http://www.gutenberg.org/files/56036/56036-h/56036-h.htm

INSIDE THE LINES

在火车上

EARL DERR BIGGERS，ROBERT WELLES RITCHIE

作者：厄尔·德尔·比格斯，罗伯特·韦尔斯·里奇

翻译：斯眉

全书一共19章

CHAPTER IJANE GERSON, BUYER

第一章 简·格尔森，买家

"I had two trunks—two, you ninny! Two!Ou est l'autre?"

“我有两只箱子，两只，你这笨蛋！两只！另一只呢？”

The grinning customs guard lifted his shoulders to his ears and spread out his palms. "Mais, mamselle——"

咧着嘴笑的海关警卫耸耸肩，摊开手掌。“可是，小姐……”

"Don't you 'mais' me, sir! I had two trunks—deux troncs—when I got aboard that wabbly old boat at Dover this morning, and I'm not going to budge from this wharf until I find the other one. Where did you learn your French, anyway? Can't you understand when I speak your language?"

“不要跟我讲‘可是’，先生！今早我在多佛登上那只破船时带了两只箱子，不找到另一只箱子，我就不离开码头。你到底在哪儿学的法语？我说的是你的话，你听不懂吗？”

The girl plumped herself down on top of the unhasped trunk and folded her arms truculently. With a quizzical smile, the customs guard looked down into her brown eyes, smoldering dangerously now, and began all over again his speech of explanation.

女孩扑通一声坐在没上锁的皮箱上，抱着胳膊大嚷着。海关警卫脸上带着嘲讽的微笑，看着她褐色的眼睛喷出怒火，又从头到尾解释一遍。

"Wagon-lit?" She caught a familiar word. "Mais oui; that's where I want to go—aboard your wagon-lit, for Paris.Voilà!"—the girl carefully gave the word three syllables—"mon ticket pour Paree!" She opened herpatent-leatherreticule, rummaged furiously therein, brought out a handkerchief, a tiny mirror, a packet of rice papers, and at last a folded and punched ticket. This she displayed with a triumphant flourish.

“卧铺车？”她听到了一个熟悉的词。“就是它；我要上卧铺车，去巴黎。这就对了！”女孩小心地说出几个字——“我去巴黎！”她打开漆皮手提袋，在里面猛翻，拿出手帕、小镜子、一包宣纸，最后找出一张皱巴巴、打了孔的车票。她举着票，得意洋洋。

"Voilà! Il dit 'Miss Jane Gerson'; that's me—moi-meme, I mean. And il dit 'deux troncs'; now you can't go behind that, can you? Where is that other trunk?"

“好了，格尔森小姐，我就是这个意思。你有两只皮箱，现在，你不能到后面，是吗？另一只皮箱在哪儿？”

A whistle shrilled back beyond theswinging doors of the station. Folk in the customs shed began a hasty gathering together of parcels and shawl straps, and a general exodus toward the train sheds commenced. The girl on the trunk looked appealingly about her; nothing but bustle and confusion; no Samaritan to turn aside and rescue a fair traveler fallen among customs guards. Her eyes filled with trouble, and for an instant her reliant mouth broke its line of determination; the lower lip quivered suspiciously. Even the guard started to walk away.

从车站转门处传来一声哨音。聚在海关里的人们开始匆匆忙忙收拾包裹和披肩背带，奔向火车站台。坐在箱子上的女孩用恳切的目光打量着周围；到处充斥着喧闹和混乱；没有好心人转到一边，搭救一个被海关警卫纠缠不休的旅行者。她的眼睛里烦恼丛生，有一瞬间她嘴上信誓旦旦，下唇颤颤巍巍，令人生疑。连警卫也开始走开了。

"Oh, oh, please don't go!" Jane Gerson was on her feet, and her hands shot out in an impulsive appeal. "Oh, dear; maybe I forgot to tip you. Here, attende au secours, if you'll only find that other trunk before the train——"

“哦，噢，请不要走！”简·格尔森站了起来伸出双手乞求着。”哦，天哪，也许我忘记给你小费了。给你，请帮帮忙，要是能在车开前找到那只皮箱……”

"Pardon; but if I may be of any assistance——"

“对不起，不过，如果我能帮上忙的话……”

Miss Gerson turned. A tallish, old-young-looking man, in a gray lounge suit, stood heels together and bent stiffly in a bow. Nothing of the beau or the boulevardier about his face or manner. Miss Gerson accepted his intervention as heaven-sent.

