12 THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WAL墙的另一边-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《小公主A Little Princess》

12 THE OTHEB SIDE OF THE WALL WHEN one lives in a row of houses, it is interesting to think of the things which are being done and said on the other side of the wall of the very rooms one is living in. Sara was fond of amusing herself by trying to imagine the things hidden by the wall which divided{ the Select Seminary from the Indian gentleman's house. She knew that the school- room was next to the Indian gentleman's study, and she hoped that the wall was thick so that the noise made sometimes after lesson hours would not distrub him "I am growing quite fond of him," she said to Ermengarde, "I should not like him to be disturbed. I have adopted{②}him for a friend. You can do that with people you never speak to at all. You can just watch them, and think about them and be sorry for them, until they seem almost like relations, I'm quite anxious sometimes when I see the doctor call twice a day." "I have very few relations," said Ermengarde, reflectively, "and I'm very glad of it. I don't like those I have. My two aunts are always saying, 'Dear me, Ermengarde! you are very fat. You shouldn't eat sweets,'and my uncle is always asking me things like, 'When did .258· 12 墙的另一边 人们住在一排房子里的时候,想到他所住房 间的墙的另一边在干些什么和说些什么,这是很 有趣的。萨拉喜欢设想在把这所女子学校和印度 ① divide /di'vaid/v. 分割. 绅士住宅隔开的那堵墙后面的事情作为消遣。她 隔开 知道教室的隔壁就是印度绅土的书房,她希望这 堵墙厚厚的,免得课后有时发出的喧闹声会打扰 他。 “我开始有点儿喜欢他了,”她对厄门加德 说, “我不希望他被打扰。我把他当作一个朋 友。你对从未说过话的人可以这样做。你可以只 ② adopt /s'dopt/ v. 接受 看着他们,想着他们.为他们难过,直到他们几 乎就是亲戚似的。有时我看到医生一天来两次 我就十分焦急。” “我的亲戚很少,”厄门加德沉思地说, “这 使我很高兴。我不喜欢我的那些亲戚。我的两个 姑妈总说:‘哎呀,厄门加德!你太胖啦!你不 应该吃糖果啦!'我叔叔老问我这样一些事情 “爱德华三世什么时候登基的?因为吃了太多的 .259· A Cittfe Princess Edward the Third ascend the throne?' and, 'Who died of a surfeit{}of lampreys?" Sara laughed. "People you never speak to can't ask you questions like that," she said, "and I'm sure the Indian gentleman wouldn't even if he was quite intimate with you. I am fond of him." She had become fond of the Large Family because they looked happy; but she had become fond of the Indian gentleman because he looked unhappy. He had evidently not fully recovered③ from some very severe illness. In the kitchen-where, of course, the servants, through some mysterious means, knew everything-there was much discussion of his case. He was not an Indian gentleman really, but an Englishman who had lived in India. He had met with great misfortunes^{④} which had for a time so imperilled} his whole fortune that he had thought himself ruined and disgraced forever. The shock had been so great that he had almost died of brain-fever*}; and ever since he had been shattered in health, though his fortunes had changed and all his possessions had been restored to him. His trouble and peril{}had been connected with mines. “And mines with diamonds in'em!" said the cook. "No savin's of mine never goes into no mines-particular diamond ones"-with a side glance at Sara."We all know