There was a noise of chains and keys. Thefront door opened，and I went into a passage. Thedoor closed quickly behind me.
“Go into the kitc he n a nd touch nothing，”saidthe man’s voice. I went for ward in the dark，andreached the room.
The fire was burning more brightly now and itslight shone on the furniture. It showed me a cornercupboard. There were also some big chests of woodalong the wall. All had locks on them. There was achair and a table. On the table there was a meal - aplate of porridge，a spoon，and a cup of weak beer.
Besides these things，and a few dishes，there was nofurniture in that great empty room.
When the man came in，I saw a thin，bent fellow.
His shoulders were narrow and his face was thecolour of clay. He was between fifty and seventyyears old. He had no coat or waistcoat on，but waswearing night clothes over an old shirt . He ought to
一 阵锁链声和钥匙声传了出来。前门打开了，我走进了一条走廊。门随即关上了。
“到厨房去，可不要碰里面的东西。”那人说。我摸黑朝前走去，进了厨房。
此刻炉火烧得旺了一点，火光映在厨房里的家具上。我借着火光看见一个放在墙角的碗柜。墙边还摆着几只上了锁的大箱子。厨房里有一把椅子和一张桌子。桌子上摆着晚餐--一盘稀饭，一把勺子，还有一杯淡啤酒。除过前面讲过的那些东西和几个盘子以外，那个又大又空的房间再没有别的家具了。
那人走了进来。他是个瘦子，背有点驼，肩膀很窄，面如土色，年纪大约在五十至七十岁之间。他没有穿上衣或坎肩，只穿了一件旧衬衫，外面罩着睡衣，头发也好长时间
Lave visited a barber long ago. He watched me allthe time，but he never looked straight in my face.
This troubled me very much.
没有理了。他一直在观察我，可只是斜着眼偷看，使我感到很不舒服。
Who was he？A lazy old servant，in cllange ofthe house？I could not guess.
“Are you hungry？”he asked.“Ca n you c a t tha tbit of p orridge ？”
“It’s your own me a l. isn ’t it?”I replied.
“Oh，”he said.“I don ’t ne e d it. But I’ll ta ke thebe e r ，be c a us e it ma ke s my cough be tte r.”
He drank. Then suddenly he held out hishand.
“Le t me s e e the le tte r ，”he said.
“The le tte r is not for you ，”I answered.“It is fo rMr Ba lfour.”
“We ll，a n d who am I？”he said.“Give me Ale xande r’s le tte r.”
“You know my fa the r’s name ?”
“Of cours e ，”he replied. “He wa s my ownbrothe r ，a nd I’m your own unc le ，Da vid. You a re myne ph ew. Give me the le tte r，a nd s it down a nd e a t.”
This man was my uncle！I cannot describe myshame.
I sat down at the table，but I could not eat. Myuncle turned the letter over and over in his hands.
他是什么人？是一个又懒又老的看门人吗？我猜不出来。
“你饿吗？能吃得下那一点稀饭吗?”他问道。
“那是你自己的晚饭，对吧？”
我说。
“哦，我可以不吃稀饭，不过得喝那点啤酒，啤酒对我的咳嗽有疗效。”
他把杯子里的啤酒喝了。然后，他突然伸出手，说：
“给我看看那封信。”
我回答说：“信是写给巴尔福先生的，不是给你的。”
“噢，那么我是谁？把亚历山大写的信给我。”
“你知道我父亲的名字?”
他答道：“那还用说吗？他跟我是亲兄弟，我是你的亲叔叔，大卫，你是我的侄子。把信给我，坐下来吃饭吧。”
这个家伙就是我的伯父！我简直羞得无地自容。
我坐在桌子旁边，可一口饭也吃不下。我伯父把信翻过来折过去
“Wha t is in it？Do you know?”he asked suddenly.
地看着。
“信上写的是什么？你知道吗?”他突然问我。
“I ha ve not ope ne d it，s ir，”I said.
“Ah，but you ha ve s ome hop e s ？”he said.
“We ll，s ir ，”I replied.“I he a rd I ha d rich re la -tions . I hope d for some he lp from them. But I will notbe g . If you will not he lp me ，I ha ve s ome goodfrie nd s .”
