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雙語(yǔ)·《渦堤孩》 第十二章 他們從皇城動(dòng)身旅行

所屬教程:譯林版·渦堤孩

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2022年06月21日

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CHAPTER XII HOW THEY DEPARTED FROM THE IMPERIAL CITY

The lord of Ringstetten would have certainly preferred the events of this day to have been different;but even as they were, he could scarcely regret them wholly, as they had exhibited his charming wife under such a good and sweet and kindly aspect.“If I have given her a soul,”he could not help saying to himself,“I have indeed given her a better one than my own;”and his only thought now was to speak soothingly to the weeping Undine, and on the following morning to quit with her a place which, after this incident, must have become distasteful to her. It is true that she was not estimated differently to what she had been.As something mysterious had long been expected of her, the strange discovery of Bertalda's origin had caused no great surprise, and every one who had heard the story and had seen Bertalda's violent behavior, was disgusted with her alone.Of this, however, the knight and his lady knew nothing as yet;and, besides, the condemnation or approval of the public was equally painful to Undine, and thus there was no better course to pursue than to leave the walls of the old city behind them with all the speed possible.

With the earliest beams of morning a pretty carriage drove upto the entrance gate for Undine:the horses which Huldbrand and his squires were to ride stood near, pawing the ground with impatient eagerness. The knight was leading his beautiful wife from the door, when a fsher-girl crossed their way.

“We do not need your fsh,”said Huldbrand to her,“we are now starting on our journey.”

Upon this the fsher-girl began to weep bitterly, and the young couple perceived for the first time that it was Bertalda. They immediately returned with her to their apartment, and learned from her that the duke and duchess were so displeased at her violent and unfeeling conduct on the preceding way, that they had entirely withdrawn their protection from her, though not without giving her a rich portion.The fsherman, too, had been handsomely rewarded, and had the evening before set out with his wife to return to their secluded home.

“I would have gone with them,”she continued,“but the old fsherman, who is said to be my father”—

“And he is so indeed, Bertalda,”interrupted Undine.“Look here, the stranger, whom you took for the master of the fountain, told me the whole story in detail. He wished to dissuade me from taking you with me to castle Ringstetten, and this led him to disclose the secret.”

“Well, then,”said Bertalda,“if it must be so, my father said,‘I will not take you with me until you are changed. Venture to come to us alone through the haunted forest;that shall be the proof whether you have any regard for us.But do not come to me as a lady;come only as a fsher-girl!'So I will do just as he has told me, for I amforsaken by the whole world, and I will live and die in solitude as a poor fsher-girl, with my poor parents.I have a terrible dread though of the forest.Horrible spectres are said to dwell in it, and I am so fearful.But how can I help it?I only came here to implore pardon of the noble lady of Ringstetten for my unbecoming behavior yesterday.I feel sure, sweet lady, you meant to do me a kindness, but you knew not how you would wound me, and in my agony and surprise, many a rash and frantic expression passed my lips.Oh forgive, forgive!I am already so unhappy.Only think yourself what I was yesterday morning, yesterday at the beginning of your banquet, and what I am now!”

Her voice became stifed with a passionate food of tears, and Undine, also weeping bitterly, fell on her neck. It was some time before the deeply agitated Undine could utter a word;at length she said:—

“You can go with us to Ringstetten;everything shall remain as it was arranged before;only do not speak to me again as‘noble lady.'You see, we were exchanged for each other as children;our faces even then sprang as it were from the same stem, and we will now so strengthen this kindred destiny that no human power shall be able to separate it. Only, frst of all, come with us to Ringstetten.We will discuss there how we shall share all things as sisters.”

Bertalda looked timidly toward Huldbrand. He pitied the beautiful girl in her distress, and offering her his hand he begged her tenderly to intrust herself with him and his wife.

“We will send a message to your parents,”he continued,“to tell them why you are not come;”and he would have added more withregard to the worthy fsherman and his wife, but he saw that Bertalda shrunk with pain from the mention of their name, and he therefore refrained from saying more. He then assisted her first into the carriage, Undine followed her;and he mounted his horse and trotted merrily by the side of them, urging the driver at the same time to hasten his speed, so that very soon they were beyond the confnes of the imperial city and all its sad remembrances;and now the ladies began to enjoy the beautiful country through which their road lay.

