A Fellow Traveller

文/A.G.加德纳 译/黄珊珊 审订/宁一中

A Fellow Traveller

文/A.G.加德纳 译/黄珊珊 审订/宁一中

I do not know which of us got into the carriage first. Indeed I did not know he was in the carriage at all for some time. It was the last train from London to a Midland town—a stopping train, an infinitely1infinitely非常；极其。leisurely train, one of those trains which give you an understanding of eternity. It was tolerably full when it started, but as we stopped at the suburban stations the travelers alighted2alight降；下车(马）。in ones and twos and by the time we had left the outer ring of London behind I was alone—or, rather, I thought I was alone.

[2]When the last of my fellow passengers had gone, I put down my paper, stretched my arms and my legs,stood up and looked out of the window on the calm summer night through which I was journeying, noting the pale reminiscence3reminiscence引起联想的相似事物。of day that still lingered4linger（想法、感觉、疾病）继续存留。in the northern sky; crossed the carriage and looked out of the other window, sat down and began to read again. It was then that I became aware of my fellow traveler. He came and sat on my nose…He was one of those wingy5wingy有翼的。, nippy6nippy灵巧的；敏捷的。intrepid7intrepid勇敢的；无畏的。insects that we call vaguely mosquitoes. I fl icked8flick轻拂，轻弹。him off my nose and he made a tour of the compartment,investigated its three dimensions,visited each window, fluttered9flutter（鸟或昆虫）振（翅），鼓（翼）。round the light, decided that there was nothing so interesting as that large animal in the corner, came and had a look at my neck.

[3]I flicked him off again. He skipped away, took another jaunt10jaunt（短途）游览。round the compartment, returned, and seated himself impudently11impudently无礼地。on the back of my hand. It is enough, I said,magnanimity12magnanimity宽宏大量的行为；雅量。has its limits. Twice you have been warned that I am some one in particular, that my august13august威严的。person resents the tickling14tickle搔触（使觉得痒）。impertinences15impertinence鲁莽的言行。of strangers. I assume the black cap16black cap（宣判死刑时法官所戴的）黑色帽子。. I condemn you to death. Justice demands it, and the court awards17award审判，裁定。it. The counts18count〈法律〉起诉理由，罪状。against you are many. You are a vagrant19vagrant流浪者。; you are a public nuisance;you are traveling without a ticket; you have no meat coupon. For these and many other misdemeanours20misdemeanour〈法律〉轻罪。you are about to die.

[4]I struck a swift, lethal21lethal致命的。blow with my right hand. He dodged22dodge躲开。the attack with an insolent23insolent张狂的；侮慢的。ease that humiliated24humiliate使丢脸。me. My personal vanity was aroused,I banged25bang猛敲；砸。at him with my hand, with my paper; I jumped on the seat and pursued him round the lamp; I adopted the tactics of feline26feline猫科动物。cunning27cunning狡猾。waiting till he had alighted, approaching with a horrible stealthiness28stealthiness隐蔽性。stealthy不声张的；偷偷摸摸的。, striking with a sudden and terrible swiftness. It was all in vain. He played with me openly and ostentatiously29ostentatiously故意地；夸耀地。like a skilful matador30matador斗牛士。finessing31finess用巧计战胜。round an infuriated32infuriated激怒的。bull.It was obvious that he was enjoying himself, that it was for this that he had disturbed my repose33repose镇定。. He wanted a little sport and what sport like being chased by this huge lumbering34lumbering缓慢吃力的。windmill35windmill假想的（邪恶的、具威胁性的）敌人或对手，出自塞万提斯《堂吉诃德》，文中主人公将风车幻想成巨人。此用法一般用于短语tilt at windmills中。of a creature who tasted so good and seemed so helpless and so stupid? I began to enter into the spirit of the fellow. He was no longer a mere insect. He was developing into a personality, an intelligence that challenged the possession of the compartment with me on equal terms. I felt my heart warming towards him and the sense of superiority fading. How could I feel superior to a creature who was so manifestly36manifestly明显地。my master in the only competition in which we had ever engaged? Why not be magnanimous again? Magnanimity and mercy were the noblest attributes of man. In the exercise37exercise行使；运用。of these high qualities I could recover my prestige. At present I was a ridiculous fi gure, a thing for laughter and derision38derision取笑；奚落。. By being merciful I could reassert39reassert重申；坚持。the moral dignity of man and go back to my corner with honor. I withdraw the sentence of death,I said, returning to my seat. I cannot kill you, but I can reprieve40reprieve〈法律〉缓期执行（死刑）,暂缓处刑。you. I do it.

