马格努斯058 - 档案号 #8450512 - 卡莱尔女士

讲述俄勒冈拓荒小道上本可能发生的同类相食事件。

马格努斯档案馆本次讲述一对拓荒者夫妇在1845年冬天勇闯俄勒冈小道时所经历的一系列物质和信仰上的考验…

（Art By Winston Gambro）
档案员 - 乔纳森·西姆斯；提姆·斯托克 - 迈克·勒博；马丁·布莱克伍德 - 亚历山大·J·纽瓦尔
作者：乔纳森·西姆斯
导演：亚历山大·J·纽瓦尔
编辑: 亚历山大·J·纽瓦尔，迈克·勒博，伊恩·海尔斯
翻译/字幕：赞福德Zaphod（贝克的小号）


2楼附文字版

This post has been edited by 贝克的小号: 2023-01-26, 17:16

马格努斯058 - 档案号 #8450512 - 卡莱尔女士

讲述俄勒冈拓荒小道上本可能发生的同类相食事件。

马格努斯档案馆本次讲述一对拓荒者夫妇在1845年冬天勇闯俄勒冈小道时所经历的一系列物质和信仰上的考验…

档案员 - 乔纳森·西姆斯；提姆·斯托克 - 迈克·勒博；马丁·布莱克伍德 - 亚历山大·J·纽瓦尔
作者：乔纳森·西姆斯
导演：亚历山大·J·纽瓦尔
编辑: 亚历山大·J·纽瓦尔，迈克·勒博，伊恩·海尔斯
翻译/字幕：赞福德Zaphod（贝克的小号）

ARCHIVIST
档案员
Unsigned statement regarding potential cannibalism
while attempting to travel the Oregon Trail.
未署名叙述，讲述俄勒冈拓荒小道上本可能发生的同类相食事件。
Original letter dated November the 10th, 1845.
原信件日期：1845年11月10日。
Audio recording by Jonathan Sims,
head archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.
语音录入：乔纳森·西姆斯，伦敦马格努斯研究院档案馆馆长。

Statement begins.
叙述开始。

ARCHIVIST (STATEMENT)
档案员（叙述）
I have accepted I shall not survive this.
我已经接受了必死的命运。
The cold bites through my skin and feels as though it
cuts into my very soul, and I am so hungry that I can barely stand.
寒冷刺骨摄魂，我已饥寒交迫，几乎无法站立。
But I shall not give in.
但我不会妥协。
I can hear him taunting me still. Tempting me.
他依然不断地在耳边嘲讽我，诱惑我。
But I shall choose to die rather than take part in such an unholy meal.
但我宁死也不吃这不洁的一餐。
Nor shall I take my own life, whatever extremity my suffering may reach.
而且，就算受尽痛苦折磨，我也不会取自己性命。
I am certain my final reward will come soon, and I shall
face my savior with a clear conscience and a heart full of faith.
我知道，我会抱着清白的良心和满怀的信仰面对我主，得到最终的恩赐。
Pastor Lawrence once told me that there are no empty
bellies in heaven, and I am sure that he is right.
劳伦斯牧师告诉过我，天堂没有饥饿，我相信他说的是真的。

I wonder if I shall see Benjamin there.
不知道我能不能在天堂看到本杰明。
I should hope so, for all his faults and his incessant chatter.
尽管他犯下诸多错误，尽管他仍在我耳边絮语，我依然希望能与他相见。
And together with all those we have lost,
I am sure we shall look down upon perdition,
我们会和曾经逝去的人一起俯瞰地狱，
and watch Eustace Wick writhing in agony among the well-earned flames.
亲眼目睹尤斯塔斯·威克在火海中痛苦挣扎的模样，他罪有应得。

Speaking of flames, I must apologize about the state of
the paper to whoever may be discovering this message.
说到火，我必须向找到这封信的人说声抱歉，信纸的状态十分糟糕。
I’m having to write this close to what fire there is,
both for light and to stop the ink from freezing.
我必须在残存的火焰跟前写信，不光为了照明，不这样的话墨水便会结冰。
There will likely be some scorching but I should hope it remains legible.
信纸应该会有烧焦的痕迹，希望不至于无法阅读。

