My wife and I parted on that morning in precisely our usual manner. —
我妻子和我当天早晨按照我们通常的方式分开了。 —

She left her second cup of tea to follow me to the front door. —
她放下了第二杯茶，跟着我走到了前门。 —

There she plucked from my lapel the invisible strand of lint (the universal act of woman to proclaim ownership) and bade me to take care of my cold. —
她从我的衣襟上拿走了看不见的一根细线（这是女人宣示所有权的普遍行为），并嘱咐我注意感冒。 —

I had no cold. Next came her kiss of parting - the lever kiss of domesticity flavored with Young Hyson. There was no fear of the extemporaneous, of variety spicing her infinite custom. —
我并没有感冒。接下来她给了我离别之吻 - 充满家庭气息，带有Young Hyson茶味的平凡之吻。没有任何临时性的担忧，她的无穷习惯中始终保持着变化。 —

With the deft touch of long malpractice, she dabbed awry my well-set scarf pin; —
用着自己经年不遇的熟练手法，她让我原本整齐的围巾别得歪了。 —

and then, as I closed the door, I heard her morning slippers pattering back to her cooling tea.
当我关上门的时候，我听到她的早晨拖鞋哒哒地走回了她的凉茶。

When I set out I had no thought or premonition of what was to occur. —
出发时我并没有思考或预感到即将发生的事情。 —

The attack came suddenly.
袭击来得突然。

For many weeks I had been toiling, almost night and day, at a famous railroad law case that I won triumphantly but a few days previously. —
过去几个星期里，我几乎日夜不停地为一起著名的铁路法案努力，不久前我战胜了这个案件。 —

In fact, I had been digging away at the law almost without cessation for many years. —
事实上，多年来，我一直在苦心经营着法律事务。 —

Once or twice good Doctor Volney, my friend and physician, had warned me.
医生沃尔尼，我的朋友和医生，曾经警告过我一次或两次。

“If you don’t slacken up, Belford,” he said, “you’ll go suddenly to pieces. —
“如果你不放松，贝尔福德，” 他说，”你会突然崩溃。 —

Either your nerves or your brain will give way. —
你的神经或大脑将会崩溃。 —

Tell me, does a week pass in which you do not read in the papers of a case of aphasia - of some man lost, wandering nameless, with his past and his identity blotted out - and all from that little brain clot made by overwork or worry?”
告诉我，是否有一周没有在报纸上读到一个失语症的案例 - 有些人迷失了，名字丧失了，过去和身份被抹去 - 这都是由于过度劳累或担忧造成的小血块所致？”

“I always thought,” said I, “that the clot in those instances was really to be found on the brains of the newspaper reporters.”
“我一直认为，” 我说，”那些案例中的血块实际上是在新闻记者的大脑上。”

Doctor Volney shook his head.
沃尔尼医生摇了摇头。

“The disease exists,” he said. “You need a change or a rest. —
“这种疾病存在，”他说。”你需要改变或休息一下。 —

Court-room, office and home - there is the only route you travel. —
法庭、办公室和家 - 这是你唯一的行程。 —

For recreation you - read law books. —
对于娱乐，你 - 看法律书。 —

Better take warning in time.”
最好及时警惕。”

“On Thursday nights,” I said, defensively, “my wife and I play cribbage. —
“星期四晚上，”我辩称道，” 我和妻子打梅棋。 —

On Sundays she reads to me the weekly letter from her mother. —
星期天，她给我读她母亲的周刊信。 —

That law books are not a recreation remains yet to be established.”
是否法律书不是一种娱乐还有待商榷。”

That morning as I walked I was thinking of Doctor Volney’s words. —
那天早上，当我走路时，我还在思考沃尔尼医生的话。 —

I was feeling as well as I usually did - possibly in better spirits than usual.
我感觉和往常一样，可能心情比平常更好。

I woke with stiff and cramped muscles from having slept long on the incommodious seat of a day coach. —
我因为在不舒服的日间客车座位上长时间睡觉，醒来时肌肉僵硬。 —

I leaned my head against the seat and tried to think. —
我把头靠在座位上，试着思考。 —

After a long time I said to myself: —
很久以后我对自己说： —

“I must have a name of some sort.” I searched my pockets. —
“我一定有个名字。”我摸索着我的口袋。 —

Not a card; not a letter; —
没有名片，没有信件， —

not a paper or monogram could I find. —
没有纸张或字母组合。 —

But I found in my coat pocket nearly $3, 000 in bills of large denomination. —
但是我在上衣口袋里找到了将近3000美元面额的钞票。 —

“I must be some one, of course,” I repeated to myself, and began again to consider.
“我一定是某个人，当然了”，我对自己重复着，并再次开始思考。

The car was well crowded with men, among whom, I told myself, there must have been some common interest, for they intermingled freely, and seemed in the best good humor and spirits. —
车上挤满了人，其中，我告诉自己，一定有某种共同的兴趣，在他们中间自由交流，似乎心情都很好。 —

One of them - a stout, spectacled gentleman enveloped in a decided odor of cinnamon and aloes - took the vacant half of my seat with a friendly nod, and unfolded a newspaper. —
其中一个人——一个胖胖的、戴着眼镜、身上散发着明显桂皮和薏苡气味的绅士——以友好的点头占据了我座位的空一半，并展开了一份报纸。 —

In the intervals between his periods of reading, we conversed, as travelers will, on current affairs. —
在他阅读的时间间隙，我们以旅行者的方式交谈起来，讨论时事。 —

