Ghosts for Tea

       喝茶？闹鬼？

         'Ten pence for a view over the bay' . said the old man with the telescope.

'Lovely clearmorning. Have a look at the old lighthouse and the remains of the great shipwreckof 1935.'

         “在如此可爱清爽的早晨，10便士即可享受海湾的风景，观赏古老的灯塔和1935年失事的轮船的残骸”，一个拿着望远镜的老人吆喝着。

         tenpence was sheer robbery, but the view was certainly magnificent.

         虽然要10便士简直就是赤裸裸的敲诈，但是这景色也的确算得上是蔚为壮观。

         Cliffsstretched into the distance, sparkling waves whipped by the wind were unrollingon to the beach, and a few yachts, with creamy-white sails, were curving anddodging gracefully on the sea . Just below a flock of seagulls were screamingat one another as they twisted and glided over the water. A mile out to sea,the old lighthouse stood on a stone platform on the rocks, which were beinggreedily licked by the waves. In no way indeed did I grudge my money. As Idirected the telescope towards the lighthouse, the man beside me tapped mywrist.

         峭壁，绵延的向远方伸展；浪花，在海风的吹拂下，波光粼粼。海面上，扁舟几叶，张着乳白色的帆，优雅地绕着风浪，彳亍。峭壁下，一群海鸥，相互嬉戏着、盘旋着。离海岸一英里处，海浪贪婪地舔吸着岩石，岩石上古老的灯塔巍然耸立。

面对如此的美景，也就没有必要吝惜那么几个钱了。当我拿着望远镜，朝着灯塔的方向看去时，站在一旁的老头儿拍了拍我的肩膀。

         'Have you heard about the terrible tragedy that occurred there in thatlighthouse?' he asked in a hushed whisper.

他耳语道：“你听说过那个灯塔里发生的骇人听闻的惨案吗？”

'I imagine theremay be plenty of legends attached to such a dramatic-looking place' , I suggested.

“我感觉这是一个十分戏剧性的地方，我想，关于它的传说应该也不会少吧。”，我说道。

'It's no legend', declared the old man. 'My father knew the two men involved.lt all took place fiftyyears ago to-day. Let me tell you.

His voice seemedto grow deeper and more dramatic

“这可不是传说”，老头儿郑重其事的说到，“我的父亲和那两个卷入惨案的人曾有过交集”老头儿压低了声音，“悲剧就发生在50年前的今天，让我来慢慢地说给你听”。

'For a wholeweek that lighthouse had been isolated by storms' , he began, 'with terrifying seassurging and crashing over the rocks. People on shore were anxious about the twomen working there. They'd been on the best of terms until two or three weeksbefore, when they had quarreled over cards in the village inn. Martin hadaccused Blake of cheating. Blake had vowed to avenge the insult to his honour.But thanks to the wise advice of a man they both respected, they apologised toeach other, and soon seemed to have got over their disagreement. But someslight resentment and bitterness remained. and it was feared that the strain ofcontinued isolation and rough weather might affect their nerves, though, needlessto say, their friends had no idea how serious the consequences would be.

“当时，海浪猛烈的拍打的岩石，暴风把那灯塔隔离成了一个孤岛，一连七天七夜船只都无法靠近”，老头儿继续说着，“有两个人因为工作，困在了那个灯塔里。面对咆哮的大海，岸上的人也只能是万分焦急。那两个人曾是挚交，但就在悲剧发生的两三个星期前，他们在镇上的牌铺里因为斗地主吵了一架。Martin指责Blake出老千，Blake则发誓要报复Martin对他人格的侮辱。对亏了当时有一个他们俩都比较尊敬的人站了出来，一顿好说歹说，他们两才相互陪了个不是，很快也就忘了这糟心的事。本以为这事就这么的完了，没想到却留下了积怨。毕竟他们是在灯塔上工作的，他们的小伙伴们也担心他们会因为长期的与世隔绝和恶劣的天气会刺激他们的神经，指不定他们会干出什么事情出来，但谁也没想到结果最终会那么的惨不忍睹”

'Fifty years agotonight, no light appeared in the tower, and only at two o'clock in the morningdid the beam suddenly start to flash out its warning again.

“就在50年前的今晚，灯塔黑的出奇，但是，到了凌晨两点的时候，灯塔上突然发出了一束警告信号的灯光”

'The nextmorning the light was still visible. The storm had almost blown itself out, soa relief boat set out to investigate. A grim discovery awaited the crew . Themen's living-room was in a horrifying state. The table was over-turned: a packof playing cards was scattered everywhere :bloodstains splashed the floor. Therelief men climbed the winding stair to the lantern room and there discoveredMartin's body, crouched beside the burning lamp. He had been stabbed and wasdead. Two days later, Blake's body was washed up. scratched, bruised, andterribly injured.

