Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. —
星期六的早晨到了，整个夏天的世界都明亮而新鲜，充满了生机。 —

There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young the music issued at the lips. —
每个人的心中都有一首歌，如果心是年轻的话，音乐就会从嘴唇中流淌出来。 —

There was cheer in every face and a spring in every step. —
每张脸上都有快乐，每一步都带着弹跳。 —

The locust-trees were in bloom and the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air. —
公共行道树开满了花，花香弥漫了空气。 —

Cardiff Hill, beyond the village and above it, was green with vegetation and it lay just far enough away to seem a Delectable Land, dreamy, reposeful, and inviting.
卡迪夫山在村子外面，更高一点的地方，一片绿意盎然，仿佛是一个宜人的乐土，梦幻、宁静、迷人。

Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. —
汤姆拿着一桶粉刷和一把长柄刷子出现在人行道上。 —

He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. —
他审视着篱笆，所有的欢乐都离他而去，一种深深的忧郁笼罩着他的心灵。 —

Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. —
九英尺高的木板篱笆长达三十码。 —

Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. —
对他来说，生活似乎是空虚的，存在只是负担。 —

Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank; repeated the operation; —
叹了口气，他蘸起刷子，沿着最上面的木板涂抹；然后重复这个动作； —

did it again; compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged. —
又一次，他将那微不足道的粉白条与广阔的未被粉白的围栏大陆相比，并失望地坐在了路边的树箱上。 —

Jim came skipping out at the gate with a tin pail, and singing Buffalo Gals. Bringing water from the town pump had always been hateful work in Tom’s eyes, before, but now it did not strike him so. —
吉姆拿着一个锡桶，跳跳跃跃地走出大门，唱着《水牛女孩》。以前，对汤姆来说从镇上的水泵取水总是讨厌的工作，但现在他并不觉得那么糟糕了。 —

He remembered that there was company at the pump. —
他记得水泵那里有客人在。 —

White, mulatto, and negro boys and girls were always there waiting their turns, resting, trading playthings, quarrelling, fighting, skylarking. —
白人、混血儿和黑人男女孩们总是在那里等着轮流打水，休息，交换玩具，争吵，打架，嬉戏。 —

And he remembered that although the pump was only a hundred and fifty yards off, Jim never got back with a bucket of water under an hour—and even then somebody generally had to go after him. Tom said:
他记得尽管水泵只有一百五十码远，吉姆从水泵回来从来不超过一个小时，而且通常有人要去找他。汤姆说：

“Say, Jim, I’ll fetch the water if you’ll whitewash some.”
“喂，吉姆，如果你帮我粉白一些墙，我来打水。”

Jim shook his head and said:
吉姆摇摇头说：

“Can’t, Mars Tom. Ole missis, she tole me I got to go an’ git dis water an’ not stop foolin’ roun’ wid anybody. —
“不能，汤姆爷，老太太告诉我，我要去拿这桶水，不能和任何人胡闹。” —

She say she spec’ Mars Tom gwine to ax me to whitewash, an’ so she tole me go ’long an’ ’tend to my own business—she ’lowed she’d ’tend to de whitewashin’.”
她说她特意让汤姆去问我刷白墙的事，所以她告诉我走开搞好自己的事情，她会自己来刷白墙。

“Oh, never you mind what she said, Jim. That’s the way she always talks. —
噢，别理会她说的话，吉姆。她总是这么说。 —

Gimme the bucket—I won’t be gone only a a minute. She won’t ever know.”
把桶给我，我只会离开一小会儿。她永远都不会知道的。

“Oh, I dasn’t, Mars Tom. Ole missis she’d take an’ tar de head off’n me. —
噢，马不敢，汤姆先生。她会把我头颅剁下来的。 —

’Deed she would.”
真的，她从不打人，只是用针扣击他们的头部，谁在乎那个，我想知道。

“She! She never licks anybody—whacks ’em over the head with her thimble—and who cares for that, I’d like to know. —
她说话太过分了，但说话不会伤人 - 至少她不哭的时候不会伤。 —

She talks awful, but talk don’t hurt—anyways it don’t if she don’t cry. —
吉姆，我会给你一个奇迹。我会给你一个白色弹珠！ —

Jim, I’ll give you a marvel. I’ll give you a white alley!”
吉姆开始犹豫了。

Jim began to waver.
白色弹珠，吉姆！而且它是一个绝妙的弹珠。

“White alley, Jim! And it’s a bully taw.”
天哪！这可真是一个非常华丽的奇迹，我告诉你！

“My! Dat’s a mighty gay marvel, I tell you! —
但是，汤姆先生，我真的非常害怕老夫人 - —

But Mars Tom I’s powerful ’fraid ole missis—”
而且，要是你想的话，我还可以给你看我的脚趾伤口。

“And besides, if you will I’ll show you my sore toe.”
My! That’s a mighty gay marvel, I tell you!

