I
我

One day last summer I went to Pittsburgh–well, I had to go there on business.
去年夏天的一天，我去了匹兹堡——嗯，我必须去那里办点事情。

My chair-car was profitably well filled with people of the kind one usually sees on chair-cars. —
我的椅车上坐满了那种通常在椅车上见到的人。 —

Most of them were ladies in brown-silk dresses cut with square yokes, with lace insertion, and dotted veils, who refused to have the windows raised. —
他们大部分是穿着棕色丝绸连衣裙、带有方形领口、镶嵌着花边、戴着点缀面纱的女士们，她们不肯把窗户打开。 —

Then there was the usual number of men who looked as if they might be in almost any business and going almost anywhere. —
还有一些看起来像是从事各种行业并去各处旅行的男士们。 —

Some students of human nature can look at a man in a Pullman and tell you where he is from, his occupation and his stations in life, both flag and social; —
一些人类行为的研究者可以通过看一个人在普尔曼车里的样子，告诉你他来自哪里、他的职业和他的社交地位，无论是国旗还是社交地位； —

but I never could. The only way I can correctly judge a fellow-traveller is when the train is held up by robbers, or when he reaches at the same time I do for the last towel in the dressing-room of the sleeper.
但我从来做不到。唯一能正确判断一个同行者的办法是当火车被抢劫时，或者当他和我一起伸手去拿卧铺间最后一条毛巾时。

The porter came and brushed the collection of soot on the window-sill off to the left knee of my trousers. —
侍者过来，将窗台上的一堆煤灰刷到我裤子的左膝盖上。 —

I removed it with an air of apology. The temperature was eighty-eight. —
我带着一种道歉的姿态将它移走。温度是八十八度。 —

One of the dotted-veiled ladies demanded the closing of two more ventilators, and spoke loudly of Interlaken. —
一位戴点状面纱的女士要求关闭另外两个通风口，并大声谈论Interlaken。 —

I leaned back idly in chair No. 7, and looked with the tepidest curiosity at the small, black, bald-spotted head just visible above the back of No. 9. —
我懒散地靠在7号椅子上，淡淡地好奇地望着9号椅背上刚刚可见的那个小的、黑色的秃顶头部。 —

Suddenly No. 9 hurled a book to the floor between his chair and the window, and, looking, I saw that it was The Rose-Lady and Trevelyan, one of the best-selling novels of the present day. —
突然，9号椅子上扔下了一本书，掉在他椅子和窗户之间的地板上，我看到那是当今最畅销的小说之一《罗斯夫人与特莱维恩》。 —

And then the critic or Philistine, whichever he was, veered his chair toward the window, and I knew him at once for John A. Pescud, of Pittsburgh, travelling salesman for a plate-glass company–an old acquaintance whom I had not seen in two years.
然后那位评论家或庸俗之徒，不管他是哪一位，把他的椅子转向了窗户，我立刻认出他是匹兹堡的约翰·A·佩斯卡德，一个玻璃板公司的销售员——一个我已经两年没有见到的老熟人。

In two minutes we were faced, had shaken hands, and had finished with such topics as rain, prosperity, health, residence, and destination. —
两分钟后，我们面对面，握手寒暄结束了下雨、兴旺、健康、居所和目的地等话题。 —

Politics might have followed next; but I was not so ill-fated.
接下来可能会谈论政治，但我并没有那么倒霉。

I wish you might know John A. Pescud. He is of the stuff that heroes are not often lucky enough to be made of. —
我希望你可能认识约翰·A·佩斯卡德。他具备英雄所拥有的那种幸运。 —

He is a small man with a wide smile, and an eye that seems to be fixed upon that little red spot on the end of your nose. —
他是一个个子矮小但笑容宽广的人，他的眼睛似乎专注于你鼻尖上的那个小红点。 —

I never saw him wear but one kind of necktie, and he believes in cuff-holders and button-shoes. —
我从未见他戴过其他款式的领带，而且他相信袖扣和钮扣鞋。 —