I found myself able to sustain the conversation on such subjects with credit, at least to my memory. By and by my companion said:
我发现自己能够以有价值的方式参与这类讨论，至少在我记忆中是这样的。渐渐地，我的伴侣说道：

“You are one of us, of course. —
“你当然是我们中的一员。 —

Fine lot of men the West sends in this time. —
这次西部派来的一群人都不错。 —

I’m glad they held the convention in New York; —
我很高兴他们在纽约召开了大会； —

I’ve never been East before. —
我以前没有来过东部。 —

My name’s R. P. Bolder - Bolder & Son, of Hickory Grove, Missouri.”
我叫R·P·鲍尔德-鲍尔德和儿子，来自密苏里州的希科里格罗夫。”

Though unprepared, I rose to the emergency, as men will when put to it. —
虽然没有准备，但我还是迎接了这个紧急情况，正如人们在危机时刻会做的那样。 —

Now must I hold a christening, and be at once babe, parson and parent. —
现在我得起个名字，同时还得是婴儿、牧师和父母。 —

My senses came to the rescue of my slower brain. —
我的感官拯救了我思维迟缓的大脑。 —

The insistent odor of drugs from my compainion supplied one idea; —
我伴侣身上散发出来的药物气味引出了一个想法； —

a glance at his newspaper, where my eye met a conspicuous advertisement, assisted me further.
我瞥了一眼他的报纸，眼睛落在一个显眼的广告上，这进一步帮助了我。

“My name,” said I, glibly, “is Edward Pinkhammer. —
“我叫爱德华·平克哈默。我是一名药剂师， —

I am a druggist, and my home is in Cornopolis, Kansas.”
我的家在堪萨斯州的康诺波利斯。”

“I knew you were a druggist,” said my fellow traveler, affably. —
“我知道你是个药剂师，” 我的同行友善地说道。 —

“I saw the callous spot on your right forefinger where the handle of the pestle rubs. —
“我看到了你右手食指上那个搗药杵摩擦的粗糙处。” —

Of course, you are a delegate to our National Convention.”
“当然，你是我们国家大会的代表。”

“Are all these men druggists?” I asked, wonderingly.
“这些人都是药剂师吗？”我惊讶地问道。

“They are. This car came through from the West. And they’re your old-time druggists, too - none of your patent tablet-and-granule pharmashootists that use slot machines instead of a prescription desk. —
“是的。这辆车是从西部过来的。他们都是你老牌的药剂师，不是那些用自动售货机取代处方台的成药丸粒药屋。” —

We percolate our own paregoric and roll our own pills, and we ain’t above handling a few garden seeds in the spring, and carrying a side line of confectionery and shoes. —
“我们自己过滤我们的止泻药水，自己制作药丸，而且我们还会在春天时销售一些花草种子，并开设糖果和鞋子的侧门生意。” —

I tell you Hampinker, I’ve got an idea to spring on this convention - new ideas is what they want. —
“汉平克，我告诉你，我有一个要向这个大会提出的新主意——他们需要新思路。” —

Now, you know the shelf bottles of tartar emetic and Rochelle salt Ant. et Pot. Tart. and Sod. et Pot. Tart. - one’s poison, you know, and the other’s harmless. —
“你知道那些货架上的酒湿望远镜和洛琪盐。Ant. et Pot. Tart. 和 Sod. et Pot. Tart.——一个是毒药，你知道的，另一个是无害的。” —

It’s easy to mistake one label for the other. —
“往往容易将它们混淆。 —

Where do druggists mostly keep ‘em? Why, as far apart as possible, on different shelves. That’s wrong. —
药剂师们通常将它们放在哪里呢？嗯，尽可能远离，放在不同的货架上。这是错误的。” —

I say keep ‘em side by side, so when you want one you can always compare it with the other and avoid mistakes. —
我建议把它们放在一起，这样当你想要一瓶时，你可以随时将其与另一瓶进行比较，避免错误。 —

Do you catch the idea?”
你理解我的意思吗？

“It seems to me a very good one,” I said.
“听起来对我来说是一个非常好的主意，”我说道。

“All right! When I spring it on the convention you back it up. —
“好吧！当我在会议上提出这个想法时，你要支持我。” —

We’ll make some of these Eastern orange-phosphate-and-massage-cream professors that think they’re the only lozenges in the market look like hypodermic tablets.”
“我们会让一些认为自己是市场上唯一的药片的那些东方柳橙磷酸钾和按摩霜教授们看起来就像是注射片。”

“If I can be of any aid,” I said, warming, “the two bottles of - er -”
“如果我有任何帮助的话，”我温和地说道，“那两瓶 - 嗯 -”

“Tartrate of antimony and potash, and tartrate of soda and potash.”
“锑和钾的酒石酸盐，以及苏打和钾的酒石酸盐。”

“Shall henceforth sit side by side,” I concluded, firmly.
“从今以后将会一直并排放置。”我坚定地总结道。

“Now, there’s another thing,” said Mr. Bolder. —
“现在还有一件事，”博尔德先生说道。 —

“For an excipient in manipulating a pill mass which do you prefer - the magnesia carbonate or the pulverised glycerrhiza radix?”
“在操纵药丸时，你更喜欢用什么作为混合块的辅料 - 碳酸镁还是粉末状的甘草根？”

