埃 及 疑 案

譯/潤之

埃 及 疑 案

譯/潤之

Mystery in Egypt

On his first day in Thebes1埃及古城，現(xiàn)是埃及中部的盧克索，這里可以比作“埃及的西安”，古埃及的新王國時期就定都于此，那個時候叫底比斯，法老們在此留下了大量的神廟、墓葬。, Oliver spent three hours at the tomb of an unidentified2unidentified不明的；未確認的。Egyptian prince.He’d come to Egypt with Sir Percival Wethersby. From his perch3perch〈非正式〉高處。on a broken crate, Oliver carefully copied the paintings on the wall. The air stank of4stink of散發(fā)出…的氣味。mildew5mildew霉菌。, and his stumpy6stumpy短而粗的。candle let off7let off放出。more smoke than light. Oliver drew because he loved to, and because Sir Percival was his mother’s uncle.

[2] Oliver’s father had died years ago,and his mother had passed away when he was 10. Sir Percival was Oliver’s only relative. When Sir Percival wanted something, he got it. And he wanted Oliver’s drawing talent. Oliver’s illustrations would help him sell artifacts in Egypt.

[3] “Not bad,” Sir Percival said, examining Oliver’s sketch, “Make the red a tad bit8a tad bit一點點。brownish. See there,” He pointed to the woman’s basket. “The red isn’t quite right. I want these copied exactly.”

“I’ll fi x the red, Sir,” Oliver said, “But I’ll need better light.”

Sir Percival called outside to his paid Arab servant, “Beni! Bring more candles.”

[4] Oliver stood and stretched his back. He’d been crouched9crouch蹲伏。all day, leaning over his drawing to get every detail right. With a rag, he cleared away the dirt on a ledge10ledge（平窄的）壁架，橫檔；巖礁。chiseled11chisel鑿。out of the wall. He leaned against it. CRACK!Suddenly he was on the ground. A cloud of dust and the stench of ammonia surrounded him.

“What’s this?” Beni said from behind. As the dirt settled and the old Arab lifted his candle, both could see the entrance to a tunnel. “A new tomb!”Beni exclaimed. “I’ll get Sir Percival.He’ll want to see inside fi rst.”

Oliver grabbed the candle and poked his head inside the tunnel. He inched122 inch一點一點地移動；慢慢靠近。forward, feeling his way133 feeling one’s way（在黑暗中）摸索著走。to make sure there wasn’t a chasm below. Ten feet in,he came to a room.

[5] He shone the candle around the cavern14cavern巨穴。and found a cof fi n, some vases,chairs, pots and three statues. He blew the black dust off one fi gure—a wooden woman, carved and painted. A decora-tive collar circled her neck. Colorful beads surrounded white and yellow fl owers molded out of clay. The workmanship dazzled Oliver’s artistic soul.

“Get out of there, you scoundrel!” Sir Percival snapped, his head popping into the cavern.

“I didn’t touch anything,” Oliver said, “Honest.”

“Tommyrot15tommyrot廢話；胡說。,” Sir Percival said, “I’ll take a look around here myself. Give me that candle.”

Oliver crawled back through the tunnel in the dark.

Missing Person

[6] Some hours later, Oliver was allowed back inside the tomb. All the artifacts were covered in sheets except the cof fi n. Sir Percival was kneeling by it.The stone covering had been set aside.“Take special care to copy these inscriptions exactly.” He pointed to some Egyptian writing on the wooden cof fi n and then lifted the lid. “Tommyrot! The body is gone!”

[7] Oliver knew that a missing mummy was odd. Tomb raiders166 raider盜墓者。usually took everything except the mummy,leaving the body for fear of a curse.

“Beni, guard this tomb,” Sir Percival said, “This is 1901, but tomb raiders are still alive and well. I can’t afford to let anyone steal this cof fi n. Bones or no bones, this could belong to a lost king.”

