Tom dodged hither and thither through lanes until he was well out of the track of returning scholars, and then fell into a moody jog. —
汤姆在小巷中来回躲闪，直到远离了学生的追赶，然后陷入了沉闷的慢跑。 —

He crossed a small “branch” two or three times, because of a prevailing juvenile superstition that to cross water baffled pursuit. —
由于一种普遍的青少年迷信，他跨越小河两三次，认为这样能阻止追捕。 —

Half an hour later he was disappearing behind the Douglas mansion on the summit of Cardiff Hill, and the school-house was hardly distinguishable away off in the valley behind him. —
半个小时后，他消失在卡迪夫山顶上的道格拉斯大厦背后，学校几乎在山谷后面看不清。 —

He entered a dense wood, picked his pathless way to the centre of it, and sat down on a mossy spot under a spreading oak. —
他走进一个茂密的树林，径直朝中心走去，在一棵树荫下找了个长着青苔的地方坐下。 —

There was not even a zephyr stirring; the dead noonday heat had even stilled the songs of the birds; —
连微风都没有吹动，炎热的正午温度甚至使鸟儿的歌声寂静无声； —

nature lay in a trance that was broken by no sound but the occasional far-off hammering of a wood-pecker, and this seemed to render the pervading silence and sense of loneliness the more profound. —
大自然沉浸在一片恍惚中，只有偶尔远处的啄木鸟敲木头的声音打破了这片弥漫的寂静和孤独感。 —

The boy’s soul was steeped in melancholy; —
男孩的心灵沉浸在忧郁中； —

his feelings were in happy accord with his surroundings. —
他的情感与周围的环境完美契合。 —

He sat long with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands, meditating. —
他长时间坐着，双肘搁在膝盖上，下巴托在手中冥想着。 —

It seemed to him that life was but a trouble, at best, and he more than half envied Jimmy Hodges, so lately released; —
他觉得人生最多只是一场麻烦，所以他多半羡慕刚被释放的吉米·霍奇斯； —

it must be very peaceful, he thought, to lie and slumber and dream forever and ever, with the wind whispering through the trees and caressing the grass and the flowers over the grave, and nothing to bother and grieve about, ever any more. —
他觉得躺在那里长眠，永远永远地做梦，风在树间低语，抚摸着墓地上的草和花，什么烦恼都没有了，再也不需要懊恼。 —

If he only had a clean Sunday-school record he could be willing to go, and be done with it all. —
如果他只有一个清白的主日学记录，他愿意去，了结一切。 —

Now as to this girl. What had he done? Nothing. —
现在说到这个女孩，他做了什么错事吗？什么也没有。 —

He had meant the best in the world, and been treated like a dog—like a very dog. —
他本意好心，却像一条狗，受到了如此对待。 —

She would be sorry some day—maybe when it was too late. —
她总有一天会后悔的——也许等到为时已晚。 —

Ah, if he could only die temporarily!
啊，如果他能够暂时死去该多好！

But the elastic heart of youth cannot be compressed into one constrained shape long at a time. —
但是年轻的心脏无法永久地压抑在一个受限制的形状中。 —

Tom presently began to drift insensibly back into the concerns of this life again. —
汤姆不知不觉地开始再次卷入现实生活的事务中。 —

What if he turned his back, now, and disappeared mysteriously? —
如果他现在转过身，神秘地消失了呢？ —

What if he went away—ever so far away, into unknown countries beyond the seas—and never came back any more! —
如果他走了——远离这个地方，到了大海之外的未知国度，再也不回来了呢！ —

How would she feel then! The idea of being a clown recurred to him now, only to fill him with disgust. —
那她会是什么感受呢？现在他脑海中闪现出扮丑角的想法，只是让他觉得恶心而已。 —

For frivolity and jokes and spotted tights were an offense, when they intruded themselves upon a spirit that was exalted into the vague august realm of the romantic. —
在浪漫的伟大领域中，轻浮、玩笑和斑驳的紧身裤成了一种冒犯。 —

No, he would be a soldier, and return after long years, all war-worn and illustrious. —
不，他会成为一名士兵，经过多年征战，英名盖世地归来。 —

