作者：Edgar Allan Poe (published 1850) 譯者：CaptainSnafu 未經(jīng)允許，請勿轉載 THE "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avator and its seal -- the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour. “紅死病”已長久地蹂躪著這個國家。未曾有過如此致命或猙獰的瘟疫。血，則是它的化身與紋章——血之赤紅與恐怖。屆時會有刺骨的劇痛和猝然的眩暈，接著毛孔劇烈滲血，伴隨著血肉的溶解。在受害者的軀體上——尤其是在臉面上呈現(xiàn)的猩紅斑點，便是將其排斥在救助與同情之外的放逐令咒。病癥從發(fā)作、惡化到最后終結的整個過程，也僅是發(fā)生在半小時內(nèi)的連串意外。 But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince's own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the "Red Death." 可普洛斯彼羅親王是快樂、無畏及聰慧的。當他的領民損歿近半，他從宮廷的親友中召來眾多健壯樂觀的騎士與名媛，一同撤往他其中一所與世隔絕的城堡莊園。這是一座瑰麗雄渾的匠筑，是親王那異乎尋常卻不乏威嚴的品味之創(chuàng)造。環(huán)繞著它的是一堵堅實高聳的圍墻，墻門更由鋼鐵鑄建。侍臣們帶著熔爐和巨錘進入后，便把門栓焊死。他們決心不留任何進出的通路，由內(nèi)而外地斷絕任何絕望或癲狂的突發(fā)沖動。莊園的補給亦是充沛。在此等防范之下，足以讓諂媚者們蔑視瘟疫的觸染。至于墻外的世界，人們自會照顧好自己。在此期間，哀悼或思慮都是愚蠢的。親王提供了所有的消遣設施，弄臣、即興詩人、芭蕾舞者、樂師均已就位，還有美人與美酒。一切的歡樂與安全應有盡有，而沒有的只會是“紅死病”。? It was toward the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence. 在隱居的將近第五或第六個月末，也是外部的瘟疫最為猖獗地肆虐之際，普洛斯彼羅親王舉辦一場空前盛大的假面舞會，以款待眾友。 It was a voluptuous scene, that masquerade. But first let me tell of the rooms in which it was held. There were seven -- an imperial suite. In many palaces, however, such suites form a long and straight vista, while the folding doors slide back nearly to the walls on either hand, so that the view of the whole extent is scarcely impeded. Here the case was very different; as might have been expected from the duke's love of the bizarre. The apartments were so irregularly disposed that the vision embraced but little more than one at a time. There was a sharp turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel effect. To the right and left, in the middle of each wall, a tall and narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which pursued the windings of the suite. These windows were of stained glass whose color varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of the decorations of the chamber into which it opened. That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue -- and vividly blue were its windows. The second chamber was purple in its ornaments and tapestries, and here the panes were purple. The third was green throughout, and so were the casements. The fourth was furnished and lighted with orange -- the fifth with white -- the sixth with violet. The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue. But in this chamber only, the color of the windows failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes here were scarlet -- a deep blood color. Now in no one of the seven apartments was there any lamp or candelabrum, amid the profusion of golden ornaments that lay scattered to and fro or depended from the roof. There was no light of any kind emanating from lamp or candle within the suite of chambers. But in the corridors that followed the suite, there stood, opposite to each window, a