Chapter I Silas Marner, past and present(1)
第一章:塞拉斯・马南的过去和现在(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世纪初期，经常在乡间小路上看到外表奇特的矮个子，通常肩上揹着一个沉重的包。他们是织布工，把编织好的亚麻布带给村里的妇女。与健壮、健康的乡下人不同，他们又瘦又小，脸显得疲惫苍白、驼背圆肩。他们通常还是近视眼，因为他们工作时必须离得很近。对于村民来说，织布工看上去几乎像外国人，而且还很吓人。他们是从哪来的？是恶魔派来的吗？他们的父母是谁？如果您不认识一个人的父亲或母亲，您怎么能信任他呢？乡下人常常猜疑所有的陌生人和旅客。他们也不信聪明人，猜疑那些能做自己不会做的事情的人。这就是为什么织布工经常搬到城镇生活和在乡下工作的原因，一生都被他们的邻居当作陌生人，因此他们有时会很孤独。
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hour away from any other village, and very few strangers visited it, which explains why the villagers' opinions were so out of date.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·马南就是这些织工之一。他住在拉弗尔村附近的一间小屋里。他每天都在农舍里的织布机上工作。拉弗尔的小男孩以前没听过织布机的声音，有时他们跑到房子周围，快速朝窗户里望。如果塞拉斯注意到他们，便将近视眼从织布机上擡起，盯着孩子们看。他的目光像有种可怕的东西，使孩子们立刻跑开，还一边惊慌地尖叫。村民们相信，塞拉斯有种近乎邪恶的力量，如果他愿意，他可以用来伤害他们，所以他们都怕他。拉弗尔是一个看上去很重要的村庄，有一座漂亮的老教堂和许多大武器。但是离其他村庄都至少有一个小时的路程，很少会有陌生人造访，这也就解释了为什么村民们的想法如此过时。
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·马南15年前第一次到拉弗尔，当时他还是个年轻人。他和他的生活方式对村民们来说很奇怪。他在织布机上工作很长时间，没有朋友，也没有来自村里或其他任何地方的访客。他从不和邻居打交道，除非是工作需要，他也从来不看拉弗尔的女孩。“谁愿意嫁给他呢？”姑娘们互相打趣道。“嫁给一个死了又活过来的人，不健康的白皙皮肤和眼睛小得跟昆虫眼睛一样的人？当然不！”
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.
其中一个村民和塞拉斯有过一次奇怪的经历。一天晚上，他发现织布工躺在一扇固定的大门上，睁着眼睛却目光呆滞，身体又冷又硬，像死人一样。过了一会儿，塞拉斯醒了过来，说“晚安”，然后走开了。
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.
当村里在讨论这件事时，有些人认为塞拉斯是病了。但其他人，像教会职员梅西先生，不接受医学解释。
‘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，他没病，那个织布工没发病，”梅西先生像知道般摇摇头说。“如果他生病了，会摔倒，不是吗？我想他的灵魂有时会飞离他的身体，这就是他看起来奇怪的原因。他不来教堂，对吧？他是如何了解那么多药物的呢？你们都还记得当医生都无法让萨利好转时，他是如何使萨莉·奥茨好转了的。这是魔鬼的杰作。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，家庭主妇们需要塞拉斯编织她们的亚麻，她们也挑不出他工作的错处。几年过去，拉弗尔村民没有改变对织布工的看法。十五年过去，他们还在谈论着织布工的同样的事，但更加相信那些事了。他们还说，自从他到拉弗尔后，存了很多钱。
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.
塞拉斯来自拉弗尔以北的一个大城镇。在这里，他过着完全不同的生活。因为他是众多织工中的一员，所以并不会让人觉得奇怪，他们属于一个狂热的宗教团体。他们每个星期天都在光明街的礼拜堂见面。有一次，在礼拜堂的会议上，塞拉斯失去意识超过一个小时，一动不动地坐在那里，既听不到也看不见。这一经历使其他人对他特别感兴趣。
PS:本书为书虫系列四级读物，由英国著名女作家乔治·艾略特所著、英国书虫系列著名作家克莱尔·韦斯特改写。
英文为书虫系列原文，译文是笔者翻译。本文仅因个人兴趣而译，故本文谢绝转载和各种商业用途，同时承诺若出现任何责任由作者承担，必要时简书可删除文章。