《曾达的囚徒》第22期:囚徒与国王(1)

12 The prisoner¹ and the King

12 囚徒与国王

We needed bad weather，but it was a fine，clear night．

我们需要坏天气，但那天却是个晴朗的夜晚。

At midnight² Sapt，Fritz，and their men left and rode quietly through the woods towards the castle³．

午夜时分，萨普特、弗里茨和他们的人骑马出发了。他们悄悄穿过树林奔向城堡。

If everything went well，they would get there at a quarter to two and wait for Johann to open the front door．

如果一切顺利的话，他们一点三刻会到达那儿，等待约翰打开大门。

If Johann did not open the door，Fritz would come round to the other side of the castle to find me．If I was not there，then I was dead-and the King，too！

如果约翰没开门，弗里茨就绕到城堡的另一面来找我。要是我不在那儿，那我就是死了——国王也一样。

Sapt and his men would go back to Tarlenheim House and return with the Marshal⁴ and more men to get into the castle．

萨普特和他的人就回塔伦汉姆庄园，然后随同元帅一起带着更多的人去攻打城堡。

So，half an hour later，I，too，left Tarlenheim．I took a shorter way than Sapt and when I reached the moat，I hid my horse in the trees，tied my rope round a strong tree and let myself down into the water．

于是，半小时以后我也离开了塔伦汉姆庄园。比起萨普特来我抄了一条近路。到了护城河，我在树林里藏好马，把绳子系在一棵粗壮的树上，然后下到水里。

Slowly，I began to swim along under the castle walls．Just after a quarter to one，I came to the pipe⁵ and waited quietly in its shadow⁶．

慢慢地，我开始沿着城墙游着，差一刻一点的时候，我到了排水管边，在阴影里静静等待。河对岸正对着我的是迈克尔公爵的房间，

Light was coming from Duke⁷ Michael's window opposite me across the moat，and I could see into the room．The next window along，which Johann had said was An-toinette's room，was dark．

灯光从窗户里照射出来。我可以看见屋子里面旁边的那扇窗子，照约翰所说，就是安冬纳特的房间了。那间屋子是黑的。

Then the Duke's window opened，and Antoinette de Mauban looked out．Behind her there was a man．Rupert of Hentzau！What was he doing in the Duke's room？ I wondered．

这时公爵的窗子打开了，安·德·莫班向外看着，她的身边有个男人，亨佐的鲁帕特！他在公爵的房间里做什么？我真想知道。

Rupert tried to put his arm round Antoinette，but she moved quickly away．At that moment，I heard the door of the room open and then the angry voice of Duke Michael．

鲁帕特试图用胳膊去搂安冬纳特，可她很快挪开了。就在此时，我听见房门打开了，然后听见迈克尔公爵气冲冲的声音：

'What are you doing here？' he cried．

“你在这儿干嘛？”他叫道。

'Waiting for you，sir，'Rupert replied quickly．'I couldn't leave the lady alone．'

“等着你呢，先生。”鲁帕特很快回答。“我不能让这位女士一个人呆着。”

'Well，now you can go to bed．Are Detchard and Bersonin watching the prisoner？'

“那好吧，现在你可以去睡觉了。戴查德和伯索宁在看着囚犯吗？”

'Yes，sir．'

“是的，先生。”

A few minutes later，Rupert crossed the drawbridge and it was pulled up．The light in Duke Michael's room went out，but a light came on，and stayed on，in Antoinette's room．In the silent⁸ darkness，I waited．

几分钟以后，鲁帕特走过吊桥，然后吊桥拉了起来。迈克尔房间的灯灭了，但是安冬纳特屋子的灯亮了，而且一直亮着。在寂静的黑暗里，我等待着。

For about ten minutes everything was quiet，but suddenly I heard a noise on my side of the moat．

大约过了十分钟什么声音也没有，可是突然我听到了在护城河我在的这一边有一点儿响动，

A dark shape appeared in the gateway¹⁰ to the bridge，then turned and began to climb down some hidden steps in the wall．

一个黑影出现在通向吊桥的城门边，然后转过身开始顺着藏在墙里的台阶往下爬，

It was Rupert of Hentzau again-with a sword¹¹！Silently，he went down into the water and swam across the moat．Then he climbed out，and I heard him unlock¹² the door．

是亨佐的鲁帕特，而且他手里还拿着剑！他悄悄地下到水里，游过护城河，然后爬了上去。我听见他打开了门锁。

It was clear that Rupert of Hentzau had his own secret plans for that night．

很显然，鲁帕特当夜也有他自己的秘密计划。

It was not yet time for Johann to open the front door for my friends，and I still had to wait．

