MWRP讀物推介|牛虻The Gadfly

《牛虻》（The Gadfly）是「百萬英語閱讀計劃」MWRP叢書——英漢對照中級英語系列讀物第ＩＩ輯之5，適合已掌握1500基本英語辭彙量（相當於初中畢業）的英語學習者閱讀。

百萬英語閱讀計劃是為專門為中國學生設計的英語閱讀提高計劃，讀者對象為已具有初中英語水平的讀者，通過２年、每天約15分鐘的閱讀能達到中級英語水平，掌握3000多單詞和大量的短語，熟練掌握英語的各種句子結構，並能閱讀一般英語原著。詳見：《百萬英語閱讀計劃讀者手冊》。

內容簡介

故事的背景是19世紀三四十年代的義大利。當時的義大利正遭到奧地利的侵略，青年義大利黨爭取民族獨立的思想吸引著熱血青年，亞瑟決定獻身於這項事業。亞瑟非常尊重主教蒙塔內利，蒙塔內利發現了亞瑟的活動後十分不安，想方設法加以勸阻。在一次秘密集會上，亞瑟遇見了少年時的女友傑瑪，悄悄地愛上了她。

蒙塔內利調到羅馬當了主教，警方的密探成了新的神父。在他的誘騙下，亞瑟在懺悔中透露了他們的行動和戰友們的名字，以致他連同戰友一起被捕入獄。他們的被捕，連傑瑪都以為是亞瑟告的密，在憤怒之下打了他的耳光。

出獄後，亞瑟發現道貌岸然的主教竟然和他隱藏了一個重大秘密。這一連串的打擊使他陷入極度痛苦之中，他假裝投河自殺，偷渡到南美洲。在南美洲，亞瑟度過了人間地獄般的13年。流浪生活磨鍊了亞瑟，回到義大利時，他已經是一個堅強、冷酷、老練的「牛虻」……

原書作者是E.L.伏尼契（E. L. Voynich 1864-1960）是英國女作家，本小說是她的代表作。小說自1897年出版以來，已被譯成多種文字，在世界各國廣為流傳。在我國自1953年翻譯出版後，發行量超過100萬冊。

文本信息

本書文本統計信息詳見下表，供選擇時參考：

說明:

2. 1500基本辭彙外的單詞不包括由這些詞構成的合成詞 （如：schoolboy<=school +boy）和派生詞 （如：proudly <= proud + ly）。

3. 專有名詞（人名地名）或由專有名詞派生的辭彙以及感嘆詞不計入生詞。

4. 1500詞外詞數（生詞數）包含重複詞數。比如一個單詞以不同形式出現3次，則按3次統計。

5. 在1500詞外詞條數中，重複的單詞或者一個單詞的不同形式統計為1次。

6. 正文每一千字處都有字數標誌，便於讀者掌握閱讀進度。

7. 1500基本辭彙外的詞在原文部分用粗體顯示，譯文部分用深色粗體，由於翻譯的緣故，兩部分的詞性和意義並不完全對應，僅供參考。

8. 本系列讀物的前三本生詞全部標註，以後只標註兩次，出現兩次以後生詞就不再標註。

第一章試讀

The Gadfly

牛虻

PART I

第一部

Chapter 1

第一章

Arthur sat in the library of the theological college at Pisa, looking through a pile of papers. It was a hot evening in June. The Father Director, Mr. Montanelli, stopped writing for a moment to glance kindly at him.

亞瑟坐在比薩神學院圖書館裡，翻弄著一堆手稿。這是６月一個炎熱的晚上。神父院長，蒙塔內利先生停了一會兒筆，親切地望了他一眼。

「Can』t you find it, dear? Never mind. I must write the passage again.」

「找不到嗎，親愛的？沒關係，我把那一段重寫一遍吧。」

「No, Padre, I must find it; I』m sure you put it here.」

「不行，神父，我一定要找到。您肯定是放在這兒了。」

Montanelli went on with his work.

蒙塔內利繼續寫作。

「Here it is.」 Arthur came across the room with soft steps. He was a small middle-class English boy. When he sat still, he might have been taken for a very pretty girl dressed like a boy.

「在這裡呢。」亞瑟從房間對面輕輕走過來。他是一個瘦小的英國男子，要是坐在那兒不動，別人可能會以為他是一個身著男裝的漂亮姑娘呢。

「Thank you, Arthur! I』m always losing my things. No, I am not going to write any more now. Come out into the garden, and I will help you with your work.」

「謝謝你，亞瑟！我老是丟三落四的。好了，我不打算再寫了。到花園來，我來幫你學習功課。」

They went out into the still garden. In one corner there was a wooden bench against a tree. Montanelli sat down on the bench. Arthur was not a pupil of this theological college. He was studying philosophy at the university. He had come to a difficulty with a book, so he had come to ask 「the Padre」 to explain the point.

