牛津书虫系列《诱拐》Chapter5 附中英双语文本

‘Of course，’ I thought，‘all over Scotland people are talk ing about Alan， now that he's accused of the murder of Colin Campbell．’ I was sure that Rankeillor had recognized his name． But I just smiled， and continued my story， using the name of Mr Thomson instead of Alan Breck．
“当然，”我想，“全苏格兰的人都在谈论艾伦，既然他被指控谋杀了科林·坎贝尔的话。”我确信兰基勒已认出了他的名字。但我只是微微一笑，继续讲我的故事，用汤姆森先生这个名字代替艾伦·布雷克。
‘Well， well，’ said the lawyer， when I had finished，‘ what an exciting adventure！ You will have to write it down one day！ I had heard of you，Mr David，from your friends in Essendean， who wrote to me when they had no word from you． Your uncle then told me that he had given you money to study in Europe， but I did not think that was true． I'm afraid we all know that Ebenezer Balfour is not a very good or honest man！ Then Captain Hoseason appeared， saying that you were lost when his ship went down． But now I understand what really happened， and I know that you are David Balfour．’ He put a hand on my shoulder in a fatherly way and continued．‘You'll want to know about the house of Shaws．It's a strange story． When they were young， your father Alexander and his younger brother Ebenezer loved the same girl． Your father was always a kind， loving brother， so when the girl decided to marry him， Alexander left Cramond and let Ebenezer have the house and farmland． Well， I think it was a bad mistake． What happened was that your parents were always very poor，and Ebenezer became more and more interested in money． He never married，of course．’
“唔，唔，”我讲完以后律师说道，“多惊险的经历啊！你真应该有朝一日把它写下来！我曾经从你在埃森丁的朋友那里听说过你，戴维先生，他们在没有你的消息时曾经写信给我。当时你的叔叔告诉我说他已经给你钱让你在欧洲学习，但我当时就想那不是真的。我想我们都知道埃比尼泽·鲍尔弗先生并不是一个好人或老实人！后来霍齐亚森船长出现了，说他的船下沉时你就不见了。但现在我知道真的发生了什么事。我知道你就是戴维·鲍尔弗。”他慈父般地把手放在我的肩上并继续说：“你可能想知道肖家大院的有关情况。是一个奇特的故事。你父亲亚历山大和他的弟弟埃比尼泽年轻时爱上了同一个女孩。你父亲一直是一个友善的、讨人喜欢的兄弟，所以那个女孩决定嫁给他时他便离开了克莱蒙德并把房子和农田留给了埃比尼泽。唔，我想这是一个大错。所发生的事情是，你的父母一直很穷，而埃比尼泽越来越对金钱感兴趣。他从未结婚，当然了。”
‘Well， sir，’I said，‘ and now， what will happen？’
“那么，先生，”我说，“现在又会怎么样呢？”
‘Now that your father is dead，’ replied the lawyer，‘you own the house of Shaws and the farms around it． But Ebenezer won't accept that， and it will be expensive if he wants us to prove it in court．In fact，we must stay out of court，if possible．The kidnapping will be difficult to prove，and we don't want people asking questions abut your friend Mr Thomson． No， I think that we should leave Ebenezer at Shaws， where he's been for twenty－five years， and ask him to pay you some money everyyear， instead of giving you the house．What do you think？’
“既然你的父亲去世了，”律师回答说，“你就拥有肖家大院和周围的农常但埃比尼泽不会接受，如果他要我们在法庭上证明这一点那将花销很大。事实上我们必须尽可能不去法庭。这次诱拐很难证明，我们也不愿意让别人问一些关于你朋友汤姆森的问题。对，我想我们应该让埃比尼泽留在肖家大院，他在那儿已经待了25年了。而且我们可以要求他每年给你一些钱而不是要他把房子还你。你认为怎么样？”
‘That sounds excellent to me， sir，’ I replied．‘ But I think that we could accuse my uncle of kidnapping me． It's easier to prove than you think．Listen，’and I described my plan to him．
“那样听起来很棒，先生。”我回答，“但我想我们可以控告我叔叔诱拐了我。证明起来比你想像得容易。听着，”我然后向他描述了我的计划。
He was very pleased with it．‘Yes， Mr David， very good！If we can catch Ebenezer like that， he can't refuse to give you some of the money that belongs to you！’ He called to his sec retary， Torrance． ‘You must come with us tonight，Torrance． You'll have to listen to the conversation you hear，and write it all down． And bring the Balfour papers with you．’ Then he turned to me．‘But if I accept your plan， Mr David， I'll have to meet your friend Mr Thomson， who may be，I only say may be，a criminal．’He was silent for a while，thinking deeply， then went on，‘Well， let's talk of something different． Do you know， the other day， I saw Torrance in the street？But because I wasn't wearing my glasses，I didn't recognize him！ My own secretary！ Ha－ha－ha！’ and he laughed happily at himself．