5.Dr James Gully’s story 詹姆斯·格利医生的讲述
My name is Dr James Gully. I am 68 years old. I live at Orwell Lodge, in Balham.
我叫詹姆斯·古利医生。我今年68岁，住在巴勒姆的奥威尔寓所。
In January 1871 I was living in Malvern, near Wales. That’s where I first met Florence – Florence Ricardo, as she was called then …
1871年1月，我住在威尔士附近的莫尔文。我就是在那里第一次遇见了弗洛伦丝——那时她还叫弗洛伦丝·里卡多……
It was that man, Charles Bravo, who caused all the trouble. Everything was fine before that.
都是那个叫查尔斯·布拉沃的男人惹出了所有麻烦。在那之前，一切都很好。
I saw Florence every day, we went for walks and rides around Balham together. We were very happy. But then …
我每天都能见到弗洛伦丝，我们一起在巴勒姆周围散步、骑马。我们非常幸福。但是后来……
One day, a few weeks after Florence had been ill, I came to her house as usual.
有一天，在弗洛伦丝病愈几周后，我像往常一样来到她家。
Her companion, Jane Cox, met me at the door. ‘I’m sorry, Dr Gully, but Florence isn’t at home.’
她的同伴简·考克斯在门口迎接了我。“很抱歉，古利医生，弗洛伦丝不在家。”
I was surprised, and hurt. This had never happened before. ‘Where has she gone?’
我又惊讶又难过。这种事以前从未发生过。“她去哪儿了？”
‘She is visiting a family called Bravo. They are businessmen and lawyers, I think, from Jamaica.’
“她去拜访一个叫布拉沃的家庭了。我想他们是来自牙买加的商人和律师。”
Without me, I thought sadly. ‘Well, tell her I called, will you? I hope to see her tomorrow.’
竟然没有叫我，我伤心地想。“好吧，请告诉她我来过，好吗？我希望明天能见到她。”
The next time I saw Florence, she was a different woman. She seemed happy and excited, but worried too.
下一次见到弗洛伦丝时，她简直变了一个人。她看起来既高兴又兴奋，但也显得有些忧虑。
She didn’t look me in the eyes. I asked her to have dinner with me in the evening.
她不敢直视我的眼睛。我邀请她晚上一起共进晚餐。
‘Oh, I’m sorry, James,’ she said. ‘But I can’t. I’m going to the theatre with someone.’
“噢，对不起，詹姆斯，”她说，“但我不能去。我要和别人去看戏。”
‘Someone?’ I asked. ‘Who?’
“别人？”我问，“谁？”
‘Charles Bravo. I met him the other day.’
“查尔斯·布拉沃。我前几天认识了他。”
‘Oh, I see. What’s he like, this Charles Bravo?’
“噢，我明白了。这个查尔斯·布拉沃是个什么样的人？”
She looked away from me to hide the excitement in her eyes. But there was a smile on her face – she couldn’t hide that.
她把目光移开，试图掩饰眼中的兴奋。但她脸上的笑容却掩饰不住。
‘Oh, very polite and friendly. He’s an interesting man – a lawyer. He’s quite handsome, and funny, too. You’ll like him, I expect.’
“噢，他非常有礼貌而且友善。他是个有趣的人——一名律师。他很英俊，也很风趣。我想你会喜欢他的。”
I felt a sudden terrible pain in my chest. It was difficult to breathe. I knew – I knew then that I had lost her.
我突然感到胸口一阵剧痛，呼吸变得困难。我知道——那一刻我就知道我失去她了。
‘How old is he?’ I asked.
“他多大了？”我问。
‘Quite young – like me. James, are you all right?’
“很年轻——和我差不多。詹姆斯，你没事吧？”
‘It’s my chest. I’ll have to sit down. I’ll be all right in a few minutes.’
“是我的胸口疼。我得坐下来。过几分钟就好了。”
She sat down beside me, but she didn’t look at me, even then.
她在我身边坐下，但即便如此，她也没有看我一眼。
And I wasn’t all right – not in a few minutes, or a few hours or a few days. I was never all right again.
但我并没有好起来——不是几分钟、几小时或几天就能好的。我再也好不起来了。
I had lost her to a younger man, and there was nothing I could do to change it.
我输给了一个比她年轻的男人，而我对此无能为力。
I met Charles Bravo a few weeks later. He was walking in the village with Florence on his arm – as I used to walk with her.
几周后我遇到了查尔斯·布拉沃。他挽着弗洛伦丝在村里散步——就像我以前挽着她那样。
She was right; he was handsome, and young. But he wasn’t polite or friendly, not to me.
她说得没错；他确实英俊且年轻。但他对我既不礼貌也不友善。
He looked at me as a man looks at an enemy. He smiled coldly.
他看我的眼神就像看敌人一样。他冷冷地笑了笑。
Charles Bravo
查尔斯·布拉沃
‘Florence has agreed to marry me, Doctor Gully,’ he said. ‘She will soon be Mrs Charles Bravo.’
“弗洛伦丝已经答应嫁给我了，古利医生，”他说，“她很快就是查尔斯·布拉沃太太了。”
‘Congratulations,’ I said. But my voice sounded strange, and I had that terrible pain in my chest. ‘I hope you will be very happy.’
“恭喜你们，”我说。但我的声音听起来有些异样，胸口又传来了那阵剧痛。“希望你们会非常幸福。”
‘Oh, we will, Doctor Gully, we will,’ he said, with that cold smile on his face.
