Tenez, voila le Capitaine Brunot, “ said Tiare, one day when I was fitting together what she could tell me of Strickland. —
“Tiare说：”这是Brunot船长，他很熟悉Strickland。” —

“He knew Strickland well; he visited him at his house. “
“他认识Strickland很好；他经常去Strickland家做客。”

I saw a middle-aged Frenchman with a big black beard, streaked with gray, a sunburned face, and large, shining eyes. —
我看到了一个中年法国人，大黑胡子中夹杂着灰色，晒黑的脸和大大的闪亮的眼睛。 —

He was dressed in a neat suit of ducks. I had noticed him at luncheon, and Ah Lin, the Chinese boy, told me he had come from the Paumotus on the boat that had that day arrived. —
他穿着一套整洁的鸭绒西装。我在午餐时就注意到了他，中国男孩Ah Lin告诉我，他是当天到达的那艘船从帕摩土群岛来的。 —

Tiare introduced me to him, and he handed me his card, a large card on which was printed Rene Brunot, and underneath, Capitaine au Long Cours. We were sitting on a little verandah outside the kitchen, and Tiare was cutting out a dress that she was making for one of the girls about the house. —
Tiare把我介绍给了他，他递给我一张名片，上面印着Rene Brunot，下面写着Capitaine au Long Cours。我们坐在厨房外面的小阳台上，Tiare在为房子里的一个女孩剪裁一条裙子。 —

He sat down with us.
他也和我们一起坐下来。

“Yes; I knew Strickland well, ” he said. “I am very fond of chess, and he was always glad of a game. —
“是的，我很熟悉Strickland，”他说道。”我非常喜欢下棋，而他总是乐意与我对局。 —

I come to Tahiti three or four times a year for my business, and when he was at Papeete he would come here and we would play. —
我每年来塔希提三四次出差，他在帕皮提的时候会来这里和我下棋。 —

When he married” – Captain Brunot smiled and shrugged his shoulders – “ enfin, when he went to live with the girl that Tiare gave him, he asked me to go and see him. —
当他结婚的时候” ——Brunot船长笑了笑，耸了耸肩——”总之，当他和Tiare介绍给他的那个女孩住在一起的时候，他请我去看他。 —

I was one of the guests at the wedding feast. “ He looked at Tiare, and they both laughed. —
我是婚礼宴会上的一名客人。”他看了看Tiare，他们都笑了。 —

“He did not come much to Papeete after that, and about a year later it chanced that I had to go to that part of the island for I forgot what business, and when I had finished it I said to myself: —
“之后他很少来帕皮提了，大约一年后，碰巧我需要去岛上某个地方做一些生意，做完后我心想： —

` Voyons, why should I not go and see that poor Strickland?’ —
‘看看，为什么不去看望那可怜的Strickland呢？’ —

I asked one or two natives if they knew anything about him, and I discovered that he lived not more than five kilometres from where I was. —
我问了几个土著是否知道他的消息，发现他就住在离我不到五公里的地方。 —

So I went. I shall never forget the impression my visit made on me. —
于是我就去了。我永远也不会忘记那次拜访给我的印象。 —

I live on an atoll, a low island, it is a strip of land surrounding a lagoon, and its beauty is the beauty of the sea and sky and the varied colour of the lagoon and the grace of the cocoa-nut trees; —
我住在一个环礁上，一个低矮的岛屿，那里的美是海和天空的美以及礁湖的各种色彩和椰子树的优雅；” —

but the place where Strickland lived had the beauty of the Garden of Eden. Ah, I wish I could make you see the enchantment of that spot, a corner hidden away from all the world, with the blue sky overhead and the rich, luxuriant trees. —
但是Strickland住的地方有着伊甸园般的美丽。啊，我希望我能让你看见那个地方的迷人之处，一个隐藏在世界之外的角落，头顶是蓝天，周围是郁郁葱葱的树木。 —

It was a feast of colour. And it was fragrant and cool. Words cannot describe that paradise. —
这是一场色彩的盛宴。闻起来清香凉爽。无法用言语描述那个天堂。 —

