書蟲三級《三個陌生人》：12、一時沖動之 泄密
5.Secrets discovered
5．泄密
Mr and Mrs Heddegan both felt the honeymoon was not a success. They were happy to return to the island and start married life together in David Heddegan's large house. Baptista soon became as calm and passive as she had been before. She even smiled when neighbours called her Mrs Heddegan, and she began to enjoy the comfortable life that a rich husband could offer her. She did nothing at all to stop people finding out about her first marriage to Charles Stow, although there was always a danger of that happening.
赫德根先生和太太都覺得蜜月過得不怎么樣。他們很高興能重返小島，在戴維·赫德根的大房子里開始婚后生活。巴普蒂絲塔很快就變得和從前一樣平靜而順從了。她開始享受一位富有的丈夫所能提供的安逸生活，聽見鄰居叫自己赫德根太太的時候甚至還會微笑。她沒有刻意做什么來阻止人們揭發(fā)她跟查爾斯·斯托的第一次婚姻，盡管這種危險性隨時存在。
One evening in September, when she was standing in her garden, a workman walked past along the road. He seemed to recognize her, and spoke to her in friendly surprise.
9月的一天晚上，她站在花園里，一名工人從旁邊的小路經(jīng)過。他似乎認(rèn)出了她，友好而驚訝地跟她打了個招呼。
What! Don't you know me?' he asked.
“什么！難道您不認(rèn)識我了嗎？”他問道。
I'm afraid I don't,' said Baptista.
“恐怕是不認(rèn)識。”巴普蒂絲塔說。
I was your witness, madam. I was mending the church window when you and your young man came to get married. Don't you remember? The vicar called me, to be a witness.'
“我是您的證婚人，夫人。您和您年輕的丈夫結(jié)婚的時候，我正在修理教堂的窗戶呢，您不記得了嗎？牧師當(dāng)時叫我當(dāng)了證婚人。”
Baptista looked quickly around. Heddegan was at the other end of the garden but unluckily, just at that moment, he turned and walked towards the house. 'Are you coming in, my dear?' he called out to Baptista.
巴普蒂絲塔迅速環(huán)顧四周。赫德根在花園的另一頭，他正巧在這一刻轉(zhuǎn)身，朝著房子走去。“你進(jìn)來嗎，我親愛的？”他對巴普蒂絲塔大聲喊道。
The workman stared at him. 'That's not your—' he began, then he saw Baptista's face and stopped. Baptista was unable to speak, and the workman began to realize that there was a little mystery here. 'I've been unlucky since then,' he continued, still staring at Baptista's white face. 'It's hard finding enough work to buy food for my wife and myself. Perhaps you could help me, because I once helped you?'
工人瞪著他看。“那該不是你的——”他張口就說。接著，他看見了巴普蒂絲塔的臉，閉上了嘴。巴普蒂絲塔說不出話來，工人開始意識到這其中定有玄機(jī)。“從那以后我一直不走運(yùn)，”他盯著巴普蒂絲塔蒼白的臉，接著說，“我很難找到足夠的工作來給自己和妻子糊口。你不妨幫幫我吧，因?yàn)槲以?jīng)幫過你。”
Baptista gave him some money, and hoped never to see him again. But he was cleverer than he looked. By asking questions on the island and the mainland, he soon realized that Baptista had married one man on Tuesday, and another man on Wednesday. He visited her again two days later.
巴普蒂絲塔給了他一些錢，希望永遠(yuǎn)也不要再見到他?？伤h(yuǎn)比看上去聰明。在詢問了一些島上和大陸的人以后，他很快便意識到巴普蒂絲塔在星期二嫁給了一個男人，而星期三又嫁給了另一個男人。兩天之后，他再次拜訪了她。
It was a mystery to me, madam!' he said, when she opened the door. 'But now I understand it all. I want to tell you, madam, that I'm not a man to make trouble between husband and wife. But I'm going back to the mainland again, and I need a little more money. If your old man finds out about your first husband, I'm sure he won't like it, will he?'
“這對我來說曾是個謎，夫人！”她打開門時，他說道，“現(xiàn)在我全都明白了。我想告訴您，夫人，我不是那種在夫妻之間制造矛盾的人。但我打算再回到大陸上去，因此還需要一小筆錢。如果您老公發(fā)現(xiàn)您第一任丈夫的事，我敢保證他會不高興的，對吧？”
She knew he was right, and paid him what he wanted. A week later the workman sent his wife to ask for more money, and again Baptista paid. But when there was a fourth visit, she refused to pay, and shut the door in the man's surprised face.
她知道他說得沒錯，于是便如了他的愿。一個星期后，工人又派他的老婆來要更多的錢，巴普蒂絲塔又一次滿足了她。但等到工人第四次上門來的時候，她拒絕付錢，當(dāng)面把一臉驚詫的工人關(guān)在了門外。
She knew she had to tell her husband everything. She liked him better now than she had done at first, and did not want to lose him, but her secret was no longer safe. She went to find him, and said, 'David, I have something to tell you.'
她知道自己必須向丈夫坦白一切。她現(xiàn)在比起初更喜歡他了，而且也不想失去他，可她已無法再保守自己的秘密。她找到他，說：“戴維，我有些事情要告訴你。”
Yes, my dear,' he said with a sigh. In the last week he had been less cheerful and had seemed worried about something.
