That same afternoon Charles Stow and Baptista Trewthen travelled by train to the town of Trufal. Charles was, surprisingly, very careful of appearances, and found a room for Baptista in a different house from where he was staying. On Sunday they went to church and then walked around the town, on Monday Charles made the arrangements, and by nine o'clock on Tuesday morning they were husband and wife.
當(dāng)天下午,查爾斯·斯托和巴普蒂絲塔·特魯森就坐火車(chē)去了小鎮(zhèn)特魯福。令人驚訝的是,查爾斯對(duì)他們二人的行蹤十分謹(jǐn)慎。他在另一座房子里為巴普蒂絲塔找了個(gè)房間。星期日,他們?nèi)チ私烫?,然后繞著小鎮(zhèn)散了散步。星期一,查爾斯安排好了一切,到星期二上午9點(diǎn),他們就結(jié)為了夫妻。
For the first time in her life Baptista had gone against her parents' wishes. She went cold with fear when she thought of their first meeting with her new husband. But she felt she had to tell them as soon as possible, and now the most important thing was to get home to St Maria's. So, in a great hurry, they packed their bags and caught the train to Pen-zephyr.
這是巴普蒂絲塔生平第一次違背父母的意愿。一想到父母與新婚丈夫第一次見(jiàn)面的情形,她就害怕得渾身發(fā)冷。但她還是覺(jué)得必須盡快把這事告訴他們,于是回圣瑪麗亞島上的家里去就成了最重要的事。因此,他們匆匆忙忙地收拾好行李,搭上了去往彭澤弗的火車(chē)。
They arrived two hours before the boat left, so to pass the time they decided to walk along the cliffs a little way. It was a hot summer day, and Charles wanted to have a swim in the sea. Baptista did not like the idea of sitting alone while he swam. 'But I'll only be a quarter of an hour,' Charles said, and Baptista passively accepted this.
他們?cè)陂_(kāi)船前兩小時(shí)到了那里,于是決定沿著海崖散一小會(huì)兒步,借此打發(fā)時(shí)間。時(shí)值夏季,氣候炎熱,查爾斯很想到海里游個(gè)泳,巴普蒂絲塔卻不太愿意在他游泳的時(shí)候獨(dú)自坐著?!翱晌抑挥我豢嚏姟!辈闋査拐f(shuō)道,巴普蒂絲塔順從地答應(yīng)了。
She sat high up on the cliffs, and watched him go down a footpath, disappear, appear again, and run across the beach to the sea. She watched him for a moment, then stared out to sea, thinking about her family. They were probably not worried about her, because she had sometimes missed the boat before, but they were expecting her to arrive today and to marry David Heddegan tomorrow. 'How angry father will be!' she thought miserably. 'And mother will say I've made a terrible mistake! I almost wish I hadn't married Charles, in that moment of madness! Oh dear, what have I done!'
她坐在高高的海崖上,看著他從一條小路走下去,身影消失了一會(huì)兒,繼而又出現(xiàn)在視野里,穿過(guò)海灘跑向大海。她看了他一會(huì)兒,將目光轉(zhuǎn)向大海,想著她的家人。他們也許并不太擔(dān)心她,因?yàn)橹八舱`過(guò)幾次船。不過(guò)他們一定在盼著她今天到家,明天好嫁給戴維·赫德根?!鞍职謺?huì)多么生氣啊,”她痛苦地想著,“而媽媽一定會(huì)說(shuō)我犯了個(gè)可怕的錯(cuò)誤!我甚至希望自己沒(méi)有因?yàn)橐粫r(shí)沖動(dòng)而嫁給查爾斯!哦,天啊,我都干了些什么??!”
This made her think of her new husband, and she turned to look for him. He did not appear to be in the sea any more, and she could not see him on the beach. By this time she was frightened, and she climbed down the path as quickly as her shaking legs could manage. On the beach she called two men to help her, but they said they could see nothing at all in the water. Soon she found the place where Charles had left his clothes, but by now the sea had carried them away.
這使她想起了新婚的丈夫,于是轉(zhuǎn)而開(kāi)始搜尋他的身影??雌饋?lái),他已經(jīng)不在海里了,可她也沒(méi)在海岸上看見(jiàn)他。她這下子可嚇壞了,趕緊拖著顫抖的雙腿用最快的速度沖下小路。到了海灘上,她找了兩個(gè)人來(lái)幫忙,可他們說(shuō)海里什么都看不到。很快,她找到了查爾斯放衣服的地方,此時(shí)海水早已把衣服沖走了。
For a few minutes she stood there without moving. There was only one way to explain this sudden disappearance — her husband had drowned. And as she stood there, it began to seem like a terrible dream, and the last three days of her life with Charles seemed to disappear. She even had difficulty in remembering his face. 'How unexpected it was, meeting him that day!' she thought. 'And the wedding did I really agree to it? Are we really married? It all happened so fast!'
她在原地呆立了好幾分鐘。只有一個(gè)理由能解釋她丈夫的突然失蹤——他溺水身亡了。她呆立在那兒,一切就像一場(chǎng)噩夢(mèng),而她和查爾斯共度的這三天就像憑空消失了一樣。她甚至很難想起他的模樣來(lái)。“那天和他的相遇是多么出其不意??!”她想,“我真的同意舉行婚禮了嗎?我們真的結(jié)婚了嗎?這一切發(fā)生得太快了!”
She began to cry, still standing there on the beach. She did not know what to do, or even what to think. Finally, she remembered the boat, and catching the boat home seemed the easiest thing to do. So she walked to the station, arranged for someone to carry her luggage, and went down to the boat. She did all this automatically, in a kind of dream.
