译《化身博士》第九章:杰基尔医生的忏悔(四)

Exhausted by the horrors of that day, I slept heavily. I woke in the morning feeling weak and shaky, but quite normal. I still hated and feared the thought of the wild animal inside me, and I had not forgotten the desperate dangers of the day before. But I was at home and close to my drugs, and I was most deeply grateful for my escape.

那天的担惊受怕使我筋疲力尽,我睡得很沉。早上醒来,我感觉很虚弱,止不住发抖,但人还正常。我仍然痛恨和害怕心中那个头狂躁的野兽,也没有忘记昨日胆战心惊的危险。不过我已经回家了,药就在手边,很高兴自己逃过一劫。

I was walking across the garden after breakfast, enjoying the clear wintry air, when suddenly my body was again torn by those indescribable feelings which I always experienced after a dose of the drug. I only just reached my study before I was again burning and freezing with the violent passions of Hyde. With feverish speed I mixed the drug. This time I had to take a double dose to return to my old shape. And then, only six hours later, the pains returned and I had to repeat the dose.

早餐后,我到花园散步,呼吸着花园里干净冷冽的空气,突然我身上一阵不可名状的痛觉,跟我喝药后的疼痛如出一辙。刚到书房,我就感到一阵热一阵冷的,全是海德狂野的欲望。我急匆匆地配好药,这次我得用双倍的剂量才回到原来的身体。然后,才过六小时,我又开始痛,就又配药。

From that day onwards the situation worsened. I needed larger and more frequent doses in order to stay in Jekyll's body. The pains came unexpectedly, but most of all when I was asleep. I was afraid to go to bed, or even to sleep for a few moments in my chair. If I did so, I always woke as Hyde.

从那天开始,情况就变糟了。我得用更多的药量,配药次数也更频繁,才能维持住哲基尔的身体。可疼痛总是不约而至,但大多数都是在睡着后。所以我不敢上床睡觉,甚至都不敢在座椅上眯一会。我要是敢睡,醒来就得成海德。

Soon Jekyll was a sick man, feverish and weakened by pain and fear. As Jekyll grew weaker, Hyde became stronger than ever. He burned with hate for everybody and everything. And Hyde and Jekyll now hated each other with equal passion. Jekyll hated Hyde because Hyde was evil and inhuman, and because Hyde was stronger than he was. Jekyll lived in fear of waking up and finding himself in Hyde's body, with all Hyde's evil passions. Hyde hated Jekyll for a different reason. His fear of death-the punishment for murder-drove him to the hiding-place of Jekyll's body. But he hated this prison and was always fighting to escape from Jekyll's mind and body, and take control. He also hated Jekyll's weakness and his sad, hopeless condition. Most of all, he hated Jekyll's dislike of him. This was why Hyde sometimes did things to annoy Jekyll. He tore the doctors books and wrote all over them. He burned his letters and even destroyed a picture of the doctors dead father.

没过多久,哲基尔就病了,发烧了,被痛苦和恐惧折磨的虚弱不堪。因为哲基尔变得越来越弱,海德就变得比之前更强了。 他恨每个人每件事,还有现在海德和哲基尔也是相看两相厌了。哲基尔恨海德,因为海德的邪恶和毫无人性,也因为海德比他强大。哲基尔活在害怕醒来就变成了海德充斥着他狂野欲望的恐惧中。海德因别的原因恨哲基尔。他怕死――那杀人的惩罚――迫使他要藏在哲基尔的身体里。但他又厌倦这种束缚,总想逃离哲基尔的身心,再取而代之。他也讨厌哲基尔的软弱,悲观和无望的现状。大多数时候,他恨哲基尔不喜欢他。这也就是为什么海德有时会故意去激怒哲基尔。他撕烂博士的书,在书上写满字,烧掉他的信,甚至还毁掉博士父亲的遗照。

Only Hyde's fear of his own death stops him from killing me. His love of life is terribly strong, and he knows that if he kills me, he too will die. I almost feel sorry for him.

海德是自己怕死才使他没杀了我。他极其热爱生活,可他知道他要是杀了我,他自己也会死。真是可惜!

It is useless to continue this confession. The final disaster has arrived, and will put an end to my punishment. I shall soon lose my own face and character for ever. I have only a few doses of the drug left. I sent Poole to the same chemist to fetch some more chemicals. When he brought them, I mixed a dose of the drug. The liquid smoked and changed from red to purple, but it did not turn green. I drank it, and looked in the mirror. But there was no effect. Edward Hyde's face still stared back at me.

继续忏悔也没什么用。最后的厄运已经来临,对我的惩罚也将结束。我不久就要永远失去我的脸和人格了。我只剩一点点药。我派普尔去原来那家药店再买些药。他买回来的药,我用它配一剂药。液体冒烟了,颜色也由红变紫,但没变绿。我喝下药,盯着镜子,但没作用。爱德华·海德仍旧瞪着我。

I expect Poole has told you that I have searched London for the chemicals I need. It is no good. I have decided that the first chemicals I bought were not absolutely pure. By accident, they contained something unknown to myself or to the chemist that prepared them. And that unknown something made my drug effective. So my drug was an accidental discovery that cannot be repeated.

我想普尔告诉过你我让他跑遍了伦敦的药店,可都是白费力气。我才明白我开始买到的药质地就不纯。正是我和药剂师都不知道的杂质才使我的药起作用了。这么说来,我配的药是偶然的发现,也就不能重复了。

About a week has passed. I have used the last of the old chemicals, and for the moment I am Henry Jekyll again. But I cannot write much more-i have very little time. If Hyde returns while I am writing this confession, he will tear it to pieces to annoy me. If I finish it, however, he will probably not notice it. He lives only for the moment, and he is already a changed man. He is like a trapped animal now. He sits in my chair trembling and weeping with hate and fear. All the time he listens for the policeman's knock at the door. Will he be caught at last, and put to death? Or will he be brave enough to take a dose of poison at the last moment?

又过了一个星期。我用掉最后一点先前的药,这会我又变成了亨利·哲基尔。但我不能再写多少了――我时间不够了。若我在写忏悔书时变成了海德的话,他为了激怒我,会将忏悔书撕个粉碎。但我要是写完了,他应该不会注意到。他也活不了多久了,他整个人都变了。他现在就像头被困的野兽,坐在椅子上打颤,又恨又怕地流着泪。他一直听着警察的敲门声。他最后是会被逮捕判死刑?还是会在最后一刻勇敢地喝下毒药?

Well, that is not my business. This is the true hour of my death. When you read this, the Henry Jekyll you know will be dead. The rest of the story is about Edward Hyde. Now, as I put down my pen, I bring the life of unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end.

呃,这都跟我无关了。这就是我死的时刻。当你读到这时,亨利·哲基尔已经死了。剩下的就是关于爱德华·海德的故事了。现在,我就此放笔,让亨利·哲基尔不幸的生活就此终结。

更多译文:

《化身博士》(完)

《雾都孤儿》(完)

《多里安·格雷的画像》(完)

《秘密花园》(完)

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。

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