“The - er - magnesia,” I said. —
“嗯 - 碳酸镁，”我说道。 —

It was easier to say than the other word.
比起另一个词，这个词更容易发音。

Mr. Bolder glanced at me distrustfully through his spectacles.
博尔德先生透过眼镜不信任地看着我。

“Give me the glycerrhiza,” said he. “Magnesia cakes.”
“给我甘草根，”他说道。“镁饼干。”

“Here’s another one of these fake aphasia cases,” he said, presently, handing me his newspaper, and laying his finger upon an article. —
“这又是一起假嗜睡病例，”他说道，随即递给我他的报纸，并在一篇文章上点了下手指。 —

“I don’t believe in ‘em. I put nine out of ten of ‘em down as frauds. —
“我不相信它们。十之八九都是骗局。 —

A man gets sick of his business and his folks and wants to have a good time. —
有些人厌倦了工作和家人，想要玩一玩。 —

He skips out somewhere, and when they find him he pretends to have lost his memory - don’t know his own name, and won’t even recognize the strawberry mark on his wife’s left shoulder. —
他偷偷溜出去，在被找到时假装失去记忆 - 不知道自己的名字，甚至不认识妻子左肩上的草莓痣。 —

Aphasia! Tut! Why can’t they stay at home and forget?”
嗜睡症！呸！他们为什么不能待在家里忘记烦恼呢？”

I took the paper and read, after the pungent headlines, the following:
我拿过报纸，在浓烈的头条新闻后，读到以下内容：

“DENVER, June 12. - Elwyn C. Belford, a prominent lawyer, is mysteriously missing from his home since three days ago, and all efforts to locate him have been in vain. —
“丹佛，6月12日 - 著名律师埃尔温·C·贝尔福德自三天前从家中神秘失踪以来，一切寻找他的努力都无果而终。 —

Mr. Bellford is a well-known citizen of the highest standing, and has enjoyed a large and lucrative law practice. —
贝尔福德先生是一位享有声誉并拥有丰厚的法律业务的知名市民。 —

He is married and owns a fine home and the most extensive private library in the State. On the day of his disappearance, he drew quite a large sum of money from his bank. —
他已婚，拥有一所豪华住宅和全州最大的私人图书馆。在他失踪的那天，他从银行提取了一大笔钱。 —

No one can be found who saw him after he left the bank. —
没有人见过他离开银行后的情况。 —

Mr. Bellford was a man of singularly quiet and domestic tastes, and seemed to find his happiness in his home and profession. —
贝尔福德先生是一个极其安静和家庭化的人，似乎在家庭和职业中找到了快乐。 —

If any clue at all exists to his strange disappearance, it my be found in the fact that for some months he has been deeply absorbed in an important law case in connection with the Q. Y. and Z. Railroad Company. —
如果有任何线索可以解开他奇怪的失踪之谜，那可能与他在Q. Y.和Z.铁路公司的一个重要法律案件中深深陷入有关。 —

It is feared that overwork may have affected his mind. —
担心他的过度工作可能影响了他的精神。 —

Every effort is being made to discover the whereabouts of the missing man.”
目前正在尽一切努力寻找失踪者的下落。

“It seems to me you are not altogether uncynical, Mr. Bolder,” I said, after I had read the despatch. —
“在我看来，博尔德先生，你并不完全没有愤世嫉俗的一面。”我读完了简报后说道。“对我来说， —

“This has the sound, to me, of a genuine case. —
这听起来像是一个真实的案例。” —

Why should this man, prosperous, happily married, and respected, choose suddenly to abandon everything? —
这个人为什么会突然选择放弃一切，他生活顺利，婚姻幸福，深受尊重？ —

I know that these lapses of memory do occur, and that men do find themselves adrift without a name, a history or a home.”
我知道这种记忆空白确实会发生，而且男人们确实会发现自己没有名字，没有历史，没有家园。

“Oh, gammon and jalap!” said Mr. Bolder. —
“哦，废话和辣木豆！” 博尔德先生说道。 —

“It’s larks they’re after. —
“他们追求的是欢乐。 —

There’s too much education nowadays. —
现在教育太多了。 —

Men know about aphasia, and they use it for an excuse. —
男人知道失语症，他们把它当作借口。 —

The women are wise, too. —
女人们也很聪明。 —

When it’s all over they look you in the eye, as scientific as you please, and say: ‘He hypnotized me.’”
当一切结束时，他们很无所畏惧地看着你，然后说：“他催眠了我。”

Thus Mr. Bolder diverted, but did not aid, me with his comments and philosophy.
于是博尔德先生用他的评论和哲学来分散我的注意力，但没有帮助我。

We arrived in New York about ten at night. —
我们大约晚上十点钟到达纽约。 —

I rode in a cab to a hotel, and I wrote my name “Edward Pinkhammer” in the register. —
我乘坐出租车去了一家酒店，然后在登记簿上写下了我的名字”爱德华·平克哈默”。 —

As I did so I felt pervade me a splendid, wild, intoxicating buoyancy - a sense of unlimited freedom, of newly attained possibilities. —
在那么做的同时，我感到一种壮丽的、狂野的、令人陶醉的轻快感弥漫开来 - 一种无限自由的感觉，一种新获得的可能性。 —

I was just born into the world. —
我刚刚降临到这个世界上。 —

The old fetters - whatever they had been - were stricken from my hands and feet. —
旧的束缚 - 不管它们是什么 - 从我的手和脚上解脱开来。 —

The future lay before me a clear road such as an infant enters, and I could set out upon it equipped with a man’s learning and experience.
未来就像一个婴儿进入的清晰道路摆在我面前，而我可以凭借一个人的学习和经验踏上这条道路。

