Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Sometimes life deals a bad hand. Sometimes it is hard to go on. Sometimes evil triumphs over good.
有時， 事實比小說還離奇。生活有時候使人無助，有時又讓人難以為繼。有時，邪惡還戰(zhàn)勝了正義。
Nancy sighed heavily as she pulled her daughter’s diary from the drawer. She leaned forward to examine the familiar writing. A postcard with a colored sketch fell onto the floor from the book the drawing was a picture of a long curved sandy beach on a tropical island; of course it would be Montserrat. She felt clumsy as she knelt to retrieve(取回,收回) the picture. Under no circumstances could she forgive or forget the criminals who tortured her beautiful Megan. It was difficult not to feel bitter about the events of the preceding year. She had shed so many tears in the past year since her daughter’s murder. Nancy recognized that she was suffering from psychological problems and had really become indifferent to the events in her daily life. She began to shake and then to weep. When would there be an answer to this damn nightmare?
南希深深地嘆了口氣，從抽屜里取出女兒的日記。她身體前傾，仔細(xì)地看著那熟悉的筆跡。一張彩色素描明信片從杯子里掉落下來。畫面上是一個熱帶島嶼上一處蜿蜒的沙灘美景。自然，那就是蒙特塞拉特島。在她屈膝去揀明信片時，她感到手腳有些不聽使喚了。她決不會饒恕或忘記那些殘害她美麗的梅根的兇手。一想到一年前發(fā)生的不幸，南希就禁不住感到痛苦。她抓起一張面巾紙，擦去眼中的淚水。女兒被害后的這一年中，她不知道流了多少眼淚。南希知道自己患上了心理障礙，她確實變得對日常生活中的事情漠不關(guān)心了。她身體開始顫抖，接著抽泣起來。這該死的噩夢何時才會一個答案呢?
Megan had attended secondary school at a private girls’ school five hundred kilometers from home. In junior school she had been a straight A student. Now in high school she continued to study hard, play sports, join the school orchestra, plus a variety of school clubs. As a joke, her friends labeled her a genius, often just to make her angry. As well as being a high academic achiever she had a great capacity for fun. She thrived on an active social life. Slender, pretty and vivacious(活潑開朗的), she was the apple of her parents’ eye.
梅根在離家500公里的一所私立學(xué)校上中學(xué)。她讀小學(xué)時就一直是最優(yōu)秀的學(xué)生?，F(xiàn)在進(jìn)了中學(xué)，她還是繼續(xù)努力學(xué)習(xí)，熱愛運(yùn)動，參加學(xué)校的管弦樂隊，還加入了學(xué)校的各種俱樂部。朋友們在開玩笑時稱她為天才，這常常只會使她生氣。她不但學(xué)習(xí)成績好，也很有情趣。她在豐富的社會活動中茁壯成長。她苗條美麗、活潑大方，是父母的掌上明珠。
Every year in accordance with school policy, a student candidate was chosen to travel and live in another commonwealth(聯(lián)邦) country for six months. As Megan had an interest in a diplomatic career after completing university, she figure she would be considered a prime applicant if she applied for the position. A detailed essay was necessary to provide the committee with a clear idea of her intention. The selection committee would spend a fortnight reviewing the applications in an attempt to identify the ideal student. Megan also needed to undergo a rigorous personal interview, which would validate(驗證) her academic background and evaluate her general behavior.
The interview preceded well, Megan taking the initiative to underline her strengths. After school some of her friends gathered for coffee in the café near the school. They confessed to Megan that they were rather envious of the opportunity she might have to live in another country. They enquired about the details of the interview. Two weeks later Megan received a phone call notifying her of the successful results of the interview.
按照學(xué)校的規(guī)定，每年要挑選一名學(xué)生到另一個英聯(lián)邦國家去旅行和生活六個月。因為梅根的計劃是在讀完她上的大學(xué)后從事外交工作，她認(rèn)為如果提出申請，自己將是被考慮的一個主要人選。這需要向委員會提交一篇文章，明確闡明她的意圖。選拔委員會要花兩個星期對申請人進(jìn)行評定，以確定人選。梅根還要接受嚴(yán)格的單獨(dú)面試，以驗證她的學(xué)業(yè)水平并評估她的綜合素質(zhì)。面試進(jìn)行得很順利，梅根積極主動地展示了她的實力。放學(xué)后，她與一些朋友聚在學(xué)校附近的咖啡館一塊喝咖啡。她們對梅根很坦承對她要在另一個國家生活相當(dāng)嫉妒。她們還詢問了面試的細(xì)節(jié)。兩個星期后，梅根接到電話，通知她成功地通過了面試。
Her parents were slightly nervous experiencing some negative feelings about Megan leaving the safety of home to live in another country. They knew the experience would broaden her horizons however, her destination, Montserrat, within the past year had a huge volcano erupt(噴發(fā)), disrupting(使中斷,擾亂) people’s lives. Unstable conditions, loss of homes and fear of more eruptions all tended to breed trouble among the poor of the island. Her parents’ concerns were for Megan’s safety.
