猴爪 The Monkey's Paw

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猴爪 The Monkey's Paw

作者：W·W·雅各布斯 (W.W. Jacobs) [英國]

        退伍的英國士兵偶然從古印度的高僧那裡得到一隻有魔力的猴爪，而且可以實現三個願望，在許願開始的時候，一切都只是開始，由這個願望所引起的一系列的變化會是什麼又會怎麼結束，都是未知。

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第一章

It was cold and dark out in the road and the rain did not stop for a minute. But in the little living-room of number 12 Castle Road it was nice and warm.

外面的馬路上又冷又黑，雨一直下個不停。但城堡路12號的一間小客廳裡卻滿暖和。

Old Mr White and his son, Herbert, played chess and Mrs White sat and watched them.

老懷特先生和他的兒子赫伯特在下象棋，懷特太太坐在一旁看著他們。

The old woman was happy because her husband and her son were good friends and they liked to be together. "Herbert's a good son," she thought. "We waited a long time for him and I was nearly forty when he was born, but we are a happy family." And old Mrs White smiled.

老婦人因她的丈夫和兒子是好朋友並樂於在一起而高興。“赫伯特是一個好孩子，我們等了很長時間才要到的孩子，他出生的時俟我都快四十歲了，但我們的家庭很幸福。”老懷特太太想著、想著，臉上露出了笑容。

It was true. Herbert was young and he laughed a lot, but his mother and his father laughed with him. They had not got much money, but they were a very happy little family.

這是事實，赫伯特年輕又愛笑，他的母親和父親也總跟著樂。他們並沒有很多錢，但他們有一個幸福的小家庭。

The two men did not talk because they played carefully. The room was quiet, but the noise of the rain was worse now and they could hear it on the windows. Suddenly Old Mr White looked up. "Listen to the rain!" he said.

兩個男人無言地下著棋。房間裡很安靜，但雨聲現在更大了，他們能聽到雨點打在窗上的聲音。突然，老懷特先生抬起頭說，“聽聽雨聲！”

"Yes, it's a bad night," Herbert answered. "It's not a good night to be out. But is your friend, Tom Morris, coming tonight?"

“是的，這是一個糟糕的夜晚，”赫伯特答道，“這樣的夜晚不宜外出，但你的朋友湯姆·莫里斯今晚不是要來嗎？”

"Yes, that's right. He's coming at about seven o'clock," the old man said. "But perhaps this rain…"

“是的，你說得對。他將在7點鐘左右到，但也許這雨……”老漢說。

Mr White did not finish because just then the young man heard a noise.

懷特先生沒有說下去，因為就在這時，年輕人聽到了一種聲音。

"Listen!" Herbert said. "There's someone at the door now."

“聽！”赫伯特說，“現在門外有人。”

"I didn't hear a noise," his father answered, but he got up from his chair and went to open the front door. Mrs White got up too and began to put things away.

他的父親答道，“我沒有聽到聲音。”但他還是從椅子上起來去開門，懷特太太也站起來開始收拾東西。

Mr White said, "Come in, come in, Tom. It's wonderful to see you again. What a bad night! Give me your coat and then come into the living-room. It's nice and warm in there."

懷特先生說，“湯姆，快請進，快請進。又見到你真高興。多麼糟糕的夜晚！把外套給我，到客廳裡去，那兒暖和。”

The front door was open, and in the living-room Mrs White and Herbert felt the cold. Then Mr White came back into the living-room with a big, red-faced man.

前門開啟了，客廳裡的懷特太太和赫伯特感覺到一陣寒氣。懷特先生領著一位高大的紅臉漢子回到了起居室。

"This is Tom Morris," Mr White told his wife and son. "We were friends when we were young. We worked together before Tom went to India. Tom, this is my wife and this is our son, Herbert."

“這是湯姆·莫里斯，”懷特先生告訴他的太太和兒子，“我們年輕的時候是好朋友，在湯姆去印度之前我們在一起工作過。湯姆，這是我太太，這是我兒子，赫伯特。”

"Pleased to meet you," Tom Morris said.

“很高興見到你們，”湯姆·莫里斯說。

"Pleased to meet you, Mr Morris," Mrs White answered. "Please come and sit down."

“我們也很高興見到你，莫里斯先生。”懷特太太答道，“請過來坐下吧。”

"Yes, come on, Tom," Mr White said. "Over here. It's nice and warm."

“對，過來，湯姆，到這兒來，這兒舒服暖和一點。”懷特先生說。

"Thank you," the big man answered and he sat down.

“謝謝你。”高大的漢子答應著坐下了。

"Let's have some whisky," Old Mr White said. "You need something to warm you on a cold night." He got out a bottle of whisky and the two old friends began to drink and talk. The little family listened with interest to this visitor from far away and he told them many strange stories.

“我們喝一點威士忌吧，”老懷特先生說，“這樣寒冷的夜晚，你需要一點東西暖和暖和身子。”他拿出一瓶威士忌，兩位老朋友邊喝邊談。這個小家庭饒有興趣地傾聽著這位來自遠方的造訪者告訴他們許多離奇的故事。