第三级-《三个陌生人》-第6课

前情提要 

第三个陌生人登场了。这时人们听到了一声枪响，是有逃犯逃出了监狱。人们纷纷表示，刚刚看到一个人在窗外鬼鬼祟祟的……

故事原文

The Three Strangers and Other Stories 6

三个陌生人 6

'Then take some of these men at once, follow the criminal, and bring him back here. He hasn't gone far, I'm sure.'

“那就马上从这一屋子人中挑几个，追上那个犯人，把他带到这儿来。他还没跑多远，我敢肯定。”

'I will, sir, I will, when I've got my uniform. I'll go home and put it on, and come back here immediately!'

“好的，先生，我穿上制服就去。我回家穿制服，马上就回来！”

'Uniform! Never mind about your uniform! The man'll be far away by that time!'

“制服！别管你的制服啦！到那会儿犯人早跑远了！”

'But I must have my uniform! There's the king's name on it in gold — I can't arrest a man without my uniform on.'

“可我必须穿上制服！那上面有国王的名字，金色的——我不穿制服就不能逮捕人。”

'I'm a king's man myself,' said the man in grey coldly, 'and I order you to find and arrest this man at once! Now then(1), all the men in the house must come with us. Are you ready?'

“我自己也是国王的下属，”灰衣人冷冷地说，“我命令你马上去追捕这个人！听着，屋里所有的男人都得跟我们去。你们准备好了吗？”

The men left the cottage to start their search, and the women ran upstairs to see the new baby, who had begun to cry loudly. But the living room did not stay empty for long. A few minutes later the first stranger came quietly back into the house. He cut himself a large piece of cake, and drank another mug of mead. He was still eating when another man came in just as quietly. It was the man in grey.

男人们离开了小屋开始搜寻，女人们则跑到楼上去照看开始放声大哭的婴儿。不过客厅并没有空下来多久。几分钟后，第一个陌生人悄悄回到了小屋里。他给自己切了一大块蛋糕，又喝了一杯蜂蜜酒。他还没吃完，另一个人也悄悄走了进来。是那个灰衣人。

'Oh, you here?' said the hangman, smiling. 'I thought you had gone to help look for the prisoner.'

“噢，你也在这儿吗？”刽子手微笑着说，“我还以为你帮忙找犯人去了呢。”

'And I thought you had gone too,' replied the other.

“我也以为你去了呢。”那人回答道。

'Well, I felt that there were enough people without me,' said the man in grey, helping himself to the mead.

“呃，我觉得人够多了，不差我一个。”灰衣人边说边给自己倒了点蜂蜜酒。

'I felt the same as you.'

“我跟你想的一样。”

'These shepherd-people can easily find the man because they know this hilly country. They'll have him ready for me by the morning, and it'll be no trouble(2) to me at all.'

“这些牧羊人很容易就能找到那个人，因为他们对这山村很熟悉。他们会在天亮前抓住他的，我根本不用费劲。”

'Yes, they'll find him. We'll save ourselves all that trouble(3).'

“是啊，他们会找到他的。我们用不着费劲。”

'True, true. Well, I'm going to Casterbridge. Are you going the same way? We could walk together.'

“没错，没错。呃，我要去卡斯特桥了。你也去那儿吗？咱们可以搭个伴走。”

'No, I'm sorry to say I'm going the other way.' And after finishing their mead, the two men shook hands warmly, said goodbye to each other, and went their different ways.

“不，很不巧，我要去另一个方向。”喝完酒，两个男人热情地握手作别，分别朝不同的方向走去。

Out on the hills, the shepherd and his friends were getting cold and wet in their search for(4) the prisoner. They had no luck at all until they reached the top of a hill, where a single tree stood. Suddenly they saw the man who they were looking for, standing next to the tree.

山上，牧羊人和他的朋友们为寻找犯人而弄得浑身又冷又湿。他们很不走运，直到来到一座山顶，那儿挺立着一棵孤零零的树。突然，他们看见要找的人就站在树的旁边。

'Your money or your life!' cried the policeman loudly.

“不给钱就要你的命！”警察高声喊道。

'No, no,' whispered the shepherd. 'That's what robbers say, not good, honest people like us!'

“不对，不对，”牧羊人悄声说，“那是强盗们喊的话，不是我们这种诚实的好人该喊的！”

'Well, I must say something, mustn't I? Ye don't realize how difficult it is to remember what to say!'

“呃，我总得说点什么，不是吗？你不知道要记住自己该说什么有多难！”

The little man now seemed to notice them for the first time. 'Well, travellers, did I hear ye speak to me?' he asked.

那个小个子男人似乎这才注意到他们。“哦，二位路人，你们刚才是在跟我说话吗？”他问道。

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点

1. now then 听着，喂

例句：

Now then, what seems to be the problem here?

诶？那现在的问题是什么呢？

Now then, try to sit up and have some of this soup.

跟你说啊，你坐直，喝点汤试试看。

2. no trouble 不麻烦，不费劲

例句：

- Are you sure you don't mind?

你确定不介意吗？

- It's no trouble.

没事，不麻烦。

If it's no trouble, could you bring us some more coffee?

如果不麻烦的话，能不能请您给我们拿点咖啡？

3. save sb. the trouble 使某人免受麻烦，给某人省事

例句：

If you'd asked me first, I could have saved you the trouble.

如果你提前问我， 那我会帮你省去很多麻烦。

I’ll make the appointment for you to save you the trouble.

我去预定，给你省点事。

4. in search for... 搜寻/寻找……

例句：

Scientists are in search for the answer.

科学家们寻找着答案。

Just like a lonely shooting star in the boundless universe, everybody moves along his own track in search for his final setting place.

这世间的每个人，好像茫茫宇宙中一颗孤独的流星，沿着自己的轨道运行着，寻找属于自己

的归宿。