I mentioned to Rivington that I was in search of characteristic New York scenes and incidents – some- thing typical, I told him, without necessarily having to spell the first syllable with an “i.”
我告诉瑞文顿，我正在寻找特色的纽约场景和事件，我告诉他，不一定要用“i”来拼写第一个音节。

“Oh, for your writing business,” said Rivington; —
“哦，为了你的写作事业，”瑞文顿说， —

“you couldn’t have applied to a better shop. —
“你找对地方了。” —

What I don’t know about little old New York wouldn’t make a sonnet to a sunbonnet. —
我对于这个米旧的纽约所不了解的东西不足以构成对太阳帽的十四行诗。 —

I’ll put you right in the middle of so much local colour that you won’t know whether you are a magazine cover or in the erysipelas ward. —
我会让你置身于如此丰富多彩的场景中，以至于你分不清自己是在杂志封面上，还是在游牧病房。 —

When do you want to begin?”
你打算何时开始？

Rivington is a young-man-about-town and a New Yorker by birth, preference and incommutability.
瑞文顿是位大都市年轻人，生于纽约，喜好纽约，无法抗拒它。

I told him that I would be glad to accept his escort and guardianship so that I might take notes of Manhattan’s grand, gloomy and peculiar idiosyncrasies, and that the time of so doing would be at his own convenience.
我告诉他，我很乐意接受他的陪同和保护，以便我可以记录下曼哈顿的宏伟、阴沉和特殊的特点，而且时间可以按照他方便的来安排。

“We’ll begin this very evening,” said Rivington, him- self interested, like a good fellow. —
“我们今晚就开始，”瑞文顿兴致勃勃地说，像个好家伙一样感兴趣。 —

“Dine with me at seven, and then I’ll steer ‘you up against metropolitan phases so thick you’ll have to have a kinetoscope to record ‘em.”
“七点和我共进晚餐，然后我会带你去密不透风的大都市地带，密到你得用运动照相机来记录它们。”

So I dined with Rivington pleasantly at his club, in Forty-eleventh street, and then we set forth in pursuit of the elusive tincture of affairs.
“所以我和里文顿愉快地在他们的俱乐部里共进晚餐，然后我们出发追寻那难以捉摸的事务香精。”

As we came out of the club there stood two men on the sidewalk near the steps in earnest conversation.
当我们走出俱乐部时，在台阶附近的人行道上站着两个人在认真交谈。

“And by what process of ratiocination,” said one of them, “do you arrive at the conclusion that the division of society into producing and non-possessing classes predicates failure when compared with competitive systems that are monopolizing in tendency and result inimically to industrial evolution?”
“而通过什么推理过程，” 其中一个人说道，”你得出一个结论，认为将社会划分为生产和无产阶级，与竞争型系统相比，其失败预示着对工业进化有害的扩大趋势呢？”

“Oh, come off your perch!” said the other man, who wore glasses. “Your premises won’t come out in the wash. —
“哦，别装腔作势了！” 另一个戴眼镜的人说。”你的前提是站不住脚的。” —

You wind-jammers who apply bandy-legged theories to concrete categorical syllogisms send logical conclusions skallybootin’ into the infinitesimal ragbag. —
“你这些搞风的人，把歪腿理论应用于具体的范畴式演绎，逻辑推论就会飞到微不可见的废物堆里去了。” —

You can’t pull my leg with an old sophism with whiskers on it. —
你用一个满是胡须的老伎俩是骗不了我的。 —

You quote Marx and Hyndman and Kautsky - what are they? —
你引用马克思、亨德曼和考茨基 - 他们是谁？– 真是了不起！ —

– shines! Tolstoi? —
托尔斯泰呢？ —

– his garret is full of rats. —
– 他的阁楼里挤满了老鼠。 —

I put it to you over the home-plate that the idea of a cooperative commonwealth and an abolishment of competitive systems simply takes the rag off the bush and gives me hyperesthesia of the roopteetoop! —
我在这里向你提出来，合作共和和竞争制度废除的想法根本就是赤裸裸的，让我感到极度敏感！ —

The skoo- kum house for yours!
这座房子就归你了！

I stopped a few yards away and took out my little notebook.
我停在几码外，掏出我的小笔记本。

“Oh, come ahead,” said Rivington, somewhat ner- vously; “you don’t want to listen to that.”
“噢，过来吧，” 里文顿有些紧张地说，“你可不想听那个。”