“噢，我们会的，古利医生，我们会的，”他说，脸上挂着那种冷笑。
‘I expect you were happy too, when you married your wife, all those long years ago. Is Mrs Gully well?’
“我想这么多年以前，当你娶你妻子的时候，你也一定很幸福吧。古利太太身体还好吗？”
From his words, from the look on his face, it was clear that Florence had told him all about me, and about the love there had been between us.
从他的话和表情中可以清楚地看出，弗洛伦丝已经把关于我的一切，以及我们之间的爱情都告诉了他。
All during this conversation Florence stayed close to his side and looked down at the ground. Not once did she lift her eyes to my face.
在整个谈话过程中，弗洛伦丝一直紧挨着他，低着头看着地面。她一次也没有抬起眼睛看我。
‘My wife is … in a hospital in Yorkshire,’ I said. ‘She is an old, sad woman.’
“我的妻子……在约克郡的一家医院里，”我说，“她是一个年老而悲伤的女人。”
‘But still alive, I hope, Dr Gully?’ he said, as I turned and walked quickly away.
“但还活着吧，我希望如此，古利医生？”当我转身快步走开时，他在身后说道。
‘Your wife is still alive, I hope, and in good health?’
“希望你妻子还健在，而且身体健康？”
I hated him then, and I have hated him ever since.
那时我恨他，从那以后我一直恨他。
I continued to live at my house in Balham – where else could I go?
我继续住在巴勒姆的房子里——我还能去哪儿呢？
And in December 1875 I saw Florence go to her wedding with that man. She looked more beautiful than ever.
1875年12月，我看着弗洛伦丝去和那个男人举行婚礼。她看起来比以往任何时候都美丽。
She drove past my house on the way to the church. But she didn’t look at me, not once.
她在去教堂的路上坐车经过了我的房子。但她没有看我一眼，一次也没有。
Not on her wedding day, not in all the weeks afterwards.
无论是在她的婚礼当天，还是在之后的几个星期里。
If I passed her in the street, she looked away, or talked to her friend, Jane Cox.
如果我在街上遇到她，她就会把脸转开，或者和她的朋友简·考克斯说话。
I felt like a dead man, a ghost.
我觉得自己像个死人，像个幽灵。
Then one day in March I met Mrs Cox on a train to London. She asked me for some medicine for her mother in Jamaica.
后来三月的某一天，我在去伦敦的火车上遇到了考克斯太太。她向我要一些给她住在牙买加的母亲的药。
I promised to send it to her.
我答应寄给她。
‘How is Florence?’ I asked. ‘Is she happy?’
“弗洛伦丝怎么样？”我问，“她幸福吗？”
Jane Cox shook her head sadly. ‘Not really, no. She was ill in bed last week.’
简·考克斯悲伤地摇了摇头。“并不幸福，真的不。她上周还卧病在床。”
‘I’m sorry to hear it,’ I said. ‘But what about her husband, Charles. Is he kind to her?’
“听到这个我很难过，”我说，“那她的丈夫查尔斯呢？他对她好吗？”
‘That man?’ Mrs Cox said angrily. ‘He doesn’t know how to be kind to a woman. Everything he does makes her unhappy.’
“那个男人？”考克斯太太愤怒地说，“他根本不懂得如何善待女人。他做的每一件事都让她不开心。”
‘She argued with him last Tuesday, and he hit her.’
“上周二她和他吵架，他竟然打了她。”
‘He hit her?’ I was so angry, my hands began to shake.
“他打了她？”我气得双手开始颤抖。
‘You mean, he hit Florence, after she had been ill?’
“你是说，在她生病之后，他竟然打了弗洛伦丝？”
‘Yes,’ Jane Cox said. ‘It’s not a happy marriage, Dr Gully. He is only interested in one thing – her money.’
“是的，”简·考克斯说，“这段婚姻并不幸福，古利医生。他只对一件事感兴趣——那就是她的钱。”
I was sad and very angry, but there was nothing that I could do to help.
我又悲伤又愤怒，但我却无力相助。
I wasn’t her guardian any more. Florence had chosen to leave me, and marry Charles Bravo.
我不再是她的监护人了。弗洛伦丝选择了离开我，嫁给查尔斯·布拉沃。
If her marriage was unhappy, that was her problem, not mine.
如果她的婚姻不幸福，那是她的问题，不是我的。
Perhaps she hated her young husband, I don’t know. But I can’t believe she killed him.
也许她恨她年轻的丈夫，我不知道。但我无法相信是她杀了他。
She’s too sweet, too kind, too beautiful to do anything like that.
她那么温柔、善良、美丽，绝不会做那样的事。
Some people think I killed Charles Bravo, but I didn’t.
有些人认为是我杀了查尔斯·布拉沃，但不是我。
I’m a doctor – my job is to make people well, not to kill them.
我是医生——我的职责是治病救人，而不是杀人。
And when did I kill him? How did I kill him? It was impossible for me to do it.
我什么时候杀了他？我是怎么杀他的？我根本不可能做到。
I never entered Florence’s house after she married Charles Bravo.
自从弗洛伦丝嫁给查尔斯·布拉沃后，我再也没进过她的家门。
Maybe he killed himself. I don’t know and I don’t care. The world is a better place without him.
也许他是自杀的。我不知道，也不在乎。没有他，这个世界会更美好。
Jane Cox was the only friend that Florence had in that house. She tried to help Florence, I think.
简·考克斯是弗洛伦丝在那个家里唯一的朋友。我想她曾试图帮助弗洛伦丝。
Maybe she can tell you what happened.
也许她能告诉你到底发生了什么。
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