坎特维尔鬼魂

奥蒂斯先生买房子

Mr. Otis Buys a House

希拉姆·B·奥蒂斯先生是美国驻英国的公使，他想买下坎特维尔庄园。

Mr. Hiram B. Otis, the American Minister in England, wanted to buy Canterville Chase.

“你犯了一个很蠢的错误，”大家都对他说，“那座老房子闹鬼！”

“You are making a stupid mistake,” everybody told him. “That old house is haunted!”

房子的主人坎特维尔勋爵是个很诚实的人，所以他也提醒了奥蒂斯先生。

Lord Canterville, the owner, was a very honest man, so he warned Mr. Otis too.

“我们现在不住在那里了，”坎特维尔勋爵说，“有一天晚上，我的老姑母公爵夫人正在换衣服，准备吃晚饭。突然，两只骷髅手碰到了她的肩膀。从那以后，她再也没有真正好起来。

“We do not live there now,” said Lord Canterville. “One evening my old aunt, the Duchess, was dressing for dinner. Suddenly two skeleton hands touched her shoulders, and she never really got well again.

“我家有好几个人看见过那个鬼魂，奥蒂斯先生。我们的牧师奥古斯都·丹皮尔先生也看见过。我们的年轻佣人都离开了我们。我的妻子因为走廊和图书室里的响声，晚上睡不着觉。”

“Several people in my family have seen the ghost, Mr. Otis. Our priest, the Rev. Augustus Dampier, has seen it too. Our young servants left us. My wife could not sleep because of noises in the corridor and the library.”

“勋爵先生，”奥蒂斯先生回答说，“家具和鬼魂，我都会用合适的价钱买下来。我来自一个现代的国家，钱能买到的东西，我们都有。如果欧洲有一个鬼魂，我们很快就会把它放进我们的一座博物馆。”

“My lord,” answered Mr. Otis, “I will take the furniture and the ghost at a fair price. I come from a modern country, and we have everything that money can buy. If Europe has a ghost, we’ll soon put it in one of our museums.”

“恐怕那个鬼魂是真的，”坎特维尔勋爵笑着说，“从1584年起，人们就知道它了。我们家每次要死人以前，它总会出现。”

“I am afraid the ghost is real,” said Lord Canterville with a smile. “People have known about it since 1584. It always appears before a death in our family.”

“嗯，坎特维尔勋爵，那时候家庭医生也会来，”奥蒂斯先生说，“可是，先生，世界上没有鬼魂，自然的规律也不会为英国的勋爵们停下来。”

“Well, the family doctor comes then too, Lord Canterville,” said Mr. Otis. “But there are no ghosts, sir, and the laws of nature will not stop for British lords.”

坎特维尔勋爵不太明白这句话。“你们在美国真是很自然啊，”他回答说，“如果你不介意房子里有个鬼魂，那就很好。不过请记住，我提醒过你。”

Lord Canterville did not really understand this. “You are certainly very natural in America,” he answered. “If you don’t mind a ghost in the house, that is fine. But remember, I warned you.”

几个星期以后，奥蒂斯先生买下了这座房子，他的家人也搬到了那里。

A few weeks later Mr. Otis bought the house, and his family moved there.

在欧洲，很多美国太太假装自己有病，因为她们觉得这样看起来很优雅。可是奥蒂斯太太身体强壮，很健康，从来不犯这个错误。

Many American ladies in Europe pretended to be ill, because they thought it looked elegant. But Mrs. Otis was strong and healthy and never made this mistake.

她在很多方面很像英国人。现在英国和美国什么都一样，当然，语言除外。

In many ways she was quite English. England and America shared everything now, except language, of course.

她的大儿子是个金发的年轻人，舞跳得很漂亮。他的父母爱自己的国家，所以给他取名叫华盛顿，可是他一直很讨厌这个名字。

Her oldest son was a fair-haired young man who danced beautifully. His parents loved their country, so they named him Washington, and he always hated that.