A Ghost Story

I took a large room, far up Broadway, in a huge old building whose upper stories had been wholly unoccupied for years until I came. The place had long been given up to dust and cobwebs, to solitude and silence. I seemed groping among the tombs and invading the privacy of the dead, that first night I climbed up to my quarters. For the first time in my life a superstitious dread came over me; and as I turned a dark angle of the stairway and an invisible cobweb swung its slazy woof in my face and clung there, I shuddered as one who had encountered a phantom.

我在百老汇大街深处一栋古老的大楼里租下了一间宽敞的房间，这栋楼的上面几层多年来一直空置，直到我搬进去为止。这地方早已被交给了尘土和蛛网，交给了孤寂与沉默。第一晚我爬上我的住处时，只觉得自己仿佛正在坟墓间摸索，闯入了亡者的隐秘之地。我平生第一次生出一种迷信般的恐惧；就在我转过楼梯一处阴暗的拐角时，一张看不见的蛛网甩着它稀薄的丝网扑到我脸上、黏在那儿，我不禁像遇见了幽灵一般浑身一颤。

I was glad enough when I reached my room and locked out the mold and the darkness. A cheery fire was burning in the grate, and I sat down before it with a comforting sense of relief. For two hours I sat there, thinking of bygone times; recalling old scenes, and summoning half-forgotten faces out of the mists of the past; listening, in fancy, to voices that long ago grew silent for all time, and to once familiar songs that nobody sings now.

等我到了自己的房间，把霉味和黑暗都锁在了门外，我这才松了一口气，心里满是欣慰。壁炉里燃着一炉旺火，我在炉前坐下，心中涌起一阵宽慰之情。我在那儿坐了整整两个钟头，回想着往昔的种种时光；追忆着旧日的情景，从往事的迷雾中唤出一张张半已淡忘的面孔；恍惚间，仿佛听见了那些早已永远沉寂的声音，还有那些如今再没人唱的、曾经熟悉的歌谣。

And as my reverie softened down to a sadder and sadder pathos, the shrieking of the winds outside softened to a wail, the angry beating of the rain against the panes diminished to a tranquil patter, and one by one the noises in the street subsided, until the hurrying footsteps of the last belated straggler died away in the distance and left no sound behind.

随着我的遐思渐渐化作愈发深沉的哀伤，屋外呼啸的风声也渐渐柔和成一声呜咽，雨点拍打窗玻璃的怒意也减弱为一阵平静的滴答声，街上的种种喧哗也一个接一个地平息下来，直到最后一个赶夜路的迟归人的脚步声也渐渐消失在远方，再无声息。

The fire had burned low. A sense of loneliness crept over me. I arose and undressed, moving on tiptoe about the room, doing stealthily what I had to do, as if I were environed by sleeping enemies whose slumbers it would be fatal to break. I covered up in bed, and lay listening to the rain and wind and the faint creaking of distant shutters, till they lulled me to sleep.

炉火渐渐低了下去。一种孤寂之感悄悄向我袭来。我起身脱衣，蹑手蹑脚地在房里走动，偷偷摸摸地做着该做的事，仿佛四周都是沉睡的仇敌，惊醒了他们便是致命之事。我钻进被窝盖好，躺着聆听雨声、风声，还有远处百叶窗微弱的吱嘎声，直到它们把我哄入了睡乡。

I slept profoundly, but how long I do not know. All at once I found myself awake, and filled with a shuddering expectancy. All was still. All but my own heart—I could hear it beat. Presently the bedclothes began to slip away slowly toward the foot of the bed, as if some one were pulling them! I could not stir; I could not speak. Still the blankets slipped deliberately away, till my breast was uncovered. Then with a great effort I seized them and drew them over my head. I waited, listened, waited. Once more that steady pull began, and once more I lay torpid a century of dragging seconds till my breast was naked again.

