8.The attack 农庄遭袭
Soon everybody in our part of Exmoor knew that Lorna Doone was at Plover’s Barrows farm.
很快，我们埃克斯穆尔这一带的人都知道洛娜·杜恩住在普洛弗巴罗斯农场了。
So I knew the Doones would come looking for Lorna as soon as they could.
因此我知道，杜恩家族的人会尽快来找洛娜。
But, for now, the weather saved us.
但眼下，天气救了我们。
They could not move in the snow, and when the rains came in spring, they had even bigger problems.
他们在雪地里无法行动，而当春雨降临时，他们遇到了更大的麻烦。
The rains were heavy, and when the snow also turned to water, the rivers became very high.
雨下得很大，加上积雪融化，河水暴涨。
In Doone valley the robbers’ homes were almost under water.
在杜恩山谷里，强盗们的住所几乎被水淹没。
They needed most of their men to take care of their village.
他们需要大部分人手来照看自己的村子。
If they attacked us, we knew it could not be with as many men as they would like.
我们知道，如果他们来袭击我们，派出的人数绝不会像他们希望的那么多。
Spring also brought a visitor for Annie.
春天也给安妮带来了一位访客。
The snows had kept Tom Faggus away from the farm all winter, but now he came to see her, and he had something to tell her.
整个冬天大雪让汤姆·法格斯无法来到农场，但现在他来看她了，并且有事要告诉她。
‘Before the snows came,’ he said, ‘I went to London. And I have something to show for it.’
“在下雪之前，”他说，“我去了一趟伦敦。而且我带回了一样东西。”
Then out of his pocket, he took a letter. It looked very important, and had the King’s sign on it. ‘What do you think it is?’
然后他从口袋里掏出一封信。这封信看起来非常重要，上面还有国王的印章。“你们觉得这是什么？”
We all looked at it, but it was full of long lawyers’ words and no one could understand what it meant.
我们都看了看，但信上满是冗长的法律术语，没人能看懂是什么意思。
‘I’ll tell you what it means,’ laughed Tom. ‘It means that I am not a criminal any more. This letter says that the King is ready to forget all my years as a robber, and I am a free man.’
“我来告诉你们这是什么意思，”汤姆笑着说，“这意味着我不再是罪犯了。这封信说国王愿意宽恕我做强盗的那些年岁，我现在是个自由人了。”
We all wondered how this could be, but then Tom explained.
我们都想知道这怎么可能，接着汤姆解释道：
‘I spoke to Judge Jeffreys. He knows me. He said, “If you promise never to rob again, you can go free. There’s enough for the King to worry about in this country already, with all his enemies. So if we can forget about you, that’s good enough for us.”‘
“我和杰弗里斯法官谈过了。他认识我。他说：‘如果你承诺再也不抢劫，就可以获得自由。国王在这个国家已经有够多敌人要操心了。所以如果我们能不再追究你，那对我们来说也就足够了。’”
Everyone felt proud of Tom. We thought it had been very brave of him to go to Judge Jeffreys.
大家都为汤姆感到骄傲。我们认为他去找杰弗里斯法官是非常勇敢的举动。
But now he had something even better to tell us. With the money he still had, Tom had bought some land. He was going to live an honest life, and be a farmer again.
但现在他有更好的消息要告诉我们。汤姆用手里剩下的钱买了一些地。他打算过老实本分的日子，重新做个农民。
So we were not surprised when Tom asked Mother if he could marry Annie.
所以当汤姆问母亲能否娶安妮时，我们并不感到惊讶。
Mother was not very sure of the new ‘farmer Faggus’. She was afraid that he would get bored with farming and go back to being a robber.
母亲对这个新晋的“农民法格斯”不太放心。她担心他会厌倦农耕生活，又回去当强盗。
But she could see that he loved Annie very much, and between us, Annie and I managed to persuade her.
但她看得出他深爱着安妮，而且在我和安妮的共同努力下，我们终于说服了她。
Now we began to prepare for the Doones’ attack.
现在我们要开始准备应对杜恩家族的袭击了。
Though the rivers were still high, people had begun to see a few of the robbers out on the roads, and we knew it would not be long before we would have to fight them.
虽然河水依然高涨，但人们已经开始在路上看到一些强盗出没，我们知道离与他们交战的日子不远了。
As we were preparing, we received another visitor: my old friend Jeremy Stickles.
就在我们准备的时候，另一位访客来了：我的老朋友杰里米·斯蒂克尔斯。
This time, though, he had not been sent to find me. To our surprise, he told us that he had been spying in Exmoor for many months.
不过这次他不是奉命来找我的。令我们惊讶的是，他告诉我们他已经在埃克斯穆尔做了几个月的密探。
He had been sent down this way again by Judge Jeffreys and the King.
