牛津書蟲系列 金銀島 4 The sea-chest

4 The sea-chest

4 水手箱

On the floor close to the captain's hand was a little round piece of paper, blackened on one side. I had no doubt that this was the black spot .On the other side was some writ- ing: You have till ten o’clock tonight. Our old clock reminded me it was now six.

老船長(zhǎng)手邊的地上有一小片圓的硬紙，一面涂著黑色。我相信這就是所謂的“黑券”。黑券的另一面寫著：今晚10點(diǎn)以前答復(fù)。墻上的老鐘剛好敲了6下，告訴我現(xiàn)在6點(diǎn)鐘了。

Quickly, I told my mother everything, and we decided to run to the village to hide, before the blind man and his friends re-turned.

我立即把一切都告訴了母親，我們決定在瞎子和他的人回來(lái)之前逃到村子里躲起來(lái)。

‘But first,’my mother said bravely, ‘we have to get the key to the sea-chest. Why shouldn't we take the money the captain owes us? His friends certainly won’ t give it to us!’

“但是首先，”我母親勇敢地說(shuō)，“我們必須找到水手箱的鑰匙，干嘛不把老船長(zhǎng)欠的錢找回來(lái)呢?他的朋友肯定不會(huì)給我們的!”

The key was around his neck on a piece of string. I cut the string, and we hurried up to his room where the chest had stood since the day he came. There was a letter ‘B’ painted on the top of it. Inside were two very fine pistols, some silver, pipe-tobacco ,and an old clock. Underneath these things were some papers tied up inside a cloth, and a bag of gold coins.

水手箱的鑰匙套在老船長(zhǎng)的脖子上，我割斷繩子，取下鑰匙，趕緊到他房間去。從他來(lái)住店的那一天起，他的箱子一直放在那里。他的水手箱頂部涂著一個(gè)字母“B”，里面有兩把精制的手槍，一些銀錠，一些煙草，一只老式表。這些東西下面還有卷在布里的幾頁(yè)紙和一袋金幣。

‘I'll show these scoundrels I'm an honest woman,’said my mother.‘I'll take what I'm owed and no more.’She began counting the money .There were all kinds of gold coins in the bag-big French gold coins, Spanish doubloons and pieces of eight. It was slow work to find the English gold guineas that we needed.

“我要讓那些流氓知道，我是個(gè)誠(chéng)實(shí)的女人，”母親說(shuō)。“我只要收回欠賬，一個(gè)子兒也不多拿。”她開始數(shù)錢。那一個(gè)袋里各國(guó)錢幣都有：法國(guó)的金路易，西班牙的杜布龍金幣和每枚8個(gè)里亞爾的銀幣。從中找到我們需要的英國(guó)畿尼是件很費(fèi)時(shí)的事。

We were half-way through when I heard a sound that filled my heart with fear ;the tap-tapping of the blind man's stick on the frozen road. Then it knocked against the inn door and we did not breathe .But then the tapping started again and slowly died away.

錢才數(shù)了一半的時(shí)候，我聽到一種可怕的聲音，是那個(gè)瞎子用棍子探路的嗒嗒聲。接著我們聽到棍子敲門的聲音，我們屏住呼吸。然后探路的嗒嗒聲又響起來(lái)，慢慢地消失了。

‘Mother,’I said,‘take it all, and let's go before the blind man comes back with his friends.’

“媽媽，”我說(shuō)，“把這些都拿上，我們得趕在瞎子和他的人到來(lái)之前逃走。”

But my mother went on counting until we heard a low shout coming from the hill outside.‘I'll take what I have,’ she said, jumping to her feet.

可是我母親還是繼續(xù)數(shù)錢。這時(shí)，從小山上傳來(lái)一聲很輕的呼哨。“我先把數(shù)好的錢拿走，”她說(shuō)，忽然跳起來(lái)。

‘And I'll take this for what I'm owed, ’I said, and picked up the cloth of papers.

“我把這東西帶走抵賬。”我撿起那個(gè)布裹著的小包。

We ran from the inn and along the road to the village. It was dark but there was a full moon .We heard running feet coming towards us.

