9 Oliver starts another life
9 奥利弗开始新的生活
In a comfortable, pleasant sitting-room, the two ladies of the house waited anxiously for the doctor and the police to arrive.
在一间舒适宜人的客厅里，这家的两位女士正焦急地等待着医生和警察的到来。
The owner of the house, Mrs Maylie, was an older woman, but her niece, Rose, was a girl of seventeen, whose quiet beauty and gentle charm won all hearts.
房主梅利夫人是一位年长的妇人，而她的侄女罗斯则是个十七岁的少女，她那恬静的美貌与温柔的性情赢得了所有人的喜爱。
As soon as the doctor arrived, he ran breathlessly into the house and burst into the room without knocking.
医生一到，便气喘吁吁地跑进屋子，连门也没敲就闯进了房间。
He was clearly a good friend of the ladies.
他显然是这两位女士的挚友。
‘I never heard of such a dreadful thing! You should both be dead of fright!’ he said to Mrs Maylie.
“我从没听说过这么可怕的事！你们俩肯定吓坏了吧！”他对梅利夫人说道。
‘In the silence of the night, too! Are you both all right? Why didn’t you send for me at once?’
“还是在夜深人静的时候！你们都没事吧？为什么不立刻派人来叫我？”
‘We are quite all right,’ said Rose, smiling.
“我们完全没事，”罗斯微笑着说。
‘But there’s an injured boy upstairs whom aunt wants you to see.’
“不过楼上有个受伤的男孩，姨妈想请您去看看。”
Dr Losberne went up to examine Oliver, and was there for some time.
洛斯伯恩医生上楼去检查奥利弗的伤势，在上面待了好一会儿。
He came down looking rather puzzled, and asked the two ladies to see the boy with him.
他下楼时神情颇为困惑，便请两位女士随他一同上去看看那个男孩。
‘I can promise you there’s nothing very frightening about him,’ he said.
“我可以向你们保证，他一点儿也不吓人，”他说。
Instead of the evil-looking robber they expected to see, the two ladies found only a pale, thin child, lying peacefully asleep.
两位女士原本以为会看到一个面目狰狞的强盗，结果却只发现一个苍白瘦弱的孩子正安详地熟睡着。
He looked so innocent that Mrs Maylie said, ‘This child could never have been in a gang of robbers!’
他看起来如此天真无邪，梅利夫人不禁说道：“这孩子绝不可能是盗贼团伙的一员！”
‘It certainly seems strange,’ agreed the doctor, ‘but wickedness can hide behind the most gentle face, you know.’
“确实看起来很奇怪，”医生也表示赞同，“但你要知道，邪恶有时也会隐藏在极其温和的面孔之下。”
‘But he’s so young, too!’ cried Rose.
“可他还这么小啊！”罗斯叫道。
‘Can you really believe this poor boy is a criminal? Oh, Dr Losberne, and my dear aunt, I beg you both to have pity on him.’
“您真能相信这个可怜的孩子是个罪犯吗？噢，洛斯伯恩医生，还有亲爱的姨妈，我恳求你们怜悯怜悯他吧。”
Mrs Maylie did not need persuading, and the doctor could not resist Rose’s tears.
梅利夫人本就不需劝说，而医生也无法抗拒罗斯的眼泪。
He had, in fact, an extremely kind heart, which he tried to hide behind a quick, fierce manner though this usually deceived no one.
事实上，他有一颗极其善良的心，尽管他总试图用急躁严厉的态度将其掩饰起来，但这通常骗不了任何人。
‘Well, what’s to be done, then?’ he said quickly.
“好吧，那现在该怎么办呢？”他急切地说道。
‘We’ll have the police here at any moment, ready to take the boy away and throw him into prison!’
“警察随时都会到，准备把这孩子带走关进监狱！”
Rose begged him to think of a plan, and the doctor thought hard for a few minutes, frowning fiercely.
罗斯恳求他想个办法，医生紧锁眉头苦思了几分钟。
At last he said, ‘I’ve got it!’ and rubbed his hands together in satisfaction.
最后他说：“我有主意了！”并满意地搓了搓手。
A little later, Oliver woke up and was very anxious to tell his story, although he had lost a lot of blood and was very weak.
过了一会儿，奥利弗醒了过来，虽然他失血过多、身体极度虚弱，却迫不及待地想要讲述自己的遭遇。
When the doctor and the ladies had heard all about his sad life, they were quite sure that they wanted to save Oliver from any unfair punishment.
当医生和女士们听完了他悲惨的身世后，都下定决心要拯救奥利弗，使他免受不公正的惩罚。
So Dr Losberne went down to the kitchen to talk to the three servants who had surprised Sikes and Oliver during the robbery.
于是，洛斯伯恩医生下楼来到厨房，找那三个在盗窃案中撞见赛克斯和奥利弗的男仆谈话。
The doctor folded his arms and gave the men a long, hard stare.
医生双臂交叉抱在胸前，严厉地久久盯着这几个仆人。
‘Tell me,’ he began, ‘can you be absolutely sure that the boy upstairs is the same one that was in the house last night? Well?’
“告诉我，”他开口道，“你们能绝对确定楼上的那个男孩就是昨晚潜入这栋房子的那个吗？嗯？”
The doctor, usually such a friendly man, seemed so angry that the servants stared at him, open-mouthed.
这位平日里和蔼可亲的医生此刻显得怒不可遏，仆人们都惊得目瞪口呆地望着他。
The doctor gave them no time to think, and went on fiercely,
医生不给他们思考的时间，继续厉声质问道：
‘Three men see a boy for about a second in the dark, in the middle of a lot of smoke and noise.
