第三章: 舞蹈老师和家具拖车《小镇传奇》| 书虫·牛津英汉双语读物免费在线阅读

“Good morning, Miss Earp,” said Denry, when she opened the door. “I’ve come about the rent.”
“早上好，厄普小姐，”当她开门时，邓瑞说，“我是来收房租的。”
One day in July Denry knocked at the door of a house at the top of Brougham Street. The dancing teacher, Miss Ruth Earp, lived there, in a house owned by Mr Calvert, and Denry now collected Mr Calvert’s rents for him.
七月的一天，邓瑞敲响了布鲁厄姆街尽头的一所房子的大门。舞蹈老师露丝·厄普小姐就住在那里，那是卡尔弗特先生的房子，现在邓瑞为卡尔弗特先生收房租。
Ruth Earp gave a hard little laugh. “I see,” she said. “so Mr Herbert Calvert is paying you to do his dirty work now. I must tell you, Mr Machin, that not long ago Mr Calvert was more interested in me than in my rent. But when I decided that I could not return his interest, he said things which hurt me very much — very much indeed.”
露丝·厄普勉强笑了一下。“我明白了。”她说，“这么说赫伯特·卡尔弗特现在雇你来给他干这份脏活了。我必须告诉你，梅钦先生，不久前卡尔弗特先生对我比对我的房租更感兴趣。但当我决定不能对他的兴趣作出回报时，他说了一些非常伤人的话——非常非常伤人。”
“Yes. I collect rents for Mr Calvert now,” Denry said. He did not like the “little boy” look on her face, and added, “You haven’t paid any rent for more than a year.”
“是的。我现在为卡尔弗特先生收房租。”邓瑞说道。他不喜欢她看他时露出像看“小毛孩”的表情，于是又补充道：“你都一年多没交房租了。”
“The rent?” said Ruth, surprised. She gave him a look which seemed to say, “Why does a little boy like you ask about my rent?”
“房租？”露丝说，显得十分惊讶。她看了他一眼，那表情似乎在说：“怎么让你这样一个小毛孩来找我要房租？”
“But if you can’t pay your rent, Miss Earp, I’m afraid you’ll have to leave.”
“可你要是交不出房租，厄普小姐，恐怕就得搬走了。”
“Oh,” said Denry. He told himself that he was here on business.
“哦。”邓瑞说。他提醒自己到这儿是来办公事的。
Ruth had introduced Denry to dancing, and now she introduced him to taking tea. It was all very beautifully done — tea in very small cups, little squares of bread-and-butter, and interesting conversation. Ruth seemed much more friendly today, and Denry found it all very pleasant.
露丝曾教过邓瑞跳舞，现在又教他喝茶。一切都布置得很精美——茶装在小巧的茶杯里，抹了黄油的面包切成一小块一小块的，还有风趣的谈话。露丝今天看起来友善得多，邓瑞觉得这一切都让人舒服极了。
“Is something the matter?” asked Denry.
“你怎么啦？”邓瑞问。
Ruth looked at him, and then gave a slow, sad smile. “Of course I can pay it,” she said gently. “I just wanted to punish Mr Calvert a little. I can’t pay you just at this moment, I’m afraid. The bank is closed. Can you come back tomorrow? Come at four o’clock, and I’ll give you a cup of tea.”
露丝看着他，慢慢露出悲伤的笑容。“我当然交得起。”她温柔地说，“我只是想给卡尔弗特先生一点颜色看看。恐怕现在我不能给你现钱，银行关门了。你能明天来吗？你四点来，我请你喝杯茶。”
The next day Denry returned. It was the first time he had taken tea with a young lady, and so he had put on his best summer suit. He noticed that Ruth was wearing a very pretty dress — something white with bits of pink in it.
第二天邓瑞又来了。这是他第一次和年轻女士喝茶，因此他穿上了自己最好的一身夏装。他注意到露丝穿了一条漂亮的裙子——那是条白底粉点的裙子。
Then suddenly Ruth stopped speaking, and lay back in her chair with her eyes closed.
突然露丝不再说话，靠在椅子里，闭上了眼睛。
“I’m afraid I’ve got an awful headache,” she answered.
“不好意思，我头疼得厉害。”她说。
“I’m sorry,” said Denry. “Is there anything I can do? Perhaps you should lie down. Would you like me to go?”
