12.Love and revenge 爱与复仇
London, of course, was where Lorna was, but it was five weeks before I saw her.
当然,洛娜就在伦敦,但我过了五个星期才见到她。
Because I was a kind of prisoner, I was not allowed to move freely around the city and I had to report every day to the judges’ rooms.
因为我算是一种囚犯,不被允许在城里自由行动,而且每天都必须去法官办公室报到。
However, I came before Judge Jeffreys at last.
不过,我终于还是来到了杰弗里斯法官面前。
He remembered me, believed my story, and gave me papers which said I was a free man and an honest servant of the King.
他记得我,相信了我的陈述,并给了我证明我是自由人且是国王忠实仆人的文件。
I was now free to go and see Lorna but, to tell the truth, I was a little afraid.
现在我可以自由地去见洛娜了,但说实话,我心里有点害怕。
It had been a year since she left Exmoor — a year without one word or letter from her.
自从她离开埃克斯穆尔已经一年了——这一年来她没有给我只言片语或一封信。
Did she remember the old days in our farmhouse?
她还怀念我们在农舍里的旧时光吗?
Did she still love her poor, simple farmer, a man without great riches or a famous family name?
她还爱着她那个贫穷朴实的农夫吗?一个既无巨额财富也无显赫家世的人。
It was true that the Ridds had held their own land on Exmoor for hundreds of years, but Lorna came from a family that had Scottish kings in its history.
诚然,里德家族在埃克斯穆尔拥有自己的土地已有数百年之久,但洛娜的家族历史上可是出过苏格兰国王的。
Everybody in London knew Lady Lorna Dugal.
伦敦人人都知道洛娜·杜格尔小姐。
They spoke of her great beauty, and told me how rich she was, and that the Queen was very friendly with her.
人们谈论着她的绝世美貌,告诉我她多么富有,还说女王与她关系非常亲密。
But if Lorna still loved me, then neither riches nor a proud family would keep me away from her.
但如果洛娜仍然爱我,那么无论是财富还是显赫的家世都无法阻止我靠近她。
So, with fear and hope in my heart, I went to Earl Brandir’s house.
于是,怀着恐惧与希望交织的心情,我去了布兰迪尔伯爵府。
It was a very grand place.
那是个非常宏伟的地方。
I was taken upstairs to a little sitting-room, and told to wait.
我被带到楼上的一个小客厅里等候。
Then, suddenly, the door opened and Lorna was standing before me, in a simple white dress, with her long black hair falling down her back.
突然,门开了,洛娜出现在我面前,穿着一条素净的白裙,长长的黑发垂在背后。
She was more beautiful than ever.
她比以往任何时候都更加美丽。
She came towards me, holding out her hand.
她向我走来,伸出了手。
Gently, I took her hand in mine, then bent and kissed it.
我轻轻地握住她的手,然后弯下腰亲吻了它。
‘Is that all?’ she whispered.
“就这样吗?”她轻声问道。
I saw the shine of tears in her eyes, and in another second she was crying in my arms.
我看到她眼中闪烁着泪光,下一秒她便在我怀里哭了起来。
‘Darling Lorna,’ I cried, holding her close to me. ‘I love you dearly, but surely, you don’t care for me now.’
“亲爱的洛娜,”我喊道,紧紧抱住她,“我深爱着你,但你肯定已经不再在乎我了。”
‘Yes, I do, John. Yes, I do. Oh, why have you behaved so unkindly?’
“不,我在乎,约翰。我真的在乎。噢,你为什么对我这么冷淡?”
‘I am behaving,’ I replied, ‘as well as I can. No other man in the world could hold you like this, without kissing you.’
“我已经尽力克制了,”我回答道,“世上没有哪个男人能像我这样抱着你却不吻你。”
‘Then why don’t you do it, John?’ asked Lorna, looking up at me, with a laugh in her bright eyes.
“那你为什么不吻呢,约翰?”洛娜抬头看着我问道,明亮的眼睛里含着笑意。
After that, of course, there was no more talking, for about five minutes.
在那之后,大约有五分钟的时间,我们自然谁也没再说话。
Then my darling pulled away from me, and began to question me.
然后我的爱人从我怀中挣脱出来,开始质问我。
‘John Ridd, you must tell me the truth, the whole truth. Why have you never, for more than a year, taken any notice of your old friend, Lorna Doone?’