After a journey of some days, they arrived one exquisite evening, at castle Ringstetten. The young knight had much to hear from his overseers and vassals, so that Undine and Bertalda were left alone.They both repaired to the ramparts of the fortress, and were delighted with the beautiful landscape which spread far and wide through fertile Swabia.Presently a tall man approached them, greeting them respectfully, and Bertalda fancied she saw a resemblance to the master of the fountain in the imperial city.Still more unmistakable grew the likeness, when Undine angrily and almost threateningly waved him off, and he retreated with hasty steps and shaking head, as he had done before, and disappeared into a neighboring copse.Undine, however, said:

“Don't be afraid, dear Bertalda, this time the hateful master of the fountain shall do you no harm.”

And then she told her the whole story in detail, and who she was herself, and how Bertalda had been taken away from the fsherman and his wife, and Undine had gone to them. The girl was at frst terrifed with this relation;she imagined her friend must be seized with sudden madness, but she became more convinced thatall was true, for Undine's story was so connected, and ftted so well with former occurrences, and still more she had that inward feeling with which truth never fails to make itself known to us.It seemed strange to her that she was now herself living, as it were, in the midst of one of those fairy tales to which she had formerly only listened.She gazed upon Undine with reverence, but she could not resist a sense of dread that seemed to come between her and her friend, and at their evening repast she could not but wonder how the knight could behave so lovingly and kindly toward a being who appeared to her, since the discovery she had just made, more of a phantom than a human being.

第十二章 他們從皇城動(dòng)身旅行

林斯推頓的爵士(黑爾勃郎)并不愿意那天紛亂的情形。但是事實(shí)上既已如此,他反而覺得很滿意,因?yàn)樗膵善夼R事如此忠實(shí)、懇切、尊嚴(yán)。他心里想:“如其我果然給了她一個(gè)靈魂,我給她一個(gè)比我自己的還強(qiáng)些。”他所以趕快來(lái)慰藉悲傷的渦堤孩,打算明天就動(dòng)身,因?yàn)槌隽诉@樁事體以后,她對(duì)于這地方也不會(huì)再有多大興趣。但是輿情對(duì)于她還是沒有改變。非常事實(shí)的發(fā)現(xiàn)往往有些預(yù)兆,所以培兒托達(dá)來(lái)源的證明也沒有引起多大的驚異,眾人很多反對(duì)她,因?yàn)槟翘焖袨檫^于暴烈。但是他們夫妻不很知道這情形。他們?cè)僖膊辉付嗦闊匀咦邽樯喜摺?/p>

明天一早一駕清潔的馬車已經(jīng)在客寓門口等渦堤孩。黑爾勃郎和他從人的馬也都預(yù)備好了。騎士剛領(lǐng)著他夫人走出門來(lái),一個(gè)漁裝女郎走了上來(lái)。

黑爾勃郎說(shuō)道:“我們不要你的貨,我們正在動(dòng)身?!?/p>

女郎啜泣起來(lái),他們才覺察她是培兒托達(dá)。他們領(lǐng)了她重新進(jìn)去,一問才知道公爵夫婦怪她那天行為過于焦躁,不愿意繼續(xù)養(yǎng)她,雖然給了她一份很厚的嫁奩。漁人夫婦受了他們獎(jiǎng)賞,那天晚上已經(jīng)回他們天地去了。

“我想跟他們同回去,”她接著說(shuō),“但這老漁人,人家說(shuō)他是我父親——”

“他們說(shuō)的不錯(cuò),培兒托達(dá),”渦堤孩插口道,“那天你以為‘噴泉人’者確實(shí)對(duì)我說(shuō)的。他叫我不要領(lǐng)你一起回林斯推頓城堡去,所以他泄露這機(jī)密?!?/p>

