EDITORIAL NOTE.–Before the fatal illness of William Sydney Porter (known through his literary work as “O. Henry”) this American master of short-story writing had begun for Hampton’s Magazine the story printed below. —
编者注：在威廉·悉尼·波特(以其文学作品“奥·亨利”闻名)患上致命疾病之前，这位美国短篇小说大师已经开始为《汉普顿杂志》写下面打印的故事了。 —

Illness crept upon him rapidly and he was compelled to give up writing about at the point where the girl enters the story.
疾病迅速侵袭他，迫使他在女孩进入故事的地方放弃写作。

When he realized that he could do no more (it was his lifelong habit to write with a pencil, never dictating to a stenographer), O. Henry told in detail the remainder of The Snow Man to Harris Merton Lyon, whom he had often spoken of as one of the most effective short-story writers of the present time. —
当他意识到自己无法再做更多时(他一生的习惯是用铅笔写作，从不对速记员口述)，奥·亨利详细告诉哈里斯·默顿·里昂剩余部分的《雪人》的故事。他经常提到哈里斯·默顿·里昂是当今最有效的短篇小说作家之一。 —

Mr. Porter had delineated all of the characters, leaving only the rounding out of the plot in the final pages to Mr. Lyon.
波特先生描绘了所有的人物，只把剧情的尾声留给里昂先生来完成。

Housed and windowpaned from it, the greatest wonder to little children is the snow. —
对于小孩子来说, 被房屋和窗户遮住的，最奇妙的事情就是雪。 —

To men, it is something like a crucible in which their world melts into a white star ten million miles away. —
对于成年人来说,它有点像一个坩埚,他们的世界融化在十万英里外的一颗白色的星球上。 —

The man who can stand the test is a Snow Man; —
这个经受考验的男人是一个雪人； —

and this is his reading by Fahrenheit, Reaumur, or Moses’s carven tablets of stone.
他的温度可以用华氏度、列氏度或摩西的石碑来读取。

Night had fluttered a sable pinion above the canyon of Big Lost River, and I urged my horse toward the Bay Horse Ranch because the snow was deepening. —
夜幕已经笼罩了大失落河的峡谷，我急忙策马前往贝霍斯牧场，因为雪越下越大。 —

The flakes were as large as an hour’s circular tatting by Miss Wilkins’s ablest spinster, betokening a heavy snowfall and less entertainment and more adventure than the completion of the tatting could promise. —
雪花像威尔金斯小姐最有能力的女纺工织了一个小时的圆圈圈，预示着大雪即将到来，带来的是更多冒险而不仅仅是完成编织工作所能带来的娱乐。 —

I knew Ross Curtis of the Bay Horse, and that I would be welcome as a snow-bound pilgrim, both for hospitality’s sake and because Ross had few chances to confide in living creatures who did not neigh, bellow, bleat, yelp, or howl during his discourse.
我认识贝霍斯牧场的Ross Curtis，我知道作为一个被困在雪地里的朝圣者，我会受到热情款待，因为Ross很少有机会与非马、牛、羊、狗或狼的生物倾诉。

The ranch house was just within the jaws of the canyon where its builder may have fatuously fancied that the timbered and rocky walls on both sides would have protected it from the wintry Colorado winds; —
牧场房子正好位于峡谷的喉咙中，也许它的建造者盲目地认为两边的树木和岩石墙壁会保护它免受寒冷的科罗拉多风的侵袭。 —

but I feared the drift. Even now through the endless, bottomless rift in the hills–the speaking tube of the four winds–came roaring the voice of the proprietor to the little room on the top floor.
但我担心漂移。即使现在，在山峦间无尽无底的裂缝中——四风的话筒——业主的声音也在响彻顶楼的小房间里。

At my “hello,” a ranch hand came from an outer building and received my thankful horse. —
在我说”喂”的时候，一个农场工人从外边的建筑物里走出来，接过我的感激的马。 —

In another minute, Ross and I sat by a stove in the dining-room of the four-room ranch house, while the big, simple welcome of the household lay at my disposal. —
再过一分钟，Ross和我坐在四间房的农舍里的一间餐厅里，家里人热情的欢迎让我感到宾至如归。 —

Fanned by the whizzing norther, the fine, dry snow was sifted and bolted through the cracks and knotholes of the logs. —
在呼啸的北风的吹拂下，细腻而干燥的雪从木头的缝隙和结洞里漏了进来。 —

The cook room, without a separating door, appended.
厨房没有隔离的门，附在后面。

In there I could see a short, sturdy, leisurely and weather-beaten man moving with professional sureness about his red-hot stove. —
我可以看见一个身材矮壮，从容不迫而又风霜侵袭的男人在他红热的火炉周围熟练地活动着。 —

His face was stolid and unreadable–something like that of a great thinker, or of one who had no thoughts to conceal. —
他的脸色木讷而难以读懂——有点像一个伟大的思想家，或者一个没有隐藏思想的人。 —

I thought his eye seemed unwarrantably superior to the elements and to the man, but quickly attributed that to the characteristic self-importance of a petty chef. —
我觉得他的眼睛似乎比自然元素和人类都要高人一等，但我很快把这归因于一个小厨师典型的自负态度。 —

“Camp cook” was the niche that I gave him in the Hall of Types; —
“野营厨师”是我在类型大厅里给他的定位； —

and he fitted it as an apple fits a dumpling.
而他完美地适应了这个角色，就像苹果完美地适应了一个饺子一样。

Cold it was in spite of the glowing stove; —
尽管火炉燃烧着，冷风仍然刺骨。 —

and Ross and I sat and talked, shuddering frequently, half from nerves and half from the freezing draughts. —
罗斯和我坐在那里谈话，频繁地颤抖，一半是因为紧张，一半是因为冻人的寒风。 —

So he brought the bottle and the cook brought boiling water, and we made prodigious hot toddies against the attacks of Boreas. —
于是他拿来了瓶子，厨师拿来了烧开的水，我们制作了强力的热雞尾酒来抵御北风的袭击。 —

We clinked glasses often. —
我们经常碰杯。 —

They sounded like icicles dropping from the eaves, or like the tinkle of a thousand prisms on a Louis XIV chandelier that I once heard at a boarder’s dance in the parlor of a ten-a-week boarding-house in Gramercy Square. —
它们的声音像屋檐上滴下的冰柱，或者像我曾经在格拉默西广场一座每周十美元的寄宿公寓客厅里听到的路易十四式吊灯上的一千个棱镜的叮咚声。 —

Sic transit.
Sic transit.

Silence in the terrible beauty of the snow and of the Sphinx and of the stars; —
在大雪、斯芬克斯和星星那可怕的美丽中沉默； —

but they who believe that all things, from a without-wine table d’hote to the crucifixion, may be interpreted through music, might have found a nocturne or a symphony to express the isolation of that blotted-out world. —
但那些相信一切事物，从没有酒的餐桌到十字架，都可以通过音乐来诠释的人们，可能会找到一首夜曲或交响曲来表达那个被抹去的世界的孤立。 —

The clink of glass and bottle, the aeolian chorus of the wind in the house crannies, its deeper trombone through the canyon below, and the Wagnerian crash of the cook’s pots and pans, united in a fit, discordant melody, I thought. —
玻璃和瓶子的叮当声，风在房屋角落的音调合唱，它在下面的峡谷中变成更加低沉的长号声，还有厨师的锅碗瓢盆所引发的瓦格纳式的撞击声，统一成一曲适合这个不协调世界的旋律，我想。 —

No less welcome an accompaniment was the sizzling of broiling ham and venison cutlet indorsed by the solvent fumes of true Java, bringing rich promises of comfort to our yearning souls.
同样受欢迎的伴奏是沸腾的煎火腿和切好的鹿肉排，真正的爪哇咖啡溶解出的芳香，为我们渴望的灵魂带来了舒适的承诺。

The cook brought the smoking supper to the table. —
厨师把冒烟的晚餐端到了桌子上。 —

He nodded to me democratically as he cast the heavy plates around as though he were pitching quoits or hurling the discus. —
他向我打了个民主的招呼，像投掷旗铃或掷圆盘那样，猛地扔向沉重的盘子。 —

I looked at him with some appraisement and curiosity and much conciliation. —
我观察着他，感到好奇和想要融洽的心情。 —

