Fancy a novel about Chicago or Buffalo, let us say, or Nashville, Tennessee! —
想读一本关于芝加哥、布法罗或田纳西州纳什维尔的小说！ —

There are just three big cities in the United States that are “story cities” - New York, of course, New Orleans, and, best of the lot, San Francisco.
美国只有三个“故事之城”，当然是纽约，还有新奥尔良和最棒的旧金山。

FRANK NORRIS.
弗兰克·诺里斯。

East is East, and West is San Francisco, according to Californians. —
东方是东方，西方就是旧金山，这是加州人的说法。 —

Californians are a race of people; —
加州人是一个民族； —

they are not merely inhabitants of a State. They are the Southerners of the West. Now, Chicagoans are no less loyal to their city; —
他们不仅仅是一个州的居民。他们是西部的南方人。芝加哥人对他们的城市也同样忠诚； —

but when you ask them why, they stammer and speak of lake fish and the new Odd Fellows Building. —
但当你问他们为什么时，他们结结巴巴地说起湖里的鱼和新兴的奥德弗罗斯大厦。 —

But Californians go into detail.
但加州人会详细地说明。

Of course they have, in the climate, an argument that is good for half an hour while you are thinking of your coal bills and heavy underwear. —
当然，他们会用气候这个论据来说服你，这个论据能让你花上半个小时思考你的煤炭账单和厚重的内衣裤。 —

But as soon as they come to mistake your silence for conviction, madness comes upon them, and they picture the city of the Golden Gate as the Bagdad of the New World. So far, as a matter of opinion, no refutation is necessary. —
但一旦他们把你的沉默误认为是认同，疯狂就降临了，他们会把金门之城描绘成新世界的巴格达。就目前而言，作为一种观点，无需反驳。 —

But, dear cousins all (from Adam and Eve descended), it is a rash one who will lay his finger on the map and say: —
但是，亲爱的堂兄弟们（他们都是从亚当和夏娃而来的），大胆的人会把手指放在地图上说： —

“In this town there can be no romance - what could happen here?” Yes, it is a bold and a rash deed to challenge in one sentence history, romance, and Rand and McNally.
“在这个城市里不可能发生浪漫 - 这里能发生什么呢？”是的，挑战历史、浪漫和Rand and McNally的人是冒失的。

NASHVILLE - A city, port of delivery, and the capital of the State of Tennessee, is on the Cumberland River and on the N. C. & St. L. and the L. & N. railroads. —
纳什维尔 - 这个城市是田纳西州的港口、交货点和首府，位于坎伯兰河上以及N. C. & St. L.和L. & N.铁路上。 —

This city is regarded as the most important educational centre in the South.
这个城市被认为是南方最重要的教育中心。

I stepped off the train at 8 P.M. Having searched the thesaurus in vain for adjectives, I must, as a substitution, hie me to comparison in the form of a recipe.
我在晚上8点下了火车。在无法找到形容词的词源学中，我必须借用比较的形式来替代。

Take a London fog 30 parts; —
取伦敦的雾30份， —

malaria 10 parts; gas leaks 20 parts; —
疟疾10份，煤气泄漏20份， —

dewdrops gathered in a brick yard at sunrise, 25 parts; odor of honeysuckle 15 parts. Mix.
在日出时在砖场采集的露水25份，忍冬花香气15份。混合在一起。

The mixture will give you an approximate conception of a Nashville drizzle. —
这种混合物将让你大致了解纳什维尔的毛毛雨。 —

It is not so fragrant as a moth-ball nor as thick as pea-soup; —
它不像樟脑丸那样芳香，也不像豌豆浓汤那么浓； —

but ‘tis enough - ‘twill serve.
但这已足够-这将服务。

I went to a hotel in a tumbril. —
我乘坐一辆马车去了一家旅馆。 —

It required strong self-suppression for me to keep from climbing to the top of it and giving an imitation of Sidney Carton. —
为了不让自己爬到车顶上模仿西德尼·卡顿，我得克制住自己。 —

The vehicle was drawn by beasts of a bygone era and driven by something dark and emancipated.
这辆车由过去的一种野兽拉动，司机则似乎黑暗而解脱。

I was sleepy and tired, so when I got to the hotel I hurriedly paid it the fifty cents it demanded (with approximate lagniappe, I assure you). —
我非常困乏，所以当我到达旅馆时，我匆忙付了它要求的五十美分（附带雪上加霜，我向你保证）。 —

I knew its habits; and I did not want to hear it prate about its old “marster” or anything that happened “befo’ de wah.”
我熟悉它的习性，我不想听它空谈它的老“主人”或者任何战争前发生的事情。

The hotel was one of the kind described as ‘renovated.” That means $20,000 worth of new marble pillars, tiling, electric lights and brass cuspidors in the lobby, and a new L. & N. time table and a lithograph of Lookout Mountain in each one of the great rooms above. —
这家旅馆被描述为“经过翻新”的那种旅馆。“翻新”意味着大堂花了两万美元换上了新的大理石柱子、瓷砖、电灯和黄铜吐痰盂，每个豪华客房里还有一份新的L. & N.时刻表和绘有望山的石版画。 —

The management was without reproach, the attention full of exquisite Southern courtesy, the service as slow as the progress of a snail and as good-humored as Rip Van Winkle. —
管理方面无可挑剔，服务十分细致而充满南方特色，但进展缓慢得像一只蜗牛，而且与瑞普·凡·文克尔一样有趣。 —

The food was worth traveling a thousand miles for. —
这食物值得为之跋涉千里。 —

There is no other hotel in the world where you can get such chicken livers en brochette.
世界上没有其他酒店能够品尝到如此美味的炙鸡肝。

At dinner I asked a Negro waiter if there was anything doing in town. —
晚餐时，我问了一位黑人服务员城里有没有什么活动。 —

He pondered gravely for a minute, and then replied: “Well, boss, I don’t really reckon there’s anything at all doin’ after sundown.”
他沉思了一分钟，然后回答道：“嗯，老板，我真的认为日落之后没什么活动可做了。”

Sundown had been accomplished; —
日落已经完成； —

it had been drowned in the drizzle long before. —
在淅淅沥沥的细雨中早已陷入了黑暗。 —

So that spectacle was denied me. —
所以我未能见到那一幕。 —

But I went forth upon the streets in the drizzle to see what might be there. —
但我走在淅淅沥沥的街道上，想看看是否有什么事情发生。 —

It is built on undulating grounds; —
这个城市建在起伏的地势上； —

and the streets are lighted by electricity at a cost of $32, 470 per annum. As I left the hotel there was a race riot. —
街道上用电灯照明，每年的费用是32,470美元。当我走出旅店的时候，发生了一场种族暴乱。 —

Down upon me charged a company of freedmen, or Arabs, or Zulus, armed with - no, I saw with relief that they were not rifles, but whips. —
一群解放者或阿拉伯人或祖鲁人冲向我，手持 - 不，我松了一口气，他们手中拿的不是步枪，而是鞭子。 —

And I saw dimly a caravan of black, clumsy vehicles; —
我模糊地看到了一辆黑色笨重的车队； —

and at the reassuring shouts, “Kyar you anywhere in the town, boss, fuh fifty cents,” I reasoned that I was merely a “fare” instead of a victim.
当听到安慰人心的喊叫声，” 老板，我能送你到城里去吗，五十美分”，我推断我只是一个“乘客”，而不是一个受害者。