heavy tripod, bearing a brazier of fire, that projected its rays through the tinted glass and so glaringly illumined the room. And thus were produced a multitude of gaudy and fantastic appearances. But in the western or black chamber the effect of the fire-light that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in the extreme, and produced so wild a look upon the countenances of those who entered, that there were few of the company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all. 那場舞會真可謂奢侈淫逸。但還是先讓我描述下會場的房間吧。這里有著七個獨一的華貴的套間。在許多宮殿中，這樣的套間都會構成一整道綿長筆直的遠景長廊，折疊門滑退至墻體的兩側，使得對全景的觀覽都幾乎不受阻礙?；蛟S出于親王對奇特的鐘愛，這里卻是大相徑庭。套房被不規(guī)整地布置著，以至在一覽中幾乎只能目睹其一。每隔二三十碼便有一道急促的轉彎，而在每道轉彎都有著一種珍奇的景觀。在彎道的左右兩側，每堵墻的中央都有一扇狹窄的哥特式高窗，眺向追接著套房那些蜿蜒曲徑的閉環(huán)走廊。這些窗戶的玻璃都被染成與各房間裝潢的主色調(diào)一致。例如，垂掛在東端套間的裝飾為藍色，其窗戶的玻璃便是亮藍。第二間房室點綴著紫紅色的飾品和掛毯，其窗格也呈華紫。第三間通室碧綠，其窗扉亦是。第四間配置著橙紅色的家具和采光口，第五第六間則分別是白與藍紫。而第七間套房，則被嚴密地包裹在黑色的絲絨繡帷之中。遍覆的繡帷從天花板和墻壁懸墜而下，層層垂褶在同樣材質(zhì)和色調(diào)的地毯上。但也僅在此間，窗色未能與裝飾相同。這里的窗格是猩紅的——一種深厚的血色。在那些豐沛地散布在屋頂?shù)慕瘘S飾物之下，七個廳室中沒有任何一個燈盞或枝形燭臺，更沒有它們所散發(fā)出的光亮。但在那些連接著套間的走廊中，每扇窗戶的對面都佇立一臺笨重的三腳架，其承載的熊熊烈焰投出火光，透過染色玻璃，耀目地照亮著房間，也因此產(chǎn)生了多重絢麗而夢幻的光景。但在西端那間漆黑的房室，火光滲進血紅的窗格，在深暗的掛飾上涌動著，悚然至極。而那些足夠勇敢以涉足光影之間的少數(shù)賓客，其面容也因而變得愈發(fā)怪異。 It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the minute-hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily, in their performance, to harken to the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused revery or meditation. But when the echoes had fully ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the assembly; the musicians looked at each other and smiled as if at their own nervousness and folly, and made whispering vows, each to the other, that the next chiming of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion; and then, after the lapse of sixty minutes, (which embrace three thousand and six hundred seconds of the Time that flies,) there came yet another chiming of the clock, and then were the same disconcert and tremulousness and meditation as before. 也是在這房室里，一臺龐大的烏木鐘緊靠西墻地立著。它的鐘擺隨著沉悶厚重且千篇一律的鏗鏘聲搖蕩，當分針在鐘面上環(huán)行一圈，時針搐動之際，一陣清晰嘹亮、低沉并極為悅耳的聲響從大鐘的銅肺中呼鳴。它的音調(diào)是如此獨特而昭顯，以至于每隔一個小時，管弦樂師們都會被迫暫停演奏以聆聽鐘響，而華爾茲舞者們也因此必須停下變換著位置的腳步。從而，在狂歡的人群中萌生了一種短暫的不安。鐘聲鳴響的同時，可見這群最為眼花繚亂的輕薄之人都變得臉色蒼白，而更為沉著的長者們則將手掌舉過眉毛，仿佛陷入了一場迷亂的遐思冥想之中。當回響完全收息，一陣輕快的笑聲立即彌漫在集會者之間。樂師們相視而笑，仿佛是在揶揄自己方才的神經(jīng)過敏與笨拙一般，并彼此低聲立誓，在下次鐘聲再臨之時絕不重蹈覆轍。然而，在六十分鐘——三千六百秒的時光飛逝之后，另一道鐘鳴如期而至，仍舊掀起了一片同樣的驚惶、戰(zhàn)栗與惘然空想。 But, in spite of these things, it was a gay and magnificent revel. The tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye for colors and effects. He disregarded the decora of mere fashion. His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric lustre. There are some who would have thought him mad. His followers felt that he was not. It was necessary to hear and see and touch him to be sure that he was not. 不過盡管如此，這也誠為一場極樂且華麗的狂歡。親王的品味別樹一幟，于色彩與效果營造的眼光高遠獨到，對時髦的裝點不屑一顧。