【故事主線】

分別來自中國香港、印度、英國和澳大利亞的六位主人公為了尋找傳說中的食人族踏上了開往南美的郵輪……

Profile

【人物簡介】

小強(qiáng)：男，香港富豪之子，喜好探險(xiǎn)旅游，本次探險(xiǎn)旅行的發(fā)起人。

蜜兒：女，香港某野外生存俱樂部教練，武功出色，中國的“勞拉”。

威廉：男，英國作家，以經(jīng)常發(fā)布一些驚世奇聞的旅行游記著稱。

桑杰：印度小男孩，印度洋海嘯后當(dāng)?shù)氐奈ㄒ恍掖嬲摺?/p>

艾德里安：男，澳大利亞生物學(xué)家，喜歡研究昆蟲。

白雪：蜜兒的寵物狗，忠心耿耿，總給人帶來意外驚喜。

編劇：Adrian Brookes（澳大利亞）

情節(jié)策劃：何彥平、王妮

插畫：姚薇

本欄目有償歡迎讀者參與劇情策劃

投稿信箱：contribution@bilingualtime.com

Plot Synopsis

【本期劇情】

憤怒的軍官命令水手們將蜜兒和小強(qiáng)看管起來，中途溜走的威廉跑來探望他們，他不僅說出了那個(gè)被蜜兒戲稱為“亞馬遜之后”的神秘女人的來歷，還交代了自己的過往。一波未平，一波又起。雖然輪船機(jī)房沒有任何損傷，但桑杰和白雪似乎又碰上了不懷好意的人……

Episode 4: William's Secret

第四集：威廉的秘密

Situation

情景

小強(qiáng)和密兒被關(guān)在維多利亞郵輪下甲板的一個(gè)房間里。這時(shí)有人敲門，是一個(gè)船員。

Seaman: A visitor for you…

（進(jìn)來的是威廉。）

Candy: William! What—

（威廉示意她別激動(dòng)，門砰地一聲在他身后關(guān)上了。）

Candy: What's happening? How come they let you in here?

William: Oh, the guard's all right, though he called someone first to check whether I was allowed in.

Candy: Where were you?

William: While you were getting yourselves in trouble, you mean? I saw it all, though I thought it best to stay out of sight. So what are you going to do now?

XiaoQiang: We have to find out what they're up to - that man and woman.

William: You still mean to carry on with your plan?

XiaoQiang: Yes, of course.

William: But you said you heard them plotting to kill you.

XiaoQiang: Yes…

William: And what if they do?

XiaoQiang: Oh… do you think they really would kill us?

William: (sighs and shakes his head) You don't know what you've got yourselves into, do you? You're in the web. She's watching you. There's no escape now, unless she decides to release you.

Candy: "She"? The man and woman talked about a "she". Who is she?

William: I've told you. And you rather flippantly christened her the Queen of the Amazon. Do you remember?

Candy: Yes…

XiaoQiang: But we're still on the other side of the world. How could she be watching us here?

William: Do you remember I said she might be from one of the old royal houses of Europe? All right, I'll tell you: she's from the old kingdom of Strovykia. Yes, where indeed! It's in a little corner of European Russia near the Caspian Sea. Her family had ruled there for hundreds of years, but when the revolution came they were overthrown - captured and shot, most of them. But Crown Prince Yakim and his young bride managed to get away, and they spent days hiding in the mountains, with revolutionary guards chasing them, before they got across the border and escaped.

Candy: How do you know all this?

William: I'll tell you. But let me finish… The prince and his wife escaped into a neighbouring country, but the government there wanted to appease the revolutionaries and plotted to send them back to Strovykia. Price Yakim found out about it, so they stowed away on a ship bound for Brazil, where they lived in exile. A year later they had a daughter, and as the girl grew up they made sure she learned all about her country and her heritage. But one day, while the daughter was in the care of her nurse, Prince Yakim and his wife were shot and killed by Strovykian agents. The assassins would have killed the daughter, too, except that her nurse, who was from a remote region of the Amazon, fled for her life to her home village and took the girl with her. The assassins, who either lost track of them or no longer thought the girl was a threat, left them alone.