I walked through long streets, all leading uphill. —
我穿过一条又长又陡的街道，都通向上坡。 —

I wondered how those streets ever came down again. —
我想知道这些街道怎样才能再下来。 —

Perhaps they didn’t until they were “graded.” On a few of the “main streets” I saw lights in stores here and there; —
也许只有在经过“修整”之后才会下坡。在一些“主要街道”上，我看到店铺里亮着灯， —

saw street cars go by conveying worthy burghers hither and yon; —
雄辩的市井人来来往往地坐上电车。 —

saw people pass engaged in the art of conversation, and heard a burst of semi-lively laughter issuing from a soda-water and ice-cream parlor. —
看到路人在交谈中匆匆而过，听到从汽水和冰淇淋店传来一阵半活泼的笑声。 —

The streets other than “main” seemed to have enticed upon their borders houses consecrated to peace and domesticity. —
除了“主要”街道，其他街道似乎吸引了一些家宅，代表了和平与家庭的神圣。 —

In many of them lights shone behind discreetly drawn window shades; —
在很多家中，灯光透过谨慎拉好的窗帘散发出来； —

in a few pianos tinkled orderly and irreproachable music. —
在一些中，钢琴奏出有序而无可挑剔的音乐。 —

There was, indeed, little “doing.” I wished I had come before sundown. —
的确，这里并没有太多的“行动”。我希望我能在日落前到来。 —

So I returned to my hotel.
于是我回到了我的酒店。

In November, 1864, the Confederate General Hood advanced against Nashville, where he shut up a National force under General Thomas. —
在1864年11月，南方联盟将军胡德进攻了纳什维尔，他包围了汤姆斯将军率领的联邦军队。 —

The latter then sallied forth and defeated the Confederates in a terrible conflict.
随后，联邦军队出击，在一场可怕的战斗中击败了南方联盟军队。

All my life I have heard of, admired, and witnessed the fine marksmanship of the South in its peaceful conflicts in the tobacco-chewing regions. —
我一生都听说过、赞赏过并亲眼目睹了南方在他们吞烟区域的和平冲突中的出色射击技巧。 —

But in my hotel a surprise awaited me. —
但是在我的旅馆里， —

There were twelve bright, new, imposing, capacious brass cuspidors in the great lobby, tall enough to be called urns and so wide-mouthed that the crack pitcher of a lady baseball team should have been able to throw a ball into one of them at five paces distant. —
我受到了一个惊喜。在宽敞的大堂里，有十二个明亮、新的、令人印象深刻、宽敞的黄铜痰盂，它们足够高大，被称为瓮，口径宽大到足以让一个女子棒球队的能投手在五步之外投进其中之一。 —

But, although a terrible battle had raged and was still raging, the enemy had not suffered. Bright, new, imposing, capacious, untouched, they stood. —
然而，虽然一场可怕的战斗正在进行并且仍在进行中，敌人并没有受到任何损失。明亮、新的、令人印象深刻、宽敞的，它们依然屹立不倒。 —

But, shades of Jefferson Brick! —
但是，杰斐逊·布里克的阴影！ —

the tile floor - the beautiful tile floor! —
那地板 - 那美丽的地板！ —

I could not avoid thinking of the battle of Nashville, and trying to draw, as is my foolish habit, some deductions about hereditary marksmanship.
我无法避免想起纳什维尔的战役，想要像我的傻习惯一样，从中得出一些关于遗传射手技能的推断。

Here I first saw Major (by misplaced courtesy) Wentworth Caswell. —
在这里，我第一次见到了大小姐温特沃斯·卡斯威尔 (Wentworth Caswell)， —

I knew him for a type the moment my eyes suffered from the sight of him. —
我一眼就认出了他的类型。 —

A rat has no geographical habitat. My old friend, A. Tennyson, said, as he so well said almost everything:
老鼠没有地理栖息地。正如我的老朋友A·丁尼生所说的，他几乎会说出一切：

Prophet, curse me the blabbing lip, And curse me the British vermin, the rat.
预言者，咒诅那爱说闲话的嘴唇，咒诅英国害虫，老鼠。

Let us regard the word “British” as interchangeable ad lib. —
让我们把“英国”这个词看作是可以随意互换的。 —

A rat is a rat.
老鼠就是老鼠。

This man was hunting about the hotel lobby like a starved dog that had forgotten where he had buried a bone. —
这个人就像一只饥饿的狗在酒店大厅里四处寻找它遗忘了躲骨头的地方。 —

He had a face of great acreage, red, pulpy, and with a kind of sleepy massiveness like that of Buddha. —
他有一张辽阔的脸，红红的、多肉的，有一种像佛陀那样沉睡的庞大感。 —

He possessed one single virtue - he was very smoothly shaven. The mark of the beast is not indelible upon a man until he goes about with a stubble. —
他只有一个优点——他刮得很干净。除非一个人到处带着胡须，否则兽的标记是不会永久地印在他的身上的。 —

I think that if he had not used his razor that day I would have repulsed his advances, and the criminal calendar of the world would have been spared the addition of one murder.
我认为如果他那天没有使用剃须刀，我会对他的进展感到厌恶，世界上的犯罪行动就不会增加一起谋杀案。

I happened to be standing within five feet of a cuspidor when Major Caswell opened fire upon it. —
当卡斯韦尔少校朝着痰盂开火时，我恰好站在离痰盂五英尺的地方。 —

I had been observant enough to percieve that the attacking force was using Gatlings instead of squirrel rifles; —
我足够观察到进攻部队使用的是加特林机关枪，而不是松鼠步枪； —

so I side-stepped so promptly that the major seized the opportunity to apologize to a noncombatant. —
所以我迅速躲开，以致于少校找到了向非战斗人员道歉的机会。 —

He had the blabbing lip. In four minutes he had become my friend and had dragged me to the bar.
他是个话唠。在四分钟内，他已经成为了我的朋友，并带我到了吧台。

I desire to interpolate here that I am a Southerner. —
我要在这里补充说明一下，我是一个南方人。 —

But I am not one by profession or trade. —
但我并不以南方人为职业或行业。 —

I eschew the string tie, the slouch hat, the Prince Albert, the number of bales of cotton destroyed by Sherman, and plug chewing. —
我不穿缎带领结、斜帽子、君主阿尔伯特外套，也不去计算谢尔曼摧毁的棉花包数，也不嚼香烟。 —

When the orchestra plays Dixie I do not cheer. —
当乐队演奏迪克西曲时，我并不欢呼。 —

I slide a little lower on the leather-cornered seat and, well, order another Wurzburger and wish that Longstreet had - but what’s the use?
我在皮革角椅子上稍微往下滑一点，然后，好吧，再点一杯沃兹堡啤酒，希望朗斯特里特…但有什么用呢？

Major Caswell banged the bar with his fist, and the first gun at Fort Sumter re-echoed. —
卡斯韦尔少校用拳头砰地一声敲着吧台，而斯姆特堡的第一枪回响起来。 —

When he fired the last one at Appomattox I began to hope. —
当他在阿普马托克斯(战争结束地点)放出最后一枪时，我开始寄予希望。 —

But then he began on family trees, and demonstrated that Adam was only a third cousin of a collateral branch of the Caswell family. —
然而，他接着说起家谱，证明亚当只是卡斯韦尔家族一个旁系的表亲。 —

Genealogy disposed of, he took up, to my distaste, his private family matters. —
家谱的问题解决了，他接下来谈起了一些与他私人家庭关系有关的事情，这让我感到非常不愉快。 —

He spoke of his wife, traced her descent back to Eve, and profanely denied any possible rumor that she may have had relations in the land of Nod.
他提到他的妻子，追溯她的家族血统直到夏娃，还亵渎地否认了她可能在诺德之地有过关系的任何可能传闻。

By this time I was beginning to suspect that he was trying to obscure by noise the fact that he had ordered the drinks, on the chance that I would be bewildered into paying for them. —
到这个时候，我开始怀疑他是在通过噪音掩盖他点了这些酒的事实，以便我会被困惑而付钱。 —