Even after Oliver crawled into his bed that night, tucked away in the corner of Sir Percival’s tent quarters, he continued to draw. The image of the collar wouldn’t leave his mind. He sketched it from memory.

[8] Oliver accompanied Sir Percival to the Museum at Cairo the next day.Mr. Azur, a short, balding curator, greeted them cheerfully. He studied Oliver’s sketch of the coffin. “Most beautiful,”Mr. Azur said, “The sarcophagus17sarcophagus石棺。and the cof fi n, they were not disturbed?”

“Well,” Sir Percival said, “at first everything appeared fi ne. But the mummy! I’m afraid the bones are gone.”

[9] The knowledge seemed to please Mr. Azur rather than annoy him. “This is most wonderful. Look!” He pointed at the drawing of coffin. “This says‘Zaphenath-paneah.’ It is another name for Joseph18Joseph約瑟，圣經(jīng)故事里他是雅各的兒子，被賣到埃及，后來由于給法老解夢應(yīng)驗而受到重用，并幫助埃及戰(zhàn)勝饑荒。, the Hebrew19Hebrew希伯來人，猶太人北方閃米特民族的一員或后裔，自稱是亞伯拉罕、以撒克和雅各的后代。of the Old Testament who became Pharaoh’s second-in-command and saved Egypt from famine. The Bible records that Moses took Joseph’s bones out of Egypt right before the Exodus20Exodus以色列人出埃及事件。.”

Oliver’s hands began to tremble.

“We shall see this tomb, yes?” Mr.Azur said, putting on his hat.

Tomb Raiders!

[10] The fi rst sign of disaster was the unfamiliar green truck parked near the site at Thebes. Beni lay facedown in the sand, his hands tied behind his back.A man wearing a black mask jumped out from behind the truck and pointed a ri fl e at Sir Percival’s chest. “Everybody get down,” the gunman said. “and you won’t get hurt.”

Soon the three were tied in the same position as Beni. Oliver watched, blinking sand from his eyes, as six masked men loaded the chairs, vases, cof fi n and statues into the truck, He said a silent goodbye to Joseph’s coffin as the ancient cargo rolled away.

[11] Several uneventful weeks passed until Sir Percival brought Oliver to a new site in the cliffs—a pit tomb. The cave was accessible only by climbing down a 30-foot rope.

“This is my new discovery,” Sir Percival said when they reached the bottom. His candle lit a room filled with a potpourri21potpourri雜燴；集錦。of artifacts. “I think this was s storage chamber.” Oliver looked around. His eyes fi xed on a statue of a woman wearing an ornate collar.

“This is from Joseph’s tomb!” Oliver blurted. “I recognize every detail.”

“Tommyrot!” Sir Percival said. All Egyptian collars look alike.”

“No, it’s the same. I remember the blue and yellow—”

“I never should have let you in that tomb!” Sir Percival said. “Forget you saw it!”

“But that’s a lie. You stole your own discovery and moved it here. Why?”

“Money.” Sir Percival said, pulling his pipe out of his pocket. “Joseph’s coffin is worth too much to leave in a museum. Today my contract with the museum ends. Now I’m free to keep these artifacts. What difference is it to you?”

“The difference between right and wrong,” said Oliver.

Sir Percival stuffed his pipe with tobacco, “Be reasonable, and do as I say.”

[12] I’ll do what’s right, Oliver thought. He sprang up, grabbing the rope with a tight grip and twisting his ankles around the bottom. “You’ll not make it, boy,” Sir Percival said, stepping forward. “I’ll pluck you from that rope like an apple off a tree.”

Oliver looked up at the opening and prayed for strength. He began to climb,hand over hand. Suddenly a brown blur swooped22swoop俯沖。down from the opening.

He could hear Sir Percival muttering, followed by more whirring23whirr呼呼地飛或旋轉(zhuǎn)的聲音。and a screech24screech尖叫聲。. Oliver recognized the call of an eagle owl.