“然則,”培兒托達(dá)說(shuō),“我的父——既然如此——我的父說(shuō)道:‘我不要你,除非你脾氣改過。你要跟我們獨(dú)身穿過這樹林,那才證明你愛我們。但是不要再擺女爵主架子,你要來(lái)就是個(gè)漁娘?!液芟肼犓愿?,因?yàn)槿澜缍家呀?jīng)不認(rèn)識(shí)我,我愿意和我窮苦的父母獨(dú)自過一世漁家女的生活。但是,老實(shí)說(shuō),我實(shí)在不敢進(jìn)森林去。里面多是妖精鬼怪,我又如此膽小。但是有什么辦法呢?我此時(shí)無(wú)非來(lái)向林斯推頓的貴婦賠罪,求她饒恕我前天種種無(wú)禮。夫人呀!我知道你是一番好意,但是你不知道我聽了你的話好像受傷一樣,我又駭又怒,忍不住滾出了許多魯莽瘋狂的說(shuō)話。寬恕我吧!寬恕我吧!我是如此十分倒運(yùn)。你只要替我設(shè)身處地想想,昨天開宴之前,我是如何身份,但是我今天呢?”

她涕泗滂沱說(shuō)了這一番話,她的手抱住了渦堤孩的項(xiàng)頸。她也感動(dòng)得半晌說(shuō)不出話來(lái),但是末了她說(shuō)——

“你跟我們一起到林斯推頓去吧,一切都照我們前天的預(yù)算,只要你仍舊叫我的名字,不要什么夫人呀、貴婦呀鬧不清楚。你要知道我們從小的時(shí)候彼此交換,但是從今以后我們住在一起,再?zèng)]有人力能夠分散我們。但是第一件事就是你陪我們?nèi)チ炙雇祁D。我們猶如姊妹一樣,有福同享,快在此決定吧。”

培兒托達(dá)滿面羞容瞟過眼去望著黑爾勃郎。他看她受了這樣委屈,早動(dòng)了惻隱之心,連忙伸出手來(lái)挽住了她,親親切切地請(qǐng)她放心,他們夫婦總不會(huì)虧待她。

他說(shuō):“我們會(huì)派人去關(guān)照你父母為什么你不回家?!彼又婺菍?duì)老夫婦想法子,但是他覺得培兒托達(dá)一聽見提起她父母就雙眉緊蹙,他就將話岔了開去,再也不提。他就攜著她手,送她上車,其次渦堤孩,自己騎上馬,并著她們的車欣欣上路,一會(huì)兒出了皇城,將種種不快意的經(jīng)歷一起棄在后面。二位女眷坐在車上也說(shuō)說(shuō)笑笑,吸著新鮮空氣,瀏覽著鄉(xiāng)間景色。

趕了幾天路程,他們一天傍晚到了林斯推頓的城堡。所有的侍從一齊上來(lái)?yè)碜×怂麄冇字?,交待一切,所以渦堤孩獨(dú)自和培兒托達(dá)一起。她們爬上了堡塞的高墻,賞玩下面希華皮亞的景色。忽然一個(gè)高人走了上來(lái),對(duì)她們恭恭敬敬行了個(gè)禮,培兒托達(dá)猛然記起了那晚皇城市場(chǎng)上所見的噴泉人。渦堤孩旋過去向他一看,露出不愿意帶著威嚇的神色,培兒托達(dá)想一定就是那怪,正在驚疑,那人一路點(diǎn)頭,匆匆退下,隱入鄰近一座灌木林中去了。但是渦堤孩說(shuō)道:“不要怕,親愛的小培兒托達(dá),這一次他再也不會(huì)來(lái)纏你了。”

她于是從頭至尾將這段故事一齊講了出來(lái),她自己是誰(shuí),培兒托達(dá)如何離開她的父母,她自己如何到他們那里去。培兒托達(dá)開頭聽了很嚇,她以為她朋友忽然瘋了,但是她愈聽愈信,恍然明白。她想想真奇怪,從小聽見的荒唐故事,如今非但親身經(jīng)歷,而且自身受了一二十年的播弄,方才打破這謎。她很尊敬地看著渦堤孩,但是禁不住發(fā)了一個(gè)寒噤,總覺得她是異類。一直等到他們坐下吃夜飯,她心里還在那里疑慮黑爾勃郎如何會(huì)得同鬼怪一類東西發(fā)生戀愛。

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