But when they were down he crashed a silver dollar loudly upon the bar. —
但当他们默不作声时，他大声把一枚银币扔在吧台上。 —

Then, of course, another serving was obligatory. —
当然，接下来还要再点一份酒。 —

And when I had paid for that I took leave of him brusquely; —
当我付完款后，我蓦地和他告别； —

for I wanted no more of him. —
因为我不想再跟他打交道了。 —

But before I had obtained my release he had prated loudly of an income that his wife received, and showed a handful of silver money.
但在我获得自由之前，他大声夸耀着妻子得到的一笔收入，并展示了一把银币。

When I got my key at the desk the clerk said to me courteously: —
当我在前台拿到房间钥匙时，接待员友好地对我说： —

“If that man Caswell has annoyed you, and if you would like to make a complaint, we will have him ejected. —
“如果那个叫卡斯韦尔的人骚扰了您，如果您想投诉，我们会把他赶出去。 —

He is a nuisance, a loafer, and without any known means of support, although he seems to have some money most the time. —
他是一个讨厌的人，一个懒鬼，没有任何明显的生活来源，尽管他似乎大部分时间都有些钱。 —

But we don’t seem to be able to hit upon any means of throwing him out legally.”
但我们似乎找不到任何合法的方法能把他赶出去。”

“Why, no,” said I, after some reflection; —
“哦，不，”我斟酌了一会儿后说， —

“I don’t see my way clear to making a complaint. —
“我看不出有什么理由去投诉。 —

But I would like to place myself on record as asserting that I do not care for his company. —
但我想明确表态的是，我不喜欢和他在一起。你们的城镇， —

Your town,” I continued, “seems to be a quiet one. —
”我接着说，“似乎是个安静的地方。” —

What manner of entertainment, adventure, or excitement have you to offer to the stranger within your gates?”
你向你门口的陌生人能提供什么样的娱乐、冒险或刺激呢？

“Well, sir,” said the clerk, “there will be a show here next Thursday. —
“嗯，先生，下周四这里将有一场演出。” —

It is - I’ll look it up and have the announcement sent up to your room with the ice water. —
“是的，我会查看并让人把公告和冰水送到您的房间。 —

Good night.”
晚安。”

After I went up to my room I looked out the window. —
我回到房间后望着窗外。 —

It was only about ten o’clock, but I looked upon a silent town. —
虽然才十点钟，但我看到的是一座寂静的小镇。 —

The drizzle continued, spangled with dim lights, as far apart as currants in a cake sold at the Ladies’ Exchange.
毛毛细雨不断地下着，点缀着稀疏的灯光，就好像女士交流协会里售卖的蛋糕上的红醋栗一样稀疏。

“A quiet place,” I said to myself, as my first shoe struck the ceiling of the occupant of the room beneath mine. —
“真是个安静的地方，”我自言自语道，当我第一只鞋子敲到我下面房间的天花板时。 —

“Nothing of the life here that gives color and variety to the cities in the East and West. Just a good, ordinary, humdrum, business town.”
“没有东西和西部城市那样给生活增添色彩和多样性的东西。只是个普通、平庸、乏味的商业城市。”

Nashville occupies a foremost place among the manufacturing centres of the country. —
纳什维尔是全国制造业中占据首要地位的中心之一。 —

It is the fifth boot and shoe market in the United States, the largest candy and cracker manufacturing city in the South, and does an enormous wholesale drygoods, grocery, and drug business.
它是美国第五大靴鞋市场，南部最大的糖果和饼干制造城市，同时也进行着庞大的批发纺织品、杂货和药品生意。

I must tell you how I came to be in Nashville, and I assure you the digression brings as much tedium to me as it does to you. —
我不得不告诉你我是如何来到纳什维尔的，我向你保证，这段话让我和你一样感到厌烦。 —

I was traveling elsewhere on my own business, but I had a commission from a Northern literary magazine to stop over there and establish a personal connection between the publication and one of its contributors, Azalea Adair.
我本是为了自己的事务而出行，但我接到了一家北方文学杂志的任务，要我去纳什维尔与他们的撰稿人之一Azalea Adair建立个人联系。

Adair (there was no clue to the personality except the handwriting) had sent in some essays (lost art! —
Adair（除了手写字迹以外，没有其他关于此人的线索）投稿了一些文章（已失踪的艺术！） —

) and poems that had made the editors swear approvingly over their one o’clock luncheon. —
还有一些诗歌让编辑们在一点钟的午餐时发誓表示同意。 —

So they had commissioned me to round up said Adair and corner by contract his or her output at two cents a word before some other publisher offered her ten or twenty.
所以他们委托我找到Adair并以每字两分的价格签订合同，以免其他出版商给他提供十分或二十分的价格。

At nine o’clock the next morning, after my chicken livers en brochette (try them if you can find that hotel), I strayed out into the drizzle, which was still on for an unlimited run. —
第二天早上九点，我吃完了鸡肝串烧（如果你能找到那家酒店，一定要试试），在绵绵细雨中漫步出门，而这场细雨似乎永远不停。 —

At the first corner, I came upon Uncle Caesar. —
在第一个拐角处，我遇到了塞撒大叔。 —

He was a stalwart Negro, older than the pyramids, with gray wool and a face that reminded me of Brutus, and a second afterwards of the late King Cettiwayo. —
他是一个强壮的黑人，年纪比金字塔还要大，留着灰白的卷发，一张脸像布鲁图斯，接着又像已故的赛蒂瓦约国王。 —

He wore the most remarkable coat that I ever had seen or expect to see. —
他穿着我见过并且预计再也不会见到的最特别的外套。 —

It reached to his ankles an had once been a Confederate gray in colors. —
它可以一直延伸到他的脚踝，并且曾经是邦联军的灰色制服。 —

But rain and sun and age had so variegated it that Joseph’s coat, beside it, would have faded to a pale monochrome. —
但雨水、阳光和岁月已经使它变得斑斓多彩，以至于约瑟夫的外衣在它旁边会变得苍白单调。 —

I must linger with that coat, for it has to do with the story - the story that is so long in coming, because you can hardly expect anything to happen in Nashville.
我必须停留在这件外套上，因为它与故事有关 - 那个花了很长时间才发生的故事，在纳什维尔你几乎无法期待任何事情的发生。

Once it must have been the military coat of an officer. —
曾经它一定是军官的军大衣。 —

The cape of it had vanished, but all adown its front it had been frogged and tasseled magnificently. —
尽管斗篷已经消失了，但它的前部装饰得非常华丽，有着蟒蛇纹绳子和流苏。 —

But now the frogs and tassles were gone. —
但现在青蛙和流苏不见了。 —

In their stead had been patiently stitched (I surmised by some surviving “black mammy”) new frogs made of cunningly twisted common hempen twine. —
取而代之的是一位有耐心地缝制（我猜是某位尚存的”黑奶妈妈”）用精巧地扭制成的普通麻绳制成的新青蛙。 —

This twine was frayed and disheveled. —
这根麻绳破旧不堪。 —

It must have been added to the coat as a substitute for vanished splendors, with tasteless but painstaking devotion, for it followed faithfully the curves of the long-missing frogs. —
它一定是以替代消失的辉煌而被加在外套上，虽然没有品味却用心良苦，因为它忠实地追随着久已失踪的青蛙的曲线。 —

And, to complete the comedy and pathos of the garment, all its buttons were gone save one. —
而为了使这件衣物更加滑稽和悲惨，除了最上面的一颗纽扣外， —

The second button from the top alone remained. —
其它所有的纽扣都不见了。 —

The coat was fastened by other twine strings tied through the buttonholes and other holes rudely pierced in the opposite side. —
外套是通过其他的麻绳穿过纽扣孔和在对面粗暴钻洞后系紧的。 —

