牛津書蟲系列 弗蘭肯斯坦 05

5

5

The letter was from my father in Geneva， and this is what he wrote：

信是我父親從日內(nèi)瓦寫來(lái)的，下面就是他寫的內(nèi)容：

My dear Victor，

我親愛(ài)的維克多：

I want you to know before you arrive home that an awful thing has happened.Your dear youngest brother，William，is dead. He was murdered. It happened last Thursday evening when Elizabeth and I and your two brothers， Ernest and William， went for a walk outside the city. William and Ernest were playing. William had hidden from Ernest， and Ernest asked Elizabeth and me to help find William. We all began to search for him， but we couldn't find him. We searched all night. At five in the morning I found him. He was lying on the grass， white and still. I could see the marks of fingers on his neck—the murderer had strangled him.

在你到家之前我想讓你知道所發(fā)生的一件可怕的事情。你親愛(ài)的小弟弟威廉死了。他是被謀殺的。這件事發(fā)生在上個(gè)禮拜四，那時(shí)我和伊麗莎白以及你的兩個(gè)弟弟歐內(nèi)斯特和威廉正在城外散步。威廉同歐內(nèi)斯特當(dāng)時(shí)正玩耍。威廉從歐內(nèi)斯特那兒藏了起來(lái)，于是歐內(nèi)斯特要我和伊麗莎白幫著找威廉。我們都找了起來(lái)，但沒(méi)能找到他。我們找了一整夜。早晨5點(diǎn)鐘時(shí)我找到了他。他躺倒在草地上，臉色蒼白，身子一動(dòng)也不動(dòng)。我能看出他脖子上的手指印——是兇手勒死了他。

Elizabeth had let him wear a gold chain of hers round his neck.On the chain was a very small picture of your mother.We all think that someone murdered William to steal the gold chain.Poor Elizabeth is terribly unhappy at William's death. She thinks he died because she let him wear the chain. Hurry home， my dear Victor. You are the only one who can help Elizabeth， and we all need you.

伊麗莎白曾讓他把她的一根金鏈子戴在脖子上。鏈子上有一張非常小的、你媽媽的照片。我們都認(rèn)為是有人為了偷取那條金鏈子而殺死了威廉。可憐的伊麗莎白對(duì)威廉的死非常傷心。她認(rèn)為他的死是因?yàn)樗屗髁四菞l鏈子。趕快回家吧，我親愛(ài)的維克多。只有你能幫助伊麗莎白，并且我們都需要你。

With all our love，

我們都愛(ài)你!

Your Father

你的父親

Henry helped me to catch the train. The journey seemed very long， and it was late at night before the train reached Geneva. I decided to spend the night in a village outside the town and go home early in the morning. I wanted to see the place where William had died.

亨利幫我上了火車。旅途似乎非常漫長(zhǎng);火車到達(dá)日內(nèi)瓦之前已經(jīng)是深夜了。我決定在城外的一個(gè)村子里過(guò)夜，然后清晨再回家。我想看看威廉死去的地方。

As I started my walk， a storm broke and lightning lit the sky. The police had put posts round the place where the murderer had strangled William，so I found it easily.I cried sadly as I stood there. My poor brother had been a kind and happy boy， and we had all loved him.

在我開始步行時(shí)，暴發(fā)了一場(chǎng)暴風(fēng)雨，閃電劃亮了天空。警察已在威廉被兇手勒死的地方圍上了木樁，這樣我很容易地找到了那兒。我站在那兒傷心地哭泣著。我可憐的弟弟一向是個(gè)善良而快樂(lè)的孩子，并且我們都很愛(ài)他。

Again the lightning lit the sky， and I saw a huge figure standing in the rain. When I saw it， I knew at once what it was.It was the creature that I had made.

閃電又一次照亮了天空，我看見(jiàn)雨中站著一個(gè)巨大的人。當(dāng)我看見(jiàn)時(shí)，我立馬就知道那是誰(shuí)了。那是我創(chuàng)造的那個(gè)家伙。

What was he doing there?But although I asked myself the question， I knew the answer. He had murdered my brother. I was sure that I was right.

他在那兒干什么?盡管我在問(wèn)自己這個(gè)問(wèn)題，卻已知道了答案。是他殺死了我的弟弟。我敢肯定我是對(duì)的。

I decided to try and catch him.But as I moved， he ran to-wards the mountains. He ran much faster than any man. He climbed the mountain easily， reached the top， and disappeared.

我決心要抓住他。但在我走動(dòng)時(shí)，他朝山上跑去了。他比任何人都跑得快。他輕松地爬著山，到了山頂并且消失不見(jiàn)了。

I stood there in the dark and the rain， and knew that I had created a monster. And he had murdered my brother.

我在黑暗中站著并淋著雨，知道自己創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)怪物。是他殺死了我的弟弟。