第一章

CHAPTER ONE

"So of course, " wrote Betty Flanders, pressing her heels rather deeper in the sand, "there was nothing for it but to leave. "

“因此，当然，” 贝蒂•弗兰德斯写道，同时将鞋跟踩入沙子更深的地方， “没有别的办法，只能离开了。”

Slowly welling from the point of her gold nib, pale blue ink dissolved the full stop; for there her pen stuck; her eyes fixed, and tears slowly filled them. The entire bay quivered; the lighthouse wobbled; and she had the illusion that the mast of Mr. Connor's little yacht was bending like a wax candle in the sun. She winked quickly. Accidents were awful things. She winked again. The mast was straight; the waves were regular; the lighthouse was upright; but the blot had spread.

她的金笔停在句号上，从笔尖缓缓流出的淡蓝色墨水，将句号浸得一片模糊；她眼睛一动不动，泪水慢慢涌了上来。整个海湾都在颤抖；灯塔摇晃着；她有种幻觉……康纳先生小艇上的桅杆像烈日下晒软的蜡烛一样弯曲下来。她飞快地眨了眨眼睛。事故是很可怕的。她又眨了眨眼睛。桅杆笔直；海浪也并不汹涌；灯塔耸立；但墨渍已经漾开。

"... nothing for it but to leave, " she read.

“……没有别的办法，只能离开了。” 她念道。

"Well, if Jacob doesn't want to play" (the shadow of Archer, her eldest son, fell across the notepaper and looked blue on the sand, and she felt chilly……it was the third of September already), "if Jacob doesn't want to play" ……what a horrid blot! It must be getting late.

“哎，如果雅各布不想玩的话” （她的长子阿彻的影子横落在便笺上，影子在沙地上的部分则呈蓝色，她感到了凉意……已是九月三号了）， “如果雅各布不想玩的话” ……多可怕的一滩墨渍！时候肯定不早了。

"Where IS that tiresome little boy? " she said. "I don't see him. Run and find him. Tell him to come at once. " "... but mercifully, " she scribbled, ignoring the full stop, "everything seems satisfactorily arranged, packed though we are like herrings in a barrel, and forced to stand the perambulator which the landlady quite naturally won't allow.... "

“那讨厌的小鬼在哪儿呢？” 她问。 “我没见着他。跑去找找他。叫他马上过来。” “……幸好，” 她不理会那团句号，潦草地写道， “似乎一切都安排得令人满意，尽管我们像木桶里的鲱鱼一样挤着，还要被迫忍受那辆婴儿车，房东太太打心眼儿里不同意……”

Such were Betty Flanders's letters to Captain Barfoot……many……paged, tear……stained. Scarborough is seven hundred miles from Cornwall: Captain Barfoot is in Scarborough: Seabrook is dead. Tears made all the dahlias in her garden undulate in red waves and flashed the glass house in her eyes, and spangled the kitchen with bright knives, and made Mrs. Jarvis, the rector's wife, think at church, while the hymn……tune played and Mrs. Flanders bent low over her little boys' heads, that marriage is a fortress and widows stray solitary in the open fields, picking up stones, gleaning a few golden straws, lonely, unprotected, poor creatures. Mrs. Flanders had been a widow for these two years.

这就是贝蒂•弗兰德斯写给巴富特上尉的信……洋洋洒洒数页，上面泪痕斑斑。斯卡伯勒距康沃尔有七百英里：巴富特上尉就在斯卡伯勒：西布鲁克已经过世了。泪光中，她花园里的大丽花起起伏伏，宛若红色的波浪，玻璃暖房在她眼中反射出光芒，刀具在厨房里闪烁着光芒……这让教区牧师的妻子贾维斯太太想到在教堂是，当圣歌的曲调响起，弗兰德斯太太向她的小家伙们低低地俯下身的情景……婚姻是个堡垒，寡妇们则孤零零地游荡在旷野上，捡些石块，拾几根金黄色的麦秆，孤独，无依，可怜的人儿。弗兰德斯太太守寡已有两个年头了。

"Ja……cob! Ja……cob! " Archer shouted.