some-thin' of them." "He felt as my papa felt,"Sara thought. "He was ill as my papa was; but he did not die." So her heart was more drawn to him than before, When she was sent out at night she used sometimes to feel quite glad, because there was always a chance that the curtains of the house next door might not yet be closed and she could took into the warm room and see her adopted friend. When no one was about she used sometimes to stop, and, .260· 小公主 ①surfeit /'sa:fit n. 过食 七曼而丧命的是谁?" ② lamprey /laempri/ n. 八目 毁,七蟋 萨拉笑了。 “你从未交谈过的人不可能问你这种问题。” 她说,“我敢肯定这位印度绅士不会问你,哪怕 他跟你很熟悉。我喜欢他。” 她很喜欢那个大家庭,因为看来他们很幸福; 可她也很喜欢这个印度绅士,因为他似乎很不幸。 他显然生了某种重病还没有完全康复。在厨房 里一一当然这里的仆人们通过某些神秘的途径, ③ recover /ri'kAva/v. 恢复. 样样事情都知道--对他的情况谈得很多。其实 复原 他并不是印度纳土,而是曾经住在印度的英国人 他曾经遇到极大的不幸,一度有倾家荡产的危险, 他曾经认为自已已经破产和永远蒙受耻辱。那次 打击是那么大,以致他差点死于脑膜炎;其后他 ④ misfortune /mis'fo:t fon/ n 不幸 的身体就跨了,虽然他的运气已发生变化,全部 财产都失而复得,他的麻烦和危险和一些矿有关 imperil /lim'peril/ v. 危害. 系。 使..陷干危险 brain fever 脑膜炎 “而且是和钻石矿有关!”厨娘说。 “我积蓄 的钱决不会向矿山投资--尤其是钻石矿。”她斜 peril/peril/ n. 危险 了萨拉一眼。“我们都知道一点儿钻石矿的情 况。” “他的感受和我爸爸一样,”萨拉想。 “他也 像我爸爸一样病了;可他没有死。” 因此她的心比以前更亲近他。晚上派她出去 时,她有时感到很高兴,因为总能碰到一次机 会,隔壁屋子的帷慢可能没拉上,她可以往里观 看那温暖的房间,看看她认下的朋友。当附近没 有人时,她往往停下来,抓住铁栏杆,祝他晚 安,好像他能听见似的。 “或许你能感觉到,假如你听不见的话,”她 这样想。“或许友好的思念甚至能穿过窗子、门 ·261· A Cittfe Princess holding to the iron railings, wish him good night as if he could hear her. "Perhaps you can feel if you can't hear,"was her fancy. "Perhaps kind thoughts reach people somehow, even through windows and doors and walls. Perhaps you feel a little warm and comforted, and don't know why, when I am standing here in the cold and hoping you will get well and happy again. I am so sorry for you," she would whisper in an intense little voice. "I wish you had a'little missus' who could pet you as I used to pet papa when he had a headache{①}. I should like to be your 'little missus' myself, poor dear! Good night-good night. God bless{②} you!" She would go away, feeling quite comforted and a little warmer herself. Her sympathy was so strong that it seemed as if it must reach him somehow as he sat alone in his arm-chair by the fire, nearly always in a great dressing-gown③}, and nearly always with his forehead resting in his hand as he gazed hopelessly into the fire. He looked to Sara like a man who had a trouble on his mind still, not merely like one whose troubles lay all in the past. "He always seems as if he were thinking of something that hurts him now," she said to herself, "but he has got his money back and he will get over his brain-fever in time, so he ought not to look like that. I wonder if there is something else." If there was something else-something even servants did not hear of- she could not help believing that the father of the Large Family knew it- the gentleman she called Mr. Montmorency. Mr. Montmorency went to see him often, and Mrs. Montmorency and all the little Montmorencys went, too, though less often. He seemed particularly fond of the two elder little girls-the Janet and Nora who had been so alarmed when their small brother Donald had given Sara his sixpence. He had, in fact, a .262. 