“Why man,” I whispered, “this is just what I do want to hear. —
“嘿，伙计，”我低声说， “这正是我想听的。 —

These slang types are among your city’s most distinguishing features. —
这些俚语类型是你们城市最独特的特征之一。 —

Is this the Bowery variety? I really must hear more of it.”
这是鲍鱼区的种类吗？我真的想听更多。

“If I follow you,” said the man who had spoken flrst, “you do not believe it possible to reorganize society on the basis of common interest?”
“如果我理解你的意思，”先发言的人说， “你不相信能够以共同利益为基础重新组织社会？”

“Shinny on your own side!” said the man with glasses. —
“戴眼镜的男人说：‘你自己那边都闪一闪吧！ —

“You never heard any such music from my foghorn. —
你从我的雾角没听到过那种音乐。’” —

What I said was that I did not believe it practicable just now. —
“我的意思是，我不认为现在可行。” —

The guys with wads are not in the frame of mind to slack up on the mazuma, and the man with the portable tin banqueting canister isn’t exactly ready to join the Bible class. —
“带钱包的人的心境不适合放慢浪费，并且手提锡制宴会罐的人也不准备加入圣经班。” —

You can bet your variegated socks that the situation is all spifflicated up from the Battery to breakfast! —
“你可以打赌，从海港到早餐，情况一团糟！” —

What the country needs is for some bully old bloke like Cobden or some wise guy like old Ben Frank- lin to sashay up to the front and biff the nigger’s head with the baseball. —
“这个国家需要像科布登这样的牛老兄，或者像老本·富兰克林这样的聪明家伙，走到前线，用棒球棒敲击黑人的头。” —

Do you catch my smoke? What?”
“你明白我的意思吗？什么？”

Rivington pulled me by the arm impatiently.
Rivington不耐烦地拉着我的胳膊。

“Please come on,” he said. —
“请过来，”他说。 —

“Let’s go see something. —
“去看些东西吧。 —

This isn’t what you want.”
这不是你想要的。”

“Indeed, it is,” I said resisting. —
“实际上，是的，”我反抗地说。 —

“This tough talk is the very stuff that counts. —
“这个粗鲁的说话方式正是至关重要的东西。” —

There is a picturesqueness about the speech of the lower order of people that is quite unique. —
“较低阶层人民的言谈具有独特的风情。” —

Did you say that this is the Bowery variety of slang?”
你说这是波域区的俚语吗？

“Oh, well,” said Rivington, giving it up, “I’ll tell you straight. —
“噢，好吧，”里文顿说，放弃了，“我告诉你吧， —

That’s one of our college professors talking. —
那是我们大学教授在说话。” —

He ran down for a day or two at the club. —
他在俱乐部待了一两天。 —

It’s a sort of fad with him lately to use slang in his conversation. —
他最近流行用俚语交谈。 —

He thinks it improves language. —
他认为这可以改进语言。 —

The man he is talking to is one of New York’s famous social economists. —
与他交谈的那个人是纽约著名的社会经济学家之一。 —

Now will you come on. You can’t use that, you know.”
现在你该继续写了。你不能使用那个，你知道的。

“No,” I agreed; “I can’t use that. —
“不，我同意；我不能使用那个。 —

Would you call that typical of New York?”
你认为这是纽约的典型表现吗？”

“Of course not,” said Rivington, with a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you see the difference. —
“当然不是，”里文顿松了一口气说，“我很高兴你看到了区别。” —

But if you want to hear the real old tough Bowery slang I’ll take you down where you’ll get your fill of it.”
但是如果你想听真正老式的波域粗话，我可以带你去，那里你会听个够的。

“I would like it,” I said; “that is, if it’s the real thing. —
“我想听，”我说，“也就是说，如果那是真的。 —

I’ve often read it in books, but I never heard it. —
我经常在书中读到，但从来没听过。” —

Do you think it will be dangerous to go unprotected among those characters ?
你认为在那些人中间无保护会有危险吗？

“Oh, no,” said Rivington; “not at this time of night. —
“哦，不，”里温顿说。“晚上这个时间不适合。 —

To tell the truth, I haven’t been along the Bowery in a long time, but I know it as well as I do Broadway. —
说实话，我很久没去过鲍厄里了，但我对它的了解和百老汇一样熟悉。” —

