双语·《刀锋》 第七章 二

CHAPTER SEVEN 2
第七章 二

On presenting myself at the headquarters of the Toulon police I was immediately ushered into the room of the chief inspector. He was sitting at a table, a heavy, swarthy man of saturnine appearance whom I took to be a Corsican.He threw me, perhaps from force of habit, a suspicious glance；but noticing the ribbon of the Legion of Honour, which I had taken the precaution to put in my buttonhole, with an unctuous smile asked me to sit down and proceeded to make profuse apologies for having been obliged to incommode a person of my distinction.Adopting a similar tone, I assured him that nothing could make me happier than to be of service to him.Then we got down to brass tacks and he resumed his brusque, rather insolent manner.Looking at some papers before him, he said：
我到了土伦警察局，立即被领进了警察总长的办公室。警察总长是个粗汉，坐在办公桌旁，一张脸黑不溜秋，面色阴沉，看上去像个科西嘉人。也许是出于职业习惯吧，他狠狠地扫了我一眼，目光疑神疑鬼的。可是看见我的纽扣孔里挂着荣誉军团勋章（那是我以防万一临时挂上去的），他便满脸堆起笑容，急忙请我坐下，说了一篓子道歉的话，声称惊动我这样一个有身份的人，实在不得已。我对他也以礼相待，说能为他效犬马之劳，我感到不胜荣幸。接下来，我们言归正传。他又恢复了先前的那种严厉、粗暴的神情，眼睛看着桌子上的材料对我说：

“This is a dirty business. It appears that the woman Macdonald had a very bad reputation.She was a drunkard, a dope fiend, and a nymphomaniac.She was in the habit of sleeping not only with sailors off the ships, but with the riffraff of the town.How does it happen that a person of your age and respectability should be acquainted with such a character?”
“真是伤风败俗。这个叫麦克唐纳的女人好像名声很坏，是个酒鬼、瘾君子、野鸡。她不但和上岸的水手睡觉，还同城里的地痞流氓上床。以你这样的年龄，以你这样的身份，怎么跟这种人搅和在了一起？”

I was inclined to tell him that it was no business of his, but from a diligent perusal of hundreds of detective stories I have learnt that it is well to be civil with the police.
我本来想告诉他这不关他的事，可是，根据我钻研几百本侦探小说的经验，觉得对待警察还是客气点好。

“I knew her very little. I met her when she was a girl in Chicago, where she afterwards married a man of good position.I met her again in Paris a year or so ago through friends of hers and mine.”
“我和她并不太熟。初次在芝加哥见她时，她还是个孩子。后来，她嫁了个有头有脸的人。大概在一年前吧，通过她和我共同认识的几位朋友，我才又一次见到了她。”

I had been wondering how on earth he had ever connected me with Sophie, but now he pushed forward a book.
我一边说话一边纳闷，不知道这位警察总长到底是怎么把我和索菲联系在了一起。此时，只见他把一本书推到了我面前说：

“This volume was found in her room. If you will kindly look at the dedication you will see that it hardly suggests that your acquaintance with her was as slight as you claim.”
“这是在她的房间找到的。你看看上面的题词，恐怕就不能说你和她不太熟了。”

It was the translation of that novel of mine that she had seen in the bookshop window and asked me to write in. Under my own name I had written“Mignonne, allons voir si la rose，”because it was the first thing that occurred to me.It certainly looked a trifle familiar.
此书就是我的那本法译版小说，索菲在书店看到过，想请我签名题词。我签了名，并在下面题了词：“亲爱的，让我们看看这玫瑰花……”题词是当时随便想出来的，语气的确有点太亲热了些。

“If you are suggesting that I was her lover, you are mistaken.”
“假如你怀疑我是她的情人，那你就大错特错了。”

“It would be no affair of mine，”he replied, and then with a gleam in his eye：“And without wishing to say anything offensive to you I must add that from what I have heard of her proclivities I should not say you were her type. But it is evident that you would not address a perfect stranger as mignonne.”
“是不是情人不关我的事。”他回答说，眼睛里闪闪发着亮光，“我无意冒犯你，但此处必须补充一句，根据我所了解到的她的喜好，你不是她的意中人。可是，有一点得弄清楚：你绝不会把一个自己不太熟悉的人称为‘亲爱的’。”