他們走進了幽靜的花園。花園一角，有一條木凳靠著一棵樹，蒙塔內利在凳子上坐下。亞瑟並不是神學院的學生，他在大學裡學習哲學，因為他在書上遇到了一道難題，所以就來找「神父」解釋難點。

「I had better go now,」 he said when they had finished.

「我該走了，」問題講解完了，他說道。

「I don』t want to work any more, but I should like you to stay a bit if you have time.」

「我不想再去工作了，但如果你有時間的話，我希望你能再待一會兒。」

「Oh, yes!」 He leaned back against the tree-trunk and looked up through the branches at the first faint stars in a quiet sky. His deep blue eyes had come from his mother, and Montanelli turned his head away, so that he might not see them.

「哦，好吧！」他靠在樹榦上，抬頭透過樹葉，望著寧靜的天空第一批昏暗的星星。他那雙深藍色的眼睛遺傳自他的母親。蒙塔內利轉過頭去，這樣就看不見那雙眼睛了。

「You are looking tired, dear,」 said Montanelli. 「You should not have gone up to college so soon. You were tired out looking after your sick mother at night. You should have taken a thorough rest before you left Leghorn.」

「你好像累了，親愛的，」蒙塔內利說道。「你不應該這麼早就上大學。當時你熬夜照料生病的母親，把身體都累垮了。你應該徹底休息一下，然後再離開萊戈恩。」

「Oh, Padre, what』s the use of that? I couldn』t stop in that miserable house after mother died. Julia would have driven me mad!」

「哦，神父，那有什麼用呢？母親去世以後，我就不能在那個令人痛苦的房子里住下去了。朱麗亞會把我逼瘋的！」

Julia was his eldest stepbrother』s wife.

朱麗亞是他同父異母大哥的妻子。

「But I wish you could have accepted the invitation of your English doctor friend. If you had spent a month in his house you would have been more fit to study,」 said Montanelli gently.

「但是你當時接受你那位做醫生的英國朋友的邀請就好了。如果你在他家住上一個月，身體更適合學習了，」蒙塔內利溫和地說。

「No, Padre, I shouldn』t indeed! The Warrens are very good and kind, but they would try to comfort me, and talk about mother. Gemma wouldn』t, of course; she always knew what not to say, even when we were babies; but the others would.」

「不，神父，我確實不該那樣做啊！華倫一家人非常好，非常善良，但是他們會設法安慰我，就會談起母親。傑瑪當然不會了，她總是知道什麼話不該說，甚至我倆小的時候她就這樣。但是別的人會說的。」

「But you must promise me to take a thorough rest when your vacation begins this summer,」 said Montanelli kindly. 「I shall try to get up into the Alps. Will you come with me?」

「但是你必須答應，我今年暑假開始時要徹底休息一下，」蒙塔內利親切地說。「我會想法去阿爾卑斯山，你跟我來嗎？」

「Padre!」 said Arthur, 「I would like to go away with you. Only… I am not sure…」 He stopped.

「神父，」亞瑟說，「我願意跟您去，只是……我拿不準……」他停住了。

「You don』t think Mr. Burton would allow it?」

「你認為伯頓先生會不允許嗎？」

「He wouldn』t like it, of course, but I am eighteen now and can do what I choose. After all, he』s only my stepbrother. He was always unkind to mother. Besides, how can James seriously object to my going away with you… with my father confessor?」

「當然他不願意了，但我現在都１８歲了，想幹什麼就能幹什麼。他畢竟只是我的同父異母哥哥啊。他過去老是對母親不好。而且，詹姆士怎麼會強烈反對我是同您……同我的懺悔神父一塊外出呢？」

「He is a Protestant, remember. However, you had better write to him, and we will wait to hear what he thinks. But you must not be impatient, my son.」

「你要記住，他是一位新教徒。不過，你最好給他寫封信，我們等一等，聽他是什麼意思。但是你也不要心急，孩子。」

「Yes, I know,」 Arthur answered, sighing; 「but it is so difficult…」

「是的，我知道，」他嘆了一口氣，答道。「可這太難了……」

「I was sorry you could not come to me on Tuesday evening,」 Montanelli said, suddenly introducing a new subject.

