loved that woman!'

'You went to the street, to the house in it?' I said.

'Yes,' he answered. 'One day I went to Cumnor Street. I could not help it; I was tortured with doubt. I knocked at the door, and a respectable looking woman opened it to me. I asked her if she had any rooms to let. "Well, sir," she replied, "the drawing-rooms are supposed to be let; but I have not seen the lady for three months, and as rent is owing on them, you can have them." — "Is this the lady?" I said, showing the photograph. "That's her, sure enough," she exclaimed; "and when is she coming back, sir?" — "The lady is dead," I replied. "Oh, sir, I hope not!" said the woman; "she was my best lodger. She paid me three guineas a week merely to sit in my drawing-rooms now and then." — "She met someone here?" I said; but the woman assured me that it was not so, that she always came alone, and saw no one. "What on earth did she do here?" I cried. "She simply sat in the drawing-room, sir, reading books, and sometimes had tea," the woman answered. I did not know what to say, so I gave her a sovereign and went away. Now, what do you think it all meant? You don't believe the woman was telling the truth?'

'I do.'

'Then why did Lady Alroy go there?'

'My dear Gerald,' I answered, 'Lady Alroy was simply a woman with a mania for mystery. She took these rooms for the pleasure of going there with her veil down, and imagining she was a heroine. She had a passion for secrecy, but she herself was merely a sphinx without a secret.'

“你又去那条街、去那幢房子了吗？”我说道。

“是的，”他答道。“有一天，我又去了卡姆纳街。心里的疑团折磨着我，我没法不去。我敲响房门，一个模样体面的女人来开了门。于是我问她有没有可以出租的房间。‘呃，先生，’她回答道，‘那些客厅应该可以租，可我已经有三个月没见那位夫人了。不过，那些房间已经欠了租金，你要想租就可以租。’——‘你说的是这位夫人吗？’我说道，给她看了一下相片。‘就是她，没错，’她大叫了一声。‘她什么时候会回来呢，先生？’——‘这位夫人已经去世了，’我答道。‘哦，先生，我希望这不是真的！’那女人说道，‘她是我最好的房客，每周付我三个畿尼，就为了时不时地到我的客厅来坐一会儿。’——‘她在这儿见什么人吗？’我问道，可那女人跟我保证绝不是那么回事儿，说她总是自个儿来，也没和任何人见面。‘那她到底上这儿来干吗？’我叫道。‘她就坐在客厅里，先生，看书，有时也喝点儿茶，仅此而已。’那女人回答道。我不知道该说什么，于是给了她一个金镑，就此告辞。好了，你觉得这一切到底是怎么回事？你该不会相信那女人说的是实话吧？”

“我相信。”

“那沃罗伊夫人为什么要去那儿？”

“亲爱的杰拉尔德，”我答道，“沃罗伊夫人是个痴迷于神秘感的女人，如此而已。她租下那些房间，就为了享受戴着面纱上那儿去、想象自己是某个故事的女主角的乐趣。她非常喜欢藏有秘密的感觉，可她自己却不过是个没有秘密的斯芬克司。”

'Do you really think so?'

'I am sure of it,' I replied.

He took out the morocco case, opened it, and looked at the photograph. 'I wonder?' he said at last.

“你真是这么想的吗？”

“这我很有把握，”我答道。

他拿出那个摩洛哥羊皮革盒子，打开了它，凝视着里面的相片。“真是这样吗？”最后他说道。

【注释】

(1)斯芬克司，希腊神话中的狮身女怪。传说她喜欢让过路的人猜谜语，并杀死猜不出谜语的人。

(2)和平咖啡馆，巴黎的著名咖啡馆，在巴黎歌剧院附近。

(3)托利党，创立于十七世纪末的英国政党，代表贵族利益，立场保守，十九世纪中叶演变为保守党（the Conservative Party）。

(4)《摩西五书》，即《圣经·旧约》的前五卷。

(5)巴黎市区有多个地名中包含 Madeleine 这个词，此处可能是指玛德琳大教堂（L' église de la Madeleine），为巴黎市区的一座著名教堂。

(6)应即Bois de Boulogne，布劳涅森林，巴黎西部的公园区。

(7)乔康达夫人，即达芬奇名画《蒙娜丽莎》的画中人，以神秘莫测的微笑著名于世。

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST
A HYLO-IDEALISTIC ROMANCE
坎特维尔的幽灵
一段万物有灵论的浪漫传奇

Chapter 1
第一章

When Mr Hiram B. Otis, the American Minister, bought Canterville Chase, everyone told him he was doing a very foolish thing, as there was no doubt at all that the place was haunted. Indeed, Lord Canterville himself, who was a man of the most punctilious honour, had felt it his duty to mention the fact to Mr Otis when they came to discuss terms.

'We have not cared to live in the place ourselves,' said Lord Canterville, 'since my grand-aunt, the Dowager Duchess of Bolton, was frightened into a fit, from which she never really recovered, by two skeleton hands being placed on her shoulders as she was dressing for dinner, and I feel bound to tell you, Mr Otis, that the ghost has been seen by several living members of my family, as well as by the rector of the parish, the Reverend Augustus Dampier, who is a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. After the unfortunate accident to the Duchess, none of our younger servants would stay with us, and Lady Canterville often got very little sleep at night, in consequence of the mysterious noises that came from the corridor and the library.'

'My Lord,' answered the Minister, 'I will take the furniture and the ghost at a valuation. I come from a modern country, where we have everything that money can buy; and with all our spry young fellows painting the Old World red, and carrying off your best actresses and prima-donnas, I reckon that if there were such a thing as a ghost in Europe, we'd have it at home in a very short time in one of our public museums, or on the road as a show.'

美国公使海勒姆·B. 奥蒂斯先生买下坎特维尔猎场的时候，大家都对他说这是件非常愚蠢的事情，因为那地方毫无疑问是个鬼怪出没的场所。事实上，为人最是一丝不苟的坎特维尔勋爵本人也觉得自己有责任在谈条件的时候把这事情告诉奥蒂斯先生。

“我们自己都不愿意住在那个地方，”坎特维尔勋爵说，“自从我姑婆博尔顿公爵老夫人受了惊吓之后。当时她正在穿衣服准备去吃晚饭，两只仅余枯骨的手搭上了她的肩膀。老夫人吓得中了风，从此就一直没能完全恢复过来。我必须得告诉您，奥蒂斯先生，我有几个在世的家人都看到过那个幽灵，本区教长奥古斯塔斯·丹皮尔也看到过，他还是剑桥大学国王学院的研究员。老公爵夫人发生意外之后，那些年轻一点的佣人就不愿意在我家呆下去了，坎特维尔夫人夜里也老是睡不着，因为走廊和书房里有莫名其妙的声音。”

“勋爵大人，”公使答道，“我会让人给家具和那个幽灵估个价钱。我来自一个发达国家，用钱能买的东西我们什么也不缺。

'I fear that the ghost exists,' said Lord Canterville, smiling, 'though it may have resisted the overtures of your enterprising impresarios. It has been well known for three centuries, since 1584 in fact, and always makes its appearance before the death of any member of our family.'

'Well, so does the family doctor for that matter, Lord Canterville. But there is no such thing, sir, as a ghost, and I guess the laws of nature are not going to be suspended for the British aristocracy.'

'You are certainly very natural in America,' answered Lord Canterville, who did not quite understand Mr Otis's last observation, 'and if you don't mind a ghost in the house, it is all right. Only you must remember I warned you.'

如今，我们那些朝气蓬勃的年轻人正在把旧大陆涂成赤色、抢走你们那些最优秀的女演员和歌剧女主角。鉴于这种情况，我倒觉得，要是欧洲真有幽灵这样东西的话，我们的国家也要赶紧弄一个来展览，摆在公共博物馆里或者路边都行。”

“恐怕我说的那个幽灵的确是存在的，”坎特维尔勋爵笑着说道，“不过它多半不会接受你们那些勇于尝试的剧团经理的提议。三个世纪之前它就已经非常出名了，准确地说是从一五八四年开始。每当我们家族里有人快要去世的时候，它就会出现。”

“是吗，在这事情上家庭医生也是一样，坎特维尔勋爵。可这世上没有这样的东西，先生，我是说幽灵，而且照我看，自然法则也不会为英国的贵族阶层破例的。”

“你们美国人当然是非常的自然率真，”坎特维尔没有完全弄明白奥蒂斯先生最后一句话的意思，于是答道，“要是您不介意房子里有鬼的话，那就没什么问题了。不过您得记着，我可是警告过您的。”

A few weeks after this, the purchase was completed, and at the close of the season the Minister and his family went down to Canterville Chase. Mrs Otis, who, as Miss Lucretia R. Tappan, of West 53rd Street, had been a celebrated New York belle, was now a very handsome, middle-aged woman, with fine eyes and a superb profile. Many American ladies on leaving their native land adopt an appearance of chronic ill-health, under the impression that it is a form of European refinement, but Mrs Otis had never fallen into this error. She had a magnificent constitution, and a really wonderful amount of animal spirits. Indeed, in many respects, she was quite English, and was an excellent example of the fact that we have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language. Their eldest son, christened Washington by his parents in a moment of patriotism, which he never ceased to regret, was a fair-haired, rather good-looking young man, who had qualified himself for American diplomacy by leading the German at the Newport Casino⁽¹⁾ for three successive seasons, and even in London was well known as an excellent dancer. Gardenias and the peerage were his only weaknesses. Otherwise he was extremely sensible. Miss Virginia E. Otis was a little girl of fifteen, lithe and lovely as a fawn, and with a fine freedom in her large blue eyes. She was a wonderful amazon⁽²⁾ and had once raced old Lord Bilton on her pony twice round the park, winning by a length and a half, just in front of the Achilles⁽³⁾ statue, to the huge delight of the young Duke of Cheshire, who proposed for her on the spot, and was sent back to Eton⁽⁴⁾ that very night by his guardians, in floods of tears. After Virginia came the twins, who were usually called 'the Stars and Stripes,' as they were always getting swished. They were delightful boys, and with the exception of the worthy minister, the only true republicans of the family.

这桩买卖在几个星期之后最终完成，公使一家便在社交季行将结束之时搬去了坎特维尔猎场。奥蒂斯太太出嫁之前的身份是柳克丽霞·R. 塔潘小姐，住在纽约的西五十三街，是一位闻名全城的美女。如今她已经变成了一个十分标致的中年女人，眼睛雅致、轮廓完美。许多美国贵妇都会在离开祖国的时候扮出一副疾病缠身的模样，以为这是一种欧式的文雅，奥蒂斯夫人却从来没有犯过这种错误。她体格非常好，而且充满活力。事实上，她在很多方面都相当的英国化。她的存在极好地证明了如今我们在一切事情上都已经跟美国没有两样了，当然，语言除外。他们的长子名叫华盛顿，这个来自父母一时爱国激情的名字一直令他恨恨不已。金头发的华盛顿是个颇为英俊的小伙子，而且靠自身努力在美国外交界赢得了一席之地，因为他曾在纽波特娱乐场连续三个社交季领先于德国人，即便到了伦敦也依然以舞技高超闻名。他唯一的缺点就是对栀子花和贵族头衔太过痴迷，除此之外可说是极为明智。弗吉尼娅·E. 奥蒂斯小姐是个十五岁的小女孩，像小鹿一般活泼可爱，大大的蓝眼睛里藏着一种优雅的率真。她还是个非常剽悍的女战士，曾经骑着自己的小马跟比尔顿勋爵比赛，绕着海德公园跑了两圈，并以一个半马身的优势赢得了胜利。那场比赛的终点就在阿喀琉斯雕像前面。年轻的柴郡公爵为她的壮举而欣喜非常，当即向她求婚，却被自己的监护人连夜送回了伊顿公学，即便他泪如雨下也无济于事。弗吉尼娅下面是一对双胞胎兄弟，人们通常把他俩统称为“星条旗”，因为他们总是被甩得像旗子那样刷刷响的鞭子抽。这两个孩子挺招人喜欢的，而且，除了可敬的公使先生之外，家里就他俩才算是真正的共和党人。

As Canterville Chase is seven miles from Ascot⁽⁵⁾ the nearest railway station, Mr Otis had telegraphed for a waggonette to meet them, and they started on their drive in high spirits. It was a lovely July evening, and the air was delicate with the scent of the pine woods. Now and then they heard a woodpigeon brooding over its own sweet voice, or saw, deep in the rustling fern, the burnished breast of the pheasant. Little squirrels peered at them from the beech trees as they went by, and the rabbits scudded away through the brush wood and over the mossy knolls, with their white tails in the air. As they entered the avenue of Canterville Chase, however, the sky became suddenly overcast with clouds, a curious stillness seemed to hold the atmosphere, a great flight of rooks passed silently over their heads, and, before they reached the house, some big drops of rain had fallen.

Standing on the steps to receive them was an old woman, neatly dressed in black silk, with a white cap and apron. This was Mrs Umney, the housekeeper, whom Mrs Otis, at Lady Canterville's earnest request, had consented to keep on in her former position. She made them each a low curtsey as they alighted and said, in a quaint, old-fashioned manner, 'I bid you welcome to Canterville Chase.' Following her, they passed through the fine Tudor hall into the library, a long, low room, panelled in black oak, at the end of which was a large stained-glass window. Here they found tea laid out for them, and, after taking off their wraps, they sat down and began to look round, while Mrs Umney waited on them.

Suddenly Mrs Otis caught sight of a dull red stain on the floor just by the fireplace and, quite unconscious of what it really signified, said to Mrs Umney, 'I am afraid something has been spilt there.'

'Yes, madam,' replied the old housekeeper in a low voice, 'blood has been spilt on that spot.'

坎特维尔猎场离最近的火车站阿斯科特有七英里远，奥蒂斯先生便发电报叫了一辆轻便马车来接站。到站之后，他们一家高高兴兴地坐上了马车。这是一个宜人的七月傍晚，空气中洋溢着松树林的清香。他们不时听到斑鸠断断续续、若有所思的甜美叫声，看到雉鸡光彩熠熠的胸脯在簌簌作响的蕨草深处闪现。路边的小松鼠在榉树上窥视他们，野兔翘着白色的尾巴穿过灌木丛，翻过满布苔藓的小丘，飞快地逃了开去。然而，在他们进入坎特维尔猎场的林阴道时，天上突然盖满乌云，离奇的寂静笼罩四周，一大群乌鸦无声无息地从他们头上飞过。没等他们走到房子跟前，大颗大颗的雨点就打了下来。

站在台阶上迎接他们的是一个老妇人，一身整洁的丝质黑衣，戴一顶白色的帽子，腰上围着围裙。她就是乌姆尼太太，坎特维尔家的管家。在坎特维尔夫人的强烈要求之下，奥蒂斯太太已经同意她保留先前的职位。奥蒂斯一家下车之后，她向他们每人深鞠一躬，然后以一种古怪过时的方式说道：“我对你们光临坎特维尔猎场表示欢迎。”他们跟着她穿过堂皇的都铎式大厅进了书房，那是一个长长的低矮房间，墙上镶着黑色的橡木壁板，房间尽头有一扇巨大的彩色玻璃窗。房间里已经备好了茶，脱下外套之后，他们便坐下来开始四处打量。乌姆尼太太在旁边伺候着他们。

突然间，奥蒂斯太太看到壁炉边的地板上有一块暗红色的污渍。她完全没有意识到那污渍的真正含义，于是对乌姆尼太太说：“那里好像溅上了什么东西。”

“是的，夫人，”老管家低声回答道，“那个地方溅上了血。”

'How horrid,' cried Mrs Otis; 'I don't at all care for bloodstains in a sitting-room. It must be removed at once.'

The old woman smiled, and answered in the same low, mysterious voice, 'It is the blood of Lady Eleanore de Canterville, who was murdered on that very spot by her own husband, Sir Simon de Canterville, in 1575. Sir Simon survived her nine years, and disappeared suddenly under very mysterious circumstances. His body has never been discovered, but his guilty spirit still haunts the Chase. The blood-stain has been much admired by tourists and others, and cannot be removed.'

'That is all nonsense,' cried Washington Otis; 'Pinkerton's Champion Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent will clean it up in no time,' and before the terrified housekeeper could interfere he had fallen upon his knees, and was rapidly scouring the floor with a small stick of what looked like a black cosmetic. In a few moments no trace of the blood-stain could be seen.

'I knew Pinkerton would do it,' he exclaimed triumphantly, as he looked round at his admiring family; but no sooner had he said these words than a terrible flash of lightning lit up the sombre room, a fearful peal of thunder made them all start to their feet, and Mrs Umney fainted.

'What a monstrous climate!' said the American Minister calmly, as he lit a long cheroot. 'I guess the old country is so over-populated that they have not enough decent weather for everybody. I have always been of opinion that emigration is the only thing for England.'

'My dear Hiram,' cried Mrs Otis, 'what can we do with a woman who faints?'

“真是讨厌，”奥蒂斯太太叫道，“我可不喜欢起居室里有什么血渍，必须得马上把它擦掉。”

老妇人笑了，然后用跟刚才一样神秘低沉的声音回答道：“那是埃莉诺·德·坎特维尔夫人的血。就在那个地方，她被自己的丈夫西蒙·德·坎特维尔爵士给谋杀了，那是一五七五年的事情。西蒙爵士比她多活了九年，之后就非常神秘地突然失踪了。他的尸首一直都没找到，可他那有罪的灵魂还在坎特维尔猎场里作祟。来这里的游客和其他人都非常欣赏这块血渍，而且它是擦不掉的。”

“这都是胡说八道，”华盛顿·奥蒂斯叫道，“用平克顿公司的 '冠军牌' 去污剂和 '典范牌' 清洁剂就可以立刻擦掉它。”吓坏了的管家还没来得及阻止，他就已经跪到了地上，拿着一小管黑色化妆品似的东西飞快地擦了起来。没一会儿，地板上的血渍就无影无踪了。

“我就知道平克顿的东西管用，”他环顾着满面赞许之意的家里人，洋洋自得地大叫了一声。可他话音未落，一道可怕的闪电便照亮了昏暗的房间，一声恐怖的巨雷把他们都惊得跳了起来，乌姆尼太太晕了过去。

“这天气可真糟糕！”公使先生平静地说道，一边点上了一支方头雪茄。“我看啊，这个古老的国家实在是太过人满为患，这一来就没法让所有人都享受到像样的天气了。我始终认为，向外移民是英格兰唯一的出路。”

“亲爱的海勒姆，”奥蒂斯太太叫道，“我们该拿这动不动就晕倒的女人怎么办呢？”

'Charge it to her like breakages,' answered the Minister; 'she won't faint after that;' and in a few moments Mrs Umney certainly came to. There was no doubt, however, that she was extremely upset, and she sternly warned Mr Otis to beware of some trouble coming to the house.

