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三十九级台阶
The Thirty-Nine Steps

英文中文双语对照双语交替

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6 The bald writer

Ⅰ spent the night in the hills，in some thick heather be-hind a rock. I had no coat and I was very cold. My coat，Scudder's notebook，my watch and even my pipe and tobacco were with Mr Turnbull. All I had was some biscuits.

I had half the biscuits for supper. and tried to keep warm in the heather. I was feeling quite pleased. So far I had been very lucky. The milkman，the man at the hotel，Sir Harry，the roadman and even Marmaduke had all helped me，and I felt that with help like this I might win. My main problem now was that I was very hungry. I fell asleep imagining the most beautiful meals.

I woke up very cold in the early morning. I looked down the hill，and in a second I was putting my boots on as fast as I could. There were men only a few hundred metres below me，walking up and searching the heather step by step.

Keeping low in the heather，I moved up the hill. At the top，I stood up and showed myself. I heard men shouting，and then I pretended to disappear over the top of the hill， but in fact I got down in the heather and crawled back down into the valley. After twenty minutes I looked back and saw the men disappearing over the top of the hill.

I didn't know where I was，but I knew I must keep moving. I was twenty minutes in front of them， but they were local men and they knew these hills better than I did. Soon they were close behind me and I was running as fast as I could. After a time I saw to my left some trees and the chim－neys of a farmhouse. I ran down towards them and found my－self in a garden. As I came nearer the house，I saw an old man looking at me through an open door. I crossed the garden and went in.

I was in a pleasant room，with books everywhere. At a desk in the middle sat an old man with a kind face. He had glasses on the end of his nose，and the top of his bald head shone like glass. He didn't move，but looked up and waited for me to speak.

I was so surprised by his calmness that for a minute I just stared at him.

'You're in a hurry，my friend，'he said slowly.

I looked out of the window at the moor. We could both see the line of men walking through the heather.

'Ah，I see，'he said. 'The police are after you， are they？Well，we'll talk about it later. I don't like the police in my house when I'm working. Go through that door on the left and close it behind you. You will be safe in there. '

And this extraordinary man picked up his pen and started to write.

I did what he said， and found myself in a small room with only a very small window high up in one wall. The door closed behind me. Once again I had found somewhere to hide.

But I didn't feel comfortable. There was something strange about the old man. I had suddenly appeared in his house， but he didn't seem surprised. And his eyes were frighteningly in－telligent. I waited，and tried to forget that I was very hungry. I thought about breakfast，and suddenly the door opened and there was the old man again.

'I told the police you had gone over the hill. This is a lucky morning for you，Mr Richard Hannay，'he said， smiling.

As he spoke，his eyes half closed， and immediately I re-membered Scudder's description of a man who could'hood his eyes like a hawk. I saw that I had walked into the hands of my enemies.

My first thought was to knock him down and run， but two men came through the door. They were carrying guns.

The old man knew my name， but he had never seen me be-fore. I took a chance. 'I don't know what you mean，'I said roughly. 'And who are you calling Hannay？ My name's Ainslie. '

'Of course，you have many names，'he said，still smiling. 'We won't argue about a name. '

I looked at him angrily. 'I suppose you're going to call the police back. I wish I'd never seen that car. Here's the money. 'I put four pounds on the table.

'I won't call the police，'he said. 'This is a private problem between yon and me. '

'Oh，stop it！'I cried. 'I've had no luck since I left my ship in Edinburgh. I found a crashed car and took a little money out of it， and I've had the police after me for two days. You do what you like. Ned Ainslie's finished. '

I could hear doubt in his voice when he next spoke.

'Would you be kind enough to tell me what you've been do－ing for the last few days？'

I can't. I haven't eaten for two days. Give me something to eat and I'll tell you the truth. 'I put on my best begging voice.

Some food was brought to me， and while I was eating， he said something to me in German. I stared at him stupidly. Then I told him my story. I was a sailor，and I had left my ship in Edinburgh to travel across Scotland to see my brother. I had found a car in a river and taken some money from it. But the police were now chasing me.

'They can have their money back，'I cried. ' It's only brought me trouble！'

'You're good at lying，Hannay，'he said.