（門外有聲音，門被打開了，水手把桑杰和白雪帶了進(jìn)來。）

Seaman: Some friends for you. Mr Baines will be here to speak with you shortly.

Candy: Sanjay! Are you OK? And Snow White! What happened?

Sanjay: We are quite well, thank you.

Candy: Mr Baines was very angry. Why did you go to the engine room?

Sanjay: A man chased us. We did not want to go there.

Candy: A man? You mean, a seaman?

Sanjay: No. A passenger. A man in a brown suit.

XiaoQiang: The man from cabin 13!

（白雪在吠叫。）

Candy: Why was he chasing you? Was he threatening you?

Sanjay: No. He only said he wanted to talk to me. But he was a bad man. I could tell, and Snow White knew, as well.

Candy: What happened to the engines? They stopped - what did you do to them?

Sanjay: We did nothing to them. We only went through the engine room until we found another way out. To get away from the man.

Candy: Well, I'm relieved to hear it. But I guess we'll have to wait and find out what Mr Baines has to say. Anyway… William, we interrupted your story.

William: That's quite all right. Where was I? Ah, yes… The girl grew up into a strong-willed young lady who remembered very well all that she'd been taught about Strovykia, and also how her parents had been murdered. She was, of course, the next in line to the throne of her country, if there was a throne to be had, and she considered herself the rightful queen. She grew in bitterness, and resolved that one day she'd return there and take the power she still thinks is hers. Madness, yes - but her life has been a thirst for vengeance on Strovykia for all that's happened to her.

Candy: How do you know all this?

William: I've researched it.

Candy: I don't understand…

William: I've spent five years, on and off, researching it all.

Candy: What for?

William: Because I wanted to write a book about it. I have to scrape a living somehow, and that's how I do it. I write various pieces for travel magazines, and once, while I was in Peru, I stumbled across this story. I spent much of the next five years there, gathering information bit by bit, until I knew I'd hit on something astounding and almost beyond belief. Then, just when I was ready to sit down and put it all together, I had a visitor.

XiaoQiang: Who?

William: Someone she sent along, who told me the addresses and daily habits of all my family members, and all my movements too, who then laid a loaded pistol on the table and said, "So you wouldn't want to do anything unwise." I took all my notes and all the tapes I'd made and all the photographs I'd taken to do with that story and I burned them as he watched. Then he picked up the pistol and pointed it straight at my head, and he said, "Take a good look at this, because if I ever need to use it you won't see it." Then he took out a bullet and gave it to me, and said, "See - one just like this will go through the back of your head. Keep it so you won't forget." He leans back in his seat weakly. So, how could she be watching us from the other side of the world? People such as her are born with great influence, and they know how to use it.

Candy: What's her name?

William: She's known as Serafima. It means the Burning One. All her life she's been burning inside with bitterness and the anguish of her lost crown. She's used the situation in the Amazon - the remote areas where governments have little control - to establish a kingdom for herself. And there, with a band of loyal supporters, she's been building up a vast wealth using the area's resources and training an army that's meant to infiltrate Strovykia and unleash a devastating war on all the neighbouring republics and oblasts in the Russian Federation. She plans to strike so hard that the Russian government will have no alternative but to obliterate the whole region.

Candy: But how can you be sure of all that?

William: Sure? Oh, I can be sure enough after five years of research. I hold enough pieces of the puzzle to know the shapes of the others.

Candy: Why are you telling us now, if you've been warned against it?

William: Because I can't get rid of her! Every so often she sends me a little reminder: a photo of me taken earlier that day, or someone passing me on the street who tells me she hopes I'm looking after myself… or once I even threw away the bullet that thug of hers had given me, and when I returned home that night there was another one in a little jewellery box sitting on my kitchen table.

（門開了，郵輪的長官貝恩斯先生走了進(jìn)來。）

Mr.Baines: ( looks troubled and embarrassed) Right… You've caused enough nuisance on this ship to get yourselves thrown off at the next port, but I'm instructed to return you to your former status as paying guests - in other words, to let you go free. It's not my choice, and I'd want an undertaking of good behaviour from you. Fortunately the ship's engines were shut down by the chief engineer as a precaution, not because of anything you did to them… So you may go back to your cabins.

