《金银岛》开篇：英文原著带中文翻译

quire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17—, and go back to the time when my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the sabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof.

乡绅特里劳尼、利夫西医生和其余几位先生要我写下关于金银岛的全部详情，从头到尾，什么都不隐瞒，只有岛的方位除外，而这也只是因为那里还有尚未取出的宝藏。我就在恩典之年17…提起笔来，回到我父亲经营本鲍海军上将客店、那个带刀疤的褐色老水手第一次住到我们屋顶下的那个时候。

I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow—a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cove and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often afterwards:

我至今还记得他，仿佛就在昨天。他拖着脚步来到客店门口，他的水手箱由一辆手推车跟在后面。他是个高大、强壮、沉重、栗褐色的人，沾着柏油的辫子垂在他那件脏蓝外套的肩上，双手粗糙，布满伤疤，指甲发黑、断裂，一边脸颊上横着一道刀疤，脏兮兮的，呈青白色。我记得他环顾小海湾，一边看一边自顾自吹口哨，随后又突然唱起那首他后来常唱的老水手歌：

“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest— Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!”

「十五个人趴在死人箱上，哟呵呵，再来一瓶朗姆酒！」

in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken at the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, called roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste and still looking about him at the cliffs and up at our signboard.

那声音又高又老，颤颤巍巍，仿佛是在绞盘棒旁调出来又弄坏了的。接着他用随身带着的一根像绞盘棒的小棍敲门，等我父亲出来，就粗声粗气地要一杯朗姆酒。酒拿来后，他慢慢喝着，像个行家，细细品味，同时仍旧四下张望，看看峭壁，又抬头看看我们的招牌。

“This is a handy cove,” says he at length; “and a pleasant sittyated grog-shop. Much company, mate?”

「这是个方便的小海湾，」他终于说道，「也是家位置舒服的酒馆。客人多吗，伙计？」

My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity.

我父亲告诉他不多，客人很少，这就更可惜了。

“Well, then,” said he, “this is the berth for me. Here you, matey,” he cried to the man who trundled the barrow; “bring up alongside and help up my chest. I’ll stay here a bit,” he continued. “I’m a plain man; rum and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up there for to watch ships off. What you mought call me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I see what you’re at—there”; and he threw down three or four gold pieces on the threshold. “You can tell me when I’ve worked through that,” says he, looking as fierce as a commander.

「那么，」他说，「这就是我落脚的地方了。喂，你，伙计，」他朝推车的人喊道，「把车拉过来，帮我把箱子搬上去。我要在这儿住一阵子，」他接着说，「我是个简单的人，我要的是朗姆酒、咸肉和鸡蛋，还有上面那个岬角，好看船出海。你们可以叫我什么？你们可以叫我船长。哦，我明白你想说什么，那儿」；他把三四枚金币扔在门槛上。「等我花完这些，你再告诉我，」他说着，神情凶猛得像个指挥官。

And indeed bad as his clothes were and coarsely as he spoke, he had none of the appearance of a man who sailed before the mast, but seemed like a mate or skipper accustomed to be obeyed or to strike. The man who came with the barrow told us the mail had set him down the morning before at the Royal George, that he had inquired what inns there were along the coast, and hearing ours well spoken of, I suppose, and described as lonely, had chosen it from the others for his place of residence. And that was all we could learn of our guest.

的确，尽管他衣着破烂，说话粗鲁，却一点也不像普通水手，倒像是个习惯别人服从、也习惯动手打人的大副或船长。跟手推车一起来的人告诉我们，驿车前一天早上把他送到皇家乔治客栈，他打听沿海有哪些客店，听说我们这家口碑不错，我猜，还被说成偏僻清静，就在几家之中选了这里住下。关于这位客人，我们能打听到的就只有这些。