01.Beginnings

1.Beginnings
1．开端
If you know Starkfield, Massachusetts, you know the post office there. If you know the post office, you have probably seen Ethan Frome driving up to it in his buggy; and you have probably wondered who he was.


你若是知道马萨诸塞州的斯塔克菲尔德镇，想必该知道那儿的邮局；若是知道那儿的邮局，就可能看到过伊桑·弗罗姆驾着他的四轮马车到那儿，或许你还曾对他感到过好奇：这个人是谁？


It was there that, several years ago, I saw him for the first time. He was a noticeable figure. His tall, strong body was badly twisted, and much shorter on the right side than on the left. He moved slowly and painfully, pulling himself along. Just the few steps from his buggy to the post office were clearly difficult for him. His face had a sad, grim look. It was the face and body of an old man, and I was surprised to hear that he was only fifty-two.


几年前，就是在那儿，我第一次见到了他。他很引人注目，个子高高的，身体强壮却扭曲得厉害，右侧身子明显低于左侧。他拖着身体向前，走得缓慢而痛苦。从他的四轮马车到邮局只有几步路，对他来讲却显然很困难。他脸上带着哀伤、阴郁的神色。这种表情和身体属于老年人，因此当听说他只有52岁时，我感到很惊讶。


I learnt this from Harmon Gow, a man who knew all the families around Starkfield.


这是我是从哈蒙·高那儿听到的，哈蒙认识斯塔克菲尔德镇上所有的人家。


He's been like that since his bad accident, nearly twenty-four years ago,' said Harmon. 'But Fromes don't die young. Ethan'll live to a hundred, probably.'


“大约24年前发生了那场严重的事故后，他就变成那样子了。”哈蒙说，“但弗罗姆家的人都长寿。伊桑可能会活到100岁。”


He looks like a dead man already,' I said.


“可他看起来好像已经死了。”我说。


I guess he's been in Starkfield too many winters,' said Harmon. 'Most smart people get out of here.'


“我猜他在斯塔克菲尔德熬过太多个冬天了，”哈蒙说，“大部分聪明人都搬走了。”


Why didn't he get out?' I asked.


“那他怎么不搬走？”我问。


He had to stay and take care of his family — first his father got hurt, then his mother fell sick, then his wife.'


“他必须留下来照顾家人——先是他父亲受伤了，之后他母亲又病倒了，再后来就是他妻子。”


And then the accident?'


“然后他就出了事？”


Harmon gave a little smile. 'That's right. He had to stay then.'


哈蒙笑了笑。“是的，所以他不得不留下来。”


Ethan Frome used to drive in from his farm every day at about midday, and because I picked up my mail at about the same time, I often saw him. He came to the post office only for a newspaper, and sometimes for a packet from a medicine company for 'Mrs Zeena Frome'. Starkfield people understood that he did not want to stop and talk, and on most days Frome climbed slowly back into his buggy and drove away without a word to anyone.


过去，伊桑·弗罗姆常常在大概每天中午的时候驾着马车从他的农场来邮局，我也是在那时去取信，所以经常看到他。他来邮局就是为了取份报纸，有时候也会取个包裹，那是一家医药公司寄给“齐娜·弗罗姆夫人”的。斯塔克菲尔德镇的人都知道他不想停下来说话，大部分时候他都会慢慢地爬到他的马车上，一言不发地驾车离开。


At that time my company had sent me on an engineering job near Starkfield, and I was staying at the home of a lady called Mrs Ruth Hale. Before she was married, her name had been Ruth Varnum, but her husband Ned Hale was now dead, and she had returned to live with her mother in the Varnum home. It was a grand house, large and white, with tall dark trees outside. Although it was clear that the Varnums no longer had much money, theirs was still the finest house in the village.


当时，我被公司派到斯塔克菲尔德附近来做一项工程，住在一位女士家中，大家叫她露丝·黑尔夫人。她婚前名叫露丝·瓦纳姆，如今她的丈夫内德·黑尔已经过世，于是她回到娘家和母亲一起住。房子很大，很气派，漆成白色，屋外长着高大、苍翠的树木。尽管瓦纳姆家显然已不再富裕，但她们的房子却仍是村子里最好的。


Ruth Hale enjoyed talking about her neighbours, and I hoped that she could tell me more about Ethan Frome. But when I asked her, she just looked unhappy and said in a low voice:


露丝·黑尔夫人喜欢和邻居聊天，而我也希望她能多告诉我一些伊桑·弗罗姆的故事。但每当我问她时，她就会显得有些悲伤，并且用低沉的声音对我说：


Yes, I knew them both... it was awful...'


“是的，他们两个我都认识……太可怕了……”


I asked other people, and everybody in Starkfield agreed that Ethan Frome had had more troubles in his life than most people. But nobody explained why he had that sad, grim look on his face.