（他打開門，大家走出房間。）

William: It's her influence - she's even got control over the ship's officers now. She's closing the net around us, and no mistake - from the other side of the world.

Situation

情景

小強(qiáng)和密兒被關(guān)在維多利亞郵輪下甲板的一個(gè)房間里。這時(shí)有人敲門，是一個(gè)船員。

水手：有人來看你們……

（進(jìn)來的是威廉。）

蜜兒：威廉！怎么回事——

（威廉示意她別激動(dòng)，門砰地一聲在他身后關(guān)上了。）

蜜兒：發(fā)生什么事了？他們?cè)趺磿?huì)讓你進(jìn)來?

威廉：哦，門衛(wèi)還好，雖然他先打電話叫人查了我的身份才讓我進(jìn)來。

蜜兒：你那會(huì)兒去哪兒了？

威廉：你是指在你們?nèi)堑溕仙淼臅r(shí)候？我都看見了，但是我覺得我最好別露面?，F(xiàn)在你們打算怎么辦？

小強(qiáng)：我們必須知道他們這會(huì)兒要干什么——那對(duì)男女。

威廉：你的意思是還要繼續(xù)你的計(jì)劃？

小強(qiáng)：那當(dāng)然。

威廉：但你說你聽到他們說要?dú)⒘四銈儭?/p>

小強(qiáng)：是啊……

威廉：如果他們這么做了怎么辦？

小強(qiáng)：哦……你認(rèn)為他們真的會(huì)殺了我們？

威廉：（嘆氣，搖了搖頭）你們并不知道給自己惹了什么麻煩，對(duì)吧？你們已經(jīng)陷入了他們的陷阱，她在盯著你們，你們逃不了，除非她打算放了你們。

蜜兒：“她”？那對(duì)男女提到了一個(gè)“她”，她是誰？

威廉：我告訴過你們，你還戲稱她是亞馬遜之后，你還記得嗎？

蜜兒：恩……

小強(qiáng)：但我們還在地球的另一端，她怎么能夠在這里監(jiān)視我們？

威廉：你們還記得我說過她可能來自歐洲一個(gè)古老的皇室家族嗎？好吧，我跟你們說，她來自斯喬維基亞這個(gè)古老的王國，對(duì)，是那兒！位于俄國歐洲大陸靠近里海的一個(gè)角落。她的家族在那塊地方統(tǒng)治了好幾百年，但一場(chǎng)革命將他們推翻了，大多數(shù)王室成員不是被抓，就是被槍決。但是王儲(chǔ)亞基姆和他年輕的新娘逃過了這劫。他們?cè)谏缴隙悴亓藬?shù)日，期間革命衛(wèi)隊(duì)對(duì)他們窮追不舍，但最后他們成功地穿過邊境逃脫了。

蜜兒：你怎么知道這些？

威廉：我會(huì)告訴你們的，但是先讓我說完……王儲(chǔ)和他的妻子逃到鄰國，但是鄰國政府想討好革命軍，暗地里計(jì)劃將他們送回斯喬維基亞。王儲(chǔ)亞基姆得知這些之后便偷偷登上一艘前往巴西的輪船，之后在巴西過著流亡的生活。一年后，他們有了個(gè)女兒。小姑娘長大后，他們告訴了她有關(guān)她的國家和家世的所有情況。但是有一天，當(dāng)孩子由保姆看護(hù)的時(shí)候，王儲(chǔ)亞基姆和他的妻子都被斯喬維基亞的特務(wù)殺害了。這些特務(wù)本來也要?dú)⒌艉⒆?，但來自亞馬遜偏遠(yuǎn)地區(qū)的保姆拼命帶著孩子逃回家鄉(xiāng)并收養(yǎng)了她。特務(wù)要么因?yàn)槭チ怂齻兊男雄?，要么認(rèn)為這個(gè)小女孩兒構(gòu)成不了什么威脅，便隨她們?nèi)チ?，不再追查?/p>

