适合谁读
适合希望借助中文辅助阅读哥特文学、早期科幻和英语经典小说的读者。
中文阅读器
书信二
《弗兰肯斯坦》。默认中文单语阅读；也可以切换任意两列语言：English / 中文。
本章摘要
沃尔顿抵达阿尔汉格尔斯克并租好船、招募水手。他向姐姐倾诉缺少知己的孤独，介绍勇敢的大副和性情温和的船长，又说明自己虽然害怕未知，却不会动摇远征的决心。
现代读者提醒
作品写于十九世纪初，涉及科学观、宗教观、阶级、性别与殖民时代的欧洲社会背景，应结合历史语境阅读。
English
To Mrs. Saville, England.
Archangel, 28th March, 17—.
How slowly the time passes here, encompassed as I am by frost and snow! Yet a second step is taken towards my enterprise. I have hired a vessel and am occupied in collecting my sailors; those whom I have already engaged appear to be men on whom I can depend and are certainly possessed of dauntless courage.
But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy, and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil, I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection. I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sympathise with me, whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans. How would such a friend repair the faults of your poor brother! I am too ardent in execution and too impatient of difficulties. But it is a still greater evil to me that I am self-educated: for the first fourteen years of my life I ran wild on a common and read nothing but our Uncle Thomas’ books of voyages. At that age I became acquainted with the celebrated poets of our own country; but it was only when it had ceased to be in my power to derive its most important benefits from such a conviction that I perceived the necessity of becoming acquainted with more languages than that of my native country. Now I am twenty-eight and am in reality more illiterate than many schoolboys of fifteen. It is true that I have thought more and that my daydreams are more extended and magnificent, but they want (as the painters call it) keeping; and I greatly need a friend who would have sense enough not to despise me as romantic, and affection enough for me to endeavour to regulate my mind.
Well, these are useless complaints; I shall certainly find no friend on the wide ocean, nor even here in Archangel, among merchants and seamen. Yet some feelings, unallied to the dross of human nature, beat even in these rugged bosoms. My lieutenant, for instance, is a man of wonderful courage and enterprise; he is madly desirous of glory, or rather, to word my phrase more characteristically, of advancement in his profession. He is an Englishman, and in the midst of national and professional prejudices, unsoftened by cultivation, retains some of the noblest endowments of humanity. I first became acquainted with him on board a whale vessel; finding that he was unemployed in this city, I easily engaged him to assist in my enterprise.
The master is a person of an excellent disposition and is remarkable in the ship for his gentleness and the mildness of his discipline. This circumstance, added to his well-known integrity and dauntless courage, made me very desirous to engage him. A youth passed in solitude, my best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage, has so refined the groundwork of my character that I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality exercised on board ship: I have never believed it to be necessary, and when I heard of a mariner equally noted for his kindliness of heart and the respect and obedience paid to him by his crew, I felt myself peculiarly fortunate in being able to secure his services. I heard of him first in rather a romantic manner, from a lady who owes to him the happiness of her life. This, briefly, is his story. Some years ago he loved a young Russian lady of moderate fortune, and having amassed a considerable sum in prize-money, the father of the girl consented to the match. He saw his mistress once before the destined ceremony; but she was bathed in tears, and throwing herself at his feet, entreated him to spare her, confessing at the same time that she loved another, but that he was poor, and that her father would never consent to the union. My generous friend reassured the suppliant, and on being informed of the name of her lover, instantly abandoned his pursuit. He had already bought a farm with his money, on which he had designed to pass the remainder of his life; but he bestowed the whole on his rival, together with the remains of his prize-money to purchase stock, and then himself solicited the young woman’s father to consent to her marriage with her lover. But the old man decidedly refused, thinking himself bound in honour to my friend, who, when he found the father inexorable, quitted his country, nor returned until he heard that his former mistress was married according to her inclinations. “What a noble fellow!” you will exclaim. He is so; but then he is wholly uneducated: he is as silent as a Turk, and a kind of ignorant carelessness attends him, which, while it renders his conduct the more astonishing, detracts from the interest and sympathy which otherwise he would command.
Yet do not suppose, because I complain a little or because I can conceive a consolation for my toils which I may never know, that I am wavering in my resolutions. Those are as fixed as fate, and my voyage is only now delayed until the weather shall permit my embarkation. The winter has been dreadfully severe, but the spring promises well, and it is considered as a remarkably early season, so that perhaps I may sail sooner than I expected. I shall do nothing rashly: you know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and considerateness whenever the safety of others is committed to my care.
