Unit_7_The_Chaser课文翻译综合教程三

Unit 7
The Chaser
John Henry Collier
1 Alan Austen, as nervous as a kitten, went up certain dark and creaky stairs in the neighborhood of Pell Street, and peered about for a long time on the dim hallway before he found the name he wanted written obscurely on one of the doors.
2 He pushed open this door, as he had been told to do, and found himself in a tiny room, which contained no furniture but a plain kitchen table, a rocking-chair, and an ordinary chair. On one of the dirty buff-coloured walls were a couple of shelves, containing in all perhaps a dozen bottles and jars.
3 An old man sat in the rocking-chair, reading a newspaper. Alan, without a word, handed him the card he had been given. “Sit down, Mr. Austen,” said the old man very politely. “I am glad to make your acquaintance.”
4 “Is it true,” asked Alan, “that you have a certain mixture that has … er … quite extraordinary effects?”
5 “My dear sir,” replied the old man, “my stock in trade is not very large —I don’t deal in laxatives and teething mixtures — but such as it is, it is varied. I think nothing I sell has effects which could be precisely described as ordinary.”
6 “Well, the fact is …” began Alan.
7 “Here, for example,” interrupted the old man, reaching for a bottle from the shelf. “Here is a liquid as colourless as water, almost tasteless, quite imperceptible in coffee, wine, or any other beverage. It is also quite imperceptible to any known method of autopsy.”
8 “Do you mean it is a poison?” cried Alan, very muc h horrified.
9 “Call it a glove-cleaner if you like,” said the old man indifferently. “Maybe it will clean gloves. I have never tried. One might call it a life-cleaner. Lives need cleaning sometimes.”
10 “I want nothing of that sort,” said Alan.
11 “Probably it is just as well,” said the old man. “Do you know the price of this? For one teaspoonful, which is sufficient, I ask five thousand dollars. Never less. Not a penny less.”
12 “I hope all your mixtures are not as expensive,” said Alan appre hensively.
13 “Oh dear, no,” said the old man. “It would be no good charging that sort of price for
a love potion, for example. Young people who need a love potion very seldom have five thousand dollars. Otherwise they would not need a love potion.”
14 “I am glad to hear that,” said Alan.
15 “I look at it like this,” said the old man. “Please a customer with one article, and he will come back when he needs another. Even if it is more costly. He will save up for it, if necessary.”
16 “So,” said Alan, “you really do sell love potions?”
17 “If I did not sell love potions,” said the old man, reaching for another bottle, “I should not have mentioned the other matter to you. It is only when one is in a position to oblige that one can afford to be so confidential. “
18 “And these potions,” said Alan. “They are not just … just … er …”
19 “Oh, no,” said the old man. “Their effects are permanent, and extend far beyond the mere casual impulse. But they include it. Oh, yes they include it. Bountifully, insistently. Everlastingly.”
20 “Dear me!” said Alan, attempting a look of scientific detachment. “How very interesting!”
21 “But consider the spiritual side,” said the old man.
22 “I do, indeed,” said Alan.
23 “For indifference,” said the old man, “they substitute devotion. For scorn, adoration. Give one tiny measure of this to the young lady — its flavour is imperceptible in orange juice, soup, or cocktails — and however gay and giddy she is, she will change altogether. She will want nothin g but solitude and you.”
24 “I can hardly believe it,” said Alan. “She is so fond of parties.”
25 “She will not like them anymore,” said the old man. “She will be afraid of the pretty girls you may meet.”
26 “She will actually be jealous?” cried Alan in a rapture. “Of me?”
27 “Yes, she will want to be everything to you.”
28 “She is, already. Only she doesn’t care about it.”
29 “She will, when she has taken this. She will care intensely. You will be her sole interest in life.”
30 “Wonderful!” cried Alan.
31 “She will want to know all you do,” said the old man. “All that has happened to you during the day. Every word of it. She will want to know what you are thinking about, why you smile suddenly, why you are looking sad.”
32 “That is love!” cried Alan.
33 “Yes,” said the old man. “How carefully she will look after you! She will never allow you to be tired, to sit in a draught, to neglect your food. If you are an hour late, she will be terrified. She will think you are killed, or that some siren has caught you.”
34 “I can hardly imagine Diana like that!” cried Alan, overwhelmed with joy.
35 “You will not have to use your imagination,” said the old man. “And, by the way, since there are always sirens, if by any chance you should, later on, slip a little, you need not worry. She will forgive you, in the end. She will be terribly hurt, of course, but she will forgive you —in the end.”
36 “That will not happen,” said Alan fervently.
37 “Of course not,” said the old man. “Bu t, if it did, you need not worry. She would never divorce you. Oh, no! And, of course, she will never give you the least, the very least, grounds for —uneasiness.”
38 “And how much,” said Alan, “is this wonderful mixture?”
39 “It is not as dear,” said the old man, “as the glove-cleaner, or life-cleaner, as I sometimes call it. No. That is five thousand dollars, never a penny less. One has to be older than you are, to indulge in that sort of thing. One has to save up for it.”
40 “But the love potion?” said Alan.
41 “Oh, that,” said the old man, opening the drawer in the kitchen table, and taking out
a tiny, rather dirty-looking phial. “That is just a dollar.”
42 “I can’t tell you how grateful I am,” said Alan, watching him fill it.
43 “I like to oblige,” said the old man. “Then customers come back, later in life, when they are better off, and want more expensive things. Here you are. You will find it very effective.”
44 “Thank you again,” said Alan. “Good-bye.”
45 “Au revoir,” said the man.
解酒水
艾伦·奥斯丁，紧得像只小猫，心里七上八下、忐忑不安的进了裴尔街区的一个楼道，黑乎乎的楼梯咯吱咯吱直响。

