Poor Old Bill (I)可憐的老比爾（上）

On an antique haunt of sailors， a tavern of the sea， the light of day was fading. For several evenings I had frequented this place， in the hope of hearing something from the sailors， as they sat over strange wines， about a rumour that had reached my ears of a certain fleet of galleons of old Spain still said to be afloat in the South Seas in some uncharted region.

海邊有家酒館，年代久遠，水手們都愛光顧。這一天，日光正慢慢消失。有幾次我曾在傍晚時分光顧這里，希望在水手們坐在一起啜飲美酒時，聽他們談論我以前聽過的一個傳言：說是古老西班牙的某個大帆船艦隊仍然漂浮在南太平洋的某個陌生海域。

In this I was again to be disappointed. Talk was low and seldom， and I was about to leave， when a sailor， wearing ear-rings of pure gold， lifted up his head from his wine， and looking straight before him at the wall， told his tale loudly：

我又將失望了。他們說話聲很低，聊得也不多，就在我要離去之時，一個戴著純金耳環(huán)的水手停了杯，抬起頭，直視著面前的墻，大聲講起了他的故事。

（When later on a storm of rain arose and thundered on the tavern’s leaded panes2， he raised his voice without effort and spoke on still. The darker it got the clearer his wild eyes shone.）

（后來，風雨大作，雨點砰砰地打在酒館的含鉛窗玻璃上。他毫不費力地提高音量，繼續(xù)講下去。他眼神狂亂，天色越暗，眼睛越亮。）

“A ship with sails of the olden time was nearing fantastic isles. We had never seen such isles.

“當時，一艘張著古帆的船正靠近奇異的群島。我們之前從未見過那樣的群島。

“We all hated the captain， and he hated us. He hated us all alike， there was no favouritism about him. And he never would talk a word with any of us， except sometimes in the evening when it was getting dark he would stop and look up and talk a bit to the men he had hanged at the yard-arm.

“我們都恨船長，他也恨我們。他恨我們每個人，沒偏沒向。有時當暮色降臨時，他會停下腳步，抬頭看看，跟被他掛在桁端上的人說上幾句。其他時候，他從不跟我們?nèi)魏稳苏f上一句話。

“We were a mutinous crew. But Captain was the only man that had pistols. He slept with one under his pillow and kept one close beside him. There was a nasty look about the isles. They were small and flat as though they had come up only recently from the sea， and they had no sand or rocks like honest isles， but green grass down to the water. And there were little cottages there whose looks we did not like. Their thatches3 came almost down to the ground， and were strangely turned up at the corners， and under the low eaves were queer dark windows whose little leaded panes were too thick to see through. And no one， man or beast， was walking about， so that you could not know what kind of people lived there. But Captain knew. And he went ashore and into one of the cottages， and someone lit lights inside， and the little windows wore an evil look.

“我們這些船員都不服管。不過，船長是唯一帶著手槍的人。睡覺時，有一把放在枕下，另一把放在身側。群島樣子難看，又小又平，仿佛是最近才從海里冒出來的，與真正的島嶼不同，這里沒有沙子或巖石，只有一直長到水邊的綠草。島上有一些小屋，但我們不喜歡它們的樣子。屋頂?shù)拿┎輲缀跬系搅说厣希吔瞧婀值厣戏５偷偷奈蓍芟率枪殴值陌荡埃〈暗你U玻璃太厚，不能透過它們看到屋內(nèi)的樣子。周圍沒有人或獸，也無從知道什么人住在里面。但是船長知道。他上了岸，走進一座小屋，有人把屋內(nèi)的燈點亮，小窗看起來很詭異。

“It was quite dark when he came aboard again， and he bade a cheery good-night to the men that swung from the yard-arm and he eyed us in a way that frightened poor old Bill.

“當他回到船上時，天色已經(jīng)很黑了。他愉快地向掛在桁端的人道了晚安。他看我們時的神情嚇壞了可憐的老比爾。

“Next night we found that he had learned to curse， for he came on a lot of us asleep in our bunks， and among them poor old Bill， and he pointed at us with a finger， and made a curse that our souls should stay all night at the top of the masts. And suddenly there was the soul of poor old Bill sitting like a monkey at the top of the mast， and looking at the stars， and freezing through and through.

“第二天晚上，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)他學會了詛咒之術：他在我們睡覺時走近很多船員（可憐的老比爾也在其中）的床鋪，用一根指頭指著我們，詛咒我們的靈魂整晚都掛在桅桿頂端。突然，可憐的老比爾的靈魂像只猴子一般，坐到了桅桿頂上，看著星星，渾身被凍透了。

“We got up a little mutiny after that， but Captain comes up and points with his finger again， and this time poor old Bill and all the rest are swimming behind the ship through the cold green water， though their bodies remain on deck.

“后來，我們發(fā)起了一場小小的嘩變，但船長走過來，又用指頭指著我們，那一次可憐的老比爾和其他人的身體雖然還在甲板上，靈魂卻在船后冰涼的綠色海水中游了起來。

“It was the cabin-boy who found out that Captain couldn’t curse when he was drunk， though he could shoot as well at one time as another.