“三个大男人在一片漆黑之中，伴随着浓烟和嘈杂声，仅仅瞥见了一个男孩大约一秒钟。
A boy comes to the same house the next day and because one arm is injured, they think he must be the robber.
第二天来了个胳膊受了伤的男孩，你们就认定他一定是那个窃贼。
Are you going to swear that this is the same boy? Well? What do you say?’ he finished impatiently.
你们敢发誓这就是同一个男孩吗？嗯？你们怎么说？”他不耐烦地追问道。
The servants looked at each other in great confusion.
仆人们面面相觑，不知所措。
Suddenly there was a ring at the gate; the police officers had finally arrived.
突然门铃响了，警察终于到了。
Dr Losberne gave orders that plenty of beer should be served before the officers went up to see Oliver.
洛斯伯恩医生吩咐下去，在警官们上楼查看奥利弗之前，要先给他们端上充足的啤酒。
He also made sure that the servants had a generous amount of beer, too.
他也确保让仆人们喝了个够。
When the officers were finally allowed to see Oliver, Dr Losberne said, ‘This is a boy who was shot this morning while walking on a farmer’s property where he shouldn’t have been.
当警官们终于获准去看奥利弗时，洛斯伯恩医生说道：“这孩子是今早误入一位农夫的地界时被枪击中的。
The servants saw him and immediately thought he must be the same boy from last night.
仆人们看到他后，立刻以为他就是昨晚出现的那个男孩。
But now they say they’re sure it’s not the same boy.’
但现在他们说已经确定这不是同一个人了。”
The servants were by now so confused by beer and excitement that they were not sure of anything at all.
此时，仆人们已被啤酒和紧张的情绪弄得晕头转向，对什么都拿不准了。
The robbers had certainly had a boy with them, they said, but whether this boy was the same boy… well, it seemed very doubtful.
他们说盗贼身边确实带了个男孩，但这个男孩是不是眼前这一个……嗯，看来非常可疑。
The police, too, had drunk quite a lot of beer by now, and before long they were very willing to believe that Oliver was not the robber of the night before.
警察们这时也喝了不少啤酒，没过多久便很乐意相信奥利弗并非昨夜行窃的盗贼。
They had their own ideas about who committed all the robberies in the area, and Oliver was unknown to them.
对于这一带发生的盗窃案究竟是谁干的，他们自有一套看法，而奥利弗对他们来说完全是个陌生人。
At last the police left, and Oliver was allowed to recover in the kind care of Mrs Maylie, Rose, and Dr Losberne.
警察终于离开了，奥利弗得以在梅利夫人、罗斯和洛斯伯恩医生的悉心照料下安心养伤。
It was several weeks before he was well enough to get out of bed.
过了好几个星期，他的身体才恢复到能够下床走动。
But then he quickly grew stronger, and every day told his rescuers how grateful he was.
此后他迅速康复起来，每天都向他的恩人们表达无尽的感激之情。
One thing, however, caused him unhappiness.
然而，有一件事让他感到难过。
He wanted to find Mr Brownlow, the kind old man who had looked after him in London.
他想找到布朗洛先生——那位曾在伦敦照顾过他的慈祥老人。
‘Mr Brownlow would be pleased to know how happy I am now,’ he said.
“如果布朗洛先生知道我现在过得这么幸福，一定会很高兴的，”他说。
So when Dr Losberne offered to take Oliver to London to see Mr Brownlow, the boy was very pleased.
因此，当洛斯伯恩医生提议带奥利弗去伦敦探望布朗洛先生时，这孩子高兴极了。
They set out by coach one fine morning, and when they arrived in London, they went straight to Mr Brownlow’s house.
在一个晴朗的早晨，他们乘马车出发了；抵达伦敦后，便径直前往布朗洛先生的住所。
Oliver’s heart beat with excitement as they stopped outside.
当马车停在门外时，奥利弗激动得心怦怦直跳。
But the house was empty.
然而屋子里空无一人。
They were told by the people next door that Mr Brownlow had moved to the West Indies six weeks before.
邻居告诉他们，布朗洛先生已于六周前搬去了西印度群岛。
Oliver was very disappointed; he had thought about Mr Brownlow so much recently, and had always hoped to find him again.
奥利弗失望至极；近来他时常想念布朗洛先生，一直盼望着能与他重逢。
But now the kind old man had moved abroad, still believing Oliver was a lying thief, and he might hold this belief until the day he died.
可如今这位善良的老人已远赴海外，心中仍认定奥利弗是个撒谎的小偷，或许直到离世那天他都会这么认为。
This was a bitter disappointment to Oliver, but his new friends were still as kind to him as ever.
这对奥利弗来说是个沉重的打击，但他的新朋友们依然待他如故。
They left the house in Chertsey and moved to a quiet cottage in the country, taking Oliver with them.
他们离开了彻特西的宅邸，搬到了乡下一座宁静的小屋，并把奥利弗也带了过去。
Spring came, and in the fresh air, away from the noise and smoke and trouble of the city, Oliver began a new life.
春天来了，在远离城市喧嚣、烟尘与纷扰的清新空气中，奥利弗开始了崭新的生活。
He went for walks with Rose and Mrs Maylie, or Rose read to him, and he worked hard at his lessons.
他与罗斯和梅利夫人一起散步，或是听罗斯读书给他听，自己也刻苦学习功课。
He felt as if he had left behind forever the world of crime and hardship and poverty.
他感觉自己仿佛永远告别了那个充满罪恶、苦难与贫困的世界。
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