Too Many People
人太多了
Grace looked quickly behind her, and saw the people on the rock.
格蕾丝迅速回头望去，看到了岩石上的人们。
They were waving, shouting, laughing.
他们正在挥手、呼喊、大笑。
But there were eight, nine, perhaps ten of them!
但是那里有八个、九个，也许十个人！
Too many for this small boat.
对于这艘小船来说人太多了。
She looked back at the waves and pulled hard and carefully with her oars.
她回过头看着海浪，用力而小心地划着桨。
It was more than a kilometre around the islands from the lighthouse to the ship, and every wave, every rock was different and dangerous.
从灯塔到沉船处绕过岛屿有一公里多，每一道波浪、每一块礁石都各不相同且充满危险。
She was tired now, but the job was not finished.
她现在很累，但任务还没有完成。
The wrecked ship on Harker’s Rock was still fifty metres away.
哈克岩上的失事船只还有五十米远。
‘How many can you see, Grace?’ her father shouted.
“你能看到多少人，格蕾丝？”父亲喊道。
She looked again. ‘Ten… twelve perhaps,’ she said. ‘It’s too many, father. We’ll all drown, if they try to get in.’
她又看了一眼。“十个……也许十二个，”她说，“人太多了，爸爸。如果他们试图上船，我们都会淹死的。”
‘Yes. Put me on the rock, lass, and then take the boat out again,’ shouted William. ‘I’ll talk to them. We can’t take more than five, the first time.’
“是的。把我放到岩石上吧，姑娘，然后再把船划出去，”威廉喊道，“我来跟他们说。第一次我们最多只能带五个人。”
It was very dangerous near the rock.
靠近岩石非常危险。
In the best place, the waves went up and down two or three metres every minute.
即使在最好的位置，海浪每分钟也会上下起伏两三米。
‘If we make one mistake,’ Grace thought, ‘the boat will break into fifty small pieces, and we’ll be on the rock with the others.’
“如果我们犯一个错误，”格蕾丝想，“船就会碎成五十片，我们就会和其他人一样被困在岩石上。”
Carefully, slowly, Grace and her father tried to get the boat near the rock, but three times they had to pull away at the last minute.
格蕾丝和父亲小心翼翼、缓慢地试图将船靠近岩石，但有三次不得不在最后一刻把船划开。
Then, the fourth time, William Darling jumped.
然后，在第四次尝试时，威廉·达林跳了下去。
The passengers pulled him onto the rock.
乘客们把他拉上了岩石。
Grace quickly rowed the boat out to sea again.
格蕾丝迅速把船划回海里。
She was alone in the boat now, and the boat moved differently.
现在船上只有她一个人，船的移动方式也变了。
She was tired, and her arms and back were hurting.
她很累，手臂和背部都在痛。
But she knew about boats. ‘Watch the sea all the time.’ she told herself. ‘The waves must meet the front of the boat first, or the boat will turn over. Forget the cold, and the rain, and the wet. God will help me.’
但她懂船。“时刻盯着海面，”她告诉自己，“海浪必须先打在船头，否则船会翻。忘掉寒冷、雨水和潮湿吧。上帝会帮助我的。”
On the rock, William Darling spoke quickly.
在岩石上，威廉·达林快速说道。
‘I’m going to take the woman back with me,’ he said. ‘And that man there, with the broken leg. Then I need three strong men, to help me row the boat.’
“我要先把这位女士带回去，”他说，“还有那边那个腿断了的人。然后我需要三个强壮的男人帮我划船。”
He looked at Daniel Donovan, and two others. ‘You, man, and you, and you. The others must wait here. We’ll come back for you later.’
他看着丹尼尔·多诺万和另外两个人。“你，还有你，和你。其他人必须在这里等。我们稍后会回来接你们。”
‘No, by God! Why me?’ shouted James Kelly. ‘I want to come now!’
“不，天哪！为什么是我？”詹姆斯·凯利喊道，“我现在就要走！”
‘You’re going to stay here, sir!’ shouted William angrily. ‘Don’t you understand? If you get in the boat, we’ll all drown!’
