The Doctor, His Wife and the Clock (Excerpt II)医生、妻子与时钟（节选二）

文/安娜·凯瑟琳·格林 译/闻春国

By Anna Katharine Green2

Whence came the clock, then,which had struck before the time and been shattered for its pains? One quick look told them. On the ground,ten paces to the right, lay Zulma Harry,a broken clock at her side, and was fast sapping the life.

[2] They had to tell him; and never will any of the hearers forget the scream which rang from his lips as he realized the truth. Breaking from their midst, he rushed forward, and fell at her feet as if guided by some supernatural instinct.

“Zulma,” he shrieked, “what is this?

Were not my hands dyed deep enough in blood that you should make me answerable for your life also?”

[3] Her eyes were closed but she opened them. Looking long and steadily at his agonized face, she faltered forth:“It is not you who have killed me; it is your crime. Had you been innocent of Mr. Hasbrouck’s death your bullet would never have found my heart. Did you think I could survive the proof that you had killed that good man?”

“I did it unwittingly. I—”

“Hush!” she commanded. “I had another motive. I wished to prove to you, even at the cost of my life, that I loved you, had always loved you—”

“Hush!” said he. His hand crept to her lips, and his despairing face turned itself blindly towards those about them.“Go!” he cried; “leave us! Let me take a last farewell of my dying wife, without listeners or spectators.”

[4] Violet fell slowly back. The others, followed, and the doctor was left alone with his wife. From the distant position they took, they saw her arms creep round his neck, saw her head fall confidingly on his breast, then silence settled upon them, and upon all nature,the gathering twilight deepening, till the last glow disappeared from the heavens above and from the circle of leafless trees.

[5] But at last there came a stir, and Dr. Harry, rising up before them with the dead body of his wife held closely to his breast, confronted them with a countenance so rapturous that he looked like a man trans figured.

“I will carry her to the boat,” said he. “Not another hand shall touch her.She was my true wife, my true wife!”And he towered into an attitude of such dignity that for a moment he took on heroic proportions and they forgot that he had just proved himself to have committed a cold-blooded and ghastly crime.

[6] The stars were shining when the party again took their seats in the boat.

[7] The doctor, as before, sat in the stern, an awesome figure, upon which the moon shone with a white radiance that seemed to lift his face out of the surrounding darkness and set it like an image of frozen horror before their eyes. Against his breast he held the form of his dead wife, and now and then Violet saw him stoop as if he were listening for some token of life from her set lips. Then he would lift himself again with hopelessness stamped upon his features, only to lean forward in renewed hope that was again destined to disappointment.

[8] Violet had been so overcome by this tragic end to all her hopes, that her employer had been allowed to enter the boat with her. Seated at her side in the seat directly in front of the doctor, he watched with her these simple tokens of a breaking heart, saying nothing till they reached midstream, when true to his instincts for all his awe and compassion,he suddenly bent towards him and said:“Dr. Harry, the mystery of your crime is no longer a mystery to me. Listen and see if I do not understand how you,a conscientious and God-fearing man,came to slay your innocent neighbor.”

With a strange look, he lifted up his face. “Hush! You will waken her. See how peacefully she sleeps! I should not like to have her wakened now, she is so tired, and I—I have not watched over her as I should.”

[9] Appalled at his gesture, his look,his tone, Violet drew back, and for a few minutes no sound was to be heard but the steady dip-dip of the oars and the lap-lap of the waters against the boat. Then there came a quick uprising,the swaying before her of something dark and tall, and before she could speak or move, or even stretch forth her hands to stay him, the seat before her was empty and darkness had filled the place where but an instant previous he had sat, a fearsome figure, erect and rigid as a sphinx.