[5]“Going on tonight, sir?” said a voice at the window. It was a friendly porter giving me a hint that this was my station. I thanked him and said I must have been dozing. And seizing my hat and stick I went out into the cool summer night. As I closed the door of the compartment I saw my fellow traveller fl uttering round the lamp… ■

我不知道我们俩到底是谁先上火车的。说实话，我很长一段时间都没有发觉他的存在。这是最后一趟从伦敦开往中部城市的慢车。火车优哉游哉地向前驶去，给人一种永远延伸、永无休止的感觉。火车开动的时候，车厢里人头攒动，但是到达郊区时，旅客们三三两两地下了车。等火车驶离了伦敦的外环，车厢里就剩下了我一个人了，或者说，我以为只剩下了我一个人。

[2]当最后一个旅客下了车，我收起报纸，伸了伸懒腰，站起身往车窗外看去。宁静的夏夜里，我仿佛独自前行。北边天还残留着一点黯淡的光芒。于是我穿过了车厢走廊，往另一边的车窗看去。复又坐了下来，开始看报纸。这个时候，我才开始意识到这一位旅客朋友的存在。他悄悄地飞来，落在我的鼻尖……对，他是一只蚊子，来自万千嗡嗡飞扑、敏捷勇猛的蚊子大军。我将他从鼻子上弹走后，他就绕着隔间往其他三个方向飞了一圈。他飞过每一扇窗户，绕着车灯飞舞，又飞了回来，盯着我的脖子看。仿佛跟我这个坐在角落里的庞然大物相比，车厢里再没有什么东西更有趣的了。

[3]我又拂走他，他敏捷地躲开，再次绕着隔间飞来飞去，又飞了回来，十分放肆地落在我的手背上。真是够了，我暗道，即使我再宽容，我也有我的底线。我已经警告了你两次，我是一个极其挑剔的人，我的自尊让我无法容忍陌生人的无礼骚扰。我要审判你，给你定死刑。我要伸张正义，严明的法庭也会支持我的判决。总之，你的罪状很多。你是一个流浪汉，人们公敌。你没购买车票就上了车，你未经允许就胆敢吮吸人类的血液。不仅如此，你还犯了其他罪行，罪该万死。

[4]我挥出右手，发出快速且致命的一击。他敏捷地躲开了我的攻击，那轻松的避让姿态让我备感羞辱。这下子激起了我的虚荣心，我攥起手中的报纸，猛拍这只蚊子；我跳上座椅，追打绕着车灯飞舞的蚊子。我像只静待耗子的猫，静静守着，直到他飞下来，再偷偷靠近，以迅雷之势发动可怕的突袭。然而这一切都是白费力气。他开始公然地戏弄起我来，就像一个手段高明的斗牛士在戏弄一头暴怒的公牛。很显然，他玩得很开心，也正因为这样，我才无法保持我的冷静。这只是他想玩的小游戏!一个小小的游戏！被一个行动迟缓的大块头追逐，这大块头的味道是如此鲜美，但是却是如此地无助和愚昧。这时我开始走进了这个家伙的内心世界。此刻他不再仅仅是一只虫子。他变成了一个有血有肉的人，一个活生生的人。他的智慧向我发出挑战，让我给他平等的权利与我一起分享这个隔间。我的胸口慢慢变热，心头的优越感渐渐消失。他在我们仅有的唯一一次角逐中大获全胜，我叹道，面对他，我怎么能够洋洋得意？我为什么不能再次宽容一点？是的，宽容和仁慈是人类最高贵的品质。展示这些美德可以为我恢复名誉。现在，我是一个小丑，一个笑柄。仁慈可以让我再次确立人类尊严，然后体面回归我的角落，回到自己的座位上，并默默对他说，我撤销你的死刑。我不能杀死你，但是我可以饶恕你。我说到做到。

[5]“先生，今天的旅行怎么样？”窗边一位乘务员友好地问道，提示我到站了。我对他说了声谢谢，并解释说，我刚刚肯定在打瞌睡，所以才没有意识到车已到站。伸手抓起我的帽子和拐杖，我走出了隔间，走进了这个凉爽的夏夜。正当我关上车厢门的时候，我看见我的旅客朋友正绕着车灯翩翩起舞…… □

同路人

ByA.G. Gardiner

（译者单位：北京语言大学）