?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Ghosts for Tea

? ? ???喝茶？鬧鬼？

???????? '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.'

???????? “在如此可愛清爽的早晨，10便士即可享受海灣的風景，觀賞古老的燈塔和1935年失事的輪船的殘骸”，一個拿著望遠鏡的老人吆喝著。

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

???????? 雖然要10便士簡直就是赤裸裸的敲詐，但是這景色也的確算得上是蔚為壯觀。

???????? 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，綿延的向遠方伸展；浪花，在海風的吹拂下，波光粼粼。海面上，扁舟幾葉，張著乳白色的帆，優雅地繞著風浪，彳亍。峭壁下，一群海鷗，相互嬉戲著、盤旋著。離海岸一英里處，海浪貪婪地舔吸著巖石，巖石上古老的燈塔巍然聳立。

面對如此的美景，也就沒有必要吝惜那么幾個錢了。當我拿著望遠鏡，朝著燈塔的方向看去時，站在一旁的老頭兒拍了拍我的肩膀。

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

他耳語道：“你聽說過那個燈塔里發生的駭人聽聞的慘案嗎？”

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

“我感覺這是一個十分戲劇性的地方，我想，關于它的傳說應該也不會少吧。”，我說道。

'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

“這可不是傳說”，老頭兒鄭重其事的說到，“我的父親和那兩個卷入慘案的人曾有過交集”老頭兒壓低了聲音，“悲劇就發生在50年前的今天，讓我來慢慢地說給你聽”。

'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.

“當時，海浪猛烈的拍打的巖石，暴風把那燈塔隔離成了一個孤島，一連七天七夜船只都無法靠近”，老頭兒繼續說著，“有兩個人因為工作，困在了那個燈塔里。面對咆哮的大海，岸上的人也只能是萬分焦急。那兩個人曾是摯交，但就在悲劇發生的兩三個星期前，他們在鎮上的牌鋪里因為斗地主吵了一架。Martin指責Blake出老千，Blake則發誓要報復Martin對他人格的侮辱。對虧了當時有一個他們倆都比較尊敬的人站了出來，一頓好說歹說，他們兩才相互陪了個不是，很快也就忘了這糟心的事。本以為這事就這么的完了，沒想到卻留下了積怨。畢竟他們是在燈塔上工作的，他們的小伙伴們也擔心他們會因為長期的與世隔絕和惡劣的天氣會刺激他們的神經，指不定他們會干出什么事情出來，但誰也沒想到結果最終會那么的慘不忍睹”

'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，燈塔黑的出奇，但是，到了凌晨兩點的時候，燈塔上突然發出了一束警告信號的燈光”

'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，燈光依然可見，風暴也已經平息了下來，人們便派了一條救生艇去燈塔那。但，等待著救援人員的，卻是一副觸目驚心的畫面：那兩人的臥室慘不忍睹，桌子翻倒在地，一副撲克牌散落的到處都是，地板上血跡斑斑。救援人員沿著旋梯，爬上了燈塔間。在依然亮著的探照燈旁，他們發現了Martin的尸體，他是被刀刺死的。兩天之后，Blake的尸體也被沖上了海岸，他渾身上下也有多出劃痕和淤青，傷的也不輕”

' 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.

“就是那個時候，我們才推測出來當時究竟發生了什么：那場駭人的悲劇是因為他們倆之間再一次的爭吵所引起的。由于一直宅在燈塔上，與世隔絕，他們倆有些郁悶和無聊，于是乎Martin和Blake就又開始斗地主，Martin又懷疑Blake出老千，說這位曾經的朋友一點都不老實，緊接著，一場打斗就在所難免了。失去理智的Blake當時就操起他的刀子，一陣狂怒的刺向了他的小伙伴Martin，Martin受傷當場倒地不起。然后，被孤獨和風浪聲包裹的Blake，無法承受自己所做的一切帶來的恐懼，直接狂奔到圍欄邊，縱身墜落到了下面的巖石上，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但是并沒有死，幾個小時后，夜幕降臨，他醒了過來，他銘記著自己的工作是點亮燈塔，于是，可憐的Martin忍著劇痛，緩慢的爬上了旋梯，一步一步地，把自己的身體拽到了探照燈旁，在他倒下之前，用自己最后一口氣，點亮了燈塔”

'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.'

“數年之后，相傳那個燈塔里面鬧鬼了。也就是因為這些傳說，迷信的當地人都不愿意接替看管燈塔的工作。自那以后，人們都說，每年到了出事的那一天，特別是海上波濤洶涌的時候，你都可以在臥室里聽到撲克牌摔在地上的聲音，聽到一個人的怒吼，然后一陣刀刃的寒光閃過，只見一個人影奔向欄桿，最后，臥室里回蕩著一個人緩緩向樓上爬行的聲音”

The old manpaused and I turned to go.

老頭兒停頓不言，我欲轉身離去。

'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.

“額，對啦”，老頭兒說道，“你下午有沒有時間啊？要是有時間的話，不如去燈塔那邊喝杯茶？我們今天有船，燈塔專線，收費就1鎊。原址上建了一座新塔，那舊的燈塔已經被我兄弟承包了，我兄弟泡得一壺好茶，茶錢也給你算在船費里了，要知道現在搞到點食物也不容易，我這真的算是價格公道，童叟無欺。如果你對靈異事件感興趣，你指不定就可以在這里擁有一次不尋常的，不可思議的經歷呢。”

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

我以欣賞的眼光看著他，說道：“你真的是在浪費你的才華，你就應該去當一個小說家”

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.

“你不相信嗎？”，老頭兒有些惱羞成怒。

???????? “我不信”，我回到道，“我老爸，Henry Cox，52年前就開始在那燈塔工作了，他和他的小伙伴Jim Dowley一起看守那燈塔10多年，現在都已經退休，拿著養老金了。有時間你去看看我老爸，給他講講這個故事，我相信他一定會喜歡的。”

但這老頭兒已經把注意力放在下一個潛在客戶身上了。