No—better still, he would join the Indians, and hunt buffaloes and go on the warpath in the mountain ranges and the trackless great plains of the Far West, and away in the future come back a great chief, bristling with feathers, hideous with paint, and prance into Sunday-school, some drowsy summer morning, with a blood-curdling war-whoop, and sear the eyeballs of all his companions with unappeasable envy. —
不——更好的办法是，他会加入印第安人，追踪野牛，在西部无人区的山脉和广袤平原上进行战斗，未来某一天，在一个无聊的夏日早晨，带着血curdling 的战吼进入主日学堂，用无法满足的嫉妒刺痛伙伴们的眼球。 —

But no, there was something gaudier even than this. He would be a pirate! That was it! —
但是，还有比这更华丽的东西。他要成为一名海盗！就是这个！ —

now his future lay plain before him, and glowing with unimaginable splendor. —
现在他未来的道路在他面前清晰明了，闪耀着难以想象的辉煌。 —

How his name would fill the world, and make people shudder! —
他的名字将充满世界，并使人们感到恐惧！ —

How gloriously he would go plowing the dancing seas, in his long, low, black-hulled racer, the Spirit of the Storm, with his grisly flag flying at the fore! —
他将骄傲地驾驶着他那条长而低矮的黑色赛艇，在荡舞的海洋中犁波斩浪，旗帜在前方迎风飘扬！ —

And at the zenith of his fame, how he would suddenly appear at the old village and stalk into church, brown and weather-beaten, in his black velvet doublet and trunks, his great jack-boots, his crimson sash, his belt bristling with horse-pistols, his crime-rusted cutlass at his side, his slouch hat with waving plumes, his black flag unfurled, with the skull and crossbones on it, and hear with swelling ecstasy the whisperings, “It’s Tom Sawyer the Pirate! —
在他声名鹊起的巅峰时刻，他将突然出现在古老的村庄，并阔步走进教堂。他身穿黑色天鹅绒外套和短裤，黑靴高高插腰间，腰间佩满马枪的腰带，袖枪生锈的单刃剑随身携带，斜戴带有飘动羽毛的宽边软帽，黑旗高高飘扬，上面印有骷髅和十字骨头的标志，此时他兴奋地听到低声呢喃：“那是海盗汤姆·索亚！” —

—the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main!”
- 西班牙海盗界的黑暗报复者！

Yes, it was settled; his career was determined. He would run away from home and enter upon it. —
是的，一切都解决了；他的职业已经确定了。他将离家出走，开始他的职业。 —

He would start the very next morning. Therefore he must now begin to get ready. —
他将在第二天早上开始。因此，他现在必须开始准备。 —

He would collect his resources together. —
他将把他的资源收集起来。 —

He went to a rotten log near at hand and began to dig under one end of it with his Barlow knife. —
他走到附近一个腐烂的木头上，用他的Barlow刀在其中一端挖起来。 —

He soon struck wood that sounded hollow. —
他很快就碰到了发出空洞声的木头。 —

He put his hand there and uttered this incantation impressively:
他把手放在那里，庄重地念了这个咒语:

“What hasn’t come here, come! What’s here, stay here!”
“还未来的，来吧！已经在这的，留在这里！”

Then he scraped away the dirt, and exposed a pine shingle. —
然后他刮掉泥土，露出了一块松木瓦。 —

He took it up and disclosed a shapely little treasure-house whose bottom and sides were of shingles. —
他捡起来，发现了一个漂亮的小宝库，底部和侧面都是用瓦片制成的。 —

In it lay a marble. —
里面放着一个弹珠。 —

Tom’s astonishment was boundless! He scratched his head with a perplexed air, and said:
汤姆惊讶得目瞪口呆！他疑惑地挠了挠头，说道:

“Well, that beats anything!”
“哦，这真是太棒了！”

Then he tossed the marble away pettishly, and stood cogitating. —
然后他生气地抛掉了弹珠，站在那里沉思。 —

The truth was, that a superstition of his had failed, here, which he and all his comrades had always looked upon as infallible. —
事实是，他们所有人都认为是绝对准确的他的迷信在这里失败了。 —

If you buried a marble with certain necessary incantations, and left it alone a fortnight, and then opened the place with the incantation he had just used, you would find that all the marbles you had ever lost had gathered themselves together there, meantime, no matter how widely they had been separated. —
如果你用特定的必要咒语埋藏了一个弹珠，并且将其独自留置两个星期，然后用你刚才使用过的咒语打开那个地方，你会发现所有你曾经丢失的弹珠都聚集在那里，无论它们曾经被分散得多么广泛。 —

But now, this thing had actually and unquestionably failed. —
但是现在，这件事实际上明显而毫无争议地失败了。 —

