Vacation was approaching. The schoolmaster, always severe, grew severer and more exacting than ever, for he wanted the school to make a good showing on “Examination” day. —
放假将至。严厉的校长变得更加严厉和苛求，因为他想让学校在“考试”日展现出良好的表现。 —

His rod and his ferule were seldom idle now—at least among the smaller pupils. —
他的鞭子和板条几乎从不闲置，至少是在小学生中间。 —

Only the biggest boys, and young ladies of eighteen and twenty, escaped lashing. —
只有最大的男孩和十八、二十岁的年轻女孩才能逃脱鞭挞。 —

Mr. Dobbins’ lashings were very vigorous ones, too; —
多布宾斯先生的鞭打也非常有力； —

for although he carried, under his wig, a perfectly bald and shiny head, he had only reached middle age, and there was no sign of feebleness in his muscle. —
虽然他戴着假发，下面是一个完全秃顶而光滑的头，但他只是中年，他的肌肉没有任何虚弱的迹象。 —

As the great day approached, all the tyranny that was in him came to the surface; —
随着这个重要日子的临近，他内心里所有的暴虐都浮出水面； —

he seemed to take a vindictive pleasure in punishing the least shortcomings. —
他似乎从惩罚最小的过失中得到了复仇的快感。 —

The consequence was, that the smaller boys spent their days in terror and suffering and their nights in plotting revenge. —
结果就是，小学生们白天充满了恐惧和痛苦，晚上则策划着报复。 —

They threw away no opportunity to do the master a mischief. But he kept ahead all the time. —
他们不错过任何机会来伤害校长。但他一直保持领先。 —

The retribution that followed every vengeful success was so sweeping and majestic that the boys always retired from the field badly worsted. —
每次报复成功后所带来的惨败是如此彻底而壮观，以至于男孩们总是从战场上带伤退出。 —

At last they conspired together and hit upon a plan that promised a dazzling victory. —
最后他们密谋在一起，想出了一个有希望取得惊人胜利的计划。 —

They swore in the signpainter’s boy, told him the scheme, and asked his help. —
他们让那个写标语的男孩发誓，告诉他这个计划，并寻求他的帮助。 —

He had his own reasons for being delighted, for the master boarded in his father’s family and had given the boy ample cause to hate him. —
他自己有很多理由高兴，因为那位老师住在他父亲的家中，而且给了他充分的理由来恨他。 —

The master’s wife would go on a visit to the country in a few days, and there would be nothing to interfere with the plan; —
那位老师的妻子几天后将去农村参观，这样计划就不会受到任何干扰。 —

the master always prepared himself for great occasions by getting pretty well fuddled, and the signpainter’s boy said that when the dominie had reached the proper condition on Examination Evening he would “manage the thing” while he napped in his chair; —
老师总是通过喝醉酒来为重要场合做准备，写标语的男孩说在考试当晚，当老师达到合适的状态时，他会在他的椅子上小睡时“处理这件事”； —

then he would have him awakened at the right time and hurried away to school.
然后他会在适当的时候把他叫醒，匆忙把他带到学校去。

In the fulness of time the interesting occasion arrived. —
在适当的时间，有趣的场合终于到来了。 —

At eight in the evening the schoolhouse was brilliantly lighted, and adorned with wreaths and festoons of foliage and flowers. —
在晚上八点，学校大楼灯火辉煌，装饰着藤蔓和鲜花的花环。 —

The master sat throned in his great chair upon a raised platform, with his blackboard behind him. —
老师坐在他的大椅子上，高高地坐在一个抬高的平台上，背后是他的黑板。 —

He was looking tolerably mellow. Three rows of benches on each side and six rows in front of him were occupied by the dignitaries of the town and by the parents of the pupils. —
他看起来心情不错。每边有三排长凳，前面有六排，坐满了镇上的要人和学生的父母。 —

To his left, back of the rows of citizens, was a spacious temporary platform upon which were seated the scholars who were to take part in the exercises of the evening; —
在他左边，市民的长凳后面是一个宽敞的临时平台，上面坐着参加晚会演出的学生们； —

rows of small boys, washed and dressed to an intolerable state of discomfort; —
一排排洗得干干净净，穿得极不舒服的小男孩； —

rows of gawky big boys; snowbanks of girls and young ladies clad in lawn and muslin and conspicuously conscious of their bare arms, their grandmothers’ ancient trinkets, their bits of pink and blue ribbon and the flowers in their hair. —
一排排笨拙的大男孩；成堆的女孩和年轻女士们穿着薄纱和麻布，明显意识到他们光着的手臂，奶奶们的古老饰品，他们头发上的一些粉红色和蓝色丝带以及头发里的花朵。 —