We should never have attempted the Oregon Trail.
我们根本不该走俄勒冈小道。
I see that now.
我现在终于明白了。
I should have stayed in Savannah and built what life I could,
maybe accepted the proposal of Adam Hawthorne.
我应该留在萨凡纳过日子，或许我应该接受亚当·霍桑的求婚。
He was a decade my senior, but I heard no
complaints from his previous wife while she lived,
他比我大十岁，但他前妻在世时从未有过任何抱怨，
and it would have been a better fate than to freeze to death
in these mountains, listening to Benjamin’s incessant taunting.
不论如何，那总好过在深山中冻死的命运，何况临死前还要忍受本杰明不住的嘲讽。

But my life before had been hardship and travel, and there
was a part of my soul that felt that such a thing was simply my lot.
可我此前的生活一直充斥着苦难与迁徙，所以灵魂深处我总觉得这就是我的生存之道。
So when my father joined my mother in Heaven not three years
after moving us to the small town of Savannah, Missouri,
搬到密苏里州萨凡纳不到三年，父亲便追随母亲上了天堂，
it felt as though moving again was what the good Lord intended for me.
这让我感到再次搬家是主的旨意。

It was then, as I had to choose between trying to scrape a living
from 20 acres of Missouri soil that my father had left me,
当时我面临着两个选择，一是留在密苏里，守着父亲留下的20英亩土地上勉强过活，
or forge out on my own,
二是开创自己的生活，
that Benjamin Carlisle kindly asked permission to repair his wagon on my land.
本杰明·卡莱尔好心地问我，能否在我的土地上修复他的马车。
I will not deny he was a handsome man.
不可否认，他长得十分英俊。
Even now, the cold has preserved that pleasing
cast of his face, gaunt though he may be.
多亏这寒冷的天气，他瘦削的脸庞现在依旧俊美。
I was somewhat taken with him, but had no further
thoughts about it, being somewhat plain in my own appearance.
当时我对他有些着迷，但没有进一步想法，因为我知道自己相貌平平。
It took me quite aback when I brought a jug of water to his fire that evening,
那天晚上，我到营火旁给他送水，
and he asked me directly if there was anywhere in
the town of Savannah where he might find a wife.
他直接问我能不能在萨凡纳附近讨到老婆，这让我着实有些吃惊。

Well, this seemed to me something of a strange
request, though I myself knew little of courting.
虽然我对男欢女爱之事所知不多，却也感到这个请求有些奇怪。
Benjamin explained that he was set to be travelling
up out of Saint Joseph along the Oregon trail towards
Willamette Valley, a lush paradise of the frontier.
本杰明解释说，他要北上离开圣约瑟夫
延俄勒冈小道去往边境区域富庶的威拉米特山谷。
The settlers of Oregon country, he said,
had offered land to those who might follow.
俄勒冈的拓荒者答应为愿意前往的人提供土地。
320 acres of land for the unmarried, he said,
but a married settler could claim 640 acres.
他说，单身汉可以获得320英亩，夫妇则是640英亩。
That, and the prospect of another pair of hands
to help with the work of farming, was a great incentive.
再加上婚后能有人搭手农场活计，结婚是个非常不错的选择。

All told, he said, if he was able to find himself a wife before
he reached Oregon country, he very much intended to do so.
总而言之，如果到达俄勒冈州之前能做个有妇之夫，他会非常乐意。
Well, after he told me this, I explained my situation to him,
嗯，他说完这话，我就把我的情况跟他说了一下，
and we were married by Pastor Lawrence the following day.
第二天我们就在劳伦斯牧师的主持下完婚了。
Even now I can’t fully bring myself to regret
that part of the events that led me here,
即便是如今，对于这件事我也后悔不起来，
and had we reached the Willamette Valley as planned,
I believe we would have been far happier than most.
如果我们成功抵达威拉米特山谷的话，一定会幸福的。

