Smiley's People汉译54
“I’m sorry, sir?”“Vladimir didn’t ask for Hector? His postman? He asked for me. Max. Only Max. You’re sure of that?”
“He wanted you and nobody else, sir,” said Mostyn earnestly.
“Did you make notes?”
“The lifeline is taped automatically, sir. It’s also linked to a speaking clock, so that we get the exact timing as well.”
“Damn you, Mostyn, that’s a confidential matter,” Strickland snapped. “Mr. Smiley may be a distinguished ex-member, but he’s no longer family.”
“So what did you do next, Mostyn?” Smiley asked.
“Standing instructions gave me very little latitude, sir,” Mostyn replied, showing once again, like Smiley, a studied disregard for Strickland. “Both ‘Smiley’ and ‘Esterhase’ were wait-listed, which meant that they could be contacted only through the fifth floor. My section head was out to lunch and not due back till two-fifteen.” He gave a light shrug. “I stalled. I told him to try again at two-thirty.”
Smiley turned to Strickland. “I thought you said that all the émigré files had been consigned to special keeping?”
“Correct.”
“Shouldn’t there have been something on the selector card to that effect?”
“There should and there wasn’t,” Strickland said.
“That is just the point, sir,” Mostyn agreed, talking only to Smiley. “At that stage there was no suggestion that Vladimir or his Group was out of bounds. From the card, he looked just like any other pensioned-off agent raising a wind. I assumed he wanted a bit of money, or company, or something. We get quite a few of those. Leave him to the section head, I thought.”
"能再说一遍吗，长官？"
"弗拉基米尔没有找赫克托？他的邮递员？他找的是我。马克斯。只找了马克斯。你确定？"
"他不要找别人，只要找您，长官。"莫斯廷认真地说。
"你做记录了吗？"
"生命线是自动录音的，长官。它还和一个语音时钟（一种现场或录制的人工语音服务，通常通过电话提供正确的时间——译注）连接在一起，这样我们也能得到准确的时间。"
"真他妈的，莫斯廷，这是机密。"斯屈克兰喝道。"斯迈利先生可能以前是一位杰出的成员，但他现在已经不是我们的一员了。"
"那你接下来做了什么，莫斯廷？" 斯迈利问道。
莫斯廷回答说："常规操作指南给我的自由度很小，长官。"他再次像斯迈利一样，表现出对斯屈克兰的漠视。"'斯迈利'和'埃斯特哈斯'都在等候名单上，这意味着只能通过五楼联系他们。我的科长出去吃午饭了，两点十五分才能回来。" 他稍微耸了下肩。"我拖延了一下。我让他两点半再打过来试试。"
斯迈利转向斯屈克兰说。"我记得你说过所有的流亡者档案都已保存在特别的地方了。"
"没错。"
"选择器的卡片上不是应该说明这一点吗？"
"应该有，但没有。"斯屈克兰说。
"这正是问题所在，长官，"莫斯廷表示同意，只对斯迈利说。"在那个阶段，没有任何迹象表明禁止和弗拉基米尔或他的小组接触。从卡片上看，他和其他领取退休金的特工没什么两样。我以为他想要点钱，或者找个伴什么的。我们有很多这样的人。我想，把他交给科长处理吧。"
“Who shall remain nameless, Mostyn,” Strickland said. “Remember that.”
It crossed Smiley’s mind at this point that the reticence in Mostyn—his air of distastefully stepping round some dangerous secret all the time he spoke—might have something to do with protecting a negligent superior. But Mostyn’s next words dispelled this notion, for he went out of his way to imply that his superior was at fault.
"不要说你科长的名字，莫斯廷，"斯屈克兰说。"记住这一点。"
这时，斯迈利突然想到，莫斯廷的沉默寡言——他说话时总是令人不快地绕开一些危险的秘密——可能与保护一个玩忽职守的上司有关。但莫斯廷接下来的话打消了这个看法，因为他不遗余力地暗示他的上司有过错。
“The trouble was, my section head didn’t get back from lunch till three-fifteen, so that when Vladimir rang in at two-thirty, I had to put him off again. He was furious,” said Mostyn. “Vladimir was, I mean. I asked whether there was anything I could do in the meantime and he said, ‘Find Max. Just find me Max. Tell Max I have been in touch with certain friends, also through friends with neighbours.’ There were a couple of notes on the card about his word code and I saw that ‘neighbour’ meant Soviet Intelligence.”
A mandarin impassivity had descended over Smiley’s face. The earlier emotion was quite gone.
“All of which you duly reported to your section head at three-fifteen?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you play him the tape?”
“He hadn’t time to hear it,” said Mostyn mercilessly. “He had to leave straight away for a long week-end.”
"问题是，我的科长三点十五分才吃完午饭回来，所以弗拉基米尔两点半打来电话时，我不得不又把他推掉了。他很生气，"莫斯廷说。"我是说弗拉基米尔。我问在此期间我能做些什么，他说：'找到马克斯。给我找到马克斯。告诉马克斯，我和某些朋友联系过，也通过朋友和邻居联系过。'卡片上有一些关于他使用的暗语说明，我看到'邻居'指的是苏联情报机关。"
斯迈利的脸上浮现出一种高官的那种冷漠的表情。先前的激动情绪已荡然无存。
"所有这些，你都在三点十五分及时向你的科长作了汇报？"
"是的，长官。"
"你把录音放给他听了吗？"
"他没时间听，"莫斯廷毫不留情地说。"他必须马上离开，去度长周末。"
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