There was no prophet to tell us when that drifting evil outside might cease to fall; —
没有先知告诉我们外面那无止境的恶劣天气何时才会停止下来； —

and it is well, when snow-bound, to stand somewhere within the radius of the cook’s favorable consideration. —
而当被困在大雪中时，站在厨师喜欢的范围内是很好的。 —

But I could read neither favor nor disapproval in the face and manner of our pot-wrestler.
但是我无法从我们的斗饭师傅的面部和态度中看出喜爱或不喜爱的意思。

He was about five feet nine inches, and two hundred pounds of commonplace, bull-necked, pink-faced, callous calm. —
他个子大约五英尺九英寸，两百磅重，普通得让人头脖子直的，粉红色的脸，麻木的冷静。 —

He wore brown duck trousers too tight and too short, and a blue flannel shirt with sleeves rolled above his elbows. —
他穿着太紧太短的褐色鸭绒裤子，还有一件袖子卷到肘部的蓝色法兰绒衬衫。 —

There was a sort of grim, steady scowl on his features that looked to me as though he had fixed it there purposely as a protection against the weakness of an inherent amiability that, he fancied, were better concealed. —
他那种阴郁、稳定的皱眉看起来像是他故意挂在那里，以防止内在的和蔼可亲性格的软弱暴露出来。 —

And then I let supper usurp his brief occupancy of my thoughts.
然后我让晚餐夺走了我对他的瞬间关注。

“Draw up, George,” said Ross. “Let’s all eat while the grub’s hot.”
“过来吧，乔治，”罗斯说。“趁食物还热，我们一起吃。”

“You fellows go on and chew,” answered the cook. —
“你们继续吃吧，”厨师答道。 —

“I ate mine in the kitchen before sun-down.”
“我在太阳下山之前已经吃过了。”

“Think it’ll be a big snow, George?” asked the ranchman.
“乔治，你觉得会下大雪吗？”农场主问道。

George had turned to reenter the cook room. —
乔治转身准备重新进入厨房。 —

He moved slowly around and, looking at his face, it seemed to me that he was turning over the wisdom and knowledge of centuries in his head.
他慢慢转了一圈，看着他的脸，我觉得他在脑子里思考着几个世纪的智慧和知识。

“It might,” was his delayed reply.
“也许吧，”他迟迟地回答道。

At the door of the kitchen he stopped and looked back at us. —
在厨房的门口，他停下来看着我们。 —

Both Ross and I held our knives and forks poised and gave him our regard. —
罗斯和我都拿着刀叉，准备好了。 —

Some men have the power of drawing the attention of others without speaking a word. —
有些人不用说一句话就能吸引别人的注意力。 —

Their attitude is more effective than a shout.
他们的态度比喊叫更有效。

“And again it mightn’t,” said George, and went back to his stove.
“也许不会，” 乔治说着又回到了炉子旁边。

After we had eaten, he came in and gathered the emptied dishes. —
吃完饭后，他进来收拾空碟子。 —

He stood for a moment, while his spurious frown deepened.
他站了一会儿，皱眉更深了。

“It might stop any minute,” he said, “or it might keep up for days.”
“也许随时都会停下来，”他说道，” 也许会持续几天。”

At the farther end of the cook room I saw George pour hot water into his dishpan, light his pipe, and put the tableware through its required lavation. —
在厨房的另一端，我看到乔治把热水倒入洗碗盆，点燃了他的烟斗，开始清洗餐具。 —

He then carefully unwrapped from a piece of old saddle blanket a paperback book, and settled himself to read by his dim oil lamp.
然后他小心地从一块旧马鞍毯上解开了一本平装书，并安顿下来，靠着昏暗的油灯阅读。

And then the ranchman threw tobacco on the cleared table and set forth again the bottles and glasses; —
然后那个牧场主在清理过的桌子上撒了烟草，又拿出了瓶子和玻璃杯。 —

and I saw that I stood in a deep channel through which the long dammed flood of his discourse would soon be booming. —
我看到自己站在一个深深的渠道中，他那长时间阻塞的讲述之洪水很快就会轰鸣而过。 —

But I was half content, comparing my fate with that of the late Thomas Tucker, who had to sing for his supper, thus doubling the burdens of both himself and his host.
但我有些满足，将自己的命运与已故的托马斯·塔克的命运进行对比，他不得不为自己和他的主人同时唱歌，从而增加了他们两人的负担。

“Snow is a hell of a thing,” said Ross, by way of a foreword. “It ain’t, somehow, it seems to me, salubrious. —
“雪可真是个糟糕的东西，”罗斯开门见山地说道。“在我看来，它不是哪儿都好。” —

I can stand water and mud and two inches below zero and a hundred and ten in the shade and medium-sized cyclones, but this here fuzzy white stuff naturally gets me all locoed. —
—

I reckon the reason it rattles you is because it changes the look of things so much. —
“我能忍受水、泥巴、零下两英寸、正好110度的阴凉处和中等规模的旋风，但这种毛茸茸的白色东西真让我变得疯狂。” —

It’s like you had a wife and left her in the morning with the same old blue cotton wrapper on, and rides in of a night and runs across her all outfitted in a white silk evening frock, waving an ostrich-feather fan, and monkeying with a posy of lily flowers. —
这就像你有一个妻子，早上留下她穿着那件蓝色棉质长衫，晚上回来时，她穿着一件白色丝绸晚礼服，挥动着鸵鸟羽毛扇，手里还拿着一束百合花。 —

Wouldn’t it make you look for your pocket compass? —
这样不会让你找一下口袋指南针吗？ —

You’d be liable to kiss her before you collected your presence of mind.”
在你恢复神智之前，你可能会亲吻她。

By and by, the flood of Ross’s talk was drawn up into the clouds (so it pleased me to fancy) and there condensed into the finer snowflakes of thought; —
渐渐地，Ross的大谈特谈的言语流逝到了云端（这是我喜欢幻想的），然后凝结成了更精妙的思想雪花。 —

and we sat silent about the stove, as good friends and bitter enemies will do. —
我们坐在火炉旁静静地，正如好朋友和死对头们所做的。 —

I thought of Boss’s preamble about the mysterious influence upon man exerted by that ermine-lined monster that now covered our little world, and knew he was right.
我想起了Boss关于这披着貂皮的怪物对人类产生的神秘影响的开场白，我知道他是对的。

Of all the curious knickknacks, mysteries, puzzles, Indian gifts, rat-traps, and well-disguised blessings that the gods chuck down to us from the Olympian peaks, the most disquieting and evil-bringing is the snow. —
在那些从奥林匹斯山巅扔下来的奇特小玩意儿、谜题、拼图、印第安人的礼物、捕鼠器和伪装良机中，最令人不安和带来灾祸的就是雪。 —

By scientific analysis it is absolute beauty and purity –so, at the beginning we look doubtfully at chemistry.
通过科学分析，它是绝对的美丽和纯洁，所以，一开始我们对化学持怀疑态度。

It falls upon the world, and lo! we live in another. —
它降临到世界上，看哪！我们生活在一个全新的世界里。 —

It hides in a night the old scars and familiar places with which we have grown heart-sick or enamored. —
它用黑夜隐藏了我们厌倦或迷恋的旧伤痕和熟悉的地方。 —

So, as quietly as we can, we hustle on our embroidered robes and hie us on Prince Camaralzaman’s horse or in the reindeer sleigh into the white country where the seven colors converge. —
因此，我们尽可能地安静地穿上我们的绣花长袍，骑上卡玛拉曼王子的马，或者坐在驯鹿雪橇上，前去白色国度，那里七彩交汇。 —

This is when our fancy can overcome the bane of it.
这是我们想象力可以克服它的诅咒的时候。

But in certain spots of the earth comes the snow-madness, made known by people turned wild and distracted by the bewildering veil that has obscured the only world they know. —
但在地球上的某些地方，有着雪疯狂的人们，他们被这个令人迷茫的面纱所困扰，变得狂野和迷失，这个面纱遮蔽了他们所知道的唯一世界。 —

In the cities, the white fairy who sets the brains of her dupes whirling by a wave of her wand is cast for the comedy role. —
在城市里，这位白色仙女通过挥动她的手杖使她的受骗者的大脑旋转，扮演着幽默角色。 —

