Name: 猴爪的詛咒 - 伊索爾特-吉萊斯皮 (The curse of the monkey's paw - Iseult Gillespie)
Uploaded: 2025-04-17T06:51:12.000Z
Duration: 6 min 35 s

The windows shuddered, the chimney howled, and rain crashed upon Mr. and Mrs. White's roof as they sat fireside with their son, Herbert.

當懷特夫婦和兒子赫伯特坐在爐邊時，窗戶在顫抖，煙囪在嚎叫，雨點砸在懷特夫婦的屋頂上。

When a knock finally sounded at the door, Mr. White rose and welcomed his old friend,

當敲門聲終於響起時，懷特先生起身歡迎他的老朋友、

Time flew as the sergeant regaled the family with epic tales from faraway lands until Mr.

時間過得飛快，中士向家人講述了來自遙遠國度的史詩般的故事，直到先生去世。

White asked about an artifact the sergeant had alluded to.

懷特問起了中士提到的一件文物。

Finally the sergeant produced the object from his pocket, a mummified monkey's paw.

最後，中士從口袋裡拿出了一個東西，一隻木乃伊猴爪。

He explained that, in order to teach the consequences of meddling with fate, a holy man had imbued the paw with the power to grant three wishes to three men.

他解釋說，為了告訴人們干涉命運的後果，一位聖人賦予了這隻爪子向三個人實現三個願望的力量。

The sergeant said he'd obtained the paw after the first man made his final wish for death.

中士說，在第一個人許下最後的死亡願望後，他得到了這隻爪子。

When Herbert asked why he hadn't used his wishes, the sergeant tensed, and replied simply that he had.

當赫伯特問他為什麼沒有實現自己的願望時，中士繃緊了神經，簡單地回答說他已經實現了。

Suddenly he flung the paw into the fire, but Mr. White yelped and plucked it out of the flames, and despite the sergeant's warnings, Mr. White persuaded him to part with the paw.

突然，他把爪子扔進了火裡，但懷特先生大叫一聲，把爪子從火裡撈了出來，儘管中士警告過他，但懷特先生還是說服他放棄了爪子。

After their guest had gone, Herbert playfully suggested that his father wish for the rest of their home's mortgage money.

客人走後，赫伯特嬉皮笑臉地建議父親把家裡剩下的抵押貸款還了。

Mr. White chuckled and wished for two hundred pounds, but just as the utterance left his lips, he screamed out in terror.

懷特先生笑著許願要兩百英鎊，但話音剛落，他就嚇得大叫起來。

那隻爪子已經在他的手中蜷縮起來。

The Whites soon bid each other goodnight, but as Mr. White sat staring into the dying flames that flickered in the fireplace, they morphed into blazing faces before him.

懷特夫婦很快就互道了晚安，但當懷特先生坐在壁爐前凝視著閃爍的奄奄一息的火焰時，它們在他面前變成了一張張熾熱的面孔。

He reached for a water glass to extinguish the apparition, but as he did, the monkey's paw raised his hand ever so slightly.

他伸手去拿水杯，想熄滅幽靈，但就在他這麼做的時候，猴子的爪子輕輕地舉起了他的手。

The morning's light soothed the night's disquiet, and the family joked with one another about the paw's magical powers.

清晨的陽光撫平了夜晚的不安，一家人互相開玩笑說這隻爪子有魔力。

Herbert left for work, and Mr. and Mrs. White passed their day as usual.

赫伯特去上班了，懷特夫婦像往常一樣度過了一天。

But as evening loomed, Mrs. White noticed a man at their gate, who appeared to be deliberating whether to enter.

但當夜幕降臨時，懷特夫人注意到他們家門口有一個人，似乎在斟酌是否要進去。

She ushered him in, and he broke the news.

她請他進來，他告訴了她這個消息。

Herbert had died, caught in the factory machinery.

赫伯特死了，他被捲入了工廠的機器中。

To the Whites' horror, the company would reward them compensation, the man went on, in the form of two hundred pounds.

令懷特一家驚恐的是，公司將以 200 英鎊的形式給予他們補償。

They buried Herbert at a cemetery down the road, and over the following days the cold, heavy grief of their loss settled upon the home.

他們把赫伯特安葬在路邊的墓地，接下來的日子裡，失去親人的悲痛籠罩著這個家。

One night, as Mr. White tried to comfort his weeping wife, she bolted up, possessed by an idea.

一天晚上，當懷特先生試圖安慰哭泣的妻子時，她突然有了一個想法。

They still had the monkey's paw, and Mr. White had two remaining wishes.

猴子的爪子還在他們手裡，而懷特先生還剩下兩個願望。

他可以讓他們的兒子起死回生。

Yet the thought of the monkey's paw and Herbert's mangled body, reanimated after ten days buried, petrified Mr. White.

然而，一想到那隻猴子的爪子和赫伯特被埋葬十天後又重新復活的殘缺不全的屍體，懷特先生就心如刀絞。

She hurried him downstairs to find the paw, and moved by his wife's desperation, Mr.

她催促他下樓去找爪子，先生被妻子的絕望打動了。

White clutched it and wished for Herbert to be alive again, then let the monkey's paw fall to the floor.

懷特緊緊抓住它，希望赫伯特能重新活過來，然後讓猴子的爪子落在了地上。

At first, nothing happened, and Mr. White felt a sneaking sense of relief.

起初，什麼也沒發生，懷特先生隱隱感到鬆了一口氣。

His suspicions that the paw was just an inanimate token, and the death of his beloved son a sick coincidence, were affirmed, but as he lit a candle, a gust of wind extinguished the flame.

當他點燃蠟燭時，三分鐘熱度吹滅了蠟燭的火焰。

A moment later, Mr. White heard a tap at the door.

過了一會兒，懷特先生聽到有人拍門。

Gradually it crescendoed into a booming knock.

He tried to restrain her, but Mrs. White rushed to the door, her shaking hands struggled with a stubborn bolt, and she begged her husband for help.

他試圖制止她，但懷特夫人衝到門前，顫抖的雙手掙扎著頑固的門閂，她向丈夫求救。

Mr. White, however, was scrambling on the floor in frenzied horror, hands outstretched, searching for the monkey's paw.

懷特先生則驚恐地在地上亂滾，伸出雙手尋找猴子的爪子。

The knocks quickened, and crashed at the door.

敲門聲越來越急促，撞擊著大門。

And with a final force, Mrs. White shrieked and wrenched the bolt free, as Mr. White managed to seize the paw and choke out his third and final wish.

就在懷特先生設法抓住爪子，哽咽著說出他的第三個也是最後一個願望時，懷特太太用最後的力氣尖叫著擰開了門閂。

The door opened to reveal their empty, lamplit street, and a frigid draught of air rushed into the house.

門開了，露出空蕩蕩、燈火通明的街道，一股寒冷的氣流衝進屋裡。