http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16257/16257-h/16257-h.htm
THE TURTLES OF TASMAN
杰克·伦敦短篇小说集（《塔斯马尼亚的海龟知道》等）
（注：杰克·伦敦最后一部出版作品）
译者：若离
BY THE TURTLES OF TASMAN
塔斯马尼亚的海龟知道
I
第一章
Law, order, and restraint had carved Frederick Travers' face. It was the strong, firm face of one used to power and who had used power with wisdom and discretion. Clean living had made the healthy skin, and the lines graved in it were honest lines. Hard and devoted work had left its wholesome handiwork, that was all. Every feature of the man told the same story, from the clear blue of the eyes to the full head of hair, light brown, touched with grey, and smoothly parted and drawn straight across above the strong-domed forehead. He was a seriously groomed man, and the light summer business suit no more than befitted his alert years, while it did not shout aloud that its possessor was likewise the possessor of numerous millions of dollars and property.
弗雷德里克·特拉弗斯的脸由律法、规矩和限制镌刻而成。那是一张坚强又坚定的脸，属于一个曾经握有权力并且自如运用智慧和判断力的人。因为平日爱整洁，他的皮肤很健康，脸上是一道道风霜实实在在的手笔。一言以蔽之，全身心投入的辛劳工作让这张脸成了一件完整的手工艺品。这位男士有一双蔚蓝色的双眸，头发侧分，梳得很顺，满头浅棕色里夹杂着银丝，垂下来的那部分发丝直接盖住了饱满的前额。他身上的特征无一不在告诉我们：他是注意梳洗的人，轻便的夏季商务套装最适合他这些年时时警惕的生活。可这样的装束并没有大声向世人宣告，它的拥有者可能同时坐拥数百万美元的资金和房产。
For Frederick Travers hated ostentation. The machine that waited outside for him under the porte-cochère was sober black. It was the most expensive machine in the county, yet he did not care to flaunt its price or horse-power in a red flare across the landscape, which also was mostly his, from the sand dunes and the everlasting beat of the Pacific breakers, across the fat bottomlands and upland pastures, to the far summits clad with redwood forest and wreathed in fog and cloud.
弗雷德里克·特拉弗斯讨厌炫耀。在门外专供车辆进出的通道上，等候他的那辆车通体黑色，显得肃穆。那是县里最贵的车，但他并不愿意吹嘘它不菲的价格。伴随着太平洋连绵不断的涛声，那辆车开足马力越过沙丘，驰骋在大多属于特拉弗斯名下的地界上，穿越肥沃的低洼河滩和高地的牧场，开往长满红杉的山峰，登上云雾缭绕的山顶自由呼吸。即便如此，他对车子强劲的马力也不屑一提。
A rustle of skirts caused him to look over his shoulder. Just the faintest hint of irritation showed in his manner. Not that his daughter was the object, however. Whatever it was, it seemed to lie on the desk before him.
裙子发出的沙沙声让他没法集中精力看。这种举止显示他有一丝烦躁。让他心烦的倒不是女儿。不管是什么，罪魁祸首似乎都放在他面前的书桌上。
"What is that outlandish name again?" she asked. "I know I shall never remember it. See, I've brought a pad to write it down."
“又是什么外国佬的名字？”女儿问，“我知道，我永远也记不住那种人名。我带过来一个便笺本，可以记在上面。”
Her voice was low and cool, and she was a tall, well-formed, clear-skinned young woman. In her voice and complacence she, too, showed the drill-marks of order and restraint.
这女孩年纪轻轻，个子高挑，身形姣好，皮肤光洁。她的声音低沉，听起来人很冷静，能听出一种自我满足感。这嗓音和这心态都显示，规矩和限制也在她身上打下了烙印。
Frederick Travers scanned the signature of one of two letters on the desk. "Bronislawa Plaskoweitzkaia Travers," he read; then spelled the difficult first portion, letter by letter, while his daughter wrote it down.
桌上有两封信，弗雷德里克·特拉弗斯扫了扫其中一封的签名，念出声来：“布罗尼斯拉娃·普拉斯科维查卡亚·特拉弗斯。”然后，他逐个字母拼出来这一串名字里难读的前面部分，女儿在一边记下来。
"Now, Mary," he added, "remember Tom was always harum scarum, and you must make allowances for this daughter of his. Her very name is—ah— disconcerting. I haven't seen him for years, and as for her...." A shrug epitomised his apprehension. He smiled with an effort at wit. "Just the same, they're as much your family as mine. If he is my brother, he is your uncle. And if she's my niece, you're both cousins."
“玛丽你现在听好，”他接着说，“记得那个总是粗心大意冒冒失失的汤姆吧，你必须体谅他这个女儿。那姑娘的名字嘛，有点别扭。我有些年没见过他了，也没见过他女儿……”说这话时，他耸耸肩，流露出对汤姆的担心。他微笑着，想尽量理智些，又说道：“他们是我的家人，也是你的，一样的。他是我的弟弟，也就是你叔叔。她是我的外甥女，你们就是堂姐妹。”
Mary nodded. "Don't worry, father. I'll be nice to her, poor thing. What nationality was her mother?—to get such an awful name."
玛丽点点头：“别担心，爸爸。我会对她好的，可怜呐。她妈妈是哪国人？起这么难受的名字。”
"I don't know. Russian, or Polish, or Spanish, or something. It was just like Tom. She was an actress or singer—I don't remember. They met in Buenos Ayres. It was an elopement. Her husband—"
“我不知道。俄罗斯，或者波兰、西班牙还是什么地方。和汤姆一样的人。她是个演员或者歌手，我不记得了。他们在布宜诺斯艾利斯碰上，俩人私奔了。她丈夫——”
"Then she was already married!"