“On，don ’t be a ngry，”said Uncle Ebenezer.
“We sh a ll he frie nds ，I hope . And if you don ’t wa nta ny of tha t porridge ，I will e a t a bit. It’s good foo d.”
He took the spoon and plate from me，and satdown on the chair. He drank some more beer.
“If you ，re thirs ty，”he said,“you will find wa te rbe hind the door.”
I was very angry，and did not answer. I stood andlooked at him. He ate fast. Once he looked up at me. Ilooked at him，and he turned his eyes quickly away. Ifelt sure that he lived alone. He was not used to otherpeople. Perhaps this made him afraid.
“Ha s your fa the r be e n de a d a long time ?”heasked sharply.
“信我没有打开过。”我告诉他说。
“哦，不过，你总是有些指望把?”他问道。
我回答说；“唔，我听说我有几个有钱的本家，希望他们能帮我一点忙。不过，我不会低三下四地去求他们。你要是不愿意帮忙，我还有几个好朋友呢。”
埃比尼泽伯伯说：“噢，你不要生气。咱们会成为朋友的。你要是不想吃那点稀饭，我来吃几口，那可是好饭呐。”
他把我面前的勺子和盘子拿了过去，坐在椅子上，又喝了几口啤酒，说：
“你要是渴了，门后面有水。”
我很生气，就一句话也没有说，只是站在那里看着他。他吃得很快。他有一次抬起头来看我，我也看着他，他赶紧把目光移开了，我想他肯定是独自一人，不习惯跟别人打交道。也许他因此胆子很小。
“你父亲死去好长时间了吗？”
他突然问道。
“Thre e we e ks ，s ir，”I said.
“He wa s a s e cre t ma n - a s e cre t，s ile nt ma n，”
he continued.“He ne ve r s a id muc h whe n he wa syoung. Did he s a y much a bout me ？”
“三个星期了。”我回答说。
他接着说：“他是一个孤僻的人--既孤僻，又不爱说话。他年轻时从来也不多说一句话。他给你讲过很多有关我的事吗?”
“I didn’t know，s ir ，tha t he ha d a brothe r .”
“We ll，we ll，”said my uncle.“Did he spe a k ofthe S haws ？”
“Ne ve r，s ir.”
My words surprised and pleased him.
“We ll！”he repeated.“He wa s a s tra nge ma n！”
He jumped up and touched my shoulder.
“We s ha ll be frie nds ！”he cried.“You a re we lcome . An d now，come to your be d .”
He went into the dark passage and movedslowly up some steps. I followed. He opened a doorwith a key.
“Ma y I ha ve a lig ht，s ir？”I said.
“Oh，”Uncle Ebenezer said,“the re ’s a finemoon.”
“The re ’s no moon ，s ir，”I replied.“I ca n ’t s e ethe be d.”
“Oh，I don ’t like lights in a hous e ，”he said.“I’
m a fra id of fire . Good night，Da vid.”
And he quickly closed the door and locked mein.
“我原来不知道他还有个哥哥。”
我伯伯说：“哦，哦，他提起过肖府的事吗?”
“从来没有。”
我的回答使他既惊奇又高兴。
他喃喃地说：“哎，他可真是个怪人！”
他一跳站了起来，拍了一下我的肩膀，大声说：
“咱们会成为朋友的！欢迎你。
走，你去睡觉吧。”
他来到漆黑的走廊里，小心翼翼地往楼梯上走。我跟在他后面。
他用一把钥匙打开了一个房门。
“能给我个灯吗?”我问道。
埃比尼泽伯父说：“哦，月光很明亮呀。”
我说：“没有月光嘛，我连床也看不见。”
他说；“噢，我不爱在家里点灯。
我怕火。晚安，大卫。”
他随即关上门，把我反锁在里面。
The room was cold. I felt my way to the bed. Itwas so damp that I could not use it. I lay down onthe floor in my coat and waistcoat. I was soon asleep.
屋子里很冷，我摸黑走到床边。
床湿得要命，我压根儿没办法睡。
我和衣躺在地板上，很快就睡着了。
