月亮和六便士 第四十七章(9)

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he said to Strickland, when they had got back to the Chink's Head and were cleaning themselves. 当他俩回到“中国茅房”开始清洗的时候，他对思特里克兰德说。

"This beats cock-fighting," said Strickland. “真比斗鸡还热闹，”思特里克兰德说。

I could see his sardonic¹ smile. 我仿佛看到了他脸上讥嘲的笑容。

Captain Nichols was anxious. He knew Tough Bill's vindictiveness². 尼柯尔斯船长非常担心。他知道硬汉子彼尔是睚眦必报的。

Strickland had downed the mulatto twice, and the mulatto, sober, was a man to be reckoned with. 思特里克兰德叫这个混血儿丢了大脸，彼尔头脑清醒的时候，是要小心提防的。

He would bide³ his time stealthily. 他不会马上就动手，他会暗中等待一个适宜时机。

He would be in no hurry, but one night Strickland would get a knife-thrust in his back, 早晚有一天夜里，思特里克兰德的脊背上会叫人捅上一刀，

and in a day or two the corpse⁴ of a nameless beach-comber would be fished out of the dirty water of the harbour. 一两天以后，从港口的污水里会捞上一具无名流浪汉的尸体。

Nichols went next evening to Tough Bill's house and made enquiries. 第二天晚上尼柯尔斯到硬汉子彼尔家里去打听了一下。

He was in hospital still, but his wife, who had been to see him, said he was swearing hard to kill Strickland when they let him out. 彼尔仍然住在医院里，但是他妻子已经去看过他。据他妻子说，彼尔赌天誓日说，他一出院就要结果思特里克兰德的性命。

A week passed. 又过了一个星期。

"That's what I always say," reflected Captain Nichols, "when you hurt a man, hurt him bad. “我总是说，”尼柯尔斯船长继续回忆当时的情况，“要打人就把他打得厉厉害害的。

It gives you a bit of time to look about and think what you'll do next." 这会给你一点时间，思考一下下一步该怎么办。”

Then Strickland had a bit of luck. 这以后思特里克兰德交了一步好运。

A ship bound for Australia had sent to the Sailors' Home for a stoker in place of one who had thrown himself overboard off Gibraltar in an attack of delirium⁵ tremens. 一艘开往澳大利亚的轮船到水手之家去要一名司炉，原来的司炉因为神经错乱在直布罗陀附近投海自杀了。

"You double down to the harbour, my lad," said the Captain to Strickland, "and sign on. You've got your papers." “你一分钟也别耽误，伙计，立刻到码头去，”船长对思特里克兰德说，“赶快签上你的名字。你是有证明文件的。”

Strickland set off at once, and that was the last Captain Nichols saw of him. 思特里克兰德马上就出发了。尼柯尔斯船长从此再也没有同他见面。

The ship was only in port for six hours, 这艘轮船在码头只停泊了六小时，

and in the evening Captain Nichols watched the vanishing smoke from her funnels⁶ as she ploughed East through the wintry sea. 傍晚时分，尼柯尔斯船长看着轮船烟囱冒出的黑烟逐渐稀薄，轮船正在寒冬的海面上乘风破浪向东驶去。

I have narrated⁷ all this as best I could, 我尽量把这些故事叙述得生动一些，

because I like the contrast of these episodes with the life that I had seen Strickland live in Ashley Gardens when he was occupied with stocks and shares; 因为我喜欢拿这一段经历同他住在伦敦阿施里花园时的生活进行对比，当时他忙着做股票生意，那时的生活我是亲眼见过的。

but I am aware that Captain Nichols was an outrageous⁸ liar⁹, and I dare say there is not a word of truth in anything he told me. 但是我也非常清楚，尼柯尔斯船长是个大言不惭的牛皮大王，他告诉我的这些事也有可能没有一句是真话。

I should not be surprised to learn that he had never seen Strickland in his life, and owed his knowledge of Marseilles to the pages of a magazine. 今后我如果发现思特里克兰德在世的时候根本不认识他，他对马赛的知识完全来自一本杂志，我是一点也不会感到吃惊的。

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