双语·《刀锋》 第四章 五
CHAPTER FOUR 5
第四章 五
We had arranged to meet at the apartment and have a cocktail before starting. I arrived before Larry.I was taking them to a very smart restaurant and expected to find Isabel arrayed for the occasion；with all the women dressed up to the nines I was confident she would not wish to be outshone.But she had on a plain woollen frock.
我们约好在公寓里碰头，先喝杯鸡尾酒，然后出发。我先于拉里一步抵达公寓。我约他们去的是一家很讲究的餐馆，出入那儿的女子一般都穿得光彩照人，所以我觉得伊莎贝尔也一定会盛装打扮。我坚信不疑：她一定不愿输给别的女人。可谁知却见她穿着一件朴素的羊毛长衫。
“Gray's got one of his headaches，”she said.“He's in agony. I can't possibly leave him.I told the cook she could go out when she'd given the children their supper and I must make something for him myself and try to get him to take it.You and Larry had better go alone.”
“格雷的头痛病又发作了。”她说，“他痛苦得不行，我不能丢下他不管。我叮咛了厨娘，让她伺候孩子们吃完饭就可以走了。我必须亲自下厨，给格雷做点饭让他吃下去。你和拉里最好自己去吧。”
“Is Gray in bed?”
“格雷在床上躺着吗？”
“No, he won't ever go to bed when he has his headaches. God knows, it's the only place for him, but he won't.He's in the library.”
“没有。头痛的时候，他从来都不肯躺到床上的。谁都知道病了就应该卧床，可他硬是不肯嘛。他正在书房里呢。”
This was a little panelled room, brown and gold, that Elliott had found in an old chateau.The books were protected from anyone who wanted to read them by gilt latticework, and locked up, but this was perhaps as well, as they consisted for the most part of illustrated pornographic works of the eighteenth century.In their contemporary morocco, however, they made a very pretty effect.Isabel led me in.Gray was sitting humped up in a big leather chair, with picture papers scattered on the floor beside him.His eyes were closed and his usually red face had a grey pallor.It was evident that he was in great pain.He tried to get up, but I stopped him.
这是个小房间，镶着棕色和金黄色壁板——壁板是艾略特从一座古堡里弄来的。书籍都放在镀金的格子柜里，上了锁，防止外人翻阅，也许这样做倒好，因为这些书大部分是十八世纪的有插图的淫秽书籍，不过，用摩洛哥皮面装订起来，看上去倒十分正经。伊莎贝尔领我进去时，格雷正弓着身子坐在一张大皮椅子上，脚下乱扔着一些画报。他闭着眼睛，往日的那张红脸呈现出死灰色，显然痛苦万分。他打算站起来，但我拦住了他。
“Have you given him any aspirin?”I asked Isabel.
“你给他吃阿司匹林了没有？”我问伊莎贝尔。
“That never does any good. I have an American prescription, but that doesn't help either.”
“阿司匹林一点用都不顶。我有个美国药方，但是，吃了也不见效。”
“Oh, don't bother, darling，”said Gray.“I shall be all right tomorrow.”He tried to smile.“I'm sorry to make such a nuisance of myself，”he said to me.“You all go out to the Bois.”
“唉，别管我了，亲爱的。”格雷说，“明天我就会好的。”他勉强一笑。“很对不起，成了你们的累赘。”末了，他冲我说道：“你们都走吧，去布伦园林吧。”
“I wouldn't dream of it，”said Isabel.“D'you think I should enjoy myself when I knew you were suffering the tortures of the damned?”
“那怎么可能呢。”伊莎贝尔说，“你痛苦得死去活来，你想我能玩得开心吗？”
“Poor slut, I think she loves me，”said Gray, his eyes closed.
“可怜的小妇人，看来她是赖上我了。”格雷说完，合上了眼睛。
Then his face was suddenly contorted and you could almost see the lancinating pain that pierced his head. The door was softly opened and Larry stepped in.Isabel told him what was the matter.
接着，他的脸突然抽搐起来，看得出他的脑袋里痛如刀割。这时，房门被轻轻推开了，拉里走了进来。伊莎贝尔把情形告诉了他。
“Oh, I am sorry，”he said, giving Gray a look of commiseration.“Isn't there anything one can do to relieve him?”
“真糟糕。”拉里同情地看了一眼格雷说，“有什么办法能解除他的病痛吗？”
“Nothing，”said Gray, his eyes still closed.“The only thing you can any of you do for me is to leave me alone；go off and have a good time by yourselves.”