Her diamond shoe buckles glitter like frost; —
她的钻石鞋扣闪耀着霜雪般的光芒； —

with a pirouette she invites the spotless carnival.
她用一个转身邀请纯洁的狂欢。

But in the waste places the snow is sardonic. —
但在荒凉的地方，雪是嘲讽的。 —

Sponging out the world of the outliers, it gives no foothold on another sphere in return. —
它抹去了异类的世界，在另一个领域中没有给予任何支撑。 —

It makes of the earth a firmament under foot; —
它使大地成为脚下的天穹； —

it leaves us clawing and stumbling in space in an inimical fifth element whose evil outdoes its strangeness and beauty, There Nature, low comedienne, plays her tricks on man. —
它使我们在敌意的第五元素中挣扎和跌倒，其中的邪恶超过了其奇异和美丽。在那里，大自然是个低级喜剧演员，对人做着她的恶作剧。 —

Though she has put him forth as her highest product, it appears that she has fashioned him with what seems almost incredible carelessness and indexterity. —
尽管她把人类视为她的最高产物，但她似乎以一种近乎匪夷所思的粗心和笨拙来创造他。 —

One-sided and without balance, with his two halves unequally fashioned and joined, must he ever jog his eccentric way. —
他是失去平衡的、片面的，他的两个半身被不对称地塑造和连接，他必须永远沿着自己的偏心轨迹前进。 —

The snow falls, the darkness caps it, and the ridiculous man-biped strays in accurate circles until he succumbs in the ruins of his defective architecture.
雪花飘落，黑暗笼罩，可笑的人类在精确的圈子里徘徊，直到在他残缺不全的结构的废墟中屈服。

In the throat of the thirsty the snow is vitriol. —
对口渴的人来说，雪就像硫酸。 —

In appearance as plausible as the breakfast food of the angels, it is as hot in the mouth as ginger, increasing the pangs of the water-famished. —
看上去像天使的早餐食物一样合理，却像姜一样烫口，加剧了口渴造成的痛苦。 —

It is a derivative from water, air, and some cold, uncanny fire from which the caloric has been extracted. —
它源自水、空气和从中抽取了热量的一些寒冷的、怪异的火。人们对它评价甚高； —

Good has been said of it; —
—

even the poets, crazed by its spell and shivering in their attics under its touch, have indited permanent melodies commemorative of its beauty.
甚至连那些被它的魅力陶醉的诗人们，在它的触碰下在阁楼上发抖，也谱写了永恒的歌颂其美的旋律。

Still, to the saddest overcoated optimist it is a plague–a corroding plague that Pharaoh successfully side-stepped. —
然而，对于最悲观的穿过大衣的乐观主义者来说，它却是一种瘟疫——一种法老成功东倒西歪的腐蚀性瘟疫。 —

It beneficently covers the wheat fields, swelling the crop–and the Flour Trust gets us by the throat like a sudden quinsy. —
它仁慈地覆盖着麦田，稻谷膨胀——而面粉垄断让我们如同突发的喉骨发炎一样被扼住喉咙。 —

It spreads the tail of its white kirtle over the red seams of the rugged north–and the Alaskan short story is born. —
它将宽大的白裙摆展开覆盖在崎岖北方的红缝中——而阿拉斯加的短篇小说诞生了。 —

Etiolated perfidy, it shelters the mountain traveler burrowing from the icy air–and, melting to-morrow, drowns his brother in the valley below.
枯黄的背叛，它庇护了从寒冷的空气中挖掘出来的山地旅行者——然而，明天融化后，它会淹死他下面的兄弟。

At its worst it is lock and key and crucible, and the wand of Circe. When it corrals man in lonely ranches, mountain cabins, and forest huts, the snow makes apes and tigers of the hardiest. —
在最糟糕的时候，它是锁和钥匙、坩埚和赛修斯的魔杖。当它把人囚禁在偏远的牧场、山间小屋和森林小屋时，雪会让最坚强的人也变得像猿猴和老虎一样。 —

It turns the bosoms of weaker ones to glass, their tongues to infants’ rattles, their hearts to lawlessness and spleen. —
它将脆弱者的胸脯变成玻璃，他们的舌头变成婴儿的玩具，他们的心变得荒淫无度，脾气暴躁。 —

It is not all from the isolation; —
这并非完全是由于孤立; —

the snow is not merely a blockader; —
雪不仅仅是一个封锁者。 —

it is a Chemical Test. It is a good man who can show a reaction that is not chiefly composed of a drachm or two of potash and magnesia, with traces of Adam, Ananias, Nebuchadnezzar, and the fretful porcupine.
这是一次化学测试。一个好人能够展示出的反应并不主要由一两滴钾和镁组成，而是含有亚当、亚拿尼亚、尼布甲尼撒和烦躁的箭猪的微量痕迹。

This is no story, you say; well, let it begin.
这不是一个故事，你说得对; 那就让它开始吧。

There was a knock at the door (is the opening not full of context and reminiscence oh, best buyers of best sellers?).
有人敲门了（开头不是充满了上下文和回忆吗，哦，最好的买家？最好的卖家？）。

We drew the latch, and in stumbled Etienne Girod (as he afterward named himself). —
我们拔掉闩，埃蒂安·吉罗德（他之后取的名字）踉踉跄跄地进来了。 —

But just then he was no more than a worm struggling for life, enveloped in a killing white chrysalis.
但就在那时，他仅仅是一个为了生存而挣扎的蠕虫，被一个致命的白色蛹包裹着。

We dug down through snow, overcoats, mufflers, and waterproofs, and dragged forth a living thing with a Van Dyck beard and marvellous diamond rings. —
我们穿过雪、外套、围巾和防水衣物挖了下来，拖出一条有着范·戴克式胡须和奇异钻石戒指的活物。 —

We put it through the approved curriculum of snow- rubbing, hot milk, and teaspoonful doses of whiskey, working him up to a graduating class entitled to a diploma of three fingers of rye in half a glassful of hot water. —
我们让他经历了经过认可的课程，包括擦雪、热牛奶和少量的威士忌，逐渐让他达到毕业水平，可以获得一个玻璃杯里半杯热水加三指宽的莱啤酒的毕业证书。 —

One of the ranch boys had already come from the quarters at Ross’s bugle-like yell and kicked the stranger’s staggering pony to some sheltered corral where beasts were entertained.
在罗斯那尖如号角的喊声中，一个牧场的男孩已经踢了陌生人蹒跚的小马，把它带到了一个有庇护的围场里，那里是待客的地方。

Let a paragraphic biography of Girod intervene.
让吉罗德的生平介绍插入其中。

Etienne was an opera singer originally, we gathered; —
我们了解到艾蒂安最初是一位歌剧演唱家， —

but adversity and the snow had made him non compos vocis. —
但逆境和雪让他变得失声。 —

The adversity consisted of the stranded San Salvador Opera Company, a period of hotel second- story work, and then a career as a professional palmist, jumping from town to town. —
这场逆境包括陷入困境的圣萨尔瓦多歌剧团，一段时间的旅馆二楼工作，然后成为一名职业手相师，跳来跳去各个城镇。 —

For, like other professional palmists, every time he worked the Heart Line too strongly he immediately moved along the Line of Least Resistance. —
因为和其他职业手相师一样，每当他过于强调心线时，他立即选择走阻力最小的路径。 —

Though Etienne did not confide this to us, we surmised that he had moved out into the dusk about twenty minutes ahead of a constable, and had thus encountered the snow. —
虽然艾蒂安并没有向我们透露这一点，但我们猜测他在一个警察之前大约二十分钟走出去了，因此遇到了雪。 —

In his most sacred blue language he dilated upon the subject of snow; —
他用他最神圣的蓝色言语详细论述了雪的话题； —

for Etienne was Paris-born and loved the snow with the same passion that an orchid does.
因为艾蒂安是巴黎出生的，他像兰花一样热爱雪。

“Mee-ser-rhable!” commented Etienne, and took another three fingers.
“悲惨！”艾蒂安评价道，然后又倒了三杯。

“Complete, cast-iron, pussy-footed, blank. —
“完全的，坚固的，虚伪的. —

.. blank!” said Ross, and followed suit.
..”罗斯说着，也跟着倒了一杯。

“Rotten,” said I.
“烂透了，”我说。

The cook said nothing. He stood in the door weighing our outburst; —
厨师什么也没说。他站在门口权衡着我们的突发情绪； —

and insistently from behind that frozen visage I got two messages (via the M. A. M wireless). —
在那冻僵的面容后面，我坚定地收到了两条消息（通过M.A.M无线电）。 —