I cannot describe to you my sensations on the near prospect of my undertaking. It is impossible to communicate to you a conception of the trembling sensation, half pleasurable and half fearful, with which I am preparing to depart. I am going to unexplored regions, to “the land of mist and snow,” but I shall kill no albatross; therefore do not be alarmed for my safety or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the “Ancient Mariner.” You will smile at my allusion, but I will disclose a secret. I have often attributed my attachment to, my passionate enthusiasm for, the dangerous mysteries of ocean to that production of the most imaginative of modern poets. There is something at work in my soul which I do not understand. I am practically industrious—painstaking, a workman to execute with perseverance and labour—but besides this there is a love for the marvellous, a belief in the marvellous, intertwined in all my projects, which hurries me out of the common pathways of men, even to the wild sea and unvisited regions I am about to explore.
But to return to dearer considerations. Shall I meet you again, after having traversed immense seas, and returned by the most southern cape of Africa or America? I dare not expect such success, yet I cannot bear to look on the reverse of the picture. Continue for the present to write to me by every opportunity: I may receive your letters on some occasions when I need them most to support my spirits. I love you very tenderly. Remember me with affection, should you never hear from me again.
Your affectionate brother, Robert Walton
中文
寄英国萨维尔夫人。
阿尔汉格尔斯克，17——年3月28日。
这里被冰雪包围，时间过得多么缓慢！不过，我的计划已经向前迈出了第二步。我租好了船，现在正忙着招募水手；已经雇下的人看起来都值得信赖，而且无疑有着无所畏惧的勇气。
但我还有一个一直无法满足的愿望，如今这种缺失让我感到格外痛苦：玛格丽特，我没有朋友。成功让我满腔热情时，没有人和我一起分享喜悦；失望袭来时，也没有人会在我沮丧中扶持我。不错，我可以把想法写在纸上，可文字终究不是传递感情的好办法。我渴望有一个能理解我的人陪在身边，他只需看我一眼，目光就能回应我的心情。亲爱的姐姐，你也许觉得我太浪漫，可我确实强烈感受到没有朋友的痛苦。我身边没有这样一个人：性情温和又有勇气，心灵既有修养又宽广，兴趣同我相近，能赞同我的计划，也能纠正我的错误。这样的朋友能替你这个可怜的弟弟弥补多少缺点啊！我做事太热烈，也太没有耐心面对困难。更糟的是，我基本靠自学成长。人生最初十四年，我像野孩子一样在荒地上跑来跑去，除了托马斯舅舅那些航海书之外什么都没读。到了那个年纪，我才开始接触本国著名诗人的作品；可等我明白一个人必须掌握母语以外的语言时，我已经错过了最能从这种认识中获益的阶段。现在我二十八岁，实际上比许多十五岁的学生还缺少学问。不错，我思考得更多，我的幻想也更广阔、更宏大，可正如画家所说，我的想法缺少整体上的协调和分寸。我非常需要一个朋友，他要有足够的判断力，不会因为我爱幻想就轻视我，也要有足够的感情，愿意帮助我整理和约束自己的思想。
好了，这些抱怨也没有用。辽阔的大海上当然找不到这样的朋友，就连阿尔汉格尔斯克这里，在商人和水手之间也找不到。不过，即使在这些粗犷的胸膛里，也会跳动着某些不属于人性渣滓的高贵感情。比如我的大副，就是一个极有勇气和进取心的人。他疯狂渴望荣誉——或者说得更准确些，是疯狂渴望在职业上得到晋升。他是英国人，虽然带着民族和职业上的偏见，又没有受过文化教育来软化这些偏见，却仍保留着人性中一些最高贵的品质。我第一次认识他是在一条捕鲸船上；后来发现他在这座城市没有工作，我很容易就请到他来协助我的远征。