Jim was only human—this attraction was too much for him. —
吉姆只是个普通人，这种吸引力对他来说太强烈了。 —

He put down his pail, took the white alley, and bent over the toe with absorbing interest while the bandage was being unwound. —
他放下水桶，走进了白色的小巷，专心地弯下身去，一边解开绷带，一边全神贯注地观察着脚趾。 —

In another moment he was flying down the street with his pail and a tingling rear, Tom was whitewashing with vigor, and Aunt Polly was retiring from the field with a slipper in her hand and triumph in her eye.
瞬间，他带着水桶在街上飞奔，后面的屁股还在发麻，汤姆则在满腔热情地粉刷，波莉姨妈手里拿着一只拖鞋战胜地佯装离场。

But Tom’s energy did not last. He began to think of the fun he had planned for this day, and his sorrows multiplied. —
但是汤姆的热情并没有持续下去。他开始想到今天计划好的乐趣，痛苦感倍增。 —

Soon the free boys would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions, and they would make a world of fun of him for having to work—the very thought of it burnt him like fire. —
不久之后，一群自由的男孩会一边做着各种美味的事情，一边取笑他因为要工作而使自己成为他们取乐的对象——一想到这个他就像着了火一样烦躁。 —

He got out his worldly wealth and examined it—bits of toys, marbles, and trash; —
他拿出自己的全部家当检查了一遍——一些玩具碎片、弹珠和垃圾；也许足够买一份「工作」的交换，但绝不足以买到半个小时的纯自由。 —

enough to buy an exchange of work, maybe, but not half enough to buy so much as half an hour of pure freedom. —
—

So he returned his straitened means to his pocket, and gave up the idea of trying to buy the boys. —
于是他将他积攒的财富放回口袋，放弃了购买男孩们的想法。 —

At this dark and hopeless moment an inspiration burst upon him! —
在这个黑暗无望的时刻，一个灵感突然涌现在他脑海中！ —

Nothing less than a great, magnificent inspiration.
简直是一个伟大而宏伟的灵感。

He took up his brush and went tranquilly to work. —
他拿起画笔，平静地开始工作。 —

Ben Rogers hove in sight presently—the very boy, of all boys, whose ridicule he had been dreading. —
不久之后，本·罗杰斯出现在视线中——他正是一直担心被他嘲笑的那个男孩。 —

Ben’s gait was the hop-skip-and-jump—proof enough that his heart was light and his anticipations high. —
本的步态是跳着蹦着纵跃——足以证明他的心情轻快，期望高涨。 —

He was eating an apple, and giving a long, melodious whoop, at intervals, followed by a deep-toned ding-dong-dong, ding-dong-dong, for he was personating a steamboat. —
他正在吃一个苹果，时不时发出一声悠长而饱满的呼喊，随后是一个低沉的ding-dong-dong，ding-dong-dong，因为他正在模仿一艘蒸汽船。 —

As he drew near, he slackened speed, took the middle of the street, leaned far over to starboard and rounded to ponderously and with laborious pomp and circumstance—for he was personating the Big Missouri, and considered himself to be drawing nine feet of water. —
当他走近时，他放慢了速度，走在街道中央，向右倾斜得很厉害，缓缓地转弯，肃重而庄严地进行——因为他正在模仿密苏里河的大号，认为自己下沉了九英尺水深。 —

He was boat and captain and engine-bells combined, so he had to imagine himself standing on his own hurricane-deck giving the orders and executing them:
他既是船长又是船只和引擎铃声的合二为一，所以他不得不想象自己站在自己的飓风甲板上下达命令并执行它们：

“Stop her, sir! Ting-a-ling-ling!” The headway ran almost out, and he drew up slowly toward the sidewalk.
“停住，先生！叮叮叮！”前进的力量几乎用完了，他慢慢地靠近人行道。

“Ship up to back! Ting-a-ling-ling!” His arms straightened and stiffened down his sides.
“船艏向后转！叮叮叮！”他的手臂伸直并顺着身体两侧僵硬。

“Set her back on the stabboard! Ting-a-ling-ling! Chow! ch-chow-wow! Chow! —
“把船压向右舷！叮叮叮！喳！喳！喔！喳！”同时，他的右手优雅地画出圆圈-因为它代表了一个40英尺的舵轮。 —

” His right hand, mean-time, describing stately circles—for it was representing a forty-foot wheel.
“让她往左舷后退！叮叮叮！喳喳喳喳！”左手开始画圈。

“Let her go back on the labboard! Ting-a-ling-ling! —
“停止右舷！叮叮叮！停止左舷！开始右舷前进！停船！ —