One was that George considered our vituperation against the snow childish; —
一条是乔治认为我们对雪的谩骂是幼稚的； —

the other was that George did not love Dagoes. —
另一条是乔治不喜欢意大利人。 —

Inasmuch as Etienne was a Frenchman, I concluded I had the message wrong. —
鉴于艾蒂安是法国人，我断定我误解了消息。 —

So I queried the other: “Bright eyes, you don’t really mean Dagoes, do you?” and over the wireless came three deathly, psychic taps: —
所以我问另一个消息：“亲爱的，你真的是指意大利人吗？”通过无线电传来了三次死亡般的心灵感应：“是的。 —

“Yes.” Then I reflected that to George all foreigners were probably “Dagoes.” I had once known another camp cook who had thought Mons., Sig., and Millie (Trans-Mississippi for Mlle.) were Italian given names; —
”然后我反思到对乔治来说，所有外国人可能都被视为“达戈斯”。我曾经认识另一个营地厨师，他认为蒙斯、西格和米莉（Trans-Mississippi 表示 Mlle.）是意大利的名字； —

this cook used to marvel therefore at the paucity of Neo-Roman precognomens, and therefore why not–
这个厨师过去常常对新罗马名字的稀缺感到惊讶，所以为什么不–

I have said that snow is a test of men. For one day, two days, Etienne stood at the window, Fletcherizing his finger nails and shrieking and moaning at the monotony. —
我曾经说过，雪是对人的考验。一个、两个日子里，埃蒂安站在窗前，咀嚼着指甲，对着乏味感叫喊和呻吟。 —

To me, Etienne was just about as unbearable as the snow; —
对我来说，埃蒂安就像雪一样令人无法忍受； —

and so, seeking relief, I went out on the second day to look at my horse, slipped on a stone, broke my collarbone, and thereafter underwent not the snow test, but the test of flat-on-the-back. —
所以，为了寻求解脱，第二天我出去看我的马，踩到了一块石头，断了锁骨，从此不再经受雪的考验，而是面对躺在床上的考验。 —

A test that comes once too often for any man to stand.
这个考验对任何人来说都太过频繁，难以承受。

However, I bore up cheerfully. I was now merely a spectator, and from my couch in the big room I could lie and watch the human interplay with that detached, impassive, impersonal feeling which French writers tell us is so valuable to the litterateur, and American writers to the faro-dealer.
然而，我愉快地承受着。我现在只是个旁观者，在大房间的沙发上躺着，可以毫不动情地观察人类的互动，就像法国作家告诉我们的对作家很有价值，对赌徒很有价值一样。

“I shall go crazy in this abominable, mee-ser-rhable place!” was Etienne’s constant prediction.
“在这个可恶、可怜的地方，我会发疯的！” Etienne一直这样预言。

“Never knew Mark Twain to bore me before,” said Ross, over and over. —
“以前从未觉得马克·吐温这样无聊过，” Ross一次又一次地说。 —

He sat by the other window, hour after hour, a box of Pittsburg stogies of the length, strength, and odor of a Pittsburg graft scandal deposited on one side of him, and “Roughing It,” “The Jumping Frog,” and “Life on the Mississippi” on the other. —
他坐在另一扇窗户旁，一盒匹兹堡雪茄放在他一边，长度、强度和气味都像匹兹堡的贪污丑闻，而“荒野生涯”、“跳跃的青蛙”和“密西西比河上的生活”放在另一边。 —

For every chapter he lit a new stogy, puffing furiously. —
他每写完一章都会点一支新的雪茄，猛烈地吸着。 —

This in time, gave him a recurrent premonition of cramps, gastritis, smoker’s colic or whatever it is they have in Pittsburg after a too deep indulgence in graft scandals. —
不久，这给了他一种反复出现的预感，即肠绞痛、胃炎、吸烟者肠绞痛，或者匹兹堡在过度沉溺于贪污丑闻后所出现的任何症状。 —

To fend off the colic, Ross resorted time and again to Old Doctor Still’s Amber-Colored U. S. A. Colic Cure. Result, after forty-eight hours–nerves.
为了对抗肠绞痛，罗斯一次又一次地采用了老医生斯蒂尔的琥珀色美国肠绞痛治疗。结果，在四十八小时后，他的神经变得不安。

“Positive fact I never knew Mark Twain to make me tired before. —
“我从来没有觉得马克·吐温会让我厌倦。这是实实在在的事实。 —

Positive fact.” Ross slammed “Roughing It” on the floor. —
”罗斯将《生活在荒野》摔在地板上。 —

“When you’re snowbound this-away you want tragedy, I guess. —
“当你这样被大雪困住的时候，你想要的是悲剧。 —

Humor just seems to bring out all your cussedness. —
幽默只会使你的恶劣情绪浮出水面。 —

You read a man’s poor, pitiful attempts to be funny and it makes you so nervous you want to tear the book up, get out your bandana, and have a good, long cry.”
你阅读一个人可怜可悲的幽默尝试，它让你变得紧张，想要撕碎那本书，拿出口袋巾，好好大哭一场。”

At the other end of the room, the Frenchman took his finger nails out of his mouth long enough to exclaim: —
在房间的另一端，那个法国人把手指从嘴里拿开，大叫道：“幽默！ —

“Humor! —
—

Humor at such a time as thees! My God, I shall go crazy in thees abominable–”
在这样的时刻还有幽默！我的天呐，我会被这种可恶的幽默折磨得发疯——”

“Supper,” announced George.
“晚饭。”乔治宣布。

These meals were not the meals of Rabelais who said, “the great God makes the planets and we make the platters neat.” By that time, the ranch-house meals were not affairs of gusto; —
这些餐食不是拉伯雷所说的“上帝创造星球，我们创造整洁的盘子”那种丰盛的餐食。到那时，农舍里的餐食已经不再是快乐的活动。 —

they were mental distraction, not bodily provender. —
它们是心智的干扰，而不是身体的粮食。 —

What they were to be later shall never be forgotten by Ross or me or Etienne.
Ros、我和Etienne永远不会忘记它们后来是什么样子的。

After supper, the stogies and finger nails began again. —
晚饭后，雪茄和指甲又开始了。 —

My shoulder ached wretchedly, and with half-closed eyes I tried to forget it by watching the deft movements of the stolid cook.
我的肩膀痛得厉害，我半闭着眼睛，试图通过看厨师熟练的动作来忘记它。

Suddenly I saw him cock his ear, like a dog. Then, with a swift step, he moved to the door, threw it open, and stood there.
突然，我看到他像一只狗一样竖起耳朵。然后，他迅速迈开步伐，走到门口，把门打开，站在那里。

The rest of us had heard nothing.
我们其他人什么都没听到。

“What is it, George?” asked Ross.
“怎么了，乔治？”Ross问道。

The cook reached out his hand into the darkness alongside the jamb. —
厨师伸出手，小心翼翼地在门边黑暗处戳了一下。 —

With careful precision he prodded something. —
—

Then he made one careful step into the snow. —
然后，他小心翼翼地走进雪地。 —

His back muscles bulged a little under the arms as he stooped and lightly lifted a burden. —
他的背部肌肉在臂弯处微微凸起，他弯下腰轻轻地抬起了一个重物。 —

Another step inside the door, which he shut methodically behind him, and he dumped the burden at a safe distance from the fire.
他走进门里，按部就班地关上了门，然后在离火堆一段安全距离的地方倾倒了这个重物。

He stood up and fixed us with a solemn eye. —
他站起来，用庄严的眼神看着我们。 —

None of us moved under that Orphic suspense until,
在那个神秘悬念下，我们没有人动弹，直到…

“A woman,” remarked George.
“一个女人，”乔治评论道。

Miss Willie Adams was her name. Vocation, school-teacher. —
威利·亚当斯小姐是她的名字。职业是学校教师。 —

Present avocation, getting lost in the snow. Age, yum-yum (the Persian for twenty). —
现在的业余爱好是在雪中迷路。年龄，伊朗语中的“美食”（即二十岁）。 —

