Without a doubt much of the spirit and genius of the Caliph Harun Al Rashid descended to the Margrave August Michael von Paulsen Quigg.
毫无疑问，哈伦·阿尔·拉希德哈里发的很多精神和天才都传承给了镇长奥古斯特·迈克尔·冯·保尔森·奎格。

Quigg’s restaurant is in Fourth Avenue - that street that the city seems to have forgotten in its growth. —
奎格的餐馆位于第四大道——这条街在城市的发展中似乎被遗忘了。 —

Fourth Avenue - born and bred in the Bowery - staggers northward full of good resolutions.
第四大道——生于酒吧街——摇摇晃晃地向北前进，充满着良好的决心。

Where it crosses Fourteenth Street it struts for a brief moment proudly in the glare of the museums and cheap theatres. —
当它与第十四街交叉时，在博物馆和廉价剧院的耀眼光辉中骄傲地炫耀了一小会儿。 —

It may yet become a fit mate for its high-born sister boulevard to the west, or its roaring, polyglot, broad-waisted cousin to the east. —
它可能会成为西边崇高的姐妹大道的合适伴侣，或者是东边轰鸣、多语种、宽腰围的堂兄。 —

It passes Union Square; and here the hoofs of the dray horses seem to thunder in unison, recalling the tread of marching hosts - Hooray! —
它经过联合广场；在这里，车马蹄声似乎齐声地轰鸣，唤起了行军队伍的脚步声——万岁！ —

But now come the silent and terrible mountains - buildings square as forts, high as the clouds, shutting out the sky, where thousands of slaves bend over desks all day. —
但现在出现了无声而可怕的山脉——建筑方方正正，高及云端，遮住了天空，在这里，成千上万的奴隶整日弯腰在桌子前工作。 —

On the ground floors are only little fruit shops and laundries and book shops, where you see copies of “Littell’s Living Age” and G. W. M. Reynold’s novels in the windows. —
在地下一楼只有一些水果店、洗衣店和书店，橱窗里摆放着《利特尔生活时代》和G. W. M.雷诺兹的小说的拷贝。 —

And next - poor Fourth Avenue! —
然后 - 可怜的第四大道！ —

• the street glides into a mediaeval solitude. —
  - 这条街转入中世纪的寂静。 —
  

On each side are shops devoted to “Antiques.”
两旁都是专营“古董”的商店。

Let us say it is night. Men in rusty armor stand in the windows and menace the hurrying cars with raised, rusty iron gauntlets. —
假设是晚上。腐锈的盔甲上的男人们站在橱窗里，举起腐锈的铁手套威胁着匆匆车辆。 —

Hauberks and helms, blunderbusses, Cromwellian breastplates, matchlocks, creeses, and the swords and daggers of an army of dead-and-gone gallants gleam dully in the ghostly light. —
护胸甲和盔甲，火绳枪，克伦威尔胸牌，火枪，克里斯匕首，以及无数已经逝去的英勇士兵的剑和匕首在幽灵般的光芒中黯淡发光。 —

Here and there from a corner saloon (lit with Jack-o’-lanterns or phosphorus), stagger forth shuddering, home-bound citizens, nerved by the tankards within to their fearsome journey adown that eldrich avenue lined with the bloodstained weapons of the fighting dead. —
偶尔从一个招牌上点缀着栗子灯或磷光的角落酒吧里，摇摇晃晃地走出来一些战战兢兢的归家市民，他们在里面的大酒杯的助力下，勇敢地踏上那条瀑布般充满杀戮的街道，这些街道上摆满了战斗死者的染血武器。 —

What street could live inclosed by these mortuary relics, and trod by these spectral citizens in whose sunken hearts scarce one good whoop or tra-la-la remained?
住在这些陵寝遗物所环绕的街道上，被这些幽灵般的居民所踩踏，他们沉没的心中几乎没有一丝喜悦或轻快。

Not Fourth Avenue. Not after the tinsel but enlivening glories of the Little Rialto - not after the echoing drum-beats of Union Square. —
不是第四大道。不是在小剧场的金灿辉煌后，也不是在联合广场回荡的舞鼓声中。 —