“That line, monsieur le commissaire, is the first line of a celebrated poem by Ronsard, whose works I am certain are familiar to a man of your education and culture. I wrote it because I felt sure she knew the poem and would recall the following lines, which might suggest to her that the life she was leading was, to say the least of it, indiscreet.”
“这是龙沙的一首名作中的头一行诗，总长大人。像你这样有文化修养的人对龙沙的诗肯定是很了解的。我当时引用这句诗，是觉得她知道这首诗，会联想到下面的诗行，从而感到愧疚，至少能意识到自己的生活有失检点。”

“Evidently I have read Ronsard at school, but with all the work I have to do I confess that the lines you refer to have escaped my memory.”
“当然，龙沙的诗我上学的时候是读过的，可现在乱事如麻，你刚才提到的诗句早已忘掉了。”

I repeated the first stanza and knowing very well he had never heard the poet's name till I mentioned it, had no fear that he would recall the last one which can hardly be taken as an incitement to virtue.
接下来，我把那首诗的第一段背诵了出来。我断定他以前对龙沙的名字连听也没听说过，所以不怕他知道后边的诗句并不包含劝人改邪归正的内容。

“She was apparently a woman of some education. We found a number of detective stories in her room and two or three volumes of poetry.There was a Baudelaire and a Rimbaud and an English volume by someone called Eliot.Is heknown?”
“她显然是读过一些书的。我们在她的房间里找到了许多本侦探小说和两三本诗集。一本诗集是波德莱尔写的，还有一本是兰波的诗集。另有一本英文诗集，是一个叫艾略特的人写的。他的名气大不大？”

“Widely.”
“名气非常大。”

“I have no time to read poetry. In any case I cannot read English.If he is a good poet it is a pity he doesn't write in French, so that educated people could read him.”
“我没时间读诗。再说，我也看不懂英语。可惜呀，如果他是个好诗人，何不用法语写诗，这样可以让法国有文化的人拜读拜读嘛。”

The thought of my chief inspector reading The Waste Land filled me with pleasure. Suddenly he pushed a snapshot towards me.
想到这位警察总长阅读《荒原》的情景，我的心里觉得好笑。突然，他把一张照片推到了我面前。

“Have you any idea who that is?”
“对这个人你了解吗？”

I immediately recognized Larry. He was in bathing trunks, and the photograph, a recent one, had been taken, I guessed, during the summer part of which he had spent with Isabel and Gray at Dinard.My first impulse was to say I did not know, for I wanted nothing less than to get Larry mixed up in this hateful business, but I reflected that if the police discovered his identity my assertion would look as if I thought there was something to hide.
我立刻认出是拉里，穿着游泳裤，是最近才拍的一张照片。拍摄的时间大概就是去年夏天——当时他和伊莎贝尔及格雷在迪纳尔避暑。我一急，想说不认识，因为我不愿让拉里也陷于这件麻烦事中，可是细细寻思，觉得既然警方知道了他的身份，我再推说不认识，只会叫人以为里面有不可告人之处。

“He's an American citizen called Laurence Darrell.”
“他是个美国公民，叫劳伦斯·达雷尔。”

“It was the only photograph found among the woman's effects. What was the connexion between them?”
“在那个女人的物品中，这是唯一的一张照片。他们之间是什么关系。”

“They both came from the same village near Chicago. They were childhood friends.”
“他们都是芝加哥附近一个村子里的人，从小就认识。”

“But this photograph was taken not long ago, I suspect at a seaside resort in the North or on the West of France. It would be easy to discover the exact place.What is he, this individual?”
“不过，这张照片可是在前不久拍的，我想大概是在法国北部或者西部的一个海滨疗养地拍的吧。要确定位置不会是难事。他是干什么的？”

“An author，”I said boldly. The inspector slightly raised his bushy eyebrows and I guessed that he did not attribute high morality to members of my calling.“Of independent means，”I added to make it sound more respectable.
“是个作家。”我大着胆子说。警察总长的两撇浓眉稍稍抬起来了一点，大概是认为干我们这一行的人，行为都是不大检点的。“不过，他不是靠撰稿为生的。”我又补充了一句，想让拉里的身份显得体面一些。

