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"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, Section I, Part 1

Section I, Part 1

The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide.

The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits. A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness. The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth.

The Director of Companies was our captain and our host. We four affectionately watched his back as he stood in the bows looking to seaward. On the whole river there was nothing that looked half so nautical. He resembled a pilot, which to a seaman is trustworthiness personified. It was difficult to realize his work was not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him, within the brooding gloom.

Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts together through long periods of separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other's yarns—and even convictions. The Lawyer—the best of old fellows—had, because of his many years and many virtues, the only cushion on deck, and was lying on the only rug. The Accountant had brought out already a box of dominoes, and was toying architecturally with the bones. Marlow sat cross-legged right aft, leaning against the mizzen-mast. He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic aspect, and, with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an idol. The director, satisfied the anchor had good hold, made his way aft and sat down amongst us. We exchanged a few words lazily. Afterwards there was silence on board the yacht. For some reason or other we did not begin that game of dominoes. We felt meditative, and fit for nothing but placid staring. The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The water shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marsh was like a gauzy and radiant fabric, hung from the wooded rises inland, and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west, brooding over the upper reaches, became more sombre every minute, as if angered by the approach of the sun.

And at last, in its curved and imperceptible fall, the sun sank low, and from glowing white changed to a dull red without rays and without heat, as if about to go out suddenly, stricken to death by the touch of that gloom brooding over a crowd of men.

Forthwith a change came over the waters, and the serenity became less brilliant but more profound. The old river in its broad reach rested unruffled at the decline of day, after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks, spread out in the tranquil dignity of a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth. We looked at the venerable stream not in the vivid flush of a short day that comes and departs for ever, but in the august light of abiding memories. And indeed nothing is easier for a man who has, as the phrase goes, "followed the sea" with reverence and affection, that to evoke the great spirit of the past upon the lower reaches of the Thames. The tidal current runs to and fro in its unceasing service, crowded with memories of men and ships it had borne to the rest of home or to the battles of the sea. It had known and served all the men of whom the nation is proud, from Sir Francis Drake to Sir John Franklin, knights all, titled and untitled—the great knights-errant of the sea. It had borne all the ships whose names are like jewels flashing in the night of time, from the Golden Hind returning with her rotund flanks full of treasure, to be visited by the Queen's Highness and thus pass out of the gigantic tale, to the Erebus and Terror , bound on other conquests—and that never returned. It had known the ships and the men. They had sailed from Deptford, from Greenwich, from Erith—the adventurers and the settlers; kings' ships and the ships of men on 'Change; captains, admirals, the dark "interlopers" of the Eastern trade, and the commissioned "generals" of East India fleets. Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth!... The dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires.

The sun set; the dusk fell on the stream, and lights began to appear along the shore. The Chapman light-house, a three-legged thing erect on a mud-flat, shone strongly. Lights of ships moved in the fairway—a great stir of lights going up and going down. And farther west on the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the stars.

"And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark places of the earth."

He was the only man of us who still "followed the sea." The worst that could be said of him was that he did not represent his class. He was a seaman, but he was a wanderer, too, while most seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary life. Their minds are of the stay-at-home order, and their home is always with them—the ship; and so is their country—the sea. One ship is very much like another, and the sea is always the same. In the immutability of their surroundings the foreign shores, the foreign faces, the changing immensity of life, glide past, veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful ignorance; for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny. For the rest, after his hours of work, a casual stroll or a casual spree on shore suffices to unfold for him the secret of a whole continent, and generally he finds the secret not worth knowing. The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut. But Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine.

His remark did not seem at all surprising. It was just like Marlow. It was accepted in silence. No one took the trouble to grunt even; and presently he said, very slow—"I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago—the other day .... Light came out of this river since—you say Knights? Yes; but it is like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds. We live in the flicker—may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday. Imagine the feelings of a commander of a fine—what d'ye call 'em?—trireme in the Mediterranean, ordered suddenly to the north; run overland across the Gauls in a hurry; put in charge of one of these craft the legionaries—a wonderful lot of handy men they must have been, too—used to build, apparently by the hundred, in a month or two, if we may believe what we read. Imagine him here—the very end of the world, a sea the colour of lead, a sky the colour of smoke, a kind of ship about as rigid as a concertina—and going up this river with stores, or orders, or what you like. Sand-banks, marshes, forests, savages,—precious little to eat fit for a civilized man, nothing but Thames water to drink. No Falernian wine here, no going ashore. Here and there a military camp lost in a wilderness, like a needle in a bundle of hay—cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile, and death—death skulking in the air, in the water, in the bush. They must have been dying like flies here. Oh, yes—he did it. Did it very well, too, no doubt, and without thinking much about it either, except afterwards to brag of what he had gone through in his time, perhaps. They were men enough to face the darkness. And perhaps he was cheered by keeping his eye on a chance of promotion to the fleet at Ravenna by and by, if he had good friends in Rome and survived the awful climate. Or think of a decent young citizen in a toga—perhaps too much dice, you know—coming out here in the train of some prefect, or tax-gatherer, or trader even, to mend his fortunes. Land in a swamp, march through the woods, and in some inland post feel the savagery, the utter savagery, had closed round him—all that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men. There's no initiation either into such mysteries. He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is also detestable. And it has a fascination, too, that goes to work upon him. The fascination of the abomination—you know, imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate."

He paused.

"Mind," he began again, lifting one arm from the elbow, the palm of the hand outwards, so that, with his legs folded before him, he had the pose of a Buddha preaching in European clothes and without a lotus-flower—"Mind, none of us would feel exactly like this. What saves us is efficiency—the devotion to efficiency. But these chaps were not much account, really. They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect. They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force—nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others. They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind—as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea—something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to...."

He broke off. Flames glided in the river, small green flames, red flames, white flames, pursuing, overtaking, joining, crossing each other—then separating slowly or hastily. The traffic of the great city went on in the deepening night upon the sleepless river. We looked on, waiting patiently—there was nothing else to do till the end of the flood; but it was only after a long silence, when he said, in a hesitating voice, "I suppose you fellows remember I did once turn fresh-water sailor for a bit," that we knew we were fated, before the ebb began to run, to hear about one of Marlow's inconclusive experiences.

"I don't want to bother you much with what happened to me personally," he began, showing in this remark the weakness of many tellers of tales who seem so often unaware of what their audience would like best to hear; "yet to understand the effect of it on me you ought to know how I got out there, what I saw, how I went up that river to the place where I first met the poor chap. It was the farthest point of navigation and the culminating point of my experience. It seemed somehow to throw a kind of light on everything about me—and into my thoughts. It was sombre enough, too—and pitiful—not extraordinary in any way—not very clear either. No, not very clear. And yet it seemed to throw a kind of light.

"I had then, as you remember, just returned to London after a lot of Indian Ocean, Pacific, China Seas—a regular dose of the East—six years or so, and I was loafing about, hindering you fellows in your work and invading your homes, just as though I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you. It was very fine for a time, but after a bit I did get tired of resting. Then I began to look for a ship—I should think the hardest work on earth. But the ships wouldn't even look at me. And I got tired of that game, too.

"Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, 'When I grow up I will go there.' The North Pole was one of these places, I remember. Well, I haven't been there yet, and shall not try now. The glamour's off. Other places were scattered about the hemispheres. I have been in some of them, and... well, we won't talk about that. But there was one yet—the biggest, the most blank, so to speak—that I had a hankering after.

"True, by this time it was not a blank space any more. It had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names. It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery—a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness. But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land. And as I looked at the map of it in a shop-window, it fascinated me as a snake would a bird—a silly little bird. Then I remembered there was a big concern, a Company for trade on that river. Dash it all! I thought to myself, they can't trade without using some kind of craft on that lot of fresh water—steamboats! Why shouldn't I try to get charge of one? I went on along Fleet Street, but could not shake off the idea. The snake had charmed me.

"You understand it was a Continental concern, that Trading society; but I have a lot of relations living on the Continent, because it's cheap and not so nasty as it looks, they say.

"I am sorry to own I began to worry them. This was already a fresh departure for me. I was not used to get things that way, you know. I always went my own road and on my own legs where I had a mind to go. I wouldn't have believed it of myself; but, then—you see—I felt somehow I must get there by hook or by crook. So I worried them. The men said 'My dear fellow,' and did nothing. Then—would you believe it?—I tried the women. I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work—to get a job. Heavens! Well, you see, the notion drove me. I had an aunt, a dear enthusiastic soul. She wrote: 'It will be delightful. I am ready to do anything, anything for you. It is a glorious idea. I know the wife of a very high personage in the Administration, and also a man who has lots of influence with,' etc. She was determined to make no end of fuss to get me appointed skipper of a river steamboat, if such was my fancy.

"I got my appointment—of course; and I got it very quick. It appears the Company had received news that one of their captains had been killed in a scuffle with the natives. This was my chance, and it made me the more anxious to go. It was only months and months afterwards, when I made the attempt to recover what was left of the body, that I heard the original quarrel arose from a misunderstanding about some hens. Yes, two black hens. Fresleven—that was the fellow's name, a Dane—thought himself wronged somehow in the bargain, so he went ashore and started to hammer the chief of the village with a stick. Oh, it didn't surprise me in the least to hear this, and at the same time to be told that Fresleven was the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs. No doubt he was; but he had been a couple of years already out there engaged in the noble cause, you know, and he probably felt the need at last of asserting his self-respect in some way. Therefore he whacked the old nigger mercilessly, while a big crowd of his people watched him, thunderstruck, till some man—I was told the chief's son—in desperation at hearing the old chap yell, made a tentative jab with a spear at the white man—and of course it went quite easy between the shoulder-blades. Then the whole population cleared into the forest, expecting all kinds of calamities to happen, while, on the other hand, the steamer Fresleven commanded left also in a bad panic, in charge of the engineer, I believe. Afterwards nobody seemed to trouble much about Fresleven's remains, till I got out and stepped into his shoes. I couldn't let it rest, though; but when an opportunity offered at last to meet my predecessor, the grass growing through his ribs was tall enough to hide his bones. They were all there. The supernatural being had not been touched after he fell. And the village was deserted, the huts gaped black, rotting, all askew within the fallen enclosures. A calamity had come to it, sure enough. The people had vanished. Mad terror had scattered them, men, women, and children, through the bush, and they had never returned. What became of the hens I don't know either. I should think the cause of progress got them, anyhow. However, through this glorious affair I got my appointment, before I had fairly begun to hope for it.

