The Chink's Head was a name the beach-combers gave to a wretched inn off the Rue Bouterie, kept by a one-eyed Chinaman, where for six sous you could sleep in a cot and for three on the floor. Here they made friends with others in as desperate condition as themselves, and when they were penniless and the night was bitter cold, they were glad to borrow from anyone who had earned a stray franc during the day the price of a roof over their heads. They were not niggardly, these tramps, and he who had money did not hesitate to share it among the rest. They belonged to all the countries in the world, but this was no bar to good-fellowship; for they felt themselves freemen of a country whose frontiers include them all, the great country of Cockaine.
“中國茅房”,這是一個流浪漢給一個獨眼的中國人在布特里路附近開的一家雞毛店起的名字。六個銅子可以睡在一張小床上,三個銅子兒可以打一宵地鋪。他們在這里認識了不少同他們一樣窮困潦倒的朋友,遇到他們分文不名、而夜里又天氣奇冷的時候,他們會毫不猶豫地同哪個白天湊巧掙到一法郎的人借幾文宿費。這些流浪漢并不吝嗇,誰手頭有錢都樂于同別人分享。他們來自世界各個地方,但是大家都很講交情,并不因國籍不同而彼此見外,因為他們都覺得自己是一個國家——安樂鄉(xiāng)的自由臣民;這個國家領(lǐng)土遼闊,把他們這些人全部囊括在自己的領(lǐng)域里。
"But I guess Strickland was an ugly customer when he was roused," said Captain Nichols, reflectively. "One day we ran into Tough Bill in the Place, and he asked Charlie for the papers he'd given him."
“可是思特里克蘭德要是生起氣來,我看可不是好惹的,”尼柯爾斯船長回憶當(dāng)時的情況說,“有一天我們在廣場上碰見了硬漢子彼爾,彼爾想討回他給查理斯的身份證明?!?/p>
"'You'd better come and take them if you want them,' says Charlie.
“‘你要是想要,就自己來拿吧,’查理斯說?!?/p>
"He was a powerful fellow, Tough Bill, but he didn't quite like the look of Charlie, so he began cursing him. He called him pretty near every name he could lay hands on, and when Tough Bill began cursing it was worth listening to him. Well, Charlie stuck it for a bit, then he stepped forward and he just said: 'Get out, you bloody swine.' It wasn't so much what he said, but the way he said it. Tough Bill never spoke another word; you could see him go yellow, and he walked away as if he'd remembered he had a date."
“彼爾是個身強力壯的大漢,但是被查理斯的樣子給鎮(zhèn)住了,他只是不住口地咒罵,所有能夠用上的臟字眼兒都用到了。硬漢子彼爾開口罵人是很值得一聽的事。開始的時候,查理斯不動聲色地聽著,過了一會兒,他往前邁了一步,只說了一句:‘滾蛋,你他媽的這只豬玀?!R的這句話倒沒什么,重要的是他罵人的樣子。硬漢子彼爾馬上住了口,你可以看出來他膽怯了。他連忙轉(zhuǎn)身走開,好象突然記起自己還有個約會似的?!?/p>
Strickland, according to Captain Nichols, did not use exactly the words I have given, but since this book is meant for family reading I have thought it better, at the expense of truth, to put into his mouth expressions familiar to the domestic circle.
按照尼柯爾斯船長的敘述,思特里克蘭德當(dāng)時罵人的話同我寫的并不一樣,但既然這是一本供家庭閱讀消遣的書,我覺得不妨違反一些真實性,還是改換幾個雅俗共賞的字眼兒為好。
Now, Tough Bill was not the man to put up with humiliation at the hands of a common sailor. His power depended on his prestige, and first one, then another, of the sailors who lived in his house told them that he had sworn to do Strickland in.
且說硬漢子彼爾并不是個受了普通水手侮辱而隱忍不發(fā)的人。他的權(quán)勢完全靠著他的威信;一個住在他開的寄宿舍的水手對他倆說,彼爾發(fā)誓要把思特里克蘭德干掉,后來又有另外一個人告訴他們同樣的消息。
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