“Where is he now?”
“他现在何处？”

Again I was tempted to say I didn't know, but again decided it would only make things awkward if I did. The French police may have many faults, but their system enables them to find anyone they want without delay.
我又想推说不知道，可还是觉得那样会叫事情更为尴尬。法国的警务也许有各种弊端，但他们有一张网，立刻就能查出一个人来。

“He's living at Sanary.”
“他住在萨纳里。”

The inspector looked up and it was clear that he was interested.
警察总长抬头看了看我，显然对我的回答很感兴趣。

“Where?”
“地址呢？”

I had remembered Larry telling me that Auguste Cottet had lent him his cottage and on my return at Christmas I had written to ask him to come and stay with me for a while, but as I fully expected he had refused. I gave the inspector his address.
拉里曾告诉过我，说奥古斯特·科迪特把他的乡间小屋借给了他。我圣诞节回家时，给那个地址写过信，请他来我家做客，住上几天，可不出所料，他谢绝了我的邀请。此时见总长问起，我就把他的地址说了出来。

“I'll telephone to Sanary and have him brought here. It might be worth while to question him.”
“我会给萨纳里那边打电话的，让他到这儿来一趟。从他嘴里也许能问出些情况来。”

I could not but see that the inspector thought that here might be a suspect, but I was only inclined to laugh；I was convinced that Larry could easily prove that he had nothing to do with the affair. I was anxious to hear more about Sophie's lamentable end, but the inspector only told me in somewhat greater detail what I already knew.Two fishermen had brought the body in.It was a romantic exaggeration of my local policeman's that it was stark naked.The murderer had left girdle and brassière.If Sophie had been dressed in the same way as I had seen her he had had to strip her only of her slacks and her jersey.There was nothing to identify her and the police had inserted a description in the local paper.This had brought a woman to the station who kept a small rooming-house in a back street, what the French call a maison de passe, to which men could bring women or boys.She was an agent of the police, who liked to know who frequented her house and what for.Sophie had been turned out of the hotel on the quay at which she was living when I ran across her because her conduct was more scandalous than even the tolerant proprietor could put up with.She had offered to engage a room with a tiny sitting-room beside it in the house of the woman I have just mentioned.It was more profitable to let it two or three times a night for short periods, but Sophie offered to pay so handsomely that the woman consented to rent it to her by the month.She came to the police station now to state that her tenant had been absent for several days, she had not bothered, thinking she had gone for a trip to Marseilles or to Villefranche, where ships of the British fleet had lately arrived, an event that always attracted women, young and old, from all along the coast；but she had read the description of the deceased in the paper and thought it might apply to her tenant.She had been taken to see the body and after a trifling hesitation declared it was that of Sophie Macdonald.
我心中暗想，警察总长一定把拉里当成了嫌犯，于是觉得心里好笑。我断定，拉里很容易就可以证明自己与此事一点关系都没有。我所关心的是索菲的惨剧，想了解更多的细节，可是总长告诉我的情况并不比我已经了解到的多多少。尸体是两个渔民打捞出来的。至于我们那儿的村警说死者一丝不挂，纯粹是夸大其词。凶手没有剥掉她的内裤和乳罩。如果索菲死时还是我以前见过的那身装束，那么，凶手只是扒掉了她的长裤和运动衫。起初，由于查不出她的身份，警方曾在当地报纸上登了一则告示，描述了她的特征，结果引来了一位女子。此人在一条背街上经营地下出租屋，法语称作妓院，经常有男人带女人或男孩去出租屋鬼混。其实，她是警方的耳目。警方询问了她，问她有什么人到出租屋去，都干了些什么。我上次碰见索菲时，她刚被码头跟前的那家旅馆赶了出来，因为她的行为过于寡廉鲜耻，就连一向宽容的旅馆老板都忍无可忍了。于是，她就到旁边的地下出租屋去，就是刚才提到的那位女子经营的出租屋，想租一套带小客厅的房间。按说，临时把房间租出去，一夜出租两三次，是有利可图的。但索菲按月租，出的价钱更高，于是女房东就答应租给她了。女房东这个时候来警察局，说她的房客几天都没见踪影了。原先她并没有在意，以为索菲到马赛或者维尔弗朗什去了——最近，英国海军的舰队抵达那两处港口，像磁石一样把海岸线一带许多的女人（年轻的以及年老的）都吸引了去。后来，她看了报上登的关于死者的描述，觉得很符合女房客的特征。被领去辨认死尸时，她几乎没有犹豫，立刻便认定死者就是索菲·麦克唐纳。

