14 The end of the mystery
14 谜团的终结
The next day Oliver travelled with Mr Brownlow, Dr Losberne, Mrs Maylie and Rose back to his birthplace.
第二天，奥利弗与布朗洛先生、洛斯伯恩医生、梅利太太和罗斯一同回到了他的出生地。
He had been told a little of his history, and knew that there would be more explanations at the end of this journey.
他已经得知了一些自己的身世，也知道在这趟旅程结束时会有更多的解释。
He was anxious and uncertain, wondering what he would hear.
他既焦虑又忐忑，不知道将会听到什么。
But towards the end of the journey, he began to recognize familiar places, and in great excitement pointed them out to Rose.
但在旅程快结束时，他开始认出熟悉的地方，并兴奋地向罗斯指认出来。
There was the path he had taken when he had run away.
那是他当年逃跑时走过的小路。
There, across the fields, was the ‘baby farm’.
田野对面就是那个“育婴所”。
Then, as they drove into the town, he saw the house of Mr Sowerberry the undertaker, and the workhouse that had been his prison.
随后，当马车驶入镇上时，他看到了殡仪馆老板索尔贝里先生的房子，还有那座曾如同监狱般的济贫院。
They stopped at the biggest hotel in the town, and went in to their rooms.
他们在镇上最大的旅馆停下，进了各自的房间。
During dinner Mr Brownlow stayed in a separate room, and the older members of the group went in and out with serious faces.
晚餐期间，布朗洛先生待在另一个房间里，年长的几位神情严肃地进进出出。
Mrs Maylie came back with her eyes red from crying.
梅利太太回来时眼睛都哭红了。
All this made Rose and Oliver, who had not been told any new secrets, very nervous and uncomfortable.
这一切让尚未被告知任何新秘密的罗斯和奥利弗感到非常紧张和不安。
At nine o’clock Dr Losberne and Mr Brownlow brought Monks into the room.
九点钟时，洛斯伯恩医生和布朗洛先生把蒙克斯带进了房间。
Oliver was very surprised; this was the same man he had bumped into once outside a pub, and seen another time with Fagin, looking in at him through the window of the country cottage.
奥利弗非常惊讶；这个人正是他曾在一家酒馆外撞见过一次，后来又有一次看到他和费金在一起、透过乡间小屋窗户往里窥视的那个人。
Oliver was told that Monks was his half-brother, and the boy stared at him in shock and amazement.
奥利弗被告知蒙克斯是他的同父异母哥哥，男孩震惊地盯着他，难以置信。
Monks looked back at him with hatred.
蒙克斯则满怀仇恨地回瞪着他。
‘We have the whole story here in these papers,’ said Mr Brownlow, putting them on the table.
“事情的来龙去脉都在这些文件里了，”布朗洛先生说着把它们放在桌上。
‘All we need now is for you to sign them, Monks. And to tell Oliver what happened.’
“现在只需要你签字，蒙克斯。然后告诉奥利弗到底发生了什么。”
Monks started hesitantly.
蒙克斯犹豫地开口了。
‘My father had arrived in Italy to collect the money he had inherited, when suddenly he fell ill. When he died, we found two papers in his desk. One was a letter to his girl; the other was a will.’
“我父亲抵达意大利去领取遗产时突然病倒了。他去世后，我们在他的书桌里发现了两份文件。一封是写给那个女孩的信；另一份是遗嘱。”
‘What was the letter?’ asked Mr Brownlow.
“信里写了什么？”布朗洛先生问。
‘It was written when he was ill, telling the girl how ashamed he was that she was pregnant. He asked her not to remember him as a bad man but as someone who had made a mistake. He reminded her of the day he’d given her the locket and ring.’
“那是他在病重时写的，告诉那个女孩他对让她怀孕感到多么羞愧。他请求她不要把他当作坏人记住，而要当作一个犯了错的人。他还提醒她想起送给她吊坠盒和戒指的那一天。”
Oliver’s tears fell fast as he listened to the story of his father.
听着关于父亲的故事，奥利弗泪如雨下。
‘And what about the will?’ asked Mr Brownlow.
“那遗嘱呢？”布朗洛先生问。
Monks was silent.
蒙克斯沉默不语。
‘The will,’ continued Mr Brownlow, speaking for him, ‘was in the same spirit as the letter. He talked of the misery of his marriage to his wife, and the evil character of you, Monks, his only son, who had been brought up by your mother to hate him. He left you and your mother an annual income of £800. The rest of his property he left to his girl Agnes and to their child, if it were born alive, and if it showed itself to be of a good, kind character. The money would only go to you, Monks, as the older son, if the younger turned out to be as evil as you.’