And here he lived, unmindful of the world and by the world forgotten. —
他就住在这里，世界对他视若空气，他也被世界遗忘。 —

I suppose to European eyes it would have seemed astonishingly sordid. —
我想对欧洲人来说，这里看起来令人难以置信的肮脏。 —

The house was dilapidated and none too clean. Three or four natives were lying on the verandah. —
这栋房子破旧又不太干净。三四个当地人躺在阳台上。 —

You know how natives love to herd together. —
你知道当地人喜欢群居。 —

There was a young man lying full length, smoking a cigarette, and he wore nothing but a pareo”
一个年轻人躺在那里，全身上下只穿着一块帕勒奥，手里拿着一支香烟。

The pareo is a long strip of trade cotton, red or blue, stamped with a white pattern. —
帕勒奥是一条长条的交易棉布，红色或蓝色，上面印着白色图案。 —

It is worn round the waist and hangs to the knees.
系在腰间直到膝盖。

“A girl of fifteen, perhaps, was plaiting pandanus-leaf to make a hat, and an old woman was sitting on her haunches smoking a pipe. —
“一个大概十五岁的女孩正在编椰叶制帽子，一个老妇人盘腿坐着抽烟。 —

Then I saw Ata. She was suckling a new-born child, and another child, stark naked, was playing at her feet. —
然后我看到了Ata。她正在哺乳一名新生儿，另一名赤裸的孩子正在她脚边玩耍。 —

When she saw me she called out to Strickland, and he came to the door. —
她看见我后喊了一声Strickland，他走到门口。 —

He, too, wore nothing but a pareo. He was an extraordinary figure, with his red beard and matted hair, and his great hairy chest. —
他也只穿着一块帕勒奥。他是一个非凡的形象，红色的胡子和缠结的头发，巨大的多毛胸膛。 —

His feet were horny and scarred, so that I knew he went always bare foot. —
他的脚皮厚糙，布满伤痕，我知道他总是赤脚。 —

He had gone native with a vengeance. He seemed pleased to see me, and told Ata to kill a chicken for our dinner. —
他已经完全当地化。看到我他似乎很高兴，并告诉Ata为我们杀只鸡做晚餐。 —

He took me into the house to show me the picture he was at work on when I came in. —
他把我领进屋里，给我看他在我来的时候正在作画的那幅画。 —

In one corner of the room was the bed, and in the middle was an easel with the canvas upon it. —
房间的一个角落里有张床，中间是一个画架，上面放着一块画布。 —

Because I was sorry for him, I had bought a couple of his pictures for small sums, and I had sent others to friends of mine in France. —
因为我可怜他，我用小笔数买了他几幅画，还把其他的送给了我在法国的朋友。 —

And though I had bought them out of compassion, after living with them I began to like them. —
虽然是出于怜悯而购买的，但和这些画相处后，我开始喜欢它们。 —

Indeed, I found a strange beauty in them. —
实际上，我发现其中有一种奇特的美。 —

Everyone thought I was mad, but it turns out that I was right. —
每个人都认为我疯了，但事实证明我是对的。 —

I was his first admirer in the islands. “
在这些岛屿上，我是他的第一个欣赏者。”

He smiled maliciously at Tiare, and with lamentations she told us again the story of how at the sale of Strickland’s effects she had neglected the pictures, but bought an American stove for twenty-seven francs.
他邪恶地冲提亚莉笑了笑，她重复述说了一遍她忽视了画作，在斯特里克兰的物品拍卖会上花了二十七法郎买了一个美国炉灶的故事。

“Have you the pictures still?” I asked.
“你还留着那些画吗？”我问。

“Yes; I am keeping them till my daughter is of marriageable age, and then I shall sell them. —
“是的；我打算留着，等我女儿到了结婚的年龄，我就会卖掉它们。 —

They will be her dot. ” Then he went on with the account of his visit to Strickland.
那将作为她的嫁妆。”然后他继续讲述他去探访斯特里克兰的经历。

