15 Jim Vanishes

CHAPTER 15 Jim Vanishes We didn't stop at a town again for days and days. We just kept on floating right down the river. Once the frauds reckoned they were out of danger, they started to work the villages again. They tried all sorts of tricks and games to make money, but none of them seemed to work. At last they were dead broke. They laid around on the raft, thinking and thinking. They were awfully sad and desperate.

第十五章吉姆失踪了我们有好多天没有在一个城镇停留。 我们就一直顺着河漂流下去。 一旦这些骗子认为他们已经脱离了危险，他们就又开始在村庄里做买卖。 他们尝试了各种各样的把戏和游戏来赚钱，但似乎没有一个奏效。 最后他们彻底破产了。 他们躺在木筏上，想啊想啊。 他们非常悲伤和绝望。

After awhile they started talking together in private. This made Jim and me uneasy. We didn't like the look of things. We knew the old frauds were planning some kind of trouble. We decided to give them the cold shake at the first opportunity, then clear out and leave them behind. At the next town, the king went ahead to look around. The duke and I followed a few hours later. We found the king getting in trouble and carrying-on. While he and the duke argued, I escaped. I ran back to the raft and called out to Jim, but there was no answer. He was gone! I searched and searched, but he was nowhere in sight. Finally I sat down and cried. I couldn't help it. I saw a young boy walking nearby. I described Jim, and asked the boy if he'd seen anyone like him that day. The boy said Jim was at the farm of a man named Silas Phelps. "That Jim was a runaway slave and now

过了一会儿，他们开始私下交谈。 这使吉姆和我感到不安。 我们不喜欢这些东西的样子。 我们知道那些老骗子在策划什么麻烦。 我们决定一有机会就给他们冷遇，然后离开，把他们留在后面。 到了下一个城镇，国王走在前面四处看了看。 几小时后，公爵和我也跟着去了。 我们发现国王惹上了麻烦，还继续胡闹。 他和公爵争论的时候，我逃走了。 我跑回木筏边喊吉姆，但没人回答。 他不见了！我找啊找啊，可他却不见踪影。 最后我坐下来哭了起来。 我没办法。我看见一个小男孩在附近走着。 我描述了吉姆的样子，问他那天有没有见过像他这样的人。 男孩说吉姆在一个叫塞拉斯·菲尔普斯的人的农场里。 “吉姆是个逃跑的奴隶，而现在

they've got him," the boy said. "There was a two hundred dollar reward for him. I saw the poster myself. Some old man gave away the information to the men in town for just forty dollars. It was like finding money on the road." I sat on the raft and tried to figure out what to do next. I thought until my head was sore, but I couldn't see any way out of the trouble. After all we'd done for those scoundrels, everything was ruined because they were heartless enough to sell Jim out for forty dollars. I thought I could write a letter back to Miss Watson. Maybe she would know what to do. Then I thought I would get in trouble for helping Jim escape and causing all of this trouble. I remembered all the good things Jim had done for me and how we helped and cared for each other. I knew that Jim would have to go back to his old life if I sent that letter. But if I could save him, he would be free again. Even if it meant that people thought I was doing a bad thing. I didn't

他们抓住他了。”男孩说。 “有人悬赏200美元找他。 我自己也看到了海报。有个老人把这条消息卖给镇上的人，只收了40美元。 这就像在路上捡钱一样。” 我坐在木筏上，想弄清楚下一步该做什么。 我一直想，直到我的头都痛了，但我还是找不到摆脱困境的办法。 我们为那些恶棍做了那么多，可现在一切都毁了，因为他们这么无情，为了四十块钱把吉姆出卖了。 我想我可以给沃森小姐回信。 也许她知道该怎么做。 然后我想我会因为帮吉姆逃跑而惹上麻烦。 我想起了吉姆为我做的所有好事，以及我们如何互相帮助和照顾。 我知道，如果我把那封信寄出去，吉姆就得回到过去的生活中去。 但如果我能救他，他就会重获自由。 即使这意味着人们认为我在做坏事。 我没有

care if people thought it was wrong. I was going to help him get free. I hid the raft, the canoe, and all of our gear. Then I headed up toward the Phelps' farm. When I got there, it was all still and lonesome. It was a small cotton plantation with a rail fence around a two-acre yard and a big log house that had been whitewashed. As I walked toward the house, some dogs started barking. They didn't stop until a woman came outside. She was about forty-five or fifty years old. Two children and some slaves followed behind her. Everyone was smiling. "It's you at last!" she said. "Am I right?" "Yes, ma'am," I said, before I could even think about it. She hugged me tightly and started crying. Then she told me that I didn't look like my mother, as she had expected. "I'm so glad to see you!" she said. "Children, it's your cousin Tom! Come say hello. We thought you'd be here a few days ago. We were

在乎别人是否认为这是错的。 我要帮他逃出来。 我把木筏、独木舟和我们所有的装备都藏了起来。 然后我朝菲尔普斯家的农场走去。 当我到达那里时，一切都是寂静而寂寞的。 这是一个小棉花种植园，有一个两英亩的院子，周围有围栏，还有一座粉刷过的大木屋。 当我朝房子走去时，一些狗开始叫了起来。 直到一个女人走了出来，他们才停下来。 她大约四五十岁。 两个孩子和几个奴隶跟在她后面。 每个人都在微笑。“终于是你了！”她说。 “我说得对吗？”“是的，夫人。”我想都没想就说。 她紧紧地抱住我，哭了起来。 然后她告诉我，我不像她预料的那样长得像我母亲。 “见到你真高兴！”她说。 “孩子们，是你们的堂兄汤姆！”过来打个招呼。 我们以为你几天前就在这里了。 我们是

so worried." I made up a story about my boat being delayed. While we talked I tried to get information about who I was pretending to be. I also tried to find out anything I could about Jim. I guessed this woman was Mrs. Phelps. When she brought me into the house, I guessed that the man inside was Mr. Phelps. "Why, who's this?" he asked when he saw me. "Well, who do you think?" she said. "It's Tom Sawyer!"

好担心啊。”我编了一个故事说我的船误点了。 我们谈话的时候，我试图弄清楚我装的是谁。 我也尽力了解吉姆的一切情况。 我猜这个女人就是菲尔普斯太太。 当她把我带进房子时，我猜里面的人是菲尔普斯先生。 “怎么，这是谁？”他看见我就问。 “那么，你认为是谁呢？”她说。 “是汤姆·索亚！”