He is as hard and true as anything ever turned out by the Cambria Steel Works; —
他坚定而真实，就像康布里亚钢铁厂生产的任何一件产品一样。 —

and he believes that as soon as Pittsburgh makes smoke-consumers compulsory, St. Peter will come down and sit at the foot of Smithfield Street, and let somebody else attend to the gate up in the branch heaven. —
他相信，一旦匹兹堡使烟雾净化器成为强制性使用的物品，圣彼得就会下来坐在史密斯菲尔德街的尽头，让其他人去管天国的大门。 —

He believes that “our” plate-glass is the most important commodity in the world, and that when a man is in his home town he ought to be decent and law-abiding.
他相信“我们”的平板玻璃是世界上最重要的商品，而当一个人在他的家乡时，他应该体面且守法。

During my acquaintance with him in the City of Diurnal Night I had never known his views on life, romance, literature, and ethics. —
在我与他在“白天之城”相识的时间内，我从未了解过他对生活、浪漫、文学和伦理的看法。 —

We had browsed, during our meetings, on local topics, and then parted, after Chateau Margaux, Irish stew, flannel-cakes, cottage-pudding, and coffee (hey, there! —
在我们的会议期间，我们讨论了当地的话题，然后在品尝了夏多玛酒、爱尔兰炖肉、法式薄煎饼、乡村布丁和咖啡（嗨，没找错吧！ —

–with milk separate). Now I was to get more of his ideas. —
–而且要单独加牛奶）。现在我要了解更多他的想法。 —

By way of facts, he told me that business had picked up since the party conventions, and that he was going to get off at Coketown.
作为一些事实，他告诉我自从党派大会以来生意有所回暖，他准备在科克镇下车。

II
II

“Say,” said Pescud, stirring his discarded book with the toe of his right shoe, “did you ever read one of these best-sellers? —
“听着，”佩斯卡德用右脚的鞋尖搅动着他丢弃的书说道，” 你有没有读过这些畅销书中的一本？ —

I mean the kind where the hero is an American swell–sometimes even from Chicago- -who falls in love with a royal princess from Europe who is travelling under an alias, and follows her to her father’s kingdom or principality? —
我是指那种英雄是美国富豪——有时甚至来自芝加哥——爱上了一个欧洲的皇室公主，她在旅行时使用了化名，并追随她到她父亲的王国或公国的故事？ —

I guess you have. They’re all alike. Sometimes this going-away masher is a Washington newspaper correspondent, and sometimes he is a Van Something from New York, or a Chicago wheat- broker worthy fifty millions. —
我猜你一定读过。它们都一样。有时这个出发的花花公子是华盛顿的报界通讯员，有时是来自纽约的范氏家族，或者价值五亿的芝加哥小麦经纪人。 —

But he’s always ready to break into the king row of any foreign country that sends over their queens and princesses to try the new plush seats on the Big Four or the B. and 0. —
但他总是准备好闯入任何派遣他们的王后和公主在“Big Four”或“B. and 0”上尝试新豪华座椅的外国国家的国际象棋棋盘。 —

There doesn’t seem to be any other reason in the book for their being here.
在这本书中看不出其他原因来解释他们为什么在这里。

“Well, this fellow chases the royal chair-warmer home, as I said, and finds out who she is. —
“嗯，就像我说的，这个家伙跟着皇家暖座椅主人回家，并找出了她是谁。 —

He meets here on the corso or the strasse one evening and gives us ten pages of conversation. —
他在科尔索或斯特拉斯的一个晚上遇到了她，并和我们进行了长达十页的对话。 —

She reminds him of the difference in their stations, and that gives him a chance to ring in three solid pages about America’s uncrowned sovereigns. —
她提醒他们身份的差异，这给了他一个机会谈论美国无冕的统治者长达三页。 —

If you’d take his remarks and set ‘em to music, and then take the music away from ‘em, they’d sound exactly like one of George Cohan’s songs.
如果你将他们的话转化为音乐，然后将音乐从中拿走，它们听起来就像是George Cohan的歌曲。

