第5集 - 舰长之后（第三部分）

欢迎回到Lubbers Hole播客，我们正在解读帕特里克·奥布莱恩的小说系列。我是伊恩，还有迈克。我们目前正进行到《舰长》的中段，即将深入迈克舰长故事的核心部分。

Welcome back to the Lubbers Hole, the podcast where we're following the novels of Patrick O'Brien. You're with Ian. And Mike. And we're now partway through post captain. We're getting deep into the heart of the story of post captain Mike.

本周我们将探讨哪些内容？

What's in store for us this week?

伊恩，我们即将登上波吕克勒斯号——这门小说中最古怪的舰船之一。杰克与史蒂文因黛安娜和索菲产生了日益紧张的敌对情绪，虽然这两位女性在故事中处于次要位置。更关键的是，杰克的一位老友通过史蒂文传递的建议，就像往两人关系中扔了颗手榴弹，这将深刻影响后续《舰长》剧情的发展。

So, Ian, we're boarding the Polycrest, one of the strangest ships in the cannon. We've got this hostility building between Jack and Steven over Diana and Sophie who continue in the story, although a bit in the background. And we have a little bit of advice from one of Jack's good old friends passing on through Steven that really throws a hand grenade into the relationship between Jack and Steven as we move forward in post captain.

杰克和史蒂文已抵达他的新指挥舰波吕克勒斯号。公平地说，这艘船恐怕不符合大多数人对传统风帆战舰的想象。

So Jack and Steven have arrived aboard his new command, the Polycrest. And it's probably fair to say the Polycrest isn't everybody's idea of a traditional, sailing man of war.

确实如此。当杰克对海军大臣表示愿意接受任何船只时，他最终得到的就真是艘'任何船只'。这艘船的设计古怪极了——我查过'波吕克勒斯'这个词，意思是'适应多种用途'。显然这艘船的灵感来自海军史上真实存在的几艘舰船。

That's for sure. When Jack was telling the First Lord that he'd take any ship, that's kind of what he ended up with, was just any ship. This thing that has you know, it's so strangely designed. I looked up the word Polycrest and it says adapted to several different uses. And apparently this ship was designed after a couple of real ships in actual naval history there.

历史上确实存在类似的船，比如'飞镖'号及其姊妹舰'箭'号，它们都装有滑动式（可惜会漏水）中插板箱，设计者是一位叫约翰·尚克的船长。但愿没有亲戚关系...这些小型海军舰船...这些...

There were, real ships, the Dart, and her sister, the Arrow, which had these sliding, you know, leaking, unfortunately, centerboard cases, actually designed by a Captain John Shank. I hope no relation, but they had a number of small world naval- These these

尚克家的人真是无处不在啊，对吧迈克？

Shanks, they get everywhere, don't they, Mike?

没错。你们都知道，申克市长和监狱里用的香克斯。这个姓氏对谁都没好处，尤其是那些高尔夫球手。还有一艘设计用来将新型榴弹炮运入沿海水域的船，名叫‘项目号’。

Yeah, that's right. You all, you know, Schenk's mayor and Shanks that are used in prison. It's like, this surname just does nobody any good, particularly golfers out there. And then there was also a ship designed to carry a new designed howitzer into coastal waters, a ship called the Project.

HMS项目号，没错。

HMS Project, right.

是的。这些都是真实存在的事物，但结果却显得格格不入。杰克虽然很高兴能登船，但他对这艘船的感受让我印象深刻。他在心里反思着说，未必不能把这艘多桅帆船改造成一艘像样的战舰。他现在对她相当了解，他和船长

Yeah. So those were some real life things, but it comes out to be a real mismatch. And Jack, although delighted to be going aboard, I was really taken by his feelings about this ship. You know, he's reflecting to himself and saying, you know, it's not impossible that he might be able to make a passable man of war out of the polytress. He knew her tolerably well now, He and the master,

和

and

对古德里奇先生极为敬重，制定了一个销售计划，充分利用了她所具备的特质。但只要有机会，他就会调整她的配平，让她船头朝前并倾斜桅杆。她或许能表现得更好，但他无法爱上她。她是艘卑劣的船，对吧？

he had a great esteem from Mr. Goodrich, had worked out a sale plan that made the most of what qualities she possessed. But when he could, he would alter her trim to bring her by the head and rake her mask. She might do better, but he could not love her. She was a mean spirited vessel, right?

本质恶劣、脾气暴躁、难以驾驭、反复无常得令人发指，他无法爱上她。

Radically vicious, cross grain, laborsome, cruel in her unreliability, and he could not love her.

有意思。听你这么说，有两件事让我印象深刻。首先，这听起来就像有人描述一匹难驯的马——回到我们之前某集讨论过的马匹主题——脾气暴躁又桀骜不驯。

It's funny. Two things strike me about that as I as I hear you say it. First of all, that sounds like how somebody would describe a cantankerous horse to go back to the horse theme from an episode. Cantankerous and cross grade.

对，对。而且我想，在后续的经典篇章中，我们会听到杰克将某些船只的航行与驾驭比作驯服特定类型的马匹。这个观察非常敏锐。

Right. Right. And I I think, you know, I think later in the, in the canon, we'll hear Jack referring to the sailing of certain ships and the handling of certain ships like you would certain kinds of horses. That's that's well spotted.

另外一点是，这对杰克来说真是巨大的打击。我认为杰克对他的船只怀有浪漫情怀。他向来以能对自己指挥的船只说些好话为荣，这次却无法爱上他的首艘指挥舰，这对他而言必定是个沉重的打击——意识到这艘船简直糟透了。

And and the other thing is that this is a real wrench. Jack Jack's a real romantic about his ships, I think. And for him not to love his first command you know, he always takes pride in being able to say something positive about the ships he commands. And this must be a real wrench for him to realize this is this is 11.

没错。奥布莱恩接着告诉我们，这种情况从未在他身上发生过。那种感觉如此陌生，那种不忠带来的不适感如此强烈。哇。

Yeah. O'Brien goes on to tell us that this has never happened to him before. The feeling was so strange. The disloyalty so uncomfortable. Wow.

天啊。你几乎可以想象，这艘船可能是其他船长在第一大臣推荐给奥布雷之前就拒绝接手的指挥权，对吧？那些比杰克·奥布雷更得宠的船长们，总会设法弄到更称心的指挥舰。

Gosh. And you can kind of imagine that this might be the command that other captains might have turned down before the first Lord had offered it to Aubrey. Right? This is something that, you know, of other captains more in favor than Jack Aubrey would have found a way to get something a little bit more desirable to command.

确实。我觉得我们隐约能察觉到这点。我记不清了，是不是就在这个场景之前，有位情绪激动的军官刚离开第一大臣的办公室？不确定是不是这段情节——

For sure. And I think that, you know, we kind of pick up a little bit of that. I can't remember, you know, was it just before this scene that there was that very emotional officer leaving the first lord's office? I can't remember if that was this one or

噢，没错。就在杰克进去见梅尔维尔之前，那个男人泪流满面地离开了。是的，是这样。

Oh, yes. The guy leaves leaves in tears just before Jack goes in to see Melville. Yeah. Right.

是啊。我只能猜测那可能是什么情况，也许那人刚看过波吕克鲁斯特号。

Yeah. So I I can only imagine what that might have been, but perhaps it was a look at the Polycrust.

是的。杰克为了承担这件事，已经非常谦卑自己了。

Yeah. So Jack's humbled himself a lot to to take this thing on.

是的。而且我认为梅尔维尔说过，你知道，你会接受任何事，任何事，大人。好吧，就是这样。

Yeah. And and and I think Melville says, you know, you say, you'll take anything, anything, my lord. Well, here it is.

杰克和斯蒂芬在船上，他们两人在一起，基本上就像当年在索菲号上一样，他们让托马斯·普林斯担任中尉，还有一个相当...怎么说呢？相当不称职、严厉的老上尉，我记不起他的名字了。是帕克吗？帕克。对。

So Jack and Stephen are aboard the ship, and they two together, more or less as they were back in the days of the Sophie, they've got, Thomas Pullings as a as a lieutenant, and they've also got this rather what's the right word? Rather inadequate, rather hard horse, old first lieutenant, and I can't remember his name. Is it Parker? Parker. Yeah.