Chow-ch-chow-chow!” The left hand began to describe circles.
慢慢地把你的外侧转过来！叮叮叮！喳喔喔！取出那条主索！

“Stop the stabboard! Ting-a-ling-ling! Stop the labboard! —
“赶紧动作！拿出你的弹簧绳！ —

Come ahead on the stabboard! Stop her! —
你在干什么！ —

Let your outside turn over slow! Ting-a-ling-ling! Chow-ow-ow! Get out that head-line! —
来-快点！把她拉近-栓好你的弹簧绳！你在搞什么！ —

lively now! Come—out with your spring-line—what’re you about there! —
快点！快-用你的弹簧绳！你在做什么！ —

Take a turn round that stump with the bight of it! Stand by that stage, now—let her go! —
绕着那根树桩转个圈！站在那个舞台旁边，准备好了，放开吧！ —

Done with the engines, sir! Ting-a-ling-ling! SH’T! —
引擎停了，先生！叮叮叮！嘘声！ —

S’H’T! SH’T!” (trying the gauge-cocks).
嘘声！嘘声！（试试阀门的总称）。

Tom went on whitewashing—paid no attention to the steamboat. —
汤姆继续粉刷墙壁，对那艘轮船不予理睬。 —

Ben stared a moment and then said: “_Hi-Yi! —
本愣了一下，然后说：“嘿-咿！你现在陷入困境了，是吧！” —

You’re_ up a stump, ain’t you!”
没有回答。汤姆用画家的目光审视着他最后一道工序，然后再轻轻一刷，再次审视结果。

No answer. Tom surveyed his last touch with the eye of an artist, then he gave his brush another gentle sweep and surveyed the result, as before. —
本停在他身边。汤姆垂涎欲滴地盯着苹果，但他坚持工作。本说道： —

Ben ranged up alongside of him. Tom’s mouth watered for the apple, but he stuck to his work. Ben said:
“嘿，老兄，你在工作呢，对吗？”

“Hello, old chap, you got to work, hey?”
汤姆突然转过身说道：

Tom wheeled suddenly and said:
“哦，是你啊，本！我没注意到。”

“Why, it’s you, Ben! I warn’t noticing.”
“说，我要去游泳，你希望你能去吗？

“Say—I’m going in a-swimming, I am. Don’t you wish you could? —
但当然你更愿意“工作”——是吧？ —

But of course you’d druther work—wouldn’t you? —
当然你愿意！” —

Course you would!”
汤姆思考着那个男孩，然后说道：

Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said:
“嘿-嘿，小伙子，你现在有工作要做，是吗？”

“What do you call work?”
“你如何称呼工作？”

“Why, ain’t that work?”
“咦，那不就是工作吗？”

Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly:
汤姆继续刷着白粉，漫不经心地回答道：

“Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain’t. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer.”
“嗯，也许是，也许不是。我所知道的就是，它适合汤姆·索亚。”

“Oh come, now, you don’t mean to let on that you like it?”
“喂，你别是在假装你‘喜欢’这个吧？”

The brush continued to move.
刷子依然在动。

“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. —
“喜欢？嗯，我不明白为什么我不应该喜欢。 —

Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”
一个男孩有机会每天刷白篱笆吗？”

That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. —
这把事情看上去不一样了。本停止了咬苹果。 —

Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth—stepped back to note the effect—added a touch here and there—criticised the effect again—Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. Presently he said:
汤姆用刷子轻巧地来回扫过—退后观察效果—再加上一点—再次评论效果—本看着每一个动作，越来越感兴趣，越来越全神贯注。不久他说道：

“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
“说吧，汤姆，让我也刷一点吧。”

Tom considered, was about to consent; but he altered his mind:
汤姆考虑了一下，本来要同意的，但他改变了主意：

“No—no—I reckon it wouldn’t hardly do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly’s awful particular about this fence—right here on the street, you know—but if it was the back fence I wouldn’t mind and she wouldn’t. —
“不——不——我想这样不太好，本。你看，波利阿姨特别注重这道篱笆——就在街上，你知道——但如果是后面的篱笆，我就不介意，她也不会介意。” —

Yes, she’s awful particular about this fence; it’s got to be done very careful; —
“是的，她对这道篱笆非常讲究；必须要非常认真地做。” —

I reckon there ain’t one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it the way it’s got to be done.”
“我猜也许没有一千个男孩中，甚至可能没有两千个男孩能按要求做到。”

“No—is that so? Oh come, now—lemme just try. —
“真的吗？哦，来吧，让我试试。” —

Only just a little—I’d let you, if you was me, Tom.”
“只是一点点——如果你是我，我就会让你试试，汤姆。”

