THE SLAYER OF SOULS噬魂者（一）

文/Lafur Gunnarsson 譯/MOYIHA

THE SLAYER OF SOULS噬魂者（一）

文/Lafur Gunnarsson 譯/MOYIHA

In the first decade of the nineteenth century there lived in Reykjavík a merchant①merchant 英 ［'m??t?（?）nt］ 美 ［'m?t??nt］ n. 商人，批發商；店主adj. 商業的，商人的who sold new and secondhand②secondhand 英 ［'sek?nd'h?nd］ 美 ［'s?k?ndh?nd］adj. 二手的；舊的；間接獲得的；做舊貨生意的adv. 間接地；間接聽來；以舊貨furniture in a shop he ran on the first floor of a house his wife owned right next to the city lake.

Many joyful plays were staged at the theater and the couple saw them all. One of the most popular was called An Adventurous③Walk in the Countryside. It was an enormously popular show with many roles in it. The manager of the theater had added additional actors and one of them was a young lady， small-featured but beautiful.

She stole the merchant's heart right from the premiere④premiere 英 ［'prem?e?］ 美 ［pr?'m?r］adj. 首位的；初次的；女主角的vi. 初次公演；首次露面vt. 初次公演；初次上演n. 初次的演出；女主角and she later stole his very soul， and this is， in fact， the very essence of our tale.

And one fine day when she walked past in all her glory， he summoned up the courage to open the door and address her in the most casual manner："We are exceptionally⑤exceptionally 英 ［?k'sep?（?）n?l?］ 美 ［?k's?p??n?li］ adv. 異常地；特殊地；例外地fortunate in the good weather we're enjoying today， Madam."

When she realized that the handsome man with the thick mustache standing in the doorway of the shop had been addressing her， she looked around and replied， "Yes， it's true， we are indeed blessed with exceptionally beautiful weather today."

"Could it be that you need an extra job， perhaps as a shop assistant？" he asked with some hesitation. She made a face and replied that she couldn't possibly be in any one space for such a long spell of time.

He should have taken notice then and there of the grave warning in her reply.

As the merchant locked up one evening， his mind wandered to the young actress and he sighed， "Oh， how I envy the free man who is his own boss and could on any given day bring her red roses. Such a man could truly claim happiness as his own."

At that very instant he heard a grim， husky voice utter， "My nature is such that I make the wishes of men come true."

And in the following instant his wife came through the door，and she had never appeared uglier to him. She reminded him of a skinny mare with enormous buckteeth.

He asked， "Did you just say something？”

She replied， "Have you gone crazy？ I didn't say a word. Will you come upstairs？"

"I have things to attend to，" he said. “I'll come as soon as my work is done."

At these words she took a quick glance toward the lake. She expected t h e b r i g h thaired actress f r o m A n Adventurous Walk in the Countryside to pass by at that very instant.

When she h a d g o n e upstairs， the merchant sat down on a stool and sighed a second time， "Oh， how I envy the free man who is his own master."

At this the grim， husky voice uttered， "A short while ago I mentioned that my nature was such to make the wishes of men come true."

The merchant rose， took an uneasy look around his shop and said， "Is someone here？ Who，may I ask， just spoke to me？"

"I am an honest man， unjustly dubbed 'the Slayer of Souls，' and I dwell within your mirror."

The merchant should have had the good sense to cut the conversation short right then from the name alone， but his lust for the young actress was far too great.

"And what do I have to do to get my wishes fulfilled？" asked the merchant.

"Dwell within the mirror after death so that I may wander the Earth，" replied the Slayer of Souls.

"To dwell there after death can hardly be worse than my present condition，" the merchant replied. "And how happy I would be if I were free and my wife were now there in your place."

19世紀初，有一位住在雷克雅未克的商人，他和妻子在城市中心的湖邊擁有一棟房子，商人在房子的一樓經營著一家賣嶄新或二手家具的商店。

在市中心的劇院里也上演過許多有趣的戲劇，這對夫婦也未錯過任何一場。其中最受歡迎的一場叫作An Adventurous Walk in the Countryside，劇中充滿了許許多多各式各樣的角色。此外劇場經理又招募了很多新演員，其中一位是個年輕漂亮的女士，臉蛋小巧可愛，魅力十足。

眉宇顏色間，她偷去了商人的心，鶯聲燕語中，便俘虜了商人的靈魂，對他們二人來講這場邂逅至關重要。

有一天，當那位曼妙女子開心地經過馬路對面時，他鼓起勇氣打開門裝作自然的樣子和她搭訕：“今天運氣可真好，天氣也不錯，真是令人享受，女士。”

當她意識到這個站在商店門口胡子拉碴的帥哥是在和她搭訕時，她環顧四周回答道：“是啊，確實，今天這么好的天氣真是我們的福分。”

“你是否需要一份兼職，比如售貨員之類的？”。

她做了鬼臉回答道，她不想待在一個地方太久。商人也已注意到了在她的回復中帶有嚴重的警告意味，也就不再糾纏了。

不久后的一天晚上，這位商人打烊鎖門時，他不禁想起了那位年輕的女演員并嘆息道：“唉，我真嫉妒那些自己做主的自由人，他們可以隨時隨地送她紅玫瑰。這樣的人可真的稱得上幸福。”

就在這時，他聽見了一個陰冷、沙啞的聲音說道：“吾身所司，以吾之力，憑汝所愿，還汝所求。"

緊接著，他的妻子經過了大門。她從未比此時更讓他覺得丑陋。她讓他想起了一個有著巨大齙牙的瘦子。

商人疑惑地問道：“你剛剛說了什么嗎？”

他的妻子不耐煩地回答道：“你瘋了吧？我啥也沒說。你能來樓上一趟嗎？”

“我有事要做，”商人低下頭不愿意看她一眼，“我搞完就上去。”

聽到這些話，商人的妻子快速地向湖邊瞟了一眼。她看見了那個An Adventurous Walk in the Countryside的亮發女演員在那瞬間一閃而過。

當她上樓以后，商人坐在凳子上，再一次嘆息道：“唉，我真羨慕那些可以自己做主的自由人。”

這時，那個陰冷、沙啞的聲音再次響起，“適才方言，以吾之力，憑汝所愿，還汝所求。”

商人一躍而起，緊張的環顧商店四周說到，“誰在那兒？是誰？剛剛在和我說話？”

“吾本信義之人，卻有黃口偏頗小兒喚我曰‘魂噬者’。吾所居者，此鏡也。”

商人仔細端詳著鏡子，“那么我要怎么做才能讓我的愿望實現呢？”商人問道。

“諾以身死殞歿后，居此方寸鏡中，吾便可行于世間，償汝之愿。”魂噬者回答道。

“即使是死后住在鏡子里也不如我現在的處境糟糕，“商人回答道，“要是讓我的妻子去你們那兒該多好啊，我就能重獲自由了。”