I had few real possessions to pack and little food left,
but I took what I could into Benjamin’s wagon.
我财产不多，食物也所剩无几，不过我把一切都搬进了本杰明的马车。
It was late May when we began our trip,
五月下旬，我们出发了，
and had I known more about the route we were to take, I might have
known that this was dangerously late to be starting such an expedition.
如果我对这段旅途更加了解一些的话，就该知道这个时节出发已经很晚，很危险了。
But I did not.
可我并不知情。

In many ways, Benjamin was as impulsive in
his travel plans as he was in choosing a wife,
从多种角度上讲，本杰明做旅途计划和择偶一样冲动，
and it was only after we had been on the road for some time
that I realized how ill-prepared he for many of the hardships of the trail.
上路一段时间后我才意识到，他为这一路艰辛所做的准备是如此匮乏。
I never asked him exactly where he was from,
or why he wished to settle in Oregon.
我从没问过他是哪里人，也没问过他为什么想去俄勒冈扎根。
Those few times I broached the subject, he would
talk all sorts of circles around it, and I had some
inkling that he might have been fleeing trouble back east.
有几次我提到这个话题，他立刻顾左右而言他，我隐约怀疑他在东部惹上了事。
I never pressed the matter.
我从没追问过这件事。
I had a lot of gratitude to him for taking me along,
sharing his food and his bed with me,
他在旅途中带上了我，还与我分享食物和床铺，我对他怀有深深的感激，
and rescuing me, as I saw it, from a life of grief and Missouri dirt.
在我看来，他把我从密苏里的穷苦生活中拯救了出来。

It became apparent as we traveled the blessings were not entirely one-sided.
一路上我逐渐发现这种幸运并非是单向的。
It turned out I was far more suited to the hardships of the trail than him,
and far more skilled at keeping the wagon moving than he was.
我比他更能适应旅程的艰辛，也远比他更擅长修理马车。
I nursed him through a fever as we crossed through Colorado,
穿越科罗拉多时，他发起了高烧，我一直在照顾他，
and more than once I even managed to avoid an attack by natives,
securing the wagon in small ravine until the war party had passed by.
我还不止一次在狭窄的山谷里驾驶马车，使我们成功躲过了土著部落的袭击。
All told, I feel I more than earned my bacon.
总而言之，我觉得我所分到的食物都是应得的。

I still remember the first time Benjamin saw skulls near our campsite,
有些前人的旅途不比我们顺利，
those travelers before us who had not fared
as well as we had. Poor man almost fainted.
我依然记得本杰明第一次在营地附近看到尸骸时的样子。可怜的家伙差点晕倒。
And I could not help but reflect that, were it not for me,
he would likely have joined those poor departed souls.
我不禁想到，如果没有我，他八成也会和那些可怜的灵魂一样丧命。
I decided not to share that particular reflection.
我决定还是不把这个想法告诉他。

We reached the Laramie River and Fort John in October.
我们在十月份先后抵达了拉勒米河和约翰堡。
It was a squalid little fur trading post in Wyoming, with thick wooden walls
that were solid enough to keep out any war-minded natives,
约翰堡位于怀俄明州，是个脏兮兮的皮毛贸易站，
但坚实的木墙足以让好战的土著人望而却步。
and there were all the signs that a great many
people had recently passed through the place.
不难看出近期曾有许多人从此处经过。

The manager, an officious man, who introduced himself as Bruce,
那里管事的人叫布鲁斯，他是个好管闲事的男人，
told us that we had missed the chance to safely cross the Rockies,
that the passes would be snowed up within the month.
他告诉我们，安全通过落基山脉的窗口期已经过了，十一月之前山路就会被冰雪覆盖。
He said we could winter at Fort John if we had the food
and money for it or we could turn round and leave.
如果身上有足够的钱和食物，可以在约翰堡过冬，否则就打道回府。
From his tone of voice, it sounded like he had
not much care for which of the options we chose.
听他的口气，我们爱怎样就怎样，他完全不在乎。