"I flew around like mad to get ready, and before forty-eight hours I was crossing the Channel to show myself to my employers, and sign the contract. In a very few hours I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a whited sepulchre. Prejudice no doubt. I had no difficulty in finding the Company's offices. It was the biggest thing in the town, and everybody I met was full of it. They were going to run an over-sea empire, and make no end of coin by trade.

"A narrow and deserted street in deep shadow, high houses, innumerable windows with venetian blinds, a dead silence, grass sprouting right and left, immense double doors standing ponderously ajar. I slipped through one of these cracks, went up a swept and ungarnished staircase, as arid as a desert, and opened the first door I came to. Two women, one fat and the other slim, sat on straw-bottomed chairs, knitting black wool. The slim one got up and walked straight at me—still knitting with downcast eyes—and only just as I began to think of getting out of her way, as you would for a somnambulist, stood still, and looked up. Her dress was as plain as an umbrella-cover, and she turned round without a word and preceded me into a waiting-room. I gave my name, and looked about. Deal table in the middle, plain chairs all round the walls, on one end a large shining map, marked with all the colours of a rainbow. There was a vast amount of red—good to see at any time, because one knows that some real work is done in there, a deuce of a lot of blue, a little green, smears of orange, and, on the East Coast, a purple patch, to show where the jolly pioneers of progress drink the jolly lager-beer. However, I wasn't going into any of these. I was going into the yellow. Dead in the centre. And the river was there—fascinating—deadly—like a snake. Ough! A door opened, ya white-haired secretarial head, but wearing a compassionate expression, appeared, and a skinny forefinger beckoned me into the sanctuary. Its light was dim, and a heavy writing-desk squatted in the middle. From behind that structure came out an impression of pale plumpness in a frock-coat. The great man himself. He was five feet six, I should judge, and had his grip on the handle-end of ever so many millions. He shook hands, I fancy, murmured vaguely, was satisfied with my French. Bon Voyage .

"In about forty-five seconds I found myself again in the waiting-room with the compassionate secretary, who, full of desolation and sympathy, made me sign some document. I believe I undertook amongst other things not to disclose any trade secrets. Well, I am not going to.

"I began to feel slightly uneasy. You know I am not used to such ceremonies, and there was something ominous in the atmosphere. It was just as though I had been let into some conspiracy—I don't know—something not quite right; and I was glad to get out. In the outer room the two women knitted black wool feverishly. People were arriving, and the younger one was walking back and forth introducing them. The old one sat on her chair. Her flat cloth slippers were propped up on a foot-warmer, and a cat reposed on her lap. She wore a starched white affair on her head, had a wart on one cheek, and silver-rimmed spectacles hung on the tip of her nose. She glanced at me above the glasses. The swift and indifferent placidity of that look troubled me. Two youths with foolish and cheery countenances were being piloted over, and she threw at them the same quick glance of unconcerned wisdom. She seemed to know all about them and about me, too. An eerie feeling came over me. She seemed uncanny and fateful. Often far away there I thought of these two, guarding the door of Darkness, knitting black wool as for a warm pall, one introducing, introducing continuously to the unknown, the other scrutinizing the cheery and foolish faces with unconcerned old eyes. Ave! Old knitter of black wool. Morituri te salutant . Not many of those she looked at ever saw her again—not half, by a long way.


Section I, Part 1 Abschnitt I, Teil 1 Section I, Part 1 Sección I, Parte 1 بخش اول، قسمت 1 Section I, partie 1 Sezione I, Parte 1 セクション I、パート 1 I skyrius, 1 dalis Sekcja I, część 1 Secção I, Parte 1 Раздел I, часть 1 Bölüm I, Kısım 1 Розділ I, частина 1 第 I 节,第 1 部分 第一部分,第 1 部分

The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. Die Nellie, eine Kreuzfahrtjolle, ging ohne ein Flattern der Segel vor Anker und ruhte. The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. Le Nellie, un yawl de croisière, a balancé à son ancre sans un battement des voiles, et était au repos. クルージング・ヨールであるネリー号は、帆をばたつかせずに錨に向かって揺れ、静止していました。 O Nellie, um yawl de cruzeiro, girou para sua âncora sem um movimento das velas e estava em repouso. «Нелли», крейсерская «ялка», без колебания парусов повернулась к якору и остановилась. Seyir halindeki bir yawl olan Nellie, yelkenleri kıpırdatmadan demirine döndü ve hareketsizdi. «Неллі» з крейсерським явом кинулася на якір без тріпотіння вітрил і заспокоїлася. Nellie 号是一艘巡航的 yawl,船帆没有颤动,摇摇晃晃地转向她的锚,然后就静止了。 Nellie 號是一艘巡航的大吼船,帆沒有搖動就搖搖晃晃地停靠在她的錨上,然後停了下來。 The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide. Die Flut hatte sich gelegt, der Wind war fast windstill, und da sie flussabwärts gebunden war, blieb ihr nichts anderes übrig, als anzulegen und auf die Wende der Flut zu warten. Le déluge avait fait, le vent était presque calme, et étant lié par le fleuve, il ne lui restait plus qu'à revenir à lui et à attendre le retour de la marée. 洪水が起こり、風はほぼ穏やかになり、川に縛られて、潮の変わりを待つだけでした。 A enchente havia chegado, o vento estava quase calmo e, sendo levado rio abaixo, a única coisa que lhe restava era voltar e esperar a virada da maré. Начался паводок, ветер был почти спокоен, и, плывя по реке, ему оставалось только прийти в себя и дождаться поворота прилива. Повінь пройшла, вітер майже вщух, і, будучи прив'язаним до річки, єдине, що йому залишалося, - це прийти до тями і чекати відпливу. 洪水来了,风几乎平静了,被困在河里,唯一的事情就是来等待潮汐的转变。

The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. Le bras de mer de la Tamise s'étendait devant nous comme le début d'un cours d'eau interminable. テムズ川の海は果てしない水路の始まりのように私たちの前に広がっていました. A extensão marítima do Tâmisa se estendia diante de nós como o início de um canal interminável. Морские просторы Темзы простирались перед нами, как начало бесконечного водного пути. Морський хребет Темзи простягнувся перед нами, як початок нескінченного водного шляху. 泰晤士河的海洋延伸在我们面前,就像一条无休止的水道的开端。 泰晤士河的海域在我們面前伸展開來,就像一條無窮無盡的水道的起點。 In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits. In der Ferne waren das Meer und der Himmel fugenlos zusammengeschweißt, und in dem leuchtenden Raum schienen die gegerbten Segel der mit der Flut heran treibenden Kähne stillzustehen, in roten, spitz zulaufenden Segeltuchbündeln, die wie lackierte Federn schimmerten. In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits. Au large, la mer et le ciel étaient soudés sans jointure, et dans l'espace lumineux les voiles tannées des péniches remontant au gré de la marée semblaient s'immobiliser en grappes de toiles rouges pointues, aux reflets d'esprits vernis. Al largo il mare e il cielo erano saldati insieme senza giuntura, e nello spazio luminoso le vele abbronzate delle chiatte che si sollevavano con la marea sembravano stare ferme in rossi grappoli di tela appuntita, con bagliori di spiriti verniciati. 沖合では、海と空が継ぎ目なく溶け合っていて、明るい空間では、潮とともに漂うはしけの日焼けした帆が、ニスを塗ったスピリットのきらめきとともに、鋭く尖ったキャンバスの赤い塊の中で静止しているように見えました. No abismo, o mar e o céu eram soldados juntos sem uma junta e, no espaço luminoso, as velas bronzeadas das barcaças subindo com a maré pareciam ficar paradas em aglomerados vermelhos de telas pontiagudas, com vislumbres de rajadas envernizadas. I början var havet och himlen sammansvetsade utan en fog, och i det lysande utrymmet tycktes pråmarnas solbrända segel, som drev upp med tidvattnet, stå stilla i röda klungor av duk med skarpa toppar, med glimten av lackade sprit. 在海上,大海和天空没有接缝地焊接在一起,在光亮的空间里,随着潮汐漂流的驳船晒黑的帆,似乎在红色的帆布丛中静止不动,尖尖的红色帆布闪烁着漆黑的光芒。 遠方的大海和天空無縫地焊接在一起,在明亮的空間裡,隨著潮水漂浮的駁船的曬黑的帆似乎靜止在紅色的帆布簇中,帆布尖尖,閃爍著清漆的烈酒。 A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness. Ein Dunstschleier lag auf den niedrigen Ufern, die in einer verschwindenden Ebene ins Meer hinausliefen. Una foschia si posava sulle rive basse che si protendevano verso il mare in una piattezza evanescente. Uma neblina repousava nas margens baixas que se estendiam para o mar em uma planura evanescente. Denize dökülen alçak kıyılarda, yok olan bir düzlük içinde bir pus vardı. 一片薄霧籠罩在低矮的海岸上,這些海岸在消失的平坦中延伸到大海。 The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth. Vzduch nad Gravesendem byl temný a dál vzadu se zdálo být stále zhuštěné do truchlivého šera, nehybně přemítajícího nad tím největším a největším městem na zemi. Die Luft war dunkel über Gravesend, und noch weiter hinten schien sie sich zu einer schwermütigen Finsternis zu verdichten, die regungslos über der größten und großartigsten Stadt der Welt brütete. L'aria era cupa sopra Gravesend, e più indietro ancora sembrava condensata in un'oscurità lugubre, che incombeva immobile sulla città più grande e più grande della terra. O ar estava escuro acima de Gravesend, e mais para trás ainda parecia condensado em uma melancolia triste, meditando imóvel sobre a maior e a maior cidade da Terra. 格雷夫森德上方的空气是黑暗的,更远的地方似乎仍然凝结成悲惨的阴霾,一动不动地沉思在地球上最大、最伟大的城镇上空。