船长是个性情极好的人，在船上以温和以及管束水手不粗暴而闻名。再加上他诚实可靠、勇气过人，我非常想请他加入。我的少年时期大多孤独度过，而最好的年华又是在你温柔而女性化的照顾下成长，这让我的性情变得十分敏感，以至于无法忍受船上常见的残暴管束。我从不相信那种残暴真的有必要。所以，当我听说有一名水手既以心地善良著称，又能得到全船人的尊敬和服从时，我觉得能请到他实在非常幸运。我第一次听说他的故事，是从一位因他而获得终身幸福的女士那里听来的。简单说，事情是这样的：几年前，他爱上一位家境普通的年轻俄国姑娘。后来，他靠战利品奖金积下相当一笔钱，姑娘的父亲便同意了这门婚事。婚礼举行前，他去见未婚妻，却发现她满脸泪水。姑娘跪在他脚下，求他放过自己，同时承认她爱的是另一个人，只是那个人很穷，父亲绝不会同意他们结婚。我这位慷慨的朋友安慰了她，问出她心上人的名字后，立刻退出了这场婚约。他已经用钱买下一座农场，原本准备在那里度过余生，可他把整座农场送给情敌，又把剩余的奖金也给了对方去购买牲畜，甚至亲自去请求姑娘的父亲同意她嫁给自己真正爱的人。可是老人坚决不答应，因为他觉得自己在荣誉上已经对我的朋友承担了承诺。见父亲如此顽固，我的朋友便离开祖国，直到听说那位姑娘终于按照自己的心意结了婚才回来。你一定会说：“真是个高尚的人！”的确如此。可是他完全没有受过教育，沉默得像土耳其人一样，而且身上还有一种出于无知的漫不经心。这种性格一方面让他的行为显得更加惊人，另一方面却削弱了本来会让人更亲近他、更同情他的魅力。
不过，不要因为我发了几句牢骚，也不要因为我能想象出一种也许永远得不到的安慰，就以为我的决心开始动摇。我的决心像命运一样坚定。现在航行只是因为天气原因暂时延迟，等条件允许就会立刻出发。这个冬天严酷得可怕，但春天看来会很好，而且大家都说今年春天来得特别早，也许我能比预想中更早启航。我不会鲁莽行事。你了解我，只要别人的安全交到我手里，你完全可以相信我会谨慎并认真考虑后果。
想到远征马上就要开始，我的感受实在难以形容。我正怀着一种既兴奋又害怕、让人微微发抖的心情准备出发，这种感觉很难向你说清。我将前往无人探索的地方，走进“迷雾和冰雪之地”；不过我不会杀死信天翁，所以你不用担心我会遭遇危险，也不用担心我回来时会像《古舟子咏》里的那位老水手一样憔悴悲惨。你看到这个典故大概会笑，不过我要告诉你一个秘密。我常常觉得，自己之所以如此迷恋海洋危险而神秘的一面，对它抱着近乎狂热的热情，和这位最富想象力的现代诗人写下的作品有关。我的灵魂深处仿佛有一种力量在活动，而我自己也不明白它究竟是什么。在实际生活里，我勤奋、肯吃苦，像一个能靠耐心和劳动坚持把事情做完的工人；但除此以外，我所有计划里还缠绕着一种对奇异事物的热爱，以及相信奇迹存在的倾向。正是这种力量把我从普通人的道路上推开，带到荒凉的大海和那些我即将探索的无人之境。
不过，还是说些对我更重要的事吧。越过辽阔的大海，再从非洲或美洲最南端绕回来之后，我还能不能再见到你？我不敢期待如此成功，可我也无法忍受去想象另一种结果。眼下请你抓住每一个机会给我写信；有时候，我也许恰好会在最需要鼓励的时候收到你的信。我深深地爱着你。如果你从此再也听不到我的消息，也请带着爱记住我。
永远爱你的弟弟，罗伯特·沃尔顿
English
To Mrs. Saville, England.
中文
寄英国萨维尔夫人。
English
To Mrs. Saville, England.
中文
寄英国萨维尔夫人。
English
Archangel, 28th March, 17—.
中文
阿尔汉格尔斯克，17——年3月28日。
English
Archangel, 28th March, 17—.
中文
阿尔汉格尔斯克，17——年3月28日。
English
How slowly the time passes here, encompassed as I am by frost and snow! Yet a second step is taken towards my enterprise. I have hired a vessel and am occupied in collecting my sailors; those whom I have already engaged appear to be men on whom I can depend and are certainly possessed of dauntless courage.
中文
这里被冰雪包围，时间过得多么缓慢！不过，我的计划已经向前迈出了第二步。我租好了船，现在正忙着招募水手；已经雇下的人看起来都值得信赖，而且无疑有着无所畏惧的勇气。
English
How slowly the time passes here, encompassed as I am by frost and snow! Yet a second step is taken towards my enterprise. I have hired a vessel and am occupied in collecting my sailors; those whom I have already engaged appear to be men on whom I can depend and are certainly possessed of dauntless courage.
