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CHAPTER III

ACROSS THE MOOR

第三章 穿过旷野

She slept a long time,and when she awakened Mrs. Medlock had bought a lunchbasket at one of the stations and they had some chicken and cold beef and bread and butter and some hot tea. The rain seemed to be streaming down more heavily than ever and everybody in the station wore wet and glistening waterproofs. The guard lighted the lamps in the carriage,and Mrs. Medlock cheered up very much over her tea and chicken and beef. She ate a great deal and afterward fell asleep herself,and Mary sat and stared at her and watched her fine bonnet slip on one side until she herself fell asleep once more in the corner of the carriage,lulled by the splashing of the rain against the windows. It was quite dark when she awakened again. The train had stopped at a station and Mrs. Medlock was shaking her.

玛丽睡了很久,醒来时梅德洛克太太早已从一个车站买来了个午餐篮。她们吃了些鸡肉、冷牛肉、面包黄油,还喝了些热茶。瓢泼大雨似乎下得更大了。车站里的每个人都穿着亮闪闪的雨衣,雨衣已经被打湿了。保安人员点亮了车厢里的灯。梅德洛克太太吃过饭喝过茶后情绪也缓过来许多。她茶足饭饱之后就睡着了。玛丽则坐在一边盯着她,看到她那精致的帽子滑向一边。最后,她自己也伴着雨水敲打车窗的声音再次入睡。她再次醒来的时候外面已经很黑了。火车停在了一个站台,梅德洛克太太正在一旁摇晃她。

"You have had a sleep! " she said. "It's time to open your eyes! We're at Thwaite Station and we've got a long drive before us. "

“你可真能睡!” 她嚷嚷着, “该醒醒了!我们到了斯威特站了。前面还有很长一段路等着我们呢。”

Mary stood up and tried to keep her eyes open while Mrs. Medlock collected her parcels. The little girl did not offer to help her,because in India native servants always picked up or carried things and it seemed quite proper that other people should wait on one.

玛丽站了起来,试图睁开眼睛。梅德洛克太太已经开始收拾行李了。玛丽没有主动帮忙。在印度,总有土著仆人帮着拿东西,搬行李。所以在她看来,接受别人的服侍也都那么理所应当。

The station was a small one and nobody but themselves seemed to be getting out of the train. The station—master spoke to Mrs. Medlock in a rough,good—natured way,pronouncing his words in a queer broad fashion which Mary found out afterward was Yorkshire.

这是个小站,除了她们俩,好像没什么人下车。站长友善地和梅德洛克太太说话。他嗓门很粗,口音也很奇怪,显得有些宽。后来玛丽才知道那是约克郡方言。

"I see tha's got back," he said. "An't ha's browt th 'young' un with thee. "

“我瞧纳(你)回来了啊。” 他说道, “把孩子带回来了!”

"Aye,that's her," answered Mrs. Medlock,speaking with a Yorkshire accent herself and jerking her head over her shoulder toward Mary. "How's thy Missus?"

“是啊,就是她。” 梅德洛克太太也用约克郡方言回答道,同时把头甩向玛丽这边示意了一下。 “你太太还好吧?”

"Well enow. Th 'carriage is waitin' outside for thee. "

“还不错。马车在外面等着你们呢。”

A brougham stood on the road before the little outside platform. Mary saw that it was a smart carriage and that it was a smart footman who helped her in. His long waterproof coat and the waterproof covering of his hat were shining and dripping with rain as everything was,the burly station—master included.

外面的小站台前停着一辆布鲁厄姆马车。玛丽觉得这马车和扶她上车的车夫都很时髦。他穿着长长的雨衣,帽子上盖着防水布。所有的一切,连同那个站长,都滴着雨水,闪闪发亮。

When he shut the door,mounted the box with the coachman,and they drove off,the little girl found herself seated in a comfortably cushioned corner,but she was not inclined to go to sleep again. She sat and looked out of the window,curious to see something of the road over which she was being driven to the queer place Mrs. Medlock had spoken of. She was not at all a timid child and she was not exactly frightened,but she felt that there was no knowing what might happen in a house with a hundred rooms nearly all shut up—a house standing on the edge of a moor.

他关上车门,和车夫一起安置好行李箱,他们就出发了。玛丽发现自己坐的地方有坐垫,很舒服,不过却没什么睡意了。她坐在那里好奇地看着窗外的路,它正通向梅德洛克太太口中那个古怪的地方。她绝不是个胆小的孩子,也不能说是被吓到了,只是感到有些前路难料——一个旷野旁的房子,一个有上百间几乎都上锁的屋子的大房子,会有什么等着她呢?