'I have seen things with my own eyes, sir,' she said, 'that would make any Christian's hair stand on end, and many and many a night I have not closed my eyes in sleep for the awful things that are done here.' Mr Otis, however, and his wife warmly assured the honest soul that they were not afraid of ghosts, and, after invoking the blessings of Providence on her new master and mistress, and making arrangements for an increase of salary, the old housekeeper tottered off to her own room.

“让她为此付我们损失费，”公使先生答道，“这样她以后就不会再晕了。”当然，没过多久乌姆尼太太就醒了过来。不过，她显然还是苦恼得不得了，并口气坚决地警告奥蒂斯先生，这房子里很快就要有麻烦了。

“我亲眼见过那些东西，先生，”她说，“随便哪个基督徒见了都会头发直竖。这里的恐怖事件层出不穷，好多好多个晚上我都合不上眼。”然而，奥蒂斯先生和太太只是向这位诚实的妇人做了一番恳切的保证，说他们并不怕鬼。接着，在祈求上天保佑新东家两口子、跟新东家达成提高工资的协议之后，老管家便蹒跚着去了自己的房间。

Chapter 2
第二章

The storm raged fiercely all that night, but nothing of particular note occurred. The next morning, however, when they came down to breakfast, they found the terrible stain of blood once again on the floor. 'I don't think it can be the fault of the Paragon Detergent,' said Washington, 'for I have tried it with everything. It must be the ghost.' He accordingly rubbed out the stain a second time, but the second morning it appeared again. The third morning also it was there, though the library had been locked up at night by Mr Otis himself, and the key carried upstairs. The whole family were now quite interested; Mr Otis began to suspect that he had been too dogmatic in his denial of the existence of ghosts, Mrs Otis expressed her intention of joining the Psychical Society⁽⁶⁾ and Washington prepared a long letter to Messrs Myers and Podmore on the subject of the Permanence of Sanguineous Stains when connected with Crime. That night all doubts about the objective existence of phantasmata were removed for ever.

猛烈的风暴肆虐了整整一个晚上，但却没有发生什么古怪的事情。不过，第二天早上下楼吃早饭的时候，他们却发现那可怕的血渍又一次出现在了地板上。“我看这不是 '典范牌' 清洁剂的问题，”华盛顿说，“因为我以前拿它擦什么都能擦掉。一定是那个幽灵干的好事。”于是他又一次擦去了血渍，可第三天早上它又出现了。第四天早上也是一样，尽管头天夜里奥蒂斯先生亲自锁好了书房，还把钥匙拿到楼上去了。这一来，他们一家人都对这事情产生了极大的兴趣：奥蒂斯先生开始觉得自己否认幽灵存在的想法可能有点儿武断，奥蒂斯太太说自己打算加入通灵协会，华盛顿则给迈尔斯先生和波德莫尔先生写了一封长信，主题是与犯罪相关的含血污渍之永久性。当天晚上，他们对幽灵是否客观存在的一切疑问被永远打消了。

The day had been warm and sunny; and, in the cool of the evening, the whole family went out for a drive. They did not return home till nine o'clock, when they had a light supper. The conversation in no way turned upon ghosts, so there were not even those primary conditions of receptive expectation which so often precede the presentation of psychical phenomena. The subjects discussed, as I have since learned from Mr Otis, were merely such as form the ordinary conversation of cultured Americans of the better class, such as the immense superiority of Miss Fanny Davenport⁽⁷⁾ over Sarah Bernhardt⁽⁸⁾ as an actress; the difficulty of obtaining green corn, buckwheat cakes and hominy, even in the best English houses; the importance of Boston in the development of the world-soul; the advantages of the baggage-check system in railway travelling; and the sweetness of the New York accent as compared to the London drawl. No mention at all was made of the supernatural, nor was Sir Simon de Canterville alluded to in any way. At eleven o' clock the family retired, and by half-past all the lights were out. Some time after, Mr Otis was awakened by a curious noise in the corridor, outside his room. It sounded like the clank of metal, and seemed to be coming nearer every moment. He got up at once, struck a match, and looked at the time. It was exactly one o' clock. He was quite calm, and felt his pulse, which was not at all feverish. The strange noise still continued, and with it he heard distinctly the sound of footsteps. He put on his slippers, took a small oblong phial out of his dressing-case, and opened the door.

这一天阳光明媚、暖意融融，全家人在凉爽的傍晚坐车出去兜风。他们一直玩到九点钟才回家，然后吃了顿简便的晚餐。在很多情况下，看到通灵现象的人都预先带着一种倾向于相信此种现象的期待，可这家人当晚的谈话根本没有涉及到幽灵，因此连形成这种期待的起码条件都不具备。后来我从奥蒂斯先生那里得知，他们当时聊的无非是有教养的上层美国人常聊的一些话题，比如凡妮·达文波特小姐演戏比萨拉·伯恩哈特演得好得多啦，即便在英国最上流的人家也很难找到甜玉米、荞麦饼和玉米片啦，波士顿对于培育世界精神的重要性啦，行李标签制度带给火车旅行的好处啦，纽约口音比长声夭夭的伦敦腔好听啦，如此等等。他们的谈话完全无关于超自然事物，也没有一个字跟西蒙·德·坎特维尔爵士有任何关连。到了十一点钟，这家人就上床睡觉了。十一点半，屋子里所有的灯都灭了。之后不久，一种奇怪的声音吵醒了奥蒂斯先生。那声音就来自他房间外面的走廊，听起来像是金属的咣当声，而且越来越近。他立刻起身，划燃一根火柴看了看时间，刚好是一点整。他心里非常平静，还摸了摸自己的脉搏，脉象里丝毫没有发烧的症状。奇怪的声音还在继续，其间还夹杂着清晰的脚步声。于是他穿上拖鞋，从梳妆盒里拿出一个椭圆形的小瓶子，然后打开了门。借着惨白的月光，他看到自己面前站着一个面容可怖的老头。这人的双眼如同烧红的木炭，长长的灰色头发乱蓬蓬地披在肩上，身上的古式衣装又脏又破，手腕和脚踝上都戴着锈迹斑斑的沉重镣铐。

吃过简便的晚餐后，全家人在一起聊了一些有教养的上层美国人常聊的话题。

Right in front of him he saw, in the wan moonlight, an old man of terrible aspect. His eyes were as red burning coals; long grey hair fell over his shoulders in matted coils; his garments, which were of antique cut, were soiled and ragged, and from his wrists and ankles hung heavy manacles and rusty gyves.

'My dear sir,' said Mr Otis, 'I really must insist on your oiling those chains, and have brought you for that purpose a small bottle of the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator. It is said to be completely efficacious upon one application, and there are several testimonials to that effect on the wrapper from some of our most eminent native divines. I shall leave it here for you by the bedroom candles, and will be happy to supply you with more should you require it.' With these words the United States Minister laid the bottle down on a marble table, and, closing his door, retired to rest.

For a moment the Canterville ghost stood quite motionless in natural indignation; then, dashing the bottle violently upon the polished floor, he fled down the corridor, uttering hollow groans, and emitting a ghastly green light. Just, however, as he reached the top of the great oak staircase, a door was flung open, two little white-robed figures appeared, and a large pillow whizzed past his head! There was evidently no time to be lost, so, hastily adopting the Fourth Dimension of Space as a means of escape, he vanished through the wainscoting, and the house became quite quiet.

On reaching a small secret chamber in the left wing, he leaned up against a moonbeam to recover his breath, and began to try and realise his position.

“亲爱的先生，”奥蒂斯先生说道，“我真的觉得你该给身上的锁链上点儿油了，所以给你带了一小瓶 '坦慕尼旭日牌' 润滑油。据说这东西一用就灵，瓶子标签上的几条推荐文字就是这么说的，推荐人都是我们美国最著名的牧师。我把它留给你，就放在这些夜间照明蜡烛旁边。如果你还要的话，我很乐意再给你一些。”说完之后，美国公使先生便把瓶子放到一张大理石桌子上，关上房门休息去了。

坎特维尔幽灵一时间愣在了原地，心里涌动着可想而知的愤怒。这之后，他猛地将瓶子扔到光洁的地板上，顺着走廊逃了开去，嘴里发出沉重的呻吟，身上冒出可怕的绿光。可是，就在他跑到巨大的橡木楼梯顶端的时候，一扇门猛一下子开了，两个身着白袍的小小身影蹿了出来，一个大枕头“嗖”的一声从他脑袋旁边擦过！显然已经没时间再犹豫了，于是他立刻运用空间第四维作为逃跑方法，穿过壁板消失了。屋子里一下子静了下来。

逃到屋子左翼的一间小密室里之后，他倚着一道月光稍事喘息，开始拼命思考自己的处境。

Never, in a brilliant and uninterrupted career of three hundred years, had he been so grossly insulted. He thought of the Dowager Duchess, whom he had frightened into a fit as she stood before the glass in her lace and diamonds; of the four housemaids, who had gone off into hysterics when he merely grinned at them through the curtains of one of the spare bedrooms; of the rector of the parish, whose candle he had blown out as he was coming late one night from the library, and who had been under the care of Sir William Gull⁽⁹⁾ ever since, a perfect martyr to nervous disorders; and of old Madame de Tremouillac, who, having wakened up one morning early and seen a skeleton seated in an armchair by the fire reading her diary, had been confined to her bed for six weeks with an attack of brain fever, and, on her recovery, had become reconciled to the church, and broken off her connection with that notorious sceptic Monsieur de Voltaire⁽¹⁰⁾ He remembered the terrible night when the wicked Lord Canterville was found choking in his dressing-room, with the knave of diamonds halfway down his throat, and confessed, just before he died, that he had cheated Charles James Fox⁽¹¹⁾ out of ￡50,000 at Crockford's⁽¹²⁾ by means of that very card, and swore that the ghost had made him swallow it. All his great achievements came back to him again, from the butler who had shot himself in the pantry because he had seen a green hand tapping at the window pane, to the beautiful Lady Stutfield, who was always obliged to wear a black velvet band round her throat to hide the mark of five fingers burnt upon her white skin, and who drowned herself at last in the carp-pond at the end of the King's Walk. With the enthusiastic egotism of the true artist he went over his most celebrated performances, and smiled bitterly to himself as he recalled to mind his last appearance as 'Red Ruben, or the Strangled Babe' , his début as 'Gaunt Gibeon, the Blood-sucker of Bexley Moor' , and the furore he had excited one lovely June evening by merely playing ninepins⁽¹³⁾ with his own bones upon the lawn-tennis ground. And after all this, some wretched modern Americans were to come and offer him the Rising Sun Lubricator, and throw pillows at his head! It was quite unbearable. Besides, no ghost in history had ever been treated in this manner. Accordingly, he determined to have vengeance, and remained till daylight in an attitude of deep thought.

在连续三百年的辉煌作祟生涯之中，他从没遭受过如此大胆的冒犯。他想到老公爵夫人，满身花边钻饰的她在镜子前面被他吓得中了风；又想到那四个女仆，他只是隔着一间空余卧室的窗帘冲她们咧嘴一笑，她们就吓得歇斯底里；还有本教区的那个教长。一天深夜，教长从书房里出来，手里的蜡烛被他吹灭了，从那以后，教长就一直处于威廉·古尔爵士的照看之下，完完全全成了精神错乱的牺牲品；接着他想到了德·特雷莫伊拉克老夫人，一天清晨，夫人醒来的时候看到了一具骷髅正坐在壁炉边的一把扶手椅上读她的日记，夫人立刻犯了脑膜炎，在床上躺了六个星期，痊愈之后便和教会修好，还跟臭名昭著的怀疑论者伏尔泰先生断绝了往来。他记起了那个可怕的夜晚，人们发现那个缺德鬼坎特维尔勋爵奄奄一息地倒在自己的更衣室里，嘴里有一张咽进去一半的方块。就在临死之前，勋爵坦白自己在克罗福德俱乐部骗了查尔斯·詹姆斯·福克斯五万英镑，用的就是这张牌，还发誓说是坎特维尔幽灵让自己把牌吞下去的。曾经的所有丰功伟业再次回到了坎特维尔幽灵的思绪之中：那个男管家在食品储藏室里开枪自尽，就因为看到了一只绿色的手在敲窗户的玻璃；为了遮掩烙在白皙颈项上的五个手指印，美丽的斯塔菲尔德夫人不得不长期戴着一条黑天鹅绒颈巾，最终在国王小道尽头的鲤鱼池里自溺身亡。带着一位真正艺术家的狂热与自得，他一一回味自己那些最令人叫绝的表演。想到自己装扮“红色鲁宾”、又称“被扼死的孩子”的最近表演，以及装扮“贝克斯利沼地吸血鬼”、又称“憔悴吉比恩”的首次亮相，又想到自己在一个美好的六月傍晚制造的轰动场面（当时他不过是用自己的骨头在草地网球场边上玩了玩九柱戏而已），他不由得暗自苦笑。这许多显赫辉煌之后，几个该死的现代美国人竟然敢拿什么“旭日牌”润滑油来送他，还敢拿枕头来砸他的脑袋！这实在让人没法忍受。除此之外，历史上也从没有哪个幽灵受过他这种待遇。想到后来，他下定了复仇的决心，然后便继续呆在那里冥思苦想，直到天光。

Chapter 3
第三章

The next morning when the Otis family met at breakfast, they discussed the ghost at some length. The United States Minister was naturally a little annoyed to find that his present had not been accepted. 'I have no wish,' he said, 'to do the ghost any personal injury, and I must say that, considering the length of time he has been in the house, I don't think it is at all polite to throw pillows at him' —a very just remark, at which, I am sorry to say, the twins burst into shouts of laughter. 'Upon the other hand,' he continued, 'if he really declines to use the Rising Sun Lubricator, we shall have to take his chains from him. It would be quite impossible to sleep, with such a noise going on outside the bedrooms.'

For the rest of the week, however, they were undisturbed, the only thing that excited any attention being the continual renewal of the blood-stain on the library floor. This certainly was very strange, as the door was always locked at night by Mr Otis, and the windows kept closely barred. The chameleon-like colour, also, of the stain excited a good deal of comment. Some mornings it was a dull （almost Indian） red, then it would be vermilion, then a rich purple, and once when they came down for family prayers, according to the simple rites of the Free American Reformed Episcopalian Church, they found it a bright emerald-green. These kaleidoscopic changes naturally amused the party very much, and bets on the subject were freely made every evening. The only person who did not enter into the joke was little Virginia, who, for some unexplained reason, was always a good deal distressed at the sight of the blood-stain, and very nearly cried the morning it was emerald-green.

第二天早上一起吃早餐的时候，奥蒂斯一家围绕这个幽灵进行了详细的讨论。看到自己的礼物被人拒绝，美国公使先生自然有点儿不高兴。“我并不想，”他说，“给这个幽灵造成任何人身伤害，我不得不说，鉴于他已经在这房子里呆了那么久，拿枕头去砸他绝对是不礼貌的行为。”——这意见非常中肯，遗憾的是，那对双胞胎兄弟听了这话却爆发出了阵阵狂笑。“从另一方面来说，”他接着说道，“要是他真的不愿意使用 '旭日牌' 润滑油的话，那我们就得把他身上的链子拿掉。卧室门外老是有这么大的声音，你是很难睡着觉的。”

不过，在这星期剩下的几天里，幽灵并没有惊扰他们，唯一让人惊异的事不过是书房地板上的血渍还在不断更新而已。这事情当然非常奇怪，因为书房的门夜里都是由奥蒂斯先生亲自锁好的，而窗子也总是闩得严严实实。此外，血渍那变色龙一般的颜色也让他们好一番议论。有几天早上它是暗红色的（跟印度红差不多），而后变成了朱红色，再后来又是一种浓艳的紫色。还有一次，按照自由美国改良圣公会简单的仪式要求，奥蒂斯一家下楼做家庭祷告，发现血渍呈现出一种鲜亮的翡翠绿。如此这般千变万化的色彩自然令这家人兴致盎然，每天晚上他们都要拿这件事来大赌特赌。只有小弗吉尼娅不参与他们的游戏。不知何故，她看到血渍的时候总是很不开心，看到它变成翡翠绿的那天早上还差点儿哭了出来。

The second appearance of the ghost was on Sunday night. Shortly after they had gone to bed they were suddenly alarmed by a fearful crash in the hall. Rushing downstairs, they found that a large suit of old armour had become detached from its stand, and had fallen on the stone floor, while, seated in a high-backed chair, was the Canterville ghost, rubbing his knees with an expression of acute agony on his face. The twins, having brought their pea-shooters with them, at once discharged two pellets on him, with that accuracy of aim which can only be attained by long and careful practice on a writing-master, while the United States Minister covered him with his revolver, and called upon him, in accordance with Californian etiquette, to hold up his hands! The ghost started up with a wild shriek of rage, and swept through them like a mist, extinguishing Washington Otis's candle as he passed, and so leaving them all in total darkness. On reaching the top of the staircase he recovered himself, and determined to give his celebrated peal of demoniac laughter. This he had on more than one occasion found extremely useful. It was said to have turned Lord Raker's wig grey in a single night, and had certainly made three of Lady Canterville's French governesses give warning before their month was up. He accordingly laughed his most horrible laugh, till the old vaulted roof rang and rang again, but hardly had the fearful echo died away when a door opened, and Mrs Otis came out in a light blue dressing-gown. 'I am afraid you are far from well,' she said, 'and have brought you a bottle of Dr Dobell's tincture. If it is indigestion, you will find it a most excellent remedy.' The ghost glared at her in fury, and began at once to make preparations for turning himself into a large black dog, an accomplishment for which he was justly renowned, and to which the family doctor always attributed the permanent idiocy of Lord Canterville's uncle, the Hon. Thomas Horton. The sound of approaching footsteps, however, made him hesitate in his fell purpose, so he contented himself with becoming faintly phosphorescent, and vanished with a deep churchyard groan, just as the twins had come up to him.