“你得留在这里，先生！”威廉愤怒地喊道，“你不明白吗？如果你上船，我们都会淹死！”
‘And my children,’ cried Mrs Dawson, ‘don’t forget my children!’
“还有我的孩子们，”道森太太哭喊道，“别忘了我的孩子！”
William looked at her unhappily. He held out his arms. ‘Give the children to me, mother,’ he said.
威廉难过地看着她。他伸出双臂。“把孩子给我吧，夫人，”他说。
Carefully, he took the boy and the girl from her, and put the little bodies on the rock, near the sea.
他小心翼翼地接过男孩和女孩，把小小的身躯放在靠近海边的岩石上。
They were dead and cold. ‘They are in God’s hands, mother,’ he said.
他们已经死去，身体冰冷。“他们在上帝手中了，夫人，”他说。
Then he spoke quickly and quietly to Daniel Donovan. ‘When the boat comes, help me get the woman in. We can’t take her children.’
然后他快速而低声地对丹尼尔·多诺万说：“船来的时候，帮我把这位女士弄上去。我们不能带走她的孩子。”
Daniel agreed. William put his arm around Mrs Dawson, and waved to Grace.
丹尼尔同意了。威廉搂住道森太太，向格蕾丝挥手。
Carefully, slowly, she rowed the boat in to the rock.
她小心翼翼、缓慢地把船划向岩石。
It was harder without her father.
没有父亲在身边更难了。
The wind and the waves moved the boat more quickly, and Grace was very tired now.
风和浪让船移动得更快，格蕾丝现在非常疲惫。
One mistake meant death for them all.
一个失误就意味着所有人都会丧命。
She came closer — twenty metres, ten, seven, five…
她靠得更近了——二十米、十米、七米、五米……
A big wave lifted the boat, then a smaller one behind it.
一个大浪托起了船，紧接着后面是一个较小的浪。
She pulled hard on the oars, and threw a rope to a man on the rock.
她用力划桨，把绳子扔给岩石上的一个人。
Then her father got into the boat, with a woman in his arms. She was screaming.
然后她父亲抱着一个女人上了船。她在尖叫。
‘My children! Bring the children, please!’
“我的孩子！求求你们带上孩子！”
‘No, mother.’ William Darling took the oars. ‘Help her, Grace.’
“不行，夫人。”威廉·达林接过船桨，“帮她一下，格蕾丝。”
Grace went to the back of the boat with the woman, and held her.
格蕾丝走到船尾陪着那个女人，扶着她。
Daniel Donovan and two other men got in. They were carrying the man with the broken leg.
丹尼尔·多诺万和另外两个男人上了船。他们抬着那个断腿的男人。
The front of the boat was very near the rock now—too near.
船头现在离岩石很近——太近了。
Grace looked behind her, and saw a big wave.
格蕾丝向后看去，看到一个大浪袭来。
‘Pull, father!’ she shouted. ‘Pull hard!’ She stood up, and pushed against the rock with an oar. The boat was very heavy now, with all these people in it.
“划啊，爸爸！”她喊道，“用力划！”她站起身，用桨撑住岩石。船上装了这么多人，现在非常沉重。
William pulled hard with his oars. The big wave came in, and broke into white water all around them. But the boat did not hit the rock.
威廉用力划桨。大浪涌来，在他们周围化作白色的浪花。但船没有撞到岩石。
William pulled again, and shouted. ‘You men help me! Take the oars. One each!’
威廉再次划桨并喊道：“你们几个帮帮我！拿起桨。每人一支！”
The little boat was very full. The sides were only just above the water, and often the water came in. Grace threw it out with her hat.
小船装得很满。船舷刚刚高出水面，海水经常灌进来。格蕾丝用帽子把水舀出去。
The wind and waves were against them now, and the four men had to row hard.
现在风和浪都在阻碍他们，四个男人必须拼命划船。
But slowly, very slowly, the lighthouse came nearer.