“But if the body's been identified, what do you want me for?”
“既然尸体已经得到了辨认，又何必叫我来呢？”

“Madame Bellet is a woman of high honourability and excellent character，”said the inspector，“but she may have reasons for identifying the dead woman that we do not know；and in any case I think she should be seen by someone who was more closely connected with her so that the fact may be confirmed.”
“贝莱夫人品德高尚，诚实可信，”总长说道，“但她也许出于某种不得而知的原因认错人。不管怎么说吧，我觉得应当找一个和死者关系比较密切的人来证实一下。”

“Do you think you have any chance of catching the murderer?”
“你认为有可能抓住凶手吗？”

The inspector shrugged his massive shoulders.
总长耸了耸他那宽厚的肩膀。

“Naturally we are making inquiries. We have questioned a number of persons at the bars she used to go to.She may have been killed out of jealousy by a sailor whose ship has already left the port, or by a gangster for whatever money she had on her.It appears that she always had on her a sum that would seem large to a man of that sort.It may be that some people have a strong suspicion who the culprit is, but in the circles she moved it is unlikely that anyone will speak unless it is to his advantage.Consorting with the bad characters she did, such an end as she has come to was only too probable.”
“当然，我们正在找线索，曾经到她常去的酒吧询问过几个人。她可能被哪个吃醋的水手杀害，而水手的船已经离开了港口，或者是遇到了一个图财害命的恶棍。她好像身上老带着钱，免不了叫歹徒见财起意。也许有人了解些线索，知道何人是凶手，但她那个圈子里的人，除非利益相关，否则没人会说话的。她跟那些坏蛋鬼混，早晚都会落到这种下场的。”

I had nothing to say to this. The inspector asked me to come next morning at nine o'clock, by which time he would have seen“this gentleman of the photograph”，after which a policeman would take us to the nearest morgue to see the body.
我一时无语。总长要我次日上午九点钟再来一趟，那时他应当接见过“照片中的这位男子”。然后，由一位警察领我们去认尸。

“And how about burying her?”
“死者怎么安葬呢？”

“If after identifying the body you claim it as friends of the deceased and are prepared to undertake the expense of the funeral yourselves, you will receive the necessary authorization.”
“辨认完尸体，如果你们认定死者是你们的朋友，同时愿意负担丧葬费，就可以得到相关的授权。”

“I'm sure that Mr. Darrell and I would like to have it as soon as possible.”
“我敢肯定，我和达雷尔先生都愿意获得授权，越快越好。”

“I quite understand. It is a sad story and it is better that the poor woman should be laid to rest without delay.And that reminds me that I have here the card of an undertaker who will arrange the matter for you on reasonable terms and with dispatch.I will just write a line on it so that he may give you every attention.”
“我完全理解。这是一件叫人伤心的事情。应该让那个可怜的女人尽早入土为安，越快越好。这让我想起我这儿有一张殡葬承办人的名片。此人办事周到，收费合理，会为你们把事情打理好的。我在名片上批几个字，他一定会重视的。”