我們跑出客店向村子逃去。天黑了，但月亮很圓。我們聽見(jiàn)有好些人朝這邊跑來(lái)。

‘Take the money and run on,’ my mother said breathlessly. But I refused to leave her. Quickly, I pulled her off the road and down under a small bridge .There we hid ,trembling.

“你拿了錢快跑吧，”我母親上氣不接下氣地說(shuō)。我不能丟下她不管。我很快把她拖離大路，來(lái)到一個(gè)座橋下躲起來(lái)，渾身直發(fā)抖。

Not a moment too soon .Seven or eight men were running past us. Three men ran in front, and I saw that the one in the middle was the blind man. Silently, I climbed back up to the road and lay in the long grass to watch what happened.

不一會(huì)兒就有七八個(gè)人跑過(guò)去。其中有三個(gè)人跑在前面，我認(rèn)出中間的就是那個(gè)瞎子。我悄悄地爬到路上，藏在草叢里觀察發(fā)生的一切。

‘Down with the door!’the blind man shouted.

“把門撞開，”瞎子喊道。

Four or five of them broke down the door of the Admiral Benbow and ran inside. There was a shout:‘ Bill's dead!’

四五個(gè)人撞開了本葆將軍客店的門沖了進(jìn)去。有人喊道：“比爾死了。”

The blind man swore at them.‘Look upstairs and find the chest!’he cried.

瞎子又罵他們。他嚷道：“上樓去找水手箱。”

I could hear their feet on the stairs ,then a voice shouting down to the blind man in the road outside:‘Pew! They've been here before us. The money's here but Flint's papers have gone!’

我可以聽見(jiàn)他們匆匆上樓的聲音，不一會(huì)兒又有人沖著外面路上的瞎子喊道：“皮尤，他們?cè)谖覀冎皝?lái)過(guò)，錢還在這兒，可弗林特的藏寶圖不見(jiàn)了。”

‘It's those people of the inn-it's that boy!’shouted the blind man Pew.‘Search and find’em.’

“是客店的那伙人，那個(gè)孩子干的，”瞎子皮尤喊道。“給我找到他們。”

Just then there came the sound of horses and riders thunder-ing along the road. It was heard by the men in the inn, and in a second they were out in the road, running into the darkness of the fields. They did not wait for blind Pew, who tried to follow them, tapping wildly with his stick.‘Johnny, Black Dog! You won't leave your old friend Pew, boys-not old Pew!’

正在這時(shí)路上傳來(lái)了馬蹄聲，客店里的人聽到后馬上跑出來(lái)，不一會(huì)兒就消失在田間的路上。沒(méi)人等瞎子皮尤，他想跟上他們，用木棍使勁地敲著地。“約翰尼，黑狗，別把你們的伙伴老皮尤丟下不管!”

He was still in the middle of the road when the horses thun-dered up to the inn. Pew turned with a scream, but he turned the wrong way ,and ran straight into the first of the horses .The rider tried to save him, but failed. Down went Pew, under the horse's feet, with a cry that rang high into the night .It was all over in seconds ,and Pew didn't move again.

馬隊(duì)朝客店沖過(guò)來(lái)時(shí)皮尤正走在路中間，他尖叫一聲轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái)，但轉(zhuǎn)錯(cuò)方向，徑直朝著領(lǐng)頭的馬跑去。騎馬人努力想救他的命，但已來(lái)不及了，皮尤的一聲慘叫響徹夜空，四只馬蹄從他身上踐踏而過(guò)。只有幾秒鐘時(shí)間，他便不再動(dòng)彈。

I jumped up and shouted to the riders. One of the men was Captain Dance, the law officer from the nearby town. He had head reports of a pirate ship in Black Hill Cove and had come looking for the pirates. I told him my story, and he and his men chased the pirates down into the cove. But by the time they got to the beach, the ship was already out to sea.

我跳起來(lái)招呼騎馬的人，他們中一個(gè)人是丹斯上尉，附近一個(gè)鎮(zhèn)的法官。他得悉布萊克希爾灣出現(xiàn)了一只海盜船，便到我們這邊來(lái)搜捕海盜。我給他講了我們的經(jīng)歷，他和他的人就去海灣追海盜船了。但他們到海邊時(shí)，海盜船已走遠(yuǎn)。

‘Well,’ said Captain Dance when he returned, ‘at least we finished off Pew.’