他在昏暗的平台上停了下来，仔细望了许久，才看到了那扇门，门上那个模糊不清的名字正是他要找的。

按别人说的，他推开了门，门里面是一间很小的屋子，屋里几乎没什么家具，除了一餐桌，一把摇椅，还有一把普普通通的椅子。

一面脏乎乎的暗黄色的墙上搁着两个架子，架子上列着十几个瓶瓶罐罐。

一位老人正坐在摇椅上，看着报纸。

艾伦一言不发把别人给的那卡片递给了老人。

“请坐，艾伦先生，”老人礼貌地说。

“很高兴认识你。

”
“是真的吗？”艾伦问，“你真有那种药吗，有--嗯—很神奇效果的哪种药吗？”
“我亲爱的先生，”老人回答到，“我这儿的货不是很多—泻药、长牙药我可没有—不过，我的东西虽不多，品种可也不少。

而且我的这些药，它的药效，严格来说，可没一样可以说是普普通通的。

”
“嗯，实际上…….”艾伦开口说。

“像这一瓶，” 老人打断艾伦，指着架子上的一瓶药水说，“这瓶药水跟水一样没颜色，也几乎没有味道，掺在水，葡萄酒，或者其它饮料中很难被察觉。

就算是进行尸体解剖，就现在所知的方法来说，要发现也很难。

”
“你的意思，它是毒药吗？”艾伦惊恐的喊道。

“你要是愿意，称它手套清除剂也可，”老人漠然回答，“也许它可以清除掉手套，我没试过。

或者称它生命清除剂也未尝不可，生命有时也需要清除，人类才能得以净化。

”
“这东西我可一点都不想要，”艾伦说。

“不要更好，”老人说，“你可知道这东西的价格？一茶匙的量，也够用了，我卖五千美元，绝对不能少，一分也不能少。

”
“你的药不会都这么贵吧，”艾伦忧心忡忡。

“噢，亲爱的，不全这么贵，”老人说，“像这爱情水，如果我开这么个价，那可不是个好标价。

买爱情水的年轻人很少有五千美元的，要不，他们也不会需要爱情水了。

”
“听起来真是让人高兴，”艾伦说。

“我这么想来着，”老人说，“要是一样东西让顾客满意了，当他需要其它东西时，就会再回来，即便是更贵的货物，只要是有必要，省吃俭用他也会凑足了钱来买的。

”
“那，”艾伦说，“你真有爱情水卖？”
“没爱情水，”老人说，“我会跟你罗嗦那些吗。

一个人要是没点能耐，别人怎会这么信任他。

”
“那这些药水，”艾伦说，“他们不会只是--只是—嗯—”
“哦，不会，”老人说，“药效会持久存在，服了这药水，他的爱情之水将会绵绵不断如滔滔江水，偶尔心头掠过的那爱的小浪花，只会是那其中的沧海一粟，当然这种偶尔的爱的浪花自然也有，哦，是，当然包括在。

但他们会源源不断，持之以恒，经久不衰的。

”
“哦，天哪！”艾伦说，竭力摆出一副置身之外的神态，“那真太有趣了！”
“你再想想精神方面！”老人说。