The Director of Companies was our captain and our host. Der Direktor der Unternehmen war unser Kapitän und unser Gastgeber. 公司总监是我们的船长和我们的主人。 We four affectionately watched his back as he stood in the bows looking to seaward. Wir vier beobachteten liebevoll seinen Rücken, während er im Bug stand und aufs Meer hinausschaute. Nós quatro observamos carinhosamente suas costas enquanto ele estava na proa olhando para o mar. 当他站在船头望向大海时,我们四个深情地看着他的背影。 On the whole river there was nothing that looked half so nautical. Auf dem ganzen Fluss gab es nichts, was nur halb so nautisch aussah. Em todo o rio não havia nada que parecesse tão náutico. 在整條河上,沒有任何東西看起來像航海一樣。 He resembled a pilot, which to a seaman is trustworthiness personified. Er ähnelte einem Lotsen, was für einen Seemann die personifizierte Vertrauenswürdigkeit ist. Ele parecia um piloto, o que para um marinheiro é a personificação da confiabilidade. It was difficult to realize his work was not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him, within the brooding gloom. Es war schwer zu begreifen, dass seine Arbeit nicht draußen in der leuchtenden Flussmündung lag, sondern hinter ihm, in der düsteren Dunkelheit. Era difícil perceber que seu trabalho não estava lá fora, no estuário luminoso, mas atrás dele, na escuridão sombria. 很难意识到他的作品并不是在明亮的河口中,而是在他身后的阴霾中。

Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Zwischen uns gab es, wie ich schon irgendwo gesagt habe, das Band des Meeres. Entre nós havia, como já disse em algum lugar, o vínculo do mar. Mellan oss fanns, som jag redan har sagt någonstans, havets band. 正如我在某处说过的那样,我们之间有海的纽带。 Besides holding our hearts together through long periods of separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other's yarns—and even convictions. Das hat nicht nur unsere Herzen über lange Zeiträume der Trennung hinweg zusammengehalten, sondern auch dazu geführt, dass wir tolerant gegenüber den Geschichten - und sogar den Überzeugungen - des anderen waren. Além de manter nossos corações unidos por longos períodos de separação, teve o efeito de nos tornar tolerantes com as histórias um do outro — e até mesmo com as convicções. Förutom att hålla ihop våra hjärtan under långa perioder av separation, hade det effekten att vi gjorde oss toleranta mot varandras garner – och till och med övertygelser. The Lawyer—the best of old fellows—had, because of his many years and many virtues, the only cushion on deck, and was lying on the only rug. Der Advokat - der beste der alten Kameraden - hatte aufgrund seiner vielen Jahre und seiner vielen Tugenden das einzige Kissen an Deck und lag auf der einzigen Wolldecke. O advogado — o melhor dos velhos — tinha, por causa de seus muitos anos e muitas virtudes, a única almofada no convés, e estava deitado no único tapete. 律师——最优秀的老家伙——由于他年长和许多美德,在甲板上唯一的垫子,躺在唯一的地毯上。 The Accountant had brought out already a box of dominoes, and was toying architecturally with the bones. Der Buchhalter hatte bereits eine Schachtel mit Dominosteinen hervorgeholt und spielte architektonisch mit den Steinen. O Contador já havia trazido uma caixa de dominós e estava brincando arquitetonicamente com os ossos. 会计已经拿出一盒多米诺骨牌,正在用骨头玩建筑学。 Marlow sat cross-legged right aft, leaning against the mizzen-mast. Marlow saß im Schneidersitz achtern und lehnte sich gegen den Besanmast. Marlow estava sentado de pernas cruzadas à direita, encostado no mastro da mezena. 马洛盘腿坐在右船尾,靠在后桅上。 He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic aspect, and, with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an idol. Er hatte eingefallene Wangen, einen gelben Teint, einen geraden Rücken, ein asketisches Aussehen und glich mit seinen herabhängenden Armen, die Handflächen nach außen gerichtet, einem Götzenbild. Tinha bochechas afundadas, tez amarelada, costas retas, aspecto ascético e, com os braços caídos, as palmas das mãos para fora, parecia um ídolo. 他脸颊凹陷,脸色发黄,脊背挺直,一副苦行僧的样子,双臂下垂,掌心向外,形似神像。 他雙頰凹陷,面色發黃,脊背挺拔,一副苦行僧的模樣,雙臂垂下,掌心向外,宛如一尊佛像。 The director, satisfied the anchor had good hold, made his way aft and sat down amongst us. Der Direktor, der sich davon überzeugt hatte, dass der Anker gut hielt, ging nach achtern und setzte sich zu uns. 船長は、錨が十分に保持されていることに満足し、船尾に進み、私たちの中に座りました。 O diretor, convencido de que a âncora estava bem presa, foi para a popa e sentou-se entre nós. 船长满意地锚稳住了,他向船尾走去,在我们中间坐下。 We exchanged a few words lazily. Wir haben ein paar Worte miteinander gewechselt, ohne dass es auffällt. 私たちはだらだらと言葉を交わした。 Trocamos algumas palavras preguiçosamente. Afterwards there was silence on board the yacht. その後、ヨットの船内は静寂に包まれました。 随后,游艇上一片寂静。 For some reason or other we did not begin that game of dominoes. なんらかの理由で、そのドミノ ゲームを開始しませんでした。 We felt meditative, and fit for nothing but placid staring. Wir fühlten uns meditativ und waren zu nichts anderem fähig als zu einem ruhigen Blick. 私たちは瞑想的で、穏やかに見つめているだけにふさわしいと感じました。 The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. Der Tag endete in einer Ruhe und einem exquisiten Glanz. その日は、静かで絶妙な輝きの静けさで終わりました。 The water shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marsh was like a gauzy and radiant fabric, hung from the wooded rises inland, and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Das Wasser glänzte friedlich; der Himmel, ohne einen Fleck, war eine gütige Unermesslichkeit von ungetrübtem Licht; der Nebel über dem Sumpf von Essex war wie ein hauchdünner und strahlender Stoff, der von den bewaldeten Erhebungen im Landesinneren herabhing und die niedrigen Ufer in diaphane Falten hüllte. 水は穏やかに輝いていました。斑点のない空は、染みのない光の良性の広大でした。エセックス湿地の霧そのものが、ガーゼのように光り輝く生地のようで、内陸の樹木が茂った高台からぶら下がっていて、透き通った襞で低い海岸を覆っていました。 A água brilhava pacificamente; o céu, sem uma mancha, era uma imensidão benigna de luz imaculada; a própria névoa no pântano de Essex era como um tecido transparente e radiante, pendurado nas elevações arborizadas do interior e cobrindo as margens baixas em dobras diáfanas. Only the gloom to the west, brooding over the upper reaches, became more sombre every minute, as if angered by the approach of the sun. Nur die Düsternis im Westen, die über dem Oberlauf brütete, wurde von Minute zu Minute düsterer, als sei sie durch das Herannahen der Sonne verärgert. 上流に陰気な西の陰だけが、まるで太陽の接近に怒っているかのように、刻一刻と暗くなっていった。 Apenas a penumbra a oeste, pairando sobre os limites superiores, tornava-se mais sombria a cada minuto, como se irritada com a aproximação do sol.

And at last, in its curved and imperceptible fall, the sun sank low, and from glowing white changed to a dull red without rays and without heat, as if about to go out suddenly, stricken to death by the touch of that gloom brooding over a crowd of men. Und schließlich sank die Sonne in ihrem gekrümmten und unmerklichen Fall in die Tiefe und verwandelte sich von glühendem Weiß in ein mattes Rot ohne Strahlen und ohne Wärme, als würde sie plötzlich erlöschen, erschlagen von der Berührung jener Finsternis, die über einer Menschenmenge brütet. そして最後に、その湾曲したわずかな落下で、太陽は低く沈み、白熱した白から、光線や熱のない鈍い赤に変わりました。男性の群れ。 E por fim, em sua queda curva e imperceptível, o sol baixou, e de branco brilhante mudou para um vermelho fosco sem raios e sem calor, como se estivesse prestes a se apagar de repente, ferido de morte pelo toque daquela escuridão que pairava sobre uma multidão de homens.

