Nothing to See
什么都看不见
It was half past two in the morning. In the lighthouse, Grace was asleep in her room. It was a small, tidy room, with white walls. Her dress was on the back of the door, and her other clothes were on a chair by the bed. There were some books on a desk, and some sea-birds’ eggs on a table.
凌晨两点半。在灯塔里，格蕾丝正在自己的房间里熟睡。那是个整洁的小房间，墙壁雪白。她的裙子挂在门后，其他衣服搭在床边的椅子上。书桌上放着几本书，桌上还有些海鸟蛋。
Someone knocked at the door. ‘Grace!’ her father’s voice called. ‘Wake up, lass. I need you to help me.’
有人敲门。“格蕾丝！”父亲的声音喊道，“醒醒，丫头。我需要你帮忙。”
‘What is it, father?’ She got up quickly, and opened the door. William Darling stood there with a candle in his hand. He was wearing his big black coat and heavy boots, and his hat was pulled down over his ears. His face was tired, and wet with rain.
“怎么了，爸爸？”她迅速起身打开门。威廉·达林手里拿着蜡烛站在那里。他穿着厚重的黑色大衣和笨重的靴子，帽子拉下来盖住了耳朵。他满脸疲惫，还被雨水打湿了。
‘The storm is worse. The wind is coming from the north now, and it’s stronger. We shall have to go outside and tie the boat down, or we shall lose it!’
“风暴更猛烈了。现在刮的是北风，风力更强了。我们得到外面把船拴牢，否则船就要被吹走了！”
‘All right. I’ll be down in a minute.’ Quickly, Grace closed the door and put her clothes on. She often got up in the night. There was always work on a lighthouse, and the sea did not wait for morning. A minute later, she ran downstairs to the kitchen, put a coat over her thin dress, tied her hair under her hat, and followed her father out into the night.
“好的，我马上下去。”格蕾丝迅速关上门穿好衣服。她经常半夜起床。灯塔上总有干不完的活，大海可不会等到天亮。一分钟后，她跑下楼到厨房，在单薄的裙子外披上一件外套，把头发束在帽子里，跟着父亲走进了夜色中。
The wind nearly lifted her off her feet. It was strong, black, hard, and wet. She opened her mouth to call to her father, but the words blew away into the night. Her coat and dress blew out behind her like paper, and the rain hit her face, like small stones.
狂风差点把她掀翻在地。风势强劲，夜色漆黑，雨点坚硬而冰冷。她张嘴想喊父亲，但话语瞬间被夜风吹散。她的外套和裙子像纸一样在身后飘起，雨点打在她脸上，就像小石子一样。
She walked slowly after her father, to the boathouse. Her father was carrying a small lantern, and in its light Grace saw a great wave of white water. It broke against the rock in front of the boathouse, and white water crashed against the boathouse doors. William shouted something to Grace but she could not hear him — the sounds of the wind and the sea were too loud, too terrible.
她跟在父亲身后，艰难地走向船屋。父亲提着一盏小灯笼，借着灯光，格蕾丝看到一股巨大的白色浪涛。浪花拍击在船屋前的岩石上，白色的水花猛烈撞击着船屋的门。威廉朝格蕾丝喊着什么，但她听不见——风声和海浪声太大了，太可怕了。
In the boathouse, she helped her father tie the boat down to the rock. They tied down the oars, too, so that nothing could move them. Then they ran outside and carried everything into the kitchen — their chickens, their fishing things. Nothing could stay outside on a night like this.
在船屋里，她帮父亲把船牢牢拴在岩石上。他们还把桨也绑好了，以免被风吹动。然后他们跑到外面，把所有东西都搬进厨房——鸡、渔具等。在这样的夜晚，什么都不能留在外面。
Before they went back in, Grace stared out into the night. The light from the top of the lighthouse flashed out over the water, and for thirty seconds she could see very well. One after another, the big, black waves came out of the darkness — waves ten, twenty metres high! When they hit the rock there was a huge crash, and white water flew everywhere, thirty, forty metres up over the Longstone rock.
在回屋之前，格蕾丝凝视着外面的夜色。灯塔顶端的灯光扫过海面，在那三十秒里她看得很清楚。巨大的黑色波浪一个接一个地从黑暗中涌来——浪高十米、二十米！当它们撞击岩石时发出巨大的轰鸣声，白色的水花四溅，飞越朗斯通岩三十、四十米高。
Grace stared out, over the waves, past the rocks and islands. But — thank God! — she could see no lights, no ships. No ship could live in that sea tonight.
格蕾丝向外眺望，越过波浪，望向远处的岩石和岛屿。但是——谢天谢地！——她没有看到任何灯光，也没有船只。今晚这样的海况下，没有船能幸存。
‘Grace! Come on in, lass!’ Her father held the door open behind her. She went in quickly, and he closed the door behind them. Her mother had warm drinks ready for them.
“格蕾丝！快进来，丫头！”父亲在身后为她撑着门。她快步走进去，父亲随即关上了门。母亲已经为他们准备好了热饮。
‘Go to bed now, father,’ Grace said. ‘You’ve had no sleep yet tonight. I’ll watch the light now, and mother can come up at five.’
“爸爸，您现在去睡觉吧，”格蕾丝说，“您今晚还没合眼呢。我来守灯，妈妈五点再上来接班。”
‘All right, lass,’ he said. William was very tired. He went upstairs with his wife, and in two minutes they were asleep.
“好吧，丫头，”他说。威廉实在太累了。他和妻子一起上楼，两分钟后便睡着了。
Grace finished her drink quickly, and changed out of her wet clothes. Then she went up alone to the room with the big windows at the top of the lighthouse. The wild wind screamed and shook the glass.
格蕾丝很快喝完饮料，换下了湿透的衣服。然后她独自爬上灯塔顶部那个有大窗户的房间。狂风呼啸着，震得玻璃窗嗡嗡作响。
It was half past three in the morning.
此时是凌晨三点半。
0 条评论