There was never such a weird garment so fantastically bedecked and of so many mottled hues. —
从未有过如此奇怪的衣物，如此奇巧地装饰以及如此多种斑驳的颜色。 —

The lone button was the size of a half-dollar, made of yellow horn and sewed on with coarse twine.
那颗孤零零的纽扣像五角硬币那么大，由黄色的角制成，用粗糙的麻绳缝在上面。

This Negro stood by a carriage so old that Ham himself might have started a hack line with it after he left the ark with the two animals hitched to it. —
这个黑人站在一辆非常老旧的马车旁边，甚至可以说是哈姆在他离开方舟后就用它开了一家车租公司。 —

As I approached he threw open the door, drew out a feather duster, waved it without using it, and said in deep, rumbling tones:
当我走近时，他打开车门，拿出一把羽毛扫帚，挥动了一下，以深沉而低沉的声音说道：

“Step right in, suh; ain’t a speck of dust in it - jus’ got back from a funeral, suh.”
“请进，先生；车里一点灰尘都没有——刚从一个葬礼回来，先生。”

I inferred that on such gala occasions carriages were given an extra cleaning. —
我推测在这样盛大的场合，马车会被额外清洁一番。 —

I looked up and down the street and perceived that there was little choice among the vehicles for hire that lined the curb. —
我左右看了看街道，发现排在路边供出租的马车选择不多。 —

I looked in my memorandum book for the address of Azalea Adair.
我查看了我的备忘录，找到了阿兹丽亚·艾黛尔的地址。

“I want to go to 861 Jessamine Street,” I said, and was about to step into the hack. —
“我要去杰斯敏街861号。”我说道，正准备上车。 —

But for an instant the thick, long, gorilla-like arm of the old Negro barred me. —
但是老黑人那又粗又长，像大猩猩的胳膊在一瞬间拦住了我。 —

On his massive and saturnine face a look of sudden suspicion and enmity flashed for a moment. —
在他庞大而阴沉的脸上，突然闪现出一丝怀疑和敌意的神情。 —

Then, with quickly returning conviction, he asked blandishingly: —
然后，带着迅速回归的坚定，他巧舌如簧地问道： —

“What are you gwine there for, boss?”
“老板，你去那边干什么？”

“What is it to you?” I asked, a little sharply.
我有点尖刻地问道：“关你什么事？”

“Nothin’, suh, jus’ nothin’. —
“没什么，先生， —

Only it’s a lonesome kind of part of town and few folks ever has business out there. —
真的没什么。只是那个地方有些荒凉，很少有人去那儿办事。” —

Step right in. The seats is clean - jes’ got back from a funeral, suh.”
走吧，进来吧。座位很干净——我们刚刚从葬礼回来，先生。”

A mile and a half it must have been to our journey’s end. —
我们的目的地一定有一英里半的路。 —

I could hear nothing but the fearful rattle of the ancient hack over the uneven brick paving; —
我只能听到古老马车在不平坦的砖路上发出可怕的咔哒声； —

I could smell nothing but the drizzle, now further flavored with coal smoke and something like a mixture of tar and oleander blossoms. —
我只能闻到淅淅沥沥的雨点，现在更夹杂着煤烟和类似焦沥花的混合物的气味。 —

All I could see through the streaming windows were two rows of dim houses.
透过飘湿的窗子，我只能看到两排昏暗的房子。

The city has an area of 10 square miles; —
这座城市的面积是10平方英里； —

181 miles of streets, of which 137 miles are paved; —
街道总长181英里，其中137英里铺设了道路； —

a system of waterworks that cost $2,000, 000, with 77 miles of mains.
水厂的系统耗资200万美元，有77英里的水管。

Eight-sixty-one Jessamine Street was a decayed mansion. —
861杜鹃街是一座破败的豪宅。 —

Thirty yards back from the street it stood, outmerged in a splendid grove of trees and untrimmed shrubbery. —
它离街道有三十码远，隐没在一片绚丽的树林和未修剪的灌木丛中。 —

A row of box bushes overflowed and almost hid the paling fence from sight; —
一排长条灌木过满了盆栽木篱笆，几乎将篱笆掩盖起来，看不见。 —

the gate was kept closed by a rope noose that encircled the gate post and the first paling of the gate. —
门是用一个绳套拴住的，绕过门柱和第一根篱笆。 —

But when you got inside you saw that 861 was a shell, a shadow, a ghost of former grandeur and excellence. —
但当你进去后，你会看到861是一个空壳，一个昔日盛世和卓越的幻影。 —

But in the story, I have not yet got inside.
但在故事中，我还没有进去。

When the hack had ceased from rattling and the weary quadrupeds came to a rest I handed my jehu his fifty cents with an additional quarter, feeling a glow of conscious generosity, as I did so. He refused it.
当马车停下来不再嘎嘎作响时，疲惫不堪的四足动物停下来，我递给车夫五十分钱，并附加一刻钟，感到一阵慷慨的温暖。他拒绝了。

“It’s two dollars, suh,” he said.
“是两美元，先生，”他说。

“How’s that?” I asked. “I plainly heard you call out at the hotel: —
“怎么回事？”我问道，“我清楚地听到你在旅馆喊着： —

‘Fifty cents to any part of the town.’”
‘去镇上的任何地方都只要五十分钱。’”

“It’s two dollars, suh,” he repeated obstinately. —
“是两美元，先生，”他固执地重复道， —

“It’s a long ways from the hotel.”
“离旅馆很远。”

“It is within the city limits and well within them.” I argued. “Don’t think that you have picked up a greenhorn Yankee. —
“这个地方在城市范围之内，而且在城市范围内很远。” 我辩称道。“别以为你找到一个乡下的纽约佬了。” —

Do you see those hills over there?” I went on, pointing toward the east (I could not see them, myself, for the drizzle); —
“你看那边的山丘吗？”我继续说，指向东边（我自己无法看见，因为雨蒙蒙的）； —

“well, I was born and raised on their other side. —
“嗯，我就出生在那边的山丘另一边。 —

You old fool nigger, can’t you tell people from other people when you see ‘em?”
你个蠢货黑鬼，难道你看不出人与人之间的区别吗？”

The grim face of King Cettiwayo softened. —
凯蒂韦约国王冷漠的面容变得柔和起来。 —

“Is you from the South, suh? —
“您来自南方吗，先生？ —

I reckon it was them shoes of yourn fooled me. —
我看您的鞋子以为错了。 —

They is somethin’ sharp in the toes for a Southern gen’lman to wear.”
对于一个南方绅士来说，尖头的鞋子有点特别。”

“Then the charge is fifty cents, I suppose?” said I inexorably.
“那么收费就是五十美分，是吗？”我不可动摇地说。

His former expression, a mingling of cupidity and hostility, returned, remained ten seconds, and vanished.
他之前的一种贪婪和敌对的表情重现了，持续了十秒钟，然后消失了。

“Boss,” he said, “fifty cents is right; —
“老板，”他说，“五十美分也对，但我得要两美元， —

but I needs two dollars, suh; —
先生；今晚我必须要两美元。 —

I’m obleeged to have two dollars. —
我现在不要求，先生；我只是说我今晚必须要两美元， —

I ain’t demandin’ it now, suh; —
生意可真是太差了。” —

after I know whar you’s from; —

I’m jus’ sayin’ that I has to have two dollars to-night, and business mighty po’.”