“Ben, I’d like to, honest injun; but Aunt Polly—well, Jim wanted to do it, but she wouldn’t let him; —
“本，我真的很想试试，不骗你；但是波利阿姨——嗯，吉姆也想试试，但她不让他试；” —

Sid wanted to do it, and she wouldn’t let Sid. Now don’t you see how I’m fixed? —
“西德想试试，她也不让西德试。现在你明白我有多难做了吧？” —

If you was to tackle this fence and anything was to happen to it—”
“如果你尝试这道篱笆，而且出了什么问题——”

“Oh, shucks, I’ll be just as careful. Now lemme try. —
“哦，算了吧，我会非常小心的。现在让我试试。” —

Say—I’ll give you the core of my apple.”
“说吧——我会给你我的苹果果核。”

“Well, here—No, Ben, now don’t. I’m afeard—”
“好吧，拿着——不，本，别这样。我害怕——”

“I’ll give you all of it!”
“我给你全部!”

Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart. —
汤姆心里有些不情愿，但脸上却充满了热情地放弃了刷子。 —

And while the late steamer Big Missouri worked and sweated in the sun, the retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by, dangled his legs, munched his apple, and planned the slaughter of more innocents. —
就在迟到的大密苏里号轮船在阳光下辛勤工作和出汗的时候，这位退休的艺术家坐在附近的一个木桶上，晃动着腿，咀嚼着苹果，并计划杀戮更多的无辜者。 —

There was no lack of material; boys happened along every little while; —
有没有缺乏素材;男孩们每隔一小段时间就会经过; —

they came to jeer, but remained to whitewash. —
他们来嘲笑，但留下来涂白。 —

By the time Ben was fagged out, Tom had traded the next chance to Billy Fisher for a kite, in good repair; —
本一筹莫展之际，汤姆将下次机会与比利费舍尔交换成了一只状况良好的风筝; —

and when he played out, Johnny Miller bought in for a dead rat and a string to swing it with—and so on, and so on, hour after hour. —
当他玩累了，约翰尼·米勒买进一只死老鼠和一根草绳子—如此往复，一小时又一小时。 —

And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth. —
当下午中途到来时，汤姆从早上的一贫如洗的男孩变成了真正的富豪。 —

He had besides the things before mentioned, twelve marbles, part of a jews-harp, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a spool cannon, a key that wouldn’t unlock anything, a fragment of chalk, a glass stopper of a decanter, a tin soldier, a couple of tadpoles, six fire-crackers, a kitten with only one eye, a brass door-knob, a dog-collar—but no dog—the handle of a knife, four pieces of orange-peel, and a dilapidated old window sash.
除了前面提到的东西，他还有十二颗弹珠，一个犹太口弦的一部分，一块蓝色的玻璃瓶子碎片用来透视，一个线轴大炮，一个无法开锁的钥匙，一块粉笔碎片，一个酒瓶塞子，一个锡兵，一对蝌蚪，六颗鞭炮，一只只有一只眼睛的小猫，一个黄铜门把手，一个狗项圈，但没有狗，一把刀的把手，四块橙皮和一块破旧的窗户纱窗。

He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while—plenty of company—and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it! —
他一直过得悠闲愉快，有很多朋友，围栏已经涂了三遍白色的石灰！ —

If he hadn’t run out of whitewash he would have bankrupted every boy in the village.
如果他没有用完石灰水，他就能把村里的每个男孩都拖垮。

Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. —
汤姆对自己说，这个世界其实并不是那么虚无。 —

He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. —
他无意中发现了一条重要的人类行为定律，即要让一个男人或男孩追求某样东西，只需使得这样东西难以获得即可。 —

If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. —
如果他是一位伟大而睿智的哲学家，像本书的作者一样，他现在就会理解工作是人们“必须”做的事情，而娱乐则是人们不必做的事情。 —

And this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers or performing on a tread-mill is work, while rolling ten-pins or climbing Mont Blanc is only amusement. —
这将会帮助他理解为什么制作人造花或在跑步机上运动是工作，而打保龄球或攀登蒙布朗峰只是娱乐。 —

There are wealthy gentlemen in England who drive four-horse passenger-coaches twenty or thirty miles on a daily line, in the summer, because the privilege costs them considerable money; —
在英国有些富有的绅士们，因为这种特权花费了他们相当多的钱，在夏天每天驾驶四匹马车行驶二十或三十英里; —

but if they were offered wages for the service, that would turn it into work and then they would resign.
但是如果他们得到报酬来做这项服务，那么这将变成工作，然后他们就会辞去。

The boy mused awhile over the substantial change which had taken place in his worldly circumstances, and then wended toward headquarters to report.
这个男孩沉思了一会儿自己在世事中发生的巨大变化，然后朝总部走去报告。