（門外有聲音，門被打開了，水手把桑杰和白雪帶了進(jìn)來。）

水手：你們的朋友來了。貝恩斯先生一會(huì)兒會(huì)過來跟你們談話。

蜜兒：桑杰！你沒事吧？還有白雪！發(fā)生什么事了？

桑杰：我們都很好，謝謝。

蜜兒：貝恩斯先生很生氣，你們?yōu)槭裁匆艿捷啓C(jī)房去？

桑杰：有個(gè)男人在追我們，我們也不想去那兒。

蜜兒：一個(gè)男人？你是指船員？

桑杰：不，一個(gè)乘客，一個(gè)穿褐色西裝的男人。

小強(qiáng)： 13號(hào)船艙的那個(gè)男人。

（白雪在吠叫。）

蜜兒：他為什么追你們？他威脅你們了嗎？

桑杰：沒有，他只說他有話要跟我說。但是我知道他是壞人，白雪也知道。

蜜兒：引擎怎么了？它們停下來了，你們都干了什么？

桑杰：我們什么也沒干，我們只是穿過輪機(jī)房，直到我們找到另一條出路，躲開了那個(gè)男人。

蜜兒：哦，聽你這么說我就放心了。但我想我們還得等貝恩斯先生，看他會(huì)說些什么，不管怎樣……威廉，我們剛才打斷了你。

威廉：不要緊，我剛才說到哪兒了？啊，對(duì)……孩子長大后成為一個(gè)意志堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的姑娘，她牢記所有關(guān)于斯喬維基亞的事情，以及她的父母是如何被謀殺的。毫無疑問，如果還有王位可繼承的話，她理應(yīng)是那個(gè)王國的下一個(gè)帝王，而且她也認(rèn)為自己理應(yīng)成為女王。她在成長過程中歷經(jīng)艱難，她發(fā)誓總有一天要回到那里，將她一直認(rèn)為屬于她的權(quán)利奪回來。她真瘋狂——但她一生都渴望為她所有的遭遇對(duì)斯喬維基亞進(jìn)行復(fù)仇。

蜜兒：你怎么知道這些？

威廉：我研究過。

蜜兒：我不明白……

威廉：我斷斷續(xù)續(xù)花了5年的時(shí)間來研究這些。

蜜兒：你研究這些做什么？

威廉：因?yàn)槲蚁霝檫@個(gè)寫一本書。我要有一個(gè)維持生活的方式，那就是我的方式。我為旅游雜志撰寫各種各樣的文章。有一次，我在秘魯?shù)臅r(shí)候偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個(gè)故事。接下來的五年中我的大部分時(shí)間都花在那里，點(diǎn)點(diǎn)滴滴地搜集資料，直到發(fā)生了一些讓人無法置信令人震驚的事情。正當(dāng)我準(zhǔn)備坐下來把這些事情全部串聯(lián)起來的時(shí)候，有人找上門了。

小強(qiáng)：誰？

威廉：是她派來的人。那個(gè)人把我所有家人的地址和日常習(xí)慣都跟我說了一遍，還把我的行蹤也描述了一番，他在桌上放一支上了膛的手槍，對(duì)我說：“所以你不會(huì)做任何不明智的事情吧?！蔽野盐宜杏嘘P(guān)那個(gè)故事的筆記、錄音帶和照片在他面前通通燒毀。然后，他拿起那支槍對(duì)準(zhǔn)我的腦袋說：“好好看清楚它，因?yàn)槿绻矣蒙狭怂?，你就再也看不見它了。”他拿出一顆子彈給我，說：“看，一顆這樣的子彈會(huì)穿過你的后腦勺。留著它，讓它給你長記性?！彼従彽叵蛞巫雍竺婵咳ァＴ诘厍虻牧硪欢怂趺茨鼙O(jiān)視我們呢？像她這樣的人生來就有強(qiáng)大的權(quán)勢(shì)，而且懂得如何利用這些權(quán)勢(shì)。

