1. As all Saturday nights went, we slipped by the wives and find weselves down by The Tricky Jester. Thinking about it, you don’t see much of those any more. The Tricky Jester, you leave your shame at the door. The new places, you have to comb your hair and put on perfume just to get a drink. Times change, you know. World going one way, people another.
每一个周六的晚上，我们都会从自己的妻子身边溜走，然后来到这个名叫“机警的杰斯特”的俱乐部，并在这里找回自我。思考的多了，眼睛看到的自然就少了些。来到“机警的杰斯特”，你就得把自己的羞愧留在门外。来到新的地方，你就必须仅仅为了来喝一杯，梳理好你的头发，再喷上些香水。时代变了，你知道的。但，世界与人的变化方向并不一致。
2. Last Saturday, though, something put a sour taste in my mouth. It came from the story Stew was telling. Stew is an important man, and so he gets to talk. He’d remind you of that too. So, how come this one put the sourness in me then? See, Stew went out on this one hike – the mountain trail of El Tucuche. The route ain’t a hard one, but not an amateur one either. And Stew is a man who don’t follow the map. He like to pride himself as a man who blazes his own trail. You have to learn to get lost to really find yourself, was the man’s mantra. A man is so small in the wilderness, believe me. The way how people is now, we ain’t tailored to live there. So when Stew say he stumble across a house in the middle of the mountain, my ears prick up.
但就在上个星期六，我却在那里感受到了一阵酸楚的滋味。这滋味来自斯图讲的一个故事。斯图是俱乐部的重要人物，所以他有机会侃侃而谈。他还会提醒你这一点。那么，为什么他的这个故事会使我产生这种酸楚的感觉呢？那就细说一下他分享的这个名叫“埃尔图库切山中小径徒步行”的故事吧——山路并不是太难走，但也并不太适合业余登山爱好者。斯图不爱走地图上指明的路线，更愿意为自己开辟了新的路线而感到自豪。你必须先学会 迷路才能真正地找到自我——这句话是这个男人的咒语。相信我，一个人在荒野中是如此渺小。人们现在的生存方式，并不适合居住在那里。于是，当斯图说他在山间无意中发现一所房子时，我的耳朵便竖了起来。
3. Was smoke that led him to the hut. As he draw closer it, he noticed a doll nailedto a tree, weaved from twigs. As he followed the path, he saw that there was more trees and more dolls. Curious, he keep on the path till he come to an open space. At the centre was a hut. The smoke was coming from a pile of branches set at the edge of the open space the fire long smothered. He then noted the sound of bone crunching beneath his heels as he approached the house. Then he saw someone.
跟随着烟雾，他向着那间小屋走去。当他更靠近小屋时，他注意到一棵树上用钉子固定着一个用树枝编织而成的玩偶。沿着小路继续前行，他看到有更多的树木和更多的玩偶。在好奇心的驱使下，他继续沿着小路前行，直到他来到一片空地。空地的中央有一间小屋。烟雾来自空地边缘的一堆燃烧过但已熄灭很长时间的树枝。然后，随着他走近那所房子，他又注意到了自己脚跟下嘎吱作响的骨头。此时，他看到了一个人。
4. It was a woman. She was young. Couldn’t be more than thirty, Stew say –Her hair loose in wiry kinkles. Stew wanted a closer look at the young lady. When the woman spotted him, he thought she was gonna scamper away. It was only then he noticed how stick-thin she was. Cheeks sallow and sunken, almost like a carcass. Her feet remain planted on the ground, but he could see her toes wiggling nervously. Suddenly, he regretted coming up to this woman. ‘So what you do after?’ Mano cut in. ‘What y’think? Turn round and buss outta there one time! Woman coulda be La Diablesse for all I know.’
是一位年轻女子。斯图说她的细丝卷发散落在肩上，年龄肯定不到三十。斯图想仔细看看这位年轻女士。当女子发现他时，他以为她会跑开。此时，他才注意到她是多么的骨瘦如柴。她双颊凹陷，几乎像一具干尸。她的双脚仍然在地面上一动不动，像长了根一样，但他可以看到她的脚趾正在紧张地扭动着。突然间，他有一种后悔走近这个女人的想法。“那你之后做了什么？”马诺插话道。“你觉得呢？当然是转身就跑！据我所知，女人都可能是恶魔。

5. I felt a weight drop in my stomach. Just something about the story throw me off – I couldn’t explain it at the time. I excused myself and went back to my car to take a smoke. Later that night, when we was ready to go home, I pull Stew aside and asked him about the hiking route. He was hesitant at first and, for a moment, I wondered if he made the whole thing up. I was halfway hoping that he was. He gave in, however, and mapped it out for me. When he was done, he gave me a look like I was crazy. To me, it wasn’t craziness. It was clarity. My mind was set. Was then I realized it was a long time since I actually wanted to do anything.