Oliver continued to shimmy25shimmy擺動。up the rope. In one great heave, he reached the ledge and hoisted26hoist提起，拉起（重物）。himself up.

“Get me out of here,” Sir Percival yelled.

“No way,” Oliver said, pulling up the rope.

“He wasn’t talking to you, Kid,”Beni said, grabbing Oliver from behind.

Pit of Despair

[13] After forcing Oliver back down the rope, Sir Percival removed all the artifacts and left him there with no food,no water and no light. For two long days, Oliver sat in the pit tomb praying.

He listened to snakes slithering27slither（蛇等）蜿蜒地滑行。by day, the beat of bats’ wings at night.

[14] When he was about to give up hope, Oliver heard a familiar whirring.He stared at the hole and wished for the owl to come back. But this time the whirring wasn’t the owl; it was a car.

Oliver heard footsteps. “Oliver, you are down there, yes?”

“Yes,” Oliver said, his voice a mere croak28croak低沉而沙啞的聲音。.

Mr. Azur lowered a rope ladder and descended into the pit. He gave Oliver some water.

“How did you know?” Oliver asked,water dribbling29dribble滴落。down his chin.

“Sir Percival came and showed me the collar,” he said, “But I’d seen your sketch of it. It was with the original drawing of Joseph’s cof fi n. I knew then Percival had cheated us.”

“Where is he now?” Oliver asked.

“Deported,” Mr.Azur said, “Your great-uncle is no longer welcome in Egypt.

“How did you find me?”

“Beni told us where you were. He is not so bad as Sir Percival.”

“You know, Sir Percival is my only family,” Oliver said.

“Then you can live with me and draw, yes?” Mr. Azur said. “You remind me of another young foreigner who was left for dead in a pit. He did what was right at great expense to himself.But God helped him and brought good things to Egypt.”

“Who was that?” Oliver asked.

“Zaphenath-paneah,” Mr. Azur said.“Joseph.” ■

奧利弗來到底比斯的第一天，就在一位身份不明的埃及王子的墳?zāi)估锎巳齻€小時。他剛同珀韋瑟斯比的珀西瓦爾爵士一起來到埃及。奧利弗蹲在一個破舊的板條箱上，仔細臨摹墻上的畫。四周彌漫著發(fā)霉空氣的味道, 那根短粗蠟燭散發(fā)的煙比發(fā)出的光還多。奧利弗在這里畫畫不僅因為他喜歡繪畫,還因為珀西瓦爾爵士是他媽媽的叔叔。

[2]奧利弗的父親幾年前死了, 母親也早在他十歲時離世。珀西瓦爾爵士是他唯一的親人。珀西瓦爾總是得償所愿。他需要奧利弗的繪畫才能，奧利弗的畫可以幫助他在埃及販賣工藝品。

[3]“不錯，”珀西瓦爾一邊審視著奧利弗的畫一邊說，“紅色上面再加點棕色，那兒。”他指著畫中女人手中的籃子。“這紅色不大對，這些都得和原畫一模一樣。”

“我把紅色調(diào)一調(diào)，先生，”奧利弗說，“但這里光線應(yīng)再亮一些。”

珀西瓦爾沖外面的仆人喊道：“貝尼，再拿些蠟燭進來。”那人是他花錢雇的阿拉伯人。

[4]奧利弗站起來，伸直了背。為了畫好每處細節(jié)，他一整天都蹲在這兒，上半身前傾。他拿起一塊抹布，擦了擦從墻上鑿出的架狀突出處，往上面一靠。只聽“啪”一聲，他猛地摔到地上，揚起一團灰塵，聞到一股氨臭氣味。

“這是什么?”貝尼在后面問。塵埃落定，這位阿拉伯老頭舉起蠟燭，他倆同時看到了一個暗道的入口。“又發(fā)現(xiàn)一個墳?zāi)?”貝尼喊了起來，“我去叫珀西瓦爾爵士。他一定想第一個進去。”