她站在海灘上哭了起來(lái),不知道該做什么,甚至不知道該想什么。最后,她想起了船,看樣子最簡(jiǎn)單的事就是坐船回家了。于是她走到碼頭,叫人幫忙提著行李上了船。她機(jī)械地做著這些事情,如同夢(mèng)游一般。
Just before the boat left, she heard part of a conversation which made her sure that Charles was dead. One passenger said to another, 'A man drowned here earlier today, you know. He swam out too far, they say. A stranger, I think. Some people in a boat saw him, but they couldn't get to him in time.'
就在開(kāi)船前,她聽(tīng)到了一小段對(duì)話(huà),讓她確信查爾斯真的死了。一名旅客對(duì)另一名旅客說(shuō):“今天早些時(shí)候有個(gè)男人在這里溺死了,知道嗎。他們說(shuō)他游得太遠(yuǎn)了。我猜他是個(gè)異鄉(xiāng)人。有人在船上看見(jiàn)了他,但卻沒(méi)來(lái)得及趕過(guò)去?!?
The boat was a long way out to sea before Baptista realized that Mr Heddegan was on the boat with her. She saw him walking towards her and quickly took the wedding ring off her left hand.
船在海上駛出了很遠(yuǎn),巴普蒂絲塔才意識(shí)到赫德根先生跟她在同一條船上。她看到他朝自己走過(guò)來(lái),于是飛快地將左手上的結(jié)婚戒指擼了下來(lái)。
I hope you're well, my dear?' he said. He was a healthy, red-faced man of fifty-five. 'I wanted to come across to meet you. What bad luck that you missed the boat on Saturday!'
“希望你一切都好,親愛(ài)的?!彼f(shuō)。他55歲,身體健康,紅光滿(mǎn)面?!拔蚁胍^(guò)來(lái)接你。你星期六誤了船,真是不走運(yùn)??!”
And Baptista had to agree, and smile, and make conversation. Mr Heddegan had spoken to her before she was ready to say anything. Now the moment had passed.
巴普蒂絲塔只得點(diǎn)頭贊同,微笑著跟他交談。赫德根先生還沒(méi)等她開(kāi)口就已經(jīng)跟她聊了起來(lái)。而現(xiàn)在,坦言一切的時(shí)機(jī)已經(jīng)過(guò)去了。
When the boat arrived, her parents were there to meet her. Her father walked home beside Mr Heddegan, while her mother walked next to Baptista, talking all the time.
船靠岸時(shí),她的父母已經(jīng)在那兒迎接她了。父親與赫德根先生并肩往家走,母親則走在巴普蒂絲塔身旁,喋喋不休地邊走邊說(shuō)。
I'm so happy, my child,' said Mrs Trewthen in her loud, cheerful voice, 'that you've kept your promise to marry Mr Heddegan. How busy we've been! But now things are all ready for the wedding, and a few friends and neighbours are coming in for supper this evening.' Again, the moment for confessing had passed, and Baptista stayed silent.
“我很高興,我的孩子,”特魯森太太興奮地大聲說(shuō),“很高興你能信守諾言嫁給赫德根先生。我們都快忙壞啦!不過(guò),現(xiàn)在婚禮上的一切都準(zhǔn)備好了,今天晚上就會(huì)有幾個(gè)朋友和鄰居來(lái)吃晚餐?!碧拱滓磺械臅r(shí)機(jī)再一次錯(cuò)過(guò)了,巴普蒂絲塔一直保持著沉默。
When they reached home, Mrs Trewthen said, 'Now, Baptista, hurry up to your room and take off your hat, then come downstairs. I must go to the kitchen.'
到家后,特魯森太太說(shuō):“巴普蒂絲塔,快回你的房間摘下帽子,然后下樓來(lái)。我得去廚房了?!?
The young woman passively obeyed her mother's orders. The evening was a great success for all except Baptista. She had no chance to tell her parents the news, and it was already much more difficult than it had been at first. By the end of the evening, when all the neighbours had left, she found herself alone in her bedroom again. She had come home with much to say, and had said none of it. She now realized that she was not brave enough to tell her story. And as the clock struck midnight, she decided it should stay untold.
年輕的姑娘聽(tīng)從了母親的吩咐。整個(gè)晚上,除了巴普蒂絲塔之外,人人都很開(kāi)心。她沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)跟父母坦白,而現(xiàn)在要說(shuō)出來(lái)更是難上加難了。晚餐結(jié)束時(shí),鄰居們紛紛走了,她發(fā)現(xiàn)自己再一次獨(dú)自待在了臥室里。她回家本來(lái)有滿(mǎn)腹的話(huà)要說(shuō),但卻什么都沒(méi)說(shuō)出來(lái)。她這才意識(shí)到自己沒(méi)勇氣說(shuō)出自己的故事。鐘敲12點(diǎn)的時(shí)候,她終于決定對(duì)此只字不提。
Morning came, and when she thought of Charles, it was more with fear than with love. Her mother called from downstairs, 'Baptista! Time to get up! Mr Heddegan will be at the church in three-quarters of an hour!'
到了早上,她想起了查爾斯,心里更多的是恐怖而不是愛(ài)。母親在樓下喊:“巴普蒂絲塔!該起床了!赫德根先生會(huì)在45分鐘內(nèi)到達(dá)教堂!”
Baptista got out of bed, looked out of the window, and took the easy way. She put her best clothes on, confessed nothing, and kept her promise to marry David Heddegan.
巴普蒂絲塔從床上起身望著窗外,選擇了一條平坦的道路。她穿上自己最好的衣裳,沒(méi)露一點(diǎn)兒口風(fēng),信守諾言嫁給了戴維·赫德根。