格尔森小姐转过脸把。一个个子高高、长相老成的年轻人身穿灰色西服，双脚并拢，僵硬地向她弯腰鞠躬，毫无花花大少或浪荡公子的神情和做派。格尔森小姐觉得他是上天派来的。

"Oh, thank you ever so much! The guard, you see, doesn't understand good French. I just can't make him understand that one of my trunks is missing. And the train for Paris——"

“哦，非常感谢你！你看，警卫不懂法语。我没法让他明白我的一只皮箱不见了。去巴黎的火车……”

Already the stranger was rattling incisive French at the guard. That official bowed low, and, with hands and lips, gave rapid explanation. The man in the gray lounge suit turned to the girl.

陌生人已经在用流利的法语跟警卫发话了。官员低着头，用手和嘴迅速地解释着。穿着灰色休闲服的男人转向女孩。

"A little misunderstanding, Miss—ah——"

“有点小误会，小姐……”

"Gerson—Jane Gerson, of New York," she promptly supplied.

“格尔森——简·格尔森，纽约来的，”她及时提供情况。

"A little misunderstanding, Miss Gerson. The customs guard says your other trunk has already been examined, passed, and placed on the baggage van. He was trying to tell you that it would be necessary for you to permit a porter to take this trunk to the train before time for starting. With your permission——"

“一个小误会，格尔森小姐。海关官员说，你的另一只箱子已经检查过了，并放在行李车上。他正想办法告诉你，你必须允许搬运工在出发前把这只箱子带上火车。征得你的同意……”

The stranger turned and halloed to a porter, who came running. Miss Gerson had the trunk locked and strapped in no time, and it was on the shoulders of the porter.

陌生人转身招呼搬运工，后者跑过来。格尔森小姐把行李箱锁上，立刻绑好，搬运工把它扛在肩上。

"You have very little time, Miss Gerson. The train will be making a start directly. If I might—ah—pilot you through the station to the proper train shed. I am not presuming?"

“时间不多了，格尔森小姐，火车马上要开了。如果我能带你到乘车站台，可否赏光？”

"You are very kind," she answered hurriedly.

“你真是太好了，”她连忙回答。

They set off, the providential Samaritan in the lead. Through the waiting-room and on to a broad platform, almost deserted, they went. A guard's whistle shrilled. The stranger tucked a helping hand under Jane Gerson's arm to steady her in the sharp sprint down a long aisle between tracks to where the Paris train stood. It began to move before they had reached its mid-length. A guard threw open a carriage door, in they hopped, and with a rattle of chains and banging of buffers theExpress du Nordwas off on its arrow flight from Calais to the capital.

他们出发了，好心人在前面领路。穿过候车室，来到宽阔的平台，那里几乎空无一人，他们走过去。警卫的哨声响了起来。陌生人把一只手伸到简·格尔森的胳膊下，扶着她穿过巴黎火车铁轨之间坡度很陡的长过道。当他们走到半道，火车开动了。一个卫兵打开车厢门，他们跳了进来。火车链条卡卡作响，车厢连接处东摇西晃，北部快车像箭一般驶出，从法国加莱前往首都。

The carriage, which was of the second class, was comfortably filled. Miss Gerson stumbled over the feet of a puffy Fleming nearest the door, was launched into the lap of a comfortably upholstered widow on the opposite seat, ricochettedback to jam an elbow into a French gentleman's spread newspaper, and finally was catapulted into a vacant space next to the window on the carriage's far side. She giggled, tucked the skirts of her pearl-gray duster about her, righted the chic sailor hat on her chestnut-brown head, and patted a stray wisp of hair back into place. Her meteor flight into and through the carriage disturbed hernot a whit.

二等车厢很舒适，座无虚席。在靠门最近的地方，格尔森小姐被一位穿着臃肿的佛莱芒人绊了一下，扑到对面座位上一位坐在舒适软垫上的寡妇的腿上，跳起时一只手肘又碰到某位法国绅士张开的报纸，最后被弹射到车厢远处靠近车窗的一张空座上。她咯咯笑着，把身上珍珠灰色的外衣整理好，又把栗色头发上的别致水手帽摆正，将一缕头发塞进去。她如同流星一般穿过车厢，镇定自若，毫无所动。

As for the Samaritan, he stood uncertainly in the narrow cross aisle, swaying to the swing of the carriage and reconnoitering seating possibilities. There was a place, a very narrow one, next to the fat Fleming; also there was a vacant place next to Jane Gerson. The Samaritan caught the girl's glance in his indecision, read in it something frankly comradely, and chose the seat beside her.

