While Jonathan was away, I was very unhappy. He did not write to me often, and when he did, his letters were strange and very short. I knew that something was wrong. But what? Was Jonathan in danger? I thought about him all the time. Why didn't he come back to England and to me?
喬納森離開的這段時間,我很難過。他總是不給我寫信,即使寫,也很短、很奇怪。我知道出事了。但出什么事了呢?喬納森處境危險嗎?我一直想著他。為什么他不同到英國、回到我身邊呢?
I felt better when, at last, I did get a letter from him. Jonathan said that he was coming home and was at Bistritz. But again it was a short, strange letter. 'Perhaps he's ill,' I thought.
最后,我終于收到了他的一封信,感覺好多了。喬納森在信中說他就要回來了,正在畢斯特里茲。但這又是一封簡短而奇怪的信。“他可能病了。”我想。
My friend, Lucy, also wrote to me. 'I know that you will be happy for me,' she wrote. 'Arthur has asked me to marry him! Isn't it wonderful? I love him very much. He's away just now, and you know that Mother and I are staying at Whitby, by the sea. Please come and stay with us, and I can tell you all about it.'
我的朋友露西也來信了。“我知道你會為我高興的,”她寫道,“阿瑟向我求婚了!太好了,對吧?我非常愛他。他剛剛離開,你知道我和母親正住在海邊的惠特比。來和我們住一段兒吧,我想把一切都告訴你。”
Arthur Holmwood loved Lucy very much. I was really pleased to hear her news and I decided to go immediately. And it would help me not to think about Jonathan all the time.
阿瑟·霍姆伍德深愛著露西。聽到她的消息我非常高興,決定馬上就去那兒,這樣我就不會老想著喬納森了。
Lucy met me at the station, and it was wonderful to see her again. She was full of life and talked happily of her plans. 'Oh, Mina,' she said to me. 'I am really happy. I love Arthur very much.'
露西到車站去接我,又看到她真讓人高興。她精神煥發(fā),興高采烈地談著她的計劃。“噢,明娜,”她對我說,“我真的很興奮。我太愛阿瑟了。”
But sometimes it was hard for me, because when Lucy talked of Arthur, I thought of Jonathan again.
但有時,我也很難過,因為當露西談到阿瑟時,我就又想起了喬納森。
The weather was good and Lucy and I walked a lot, sometimes by the sea, but we often went up to the old church on the hill.
天氣很好,我常和露西出去散步,我們有時去海邊,但很多時候都去山上的教堂。
At night, Lucy and I slept in one room, but sometimes she walked in her sleep. She began to sleep badly, and her mother and I decided to lock the bedroom door at night.
晚上,露西和我同住一屋,但她有時夢游。她開始睡不好覺,我和她母親決定晚上把臥室的門鎖住。
Then one day the weather changed. The sky was black and heavy, and that night there was a terrible storm. Lucy was very excited by it, and she sat by the window all night and watched the sea.
后來有一天,天氣突變。天空又陰又暗,那天晚上起了可怕的風暴。露西對此感到很興奮,她整夜坐在窗前觀看著大海。
The next morning there was a ship on the beach.
第二天早上,海灘上出現(xiàn)了一艘船。
'It's a Russian ship, from Varna on the Black Sea,' Lucy's servant told us. 'There are coffins on it, and they're full of earth. And a big black dog jumped off the ship and ran up the hill!'
“那是艘俄國船,來自黑海的瓦爾納,”露西的仆人告訴我們,“船上都是棺材,里面裝滿了土。一只大黑狗跳下船,跑到山上去了!”
'And is everyone on the ship alive?' Lucy asked.
“船上有人活著嗎?”露西問。
'That's the strange thing about it,' the servant replied. 'There was no one on the ship, either dead or alive.'
“這事兒很奇怪,”仆人回答說,“船上沒有人,死人活人都沒有。”
Everybody in the town was very excited by this strange ship, but there were no answers to the mystery. And nobody saw the big black dog again.