“不過(guò)，”丹斯上尉回來(lái)后說(shuō)，“至少我們解決了皮尤。”

We took my mother to a house in the villag, then went back to the Admiral Benbow. Inside, everything was smashed and broken.

我母親被安頓在村子里的一間房?jī)?nèi)，然后我們回到本堡將軍客店，客店內(nèi)的一切都受到了破壞。

‘What were they looking for Hawkins?’asked Mr Dance.

“他們想找什么呢，霍金斯?”丹斯先生問(wèn)道。

‘They got the money from the chest,’I said,‘ but I think I have what they wanted most. I'd like to get it to a safe place. I thought, perhaps, Dr Livesey…’

“他們從水手箱里拿走了錢，”我說(shuō)，“但我有他們想要的東西。我希望把它放到一個(gè)穩(wěn)妥的地方。我想，也許，李甫西大夫……”

‘Quite right,’ said Mr Dance. ‘He's the local judge, and I ought to report Pew's death to him or Squire Trelawney. I'll take you with me to his house.’

“對(duì)，說(shuō)得對(duì)，”丹斯先生說(shuō)。“李甫西大夫是本地的治安推事，我應(yīng)該向他或是鄉(xiāng)紳屈利勞尼報(bào)告皮尤的事。我?guī)阋黄鹑ァ?rdquo;

Dr Livesey was not at his house but with the squire at his home ,so Captain Dance and I went on there.

李甫西大夫不在家，據(jù)說(shuō)他和鄉(xiāng)紳在一起。于是我和丹斯先生去鄉(xiāng)紳家。

I had never seen Squire Trelawney so near .He was a big tall man, with a red face, and was sitting beside a fire with Dr Livesey.‘Come in, Mr Dance,’he said.

我從來(lái)沒(méi)這么近打量過(guò)鄉(xiāng)紳屈利勞尼。他個(gè)子很高，暗紅色的臉，和李甫西大夫坐在火爐旁邊。“進(jìn)來(lái)，丹斯先生，”他說(shuō)。

Mr Dance gave his report and both men listened with deep interest.

丹斯先生報(bào)告了剛才發(fā)生的事，那兩個(gè)人聽得津津有味。

‘And so, Jim,’ said the doctor,‘you have the thing that they were looking for, have you?’

“那么，吉姆，”大夫說(shuō)，“你說(shuō)他們要找的東西在你身上，是不是?”

‘Here it is, sir, I said, and gave him the papers tied inside the cloth. The doctor looked at them and put them quietly in the pocket of his coat. After that, Mr Dance went away and I was given some food.

“在這兒，先生，”我說(shuō)著把油布裹著的小包給他。大夫看了看，把小包靜靜地放在上衣口袋里。過(guò)了一會(huì)兒，丹斯先生走了，我坐下來(lái)吃了些東西。

‘And now ,squire ,said the doctor,‘you have heard of this Flint,I suppose?’

“那么，鄉(xiāng)紳先生，”大夫說(shuō)，“你聽說(shuō)過(guò)這位弗林特船長(zhǎng)，對(duì)嗎?”

‘Heard of him!’ cried the squire. ‘He was the worst pirate that ever sailed. The Spanish used to tremble just to hear his name!’

“怎么沒(méi)聽說(shuō)過(guò)?!”鄉(xiāng)紳大聲說(shuō)。“他是有史以來(lái)最殘暴的一個(gè)海盜。西班牙人聽到他的名字就發(fā)抖。”

‘Well ,I've heard of him myself,’said Dr Livesey.‘But the question is, did he have money?’

“我也聽到過(guò)他的名字，”李甫西大夫說(shuō)。“但問(wèn)題是，他有錢嗎?”

‘Money!’said the squire.‘Of course Flint had money! Those scoundrels were after it.’

“錢!”鄉(xiāng)紳喊道。“弗林特當(dāng)然有錢!那幫匪徒找的就是錢。”

‘Well then, suppose I have here in my pocket a paper that shows where Flint hid his treasure,’ said the doctor.‘Would the treasure be worth looking for?’

“那么，假定我口袋里有弗林特藏寶的線索，”大夫說(shuō)，“那寶藏值得去尋嗎?”

