Next I met a neat little man who was wearing abeautiful white wig. I saw from his wig that he wasa barber. Barbers know everything and everybody.
They talk to people when they are cutting theirhair.
“Do you know Mr Ba lfour of the S haws ？”Iasked.
一个老实人赶着马车从一条岔道上过来了。
“您知道肖府吗?”我上前问道。
他也停下车，奇怪地望着我。
“知道，”他说。
“那是个大府第吗?”
“哦，是的。宅子很大。”
“那么住在里面的人呢?”
“你疯啦？那里没有住人，”他大声说。
“你说什么？埃比尼泽不是住在那里吗?”我说道。
那人说；“噢，是的，你要是想见他的话，倒有这样一个地主。年轻人，你上那儿去干什么？”
“我想找点活儿干，”我说。
那人尖声喊道：“什么？我告诉你，千万别去肖府。”
我又碰到一个人。他个子不高，衣着整洁，戴着漂亮的白色假发。从假发判断，他是个理发的。
这种人知道很多事，认识很多人，因为他们在给人理发的时候，总是问长问短。
“您认识肖府的巴尔福先生吗?”我问道。
He laughed sharply.
“Ebe ne ze r?”he said，" I know him，but he’snot a friend of mine.”
他冷笑了一下，说：
“埃比尼泽？我认识他，不过，他不是我的朋友。”
I was seriously troubled by these words. Whydid everyone avoid the house of Shaws？Why didno one like the laird？What ought I to do？I couldgo back to Mr Campbell，but it was a long way. I’
ride made me go no.
I ate in the afternoon. I met a dark，angrywoman. She had a mad look in her eyes. I asked againfor the Shaws.
She turned and led me up a hill. She pointedto a great building down in the next valley. Ilooked.
The land was pleasant，with low hills，woodsand streams. The crops in the fields were growingwell. But the house！lt stood in an empty space. Itwas like a ruin. No road led up to it and no smokerose from the chimneys. There was no garden.
My heart was heavy.“Tha t！”I cried.
The woman looked at it angrily.
“Tha t is the hous e of S haws ！”she cried.“I ha teit！Bloo d bu ilt it！Blood s toppe d the work on it！
Blood will brin g it down in ruins ！If you s e e the la ird，
这些话使我感到非常忧虑。为什么大家都不愿意提肖府呢？为什么没有人喜欢肖府的主人？我该怎么办呢？我可以回到坎贝尔身边，可是路途太遥远。自尊心驱使我继续向前走去。
傍晚时分，我碰到一个皮肤黝黑、满面怒容的妇女。她的眼神显得有点失常。我又打听了一下肖府。
她转身领我走上一个小山头，指了指旁边那条山谷中一座庞大的建筑物。我抬头望去。
这是一块风景秀丽的地方，山丘连绵不断，森林连成一片，还有一条条小溪。田野里的庄稼长势喜人，可是肖府却大不一样。它坐落在一片空旷地带，像个废墟，无路可通，没有一个烟囱里冒烟，也没有花园。
我的心凉了。“是那个！”我失声喊道。
那个妇女怒气冲冲地看着它，大声说：
“那就是肖府！我恨它！它是用鲜血建造的！鲜血停止了建造工程！鲜血还将把它毁灭！你要是见
te ll him my words . Te ll him tha t J e nne t Clous ton putsa curs e on him！On him，a nd his hous e ，a nd e ve rythingin it！”
She turned angrily and went away. Her wordsfilled me with fear In those days people still believedthat curses brought evil. I found that I wastrembling.
I sat down on the side of a ditch. I looked atthe Shaws. The pleasant country was full of flowers.
There were sheep in the fields，The earth was good，the air was warm and gentle. But I did not like thehouse.
到肖府的主人，把我的话告诉他，就说詹尼特·克劳斯顿诅咒他！诅咒他，诅咒他的府第以及里面的一切！”
她气呼呼地转身走开了。她的话使我毛骨悚然。那时候，人们仍然相信诅咒能带来灾祸，我浑身不由得颤抖起来了。
我在一条小沟边坐下来，望着肖府。这块美丽的地方鲜花盛开，牛羊遍野，土地肥沃，空气温和宜人。可是，我不喜欢那座房子。
Country people went by me from the fields. Ispoke to no one. I had no spirit in me.
The sun went down and then I saw smoke risingfrom the house. It was very little，but it wasthere. There must be a fire in the house. Someone，perhaps，was cooking food.
I followed a faint track through the grass. Itled me to two fine stone gate posts. The tops weredecorated with a family coat - of - arms but therewas no gate between them. Instead，someone hadtied a bit of fence across with a rope.
