1. "My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel," said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen; "in the meantime you must try and put up with me." Framton Nuttel endeavoured to say the correct things to flatter the niece without discounting the aunt that was to come. Privately he doubted more than ever whether these formal visits to total strangers would do much towards helping him cure his nerves.
“我姑妈最近情绪非常低落，努特尔先生，”一个15岁表情泰然自若的女孩说。“那你就必须试着忍受我了，” 弗拉姆顿·努特尔竭力用不贬损即将到来的姑妈的话语来恭维这位侄女。但他私下里比以往任何时候都更加怀疑这样对陌生人家的正式拜访，是否会有助于他缓解自己的精神压力。
2. "I know how it will be," his sister had said when he was preparing to migrate to this rural retreat; "you will bury yourself down there and not speak to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever. I shall just give you letters of introduction to all the people I know there. Some of them, as far as I can remember, were quite nice."
“我知道事情会发展成什么样，”在他准备来到这个农舍之前，他的姐姐曾这样对他说，“你到那之后，肯定会躲在某个角落里，不跟任何人交流， 然后你的精神状况会变得比以前更糟糕。我会给你几封介绍信，把你介绍给我在那里认识的所有人。我记忆里，他们中有些人相当和蔼可亲。”
3. Mrs. Sappleton, the lady to whom he was presenting one of the letters of introduction came into the nice division. "Do you know many of the people round here?" asked the niece. "Hardly a soul," said Framton. "My sister was staying here, at the rectory, you know, some four years ago, and she gave me letters of introduction to some of the people here."
萨普尔顿太太就是被其中一封介绍信分类为“和蔼可亲”的一位女士。“您在这里认识很多人吗？”侄女问道。“几乎没有，”弗拉姆顿说，“我姐姐大约四年前在这里住过，就在教区长家里，你知道，她给了我几封介绍信，把我介绍给这里的一些人。”
4. He made the last statement in a tone of regret. "Then you know practically nothing about my aunt?" pursued the self-possessed young lady. "Only her name and address," he admitted. He was wondering whether Mrs. Sappleton was married or widowed.
他最后带些后悔的语气这样说道。“那您实际上不认识我姑妈？”这位泰然自若的女孩追问道。“只知道她的姓名和地址，”他承认道。他挺好奇这位萨普尔顿太太究竟是已婚还是丧偶。
5. "Her great tragedy happened just three years ago," said the child; "that would be since your sister's time." "Her tragedy?" asked Framton. "You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on an October afternoon," said the niece, indicating a large French window that opened on to a lawn. "It is quite warm for the time of the year," said Framton; "but has that window got anything to do with the tragedy?" "Out through that window, three years ago to a day, her husband and her two young brothers went off for their day's shooting. They never came back. They found themselves all three suddenly in a treacherous piece of bog. Their bodies were never recovered. That was the dreadful part of it."
“三年前她经历了非常悲惨的事情，”女孩说，“应该是在您姐姐刚离开这以后。” “悲惨的事情？”弗拉姆顿问道。“您可能会纳闷十月份的下午我家怎么还敞着窗户，”侄女说道，同时指向一扇通向屋外草地的大落地窗。“今年这个时候天气比较暖和，”弗拉姆顿说，“但，这个窗口与那件悲惨的事情有什么关系？” “三年前的一天，她的丈夫和她的两个弟弟就是从这个窗口出去打猎的。他们再也没有回来。他们三人都陷入了一片危险的沼泽。而且，他们的尸体没有被找到，这也是最可怕的部分。”

6. Here the child's voice lost its self-possessed tone and became human. "Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back someday, they and the little brown spaniel that was lost with them, and walk in at that window just as they used to do. That is why the window is kept open every evening till it is quite dusk. Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they went out, her husband with his white waterproof coat over his arm, and Ronnie, her youngest brother, singing. Do you know, sometimes on still, quiet evenings like this, I almost get a creepy feeling that they will all walk in through that window--"
此时，女孩语气中的泰然自若消失了，变得更正常了。“可怜的姑妈始终认为他们有一天会回来，他们三人还有那条跟他们一起没回来的棕色小西班牙猎犬，就像以前一样从那扇窗户进来。这就是这扇窗户每天都会开到很晚的原因。可怜的姑妈，她经常告诉我他们是怎么出去的——她丈夫手臂上搭着他的那件白色防水外衣；她最小的弟弟罗尼唱着歌。你知道吗，有时在今天这样寂静的傍晚，我几乎会产生一种令人毛骨悚然的错觉——他们真的会从那扇窗户进来…
7. She broke off with a little shudder. It was a relief to Framton when the aunt bustled into the room with a whirl of apologies for being late in making her appearance. "I hope Vera has been amusing you?" she said. "She has been very interesting," said Framton. "I hope you don't mind the open window," said Mrs. Sappleton briskly; "my husband and brothers will be home directly from shooting, and they always come in this way. They've been out in the marshes today, so they'll make a fine mess over my poor carpets. So like you menfolk, isn't it?"