I thought the hotel clerk looked at me five seconds too long. —
我觉得酒店的接待员看了我五秒钟太久。 —

I had no baggage.
我没有行李。

“The Druggists’ Convention,” I said. —
“药剂师大会，”我说道。 —

“My trunk has somehow failed to arrive.” I drew out a roll of money.
“我的行李箱不知怎么没到。”我拿出了一卷钱。

“Ah!” said he, showing an auriferous tooth, “we have quite a number of the Western delegates stopping here.” He struck a bell for the boy.
“啊！”他说着露出了一颗金牙，“我们这里有很多西部代表住在这儿。”他敲了敲铃叫来了男孩。

I endeavored to give color to my role.
我努力让我的角色更加逼真。

“There is an important movement on foot among us Westerners,” I said, “in regard to a recommendation to the convention that the bottles containing the tartrate of antimoney and potash, and the tartrate of sodium and potash be kept in a contiguous position on the shelf.”
“我们西部人内部有一项重要的动议，” 我说道，“关于建议大会上把含有酒石酸锑和钾的瓶子以及酒石酸钠和钾的瓶子放在货架上的相邻位置。”

“Gentleman to three-fourteen,” said the clerk, hastily. I was whisked away to my room.
“送一位先生到314号房间，”接待员仓促地说道。我被迅速带到了我的房间。

The next day I bought a trunk and clothing, and began to live the life of Edward Pinkhammer. —
第二天我买了个行李箱和衣服，开始过着Edward Pinkhammer的生活。 —

I did not tax my brain with endeavors to solve problems of the past.
我没有费心思去解决过去的问题。

It was a piquant and sparkling cup that the great island city held up to my lips. —
这个伟大的岛城向我举起了一杯美味可口的饮料。 —

I drank of it gratefully. —
我感激地喝了下去。 —

The keys of Manhattan belong to him who is able to bear them. —
曼哈顿的钥匙属于能够承受它们的人。 —

You must be either the city’s guest or its victim.
你必须成为这个城市的宾客或受害者。

The following few days were as gold and silver. —
接下来的几天就像黄金和白银一样。 —

Edward Pinkhammer, yet counting back to his birth by hours only, knew the rare joy of having come upon so diverting a world full-fledged and unrestrained. —
爱德华·平克哈默，回溯到他出生仅凭小时计算，体会到了来到一个如此迷人的世界的难得的喜悦，这个世界是成熟而无拘束的。 —

I sat entranced on the magic carpets provided in theatres and roof-gardens, that transported one into strange and delightful lands full of frolicsome music, pretty girls and grotesque drolly extravagant parodies upon human kind. —
我坐在剧院和屋顶花园提供的魔毯上入了迷，它们把人们带到充满欢乐音乐、漂亮女孩和怪诞滑稽夸张的对人类的恶搞的奇异而愉快的世界。 —

I went here and there at my own dear will, bound by no limits of space, time or comportment. —
我驰骋于此彼，自由自在地行走，没有空间、时间或行为的限制。 —

I dined in weird cabarets, at weirder tables d’hote to the sound of Hungarian music and the wild shouts of mercurial artists and sculptors. —
我在奇怪的小酒馆和更奇怪的合桌聚餐中用餐，伴随着匈牙利音乐和活泼的艺术家和雕塑家的狂喊。 —

Or, again, where the night life quivers in the electric glare like a kinetoscopic picture, and the millinery of the world, and its jewels, and the ones whom they adorn, and the men who make all three possible are met for good cheer and the spectacular effect. —
或者，再一次，夜生活在电光中颤抖，如同电影画面一般，世界上的帽子和珠宝以及佩戴它们的人，还有让所有这一切成为可能的人们，聚集在一起享受美好的欢乐和壮观的效果。 —

And among all these scenes that I have mentioned I learned one thing that I never knew before. —
在我提到的所有这些场景中，我学到了一件以前从未知道的事情。 —

And that is that the key to liberty is not in the hands of License, but Convention holds it. —
那就是自由的关键不在于放任自流，而是在于遵守惯例。 —

Comity has a toll-gate at which you must pay, or you may not enter the land of Freedom. —
和睦在一个收费站口，你必须付出代价，否则你无法进入自由的土地。 —

In all the glitter, the seeming disorder, the parade, the abandon, I saw this law, unobtrusive, yet like iron, prevail. —
在所有的华丽、表面的混乱、游行和放纵中，我看到这个法则，低调而坚如铁石地盛行。 —

Therefore, in Manhattan you must obey these unwritten laws, and then you will be freest of the free. —
因此，在曼哈顿，你必须遵守这些不成文的法律，那样你将成为最自由的人。 —

If you decline to be bound by them, you put on shackles.
如果你拒绝受束缚，你将戴上枷锁。

Sometimes, as my mood urged me, I would seek the stately, softly murmuring palm rooms, redolent with high-born life and delicate restraint, in which to dine. —
有时，根据我的心情，我会寻找那些宏伟、轻声低语的棕榈厅，那里充满了高贵的生活和精致的克制，用来用餐。 —

Again I would go down to the waterways in steamers packed with vociferous, bedecked, unchecked love-making clerks and shop-girls to their crude pleasures on the island shores. —
再一次，我会乘坐装满喧嚷、装饰华丽、放纵的职员和女售货员的汽船，前往岛屿海岸享受他们粗鄙的乐趣。 —

