牛津书虫系列《诱拐》Chapter1 附中英双语文本

“是的，”我回答道，“他不招人喜欢，我明白。”
‘That's true，’he answered．‘Nobody speaks well of him．It all started with that story about Mr Alexander，his brother．’
“那是真的。”他回答道，“没有人说他好话。这得从他兄弟亚历山大的故事说起。”
‘What story？’I asked．
“什么故事？”我问道。
‘Oh，just that Ebenezer had killed him．Did ye never hear that？’
“噢，就是埃比尼泽杀害了他。你从未听说过那事吗？”
‘And why would he kill my f—，I mean，Alexander？’
“他为什么要杀我父——我是说，亚历山大？”
‘To get the house，of course，the house of Shaws．’
“当然是为了房子，肖家大院。”
‘Aye，man？Was my—was Alexander older than Ebenezer？’
“伙计，什么？难道我的——亚历山大比埃比尼泽年长吗？”
‘Indeed he was！No other reason for killing him！’
“他就是！杀他再也没有别的原因了！”
This was a great surprise to me！I had thought that my fa ther was the younger brother，and I now understood why my uncle had lied to me，and wanted to kill me．The house of Shaws had belonged to my father，not my uncle，and now I had inherited it．The poor country boy who had walked from Essendean was the owner of a fine house and farmland！My head was full of the wonderful things that I could do in my life，as I looked，unseeing，at the sea．
这对我来说真是件惊奇事！我过去一直以为我父亲是年幼的兄弟，现在我明白了为什么我的叔叔对我扯了谎而且要杀死我。肖家大院本来属于我父亲，不是我叔叔的，现在我继承了它。从埃森丁走出来的可怜的乡下男孩成了大房子和农田的主人！我视而不见地望着大海，脑袋里全是我想像的、我这一辈子可能干的美妙的事儿。
Just then my uncle and the captain came out of the public house．The captain smiled in a friendly way as he spoke to me．‘Sir，’he said，‘Mr Balfour has told me a lot about ye．I'm only sorry I haven't time to get to know ye better．But I'd like ye to come on to my ship for half an hour，before we sail，and have a drink with me．’
正在那时我叔叔和船长从小酒店出来。船长边跟我说话边友好地冲我微笑。“先生，”他说道，“鲍尔弗先生告诉了我很多关于你的事。我只是感到有点遗憾，我没有足够的时间来更好地了解你。但是我想请你在我们开航前到我船上来半小时并和我喝上一杯。
Now，more than anything in the world，I wanted to see the inside of a ship，but I remembered that I had to be careful．‘My uncle and I have to see the lawyer，sir，’I replied，‘so I'm afraid we may not have enough time．’
现在，在这个世界上我最想做的就是去看看船的内部构造，但是我记着我得小心。“我和我叔叔得去见律师，先生，”我答道，“所以恐怕我们可能没有足够的时间。”
‘Aye，aye，’he answered，‘I know，but ye see，the ship's boat can put ye both down near Rankeillor's house，after ye've seen the ship，so ye won't lose any time．’ Suddenly he said quietly in my ear，‘Watch out for the old man—he wants to hurt ye．Come and talk about it．’Putting his arm in mine，he said loudly，‘What can I bring ye back from my travels？ A friend of Mr Balfour's is a friend of mine！’
“对，对，”他回答道，“我知道，但是你明白，船上的小艇能够在你们看完之后让你们二人在兰基勒家附近的地方下船，所以你不会没时间的。”忽然间他对我轻声耳语道：“当心这个老家伙——他想害你。来谈谈。”他挽着我的臂，大声说：“我旅行回来给你带什么？鲍尔弗先生的朋友也是我的朋友！”
By this time we were on the beach， and he was helping my uncle and me into the boat．I thought that I had found a good friend and helper，and I was very excited as we came closer to the great ship，full of busy，noisy sailors．The captain and I were the first to climb up the ship's side，and at the top the captain immediately put his arm through mine and began to talk about the ship．
到这时我们已在海滩上，他帮着我和叔叔进了小艇。我心想我找到了一个好朋友，一个可以帮忙的人；而且当我们更加走近到处是忙忙碌碌、吵吵嚷嚷的水手的大船时，我心里很激动。我和船长率先爬过船舷，在顶上船长立即用臂挽住我，开始谈起船来。
‘But where is my uncle？’I asked suddenly．I pulled myself away from the captain's arm，and ran to the side of the ship．Sure enough，there was the boat returning to Queensferry，with my uncle sitting in it．I screamed，‘Help， help！Murder！’and my uncle slowly turned to look at me．