鎮(zhèn)上的人都對這艘奇怪的船很感興趣,但沒人能找到這起神秘事件的答案,也沒有人再見過那只大黑狗。
That night I woke up and found that the bedroom door was open and Lucy was not there. I looked for her everywhere in the house, but I could not find her. 'I'm afraid for her, I don't know why,' I said to her mother.
那天夜里,我醒來發(fā)現(xiàn)臥室的門開著,露西不見了。我在家里四處找她,但沒能找到。“不知為什么,我很為她擔心。”我對她母親說。
I knew that Lucy sometimes liked to go and sit quietly in the churchyard, so I hurried out into the night to look for her. And I found her. She was sitting in the churchyard, white in the moonlight, and I thought I saw something dark behind her—something dark and horrible. Slowly, its head moved nearer to Lucy. Afraid, I called out, 'Lucy! Lucy!' A white face and burning red eyes looked up at me—and then, nothing! Lucy was alone, asleep in the moonlight. I woke her, and she gave a little cry. She put her hands to her neck, and I saw that there were two little drops of blood there.
我知道露西有時喜歡去教堂的庭院中靜靜地坐著,于是我乘著夜色,匆匆地出去找她。我找到了她。她坐在教堂的庭院里,月光下她顯得很蒼白。而我好像看到她身后有個黑色的東西——一種黑色而可怕的東西。它的頭正慢慢地靠近露西。我嚇得大聲叫喊:“露西!露西!”它抬起頭來,臉色慘白,一雙血紅的眼睛死盯著我——突然間,一切又都沒有了!露西一個人睡在月光下。我叫醒了她,她呻吟了一聲。她用手去摸脖子,我看見她脖子上有兩點血跡。
After that night Lucy was worse. She left her bed every night and her lovely face was white. I was afraid for her and locked the door at night. And I still did not hear from Jonathan. I was unhappy and did not sleep well myself, so one night I went for a walk alone. 'Lucy will be all right,' I thought. 'The door is locked. She can't get out, and no one can get in.' But when I came back, I found Lucy by the open window. 'Lucy!' I cried. But she did not reply. She was asleep, and near her, just outside the open window, there was something black, like a big bird.
那一晚之后,露西的情況更糟了。她每晚都夢游,而且她可愛的臉也愈加蒼白。我很為她擔心,晚上就把門鎖上了。仍然沒有喬納森的消息。我心情不佳,晚上也睡不好,于是一天晚上,我獨自出去散步。“露西不會有事的,”我想,“門已經鎖上了。她出不來,也沒人能進得去。”但當我回來時,卻發(fā)現(xiàn)露西站在敞開的窗戶旁邊。“露西!”我大叫。但她沒有問答。她還睡著呢,而在她的旁邊,就在敞開的窗戶外面,有一個黑影,很像一只大鳥。
A day or two later, I had a letter. Jonathan was ill and in hospital in Budapest. 'Of course, I must go to him immediately,' I said to Lucy. I did not want to leave her, but Jonathan was everything to me. 'He needs me,' I said.
一兩天以后,我收到了一封信。喬納森病了,住在布達佩斯的一家醫(yī)院里。“當然,我必須馬上去看他。”我對露西說。我不想離開她,但喬納森是我的一切。“他需要我。”我說。
And when at last I arrived in Budapest and held Jonathan in my arms, I felt happy. Jonathan was very ill but he was getting better every day. He did not want to talk about his time in Castle Dracula, but he gave me his diary to read. And so I learnt about Count Dracula and Jonathan's terrible adventure in the castle. But he escaped! And when he fell ill in the mountains, some workmen found him and took him to the hospital. Poor Jonathan! His face was white and thin, and he was still very afraid, but now we were together again and everything was all right.