There need be no tears, ladies and gentlemen; —
女士们先生们，不必流泪； —

‘tis but the suicide of a street. —
这只不过是一条街道的自杀。 —

With a shriek and a crash Fourth Avenue dives headlong into the tunnel at Thirty-fourth and is never seen again.
第四大道发出一声尖叫，从三十四街跌入地下隧道，永远消失了。

Near the sad scene of the thoroughfare’s dissolution stood the modest restaurant of Quigg. It stands there yet if you care to view its crumbling red-brick front, its show window heaped with oranges, tomatoes, layer cakes, pies, canned asparagus - its papier-mache lobster and two Maltese kittens asleep on a bunch of lettuce - if you care to sit at one of the little tables upon whose cloth has been traced in the yellowest of coffee stains the trail of the Japanese advance - to sit there with one eye on your umbrella and the other upon the bogus bottle from which you drop the counterfeit sauce foisted upon us by the cursed charlatan who assumes to be our dear old lord and friend, the “Nobleman in India.”
在这个公路解散的悲惨场景附近，有着Quigg这家谦逊的餐厅。如果你愿意的话，你可以看到它仍然耸立在那里，它破碎的红砖前门，陈列柜上堆满了橙子、番茄、蛋糕、派、罐装芦笋——还有纸糊的龙虾和两只在一堆生菜上睡觉的马耳他小猫——如果你愿意坐在其中一张小桌子旁，桌布上黄得发黑的咖啡渍上还能看到日本军队进军的痕迹 —— 你坐在那儿，一只眼睛盯着你的雨伞，另一只眼睛盯着那个假冒的瓶子，你往下滴的是那个可恶的吹嘘自己是我们亲爱的老朋友和领主的”在印度贵族”所骗的假酱油。

Quigg’s title came through his mother. —
Quigg的头衔来自于他的母亲。 —

One of her ancestors was a Margravine of Saxony. —
她的一个祖先是萨克森的边疆侯爵夫人。 —

His father was a Tammany brave. —
他的父亲是一个Tammany勇士。 —

On account of the dilution of his heredity he found that he could neither become a reigning potentate nor get a job in the City Hall. So he opened a restaurant. —
由于他基因的稀释，他发现自己既不能成为统治者，也不能在市政厅找到工作。所以他开了一家餐厅。 —

He was a man full of thought and reading. —
他是一个充满思考和读书的人。 —

The business gave him a living, though he gave it little attention. —
虽然他对生意关注不多，但这个生意让他谋生。 —

One side of his house bequeathed to him a poetic and romantic adventure. —
他的房子的一边留给了他一个充满诗意和浪漫的冒险。 —

The other have him the restless spirit that made him seek adventure. —
另一边给了他那使他追求冒险的不安灵魂。 —

By day he was Quigg, the restaurateur. —
白天，他是餐厅老板Quigg。 —

By night he was the Margrave - the Caliph - the Prince of Bohemia - going about the city in search of the odd, the mysterious, the inexplicable, the recondite.
夜晚，他是玛格韦夫 -哈里发 - 波西米亚亲王——在城市中四处寻找奇异的、神秘的、无法解释的、深奥的事物。

One night at 9, at which hour the restaurant closed, Quigg set forth upon his quest. —
一次在晚上9点，餐厅关门之后，Quigg踏上了他的探险之旅。 —

There was a mingling of the foreign, the military and the artistic in his appearance as he buttoned his coat high up under his short-trimmed brown and gray beard and turned westward toward the more central life conduits of the city. —
他打起了高领，将短修剪的棕灰色胡须藏在下面，朝西走向城市更核心的生活中心。 —

In his pocket he had stored an assortment of cards, written upon, without which he never stirred out of doors. —
他口袋里装着一堆写有名字的卡片，这是他外出时必不可少的。 —

Each of those cards was good at his own restaurant for its face value. —
每张卡片在自己的餐厅上面，按照面值能够享用到美食。 —

Some called simply for a bowl of soup or sandwiches and coffee; —
有些人只需要一碗汤、三明治和咖啡； —

others entitled their bearer to one, two, three or more days of full meals; —
其他的卡片则可以让持有者在一、两、三天或更长时间里享受到一日三餐； —

a few were for single regular meals; a very few were, in effect, meal tickets good for a week.
还有一些卡片只能用于一次普通的餐食；只有极少数几张卡片能够持续一周的时间享用餐食。