“雅……各布！雅……各布！” 阿彻高声呼喊。

"Scarborough, " Mrs. Flanders wrote on the envelope, and dashed a bold line beneath; it was her native town; the hub of the universe. But a stamp? She ferreted in her bag; then held it up mouth downwards; then fumbled in her lap, all so vigorously that Charles Steele in the Panama hat suspended his paint……brush.

“斯卡巴勒。” 弗兰德斯太太在信封上写道，并在下面匆匆划上一条粗线；那是她的故乡；在波士顿市。可邮票呢？她在先手提包里翻找，后来又把包整个翻过来，在兜裙里找着。她找得如此充满激情，使得戴着巴拿马草帽的查尔斯•斯蒂尔停下了手中的画笔。

Like the antennae of some irritable insect it positively trembled. Here was that woman moving……actually going to get up……confound her! He struck the canvas a hasty violet……black dab. For the landscape needed it. It was too pale……greys flowing into lavenders, and one star or a white gull suspended just so……too pale as usual. The critics would say it was too pale, for he was an unknown man exhibiting obscurely, a favourite with his landladies' children, wearing a cross on his watch chain, and much gratified if his landladies liked his pictures……which they often did.

那画笔像是某种受到刺激的昆虫的触须，剧烈地颤抖着。看，那个女人在移动……竟然还要站起来……她可真讨厌！他匆匆地在画布上抹下少许墨紫色。这是绘画需要。颜色过于苍白……灰色汇成淡紫色，一颗星或是一只白色的海鸥鸥就这样悬着……和以前一样，太苍白了。批评家们会说颜色太过苍白，因为他是一个无名小卒，不过他深受房东太太们的孩子们喜爱。他在表链上挂了个十字架。如果房东太太们喜欢他的画，他就感到十分欣慰……她们通常都是喜欢的。

"Ja……cob! Ja……cob! " Archer shouted.

“雅……各布！雅……各布！” 阿彻大声叫着。

Exasperated by the noise, yet loving children, Steele picked nervously at the dark little coils on his palette.

这噪声让斯蒂尔很恼火，不过他很喜爱小孩子，就神经质地抓弄着调色板上黑色的小线圈。

"I saw your brother……I saw your brother, " he said, nodding his head, as Archer lagged past him, trailing his spade, and scowling at the old gentleman in spectacles.

“我瞧见你弟弟了……我瞧见你弟弟了。” 当阿彻拖着铲子，慢慢吞吞地从他身边走过，还一脸不悦地瞪着他这个戴眼镜的老先生时，他点着头说道。

"Over there……by the rock, " Steele muttered, with his brush between his teeth, squeezing out raw sienna, and keeping his eyes fixed on Betty Flanders's back.

“在那边……岩石边上。” 斯蒂尔叼着画笔喃喃说道，同时挤出些黄赭色的颜料，而眼睛却盯着贝蒂•弗兰德斯的后背。

"Ja……cob! Ja……cob! " shouted Archer, lagging on after a second.

“雅……各布！雅……各布！” 阿彻高声喊道，不一会儿就继续慢吞吞地向前挪。

The voice had an extraordinary sadness. Pure from all body, pure from all passion, going out into the world, solitary, unanswered, breaking against rocks……so it sounded.

那声音里有着一种不寻常的忧伤。这声音听上去就像是挣脱了所有的躯壳，不带一丁点儿激情，进入这尘世间，孤单而没有回应，撞碎在岩石之上。

Steele frowned; but was pleased by the effect of the black……it was just THAT note which brought the rest together. "Ah, one may learn to paint at fifty! There's Titian... " and so, having found the right tint, up he looked and saw to his horror a cloud over the bay.

斯蒂尔蹙起眉头；不过他对黑色的效果还是满意的……这就是将其他颜色调和在一起的那种色彩。 “啊，人到了五十岁还能学画画呢！有提香的影子……” 找到合适的色彩后，他抬起头来，却惊恐地发现海湾上空压着一层云团。

Mrs. Flanders rose, slapped her coat this side and that to get the sand off, and picked up her black parasol.

