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第16章 Buried Treasure(5)

I rose and pointed a large pewterpewter n.白蜡, 奖赏 spoon at him, fresh from the dishwater.

我站起身,拿着一把从洗碗水里捞出来的锡银勺子指着他。

“Goodloe Banks,” I said, “I care not one parboiled navy bean for your education. I always barely tolerated it in any one, and I despised it in you. What has your learning done for you? It is a curse to yourself and a bore to your friends. Away,” I said—“away with your watermarks and variations! They are nothing to me. They shall not deflect me from the quest.”

“古德洛·班克斯,”我说,“你的教育在我眼里连颗煮得半生不熟的豆子都不值。别人的教育我勉强能容忍,你的教育我一向就看不顺眼。你的学问对你有什么好处?它祸害了你自己,招惹你朋友讨厌。去吧,”我说——“去你的水印和磁差。它们对我毫无影响。动摇不了我觅宝的决心。”

I pointed with my spoon across the river to a small mountain shaped like a packsaddle.

我用勺子指着河对岸一座驮鞍形的小山。

“I am going to search that mountain,” I went on, “for the treasure. Decide now whether you are in it or not. If you wish to let a water mark or a variation shake your soul, you are no true adventureradventurer n.冒险家. Decide.”

“过一会儿我就到那座山上去搜寻藏宝,”我接着说,“你现在赶快决定干不干。假如你为了水印和磁差就打退堂鼓,你就算不上真正的冒险家。赶快决定吧。”

A white cloud of dust began to rise far down the river road. It was the mailwagon from Hesperus to Chico. Goodloe flagged it.

河边的路上升起一团白色的尘土。那是赫斯帕卢斯去奇科伪装运邮件的马车。古德洛招呼它停住。

“I am done with the swindle,” said he, sourly. “No one but a fool would pay any attention to that paper now. Well, you always were a fool, Jim. I leave you to your fate.”

“我可不再上当受骗了,”他愠怒地说,“现在只有傻瓜才把那张纸当作一件事。好吧,吉姆,你一向是傻瓜。你自作自受,我管不着。”

He gathered his personal traps, climbed into the mailwagon, adjusted his glasses nervously, and flew away in a cloud of dust.

他收拾好私人物品,爬上邮车,气呼呼地扶了扶眼镜,在尘雾中飞快地离去。

After I had washed the dishes and staked the horses on new grass, I crossed the shallow river and made my way slowly through the cedarbrakes up to the top of the hill shaped like a packsaddle.

我洗好盘子,把马匹牵到一块新鲜的草地上拴好,然后涉水过河,缓缓穿过雪松丛,爬上驮鞍形的山头。

It was a wonderful June day. Never in my life had I seen so many birds, so many butterflies, dragonflies, grasshoppersgrasshopper n.蚱蜢, 蝗虫, 小型侦察机, and such winged and stinged beasts of the air and fields.

那是一个美妙的六月天。我活到这么大,还没有见过这么多的禽鸟、蝴蝶、螃蟹,以及别的天上飞的,地上爬的,长翅膀的,带螫刺的生物。

I investigated the hill shaped like a packsaddle from base to summit. I found an absolute absence of signs relating to buried treasure. There was no pile of stones, no ancient blazes on the trees, none of the evidences of the three hundred thousand dollars, as set forth in the document of old man Rundle.

我从山脚到山顶搜遍了那座驮鞍形的小山。找不到有关藏宝的任何迹象。没有乱石堆,树上没有指示道路的旧刻痕,朗德尔老头的文件上开具的三十万块钱连影子都没有。

I came down the hill in the cool of the afternoon. Suddenly, out of the cedarbrake I stepped into a beautiful green valley where a tributary small stream ran into the Alamito River.

下午凉爽一些的时候,我下了山。我在雪松丛中走着走着,突然闯进一个风景如画的翠绿的山谷,那里有一道小溪注入阿拉米托河。

And there I was started to see what I took to be a wild man, with unkempt beard and ragged hair, pursuing a giant butterfly with brilliant wings.

使我吃惊的是我看到了一个野人模样的生物,披头散发,胡子蓬松,在追捕一只翅膀绚烂的、硕大无比的蝴蝶。

“Perhaps he is an escaped madman.” I thought; and wondered how he had strayed so far from seats of education and learning.

“他也许是从病人院里逃出来的。”我暗忖着,他居然跑到离教育和学问这么远的地方真使我纳闷。

And then I took a few more steps and saw a vinecovered cottage near the small stream. And in a little grassy glade I saw May Martha Mangum plucking wild flowers.

我再走前几步,看到小溪旁边有一幢墙上爬满藤枝的村舍。在林间一块小草地上,梅·玛莎·曼格姆正在摘野花。

She straightened up and looked at me. For the first time since I knew her I saw her face—which was the color of the white keys of a new piano—turn pink. I walked toward her without a word. She let the gathered flowers trickletrickle v.滴流 slowly from her hand to the grass.

她站直起来,瞅着我。我认识她以来第一次见到她那像新钢琴的白象牙琴键的脸上泛起了红晕。我一言不发,向她走去。她摘好的花枝慢慢地从手里掉到草地上。

“I knew you would come, Jim.” she said clearly. “Father wouldnt let me write, but I knew you would come.

“我知道你会来的,吉姆。”她清晰地说。“爸爸不让我写信,但是我知道你会找来的。”

What followed you may guess—there was my wagon and team just across the river.

以后的事情你可以猜得到——我的车辆马匹就在河对岸。

Ive often wondered what good too much education is to a man if he cant use it for himself. If all the benefits of it are to go to others, where does it come in?

我时常纳闷,一个人受的教育太多,如果不能为自己所用,教育又有什么好处。如果所有的好处都归了别人,他受的教育又能起什么作用?

For May Martha Mangum abides with me. There is an eightroom house in a liveoak grove, and a piano with an automaticautomatic n.自动机械 adj.自动的, 无意识的, 机械的 player, and a good start toward the three thousand head of cattle is under fence.

我这么说,是因为梅·玛莎·曼格姆同我厮守在一起。橡树环抱的地方有一幢八居室的房子,有一架带自动弹奏器的钢琴,牧场上的牛相当可观,已是三千头的目标的良好开端。

And when I ride home at night my pipe and slippersslipper n.拖鞋, 制轮器 vt.用拖鞋打(孩子等) are put away in places where they cannot be found.

我晚上骑马回家时,烟斗和拖鞋都给搁到找不到的地方了。

But who cares for that? Who cares—who cares?

但是谁在乎这一点?谁在乎——谁在乎呢?

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