帕克中尉。这艘船仍然不太和谐，军官们也不是很团结。我们稍后再谈史蒂文和杰克之间依然存在的不安关系。但我很喜欢读到关于普林斯的部分，史蒂文正处于一段忧郁、内省的时期，他在日记中写道不知道还能和杰克的友谊维持多久，这时托马斯·普林斯突然出现了。

Lieutenant Parker. And still not really a happy ship, not really a a united company of officers aboard. We might come back in a second to the uneasy relationship. It still abides between Steven and Jack. But I really liked reading about Pullings, and Stevens just had this really kind of gloomy, introspective period he's written in his diary about how he doesn't know how much longer he can go on in his friendship with Jack, and in bursts Thomas Pullings.

我喜欢这部分有两个原因。首先，奥布莱恩描写了托马斯·普林斯身上散发出的快乐。他是个谦逊的工人阶级小伙子。用他们的话说，他是从底层爬上来的，尽管他在职业上比杰克低很多级，只是个中尉，但他依然充满喜悦。

And I love this for two things. First of all, O'Brien writes about joy radiating from the person of Thomas Pullings. He's a humble working class guy. He's come, as they say, after the horse hole, and he's overwhelmed with pleasure even though, you know, he's many, many, many steps below where Jack is as a as a as a candidate post captain. He's made it professionally into the officer class as a lieutenant and he just burst out with joy.

我觉得这太棒了。他还用那种欢快、滔滔不绝的语气讲述了杰克·奥布里宣读任命的故事。我喜欢这个情节，因为这是帕特里克·奥布莱恩又一次描写我们都熟悉的场景——新指挥官登船宣读任命。但奥布莱恩没有直接描写杰克登船，而是通过托马斯·普林斯的视角来讲述杰克到来的故事。我来试着模仿一下普林斯的说话方式。

I think it's fantastic. He also goes on in his really joyful gabbling bubbling over speech to tell the story of Jack Aubrey reading himself in. And I like this because it's another moment where Patrick O'Brien describes an episode that we all know about now, which is the reading in of a new commander aboard a vessel. But rather than Patrick O'Brien describing Jack walking on board ship, he has Thomas Pullings in his own perspective tell the story of Jack arriving. I'll I'll try the I'll I'll try the Thomas Pullings speech.

我很确定普林斯来自诺福克或东安格利亚某地。我记不清了。我不打算模仿帕特里克·奥布莱恩为托马斯·普林斯设计的口音，但普林斯会说：'没错。奥布里船长，奥布里船长天刚亮就来了，一路奔波，向我、帕克、海军陆战队员和六七个菜鸟宣读任命——那时我们只有这些人，然后升起了他的三角旗。他最后的话还没说完呢：务必遵命，否则后果自负。'

I'm pretty sure that Pullings is from Norfolk or somewhere in East Anglia. I can't remember. I'm not gonna attempt the accent that Patrick O'Brien writes for Thomas Pullings, but Pullings says Right. Captain Aubrey, Captain Aubrey turns up at the crack of dawn, posted all the way, reads himself in to me and Parker and the marines and half a dozen lubies, which was all we had then, and up goes his pennant. And before his last words are rightly out, fail not as you will answer to the contrary at your peril.

他说，普林斯先生，那个顶层的羊圈需要一只母狗的顶针，如果您愿意的话，完全用他自己的原话。所以我们能听到并想象，比如杰克·奥布里匆匆忙忙地登船，心情极差。但这些都无损于托马斯·普林斯因晋升而欣喜若狂的心情。

He says, mister Pullings, that top cell sheep block needs a dog bitch thimble if you please, in his own voice exactly. So we hear and we can imagine, like, Jack Aubrey arriving aboard ship in a tearing hurry and in a foul temper, But none of that really takes away from Thomas Pullings being so overjoyed with his promotion.

你知道，我喜爱托马斯·普林斯，也喜欢帕特里克·奥布莱恩如何通过这些不同角色推进故事，不仅是主角，还包括书中各个层面的角色。我的意思是，这里关于普林斯的描述不止于此。我记得普林斯的生活中还有更多令人兴奋的事情。

You know, I love Thomas Pullings and I love the way Patrick O'Brien pulls these different characters through, not just our main characters, but, you know, characters at all level of the book. I mean this is not the only thing we hear of Pullings here. Pullings has got a little bit more excitement in his life as I recall.

没错。他有个女朋友，还有父母，我记得就在与史蒂芬·马图林那次谈话后的第二天，他们都出现在岸上，举办了一场盛大的晚宴，普林斯再次因这个场合而充满喜悦和快乐，那是一场丰盛的宴会。

That's right. He's got a girlfriend and he's got parents and I think just the day after that conversation with Stephen Maturin, they all show up ashore, and they have this massive spread of a dinner and again Pullings is just overcome with joy and pleasure at the occasion and there's this great feast.

而且，你知道，他们非常担心杰克在岸上因债务被捕，但他们确信这件事没人知道。地点有点偏僻，但事情并不总是按计划发展。

And they've, you know, they've they're so worried about Jack being ashore, arrested for debt, but they're certain that with this thing nobody else knows about it. It's a little bit out of the way, but nonetheless things don't always go the way it's planned.

是的。法警就在外面。现在是谁探头进门？是基利克还是谁？对。

No. And the bailiffs are outside. Now who is it comes who puts their head around the door? Is it Kilik or somebody? Yeah.

船上的一名成员基本上是在他们用餐的房间门口探头说，法警来了，然后打斗就开始了。

One of the ship's company basically puts their head around the door of the room where they're eating and says the bailiffs are here and then the fight's on.

正是如此。听到这个警告，所有人都手忙脚乱。杰克试图跳出窗户。而贝布拉夫的手下已集结等候，准备抓住他并轻拍他。杰克向等候在船上的邦丁和他的船员呼喊，准备接应他回去。

Exactly. With that warning, everybody's scrambling. Jack goes to jump out the window. Are assembled Beybluff's men waiting to catch him and tap him. Jack hails Bondin and his crew at the boat waiting to, pick him back up.

接着，房间里爆发了一场混战，窗下也打成一团。场面真是精彩绝伦。

And, a melee ensues fighting inside the room, fighting under the window. It's just an amazing scene.

而你要说的这些，几乎从远古时代起就是水手生活的常态。当上理发师对水手来说，你知道的，是个值得高兴的职业里程碑。所以这些水手显然很擅长打架，即使对手是像法警这样强悍且训练有素的人。最后法警们可没讨到好，对吧？

And what you've gotta say is gonna be part of the pattern of life for sailors pretty much time immemorial. Getting in a barber role is a, you know, a happy career milestone for sailors. So these sailors are obviously pretty well practiced at handling themselves in a scrap even with people as kind of tough and well prepared as the bailiffs. And in the end, the bailiffs don't come out well, do they?

没错。我最爱这个收尾——既然我们的人已经上岸了，其中一个法警就被强征入伍，硬是被拖回船上。现在他不是要逮捕杰克·奥布里，反而要在波利克莱斯特号上受杰克·奥布里的指挥了。

No. I just love as a finishing touch. You know, long as we've got these guys onshore, you know, one of the bailiffs gets pressed into service and dragged back onto the ship to now, instead of arresting Jack Aubrey, he's serving under Jack Aubrey on the poly crest.

真是大快人心。

A satisfying moment.

确实大快人心。'后舰长'这段很有趣，因为我们开场时还在穆伯里小屋附近和女士们周旋，转眼又回到了海上。大概想着'女人什么的到此为止吧'，我们重回航海主题，回到炮火连天的冒险中。但奥布莱恩还留了一手。

A very satisfying moment. So post captain is interesting because we started out with these the ladies, you know, down the road from Mulberry Lodge, And here we are off to sea again, and maybe the thought that, well, that's that's enough with the ladies. We're back nautical. We're back to adventure and cannons pounding. But O'Brien's got something else up his sleeve.

