2．Sir Simon meets the Otis family

2．西蒙爵士现身

The storm went on all night, and the next morning, when the family came down to breakfast, the bloodstain was on the library floor again.

暴见雨下了一整夜。第二天早上，当一家人下楼吃早饭时，血迹又出现在书房的地板上了。

That's strange,' said Washington. 'Pinkerton's Famous Stain Cleaner usually cleans anything. It must be the ghost.'

“真奇怪，”华盛顿说，“通常平克顿去污剂什么都能除掉。一定是幽灵在捣鬼。”

He cleaned the floor again with the little black stick, but the next morning the stain appeared once more. That night, Mr Otis closed the windows and locked the library door. But in the morning the bloodstain was there again.

他又用黑色小棒清洁了地板，可第二天早晨血迹又出现了。当天晚上，奥蒂斯先生关好窗户，锁紧了书房的门，可到了早上血迹又在那里了。

The family found this most interesting.

一家人觉得这真是挺有趣的。

Is there a ghost, or isn't there?' they said to themselves. They could not decide.

“到底有没有幽灵啊？”他们暗自琢磨，可下不了定论。

But that night, they had the answer to their question.

但是当天晚上，他们就得到了答案。

After the family was in bed and asleep, a strange noise woke Mr Otis. It sounded like something metal moving slowly along the passage, and it was coming nearer to his bedroom door. He got out of bed and listened carefully. The strange noise went on, and he also heard the sound of footsteps. Then he put on his shoes, took a small bottle from his cupboard, and opened the door of his room.

在一家人都上床睡着之后，一个奇怪的声音惊醒了奥蒂斯先生。好像有金属的东西慢慢在走廊里拖动，离他的卧室门口越来越近。他起身下床，细听动静，奇怪的声音还在继续，他还听到有脚步声。于是他穿上鞋，从橱柜里拿出个小瓶子，打开了卧室的门。

There, in the moonlight, was an old man with eyes as red as fire. His grey hair was long and dirty, his clothes were old and full of holes, and there were heavy metal chains round his arms and legs.

就在月光下，有个老家伙，他的眼睛火红火红的，灰色的头发又长又脏，衣服破旧不堪，满是窟窿；他的腿和胳膊上都拴着沉重的铁链。

My dear man,' said Mr Otis, 'you really must put some oil on those noisy chains! I've brought you a bottle of Tammany's Sun Oil, which is very good. Everybody in America uses it. I'll leave it here for you, and I'll be happy to give you some more when you need it.'

“亲爱的先生，”奥蒂斯先生说，“你真该给这些叮叮当当的链子擦点儿油了！我给你拿了一瓶坦马尼太阳油，效果好着呢，美国人都用它。我把它留给你，如果你还有需要，我非常乐意再为你提供。”

He put the bottle down on a small table, then went back inside his room and got into bed.

他把瓶子放在一张小桌上，接着就回卧室上床睡觉了。

For a second or two the Canterville ghost stood still. He was so angry! Then he knocked the bottle of oil on to the floor and hurried away. A strange green light came from his body, and he gave a long and terrible cry that rang through the house. But when he got to the top of the stairs, a door opened, two little people appeared, and a large pillow went flying past his head!

有那么一两秒钟，这位坎特维尔的幽灵僵在那里，气得七窍生烟！然后他一下子把油瓶碰倒在地板上，急匆匆地走了。他身体上发出奇怪的绿色光芒，接着他发出一声长长的、可怕的怪叫，响彻了整个宅邸。但就在他上到楼梯顶上的时候，有扇门打开了，出现了两个小人影，一个硕大的枕头从他头上“呼”地飞了过去！

This was too much for the ghost, so he quickly disappeared through the wall, and soon the house was quiet again.

这样对待幽灵太过分啦，因此他迅速穿过墙壁，消失了。片刻之间，整个宅子又安静下来。

When he got to his secret room, the Canterville ghost sat down in the moonlight and tried to think. He was both angry and unhappy.

幽灵回到自己的秘室，坐在月光下试图集中思想。他既忿忿不平，又满腹委屈。

For three hundred years,' he said to himself, 'I have been the best and the most famous ghost in the country! Everybody — everybody — has been afraid of me. There was the Duchess of Bolton not long ago. I put my skeleton hands on her shoulders, and she nearly died of terror. She has been ill ever since. Before that, there were three — no, four — housekeepers, who ran away from the house, screaming. Then there was that wonderful night in 1752 when Lord Augustus shot himself in the library, because he saw a skeleton in the armchair by the fire. And there was the beautiful Lady Stutfield, who never spoke again after my cold fingers held her long white neck while she sat at dinner.'

“300年来，”他暗自思忖，“我都是全国最出色、最有名望的幽灵！每个人——每个人哪——都对我惧怕不已。不久之前就有博尔顿公爵夫人中了招儿，我把骷髅手放在她的肩膀上，几乎把她吓死，从那以后她就一病不起。在她之前，有三个——不，是四个——管家婆，都是一边尖叫一边跑出这座宅子的。还有在1752年，那个美好的夜晚，奥古斯塔斯勋爵在书房里开枪自杀，因为他在火炉旁的扶手椅上看到了一副骷髅架子。再有就是那位楚楚动人的斯图菲尔德小姐，在她用晚餐的时候，我用冰凉的手指握住了她那颀长雪白的脖子，从那以后她就再没有说过话。”

The ghost sat there, remembering all those happy times in the past. But he was not happy now. 'After all this,' he said, 'these terrible modern Americans come to the house and give me Tammany's Sun Oil for my chains, and throw pillows at my head! It's too bad! They'll be sorry for this — oh, yes, they will!'

幽灵坐在那里，回忆着过去所有的美妙时光。可他现在一点儿也不觉得美妙。“在所有这些之后，”他说道，“这些可恶的、新潮的美国佬搬进这栋宅子，还给我坦马尼太阳油来擦链子，扔大枕头砸我的脑袋！真是太可恶啦！他们会为此后悔的——哼，对，会后悔的！”

All night long, the ghost sat, and thought hard.

幽灵就坐在那儿，冥思苦想了整整一夜。