弗兰德斯太太站起身，左右拍打掉外套上的沙子，然后拿起她黑色的阳伞。

The rock was one of those tremendously solid brown, or rather black, rocks which emerge from the sand like something primitive. Rough with crinkled limpet shells and sparsely strewn with locks of dry seaweed, a small boy has to stretch his legs far apart, and indeed to feel rather heroic, before he gets to the top.

那块岩石是那种褐色的，更确切地说是黑色的，从沙地中冒出来，像是某些原始的东西。褶皱层叠的帽贝使岩石十分粗糙不平，还有几绺干海藻散落其间，小男孩必须把双腿伸得很开开，并且确实还要有点英雄气概，才能爬到岩石顶上。

But there, on the very top, is a hollow full of water, with a sandy bottom; with a blob of jelly stuck to the side, and some mussels. A fish darts across. The fringe of yellow……brown seaweed flutters, and out pushes an opal……shelled crab……

而岩石顶端有一个蓄满水的凹坑，坑底铺满沙子；坑边上粘着一团胶状物和一些贻贝。一条鱼儿倏地横穿而过。黄褐色的海藻的边缘飘舞着，有一只白壳螃蟹爬了出来。

"Oh, a huge crab, " Jacob murmured……and begins his journey on weakly legs on the sandy bottom. Now! Jacob plunged his hand. The crab was cool and very light. But the water was thick with sand, and so, scrambling down, Jacob was about to jump, holding his bucket in front of him, when he saw, stretched entirely rigid, side by side, their faces very red, an enormous man and woman.

“噢，一只大螃蟹。” 雅各布小声嘀咕道……然后用柔弱的腿脚踩在坑底的沙上，开始了他的探险。就在这时，雅各布猛地将手扎进水里。这螃蟹凉凉的，很轻。可是水因沙的缘故变得浑浊了，于是雅各布要爬下岩石，他将小桶举在胸前，正要往下跳时，看见一对块头很大的男人和女人，肩并肩直挺挺地躺着，他们的脸很红。

An enormous man and woman (it was early……closing day) were stretched motionless, with their heads on pocket……handkerchiefs, side by side, within a few feet of the sea, while two or three gulls gracefully skirted the incoming waves, and settled near their boots.

这身形巨大的一男一女（这是提早收工的日子）并排躺在距海水几英尺的地方，一动不动，他们的脑袋枕在手绢上；三两只海鸥优雅地避开涌上滩岸的海浪，落在他们靴子旁边。

The large red faces lying on the bandanna handkerchiefs stared up at Jacob. Jacob stared down at them. Holding his bucket very carefully, Jacob then jumped deliberately and trotted away very nonchalantly at first, but faster and faster as the waves came creaming up to him and he had to swerve to avoid them, and the gulls rose in front of him and floated out and settled again a little farther on. A large black woman was sitting on the sand. He ran towards her.

枕着印花大手帕的那两张红通通的大脸庞向上盯着雅各布。雅各布向下盯着他们。雅各布小心翼翼地提着他的小桶，不慌不忙地跳了下来，先是从容不迫地一路小跑，然后越跑越快，因为他不得不闪来闪去以避开向他涌来的海浪泡沫，海鸥在他前方飞起，停在稍远一点的地方。沙滩上坐着一位身形硕大的黑人妇女。他朝她跑去。

"Nanny! Nanny! " he cried, sobbing the words out on the crest of each gasping breath.

“奶奶！奶奶！” 他上气不接下气地大声喊道。

The waves came round her. She was a rock. She was covered with the seaweed which pops when it is pressed. He was lost.

海浪涌向她的四周。她是块岩石。岩石上覆盖着海藻，那海藻一被摁下去就噗噗作响。雅各布迷路了。

There he stood. His face composed itself. He was about to roar when, lying among the black sticks and straw under the cliff, he saw a whole skull……perhaps a cow's skull, a skull, perhaps, with the teeth in it. Sobbing, but absent……mindedly, he ran farther and farther away until he held the skull in his arms.