“I shall never forget the evening I spent with him. —
“我永远都不会忘记我和他共度的那个晚上。 —

I had not intended to stay more than an hour, but he insisted that I should spend the night. —
我原本不打算超过一个小时，但他坚持让我在那过夜。 —

I hesitated, for I confess I did not much like the look of the mats on which he proposed that I should sleep; —
我犹豫了一下，因为我必须承认，他建议让我睡的草席看上去并不太舒服； —

but I shrugged my shoulders. When I was building my house in the Paumotus I had slept out for weeks on a harder bed than that, with nothing to shelter me but wild shrubs; —
但我耸了耸肩。在帕姆托斯群岛建房时，我曾睡在比那还要硬的床上，什么都没有，只有野生灌木来遮挡下。” —

and as for vermin, my tough skin should be proof against their malice.
至于害虫，我坚固的皮肤应该能抵御它们的恶意。

“We went down to the stream to bathe while Ata was preparing the dinner, and after we had eaten it we sat on the verandah. —
“当Ata在准备晚餐的时候，我们下到小溪里洗澡，吃完晚餐后我们坐在阳台上。 —

We smoked and chatted. The young man had a concertina, and he played the tunes popular on the music-halls a dozen years before. —
我们一边抽烟一边聊天。那个年轻人有一把手风琴，他演奏着12年前音乐厅流行的曲子。 —

They sounded strangely in the tropical night thousands of miles from civilisation. —
在距离文明数千英里的热带夜晚里，这些曲调听起来格外奇怪。 —

I asked Strickland if it did not irk him to live in that promiscuity. No, he said; —
我问Strickland生活在这样的混杂中是否让他感到恼火。不，他说； —

he liked to have his models under his hand. —
他喜欢让模特随时在他身边。 —

Presently, after loud yawning, the natives went away to sleep, and Strickland and I were left alone. I cannot describe to you the intense silence of the night. —
过了一会，原住民打着大大的哈欠离开去睡觉了，只留下了Strickland和我。我无法形容夜晚的深邃寂静。 —

On my island in the Paumotus there is never at night the complete stillness that there was here. —
在我所在的帕摩图群岛上，夜晚从来没有这里那种完全的寂静。 —

There is the rustle of the myriad animals on the beach, all the little shelled things that crawl about ceaselessly, and there is the noisy scurrying of the land-crabs. —
海滩上无数动物的嘈杂声停了，所有那些不停爬动的小贝壳东西，还有陆蟹的喧闹奔跑声。 —

Now and then in the lagoon you hear the leaping of a fish, and sometimes a hurried noisy splashing as a brown shark sends all the other fish scampering for their lives. —
偶尔在泻湖里可以听到鱼跳的声音，有时还会听到棕鲨鱼发出的匆忙喧哗声，使其他鱼匆忙逃生。 —

And above all, ceaseless like time, is the dull roar of the breakers on the reef. —
最重要的是，像时间一样不停的是礁湖上的海浪的低沉咆哮声。 —

But here there was not a sound, and the air was scented with the white flowers of the night. —
但这里没有一点声音，空气中充满了夜晚的白花清香。 —

It was a night so beautiful that your soul seemed hardly able to bear the prison of the body. —
这是一个如此美丽的夜晚，以至于你的灵魂似乎几乎无法忍受身体的囚禁。 —

You felt that it was ready to be wafted away on the immaterial air, and death bore all the aspect of a beloved friend. “
你觉得它准备在非物质的空气中飘逸，而死亡看起来像是一个心爱的朋友。”

Tiare sighed.
Tiare 叹了口气。

“Ah, I wish I were fifteen again. “
“啊，我真希望自己再次十五岁。”

Then she caught sight of a cat trying to get at a dish of prawns on the kitchen table, and with a dexterous gesture and a lively volley of abuse flung a book at its scampering tail.
然后她看到一只猫试图够到厨桌上的一碟对虾，灵巧地扔了一本书，同时愤怒地大声斥责它拖动的尾巴。