Peace and confidence settled upon his heavy features. —
平静和自信洋溢在他沉重的面容上。 —

He had been luckier than he had hoped. —
他比希望的要幸运。 —

Instead of having picked up a greenhorn, ignorant of rates, he had come upon an inheritance.
与其说他碰上了个对价位一无所知的新手，不如说他遇到了一笔遗产。

“You confounded old rascal,” I said, reaching down to my pocket, “you ought to be turned over to the police.”
“你这该死的老骗子，” 我说着伸手进口袋，” 你应该被交给警察。”

For the first time I saw him smile. —
我第一次看到他笑了。他知道； —

He knew; he knew. HE KNEW.
他知道。他知道。

I gave him two one-dollar bills. —
我给了他两张一美元钞票。 —

As I handed them over I noticed that one of them had seen parlous times. —
当我递给他的时候，我注意到其中一张钞票历经颠沛流离。 —

Its upper right-hand corner was missing, and it had been torn through the middle, but joined again. —
它的右上角不见了，而且中间撕裂过，但又被粘合了起来。 —

A strip of blue tissue paper, pasted over the split, preserved its negotiability.
一片蓝色薄纸被粘贴在撕裂处，保留了它的可交易性。

Enough of the African bandit for the present: —
暂时告别非洲土匪吧： —

I left him happy, lifted the rope and opened a creaky gate.
我离开他高兴地扬起绳子，推开一扇沙哑的大门。

The house, as I said, was a shell. —
正如我所说，房子只是一个空壳。 —

A paint brush had not touched it in twenty years. —
二十年来从未沾过涂料的刷子。 —

I could not see why a strong wind should not have bowled it over like a house of cards until I looked again at the trees that hugged it close - the trees that saw the battle of Nashville and still drew their protecting branches around it against storm and enemy and cold.
直到我再次仔细看那些紧紧拥抱它的树木，我才明白为什么一阵大风不能像纸牌楼房一样把它吹倒——那些树木见证了纳什维尔战役，却仍然将保护的枝叶环绕在它周围，抵挡着风暴、敌人和寒冷。

Azalea Adair, fifty years old, white-haired, a descendant of the cavaliers, as thin and frail as the house she lived in, robed in the cheapest and cleanest dress I ever saw, with an air as simple as a queen’s, received me.
艾泽莉娅·艾黛尔，五十岁，白发苍苍，骑士后裔，如同她居住的房子一样纤瘦而脆弱，身穿我见过的最廉价和干净的裙子，举止简单却带着女王的气质，接待了我。

The reception room seemed a mile square, because there was nothing in it except some rows of books, on unpainted white-pine bookshelves, a cracked marble-top table, a rag rug, a hairless horsehair sofa and two or three chairs. —
接待室宽阔得让人觉得像一英里那么大，因为里面除了几排散乱的书籍、未漆的松木书架、一个破碎的大理石台桌、一块毛绒地毯、一张几乎没有绒毛的马毛沙发和两三把椅子之外，一无所有。 —

Yes, there was a picture on the wall, a colored crayon drawing of a cluster of pansies. —
对，墙上有一幅画，是一束罂粟的彩色蜡笔画。 —

I looked around for the portrait of Andrew Jackson and the pinecone hanging basket but they were not there.
我四处寻找安德鲁·杰克逊的肖像画和松果悬挂花盆，但它们不在那里。

Azalea Adair and I had conversation, a little of which will be repeated to you. —
我和Azalea Adair进行了一次对话，其中的一点会被转述给你。 —

She was a product of the old South, gently nurtured in the sheltered life. —
她是南方旧时代的产物，在受保护的生活中温柔地培养起来。 —

Her learning was not broad, but was deep and of splendid originality in its somewhat narrow scope. —
她的学识虽然不广，但在其有些狭窄的范围内，却具有深刻而非凡的独创性。 —

She had been educated at home, and her knowledge of the world was derived from inference and by inspiration. —
她在家里受教育，对世界的认知是通过推理和灵感得来的。 —

Of such is the precious, small group of essayists made. —
这样的人是宝贵的、小众的散文家。 —

Whle she talked to me I kept brushing my fingers, trying, unconsciously, to rid them guiltily of the absent dust from the half-calf backs of Lamb, Chaucer, Hazlitt, Marcus Aurelius, Montaigne and Hood. She was exquisite, she was a valuable discovery. —
当她和我交谈时，我不知不觉地用手指轻轻拂去从兰姆、乔叟、哈兹里特、马库斯·奥勒留斯、蒙田和胡德的半犊皮背板上掉下的灰尘。她精致而迷人，是一个宝贵的发现。 —

Nearly everybody nowadays knows too much - oh, so much too much - of real life.
如今几乎每个人都对现实生活知之甚多 - 哦，太多了。

I could perceive clearly that Azalea Adair was very poor. —
我可以清楚地感觉到Azalea Adair非常贫穷。 —

A house and a dress she had, not much else, I fancied. —
她有一间房子和一件裙子，其他不多，我想。 —

So, divided between my duty to the magazine and my loyalty to the poets and essayists who fought Thomas in the valley of the Cumberland, I listened to her voice, which was like a harpsichord’s, and found that I could not speak of contracts. —
因此，在我对杂志的职责和我对在坎伯兰山谷与托马斯作战的诗人和散文家的忠诚之间，我倾听了她的声音，他们的声音就像大键琴声音一样，发现我无法谈论合同。 —

In the presence of the nine Muses and the three Graces one hesitated to lower the topic to two cents. —
在九位缪斯女神和三位优雅女神的面前，我们不敢把话题降低到两个美分的水平。 —

There would have to be another colloquy after I had regained my commercialism. —
在我重新获得商业精神之后，我们将不得不再次进行交谈。 —

But I spoke of my mission, and three o’clock of the next afternoon was set for the discussion of the business proposition.
但我提到了我的任务，定于第二天下午三点讨论商业提议。

“Your town,” I said, as I began to make ready to depart (which is the time for smooth generalities), “seems to be a quiet, sedate place. —
“你们的城市，”我说，当我开始准备离开（这是说些平淡无奇的话的时候），” 似乎是一个安静、庄重的地方。 —

A home town, I should say, where few things out of the ordinary ever happen.” It carries on an extensive trade in stoves and hollow ware with the West and South, and its flouring mills have a daily capacity of more than 2, 000 barrels.
我应该说是一个家乡，在那里很少发生什么不寻常的事情。它与西部和南部进行了大规模的炉具和铁器贸易，其面粉厂每天的产能超过2000桶。

Azalea Adair seemed to reflect.
艾泽莉亚·埃德尔似乎在思考。

“I have never thought of it that way,” she said, with a kind of sincere intensity that seemed to belong to her. —
“我从来没有这样想过，”她说道，带着一种真挚的强烈感觉，似乎是属于她的。 —

“Isn’t it in the still, quiet places that things do happen? —
“难道事情不是在寂静的地方发生吗？ —

I fancy that when God began to create the earth on the first Monday morning one could have leaned out one’s window and heard the drops of mud splashing from His trowel as He built up the everlasting hills. —
我想象，在第一个周一早上上帝开始创造地球时，人们可以探身出窗户，听到他用泥巴铲子剥落时的声音，他建造着永恒的山丘。 —

What did the noisiest project in the world - I mean the building of the Tower of Bable - result in finally? —
“我说的是世界上最吵闹的项目-我指的是巴别塔的建造-最终是什么结果呢？ —

A page and a half of Esperanto in the North American Review.”
“在《北美评论》杂志上有一页半的世界语。”

“Of course,” said I platitudinously, “human nature is the same everywhere; —
“当然，”我陈词滥调地说：“人性在任何地方都是一样的； —

but there is more color - er - more drama and movement and - er - romance in some cities than in others.”
“但有些城市比其他城市更有色彩、更富有戏剧性、更多动感和浪漫。”

