The For farshire
福法尔郡号
Daniel Donovan was a passenger on the For farshire.
丹尼尔·多诺万是福法尔郡号上的一名乘客。
He stood on the deck of the ship, and looked at the sea.
他站在甲板上，眺望着大海。
It was difficult to stand on the deck, because the wind was so strong.
风势太大，在甲板上站立十分困难。
The ship was moving up and down uncomfortably and Daniel felt ill.
船身剧烈地上下颠簸，让丹尼尔感到不适。
Then a big wave hit the side of the ship, and salt water flew into his face.
突然一个巨浪拍击船舷，咸涩的海水溅了他一脸。
‘The wind is getting stronger,’ said a passenger beside him.
“风越来越大了，”他身旁的一位乘客说道。
He was a tall, dark man with a black coat — Mr Robb, a churchman.
那是个身材高大、肤色黝黑的男人，身穿黑色外套——他是位神职人员，罗布先生。
‘And it’s getting darker, too.’
“天色也越来越暗了。”
‘Yes,’ said Daniel. ‘I can’t see the land now.’
“是啊，”丹尼尔说，“我现在已经看不见陆地了。”
He looked to the west, but he could see no land, no lights.
他向西望去，却看不到陆地，也看不到灯光。
Only water — big grey waves with white tops, which went up and down, up and down.
眼前只有海水——灰蒙蒙的巨浪卷着白色的浪花，此起彼伏，连绵不绝。
‘But the For farshire is a good modern ship,’ said Mr Robb.
“不过福法尔郡号是一艘先进的现代化轮船，”罗布先生说。
‘Nothing can happen to a new ship like this. Listen to those fine strong engines!’
“像这样的新船不会出事的。听听那强劲有力的引擎声！”
Daniel looked down at the big paddle wheel on the side of the ship.
丹尼尔低头看向船侧巨大的明轮。
It went round and round, down under the white water, and up again… under the water, and up.
它不停地旋转，没入白色的浪花之下，又转出来……沉入水中，再浮出水面。
Then he looked up at the black smoke which came from the For farshire’s funnel.
接着他抬头望向福法尔郡号烟囱里冒出的黑烟。
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘They’re good, strong engines.’ But he was not really sure.
“没错，”他说，“引擎确实很好、很强劲。”但他心里其实并不踏实。
He was an engineer, so he knew about engines.
作为一名工程师，他对引擎了如指掌。
Sometimes the For farshire’s engines made strange noises, and the paddle wheels went round slowly.
有时福法尔郡号的引擎会发出异响，明轮的转速也会变慢。
Then there was a crash, and they went quickly again. Daniel was not happy.
随后伴随着一声撞击，转速又会突然加快。这让丹尼尔深感不安。
A sea-bird flew low across the white tops of the big, grey waves.
一只海鸟贴着灰白相间的浪尖低空掠过。
Daniel watched it, and felt wind and rain on his face.
丹尼尔注视着它，感受着扑面而来的风雨。
Then a door opened behind him, and a woman screamed.
这时，身后的舱门打开了，一个女人尖叫起来。
‘Simon, come back! Come back at once!’
“西蒙，回来！快回来！”
Daniel looked behind him, and saw a small boy.
丹尼尔回头一看，只见一个小男孩正在甲板上奔跑。
He was running across the deck. He was only three or four years old, and the wind was much too strong for him.
他才三四岁，风势对他来说实在太猛烈了。
He fell over on the deck and began to cry.
他在甲板上摔倒了，大哭起来。
Then another big wave hit the side of the ship.
紧接着又一个巨浪拍击船舷。
The white water came over the side and carried the boy along the deck.
白色的海水漫过船帮，裹挟着小男孩在甲板上滑行。
‘Help!’ the woman screamed. ‘Save my child!’
“救命啊！”女人尖叫道，“救救我的孩子！”
Daniel put out a hand and caught the boy’s coat.
丹尼尔眼疾手快，一把抓住了小男孩的外套。
Then he carried him quickly back to his mother.
然后迅速将他抱回母亲身边。
‘Quick! Get back in, out of the wind, woman!’ he shouted.
“快！女士，赶紧回舱里去，别在外面吹风了！”他大喊道。
He hurried through the door and closed it with a crash.
他匆匆穿过舱门，用力将门关上。
‘It’s too dangerous for children out there!’
“外面太危险了，小孩子不能待在那儿！”
‘Yes, I know,’ the woman said. ‘Come here, Simon!’