Tom’s whole structure of faith was shaken to its foundations. —
汤姆的整个信仰结构都动摇到了基础。 —

He had many a time heard of this thing succeeding but never of its failing before. —
他曾经多次听说过这件事情成功过，但从来没有听说过它以前失败过。 —

It did not occur to him that he had tried it several times before, himself, but could never find the hiding-places afterward. —
他没有想到他之前也尝试过几次，但后来从未能找到藏匿的地方。 —

He puzzled over the matter some time, and finally decided that some witch had interfered and broken the charm. —
他对这件事情感到困惑了一段时间，最后得出结论是某个女巫干涉并打破了这个魔咒。 —

He thought he would satisfy himself on that point; —
他想要在这个问题上满意自己； —

so he searched around till he found a small sandy spot with a little funnel-shaped depression in it. —
所以他四处搜索，直到找到一个带有一个小漏斗形凹痕的小沙地。 —

He laid himself down and put his mouth close to this depression and called—
他躺下，把嘴巴靠近这个凹痕并喊道——

“Doodle-bug, doodle-bug, tell me what I want to know! —
“画虫虫，画虫虫，告诉我我想知道的！ —

Doodle-bug, doodle-bug, tell me what I want to know!”
“画虫虫，画虫虫，告诉我我想知道的！”

The sand began to work, and presently a small black bug appeared for a second and then darted under again in a fright.
沙子开始起作用，很快一个小黑虫子出现了一秒钟，然后又害怕地跑进去了。

“He dasn’t tell! So it was a witch that done it. I just knowed it.”
“它不敢说！所以是女巫做的。我就知道。”

He well knew the futility of trying to contend against witches, so he gave up discouraged. —
他很清楚对抗女巫是徒劳的，所以他灰心地放弃了。 —

But it occurred to him that he might as well have the marble he had just thrown away, and therefore he went and made a patient search for it. —
但他想到既然刚才扔掉的大理石他还是可以拿回来，于是他去仔细搜寻了一番。 —

But he could not find it. Now he went back to his treasure-house and carefully placed himself just as he had been standing when he tossed the marble away; —
但他找不到。于是他回到他的宝藏屋，仔细站在他刚才扔掉大理石时的位置； —

then he took another marble from his pocket and tossed it in the same way, saying:
然后他从口袋里拿出另一个大理石，以同样的方式扔出去，说道：

“Brother, go find your brother!”
“兄弟，去找你的兄弟！”

He watched where it stopped, and went there and looked. —
他观察着它停下的地方，去那里看了看。 —

But it must have fallen short or gone too far; so he tried twice more. —
但它可能投得不够远或者太远了；所以他又尝试了两次。 —

The last repetition was successful. The two marbles lay within a foot of each other.
最后一次反复是成功的。这两颗弹珠离彼此只差一英尺。

Just here the blast of a toy tin trumpet came faintly down the green aisles of the forest. —
只听到一个玩具锡喇叭的声音在绿色的森林小道上微弱地响起。 —

Tom flung off his jacket and trousers, turned a suspender into a belt, raked away some brush behind the rotten log, disclosing a rude bow and arrow, a lath sword and a tin trumpet, and in a moment had seized these things and bounded away, barelegged, with fluttering shirt. —
汤姆脱掉了他的外套和裤子，用一个吊带作为腰带，把一些灌木扫开，露出一个简陋的弓箭、一把木剑和一个锡喇叭，然后一瞬间抓起这些东西，光着腿，衣服飘动地跑开了。 —

He presently halted under a great elm, blew an answering blast, and then began to tiptoe and look warily out, this way and that. —
他立刻在一棵大榆树下停下来，吹了一个回应的喇叭声，然后开始蹑手蹑脚地四处张望。 —

He said cautiously—to an imaginary company:
他谨慎地对着一个想象中的人群说道：

“Hold, my merry men! Keep hid till I blow.”
“等一下，我快来了，大家别暴露。”

Now appeared Joe Harper, as airily clad and elaborately armed as Tom. Tom called:
这时乔·哈珀也出现了，穿着轻快，装备精良，和汤姆一样。汤姆喊道：

“Hold! Who comes here into Sherwood Forest without my pass?”
“等等！谁敢闯入舍伍德森林而不经过我的检查？”

“Guy of Guisborne wants no man’s pass. Who art thou that—that—”
“吉斯伯恩的盖伊不需要任何人的检查。你是谁？那个……”

