SELECTED STORIES BY O.HENRY欧•亨利短篇小说选集

9

HEARTS AND HANDS心与手

At Denver there was an influx of passengers into the coaches on the eastbound B. & M. express. In one coach there sat a very pretty young woman dressed in elegant taste and surrounded by all the luxurious comforts of an experienced traveler. Among the newcomers were two young men, one of handsome presence with a bold, frank countenance and manner; the other a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed. The two were handcuffed together.
丹佛站，一群旅客拥上了从波士顿向东开往缅因的特快列车。在其中一节车厢里坐着一位非常漂亮的年轻女人，她衣着端庄文雅，周围放满了一个有经验的旅行者才能想到的奢侈享受品。刚上车的人群里有两位年轻男子，一个很英俊，面容和风度显得勇敢和坦诚；另一位身材笨重，面容阴郁，衣冠不整。两个人被手铐铐在了一起。
As they passed down the aisle of the coach the only vacant seat offered was a reversed one facing the attractive young woman. Here the linked couple seated themselves. The young woman's glance fell upon them with a distant, swift disinterest; then with a lovely smile brightening her countenance and a tender pink tingeing her rounded cheeks, she held out a little gray-gloved hand. When she spoke her voice, full, sweet, and deliberate, proclaimed that its owner was accustomed to speak and be heard.
他们沿着车厢的过道往前走，惟一空着的位子就剩下了这位颇具魅力的年轻女士对面的座位。这两个铐在一起的人就在这儿坐了下来。年轻的女士先是用冷漠疏远的目光瞥了他们一眼，继而脸上露出了可人的甜蜜微笑，圆圆的脸颊也显得微微泛红。她伸出了一只带着灰色手套的小手。声音饱满、甜美，清晰，一开口就听得出她是位爱聊天、很健谈的人。
“Well, Mr. Easton, if you will make me speak first, I suppose I must. Don't you ever recognize old friends when you meet them in the West?”
“哎，阿斯顿先生，如果您一定要让我打破沉默，我想我也必须这样了。在西部见到老朋友，你都认不出来了吗？”
The younger man roused himself sharply at the sound of her voice, seemed to struggle with a slight embarrassment which he threw off instantly, and then clasped her fingers with his left hand.
这嗓音让那位年轻一些的男人突然一怔。他看起来有些尴尬，但他立刻就摆脱了这种尴尬，赶紧用左手握住了她的手指。
“It's Miss Fairchild,”he said, with a smile.“I'll ask you to excuse the other hand; “it's otherwise engaged just at present.”
“原来是费切尔德小姐，”他笑着说，“请原谅我不能用右手，因为它这会儿正有事儿呢。”
He slightly raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining“bracelet”to the left one of his companion. The glad look in the girl's eyes slowly changed to a bewildered horror. The glow faded from her cheeks. Her lips parted in a vague, relaxing distress. Easton, with a little laugh, as if amused, was about to speak again when the other forestalled him. The glum-faced man had been watching the girl's countenance with veiled glances from his keen, shrewd eyes.
他轻轻地扬起右手，一副闪闪发亮的“手镯”将他的右手腕与他同伴的左手腕铐在了一起。姑娘眼中喜悦的神情慢慢变成了惶恐，泛起的红晕也从她的脸颊上消退。她的嘴巴微微张开，显得很是紧张。阿斯顿微微地笑了笑，好像这是很有趣的一件事一样。他刚要说话，却被另外那位男士抢先开了口。这个一脸阴郁的男人一直在用他那双敏锐炽热的双眼观察着这个姑娘的表情。
“You'll excuse me for speaking, miss, but, I see you're acquainted with the marshall here. If you'll ask him to speak a word for me when we get to the pen he'll do it, and it'll make things easier for me there. He's taking me to Leavenworth prison. It's seven years for counterfeiting.”
“请原谅我插话，小姐。但我看得出您跟这位警官很熟。如果您能为我说几句好话，在我们抵达监狱之后，他一定会善待我的。这样我在那儿的日子便会好过的多了。我因犯伪造罪要在利文沃斯监狱待上七年。”
“Oh!”said the girl, with a deep breath and returning color.“So that is what you are doing out here? A marshal!”
“噢！”姑娘说，边深深地吸了口气，她的脸颊上又泛出了光彩，“所以，这就是您离开这儿后要做的事，警官！”
“My dear Miss Fairchild,”said Easton, calmly,“I had to do something. Money has a way of taking wings unto itself, and you know it takes money to keep step with our crowd in Washington. I saw this opening in the West, and–well, a marshalship isn't quite as high a position as that of ambassador, but–”