奧利弗抓起蠟燭，把頭探進洞口。他一步一步地走，摸索著確認下面沒有深坑。走了有十英尺，他來到了一個房間。

[5]他舉著蠟燭環(huán)視著這個巨洞。洞里有一口棺材、一些花瓶、椅子、罐子和三尊雕像。他吹掉一尊像身上的黑色粉塵——看到的是一個彩繪木雕的女人像。脖子上雕刻著一個裝飾性的項圈。彩色的珠子點綴在陶土做的白色和紅色的花上。這木雕工藝令富有藝術(shù)天賦的奧利弗驚呆了。

“出來，你這無賴！”珀西瓦爾厲聲喝道，頭伸進了洞口。

“我沒碰任何東西，”奧利弗說，“真的。”

“別廢話，”珀西瓦爾說，“我要親自查看。蠟燭給我。”

奧利弗摸黑爬出了暗道。

失蹤的人

[6]幾小時后，奧利弗被準許重新進入墓室。除了棺材，所有東西都用布單罩著。珀西瓦爾跪在棺材旁，石蓋已經(jīng)被挪開。珀西瓦爾指著一些寫在木棺上的埃及文字吩咐著：“仔細臨摹這些銘文，都得寫得一模一樣。”然后他打開了棺蓋：“荒唐! 尸骨不見了!”

[7]奧利弗知道木乃伊很少失蹤。盜墓賊通常盜走除木乃伊外的所有東西， 因為害怕木乃伊的詛咒。

“貝尼，守著這墓。”珀西瓦爾說 ，“這是1901年出土的文物，現(xiàn)在盜墓的還很猖獗。不管棺材里有沒有尸骨，我不能讓任何人偷走這個棺材。這可能屬于一個不為人知的國王。”

那晚，奧利弗鉆進被窩，蜷縮在珀西瓦爾爵士的帳篷宿舍里的一個角落，他還在畫著，那個項圈的影像一直縈繞在他腦海。他憑記憶畫下了草圖。

[8]第二天，奧利弗陪著珀西瓦爾爵士去開羅博物館。身材矮小、禿頂?shù)酿^長阿祖爾先生熱情地接待了他們。他仔細看了奧利弗畫的棺材草圖。“棒極了！”阿祖爾先生說，“石棺和棺材沒被破壞？”

“噢!”珀西瓦爾說，“起初一切看上去都好，但是木乃伊！恐怕木乃伊不見了。”

[9]這個消息似乎并沒使阿祖爾先生不悅，反而令他開心。“這個真棒，看!”他指著棺材的草圖說，“這里寫著Zaphenath-paneah。這是約瑟的另一個名字，《舊約》中的希伯來人，他是僅次于法老的統(tǒng)治者，把埃及從饑荒中拯救出來。《圣經(jīng)》中記載，摩西在帶領(lǐng)以色列人出埃及前夕把約瑟的尸骨帶了出來。”

奧利弗雙手開始發(fā)抖。

“我們應(yīng)該看看這個墓，是吧？”阿祖爾先生邊說邊戴上他的帽子。

盜墓賊！

[10]災(zāi)難的第一個征兆是一輛陌生的綠色卡車停在墓地旁。貝尼趴在沙地上，手被反綁著，一個戴著黑面罩的人從卡車后面躥出，用手槍抵著珀西瓦爾的胸口。“都趴下，”持槍人說，“就不會傷害你們。”

不一會兒，他們?nèi)司捅唤壋筛惸嵋粯拥淖藙荨W利弗注視著，眨眨眼睛擠掉眼里的沙子，這六個蒙面人把椅子、花瓶、棺材、雕像裝進卡車。他默默地向約瑟的棺材告別，看著這些古物被卷走。

