牛津書蟲系列 曾達的囚徒 1 The Rassendylls-and the Elphbergs

1 拉森狄爾家族與艾爾弗伯格家族

'I wonder when you're going to do something useful， Rudolf，'my brother's wife said.She looked at me crossly over the breakfast table.

“我在想你究竟什么時候才會做一些有用的事兒，魯?shù)婪颉?rdquo;我的嫂嫂說。她在餐桌的那頭生氣地望著我。

'But why should I do anything，Rose?'I answered，calmly eating my egg.'I've got nearly enough money for the things I want，and my brother，Robert，is a lord-Lord Burlesdon.I'm very happy.'

“但我干嘛要做事呢，羅絲?”我一邊回答她，一邊從容地吃著雞蛋。“我的錢夠多的，差不多想要什么就能買什么，再說我哥哥羅伯特又是一位貴族——伯利斯頓勛爵，我挺幸福。”

'You're twenty-nine，and you've done nothing except…'

“可你都29歲了，你還什么都沒干，除了……”

'Play about?It's true.We Rassendylls are a rich and famous family，and we don't need to do anything.'

“除了胡鬧?你說對了，我們拉森狄爾家的人又有錢又有名，而且我們什么也不用做。”

This made Rose angry.'Rich and famous families usually behave worse than less important families，'she said.

我這么說讓羅絲生氣了。“又有錢又有名的人家通常比那些普通人家更不規(guī)矩!”

When I heard this，I touched my dark red hair.I knew what she meant.

聽了她的話，我用手摸摸我的深紅色頭發(fā)。我懂她的意思。

'I'm so pleased that Robert's hair is black!'she cried.

“我真高興羅伯特的頭發(fā)是黑色的!”她說道。

Just then my brother，Robert，came in.When he looked at Rose，he could see that there was something wrong.

正在此時，我哥哥羅伯特走了進來，他一看羅絲，就看出有些不對頭。

'What's the matter，my dear?'he said.

“怎么了，親愛的?”他問道。

'Oh，she's angry because I never do anything useful，and because I've got red hair，'I said.

“她生氣了，因為我從沒做過什么有用的事兒，而且我還長著紅頭發(fā)。”我說。

'Well，I know he can't do much about his hair，or his nose…'Rose began.

“當然，我知道他對他的頭發(fā)和鼻子無能為力……”羅絲說。

'No，the nose and the hair are in the family，'my brother agreed.'And Rudolf has both of them.'

“是的，這樣的鼻子和這樣的頭發(fā)是祖?zhèn)鞯模?rdquo;我哥哥同意她的話，“而且魯?shù)婪騼蓸佣颊剂恕?rdquo;

In the room there were many family pictures，and one of them was of a very beautiful woman，Lady Amelia，who lived a hundred and fifty years ago.I stood up and turned to look at it.

房間里有很多家族成員的畫像，其中一幅畫著一位非常美麗的女人，阿米莉亞夫人，她生活在150年以前。我站了起來，轉身去看她。

'If you took that picture away，Robert，'Rose cried，'we could forget all about it.'

“如果你把那畫像拿走，羅伯特，”羅絲說，“我們就可以把這件事忘掉。”

'Oh，but I don't want to forget about it，'I replied.'I like being an Elphberg.'

“哦，可是我并不想忘掉它。”我回答。“我喜歡做艾爾弗伯格家族的一員。”

But perhaps I should stop for a moment and explain why Rose was angry about my nose and my hair and why I，a Rassendyll，said I was an Elphberg.After all，the Elphbergs are the royal family of Ruritania，and have been for hundreds of years.

也許我應該停下來一會兒，解釋一下為什么羅絲對我的鼻子和頭發(fā)那么生氣，究竟又為什么，我，一個姓拉森狄爾的，會說我自己是艾爾弗伯格家族的一員。畢竟艾爾弗伯格家族是盧里塔尼亞的王族，而且，幾百年來一直如此。

The story is told in a book about the Rassendyll family history.

這個故事在一本關于拉森狄爾家族史的書里是這么描述的：

In the year 1733 Prince Rudolf of Ruritania came to England on a visit and he stayed for several months.Like many of the Elphberg royal family，he had blue eyes，an unusually long straight nose and a lot of dark red hair.He was also tall and very good-looking.

1733年盧里塔尼亞王子魯?shù)婪蚯皝碛L問，他逗留了幾個月。像艾爾弗伯格王室的許多人一樣，他長著藍色的眼睛，一只不尋常的又長又挺的鼻子和很多深紅色的頭發(fā)。他個子很高，相貌英浚

During his stay here，he became friendly with Lady Amelia，the beautiful wife of Lord Burlesdon.They became very good friends indeed，which，naturally，did not please Lord Burlesdon.So，one cold wet morning，the two men fought.The Prince was hurt in the fight，but got better and was hurried back to Ruritania.There he married and became King Rudolf the Third.But Lord Burlesdon fell ill，and six months later he died.Two months after that，Lady Amelia had a baby son，who became the next Lord Burlesdon and the head of the Rassendyll family.The boy grew into a man with blue eyes，a long straight nose，and dark red hair.

他在此地停留期間，與伯利斯頓勛爵美麗的妻子阿米莉亞夫人結識，事實上，他倆成了十分親密的好友，這當然不會讓伯利斯頓勛爵愉快。因此，在一個寒冷潮濕的早晨，兩位男士決斗了。王子負了傷，但很快好轉并且匆匆返回盧里塔尼亞。在那里他結了婚，成了國王魯?shù)婪蛉?。但是伯利斯頓勛爵病了，六個月以后去世。他辭世之后兩個月，阿米莉亞夫人生了一個兒子，這個男孩即成為新的伯利斯頓勛爵以及拉森狄爾家族的首領。他成人以后有著藍色的眼睛，長而挺直的鼻子和深紅色的頭發(fā)。

These things can happen in the best of families，and among the many pictures of the Rassendylls at home，you can see that five or six of them have the same blue eyes，the same nose，and the same red hair.

這一類的事情可能在最上流的家庭發(fā)生。在拉森狄爾府上的許多畫像中，你能看見五六個人長著同樣的藍眼睛，同樣的鼻子，同樣的紅頭發(fā)。

So，because my hair was red and I had the Elphberg nose，Rose worried about me.In the end，to please her，I promised to get a job in six months time.This gave me six free months to enjoy myself first.

因此，由于我的頭發(fā)是紅的，而且我長著艾爾弗伯格家的鼻子，羅絲為我發(fā)愁。結果，為了讓她高興，我保證六個月以內(nèi)找到一份工作。這樣起碼我能在六個月的時間里過得快快樂樂的。

And an idea came to me.I would visit Ruritania.None of my family had ever been there.They preferred to forget all about the Lady Amelia.But I saw in the newspaper that，in three weeks，the new young King，Rudolf the Fifth，would have his coronation.It would be an interesting time to visit the country.

我有了一個主意——我要去盧里塔尼亞。我的家族從來沒有一個人去過那里。他們更愿意忘記跟阿米莉亞夫人有關的事情。可是我看到報紙上說，在三周之內(nèi)，盧里塔尼亞的年輕的新國王，魯?shù)婪蛭迨?，將會舉行加冕典禮。這時候去這個國家看看一定很有意思。

I knew my family would not like my going，so I told them I was going walking in Austria.

我知道家里的人一定不喜歡讓我去，所以我告訴他們我要去奧地利走走。