牛津书虫系列《诱拐》Chapter1 附中英双语文本

‘If ye're hungry，’he said，‘ye can eat that porridge．It's grand food，porridge！Let me see the letter！’
“如果你饿了，”他说道，“你可以吃那碗粥。粥，可是好东西！让我看看信！”
‘It's for Mr Balfour，not you，’I replied．
“信是给鲍尔弗先生的，不是给你的，”我说道。
‘And who do ye think I am？Give me Alexander's letter！Ye may not like me or my house or my porridge，but I'm your born uncle，Davie，my man！’
“那么你以为我是谁啊？把亚历山大的信给我！你可能不喜欢我、不喜欢我的房子或者不喜欢我的粥，但我是你的亲伯伯，戴维，我的伙计！”
This was the end of all my hopes．I was too tired and miser able to speak，so I silently gave him the letter，and sat down to eat the porridge．
我所有的希望破灭了。我因太劳累、太难受而什么话也说不出来，于是我默默地把信交给他并坐下来喝粥。
‘Your father's been dead a long time？’he asked，giving me a quick look from his sharp eyes．
“你父亲死了很久了？”他一边问，一边用他那双厉害的眼睛飞快地扫视我。
‘Three weeks，sir，’I said．
“三周了，先生，”我道。
‘He was a secretive man，Alexander was．Perhaps he didn't talk much about me？ Or about the house of Shaws？’
“他是个爱遮遮掩掩的人，对，亚历山大是。也许他没有怎么说起过我？或说起过肖家这房子？”
‘I never knew he had a brother，sir，or ever heard the name of Shaws．’
“我从不知道他有一个兄弟，先生，也没听说过肖这个名字。”
‘To think of that！’he replied．‘A strange man！’But he seemed very pleased，and began to look at me with more inter est．Soon he jumped up and said，‘We're going to get on well，Davie！What's mine is yours，man，and what's yours is mine．Blood's thicker than water，and there's only ye and me of the name of Balfour． Now I'll show ye to your bed．’
“想想看！”他回答道，“真是一个奇怪的人！”但是他看起来很高兴，并且也开始更饶有兴趣地打量着我。不一会儿他跳起身来，说道：“我们将会合得来的，戴维！我的就是你的，伙计，你的也是我的。血浓于水，鲍尔弗家只有你和我两个人。现在我要把你带到睡觉处去。”
He took me up some dark stairs and showed me into a room．I could not see anything．
他带着我上了黑黝黝的楼梯，把我带到一个房间里。我什么也看不到。
‘Can I have a light，sir？’I asked．
“我能有盏灯吗，先生？”我问道。
‘No，ye can't．No lights in this house！I'm afraid of fires，ye see．Good night to ye，Davie，my man．’And before I had time to reply，he pulled the door shut and locked it from the outside．The room was very cold，but luckily I had my plaid with me，so I covered myself with it like a blanket，and soon fell asleep．
“不，你不能。这房子里不准有灯！你明白我怕火。晚安，戴维，我的伙计。”我还没有来得及回答，他已把门关上并从外面锁上了。房间里很冷，但幸运的是我随身带着肩巾，于是我用它像用毯子一样地把自己盖起来，很快我便睡着了。
The next day my uncle and I had a small bowl of porridge and a glass of water for breakfast，lunch and supper．He did not speak much to me，but was clearly thinking hard．I often noticed him looking at me，while pretending to do something different， and he never left me alone in the kitchen with the locked chests，in which，I supposed，he kept his money．I did not like the way he looked at me，and began to wonder if he was a little crazy，and perhaps dangerous．
第二天早、中、晚饭我和我的叔叔都只喝了一小碗粥和一杯水。他对我讲话不多，但很明显地他在使劲想什么。我经常注意到他一边假装干别的事一边看我，他也从来没有让我一个人单独待在放有锁着的柜子的厨房里。我想他一定在里面放了钱。我不喜欢他看我的那种样子，开始想他是不是有点神经不正常，而且或许是个危险人物。
After supper he said suddenly，‘Davie，I've been thinking．I promised your father a bit of money for ye before ye were born．A promise is a promise—and so I'm going to give ye…forty pounds！’ These last words seemed very painful to him．He added，in a kind of scream，‘Scots！’
吃过晚饭他突然说：“戴维，我一直在思考。你出生前我曾答应过你父亲给你一点钱。承诺就是承诺——我现在要给你……40镑！”最后的话语对他来说显得非常痛苦。他用一种尖叫的声音补充道：“苏格兰镑！”
A Scottish pound was the same as an English shilling．I could see that his story was a lie，so I laughed at him，saying，‘Oh，think again，sir！English pounds，surely！’