Michael and Mary 迈克尔和玛丽

文苑·

小说

35

Michael and Mary

迈克尔和玛丽

文/谢默斯·奥凯利

1

译/刘仲良 审订/任东升

By Seumas O’kelly

ary had spent many days gather-

ing wool from the whins on the

headland

2

.

They were the bits of wool

shed by the sheep before the shearing.

When she had got a fleece that fitted the

basket she took it down to the canal and

washed it. When she had done washing

it was a soft, white, silky fleece. She put

it back in the brown sally basket, press-

ing it down with her long, delicate fin-

gers. She had risen to go away, holding

the basket against her waist, when her

eyes followed the narrow neck of water

that wound through the bog.

2

She could not follow the neck of

yellow water very far. The light of day

was failing. A haze hung over the great

Bog of Allen

3

that spread out level on all

sides of her. The boat loomed out of the

haze on the narrow neck of the canal wa-

ter. It looked, at first, a long way off, and

it seemed to come in a cloud. The soft

M

几天来，玛丽都在草地

边上的灰石头堆里捡羊

毛，那全是些未剪前掉落的小

毛球。拾满篮子，她便提到运

河边浣洗。洗毕，羊毛变得柔

软洁白，光亮丝滑。她把洗好

的羊毛装回棕色的柳条篮子

里，用修长的手指压实后，便

直起身，打算离去。她拎上篮

子挎在腰间，目光顺着狭长的

河渠望向远处。这河渠蜿蜒曲

折，穿过了泥炭地。

2

天色将暮，日光渐暗，渠

中河水泛黄，远处已看不清楚。

艾伦沼泽向四周平平地延伸开

来，雾似轻纱，笼罩在这片沼

泽上。朦朦胧胧中，狭窄的河

渠里，一艘小舟若隐若现。起

初，玛丽瞧着那船还在老远开

外，好似自云中而来。霞光万

丈，柔和地照耀在小船上，给

好

1（1881—1918），爱尔兰小说家，剧作家。本文选自《金舟》（

The Golden

Barque

）。 2 headland原义为“岬角”，这里可以理解成“草地边上”，上面垒着

灰石头（whins）。 3艾伦沼泽，位于利菲（Liffey）河和香农（Shannon）河之间，

面积约958平方公里，大规模开采泥炭以供电厂作燃料，挖掘泥炭后的土地用来放牧。

英语世界 2022·12

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rose light that mounted the sky caught

the boat and burnished it like dull gold.

It came leisurely, drawn by the one horse

looking like a Golden Barque in the twi-

light. Mary put her brown head a little

to one side as she watched the easy mo-

tion of the boat. The horse drew himself

along deliberately, the patient head going

up and down with every heavy step. A

crane rose from the bog, flapping two

lazy wings across the wake of the boat,

and reaching its long neck before it, got

lost in the haze.

3

The figure that swayed by the big

arm of the tiller on The Golden Barque

was vague and shapeless at first, but

Mary felt her eyes following the slow

movements of the body. Mary thought

it was very beautiful to sway every now

and then by the arm of the tiller, steering

a Golden Barque through the twilight.

4

Then she realised suddenly that

the boat was much nearer than she had

thought. She could see the figures of the

men plainly, especially the slim figure

by the tiller. She could trace the rope

that slackened and stretched taut as it

reached from the boat to the horse. Once

it splashed the water, and there was a little

spout of silver. She noted the whip looped

under the arm of the driver. Presently

she could count every heavy step of the

horse, and was struck by the great size of

the shaggy fetlocks. But always her eyes

went back to the figure by the tiller.