“Well, you know how it runs on, if you ve read any of ‘em–he slaps the king’s Swiss body-guards around like everything whenever they get in his way. —
“嗯，如果你读过其中任何一本，你就知道他是如何继续下去的-无论何时他们挡在他的路上，他总是毫不客气地对待国王的瑞士卫兵。 —

He’s a great fencer, too. Now, I’ve known of some Chicago men who were pretty notorious fences, but I never heard of any fencers coming from there. —
他也是一位伟大的剑客。我听说过一些芝加哥的男人是相当臭名昭著的盗窃贼，但从来没听说过有剑客出自那里。 —

He stands on the first landing of the royal staircase in Castle Schutzenfestenstein with a gleaming rapier in his hand, and makes a Baltimore broil of six platoons of traitors who come to massacre the said king. —
他站在舒茨芬斯坦城堡皇家楼梯的第一层台阶上，手持一把闪闪发光的剑，将前来屠杀国王的六个叛徒排成一锅巴尔的摩式牛排。 —

And then he has to fight duels with a couple of chancellors, and foil a plot by four Austrian archdukes to seize the kingdom for a gasoline-station.
然后他还必须与两位首相决斗，挫败四位奥地利大公密谋夺取王国开设加油站的阴谋。

“But the great scene is when his rival for the princess’ hand, Count Feodor, attacks him between the portcullis and the ruined chapel, armed with a mitrailleuse, a yataghan, and a couple of Siberian bloodhounds. —
“但最精彩的场景是，在吊桥和废弃的教堂之间，他的王位竞争对手费奥多尔伯爵用一挺佛朗机枪、一把亚达汗短剑以及两只西伯利亚猎犬袭击他。 —

This scene is what runs the best-seller into the twenty- ninth edition before the publisher has had time to draw a check for the advance royalties.
正是这个场景让畅销书在出版商还没来得及付预付款之前就已经进入第二十九版了。

“The American hero shucks his coat and throws it over the heads of the bloodhounds, gives the mitrailleuse a slap with his mitt, says ‘Yah!’ to the yataghan, and lands in Kid McCoy’s best style on the count’s left eye. —
美国英雄脱下他的外套，将其扔在猎犬的头上，用他的手套拍了拍自动步枪，说：“恶棍！” 他以基德·麦考伊最拿手的方式，用短刀狠狠击中伯爵的左眼。 —

Of course, we have a neat little prize-fight right then and there. —
当然，我们当场展开了一场激烈的拳击比赛。 —

The count–in order to make the go possible–seems to be an expert at the art of self-defence, himself; —
为了能够进行战斗，伯爵似乎也是自卫术的专家； —

and here we have the Corbett-Sullivan fight done over into literature. —
这就是科贝特-沙利文之战在文学作品中重新演绎的场景。 —

The book ends with the broker and the princess doing a John Cecil Clay cover under the linden-trees on the Gorgonzola Walk. That winds up the love-story plenty good enough. —
小说以股票经纪人和公主在戈尔贡佐拉小径的菩提树下做出了一个约翰·塞西尔·克雷的封面来结束。这完美地结束了爱情故事。 —

But I notice that the book dodges the final issue. —
但我注意到这本书回避了最后的问题。 —

Even a best-seller has sense enough to shy at either leaving a Chicago grain broker on the throne of Lobsterpotsdam or bringing over a real princess to eat fish and potato salad in an Italian chalet on Michigan Avenue. —
即使是畅销书也聪明到不愿意让芝加哥的谷物经纪人登上洛布斯特普韦尔王位，或者带来一位真正的公主在密歇根大道上的意大利小屋里吃鱼和土豆沙拉。 —

What do you think about ‘em?”
你对它们有什么看法？

“Why,” said I, “I hardly know, John. There’s a saying: ‘Love levels all ranks,’ you know.”
“为什么，”我说，“约翰，我几乎不知道。有句话说：‘爱能消除阶级之间的差异’，你知道的。”

“Yes,” said Pescud, “but these kind of love-stories are rank–on the level. —
“是的，”佩斯卡德说，“但这些爱情故事有些恶心–太肤浅了。” —

