The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat. He was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry; and this cry was echoed by another.
金发少年攀下岩石最下面的一截，又开始摸索着朝环礁湖[1]方向走去。虽然他已经脱掉了那件学校里常穿的厚运动衫，用一只手拖着，但还是热得要命；灰衬衫湿淋淋地粘在身上，头发湿漉漉地贴在前额上。在这个少年的周围，一条长长的孤岩猛插进丛林深处，天气闷热，孤岩就像个热气腾腾的浴缸。这会儿少年正在藤蔓和断树残干中吃力地爬着，突然一只红黄色的小鸟怪叫一声、展翅腾空；紧接着又响起了另一个声音。【注：[1] 海洋上被珊瑚礁所包围的水面。】
“Hi!” it said. “Wait a minute!”
“嘿！”这声音喊道，“等一等！”
The undergrowth at the side of the scar was shaken and a multitude of raindrops fell pattering.
孤岩侧面的矮灌木林丛被摇晃着，大量的雨珠啪嗒啪嗒地直往下掉。
“Wait a minute,” the voice said. “I got caught up.”
“等等，”这声音又叫，“我给缠住了。”
The fair boy stopped and jerked his stockings with an automatic gesture that made the jungle seem for a moment like the Home Counties.
金发少年停住脚，自自然然地紧紧袜子。他这动作一时间让人觉得这孩子好像是在老家[2]一样。【注：[2] 原文为the Home Counties，指伦敦附近各郡。】
The voice spoke again.
那个声音又叫开了。
“I can’t hardly move with all these creeper things.”
“这么些藤蔓我真没法弄掉。”
The owner of the voice came backing out of the undergrowth so that twigs scratched on a greasy wind-breaker. The naked crooks of his knees were plump, caught and scratched by thorns. He bent down, removed the thorns carefully, and turned around. He was shorter than the fair boy and very fat. He came forward, searching out safe lodgments for his feet, and then looked up through thick spectacles.
说这话的孩子正从矮灌木林丛中脱身退出来，细树枝在他油垢的防风外衣上刮擦刮擦直响。他光光的膝弯弯处圆鼓鼓的，被荆棘缠住擦伤了。他弯下腰，小心翼翼地拨开棘刺，转过身来。比起金发少年，这个男孩稍矮一些，身体胖乎乎的。他用脚轻轻地试探着安全的落脚处，往前走着，随后又透过厚厚的眼镜往上瞧瞧。
“Where’s the man with the megaphone?”
“带话筒的那个大人在哪儿？”
The fair boy shook his head.
金发少年摇摇头。
“This is an island. At least I think it’s an island. That’s a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren’t any grownups anywhere.”
“这是一个岛。至少在我看来是一个岛。那里是一条伸进外海的礁脉。兴许这儿没大人了。”
The fat boy looked startled.
胖男孩像是大吃一惊。
“There was that pilot. But he wasn’t in the passenger cabin, he was up in front.”
“本来有个驾驶员，他没在客舱，他在前上方的驾驶舱里。”
The fair boy was peering at the reef through screwed-up eyes.
金发少年眯起眼睛凝视着那条礁脉。
“All them other kids,” the fat boy went on. “Some of them must have got out. They must have, mustn’t they?”
“别的全是些小孩儿。”胖男孩接着往下说。“准有些跑出来了。他们准会出来，可不是吗？”
The fair boy began to pick his way as casually as possible toward the water. He tried to be offhand and not too obviously uninterested, but the fat boy hurried after him.
金发少年开始十分随意地找路往水边走去。他努力装出一副随随便便的样子，同时又避免表露出过分明显的无动于衷，可那胖男孩急匆匆地跟着他。
“Aren’t there any grownups at all?”
“到底还有没有大人呢？”
“I don’t think so.”
“我认为没有。”
The fair boy said this solemnly; but then the delight of a realized ambition overcame him. In the middle of the scar he stood on his head and grinned at the reversed fat boy.
金发少年板着面孔回答；可随后，一阵像已实现了理想般的高兴劲儿使他喜不自胜。在孤岩当中，他就地来了个拿大顶，咧嘴笑看着颠倒了的胖男孩。
“No grownups!”
“没大人啰！”
The fat boy thought for a moment.
胖男孩想了想。
“That pilot.”
“那个驾驶员呢。”
The fair boy allowed his feet to come down and sat on the steamy earth.
金发少年两腿一屈，一屁股坐在水气濛濛的地上。
“He must have flown off after he dropped us. He couldn’t land here. Not in a place with wheels.”
“他把咱们投下后准飞走了。他没法在这儿着陆。有轮子的飞机没法在这儿着陆。”
“We was attacked!”
“咱们被攻击了！”
“He’ll be back all right.”
“他会平安回来的。”
The fat boy shook his head.
胖男孩晃晃脑袋。
“When we was coming down I looked through one of them windows. I saw the other part of the plane. There were flames coming out of it.”
“下降那阵子我从一个窗口往外瞧过。我看见飞机的其他部分直朝外喷火。”
He looked up and down the scar.
他上下打量着孤岩。
“And this is what the cabin done.”
“这不就是机身撞的。”
The fair boy reached out and touched the jagged end of a trunk. For a moment he looked interested.
金发少年伸出手来，摸摸树干高低不平的一头。一下子他显得感兴趣起来。
“What happened to it?” he asked. “Where’s it got to now?”
“机身又怎么了？”他问道。“那东西现在又跑哪儿去了呢？”
“That storm dragged it out to sea. It wasn’t half dangerous with all them tree trunks falling. There must have been some kids still in it.”
“暴风雨把机身拖到海里去了。倒下的树干这么多，情况一定非常危险。机舱里准保还有些小孩儿呢。”
He hesitated for a moment, then spoke again.
胖男孩迟疑一下又问：
“What’s your name?”
“你叫什么名字？”
“Ralph.”
“拉尔夫。”
The fat boy waited to be asked his name in turn but this proffer of acquaintance was not made; the fair boy called Ralph smiled vaguely, stood up, and began to make his way once more toward the lagoon. The fat boy hung steadily at his shoulder.
胖男孩等着对方反问自己的名字，可对方却无意要熟悉一下；名叫拉尔夫的金发少年含含糊糊地笑笑，站起身来，又开始朝环礁湖方向走去。胖男孩的手沉沉地搭在拉尔夫的肩膀上。
“I expect there’s a lot more of us scattered about. You haven’t seen any others, have you?”
“我料想还有好多小孩分散在附近。你没见过别人吗？”
Ralph shook his head and increased his speed. Then he tripped over a branch and came down with a crash.
拉尔夫摆摆头，加快了脚步，不料被树枝一绊，猛地摔了个跟头。
The fat boy stood by him, breathing hard.
胖男孩站在他身边，上气不接下气。
“My auntie told me not to run,” he explained, “on account of my asthma.”
“我姨妈叫我别跑，”他辩解地说，“因为我有气喘病。”
“Ass-mar?”
“鸡—喘病？”
“That’s right. Can’t catch my breath. I was the only boy in our school what had asthma,” said the fat boy with a touch of pride. “And I’ve been wearing specs since I was three.”
“对呀。接不上气。在我们那个学校就我一个男孩得气喘病。”胖男孩略带骄傲地说。“我还从三岁起就一直戴着眼镜。”
He took off his glasses and held them out to Ralph, blinking and smiling, and then started to wipe them against his grubby wind-breaker. An expression of pain and inward concentration altered the pale contours of his face. He smeared the sweat from his cheeks and quickly adjusted the spectacles on his nose.
他取下眼镜递给拉尔夫看，笑眯眯地眨眨眼，随后把眼镜往肮脏的防风外衣上擦起来。一会儿胖男孩苍白的面容上又出现了一种痛苦和沉思的表情。他抹抹双颊的汗珠，匆匆地推一推鼻上的眼镜。
“Them fruit.”
“那些野果。”
He glanced round the scar.
他环顾了一下孤岩。
“Them fruit,” he said, “I expect –“
“那些野果，”他说，“我以为——”
He put on his glasses, waded away from Ralph, and crouched down among the tangled foliage.
他戴上眼镜，绕过拉尔夫身边的藤蔓走开，在一堆缠绕着的簇叶中蹲了下去。
“I’ll be out again in just a minute –“
“我一会儿就出来——”
Ralph disentangled himself cautiously and stole away through the branches. In a few seconds the fat boy’s grunts were behind him and he was hurrying toward the screen that still lay between him and the lagoon. He climbed over a broken trunk and was out of the jungle.
拉尔夫留神地解开缠绕在身上的枝叶，悄悄地穿过杂树乱枝。不一会儿胖男孩呼噜呼噜的声音就落到他的身后，拉尔夫急急忙忙地朝仍位于他和环礁湖之间屏障似的树林赶去。他翻过一根断树干后，走出了丛林。
The shore was fledged with palm trees. These stood or leaned or reclined against the light and their green feathers were a hundred feet up in the air. The ground beneath them was a bank covered with coarse grass, torn everywhere by the upheavals of fallen trees, scattered with decaying coconuts and palm saplings. Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and the open space of the scar. Ralph stood, one hand against a grey trunk, and screwed up his eyes against the shimmering water. Out there, perhaps a mile away, the white surf flinked on a coral reef, and beyond that the open sea was dark blue. Within the irregular arc of coral the lagoon was still as a mountain lake — blue of all shades and shadowy green and purple. The beach between the palm terrace and the water was a thin stick, endless apparently, for to Ralph’s left the perspectives of palm and beach and water drew to a point at infinity; and always, almost visible, was the heat.
海岸边长满棕榈。有的树身耸立着，有的树身向阳光偏斜着，绿色的树叶在空中高达一百英尺。树下是铺满粗壮杂草的斜堤，被乱七八糟的倒下的树划得东一道西一道的，还四散着腐烂的椰子和棕榈树苗。之后就是那黑压压的森林本体部分和孤岩的空旷地带。拉尔夫站着，一手靠着根灰树干，一面眯起眼睛看着粼波闪烁的海水。从这里往外约一英里之遥，雪白的浪花忽隐忽现地拍打[3]着一座珊瑚礁。再外面则是湛蓝的辽阔的大海。在珊瑚礁不规则的弧形圈里，环礁湖平静得像一个水潭——湖水呈现各种细微色差的蓝色、墨绿色和紫色。在长着棕榈树的斜坡和海水之间是一条狭窄的弓形板似的海滩，看上去像没有尽头，因为在拉尔夫的左面，棕榈、海滩和海水往外伸向无限远的一点；而几乎张眼就能看到的，则是一股腾腾的热气。【注：[3] 原文flinked，系作者所臆造的一个词。意谓flicker（摇曳），flick（轻弹声）和blink（闪烁）等词义的综合。】
He jumped down from the terrace. The sand was thick over his black shoes and the heat hit him. He became conscious of the weight of clothes, kicked his shoes off fiercely and ripped off each stocking with its elastic garter in a single movement. Then he leapt back on the terrace, pulled off his shirt, and stood there among the skull-like coconuts with green shadows from the palms and the forest sliding over his skin. He undid the snake-clasp of his belt, lugged off his shorts and pants, and stood there naked, looking at the dazzling beach and the water.