We were of course devastated and spent several days discussing our
options and trying to make a decision as to the wisest course of action,
自不必说，这个消息让我们备受打击，我们花了好几天讨论下一步该怎么走，
though we knew that for every hour we spent in such conference
our choices became fewer and the consequences sharper.
但我们知道，在这里浪费的每个小时都意味着选择越来越少，前路越来越难。

It was at that point we were approached by
a man who introduced himself as Eustace Wick.
这时，一个自称尤斯塔斯·威克的男人找上了我们。
He was a short, squat figure, broad of shoulder and with the rough, dark skin
of one who has spent most of his life under the sun’s unforgiving glare.
他身形矮胖，膀大腰圆，皮肤又糙又黑，一看就是终日暴露在阳光之下。
His long, shaggy beard was shot through with gray,
他又长又乱的胡子已经混了不少灰色，
but his eyes sparkled with a cunning and intelligence
I would not have expected to see from such an unkempt face.
但他的眼中闪烁着与面容不相配的狡黠光芒。

He also possessed one other attribute which surprised me,
though in hindsight it takes on a somewhat sinister light
还有一件事，让我颇为吃惊，不过事后回想起来，我早就该看出他来者不善，
– he had in his mouth a full and healthy set of teeth.
那就是他竟然有一口完好无缺的牙齿。

Now, Mr. Eustace Wick inquired as to our purpose in Fort John and,
speaking far more candidly than I was truly comfortable with,
尤斯塔斯·威克先生询问我们来访约翰堡的理由，他直截了当的问话让我有些不适，
Benjamin explained to him our journey and our dilemma.
本杰明把我们此行的目的和当前的窘境都告诉了他。
But at the mention of the words Willamette Valley, the short man’s
eyes lit up and a smile practically split his face in two,
听说我们要去威拉米特山谷，这个矮个男人两眼放光，咧开嘴笑了，
for he was, so he said, the best guide since Sacagawea
他说自己是自萨卡加维亚以来最好的向导，
and could get us through the Rockies long before
the snows hit with any force… for a price.
他能带我们在雪落之前穿过落基山脉…但是他的服务不是免费的。

When he said this, he smiled and all the square and
shining teeth in his mouth seemed to catch the light.
说这话时，他又笑了起来，满嘴洁白的牙齿似乎都在闪着光。
（萨卡加维亚，被誉为“鸟般的妇人”的美国历史上西部拓荒时期的传奇式女性。肖肖尼族印第安人。其头像被印在新款的一元美金纪念金币上）

I was hesitant as I’d met plenty of hucksters and
bandits who were keen to pass themselves off as guides
我感到一阵犹豫，不少骗子和强盗都喜欢把自己伪装成向导
and as Benjamin haggled the price my misgivings grew,
for Eustace Wick seemed offer little in the way of resistance
and we secured his services for only twenty dollars.
本杰明和他商量价钱，尤斯塔斯·威克竟然
没怎么还价，只出价二十美元，我的疑虑更重了。
Plenty of money to be sure, but for the services he was
offering and the dangers involved it was practically nothing.
这笔钱是不少，但相比他提供的服务，和其中涉及的危险，这个数目根本不值一提。

Unfortunately for all my consternation it soon became clear
that Benjamin had made up his mind to hire the man.
我感到忧心忡忡，可不幸的是，不久后本杰明便打定主意雇佣这人。
To be fair to him, we did not have the resources to winter in Fort John,
话说回来，我们没有足够的资源在约翰堡过冬，
and were we to try and make our way back, there was
every possibility the weather would still turn deadly on us.
如果打道回府，也很可能因为极端天气而丧命。
We were caught between the devil and the sea, and Benjamin had
determined that, guided by Eustace Wick, we were going to try and swim.
我们进退维谷，本杰明决定在尤斯塔斯·威克的引导下赌一把。
The poor fool had no idea the devil was the one leading us into the water.
这个可怜的傻瓜不知道，对方正要把我们带入危险之中。