對于梅根要離開安全的家到另一個國家去生活，她的父母略感不安，有一些不祥的感覺。不過，他們知道，這次經(jīng)歷將會拓寬她的視野。她的目的地蒙特塞拉特，去年發(fā)生了一次巨大的火山爆發(fā)，使人民的生活陷于混亂之中。局勢動蕩、無家可歸和對火山再次爆發(fā)的恐懼都在困擾這個島國的窮人。她父母擔(dān)心梅根的安全。
Departure day dawned clear and bright. Farewells were made to family and friends and she was off for the adventure of a lifetime. Megan’s arrival on Montserrat was both welcoming and initially uneventful(平靜無事的). The island family where she was to live for the next six months, made her feels right at home. As the pace of life on the island was more relaxed that at home, she was very happy. Her new schoolmates included her in their lives and she adapted quickly. Swimming in the warm ocean water, and sitting underneath waving palm trees in a mild climate, was a pleasant change from the cold northern winters.
出發(fā)的那天清早，天氣晴朗。在與家人和朋友們告別后，她踏上了她的冒險旅途。梅根到蒙特塞拉特后受到歡迎，最初也平安無事。她要在島上住六個月的那個家庭，讓她覺得就像在自己家一樣。島上的生活節(jié)奏比在家里更輕松，她感到很高興。她的新同學(xué)們接納了她，把她當(dāng)作他們當(dāng)中的一員，她很快便適應(yīng)了。能夠在溫暖的海水里暢游，在生長于溫和氣候帶、搖曳的棕櫚樹下閑坐，與寒冷的北方冬天相比，這種改變令人心曠神怡。
One Saturday evening a gang of kids piled into a taxi, heading off for a barbecue(戶外烤肉餐) on the beach. Some of the girls decided to walk along the beach. Megan joined them, lagging slightly behind. She knew she ought to hurry to catch up but the moist sand felt good under her feet. Water lapped at her toes; the tide was coming in. the violet light of dusk began to darken the sky.
一個星期六的晚上，一幫孩子們擠進(jìn)一輛出租車，前往海灘吃燒烤野餐。幾個女孩子決定沿海灘漫步。梅根也加入進(jìn)來，跟在后面慢慢地走著。她知道她應(yīng)該快一點(diǎn)趕上她們，但腳下濕潤的沙子讓她覺得很舒適。潮水涌來，海水拍打著她的腳趾。紫羅蘭色的黃昏降臨，天空開始暗下來。
In the growing darkness a van pulled alongside her, stopping with a squeal(尖銳的聲音) of brakes. Before she knew what was happening two masked men leapt out of the car and began to chase her, grabbing her and finally throwing her to the ground. The gross attack that followed was brutal and unexplainable. Initially Megan tried to fight off her attackers by clawing at their faces with her nails. Using a coil of rope to bind her hands, the men were free to proceed. First a fist broke her upper jaw leaving her unconscious. Then the hoodlums(無賴,流氓) used a metal rod to crush Megan’s skull(頭顱) and finally a knife blade penetrated her neck piercing an artery(動脈). After the crude act was completed her body was bundled into the back of a cab and discarded in a ditch in an isolated district far from the beach.
在越來越暗的夜色里，一輛貨車向她身邊駛來，在尖銳的剎車聲中突然停下。沒等她明白過來是怎么回事，兩個戴面罩的男人從車上跳出來追上她，抓住她，最后把她摔倒在地。接下來就是不分青紅皂白的粗暴毆打。起初，梅根設(shè)法反抗襲擊者，用指甲抓他們的臉。可他們用一卷繩子綁住她的雙手后，他們開始為所欲為。他們先是一拳打破她的上頜，使她昏了過去。然后，這幫流氓用一根金屬棒敲碎了梅根的顱骨，最后用刀片扎進(jìn)她的脖子，刺穿了動脈。暴行結(jié)束后，他們把她的尸體捆起來，放到車子后面，再丟棄在遠(yuǎn)離沙灘的一個偏僻小區(qū)的溝里。
Realizing that Megan had disappeared, her friends dialed an emergency number, notifying the authorities of the situation. Once Megan’s body was discovered, a warrant(通緝令) was issued for the immediate arrest of the two wanted men. Megan’s parents were notified by the embassy. They in turn retained legal counsel and an intense inquiry began into the case. Those officials with an intimate knowledge of the island felt that the mugging was a case of mistaken identification and a complete misunderstanding(誤解), a misguided outlet for mounting frustrations on the island.
