The editor of the Hearthstone Magazine his own ideas about the selection of manuscript for his publication. —
炉石杂志的编辑对于选取手稿有自己的想法。他的理论并不秘密； —

His theory is no secret; —
—

in fact, he will expound it to you willingly sitting at his mahogany desk, smiling benignantly and tapping his knee gently with his gold-rimmed eye- glasses.
事实上，他愿意坐在他的红木桌旁向你详细解释，并友好地微笑着轻轻敲打他的膝盖，配着他那镶着金边的眼镜；

“The Hearthstone,” he will say, “does not employ a staff of readers. —
“《炉石杂志》并没有雇佣一批读者。 —

We obtain opinions of the manuscripts submitted to us directly from types of the various classes of our readers.”
我们直接向各类读者的代表获取有关所提交手稿的意见。”

That is the editor’s theory; —
这是编辑的理论； —

and this is the way he carries it out:
他实施的方式如下：

When a batch of MSS. is received the editor stuffs every one of his pockets full of them and distributes them as he goes about during the day. —
当一批手稿收到时，编辑会把每一篇都塞满的口袋，边走边分发。 —

The office employees, the hall porter, the janitor, the elevator man, messenger boys, the waiters at the café where the editor has luncheon, the man at the news-stand where he buys his evening paper, the grocer and milkman, the guard on the 5.30 uptown elevated train, the ticket-chopper at Sixty –th street, the cook and maid at his home – these are the readers who pass upon MSS. sent in to the Hearthstone Magazine. —
办公室的员工、大厅门房、清洁工、电梯员、送信小伙子、编辑午餐所在咖啡馆的服务员、他买晚报的报摊主、杂货店老板和送奶工、下午5点半上行列车的警卫、60街的售票员、他家的厨师和女仆 - 这些是审阅《家庭炉边杂志》投稿的读者。 —

If his pockets are not entirely emptied by the time he reaches the bosom of his family the remaining ones are handed over to his wife to read after the baby goes to sleep. —
如果他的口袋在回到家人身边之前还没完全掏空，剩下的东西会交给他的妻子，在宝宝睡了之后由她来阅读。 —

A few days later the editor gathers in the MSS. during his regular rounds and con- siders the verdict of his assorted readers.
几天后，编辑在他的定期巡访中收集了投稿，考虑他各种读者的意见。

This system of making up a magazine has been very successful; —
这种制作杂志的系统非常成功； —

and the circulation, paced by the advertising rates, is making a wonderful record of speed.
而且按广告收费速度衡量的发行量正在创下了惊人的记录。

The Hearthstone Company also publishes books, and its imprint is to be found on several successful works – all recommended, says the editor, by the Hearthstone’8 army of volunteer readers. —
Hearthstone公司还出版书籍，该公司的品牌印记出现在一些成功的作品上 - 所有这些作品都是由Hearthstone公司的志愿读者推荐的，编辑说。 —

Now and then (according to talkative members of the editorial staff) the Hearthstone has allowed manuscripts to slip through its fingers on the advice of its heterogeneous readers, that afterward proved to be famous sellers when brought out by other houses.
Hearthstone据说有时会因为志愿读者们的建议而放弃一些手稿，然后这些手稿在其他出版社出版后成为了畅销书。

For instance (the gossips say), “The Rise and Fall of Silas Latham” was unfavourably passed upon by the elevator-man; —
据闲聊搬运工说，比如《赛拉斯·拉瑟姆的兴衰》曾被电梯工人不赞同； —

the office-boy unanimously rejected “The Boss”; —
公司的职员们一致否定了《老板》； —

“In the Bishop’s Carriage” was contemptuously looked upon by the street-car conductor; —
街车售票员轻视《主教敞篷车》； —

“The Deliver- ance” was turned down by a clerk in the subscription department whose wife’s mother had just begun a two- months’ visit at his home; —
在订阅部工作的一位职员拒绝了《拯救》，他的岳母刚刚开始在家里住了两个月； —

“The Queen’s Quair” came back from the janitor with the comment: —
《女王的爱情日记》从门卫那里回来，他评论道： —

“So is the book.”
“这本书也是如此”。

But nevertheless the Hearthstone adheres to its theory and system, and it will never lack volunteer readers; —
然而，炉石传说仍然坚持其理论和系统，它永远不会缺少志愿读者； —

for each one of the widely scattered staff, from the young lady stenographer in the editorial office to the man who shovels in coal (whose adverse decision lost to the Hearth- stone Company the manuscript of “The Under World”), has expectations of becoming editor of the magazine some day.
对于广泛分散的工作人员来说，每个人都有成为该杂志编辑的期望，从编辑办公室的年轻女书记员到煤球投放者（失去了炉石传说公司的《地下世界》手稿的人）；