“船上的侍者發(fā)現(xiàn)，船長喝醉后的槍法雖然還是很好，可是他卻不能詛咒他人了。

“After that it was only a matter of waiting， and of losing two men when the time came. Some of us were murderous fellows， and wanted to kill Captain， but poor old Bill was for finding a bit of an island， out of the track of ships， and leaving him there with his share of our year’s provisions. And everybody listened to poor old Bill， and we decided to maroon4 Captain as soon as we caught him when he couldn’t curse.

“在那之后，大家都在等待。在時機到來前，已有兩人喪命。船員當中有幾個兇殘之人想殺掉船長，可是可憐的老比爾卻想找到一個不在航線上的小島，把船長留在島上，給他留下一年份的補給。大家聽了可憐的老比爾的話，決定等到船長不能詛咒時，就將他丟到孤島上。

“It was three whole days before Captain got drunk again， and poor old Bill and all had a dreadful time， for Captain invented new curses every day， and wherever he pointed his finger our souls had to go; and the fishes got to know us， and so did the stars， and none of them pitied us when we froze on the masts or were hurried through forests of seaweed and lost our way—both stars and fishes went about their businesses with cold， unastonished eyes. Once when the sun had set and it was twilight， and the moon was showing clearer and clearer in the sky， and we stopped our work for a moment because Captain seemed to be looking away from us at the colours in the sky， he suddenly turned and sent our souls to the Moon. And it was colder there than ice at night; and there were horrible mountains making shadows; and it was all as silent as miles of tombs; and Earth was shining up in the sky as big as the blade of a scythe， and we all got homesick for it， but could not speak nor cry. It was quite dark when we got back， and we were very respectful to Captain all the next day， but he cursed several of us again very soon. What we all feared most was that he would curse our souls to Hell， and none of us mentioned Hell above a whisper for fear that it should remind him. But on the third evening the cabin-boy came and told us that Captain was drunk. And we all went to his cabin， and we found him lying there across his bunk， and he shot as he had never shot before; but he had no more than the two pistols， and he would only have killed two men if he hadn’t caught Joe over the head with the end of one of his pistols. And then we tied him up. And poor old Bill put the rum between the Captain’s teeth， and kept him drunk for two days， so that he could not curse， till we found a convenient rock. And before sunset of the second day we found a nice bare island for Captain， out of the track of ships， about a hundred yards long and about eighty wide; and we rowed him along to it in a little boat， and gave him provisions for a year， the same as we had ourselves， because poor old Bill wanted to be fair. And we left him sitting comfortable with his back to a rock singing a sailor’s song.”

“過了整整三天，船長才又喝醉，可憐的老比爾和其他人在那段時間里惶恐不安，因為船長每天都要發(fā)明新的詛咒。他指向哪里，我們的靈魂就得去哪里。魚認識了我們，星星也認識了我們。當我們在桅桿上被凍僵或被逼著穿越茂密的水草并迷路時，它們都不可憐我們——星星和魚都忙著干自己的事，眼神冷漠淡然。有一次，太陽落山，暮色漸濃，月亮在空中越來越明亮，我們把活兒給停了一會兒，因為船長似乎沒有看我們，而是在看天上的顏色。突然，他又看向我們，把我們的靈魂送到了月亮上。月亮上很冷，比夜晚的冰還冷，月亮上的山投下重重陰影，陰森恐怖；那里靜得如同綿延幾英里的墓地。地球在空中發(fā)亮，就像長柄大鐮刀的刀片那么大。我們都想回地球，卻說不出話，也叫不出聲。我們回來時，天色已經(jīng)完全暗下來。第二天，我們整天對船長畢恭畢敬，但他還是很快就詛咒了幾個人。我們最怕他把我們的靈魂詛咒進地獄。我們沒有一個人大聲地提到過地獄，生怕提醒了他。在第三天傍晚，侍者來了，告訴我們船長醉了。我們?nèi)既チ舜L的船艙，發(fā)現(xiàn)他躺在床鋪上，他開槍的樣子像個沒摸過槍的生手。他也就兩把手槍，即便沒用一把槍的槍托砸中喬的腦袋，最多也只能打死兩人。然后，我們捆住了他。可憐的老比爾把朗姆酒從船長的上下牙齒中間灌進去，讓他醉了兩日（那樣他就不能咒人了），直到我們發(fā)現(xiàn)近處的一座小島。在第二天日落前，我們?yōu)榇L找到了一座不錯的島，島光禿禿的，長約100碼，寬約80碼，不在航線上。我們劃了一艘小船送他過去，給了夠他吃上一年的食物，與分給我們每個人的一樣多，因為可憐的老比爾想公平行事。船長舒服地坐著，背靠巖石，唱著水手的歌。我們便離開了。”

1原名愛德華·約翰·莫爾頓·德拉克斯·普倫基特（1878—1957，Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett），“鄧薩尼勛爵”是其筆名。他一生創(chuàng)作了上百部作品，深遠地影響了包括《克蘇魯神話》的作者 H. P. 洛夫克拉夫特和世界奇幻科幻文學女王、《地海》系列的作者厄休拉·勒古恩在內(nèi)的幾十名作家，是現(xiàn)代奇幻文學的奠基人之一。" 2 pane（窗或門上的）一塊玻璃。

3 thatch（用以蓋屋頂?shù)模┟┎荨?/p>

4 maroon將某人放逐到孤島上。