The Fall Of The House Of Usher

by Edgar Allan Poe

请跟英语兔我一起读:

DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year,

那年秋天，一个阴沉、昏暗、岑寂的日子，

when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens,

乌云低垂，厚重地笼罩着大地。

I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country;

整整一天，我孤零零地骑着马，驰过乡间一片无比萧索的旷野。

and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.

暮色四合之际，令人忧伤的厄榭府终于遥遥在望。

I know not how it was -- but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.

我也说不清是怎么回事，一瞥见那座建筑，心灵就充满难以忍受的忧伤。

I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment,

说难以忍受，是因为往常即便到了荒蛮之所或可怕的惨境，遇到那种无比严苛的自然景象，也难免有几分诗意，甚而生出几分喜悦；

with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible.

如今，这股忧伤的感觉却总是挥之不去。

I looked upon the scene before me --

我愁肠百结地望着眼前的景物。

upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain --

我望着孤单的府邸和庄园里单一的山水风貌，

upon the bleak walls -- upon the vacant eye-like windows -- upon a few rank sedges -- and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees --

望着荒凉的垣墙、空洞的眼睛一样的窗子、三五枝气味难闻的芦苇、几株枯木白花花的树干——

with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opium --

心里真是愁苦至极，愁苦得俗世的情感已无法比拟，只有与染阿芙蓉癖者梦回以后的感觉作比，才足够贴切——

the bitter lapse into everyday life -- the hideous dropping off of the veil.

苦痛流为日常，丑恶的面纱也摘除而去。

There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart --

我的心直翻腾，还冷冰冰地往下沉，

an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime.

凄凉得无可救赎，任是再有刺激人的想像力，也难说这是心灵的升华。

What was it -- I paused to think -- what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher?

究竟的怎么了？我思忖起来。到底是什么原因，使得我在注目厄谢府时如此不能自控？

It was a mystery all insoluble;

这是个破解不了的谜。

nor could I grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon me as I pondered.

沉思间，模糊的幻想涌满心头，却又无从捉摸。

I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion,

我只得退而求其次，自圆其说罢了——

that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us,

简单的自然景物凑在一起，确实有左右人情绪的力量，

still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth.

但要剖析这种感染力，即便费尽心机，也是无迹可寻。

It was possible, I reflected, that a mere different arrangement of the particulars of the scene, of the details of the picture,

我思量道，这片景物中的一草一木，一山一水只消在细微处布置得稍有不同，

would be sufficient to modify, or perhaps to annihilate its capacity for sorrowful impression;

带给人的那种悲伤的感觉，可能就会减轻，或许会归于消泯。

and, acting upon this idea, I reined my horse to the precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn that lay in unruffled lustre by the dwelling, and gazed down --

这种念头一起，我策马奔至山中小湖的险岸边。小湖就傍着宅第，湖面泛着光泽，

but with a shudder even more thrilling than before -- upon the remodelled and inverted images of the gray sedge, and the ghastly tree-stems, and the vacant and eye-like windows.

却一丝涟漪都没有，黑黢黢，阴森森，倒映出变形的灰色芦苇、惨白树干、空洞眼睛一样的窗子。我俯视着湖面，浑身颤抖，比刚才的感觉还要奇怪。

——————————

Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a sojourn of some weeks.

然而，目前我还是打算在这阴沉的府邸作几个星期的逗留。

Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been one of my boon companions in boyhood;

这座府邸的主人罗德里克·厄谢是我儿时的好朋友。

but many years had elapsed since our last meeting.

我们有好多年没见过面了。

A letter, however, had lately reached me in a distant part of the country --

可最近，我收到了一封从本国一个遥远的地方发来的信——

a letter from him -- which, in its wildly importunate nature, had admitted of no other than a personal reply.

是他写来的，信写得很急切，还非要我亲自去一趟。

The MS. gave evidence of nervous agitation.

在他的亲笔信里，显然透着股的神经不安的味道。

The writer spoke of acute bodily illness -- of a mental disorder which oppressed him --

他提到自己患有严重的疾病 ——是让他备受折磨的精神错乱，

and of an earnest desire to see me, as his best, and indeed his only personal friend,

还说，真的很想见到我这个最好的朋友、惟一的知己，

with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society, some alleviation of his malady.

能跟我快活地呆上一阵子，病情便会减轻云云。

It was the manner in which all this, and much more, was said --

全信如此这般说了很多。

it the apparent heart that went with his request -- which allowed me no room for hesitation;

他的请求显然出于一片真心，让人片刻都不能犹豫。

and I accordingly obeyed forthwith what I still considered a very singular summons.

于是，我马上就应邀动身了。来是来了，我却依然认为，他的召唤真是蹊跷得紧。