译《化身博士》第一章：神秘的门(一)
Mr Utterson the lawyer was a quiet, serious man. He was shy with strangers and afraid of showing his feelings. Among friends, however, his eyes shone with kindness and goodness. And, although this goodness never found its way into his conversation, it showed itself in his way of life. He did not allow himself many enjoyable things in life. He ate and drank simply and, although he enjoyed the theatre, he had not been to a play for twenty years. However, he was gentler towards other mens' weaknesses, and was always ready to help rather than blame them. As a lawyer, he was often the last good person that evil-doers met on their way to prison, or worse. These people often carried with them memories of his politeness and fairness.
厄特森律师是个不爱说话、一本正经的人。在陌生人面前，他腼腆、不爱流露自己的情感，但在朋友面前，他总是眼含关心和真诚，虽然这种真与善在他的说话中不大找得到，却在他待人处世的点点滴滴中。在生活上，他从不放纵享乐，吃喝随意。即便他喜欢看戏，但20多年都没进过剧院。然而，他对别人的缺点却很包容，总想着去帮助别人而不是责备他们。作为一名律师，他通常是作恶者进监狱，或踏上黄泉前见到的最后一个好人，这些人心里也会一直留有他温文尔雅和公正无私的记忆。
Mr Utterson's best friend was a distantcousin called Richard Enfield, who waswell known as a fun-loving 'man about town'. Nobody could understand why they were friends, as they were different from each other in every way. They often took long walks together, however, marching through the streets of London in companionable silence.
厄特森先生最好的朋友是他的一位远房表亲，叫查理德·恩菲尔德，是城里有名的“爱热闹”的交际老手。谁也想不清楚为何他们会成为朋友，他们都毫无共同点。可他们经常一起散步 ，会走很远的路，穿过伦敦的街道，安安静静地作伴。
One of these walks used to take them down a narrow side-street in a busy part of London. It was a clean, busy, friendly street with bright little shops and shiny doorknockers. Near the end of this street, however, stood a dark, mysterious, windowless building. The door had neither bell nor knocker and looked dusty and uncared for. Dirty children played fearlessly on the doorstep, and nobody ever opened the door to drive them away.
有一次，他们散步到伦敦闹市区的一条狭窄的背街上。这条街街道很干净、热闹，人很和善，一家家小商店都亮亮堂堂，连门环也格外锃亮。但就在这条街的尽头，伫立着一幢阴暗、神秘、没有窗户的楼房。门上既没门铃也没门环，看上去灰尘密布，显然是疏于照料。脏兮兮的孩子们在门前疯玩疯闹，也没人开门轰他们走。
One day, as Mr Enfield and his friend passed the building, Mr Enfield pointed to it.
某天，恩菲尔德先生和他朋友路过这幢楼时，斯菲尔德先生用手指了指房子。
'Have you ever noticed that place?' he asked. 'It reminds me of a very strange story.'
“你注意到过那幢房子吗？”他问。“让我想起件怪事”
'Really?' said Mr Utterson. 'Tell me.'
“什么事？”厄特森先生说。“说来听听。”
'Well,' began Enfield, 'I was coming home about three o'clock on a black winter morning, when suddenly I saw two people. The first was a short man who was walking along the street, and the second was a little girl who was running as fast as she could. Well, the two bumped into each other and the child fell down. Then a terrible thing happened. The man calmly walked all over the chilld's body with his heavy boots, and left her screaming on the ground. It was an inhuman thing to do. I ran after the man, caught him and fetched him back. There was already a small crowd around the screaming child. The man was perfectly cool, but he gave me a very evil look, which made me feel sick in my stomach. The child's family then arrived, and also a doctor. The child had been sent to fetch the doctor for a sick neighbour, and was on her way home again.'
“可以”斯菲尔德开口说，“那是个冬天的早上，黑漆漆的，大概凌晨三点，我在回家的路上，突然撞见两个人。先看到一个身材矮小的男人，正在街上走，再看到一个小女孩，在飞快地跑。就这样，他俩撞上了，小女孩摔倒在地。接着发生了惊人的一幕。那个男人穿着厚重的靴子，冷冷地从女孩身上踏了过去，女孩子躺在地上疼得尖叫。这简直不是人做的事。我跑上去，抓住那个男人把他拽了回来。这时小女孩身边已经围了一小群人了。那个男人一脸冷漠，但狠狠地瞪了我一眼，让人一阵反胃。女孩的家人这时也赶到了，还来了一名医生。小孩是去请医生给邻居家的病人看病的，正在回家的路上。”
'The child is more frightened than hurt.' said the doctor-and that, you would think, was the end of the story. But, you see, I had taken a violent dislike to the short man. So had the child's family-that was only natural. But the doctor, who seemed a quiet, kindly man, was also looking at our prisoner with murder in his eyes.
