Conversation 对话

Can you describe what kind of person you were?
I was a person you probably wouldn’t like to have as a friend.
Why?
I was in and out of jail so many times.
How many?
I lost count.

你能描述你是个什么样的人吗?
我是个你可能不喜欢当作朋友的人。
为什么?
我曾进进出出监狱很多次。
几次?
我数不出来了。

Do you remember the first time you were in jail?
I stole two books when I was about twelve.
Why did you steal books, not money or other things?
Because I wanted the books and I had no money to buy them.
What books were they?
A dictionary and an encyclopaedia.
Why them?
Because I love reading so many things in the encyclopaedia, and there were words I needed to check up in the dictionary.
You love reading books?
Don’t get me wrong! Don’t think I couldn’t read because I was a criminal. I have always loved reading, reading all kinds of books, magazines, newspapers, anything I could get hands on.

你记得你第一次入监狱吗?
在我十二岁时我偷了两本书。
你为什么偷书，怎不偷钱或其他东西?
因为我想要书却没钱买。
偷了什么书?
一本字典和一本百科全书。
为什么偷那两本?
因为我很想要读百科全书中的许多东西，而里面有些单字要查字典。
你喜欢读书啊?
别搞错了! 别以为因为我是个犯人我就不会读书。我一直都很喜爱读书的，读各种书啊、杂志、报纸、任何我能拿到的我都读。

Can you tell me something about your childhood?
Well, my childhood, not much to tell really. My parents died when I was a baby, and the next of kin was my father’s cousin, he put me in an orphanage then emigrated to Australia after the war, that was all.
How long did you stay in the orphanage?
Oh, about thirteen or fourteen years.

你能告诉我一些关于你的童年吗?
喔，我的童年啊，真的没什么好说的。我父母在我是个婴儿时就去世了，跟我最近亲的人是我父亲的表弟，他把我送去一家孤儿院然后就移民去澳洲了，那就是全部了。
你在孤儿院待多久?
喔，大概十三或十四年吧。

Can you describe your life in the orphanage?
Orphanage is not like a family home as you know; I got a roof over my head and some food, that’s all, of course I had to do work as I grew older. Cleaning and looking after younger kids.

你能描述你在孤儿院的生活吗?
孤儿院不是像你所知道的家那样的，我头上有个屋顶也有食物(不必受风吹雨打与饥饿)，就只那样了，当然当我长大些时我就得做工了。做些打扫的事与照顾较小的孩子。

Were you going to school then?
Yes, but only because the school had many books to read. I told you I love reading, didn’t I? In the school I would hide in the toilet or at the back of the bike shed to read books. Teachers used to get very angry and I would be punished, so I started to “borrow” books to take back to the orphanage. But before long the teachers realised many books were missing and I was thrown out of school.

你那时有去上学吗?
有，不过那只是因为学校里有很多书可读。我跟你说过我喜欢读书，不是吗?在学校我会躲在厕所里或脚踏车棚后面在读书。老师常会很生气而我就得受处罚，所以我就开始“借”书带回孤儿院。可是不久老师就知道很多书不见了而我就被赶出学校了。

Did you take all the missing books?
Yes.
What happened to those books? How many?
About a dozen, I hid them under the floorboard. I found a space under a loose floorboard inside the storage room one day when I was told to clean up the storage room, so I put a bucket on that floorboard to stop other kids finding it.
What did you do with the books?
I read them over and over whenever I got a chance.
What kind of books were they?
Some were children’s stories like the Brothers Grimm and Andersen’s fairy stories, but “Treasure Island” was my favourite. Later on Shakespeare’s plays became my obsession.
Oh? Why?
I love the richness and the beauty of the language flowing through his stories.

你有拿那些丢了的书吗?
有。
那些书后来怎么了?有多少本?
大约有一打吧，我把它们藏在地板下面。有一天我被叫去清扫储藏室时我发现储藏室里在一片疏松的地板下有个空间，所以我就在那片地板上放个水桶免得其他的孩子发现。
你把那些书做什么用?
我只要一有机会就读了又读。
那些是什么样的书?
有一些是小孩的故事像格林兄弟的和安徒生的童话故事， 但是我最喜欢的是“金银岛”。 后来莎士比亚的戏剧成了我最热爱的。
喔?为什么?
我很喜欢那种丰富而优美的语言流畅贯穿他的故事。

Oh. You said that you have been in a jail many times, what other crimes have you committed?
Mostly stealing books or money. I left the orphanage when I was about fourteen. I couldn’t find any work and had to sleep rough, eventually I found I was better off in jail, at least I would get a bed and free food, you can’t imagine how tough life can be on the street particularly in the winter. So I would commit a crime in order to get in jail, but I never hurt anyone and I only stole money from shops.