Nobody tried to stop us leaving, though it was clear from
the looks upon them they believed us to be dead already.
我们离开时没人阻拦，从他们的表情不难看出，在他们眼里我们已与死人无异。
My own hopes were scarce higher,
我内心也没抱太多希望，
but the little man who now rode with us cackled and joked as we traveled,
但这个与我们同行的小个子男人一路上不停地说着俏皮话，
keeping Benjamin in higher spirits than I had seen him in months.
我已经好几个月没见过本杰明这么开心了。
This began to fade as the cold air began to hit us and
the paths through the Rockies became steeper and narrower.
我们进入落基山脉之后，道路变得崎岖难行，本杰明的高兴劲儿也随着消失了。
The journey was hard but we pushed on for almost a week.
旅途极其艰难，但我们依然撑了近一个星期。

Eustace Wick seemed to be as good as his word, keeping us
on those trails that the wagon could use without too much danger.
尤斯塔斯·威克似乎还挺讲信用，一直领着我们的马车走在不怎么危险的路上。
The cold robbed us of sleep, though,
但寒冷的天气让我们无法入眠，
and after those first days, the once beautiful vistas and rolling
peaks of the mountains seemed to become jagged and vile ribs
jutting from the carcass of the world and picked clean by vultures.
最初几天过后，美丽的风景，巍峨的山峰在我眼中
变得像被秃鹫啄食干净的尸骸一般突兀可怖。

Benjamin became quiet. I became sullen.
本杰明开始不说话了。我也变得闷闷不乐。
Eustace Wick became more aggravatingly jovial than before, and by the
time the first snowflakes began to fall he was practically hooting with joy.
尤斯塔斯·威克却越来越高兴，开始下雪那天，他简直兴奋得溢于言表。
My suspicions about his motives had begun to freeze
into an icicle within my chest, hard and focused.
我愈发怀疑他真正的目的，每天感觉胸口好似扎着一根坚硬的冰锥。

When we woke up one morning a week and a half into the journey
to find one of our wagons wheels smashed and destroyed
beyond repair, I could not find it in myself to be surprised.
离开约翰堡一周半之后的早上，我们醒来时发现马车有个车轮
被人砸了个稀巴烂，彻底没法修好了，对此我丝毫不感到惊讶。
The snow was falling thickly by this point.
这时已经满天飘着鹅毛大雪。
We had already used all our replacement
wheels over the many months of the journey.
几个月下来，我们把后备车轮用完了。
We were trapped there and we would surely die.
我们被困于此，已经没有活路了。
It was then that Eustace Wick appeared standing
on a nearby rock that same big grin on his face.
尤斯塔斯·威克站在一块大石头上，跟往常一样咧着个嘴。
He told us that there looked to be a snowstorm coming
but he had found a nearby cave where we could wait it out.
他说看样子马上就要刮暴风雪了，但他在附近找到了一个可供躲避的山洞。
He didn’t even pretend dismay of the state of the wagon.
他甚至没有假装对马车的状况感到担忧。
Benjamin and I followed him, and sure enough, there in
the side of the mountain was a shallow but well hidden cave.
本杰明和我只能跟着他，果不其然，山边有个不易发现的小山洞。

It’s hard to say at exactly what point I realized
specifically that Eustace Wick was planning to eat us.
不知为何，我开始认定尤斯塔斯·威克想要吃了我们。
It may have been that he made no mention of retrieving
any food from the wagon when he led us to his den.
或许是因为他把我们带到他的巢穴后，只字不提去马车里取食物的事。
It could have been the piles of firewood already
neatly stacked up against the far wall cut into logs.
或许是因为山洞深处整齐堆放着劈好的柴火。
It might just have been the way he looked at Benjamin
with his square white teeth bared an unearthly smile.
或许是因为他呲着牙望向本杰明时，总是露出狰狞的笑容。