“约翰·里德,你必须告诉我真相,全部的真相。为什么一年多来,你对你的老朋友洛娜·杜恩不闻不问?”
‘Because,’ I answered, ‘my old friend, and true love, sent me not one word or letter in all that time.’
“因为,”我回答说,“我的老朋友,我的真爱,在那段时间里没有给我寄过只言片语。”
‘What!’ cried Lorna. ‘Oh no, my poor John! I have often suspected something like this, but she always said —’
“什么!”洛娜叫道,“噢不,我可怜的约翰!我常常怀疑出了这种事,但她总是说——”
With these words, she rang a bell very violently, and a few seconds later her servant, little Gwenny, came in.
说着,她用力摇响了铃铛,几秒钟后她的侍女小格温尼走了进来。
‘Gwenny,’ said Lorna, ‘what have you done with all the letters I gave you to send to Mr Ridd? No more lies, now.’
“格温尼,”洛娜说,“我让你寄给里德先生的那些信你都怎么处理了?不许再撒谎了。”
Gwenny gave me a very black look. ‘I didn’t send them,’ she said. ‘You’re a grand lady now, mistress. You should marry some grand lord, not a poor farmer from Exmoor. I was only thinking of you.’
格温尼恶狠狠地瞪了我一眼。“我没寄,”她说,“您现在是尊贵的淑女了,小姐。您应该嫁给某位显赫的勋爵,而不是埃克斯穆尔的一个穷农夫。我这都是为您着想啊。”
‘Gwenny, you may go,’ said Lorna, her voice full of quiet anger. ‘I don’t want to see you or speak to you for at least three days.’
“格温尼,你下去吧,”洛娜说道,声音里压抑着怒火,“至少三天内我不想见到你,也不想跟你说话。”
At this, Gwenny ran out of the room, crying noisily, and Lorna turned to me. ‘Oh John, try not to be too angry with her. She loves me very much, and I’m afraid that if you take me, you’ll still have to take Gwenny too.’
听到这话,格温尼大声哭着跑出了房间,洛娜转向我说:“噢,约翰,试着别太生她的气。她非常爱我,恐怕如果你娶了我,也就不得不连带接受格温尼。”
‘I’ll take fifty Gwennies,’ I said, ‘if you want me to.’
“哪怕五十个格温尼我也愿意接受,”我说,“只要你想让我这么做。”
After this, we spoke of ourselves.
之后,我们谈起了彼此的事。
I tried to tell Lorna that, when she was free to decide her own future, she must think very carefully.
我试图告诉洛娜,当她可以自由决定自己的未来时,一定要慎重考虑。
The world would say she was mad if she chose to become a farmer’s wife.
如果她选择成为一个农夫的妻子,世人都会说她疯了。
Of course, at Plover’s Barrows farm she would have a comfortable home, plenty of good food, and all the love and care I could give her.
当然,在鸻鸟冢农场,她会拥有一个舒适的家,充足的美食,以及我能给予她的全部爱与关怀。
But it was not the same as being a grand lady, who owned half of Scotland and who could marry any lord she wanted.
但这与做一位尊贵的淑女完全不同,那位淑女拥有半个苏格兰,想嫁给哪位勋爵都可以。
Lorna could not wait for me to finish. ‘I decided long ago, dear John,’ she said, very seriously, ‘that you must be my husband.
洛娜没等我说完就打断了我。“很久以前我就决定了,亲爱的约翰,”她非常严肃地说,“你必须做我的丈夫。
I think it was the day you climbed up the waterfall, with your shoes off, and a bag of fish for your mother.
我想就是那天,你脱掉鞋子爬上瀑布,为你母亲带回了一袋鱼。
So, after all these years of loving, shall little things like money and a family name separate us? They mean nothing.
所以,在相爱这么多年之后,难道金钱和家世这种小事就能把我们分开吗?它们毫无意义。
I have not been here a year, John, without learning something. Oh, how I hate it!
约翰,我在这里待了一年并非一无所获。噢,我多么厌恶这一切!
Only my uncle and Gwenny really care for me. All the rest are only interested in my land and money.
只有舅舅和格温尼是真心关心我。其余所有人都只对我的土地和钱财感兴趣。
Oh John, you must never leave me — it would break my heart.’