“真糟糕。”邓瑞说，“我能帮上什么忙吗？也许你应该躺会儿。你希望我离开吗？”
“But I must pay you the rent first.” She put her hand to her head. “The money’s in that desk. Could you get it for me?”
“可我得先给你房租。”她手掩额头，“钱在桌子里，你能帮我拿过来吗？”
She gave Denry a key. He went over to the desk, put the key in the lock, and tried to turn it. Nothing happened, and then the key turned and turned. “I can’t open it,” he said.
她给了邓瑞一把钥匙。他走到桌子那里，把钥匙插进锁里，试着打开。钥匙转了又转，但锁打不开。“我打不开。”他说。
Ruth stood up, holding her head. She came over to the desk, and tried the key. “Oh dear. I’m afraid you’ve broken the lock. I’ll have to get someone to mend it tomorrow morning, and then I’ll bring the money round to you.”
露丝扶着头站了起来。她走到桌子那里，试着开锁。“哦，老天，你把锁弄坏了。明早我得找人把锁修好，然后我把钱给你送过去。”
“Don’t worry,” said Denry. “I can easily call back for it tomorrow. And I’m very sorry about the lock.”
“别着急。”邓瑞说，“我明天再来拿也可以。很抱歉弄坏了锁。”
Late that night Denry came home from an evening at the Sports Club and just as he reached his mother’s house, he saw something strange at the top end of Brougham Street. A large furniture van was moving down the street all on its own; there were no horses. Clearly, the owner had left it there and forgotten to put on the brakes. It was moving slowly now, but Denry could see that when it reached the bottom of Brougham Street, it could be very dangerous.
那天深夜，邓瑞在体育俱乐部消磨了一个晚上准备回家，快走到他母亲家时，他在布鲁厄姆街尽头发现一件奇怪的事情。一辆运家具的拖车自己沿着街道向下滑行；车前没有套马。很明显，车主把车放在那里，忘记刹闸了。拖车现在移动得很慢，但邓瑞知道一旦车到达布鲁厄姆街的尽头，情况会非常危险。
“Well, well!” he said aloud to himself.
“好啊，好啊！”他大声自言自语。
Denry was always at his finest at difficult or dangerous moments. As the van passed him, moving at about five or six kilometres an hour, he jumped on, losing his hat, and tried to put the brakes on. For a second or two the van seemed to slow down, but then Denry realized that the brakes were not working and the van was moving faster and faster down the hill. At the bottom of the street was the canal, and clearly nothing was going to stop the van now. It was too late to jump off, so Denry closed his eyes and held on hard.
在危难时刻，邓瑞总是特别善于应对。当拖车以每小时五六公里的速度经过邓瑞身边时，他跳上了车，帽子掉了也顾不上，一心只想试着把闸刹住。有那么一两秒钟，车子似乎慢了下来，但接着邓瑞意识到刹车失灵了，拖车正以越来越快的速度朝山下冲去。街的尽头就是运河，显然现在没有什么能阻止拖车前进了。现在跳车已经来不及了，邓瑞闭上眼睛，紧紧地抓住了车身。
When the van went in, Denry was under water for a moment, but then he managed to climb further up on the front of the van. Everything was still and dark, except for a little starlight on the water. Only Denry had seen the van’s strange journey down the hill.
当拖车掉进河里时，邓瑞沉入了水中，但一会儿他就向上爬到车子的前端。除了水面的一点星光，四周静谧，一片漆黑。只有邓瑞目睹了拖车冲下山坡的奇特过程。
“Not Mr Machin?” said the voice.
“是梅钦先生吗？”那个声音问。
And a voice answered from inside the van: “Who’s there?”
车里有个声音应道：“谁在那里？”
“Yes,” said he. “I jumped on as it came down the street — and here we are!”
“是我。”他说，“车子顺着街道往下滑的时候，我跳了上来——于是我们就到这里来了！”
Denry’s heart seemed to stop beating. “It’s me!” he said.
邓瑞的心似乎停止了跳动。“是我！”他说。
He had to climb over the roof of the van to get to the back. The van was black inside, and the floor was under fifty centimetres of water.
他得从车顶爬到后面去。车里很黑，车底板已淹入水下50厘米了。
“You’re a bad girl, you know,” he said.