Take to the woods if you would describe Miss Adams. A willow for grace; —
如果要形容亚当斯小姐，就说她像个出家人。优雅如柳树， —

a hickory for fibre; a birch for the clear whiteness of her skin; —
坚韧如山核桃，肌肤如白桦树一般洁白。 —

for eyes, the blue sky seen through treetops; —
看她的眼睛，就如同透过树梢看到的蓝天； —

the silk in cocoons for her hair; her voice, the murmur of the evening June wind in the leaves; —
她的头发如同蚕茧中的丝绸；她的声音如同夏夜微风在树叶间的低语； —

her mouth, the berries of the wintergreen; —
她的嘴唇如同冬青的浆果； —

fingers as light as ferns; —
指尖轻盈如蕨类植物； —

her toe as small as a deer track. —
她的脚趾小如鹿踪。 —

General impression upon the dazed beholder–you could not see the forest for the trees.
当目光追随亚当斯小姐时，会让人看不到整体景象而陷入茫然。

Psychology, with a capital P and the foot of a lynx, at this juncture stalks into the ranch house. —
心理学，带着大写的P和猞猁般的步伐，此刻走进了牧场。 —

Three men, a cook, a pretty young woman –all snowbound. —
三个男人，一个厨师，一个漂亮年轻女人——都被大雪困住了。 —

Count me out of it, as I did not count, anyway. —
我不参与其中，因为我本来就不算数。 —

I never did, with women. Count the cook out, if you like. —
我从不和女人计较。如果你愿意的话，不计算厨师在内。 —

But note the effect upon Ross and Etienne Girod.
但要注意罗斯和埃蒂安·吉罗的反应。

Ross dumped Mark Twain in a trunk and locked the trunk. —
罗斯把马克·吐温装进一个皮箱里并锁上了箱子。 —

Also, he discarded the Pittsburg scandals. Also, he shaved off a three days’ beard.
此外，他还抛弃了匹兹堡的丑闻。最后，他刮掉了三天的胡须。

Etienne, being French, began on the beard first. —
作为法国人，埃蒂安首先开始修剪胡须。 —

He pomaded it, from a little tube of grease Hongroise in his vest pocket. —
他从背心口袋里拿出一管匈牙利油脂，涂抹在胡须上。 —

He combed it with a little aluminum comb from the same vest pocket. —
他从同一个背心口袋里拿出一把小铝梳子梳理胡须。 —

He trimmed it with manicure scissors from the same vest pocket. —
然后用同一个背心口袋里的修甲剪把胡须修整好。 —

His light and Gallic spirits underwent a sudden, miraculous change. He hummed a blithe San Salvador Opera Company tune; —
他的轻快和法国般的情绪发生了突然而神奇的变化。他哼起了一支欢快的圣萨尔瓦多歌剧团曲子； —

he grinned, smirked, bowed, pirouetted, twiddled, twaddled, twisted, and tooralooed. —
他笑嘻嘻地咧嘴，做鬼脸，鞠躬，旋转，轻快地舞步，扭动身体，嘻哈舞蹈，完全没有法国人埃蒂安那样的风度。 —

Gayly, the notorious troubadour, could not have equalled Etienne.
罗斯前进的方式很唐突，傲慢。他说：“小女人，欢迎来到这里！”

Ross’s method of advance was brusque, domineering. —
并带有他认为很巧妙的双关意味——“欢迎你无论喜欢还是不喜欢， —

“Little woman,” he said, “you’re welcome here!” –and with what he thought subtle double meaning–“welcome to stay here as long as you like, snow or no snow.”
无论下雪还是不下雪，都可以在这里逗留。”亚当斯小姐有点狂野地向他表示感谢，其中一些冬青浆果掉进了白桦纸。

Miss Adams thanked him a little wildly, some of the wintergreen berries creeping into the birch bark. —
请他们按照原来约定的时间，我好让人来接应 —

She looked around hurriedly as if seeking escape. —
她急匆匆地四处看着，仿佛在寻找逃脱的机会。 —

But there was none, save the kitchen and the room allotted her. —
但除了厨房和分配给她的房间外，没有其他选择。 —

She made an excuse and disappeared into her own room.
她找了个借口，溜进了自己的房间。

Later I, feigning sleep, heard the following:
后来，我装睡着时听到了以下对话:

“Mees Adams, I was almost to perislh-die-of monotony w’en your fair and beautiful face appear in thees mee-ser-rhable house.” I opened my starboard eye. —
“亚当斯小姐，我差点死于单调，当您美丽的容颜出现在这个悲惨的房子里时。”我睁开了右眼。 —

The beard was being curled furiously around a finger, the Svengali eye was rolling, the chair was being hunched closer to the school-teacher’s. —
男人正在满脸胡子上绞丝，他那双诱惑的眼睛滚动着，椅子被挪得更靠近那位女教师。 —

“I am French–you see–temperamental–nervous! —
“我是法国人，您知道，情绪多变，神经紧张！ —

I cannot endure thees dull hours in thees ranch house; —
我无法忍受这个农舍里的无聊时光；但是， —

but–a woman comes! Ah!” The shoulders gave nine ‘rahs and a tiger. —
一个女人来了！啊！”他的肩膀高高举起，发出九声喝彩和一声胜利吼声。 —

“What a difference! All is light and gay; —
“多大的不同啊！一切都变得明亮而愉快， —

ever’ting smile w’en you smile. —
当您微笑时，一切都在微笑。 —

You have ‘eart, beauty, grace. —
您拥有心灵、美丽和优雅。 —

My ‘eart comes back to me w’en I feel your ‘eart. So!” He laid his hand upon his vest pocket. —
“当我感受到您的心灵，我的心就回到了我身边。就像这样！”他把手放在他的背心口袋上。 —

From this vantage point he suddenly snatched at the school-teacher’s own hand, “Ah! —
从这个角度，他突然抓住了女教师的手，“啊！ —

Mees Adams, if I could only tell you how I ad–”
米斯·亚当斯，如果我能告诉你我多么喜–

“Dinner,” remarked George. —
“晚餐，”乔治评论道。 —

He was standing just behind the Frenchman’s ear. —
他站在法国人耳边。 —

His eyes looked straight into the school-teacher’s eyes. —
他的眼睛直视着那位教师的眼睛。 —

After thirty seconds of survey, his lips moved, deep in the flinty, frozen maelstrom of his face: —
在观察了三十秒后，他的嘴唇动了起来，在他坚硬冰冷的脸庞深处： —

“Dinner,” he concluded, “will be ready in two minutes.”
“晚餐，”他得出结论，“还有两分钟就好了。”

Miss Adams jumped to her feet, relieved. —
亚当斯小姐急忙站起来，松了口气。 —

“I must get ready for dinner,” she said brightly, and went into her room.
“我得准备晚餐了，”她兴高采烈地说着，然后走进了她的房间。

Ross came in fifteen minutes late. —
罗斯迟到了十五分钟。 —

After the dishes had been cleaned away, I waited until a propitious time when the room was temporarily ours alone, and told him what had happened.
在盘子清理完之后，我等待着一个有利的时机，当房间暂时只属于我们时，告诉了他发生的事情。

He became so excited that he lit a stogy without thinking. —
他变得非常兴奋，不假思索地点燃了一支雪茄。 —

“Yeller- hided, unwashed, palm-readin’ skunk,” he said under his breath. —
“那个懦弱、不洗澡、懂手相的家伙，”他低声说道。 —

“I’ll shoot him full o’ holes if he don’t watch out–talkin’ that way to my wife!”
“我要把他打得千疮百孔，如果他不注意点的话–对我媳妇说那样的话！”

I gave a jump that set my collarbone back another week. —
我突然一惊，以至于我的锁骨恢复要迟一周。“你的媳妇！ —

“Your wife!” I gasped.
”我喘息着说道。

“Well, I mean to make her that,” he announced.
“是的，我打算让她成为我的妻子，”他宣布道。

The air in the ranch house the rest of that day was tense with pent-up emotions, oh, best buyers of best sellers.
整个那天，牧场房子里的空气紧张而积蓄着情感，哦，最佳畅销书的最佳买家们。