“那时候她已经结婚了！”
Mary's dismay was unfeigned and spontaneous, and her father's irritation grew more pronounced. He had not meant that. It had slipped out.
玛丽震惊地脱口而出，丝毫没有掩饰自己的情绪。父亲变得更烦躁了。他本来没打算抖出来这种事，一时说漏嘴了。
"There was a divorce afterward, of course. I never knew the details. Her mother died out in China—no; in Tasmania. It was in China that Tom—" His lips shut with almost a snap. He was not going to make any more slips. Mary waited, then turned to the door, where she paused.
“当然，那之后就离婚了。我一直不清楚具体情况。她母亲死在中国，不，塔斯马尼亚。是汤姆在中国——”他突然打住了，不打算再透露什么。玛丽等了等，没见他往下说，就走向门去，在门口停住脚步。
"I've given her the rooms over the rose court," she said. "And I'm going now to take a last look."
她说：“我已经给她留了房间，那里可以看到开玫瑰的院子。我现在要去那儿最后看一眼。”
Frederick Travers turned back to the desk, as if to put the letters away, changed his mind, and slowly and ponderingly reread them.
弗雷德里克·特拉弗斯转身往书桌那边走，似乎想把信收起来，后来改了主意，打开信慢慢地又了一遍，读着读着陷入沉思。
"Dear Fred:
"It's been a long time since I was so near to the old home, and I'd like to take a run up. Unfortunately, I played ducks and drakes with my Yucatan project—I think I wrote about it—and I'm broke as usual. Could you advance me funds for the run? I'd like to arrive first class. Polly is with me, you know. I wonder how you two will get along.
"Tom.
"P.S. If it doesn't bother you too much, send it along next mail."
一封信上写道：
“亲爱的弗雷德：
上一次我离老宅这么近还是很久以前的事。我喜欢快马加鞭的。可惜，这回我因为出征尤卡坦的计划挥霍了不少钱，我记得之前写到过这事，和过去一样，现在我破产了。你能不能借我点钱，帮我垫付一下路费？我想坐一等舱回来。你知道的，波莉和我一起。我还不知道你们俩以后会相处得怎么样。
汤姆
又及：如果你不是太费事，寄钱过来的时候顺便也给我回封信。”
"Dear Uncle Fred":
the other letter ran, in what seemed to him a strange, foreign-taught, yet distinctly feminine hand.
另一封信开头是“亲爱的弗雷德叔叔”，他看着像一个陌生人的手笔，看得出对方母语不是英文，显然是个女士。
信中说：
"Dad doesn't know I am writing this. He told me what he said to you. It is not true. He is coming home to die. He doesn't know it, but I've talked with the doctors. And he'll have to come home, for we have no money. We're in a stuffy little boarding house, and it is not the place for Dad. He's helped other persons all his life, and now is the time to help him. He didn't play ducks and drakes in Yucatan. I was with him, and I know. He dropped all he had there, and he was robbed. He can't play the business game against New Yorkers. That explains it all, and I am proud he can't.
"He always laughs and says I'll never be able to get along with you. But I don't agree with him. Besides, I've never seen a really, truly blood relative in my life, and there's your daughter. Think of it!—a real live cousin!
"In anticipation,
"Your niece,
"Bronislawa Plaskoweitzkaia Travers.
“父亲不知道我写这封信。他把他给您写的内容告诉我了。事情不是那样。这次回来是因为他没有多少日子好活。他不知道自己快不行了，可我和医生打听过。他必须回家，我们已经身无分文。我们住在一间寄宿公寓，那里地方很小，而且不透风，不适合他住。他这辈子一直在帮别人，现在得有人帮他一把了。他在尤卡坦没有挥金如土，我陪着他的，我清楚。他在那儿被人抢了，什么都没了。他没法在生意场上和纽约佬对着干。这已经能说明一切原因，即使他没能干成，我也感到骄傲。
他总是笑着说，我永远和您处不来。可我不这么认为。而且，我还从来没有见过一个真正有血缘关系的亲戚，也就是您的女儿。期待见面！想见到堂妹真人！
您期盼中的外甥女
布罗尼斯拉娃·普拉斯科维查卡亚·特拉弗斯”
"P.S. You'd better telegraph the money, or you won't see Dad at all. He doesn't know how sick he is, and if he meets any of his old friends he'll be off and away on some wild goose chase. He's beginning to talk Alaska. Says it will get the fever out of his bones. Please know that we must pay the boarding house, or else we'll arrive without luggage.
"B.P.T."
“又及：您最好把钱电汇过来，不然您根本见不着我爸爸的。他不知道自己病得多重。要是碰到哪个老朋友，他还会为了某个徒劳的冒险上路。他已经开始说到阿拉斯加了。谈到那个地方，他就会热血沸腾。对了，您得注意下，我们还必须付寄宿公寓的房费，要不我们离开这儿的时候连行李都带不走。
布罗尼斯拉娃·普拉斯科维查卡亚·特拉弗斯”
Frederick Travers opened the door of a large, built-in safe and methodically put the letters away in a compartment labelled "Thomas Travers."
弗雷德里克·特拉弗斯打开一个嵌入墙里的大保险箱，有条不紊地把信放进一个标着“托马斯·特拉弗斯”的隔间。
"Poor Tom! Poor Tom!" he sighed aloud.
“可怜的汤姆！可怜啊！” 他长出一声哀叹。