牛津书虫系列《三十九级台阶》Chapter2 附中英双语文本

2 The milkman starts his travels
2 送奶员开始旅行
I sat down in an armchair and felt very sick. After about five minutes I started shaking. The poor white face with its staring eyes was too much for me，so I got a tablecloth and covered it. Then I took the whisky bottle and drank several mouthfuls. I had seen men die violently before. I had killed a few myself in the Matabele war；but this was different. After a few more minutes I managed to calm myself down a little. I looked at my watch and saw that it was halfpast ten. I searched the flat carefully，but there was nobody there. Then I locked the doors and windows.
我坐在扶手椅上，感到很恶心。五分钟后开始颤栗。我受不了那张可怜的、惨白的脸和直瞪蹬的眼睛，因此，拿了一块桌布把它盖起来。然后抄起威士忌酒瓶喝了几口。以前我见过暴死的，在麦特比尔战争中也亲手杀过几个人；但这回却有所不同。又过了几分钟我才使自己稍微平静一点。看了看表，是十点半。我仔细地把寓所搜查了一遍，没发现什么人。然后就把门窗都锁起来。
By this time I was beginning to think more clearly. It looked bad for me-that was clear. It was now certain that Scudder's story was true-the proof was lying under the tablecloth. His enemies had found him and made sure of his silence. But he had been in my flat for four days，and they must think he had told his story to me. So I would be the next to die. It might be that night，or the next day，or the day after，but it was sure to happen.
直到此刻我才开始比较冷静地思考。情况对我不利——这很显然。斯卡德尔所言肯定不虚——证据就在桌布下面躺着。他的敌人找到了他，使他彻底沉默了。然而他在我寓所呆了四天，他们肯定认为他把事情告诉了我。所以下一个大概就轮到我死了。可能在今天晚上，可能在明天，也可能在后天，但我是死定了。
Then I thought of another problem. I could call the police now，or go to bed and wait for Paddock to discover the body and call them in the morning. But what would the police think？What story would I tell them about Scudder？I had lied to Paddock about him，and my story would be hard to believe. They would arrest me for murder，and I had no real friends in England to help me. Perhaps that was part of the plan. An English prison would be a safe place for me until the 15th of June.
接着我考虑了另一个问题。我可以现在就报警，或者上床睡觉，等帕多克早晨来发现了尸体再报警。可是警察会怎么想呢？我该如何向警察讲斯卡德尔的事呢？关于斯卡德尔的事我已经对帕多克撒了谎，因此我的话很难令人相信。他们会以谋杀的罪名逮捕我，在英格兰我又没有好朋友帮忙。也许这正是他们计划的一部分。在英国监狱呆到六月十五日对我来说倒是最安全。
Even if the police did believe my story，I would still be helping Scudder's enemies. Karolides would stay at home，which was what they wanted. Scudder's death had made me certain that his story was true；now I felt responsible for continuing his work. I hate to see a good man beaten，and if I carried on in Scudder's place，the murderers might not win.
即使警察相信我的话，我仍然是帮了斯卡德尔敌人的忙。卡罗里德斯就会留在国内，这正中他们的下怀。斯卡德尔的死使我确信他的话不假；我觉得现在有责任把他的事做下去。看到好人被打败我心有不甘，而如果我代替斯卡德尔干下去，那些凶手也许就不能得手。
I decided I must disappear，and remain hidden until just before the 15th of June. Then I must contact some government people and tell them Scudder's story. I wished he had told me more，and that I had listened more carefully to what he had told me. There was a risk that the government would not believe me，but it was my best chance. Perhaps more evidence would appear which would help me to make my story believable.
我决定必须躲起来，一直藏到六月十五日前。然后我得找政府的人，把斯卡德尔的事告诉他们。我真希望当初他多说点，或者我对他的话听仔细点。如果政府的人不相信我就要冒险了，但我只有这个最佳机会。也许将来证据会多一些，使我的话叫人相信。
It was now the 24th of May，so I had twenty days of hiding. Two groups of people would be looking for meScudder's enemies，who would want to kill me，and the police，who would want me for Scudder's murder. There was going to be a chase，and，surprisingly，I was almost happy about this. I did not want to sit in one place and wait. If I could move，the situation did not seem so bad.