我睡得很沉，可睡了多久我也说不清。忽然间我发现自己醒了过来，心中满是战栗的期待。四下一片寂静。除了我自己的心跳——我能听见它在跳动——什么都没有。不一会儿，被褥竟开始朝床脚那头缓缓滑去，仿佛有人在拉扯它似的！我动弹不得，也说不出话来。毯子仍旧不紧不慢地滑走，直到我的胸口都露了出来。这时我使出浑身力气，一把抓住毯子，拉过来盖住了头。我等着，听着，又等着。那股平稳的拉力又开始了，我又僵在那儿，仿佛熬过了一个世纪那么漫长的几秒钟，直到胸口又一次赤裸裸地露了出来。

At last I roused my energies and snatched the covers back to their place and held them with a strong grip. I waited. By and by I felt a faint tug, and took a fresh grip. The tug strengthened to a steady strain—it grew stronger and stronger. My hold parted, and for the third time the blankets slid away. I groaned. An answering groan came from the foot of the bed! Beaded drops of sweat stood upon my forehead. I was more dead than alive.

最后我振作起精神，一把把被子扯回原处，死死抓住不放。我等着。不一会儿，我感觉到一阵微弱的拉扯，便重新抓紧。那拉力渐渐变成了持续的用力——越来越强。我的手一松，被子第三次滑走了。我呻吟了一声。床脚那头竟传来一声回应的呻吟！我额上渗出了豆大的汗珠。我简直是半死不活了。

Presently I heard a heavy footstep in my room—the step of an elephant, it seemed to me—it was not like anything human. But it was moving from me—there was relief in that. I heard it approach the door —pass out without moving bolt or lock—and wander away among the dismal corridors, straining the floors and joists till they creaked again as it passed—and then silence reigned once more.

不一会儿，我听见房间里传来沉重的脚步声——那步子，在我听来，简直像一头大象——完全不像是人的脚步。可它正朝远离我的方向移动——这倒让我松了一口气。我听见它走近门口——不用碰门闩或锁便径直穿了出去——随后在阴沉的走廊里游荡开去，走过之处，地板和横梁都吱嘎作响，仿佛不堪重负——随后又是一片寂静。

When my excitement had calmed, I said to myself, “This is a dream—simply a hideous dream.” And so I lay thinking it over until I convinced myself that it was a dream, and then a comforting laugh relaxed my lips and I was happy again. I got up and struck a light; and when I found that the locks and bolts were just as I had left them, another soothing laugh welled in my heart and rippled from my lips.

等我的惊惶稍稍平息下来，我便对自己说：“这不过是个梦——一个可怕的梦罢了。”于是我便躺着反复琢磨，直到自己确信这不过是场梦，一阵宽慰的笑意浮上了我的唇边，我又快活了起来。我起身点起了灯；一看门锁和门闩都还和我离开时一模一样，心里又是一阵欣慰的笑意，从心头一直漾到了唇边。

I took my pipe and lit it, and was just sitting down before the fire, when—down went the pipe out of my nerveless fingers, the blood forsook my cheeks, and my placid breathing was cut short with a gasp! In the ashes on the hearth, side by side with my own bare footprint, was another, so vast that in comparison mine was but an infant's! Then I had had a visitor, and the elephant tread was explained.

我拿起烟斗，点上了火，正要在炉火前坐下，忽然间——烟斗从我软弱无力的手指间掉落，血色从我脸颊上褪去，我那平静的呼吸也被一声倒抽的凉气打断了！壁炉的炉灰里，紧挨着我自己光脚踩出的脚印旁，竟还有另一个脚印，大得让我的那个相形之下简直像个婴儿的脚印！这么说，我是有访客了，那大象般的脚步声也就有了解释。

I put out the light and returned to bed, palsied with fear. I lay a long time, peering into the darkness, and listening. Then I heard a grating noise overhead, like the dragging of a heavy body across the floor; then the throwing down of the body, and the shaking of my windows in response to the concussion. In distant parts of the building I heard the muffled slamming of doors. I heard, at intervals, stealthy footsteps creeping in and out among the corridors, and up and down the stairs. Sometimes these noises approached my door, hesitated, and went away again.