他的籌劃大膽狂放、激情如火，他的理念閃爍著原始野性的光。有些人本以為他已癲狂，他的追隨者則不以為然。人們必須要親身聆聽、目視和觸碰于他，才會確信他神智的清醒。 He had directed, in great part, the moveable embellishments of the seven chambers, upon occasion of this great fête; and it was his own guiding taste which had given character to the masqueraders. Be sure they were grotesque. There were much glare and glitter and piquancy and phantasm -- much of what has been since seen in "Hernani." There were arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments. There were delirious fancies such as the madman fashions. There were much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust. To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of dreams. And these -- the dreams -- writhed in and about, taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the echo of their steps. And, anon, there strikes the ebony clock which stands in the hall of the velvet. And then, for a moment, all is still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock. The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. But the echoes of the chime die away -- they have endured but an instant -- and a light, half-subdued laughter floats after them as they depart.?And now again the music swells, and the dreams live, and writhe to and fro more merrily than ever, taking hue from the many tinted windows through which stream the rays from the tripods. But to the chamber which lies most westwardly of the seven, there are now none of the maskers who venture; for the night is waning away; and there flows a ruddier light through the blood-colored panes; and the blackness of the sable drapery appals; and to him whose foot falls upon the sable carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled peal more solemnly emphatic than any which reaches their ears who indulge in the more remote gaieties of the other apartments.? 在很大程度上，他親自為這場盛大慶典督導了七大廳室的可動裝飾。也正是他獨有的品味著引領和賦予著假面舞者們怪誕奇異的特色。會場內(nèi)充斥光耀、閃爍、神秘和幻象，就如同《歐那尼》【注1】上演以來在戲劇中所見的那般。這里有著阿拉伯式的圖紋和裝設，而那些蔓藤花紋上卻伸展著格格不入的枝蔓。還有各種錯亂的花式飾品，如同瘋人的時尚。美麗、放蕩、奇妙之裝扮，不一而足，其中還有不少可謂駭人，甚至激起反感。在七個廳室中闊步游蕩著恍惚若夢的人群，這些夢者繞轉騰挪、徘徊來往，披戴著廳室中的溢彩流光，仿佛管弦樂團的狂野樂章便是他們腳步的回響。再一次地，絲絨廳堂中的烏木大鐘被敲響。隨即一切均在頃刻間靜止，除了時鐘的聲響，萬物皆寂，而夢者們也都僵直如立。但一當鳴響的回音消散而去，他們?nèi)棠筒贿^一瞬，便又浮現(xiàn)出輕松而又半帶克制的笑聲。音樂再次飆響，而夢者回生，帶著一種從所未有的喜悅來回往復，翻騰如潮，透過眾多染色玻璃掠走火盆架上舞動的輻光焰影。然而，在七室中最西側的那間廳堂里，如今并無任何敢于冒險其中的假面舞者。隨著夜色闌珊，一道紅光自血色窗格淌入，深暗帳幔的淵黑愈顯駭人。而對于雙腳踏上了漆黑絨毯之人，從附近烏木大鐘傳出的那聲沉悶洪鳴，比沉醉在其它套間的狂歡者所耳聞過的任何一聲鐘響都更為莊嚴著重。 注1：雨果的浪漫主義戲劇《歐那尼》（Hernani），上演時掀起了一陣對古典主義傳統(tǒng)戲劇的沖擊。 