“On the surface,” said Azalea Adair. “I have traveled many times around the world in a golden airship wafted on two wings - print and dreams. —
“表面上看，”阿泽莉雅·艾黛尔说。“我搭乘一艘金色飞艇，凭借文字和梦想的双翼环游世界，让我去过无数次。” —

I have seen (on one of my imaginary tours) the Sultan of Turkey bowstring with his own hands one of his wives who had uncovered her face in public. —
我曾经（在我想象中的一次旅行中）见过土耳其苏丹亲手扼死了一位在公共场合揭开面纱的妻子。 —

I have seen a man in Nashville tear up his theatre tickets because his wife was going out with her face covered - with rice powder. —
我曾经在纳什维尔见过一位男子因为他妻子用米粉掩饰了面容而撕毁了他的戏票。 —

In San Francisco’s Chinatown I saw the slave girl Sing Yee dipped slowly, inch by inch, in boiling almond oil to make her swear she would never see her American lover again. —
在旧金山的唐人街，我看到奴隶女孩杏芝被慢慢地浸入沸腾的杏仁油中，让她发誓永远不再见她的美国情人。 —

She gave in when the boiling oil had reached three inches above her knee. —
当沸腾的油达到她膝盖上方三英寸时，她屈服了。 —

At a euchre party in East Nashville the other night I saw Kitty Morgan cut dead by seven of her schoolmates and lifelong friends because she had married a house painter. —
前几天在纳什维尔东部的一个欧克尔扑克派对上，我看到凯蒂·摩根被她的七位同学和终身朋友冷落，因为她嫁给了一位油漆工。 —

The boiling oil was sizzling as high as her heart; —
沸腾的油泼溅到了她心脏的位置； —

but I wish you could have seen the fine little smile that she carried from table to table. —
但我希望你能看到她从一桌到另一桌带着的美丽微笑。 —

Oh, yes, it is a humdrum town. —
噢，是的，这是一个乏味的城镇。 —

Just a few miles of red brick houses and mud and lumber yards.”
只有几英里长的红砖房子、泥土和木材场。

Some one knocked hollowly at the back of the house. —
有人敲响了房子后面的木门。 —

Azalea Adair breathed a soft apology and went to investigate the sound. —
Azalea Adair轻轻道了声歉，走去查看声音的来源。 —

She came back in three minutes with brightened eyes, a faint flush on her cheeks, and ten years lifted from her shoulders.
她三分钟后回来，眼睛亮了起来，脸颊微红，仿佛减轻了十年的负担。

“You must have a cup of tea before you go,” she said, “and a sugar cake.”
“你走之前务必喝杯茶，还有一块糖饼。”她说道。

She reached and shook a little iron bell. —
她伸手摇响了一个小铁铃。 —

In shuffled a small Negro girl about twelve, barefoot, not very tidy, glowering at me with thumb in mouth and bulging eyes.
一位十二岁左右的小黑女孩摇摇晃晃地进来了，她赤着脚，身上不太整洁，眯着眼睛凝视着我，拇指插在嘴里。

Azlea Adair opened a tiny, worn purse and drew out a dollar bill, a dollar bill with the upper right-hand corner missing, torn in two pieces, and pasted together again with a strip of blue tissue paper. —
Azalea Adair打开了一个小旧钱包，取出了一张一美元的钞票，这张钞票的右上角缺失了，被撕成两半，又用一条蓝色的组织纸粘在了一起。 —

It was one of the bills I had given the piratical Negro - there was no doubt about it.
这是我给那个海盗般的黑人的钞票之一-毫无疑问。

“Go up to Mr. Baker’s store on the corner, Impy,” she said, handing the girl the dollar bill, “and get a quarter of a pound of tea - the kind he always sends me - and ten cents worth of sugar cakes. —
“去店子上角上的贝克先生那里，Impy，” 她递给女孩一张一美元的钞票说道，” 买一刻钟的茶叶-他经常送给我的那种，还有十分钱的糖饼。 —

Now, hurry. The supply of tea in the house happens to be exhausted,” she explained to me.
“现在赶快。屋里的茶已经用光了，” 她向我解释道。

Impy left by the back way. Before the scrape of her hard, bare feet had died away on the back porch, a wild shriek - I was sure it was hers - filled the hollow house. —
她从后门走了。在她赤裸的硬脚丫消失在后门的吱吱声消失前，一个尖叫声 - 我敢肯定是她的声音 - 充满了空洞的房子。 —

Then the deep, gruff tones of an angry man’s voice mingled with the girl’s further squeals and unintelligible words.
接着，一个愤怒男人的低沉、粗嗓音和女孩哭叫和听不清的词语混在一起。

Azalea Adair rose without surprise or emotion and disappeared. —
Azalea Adair毫无惊讶或情绪地站起来消失了。 —

For two minutes I heard the hoarse rumble of the man’s voice; —
我听到男人的低沉声音持续了两分钟； —

then someting like an oath and a slight scuffle, and she returned calmly to her chair.
然后像发誓和轻微扭打声，她平静地回到椅子上。

“This is a roomy house,” she said, “and I have a tenant for part of it. —
“这是一座宽敞的房子，” 她说，”我租出了一部分给别人。 —

I am sorry to have to rescind my invitation to tea. —
很抱歉不再邀请您喝茶了。 —

It was impossible to get the kind I always use at the store. —
去店里买不到我经常使用的那种茶了。 —

Perhaps tomorrow, Mr. Baker will be able to supply me.”
也许明天，贝克先生能供应给我。”

I was sure that Impy had not had time to leave the house. —
我确定Impy没有时间离开房子。 —

I inquired concerning street-car lines and took my leave. —
我询问了有关电车线路的信息，然后告辞。 —

After I was well on my way I remembered that I had not learned Azalea Adair’s name. —
在我走得已经很远后，我才想起我没有了解过阿泽莱亚·艾黛尔的名字。 —

But to-morrow would do.
但明天也可以。

That same day I started in on the course of iniquity that this uneventful city forced upon me. —
就在那一天，我开始走上这个平凡城市强加给我的邪恶之路。 —

I was in the town only two days, but in that time I managed to lie shamelessly by telegraph, and to be an accomplice - after the fact, if that is the correct legal term - to a murder.
我在这个城镇只待了两天时间，但在这期间我成功地通过电报撒了谎，并成为了一起谋杀案的共犯（事后共犯，如果这是正确的法律术语的话）。

As I rounded the corner nearest my hotel the Afrite coachman of the ploychromatic, nonpareil coat seized me, swung open the dungeony door of his peripatetic sarcophagus, flirted his feather duster and began his ritual: —
当我转过酒店附近的拐角时，那位穿着五颜六色、无与伦比外套的阿弗里特（注：可能是指出租车夫）马车夫抓住了我，摆开了移动石棺的阴暗车门，扬起了羽毛扫把，开始了他的仪式： —

“Step right in, boss. Carriage is clean - jus’ got back from a funeral. —
“上车吧，老板。车子很干净——刚刚从一个葬礼回来。 —

Fifty cents to any -”
50美分去任何地方——”

And then he knew me and grinned broadly. “‘Scuse me, boss; —
然后他认出了我，开心地笑了起来。“打扰了，老板； —

you is de gen’l’man what rid out with me dis mawnin’. —
你就是今早和我一起出去的那位先生。 —

Thank you kindly, suh.”
非常感谢您，先生。”

“I am going out to 861 again to-morrow afternoon at three,” said I, “and if you will be here, I’ll let you drive me. —
“明天下午三点，我要再次去861那里，如果你在这里，我会让你开车送我去。”我说，“对了，给你小费。” —

So you know Miss Adair?” I concluded, thinking of my dollar bill.
“那你认识阿黛尔小姐吗？”我总结道，想着我的一美元纸币。