I was pretty sure he would get a rake-off on the amount paid, but I thanked him warmly, and when he had ushered me out with every expression of esteem I went forthwith to the address on the card. The undertaker was brisk and businesslike.I chose a coffin, neither the cheapest nor the most expensive, accepted his offer to get me two or three wreaths from a florist of his acquaintance—“to save monsieur a painful duty and out of respect for the dead，”he said-and arranged for the hearse to be at the morgue at two o'clock next day.I could not but admire his efficiency when he told me that I need not trouble to see about a grave, he would do all that was necessary, and“Madame was a Protestant, I assume，”furthermore he would, if I wished it, have a pastor waiting at the cemetery to read the burial service.But since I was a stranger and a foreigner he was sure that I would not take it amiss if he asked me to be good enough to give him a cheque in advance.He named a larger sum than I had foreseen, evidently expecting me to beat him down, and I discerned a look of surprise, perhaps even of disappointment, on his face when I took out my cheque-book and wrote out a cheque without demur.
我敢打包票，他一定会从殡葬费里吃回扣的，但还是对他表示了感谢。他送我出门，一举一动都表现得毕恭毕敬。按照名片上的地址，我即刻前去找殡葬承办人。对方是个爽快人，一副公事公办的样子。我挑了一口棺材，价钱适中，既不是最便宜的，也不是最贵的。他主动提出替我从他熟识的一家花店订购两三只花圈，我接受了他的建议。“这样可以免去先生一些麻烦事，也可以表达我对死者的敬意。”他解释说。我们约定好让柩车于次日两点钟到达太平间。他叫我不必为坟地操心，一切都由他代办，还说“想来死者是新教徒”，如果我同意的话，他将找一位牧师等在公墓那边，于下葬时为死者祈祷。对于他的办事效率，我不得不佩服。不过，鉴于我们素不相识，我又是个外国人，所以他提出我最好预先给他开一张支票，希望我不会介意。他说出的钱数比我预料的要多一点，显然是等着我还价。可是，我二话没说，掏出支票本来，开了一张支票给他。只见他脸上现出了意外的表情，那样子甚至可以说有点失望。

I took a room at an hotel and next morning returned to the police station. I was kept waiting for some time and then was bidden to go into the chief inspector's office.I found Larry, looking grave and distressed, sitting in the chair I had sat in the day before.The inspector greeted me with joviality.I might have been a long-lost brother.
我在一家旅馆要了个房间住下来，次日早晨又去了警察局。等了一小会儿，就有人把我领进了警察总长的办公室。拉里也在那儿，表情凝重、悲伤，坐在我昨天坐过的那把椅子上。总长高兴地跟我打招呼，仿佛我是他失散多年的兄弟似的。

“Well, mon cher monsieur, your friend has answered all the questions it was my duty to put him with the utmost frankness. I have no reason to disbelieve his statement that he had not seen this poor woman for eighteen months.He has accounted for his movements during the last week in a perfectly satisfactory manner as well as for the fact that his photograph was found in her room.It was taken at Dinard and he happened to have it in his pocket one day when he was lunching with her.I have had excellent reports of the young man from Sanary and I am besides, I say it without vanity, a good judge of character myself；I am convinced that he is incapable of committing a crime of this nature.I have ventured to offer him my sympathy that a friend of his childhood, brought up with all the advantages of a healthy family life, should have turned out so badly.But such is life.And now, my dear gentlemen, one of my men will accompany you to the morgue and when you have identified the body, your time is at your own disposal.Go and have agood lunch.I have a card here of the best restaurant in Toulon and I will just write a word on it which will assure you of the patron's best attention.A good bottle of wine will do you both good after this harrowing experience.”
“很好，亲爱的先生，你的朋友极其坦率地回答了我有责任问他的所有问题。他说已经有一年半的时间没见那个可怜的女人了，对此我没有理由不相信。至于他上星期身在何处以及他的照片为什么出现在了那个女人的房间，他解释得清清楚楚，令人十分满意。照片是在迪纳尔拍的，有一天，他和那女人吃午饭时，刚好放在他口袋里，就送给了她。我从萨纳里已经收到了报告，对这个年轻人评价很好。再说，不是我吹牛，我是个很有眼光的人，坚信他不可能干那种伤天害理的事情。那女人是他童年时的朋友，在一个气氛健康的家庭长大，有着种种优越环境，竟会落得如此悲惨的下场，对此我深表同情。不过，这就是人生呀。现在，亲爱的先生们，我的一个下属将陪二位到太平间去，在确定了死者的身份之后，你们的责任就算尽到了。好好去吃一顿。我这儿有一张餐馆的名片，那是土伦最好的餐馆。我在上面批几个字给老板，你们一定会受到最优惠的待遇。辛苦了这么一通，喝上一瓶美酒，对你们会大有好处。”

