These last words justified the colonists’ presentiment. There had been some mournful past, perhaps expiated in the sight of men, but from which his conscience had not yet absolved him. At any rate the guilty man felt remorse, he repented, and his new friends would have cordially pressed the hand which they sought; but he did not feel himself worthy to extend it to honest men! However, after the scene with the jaguar, he did not return to the forest, and from that day did not go beyond the enclosure of Granite House.
What was the mystery of his life? Would the stranger one day speak of it? Time alone could show. At any rate, it was agreed that his secret should never be asked from him, and that they would live with him as if they suspected nothing.
For some days their life continued as before. Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett worked together, sometimes chemists, sometimes experimentalists. The reporter never left the engineer except to hunt with Herbert, for it would not have been prudent to allow the lad to ramble alone in the forest; and it was very necessary to be on their guard. As to Neb and Pencroft, one day at the stables and poultry-yard, another at the corral, without reckoning work in Granite House, they were never in want of employment.
The stranger worked alone, and he had resumed his usual life, never appearing at meals, sleeping under the trees in the plateau, never mingling with his companions. It really seemed as if the society of those who had saved him was insupportable to him!
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翱墒牵迸丝寺宸蛩担八治裁匆嗣侨ピ人课裁匆涯钦胖教跞釉诤@锬兀俊?
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"But then," observed Pencroft, "why did he entreat the help of his fellow-creatures? Why did he throw that paper into the sea?"
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“他会解释给我们听的。”赛勒斯·史密斯老是这么说。
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"He will tell us why," invariably replied Cyrus Harding.
On the 10th of December, a week after his return to Granite House, Harding saw the stranger approaching, who, in a calm voice and humble tone, said to him: "Sir, I have a request to make of you."
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“说吧,”工程师说,“不过首先我要问你一个问题。”
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"Speak," answered the engineer, "but first let me ask you a question."
At these words the stranger reddened, and was on the point of withdrawing. Cyrus Harding understood what was passing in the mind of the guilty man, who doubtless feared that the engineer would interrogate him on his past life.
"Comrade," said he, "we are not only your companions but your friends. I wish you to believe that, and now I will listen to you."
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陌生人一手捂着眼睛。他浑身颤抖着,一时说不出话来。
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The stranger pressed his hand over his eyes. He was seized with a sort of trembling, and remained a few moments without being able to articulate a word.
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“先生,”他终于开口了,“我请求你答应我一件事。”
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"Sir," said he at last, "I have come to beg you to grant me a favor."
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“什么事?”
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"What is it?"
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“离这儿四五英里的地方,你们有一个养家畜的畜栏。这些家畜需要有人照料。您能让我住在那儿吗?”
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"You have, four or five miles from here, a corral for your domesticated animals. These animals need to be taken care of. Will you allow me to live there with them?"
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赛勒斯·史密斯非常同情地注视着这个不幸的人,过了一会儿,然后才说:
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Cyrus Harding gazed at the unfortunate man for a few moments with a feeling of deep commiseration; then,--
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“朋友,畜栏里的厩房只能勉强住牲口。”
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"My friend," said he, "the corral has only stables hardly fit for animals."
"My friend," answered Harding, "we will not constrain you in anything. You wish to live at the corral, so be it. You will, however, be always welcome at Granite House. But since you wish to live at the corral we will make the necessary arrangements for your being comfortably established there."
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“不要管那些,我自己会安排得很好的。”
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"Never mind that, I shall do very well."
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“朋友,”史密斯说,他总是故意用这个亲密的称呼,“这件事该怎么办才最合适,你应该让我们决定。”
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"My friend," answered Harding, who always intentionally made use of this cordialappellation, "you must let us judge what it will be best to do in this respect."
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“谢谢您,先生。”陌生人说完以后,就走了。
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"Thank you, sir," replied the stranger as he withdrew.
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工程师把他的提议告诉了伙伴们,大家一致同意在畜栏里盖一所木头房子,他们要把它盖得尽量舒适。
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The engineer then made known to his companions the proposal which had been made to him, and it was agreed that they should build a wooden house at the corral, which they would make as comfortable as possible.
That very day the colonists repaired to the corral with the necessary tools, and a week had not passed before the house was ready to receive its tenant. It was built about twenty feet from the sheds, and from there it was easy to overlook the flock of sheep, which then numbered more than eighty. Some furniture, a bed, table, bench, cupboard, and chest were manufactured, and a gun, ammunition, and tools were carried to the corral.
The stranger, however, had seen nothing of his new dwelling, and he had allowed the settlers to work there without him, while he occupied himself on the plateau, wishing, doubtless, to put the finishing stroke to his work. Indeed, thanks to him, all the ground was dug up and ready to he sowed when the time came.
It was on the 20th of December that all the arrangements at the corral were completed. The engineer announced to the stranger that his dwelling was ready to receive him, and the latter replied that he would go and sleep there that very evening.
On this evening the colonists were gathered in the diningroom of Granite House. It was then eight o’clock, the hour at which their companion was to leave them. Not wishing to trouble him by their presence, and thus imposing on him the necessity of saying farewells which might perhaps be painful to him, they had left him alone and ascended to Granite House.
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他们在大厅谈了几分钟,突然听见有人轻轻地敲门。陌生人立刻就进来了;他没有什么开场白,张嘴就说:
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Now, they had been talking in the room for a few minutes, when a light knock was heard at the door. Almost immediately the stranger entered, and without any preamble,--
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“诸位先生,在我离开你们以前,你们应该知道我的历史。我告诉你们吧。”
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"Gentlemen," said he, "before I leave you, it is right that you should know my history. I will tell it you."
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这几句简单的话使赛勒斯·史密斯和他的伙伴们深深感动。
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These simple words profoundly impressed Cyrus Harding and his companions. The engineer rose.
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工程师站起身来。
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"We ask you nothing, my friend," said he; "it is your right to be silent."
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“我们并没有要求你,朋友,”他说;“你有权利保持缄默。”
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"It is my duty to speak."
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“我应该谈出来。”
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"Sit down, then."
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“那么,坐下吧。”
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"No, I will stand."
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“不,我要站着。”
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"We are ready to hear you," replied Harding.
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“你说吧,”史密斯说。
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The stranger remained standing in a corner of the room, a little in the shade. He was bareheaded, his arms folded across his chest, and it was in this posture that in a hoarse voice, speaking like some one who obliges himself to speak, he gave the following recital, which his auditors did not once interrupt:--
"On the 20th of December, 1854, a steam-yacht, belonging to a Scotch nobleman, Lord Glenarvan, anchored off Cape Bernouilli, on the western coast of Australia, in the thirty-seventh parallel. On board this yacht were Lord Glenarvan and his wife, a major in the English army, a French geographer, a young girl, and a young boy. These two last were the children of Captain Grant, whose ship, the ’Britannia,’ had been lost, crew and cargo, a year before. The ’Duncan’ was commanded by Captain John Mangles, and manned by a crew of fifteen men.
"After having unsuccessfully visited the islands of Tristan d’Acunha and Amsterdam, situated in her course, the ’Duncan,’ as I have said, arrived at Cape Bernouilli, on the Australian coast, on the 20th of December, 1854.
"It was Lord Glenarvan’s intention to traverse Australia as he had traversed America, and he disembarked. A few miles from the coast was established a farm, belonging to an Irishman, who offered hospitality to the travelers. Lord Glenarvan made known to the Irishman the cause which had brought him to these parts, and asked if he knew whether a three-masted English vessel, the ’Britannia,’ had been lost less than two years before on the west coast of Australia.