海外頭條總編審 王 在 軍 （中國）
海外頭條副編審 Wendy溫迪（英國）
海 外 頭 條總 編 火 鳳 凰 （海外）
圖片選自百度
英文誦讀：龔如仲（美國）
后期合成：李華敏（中國）
中文誦讀：琬喬（中國）
The Plague
By Albert?Camus
Page 16
Next day, April 17, at eight o’clock, the concierge buttonholed the doctor as he was going out. “Some young scallywags ,” he said, “had dumped three dead rats in the hall. They’d obviously been caught in traps with very strong springs, as they were bleeding profusely.” The concierge had lingered in the doorway for quite a while, holding the rats by legs and keeping a sharp eye on the passengers-by, on the off chance that the miscreants would give themselves away by grinning or by some facetious remark. His watch had been in vain. “But I’ll nab them all right,” said M. Michel hopefully.
Much puzzled, Rieus decided to begin his round in the outskirts of the town, were his poorer patients lived. The scavenging in these districts was done late in the morning and, as he drove his car along the straight, dusty streets, he cast glances at the garbage cans aligned along the edge of the sidewalk. In one street alone the doctor counted as many as a dozen rats deposited on the vegetable and other refuse in the cans.
He found his first patient, as asthma case of long standing, in bed, in a room that served as both dining room and bedroom and overlooked the street. The invalid was an old Spaniard with a hard, rugged face. Placed on the coverlet in front of him were two pots containing dried peas. When the doctor entered, the old man was sitting up, bending his neck back, gasping and wheezing in his efforts to recover his breath. His wife brought a bowl of water.
“Well, doctor,” he said, while the injection was being made, “out, have you noticed?”
“The rats, he means,” his wife explained. “The man next door found three!” “They’re coming out, you can see them in all the trash cans. It’s hunger!”
Rieus soon discovered that the rats were the great topic of conversation in that part of the town. After his round on visits he drove home.
“There’s a telegram for you, sir, upstairs,” M. Michel informed him. The doctor asked him if he’d seen anymore rats. “No,” the concierge replied, “there aren’t been any more. I’s keeping a sharp lookout, you know. Those youngsters wouldn’t dare when I’m around.”
The telegram informed Rieus that his mother would be arriving next day. She was going to keep house for her son during his wife’s absence. When the doctor entered his apartment he found the nurse already there. He looked at his wife. She was in a tailor-made suit, and he noticed that she had used rouge.
He smiled to her. “That’s splendid,” he said. “You’re looking very nice.”
A few minutes later he was seeing her into the sleeping-car. She glanced round the compartment. “It’s too expensive for us really. Isn’t it?”
“It had to be done,” Rieus replied. “What’s this story about rats going around?”
“I can’t explain. It certainly is queer, but it’ll pass.
Then hurriedly he begged her to forgive him; he felt he should have looked after her better, he’d been most remiss. When she shook her head, as if to make him stop, he added: “Anyhow, once you’re back everything will be better. We’ll make a fresh start.
鼠疫
作者：法國 阿爾貝?加繆
本頁譯者：龔如仲（從英文版譯成中文）
（1957年諾貝爾文學(xué)獎獲獎小說）
第二天，四月十七日早上八點，正當(dāng)醫(yī)生望外走時，門房拽住了他?！皫讉€小無賴，”他說道，“在大堂里丟下了三只死老鼠，它們顯然是被力道很強大的彈簧捕鼠器夾住的，血滴滴答答地流了許多?！遍T房拎著死老鼠的腳，在門檻上已經(jīng)站了好一些時候，旨在抓住機會看到那些壞小子跑過來說些挖苦話，來個自我暴露，可是他的努力徒勞了。
“好啊，這些小混蛋，”米歇爾說，“我終究會把他們逮住的！”
里厄大夫感到迷茫不解，他決定從城市的郊區(qū)開始他的出診，因為那里住著他的較為貧困的患者。那些地區(qū)里的垃圾清除工作要比別處晚得多，大夫開著車沿著那里的塵土飛揚、道路筆直的公路上行進。透過車窗，他的眼光掠過了一些放在人行道旁的廢物箱。在一條街上，大夫就發(fā)現(xiàn)了大約有十二只死老鼠被丟到了集滿爛菜皮和舊破物的垃圾旁。
大夫的第一個病人住在一間沿街的屋子里，吃飯睡覺都在那個房間。床上躺著一位患著氣喘病的老病號，他是一位面容僵硬、滿臉皺紋的西班牙老人。在老人的被子上，放在兩個里面裝著干豆子的罐子。當(dāng)看到醫(yī)生進來時，正在床上坐著的老人立馬坐直了身子，喘著粗氣、尖聲哮鳴地控制著自己的呼吸。老人的太太給他端上了一碗水。
當(dāng)醫(yī)生給他打針時，老人對醫(yī)生說道：“嗯，大夫，在外面，您注意到了嗎？”
“他指的是老鼠，”老人的太太插嘴道，“隔壁一位男士發(fā)現(xiàn)了三只。老鼠們都出來了，您能在所有的垃圾箱里看到它們。都是因為饑餓?。 ?/p>
里厄大夫很快就發(fā)現(xiàn)：老鼠成了這個城里那個地區(qū)的主要議論話題。出診結(jié)束后，醫(yī)生開車回家。
“有您的一份電報，先生，在樓上，”門房米歇爾告訴醫(yī)生。醫(yī)生問門房是否又發(fā)現(xiàn)了任何死老鼠？門房答道：“沒有，沒發(fā)現(xiàn)任何死耗子。您知道我是睜大眼睛看著吶。當(dāng)我在這兒時，那些混小子不敢干惡作劇?！?/p>
電報內(nèi)容是：醫(yī)生的媽媽明天來看他。她來此的目的是在醫(yī)生太太不在家的時候，幫兒子看守房子。當(dāng)醫(yī)生進入他的辦公室時，護士已經(jīng)來了。他看到了他的太太。她穿著裁縫特制的新衣服。同時，他還發(fā)現(xiàn)，他的太太涂了胭脂。他對著他太太微笑著?！斑@簡直是太棒了，”他說道，“你看上去非常迷人！”
幾分鐘之后，他們到了車站，他把她安頓在臥鋪車廂里。他太太注視了一下車廂，對丈夫說道：“這對我們來說，是不是太奢侈了？”
“需要這樣的，”里厄說道。
“關(guān)于那些老鼠，這究竟是怎么一回事？”
“我無法解釋，這事很怪異，但一切都會過去的?！?/p>
他接著急切地對她說，他要求太太原諒他，因為他本該好好地照顧她的，但他對她太不關(guān)心了。他太太搖搖頭，似乎在告訴他不要再往下說了。但是，他繼續(xù)說道：“你回來時，一切會變得更好。我們會有一個新的開始！”
【作者簡介】龔如仲（Ralph)
中國對外經(jīng)濟貿(mào)易大學(xué)英語系畢業(yè)。曾任鐵道部援建坦贊鐵路工作組總部英語翻譯，中國國際廣播電臺英語部播音員、記者，外貿(mào)部中國輕工業(yè)品進出口總公司駐美國公司總裁，澳大利亞利富集團駐美國公司總裁，外貿(mào)部中國基地總公司駐美國公司總裁，美國TA國際有限公司駐北京辦事處首席代表
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琬喬：朗誦愛好者，喜歡用聲音傳遞世間一切美好與熱愛！
