'I should go away, Captain Cuttle,' said Walter.'Dursn't do it, Wal'r,' returned the Captain. 'She'd find me out, wherever I went. Sit down. How's Gills?'
“我就要离开这里，卡特尔船长，”沃尔特说道。“别走，沃尔，”船长回答道。“我不论走到哪里，她都会把我找到的。请坐。吉尔斯好吗？”
The Captain was dining (in his hat) off cold loin of mutton, porter, and some smoking hot potatoes, which he had cooked himself, and took out of a little saucepan before the fire as he wanted them. He unscrewed his hook at dinner-time, and screwed a knife into its wooden socket instead, with which he had already begun to peel one of these potatoes for Walter. His rooms were very small, and strongly impregnated with tobacco-smoke, but snug enough: everything being stowed away, as if there were an earthquake regularly every half-hour.
船长戴着帽子，正在吃午饭：冷的羊腰子、黑啤酒和几个冒着热气的土豆。土豆是他自己煮的，他需要吃的时候，就从火炉前面的一只有柄的小平底锅中取出。吃饭的时候，他解下钩子，把一把小刀插进木制的插口里；他已经用这把小刀开始为沃尔特把一个土豆的皮剥去了。他的房间很小，充满了浓烈的吸烟草散发出的气味，但却十分温暖舒适。所有的东西都收藏了起来，仿佛这里每隔半小时就要发生一次地震似的。
'How's Gills?' inquired the Captain.
“吉尔斯好吗？”船长问道。
Walter, who had by this time recovered his breath, and lost his spirits - or such temporary spirits as his rapid journey had given him - looked at his questioner for a moment, said 'Oh, Captain Cuttle!' and burst into tears.
沃尔特这时已经缓过气来，但却丧失了情绪——或者可以说是丧失了一种由于急速赶路而暂时振奋起来的情绪。他向问他的人望了一会儿，说道，“啊，卡特尔船长！”然后，就流出了眼泪。
No words can describe the Captain's consternation at this sight Mrs MacStinger faded into nothing before it. He dropped the potato and the fork - and would have dropped the knife too if he could - and sat gazing at the boy, as if he expected to hear next moment that a gulf had opened in the City, which had swallowed up his old friend, coffee-coloured suit, buttons, chronometer, spectacles, and all.
船长看到这种情景时的惊恐是不能用言语形容的。面对着这种情形，麦克斯廷杰太太已完全消失了。土豆和叉子从他手中掉下——如果可能的话，小刀也会掉下的——，他坐在那里凝视着这个孩子，仿佛他预料立刻就会听到，城里的土地已经裂开一个深坑，它已经把他的老朋友、他的咖啡色外衣、钮扣、精密计时表、眼镜以及一切都吞没了。
But when Walter told him what was really the matter, Captain Cuttle, after a moment's reflection, started up into full activity. He emptied out of a little tin canister on the top shelf of the cupboard, his whole stock of ready money (amounting to thirteen pounds and half-a-crown), which he transferred to one of the pockets of his square blue coat; further enriched that repository with the contents of his plate chest, consisting of two withered atomies of tea-spoons, and an obsolete pair of knock-knee'd sugar-tongs; pulled up his immense double-cased silver watch from the depths in which it reposed, to assure himself that that valuable was sound and whole; re-attached the hook to his right wrist; and seizing the stick covered over with knobs, bade Walter come along.
但是当沃尔特把事实真相告诉他之后，卡特尔船长沉思了片刻，就立刻非常活跃地行动起来。他从碗柜顶层隔板上的一个小锡罐中倒出他存有的全部现钱（总共是十三镑零半个克朗①），并把它们装进他的宽大的蓝色上衣的一个口袋中，接着他又把餐具箱子中所存有的东西充实到这个储藏所中。餐具箱子中所存有的是两只干瘪的、不像原形的茶匙和一副旧式的弯曲的方糖箱子。他又把他那只很大的、有双层外壳的银表从它安息的深处拉了出来，以便确信这个珍贵的物品完好无损；然后他把钩子重新拧紧到右腕上，拿起那根有好多节的手杖，嘱咐沃尔特动身。
-------- ①克朗：旧时英国的硬币，一克朗等于五先令。 Remembering, however, in the midst of his virtuous excitement, that Mrs MacStinger might be lying in wait below, Captain Cuttle hesitated at last, not without glancing at the window, as if he had some thoughts of escaping by that unusual means of egress, rather than encounter his terrible enemy. He decided, however, in favour of stratagem.
可是他在这种由于道德高尚而激发的兴奋中仍然记得，麦克斯廷杰太太可能在下面等待着，所以卡特尔船长最后犹豫起来，甚至还往窗子看了一眼，仿佛他脑子里闪出这样的念头：宁可从这个不寻常的出口逃走，也不要碰见他那个可怕的敌人；可是他决定采用计谋。 |