幽灵第二次现身是在星期天的晚上。就寝之后不久，他们突然听到大厅里传来了重物坠地的可怕声音。他们赶紧跑下楼，发现一套巨大的古代铠甲从架子上掉了下来，砸在了石头地板上。与此同时，坎特维尔幽灵正坐在一把高背椅上揉自己的膝盖，脸上的表情十分痛苦。双胞胎兄弟下楼的时候带上了自己的玩具枪，这时便立刻朝他开了两枪，由于他们长期用书法老师进行仔细的瞄准练习，这两枪打得相当准。美国公使先生则拿左轮手枪指着他，按照加利福尼亚人的礼仪叫他举手投降！幽灵跳了起来，发出一声狂怒的大叫，而后像一团雾气一般扫过他们，还捎带着扑灭了华盛顿·奥蒂斯手里的蜡烛，把他们留在了完全的黑暗当中。跑到楼梯顶端的时候，幽灵缓过劲儿来，决定施展自己那有口皆碑的鬼笑。这招他曾经多次使用，效果奇佳。据说这笑声曾让雷克尔勋爵的头发一夜变白，还曾让坎特维尔夫人的三名法国女家庭教师没到一个月就提出了辞呈。主意既定，他便尽力发出了最恐怖的笑声，声音在大厅古老的拱顶上久久回荡。可是，可怕的回声尚未消歇，身着淡蓝色睡衣的奥蒂斯太太便从一扇门里走了出来。“我看你的身体很不健康，”她说，“所以给你带了瓶多贝尔医生的酊剂。如果你的确是消化不良的话，那它就是最管用的良药。”幽灵怒不可遏地瞪了她一眼，随即开始了准备活动，打算将自己变成一条硕大的黑狗。这一招也是名不虚传，坎特维尔家的家庭医生始终认为正是它让坎特维尔勋爵的姨父托马斯·霍顿阁下变成了永久性痴呆。然而，越来越近的脚步声令他犹豫不决，没能立刻将自己的凶险意图付诸实施。于是他聊以自慰地让自己变成磷光隐隐的模样，发出一声深沉的亡灵叹息，赶在双胞胎兄弟扑过来之前消失了。

On reaching his room he entirely broke down, and became a prey to the most violent agitation. The vulgarity of the twins, and the gross materialism of Mrs Otis, were naturally extremely annoying, but what really distressed him most was that he had been unable to wear the suit of mail. He had hoped that even modern Americans would be thrilled by the sight of a Spectre In Armour, if for no more sensible reason, at least out of respect for their national poet Longfellow⁽¹⁴⁾ over whose graceful and attractive poetry he himself had whiled away many a weary hour when the Cantervilles were up in town. Besides, it was his own suit. He had worn it with great success at the Kenilworth⁽¹⁵⁾ tournament, and had been highly complimented on it by no less a person than the Virgin Queen herself. Yet when he had put it on, he had been completely overpowered by the weight of the huge breastplate and steel casque, and had fallen heavily on the stone pavement, barking both his knees severely, and bruising the knuckles of his right hand. ⁽¹⁶⁾

回到自己房间的时候，他已经彻底崩溃，被最为剧烈的焦虑情绪折磨得苦不堪言。双胞胎兄弟的粗野无礼和奥蒂斯太太彻头彻尾的拜物主义固然让人十分着恼，最让他沮丧的却还是他没能穿上那套铠甲。他曾经设想，即便是现代美国人看到一个“穿铠甲的幽灵”也会瑟瑟发抖。就算没有别的更说得过去的理由，只是出于对他们本国诗人朗费罗的尊敬，他们也合当如此。在坎特维尔家的人呆在城里的时候，他自己就曾经靠朗费罗优美迷人的诗句消磨了许多无聊的时光。再说了，那本来就是他的铠甲。他曾身着那套铠甲在凯尼尔沃思比武当中赢得了辉煌胜利，为此还得到了童贞女王本人的高度赞扬。然而，刚才穿上铠甲的时候，他却完全不堪巨大胸甲和钢铁头盔的重负，重重地摔在了石头地面上，两个膝盖都被严重擦伤，右手的指关节也肿了起来。

For some days after this he was extremely ill, and hardly stirred out of his room at all, except to keep the blood-stain in proper repair. However, by taking great care of himself, he recovered, and resolved to make a third attempt to frighten the United States Minister and his family. He selected Friday, the 17th of August, for his appearance, and spent most of that day in looking over his wardrobe, ultimately deciding in favour of a large slouched hat with a red feather, a winding-sheet frilled at the wrists and neck, and a rusty dagger. Towards evening a violent storm of rain came on, and the wind was so high that all the windows and doors in the old house shook and rattled. In fact, it was just such weather as he loved. His plan of action was this. He was to make his way quietly to Washington Otis's room, gibber at him from the foot of the bed, and stab himself three times in the throat to the sound of slow music. He bore Washington a special grudge, being quite aware that it was he who was in the habit of removing the famous Canterville blood-stain, by means of Pinkerton's Paragon Detergent. Having reduced the reckless and foolhardy youth to a condition of abject terror, he was then to proceed to the room occupied by the United States Minister and his wife, and there to place a clammy hand on Mrs Otis's forehead, while he hissed into her trembling husband's ear the awful secrets of the charnel-house. With regard to little Virginia, he had not quite made up his mind. She had never insulted him in any way, and was pretty and gentle. A few hollow groans from the wardrobe, he thought, would be more than sufficient, or, if that failed to wake her, he might grabble at the counterpane with palsy-twitching fingers. As for the twins, he was quite determined to teach them a lesson. The first thing to be done was, of course, to sit upon their chests, so as to produce the stifling sensation of nightmare. Then, as their beds were quite close to each other, to stand between them in the form of a green, icy-cold corpse, till they became paralysed with fear, and, finally, to throw off the winding-sheet, and crawl round the room, with white, bleached bones and one rolling eyeball, in the character of 'Dumb Daniel, or the Suicide's Skeleton' , a role in which he had on more than one occasion produced a great effect, and which he considered quite equal to his famous part of 'Martin the Maniac, or the Masked Mystery' .

这以后的几天里，他病得很厉害。除了完成血渍的正常维护工作以外，他几乎不曾踏出房门。不过，在自己的悉心照料下，他最终还是康复了，并打定主意要第三次尝试吓唬美国公使和他的家人。他选了星期五，也就是八月十七日，作为自己现身的日子，当天大部分时间都在翻检自己的衣橱，最后挑了一顶簪着红羽毛的宽边大帽子，一条腕部和颈部镶了边的裹尸布，外加一把生了锈的短剑。快到傍晚的时候，天空下起了暴雨，猛烈的狂风把这座老屋的门窗刮得摇摇晃晃、嘎吱作响。实际上，这正是他最中意的天气。他的行动计划是先悄悄摸进华盛顿·奥蒂斯的房间，在床脚冲他叽里呱啦地说上一通，然后往自己的喉咙刺三剑，制造出如慢板音乐一般的声音效果。他对华盛顿有一种特别的仇恨，因为他非常清楚，惯于用平克顿公司的“典范牌”清洁剂擦去著名的坎特维尔血渍的正是这个家伙。等这个鲁莽冲动、没头没脑的年轻人进入绝望无助的惊骇状态之后，他便会转入美国公使夫妇的房间，将一只又冷又湿的手放上奥蒂斯夫人的额头，同时贴到她战栗不已的丈夫耳边，用嘶嘶的声音对他讲述停尸房里的骇人秘密。不过，他还没拿定主意该怎么对付小弗吉尼娅，因为她从没冒犯过他，而且又可爱又温柔。在他想来，跑到她衣橱里发几声沉闷的叹息也就完全够了，如果她不醒的话，那不妨再用痉挛抽搐的手指在她的床罩上摸上几把。至于那一对双胞胎，他已经下定了决心教训教训他们。首先要做的自然是坐到他们的胸口上，让他们体会梦魇的窒息感觉。这两个家伙的床挨得很近，所以接下来他就要变成一具惨绿冰冷的尸体，站在他们俩中间，直到把他们吓瘫为止。末了，他还要扯掉身上的裹尸布，露着白森森的骨头和一只骨碌碌乱转的眼珠子在房间里爬来爬去，扮演“哑巴丹尼尔”，也就是“自杀者骷髅”。这一角色曾多次获得非常显著的效果，在他看来可与他演过的另一著名角色“疯子马丁”、又称“蒙面怪客”相提并论。

At half-past ten he heard the family going to bed. For some time he was disturbed by wild shrieks of laughter from the twins, who, with the light-hearted gaiety of schoolboys, were evidently amusing themselves before they retired to rest, but at a quarter past eleven all was still, and, as midnight sounded, he sallied forth. The owl beat against the window panes, the raven croaked from the old yew tree, and the wind wandered moaning round the house like a lost soul; but the Otis family slept unconscious of their doom, and high above the rain and storm he could hear the steady snoring of the Minister for the United States. He stepped stealthily out of the wainscoting, with an evil smile on his cruel, wrinkled mouth, and the moon hid her face in a cloud as he stole past the great oriel window, where his own arms and those of his murdered wife were blazoned in azure and gold. On and on he glided, like an evil shadow, the very darkness seeming to loathe him as he passed. Once he thought he heard something call, and stopped; but it was only the baying of a dog from the Red Farm, and he went on, muttering strange sixteenth-century curses, and ever and anon brandishing the rusty dagger in the midnight air. Finally he reached the corner of the passage that led to luckless Washington's room. For a moment he paused there, the wind blowing his long grey locks about his head, and twisting into grotesque and fantastic folds the nameless horror of the dead man's shroud. Then the clock struck the quarter, and he felt the time was come. He chuckled to himself, and turned the corner; but no sooner had he done so, than, with a piteous wail of terror, he fell back, and hid his blanched face in his long, bony hands. Right in front of him was standing a horrible spectre, motionless as a carven image, and monstrous as a madman's dream! Its head was bald and burnished; its face round, and fat, and white; and hideous laughter seemed to have writhed its features into an eternal grin. From the eyes streamed rays of scarlet light, the mouth was a wide well of fire, and a hideous garment, like to his own, swathed with its silent snows the Titan form. On its breast was a placard with strange writing in antique characters, some scroll of shame it seemed, some record of wild sins, some awful calendar of crime, and, with its right hand, it bore aloft a falchion of gleaming steel.

十点半钟，他听见这家人正在上床就寝。有那么一阵子，双胞胎兄弟疯狂尖利的笑声让他心烦意乱。显然，带着学童那股子无忧无虑的高兴劲儿，两兄弟睡觉之前玩得很是开心。还好，到十一点半的时候一切都静了下来。等到钟敲十二点的时候，他便展开了行动。猫头鹰扑打着窗户的玻璃，乌鸦在古老的紫杉树上嚎叫，风儿像迷路的人一般绕着房子呜咽徘徊。奥蒂斯一家却沉醉梦乡，不知道自己已经大难临头。美国公使先生持续不断的鼾声压过狂风暴雨的声音，传入了他的耳中。他悄无声息地走出壁板，凶恶扭曲的嘴上挂着邪恶的笑容。墙上有一扇巨大的凸肚窗，上面装饰着天蓝色和金色的纹章，有的属于他自己，还有的属于他那死于谋杀的妻子。他偷偷掠过那扇窗子的时候，月亮把脸藏到了云里。他飘啊飘啊，像一道邪恶的影子，所过之处连漆黑的夜也露出了深恶痛绝的神情。其间他仿佛听到有什么东西在叫，停下来却发现那不过是红农场里的犬吠声，于是他继续前行，嘴里叨咕着十六世纪的离奇诅咒，还时不时地对着午夜的空气挥舞那把生锈的短剑。最后，他终于飘到了一个拐角处，转过去的那条走道就通往华盛顿那个倒霉蛋的房间。他在那里停了片刻，风吹着他长长的灰色发绺，揉搓着他身上的尸衣，将无法形容的恐怖折叠成千奇百怪的形状。钟敲十二点一刻，他觉得时机已然成熟，于是暗笑数声，转过了那个拐角。可是，刚一转过去，他便发出一声可怜巴巴的惊骇哀号，倒退几步，用瘦骨嶙峋的长手掩住了自己惨白的脸。他面前是一个可怕的鬼怪，如雕像一般纹丝不动，又如疯汉的梦境一般丑陋凶狠！那怪物有着锃亮的秃头和苍白肥胖的圆脸，仿佛是某种极度丑陋的笑让它的五官定了形。它眼里冒着缕缕红光，张开的嘴巴好像一口火井，硕大的身躯上裹着件十分恶心的外套，跟他身上这件差不多，还无声无息地往下掉着雪片般的渣子。它的胸口上有一个告示牌，上面是用古代字体写就的一些奇怪文字，看起来像是一份耻辱榜、一份疯狂罪恶的记录、一份规划罪行的可怕日程。除此之外，它的右手还高举着一把寒光闪耀的钢刀。

Never having seen a ghost before, he naturally was terribly frightened, and, after a second hasty glance at the awful phantom, he fled back to his room, tripping up in his long winding-sheet as he sped down the corridor, and finally dropping the rusty dagger into the Minister's jack-boots, where it was found in the morning by the butler. Once in the privacy of his own apartment, he flung himself down on a small pallet-bed, and hid his face under the clothes. After a time, however, the brave old Canterville spirit asserted itself, and he determined to go and speak to the other ghost as soon as it was daylight. Accordingly, just as the dawn was touching the hills with silver, he returned towards the spot where he had first laid eyes on the grisly phantom, feeling that, after all, two ghosts were better than one, and that, by the aid of his new friend, he might safely grapple with the twins. On reaching the spot, however, a terrible sight met his gaze. Something had evidently happened to the spectre, for the light had entirely faded from its hollow eyes, the gleaming falchion had fallen from its hand, and it was leaning up against the wall in a strained and uncomfortable attitude. He rushed forward and seized it in his arms, when, to his horror, the head slipped off and rolled on the floor, the body assumed a recumbent posture, and he found himself clasping a white dimity bed-curtain, with a sweeping-brush, a kitchen cleaver, and a hollow turnip lying at his feet! Unable to understand this curious transformation, he clutched the placard with feverish haste, and there, in the grey morning light, he read these fearful words:

THE OTIS GHOSTE

Ye Onlie True and Originale Spook

Beware of Ye Imitations

All others are Counterfeite

他这是破天荒第一次看见鬼，自然是吓得够呛。于是他慌里慌张地再瞥了一眼那个可怕的幽灵，然后便逃回了自己的房间。在走廊上狂奔的时候，他被自己身上那长长的裹尸布绊了一跤，还把生锈的短剑掉在了公使先生的长统靴里，第二天早上才被男管家找了出来。一回到自己的密室，他便一头栽倒在小板床上，把脸埋到了床罩里面。不过，一段时间之后，过去那个坎特维尔的勇敢精神占了上风，他决定天一亮就去跟另外那个幽灵谈谈。于是，曙光刚刚给山丘抹上银色，他就往昨天看见那可怕鬼怪的地方赶去。他心里想着，不管怎样，两个鬼总比一个好，而且，要是能得到这个新朋友的帮助，他兴许就可以安心地去跟双胞胎兄弟作斗争了。可是，到了那里之后，眼前的景象却让他目瞪口呆。那个鬼怪显然是遇上了什么麻烦，因为它空洞的眼里已经不再有一点光芒，亮闪闪的刀子也掉在了地上。它倚在墙上，姿态又别扭又难受。他连忙冲上前去，用双手抱住了它。鬼怪的头一下子掉了下来，在地板上滚来滚去，身体也变成了半躺的姿势。他吓了一大跳，然后发现自己抱着的是一条白色的麻纱床幔，脚边还有一个扫把、一把切肉刀和一个空心萝卜！他无法理解眼前这离奇的变化，便心急火燎地抓过那张告示牌，借着晨间的灰白天光读了起来。告示牌上写着以下这些可怕的字句：

奥蒂斯幽灵

正宗真鬼，只此一家

小心仿冒

其他鬼怪均属伪品

The whole thing flashed across him. He had been tricked foiled and outwitted! The old Canterville look came into his eyes; he ground his toothless gums together; and, raising his withered hands high above his head, swore, according to the picturesque phraseology of the antique school, that when Chanticleer had sounded twice his merry horn, deeds of blood would be wrought, and Murder walk abroad with silent feet.

Hardly had he finished this awful oath when, from the red-tiled roof of a distant homestead, a cock crew. He laughed a long, low, bitter laugh, and waited. Hour after hour he waited, but the cock, for some strange reason, did not crow again. Finally, at half-past seven, the arrival of the housemaids made him give up his fearful vigil, and he stalked back to his room, thinking of his vain oath and baffled purpose. There he consulted several books of ancient chivalry, of which he was exceedingly fond, and found that, on every occasion on which his oath had been used, Chanticleer had always crowed a second time. 'Perdition seize the naughty fowl,' he muttered, 'I have seen the day when, with my stout spear, I would have run him through the gorge, and made him crow for me as 'twere in death!' He then retired to a comfortable lead coffin, and stayed there till evening.