當我終于到達布達佩斯,把喬納森抱在懷里的時候,我感到非常高興。喬納森病得很重,但他正在一天天好起來。他不想談他在德拉庫拉城堡的那段日子,但他讓我讀了他的日記。我這才知道了德拉庫拉伯爵以及喬納森在城堡里的可怕經歷。但他終于逃脫了!他在山里病倒后,一些工人發(fā)現(xiàn)了他,并把他送到了醫(yī)院??蓱z的喬納森!他的臉蒼白而消瘦,他仍然非常害怕,不過現(xiàn)在我們又在一起了,一切都很好。
Jonathan and I were married on September 1st, and then we began our journey home. We arrived back in England on September 18th, and it was wonderful to be home again. Everyone looked happy on that warm autumn evening, when we drove through the streets of London. Jonathan smiled and said softly, 'Oh Mina, I love you.'
我和喬納森9月1日結婚,之后就啟程回家。9月18日,我們回到了英國,回到家的感覺真好。在那個秋天溫暖的黃昏,我們駕車在倫敦的大街上穿行著,人們看起來都很快樂。喬納森微笑著輕聲說:“哦,明娜,我愛你。”
'I love you, too, Jonathan,' I replied. I was truly happy.
“我也愛你,喬納森。”我回答說。我真的幸福極了。
And then, suddenly, Jonathan's face went white, and he cried out. He was looking at a carriage, outside a shop. In it there was a pretty girl with dark hair. She was waiting for someone. And near the carriage, watching the pretty girl, there was a man—a tall, thin man, with long white teeth and a very red mouth. 'It's the Count!' Jonathan cried. 'Here in London!'
隨后,突然間,喬納森的臉變得煞白,大叫了一聲。他正盯著一輛停在商店外面的馬車看。馬車里坐著一位黑頭發(fā)的漂亮姑娘,她正在等人。馬車附近,有個男人,正在注視著這個漂亮女孩——一個瘦高的男人,牙齒又長又白,嘴唇血紅。“這就是伯爵!”喬納森叫道,“他在倫敦!”
Jonathan put his head in his hands and said nothing for the rest of the journey. I was very afraid for him. Was it really true—that this horrible Count Dracula was here in London?
喬納森手抱著頭,余下的路上一句話也沒說。我很為他擔心。那是真的嗎——那個可怕的德拉庫拉伯爵就在倫敦?
When we arrived home, there was a letter from Arthur Holmwood. Lucy was dead! My dearest Lucy, dead! It could not be true!
我們到家時,收到了阿瑟·霍姆伍德的來信。露西死了!我最親愛的露西死了!這不可能!
Later we read the letter again.
后來,我們又把這封信讀了一遍。
'Soon after you left,' Arthur wrote, 'Lucy began to get worse. I did not know what to do. I knew only that I must do something quickly, so I asked our old friend, Jack Seward, to come and see her. "He's a doctor," I thought. "Perhaps he can do something to help Lucy." He came at once, but in the end nobody could help poor Lucy, and she died yesterday.'
“你走后不久,”阿瑟寫道,“露西的病情就開始惡化。我不知道該怎么做,只知道必須馬上做點兒什么,因此我找了我的朋友杰克·蘇厄德來看她。‘他是個醫(yī)生,’我想,‘或許他能做些什么來幫助露西。’他立刻就來了,但最終沒有人能幫上可憐的露西的忙,她在昨天永遠地去了。”
* * *
station n. similar place where buses and coaches top. 車站。
be full of having or containing much or many; crowded. 充足的,豐富的。
think of take sth. into account; consider sth. 考慮。
beach n. stretch of sand or pebbles along the edge of the sea or a lake; shore between high and low water mark. 海灘。
mystery n. thing of which the cause or origin is hidden or impossible to explain. 秘密。
churchyard n. enclosed area of land round a church, often used for burials. 教堂的庭院(常用做墓地)。
call out say loudly to attract sb.'s attention; shout; cry. 大喊。
hear from receive a letter, telephone call, etc. from sb. 接到某人的來信。
learn about become aware of (sth.) through information or observation; realize. 得知。
adventure n. unusual, exciting or dangerous experience or undertaking. 冒險。
hospital n. institution providing medical and surgical treatment and nursing care for ill or injured people. 醫(yī)院。