That night Tom and Huck were ready for their adventure. —
那天晚上，汤姆和哈克准备好开始他们的冒险。 —

They hung about the neighborhood of the tavern until after nine, one watching the alley at a distance and the other the tavern door. —
他们在酒馆附近逗留，直到九点过后，一个人在远处观察着小巷，另一个人在酒馆门口观察。 —

Nobody entered the alley or left it; nobody resembling the Spaniard entered or left the tavern door. —
没有人进入或离开小巷，也没有像西班牙人一样的人进出酒馆门口。 —

The night promised to be a fair one; —
夜晚看起来是个好天气； —

so Tom went home with the understanding that if a considerable degree of darkness came on, Huck was to come and “maow,” whereupon he would slip out and try the keys. —
所以汤姆回家时告诉哈克，如果有比较黑暗的时候，哈克就要“喵喵”叫，然后他会走出来试试钥匙。 —

But the night remained clear, and Huck closed his watch and retired to bed in an empty sugar hogshead about twelve.
但夜晚仍然很明亮，哈克收起手表，在一个空的糖桶里睡觉。

Tuesday the boys had the same ill luck. Also Wednesday. But Thursday night promised better. —
周二这两个男孩没有好运气。同样地周三也没有。但星期四的夜晚有所改善。 —

Tom slipped out in good season with his aunt’s old tin lantern, and a large towel to blindfold it with. —
汤姆准时溜出去，带着他姨妈的旧锡灯笼和一条大毛巾来蒙住它的眼睛。 —

He hid the lantern in Huck’s sugar hogshead and the watch began. —
他将灯笼藏在哈克的糖桶里，表明行动开始了。 —

An hour before midnight the tavern closed up and its lights (the only ones thereabouts) were put out. —
午夜前一个小时，酒馆打烊，那里亮着唯一的灯光。 —

No Spaniard had been seen. Nobody had entered or left the alley. Everything was auspicious. —
没有看到任何西班牙人。没有人进入或离开巷子。一切都吉利。 —

The blackness of darkness reigned, the perfect stillness was interrupted only by occasional mutterings of distant thunder.
黑暗重新统治，只偶尔传来远处雷声打破了安静。

Tom got his lantern, lit it in the hogshead, wrapped it closely in the towel, and the two adventurers crept in the gloom toward the tavern. —
汤姆找到了他的灯笼，在糖桶里点燃了它，用毛巾紧紧包裹住，两个冒险家在阴暗中摸索向酒馆走去。 —

Huck stood sentry and Tom felt his way into the alley. —
哈克站岗，汤姆摸黑进入了巷子。 —

Then there was a season of waiting anxiety that weighed upon Huck’s spirits like a mountain. —
接下来是一段煎熬的等待，沉重地压在哈克的心头像座山一样。 —

He began to wish he could see a flash from the lantern—it would frighten him, but it would at least tell him that Tom was alive yet. —
他开始希望能看到灯笼的一闪——它会吓坏他，但至少能告诉他汤姆还活着。 —

It seemed hours since Tom had disappeared. Surely he must have fainted; maybe he was dead; —
汤姆消失后似乎已经过去了几个小时。肯定他晕倒了；也许他已经死了； —

maybe his heart had burst under terror and excitement. —
也许他在恐惧和兴奋中心脏破裂了。 —

In his uneasiness Huck found himself drawing closer and closer to the alley; —
在他感到不安时，哈克发现自己越来越靠近小巷； —

fearing all sorts of dreadful things, and momentarily expecting some catastrophe to happen that would take away his breath. —
他害怕各种可怕的事情，一时之间预感到将会发生某种让他窒息的灾难。 —

There was not much to take away, for he seemed only able to inhale it by thimblefuls, and his heart would soon wear itself out, the way it was beating. —
他没有太多可以丢失的东西，因为他似乎只能吸气一小丁点，他的心脏很快会因为它的急跳而疲惫不堪。 —

Suddenly there was a flash of light and Tom came tearing by him: —
突然间闪出一道光，汤姆飞速从他身边经过： —

“Run!” said he; “run, for your life!”
“跑！”他说，“拼了命地跑！”

He needn’t have repeated it; once was enough; —
他不需要重复，说一次就足够了； —

Huck was making thirty or forty miles an hour before the repetition was uttered. —
哈克在这句话说出来之前已经以每小时三十到四十英里的速度奔跑了。 —

The boys never stopped till they reached the shed of a deserted slaughter-house at the lower end of the village. —
两个男孩一直跑到村庄尽头一个废弃的屠宰场的棚子里才停下来。 —

Just as they got within its shelter the storm burst and the rain poured down. —
正当他们躲进掩体时，暴风雨爆发了，雨倾盆而下。 —

As soon as Tom got his breath he said:
汤姆松了一口气后说：

“Huck, it was awful! I tried two of the keys, just as soft as I could; —
“哈克，太可怕了！我尽力轻柔地试了两把钥匙； —

but they seemed to make such a power of racket that I couldn’t hardly get my breath I was so scared. —
但是他们发出了如此大的噪音，以至于我几乎喘不过气来，我吓坏了。 —

They wouldn’t turn in the lock, either. —
锁也没法打开。 —

Well, without noticing what I was doing, I took hold of the knob, and open comes the door! —
好吧，没有注意到我在做什么，我抓住把手，门就开了！ —

It warn’t locked! I hopped in, and shook off the towel, and, Great Caesar’s Ghost!”
它没有锁上！我跳了进去，甩掉了毛巾，然后，“大野人的鬼！”

“What!—what’d you see, Tom?”
“什么！——你看到了什么，汤姆？”

“Huck, I most stepped onto Injun Joe’s hand!”
“哈克，我差点踩到印第安乔的手！”

