《《GGAD通信集》-《Thirty-five Owls》》林待玉

8、The Seventh Owl（From AD） 1952.

　　October 13th, 1952
　　公元1952年，十月13日
　　Dear Gellert,
　　亲爱的盖勒特，
　　Again the thirteenth is peaceful, however much the superstitious fear it. These have been good years for England. Very quiet. Thank you for your letter, however sulky. You retain, I see, that talent for poetry that so sparkled your conversation in your youth.

　　又是一个宁和的13日，可是竟有那么多迷信者恐惧这一天。这些年英格兰一直很好。亦非常宁静可爱。谢谢你的信，无论是多么含着愠怒。我想，你那诗情画意的天赋仍保留在你的言辞里，在你韶华正好时，它总是在你与人的谈话间跳动着，闪耀着。

　　Yes, I know full well what I have done to you. I will not apologize for what was necessary. You had to be removed from power, kept from harming the world, because— for the greater good. And seeing as I am self-righteous old dingbat, as a student most memorably dubbed me a few weeks ago, I would not have murdered you. (I'm even getting some grey hair myself, to properly look the part.) And yet it saddens me, to think of a mind and talent as brilliant as yours wasting away in taffy days; and it saddens me to hear of your suffering. I hope I can provide at least some small joys.

　　是的，我十分清楚你对我做的事。我不会为这迫不得已的事道歉。你不能不被与恐怖的力量隔离开，不能不被阻止继续侵害这个世界，因为——为了更伟大的利益。鉴于我是个自以为是的老傻瓜——这是几个星期前一个学生给我起的难忘的绰号，我本无意如此糟蹋你的。（我甚至自己冒出了几缕银丝，来更得体的饰演这个角色。）但想到你那才华横溢的头脑和天赋被逐渐消磨在宛若太妃糖的日子里，还是让我感到痛心；听说了你的苦难，也同样让我痛心。我希望我这些苍白的文字至少能给你些许的欢愉。

　　I think you deserve to know, Gellert, in confidence, of my intentions for what I won in that duel. (I admit that I agree with your habit of circumspect wording, given the nature of it.) I intend to take it with me to my grave. If I can succeed in breaking its bloody history... well, as it's been said, I'm a dingbat. But I believe, with all that I've how seen, that the world is better off without it.

　　我想我应当让你知道我赢得那场决斗的意图，盖勒特，怀着对你的信任。（我承认我是因接受你谨慎用词的习惯，才敢把这不可告人的事实告诉你。）我打算把它带进我的墓冢里。如果能够成功终结它的血腥历史……嗯，如人曾云，我是个傻瓜。但我相信，就现在我看到的而言，这个世界没有它会更好。

　　This is one of those peculiar cases in which I'm unable to anticipate your reaction, I must admit.

　　我必须承认，这也是那些我无法预料你反应的怪事之一。

　　I must make one more apology, though— if your intent, that time with the ice, was indeed to teach me Russian geography, I'm afraid you quite failed, as I was far too distracted at the time to pay attention. I find it odd, though— we knew each other for perhaps two months, and I admit the passion was intriguing, yet you write on it so often. Was that brief time, which you threw away when you left, really so important to you?

　　可是我必须再一次奉上我的歉意——如果你在那段伴着冰雪的时光里的意图，的确是教我俄罗斯地理的话，我恐怕你是完全失败了，那时我在应当严格集中注意力的时候精神完全涣散了。可是我奇怪的从我记忆的角落中找到了它——我们在那两个月里也许曾相互知晓，我也承认那段激情令人心醉神迷，但你写起它的次数也太频繁了。那段在时间长河中微不足道的、在你头也不回的离开时被你轻易抛弃的一小段日子，对你而言真的那么重要么？

　　I wish you had told me earlier, what those guards were doing to you. I would have had them removed at once, if only through chains of favors. Believe me when I say I had no wish for such degradations to be a part sentence; your words left me burning hot with outrage.

　　我希望你能早些告诉我那些警卫对你干的事。如果我早点知晓只要通过一小串子的人情链就能马上把他们革职。相信我，我无意让此等凌辱成为你被判处的刑罚的一部分；你的话让我的愤怒之火熊熊燃烧。

　　I must to work.
　　我必须工作了。

　　With thanks,
　　伴着谢意，

　　译者注：
　　突然发现提到老魔杖的时候，GG首字母是大写（It）的而AD没有（it）