Chapter I Silas Marner, past and present(1)
第一章:塞拉斯・馬南的過去和現在(一)
In the early years of the nineteenth century, strange-looking little men were often seen on the country roads, usually with a heavy bag on their shoulders. They were linen weavers, taking the linen they had woven to the women in the villages. Unlike the strong, healthy country people, they were small and thin with tired white faces, bent backs and round shoulders. They were often shortsighted too, because they had to look so closely at their work. To the villagers the weavers looked almost foreign, and quite frightening. Where did they come from? Was it the devil who sent them? Who were their parents? How could you trust a man if you didn’t know his father or mother? Country people used to be very suspicious of all strangers and travellers. They were also suspicious of clever people, people who could do something they themselves had not learnt to do. That is why the linen weavers, who often moved from towns to live and work in the country, were considered strangers all their lives by their neighbours and were sometimes very lonely as a result.
在19世紀初期，經常在鄉間小路上看到外表奇特的矮個子，通常肩上揹着一個沉重的包。他們是織布工，把編織好的亞麻布帶給村裏的婦女。與健壯、健康的鄉下人不同，他們又瘦又小，臉顯得疲憊蒼白、駝背圓肩。他們通常還是近視眼，因爲他們工作時必須離得很近。對於村民來說，織布工看上去幾乎像外國人，而且還很嚇人。他們是從哪來的？是惡魔派來的嗎？他們的父母是誰？如果您不認識一個人的父親或母親，您怎麼能信任他呢？鄉下人常常猜疑所有的陌生人和旅客。他們也不信聰明人，猜疑那些能做自己不會做的事情的人。這就是爲什麼織布工經常搬到城鎮生活和在鄉下工作的原因，一生都被他們的鄰居當作陌生人，因此他們有時會很孤獨。
Silas Marner was one of these weavers. He lived in a small cottage near the village of Raveloe. Every day he worked at his loom in the cottage. The small boys of Raveloe had never heard the sound of a loom before, and sometimes they used to run up to his house to look quickly in at the window. If Silas noticed them. he lifted his shortsighted eyes from the loom to stare at the boys. There was something terrible about his stare, which made the boys run away at once, screaming with fear. The villagers believed that Silas had an almost devilish power which he could use to harm them if he wanted, and so they were all afraid of him. Raveloe was an important-looking village with a fine old church and a number of large arms. But it was at least an hour away from any other village, and very few strangers visited it, which explains why the villagers' opinions were so out of date.
塞拉斯·馬南就是這些織工之一。他住在拉弗爾村附近的一間小屋裏。他每天都在農舍裏的織布機上工作。拉弗爾的小男孩以前沒聽過織布機的聲音，有時他們跑到房子周圍，快速朝窗戶裏望。如果塞拉斯注意到他們，便將近視眼從織布機上擡起，盯着孩子們看。他的目光像有種可怕的東西，使孩子們立刻跑開，還一邊驚慌地尖叫。村民們相信，塞拉斯有種近乎邪惡的力量，如果他願意，他可以用來傷害他們，所以他們都怕他。拉弗爾是一個看上去很重要的村莊，有一座漂亮的老教堂和許多大武器。但是離其他村莊都至少有一個小時的路程，很少會有陌生人造訪，這也就解釋了爲什麼村民們的想法如此過時。
Silas Marner had first come to Raveloe fifteen years before, as a young man. He and his way of life seemed very strange to the villagers. He worked long hours at his loom and had no friends or visitors from the village or anywhere else. He never talked to his neighbours unless it was necessary for his work, and he never looked at any of the Raveloe girls. ‘Who would want to marry him anyway?’ the girls laughed to each other. ‘Marry a dead man come to life again, with that unhealthy white skin and those insect-like eyes of his? Certainly not!'