“好的，親愛的。”他嘆了口氣說道。一個星期以來，他一直悶悶不樂，似乎在為什么事?lián)摹?/p>
When they were both in the sitting room, she said, 'David, perhaps you will hate me for this, but I must confess something that I've hidden from you. It happened before we were married. And it's about a lover.'
他們一同來到客廳，她說：“戴維，或許你會因此而恨我，但我必須向你坦白我曾對你隱瞞的一些事。那發(fā)生在我們結(jié)婚之前，是關(guān)于一個情人的。”
I don't mind. In fact, I was hoping it was more than that.'
“我不介意。事實(shí)上，我覺得事情沒這么簡單。”
Well, it was. I met my old lover by chance, and he asked me, and — well, I married him. We were coming here to tell you, but he drowned, and I said nothing about him, and then I married you, David, for peace and quietness. Now you'll be angry with me, I know you will!'
“呃，是的。我當(dāng)時偶遇了舊情人，他向我求婚，并且——呃，我跟他結(jié)了婚。我們正準(zhǔn)備回來告訴你，可他卻淹死了，而我沒向你提起過關(guān)于他的任何事。接著我嫁給了你，戴維，為了得到平和安靜的生活。好了，你沖我發(fā)火吧，我知道你會的！”
She spoke wildly, and expected her husband to shout and scream. But instead, the old man jumped up and began to dance happily around the room.
她言辭激烈，希望丈夫?qū)λ蠛鸫蠼小Ｈ欢?，老頭子卻蹦了起來，開始繞著房間歡快地跳舞。
Oh, wonderful!' he cried. 'How lucky! My dear Baptista, I see a way out of my difficulty — ha-ha!'
“噢，太棒了！”他大叫道，“多走運(yùn)??！我親愛的巴普蒂絲塔，我看到了走出困境的路——哈哈！”
What do you mean?' she asked, afraid he had gone mad.
“你在說什么？”她問道，擔(dān)心他氣瘋了。
Oh my dear, I've got something to confess too! You see, I was friendly with a woman in Pen-zephyr for many years — very friendly, you could say — and in the end I married her just before she died. I kept it secret, but people here are beginning to talk. And I've got four big girls to think of—'
“噢，親愛的，我也有些事要對你坦白！你知道，我和彭澤弗的一個女人保持了多年的友好關(guān)系——非常友好，可以這么說——最后，我在她死前娶了她。我對這事一直守口如瓶，可這里的人卻開始談?wù)撨@事。而且我還得操心四個已經(jīng)長大的女兒——”
Oh David, four daughters!' she cried in horror.
“噢，戴維，四個女兒！”她驚恐地叫道。
That's right, my dear. I'm sorry to say they haven't been to school at all. I'd like to bring them to live here with us, and I thought, by marrying a teacher, I could get someone to teach them, all for nothing. What do you think, Baptista?'
“沒錯，親愛的。很抱歉告訴你，她們從沒上過學(xué)。我想把她們帶到這里和我們一起住。而且我想，娶一個老師就有人教她們了，一分錢都不用花。你覺得怎么樣，巴普蒂絲塔？”
Four grown girls, always around the house! And I hate teaching, it kills me! But I must do it, I can see that. I am punished for that moment of madness, I really am!'
“四個長大成人的女孩，無時無刻不待在家里！而且我討厭教書，那簡直折磨死我了！但我明白我必須那么做。我要為那一時的沖動接受懲罰，我罪有應(yīng)得！”
Here the conversation ended. The next day Baptista had to welcome her husband's daughters into her home. They were not good-looking or intelligent or even well-dressed, and poor Baptista could only look forward to years of hard work with them. She went about, sighing miserably, with no hope for the future.
談話就此結(jié)束。第二天，巴普蒂絲塔只得迎接丈夫的女兒們來到她家。她們既不漂亮又不聰慧，連衣著也毫不起眼。可憐的巴普蒂絲塔只能從她們身上看見未來數(shù)年的辛苦工作。她痛苦地嘆著氣開始工作，對未來不再抱半點(diǎn)希望。
But when Heddegan asked her a month later, 'How do you like 'em now?' her answer was unexpected.
但當(dāng)赫德根在一個月后問她：“你現(xiàn)在覺得她們怎么樣？”的時候，她的回答出人意料。
Much better than at first,' she said. 'I may like them very much one day.'
“比一開始好多了，”她說，“總有一天我會非常喜歡她們的。”
And so began a more pleasant time for Baptista Heddegan. She had discovered what kind, gentle girls these unwelcome daughters were. At first she felt sorry for them, then grew to like them. And from liking, she grew to love them. In the end they brought her and her husband closer together, and so Baptista and David were able to put the past behind them and find unexpected happiness in their married life.
于是，巴普蒂絲塔·赫德根的日子就更好打發(fā)了。她發(fā)現(xiàn)這些不受歡迎的女兒們其實(shí)既善良又溫柔。剛開始，她替她們感到悲哀，接著漸漸開始喜歡她們，后來又從喜歡轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橄矏邸Ｗ罱K，女兒們使得她和丈夫之間的關(guān)系比以前更加緊密了。就這樣，巴普蒂絲塔和戴維終于放下往事，在婚后的生活中找到了意想不到的幸福。
- 頻道推薦
- |
- 全站推薦
- 推薦下載
- 網(wǎng)站推薦