中文
这里被冰雪包围，时间过得多么缓慢！不过，我的计划已经向前迈出了第二步。我租好了船，现在正忙着招募水手；已经雇下的人看起来都值得信赖，而且无疑有着无所畏惧的勇气。
English
But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy, and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil, I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection. I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sympathise with me, whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans. How would such a friend repair the faults of your poor brother! I am too ardent in execution and too impatient of difficulties. But it is a still greater evil to me that I am self-educated: for the first fourteen years of my life I ran wild on a common and read nothing but our Uncle Thomas’ books of voyages. At that age I became acquainted with the celebrated poets of our own country; but it was only when it had ceased to be in my power to derive its most important benefits from such a conviction that I perceived the necessity of becoming acquainted with more languages than that of my native country. Now I am twenty-eight and am in reality more illiterate than many schoolboys of fifteen. It is true that I have thought more and that my daydreams are more extended and magnificent, but they want (as the painters call it) keeping; and I greatly need a friend who would have sense enough not to despise me as romantic, and affection enough for me to endeavour to regulate my mind.
中文
但我还有一个一直无法满足的愿望，如今这种缺失让我感到格外痛苦：玛格丽特，我没有朋友。成功让我满腔热情时，没有人和我一起分享喜悦；失望袭来时，也没有人会在我沮丧中扶持我。不错，我可以把想法写在纸上，可文字终究不是传递感情的好办法。我渴望有一个能理解我的人陪在身边，他只需看我一眼，目光就能回应我的心情。亲爱的姐姐，你也许觉得我太浪漫，可我确实强烈感受到没有朋友的痛苦。我身边没有这样一个人：性情温和又有勇气，心灵既有修养又宽广，兴趣同我相近，能赞同我的计划，也能纠正我的错误。这样的朋友能替你这个可怜的弟弟弥补多少缺点啊！我做事太热烈，也太没有耐心面对困难。更糟的是，我基本靠自学成长。人生最初十四年，我像野孩子一样在荒地上跑来跑去，除了托马斯舅舅那些航海书之外什么都没读。到了那个年纪，我才开始接触本国著名诗人的作品；可等我明白一个人必须掌握母语以外的语言时，我已经错过了最能从这种认识中获益的阶段。现在我二十八岁，实际上比许多十五岁的学生还缺少学问。不错，我思考得更多，我的幻想也更广阔、更宏大，可正如画家所说，我的想法缺少整体上的协调和分寸。我非常需要一个朋友，他要有足够的判断力，不会因为我爱幻想就轻视我，也要有足够的感情，愿意帮助我整理和约束自己的思想。
English
But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy, and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil, I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection. I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sympathise with me, whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans. How would such a friend repair the faults of your poor brother! I am too ardent in execution and too impatient of difficulties. But it is a still greater evil to me that I am self-educated: for the first fourteen years of my life I ran wild on a common and read nothing but our Uncle Thomas’ books of voyages. At that age I became acquainted with the celebrated poets of our own country; but it was only when it had ceased to be in my power to derive its most important benefits from such a conviction that I perceived the necessity of becoming acquainted with more languages than that of my native country. Now I am twenty-eight and am in reality more illiterate than many schoolboys of fifteen. It is true that I have thought more and that my daydreams are more extended and magnificent, but they want (as the painters call it) keeping; and I greatly need a friend who would have sense enough not to despise me as romantic, and affection enough for me to endeavour to regulate my mind.
