書蟲三級《伊?！じチ_姆》：1、開端

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1.Beginnings
1．開端

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.

你若是知道馬薩諸塞州的斯塔克菲爾德鎮(zhèn)，想必該知道那兒的郵局；若是知道那兒的郵局，就可能看到過伊桑·弗羅姆駕著他的四輪馬車到那兒，或許你還曾對他感到過好奇：這個人是誰？

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.

幾年前，就是在那兒，我第一次見到了他。他很引人注目，個子高高的，身體強壯卻扭曲得厲害，右側身子明顯低于左側。他拖著身體向前，走得緩慢而痛苦。從他的四輪馬車到郵局只有幾步路，對他來講卻顯然很困難。他臉上帶著哀傷、陰郁的神色。這種表情和身體屬于老年人，因此當聽說他只有52歲時，我感到很驚訝。

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

這是我是從哈蒙·高那兒聽到的，哈蒙認識斯塔克菲爾德鎮(zhèn)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.'

“大約24年前發(fā)生了那場嚴重的事故后，他就變成那樣子了。”哈蒙說，“但弗羅姆家的人都長壽。伊桑可能會活到100歲。”

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

“可他看起來好像已經(jīng)死了。”我說。

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

“我猜他在斯塔克菲爾德熬過太多個冬天了，”哈蒙說，“大部分聰明人都搬走了。”

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

“那他怎么不搬走？”我問。

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

“他必須留下來照顧家人——先是他父親受傷了，之后他母親又病倒了，再后來就是他妻子。”

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，所以他不得不留下來。”

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.

過去，伊桑·弗羅姆常常在大概每天中午的時候駕著馬車從他的農(nóng)場來郵局，我也是在那時去取信，所以經(jīng)?？吹剿?。他來郵局就是為了取份報紙，有時候也會取個包裹，那是一家醫(yī)藥公司寄給“齊娜·弗羅姆夫人”的。斯塔克菲爾德鎮(zhèn)的人都知道他不想停下來說話，大部分時候他都會慢慢地爬到他的馬車上，一言不發(fā)地駕車離開。

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.

當時，我被公司派到斯塔克菲爾德附近來做一項工程，住在一位女士家中，大家叫她露絲·黑爾夫人。她婚前名叫露絲·瓦納姆，如今她的丈夫內德·黑爾已經(jīng)過世，于是她回到娘家和母親一起住。房子很大，很氣派，漆成白色，屋外長著高大、蒼翠的樹木。盡管瓦納姆家顯然已不再富裕，但她們的房子卻仍是村子里最好的。

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:

露絲·黑爾夫人喜歡和鄰居聊天，而我也希望她能多告訴我一些伊桑·弗羅姆的故事。但每當我問她時，她就會顯得有些悲傷，并且用低沉的聲音對我說：

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

“是的，他們兩個我都認識……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.

我問過其他人，斯塔克菲爾德鎮(zhèn)上每個人都認為伊桑·弗羅姆一生中遭遇的麻煩事比大多數(shù)人都多，但卻沒人解釋為什么他的臉看上去那么悲傷、陰郁。

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，從好幾個人那里，我一點一滴地得知了他的故事。正如通常那樣，每次我聽到的說法都不一樣，但我開始慢慢地把它拼湊了起來。后來不久，見到伊桑·弗羅姆本人時，我對他更感興趣了。

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.

事情是這樣的：每天我都要趕三英里路到火車站，在那兒乘火車去我工作的地方。通常我會從村中一個富裕的店主丹尼斯·伊迪那里租一匹馬。但隆冬時節(jié)，他的馬和斯塔克菲爾德鎮(zhèn)上的大多數(shù)馬都染了病。有那么一兩天我根本找不到馬匹，這時哈蒙·高想到個主意。

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.'

“干嗎不讓伊桑·弗羅姆駕車送你呢？”他說，“他的馬沒得病，況且他也需要點兒錢。弗羅姆家的農(nóng)場和鋸木場掙的錢連只貓都養(yǎng)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·弗羅姆答應駕車送我，接下來一個星期，我每天都和他并肩坐在他的雪橇上，他那匹瘦馬拉著我們，駛過硬邦邦的積雪，直到火車站。然后，在冰冷的晚上，他把我送回斯塔克菲爾德。

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.

不能說他這人不友善，然而在一個小時的路途中，他從不轉頭看我一眼，也幾乎不和我說話。一次，我聊起了佛羅里達州，他告訴我他曾經(jīng)去過那兒。還有一天早晨，我不小心把一本科學書落在了他的雪橇上，看得出他對那本書挺感興趣。但大多數(shù)時候，弗羅姆趕車時都一聲不吭。我開始感到，他就像他身邊的土地一樣。這個哀傷沉默的人與這白雪覆蓋的田地一樣冷漠而孤獨。他胸中所有的熱情與活力都在斯塔克菲爾德冬天的刺骨嚴寒中封存了起來。

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.

大概過了一個星期，一天晚上天氣十分惡劣，我們駕車回家，當晚天氣十分惡劣。大雪紛飛不停地下著，一切都籠罩在白茫茫的雪團之中，空氣冷得刺骨。駕轅的老馬越來越累，我于是跳下車來，在旁邊走，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)走起來很費勁。

After a time Frome looked into the darkness and said:

過了一會兒，弗羅姆看了看夜色，對我說：

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

“我家就在那兒。咱們也受夠了這鬼天氣。”

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.

我知道他是在請我留宿一晚，于是我們朝著那破敗的、孤零零的農(nóng)舍走去。在我?guī)退蜒┣潦蘸?，把馬安頓好后，我們頂著雪來到了農(nóng)舍前。我跟著他走進屋里，我們右側的門后傳來這時一個女人尖細的聲音從我們右側的門后傳來。

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

弗羅姆打開屋子的門。“請進。”他對我說，他說這話時，那尖細的聲音靜默了下來。

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

就是在那夜，我開始了解伊桑·弗羅姆，并將他的故事拼湊了起來……