There were no park walls，and no road betweenthe gate posts. Only the faint track wandered
老乡们从地里回来，从我面前走过。我却没精打采，跟谁也没有讲话。
太阳落山了。这时我看见那座房子的烟囱里开始冒烟，烟虽然很小，但总算是在冒烟。房子里肯定生火，也许有人正在做饭呢。
我顺着草地上一条隐约可辨的小道往前走去，来到了两个精致的石门柱跟前。石柱的顶端刻着家族的纹章，但是，在两个石柱中间却没有大门，只有一个用绳子拦起来的篱笆。
房子的四周没有围墙，门柱中间也没有路，只有那条模糊不清的
on towards the house. I looked again. I saw now thatthe building was not a ruin. Parts of it were notcomplete. The top parts of one end were open to thesky. There were steps and stairs，but for some reasonno one had finished them. Many windows hadno glass，and bats flew in and out of them.
I came near the house. It was dark now.
Through a high，narrow window I saw the light of avery small fire.
小道，弯弯曲曲地通向房子。我又看了一下，才发现那幢建筑物并没有被破坏，只是有些部分还没有建成罢了。其中一边的顶部还是个窟窿呢。倒是有一些台阶和楼梯，但不知为什么，还没有完工。许多窗子上没有装玻璃，成群结队的蝙蝠从窗子里飞来飞去。
我走近那座房子时，天已经黑了。通过一个又高又窄的窗户，我看到里面闪出很微弱的炉火的光亮。
Was this the great house of my dreams？Didmy wonderful future begin here？I remembered myfather’s little house in Essendean. Its fire and itsbright lights could be seen from a great distance.
Everyone，rich and poor，was welcome there.
I went slowly forward. Someone was moving dishesand I heard a little dry cough.
In the taint light I saw the front door was afine great piece of wood. Big nails decorated theoutside. Over the top was the coat of arms oncemore. With a faint heart I lifted my hand andknocked once. I stood and waited. There was completesilence. Only the bats flew here and there. A
难道这就是我梦寐以求的那座高门贵府吗？我美好的前程就要从这里开始吗？我想起了我父亲在埃林迪恩的那座小房子，打老远就可以看到里面的炉火和明亮的灯光，无论是富人还是穷人在那里都会受到热情的招待。
我慢慢地向前走去。我听到里面有人在收拾碟子盘子，还听到一声轻轻的干咳声。
我凭着微弱的火光看到那座房子的前门是用一大块质地优良的木料做成的，门的外部装饰着大钉子，门的上方也刻着家族纹章。我怯生生地举起手敲了一下门，然后站在那里等着。四周鸦雀无声，只有一
long minute passed.
I knocked again，and listened. The person inthe house did not move or breathe.
What could I do？Run away？But no，the silencemade me angry. I kicked the door again andagain，and shouted.
Suddenly I heard a cough above my head andI jumped back. I saw a man at a window on the firstfloor. He was pointing an ancient gun at me. It wasa blunderbuss.
“I’ve loa de d it，”he said.
“I h a ve c ome with a le tte r，”I said，to Mr EbenezerBalfour. Is he here?”
“Who s e nt you？”asked the man with the blunderbuss.
些蝙蝠在飞来飞去。漫长的一分钟过去了。
我又敲了一下门，倾听着。房子里的那个人一动也没动，一声也没吭。
我该怎么办呢？逃走？不。使我恼火的是里面的人不搭腔。我用脚一个劲儿踢着门，边踢边大声喊着。
突然间，我听见头顶上有人咳嗽了一声，吓得我往后一跳。我看到二楼的一扇窗子里有一个人，他把一支古老的枪瞄准了我。那是一支大口径短枪。
“枪里面装了火药”他说。
我说：“我给埃比尼泽·巴尔福先生带了一封信。他在这儿吗?”
”谁派你来的?”端枪人问道。
“Tha t doe s not ma tte r，”I said angraly.
“We ll，”he said,“you ca n put it down on thes te p a nd go.”
“I will not do tha t，”I cried,“I mus t de live r it intoMr Ba lfour’s ha nds .”
“Who a re you ?”was the next question，after along pause.
“I am not a shame d of my name ，”I said,“The yc a ll me Da vid Ba lfour.”
“那无关紧要。”我生气地说。
“那么，你把信放在台阶上，你走吧。”他说道。
“那不行，我得把信交给巴尔福本人。”我喊道。
停了好大一会儿，他又问：“你是谁?”
“找对自己的名字并不感到耻辱。人们叫我大卫·巴尔福。”我说。
The man moved sharply. The blunderbussknocked against the edge of the window. There wasanother long pause. When he spoke again，his voicewas different .
“Is your fa the r de a d ?”he asked.
His words surprised me，and I made no answer.
“Ye s ，”said the man,“tha t is the re a son，ofc ours e . You ha ve c ome be c a us e he is de a d .”
There was another pause.
“We ll. ”he said at last,“I’ll le t you come in.”
And he moved away from the window.
那家伙的身子突然一挪动，短枪在窗沿上碰了一下，又是一阵长时间的沉默。等他再次讲话时，他的口吻变了。
“你父亲死了吗?”他问道。
他的问题出乎我的意料，我没有回答。
那人说：“是的。当然啦，你是因为他死了才来找我的。”
又是一阵沉默。
他终于说；“好吧，我放你进来。”说罢，他离开了窗户。