2022·12 英语世界

船镀上了一层暗金色。暮色中，

一匹马拉着船缓缓而来，像传

说中的金舟。一头棕发的玛丽

微微侧过头，看着船徐徐前行。

马很有耐心，不慌不忙，步子

坚实有力，头跟着步伐上下摆

动。泥炭地里，一只白鹤飞了

起来，脖子伸得很长，悠闲地

挥动翅膀，飞过了船艄在河中

留下的尾纹，消失在薄雾中。

3

起初，金舟长长的舵柄旁，

有个身影起伏摇摆，隐隐约约，

若有若无，但玛丽察觉到自己

的目光跟随那个身影缓慢的动

作移动着。她心想，暮色初上，

驾驶金舟，站在舵柄旁随波荡

漾，荡来荡去，真是美妙极了。

4

蓦地，回过神来，玛丽才

惊觉船其实离自己很近。船员

的身形依稀可辨，舵柄旁修长

的身材尤其突出。她的眼睛顺

着纤绳，从船头延伸到马身上。

纤绳时而松，时而紧，偶尔落

入水中，溅起一团银色的水花。

她看到马鞭子绕成圈，夹在马

夫腋下。没多久，马哒哒的步

子都能数清楚了。玛丽看到马

蹄子上的毛浓密蓬乱，着实有

点受惊。即便如此，她的目光

还是落在那个掌舵人身上。

5

玛丽后退几步，看着金舟

驶过。它来自奇异的远方，穿

文苑·

小说

37

She moved back a little way to see

The Golden Barque pass. It came from

a strange, far-off world, and having tra-

versed the bog went away into another

unknown world. A red-faced man was

sitting drowsily on the prow. Mary smiled

and nodded to him, but he made no sign.

He did not see her; perhaps he was asleep.

The driver who walked beside the horse

had his head stooped and his eyes on the

ground. He did not look up as he passed.

Mary saw his lips moving, and heard him

mutter to himself; perhaps he was pray-

ing. He was a shrunken, misshaped little

figure and kept step with the brute in the

journey over the bog. But Mary felt the

gaze of the man by the tiller upon her. She

raised her eyes.

6

The light was uncertain and his

peaked cap threw a shadow

4

over his

face.

But the figure was lithe and youth-

ful. He smiled as she looked up, for she

caught a gleam of his teeth. Then the

boat had passed. Mary did not smile in

return. She had taken a step back and

remained there quietly. Once he looked

back and awkwardly touched his cap,

but she made no sign.

7

When the boat had gone by some

way she sat down on the bank, her bas-

ket of wool beside her, looking at The

Golden Barque until it went into the

gloom. She stayed there for some time,

thinking long in the great silence of the

5

过沼泽地，向另一个不可知的

世界驶去。船头坐着一个红脸

人，睡眼惺忪。玛丽笑着向他

点头，可他并没有理会。他没

看见，也许是睡着了。走在马

旁边的马夫低头看着地面，经

过玛丽时也没有抬头。玛丽看

到那人嘴唇在动，听到嘴里嘀

咕，或许是在祈祷。他身材矮

小，佝偻驼背，一步一步地跟

着马，在沼泽上前行。不过玛

丽隐约感到舵边那个男子正注

视自己，便抬起头来。

6

光线模糊，帽檐的影子映

在他脸上，看不清脸的样子。

但能感觉到他身材刚健，活力

四射。玛丽抬头的瞬间，他笑

了笑，隐约露出白白的牙齿。

船从身旁驶过，玛丽并未回以

微笑，只是退后一步，静静地

站着。那人曾一度回头，不好

意思地扶了扶帽子，可玛丽没

做任何回应。

7

船驶过很远了，玛丽便在

岸上坐下来，将羊毛篮子放在

身旁，望着金舟缓缓而去，消

失在茫茫暮色之中。沼泽一片

寂静，她独坐良久，思绪飘荡，

久久不能回归。终于，她起身

了，底下的运河清冷冰凉。放

眼望去，新月朦胧，孤挂天际，

映在水中。

4 throw a shadow 原义为“投下阴影”，这里表示帽檐遮住了光线，看不清脸。

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bog. When at last she rose, the canal

was clear

5

and cold beneath her. She

looked into it. A pale new moon was

shining down in the water.

8

Mary often stood at the door of the

cabin on the headland watching the

boats that crawled like black snails over

the narrow streak of water through the

bog. But they were not all like black

snails now. There was a Golden Barque

among them. Whenever she saw it she

smiled, her eyes on the figure that stood

by the shaft of the tiller.

9

One evening she was walking by the

canal when The Golden Barque passed.

The light was very clear and searching.

It showed every plank, battered and tar-

stained, on the rough hulk, but for all

that it lost none of its magic for Mary.

The little shrunken driver, head down,

the lips moving, walking beside the

horse. She heard his low mutters as he

passed. The red-faced man was stoop-

ing over the side of the boat, swinging

out a vessel tied to a rope, to haul up

some water. He was singing a ballad in

a monotonous voice. A tall, dark, spare

man was standing by the funnel, look-

ing vacantly ahead. Then Mary’s eyes

travelled to the tiller.