但是慢慢地，非常慢地，灯塔越来越近了。
At last, from the top of the waves, they could see Thomasin Darling. She was standing in front of the lighthouse, and waving to them.
终于，在浪尖上，他们能看到托马斯·达林了。她站在灯塔前，向他们挥手。
They were very tired when they got to the lighthouse.
到达灯塔时，他们都累坏了。
William and Daniel carried the man with the broken leg into the kitchen, and Grace and her mother helped Mrs Dawson.
威廉和丹尼尔把断腿的男人抬进厨房，格蕾丝和她母亲则搀扶着道森太太。
Inside the kitchen, William smiled at his daughter. ‘You did a good job, lass,’ he said. ‘Thank you.’
在厨房里，威廉对女儿微笑着说。“你干得很好，姑娘，”他说，“谢谢你。”
‘I’ll come back again with you, father,’ she said.
“我再跟你一起回去，爸爸，”她说。
‘No,’ he said. ‘You’re too tired. I’ll take two of these.’ He looked at Daniel and the other two men. ‘Which are the strongest?’ he asked.
“不，”他说，“你太累了。我带这两个人去。”他看着丹尼尔和另外两个男人问：“谁最强壮？”
Daniel was very tired. There was a fire in the kitchen — a warm, beautiful fire. He wanted to lie down in front of the fire and go to sleep for a long, long time. But William Darling’s quiet brown eyes were looking at him.
丹尼尔非常累。厨房里生着火——温暖而美好的炉火。他想躺在炉火前睡上一大觉。但威廉·达林那双平静的棕色眼睛正看着他。
‘I’ll come with you,’ Daniel said.
“我和你一起去，”丹尼尔说。
‘I’ll come too,’ said Thomas Buchanan.
“我也去，”托马斯·布坎南说。
William Darling smiled. ‘Good men,’ he said. ‘Can you two men row as well as my daughter?’
威廉·达林笑了。“好样的，”他说，“你们俩能划得像我女儿一样好吗？”
Daniel looked at Grace, who was busy helping Mrs Dawson. She looked very small, here, in the kitchen — like any young woman. ‘I’ll try,’ he said.
丹尼尔看着正忙着照顾道森太太的格蕾丝。在厨房里，她看起来很小巧——就像任何年轻女子一样。“我会尽力的，”他说。
‘Right,’ said William. ‘Come on then.’
“好，”威廉说，“那就走吧。”
So Daniel and Thomas Buchanan followed the old lighthouseman away from the warm kitchen fire, out into the rain and wind again.
于是丹尼尔和托马斯·布坎南跟着这位老守塔人离开了温暖的厨房炉火，再次走进风雨之中。
Daniel looked at the angry sea with its terrible waves, and he felt cold and frightened.
丹尼尔看着波涛汹涌的大海和可怕的巨浪，感到既寒冷又害怕。
He remembered the small young woman alone in the boat by Harker’s Rock. ‘Great God,’ he thought. ‘You made that girl strong, like an angel. Make me strong, too, like her.’
他想起了那个独自在哈克岩旁划船的年轻娇小女子。“伟大的上帝啊，”他想，“你让那个女孩像天使一样坚强。也让我像她一样坚强吧。”
The Times London, 19th September 1838
《泰晤士报》 伦敦，1838年9月19日
Mr Darling and his young daughter saved nine people from the wreck of the For farshire.
达林先生和他的年轻女儿从“福法尔郡号”的残骸中救出了九个人。
The storm lasted for three days, and they stayed all that time with the Darlings in the lighthouse.
风暴持续了三天，这期间他们一直和达林一家待在灯塔里。
Queen Victoria thinks that Grace Darling is one of the finest young women in this country, and she is writing to thank her. One hundred years from now, people will remember this day.
维多利亚女王认为格蕾丝·达林是这个国家最优秀的年轻女性之一，她正准备写信感谢她。一百年后，人们仍将铭记这一天。
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