“好，我会。

“艾伦说。

“她对你不会再漠不关心，”老人说，“却是忠心耿耿。

也不会再吹毛求疵而是柔情蜜意。

年轻的姑娘只要吃过这么一小点儿爱情水---掺在橙汁、汤汁或是鸡尾酒中，丝毫闻不出味道---不管她之前多会寻欢作乐，吃过后，就会像变了个人似的。

什么都不会想，什么都不会要，只会想一个人跟你呆着。

”
“真让人难以相信，”艾伦说，“她可喜欢呼朋唤友了。

”
“以后她不会喜欢了，”老人说，“她会担心，你在聚会上会碰到漂亮姑娘。

”
“她真会嫉妒吗？”艾伦欣喜若狂，“会为我吗？”
“会的，她会希望，对于你来说，她就是你的一切。

”
“她已经是我的一切了，早就是了，只是她不在乎而已。

”
“服了爱情水后，她会在乎的你，会非非常常在乎你的。

你将会是她生命中唯一的乐趣。

”
“太棒了！”艾伦叫道。

“她会想知道你所做的一切，”老人说，“当天你所发生的一切，字字句句都想知道。

她会想知道你在想些什么，为什么你突然笑了，为什么你会看上去很伤心。

”
“这就是爱情！”艾伦叫道。

“对，是爱情，”老人答，“她对你的照顾将会是那样的无微不至！她绝不会让你累着，绝不会让你在风口坐着，对你的饮食她也丝毫不会有疏忽。

如果你迟到半小时，她会惶恐不安，担心你是不是被杀了，是不是被哪个狐狸精给迷住了。

”
“真难想像戴安娜会成哪样！”艾伦喜不自禁。

“你不需要发挥你的想象力，”老人说，“另外，还有，因为这世上总是不乏狐媚妖艳的女子，万一你以后稍有放纵，也不用担心，最终她会原谅你的。

当然，那是会带给她很大的伤害，但最后她还是会原谅你。

”
“不会发生那样的事，”艾伦激动地说。

“当然不会，”老人说，“不过，即便发生了，你也用不着担心。

她永远不会背弃你，噢，绝对不会！而且，她也绝对不会给你造成一点，一点点的不快。

”
“那要多少钱，”艾伦问，“你这神奇的药水。

“
“没那个贵，”老人答，“那个手套清除剂，或者我有时会叫它，生命清除剂。

没它贵，那要五千美元，绝不能少给一分钱。

能奢侈一下买这种药水的，年龄肯定比你大。

得存上点钱才买得起这个。

”
“那爱情水呢？”艾伦问。

“哦，这个，”老人答到，一边拉开餐桌抽屉，拿出一个看上去又脏又小的药水瓶，“这只要一美元。

”
“真不知道该怎么感你，”艾伦，看着老人把药水灌进小瓶，说。

“我非常乐意为你们效劳，”老人回道，“那么，如果你们以后生活宽裕点了，才会再回来购卖一些更贵的东西。

拿好了，它的药效非常好，这点你以后会知道的。

”
“你，”艾伦说，“再见。

”
“Au revoir，（再见）”老人说。