We’ll look up some of the typical Bowery boys and get them to talk. —
我们会找些典型的鲍厄里男孩来聊聊， —

It’ll be worth your while. —
这对你会有好处。 —

They talk a peculiar dialect that you won’t hear any-where else on earth.”
他们说一种特殊的方言，在地球其他地方你都听不到。”

Rivington and I went east in a Forty-second street car and then south on the Third avenue line.
里温顿和我坐42街的有轨电车往东走，然后上三大道往南。

At Houston street we got off and walked.
到了休斯敦街我们下车步行。

“We are now on the famous Bowery,” said Rivington; —
“我们现在走在著名的鲍厄里，”里温顿说。 —

“the Bowery celebrated in song and story.”
“那个以歌曲和故事而闻名的鲍厄里。”

We passed block after block of “gents’” furnishing stores – the windows full of shirts with prices attached and cuffs inside. —
我们经过一排又一排的“男装店”——橱窗里摆满了附有价格的衬衫和里面的袖口。 —

In other windows were neckties and no shirts. —
其他橱窗里则是领带而没有衬衫。 —

People walked up and down the sidewalks.
人们在人行道上走来走去。

“In some ways,” said I, “this reminds me of Koko- mono, Ind., during the peach-crating season.”
“某种程度上，”我说，“这让我想起了科科莫诺在装桃子的季节。”

Rivington was nettled.
里温顿有些恼火。

“Step into one of these saloons or vaudeville shows,” said he, “with a large roll of money, and see how quickly the Bowery will sustain its reputation.”
“走进这些酒馆或歌舞表演场所，”他说，“带着一大叠钞票，看看波威街会多快夺回它的名声。”

“You make impossible conditions,” said I, coldly.
“你提出了不可能的条件，”我冷冷地说道。

By and by Rivington stopped and said we were in the heart of the Bowery. —
不久之后，里文顿停下脚步，说我们已经来到了波威街的中心。 —

There was a policeman on the corner whom Rivington knew.
街角站着一个警察，里文顿认识他。

“Hallo, Donahue!” said my guide. “How goes it? —
“嗨，多纳休！”我的向导打招呼道。 —

My friend and I are down this way looking up a bit of local colour. —
“怎么样？我和我的朋友来这边寻找一点当地特色。 —

He’s anxious to meet one of the Bowery types. —
他渴望认识一个波威街上的人物。 —

Can’t you put us on to something genuine in that line – something that’s got the colour, you know?”
你能不能给我们指点一些真正有特色的人 – 那种有色彩的？”

Policeman Donahue turned himself about ponder- ously, his florid face full of good-nature. —
多纳休警官沉重地转过身来，他那红润的脸上满是和蔼可亲的表情。 —

He pointed with his club down the street.
他用警棍指着街道。

“Sure!” he said huskily. “Here comes a lad now that was born on the Bowery and knows every inch of it. —
“当然了！”他粗声说道。“现在就来一个小伙子，他是在波威街出生的，对每一寸地都了如指掌。 —

If he’s ever been above Bleecker street he’s kept it to himself.”
如果他曾经去过布利克街以上的地方，他可没说出来。”

A man about twenty-eight or twenty-nine, with a smooth face, was sauntering toward us with his hands in his coat pockets. —
一个大约28或29岁，面容清秀的男人，双手插在外套口袋里，漫步向我们走来。 —

Policeman Donahue stopped him with a courteous wave of his club.
多纳休警官礼貌地挥舞着警棍，拦住了他。

“Evening, Kerry,” he said. “Here’s a couple of gents, friends of mine, that want to hear you spiel something about the Bowery. —
“晚上好，凯里，”他说。”这是我几个朋友，他们想听你说一些关于鲍维街的事情。你能给他们讲几句吗？” —

Can you reel ‘em off a few yards?”
“当然可以，多纳休，”这个年轻人友好地说道。”晚上好，先生们。”他对我们微笑着说。

“Certainly, Donahue,” said the young man, pleas- antly. —
多纳休沿着他的巡逻路线走开了。 —

“Good evening, gentlemen,” he said to us, with a pleasant smile. —
—

Donahue walked off on his beat.
“这可是真货，”里温顿低声对我说，用手肘戳了我一下。”看他的下巴！”

“This is the goods,” whispered Rivington, nudging me with his elbow. —
“喂，老兄，”里温顿说着，掀起帽檐， —

“Look at his jaw!”
搞什么鬼？

“Say, cull,” said Rivington, pushing back his hat, wot’s doin’? —
“我和我朋友来看看这段老路-明白吗？警察告诉我们你对鲍维街了如指掌。是这样吗？” —

Me and my friend’s taking a look down de old line – see? —
—

De copper tipped us off dat you was wise to de bowery. —
我忍不住佩服里温顿适应环境的能力。 —

Is dat right?”