He was by now positively beaming with good will. We walked to the mortuary with a policeman.They were not doing a lively business in that establishment.There was a body on one slab only.We went up to it and the mortuary attendant uncovered the head.It was not a pleasant sight.The sea water had taken the curl out of the dyed silvery hair and it was plastered dankly on the skull.The face was horribly swollen and it was ghastly to look at, but there was no doubt that it was Sophie's.The attendant drew the covering sheet down to show us what we both would rather not have seen, the horrid gash across the throat that stretched from ear to ear.
说话时，他满脸喜色，样子显得很开心。随即，我们跟着一个警察去了太平间。此处的生意很不景气，停尸床上只停放着一具尸体。我们走过去，工作人员揭开了蒙在死者头上的遮布，现出的场景惨不忍睹——死者那染成了银灰色并烫过的卷发已被海水泡直，湿漉漉地贴在脑壳上；面部肿得不像样，看上去似鬼脸一般可怕。尽管如此，一看就知道是索菲无疑。工作人员把遮布又朝下拉了拉，露出了一条刀口——那刀口切穿了喉管，从一个耳朵根切到了另一个耳朵根，让我们俩不忍再看下去。

We went back to the station. The chief inspector was busy, but we said what we had to say to an assistant；he left us and presently returned with the necessary papers.We took them to the undertaker.
我们回到了警察局。总长抽不出空接见我们，于是我们就把事情对他的助手说了，助手让我们等了一会儿，便拿来了所需的证件。我们把证件拿走，给了殡葬承办人。

“Now let's have a drink，”I said.
“好啦，咱们去喝一杯吧。”我说道。

Larry hadn't uttered a word since we left the police station to go to the mortuary except on our return there to declare that he identified the body as that of Sophie Macdonald. I led him down to the quay and we sat in the café in which I had sat with her.A strong mistral was blowing and the harbour, usually so smooth, was flecked with white foam.The fishing-boats were gently rocking.The sun shone brightly and, as always happens with a mistral, every object in sight had a peculiar sparkling sharpness as though you looked at it through glasses focused with more than common accuracy.It imparted a nerve-racking, throbbing vitality to everything in sight.I drank a brandy and soda, but Larry never touched the one I had ordered for him.He sat in moody silence and I did not disturb him.
刚才从警察局去太平间，拉里在返回的路上曾说他一眼就认出死者是索菲·麦克唐纳。除此之外，他再也没说过一句话。我领着他向码头走去，到了一家咖啡店——我和索菲曾在这家店里喝咖啡。外边北风呼啸，平时平静的港湾此时白浪翻滚。渔船随着海水在轻轻地摇晃。阳光亮晃晃的。每次刮北风，视野里的一景一物都异常清晰，就像是用聚焦望远镜看到的一样，在刺激着人们的神经，使人们的心灵颤抖。我喝了一杯苏打水白兰地，而拉里碰也没碰我给他要的那杯酒。他一语不发，心情沉痛，木然呆坐着。我没有去打搅他。

Presently I looked at my watch.
过了一会儿，我看了看表说：

“We'd better go and have something to eat，”I said.“We've got to be at the mortuary at two.”
“咱们走吧，吃点东西去。两点钟还得到太平间去呢。”

“I'm hungry, I didn't have any breakfast.”
“我饿得肚子咕噜叫，早晨没吃东西。”

Having judged from his appearance that the chief inspector knew where the food was good, I took Larry to the restaurant he had told us of. Knowing that Larry seldom ate meat, I ordered an omelette and a grilled lobster and then, asking for the wine list, chose, again following the policeman's counsel, a vintage wine.When it appeared I poured out a glass for Larry.
从那位警察总长的外表看来，我断定他是个美食专家，于是便将拉里带到了他推荐的那家餐馆。我知道拉里很少吃肉，所以点了煎蛋卷和烤龙虾，又让侍者把酒单拿来，仍按照警察总长的建议挑了一瓶葡萄酒。酒送来时，我给拉里倒了一杯。

“You damn well drink it，”I said.“It may suggest a topic of conversation to you.”
“劝你喝下去，”我说道，“杯酒可以解千愁，让你把心里的话说出来。”

He obediently did as I bade him.
他顺从地照我的话做了。

“Shri Ganesha used to say that silence also is conversation，”he murmured.
“希瑞·格涅沙常说，沉默也是一种交谈。”他喃喃地说。