I know something about literature, even if I am in plate- glass. —
尽管我在玻璃厂工作，我对文学还是有点了解。 —

These kind of books are wrong, and yet I never go into a train but what they pile ‘em up on me. —
这些书是错误的，但每次我坐火车，他们总是让我堆得满满的。 —

No good can come out of an international clinch between the Old-World aristocracy and one of us fresh Americans. —
国际间老世界的贵族和我们这些新鲜的美国人之间的暧昧关系中不会产生好事。 —

When people in real life marry, they generally hunt up somebody in their own station. —
当现实生活中的人结婚时，他们通常会选择同自己社会地位相当的人。 —

A fellow usually picks out a girl that went to the same high-school and belonged to the same singing- society that he did. —
一个人通常会选择一个曾经上同一所高中，同属于同一个歌唱社团的女孩。 —

When young millionaires fall in love, they always select the chorus-girl that likes the same kind of sauce on the lobster that he does. —
当年轻的百万富翁恋爱时，他们总是选择喜欢与自己一样吃龙虾配料的合唱女孩。 —

Washington newspaper correspondents always many widow ladies ten years older than themselves who keep boarding-houses. —
华盛顿的报社通讯员总是追求比自己年长十岁的寡妇，她们开着寄宿家庭。 —

No, sir, you can’t make a novel sound right to me when it makes one of C. D. Gibson’s bright young men go abroad and turn kingdoms upside down just because he’s a Taft American aud took a course at a gymnasium. —
不，先生，您不能让这本小说对我产生好的印象，因为它让一个C. D.吉布森（C. D. Gibson）的聪明年轻人出国，并且只因为他是一个塔夫特美国人并上健身房的课程。 —

And listen how they talk, too!”
还有，听听他们说话的方式！

Pescud picked up the best-seller and hunted his page.
佩斯卡德拿起了这本畅销书，找到了他的那一页。

“Listen at this,” said he. “Trevelyan is chinning with the Princess Alwyna at the back end of the tulip-garden. —
“听听这个，”他说。“特雷维利扬（Trevelyan）正在郁金香花园的后面与阿尔温娜公主（Princess Alwyna）交谈。 —

This is how it goes:
内容如下：

”‘Say not so, dearest and sweetest of earth’s fairest flowers. Would I aspire? —
“‘不要这么说，地球上最美的花朵。我会有这样的雄心吗？ —

You are a star set high above me in a royal heaven; I am only–myself. —
在一个皇家的天堂你是一颗高悬的明星，而我只是我自己。 —

Yet I am a man, and I have a heart to do and dare. —
然而我是一个有血有肉的人，我有勇敢和冒险的勇气。 —

I have no title save that of an uncrowned sovereign; —
我没有别的头衔，只有那未加冕的君王之名； —

but I have an arm and a sword that yet might free Schutzenfestenstein from the plots of traitors.’
但我有胳膊和一把剑，它们可能会把舒岑费斯滕斯坦（Schutzenfestenstein）从叛徒的阴谋中解救出来。’

“Think of a Chicago man packing a sword, and talking about freeing anything that sounded as much like canned pork as that! —
想象一下，一个芝加哥人带着一把剑，并且谈论解救听起来像罐装猪肉的任何东西！ —

He’d be much more likely to fight to have an import duty put on it.”
他更有可能为了对其征收进口税而战斗。”

“I think I understand you, John,” said I. “You want fiction-writers to be consistent with their scenes and characters. —
“我觉得我明白你的意思，约翰，”我说。“你希望小说作家在场景和人物方面保持一致。 —

They shouldn’t mix Turkish pashas with Vermont farmers, or English dukes with Long Island clam-diggers, or Italian countesses with Montana cowboys, or Cincinnati brewery agents with the rajahs of India.”
他们不应该将土耳其的帕夏与佛蒙特州的农民混在一起，或者将英国公爵与长岛的挖蛤者混在一起，或者将意大利的女伯爵与蒙大拿的牛仔混在一起，或者将辛辛那提的啤酒代理与印度的拉贾混在一起。”

