Chapter9-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《月亮与六便士The Moon and Sixpence》

Chapter IX "This is a terrible thing,"he said,the moment we got out into the street. I realised that he had come away with me in order to discuss once more what he had been already discussing for hours with his sister-in-law. “We don't know who the woman is,you know,”he said.“All we know is that the blackguard's gone to Paris." "I thought they got on so well." "So they did.Why,just before you came in Amy said they'd never had a quarrel in the whole of their married life.You know Amy.There never was a better woman in the world." Since these confidences were thrust on me,I saw no harm in asking a few questions. “But do you mean to say she suspected nothing'?” "Nothing.He spent August with her and the children in Norfolk.He was just the same as he'd always been.We went down for two or three days,my wife and I,and I played golf with him.He came back to town in September to let his partner go away,and Amy stayed on in the country.They'd taken a house for six weeks,and at the end of her tenancy2 she wrote to tell him on which day she was arriving in London.He answered from Paris.He said he'd made up his mind not to live with her any more." "What explanation did he give?" ·066· 九 “这事真可怕。”我们刚刚走上大街，他就说。 我意识到，他跟我一块儿出来，就是想跟我继续讨 论这件事，尽管他跟他的小姨子已经讨论了几个小时。 “我们不知道那个女人是谁，你懂的，”他说，“我 们只知道那个无赖跑到巴黎去了。” “我一直以为他们过得挺好。” “是挺好啊。哼，就在你进来之前，艾米还说他们 结婚这么多年都没红过脸。你是了解艾米的，她是世上 最好的女人，无人能比。” 既然他对我开诚布公，我觉得我问几个问题也无 ①thrust[0rAst]y强使接受 妨。 “你的意思是说她一丁点儿也没察觉？” “没有。他八月是跟她和孩子们一起在诺佛克度过 的。他跟平时没什么两样。我和太太去乡下跟他们待了 两三天，我还跟他打高尔夫球来着。他九月回城里替换 他的合股人，让他的合股人度假。艾米还在乡下待着。 他们在乡下租了幢房子，租了六个星期，租期快到的时 候，她给他写了封信，告诉他自己回伦敦的归期。他从 ②tenancy['tenansi]n.租期 巴黎回的信，说他心意己决，不想再跟她一起生活了。” “他是怎么解释的？” ·067· Chapter IX "My dear fellow,he gave no explanation.I've seen the letter.It wasn't more than ten lines.” “But that's extraordinary..” We happened then to cross the street,and the traffic prevented us from speaking.What Colonel MacAndrew had told me seemed very improbable,and I suspected that Mrs.Strickland,for reasons of her own,had concealed from him some part of the facts.It was clear that a man after seventeen years of wedlock did not leave his wife without certain occurrences which must have led her to suspect that all was not well with their married life.The Colonel caught me up. "Of course,there was no explanation he could give except that he'd gone off with a woman.I suppose he thought she could find that out for herself.That's the sort of chap he was." “What is Mrs..Strickland going to do?” "Well,the first thing is to get our proofs.I'm going over to Paris myself." "And what about his business?" "That's where he's been so artful.He's been drawing in his horns for the last year.” "Did he tell his partner he was leaving?" Not a word.” Colonel MacAndrew had a very sketchy knowledge of business matters,and I had none at all,so I did not quite understand under what conditions Strickland had left his affairs.I gathered that the deserted partner was very angry and threatened proceedings.It appeared that when everything was settled he would be four or five hundred pounds out of pocket. "It's lucky the furniture in the flat is in Amy's name.She'll have that at all events.” "Did you mean it when you said she wouldn't have a bob?" "Of course I did.She's got two or three hundred pounds and the furniture." "But how is she going to live?" “God knows.” ·068· 九 “他解释都没解释，我亲爱的朋友。那封信我看了， 都没超过十句话。” “只能说太蹊跷了。” 我们说到这里的时候正好在过马路，车辆来来往 往，我们的谈话被打断了。麦克安德鲁跟我讲的似乎令 Dimprobable [im'probabl]a. 不大可能的，未必会的： 人难以置信，我怀疑斯特里克兰德太太出于自己的种种 未必确实的 考虑，选择了隐瞒部分事实。她一定推测出是因为一些 ②wedlock ['wedlok]n.婚烟 事端给两个人的婚姻生活带来了不和谐，否则一个有 十七年婚姻羁绊的人是不会无缘无故离家出走的。我正 想着，上校跟了上来。 “当然了，除了说跟别的女人私奔了，他也不能有 别的解释。据我看，他认为她终归会自己弄清真相的。 他是这号货色。” “斯特里克兰德太太准备怎么办？” “哦，我们第一步是拿到证据，我打算亲自去趟巴 黎。” “他的生意怎么处理的？” “这正是他诡计多端的地方，一年来他一直在紧缩 生意。” “他没告诉合股人说他要走了？” “一个字都没透露。” ③sketchy[skcf们a.不完善 的：粗浅的 麦克安德鲁上校对做生意知之甚少，我更是一无所 知，因此我不大清楚斯特里克兰德是在什么条件下舍弃 这些的。据我所知，被他抛弃的合股人暴跳如雷，威胁 说要提起诉讼。看来要把一切都妥善处理好，他的荷包 要损失四五百英镑。 “好在住房的全套家具都是在艾米的名下，在任何 情况下，还都能落下家具。” “刚才你说她身无分文是真的吗？” “当然是真的。她手里就只有两三百英镑，还有那 些家具。” “那她可怎么生活呢？” “天知道。” ·069· Chapter IX The affair seemed to grow more complicated,and the Colonel,with his expletives and his indignation,confused rather than informed me.I was glad that,catching sight of the clock at the Army and Navy Stores,he remembered an engagement to play cards at his club,and so left me to cut across St.James Park. ·070· 九 看来情况越来越复杂了，再加上上校义愤填膺，嘴 ①expletive【eks'pli:tiv;'ck 里骂骂咧咧的，所以非但没把事情讲清楚，反而让我越 spl3-]n秽语；咒骂语 听越糊涂。他看到陆海军商店上面的大钟以后，突然想 indignation [.indig'neifan] 愤怒：愤慨；义愤 起要去俱乐部赴约玩牌，于是离开了我，穿过圣杰姆斯 公园跟我分道扬镳了，我终于摆脱了他，不禁心中欢喜。 ·071·