“是啊，我知道，”女人说，“过来，西蒙！”
She sat down and held the boy with one arm.
她坐下来，用一只胳膊搂住男孩。
She had another child in her other arm — a little girl, about one or two years old.
另一只胳膊还抱着一个孩子——是个一两岁的小女孩。
‘Thank you, sir,’ she said.
“谢谢您，先生，”她说。
The ship moved up and down very quickly, and Daniel sat down beside the woman.
船身剧烈地上下颠簸，丹尼尔在女人身旁坐了下来。
She smiled at him, but she looked very white and ill.
她朝他笑了笑，但脸色苍白，看起来很不舒服。
‘I’m Daniel Donovan,’ he said, ‘What’s your name?’
“我叫丹尼尔·多诺万，”他说，“您怎么称呼？”
‘Mary Dawson,’ she said. ‘This is my son Simon, and my daughter Sarah.’
“玛丽·道森，”她答道，“这是我儿子西蒙，女儿莎拉。”
‘Isn’t your husband with you?’
“您丈夫没和您在一起吗？”
‘No,’ she said. ‘He’s in Scotland. We’re going home to see him. It’s good we’re in a strong, modern ship.’
“没有，”她说，“他在苏格兰。我们正要回家和他团聚。幸好我们乘坐的是这样一艘坚固的现代轮船。”
‘Yes,’ said Daniel. Then for a few seconds he said nothing. It was quiet in this room. Much quieter than outside.
“是啊，”丹尼尔应道。随后他沉默了几秒。舱内很安静，比外面安静多了。
‘Mr Donovan,’ said Mrs Dawson suddenly. ‘What’s happened to the engines? I can’t hear them now. Can you?’
“多诺万先生，”道森太太突然开口，“引擎怎么了？我现在听不到引擎声了。您能听到吗？”
Daniel listened. ‘My God,’ he thought. ‘She’s right! The engines have stopped!’
丹尼尔侧耳倾听。“天哪，”他想，“她说得对！引擎停了！”
He could hear the noise of the wind and the sea, but not the engines.
他能听到风声和海浪声，唯独听不到引擎的声音。
‘You’re right, Mrs Dawson,’ he said. He stood up, and ran to the door.
“您说得对，道森太太，”他说着站起身来，冲向舱门。
‘Excuse me. I…’ But then he opened the door, and his words were lost in the wind.
“失陪了，我……”可他刚打开门，话语便被狂风吞没了。
Outside, he looked up at the ship’s funnel. There was no smoke above it.
来到外面，他抬头望向烟囱，上面已不再冒烟。
He looked over the side of the ship, at the big paddle wheels.
他又探身看向船侧巨大的明轮。
He watched them for two minutes, but they did not move.
他观察了两分钟，明轮纹丝不动。
And all the time the big grey waves lifted the For farshire up and down, and white water blew over the deck.
与此同时，灰色的巨浪不断将福法尔郡号抛起又落下，白色的海水肆虐地冲刷着甲板。
‘What’s happening?’ screamed Mr Robb. ‘Why aren’t we moving?’
“怎么回事？”罗布先生惊叫道，“为什么我们不走了？”
‘The engines have broken down!’ shouted Donovan.
“引擎坏了！”多诺万大声喊道。
‘This isn’t a sailing ship — it can’t move without its engines!’
“这又不是帆船——没有引擎根本动不了！”
A big wave hit the side of the paddle wheel and sent white water over their heads.
一个巨浪拍击在明轮上，白色的海水兜头浇下。
Some sailors were trying to put up a small sail, but the wind belw it out of their hands, away across the sea into the night.
几名水手试图升起一面小帆，却被狂风吹脱了手，飘向茫茫夜色中的大海。
‘There are women and children on this ship,’ shouted Mr Robb.
“船上还有妇女和孩子啊，”罗布先生喊道。
‘It’s nearly dark, and the weather is getting worse. What can we do?’
“天快黑了，天气还在恶化。我们该怎么办？”
Daniel looked at him. ‘I don’t know, my friend,’ he shouted back.
丹尼尔看着他。“我也不知道，朋友，”他大声回应。
‘I can’t do anything. Why not ask God — you’re a churchman! Perhaps He’ll send an angel to save us!’
“我也无能为力。你不如去祈求上帝吧——你不是神职人员吗！也许他会派天使来拯救我们！”
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