「星期二晚上你沒能來，我很遺憾，」蒙塔內利突然換了一個新話題說。

「I went to a meeting.」

「我去開了一個會。」

「What sort of meeting?」

「什麼會？」

Arthur seemed embarrassed by the question. 「It…it was not a regular meeting,」 he said nervously. 「A student had come from Genoa, and he made a speech to us.」

聽到這個問題，亞瑟好像有些尷尬。「這……這不是什麼正規的會議，」他緊張地說。「從熱那亞來了個學生，他給我們作了一次講演。」

「What did he talk about?」

「他都講了些什麼？」

Arthur hesitated. 「You won』t ask me his name, Padre, will you? Because I promised…」

亞瑟猶豫了一下。「神父，您不要問他的名字，好嗎？因為我答應過……」

「I will ask you no questions at all, and if you have promised to keep it secret, you must not tell me; but I think you can almost trust me by this time.」

「我不會問什麼的，而且如果你已經答應過保密，就不該告訴我。但是我想，到了現在，你該信任我了吧。」

「He spoke about… us and our duty to the people… and to… ourselves; and about… what we might do to help…」

「他講到了……我們，和我們對人民……還有，對我們自己的責任，還講到了……我們可以怎樣來幫助……」

「To help whom?」

「幫助誰？」

「The peasants… and… Italy.」

「農民……和……義大利。」

There was a long silence.

一陣長時間的沉默。

「Tell me, Arthur,」 said Montanelli, turning to him and speaking very seriously, 「how long have you been thinking about this?」

「告訴我，亞瑟，」蒙塔內利說著，轉身面向他，語調非常嚴肅，「這事你考慮多久了？」

「Since…last winter.」

「自從……去年冬天。」

「And you never said a word to me. Arthur, I hoped you could have trusted me.」

「你以前和我隻字未提。亞瑟，我本希望你能信任我的。」

「Padre, you know I trust you! But there are some things you can』t talk about to anyone. It seemed to me that no one could help me…not even you or mother. You see, it is for all my life and all my soul.」

「神父，您知道我信任您！但是有些事情不能誰都說。當時我覺得沒人能夠幫上我……連您和母親都幫不上。您知道，這事關我的生命和我的整個靈魂。」

Montanelli turned and laid his hand on Arthur』s shoulder.

蒙塔內利轉過身來，把手放在亞瑟的肩上。

「My son,」 he said, 「what is this thing you have in your heart to do?」

「我的孩子，」他說，「你的心裡到底想著要干件什麼事呢？」

Arthur stood up and answered slowly:

亞瑟站起身來，慢慢地回答道：

「To give up my life to Italy, to help in freeing her from all this slavery and misery, and in driving out the Austrians, so that she may be a free republic.」

「為義大利獻身，幫她從奴役和苦難中解救出來，趕走奧地利人，使她成為一個自由的共和國。」

「Arthur, think a moment what you are saying! You are not even an Italian.」

「亞瑟，想想你在說些什麼！你連義大利人都不是啊。」

「That makes no difference; I am myself. I have seen this thing, and I belong to it.」

「那無關緊要，我是我自己。我已經看到了這件事情，那我就屬於她了。」

Montanelli leaned his arm against a branch, and covered his eyes with one hand.

蒙塔內利把一隻胳膊頂著一根樹枝，另一隻手遮住雙眼。

「Sit down a moment, my son,」 he said at last.

「坐一會兒，孩子，」他最後說道。

Arthur sat down, and the Padre took both his hands.

亞瑟坐了下來，神父握住他的雙手。

「I cannot argue with you tonight,」 he said, 「this has come upon me so suddenly… I must have time to think it over. But, for just now, I want you to remember one thing. If you get into trouble over this, if you… die, you will break my heart.」

「今天晚上我不能跟你辯論，」他說，「這事對我來說太突然了……我必須有時間仔細考慮一下。不過，現在我要你記住一件事。如果你因為這件事遇上麻煩，如果你……死了，你會讓我心碎的。」

「Padre…」

「神父……」

「No; let me finish what I have to say. I told you once that I have no one in the world but you. I think you do not fully understand what that means. Arthur, you are as my… as my… own son to me. Do you see? I would die to keep you from making a false step and ruining your life. But I don』t ask you to make any promises to me. I only ask you to remember this, and to be careful.」

「不，讓我把話說完。我曾經告訴過你，在這個世上，除了你之外，我什麼人都沒。我想你並不完全理解這話的意思。亞瑟，你就像我的……像我的……親兒子。你明白嗎？我寧死也不讓你走錯一步，毀了你一生的。但是我不要求你對我作出什麼承諾。我只要求你記住這一點，並且小心行事。」

「I will think… and… Padre, pray for me, and for Italy.」

「我會考慮的……而且……神父，請為我，也為義大利祈禱吧。」

He knelt down in silence, and Montanelli laid his hand on the bent head. A moment later Arthur rose, kissed the hand, and went softly away. Montanelli sat alone under the tree, looking straight before him into the darkness.