“No!”
“不可能！”

“Yes! He was lying there, sound asleep on the floor, with his old patch on his eye and his arms spread out.”
“是的！他躺在那里，眼睛上有个破布，手臂伸开，熟睡着。”

“Lordy, what did you do? Did he wake up?”
“天啊，你怎么办？他醒来了吗？”

“No, never budged. Drunk, I reckon. I just grabbed that towel and started!”
“没有，一动不动。我只是抓起毛巾就跑！”

“I’d never ’a’ thought of the towel, I bet!”
“我绝对没想到用毛巾，我打赌！”

“Well, I would. My aunt would make me mighty sick if I lost it.”
“嗯，我想到了。要是我把它丢了，我阿姨会让我生病的。”

“Say, Tom, did you see that box?”
“说, 汤姆，你看到那个盒子了吗？”

“Huck, I didn’t wait to look around. I didn’t see the box, I didn’t see the cross. —
“哈克，我没等着四处看。我没看到盒子, 我没看到十字架。” —

I didn’t see anything but a bottle and a tin cup on the floor by Injun Joe; —
我只看到地上有一瓶和一个罐杯； —

yes, I saw two barrels and lots more bottles in the room. —
是的，我在房间里看到了两个桶和很多瓶子。 —

Don’t you see, now, what’s the matter with that ha’nted room?”
你现在明白那个闹鬼的房间怎么回事了吧？

“How?”
怎么回事？

“Why, it’s ha’nted with whiskey! Maybe all the Temperance Taverns have got a ha’nted room, hey, Huck?”
喂，那里闹鬼是因为有威士忌！也许所有禁酒旅馆都有个闹鬼的房间，嗨，哈克？

“Well, I reckon maybe that’s so. Who’d ’a’ thought such a thing? —
唔，我猜也许是这样。谁会想到这样的事情呢？ —

But say, Tom, now’s a mighty good time to get that box, if Injun Joe’s drunk.”
但是，汤姆，现在是个很好的机会去拿那个盒子，因为酒鬼印第安·乔可能已经喝醉了。

“It is, that! You try it!”
真是的！你去试试吧！

Huck shuddered.
哈克打了个寒战。

“Well, no—I reckon not.”
嗯，不，我想不行。

“And I reckon not, Huck. Only one bottle alongside of Injun Joe ain’t enough. —
我也想不行，哈克。在印第安·乔旁边只有一瓶酒不够。 —

If there’d been three, he’d be drunk enough and I’d do it.”
如果有三瓶，他就会喝醉了，我就敢去拿了。

There was a long pause for reflection, and then Tom said:
反思了很长时间，然后汤姆说道：

“Lookyhere, Huck, less not try that thing any more till we know Injun Joe’s not in there. —
哈克，我们还是在确认印第安·乔不在那里之前别再尝试那件事了。 —

It’s too scary. Now, if we watch every night, we’ll be dead sure to see him go out, some time or other, and then we’ll snatch that box quicker’n lightning.”
太吓人了，现在，我们每天晚上都会确保看到他离开，一定会抢到那个盒子快得像闪电一样。

“Well, I’m agreed. I’ll watch the whole night long, and I’ll do it every night, too, if you’ll do the other part of the job.”
嗯，我同意。我会整夜都看着，而且如果你完成另一部分任务的话，我每天都会这样做。

“All right, I will. All you got to do is to trot up Hooper Street a block and maow—and if I’m asleep, you throw some gravel at the window and that’ll fetch me.”
好吧，我会的。你只需要在胡珀街上走一块，喵一声——如果我睡着了，你就朝窗户扔一些石子，我就会醒了。

“Agreed, and good as wheat!”
同意了，简直好得像小麦！

“Now, Huck, the storm’s over, and I’ll go home. —
现在，哈克，暴风雨过去了，我要回家了。 —

It’ll begin to be daylight in a couple of hours. —
几个小时后天就要亮了。 —

You go back and watch that long, will you?”
你继续守夜，好吗？

“I said I would, Tom, and I will. I’ll ha’nt that tavern every night for a year! —
我说过了，汤姆，我会的。我会每天晚上都在那家酒馆蹲点一年！ —

I’ll sleep all day and I’ll stand watch all night.”
我会整天睡觉，整晚站岗。

“That’s all right. Now, where you going to sleep?”
没问题。现在你要在哪里睡觉呢？

“In Ben Rogers’ hayloft. He lets me, and so does his pap’s nigger man, Uncle Jake. I tote water for Uncle Jake whenever he wants me to, and any time I ask him he gives me a little something to eat if he can spare it. —
“在本·罗杰斯的干草棚里。他让我进去，他爸的黑奴杰克也让我进去。当杰克叔叔需要我帮忙提水时，我会帮他提。每当我问他要吃的东西时，他都会给我一点如果他能拿得出来的话。” —

That’s a mighty good nigger, Tom. He likes me, becuz I don’t ever act as if I was above him. —
“汤姆，那是一个好的黑奴。他喜欢我，因为我从不把自己当作他的上级。” —

Sometime I’ve set right down and eat with him. But you needn’t tell that. —
“有时我会坐下来和他一起吃。但你不要告诉别人。” —

A body’s got to do things when he’s awful hungry he wouldn’t want to do as a steady thing.”
“一个人饿得不行的时候，有些事情他不愿意一直做。”

“Well, if I don’t want you in the daytime, I’ll let you sleep. —
“好吧，如果白天你不想见我，我会让你睡觉。” —

I won’t come bothering around. Any time you see something’s up, in the night, just skip right around and maow.”
“我不会烦你。只要你在晚上看到有事情发生，就绕过来喵喵叫。”