Of riches and power Margrave Quigg had none; —
在财富和权力方面，马格雷夫·奎格一无所有； —

but he had a Caliph’s heart - it may be forgiven him if his head fell short of the measure of Harun Al Rashid’s. —
但他拥有哈伦·拉希德所具备的一颗心，如果他的头脑不如哈伦·拉希德那般聪明也可以原谅他。 —

Perhaps some of the gold pieces in Bagdad had put less warmth and hope into the complainants among the bazaars than had Quigg’s beef stew among the fishermen and one-eyed calenders of Manhattan.
或许在巴格达的一些金币对于市井长者们来说，带来的温暖和希望不如奎格的牛肉炖菜所能带给曼哈顿的渔民和独眼贫困者们的多。

Continuing his progress in search of romance to divert him, or of distress that he might aid, Quigg became aware of a fast-gathering crowd that whooped and fought and eddied at a corner of Broadway and the crosstown street that he was traversing. —
奎格继续寻找能够让他放松或者需要他帮助的人，却注意到在他穿过的百老滙街交叉口上聚集着一个人群，他们欢呼、打斗，形成了一个人流。 —

Hurrying to the spot he beheld a young man of an exceedingly melancholy and preoccupied demeanor engaged in the pastime of casting silver money from his pockets in the middle of the street. —
匆忙赶到现场，他看见一个面色非常忧郁、心事重重的年轻人，在街中间把银币从口袋里撒出来。 —

With each motion of the generous one’s hand the crowd huddled upon the falling largesse with yells of joy. —
每次慷慨者的手一动，人群就聚集在掉落的钱财周围欢呼雀跃。 —

Traffic was suspended. —
交通被暂停了。 —

A policman in the centre of the mob stooped often to the ground as he urged the blockaders to move on.
人群中央的一名警察经常弯下身来，催促封锁者离开。

The Margrave saw at a glance that here was food for his hunger after knowledge concerning abnormal working of the human heart. —
马格雷夫一眼就看出，这里有关于人类心脏异常运作的知识是他饥渴已久的。 —

He made his way swiftly to the young man’s side and took his arm. —
他迅速走到年轻人身边，抓住他的胳膊。 —

“Come with me at once,” he said, in the low but commanding voice that his waiters had learned to fear.
“马上跟我走，” 他用低沉但威严的声音说道，他的侍者们都畏惧不敢违抗。

“Pinched,” remarked the young man, looking up at him with expressionless eyes. —
“掏空了，”年轻人抬头看着他，眼中没有一丝表情。” —

“Pinched by a painless dentist. —
被一个无痛牙医掏空了。 —

Take me away, flatty, and give me gas. —
带我走，”扁平的人，给我气体。 —

Some lay eggs and some lay none. —
有些人下蛋，有些人不下。 —

When is a hen?”
母鸡是什么时候?”

Still deeply seized by some inward grief, but tractable, he allowed Quigg to lead him away and down the street to a little park.
仍深受内心的悲伤所困扰，但可驾驭的，他让Quigg带着他走向街上的一个小公园。

There, seated on a bench, he upon whom a corner of the great Caliph’s mantle has descended, spake with kindness and discretion, seeking to know what evil had come upon the other, disturbing his soul and driving him to such ill-considered and ruinous waste of his substance and stores.
在那里，坐在长官的斗篷一角下的他以和善而谨慎的方式交谈，试图了解发生了什么邪恶事情，扰乱了他的灵魂，导致他如此轻率地和自身的财物浪费。

“I was doing the Monte Cristo act as adapted by Pompton, N. J., wasn’t I?” asked the young man.
“我是在扮演蒙蒂·克里斯托（Monte Cristo）由新泽西州庞普顿（Pompton）改编的角色，对吗？”年轻人问道。

“You were throwing small coins into the street for the people to scramble after,” said the Margrave.
“你是在向人们扔小硬币，让他们在街上抢夺。”Margrave说道。

“That’s it. You buy all the beer you can hold, and then you throw chicken feed to - Oh, curse that word chicken, and hens, feathers, roosters, eggs, and everything connected with it!”
“没错。你用钱买尽量多的啤酒，然后向鸡饲料扔钱——哦，该死的鸡和母鸡、羽毛、公鸡、鸡蛋，以及与之相关的一切！”