And there was always Broadway - glistening, opulent, wily, varying, desirable Broadway - growing upon one like an opium habit.
而且总是有百老汇 - 那个闪闪发光、富有、狡猾、多变、令人向往的百老汇 - 像鸦片一样在一个人身上慢慢生长成习惯。

One afternoon as I entered my hotel a stout man with a big nose and a black mustache blocked my way in the corridor. —
有一天下午，当我走进酒店时，一个鼻子又大又黑的胖男人挡住了我在走廊里的路。 —

When I would have passed around him, he greet me with offensive familiarity.
当我要绕过他时，他用冒犯的亲近问候我。

“Hello, Bellford!” he cried, loudly. —
“嘿，贝尔福德！他大声喊道。 —

“What the deuce are you doing in New York? —
“你在纽约干什么呢？ —

Didn’t know anything could drag you away from that old book den of yours. —
不知道有什么东西能将你从你那个古老的书店中带走。 —

Is Mrs. B. along or is this a little business run alone, eh?”
是不是贝尔夫人也在一起，还是单独一个商务行程，嗯？”

“You have made a mistake, sir,” I said, coldly, releasing my hand from his grasp. —
“先生，你搞错了，”我冷冷地说，从他的手中抽回手。 —

“My name is Pinkhammer. You will excuse me.”
“我叫平克哈默。你请原谅。”

The man dropped to one side, apparently astonished. —
那个男人突然向一边倒下，显然惊讶不已。 —

As I walked to the clerk’s desk I heard him call to a bell boy and say something about telegraph blanks.
当我走向前台时，我听到他叫了一个小伙子，说了些关于电报空白表格的事情。

“You will give me my bill,” I said to the clerk, “and have my baggage brought down in half an hour. —
我对前台服务员说：“你给我开账单，并在半小时内将我的行李送下来。” —

I do not care to remain where I am annoyed by confidence men.”
我不想呆在一个让我被骗子困扰的地方。

I moved that afternoon to another hotel, a sedate, old-fashioned one on lower Fifth Avenue.
那天下午，我搬到了另一家酒店，一家位于第五大道下段的古老而庄重的酒店。

There was a restaurant a little way off Broadway where one could be served almost al fresco in a tropic array of screening flora. —
布道百老汇有一家餐厅，那里可以在热带植物的装饰下近乎露天地用餐。 —

Quiet and luxury and a perfect service made it an ideal place in which to take luncheon or refreshment. —
宁静和奢华的环境以及完美的服务使它成为午餐或茶点的理想场所。 —

One afternoon I was there picking my way to a table among the ferns when I felt my sleeve caught.
一个下午，当我在蕨类植物之间走向一张桌子时，感觉到我的袖子被抓住了。

“Mr. Bellford!” exclaimed an amazingly sweet voice.
“贝尔福德先生！”一个非常甜美的声音惊呼道。

I turned quickly to see a lady seated alone - a lady of about thirty, with exceedingly handsome eyes, who looked at me as though I had been her very dear friend.
我很快转过身去，看到一个独自坐着的女士 - 一个大约三十岁、有着异常漂亮眼睛的女士，她看着我，就像我是她非常亲密的朋友一样。

“You were about to pass me,” she said, accusingly. —
“你刚刚准备超过我，”她指责地说， —

“Don’t tell me you do not know me. —
“别告诉我你不认识我。 —

Why should we not shake hands - at least once in fifteen years?”
为什么我们不能握手——至少十五年来只握一次手呢？”

I shook hands with her at once. —
我立刻同她握了手。 —

I took a chair opposite her at the table. —
我在桌子对面的椅子上坐下。 —

I summoned with my eyebrows a hovering waiter. —
我用眉毛示意一个徘徊的服务员。 —

The lady was philandering with an orange ice. —
女士正在调情般地舔着一个橙子冰淇淋。 —

I ordered a creme de menthe. —
我点了一杯薄荷奶酒。 —

Her hair was reddish bronze. —
她的头发呈红褐色。 —

You could not look at it, because you could not look away from her eyes. —
你不能直视它，因为你无法从她的眼睛中移开目光。 —

But you were conscious of it as you are conscious of sunset while you look into the profundities of a wood at twilight.
但你会意识到它，就像你在黄昏时盯着森林深处看时意识到日落一样。

“Are you sure you know me?” I asked.
“你确定你认识我吗？”我问道。

“No,” she said, smiling. “I was never sure of that.”
“不，”她微笑着说。“我从来没有确定过。”

“What would you think,” I said, a little anxiously, “if I were to tell you that my name is Edward Pinkhammer, from Cornopolis, Kansas?”
“如果我告诉你，我的名字是来自堪萨斯州科诺波利斯的爱德华·平克哈默，你会怎么想？”我有些不安地问道。

“What would I think?” she repeated, with a merry glance. —
“我会怎么想？”她笑眯眯地看了看。“嗯， —

“Why, that you had not brought Mrs. Bellford to New York with you, of course. —
当然是觉得你没有带贝尔福德夫人一起来纽约。” —

I do wish you had. I would have liked to see Marian.” Her voice lowered slightly - “You haven’t changed much, Elwyn.”
我多希望你来了。我想见见玛丽安。”她的声音稍微低了一些——“你没怎么变，埃尔温。”

I felt her wonderful eyes searching mine and my face more closely.
我感受到她美妙的目光在搜索我的眼睛和我的脸。

“Yes, you have,” she amended, and there was a soft, exultant note in her latest tones; “I see it now. —
“是的，你变了，”她纠正道，她最新的语调中有一种柔和而得意的音调。“我现在明白了。 —