中文
但我还有一个一直无法满足的愿望，如今这种缺失让我感到格外痛苦：玛格丽特，我没有朋友。成功让我满腔热情时，没有人和我一起分享喜悦；失望袭来时，也没有人会在我沮丧中扶持我。不错，我可以把想法写在纸上，可文字终究不是传递感情的好办法。我渴望有一个能理解我的人陪在身边，他只需看我一眼，目光就能回应我的心情。亲爱的姐姐，你也许觉得我太浪漫，可我确实强烈感受到没有朋友的痛苦。我身边没有这样一个人：性情温和又有勇气，心灵既有修养又宽广，兴趣同我相近，能赞同我的计划，也能纠正我的错误。这样的朋友能替你这个可怜的弟弟弥补多少缺点啊！我做事太热烈，也太没有耐心面对困难。更糟的是，我基本靠自学成长。人生最初十四年，我像野孩子一样在荒地上跑来跑去，除了托马斯舅舅那些航海书之外什么都没读。到了那个年纪，我才开始接触本国著名诗人的作品；可等我明白一个人必须掌握母语以外的语言时，我已经错过了最能从这种认识中获益的阶段。现在我二十八岁，实际上比许多十五岁的学生还缺少学问。不错，我思考得更多，我的幻想也更广阔、更宏大，可正如画家所说，我的想法缺少整体上的协调和分寸。我非常需要一个朋友，他要有足够的判断力，不会因为我爱幻想就轻视我，也要有足够的感情，愿意帮助我整理和约束自己的思想。
English
Well, these are useless complaints; I shall certainly find no friend on the wide ocean, nor even here in Archangel, among merchants and seamen. Yet some feelings, unallied to the dross of human nature, beat even in these rugged bosoms. My lieutenant, for instance, is a man of wonderful courage and enterprise; he is madly desirous of glory, or rather, to word my phrase more characteristically, of advancement in his profession. He is an Englishman, and in the midst of national and professional prejudices, unsoftened by cultivation, retains some of the noblest endowments of humanity. I first became acquainted with him on board a whale vessel; finding that he was unemployed in this city, I easily engaged him to assist in my enterprise.
中文
好了，这些抱怨也没有用。辽阔的大海上当然找不到这样的朋友，就连阿尔汉格尔斯克这里，在商人和水手之间也找不到。不过，即使在这些粗犷的胸膛里，也会跳动着某些不属于人性渣滓的高贵感情。比如我的大副，就是一个极有勇气和进取心的人。他疯狂渴望荣誉——或者说得更准确些，是疯狂渴望在职业上得到晋升。他是英国人，虽然带着民族和职业上的偏见，又没有受过文化教育来软化这些偏见，却仍保留着人性中一些最高贵的品质。我第一次认识他是在一条捕鲸船上；后来发现他在这座城市没有工作，我很容易就请到他来协助我的远征。
English
Well, these are useless complaints; I shall certainly find no friend on the wide ocean, nor even here in Archangel, among merchants and seamen. Yet some feelings, unallied to the dross of human nature, beat even in these rugged bosoms. My lieutenant, for instance, is a man of wonderful courage and enterprise; he is madly desirous of glory, or rather, to word my phrase more characteristically, of advancement in his profession. He is an Englishman, and in the midst of national and professional prejudices, unsoftened by cultivation, retains some of the noblest endowments of humanity. I first became acquainted with him on board a whale vessel; finding that he was unemployed in this city, I easily engaged him to assist in my enterprise.
中文
好了，这些抱怨也没有用。辽阔的大海上当然找不到这样的朋友，就连阿尔汉格尔斯克这里，在商人和水手之间也找不到。不过，即使在这些粗犷的胸膛里，也会跳动着某些不属于人性渣滓的高贵感情。比如我的大副，就是一个极有勇气和进取心的人。他疯狂渴望荣誉——或者说得更准确些，是疯狂渴望在职业上得到晋升。他是英国人，虽然带着民族和职业上的偏见，又没有受过文化教育来软化这些偏见，却仍保留着人性中一些最高贵的品质。我第一次认识他是在一条捕鲸船上；后来发现他在这座城市没有工作，我很容易就请到他来协助我的远征。
English
The master is a person of an excellent disposition and is remarkable in the ship for his gentleness and the mildness of his discipline. This circumstance, added to his well-known integrity and dauntless courage, made me very desirous to engage him. A youth passed in solitude, my best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage, has so refined the groundwork of my character that I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality exercised on board ship: I have never believed it to be necessary, and when I heard of a mariner equally noted for his kindliness of heart and the respect and obedience paid to him by his crew, I felt myself peculiarly fortunate in being able to secure his services. I heard of him first in rather a romantic manner, from a lady who owes to him the happiness of her life. This, briefly, is his story. Some years ago he loved a young Russian lady of moderate fortune, and having amassed a considerable sum in prize-money, the father of the girl consented to the match. He saw his mistress once before the destined ceremony; but she was bathed in tears, and throwing herself at his feet, entreated him to spare her, confessing at the same time that she loved another, but that he was poor, and that her father would never consent to the union. My generous friend reassured the suppliant, and on being informed of the name of her lover, instantly abandoned his pursuit. He had already bought a farm with his money, on which he had designed to pass the remainder of his life; but he bestowed the whole on his rival, together with the remains of his prize-money to purchase stock, and then himself solicited the young woman’s father to consent to her marriage with her lover. But the old man decidedly refused, thinking himself bound in honour to my friend, who, when he found the father inexorable, quitted his country, nor returned until he heard that his former mistress was married according to her inclinations. “What a noble fellow!” you will exclaim. He is so; but then he is wholly uneducated: he is as silent as a Turk, and a kind of ignorant carelessness attends him, which, while it renders his conduct the more astonishing, detracts from the interest and sympathy which otherwise he would command.
