楊偉
《金銀島》由羅伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森(1850~1894)著作,它對后世的影響非常大,在好萊塢已經被數(shù)次改拍成電影電視,依舊十分受歡迎??梢赃@么說:如果說中國的孩子是看著《西游記》長大的,那么美國的孩子就是看著《金銀島》長大的?!督疸y島》可算是有史以來最好看的海盜小說?!督疸y島》中有波濤洶涌的大海、機智勇敢的少年、兇惡狡詐的海盜以及一份神秘的藏寶圖。圍繞著這份藏寶圖,少年吉姆一行人同海盜之間展開了一場驚心動魄的搏斗…… 故事情節(jié)驚險曲折,人物形象鮮明生動。這就是《金銀島》歷經百余年后,魅力經久不衰的原因。至今,它仍以其獨特的風姿,吸引著世界各國的少年兒童。
The story is told in the first person by Jim, whose mother kept the “Admiral Benbow Inn”. One day an old sea man with a scar on his face came to the inn. He lets Jim call him “Captain Bill” and often tells pirate1 adventure stories to Jim.
故事是以吉姆為第一人稱敘述的。他的媽媽經營著一家名叫“本寶將軍”的旅店。一天,一個臉上有疤的老船員來到旅館,他讓吉姆叫他“比爾船長”,并且經常給吉姆講海盜冒險故事。
“Captain Bill” tells Jim that his former shipmates covet the contents of his sea chest, and he pays Jim a few pennies to keep a lookout for a man with one leg, who is very vicious2.
“比爾船長”告訴吉姆,他以前的同船船員垂涎著他的水手箱里面的東西。他付給吉姆幾便士,讓吉姆幫他留意提防一個獨腿的水手,這個人非常惡毒。
One day he receives a “black spot” which says that he will die if he doesnt hand out treasure map the next morning. Finally Bill has a stroke3 and dies in fear. Jim and his mother open the sea chest, finding some money and a map. The map is of an island where the pirate Flint buried treasure. “Captain Bill” actually used to be a pirate on Flints ship. Then Jim, Doctor Livesey, and Squire Trelawney determine to look for the treasure together. They fit out a ship, hire hands and set out on their adventure.
一天,“比爾船長”收到了“黑券(最后通牒)”,要他第二天一早交出藏寶地圖,不然就必死無疑。后來“比爾船長”中風了,并在恐懼中死去。吉姆和他的母親打開了“比爾船長”的水手箱,發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些錢和一張地圖。地圖上顯示的是海盜弗林特在一個小島上埋藏寶藏的地方?!氨葼柎L”其實曾經是弗林特手下的一名海盜。后來吉姆、利弗西醫(yī)生和鄉(xiāng)紳特里勞尼決定一起去找寶藏。他們裝備了一艘船,雇了一些幫手便開始了冒險旅程。
Unluckily, several weeks later, Trelawney hires a cook with one leg called “Long John Silver”. When they are about to reach to Treasure Island, Jim overhears4 Silver talking with two other crewmen and realizes that he and most of the others are pirates and have planned a mutiny5.
不幸的是,幾個星期后,特里勞尼雇了一個獨腿廚子“朗·約翰·西爾弗”,當他們快要抵達金銀島時,吉姆偷聽到西爾弗同其他兩個水手的談話,發(fā)現(xiàn)原來他們這些人都是海盜并且計劃了一場叛變。
Jim tells the captain, Trelawney, and Livesey about it, and they think that they will be seven to nineteen against the mutineers and must pretend6 not to suspect anything until the treasure is found. But after the ship is anchored, Silver and some of the others go ashore7, and two men who refuse to join the mutiny are killed—one with so loud a scream that everyone realizes they can not pretend any more.
吉姆把這件事告訴了船長、特里勞尼和利弗西,他們認為自己和反叛者們的人數(shù)7比19寡不敵眾,所以在找到寶藏之前必須假裝什么都不知道。但是當船靠岸停泊以后,西爾弗他們上了岸,并殺了兩個拒絕和他們一起反叛的人——其中一個人的大聲喊叫使吉姆他們意識到不能再假裝下去了。
The battle between the pirates and Jims party is an exciting and bloody one. Jim escapes from the ship, and encounters8 Ben Gunn, another ex-crewman of Flints who has been marooned9 three years on the island. Ben Gunn treats Jim kindly and only wants a chance of getting back to civilization10. Actually he has already found and hidden the treasure, and finally the victors get aboard the ship with the treasure.
海盜和吉姆一行人之間的斗爭既精彩又血腥。吉姆從船上偷跑出來,發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個被困在島上三年的水手本·葛恩,他也曾經是海盜弗林特船上的船員。本·葛恩對吉姆很友好,他只希望自己有機會能重新回到文明社會里。實際上本·葛恩已經發(fā)現(xiàn)了寶藏并把它們藏了起來,最終這些勝利者們帶著寶藏上船回去了。
[1] pirate n. 海盜 [2] vicious adj. 惡毒的
[3] stroke n. 中風 [4] overhear vt. 無意中聽到;偷聽
[5] mutiny n. 叛亂;暴動 [6] pretend vi. 假裝,偽裝,佯裝
[7] ashore adv. 在岸上;向岸 [8] encounter vt. 遭遇,邂逅;遇到
[9] maroon v. 使孤立;放逐到無人島上 [10] civilization n. 文明;文化