“I belonged to her father, Judge Adair, suh,” he replied.
“我从属于她的父亲，阿黛尔法官，先生，”他回答道。

“I judge that she is pretty poor,” I said. —
“我判断她很穷，”我说道， —

“She hasn’t much money to speak of, has she?”
“她没有多少钱可言，对吧？”

For an instant I looked again at the fierce countenance of King Cettiwayo, and then he changed back to an extortionate old Negro hack driver.
瞬间，我再次看着金·切蒂瓦约的凶恶面容，然后他又变回了一个贪婪的老黑人车夫。

“She ain’t gwine to starve, suh,” he said slowly. —
“她不会挨饿，先生，”他慢条斯理地说道， —

“She has reso’ces, suh; she has reso’ces.”
“她有资源，先生；她有资源。”

“I shall pay you fifty cents for the trip,” said I.
“这次旅程我付给你50美分，”我说道。

“Dat is puffeckly correct, suh,” he answered humbly. —
“那完全正确，先生，”他虚心地回答说， —

“I jus’ had to have dat two dollars dis mawnin’, boss.”
“今早我刚必须拿到那两美元，老板。”

I went to the hotel and lied by electricity. —
我去了酒店，凭电报撒谎。 —

I wired the magazine: “A. Adair holds out for eight cents a word.”
我给杂志发了一封电报：“A. 阿黛尔坚持每字八美分。”

The answer that came back was: —
回复说：“快给她， —

“Give it to her quick you duffer.”
你这个笨蛋。”

Just before dinner “Major” Wentworth Caswell bore down upon me with the greetings of a long-lost friend. —
就在晚饭前，”大佬”温特沃斯·卡斯韦尔满怀热情地向我走来，像是久违的朋友。 —

I have seen few men whom I have so instantaneously hated, and of whom it was so difficult to be rid. —
我曾经看到过一些男人，我对他们立刻产生了强烈的憎恶，而摆脱他们却是如此困难。 —

I was standing at the bar when he invaded me; —
当他靠近我，我正在吧台前站着； —

therefore I could not wave the white ribbon in his face. —
所以我没有办法摆手向他示意停下。 —

I would have paid gladly for the drinks, hoping, thereby, to escape another; —
我宁愿付钱买酒，希望以此逃避另一个人； —

but he was one of those despicable, roaring, advertising bibbers who must have brass bands and fireworks attend upon every cent that they waste in their follies.
但他却是那种令人讨厌、喧闹、招摇撞骗的人，他们浪费每一分钱都要有铜管乐队和烟花。

With an air of producing millions he drew two one-dollar bills from a pocket and dashed one of them upon the bar. —
他摆出一副挥金如土的样子，从口袋里拿出两张一美元的钞票，随意地扔在吧台上； —

I looked once more at the dollar bill with the upper right-hand corner missing, torn through the middle, and patched with a strip of blue tissue paper. —
我再次看着那张有右上角缺失、中间撕裂、用一条蓝色的纸条粘起来的美元钞票。 —

It was my dollar bill again. It could have been no other.
那是我的钞票，其他人不可能有这样的钞票。

I went up to my room. The drizzle and the monotony of a dreary, eventless Southern town had made me tired and listless. —
我上楼去了。阴雨绵绵、单调乏味的南方小镇使我感到疲惫和无精打采。 —

I remember that just before I went to bed I mentally disposed of the mysterious dollar bill (which might have formed the clew to a tremendously fine detective story of San Francisco) by saying to myself sleepily: —
我记得就在我上床睡觉之前，我心里打消了那个神秘的一美元钞票（它可能成为旧金山一个非常好的侦探故事的关键），迷迷糊糊地对自己说：“看起来好像这里的很多人都在持有出租车司机信托的股票。而且支付的股息也很及时。 —

“Seems as if a lot of people here own stock in the Hack-Driver’s Trust. Pays dividends promptly, too. —
不知道—“然后我就睡着了。 —

Wonder if -” Then I fell asleep.
隔天，金·塞蒂威亚还在岗位上，然后他晃晃悠悠地让我的骨头咯吱咯吱地碰撞在路上直至到达861。

King Cettiwayo was at his post the next day, and rattled my bones over the stones out to 861. —
当我准备好的时候，他会等着我把我再晃晃悠悠地带回去。 —

He was to wait and rattle me back again when I was ready.
阿泽拉·艾德尔看上去比前一天更苍白、更清洁、更虚弱。

Azalea Adair looked paler and cleaner and frailer than she had looked on the day before. —
在她以每字八分的价格签署合同之后，她变得更加苍白，开始从椅子上滑落下来。 —

After she had signed the contract at eight cents per word she grew still paler and began to slip out of her chair. —
我没费太多力气就把她扶到了那张古老的马毛沙发上，然后我跑到人行道上大声喊咖啡色海盗来找医生。 —

Whitout much trouble I managed to get her up on the antediluvian horsehair sofa and then I ran out to the sidewalk and yelled to the coffee-colored Pirate to bring a doctor. —
The coffee-colored Pirate带来了医生，而当医生奔到时，他把车停在我门前，把医生带了进来。 —

With a wisdom that I had not expected in him, he abandoned his team and struck off up the street afoot, realizing the value of speed. —
他以一种出乎我意料的睿智，放弃了他的队伍，径直向街上行去，意识到了速度的重要性。 —

In ten minutes he returned with a grave, gray-haired and capable man of medicine. —
十分钟后，他带着一位严肃、头发花白、能干的医生回来了。 —

In a few words (worth much less than eight cents each) I explained to him my presence in the hollow house of mystery. —
我用几句话（每个字都不值八分钱）向他解释了我在这座神秘的空屋中的原因。 —

He bowed with stately understanding, and turned to the old Negro.
他庄重地点了点头，转向了那位年迈的黑人。

“Uncle Caesar,” he said calmly, “Run up to my house and ask Miss Lucy to give you a cream pitcher full of fresh milk and half a tumbler of port wine. —
“凯撒叔叔，”他冷静地说道，” 去我家找露西小姐，让她给你一罐装满新鲜牛奶和半杯波特酒的奶瓶。 —

And hurry back. Don’t drive - run. —
然后快点回来，别开车， —

I want you to get back sometime this week.”
跑回来吧。我希望你这周内能回来。”

It occurred to me that Dr. Merriman also felt a distrust as to the speeding powers of the land-pirate’s steeds. —
我意识到梅里曼医生对这个拼命吹牛的土匪马匹的速度也有怀疑。 —

After Uncle Caesar was gone, lumberingly, but swiftly, up the street, the doctor looked me over with great politeness and as much careful calculation until he had decided that I might do.
凯撒叔叔离开后，医生彬彬有礼地审视了我一番，并经过仔细的计算后认为我可以胜任。

“It is only a case of insufficient nutrition,” he said. —
“这只是因为营养不足的情况,”他说。 —

“In other words, the result of poverty, pride, and starvation. —
“换句话说，这是贫困、骄傲和饥饿的结果。” —

Mrs. Caswell has many devoted friends who would be glad to aid her, but she will accept nothing except from that old Negro, Uncle Caesar, who was once owned by her family.”
卡斯韦尔夫人有很多忠诚的朋友愿意帮助她，但她只接受那个年迈的黑人奴隶，叔叔凯撒，他曾经是她家族的奴隶。”

“Mrs. Caswell!” said I, in surprise. —
“卡斯韦尔夫人！”我惊讶地说。 —

And then I looked at the contract and saw that she had signed it “Azalea Adair Caswell.”
然后我看到合同上她签名为“阿兹利亚·阿代尔·卡斯韦尔。”

“I thought she was Miss Adair,” I said.
“我原以为她是阿代尔小姐，”我说。

“Married to a drunken, worthless loafer, sir,” said the doctor. —
“嫁给一个酗酒、没品行的懒汉，先生，”医生说。 —

