(雙語)月亮和六便士 第58章(7)

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Then I told them what I had learned about Charles Strickland in Tahiti. I thought it unnecessary to say anything of Ata and her boy, but for the rest I was as accurate as I could be. When I had narrated his lamentable death I ceased. For a minute or two we were all silent. Then Robert Strickland struck a match and lit a cigarette.

這以后我把我聽到的查理斯·思特里克蘭德在塔希提的情形給他們講了一遍。我認(rèn)為沒有必要提到愛塔和她生的孩子，但是其余的事我都如實(shí)說了。在我談完他慘死的情況以后我就沒有再往下說了。有一兩分鐘大家都沒有說話。后來羅伯特·思特里克蘭德劃了根火柴，點(diǎn)著了一支紙煙。

"The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small," he said, somewhat impressively.

“上帝的磨盤轉(zhuǎn)動很慢，但是卻磨得很細(xì)，”羅伯特說，頗有些道貌岸然的樣子。

Mrs. Strickland and Mrs. Ronaldson looked down with a slightly pious expression which indicated, I felt sure, that they thought the quotation was from Holy Writ. Indeed, I was unconvinced that Robert Strickland did not share their illusion. I do not know why I suddenly thought of Strickland's son by Ata. They had told me he was a merry, light-hearted youth. I saw him, with my mind's eye, on the schooner on which he worked, wearing nothing but a pair of dungarees; and at night, when the boat sailed along easily before a light breeze, and the sailors were gathered on the upper deck, while the captain and the supercargo lolled in deck-chairs, smoking their pipes, I saw him dance with another lad, dance wildly, to the wheezy music of the concertina. Above was the blue sky, and the stars, and all about the desert of the Pacific Ocean.

思特里克蘭德太太和朵納爾德遜太太滿腹虔誠地低下頭來。我一點(diǎn)兒也不懷疑，這母女兩人所以表現(xiàn)得這么虔誠是因?yàn)樗齻兌颊J(rèn)為羅伯特剛才是從《圣經(jīng)》上引證了一句話（羅伯特所說“上帝的磨盤”一語，許多外國詩人學(xué)者都曾講過。美國詩人朗費(fèi)羅也寫過類似詩句，并非出自《圣經(jīng)》）。說實(shí)在的，就連羅伯特本人是否絕對無此錯(cuò)覺，我也不敢肯定。不知為什么，我突然想到愛塔給思特里克蘭德生的那個(gè)孩子。聽別人說，這是個(gè)活潑、開朗、快快活活的小伙子。在想象中，我仿佛看見一艘雙桅大帆船，這個(gè)年輕人正在船上干活兒，他渾身赤裸，只在腰間圍著一塊粗藍(lán)布；天黑了，船兒被清風(fēng)吹動著，輕快地在海面上滑行，水手們都聚集在上層甲板上，船長和一個(gè)管貨的人員坐在帆布椅上自由自在地抽著煙斗。思特里克蘭德的孩子同另一個(gè)小伙子跳起舞來，在暗啞的手風(fēng)琴聲中，他們瘋狂地跳著。頭頂上是一片碧空，群星熠熠，太平洋煙波淼茫，浩瀚無垠。

A quotation from the Bible came to my lips, but I held my tongue, for I know that clergymen think it a little blasphemous when the laity poach upon their preserves. My Uncle Henry, for twenty-seven years Vicar of Whitstable, was on these occasions in the habit of saying that the devil could always quote scripture to his purpose. He remembered the days when you could get thirteen Royal Natives for a shilling.

《圣經(jīng)》上的另一句話也到了我的唇邊，但是我卻控制著自己，沒有說出來，因?yàn)槲抑滥翈煵幌矚g俗人侵犯他們的領(lǐng)域，他們認(rèn)為這是有瀆神明的。我的亨利叔叔在威特斯臺柏爾教區(qū)做了二十七年牧師，遇到這種機(jī)會就會說：魔鬼要干壞事總可以引證《圣經(jīng)》。他一直忘不了一個(gè)先令就可以買十三只大牡蠣的日子。