蜜兒：她叫什么？

威廉：人們管她叫色拉費(fèi)馬，意思是燃燒的人。她一生內(nèi)心都因失去皇冠而飽受煎熬，痛苦不堪。她利用了亞馬遜當(dāng)?shù)氐那樾危鞘且粋€(gè)偏遠(yuǎn)的地區(qū)，山高皇帝遠(yuǎn)，政府疏于管理，她便在那里建立了一個(gè)自己的王國。在一批?；逝傻闹С窒拢卯?dāng)?shù)氐馁Y源創(chuàng)造了巨大的財(cái)富，訓(xùn)練了一批人，打算讓他們混進(jìn)斯喬維基亞并向周邊所有聯(lián)邦共和國和州區(qū)發(fā)動(dòng)毀滅性戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。她打算發(fā)動(dòng)強(qiáng)烈的攻擊，使得俄羅斯政府除了將這塊地方鏟成平地外將別無選擇。

蜜兒：你怎么能確定這一切呢？

威廉：確定？哦，五年的研究足夠讓我這樣確定。就這個(gè)疑團(tuán)我掌握了足夠的資料得以讓我了解其它一些情況。

蜜兒：如果你被警告過，那為什么又要告訴我們？

威廉：因?yàn)槲覕[脫不了她！她時(shí)不時(shí)地給我送來一個(gè)小提示：一張前些天拍的我的照片，或在大街上一個(gè)與我擦肩而過的人跟我說她希望我能好好照顧自己……甚至有一次我將她派來的那個(gè)兇漢給我的子彈扔了，當(dāng)天晚上我回到家里的時(shí)候，發(fā)現(xiàn)另一顆子彈裝在一個(gè)小首飾盒中放在我的餐桌上。

（門開了，郵輪的長官貝恩斯先生走了進(jìn)來。）

貝恩斯先生：（看上去有些窘困與不安）好了……你們?cè)谶@艘船上制造了那么多麻煩，在下一港口你們下船吧，但是上級(jí)命令我依然當(dāng)你們是支付了船費(fèi)的乘客來對(duì)待，換句話說就是放了你們，這不是我的意思，我希望你們會(huì)有好的表現(xiàn)。好在是輪機(jī)長以防萬一把郵輪的引擎給關(guān)了，而不是因?yàn)槟銈儗?duì)它們干了什么……所以現(xiàn)在你們可以回到自己的船艙里去了。

（他打開門，大家走出房間。）

威廉：這是她的意思。她現(xiàn)在甚至控制了這艘船上的官員。她要對(duì)我們動(dòng)手了，沒錯(cuò)，從地球的另一端。

Notes

1. stay out of

意為“保持不受……影響、避開、不介入”，stay out of sight指“別讓人看見”。

例句：You stay out of this!

你別參與此事！

His father told him to stay out of trouble.

他父親叫他避開是非之地。

2. be up to

意為“從事……”。

例句：If he know what you are up to, he is sure to be angry.

假使他知道了你想干什么一定會(huì)生氣的。

3. manage to

意為“設(shè)法做……、想辦法做……、達(dá)成”。

例句：How did you manage to get all that wine through Customs?

你是怎樣使那些酒都通過海關(guān)檢查的?

He managed to avoid his pursuers.

他設(shè)法甩掉了那些追捕者。

4. live in exile

意為“流亡異鄉(xiāng)、過背井離鄉(xiāng)的生活”。

例句：Hamlet is a Danish prince who lived in exile in England.

哈姆雷特是一位流亡在英國的丹麥王子。

5. in the care of

意為“在……的照料下”，如果說交托某人照料或看護(hù)，通常與leave搭配。

例句：Leave the child in the care of a neighbour.

把小孩留給鄰居照看。

6. except that

意為“除了……外、只可惜”。

例句：I don't know exactly where he lives, except that it's far from the city.

我不太清楚他住在哪里，只知道他住得離城市很遠(yuǎn)。

She remembered nothing about him except that his hair was black.

她對(duì)他什么都不記得, 只記得他的頭發(fā)是黑的。

7. leave someone alone

意為“不管、不理、不干涉、讓……單獨(dú)呆著”，文中指不再追查她們的下落。

例句：She's asked to be left alone but journalists keep harrying her.