I started to get very angry. 'My name's Ainslie and I don't know anybody called Hannay. I'd rather have the police than you and your guns and your Hannays. No，I'm sorry，sir，I'm grateful for the food，but I'd like to go now. '

I could see that he was not sure. He had never seen me，and I suppose I did not look like my photograph.

'I won't let you go. If you are Mr Ainslie，then you'll soon be able to prove it. If you're not，then I have a surprise for you. '

He rang a bell，and a third servant appeared.

'I want the car in five minutes，'he said. 'There will be three for lunch. '

Then he looked at me， and that was the most frightening thing of all. His eyes were unnatural-bright，cold and evil. I tried to stare back，and even to smile.

'You'll know me next time we meet，' I said.

'Karl，'he said，speaking in German. 'Put this man in the back room until I return. '

I was taken out of the room with a gun at each ear.

The back room was very dark and full of old bottles and boxes. The windows had shutters on the outside. The key turned in the door，and I could hear the feet of the guards outside.

I sat down feeling very unhappy. The old man had gone to collect his friends，the men who had talked to me when I was the roadman. They would soon discover that I was not the roadman，nor Mr Ainslie，but Richard Hannay. I began to wish I had been found by the police；I would feel safer with them than with this man and his two friends.

They were coming for lunch，so I had only two hours. I tried the windows but they would not move. I felt the boxes and bottles，and then found a door in the wall. It was a cup－board door， and it was locked. I had nothing else to do so I pulled on it until it opened.

There were a lot of things inside. On one shelf there were some matches， and I used them to look more closely. At the back of one shelf was a strong wooden box. I broke it open and found， to my surprise，some fuses and several small square packets of explosive.

I knew that with these I could blow the house up. The problem was that I didn't know how much to use. If I used too much， I would blow myself up. But if I didn't use them at all，I would be dead in three hours.

I put one of the squares of explosive near the door， and put a fuse from there to the other side of the room. I lit the fuse and hid behind some boxes. There was silence for five seconds…

The wall exploded into a bright yellow light， something fell on my left arm， and I became unconscious.

I was unconscious for only a few seconds. Then I stood up，trying not to breathe the yellow smoke. The window had been blown out and I climbed out into the garden. Across the gar－den there were some buildings，and one was an old tower. I felt too ill to go very far，and that seemed the best hiding place.

The climb up the outside of that tower was the most difficult thing I ever did. My head felt terrible， and the smoke had made me very sick， but in the end I managed it， and lay down at the top. Then I became unconscious again.

When I woke up，my head was burning and the sun was shining into my face. I lay for a long time without moving. I could hear men talking. I looked through a hole in the wall and saw men with guns. There was the bald man and I thought I could see the fat one too.

For half an hour they searched all the buildings. They came to the door at the bottom of my tower， and for a minute I thought they were going to come up，but the door was locked.

All afternoon I lay on that roof. I was terribly thirsty， and，to make it worse，I could see and hear a small stream which came off the moor and flowed near the farm. I wanted a drink of that cool clear water more than anything in the world.

From the tower I could see all the moor around. I saw two men go off in a car， and another man on a horse，and I imag-ined they were looking for me. But I could also see something more interesting. At the top of the hill behind the house was a ring of trees with grass inside. It was clear that this was where the plane landed.

It was an excellent place for an airfield. It could not be seen from below because it was at the top of the hill； from the valley，the hill seemed covered with trees. And anyone watching the plane coming in to land would think it was just flying over the hill. I realized that if the plane arrived now， the pilot would probably see me，so I lay still， and hoped night would come quickly.

Luckily，when the plane did arrive，it was almost dark. I watched it land，and then waited until everything was quiet. There was no moon， and I was too thirsty to wait，so at nine o'clock I climbed down. Halfway down， somebody came out of the house with a light，and I froze. Then the light disap－peared and I continued down to the ground.

I crawled as far as the trees. I guessed that the house would be guarded in some way，so I continued very slowly and care-fully，and found a wire about sixty centimetres from the ground. Falling over that would doubtless start alarm bells ringing in the house.

A hundred metres further on there was another wire， but after that it was the open moor. Ten minutes later I had my head in the stream and I drank litres of cold water.

I did not stop again until I was ten kilometres from that terrible house.