埃 及 疑 案

译/润之

埃 及 疑 案

译/润之

Mystery in Egypt

On his first day in Thebes1埃及古城，现是埃及中部的卢克索，这里可以比作“埃及的西安”，古埃及的新王国时期就定都于此，那个时候叫底比斯，法老们在此留下了大量的神庙、墓葬。, Oliver spent three hours at the tomb of an unidentified2unidentified不明的；未确认的。Egyptian prince.He’d come to Egypt with Sir Percival Wethersby. From his perch3perch〈非正式〉高处。on a broken crate, Oliver carefully copied the paintings on the wall. The air stank of4stink of散发出…的气味。mildew5mildew霉菌。, and his stumpy6stumpy短而粗的。candle let off7let off放出。more smoke than light. Oliver drew because he loved to, and because Sir Percival was his mother’s uncle.

[2] Oliver’s father had died years ago,and his mother had passed away when he was 10. Sir Percival was Oliver’s only relative. When Sir Percival wanted something, he got it. And he wanted Oliver’s drawing talent. Oliver’s illustrations would help him sell artifacts in Egypt.

[3] “Not bad,” Sir Percival said, examining Oliver’s sketch, “Make the red a tad bit8a tad bit一点点。brownish. See there,” He pointed to the woman’s basket. “The red isn’t quite right. I want these copied exactly.”

“I’ll fi x the red, Sir,” Oliver said, “But I’ll need better light.”

Sir Percival called outside to his paid Arab servant, “Beni! Bring more candles.”

[4] Oliver stood and stretched his back. He’d been crouched9crouch蹲伏。all day, leaning over his drawing to get every detail right. With a rag, he cleared away the dirt on a ledge10ledge（平窄的）壁架，横档；岩礁。chiseled11chisel凿。out of the wall. He leaned against it. CRACK!Suddenly he was on the ground. A cloud of dust and the stench of ammonia surrounded him.

“What’s this?” Beni said from behind. As the dirt settled and the old Arab lifted his candle, both could see the entrance to a tunnel. “A new tomb!”Beni exclaimed. “I’ll get Sir Percival.He’ll want to see inside fi rst.”

Oliver grabbed the candle and poked his head inside the tunnel. He inched122 inch一点一点地移动；慢慢靠近。forward, feeling his way133 feeling one’s way（在黑暗中）摸索着走。to make sure there wasn’t a chasm below. Ten feet in,he came to a room.

[5] He shone the candle around the cavern14cavern巨穴。and found a cof fi n, some vases,chairs, pots and three statues. He blew the black dust off one fi gure—a wooden woman, carved and painted. A decora-tive collar circled her neck. Colorful beads surrounded white and yellow fl owers molded out of clay. The workmanship dazzled Oliver’s artistic soul.

“Get out of there, you scoundrel!” Sir Percival snapped, his head popping into the cavern.

“I didn’t touch anything,” Oliver said, “Honest.”

“Tommyrot15tommyrot废话；胡说。,” Sir Percival said, “I’ll take a look around here myself. Give me that candle.”

Oliver crawled back through the tunnel in the dark.

Missing Person

[6] Some hours later, Oliver was allowed back inside the tomb. All the artifacts were covered in sheets except the cof fi n. Sir Percival was kneeling by it.The stone covering had been set aside.“Take special care to copy these inscriptions exactly.” He pointed to some Egyptian writing on the wooden cof fi n and then lifted the lid. “Tommyrot! The body is gone!”

[7] Oliver knew that a missing mummy was odd. Tomb raiders166 raider盗墓者。usually took everything except the mummy,leaving the body for fear of a curse.

“Beni, guard this tomb,” Sir Percival said, “This is 1901, but tomb raiders are still alive and well. I can’t afford to let anyone steal this cof fi n. Bones or no bones, this could belong to a lost king.”

Even after Oliver crawled into his bed that night, tucked away in the corner of Sir Percival’s tent quarters, he continued to draw. The image of the collar wouldn’t leave his mind. He sketched it from memory.

[8] Oliver accompanied Sir Percival to the Museum at Cairo the next day.Mr. Azur, a short, balding curator, greeted them cheerfully. He studied Oliver’s sketch of the coffin. “Most beautiful,”Mr. Azur said, “The sarcophagus17sarcophagus石棺。and the cof fi n, they were not disturbed?”

“Well,” Sir Percival said, “at first everything appeared fi ne. But the mummy! I’m afraid the bones are gone.”