Forthwith a change came over the waters, and the serenity became less brilliant but more profound. Von da an veränderte sich das Wasser, und die Ruhe wurde weniger strahlend, dafür aber tiefgründiger. すぐに水面に変化が起こり、静けさは輝きを失いましたが、より深遠になりました。 The old river in its broad reach rested unruffled at the decline of day, after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks, spread out in the tranquil dignity of a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth. Der alte Fluss in seinem weiten Lauf ruhte bei Tagesanbruch ungestört, nachdem er dem Volk, das seine Ufer bevölkerte, jahrhundertelang gute Dienste geleistet hatte, und breitete sich in der ruhigen Würde einer Wasserstraße aus, die bis zum äußersten Ende der Erde führte. その広い範囲にある古い川は、地球の最果てに通じる水路の静かな威厳の中に広がって、その岸辺に住む人種に長年の奉仕がなされた後、昼の衰退時に乱れずに休んでいました. O velho rio em seu largo curso descansava sereno ao cair do dia, depois de séculos de bons serviços prestados à raça que povoava suas margens, estendido na dignidade tranquila de um curso d'água que leva aos confins da terra. We looked at the venerable stream not in the vivid flush of a short day that comes and departs for ever, but in the august light of abiding memories. Wir betrachteten den ehrwürdigen Strom nicht in der lebhaften Aufregung eines kurzen Tages, der kommt und für immer vergeht, sondern im erhabenen Licht der bleibenden Erinnerungen. 私たちはこの由緒ある小川を、永遠に訪れては去っていく短い日の鮮やかな潮流の中ではなく、永遠の記憶の8月の光の中で見ました. Contemplamos o venerável riacho não com o brilho vívido de um dia curto que vem e se vai para sempre, mas com a augusta luz de memórias permanentes. And indeed nothing is easier for a man who has, as the phrase goes, "followed the sea" with reverence and affection, that to evoke the great spirit of the past upon the lower reaches of the Thames. Und in der Tat ist nichts leichter für einen Mann, der, wie man so schön sagt, mit Ehrfurcht und Zuneigung "dem Meer gefolgt" ist, als den großen Geist der Vergangenheit am Unterlauf der Themse zu beschwören. そして実際、敬虔さと愛情を持って「海をたどった」という言葉があるように、テムズ川下流域で過去の偉大な精神を呼び起こすことほど簡単なことはありません。 The tidal current runs to and fro in its unceasing service, crowded with memories of men and ships it had borne to the rest of home or to the battles of the sea. Der Gezeitenstrom verrichtet unablässig seinen Dienst und ist voll von Erinnerungen an Männer und Schiffe, die er in die Heimat oder in die Seeschlachten getragen hat. 潮流は絶え間なく行き来し、家の残りの部分や海の戦いに運ばれた人々や船の思い出でいっぱいです。 潮流在其永不停歇的服務中來回奔波,擠滿了人們和船隻的記憶,這些記憶被它帶到了家鄉的其他地方或海上的戰鬥中。 It had known and served all the men of whom the nation is proud, from Sir Francis Drake to Sir John Franklin, knights all, titled and untitled—the great knights-errant of the sea. Sie kannte und diente all den Männern, auf die die Nation stolz ist, von Sir Francis Drake bis Sir John Franklin, Rittern mit und ohne Titel - den großen Rittern der See. サー・フランシス・ドレークからサー・ジョン・フランクリンに至るまで、国が誇りに思っているすべての男性を知っていて、奉仕していました。 Tinha conhecido e servido todos os homens de que a nação se orgulha, de Sir Francis Drake a Sir John Franklin, todos cavaleiros, com e sem título — os grandes cavaleiros andantes do mar. It had borne all the ships whose names are like jewels flashing in the night of time, from the Golden Hind returning with her rotund flanks full of treasure, to be visited by the Queen's Highness and thus pass out of the gigantic tale, to the Erebus and Terror , bound on other conquests—and that never returned. Es hatte all die Schiffe getragen, deren Namen wie Juwelen in der Nacht der Zeit blinken, von der Goldenen Hind, die mit ihren runden Flanken voller Schätze zurückkehrte, um von der Hoheit der Königin besucht zu werden und so aus der gigantischen Geschichte herauszukommen, bis zur Erebus und Terror, die zu anderen Eroberungen aufbrachen - und die nie zurückkehrten. それは、女王の殿下が訪れて巨大な物語から抜け出すために、宝物でいっぱいの丸い側面を持って戻ってきたゴールデンハインドから、夜にきらめく宝石のような名前を持つすべての船を運び、エレバスに行きました。そして、他の征服に縛られた恐怖、そしてそれは決して戻ってこなかった。 Ele havia carregado todos os navios cujos nomes são como jóias brilhando na noite dos tempos, desde o Golden Hind retornando com seus flancos rotundos cheios de tesouros, para ser visitado pela Alteza da Rainha e assim passar para fora do conto gigantesco, para o Erebus e Terror, vinculado a outras conquistas — e que nunca mais voltaram. 它承載了所有名字如珠寶般閃耀在時間之夜的船隻,從金鹿號帶著滿載寶藏的圓滾滾的腹部歸來,到女王殿下的拜訪,從而從宏大的故事中傳出,到厄瑞玻斯號和恐怖,被其他征服所束縛——而且再也沒有回來。 It had known the ships and the men. それは船と人を知っていました。 Conhecia os navios e os homens. 它熟悉船只和人员。 They had sailed from Deptford, from Greenwich, from Erith—the adventurers and the settlers; kings' ships and the ships of men on 'Change; captains, admirals, the dark "interlopers" of the Eastern trade, and the commissioned "generals" of East India fleets. Sie waren von Deptford, von Greenwich, von Erith aus gesegelt - Abenteurer und Siedler, königliche Schiffe und Schiffe von Männern auf dem Wechsel, Kapitäne, Admirale, die dunklen "Eindringlinge" des Osthandels und die beauftragten "Generäle" der ostindischen Flotten. 彼らはデプトフォードから、グリニッジから、エリスから船出してきた――冒険者と入植者たち。王の船と「変化」の人の船。船長、提督、東部貿易の暗黒の「侵入者」、東インド艦隊の委託された「将軍」。 Eles partiram de Deptford, de Greenwich, de Erith — os aventureiros e os colonos; navios de reis e navios de homens em 'Mudança; capitães, almirantes, os "intrusos" sombrios do comércio oriental e os "generais" comissionados das frotas das Índias Orientais. 他们从德特福德、格林威治、厄里斯出发——冒险者和定居者;国王的船和“改变”上的人的船;船长、海军上将、东方贸易的黑暗“闯入者”以及东印度舰队的受命“将军”。 他們從德特福德、格林威治、厄里斯——冒險家和定居者——起航;國王的船隻和人類的船隻在“變化”;船長、海軍上將、東方貿易的黑暗“闖入者”,以及東印度艦隊的委任“將軍”。 Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. Ob sie nun auf der Suche nach Gold oder nach Ruhm waren, sie alle waren auf diesem Strom unterwegs, mit dem Schwert und oft auch mit der Fackel, als Boten der Macht im Land, als Träger eines Funkens aus dem heiligen Feuer. Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. 黄金の狩人、名声の追求者、彼らは皆、剣としばしば松明を携え、この地に力の使者として、神聖な火からの火花を運ぶ者として、その流れに出かけていた。 Caçadores de ouro ou perseguidores de fama, todos eles haviam saído por aquele riacho, carregando a espada e muitas vezes a tocha, mensageiros do poder dentro da terra, portadores de uma faísca do fogo sagrado. What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth!... Welche Größe wäre nicht auf der Ebbe dieses Flusses in das Geheimnis einer unbekannten Erde geschwemmt worden!... その川の引き潮に浮かんでいなかった偉大さは、未知の地球の謎にありました! The dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires. Die Träume der Menschen, die Saat des Gemeinwesens, die Keime der Reiche. 人々の夢、連邦の種、帝国の芽。 人類的夢想,聯邦的種子,帝國的萌芽。

The sun set; the dusk fell on the stream, and lights began to appear along the shore. Die Sonne ging unter, die Dämmerung fiel auf den Fluss, und am Ufer tauchten Lichter auf. 日の入り;夕暮れが小川に落ち、海岸に沿って光が現れ始めました。 The Chapman light-house, a three-legged thing erect on a mud-flat, shone strongly. Der Chapman-Leuchtturm, ein dreibeiniges Ding, das auf einem Watt steht, leuchtete stark. 干潟に立てられた三本足のチャップマン灯台が強く輝いていた。 O farol de Chapman, uma coisa de três pernas erguida em um lodaçal, brilhava fortemente. 查普曼灯塔,一个竖立在泥滩上的三足动物,发出强烈的光芒。 Lights of ships moved in the fairway—a great stir of lights going up and going down. Die Lichter der Schiffe bewegten sich im Fahrwasser - ein großes Gewirr von Lichtern, die auf- und abgingen. 船の灯りがフェアウェイを揺らめき、上下する灯りが激しく揺れていた。 Luzes de navios moviam-se no campo — uma grande agitação de luzes subindo e descendo. 船的灯光在航道上移动——灯光起起落落的巨大轰动。 And farther west on the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the stars. Und weiter westlich am Oberlauf zeichnete sich der Ort der monströsen Stadt noch immer unheilvoll am Himmel ab, eine brütende Düsternis im Sonnenschein, ein grelles Leuchten unter den Sternen. そしてさらに西の上流域では、巨大な町の場所がまだ空に不吉にマークされていました. 太陽の光の陰気な暗闇、星の下の不気味なまぶしさ. E mais a oeste, no trecho superior, o lugar da cidade monstruosa ainda estava marcado de forma sinistra no céu, uma melancolia sombria ao sol, um clarão lúgubre sob as estrelas. 而在上游更西边的地方,那个可怕的城镇仍然在天空中留下了不祥的标记,阳光下的阴沉,星空下的耀眼光芒。 在更遠的西部,在上游,這個巨大城鎮的地方仍然在天空中不祥地標示,陽光下陰沉沉的陰暗,星空下刺眼的眩光。

"And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark places of the earth." "E este também", disse Marlow de repente, "tem sido um dos lugares escuros da terra." “而且这里也是,”马洛突然说道,“也是地球上最黑暗的地方之一。”