“我亲爱的费切尔德小姐，”阿斯顿冷静地说，“我总得干点什么吧。钱总是有办法让自己长上翅膀飞走。你知道，如果要跟在华盛顿那帮人保持步伐一致，得花好多的钱。我知道西部这个职位空缺，就……唉，警官虽说不像外交官那样位高权重，但是……”
“The ambassador,”said the girl, warmly,“doesn't call any more. He needn't ever have done so. You ought to know that. And so now you are one of these dashing Western heroes, and you ride and shoot and go into all kinds of dangers. That's different from the Washington life. You have been missed from the old crowd.”
“那位大使，”姑娘热切地说，“现在不用再打电话了。他再也不用那么做了，你应该知道这一点。这么说你现在是英勇的西部英雄中的一员了！你骑马、射击，历经危险、九死一生，过着与在华盛顿完全不同的生活。老朋友们可都惦着你呢。”
The girl's eyes, fascinated, went back, widening a little, to rest upon the glittering handcuffs.
姑娘迷人的眼睛四处看了看，好奇的目光又转回来落到闪闪发光的手铐上。
“Don't you worry about them, miss,”said the other man.“All marshals handcuff themselves to their prisoners to keep them from getting away. Mr. Easton knows his business.”
“小姐，别为他担心，”另外那个男人说，“所有的警官都把自己同罪犯铐在一起以防他们逃跑，阿斯顿先生在这方面很专业的。”
“Will we see you again soon in Washington?”asked the girl.
“我会很快在华盛顿再见到你吗？”姑娘问。
“Not soon, I think,”said Easton.“My butterfly days are over, I fear.”
“我想不会太快，”阿斯顿说，“恐怕我像蝴蝶一样逍遥的日子已经终结了。”
“I love the West,”said the girl irrelevantly. Her eyes were shining softly. She looked away out the car window. She began to speak truly and simply without the gloss of style and manner: “Mamma and I spent the summer in Denver. She went home a week ago because father was slightly ill. I could live and be happy in the West. I think the air here agrees with me. Money isn't everything. But people always misunderstand things and remain stupid–”
“我爱西部，”她突兀地说，眼睛里闪烁着温柔的光。她抬头向车窗外望去，言谈开始变得简单质朴，摒弃了那光鲜的外表，“妈妈和我夏天是在丹佛度过的，因为爸爸有些不舒服。一周前她就回家了。在西部我生活的很快乐，我感觉这儿的空气很适合我。金钱不代表一切，可人们总是误解，而且执迷不悟……”
“Say, Mr. Marshal,”growled the glum-faced man.“This isn't quite fair. I'm needing a drink, and haven't had a smoke all day. Haven't you talked long enough? Take me in the smoker now, won't you? I'm half dead for a pipe.”
“我说，警官先生，”一脸阴郁的男人抱怨道，“这可真有点儿不公平。我想喝水，而且一整天都没抽烟了。你们聊得还不够吗？把我带到吸烟区去好不好？我想抽烟，都快想疯了！”
The bound travelers rose to their feet, Easton with the same slow smile on his face.
于是绑在一起的两个人起身离开，阿斯顿的脸上还带着不变的迟缓的笑容。
“I can't deny a petition for tobacco,”he said, lightly.“It's the one friend of the unfortunate. Good-bye, Miss Fairchild. Duty calls, you know.”He held out his hand for a farewell.
“我不能拒绝一个吸烟的请求，”他轻快地说，“它是这个不幸的人惟一的朋友。再见，费切尔德小姐，你知道，这是职责所在啊。”他挥手道别。
“It's too bad you are not going East,”she said, reclothing herself with manner and style.“But you must go on to Leavenworth, I suppose?”
“你不去东部太糟糕了，”她说，此时她又恢复了之前的风度，“可我想你必须继续前进去利文沃斯吧？”
“Yes,”said Easton,“I must go on to Leavenworth.”
“是呀，”阿斯顿说，“我必须继续到利文沃斯去。”
The two men sidled down the aisle into the smoker.
这两个男人侧身沿着走道到吸烟区去了。
The two passengers in a seat near by had heard most of the conversation. Said one of them: “That marshal's a good sort of chap. Some of these Western fellows are all right.”
附近座位上的两位旅客听到了这些谈话的大部分内容，其中一位说：“那位警官是个好警察，有些西部人确实是不错。”
“Pretty young to hold an office like that, isn't he?”asked the other.
“你的意思是，他那么年轻就坐上这样一个职位，是不是？”另一位问道。
“Young!”exclaimed the first speaker,“why–Oh! didn't you catch on? Say–did you ever know an officer to handcuff a prisoner to his right hand?”
“年轻！”先开口那个人惊呼道，“怎么……噢！你没弄明白吗？我说，你以前听说过把罪犯拷在自己右手上的警官吗？”