拉尔夫从斜坡上跳下去。沙子太厚，淹没了黑鞋子，热浪冲击着他。他觉得身上的衣服很重，猛地踢掉鞋，刷地扯下连同宽紧带的一双袜子。接着又跳回到斜坡上，扯下衬衫，站在一堆脑壳样的椰子当中，棕榈和森林的绿荫斜照到他的皮肤上。拉尔夫解开皮带的蛇形搭扣，用力地脱掉短裤和衬裤，光身子站在那儿，察看着耀眼的海滩和海水。
He was old enough, twelve years and a few months, to have lost the prominent tummy of childhood and not yet old enough for adolescence to have made him awkward. You could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil. He patted the palm trunk softly, and, forced at last to believe in the reality of the island laughed delightedly again and stood on his head. He turned neatly on to his feet, jumped down to the beach, knelt and swept a double armful of sand into a pile against his chest. Then he sat back and looked at the water with bright, excited eyes.
拉尔夫够大了，十二岁还多几个月，小孩子的凸肚子已经不见了；但还没大到那种开始感到难为情的青春期。就他的肩膀长得又宽又结实而言，看得出他完全可能成为一个拳击手，但他的嘴形和眼睛偏又流露出一种温厚的神色，表明他心地倒不坏。拉尔夫轻轻地拍拍棕榈树干，终于意识到这确实是个岛，又开心地笑笑，来了个拿大顶。他利索地翻身站起来，蹦到海滩上，跪下拨了两抱沙子，在胸前形成个沙堆。随之他往后一坐，闪亮而兴奋的眼睛直盯着海水。
“Ralph –“
“拉尔夫——”
The fat boy lowered himself over the terrace and sat down carefully, using the edge as a seat.
胖男孩在斜坡上蹲下身子，把斜坡边缘当个座位，小心地坐下来。
“I’m sorry I been such a time. Them fruit –“
“对不起，我来迟了。那些野果——”
He wiped his glasses and adjusted them on his button nose. The frame had made a deep, pink “V” on the bridge. He looked critically at Ralph’s golden body and then down at his own clothes. He laid a hand on the end of a zipper that extended down his chest.
他擦擦眼镜，又把扁鼻子上的眼镜推了推。眼镜框在鼻梁上印了道深深的、粉红的“V”形。他打量着拉尔夫精神焕发的身体，然后又低头瞧瞧自己的衣服，一只手放到直落胸前的拉链头上。
“My auntie –“
“我姨妈——”
Then he opened the zipper with decision and pulled the whole wind-breaker over his head.
随后他果断地拉开拉链，把整件防风外衣往头上一套。
“There!”
“瞧！”
Ralph looked at him sidelong and said nothing.
拉尔夫从侧面看看他，一言不发。
“I expect we’ll want to know all their names,” said the fat boy, “and make a list. We ought to have a meeting.”
“我想咱们要知道他们的全部名字，”胖男孩说，“还要造一份名单。咱们该开个会。”
Ralph did not take the hint so the fat boy was forced to continue.
拉尔夫不接话头，所以胖男孩只好继续说下去：
“I don’t care what they call me,” he said confidentially, “so long as they don’t call me what they used to call me at school.”
“我不在乎他们叫我啥名字，”他以信任的口气对拉尔夫说，“只要他们别用在学校时常叫我的那个绰号。”
Ralph was faintly interested.
拉尔夫有点感兴趣了。
“What was that?”
“那个什么绰号？”
The fat boy glanced over his shoulder, then leaned toward Ralph.
胖男孩的视线越过自己的肩膀瞥了一下，然后凑向拉尔夫。
He whispered.
他悄悄地说：
“They used to call me ‘Piggy.'”
“他们常叫我‘猪崽子’[4]。”【注：[4] 原文Piggy，意谓小猪。】
Ralph shrieked with laughter. He jumped up.
拉尔夫尖声大笑，跳了起来。
“Piggy! Piggy!”
“猪崽子！猪崽子哟！”
“Ralph — please!”
“拉尔夫——请别叫！”
Piggy clasped his hands in apprehension.
猪崽子担心地绞紧了双手。
“I said I didn’t want –“
“我说过不要——”
“Piggy! Piggy!”
“猪崽子哟！猪崽子哟！”
Ralph danced out into the hot air of the beach and then returned as a fighter-plane, with wings swept back, and machine-gunned Piggy.
拉尔夫在海滩的赤热空气中手舞足蹈地跳开了，接着又装作战斗机的样子折回来，翅膀后剪，机枪往猪崽子身上扫。
“Sche-aa-ow!”
“吓—啊—哦！”
He dived in the sand at Piggy’s feet and lay there laughing.
他一头俯冲进猪崽子脚下的沙堆，躺在那里直笑。
“Piggy!”
“猪崽子！”
Piggy grinned reluctantly, pleased despite himself at even this much recognition.
猪崽子勉强地咧开了嘴，尽管这样对他打招呼是过分了，他也被逗乐了。
“So long as you don’t tell the others –“
“只要你不告诉别人——”
Ralph giggled into the sand. The expression of pain and concentration returned to Piggy’s face.
拉尔夫在沙滩中格格地笑着。痛苦和专注的神色又回到了猪崽子的脸上。
“Half a sec’.”
“等一等。”
He hastened back into the forest. Ralph stood up and trotted along to the right.
猪崽子赶紧奔回森林。拉尔夫站起来，朝右面小步跑去。
Here the beach was interrupted abruptly by the square motif of the landscape; a great platform of pink granite thrust up uncompromisingly through forest and terrace and sand and lagoon to make a raised jetty four feet high. The top of this was covered with a thin layer of soil and coarse grass and shaded with young palm trees. There was not enough soil for them to grow to any height and when they reached perhaps twenty feet they fell and dried, forming a criss-cross pattern of trunks, very convenient to sit on. The palms that still stood made a green roof, covered on the underside with a quivering tangle of reflections from the lagoon. Ralph hauled himself onto this platform, noted the coolness and shade, shut one eye, and decided that the shadows on his body were really green. He picked his way to the seaward edge of the platform and stood looking down into the water. It was clear to the bottom and bright with the efflorescence of tropical weed and coral. A school of tiny, glittering fish flicked hither and thither. Ralph spoke to himself, sounding the bass strings of delight.
在这儿，海滩被成直角基调的地形猛地截断了；一大块粉红色的花岗岩平台不调和地直穿过森林、斜坡、沙滩和环礁湖，形成一个高达四英尺的突出部分。平台顶上覆盖着一层薄薄的泥土，上面长着粗壮的杂草和成荫的小棕榈树。因为没有充足的泥土让小树长个够，所以它们到二十英尺光景就倒下干死。树干横七竖八地交叠在一起，坐起来倒挺方便。依然挺立着的棕榈树形成了一个罩盖着地面的绿顶，里面闪耀着从环礁湖反射上来的颤动的散光。拉尔夫硬爬上平台，一下子就注意到了这儿凉快的绿荫，他闭上一只眼，心想落在身上的树叶的影子一定是绿色的，又择路走向平台朝海的一边，站在那里俯视着海水。水清见底，又因盛长热带的海藻和珊瑚而璀璨夺目。一群小小的、闪闪发光的鱼儿东游西窜、忽隐忽现。拉尔夫兴高采烈，他用带低音的嗓门，自言自语地说道：
“Whizzoh!”
“太棒了！”
Beyond the platform there was more enchantment. Some act of God — a typhoon perhaps, or the storm that had accompanied his own arrival — had banked sand inside the lagoon so that there was a long, deep pool in the beach with a high ledge of pink granite at the further end. Ralph had been deceived before now by the specious appearance of depth in a beach pool and he approached this one preparing to be disappointed. But the island ran true to form and the incredible pool, which clearly was only invaded by the sea at high tide, was so deep at one end as to be dark green. Ralph inspected the whole thirty yards carefully and then plunged in. The water was warmer than his blood and he might have been swimming in a huge bath.
在平台外面还有更迷人的东西呢。某种不可抗拒的自然力量——也许是一场台风，或是伴随他自己一起到来的那场风暴——在环礁湖的里侧堆起了一道沙堤，因而在海滩里造成个长而深的水潭，较远一头是粉红色的花岗岩高高的突出部分。拉尔夫以前曾上过当：海滩水潭看上去深，其实不然。现在他走近这个水潭，本也没抱希望。这个岛却是一个真正的岛，而这个水潭是由海发大潮所造成的，它的一头深得呈墨绿色，使人难以置信。拉尔夫仔细地巡看了这整整三十码水面，接着一个猛子扎了进去。水比他的血还暖，拉尔夫就好像是在一个巨大的浴缸里游泳。
Piggy appeared again, sat on the rocky ledge, and watched Ralph’s green and white body enviously.
猪崽子又出现了，坐在岩石突出的边上，带忌妒心的眼光注视着拉尔夫的雪白身躯在绿水里上下。
“You can’t half swim.”
“你游得不好。”
“Piggy.”
“猪崽子。”
Piggy took off his shoes and socks, ranged them carefully on the ledge, and tested the water with one toe.
猪崽子脱掉鞋袜，小心地把它们排放在岩石边上，又用一只脚趾试试水温。
“It’s hot!”
“太热！”
“What did you expect?”
“你还等什么呀？”
“I didn’t expect nothing. My auntie –“
“我啥也不等。可我的姨妈——”
“Sucks to your auntie!”
“去你的姨妈！”
Ralph did a surface dive and swam under water with his eyes open; the sandy edge of the pool loomed up like a hillside. He turned over, holding his nose, and a golden light danced and shattered just over his face. Piggy was looking determined and began to take off his shorts. Presently he was palely and fatly naked. He tiptoed down the sandy side of the pool, and sat there up to his neck in water smiling proudly at Ralph.
拉尔夫从水面往下一扎，然后在水中睁着眼游；水潭的沙质岩边隐隐约约地像个小山坡。他翻了个身，捏住鼻子，正看到一道金光摇晃碎落在眼前。猪崽子看来正在下决心，他动手脱掉短裤，不一会儿光了身，露出又白又胖的身躯。他踮着脚尖走下了水潭的沙滩边，坐在那儿，水没到颈部，他自豪地对着拉尔夫微笑。
“Aren’t you going to swim?”
“你不打算游吗？”
Piggy shook his head.
猪崽子晃晃脑袋。
“I can’t swim. I wasn’t allowed. My asthma –“
“我不会。不准我游。我有气喘病——”
“Sucks to your ass-mar!”
“去你的鸡喘不鸡喘！”
Piggy bore this with a sort of humble patience.
