月亮和六便士 第五十三章(1)

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"Tenez, voila le Capitaine Brunot," said Tiare, one day when I was fitting together what she could tell me of Strickland. “看啊，那就是布吕诺船长，”有一天，我脑子里正在往一块拼缀蒂阿瑞给我讲的关于思特里克兰德的片片断断的故事时，她忽然喊叫起来。

"He knew Strickland well; he visited him at his house." “这个人同思特里克兰德很熟。他到思特里克兰德住的地方去过。”

I saw a middle-aged¹ Frenchman with a big black beard, streaked² with gray, a sunburned face, and large, shining eyes. 我看到的是一个已过中年的法国人，蓄着一大捧黑胡子，不少已经花白，一张晒得黝黑的面孔，一对闪闪发光的大眼睛。

He was dressed in a neat suit of ducks. 他身上穿着一套很整洁的帆布衣服。

I had noticed him at luncheon³, and Ah Lin, the Chinese boy, told me he had come from the Paumotus on the boat that had that day arrived. 其实吃午饭的时候我已经注意到他了，旅馆的一个中国籍侍者阿林告诉我，他是从包莫图斯岛来的，他乘的船当天刚刚靠岸。

Tiare introduced me to him, and he handed me his card, a large card on which was printed Rene Brunot, and underneath⁴, Capitaine au Long Cours. 蒂阿瑞把我引见给他；他递给我一张名片。名片很大，当中印着他的姓名——勒内·布吕诺，下面一行小字是“龙谷号船长”。

We were sitting on a little verandah outside the kitchen, and Tiare was cutting out a dress that she was making for one of the girls about the house. 我同蒂阿瑞当时正坐在厨房外面的一个小凉台上，蒂阿瑞在给她手下的一个女孩子裁衣服。

He sat down with us. 布吕诺船长就和我们一起坐下了。

"Yes; I knew Strickland well," he said. “是的，我同思特里克兰德很熟，”他说。

"I am very fond of chess, and he was always glad of a game. “我喜欢下棋，他也是只要找到个棋友就同人下。

I come to Tahiti three or four times a year for my business, and when he was at Papeete he would come here and we would play. 我每年为了生意上的事要到塔希提来三四回，如果他凑巧也在帕皮提，总要找我来一起玩几盘。

When he married"— 后来，他结婚了，”——

Captain Brunot smiled and shrugged⁵ his shoulders— 说到结婚两个字布吕诺船长笑了笑，耸了一下肩膀——

"enfin, when he went to live with the girl that Tiare gave him, he asked me to go and see him. “在同蒂阿瑞介绍给他的那个女孩子到乡下去住以前，他邀请我有机会去看看他。

I was one of the guests at the wedding feast." 举行婚礼那天我也是贺客之一。”

He looked at Tiare, and they both laughed. 他看了蒂阿瑞一眼，两个人都笑了。

"He did not come much to Papeete after that, “结婚以后，他就很少到帕皮提来了。

and about a year later it chanced that I had to go to that part of the island for I forgot what business, 大约一年以后，凑巧我到他居住的那一带去，我忘了是为办一件什么事了。

and when I had finished it I said to myself: 'Voyons, why should I not go and see that poor Strickland?' 事情办完以后，我对自己说：‘嗳，我干嘛不去看看可怜的思特里克兰德呀？’

I asked one or two natives if they knew anything about him, and I discovered that he lived not more than five kilometres from where I was. So I went. 我向一两个本地的人打听，问他们知道不知道有这么一个人，结果我发现他住的地方离我那儿还不到五公里远。于是我就去了。

I shall never forget the impression my visit made on me. 我这次去的印象永远也不会忘记。

I live on an atoll, a low island, it is a strip of land surrounding a lagoon⁶, 我的住家是在珊瑚岛上，是环抱着咸水湖的一个低矮的环形小岛。

and its beauty is the beauty of the sea and sky and the varied⁷ colour of the lagoon and the grace of the cocoa-nut trees; 那地方的美是海天茫茫的美。是湖水变幻不定的色彩和椰子树的摇曳多姿。

but the place where Strickland lived had the beauty of the Garden of Eden. 而思特里克兰德住的地方却是另一种美，好象是生活在伊甸园里。

Ah, I wish I could make you see the enchantment⁸ of that spot, a corner hidden away from all the world, with the blue sky overhead and the rich, luxuriant trees. 哎呀，我真希望我能把那迷惑人的地方描摹给你们听。与人寰隔绝的一个幽僻的角落，头顶上是蔚蓝的天空，四围一片郁郁苍苍的树木。

It was a feast of colour. And it was fragrant⁹ and cool. 那里是观赏不尽的色彩，芬芳馥郁的香气，荫翳凉爽的空气。

Words cannot describe that paradise. 这个人世乐园是无法用言语形容的。

And here he lived, unmindful of the world and by the world forgotten. 他就住在那里，不关心世界上的事，世界也把他完全遗忘。

I suppose to European eyes it would have seemed astonishingly sordid¹⁰. 我想，在欧洲人的眼睛里，那地方也许显得太肮脏了一些；

The house was dilapidated and none too clean. 房子破破烂烂，而且收拾得一点儿也不干净。

When I approached it, I saw three or four natives were lying on the verandah. 我刚走近那幢房子，就看见凉台上躺着三四个当地人。

You know how natives love to herd¹¹ together. 你知道这里的人总爱凑在一起。

There was a young man lying full length, smoking a cigarette, and he wore nothing but a pareo." 我看见一个年轻人摊开了身体在地上躺着，抽着纸烟，身上除了一条帕利欧以外任什么也没有穿。”

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