All the rest of the house was filled with non-participating scholars.
屋子的其他地方都坐满了没有参与演出的学生们。

The exercises began. A very little boy stood up and sheepishly recited, “You’d scarce expect one of my age to speak in public on the stage,” etc. —
活动开始了。一个很小的男孩站起来，羞怯地背诵，“你们不会期待这么小的我会在舞台上演讲吧”，等等。 —

—accompanying himself with the painfully exact and spasmodic gestures which a machine might have used—supposing the machine to be a trifle out of order. —
——伴随着令人痛苦的精确而痉挛的动作，就像一台机器可能会用的那样——假设机器稍微有点故障。 —

But he got through safely, though cruelly scared, and got a fine round of applause when he made his manufactured bow and retired.
但他成功地完成了，尽管受到了残酷的惊吓，在他做完虚伪的鞠躬并退场时，得到了热烈的掌声。

A little shamefaced girl lisped, “Mary had a little lamb,” etc. —
一个害羞的小女孩咬着嘴唇说，“玛丽有一只小羊”，等等。 —

, performed a compassion-inspiring curtsy, got her meed of applause, and sat down flushed and happy.
她做了一个令人同情的鞠躬，得到了她应得的掌声，然后满脸通红地坐了下来，心满意足。

Tom Sawyer stepped forward with conceited confidence and soared into the unquenchable and indestructible “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, with fine fury and frantic gesticulation, and broke down in the middle of it. —
汤姆·索亚自信满满地上前，并高声朗读了永不灭亡和不能被摧毁的“要么给我自由，要么给我死亡”的演讲，声情并茂，疯狂地做手势，但却在演讲中途失败了。 —

A ghastly stage-fright seized him, his legs quaked under him and he was like to choke. —
他被一种可怕的舞台恐惧笼罩，两腿发抖，仿佛要窒息一般。 —

True, he had the manifest sympathy of the house but he had the house’s silence, too, which was even worse than its sympathy. —
事实上，他得到了全场的同情，但他也得到了全场的沉默，这比同情更糟糕。 —

The master frowned, and this completed the disaster. —
主人皱了皱眉，这让情况更糟了。 —

Tom struggled awhile and then retired, utterly defeated. —
汤姆挣扎了一会儿，然后灰心地退场，彻底失败了。 —

There was a weak attempt at applause, but it died early.
有人试图鼓掌，但很快就停止了。

“The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck” followed; —
“男孩站在燃烧的甲板上”之后； —

also “The Assyrian Came Down,” and other declamatory gems. —
还有“亚述人下来”和其他夸张的杰作。 —

Then there were reading exercises, and a spelling fight. —
然后是朗读练习和拼字比赛。 —

The meagre Latin class recited with honor. —
贫乏的拉丁语班表现出色。 —

The prime feature of the evening was in order, now—original “compositions” by the young ladies. —
晚上的主要节目来了，现在是年轻女士们原创的“作文”。 —

Each in her turn stepped forward to the edge of the platform, cleared her throat, held up her manuscript (tied with dainty ribbon), and proceeded to read, with labored attention to “expression” and punctuation. —
每个人轮流走上讲台的边缘，清了清嗓子，举起自己的手稿（用精致的丝带绑着），然后开始努力朗读，注重“表达”和标点符号。 —

The themes were the same that had been illuminated upon similar occasions by their mothers before them, their grandmothers, and doubtless all their ancestors in the female line clear back to the Crusades. —
这些主题与她们的母亲、祖母以及毫无疑问所有女性血脉的祖先在类似的场合上所阐述的是相同的。 —

“Friendship” was one; “Memories of Other Days”; “Religion in History”; —
其中一个是“友谊”；“其他日子的记忆”； “历史中的宗教”； —

“Dream Land”; “The Advantages of Culture”; —
“梦之地”； “文化的优势”。 —

“Forms of Political Government Compared and Contrasted”; —
“政治制度的对比与比较”。 —

“Melancholy”; “Filial Love”; “Heart Longings,” etc., etc.
“忧郁”； “子女之爱”；“内心的渴望”，等等。