“That suggests a jolly social gathering of intellectual dons at the University of Cambridge.”
“这倒叫我想起了剑桥大学教师们的一次别开生面的社交聚会，有着异曲同工之妙。”

“I'm afraid you'll have to stand the racket of this funeral by yourself，”he said.“I haven't any money.”
“至于这次的丧葬费，你恐怕得一个人承担了，”他说道，“我现在已囊空如洗。”

“I'm quite prepared to do that，”I answered. Then the implication of his remark hit me.“You haven't been and gone and done it really?”
“我十分乐意承担。”我答道。把他的话又回味了一下，我接着又说道：“你不会真的那样做了吧？”

He did not answer for a moment. I noticed the whimsical, teasing glint in his eyes.
他一时没有回答我的话。我注意到他的眼里闪出一丝古怪、戏谑的光。

“You haven't got rid of your money?”
“你不会仗义疏财，把钱都送人了吧？”

“Every cent except what I need to last me till my ship comes in.”
“除了一点钱够我在轮船来之前用，其余的全都送了人。”

“What ship?”
“什么轮船？”

“The man who has the next cottage to mine at Sanary is the Marseilles agent of a line of freighters that run from the Near East to New York. They've cabled him from Alexandria that they've had to put off a couple of sick men there from a ship that's coming on to Marseilles and asked him to get two more to take their place.He's a buddy of mine and he's promised to get me on.I’m giving him my old Citro?n as a parting present.When I step on board I shall have nothing but the clothes I stand up in and a few things in a grip.”
“我在萨纳里居住，隔壁有个邻居是一家货轮公司在马赛的代理人，货轮的航线是往返于近东和纽约之间。他们从亚历山大城发电报给他，说一条开往马赛的船有两个水手生病，在亚历山大城上了岸，叫他找两个替工。他是我的好朋友，答应把我弄上船。我要把我的那辆旧的雪铁龙送给他作为纪念。这样，一旦登船，除了身上的一身衣服以及包里的几件日用品，我就一无所有了。”

“Well, it's your own money. You're free, white, and twenty-one.”
“钱是你自己的。你是个白种人，已满二十一岁，作为成年人你可以自由支配你的财产。”

“Free is the right word. I've never been happier or felt more independent in my life.When I get to New York I shall have my wages and they'll carry me on till I can get a job.”
“自由这个词用得很恰当。以前我从未感到如此快乐和自在过。到纽约下船，他们会给我一些报酬，够我花一阵子，直至我找到工作。”

“What about your book?”
“你的书写得怎么样了？”

“Oh, it's finished and printed. I made a list of people I wanted it sent to-you ought to get a copy in a day or two.”
“哦，已完稿，并印了出来。我开了一张赠书的名单，你在一两天内当会收到。”

“Thank you.”
“多谢。”

There was not much more to say and we finished our meal in amiable silence. I ordered coffee.Larry lit a pipe and I a cigar.I looked at him thoughtfully.He felt my eyes upon him and threw me a glance；his own were lit with an impish twinkle.
接下来再无话可说，我们俩默默地在友好的气氛中吃完了饭。然后，我要了杯咖啡。拉里点着烟斗，我则燃起一支雪茄。我一边想心事一边望着他。他感觉到我在盯着他瞧，便扫了我一眼，目光里闪出一丝顽皮。

“If you feel like telling me I'm a damned fool, don't hesitate. I wouldn't in the least mind.”
“如果你心里想骂我是个大傻瓜，尽管骂出口好啦，我一点都不会介意的。”

“No, I don't particularly feel like that. I was only wondering if your life wouldn't have fallen into a more perfect pattern if you'd married and had children like everybody else.”
“我心里并没有这种念头。我只是在想，你要是像其他人一样结婚生子，日子过得岂不是比现在美满一些。”

He smiled. I must have remarked twenty times on the beauty of his smile, it was so cosy, trustful, and sweet.It reflected the candour, the truthfulness of his charming nature；but I must do so once again, for now, besides all that, there was in it something rueful and tender.
他听后笑了。他的笑容很美，我以前说过足有二十遍了——这种笑容恬适、真诚、迷人，反映出了他那坦率、诚挚、令人舒心的天性。此处有必要再谈及他的笑容，因为这次的笑容除了包含以上成分之外，还有些许凄婉和柔情。