电光火石之间，他想明白了整件事情。他上了当、吃了瘪、让人给耍了！他眼里又出现了过去那个坎特维尔的神情，没有牙齿的牙龈也咬在了一起。他把干瘪的双手高高举过头顶，用古代学校里教授的奇特措辞发了誓：鸡唱两遍之时，血腥之事将得履行，杀戮将悄然来至。

他刚刚念完这几句可怕的誓词，远处一座农舍的红瓦屋顶上就传来了一声鸡鸣。他长长地笑了笑，笑声低沉又苦涩，之后他便等着鸡鸣再次响起。等了一个又一个小时，可是不知道为什么，那只鸡再也不叫了。最后到了七点半钟，女仆们都上了楼，他只好放弃这次意图凶险的守望，悄悄地回到了自己的房间，心里想着自己作废的誓言和夭折的计划。他房间里有几本他特别喜欢的书，讲的都是古代骑士的事迹。他到这些书里去找答案，结果发现以前有人发他这种誓的时候，每一次鸡都叫了两遍。“愿那只该死的家禽永堕地狱，”他喃喃自语，“总有一天，我要用我的利矛刺穿它的喉咙，让它给我叫，死了也要叫！”跟着他便钻进一具舒适的铅棺材，一直躺到了傍晚时分。

Chapter 4
第四章

The next day the ghost was very weak and tired. The terrible excitement of the last four weeks was beginning to have its effect. His nerves were completely shattered, and he started at the slightest noise. For five days he kept his room, and at last made up his mind to give up the point of the blood-stain on the library floor. If the Otis family did not want it, they clearly did not deserve it. They were evidently people on a low, material plane of existence, and quite incapable of appreciating the symbolic value of sensuous phenomena. The question of phantasmic apparitions, and the development of astral bodies, was of course quite a different matter, and really not under his control. It was his solemn duty to appear in the corridor once a week, and to gibber from the large oriel window on the first and third Wednesdays in every month, and he did not see how he could honourably escape from his obligations. It is quite true that his life had been very evil, but, upon the other hand, he was most conscientious in all things connected with the supernatural. For the next three Saturdays, accordingly, he traversed the corridor as usual between midnight and three o' clock, taking every possible precaution against being either heard or seen. He removed his boots, trod as lightly as possible on the old worm-eaten boards, wore a large black velvet cloak, and was careful to use the Rising Sun Lubricator for oiling his chains. I am bound to acknowledge that it was with a good deal of difficulty that he brought himself to adopt this last mode of protection. However, one night, while the family were at dinner, he slipped into Mr Otis's bedroom and carried off the bottle. He felt a little humiliated at first, but afterwards was sensible enough to see that there was a great deal to be said for the invention, and, to a certain degree, it served his purpose. Still, in spite of everything, he was not left unmolested. Strings were continually being stretched across the corridor, over which he tripped in the dark, and on one occasion, while dressed for the part of 'Black Isaac, or the Huntsman of Hogley Woods' , he met with a severe fall, through treading on a butter-slide, which the twins had constructed from the entrance of the Tapestry Chamber to the top of the oak staircase. This last insult so enraged him, that he resolved to make one final effort to assert his dignity and social position, and determined to visit the insolent young Etonians the next night in his celebrated character of 'Reckless Rupert, or the Headless Earl' .

接下来的一天里，幽灵非常虚弱疲惫，过去四个星期的紧张焦虑从这时开始报应在他身上。他的神经已经完全崩溃，最细微的声响都能把他吓得跳起来。他在自己的房间里呆了五天，最终还是决定不再理会书房地板上的血渍。奥蒂斯一家既然不喜欢血渍，当然也就配不上这样东西。显而易见，他们是一种物质层面的低贱存在，根本无法欣赏审美现象的象征价值。当然，关于显灵以及灵体发展的问题完全是另一回事，而且根本不在他的掌握之内。他只知道自己的神圣职责是每个星期在走廊上现一次身、每个月的第一和第三个星期三在那扇巨大的凸肚窗边上叽里呱啦一通，而且想不出怎样才能逃避这份义务同时又不失体面。他的生活十分邪恶，这一点千真万确。但是，从另一方面来看，他又是所有超自然事物中最恪尽职守的一个。因此，接下来的三个星期六，他还是一如既往地在夜里十二点到三点之间踏上走廊，同时做好一切可能的防备，免得让人听见或者看见。他脱去长靴，穿上黑天鹅绒的大斗篷，以尽可能轻的脚步在虫蛀过的古老地板上走，还仔细用“旭日牌”润滑油来润一润自己的镣铐。我得说一句，他是克服了巨大的困难才鼓足勇气用上最后那条保护措施的。勉强归勉强，一天晚上，他还是趁这家人吃晚饭的时候溜进了奥蒂斯先生的卧室，拿走了那瓶润滑油。刚开始他觉得有点儿难为情，后来却相当理智地看到了这东西优点很多，对自己的目的也确有帮助。可是，尽管做了这许多努力，他还是没能躲过骚扰。走廊里总是拉着绳子，在黑暗中行走的他往往会被绊倒。还有一次，双胞胎兄弟在挂毯陈列室入口到橡木楼梯顶端之间的地面上涂了黄油，打扮成“黑色艾萨克”、又称“霍格莱林地猎手”的他踩到上面，狠狠地摔了一跤。最后这次凌辱让他怒不可遏，决定在次日晚上扮成著名的“无情鲁珀特”、又称“无头伯爵”去造访那两个无礼的伊顿学童，为自己的尊严和社会地位殊死一搏。

他一如既往地在夜里踏上走廊，尽可能不让人听见或者看见，却还是没能躲过骚扰。

He had not appeared in this disguise for more than seventy years; in fact, not since he had so frightened pretty Lady Barbara Modish by means of it, that she suddenly broke off her engagement with the present Lord Canterville's grandfather, and ran away to Gretna Green⁽¹⁷⁾ with handsome Jack Castleton, declaring that nothing in the world would induce her to marry into a family that allowed such a horrible phantom to walk up and down the terrace at twilight. Poor Jack was afterwards shot in a duel by Lord Canterville on Wandsworth Common⁽¹⁸⁾ and Lady Barbara died of a broken heart at Tunbridge Wells⁽¹⁹⁾ before the year was out, so, in every way, it had been a great success. It was, however, an extremely difficult 'make-up' , if I may use such a theatrical expression in connection with one of the greatest mysteries of the supernatural, or, to employ a more scientific term, the higher-natural world, and it took him fully three hours to make his preparations. At last everything was ready, and he was very pleased with his appearance. The big leather riding-boots that went with the dress were just a little too large for him, and he could only find one of the two horse-pistols, but, on the whole, he was quite satisfied, and at a quarter past one he glided out of the wainscoting and crept down the corridor. On reaching the room occupied by the twins, which I should mention was called the Blue Bedchamber, on account of the colour of its hangings, he found the door just ajar. Wishing to make an effective entrance, he flung it wide open, when a heavy jug of water fell right down on him, wetting him to the skin, and just missing his left shoulder by a couple of inches. At the same moment he heard stifled shrieks of laughter proceeding from the four-post bed. The shock to his nervous system was so great that he fled back to his room as hard as he could go, and the next day he was laid up with a severe cold. The only thing that at all consoled him in the whole affair was the fact that he had not brought his head with him, for, had he done so, the consequences might have been very serious.

他已经有七十年没用过这套装扮了；事实上，这套装扮的最后一个受害人便是漂亮的芭芭拉·莫迪什夫人。当时，吓坏了的夫人突然决定和现任坎特维尔勋爵的祖父解除婚约，跟着就和英俊的杰克·卡斯尔顿私奔去了格雷特纳格林镇，声称自己无论如何也不会嫁到这家来，因为他们居然允许一个如此可怕的幽灵在黄昏的露台上走来走去。后来，可怜的杰克在决斗中被坎特维尔勋爵枪杀在了旺兹沃思公地上，而芭芭拉夫人年没过完便因心碎死在了坦布里奇韦尔斯镇。因此，不管从哪方面来说，那次演出都是个巨大的成功。不过，这个“妆”难度极高，如果“妆”这样的剧场用语可以用在坎特维尔幽灵这堪称超自然世界——科学点儿说，是高等自然世界——最了不起的神秘事物之一身上的话。他用了整整三个小时才打扮停当，大功最终告成之后，便十分得意于自己的扮相。配搭衣服的皮马靴稍微有点儿大，两把马枪也只找到了一把，不过他整体上还是相当满意，并在夜里一点一刻飘出壁板，顺着走廊偷偷摸摸地飘了过去。到了双胞胎兄弟的房间——我得提一下，那房间名为“蓝卧室”，是因房间壁挂的颜色而得名——他发现门半掩着，为了制造出惊人的出场效果，他将门一把推开。说时迟那时快，一个装满了水的沉重罐子兜头打落，浇得他全身湿透之外，还差一点儿就砸到了他的左肩。与此同时，他听到房里的四柱床上传来了闷闷的尖声轻笑。这打击令他的神经系统不堪负荷，于是他用尽残余的力量逃回了自己的房间。第二天，严重的感冒让他不得不一直躺在床上。整件事情里只有一点能让他觉得些许安慰，那就是他去的时候没带着自己的脑袋，如若不然，后果可能会非常严重。

He now gave up all hope of ever frightening this rude Ameri-can family, and contented himself, as a rule, with creeping about the passages in list slippers, with a thick red muffler round his throat for fear of draughts, and a small arquebuse⁽²⁰⁾ in case he should be attacked by the twins. The final blow he received occurred on the 19th of September. He had gone downstairs to the great entrance-hall, feeling sure that there, at any rate, he would be quite unmolested, and was amusing himself by making satirical remarks on the large Saroni photographs⁽²¹⁾ of the United States Minister and his wife, which had now taken the place of the Canterville family pictures. He was simply but neatly clad in a long shroud, spotted with churchyard mould, had tied up his jaw with a strip of yellow linen, and carried a small lantern and a sexton's spade. In fact, he was dressed for the character of 'Jonas the Graveless, or the Corpse-Snatcher of Chertsey Barn' , one of his most remarkable impersonations, and one which the Cantervilles had every reason to remember, as it was the real origin of their quarrel with their neighbour, Lord Rufford. It was about a quarter past two o' clock in the morning, and, as far as he could ascertain, no one was stirring. As he was strolling towards the library, however, to see if there were any traces left of the blood-stain, suddenly there leaped out on him from a dark corner two figures, who waved their arms wildly above their heads, and shrieked out 'BOO!' in his ear.

Seized with a panic, which, under the circumstances, was only natural, he rushed for the staircase, but found Washington Otis waiting for him there with the big garden-syringe; and being thus hemmed in by his enemies on every side, and driven almost to bay, he vanished into the great iron stove which, fortunately for him, was not lit, and had to make his way home through the flues and chimneys, arriving at his own room in a terrible state of dirt, disorder and despair.

到了现在，他已经完全放弃，不再奢望能吓住这个粗鲁的美国家庭，只能跟往常一样满足于在走道里偷偷摸摸地现身。他穿着有系带的拖鞋，脖子上裹着厚厚的红围巾，免得喉咙里漏气被人听见，还随身携带着一把小小的火绳枪，以便在双胞胎兄弟袭来的时候用来自卫。九月十九日，最后的打击降临到了他的头上。这一天，他下楼去了宽敞的门厅，觉得这里无论如何不会有人来骚扰自己。门厅里原本挂着坎特维尔家族的肖像画，如今已经换上了出自萨罗尼之手的美国公使夫妇的巨幅照片。他对着这些照片冷嘲热讽，由此感到颇为有趣。他打扮得简单却又干净利落，身披一袭洒着墓地泥土的长长尸衣，下巴上绑一根黄色的亚麻布条，手里还拿着一个小灯笼和一把掘墓人用的铲子。事实上，他这是在扮“无墓孤魂乔纳斯”，也就是“彻特西谷仓的夺尸鬼”。那是他最为不同凡响的扮相之一，给坎特维尔家的人留下了无法磨灭的印象，因为坎特维尔家和邻居拉福德勋爵之间的争执正是由此而来。当时大概是夜里两点一刻，而他也确信自己没有惊动任何人。可是，正当他慢慢地飘向书房，想看看那块血渍还有没有一点残痕的时候，突然从黑暗的角落里跳出了两个身影，手臂在头顶上乱挥，还冲着他的耳朵尖叫了一声“噗！”

忽然间遇上这种局面，他自然是惊惶失措，赶紧往楼梯方向逃，却发现华盛顿·奥蒂斯拿着浇花用的巨大洒水器在那里等他。

After this he was not seen again on any nocturnal expedition. The twins lay in wait for him on several occasions, and strewed the passages with nutshells every night to the great annoyance of their parents and the servants, but it was of no avail. It was quite evident that his feelings were so wounded that he would not appear. Mr Otis consequently resumed his great work on the history of the Democratic Party, on which he had been engaged for some years; Mrs Otis organised a wonderful clam bake, which amazed the whole county; the boys took to lacrosse, euchre, poker, and other American national games; and Virginia rode about the lanes on her pony, accompanied by the young Duke of Cheshire, who had come to spend the last week of his holidays at Canterville Chase. It was generally assumed that the ghost had gone away, and, in fact, Mr Otis wrote a letter to that effect to Lord Canterville, who, in reply, expressed his great pleasure at the news, and sent his best congratulations to the Minister's worthy wife.

身处敌人的包围之中，走投无路的他只好躲进了厅里那个巨大的铁炉子。还好，炉子里没有生火，于是他通过暖气管和烟囱逃回了自己的房间，满身灰土，狼狈到了极点，心里充满绝望与茫然。

这之后，屋子里再也看不见幽灵夜间巡游的身影了。双胞胎兄弟又打了几次埋伏，而且每天夜里都在走道里撒上坚果壳，弄得自己的父母和仆人们非常恼火，但却徒劳无功。很显然，幽灵的情感受到了极大的伤害，再也不会现身了。于是，奥蒂斯先生又开始写自己那本关于民主党历史的伟大著作，那本书已经耗费了他数年的心血；奥蒂斯太太操办了一次绝妙的海鲜烧烤宴会，整个郡都为之轰动；家里的男孩子们开始玩长曲棍球、尤克牌和梭哈，以及其他风行于美国的游戏；弗吉尼娅则骑着自己的小马在附近的小路上四处游逛，由年轻的柴郡公爵陪同，后者是来坎特维尔猎场打发假日的最后一个星期的。大家都认为幽灵已经去了别的地方，奥蒂斯先生还写信给坎特维尔勋爵说了这件事情。坎特维尔勋爵在回信里说自己很高兴听到这个消息，还向公使先生那位杰出的妻子表示了最热烈的祝贺。

The Otises, however, were deceived, for the ghost was still in the house, and though now almost an invalid, was by no means ready to let matters rest, particularly as he heard that among the guests was the young Duke of Cheshire, whose grand-uncle, Lord Francis Stilton, had once bet a hundred guineas with Colonel Carbury that he would play dice with the Canterville ghost, and was found the next morning lying on the floor of the card-room in such a helpless paralytic state, that though he lived on to a great age, he was never able to say anything again but 'Double Sixes' . The story was well known at the time, though, of course, out of respect for the feelings of the two noble families, every attempt was made to hush it up; and a full account of all the circumstances connected with it will be found in the third volume of Lord Tattle's Recollections of the Prince Regent⁽²²⁾ and his Friends. The ghost, then, was naturally very anxious to show that he had not lost his influence over the Stiltons, with whom, indeed, he was distantly connected, his own first cousin having been married en secondes noces, the Sieur de Bulkeley, from whom, as everyone knows, the Dukes of Cheshire are lineally descended. Accordingly, he made arrangements for appearing to Virginia's little lover in his celebrated impersonation of 'The Vampire Monk, or the Bloodless Benedictine' , a performance so horrible that when old Lady Startup saw it, which she did on one fatal New Year's Eve, in the year 1764, she went off into the most piercing shrieks, which culminated in violent apoplexy, and died in three days, after disinheriting the Cantervilles, who were her nearest relations, and leaving all her money to her London apothecary. At the last moment, however, his terror of the twins prevented his leaving his room, and the little Duke slept in peace under the great feathered canopy in the Royal Bedchamber, and dreamed of Virginia.

不过，奥蒂斯一家让假象给蒙骗了，因为幽灵还在这屋子里，虽然已经差不多成了残疾，但却绝没有就此罢休的意思。听说柴郡公爵也在这里作客的时候，他就更是跃跃欲试，因为公爵的叔祖弗朗西斯·斯蒂尔顿勋爵曾经跟卡伯里上校打过一百畿尼的赌，说自己敢跟坎特维尔幽灵玩骰子，结果第二天早上，人们发现斯蒂尔顿勋爵躺在桥牌室的地板上，进入了完全无助的瘫痪状态。他吓得丢了魂儿，此后虽然得享高寿，但却再也没能说出“两个六”之外的话来。当然，为了照顾两个贵族家庭的感情，当时的人们用尽一切努力来遮掩这件事情，可它还是传得众人皆知，而塔特尔勋爵的《回忆摄政亲王和他的朋友们》第三卷中也有关于此事前前后后的详尽记载。有了这段因果，幽灵急于证明自己依然可以对斯蒂尔顿这家人施加影响也就完全可以理解了。实际上，幽灵自己也跟这家人沾着远亲：他最大的堂妹的第二任丈夫是德·巴尔克利先生，众所周知，后者就是柴郡公爵的直系祖先。这么着，幽灵做好了准备，打算以“吸血僧侣”、又称“面无血色的本笃会修士”的著名扮相出现在弗吉尼娅的小情人面前。这一扮相恐怖之极，有斯塔厄普老夫人的经历为证。一七六四年那个不详的新年前夜，见了鬼的老夫人发出了无比凄厉的尖叫，并以极度痛苦的中风作为结束。三天之后夫人就去世了，死之前剥夺了自己最近亲属坎特维尔一家的继承权，把所有财产都留给了她在伦敦的药剂师。不过，对双胞胎兄弟的恐惧迫使幽灵在最后一刻改了主意，没敢走出自己的房间。年轻的公爵于是得以在王家卧室那巨大的羽毛华盖下安然入睡，还梦到了弗吉尼娅。

Chapter 5
第五章

A few days after this, Virginia and her curly-haired cavalier went out riding on Brockley meadows, where she tore her habit so badly in getting through a hedge, that, on their return home, she made up her mind to go up by the back staircase so as not to be seen. As she was running past the Tapestry Chamber, the door of which happened to be open, she fancied she saw someone inside, and thinking it was her mother's maid, who sometimes used to bring her work there, looked in to ask her to mend her habit. To her immense surprise, however, it was the Canterville Ghost himself! He was sitting by the window, watching the ruined gold of the yellowing trees fly through the air, and the red leaves dancing madly down the long avenue. His head was leaning on his hand, and his whole attitude was one of extreme depression. Indeed, so forlorn, and so much out of repair did he look, that little Virginia, whose first idea had been to run away and lock herself in her room, was filled with pity, and determined to try and comfort him. So light was her footfall, and so deep his melancholy, that he was not aware of her presence till she spoke to him.

