牛津书虫系列 金银岛 15 End of an adventure

15 End of an adventure

15 寻宝结局

The pirates could not believe it，but Silver remained calm and changed his plan quickly.

那帮海盗简直不能相信这一切，但西尔弗仍旧保持镇静并迅速改变了计划。

‘Jim，’he whispered，‘take that，and be ready for trouble.’And he passed me a pistol.

“吉姆，”他轻声说，“拿着这个，以便应付乱子。”他交给我一把手枪。

At the same time he began to move quietly and，after a few steps，the hole was between us and the other five.He looked quite friendly now，and I couldn't help whispering，‘So you've changed sides again!’

这时他静静地向前走了几步，那个大洞把我们和那五个海盗隔开。他现在显得十分友好，我禁不住嘀咕起来：“你又站到这边来啦!”

The pirates began to jump into the hole，and to dig in the ground with their fingers.Morgan found a two-guinea coin，and it went from hand to hand.

那几个海盗跳到洞里，用手指挖地。摩根找到一枚两畿尼的金币，那金币在他们手中传递着。

‘Two guineas!’shouted George Merry，shaking it at Silver.‘That's your seven hundred thousand pounds!You're the man for bargains，are you?You're the one who never made a mistake!’

“两个畿尼!”乔治·墨利喊道，向着西尔弗扬着手中的金币。“这就是你说的70万英镑吗?你不是个做交易的老手吗?你不是从不失手吗?”

‘Wanting to be captain again，George?’said Silver.

“又想当船长了，乔治?”西尔弗说。

But this time，everyone was on George Merry's side，and they began to climb out of the hole.

但这次所有的人都站在乔治·墨利一边，他们开始爬出土坑。

‘There's just the two of them，’said George.‘The old one-legged man who brought us all here for nothing;and that boy who I'm going to have the heart of!’

“他们只有两个人，”乔治说，“一个是个老瘸子，他把咱们骗到这儿来却一无所获;还有那个小杂种，我都想把他的心掏出来。”

He was raising his arm and his voice，ready to lead them，but there was a sudden CRACK!CRACK!CRACK!as three gunshots came from the woods George Merry fell head first in to the hole，and another fell on his side，dead The other three turned and ran.

他抬起手臂，说话声调越来越高，显然是要领头发动攻击，但忽然从树林中传来“呯!呯!呯!”三声枪响。乔治·墨利第一个头朝下栽到洞里，另一个也倒在他身边，死了。其他三个人转身就跑。

A moment later，Dr Livesey，Gray，and Ben Gunn joined us with smoking guns，from among the trees.

过了一会儿，李甫西大夫、格雷、本·葛恩从树林里出来和我们会合，他们的枪口还冒着烟。

‘Keep them off the boats!’cried the doctor.

“别让他们接近小船!”大夫喊道。

We began to run at a great speed through the trees，and Silver was soon thirty metres behind us.

我们在树林中猛跑，不一会儿西尔弗就落在三十多米以外。

‘Doctor!’he shouted.‘There's no hurry!Look!’

“大夫!”他喊道，“不用着急，你们看!”

We saw he was right.In a more open place，we could see the three pirates，still running，and we were already between them and the Boats.So we sat down to rest while Long John came slowly up to us.

他是对的。我们看到在眼前的开阔地上，那三个海盗还在跑，我们已经处在他们和小船之间。于是我们坐下来休息，高个约翰也慢慢地赶上了我们。

‘Thank you，doctor，’he said.‘You came at the right time to save me and Hawkins.’He looked at Ben Gunn.‘So it was you，Ben Gunn，playing the ghost!’

“谢谢你，大夫，”他说。“你来得正是时候，救了我和霍金斯的命。”他看着本·葛恩。“原来真是你，本·葛恩，扮鬼吓我们。”

We walked down the hill to the boats and，as we did so，the doctor told Silver and me his story.But it was really Ben's story from beginning to end.

我们下山向小船走去，一路上大夫给我们讲了他的故事，而这一切的主要角色都是那位本·葛恩。

Ben，in his lonely walks around the island，had found the skeleton and found the treasure.He had carried the gold on his back in many journeys，and had taken it to a cave on the north-east corner of the island，two months before the Hispaniola arrived.

在岛上孤独的本发现了那具尸骨和宝藏。他用肩背扛着宝藏，运到岛的东北角一个洞穴里，不知搬了多少趟，直到伊斯帕尼奥拉号抵达前两个月才运完。

Ben had told the doctor this，and the next morning the doctor gave Silver the map----which was now useless----and gave him the food at the stockade，because there was plenty in Ben Gunn's cave.That morning，when the doctor saw I had to go with the pirates to find the treasure，he had left the squire to look after the captain，then took Gray and Ben Gunn with him to be ready to help us.

本早就把这一切告诉了大夫，第二天早晨大夫就把那张无用的地图交给了西尔弗，把补给品也给了他们，因为本·葛恩的山洞里有足够的补给品。今天早晨，大夫发现我不得不和那帮海盗去寻宝，他就让乡绅照顾船长，然后带上格雷和本·葛恩跟着我们以防不测。

‘I was lucky Hawkins was with me，’said Silver，‘or old John would be dead by now，for sure.’