“什么办法都没有。”格雷仍闭着眼睛说道，“只有一个办法，那就是让我一个人待着。你们都走吧，去玩你们的吧。”
I thought myself that was the only sensible course to take, but I didn't suppose Isabel could square it with her conscience.
我觉得唯有如此才是合乎理性的，却又怕伊莎贝尔心里过意不去不会同意。
“Will you let me see if I can help you?”asked Larry.
“让我来看看能不能帮你一把，好不好？”拉里问。
“No one can help me，”said Gray wearily.“It's just killing me and sometimes I wish to God it would.”
“谁也帮不了我。”格雷有气无力地说，“头痛起来真能要我的命。有时候希望还不如一死了之。”
“I was wrong in saying that perhaps I could help you. What I meant was that perhaps I could help you to help yourself.”
“要说我帮你，表达上不准确。我的意思是可以协助你自救。”
Gray slowly opened his eyes and looked at Larry.
格雷慢慢睁开了眼睛，看了看拉里。
“How can you do that?”
“怎么个协助法？”
Larry took what looked like a silver coin out of his pocket and put it in Gray's hand.
拉里从口袋里取出一样东西，看上去像枚银币，把它放进了格雷的手心。
“Close your fingers on it tightly and hold your hand palm downwards. Don't fight against me.Make no effort, but hold the coin in your clenched fist.Before I count twenty your hand will open and the coin will drop out of it.”
“把这硬币握紧，手背朝上。我叫你怎么做你就怎么做。不要用太大的劲，只要把它攥在手心即可。不等我数到二十，你的手就会张开，银币便会落到地上。”
Gray did as he was told. Larry seated himself at the writing-table and began to count.Isabel and I remained standing.One, two, three, four.Till he got up to fifteen there was no movement in Gray's hand, then it seemed to tremble a little and I had the impression, I can hardly say I saw, that the clenched fingers were loosening.The thumb moved away from the fist. I distinctly saw the fingers quiver. When Larry reached nineteen the coin fell out of Gray's hand and rolled to my feet.I picked it up and looked at it.It was heavy and misshapen, and in bold relief on one side of it was a youthful head which I recognized as that of Alexander the Great.Gray stared at his hand with perplexity.
格雷按他的吩咐做了。拉里坐到写字台前，开始数数。我和伊莎贝尔站在一旁观看。一，二，三，四……数到十五时，格雷的手一动不动，后来好像抖了一下。不能说我看见，而只能说有个印象——他那紧攥着的手指慢慢在松开。最先离开拳头的是大拇指。我清清楚楚看见他的手指在颤动。当拉里数到十九时，银币从格雷的手里掉下来，滚到了我的脚边。我拾起来，发现它沉甸甸的，呈不规则形状，银币的一面有一个年轻人的浮雕像，我认出那是亚历山大大帝。格雷望着自己的手，一脸的困惑。
“I didn't let the coin drop，”he said.“It fell of itself.”
“不是我有意让银币掉落的，”格雷说，“是它自己落下去的。”
He was sitting with his right arm resting on the arm of the leather chair.
他坐在皮椅子里，右臂架在椅子扶手上。
“Are you quite comfortable in that chair?”asked Larry.
“你坐在这椅子上舒服吗？”拉里问。
“As comfortable as I can be when my head's giving me hell.”
“头痛欲裂的时候，只有坐在这儿才感到舒服一点。”
“Well, let yourself go quite slack. Take it easy.Do nothing.Don't resist.Before I count twenty your right arm will rise from the arm of the chair until your hand is above your head.One, two, three, four.”
“好，让你自己彻底放松。不要紧张，不要慌，什么都不要做，一切顺其自然。不等我数到二十，你的右胳膊将会从椅子的扶手上抬起，直至你的手举过头顶。一，二，三，四……”
He spoke the numbers slowly in that silver-toned, melodious voice of his, and when he had reached nine we saw Gray's hand rise, only just perceptibly, from the leather surface on which it rested until it was perhaps an inch above it. It stopped for a second.
他慢慢数着数，声音优美，如银铃一般。他数到九的时候，我看见格雷的手几乎难以察觉地动了动，从皮面的扶手上抬起了大约有一英寸，然后稍微停顿了一下。
“Ten, eleven, twelve.”
“十，十一，十二……”
There was a little jerk and then slowly the whole arm began to move upwards. It wasn't resting on the chair any more.Isabel, a little scared, took hold of my hand.It was a curious effect.It had no likeness to a voluntary movement.I've never seen a man walking in his sleep, but I can imagine that he would move in just the same strange way that Gray's arm moved.It didn't look as though the will were the motive power.I should have thought it would be hard to raise the arm so slowly and so evenly by a conscious effort.It gave the impression that a subconscious force, independent of the mind, was raising it.It was the same sort of movement as that of a piston moving very slowly back and forth in a cylinder.