“你是个坏女孩，你知道吗？”他说。
“I’m here. I’m on a table. It’s the only thing the men put in the van before they went to have their supper.”
“我在这儿，在一张桌子上。那些人只把这一件家具搬进车里，然后就去吃晚饭了。”
It was Ruth Earp’s voice. Denry understood immediately. Ruth had played with him! She had planned to take her furniture and run away in the night. She had no rent money locked in her desk at all. But he was not angry with her, just amused. Ruth was really very clever — in fact, very like Denry himself.
那是露丝·厄普的声音。邓瑞立刻就明白了。露丝一直在耍他！她打算带着家具，趁着夜色逃走。她的桌子里根本没有锁着房租。但他不生她的气，只是觉得好笑。露丝真的非常聪明——事实上，她跟邓瑞很像。
Denry felt around until he touched her wet dress.
邓瑞四处摸索，直到摸到了她的湿裙子。
“Oh!” cried the voice. “I wish you could get round to me.”
“哦！”那个声音喊道，“我希望你能到我这边来。”
Ruth started to cry. “I know,” she said miserably. “But I had no money. What could I do?”
露丝哭了起来。“我知道，”她痛苦地说，“可我没钱，我能怎么办？”
“Where are you?”
“你在哪儿？”
Denry climbed on to the table next to her.
邓瑞爬上桌子，呆在她身边。
“What can we do now?” she whispered.
“我们现在该怎么办？”她低声问。
So they waited. On a hot July night it is not unpleasant to sit in the dark with your feet in water. Ruth told Denry all about her life and her money problems.
于是他们就等着。在一个炎热的七月的晚上，坐在黑暗中，把脚泡在水里，倒也不是一件难受的事。露丝给邓瑞讲述了自己的生活经历，并告诉他自己手头比较拮据。
“Wait until it gets light,” said he.
“等到天亮。”他回答说。
“Go home by the back streets, not up Brougham Street,” said Denry. “I’ll come and see you in the morning.”
“走小路回家，不要从布鲁厄姆街上走。”邓瑞说，“我上午会来看你。”
When it started to get light, Denry saw that the back of the van was only a metre from the edge of the canal, so they jumped. In the grey early light they looked at one another. Ruth had a black eye, and Denry had lost his hat.
天色逐渐放亮，邓瑞发现拖车后部离河岸只有一米远，于是他们跳上岸。在凌晨灰蒙蒙的天色中，他俩看着对方。露丝一个眼眶淤青，邓瑞丢了自己的帽子。
One morning Denry went to see Mr Herbert Calvert and gave him ten pounds which he said came from Ruth Earp.
一天早上，邓瑞去见赫伯特·卡尔弗特先生，并给了他十英镑，说那是露丝·厄普的房租。
It was four o’clock in the morning when Denry went quietly up his mother’s stairs. He had seen nobody.
邓瑞悄悄走上家里的楼梯时，是凌晨四点。他在路上一个人都没遇见。
“Are you engaged to her?” asked Calvert.
“你跟她订婚了吗？”卡尔弗特问。
Calvert gave Denry a strange look. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Is it true that she was trying to leave without paying?”
卡尔弗特奇怪地看了邓瑞一眼。“到底怎么回事？”他问，“她想不交房租就逃跑，这是真的吗？”
Denry waited for a moment. “Yes,” he said. “Are you?”
邓瑞等了一会儿。“是的，”他说，“你呢？”
Only two people in Bursley ever knew exactly what had happened that night. Everybody knew that Denry had tried to save the town from a dangerous runaway van and had ended in the canal. But as well as this one fact, there were a great many stories about the accident, and in these stories the names of Denry and Ruth were always appearing.
伯斯利只有两个人知道那晚到底发生了什么。所有人都知道邓瑞拼尽全力，使小镇免受一辆失控拖车的毁坏，而他自己最终掉进了运河。但就是关乎这一件事，也有好多种传闻，在这些传闻中，邓瑞和露丝的名字一再出现。
“I don’t think so. It’s all very extraordinary. I think the van was at the wrong house.”
“我想不是。那件事太不寻常了。我觉得是拖车停错了地方。”
And Denry thought to himself that few engagements had begun as strangely as theirs.
邓瑞心想，很少有人像他们这样，订婚订得这么奇怪的。