10

Mary stepped back with some em-

barrassment when she saw the face. She

backed into a hawthorn that grew all

alone on the canal bank. It was covered

玛丽经常倚在草地边的小

屋门前，观望过往船只。它们

像黑色的蜗牛，在沼泽间狭窄

的河渠里爬行。此刻，不全是

蜗牛了，其中就有一条是金舟。

无论何时，只要看到金舟，她

总会露出微笑，眼睛盯着舵柄

旁站着的那个身影。

9

一天傍晚，金舟经过时，

她正走在河渠边。此时光线很

亮，一切尽收眼中。船身陈旧，

上面的条板破烂不堪，沾满了

柏油污渍。即便如此，玛丽依

然认为它魔力十足。那瘦小的

马夫低头走在马旁，嘴唇不停

在动。经过玛丽时，她听到了

低低的喃喃声。红脸的家伙弯

腰趴在船边，用吊桶在渠里打

水，嘴里唱着山歌，声音单调

极了。一个高大黝黑的瘦子站

在烟囱旁，茫然地望着远方。

最后，玛丽的眼睛移到了舵手

身上。

10

看到那张脸，玛丽羞涩中

不由后退了几步，退到一株山

楂树下。山楂树孤零零地长在

河渠旁的堤坝上，鲜花正盛，

经她这一碰，白色的花瓣从空

中洒落，落得她身边到处都是，

有些挂在发丝上，宛若花环。

男子举起帽子微微一笑。玛丽

没想到，那张脸是那么热切激

8

5这里clear既指水面如镜，又指河上已经没有船。

2022·12 英语世界

文苑·

小说

39

with bloom. A shower of the white pet-

als fell about her when she stirred the

branches. They clung about her hair like

a wreath. He raised his cap and smiled.

Mary did not know

6

the face was so

eager, so boyish. She smiled a little

nervously at last. His face lit up, and he

touched his cap again.

11

The red-faced man stood by the

open hatchway going into the hold, the

vessel of water in his hand. He looked

at Mary and then at the figure beside the

tiller.

“Eh, Michael,” the red-faced man

said quizzically. The youth turned back

to the boat, and Mary felt the blush

spreading over her face.

12

“Michael!”

Mary repeated the name a little softly

to herself. The gods

7

had delivered up

one of their great secrets.

13

She watched The Golden Barque

until two square slits in the stern that

served as port holes looked like two

little Japanese eyes. Then she heard

a horn blowing. It was the horn they

blew to apprise lock-keepers of the ap-

proach of a boat. But the nearest lock

was a mile off. Besides, it was a long,

low sound the horn made, not the sharp,

commanding blast they blew for lock-

keepers. Mary listened to the low sound

of the horn, smiling to herself. After-

动，又那么稚气可掬。她终于

窘迫地笑了，而男子顿时容光

焕发，又伸手碰了碰帽子。

11

红脸人拎着水桶，站在船

舱口。先看了看玛丽，又看了

看舵柄旁的那个人。

“啊哈，迈克尔。”他调侃

地叫了一声。那小伙子转头看

向船上，玛丽感觉自己的脸红

到了耳根。

12

“迈克尔！”

玛丽喃喃自语，念叨着那

个名字。诸神总算泄露了些许

天机。

13

她望着金舟离去，两个方

孔舷窗逐渐缩小，最后成了一

对眯缝着的眼睛。接着她听到

了汽笛声。通常船只在靠近水

闸时才会鸣笛告知管闸人。可

是最近的水闸也在一英里开

外，这又是为何？再说，这汽

笛声舒缓悠长，不是催促开闸

的那种尖锐短促的声音。玛丽

6这里did not know表示“没想到”，表达心里的那种激动之情。 7这里gods应为

爱尔兰古时的神，不是基督教的神。

英语世界 2022·12

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wards the horn always blew like that

whenever The Golden Barque was pass-

ing the solitary hawthorn.

14

Mary thought it was very wonder-

ful that The Golden Barque should be

in the lock the one day that she was

travelling with her basket to the market

in the distant village. She stood a little

hesitantly by the lock. Michael looked

at her, a welcome in his eyes.

15

“Going to Bohermeen?” the red-

faced man asked.

