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《《逃离香格里拉》——家是离你最近的天堂》
Escape from Shangri-La
An hour later Popsicle was still bending over his charts ). There were tins of condensed milk ) all around to hold the edges down. He’d done his calculations in complete silence, his brow furrowed ) in deep concentration.
“Almost there, Cessie,” he said at last, reaching across the table for a slim grey booklet. “Tides,” he went on, as he searched for the right page. “Mariner’s ) bible ), this is. You’ve got to know the time of the tides, high tide, low tide. You can’t move unless you know that. It should be just about right Saturday next, that’s what I’m hoping. One thing you’ve always got to remember about the sea, Cessie, is that you can only do what she’ll let you do.” He found what he was looking for.
“I thought so. I thought so. Full moon Saturday night. High tide just after midnight. Perfect. Could be cloud cover, of course, but that doesn’t matter. We’ll have enough light to see our way out of here. We don’t want it blowing a gale ) of course. Keep our fingers crossed ), eh? With a bit of luck we’ll make it in five or six hours.
It’s sixty-three miles to Dunkirk, less than I thought. We should be there before first light ). We’ll come in in the dark. Better that way. If they don’t see us, then there won’t be any questions, will there? And if they do see us, well then, we’ll just have to talk our way out of trouble , won’t we? Done it before.” He closed the book.
“So, you’ll need to be here by midnight next Saturday. Are you sure you can make it?”
“Sure,” I said. But I wasn’t at all sure of any of it. I only knew that I wanted to go with him. Of that I was quite sure.
“Good girl. But there’s one thing you’ve got to do for me, and I don’t want you forgetting it. I want you to leave a note for your mum and your dad. We don’t want them worrying themselves to death, do we? Just tell them that you’ve gone off with me for a couple of days, that I’ll bring you back home again soon. And whilst you’re at it, tell them goodbye from me. Tell them no hard feelings ). Time for me to move on, that’s all.”
“What d’you mean?” I asked.
“I told you, Cessie. I can’t abide ) being shut in—cupboards ), prison camps, Shangri-La—all the same to me. I don’t ever want to go back. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a bad place, except for that Dragonwoman ). I’ve got good friends up there, and I’ll miss them. But it’s not for me, not in a million years. No, Cessie, this is my home, this boat. Whatever happens over there in Dunkirk, whether I go barmy ) or not, here’s where I’ll end my days, on my own boat, with the sky above me and the sea all around me. It’s where I belong.”
I pleaded with him even though I knew it was useless. “But I’ll tell them. I’ll tell Mum and Dad what’s happened, that you’ve remembered everything, and you’re better, completely better. You’ll be able to come home. They won’t send you back to Shangri-La. I know they won’t. I won’t let them.”
He was shaking his head as I was talking. “No, Cessie, don’t you go telling them anything of the kind, anything at all come to that. And don’t you go blaming them for sending me up to Shangri-La. The way I was carrying on ), they had no choice. I was a liability ). That’s what I was, a liability. I’ve caused them enough trouble, enough pain.”
“But you’re better,” I insisted, quite unable now to hold back my tears.
“Yes, I’m better, better than I’ve ever been, thanks to you—and now I’m going to do just what I should’ve done all those years ago. I’m going to go over there and find out what happened to Lucie Alice, and I don’t want anyone trying to stop me. So we’ll keep everything just between the two of us. No one else must know a thing. Promise me, Cessie.”
“Promise,” I said.
He reached forward and wiped my face with his sleeve. “And no more tears either, Cessie. I can’t cope at all if you do that.” I did what I could to sniff ) them back. “That’s better,” he said. “Now, I’ll get myself back to Shangri-La, and you’d best get off home quick. They’ll be getting anxious, and we don’t want that.”
He took me up on deck and walked with me as far as the gangplank ). “Saturday midnight,” he said. “Don’t be late.” I looked up into his face. It was ghostly white against the dark of the night sky. The thought came over me that Popsicle might not be real at all, that he was a mere figment ) of my imagination, that maybe I was living all this only inside a dream. I needed to reassure myself. I stood on tiptoe and threw my arms round his neck. He was real enough. I was down on the towpath ) before he spoke again.
“Oh and, Cessie, bring lots of warm clothes, there’s a girl. You’ll need them. And that fiddle ) of yours too. Nothing like the sound of music out at sea. It’ll keep our spirits up.”