猪崽子以一种谦卑的耐心忍着。
“You can’t half swim well.”
“你游得不行啊。”
Ralph paddled backwards down the slope, immersed his mouth and blew a jet of water into the air. Then he lifted his chin and spoke.
拉尔夫用脚啪嗒啪嗒地打着水游回到斜面下，把嘴浸下去，又往空中喷出一股水，随后抬起下巴说：
“I could swim when I was five. Daddy taught me. He’s a commander in the Navy. When he gets leave he’ll come and rescue us. What’s your father?”
“我五岁就会游泳。我爸爸教的。他是个海军军官。他一休假就会来救咱们的。你爸爸是干什么的？”
Piggy flushed suddenly.
猪崽子的脸忽地红了。
“My dad’s dead,” he said quickly, “and my mum –“
“我爹死了，”他急匆匆地说，“而我妈——”
He took off his glasses and looked vainly for something with which to clean them.
他取下眼镜，想寻找些什么来擦擦，但又找不到。
“I used to live with my auntie. She kept a candy store. I used to get ever so many candies. As many as I liked. When’ll your dad rescue us?”
“我一直跟姨妈住一块儿。她开了个糖果铺。我常吃好多好多糖，喜欢多少就吃多少。你爸爸什么时候来救咱们？”
“Soon as he can.”
“他会尽量快的。”
Piggy rose dripping from the water and stood naked, cleaning his glasses with a sock. The only sound that reached them now through the heat of the morning was the long, grinding roar of the breakers on the reef.
猪崽子湿淋淋地从水中上来，光身子站着，用一只袜子擦擦眼镜。透过早晨的热气他们所听到的唯一声响，就是波浪撞击着礁石那永无休止的、恼人的轰鸣。
“How does he know we’re here?”
“他怎么会知道咱们在这儿？”
Ralph lolled in the water. Sleep enveloped him like the swathing mirages that were wrestling with the brilliance of the lagoon.
拉尔夫在水里懒洋洋地游着。睡意笼罩着他，就像缠绵脑际的蜃楼幻影正在同五光十色的环礁湖景致一比高低。
“How does he know we’re here?”
“他怎么会知道咱们在这儿呢？”
Because, thought Ralph, because, because. The roar from the reef became very distant.
因为，拉尔夫想，因为，因为……从礁石处传来的浪涛声变得很远很远。
“They’d tell him at the airport.”
“他们会在飞机场告诉他的。”
Piggy shook his head, put on his flashing glasses and looked down at Ralph.
猪崽子摇摇头，戴上闪光的眼镜，俯视着拉尔夫。
“Not them. Didn’t you hear what the pilot said? About the atom bomb? They’re all dead.”
“他们不会。你没听驾驶员说吗？原子弹的事？他们全死了。”
Ralph pulled himself out of the water, stood facing Piggy, and considered this unusual problem.
拉尔夫从水里爬了出来，面对猪崽子站着，思量着这个不寻常的问题。
Piggy persisted.
猪崽子坚持问道：
“This an island, isn’t it?”
“这是个岛，是吗？”
“I climbed a rock,” said Ralph slowly, “and I think this is an island.”
“我爬上过山岩，”拉尔夫慢吞吞地回答，“我想这是个岛。”
“They’re all dead,” said Piggy, “an’ this is an island. Nobody don’t know we’re here. Your dad don’t know, nobody don’t know –“
“他们死光了，”猪崽子说，“而这又是个岛。绝没人会知道咱们在这儿。你爸爸不会知道，肯定谁也不会知道——”
His lips quivered and the spectacles were dimmed with mist.
他的嘴唇微微地颤动着，眼镜也因雾气而模糊不清。
“We may stay here till we die.”
“咱们将呆在这儿等死的。”
With that word the heat seemed to increase till it became a threatening weight and the lagoon attacked them with a blinding effulgence.
随着这个“死”字，暑热仿佛越来越厉害，热得逼人。环礁湖也以令人目眩的灿烂袭击着他们。
“Get my clothes,” muttered Ralph. “Along there.”
“我去拿衣服，”拉尔夫咕哝地说。“在那儿。”
He trotted through the sand, enduring the sun’s enmity, crossed the platform and found his scattered clothes. To put on a grey shirt once more was strangely pleasing. Then he climbed the edge of the platform and sat in the green shade on a convenient trunk. Piggy hauled himself up, carrying most of his clothes under his arms. Then he sat carefully on a fallen trunk near the little cliff that fronted the lagoon; and the tangled reflections quivered over him.
他忍着骄阳的毒焰，小步跑过沙滩，横穿过高出沙滩的平台，找到了他东一件西一件的衣服，觉得再穿上灰衬衫倒有一种说不出的惬意。随后他又爬上平台的边缘，在绿荫里找了根适当的树干就坐下了。猪崽子吃力地爬了上来，手臂下夹着他的大部分衣服，又小心翼翼地坐在一根倒下的树干上，靠近朝向环礁湖的小峭壁；湖水交错的反射光在他身上不停地晃动。
Presently he spoke.
一会儿猪崽子又说开了：
“We got to find the others. We got to do something.”
“咱们得找找别人。咱们该干点事。”
Ralph said nothing. Here was a coral island. Protected from the sun, ignoring Piggy’s ill-omened talk, he dreamed pleasantly.
拉尔夫一声不吭。这儿是座珊瑚岛。他避开了毒日的煎熬，也不管猪崽子那带凶兆的嘟哝，还做着自己快乐的梦。
Piggy insisted.
猪崽子仍顺着自己的话题往下说：
“How many of us are there?”
“咱们有多少人在这儿？”
Ralph came forward and stood by Piggy.
拉尔夫走上前去，站在猪崽子身旁回答：
“I don’t know.”
“我不知道。”
Here and there, little breezes crept over the polished waters beneath the haze of heat. When these breezes reached the platform the palm fronds would whisper, so that spots of blurred sunlight slid over their bodies or moved like bright, winged things in the shade.
在暑热烟霭的下面，一阵阵微风拂过亮光闪闪的水面。微风吹到平台时，棕榈叶片发出簌簌的低吟，于是，模糊的太阳光斑就在他俩身上浮掠而过，像明亮的带翅膀的小东西在树阴里晃动。
Piggy looked up at Ralph. All the shadows on Ralph’s face were reversed; green above, bright below from the lagoon. A blur of sunlight was crawling across his hair.
猪崽子仰望着拉尔夫。后者脸上的阴影全反了；上半部是绿茵茵的，下半部由于环礁湖的反映，变得亮闪闪的。一道耀眼的阳光正抹过他的头发。
“We got to do something.”
“咱们总该干点事吧。”
Ralph looked through him. Here at last was the imagined but never fully realized place leaping into real life. Ralph’s lips parted in a delighted smile and Piggy, taking this smile to himself as a mark of recognition, laughed with pleasure.
拉尔夫对他视若无睹。一个想象中存在而从未得到充分实现的地方，终于在这儿一跃而为活生生的现实了。拉尔夫快活极了，笑得合不拢嘴，猪崽子却把这一笑当作是对他的赏识，也满意地笑起来。
“If it really is an island –“
“假如这真是个岛——”
“What’s that?”
“那又怎么样呢？”
Ralph had stopped smiling and was pointing into the lagoon. Something creamy lay among the ferny weeds.
拉尔夫止住了微笑，用手指着环礁湖。在海蕨草中有个深米色的东西。
“A stone.”
“一块石头。”
“No. A shell.”
“不，一个贝壳。”
Suddenly Piggy was a-bubble with decorous excitement.
忽然，猪崽子高兴起来；他兴奋得倒也并不过分。
“S’right. It’s a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone’s back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It’s ever so valuable –“
“对。这是个贝壳。我以前见过像这样一个。在人家的后屋墙上。那人叫它海螺。他常吹，一吹他妈妈就来了。那东西可值钱哩——”
Near to Ralph’s elbow a palm sapling leaned out over the lagoon. Indeed, the weight was already pulling a lump from the poor soil and soon it would fall. He tore out the stem and began to poke about in the water, while the brilliant fish flicked away on this side and that. Piggy leaned dangerously.
靠拉尔夫的手肘边，有一棵小棕榈树苗倾斜到环礁湖上。由于它本身的重量，小树苗已经从贫瘠的泥土中拖出了一团泥块，它很快就要倒下了。拉尔夫拔出细树干，在水里拨弄起来，五颜六色的鱼东窜西逃。猪崽子的身子倾斜着，看上去很不稳。
“Careful! You’ll break it –“
“当心！要断了——”
“Shut up.”
“闭嘴。”
Ralph spoke absently. The shell was interesting and pretty and a worthy plaything; but the vivid phantoms of his day-dream still interposed between him and Piggy, who in this context was an irrelevance. The palm sapling, bending, pushed the shell across the weeds. Ralph used one hand as a fulcrum and pressed down with the other till the shell rose, dripping, and Piggy could make a grab.
拉尔夫心不在焉地说着。贝壳有趣、好看、是个有价值的玩意儿；拉尔夫好像在做一个白日梦，梦中生动的幻象萦绕在他和猪崽子之间，可猪崽子并非他梦境中的人物。他用弯曲的棕榈树苗把贝壳推出了海藻，再用一只手当作支点支撑住树枝，另一只手往下压细树苗的一端，直到把贝壳挑了上来，水滴滴答答地往下直淌，猪崽子一把抓住海螺。
Now the shell was no longer a thing seen but not to be touched, Ralph too became excited. Piggy babbled:
此刻海螺不再是一个可望而不可即的东西了，拉尔夫也变得激动起来。猪崽子唠唠叨叨地说：
“– a conch; ever so expensive. I bet if you wanted to buy one, you’d have to pay pounds and pounds and pounds — he had it on his garden wall, and my auntie –“
“——海螺；可真贵。我敢打赌，你要买个海螺，就得花好多、好多、好多的钱——那人把海螺挂在花园围墙上，我姨妈——”
Ralph took the shell from Piggy and a little water ran down his arm. In color the shell was deep cream, touched here and there with fading pink. Between the point, worn away into a little hole, and the pink lips of the mouth, lay eighteen inches of shell with a slight spiral twist and covered with a delicate, embossed pattern. Ralph shook sand out of the deep tube.
拉尔夫从猪崽子手里接过贝壳，一些水顺他的手臂流下。贝壳是深米色的，散布着淡淡的粉红斑点。在磨出一个小孔的贝壳尖和粉红色的贝壳嘴当中，壳体长约十八英寸，略呈螺旋状，表面还有精巧的凸纹。拉尔夫把壳内深处的沙子摇晃出来。
“– mooed like a cow,” he said. “He had some white stones too, an’ a bird cage with a green parrot. He didn’t blow the white stones, of course, an’ he said –“
“——像头奶牛哞哞叫，”猪崽子说。“他还有些白石子，还有一只养着绿鹦鹉的鸟笼。当然，他不会去吹那些石子，他说——”
Piggy paused for breath and stroked the glistening thing that lay in Ralph’s hands.