那这钟是从哪儿来的，竟在五点前响起并被一枪击碎？匆匆扫了一眼，人们一下子明白了。就在右边十步远的地方，苏尔玛·哈里倒在地上，奄奄一息，身边有一座被击碎的钟。

[2]人们只得把结果告诉了哈里，所有人永远也不会忘记他明白真相后那撕心裂肺的呼喊声。他扒开人群，冲上前去，倒在她的脚边，仿佛得到了某种超自然本能的引导。

“苏尔玛！”他喊道，“怎么啦？难道我手上沾染的鲜血还不够，你非要让我再赔上你的命吗？”

[3]苏尔玛的眼睛先前闭着，但又睁开了。她久久地凝视着丈夫那痛苦的脸庞，断断续续地说道：“杀我的不是你，是你的罪过。假如你在哈斯布鲁克先生枪杀案中是无辜的，你的子弹绝不会射中我的心脏。看到你杀了那个好人的证据，你以为我还能活下去吗？”

“我不是故意杀他的。我——”

“别说了！”她打断了丈夫的话，“我这样做还有一个目的，我要向你证明，我爱你，一直爱你，哪怕让我付出生命的代价——”

“别说了！”他的手慢慢移向她的嘴唇，他那绝望的面孔茫然转向围在他们身边的人。“走开！”他大声吼道，“让我们单独待着！我妻子要死了，我要跟她作最后的告别，不需要听众，也不需要观众。”

[4]维奥莱特慢慢地后退了几步。其他人也跟着退去，让哈里医生单独与妻子待在一起。他们站在远处，看见她的手臂慢慢搂着他的脖子，头深情地垂在他的胸口。随后，他俩沉默不语，所有在场的人都沉默不语。暮色渐浓，直到最后一抹霞光从天空，从周围光秃秃的树林中慢慢消失。

[5]终于，有动静了，哈里医生站了起来，将妻子的尸体紧紧搂在怀里，满脸笑容地面对人群，宛如变了一个人。

“我要把她带上船。”他说道，“谁也不能碰她。她是我忠实的妻子，我忠实的妻子！”说着，他的神情变得极为庄重，那一刻俨然是个英雄，人们也忘了，他刚才已经证明自己是一个冷血杀手，犯下了一桩可怕的罪。

[6]当人们再次登上小船，坐到各自的座位时，天上已是星光灿烂。

[7]哈里医生依旧坐在船尾，样子十分威严，皎洁的月光照在他的身上，似乎将他的面孔从周围的黑暗中凸显出来，在人们眼前塑造成一个冷酷的恐怖形象。他的怀里抱着死去的妻子。维奥莱特看见他不时弯下腰，似乎要从她那紧闭的嘴唇边聆听到某种生命的迹象。随后，他会直起腰，脸上印刻着绝望，然后带着新希望前倾，但又一次陷入失望之中。

[8]维奥莱特的一切希望被这悲惨的结局彻底摧毁了。警方允许她的上司和她一起上了船。他坐在她的身边，正对着哈里医生，他跟维奥莱特观察着心碎之人种种显而易见的表现，什么也没说，直到小船行至河流中央，出于对哈里医生那种敬畏和同情的本能反应，他突然弯下腰，说道：“哈里医生，你的犯罪之谜对我来说已不再是谜。你且听我说，看看我能否推断出一个像你这样有良心又虔诚的人怎么会杀害一个无辜的邻居。”

哈里医生抬起头，脸上露出奇怪的表情。“别说了！你会吵醒她的。瞧她睡得多安详！我现在不想让人吵醒她，她实在太累了，我本该好好照顾她，可我——我却没有做到。”

[9]他的手势、他的面容、他说话的语气让维奥莱特感到震惊，她欲言又止。有那么几分钟，船上听不到任何声音，只听见连绵不断的船桨击水声及河水拍船声。随后，突然有东西一跃而起，一个高高的黑乎乎的东西在她面前偏向一边，她还没来得及说话、挪步，甚至还没等她伸手拦住他，她面前的那个座位就已经空了，座位上一片漆黑，前一刻他还坐在那里，又僵又直，像斯芬克斯雕像，令人生畏。

〔〕

〔〕

[10] What little moonlight there was, only served to show a few rising bubbles, marking the spot where the unfortunate man had sunk with his much-loved burden. As the widening circles fled farther and farther out, the tide drifted the boat away, and the spot was lost which had seen the termination of one of earth’s saddest tragedies. ■

(The End)

[10]月色朦胧，只看到水面上泛起了一个个气泡，意谓这个不幸的男人带着他深爱的妻子从这儿投河自尽了。随着一圈圈波纹渐渐扩散，随着小船顺流而下，这个地点也在人们的视野中消失了，同时也为人世间最伤心的悲剧画上了一个大大的句号。 □

（完）