“那份遗嘱，”布朗洛先生替他继续说道，“基调与那封信相同。他谈到了与妻子婚姻的痛苦，以及你——蒙克斯，他唯一的儿子——被你母亲抚养长大而养成的邪恶品性。他留给你和你母亲每年800英镑的收入。其余财产则留给那个叫阿格尼丝的女孩和他们的孩子，前提是孩子能活着出生，并且表现出善良仁慈的品格。只有当小儿子变得像你一样邪恶时，这笔钱才会归你蒙克斯这个长子所有。”
‘My mother,’ said Monks, ‘burnt this will, and never sent the letter. The girl Agnes left her home in secret, so that her pregnancy would not bring shame on her family. I swore to my mother, when she was dying, that if I ever found my half-brother, I would do him all the harm I could. He would feel my hatred like a whip on his back. I paid Fagin to trap Oliver into a life of crime. But then he escaped, and that stupid, interfering girl Nancy talked to you. If I’d had the chance, I would have finished what I’d begun.’ Monks stared at Oliver, and his lips moved in a silent curse.
“我母亲，”蒙克斯说，“烧毁了这份遗嘱，也从未寄出那封信。阿格尼丝悄悄离开了家，以免因怀孕给家族带来耻辱。我在母亲临终前向她发誓，如果找到我的同父异母弟弟，定要竭尽所能伤害他。我要让他感受到我的仇恨如同鞭子抽在背上一般。我花钱雇费金诱使奥利弗走上犯罪道路。但他逃跑了，还有那个愚蠢多事的南希跟你们说了话。如果再给我机会，我一定会把没做完的事做绝。”蒙克斯盯着奥利弗，嘴唇无声地动着，像是在诅咒。
‘And the locket and ring?’ asked Mr Brownlow.
“那吊坠盒和戒指呢？”布朗洛先生问。
‘I bought them from Mr and Mrs Bumble, who had stolen them from the nurse, who had stolen them from Agnes, the dead girl. I’ve already told you how I threw them into the river.’
“我从班布尔夫妇那里买来的，他们是从护士那里偷的，而护士是从死去的女孩阿格尼丝身上偷的。我已经告诉过你我怎么把它们扔进河里的了。”
Mr Brownlow turned to Rose. ‘I have one more thing to explain,’ he said to the girl.
布朗洛先生转向罗斯。“我还有一件事要解释，”他对女孩说。
‘I don’t know if I have the strength to hear it now,’ she murmured, ‘having heard so much already.’
“我不知道自己是否还有力气再听下去了，”她低声说，“已经听了这么多了。”
Mr Brownlow put his hand under her arm. ‘You have a great deal of courage, dear child,’ he said kindly. He turned to Monks. ‘Do you know this young lady, sir?’
布朗洛先生把手托在她的手臂下。“你很勇敢，亲爱的孩子，”他和蔼地说。然后他转向蒙克斯。“先生，你认识这位年轻女士吗？”
‘Yes.’
“认识。”
‘I don’t know you,’ said Rose faintly.
“我不认识你，”罗斯虚弱地说。
‘The father of poor Agnes had two daughters,’ said Mr Brownlow. ‘What happened to the other one, who was only a young child at the time?’
“可怜的阿格尼丝的父亲有两个女儿，”布朗洛先生说。“当时还只是个幼童的另一个女儿后来怎么样了？”
‘When Agnes disappeared,’ replied Monks, ‘her father changed his name and moved to a lonely place in Wales, where no one would know about the family shame. He died very soon afterwards, and this young daughter was taken in by some poor people. My mother hated Agnes and everybody connected with her. She hunted for this young sister, and made sure that her life would be unhappy. She told the poor people who had taken her in that the girl was illegitimate, and that she came from a bad family with an evil reputation. So the child led a life of miserable poverty — until Mrs Maylie saw her by chance, pitied her, and took her home.’
“阿格尼丝失踪后，”蒙克斯回答，“她的父亲改了名，搬到了威尔士一个偏僻的地方，这样就不会有人知道家族的丑闻了。他不久后就去世了，这个小女儿被一些穷人收养了。我母亲憎恨阿格尼丝以及所有与她有关的人。她找到了这个小妹妹，并确保她的生活不会幸福。她告诉收养女孩的穷人说这孩子是私生女，出身于名声败坏的恶毒家庭。于是这孩子过着悲惨贫困的生活——直到梅利太太偶然遇见她，心生怜悯，把她带回了家。”
‘And do you see this young sister now?’ asked Mr Brownlow.
“那你现在看到这位小妹妹了吗？”布朗洛先生问。
‘Yes. Standing by your side.’
“看到了。就站在你身边。”
Rose could hardly speak. ‘So… Oliver is my nephew?’
罗斯几乎说不出话来。“所以……奥利弗是我的外甥？”
‘I can never call you aunt,’ cried Oliver. ‘You’ll always be my own dear sister!’
