It is a Saturday afternoon in autumn, in the High Street of a well-known town. A large carrier’s wagon stands outside the Town Hall, and the horses wait quietly, eating from their nose-bags. On the side of the wagon, in large yellow letters, are the words, ’BURTHEN, CARRIER TO LONGPUDDLE.’
It is now half-past three by the clock on the Town Hall, and the wagon will leave at four. Slowly, people begin to arrive and take their seats. First, two women climb up, and then a third, who is the postmistress at Longpuddle. At five minutes to four, more people arrive. There is Mr Profitt, the schoolteacher, and Christopher Twink, the builder, with his old father. Then come a farmer and his wife, and last of all, Mr Flaxton, the church clerk.
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这个时候,车夫伯森正在给马做准备,不一会儿他自己也登上了车夫的座位。
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4
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By now Burthen, the carrier, is getting the horses ready, and soon he climbs up to the driving seat.
The people who are not there do not reply, of course, and a minute or two later the wagon begins to move along the High Street. When it comes to the bridge over the river at the bottom end of the town, the postmistress suddenly calls out to the carrier.
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“伯森先生,”她说,“那边的拐角上有个人在叫你。我想他可能想让你等他一下。”
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’Mr Burthen,’ she says. ’There’s a man calling you, over there by the corner. I think he wants you to stop for him.’
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8
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伯森停下马车,等那人赶过来。“那人是谁?”他说,“他不是长池村的人。”
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Burthen stops the wagon, and waits while the man comes towards them. ’Now who’s that, then?’ he says. ’That’s not a Longpuddle man.’
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“我以前从没见过他。”学校教师说。
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’I’ve never seen him before,’ says the schoolteacher.
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10
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陌生人赶到马车跟前,问:“你们能再搭一个人去长池村吗?”
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Then the stranger arrives. ’Can you take another passenger for Longpuddle?’ he asks.
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“我们可以再搭一个人,”车夫说,“你是从哪儿来的,先生?你不是这附近的人,对吧?”
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’We can take one more,’ says the carrier. ’Where are you from, sir? You’re not from round here, are you?’
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12
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“我是这儿的人,”陌生人说,“我就生在长池村,我的父亲和祖父也都生在那里。”
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’I am,’ says the stranger. ’I was born at Longpuddle, and my father and grandfather before me.’
The postmistress is watching him with interest. ’Oh!’ she says suddenly. ’I know who you are! You’re John Lackland’s son — he who went to America thirty years ago with his wife and family.’
’That’s right,’ says the stranger, smiling. ’John Lackland was my father. And now I’ve come home to have a look at the old village, and find some old friends. Are the same families still living there?’
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15
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“许多人家都还在,”教堂执事说,“你都记得哪些名字?”
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’Many of them are,’ says the church clerk. ’Which names do you remember?’
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“我记得过去有个男孩叫托尼·凯茨。”
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’There was a boy called Tony Kytes, I remember.’
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“哦,是的,”教堂执事说,“托尼·凯茨现在已经结了婚。我想他搬到麦尔斯托克去了。”
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’Oh yes,’ says the clerk. ’Tony Kytes is a married man now. Lives over at Mellstock, I think.’
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“而且他差点儿娶了三个老婆,”车夫哈哈大笑起来,“托尼和他那几个姑娘可有一段儿不错的故事。”
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’And he nearly got married to three women,’ laughs the carrier. ’There’s a good story about Tony and all his young women.’