No Other Choice—别无选择（乔治·布莱克）（第二章~Section 4）
One morning in early April my father died. The evening before my mother had been called to the hospital as his condition had grown worse and she had spent the night there. I was cycling to school with my friend, as we did every morning, when she passed me in a taxi on her way home. She stopped the taxi and told me that my father had died. I told my friend who went on to school by himself and I returned home.
【四月初的一个早晨，我父亲去世了。前一天晚上，我母亲因为父亲病情恶化被叫到医院，她在那里住了一夜。我和我的朋友就像平常那样骑自行车去学校，当她在回家的路上乘出租车经过我们是。她让出租车停下，告诉我父亲去世了。我告诉了我的朋友，他自己去上学了，我就和母亲一起回家了。】
Although I had known that he was dying, it was still a heavy blow. He was buried from the hospital and as the coffin was closed I had not actually seen him in death. For a long time I continued to believe that he was really still alive somewhere and would unexpectedly turn up.
【虽然我有心理准备，但这对于我仍然是一个沉重的打击。他是在医院外下葬的，因为棺材是关着的，所以我并没有真正看到他死的样子。在很长一段时间里，我仍然相信他真的还活着，而且会突然地出现在我身边。】
Meanwhile life went on. In the existing circumstances it had been quite impossible for my mother to keep my father's business going and soon after his death it went bankrupt. After all the outstanding debts had been paid, there were no assets left and we had nothing to live on. My mother's family helped as best they could, but they all lived on their salaries and did not have much money to spare. My mother began by letting two rooms in our house to two nurses from a nearby hospital. She was also a good cook so she started to cook evening meals for office girls in the neighbourhood. What with these sources of income, a small allowance from the national assistance and some stringent economies my mother managed to keep things going without too many drastic changes in our way of life.
【与此同时，生活还在继续。在当前情况下，母亲几乎不可能维持父亲的生意，父亲去世后不久，生意就破产了。在偿付清所有的债务后，就没有什么资产了，我们也没有什么赖以生存的东西了。我母亲的家人尽他们所能帮忙，但他们都靠自己的工资生活，没有多少多余的钱。我母亲一开始把我们家的两个房间租给了附近医院的两个护士。她也是一个好厨师，所以她开始为附近的办公室女孩做晚餐。有了这些收入来源，再加上国家补助的一点零用钱和尽量少花钱，我母亲就能在我们的生活方式没有发生太大变化的情况下维持生活。】
Shortly before his death, when he must have realised that he was dying, my father had given my mother the address of one of his sisters, who was living in Cairo, and told her that she should turn to her for help.
【在我父亲去世前不久，他一定意识到自己快死了，他把他一个住在开罗的妹妹的地址给了我母亲，并告诉母亲，在困难时可以向她求助。】
This my mother did. My aunt was married to a banker, lived in a palatial house and had two sons in their early twenties. With them lived an unmarried younger sister of my father. The family was Jewish and very wealthy. They were very understanding and willing to help, but rather than send money regularly to my mother about whom, after all, they knew little or nothing, they suggested that I, as the only son, should come to Cairo to live with them and they would take charge of my education. This should help to ease my mother's financial situation and assure a good education for me.