“Young sir,” said the Margrave kindly, but with dignity, “though I do not ask your confidence, I invite it. —
“年轻的先生，” Margrave亲切地说道，同时又保持尊严，“虽然我不要求你的信任，但我邀请你提供。 —

I know the world and I know humanity. —
我了解这个世界，我了解人性。” —

Man is my study, though I do not eye him as the scientist eyes a beetle or as the philanthropist gazes at the objects of his bounty - through a veil of theory and ignorance. —
人是我的研究对象，尽管我不像科学家看待一只甲虫或慈善家注视他的慷慨之举那样，通过理论和无知的面纱来审视他。 —

It is my pleasure and distraction to interest myself in the peculiar and complicated misfortunes that life in a great city visits upon my fellow-men. —
对我而言，乐趣和分散注意力的方式是对生活在大城市中的人们所遭受的特殊而复杂的不幸感兴趣。 —

You may be familiar with the history of that glorious and immortal ruler, the Caliph Harun Al Rashid, whose wise and beneficent excursions among his people in the city of Bagdad secured him the privilege of relieving so much of their distress. —
你可能熟悉那位辉煌而不朽的统治者哈伦·拉希德哈里发的历史，他在巴格达城中对人民展开的智慧和慈善行动使他获得了减轻他们苦难的特权。 —

In my humble way I walk in his footsteps. —
以我微不足道的方式，我追随着他的脚步。 —

I seek for romance and adventure in city streets - not in ruined castles or in crumbling palaces. —
我在城市街头寻求浪漫和冒险的体验 - 而不是在废墟中的城堡或残垣断壁。 —

To me the greatest marvels of magic are those that take place in men’s hearts when acted upon by the furious and diverse forces of a crowded population. —
对我而言，魔力中最奇妙的是那些在人们心中上演的，被拥挤的人群所激发的狂暴而多样化的力量。 —

In your strange behavior this evening I fancy a story lurks. —
在你今晚的奇怪行为中，我发现了一则隐秘的故事。 —

I read in your act something deeper than the wanton wastefulness of a spendthrift. —
我从你的举止中读出了比一位挥霍无度的花花公子更深层次的东西。 —

I observe in your countenance the certain traces of consuming grief or despair. —
我观察到你的面容上有消磨愁苦或绝望的痕迹。 —

I repeat - I invite your confidence. —
我再次重申 - 我邀请你坦诚相对。 —

I am not without some power to alleviate and advise. —
我并非没有一些减轻和建议的能力。 —

Will you not trust me?”
你难道不信任我吗？

“Gee, how you talk!” exclaimed the young man, a gleam of admiration supplanting for a moment the dull sadness of his eyes. —
“哇，你说话真厉害！”年轻人惊叹道，一抹钦佩的光芒瞬间取代了他眼中的沉闷悲伤。 —

“You’ve got the Astor Library skinned to a synopsis of preceding chapters. —
“你把阿斯特图书馆概括成了前几章的提要。 —

I mind that old Turk you speak of. —
我还记得你说的那个老土耳其人。 —

I read ‘The Arabian Nights’ when I was a kid. —
我小时候读过《天方夜谭》。 —

He was a kind of Bill Devery and Charlie Schwab rolled into one. —
他就像是比尔·德弗里和查理·施瓦布（Charlie Schwab）合二为一的人物。 —

But, say, you might wave enchanted dishrags and make copper bottles smoke up coon giants all night without ever touching me. —
不过，说实话，你可以挥舞着魔法抹布，让铜瓶冒出长得像猴子的巨人，但对我来说一点作用都没有。 —

My case won’t yield to that kind of treatment.”
我那些情况是无法通过那种治疗方法得到改善的。

“If I could hear your story,” said the Margrave, with his lofty, serious smile.
“如果我能听到你的故事，”马格雷夫笑容庄严地说道。

“I’ll spiel it in about nine words,” said the young man, with a deep sigh, “but I don’t think you can help me any. —
“我用九个词解释一下吧，”年轻人深深地叹了口气，” 但我觉得你帮不了我。” —