他站在那里。神色镇定了下来。当他正准备大喊的时候，瞅见了在悬崖下乌漆麻黑的树枝稻草间，有一块完整的头骨……可能是块牛头骨，上面可能还带着牙齿。他仍在抽泣着，但是已经有些心不在焉了。他越跑越远，直到将那块头骨抱在怀里。

"There he is! " cried Mrs. Flanders, coming round the rock and covering the whole space of the beach in a few seconds. "What has he got hold of? Put it down, Jacob! Drop it this moment! Something horrid, I know. Why didn't you stay with us? Naughty little boy! Now put it down. Now come along both of you, " and she swept round, holding Archer by one hand and fumbling for Jacob's arm with the other. But he ducked down and picked up the sheep's jaw, which was loose.

“他在那里！” 弗兰德斯太太叫道。几秒钟的时间，她就穿过整个海滩，绕到了岩石这边。 “他拿的是什么？放下，雅各布！马上扔掉！我就知道是个可怕的东西。为什么不和我们待在一起？捣蛋的小鬼！立刻扔掉那东西。现在，你们两个跟我走。” 她说着，迅速走过来，一只手牵起阿彻，另一只摸索着去抓雅各布的手臂。可他身子一蹲闪开了，然后拾起散了架的羊颚骨。

Swinging her bag, clutching her parasol, holding Archer's hand, and telling the story of the gunpowder explosion in which poor Mr. Curnow had lost his eye, Mrs. Flanders hurried up the steep lane, aware all the time in the depths of her mind of some buried discomfort.

弗兰德斯太太甩着手提包，紧握遮阳伞，抓着阿彻的手，讲述着那起使可怜的克诺先生失去了一只眼睛的火药爆炸的事故，她急匆匆地走在陡峭的小路上，觉察到内心深处总有某种潜在的不安。

There on the sand not far from the lovers lay the old sheep's skull without its jaw. Clean, white, wind……swept, sand……rubbed, a more unpolluted piece of bone existed nowhere on the coast of Cornwall. The sea holly would grow through the eye……sockets; it would turn to powder, or some golfer, hitting his ball one fine day, would disperse a little dust……No, but not in lodgings, thought Mrs. Flanders. It's a great experiment coming so far with young children. There's no man to help with the perambulator. And Jacob is such a handful; so obstinate already.

一块缺了下颌的老羊头骨被搁置在离那对恋人不远的沙滩上。干净、洁白、风蚀、沙磨，在康沃尔的海滩上，再也找不到比这更洁净的骨头了。海冬青将会从它的眼眶里长出来；它会化为齑粉，或者在一个风和日丽的日子，某位高尔夫球手击球时会打散一块小小的遗骸 ……不，不在出租的房间里，弗兰德斯太太想道。带着年幼的孩子们来到这么远的地方，真是个伟大的冒险。没有男人帮忙收拾婴儿车。况且雅各布这样难以控制；他已经这么倔强了。

"Throw it away, dear, do, " she said, as they got into the road; but Jacob squirmed away from her; and the wind rising, she took out her bonnet……pin, looked at the sea, and stuck it in afresh. The wind was rising. The waves showed that uneasiness, like something alive, restive, expecting the whip, of waves before a storm. The fishing……boats were leaning to the water's brim. A pale yellow light shot across the purple sea; and shut. The lighthouse was lit. "Come along, " said Betty Flanders. The sun blazed in their faces and gilded the great blackberries trembling out from the hedge which Archer tried to strip as they passed.