我问过其他人，斯塔克菲尔德镇上每个人都认为伊桑·弗罗姆一生中遭遇的麻烦事比大多数人都多，但却没人解释为什么他的脸看上去那么悲伤、阴郁。


In the end, I learnt the story, piece by piece, from several people. As often happens, the story was different each time, but I slowly began to put it together. And my interest in Ethan Frome grew stronger when — a little later — I met the man himself.


最后，从好几个人那里，我一点一滴地得知了他的故事。正如通常那样，每次我听到的说法都不一样，但我开始慢慢地把它拼凑了起来。后来不久，见到伊桑·弗罗姆本人时，我对他更感兴趣了。


It happened like this. Every day I had to travel about three miles to the station, where I got my train to work. I usually hired a horse from Denis Eady, the rich village shopkeeper. But in the middle of winter his and most of the other Starkfield horses caught an illness. For a day or two I could not find a horse to hire anywhere, until Harmon Gow had an idea.


事情是这样的：每天我都要赶三英里路到火车站，在那儿乘火车去我工作的地方。通常我会从村中一个富裕的店主丹尼斯·伊迪那里租一匹马。但隆冬时节，他的马和斯塔克菲尔德镇上的大多数马都染了病。有那么一两天我根本找不到马匹，这时哈蒙·高想到个主意。


Why don't you ask Ethan Frome to drive you?' He said. 'His horse ain't sick, and he needs a dollar or two. That Frome farm and saw-mill don't make enough money to keep a cat alive.'


“干吗不让伊桑·弗罗姆驾车送你呢？”他说，“他的马没得病，况且他也需要点儿钱。弗罗姆家的农场和锯木场挣的钱连只猫都养不活。”


So Ethan Frome agreed to drive me, and every day for a week I sat beside him in his sleigh as his thin horse pulled us over the hard snow to the station. Then, in the icy evenings, he brought me back to Starkfield.


伊桑·弗罗姆答应驾车送我，接下来一个星期，我每天都和他并肩坐在他的雪橇上，他那匹瘦马拉着我们，驶过硬邦邦的积雪，直到火车站。然后，在冰冷的晚上，他把我送回斯塔克菲尔德。


He was not unfriendly, but during the hour's drive he never turned to look at me, and spoke very little. Once I said something about Florida and he told me that he had been there. Another time he showed interest in a science book of mine, which I had left in his sleigh by mistake in the morning. But most of the time Frome drove without a word, and I began to feel that he was like the land around him. This sad, silent man and the snow-covered fields had the same kind of cold loneliness. Anything warm and alive inside him was locked away, under the deep icy cold of too many Starkfield winters.


不能说他这人不友善，然而在一个小时的路途中，他从不转头看我一眼，也几乎不和我说话。一次，我聊起了佛罗里达州，他告诉我他曾经去过那儿。还有一天早晨，我不小心把一本科学书落在了他的雪橇上，看得出他对那本书挺感兴趣。但大多数时候，弗罗姆赶车时都一声不吭。我开始感到，他就像他身边的土地一样。这个哀伤沉默的人与这白雪覆盖的田地一样冷漠而孤独。他胸中所有的热情与活力都在斯塔克菲尔德冬天的刺骨严寒中封存了起来。


After about a week, we were driving back one night in terrible weather. Heavy snow was falling, hiding everything in a soft white cloud, and the air had an icy coldness. The old horse was getting tired, and I got out to walk beside him, but I found it hard to keep moving.


大概过了一个星期，一天晚上天气十分恶劣，我们驾车回家，当晚天气十分恶劣。大雪纷飞不停地下着，一切都笼罩在白茫茫的雪团之中，空气冷得刺骨。驾辕的老马越来越累，我于是跳下车来，在旁边走，却发现走起来很费劲。


After a time Frome looked into the darkness and said:


过了一会儿，弗罗姆看了看夜色，对我说：


That's my place down there. We've had enough of this.'


“我家就在那儿。咱们也受够了这鬼天气。”


I understood that he was offering me a bed for the night, and we turned down towards the poor, lonely looking farmhouse. After I had helped him put away the sleigh and take care of the horse, we fought our way through the snow to the front of the house. I followed him inside, and from behind a door on our right I heard a woman's voice, a thin, high, whining voice.


我知道他是在请我留宿一晚，于是我们朝着那破败的、孤零零的农舍走去。在我帮他把雪橇收好，把马安顿好后，我们顶着雪来到了农舍前。我跟着他走进屋里，我们右侧的门后传来这时一个女人尖细的声音从我们右侧的门后传来。


Frome opened the door of the room, 'Come in,' he said to me, and as he spoke, the whining voice fell silent.


弗罗姆打开屋子的门。“请进。”他对我说，他说这话时，那尖细的声音静默了下来。


That was the night when I began to understand Ethan Frome, and to put together his story...


就是在那夜，我开始了解伊桑·弗罗姆，并将他的故事拼凑了起来……