至于那个好心人，他犹豫不决地站在狭窄的通道里，身体随着车厢摆动，目光逡巡着，看看有没有空座。在肥胖的弗莱芒人身边有一个，非常狭小的空间；在简·格尔森旁边也有一个座位。优柔寡断的好心人捕捉住女孩的目光，其中有一种同志般的坦诚，于是选择在她旁边坐下。

"Very good of you, I'm sure," he murmured. "I did not wish to presume——"

“你人很好，我敢肯定，”他喃喃地说。“我不想冒昧……”

"You're not," the girl assured, and there was something so fresh, so ingenuous, in the tone and the level glance of herbrown eyes that the Samaritan felt all at once distinctly satisfied with the cast of fortune that had thrown him in the way of a distressed traveler. He sat down with a lifting of the checkered Alpine hat he wore and a stiff little bow from the waist.

“没有啊，”姑娘安慰他说，她的语气和棕色双眸的诚恳注视中充满了新鲜和天真，令好心人突然之间感到无比满足，尽管此时此刻因命运的捉弄，他只是一个痛苦的旅人。他抬了抬格纹登山帽，腰部有些僵硬地坐了下来。

"If I may, Miss Gerson—I am Captain Woodhouse, of the signal service."

“如果可以的话，格尔森小姐……我是伍德豪斯上尉，信号兵。”

"Oh!" The girl let slip a little gasp—the meed of admiration the feminine heart always pays to shoulder straps. "Signal service; that means the army?"

“哦！”女孩发出一声惊叹——女性内心总是对穿军装的高看一眼。”信号兵，这么说你是军人？”

"His majesty's service; yes, Miss Gerson."

“为陛下服务；是的，格尔森小姐。”

"You are, of course, off duty?" she suggested, with the faintest possible tinge of regret at the absence of the stripes and buttons that spell "soldier" with the woman.

“你，现在不当班？”她说，因为对方没穿军装，身上缺少女人心目中的“军人”气质，可能感到有点遗憾。

"You might say so, Miss Gerson. Egypt—the Nile country is my station. I am on my way back there after a bit of a vacation at home—London I mean, of course."

“你可以这么说，格尔森小姐。我驻扎在埃及——尼罗河之国，正要赶回去，刚从家休假回来——我是说伦敦。”

She stole a quick side glance at the face of her companion. A soldier's face it was, lean and school-hardened and competent. Lines about the eyes and mouth—the stamp of the sun and the imprint of the habit to command—had taken from Captain Woodhouse's features something of freshness and youth, though giving in return the index of inflexible will and lust for achievement.His smooth lips were a bit thin, Jane Gerson thought, and the out-shooting chin, almost squared atthe angles, marked Captain Woodhouse as anything but a trifler or a flirt. She was satisfied that nothing of presumption or forwardness on the part of thishard-moldedchap from Egypt would give her cause to regret her unconventional offer of friendship.

她偷偷瞥了一眼邻座的脸。一个士兵的脸，瘦削而克制，而且精干。眼睛和嘴巴上的线条是饱经日晒的印记，也因服从命令的习惯使然，伍德豪斯上尉因此少了一些活力和青春，代之以坚定的意志和对成功的渴望。他光滑的嘴唇有点薄，简·格尔森认为，突出的下颌几乎是方形的，暗示着伍德豪斯上尉不是一个轻浮或调情之徒。她很满意，先前对这位来自埃及的从埃及的硬派小说的所有假设或热心都没有落空，也让她不再后悔主动发出友好邀请，这可是不同寻常的举动啊！

Captain Woodhouse, in his turn, had made a satisfying, though covert, appraisal of his traveling companion by means of a narrow mirror inset above the baggage rack over the opposite seat. Trim and petite of figure, which was just a shade under the average for height and plumpness; a small head set sturdily on a round smooth neck; face the very embodiment of independence and self-confidence, with its brown eyes wide apart, its high brow under the parting waves of golden chestnut, broad humorous mouth, and tiny nose slightly nibbed upward: Miss Up-to-the-Minute New York, indeed!From the cocked red feather in her hat to the dainty spatted boots Jane Gerson appeared in Woodhouse's eyes a perfect, virile, vividly alive American girl. He'd met her kind before; had seen them browbeating bazaar merchants in Cairo and ridingdesert donkeys like strong young queens. The type appealed to him.