对。我觉得他在情节设计上很巧妙，把波利克莱斯特号的驻地设在唐斯锚地。唐斯位于肯特郡东南角外海，负责护卫进出锚地的船队意味着杰克和史蒂芬都能随时上岸——他们乘小船就能到迪尔，再骑段马就能到多佛。

Right. I think he made a crafty move plot wise in having Polycrest Station be basically in The Downs. The Downs is an Anchorage sort of off the the Southeast Corner of Kent. And being in The Downs and looking after convoys coming in and out of the Downs Anchorage means that Jack and Steven both have access to shore. They can they're a boat ride from Deal and a boat ride and a short horse ride from Dover.

我认为多佛出现黛安娜·维利尔斯绝非巧合。两人在岸上各有奇遇，这也让我们能继续通过对话了解他们与女性角色的互动。有意思的是史蒂芬和索菲之间有种互相信任的亲密关系，他会向她倾诉对杰克的看法，而她也会表达自己被迫遵从母亲意愿、应付追求者时的沮丧。

And it's no coincidence I think that Dover is where Diana Villiers is hanging out for a little while and they both have their different escapades ashore and it does mean that we get to carry on in the story hearing and listening into the dialogue between them and the women. And interestingly, Steven and Sophie. Steven and Sophie have this really sort of trusting, confidential relationship, and he unburdens himself a little bit to her about how he feels about Jack. And she, in return, kind of expresses her her frustration at the situation that she's in and being expected to follow along with the wishes of her mother and being expected to entertain calls from from suitors.

是啊。我喜欢他们试图互相开导的方式，但又带着那个时代的矜持，你知道，有时候你简直想插话进去。就像在电影院对着屏幕大喊：史蒂文，快告诉她啊。索菲，快告诉他啊。你懂吗？

Yeah. I love the way they try to counsel each other, but with that reserve of the period of, you know, I and and sometimes, you know, you just wanna reach in. It's like shouting at the movie theater screen and saying, Steven, just tell her. Sophie, just tell him. You know?

但他们确实如此。他们之间有着这种奇妙的关系，这种非凡的尊重。正如史蒂文所说，索菲，你当然可以向医生倾诉任何事情。这真的让人听着、看着、听着都是一种享受。

But they do. They have this incredible relationship, this incredible esteem. As Steven says, know, Sophie, of course, you can tell a medical man anything. And it really is, it's a delight to listen to, to watch, to hear.

完全同意。而且我认为这实际上是对这本书的一个公正批评——在小说的这个阶段，角色们许多不讨喜的一面都显露出来了。杰克有点自私，是个笨拙的男孩。史蒂文则是个有点内省的人，总是在良心挣扎而不采取实际行动。黛安娜·维利尔斯依然是个善于操纵、伤人且脾气相当古怪的人，用之前的话来说。

Absolutely. And I think it's a fair criticism of the book actually that in this period of the novel, lots of the unappealing side of the characters comes out. You know, Jack's a bit selfish and a bit of a clumsy boy. And Steven is a is a bit of an introspected, you know, kind of wrangles with his conscience rather than taking proper action. Diana Villiers is still a manipulative and and hurtful and quite cross grained individual, to use the phrase from earlier on.

对我来说，索菲有点像英雄。我喜欢她那种有点胆识和个性的样子。她谈到如何回应这位显然得到她母亲祝福的追求者鲍尔斯先生时说：'哦，他一点也不粗鲁或不友善。他是个值得尊敬的好青年，但他手心总是出汗。'

For me, Sophie comes out as a bit of a hero. I I like the way that, you know, she's got some pluck and some character. She talks about responding to this mister Bowles who's called on her as a as a suitor, obviously, with her mother's blessing. And she says, oh, he's he's not rude or unkind in the least. He's a worthy and respectable young man, but he has moist hands.

他坐在那里喘粗气。他觉得我也该跟着喘。如果他再对我喘一次气，我就用剪刀戳他。这太棒了。在这四个人中，这是唯一一个对所处环境做出直率反应的角色。

He sits and gasps. He thinks I ought to gasp. I if he gasps at me just once more, I'll run my scissors into him. Which is great. That's Out of the four of them, that's one of them's gotten an an uncomplicated response to the situation that they're in.

没错。有时候我都想让她拿剪刀对着——不是戳——她母亲比划比划。但那似乎是唯一一个...完全没错...她忍气吞声的地方。

Right. And sometimes I wonder to run her scissors at, not in, but at her mother. But that that seems to be the one Absolutely. Place where she settles

威廉姆斯夫人是这部小说中从头到尾都 grotesque（怪异可憎）的反派角色，完全没有可取之处。

Missus Williams is the one character that's she's a grotesque and a villain the whole way through this. There's got no redeeming qualities at all.

确实如此。

Too true.

当我们直接接触索菲，听到她与史蒂文之间那些坦率的对话时，戴安娜也出现在故事中，但我们又回到了气味这个主题。史蒂文·马塔林给她买了一瓶昂贵的法国香水，她非常喜欢香水，她有点虚荣又有点酗酒。她喷着这款香水，每当他在故事后期再次闻到这股香气时，都会以一系列无益的方式想起她。

And whereas we get direct contact with Sophie and we hear these very candid speeches between her and Steven, Diana's present in the story as well, but we come back to this idea of scent. Steven Matarin bought her a bottle of expensive French scent, and she loves scent, and she's a bit bit bit vain and a bit of a lush. And she wears this scent, and he's reminded of her in a bunch of unhelpful ways through the later parts of the story whenever he kinda catches a waft of this scent again.

确实。这真的加剧了紧张感，你知道，史蒂文刚被海浪冲走，丢了靴子，差点需要其他水手救援，好不容易回到船上，紧接着就发生了这场大骚动——就在他刚脱险后，船长登船了。他说：'我都不知道船长离船了。'每次杰克靠近陆地时他都有些担心，怕杰克会被逮捕，觉得他应该更谨慎些。而杰克却情绪高涨，兴奋地和史蒂文交谈，史蒂文闻到那股香水味后，整个局面就急转直下。

Yeah. It really does ratchet up the tension as, you know, Steven has just been off into the surf and and lost his boots and has to be kind of saved by the other sailors a little bit, gets back on board the ship and then, you know, here's this big rigmarole right after he's gone down and it's the captain coming on board the ship and he says, You know, I didn't realize the captain had left the ship. He's a little bit concerned anytime Jack goes anywhere near land that he's gonna get arrested and he should know better than this. And Jack's just in a roaring good spirits, talking animatedly to Steven and Steven catches that scent and the whole thing goes south.

整个氛围都变了。

The whole atmosphere changes.

是啊。

Yeah.

有趣的是，你提到了沙丘——我们稍后会详细讨论——古德温沙洲是一片神秘、低洼且略带敌意的潮汐水域。古德温沙洲本质上是保护唐斯锚地的沙洲，使这里成为泊地。整片区域低洼多沙，有点阴森，在雾天或退潮时，目之所及只有海水与沙粒交融，这种环境非常适合发生诡异、不安又发人深省的事情。所以帕特里克·奥布莱恩选择将唐斯和古德温沙洲作为故事背景，我认为是很明智的。

So interestingly, you mentioned that the sand dunes, and we're gonna talk some more about the sand dunes, that the the Goodwin Sands are this kind of really mysterious, very low lying, slightly hostile patch of tidal water in, you know, is the the the Goodwin Sands are basically the the the sandbank that shelters the downs and makes it an anchorage. And the whole place is low lying and sandy and a little bit creepy and on a foggy day or in a day at low tide when there's just sea and sand washing together as far as the eye can see. It's a really good setting for eerie, unsettling, and thought provoking things to happen. So, again, smart choice, I think, by Patrick O'Brien. Is that the to have the downs and the Goodwin sounds as part of the setting?

非常棒。

Very nice.