'I am so sorry for you,' she said, 'but my brothers are going back to Eton tomorrow, and then, if you behave yourself, no one will annoy you.'

几天之后，弗吉尼娅和她的卷发骑士到布罗克利牧场去骑马。在穿过一道树篱的时候，她的骑装被扯得不成样子。为了不让人看到自己的狼狈相，回家时她便决定从后面的楼梯上楼。跑过挂毯陈列室的时候，她看到门刚好开着，里面似乎有个人影。奥蒂斯太太的女仆有时会把活计拿到那间房里去做，于是她以为自己瞥见的就是那个女仆，便往房里看了看，打算叫她帮自己补骑装。她万万没有想到，房里的竟然正是坎特维尔幽灵！幽灵坐在窗边，看金色的落叶从渐渐枯黄的树上飘落空中、红叶在长长的林阴道上疯狂乱舞。他用手支着头，整个人看起来极度地消沉。看到他，弗吉尼娅的第一个念头是赶紧逃开，把自己关到房间里去，可他的样子是那样凄凉、那样绝望，她不由得对他充满了同情，决定去给他一些安慰。她的脚步是那样轻盈，而他的忧伤又是那样深沉，因此直到她开口说话他才意识到了她的存在。

“我非常非常地同情你，”她说道，“不过我那两个弟弟明天就要回伊顿去了。这样呢，要是你规矩一点的话，就没有人会来烦你了。”

'It is absurd asking me to behave myself,' he answered, looking round in astonishment at the pretty little girl who had ventured to address him, 'quite absurd. I must rattle my chains, and groan through keyholes, and walk about at night, if that is what you mean. It is my only reason for existing.'

'It is no reason at all for existing, and you know you have been very wicked. Mrs Umney told us, the first day we arrived here, that you had killed your wife.'

'Well, I quite admit it,' said the Ghost petulantly, 'but it was a purely family matter, and concerned no one else.'

'It is very wrong to kill anyone,' said Virginia, who at times had a sweet Puritan gravity, caught from some old New England ancestor.

'Oh, I hate the cheap severity of abstract ethics! My wife was very plain, never had my ruffs properly starched, and knew nothing about cookery. Why, there was a buck I had shot in Hogley Woods, a magnificent pricket, and do you know how she had it sent up to table? However, it is no matter now, for it is all over, and I don't think it was very nice of her brothers to starve me to death, though I did kill her.'

'Starve you to death? Oh, Mr Ghost, I mean Sir Simon, are you hungry? I have a sandwich in my case. Would you like it?'

'No, thank you, I never eat anything now; but it is very kind of you, all the same, and you are much nicer than the rest of your horrid, rude, vulgar, dishonest family.'

“叫我规矩点儿是没道理的，”幽灵吃惊地回头看着这个斗胆跟自己说话的可爱女孩儿，然后回答道，“完全没道理。要说规矩的话，那我必须得把锁链弄得哗啦啦响、冲着锁眼儿呻吟叹息，夜里还必须得走来走去，那是我存在的唯一理由。”

“那根本不是什么存在的理由，而你自己也知道自己非常邪恶。我们刚到这儿的那一天，乌姆尼太太就跟我们说了，说你把自己的妻子给杀了。”

“是吗，这我绝不否认，”幽灵怒冲冲地说道，“可那只是我家里的事情，跟任何人都没关系。”

“不管杀谁都是件非常错误的事，”弗吉尼娅说道。她时不时会表现出一种讨人喜欢的清教徒式的严肃，这样的严肃是从某位新英格兰祖先那里继承来的。

“哦，那些故作正经的抽象的伦理教条真是让我讨厌！我妻子长得非常普通，总也浆不好我的衣服领子，对烹调更是一窍不通。咳，有次我在霍格莱树林打到一头鹿，一头非常不错的两岁小鹿，你知道她是怎么把它弄上餐桌的吗？算了，这些都没关系了，过去就过去了。我是杀了她，可她那些兄弟把我活活饿死也不是什么君子行为。”

“把你饿死？噢，幽灵先生，我是说西蒙爵士，那你现在饿吗？我餐盒里有个三明治，你要吃吗？”

“不用，谢谢，现在我什么都不用吃了。不管怎样，还是谢谢你的好意，你比你那些恐怖、粗野、庸俗又不诚实的家人好多了。”

'Stop!' cried Virginia, stamping her foot, 'it is you who are rude, and horrid, and vulgar, and as for dishonesty, you know you stole the paints out of my box to try and furbish up that ridiculous blood-stain in the library. First you took all my reds, including the vermilion, and I couldn't do any more sunsets, then you took the emerald-green and the chrome-yellow, and finally I had nothing left but indigo and Chinese white, and could only do moonlight scenes, which are always depressing to look at, and not at all easy to paint. I never told on you, though I was very much annoyed, and it was most ridiculous, the whole thing; for who ever heard of emerald-green blood?'

'Well, really,' said the Ghost, rather meekly, 'what was I to do? It is a very difficult thing to get real blood nowadays, and as your brother began it all with his Paragon Detergent, I certainly saw no reason why I should not have your paints. As for colour, that is always a matter of taste: the Cantervilles have blue blood, for instance, the very bluest in England; but I know you Americans don't care for things of this kind.'

'You know nothing about it, and the best thing you can do is to emigrate and improve your mind. My father will be only too happy to give you a free passage, and though there is a heavy duty on spirits⁽²³⁾ of every kind, there will be no difficulty about the Custom House, as the officers are all Democrats. Once in New York, you are sure to be a great success. I know lots of people there who would give a hundred thousand dollars to have a grandfather, and much more than that to have a family Ghost.'

“别说了！”弗吉尼娅叫了一声，还跺了跺脚，“你才又粗野、又恐怖、又庸俗，要说不诚实的话，你自己最清楚，就是你偷了我颜料盒里的颜料、拿去涂书房里那块荒唐的血渍。一开始你偷走了所有的红色，连朱红也没留下，搞得我都画不成日落了。后来你又偷走翡翠绿和铬黄，到头来我只剩下了靛蓝和锌白，只能画月夜的景象，可那景象总是让人心情郁闷，而且还很不好画。我虽然很是苦恼，可也从来没告发过你。还有，这整件事情都非常非常的荒唐，谁见过翡翠绿色的血呢？”

“呃，是吗，”幽灵说道，口气相当温和，“可我又能怎么样呢？现在是很难弄到真正的血的，再说了，既然你哥哥可以用什么 '典范牌' 清洁剂来挑起事端，那我拿你的颜料也没什么不对的地方。要说颜色嘛，那向来只是个品味问题：比方说，坎特维尔家族的血就是蓝色的，英格兰最蓝的蓝色。不过我知道，你们美国人对这种东西是不感兴趣的。”

“你根本就不了解美国，我看你最好是出国去长长见识。我父亲会非常乐意给你个免费签证的。尽管美国对所有酒精饮料收很高的税，但海关方面也不会有什么麻烦，因为那儿的官员都是民主党人。一旦到了纽约，你准保能大获成功。我知道那儿有很多人肯花十万美元来买个祖父，而他们为家族幽灵出的价钱还要高得多。”

'I don't think I should like America.'

'I suppose because we have no ruins and no curiosities,' said Virginia satirically.

'No ruins! No curiosities!' answered the Ghost, 'you have your navy and your manners.'

'Good evening; I will go and ask papa to get the twins an extra week's holiday.'

'Please don't go, Miss Virginia,' he cried; 'I am so lonely and so unhappy, and I really don't know what to do. I want to go to sleep and I cannot.'

'That's quite absurd! You have merely to go to bed and blow out the candle. It is very difficult sometimes to keep awake, especially at church, but there is no difficulty at all about sleeping. Why, even babies know how to do that, and they are not very clever.'

'I have not slept for three hundred years,' he said sadly, and Virginia's beautiful blue eyes opened in wonder; 'for three hundred years I have not slept, and I am so tired.'

Virginia grew quite grave, and her little lips trembled like rose-leaves. She came towards him, and kneeling down at his side, looked up into his old withered face.

'Poor, poor Ghost,' she murmured, 'have you no place where you can sleep?'

'Far away beyond the pine woods,' he answered, in a low dreamy voice, 'there is a little garden. There the grass grows long and deep, there are the great white stars of the hemlock flower, there the nightingale sings all night long. All night long he sings, and the cold, crystal moon looks down, and the yew tree spreads out its giant arms over the sleepers.'

“照我看，我是不会喜欢美国的。”

“要我说，原因就是我们没有废墟，也没有古董，”弗吉尼娅不无讽刺地说。

“不用废墟！不用古董！”幽灵回答道，“反正你们有海军，还有礼貌。”

“晚安。我要去找爸爸了，叫他给双胞胎兄弟多放一个星期假。”

“请你别走，弗吉尼娅小姐，”幽灵叫道，“我实在是孤独极了、 痛苦极了，真的不知该怎么办才好。我想睡觉，可是又睡不着。”

“你这么说可真荒唐！你只要上床去，然后吹灭蜡烛就行了。要保持清醒有时的确非常困难，尤其是在教堂里，可睡觉却绝对不是什么难事儿。不是吗，就算婴孩都知道怎么睡觉，虽然他们也不是特别聪明。”

“我已经三百年没睡过觉了，”幽灵悲伤地说道，弗吉尼娅惊奇地瞪大了她那双美丽的蓝眼睛。“三百年没睡觉，我已经筋疲力尽了。”

弗吉尼娅的脸变得十分阴郁，小小的嘴唇像玫瑰叶子一般颤抖起来。她朝他走了过去，然后跪倒在他的身边，抬起头看着他那张苍老枯干的脸。

“可怜啊，可怜的幽灵，”她轻声念叨着，“你没有睡觉的地方吗？”

“远处的松树林外，”幽灵用梦一般的低沉声音回答道，“有一座小花园。那里的草又长又深，那里的毒芹草开着星星般美丽的白色花朵，那里的夜莺整夜歌唱。他整夜整夜地唱啊唱，冷冷的水晶般的月亮俯瞰下方，紫杉树张开巨大的臂膀，覆盖着安息的人们。”

Virginia's eyes grew dim with tears, and she hid her face in her hands.

'You mean the Garden of Death⁽²⁴⁾ ' she whispered.

'Yes, Death. Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace. You can help me. You can open for me the portals of Death's house, for Love is always with you, and Love is stronger than Death is.'

Virginia trembled, a cold shudder ran through her, and for a few moments there was silence. She felt as if she was in a terrible dream.

Then the Ghost spoke again, and his voice sounded like the sighing of the wind.

'Have you ever read the old prophecy on the library window?'

'Oh, often,' cried the little girl, looking up; 'I know it quite well. It is painted in curious black letters, and it is difficult to read. There are only six lines:

When a golden girl can win

Prayer from out the lips of sin,

When the barren almond bears,

And a little child give away its tears,

Then shall all the house be still

And peace come to Canterville.

But I don't know what they mean.'

弗吉尼娅泪眼蒙，用双手捂住了脸。

“你说的是死亡之园，”她轻轻地说道。

“是啊，死亡，死亡该有多美啊！躺在软软的褐色泥土之中，让青草在你头上摇晃，倾听着寂静的声音，没有昨天，没有明天，忘却时间，忘怀生命，从此静谧安宁。你可以帮我，帮我打开死亡之屋的大门，因为你心里总是有爱，而爱比死更为强大。”

弗吉尼娅颤抖起来，一股寒意穿过她的全身。有那么一会儿，他们两个都没再说话。恍惚之间，她觉得自己是在一个可怕的梦里。

幽灵又开了口，声音像风的叹息。

“你读过书房窗子上那篇古老的预言吗？”

“噢，我经常读，”小女孩叫了一声，抬起了头，“我记得很清楚，那预言是用古怪的黑体字写的，非常难认。它一共只有六行：

当一个金子般的女孩

从罪恶的口中赢来感戴，

当无果的杏树硕果累累，

当一个小孩洒下泪水，

这座宅院会归于平静，

坎特维尔将重获安宁。

可我不知道这些话是什么意思。”

'They mean,' he said sadly, 'that you must weep with me for my sins, because I have no tears, and pray with me for my soul, because I have no faith, and then, if you have always been sweet, and good, and gentle, the Angel of Death will have mercy on me. You will see fearful shapes in darkness, and wicked voices will whisper in your ear, but they will not harm you, for against the purity of a little child the powers of hell cannot prevail.'

Virginia made no answer, and the Ghost wrung his hands in wild despair as he looked down at her bowed golden head. Suddenly she stood up, very pale, and with a strange light in her eyes. 'I am not afraid,' she said firmly, 'and I will ask the Angel to have mercy on you.'

He rose from his seat with a faint cry of joy, and taking her hand bent over it with old-fashioned grace and kissed it. His fingers were as cold as ice, and his lips burned like fire, but Virginia did not falter, as he led her across the dusky room. On the faded green tapestry were broidered little huntsmen. They blew their tasselled horns and with their tiny hands waved to her to go back. 'Go back! little Virginia,' they cried, 'go back!' but the Ghost clutched her hand more tightly, and she shut her eyes against them. Horrible animals with lizard tails, and goggle eyes, blinked at her from the carven chimney-piece, and murmured 'Beware! little Virginia, beware! we may never see you again,' but the Ghost glided on more swiftly, and Virginia did not listen. When they reached the end of the room he stopped, and muttered some words she could not understand. She opened her eyes, and saw the wall slowly fading away like a mist, and a great black cavern in front of her. A bitter cold wind swept round them, and she felt something pulling at her dress. 'Quick, quick,' cried the Ghost, 'or it will be too late,' and, in a moment, the wainscoting had closed behind them, and the Tapestry Chamber was empty.

“这些话的意思是，”幽灵悲伤地说道，“你必须得跟我一起，为我的罪过哭泣，因为我没有泪水。你还得为我的灵魂祈祷，因为我没有信仰。如果你一直都是这么可爱、善良、温柔的话，死亡天使就会对我施以怜悯。你会看到可怕的影子在黑暗里摇荡，听到邪恶的声音在耳中低语，可他们伤害不了你，因为地狱的种种力量对小孩子的纯真是无能为力的。”

弗吉尼娅没有回答。看着她低垂的金色头颅，幽灵在难以忍受的绝望之中绞着自己的双手。突然间，她站了起来，脸色苍白，眼中闪着奇异的光芒。“我不怕，”她斩钉截铁地说，“我会叫天使给你怜悯的。”

幽灵发出一声微弱的喜悦叫喊，从座位上起了身，拉着她的手，躬身行了一个古式的礼，然后又吻了吻她的手。他的手指冷得像冰，嘴唇又烫得像火，可弗吉尼娅没有退缩，让他领着自己穿过了昏暗的房间。墙上褪色的绿色挂毯上绣着一些小小的猎手，他们纷纷吹起饰有流苏的号角，挥动着小小的手臂让她回去。“回去！小弗吉尼娅，”他们喊道，“回去！”可是，幽灵把她的手抓得更紧，而她闭上了眼睛，不去看那些猎手。壁炉架上雕着一些长有蜥蜴尾巴、眼睛凸出的可怕动物，它们一边冲她眨眼、一边咕哝着：“小心呀！小弗吉尼娅，小心！我们可能再也见不着你了。”可是，幽灵加快速度往前飘，而她听而不闻。等他们来到房间尽头的时候，幽灵停了下来，咕哝了几句她听不明白的话。她睁开眼睛，看见墙壁像雾气一般慢慢消散，眼前出现了一个巨大的黑洞。一阵刺骨的寒风从他们身边扫过，她觉得有什么东西在拽自己的衣裳。“快，快，”幽灵叫道，“要不然就来不及了。”转眼之间，他们身后的壁板合拢如初，挂毯陈列室里就此空无一人。

Chapter 6
第六章

About ten minutes later, the bell rang for tea, and, as Virginia did not come down, Mrs Otis sent up one of the footmen to tell her. After a little time he returned and said that he could not find Miss Virginia anywhere. As she was in the habit of going out to the garden every evening to get flowers for the dinner-table, Mrs Otis was not at all alarmed at first, but when six o'clock struck, and Virginia did not appear, she became really agitated, and sent the boys out to look for her, while she herself and Mr Otis searched every room in the house. At half past six the boys came back and said that they could find no trace of their sister anywhere. They were all now in the greatest state of excitement, and did not know what to do, when Mr Otis suddenly remembered that, some few days before, he had given a band of gypsies permission to camp in the park. He accordingly at once set off for Blackfell Hollow, where he knew they were, accompanied by his eldest son and two of the farm-servants. The little Duke of Cheshire, who was perfectly frantic with anxiety, begged hard to be allowed to go too, but Mr Otis would not allow him, as he was afraid there might be a scuffle. On arriving at the spot, however, he found that the gypsies had gone, and it was evident that their departure had been rather sudden, as the fire was still burning, and some plates were lying on the grass. Having sent off Washington and the two men to scour the district, he ran home, and despatched telegrams to all the police inspectors in the county, telling them to look out for a little girl who had been kidnapped by tramps or gypsies. He then ordered his horse to be brought round, and, after insisting on his wife and the three boys sitting down to dinner, rode off down the Ascot Road with a groom. He had hardly, however, gone a couple of miles when he heard somebody galloping after him, and, looking round, saw the little Duke coming up on his pony, with his face very flushed and no hat. 'I' m awfully sorry, Mr Otis,' gasped out the boy, 'but I can't eat any dinner as long as Virginia is lost. Please, don't be angry with me; if you had let us be engaged last year, there would never have been all this trouble. You won't send me back, will you? I can't go! I won't go!'