He was the only man of us who still "followed the sea." 彼はまだ「海をたどった」私たちの唯一の男でした。 Ele era o único homem de nós que ainda "seguiu o mar". The worst that could be said of him was that he did not represent his class. 彼について言える最悪のことは、彼が自分のクラスを代表していなかったことです. O pior que se poderia dizer dele era que não representava sua classe. 对他最坏的评价是他不代表他的班级。 He was a seaman, but he was a wanderer, too, while most seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary life. Er war ein Seemann, aber er war auch ein Wanderer, während die meisten Seeleute, wenn man es so ausdrücken darf, ein sesshaftes Leben führen. 彼は船員でしたが、放浪者でもありました。ほとんどの船員は、そう表現するなら、座りっぱなしの生活を送っていました。 Ele era um marinheiro, mas também era um andarilho, enquanto a maioria dos marinheiros leva, se assim se pode expressar, uma vida sedentária. 他是一名海員,但也是一名流浪者,而大多數海員過著久坐不動的生活,如果可以這麼說的話。 Their minds are of the stay-at-home order, and their home is always with them—the ship; and so is their country—the sea. 彼らの心は外出禁止令であり、彼らの家は常に彼らと共にあります。それは船です。そして彼らの国、海もそうです。 Suas mentes são da ordem de ficar em casa, e sua casa está sempre com eles — o navio; e assim é o seu país - o mar. One ship is very much like another, and the sea is always the same. Um navio é muito parecido com outro, e o mar é sempre o mesmo. In the immutability of their surroundings the foreign shores, the foreign faces, the changing immensity of life, glide past, veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful ignorance; for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny. In der Unveränderlichkeit ihrer Umgebung gleiten die fremden Ufer, die fremden Gesichter, die wechselnde Unermesslichkeit des Lebens vorbei, verschleiert nicht durch ein Gefühl des Geheimnisses, sondern durch eine leicht verächtliche Ignoranz; denn für einen Seemann gibt es nichts Geheimnisvolles, es sei denn, es ist das Meer selbst, das die Herrin seiner Existenz ist und so unergründlich wie das Schicksal. Na imutabilidade de seus arredores, as margens estrangeiras, os rostos estrangeiros, a imensidão mutável da vida, deslizam, velados não por um senso de mistério, mas por uma ignorância ligeiramente desdenhosa; pois não há nada de misterioso para um marinheiro a não ser o próprio mar, que é o dono de sua existência e tão inescrutável quanto o Destino. 在他们周围不变的环境中,陌生的海岸、陌生的面孔、不断变化的浩瀚生命,滑过过去,掩盖的不是神秘感,而是略带轻蔑的无知;因为对海员来说,没有什么神秘的,除非是大海本身,大海是他存在的情妇,就像命运一样高深莫测。 For the rest, after his hours of work, a casual stroll or a casual spree on shore suffices to unfold for him the secret of a whole continent, and generally he finds the secret not worth knowing. Im Übrigen genügt ihm nach seiner Arbeit ein gelegentlicher Spaziergang oder ein gelegentlicher Ausflug an die Küste, um das Geheimnis eines ganzen Kontinents zu lüften, und in der Regel findet er das Geheimnis nicht wissenswert. De resto, depois das horas de trabalho, basta um passeio casual ou uma farra casual em terra para lhe revelar o segredo de todo um continente, e geralmente ele acha que não vale a pena conhecer o segredo. 其余的,在他下班后,在岸上散散步或散散心的狂欢足以为他揭开整个大陆的秘密,而通常他觉得这个秘密不值得知道。 The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut. Das Seemannsgarn hat eine direkte Einfachheit, deren ganze Bedeutung in der Schale einer geknackten Nuss liegt. Os fios dos marinheiros têm uma simplicidade direta, cujo significado inteiro está dentro da casca de uma noz quebrada. But Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine. Aber Marlow war nicht typisch (wenn man von seiner Neigung, Seemannsgarn zu spinnen, absieht), und für ihn lag die Bedeutung einer Episode nicht im Inneren wie ein Kern, sondern außerhalb, umhüllte die Erzählung, die sie hervorbrachte, nur wie ein Schein einen Dunst, ähnlich einem dieser nebligen Halos, die manchmal durch die spektrale Beleuchtung des Mondscheins sichtbar werden. Mas Marlow não era típico (se não fosse sua propensão a contar histórias), e para ele o significado de um episódio não estava dentro como um grão, mas fora, envolvendo o conto que o trouxe à tona apenas como um brilho traz uma neblina, em a semelhança de um desses halos enevoados que às vezes se tornam visíveis pela iluminação espectral do luar.

His remark did not seem at all surprising. Seine Bemerkung schien keineswegs überraschend. Sua observação não pareceu nada surpreendente. It was just like Marlow. Era como Marlow. It was accepted in silence. No one took the trouble to grunt even; and presently he said, very slow—"I was thinking of very old times, when the Romans first came here, nineteen hundred years ago—the other day .... Light came out of this river since—you say Knights? Niemand machte sich die Mühe, auch nur zu grunzen; und dann sagte er, sehr langsam: "Ich dachte an sehr alte Zeiten, als die Römer zum ersten Mal hierher kamen, vor neunzehnhundert Jahren - neulich .... Licht kam aus diesem Fluss, seit - ihr sagt, Ritter? Ninguém se deu ao trabalho de grunhir; e logo ele disse, muito devagar – “Eu estava pensando em tempos muito antigos, quando os romanos chegaram aqui pela primeira vez, mil e novecentos anos atrás – outro dia... A luz saiu deste rio desde – você diz Cavaleiros? 甚至沒有人不厭其煩地哼一聲;不久他說,非常緩慢——“我在想很久以前,當羅馬人第一次來到這裡,一千九百年前——前幾天……從那以後——你說騎士? Yes; but it is like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds. Ja, aber es ist wie ein Lauffeuer auf einer Ebene, wie ein Blitz in den Wolken. We live in the flicker—may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! Wir leben im Flimmern - möge es so lange andauern, wie die alte Erde rollt! Vivemos na cintilação — que ela dure enquanto a velha terra continuar rolando! But darkness was here yesterday. Mas a escuridão estava aqui ontem. Imagine the feelings of a commander of a fine—what d'ye call 'em?—trireme in the Mediterranean, ordered suddenly to the north; run overland across the Gauls in a hurry; put in charge of one of these craft the legionaries—a wonderful lot of handy men they must have been, too—used to build, apparently by the hundred, in a month or two, if we may believe what we read. Man stelle sich die Gefühle eines Befehlshabers einer feinen - wie nennt man sie - Trireme im Mittelmeer vor, der plötzlich nach Norden beordert wird; der in aller Eile über Land durch die Gallier läuft; dem man eines dieser Boote anvertraut, das die Legionäre - ein wunderbarer Haufen geschickter Männer, die sie auch gewesen sein müssen - scheinbar zu Hunderten in ein oder zwei Monaten gebaut haben, wenn man dem Glauben schenken darf, was man liest. Imagine os sentimentos de um comandante de uma multa — como você os chama? — trirreme no Mediterrâneo, ordenada de repente para o norte; correr por terra pelos gauleses com pressa; encarregado de um desses ofícios os legionários — um grupo maravilhoso de homens habilidosos, eles também devem ter sido — costumavam construir, aparentemente às centenas, em um mês ou dois, se acreditarmos no que lemos. 想像一下一位指揮官的感受——你們怎麼稱呼他們?——地中海的三桅帆船,突然接到北方的命令;匆忙從陸路穿越高盧;負責這些工藝之一的軍團士兵——他們一定也是很多手巧的人——過去常常在一兩個月內建造,顯然是一百個,如果我們相信我們讀到的話。 Imagine him here—the very end of the world, a sea the colour of lead, a sky the colour of smoke, a kind of ship about as rigid as a concertina—and going up this river with stores, or orders, or what you like. Stellen Sie sich vor, er ist hier, am Ende der Welt, das Meer hat die Farbe von Blei, der Himmel die Farbe von Rauch, ein Schiff ist so steif wie eine Ziehharmonika, und er fährt diesen Fluss hinauf, mit Vorräten oder Aufträgen oder was immer Sie wollen. Imagine-o aqui — o fim do mundo, um mar cor de chumbo, um céu cor de fumaça, uma espécie de navio rígido como uma concertina — e subindo este rio com provisões, ou encomendas, ou o que você quiser. Curti. Sand-banks, marshes, forests, savages,—precious little to eat fit for a civilized man, nothing but Thames water to drink. Sandbänke, Sümpfe, Wälder, Wilde, kaum etwas zu essen für einen zivilisierten Menschen, nichts als Themse-Wasser zu trinken. Bancos de areia, pântanos, florestas, selvagens, - muito pouco para comer para um homem civilizado, nada além de água do Tâmisa para beber. No Falernian wine here, no going ashore. Hier gibt es keinen falernischen Wein, keinen Landgang. Nada de vinho Falerniano aqui, nada de desembarque. Here and there a military camp lost in a wilderness, like a needle in a bundle of hay—cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile, and death—death skulking in the air, in the water, in the bush. Hier und da ein Militärlager, verloren in der Wildnis, wie eine Nadel in einem Bündel Heu - Kälte, Nebel, Stürme, Krankheiten, Verbannung und Tod - der Tod schleicht in der Luft, im Wasser, im Busch. Aqui e ali um acampamento militar perdido no deserto, como uma agulha em um feixe de feno - frio, neblina, tempestades, doenças, exílio e morte - a morte espreitando no ar, na água, no mato. 到处都是荒野中的军营,就像一捆干草中的一根针——寒冷、雾气、风暴、疾病、流放和死亡——死亡在空中、水中、灌木丛中潜伏。 They must have been dying like flies here. Eles deviam estar morrendo como moscas aqui. Oh, yes—he did it. Oh, sim, ele fez isso. Did it very well, too, no doubt, and without thinking much about it either, except afterwards to brag of what he had gone through in his time, perhaps. Er hat es auch sehr gut gemacht, ohne Zweifel, und ohne viel darüber nachzudenken, außer vielleicht hinterher damit zu prahlen, was er in seiner Zeit durchgemacht hat. Fez muito bem também, sem dúvida, e também sem pensar muito nisso, exceto depois para se gabar do que havia passado em seu tempo, talvez. They were men enough to face the darkness. Sie waren Männer genug, um sich der Dunkelheit zu stellen. Eles eram homens o suficiente para enfrentar a escuridão. And perhaps he was cheered by keeping his eye on a chance of promotion to the fleet at Ravenna by and by, if he had good friends in Rome and survived the awful climate. Und vielleicht wurde er dadurch ermutigt, dass er die Chance auf eine Beförderung in der Flotte von Ravenna im Auge behielt, wenn er gute Freunde in Rom hatte und das schreckliche Klima überlebte. E talvez ele estivesse animado por ficar de olho em uma chance de promoção para a frota em Ravenna aos poucos, se tivesse bons amigos em Roma e sobrevivesse ao clima terrível. Or think of a decent young citizen in a toga—perhaps too much dice, you know—coming out here in the train of some prefect, or tax-gatherer, or trader even, to mend his fortunes. Oder stellen Sie sich einen anständigen jungen Bürger in einer Toga vor - vielleicht hat er zu viel gewürfelt, wissen Sie -, der im Gefolge eines Präfekten, eines Steuereintreibers oder sogar eines Händlers hierher kommt, um sein Glück zu verbessern. Land in a swamp, march through the woods, and in some inland post feel the savagery, the utter savagery, had closed round him—all that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men. In einem Sumpf zu landen, durch die Wälder zu marschieren und an irgendeinem Posten im Landesinneren zu spüren, wie sich die Wildheit, die völlige Wildheit, um ihn herum geschlossen hatte - all das geheimnisvolle Leben der Wildnis, das sich im Wald, im Dschungel, in den Herzen der wilden Menschen regt. Aterrisse em um pântano, marche pela floresta e, em algum posto do interior, sinta que a selvageria, a selvageria absoluta, se fechou ao seu redor - toda aquela vida misteriosa da selva que se agita na floresta, nas selvas, nos corações dos selvagens. homens. There's no initiation either into such mysteries. He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is also detestable. Er muss inmitten des Unbegreiflichen leben, was ebenfalls verabscheuungswürdig ist. And it has a fascination, too, that goes to work upon him. Und es hat auch eine Faszination, die auf ihn einwirkt. The fascination of the abomination—you know, imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate." Die Faszination der Abscheulichkeit - stellen Sie sich die wachsende Reue vor, die Sehnsucht nach Flucht, den ohnmächtigen Ekel, die Kapitulation, den Hass." O fascínio da abominação - você sabe, imagine os arrependimentos crescentes, o desejo de escapar, o desgosto impotente, a rendição, o ódio."