此外，唐斯地区是许多沉船的目击地，它们未被标记，低洼地埋在沙洲之下。古德温沙洲上有大量沉船。可以说，史蒂文和杰克这两个角色也正处在沉船的边缘。我不确定这个比喻是否站得住脚。

Also, the the downs is the sight of many a shipwreck being unmarked low lying under sandbank. There are loads and those are shipwrecks on the Goodwin Sands. And you might say that the characters of Steven and Jack are on the verge of shipwreck. I'm not sure if that I'm not sure if that metaphor is gonna stand up.

嗯，有趣的是，我们时而感觉似乎稍微回归正常，时而又不是。然后紧张气氛逐渐升级，接着稍有缓和，穿插些其他角色的情节，然后，哎呀，又发生别的事情。就这样层层递进。虽然我们不在海上，没有私掠船或‘卡卡火’号来袭，但这种紧张感在这里是切实可感的。

Well, it it is interesting that we're getting, you know, we have these moments of looks like we're a little bit back to normal and then we're not. And then the tension ratchets up a little bit and then, you know, a little ease, a little something about another character, and then, oops, something else happens. And it just ratchets up and up and up. And we're not, you know, we're not at sea, we don't have, you know, a privateer or the caca fuego coming down upon us, but it's palpable here.

接着史蒂文将执行一项前往西班牙的重大任务。情报工作是他性格的重要组成部分，但奥布莱恩巧妙地将这次情报任务打包处理，或许是因为意识到这部已然冗长的小说空间有限，又或许知道现有的情节线索已足够丰富，无需深入探究。不过这也让他有机会以那种我非常喜爱的奥布莱恩式优美、诗意且抽象的方式简要提及。因此，西班牙任务的实际描述几乎是这样远距离呈现的。

And then there's gonna be this big mission that Steven undertakes to Spain. His intelligence work is a big part of his character, but O'Brien beautifully packages up this intelligence mission, maybe knowing that there's not a lot of space in what is already a long novel. Maybe also knowing that there's there's plenty enough action and story threads going on as it is without us delving deeply into it. But it also gives him a chance to just talk about it briefly in this very beautiful, poetic, abstracted way that I really love in O'Brien's writing. So the actual mission to Spain is described almost at a distance like this.

他写道：‘潮汐，潮汐，科克湾，启航等待月相，裸岩山脉中高大迅捷的骡子在烈日下颤动，棕榈灌木丛，尊敬的唐·埃斯特万·马图里尼·多马诺瓦亲吻蒙塞拉特尊贵修道院长的脚背，请求谒见。无尽白路蜿蜒，阿拉贡的非人景观，残酷的太阳与疲惫，尘土，心之倦怠，以及疑虑。’这就是他用约40个词对史蒂文经爱尔兰往返西班牙之旅的诗意描述。它美极了，告诉你关于这段旅程对史蒂文意义的全部。我真是爱极了。

He says, tides, tides, the cove of cork, the embarkation waiting on the moon, a tall swift pacing mule in the bare, torrid mountains quivering in the sun, palmetto scrub, senior Don Esteban Maturini Domanova kisses the feet of the very reverend Lord Abbot of Monserrat and begs the honor of an audience. The endless white road winding, the inhuman landscape of Aragon, cruel sun and weariness, dust, weariness to the heart, and doubt. And that's his, like, what, 40 word poetic description of Steven's journey to Spain and back via Ireland. And it's it's it's beautiful, and it tells you all that you need to know about what the journey meant to Steven. And, I just really love it.

我觉得这太棒了。正如你所说，不仅读起来、听起来非常享受，奥布莱恩还做了绝妙的剪辑，自问：‘这其中什么最重要？’正如他常做的那样，他会稍后为你展开，但此刻先给你精髓。确实美妙。

I I think it's amazing. And to your to your point, it's not only so much fun to read, to listen to, it's O'Brien making a great edit to say, What is important out of this? I am going to, as he so often does, bring to you later. But let me give you the essence right here. Beautifully Yeah.

布拉沃，帕特里克·奥布莱恩。他显然对此驾轻就熟，不是吗？他应该继续写小说。他确实应该。

Bravo Patrick O'Brien. He's clearly got the chops for this, hasn't he? He should he should continue this this novel writing. He should.

我认为我们应该继续追随帕特里克·奥布莱恩。现在稍事休息，稍后马上回来。欢迎回到‘莱伯洞’帕特里克·奥布莱恩播客。

I think we should keep going there, Patrick O'Brien. We're gonna take a short break now, but we'll be back in just a moment. Welcome back to the Leber's Hole Patrick O'Brien podcast.

杰克或许正继续与戴安娜的暧昧关系，认为他的朋友史蒂文不会对此采取行动。但当史蒂文与海军军官麦克唐纳交谈时，两人都意识到他们对武器技能有着共同兴趣，紧张局势进一步升级。麦克唐纳是海军陆战队员，而史蒂文则是珠宝商。要知道，史蒂文曾在爱尔兰接受教育，而当时的爱尔兰决斗文化甚至比英格兰更为盛行。我们看到这样一个场景：史蒂文在甲板上练习短剑技巧，随后又与麦克唐纳一起练习手枪射击。

Jack is perhaps continuing his dalliance with Diana in the belief that his friend Steven won't do anything about it. But the tension gets ratcheted up another notch further when Steven gets into conversation with McDonald, the marine officer, and they both realize they've got an interest in in in the weapon skills. McDonald is a marine and Steven as a jeweler. Having a history in, you know, having an education in Ireland and Ireland is a place where the dueling culture was even stronger than it was in England at the time. And we have this moment where Steven is on deck practicing his small sword skills and then practicing his pistol skills with MacDonald.

我们通过杰克的眼睛目睹了这一切。精彩的描写中，史蒂文以那种克制而冰冷的方式站定、举起手枪、用苍白的眼睛沿着枪管瞄准并射穿红心K牌头的模样，既令人不适又带着某种爬行动物般的特质。杰克的信心动摇了。顺带一提，我很喜欢这张牌是红心K的设计。我们正逐渐剥开史蒂文作为无害情人科学家的表象，意识到他已在世间历练过，拥有自卫和应对挑战的能力。我认为这让紧张感更甚，因为史蒂文已不再是那种你可以随意指望其善意的人了。

And we see this through the eyes of Jack. And the wonderful writing here, there was something disagreeable and somehow reptilian about the cold contained way Stephen took up his stance, raised his pistol, looked along the barrel with pale eyes, and shot the head of the king of hearts. Jack's certainties wavered. And by the way, I love the fact that the card was the king of hearts. But we're gradually peeling back the layers of Steven being the kinda harmless lover scientist to realize, you know, he's been in the world a little bit and he's got he's got the means to defend himself and to to answer a challenge And that ratchets the tension up still more, I think, because Steven's not any longer somebody whose goodwill you can take for granted.

没错。他掌握了这些惊人的技能，而且看起来几乎完全丧失了情感。我记得在前面的场景中，有人曾问史蒂文关于决斗的事，询问爱尔兰的习俗。史蒂文回答说：‘哦，是啊，大学时我经常出去。’有人追问：‘经常出去是什么意思？’

No. He's got these mad skills and as seems, appears, you know, to almost lose all emotion here. And I think I remember in an earlier scene, you know, somebody had asked Stephen about dueling and, you know, and about the custom in Ireland. And Stephen was saying, Oh yeah, you know, university, you know, I would go out often. And somebody said, Well, what do you mean go out often?

就是经常参加决斗。他会说：‘哦，一年大概20次左右吧。’这在如今听来让人有点不寒而栗。

You know, be in a duel often. He'd say, Oh, you know, 20 or so times a year. That's kind of it makes your blood run a little cold nowadays.