猪崽子停下来喘了口气，摸摸拉尔夫手里那个闪光的东西。
“Ralph!”
“拉尔夫！”
Ralph looked up.
拉尔夫抬起头来。
“We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us –“
“咱们可以吹这个来召人开会。他们听见了会来的——”
He beamed at Ralph.
他笑看着拉尔夫。
“That was what you meant, didn’t you? That’s why you got the conch out of the water?”
“这不就是你的意思吗？你从水里捞起这只海螺就为这缘故吧？”
Ralph pushed back his fair hair.
拉尔夫把金黄的头发往后一撩。
“How did your friend blow the conch?”
“你那朋友怎么吹海螺的？”
“He kind of spat,” said Piggy. “My auntie wouldn’t let me blow on account of my asthma. He said you blew from down here.” Piggy laid a hand on his jutting abdomen. “You try, Ralph. You’ll call the others.”
“他吹起来有点像吐唾沫似的，”猪崽子说。“我姨妈不让我吹，因为我有气喘病。他说你从下面这儿使劲往贝壳里吹。”猪崽子把一只手放到他那突出的小肚子上。“你试试看，拉尔夫。会把别人召来的。”
Doubtfully, Ralph laid the small end of the shell against his mouth and blew. There came a rushing sound from its mouth but nothing more. Ralph wiped the salt water off his lips and tried again, but the shell remained silent.
拉尔夫半信半疑，他把贝壳小的一头抵在嘴上吹起来。从贝壳嘴里冲出一阵急促的声音，可再没别的了。拉尔夫擦去嘴唇上的咸水，又试吹起来，但贝壳里仍然没有一点声音出来。
“He kind of spat.”
“他吹起来有点像吐唾沫似的。”
Ralph pursed his lips and squirted air into the shell, which emitted a low, farting noise. This amused both boys so much that Ralph went on squirting for some minutes, between bouts of laughter.
拉尔夫噘起嘴往里鼓气，贝壳呜地冒出一种低沉的、放屁似的声音。这下子可把两个男孩逗乐了，在一阵阵哈哈的笑声之中拉尔夫又使劲吹了几分钟。
“He blew from down here.”
“他从下面这儿使劲吹。”
Ralph grasped the idea and hit the shell with air from his diaphragm. Immediately the thing sounded. A deep, harsh note boomed under the palms, spread through the intricacies of the forest and echoed back from the pink granite of the mountain. Clouds of birds rose from the treetops, and something squealed and ran in the undergrowth.
拉尔夫这才抓住了要点，运用横膈膜的气往贝壳里猛送。霎时那东西就响了。一种低沉而又刺耳的声音在掌心中嗡嗡作响，随后穿透杂乱无章的林海，到粉红色的花岗岩山才发出回声。成群的鸟儿从树梢上惊起，下层的林丛中则有什么动物在吱吱乱叫乱跑。
Ralph took the shell away from his lips.
拉尔夫把贝壳从嘴边拿开。
“Gosh!”
“天哪！”
His ordinary voice sounded like a whisper after the harsh note of the conch. He laid the conch against his lips, took a deep breath and blew once more. The note boomed again: and then at his firmer pressure, the note, fluking up an octave, became a strident blare more penetrating than before. Piggy was shouting something, his face pleased, his glasses flashing. The birds cried, small animals scuttered. Ralph’s breath failed; the note dropped the octave, became a low wubber, was a rush of air.
听过海螺刺耳的声音后，他那平常的讲话声再听起来就像是悄声细语。他把海螺顶住嘴唇，深吸一口，又吹了一下。螺声再次嗡嗡作响，然后随着他越来越使劲，声音碰巧升高了一个八度，比刚才吹的一次更加刺耳。猪崽子哇哇地高喊，面带喜色，眼镜闪闪发亮。鸟儿在惊叫，小动物在急促地四散奔逃。拉尔夫接不上气了，海螺的声音又跌下了八度，变成一股低沉的呜呜气流[5]。【注：[5] 原文wubber，系作者臆造，拟声。】
The conch was silent, a gleaming tusk; Ralph’s face was dark with breathlessness and the air over the island was full of bird-clamor and echoes ringing.
海螺沉默了，就像一支闪烁的獠牙；拉尔夫的脸由于接不上气而灰暗无光，岛的上空充满了鸟儿的惊叫声以及各种回声。
“I bet you can hear that for miles.”
“我敢打赌，你在几英里外都听得见。”
Ralph found his breath and blew a series of short blasts.
拉尔夫喘过气，又吹了一连串短促的强音。
Piggy exclaimed: “There’s one!”
猪崽子欢叫起来：“来了一个！”
A child had appeared among the palms, about a hundred yards along the beach. He was a boy of perhaps six years, sturdy and fair, his clothes torn, his face covered with a sticky mess of fruit. His trousers had been lowered for an obvious purpose and had only been pulled back half-way. He jumped off the palm terrace into the sand and his trousers fell about his ankles; he stepped out of them and trotted to the platform. Piggy helped him up. Meanwhile Ralph continued to blow till voices shouted in the forest. The small boy squatted in front of Ralph, looking up brightly and vertically. As he received the reassurance of something purposeful being done he began to look satisfied, and his only clean digit, a pink thumb, slid into his mouth.
沿海滩约一百码的棕榈树林里冒出了一个男孩子。他六岁上下，身体结实、头发金黄、衣衫褴褛，面孔则被黏糊糊的野果浆汁涂得一塌糊涂。为了某种显而易见的目的，他把裤子脱了下来，现在刚拉上一半。他从长着棕榈树的斜坡跳进沙滩，裤子又落到脚踝上；他一步步地走出沙滩，小步跑到平台。猪崽子在他上来的时候帮了把忙。与此同时，拉尔夫继续猛吹海螺，吹到林中响起了许多小孩的声音。小男孩朝拉尔夫面前一蹲，快活地仰起头来直望着拉尔夫。等到他肯定地知道他们将一道干点事情时，才流露出一种心满意足的神态，并把他唯一还算干净的指头，一只肉色的大拇指，放进了嘴巴。
Piggy leaned down to him.
猪崽子向他弯下腰去。
“What’s yer name?”
“你叫什么名字？”
“Johnny.”
“约翰尼。”
Piggy muttered the name to himself and then shouted it to Ralph, who was not interested because he was still blowing. His face was dark with the violent pleasure of making this stupendous noise, and his heart was making the stretched shirt shake. The shouting in the forest was nearer.
猪崽子喃喃自语着这个名字，随后大声地说给拉尔夫听，而后者毫无兴趣，因为他还在使劲地吹海螺。拉尔夫紫涨着脸，为吹出这种巨大的声响而兴奋至极，他的心似乎跳得连敞开的衬衫也在颤动。森林中有片呼喊声越来越近。
Signs of life were visible now on the beach. The sand, trembling beneath the heat haze, concealed many figures in its miles of length; boys were making their way toward the platform through the hot, dumb sand. Three small children, no older than Johnny, appeared from startlingly close at hand, where they had been gorging fruit in the forest. A dark little boy, not much younger than Piggy, parted a tangle of undergrowth, walked on to the platform, and smiled cheerfully at everybody. More and more of them came. Taking their cue from the innocent Johnny, they sat down on the fallen palm trunks and waited. Ralph continued to blow short, penetrating blasts. Piggy moved among the crowd, asking names and frowning to remember them. The children gave him the same simple obedience that they had given to the men with megaphones. Some were naked and carrying their clothes; others half-naked, or more or less dressed, in school uniforms, grey, blue, fawn, jacketed, or jerseyed. There were badges, mottoes even, stripes of color in stockings and pullovers. Their heads clustered above the trunks in the green shade; heads brown, fair, black, chestnut, sandy, mouse-colored; heads muttering, whispering, heads full of eyes that watched Ralph and speculated. Something was being done.
海滩上此刻出现了一派生机勃勃的迹象。左右伸展开达几英里长、在暑热烟霭底下震颤着的沙滩上，时隐时现着许多人影；一群男孩子经过烫人而无声的海滩，正朝平台赶来。三个不比约翰尼大的小孩子从近得令人吃惊的地方突地冒了出来。他们方才一直在森林里狼吞虎咽地大嚼野果。一个肤色黝黑、不比猪崽子小多少的孩子，拨开一处矮灌木林丛钻出来，走到了平台上，愉快地朝大伙儿笑笑。越来越多的孩子们赶来了。他们从天真的约翰尼身上得到启示，坐等在倒下的棕榈树干上。拉尔夫继续不停地猛吹出短促又刺耳的海螺声。猪崽子则在人群中东走西跑，问名问姓并皱眉皱额地记着这些名字。孩子们服从猪崽子，就像过去无条件服从带话筒的大人。有些孩子光着身子，提着衣服；还有些半裸着身子，或者多少穿点衣服；有穿各种学校制服：灰色、蓝色、浅黄色的；有穿茄克衫或线衫的；有穿着彩条纹袜子和紧身上衣的；还有戴着各种徽章，甚至格言牌的。在绿阴里横卧着的树干之上，人头济济，头发有褐色的、金黄的、黑色的、栗色的、淡茶色的、鼠灰色的；都在那儿窃窃私语，都睁大着眼睛观察着拉尔夫，猜测着某种事情正在进行。
The children who came along the beach, singly or in twos, leapt into visibility when they crossed the line from heat haze to nearer sand. Here, the eye was first attracted to a black, bat-like creature that danced on the sand, and only later perceived the body above it. The bat was the child’s shadow, shrunk by the vertical sun to a patch between the hurrying feet. Even while he blew, Ralph noticed the last pair of bodies that reached the platform above a fluttering patch of black. The two boys, bullet-headed and with hair like tow, flung themselves down and lay grinning and panting at Ralph like dogs. They were twins, and the eye was shocked and incredulous at such cheery duplication. They breathed together, they grinned together, they were chunky and vital. They raised wet lips at Ralph, for they seemed provided with not quite enough skin, so that their profiles were blurred and their mouths pulled open. Piggy bent his flashing glasses to them and could be heard between the blasts, repeating their names.
沿着海滩单独地、或三三两两地走来的孩子，越过暑热烟霭至附近沙滩的交接部分就一跃而变得清晰可见。在这儿，孩子们的眼光先被一个在沙滩上舞动着的、黑黑的、蝙蝠样的东西吸引住了，随后才察觉到这之上的身体。原来蝙蝠样的东西是一个孩子的身影，由于垂直的阳光照射而在杂乱的脚步之中缩成的一块斑影。就是当拉尔夫在吹海螺时，他也注意到了最后两个随飘动的黑斑影到达平台的身体。两个脑袋尖尖、长着短麻屑似的头发的男孩，像狗似的趴倒在拉尔夫面前，躺在那里气喘吁吁地露齿而笑。他们俩是双胞胎，长得非常相像，此刻正微笑着；孩子们见了大吃一惊，简直难以相信自己的眼睛。双胞胎一块儿呼气吸气，一块儿咧嘴而笑，矮小结实，生气勃勃。他们俩朝拉尔夫抬起湿润的嘴唇。似乎是因为身上皮肤不够，所以他们的侧影显得模糊、嘴巴张得挺大。猪崽子朝他们弯下身子，他亮闪闪的眼镜对着他们，在阵阵的海螺声中重复着他们两人的名字。
“Sam, Eric, Sam, Eric.”