我感到心里咯噔一下，像是一块大石头掉了下来。是因为这个故事的一些情节让我有些不知所措——我当时无法解释这一点。我给自己找了个借口，回到车上吸了根烟。那天晚上的晚些时候，当我们准备回家时，我把斯图拉到一边，向他询问那次徒步行的路线。起初他有些犹豫，让我有那么一会儿觉得整个故事都是他编的，甚至中途有些希望这个故事真的是他编造的。不过，最终他让步了，并为我绘制了一张去那里的地图。绘制完地图后，他给了我一个表情，似乎在表达我疯了。对我来说，这并不是疯狂，而是明晰。我做出了决定，同时也意识到我已经很久没有真正想做某件事情了。
6. I was determined to find this mystery woman. Yessir, I was gonna climb that mountain. The next Monday, I decide to take a day off. I didn’t tell the wife. I drive all the way up to the trail. Ten minutes into it, my legs started to wear out and my water canteen was already runnin dry. It ain’t gonna be long till the rain come down, I remember thinking. A drop of rain hit my nose. Was I really expecting to finish this journey with my body intact? Ain’t many times I been a man without a plan, but that’s why this expedition was feeling so good.
我决心找到那个神秘的女人。是的，我要爬上那座山。下周一，我决定休息一天。我没把这件事告诉我妻子。我开车一路抵达了那条山路。在山路上步行十分钟后，我的双腿开始变得力不从心，水壶里的水也快喝完了。我记得当时在想，天很快就要下雨了。此时，一颗雨滴砸到了我的鼻子上。我真的希望自己毫发无损地结束这次旅程吗？我不是个经常没计划地做事的人，但这就是这次探险之行感觉如此之好的原因。
7. Without my glasses, everything looked covered in a film of oil. I kept on the path until I spotted the stick doll that Stew was prattling on about. There was a series of them, just as Stew describe, from tree to tree to tree. I followed them and then there it was – the house. My eyes widened – I expected it to vanish in a blink. Something not from this realm. Something not meant for the human eye. I spotted the pile of branches Stew had mentioned – where he seen the smoke rising up. I pushed one of the branches with my boot and something rolled out from under it. I saw what it was but it took a while to register.
因为没戴眼镜，在我眼里所有东西看起来都蒙上了一层油。我继续沿着山路前行，直到我发现了斯图聊到的那个树枝编织而成的玩偶。而且，正如斯图所描述的那样，这里还有很多这样的树和这些树上挂着的玩偶。我跟随着这些树和玩偶继续前行，终于那所房子出现在我的眼前。我双目圆睁——担心一眨眼的功夫它就会消失。这东西不应属于这个地方，不应被人眼所见。然后，我发现了斯图提到的那堆冒着烟的树枝。我用靴子推了推其中一根树枝，从底下滚出了一个东西。我看到它是什么，但又花了好一段时间才确认。
8. It was a skull – the skull of a child. Coated in soot and ash. My eyes fluttered back to the hut. The door opened and a man popped his head out. I dropped the skull and rocketed through the bushes, too fast, tripped, and fell. I was gonna die, I felt it. Crack… The bone pierced right through the skin. It ain’t even look like bone. The rain pouring on the wound. When I caught that glimpse of my broken ankle, my head fell back. The feeling before I passed out – it was like I was falling into the sky. When I woke up, I found myself lying on the ground, four faces staring down at me – an old man, a young lady and two boys. They musta brung me inside the hut. I focused on the boys. Their long hair was tied back and knotted with loops of grass. They was all so scrawny, I coulda see their spines.
这是一个头骨——一个孩子的头骨。上面沾满了烟灰和灰烬。我的眼神飘回到那个小屋。门打开了，里面伸出了一个男人的头。我丢掉了那个头骨，飞速地穿过了树丛，由于速度太快，我被绊倒了。我会死的，我感觉到了。咔嚓......我的骨头刺穿了我的皮肤。甚至看起来穿透我皮肤的不像骨头。雨水倾泻而下浇在我的伤口上。当我看到我已经骨折的脚踝时，我的头便倒了下去。昏倒前，我感觉自己就像落入了空中。当我醒来时，我发现自己躺在地上，四张脸正盯着我——一位老翁、一位年轻女士和两个男孩。他们肯定把我带进了屋里。我仔细地观察了那两个男孩。他们俩都留着长发，并用草环在背后扎成了鞭子。他们俩都骨瘦如柴，我甚至可以看到他们脊柱。
9. The old man say to me, ‘Bad fall y’had, brudda. Y’come here to kill y’self, eh?’ He laughed. ‘What side y’come? I didn’t answer. I coulda barely breathe, much less speak. ‘I take you to Lluengo,’ the man say. ‘Lil village near the coast, y’know it? Nice people in Lluengo, y’know.’ ‘You always live here?’ I say. ‘Not always,’ he say. ‘F’now, I stay here. Y’pity we for livin in bush, eh?’ the old man say. ‘I ain’t pity. Just curious.’