He paused.

"Mind," he began again, lifting one arm from the elbow, the palm of the hand outwards, so that, with his legs folded before him, he had the pose of a Buddha preaching in European clothes and without a lotus-flower—"Mind, none of us would feel exactly like this. "Geist", begann er wieder und hob einen Arm vom Ellbogen an, die Handfläche nach außen, so dass er mit den vor ihm gefalteten Beinen die Pose eines Buddhas einnahm, der in europäischer Kleidung und ohne Lotusblume predigte, "Geist, keiner von uns würde sich genau so fühlen. "Mente", ele começou de novo, levantando um braço do cotovelo, a palma da mão para fora, de modo que, com as pernas dobradas à sua frente, ele tinha a pose de um Buda pregando em roupas européias e sem flor de lótus... "Lembre-se, nenhum de nós se sentiria exatamente assim. What saves us is efficiency—the devotion to efficiency. Was uns rettet, ist die Effizienz - die Hingabe an die Effizienz. But these chaps were not much account, really. Aber diese Burschen waren wirklich nicht viel wert. They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect. Sie waren keine Kolonisten; ihre Verwaltung war lediglich ein Druckmittel, mehr nicht, wie ich vermute. Eles não eram colonos; sua administração foi apenas um aperto, e nada mais, eu suspeito. They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force—nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others. Sie waren Eroberer, und dazu braucht man nur rohe Gewalt - nichts, womit man sich rühmen kann, wenn man sie hat, denn die eigene Stärke ist nur ein Zufall, der aus der Schwäche anderer entsteht. They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. Sie griffen nach dem, was sie bekommen konnten, um dessen willen, was zu bekommen war. Eles agarraram o que podiam obter por causa do que deveria ser obtido. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind—as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. Es war einfach nur Raub mit Gewalt, schwerer Mord in großem Stil, und Männer, die blind drauf losgingen - wie es sich für diejenigen gehört, die gegen die Dunkelheit vorgehen. Foi apenas roubo com violência, assassinato agravado em grande escala, e homens fazendo isso às cegas – como é muito apropriado para aqueles que enfrentam uma escuridão. The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. Die Eroberung der Erde, was meistens bedeutet, dass man sie denen wegnimmt, die eine andere Hautfarbe oder etwas flachere Nasen haben als wir, ist keine schöne Sache, wenn man sich zu sehr damit beschäftigt. A conquista da terra, que significa principalmente afastá-la daqueles que têm uma compleição diferente ou nariz um pouco mais achatado do que nós, não é uma coisa bonita quando você olha muito para ela. What redeems it is the idea only. Das Einzige, was es rettet, ist die Idee. O que redime é apenas a ideia. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea—something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to...." Eine Idee dahinter; keine sentimentale Verstellung, sondern eine Idee; und ein selbstloser Glaube an die Idee - etwas, das man aufstellen, vor dem man sich verneigen und dem man ein Opfer darbringen kann...."

He broke off. Er brach ab. Ele se interrompeu. Flames glided in the river, small green flames, red flames, white flames, pursuing, overtaking, joining, crossing each other—then separating slowly or hastily. Flammen glitten im Fluss, kleine grüne Flammen, rote Flammen, weiße Flammen, verfolgten, überholten, vereinigten sich, kreuzten sich - und trennten sich dann langsam oder hastig. Chamas deslizavam no rio, pequenas chamas verdes, chamas vermelhas, chamas brancas, perseguindo, ultrapassando, juntando-se, cruzando-se - depois se separando devagar ou apressadamente. The traffic of the great city went on in the deepening night upon the sleepless river. Der Verkehr der großen Stadt ging in der sich vertiefenden Nacht auf dem schlaflosen Fluss weiter. We looked on, waiting patiently—there was nothing else to do till the end of the flood; but it was only after a long silence, when he said, in a hesitating voice, "I suppose you fellows remember I did once turn fresh-water sailor for a bit," that we knew we were fated, before the ebb began to run, to hear about one of Marlow's inconclusive experiences. Wir sahen zu und warteten geduldig - bis zum Ende der Flut gab es nichts mehr zu tun; aber erst als er nach langem Schweigen mit zögernder Stimme sagte: "Ich nehme an, ihr erinnert euch daran, dass ich einmal für eine Weile Süßwassermatrose war", wussten wir, dass es uns bestimmt war, noch vor dem Einsetzen der Ebbe etwas über eine von Marlows unschlüssigen Erfahrungen zu erfahren. Ficamos olhando, esperando pacientemente — não havia mais nada a fazer até o fim do dilúvio; mas foi só depois de um longo silêncio, quando ele disse, com uma voz hesitante: "Suponho que vocês se lembram que certa vez eu me tornei um marinheiro de água doce por um tempo", que soubemos que estávamos destinados, antes que o refluxo começasse a correr. , para ouvir sobre uma das experiências inconclusivas de Marlow.

"I don't want to bother you much with what happened to me personally," he began, showing in this remark the weakness of many tellers of tales who seem so often unaware of what their audience would like best to hear; "yet to understand the effect of it on me you ought to know how I got out there, what I saw, how I went up that river to the place where I first met the poor chap. "Ich will Sie nicht damit belästigen, was mir persönlich widerfahren ist", begann er und zeigte mit dieser Bemerkung die Schwäche vieler Erzähler, die so oft nicht zu wissen scheinen, was ihre Zuhörer am liebsten hören möchten; "aber um zu verstehen, wie es auf mich gewirkt hat, sollten Sie wissen, wie ich dorthin gekommen bin, was ich gesehen habe, wie ich den Fluss hinaufgefahren bin bis zu der Stelle, wo ich den armen Kerl zum ersten Mal getroffen habe. It was the farthest point of navigation and the culminating point of my experience. Es war der am weitesten entfernte Punkt der Navigation und der Höhepunkt meiner Erfahrung. It seemed somehow to throw a kind of light on everything about me—and into my thoughts. It was sombre enough, too—and pitiful—not extraordinary in any way—not very clear either. Es war auch düster genug - und bedauernswert - nicht außergewöhnlich in irgendeiner Weise - aber auch nicht sehr klar. No, not very clear. And yet it seemed to throw a kind of light. Und doch schien sie eine Art Licht zu werfen.

"I had then, as you remember, just returned to London after a lot of Indian Ocean, Pacific, China Seas—a regular dose of the East—six years or so, and I was loafing about, hindering you fellows in your work and invading your homes, just as though I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you. "Ich war damals, wie Sie sich erinnern, gerade nach London zurückgekehrt, nachdem ich viel im Indischen Ozean, im Pazifik und im Chinesischen Meer unterwegs war - eine regelmäßige Dosis Osten -, sechs Jahre oder so, und ich trieb mich herum, behinderte Sie bei Ihrer Arbeit und drang in Ihre Häuser ein, als hätte ich eine himmlische Mission, Sie zu zivilisieren. "Eu tinha então, como vocês se lembram, acabado de voltar para Londres depois de muito Oceano Índico, Pacífico, Mar da China - uma dose regular do Oriente - mais ou menos seis anos, e eu estava vagando, atrapalhando seus companheiros em seu trabalho e invadindo suas casas, como se eu tivesse a missão celestial de civilizá-los. It was very fine for a time, but after a bit I did get tired of resting. Then I began to look for a ship—I should think the hardest work on earth. Dann begann ich, nach einem Schiff zu suchen - die wohl härteste Arbeit der Welt. But the ships wouldn't even look at me. Mas os navios nem olhavam para mim. And I got tired of that game, too.

"Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. "Als ich ein kleiner Junge war, hatte ich eine Leidenschaft für Landkarten. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. Ich würde mir stundenlang Südamerika oder Afrika oder Australien ansehen und mich in all den Herrlichkeiten der Entdeckungen verlieren. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, 'When I grow up I will go there.' Damals gab es viele leere Stellen auf der Erde, und wenn ich eine sah, die auf einer Landkarte besonders einladend aussah (aber so sehen sie alle aus), legte ich meinen Finger darauf und sagte: "Wenn ich groß bin, werde ich dorthin gehen". The North Pole was one of these places, I remember. Well, I haven't been there yet, and shall not try now. The glamour's off. Der Glamour ist weg. Other places were scattered about the hemispheres. Andere Orte waren über die Hemisphären verstreut. I have been in some of them, and... well, we won't talk about that. But there was one yet—the biggest, the most blank, so to speak—that I had a hankering after. Aber es gab noch eine, die größte, die leerste, sozusagen, nach der ich mich sehnte.

