Poor Old Bill (I)可怜的老比尔（上）

On an antique haunt of sailors， a tavern of the sea， the light of day was fading. For several evenings I had frequented this place， in the hope of hearing something from the sailors， as they sat over strange wines， about a rumour that had reached my ears of a certain fleet of galleons of old Spain still said to be afloat in the South Seas in some uncharted region.

海边有家酒馆，年代久远，水手们都爱光顾。这一天，日光正慢慢消失。有几次我曾在傍晚时分光顾这里，希望在水手们坐在一起啜饮美酒时，听他们谈论我以前听过的一个传言：说是古老西班牙的某个大帆船舰队仍然漂浮在南太平洋的某个陌生海域。

In this I was again to be disappointed. Talk was low and seldom， and I was about to leave， when a sailor， wearing ear-rings of pure gold， lifted up his head from his wine， and looking straight before him at the wall， told his tale loudly：

我又将失望了。他们说话声很低，聊得也不多，就在我要离去之时，一个戴着纯金耳环的水手停了杯，抬起头，直视着面前的墙，大声讲起了他的故事。

（When later on a storm of rain arose and thundered on the tavern’s leaded panes2， he raised his voice without effort and spoke on still. The darker it got the clearer his wild eyes shone.）

（后来，风雨大作，雨点砰砰地打在酒馆的含铅窗玻璃上。他毫不费力地提高音量，继续讲下去。他眼神狂乱，天色越暗，眼睛越亮。）

“A ship with sails of the olden time was nearing fantastic isles. We had never seen such isles.

“当时，一艘张着古帆的船正靠近奇异的群岛。我们之前从未见过那样的群岛。

“We all hated the captain， and he hated us. He hated us all alike， there was no favouritism about him. And he never would talk a word with any of us， except sometimes in the evening when it was getting dark he would stop and look up and talk a bit to the men he had hanged at the yard-arm.

“我们都恨船长，他也恨我们。他恨我们每个人，没偏没向。有时当暮色降临时，他会停下脚步，抬头看看，跟被他挂在桁端上的人说上几句。其他时候，他从不跟我们任何人说上一句话。

“We were a mutinous crew. But Captain was the only man that had pistols. He slept with one under his pillow and kept one close beside him. There was a nasty look about the isles. They were small and flat as though they had come up only recently from the sea， and they had no sand or rocks like honest isles， but green grass down to the water. And there were little cottages there whose looks we did not like. Their thatches3 came almost down to the ground， and were strangely turned up at the corners， and under the low eaves were queer dark windows whose little leaded panes were too thick to see through. And no one， man or beast， was walking about， so that you could not know what kind of people lived there. But Captain knew. And he went ashore and into one of the cottages， and someone lit lights inside， and the little windows wore an evil look.

“我们这些船员都不服管。不过，船长是唯一带着手枪的人。睡觉时，有一把放在枕下，另一把放在身侧。群岛样子难看，又小又平，仿佛是最近才从海里冒出来的，与真正的岛屿不同，这里没有沙子或岩石，只有一直长到水边的绿草。岛上有一些小屋，但我们不喜欢它们的样子。屋顶的茅草几乎拖到了地上，边角奇怪地上翻。低低的屋檐下是古怪的暗窗，小窗的铅玻璃太厚，不能透过它们看到屋内的样子。周围没有人或兽，也无从知道什么人住在里面。但是船长知道。他上了岸，走进一座小屋，有人把屋内的灯点亮，小窗看起来很诡异。

“It was quite dark when he came aboard again， and he bade a cheery good-night to the men that swung from the yard-arm and he eyed us in a way that frightened poor old Bill.

“当他回到船上时，天色已经很黑了。他愉快地向挂在桁端的人道了晚安。他看我们时的神情吓坏了可怜的老比尔。

“Next night we found that he had learned to curse， for he came on a lot of us asleep in our bunks， and among them poor old Bill， and he pointed at us with a finger， and made a curse that our souls should stay all night at the top of the masts. And suddenly there was the soul of poor old Bill sitting like a monkey at the top of the mast， and looking at the stars， and freezing through and through.

“第二天晚上，我们发现他学会了诅咒之术：他在我们睡觉时走近很多船员（可怜的老比尔也在其中）的床铺，用一根指头指着我们，诅咒我们的灵魂整晚都挂在桅杆顶端。突然，可怜的老比尔的灵魂像只猴子一般，坐到了桅杆顶上，看着星星，浑身被冻透了。

“We got up a little mutiny after that， but Captain comes up and points with his finger again， and this time poor old Bill and all the rest are swimming behind the ship through the cold green water， though their bodies remain on deck.

“后来，我们发起了一场小小的哗变，但船长走过来，又用指头指着我们，那一次可怜的老比尔和其他人的身体虽然还在甲板上，灵魂却在船后冰凉的绿色海水中游了起来。

“It was the cabin-boy who found out that Captain couldn’t curse when he was drunk， though he could shoot as well at one time as another.