中文
船长是个性情极好的人，在船上以温和以及管束水手不粗暴而闻名。再加上他诚实可靠、勇气过人，我非常想请他加入。我的少年时期大多孤独度过，而最好的年华又是在你温柔而女性化的照顾下成长，这让我的性情变得十分敏感，以至于无法忍受船上常见的残暴管束。我从不相信那种残暴真的有必要。所以，当我听说有一名水手既以心地善良著称，又能得到全船人的尊敬和服从时，我觉得能请到他实在非常幸运。我第一次听说他的故事，是从一位因他而获得终身幸福的女士那里听来的。简单说，事情是这样的：几年前，他爱上一位家境普通的年轻俄国姑娘。后来，他靠战利品奖金积下相当一笔钱，姑娘的父亲便同意了这门婚事。婚礼举行前，他去见未婚妻，却发现她满脸泪水。姑娘跪在他脚下，求他放过自己，同时承认她爱的是另一个人，只是那个人很穷，父亲绝不会同意他们结婚。我这位慷慨的朋友安慰了她，问出她心上人的名字后，立刻退出了这场婚约。他已经用钱买下一座农场，原本准备在那里度过余生，可他把整座农场送给情敌，又把剩余的奖金也给了对方去购买牲畜，甚至亲自去请求姑娘的父亲同意她嫁给自己真正爱的人。可是老人坚决不答应，因为他觉得自己在荣誉上已经对我的朋友承担了承诺。见父亲如此顽固，我的朋友便离开祖国，直到听说那位姑娘终于按照自己的心意结了婚才回来。你一定会说：“真是个高尚的人！”的确如此。可是他完全没有受过教育，沉默得像土耳其人一样，而且身上还有一种出于无知的漫不经心。这种性格一方面让他的行为显得更加惊人，另一方面却削弱了本来会让人更亲近他、更同情他的魅力。
English
The master is a person of an excellent disposition and is remarkable in the ship for his gentleness and the mildness of his discipline. This circumstance, added to his well-known integrity and dauntless courage, made me very desirous to engage him. A youth passed in solitude, my best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage, has so refined the groundwork of my character that I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality exercised on board ship: I have never believed it to be necessary, and when I heard of a mariner equally noted for his kindliness of heart and the respect and obedience paid to him by his crew, I felt myself peculiarly fortunate in being able to secure his services. I heard of him first in rather a romantic manner, from a lady who owes to him the happiness of her life. This, briefly, is his story. Some years ago he loved a young Russian lady of moderate fortune, and having amassed a considerable sum in prize-money, the father of the girl consented to the match. He saw his mistress once before the destined ceremony; but she was bathed in tears, and throwing herself at his feet, entreated him to spare her, confessing at the same time that she loved another, but that he was poor, and that her father would never consent to the union. My generous friend reassured the suppliant, and on being informed of the name of her lover, instantly abandoned his pursuit. He had already bought a farm with his money, on which he had designed to pass the remainder of his life; but he bestowed the whole on his rival, together with the remains of his prize-money to purchase stock, and then himself solicited the young woman’s father to consent to her marriage with her lover. But the old man decidedly refused, thinking himself bound in honour to my friend, who, when he found the father inexorable, quitted his country, nor returned until he heard that his former mistress was married according to her inclinations. “What a noble fellow!” you will exclaim. He is so; but then he is wholly uneducated: he is as silent as a Turk, and a kind of ignorant carelessness attends him, which, while it renders his conduct the more astonishing, detracts from the interest and sympathy which otherwise he would command.
