第七章 哈里斯生氣了
Harris told me about the maze as we were passing through Molesey lock. Our boat was the only one in the lock that day. Usually it is very busy. On Sundays, when the weather is fine, there are boats everywhere. Everybody comes down to the river. They wear brightly coloured clothes, and the river is full of colour-yellow, and blue, and orange, and green, and white, and red and pink.
哈里斯談起在迷宮的事時,我們正駛過莫爾賽水閘。那天在水閘就我們一只船。通常那兒很擁擠。星期天或者天氣好的話,那兒到處是船。人們都到河上來,穿著色彩艷麗的衣服,一片五光十色——黃的、藍的、桔紅、綠的、白的、紅的、粉的。
At Hampton Harris wanted to get out and have a look at the church there, but I refused to stop. I have never liked visiting churches, but Harris loves them. He said, 'I've looked forward to visiting Hampton Church ever since we decided to make this trip. 'He added, 'I only came on the trip because I thought we were going there!'
到了漢普頓,哈里斯想上岸去看看那里的教堂,可我拒絕停下來,我從來不喜歡瞻仰教堂,而哈里斯卻為之心儀已久。他說:“咱們計劃出游的時候我就一直盼著來看看漢普頓教堂。”他又說:“我之所以來就是因為我想我們要到這兒。”
I reminded him about George. I said, 'We've got to get the boat up to Shepperton by five o'clock to meet him. '
我提醒他別忘了喬治。我告訴他:“咱們還要在五點鐘前趕到謝潑頓和他會合呢。”
Then Harris got angry with George. 'Why does George have to play around all day? Why has he left us with this big, heavy boat to tow up and down the river? Why couldn't George come and do some work? Why didn't he take a day's holiday and come down with us? The bank! Ha! What good is he at the bank? 'He stopped for a moment and then he continued, 'I never see him doing any work there. He sits behind a bit of glass all day, and he pretends to do something. What's the good of a man behind a bit of glass? I have to work. Why can't George work? What does he do at the bank? What good are banks, anyway? They take all your money, and then, when you write out a cheque, they send it back! They say you've spent all your money! What's the good of that? If George was here, we could go to see that church. Anyway, I don't believe he's at the bank. He's playing about somewhere, that's what he's doing. And we've got to do all the work!... I'm going to get out and have a drink!'
于是,哈里斯一下把怒氣都轉向喬治。“為什么他可以整天晃蕩,把這只又笨又沉的船扔下讓我們劃?為什么喬治不能來干點活呢?為什么不能休一天假,和我們一起行動呢?那個銀行!哈!他在那兒有什么好的?”停了一會兒,他又接著說:“我可從來沒有見過他在銀行里干什么正經(jīng)事。整天坐在一小塊玻璃窗后面,好像在干工作。一個男子漢在那樣一塊玻璃窗后能有什么出息?我得工作謀生,為什么喬治就不能呢?他在銀行做什么?再說銀行又有什么好?他們拿了你的錢,可是你開張支票取錢,他們卻又給你退回來,說你的錢已經(jīng)花光了。那都有什么用?要是喬治在這里,我們還能去看看教堂。我根本不相信他在銀行里,他一定到什么地方找樂去了,這才象他干的事,把苦差使都丟給我們!……不行,我得上岸去喝一杯。”
I told him that there were no pubs nearby, and then he started shouting about the river. 'What good is the river? We'll all die of thirst! No pubs!'(It's better to let Harris go on shouting when he gets angry. Then he gets tired, and he is quiet afterwards.)
我告訴他附近沒有小酒館,他又轉過來沖著河咆哮起來。“河有什么好?我們一樣要渴死了,連小酒館也沒有。”(哈里斯生氣的時候,最好的辦法就是讓他喊下去。過一會兒,喊累了,他也就安靜了。)
I reminded him that we had water in the boat. Then he started shouting about water. He said drinks like that made people ill.
我提醒他船上有水喝,他又罵起水來,說人喝了那樣的水一定會生病。
However, he said that he must drink something. He climbed onto the seat and he bent down to get the bottle out of the basket. It was at the bottom, and he had to bend down, lower and lower. At the same time, he was trying to steer the boat, and he pulled the wrong rope. The boat turned sharply and bumped into the bank of the river, and Harris fell into the basket. He stood there on his head, and he held on to the side of the boat. His legs were in the air. He could not move in case he fell over. He had to stay there until I could catch his legs and pull him back. And that made him more angry.
可是他說非得喝點什么不可。他爬上座位,彎下腰在籃子里找瓶子??善孔釉诨@子底,他還得往下彎腰,越彎越低,與此同時又要掌舵,因此拉錯了繩子。小船猛地打了個轉,一下撞在岸上,哈里斯一頭栽在籃子里,腦袋倒立著,雙手撐在船邊,兩腿豎在空中。他一動不敢動,生怕翻到水里去。就這樣倒立了半天。后來我抱住他的雙腿,才把他拖了出來。可是他更加怒火中燒,暴跳如雷。
We stopped under the trees by Kempton Park, and we had lunch. It is very pretty there, on the grass by the river, under the trees. We had an excellent meal, and Harris calmed down and began to enjoy himself again.
我們的船停在肯普頓公園附近的綠蔭之下,就在那兒開始吃午餐。我們坐在河邊的草地上,坐在樹下,景致很美。午餐十分豐盛,哈里斯安靜下來,心情也舒暢了。
By half past three, we had reached Sunbury lock. Then we went up to Walton, which is quite an interesting place. Julius Caesar stayed there with his soldiers. Queen Elizabeth I, she was there too. You can never get away from that woman. She was everywhere.
三點半鐘,我們到了森伯里水閘,接著又上行到沃爾頓。那是個很有趣的地方,凱撒曾和他的士兵在那里呆過,伊麗莎白一世也是???。對了,你永遠別想甩掉這位女士,她無所不在。
Next we came to Halliford and Shepperton. There is an old church at Shepperton, and I was worried in case Harris wanted to go and visit it. I saw him looking towards it as we came near, but I moved the boat quickly, and Harris's cap fell into the water. We had to get it back, of course. Luckily, he was very angry with me, and so he forgot about his church.
接下去我們到了哈利福德和謝潑頓。謝潑頓有一座古老的教堂,我真擔心,怕哈里斯又要去參觀。我看他一直呆呆地望著,就把船劃得飛快,結果哈里斯的帽子掉進水里去了,我們又折回去。幸運的是,他光顧和我生氣了,把教堂的事兒給丟在腦后。
As we came up to the lock at Weybridge, we saw something brightly coloured on one of the lock gates. When we looked closer, we saw that it was George. Montmorency started to bark madly. I shouted, and Harris called out wildly. George waved his cap and yelled back to us. The lock-keeper ran out because he thought someone had fallen in the water. He seemed annoyed when he saw that no one had fallen in.
再往上走,到了韋布里奇水閘,我們一眼就看到一扇閘門上有個色彩鮮艷的東西在動,靠近仔細一看才發(fā)現(xiàn)是喬治。“元帥”汪汪亂叫著,我尖聲叫喊著,哈里斯也手舞足蹈地大聲吼著。喬治揮舞著帽子,沖我們打招呼。水閘管理員也跑了出來,還以為有人掉到水里了??梢豢礇]事,他似乎頗為惱怒。