大约十分钟之后，喝下午茶的铃声响了。看到弗吉尼娅没有下楼，奥蒂斯太太便打发一个男仆去叫她。没过一会儿，男仆回来说哪里都找不到弗吉尼娅。刚开始，奥蒂斯太太一点儿也没在意，因为弗吉尼娅每天傍晚都要去花园里采花来装点餐桌。可是，钟敲六点的时候弗吉尼娅还没露面，奥蒂斯太太便着起急来。她让男孩子们到外面去找，自己则和奥蒂斯先生一起一间房一间房地挨个儿搜。六点半钟的时候，男孩子们回来说哪里都不见弗吉尼娅的影子。就在大家都紧张到了极点、不知道如何是好的时候，奥蒂斯先生突然想起来，几天之前，他曾经同意一伙吉普赛人在自家的庄园里扎营。他知道那些吉普赛人目前是在布莱克菲尔洼地，于是即刻动身前往，还带上了自己的大儿子和两个农场里的佣工。年轻的柴郡公爵已经急得发了狂，苦苦央求要一起去，可奥蒂斯先生担心到时会有冲突，因此死活没有同意。到了那片洼地，奥蒂斯先生却发现那些吉普赛人已经走了，而且显然走得很是匆忙，因为营地上的火依然在烧，草地上还扔着一些盘子。他让华盛顿和两个佣工在周围继续搜索，自己则回到家里，给郡里的所有警督都发了电报，让他们留心寻找一个被流浪汉或是吉普赛人绑架的小女孩。这之后，他让人把马牵来，硬逼着妻子和三个男孩子坐下来吃晚饭，然后带着一个马夫沿着阿斯科特路往下骑。可是，刚刚跑出两英里，他就听见身后有人在策马飞奔。回头一看，他发现柴郡公爵骑着自己的小马赶了上来，满脸通红，帽子也没戴。“十二万分抱歉，奥蒂斯先生，”男孩气喘吁吁地说，“可没找着弗吉尼娅我是吃不下饭的。别生我的气，求您了。要是您去年同意我们订婚的话，眼前的麻烦就不会发生了。您不会赶我回去吧？我不能回去！我不想回去！”

The Minister could not help smiling at the handsome young scapegrace, and was a good deal touched at his devotion to Virginia, so leaning down from his horse, he patted him kindly on the shoulders, and said, 'Well, Cecil, if you won't go back I suppose you must come with me, but I must get you a hat at Ascot.'

看着这个相貌英俊的小无赖，公使先生禁不住笑了起来，同时也为他对弗吉尼娅的一往情深而深受感动。于是他在马上俯下身，慈爱地拍了拍男孩的肩膀，说道：“好吧，塞西尔，你要不肯回去，那就跟我一起走吧。不过，到了阿斯科特我一定得给你找顶帽子戴。”

他在马上俯下身，慈爱地拍了拍男孩的肩膀。

'Oh, bother my hat! I want Virginia!' cried the little Duke, laughing, and they galloped on to the railway station. There Mr Otis enquired of the station-master if anyone answering to the description of Virginia had been seen on the platform, but could get no news of her. The station-master, however, wired up and down the line, and assured him that a strict watch would be kept for her, and, after having bought a hat for the little Duke from a linen-draper, who was just putting up his shutters, Mr Otis rode off to Bexley, a village about four miles away, which he was told was a well-known haunt of the gypsies, as there was a large common next to it. Here they roused up the rural policeman, but could get no information from him, and, after riding all over the common, they turned their horses' heads homewards and reached the Chase about eleven o' clock, dead-tired and almost heartbroken. They found Washington and the twins waiting for them at the gatehouse with lanterns, as the avenue was very dark. Not the slightest trace of Virginia had been discovered. The gypsies had been caught on Brockley meadows, but she was not with them, and they had explained their sudden departure by saying that they had mistaken the date of Chorton Fair, and had gone off in a hurry for fear they might be late. Indeed, they had been quite distressed at hearing of Virginia's disappearance, as they were very grateful to Mr Otis for having allowed them to camp in his park, and four of their number had stayed behind to help in the search. The carp-pond had been dragged, and the whole Chase thoroughly gone over, but without any result. It was evident that, for that night at any rate, Virginia was lost to them; and it was in a state of the deepest depression that Mr Otis and the boys walked up to the house, the groom following behind with the two horses and the pony.

In the hall they found a group of frightened servants, and lying on a sofa in the library was poor Mrs Otis, almost out of her mind with terror and anxiety, and having her forehead bathed with eau-de-Cologne by the old housekeeper. Mr Otis at once insisted on her having something to eat, and ordered up supper for the whole party. It was a melancholy meal, as hardly anyone spoke, and even the twins were awestruck and subdued, as they were very fond of their sister. When they had finished, Mr Otis, in spite of the entreaties of the little Duke, ordered them all to bed, saying that nothing more could be done that night, and that he would telegraph in the morning to Scotland Yard for some detectives to be sent down immediately. Just as they were passing out of the dining-room, midnight began to boom from the clock tower, and when the last stroke sounded they heard a crash and a sudden shrill cry; a dreadful peal of thunder shook the house, a strain of unearthly music floated through the air, a panel at the top of the staircase flew back with a loud noise, and out on the landing, looking very pale and white, with a little casket in her hand, stepped Virginia. In a moment they had all rushed up to her. Mrs Otis clasped her passionately in her arms, the Duke smothered her with violent kisses, and the twins executed a wild war-dance round the group.

“噢，别管什么帽子！我只要弗吉尼娅！”小公爵笑着叫了一声。于是他们继续往前飞奔，最后到了火车站。奥蒂斯先生问站长，有没有在站台上看到过跟弗吉尼娅相像的人，但却没得到什么消息。不过，站长给沿线车站去了电报，还跟奥蒂斯先生保证说他们会密切注意弗吉尼娅的去向。奥蒂斯先生从一个正准备打烊的亚麻制品店里给小公爵买了顶帽子，然后驱马赶往大约四英里之外的贝克斯利村，因为他听说那里是吉普赛人爱去的地方，因为村边有一块宽阔的公地。到了那里，他们叫醒了村里的警察，可他也没有什么线索。他们骑着马在公地上来来回回找了一遍，然后掉头往家里走，并在大约十一点钟的时候赶回了坎特维尔猎场，两个人都筋疲力尽、伤心欲绝。华盛顿和双胞胎兄弟提着灯笼在门房里等他们，因为林阴道上已是一片漆黑。弗吉尼娅依旧踪影全无。人们在布罗克利牧场上抓到了那些吉普赛人，可弗吉尼娅没跟他们在一起，而他们说自己匆匆离去是怕赶不上柯顿集市，因为他们搞错了集市的日子。实际上，他们听说弗吉尼娅失踪的消息都感到非常难过，还留了四个人来帮着寻找，因为他们很感激奥蒂斯先生允许自己在他家的庄园里扎营。接下来，他们在鲤鱼池里捞了一番，又把整个坎特维尔猎场彻底搜了一遍，却都没有任何结果。很显然，他们已经找不到弗吉尼娅了，至少这天晚上是不行了。带着极其沉重的心情，奥蒂斯先生和男孩子们往屋子走去，马夫牵着两匹大马和一匹小马跟在后面。

进了大厅，他们看到一群惊慌失措的仆人呆在那儿，可怜的奥蒂斯太太则躺在书房的一张沙发上，几乎被恐惧和焦虑折磨得失去了理智，老管家正在往她的额头上抹花露水。见此情景，奥蒂斯先生立刻逼着她去吃东西，还吩咐仆人给大家准备晚餐。这餐饭气氛非常沉闷，几乎没人说话，就连双胞胎兄弟也变得又严肃又沉默，因为他俩都很喜欢自己的姐姐。吃完饭之后，奥蒂斯先生不顾小公爵的百般恳求，命令他们都上床去睡觉。他说，今天晚上也做不了什么了，而明天一早他就会给苏格兰场去电报，让他们马上派几个侦探过来。就在他们走出餐室的时候，钟楼上传来了午夜的钟声。钟敲最后一响的时候，他们听见了物体相撞的声音和一声突如其来的尖叫。一阵可怕的惊雷撼动了整座房屋，一段离奇诡异的乐声从空中飘过。随着一声巨响，楼梯顶部的一块壁板倒了下来，弗吉尼娅出现在了那里的平台上。她脸色非常的苍白，手里还拿着一个首饰盒。一眨眼的工夫，他们都冲上去到了她的身边。奥蒂斯太太紧紧地把她抱在怀里，小公爵用狂乱的亲吻淹没了她，双胞胎兄弟则绕着他们跳起了疯狂的战舞。

'Good heavens! child, where have you been?' said Mr Otis, rather angrily, thinking that she had been playing some foolish trick on them. 'Cecil and I have been riding all over the country looking for you, and your mother has been frightened to death. You must never play these practical jokes any more.'

'Except on the Ghost! Except on the Ghost!' shrieked the twins, as they capered about.

'My own darling, thank God you are found; you must never leave my side again,' murmured Mrs Otis, as she kissed the trembling child, and smoothed the tangled gold of her hair.

'Papa,' said Virginia quietly, 'I have been with the Ghost. He is dead, and you must come and see him. He had been very wicked, but he was really sorry for all that he had done, and he gave me this box of beautiful jewels before he died.'

“天哪！孩子，你去哪儿了？”奥蒂斯先生问道，口气相当恼怒，因为他以为她是在和大家开什么愚蠢的玩笑。“塞西尔跟我骑着马漫山遍野地找你，你妈妈都快吓死了。你可千万别再搞这种恶作剧了。”

“跟那个幽灵搞可以！跟那个幽灵搞可以！”双胞胎兄弟一边尖叫，一边跳个不停。

“我亲爱的宝贝儿，谢天谢地你可算回来了。以后我再也不让你从我身边离开了，”奥蒂斯太太一边念叨，一边亲吻瑟瑟发抖的孩子，用手理顺她纠结的金色头发。

“爸爸，”弗吉尼娅平静地说道，“我刚才是跟那个幽灵在一起。他已经死了，你来看看他吧。他以前是很邪恶，可他也为自己做过的一切感到非常抱歉。在死之前，他还把这盒漂亮的珠宝给了我。”

The whole family gazed at her in mute amazement, but she was quite grave and serious; and, turning round, she led them through the opening in the wainscoting down a narrow secret corridor, Washington following with a lighted candle, which he had caught up from the table. Finally, they came to a great oak door, studded with rusty nails. When Virginia touched it, it swung back on its heavy hinges, and they found themselves in a little low room, with a vaulted ceiling, and one tiny grated window. Imbedded in the wall was a huge iron ring, and chained to it was a gaunt skeleton, that was stretched out at full length on the stone floor, and seemed to be trying to grasp with its long fleshless fingers an old-fashioned trencher and ewer, that were placed just out of its reach. The jug had evidently been once filled with water, as it was covered inside with green mould. There was nothing on the trencher but a pile of dust. Virginia knelt down beside the skeleton, and, folding her little hands together, began to pray silently, while the rest of the party looked on in wonder at the terrible tragedy whose secret was now disclosed to them.

'Hallo!' suddenly exclaimed one of the twins, who had been looking out of the window to try and discover in what wing of the house the room was situated. 'Hallo! the old withered almond tree has blossomed. I can see the flowers quite plainly in the moonlight.'

'God has forgiven him,' said Virginia gravely, as she rose to her feet, and a beautiful light seemed to illumine her face.

'What an angel you are!' cried the young Duke, and he put his arm round her neck and kissed her.

一家人直愣愣地盯着她，吃惊得说不出话来，可她的表情却既严肃又郑重。接着她转过身，领他们穿过壁板上的那个开口，顺着一条狭窄的秘密通道往下走。华盛顿从桌子上抓起一根点着的蜡烛，也跟着走了进去。到了最后，他们眼前出现了一道高大的橡木门，上面钉着锈迹斑斑的钉子。弗吉尼娅碰了碰那道门，门绕着沉重的门枢转了回去，一下子开了。他们发现自己走进了一个低矮的小房间，房间里有拱顶，还有一个很小的格子窗。墙上嵌着一个巨大的铁环，铁环的链子上锁着一个形状凄凉的骷髅。骷髅在石头地板上伸展到了最大的程度，似乎是想用没有血肉的长长手指去抓面前的古式餐盘和水罐，而那两样东西刚好放在他够不着的地方。水罐里面长满了绿霉，显然是曾经装过水，餐盘里有的则只是一堆尘土。弗吉尼娅跪在骷髅旁边，合上一双小手开始默默地祷告，其他人则惊奇地看着眼前这幕惨酷的悲剧。到了现在，他们终于明白了其中的秘密。

“看哪！”双胞胎兄弟里的一个突然大叫起来，之前他一直在往窗子外面看，想弄明白这个房间是在屋子的哪一侧。“看哪 ！那棵枯萎的老杏树开花了。外面有月光，我可以清楚地看到那些花。”

“上帝已经宽恕他了，”弗吉尼娅一脸严肃地说。说着她站了起来，似乎有一道美丽的光照亮了她的脸庞。

“你真是个天使！”年轻的公爵叫道，跟着便搂住她的脖子，吻了吻她。

Chapter 7
第七章

Four days after these curious incidents a funeral started from Canterville Chase at about eleven o'clock at night. The hearse was drawn by eight black horses, each of which carried on its head a great tuft of nodding ostrich-plumes, and the leaden coffin was covered by a rich purple pall, on which was embroidered in gold the Canterville coat-of-arms. By the side of the hearse and the coaches walked the servants with lighted torches, and the whole procession was wonderfully impressive. Lord Canterville was the chief mourner, having come up specially from Wales to attend the funeral, and sat in the first carriage along with little Virginia. Then came the United States Minister and his wife, then Washington and the three boys, and in the last carriage was Mrs Umney. It was generally felt that, as she had been frightened by the ghost for more than fifty years of her life, she had a right to see the last of him. A deep grave had been dug in the corner of the churchyard, just under the old yew tree, and the service was read in the most impressive manner by the Reverend Augustus Dampier. When the ceremony was over, the servants, according to an old custom observed in the Canterville family, extinguished their torches, and, as the coffin was being lowered into the grave, Virginia stepped forward and laid on it a large cross made of white and pink almond-blossoms. As she did so, the moon came out from behind a cloud, and flooded with its silent silver the little churchyard, and from a distant copse a nightingale began to sing. She thought of the ghost's description of the Garden of Death, her eyes became dim with tears, and she hardly spoke a word during the drive home.

这桩离奇的意外发生四天之后，夜里大约十一点，一次葬礼在坎特维尔猎场宣告开始。拉灵车的是八匹黑马，每匹马头上都垂着一大把鸵鸟羽毛。铅做的棺材上盖着艳紫色的柩衣，上面用金线绣着坎特维尔家族的纹章。灵车和其他马车的旁边走着手持火炬的仆人，整个队列让人叹为观止。专门从威尔士赶来的坎特维尔勋爵是这次的丧主，他和小弗吉尼娅一起坐在第一辆马车里。跟在后面的是美国公使夫妇，再后面是华盛顿和三个小男孩，最后一辆马车里坐的是乌姆尼太太。大家都觉得，既然乌姆尼太太在生命中五十多个年头里一直受着幽灵的惊吓，当然也就有权利见证他的结局。他们在墓园的角落里挖了个深深的墓穴，就在那棵古老的紫杉树下方，而奥古斯塔斯·丹皮尔牧师以最为深刻感人的方式宣读了祷文。仪式结束之时，仆人们按照坎特维尔家的古老习俗熄掉了火炬。在他们把棺材放进墓穴的时候，弗吉尼娅走上前去，把一个用白色和粉色杏花做成的巨大十字架放到了上面。就在她放花的时候，月亮钻出云层，静谧的银光洒满小小的墓园，远处的灌木丛里传来了夜莺的歌唱。她想起幽灵对死亡之园的描述，双眼渐渐笼上了泪光。回家的路上，她几乎一句话也没说。

The next morning, before Lord Canterville went up to town, Mr Otis had an interview with him on the subject of the jewels the ghost had given to Virginia. They were perfectly magnificent, especially a certain ruby necklace with old Venetian setting, which was really a superb specimen of sixteenth-century work, and their value was so great that Mr Otis felt considerable scruples about allowing his daughter to accept them.

'My Lord,' he said, 'I know that in this country mortmain is held to apply to trinkets as well as to land, and it is quite clear to me that these jewels are, or should be, heirlooms in your family. I must beg you, accordingly, to take them to London with you, and to regard them simply as a portion of your property which has been restored to you under certain strange conditions. As for my daughter, she is merely a child, and has as yet, I am glad to say, but little interest in such appurtenances of idle luxury. I am also informed by Mrs Otis, who, I may say, is no mean authority upon Art—having had the privilege of spending several winters in Boston when she was a girl—that these gems are of great monetary worth, and if offered for sale would fetch a tall price. Under these circumstances, Lord Canterville, I feel sure that you will recognise how impossible it would be for me to allow them to remain in the possession of any member of my family; and, indeed, all such vain gauds and toys, however suitable or necessary to the dignity of the British aristocracy, would be completely out of place among those who have been brought up on the severe, and I believe immortal, principles of Republican simplicity. Perhaps I should mention that Virginia is very anxious that you should allow her to retain the box as a memento of your unfortunate but misguided ancestor. As it is extremely old, and consequently a good deal out of repair, you may perhaps think fit to comply with her request. For my own part, I confess I am a good deal surprised to find a child of mine expressing sympathy with mediaevalism in any form, and can only account for it by the fact that Virginia was born in one of your London suburbs shortly after Mrs Otis had returned from a trip to Athens.'