Ross watched Miss Adams as a hawk does a hen; —
Ross像鹰一样盯着亚当斯小姐， —

he watched Etienne as a hawk does a scarecrow, Etienne watched Miss Adams as a weasel does a henhouse. —
像鹰盯着稻草人一样盯着Etienne，而Etienne则像黄鼠狼盯着鸡舍一样盯着亚当斯小姐。 —

He paid no attention to Ross.
他不理睬Ross。

The condition of Miss Adams, in the role of sought-after, was feverish. —
亚当斯小姐，作为受人追捧的对象，情况异常激动。 —

Lately escaped from the agony and long torture of the white cold, where for hours Nature had kept the little school-teacher’s vision locked in and turned upon herself, nobody knows through what profound feminine introspections she had gone. —
刚刚逃离白色寒冷的痛苦和漫长折磨，小学教师内心深处经历了怎样深入的女性反思，谁都不知道。 —

Now, suddenly cast among men, instead of finding relief and security, she beheld herself plunged anew into other discomforts. —
现在，突然间投身于男人中间，她并没有找到宽慰和安全感，反而又陷入了其他的不适之中。 —

Even in her own room she could hear the loud voices of her imposed suitors. —
即使在自己的房间里，她也能听到自己被强加的追求者们的大声争吵。“我会把你的身体打满洞的！”Ross大喊道。 —

“I’ll blow you full o’ holes!” shouted Ross. “Witnesses,” shrieked Etienne, waving his hand at the cook and me. —
“证人！”Etienne尖叫着，挥手指着厨师和我。Ross没有等级的注意Etienne. —

She could not have known the previous harassed condition of the men, fretting under indoor conditions. —
她不可能知道这些男人之前在室内恶劣条件下的被骚扰的情况。 —

All she knew was, that where she had expected the frank freemasonry of the West, she found the subtle tangle of two men’s minds, bent upon exacting whatever romance there might be in her situation.
她唯一知道的是，她原本期望的西方的坦率兄弟情谊，却发现了两个男人的心思纠缠不清，意图从她的处境中挖掘出任何可能的浪漫。

She tried to dodge Ross and the Frenchman by spells of nursing me. —
她试图通过轮流照顾我来躲避罗斯和法国人。 —

They also came over to help nurse. —
他们也过来帮忙照顾。 —

This combination aroused such a natural state of invalid cussedness on my part that they were all forced to retire. —
这种组合引发了我天生的顽固病态，他们都被迫撤退。 —

Once she did manage to whisper: —
她曾试图低声说： —

“I am so worried here. I don’t know what to do.”
“我在这里感到很担心，不知道该怎么办。”

To which I replied, gently, hitching up my shoulder, that I was a hunch-savant and that the Eighth House under this sign, the Moon being in Virgo, showed that everything would turn out all right.
我温柔地回答说，我是一个预言者，而在这个星座下，第八宫，月亮在处女座，显示一切都会好起来。

But twenty minutes later I saw Etienne reading her palm and felt that perhaps I might have to recast her horoscope, and try for a dark man coming with a bundle.
但二十分钟后，我看到埃蒂安在读她的手相，感觉也许我需要重新为她的星盘进行推算，再试图预测一个带着一捆东西的黑人。

Toward sunset, Etienne left the house for a few moments and Ross, who had been sitting taciturn and morose, having unlocked Mark Twain, made another dash. It was typical Ross talk.
傍晚时分，埃蒂安离开了房子片刻，罗斯一直沉默不语，忧郁的表情，解开了马克·吐温，再次冲了出去。这是典型的罗斯说话方式。

He stood in front of her and looked down majestically at that cool and perfect spot where Miss Adams’ forehead met the neat part in her fragrant hair. —
他站在她面前，威严地俯视着她冷静而完美的额头与整洁的香发相交的地方。 —

First, however, he cast a desperate glance at me. —
然而，他绝望地瞥了我一眼。 —

I was in a profound slumber.
我正陷入沉睡中。

“Little woman,” he began, “it’s certainly tough for a man like me to see you bothered this way. —
“小女人，”他开始说，“像我这样的男人看到你被困扰真是太艰难了。 —

You”–gulp–“you have been alone in this world too long. —
“你”——噗噗——“在这个世界上孤独太久了。 —

You need a protector. —
你需要一个保护者。 —

I might say that at a time like this you need a protector the worst kind–a protector who would take a three-ring delight in smashing the saffron-colored kisser off of any yeller-skinned skunk that made himself obnoxious to you. —
“我可以说，在这样的时候，你最需要一个保护者——一个会非常乐意打断任何让你感到不快的黄皮肤家伙的三环保护者。 —

Hem. Hem. I am a lonely man, Miss Adams. I have so far had to carry on my life without the”–gulp–“sweet radiance”–gulp–“of a woman around the house. —
“咳咳。咳咳。“我是一个孤独的人，亚当斯小姐。至今为止，我一直没有”——噗噗——“一位女性的甜蜜光芒”——噗噗——“在家中。” —

I feel especially doggoned lonely at a time like this, when I am pretty near locoed from havin’ to stall indoors, and hence it was with delight I welcomed your first appearance in this here shack. —
在像这样的时候，每次我在这里被迫待在室内感到非常孤独，因此当你第一次出现在这个小屋里时，我感到非常高兴。 —

Since then I have been packed jam full of more different kinds of feelings, ornery, mean, dizzy, and superb, than has fallen my way in years.”
从那时起，我充满了比过去几年都多的各种情绪，暴躁、恶劣、头晕和极好。

Miss Adams made a useless movement toward escape. —
亚当斯小姐试图逃脱， —

The Ross chin stuck firm. —
但罗斯的下巴紧紧卡住了。 —

“I don’t want to annoy you, Miss Adams, but, by heck, if it comes to that you’ll have to be annoyed. —
“我不想惹恼你，亚当斯小姐，但是，让它来这样，你就得被恼怒。 —

And I’ll have to have my say. —
而且我也得说我自己的话。 —

This palm-ticklin’ slob of a Frenchman ought to be kicked off the place and if you’ll say the word, off he goes. —
这个令人讨厌的法国人应该被赶出去，如果你说了这句话，他就会离开。 —

But I don’t want to do the wrong thing. —
但我不想做错事。 —

You’ve got to show a preference. —
你必须表明意愿。 —

I’m gettin’ around to the point, Miss–Miss Willie, in my own brick fashion. —
我用我自己的方式慢慢地说到了点上，威利小姐。 —

I’ve stood about all I can stand these last two days and somethin’s got to happen. —
这些过去两天我忍受的已经够多了，一定会有事情发生。 —

The suspense hereabouts is enough to hang a sheepherder. —
这个地方的悬疑感足以吊死一个牧羊人。 —

Miss Willie”–he lassooed her hand by main force–“just say the word. —
“威利小姐”，他用力地捉住了她的手，“只要说出来就好。” —

You need somebody to take your part all your life long. —
“你需要有人一生都支持你。 —

Will you mar–”
你愿意嫁…”

“Supper,” remarked George, tersely, from the kitchen door.
“晚餐。”乔治从厨房门口干脆地说道。

Miss Adams hurried away.
亚当斯小姐匆匆离开了。

Ross turned angrily. “You–”
罗斯生气地转过身来。“你…”

“I have been revolving it in my head,” said George.
“我已经在脑子里考虑过了，”乔治说。

He brought the coffee pot forward heavily. —
他沉重地把咖啡壶拿了过来。 —

Then bravely the big platter of pork and beans. —
然后是堆满猪肉和豆子的大盘子， —

Then somberly the potatoes. —
接着是土豆， —

Then profoundly the biscuits. —
最后是饼干。 —

“I have been revolving it in my mind. —
“我已经在脑子里考虑过了。 —

There ain’t no use waitin’ any longer for Swengalley. —
不用再等斯文加利了。我们可能还是先吃吧。 —

Might as well eat now.”
”

From my excellent vantage-point on the couch I watched the progress of that meal. —
“从沙发上得天独厚的位置上，我看着那顿饭的进展。 —

Ross, muddled, glowering, disappointed; —
罗斯困惑、怒视、失望； —

Etienne, eternally blandishing, attentive, ogling; —
埃蒂安一直殷勤、体贴、盯着看； —

Miss Adams, nervous, picking at her food, hesitant about answering questions, almost hysterical; —
亚当斯小姐紧张，拈弄着食物，回答问题犹豫，几乎要发狂； —

now and then the solid, flitting shadow of the cook, passing behind their backs like a Dreadnaught in a fog.
不时地，厨师的厚实而闪动的影子从他们背后掠过，犹如雾中的战列舰。