我熄了灯，惶恐万分地回到床上。我躺了好久，凝视着黑暗，侧耳细听。这时我听见头顶上方传来一阵刺耳的摩擦声，像是有个沉重的身躯正在地板上被拖拽；接着是那身躯被扔下的声音，紧跟着一阵震动，把我房间的窗户都震得晃了起来。在大楼的远处，我听见门被闷闷地甩上的声音。我不时听见鬼鬼祟祟的脚步声，在走廊间、楼梯上上下下地爬来爬去。有时这些声响会走近我的房门，迟疑片刻，又转身离去。

I heard the clanking of chains faintly, in remote passages, and listened while the clanking grew nearer—while it wearily climbed the stairways, marking each move by the loose surplus of chain that fell with an accented rattle upon each succeeding step as the goblin that bore it advanced. I heard muttered sentences; half-uttered screams that seemed smothered violently; and the swish of invisible garments, the rush of invisible wings. Then I became conscious that my chamber was invaded—that I was not alone.

我隐约听见远处的通道里传来铁链的叮当声，一边听着，那叮当声一边渐渐逼近——一边费力地爬上楼梯，每挪动一步，那拖着的铁链便松松垮垮地拖曳而下，随着扛着它前进的那个鬼魅每迈出一步，便发出一声带着重音的哗啦声。我听见含糊的低语，听见半途被硬生生掐断的尖叫；还有看不见的衣物拂动的声响，看不见的翅膀掠过的疾风。这时我才意识到，我的房间已被侵入——我已不再是独自一人。

I heard sighs and breathings about my bed, and mysterious whisperings. Three little spheres of soft phosphorescent light appeared on the ceiling directly over my head, clung and glowed there a moment, and then dropped —two of them upon my face and one upon the pillow. They spattered, liquidly, and felt warm. Intuition told me they had turned to gouts of blood as they fell—I needed no light to satisfy myself of that. Then I saw pallid faces, dimly luminous, and white uplifted hands, floating bodiless in the air—floating a moment and then disappearing.

我听见床边传来叹息声和呼吸声，还有神秘的低语。三团柔和的磷光小球出现在我头顶正上方的天花板上，附着在那儿闪烁了片刻，随后便掉落下来——两团落在我脸上，一团落在枕头上。它们溅开时是液态的，还带着温热。我的直觉告诉我，它们落下时已化作了斑斑血滴——这一点我根本不需要灯光便能确信。接着我看见一张张苍白、隐隐发光的面孔，还有一双双高高举起的白色手臂，无形无体地漂浮在空中——飘荡片刻，便又消失不见了。

The whispering ceased, and the voices and the sounds, and a solemn stillness followed. I waited and listened. I felt that I must have light or die. I was weak with fear. I slowly raised myself toward a sitting posture, and my face came in contact with a clammy hand! All strength went from me apparently, and I fell back like a stricken invalid. Then I heard the rustle of a garment—it seemed to pass to the door and go out.

低语声停止了，那些声音和响动也随之消失，随后是一片肃穆的寂静。我等着，听着。我觉得自己非要有灯光不可，不然就要死了。我因恐惧而虚弱不堪。我缓缓地欲坐起身来，脸却触到了一只冰凉黏腻的手！我浑身的力气顿时仿佛尽数流失，我像个中风的病人一样倒了回去。这时我听见一阵衣物摩挲的声响——仿佛正朝门口移去，随后走了出去。

When everything was still once more, I crept out of bed, sick and feeble, and lit the gas with a hand that trembled as if it were aged with a hundred years. The light brought some little cheer to my spirits. I sat down and fell into a dreamy contemplation of that great footprint in the ashes. By and by its outlines began to waver and grow dim. I glanced up and the broad gas-flame was slowly wilting away. In the same moment I heard that elephantine tread again. I noted its approach, nearer and nearer, along the musty halls, and dimmer and dimmer the light waned.