“Dares to hold such language,” said Tom, prompting—for they talked “by the book,” from memory.
“敢说出这样的言辞，”汤姆说道，促使他们“机械地”根据记忆来谈论。

“Who art thou that dares to hold such language?”
“你是谁敢说出这样的言辞？”

“I, indeed! I am Robin Hood, as thy caitiff carcase soon shall know.”
“我，没错！我是罗宾汉，很快你这个卑鄙的家伙就会知道的。”

“Then art thou indeed that famous outlaw? —
“那你确实就是那个著名的亡命之徒吗？ —

Right gladly will I dispute with thee the passes of the merry wood. Have at thee!”
我非常乐意与你在欢乐的森林里较量。拿着吧！”

They took their lath swords, dumped their other traps on the ground, struck a fencing attitude, foot to foot, and began a grave, careful combat, “two up and two down. —
他们拿起了木剑，把其他东西丢在地上，摆出了一副击剑的姿势，脚踩在一起，开始了认真而谨慎的战斗，“上上下下，两人对抗。 —

” Presently Tom said:
不久后，汤姆说道：

“Now, if you’ve got the hang, go it lively!”
“现在，如果你明白了，加快速度！”

So they “went it lively,” panting and perspiring with the work. By and by Tom shouted:
于是他们“加快速度”，为了这个工作而喘息和出汗。过了一会儿，汤姆喊道：

“Fall! fall! Why don’t you fall?”
“倒下！倒下！你为什么不倒下？”

“I sha’n’t! Why don’t you fall yourself? You’re getting the worst of it.”
“我不会！你为什么不自己倒下？你处于下风。”

“Why, that ain’t anything. I can’t fall; that ain’t the way it is in the book. —
“咦，这没什么。我不能倒下；书里没有这样的描述。 —

The book says, ‘Then with one back-handed stroke he slew poor Guy of Guisborne. —
书上说，‘他用一个反手的击剑动作杀死了可怜的圭斯伯恩。” —

’ You’re to turn around and let me hit you in the back.”
“你转过身来让我打你后背。”

There was no getting around the authorities, so Joe turned, received the whack and fell.
无法避开当局，所以乔转身，承受了一击后倒下了。

“Now,” said Joe, getting up, “you got to let me kill you. That’s fair.”
“现在，”乔站起身说道，“你得让我杀了你。这才公平。”

“Why, I can’t do that, it ain’t in the book.”
“为什么呢？我不能这么做，书里没有这么写。”

“Well, it’s blamed mean—that’s all.”
“哼，太卑鄙了，仅此而已。”

“Well, say, Joe, you can be Friar Tuck or Much the miller’s son, and lam me with a quarter-staff; or I’ll be the Sheriff of Nottingham and you be Robin Hood a little while and kill me.”
“喂，乔，你可以扮演弗赖尔·塔克或米尔大夫的儿子，用一根木棍打我；或者我扮演诺丁汉郡警长，你做一会儿罗宾汉然后杀掉我。”

This was satisfactory, and so these adventures were carried out. —
这个提议很满意，于是这些冒险就展开了。 —

Then Tom became Robin Hood again, and was allowed by the treacherous nun to bleed his strength away through his neglected wound. —
接着，汤姆再次扮演罗宾汉，并被那个奸诈的修女允许用流血未治的伤口消耗自己的力量。 —

And at last Joe, representing a whole tribe of weeping outlaws, dragged him sadly forth, gave his bow into his feeble hands, and Tom said, “Where this arrow falls, there bury poor Robin Hood under the greenwood tree. —
最后，乔代表着一众哭泣的亡命之徒，悲伤地把他拖了出来，把弓交到他虚弱的手中，汤姆说：“罗宾汉倒在绿林树下，让这支箭指向的地方成为他的葬地。” —

” Then he shot the arrow and fell back and would have died, but he lit on a nettle and sprang up too gaily for a corpse.
“然后他射出箭，跌倒后本来会死去，但他落在一棵荨麻上，竟然像活尸一样欢快地跳了起来。”

The boys dressed themselves, hid their accoutrements, and went off grieving that there were no outlaws any more, and wondering what modern civilization could claim to have done to compensate for their loss. —
男孩们打扮好自己，隐藏了他们的装备，悲伤地离开，对没有强盗团伤心不已，同时思考现代文明为了弥补这个损失所做的贡献。 —

They said they would rather be outlaws a year in Sherwood Forest than President of the United States forever.
他们说他们宁愿成为一年的禁地谢伍德森林强盗，也不愿永远成为美国总统。