9.Lorna’s true story 洛娜的身世
The Doones’ attack had been defeated.
杜恩家族的袭击已被击退。
We knew that they would come again, as soon as they could, in larger numbers.
我们知道他们会尽快卷土重来，而且人数会更多。
But for now, Jeremy Stickles gave me something else to think about.
但眼下，杰里米·斯蒂克斯给了我另一件需要思考的事。
My dearest wish was to marry Lorna as soon as I could, but after Jeremy’s story I began to wonder if it would ever be possible.
我最大的心愿就是尽快娶洛娜为妻，但在听了杰里米的讲述后，我开始怀疑这是否还能实现。
A few days after our battle with the Doones, Jeremy said he had something to say to me.
在我们与杜恩家族交战几天后，杰里米说有话要对我说。
‘John, I didn’t think the time was right to tell you this before. But now you must hear what I have to say.’
“约翰，之前我觉得时机不对，没告诉你这件事。但现在你必须听我说。”
‘As you know, I’ve been riding around Exmoor for many months, looking for information that might be useful to the King.’
“你知道，这几个月来我一直在埃克斯穆尔四处奔走，搜集可能对国王有用的情报。”
‘I remembered all that you told me about Lorna, and I think I have discovered something about her.’
“我记得你告诉过我关于洛娜的一切，我想我已经发现了她的一些身世。”
‘It may not be easy for you to hear, John. Are you ready?’
“约翰，这对你来说可能难以接受。你准备好了吗？”
‘I will do my best,’ I said.
“我会尽力承受的，”我说。
So he began his story.
于是他开始讲述。
‘Six or seven months ago, before the snows began, I stopped at an inn on my way from Dulverton to Watchet.’
“六七个月前，还没下雪的时候，我在从达尔弗顿去沃切特的路上，在一家客栈歇脚。”
‘The inn was all by itself, right by the sea, and was very quiet.’
“那家客栈孤零零地矗立在海边，非常安静。”
‘I was the only person staying there, and the woman who owned the inn sat down and talked to me during my meal.’
“我是那里唯一的住客，女店主在我吃饭时坐下来和我聊天。”
‘She was dark and foreign-looking, and intelligent.’
“她肤色黝黑，长着外国人的面孔，看起来很聪慧。”
‘I was very interested to know how an unusual woman like her had come to live in this lonely inn, and she told me her story.’
“我很想知道像她这样与众不同的女人怎么会住在这家偏僻的客栈里，于是她给我讲了她的故事。”
‘She said that she was from Italy, and her name was Benita.’
“她说她来自意大利，名叫贝妮塔。”
‘Many years ago, while she was working in Rome, she had met an English family.’
“很多年前，她在罗马工作时，遇到了一个英国家庭。”
‘They were travelling in Italy because they’d had a terrible argument in England with another family.’
“他们之所以在意大利旅行，是因为在英国与另一个家族发生了严重的争执。”
‘Benita did not know much about the argument, except that it had been about land.’
“贝妮塔对那场争执知之甚少，只知道是关于土地的纠纷。”
‘Benita liked this English family. They were very rich, but they were also kind.’
“贝妮塔喜欢这个英国家庭。他们非常富有，但也十分善良。”
‘So when they asked her to travel with them and take care of their children, she agreed.’
“所以当他们邀请她随行并照顾他们的孩子时，她答应了。”
‘She loved the children — a little girl and boy — so she was very happy in her work.’
“她很喜欢那两个小孩——一个小女孩和一个小男孩——因此她工作得很开心。”
‘At first everything went well. Together, Benita and the family travelled up through northern Italy and into France.’
“起初一切顺利。贝妮塔和这家人一起穿过意大利北部，进入了法国。”
‘But on the French side of the Pyrenees, the husband of the family had a riding accident and was killed.’
“但在比利牛斯山的法国一侧，男主人骑马时发生意外身亡。”
‘His wife was deeply unhappy, and would not move from the place where he had died for many months.’
“他的妻子悲痛欲绝，在他去世的地方待了好几个月都不愿离开。”
‘But finally she decided to go home to England and try to start life again.’
“但最终她决定回英国，试着重新开始生活。”
‘Benita stayed with her, and they took a ship to the Devon coast.’
“贝妮塔一直陪着她，她们乘船抵达了德文郡海岸。”
‘They stayed at Exeter, and then left in a coach for Watchet, in the north of Somerset.’
“她们在埃克塞特停留了一阵，然后乘坐马车前往萨默塞特北部的沃切特。”
‘The lady had a house there, where she planned to live.’
“那位夫人在那里有一栋房子，打算定居下来。”
‘They were warned, at Dulverton, about robbers on the roads, but the lady would not listen.’
“在达尔弗顿，有人警告她们路上有强盗，但那位夫人不听劝告。”
‘She even travelled at night, which, as we know, is a very dangerous thing to do.’
“她甚至在夜间赶路，而我们知道，这是极其危险的。”
‘So of course they were attacked by robbers. It happened near the sea.’
“结果她们果然遭到了强盗袭击。事情发生在海边。”
‘The coachmen drove onto the sand, and the robbers followed on their horses.’