“Or plain business men with aristocracy high above ‘em,” added Pescud. “It don’t jibe. —
“或者将普通商人与高高在上的贵族混在一起，”佩斯科德补充道。“这不相符。 —

People are divided into classes, whether we admit it or not, and it’s everybody’s impulse to stick to their own class. —
无论我们是否承认，人们都被分成各个阶层，而且每个人都愿意和自己的同类呆在一起。 —

They do it, too. I don’t see why people go to work and buy hundreds of thousands of books like that. —
他们也确实这样做。我不明白为什么人们要上班工作然后买那么多这样的书。 —

You don’t see or hear of any such didoes and capers in real life.”
在现实生活中，你没见过或听说过这种滑稽动作和花样。”

III
第三部分

“Well, John,” said I, “I haven’t read a best-seller in a long time. —
“嗯，约翰，”我说，“我很久没有读过畅销书了。 —

Maybe I’ve had notions about them somewhat like yours. —
也许我对它们有类似你的想法。 —

But tell me more about yourself. Getting along all right with the company?”
但告诉我更多关于你自己。和公司相处得还好吗？”

“Bully,” said Pescud, brightening at once. —
“很好，”佩斯科德立刻变得兴奋起来说道。 —

“I’ve had my salary raised twice since I saw you, and I get a commission, too. —
“自从我见到你以后，我的薪水已经涨了两次，而且我还有佣金。” —

I’ve bought a neat slice of real estate out in the East End, and have run up a house on it. —
“我在东区买了一块不错的房地产，并在上面盖了座房子。” —

Next year the firm is going to sell me some shares of stock. —
“明年公司打算给我出售一些股票。” —

Oh, I’m in on the line of General Prosperity, no matter who’s elected!”
“哦，无论谁当选，我都能享受到普遍的繁荣！”

“Met your affinity yet, John?” I asked.
我问道：“约翰，你有遇到你的亲和力对象了吗？”

“Oh, I didn’t tell you about that, did I?” said Pescud with a broader grin.
“哦，我没有告诉你，是吧？”佩斯卡德笑得更开心了。

“0-ho!” I said. “So you’ve taken time enough off from your plate- glass to have a romance?”
我说：“哦，原来你不忙着卖平板玻璃了，而是享受一段恋情？”

“No, no,” said John. “No romance–nothing like that! But I’ll tell you about it.
约翰说：“不，不，没什么恋情，不是那样的！但我会告诉你的。

“I was on the south-bound, going to Cincinnati, about eighteen months ago, when I saw, across the aisle, the finest-looking girl I’d ever laid eyes on. —
大约18个月前，我坐着开往辛辛那提的南下列车，就在对面过道，我看到了我见过的最漂亮的女孩。 —

Nothing spectacular, you know, but just the sort you want for keeps. —
她并没有什么特别的，但正是你想要留住的那种类型。 —

Well, I never was up to the flirtation business, either handkerchief, automobile, postage-stamp, or door-step, and she wasn’t the kind to start anything. —
嗯，我从来不懂调情生意，不管是手帕、汽车、邮票还是家门口，而她也不是那种主动的人。” —

She read a book and minded her business, which was to make the world prettier and better just by residing on it. —
她读了一本书，专心致志地做着她的事，就是通过生活在这个世界上让它变得更加美丽、更好。 —

I kept on looking out of the side doors of my eyes, and finally the proposition got out of the Pullman class into a case of a cottage with a lawn and vines running over the porch. —
我一直从眼角的侧门看着，最后那个提议从普尔曼级别的事情变成了一个带草坪和爬满门廊的小屋案件。 —

I never thought of speaking to her, but I let the plate-glass business go to smash for a while.
我从来没想过跟她说话，但为此，我把透明玻璃生意搁置了一阵子。

“She changed cars at Cincinnati, and took a sleeper to Louisville over the L. and N. There she bought another ticket, and went on through Shelbyville, Frankfort, and Lexington. —
“她在辛辛那提换车，乘了一趟去路易斯维尔的卧铺列车。在那里，她买了另一张车票，一路上经过了什尔比维尔、法兰克福和列克星敦。 —