[9] The knowledge seemed to please Mr. Azur rather than annoy him. “This is most wonderful. Look!” He pointed at the drawing of coffin. “This says‘Zaphenath-paneah.’ It is another name for Joseph18Joseph约瑟，圣经故事里他是雅各的儿子，被卖到埃及，后来由于给法老解梦应验而受到重用，并帮助埃及战胜饥荒。, the Hebrew19Hebrew希伯来人，犹太人北方闪米特民族的一员或后裔，自称是亚伯拉罕、以撒克和雅各的后代。of the Old Testament who became Pharaoh’s second-in-command and saved Egypt from famine. The Bible records that Moses took Joseph’s bones out of Egypt right before the Exodus20Exodus以色列人出埃及事件。.”

Oliver’s hands began to tremble.

“We shall see this tomb, yes?” Mr.Azur said, putting on his hat.

Tomb Raiders!

[10] The fi rst sign of disaster was the unfamiliar green truck parked near the site at Thebes. Beni lay facedown in the sand, his hands tied behind his back.A man wearing a black mask jumped out from behind the truck and pointed a ri fl e at Sir Percival’s chest. “Everybody get down,” the gunman said. “and you won’t get hurt.”

Soon the three were tied in the same position as Beni. Oliver watched, blinking sand from his eyes, as six masked men loaded the chairs, vases, cof fi n and statues into the truck, He said a silent goodbye to Joseph’s coffin as the ancient cargo rolled away.

[11] Several uneventful weeks passed until Sir Percival brought Oliver to a new site in the cliffs—a pit tomb. The cave was accessible only by climbing down a 30-foot rope.

“This is my new discovery,” Sir Percival said when they reached the bottom. His candle lit a room filled with a potpourri21potpourri杂烩；集锦。of artifacts. “I think this was s storage chamber.” Oliver looked around. His eyes fi xed on a statue of a woman wearing an ornate collar.

“This is from Joseph’s tomb!” Oliver blurted. “I recognize every detail.”

“Tommyrot!” Sir Percival said. All Egyptian collars look alike.”

“No, it’s the same. I remember the blue and yellow—”

“I never should have let you in that tomb!” Sir Percival said. “Forget you saw it!”

“But that’s a lie. You stole your own discovery and moved it here. Why?”

“Money.” Sir Percival said, pulling his pipe out of his pocket. “Joseph’s coffin is worth too much to leave in a museum. Today my contract with the museum ends. Now I’m free to keep these artifacts. What difference is it to you?”

“The difference between right and wrong,” said Oliver.

Sir Percival stuffed his pipe with tobacco, “Be reasonable, and do as I say.”

[12] I’ll do what’s right, Oliver thought. He sprang up, grabbing the rope with a tight grip and twisting his ankles around the bottom. “You’ll not make it, boy,” Sir Percival said, stepping forward. “I’ll pluck you from that rope like an apple off a tree.”

Oliver looked up at the opening and prayed for strength. He began to climb,hand over hand. Suddenly a brown blur swooped22swoop俯冲。down from the opening.

He could hear Sir Percival muttering, followed by more whirring23whirr呼呼地飞或旋转的声音。and a screech24screech尖叫声。. Oliver recognized the call of an eagle owl.

Oliver continued to shimmy25shimmy摆动。up the rope. In one great heave, he reached the ledge and hoisted26hoist提起，拉起（重物）。himself up.

“Get me out of here,” Sir Percival yelled.

“No way,” Oliver said, pulling up the rope.

“He wasn’t talking to you, Kid,”Beni said, grabbing Oliver from behind.

Pit of Despair

[13] After forcing Oliver back down the rope, Sir Percival removed all the artifacts and left him there with no food,no water and no light. For two long days, Oliver sat in the pit tomb praying.

He listened to snakes slithering27slither（蛇等）蜿蜒地滑行。by day, the beat of bats’ wings at night.

[14] When he was about to give up hope, Oliver heard a familiar whirring.He stared at the hole and wished for the owl to come back. But this time the whirring wasn’t the owl; it was a car.

Oliver heard footsteps. “Oliver, you are down there, yes?”

“Yes,” Oliver said, his voice a mere croak28croak低沉而沙哑的声音。.

Mr. Azur lowered a rope ladder and descended into the pit. He gave Oliver some water.

“How did you know?” Oliver asked,water dribbling29dribble滴落。down his chin.

“Sir Percival came and showed me the collar,” he said, “But I’d seen your sketch of it. It was with the original drawing of Joseph’s cof fi n. I knew then Percival had cheated us.”

“Where is he now?” Oliver asked.

“Deported,” Mr.Azur said, “Your great-uncle is no longer welcome in Egypt.

“How did you find me?”

“Beni told us where you were. He is not so bad as Sir Percival.”

“You know, Sir Percival is my only family,” Oliver said.

“Then you can live with me and draw, yes?” Mr. Azur said. “You remind me of another young foreigner who was left for dead in a pit. He did what was right at great expense to himself.But God helped him and brought good things to Egypt.”