"True, by this time it was not a blank space any more. It had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names. It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery—a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. Er hatte aufgehört, ein leerer Raum voller reizvoller Geheimnisse zu sein - ein weißer Fleck, über den ein Junge herrlich träumen konnte. It had become a place of darkness. But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land. Aber es gab darin vor allem einen Fluss, einen mächtigen, großen Fluss, den man auf der Karte sehen konnte, der einer riesigen, aufgerollten Schlange glich, mit dem Kopf im Meer, dem ruhenden Körper, der sich weit über ein weites Land schlängelte, und dem Schwanz, der sich in den Tiefen des Landes verlor. And as I looked at the map of it in a shop-window, it fascinated me as a snake would a bird—a silly little bird. Then I remembered there was a big concern, a Company for trade on that river. Dann erinnerte ich mich daran, dass es ein großes Unternehmen gab, das auf diesem Fluss Handel betrieb. Dash it all! I thought to myself, they can't trade without using some kind of craft on that lot of fresh water—steamboats! Ich dachte mir, die können doch nicht Handel treiben, ohne irgendeine Art von Schiff auf diesem Haufen von Süßwasser zu benutzen - Dampfboote! Why shouldn't I try to get charge of one? Warum sollte ich nicht versuchen, eine zu bekommen? I went on along Fleet Street, but could not shake off the idea. Ich ging weiter die Fleet Street entlang, konnte aber den Gedanken nicht abschütteln. The snake had charmed me. Die Schlange hatte mich verzaubert.

"You understand it was a Continental concern, that Trading society; but I have a lot of relations living on the Continent, because it's cheap and not so nasty as it looks, they say. "Sie verstehen, dass es ein kontinentales Unternehmen war, diese Handelsgesellschaft; aber ich habe viele Verwandte, die auf dem Kontinent leben, denn es ist billig und nicht so schlimm, wie es aussieht, sagen sie.

"I am sorry to own I began to worry them. "Es tut mir leid, dass ich sie zu beunruhigen begann. "Lamento confessar que comecei a preocupá-los. This was already a fresh departure for me. I was not used to get things that way, you know. Ich war es nicht gewohnt, Dinge auf diese Weise zu bekommen, wissen Sie. I always went my own road and on my own legs where I had a mind to go. Ich bin immer meinen eigenen Weg gegangen und auf meinen eigenen Beinen dorthin, wo ich hinwollte. I wouldn't have believed it of myself; but, then—you see—I felt somehow I must get there by hook or by crook. Ich hätte es mir selbst nicht zugetraut, aber ich hatte das Gefühl, dass ich auf Biegen und Brechen dorthin gelangen musste. Eu não teria acreditado por mim mesmo; mas, então, você vê, eu senti de alguma forma que deveria chegar lá por bem ou por mal. So I worried them. Also habe ich sie beunruhigt. The men said 'My dear fellow,' and did nothing. Die Männer sagten: "Mein lieber Freund", und taten nichts. Os homens disseram 'Meu caro amigo' e não fizeram nada. Then—would you believe it?—I tried the women. Dann - Sie werden es nicht glauben - habe ich es bei den Frauen versucht. Então — você acredita? — tentei as mulheres. I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work—to get a job. Ich, Charlie Marlow, habe die Frauen zur Arbeit geschickt, um einen Job zu bekommen. Eu, Charlie Marlow, coloco as mulheres para trabalhar — para conseguir um emprego. Heavens! Um Himmels willen! Well, you see, the notion drove me. Nun, wissen Sie, der Gedanke trieb mich an. Bem, você vê, a noção me levou. I had an aunt, a dear enthusiastic soul. Ich hatte eine Tante, eine liebe, begeisterte Seele. She wrote: 'It will be delightful. Sie schrieb: "Es wird reizvoll sein. I am ready to do anything, anything for you. It is a glorious idea. I know the wife of a very high personage in the Administration, and also a man who has lots of influence with,' etc. Ich kenne die Frau einer sehr hohen Persönlichkeit in der Verwaltung und auch einen Mann, der viel Einfluss hat" usw. Conheço a esposa de um alto personagem da Administração, e também um homem que tem muita influência' etc. She was determined to make no end of fuss to get me appointed skipper of a river steamboat, if such was my fancy. Sie war fest entschlossen, alles daran zu setzen, dass ich zum Kapitän eines Flussdampfers ernannt würde, wenn es nach mir ginge. Ela estava determinada a não fazer nenhum alarido para que eu fosse nomeado capitão de um barco a vapor fluvial, se tal fosse o meu desejo.

"I got my appointment—of course; and I got it very quick. "Consegui meu compromisso, é claro; e consegui muito rápido. It appears the Company had received news that one of their captains had been killed in a scuffle with the natives. Offenbar hatte die Gesellschaft die Nachricht erhalten, dass einer ihrer Kapitäne bei einem Handgemenge mit den Eingeborenen getötet worden war. Parece que a Companhia recebeu a notícia de que um de seus capitães havia sido morto em uma briga com os nativos. This was my chance, and it made me the more anxious to go. Das war meine Chance, und ich war umso gespannter darauf, hinzugehen. It was only months and months afterwards, when I made the attempt to recover what was left of the body, that I heard the original quarrel arose from a misunderstanding about some hens. Erst Monate später, als ich den Versuch unternahm, die Überreste der Leiche zu bergen, erfuhr ich, dass der ursprüngliche Streit auf ein Missverständnis über einige Hühner zurückzuführen war. Foi apenas meses e meses depois, quando tentei recuperar o que restava do corpo, que ouvi que a briga original surgiu de um mal-entendido sobre algumas galinhas. Yes, two black hens. Fresleven—that was the fellow's name, a Dane—thought himself wronged somehow in the bargain, so he went ashore and started to hammer the chief of the village with a stick. Fresleven - so hieß der Kerl, ein Däne - fühlte sich irgendwie im Unrecht, ging an Land und begann, mit einem Stock auf den Häuptling des Dorfes einzuschlagen. Fresleven — esse era o nome do sujeito, um dinamarquês — achou-se injustiçado de alguma forma na barganha, então desembarcou e começou a martelar o chefe da aldeia com uma vara. Oh, it didn't surprise me in the least to hear this, and at the same time to be told that Fresleven was the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs. Oh, es überraschte mich nicht im Geringsten, dies zu hören und gleichzeitig gesagt zu bekommen, dass Fresleven das sanfteste und ruhigste Wesen war, das je auf zwei Beinen gegangen ist. Oh, não me surpreendeu nem um pouco ouvir isso, e ao mesmo tempo saber que Fresleven era a criatura mais gentil e silenciosa que já andou sobre duas pernas. No doubt he was; but he had been a couple of years already out there engaged in the noble cause, you know, and he probably felt the need at last of asserting his self-respect in some way. Zweifellos war er das; aber er war schon ein paar Jahre da draußen, um sich für die edle Sache zu engagieren, wissen Sie, und er fühlte wahrscheinlich das Bedürfnis, endlich seine Selbstachtung in irgendeiner Weise zu behaupten. Therefore he whacked the old nigger mercilessly, while a big crowd of his people watched him, thunderstruck, till some man—I was told the chief's son—in desperation at hearing the old chap yell, made a tentative jab with a spear at the white man—and of course it went quite easy between the shoulder-blades. Portanto, ele bateu no velho negro sem piedade, enquanto uma grande multidão de seu povo o observava, atordoado, até que um homem - me disseram que o filho do chefe - em desespero ao ouvir o velho gritar, deu um golpe hesitante com uma lança no branco. cara - e é claro que foi muito fácil entre as omoplatas. Then the whole population cleared into the forest, expecting all kinds of calamities to happen, while, on the other hand, the steamer Fresleven commanded left also in a bad panic, in charge of the engineer, I believe. Daraufhin flüchtete die gesamte Bevölkerung in den Wald, weil sie alle möglichen Unglücke erwartete, während der Dampfer Fresleven, der, wie ich glaube, unter der Leitung des Ingenieurs stand, ebenfalls in einer schlimmen Panik ablegte. Então toda a população desmatou para a floresta, esperando que todos os tipos de calamidades acontecessem, enquanto, por outro lado, o vapor Fresleven comandado partiu também em grande pânico, a cargo do engenheiro, acredito. Afterwards nobody seemed to trouble much about Fresleven's remains, till I got out and stepped into his shoes. Danach schien sich niemand mehr um die Überreste von Fresleven zu kümmern, bis ich ausstieg und in seine Fußstapfen trat. Depois, ninguém pareceu se importar muito com os restos mortais de Fresleven, até que eu saí e entrei em seu lugar. I couldn't let it rest, though; but when an opportunity offered at last to meet my predecessor, the grass growing through his ribs was tall enough to hide his bones. Aber als sich endlich die Gelegenheit bot, meinen Vorgänger zu treffen, war das Gras, das durch seine Rippen wuchs, hoch genug, um seine Knochen zu verbergen. Eu não podia deixá-lo descansar, no entanto; mas quando finalmente surgiu a oportunidade de conhecer meu antecessor, a grama que crescia em suas costelas era alta o suficiente para esconder seus ossos. They were all there. The supernatural being had not been touched after he fell. Das übernatürliche Wesen war nach seinem Sturz nicht berührt worden. O ser sobrenatural não foi tocado depois que ele caiu. And the village was deserted, the huts gaped black, rotting, all askew within the fallen enclosures. Und das Dorf war verlassen, die Hütten klafften schwarz und verrottet in den umgestürzten Zäunen. And the village was deserted, the huts gaped black, rotting, all askew within the fallen enclosures. E a aldeia estava deserta, as cabanas pretas, apodrecidas, todas tortas dentro dos cercados caídos. A calamity had come to it, sure enough. Ein Unglück war über sie gekommen, das war sicher. The people had vanished. Mad terror had scattered them, men, women, and children, through the bush, and they had never returned. Der wahnsinnige Schrecken hatte sie, Männer, Frauen und Kinder, in den Busch verstreut, und sie waren nie zurückgekehrt. Um terror insano os espalhou, homens, mulheres e crianças, pelo mato, e eles nunca mais voltaram. What became of the hens I don't know either. Was aus den Hühnern geworden ist, weiß ich auch nicht. What became of the hens I don't know either. I should think the cause of progress got them, anyhow. Ich denke, die Sache mit dem Fortschritt hat sie auf jeden Fall erreicht. Eu deveria pensar que a causa do progresso os pegou, de qualquer maneira. However, through this glorious affair I got my appointment, before I had fairly begun to hope for it. Doch durch diese glorreiche Angelegenheit bekam ich meine Ernennung, bevor ich überhaupt angefangen hatte, darauf zu hoffen. No entanto, por meio desse caso glorioso, consegui minha nomeação, antes de começar a esperar por isso.