Unless you’re a peach at guessing it’s back to the Bosphorous for you on your magic linoleum.” THE STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN AND THE HARNESS MAKER’S RIDDLE
“除非你是个猜谜高手，否则你还是回波斯弗罗斯去踩你的魔法亚麻布吧。” 年轻人和马具制造商的难题故事

“I work in Hildebrant’s saddle and harness shop down in Grant Street. —
“我在格兰特街的希尔德布兰特马鞍和马具店工作。 —

I’ve worked there five years. —
我已经在那里工作了五年了。 —

I get $18 a week. —
我每周拿到18美元。 —

That’s enough to marry on, ain’t it? Well, I’m not going to get married. —
这足够结婚了，对吧？嗯，我不打算结婚。 —

Old Hildebrant is one of these funny Dutchmen - you know the kind - always getting off bum jokes. —
老希尔德布兰特是个有意思的荷兰人 - 你懂的那种 - 总是玩些无聊的笑话。 —

He’s got about a million riddles and things that he faked from Rogers Brothers’ great-grandfather. —
他有大约一百万个谜语和一些从罗杰斯兄弟的曾曾祖父那里学来的东西。 —

Bill Watson works there, too. —
比尔·沃森也在那里工作。 —

Me and Bill have to stand for them chestnuts day after day. —
我和比尔每天都要接受那些老掉牙的笑话。 —

Why do we do it? —
我们为什么要这么做呢？ —

Well, jobs ain’t to be picked off every Anheuser bush - And then there’s Laura.
嗯，工作可不是一随处可得之物 - 还有劳拉。

“What? The old man’s daughter. Comes in the shop every day. —
“什么？老人的女儿。她每天都来店里。 —

About nineteen, and the picture of the blonde that sits on the palisades of the Rhine and charms the clam-diggers into the surf. —
大约十九岁，就像坐在莱茵河堤岸上迷住挖蛤的金发女郎照片里的样子，诱使他们冲进浪涛。” —

Hair the color of straw matting, and eyes as black and shiny as the best harness blacking - think of that!
“头发像稻草垫，眼睛黑而亮，就像最好的马具上的黑色油黑。想象一下！”

“Me? well, it’s either me or Bill Watson. —
“我？好吧，不管是我还是比尔·沃森。 —

She treats us both equal. —
她对我们俩都一视同仁。 —

Bill is all to the psychopathic about her; —
比尔对她痴迷到了疯狂的地步； —

and me? —
而我呢？” —

• well, you saw me plating the roadbed of the Great Maroon Way with silver tonight. —
  “嗯，你今晚看到我在大泛红之路上用银子铺设路基。” —
  

That was on account of Laura. I was spiflicated, Your Highness, and I wot not of what I wouldst.
“那都是因为劳拉。我喝得酩酊大醉，陛下，我不知道自己在干什么。”

“How? Why, old Hildebrandt say to me and Bill this afternoon: ‘Boys, one riddle have I for you gehabt haben. —
“怎么做？为什么，今天下午老希尔德布兰特对我和比尔说：‘孩子们，我有一个谜语要给你们解答吧。 —

A young man who cannot riddles antworten, he is not so good by business for ein family to provide - is not that - hein?’ And he hands us a riddle - a conundrum, some calls it - and he chuckles interiorly and gives both of us till to-morrow morning to work out the answer to it. —
“一个年轻人如果连谜语都答不出，他就不适合为一个家庭提供生活 - 对吗？-对吗？”“然后他给了我们一个谜语 - 一个谜语，有些人称之为绕口令 - 然后他在心里窃笑着，给了我们俩到明天早上来想出答案。” —

And he says whichever of us guesses the repartee end of it goes to his house o’ Wednesday night to his daughter’s birthday party. —
他说，我们两个猜中谜底的人都能去他家参加星期三晚上他女儿的生日聚会。 —

And it means Laura for whichever of us goes, for she’s naturally aching for a husband, and it’s either me or Bill Watson, for old Hildebrant likes us both, and wants her to marry somebody that’ll carry on the business after he’s stitched his last pair of traces.
这意味着谁去，就是为了劳拉，因为她自然而然地渴望找个丈夫，而且只能是我或者比尔·沃森，因为希尔德布兰特老板喜欢我们俩，希望她能嫁给能继承生意的人，等他绣完最后一副轭具后。

