Smiley's People汉译48
“I understand,” said Mostyn.“And no whispered confidences to those little tarts in Registry, or I’ll know. Hear me? Give us some tea.”
"我明白，"莫斯廷说。
"不准和登记处的那些小娼妇咬耳朵，否则我会知道的。听见了吗？给我们来点茶。"
Something happened inside George Smiley when he heard this conversation. Out of the formless indirection of these dialogues, out of the horror of the scene upon the Heath, a single shocking truth struck him. He felt a pull in his chest somewhere and he had the sensation of momentary disconnection from the room and the three haunted people he had found in it.
听到这段对话，乔治·斯迈利内心起了波澜。从这些缺乏条理，东拉西扯的对话中，从石南园的恐怖场景中，他发现了一个令人震惊的事实，大为震撼。他感到胸口某个地方被揪紧了，有那么一瞬间，他有一种和这房间以及房间里焦虑不安的三个人分离的感觉。
Encounter sheet? No encounter? Encounter between Mostyn and Vladimir? God in Heaven, he thought, squaring the mad circle. The Lord preserve, cosset, and protect us.
接触登记表？没有接触？莫斯廷和弗拉基米尔接触了？上帝在上，他想，这和试图把圆变成正方形（数学问题，用尺规作图画出一个和圆等面积的正方形，19世纪被证明是不可能做到的——译注）一样疯狂。上帝啊，保守我们，看顾我们，保护我们吧。
Mostyn was Vladimir’s case officer! That old man, a General, once our glory, and they farmed him out to this uncut boy! Then another lurch, more violent still, as his surprise was swept aside in an explosion of internal fury. He felt his lips tremble, he felt his throat seize up in indignation, blocking his words, and when he turned to Lacon his spectacles seemed to be misting over from the heat.
主管弗拉基米尔的竟然是莫斯廷！那个老人，一位将军，曾经是我们的荣耀，这样一个人，却被他们甩给了这个乳臭未干的小孩！接着，他的心里又是一阵更猛烈的翻江倒海，震惊已经被迸发的怒火取代。他感到自己的嘴唇在颤抖，喉咙被愤怒堵住了，说不出话来，当他转向雷肯时，眼镜似乎被热气熏得蒙上了一层雾。
“Oliver, I wonder if you’d mind finally telling me what I’m doing here,” he heard himself suggesting for the third time, hardly above a murmur.
"奥利弗，不知道你是否终于能告诉我，我到底在这里做什么？"他第三次听到自己这样说，声音很轻，几乎跟喃喃自语差不多。
Reaching out an arm, he removed the vodka bottle from its bucket. Still unbidden, he broke the cap and poured himself a rather large tot.
他伸手从桶里取出伏特加酒瓶，自顾自地打开瓶盖，给自己倒了一大杯。
Even then, Lacon dithered, pondered, hunted with his eyes, delayed. In Lacon’s world, direct questions were the height of bad taste but direct answers were worse. For a moment, caught in mid-gesture at the centre of the room, he stood staring at Smiley in disbelief.
即便如此，雷肯还是犹豫不决，思前想后，眼睛东看西看，好像在找什么东西，拖拖拉拉的。在雷肯的世界里，直接提问是最没品位的，但直接回答更糟糕。有那么一瞬间，他在房间中央定住了，盯着斯迈利看，似乎这个问题使他吃了一惊。
A car stumbled up the hill, bringing news of the real world outside the window. Lauder Strickland slurped his tea. Mostyn was seating himself primly on a piano-stool to which there was no piano. But Lacon with his jerky gestures could only scratch about for words sufficiently elliptical to disguise his meaning.
一辆汽车蹒跚地驶上山坡，带来了窗外现实世界的消息。劳德·斯屈克兰咕嘟咕嘟地喝着茶。莫斯廷正端坐在一张钢琴凳上，旁边却没有钢琴。而雷肯则不自然地打着手势，搜肠刮肚寻找拐弯抹角的词句来掩饰他的意思。
“George,” he said. A shower of rain crashed against the window, but he ignored it. “Where’s Mostyn?” he asked.
Mostyn, no sooner settled, had flitted from the room to cope with a nervous need. They heard the thunder of the flush, loud as a brass band, and the gurgle of pipes all down the building.
"乔治，"他开了口。一阵雨点打在窗户上，但他没有理会。"莫斯廷呢？"他问。
莫斯廷刚坐下，就从房间里飞奔出来，去应付内急。他们听到了冲水的巨响，像铜管乐器演奏一样响，整幢大楼的水管都发出哗哗的流水声。
Lacon raised a hand to his neck, tracing the raw patches. Reluctantly, he began: “Three years ago, George—let us start there—soon after you left the Circus—your successor Saul Enderby—your worthy successor—under pressure from a concerned Cabinet —by concerned I mean newly formed—decided on certain far-reaching changes of intelligence practice. I’m giving you the background, George,” he explained, interrupting himself. “I’m doing this because you’re who you are, because of old times, and because”—he jabbed a finger at the window—“because of out there.”
雷肯举起一只手，摸着自己脖子上发皮疹的地方，不情愿地开始说道："三年前，乔治——我们从这里开始说起——也就是在你离开圆场后不久，你的继任者索尔·恩德比——当之无愧的继任者——在内阁关注的压力下——我说的内阁是指新成立的内阁——决定对情报工作进行某些影响深远的改革。我在向你介绍背景情况，乔治，"他停下来解释道。"我这样做是因为你的身份和声誉，因为咱们过去的关系，也因为"——他用手指了指窗户——"因为外面发生的事"。
Strickland had unbuttoned his waistcoat and lay dozing and replete like a first-class passenger on a night plane. But his small watchful eyes followed every pass that Lacon made. The door opened and closed, admitting Mostyn, who resumed his perch on the piano-stool.
斯屈克兰已经解开了马甲的扣子，和夜班飞机上的头等舱乘客一样躺着，像是在打瞌睡。但他那双警惕的小眼睛却紧紧盯着雷肯的一举一动。门开了又关上，莫斯廷进来了，重新坐在钢琴凳上。
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