Megan’s parents, Nancy and Don, cancelled all their immediate plans and flew to the island. Rather than wait for the small island ship to transport them to the island they were flown in by helicopter. After hiring a lawyer as an advocate for their cause(案件程序), they began to work with the local police tracking down any angle of the case that would bring these creeps first to court and then to trial before a jury, who in turn would convict them to lengthy jail sentences. As the days slipped by without any answers, they experienced severe emotional fatigue and life became a living hell.
得知梅根失蹤后，她的朋友們撥打了緊急電話，把情況報告給當(dāng)局。梅根的尸體被發(fā)現(xiàn)后，馬上發(fā)出了立即捉拿那兩名兇犯的通緝令。大使館通知了梅根的父母。他們聘請了法律顧問，并開始緊張地調(diào)查此案。非常熟悉這個島嶼的那些官員們認(rèn)為，這次行兇是一起認(rèn)錯對象的事件，完全是一個誤會，罪犯被帶錯路后錯誤地登上了這個島。梅根的父母，南希和唐，取消了他們當(dāng)時所有的計劃，飛往該島。他們來不及乘坐送他們到島上去的島內(nèi)小船，改乘直升機(jī)飛過去。在請了一名律師作為該訴訟案的辯護(hù)律師后，他們開始與當(dāng)?shù)氐木煲黄鸸ぷ?，收集與此案有關(guān)的各種證據(jù)，要把那些家伙送上法庭，交陪審團(tuán)進(jìn)行審判，判定他們有罪并予以長期監(jiān)禁。但時間一天天過去，沒有任何結(jié)果。他們感到身心憔悴，仿佛生活在人間地獄。
The investigation seemed to lag at first, but they were reluctant to interfere. The initial reports from this mess were inconclusive; many of the details not being addressed. As paying clients they lodged a complaint with the Governor of the island. After several months passed, the authorities had a frank discussion with Megan’s parents stating that as each day passed they were less and less liable to solve the murder. They cited other examples of unsolved cases and encouraged Nancy and Don to return home. Feeling both annoyed and frustrated, they decided they had done all they could here for the moment.
調(diào)查工作一開始就有些拖沓，但他們不愿意去干預(yù)。在這種混亂狀況下，最初的報告沒有什么結(jié)論，很多細(xì)節(jié)都沒有提到。作為付過費(fèi)用的委托人，他們向該島總督提出申述。幾個月過去后，當(dāng)局在與梅根父母的一次坦率談話中明確表示，隨著時間一天天過去，查明這宗兇案的希望越來越小。他們還舉出其他沒有解決的案例作為佐證，勸南希和唐回家。在氣惱和失望之余，南希和唐明白目前在這里他們已經(jīng)無能為力了。
Once at home again, Nancy withdrew from community life choosing to spend her time alone. These days, if you went looking, you could often find Don in a local pub having a pint or two of beer. He, too, is unable to come to terms with the sequence of events that tore his family apart this year. Just thinking about Megan brings a lump to his throat and makes his head spin.
回到家中后，南希不再參加社交活動，而是獨(dú)自一人消磨時光。這些天，要是你出去走走，經(jīng)常會看到唐正在當(dāng)?shù)氐囊粋€酒吧喝著一、兩杯啤酒。一年下來，他也忍受不了使家庭支離破碎的這一系列不幸事件的折磨。只要一想起梅根，他就喉嚨哽咽，天旋地轉(zhuǎn)。
As time passed, it was becoming more and more evident that the stack of paperwork pertaining(與…有關(guān)系的) to his daughter’s case was not going to provide any answers immediately, if ever. Tips provided by the public proved to lead nowhere. The records will remain open until the case is solved, however for the moment the natural rhythm of life has been destroyed. Can a family withstand such a tragedy? Only time will tell.
隨著時間的過去，越來越清楚地表明，有關(guān)她女兒案件的那堆文件不會馬上給出什么答案，也許永遠(yuǎn)也不會了。公眾提供的線索也得不出什么結(jié)果。訴狀還會保留，直到破案為止。然而，現(xiàn)在正常的生活節(jié)奏被破壞了。一個家庭能夠承受得了這樣的悲劇嗎?只有時間才能回答。
