30    "I got some glimmering of what he was driving at. I've known too many men who were little tin gods at their university to be impressed by it.
31    "'I was a pretty good swimmer myself when I was a young man,' I said.
32    "Suddenly I had an idea."
33    Pausing in his story, Burton turned to me.
      “我听出了一点他话里的意思。上大学时自以为了不起的人我见得多了，我才不吃这套呢。
      “‘本人年轻时也是个游泳好手，’我说。
      “突然，我有了个想法。”
      伯顿停了下来，看着我。 
  
34    "Do you know Kobe?" he asked.
35    "No," I said, "I passed through it once, but I only spent a night there."
36    "Then you don't know the Shioya Club. When I was a young man I swam from there round the beacon and landed at the creek of Tarumi. It's over three miles and it's rather difficult on account of the currents round the beacon. Well, I told my young namesake about it and I said to him that if he'd do it I'd give him a job.
      “你对神户熟悉吗？”他问。
      “不熟悉，”我说，“从前有一次路过那里，只呆了一个晚上。”
      “那么，你不会知道盐谷俱乐部吧。我年轻的时候，曾经从那里出发，游过灯塔直到垂水小溪上岸。一共3英里多路，灯塔一带有激流，游起来挺费劲。于是，我把这事告诉了那位与我同姓的年轻人，并对他说，要是他能游过去，我就给他一个差使。 
  
37    "I could see he was rather taken aback.
38    "'You say you're a swimmer,' I said.
39    "'I'm not in very good condition,' he answered.
40    "I didn't say anything. I shrugged my shoulders. He looked at me for a moment and then he nodded.
41    "'All right,' he said. 'When do you want me to do it?'
      “我看得出，他吓了一跳。
      “‘你不是说你是游泳好手吗？’我说。
      “‘我现在身体状况不太好，’他回答说。
      “我什么也没说，只是耸了耸肩。他望了我一会儿，然后点了点头。
      “‘好吧，’他说了，‘你要我什么时候游呢？’ 
  
42    "I looked at my watch. It was just after ten.
43    "'The swim shouldn't take you much over an hour and a quarter. I'll drive round to the creek at half past twelve and meet you. I'll take you back to the club to dress and then we'll have lunch together.'
44    "'Done,' he said.
      “我看了看表。刚过十点。
      “‘你游这段距离大概要花一个钟头零一刻多一些。我到12点半开车到小溪那里去接你，带你到俱乐部换衣服，然后一起吃午饭。’
      “‘就这样吧，’他说。 
 
  
45    "We shook hands. I wished him good luck and he left me. I had a lot of work to do that morning and I only just managed to get to the creek at Tarumi at half past twelve. But I needn't have hurried; he never turned up."
46    "Did he funk it at the last moment?" I asked.
      “我们握了握手。我祝他好运，他就走了。那天上午我有好些事要办，到12点半总算勉强赶到了垂水小溪。其实我根本用不着这么赶，他压根儿就没露面。”
      “他临阵脱逃了？”我问。 
  
47    "No, he didn't funk it. He started all right. But of course he'd ruined his constitution by drink and dissipation. The currents round the beacon were more than he could manage. We didn't get the body for about three days."
      “没有，他没有临阵脱逃。他确实出发了。当然喽，他喝酒作乐早把身体搞垮了。灯塔周围的激流他对付不了。大约有三天，我们都没找到尸体。”
 
  
48    I didn't say anything for a moment or two. I was a trifle shocked. Then I asked Burton a question.
49    "When you made him that offer of a job, did you know he'd be drowned?"
50    He gave a little mild chuckle and he looked at me with those kind and candid blue eyes of his. He rubbed his chin with his hand.
51    "Well, I hadn't got a vacancy in my office at the moment."
      我好一会儿什么话也没说。我感到有些震惊。然后我问了伯顿一个问题。
      “你提出给他差使的时候，是不是知道他准会淹死？”
      他轻轻地咯咯一笑，用那双和善又坦率的蓝眼睛望着我。他用手摩挲着下巴。
      “哦，那时我的办事处可没有空缺呀。”

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