This method of the Hearthstone was well known to Allen Slayton when he wrote his novelette entitled “Love Is All.” Slayton had hung about the editorial offices of all the magazines so persistently that he was acquainted with the inner workings of every one in Gotham.
当艾伦·斯莱顿写他的短篇小说《爱是一切》时，他对炉石传说的这种方法非常了解。斯莱顿在哥谭市的各种杂志编辑办公室逗留得非常执着，以至于他熟悉每个人的内部工作情况；

He knew not only that the editor of the Hearthstone handed his MSS. around among different types of people for reading, but that the stories of sentimental love- interest went to Miss Puffkin, the editor’s stenographer. —
他不仅知道炉石传说的编辑会将他的手稿分发给不同类型的人阅读，而且知道有感情爱情题材的故事会交给编辑的书记员普金小姐阅读。 —

Another of the editor’s peculiar customs was to conceal invariably the name of the writer from his readers of MSS. so that a glittering name might not influence the sincerity of their reports.
编辑还有一个奇特的习惯，那就是始终对读者隐瞒稿件作者的名字，以免耀眼的名字影响他们报告的真实性。

Slayton made “Love Is All” the effort of his life. —
斯雷顿把《爱是一切》视为他生命的努力。 —

He gave it six months of the best work of his heart and brain. —
他用心灵和智慧的最佳工作投入了六个月的时间。 —

It was a pure love-story, fine, elevated, romantic, passionate – a prose poem that set the divine blessing of love (I am transposing from the manuscript) high above all earthly gifts and honours, and listed it in the catalogue of heaven’s choicest rewards. —
这是一个纯粹的爱情故事，崇高、浪漫、充满激情——一篇把爱的神圣祝福（我从手稿中转述）放在所有世间礼物和荣誉之上的散文诗，将其列入天堂最珍贵的奖赏之中。 —

Slayton’s literary ambition was intense. —
斯雷顿对文学抱有强烈的野心。 —

He would have sacrificed all other worldly possessions to have gained fame in his chosen art. —
他宁愿牺牲所有其他世间的财物来在自己选择的艺术领域获得名声。 —

He would almost have cut off his right hand, or have offered himself to the knife of the appendi- citis fancier to have realized his dream of seeing one of his efforts published in the Hearthstone.
他宁可砍下自己的右手，或者向阑尾炎症状的医生自愿手术，只为实现他在《炉石》上发表自己的作品的梦想。

Slayton finished “Love Is All,” and took it to thy Hearthstone in person. —
斯雷顿完成了《爱是一切》，亲自带着它去了《炉石》。 —

The office of the magazine was in a large, conglomerate building, presided under by a janitor.
这家杂志的办公室位于一幢庞大的综合大楼内，由一名清洁工管辖。

As the writer stepped inside the door on his way to the elevator a potato masher flew through the hall, wreck- ing, Slayton’s hat, and smashing the glass of the door. —
当作家进门准备去坐电梯时，一个土豆泥压过走廊，打破了斯莱顿的帽子，砸碎了门上的玻璃。 —

Closely following in the wake of the utensil flew the janitor, a bulky, unwholesome man, suspenderless and sordid, panic-stricken and breathless. —
在这个厨具后面紧随其后的是清洁工，一个臃肿而不健康的男人，没有背带，肮脏不堪，惊慌失措且气喘吁吁。 —

A frowsy, tall woman with flying hair followed the missile. —
一个蓬头垢面、身材高大的女人紧跟着这个飞行物。 —

The janitor’s foot slipped on the tiled floor, he fell in a heap with an exclamation of despair. —
清洁工的脚在平铺的地板上一滑，他摔倒在地，发出绝望的呼喊。 —

The woman pounced upon him and seized his hair. —
女人扑上去抓住他的头发。 —

The man bellowed lustily.
男人大声嚎叫。

Her vengeance wreaked, the virago rose and stalked triumphant as Minerva, back to some cryptic domestic retreat at the rear. —
完成复仇后，这个凶悍的女人像米涅瓦那样得意洋洋地返回到后方一间神秘的家庭地方。 —

The janitor got to his feet, blown and humiliated.
清洁工艰难地站起来，感到受辱和羞愧。

“This is married life,” he said to Slayton, with a certain bruised humour. —
“这就是婚姻生活，”他对斯莱顿说，带着某种被伤害的幽默感，” —