"What is a moor?" she said suddenly to Mrs. Medlock.

“什么是旷野?” 她突然问梅德洛克太太。

"Look out of the window in about ten minutes and you'll see," the woman answered. "We've got to drive five miles across Missel Moor before we get to the Manor. You won't see much because it's a dark night,but you can see something. "

“再过十分钟你朝窗外看就能看到了。” 梅德洛克太太回答道, “我们得在米瑟荒原上走五英里,才能到家呢。今晚太黑,你看不太清楚,不过多少能看到些。”

Mary asked no more questions but waited in the darkness of her corner,keeping her eyes on the window. The carriage lamps cast rays of light a little distance ahead of them and she caught glimpses of the things they passed. After they had left the station they had driven through a tiny village and she had seen whitewashed cottages and the lights of a public house. Then they had passed a church and a vicarage and a little shop—window or so in a cottage with toys and sweets and odd things set out for sale. Then they were on the highroad and she saw hedges and trees. After that there seemed nothing different for a long time—or at least it seemed a long time to her.

玛丽不再提问。她坐在自己黑暗的角落里望着窗外。通过马车灯在她们前面投下的一束束光线,她匆匆瞥了瞥路上经过的景物。出站后经过了一个小村庄,她看到粉刷成白色的农舍和透着灯光的小酒馆。而后他们经过了一座教堂、牧师的住处、一间农舍里一个小橱窗模样的地方,里面摆了些玩具、糖果和其他小玩意儿出售。接着马车上了公路,她看到了篱笆和树木。接下来很久都没什么变化——至少她觉得很久。

At last the horses began to go more slowly,as if they were climbing up—hill,and presently there seemed to be no more hedges and no more trees. She could see nothing,in fact,but a dense darkness on either side. She leaned forward and pressed her face against the window just as the carriage gave a big jolt.

马车终于慢了下来,好像开始爬坡了,同时好像也没有篱笆和树木了。事实上她什么也看不到了,两边一片浓黑。马车猛地颠了一下,她身体前倾,脸压在了玻璃窗上。

"Eh! We're on the moor now sure enough," said Mrs. Medlock.

“嗯!现在可以确定我们上旷野了。” 梅德洛克太太说。

The carriage lamps shed a yellow light on a rough—looking road which seemed to be cut through bushes and low—growing things which ended in the great expanse of dark apparently spread out before and around them. A wind was rising and making a singular,wild,low,rushing sound.

车灯打出的黄色的光照在粗糙的路面上。路像是从灌木丛和低矮的植物中穿过。这些植物最后消失在了无边无际的黑暗当中。耳边呼啸着单调、狂野、低沉、急促的风声。

"It 's—it's not the sea,is it?" said Mary,looking round at her companion.

“这,这不是海,对吗?” 玛丽转身询问自己的旅伴。

"No,not it," answered Mrs. Medlock. "Nor it isn't fields nor mountains,it's just miles and miles and miles of wild land that nothing grows on but heather and gorse and broom,and nothing lives on but wild ponies and sheep. "

“不,当然不是。” 梅德洛克太太回答道, “这也不是田野或山脉,就只是无边无际的荒地,除了石南、荆豆、金雀花之外,这里寸草不生,动物就只有野马驹和绵羊。”

"I feel as if it might be the sea,if there were water on it," said Mary. "It sounds like the sea just now. "

“我觉得这上面要是有水,就像是海了。” 玛丽说, “刚才听起来像海。”

"That's the wind blowing through the bushes," Mrs. Medlock said. "It's a wild,dreary enough place to my mind,though there's plenty that likes it—particularly when the heather's in bloom. "

“那是风吹过灌木丛的声音。” 梅德洛克太太回答道, “很多人喜欢这旷野,尤其是石南花开的时候。不过对我来说这地方实在太荒凉阴郁了点。”

On and on they drove through the darkness,and though the rain stopped,the wind rushed by and whistled and made strange sounds. The road went up and down,and several times the carriage passed over a little bridge beneath which water rushed very fast with a great deal of noise. Mary felt as if the drive would never come to an end and that the wide,bleak moor was a wide expanse of black ocean through which she was passing on a strip of dry land.

马车继续行驶在黑暗中。雨虽然停了,风呼啸掠过,发出奇怪的声音。道路崎岖不平。马车还经过了几座小桥,桥下水流很急,发出很大的响声。玛丽觉得这旅程是没尽头了。宽广荒凉的旷野就像是一片深黑色的海洋,自己正沿着窄窄一条干地穿越其中。

"I don't like it," she said to herself. "I don't like it," and she pinched her thin lips more tightly together.