“第二天早上，灯光依然可见，风暴也已经平息了下来，人们便派了一条救生艇去灯塔那。但，等待着救援人员的，却是一副触目惊心的画面：那两人的卧室惨不忍睹，桌子翻倒在地，一副扑克牌散落的到处都是，地板上血迹斑斑。救援人员沿着旋梯，爬上了灯塔间。在依然亮着的探照灯旁，他们发现了Martin的尸体，他是被刀刺死的。两天之后，Blake的尸体也被冲上了海岸，他浑身上下也有多出划痕和淤青，伤的也不轻”

' Only thencould we really start guessing what had happened. This great tragedy could onlyhave been due to a renewal of their quarrel. Bored and depressed as a result oftheir isolation, Martin and Blake must have started to play cards. Againsuspecting cheating, Martin had accused his former friend of dishonesty; afight had broken out and Blake had seized his knife. In a fit of madness he hadattacked his companion, who had fallen mortally wounded. Then, appalled by whathe had done, the loneliness, the battering of wind and waves, Blake had rushedto the parapet and flung himself on to the rocks below, where the sea hadclaimed him.

“就是那个时候，我们才推测出来当时究竟发生了什么：那场骇人的悲剧是因为他们俩之间再一次的争吵所引起的。由于一直宅在灯塔上，与世隔绝，他们俩有些郁闷和无聊，于是乎Martin和Blake就又开始斗地主，Martin又怀疑Blake出老千，说这位曾经的朋友一点都不老实，紧接着，一场打斗就在所难免了。失去理智的Blake当时就操起他的刀子，一阵狂怒的刺向了他的小伙伴Martin，Martin受伤当场倒地不起。然后，被孤独和风浪声包裹的Blake，无法承受自己所做的一切带来的恐惧，直接狂奔到围栏边，纵身坠落到了下面的岩石上，被海浪所吞噬”

'But Martin wasstill alive. Hours later, after darkness had fallen, he had recovered consciousness.He remembered his job of lighting the lamp; suffering intense pain, the poor wretchcrawled slowly up the winding staircase, dragging himself from step to steptill he got to the lantern. At his last ' gasp he managed to light this beforefinally collapsing.

“但是，Martin但是并没有死，几个小时后，夜幕降临，他醒了过来，他铭记着自己的工作是点亮灯塔，于是，可怜的Martin忍着剧痛，缓慢的爬上了旋梯，一步一步地，把自己的身体拽到了探照灯旁，在他倒下之前，用自己最后一口气，点亮了灯塔”

'For years afterwardsit was said that the lighthouse was haunted, and, owing to these stories, theydidn't have any applicants for the job of lighthouse-keeper from among thesuperstitious local inhabitants. And now they say that on every anniversary ofthat day, especially when the sea is rough, you can stand in the living-room,hear the cards failing and the sound of angry cries, seethe flash of a blade, andthen glimpse a figure rushing to the parapet. And then you hear the slow draggingof a body from step to step towards the room above.'

“数年之后，相传那个灯塔里面闹鬼了。也就是因为这些传说，迷信的当地人都不愿意接替看管灯塔的工作。自那以后，人们都说，每年到了出事的那一天，特别是海上波涛汹涌的时候，你都可以在卧室里听到扑克牌摔在地上的声音，听到一个人的怒吼，然后一阵刀刃的寒光闪过，只见一个人影奔向栏杆，最后，卧室里回荡着一个人缓缓向楼上爬行的声音”

The old manpaused and I turned to go.

老头儿停顿不言，我欲转身离去。

'By the way' ,he added, 'have you any free time this afternoon? If so, why don't you have teain the lighthouse? We are putting on a special boat trip to-day. We're charginga pound. And my brother, who bought the old lighthouse when they built the newone just on the point, can serve very good teas there - included in the priceof the boat trip - a bargain, considering the problem of obtaining the food.And if you are at all sensitive to the supernatural, you're likely to have an unusual,perhaps an uncanny experience there.

“额，对啦”，老头儿说道，“你下午有没有时间啊？要是有时间的话，不如去灯塔那边喝杯茶？我们今天有船，灯塔专线，收费就1镑。原址上建了一座新塔，那旧的灯塔已经被我兄弟承包了，我兄弟泡得一壶好茶，茶钱也给你算在船费里了，要知道现在搞到点食物也不容易，我这真的算是价格公道，童叟无欺。如果你对灵异事件感兴趣，你指不定就可以在这里拥有一次不寻常的，不可思议的经历呢。”

I eyed himappreciatively. 'You're wasting your talents' , I said. 'You should have been afiction writer

我以欣赏的眼光看着他，说道：“你真的是在浪费你的才华，你就应该去当一个小说家”

You don'tbelieve it? exclaimed the old man indignantly.

'I'd find it ajob,' I answered. ' My father, Henry Cox, started as keeper of that light housefifty- two years ago, and he and Jim Dowley, now retired on a pension, were incharge for ten years. Come and see my dad one day with that tale; he'd enjoyit' .

But the old manhad already turned his attention to a more likely client.

“你不相信吗？”，老头儿有些恼羞成怒。

         “我不信”，我回到道，“我老爸，Henry Cox，52年前就开始在那灯塔工作了，他和他的小伙伴Jim Dowley一起看守那灯塔10多年，现在都已经退休，拿着养老金了。有时间你去看看我老爸，给他讲讲这个故事，我相信他一定会喜欢的。”

但这老头儿已经把注意力放在下一个潜在客户身上了。