最新英语阅读一-The-open-window

“My aunt will come down very soon, Mr. Nuttel,” said a very calm young lady of fifteen years of age; “meanwhile you must try to bear my company.”Framton Nuttel tried to say something which would please the niece now present, without annoying the aunt that was about to come. He was supposed to be going through a cure for his nerves; but he doubted whether these polite visits to a number of total strangers would help much.“I know how it will be,” his sister had said when he was preparing to go away into the country;“you will lose yourself down there and not speak to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever through loneliness. I shall just give you letters of introduction to all the people I know there. Some of them, as far as I can remember, were quite nice.”“纳托先生，我姑妈很快就会下来”，说话人是一位十五岁的年轻小姐，看上去沉着自信，“现在我来陪您，请多包涵。

”弗雷顿想说些让面前这位侄女高兴，而且又不会令即将到来的姑妈感到厌烦的话。

弗雷顿?纳托目前需要接受精神忧郁症的治疗，可是一个接着一个的拜访这样完全陌生的人真的会对他的神经有什么帮助吗？当时他正收拾行装准备来乡下静居，姐姐对他说：“我知道最后会是什么样子！到了那里你会迷糊，不跟任何人说一句话，而你的神经会因为抑郁不乐而变得更加糟糕。

我还是要写一些引见信，把你介绍给那里所有我认识的人，在我的印象中，有些人还是很和善的。

”Framton wondered whether Mrs. Sappleton, the lady to whom he was bringing one of the letters of introduction, one of the nice ones.“Do you know many of the people round here?”asked the niece,when she thought that they had sat long enough in silence.“Hardly one,” said Framton. “My sister was staying here, you know, about four years ago, and she gave me letters of introduction to some of the people here.”He made the last statement in a sad voice.弗雷顿现在就要把这样一封引见信交给赛普顿夫人，不知道这位夫人是不是属于和善之流。

“您在这里认识很多人吗？”那位小姐开口问道，因为她发现他们这样沉默的交流时间过长了。

“几乎一个人都不认识，”弗雷顿答道，“四年前我的姐姐在这里住过一段时间，是她写的引见信让我认识这里的人。

”他说最后一句话时，语气中透露出伤感。

“Then you know almost nothing about my aunt?”continued the calm young lady.“Only her name and address;” Framton admitted. He was wondering whether Mrs. Sappleton was married; perhaps she had been married and her husband was dead. But there was something of a man in the room.“Her great sorrow came just three years ago,” said the child. “That would be after your sister’s time.“Her sorrow?”asked Framton. Somehow, in this restful country place, sorrows seemed far away.“那么您实际上对我姑妈是一无所知了？”年轻的小姐继续问道。

“只知道她的名字和地址，”弗雷顿承认，同时他又在暗自考虑，这位赛普顿夫人是否结婚了，可能她结过婚但她的丈夫去世了。

但房间里有些说不清的迹象表明这里是有男人居住的。

“三年前她的家里发生了一场悲剧，”那孩子接着说，“当时您的姐姐应该已经离开这里了。

”“悲剧？”弗雷顿觉得有些不可思议，不知为什么他觉得在这样的乡村静地是不会发生什么悲剧的。

“You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on an October afternoon,” said the niece, pointing to a long window that opened like a door on to the grass outside.“It is quite warm for the time of the year,” said Framton; “but has that window got anything to do with your aunt’s sorrow?”“也许您会奇怪，为什么十月份的下午我们会将窗户大敞着，”那位小姐用手指着那扇宽敞的象扇门的落地窗说。

窗外是一片草坪。

“今年的十月天气不是很凉，”弗雷顿回答，“不过你的意思是说，这扇窗户跟那场悲剧有什么关系吗？”“Out through that window, exactly three years ago, her husband and her two young brothers went off for their day’s shooting. They never came back. In crossing the country to the shooting-ground, they were all three swallowed in a bog. It had been that terrible wet summer, you know, and places that were safe in other years became suddenly dangerous. Their bodies were never found. That was the worst part of it.”Here the child’s voice lost its calm sound and became almost human.“Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back someday, they and the little brown dog that was lost with them, and walk in at that window just as they used to do. That is why the window is kept open every evening till it is quite dark. Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they went out, her husband with his white coat over his arm, and Ronnie, her youngest brother, singing a song, as he always did to annoy her, because she said it affected her nerves. Do you know, sometimes on quiet evenings like this, I almost get a strange feeling that they will all walk in through the window ??”“三年前的今天，她的丈夫和两个弟弟，就是穿过那扇窗户去打猎，但是一去无返。

他们当时要去那块最适合猎射的地方，但是在穿过野地的时候，三个人意想不到的全部陷进沼泽里。

就是那个可怕的潮湿的夏天，让在其他年份里一直很安全的地方变得突然危险了。

最糟糕的是从未找到他们的尸体。

”说到这小孩的声音变得不再镇定，而是充满了感情色彩。

“可怜的姑妈总是相信他们有一天会回来，他们三个，还有那条跟他们一块儿失踪的棕色猎狗，会像从前一样从那扇窗户走进来。

那就是为什么这扇窗每个傍晚都会敞开着直到很晚的时候才关。

可怜的，亲爱的姑妈，她总是跟我提起当时他们出门的情景，她的丈夫胳膊上搭着一件白色外衣，她最小的弟弟，罗尼，象平常一样唱着会让她心烦意乱的歌，她曾说他的歌刺激着她的神经。

你知道吗，在这样安静的夜晚，我有时也会觉得他们会从那扇窗子走进来，这种感觉让我浑身发怵。

”She stopped and trembled. It was a relief to Framton when the aunt came busily into the room and apologized for being late.“I hope Vera has been amusing you?” she said.“She has been very interesting,” said Framton.“I hope you don’t mind the open window,”said Mrs. Sappleton brightly; “my husband and brothers will be home soon from shooting, and they always come in this way. They’ve been shooting birds today near the bog, so they’ll make my poor carpets dirty. All you men do that sort of thing, don’t you?讲到这里，她停了下来，打了个寒颤。