“幸亏霍金斯在我身边。”西尔弗说，“否则我老约翰早死了。”

By this time，we were at the boats.The doctor smashed one with an axe，and then we all got into the other and rowed to North Inlet.The Hispaniola was moving by herself now，the sea high enough to take her off the beach.We went round to Rum Cove，the nearest landing place for Ben Gunn's cave of treasure，then Gray left us there before rowing back to guard the ship for the night.

这时我们已到停着小船的地方。大夫用斧子砸了一只船，然后我们乘上另一只船向北边划去。伊斯帕尼奥拉号在水上漂浮着，海水较深，使得大船漂离了海滩。我们绕道来到最靠近本·葛恩的藏宝洞的朗姆酒湾，然后格雷乘小船到伊斯帕尼奥拉号上过夜守船。

Mr Trelawney met us at the cave.He didn't blame me for my desertion，but he spoke differently to Silver.‘Silver，’he said，‘you're a scoundrel and a murderer，but I'm told that I must save you from the law.’

屈利劳尼先生在洞口迎接我们。他并没责备我逃跑的事，但和西尔弗说话的口气就截然不同了。“西尔弗，”他说，“你是个大坏蛋和刽子手，但是他们却要我不对你提出控告。”

‘Thank you，sir，’replied Long John.

“谢谢你，先生，”高个约翰说。

‘I don't want your thanks!’cried the squire.

“我不需要你道谢!”乡绅喊道。

We all entered the cave.It was large and pleasant，with fresh water coming from a place in the ground，and a floor of sand.Captain Smollett lay in front of a big fire，and in a corner I saw coins and gold bars.It was Flint's treasure!

我们都进了洞穴。洞里宽阔而空气流通，一股清泉从地上流过。斯摩列特船长躺在一堆篝火前，而在另一个角落我看见了金币和金条。是弗林特的宝藏!

We had come so far to find this.Already it had cost the lives of seventeen men from the Hispaniola.And how many others?How many ships had gone to the bottom of the sea?How many brave men had been murdered for this?Perhaps no man alive could tell.

我们远道而来就是为了找到这些。伊斯帕尼奥拉号上已有十七人送了命。此外还有多少人呢?还有多少船沉入了海底?多少勇敢的人为此被人谋杀?恐怕没一个活着的人能讲清楚。

Next morning，we moved all the gold to the beach.Then we took it by boat to the Hispaniola.It was a big job for so small a number of men.

第二天我们把所有的金子都运到海边，然后用小船运到伊斯帕尼奥拉号上。这是一项浩大的工程，尤其是因为我们只有这么几个人。

The three pirates who were still on the island did not trouble us.They were not going to fight any more，and we decided we must leave them on the island.We left powder，food，clothes and medicine for them.

岛上其余那三个海盗没有再骚扰我们。他们不想再打仗了，我们决定把他们留在岛上，给他们留下了火药、食物、衣物和药品。

Then at last，one sunny morning，we sailed out of North Inlet and towards the nearest port in Spanish America.Before afternoon，Treasure Island had disappeared from view，and I had never felt happier to leave a place behind.

最后，在一个阳光明媚的早晨，我们驶离金银岛北部水湾，驶往西属美洲的一个港口。还没到下午，金银岛就消失在视野中了，能离开这个地方使我高兴不已。

The sun was going down when we sailed into the port，and the doctor and Mr Trelawney took me on shore.When we came back，Ben Gunn was waiting for us.

我们到达港口时太阳快要落山了，大夫和屈利劳尼先生带着我上了岸。我们回来时，本·葛恩正在等我们。

‘Silver has gone，’he told us，‘but not empty-handed.He's taken one of the bags of coins，perhps worth three or four hundred guineas.’

“西尔弗跑了，”他说，“但不是空手走的，他带走了一袋子金币，大概值三四百畿尼。”

I think we were all pleased to lose the scoundrel at so small a price.

我觉得大家都为这么便宜就甩掉了这个恶棍而感到高兴。

We found a crew for the ship at the port，and then had a good voyage home.Only five of the men who had sailed from Bristol with the Hispaniola returned with her.We all took a large piece of the treasure，and some used it sensibly，and some did not.

我们在港口找了几个船员，一路平安回到英国。随伊斯帕尼奥拉号从布里斯托尔出航的全体人员只有五个人回来。我们每个人都分得一大笔财宝，有的人花得很谨慎，有的人则不然。

Captain Smollett no longer goes to sea.Gray saved his money and is now half-owner and captain of a fine ship.Ben Gunn got a thousand pounds which he spent or lost in three weeks，then he came begging and was given a job as a gatekeeper.

斯摩列特船长不再出海了，格雷把钱存起来，现在已是一艘装备优良的船的合股船主兼船长。本·葛恩分得了1000英镑但不到三个星期就花光了，成了一名乞丐，后来找到一个看门人的活计。

Of Silver we have heard no more.That frightening seaman with one leg has.gone out of my lift.I will never return to Treasure Island，but in my worst dreams I still hear the sharp，high scream of Captain Flint the parrot：‘Pieces of eight!Pieces of eight!’

至于西尔弗，我们没有再听到有关他的任何消息。那个可怕的独腿海员总算从我的生活中消失了。我永远不会再回到金银岛上，但在我的噩梦中常常响起那只叫弗林特船长的鹦鹉那尖厉的叫声：“八个里亚尔!八个里亚尔!”