我稍微查了查关于决斗的资料，这是奥布莱恩捕捉到的另一个极具时代特色的细节。决斗在18世纪末19世纪初的中上流社会相当普遍。到19世纪中期时，决斗习俗在爱尔兰、英国和美国基本已经消失或被明令禁止。不知具体为何原因，决斗文化——尤其是大学生决斗文化——在爱尔兰曾风靡一时。有份名为《决斗法典》的文件，本质上是一套决斗法规，由一群爱尔兰贵族发布，后来被奉为绅士决斗的荣誉准则。

I I did a little bit of looking up about dueling, and this is another one of those things that O'Brien's picked on that are very specific to the period. Dueling was quite was quite common in late eighteenth, early nineteenth century middle class and upper class society. It had pretty much either fallen out of custom or been outlawed in Ireland and Britain and The US by the middle of the nineteenth century. And for don't know exactly what reason, dueling culture, a particular particularly undergraduate dueling culture was a big deal in Ireland. And there's a document called the code Duelo, which is basically a set of laws, if you like, or bylaws for dueling, was published by a bunch of aristocrats in Ireland and was taken up as the gentleman's honor code for dueling.

也许我们该在推特推文里放个它的链接。

We should put a link to it in the Twitter feed maybe.

哦，不错。

Oh, nice.

由一些爱尔兰贵族撰写，这些规则正是美国和英国人在未来二三十年间遵循的决斗习俗。哇。人们对此非常清楚，杰克也一定心知肚明——要知道，如果我向他发起挑战，这个人很可能会诉诸暴力，而暴力对我可能不会有好结果。

Written by some Irish aristocrats and that's the those are the rules that Americans and and, and Englishmen followed in in dueling custom for the next twenty or thirty years. Wow. And it was something that people were very aware of and must have been at the front of Jack's mind as well that, you know, this is somebody who can turn to violence if I challenge or if I if I present a challenge to him, and that violence might well not turn out so great for me.

确实如此。

No, for sure.

这很重要，因为在19世纪英国的真实社会背景下，尤其是爱尔兰的生活中，像斯蒂芬这个年龄和出身的人精通剑术和枪法是有充分理由的。这份由爱尔兰贵族撰写的《决斗法典》中，详细规定了不同等级冒犯后必须遵循的决斗流程。杰克对斯蒂芬的指控是个彻头彻尾的谎言——关于他的行为和行踪。第四条规则明确指出：当直接谎言构成首次冒犯时，挑衅者必须明确道歉，或在道歉前交换两枪，或在解释前交换三枪，或持续射击直至一方受重伤。所以揭穿谎言的行为直接导向了必须用枪械解决，而非简单过招——要么三枪定胜负，要么有人要受伤。

And that's important because in the real social context of nineteenth century Britain and especially Irish life in the nineteenth century, there's a good reason why a man of Stephen's kind of age and provenance would have been pretty handy with a sword and pretty handy with pistols. So in this document called the Code Duello written by Irish aristocrats, there's a series of rules about the exchange that must happen after certain grades of offense. And what Jack is challenging Stephen with is a lie, an outright lie about what he was doing and where he'd been. And rule four says when the lie direct is the first offense, the aggressor must either beg pardon in express terms, exchange two shots previous to apology, or three shots followed up by an explanation, or fire on till a severe hit be received by one party or the other. So this idea of giving someone the lie, calling them out on their lie takes you straight to you need to exchange shots here, not just a quick pass, you know, either three shots or somebody's gonna get hurt.

哇。我打赌奥布莱恩肯定读过这个，因为在第四部——也可能是第五或第十部小说里，斯蒂芬在澳大利亚与一名士兵对峙时直接拔枪相向。现在回看，斯蒂芬当时的行为和用语完全符合这部决斗法典的描述。有意思的是，法典里说所有赌博作弊的指控都应视同肢体冲突，这对斯蒂芬和杰克未来的生活可能很重要。

Wow. I bet O'Brien must have read this because there's an encounter with a soldier in Australia in four, I guess, five, ten novels time where Stephen basically draws down on this guy. And the the behavior and the language that Steven uses at that point, can now see described in this dueling code. Oh, interesting. It says that all imputations of cheating at play should be considered equivalent to a blow, and that might be important in the life to come for Steven and Jack.

嗯。第十条规定：对受绅士监护或保护的女士的侮辱，其严重程度应比对绅士本人的侮辱高一级。哇。第十一条规定：因维护女士名誉而引发的冲突，其正当性应低于同类其他冲突。

Mhmm. Rule 10 says, any insult to a lady under a gentleman's care or protection shall be considered as, by one degree, a greater offense than if given to the gentleman personally. Wow. And rule 11 says, offenses originating or accruing from the support of ladies reputations should be considered as less justifiable and and than any others of the same class.

但有趣的是，这让我——至少对我来说——更清楚地理解了奥布雷的意图。等等，现在的问题是：她是否受你保护？我需要在他们对话的语境中澄清这一点。

But it's interesting because it makes you understand, for me anyways, a little more clearer, Lee, what Aubrey is saying. Now, a minute. Now, you know, is she under your protection? Let me clarify here in the midst of their exchange there.

完全正确。从斯蒂芬与那位年轻海军军官的对话中也能听出端倪——那个军官是个游手好闲的纨绔子弟，属于那种流着口水的上流社会白痴类型，他说'我倒想和她玩玩'。斯蒂芬立即打断了他。显然，斯蒂芬愿意为了戴安娜·维利尔斯的名誉与这位海军军官正面交锋。而那位军官很快退缩了，可能当时就已经明白斯蒂芬不是好惹的。

Absolutely. And you can hear it a little bit in the context to the exchange between Stephen and the young marine officer who is a bit of a sort of lounge layabout flashman, you know, upper class drooling idiot type, who says, oh, I quite fancy a bit of a shot at her. And Steven cuts him off. Clearly, Steven is willing to to have a fairly confrontational conversation with his marine officer about Diana Vilius' reputation. And very, very quickly, the marine officer withdraws, perhaps knowing already by then that Steven's not to be trifled with.

他有点不真诚地轻轻挥手拒绝。然后史蒂文，针对你提到的这些对立准则，直接把他引向了游戏和高风险游戏的狭窄小巷。史蒂文要么会惩罚他——事实上也确实严厉惩罚了——要么

He he kind of flips it off a little bit insincerely. And then Steven, I think to your point about these dueling codes, walks him right into a very narrow alley of, you know, of gaming and high stakes gaming. And Steven is either gonna punish him, which he does severely, or

是啊，还带着愉悦呢，想想看。天啊。简直是津津有味。

Yeah. With joy as well, think. Oh my gosh. With relish.

没错。你再次看到这种爬行动物般的冷酷，史蒂文在拆解这家伙时既疯狂又机械，以至于杰克后来不得不让他承诺永远不再这样做，因为那可能会让船上的情况更加混乱。

Yeah. You see this back again, this reptilian cold, you know, Steven is just maniacal and mechanical in taking this guy apart to the point where Jack has to make him promise later, you know, not to ever do it again, that that that could be, you know, really, upset the ship even further.

我能感受到帕特里克·奥布莱恩身上的平等主义倾向，因为他很容易赞美、欣赏并提拔那些出身工人阶级或卑微背景却通过努力晋升的角色。确实有些海军上将就是这样被正面刻画的。托马斯·普林斯就是继'马洞'之后出现的，是个非常正面的角色。而另一方面，帕特里克·奥布莱恩写起那些愚蠢势利、邪恶刻薄的上流阶级角色也得心应手，并且写得非常出色。

I get a sense of an egalitarian streak in Patrick O'Brien because he's he finds it very easy to praise and enjoy and promote characters who are, you know, working class or humble origins making it up through the system. There are, you know, admirals like that who are always portrayed in a positive light. Thomas Pullings came after the horse hole, and he's a very positive character. Flip side of that is Patrick O'Brien finds it very easy to write upper class characters who are twits and snobs and evil and malicious, and he does it very well.

千真万确。确实如此。尤其是这个等式的第一面，我最爱他的地方之一，就是那种流露出的善良、正义、爱意、钦佩和美好，这些品质让我对他倍感亲切。

Too too true. It it it actually is. Particularly the first side of that equation, one of the things I love so much about him, I love so much, a kindness and a justice and a love and an admiration and a goodness that comes through there that really endears me to him.