“That’s the girl I used to lay awake of nights thinking about. —
那是我曾经晚上睡觉时思念着的女孩。” —

Sorry about your hat, mister. Say, don’t snitch to the tenants about this, will yer? —
对不起，先生，关于你的帽子很抱歉。嗨，别告诉其他住户，好不好？ —

I don’t want to lose me job.”
我不想丢掉工作。

Slayton took the elevator at the end of the hall and went up to the offices of the Hearthstone. —
斯莱顿走到走廊尽头的电梯，然后去了Hearthstone的办公室。 —

He left the MS. of “Love Is All” with the editor, who agreed to give, him an answer as to its availability at the end of a week.
他把《爱是一切》的手稿留给了编辑，约定一周后给他答复是否能发布。

Slayton formulated his great winning scheme on his way down. —
斯莱顿在下楼的路上构想出了他伟大的取胜计划。 —

It struck him with one brilliant flash, and he could not refrain from admiring his own genius in conceiving the idea. —
它瞬间闪现在他脑海中，他不禁对自己能想出这个主意感到自豪。 —

That very night he set about carry- ing it into execution.
就在那天晚上，他开始着手执行这个计划。

Miss Puffkin, the Hearthstone stenographer, boarded in the same house with the author. —
Hearthstone的速记员普芙金小姐和作者住在同一栋房子里。 —

She was an oldish, thin, exclusive, languishing, sentimental maid; —
她是个上了年纪、瘦瘦的、独显的、懒洋洋的、多愁善感的老姑娘。 —

and Slayton had been introduced to her some time before.
斯莱顿一段时间前曾经和她见过面。

The writer’s daring and self-sacrificing project was this: —
作者大胆而无私的项目就是： —

He knew that the editor of the Hearthstone relied strongly upon Miss Puffkin’s judgment in the manuscript of romantic and sentimental fiction. —
他知道《炉石》的编辑在浪漫和情感小说的手稿上非常依赖普夫金小姐的判断。 —

Her taste represented the immense average of mediocre women who devour novels and stories of that type. —
她的品味代表了那些热衷于阅读这类小说和故事的平庸女性的普遍水平。 —

The central idea and keynote of “Love Is All” was love at first sight – the enrapturing, irresistible, soul-thrilling, feeling that com- pels a man or a woman to recognize his or her spirit-mate as soon as heart speaks to heart. —
《爱是所有的》的中心思想和基调是一见钟情——令人陶醉、不可抗拒、灵魂震颤的感觉，当心与心相通时，男人或女人会立即认出他或她的灵魂伴侣。 —

Suppose he should impress this divine truth upon Miss Puffkin personally! —
如果他能亲自给普夫金小姐留下这个神圣的真理，她是否会毫不犹豫地向《炉石》的编辑推荐这部小说《爱是所有的》呢？ —

– would she not surely indorse her new and rapturous sensations by recommending highly to the editor of the Hearthstone the novelette “Love Is All” ?
斯莱顿认为是的。于是，那天晚上他带普夫金小姐去看了一场戏。

Slayton thought so. And that night he took Miss Puffkin to the theatre. —
第二天晚上，他在寄宿家庭的昏暗客厅里热烈地向她表达了爱意。他大量引用了《爱是所有的》中的内容。 —

The next night he made vehement love to her in the dim parlour of the boarding-house. —
他希望通过这种方式给普夫金小姐留下深刻的印象， —

He quoted freely from “Love Is All”; —
并期待着她会高度推荐《爱是所有的》给《炉石》的编辑。 —

and he wound up with Miss Puffkin’s head on his shoulder, and visions of literary fame dancing in his head.
他最终把帕夫金小姐的头放在肩膀上，脑海里充满了文学的名望。

But Slayton did not stop at love-making. This, he said to himself, was the turning point of his life; and, like a true sportsman, he “went the limit.” On Thursday night he and Miss Puffkin walked over to the Big Church in the Middle of the Block and were married.
但斯莱顿并未止步于爱情。他对自己说，这是他生命的转折点；就像一位真正的运动员一样，他“不惜代价”。星期四晚上，他和帕夫金小姐走到了中间那座大教堂，举行了婚礼。