【这是我妈妈做的（原文如此）。我姑姑嫁给了一个银行家，住在富丽堂皇的房子里，有两个二十出头的儿子。和他们住在一起的是我父亲的一个未婚妹妹。这个家庭是犹太人，非常富有。他们非常理解我，也愿意帮助我，但他们没有定期给我母亲寄钱，毕竟他们对母亲知之甚少，甚至一无所知。他们建议我作为父亲唯一的儿子，来开罗和他们住在一起，他们负责我的教育。这将有助于缓解我母亲的经济状况，并确保我接受良好的教育。】
At first my mother was rather taken aback by this offer and very reluctant to let me go. But after some thought and discussions with her family and friends she came to the conclusion that it would be in my interest to let me go. She felt that an upbringing in the wealthy and cosmopolitan surroundings of my aunt's home could only benefit me and provide a better preparation for life than the much more modest, rather narrow-minded and provincial way of life of a Dutch middle-class family at that time. My grandmother was much against my going, but as she was not in a position to offer much financial assistance, she also had, albeit reluctantly, to agree. As my mother would not have dreamt of sending me against my will, the final decision was left to me. When she asked me how I felt about it, I was torn. I was very much attached to my home, my Dutch relatives and, particularly, my grandmother and the thought of leaving them for the home of an unknown aunt and uncle, whose language I did not speak, frightened me. On the other hand, I was strongly attracted by the prospect of travelling to a far and exotic country and the entirely new life and adventures which awaited me there. It was this thirst for adventure and the unknown which proved the stronger and after a few days of thought, I told my mother that I would like to go.
【起初，母亲对这个提议有些吃惊，很不愿意让我去。但经过与她的家人和朋友的思考和讨论后，她得出结论，让我走对我有利。她觉得，与当时荷兰中产阶级家庭更为谦逊以及眼光狭隘的生活方式相比，在姑母家富裕、国际化的环境中长大只会对我有好处，并会为我的生活提供更好的条件。我的祖母非常反对我去，但由于她不能提供太多的经济援助，她也不得不同意，尽管不情愿。因为我母亲不会违背我的意愿把我送去，所以最后的决定就留给了我。当她问我感觉如何时，我很纠结。我非常依恋我的家，我的荷兰亲戚，尤其是我的祖母，一想到要离开他们去一个我不会说他们语言的陌生的姑妈和姑父家，我就感到害怕。另一方面，我被去一个遥远而充满异国情调的国家旅行的前景，以及在那里等待着我的全新生活和冒险所强烈吸引。正是这种对冒险和未知的渴望越来越强烈，经过几天的思考，我告诉母亲我想去。】
Two months later, on a fine September evening, I stood on the deck of a Dutch cargo ship looking at the white dunes of Holland receding in the setting sun. The captain had promised my mother to keep an eye on me and to deliver me safely into the hands of my cousin, who would meet me in Alexandria. Among the crew was a young cabin boy, only two years older than myself, who turned out to be the brother of a boy I had been friendly with at school in Scheveningen. This gave me access to the crew's quarters, a world peopled in my eyes with 'real men' and quickly consoled me for the pangs of parting from my family. The crew was very kind to me and I think felt a bit sorry for me. The two weeks on board passed very quickly and much too soon for my liking our ship was slowly making its way past British warships and vessels from every nation to its berth in Alexandria harbour. There, on the quayside, my cousin Raoul was waiting for me to escort me to his parents' home in Cairo. As we drove off, the crew lined up on deck to wish me luck and wave farewell. My cousin spoke French and very little English and I very little of either, but what we lacked in ability to communicate we made up for in mutual goodwill and the desire to understand each other. Like all members of my father's family he was dark and of slight build. His pale complexion and glasses gave his appearance something scholarly. This was indeed what he was. At the time he was studying Sanskrit in Paris and later became a distinguished archaeologist.