“The riddle? Why, it was this: —
“谜语？嗯，就是这个： —

‘What kind of a hen lays the longest? —
‘什么样的母鸡产蛋最长时间？ —

Think of that! —
想想看！’” —

What kind of a hen lays the longest? —
什么样的母鸡产蛋最长时间？这不是典型的荷兰人吗，把一个人的幸福寄托在这样一个愚蠢的命题上？ —

Ain’t it like a Dutchman to risk a man’s
现在，有什么用呢？关于母鸡的事情，我一无所知，简直可以填满好几台孵化器了。

happiness on a fool proposition like that? Now, what’s the use? What I don’t know about hens would fill several incubators. —
你说你正在模仿那个在巴格达送走图书馆的阿拉伯老家伙。 —

You say you’re giving imitations of the old Arab guy that gave away - libraries in Bagdad. —
那么，你现在能够召唤一个能解答这个关于母鸡的问题的仙女，还是不能？ —

Well, now, can you whistle up a fairy that’ll solve this hen query, or not?”
当年轻人停下来的时候，边境领主站起来，在公园长椅旁来回踱步了几分钟。

When the young man ceased the Margrave arose and paced to and fro by the park bench for several minutes. —
当那个年轻人停下来时，边境领主起身，在公园长椅旁踱步了几分钟。 —

Finally he sat again, and said, in grave and impressive tones:
最后他又坐下来，用严肃而令人印象深刻的语气说道：

“I must confess, sir, that during the eight years that I have spent in search of adventure and in relieving distress I have never encountered a more interesting or a more perplexing case. —
“我必须承认，在我寻求冒险和救济困扰的八年里，我从未遇到过如此有趣且棘手的案件。 —

I fear that I have overlooked hens in my researches and observations. —
我担心我的研究和观察中忽略了母鸡。 —

As to their habits, their times and manner of laying, their many varieties and cross-breedings, their span of life, their -”
至于它们的习性，下蛋的时间和方式，它们的许多品种和杂交，它们的寿命，它们的-”

“Oh, don’t make an Ibsen drama of it!” interrupted the young man, flippantly. —
“哦，别把它搞成易卜生剧！”年轻人轻率地打断了他。 —

“Riddles - especially old Hildebrant’s riddles - don’t have to be worked out seriously.
“谜题-尤其是老希尔德布兰特的谜题-不必认真解决。

They are light themes such as Sim Ford and Harry Thurston Peck like to handle. —
它们是轻松的主题，例如西姆·福特和哈里·瑟斯顿·佩克喜欢处理的主题。 —

But, somehow, I can’t strike just the answer. —
但是，不知怎么的，我无法找到答案。 —

Bill Watson may, and he may not. To-morrow will tell. Well, Your Majesty, I’m glad anyhow that you butted in and whiled the time away. —
比尔·沃森可能会，也可能不会。明天就会告诉我们了。嗯，陛下，不管怎样，我很高兴您参与其中，打发了时间。 —

I guess Mr. Al Rashid himself would have bounced back if one of his constituents had conducted him up against this riddle. —
我猜如果他的选民中有人向他提出这个谜题，阿尔拉希德先生自己就会回答出来了。 —

I’ll say good night. Peace fo’ yours, and what-you-may-call-its of Allah.”
我要说晚安。愿你们平安，愿真主带来所有的好运。

The Margrave, still with a gloomy air, held out his hand.
尽管神情阴沉，玛格拉弗伸出手来。

“I cannot exppress my regret,” he said, sadly. —
他悲伤地说：“我无法表达我的遗憾。 —

“Never before have I found myself unable to assist in some way. —
从来没有我不能以某种方式帮助的时候。” —

‘What kind of a hen lays the longest? —
“什么样的母鸡生得最长？ —

It is a baffling problem. —
这是一个令人困惑的问题。 —

There is a hen, I believe, called the Plymouth Rock that -”
我相信有一种母鸡叫作普利茅斯岩鸡-”

“Cut it out,” said the young man. —
“别说了，”年轻人说。” —

“The Caliph trade is a mighty serious one. —
哈里发生意是非常严肃的事情。 —

I don’t suppose you’d even see anything funny in a preacher’s defense of John D. Rockefeller. —
我不认为你会从一位牧师为约翰·D·洛克菲勒辩护中发现任何有趣的地方。 —