“扔掉它，亲爱的，扔掉。” 当他们走到马路上时，她说道；但雅各布扭着身子跑开了；起风了，她望着大海，拿出帽子的别针，重新别好。起风了。海浪显示出那种风暴前的焦躁，像是个有生命的东西，躁动不安，认定波浪会如皮鞭般落下。渔船倾斜着，齐着水面。一道淡黄色的光迅速掠过紫色的海面；又灭了。灯塔亮了起来。 “跟上。” 贝蒂•弗兰德斯说道。太阳映照在他们的脸上，树篱笆后颤巍巍地伸出来的硕大的黑莓被镀上了金边。当他们路过时，阿彻试图将黑莓都摘下来。

"Don't lag, boys. You've got nothing to change into, " said Betty, pulling them along, and looking with uneasy emotion at the earth displayed so luridly, with sudden sparks of light from greenhouses in gardens, with a sort of yellow and black mutability, against this blazing sunset, this astonishing agitation and vitality of colour, which stirred Betty Flanders and made her think of responsibility and danger. She gripped Archer's hand. On she plodded up the hill.

“别磨蹭，孩子们。你们可是没衣裳换了。” 贝蒂说着，拉起他们往前走，她带着不安的情绪看着大地呈现出如此的耀眼光彩，花园里的温室突然光芒四射，黄色黑色交错变换，映衬着这耀眼的晚霞，这色彩剧烈变化，活力惊人，令贝蒂激动起来，使她想到了责任和危险。她紧紧握住阿彻的手，步履沉重地向山上走去。

"What did I ask you to remember? " she said.

“我要你们记住什么？” 她问道。

"I don't know, " said Archer.

“我不知道。” 阿彻回答。

"Well, I don't know either, " said Betty, humorously and simply, and who shall deny that this blankness of mind, when combined with profusion, mother wit, old wives't ales, haphazard ways, moments of astonishing daring, humour, and sentimentality……who shall deny that in these respects every woman is nicer than any man?

“好吧，我也不知道。” 贝蒂幽默而简洁地说道。谁能否认，当这种思想的空白，和丰富充沛，天生智慧，无稽之谈，偶然之道，惊人鲁莽的瞬间，诙谐幽默，以及多愁善感结合在一起时……谁能否认，在这些方面每一个女人都比男人更优越些？

Well, Betty Flanders, to begin with.

哦，首先，贝蒂•弗兰蒂斯就是这样。

She had her hand upon the garden gate.

她已将手放在了花园的大门上。

"The meat! " she exclaimed, striking the latch down.

“肉！” 她惊呼起来，扳下门栓。

She had forgotten the meat.

她把肉给忘了。

There was Rebecca at the window.

窗边站着丽贝卡。

The bareness of Mrs. Pearce's front room was fully displayed at ten o'clock at night when a powerful oil lamp stood on the middle of the table. The harsh light fell on the garden; cut straight across the lawn; lit up a child's bucket and a purple aster and reached the hedge. Mrs. Flanders had left her sewing on the table. There were her large reels of white cotton and her steel spectacles; her needle……case; her brown wool wound round an old postcard. There were the bulrushes and the Strand magazines; and the linoleum sandy from the boys' boots. A daddy……long……legs shot from corner to corner and hit the lamp globe. The wind blew straight dashes of rain across the window, which flashed silver as they passed through the light. A single leaf tapped hurriedly, persistently, upon the glass. There was a hurricane out at sea.

夜晚十点钟的时候，当一盏明晃晃的油灯立在桌子中央时，皮尔斯太太前屋的空荡就暴露无遗。刺眼的灯光落到花园上，径直切过草地；照亮了一个孩童的提桶和一丛紫菀，然后落在树篱上。桌子上留着弗兰德斯太太的针线活。上面有她的大卷轴白棉线和钢制眼镜；她的针线盒；她的缠绕在旧明信片上的棕色绒线。还有一些香蒲和几本《海滨》杂志；地板油毡上留有从孩子们的靴子上掉下的沙粒。一只长腿昆虫从一个角落窜向另一个角落，然后撞在了圆灯罩上。风裹挟着雨直扫过窗前，吹过灯光时闪出银光。一片孤叶急促而持续地拍打着窗玻璃。外面的海上刮起飓风。

Archer could not sleep.

