Smiley's People汉译63

agent124

第7章



There are Victorian terraces in the region of Paddington Station that are painted as white as luxury liners on the outside, and inside are dark as tombs. Westbourne Terrace that Saturday morning gleamed as brightly as any of them, but the service road that led to Vladimir’s part of it was blocked at one end by a heap of rotting mattresses, and by a smashed boom, like a frontier post, at the other.
“Thank you, I’ll get out here,” said Smiley politely, and paid the cab off at the mattresses.
帕丁顿车站附近有一些维多利亚风格的排屋（可参见https://www.shutterstock.com/search/victorian-terrace——译注），外墙涂得像豪华邮轮一样白，里面却像坟墓一样黑。周六早上的韦斯特伯恩排屋路上的房子和其他排屋一样闪闪发光，但通往弗拉基米尔住的那块的辅路一头被一堆腐烂的床垫堵住了，另一头被砸坏的吊杆堵住了，就像一个边境的标志。
“谢谢，我就在这儿下车吧。”斯迈利礼貌地说，然后在床垫旁给出租车付了钱。

He had come straight from Hampstead and his knees ached. The Greek driver had spent the journey lecturing him on Cyprus, and out of courtesy he had crouched on the jump seat in order to hear him over the din of the engine. Vladimir, we should have done better by you, he thought, surveying the filth on the pavements, the poor washing trailing from the balconies. The Circus should have shown more honour to its vertical man.
他是从汉普斯特德直接过来的，膝盖有点疼。希腊司机一路上都在给他讲塞浦路斯，出于礼貌，他蹲在座位边上的加座上，这样才能在发动机的嘈杂声中听清司机的话。弗拉基米尔，我们本该待你好一些，他想着，打量着人行道上的污秽，阳台上挂着的破烂的衣物。圆场本该对它的拔尖人才表现出更多的尊重。

It concerns the Sandman, he thought. Tell him I have two proofs and can bring them with me.
He walked slowly, knowing that early morning is a better time of day to come out of a building than go into it. A small queue had gathered at the bus-stop. A milkman was going his rounds, so was a newspaper boy. A squadron of grounded sea-gulls scavenged gracefully at the spilling dustbins. If sea-gulls are taking to the cities, he thought, will pigeons take to the sea? Crossing the service road, he saw a motor-cyclist with a black official-looking side-car parking his steed a hundred yards down the kerb. Something in the man’s posture reminded him of the tall messenger who had brought the keys to the safe flat—a similar fixity, even at that distance; a respectful attentiveness, of an almost military kind.
这与睡魔有关，他想。告诉他我有两份证据，可以带来。
他走得很慢，因为他知道，清晨这个时间，应该从大楼里出来走走，而不是走到大楼里面去。公交车站有几个人在排队。一个送奶工正在挨家挨户送牛奶，一个报童在送报纸。一队海鸥优雅地在洒落一地的垃圾桶旁觅食。他想，如果海鸥都飞到城市里去了，鸽子会飞到海里去吗？穿过辅路时，他看到一辆三轮摩托车，从黑色的车斗来像是政府的车。骑车的人把他的坐骑停在路边一百码远的地方。这个人的姿态让他想起了给安全公寓送钥匙的那个高个子信使——即使隔了这么远的距离，也看得出一种类似的稳定姿势，和一种颇具军人气质的恭敬和专注。