I used to own a clock which gurgled in its throat three minutes before it struck the hour. —
我曾经拥有一只钟，每到整点前三分钟，它的喉咙里就会发出叽咕声。 —

I know, therefore, the slow freight of Anticipation. —
因此，我知道那悠长的期待。 —

For I have awakened at three in the morning, heard the clock gurgle, and waited those three minutes for the three strokes I knew were to come. —
因为我曾经在凌晨三点醒来，听到钟的叽咕声，等待那三声钟响。 —

Alors. In Ross’s ranch house that night the slow freight of Climax whistled in the distance.
于是，在那个晚上，克莱马克斯的牧场房子里，高潮的悠长号笛声从远处传来。

Etienne began it after supper. —
晚饭后，埃蒂安开始了。 —

Miss Aclams had suddenly displayed a lively interest in the kitchen layout and I could see her in there, chatting brightly at George–not with him–the while he ducked his head and rattled his pans.
阿克拉姆斯小姐突然对厨房布局表现出浓厚的兴趣，我能看见她在那里，与乔治轻松聊天，而他则低下头儿，忙碌地摇动锅碗瓢盆。

“My fren’,” said Etienne, exhaling a large cloud from his cigarette and patting Ross lightly on the shoulder with a bediamonded hand which, hung limp from a yard or more of bony arm, “I see I mus’ be frank with you. —
“我的朋友，”埃蒂安说着，从嘴里吐出一团浓烟，并用一只装满钻石的手拍了拍罗斯的肩膀，他的手挂在一根至少一码长的瘦骨嶙峋的胳膊上，“我觉得我必须对你坦诚。 —

Firs’, because we are rivals; second, because you take these matters so serious. —
首先，因为我们是竞争对手；其次，因为你对这些事情非常认真。 —

I–I am Frenchman. —
我——我是法国人。 —

I love the women” –he threw back his curls, bared his yellow teeth, and blew an unsavory kiss toward the kitchen. —
“我喜欢女人” ——他甩动着卷曲的发丝，露出黄色的牙齿，朝着厨房吹了一个不好的飞吻。 —

“It is, I suppose, a trait of my nation. —
“这是我祖国的特质吧。 —

All Frenchmen love the women–pretty women. Now, look: —
所有的法国人都喜欢女人——漂亮的女人。现在看： —

Here I am!” He spread out his arms. —
我在这里！” 他伸开双臂。” —

“Cold outside! —
外面真冷！ —

I detes’ the col-l-l! Snow! —
“我讨厌冷——雪！ —

I abominate the mees-ser-rhable snow! Two men! —
我憎恶这讨厌的雪！两个男人！” —

This–” pointing to me–“an’ this!” Pointing to’ Ross. “I am distracted! —
—他指着我—”还有这个！”指着 Ross。” 我心神不宁！慌乱无措！ —

For two whole days I stan’ at the window an’ tear my ‘air! —
有两天我站在窗前把头发撕了个稀烂！ —

I am nervous, upset, pr-r-ro-foun’ly distress inside my ‘ead! —
我神经紧张，心烦意乱，痛苦到深处！ —

An’ suddenly–be’old! —
突然——看哪！ —

A woman, a nice, pretty, charming, innocen’ young woman! I, naturally, rejoice. I become myself again–gay, light-‘earted, “appy. —
一个女人，一个漂亮、迷人、纯真的年轻女人！我当然高兴。我又变回我自己——快乐、没心没肺、幸福。 —

I address myself to mademoiselle; it passes the time. That, m’sieu’, is wot the women are for–pass the time! —
我对小姐展开了对话；这打发了时间。这个，先生，女人是用来打发时间的！ —

Entertainment–like the music, like the wine!
像音乐、像美酒一样，她们吸引着情绪、性情、气质。追逐着这个女人，仿佛在演奏一曲音乐——啊！

“They appeal to the mood, the caprice, the temperamen’. —
“她们迎合心情、心血来潮与个性。 —

To play with thees woman, follow her through her humor, pursue her–ah! —
和这位女人一起玩耍，跟随她的喜好、追逐她——啊！” —

that is the mos’ delightful way to sen’ the hours about their business.”
这是一个最令人愉快的方式来度过一天。

Ross banged the table. “Shut up, you miserable yeller pup!” he roared. “I object to your pursuin’ anything or anybody in my house. —
罗斯砰地一声将桌子砸了一下。“闭嘴，你这个可怜的傻瓜！”他咆哮道。“我不允许你在我的房子里追逐任何人。” —

Now, you listen to me, you–” He picked up the box of stogies and used it on the table as an emphasizer. —
现在，你听着，你——”他拿起雪茄盒，用它敲了敲桌子，加强语气。 —

The noise of it awoke the attention of the girl in the kitchen. —
这声响引起了厨房里的女孩的注意。 —

Unheeded, she crept into the room. —
她悄悄地走进了房间。 —

“I don’t know anything about your French ways of lovemakin’ an’ I don’t care. —
“我不了解你们法国人的恋爱方式，我也不关心。 —

In my section of the country, it’s the best man wins. —
在我所在的地区，最强壮的人获胜。 —

And I’m the best man here, and don’t you forget it! —
而我就是这儿最强壮的人，你别忘了！ —

This girl’s goin’ to be mine. —
这个女孩将会是我的。 —

There ain’t g’oing to be any playing, or philandering, or palm reading about it. —
我决不允许发生任何玩弄感情、拈花惹草或占卜的事情。我已经下定决心， —

I’ve made up my mind I’ll have this girl, and that settles it. —
我要得到这个女孩，就这么决定了。 —

My word is the law in this neck o’ the woods. She’s mine, and as soon as she says she’s mine, you pull out.” The box made one final, tremendous punctuation point.
在这片土地上，我的话就是法律。她是我的，一旦她说她是我的，你就退下。 盒子最后发出了一个极为强烈的标点符号。

Etienne’s bravado was unruffled. “Ah! —
埃蒂安的大言不惊。他轻松地笑着说： —

that is no way to win a woman,” he smiled, easily. —
“啊！这样不会赢得一个女人。 —

“I make prophecy you will never win ‘er that way. —
”我预言你永远不会以这种方式赢得她。 —

No. Not thees woman. She mus’ be played along an’ then keessed, this charming, delicious little creature. —
不。不是这个女人。必须对她示好并且接吻，这个迷人、美味的小生物。 —

One kees! —
接吻！ —

An’ then you ‘ave her.” Again he displayed his unpleasant teeth. —
然后你就拥有她了。他再次露出他不悦的牙齿。 —

“I make you a bet I will kees her–”
“我打赌我会吻她——”

As a cheerful chronicler of deeds done well, it joys me to relate that the hand which fell upon Etienne’s amorous lips was not his own. —
作为一个愉快的记录者，我很高兴地告诉你，落在埃蒂安充满淫欲的嘴上的手并不是他自己的手。 —

There was one sudden sound, as of a mule kicking a lath fence, and then–through the swinging doors of oblivion for Etienne.
有一个突然的声音，就像一头骡子踢到一面带栅栏的板子，然后——埃蒂安穿越遗忘之门。

I had seen this blow delivered. It was an aloof, unstudied, almost absent-minded affair. —
我曾见过这一击的发生。它是一种疏远、从容、几乎心不在焉的事情。 —

I had thought the cook was rehearsing the proper method of turning a flapjack.
我曾以为厨师正在排练翻转烙饼的正确方法。

Silently, lost in thought, he stood there scratching his head. —
他默默地陷入沉思，站在那里抓着头。 —

Then he began rolling down his sleeves.
然后他开始卷起袖子。

“You’d better get your things on, Miss, and we’ll get out of here,” he decided. “Wrap up warm.”
“你最好把东西穿好，小姐，我们离开这里吧，”他决定说道。 “注意保暖。

I heard her heave a little sigh of relief as she went to get her cloak, sweater, and hat.
我听到她松了一口气，去拿她的外衣，毛衣和帽子。

Ross jumped to his feet, and said: —
罗斯跳了起来，说道：” —

“George, what are you goin’ to do?”
乔治，你打算做什么？

George, who had been headed in my direction, slowly swivelled around and faced his employer. —
—