是啊是啊，说得好，非常精辟。

Yeah, yeah, yeah, very good, well said.

书中有段早期的引述，你谈到史蒂文与索菲的关系，说他们共享了那么多。史蒂文曾说：'亲爱的，在女人面前，男人对直白的爱意表白毫无招架之力。我指的不是挑战性质的表白——那种情况下他当然要出于荣誉感应战——而是纯粹的情感宣告。'所以这种决斗观念让我着迷——若是决斗场合，出于荣誉必须应战；但如果是女人表白爱意，就完全无能为力了。

There was an earlier quote in the book, you talked about Stephen's relationship with Sophie and how they shared so much. And Stephen had said, You know, my dear, where women are concerned, a man is very helpless against direct attack. I do not mean in the nature of a challenge, which of course he's bound in honor to take up, but in the nature of a plain statement of affection. So it's, it's fascinating to me, this idea of dueling that, well by honor, if it's a duel situation, you've gotta go after it. However, if it's a woman, you know, confessing affection, helpless.

对此我无能为力。你知道吗，我已经不堪重负了。是的。

There's nothing I can do about that. What do I you know, I'm overwhelmed. Yeah.

是啊。这个社会真是相当病态，两个男人因为一场纸牌游戏争执不下。他们清楚该怎么做，直接掏枪互指。对吧。两个男人搞不清自己对生命中女人的真实感受，没有任何准则能指引他们。

Yeah. What a relatively broken society that, two men disagreeing over a game of cards. They know exactly what to do, they point a pistol at each other. Right. Two men who can't figure out what they really feel about the women in their lives, there's no code that helps them.

有点可悲。确实如此。

That's a bit sad. True.

确实如此，兄弟。

True, brother.

没错。而且我们不再决斗了。现在只有推特。对吧？对。

Yeah. And we don't have dueling anymore. We just have Twitter. Right? Right.

你看，在这个故事里我们多次提到，要是有人能说点什么就好了，要是他们能坦露真情实感，要是他们能互相告知彼此的了解和大家对彼此的看法。终于我们来到这样一个场景：邓达斯正在与斯蒂芬·马特隆交谈。斯蒂芬下了船在镇上，邓达斯遇见他说，你知道，我需要你去和杰克谈谈。杰克在海军部那边把自己搞得一团糟，他会惹上麻烦毁掉前程，而你是他特别的朋友。请替我劝劝他。

You know, so often we mentioned during this story that we said, Oh, if only somebody would say something, if only they would just state their true feelings, if they would tell each other what they know about each other and what people think of each other. And so we finally get to a scene in which Dundas is talking to Stephen Matron. Stephen Matron is off the ship and in town and Dundas meets him and says, you know, I need you to talk to Jack. Jack is really messing himself up with the admiralty, and he's gonna get himself into some trouble and set his career back, and you're his particular friend. Please tell him for me.

不幸的是，尽管我们总希望人们能坦诚相告，但这次对话看起来并不乐观。

And unfortunately, as much as we want people to tell each other, this one doesn't bode well.

从某种程度上说，这就像点燃了一根导火索，一场几乎不可避免的爆炸即将发生。正是那场对话促使史蒂文回到船上，开始直面杰克并说道：听着杰克，不仅是我，还有你的好友邓达斯都察觉到了这点。此刻你能真切感受到那种恐惧和不祥的预感——史蒂文和杰克之间长期回避、几乎避免、甚至试图缓解的紧张关系。这种紧张即将彻底爆发，史蒂文和杰克之间将有一场重大对峙。

In a way, this lights the fuse on an explosion that's now almost inevitable. That that conversation motivates Steven to go back to the ship and start to face Jack down and say, look, Jack, not only I, but your particular friend, Dundas, are are picking up on this. And at this point, you can just feel the dread and the foreboding as all of this tension that Steven and Jack have so far skirted around and almost avoided and kind of mitigated. This tension's about to really explode, and there's gonna be this big confrontation between Steven and Jack.

确实。读到这段时真的让我如坐针毡，特别是第一次读到的时候心想：天啊，因为矛盾一直在层层累积。突然间，所有铺垫都爆发了——关于史蒂文的才能，关于杰克作为指挥官时精于算计的战略头脑（尤其在战争中），但在处理人际关系特别是牵涉到女性关系时却完全不是这样。史蒂文作为朋友试图给他些实用建议，但杰克却将其视为战争策略，认为他是为了追求戴安娜·维勒斯而试图让杰克退出竞争。

Yeah. This this really pinned me right to the wall when I was reading about this, particularly the first time through thinking, Oh my gosh, because we've been building and building and building. And all of a sudden, and so much has been laid out here. So much has been laid out about Stephen's skills, about how Jack sometimes, while incredibly calculating and strategic as a commander, particularly going into war, not so much as a human being, and particularly where the fair sex becomes involved here in his relationships. And, you know, Stephen tries as a friend to tell him some pretty practical things, but Jack hears it as, you know, a ruse de guerre as another suitor for Diana Villers, trying to get Jack to clear the field here.

可悲的是他完全没在思考，只是本能地做出了反应。

And, and unfortunately he's not thinking. He just completely reacts.

于是两人之间爆发了激烈冲突。当时刚执行完西班牙情报任务的史蒂文，为了掩饰行踪晒得黝黑回来。杰克抓住这点质问：如果你说爱尔兰天气阴冷，却晒得像浆果般黝黑，那我不得不说，朋友，你是个骗子。这一刻便再没有回头路了。

And there's this big showdown between the two of them. Steven, who's meanwhile been on a mission, an intelligence mission to Spain, had to cover up for it a little and comes back suntanned. That's one of the things that Jack picks up on and says, if you say that you had delicate weather in Ireland, but you're as brown as a berry, then I'm sorry, my friend. You're a liar. And that's the moment that there's no way back from.

没错。要知道我们之前就听过（之后也会再听到），史蒂文最痛恨被人称作骗子，即便他确实在撒谎。他后来在书中对杰克说：听着，我的职责要求我不得不撒谎，但绝不允许有人当面揭穿。史蒂文确实试图缓和局面，但已无济于事。

Right. You know, here it is. And and we've, you know, we've heard before, we'll hear again that Steven does not like to be called a liar even when he's lying. He'll tell Jack later in the book, hey, look, there are many things I have to do in the role that I have that include telling lies, but I never want any man to tell me this to my face. You know, and and Steven has really tried to to sort of back him down, but he can't do it.

当杰克直斥他是骗子时，史蒂文说：您说得够多了，先生。实在太过分了，您必须收回这句话。而杰克给出了最后通牒：我绝不收回。

He calls him the liar and, know, Steven says, you know, you've said enough, sir. Too much by far, you must withdraw. And Jack, here it is. You know, it's like he's he's given him the ultimatum. Jack, you know, I shall not withdraw.

接着杰克又火上浇油地补充道：我坚持这个说法，并随时准备接受您提出的任何决斗要求。这时奥布莱恩回答了我们在《怒海争锋》里的疑问。史蒂文低声说：真够讽刺的，我们的友谊始于一场决斗挑战，竟也要以决斗告终。

And and then Jack adds that thing that is just it. Now the match is to the fuse here. Will stand by that and I'm perfectly willing to give you any satisfaction you may choose to ask for. And then O'Brien answers that question that we had in Master and Commander. It's odd enough, said Steven in a low voice, that our acquaintance should have begun with a challenge and that it should end with one.

重锤一击。哇哦。绝对是重锤一击。没错。他们几乎用毫不含糊的言辞把自己逼入绝境，尤其在挑战和决斗方面更是明确无误。

Hammer blow. Woah. Absolute hammer blow. Yeah. So they've painted themselves into a corner almost with words that are absolutely unambiguous and particularly unambiguous when it comes to challenges and duels.

于是我们这两位陨落的英雄都不得不面对现实：一两天内，除非海军把他们秘密带走，否则他们必须在迪尔周边那诡异超凡的沙丘环境中对决，对此他们心知肚明。

So we're left with our two fallen heroes really both facing the fact that in a day or two, they're gonna have to face each other unless the navy spirits them away. They're gonna have to face each other in this eerie otherworldly environment of the dunes and the sands around Deal, and they both know it.