“我不喜欢这里。” 她心里想着, “一点儿也不喜欢,” 嘴唇抿得更紧了。

The horses were climbing up a hilly piece of road when she first caught sight of a light. Mrs. Medlock saw it as soon as she did and drew a long sigh of relief.

马车开始爬坡,玛丽看到了灯光。梅德洛克太太也看到了这亮光,她长长舒了一口气。

"Eh,I am glad to see that bit o 'light twinkling," she exclaimed. It's the light in the lodge window. We shall get a good cup of tea after a bit,at all events.

“啊,真高兴看到那亮光了。” 她大喊, “那是门房的灯光。等会儿说什么我们也得好好喝杯茶。”

It was "after a bit," as she said,for when the carriage passed through the park gates there was still two miles of avenue to drive through and the trees (which nearly met overhead)made it seem as if they were driving through a long dark vault.

果真如她说的那样,需要 “等会儿” 。马车进了庄园大门后,又沿着林荫道走了两英里。道路两旁高大的树木几乎越过头顶相接,马车仿佛行驶在昏暗的拱顶走廊之中。

They drove out of the vault into a clear space and stopped before an immensely long but low—built house which seemed to ramble round a stone court. At first Mary thought that there were no lights at all in the windows,but as she got out of the carriage she saw that one room in a corner upstairs showed a dull glow.

马车从拱顶走廊驶入一片开阔的地方,便停在了一个低矮的房子前面。那房子很长,就那么随便地散布在一个石头院子周围。最开始玛丽还以为没有亮灯的窗户了。但她下车后发现楼上角落处的一间屋子里还有黯淡的红光。

The entrance door was a huge one made of massive,curiously shaped panels of oak studded with big iron nails and bound with great iron bars. It opened into an enormous hall,which was so dimly lighted that the faces in the portraits on the walls and the figures in the suits of armor made Mary feel that she did not want to look at them. As she stood on the stone floor she looked a very small,odd little black figure,and she felt as small and lost and odd as she looked.

大门非常巨大,是用厚重的、奇形怪状的橡木板做成的。木板上还镶嵌了大铁钉和大铁棒。打开大门,是一间巨大的厅堂。厅堂内灯光昏暗。无论是墙上的画像,还是穿着盔甲的雕像,玛丽都不想多看一眼。她站在石头地板上,看起来像是一个渺小奇怪的小黑影。她的内心也同外表一样感到渺小、迷失、古怪。

A neat,thin old man stood near the manservant who opened the door for them.

一个整洁消瘦的老人站在为他们开门的男仆身边。

"You are to take her to her room," he said in a husky voice. "He doesn't want to see her. He's going to London in the morning. "

“你带她去她房间。” 他用沙哑的声音说, “先生不想见她。他明早要去伦敦。”

"Very well,Mr. Pitcher," Mrs. Medlock answered. "So long as I know what's expected of me,I can manage. "

“是的,皮切尔先生。” 梅德洛克太太回答说, “只要吩咐我一声,我就知道怎么做了。”

"What's expected of you,Mrs. Medlock," Mr. Pitcher said, "is that you make sure that he's not disturbed and that he doesn't see what he doesn't want to see. "

“你要做的,梅德洛克太太,” 皮切尔接着说, “就是确保不打扰到先生,不让他看到他不想见的东西。”

And then Mary Lennox was led up a broad staircase and down a long corridor and up a short flight of steps and through another corridor and another,until a door opened in a wall and she found herself in a room with a fire in it and a supper on a table.

梅德洛克太太领着玛丽去她的房间。她们爬了一段宽楼梯,下了一个长廊,又上了一小段台阶,穿过一个又一个长廊才到。屋子里有炉火,桌上有晚餐。

Mrs. Medlock said unceremoniously:

梅德洛克太太冷冰冰地说:

"Well,here you are! This room and the next are where you'll live—and you must keep to them. Don't you forget that! "

“好了,就是这儿了。这个房子连同隔壁那间都是给你住的。你就在这两间房,别乱跑。记住了啊!”

It was in this way Mistress Mary arrived at Misselthwaite Manor and she had perhaps never felt quite so contrary in all her life.

就这样,玛丽小姐来到了米瑟斯韦特庄园。这也许是她这辈子最糟糕的经历了。 hYiEUDyxqhPoYvLsV1WXWCxcIlkAT96hmKbGeBvMwZhA6D3rX8gcxjTK+EPhboG7

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