“萨姆埃里克，萨姆埃里克[6]。”【注：[6] 即Sam and Eric（萨姆和埃里克）双胞胎两人名字的共同的简称。】
Then he got muddled; the twins shook their heads and pointed at each other and the crowd laughed.
猪崽子一时给弄糊涂了；双胞胎晃着脑袋，指来点去，大伙儿哈哈大笑。
At last Ralph ceased to blow and sat there, the conch trailing from one hand, his head bowed on his knees. As the echoes died away so did the laughter, and there was silence.
拉尔夫终于停住不吹了，坐在那儿，一只手提着海螺，脑袋低垂在膝盖上。海螺的回声消失了，随后笑声也消失了，一片静谧。
Within the diamond haze of the beach something dark was fumbling along. Ralph saw it first, and watched till the intentness of his gaze drew all eyes that way. Then the creature stepped from mirage on to clear sand, and they saw that the darkness was not all shadow but mostly clothing. The creature was a party of boys, marching approximately in step in two parallel lines and dressed in strangely eccentric clothing. Shorts, shirts, and different garments they carried in their hands; but each boy wore a square black cap with a silver badge on it. Their bodies, from throat to ankle, were hidden by black cloaks which bore a long silver cross on the left breast and each neck was finished off with a hambone frill. The heat of the tropics, the descent, the search for food, and now this sweaty march along the blazing beach had given them the complexions of newly washed plums. The boy who controlled them was dressed in the same way though his cap badge was golden. When his party was about ten yards from the platform he shouted an order and they halted, gasping, sweating, swaying in the fierce light. The boy himself came forward, vaulted on to the platform with his cloak flying, and peered into what to him was almost complete darkness.
在海滩钻石般闪烁的烟霭中某种黑乎乎的东西正在摸索前来。拉尔夫一眼先见，他注视着，他全神贯注的眼光渐渐把所有孩子的眼光都吸引到那个方向。接着那个东西从烟霭中走到了清晰的沙滩上，这下孩子们才看到黑乎乎的并不全是阴影，却大多是衣服。那东西是一队男孩，他们穿着令人陌生的古怪衣服，排成并列的两行，迈着整齐的步子。他们手里拿着短裤、衬衫，提着各种衣服；但每个男孩都头戴一顶带银色帽徽的黑方帽。他们的身体从喉咙到脚跟都裹在黑斗篷里，左胸前还佩着一个长长的、银色的十字架，每个人的颈部都装饰着丑角服装上用的叠花边领。热带的暑热，翻山越岭，寻找食物，此刻再加上沿着光线强烈得令人目眩的海滩这次大汗淋漓的行军，使他们的皮肤红得就像刚洗过的梅子。管他们的一个男孩穿着一样，不过他的帽徽是金色的。这支队伍离平台约十码远时，他一声令下，队伍停住，在赤热的阳光下他们个个气喘吁吁，汗如雨下，东摇西晃。这个男孩独自往前走来，斗篷轻扬，一跃而上平台，此刻他眼前几乎是一片漆黑，但他仍盯着前面看。
“Where’s the man with the trumpet?”
“带喇叭的大人在哪儿？”
Ralph, sensing his sun-blindness, answered him.
拉尔夫觉察到他的眼睛被太阳照得看不清东西，回答道：
“There’s no man with a trumpet. Only me.”
“这儿没带喇叭的大人。只有我。”
The boy came close and peered down at Ralph, screwing up his face as he did so. What he saw of the fair-haired boy with the creamy shell on his knees did not seem to satisfy him. He turned quickly, his black cloak circling.
这男孩走近一点，眼光向下，盯着拉尔夫，同时皱起面孔。看见了一个膝盖上搁着深米色贝壳的金发男孩，这似乎并没有使他满足。他麻利地转过身来，黑斗篷兜着圈圈。
“Isn’t there a ship, then?”
“那么，有没有船呢？”
Inside the floating cloak he was tall, thin, and bony; and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness. Out of this face stared two light blue eyes, frustrated now, and turning, or ready to turn, to anger.
在拂动着的斗篷里显出他是个大身架的瘦高个儿：黑帽子下露出红头发。他脸上长着鸡皮疙瘩和雀斑，长相难看，但并不带傻样。两只浅蓝色的眼睛向前看着，此刻虽有点沮丧，但又露出正要发怒的样子，或者说随时准备发怒的样子。
“Isn’t there a man here?”
“这儿没大人喽？”
Ralph spoke to his back.
拉尔夫在他背后回答：
“No. We’re having a meeting. Come and join in.”
“没有，可我们正开会呢。来参加吧。”
The group of cloaked boys began to scatter from close line. The tall boy shouted at them.
穿斗篷的男孩们挤得紧紧的队列散了开来。高个子的男孩对他们喊道：
“Choir! Stand still!”
“合唱队[7]！立正！”【注：[7] 原文choir，即教堂里的唱诗班。】
Wearily obedient, the choir huddled into line and stood there swaying in the sun. None the less, some began to protest faintly.
队员们服从了，但他们疲惫不堪，挤在一起排成一个队列，在阳光下站在那里摇来晃去。其中也有一些开始小声抱怨起来：
“But, Merridew. Please, Merridew… can’t we?”
“可是，梅瑞狄。请问，梅瑞狄……我们可不可以……？”
Then one of the boys flopped on his face in the sand and the line broke up. They heaved the fallen boy to the platform and let him lie. Merridew, his eyes staring, made the best of a bad job.
就在那时，一个男孩突然噗地一声合脸倒在沙滩上，队伍一下子乱了套。他们把摔倒在地的男孩抬到平台上，让他躺下。梅瑞狄瞪着眼，无可奈何地说：
“All right then. Sit down. Let him alone.”
“那好吧。坐下。由他去。”
“But Merridew.”
“可是，梅瑞狄。”
“He’s always throwing a faint,” said Merridew. “He did in Gib.; and Addis; and at matins over the precentor.”
“他老是晕倒，”梅瑞狄说，“在直布罗陀晕倒；在亚的斯亚贝巴晕倒；而且在晨祷时还晕倒在指挥身上呢。”
This last piece of shop brought sniggers from the choir, who perched like black birds on the criss-cross trunks and examined Ralph with interest. Piggy asked no names. He was intimidated by this uniformed superiority and the offhand authority in Merridew’s voice. He shrank to the other side of Ralph and busied himself with his glasses.
这最后一句行话引起了合唱队员的一阵窃笑，他们像一群黑鸟似的栖息在横七竖八的树干上，很感兴趣地观察着拉尔夫。猪崽子没敢再问名字。这种整齐划一所产生的优越感，还有梅瑞狄口气中毫不客气的权威性，把他给镇住了。他畏畏缩缩地退到拉尔夫的另一边，拨弄起自己的眼镜。
Merridew turned to Ralph.
梅瑞狄转向拉尔夫。
“Aren’t there any grownups?”
“一个大人也没有吗？”
“No.”
“没有。”
Merridew sat down on a trunk and looked round the circle.
梅瑞狄坐在树干上环顾着四周。
“Then we’ll have to look after ourselves.”
“那么我们只好自己料理自己的事情了。”
Secure on the other side of Ralph, Piggy spoke timidly.
在拉尔夫的另一边感到安全了一点的猪崽子怯生生地说道：
“That’s why Ralph made a meeting. So as we can decide what to do. We’ve heard names. That’s Johnny. Those two — they’re twins, Sam ‘n Eric. Which is Eric –? You? No — you’re Sam –“
“就为这，拉尔夫才召开这个会，来决定我们该怎么办。我们已经晓得了一些名字。那是约翰尼。那两个——他们是双胞胎，萨姆和埃里克。哪个是埃里克——？你？不——你是萨姆——”
“I’m Sam –“
“我是萨姆——”
“‘n I’m Eric.”
“我是埃里克。”
“We’d better all have names,” said Ralph, “so I’m Ralph.”
“最好大家报报名字，”拉尔夫说道，“我叫拉尔夫。”
“We got most names,” said Piggy. “Got ’em just now.”
“我们已经知道大部分人的名字了，”猪崽子说。“刚知道这些名字。”
“Kids’ names,” said Merridew. “Why should I be Jack? I’m Merridew.”
“小孩儿的名字，”梅瑞狄说。“为什么偏要叫我杰克？我叫梅瑞狄。”
Ralph turned to him quickly. This was the voice of one who knew his own mind.
拉尔夫很快地朝他转过身来。听得出这是一种自己会拿主意的口气。
“Then,” went on Piggy, “that boy — I forget –“
“还有，”猪崽子继续说道，“那个男孩——我忘了——”
“You’re talking too much,” said Jack Merridew. “Shut up, Fatty.”
“你够啰嗦了。”杰克·梅瑞狄说。“闭嘴，胖子。”
Laughter arose.
一阵大笑。
“He’s not Fatty,” cried Ralph, “his real name’s Piggy!”
“他可不叫胖子，”拉尔夫喊道，“他名叫猪崽子！”
“Piggy!”
“猪崽子！”
“Piggy!”
“猪崽子哟！”
“Oh, Piggy!”
“嗬，猪崽子哟！”
A storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in. For the moment the boys were a closed circuit of sympathy with Piggy outside: he went very pink, bowed his head and cleaned his glasses again.
响起了暴风雨般的笑声，甚至连最小的孩子也在笑。片刻之间除猪崽子以外，其他男孩子们都连成一气，猪崽子脸色通红，耷拉着脑袋，又擦起眼镜来。
Finally the laughter died away and the naming continued. There was Maurice, next in size among the choir boys to Jack, but broad and grinning all the time. There was a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy. He muttered that his name was Roger and was silent again. Bill, Robert, Harold, Henry; the choir boy who had fainted sat up against a palm trunk, smiled pallidly at Ralph and said that his name was Simon.
笑声总算平息了下去，又继续点名。在合唱队的男孩里一直粗俗地龇牙咧嘴的那个是莫里斯，他的个儿仅次于杰克。还有个谁也不认识的鬼头鬼脑的瘦个子男孩，他老一个人呆着，一副躲躲闪闪、偷偷摸摸的样子。他喃喃地说完他的名字是罗杰，又一声不吭了。还有比尔、罗伯特、哈罗德、亨利等等；才晕倒过，现在靠着一根棕榈树干坐着的那个合唱队男孩，脸色苍白地朝拉尔夫微笑，说自己叫西蒙。
Jack spoke.
