One Summer Night夏夜異聞

The fact that Henry Armstrong was buried did not seem to him to prove that he was dead： he had always been a hard man to convince. That he really was buried， the testimony1 of his senses compelled him to admit. His posture—flat upon his back， with his hands crossed upon his stomach and tied with something that he easily broke without profitably altering the situation—the strict confinement of his entire person， the black darkness and profound silence， made a body of evidence impossible to controvert and he accepted it without cavil2.

亨利·阿姆斯特朗一向固執(zhí)己見：在他看來，入土的事實(shí)似乎并不能證明他已逝去。他確已入土，所有感官都迫使他不得不承認(rèn)這一點(diǎn)。他仰面平躺，雙手被縛交叉置于腹部（掙脫那束縛輕而易舉，但于事無補(bǔ)）——整個(gè)人以這樣的姿勢(shì)被禁錮于逼仄的空間，周遭漆黑一片、萬(wàn)籟俱寂，這些都是無法辯駁的證據(jù)。對(duì)于被埋的事實(shí)，他默然接受。

But dead—no; he was only very， very ill. He had， withal， the invalid’s apathy3 and did not greatly concern himself about the uncommon fate that had been allotted to him. No philosopher was he—just a plain， commonplace person gifted， for the time being， with a pathological indifference： the organ that he feared consequences with was torpid. So， with no particular apprehension4 for his immediate future， he fell asleep and all was peace with Henry Armstrong.

但要說死，他不承認(rèn)；他只是病入膏肓。久病令他看淡一切，對(duì)于這不同尋常的命運(yùn)也不甚掛懷。他并非哲人，不過一個(gè)再平常不過的普通人，當(dāng)下處于那種重疾所致的漠然狀態(tài)——他用來?yè)?dān)心后果的器官麻木不仁。總之，此時(shí)此刻的亨利·阿姆斯特朗安然入眠，對(duì)迫近的死亡毫無憂懼。

But something was going on overhead. It was a dark summer night， shot through with infrequent shimmers of lightning silently firing a cloud lying low in the west and portending a storm. These brief， stammering illuminations brought out with ghastly distinctness the monuments and headstones5 of the cemetery and seemed to set them dancing. It was not a night in which any credible witness was likely to be straying about a cemetery， so the three men who were there， digging into the grave of Henry Armstrong， felt reasonably secure.

突然，墳頭上方有了動(dòng)靜。夏夜沉沉，偶或撕裂夜空的閃電默默點(diǎn)燃西方低垂的云層，預(yù)示著暴風(fēng)雨將至。在這斷斷續(xù)續(xù)的閃電的映照下，墓園的碑石透著陰森恐怖，顯出張牙舞爪的樣子。沒有哪位可靠的目擊證人會(huì)在這樣的夜晚徘徊于墓園，因此，正在掘亨利·阿姆斯特朗墓的三名男子篤定自己的行徑絕對(duì)無人發(fā)現(xiàn)。

Two of them were young students from a medical college a few miles away; the third was a gigantic negro known as Jess. For many years Jess had been employed about the cemetery as a man-of-all-work and it was his favourite pleasantry that he knew ‘every soul in the place.’ From the nature of what he was now doing it was inferable that the place was not so populous as its register may have shown it to be.

其中兩名小伙子是數(shù)英里外某醫(yī)學(xué)院的學(xué)生，還有一個(gè)是人稱“杰斯”的黑人大漢。杰斯受雇在墓園做雜役多年，最愛夸口自己熟識(shí)“這里的每個(gè)住戶”。既然此刻他敢?guī)司蚰梗梢姶说剡h(yuǎn)不如登記簿所示的那般“人丁興旺”。

Outside the wall， at the part of the grounds farthest from the public road， were a horse and a light wagon， waiting.

墻外，離公共道路最遠(yuǎn)的偏僻處，有匹馬拉著輛輕便貨車正候著。

The work of excavation was not difficult： the earth with which the grave had been loosely filled a few hours before offered little resistance and was soon thrown out. Removal of the casket6 from its box was less easy， but it was taken out， for it was a perquisite7 of Jess， who carefully unscrewed the cover and laid it aside， exposing the body in black trousers and white shirt. At that instant the air sprang to flame， a cracking shock of thunder shook the stunned world and Henry Armstrong tranquilly sat up. With inarticulate cries the men fled in terror， each in a different direction. For nothing on earth could two of them have been persuaded to return. But Jess was of another breed.

掘墓這事不難——墳土疏松，是幾小時(shí)前填上的，挖起來并不費(fèi)力，不到一會(huì)兒棺槨就露了出來。將棺木從外槨中抬出要使些力氣，好在杰斯有勁兒。他小心地起開棺蓋放在一旁，黑褲白衫的尸體暴露出來。就在此刻，空中有火苗迸發(fā)，一聲驚雷讓大地為之震顫，亨利·阿姆斯特朗悄然無聲地從棺木中坐起。掘墓者發(fā)出含糊的驚叫，嚇得分頭逃竄。那兩個(gè)學(xué)生恐怕說什么都不會(huì)“舊地重游”了，然而杰斯終歸與他倆不同。

In the grey of the morning the two students， pallid and haggard from anxiety and with the terror of their adventure still beating tumultuously in their blood， met at the medical college.

次日天剛露白，焦慮得面色蒼白、形容憔悴的兩名學(xué)生在醫(yī)學(xué)院碰頭，前晚冒險(xiǎn)的余悸仍在他們心頭激蕩。

‘You saw it？’ cried one.

“你看到了嗎？”一人帶著哭腔問道。

‘God！ Yes—what are we to do？’

“老天！當(dāng)然看到了……我們?cè)撛趺崔k？”

They went around to the rear of the building， where they saw a horse， attached to a light wagon， hitched to a gatepost8 near the door of the dissecting-room. Mechanically they entered the room. On a bench in the obscurity sat the negro Jess. He rose， grinning， all eyes and teeth.

兩人繞到大樓后方，發(fā)現(xiàn)解剖室門外的拴馬樁上拴著匹馬，馬拉著一輛輕便馬車。他們迷迷瞪瞪地走進(jìn)解剖室，看到暗處長(zhǎng)凳上坐著黑人大漢杰斯。杰斯站起身，咧嘴一笑，露出一口白牙，兩眼爍爍閃光。

‘I’m waiting for my pay，’ he said.

“我等著收錢呢。”他說。

Stretched naked on a long table lay the body of Henry Armstrong， the head defiled with blood and clay from a blow with a spade.

一張長(zhǎng)桌上躺著亨利·阿姆斯特朗赤裸的尸身，頭上還沾著鐵鍬擊打留下的血污與泥垢。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>

* （1842—1914），美國(guó)記者、作家，以短篇小說聞名。其小說以恐怖和死亡為題材，語(yǔ)言精煉、諷刺辛辣。代表作有《鷹溪橋上》《魔鬼詞典》等。

1 testimony證據(jù)，證明。" 2 cavil吹毛求疵的意見。" 3 apathy冷漠。

4 apprehension憂慮，恐懼。" 5 headstone墓碑。

6 casket棺材。" 7 perquisite特權(quán)，特殊待遇。" 8 gatepost門柱。