那位老翁对我说：“孩子，你摔得很惨。你是来这里自杀的吗？”他笑了起来，然后接着问我：“你从哪来的？”我没有回答他。我几乎无法呼吸，更不用说讲话了。“我带你去Lluengo，”老翁说，“靠近海岸的Lil村，你知道那里吗？你知道，Lluengo那里的人都很友好。”“您一直住在这里？”我说。“不是一直，”他说，“目前我住在这里。你是感到我们住在丛林里很可怜，是吗？”老翁说。“不是这个意思，只是好奇而已，”我回答说。
10. To this day, I ain’t sure how much time passed before it was time to go. The old man was scrawny but strong. He slung his arm round my neck to balance me as we made a path through the forest. Figured it woulda be nightfall by the time we reach civilization, but it was barely twilight. The old man ain’t dare step foot outta the forest, though. Once the first road came into sight, he tell me, ‘We part ways here.’
直到这天，我还不清楚还要多长时间我才能回家。这位老翁虽然骨瘦如柴但很是强壮。当我们穿过森林时，他用胳膊搂在我的脖子上，帮我保持平衡。可以想到，夜幕降临时我们才能够抵达文明世界，但此时已见暮色。但，这位老翁却不敢踏出森林。“当见到第一条大路时，”他告诉我，“我们就立刻分道扬镳。”
And that was that. The sun was setting and I was miles away from home, but hell, I remember thinking, I’m alive. Two weeks passed since meeting the man and his family. While I was in the hospital, I finally managed to tell the wife the story. But she ain’t want to hear nothing of it. She just kept interrupting with, ‘But how you, a big old horse, could lie through your teeth and say you was goin to work!’. I was amazed how much she didn’t care about the events in between. Not even the children coulda budge from their iPads to hear me out.
就这样。太阳落山时，我离家只有几英里远了。但是，天啊，我居然还记得思考，我还活着。自从与那位老翁及他的家人见面已经过去了两周时间。当我在医院时，我终于努力着想把这个故事讲给我妻子听。但她根本听不进去。她只是不停地打断我的话：“但，你个家伙怎么能对我撒谎，还说你是去上班了！”我很惊讶她怎么这么不在乎这段时间究竟发生了什么。甚至孩子们都不愿意放下他们手中的iPad，听我把故事讲完。
11. I couldn’t believe it. I had something – I finally had something! Not just a story. I had a tale, a damn good one, and nobody didn’t care to hear it! When I finally got discharged on the Thursday, I rang up the fellas and we organized a lime at the Tricky Jester. Drinks was on me and believe me, I had the most. After the second round, I started telling the story. Every detail. The trail, the rain, the house. It was going good until I get to the two children. And then there was no more smiles.
简直不敢相信。我想到了一些东西——我终于想到了一些东西！不仅仅是一个讲述事实的故事。而是一个精彩的故事，一个棒极了的故事，每个人都想听的故事！最后，当我在周四出院后，我打电话给我的那些伙伴，然后我们在机警的杰斯特俱乐部组织了一次活动。饮品的花费全由我出，相信我，我出的大头。第二场结束后，我开始讲故事——每个细节：小径、雨水、房子。一切进展顺利，直到我说到那两个孩子。此时，人们脸上的笑容全部消失了。
12. I ordered another round and decided to tell them about the skull. ‘A human skull?’ Mano asked, breaking the silence. ‘Yeah, boy, Mano, couldn’t be no animal, telling you! That was as human as human coulda be!’ The silence deepen and deepen as I went along. Was it the way I was telling it, I wondered? Was I too drunk? Was I forcing it? When the evening was done, the fellas just patted my back and said, ‘We just glad you come out in one piece, boy.’ Things was quiet for a few days till I switch on the news one night and I see the forest family on TV. The old man and the woman in handcuffs. I just shut my damn mouth for now and let the world turn.
我又订了一场，决定把头骨的事情讲给他们听。“人类的头骨？”马诺打破沉默问道。“是的，马诺老弟，肯定不是动物的，我告诉你！跟人类的一模一样！”随着我故事的进展，沉默的氛围不断加深。我很纳闷是不是我讲故事的方式出了问题？是因为我喝醉了吗？是不是我用力过猛了？活动结束后，伙伴们只是拍了拍我的后背，说：“我们很高兴你能完好无损地从那里出来，伙计。”经过几天的平静，一天晚上我在电视上看到了一则新闻，里面有丛林里的那家人——那位老翁和那个女人双双戴着手铐。我现在只能闭上我的那张嘴，再也不对任何人提起。