起先，手震动了一下，接着是整个胳臂开始向上移动，不再架在椅子扶手上了。伊莎贝尔有点惊恐，抓住了我的手。当时的情形真是奇怪，那胳膊像是在不由自主地移动。我从来没有见过谁梦游过，但可以想象梦游的人走动起来就像格雷的手臂移动一样古怪，看上去不像是靠意志驱动的。我觉得，要是靠意志的力量，是很难把胳膊抬得那么缓慢、那么平稳。这给人的印象是：一种不受大脑控制的潜意识力量在将他的胳膊抬起，动作就像活塞在汽缸里一上一下的，非常缓慢。
“Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen.”
“十五，十六，十七……”
The words fell, slow, slow, slow, like drops of water in a basin from a defective tap. Gray's arm rose, rose, till his hand was above his head, and as Larry reached the number he had said it fell of its own weight on to the arm of the chair.
那一个个的数字说出来，简直慢极了，就像是盥洗室里的一个没关严的水龙头在滴水，一个水珠一个水珠慢慢地朝下落。格雷的胳臂一点点向上抬，直至把手举过头顶。当拉里说完最后一个数字时，他的胳臂自动落回到了椅子扶手上。
“I didn't lift my arm，”said Gray.“I couldn't help its rising like that. It did it of its own accord.”
“不是我要抬胳膊的，”格雷说，“是它自己抬起来的，我就是想停也停不下来的。”
Larry faintly smiled.
拉里淡淡地一笑。
“It's of no consequence. I thought it might give you confidence in me.Where's that Greek coin?”
“怎么样都不当紧，主要是想让你对我产生信心。那块希腊硬币呢？”
I gave it to him.
我把硬币递给了他。
“Hold it in your hand.”Gray took it. Larry glanced at his watch.“It's thirteen minutes past eight.In sixty seconds your eyelids will grow so heavy that you'll be obliged to close them and then you'll sleep.You'll sleep for six minutes.At eight-twenty you'll wake and you’ll have no more pain.”
“你把硬币攥在手里。”格雷把硬币接了过去。拉里看着表又说道：“现在是八点十三分。用不了一分钟，你的眼皮就会发沉，那时你会闭上眼，然后入睡。睡上六分钟，到了八点二十，你就会醒来。醒来后，你就不再感到头痛了。”
Neither Isabel nor I spoke. Our eyes were on Larry.He said nothing more.He fixed his gaze on Gray, but did not seem to look at him；he seemed rather to look through and beyond him.There was something eerie in the silence that fell upon us；it was like the silence of flowers in a garden at nightfall.Suddenly I felt Isabel's hand tighten.I glanced at Gray.His eyes were closed.He was breathing easily and regularly；he was asleep.We stood there for a time that seemed interminable.I badly wanted a cigarette, but did not like to light one.Larry was motionless.His eyes looked into I knew not what distance.Except that they were open he might have been in a trance.Suddenly he appeared to relax；his eyes took on their normal expression and he looked at his watch.As he did so, Gray opened his eyes.
我和伊莎贝尔都没有说话，眼睛盯着拉里看。拉里不再言语，目光注视着格雷——那目光虽落在格雷身上，却好像不是在看他，而是穿越他的躯体瞟向他方。屋里一片沉寂，出奇的静，就像夜间花园里那般鸦雀无声。突然，我觉得伊莎贝尔抓着我的那只手猛地一紧。我望望格雷，只见他双眼紧闭，呼吸通畅、均匀，已酣然入睡。大家都站在那儿，那段时间似乎永无止境似的。我的烟瘾犯了，却又不敢点烟。拉里一动不动，目光飘向远方不知道哪个地方，木木地睁着眼，仿佛处于恍惚状态。蓦然，他好像松弛了下来，眼睛里的神情恢复了正常。他看了看表。而就在他看表之际，格雷睁开了眼睛。
“Gosh，”he said，“I believe I dropped off to sleep.”Then he started. I noticed that his face had lost its ghastly pallor.“My headache's gone.”
“哎呀！”他说道，“我肯定是睡着了。”接着，他发了发愣。我注意到他那惨白的脸色不见了。“我的头不痛了。”
“That's fine，”said Larry.“Have a cigarette and then we'll all go out to dinner.”
“很好。”拉里说，“抽根烟，然后咱们一起出去吃晚饭。”
“It's a miracle. I feel perfectly swell.How did you do it?”