他是再次受杰弗里斯法官和国王的派遣来到这里的。
‘You must not tell anyone what I’m doing,’ he said. ‘But I have been sent to do important work. The King has many enemies, and now I have been given some soldiers — though only a few — to help me look for them. But I have to ask you: can my soldiers and I stay here for a while?’
“你们千万不能告诉任何人我在做什么，”他说，“但我确实是奉命执行重要任务。国王有很多敌人，现在上面派了一些士兵给我——虽然不多——来帮我搜寻他们。但我得问问你们：我和我的士兵能在你们这儿暂住一段时间吗？”
I agreed immediately. When the Doones attacked, it would be a great help to have soldiers staying in the house.
我立刻同意了。如果杜恩家族来袭，家里有士兵驻扎将会是极大的帮助。
I told Jeremy all about Lorna, and he promised to help defend our farmhouse against any Doone attack.
我把关于洛娜的一切都告诉了杰里米，他承诺会帮我们保卫农舍，抵御杜恩家族的任何袭击。
The next day Stickles came with his men. There were only six of them, but even to have these was a help. All we could do now was wait, and be ready each night for an attack.
第二天，斯蒂克尔斯带着他的人来了。虽然只有六个人，但即便如此也是很大的助力。我们现在能做的就是等待，并且每晚都做好防备袭击的准备。
One day I came home late from the fields, and found all the women trembling with fear. Lorna had seen Carver Doone!
有一天我很晚才从田里回来，发现家里的女人们都吓得发抖。洛娜见到了卡弗·杜恩！
She had gone out in the evening to look at some flowers by our stream. There were thick bushes on the other side, and when Lorna looked up, she saw two cruel black eyes staring at her.
傍晚时分，她出去看溪边的一些花。溪对岸长着茂密的灌木丛，当洛娜抬起头时，她看到一双残忍的黑眼睛正盯着她。
She was too frightened to move. Carver could not cross the stream because the water was too high, but he lifted his gun and fired at the ground by Lorna’s feet.
她吓得动弹不得。因为溪水太深，卡弗无法过河，但他举起枪，朝洛娜脚边的地面开了一枪。
‘Unless you come back tomorrow,’ he said, ‘and tell me how to destroy that farmer, Ridd, who will soon be a dead man because of you, this will be the place of your death.’
“除非你明天回来，”他说，“告诉我怎么除掉那个叫里德的农夫——他很快就会因为你而丧命——否则这里就是你的葬身之地。”
Lorna told us this, trembling. We knew that Carver would not wait until tomorrow, and we got ready for an attack that night.
洛娜颤抖着把这事告诉了我们。我们知道卡弗不会等到明天，于是我们为当晚可能发生的袭击做好了准备。
When the Doones attacked a farm, they always started fires in the hay ricks first — to frighten everyone and show what they could do.
杜恩家族袭击农场时，总是先点燃干草堆——以此来恐吓所有人并展示他们的威力。
So when darkness came, I went with my best gun and a heavy stick to one of the hay ricks, and waited beside it.
所以天黑后，我带着最好的枪和一根粗重的木棍来到一个干草堆旁守候。
I had made sure that Lorna stayed in the house, but little Gwenny climbed a tree near the river. From there she could see up the river to the only place where it was possible to cross.
我确保洛娜待在屋里，但小格温妮爬上了河边的一棵树。从那里她可以顺着河流望去，看到唯一可以渡河的地方。
Soon the moon came up, and before very long, Gwenny came running towards me.
不久月亮升起来了，没过多久，格温妮就朝我跑了过来。
‘Ten of them, coming across the river,’ she said. ‘They’ll be here in a minute.’
“有十个人，正在过河，”她说，“马上就到这儿了。”
‘Go into the house and tell Mr Stickles and his men. I’ll stay here and watch,’ I said.
“快进屋告诉斯蒂克尔斯先生和他的人。我留在这里监视，”我说。
The robbers broke down our gate, and rode towards the house.
强盗们撞坏了我们的栅栏门，骑马朝房子冲来。
I could see the soldiers hiding in the shadows, waiting for the order to fire, but the Doones then turned towards the hay ricks.
我能看到士兵们躲在暗处，等待着开枪的命令，但杜恩家的人随即转向了干草堆。
‘Kill every man and every child, and burn the farm,’ came the deep voice of Carver Doone. ‘Start over there.’
“杀掉所有的男人和孩子，烧掉农场，”传来了卡弗·杜恩低沉的声音。“从那头开始烧。”
He was pointing to the hay rick where I was, though he could not see me. ‘But remember, Lorna is mine, and I will kill any man who touches her.’