You haven’t forgotten. You haven’t forgotten for a year or a day or an hour. —
你没忘记。你一个星期、一个天或一个小时都没有忘记。 —

I told you you never could.”
我告诉过你你永远不会忘记。”

I poked my straw anxiously in the creme de menthe.
我焦急地把吸管在薄荷奶油酒里搅动。

“I’m sure I beg your pardon,” I said, a little uneasy at her gaze. “But that is just the trouble. —
“对不起，我确实很抱歉，”我有点不安地说。“但问题就在这儿。 —

I have forgotten. I’ve forgotten everything.”
我忘记了，我什么都忘记了。”

She flouted my denial. She laughed deliciously at something she seemed to see in my face.
她对我的否认嘲笑了起来。她对着我脸上似乎看到了什么，开心地笑了起来。

“I’ve heard of you at times,” she went on. —
“我偶尔听说过你，”她继续说。 —

“You’re quite a big lawyer out West - Denver, isn’t it, or Los Angeles? Marian must be very proud of you. —
“你在西部是个很有名的律师 —— 丹佛还是洛杉矶来着？玛丽安一定为你感到骄傲。 —

You knew, I suppose, that I married six months after you did. —
你知道吗，我在你结婚后六个月结婚了。 —

You may have seen it in the papers. —
你可能在报纸上看到了。 —

The flowers alone cost two thousand dollars.”
那些花光了两千美元。”

She had mentioned fifteen years. —
她提到了十五年。 —

Fifteen years is a long time.
十五年是很长的时间。

“Would it be too late,” I asked, somewhat timorously, “to offer you congratulations?”
“如果我现在向你道贺，会不会太迟了？”我有点胆怯地问道。

“Not if you dare do it,” she answered, with such fine intrepidity that I was silent, and began to crease patterns on the cloth with my thumb nail.
“只要你敢做，就不会太迟。”她用无畏的语气回答道，我沉默了下来，用拇指甲在桌布上划出纹路。

“Tell me one thing,” she said, leaning toward me rather eagerly - “a thing I have wanted to know for many years - just from a woman’s curiosity, of course - have you ever dared since that night to touch, smell or look at white roses - at white roses wet with rain and dew?”
“告诉我一个事实吧，”她紧靠我，有些急切地说道，“这是多年来一直让我很好奇的事情，只是女人的好奇心而已——自从那个夜晚以来，你有没有敢过摸摸、闻闻或者看看湿着雨露的白玫瑰？”

I took a sip of creme de menthe.
我小口喝了一口薄荷奶油酒。

“It would be useless, I suppose,” I said, with a sigh, “for me to repeat that I have no recollection at all about these things. —
“我想重复一遍应该是没有用的，”我叹了口气说道，“我对这些事情完全没有任何记忆。我不用再说我有多么后悔了。” —

My memory is completely at fault. —
我的记忆完全错乱。 —

I need not say how much I regret it.”
我不用说我对此有多么后悔。

The lady rested her arms upon the table, and again her eyes disdained my words and went traveling by their own route direct to my soul. —
女士的手臂搁在桌子上，她的眼神再一次轻蔑着我的话语，直接触动了我的灵魂。 —

She laughed softly, with a strange quality in the sound - it was a laugh of happiness - yes, and of content - and of misery. —
她轻轻笑了起来，声音中有一种奇怪的质感——那是一种幸福的笑声，是一种满足的笑声，也是一种痛苦的笑声。 —

I tried to look away from her.
我极力避开她的目光。

“You lie, Elwyn Bellford,” she breathed, blissfully. “Oh, I know you lie!”
“你说谎了，埃尔温·贝尔福德，”她充满喜悦地低声说道，” 哦，我知道你在说谎！”

I gazed dully into the ferns.
我无精打采地凝视着蕨类植物。

“My name is Edward Pinkhammer,” I said. —
“我叫爱德华·平克哈默，” —

“I came with the delegates to the Druggists’ National Convention. —
我说道，”我是来参加药剂师国家大会的代表团。 —

There is a movement on foot for arranging a new position for the bottles of tartrate of antimony and tartrate of potash, in which, very likely, you would take little interest.”
目前有一个计划，打算为锑酒石酸钾和酒石酸锑的瓶子安排一个新位置，对此你可能不太感兴趣。

A shining landau stopped before the entrance. —
一辆闪亮的车厢停在入口处。女士站起身来。 —

The lady rose. I took her hand, and bowed.
我握住她的手，鞠了一躬。

“I am deeply sorry,” I said to her, “that I cannot remember. —
“非常抱歉，”我对她说，”我记不起来了。 —

I could explain, but fear you would not understand. —
我可以解释，但是我担心你不会理解。 —

You will not concede Pinkhammer; —
你不会同意平克哈默这个名字， —

and I really cannot at all conceive of the - the roses and other things.”
而我真的无法想象出这些玫瑰和其他的东西来。

“Good-by, Mr. Bellford,” she said, with her happy, sorrowful smile, as she stepped into her carriage.
“再见，贝尔福德先生”，她微笑着说道，快乐而又哀伤的微笑，踏上了她的马车。

I attended the theatre that night. —
那晚我去了剧院。 —

When I returned to my hotel, a quiet man in dark clothes, who seemed interested in rubbing his finger nails with a silk handkerchief, appeared, magically, at my side.
当我回到酒店时，一个穿着黑色衣服，似乎很有兴趣用丝质手帕擦拭指甲的安静男子，如魔术般出现在我的身边。

