Polly was the sweetest, prettiest girl in Goldsboro, yes sir. All the local boys were chasing her, and quite a number of the fellows from the surrounding countryside were too. All the girls were jealous of Polly ‘cause they didn’t have no sweethearts to take them to the local dances. They all wanted Polly to choose her man so things could go back to normal. But Polly was picky. None of the local boys suited her, and neither did the fellows from the back country.
波莉是Goldsboro最甜美，最漂亮的姑娘，是的先生，你沒有聽錯(cuò)。所有當(dāng)?shù)氐哪泻⒍甲非笏?，還有一些附近鄉(xiāng)村的也是她的擁躉。其余所有的姑娘都嫉妒她，她們都希望波莉趕快選擇一個(gè)如意郎君，這樣生活就可以恢復(fù)正常。但是波莉太挑剔，不過是當(dāng)?shù)剡€是鄉(xiāng)村的男孩子，都不入她的法眼。

Then one day, George Dean came home from university, and Polly was smitten. Polly completely dropped all her other beaus when George came courting, and it wasn't long before George proposed and Polly accepted.
一天，George Dean 從大學(xué)回來，波莉?qū)λ麅A心。在喬治上門求愛時(shí)，她拒絕了之前所有的追求者。不就喬治就向她求婚了，波莉也欣然答應(yīng)。

Polly started making preparations for the wedding and shopping for items to fill her new home.?? George wasn’t too interested in all the fripperies and wedding details.? He left the womenfolk to get on with it and started spending time down at the pool hall with some of his buddies.? And that’s where he met Helene, the owner’s saucy daughter. She had bold black eyes and ruby red lips, and a bad-girl air that fascinated George.? He spent more and more time at the pool hall, and less and less time with Polly, who finally noticed in spite of all the hustle and bustle.
波莉開始籌備婚禮，同時(shí)也為新家添置一些東西。喬治對與這些瑣碎的事情和婚禮的細(xì)節(jié)并不感冒。他離開女人堆?，和他的朋友在臺(tái)球房打發(fā)時(shí)間。在那里他遇見了海琳，臺(tái)球房主人的漂亮女兒，他有著黑色的大眼睛，鮮紅的嘴唇，一種“壞女孩”的特質(zhì)吸引著喬治。他在臺(tái)球房的時(shí)間越來越多，和波莉在一起的時(shí)間則越來越少，盡管波莉忙碌但是發(fā)現(xiàn)了未婚夫的不忠。

Of course, Polly was furious.? She immediately ?confronted George with the story, and he couldn’t deny it.? Suddenly, George had to toe the mark.? His pool-hall visits were over, and he spent every free hour he wasn’t at work by her side.? That didn’t sit well with George, but his family backed Polly up, so he? went along with it.
當(dāng)然，波莉勃然大怒，她要喬治承認(rèn)發(fā)生的一切，當(dāng)然喬治沒有抵賴。喬治突然覺得自己應(yīng)該承擔(dān)責(zé)任。他再也沒有去臺(tái)球房，只要他不工作他就陪著波莉。雖然這不是他的本意，但是他的家庭非常支持波莉，他也只能乖乖照做。

The day of the wedding dawned clear and bright. The guests filled the sanctuary, and the pastor and the best man waited patiently in the ante-chamber for the arrival of the groom. But George didn’t come. Eventually, they went searching for the missing bridegroom, and found out he'd left town with Helene an hour before the wedding. With dread, Polly’s mother went to tell her daughter what had happened. Polly, all bright and shining and lovely in her long white dress and soft wedding veil, turned pale when her mother broke the news. Then she stiffened, grabbing her left arm as a sudden pain ripped through it. She was dead from a massive heart attack long before she hit the floor.
婚禮的那天黎明，天氣晴朗明亮。賓客們都已經(jīng)到達(dá)婚禮地點(diǎn)。牧師和伴郎都在前廳等待著新郎。但是喬治沒有來。最后他們都在到處尋找走失的新郎。懷著擔(dān)心忐忑，波莉的母親告訴了波莉，喬治逃走的事情，他在婚禮前1小時(shí)就和海琳一起離開了這座城。當(dāng)她說完，穿著光鮮亮麗、美麗可人白色長裙、頭戴面紗的波莉，臉色慘白。她僵住了，緊緊的抓著她的左臂，好像有一陣疼痛貫穿。她死于嚴(yán)重的心臟病發(fā)作，最后倒在地上。

A few days later, Polly was buried in the churchyard, still wearing her white wedding dress and veil. The whole town came to the funeral and wept at the passing of such a beautiful young girl. George and Helene, who had spent the week happily honeymooning in the Outer Banks, arrived home at the very moment that the black-clad crowd exited the churchyard.? Their arrival caused a commotion. The minister had to pull Polly’s father off George before he killed him. And both George and Helene’s family disowned the couple right there in the street in front of everyone. The couple fled town in disgrace.
幾天以后，波莉被埋在教堂的后院，還是穿著她的白色禮服裙，頭戴面紗。整個(gè)鎮(zhèn)子都來參加她的葬禮，無不為這個(gè)漂亮年輕的女孩扼腕嘆息。喬治和海琳在外島度蜜月，回到家鄉(xiāng)的時(shí)候正好看見送葬人群從教堂后院出來。他們的出現(xiàn)引起了一陣騷動(dòng)。牧師拉住了波莉的父親以免他殺了喬治。喬治和海琳的家人在街上當(dāng)著所有人的面和他們斷絕關(guān)系。這對新人顏面盡失，倉皇離開小鎮(zhèn)。

