《曾达的囚徒》第15期:回到曾达(1)

8 Back to Zenda

8 回到曾达

The next day Sapt，Fritz，and I left Strelsau to go to Tarlenheim House．This fine modern house belonged to Fritz's uncle and was near the Castle¹ of Zenda．

第二天萨普特、弗里茨和我离开斯特莱索去塔伦汉姆庄园。这所新式的庄园属于弗里茨的叔叔，离曾达城堡不远。

We had ten brave young men with us．Sapt had told them that a friend of the King's was a prisoner² in the Castle of Zenda and that the King needed their help．

我们带了10个勇敢的年轻人。萨普特告诉他们说，国王的一个朋友被关在曾达的城堡里了，国王需要他们的帮助。

Michael，of course，knew of my arrival³．But I was sure he did not understand why I had come．He would think that my plan was to kill him and the King-and marry the Princess⁴ myself．

迈克尔当然知道我来了，可是他肯定不明白为什么我要来。他会以为我的计划是把他和国王都杀了。然后我自己和公主结婚。

So，I had not been in the house an hour when he sent three of the Six to me．These were not the three men who had tried to kill me．

因此，我到庄园还不到一个小时，他就派了那六个人中的三个来见我。他们不是曾经追杀我的那三个人。

This time he sent the three Ruritanians-Lauengram，Krafstein and young Rupert of Hentzau．

这一次他派了三个卢里塔尼亚人——劳恩格兰姆，克拉夫斯坦，和年轻的亨佐鲁帕特。

'Duke⁵ Michael is very sorry that he can't welcome you himself，'explained Rupert of Hentzau．'But，sadly，he's ill at the moment．'

“迈克尔公爵很抱歉他不能亲自来欢迎您。”鲁帕特解释说，“很遗憾，他现在病了。”

'I hope that my dear brother will soon be better，'I replied with a smile．

“我希望我亲爱的兄弟很快会好起来。”我微笑着回答。

Rupert threw back his head，shook his black hair and laughed．He was a good-looking young man．People said he had broken⁶ many hearts already．

鲁帕特一仰头，甩了甩他的黑头发也笑了。他长得很精神，据说他已经让很多女人心碎了。

'Oh，I'm sure he will！'he answered．

“哈，我肯定他会好起来的！”他回答。

That evening，instead of having dinner at the house，Fritz and I went to the little hotel in the town of Zenda where I had stayed before．

那天晚上，弗里茨和我没在庄园里吃饭，我们去了曾达城中我曾经住过的小旅店。

'Ask for a room where we can dine⁷ alone，'I said to Fritz．'And ask the pretty girl to bring our food．'

“你去要一个我们可以单独用餐的小房间，”我对弗里茨说，“还有，请那个漂亮的姑娘给我们上吃的。”

I covered my face and the girl came and put the wine down on the table．When she turned to go，she looked at me and I let her see my face．

我挡住我的脸。那姑娘进来把酒瓶放在桌上，当她转身要走时，她看着我，我让她看见了我的脸。

'The King！'she cried．'You were the King！Oh，I'm sorry，sir！I'm sorry！The things that we said！'

“是国王！”她叫道，“你是国王！哦，我很抱歉，先生，对不起，我们说了那些话！”

1 castle   

n.城堡，象棋中的车；vt.置于城堡中，筑城堡防御

参考例句：

• We had to give up the castle.我们不得不放弃这座城堡了。
• He took a photograph of the castle.他拍了一张这个城堡的照片。

2 prisoner   

n.俘虏，囚犯，被监禁的人

参考例句：

• The soldier reported that a prisoner was at large.士兵报告说一名囚犯在逃。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 arrival   

n.到达，达到，到达者

参考例句：

• She's impatient for her father's arrival.她急切地盼望着父亲的到来。
• The new arrival was none other than the President.刚到的不是别人，正是总统。

4 princess   

n.公主，王妃，公爵夫人

参考例句：

• The princess grew up happily.公主很快乐地长大了。
• She was the people's princess.她是人民的王妃。

5 duke   

n.公爵

参考例句：

• His grandfather was a royal duke.他的祖父是王室公爵。
• The duke was the king's most trusted adviser.公爵是国王最信赖的顾问。

6 broken   

adj.坏掉的，患病的，被制服的，断掉的；vbl.break的过去分词

参考例句：

• He is mending a broken cup.他在修补破杯子。
• Something was broken in my engine.我的发动机里有个东西损坏了。

7 dine   

vi.吃饭，进餐；vt.宴请

参考例句：

• I wish I could afford to dine off fresh meat every day.我要是能天天吃到新鲜的肉就好了。
• Let's dine out tonight，I'm too tired to cook.我太累了，不想做饭，今晚咱们到外面吃吧。