"I flew around like mad to get ready, and before forty-eight hours I was crossing the Channel to show myself to my employers, and sign the contract. "Ich flog wie verrückt herum, um mich vorzubereiten, und vor achtundvierzig Stunden überquerte ich den Ärmelkanal, um mich meinen Arbeitgebern vorzustellen und den Vertrag zu unterschreiben. In a very few hours I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a whited sepulchre. In nur wenigen Stunden kam ich in einer Stadt an, die mich immer an ein weißes Grab denken lässt. Prejudice no doubt. Zweifellos ein Vorurteil. Preconceito sem dúvida. I had no difficulty in finding the Company's offices. Ich hatte keine Schwierigkeiten, die Büros des Unternehmens zu finden. It was the biggest thing in the town, and everybody I met was full of it. Es war die größte Sache in der Stadt, und jeder, den ich traf, war voll davon. They were going to run an over-sea empire, and make no end of coin by trade. Sie wollten ein Übersee-Imperium aufbauen und mit dem Handel viel Geld verdienen. Eles iriam administrar um império ultramarino e ganhar dinheiro com o comércio.

"A narrow and deserted street in deep shadow, high houses, innumerable windows with venetian blinds, a dead silence, grass sprouting right and left, immense double doors standing ponderously ajar. "Eine enge und verlassene Straße im tiefen Schatten, hohe Häuser, unzählige Fenster mit Jalousien, Totenstille, rechts und links sprießendes Gras, riesige, schwerfällig angelehnte Doppeltüren. I slipped through one of these cracks, went up a swept and ungarnished staircase, as arid as a desert, and opened the first door I came to. Ich schlüpfte durch eine dieser Ritzen, stieg eine ausgefegte und ungeschliffene Treppe hinauf, die so trocken wie eine Wüste war, und öffnete die erste Tür, die ich fand. Deslizei por uma dessas frestas, subi uma escada varrida e desguarnecida, árida como um deserto, e abri a primeira porta que encontrei. Two women, one fat and the other slim, sat on straw-bottomed chairs, knitting black wool. Duas mulheres, uma gorda e a outra magra, estavam sentadas em cadeiras com fundo de palha, tricotando lã preta. The slim one got up and walked straight at me—still knitting with downcast eyes—and only just as I began to think of getting out of her way, as you would for a somnambulist, stood still, and looked up. A esbelta se levantou e caminhou direto para mim — ainda tricotando com os olhos baixos — e só quando comecei a pensar em sair do caminho dela, como você faria para um sonâmbulo, parou e olhou para cima. Her dress was as plain as an umbrella-cover, and she turned round without a word and preceded me into a waiting-room. Seu vestido era tão simples quanto uma capa de guarda-chuva, e ela se virou sem dizer uma palavra e me precedeu em uma sala de espera. I gave my name, and looked about. Ich nannte meinen Namen und sah mich um. Dei meu nome e olhei em volta. Deal table in the middle, plain chairs all round the walls, on one end a large shining map, marked with all the colours of a rainbow. Ein Tisch in der Mitte, schlichte Stühle an den Wänden, an einem Ende eine große, leuchtende Landkarte, die mit allen Farben des Regenbogens markiert ist. There was a vast amount of red—good to see at any time, because one knows that some real work is done in there, a deuce of a lot of blue, a little green, smears of orange, and, on the East Coast, a purple patch, to show where the jolly pioneers of progress drink the jolly lager-beer. Es gab jede Menge Rot - immer gut zu sehen, weil man weiß, dass dort echte Arbeit geleistet wird -, eine ganze Menge Blau, ein bisschen Grün, orangefarbene Flecken und an der Ostküste einen lila Fleck, um zu zeigen, wo die fröhlichen Pioniere des Fortschritts ihr fröhliches Lagerbier trinken. There was a vast amount of red—good to see at any time, because one knows that some real work is done in there, a deuce of a lot of blue, a little green, smears of orange, and, on the East Coast, a purple patch, to show where the jolly pioneers of progress drink the jolly lager-beer. Havia uma grande quantidade de vermelho - bom de ver a qualquer momento, porque se sabe que algum trabalho real é feito lá, um tanto de azul, um pouco de verde, manchas de laranja e, na Costa Leste, uma mancha roxa, para mostrar onde os alegres pioneiros do progresso bebem a jolly lager-beer. However, I wasn't going into any of these. Ich wollte jedoch nicht in eine von ihnen gehen. No entanto, eu não estava entrando em nenhum desses. I was going into the yellow. Ich wollte ins Gelbe gehen. Dead in the centre. Genau in der Mitte. And the river was there—fascinating—deadly—like a snake. Und der Fluss war da - faszinierend und tödlich wie eine Schlange. Ough! A door opened, ya white-haired secretarial head, but wearing a compassionate expression, appeared, and a skinny forefinger beckoned me into the sanctuary. Eine Tür öffnete sich, eine weißhaarige Sekretärin mit mitfühlender Miene erschien, und ein dünner Zeigefinger winkte mich in den Altarraum. Uma porta se abriu, seu chefe de secretária de cabelos brancos, mas com uma expressão compassiva, apareceu, e um dedo indicador magro me chamou para o santuário. Its light was dim, and a heavy writing-desk squatted in the middle. Das Licht war gedämpft, und in der Mitte hockte ein schwerer Schreibtisch. Sua luz era fraca, e uma pesada escrivaninha estava agachada no meio. From behind that structure came out an impression of pale plumpness in a frock-coat. Hinter dieser Struktur kam ein Eindruck von blasser Molligkeit in einem Gehrock zum Vorschein. De trás daquela estrutura saiu uma impressão de gordura pálida em uma sobrecasaca. The great man himself. O próprio grande homem. He was five feet six, I should judge, and had his grip on the handle-end of ever so many millions. Er war fünf Fuß sechs, würde ich sagen, und hatte den Griff am Ende von so vielen Millionen in der Hand. Ele tinha um metro e oitenta e cinco, devo julgar, e tinha o controle de muitos milhões. He shook hands, I fancy, murmured vaguely, was satisfied with my French. Er schüttelte mir die Hand, ich glaube, er murmelte etwas undeutlich, war mit meinem Französisch zufrieden. Ele apertou a mão, imagino, murmurou vagamente, satisfeito com o meu francês. Bon Voyage .

"In about forty-five seconds I found myself again in the waiting-room with the compassionate secretary, who, full of desolation and sympathy, made me sign some document. "In etwa fünfundvierzig Sekunden fand ich mich im Warteraum bei der mitfühlenden Sekretärin wieder, die mich voller Verzweiflung und Mitleid irgendein Dokument unterschreiben ließ. I believe I undertook amongst other things not to disclose any trade secrets. Well, I am not going to.

"I began to feel slightly uneasy. "Comecei a me sentir um pouco desconfortável. You know I am not used to such ceremonies, and there was something ominous in the atmosphere. It was just as though I had been let into some conspiracy—I don't know—something not quite right; and I was glad to get out. Era como se eu tivesse participado de alguma conspiração — não sei — algo não muito certo; e eu estava feliz por sair. In the outer room the two women knitted black wool feverishly. Im Vorraum strickten die beiden Frauen fieberhaft schwarze Wolle. People were arriving, and the younger one was walking back and forth introducing them. As pessoas estavam chegando, e o mais novo andava de um lado para o outro apresentando-os. The old one sat on her chair. Her flat cloth slippers were propped up on a foot-warmer, and a cat reposed on her lap. Ihre flachen Stoffpantoffeln standen auf einem Fußwärmer, und auf ihrem Schoß saß eine Katze. Seus chinelos de pano estavam apoiados em um aquecedor de pés, e um gato descansava em seu colo. She wore a starched white affair on her head, had a wart on one cheek, and silver-rimmed spectacles hung on the tip of her nose. Sie trug ein gestärktes weißes Kleid auf dem Kopf, hatte eine Warze auf einer Wange und eine Brille mit silbernen Rändern auf der Nasenspitze. She wore a starched white affair on her head, had a wart on one cheek, and silver-rimmed spectacles hung on the tip of her nose. Ela usava um traje branco engomado na cabeça, tinha uma verruga em uma bochecha e óculos de aro de prata pendurados na ponta do nariz. She glanced at me above the glasses. Sie blickte mich über die Brille hinweg an. The swift and indifferent placidity of that look troubled me. Die rasche und gleichgültige Gelassenheit dieses Blicks beunruhigte mich. The swift and indifferent placidity of that look troubled me. Two youths with foolish and cheery countenances were being piloted over, and she threw at them the same quick glance of unconcerned wisdom. Zwei Jünglinge mit törichten und fröhlichen Gesichtern wurden herübergelotst, und sie warf ihnen denselben raschen Blick unbesorgter Weisheit zu. Two youths with foolish and cheery countenances were being piloted over, and she threw at them the same quick glance of unconcerned wisdom. Dois jovens com semblantes tolos e alegres estavam sendo pilotados, e ela lançou para eles o mesmo olhar rápido de despreocupada sabedoria. She seemed to know all about them and about me, too. An eerie feeling came over me. Ein unheimliches Gefühl überkam mich. Uma sensação estranha tomou conta de mim. She seemed uncanny and fateful. Often far away there I thought of these two, guarding the door of Darkness, knitting black wool as for a warm pall, one introducing, introducing continuously to the unknown, the other scrutinizing the cheery and foolish faces with unconcerned old eyes. Muitas vezes lá longe eu pensava nesses dois, guardando a porta da Escuridão, tricotando lã negra como se fosse um manto quente, um apresentando, apresentando continuamente ao desconhecido, o outro examinando os rostos alegres e tolos com velhos olhos despreocupados. Ave! Old knitter of black wool. Morituri te salutant . Morituri te salutant . Morituri te saudante. Not many of those she looked at ever saw her again—not half, by a long way. Nicht viele von denen, die sie ansah, sahen sie jemals wieder - bei weitem nicht die Hälfte. Muitos daqueles que ela olhou nunca a viram novamente - nem metade, de longe.