伍德豪斯上尉则借助镶嵌在对面座位行李架上的一面小镜子悄悄打量着旁边的旅友，暗自赞叹，心满意足。整洁娇小的身型，只比标准高度和丰满度小一号；头也小小的，稳稳地安放在光滑的脖颈之上；面部表情充满独立和自信，棕色的双眼分布在两旁，金栗色的头发掩盖着高高的额头，宽阔而幽默的嘴巴，鼻子小巧玲珑，鼻尖微微上翘；果真是一位髦得合时的纽约小姐！从她帽子上竖起的红色羽毛到精致的绑腿短靴，在伍德豪斯上尉眼中，简·格尔森小姐是一个完美生动、精力充沛的美国女孩。以前他曾见到这种类型，在开罗见过她们与集市商人锱铢必较，像年轻健壮的皇后一样骑在沙漠驴子上。这种女孩深深吸引着他。

The first stiffness of informal meeting wore away speedily.The girl tactfully directed the channel of conversation into lines familiar to Woodhouse. What was Egypt like; who owned the Pyramids, and why didn't the owners plant a park around them and charge admittance? Didn't he think Rameses and all those other old Pharaohs had the right idea in advertising—putting up stone billboards to last all time? The questions came crisp and startling; Woodhouse found himself chuckling at the shrewd incisiveness of them.Rameses an advertiser and the Pyramids stone hoardings to carry all those old boys' fame through the ages!He'd never looked on them in that light before.

非正式见面的僵硬刚开始不久就快速消失了。女孩巧妙地将谈话引入伍德豪斯上尉所熟悉的频道。埃及是什么样的？金字塔属于谁？为什么所有者不在周围建一个公园，并向游客收费呢？他为什么认为拉美西斯和其他那些老法没有广告意识，不懂得在巨石上张贴永不过时的广告牌？提问干脆，令人吃惊；伍德豪斯发现自己不禁要为问题的敏锐击掌叫绝。如果拉美西斯成为广告商，金字塔的巨石围板足以让那些老男孩千古留名！以前他还从来没有这么想过。

"I say, Miss Gerson, you'd make an excellent business person, now, really," the captain voiced his admiration.

“我说，格尔森小姐，你会成为杰出的生意人，现在，绝对的，”上尉赞叹道。

"Just cable that at my expense to old Pop Hildebrand, of Hildebrand's department store, New York," she flashed back at him. "I'm trying to convince him of just that very thing."

“我把钱都花在了给老波普·希尔德布兰德发电报上，他是希尔德布兰德百货公司的老板，在纽约，”她冲着他说。“我正试着说服他同意那件事。”

"Really, now; a department shop! What, may I ask, do you have to do for—ah—Pop Hildebrand?"

“真的，现在，百货商店！我能问一下，你为……波普·希尔德布兰德做什么？”

"Oh, I'm his foreign buyer," Jane answered, with a conscious note of pride. "I'm over here to buy gowns for the winter season, you see. Paul Poiret—Worth—Paquin; you've heard of those wonderful people, of course?"

“噢，我是他的外国买手，”简带着自豪的神情回答。“你知道，我来这里是为了买冬季礼服的。保罗·波烈、沃斯、帕昆……你当然听说过那些了不起的人，是吗？”

"Can't say I have," the captain confessed, with a rueful smile into the girl's brown eyes.

“不能说我听说过，”上尉说，他带着一抹苦笑，看着女孩褐色的眼睛。

"Then you've never bought a Worth?" she challenged. "For if you had you'd not forget the name—or the price—very soon."

“那你从来没有买过一件沃斯的东西？”她反驳道。“如果你有，不会那么快忘记它的名字……或价钱。”

"Gowns—and things are not in my line, Miss Gerson," he answered simply, and the girl caught herself feeling a secret elation. A man who didn't know gowns couldn't be very intimately acquainted with women. And—well—

“我对礼服……和物品都不在行，格尔森小姐，”他简单地回答。女孩感觉心中一阵窃喜，不懂礼服的男人肯定跟女人不熟，那么……

"And this Hildebrand, he sends you over here alone just to buy pretties for New York's wonderful women?" the captainwas saying. "Aren't you just a bit—ah—nervous to be over in this part of the world—alone?"

“这个希尔德布兰德，他让你自个儿待在这儿，为纽约的美女买漂亮衣服？”上尉说。“你一个人在世界的某个地方，不觉得有点……害怕吗？

"Not in the least," the girl caught him up. "Not about the alone part, I should say. Maybe I am fidgety and sort ofworried about making good on the job. This is my first trip—my very first as a buyer for Hildebrand. And, of course, if I should fall down——"

“一点也不，”女孩接上他的话题。“我想说的，跟孤独无关。也许我感到烦躁，有点担心做不好这份工作。这是我第一次作为希尔德布兰德的买手来旅行。当然，如果我没搞好……”

"Fall down?" Woodhouse echoed, mystified. The girl laughed, and struck her left wrist a smart blow with her gloved right hand.

