单身贵族案 27真相大白(4)

"Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady.

"那么，我现在就来把事情的经过说给你们听吧，"那位女士说道。

"Frank here and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa was working a claim.

"我和这位弗兰克是一八八四年在落矶山附近的麦圭尔营地认识的，爸爸当时正在经营一个矿场。

We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile,

我和弗兰克订了婚，后来有一天爸爸突然挖到了一个富矿，从此发了财。

while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to nothing.

可是这位可怜的弗兰克所占有的土地上的矿脉却渐渐变小，以至于完全消失了。

The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank;

我的爸爸越来越富，弗兰克却越来越穷。

so at last pa wouldn't hear of our engagement¹ lasting² any longer, and he took me away to 'Frisco.

所以，后来爸爸硬是不同意我们的婚约继续下去。他把我带到旧金山去。

Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything about it.

尽管如此，弗兰克不愿意放手，于是，他接着也到了那里，并且瞒着爸爸和我见面。

It would only have made him mad to know, so we just fixed³ it all up for ourselves.

让爸爸知道只会使他生气，所以我们就自己做了安排。

Frank said that he would go and make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had as much as pa.

弗兰克说，他也要去发一笔财，直到他像爸爸一样富有，他才回来跟我结婚。

So then I promised to wait for him to the end of time and pledged⁴ myself not to marry anyone else while he lived.

我当时答应等他一辈子，并且发誓只要他活着，我就不嫁给别人。

'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he,

'那么，为什么我们不马上就结婚呢？'他说，

'and then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your husband until I come back?'

'这样我对你就感到放心了，无须在我回来以后要求人家承认我是你的丈夫。'

Well, we talked it over, and he had fixed it all up so nicely,

哦，就这样，我们经过了商量，他把一切都安排得那么妥贴，

with a clergyman all ready in waiting, that we just did it right there;

请好了一位牧师，我们当即举行了婚礼。

and then Frank went off to seek his fortune, and I went back to pa."

过后，弗兰克就离开了我去奔前程，而我则回到了爸爸身边。"

"The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana,

"我再次听到弗兰克的消息是他到了蒙大拿，

and then he went prospecting⁵ in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New Mexico.

接着在亚利桑那探矿，以后我又听说他在新墨西哥。

After that came a long newspaper story about how a miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians,

在那以后报上登出过一篇长期报道，说有一个矿工营地如何遭到亚利桑那印第安人的袭击，

and there was my Frank's name among the killed.

死亡者的名单中有我的弗兰克的名字。

I fainted dead away, and I was very sick for months after.

我看了以后昏厥过去，接着我缠绵病床达数月之久。

Pa thought I had a decline⁶ and took me to half the doctors in 'Frisco.

病得非常厉害。爸爸以为我得了痨病，带我去找遍了整个旧金山大约一半的医生。

Not a word of news came for a year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really dead.

一年多来，音信杳然，因而我从不怀疑弗兰克是真的死了。

Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased,

之后，圣西蒙勋爵来到旧金山，我们到了伦敦，婚事定了下来，爸爸非常高兴。

but I felt all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank."

但是我总觉得我的心已经给了我可怜的弗兰克，世界上再没有哪一个男人能代替他。"

1 engagement   

n.订婚，婚约，约定，约会

参考例句：

• I can't see you on Monday because I have a previous engagement.星期一我不能见你，因为我有约在先。
• It was my mother's very own engagement ring.这正是我母亲自己的订婚戒指。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

4 pledged   

保证，许诺，发誓( pledge的过去式和过去分词 )； 典当； 保证给予（或做）； 以誓言约束

参考例句：

• They have pledged that they will always remain faithful to each other. 他们发誓他们将永远忠诚于对方。
• The government pledged to rehouse the refugees. 政府许诺给难民提供新住房。

5 prospecting   

n.探矿

参考例句：

• The prospecting team ploughed their way through the snow. 探险队排雪前进。
• The prospecting team has traversed the length and breadth of the land. 勘探队踏遍了祖国的山山水水。

6 decline   

n.衰微，跌落，下降；vt.使降低，婉谢；vi.下降，衰落，偏斜

参考例句：

• I must decline to show favour to any of the candidates.我必须拒绝偏袒任何一位候选人。
• The birthrate is on the decline.出生率在下降。