她要求不要打擾她, 但記者總是纏著她不放。

Kindly leave me alone!

勞駕您別打擾我!

8. get away from

意為“逃脫、離開”。

例句：He fled out of town to get away from the cops.

他逃出城，以免落在警察手里。

You can't get away from those facts.

你無法回避這些事實(shí)。

9. strong-willed

意為“意志堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的、固執(zhí)己見的”。

例句：To be a successful man ,one must be strong-willed.

要成為一名成功人士，一定要有堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的意志。

Her father was such a strong-willed tyrant that you could never manage to persuade him to marry his daughter to you.

她父親固執(zhí)專制，你別想說服他把女兒嫁給你。

10. in line

意為“有秩序”，文中指按秩序繼承王位，in line with是指“跟……一致、符合”。

例句：The students all stand in line to get their new books.

學(xué)生們排隊(duì)取新書。

Behaviours must be in line with words.

言行要一致。

11. thirst for

意為“非?？释⑵惹幸蟆?。

例句：On these dry days, you soon thirst for a cool drink.

在那些干旱的日子里，你不久就會(huì)渴望喝點(diǎn)清涼的東西。

Many boys have a thirst for adventure.

許多男孩兒都渴望冒險(xiǎn)。

12. scrape a living

意為“勉強(qiáng)夠維持生活”。

例句：I manage to scrape a living by selling my pictures.

我靠賣畫糊口。

13. stumble across

意為“偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)”。

例句：He stumbled across a clue.

他偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)線索。

They stumbled across the entrance to an underground passage.

他們偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)地下通道的入口。

14. hit on

意為“偶然碰到、想到、找到”。

例句：Who hit on this brilliant idea?

這個(gè)好主意是誰想到的？

15. beyond belief

意為“難以置信的、不可思議的”。

例句：Oh, yes! It's changed beyond belief.

噢，是的！變得讓人難以置信。

I find his behaviour beyond belief.

我發(fā)覺他的所作所為到了簡直令人難以置信的地步。

16. sent along

意為“派遣、發(fā)送”。

例句：When we were trapped in the deep forest ,they sent along a group of dog to find us.

當(dāng)我們困在叢林深處時(shí)，他們派了一批狗來找我們。

The goods are to be sent along before the end of this month.

該批貨物要在這個(gè)月底以前發(fā)出。

17. lean back

意為“向后傾斜”。

例句：He leaned back to hear what she was saying.

他向后仰想聽清她正在說什么。

18. be born with

意為“生而具有”。

例句：Not everyone was born with such gifts as you.

并非所有的人生來都像你這樣有天賦。

She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

她生來富貴。

19. have no alternative but to

意為“只得、別無選擇、唯一的辦法是”，也可以說have no choice but to。

I'll have no alternative but to go with you.

除了跟你走我別無選擇。

Caught in the act, he had no alternative but to confess.

他被當(dāng)場(chǎng)抓住，除了招供別無出路。

20. shut down

意為“關(guān)閉、停業(yè)”，也可以指“壓制怒火”。

例句：Some coal-mines had to shut down.

有些煤礦不得不關(guān)閉。

He shut down upon his anger and sat down.

他壓住心頭的怒火坐了下來。

21. control over

意為“控制”。

例句：He lost control over his emotions.

她的情緒失控了。

Husband should never try to control their wives, and vice versa.

丈夫不要試圖控制妻子，反之亦然。

To be continued…

下集預(yù)告

關(guān)于神秘女人的傳說和威廉的遭遇以及貝恩斯先生的反應(yīng)使大家時(shí)刻感到殺機(jī)四伏，這個(gè)旅程究竟該繼續(xù)還是放棄？威廉在咖啡館給小強(qiáng)和蜜兒帶來一個(gè)陌生人，這時(shí)屋子里另一端的希爾夫婦正在沖他們微笑，而桑杰的突然出現(xiàn)使希爾夫人反應(yīng)激烈，神秘的斯喬維基亞再次浮出水面，桑杰有問題？他是……