圣诞颂歌

老马利

Old Marley

马利死了。我们必须从这里开始，这一点没有任何疑问。葬礼以后，有四个人在教堂的书上写下了自己的名字。其中一个是斯克鲁奇，伦敦的每一个商人都相信这个名字。

Marley was dead. We must begin with that, and there is no doubt about it. After the funeral, four men wrote their names in the church book. One of them was Scrooge, and every businessman in London trusted that name.

所以老马利死得很彻底，像门上的钉子一样。不过等一等！我真的不知道，门上的钉子为什么特别“死”。对我来说，棺材上的钉子更“死”。

So old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. But wait! I don’t really know what is so dead about a nail in a door. For me, a nail in a coffin is much deader.

可是我们的祖父们是这样说的。如果我改变他们的话，国家就会倒下。所以我再说一次：马利死得像门上的钉子一样。

But our grandfathers said it, and if I change their words, the country will fall. So I say it again: Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

斯克鲁奇知道这件事吗？当然知道。这两个人做了很多年的伙伴，我也数不清有多少年。斯克鲁奇得到了马利所有的钱，他也是马利唯一的朋友。

Did Scrooge know this? Of course he did. The two men were partners for more years than I can count. Scrooge got all of Marley’s money, and he was Marley’s only friend.

他还是葬礼上唯一一个觉得难过的人，可是他并不是很难过。就在那一天，他还做成了一笔好生意。

He was also the only person at the funeral who felt sorry, and he did not feel very sorry. He even did some good business on the same day.

我必须再说一次：马利死了。如果你不相信这一点，我的故事就不会有什么精彩的地方。想一想戏剧《哈姆雷特》。戏开始以前，我们就知道哈姆雷特的父亲已经死了，所以他夜里走来走去，让我们害怕。

I must say it one more time: Marley was dead. If you don’t believe that, nothing wonderful can come from my story. Think of the play Hamlet. We know that Hamlet’s father is dead before the play begins, so his walk at night frightens us.

如果他还活着，他就只是一位在冷风里出门的老先生。

If he is alive, he is only an old gentleman who went out in the cold wind.

斯克鲁奇从来没有把马利的名字涂掉。很多年以后，它还在办公室门的上面：斯克鲁奇和马利。生意上的新人有时叫他斯克鲁奇，有时叫他马利。他每次都回答，因为他不在乎。

Scrooge never painted over Marley’s name. Years later it was still there above the office door: Scrooge and Marley. New people in the business sometimes called him Scrooge and sometimes Marley. He answered them every time, because he did not care.

啊，那个斯克鲁奇，他是个冷酷的老守财奴！他小气又贪心，把每一枚硬币都抓得紧紧的。没有人见过他大方，他把所有的秘密都留在自己心里。

Oh, he was a hard old miser, that Scrooge! He was mean and greedy, and he held on tightly to every coin. Nobody ever saw him be generous, and he kept all his secrets to himself.

他的鼻子又细又尖，眼睛是红的，薄薄的嘴唇是蓝色的。他的头发和眉毛是白的，声音又硬又难听。夏天最热的日子里，他的办公室也是冷的，到了圣诞节也不会更暖。

His nose was thin and pointed, his eyes were red, and his thin lips were blue. His hair and eyebrows were white, and his voice was hard and unpleasant. His office was cold in the hottest days of summer, and it was no warmer at Christmas.

热天气不能让斯克鲁奇变暖，冬天也不能让他变得更冷。人们请雨停下来的时候，雨不听；斯克鲁奇听得更少。

Hot weather did not warm Scrooge, and winter did not make him any colder. The rain did not listen when people asked it to stop, and Scrooge listened even less.

从来没有人在街上拦住他说：“亲爱的斯克鲁奇，你好吗？你什么时候来看我？”穷人从来不向他要一枚硬币。孩子们从来不问他几点了，也没有人问过他路怎么走。

Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, “My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?” Poor people never asked him for a coin. Children never asked him the time, and nobody ever asked him the way.

连盲人的狗也认识他。它们看见他走来，就把主人拉进一个门口。然后它们摇着尾巴，好像在说：“没有眼睛比有坏眼睛好，主人！”

Even the dogs of blind men knew him. When they saw him coming, they pulled their owners into a doorway. Then they wagged their tails and seemed to say, “It’s better to have no eyes than bad eyes, master!”