Along there I began to have a hard time keeping up with her. —
从那时起，我开始难以跟上她的脚步。 —

The trains came along when they pleased, and didn’t seem to be going anywhere in particular, except to keep on the track and the right of way as much as possible. —
列车随心所欲地开来，似乎并没有特定的目的地，除了尽可能地保持在轨道上和遵守优先道。 —

Then they began to stop at junctions instead of towns, and at last they stopped altogether. —
然后它们开始在交汇处停下来，而不是在城镇，最后它们完全停下来了。 —

I’ll bet Pinkerton would outbid the plate-glass people for my services any time if they knew how I managed to shadow that young lady. —
我敢打赌，如果平光人知道我是如何跟踪那个年轻女士的，他们会比玻璃制品公司出更高的价钱来争取我的服务。 —

I contrived to keep out of her sight as much as I could, but I never lost track of her.
我设法尽量避开她的视线，但我从未丢失过她的踪迹。

“The last station she got off at was away down in Virginia, about six in the afternoon. —
她下车的最后一个车站在傍晚六点左右，位于弗吉尼亚州的一个很远的地方。 —

There were about fifty houses and four hundred niggers in sight. —
视线范围内有大约五十所房屋和四百个黑人。 —

The rest was red mud, mules, and speckled hounds.
其余的都是红泥、骡子和斑点猎狗。

“A tall old man, with a smooth face and white hair, looking as proud as Julius Caesar and Roscoe Conkling on the same post-card, was there to meet her. —
一位身材高大、面容平滑、白发的老人，看起来像朱利叶斯·凯撒和罗斯科·康克林在同一张明信片上，并骄傲地站在那里迎接她。 —

His clothcs were frazzled, but I didn’t notice that till later. —
他的衣服破烂不堪，但我直到后来才注意到这一点。 —

He took her little satchel, and they started over the plank- walks and went up a road along the hill. —
他接过她的小提包，他们走过木板人行道，沿着山坡上了一条路。 —

I kept along a piece behind ‘em, trying to look like I was hunting a garnet ring in the sand that my sister had lost at a picnic the previous Saturday.
我在他们后面保持一段距离，装作在沙子里寻找我妹妹上个星期六在野餐中丢失的一颗石榴石戒指的样子。

“They went in a gate on top of the hill. It nearly took my breath away when I looked up. —
他们走进了山顶上的一个门，我抬头看时几乎让我喘不过气来。 —

Up there in the biggest grove I ever saw was a tremendous house with round white pillars about a thousand feet high, and the yard was so full of rose-bushes and box-bushes and lilacs that you couldn’t have seen the house if it hadn’t been as big as the Capitol at Washington.
在那座我见过的最大的小树林里，有一座巨大的房子，朝天白色的柱子高达一千英尺，院子里满是玫瑰丛、黄杨丛和丁香树，如果不是房子有像华盛顿国会大厦那么大，你根本看不到。

”‘Here’s where I have to trail,’ says I to myself. —
“我得跟上去才行，”我自言自语道。 —

“I thought before that she seemed to be in moderate circumstances, at least. —
“至少在我之前我觉得她似乎不是太富裕的人。 —

This must be the Governor’s mansion, or the Agricultural Building of a new World’s Fair, anyhow. —
这一定是州长府邸，或者是一个崭新世界博览会的农业馆。 —

I’d better go back to the village and get posted by the postmaster, or drug the druggist for some information.
我最好回村里找邮政局局长打听一下，或者向药店店主打听一些信息。

“In the village I found a pine hotel called the Bay View House. The only excuse for the name was a bay horse grazing in the front yard. —
“在村里我找到了一家叫做海湾景观酒店的松树酒店。给它起这个名字的唯一原因是前院有一匹海湾马正在吃草。 —

I set my sample-case down, and tried to be ostensible. —
我放下样品箱，试图表现出自己的目的。 —

I told the landlord I was taking orders for plate-glass.
我告诉店主我在接受钢化玻璃的订单。

”‘I don’t want no plates,’ says he, ‘but I do need another glass molasses-pitcher.’
“他说：‘我不需要盘子，但我确实需要另一个玻璃糖浆壶。’”