Time passed, and eventually the scandal was forgotten. Until the day George’s father passed away. It was rumored that he was to be buried in the local churchyard just a few plots away from the girl who had almost become his daughter. Suddenly, the story of Polly's jilting was revived and folks wondered aloud if George would dare attend his father's funeral. But George was too clever for them. He waited at an inn outside of town until it was dark, and then he went to the churchyard to pay his last respects to his father.
時(shí)間流逝，人們最后都忘了這件丑聞。直到喬治的父親去世。傳言他將會(huì)埋在當(dāng)?shù)亟烫玫暮笤?，離曾經(jīng)將成為他兒媳的波莉墓碑不遠(yuǎn)處。一時(shí)間，波莉的事情又被重提，人們都好奇喬治敢不敢回來參加父親的葬禮。但是喬治很聰明，他一直在鎮(zhèn)外的一家小旅館里待到天黑，然后才到教堂的后院見他父親最后一面，以示敬意。

As he unburdened himself at his father’s graveside, George heard a sweet female voice calling his name. “George. Sweetheart.” George looked up in sudden hope. Was that his mother, come to forgive him? Then he saw, rising up from a grassy mound under a spreading oak tree, a figure in a long white gown and a soft veil. Her eyes and her lips were yellow flames beneath the veil, and the rotted wedding dress glowed with a white-yellow light. It was Polly.
當(dāng)他出現(xiàn)在父親的墓園旁邊，喬治聽到一個(gè)甜美的女聲說著：“喬治，我的心肝。”喬治突然心存希望，以為是他的母親，要來原諒他。他看到在一棵茂盛的橡樹下面的草丘，慢慢出現(xiàn)一個(gè)人影，穿著長裙，帶著面紗。面紗后面的眼睛和嘴唇都發(fā)黃，有些破舊發(fā)爛的婚紗泛著黃白色的光。那是波莉。

George’s body stiffened, shudders of fear coursing up and down his arms and legs. He put a shaking hand to his mouth and staggered backward, the other hand outstretched out ward off the specter floating toward him. The spectral bride cackled with angry laughter and swooped forward until its hand closed over George’s outstretched one in a terrible parody of a handshake. The grip of the spectral bride was so cold it burned the skin, and so hard that the bones crunched as it squeezed. “Come along into the church, George,” the glowing bride whispered. Through the veil, George could see maggots crawling in and out of Polly’s flaming eye sockets.
喬治的身體僵住了，一股寒意從上往下蔓延到手臂和大腿。他用發(fā)抖的手捂住嘴，然后開始慢慢后退，另一只手伸長，試圖阻止幽靈的靠近。這個(gè)鬼新娘高聲猙獰的笑著，突然向前，摸到喬治伸出來試圖阻擋的那只手。她的手是那么冰涼似乎可以凍住皮膚，她握得是那么用力，骨頭都因?yàn)閿D壓而發(fā)出聲響?！皢讨?，來吧，跟著我去教堂”這個(gè)發(fā)光的新娘小聲說道。面紗背后，喬治看見波莉發(fā)光的眼窩處，有蛆蟲在里面爬來爬去。

“Nooo! Polly, no!”? George screamed in terror, but he could not wrench his hand free. The ghost dragged him step by halting step toward the front door of the church. His hand was a red-hot agony of pain, though the rest of his body was shaking with cold.
“不！波莉，我不要去！”喬治驚恐地尖叫道，但是他的手無法掙脫。幽靈把他拖拽到教堂的前門，他被抓住的手灼熱發(fā)燙，痛不欲生，身體的其他部位則冷的發(fā)抖。

“No!” George gave a final cry of despair and wrenched again at his hand. And suddenly, he was free. The spectral bride gave a roar of rage as George ran pell-mell down the church lane and out into the street.
“不！”喬治最后一次歇斯底里、絕望地大叫，想要掙脫。突然他自由了。女鬼憤怒的大叫，喬治跑到了教堂的草坪上，接著沖到了街上。

“You’re mine, George Dean! If not in this world, than in the next,” the spectral bride howled after him.“
你是我的，喬治·迪恩，要不是今生就是來世?！迸硐蛩叵?。

By the time George reached his room, the fiery pain in his hand and arm was seeping through his entire body. He rang desperately for the house maid and begged her to send for a doctor. Then he fell into bed and stared at his hand, which was black and withered, as if it had been scorched long ago by a fire. Black and red streaks were climbing up his arm so fast he could almost see them move.
喬治終于回到他自己的房間，他的手和手臂都是灼熱的疼痛，開始向整個(gè)身體蔓延，他急忙央求女傭找個(gè)醫(yī)生來，然后他就倒在床上看自己的手，已經(jīng)燒焦發(fā)黑，像是被長時(shí)間的火烤。黑色和紅色的線條不斷的在手臂上蔓延，整個(gè)過程之快，連喬治都可以看到它們在移動(dòng)。

George was unconscious when the doctor arrived, and the swelling was already extending into his chest and neck. There was nothing the physician could do. The injury was too severe and had spread too far. Within two days, George was dead. Polly had gotten her man at last.
在醫(yī)生到達(dá)的時(shí)候，喬治已經(jīng)失去了意識，腫脹已經(jīng)蔓延至胸部和脖子處，醫(yī)生也無能為力。傷勢太過嚴(yán)重，傳播得也快。兩天內(nèi)喬治就死了。波莉最終得到了她的如意郎君。

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