小公主 和墙传给人们。我冒着寒冷站在这里,祝你恢复 健康,重新快乐,或许你会感到一点儿温暖和安 慰而又不知道为什么会这样。我很替你难过,” 她用尖细的嗓音低声说。“我希望你有一位会疼 你的小女主人',像我爸爸过去头痛时我总疼 他一样。我愿意做你的小女主人',可怜的人! 晚安--晚安。上帝保佑你!” 她走开了,心里感到相当宽慰,也觉得暖和 ① headache /hedeik/ n. 头痛 一些。她的同情心那么强烈,似乎不管怎么样一 ②bless /bles/ v. 祝福 定会传到他那里,他几乎总是穿着一件宽大的晨 衣,孤零零地坐在炉火旁的扶手椅里,也几乎总 是用手托着前额绝望地凝视着炉火。对萨拉来 说,他的样子像是个心里仍有烦恼的人,而不只 是像烦恼都已过去的人 ③ dressing gown 展衣 “他似乎总在考虑现在仍使他感到痛心的什 么事,”她想道。“可是他已经拿回了钱,过些 时候他的脑膜炎也会痊愈,因此他不应该是这科 样子。我猜想可能还有别的什么事。” 假如还有别的什么事一一连仆人们也没听到 过的事--她不禁认定大家庭的父亲一她管他 叫蒙特莫雷西先生的那位绅土知道这件事。蒙特 莫雷西先生时常去看望他,蒙特莫雷西夫人及核 子们也都去,但是次数少一些。他似乎特别喜欢 两个较大的小姑娘一一也就是小兄弟唐纳德把6 便十硬币送给产拉时曾经感到惊慌的珍婉特和诺 拉。其实他对所有孩子,特别是小姑娘们都非常 慈爱。珍呢特和诺拉喜欢他像他喜欢她们一样 她们极其高兴地期待着被允许走过广场,对他进 行有礼貌的、短暂的探望的那些下午的到来。这 ·263· A Cittfe Princess very tender^{} place in his heart for all children, and particularly for little girls. Janet and Nora were as fond of him as he was of them, and looked forward with the greatest pleasure to the afternoons when they were allowed to cross the sauare and make their well-behaved little visits to him. They were extremely decorous② little visits because he was an invalid{③. "He is a poor thing," said Janet, "and he says we cheer him up. We try to cheer him up very quietly." Janet was the head of the family, and kept the rest of it in order. It was she who decided when it was discreet{} to ask the Indian gentleman to tell stories about India, and it was she who saw when he was tired and it was the time to steal quietly away and tell Ram Dass to go to him. They were very fond of Ram Dass. He could have told any number of stories if he had been able to speak anything but Hindustani. The Indian gentleman's real name was Mr. Carrisford, and Janet told Mr. Carrisford about the encounter with the little-girl-who-was-not-a-beggar. He was very much interested, and all the more so when he heard from Ram Dass of the adyenture of the monkey on the roof. Ram Dass made for him a very clear picture of the attic and its desolateness-of the bare floor and broken plaster, the rusty, empty grate, and the hard, narrow bed. "Carmichael," he said to the father of the Large Family, after he had heard this description, "I wonder how many of the attics in this square are like that one, and how many wretched little servant girls sleep on such beds, while I toss on my down pillows, loaded and harassed} by wealth that is, most of it-not mine." “My dear fellow,"Mr. Carmichael answered cheerily, "the sooner you cease}tormenting③ yourself the better it will be for you. If you possessed all the wealth of all the Indies, you could not set right all the .264. 小公主 ① tender /'tendaa. 温和的 是十分有礼貌而又短暂的探望,因为他是个病 亲切的 人。 “他是个可怜的人,”珍尼特说, “他说我们 使他高兴。我们要悄悄地让他高兴起来。” ② decorous /dekaras/ a. 有 珍呢特是这个家庭的头儿,家里别的成员都 礼貌的,高雅的 ③ invalid /in'vaelid/ n. 病人 听她指挥。是她决定什么时候请求印度绅士讲述 有关印度的故事才是适宜的,也是她断定他什么 时候累了,应该不声不响地走开,再叫拉姆·达 斯到他那里去。他们都很喜欢拉姆·达斯,如果 他除了印地语还能说别种语言的话,他本来可以 ④ discreet /dis'kri:t/ a. 谨慎 讲许多故事。印度绅士的真名叫卡里斯福特先 的 生,珍呢特把遇见那个“不是叫花子的小姑娘” 的事告诉了他,他很感兴趣。他从拉姆·达斯那 里听到猴子冒险走上屋顶的事以后就更感兴趣 了。