I could not help admiring Rivington’s power of adapt- ing himself to his surroundings.
“多纳休是对的，”这个年轻人坦率地说道，”我在鲍维街长大的。”

“Donahue was right,” said the young man, frankly; —
— —

“I was brought up on the Bowery. —

I have been news- boy, teamster, pugilist, member of an organized band of ‘toughs,’ bartender, and a ‘sport’ in various mean- ings of the word. —
我曾经是一个新闻男孩、卡车司机、拳击手、一个有组织的“硬汉”帮派成员、酒保，以及一个“花花公子”。 —

The experience certainly warrants the supposition that I have at least a passing acquaintance with a few phases of Bowery life. —
这个经历足以推测我对于鲍尔里街生活的一些方面至少有所了解。 —

I will be pleased to place whatever knowledge and experience I have at the service of my friend Donahue’s friends.”
我很愿意将我拥有的知识和经验贡献给我朋友唐纳休的朋友们。

Rivington seemed ill at ease.
里文顿似乎不自在。

“I say,” he said – somewhat entreatingly, “I thought – you’re not stringing us, are you? —
“听着，”他有点央求地说道，“我以为–你不是在戏弄我们吧？ —

It isn’t just the kind of talk we expected. —
这不是我们预期的谈话方式。你甚至一次都没有说过“我靠！ —

You haven’t even said ‘Hully gee!’ once. Do you really belong on the Bowery?”
”你真的属于鲍尔里街吗？ “恐怕，”鲍尔里男孩笑着说，“你一定是被文学的那些歧途所吸引，而被鲍尔里街的伪造硬币欺骗了。”

“I am afraid,” said the Bowery boy, smilingly, “that at some time you have been enticed into one of the dives of literature and had the counterfeit coin of the Bowery passed upon you. —
“老大，别担心，”鲍尔里男孩笑了笑，“我曾经当过新闻男孩、卡车司机、拳击手、一个有组织的‘硬汉’帮派成员、酒保，以及一个‘花花公子’。这些经历足以证明我至少对鲍尔里街生活的一些方面有所了解。” —

The ‘argot’ to which you doubtless refer was the invention of certain of your literary ‘dis- coverers’ who invaded the unknown wilds below Third avenue and put strange sounds into the mouths of the inhabitants. —
你无疑所指的“黑话”是由你们文学的“发现者”们发明的，他们侵入了第三大道以下的未知荒野，并将奇怪的声音放入居民的口中。 —

Safe in their homes far to the north and west, the credulous readers who were beguiled by this new ‘dialect’ perused and believed. —
远离北方和西方的安全住宅里，被这种新的“方言”迷住的轻信读者们研究并相信着。 —

Like Marco Polo and Mungo Park – pioneers indeed, but ambitious souls who could not draw the line of demarcation between dis- covery and invention – the literary bones of these explorers are dotting the trackless wastes of the sub- way. —
就像马可·波罗和蒙哥·派克一样，确实是先驱者，但他们是有雄心的人，无法划清发现和发明的界线——这些探险者的文学骸骨散布在无边无际的地铁旷野中。 —

While it is true that after the publication of the mythical language attributed to the dwellers along the Bowery certain of its pat phrases and apt metaphors were adopted and, to a limited extent, used in this locality, it was because our people are prompt in assimilating whatever is to their commercial advantage. —
虽然在出版了被归功于贝利（Bowery）沿街居民的神话语言之后，某些标志性的短语和恰当的隐喻被本地人采用和以有限程度地使用，但这是因为我们的人民在吸收任何对他们商业有利的事物上都很迅速。 —

To the tourists who visited our newly discovered clime, and who expected a realization of their literary guide books, they supplied the demands of the market.
对于来到我们新发现的地方的游客们，他们满足了市场的需求，期望实现他们的文学指南书中的描述。

“But perhaps I am wandering from the question. —
“但也许我离题了。 —

In what way can I assist you, gentlemen? —
请问我可以如何帮助你们，先生们？ —

I beg you will believe that the hospitality of the street is extended to all. —
请相信，这条街道的热情好客对所有人开放。 —