噢,约翰,你绝不能离开我——那会让我心碎的。”
Of course, I gave in at once, and said, ‘Darling, you must do exactly what you please.’
当然,我立刻妥协了,说道:“亲爱的,你想怎么做就怎么做吧。”
For that she gave me the sweetest of kisses; and as I left, I went grandly down the great stairs of Earl Brandir’s house, thinking of nothing else except that.
为此她给了我最甜蜜的一吻;当我离开时,我神气地走下布兰迪尔伯爵府的大楼梯,脑海里除了那个吻什么都没有了。
For the rest of my time in London I went to see Lorna every day, forgetting all about my poor mother and the work that needed doing on the farm.
在伦敦剩下的日子里,我每天去看洛娜,完全忘了可怜的母亲和农场上亟待处理的活计。
Then one day I received a letter from Lizzie, and I realized that I must get home as quickly as possible.
直到有一天我收到了莉齐的信,才意识到我必须尽快赶回家。
My darling Lorna cried and held me close, but she understood why I had to go.
我亲爱的洛娜哭着紧紧抱住我,但她理解我为什么必须离开。
Lizzie’s news was this: Jeremy Stickles and his soldiers had finally made their attack on Doone valley — but it had failed, and Jeremy had been injured.
莉齐带来的消息是这样的:杰里米·斯蒂克尔斯和他的士兵终于对杜恩山谷发起了进攻——但失败了,杰里米也受了伤。
This was the worst possible thing for Exmoor.
这对埃克斯穆尔来说是最糟糕的消息。
Now the Doones would make more trouble than ever before — and of course they would attack our farm.
现在杜恩家族会比以往制造更多的麻烦——他们当然也会袭击我们的农场。
When I got home, I learnt that the Doones were robbing everyone around them, and the whole of Exmoor was living in fear of them.
回到家后,我得知杜恩家族正在抢劫周围的所有人,整个埃克斯穆尔都生活在对他们的恐惧之中。
Then a few weeks later something even more terrible happened.
几周后,更可怕的事情发生了。
The Doones came one evening to the farmhouse of Kit Badcock, a neighbour of ours, while he was out working in his fields.
一天傍晚,趁我们的邻居基特·巴德科克在田里干活时,杜恩家族的人闯进了他的农舍。
They broke down the door and stole his young wife Margery.
他们破门而入,抢走了他年轻的妻子玛杰里。
Two of them carried her, screaming and fighting, to their horses, and then rode away.
其中两人把她拖到马背上,任凭她尖叫挣扎,然后骑马扬长而去。
Meanwhile, the other Doones were searching the house for food and drink to steal, and one of them found the Badcocks’ little son crying in the kitchen.
与此同时,其他杜恩匪徒正在屋里搜寻可偷的食物和饮料,其中一个在厨房里发现了巴德科克家正在哭泣的小儿子。
He picked the baby up, threw him into the air, and let him fall on to the hard stone floor.
他把婴儿抱起来抛向空中,任由他摔落在坚硬的石板地上。
The child’s neck was broken, and he died at once.
孩子的脖子折断了,当场死亡。
It made me sick just to think of the cruelty of this man, and when people heard this terrible story, they were very angry.
一想到这个人的残忍行径就让我作呕,人们听到这个可怕的故事后也都义愤填膺。
They said it was time for the people of Exmoor to take their own revenge.
他们说,是时候让埃克斯穆尔的人民自己复仇了。
Men from all the farms and villages of Exmoor came to see me.
来自埃克斯穆尔各个农场和村庄的男人们都来找我。
‘We cannot expect any more help from the King against the Doones,’ they told me.
“我们不能指望国王再派兵帮我们对抗杜恩家族了,”他们对我说。
‘Because Jeremy Stickles’s attack failed, the King has refused to send any more soldiers.
“因为杰里米·斯蒂克尔斯的进攻失败了,国王拒绝再派遣任何士兵。
But we’ve had enough of the Doones. We want to attack them ourselves, and we want you to lead us, John.’
但我们受够了杜恩家族。我们要亲自攻打他们,约翰,我们希望由你来领导我们。”
I said I was no leader, but they would not listen to this. ‘Try to lead us,’ they said, ‘and we will try to follow.’
我说我不是当领袖的料,但他们不听。“试着带领我们吧,”他们说,“我们会努力追随你的。”
In the end I agreed to do as they asked.