Well, good night, Your Nibs.”
好吧，晚安，你的尊贵。

From habit the Margrave began to fumble in his pockets. —
出于习惯，玛格拉弗开始摸索口袋。 —

He drew forth a card and handed it to the young man.
他拿出一张卡片递给年轻人。

“Do me the favor to accept this, anyhow,” he said. —
“无论如何，请帮忙收下这个，”他说。” —

“The time may come when it might be of use to you.”
将来可能会有用到的时候。”

“Thanks!” said the young man, pocketing it carelessly. —
“谢谢！”年轻人漫不经心地将其装进口袋。“我的名字是西蒙斯。 —

“My name is Simmons.”
”

***

Shame to him who would hint that the reader’s interest shall altogether pursue the Margrave August Michael von Paulsen Quigg. I am indeed astray if my hand fail in keeping the way where my peruser’s heart would follow. —
谁敢暗示读者的兴趣完全追求Margrave August Michael von Paulsen Quigg，他可真是可耻。如果我没有保持好读者想要跟随的方向，那么我确实是迷失了。 —

Then let us, on the morrow, peep quickly in at the door of Hildebrant, harness maker.
那么让我们在明天快速地探头进入Hildebrant的门，他是一个制造马具的人。

Hildebrant’s 200 pounds reposed on a bench, silverbuckling a raw leather martingale.
Hildebrant的200英镑放在一张长凳上，用银扣扣住一个生皮制的缰绳。

Bill Watson came in first.
首先进来的是Bill Watson。

“Vell,” said Hildebrant, shaking all over with the vile conceit of the joke-maker, “haf you guessed him? ‘Vat kind of a hen lays der longest?’”
“嗯，”Hildebrant摇摇头，全身上下都因为恶俗的开玩笑而颤抖，“你猜到了吗？’哪种鸡会下最长时间的蛋？’”

“Er - why, I think so,” said Bill, rubbing a servile chin. —
“嗯 - 是的，我想是的， —

“I think so, Mr. Hildebrant - the one that lives the longest - Is that right?”
Hildebrant先生 - 活得最久的那只鸡 - 是这样吗？”

“Nein!” said Hildebrant, shaking his head violently. —
“不对！”Hildebrant摇摇头， —

“You haf not guessed der answer.”
“你没有猜对答案。”

Bill passed on and donned a bed-tick apron and bachelorhood.
Bill继续前进，穿上一件草帘围裙，享受独身生活。

In came the young man of the Arabian Night’s fiasco - pale, melancholy, hopeless.
然后一个阿拉伯夜的混乱中年轻男子进来了 - 苍白、忧郁、没有希望。

“Vell,” said Hildebrant, “haf you guessed him? —
“维尔，”希尔德布兰特说， —

‘Vat kind of a hen lays der longest?’”
“你猜出他是什么样的母鸡能生最长时间的蛋吗？”

Simmons regarded him with dull savagery in his eye. —
西蒙斯用眼中无力的凶狠注视着他。 —

Should he curse this mountain of pernicious humor - curse him and die? —
他应该诅咒这个充满恶意幽默的山峰 - 诅咒他然后死去吗？ —

Why should - But there was Laura.
为什么要 - 但是有劳拉在。

Dogged, speechless, he thrust his hands into his coat pockets and stood. —
顽强地，无言地，他把手插进大衣口袋里站着。 —

His hand encountered the strange touch of the Margrave’s card. —
他的手碰到了马格雷夫的牌子不寻常的触感。 —

He drew it out and looked at it, as men about to be hanged look at a crawling fly. —
他将它掏了出来看着，就像即将被绞死的人看着爬行的苍蝇一样。 —

There was written on it in Quigg’s bold, round hand: —
上面用奎格的粗圆手写着： —

“Good for one roast chicken to bearer.”
“此券可兑换一只烤鸡。”

Simmons looked up with a flashing eye.
西蒙斯带着闪烁的眼神抬起头。

“A dead one!” said he.
“一只死鸡！”他说。

“Goot!” roared Hildebrant, rocking the table with giant glee. “Dot is right! —
“好！”希尔德布兰特大声嚷道，巨大的欢悦摇摆着桌子。 —

You gome at mine house at 8 o’clock to der party.”
“你在8点钟来我家参加派对。”