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The next day my uncle and I had a small bowl of porridge and a glass of water for breakfast, lunch and supper. He did not speak much to me, but was clearly thinking hard. I often noticed him looking at me, while pretending to do something different, and he never left me alone in the kitchen with the locked chests, in which, I supposed, he kept his money. I did not like the way he looked at me, and began to wonder if he was a little crazy, and perhaps dangerous.
第二天早、中、晚饭我和我的叔叔都只喝了一小碗粥和一杯水。他对我讲话不多，但很明显地他在使劲想什么。我经常注意到他一边假装干别的事一边看我，他也从来没有让我一个人单独待在放有锁着的柜子的厨房里。我想他一定在里面放了钱。我不喜欢他看我的那种样子，开始想他是不是有点神经不正常，而且或许是个危险人物。
After supper he said suddenly, 'Davie, I've been thinking. I promised your father a bit of money for ye before ye were born. A promise is a promise—and so I'm going to give ye...forty pounds!' These last words seemed very painful to him. He added, in a kind of scream, 'Scots!'
吃过晚饭他突然说：“戴维，我一直在思考。你出生前我曾答应过你父亲给你一点钱。承诺就是承诺——我现在要给你……40镑！”最后的话语对他来说显得非常痛苦。他用一种尖叫的声音补充道：“苏格兰镑！”
A Scottish pound was the same as an English shilling. I could see that his story was a lie, so I laughed at him, saying, 'Oh, think again, sir! English pounds, surely!'
一个苏格兰镑相当于一个英格兰先令。我能看得出他在说谎，于是我嘲笑他，说：“噢，再想想，先生！英镑，确定无疑！”
'That's what I said,' replied my uncle quickly. 'Go outside for a moment, and I'll get the money for ye.'
“那是我说的。”我叔叔很快答道，“出去一会儿，我给你拿钱。”
I was smiling as I went out, sure that he would give me nothing at all. It was a dark night, and I could hear wind in the hills. 'There may be thunder later,' I thought, not knowing how important the weather would be to me that night.
我出去时微笑着，敢肯定他什么也不会给我。夜晚天黑黑的，我能听到山野里的风声。“之后可能会打雷，”我想，不知道那晚的天气对我来说将是何等重要。
But when my uncle called me in again, he counted thirty eight English pounds in gold into my hands. It clearly hurt him to do it, and he kept back the last two pounds, but I did not mind that. Surprised and pleased, I thanked him warmly.
但当我叔叔把我又叫进去时，他将价值38英镑的金币数着放在我的手里。显然他是不情愿那么做的，他扣了最后两个英镑，但是我没有在意。我又惊又喜，热烈地感谢他。
'Now,' he said, looking cleverly at me, 'ye can give me something, Davie. I'm getting old now, and I need help.'
“那么，”他狡黠地看着我说道，“你可以给我一些东西，戴维。我现在变老了，我需要帮助。”
'Of course, sir,' I answered. 'What can I do?'
“当然可以，先生，”我回答道，“我能做什么？”
'Well, go outside and climb the stairs at the other end of the house, where the building isn't finished yet. Go up to the room at the top, and bring down the chest that ye'll find there. It's got valuable papers in it.'
“好的，出去，爬上在那个还未建完的房子的另一端的楼梯。爬到位于房子的顶层的房间去，把你在那儿发现的柜子拿下来。里面有重要的文件。”
'Can I have a light, sir?' I asked.
“我能点盏灯吗，先生？”我问道。
'No,' he said sharply. 'No lights in my house!'
“不，”他厉声说道，“我的房子里不能点灯！”
'Very well, sir. Are the stairs good?'
“好吧，先生。楼梯是好的吗？”
'They're grand,' said he. 'The stairs are grand.
“好的，”他说，“楼梯是好的。”
Out I went into the night. As I was feeling my way along the outside wall, there was a sudden flash of lightning, then darkness again. I found the stairs and started climbing. I was about fifteen metres above the ground, when there was another flash of lightning. That was lucky for me, because it showed me that the steps were uneven, and that I could easily fall to my death. 'These are the grand stairs!' I thought. 'Perhaps my uncle wants me to die!' Now I was very careful, and I felt each step with my hands before I put my foot on it. A few steps later my hand felt cold stone, and then nothing more. The stairs ended there, twenty metres above the ground. I felt cold with fear, when I thought of the danger that I had been in. Sending a stranger up those stairs in the dark was sending him straight to his death.
我走进夜色中。我沿着外墙摸索着时，一道闪电忽然闪过，紧接着又是黑黝黝的。我找到了楼梯并且开始爬起来。我已离地大约十五米高，这时又有一道闪电闪过。那对我来说是幸运的，因为它向我表明楼梯是不平的，我很容易摔死。“这就是不错的楼梯！”我想道，“我伯伯可能想让我死掉！”现在我很当心起来，踩每一脚前都用手仔细地摸摸踏脚处。又爬了几步之后，我的手碰到了冰冷的石头，然后再也没有东西了。楼梯到头了，离地20米高。我一想起我所处的险境就害怕得直发冷。让一个陌生人在黑暗中上那楼梯，就是把他直接送到死神面前。
