1.Two brothers
1.两兄弟
The two large fields lay on a hillside that looked south. Most of the hay was already cut, and in the bright sunlight the fields were now golden green.
两片大田坐落在朝南的山坡上。大部分干草已经割完，在明亮的阳光下，田野如今呈现出金绿色。
Across the hill, half-way up, was a high hedge, and they were building the haystack just above this hedge. It was a tall haystack, a great untidy thing standing high above the hedge, but the hay itself was light and silvery in colour, and looked as soft as a cloud. Not far away was another, finished haystack.
在半山腰横贯着一道高高的树篱，他们正在树篱上方堆砌干草垛。那是一个高高的草垛，庞大而凌乱地耸立在树篱之上，但干草本身颜色浅淡银白，看起来像云一样柔软。不远处还有另一个已经堆好的草垛。
The empty wagon was going downhill, and in the far corner of the bottom field, where the hay was still uncut, the full wagon was just beginning its slow journey up the hill to the haystack. The hay-makers worked on, cutting the tall hay, while the wagon climbed the hill.
空马车正往山下走，而在下方田地远处的角落里，那里的草还没割，装满干草的马车刚刚开始缓慢地向山上的草垛进发。运草车爬坡时，打草人继续干活，割着高高的牧草。
The two brothers on top of the haystack were having a moment’s rest, waiting for the full wagon to arrive. They stood up to their knees in the soft hay, while above them the golden sun burned down, and all around them was the hot sweet smell of the silvery hay. The only two things in the world were hay and sun.
草垛顶上的两兄弟正在休息片刻，等待满载的马车到来。他们站在柔软的干草中，没过膝盖，头顶金色的阳光倾泻而下，四周弥漫着银色干草温热甜美的气息。此刻世界上仿佛只剩下干草和太阳。
Maurice, the younger brother, was a good-looking young man of twenty-one. He was strong, full of life, with a quick bright eye and a ready smile.
弟弟莫里斯是个二十一岁的俊朗青年。他强壮、充满活力，眼神明亮敏锐，总是面带笑容。
‘You thought,’ he said to his brother, ‘you were very clever last night, didn’t you?’ He pushed his fork into the hay, and stared at his brother, with a smile on his face.
“你以为，”他对哥哥说，“你昨晚很聪明，是吧？”他把草叉插进干草里，盯着哥哥，脸上带着笑意。
‘No. No, I didn’t,’ replied Geoffrey. He turned away, frowning. He was a tall, heavy young man, a year older than Maurice. He was full of strong feelings, but they burned silently inside him. He could never find words to say; he could never look anybody in the eye. He always thought the world was looking at him, and laughing.
“不，我没有，”杰弗里回答道。他转过身去，皱着眉头。他比莫里斯大一岁，身材高大魁梧。他内心充满了强烈的情感，却只在心底默默燃烧。他总是找不到合适的言辞，也从不敢直视别人的眼睛。他总觉得世人都在看着他，嘲笑他。
‘Oh, you did, I know you did.’ Maurice laughed. ‘It was your turn to sleep in the hayfield last night, but you went and hid yourself, so I had to go in your place.’
“噢，你有，我知道你有。”莫里斯笑道，“昨晚本该轮到你在草田里过夜，可你却躲了起来，所以我不得不替你去。”
‘I didn’t hide myself,’ said Geoffrey angrily. ‘Father sent me to get some wood—’
“我没躲起来，”杰弗里生气地说，“是父亲让我去拿些木柴——”
‘Oh yes, oh yes,’ laughed Maurice. ‘But you don’t know, do you? You don’t know what happened last night, up here in the hayfield.’
“噢是啊，噢是啊，”莫里斯笑着说，“但你不知道，对吧？你不知道昨晚在这草田里发生了什么。”
He laughed again, and threw himself down on his back in the hay. He put his arms across his face and lay there, smiling and remembering the night before.
他又笑了起来，仰面躺在干草上。他用双臂遮住脸，躺在那里，微笑着回忆昨晚的情景。
Geoffrey leant on his fork and stared out over the fields. Far away was the city of Nottingham, and between, the country lay under the burning sun, with here and there the smoke from a factory going up into the sky. Geoffrey looked down again into the hayfield, at the wagon slowly climbing the hill to the haystack. ‘Hurry up,’ he thought. ‘Hurry up.’
杰弗里倚着草叉，凝视着田野远方。远处是诺丁汉市，中间的乡村沐浴在烈日之下，工厂的烟雾零星地升入天空。杰弗里再次低头看向草田，看着那辆马车缓缓爬上坡朝草垛驶来。“快点，”他想，“快点。”
‘You didn’t think, did you?’ said Maurice. ‘You didn’t think that she would be here with me, did you?’