阿彻无法入睡。

Mrs. Flanders stooped over him. "Think of the fairies, " said Betty Flanders. "Think of the lovely, lovely birds settling down on their nests. Now shut your eyes and see the old mother bird with a worm in her beak. Now turn and shut your eyes, " she murmured, "and shut your eyes. "

弗兰德斯太太朝他俯下身。 “想想仙女吧。” 贝蒂•弗兰德斯说道。 “想想可爱的、可爱的鸟儿安住在他们的巢里。现在，闭上眼睛，想想年老的鸟妈妈嘴里叼着一只虫子。现在，翻个身，闭上眼睛。” 她喃喃说道， “闭上眼睛。”

The lodging……house seemed full of gurgling and rushing; the cistern overflowing; water bubbling and squeaking and running along the pipes and streaming down the windows.

这间出租屋好像充斥着水流的汩汩声和冲刷声；蓄水池的水正往外溢；水发出噗噗吱吱的声响，顺着管道沿着窗户流了下来。

"What's all that water rushing in? " murmured Archer.

“怎么了，水都涌进来了吗？” 阿彻喃喃问道。

"It's only the bath water running away, " said Mrs. Flanders.

“不过是在放掉洗澡水而已。” 弗兰德斯太太说道。

Something snapped out of doors.

门外有什么东西啪地一响。

"I say, won't that steamer sink? " said Archer, opening his eyes.

“哎呀，难道那条汽船不会沉吗？” 阿彻睁开眼睛说道。

"Of course it won't, " said Mrs. Flanders. "The Captain's in bed long ago. Shut your eyes, and think of the fairies, fast asleep, under the flowers. "

“当然不会，” 弗兰德斯太太回答道， “船长早就睡了。闭上眼睛，想想在花丛下酣睡的仙女。”

"I thought he'd never get off……such a hurricane, " she whispered to Rebecca, who was bending over a spirit……lamp in the small room next door. The wind rushed outside, but the small flame of the spirit……lamp burnt quietly, shaded from the cot by a book stood on edge.

“我还以为他永远都不会睡着呢……多大的风暴啊。” 她轻声对丽贝卡说，丽贝卡正在隔壁的小房间里弯身俯向一盏酒精灯。屋外的风呼呼作响，但酒精灯的小小火焰静静地燃烧着，旁边立着一本书，挡住了射向婴儿床的光线。

"Did he take his bottle well? " Mrs. Flanders whispered, and Rebecca nodded and went to the cot and turned down the quilt, and Mrs. Flanders bent over and looked anxiously at the baby, asleep, but frowning. The window shook, and Rebecca stole like a cat and wedged it.

“他奶吃得还好吗？” 弗兰德斯太太轻声问道，丽贝卡点点头，走到婴儿床边，将被子往下拉了拉，弗兰德斯太太俯下身，忧虑地看着婴儿，孩子睡着了，却蹙着眉头。窗户在摇晃，丽贝卡像只猫一样悄悄地走过去，将窗楔紧。

The two women murmured over the spirit……lamp, plotting the eternal conspiracy of hush and clean bottles while the wind raged and gave a sudden wrench at the cheap fastenings.

酒精灯的上方，两个女人窃窃私语，策划着关于哄孩子、刷奶瓶的无休无止的阴谋，此时狂风怒吼，不时地突袭拧扯着廉价的门栓。

Both looked round at the cot. Their lips were pursed. Mrs. Flanders crossed over to the cot.

两人都扭头看婴儿床。她们的嘴唇都噘着。弗兰德斯太太走到了婴儿床边。

"Asleep? " whispered Rebecca, looking at the cot.

“睡着的吧？” 丽贝卡看着婴儿床，小声地问。

Mrs. Flanders nodded.

弗兰德斯太太点点头。

"Good……night, Rebecca, " Mrs. Flanders murmured, and Rebecca called her ma 'm, though they were conspirators plotting the eternal conspiracy of hush and clean bottles.

“晚安，丽贝卡。” 弗兰德斯太太低声说道，而丽贝卡则称呼她为夫人，尽管她们两人刚刚共同谋划关于哄孩子和刷奶瓶的无止尽的阴谋。

Mrs. Flanders had left the lamp burning in the front room. There were her spectacles, her sewing; and a letter with the Scarborough postmark. She had not drawn the curtains either.