But somewhere between the wagon and the cave I became
convinced that our so-called guide but lured us up here
with no intention short of killing us and eating our flesh.
从马车走到山洞的途中，我认定这所谓的向导
是故意把我们引到这里，好把我们杀了吃掉。
I had no time to communicate this thought to my husband
however who still seemed woefully oblivious of the situation,
可我丈夫对我们的处境似乎毫不知情，我也没机会和他交流，
and once we were inside the small cave
there was no privacy in which to discuss it.
进入山洞之后，就更没有私下说话的可能了。

So I just had to sit there, watching Eustace Wick
building a fire as Benjamin tried to suppress his shivers
我只能呆坐在原地，看着正在生火的尤斯塔斯·威克，和浑身发抖的本杰明
and make conversation with the man who he still did
not realize had turned from our guide into our captor.
殊不知眼前这家伙已经从向导变成了猎手，竟然还和他聊着天。
I simply watched and waited as the storm began to descend outside,
山洞外面狂风呼啸，大雪纷飞，我静静地看着，等待着，
and the warmth of the fire was quickly
overcome by the icy chill of the wind.
篝火的温度不久便被刺骨的寒风压了下去。

Night began to fall. The fire was the only light casting
along dancing shadows upon the walls behind us.
夜幕降临。篝火成了唯一的光源，在我们身后的洞壁上刻下跃动的阴影。
I could feel hunger gnawing at me and
was sure that I was not the only one,
我感到饥饿难耐，而且我很确定，其他人也有此同感，
but I had a strange thought
但我有种诡异的直觉
that the bearded man squatting on the other side of
the flames was waiting for someone to mention it,
那个蹲在篝火对面，胡子拉碴的男人正等着别人先提起食物的话题
so I refused to do so.
因此我缄口不言。

My husband of course had no such reservations, and began to bemoan
our forgetfulness at leaving what little food we still had in the wagon.
我那不知情的丈夫不久便开始抱怨，我们怎么把仅有的食物落在了马车里。

Of this Eustace Wick’s smile, if it were even possible,
got wider and he said that we had all the food we needed.
听到这话，尤斯塔斯·威克脸上的笑容竟变得更灿烂了，他说我们的食物足够了。
He stared into the fire and began to mutter something.
他盯着火苗，嘴里喃喃低语。
It sounded like a prayer.
听起来似乎是某种祷词。
I think he was in his own demented way saying grace.
大概是某种疯狂的祈祷。

I remember the words exactly.
我还记得他的原话。
He locked eyes with Benjamin and said,
“Come, meat. Be my guest. And let thy gifts to me be blessed.”
他盯着本杰明说：“来吧，血肉。成为我的座上宾，为你给我的礼物赐福。”
As he said this, a silence fell across the cave.
他做完祷告，山洞里突然安静下来。
The wind died and the shadows on the wall stopped moving,
as though they were watching the scene in rapt attention.
风声消退了，影子也不在跳跃，仿佛它们也在全神贯注地看着事态发展。
Eustace Wick withdrew a long, sharp knife
and stalked over to Benjamin,
尤斯塔斯·威克抽出一柄尖锐的长刀，向本杰明走去，
who made no move to defend himself.
而他一动不动根本没有自保的意思。
His eyes were wide, staring at the mad cannibal
approaching him with a look of both fear and rapture.
他双眼空洞地望着这吃人的疯子一步步向他靠近，脸上的表情夹杂着恐惧与狂喜。
The whole scene was so utterly unreal that it took me
almost a full second to remember and draw my gun.
这情景太过虚幻，我呆坐了一秒钟才想起拔枪。

All through this journey I had kept my father’s
caplock pistol hidden tucked inside my crinoline.
一路上，我一直把父亲的火帽手枪藏在裙架里。
Benjamin knew about it of course, but
had obviously never mentioned it to Eustace.
这事本杰明自然是知道的，显然，他没向尤斯塔斯提起过。
Had I had a possibility of reloading it I might have drawn it earlier
如果有机会装弹，或许我早就把抢抽出来了
but with only a single shot, and I a barely passable shooter,
I knew that I needed to be sure of my moment.
我的枪法一般，而且只有一次开火机会，我必须等待最佳时机。