最终我同意了他们的请求。
I thought we had a chance against the Doones, if enough of us decided to fight.
我想如果有足够多的人决心战斗,我们就有机会战胜杜恩家族。
There were fewer of them now — some had been killed in the rebel fighting, and some during Jeremy’s attack.
他们现在人手减少了——有些在叛军战斗中丧生,还有些在杰里米的进攻中阵亡。
We arranged to meet again and make a plan.
我们约定再次碰面制定计划。
Tom Faggus, now quite well, rode over to join us — and he soon had a very clever idea.
汤姆·法格斯现在已经痊愈了,他骑马赶来加入我们——很快就想出了一个非常巧妙的办法。
‘We’re not soldiers,’ he said, ‘and we’ll never defeat the Doones if we try to fight all of them in their valley.
“我们不是正规军,”他说,“如果在山谷里跟他们全员硬拼,我们永远赢不了。
So we must lay a trap.
所以我们必须设下陷阱。
You know the caves on Exmoor where gold was once found?
你们知道埃克斯穆尔那些曾经发现过金矿的洞穴吗?
Well, we’ll tell a story around Exmoor that men have been digging secretly and have found a new cave, with rocks full of gold.
我们可以散布一个消息,说有人一直在秘密挖掘,发现了一个新洞穴,里面的岩石满是黄金。
We’ll say that the gold will be taken away on a certain night, at a certain time.
我们就说这批金子将在某个特定的夜晚、特定的时间被运走。
The Doones will naturally plan to attack and steal this gold, but some of us will make a trap for them in the caves.
杜恩家族自然会计划袭击并抢夺这批金子,而我们一部分人可以在洞穴里为他们设下埋伏。
Meanwhile, the rest of us will attack the valley, as soon as we know that some of the robbers have left.’
同时,一旦确认部分匪徒离开了,我们剩下的人就趁机攻打山谷。”
The second part of our plan was this: Tom would take some of our men and pretend to attack the Doone gate, while our main attack would really come from the waterfall end of the valley — the route I had discovered so long ago.
计划的第二部分是:汤姆带一些人佯攻杜恩大门,而我们的主力则从山谷瀑布那一端发起真正的进攻——那是我很久以前发现的路线。
The plan went well.
计划进展顺利。
The story about the gold was whispered in the right ears, and on the agreed night our spies watched a large group of robbers leave Doone valley on their way to the caves.
关于金子的消息传到了该听的人耳朵里,在约定的夜晚,我们的探子监视着一大群匪徒离开杜恩山谷前往洞穴。
Meanwhile, as the moon rose above the hills, I was leading my twenty men to the bottom of the waterfall.
与此同时,当月亮升上山丘时,我正带领二十名手下抵达瀑布底部。
John Fry, our old farm-worker, was in the mountains which looked down into the valley.
我们的老雇工约翰·弗赖守在俯瞰山谷的山上。
When he saw the fighting start at the Doone-gate, he would fire his gun as a signal to us.
当他看到杜恩大门处开战时,就会鸣枪向我们发出信号。
Soon the sound of John’s gun rang around the mountains, and I and my men climbed up the waterfall and into the valley.
很快,约翰的枪声在山间回荡,我和手下顺着瀑布攀援而上进入了山谷。
Tom’s men were making as much noise as possible at the Doone-gate, and all the Doones had run to join the fight there.
汤姆的人马在杜恩大门处制造了尽可能大的声势,所有杜恩匪徒都跑去那里参战了。
We went quietly along the valley, keeping to the shadows under the trees, until we came to the Doone-town.
我们沿着山谷悄然前行,隐蔽在树荫下,直到抵达杜恩镇。
Then we got to work with our fire sticks, and before long every Doone house was on fire.
接着我们用火棒开始行动,没过多久每一座杜恩房屋都燃起了大火。
We took good care, however, to burn no women or children, and we made sure that they were all out of the houses first.
不过我们非常小心,绝不烧伤妇女儿童,并确保她们都已先撤出房屋。
When they saw the flames and smoke rising from their houses, the Doone men came running back from the gate.
当杜恩男人们看到自家房屋升起火焰和浓烟时,纷纷从大门口跑了回来。
By the time they reached us, the whole valley was burning — houses, trees, everything, right up to the sides of the mountains.
等他们赶到我们面前时,整个山谷都在燃烧——房屋、树木、一切的一切,一直烧到山腰。
As the men came towards us, we saw that there were only twelve of them.