弗兰德斯太太还没熄掉前屋的灯。那儿有她的眼镜，她的针线活儿；还有一封盖有斯卡巴勒邮戳的信。她也还没拉上窗帘。

The light blazed out across the patch of grass; fell on the child's green bucket with the gold line round it, and upon the aster which trembled violently beside it. For the wind was tearing across the coast, hurling itself at the hills, and leaping, in sudden gusts, on top of its own back. How it spread over the town in the hollow! How the lights seemed to wink and quiver in its fury, lights in the harbour, lights in bedroom windows high up! And rolling dark waves before it, it raced over the Atlantic, jerking the stars above the ships this way and that.

灯光照亮了整块小草坪；落在孩子那带有金色线圈的绿色小桶上，落在小桶旁边那丛剧烈摇摆的紫菀上。这是因为，狂风横扫过海岸，撞向山岗，阵阵强风突然袭来，一浪高过一浪。这风暴是如何横扫过这座山谷里的小城的啊！在狂暴的风中，这些灯光如何地闪动颤抖啊，海港的灯光，卧室高窗里的灯光！狂风推着黑色的海浪，疾驰着穿越大西洋，猛地拽着轮船上空的星星，忽而扯向这边，忽而扯向那边。

There was a click in the front sitting……room. Mr. Pearce had extinguished the lamp. The garden went out. It was but a dark patch. Every inch was rained upon. Every blade of grass was bent by rain. Eyelids would have been fastened down by the rain. Lying on one's back one would have seen nothing but muddle and confusion……clouds turning and turning, and something yellow……tinted and sulphurous in the darkness.

前边的起居室里传来咔嗒一声。皮尔斯先生已经熄灯了。花园消失了。不过是漆黑一片。大雨滂沱，寸土尽染。每一片草叶都被雨水打得趴下了腰。眼皮也会被雨水紧扣。如果仰面躺下，你什么也看不见，唯有困惑和混乱……云团不断翻卷，黑暗中有种东西略显黄色和硫磺色。

The little boys in the front bedroom had thrown off their blankets and lay under the sheets. It was hot; rather sticky and steamy. Archer lay spread out, with one arm striking across the pillow. He was flushed; and when the heavy curtain blew out a little he turned and half……opened his eyes. The wind actually stirred the cloth on the chest of drawers, and let in a little light, so that the sharp edge of the chest of drawers was visible, running straight up, until a white shape bulged out; and a silver streak showed in the looking……glass.

前边的卧室里，小家伙们踢掉了毛毯，躺在被单下。天气很热；相当闷热潮湿。阿彻一只胳膊横在枕头上，四仰八叉地躺着。他面色潮红；当厚重的窗帘被吹开一条缝时，他翻了个身，半睁着眼睛。风居然吹开了五斗柜的罩布，一些光线溜了进来，因此能看见五斗柜轮廓分明的边沿，笔直向上，直至一块白色的凸起物；并在镜子里映出一道银色的条痕。

In the other bed by the door Jacob lay asleep, fast asleep, profoundly unconscious. The sheep's jaw with the big yellow teeth in it lay at his feet. He had kicked it against the iron bed……rail.

雅各布睡在门边的另一张床上，睡得很香，一点儿知觉也没有。那只带有大黄牙的羊下颌骨搁在他的脚边。他已经把它踢到了床的铁栏杆边上。

Outside the rain poured down more directly and powerfully as the wind fell in the early hours of the morning. The aster was beaten to the earth. The child's bucket was half……full of rainwater; and the opal……shelled crab slowly circled round the bottom, trying with its weakly legs to climb the steep side; trying again and falling back, and trying again and again.

凌晨时分，风势减弱，而雨势愈加猛烈了，直直地倾盆而下。紫菀丛被雨打得贴在了地上。孩子的小提桶里注了半桶雨水；白壳螃蟹缓缓地在桶底绕圈儿爬行，试图用无力的腿脚攀爬陡峭的桶壁，屡试屡败，又屡败屡试。

CHAPTER TWO