“By-and-by I got him down to local gossip and answering questions.
“过了一会儿，我把他引到了本地的八卦谈话和回答问题上。”

”‘Why,’ says he, ‘I thought everybody knowed who lived in the big white house on the hill. —
“‘为什么，’他说，‘我以为每个人都知道住在山上的那座大白色房子里的人是谁。’” —

It’s Colonel Allyn, the biggest man and the finest quality in Virginia, or anywhere else. —
“那是弗吉尼亚州乃至其他地方最重要的人物，阿林上校，最上等的质量。” —

They’re the oldest family in the State. That was his daughter that got off the train. —
“他们是州内最古老的家族。那是他的女儿从火车上下来的。” —

She’s been up to Illinois to see her aunt, who is sick.’
“她去伊利诺伊州看她生病的阿姨了。”

“I registered at the hotel, and on the third day I caught the young lady walking in the front yard, down next to the paling fence. —
“我在旅馆登记了，第三天我看到那位年轻女士在前院散步，就在巴林篱笆旁边。” —

I stopped and raised my hat–there wasn’t any other way.
“我停下来，抬起帽子，必须这样，因没有其他的方式。”

”‘Excuse me,’ says I, ‘can you tell me where Mr. Hinkle lives?’
“‘请原谅，’我说，‘你能告诉我Hinkle先生住在哪里吗？’”

“She looks at me as cool as if I was the man come to see about the weeding of the garden, but I thought I saw just a slight twinkle of fun in her eyes.
“她看着我，一副冷静的模样，仿佛我是来看园艺修剪的人，但我觉得她眼中有一丝轻微的嬉笑。”

”‘No one of that name lives in Birchton,’ says she. —
“‘在Birchton没有人姓那个名字，’她说。” —

‘That is,’ she goes on, ‘as far as I know. —
“‘那是，’她继续说道，‘据我所知。’” —

Is the gentleman you are seeking white?’
你追寻的绅士是白人吗？

“Well, that tickled me. ‘No kidding,’ says I. ‘I’m not looking for smoke, even if I do come from Pittsburgh.’
“嗯，这真让我高兴。” 我说，“开玩笑的，”我说，“我可不是在找烟，即使我是匹兹堡人。”

”‘You are quite a distance from home,’ says she.
“你离家挺远的，”她说。

”‘I’d have gone a thousand miles farther,’ says I.
“我本可以再走一千英里，”我说。

”‘Not if you hadn’t waked up when the train started in Shelbyville,’ says she; —
“如果你在谢尔比维尔车站发车时我没有醒过来的话，你就不会再走一千英里了。” 她说； —

and then she turned almost as red as one of the roses on the bushes in the yard. —
然后，她的脸几乎变得像院子里的玫瑰一样红了。 —

I remembered I had dropped off to sleep on a bench in the Shelbyville station, waiting to see which train she took, and only just managed to wake up in time.
我记得我在谢尔比维尔车站的一张长椅上睡着了，等待着看她乘坐哪班火车，幸好我及时醒来了。

“And then I told her why I had come, as respectful and earnest as I could. —
“然后，我告诉她我来的原因，我尽量尊重而真诚地说。 —

And I told her everything about myself, and what I was making, and how that all I asked was just to get acquainted with her and try to get her to like me.
我告诉她关于自己的一切，以及我正在做的事情，我所要求的只是认识她并试着让她喜欢我。

“She smiles a little, and blushes some, but her eyes never get mixed up. —
“她微笑了一下，脸红了一些，但她的眼睛从未眨过。 —

They look straight at whatever she’s talking to.
她直视着她正在谈论的东西。

”‘I never had any one talk like this to me before, Mr. Pescud,’ says she. —
“‘以前从来没有人和我说过这样的话，佩斯卡先生，”她说。 —

‘What did you say your name is–John?’
“‘你说你叫什么名字–约翰？”