As it turned out, I left it too late,
结果，我等得太久了，
for even as I placed the barrel to the temple of the foul murderer and
pulled the trigger he drew the blade across my husband’s throat.
我把枪管对准这禽兽的太阳穴，扣下扳机，但他已在我丈夫的喉咙上划了一刀。
There was a terrific bang, a splash of brain, and a spray of blood.
只听见可怕的砰的一声，脑浆和鲜血撒了一地。
The two men fell dead upon the floor and
I found myself alone in the silence of the icy night.
两个男人应声倒地而死，冰冷寂静的夜晚中，只剩下我一个人。
I’m sure I need not tell you the tears that I shed that night.
那个夜晚我泪流不止，这是不必多说的。
Tears that were ice even before they touched the ground.
泪水落地之前就结成了冰。
I wept for my beautiful, stupid Benjamin and I wept for my own life,
我为英俊而又愚蠢的本杰明哭泣，也为我自己的生命哀悼，
now most certainly lost at the cold and snow, and to hunger.
显然，我将被冰雪和饥饿夺去性命。

It was as this last thought passed unbidden
through my mind that I heard it.
这想法从我脑海中划过时，我听到了那个声音。
Very faint, calling softly. The sound of Benjamin’s voice.
一个虚弱的声音呼唤着我。是本杰明的声音。

I called over to him, for a second overjoyed that he might be alive,
我连忙呼唤他的名字，一时间雀跃不已，以为他还活着，
but as soon as I touched his ice-cold skin already
beginning to turn blue I knew that it could not be so.
可当我碰到他冻成青色的皮肤时，我明白，他早已经没命了。
Despite this, his head began to turn
towards me and his frozen eyes opened.
可他却向我转过头，冰冻的双眼也随之睁开。
His lips parted above the gaping red
slash across his throat and he spoke.
他的脖子上还挂着那狰狞的红色裂口，他的嘴唇动了起来。

“Eat me,” he said.
“吃了我，”他说道。

I leapt back, shaking my head, praying the
Lord to rid me of these terrible visions,
我连忙向后躲闪，狠狠地摇着头，向主祈祷让我别再看到这样的景象，
but his voice came again clearer and louder,
this time begging me attend to eat him.
但他的声音更大，更清晰了，这次他哀求着我，让我把他吃掉。
He told me how good he would taste, better than any salted pork.
他说，他的味道很好，比我吃过的所有咸肉更美味。
I could cook him over the fire, he said, and the
cold would keep him fresh for as long as I needed.
他说，我可以在火上把他烤了，这里很冷，能保证他的肉不会腐坏。
I yelled at him, screamed at him to be quiet, for whatever devil
had taken up inside to go back to hell, but it made no difference.
我尖叫着让他闭嘴，让占据他的恶魔滚回地狱，但于事无补。
Still he pleaded to be eaten.
他一直央求我把他吃掉。

It has been five days now and Benjamin still entreats me.
已经五天了，本杰明一直在苦苦哀求。
He taunts and curses me by turns,
他一会儿激我一会儿骂我，
calls me a coward who would rather die than
be part of something greater than myself.
说我是个懦夫，宁愿死也不肯融入某种更伟大的东西。
The entrance to the cave has all but blocked with snow and
even if I were to dig my way out there is nowhere for me to go.
山洞入口已经被冰雪封死，而且就算能挖出去，也无路可走。
I don’t even know where whatever’s left of the wagon would be.
我连马车残骸在哪个方向都不知道。
I think I might try, though, now I have finished
this account of the events that led up to my fate.
不过，既然我已经把事情的经过交代清楚了，或许我应该拼一把。

I hope whoever finds this does not judge us too harshly.
希望找到这份记录的人不会太过严苛地评判我们。
We were simply seeking a better life.
我们只是想把日子过好些罢了。
I leave this here in the oilskins of Eustace Wick in the hopes
it may be protected from the depredations of winter.
我把信件放在尤斯塔斯·威克的油布包里，希望信纸能熬过冬天。
As for myself, I will try to dig my way out and get as far as I can.
至于我自己，我会向外挖出一条路，能挖多远挖多远。

