A HAUNTED HOUSE

By Virginia Woolf

Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting. From room to room they went, hand in hand, lifting here, opening there, making sure—a ghostly couple.

[2] “Here we left it,” she said. And he added, “Oh, but here too!” “It’s upstairs,” she murmured. “And in the garden,” he whispered. “Quietly,” they said, “or we shall wake them.”

[3] But it wasn’t that you woke us.Oh, no. “They’re looking for it; they’re drawing the curtain,” one might say,and so read on a page or two. “Now they’ve found it,” one would be certain,stopping the pencil on the margin. And then, tired of reading, one might rise and see for oneself, the house all empty,the doors standing open, only the wood pigeons bubbling with content and the hum of the threshing2thresh脱粒；打（谷）。machine sounding from the farm. “What did I come in here for? What did I want to find?” My hands were empty. “Perhaps it’s upstairs then?” The apples were in the loft. And so down again, the garden still as ever,only the book had slipped into the grass.

无论你何时醒来，总能听见关门的声音。他们走过一个个房间，手牵着手，揭开这里看看，打开那里瞅瞅，生怕有所遗漏——一对幽灵夫妇。

[2]“我们把它留在这儿了。”她说道。他接着补充：“噢，但这儿也有！”“它在楼上。”她喃喃道。“还有花园里。”他悄声说。“轻一点儿，”他们说，“别把他们吵醒了。”

[3]并不是你们吵醒了我们。不，不是的。“他们在找它；他们正拉开窗帘。”某人可能会说，于是继续读上一两页。“现在他们找着它了。”某人可以肯定，铅笔在空白处停住。然后，某人读累了，兴许会站起身来亲眼瞧瞧，屋子空空如也，门都敞开着，只听到斑鸠满足的咕咕声和农场传来的打谷机的嗡嗡声。“我为什么进来？我是想找什么？”我两手空空。“那或许它在楼上吧？”苹果在阁楼里。于是又下楼来，花园和往常一样寂静，只是书已滑落在了草丛里。

[4] But they had found it in the drawing room. Not that one could ever see them. The window panes reflected apples, reflected roses; all the leaves were green in the glass. If they moved in the drawing room, the apple only turned its yellow side. Yet, the moment after,if the door was opened, spread about the floor, hung upon the walls, pendant from the ceiling—what? My hands were empty. The shadow of a thrush3thrush鸫；画眉。crossed the carpet; from the deepest wells of silence the wood pigeon drew its bubble of sound. “Safe, safe, safe,” the pulse of the house beat softly. “The treasure buried; the room…” the pulse stopped short. Oh, was that the buried treasure?

[5] A moment later the light had faded. Out in the garden then? But the trees spun darkness for a wandering beam of sun. So fine, so rare, coolly sunk beneath the surface the beam I sought always burnt behind the glass.Death was the glass; death was between us; coming to the woman first, hundreds of years ago, leaving the house, sealing all the windows; the rooms were darkened. He left it, left her, went North, went East, saw the stars turned in the Southern sky; sought the house,found it dropped beneath the Downs4北海南部靠近英吉利海峡肯特海岸的一片海域。.“Safe, safe, safe,” the pulse of the house beat gladly. “The Treasure yours.”

[4]但他们已经在起居室里找到了它。倒不是说有人能看见他们。窗玻璃映照出了苹果，映照出了玫瑰；玻璃中的树叶都是绿色的。如果他们在起居室四处走动，只能看到苹果黄色的一面。但是片刻之后，如果门被打开了，摊在地上的，挂在墙上的，悬在屋顶上的——是什么？我两手空空。一只画眉的影子从地毯上掠过；斑鸠由最幽深的静默中发出咕咕的叫声。“安，安，安。”屋子的脉搏轻柔地跳动着，“珍宝已被埋藏；这房间……”脉搏戛然而止。噢，这就是被埋藏的珍宝吗？