[11]平靜地過了幾周，珀西瓦爾又帶奧利弗去了一個懸崖上的墓地，一個土坑墓。進入土坑墓必須順著繩子往下溜30英尺。

“這是我的新發(fā)現(xiàn)。”當他們來到洞底時，珀西瓦爾告訴他。他手中的蠟燭照亮了一個裝滿各種工藝品的房間。“我覺得這是個儲藏室。”奧利弗環(huán)視四周，眼睛停在一尊女人像上，她戴著一個裝飾華麗的項圈。

“這是約瑟墓地的！”奧利弗脫口而出，“我認得每個細節(jié)。”

“胡說八道!”珀西瓦爾說，“所有的埃及項圈看上去都一樣。”

“不，是同一件。我記得藍色和黃色——”

“真不該讓你進到那個墓穴!”珀西瓦爾說，“把你看到的忘了。”

“但是你撒謊。你偷走了自己發(fā)現(xiàn)的文物，然后把東西搬到這兒。為什么？”

“因為錢。”珀西瓦爾邊說邊從口袋里掏出煙斗，“約瑟的棺材很值錢，放在博物館里就可惜了。今天，我跟博物館的合同到期了。現(xiàn)在我可以隨意占有這些工藝品。這和你有什么關(guān)系？”

“這關(guān)系到是與非。”奧利弗說。

珀西瓦爾給煙斗塞上煙葉：“放聰明點，照我說的做。”

[12]我要做正確的事，奧利弗暗想。他跳起來，用力抓緊繩子，腳踝繞著繩子的末端往上爬。“你甭想，小子，”珀西瓦爾走上前，“我會像摘蘋果一樣把你拽下來。”

奧利弗抬頭看看洞口，祈禱上帝賜給他力量，他一下一下往上爬，突然模模糊糊一團棕色的東西從洞口撲下來。

他聽見珀西瓦爾嘟囔了一聲，接著是呼呼聲和尖叫聲，奧利弗聽出了是貓頭鷹的叫聲。

奧利弗繼續(xù)搖晃著往上爬，最后使勁一越，抓住了巖礁，自己悠了上去。

“讓我出去。”珀西瓦爾喊著。

“沒門兒。”奧利弗邊說邊往上拽繩子。

“他沒跟你說，小子。”貝尼一把從后面把奧利弗抓住。

絕望的深淵

[13]奧利弗被強迫回到洞中，珀西瓦爾拿走了所有的工藝品，一點食物、水和蠟燭都沒給他留。整整兩天，奧利弗坐在土坑墓底祈禱著。

白天他聽到蛇滑行的聲音，夜晚聽到的是蝙蝠拍打翅膀的聲音。

[14]奧利弗近乎絕望時，聽到了熟悉的呼呼聲。他盯著洞口，希望那只貓頭鷹回來。但這次發(fā)出聲音的不是貓頭鷹而是汽車。

奧利弗聽到腳步聲。“奧利弗，你在下面，是嗎？”

“是的。”奧利弗用低沉沙啞的聲音答道。

阿祖爾先生放下一個繩梯，下到洞底，給了奧利弗一些水。

“你怎么知道我在這兒?”奧利弗問，水順著下巴滴著。

“珀西瓦爾找到我，給我看那個項圈，”他回答著，“但我看過你畫的草圖。它和約瑟棺材最初的那張草圖放在了一起，于是，我知道珀西瓦爾騙了我們。”

“他現(xiàn)在在哪兒?”奧利弗問。

“已被驅(qū)逐出境了。”阿祖爾先生說，“埃及不再歡迎你那位叔公。”

“你怎么找到我的?”

“貝尼告訴我們的。他還沒珀西瓦爾那么壞。”

“要知道，珀西瓦爾是我唯一的親人了。”奧利弗說。

“你可以和我一起生活，還能畫畫，怎么樣？”阿祖爾先生說，“你使我想起另一位被遺棄在山洞差點死掉的外國小伙子。他付出很大代價做了自己認為對的事情。但是上帝保佑他，給埃及帶來了福祉。”

“他是誰?”奧利弗問。

“Zaphenath-paneah，”阿祖爾先生說，“約瑟。” □