是的。他们确实知道。而且两人似乎都开始着手准备——史蒂文甚至去借了一对手枪，他在准备过程中表现得极为有条不紊。

Yeah. They do. And and they both seem to go about their to just head off on that course. I mean, Steven goes and arranges the loan of a pair of pistols. He's very methodical in preparing.

我们再次被提醒他是个神枪手。我记得初读这段时，后来重读时不禁想：天啊，幸好这不是《权力的游戏》，否则...

And, again, we're reminded of what a dead shot he is. And I'm I remember reading this, and then later as I came back to reread again thinking, Oh my God, you know, thank God this is not Game of Thrones, because this

这就是《权力的游戏》。

is Game of Thrones.

我们有大麻烦了。我最喜欢的主角之一——这两人中的某位——恐怕没法活着走出这本书了。

We're in big trouble here. My favorite protagonist, one of the two of them, is not gonna make it through this book.

这种氛围不仅充满厄运与危险，还有种听天由命的意味。正如你所说，两人以不同方式面对。奥布莱恩让我们深入他们的内心世界，特别是史蒂文，但也有杰克的部分。没错。史蒂文如你所说外出练习枪法、勘察地形，他在沙丘间独行的经历异常宁静，充满冥想的孤独感。有些日子让人恍如顿悟，仿佛此前的人生都是盲目度过的。

And there's this sense of not only kind of doom and jeopardy, but resignation, like you say, Both of them in their different ways. Spend O'Brien gives us some time in the headspace of both of them, especially Steven, but also actually with Jack. Yes. And Steven goes out, as you say, and practices his pistol skills and walks the ground, and he finds this very kind of strangely peaceful, contemplative, lonely experience just wandering the sand dunes. There are days when one sees as though one had been blind the rest of one's life.

如此清晰，万物皆完美，不仅限于非凡之事。人活在当下，全神贯注地生活。对于一个偶尔消遣性吸毒的人来说，我认为这些是他需要思考的重要事情。他似乎在欣赏并接纳这种近乎阴郁的超脱状态，这或许就是终极的超脱。

Such clarity, perfection in everything, not merely in the extraordinary. One lives in the very present moment, one lives intently. And for a guy who's an occasional recreational drug user, those are important things for him to think, I think. And he's sort of appreciating and welcoming this kind of rather somber detachment that he has. This is perhaps the final detachment.

这或许是唯一能活得自由的方式，出人意料地轻松美好。兴趣不减，无需承诺。这是我几乎未曾体验过的自由。分秒时光延展，有余裕去观察当下的流动。这其中蕴藏着时间的荒野。

This is perhaps the only way to live free, surprisingly light and well. No diminution of interest, no commitment. This is a liberty I have hardly known. The minutes and the hours stretch out and there is leisure to see the movement of the present. A wilderness of time in this.

阿雷纳修斯的世界。阿雷纳修斯意思是沙质的，我想。是的，这只是个有根据的猜测。

Aronacious world. And Arenacious means Sandy, I think. Yeah. That's just what was educated guess.

是的。有趣的是，史蒂文在这种状态下似乎正在经历一种听起来很像禅宗顿悟的时刻——他只专注于此时此地。经历了这个神志异常清醒的夜晚，完成了所有编程和间谍工作的准备，整理好了个人事务，几乎带着一种喜悦——不是除掉杰克的那种想法，而是全神贯注于当下的状态。

Yeah. It is interesting that Steven, you know, in the midst of this seems to be having a moment of what sounds a lot like enlightenment in a zen sort of sense, that he's just focused on the here and the now. Has this incredible night of lucid concentration, gets all of his coding and spy work all set up, gets his affairs in order, and is almost kind of joyous, not in the idea of doing away with Jack, but in that I'm just pinpoint focused here.

我一直在想这段文字的出处，因为它看起来非常真挚。奥布莱恩并不总是充满诗意，但我觉得这段文字极具诗意，有些意象确实动人。这让我怀疑其中是否融入了帕特里克·奥布莱恩的个人经历。当然不是决斗经历——但帕特里克·奥布莱恩经历过二战，他对自己在二战中的服役经历讳莫如深，甚至可能有些刻意误导。据信他曾在二战期间为英国政府从事某种秘密情报工作。我不禁猜想这段文字是否映射了某人被派遣执行致命危险任务前，独自度过的那段近乎宁静的时光。

And I was wondering where that writing came from because it seemed really heartfelt. O'Brien's not always very, very poetical, but I found the writing very poetical, some really moving imagery. And it got me wondering whether there's an element of Patrick O'Brien's personal experience in it. Now obviously not not duelling but Patrick O'Brien lived through the second world war, he was very coy and probably very very obviously a bit deceptive about exactly what he did in terms of service in the second world war but it's believed that he had some kind of role in secret intelligence for the British government in World War two. And I wondered if there's an echo in this writing of someone who's been deployed on some mortally dangerous operation and has this quiet almost serene time alone before they go out on the very hazardous operation.

你知道，这让我联想到一些描写战时和军事场景的文字。有点像《第二十二条军规》——有时候在基地等待致命危险来临时，那种诡异的、令人不安的平静。

And, you know, there's there's there's writing around wartime and writing around kind of military situations that this reminded me of. A little bit like Catch 22. You know, sometimes it's very eerie, very sort of unsettling calm when you're back at base waiting for the terrible risk to come and confront you.

没错。这不是会不会发生的问题，只是时间问题。

Right. It's not a matter of if, just when.

杰克也在经历他自己的沉思时刻，不是吗？独自一人，身处不同的环境。

And Jack's having his own experience of contemplating as well, isn't he? Alone, he's in a different setting.

确实如此。你看，他遇到了妓女，置身于多佛的酒吧和小巷中，然后从这一切中抽身而出。他情绪有些低落。早些时候去找戴安娜，被告知她不在家。他又回去，偷偷爬上她的窗台，却发现她正和坎宁在一起，两人相处得非常愉快。

Very much so. You know, he's encountering prostitutes, he's in the bars and the alleyways of Dover, and then he takes himself out in the midst of all that. He's a little low. Had earlier called upon Diana, was told she was not at home. He goes back up there, sneaks up onto her window ledge, only to discover that she's there with Canning, and they're having quite a wonderful time together.

所以，你看，他进行这场决斗的理由现在已经消失了，我怀疑随之消失的还有他生活中的许多快乐。

So, you know, the reason that he's fighting this duel is now dropped out from under him, I suspect with a lot of the joy of his life His as

他原本以为保护自己的地位、无论是什么，或是对戴安娜·维利尔斯的情感或分心，现在全都崩塌了。我认为这也确实表明，由于戴安娜·维拉斯的存在让他分心，他一直忽视了索菲的感受。是的。而这一切在此刻都被揭示为如此浪费和愚蠢的消遣。即便是世界上最具自我意识的集体人也会觉得难以应对，而我认为他现在并非如此。

his what he thought of as honor in protecting his position, his whatever it is, or affection or distraction for Diana Villiers, all fall away. I think it really also points out that he's been disregarding the feelings that he has for Sophie because of the distraction of the presence of Diana Villas. Yeah. And all of that is called out in this moment as having been such a waste and such a foolish dalliance. And the most the most self aware collective man in the world would find that a hard thing to deal with, and I think he's he's not that right now.

不，不。你知道，我们正处于故事中一个非常低落、黑暗的时刻。你必须问自己，救赎将从何而来？接下来会发生什么？

No. No. You know, we're at a really low, dark point of the story. And and you gotta ask yourself, where where's redemption gonna come from here? What's gonna happen next?

我在笔记中写道：狡猾，唉，唉，唉。

I wrote in my notes, I wrote cunning, aye, aye, aye.