当他们逼近时,我们发现只剩下十二个人了。
In the bright firelight, they could not see us, but we had them right in front of our guns.
在明亮的火光下,他们看不见我们,但他们正好处于我们的枪口之下。
There were so few of them that I thought we could take them as prisoners.
他们人数太少,我本以为可以将他们活捉。
But my men did not wait for a word from me — they saw the chance of revenge on the men who had burnt their homes and stolen their women for so many years.
但我的手下没等我下令——他们看到了复仇的机会,要向这些多年来烧毁他们家园、掳掠他们女人的匪徒报仇。
They fired, and five Doones fell dead.
他们开枪了,五名杜恩匪徒应声倒地。
The robbers fired back wildly, but they could not see us clearly in the shadows.
匪徒们疯狂还击,但在阴影中看不清我们的位置。
Soon all the guns were empty and the battle became hand-to-hand fighting, with knives and sticks.
很快所有的枪都打空了,战斗变成了用刀棍进行的肉搏战。
I stood to one side — the only Doone I wanted to meet was Carver.
我站在一旁——我唯一想找的杜恩人是卡弗。
But as I started to look for him, I saw something white in the grass, moving close to the ground.
但当我开始寻找他时,我看见草丛中有团白色的东西贴着地面移动。
I ran to see what it was, and found the Counsellor.
我跑过去查看,发现了那位“顾问”。
I recognized him from Lorna’s descriptions, and here he was, on his hands and knees, trying to escape from the fighting.
我从洛娜的描述中认出了他,此刻他正手脚并用,试图逃离战场。
The white thing I had seen was his long white hair.
我看到的那团白色物体是他长长的白发。
When he saw me, he got to his feet. He knew at once who I was.
看到我后,他站了起来。他立刻认出了我是谁。
‘John Ridd!’ he said. ‘Won’t you be kind to an old man? Let me get away from this violence, John.’
“约翰·里德!”他说,“你能不能对一个老人发发慈悲?让我远离这场暴力吧,约翰。”
‘I will let you go free, sir,’ I said, ‘but on one condition. Tell me honestly, which Doone killed my father?’
“我可以放你走,先生,”我说,“但有一个条件。老实告诉我,是哪个杜恩人杀了我父亲?”
‘I will tell you honestly,’ he said, ‘though it hurts me to say it. It was my son, Carver.’
“我会如实告诉你,”他说,“虽然这让我痛心。是我的儿子,卡弗。”
‘I thought it was him,’ I said. ‘But you were not there, so I don’t blame you.’
“我就猜到是他,”我说,“但你当时不在场,所以我不怪你。”
‘I’ve always been against violence,’ the Counsellor said, shaking his head sadly. ‘And now, John, let me go.’
“我一直反对暴力,”顾问悲伤地摇着头说,“现在,约翰,放我走吧。”
He was an evil, lying old man, but I let him go.
他是个邪恶又满嘴谎言的老头,但我还是放了他。
I don’t know what happened to him, but he was never seen again on Exmoor.
我不知道他后来怎么样了,反正埃克斯穆尔再也没人见过他。
Then I went to look for Carver, but did not find him.
随后我去寻找卡弗,但没有找到。
Afterwards, I heard that he had led the Doones who had gone to the gold caves.
后来我听说,正是他率领了前往金矿洞穴的那批杜恩匪徒。
Our trap was successful, and all the Doones had been killed — all except Carver, who had ridden his horse through attackers and escaped.
我们的陷阱成功了,所有杜恩匪徒都被歼灭——除了卡弗,他骑马冲破了包围圈逃走了。
The Doones were totally defeated, though.
不过,杜恩家族算是彻底覆灭了。
When the sun came up above their valley the next day, all their houses were nothing but blackened wood.
第二天太阳升过山谷时,他们所有的房屋只剩下了焦黑的木头。
We had lost sixteen men in the fighting, but out of nearly forty Doone men, only Carver and the Counsellor were left alive.
我们在战斗中损失了十六人,但近四十名杜恩匪徒中,只有卡弗和顾问活了下来。
But the thought that Carver, that cruel and violent man, was still living somewhere on the moors, did not give me much peace.
然而,想到卡弗那个残暴之徒仍潜伏在荒原某处,我就难以安心。
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