牛津书虫系列《化学秘密》Chapter1 附中英双语文本

1 A new start
1 崭新的开始
'Mr Duncan？Come in please．Mr Wilson will see you now．'
“邓肯先生吗？请进。威尔逊先生现在要见你。”
'Thank you．'John Duncan stood up and walked nervously towards the door．He was a tall，thin man，about forty-five years old，in an old grey suit．It was his best suit，but it was ten years old now．He had grey hair and glasses．His face looked sad and tired．
“谢谢。”约翰·邓肯起身胆怯地往门口走。他瘦高个子，大约四十五岁，身着一套灰色旧西服。尽管这套西服已穿了10年，但仍是他最好的西服。他头发灰白，戴一副眼镜，面带忧郁和倦容。
Inside the room，a man stood up to welcome him．Mr Duncan？Pleased to meet you．My name's David Wilson．This is one of our chemists，Mary Carter．'
屋内，一个男人站起来欢迎他。“邓肯先生吗？很高兴见到你。我叫大卫·威尔逊。这是玛丽·卡特，我们其中的一位化学师。”
John Duncan shook hands with both of them，and sat down．It was a big office，with a thick carpet on the floor and beautiful pictures on the walls．David Wilson was a young man，in an expensive black suit．He had a big gold ring on one finger．He smiled at John．
约翰·邓肯与他俩握手后坐下。这是一间宽大的办公室，地上铺着厚地毯，墙上悬挂着美丽的画。大卫·威尔逊很年轻，身着一套昂贵的黑色西服，一只手指上戴着一个硕大的金戒指。他对着约翰微笑。
'I asked Miss Carter to come because she's one of our best Chemists．She discovered our wonderful new paint，in fact．When…I mean，if you come to work here， you will work with her．'
“我让卡特小姐来是因为她是我们最好的化学师之一。事实上是她发现了我们最美妙的新油漆……我是说，如果你来这里工作，你将与她一起工作。”
'Oh，I see．'John looked at Mary．She was older than Wil-son—about thirty-five，perhaps—with short brown hair，and a pretty，friendly face．She was wearing a white coat with a lot of pens in the top pocket．She smiled at him kindly， but John felt miserable．
“噢，我明白了。”约翰望着玛丽。她比威尔逊岁数大——也许大约三十五岁，留着棕色短发，长着一副漂亮友善的面孔。她身穿一件白外套，上方的口袋里插着许多钢笔。她友善地对约翰微笑，但约翰却感到痛苦。
I'll never get this job，he thought．I'm too old！Employers want younger people these days．
他想：我永远不会得到这份工作。我太老了！雇主们现在想聘更年轻的人。
David Wilson was looking at some papers．'Now，Mr Dun-can，'he said，'I see that you are a very good biologist．You worked at a university…and then for two very famous com-panies．But…you stopped working as a biologist nine years ago．Why was that？'
大卫·威尔逊正在看一些文件。“我说，邓肯先生，我知道你是一个非常出色的生物学家。”他说道，“你曾在大学工作过，然后又在两家著名的公司干过。但是你作为一个生物学家9年前停止了工作，这是为什么？”
'I've always had two interests in my life，'John said，'biol-ogy and boats．My wife was a famous sailor…Rachel Hors-ley…Perhaps you remember her．She sailed around the world alone in a small boat．'
“在我一生中我永远有两种兴趣，”约翰答道，“生物学和划船。我太太是一位有名的水手……雷切尔·霍斯利……也许你记得她。她独自乘小船环绕世界。”
'Yes，'said David Wilson，'I remember her．'
“是的，我记得她，”大卫·威尔逊说道。
'So we started a business，'said John．'We made small boats together，and sold them．'
“所以我们开始做生意，”约翰说。“我们共同制造小船，并且出售。”
'And did the business go well？'asked Wilson．
“生意进展得好吗？”威尔逊问道。
'Very well at first．Then we wanted to build bigger，better boats．We borrowed too much money．And then my wife…'John stopped speaking．
“一开始很好，然后我们就想造更大更好的船。我们借了太多钱。其后我的太太……”约翰停住了讲话。
'Yes，the Sevens Race．I remember now，'said David Wil-son．
“是的，赛文斯比赛，我现在想起来了，”大卫·威尔逊说道。
Both men were silent for a moment．Wilson remembered the newspaper reports of the storm and the lives lost at sea．He looked at the man who sat sadly in front of him．
俩人都陷入片刻沉默。威尔逊记起报纸上报道的那场风暴和海上死亡事件。他望着忧伤地坐在他面前的这个人。
'So，after my wife died，'continued John，' I closed the business．That was five years ago．'
“所以，我太太去世后，”约翰继续说，“我停止了生意，那是5年前的事了。”