“Who was that?” Oliver asked.

“Zaphenath-paneah,” Mr. Azur said.“Joseph.” ■

奥利弗来到底比斯的第一天，就在一位身份不明的埃及王子的坟墓里待了三个小时。他刚同珀韦瑟斯比的珀西瓦尔爵士一起来到埃及。奥利弗蹲在一个破旧的板条箱上，仔细临摹墙上的画。四周弥漫着发霉空气的味道, 那根短粗蜡烛散发的烟比发出的光还多。奥利弗在这里画画不仅因为他喜欢绘画,还因为珀西瓦尔爵士是他妈妈的叔叔。

[2]奥利弗的父亲几年前死了, 母亲也早在他十岁时离世。珀西瓦尔爵士是他唯一的亲人。珀西瓦尔总是得偿所愿。他需要奥利弗的绘画才能，奥利弗的画可以帮助他在埃及贩卖工艺品。

[3]“不错，”珀西瓦尔一边审视着奥利弗的画一边说，“红色上面再加点棕色，那儿。”他指着画中女人手中的篮子。“这红色不大对，这些都得和原画一模一样。”

“我把红色调一调，先生，”奥利弗说，“但这里光线应再亮一些。”

珀西瓦尔冲外面的仆人喊道：“贝尼，再拿些蜡烛进来。”那人是他花钱雇的阿拉伯人。

[4]奥利弗站起来，伸直了背。为了画好每处细节，他一整天都蹲在这儿，上半身前倾。他拿起一块抹布，擦了擦从墙上凿出的架状突出处，往上面一靠。只听“啪”一声，他猛地摔到地上，扬起一团灰尘，闻到一股氨臭气味。

“这是什么?”贝尼在后面问。尘埃落定，这位阿拉伯老头举起蜡烛，他俩同时看到了一个暗道的入口。“又发现一个坟墓!”贝尼喊了起来，“我去叫珀西瓦尔爵士。他一定想第一个进去。”

奥利弗抓起蜡烛，把头探进洞口。他一步一步地走，摸索着确认下面没有深坑。走了有十英尺，他来到了一个房间。

[5]他举着蜡烛环视着这个巨洞。洞里有一口棺材、一些花瓶、椅子、罐子和三尊雕像。他吹掉一尊像身上的黑色粉尘——看到的是一个彩绘木雕的女人像。脖子上雕刻着一个装饰性的项圈。彩色的珠子点缀在陶土做的白色和红色的花上。这木雕工艺令富有艺术天赋的奥利弗惊呆了。

“出来，你这无赖！”珀西瓦尔厉声喝道，头伸进了洞口。

“我没碰任何东西，”奥利弗说，“真的。”

“别废话，”珀西瓦尔说，“我要亲自查看。蜡烛给我。”

奥利弗摸黑爬出了暗道。

失踪的人

[6]几小时后，奥利弗被准许重新进入墓室。除了棺材，所有东西都用布单罩着。珀西瓦尔跪在棺材旁，石盖已经被挪开。珀西瓦尔指着一些写在木棺上的埃及文字吩咐着：“仔细临摹这些铭文，都得写得一模一样。”然后他打开了棺盖：“荒唐! 尸骨不见了!”

[7]奥利弗知道木乃伊很少失踪。盗墓贼通常盗走除木乃伊外的所有东西， 因为害怕木乃伊的诅咒。

“贝尼，守着这墓。”珀西瓦尔说 ，“这是1901年出土的文物，现在盗墓的还很猖獗。不管棺材里有没有尸骨，我不能让任何人偷走这个棺材。这可能属于一个不为人知的国王。”

那晚，奥利弗钻进被窝，蜷缩在珀西瓦尔爵士的帐篷宿舍里的一个角落，他还在画着，那个项圈的影像一直萦绕在他脑海。他凭记忆画下了草图。

[8]第二天，奥利弗陪着珀西瓦尔爵士去开罗博物馆。身材矮小、秃顶的馆长阿祖尔先生热情地接待了他们。他仔细看了奥利弗画的棺材草图。“棒极了！”阿祖尔先生说，“石棺和棺材没被破坏？”

“噢!”珀西瓦尔说，“起初一切看上去都好，但是木乃伊！恐怕木乃伊不见了。”

[9]这个消息似乎并没使阿祖尔先生不悦，反而令他开心。“这个真棒，看!”他指着棺材的草图说，“这里写着Zaphenath-paneah。这是约瑟的另一个名字，《旧约》中的希伯来人，他是仅次于法老的统治者，把埃及从饥荒中拯救出来。《圣经》中记载，摩西在带领以色列人出埃及前夕把约瑟的尸骨带了出来。”