塞拉斯·馬南15年前第一次到拉弗爾，當時他還是個年輕人。他和他的生活方式對村民們來說很奇怪。他在織布機上工作很長時間，沒有朋友，也沒有來自村裏或其他任何地方的訪客。他從不和鄰居打交道，除非是工作需要，他也從來不看拉弗爾的女孩。“誰願意嫁給他呢？”姑娘們互相打趣道。“嫁給一個死了又活過來的人，不健康的白皙皮膚和眼睛小得跟昆蟲眼睛一樣的人？當然不！”
One of the villagers had had a strange experience with Silas. One evening he had discovered the weaver resting on a held gate, his eyes open but unseeing, and his body cold and hard, like a dead man's. After a few moments Silas appeared to wake up, said ‘Goodnight,’ and walked away.
其中一個村民和塞拉斯有過一次奇怪的經歷。一天晚上，他發現織布工躺在一扇固定的大門上，睜着眼睛卻目光呆滯，身體又冷又硬，像死人一樣。過了一會兒，塞拉斯醒了過來，說“晚安”，然後走開了。
When this was discussed in the village, some people thought that Silas had had a fit. But others, like Mr Macey, the church clerk, refused to accept a medical explanation.
當村裏在討論這件事時，有些人認爲塞拉斯是病了。但其他人，像教會職員梅西先生，不接受醫學解釋。
‘No, he isn’t ill, that weaver,’ said old Mr Macey, shaking his head knowingly.‘If he had a fit, he'd fall down. Wouldn’t he? I think his soul flies out of his body sometimes and that’s why he looks so strange. He doesn't come to church, does he? And how does he know so much about medicines? You all remember how he made Sally Oates better when the doctor himself could do no more for her. That's the devil's work. believe me!’
“不，他沒病，那個織布工沒發病，”梅西先生像知道般搖搖頭說。“如果他生病了，會摔倒，不是嗎？我想他的靈魂有時會飛離他的身體，這就是他看起來奇怪的原因。他不來教堂，對吧？他是如何瞭解那麼多藥物的呢？你們都還記得當醫生都無法讓薩利好轉時，他是如何使薩莉·奧茨好轉了的。這是魔鬼的傑作。相信我！”
However, the housewives needed Silas to weave their linen, and they could find nothing wrong with his work. The years passed, and Raveloe villagers did not change their opinion of the weaver. At the end of fifteen years they said exactly the same things about him, but they believed them more strongly. They also said that he had saved up a lot of money since he had come to Raveloe.
然而，家庭主婦們需要塞拉斯編織她們的亞麻，她們也挑不出他工作的錯處。幾年過去，拉弗爾村民沒有改變對織布工的看法。十五年過去，他們還在談論着織布工的同樣的事，但更加相信那些事了。他們還說，自從他到拉弗爾後，存了很多錢。
Silas had come from a large town to the north of Raveloe. Here he had lived a very different life. Because he was one of a large number of weavers, he was not considered strange, and he belonged to an enthusiastic religious group. They met every Sunday at the chapel in Light Street. Once, at a chapel meeting, Silas had become unconscious and had sat without moving, hearing or seeing, for over an hour. This experience made him specially interesting to the rest of the group.
塞拉斯來自拉弗爾以北的一個大城鎮。在這裏，他過着完全不同的生活。因爲他是衆多織工中的一員，所以並不會讓人覺得奇怪，他們屬於一個狂熱的宗教團體。他們每個星期天都在光明街的禮拜堂見面。有一次，在禮拜堂的會議上，塞拉斯失去意識超過一個小時，一動不動地坐在那裏，既聽不到也看不見。這一經歷使其他人對他特別感興趣。
PS:本書爲書蟲系列四級讀物，由英國著名女作家喬治·艾略特所著、英國書蟲系列著名作家克萊爾·韋斯特改寫。
英文爲書蟲系列原文，譯文是筆者翻譯。本文僅因個人興趣而譯，故本文謝絕轉載和各種商業用途，同時承諾若出現任何責任由作者承擔，必要時簡書可刪除文章。