杰克说话了。
“We’ve got to decide about being rescued.”
“咱们该想定一个办法，想想怎么才能得救。”
There was a buzz. One of the small boys, Henry, said that he wanted to go home.
一阵嘁嘁喳喳之声。一个叫亨利的小男孩说他要回家。
“Shut up,” said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things.”
“住口，”拉尔夫漫不经心地说着。他举起海螺。“我觉得该有个头儿来对某些事情下决定。”
“A chief! A chief!”
“一个头儿！一个头儿！”
“I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.”
“我该当头儿，”杰克骄矜地说，“因为我是合唱队的领唱，又是领头的。我会唱升C调。”
Another buzz.
又是一阵闹哄哄的声音。
“Well then,” said Jack, “I –“
“那好吧，”杰克说，“我——”
He hesitated. The dark boy, Roger, stirred at last and spoke up.
他踌躇不定了。后来那个叫罗杰的、黑黝黝的男孩动弹一下，讲话了。
“Let’s have a vote.”
“大伙儿投票表决。”
“Yes!”
“对呀！”
“Vote for chief!”
“选一个头儿！”
“Let’s vote –“
“大伙儿选——”
This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch. Jack started to protest but the clamor changed from the general wish for a chief to an election by acclaim of Ralph himself. None of the boys could have found good reason for this; what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy while the most obvious leader was Jack. But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch. The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees, was set apart.
这场选举的游戏几乎像海螺那样令人开心。杰克开始反对，但是希望有个头的要求已经变成一场选举，而且拉尔夫本人也大声表示赞同。没有一个男孩能找得出充分的理由来解释这种现象；猪崽子感到情况已经明摆在那里，头头非杰克莫属。然而，拉尔夫坐在那里，身上有着某种镇定自若的风度，与众不同：他有那样的身材，外貌也很吸引人；而最最说不清的，或许也是最强有力的，那就是海螺。他是吹过海螺的人，现正在平台上坐等着大家选他，膝盖上安安稳稳地搁着那碰不起的东西，他就是跟大家不同。
“Him with the shell.”
“选那个有贝壳的。”
“Ralph! Ralph!”
“拉尔夫！拉尔夫！”
“Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing.”
“让那个有喇叭似的玩意儿的人当头。”
Ralph raised a hand for silence.
拉尔夫举起一手以示安静。
“All right. Who wants Jack for chief?”
“好了。谁要杰克当头？”
With dreary obedience the choir raised their hands.
合唱队以一种沉闷的服从举起了手。
“Who wants me?”
“谁要我当？”
Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.
除合唱队、猪崽子以外，其余的人都立刻举起了手。随后猪崽子也勉强举起了手。
Ralph counted.
拉尔夫点着数。
“I’m chief then.”
“那我当选头头了。”
The circle of boys broke into applause. Even the choir applauded; and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification. He started up, then changed his mind and sat down again while the air rang. Ralph looked at him, eager to offer something.
孩子们鼓起掌来，甚至连合唱队员也拍起手来；杰克恼羞成怒，脸红得连雀斑都看不见了。他刷地站立起来，接着又改变主意坐下；与此同时，闹哄哄的声音仍在继续。拉尔夫瞧着杰克，急于表示点意思。
“The choir belongs to you, of course.”
“合唱队归你，当然。”
“They could be the army –“
“他们确能组成一支队伍——”
“Or hunters –“
“或当猎手——”
“They could be –“
“他们可以当——”
The suffusion drained away from Jack’s face. Ralph waved again for silence.
杰克红涨的脸色渐渐恢复了正常。拉尔夫又挥手示意安静。
“Jack’s in charge of the choir. They can be — what do you want them to be?”
“杰克负责管合唱队。他们可以当——你要他们当什么？”
“Hunters.”
“猎手。”
Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with shy liking. The rest began to talk eagerly.
杰克和拉尔夫互相微笑着，两人都带着一种羞怯的好感。其余的男孩迫不及待地讲起话来。
Jack stood up.
杰克站起身。
“All right, choir. Take off your togs.”
“好了，合唱队，脱掉你们的外套。”
As if released from class, the choir boys stood up, chattered, piled their black cloaks on the grass. Jack laid his on the trunk by Ralph. His grey shorts were sticking to him with sweat. Ralph glanced at them admiringly, and when Jack saw his glance he explained.
就像下课一样，合唱队的男孩子一立而起，一面叽叽喳喳地说着话，一面把黑斗篷堆在草地上。杰克把自己的衣服往拉尔夫身旁的树干上一撂。满是汗水的灰短裤紧贴在他身上。拉尔夫不无钦佩地看看他们，杰克注意到了拉尔夫的眼光，解释道：
“I tried to get over that hill to see if there was water all round. But your shell called us.”
“刚才我正要爬过那座小山，想知道四周有水围着没有。可你的海螺声把我们给召来了。”
Ralph smiled and held up the conch for silence.
拉尔夫微笑着，他举起海螺以示安静。
“Listen, everybody. I’ve got to have time to think things out. I can’t decide what to do straight off. If this isn’t an island we might be rescued straight away. So we’ve got to decide if this is an island. Everybody must stay round here and wait and not go away. Three of us — if we take more we’d get all mixed, and lose each other — three of us will go on an expedition and find out. I’ll go, and Jack, and, and…”
“大伙儿听着。我得有时间把事情好好想想。我没法对一件事情立刻决定该怎么办。如果这不是个岛，咱们可能马上就会得救。所以咱们得决定这是不是一个岛。大家都必须呆在这儿附近，别走开。我们三个——要去多了就会把事情搞糟，还会互相丢失——我们三个先去摸摸底，把事情弄弄清楚。我去，还有杰克，还有，还有……”
He looked round the circle of eager faces. There was no lack of boys to choose from.
他环顾着四周一张张急切的面孔。挑选的余地很大。
“And Simon.”
“还有西蒙。”
The boys round Simon giggled, and he stood up, laughing a little. Now that the pallor of his faint was over, he was a skinny, vivid little boy, with a glance coming up from under a hut of straight hair that hung down, black and coarse.
西蒙周围的男孩吃吃地笑了，于是他站起来，也微微笑了。西蒙因发晕而苍白的脸色已恢复了正常，不难看出，他虽瘦小，却是个挺精神的小男孩。从披散下来的、又黑又粗又乱的头发下露出炯炯的目光。
He nodded at Ralph.
他朝拉尔夫点点头。
“I’ll come.”
“我去。”
“And I –“
“还有我——”
Jack snatched from behind him a sizable sheath-knife and clouted it into a trunk. The buzz rose and died away.
杰克嗖地从身后的刀鞘里拔出了一把相当大的刀子，一下子捅进了树干。响起了一阵窃窃私语声，随后又平静下来。
Piggy stirred.
猪崽子嚷嚷道：
“I’ll come.”
“我也要去。”
Ralph turned to him.
拉尔夫向他转过身去。
“You’re no good on a job like this.”
“这种事你干不了。”
“All the same –“
“我反正要去——”
“We don’t want you,” said Jack, flatly. “Three’s enough.”
“我们用不着你，”杰克直截了当地说。“三个尽够了。”
Piggy’s glasses flashed.
猪崽子的眼镜一闪一亮。
“I was with him when he found the conch. I was with him before anyone else was.”
“他刚找到海螺那阵子我就跟他在一起。我早就跟他在一块儿，比谁都早。”
Jack and the others paid no attention. There was a general dispersal. Ralph, Jack and Simon jumped off the platform and walked along the sand past the bathing pool. Piggy hung bumbling behind them.
杰克和别的孩子们对这点毫不理会。眼下大伙儿已经散开。拉尔夫、杰克和西蒙从平台上一跃而下，沿着沙滩走过洗澡的水潭。猪崽子跌跌撞撞地紧跟在他们身后。
“If Simon walks in the middle of us,” said Ralph, “then we could talk over his head.”
“要是西蒙在咱俩当中走，”拉尔夫说道，“那咱们就可以在他头顶上讲话。”
The three of them fell into step. This meant that every now and then Simon had to do a double shuffle to catch up with the others. Presently Ralph stopped and turned back to Piggy.
三个孩子加快了脚步。这就使得西蒙不得不时时加快步子跟上他们。不一会儿拉尔夫停住脚转身看看猪崽子。
“Look.”
“瞧。”
Jack and Simon pretended to notice nothing. They walked on.
杰克和西蒙装作什么也没注意到，继续赶路。
“You can’t come.”
“你不能来。”
Piggy’s glasses were misted again — this time with humiliation.
猪崽子的眼镜又蒙上了一层雾气——这回还带着一种蒙羞受辱的感觉。
“You told ’em. After what I said.”
“你告诉了他们。我说了以后还告诉他们。”
His face flushed, his mouth trembled.
他满脸通红，嘴巴颤动着。
“After I said I didn’t want –“
“我说过我不要——”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“你到底在说什么呀？”
“About being called Piggy. I said I didn’t care as long as they didn’t call me Piggy; an’ I said not to tell and then you went an’ said straight out –“
“关于称呼我猪崽子的事。我说过只要他们不叫我猪崽子，别的我就不在乎；我还说别告诉人，后来你就一下子说了出去——”
Stillness descended on them. Ralph, looking with more understanding at Piggy, saw that he was hurt and crushed. He hovered between the two courses of apology or further insult.
两个孩子都不响了。拉尔夫恍然大悟地瞧着猪崽子，看出他的感情受到伤害，正气得要命。拉尔夫犹豫不决，到底是道歉一声好，还是干脆火上浇油。
“Better Piggy than Fatty,” he said at last, with the directness of genuine leadership, “and anyway, I’m sorry if you feel like that. Now go back, Piggy, and take names. That’s your job. So long.”
“叫你猪崽子总比叫胖子好，”拉尔夫最后说，带着一种真正领导派头的直率说道，“不管怎么样，要是你感到不高兴，我为此而抱歉。好了，回去吧，猪崽子，去点名。那是你的活儿。回头见。”
He turned and raced after the other two. Piggy stood and the rose of indignation faded slowly from his cheeks. He went back to the platform.
拉尔夫转身去追另外两个。猪崽子停住脚，双颊上的怒容慢慢地消失了。他往后朝平台方向走去。
The three boys walked briskly on the sand. The tide was low and there was a strip of weed-strewn beach that was almost as firm as a road. A kind of glamour was spread over them and the scene and they were conscious of the glamour and made happy by it. They turned to each other, laughing excitedly, talking, not listening. The air was bright. Ralph, faced by the task of translating all this into an explanation, stood on his head and fell over. When they had done laughing, Simon stroked Ralph’s arm shyly; and they had to laugh again.