“我永远没法叫你阿姨，”奥利弗喊道。“你永远是我亲爱的姐姐！”
They ran into each other’s arms, both of them crying in their happiness. A father, sister and mother had been lost and gained, and it was too much for one evening. They stood for a long time in silence, and the others left them alone.
他们扑向彼此的怀抱，喜极而泣。失去又找回了父亲、姐姐和母亲，这一个晚上承载了太多情感。他们静静地站了很久，其他人便留下他们独处。
The court was full of faces; from every corner, all eyes were on one man — Fagin.
法庭里挤满了人；从四面八方投来的目光都聚焦在一个人身上——费金。
In front of him, behind, above, below — he seemed surrounded by staring eyes.
前前后后、上上下下——他似乎被无数注视的眼睛包围了。
Not one of the faces showed any sympathy towards him; all were determined that he should hang.
没有一张脸对他流露出丝毫同情；所有人都认定他该被绞死。
At last, there was a cry of ‘Silence!’, and everyone looked towards the door. The jury returned, and passed close to Fagin. He could tell nothing from their faces; they could have been made of stone. Then there was complete stillness — not a whisper, not a breath… Guilty. The whole court rang with a great shout, echoing through all the rooms as the crowd ran out of the building to tell all the people waiting outside. The news was that he would die on Monday.
终于，有人喊了一声“肃静！”，所有人都看向门口。陪审团回来了，从费金身边经过。他从他们的脸上看不出任何端倪；那些面孔简直像石头做的一样。接着是一片死寂——没有低语，没有呼吸声……罪名成立。整个法庭爆发出巨大的欢呼声，回声在各个房间激荡，人群涌出大楼去告诉外面等候的人们。消息是他将在周一被处决。
Fagin thought of nothing but death that night. He began to remember all the people he had ever known who had been hung. He could hardly count them. They might have sat in the same prison cell as he was now. He thought about death by hanging — the rope, the cloth bag over the head, the sudden change from strong men to bundles of clothes, hanging at the end of a rope.
那天晚上费金满脑子只有死亡。他开始回忆起所有他认识的被绞死的人。多得数不过来。他们或许也曾坐在和他现在一样的牢房里。他想到了绞刑——绳索、套在头上的布袋、强壮的男人瞬间变成悬挂在绳端的一堆衣物。
As his last night came, despair seized Fagin’s evil soul. He could not sit still, and hurried up and down his small cell, gasping with terror, his eyes flashing with hate and anger. Then he lay trembling on his stone bed and listened to the clock striking the hours. Where would he be when those hours came round again?
随着最后一个夜晚的降临，绝望攫住了费金邪恶的灵魂。他坐立难安，在狭小的牢房里来回疾走，恐惧得喘不过气，眼中闪烁着仇恨与愤怒。随后他颤抖着躺在石床上，听着时钟敲响报时的声音。当这些时刻再次来临时，他又会在哪里呢？
In the middle of that Sunday night, Mr Brownlow and Oliver were allowed to enter the prison. Several strong doors were unlocked, and eventually they entered Fagin’s cell. The old robber was sitting on the bed, whispering to himself, his face more like a trapped animal’s than a human’s.
在那个周日半夜，布朗洛先生和奥利弗获准进入监狱。几道厚重的门被打开后，他们终于走进了费金的牢房。这个老盗贼坐在床上自言自语，那张脸与其说是人的，不如说更像被困野兽的。
‘You have some papers, Fagin,’ said Mr Brownlow quietly, ‘which were given to you by Monks to look after.’
“费金，你手里有些文件，”布朗洛先生平静地说，“是蒙克斯交给你保管的。”
‘It’s a lie!’ replied Fagin, not looking at him. ‘I haven’t got any.’
“胡说！”费金回答道，看都不看他一眼。“我什么都没有。”
‘For the love of God,’ said Mr Brownlow, very seriously, ‘don’t lie to us now, on the night before your death. You know that Sikes is dead and Monks has confessed. Where are the papers?’
“看在上帝的份上，”布朗洛先生极其严肃地说，“在你临死前的今晚，别再对我们撒谎了。你知道赛克斯已经死了，蒙克斯也已经招供了。文件在哪里？”
‘I’ll tell you, Oliver,’ said Fagin. ‘Come here.’ He whispered to him. ‘They’re in a bag up the chimney in the front room at the top of the house. But I want to talk to you, my dear.’
“我告诉你，奥利弗，”费金说。“过来。”他对他耳语道。“它们在顶楼前屋烟囱上方的一个袋子里。但我想跟你谈谈，亲爱的。”
‘Yes,’ said Oliver. ‘Will you pray with me?’
“好的，”奥利弗说。“你愿意和我一起祈祷吗？”
‘Outside, outside,’ said Fagin, pushing the boy in front of him towards the door. ‘Say I’ve gone to sleep — they’ll believe you. You can take me out with you when you go.’ The old man’s eyes shone with a mad light.