But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them beat feverishly the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly on, until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon the clock. And then the music ceased, as I have told; and the evolutions of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy cessation of all things as before. But now there were twelve strokes to be sounded by the bell of the clock; and thus it happened, perhaps that more of thought crept, with more of time, into the meditations of the thoughtful among those who revelled. And thus too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were many individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention of no single individual before. And the rumor of this new presence having spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of disapprobation and surprise -- then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust.? 其余的套房內(nèi)則室座無隙地，人們駢肩疊跡，生機蓬勃的心臟狂熱地躍動其中。眩人心神的狂歡繼續(xù)，直到午夜的鐘聲終于響起。隨后便像我先前提過的那般，樂音斷絕，華爾茲舞者旋步收定，還有一種令人坐立不安的諸行停滯。不同的是，如今大鐘擊發(fā)出了十二聲鐘響。因此在其更長的回蕩之際，狂歡群眾中善思者的冥想里，也許能蔓生更多思緒?；蛟S，也因如此，許多人便能在最后一次鐘聲的回響完全沉寂之前余出閑暇時刻，以察覺到那個戴著面具之人的存在。而此前，他從未吸引過任何人的注意。關于此名新出席者的流言在周圍悄悄傳開，終于在人群中引起一陣持續(xù)而嘈雜的低語，深表著非難和詫異——繼而，最終變成了驚慌、恐懼和憎惡。 In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may well be supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited such sensation. In truth the masquerade license of the night was nearly unlimited; but the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod, and gone beyond the bounds of even the prince's indefinite decorum. There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made. The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. And yet all this might have been endured, if not approved, by the mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood -- and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror. 在一場如我所述的集會上，大概不該有什么尋常角色的到場能激發(fā)如此的轟動。事實上，今晚這場假面舞會的入場許可幾乎沒有限制。但這位謎之角色展現(xiàn)出了一種比希律王【注2】更盛的殘暴，甚至越過了親王那本就不拘的禮儀之界限。最魯莽之狂徒都會有著能被強烈觸動的心弦。即使對一無所有、視生死同為玩笑之人而言，也會有著不可戲謔的事物。此時，似乎所有人都深切地感覺到，這位陌生人著裝和舉止，均既不得體也非明智。此人高挑而枯瘦，從頭到腳都包裹在殮葬的喪服中。遮掩著容貌的面具與僵直尸體的臉面幾近別無二致，只有最縝密地細察方可辨出端倪。然而即使人們并不贊可，所有的這些都理應能被周圍狂熱的縱情者所容忍。但這名沉默的變裝者已做得過火，儼然紅死病的象征。他的衣裳濺染著血液，他那寬大的眉毛還有臉上的所有器官，都被灑滿了猩紅的恐怖。 注2：希律王（Herod），羅馬帝國在猶太行省耶路撒冷任命的代理王。在基督文化中被塑造為典型的暴君形象，曾于宴會上遣人斬殺先知約翰。 When the eyes of Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral image (which with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully to sustain its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he was seen to be convulsed, in the first moment with a strong shudder either of terror or distaste; but, in the next, his brow reddened with rage. 普洛斯彼羅親王的雙眼緩慢而莊嚴地在華爾茲舞者中來回移動，仿佛這能更充分地支撐起他的君王角色。當他的目光落在這個幽靈般的人影上，他似乎大為震撼，在最初的一瞬因驚恐或厭惡強烈地顫抖，但旋即他的眉眼便因憤怒而通紅。 "Who dares?" he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him -- "who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him -- that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, from the battlements!" “何人膽敢如此?” 他嘶啞地質(zhì)問著站在身旁的奉承者們。“何人膽敢以此等褻瀆的嘲諷來侮辱我們？逮住他，卸下他的面具——這樣就能得知我們將在日出時分的城垛上吊死的到底是誰！” It was in the eastern or blue chamber in which stood the Prince Prospero as he uttered these words. They rang throughout the seven rooms loudly and clearly -- for the prince was a bold and robust man, and the music had become hushed at the waving of his hand. 