三个男孩在沙滩上轻快地走着。海潮平平，一长条布满海藻的海滩坚硬得几乎像条路。孩子们感觉到一种魅力扩展到他们和周围景色之上，为此兴高采烈。他们互相顾盼，大声嬉笑，说个不停，可谁也没有把别人的话听进去。气氛明朗而欢快。拉尔夫面临着对所有这一切作出解释的任务，他来了个拿大顶，又倒了过来。三个孩子刚笑完，西蒙怯生生地触触拉尔夫的手臂；他们又禁不住笑起来。
“Come on,” said Jack presently, “we’re explorers.”
“前进，”杰克跟着说，“咱们是探险家。”
“We’ll go to the end of the island,” said Ralph, “and look round the corner.”
“咱们要走到岛的尽头，”拉尔夫说道，“到岛角上去转转看。”
“If it is an island –“
“假如这是个岛——”
Now, toward the end of the afternoon, the mirages were settling a little. They found the end of the island, quite distinct, and not magicked out of shape or sense. There was a jumble of the usual squareness, with one great block sitting out in the lagoon. Sea birds were nesting there.
时近傍晚，烟雾逐渐地散开去。岛的尽头他们看得清清楚楚，在形状和感觉上都并不出奇。那是一个普普通通的方方的混杂地形，在环礁湖里还坐落着一大块巨石。海鸟正在上头营窝作巢。
“Like icing,” said Ralph, “on a pink cake.”
“正像一层糖霜，”拉尔夫说，“在粉红色的蛋糕上的糖霜。”
“We shan’t see round this corner,” said Jack, “because there isn’t one. Only a slow curve — and you can see, the rocks get worse –“
“这个角落没啥转头，”杰克说，“因为根本没有一块大岩石，只有个弧形地段——而且，你们还看得到，山岩乱极了——”
Ralph shaded his eyes and followed the jagged outline of the crags up toward the mountain. This part of the beach was nearer the mountain than any other that they had seen.
拉尔夫用手遮着太阳光，眼光随着一片岩——沿山向上的高高低低的轮廓望去。这一部分的海滩比他们见过的其他部分都更靠近山。
“We’ll try climbing the mountain from here,” he said. “I should think this is the easiest way. There’s less of that jungly stuff; and more pink rock. Come on.”
“咱们从这儿爬试试看，”他说。“我倒是认为从这条路上山最方便。这儿丛林植物少点；粉红色的岩石较多。来吧。”
The three boys began to scramble up. Some unknown force had wrenched and shattered these cubes so that they lay askew, often piled diminishingly on each other. The most usual feature of the rock was a pink cliff surmounted by a skewed block; and that again surmounted, and that again, till the pinkness became a stack of balanced rock projecting through the looped fantasy of the forest creepers. Where the pink cliffs rose out of the ground there were often narrow tracks winding upwards. They could edge along them, deep in the plant world, their faces to the rock.
三个男孩开始向上登攀。不知是什么力量把一路上的山石扭曲砸碎，它们七歪八倒，常常是你堆我叠地垒作一团。这山岩最常见的特征是：在一个粉红岩石的峭壁顶上还盖着一大块歪斜的巨石；而在这之上又接二连三地压着石头，直至这一片粉红色的山岩形成一整块，保持着平衡，这一整块岩石穿过迷魂阵似的森林藤蔓凸向晴空。在粉红色的峭壁拔地而起的地方，有不少狭窄的小径逶迤而上。这些小径深陷在一片植物世界之中，孩子们可以面对山岩侧身沿着小径爬上去。
“What made this track?”
“这种小径是什么东西搞出来的呢？”
Jack paused, wiping the sweat from his face. Ralph stood by him, breathless.
杰克停了一下，擦着脸上的汗水。拉尔夫站在他身旁，上气不接下气。
“Men?”
“是人吗？”
Jack shook his head.
杰克摇摇头。
“Animals.”
“是动物。”
Ralph peered into the darkness under the trees. The forest minutely vibrated.
拉尔夫直盯着黑洞洞的树底下。森林微微地颤动着。
“Come on.”
“继续往前走。”
The difficulty was not the steep ascent round the shoulders of rock, but the occasional plunges through the undergrowth to get to the next path. Here the roots and stems of creepers were in such tangles that the boys had to thread through them like pliant needles. Their only guide, apart from the brown ground and occasional flashes of light through the foliage, was the tendency of slope: whether this hole, laced as it was with the cables of creeper, stood higher than that.
困难倒不在于沿着崎岖的山脊向上登攀，而在于不时地要穿越矮灌木林丛到达新的小路。在这儿，无数藤蔓的根茎紧缠在一起，孩子们不得不像穿针引线似的在其中前进。除开褐色的地面和偶尔透过树叶闪现的阳光，他们唯一的向导就是山坡的倾斜趋势：看那些四周长满粗大藤蔓的洞穴，是不是这一个高于那一个。
Somehow, they moved up.
孩子们渐渐地、想方设法地向上攀爬着。
Immured in these tangles, at perhaps their most difficult moment, Ralph turned with shining eyes to the others.
他们陷在这些乱糟糟的缠绕植物之中，在可以说是最困难的时候，拉尔夫目光闪闪地回顾着另两个。
“Wacco.”
“真带劲。”
“Wizard.”
“好极了。”
“Smashing.”
“没话说。”
The cause of their pleasure was not obvious. All three were hot, dirty and exhausted. Ralph was badly scratched. The creepers were as thick as their thighs and left little but tunnels for further penetration. Ralph shouted experimentally and they listened to the muted echoes.
他们并没有显而易见的理由该这样高兴。三个人全都热得要死、脏得要命、筋疲力尽。拉尔夫身上给划得一塌糊涂。藤蔓有大腿那么粗，缠绕在一起，仅留有很小的间隙，只好钻过去。拉尔夫试着叫了几声，他们所听到的只是低沉的回音。
“This is real exploring,” said Jack. “I bet nobody’s been here before.”
“这才是真正的探险。”杰克说道。“我敢打赌，以前这儿准没人来过。”
“We ought to draw a map,” said Ralph, “only we haven’t any paper.”
“咱们该画张地图，”拉尔夫说，“可就是没纸。”
“We could make scratches on bark,” said Simon, “and rub black stuff in.”
“咱们可以往树皮上划，”西蒙说道，“再使劲把黑的东西往里嵌。”
Again came the solemn communion of shining eyes in the gloom.
在暗淡的光线中，三人眨着亮闪闪的眼睛，进行着严肃的交流。
“Wacco.”
“真带劲。”
“Wizard.”
“好极了。”
There was no place for standing on one’s head. This time Ralph expressed the intensity of his emotion by pretending to knock Simon down; and soon they were a happy, heaving pile in the under-dusk.
这儿可没地方拿大顶了。这次拉尔夫表达激情的方式是装作要把西蒙撞倒；一会儿他们就在幽暗的树丛底下喘着粗气，乐成一团。
When they had fallen apart Ralph spoke first.
互相分开以后，拉尔夫先开了口。
“Got to get on.”
“得再走喽。”
The pink granite of the next cliff was further back from the creepers and trees so that they could trot up the path. This again led into more open forest so that they had a glimpse of the spread sea. With openness came the sun; it dried the sweat that had soaked their clothes in the dark, damp heat. At last the way to the top looked like a scramble over pink rock, with no more plunging through darkness. The boys chose their way through defiles and over heaps of sharp stone.
从藤蔓和树丛出去，下一个粉红色的花岗岩峭壁还在前面，离这儿隔着一段路，因而孩子们可以沿着小路小步往上跑。这条小路又通向更开阔的森林，他们得以在这当中瞥见一望无际的大海。骄阳毫无遮拦地照在小路上，阳光晒干了在黑暗和潮湿的暑热中浸透了他们衣服的汗水。通向山巅的最后一段路看上去就像在粉红岩石上的蔓草，蜿蜒而上，却不再投入黑暗之中。孩子们择路穿越狭隘的山路，翻过碎石砂砾的陡坡。
“Look! Look!”
“瞧哪！瞧哪！”
High over this end of the island, the shattered rocks lifted up their stacks and chimneys. This one, against which Jack leaned, moved with a grating sound when they pushed.
在岛的这一端的高处，四散的岩石隆起着，有的像草垛，有的像烟囱。杰克依傍着的那块大石头一推就动，发出刺耳的轧轧声。
“Come on –“
“前进——”
But not “Come on” to the top. The assault on the summit must wait while the three boys accepted this challenge. The rock was as large as a small motor car.
但不是“前进”到山顶去。突击顶峰还必须留待三个孩子接受如下的挑战以后：前面横着一块像小汽车那样大的岩石。
“Heave!”
“嗨哟！”
Sway back and forth, catch the rhythm.
岩石摇来摇去，跟上了节拍。
“Heave!”
“嗨哟！”
Increase the swing of the pendulum, increase, increase, come up and bear against that point of furthest balance — increase — increase — “Heave!”
摆动的幅度增大了，越来越大，直到逼近能维持平衡的临界点——来一下——再来一下——“嗨哟！”
The great rock loitered, poised on one toe, decided not to return, moved through the air, fell, struck, turned over, leapt droning through the air and smashed a deep hole in the canopy of the forest. Echoes and birds flew, white and pink dust floated, the forest further down shook as with the passage of an enraged monster: and then the island was still.
那块大石头在一个支点上摇动，晃晃荡荡，决然一去不返，它越过空中，摔下去，撞击着，翻着筋斗，在空中蹦跳着，发出深沉的嗡嗡声，在森林的翠顶上轰地砸出一个大洞。回声四起，鸟儿惊飞，那儿弥漫着白色的、粉红色的尘灰。远处再下面的森林震颤着，仿佛有一个发怒的恶魔经过，然后海岛又平静下来。
“Wacco!”
“真带劲！”
“Like a bomb!”
“真像一颗炸弹！”
“Whee-aa-oo!”
“喂——啊——呜！”
Not for five minutes could they drag themselves away from this triumph. But they left at last.
他们足有好几分钟沉浸在胜利的喜悦之中。终于又离开这地方朝前走。
The way to the top was easy after that. As they reached the last stretch Ralph stopped.
通向山顶的路之后就容易了。当他们离山顶还有最后一段路时，拉尔夫在原地停了下来。
“Golly!”
“天哪！”
They were on the lip of a circular hollow in the side of the mountain. This was filled with a blue flower, a rock plant of some sort, and the overflow hung down the vent and spilled lavishly among the canopy of the forest. The air was thick with butterflies, lifting, fluttering, settling.
他们正处在山侧的一个圆山谷边上，确切点说是半圆的山谷边上。这儿开满了蓝蓝的野花——一种岩生植物；溢流顺着口子垂荡下去，水沫乱溅地落到森林的翠顶上。空中满是翩翩飞舞，忽上忽下的各种彩蝶。
Beyond the hollow was the square top of the mountain and soon they were standing on it.
从圆山谷再往前一点就是方方的山头，不一会儿他们就已站在山顶上了。
They had guessed before that this was an island: clambering among the pink rocks, with the sea on either side, and the crystal heights of air, they had known by some instinct that the sea lay on every side. But there seemed something more fitting in leaving the last word till they stood on the top, and could see a circular horizon of water.