[5]须臾，光线暗了下去。那就是在外面的花园里了？但树叶编织的暗影遮住了散漫的阳光。我一直在追寻的那束光一直在玻璃后燃烧，多么细腻，多么珍贵，从容地沉落。死亡便是这玻璃；死亡横亘在我们之间；几百年前，死亡先降临在女子头上，离开这座房子时封印了所有窗户；房间都陷入黑暗之中。他离开了它，离开了她，向北又向东而行，看着南方的天空斗转星移；寻找这屋子，发现它沉在了唐斯的海水之下。“安，安，安。”屋子的脉搏愉快地跳动着，“你们的珍宝。”

[6] The wind roars up the avenue.Trees stoop and bend this way and that.Moonbeams splash and spill wildly in the rain. But the beam of the lamp falls straight from the window. The candle burns stiff and still. Wandering through the house, opening the windows,whispering not to wake us, the ghostly couple seek their joy.

[7] “Here we slept,” she says. And he adds, “Kisses without number.”“Waking in the morning—” “Silver between the trees—” “Upstairs—” “In the garden—” “When summer came—”“In winter snowtime—” The doors go shutting far in the distance, gently knocking like the pulse of a heart.

[8] Nearer they come; cease at the doorway. The wind falls, the rain slides silver down the glass. Our eyes darken;we hear no steps beside us; we see no lady spread her ghostly cloak. His hands shield the lantern. “Look,” he breathes.“Sound asleep. Love upon their lips.”

[6]风沿着道路呼啸而上。树木弯下腰左右摇摆。月光在雨中恣意飘洒。但台灯的光亮直接从窗户倾泻下来。蜡烛直直地、静静地燃着。那对幽灵夫妇在屋子里游荡，打开窗子，悄声说着别将我们吵醒了，边寻找着他们的快乐。

[7]“我们曾睡在这里。”她说道。他接着补充：“无数次亲吻。”“早上醒来时——”“树叶间的闪光——”“楼上——”“花园里——”“夏天到来的时候——”“冬天下雪的时候——”远处的门一扇扇关上，轻柔的碰撞声仿佛心脏在跳动。

[8]他们走得更近了；在门口停住。风势减弱，晶亮的雨水顺着草叶滑落。我们的眼睛暗了下来；听不见身边的脚步；看不见女子展开她幽灵般的斗篷。他用手遮住了灯罩。“看，”他低声说，“睡得可熟了。双唇带着爱意。”

[9] Stooping, holding their silver lamp above us, long they look and deeply. Long they pause. The wind drives straightly; the flame stoops slightly. Wild beams of moonlight cross both floor and wall, and, meeting, stain the faces bent; the faces pondering; the faces that search the sleepers and seek their hidden joy.

[10] “Safe, safe, safe,” the heart of the house beats proudly. “Long years—” he sighs. “Again you found me.” “Here,”she murmurs, “sleeping; in the garden reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our treasure—”Stooping, their light lifts the lids upon my eyes. “Safe! safe! safe!” the pulse of the house beats wildly. Waking, I cry“Oh, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart.” ■

[9]他们弯着腰，把银色的灯盏举在我们上方，凝视了许久，沉默了许久。风径直袭来；火苗摇曳了一下。月光肆意地穿过地板和墙壁，互相交会，斑驳了垂下的脸庞；脸庞的主人正在沉思，审视着熟睡的人，探寻他们隐秘的快乐。

[10]“安，安，安。”屋子的脉搏骄傲地跳动着。“好多年了——”他叹息道，“你又找到了我。”“在这儿睡觉；”她喃喃说，“在花园里看书；在阁楼里边笑边滚着苹果。我们在这儿留下了我们的珍宝——”他们弯下腰，手中的亮光掀开了我们的眼帘。“安！安！安！”屋子的脉搏疯狂地跳动着。我醒过来，喊道：“啊，这就是你们埋藏的珍宝吗？这心灵之光。” □

1（1882—1941），英国女作家、文学批评家和文学理论家，意识流文学流派代表人物，被誉为20世纪现代主义与女性主义的先锋。两次世界大战期间，她是伦敦文学界的核心人物，同时也是布卢姆茨伯里派（Bloomsbury Group）的成员之一。最知名的小说包括《达洛维夫人》（Mrs. Dalloway）、《到灯塔去》（To the Lighthouse）等。