A prevalent feature in these compositions was a nursed and petted melancholy; —
这些作文中普遍存在的特征是一种被养育和宠爱的忧郁情绪。 —

another was a wasteful and opulent gush of “fine language”; —
另一个特征是浪费丰富的“华彩辞藻”。 —

another was a tendency to lug in by the ears particularly prized words and phrases until they were worn entirely out; —
还有一种倾向，就是过度使用那些尤其受欢迎的词语和短语，以至于它们完全失去了效果。 —

and a peculiarity that conspicuously marked and marred them was the inveterate and intolerable sermon that wagged its crippled tail at the end of each and every one of them. —
另外一个明显存在并且破坏作文的特点是每一篇作文结尾处都出现的顽固无度和难以忍受的说教。 —

No matter what the subject might be, a brainracking effort was made to squirm it into some aspect or other that the moral and religious mind could contemplate with edification. —
无论主题是什么，都会做出费脑的努力，将其扭曲为道德和宗教思维可以思考并得到教益的某个方面。 —

The glaring insincerity of these sermons was not sufficient to compass the banishment of the fashion from the schools, and it is not sufficient today; —
这些布道的明显虚伪并不足以使这种风气从学校中消失，今天也是如此； —

it never will be sufficient while the world stands, perhaps. —
也许永远都不足以，在世界还存在的时候。 —

There is no school in all our land where the young ladies do not feel obliged to close their compositions with a sermon; —
我们国家的所有学校都没有一个女学生不觉得自己有必要在作文结尾加上一篇布道； —

and you will find that the sermon of the most frivolous and the least religious girl in the school is always the longest and the most relentlessly pious. —
你会发现，即使是最轻浮、最不虔诚的女学生的布道也是最长、最不留情的虔诚之作。 —

But enough of this. Homely truth is unpalatable.
但此乃太过质朴的真实，难以入口。

Let us return to the “Examination.” The first composition that was read was one entitled “Is this, then, Life? —
让我们回到“考试”上。读给大家的第一篇作文名为“这就是生活吗？ —

” Perhaps the reader can endure an extract from it:
“或许读者能忍受其中的一节内容：

“In the common walks of life, with what delightful emotions does the youthful mind look forward to some anticipated scene of festivity! —
“在平凡的生活中，年轻的心灵怀着多么愉快的情感期待着一场盛装节日的场景啊！ —

Imagination is busy sketching rose-tinted pictures of joy. —
想象力正忙着描绘带有玫瑰色的喜悦的图画。 —

In fancy, the voluptuous votary of fashion sees herself amid the festive throng, ‘the observed of all observers. —
在幻想中，时尚的沉溺者想象着自己置身于欢庆的人群中，成为“所有观察者的焦点”。 —

’ Her graceful form, arrayed in snowy robes, is whirling through the mazes of the joyous dance; —
她优雅的身姿穿着洁白的长袍，在欢乐的舞蹈中飞快旋转； —

her eye is brightest, her step is lightest in the gay assembly.
她的眼睛最明亮，她的步伐最轻盈在这欢乐的聚会中。

“In such delicious fancies time quickly glides by, and the welcome hour arrives for her entrance into the Elysian world, of which she has had such bright dreams. —
“在这样美妙的幻想中，时间迅速溜走，欢迎的时刻到来，她进入了她所梦寐以求的仙境。 —

How fairy-like does everything appear to her enchanted vision! —
多么像童话般的一切在她迷醉的眼中展现！ —

Each new scene is more charming than the last. —
每个新场景都比上一个更迷人。 —

But after a while she finds that beneath this goodly exterior, all is vanity, the flattery which once charmed her soul, now grates harshly upon her ear; —
但过了一段时间，她发现在这个华丽的外表下，一切都是虚荣的，曾经让她心醉的奉承现在刺耳地触动她的耳朵； —

the ballroom has lost its charms; and with wasted health and imbittered heart, she turns away with the conviction that earthly pleasures cannot satisfy the longings of the soul!”
舞厅已失去了它的魅力；带着虚弱的身体和怨恨的心，她带着坚定的信念转身离去，世俗的快乐无法满足灵魂的渴望！

And so forth and so on. There was a buzz of gratification from time to time during the reading, accompanied by whispered ejaculations of “How sweet! —
如此之类。在阅读过程中，时不时传来满足的嗡嗡声，伴随着窃窃私语的欢呼声，比如“多么甜蜜！” —

” “How eloquent!” “So true!” etc. —
“多么雄辩！”“太真实了！”等等。 —

, and after the thing had closed with a peculiarly afflicting sermon the applause was enthusiastic.
在一场特别痛苦的布道后，掌声热烈洪亮。

Then arose a slim, melancholy girl, whose face had the “interesting” paleness that comes of pills and indigestion, and read a “poem. —
然后站起来一个苗条的、忧郁的女孩，她的脸因为药丸和消化不良而苍白无力，并读了一首“诗”。 —

