牛津书虫系列《神秘及幻想故事集》Chapter2 附中英双语文本

第二天早晨醒来时，我为我前夜的所作所为感到羞耻。但这种感情还不够强烈，不足以让我改过自新。我继续滥饮起来，因为想让我停下来真是太困难了。不久，我就将我做下的事情忘了个精光。
As the months passed，Pluto got better．His empty eye socket still looked terrible，but at least he wasn't in pain any more．Not surprisingly，he used to run away from me when he saw me，frightened that I would hurt him again．At first I was sad to see him run away-an animal which had once so loved me．Then I began to feel a little angry．There is something strange about the human heart．We humans seem to like hurt－ing ourselves．Haven't we all，a hundred times，done something stupid or evil just because we know that we should not do it？It was because of this，this need to hurt myself，that I did this next evil thing…
几个月过去了，普路托的伤势有所好转。它那空荡荡的眼窝看上去仍旧很可怕，但它起码不再觉得疼了。不出所料，它一见到我便赶紧跑开，惟恐我会再次伤害它。开始的时候，我看见它跑开还觉得很难过——这只动物从前是多么喜欢我呀。然后，我开始觉得有一点生气了。人类的心肠可真有点古怪，我们好像很喜欢伤害自己。难道我们不都曾明知故犯，昧着良心无数次干下这样那样的蠢事或者恶事吗？正是由于这个，由于这种自我伤害的需求，我紧接着又做下了这桩丧尽天良的事……
One morning I woke，found a rope and calmly tied it round Pluto's neck．Then I hung the poor animal from a tree and left it there to die．I cried as I did this terrible thing．My face was wet with tears and my heart was black and heavy．But I killed it．I killed it because I knew it had loved me，because it hadn't hurt me，even because I knew that I was doing something terrible and wrong．
一天早晨，我醒来后找到了一根绳子，平静地把它套在了普路托的脖子上。然后我将那可怜的畜生吊在一棵树上，任凭它那样死去。我一边做这件可怕的事情一边哭泣，眼泪打湿了我的脸颊，我的心又阴郁又沉痛。但是我吊死了它。我吊死它是因为我知道它曾经爱过我，是因为它不曾伤害过我，甚至是因为我知道我在做着一件可怕的错事。
That same night we had a fire in our house．I was woken from my sleep by loud shouts of ‘Fire！’When I opened my eyes，I found that the fire had already reached the bedroom．My wife and I ran out of the house as fast as we could．Luckily we escaped death，but the house and almost everything in it was destroyed．
当天夜里我们家的房子失火了。我从睡梦中惊醒，听见有人高喊：“着火了！”我睁开眼，发现大火早已烧到了卧室，便和我妻子一起飞也似地逃出了房子。我们侥幸死里逃生，可是房子以及房子里的几乎全部家当都烧了个精光。
The next day I went back into the house and saw several people standing in a group，looking at a wall．It was the only wall of the house that was still standing after the fire．It was one of my bedroom walls，the one where the head of my bed had rested．As I came nearer to the wall I heard someone say，‘How strange！’and another person，‘That's impossible！’And then I saw it-a huge cat．Not a real cat，but the shape of a cat outlined in the white bedroom wall．It was as clear as a picture．I could even see a rope around the animal's neck．
第二天，我回到房子里去，见几个人聚成一堆，正盯着一堵墙看。这是大火过后整栋房子惟一一堵仍旧立着的墙壁，是我卧室的四壁中的一面，平时我的床头就靠在上面。我向那面墙走近些，听见有人说：“真不可思议！”又听见另一个人说：“那是不可能的！”然后我也看见了——一只大猫。不是真猫，而是一只猫的形状，印在卧室雪白的墙上，像幅画一样清晰。我甚至可以看到那畜生脖子上拴着的绳子。
I stood there in horror，too frightened to move．Then，slowly，I thought back to the night before．I had left the cat hanging from a tree，in the garden at the back of my house．When a neighbour had first noticed the fire，many people had run into the garden．One of them had probably cut the cat from the tree and thrown it through my open window，in order to wake me up．The cat's body had hit my bedroom wall and left its shape there，because the plaster on that wall was new and still soft．
我魂飞魄散地站在那儿，吓得一动不敢动。然后，慢慢地，我回想起前一天夜里发生的事。我把猫吊在树上，是在我家后面的园子里。有一个邻居首先发现起火，很多人便跑进了那个园子。很可能是他们中间的某个人割断绳子，从树上解下那只猫，并将它顺着敞开的窗户扔进来，希望以此叫醒我。猫的尸体撞到我卧室的墙上，在上面印下了自己的轮廓，因为那面墙上的灰泥是新抹的，还软和着呢。