海外头条总编审   王 在 军   （中国）

海外头条副编审 Wendy温迪（英国）

海 外 头 条总 编   火 凤  凰 （海外）

图片选自百度

英文诵读：龚如仲（美国）

中文诵读：琬   乔（中国）

The Plague

By Albert•Camus

Page 16

Next day, April 17, at eight o’clock, the concierge buttonholed the doctor as he was going out. “Some young scallywags ,” he said, “had dumped three dead rats in the hall. They’d obviously been caught in traps with very strong springs, as they were bleeding profusely.” The concierge had lingered in the doorway for quite a while, holding the rats by legs and keeping a sharp eye on the passengers-by, on the off chance that the miscreants would give themselves away by grinning or by some facetious remark. His watch had been in vain. “But I’ll nab them all right,” said M. Michel hopefully.

Much puzzled, Rieus decided to begin his round in the outskirts of the town, were his poorer patients lived. The scavenging in these districts was done late in the morning and, as he drove his car along the straight, dusty streets, he cast glances at the garbage cans aligned along the edge of the sidewalk. In one street alone the doctor counted as many as a dozen rats deposited on the vegetable and other refuse in the cans.

He found his first patient, as asthma case of long standing, in bed, in a room that served as both dining room and bedroom and overlooked the street. The invalid was an old Spaniard with a hard, rugged face. Placed on the coverlet in front of him were two pots containing dried peas. When the doctor entered, the old man was sitting up, bending his neck back, gasping and wheezing in his efforts to recover his breath. His wife brought a bowl of water.

“Well, doctor,” he said, while the injection was being made, “out, have you noticed?”

“The rats, he means,” his wife explained. “The man next door found three!” “They’re coming out, you can see them in all the trash cans. It’s hunger!”

Rieus soon discovered that the rats were the great topic of conversation in that part of the town. After his round on visits he drove home.

“There’s a telegram for you, sir, upstairs,” M. Michel informed him. The doctor asked him if he’d seen anymore rats. “No,” the concierge replied, “there aren’t been any more. I’s keeping a sharp lookout, you know. Those youngsters wouldn’t dare when I’m around.”

The telegram informed Rieus that his mother would be arriving next day. She was going to keep house for her son during his wife’s absence. When the doctor entered his apartment he found the nurse already there. He looked at his wife. She was in a tailor-made suit, and he noticed that she had used rouge.

He smiled to her. “That’s splendid,” he said. “You’re looking very nice.”

A few minutes later he was seeing her into the sleeping-car. She glanced round the compartment. “It’s too expensive for us really. Isn’t it?”

“It had to be done,” Rieus replied. “What’s this story about rats going around?”

“I can’t explain. It certainly is queer, but it’ll pass.

Then hurriedly he begged her to forgive him; he felt he should have looked after her better, he’d been most remiss. When she shook her head, as if to make him stop, he added: “Anyhow, once you’re back everything will be better. We’ll make a fresh start.

鼠疫

作者：法国 阿尔贝•加缪（第16页）

本页译者：龚如仲（从英文版译成中文）

（1957年诺贝尔文学奖获奖小说）

第二天，四月十七日早上八点，正当医生望外走时，门房拽住了他。“几个小无赖，”他说道，“在大堂里丢下了三只死老鼠，它们显然是被力道很强大的弹簧捕鼠器夹住的，血滴滴答答地流了许多。”门房拎着死老鼠的脚，在门槛上已经站了好一些时候，旨在抓住机会看到那些坏小子跑过来说些挖苦话，来个自我暴露，可是他的努力徒劳了。

“好啊，这些小混蛋，”米歇尔说，“我终究会把他们逮住的！”

里厄大夫感到迷茫不解，他决定从城市的郊区开始他的出诊，因为那里住着他的较为贫困的患者。那些地区里的垃圾清除工作要比别处晚得多，大夫开着车沿着那里的尘土飞扬、道路笔直的公路上行进。透过车窗，他的眼光掠过了一些放在人行道旁的废物箱。在一条街上，大夫就发现了大约有十二只死老鼠被丢到了集满烂菜皮和旧破物的垃圾旁。

大夫的第一个病人住在一间沿街的屋子里，吃饭睡觉都在那个房间。床上躺着一位患着气喘病的老病号，他是一位面容僵硬、满脸皱纹的西班牙老人。在老人的被子上，放在两个里面装着干豆子的罐子。当看到医生进来时，正在床上坐着的老人立马坐直了身子，喘着粗气、尖声哮鸣地控制着自己的呼吸。老人的太太给他端上了一碗水。

当医生给他打针时，老人对医生说道：“嗯，大夫，在外面，您注意到了吗？”

“他指的是老鼠，”老人的太太插嘴道，“隔壁一位男士发现了三只。老鼠们都出来了，您能在所有的垃圾箱里看到它们。都是因为饥饿啊！”

里厄大夫很快就发现：老鼠成了这个城里那个地区的主要议论话题。出诊结束后，医生开车回家。

“有您的一份电报，先生，在楼上，”门房米歇尔告诉医生。医生问门房是否又发现了任何死老鼠？门房答道：“没有，没发现任何死耗子。您知道我是睁大眼睛看着呐。当我在这儿时，那些混小子不敢干恶作剧。”

电报内容是：医生的妈妈明天来看他。她来此的目的是在医生太太不在家的时候，帮儿子看守房子。当医生进入他的办公室时，护士已经来了。他看到了他的太太。她穿着裁缝特制的新衣服。同时，他还发现，他的太太涂了胭脂。他对着他太太微笑着。“这简直是太棒了，”他说道，“你看上去非常迷人！”

几分钟之后，他们到了车站，他把她安顿在卧铺车厢里。他太太注视了一下车厢，对丈夫说道：“这对我们来说，是不是太奢侈了？”

“需要这样的，”里厄说道。

“关于那些老鼠，这究竟是怎么一回事？”

“我无法解释，这事很怪异，但一切都会过去的。”

他接着急切地对她说，他要求太太原谅他，因为他本该好好地照顾她的，但他对她太不关心了。他太太摇摇头，似乎在告诉他不要再往下说了。但是，他继续说道：“你回来时，一切会变得更好。我们会有一个新的开始！”

【作者简介】龚如仲（Ralph) 

中国对外经济贸易大学英语系毕业。曾任铁道部援建坦赞铁路工作组总部英语翻译，中国国际广播电台英语部播音员、记者，外贸部中国轻工业品进出口总公司驻美国公司总裁，澳大利亚利富集团驻美国公司总裁，外贸部中国基地总公司驻美国公司总裁，美国TA国际有限公司驻北京办事处首席代表

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