普洛斯彼羅親王正是站在東邊的藍色廳堂中說出這些辭令。它們嘹亮明晰地響徹七大套間——因為親王便是一個勇猛強健之人，而音樂也在他揮手的瞬間緘默噤聲。 It was in the blue room where stood the prince, with a group of pale courtiers by his side. At first, as he spoke, there was a slight rushing movement of this group in the direction of the intruder, who, at the moment was also near at hand, and now, with deliberate and stately step, made closer approach to the speaker. But from a certain nameless awe with which the mad assumptions of the mummer had inspired the whole party, there were found none who put forth hand to seize him; so that, unimpeded, he passed within a yard of the prince's person; and, while the vast assembly, as if with one impulse, shrank from the centres of the rooms to the walls, he made his way uninterruptedly, but with the same solemn and measured step which had distinguished him from the first, through the blue chamber to the purple -- through the purple to the green -- through the green to the orange -- through this again to the white -- and even thence to the violet, ere a decided movement had been made to arrest him. It was then, however, that the Prince Prospero, maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, rushed hurriedly through the six chambers, while none followed him on account of a deadly terror that had seized upon all. He bore aloft a drawn dagger, and had approached, in rapid impetuosity, to within three or four feet of the retreating figure, when the latter, having attained the extremity of the velvet apartment, turned suddenly and confronted his pursuer.?There was a sharp cry -- and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero. Then, summoning the wild courage of despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave cerements and corpse-like mask which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible form. 親王站立在那藍色的廳堂，一群臉色蒼白的諂臣侍候于邊上。在最初，親王發(fā)言的同時，這群諂臣中便有人徑直地沖向那位不速之客——而他此刻近在手邊，正邁著從容而堂皇的步伐靠近著發(fā)話者。然而，出于對這名變裝者那些失控般的設想，在全員中激發(fā)起了某種不可名狀的敬畏，竟無一人敢伸手去抓他。從而，他暢通 無阻地從親王本尊的一碼之內(nèi)走過。似乎只在一個沖動之下，廣大的人群便從房間中央畏避，退至墻邊。于此同時，他并無停歇地繼續(xù)迫近，帶著那股從一開始就使他與眾不同的莊嚴和慎重。在任何一個下定決心去逮捕他的行動被執(zhí)行之前，他已從蔚藍的廳堂穿行至華紫之間——又從華紫之間邁入碧綠——再到潔白——甚至直達紫羅蘭套房。就在那時，普洛斯彼羅親王對自己一時的懦弱感到羞愧和憤慨，勃然大怒，急迫地奔越六間廳堂。而由于一股侵襲著全員的死亡恐懼，竟沒有一人追隨親王的沖鋒。親王抽出一把匕首，高舉過頭，向著正從視野中退去的那道身影迅猛地沖去。當離目標還有三或四尺的距離時，后者已到達了絲絨套間的盡頭，他突然轉身，直面他的追逐者。一聲尖銳的嚎叫傳出，匕首寒光閃爍地掉落在暗黑的地毯上，而緊隨其后的正是俯身斃命的普洛斯彼羅親王。終于，在從絕望中迫發(fā)出的蠻勇之號召下，一群狂歡者立即向著那間黑色套房飛奔，去捉拿那名高瘦的變裝者，而他正紋絲不動地佇立在烏木大鐘的陰影里。人們在難以言喻的恐懼中倒抽著涼氣，只因在那些粗暴蠻橫的擒握之下，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)那入墓的裹尸布和死者容貌的假面，并未依附于任何觸手能及的形體。 And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all. 如今，紅死病的到來已被確實。他如同盜賊，于夜晚降臨?？v情者一們個接著一個地倒在被鮮血浸染的狂歡大廳上，而每一個都以倒下時的絕望姿態(tài)死去。隨著最后一個狂歡者死亡，烏木大鐘壽終正寢，三腳架上的火焰也已熄滅。而黑暗、衰敗與紅死病開始了無邊無期的至高統(tǒng)治。