“船上的侍者发现，船长喝醉后的枪法虽然还是很好，可是他却不能诅咒他人了。

“After that it was only a matter of waiting， and of losing two men when the time came. Some of us were murderous fellows， and wanted to kill Captain， but poor old Bill was for finding a bit of an island， out of the track of ships， and leaving him there with his share of our year’s provisions. And everybody listened to poor old Bill， and we decided to maroon4 Captain as soon as we caught him when he couldn’t curse.

“在那之后，大家都在等待。在时机到来前，已有两人丧命。船员当中有几个凶残之人想杀掉船长，可是可怜的老比尔却想找到一个不在航线上的小岛，把船长留在岛上，给他留下一年份的补给。大家听了可怜的老比尔的话，决定等到船长不能诅咒时，就将他丢到孤岛上。

“It was three whole days before Captain got drunk again， and poor old Bill and all had a dreadful time， for Captain invented new curses every day， and wherever he pointed his finger our souls had to go; and the fishes got to know us， and so did the stars， and none of them pitied us when we froze on the masts or were hurried through forests of seaweed and lost our way—both stars and fishes went about their businesses with cold， unastonished eyes. Once when the sun had set and it was twilight， and the moon was showing clearer and clearer in the sky， and we stopped our work for a moment because Captain seemed to be looking away from us at the colours in the sky， he suddenly turned and sent our souls to the Moon. And it was colder there than ice at night; and there were horrible mountains making shadows; and it was all as silent as miles of tombs; and Earth was shining up in the sky as big as the blade of a scythe， and we all got homesick for it， but could not speak nor cry. It was quite dark when we got back， and we were very respectful to Captain all the next day， but he cursed several of us again very soon. What we all feared most was that he would curse our souls to Hell， and none of us mentioned Hell above a whisper for fear that it should remind him. But on the third evening the cabin-boy came and told us that Captain was drunk. And we all went to his cabin， and we found him lying there across his bunk， and he shot as he had never shot before; but he had no more than the two pistols， and he would only have killed two men if he hadn’t caught Joe over the head with the end of one of his pistols. And then we tied him up. And poor old Bill put the rum between the Captain’s teeth， and kept him drunk for two days， so that he could not curse， till we found a convenient rock. And before sunset of the second day we found a nice bare island for Captain， out of the track of ships， about a hundred yards long and about eighty wide; and we rowed him along to it in a little boat， and gave him provisions for a year， the same as we had ourselves， because poor old Bill wanted to be fair. And we left him sitting comfortable with his back to a rock singing a sailor’s song.”

“过了整整三天，船长才又喝醉，可怜的老比尔和其他人在那段时间里惶恐不安，因为船长每天都要发明新的诅咒。他指向哪里，我们的灵魂就得去哪里。鱼认识了我们，星星也认识了我们。当我们在桅杆上被冻僵或被逼着穿越茂密的水草并迷路时，它们都不可怜我们——星星和鱼都忙着干自己的事，眼神冷漠淡然。有一次，太阳落山，暮色渐浓，月亮在空中越来越明亮，我们把活儿给停了一会儿，因为船长似乎没有看我们，而是在看天上的颜色。突然，他又看向我们，把我们的灵魂送到了月亮上。月亮上很冷，比夜晚的冰还冷，月亮上的山投下重重阴影，阴森恐怖；那里静得如同绵延几英里的墓地。地球在空中发亮，就像长柄大镰刀的刀片那么大。我们都想回地球，却说不出话，也叫不出声。我们回来时，天色已经完全暗下来。第二天，我们整天对船长毕恭毕敬，但他还是很快就诅咒了几个人。我们最怕他把我们的灵魂诅咒进地狱。我们没有一个人大声地提到过地狱，生怕提醒了他。在第三天傍晚，侍者来了，告诉我们船长醉了。我们全都去了船长的船舱，发现他躺在床铺上，他开枪的样子像个没摸过枪的生手。他也就两把手枪，即便没用一把枪的枪托砸中乔的脑袋，最多也只能打死两人。然后，我们捆住了他。可怜的老比尔把朗姆酒从船长的上下牙齿中间灌进去，让他醉了两日（那样他就不能咒人了），直到我们发现近处的一座小岛。在第二天日落前，我们为船长找到了一座不错的岛，岛光秃秃的，长约100码，宽约80码，不在航线上。我们划了一艘小船送他过去，给了够他吃上一年的食物，与分给我们每个人的一样多，因为可怜的老比尔想公平行事。船长舒服地坐着，背靠岩石，唱着水手的歌。我们便离开了。”

1原名爱德华·约翰·莫尔顿·德拉克斯·普伦基特（1878—1957，Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett），“邓萨尼勋爵”是其笔名。他一生创作了上百部作品，深远地影响了包括《克苏鲁神话》的作者 H. P. 洛夫克拉夫特和世界奇幻科幻文学女王、《地海》系列的作者厄休拉·勒古恩在内的几十名作家，是现代奇幻文学的奠基人之一。  2 pane（窗或门上的）一块玻璃。

3 thatch（用以盖屋顶的）茅草。

4 maroon将某人放逐到孤岛上。