” Two stanzas of it will do:
两个段落就足够了：

“A MISSOURI MAIDEN’S FAREWELL TO ALABAMA
“一个密苏里的姑娘向阿拉巴马告别。

“Alabama, goodbye! I love thee well! But yet for a while do I leave thee now! —
“阿拉巴马，再见！我爱你！但我暂时要离开你！ —

Sad, yes, sad thoughts of thee my heart doth swell, And burning recollections throng my brow! —
伤心，是的，伤心的思念使我的心膨胀，热烈的回忆涌上我的额头！ —

For I have wandered through thy flowery woods; —
因为我曾在你的花木丛中漫游； —

Have roamed and read near Tallapoosa’s stream; —
在塔拉普萨河附近漫步阅读过！ —

Have listened to Tallassee’s warring floods, And wooed on Coosa’s side Aurora’s beam.
听过Tallassee凶猛的洪水，迷恋着Coosa河岸的晨曦。

“Yet shame I not to bear an o’erfull heart, Nor blush to turn behind my tearful eyes; —
然而，我并不羞于胸怀满溢，也不感到脸红而转身抹去眼泪。 —

’Tis from no stranger land I now must part, ’Tis to no strangers left I yield these sighs. —
我现在要离开的不是一个陌生的国家，我的叹息也不是留给陌生人听。 —

Welcome and home were mine within this State, Whose vales I leave—whose spires fade fast from me And cold must be mine eyes, and heart, and tête, When, dear Alabama! —
我在这个州里曾经有欢迎和家的感觉，我要离开这些山谷，那些教堂塔尖也正在迅速退去，当我亲爱的阿拉巴马啊！ —

they turn cold on thee!”
我的眼睛，我的心脏和我的思想必须要冷漠，当它们转向你时！

There were very few there who knew what “tête” meant, but the poem was very satisfactory, nevertheless.
尽管很少有人知道“tête”的意思，但这首诗仍然很令人满意。

Next appeared a dark-complexioned, black-eyed, black-haired young lady, who paused an impressive moment, assumed a tragic expression, and began to read in a measured, solemn tone:
接下来出场的是一个肤色黑暗、黑眼睛、黑头发的年轻女士，她停顿了一会儿，摆出了一副庄严的表情，以庄重、庄严的语调开始朗读：

A VISION
一个幻觉

Dark and tempestuous was night. Around the throne on high not a single star quivered; —
黑暗而狂风骤雨的夜晚。高处的宝座周围没有一颗星星颤动； —

but the deep intonations of the heavy thunder constantly vibrated upon the ear; —
但是沉重的雷声不断震动在耳边。 —

whilst the terrific lightning revelled in angry mood through the cloudy chambers of heaven, seeming to scorn the power exerted over its terror by the illustrious Franklin! —
当可怕的闪电在天空的云室里沉迷于愤怒的心情时，似乎在嘲笑弗兰克林所展示的对其威慑力的轻视！ —

Even the boisterous winds unanimously came forth from their mystic homes, and blustered about as if to enhance by their aid the wildness of the scene.
甚至狂暴的风也一致从他们神秘的居所中出来，狂风呼啸着，仿佛要增加这场景的狂野气氛。

At such a time, so dark, so dreary, for human sympathy my very spirit sighed; but instead thereof,
在这样一个黑暗、阴郁的时刻，我内心渴望人类的同情；但代替它的是，

‘My dearest friend, my counsellor, my comforter and guide— My joy in grief, my second bliss in joy,’ came to my side.
“我最亲爱的朋友，我的顾问，我的安慰者和向导——我悲伤中的欢乐，快乐中的第二喜悦”，她来到了我的身边。

She moved like one of those bright beings pictured in the sunny walks of fancy’s Eden by the romantic and young, a queen of beauty unadorned save by her own transcendent loveliness. —
她移动时像那些在幻想的伊甸园的阳光小径上描绘的明亮生物之一，一位未经装饰的美丽女王，只凭自己超凡脱俗的美貌。 —

So soft was her step, it failed to make even a sound, and but for the magical thrill imparted by her genial touch, as other unobtrusive beauties, she would have glided away unperceived—unsought. —
她的步伐如此轻盈，甚至没有发出一点声音，除了她亲切触动带来的魔力震颤，就像其他不起眼的美丽一样，她会默默地溜走而不被察觉、不被追寻。 —