中文
船长是个性情极好的人，在船上以温和以及管束水手不粗暴而闻名。再加上他诚实可靠、勇气过人，我非常想请他加入。我的少年时期大多孤独度过，而最好的年华又是在你温柔而女性化的照顾下成长，这让我的性情变得十分敏感，以至于无法忍受船上常见的残暴管束。我从不相信那种残暴真的有必要。所以，当我听说有一名水手既以心地善良著称，又能得到全船人的尊敬和服从时，我觉得能请到他实在非常幸运。我第一次听说他的故事，是从一位因他而获得终身幸福的女士那里听来的。简单说，事情是这样的：几年前，他爱上一位家境普通的年轻俄国姑娘。后来，他靠战利品奖金积下相当一笔钱，姑娘的父亲便同意了这门婚事。婚礼举行前，他去见未婚妻，却发现她满脸泪水。姑娘跪在他脚下，求他放过自己，同时承认她爱的是另一个人，只是那个人很穷，父亲绝不会同意他们结婚。我这位慷慨的朋友安慰了她，问出她心上人的名字后，立刻退出了这场婚约。他已经用钱买下一座农场，原本准备在那里度过余生，可他把整座农场送给情敌，又把剩余的奖金也给了对方去购买牲畜，甚至亲自去请求姑娘的父亲同意她嫁给自己真正爱的人。可是老人坚决不答应，因为他觉得自己在荣誉上已经对我的朋友承担了承诺。见父亲如此顽固，我的朋友便离开祖国，直到听说那位姑娘终于按照自己的心意结了婚才回来。你一定会说：“真是个高尚的人！”的确如此。可是他完全没有受过教育，沉默得像土耳其人一样，而且身上还有一种出于无知的漫不经心。这种性格一方面让他的行为显得更加惊人，另一方面却削弱了本来会让人更亲近他、更同情他的魅力。
English
Yet do not suppose, because I complain a little or because I can conceive a consolation for my toils which I may never know, that I am wavering in my resolutions. Those are as fixed as fate, and my voyage is only now delayed until the weather shall permit my embarkation. The winter has been dreadfully severe, but the spring promises well, and it is considered as a remarkably early season, so that perhaps I may sail sooner than I expected. I shall do nothing rashly: you know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and considerateness whenever the safety of others is committed to my care.
中文
不过，不要因为我发了几句牢骚，也不要因为我能想象出一种也许永远得不到的安慰，就以为我的决心开始动摇。我的决心像命运一样坚定。现在航行只是因为天气原因暂时延迟，等条件允许就会立刻出发。这个冬天严酷得可怕，但春天看来会很好，而且大家都说今年春天来得特别早，也许我能比预想中更早启航。我不会鲁莽行事。你了解我，只要别人的安全交到我手里，你完全可以相信我会谨慎并认真考虑后果。
English
Yet do not suppose, because I complain a little or because I can conceive a consolation for my toils which I may never know, that I am wavering in my resolutions. Those are as fixed as fate, and my voyage is only now delayed until the weather shall permit my embarkation. The winter has been dreadfully severe, but the spring promises well, and it is considered as a remarkably early season, so that perhaps I may sail sooner than I expected. I shall do nothing rashly: you know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and considerateness whenever the safety of others is committed to my care.
中文
不过，不要因为我发了几句牢骚，也不要因为我能想象出一种也许永远得不到的安慰，就以为我的决心开始动摇。我的决心像命运一样坚定。现在航行只是因为天气原因暂时延迟，等条件允许就会立刻出发。这个冬天严酷得可怕，但春天看来会很好，而且大家都说今年春天来得特别早，也许我能比预想中更早启航。我不会鲁莽行事。你了解我，只要别人的安全交到我手里，你完全可以相信我会谨慎并认真考虑后果。
English
I cannot describe to you my sensations on the near prospect of my undertaking. It is impossible to communicate to you a conception of the trembling sensation, half pleasurable and half fearful, with which I am preparing to depart. I am going to unexplored regions, to “the land of mist and snow,” but I shall kill no albatross; therefore do not be alarmed for my safety or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the “Ancient Mariner.” You will smile at my allusion, but I will disclose a secret. I have often attributed my attachment to, my passionate enthusiasm for, the dangerous mysteries of ocean to that production of the most imaginative of modern poets. There is something at work in my soul which I do not understand. I am practically industrious—painstaking, a workman to execute with perseverance and labour—but besides this there is a love for the marvellous, a belief in the marvellous, intertwined in all my projects, which hurries me out of the common pathways of men, even to the wild sea and unvisited regions I am about to explore.