拉姆·达斯向他非常清楚地描述了阁楼及其 凄凉的景象一一光秃秃的地板,七零八落的灰 泥,生了锈的空壁炉,硬邦邦而又狭窄的床铺。 “卡迈克尔,”他听了这种描述后对大家庭的 父亲说,“我不知道这个广场上有多少阁楼像那 个阁楼一样,又有多少不幸的小女仆睡在那种床 上,而我却睡在鸭绒枕上辗转反侧,有许多财富 plastered /'pla:stod g. 醉 又受财富的折磨,而这些财富大部分是不属于我 顾硬的,不清醒的 的。” “我亲爱的朋友,”卡迈克尔先生直率地回答 说,“对你来说,越快停止折磨自已越好。如果 你拥有东、西印度群岛的全部财富,你也不可能 harassed /haerast,ha'raest/ a. 厌烦 解除世界上所有的苦难,如果你开始为这个广场 的,厌倦的 上的所有阁楼提供家具,那还有别的广场和街道 上的许多阁楼有待修整。就是这样!” cease /sits/ v. 停止 卡里斯福特先生坐在那里嘴着指甲,一边瞧 ⑧ torment /toiment/ v. 使苦 恼,折磨 着壁炉里烧得通红的煤炭 ·265· A Cittfe Princess discomforts^{} in the world, and if you began to refurnish all the attics in this square, there would still remain all the attics in all the other squares and streets to put in order. And there you are!" Mr. Carrisford sat and bit②} his nails{③} as he looked into the glowing bed of coals in the grate. "Do you suppose,"he said slowly, after a pause-"do you think it is possible that the other child-the child I never cease thinking of, I believe-could be-could possibly be reduced{} to any such condition as the poor little soul next door?" Mr. Carmichael looked at him uneasily. He knew that the worst thing the man could do for himself, for his reason and his health, was to begin to think in this particular way of this particular subject "If the child at Madame Pascal school in Paris was the one you are in search of," he answered soothingly, "she would seem to be in the hands of people who can afford to take care of her. They adopted her because she had been the favorite companion of their little daughter whc died. They had no other children, and Madame Pascal said that they were extremely well-to-do Russians." "And the wretched woman actually did not know where they had taken her!" exclaimed Mr. Carrisford. Mr. Carmichael shrugged^{}his shoulders. “She was a shrewd, worldly Frenchwoman, and was evidently only too glad to get the child so comfortably off her hands when the father's death left her totally unprovided for. Women of her type do not trouble themselves about the futures of children who might prove burdens{}. The adopted parents apparently disappeared and left no trace{." "But you say 'if" the child was the one I am in search of. You say 'if.' We are not sure. There was a difference in the name." “Madame Pascal pronounced it as if it were Carew instead of .266. 小公主 ① discomfort /dis'kAmfat/ n “你能不能设想,”他停顿了一下又慢条斯理 不适之处,苦难 地说, “你想有没有可能另一个孩子--我老在 想念着的那个孩子,我相信--可能--有可能 ②bit /bit/v. 咬 落难到隔壁这个可怜的小孩那样的处境呢?” ③ nail /neil/ n. 指甲 卡迈克尔先生不安地看着他。他知道这个人 为了他自己、为了他的推理和他的健康所能干出 的最坏的事情,就是用这种执着的方式单单考虑 ④ reduce /ri'diu:s/ v. 降低 这个问题。 落难 “如果巴黎帕斯卡尔夫人学校的那个孩子就 是你要寻找的那个孩子,”他安慰地回答道, “那么看来她是在有能力照料她的人手里。他们 收养她,因为她曾经是他们死去的小女儿最喜爱 的伴侣。他们没有别的孩子。帕斯卡尔夫人说。 他们是极有钱的俄国人。” “这个该死的女人实际上却不知他们把这个 孩子领到哪里去了!”卡里斯福特先生大声地说 卡迈克尔先生耸耸肩膀 “她是一个精明、世故的法国女人,由于孩子 5wello-do 富裕的 的父亲死后就完全不能提供钱了,所以她显然非 常高兴能那么轻松地把孩子打发走。她那种女人 决不会为了可能变成包袱的孩子的未来而自找麻 shrug/frag/v. 耸肩 烦的。孩子的养父母显然不知去向,也没有留下 踪迹。” “可你说过,如果’这孩子就是我要寻找的 那个孩子。你是说如果'。这表明我们没有把 7burden /ba:dn/ n. 负担 握。姓氏有点不同。” trace /treis n. 踪语 “帕斯卡尔夫人好像把它念成卡鲁而不是克 鲁,--但这可能只是个发音问题。情况异常相 似。在印度的一名英国军官把他的失去母亲的小 姑娘送到那个学校里。他失去财产后突然死亡。” ·267·