“你没想到吧？”莫里斯说，“你没想到她会在这里陪我，对吧？”
Geoffrey stared at him, full of hate. Suddenly, he wanted to put his foot down hard on that smiling, good-looking face below him.
杰弗里盯着他，满心憎恨。突然间，他想狠狠一脚踩在下面那张带笑的俊脸上。
‘Can you sing in German?’ asked Maurice. ‘Do you know how to kiss a German girl? Do you know how soft her neck is?’ He laughed excitedly, remembering every moment of the night before.
“你会用德语唱歌吗？”莫里斯问，“你知道怎么吻一个德国姑娘吗？你知道她的脖子有多柔软吗？”他兴奋地笑着，回味着昨晚的每一刻。
Geoffrey burned with hate. He wanted to walk away, but he couldn’t. The haystack, high above the field, was a prison holding him and his brother together.
杰弗里心中怒火中烧。他想走开，却动弹不得。这高耸于田野之上的草垛，就像一座牢笼，把他和弟弟困在了一起。
Both brothers were shy of women. Neither of them had a girlfriend; neither of them knew what to say to a woman, or how to win her love. And now Maurice was first in the game, and the older brother did not like it.
两兄弟在女人面前都很腼腆。谁都没有女朋友，谁都不知道该对女人说什么，也不知道如何赢得她们的芳心。而现在莫里斯在这场爱情游戏中拔得头筹，做哥哥的心里很不是滋味。
The German girl was the governess from the house beside the top field. Geoffrey was working one day in the field when a baby pushed through a hole in the hedge from the garden of a house. Seconds later the German girl came through the hedge too, looking for the baby. Geoffrey helped her to catch the little boy, and then they stood talking for a while. Geoffrey liked her bright eyes, and her funny, quick way of talking.
那个德国姑娘是上方田地旁那户人家的家庭教师。有一天杰弗里在地里干活时，一个婴儿从花园穿过树篱上的洞钻了过来。几秒钟后，德国姑娘也穿过树篱来找孩子。杰弗里帮她抓住了小男孩，然后两人站着聊了一会儿。杰弗里喜欢她明亮的眼睛，以及她那风趣敏捷的谈吐。
‘But now it’s Maurice she likes best, not me,’ he thought. ‘She sits with him in the hayfield by moonlight, and he kisses her.’
“但现在她最喜欢的是莫里斯，不是我，”他想，“她在月光下的草田里和他坐在一起，他还吻了她。”
Unhappily, he looked up the hill to the house beside the top field. From the top of the haystack he could see right into the garden, and there, suddenly, he saw the girl, in a yellow dress. He held up his arm and waved to her. She waved back, lazily. Geoffrey could see that she was not interested in him, and was waiting for Maurice.
他闷闷不乐地抬头望向山坡上那块高地旁的房子。从草垛顶上他能直接看到花园里，突然，他看见了那个穿着黄裙子的姑娘。他举起手臂向她挥手。她也懒洋洋地挥了挥手回应。杰弗里看得出她对他没兴趣，只是在等莫里斯。
Then Maurice stood up, and saw the girl himself. He laughed, and waved both arms at her.
这时莫里斯站起身来，也看到了那个姑娘。他笑着，挥舞着双臂向她致意。
‘What’s going on?’ called a voice from below.
“怎么回事？”下面传来一个声音喊道。
The full wagon was now standing at the foot of the haystack. Maurice’s face turned deep red.
满载的马车此时已停在草垛脚下。莫里斯的脸涨得通红。
‘Nothing!’ he called.
“没什么！”他喊道。
There was the sound of laughing below, and soon a big, red-faced man climbed to the top of the hay in the wagon. He turned, stared up the hillside, and saw the yellow dress in the garden.
下面传来了笑声，很快一个大个子、红脸膛的男人爬到了马车的干草顶上。他转过身，凝视着山坡上方，看到了花园里的那抹黄色身影。
‘Oh, it’s a girl, is it?’ he laughed. He was the father of Geoffrey and Maurice. ‘Yes, I thought it was a girl.’
“哦，是个姑娘，是吗？”他笑道。他是杰弗里和莫里斯的父亲。“是啊，我就觉得是个姑娘。”
They began working again, throwing the hay from the wagon up to the top of the haystack. There the brothers had to place the hay carefully, building a stack with four strong walls which would not fall over. It was hard work. The father threw up great forkfuls of hay, Geoffrey then passed them along to Maurice, who built up the haystack’s walls.