【两个月后，在9月的一个晚上，我站在一艘荷兰货船的甲板上，看着荷兰白色的沙丘在夕阳中渐渐退去。船长答应过我母亲会照看好我，并把我安全地交给我的表弟，他会在亚历山大港和我见面。船员中有一个年轻的船舱服务员，只比我大两岁，他是我在斯海弗宁根上学时一个同学的哥哥。这让我得以进入船员的住所，在我眼中，这个世界充满了“真正的男人”，并很快安慰了我与家人分离的痛苦。船员们对我都很好，我觉得他们有点同情我。上船的两个星期过得很快，在我看来太快了，我们的船正慢慢地从各个国家的船只以及英国军舰面前驶过，停靠在亚历山大港。在那里的码头上，我的表弟拉乌尔正在等我，他要护送我去他父母在开罗的家。当我们开车离开时，船员们在甲板上排队祝我好运，并挥手告别。我的表弟会说法语和很少的英语，我也不会说这两种语言，但我们用彼此的善意和理解对方的心意弥补了我们沟通能力上的不足。像我父亲家族的所有成员一样，他皮肤黝黑，身材瘦弱。他面色苍白，戴着眼镜，使他的外表有几分书生气。他确实是这样的人。当时他正在巴黎学习梵文，后来成为一名杰出的考古学家。】
At the station in Cairo my two aunts, both dressed in black as they were in mourning for my father, were waiting to meet us. A car driven by the family chauffeur took us home. The house, referred to in Cairo as the 'Villa Curiel' built in the style of an Italian palazzo with a large terrace and balconies could be considered a large mansion or a small palace. It stood, surrounded by palm trees, in a spacious garden on the northern end of the Island of Zamalek, between two branches of the Nile. It had no less than twelve bedrooms. My uncle, Daniel Curiel, though blind, was a passionate collector of antiques and the dining-room, library and reception rooms were furnished with furniture of various styles and periods. The walls were hung with paintings and tapestries and the floors covered with oriental carpets and rugs. These, I later discovered, were mostly part of my aunt's share in her father's inheritance.
【在开罗的车站，我的两个姑姑，都穿着黑色的衣服，因为她们在为我的父亲服丧，正等着我们。家里的司机开着一辆车把我们送回家。这座房子在开罗被称为“库列尔别墅”，它是按照意大利宫殿的风格建造的，有一个大露台和阳台，可以被认为是一座小宫殿。它矗立在扎马雷克岛北端的一个宽敞的花园里，四周环绕着棕榈树，位于尼罗河的两条支流之间。它至少有十二间卧室。我的姑父丹尼尔·库列尔虽然双目失明，但却热衷于收藏古董，餐厅、图书馆和接待室都配备了不同风格、不同时期的家具。墙上挂着油画和挂毯，地板上铺着东方地毯和小地毯。我后来发现，这些钱大部分是我姑姑从她父亲那里继承的遗产。】
I was at once taken to my uncle, who was lying on a sofa. Next to the sofa stood a large wireless set which played an important role in his life as he was an avid listener to the news in those years of the rise of national-socialism and anti-semitism in Germany and the ever-growing threat of war.
【我立刻被带到姑父面前，他正躺在沙发上。沙发旁边放着一台巨大的收音机，这台收音机在他的生活中扮演着重要的角色，因为在德国纳粹和反犹太主义兴起的那些年里，他是一个狂热的新闻听众，当时战争的威胁正在不断增长。】
He was a small man with round shoulders and a rather flaccid body, due to lack of exercise. From a pale face protruded an aquiline nose and a thick reddish moustache. He always wore dark glasses which gave his appearance something mysterious. He had been blind since the age of ten months when a nurse accidentally dropped him. He was a great lover of music and played the piano beautifully.
【他身材矮小，双肩圆润，由于缺乏锻炼，身体有些松弛。苍白的脸上露出一个鹰钩鼻和一撮浓密的红胡子。他总是戴着墨镜，这使他的外表显得有些神秘。他10个月大的时候，一名护士不小心把他摔了下来，从那时起他就失明了。他是一个伟大的音乐爱好者，钢琴弹得很好。】
My aunt led me to the sofa and I bent down to kiss him. As I did so, he felt my face with his fingers, a gesture to which I was to grow accustomed. In a soft voice he said some kind words of welcome to me.
【姑姑领我到沙发前，我弯下身来吻他。当我这样做的时候，他用手指摸了摸我的脸，这是一个我渐渐习惯了的动作。他用温柔的声音说了一些欢迎我的话。】
Several guests arrived soon afterwards for lunch among whom were old friends of the family who had known my father in Constantinople and were curious to meet me. They were all very nice to me, but I felt rather bewildered in these new surroundings which were so different from what I was used to and much of what they were saying I couldn't understand. Lunch was a grand affair and consisted of six courses handed round by three Nubian servants in white gowns with red sashes.