“Ay, to Bohermeen,” Mary answered.

Mary hesitated, as he held out a big

hand to help her to the boat. He saw the

hesitation and turned to Michael.

“NOW. Michael.” he said.

16

Michael came to the side of the

boat, and held out his hand. Mary took

it and stepped on board. The red-faced

man laughed a little. She noticed that

the dark man who stood by the crooked

funnel never took his eyes from the

stretch of water before him. The driver

was already urging the horse to the start

on the bank. The brute was gathering

his strength for the pull, the muscles

standing out on his haunches. They

glided out of the lock.

17

It was half a mile from one lock to

another. Michael had bidden her stand

beside him at the tiller. Once she looked

up at him and she thought the face shy

but very eager, the most eager face that

ever came across the bog from the great

2022·12 英语世界

听着这低沉的鸣笛，会心地笑

了。往后，只要金舟经过那株

孤零零的山楂树，总会鸣同样

的笛声。

14

有一天，玛丽提着篮子上

远处村庄的市场去，路过水闸

时，恰逢金舟，玛丽觉得真巧。

在水闸旁，她约略踌躇，停下

脚步。迈克尔望着她，眼里满

是欢喜。

15

“要去波赫曼吗？”红脸

人问道。

“嗯，去波赫曼。”玛丽回

答说。

那人伸出大手要拉她上

船，玛丽犹豫了。看到玛丽举

棋不定，他便转身对迈克尔说：

“迈克尔，你来吧。”

16

迈克尔走到船边，伸出手，

玛丽拉住，上到船上。红脸人

笑了。玛丽环顾四周，看见弯

曲的烟囱旁，那个黑汉子目不

斜视，望着前方的水域。马夫

已经在岸上赶马动身。马鼓足

了劲，后股的肌肉都凸了起来。

他们驶过水闸。

17

两座水闸相距半英里。迈

克尔让玛丽挨着自己站在舵柄

边。她曾抬头看了一眼迈克尔

的脸。那张脸虽然羞色外露，

却也不乏热情。在所有经过这

片沼泽地的外乡青年中，唯有

文苑·

小说

41

world.

18

Afterwards, whenever Mary had

the time, she would make a cross-cut

through the bog to the lock. She would

step in and make the mile journey with

Michael on The Golden Barque. Once

when they were journeying together,

Michael slipped something into her

hand. It was a quaint trinket, and shone

like gold.

“From a strange sailor I got it,” Mi-

chael said.

19

Another day that they were on the

barque, the blinding sheets of rain that

often swept over the bog came upon

them.

The red-faced man and the dark

man went into the hold. Mary looked

about her, laughing. But Michael held

out his great waterproof for her. She

slipped into it and he folded it about

her. The rain pelted them, but they stood

together, Michael holding the big coat

folded about her. She laughed a little

nervously.

20

“You will be wet,” she said.

Michael did not answer. She saw the

eager face coming down close to hers.

She leaned against him a little and felt

the great strength of his arms about her.

They went sailing away together in The

Golden Barqut through all the shining

seas of the gods.

21

“Michael,” Mary said once, “is it

not lovely?”

“The wide ocean is lovely,” Michael

那张面孔最为热烈。

18

从那以后，只要玛丽有时

间，都会抄捷径穿过泥炭地去

水闸边。她在那里登上金舟，

陪迈克尔在水中划上一英里。

有一次，他们一起航行时，迈

克尔偷偷往她手里塞了件东

西。那是一件别致的首饰，金

光闪闪。

“从一个陌生水手那里弄

来的。”迈克尔说。

19

有一日，他们在船上时，

沼泽地常见的暴雨不期而至，

打得睁不开眼睛。红脸人和黑

汉子躲进了船舱。玛丽笑着看

看四周。迈克尔把自己的大雨

衣给了她。玛丽钻进雨衣，迈

克尔替她裹好。雨打在身上，

他们依然站在一起，迈克尔紧

紧抱着裹在玛丽身上的雨衣，

她羞怯地笑了。

20

“你会淋湿的。”她说。

迈克尔没有吭声。她看

到他热切的脸低下来，与她的

挨近了。她又向他靠了靠，感

觉环绕她的臂膀是那么强劲有

力。他们像是驾驶仙舟在神圣

光亮的海上航行，驶向远方。

21

“迈克尔，”玛丽开口问道，

“真美啊，是不是？”

“大海才美呢，”迈克尔回

答说，“穿过沼泽时，我总会

想起大海。”

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said. “I always think of the wide ocean

going over the bog.”

awe. She had never seen the wide

“The wide ocean!” Mary said with

ocean. Then the rain passed. When the

two men came up out of the hold Mary

and Michael were standing together by

the tiller.