Brave Slayton! Chateaubriand died in a garret, Byron courted a widow, Keats starved to death, Poe mixed his drinks, De Quincey hit the pipe, Ade lived in Chica-o, James kept on doing it, Dic Kens wore white socks, De Maupassant wore a strait-jacket, Tom Watson became a Populist, Jeremiah wept, all these authors did these things for the sake of literature, but thou didst cap them all; —
勇敢的斯莱顿！夏多布里昂死在阁楼上，拜伦追求寡妇，济慈饿死，爱伦坠入酒瘾，德昆西吸食鸦片，艾迪住在芝加哥，詹姆斯继续做那件事，狄肯斯穿着白袜子，德·莫泊桑戴着紧身衣，汤姆·沃森成为了一个人民党党员，耶利米哭泣，所有这些作家为了文学都做了这些事情，但你超越了他们所有人； —

thou marriedst a wife for to carve for thyself a niche in the temple of fame!
你为了在名人堂中开辟一席之地而娶了妻子！

On Friday morning Mrs. Slayton said she would go over to the Hearthstone office, hand in one or two manu- ripts that the editor had given to her to read, and resign her position as stenographer.
星期五早上，斯莱顿太太说她要去赫斯顿办公室，交上编辑给她阅读的一两篇手稿，并辞去她的速记员职位。

“Was there anything – er – that – er – you particu- larly fancied in the stories you are going to turn in?” asked Slayton with a thumping heart.
“在你要交的那些故事里，有没有什么你特别喜欢的？” 斯莱顿心怦怦地问道。

“There was one a novelette, that I liked so much,” said his wife. “I haven’t read anything in years that I thought was half as nice and true to life.”
“有一篇中篇小说，我真的非常喜欢。这些年来我没有读过比它更好、更真实的作品了。”太太回答道。

That afternoon Slayton hurried down to the Hearth- stone office. —
那天下午，斯莱顿匆匆赶到赫斯顿办公室。 —

He felt that his reward was close at hand. —
他感觉自己的回报近在咫尺。 —

With a novelette in the Hearthstone, literary reputation would soon be his.
只要在赫斯顿发表一篇中篇小说，他的文学声誉很快就能够得到肯定。

The office boy met him at the railing in the outer office. —
办公室男孩在外屋的栏杆上迎接他。 —

It was not for unsuccessful authors to hold personal colloquy with the editor except at rare intervals.
对于不成功的作家来说，除了极少数例外，是不会与编辑进行个人交谈的。

Slayton, hugging himself internally, was nursing in his heart the exquisite hope of being able to crush the office boy with his forthcoming success.
斯莱顿内心暗自庆幸，怀揣着期待能够用即将到来的成功来打击办公室男孩的美好希望。

He inquired concerning his novelette. —
他询问了有关他的短篇小说的事情。 —

The office boy went into the sacred precincts and brought forth a large envelope, thick with more than the bulk of a thousand diecks.
办公室男孩走进神圣的地方，拿出了一个厚厚的大信封，里面有超过一千页的厚度。

“The boss told me to tell you he’s sorry,” said the boy, “but your manuscript ain’t available for the magazine.”
“老板让我告诉你，他很抱歉，但你的手稿不适合刊登在杂志上。”

Slayton stood, dazed. “Can you tell me,” he stammered, “whether or no Miss Puff – that is my – I mean Miss ruffkin – handed in a novelette this morning that she had been asked to read?”
斯莱顿站起来，目瞪口呆地说：”你能告诉我，” 他结巴着说，”但愿莫丝·帕夫——也就是我的——我的意思是莫丝·拉夫金——今天早上是否交了一篇她被要求阅读的短篇小说？”

“Sure she did,” answered the office boy wisely. —
“当然交了，”办公室男孩睿智地回答说。” —

“I heard the old man say that Miss Puffkin said it was a daisy. —
我听老板说莫丝·帕夫金说它太好了。” —

The name of it was, ‘Married for the Mazuma, or a Working Girl’s Triumph.’”
它的名字叫做”为了钱而结婚，或者一个打工妹儿的胜利”。

“Say, you!” said the office boy confidentially, “your name’s Slayton, ain’t it? —
“喂，你！”办公室男孩信任地说道，” 你的名字叫斯莱顿，对吗？ —

I guess I mixed cases on vou without meanin’ to do it. —
我想在不刻意的情况下搞错了收件人。 —

The boss give me some manu- script to hand around the other day and I got the ones for Miss Puffkin and the janitor mixed. —
老板给我一些手稿让我分发，我把莫丝·帕夫金和看门人的搞混了。 —

I guess it’s all right, though.”
我想没事的，不过。”

And then Slayton looked closer and saw on the cover of his manuscript, under the title “Love Is All,” the janitor’s comment scribbled with a piece of charcoal:
然后斯莱顿更仔细地看了看他的手稿封面，在标题“爱是一切”的下面，用一块木炭随口写下了清洁工的评论：

“The – you say!”
“你在说什么！”