【不久之后，来了几位客人来吃午饭，其中有几位是我们家的老朋友，他们在君士坦丁堡认识了我父亲，很想和我见面。他们对我都很好，但是在这个与我所熟悉的环境如此不同的新环境里，我感到有些不习惯，他们所说的许多话我都听不懂。午餐很隆重，有六道菜，由三名身穿白色长袍、系着红色腰带的努比亚仆人轮流上桌。】
My aunt Zephirah had married my uncle, who was some ten years her senior, when she was sixteen. By agreement between the two families she had been sent from Constantinople to Cairo to marry a blind man, whom she had never seen before and who would never see her at all. The marriage had turned out a very happy one. When I came to live with them she was about fifty. Of slender build, she was already grey, with well defined features and a great air of kindness. My aunt was very pious and much inclined to mysticism. I think marriage to a blind man was to her an offering and a fulfilment. She devoted much of her time to charities, both Jewish and Roman Catholic. There were many poor in the Jewish community in Cairo. Their families had been in Egypt since biblical times and they lived mostly in the Jewish quarter. They spoke Arabic and, religion apart, differed in no way from the Egyptian masses. My uncle and aunt gave much money to schools and orphanages. In particular an orphanage run by the nuns of the Order of Our Lady of Sion was an object of interest to my aunts. They frequently visited it and donated a lot of money to it. There was a reason for this. One of my father's sisters when still a young girl had been converted to Roman Catholicism and became a nun. She was now living in a convent of the Order in Constantinople.
【我姑姑泽菲拉十六岁时嫁给了我姑父，他比她大十岁左右。根据两家的协议，她被从君士坦丁堡送到开罗，嫁给一个盲人。她以前从未见过这个盲人，而姑父也不会见到她。这段婚姻结果很幸福。我搬来和他们住时，她大约五十岁。她身材苗条，头发已经灰白，眉清目秀，和蔼可亲。我姑姑非常虔诚，非常信奉神秘主义。我认为嫁给一个盲人对她来说是一种奉献和满足。她把大部分时间都花在了犹太和罗马天主教的慈善事业上。开罗的犹太人社区里有许多穷人。他们的家庭从圣经时代起就住在埃及，大部分时间都住在犹太人居住区。他们说阿拉伯语，除了宗教以外，他们与埃及民众没有任何不同。我姑姑给学校和孤儿院捐了很多钱。特别是，我的姑姑们对郇山圣母会修女们经营的孤儿院很感兴趣。她们经常去参观，并捐了很多钱。这是有原因的。我父亲的一个妹妹在还是个小女孩的时候就皈依了罗马天主教，成为了一名修女。她现在住在君士坦丁堡的一所修道院里。】
My maiden aunt Marie, who was some five years younger than her sister and had jet black hair, bore a striking resemblance to my father. This made me feel very soon at home with her, although in the beginning I found it difficult to talk to her. She spent a lot of time knitting for her charities and always accompanied her elder sister on her tours of charitable institutions. She also looked after any member of the household who happened to be ill or just not feeling very well and knew an amazing amount of popular remedies. Thus she believed strongly in the effectiveness of cupping-glasses, which she very expertly fixed on the backs of her various relatives on the slightest pretext.
【我的未婚姑姑玛丽比她姐姐小五岁左右，有一头乌黑的头发，长得和我父亲惊人地相似。这让我很快就觉得和她在一起很自在，虽然一开始我觉得很难和她说话。她花了很多时间为她的慈善机构织毛衣，并总是陪着她姐姐参观慈善机构。她还照顾任何家庭成员，谁碰巧生病或只是感觉不太好，她知道大量的流行的疗法。因此，她非常相信拔火罐的功效，只要有一点小的借口，她就会熟练地把火罐固定在她各家亲戚的背上。】
