We walked over rough mountain - sides. It wasa cloudy,dark evening,but Alan knew the way. Atalmost half past ten,we saw lights moving belowus. People were hurrying in and out of a house.
“Is J ame s ma d ?”Alan said.“If the re d - coa tsc ame . the y c ould ma ke trouble for him. But I e xpe ctout of his me n is wa tching the roa d. And of cours e heknows no soldie rs c ould find our wa y ove r the mountain . ”
He whistled three times,in a special way. Atthe first sound of the whistle,everyone stood still. Icould see that they were afraid. At the third whistle,they recognized Alan ’s sign,and continuedwith their work.
We came down the hill - side and a fine,tallman met us at the gate. He spoke to Alan in Gaelic.
“J ame s Stewa rt,”Alan said,“you mus t s pe a k
我们翻过一个又一个崎岖不平的山坡。那天晚上天阴着,一片漆黑,但是艾伦熟悉那条路。快到十点半时,我们看到山下有火光在移动,一座房子里有许多人匆忙地出出进进。
艾伦说:“詹姆斯简直是发疯了!
红外套万一来这儿,一定要找他的麻烦。不过我估计他会派一名手下的人在路上望的。当然他知道红外套不认识咱们走过的这条山路。”
他用暗号吹了三声口哨。听到他的第一声口哨,那儿的人都静静地站住了,显然很害怕。等到第三声口哨吹完,他们听出是艾伦的暗号,又继续各干各的事了。
我们走下山坡,一位身材高大、眉清目秀的汉子在大门口迎接我们。
他用盖尔语跟艾伦说了几句话。
艾伦说:“詹姆斯· 斯图尔特,
in English,be c a us e this young ge ntle ma n doe s notunde rs ta nd the othe r la ngua ge . He re he is ,”he said,and put his arm through mine.“He c ome s from theLowla nds ,a nd is a la ird in h is own c ountry. I won ’tte ll you his name . It is not s a fe .”
你得讲英语,这位年轻的先生不懂盖尔语。我来介绍一下,”他说着挎起我的胳膊。”他是低地人,在他那一带是一位地主。为了安全起见,我不告诉你他的姓名了。”
James of the Glens welcomed me kindly. Thenhe turned back to Alan.
“Th is ha s be e n a te rrible a c cide nt,”he cried.“Itwill bring trouble on the country,a nd on inn oce nt pe ople. ”
He seemed very anxious.
“Ab ,we ll,”Alan said,“Colin Roy is de a d. Begra te ful for tha t.”
“Ye s ,”James said,“we ofte n wishe d for hisde a th ,a nd spo ke of it. It’s ha ppe ne d ,Ala n,a n d whowill be a r th e blame ?The a cc ide nt wa s in Appin,a ndAppin will pa y for it. I am a ma n with a family. We a rein noce nt.”
When they were talking,I looked at the servants.
Some were on ladders. They were taking guns,swords and other weapons out of the roof of the houseand the farm buildings. Others carried them away andburied them in the hillside. They were hurrying about,and spoke in low voices. I could see that they wereanxious. I remembered that the government had forbiddenthe Highlanders’use of weapons.
格伦斯家族的詹姆斯友善地对我表示欢迎,然后转过身,对艾伦大声说:
“这件事可真糟糕,这一地区和无辜的人们要遭殃了。”
他显得忧心忡忡。
艾伦说:“啊,不过,科林·罗伊死了。这该谢天谢地。”
詹姆斯说:“是呀,我们可一直心里盼、嘴上说,巴不得他一命呜呼呢。现在他死了,艾伦,可是谁来承担这个后果呢?事情出在亚品,亚品就得付出代价。我有妻室儿女,我们是无辜的。”
他们两人在交谈时,我看了看那些仆人。他们有的站在梯子上,正从这一家的屋顶底下和其他房子里往出搬运刀枪和别的武器,有的把这些武器扛走,埋在山坡上。他们匆匆忙忙,低声交谈着。我看得出来,他们心中都很着急。我记起政府早已下令,禁止高地人使用武器。
A girl who was carrying a bundle,came out ofthe house. The sight interested Alan at once.
“Wha t is tha t girl ta king awa y?”he asked.
“We ’re putting things awa y,Ala n,”James said.
“The re d - coa ts will s e a rch a ll App in. We ’re hidingthe guns . I think the s e a re your Fre nc h clothe s . Wemus t bury them.”
一位姑娘拿着包袱,从房子里走了出来。这一情况马上引起艾伦的兴趣。
“她拿走的是什么东西?”艾伦问道。
詹姆斯回答说:“我们在收藏东西,艾伦,红外套会搜查整个亚品地区的。我们正在藏枪支。我想包袱里是你的法国衣服,得埋起来。”
“Bu ry my Fre n ch clothe s !”Alan cried.“No ,indee d !”
He took the bundle quickly and went into thehouse to change his clothes.
