08.Endings

8.Endings
8．结局
The whining voice stopped as I stepped into Frome's kitchen. There were two women sitting there, and I could not tell which one had been the speaker.


我走进弗罗姆家的厨房时，那又尖又细的抱怨声停了下来。屋里坐着两个女人，我不知道刚才说话的是哪一个。


One of them stood up when we entered, and without a word went to bring a dish of food to the table. She was tall and thin, and wore an untidy, shapeless dress. Her lined face and thin lips were of the same yellowish colour, and she had thin grey hair and grey, lifeless eyes.


我们进门时，一个女人站了起来，一言不发地走去拿了盘食物放在桌上。她高高瘦瘦的，穿了件邋遢的皱衣裳。布满皱纹的脸和薄薄的嘴唇一样，透着枯黄色。她长着稀疏的灰白头发，阴郁的眼睛毫无生气。


The other woman was smaller, and she also had grey hair and a thin, bloodless face. She turned her head towards me quickly, but her body did not move at all. Her dark eyes shone with the crazy brightness that is sometimes seen in people with disease of the spine.


另一个女人个子小些，也长着灰白的头发，脸庞削瘦，毫无血色。她朝我快速地转过头来，可身子却一点儿没动。她的黑眼睛闪着狂躁的光芒，这光芒有时你会在脊椎病患者的眼中看到。


The kitchen was a poor place. The few pieces of furniture were of the poorest kind, mostly broken and dirty.


厨房很破旧，仅有的几件家具都是最差的那种，而且大都又破又脏。


My, it's cold in here,' said Frome, looking around.


“嘿，这儿真冷啊。”弗罗姆说着，看了看四周。


The tall woman said nothing, but the dark-eyed woman answered complainingly, in a thin, whining voice:


高个儿女人什么都没说，黑眼睛的女人拖着尖细的声音抱怨道：


It's Zeena's fault. She fell asleep and the fire went out. I've been so cold, waiting for her to wake up.'


“都是齐娜的错儿。她睡着了，火灭了。我等着她醒过来，冷极了。”


I knew then that it was her voice that I had heard.


我这才意识到刚才听到的是她的声音。


The tall woman brought the food to the table. Frome looked at me and said: 'This is my wife, Mrs Frome.' After a moment he added, turning to the figure in the armchair: 'And this is Miss Mattie Silver...'


高个子女人把食物端上餐桌。弗罗姆看看我，说道：“这是我妻子，弗罗姆太太。”过了一会儿，他转身朝向摇椅中的身影，补充道：“这是玛蒂·西尔弗小姐……”


Ruth Hale was very pleased to see me return safely in the moming, and most surprised to hear how I had spent the night.


第二天早晨，露丝·黑尔看到我安全回来，非常高兴，而听到我如何过夜之后，更是惊讶不已。


You must be the first stranger there in twenty years,' she said. 'It's awful to see them, all locked up together in that house. And they're not easy people, any of them. Mattie used to be; before the accident she was a really sweet girl. But not now — she's had too much pain. Now when she and Zeena fight, the look on Ethan's face is enough to break your heart.'


“你绝对是20年来第一个去那儿的陌生人。”她说，“看到他们一起困在那房子里，真是件让人难过的事。他们不是随和的人，谁都不是。玛蒂过去是，出事之前，她真是个可爱的女孩儿。可现在——她忍受太多痛苦了。现在，她和齐娜吵架的时候，伊桑脸上的表情能让人心碎。”


Yes, it must be awful for them,' I agreed.


“是啊，他们一定挺难的。”我同意黑尔夫人的话。


It was just terrible at the beginning,' she went on. 'They brought Mattie here, and I stayed with her all night. Then in the morning she opened her eyes and said... Oh, I don't know why I'm telling you this...' She stopped, crying.


“开始时，情况非常糟。”她接着说，“他们把玛蒂送到这儿来，我整夜都陪着她。第二天早上，她睁开眼，说……哦，我真不知道为什么要和你说这些……”她停下来，哭了。


After a few moments she dried her tears and continued: 'Then when the doctors said we could move Mattie, Zeena sent for her and took her back to the farm.'


过了一会儿，她擦干了眼泪，继续说道：“后来大夫说我们能挪动玛蒂了，齐娜就让人把她接回农庄去了。”


And she's been there ever since?' I asked.


“之后她就一直待在那儿？”我问。


There was no other place for her to go,' Ruth Hale answered simply; and I thought how hard life was for the poor.


“她没处可去啊。”露丝·黑尔简短地回答道。而我在想，穷人的生活是多么艰难啊。


Zeena's cared for the pair of them for over twenty years now,' Ruth Hale went on. 'And there they all are, shut up in that one kitchen.'


“到现在，齐娜照顾他们俩二十多年了，”露丝·黑尔继续说，“三个人在一起，都困在厨房里。”


Then she looked at me and said in a low voice:


接着她看了看我，低声说：


There was one day, about a week after the accident, when they thought Mattie couldn't live. Well, I say it was a pity she did. People think that's an awful thing to say, but they weren't with her when she first woke up... And I say this, too. All those years with Mattie have destroyed Ethan. The way they are now, there's not much difference between the Fromes up at the farm and the Fromes down in their graves — except that down there they're all silent and the women have to keep quiet.'


“有一天，大概是他们出事后一周，大家都认为玛蒂活不成了。唉，要我说，她活着反而更可怜。人们会觉得这么说不好，可当她第一次醒来的时候，他们可不在她身边……我现在也这么说。和玛蒂在一起的这些年毁了伊桑。他们现在这个样子，弗罗姆家的人，在农场里活着的和躺在坟墓里的没什么区别——唯一的区别是躺在坟墓里的都没有声音，那儿的女人不得不把嘴闭上。”