太对了，尤其是...嗯，这是个很好的观点，你看，当杰克在奎妮的路线遇到坎宁时，坎宁说，你知道，这...我通常不会...我当然对银行家和商人没什么好感。但我对他印象深刻。他更有深度。我真的很喜欢他。我们还记得坎宁在杰克低谷时向他提出的那个绝妙提议。

Too true, especially Well, and it's a great point in that, you know, here's Canning when he meets When Jack meets Canning at Queenie's route, he's saying, you know, that this is, I don't usually kind of, I'm certainly not impressed with bankers and commercial men. I'm impressed with him. He's more navel. I really quite like him. We have this, you know, fabulous offer that Canning made to Jack when he was at a low point.

杰克很喜欢那样。后来杰克负责护航任务。坎宁有几艘船在其中。他们得以再次相见。他们一起享用了一顿丰盛的晚餐，杰克非常喜欢肯宁，和他共度了美好时光。

Jack loved that. Then Jack is on convoy duty. Canning has some ships in it. They get to see each other again. They have this incredible dinner together and Jack just loves Kenning and is having a grand time with him.

他们一起唱歌、豪饮。然后事情就这样了，你知道，不是史蒂文害了我，是我自己害了自己。现在，你知道，我有几个生命中的挚爱，还有这段伟大的友谊——在我一无所有时拥有的友谊，而现在我正失去这一切。

They're singing together and drinking profusely together. And then here it is, you know, it's not Steven that's done me in. It's myself that's done me in. And now, you know, I have a couple loves of my life and and and this great friendship that I've had when I had nothing, and now I'm losing them all.

所以我认为这是真正的低谷。如果你要用音乐来比喻这件事，想想史蒂文和杰克演奏音乐，如果你是奏鸣曲式古典音乐世界的乐迷，这里就是发展部的核心。所有色彩都汇聚于此，却又都陷入黑暗。这里的和声难以解构，主题旋律彼此纠缠到极致。

So I think this is the real low point. If you were gonna be all musical about this and think about Steven and Jack play play music and if you're a music fan in in the world of sonata forming classical music, this is the heart of the development section. This is where all the colors are where all the colors have gone dark. This is where the harmony is really hard to unentangle. This is where the themes are as twisted around each other as they can get.

此刻只需要一件事，那就是找到摆脱困境的方法，重获故事开头的那缕阳光。那么会是谁呢？哪个角色将提供斩断死结、解决这团乱麻的机会？答案将是哈特上将——这真是绝妙的讽刺，不是吗？

And and only one thing is needed at this point, and that's to find a way out of the mess and get back to some of the sunlight that we had at the beginning of the story. So who could it be? Which character is gonna offer the chance to cut the knot and to resolve this horrible twisted mess? It's gonna be Admiral Hart, which is really delicious irony, isn't it?

谁能想到呢？对吧？而且哈特肯定不会帮任何人忙，我猜。

Who would have ever thunk it? Right? And and certainly not Hart doing anybody any favors, I suspect.

我猜哈特心知肚明，我们从文本中读到杰克也明白，哈特下达的命令——让他穿过海峡去往虚构的舒利尔港，截获那艘叫凡乔拉的护卫舰——这是个自杀任务。这是哈特把杰克调开去做可能回不来的任务的机会。杰克心知肚明，但这或许正是让我们解开这个极度混乱故事的契机。

Suspect Hart knows, and we we read in the text that Jack knows that the order that Hart gives, which is to go to this fictitious port of Shulier on the other side of the channel and cut out this corvette called the Fanchola. This is a suicide mission. This is an opportunity for Hart to send Jack away to do something that he might not come back from, And Jack knows it for sure, but actually this might be the thing that lets us untangle this horribly twisted story.

是啊。多么精彩的安排。从《怒海争锋》开始，杰克和哈特的关系就很糟糕。我们看到他在这里与哈特重新建立些许新关系，却又因屡次未能赢得战利品而让哈特失望。我不禁想，这是否是哈特在说：'听着，我有项必须向上级交差的任务'。

Yeah. What and what a great thing. You know, we've had Jack and Hart's relationship so bad from master and commander. We've had him start back off in a little bit of a new relationship with Heart here, but then to disappoint him repeatedly in terms of not winning him any prizes. You know, I had to wonder, is this Heart saying, you know what, I've got this mission that I've got to deliver upstairs.

天啊，我可不想失去任何好伙伴。我知道。我想我会派杰克去。

Gosh, I don't wanna lose any of my good folks. I know. Think I'll send Jack.

所以这让我们停留在‘或许’的节点上，从剧情角度来说至少还有一线曙光。我是说，史蒂文和杰克面临两种迫近的厄运。没错。但从剧情角度看，这线曙光意味着他们或许不必明早在斯特兰德大道上互相枪击。也许他们会被派去执行某项绝望的任务。

So that leaves us at the point of maybe, in plot terms, at least a glimmer of light. I mean, impending doom of two kinds for Steven and Jack. Yes. But in plot terms, a glimmer of light, maybe they're not gonna have to walk the Strand tomorrow morning and shoot each other. Maybe they're gonna be sent off on some desperate mission.

这正是他们被安排要做的。完全正确。这又是个绝妙的观点——如果船只现在不必启航，他们在船上期间就无法互相伤害。要知道，违背这点将自食其果。而在陆地上时，为了安排这场对决已经费尽周折，时间就定在明天早晨。所以必须此刻就发生点什么，或许就是现在这个转机。

Which they're set up to do. So exactly. That's a great point again, that if if the ship did not have to leave now, they they while they're on ship, they cannot do each other, anything to each other. That would be, you know, to answer the contrary at your peril, that while on land and it's been so hard trying to get this thing set up, it's tomorrow morning. And so something boom has to happen right now and perhaps this is it.

但这并不简单。这两个男人至少还要在船上共处一两天，而这艘船本身就是个木匠的失误之作，可能根本不适合执行任务。加上大副遭船员憎恨，船员又分为老索菲派和其他强征入伍者，还有变幻莫测的天气潮汐，以及虎视眈眈的法国敌舰——我想这本书必将迎来宏大的终章。

It's not straightforward though. These two men have to live alongside each other aboard ship for at least a day or two more on board a ship that is the carpenter's mistake that might not even be fit for the job with a first lieutenant who's hated by the crew, with a crew divided among the old Sofies and all the other press men, with weather and tides and an uncertain French foe on the other side of it, we're in for a big finish to this book, I think.

听起来确实如此。完全同意。正如你指出的，我们还潜藏着额外张力：与小说前期不同，杰克当时沉溺于自己的风流韵事，放任事态滑向...我确信若他当时留心定会懊悔不已，但确实已到了可能给他和其他人带来严重后果的地步。

Well, it it sure sounds like it again. Absolutely. And we've got that additional underlying tension, as you point out, that unlike earlier in the novel, Jack was so distracted with his own dalliance that he seems to have let things slide to his, you know, possible I'm sure to his great chagrin were he paying attention, but certainly to the point where this could do him and others So great

我想我们下次应该继续讨论这个话题。不同类型的伤害和危险正笼罩着杰克、史蒂文和波利克莱斯特号。背景里还有热血沸腾的托马斯·普林斯，他极度渴望以中尉身份崭露头角；索菲全心全意期盼着有朝一日能回到她为之守候的男人身边；至于黛安娜·维利尔斯——天知道她现在打什么算盘。

I think we should come back to this next time. We've got different kinds of harm and peril hanging over Jack and Steven and the poly crest. We've got in the background of all of this the exuberant Thomas Pullings really hoping to distinguish himself as a lieutenant. We've got Sophie hoping with all her heart that maybe one day she can get back to the man that she's saving herself for and Diana Villiers. Well, goodness knows what Diana Villiers is thinking right now.

但我想我们下期播客有话题可聊了，迈克。

But I think we have something to talk about in our next podcast, Mike.

那么，下次咱们多聊点帕特里克·奥布莱恩的故事如何？我打心底里愿意。等他们想做第三季的花絮时，记得把这段留着。我们会记得回来补上的。好吧。

Well, what do you say next time into a little bit more Patrick O'Brien? With all my heart. When they when they wanna do season three's, you know, tag reel, save that one. We'll remember to come back. Alright.