I will not survive, but I hope the Lord understands it is not suicide.
我已插翅难飞，希望主能理解，这并非自取性命。
It is simply that I can no longer stand to be trapped here,
where the corpse of my husband begs me to make it meat.
我已无法再呆在这里，无法忍受丈夫尸体要我把他吃掉的无休乞求。

ARCHIVIST
档案员
Statement ends.
叙述结束。

Certainly a grotesque tale,
是个诡异的故事不假，
but I don’t have access to the sort of information required to
verify any of the details provided by the unnamed Mrs. Carlisle.
但我能搞到的信息有限，无法鉴别这位不知名的卡莱尔女士的故事是真是假。
There is no record of any Eustace Wick that I could find.
我找不到任何有关尤斯塔斯·威克的记录。
There is a Benjamin Carlisle mentioned in the 1838
census of Burke County, North Carolina, but that’s about it.
1838年的北卡罗来纳州伯克郡人口调查记录中
确实有本杰明·卡莱尔的名字，但仅此而已。
The prayer apparently spoken by Mr. Wick is
a perversion of the old Lutheran grace:
威克先生所念的祷告词是路德宗旧祷词的变体：
“Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let thy gifts to us be blessed”.
“愿主耶稣降临，为我座上宾，为你赐予我们的礼物赐福。”

There was a noted Lutheran preacher by the name of Horatio Wick that is mentioned briefly in several histories of Massachusetts
路德宗有个有点名气的牧师叫霍雷肖·威克，马萨诸塞州一些史籍提高过他的名字
as rather violently falling out with his colleagues in the church,
over the Sacrament of the Eucharist, but he apparently drowned in 1832.
他在圣餐圣礼中与其他牧师起了严重冲突，但根据记录，他已在1832年溺死。
What interests me most is how this unsigned letter, if it is to
be believed, made its way from an icebound cave in Wyoming
or Idaho all the way to the personal collection of Jonah Magnus.
最让我感兴趣的是，这封未署名的信件若真属实，是如何从怀恩明、爱达荷的
冰封山洞中被人发现，并一路辗转，最终被乔纳·马格努斯纳入私人收藏的。

End recording.
录音结束。

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TIM
提姆
Look, I tried talking to Elias about it.
It doesn’t seem to be doing good.
是这样，我跟伊莱亚斯谈过了。但是好像没用。

MARTIN
马丁
He’s just under a lot of pressure.
You know how messed up he’s been since Prentiss.
他只是最近压力很大。你也知道，自从普伦蒂斯那事之后，他的状况一直很糟。

TIM
How messed up he’s been!?
他的状况一直很糟？

MARTIN
Of course, I’m sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean that you weren’t, just
对不起，对不起，我当然不是说你没事，只是

TIM
No! Because I didn’t start stalking my coworkers.
不是！我可没跟踪其他同事。

MARTIN
Maybe try talking to him.
也许我们应该和他谈谈。

TIM
Sure, like he doesn’t already look at me like I’m a murderer.
是啊，跟他谈谈，你也不瞧瞧他看我那眼神，他早就把我当杀人犯了好吧。

MARTIN
Look, we just gotta let him work through this.
听我说，咱们得让他好好消化一下。
I suggested therapy but he just says no.
我建议他去看心理医生，但他不同意。

TIM
Well, we need to do something.
嗯，我们总得做点什么。

MARTIN
Yeah, maybe.
是啊，或许吧。

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The preceding conversation was overheard
on the 19th of November, 2016.
上述对话被我在2016年11月19日听到。
It reaffirms my current worries about Tim,
这进一步证实了我对提姆的担心，
though does go some way to reassure me that Martin is unlikely
to be the culprit, especially following our earlier conversation.
考虑到上次谈话的内容，我对马丁倒是更放心了些，犯人应该不是他。

I need to be more careful.
我得更小心些才行。

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This post has been edited by 贝克的小号: 2023-01-26, 17:16

很喜歡這部作品,希望你能夠繼續翻譯下去