中文
想到远征马上就要开始，我的感受实在难以形容。我正怀着一种既兴奋又害怕、让人微微发抖的心情准备出发，这种感觉很难向你说清。我将前往无人探索的地方，走进“迷雾和冰雪之地”；不过我不会杀死信天翁，所以你不用担心我会遭遇危险，也不用担心我回来时会像《古舟子咏》里的那位老水手一样憔悴悲惨。你看到这个典故大概会笑，不过我要告诉你一个秘密。我常常觉得，自己之所以如此迷恋海洋危险而神秘的一面，对它抱着近乎狂热的热情，和这位最富想象力的现代诗人写下的作品有关。我的灵魂深处仿佛有一种力量在活动，而我自己也不明白它究竟是什么。在实际生活里，我勤奋、肯吃苦，像一个能靠耐心和劳动坚持把事情做完的工人；但除此以外，我所有计划里还缠绕着一种对奇异事物的热爱，以及相信奇迹存在的倾向。正是这种力量把我从普通人的道路上推开，带到荒凉的大海和那些我即将探索的无人之境。
English
I cannot describe to you my sensations on the near prospect of my undertaking. It is impossible to communicate to you a conception of the trembling sensation, half pleasurable and half fearful, with which I am preparing to depart. I am going to unexplored regions, to “the land of mist and snow,” but I shall kill no albatross; therefore do not be alarmed for my safety or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the “Ancient Mariner.” You will smile at my allusion, but I will disclose a secret. I have often attributed my attachment to, my passionate enthusiasm for, the dangerous mysteries of ocean to that production of the most imaginative of modern poets. There is something at work in my soul which I do not understand. I am practically industrious—painstaking, a workman to execute with perseverance and labour—but besides this there is a love for the marvellous, a belief in the marvellous, intertwined in all my projects, which hurries me out of the common pathways of men, even to the wild sea and unvisited regions I am about to explore.
中文
想到远征马上就要开始，我的感受实在难以形容。我正怀着一种既兴奋又害怕、让人微微发抖的心情准备出发，这种感觉很难向你说清。我将前往无人探索的地方，走进“迷雾和冰雪之地”；不过我不会杀死信天翁，所以你不用担心我会遭遇危险，也不用担心我回来时会像《古舟子咏》里的那位老水手一样憔悴悲惨。你看到这个典故大概会笑，不过我要告诉你一个秘密。我常常觉得，自己之所以如此迷恋海洋危险而神秘的一面，对它抱着近乎狂热的热情，和这位最富想象力的现代诗人写下的作品有关。我的灵魂深处仿佛有一种力量在活动，而我自己也不明白它究竟是什么。在实际生活里，我勤奋、肯吃苦，像一个能靠耐心和劳动坚持把事情做完的工人；但除此以外，我所有计划里还缠绕着一种对奇异事物的热爱，以及相信奇迹存在的倾向。正是这种力量把我从普通人的道路上推开，带到荒凉的大海和那些我即将探索的无人之境。
English
But to return to dearer considerations. Shall I meet you again, after having traversed immense seas, and returned by the most southern cape of Africa or America? I dare not expect such success, yet I cannot bear to look on the reverse of the picture. Continue for the present to write to me by every opportunity: I may receive your letters on some occasions when I need them most to support my spirits. I love you very tenderly. Remember me with affection, should you never hear from me again.
中文
不过，还是说些对我更重要的事吧。越过辽阔的大海，再从非洲或美洲最南端绕回来之后，我还能不能再见到你？我不敢期待如此成功，可我也无法忍受去想象另一种结果。眼下请你抓住每一个机会给我写信；有时候，我也许恰好会在最需要鼓励的时候收到你的信。我深深地爱着你。如果你从此再也听不到我的消息，也请带着爱记住我。
English
But to return to dearer considerations. Shall I meet you again, after having traversed immense seas, and returned by the most southern cape of Africa or America? I dare not expect such success, yet I cannot bear to look on the reverse of the picture. Continue for the present to write to me by every opportunity: I may receive your letters on some occasions when I need them most to support my spirits. I love you very tenderly. Remember me with affection, should you never hear from me again.
中文
不过，还是说些对我更重要的事吧。越过辽阔的大海，再从非洲或美洲最南端绕回来之后，我还能不能再见到你？我不敢期待如此成功，可我也无法忍受去想象另一种结果。眼下请你抓住每一个机会给我写信；有时候，我也许恰好会在最需要鼓励的时候收到你的信。我深深地爱着你。如果你从此再也听不到我的消息，也请带着爱记住我。
English
Your affectionate brother, Robert Walton
中文
永远爱你的弟弟，罗伯特·沃尔顿
English
Your affectionate brother, Robert Walton
中文
永远爱你的弟弟，罗伯特·沃尔顿