“这孩子说是伤着了，倒不如说是吓坏了。”医生如是说――你可能想故事就这样结束了。但你知道的，我很不喜欢那个矮男人，女孩家人也不喜欢――这很正常。但那个医生（看上去很温润和善的一个人），也正盯着肇事者，都恨不得把他杀了。
'The doctor and I understood each other perfectly. Together we shouted at the man, and told him we would tell this story all over London so that his name would be hated.'
“医生和我都彼此心照不宣，冲着那人大声斥责，并声称要让全伦敦都知道这事，让人人听到他的名字就唾弃他。”
He looked back at us with a proud, black look. 'Name your price,' he said.
他回头阴森森地看了我们一眼，仍是一副不可一世的样子。“开个价吧！”他说。
'We made him agree to a hundred pounds for the child's family. With another black look, the man led us to that door over there. He took out a key and let himself into the building. Presently he came out and handed us ten pounds in gold and a cheque for ninety pounds from Coutts's Bank. The name on the cheque was a well-known one.
“我们让他答应付给孩子家里100英镑。他又阴森森地瞟了我们一眼，把我们领到了那边的那扇门，掏出钥匙，径自进屋去了。不一会儿，他又出来了，递给我们10镑金币和一张康茨银行的支票，面值是90英镑。但支票上的名字是大家都熟知的名字。”
译《化身博士》第一章：神秘的门(一)
'See here,' said the doctor doubtfully, 'it isn't usual for a man to walk into an empty house at four in the morning and come out with another man's cheque for nearly a hundred pounds.'
“看这儿”医生满腹怀疑地说，“是够奇怪的，凌晨4点，一个人走进一所空房子，又拿着签名是另一个人的支票出来了，有上百英镑。”
'Don't worry,' said the man with an ugly look, 'I'll stay with you until the banks open, and change the cheque myself.'
“放心。”矮个子男人一脸凶相地说，“我会和你们一起等银行开门，然后兑现支票。”
'So we all went off, the doctor and the prisoner and myself, and spent the rest of the night at my house. In the morning we went together to the bank. Sure enough, the cheque was good, and the money was passed to the child's family.'
“我们离开那儿。医生，肇事者还有我，一起在我家过后半夜。清早，我们一起去了银行。支票是真的，没问题，钱很快就转到小女孩家了。”
'Well, well,' said Mr Utterson.
“啊，这样啊！”厄特森先生回。
'Yes,' said Enfield, 'it's a strange story. My prisoner was clearly a hard, cruel man. But the man whose name was on the cheque was well known all over London for his kind and generous acts. Why would a man like that give his cheque to a criminal?'
“是的”斯菲尔德说，“真是件怪事。肇事者是个非常冷酷、残忍的家伙。可签支票的人却是伦敦有名的和蔼慷慨的人。为什么这样的一个人会把他的支票给肇事者？”
'And you don't know if the writer of the cheque lives in that building?' asked Mr Utterson.
“那你知道签支票的人是住在那吗？”厄特森先生问。
'I don't like to ask,' said his friend. 'In my experience, it's not a good idea to ask too many questions, in case the answers are ugly, violent ones. But I've studied the place a little. It doesn't seem like a house. There's no other door, and the only person who uses that door is the man I've just described to you. There are three windows on the side of the house, which look down onto a small courtyard. The windows are shut, but they're always clean. There's a chimney too, which is usually smoking. So somebody must live there.'
“我没问。”他朋友说。“照我的经验看，问太多可不是件好事，万一答案既令人厌恶又令人不安呢。但我观察过这栋楼，根本就不像人住的房子。那只有一扇门，唯一开过门的人，就是我刚给你说的那个人。房子的一侧有3扇窗，能看到小院子。窗户常年紧闭，但都一尘不染。那还有个烟囱，常冒着烟。所以肯定有人住那。”
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PS:本书为牛津系列简易读物，由英国著名作家罗斯玛丽·博德根据英国作家查罗伯特·路易莎·斯蒂文森的同名小说改写。
英文为书虫系列原文，译文是笔者翻译。本文仅因个人兴趣而译，故本文谢绝转载和各种商业用途，同时承诺若出现任何责任由作者承担，必要时简书可删除文章。