“没搞好？”伍德豪斯回应道，神情困惑。女孩笑了，用戴着手套的右手灵巧地拍着左手腕。

"There I go again—slang; 'vulgar American slang,' you'll call it. If I could only rattle off the French as easily as I do New Yorkese I'd be a wonder. I mean I'm afraid I won't make good."

“我又用俚语了，用你们的话说，是“粗俗的美国俚语”。如果我能向纽约人一样讲起法语来脱口而出，那就太棒了。我是说，我怕做不好。”

"Oh!"

“哦！”

"But why should I worry about coming over alone?" Jane urged. "Lots of American girls come over here alone with anAmerican flag pinned to theirshirt-waists and wearing a Baedeker for a wrist watch. Nothing ever happens to them."

“但我为什么要担心独自一人到这边来呢？”简强调说。“美国许多女孩都是单独过来的，只在衬衫裙上放一枚美国国旗别针，戴一块贝岱克腕表，什么事也没有。”

Captain Woodhouse looked out on the flying panorama of straw-thatched houses and fields heavy with green grain. He seemed to be balancing words. He glanced at the passenger across the aisle, a wizened little man, asleep. In a lowered voice he began:

伍德豪斯上尉望着窗外茅草覆盖的房屋和遍布绿色庄稼的田野在眼前飞逝而过，似乎在斟酌措辞。他瞥了一眼坐在对面的乘客，一位瘦小的老人，正睡着呢。他开始压低声音：

"A woman alone—over here on the Continent at this time; why, I very much fear she will have great difficulties when the—ah—trouble comes."

“此时此刻，一个女人独自在欧洲大陆，我很担心，一旦有麻烦，她会遇到很大困难。”

"Trouble?" Jane's eyes were questioning.

“麻烦？”简的眼睛问道。

"I do not wish to be an alarmist, Miss Gerson," Captain Woodhouse continued, hesitant. "Goodness knows we've had enough calamity shouters among the Unionists at home. But have you considered what you would do—how you would get back to America in case of—war?" The last word was almost a whisper.

“我不想危言耸听，格尔森小姐，”伍德豪斯上尉继续说，吞吞吐吐。”天知道，在国内我们已经跟统一派分子龌龊不断，但你想过一旦战争爆发，你怎么回到美国吗？”最后一句话几乎是耳语。

"War?" she echoed. "Why, you don't mean all this talk in the papers is——"

“战争？”她附和道。“为什么，你不是说报纸上所有这些谈话都是……”

"Is serious, yes," Woodhouse answered quietly. "Very serious."

“我是认真的，是的，”伍德豪斯平静地回答。”非常严重。”

"Why, Captain Woodhouse, I thought you had war talk every summer over here just as our papers are filled each spring with gossip about howTesreauis going to jump to the Feds, or the Yanks are going to be sold. It's your regular midsummer outdoor sport over here, this stirring up the animals."

“为什么，伍德豪斯上尉，我以为你们这里每个夏天都谈论战争，就像我们的报纸每年春天都说泰斯洛将调往联邦调查局，或者北方佬要被出卖。这是你们这里经常举行的仲夏户外运动，可激发动物活力。

Woodhouse smiled, though his gray eyes were filled with something not mirth.

伍德豪斯笑了笑，虽然他灰色眼睛里满是不快。

"I fear the animals are—stirred, as you say, too far this time," he resumed. "The assassination of the Archduke Ferd——"

“我担心这次动物……像你刚才说的，会被搅动得太厉害了，”他接着说。斐迪南大公被暗杀……”

"Yes, I remember I did read something about that in the papers at home. But archdukes and kings have been killed before, and no war came of it. In Mexico they murder a president before he has a chance to send out 'At home' cards."

“是的，我记得，我在家里的报纸上读到过这事。但大公和国王以前也被杀过，并没有发生战争啊。在墨西哥，总统还不等发出‘回家’卡，就会被谋杀。”

"Europe is so different from Mexico," her companion continued, the lines of his face deepening. "I am afraid you over in the States do not know the dangerous politics here; you are so far away; you should thank God for that.You are not in a land where one man—or two or three—may say, 'We will now go to war,' and then you go, willy-nilly."

“欧洲和墨西哥太不一样了，”她的同伴继续说，脸上的皱纹更深了。恐怕你在美国不了解这里危险的政治；你能走这么远，应该感谢上帝。你所在的这个地方不是一个人——或者两三个人——可能说‘我们现在开战，’然后你就能一走了之的，不管你愿不愿意。”