第二天早上，在坎特维尔勋爵动身进城之前，奥蒂斯先生跟他就幽灵送给弗吉尼娅的珠宝进行了一番讨论。这些珠宝非常漂亮，其中尤为出色的是一条红宝石项链。项链的坠托来自古代的威尼斯，堪称十六世纪珠宝工艺的典范之作。由于珠宝的价值实在惊人，奥蒂斯先生便很是踌躇，不知道该不该让女儿接受这样的礼物。

“亲爱的勋爵，”他说道，“据我所知，你们国家关于永久不可转让所有权的规定既适用于土地，也适用于珠宝之类的小东西，而我也很清楚这些珠宝是，或者说应该是，你们家的祖传财物。因此，我必须恳求你，把这些东西带回伦敦去，就当它们是你财产的一部分，在某种离奇的情形之下失而复得了。至于我女儿嘛，她不过是个孩子，而且到目前为止，我可以很高兴地说，她对这类奢侈无用的身外之物还没什么兴趣。此外，奥蒂斯太太——我得说，她对艺术的鉴赏力可是非同一般，因为她做女孩儿的时候有幸在波士顿呆过几年——也告诉我，这些宝石非常值钱，要是拿去卖的话可以卖出天价。考虑到这些因素，坎特维尔勋爵，我觉得你肯定能够理解，我是万万不能让它们留在我家任何成员手里的。还有，说真的，就英国贵族的颜面而言，这些虚荣的玩意儿或许是相宜合用甚至不可或缺的，但要是放到我们这些在共和党人简朴精神的严格——我相信是不朽——准则之下成长起来的人当中，它们就完全不合时宜了。或许我应该提一下，弗吉尼娅很希望你能允许她保留那个盒子，作为对你那位身遭不幸却又误入歧途的祖先的一种纪念。盒子反正已经非常旧了，多半也修不好了，兴许你会考虑答应她的这个请求。说到我自己嘛，我得承认我万万没想到自己的孩子竟然会对中世纪精神的表征表示同情，唯一的解释就是弗吉尼娅是在你们伦敦的一个郊区出生的，而且奥蒂斯太太生她之前不久刚去了一趟雅典。”

Lord Canterville listened very gravely to the worthy minister's speech, pulling his grey moustache now and then to hide an involuntary smile, and when Mr Otis had ended, he shook him cordially by the hand, and said, 'My dear sir, your charming little daughter rendered my unlucky ancestor, Sir Simon, a very important service, and I and my family are much indebted to her for her marvellous courage and pluck. The jewels are clearly hers, and, egad, I believe that if I were heartless enough to take them from her, the wicked old fellow would be out of his grave in a fortnight, leading me the devil of a life. As for their being heirlooms, nothing is an heirloom that is not so mentioned in a will or legal document, and the existence of these jewels has been quite unknown. I assure you I have no more claim on them than your butler, and when Miss Virginia grows up I daresay she will be pleased to have pretty things to wear. Besides, you forget, Mr Otis, that you took the furniture and the ghost at a valuation, and anything that belonged to the ghost passed at once into your possession, as, whatever activity Sir Simon may have shown in the corridor at night, in point of law he was really dead, and you acquired his property by purchase.'

坎特维尔勋爵听着可敬的公使先生侃侃而谈，神色十分庄重，并时不时地拽一拽自己的花白髭须，为的是掩盖脸上不由自主的笑容。奥蒂斯先生讲完之后，他诚挚地握了握他的手，然后说道：“亲爱的先生，你可爱的小女儿给了我那位不走运的祖先，也就是西蒙爵士，一个非常重要的帮助，她神奇的勇气和胆量让我和我的家人感激不尽。这些珠宝当然是属于她的，再说了，天啊，要是我无情无义到从她手里夺走珠宝的地步，相信两个星期之后那个邪恶的老家伙就会从坟里爬出来，把我的生活变成噩梦。还有，要说它们是祖传财物的话，遗嘱和法律文书里没提到的东西都不算，何况我们根本不知道这些珠宝的存在。我敢向你保证，我并不比你的男管家更有资格做它们的主人。而且我敢说，弗吉尼娅小姐长大成人的时候，会喜欢漂亮首饰的。除此之外，奥蒂斯先生，你忘了你是给家具和幽灵作了价的，幽灵所有的一切物品当然也就立刻转到了你的名下，因为，不管西蒙爵士夜里要在走廊里搞些什么名堂，从法律上讲他已经死了，而你已经通过购买的方式获得了他的财产。”

Mr Otis was a good deal distressed at Lord Canterville's refusal, and begged him to reconsider his decision, but the good-natured peer was quite firm, and finally induced the Minister to allow his daughter to retain the present the ghost had given her, and when, in the spring of 1890, the young Duchess of Cheshire was presented at the Queen's first drawing-room⁽²⁵⁾ on the occasion of her marriage, her jewels were the universal theme of admiration. For Virginia received the coronet, which is the reward of all good little American girls, and was married to her boy-lover as soon as he came of age. They were both so charming, and they loved each other so much, that everyone was delighted at the match, except the old Marchioness of Dumbleton, who had tried to catch the Duke for one of her seven unmarried daughters, and had given no less than three expensive dinner-parties for that purpose, and, strange to say, Mr Otis himself. Mr Otis was extremely fond of the young Duke personally, but, theoretically, he objected to titles, and, to use his own words, 'was not without apprehension lest, amid the enervating influences of a pleasure-loving aristocracy, the true principles of Republican simplicity should be forgotten' . His objections, however, were completely overruled, and I believe that when he walked up the aisle of St George's⁽²⁶⁾ Hanover Square⁽²⁷⁾ with his daughter leaning on his arm, there was not a prouder man in the whole length and breadth of England.

坎特维尔勋爵的拒不接收让奥蒂斯先生感到相当苦恼。他请求勋爵重新考虑，可这位好脾气的贵族不肯松口，并最终劝服了公使先生，让他准许自己的女儿留下幽灵的礼物。于是，1890年春天，当年轻的柴郡公爵夫人于婚礼当日在女王的淑女觐见会上亮相时，她身上的珠宝赢得了众人的同声赞叹，因为弗吉尼娅收到了公爵夫人的冠冕——那是美国所有好女孩子都梦想的奖赏，并在自己的小情人刚成年的时候就嫁给了他。他们俩都那么俊俏迷人，又都那么深爱对方，所有人都为这桩婚事欣喜不已。不满的人只有两个，一个是年迈的邓布尔顿侯爵夫人，因为她曾经尝试把公爵抓来配给自己七个未嫁女儿当中的一个，为此还办过不下三次花费巨大的晚宴；另一个说起来就有些奇怪，因为他不是别人，正是奥蒂斯先生本人。从个人情感来说：奥蒂斯先生非常喜欢年轻的公爵，可是呢，理论上他是对贵族头衔持反对立场的，而且，用他自己的话来说：“没法不担心，寻欢作乐的贵族生活会让人萎靡不振，让人把共和党人简朴精神的真正准则置诸脑后。”不过，他的反对遭到了完全的否决，而且我敢说，当他让女儿挽着自己的胳膊、走在汉诺威广场圣乔治教堂过道里的时候，全英格兰也找不出比他更自豪的男人了。

The Duke and Duchess, after the honeymoon was over, went down to Canterville Chase, and on the day after their arrival they walked over in the afternoon to the lonely churchyard by the pine woods. There had been a great deal of difficulty at first about the inscription on Sir Simon's tombstone, but finally it had been decided to engrave on it simply the initials of the old gentleman's name, and the verse from the library window. The Duchess had brought with her some lovely roses, which she strewed upon the grave, and after they had stood by it for some time they strolled into the ruined chancel of the old abbey. There the Duchess sat down on a fallen pillar, while her husband lay at her feet smoking a cigarette and looking up at her beautiful eyes. Suddenly he threw his cigarette away, took hold of her hand, and said to her, 'Virginia, a wife should have no secrets from her husband.'

'Dear Cecil! I have no secrets from you.'

'Yes, you have,' he answered, smiling, 'you have never told me what happened to you when you were locked up with the ghost.'

'I have never told anyone, Cecil,' said Virginia gravely.

'I know that, but you might tell me.'

'Please don't ask me, Cecil, I cannot tell you. Poor Sir Simon! I owe him a great deal. Yes, don't laugh, Cecil, I really do. He made me see what Life is, and what Death signifies, and why Love is stronger than both.'

The Duke rose and kissed his wife lovingly.

'You can have your secret as long as I have your heart,' he murmured.

蜜月之后，公爵和公爵夫人去了坎特维尔猎场。到那里的第二天下午，他们走到了松林边那个偏僻的墓园里。人们一度为西蒙爵士的墓志铭伤透了脑筋，不过最终还是决定就刻上这位老先生的姓名首字母缩写，外加书房窗子上的那段韵文。公爵夫人带来了一些美丽的玫瑰花，这会儿便把花撒在了坟上。他们在坟边站了一会儿，然后便慢悠悠地走到附近那座老修道院废弃的经台上。公爵夫人在一根倒塌的柱子上坐了下来，做丈夫的则躺在她的脚边，一边抽雪茄，一边抬头看她美丽的眼睛。突然，他扔掉手里的雪茄，抓着她的手对她说：“弗吉尼娅，妻子对丈夫是不该有秘密的。”

“亲爱的塞西尔！我对你哪有什么秘密。”

“有的，你有，”他笑着回答，“你从没跟我讲过，你跟那个幽灵关在一起的时候究竟发生了些什么事情。”

“我也没跟别人讲过，塞西尔，”弗吉尼娅郑重地说道。

“这我知道，不过你总可以跟我讲吧。”

“别问我，塞西尔，我不能告诉你。可怜的西蒙爵士！我欠了他很多东西。真的，你别笑，塞西尔，真是这样的。他让我懂得了什么是生命，死亡又意味着什么，还让我懂得了为什么爱比这两样东西都强大。”

公爵站起身，满心爱意地吻了吻自己的妻子。

“你就留着你的秘密吧，我有你的心就够了，”他轻声说道。

'You have always had that, Cecil.'

'And you will tell our children someday, won't you?'

Virginia blushed.

“我的心永远都是你的，塞西尔。”

“你将来会跟我们的孩子讲的，是吧？”

弗吉尼娅的脸上泛起了红晕。

【注释】

(1)纽波特娱乐场，美国罗得岛州纽波特市的一个著名运动休闲场所，举办音乐会、舞会以及草地网球赛等活动。这里的leading应该是指在舞场上占上风。

(2)亚马孙，希腊神话里的一个女战士部落，曾为阿喀琉斯所败。

(3)阿喀琉斯，希腊神话里的著名英雄，特洛伊战争中的主将之一。海德公园里有他的雕像。

(4)伊顿公学，英国最著名的私立中学。

(5)阿斯科特，伦敦西南面的一个小村庄。

(6)凡妮·达文波特（1850-1898），美国戏剧女演员。

(7)萨拉·伯恩哈特（1844-1923），法国戏剧女演员，有“世界历史上最著名的女演员”之称。

(8)应是指 Society for Psychical Research，为1882年成立于英国的一个机构，旨在对超自然现象进行科学解释。后文中的 Myers（Frederic William Henry Myers，1843-1901）和 Podmore （Frank Podmore，1856-1910）均为当时的学者及该机构成员。

(9)威廉·古尔爵士（1816-1890），英国著名医生。

(10)伏尔泰（1694-1778），法国著名启蒙思想家。

(11)查尔斯·詹姆斯·福克斯（1749-1806），英国著名政客，下院议员，以嗜好赌博著称。

(12)克罗福德俱乐部，伦敦的一个著名赌博场所。

(13)九柱戏，一种用球击打九根木柱的游戏，为保龄球运动的前身。

(14)朗费罗（1807-1882），美国著名诗人。1832年，在美国马萨诸塞州的福尔里弗市（Fall River）出土了一件名为“穿铠甲的骷髅”的奇特古物，引起了世界的广泛关注。朗费罗据此写了一首题为《穿铠甲的骷髅》（The Skeleton in Armor）的诗，其中有这样的句子：“说呀！说呀！你这个可怕的客人！/ 五脏皆已朽坏不存，/ 粗陋的铠甲却依然在身，/ 来吓我吧！”

(15)凯尼尔沃思，英格兰中部的一个乡村地区。

(16)童贞女王，即终身未嫁的英国女王伊丽莎白一世（1558至1603年在位）。

(17)格雷特纳格林，苏格兰西南海滨的一个小镇，为著名的私奔胜地。

(18)旺兹沃思公地，伦敦南部旺兹沃思区的一块公地。公地是指所有权或使用权归属某地区全体居民的土地。

(19)坦布里奇韦尔斯，英格兰肯特郡西部的一个小镇。

(20)火绳枪，一种发明于十五世纪的古老枪械，以火绳作为击发引信。

(21)应是指拿破仑·萨罗尼（Napoleon Sarony，1821-1896）拍摄的照片。萨罗尼是美国著名的肖像摄影师。

(22)摄政亲王，通常指英王乔治四世（1820至1830年在位），他曾在父亲乔治三世精神错乱期间摄政。

(23)此处一语双关，spirit 有“幽灵”之意，spirits 则可指“酒精饮料”。

(24)死亡之园，也就是墓地。

(25)这里的 first drawing-room 应该是指旧日英国宫廷为初次步入上流社交界的贵族女子举办的介绍会，通常在伦敦社交季之初举行。英王伊丽莎白二世于1958年废止了此项活动。

(26)圣乔治教堂，建于十八世纪的一座教堂，在伦敦西区的汉诺威广场上。

(27)汉诺威广场，伦敦西区的一个广场。

THE MODEL MILLIONAIRE
A NOTE OF ADMIRATION
当模特的百万富翁
一个惊叹号

Unless one is wealthy there is no use in being a charming fellow. Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of the unemployed. The poor should be practical and prosaic. It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating. These are the great truths of modern life which Hughie Erskine never realised. Poor Hughie! Intellectually, we must admit, he was not of much importance. He never said a brilliant or even an ill-natured thing in his life. But then he was wonderfully good-looking, with his crisp brown hair, his clear-cut profile, and his grey eyes. He was as popular with men as he was with women, and he had every accomplishment except that of making money. His father had bequeathed him his cavalry sword and a History of the Peninsular War⁽¹⁾ in fifteen volumes. Hughie hung the first over his looking-glass, put the second on a shelf between Ruff 's Guide and Bailey's Magazine, and lived on two hundred a year that an old aunt allowed him. He had tried everything. He had gone on the Stock Exchange for six months; but what was a butterfly to do among bulls and bears? He had been a tea-merchant for a little longer, but had soon tired of pekoe⁽²⁾ and souchong⁽³⁾ Then he had tried selling dry sherry. That did not answer; the sherry was a little too dry. Ultimately he became nothing, a delightful, ineffectual young man with a perfect profile and no profession.

要是不够有钱的话，魅力也没有什么用处。浪漫是富人的专利，却不是无业游民的行当。穷人就应该脚踏实地，一身迷人气质还不如一张长期饭票管用。这些都是现代生活中的伟大真理，休吉·厄斯金却始终未能领会。可怜的休吉！从智力上说，我们必须承认，他并不是十分出色，因为他一生中从没说过什么聪明绝顶的言语，就连恶毒尖刻的话也未曾说过。从另一方面来说呢，他的长相实在是非常俊俏，有着卷曲的褐色头发、轮廓分明的五官和灰色的眼睛。他在男人和女人当中都同样广受欢迎，什么本事都有，就是不会赚钱。他已故的父亲把自己的马刀留给了他，外加一部十五卷的《伊比利亚半岛战争史》。休吉把马刀挂在自己的镜子上，把书打发到书架上去跟《拉夫指南》和《贝利杂志》为邻，之后便靠一位老姑妈提供的两百英镑年金过活。他什么都试过了：他曾经做过半年的股票买卖，可一只蝴蝶能在牛和熊之间掺和些什么呢？他贩茶的时间比炒股票稍微要长一点，但他没过多久就厌倦了白毫、小种茶之类的物事；后来他还卖过干雪利酒，终于也是徒劳无功，因为他的雪利酒有点儿太干了。到了最后，他别的什么都不是了，就只是一个讨人喜欢、无足轻重的小伙子，五官完美、无业可就。

To make matters worse, he was in love. The girl he loved was Laura Merton, the daughter of a retired Colonel who had lost his temper and his digestion in India, and had never found either of them again. Laura adored him, and he was ready to kiss her shoe-strings. They were the handsomest couple in London, and had not a penny-piece between them. The Colonel was very fond of Hughie, but would not hear of any engagement.

'Come to me, my boy, when you have got ten thousand pounds of your own, and we will see about it,' he used to say; and Hughie looked very glum in those days, and had to go to Laura for consolation.

One morning, as he was on his way to Holland Park⁽⁴⁾ where the Mertons lived, he dropped in to see a great friend of his, Alan Trevor. Trevor was a painter. Indeed, few people escape that nowadays. But he was also an artist, and artists are rather rare. Personally he was a strange rough fellow, with a freckled face and a red ragged beard. However, when he took up the brush he was a real master, and his pictures were eagerly sought after. He had been very much attracted by Hughie at first, it must be acknowledged, entirely on account of his personal charm. 'The only people a painter should know,' he used to say, 'are people who are bête and beautiful, people who are an artistic pleasure to look at and an intellectual repose to talk to. Men who are dandies and women who are darlings rule the world, at least they should do so.' However, after he got to know Hughie better, he liked him quite as much for his bright, buoyant spirits and his generous, reckless nature, and had given him the permanent entrée to his studio.

