月亮和六便士 第四十七章(5)(在线收听

 "I've tasted worse smoking mixtures in a pipe," he added, with a philosophic shrug of his shoulders, “我的烟斗就是比这更不是味儿的杂八凑烟也抽过,”他加添了一句,自我解嘲地耸了耸肩膀。

as he took a couple of cigars from the case I offered him, putting one in his mouth and the other in his pocket. 在他说这句话的时候又从我递过去的烟盒里拿了两支雪茄,一支衔在嘴上,一支揣在口袋里。
Now and then they made a bit of money. 偶然他们也有机会挣到一点儿钱。
Sometimes a mail steamer would come in, and Captain Nichols, having scraped acquaintance with the timekeeper, would succeed in getting the pair of them a job as stevedores. 有时候一艘邮轮开进港,尼柯尔斯船长同雇用计时员攀上交情,会给两人找个临时装卸工的活儿。
When it was an English boat, they would dodge into the forecastle and get a hearty breakfast from the crew. 如果是一艘英国船,他们会溜进前甲板下面的舱房里,在水手那里饱餐一顿。
They took the risk of running against one of the ship's officers and being hustled down the gangway with the toe of a boot to speed their going. 当然,这样做要冒一定的风险,如果遇见船上的高级船员,他们就要从跳板上被赶下来,为了催他们动作快一些,屁股后面还要挨一靴子。
"There's no harm in a kick in the hindquarters when your belly's full," said Captain Nichols, "and personally I never take it in bad part. “一个人只要肚子吃饱,屁股叫人踢一脚算不得什么,”尼柯尔斯船长说,“拿我个人说,我是从来不生气的。
An officer's got to think about discipline." 高级船员理应考虑船上的风纪的。”
I had a lively picture of Captain Nichols flying headlong down a narrow gangway before the uplifted foot of an angry mate, 我的脑子里活生生地出现一幅图画:一个气冲冲的大副飞起一脚,尼柯尔斯船长脑袋朝下地从窄窄的跳板上滚下来;
and, like a true Englishman, rejoicing in the spirit of the Mercantile Marine. 像一个真正的英国人那样,他对英国商船队的这种纪律严明的精神非常高兴。
There were often odd jobs to be got about the fish-market. 在鱼市场里也不时能够找点零活儿干。
Once they each of them earned a franc by loading trucks with innumerable boxes of oranges that had been dumped down on the quay. 还有一次,卡车要把堆在码头上的许多筐桔子运走,思特里克兰德同尼柯尔斯船长帮助装车,每人挣了一法郎。
One day they had a stroke of luck: 有一天两人很走运:
one of the boarding-masters got a contract to paint a tramp that had come in from Madagascar round the Cape of Good Hope, 一条从马达加斯加绕过好望角开来的货轮需要上油漆,一个开寄宿店的老板弄到包工合同,
and they spent several days on a plank hanging over the side, covering the rusty hull with paint. 他们两个人一连几天站在悬在船帮旁边的一条木板上,往锈迹斑斑的船壳上涂油漆。
It was a situation that must have appealed to Strickland's sardonic humour. 这件差事肯定很投合思特里克兰德的惯受讽嘲的脾气。
I asked Captain Nichols how he bore himself during these hardships. 我向尼柯尔斯船长打听,在那困顿的日子里,思特里克兰德有什么反应。
"Never knew him say a cross word," answered the Captain. “从来没听他说过一句丧气话,”船长回答说,
"He'd be a bit surly sometimes, but when we hadn't had a bite since morning, and we hadn't even got the price of a lie down at the Chink's, he'd be as lively as a cricket." “有时候他有点儿闷闷不乐,但是就是在我们整天吃不到一口饭,连在中国佬那里歇宿的房钱都弄不到手的时候,他仍然像蛐蛐一样欢蹦乱跳。”
I was not surprised at this. 我对此并不觉得惊奇。
Strickland was just the man to rise superior to circumstances, when they were such as to occasion despondency in most; 思特里克兰德正是超然于周围环境之外的人,就是在最沮丧的情况下也是如此。
but whether this was due to equanimity of soul or to contradictoriness it would be difficult to say. 这到底是由于心灵的宁静还是矛盾对立,那是难以说清的。
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