Sara went to the shops five or six times a day, and when she walked past the house next door, she often thought about the Indian gentleman.
萨拉一天要去五六趟商店,每当她经过隔壁的房子时,就会经常想起那个印度绅士。
She felt sorry for him. He had no wife or family, and the doctor visited the house every day.
她很为他感到难过。他没有妻室,大夫每天都去看他。
Mr Carmichael the lawyer often visited, too, and sometimes the Carmichael children went with him.
律师卡迈克尔先生也经常去看他,有时候还带着他家的孩子们。
Sara was pleased about that. 'It's nice to see friendly faces when you are ill,' she thought.
萨拉为此感到高兴。“生病时能看到人们友善的面庞真好。”她这样想。
The Indian gentleman thought that, too. He liked children very much, but he was a very unhappy man.
那个印度绅士也是这么想的。他非常喜欢孩子,可他是个非常不幸的人。
Mr Carmichael was his friend, and he talked to him a lot. But they talked about only one thing.
卡迈克尔先生是他的朋友,他跟他谈了很多话,可他们只谈论一件事情。
'I must find the child,' said the Indian gentleman (his name was Mr Carrisford).
“我一定要找到那个孩子,”印度绅士(他名叫卡里斯福特)说道,
'I must find her and take care of her. But where is she?
“我一定要找到她并照顾她。可她在哪儿呢?
Here I am, with all this money from the diamond mines—and half of it is Ralph Crewe's money.
我带着所有开采钻石矿赚来的钱来到这里--那笔钱有一半是拉尔夫·克鲁的。
Oh, Carmichael, why did I leave my friend and run away when things looked bad? Why?'
哦,卡迈克尔,为什么当时形势看起来不好时我要丢下我的朋友逃跑呢?为什么?”
'You ran away because you were ill with a fever,' said Mr Carmichael. 'It nearly killed you, remember?'
“你出走是因为你当时生病发烧了,”卡迈克尔先生说道,“还记得吗?那场病差点要了你的命。”
'And it did kill poor Ralph,' said Mr Carrisford.
“那场病的确要了可怜的拉尔夫的命,”卡里斯福特先生说,
'He put all his money into the mines because I was his friend. But at first we didn't find any diamonds, and all Ralph's money was gone.
“因为我是他的朋友,他把他所有的钱都投在了那个钻石矿上。可一开始我们根本找不到钻石,拉尔夫的钱全赔进去了。
I was afraid to tell him, so I ran away. And later, when we did find diamonds, Ralph was dead.' He laughed, angrily. 'What a brave friend I was!'
我不敢把这事告诉他,所以就一走了之。后来,当我们真的找到钻石的时候,拉尔夫已经死了。”他生气地冷笑着,“我真是个勇敢的朋友!”
'It's not easy to be brave,' Mr Carmichael said quietly, 'when you're ill with a fever.'
“要想真正勇敢起来并不容易,”卡迈克尔心平气和地说道,“特别是在你生病发烧的时候。”
Mr Carrisford looked into the fire. 'Ram Dass tells me,' he said, 'about a little servant-girl next door.
卡里斯福特先生看着炉火。“拉姆·达斯告诉我,”他说,“隔壁有个小女佣。
The monkey ran away, and Ram Dass went across the roof to get him back from her room.
拉姆·达斯的猴子跑了,他沿着屋顶过去把猴子从她屋里捉了回来。
The poor child sleeps in a cold, dirty attic, and works about sixteen hours a day.
可怜的小女孩儿住在又冷又脏的小阁屋里,每天干大约16个小时的活。
Is Ralph's daughter living like that? I can't stop thinking about it.'
拉尔夫的女儿也过这样的日子吗?我老是禁不住那样想。”
'We're going to find her one day,' said Mr Carmichael.
“我们总有一天会找到她的。”卡迈克尔先生说道。
'But how?' said Mr Carrisford. He put his head in his hands. 'I never saw her. I don't know her name!
“可怎么找呢?”卡里斯福特先生说。他用手抱着头,“我从没见过她,我连她的名字都不知道!
Ralph always called her his "Little Missus". We talked all the time about the mines. He never told me the name of her school.
拉尔夫经常管她叫他的‘小米萨斯’。我们在一起时说的也都是采矿的事。他从来没跟我说过她所在学校的名字。
Her mother was French, so did he take her to a school in France? Or was it in England?'
她母亲是法国人,那他是不是把她送到法国的学校了?还是就在英国呢?”
'Well, we know there was a child at a school in Paris,' said Mr Carmichael, 'with the name of Carew or Crewe.
“对了,我们得知巴黎的一所学校里有个孩子,”卡迈克尔先生说,“叫卡鲁还是克鲁的,
Her father died suddenly, and a Russian family took her away with them, because she was a friend of their daughter.
她父亲突然去世了,一个俄国家庭收养了她,把她带走了,因为她是他们家女儿的朋友。
Perhaps this girl is Ralph Crewe's child. Next week I'm going to Moscow to look for her.'
也许这个女孩儿就是拉尔夫·克鲁的孩子。我下周就去莫斯科找她。”
'I want to go with you, but I'm not well,' said Mr Carrisford.
“我想跟你一起去,可我身体不好,”卡里斯福特先生说。
'I must find her, Carmichael. I must. Every night, in my dreams, I see Ralph Crewe's face, and he says: "Tom, Tom, where is my Little Missus?" And I have no answer for him.'
“我必须找到她,卡迈克尔。我必须找到她。每天晚上我都梦到克鲁的脸,他对我说:‘汤姆,汤姆,我的小米萨斯在哪里?’我都无言以对。”
Mr Carrisford took his friend's hand. 'Help me to find her. Help me.'
卡里斯福特先生握着朋友的手,“帮我找到她。帮帮我。”