There are, I regret to say, many catchpenny places of entertainment, but I cannot conceive that they would entice you.”
很遗憾，有许多吸引人的地方娱乐场所，但我无法想象它们会吸引您。

I felt Rivington lean somewhat heavily against me. “Say!” he remarked, with uncertain utterance; —
我感到Rivington稍微对我倚重了一些。“说吧！”他带着不确定的语调说道， —

“come and have a drink with us.”
“来和我们一起喝一杯吧。”

“Thank you, but I never drink. I find that alcohol, even in the smallest quantities, alters the perspective. —
“谢谢，但我不喝酒。我发现即使是最少量的酒精也会改变视角。 —

And I must preserve my perspective, for I am studyinc, the Bowery. —
我必须保持我的视角，因为我在研究鲍尔街。 —

I have lived in it nearly thirty years, and I am just beginning to understand its heartbeats. —
我在这里已经生活了将近三十年，现在才开始理解它的心跳。” —

It is like a great river fed by a hundred alien streams. —
它就像一条由一百条陌生溪流灌溉的大河。 —

Each influx brings strange seeds on its flood, strange silt and weeds, and now and then a flower of rare promise. —
每一次涌入都带来了奇异的种子、陌生的淤泥和杂草，偶尔还有一朵稀世珍品的花朵。 —

To construe this river requires a man who can build dykes against the overflow, who is a naturalist, a geologist, a humanitarian, a diver and a strong swimmer. —
要解读这条河流，需要一个能够修筑防洪堤的人，一个自然学家、地质学家、人道主义者、潜水员和强壮的游泳者。 —

I love my Bowery. It was my cradle and is my inspiration. —
我爱我的贝利街。它是我的摇篮，也是我的灵感来源。 —

I have published one book. —
我已经出版了一本书。 —

The critics have been kind. —
评论家们很善良。 —

I put my heart in it. —
我将我的心灵投入其中。 —

I am writing another, into which I hope to put both heart and brain. —
我正在写另一本书，我希望能够在其中投入心灵和智慧。 —

Consider me your guide, gentlemen. —
把我当作你们的向导，先生们。 —

Is there arything I can take you to see, any place to which I can conduct you?”
有什么我可以带你们去看的吗？有什么地方我可以带你们去参观？

I was afraid to look at Rivington except with one eye.
我害怕用两只眼睛看着里文顿。

“Thanks,” said Rivington. “We were looking up … —
“谢谢，”里文顿说。”我们正在寻找……也就是说……我的朋友……该死， —

that is … my friend … —
这违背了一切惯例……非常感谢……仅此而已。” —

confound it; —
—

it’s against all precedent, you know … —
“谢谢，”里文顿说。”我们正在寻找……也就是说……我的朋友……该死， —

awfully obliged … just the same.”
这违背了一切惯例……非常感谢……仅此而已。”

“In case,” said our friend, “you would like to meet some of our Bowery young men I would be pleased to have you visit the quarters of our East Side Kappa Delta Phi Society, only two blocks east of here.”
“如果你想认识一些我们鲍伊利青年的话，我会很高兴请你参观我们东区卡帕德尔塔菲学会的园地，离这里只有两个街区的距离。”

“Awfully sorry,” said Rivington, “but my friend’s got me on the jump to-nioht. —
“非常抱歉，”瑞文顿说，“但是今晚我的朋友找我很急， —

He’s a terror when he’s out after local colour. —
他对寻找本地色彩可是无比狂热。” —

Now, there’s nothing I would like better than to drop in at the Kappa Delta Phi, but – some other time!”
“现在，我再没有比去卡帕德尔塔菲更想去的地方了，只是……下次再去吧！”

We said our farewells and boarded a home-bound car. —
我们告别后，上了一辆回家的车。 —

We had a rabbit on upper Broadway, and then I parted with Rivington on a street corner.
我们在上百老汇上吃了一顿丰盛的晚餐，然后我在一个街角和瑞文顿分开了。

“Well, anyhow,” said he, braced and recovered, “it couldn’t have happened anywhere but in little old New York.”
“总之，”他提起精神，重新振作起来，“这种事只会发生在小小的纽约。”

Which to say the least, was typical of Rivington.
至少可以说这是瑞文顿的典型。