在登上山顶以前他们就猜到了这是个岛：因为在粉红色的岩石中向上爬时，两侧都是大海，高处的空气极其明澈，孩子们凭某种本能就意识到四面都是大海。可他们感到，似乎等站到山顶上，并可以看到圆环状的海平线时，再来下这个最后的结论更合适些。
Ralph turned to the others.
拉尔夫回头对另两个说：
“This belongs to us.”
“这个岛是属于咱们的。”
It was roughly boat-shaped: humped near this end with behind them the jumbled descent to the shore. On either side rocks, cliffs, treetops and a steep slope: forward there, the length of the boat, a tamer descent, tree-clad, with hints of pink: and then the jungly flat of the island, dense green, but drawn at the end to a pink tail. There, where the island petered out in water, was another island; a rock, almost detached, standing like a fort, facing them across the green with one bold, pink bastion.
海岛有点儿像船：他们所立之处地势隆起，他们身后参差不齐的地形下延到海岸。两边都是各种各样的岩石、峭壁、树梢，山坡很陡；正前方，在船身的范围之内，地形下降的坡度稍稍缓和一些，遍地覆盖着绿树，有的地方露出粉红色的岩石；再过去是岛上平坦而浓绿的丛林，延伸下去，最后以一块粉红色的岩石而告终。就在这个岛渐渐消失在海水的地方，有着另外一个岛：几乎是同海岛分开的一块像城堡似的岩石矗立着，隔着绿色的海面与孩子们相对，像一个险阻的粉红岩石的棱堡。
The boys surveyed all this, then looked out to sea. They were high up and the afternoon had advanced; the view was not robbed of sharpness by mirage.
孩子们俯瞰着这所有的一切，随后放眼大海。他们站得高高的；下午已经过去，而景象仍很清晰，并没有受到烟霭的干扰。
“That’s a reef. A coral reef. I’ve seen pictures like that.”
“那是礁石呢。一座珊瑚礁。我见过这样的图片。”
The reef enclosed more than one side of the island, lying perhaps a mile out and parallel to what they now thought of as their beach. The coral was scribbled in the sea as though a giant had bent down to reproduce the shape of the island in a flowing chalk line but tired before he had finished. Inside was peacock water, rocks and weeds showing as in an aquarium; outside was the dark blue of the sea. The tide was running so that long streaks of foam tailed away from the reef and for a moment they felt that the boat was moving steadily astern.
这礁石从两、三个方向环绕着小岛，它们位于一英里之外的海中，跟现在被孩子们看作是他们的海滩相平行。珊瑚礁在海中乱散着，就好像一个巨人曾弯腰要为海岛的轮廓划一条流动的白粉线，可还没来得及划好就因累而作罢。礁石内侧：海水绚烂、暗礁林立、海藻丛生，就像水族馆里的生态展览一样。礁石外侧是湛蓝的大海。海潮滚滚，礁石那边拖着长长的银白色的浪花泡沫，刹那间他们仿佛感到大船正在稳稳地后退着。
Jack pointed down.
杰克指着下面。
“That’s where we landed.”
“那是咱们登陆的地方啊。”
Beyond falls and cliffs there was a gash visible in the trees; there were the splintered trunks and then the drag, leaving only a fringe of palm between the scar and the sea. There, too, jutting into the lagoon, was the platform, with insect-like figures moving near it.
在瀑布和峭壁之外，树林中有一道明显的缺口：那是断树残干，往后延伸，在孤岩和大海之间只剩下一抹棕榈。也正在那儿，突入环礁湖的是那块高出的平台，周围有小虫似的人影在动来动去。
Ralph sketched a twining line from the bald spot on which they stood down a slope, a gully, through flowers, round and down to the rock where the scar started.
拉尔夫从他们所站的平地朝斜坡方向往下看去，约略看到一条曲折的线，那是一条溪谷，它穿过野花，盘旋直下到一块岩石，孤岩就从那里开始。
“That’s the quickest way back.”
“这条路回去最快。”
Eyes shining, mouths open, triumphant, they savored the right of domination. They were lifted up: were friends.
孩子们眼睛闪闪发亮，兴奋得合不拢嘴，他们凯旋了，品尝着占有的欢乐。他们精神振奋，全是好朋友。
“There’s no village smoke, and no boats,” said Ralph wisely. “We’ll make sure later; but I think it’s uninhabited.”
“没有村烟，也没有船只，”拉尔夫聪明地说。“咱们以后会吃准这点；可我认为这个岛没人住。”
“We’ll get food,” cried Jack. “Hunt. Catch things. until they fetch us.”
“咱们要找吃的，”杰克叫道。“打猎。抓猎物……等到有人找到咱们为止。”
Simon looked at them both, saying nothing but nodding till his black hair flopped backwards and forwards: his face was glowing.
西蒙瞧瞧他们俩，什么也没说，可一个劲地直点头，弄得黑头发前后乱甩：他脸上容光焕发。
Ralph looked down the other way where there was no reef.
拉尔夫俯瞰着没有礁石的另一个方向。
“Steeper,” said Jack.
“还要陡呢，”杰克说。
Ralph made a cupping gesture.
拉尔夫用手做成一个倒放着的杯子的形状。
“That bit of forest down there… the mountain holds it up.”
“那下面有一小片森林……山把那片森林抬高了。”
Every point of the mountain held up trees — flowers and trees. Now the forest stirred, roared, flailed. The nearer acres of rock flowers fluttered and for half a minute the breeze blew cool on their faces.
满山遍野都长着树木——各种野花和乔木。此刻森林骚动起来，萧声阵阵，此起彼伏。附近成片的岩生野花拂动着，一会儿微风就带着凉意吹到了他们的脸上。
Ralph spread his arms.
拉尔夫伸开双臂。
“All ours.”
“全是咱们的。”
They laughed and tumbled and shouted on the mountain.
孩子们在山上欢笑着、翻着筋斗、大声嚷嚷。
“I’m hungry.”
“我饿了。”
When Simon mentioned his hunger the others became aware of theirs.
西蒙一提起饿，别的孩子倒也感到了这点。
“Come on,” said Ralph. “We’ve found out what we wanted to know.”
“走吧，”拉尔夫说道。“咱们已经弄清楚想要了解的事情了。”
They scrambled down a rock slope, dropped among flowers and made their way under the trees. Here they paused and examined the bushes round them curiously.
他们翻过一道岩石斜坡，落到一片野花丛中，又在树木下找路前进。他们在那块地方停了下来，好奇地观察着四周的矮灌木丛。
Simon spoke first.
西蒙先开了口。
“Like candles. Candle bushes. Candle buds.”
“像蜡烛。蜡烛矮树。蜡烛花蕾。”
The bushes were dark evergreen and aromatic and the many buds were waxen green and folded up against the light. Jack slashed at one with his knife and the scent spilled over them.
矮灌木丛是墨绿的常青树，芳香扑鼻，好多光滑的绿色花蕾叠着花瓣朝向阳光。杰克拿刀一砍，香沫四溅。
“Candle buds.”
“蜡烛花蕾。”
“You couldn’t light them,” said Ralph. “They just look like candles.”
“你又不能拿花蕾点燃，”拉尔夫说。“它们只是看上去像蜡烛。”
“Green candles,” said Jack contemptuously. “We can’t eat them. Come on.”
“绿蜡烛，”杰克鄙弃地说，“咱们又不能吃这些玩意儿。走吧。”
They were in the beginnings of the thick forest, plonking with weary feet on a track, when they heard the noises — squeakings — and the hard strike of hoofs on a path. As they pushed forward the squeaking increased till it became a frenzy. They found a piglet caught in a curtain of creepers, throwing itself at the elastic traces in all the madness of extreme terror. Its voice was thin, needle-sharp and insistent; The three boys rushed forward and Jack drew his knife again with a flourish. He raised his arm in the air. There came a pause, a hiatus, the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk, and the blade continued to flash at the end of a bony arm. The pause was only long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downward stroke would be. Then the piglet tore loose from the creepers and scurried into the undergrowth. They were left looking at each other and the place of terror. Jack’s face was white under the freckles. He noticed that he still held the knife aloft and brought his arm down replacing the blade in the sheath. Then they all three laughed ashamedly and began to climb back to the track.
孩子们又开始进入密密的森林，他们拖着疲乏的步子扑通扑通地行走在一条小径上，突然听见一阵噪声——短促刺耳的尖叫声——以及蹄子在小路上沉重撞击之声。他们越往前推进，尖叫声越响，最后变成一阵阵声嘶力竭的狂叫。他们发现一头小野猪被厚厚的藤蔓所缠住，它恐怖万分，发疯似的朝四下挣扎着，发出持续的尖细的叫声。三个孩子冲上前去，杰克还拔出刀子挥舞起来。他在空中高举手臂。随后停了一下，一个间隙，小野猪继续狂叫，藤蔓在猛烈地抽动着，杰克粗骨骼的手臂挥来挥去、刀刃闪亮。这次不长的停顿使孩子们意识到要是小野猪向下冲去，力量是会很大的。接着小野猪挣脱了藤蔓，急忙奔进矮灌木林丛。只剩下孩子们面面相觑，看着那恐怖的地方。杰克的脸苍白得更衬出雀斑来。他觉察到自己还高举着刀子，便垂下手臂把刀身插入鞘内。一时他们全都羞愧地笑起来，又开始爬回原来的小径。
“I was choosing a place,” said Jack. “I was just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him.”
“我正在选地方，”杰克说。“我正等机会拿主意往哪儿下手。”
“You should stick a pig,” said Ralph fiercely. “They always talk about sticking a pig.”
“你该用刀戳下去，”拉尔夫狂热地说道。“人们老是说杀猪的事。”
“You cut a pig’s throat to let the blood out,” said Jack, “otherwise you can’t eat the meat.”
“割猪的喉咙放血，”杰克说，“要不就吃不成肉。”
“Why didn’t you –?”
“那你为啥不——？”
They knew very well why he hadn’t: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood.
孩子们很清楚他为啥没下手：因为没有一刀刺进活物的那种狠劲；因为受不住喷涌而出的那股鲜血。
“I was going to,” said Jack. He was ahead of them, and they could not see his face. “I was choosing a place. Next time –!”
“我正要，”杰克说。他走在头里，另两个看不到他的表情。“我正在找地方。下一回——！”
He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy. He looked round fiercely, daring them to contradict. Then they broke out into the sunlight and for a while they were busy finding and devouring food as they moved down the scar toward the platform and the meeting.
他一把从刀鞘里拔出刀子，猛地砍进一棵树的树干。下一回可不发善心了。他狂野地环顾着四周，挑战似的看看有谁反驳。随后他们一下跑进了阳光里，不一会儿就边忙着找东西吃，边顺着孤岩走向平台去开会了。
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