“这简直是个奇迹。我觉得舒服极了。你这是怎么弄的？”
“I didn't do it. You did it yourself.”
“不是我弄出来的。奇迹是你自己创造的。”
Isabel went to change and meanwhile Gray and I drank a cocktail. Though it was plain that Larry did not wish it, Gray insisted on talking of what had just happened.He couldn't make it out at all.
伊莎贝尔去换衣服。趁此机会，我和格雷喝了杯鸡尾酒。拉里明显不愿再提刚才的事，格雷却不肯罢休，仍在滔滔不绝地讲着。他怎么也弄不明白那一切是怎么发生的。
“I didn't believe you could do a thing, you know，”he said.“I just gave in because I felt too lousy to argue.”
“起初我并不相信你会有什么办法。”他说道，“我听从你的吩咐，只是因为我懒得跟你斗嘴。”
He went on to describe the onset of his headaches, the anguish he endured and the wreck he was when the attack subsided. He could not understand how it was that just then he felt his usual robust self.Isabel came back.She was wearing a dress I had not seen before；it reached to the ground, a white sheath of what I think is called marocain, with a flare of black tulle, and I could not but think she would be a credit to us.
接下来，他把自己的病情形容了一番，说他头痛如山倒，病去如抽丝，发作之后身体处于崩溃边缘。而这一次，醒来后精力充沛如初，这叫他简直弄不清是怎么回事。伊莎贝尔换衣归来，但见她穿一件我从未见过的拖地长裙，白颜色的，可能是用一种叫罗马坎平绉的布料做的，外镶一圈黑纱边。我不由心想，她打扮得如此漂亮，全是为了叫我们看了高兴。
It was very gay at the Chateau de Madrid and we were in high spirits.Larry talked amusing nonsense in a way I had not heard him do before and he made us laugh.I had a notion he was doing this with the idea of diverting our minds from the exhibition of his unexpected power.But Isabel was a determined woman.She was prepared to play ball with him as long as it suited her convenience, but she did not lose sight of her desire to satisfy her curiosity.When we hadfinished dinner and were drinking coffee and liqueurs and she might well have supposed that the good food, the one glass of wine he drank, and the friendly talk had weakened his defences she fixed her bright eyes on Larry.
到了马德里城堡，那儿是一片欢乐的海洋，大家玩得兴高采烈。拉里谈笑风生、趣话连篇（我以前从未见他这么风趣过），引得大伙儿哈哈大笑。我有一种感觉，他这样做是为了转移我们的注意力，免得再询问他那超凡的能力。不过，伊莎贝尔可是个意志坚强的女子。她可以做些顺水行舟的事，但最终好奇心得不到满足的她是不会罢休的。吃过饭后，大家喝咖啡和品酒。这时，伊莎贝尔可能觉得美味佳肴、香醪美酿以及友好的交谈削弱了拉里的防线，于是就将一双明眸盯住拉里，说道：
“Now tell us how you cured Gray's headache.”
“给我们讲一讲你是怎么把格雷的头痛病治好的。”
“You saw for yourself，”he answered, smiling.
“那个过程你们自己都看见了么。”拉里笑笑说。
“Did you learn to do that sort of thing in India?”
“这种妙手回春的本事是在印度学的吧？”
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“He suffers agonies. D'you think you could cure him permanently?”
“这病叫他受尽了洋罪。你能不能把他彻底治好？”
“I don't know. I might be able to.”
“不知道。也许可以吧。”
“It would make a difference to his whole life. He couldn't expect to hold a decent job when he may be incapacitated for forty-eight hours.He'll never be happy till he's at work again.”
“这会彻底改变他的生活。他的头痛症一发作，两天两夜都没有行为能力，就是有工作也干不好的。而不干工作，他是绝不会开心的。”
“I can't work miracles, you know.”
“要知道，我是无法创造奇迹的。”
“But it was a miracle. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“可你已经创造了，我可是亲眼所见的。”
“No, it wasn't. I merely put an idea in old Gray's head and he did the rest himself.”He turned to Gray.“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“不，那不是奇迹。我只是向他灌输了一种想法，其余的都是他自己完成的。”拉里说到此处，转过头问格雷：“明天你干什么？”
“Playing golf.”
“打高尔夫。”
“I'll look in at six and We'll have a talk.”Then, giving Isabel his winning smile：“I haven't danced with you for ten years, Isabel. Would you care to see if I still know how to?”
“我明天六点到你们府上，咱们坐下来谈谈。”拉里说完，冲着伊莎贝尔莞尔一笑，问道：“伊莎贝尔，十年没和你跳舞了，愿不愿看看我是否还能舞起来？”
