We were all silent for a while, and Tiare fished out of her capacious pocket a handful of cigarettes. She handed one to each of us, and we all three smoked. At last she said: "Since ce monsieur is interested in Strickland, why do you not take him to see Dr. Coutras? He can tell him something about his illness and death."
半天我們都沒有說話。蒂阿瑞從她的大口袋里拿出一把香煙來,遞給我們每人一支。我們?nèi)齻€人都抽起煙來。最后她開口說:“既然這位先生對思特里克蘭德有興趣,你為什么不帶他去見一見庫特拉斯醫(yī)生?。克梢愿嬖V他一些事,思特里克蘭德怎樣生病,怎樣死的,等等。”
"Volontiers," said the Captain, looking at me.
“我很愿意。”船長看著我說。
I thanked him, and he looked at his watch.
我謝了謝他。他看了看手表。
"It is past six o'clock. We should find him at home if you care to come now."
“現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)六點多鐘了。如果你肯同我走一趟,我想這時候他是在家的?!?/p>
I got up without further ado, and we walked along the road that led to the doctor's house. He lived out of the town, but the Hotel de la Fleur was on the edge of it, and we were quickly in the country. The broad road was shaded by pepper-trees, and on each side were the plantations, cocoa-nut and vanilla. The pirate birds were screeching among the leaves of the palms. We came to a stone bridge over a shallow river, and we stopped for a few minutes to see the native boys bathing. They chased one another with shrill cries and laughter, and their bodies, brown and wet, gleamed in the sunlight.
我二話沒說,馬上站了起來;我倆立刻向醫(yī)生家里走去。庫特拉斯住在城外,而鮮花旅館是在城市邊緣上,所以沒有幾步路,我們就已經(jīng)走到郊野上了。路很寬,一路上遮覆著胡椒樹的濃蔭。路兩旁都是椰子和香子蘭種植園。一種當?shù)厝私泻1I鳥的小鳥在棕櫚樹的葉子里吱吱喳喳地叫著。我們在路上經(jīng)過一條淺溪,上面有一座石橋;我們在橋上站了一會兒,看著本地人的孩子在水里嬉戲。他們笑著、喊著,在水里互相追逐,棕色的小身體滴著水珠,在陽光下閃閃發(fā)光。