“出去，到外面去，”费金说着把男孩推向门口。“就说我已经睡着了——他们会相信你的。你走的时候可以把我也带出去。”老人的眼里闪着疯狂的光。
‘It’s no good,’ said Mr Brownlow, taking Oliver’s hand. ‘He’s gone too far, and we can never reach him now.’
“没用了，”布朗洛先生拉起奥利弗的手说。“他已经陷得太深，我们现在再也无法拯救他了。”
The cell door opened, and as the visitors left, Fagin started struggling and fighting with his guards, screaming so loudly that the prison walls rang with the sound.
牢房门打开了，就在访客离开时，费金开始与看守挣扎搏斗，尖叫声之大震得监狱墙壁嗡嗡作响。
They left the prison building in the grey light of dawn. Outside in the street, huge crowds were already gathering, joking and laughing, and pushing to get the best places near the great black platform, where the rope hung ready for its morning’s work.
他们在黎明灰蒙蒙的光线中离开了监狱大楼。外面的街道上早已聚集了庞大的人群，人们说笑打闹，推搡着争夺靠近黑色高台的最佳位置，那里的绞索已悬好，等待着执行清晨的任务。
Less than three months later, Rose married Harry Maylie. For her sake, Harry had abandoned his political ambitions, and had become a simple man of the church. There was no longer any mystery about Rose’s birth, but even if there had been, Harry would not have cared. They lived next to the church in a peaceful village. Mrs Maylie went to live with them, and spent the rest of her days in quiet contentment.
不到三个月后，罗斯嫁给了哈里·梅利。为了她，哈里放弃了政治抱负，成为了一名朴实的牧师。罗斯的身世不再有任何谜团，但即便有，哈里也不会在意。他们住在宁静村庄的教堂旁。梅利太太搬去与他们同住，在安宁满足中度过了余生。
Mr Brownlow adopted Oliver as his son. They moved to a house in the same quiet village, and were just as happy. Dr Losberne discovered suddenly that the air in Chertsey did not suit him. In less than three months he, too, had moved — to a cottage just outside the village, where he took up gardening and fishing with great energy and enthusiasm.
布朗洛先生收奥利弗为养子。他们搬到了同一个宁静村庄的一座房子里，同样过得幸福美满。洛斯伯恩医生突然发现切特西的空气不适合他。不到三个月他也搬了家——住到了村外的一间小屋里，精力充沛且热情高涨地种起了花、钓起了鱼。
Mr Brownlow suggested that half the remaining money from the will should be given to Monks and the other half to Oliver, although by law it should all have gone to Oliver alone. Oliver was glad to accept the suggestion. Monks went off with his money to the other side of the world, where he spent it quickly and was soon in prison for another act of fraud. In prison he became ill and died. The remaining members of Fagin’s gang died in similar ways in other distant countries, all except Charley Bates, who turned his back on his past life of crime and lived honestly, as a farmer.
布朗洛先生提议将遗嘱中剩余的钱分一半给蒙克斯，另一半给奥利弗，尽管按法律本应全部归奥利弗一人所有。奥利弗欣然接受了这个建议。蒙克斯带着钱去了世界的另一端，很快挥霍一空，不久又因另一起欺诈罪入狱。他在狱中生病去世。费金团伙的其他成员也在其他遥远的国度以类似的方式死去，唯有查理·贝茨例外，他告别了过去的犯罪生涯，老老实实地当起了农民。
Noah Claypole was given a free pardon for telling the police about Fagin. He soon became employed as an informer for the police, spying on people and telling the police about anyone who had broken the law. Mr and Mrs Bumble lost their jobs and became poorer and poorer, eventually living in poverty in the same workhouse that they had once managed.
诺亚·克莱波尔因向警方揭发费金而获得赦免。他很快受雇成为警方的线人，监视他人并向警方举报任何违法者。班布尔夫妇丢了工作，越来越穷，最终沦落到在他们曾经管理过的同一所济贫院里过着贫困潦倒的生活。
In that quiet country village, the years passed peacefully. Mr Brownlow filled the mind of his adopted son with knowledge, and as he watched the boy grow up, he was reminded more and more of his old friend, Oliver’s father. The two orphans, Rose and Oliver, led lives that were truly happy. The hardships that they had once suffered had left no bitterness in their gentle souls, and all their lives they showed the mercy and kindness to others that God himself shows to all things that breathe.
在那个宁静的乡村里，岁月安然流逝。布朗洛先生用知识充实了养子的头脑，看着男孩长大成人，他越来越多地想起了老友——奥利弗的父亲。罗斯和奥利弗这两个孤儿过上了真正幸福的生活。他们曾经遭受的苦难并未在温柔的心灵中留下丝毫怨恨，终其一生，他们都以上帝对待万物生灵般的慈悲与善意对待他人。
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