“车夫把马车赶到了沙滩上，强盗们骑着马紧追不舍。”
‘The coach’s wheels began to go down in the soft sand, and as the robbers came nearer, the lady pointed to one of them and said: “I know that man! He is our family’s old enemy.”‘
“马车的轮子开始陷入松软的沙子里，就在强盗逼近时，那位夫人指着其中一人喊道：‘我认识那个人！他是我们家族的宿敌。’”
‘Then a great wave crashed against the coach and turned it over.’
“紧接着一个巨浪拍向马车，将其掀翻。”
‘Benita hit her head on the door and could not remember what happened.’
“贝妮塔的头撞到了车门上，之后发生的事她就记不清了。”
‘The next thing she knew was that she was lying on the sand and the robbers had gone.’
“等她恢复意识时，发现自己躺在沙滩上，强盗已经不见了。”
‘She looked around for her mistress and saw her sitting on a rock, with her dead son in her arms.’
“她四处寻找女主人，看见她坐在一块岩石上，怀里抱着死去的儿子。”
‘The little girl had disappeared.’
“那个小女孩也不见了踪影。”
‘Benita and the two coachmen took the lady into the town, but later that night, she died.’
“贝妮塔和两个车夫把那位夫人送进了镇子，但当晚她就去世了。”
‘This is a sad story!’ said Jeremy. ‘Give me a drink, boy!’
“真是个悲伤的故事！”杰里米说，“孩子，给我倒杯酒！”
I saw that there were tears in the brave man’s eyes.
我看到这位勇敢的男人眼中含着泪水。
‘What was the lady’s name?’ I asked. ‘And what happened to the little girl? And why did Benita stay there?’
“那位夫人叫什么名字？”我问，“那个小女孩后来怎么样了？贝妮塔为什么留在那里？”
‘I will answer the last question first,’ said Jeremy. ‘That’s the easiest.’
“我先回答最后一个问题，”杰里米说，“那个最简单。”
‘Benita stayed in that place because the Doones — if that’s who they were — stole everything from the coach, and she had no money.’
“贝妮塔留在那儿是因为杜恩家族的人——如果确实是他们的话——抢走了马车上的所有财物，她身无分文。”
‘She could not go back to Italy. She married a man who lived near the place because he was kind and could give her a home.’
“她无法回到意大利。她嫁给了住在附近的一个男人，因为他心地善良，能给她一个安身之所。”
‘But the little girl, Jeremy. What happened to her?’
“可是那个小女孩呢，杰里米？她怎么样了？”
‘John — can’t you see it? You are more likely to know than anyone in the world!’
“约翰——你还看不出来吗？这世上没人比你更清楚了！”
‘As certain as I sit here, that little girl is Lorna Doone!’
“我可以肯定地说，那个小女孩就是洛娜·杜恩！”
The truth was, I had guessed this, almost from the beginning of Jeremy’s story.
事实上，几乎从杰里米一开始讲述，我就猜到了这一点。
But it was almost too painful to believe, and I wanted Jeremy to say it.
但这真相实在令人痛心，我不敢相信，希望由杰里米亲口说出来。
When he described the coach leaving Dulverton, the picture was very clear to me — because I remembered that coach, with the foreign-looking woman, the beautiful lady, the little boy, and the young dark-haired girl.
当他描述马车离开达尔弗顿的情景时，画面在我脑海中清晰浮现——因为我记得那辆马车，还有那个外国模样的女人、美丽的夫人、小男孩和那个黑发小女孩。
I had seen them — on the day John Fry came to collect me from school, on the day I learnt my father had died.
我见过他们——就在约翰·弗莱来学校接我的那天，也就是我得知父亲去世的那天。
I also remembered the frightening sight I saw later that night: of the Doones riding with the things they had stolen, and the one with a little girl across his horse in front of him.
我还记得那天深夜看到的可怕景象：杜恩家族的人带着赃物骑马离去，其中一人的马背上横放着一个小女孩。
I also remembered my anger.
我也记得当时心中的愤怒。
Now I saw how the very same day had been the blackest and unhappiest of both my and Lorna’s childhood days, and how from the very start, our lives had been joined together.
如今我才明白，那一天竟是我和洛娜童年中最黑暗、最悲惨的日子，也明白了从一开始，我们的命运就紧紧连在了一起。
But there was still one question to answer. ‘What was the family’s name?’ I said.
但仍有一个问题需要解答。“那个家族姓什么？”我问。
‘The father was Lord Dugal — he came from a very grand family.’
“父亲是杜格尔勋爵——出身于一个非常显赫的家族。”
‘But there is more to this. Look at your ring, John — the one that Lorna gave you.’
“但还不止如此。看看你的戒指，约翰——就是洛娜给你的那枚。”
‘Look at that strange sign, of a cat in a tree.’
“看那个奇怪的标志，一只猫在树上。”
‘I saw that same sign above the inn door! That is the sign of the House of Lorne.’
“我在客栈门上也看到了同样的标志！那是洛恩家族的徽记。”
‘It is the family that Lorna’s mother came from.’
“那就是洛娜母亲的娘家。”
‘John, your Lorna belongs to one of the richest and most famous families in England!’
“约翰，你的洛娜出身于英格兰最富有、最著名的家族之一！”
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