“Mr. Pinkhammer,” he said, giving the bulk of his attention to his forefinger, “may I request you to step aside with me for a little conversation? —
“平克哈默先生”，他说着，把大部分注意力放在拇指上，“我可以请你和我一起走到一边谈谈吗？ —

There is a room here.”
这里有一个房间。”

“Certainly,” I answered.
“当然可以，”我回答道。

He conducted me into a small, private parlor. —
他领我进了一个小小的私人休息室。 —

A lady and a gentleman were there. —
那里有一位女士和一位先生。 —

The lady, I surmised, would have been unusually good-looking had her features not been clouded by an expression of keen worry and fatigue. —
据我猜测，那位女士的相貌应该很漂亮，如果不是她脸上满是焦虑和疲倦的表情的话。 —

She was of a style of figure and possessed coloring and features that were agreeable to my fancy. —
她的身材和外貌风格都符合我的喜好。 —

She was in a traveling dress; —
她穿着一身旅行装； —

she fixed upon me an earnest look of extreme anxiety, and pressed an unsteady hand to her bosom. —
她投给我一个充满焦虑的专注的眼神，不稳定地抚摸着自己胸口的一只颤抖的手。 —

I think she would have started forward, but the gentleman arrested her movement with an authoritative motion of his hand. —
我认为她本来会向前走，但那位先生用有权威的手势阻止了她的动作。 —

He then came, himself, to meet me. He was a man of forty, a little gray about the temples, and with a strong, thoughtful face.
然后，他亲自过来迎接我。他四十岁左右，太阳穴有些花白，脸庞坚毅而深思熟虑。

“Bellford, old man,” he said, cordially, “I’m glad to see you again. —
“贝尔福德，伙计，”他亲切地说，“很高兴再次见到你。 —

Of course we know everything is all right. —
当然，我们知道一切都没问题。 —

I warned you, you know, that you were overdoing it. Now, you’ll go back with us, and be yourself again in no time.”
我警告过你，知道吗，你过火了。现在，你会回到我们身边，很快就会恢复正常。”

I smiled ironically.
我讽刺地笑了笑。

“I have been ‘Bellforded’ so often,” I said, “that it has lost its edge. Still, in the end, it may grow wearisome. —
“我已经被‘贝尔福德’过太多次了，”我说，“以至于它失去了锋芒。不过，最终，也许会变得乏味。 —

Would you be willing at all to entertain the hypothesis that my name is Edward Pinkhammer, and that I never saw you before in my life?”
你愿意考虑一下我的名字是爱德华·平克哈默，而且我以前从未见过你吗？”

Before the man could reply a wailing cry came from the woman. She sprang past his detaining arm. —
在那人答话之前，女人发出了凄厉的哭声。她跨过他阻拦的手臂。“埃尔温！ —

“Elwyn!” she sobbed, and cast herself upon me, and clung tight. —
”她哭着扑到我身上，抓得紧紧的。“埃尔温， —

“Elwyn,” she cried again, “don’t break my heart. —
”她再次呼喊，“不要伤我心。 —

I am your wife - call my name once - just once. —
我是你的妻子—叫一次我的名字—只叫一次。 —

I could see you dead rather than this way.”
我宁愿看到你死，也不愿看到你这样。”

I unwound her arms respectfully, but firmly.
我有礼貌而坚决地解开了她的手臂。

“Madam,” I said, severely, “pardon me if I suggest that you accept a resemblance too precipitately. —
“夫人，如果我冒昧地建议您接受太过匆忙的相似度，请原谅我。 —

It is a pity,” I went on, with an amused laugh, as the thought occurred to me, “that this Bellford and I could not be kept side by side upon the same shelf like tartrates of sodium and antimony for purposes of identification. —
我笑着说：“真可惜，贝尔福德和我不能被放在同一架上，就像酒石酸钠和锑的例子一样，以便用来鉴定。 —

In order to understand the allusion,” I concluded airily, “it may be necessary for you to keep an eye on the proceedings of the Druggists’ National Convention.”
为了理解这个比喻，我轻松地总结道：“您可能需要关注药剂师全国大会的进程。”

The lady turned to her companion, and grasped his arm.
这位女士转身对她的同伴说话，并紧紧抓住了他的胳膊。

“What is it, Doctor Volney? Oh, what is it?” she moaned.
“怎么了，沃尔尼医生？哦，怎么了？”她哀叹道。

“Go to your room for a while,” I heard him say. —
我听到他说：“你回房间一会儿吧， —

“I will remain and talk with him. —
我会留下来和他谈话。他的思维？ —

His mind? —
—

No, I think not - only a portion of the brain. —
不，我想不是 —— 只是大脑的一部分。 —

Yes, I am sure he will recover. —
是的，我相信他会康复的。 —

Go to your room and leave me with him.”
你去你的房间，让我和他单独呆一会儿。”

The lady disappeared. The man in dark clothes also went outside, still manicuring himself in a thoughtful way. I think he waited in the hall.
女士消失了。那个穿着黑衣的男人也走了出去，沉思地整理着自己。我想他在大厅里等着。

“I would like to talk with you a while, Mr. Pinkhammer, if I may,” said the gentleman who remained.
“如果可以的话，我想和您聊一会儿，平克哈默先生，” 坚持留下的绅士说道。

“Very well, if you care to,” I replied, “and will excuse me if I take it comfortably; —
“好吧，如果您愿意的话，” 我回答道， “并且请谅解我如果我坐着很舒服； —