“It is said that he robs her even of the small sums that her old servant contributes toward her support.”
“据说他甚至从她老仆人贡献给她生活费用的一点钱中偷取。”

When the milk and wine had been brought the doctor soon revived Azalea Adair. She sat up and talked of the beauty of the autumn leaves that were then in season, and their height of color. —
当牛奶和葡萄酒被送来后，医生很快使阿兹利亚·阿代尔恢复了过来。她坐起来谈论着当时正值盛季的秋叶之美，以及它们的鲜艳程度。 —

She referred lightly to her fainting seizure as the outcome of an old palpitation of the heart. —
她轻描淡写地提到她的昏厥发作是由于心脏旧有的心悸引起的。 —

Impy fanned her as she lay on the sofa. —
辛皮在她躺在沙发上时给她扇风。 —

The doctor was due elsewhere, and I followed him to the door. —
医生因为要赶其他地方，我跟着他走向门口。 —

I told him that it was within my power and intentions to make a reasonable advance of money to Azalea Adair on future contributions to the magazine, and he seemed pleased.
我告诉他我有能力和意愿在未来的杂志稿件上向阿泽莱亚·艾德尔提供合理的预付款，他似乎很高兴。

“By the way,” he said, “perhaps you would like to know that you have had royalty for a coachman. —
“顺便说一下，”他说，”也许你想知道你的车夫是皇室的后裔。 —

Old Caesar’s grandfather was a king in Congo. Caesar himself has royal ways, as you may have observed.”
老凯撒的祖父是刚果的国王。凯撒本人有皇家的举止，你可能已经注意到了。”

As the doctor was moving off I heard Uncle Caesar’s voice inside: —
当医生走开时，我听到内部传来Uncle Caesar的声音：” —

“Did he get bofe of dem two dollars from you, Mis’ Zalea?”
他从你那里拿到了两美元吗，Zalea女士?”

“Yes, Caesar,” I heard Azalea Adair answer weakly. —
“是的，凯撒，”我听到阿泽莱亚·艾德尔虚弱地回答。 —

And then I went in and concluded business negotiations with our contributor. —
然后我进去与我们的贡献者完成了业务谈判。 —

I assumed the responsibility of advancing fifty dollars, putting it as a necessary formality in binding our bargain. —
我承担起预付50美元的责任，并将其作为我们协议的必要形式。 —

And then Uncle Caesar drove me back to the hotel.
然后Uncle Caesar开车送我回到了旅馆。

Here ends all of the story as far as I can testify as a witness. —
至此，作为目击者，我能够证明的故事内容就到此为止了。 —

The rest must be only bare statements of facts.
剩下的只能是事实陈述。

At about six o’clock I went out for a stroll. —
大约六点钟我出去散步。 —

Uncle Caesar was at his corner. —
Caesar叔叔在他的街角。 —

He threw open the door of his carriage, flourished his duster and began his depressing formula: —
他摇开马车的门，挥舞着掸子开始他令人沮丧的口号：“先生， —

“Step right in, suh. —
请上车。 —

Fifty cents to anywhere in the city - hack’s puffickly clean, suh - - jus’ got back from a funeral -”
50美分去城市的任何地方-车很干净，先生- -刚从葬礼回来-”

And then he recognized me. —
然后他认出了我。 —

I think his eyesight was getting bad. —
我觉得他的视力在变差。 —

His coat had taken on a few more faded shades of color, the twine strings were more frayed and ragged, the last remaining button - the button of yellow horn - was gone. —
他的外套的颜色变得更加褪色，麻绳上的线也更加磨损和破烂，最后剩下的黄色牛角纽扣也丢失了。 —

A motley descendant of kings was Uncle Caesar!
一位国王的杂集后裔是Caesar叔叔！

About two hours later I saw an excited crowd besieging the front of a drug store. —
大约两个小时后，我看到一群兴奋的人围着一家药店的门前。 —

In a desert where nothing happens this was manna; —
在一个由空箱子和椅子搭建的临时床上躺着主要的Wentworth Caswell。 —

so I edged my way inside. —
一位医生正在测试他是否拥有不朽的成分。 —

On an extemporized couch of empty boxes and chairs was stretched the mortal corporeality of Major Wentworth Caswell. —
他的判断是这种成分明显不存在。 —

A doctor was testing him for the immortal ingredient. —
这里是一片什么都不发生的沙漠，所以我勉强挤进了内部。 —

His decision was that it was conspicuous by its absence.
一位医生正在为Major Wentworth Caswell测试是否拥有不朽的成分，他的结论是它非常明显地不存在。

The erstwhile Major had been found dead on a dark street and brought by curious and ennuied citizens to the drug store. —
过去的少校被发现死在一条黑暗的街道上，被好奇和厌倦的市民带到了药店。 —

The late human being had been engaged in terrific battle - the details showed that. —
这位已故的人曾参与过可怕的战斗——细节显示了这一点。 —

Loafer and reprobate though he had been, he had been also a warrior. —
尽管他是个游手好闲、品行不端的人，但他也是一个战士。 —

But he had lost. —
但他输了。 —

His hands were yet clinched so tightly that his fingers would not be opened. —
他的手仍然紧紧地握着，指尖无法张开。 —

The gentle citizens who had know him stood about and searched their vocabularies to find some good words, if it were possible, to speak of him. —
那些了解他的温文尔雅的市民站在周围，翻遍他们的词汇，如果可能的话，寻找一些好话来说他。 —

One kind-looking man said, after much thought: —
一位看起来很和善的人经过深思熟虑后说： —

“When ‘Cas’ was about fo’teen he was one of the best spellers in school.”
“当’CAS’大约十四岁时，他是学校里最好的拼字者之一。”

While I stood there the fingers of the right hand of “the man that was” which hung down the side of a white pine box, relaxed, and dropped something at my feet. —
当我站在那里时，那个“曾经的人”的右手的手指松开了，一下子掉在了我的脚边。 —

I covered it with one foot quietly, and a little later on I picked it up and pocketed it. —
我静静地用一只脚盖住它，过了一会儿我把它捡起来装进口袋里。 —

I reasoned that in his last struggle his hand must have seized that object unwittingly and held it in a death grip.
我推理出在他的最后一搏中，他的手无意地抓住了那个物体，并紧紧抓住它。

At the hotel that night the main topic of conversation, with the possible exceptions of politics and prohibition, was the demise of Major Caswell. —
那天晚上，除了政治和禁酒问题外，酒店里的主要话题就是卡斯韦尔少校的死亡。 —

I heard one man say to a group of listeners:
我听到一个人对一群听众说：

“In my opinion, gentlemen, Caswell was murdered by somme of these no-account niggers for his money. —
“在我看来，先生们，卡斯韦尔是被一些这些无赖黑人谋财害命的。 —

He had fifty dollars this afternoon which he showed to several gentlemen in the hotel. —
他今天下午有五十美元，他向酒店里的几位先生展示了。 —

When he was found the money was not on his person.”
当他被发现时，身上没有钱。

I left the city the next morning at nine, and as the train was crossing the bridge over the Cumberland River I took out of my pocket a yellow horn overcoat button the size of a fifty-cent piece, with frayed ends of coarse twine hanging from it, and cast it out of the window into the slow, muddy waters below.
第二天早上九点，我离开了这个城市，在火车经过坎伯兰河的桥上，我从口袋里拿出了一个黄色的角质大衣扣，大小如五十美分硬币，上面还有粗糙绳线的破损端悬挂着，并将其扔进了慢慢的浑浊水中。

I wonder what’s doing in Buffalo!
我想知道布法罗出现了什么事情！