一个小时以后，冰棒儿还在弯着腰看他的航海图。航海图的四周压着几罐炼乳，以防航海图四边卷起。他一直一声不吭地做着计算，眉头紧锁，全神贯注。
“快好了，塞西。”他终于开了口，同时伸手到桌子另一头拿一本薄薄的灰色小册子。“《潮汐》”，他一边翻着小册子找要找的那页，一边接着说，“水手的宝典，就是它。你必须要了解潮汐的时间，什么时候涨潮，什么时候退潮，如果你不懂这些，你就寸步难行。下周六应该正是时候，这也是我所希望的。关于大海你永远要牢记一点，塞西，那就是她允许你做什么，你才可以做什么。”他翻到了自己要找的内容。“我想的没错。我想的没错。周六夜里是满月，午夜一过就会涨潮。好极了！当然，可能会有云，不过没关系，我们会有足够的光亮看得清从这里出发之后应该怎么走。当然，我们可不希望那天刮大风。咱们一起祈祷吧，好吗？运气好的话，我们五六个小时就能到。这里距离敦刻尔克有63英里(编注：约101公里)，比我预想的要近。天亮之前我们应该就能到那儿。我们会摸黑驶入，那样会更好。如果没人看到我们，那就不会有任何问题，是吗？要是有人真的看到了我们，那么我们只用跟他们说说好话脱身，不是吗？以前我就这么干过。”他合上了那本小册子。“那么，你得在下周六晚上12点前赶到这里。你确定自己能做到吗？”
“当然可以，”我说。但我对此一点儿也不确定。我只知道我想跟他一起去。对这一点我倒是很确信。
“好孩子。不过你还得帮我做一件事，而且我可不希望你把这件事给忘了。我希望你给爸爸妈妈留张便条，我们可不希望他们会担心得要死，是不是？就告诉他们你跟着我离开了几天，告诉他们我很快就会把你送回家。写便条的时候，替我跟他们道个别。让他们不要生气。是时候我该继续前行了，就写这么多。”
“您这是什么意思？”我问。
“我跟你说过，塞西。我受不了被关起来，无论是被关在衣橱里、战俘营里还是香格里拉，这些地方对我来说都一样。我再也不想回香格里拉了。别误会，除了那位恶龙女士之外，香格里拉还不算一个太糟糕的地方。我在那里交了一些好朋友，我会想念他们的。但那个地方不适合我，再过一百万年也不会。那里不是我的家，塞西，这里才是，就在这条船上。不管敦刻尔克那边发生了什么，不管我会不会发疯，我生命里最后的日子都将在这里度过，在我自己的船上，头顶蓝天，周围大海环绕。我就是属于这儿的。”
虽然我知道这样做没有用，但我还是恳求他。“不过我会告诉他们的。我会告诉爸爸妈妈发生了什么，告诉他们你已经记起了所有的事情，你现在身体状况好多了，完全好多了。你将可以回家，他们不会再把你送回香格里拉。我知道他们不会的，我不准他们这么做。”
我说话的时候他一直摇着头。“别，塞西，这样的话你可一句也不要跟他们说，跟这有关的你什么都不要说。你可不要怪他们把我送到了香格里拉。当时我那个样子，他们别无选择。我是一个累赘。这就是我，一个累赘。我给他们添的麻烦已经够多了，给他们带来的痛苦也已经够多了。”
“但是你现在好多了，”我执意说，此刻再也难掩泪水。
“是的，多亏了你，我现在好多了，比以前任何时候都要好多了。不过现在我要去做我许多年前就该做的事儿。我要去敦刻尔克那里，打听露西·爱丽丝的消息，而我不希望任何人试图阻拦我。所以，所有这一切都只有我们俩知道，其他人一个字儿都不许透露。向我保证，塞西。”
“我向你保证。”我说。
他伸手用袖子擦了擦我的脸。“还有塞西，别再哭了。你哭的时候，我完全不知道该怎么办。”我努力吸了吸鼻子，把眼泪逼了回去。“这样好多了，”他说，“现在，我要回到香格里拉，你最好也赶快回家。你爸爸妈妈会着急的，我们可不希望那样。”
他把我带到了甲板上，一直把我送到了跳板那里。“星期六晚上12点，”他说，“别迟到了。”我抬头看着他的脸。在黑暗夜空的映衬下，他的脸像幽灵的一样白。我脑中冒出这样的念头：冰棒儿可能根本不是真实存在的，他只是我幻想出来的一个人物，也许我经历的所有这一切都只是在一个梦里。我需要让我自己安心。我踮起脚尖，伸出双臂搂住了他的脖子。他是确实存在的。我已经走上了纤路，他又开口说道——
“对了，塞西，多带点暖和的衣服，你是女孩子嘛，会用得着的。你的那把小提琴也带上吧，在海上没有什么能比听听音乐更好的了，会让我们一直打起精神。”
文章摘自：《新东方英语·中学生》杂志2017年8月号