他们又开始干活了，把干草从马车抛到草垛顶上。在那上面，两兄弟必须小心地摆放干草，筑起四面坚固的墙以免倒塌。这是重体力活。父亲用草叉挑起大团的干草扔上去，杰弗里再传给莫里斯，由莫里斯来垒砌草垛的四壁。
But Geoffrey was full of angry feelings. Usually he threw the hay into the places where Maurice wanted it. Now, he threw it into the middle of the stack, and Maurice had to work twice as hard, carrying it out to the walls. Once, a great forkful of hay from Geoffrey hit Maurice on the back.
但杰弗里满腹怨气。通常他会把干草扔到莫里斯指定的位置。现在，他却把草扔到草垛中间，害得莫里斯要花双倍的力气把草搬到墙边。有一次，杰弗里扔过来的一大团干草砸在了莫里斯的背上。
‘Be careful!’ called Maurice angrily. ‘And why are you throwing it in the middle, you stupid man?’
“小心点！”莫里斯生气地喊道，“你为什么往中间扔，你这个蠢货？”
‘I’ll throw it where I like,’ answered Geoffrey.
“我想扔哪儿就扔哪儿，”杰弗里答道。
They worked on, both brothers angry now. They got hotter and tireder, and still the hay came up from the wagon below.
他们继续干活，两兄弟现在都火了。天气越来越热，人也越来越累，下面的马车还在源源不断地送草上来。
‘There, that’s the end,’ the father called at last from the wagon. Geoffrey threw the last forkful into the middle of the stack, then stood still, watching Maurice.
“好了，完了，”父亲终于在马车下喊道。杰弗里把最后一叉草扔到草垛中间，然后站着不动，盯着莫里斯。
‘This side wall isn’t very strong,’ came the father’s voice from below. ‘You must build it up more.’
“这边的墙不太结实，”下面传来父亲的声音，“你们得再加固一下。”
‘No, it’s fine,’ called Maurice crossly.
“不用，挺好的，”莫里斯不耐烦地喊道。
Geoffrey moved across to the side wall, and pushed his fork down into the hay. He pushed harder, and the top of the haystack began to move just a little.
杰弗里走到侧墙边，把草叉用力插进干草里。他推得更用力了，草垛顶部开始微微晃动。
‘What are you doing, you fool?’ cried Maurice.
“你在干什么，你这笨蛋？”莫里斯叫道。
‘Don’t you call me a fool,’ said Geoffrey, and he pushed again on his fork. Maurice jumped across to him, and pulled him away from the wall. It was not easy to stand in the soft bed of hay, and Geoffrey fell over.
“别叫我笨蛋，”杰弗里说着，又用力推了一下草叉。莫里斯扑过去，把他从墙边拉开。在柔软的草堆上站稳并不容易，杰弗里摔倒了。
Maurice called down to his father below. ‘This wall is fine. It’s not going to fall down.’
莫里斯朝下面的父亲喊道：“这墙没问题，不会塌的。”
‘All right,’ came the father’s voice. ‘We’ll be off now to bring the next wagon up here.’
“好吧，”父亲的声音传来，“我们现在出发去拉下一车草。”
Geoffrey got to his feet. ‘Don’t call me a fool again, do you hear?’ he said heavily.
杰弗里站了起来。“别再叫我笨蛋，听见没有？”他沉声说道。
‘Not until next time,’ said his brother.
“除非有下次，”弟弟说。
Maurice went on working, moving round the stack and building up the walls. Geoffrey stood still, hand on his fork, looking out over the fields. He did not move even when Maurice needed to get past him.
莫里斯继续干活，绕着草垛走动，垒砌墙壁。杰弗里却一动不动地站着，手扶草叉，眺望着田野。即使莫里斯需要从他身边经过，他也纹丝不动。
‘Move, will you?’ said Maurice.
“让一下行不行？”莫里斯说。
There was no reply. Maurice put out his arm and tried to push his brother out of his way.
没有回应。莫里斯伸出手臂，想把哥哥推开。
‘Who are you pushing?’ said Geoffrey angrily.
“你推谁呢？”杰弗里怒道。
‘You,’ replied Maurice, and at once the two brothers began to fight. Each pushed against the other as hard as he could, but Geoffrey was the heavier of the two men, and slowly he began to win.
“推你，”莫里斯回答，两兄弟立刻扭打在一起。两人拼命互推，但杰弗里体重占优，慢慢地占了上风。
Maurice had to move back, but his feet caught in the hay, and he fell over the side of the stack, all the way down to the ground.
莫里斯被迫后退，但脚被干草绊住，他从草垛边缘翻了下去，一路摔到了地面上。
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