她的话中断了，打了个轻微的寒颤。此时，姑妈匆匆忙忙地走进房间，并连忙为自己的迟到而道歉，这正好让弗拉姆顿的心情放松了一下。“真心希望维拉一直在逗您开心。”她说。“她非常有趣，”弗拉姆顿说。“我希望您不介意窗户一直开着，”萨普尔顿太太轻快地说，“我丈夫和我弟弟们打完猎会直接回家，他们总是从这扇窗户进来。他们今天去沼泽那边了，所以他们会把我可怜的地毯弄得一团糟。你们男人都这样，不是吗？”
8. She rattled on cheerfully. To Framton it was all purely horrible. He made a desperate but only partially successful effort to turn the talk on to a less ghastly topic, he was conscious that his hostess was giving him only a fragment of her attention, and her eyes were constantly staring past him to the open window and the lawn beyond.
她喋喋不休地说着，神情愉快。但对于弗拉姆顿而言，她说的一切都是那么恐怖。他不顾一切地想把谈话转向不那么可怕的话题，但效果并不明显，他意识到他的这位女主人只给予了他片刻的关注，而她的双眼一直都盯着他身后那扇敞开的窗户和窗外的草地。
9. "The doctors are ordering me complete rest, absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of violent physical exercise," announced Framton, "On the matter of diet they are not so much in agreement," he continued. "No?" said Mrs. Sappleton, in a voice which only replaced a yawn. Then she suddenly cheered up: "Here they are at last!" she cried. "Just in time for tea, and don't they look as if they were muddy up to the eyes!" Framton shivered slightly and turned towards the niece. The child was staring out through the open window with horror in her eyes. In a shock of fear Framton looked in the same direction.
“医生命令我要充分地休息，不要精神过于兴奋，同时还要避免剧烈的运动，”弗拉姆顿宣布说。“饮食方面，他们并没有达成一致意见，”他继续说。“没有一致意见？”萨普尔顿太太用一种类似于打哈欠的声音说道。此时，她突然兴奋起来：“他们终于回来了！”她喊道，“正好没耽误喝茶时间。天呐，他们看起来像是从泥里爬出来的！”弗拉姆顿打了个轻微的寒颤，然后转向侄女的方向。女孩正通过那扇敞开的窗户凝视着窗外，目光里充满了恐惧。弗拉姆顿被眼前这恐怖的一幕震惊了，于是也朝着同一个方向看去。
10. In the deepening twilight three figures were walking across the lawn towards the window, they all carried guns under their arms, and one of them was burdened with a white coat hung over his shoulders. A tired brown spaniel walked close at their heels. Framton jumped up, grabbed wildly at his stick and hat and ran out.
在暮色深处，三个身影正穿过草地朝窗户的方向走来，三个人腋下都夹着猎枪，其中一个人的肩上搭着一件白色外套。一条疲惫的棕色西班牙猎犬紧跟在他们身后。弗拉姆顿跳了起来，疯狂地抓起了他的拐棍和帽子，跑了出去。
11. "Here we are, my dear," said the bearer of the white mackintosh, coming in through the window, "fairly muddy, but most of it's dry. Who was that who bolted out as we came up?"
“亲爱的，我们回来了，”肩上搭着白色防水外衣的人边说着，边穿过窗户进到了屋里，“太泥泞了，但大多数地方还是干的。我们进来时拔腿就跑的那个人是谁？”
"A most extraordinary man, a Mr. Nuttel," said Mrs. Sappleton; "could only talk about his illnesses, and dashed off without a word of goodbye or apology when you arrived. One would think he had seen a ghost." "I expect it was the spaniel," said the niece calmly; "he told me he had a horror of dogs. He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures just above him. Enough to make anyone lose their nerve."
“一个很奇怪的人，努特尔先生，”萨普尔顿太太说，“只谈论了他的病情，你们一回来，连句再见或道歉也不说就一溜烟跑了。让人感觉他见到鬼了。”“我估计是那条西班牙猎犬的事，”侄女冷静地说，“他告诉我他非常怕狗。他曾经被一群狗追到了恒河岸边的一个墓地里，然后不得不躲在一个新挖的墓坑里过夜，那些狗就在他头上的地面上守着。这足够把任何人吓破胆了。”
Romance at short notice was her speciality.
“一眨眼就能编故事”正是她的特长。