等一切再度归于平静，我才虚弱不堪、病恹恹地爬下床，用一只仿佛苍老了百岁般颤抖的手，点亮了煤气灯。灯光多少给我的精神带来了些许慰藉。我坐下来，恍恍惚惚地凝视着炉灰里那个巨大的脚印。渐渐地，脚印的轮廓开始模糊、暗淡下去。我抬头一看，那宽大的煤气火苗正缓缓地萎缩下去。就在同一时刻，我又听见了那大象般的脚步声。我留意着它一步步走近，穿过发霉的走廊，越来越近，而灯光也越来越暗。

The tread reached my very door and paused—the light had dwindled to a sickly blue, and all things about me lay in a spectral twilight. The door did not open, and yet I felt a faint gust of air fan my cheek, and presently was conscious of a huge, cloudy presence before me. I watched it with fascinated eyes. A pale glow stole over the Thing; gradually its cloudy folds took shape—an arm appeared, then legs, then a body, and last a great sad face looked out of the vapor. Stripped of its filmy housings, naked, muscular and comely, the majestic Cardiff Giant loomed above me!

那脚步声一直走到我的门前才停了下来——灯光已经暗淡成一种病态的蓝色，我周围的一切都笼罩在一片幽灵般的微光之中。房门并未打开，可我却觉得脸颊上拂过一阵微弱的气流，紧接着便察觉到眼前有一个庞大、朦胧的存在。我目不转睛地盯着它。一层苍白的微光悄悄笼罩住了那“东西”，渐渐地，那团朦胧的褶皱有了形状——先是出现一条手臂，接着是双腿，然后是躯干，最后一张巨大而悲伤的脸从雾气中显现出来。褪去了那层薄雾般的外衣，赤身裸体、肌肉健壮、相貌堂堂，那威严的“卡迪夫巨人”便这样耸立在我面前！

All my misery vanished—for a child might know that no harm could come with that benignant countenance. My cheerful spirits returned at once, and in sympathy with them the gas flamed up brightly again. Never a lonely outcast was so glad to welcome company as I was to greet the friendly giant. I said:

我所有的惶恐顷刻间一扫而空——就连孩子也能看出，那样一副温和慈祥的面容，绝不会带来什么伤害。我的心情立刻又欢快起来，随着心情的转变，煤气灯的火苗也再度明亮地跳动起来。从没有哪个孤独的流浪者，像我迎接这位友善的巨人那样，如此欣喜地欢迎一位同伴的到来。我说道：

“Why, is it nobody but you? Do you know, I have been scared to death for the last two or three hours? I am most honestly glad to see you. I wish I had a chair—Here, here, don't try to sit down in that thing—”

“咦，原来就是你啊？你知道吗，过去这两三个钟头，我可真是被吓得够呛？见到你，我是真心实意地高兴。真希望我这儿有把椅子——喂，喂，别想坐到那东西上去——”

But it was too late. He was in it before I could stop him and down he went—I never saw a chair shivered so in my life.

可惜太迟了。我还没来得及阻止，他已经一屁股坐了下去——我这辈子还从没见过椅子被压得这样粉碎。

“Stop, stop, you'll ruin ev—”

“住手，住手，你这是要把家——”

Too late again. There was another crash, and another chair was resolved into its original elements.

又太迟了。又是一声巨响，另一把椅子也化归了它最初的材料。

“Confound it, haven't you got any judgment at all? Do you want to ruin all the furniture on the place? Here, here, you petrified fool—”

“真该死，你就一点判断力都没有吗？你是想把这地方所有的家具都毁了不成？喂，喂，你这块顽石般的糊涂虫——”

But it was no use. Before I could arrest him he had sat down on the bed, and it was a melancholy ruin.

可是没用。我还没来得及拦住他，他已经一屁股坐到了床上，那床顿时也化作了一片惨状。

“Now what sort of a way is that to do? First you come lumbering about the place bringing a legion of vagabond goblins along with you to worry me to death, and then when I overlook an indelicacy of costume which would not be tolerated anywhere by cultivated people except in a respectable theater, and not even there if the nudity were of your sex, you repay me by wrecking all the furniture you can find to sit down on.”

“瞧你这算什么行径？你先是笨手笨脚地闯到这地方来，还带来一大帮流浪的鬼魅折腾我，几乎把我吓死；然后我又体谅你那身衣着不雅——那样的装束，任何有教养的人在别处都容不下，除了在体面的剧院里，即便在那儿，若换成你这般身份的裸体，恐怕也容不下——可你倒好，反过来把你能找到的家具全都毁了，就为了找个地方坐下。”

“And why will you? You damage yourself as much as you do me. You have broken off the end of your spinal column, and littered up the floor with chips of your hams till the place looks like a marble yard. You ought to be ashamed of yourself—you are big enough to know better.”