现在还没有到约翰为我的朋友打开大门的时候，我还得等待。

I climbed up to the gateway of the bridge and hid in a dark corner．Now no one could enter or leave the old castle without fighting me．

我从水里爬上对着吊桥的那座城门，在一个黑暗的角落里藏着。无论谁想进入老城堡或离开它，都得经过我这一关。

I wondered what Rupert was doing now，and a few seconds later I found out．

我很想知道鲁帕特正在做什么。几秒钟后我就明白了。

There was a sudden⁹ crash，and then a woman's screams¹³ rang through the night． 'Help me，Michael！Rupert of Hentzau！'

突然响起了碰撞声，然后一个女人的尖叫在夜色中震响：“救救我，迈克尔！鲁帕特！”

Those were the words that I had written for Antoinette！But these were screams of real fear and soon I heard shouts and the sound of fighting from Antoinette's room．

这正是我要安冬纳特说的话。但那尖叫却带着真正的恐惧，而且立刻听见从女人房间传出叫喊和打斗声。

Then Rupert appeared at the window．His back was towards me，but he was fighting．'That's for you，Johann，' I heard him cry．Then，'Come on，Michael！'

然后鲁帕特出现在窗口，他的背冲着我，可他正和人格斗。“这一剑是给你的，约翰。”我听见他说。然后又说，“来吧，迈克尔！”

So Johann was in there too，fighting at the Duke's side！How could he open the door for Sapt now？

原来约翰也在那儿，站在公爵那边为公爵而战！现在他怎么可能去为萨普特开门？

More of the Duke's men had run to the room and the noise of the fighting grew louder．

更多公爵的人冲进房间，厮杀声更响了。

Suddenly，Rupert gave a wild laugh，and with his sword in his hand，jumped from the window into the moat below．

突然，鲁帕特狂笑一声，手里握着剑，从窗子里跳出来，跳进了下面的护城河。

At that moment the door of the old castle opened and De Gautet appeared beside me．

正在这时，老城堡的门开了，德·高蒂特出现在我身旁，

I jumped at him with my sword，and a second later he fell dead in the doorway¹⁴ without a word or a sound．

我手握利剑向他跳过去，片刻之后他倒在门前死了，没能说出一个字或发出一点声响。

1 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。

2 midnight   

n.午夜

参考例句：

• The ship pulled in to the shore at midnight.那船半夜时靠岸。
• He looked at the moon and made the time to be midnight.他看了看月亮，估计时间是半夜了。

3 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。

4 marshal   

n.元帅，总指挥，（美）执法官；vt.整理，集结

参考例句：

• The oldest general was appointed marshal of the armies.资格最老的将军被任命为军队的元帅。
• Marshal your arguments before debating.辩论前整理一下你的论点。

5 pipe   

n.管，导管，输送管，管状器官，声带，烟斗，笛，管乐器&vt.以管输送

参考例句：

• The pipe has been stopped up already.管子已完全堵住了。
• The pipe carries water.这管子是送水用的。

6 shadow   

n.阴影，荫，影子，影像，阴暗，预兆，少许，隐蔽处，庇护；vt.遮蔽，使朦胧，预示

参考例句：

• Every light has its shadow.是灯都有影。
• The trees throw a shadow on the grass.树木在草地上投下了阴影。

7 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。

8 silent   

adj.安静的，不吵闹的，沉默的，无言的；n.(复数)默剧

参考例句：

• Immediately on his beginning to speak,everyone was silent.他一讲话，大家顿时安静下来。
• The boys looked at the conjuror in silent wonder. 孩子们目瞪口呆地看着那魔术师。

9 sudden   

n.突然，忽然；adj.突然的，意外的，快速的

参考例句：

• All of a sudden he turned about and saw me.他突然转过身来看见了我。
• The horse was badly frightened by the sudden noise.那匹马被突然而来的嘈杂声吓坏了。

10 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

11 sword   

n.剑，刀剑，武力，杀戮

参考例句：

• The soldier cut at his enemy with his sword.那位士兵用自己的剑向敌人砍去。
• With a sweep of his sword he cut through the rope.他用剑一挥把绳子砍断了。

12 unlock   

v.启示，揭示，开...的锁

参考例句：

• The border police required the traveler to unlock his luggage.边防警察要求旅客打开行李。
• We heard somebody unlock the door.我们听见有人开门锁。

13 screams   

v.（因伤痛、害怕、激动等）尖叫 ~发出尖叫声( scream的第三人称单数 )；（向某人或为某事）高声喊；发出大而尖的声音；呼啸而过

参考例句：

• Her loud screams could be heard all over the house. 整个屋子都能听到她那高声的尖叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hooligans broke up amidst loud shouts and screams. 歹徒呼啸而遁。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。