12 Harvey and William Wilks

CHAPTER 12 Harvey and William Wilks A few days later the king and the duke wanted to try that game again. We hid the raft and Jim and the duke stayed with it. Then the king and I took a steamboat across the river. While we were on it, one of the other passengers started talking to the king. He told us about a family nearby that was expecting some visitors soon. The young man told us that two brothers named Peter and George Wilks had died

第十二章哈维和威廉·威尔克斯几天后，国王和公爵想再玩一次这个游戏。 我们把木筏藏起来，吉姆和公爵留在木筏上。 然后国王和我乘汽船过河。 当我们在上面的时候，另一个乘客开始和国王说话。 他告诉我们附近有一户人家不久就要来拜访了。 那个年轻人告诉我们，彼得和乔治·威尔克斯兄弟俩死了

recently, first George, then Peter. Their other brothers, Harvey and William, were coming because Peter had sent for them before he died. The young man then told us that William couldn't hear or speak. The young man said Peter had left a letter for Harvey, which said where he had hidden his money and how he wanted his property divided up after he was dead. He wanted to make sure that George's daughters would be all right. "Why hasn't Harvey arrived yet? Where does he live?" the king asked. "Oh, he lives in England—Sheffield. He preaches there. Harvey has never been in this country. He hasn't had too much time, and besides, he might not have even received the letter at all, you know." "Poor things!" the king said. "For those girls to be left alone in the cold world so." Well, the king went on asking questions until he had almost emptied that young fellow. He

最近，先是乔治，然后是彼得。 他们的另外两个兄弟，哈维和威廉也要来，因为彼得生前曾派人去请过他们。 然后那个年轻人告诉我们，威廉既听不见也说不出话来。 年轻人说，彼得给哈维留下了一封信，信中说了他把钱藏在哪里，以及他希望自己死后如何分配财产。 他想确保乔治的女儿们都平安无事。 “为什么哈维还没到？” 他住在哪里？”国王问道。 “哦，他住在英国的谢菲尔德。 他在那里讲道。哈维从来没来过这个国家。 他没有太多的时间，而且，你知道，他可能根本就没有收到那封信。” “可怜的人儿！”国王说。 “让那些女孩独自留在这个冰冷的世界。” 国王不停地问问题，直到他几乎把这个年轻人喝光了。 他

asked about everybody and everything in that town. He learned all about the Wilkses. He found out that Peter was a tanner, that George was a carpenter, that Harvey was a minister, and so on, and so on. "Was Peter Wilks well off?" "Oh, yes, pretty well off," said the young man. "He had houses and land, and it's reckoned he left three or four thousand in cash hidden somewhere." "When did you say he died?" "I didn't say, but it was last night." "Funeral tomorrow, likely?" "Yes, about the middle of the day." "Well, it's all terribly sad, but we've all got to go at one time or another. So what we want to do is to be prepared. Then we're all right." "Yes, sir, it's the best way. Ma used to always say that." When we landed at the other side and everyone else was gone, the king said:

询问镇上的每一个人和每一件事。 他了解了威尔克斯家的一切。 他发现彼得是个制革匠，乔治是个木匠，哈维是个牧师，等等，等等。 “彼得·威尔克斯富裕吗？”“哦，是的，相当富裕，”年轻人说。 “他有房子和土地，据估计他把三四千美元的现金藏在什么地方了。” “你说他什么时候死的？”“我没说，但那是昨晚。” “明天可能举行葬礼吧？”“是的，大约在中午。” “唉，这真是太悲哀了，但我们总有一天要走的。 所以我们要做的就是做好准备。 那我们就没事了。”“是的，先生，这是最好的办法。 妈妈以前总是这么说。” 当我们在对岸登陆，其他人都走了，国王说：

"Now hustle back and fetch the duke up here. And bring the carpet-bags. Hurry now!" I knew what he was up to, but I never said anything, of course. When I came back with the duke, the king told him everything. He repeated the information just like the young fellow had said it—every last word of it. And all the time he tried to talk like an Englishman. He did it pretty well. Then he said: "How are you on pretending that you can't hear or speak, Bilgewater?" The duke said he had acted that way before on stage. When we got to the village, about two dozen men saw us coming and ran down to meet us. "Can any of you gentlemen tell me where Mr. Peter Wilks lives?" the king asked, in his funny accent. The men looked at one another and nodded their heads. Then one of them said in a kind of soft and gentle voice:

“现在快回去把公爵叫上来。 把地毯袋拿来。 现在快点!”我知道他想干什么，但我当然什么也没说。 当我和公爵一起回来时，国王把一切都告诉了他。 他像那个年轻人说的那样重复了一遍——一个字不漏。 他一直努力像英国人那样说话。 他做得很好。然后他说：“毕奇沃特，你假装你听不见也说不出话来怎么样了？”公爵说他以前在舞台上也这么演过。 当我们到达村子时，大约有二十几个人看见我们来了，就跑下来迎接我们。 “你们哪位先生能告诉我彼得·威尔克斯先生住在哪儿吗？”国王用他那古怪的口音问道。 男人们面面相觑，点了点头。 这时，其中一个用一种温柔的声音说：

"I'm sorry, sir, but the best we can do is to tell you where he did live yesterday evening." The king started to cry and said: "Alas, alas, our poor brother! Gone, and we never got to see him. Oh, it's too, too hard!" Then he turned around, blubbering, and made some signs to the duke with his hands. And then the duke started crying! The men gathered around and tried to comfort them. They said all sorts of kind things to them and carried their carpet-bags up the hill for them. They let the king and the duke lean on them and cry while they told the king all about his brother's last moments. Then the king used his hands to tell the duke everything he had heard. I had never seen anything like them in my life.

“对不起，先生，我们只能告诉您他昨天晚上住在什么地方。” 国王哭了起来，说：“唉，唉，我们可怜的兄弟！走了，我们没机会见到他。 哦，太难了，太难了！”然后他抽泣着转过身来，向公爵做了几个手势。 然后公爵哭了起来！男人们围过来安慰她们。 他们对他们说了各种各样的好话，并替他们把他们的地毯袋搬上了山。 他们让国王和公爵靠在他们身上哭泣，同时告诉国王他哥哥的最后时刻。 然后国王用手告诉公爵他所听到的一切。 我一生中从未见过这样的景象。