“你到底图什么啊？你这样伤害自己，跟伤害我一样厉害。你把自己的脊椎骨末端都磕断了，把地板上撒得到处都是你屁股上崩落的碎屑，弄得这地方活像个大理石作坊。你真该为自己感到羞愧——你这么大的个头，该懂点道理才是。”

“Well, I will not break any more furniture. But what am I to do? I have not had a chance to sit down for a century.” And the tears came into his eyes.

“好吧，我不会再弄坏家具了。可我该怎么办呢？我已经整整一个世纪没机会坐下了。”说着，他眼里竟涌出了泪水。

“Poor devil,” I said, “I should not have been so harsh with you. And you are an orphan, too, no doubt. But sit down on the floor here—nothing else can stand your weight—and besides, we cannot be sociable with you away up there above me; I want you down where I can perch on this high counting-house stool and gossip with you face to face.”

“可怜的家伙，”我说道，“我不该对你这么苛刻。想必你也是个孤儿吧。不过你就坐在这地板上吧——别的东西可撑不住你的分量——再说了，你站在那么高的地方，我们也没法亲近地聊天；我要你下来，好让我坐在这张高高的账房凳子上，跟你面对面地闲聊。”

So he sat down on the floor, and lit a pipe which I gave him, threw one of my red blankets over his shoulders, inverted my sitz-bath on his head, helmet fashion, and made himself picturesque and comfortable. Then he crossed his ankles, while I renewed the fire, and exposed the flat, honeycombed bottoms of his prodigious feet to the grateful warmth.

于是他便在地板上坐了下来，点起了我给他的一支烟斗，把我的一条红毯子披在肩上，又把我的坐浴盆倒扣在头上当作头盔，把自己收拾得既别致又舒服。接着他跷起脚踝，我则重新拨旺了炉火，让他那双巨大脚掌上蜂窝般的平底，享受着那份暖意。

“What is the matter with the bottom of your feet and the back of your legs, that they are gouged up so?”

“你脚底和小腿后面这是怎么了，怎么坑坑洼洼的？”

“Infernal chilblains—I caught them clear up to the back of my head, roosting out there under Newell's farm. But I love the place; I love it as one loves his old home. There is no peace for me like the peace I feel when I am there.”

“该死的冻疮——我一直冻到了后脑勺，都是因为在纽厄尔家的农场那儿露宿的缘故。可我爱那个地方；我爱它，就像人们爱自己的老家一样。世上没有哪种安宁，比得上我在那儿时所感受到的安宁。”

We talked along for half an hour, and then I noticed that he looked tired, and spoke of it.

我们聊了半个钟头，随后我注意到他神情疲惫，便提了一句。

“Tired?” he said. “Well, I should think so. And now I will tell you all about it, since you have treated me so well. I am the spirit of the Petrified Man that lies across the street there in the museum. I am the ghost of the Cardiff Giant. I can have no rest, no peace, till they have given that poor body burial again.”

“疲惫？”他说道。“唔，我想也是。既然你待我这么好，我这就把一切都告诉你吧。我是那具躺在街对面博物馆里的石化人的灵魂。我就是‘卡迪夫巨人’的鬼魂。除非他们把那具可怜的躯体重新安葬，否则我便得不到丝毫安息，丝毫安宁。”

“Now what was the most natural thing for me to do, to make men satisfy this wish? Terrify them into it!— haunt the place where the body lay! So I haunted the museum night after night. I even got other spirits to help me. But it did no good, for nobody ever came to the museum at midnight.”