“Bein’ a camp cook, I ain’t over-burdened with hosses,” George enlightened us. —
乔治，原本朝我的方向走着，慢慢转过身来，面对着他的雇主。 —

“Therefore, I am going to try to borrow this feller’s here.”
“作为一个野外厨师，我的马不多，”乔治向我们解释道。

For the first time in four days my soul gave a genuine cheer. “If it’s for Lochinvar purposes, go as far as you like,” I said, grandly.
“因此，我打算借这个人的马。

The cook studied me a moment, as if trying to find an insult in my words. —
这是我四天来第一次真心欢呼。 “如果是为了洛奇纳瓦尔目的，你想去多远就去多远，” —

“No,” he replied. —
我豪迈地说道。 —

“It’s for mine and the young lady’s purposes, and we’ll go only three miles–to Hicksville. —
厨师思考了一会儿，仿佛在我的话中寻找侮辱之处。 “不，”他回答道。 —

Now let me tell you somethin’, Ross.” Suddenly I was confronted with the cook’s chunky back and I heard a low, curt, carrying voice shoot through the room at my host. —
现在，让我告诉你一件事，Ross。”突然间，我看到了厨师背着粗壮的肩膀，听到他高亢而低沉的声音冲向我的主人。 —

George had wheeled just as Ross started to speak. —
乔治刚刚转身回头，Ross开始说话。 —

“You’re nutty. That’s what’s the matter with you. —
“你疯了，你有问题。 —

You can’t stand the snow. —
你受不了雪。 —

You’re getting nervouser, and nuttier every day. —
你变得越来越紧张，越来越疯狂。 —

That and this Dago”–he jerked a thumb at the half-dead Frenchman in the corner–“has got you to the point where I thought I better horn in. —
而且这个意大利人”——他用拇指指了指角落里半死不活的法国人——”已经让你到了我认为我最好插一脚的地步。 —

I got to revolving it around in my mind and I seen if somethin’ wasn’t done, and done soon, there’d be murder around here and maybe” –his head gave an imperceptible list toward the girl’s room–“worse.”
我在脑子里翻来覆去想着，我看到如果不做点什么，而且要快点，这里就会发生谋杀，甚至”——他的头微微向女孩房间那边耷拉了下去——”更糟。

He stopped, but he held up a stubby finger to keep any one else from speaking. —
他停了下来，但举起一个短粗的手指示意其他人都不要说话。 —

Then he plowed slowly through the drift of his ideas. —
然后他缓慢地穿过他的思绪漂浮。 —

“About this here woman. I know you, Ross, and I know what you reely think about women. —
“关于这个女人。我了解你，Ross，也知道你对女人是怎么想的。 —

If she hadn’t happened in here durin’ this here snow, you’d never have given two thoughts to the whole woman question. —
如果她没有在这场雪中出现，你根本不会对整个女人问题多想两次。 —

Likewise, when the storm clears, and you and the boys go hustlin’ out, this here whole business ’ll clear out of your head and you won’t think of a skirt again until Kingdom Come. Just because o’ this snow here, don’t forget you’re living in the selfsame world you was in four days ago. —
同样，当暴风雪过去，你和那些家伙们匆匆离开时，这整个事情就会从你的脑海中消失，你直到天国再来都不会再想到女人了。就因为这场雪，别忘了你还是生活在四天前一模一样的世界里。 —

And you’re the same man, too. Now, what’s the use o’ getting all snarled up over four days of stickin’ in the house? —
而你也是同样的人。现在，为了四天的窝在房子里而扭曲自己有什么意义呢？ —

That there’s what I been revolvin’ in my mind and this here’s the decision I’ve come to.”
这就是我一直在脑海里思考的事情，这也是我做出的决定。

He plodded to the door and shouted to one of the ranch hands to saddle my horse.
他硬着脖子走到门口，大声叫一个牧场工人给我鞍马。

Ross lit a stogy and stood thoughtful in the middle of the room. —
Ross点燃了一根雪茄，在房间中间开始思考。 —

Then he began: —
然后他说道： —

“I’ve a durn good notion, George, to knock your confounded head off and throw you into that snowbank, if–”
“我很有冲动，乔治，打掉你该死的脑袋，把你扔进那雪堆里，如果——”

“You’re wrong, mister. That ain’t a durned good notion you’ve got. —
“你错了，先生。你那不是个好冲动。那是个糟糕透顶的冲动。 —

It’s durned bad. Look here!” He pointed steadily out of doors until we were both forced to follow his finger. —
看这里！”他一直指着门外，直到我们被迫跟着他的手指走了出去。” —

“You’re in here for more’n a week yet.” After allowing this fact to sink in, he barked out at Ross: “Can you cook?” Then at me: —
你还要在这里待上一个多星期呢。” 让这个事实被接受，他冲着罗斯大声喊道：” 你会做饭吗？”然后看着我：” 你呢？” —

“Can you cook?” Then he looked at the wreck of Etienne and sniffed.
“你会做饭吗？”然后他看了看艾蒂安的惨状，嗅了嗅。

There was an embarrassing silence as Ross and I thought solemnly of a foodless week.
当罗斯和我默默地想着一个没有食物的星期时，尴尬的沉默出现了。

“If you just use hoss sense,” concluded George, “and don’t go for to hurt my feelin’s, all I want to do is to take this young gal down to Hicksville; —
“只要你动点脑子，”乔治总结道，” 别伤害我的感情，我只是想把这个年轻姑娘带到希克斯维尔； —

and then I’ll head back here and cook fer you.”
然后我就会回来，给你们做饭。”

The horse and Miss Adams arrived simultaneously, both of them very serious and quiet. —
马匹和亚当斯小姐同时到达，他们都非常认真和安静。 —

The horse because he knew what he had before him in that weather; —
马心知肚明自己将在这样的天气中面对什么； —

the girl because of what she had left behind.
女孩因为她离开了什么而感到不安。

Then all at once I awoke to a realization of what the cook was doing. —
然后突然间我意识到了这个厨师正在做什么。”我的天哪， —

“My God, man!” I cried, “aren’t you afraid to go out in that snow?”
伙计！”我喊道，”你不怕在那样的雪中出去吗？”

Behind my back I heard Ross mutter, “Not him.”
在我背后听到罗斯低声说道：”他不怕。”

George lifted the girl daintily up behind the saddle, drew on his gloves, put his foot in the stirrup, and turned to inspect me leisurely.
乔治轻盈地将女孩举起放在马鞍后面，戴上手套，踏进马镫，然后悠闲地转过身来检视我。

As I passed slowly in his review, I saw in my mind’s eye the algebraic equation of Snow, the equals sign, and the answer in the man before me.
当我慢慢经过他的审视时，我在脑海中看到了代数方程的雪花、等号和眼前人的答案。

“Snow is my last name,” said George. —
“雪花是我的姓,” 乔治说。 —

He swung into the saddle and they started cautiously out into the darkening swirl of fresh new currency just issuing from the Snowdrop Mint. The girl, to keep her place, clung happily to the sturdy figure of the camp cook.
他跨上马鞍，他们小心翼翼地走出暮色中新鲜的货币漩涡。女孩为了保住她的位置，幸福地紧紧抓住那位强壮的厨师身体。

I brought three things away from Ross Curtis’s ranch house–yes, four. One was the appreciation of snow, which I have so humbly tried here to render; —
从罗斯·柯蒂斯的牧场我带走了三样东西 —— 是的，四样。一样是我对雪的珍视，我在这里谦卑地尝试描绘； —

(2) was a collarbone, of which I am extra careful; —
另一样是我小心谨慎的锁骨； —

(3) was a memory of what it is to eat very extremely bad food for a week; —
第三样是我吃了一个星期非常糟糕的食物的记忆； —

and (4) was the cause of (3) a little note delivered at the end of the week and hand-painted in blue pencil on a sheet of meat paper.
第四样是导致第三样的原因，一个在一个星期结束时用肉纸手绘的蓝色铅笔纸条。

“I cannot come back there to that there job. —
“我不能回去那个工作地方。 —

Mrs. Snow say no, George. —
斯诺太太说不行，乔治。 —

I been revolvin’ it in my mind; —
我一直在脑海中反复考虑这个情况， —

considerin’ circumstances she’s right.”
她是对的。”