James took me into the kitchen and talked tome kindly. His wife sat by the fire. She was crying,with her face in her hands. His eldest son was examininga great bundle of papers. Sometimes he tookone and burnt it. A servant girl with a red face wassearching the room for something. Sometimes a manput his face in at the door and asked a question.
At last James apologized and got up. Hewalked about.
“I c a nnot forge t this te rrible a cc ide nt,”he said.
“It will bring trouble on innoc e nt pe rs ons .”
He saw his son burning a paper. He thought itwas the wrong one. He struck him.
“埋我的法国衣服!不!不能埋!”艾伦大声说。
“他一把拿过那个女孩手里的包袱,走进房子里换衣服。”
詹姆斯把我带进厨房里,跟我亲切地交谈。他的妻子坐在炉火旁边,手捂着脸在哭泣。他的大儿子在整理一大捆文件,有时拿出来一份烧掉。一个脸色红润的女仆在房间里找什么东西。偶尔有人从门口探进头来,问个问题。
后来,詹姆斯说他失陪了,站起身来,在房间里踱来踱去。他说:
“我总是在想这件可怕的事,无辜的人们要受连累了。”
他看到他儿子在烧一份他认为不该烧的文件,就打了他一把,大声申斥道:
“Are you ma d ?”he cried.“You will ha ng me !”
He shouted at him in Gaelic. The young mansaid nothing,but the wife cried more loudly.
The sight of all this troubled me. I was gladwhen Alan returned in his French clothes. Theywere not very fine now. The sea water had spoiltthem.
Another son took me out and kindly gave mesome fresh clothes,too. They gave us each a swordand pistols and some gunpowder. For food there wasa bag of oatmeal . For drink there was a bottle ofgood French brandy. We took also an iron pan tomake porridge from the oatmeal . With these thingswe were ready,but we had little money. I had almosttwo guineas. and Alan a few pence,He hadsent his belt of gold to France. James had paid allhis money to lawyers to help the tenants. He hadonly three shillings and five pence.
“你疯了吗?想让我被绞死不成?”
他是用盖尔语申斥儿子的。他的儿子没有回嘴,可他的妻子却哭得更伤心了。
这一切使我感到不安。艾伦穿着他的法国衣服走进来时,我才轻松了一点。由于海水的浸蚀,那套法国服装已经不那么起眼了。
詹姆斯的另一个儿子领我走了出去,承蒙他的好心,我也换上了几件干净衣服。他们给了艾伦和我一人一把刀,几支手枪和一些火药,还有一袋麦片,供我们路上吃,一瓶法国产的上等白兰地,我们在路上喝,我们也带了一个浅平锅,准备煮麦片粥。这时,我们准备停当了,只是身上钱很少。我只有不到两个金几尼,而艾伦仅有几个便士。他让人把那条装满金币的腰带送到法国去了。詹姆斯为了佃户们的事把所有的钱都用去请了律师,身上只剩下三先令五便士。
“This is not e nough ,”Alan said.
“You mus t hide in a s a fe pla ce ,a nd s e nd me ame s s a ge ,”James said.“I will s e nd you some mone yif I c a n. But you mus t le a ve quic kly. The y will blameyou for this a ccide nt,a nd s e a rc h for yo u. And if the y
艾伦说:“这点钱不够用。”
詹姆斯说:“你先找个安全的地方躲起来,再给我带个信儿。要是能办到的话,我托人给你送点钱。
不过你得马上离开这儿。他们会把
blame you ,the y will blame me ,too . I am your re la -tion ,a n d you ha ve s ta ye d in my hous e .”
His face was white,and he bit his fingers.
“It will be a ba d thing for our frie nds ,if I ha ng,”
he said.“Oh,Ala n ,Ala n!You a nd I ha ve s poke nlike fools !”
“It is true ,”Alan said. “We we re fools . Myfrie nd from the Lowla nds ,” - he looked at me -“ga ve me a good word of a dvice . I did not lis te n tohim. We ll,”he added,“the da ylight will s oon c ome inthis month of July. Tomo rrow the re d - coa ts will behe re . We mus t le a ve you .”
We said good - bye,and went on our way. Itwas now a fine dark night over the mountain.
你看成这次事件的罪魁祸首,来捉拿你的。他们要是归罪于你的话,也会归罪于我的,因为我是你的亲戚,而且你在我家待过。”
他的脸色惨白,用嘴咬着手指头,说:
“我要是给绞死了,咱们那些朋友会吃亏的。唉,艾伦呀,艾伦!咱们说的这些都是傻话!”
艾伦说:“咱们过去确实是傻瓜。我的低地的朋友,”他瞅了瞅我,接着说,“好心劝告过我。我没有听他的话。咳!”他继续说,“现在是七月,天很快就要亮了。红外套明天会到这里来的。我们得向你们告辞。”
我们说了声再见,就上路了。
那天夜里,虽然晴着,但没有月亮。