“那么，要让世人满足我这个心愿，我能想到的最自然不过的办法是什么呢？就是把他们吓得不得不去做！——去纠缠那具尸体停放的地方！于是我夜复一夜地在那博物馆里作祟。我甚至找来其他鬼魂帮忙。可一点用也没有，因为压根没人半夜跑到博物馆里去。”

“Then it occurred to me to come over the way and haunt this place a little. I felt that if I ever got a hearing I must succeed, for I had the most efficient company that perdition could furnish. Night after night we have shivered around through these mildewed halls, dragging chains, groaning, whispering, tramping up and down stairs, till, to tell you the truth, I am almost worn out. But when I saw a light in your room to-night I roused my energies again and went at it with a deal of the old freshness. But I am tired out—entirely fagged out. Give me, I beseech you, give me some hope!”

“于是我便想到，不如跨过街去，到这地方来稍微捣捣鬼。我觉得只要能有人听见我的动静，就一定能成功，因为我请来的同伴，个个都是地狱里能提供的最得力的角色。夜复一夜，我们在这些发霉的大厅里瑟瑟游荡，拖着铁链，呻吟着，低语着，在楼梯上上下下地踏来踏去，说实话，我都快要累垮了。可今晚我看见你房里有灯光，便又振作起精神，拿出了当年的那股干劲，重新来了一遍。可我实在是累坏了——彻底精疲力竭了。求求你，给我，给我一点希望吧！”

I lit off my perch in a burst of excitement, and exclaimed:

我一阵激动，从我那高凳子上跳了下来，喊道：

“This transcends everything! everything that ever did occur! Why you poor blundering old fossil, you have had all your trouble for nothing —you have been haunting a plaster cast of yourself—the real Cardiff Giant is in Albany!—[A fact. The original fraud was ingeniously and fraudfully duplicated, and exhibited in New York as the “only genuine” Cardiff Giant (to the unspeakable disgust of the owners of the real colossus) at the very same time that the latter was drawing crowds at a museum in Albany,]—Confound it, don't you know your own remains?”

“这简直超乎一切！超乎从来发生过的一切事情！哎呀，你这可怜、糊里糊涂的老古董，你这一番辛苦全是白费了——你一直在纠缠的，不过是你自己的一个石膏模型罢了——真正的卡迪夫巨人如今可在奥尔巴尼呢！——真该死，难道你连自己的真身遗骸都认不出来吗？”

I never saw such an eloquent look of shame, of pitiable humiliation, overspread a countenance before.

我这辈子还从没见过哪张脸上，浮现出如此雄辩的羞愧之色，如此令人心生怜悯的窘迫神情。

The Petrified Man rose slowly to his feet, and said:

那石化人缓缓站起身来，说道：

“Honestly, is that true?”

“说真的，这是真的吗？”

“As true as I am sitting here.”

“千真万确，就跟我此刻坐在这儿一样真。”

He took the pipe from his mouth and laid it on the mantel, then stood irresolute a moment (unconsciously, from old habit, thrusting his hands where his pantaloons pockets should have been, and meditatively dropping his chin on his breast), and finally said:

他从嘴里取下烟斗，放在壁炉架上，随后犹豫不决地站了一会儿（出于旧日的习惯，他不自觉地把手插向裤兜本该在的地方，若有所思地垂下了下巴），终于开口说道：

“Well-I never felt so absurd before. The Petrified Man has sold everybody else, and now the mean fraud has ended by selling its own ghost! My son, if there is any charity left in your heart for a poor friendless phantom like me, don't let this get out. Think how you would feel if you had made such an ass of yourself.”

“唉——我这辈子还从没觉得自己这么荒唐可笑过。这个‘石化人’骗了所有人，如今这场卑劣的骗局，竟连它自己的鬼魂都给骗了！我的孩子，你要是心里还留着一点点慈悲，可怜可怜我这个孤苦无依的幽灵，就别把这事儿传出去吧。你想想看，要是换了你自己出了这么大的洋相，你会是什么滋味。”

I heard his stately tramp die away, step by step down the stairs and out into the deserted street, and felt sorry that he was gone, poor fellow —and sorrier still that he had carried off my red blanket and my bath-tub.

我听见他那庄重的脚步声渐渐远去，一步一步地下了楼梯，走进了空荡荡的街道，随后再无声息。我为他的离去感到一阵惋惜，这可怜的家伙——更让我懊恼的是，他还把我的红毯子和我的浴盆一并给带走了。