Chapter 2 Godfrey and Dunstan Cass(2)
第二章戈弗雷·凱斯和鄧斯坦・凱斯(二)
‘Where can I get the money from?’ cried Godfrey. ‘I tell you, I haven't got any!’
“我去哪弄錢？”戈弗雷怒吼。“我告訴過你，我弄不到錢！”
‘You could borrow it.’ said Dunstan carelessly. ‘Or wait- I’ve had a better idea. You could sell your horse.’
“你可以去借錢。”鄧斯坦滿不在乎地說。“等等——我有個更好的主意。你可以把你的馬賣了。”
‘Sell Wildfire! You know how much I love that horse!’
“賣掉野火！你明知道我有多愛那匹馬！”
‘Well, you could ride him to the hunt tomorrow. I know two or three men who'd be interested in buying him and they’ll be at the hunt, I’m sure. It’d be easy.’
“呃，你明天可以騎它去狩獵。我認識兩三個想買它的人，他們明天肯定會去狩獵。那會很容易賣掉的。”
‘No, I haven’t got time to go hunting tomorrow. I-I'm going to Mrs Osgood's birthday dance.’
“不行，我明天沒有時間去狩獵。我——我要參加奧斯古德夫人的生日舞會。”
‘Aha!’ said Dunstan, laughing. ‘And perhaps you'II see sweet Miss Nancy there-and you'll dance with her - and you'll talk of love....’
“啊！”鄧斯坦笑着說。“你可能會在那見到可愛的南希小姐——你會和她跳舞——和她談情說愛……”
‘Be quiet!’shouted Godfrey, his face turning red. ‘Don’t speak of Miss Nancy like that, or I’ll kill you!’
“安靜點！”戈弗雷漲紅了臉，訓斥道。“別那樣說南希小姐，不然我殺了你！”
‘Don't get so angry, brother,’ answered Dunstan calmly. ‘You've got a very good chance with her. In fact, I advise you to be nice to her. You and I know that Molly’s started drinking. Well, if she drinks too much one day and dies, then you could marry Nancy. She wouldn’t mind being a second wife. if she didn't know there was a first. And luckily you've got a kind brother who’ll keep your secret well.’
“別這麼生氣，哥們，”鄧斯坦淡淡地回。“你有個不錯的機會與她相處。實際上，我建議你對她好點。你我都知道莫莉開始酗酒了。呃，如果她某天喝多酒給喝死了，那你就可以娶南希了。她不會介意做第二任妻子的。如果她不知道你結過婚的話。幸運的是，你有一個善良的弟弟，會幫你保密的。”
Godfrey's face was white now, and he was trembling. ‘Look, Dunstan, I've nearly had enough of this. You can push a man too far, you know. Perhaps I'll go to the Squire now and confess everything to him. He’ll discover the truth one day, because Molly says she'll come and tell him. She wants everyone to know we’re married. When the Squire knows the truth, you won't get any more money from me!’
戈弗雷氣得臉色發白，渾身發抖。“聽着，鄧斯坦，我受夠了。你心裏清楚你做得太過了。可能我現在就去找鄉紳，向他坦白一切。他總有一天會發現真相的，因爲莫莉說她要來告訴他。她想讓所有人都知道我們結婚了。當鄉紳知道真相時，你休想再從我這得到一分錢！”
Dunstan replied lightly, ‘Do what you like, brother.’
鄧斯坦不在意地說：“隨你便吧，哥。”
Godfrey hesitated. He knew he had fallen into Dunstan’s trap, when he made the mistake of marrying Molly. It was Dunstan who had introduced his brother to Molly, hoping that Godfrey would fall in love and marry her. Dunstan was clearly delighted that his evil plan had succeeded. Godfrey was now in a difficult situation. He no longer loved his young wife, and could not stop thinking of Nancy Lammeter. He felt sure that with Nancy as his wife he would not need to have secrets, and could be open and honest with everybody. But for the moment he had to give Dunstan whatever he wanted, keep Molly happy, and lie to his father and his friends. If he told his father the truth, the situation would become impossible. The Squire would disinherit him and he would be just a poor working man for the rest of his life. And far worse than that, he would lose any hope of marrying Nancy. No! He could not accept that. He would find the money for Dunstan, and wait for the situation to get better. Living with fear in his heart, the fear of being discovered, was better than living without Nancy's love.
戈弗雷猶豫了。當他稀裏糊塗地娶莫莉時，他就知道自己中了鄧斯坦的圈套。是鄧斯坦把他介紹給莫莉的，就是希望戈弗雷會愛上她娶她。顯然，鄧斯坦很高興他的計劃得逞了。現在戈弗雷處境困難。他不再愛他年輕的妻子，他止不住地想念南希·拉默特。他確信如果南希是他的妻子，他就不會有祕密，可以對每個人都坦誠。但是現在他不得不給鄧斯坦任何他想要的東西，讓莫莉開心，和對他的父親及朋友撒謊。如果他告訴父親真相，就一切都不可能了。鄉紳會剝奪他的繼承權，那他餘生都將只會是一個窮苦的工人。更糟糕的是，他會失去和南希結婚的一切希望。不！他無法接受這一點。他會爲鄧斯坦弄到錢，等局面好轉起來。生活在恐懼中，擔心被告發，總好過沒有南希的愛的生活。
He turned to Dunstan. 'It's just like you to talk of selling Wildfire - the best horse I've ever had.’
他看向鄧斯坦。“就像你說的賣掉野火——那匹我養過的最好的馬。”
‘Let me sell him for you - you know I'm good at buying and selling. I can ride him to the hunt for you tomorrow, and bring you back the money. But you must decide. You lent me that money, and you’ll have to pay it back to the Squire. So it's your problem, not mine!’
“我替你把它賣了吧——你知道我擅長買賣。我明天可以替你騎它去狩獵，然後把錢帶回來給你。但你得想清楚。你借我的那筆錢，你要如數還給鄉紳。但那是你的事，跟我沒關係！”
Godfrey thought for a moment. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘But make sure you bring me back all the money, Dunstan!’
戈弗雷想了一會兒。“好，”他說。“但你一定要把所有的錢都帶回來給我，鄧斯坦！”
The next morning, as Dunstan was riding Wildfire out of Raveloe, he passed the old quarry. All the stone had been taken out of it and it was no longer used; now all that was left was a deep hole full of reddish water. Opposite the quarry was Silas Marner's cottage. Dunstan suddenly had an idea. ‘Everybody in Raveloe talks of the weaver’s money - he must have a lot hidden away in that cottage! Why doesn't Godfrey borrow some money from him, and pay him back when he becomes the Squire?’ He wondered whether to go back to the Red House at once, to tell Godfrey about this wonderful idea of his, but he did not want to miss the hunt, so he decided to continue on his way.
第二天早上，鄧斯坦騎着野火走出拉弗爾村時，他路過老採石場。所有的石頭都開採出來了，採石場也被棄用了；如今只留下一個個深坑，裏面積滿了紅色的水。採石場對面是塞拉斯·馬南的小屋。鄧斯坦突然想到。“拉弗爾的每個人都在談織布工的錢——他一定有很多錢藏在那間小屋裏！爲什麼戈弗雷不向他借錢，等他成爲鄉紳後再還他呢？”他猶豫要不要立即回紅樓，告訴戈弗雷他這個絕妙的想法，但他不想錯過狩獵，所以他決定繼續往前走。
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。