喔。你说你曾进进出出监狱很多次，你还犯了其他什么罪?
大半是偷书或钱。当我十四岁左右时我就离开那孤儿院了。我找不到任何工作只好随便混睡，后来我发现在监狱里要好多了，至少我有张床和免费的食物，你无法想象在街道的生活尤其是在冬天是如何艰难的。所以为了进入监狱我就会故意犯罪，可是我从未伤害任何人而且我只偷商店的钱。

Are you saying you were not guilty?
Of course not, but I considered it was less wrong.
Why less wrong?
I always gave the books to charity shops after I’d finished with them, so other poor people could buy them cheaply. In a way the shops were forced to give a little charity to poor people.

你是说你没罪吗?
当然不是，但我认为比较没过错。
为什么比较没过错?
我读完书后总是把它们送给慈善商店，所以其他的穷人可以便宜地买。从某一方面来看(我偷的)那些商店是被迫给穷人做点慈善事。

Stealing is still wrong and against the law.
Yes, but it helped some people to read and gave me a chance to go to jail at tough times, if you were desperate you would think differently; anyway if I never stole from those shops, do you think they would ever give anything to the poor willingly?
Probably not. What was the last crime you did?
I stole a typewriter three years ago.

偷窃仍然是错的也是违法的。
不错，不过我偷窃能帮一些人有书可读也给我一个机会在艰难时可入监狱，如果你被逼急了你就会有不同的想法﹔无论如何如果我没在那些商店偷窃的话，你想他们有可能会情愿给穷人任何东西吗?
大概不可能。你最近犯的罪是什么?
我三年前偷了一台打字机。

A typewriter?
I needed it. Who are you and why did you ask all these questions? I haven’t stolen anything since that typewriter.
I am a friend and I need to find out something about you.
Why?

一台打字机?
我需要用。你是谁又为什么问这些问题?自从偷了那台打字机后我就没再偷过任何东西了。
我是个朋友而且我得找些有关你的事情。
为什么?

Do you remember your uncle, I mean that cousin of your father. Do you know what happened to him?
No, the orphanage told me that I was sent to them by my uncle, he told them that he couldn’t take care of me. Besides, he was going abroad to live in Australia or some country. I suppose you can’t expect a single man to bring up a baby, although I have always hoped to know him.
Did you ever have any contact with him?

你记得你叔叔吗，我是说你父亲的那个表弟。 你知道他后来怎么了吗?
不知道，孤儿院的人告诉我说我是被我的叔叔送来的，他那时正要出国去澳洲或某个国家住。我想你总不可能期望一个单身男人来养大一个婴儿吧，虽然我一直都希望能认识他的。
你跟他有没有任何联络过?

No, oh, once he did send a big pack of toys to me, if you count that as a contact, I wished they were books though, but other kids in the orphanage enjoyed the toys nevertheless.
Was there a big panda in that toy pack?
Big panda? Yes, funny you should mention it, it was so strange for a panda to have an eye patch, no one wanted it, but I thought it was special, so I kept it for myself; that was the only toy I ever had, in fact I still have it with me, it’s like an old mate, how did you know about it?
Ah, you are the right person.
Right person for what?

没有，喔，有一次他曾经寄给我一大包的玩具，如果你算那是个联络的话，可是我倒希望是书哩，不过虽然如此孤儿院里其他的小孩却很喜欢玩具。
在那玩具包里有一只大熊猫吗?
大熊猫? 有啊，真巧你提起它，那只熊猫有个眼罩真是奇怪，没人要它，但我觉得它很特别，所以我就把它留给自己，那是我唯一拥有的玩具，事实上我还留着呢，它就像个老伙伴，你怎么知道它的?
啊，你正是我要找的人。
正是要做什么的人?

Your uncle died three years ago, and in his will he left everything to you.
Oh? You know my uncle? You just said he died …
Yes, I am sorry; I am his friend and the executor of his will. You are to inherit over two hundred thousand Australian dollars.
He died …
Don’t feel too bad, your uncle was a quite decent man, he often regretted not contacting you earlier, but he worked hard to save this money for you.
It would have been better to have a poor uncle during the hard times.
Two hundred thousand Australian dollars is a large sum, enough to buy yourself books for a lifetime. Oh, why did you need the typewriter?
To type. I signed a contract with a publisher yesterday, they have accepted my first book. I received an advance payment of a hundred thousand pounds.
Congratulations! What is your book called?
“I did it myself”.

你的叔叔三年前去世了，在他的遗书里他把所有的东西都留给你。
喔?你认识我叔叔吗?你刚说他去世了…
是的，很抱歉﹔我是他的朋友也是他的遗书执行者。你将继承二十万多的澳洲币。
他去世了…
别感到太难过，你叔叔是个很宽大亲切的人，他经常后悔没早些跟你联络，但他辛苦工作存下这笔钱给你。
当我在艰困时若有个健在的叔叔那就会好多了。
二十万多的澳洲币是一笔大数目，足够你买一辈子的书了。喔，你为什么需要打字机?
打字啊。我昨天跟一家出版社签了一个合约，他们已接受我的第一本书。我收到十万英镑预付金。
恭喜你! 你的书名是什么?
“我白手成家”。