A strange sadness rested upon her features, like icy tears upon the robe of December, as she pointed to the contending elements without, and bade me contemplate the two beings presented.
她的面容上笼罩着一种奇怪的悲伤，就像十二月的长袍上的冰泪一样，她指着外面争执的元素，要求我思考这两个被展现的存在。

This nightmare occupied some ten pages of manuscript and wound up with a sermon so destructive of all hope to non-Presbyterians that it took the first prize. —
这个噩梦占据了大约十页纸，并以一篇对非长老会教徒毫无希望的布道结束，这篇布道获得了第一名。 —

This composition was considered to be the very finest effort of the evening. —
这篇作品被认为是当晚最好的作品。 —

The mayor of the village, in delivering the prize to the author of it, made a warm speech in which he said that it was by far the most “eloquent” thing he had ever listened to, and that Daniel Webster himself might well be proud of it.
村里的市长在把奖品颁给作者的同时发表了热情洋溢的演讲，称这是他听过的最“雄辩”的东西，甚至丹尼尔·韦伯斯特自己都可能会为之骄傲。

It may be remarked, in passing, that the number of compositions in which the word “beauteous” was over-fondled, and human experience referred to as “life’s page, ” was up to the usual average.
顺便提一下，以“美丽”一词夸张使用的作品数量，以及将人类经验称为“生活之页”的作品数量都达到了通常的平均水平。

Now the master, mellow almost to the verge of geniality, put his chair aside, turned his back to the audience, and began to draw a map of America on the blackboard, to exercise the geography class upon. —
现在这位主人已经变得非常温和，几乎达到了和蔼可亲的边缘，他把椅子放在一边，背对着观众，开始在黑板上画一幅美国地图，为地理课上的学生们练习。 —

But he made a sad business of it with his unsteady hand, and a smothered titter rippled over the house. —
但是他的不稳定的手让这项工作变得很糟糕，一阵窃笑在教室里扩散开来。 —

He knew what the matter was, and set himself to right it. He sponged out lines and remade them; —
他意识到出了问题，开始擦去错误的线条并重新画，但结果只是让地图更加扭曲，窃笑声变得更加明显。 —

but he only distorted them more than ever, and the tittering was more pronounced. —
他全神贯注地努力着，仿佛下定了决心不被嘲笑压倒。 —

He threw his entire attention upon his work, now, as if determined not to be put down by the mirth. —
他感觉到所有人的目光都集中在他身上。 —

He felt that all eyes were fastened upon him; —
他觉得自己成功了，但窃笑声却继续，甚至明显增加了。 —

he imagined he was succeeding, and yet the tittering continued; it even manifestly increased. —
这也难怪。楼上有一个阁楼，在他头顶上有一个通风口； —

And well it might. There was a garret above, pierced with a scuttle over his head; —
通过这个通风口，一只猫被一根绳子绑住后腿悬挂着； —

and down through this scuttle came a cat, suspended around the haunches by a string; —
它的头部和嘴巴上都被绑着一块布，以防止它喵喵叫； —

she had a rag tied about her head and jaws to keep her from mewing; —
这只猫是嘲笑的源头。 —

as she slowly descended she curved upward and clawed at the string, she swung downward and clawed at the intangible air. —
当她慢慢下降时，她弯曲着向上，并抓向绳子，她向下摆动，并抓向无形的空气。 —

The tittering rose higher and higher—the cat was within six inches of the absorbed teacher’s head—down, down, a little lower, and she grabbed his wig with her desperate claws, clung to it, and was snatched up into the garret in an instant with her trophy still in her possession! —
嬉笑声越来越高——猫离那个专注的老师的头只有6英寸远——下降，再降低一点点，她用绝望的爪子抓住他的假发，紧紧抓住它，并立刻被带着她的战利品一起带到阁楼上！ —

And how the light did blaze abroad from the master’s bald pate—for the signpainter’s boy had gilded it!
主人的光头真是金光闪闪——因为标牌画匠的男孩把它涂上了金色！

That broke up the meeting. The boys were avenged. Vacation had come.
这打散了会议。男孩们得到了复仇。放假来了。

[] NOTE:—The pretended “compositions” quoted in this chapter are taken without alteration from a volume entitled “Prose and Poetry, by a Western Lady”—but they are exactly and precisely after the schoolgirl pattern, and hence are much happier than any mere imitations could be.
[] 注意：本章中引用的假装的“作文”未作改动，取自一本名为“文内诗歌，出自西方女士之手”的作品集。但它们完全符合学生风格，因此比任何只是模仿的作品更令人愉快。