22

“大海！”玛丽惊叹道。

after that for some time. She was work-

Mary did not go down to the lock

她可没见过大海。雨停了。那

ing in the

两人出来时，他俩还贴在一起，

headland. Once the horn blew late in the

reclaimed ground

8

on the

站在舵柄旁。

night. It blew for a long time, very soft-

22

那之后的好些日子，玛丽

ly and lowly. Mary sat up in bed listen-

都在篱笆边新开垦的地里劳

ing to it, her lips parted, the memory of

作，没到水闸那里去。某天深

Michael on The Golden Barque before

夜，汽笛声响起，响了很久，

her. She heard the sound dying away in

the distance. Then she lay back on her

声音低沉又柔和。玛丽在床上

pillow, saying she would go down to

坐起身，丹唇微启，仔细倾听，

him when The Golden Barque was on

想起金舟上的迈克尔。听着听

the return journey.

着，声音渐渐消失在远处。随

后她重新躺下，心想金舟返回

23

on the return was not Michael’s. When

The figure that stood by the tiller

时要去看看迈克尔。

Mary came to the lock the red-faced

23

返回的船上，舵柄旁站着

man was telling out the rope, and where

的人不是迈克尔。玛丽来到水

Michael always stood by the tiller there

闸边，看到红脸人正在一圈一

was the short strange figure of a man

圈地解拽缆绳。迈克尔过去经

with a pinched, pock-marked face.

常站的那个地方有个小矮个，

24

一脸苦相，且有麻子。

rope round the stump at the lock, bring-

When the red-faced man wound the

24

红脸人把缆绳绕在水闸边

ing the boat to a stand-still, he turned to

的木桩上，停稳船，转过头来

Mary.

看向玛丽。

“Michael is gone voyaging,” he said.

“迈克尔航海去了。”他说。

“Gone voyaging?” Mary repeated.

“航海？”她问。

8这里reclaimed ground指原本荒芜、后经垦植适于耕种的土地。

2022·12 英语世界

文苑·

小说

43

“Ay,” the man answered. “He would

be always talking to the foreign sailors

in the dock where the canal ends. His

eyes would be upon the big masts of the

ships. I always said he would go.”

25

Mary stood there while The Golden

Barque was in the lock. It looked like a

toy ship packed in a wooden box.

26

“A three-master he went in,” the

red-faced man said, as they made ready

for the start. “I saw her standing out for

the sea last night. Michael is under the

spread of big canvas. He had the blood

in him for the wide ocean, the wild

blood of the rover.” And the red-faced

man, who was the boss of the boat, let

his eyes wander up the narrow neck of

water before him.

27

Mary watched The Golden Barque

moving away, the grotesque figure

standing by the tiller.

She stayed there

until a pale moon was shining below

her, turning over a little trinket in her

fingers. At last she dropped it into the

water.

It made a little splash, and the vision

of the crescent was broken.

■

“是。”那人回答说，“在

运河终点的船坞，他常跟外国

海员交流，眼睛里只有大桅杆。

我一直说他留不住的。”

25

玛丽站在岸上，金舟停在

水闸边，看起来就像个装在木

盒子里的玩具船。

26

“他上了一艘三桅大船。”

红脸人说着，准备开船了，“昨

晚我看到那船整装待发，预备

出海，巨帆高悬，迈克尔就站

在下面。他骨子里就向往大海，

向往自由闯荡。”红脸人是船

老板，他抬眼望了望眼前狭窄

的河渠。

27

玛丽望着金舟远去，舵柄

边立着的依旧是那个丑陋猥琐

的男子。她静静地站着，手里

摩挲着那枚小小的首饰，一直

站到水面映出一弯模糊的月

影。最终，玛丽把首饰扔进了

河里。

河中溅起一团水花，弯弯

的月影也碎了。

□

（译者单位：兰州大学外

国语学院）

英语世界 2022·12