奥利弗双手开始发抖。

“我们应该看看这个墓，是吧？”阿祖尔先生边说边戴上他的帽子。

盗墓贼！

[10]灾难的第一个征兆是一辆陌生的绿色卡车停在墓地旁。贝尼趴在沙地上，手被反绑着，一个戴着黑面罩的人从卡车后面蹿出，用手枪抵着珀西瓦尔的胸口。“都趴下，”持枪人说，“就不会伤害你们。”

不一会儿，他们三人就被绑成跟贝尼一样的姿势。奥利弗注视着，眨眨眼睛挤掉眼里的沙子，这六个蒙面人把椅子、花瓶、棺材、雕像装进卡车。他默默地向约瑟的棺材告别，看着这些古物被卷走。

[11]平静地过了几周，珀西瓦尔又带奥利弗去了一个悬崖上的墓地，一个土坑墓。进入土坑墓必须顺着绳子往下溜30英尺。

“这是我的新发现。”当他们来到洞底时，珀西瓦尔告诉他。他手中的蜡烛照亮了一个装满各种工艺品的房间。“我觉得这是个储藏室。”奥利弗环视四周，眼睛停在一尊女人像上，她戴着一个装饰华丽的项圈。

“这是约瑟墓地的！”奥利弗脱口而出，“我认得每个细节。”

“胡说八道!”珀西瓦尔说，“所有的埃及项圈看上去都一样。”

“不，是同一件。我记得蓝色和黄色——”

“真不该让你进到那个墓穴!”珀西瓦尔说，“把你看到的忘了。”

“但是你撒谎。你偷走了自己发现的文物，然后把东西搬到这儿。为什么？”

“因为钱。”珀西瓦尔边说边从口袋里掏出烟斗，“约瑟的棺材很值钱，放在博物馆里就可惜了。今天，我跟博物馆的合同到期了。现在我可以随意占有这些工艺品。这和你有什么关系？”

“这关系到是与非。”奥利弗说。

珀西瓦尔给烟斗塞上烟叶：“放聪明点，照我说的做。”

[12]我要做正确的事，奥利弗暗想。他跳起来，用力抓紧绳子，脚踝绕着绳子的末端往上爬。“你甭想，小子，”珀西瓦尔走上前，“我会像摘苹果一样把你拽下来。”

奥利弗抬头看看洞口，祈祷上帝赐给他力量，他一下一下往上爬，突然模模糊糊一团棕色的东西从洞口扑下来。

他听见珀西瓦尔嘟囔了一声，接着是呼呼声和尖叫声，奥利弗听出了是猫头鹰的叫声。

奥利弗继续摇晃着往上爬，最后使劲一越，抓住了岩礁，自己悠了上去。

“让我出去。”珀西瓦尔喊着。

“没门儿。”奥利弗边说边往上拽绳子。

“他没跟你说，小子。”贝尼一把从后面把奥利弗抓住。

绝望的深渊

[13]奥利弗被强迫回到洞中，珀西瓦尔拿走了所有的工艺品，一点食物、水和蜡烛都没给他留。整整两天，奥利弗坐在土坑墓底祈祷着。

白天他听到蛇滑行的声音，夜晚听到的是蝙蝠拍打翅膀的声音。

[14]奥利弗近乎绝望时，听到了熟悉的呼呼声。他盯着洞口，希望那只猫头鹰回来。但这次发出声音的不是猫头鹰而是汽车。

奥利弗听到脚步声。“奥利弗，你在下面，是吗？”

“是的。”奥利弗用低沉沙哑的声音答道。

阿祖尔先生放下一个绳梯，下到洞底，给了奥利弗一些水。

“你怎么知道我在这儿?”奥利弗问，水顺着下巴滴着。

“珀西瓦尔找到我，给我看那个项圈，”他回答着，“但我看过你画的草图。它和约瑟棺材最初的那张草图放在了一起，于是，我知道珀西瓦尔骗了我们。”

“他现在在哪儿?”奥利弗问。

“已被驱逐出境了。”阿祖尔先生说，“埃及不再欢迎你那位叔公。”

“你怎么找到我的?”

“贝尼告诉我们的。他还没珀西瓦尔那么坏。”

“要知道，珀西瓦尔是我唯一的亲人了。”奥利弗说。

“你可以和我一起生活，还能画画，怎么样？”阿祖尔先生说，“你使我想起另一位被遗弃在山洞差点死掉的外国小伙子。他付出很大代价做了自己认为对的事情。但是上帝保佑他，给埃及带来了福祉。”

“他是谁?”奥利弗问。

“Zaphenath-paneah，”阿祖尔先生说，“约瑟。” □