他指着我藏身的干草堆，尽管他看不见我。“但记住，洛娜是我的，谁敢碰她我就杀了谁。”
As Carver spoke, I pointed my gun at him, but — will you believe me? — I didn’t shoot.
当卡弗说话时，我用枪瞄准了他，但是——你信吗？——我没有开枪。
I had never killed a man, nor even badly hurt one. I did not think it was an easy thing to do.
我从未杀过人，甚至没有重伤过任何人。我觉得杀人并非易事。
Now, I can say that I wish I had killed him. But I put my gun down, and picked up my stick — a more honest weapon than a gun, I thought.
如今回想起来，我真希望当时把他杀了。但我放下了枪，拿起了木棍——我觉得比起枪，这是一种更光明正大的武器。
Two young Doones came towards me, with burning sticks.
两个年轻的杜恩家手下举着燃烧的火把向我走来。
The first put his stick to the hay rick I was standing near, and it started to burn.
第一个人把火把伸向我身旁的干草堆，草堆顿时燃烧起来。
I hit him on the arm, and heard his bone break as he fell over with a shout of pain.
我一棍打在他的手臂上，听到骨头断裂的声音，他痛呼一声倒在地上。
The other man ran to see what had happened, and I took his fire stick and broke it. Then he jumped at me, but I caught him, broke his arm, and threw him on top of his friend.
另一个人跑来看看发生了什么，我夺过他的火把折断。接着他扑向我，但我抓住了他，折断了他的胳膊，把他扔在了他同伴的身上。
I could still see Carver and wanted to jump at him — but I knew he would simply shoot me.
我还能看见卡弗，本想扑向他——但我知道那样只会让他直接开枪打死我。
While I was thinking about it, there came a loud noise and six tongues of flame from near the farmhouse.
正当我犹豫之际，农舍附近突然传来一阵巨响和六道火舌。
Stickles had ordered his men to fire at the Doones as they came towards the house.
斯蒂克尔斯下令让士兵们在杜恩家的人靠近房子时开枪射击。
Two fell and the others ran back. They had something to think about now; no one had ever fought the Doones as we were doing that night.
两人应声倒地，其余的人纷纷逃回。这下他们可得好好想想了；从来没有人像我们那天晚上那样对抗过杜恩家族。
Now my moment had come. I came out from my place near the burning rick.
现在轮到我了。我从燃烧的草堆旁走了出来。
I knew Carver Doone by his size even in the shadowy moonlight, and I took hold of him by the beard. ‘Do you call yourself a man?’ I said.
即使在朦胧的月光下，我也能从体型认出卡弗·杜恩，我一把揪住他的胡子。“你也配称作男人？”我说。
For a second he was too surprised to do anything. No one had ever looked at him the way I did now.
一瞬间他惊愕得不知所措。从来没有人敢像我这样看着他。
He lifted his gun, but I was too quick for him and knocked it out of his hand.
他举起枪，但我动作更快，一把将枪从他手中打落。
‘Now, Carver Doone, take warning,’ I said. ‘You think you are so much better than everyone else, but you are no more than an evil robber. Lie low in the dirt from which you came.’
“听着，卡弗·杜恩，给你个警告，”我说，“你以为自己高人一等，其实不过是个邪恶的强盗罢了。滚回你的泥坑里趴着去吧。”
Then I kicked his feet from under him and knocked him down.
随后我一脚踢中他的下盘，将他击倒在地。
When they saw that he was down, the other Doones ran, but Carver simply got up and walked away, shouting at me and everyone.
其他杜恩家的人见他倒下便四散奔逃，但卡弗只是爬起来走开了，一边还对着我和所有人咆哮。
We wondered whether to chase the Doones, but Mr Stickles said it would be too dangerous on the moor in the dark.
我们在考虑是否要追击杜恩家的人，但斯蒂克尔斯先生说，在黑夜里去荒原上追击太危险了。
One thing was certain: the robbers had known defeat that night on our farm — something they had never experienced since the day they came to Exmoor.
有一点是肯定的：那晚这群强盗在我们的农场尝到了失败的滋味——这是他们来到埃克斯穆尔以来从未经历过的。
And they went home without four of their men. Two were dead, shot by the soldiers, and the other two were the men whose arms I had broken by the hay ricks.
他们回去时少了四个人。其中两人被士兵射杀，另外两人就是在干草堆旁被我打断胳膊的家伙。
We buried the dead men in the fields, and Jeremy Stickles sent the two wounded men to the prison in Taunton.
我们将死者埋葬在田地里，杰里米·斯蒂克尔斯则将两名伤者送往了汤顿的监狱。
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