‘Worth looking for!’ cried the squire, with great enthusiasm. I'll tell you what it's worth. I'll prepare a ship at Bristol ,take you and Hawkins with me, and have that trea-sure if I have to search for a year!’

“當(dāng)然值得!”鄉(xiāng)紳激動(dòng)地嚷道。“如果你真的有那個(gè)線索，我就在布里斯托爾準(zhǔn)備一條大船，帶著你和霍金斯一起出海，哪怕花一年功夫也要找到寶藏。”

We opened the cloth and found two things-a book and a paper .The book gave a list of all the money Flint had stolen from different ships during twenty years at sea. The doctor opened the paper and found a map of an island. There was a hill in the centre marked Spyglass, and several names that had been added later. There were three big black crosses—two in the north of the island and one in the south-west. Beside the last cross were the words: Most of the treasure here. On the back of the paper, the same person had written:

我們打開布包發(fā)現(xiàn)了兩件東西，一本書和一張紙。書本上記載著弗林特20年來(lái)在海上從不同船上搶來(lái)的錢。大夫打開那張紙，一幅海島地圖展現(xiàn)在我們面前，島的中部有一座小山，標(biāo)著的名稱是“望遠(yuǎn)鏡山”，旁邊有一些名字是后來(lái)注上的。圖中有三個(gè)用墨水畫著的叉叉：兩個(gè)在島的北部，一個(gè)在西南部。在西南部的那個(gè)叉叉旁邊寫著：大部分寶藏在此。在地圖的背面同一個(gè)人寫著：

Tall tree. Spyglass shoulder, to the North of North-North-East.

望遠(yuǎn)鏡肩上一棵大樹，北北東偏北。

Skeleton Island East-South-East and by East.

骷髏島，東南東偏東。

The squire and Dr Llvesey were delighted.

鄉(xiāng)紳和李甫西大夫都非常高興。

‘Tomorrow I start for Bristol,’ said Squire Trelawney.‘In three weeks we will have the best ship ir,and the finest crew in England. Hawkins can come as cabin-boy. You, Livesey, are the ship's doctor. I am admiral. We'll take three of my men ,Redruth, Joyce ,and Hunter.’

“明天我就去布里斯托爾，”鄉(xiāng)紳說(shuō)。“只要過(guò)三個(gè)星期我們就能備好英國(guó)最好的船和精選的水手?；艚鹚箍梢栽诖袭?dāng)服務(wù)員。你，李甫西，當(dāng)隨船醫(yī)生。我當(dāng)船長(zhǎng)。我們把我的伙計(jì)雷德拉斯，喬伊斯和亨特都帶上。”

‘Trelawney,’said the doctor,‘I'll go with you. So ,I am sure, will Hawkins. There's only one man I'm afraid of.’

“鄉(xiāng)紳先生，”大夫說(shuō)，“我跟你一起去。而且我相信霍金斯也會(huì)去的。我只對(duì)一個(gè)人不放心。”

‘And who's that?’cried the squire.‘Name the scoundrel!’

“對(duì)誰(shuí)?”鄉(xiāng)紳喊道。“把那混蛋的名字說(shuō)出來(lái)!”

‘You,’said the doctor,‘because you cannot keep silent. We aren't the only men who know of this paper. Those who broke into the inn tonight want to find the same treasure .We must none of us go alone until we get to sea. You'll take Joyce and Hunter to Bristol. Meanwhile ,Jim and I will stay together .And not one of us must say a word about what we have found.’

“你，”大夫說(shuō)，“因?yàn)槟悴荒鼙３殖聊２粌H僅是我們知道這張圖。那些沖進(jìn)客店的人也想找到這些寶藏。出海之前我們誰(shuí)也不能單獨(dú)出門。你帶著喬伊斯和亨特去布里斯托爾。我和吉姆在一起。關(guān)于我們的發(fā)現(xiàn)，我們中任何人都不能走漏一點(diǎn)風(fēng)聲。”

‘Livesey, replied the squire,‘you're always right. I'll be as silent as a dead man.’

“李甫西，”鄉(xiāng)紳說(shuō)，“你說(shuō)得對(duì)，我會(huì)守口如瓶的。”