更糟糕的是，他还堕入了爱河。他爱上的女孩是劳拉·默顿，女孩的父亲是一个退役的上校。上校在印度搞坏了自己的脾气和消化系统，此后便再也没能复原。劳拉崇拜休吉，而休吉连吻她的鞋带也心甘情愿。他们是全伦敦最标致的一对，两个人却都一文不名。上校很喜欢休吉，但却绝不想听他说什么订婚的事情。

“来找我吧，我的孩子，等你自己有了一万镑的时候。到时我们再谈这件事情，”他总爱这么说。每次听到他这么说，休吉就会变得满面愁容，不得不去向劳拉寻求安慰。

一天早上，休吉上默顿家所在的霍兰公园去，顺道看望了一下自己的好朋友艾伦·特雷弗。特雷弗是个画家，说真的，现今世上没几个人不是画家。不过呢，他同时也是个艺术家，艺术家就非常难得了。光是看这个人本身的话，他显得古怪又粗野，脸上雀斑点点，腮边赤须蓬乱。不过，画笔在手的时候他就成了真正的大师，而他的画作也非常受人追捧。他从一开始就非常喜欢休吉，而且我们得知道，这完全是因为休吉的俊美容颜。“画家该认识的，”他总是说，“只能是又蠢又漂亮的人，只能是那些外形赏心悦目、言语蠢笨无聊的人。花花公子和花瓶美女统治着这个世界，至少是该当如此。”不过，特雷弗渐渐对休吉有了更多的了解后，也喜欢上了他明朗欢快的朝气和大方莽撞的性情，还允许他随时进入自己的画室。

When Hughie came in he found Trevor putting the finishing touches to a wonderful life-size picture of a beggar-man. The beggar himself was standing on a raised platform in a corner of the studio. He was a wizened old man, with a face like wrinkled parchment, and a most piteous expression. Over his shoulders was flung a coarse brown cloak, all tears and tatters; his thick boots were patched and cobbled, and with one hand he leant on a rough stick, while with the other he held out his battered hat for alms.

'What an amazing model!' whispered Hughie, as he shook hands with his friend.

'An amazing model?' shouted Trevor at the top of his voice; 'I should think so! Such beggars as he are not to be met with every day. A trouvaille, mon cher; a living Velasquez⁽⁵⁾ ! My stars! what an etching Rembrandt⁽⁶⁾ would have made of him!'

'Poor old chap!' said Hughie, 'how miserable he looks! But I suppose, to you painters, his face is his fortune?'

'Certainly,' replied Trevor, 'you don't want a beggar to look happy, do you?'

走进画室的时候，休吉看到特雷弗正在给一个乞丐画一幅真人大小的绝妙肖像，已经画到最后几笔了。乞丐本人就站在画室角落里的一个台子上。那是个形容枯槁的老头，脸庞好似揉皱的羊皮纸，神色更是无比凄凉。他肩上搭着件质地粗劣、千疮百孔的褐色斗篷，厚厚的靴子上满是补丁，一只手拄着根毛糙的拐杖，另一只手举着用来讨要施舍的破烂帽子。

“这模特可真不赖！”休吉一边跟朋友握手，一边低声说道。

“这模特不赖？”特雷弗用最大的嗓门儿叫道，“我看也是！

像他这样的乞丐可不是天天都碰得着的。亲爱的，这可是个意外收获，活生生的一幅委拉斯贵兹！我的天！要是见了他，伦勃朗该画出多了不起的铜版画来啊！”

“可怜的老家伙！”休吉说，“他的样子多凄惨啊！不过照我看，在你们画家的眼里，他这张脸就是他的价值所在吧？”

“当然喽，”特雷弗回答道，“你总不会希望一个乞丐看起来欢天喜地吧，对吗？”

休吉看到特雷弗正在给一个乞丐画一幅真人大小的绝妙肖像。

'How much does a model get for sitting?' asked Hughie, as he found himself a comfortable seat on a divan.

'A shilling an hour.'

'And how much do you get for your picture, Alan?'

'Oh, for this I get two thousand!'

'Pounds?'

'Guineas. Painters, poets, and physicians always get guineas.'

'Well, I think the model should have a percentage,' cried Hughie, laughing; 'they work quite as hard as you do.'

'Nonsense, nonsense! Why, look at the trouble of laying on the paint alone, and standing all day long at one's easel! It's all very well, Hughie, for you to talk, but I assure you that there are moments when art almost attains to the dignity of manual labour. But you mustn't chatter; I' m very busy. Smoke a cigarette, and keep quiet.'

After some time the servant came in, and told Trevor that the frame-maker wanted to speak to him.

'Don't run away, Hughie,' he said, as he went out, 'I will be back in a moment.'

The old beggar-man took advantage of Trevor's absence to rest for a moment on a wooden bench that was behind him. He looked so forlorn and wretched that Hughie could not help pitying him, and felt in his pockets to see what money he had. All he could find was a sovereign and some coppers. 'Poor old fellow,' he thought to himself, 'he wants it more than I do, but it means no hansoms for a fortnight;' and he walked across the studio and slipped the sovereign into the beggar's hand.

“当模特给人画能挣多少钱呢？”休吉一边问，一边在一张长沙发上舒舒服服地坐了下来。

“一小时一先令。”

“那你卖一幅画又能得多少钱呢，艾伦？”

“哦，这张可以卖两千！”

“两千镑吗？”

“畿尼。画家、诗人和医生都是只收畿尼的。”

“是吗，那我觉得模特也应该有一份儿，”休吉叫道，笑了起来，“他们差不多跟你一样卖力。”

“胡说八道，胡说八道！咳，想想光是调颜料就有多麻烦，更不用说还得在画架旁边站上一整天！这当然很容易，休吉，因为你只需要动嘴，可我敢跟你保证，有时候艺术也比体力劳动高贵不到哪里去。不过你还是别唠叨了，我忙得很。抽支雪茄吧，别出声儿。”

过了一会儿，仆人进来找特雷弗，说做画框的人要和他谈谈。

“别走开，休吉，”他一边往外走一边说，“我一会儿就回来。”

趁特雷弗不在，那个乞丐老头便坐到身后的木椅子上享受片刻清闲。他的样子十分凄凉悲惨，休吉按捺不住心里的同情，便把手伸进口袋看自己还有多少钱，结果发现只有一个金镑和几个铜币。“可怜的老家伙，”他暗自想道，“他比我更需要钱，可要是给了他的话，我就两个星期没马车坐了。”想到这儿，他走到画室对面，把那个金镑轻轻塞到了乞丐的手里。

The old man started, and a faint smile flitted across his withered lips. 'Thank you, sir,' he said, 'thank you.'

Then Trevor arrived, and Hughie took his leave, blushing a little at what he had done. He spent the day with Laura, got a charming scolding for his extravagance, and had to walk home.

That night he strolled into the Palette Club about eleven o'clock, and found Trevor sitting by himself in the smoking-room drinking hock and seltzer.

'Well, Alan, did you get the picture finished all right?' he said, as he lit his cigarette.

'Finished and framed, my boy!' answered Trevor; 'and, by the by, you have made a conquest. That old model you saw is quite devoted to you. I had to tell him all about you—who you are, where you live, what your income is, what prospects you have...'

'My dear Alan,' cried Hughie, 'I shall probably find him waiting for me when I go home. But of course you are only joking. Poor old wretch! I wish I could do something for him. I think it is dreadful that anyone should be so miserable. I have got heaps of old clothes at home—do you think he would care for any of them? Why, his rags were falling to bits.'

'But he looks splendid in them,' said Trevor. 'I wouldn't paint him in a frock coat for anything. What you call rags I call romance. What seems poverty to you is picturesqueness to me. However, I'll tell him of your offer.'

'Alan,' said Hughie seriously, 'you painters are a heartless lot.'

'An artist's heart is his head,' replied Trevor; 'and besides, our business is to realise the world as we see it, not to reform it as we know it. A chacun son métier. And now tell me how Laura is. The old model was quite interested in her.'

老头吓得一哆嗦，枯干的唇边随即掠过一抹淡淡的笑容。“谢谢你，先生，”他说道，“谢谢。”

跟着特雷弗就回来了，休吉便跟他告辞，心里为自己刚才的举动感到有点儿羞愧。他和劳拉一起度过了这一天，为自己的大手大脚受了一点儿甜蜜的斥责，最后不得不徒步往家里走。

当天晚上十一点左右，他逛到了画家俱乐部，发现特雷弗独自一人在吸烟室里喝加了矿泉水的白葡萄酒。

“呃，艾伦，你那幅画画好了吗？”他问道，一边点上了雪茄。

“画好了，框子都装上了，我的伙计！”特雷弗回答道，“还有，顺带说一句，你又多了一个俘虏。你今天看见的那个老模特对你很是着迷，我不得不跟他讲了你的一切——你是谁，住在哪儿，有多少收入，前途又怎么样……”

“亲爱的艾伦，”休吉叫道，“我回家时没准儿会发现他在我家门口等我呢。当然喽，你肯定是在开玩笑。可怜的老背时鬼！我要能为他做点儿什么就好了。要我说，谁都不该落到这么凄惨的地步。我家里还有成堆的旧衣服——你觉得他会愿意要吗？咳，他那身破烂都快碎成布片儿了。”

“可他穿那身破烂的样子棒极了，”特雷弗说道。“给多少钱我也不会画他穿长礼服的样子的。你说是破烂，我说是浪漫。你看到贫穷，我看到的是艺术造型。不管怎么样，我会把你的好意转告给他的。”

“艾伦，”休吉认真地说，“你们这些画画的可真是没心没肺。”

“艺术家只有脑袋，没有心，”特雷弗回答道，“还有啊，我们这行做的是再现我们眼中的世界，不是改革我们理解中的世界。

'You don't mean to say you talked to him about her?' said Hughie.

'Certainly I did. He knows all about the relentless colonel, the lovely Laura, and the ￡10,000.'

'You told that old beggar all my private affairs?' cried Hughie, looking very red and angry.

'My dear boy,' said Trevor, smiling, 'that old beggar, as you call him, is one of the richest men in Europe. He could buy all London tomorrow without overdrawing his account. He has a house in every capital, dines off gold plate, and can prevent Russia going to war when he chooses.'

'What on earth do you mean?' exclaimed Hughie.

'What I say,' said Trevor. 'The old man you saw today in the studio was Baron Hausberg. He is a great friend of mine, buys all my pictures and that sort of thing, and gave me a commission a month ago to paint him as a beggar. Que voulez-vous? La fantaisie d'un millionaire! And I must say he made a magnificent figure in his rags, or perhaps I should say in my rags; they are an old suit I got in Spain.'

'Baron Hausberg!' cried Hughie. 'Good heavens! I gave him a sovereign!' and he sank into an armchair, the picture of dismay.

'Gave him a sovereign!' shouted Trevor, and he burst into a roar of laughter. 'My dear boy, you'll never see it again. Son affaire c' est l' argent des autres.'

各人有各人的行当嘛。好了，现在跟我说说劳拉怎么样吧，那个老模特对她也很感兴趣。”

“你该不会连她的事也跟他说了吧？”

“当然说了。他什么都知道了，顽固无情的上校，可爱的劳拉，还有那一万镑的事情。”

“你把我的全部私生活都跟那个老乞丐说了？”休吉叫道，气得满脸通红。

“我亲爱的伙计，”特雷弗笑着说道，“你说的那个老乞丐是全欧洲最有钱的人之一。他明天就能把整个伦敦给买下来，账户也不会透支。他在每个大城市都有房子，用金盘子吃饭，如果愿意的话还可以阻止俄罗斯投入战争。”

“你这话究竟是什么意思？”休吉叫了起来。

“我的意思是，”特雷弗说道，“今天你在我画室里看到的那个老头是豪斯伯格男爵。他跟我是好朋友，买了我所有的画，如此等等。一个月之前，他委托我给他画幅肖像，要的就是乞丐的样子。我能怎么办呢？这些百万富翁的想法就这么怪！你还别说，他穿他那身破烂的样子还真是棒极了。对了，应该说是我的破烂，那套旧衣服是我在西班牙弄到的。”

“豪斯伯格男爵！”休吉叫道。“天哪！我竟然给了他一个金镑！”说完他就瘫在了扶手椅上，一副极其沮丧的模样。

“给了他一个金镑！”特雷弗大叫一声，然后爆发出一阵狂笑。 “我亲爱的伙计，那你可要不回来了。他就是专拿别人的钱来做生意的。”

'I think you might have told me, Alan,' said Hughie sulkily, 'and not have let me make such a fool of myself.'

'Well, to begin with, Hughie,' said Trevor, 'it never entered my mind that you went about distributing alms in that reckless way. I can understand your kissing a pretty model, but your giving a sovereign to an ugly one—by Jove, no! Besides, the fact is that I really was not at home today to anyone; and when you came in I didn't know whether Hausberg would like his name mentioned. You know he wasn't in full dress.'

'What a duffer he must think me!' said Hughie.

'Not at all. He was in the highest spirits after you left; kept chuckling to himself and rubbing his old wrinkled hands together. I couldn't make out why he was so interested to know all about you; but I see it all now. He'll invest your sovereign for you, Hughie, pay you the interest every six months, and have a capital story to tell after dinner.'

'I am an unlucky devil,' growled Hughie. 'The best thing I can do is to go to bed; and, my dear Alan, you mustn't tell anyone. I shouldn't dare show my face in the Row.'

'Nonsense! It reflects the highest credit on your philanthropic spirit, Hughie. And don't run away. Have another cigarette, and you can talk about Laura as much as you like.'

However, Hughie wouldn't stop, but walked home, feeling very unhappy, and leaving Alan Trevor in fits of laughter.

The next morning, as he was at breakfast, the servant brought him up a card on which was written, Monsieur Gustave Naudin, de la part de M. le Baron Hausberg. 'I suppose he has come for an apology,' said Hughie to himself; and he told the servant to show the visitor up.

“我觉得你应该提前告诉我，艾伦，”休吉忿忿不平地说道，“不该让我出这样的洋相。”

“呃，第一条，休吉，”特雷弗说道，“我从没想过你会这样不管不顾地到处救贫济困。你要是去吻一个漂亮模特我还能理解，可你居然给一个丑陋的家伙一个金镑——天哪，想不通！还有，事实上我今天本打算什么人也不见的，你来的时候我又不知道豪斯伯格愿不愿意我提起他的名字。你也看见了，当时他穿的可不是什么礼服。”

“在他眼里我该有多蠢啊！”休吉说道。

“没那回事儿。你走了以后，他兴致好得不得了，咯咯咯地笑个没完，还不停地搓他那双老得都是褶子的手。当时我不知道他为什么对你的一切那么感兴趣，不过现在我明白了。他会拿你的金镑去帮你投资，休吉，半年付你一次利息，晚饭之后也有个精彩故事好讲了。”

“我可真是倒霉，”休吉嘟哝了一句，“眼下最好的事情就是上床睡觉。还有，亲爱的艾伦，这事儿你可千万别跟别人说，要不我就没脸见人了。”

“瞎说什么！这可是你博爱精神最完美的体现啊，休吉。别急着走，再来支雪茄，你可以说说劳拉的事情，爱说多久就说多久。”

不过，休吉不愿意留下，他满心郁闷地走回了家，剩下艾伦·特雷弗独自在那里笑了又笑。

第二天早上，他正在吃早饭，仆人拿进来一张名片，上面写着：古斯塔夫·诺丁先生，代表豪斯伯格男爵。“他应该是来让我道歉的吧，”休吉在心里嘀咕了一句，然后吩咐仆人把客人领进来。

An old gentleman with gold spectacles and grey hair came into the room, and said, in a slight French accent, 'Have I the honour of addressing Monsieur Erskine?'

Hughie bowed.

'I have come from Baron Hausberg,' he continued. 'The Baron...'

'I beg, sir, that you will offer him my sincerest apolog-ies,' stammered Hughie.

'The Baron,' said the old gentleman with a smile, 'has commis-sioned me to bring you this letter; 'and he extended a sealed envelope.

On the outside was written, 'A wedding present to Hugh Erskine and Laura Merton, from an old beggar,' and inside was a cheque for ￡10,000.

When they were married Alan Trevor was the best man, and the Baron made a speech at the wedding breakfast.

'Millionaire models,' remarked Alan, 'are rare enough; but, by Jove, model millionaires are rarer still!'

一个戴着金边眼镜、头发花白的老绅士走进房间，带着轻微的法国口音说道：“您就是厄斯金先生吗？”

休吉欠了欠身。

“我是从豪斯伯格男爵那儿来的，”他接着说道。“男爵……”

“请您，先生，向他转达我最诚恳的歉意，”休吉结结巴巴地说道。

“男爵，”老绅士微笑着说，“派我把这封信带给您。”说着就把一个封了口的信封递了过来。

信封的外面写着：“一个老乞丐送给休吉·厄斯金和劳拉·默顿的结婚礼物”，里面是一张一万镑的支票。

他俩结婚的时候，艾伦·特雷弗来当伴郎，男爵还在喜宴上发表了一通讲演。

“身家百万的模特，”艾伦评论道，“已经是非常难得了，不过，老天，当模特的百万富翁还更难得！”

【注释】

(1)伊比利亚半岛战争，指西班牙、英国及葡萄牙联军与法国军队于1807至1814年间在伊比利亚半岛上进行的战争，以前者获胜告终。

(2)白毫，一种高级红茶，以茶芽四周的嫩茶叶制成。

(3)小种茶，原产于中国及其周边地区的一类红茶。

(4)霍兰公园，伦敦中西部的一片区域，区内有一个同名的公园。

(5)委拉斯开兹（1599-1660），西班牙著名画家，尤其擅长肖像画。

(6)伦勃朗（1606-1669），荷兰历史上最重要的画家，尤其擅长肖像画和铜版画。