“It's too late for that now. The only woman I've met whom I could have married was poor Sophie.”
“现在太迟了。我碰到的女子，唯一可婚可娶的只有可怜的索菲。”

I looked at him with amazement.
我愕然地望了望他。

“Can you say that after all that's happened?”
“发生了那许多事情，你还能这么说吗？”

“She had a lovely soul, fervid, aspiring, and generous. Her ideals were greathearted.There was even at the end a tragic nobility in the way she sought destruction.”
“她有一颗可亲可爱的灵魂，满怀热情，有追求，慷慨大方。她的理想是高尚的。即便她寻求自我毁灭，最后以悲剧告终，里面也蕴含着高尚的因素。”

I was silent. I did not know what to make of these strange assertions.
我哑口无言，对这种奇怪的论断真不知怎么说才好。

“Why didn't you marry her then?”I asked.
“那你当初为什么不娶她？”我末了问道。

“She was a child. To tell you the truth, it never occurred to me when I used to go over to her grandfather's and we read poetry together under the elm tree that there was in that skinny brat the seed of spiritual beauty.”
“她那时还是个孩子。当时我常到她祖父家，和她一同在榆树下读诗，说实话，我没想到那个瘦巴巴的丫头正孕育着美丽的精神世界。”

I could not but think it surprising that at this juncture he made no mention of Isabel. He could not have forgotten that he had been engaged to her and I could only suppose that he regarded the episode as a foolishness without consequence of two young things not old enough to know their own minds.I was ready to believe that the suspicion had never so much as fugitively crossed his mind that ever since she had been eating her heart out for him.
我不由感到奇怪，在结婚这件事上，他竟然只字未提伊莎贝尔。他曾经和伊莎贝尔订过婚，此事不可能已淡然忘却。我只能推想，他也许把他俩的订婚视为两个不明事理的年轻人干下的荒唐事，只能是无果而终。我觉得，若说伊莎贝尔一直在苦苦暗恋着他，这样的想法在他的脑海里恐怕连个影子都没有出现过。

It was time for us to go. We walked to the square where Larry had left his car, very shabby now, and drove to the mortuary.The undertaker was as good as his word.The businesslike efficiency with which everything was accomplished, under that garish sky, with the violent wind bending the cypresses of the cemetery, added a last note of horror to the proceedings.When it was all over the undertaker shook hands with us cordially.
该去料理丧事了。我们到了广场上，那儿停放着拉里那辆破旧不堪的汽车，然后驱车前往太平间。殡葬承办人所言不虚，果真办事效率很高，把所有的事情均已办妥。天上一片亮晃晃的光，狂风大作，把公墓的柏树吹弯了腰，给葬礼增添了几分恐怖的气氛。葬礼结束后，承办人客气地跟我们一一握手。

“Well, gentlemen, I hope you are satisfied. It went very well.”
“但愿两位先生能够满意。一切都进行得非常顺利。”

“Very well，”I said.
“的确非常顺利。”我说道。

“Monsieur will not forget that I am always at his disposition if he has need of my services. Distance is no object.”
“请先生记着，如果有什么差遣，我将随时准备效力，路远路近不在话下。”

I thanked him. When we came to the gate of the cemetery Larry asked me if there was anything further I wanted him for.
我对他表示了谢意。走到公墓门口时，拉里问我还有什么事情需要他做。

“Nothing.”
“没有什么别的事了。”

“I'd like to get back to Sanary as soon as possible.”
“我想尽快赶回萨纳里去。”

“Drop me at my hotel, will you?”
“把我送到旅馆，好吗？”

We spoke never a word as we drove. When we arrived I got out.We shook hands and he went off.I paid my bill, got my bag, and took a taxi to the station.I too wanted to get away.
汽车启动后，我们谁都没有再说一句话。到旅馆后，我下了车。然后，我们握了握手，他就把车开走了。我在旅馆结了账，拿上行李箱，乘出租车去了火车站。我和拉里一样，也想赶快离开这个地方。