他默默地跪了下來，蒙塔內利把手放在他那垂下的頭上。過了一會兒，亞瑟站起來，吻了一下那隻手，然後輕輕地離開了。蒙塔內利獨自坐在樹下，直愣愣地望著眼前的黑夜。

Mr. James Burton did not want his young stepbrother to go to Switzerland with Montanelli. But it was difficult to tell Arthur why. When his father had married their pretty governess, he and his brother Thomas, did not like the stepmother. She was hardly older than themselves.

詹姆士?伯頓先生不願意讓同父異母的弟弟和蒙塔內利去瑞士，他可很難告訴亞瑟為什麼。他的爸爸同他們那位漂亮的女家庭教師結婚時，他和弟弟托馬斯不喜歡這位繼母。她比他們自己大不了多少。

Their family had set up Burton & Sons, ship-owners, of London and Leghorn, more than a century back. After their father died and the eldest son, James, got married, both brothers, as English gentlemen, had honestly tried to protect the stepmother, as long as she lived, from Julia』s merciless tongue. They did not even pretend to like the boy, but they provided him with plenty of pocket money and allowed him to go his own way. So Arthur received a cheque from his stepbrother and started off with the Padre for the Alps.

早在一個世紀以前，他們的家族就成立了伯頓父子輪船公司，航線為倫敦與萊戈恩之間。在父親去世，大兒子詹姆士結婚後，弟兄二人，作為英國紳士，盡量忠實地保護繼母，只要她在世，就不讓她受到朱麗亞無情的舌頭傷害。他們甚至沒有裝出喜歡這位少年的樣子，但是給他提供大筆零花錢，聽他自便。因此亞瑟收到了同父異母哥哥寄來的一張支票，便隨同神父動身，去了阿爾卑斯山。

Montanelli was in lighter spirits. Although he had been shocked by the conversation in the garden, he had gradually become calm. Arthur was very young. Surely there was still time to persuade him to change him mind.

蒙塔內利興緻盎然。儘管在花園裡的談話讓他大為震驚，現在他已逐漸平靜下來。亞瑟還很年輕，當然還有時間說服他改變主意。

One the last evening of their travel, Montanelli and Arthur walked along the water』s edge to a quiet spot and sat down. Montanelli wanted to have a talk with Arthur.

他們旅行的最後一天晚上，蒙塔內利和亞瑟沿著水邊走到一處僻靜的地方，坐了下來。蒙塔內利想和亞瑟談談。

「This will be my only chance of a quiet talk with you for a long time,」 Montanelli began. 「You will go back to your college work and friends; and I, too, shall be very busy this winter. If you feel that you can still trust me, I want you to tell me how far you have gone.」

「這麼長時間，這是我唯一一次機會和你心平氣和地談一談。」蒙塔內利開口說道。「你將回到大學學習，和你的朋友在一起。我呢，今年冬天也會很忙。如果你覺得還能信任我，我想讓你告訴我，你已經發展到什麼地步了。」

Arthur turned round and looked straight into Montanelli』s eyes.

亞瑟轉過身來，直盯著蒙塔內利的眼睛。

「Padre, you asked me if I could trust you. Can you not trust me, too? Indeed, if there were anything to tell, I would tell it to you; but there is no use in talking about these things. I shall never forget what you said to me that night. But I must go my way and follow the light that I see.」

「神父，您問我是否信任您。您就不能信任我嗎？真的，如果有什麼好講的，我就跟您講的，但是談論這些事件沒有用啊。我永遠忘不了那天晚上您對我講的話，但是我必須走自己的路，追隨我所看見的光明。」

Montanelli picked a rose from the bush, pulled off the petals one by one, and dropped them into the water.

蒙塔內利從花叢中摘下一朵玫瑰，把花瓣一片接著一片地扯下來，扔進水裡。

「You are right, dear. Yes, we will say no more about these things. Well, well, let us go back.」

「你說得對，親愛的。好吧，這些事情我們以後就不談。好了，好了，咱們回去吧。」