I am rather tired.” I stretched myself upon a couch by a window and lit a cigar. —
我有点累了。” 我躺在窗户旁的沙发上，点了一支雪茄。 —

He drew a chair nearby.
他拉了一把椅子靠近。

“Let us speak to the point,” he said, soothingly. “Your name is not Pinkhammer.”
“让我们直奔主题，” 他平静地说道。 “你的名字不是平克哈默。”

“I know that as well as you do,” I said, coolly. —
“我和你一样清楚，” 我冷静地说道。 —

“But a man must have a name of some sort. —
“但是一个人必须有个名字。 —

I can assure you that I do not extravagantly admire the name of Pinkhammer. —
我可以向您保证，我并不特别欣赏平克哈默这个名字。 —

But when one christens one’s self suddenly, the fine names do not seem to suggest themselves. —
但是当一个人突然给自己取名字时，很难想出好听的名字。 —

But, suppose it had been Scheringhausen or Scroggins! —
假如我本来叫Scheringhausen或者Scroggins会怎么样！ —

I think I did very well with Pinkhammer.”
我觉得用平克哈默已经很好了。

“Your name,” said the other man, seriously, “is Elwyn C. Bellford. You are one of the first lawyers in Denver. —
“你的名字，” 另一个人认真地说道， “是 Elwyn C. Bellford。你是丹佛最好的律师之一。” —

You are suffering from an attack of aphasia, which has caused you to forget your identity. —
你正遭受失语症的困扰，导致你忘记了自己的身份。 —

The cause of it was over-application to your profession, and, perhaps, a life too bare of natural recreation and pleasures. —
这是因为你过度专注于职业，并且生活中缺乏自然娱乐和乐趣的原因所致。 —

The lady who has just left the room is your wife.”
刚刚离开房间的女士是你的妻子。

“She is what I would call a fine-looking woman,” I said, after a judicial pause. “I particularly admire the shade of brown in her hair.”
“我必须说，她是一个相貌出众的女人，我尤其欣赏她头发的棕色色调。”

“She is a wife to be proud of. Since your disappearance, nearly two weeks ago, she has scarcely closed her eyes. —
“她是一个让人感到骄傲的妻子。自你消失将近两周以来，她几乎没有合眼。” —

We learned that you were in New York through a telegram sent by Isidore Newman, a traveling man from Denver. —
我们是通过一位来自丹佛的旅行商人艾西多尔·纽曼发送的电报得知你在纽约。 —

He said that he had met you in a hotel here, and that you did not recognize him.”
他说他在这里的一家酒店里见到了你，而你却没有认出他来。

“I think I remember the occasion,” I said. —
“我想我记得那个场合，”我说道，” —

“The fellow called me ‘Bellford,’ if I am not mistaken. —
那家伙叫我‘贝尔福德’，如果我没记错的话。 —

But don’t you think it about time, now, for you to introduce yourself?”
“但现在，你不觉得是时候自我介绍一下了吗?”

“I am Robert Volney - Doctor Volney. —
“我是罗伯特·沃尔尼，即沃尔尼医生。 —

I have been your close friend for twenty years, and your physician for fifteen. —
我与你是至交已有二十年之久，也是你的医生已有十五年。 —

I came with Mrs. Bellford to trace you as soon as we got the telegram. —
一接到电报，我立刻和贝尔福德夫人一起来寻找你。 —

Try, Elwyn, old man - try to remember!”
请试试，埃尔温，老朋友——试着回忆一下！”

“What’s the use to try?” I asked, with a little frown. “You say you are a physician. —
“试试有何用呢？”我皱了皱眉头，“你说你是一名医生。 —

Is aphasia curable? When a man loses his memory does it return slowly, or suddenly?”
失语症可治愈吗？当一个人失去记忆时，是慢慢恢复，还是突然恢复？”

“Sometimes gradually and imperfectly; —
“有时是逐渐而不完全地恢复； —

sometimes as suddenly as it went.”
有时则像失去一样突然恢复。”

“Will you undertake the treatment of my case, Doctor Volney?” I asked.
“你是否愿意治疗我的病情，沃尔尼医生？”我问道。

“Old friend,” said he, “I’ll do everything in my power, and will have done everything that science can do to cure you.”
“老朋友，”他说，“我将竭尽所能，并将尽一切科学所能来治愈你。”

“Very well,” said I. “Then you will consider that I am your patient. —
“好吧，”我说，“那么你会把我视为你的病人。 —

Everything is in confidence now - professional confidence.”
现在一切都是保密的——职业保密。”

“Of course,” said Doctor Volney.
“当然，”沃尔尼医生说。

I got up from the couch. Some one had set a vase of white roses on the centre table - a cluster of white roses, freshly sprinkled and fragrant. —
我从沙发上站起来。有人在中央的桌子上放了一瓶白玫瑰——一束洁白的玫瑰鲜花，新洒水过并带着芬芳。 —

I threw them far out of the window, and then laid myself upon the couch again.
我把它们从窗外扔得很远，然后又躺回了沙发上。

“It will be best, Bobby,” I said, “to have this cure happen suddenly. —
“鲍比，最好这个疗程突然结束。”我说道， —

I’m rather tired of it all, anyway. —
“反正我已经厌倦了这一切。” —

You may go now and bring Marian in. But, oh, Doc,” I said, with a sigh, as I kicked him on the shin - “good old Doc - it was glorious!”
你现在可以去把玛丽安带进来了。但是，哦，医生啊，我一边叹了口气，一边踢了他的小腿，真是太美妙了！