“I asked him if he was happy with Ata.
“我问他是否对Ata感到满意。”

”`She leaves me alone, ‘ he said. ‘She cooks my food and looks after her babies. —
“‘她让我一个人待着，’他说。‘她给我做饭，照顾她的孩子。” —

She does what I tell her. She gives me what I want from a woman. ‘
“她照我说的办。她给我一个女人应该给我的东西。”

”`And do you never regret Europe? Do you not yearn sometimes for the light of the streets in Paris or London, the companionship of your friends, and equals, que sais-je? —
“‘你从不后悔留在欧洲吗？你有没有时常向往巴黎或伦敦街头的光芒，你的朋友和同等地位的伙伴们，前呢？不是吗？” —

for theatres and newspapers, and the rumble of omnibuses on the cobbled pavements?’
“还有戏剧和报纸，还有阶砖路上马车轱辘声呢？”

“For a long time he was silent. Then he said:
“他沉默了很长时间。然后他说：”

“I shall stay here till I die. ' <span><tang1> "我会待在这里直到我死。’”

“But are you never bored or lonely?' I asked. <span><tang1> "但你从未感到无聊或孤单吗？’ 我问道。”

“He chuckled.
“他轻声笑了起来。”

“Mon pauvre ami, ' he said.It is evident that you do not know what it is to be an artist. ‘”
“Mon pauvre ami, ' 他说。显然你不知道做一个艺术家是什么感觉。’”

Capitaine Brunot turned to me with a gentle smile, and there was a wonderful look in his dark, kind eyes.
“Brunot船长对我微笑，他那双深邃、慈祥的眼睛里闪烁着一种美妙的光芒。”

“He did me an injustice, for I too know what it is to have dreams. —
“他误解了我，因为我也知道拥有梦想是什么感觉。” —

I have my visions too. In my way I also am an artist. “
“我也有我的幻想。在我的方式里，我也是一个艺术家。”

We were all silent for a while, and Tiare fished out of her capacious pocket a handful of cigarettes. —
“我们都沉黙了一会儿，蒂亚雷从她宽大的口袋里掏出一把香烟。” —

She handed one to each of us, and we all three smoked. At last she said:
“她递给我们每个人一支，我们三人都抽起烟来。最后她说：”

“Since ce monsieur is interested in Strickland, why do you not take him to see Dr. Coutras? —
“`如果这位先生对斯特里克兰感兴趣，你们为什么不带他去见库特拉斯医生呢？” —

He can tell him something about his illness and death. “
“`他可以告诉他一些关于他病情和死亡的事情。’”

” Volontiers, “ said the Captain, looking at me.
“` Volontiers, ‘ 船长说着，看着我。”

I thanked him, and he looked at his watch.
“我向他表示感谢，他看了看手表。”

“It is past six o’clock. We should find him at home if you care to come now. “
“现在已经过了六点。如果你愿意现在就来，我们应该会在他家找到他。”

I got up without further ado, and we walked along the road that led to the doctor’s house. —
毫不迟疑地起床后，我们沿着通往医生家的小路走去。 —

He lived out of the town, but the Hotel de la Fleur was on the edge of it, and we were quickly in the country. —
他住在城外，但Fleur酒店就在城边，我们很快就走进了乡间。 —

The broad road was shaded by pepper-trees, and on each side were the plantations, cocoa-nut and vanilla. —
宽阔的道路被胡椒树遮蔽，两旁是植物园，种满了椰子和香草。 —

The pirate birds were screeching among the leaves of the palms. —
强盗鸟在棕榈树的树叶中尖叫着。 —

We came to a stone bridge over a shallow river, and we stopped for a few minutes to see the native boys bathing. —
我们来到了一座浅河上的石桥，我们停下来几分钟看着土著男孩在洗澡。 —

They chased one another with shrill cries and laughter, and their bodies, brown and wet, gleamed in the sunlight.
他们互相追逐着尖叫着笑声，他们湿漉漉的棕褐色身体在阳光下闪闪发光。