”‘John A.,’ says I.
“‘约翰·A。’我说。

”‘And you came mighty near missing the train at Powhatan Junction, too,’ says she, with a laugh that sounded as good as a mileage-book to me.
“‘你在波瓦坦联络处险些错过火车，”她笑着说，那笑声对我来说就像一本里程表一样好听。

”‘How did you know?’ I asked.
“‘你怎么知道？’我问。

”‘Men are very clumsy,’ said she. ‘I knew you were on every train. —
“‘男人很笨拙，”她说。‘我知道你每一班火车都在。’ —

I thought you were going to speak to me, and I’m glad you didn’t.’
“我以为你要和我说话，我很高兴你没有。’

“Then we had more talk; and at last a kind of proud, serious look came on her face, and she turned and pointed a finger at the big house.
“然后我们又聊了一会儿。最后她脸上露出一种自豪而认真的表情，她转身指着那座大房子。

”‘The Allyns,’ says she, ‘have lived in Elmcroft for a hundred years. We are a proud family. —
“‘艾林一家在埃尔克鲍特住了一百年。我们是一个骄傲的家族。 —

Look at that mansion. It has fifty rooms. See the pillars and porches and balconies. —
看那座豪宅。它有五十个房间。看那些柱子、门廊和阳台。 —

The ceilings in the reception-rooms and the ball-room are twenty-eight feet high. —
客厅和舞厅的天花板高达二十八英尺。 —

My father is a lineal descendant of belted earls.’
我的父亲是有着传承血统的伯爵的后代。’

”‘I belted one of ‘em once in the Duquesne Hotel, in Pittsburgh,’ says I, ‘and he didn’t offer to resent it. —
“‘我曾经在匹兹堡的杜肯酒店打了他们之一，’我说道，“他竟然没有还手。 —

He was there dividing his attentions between Monongahela whiskey and heiresses, and he got fresh.’
他在那里将他的注意力分配给蒙纳哈拉威士忌和女继承人，竟然无礼地对我调戏。

”‘Of course,’ she goes on, ‘my father wouldn’t allow a drummer to set his foot in Elmeroft. —
“‘当然，’她接着说道，“我父亲绝不允许一个推销员踏进埃尔默罗夫特。 —

If he knew that I was talking to one over the fence he would lock me in my room.’
如果他知道我和一个推销员说话，他会把我关在房间里。

”‘Would you let me come there?’ says I. ‘Would you talk to me if I was to call? —
“‘你会让我去那里吗？’我问道，“如果我打电话给你，你会和我说话吗？ —

For,’ I goes on, ‘if you said I might come and see you, the earls might be belted or suspendered, or pinned up with safety- pins, as far as I am concerned.’
因为，’我继续说道，“如果你说我可以去看你，那么对我来说，个那些伯爵可以被束腰带或者背带，或者用安全别针别住。”

”‘I must not talk to you,’ she says, ‘because we have not been introduced. —
“‘我不应该和你说话，’她说，“因为我们还没有正式介绍过。 —

It is not exactly proper. —
—

So I will say good-bye, Mr.–’ “‘Say the name,’ says I. ‘You haven’t forgotten it.’
所以我会说再见了，先生 -’ ‘‘说出名字来，’我说，“你还记得它。

”‘Pescud,’ says she, a little mad.
“‘佩斯卡德，’她有点生气地说。

”‘The rest of the name!’ I demands, cool as could be.
“‘名字的剩下部分！’我冷静地要求道。

”‘John,’ says she.
“‘约翰，’她说。

”‘John-what?’ I says.
“‘约翰-什么？’我说。

”‘John A.,’ says she, with her head high. ‘Are you through, now?’
“‘约翰，’她昂首说道。‘你做完了吗？’

”‘I’m coming to see the belted earl to-morrow,’ I says.
“‘我明天要去看那个戴着腰带的伯爵，’我说。

”‘He’ll feed you to his fox-hounds,’ says she, laughing.
“‘他会把你喂给他的猎狐犬，’她笑着说。

”‘If he does, it’ll improve their running,’ says I. ‘I’m something of a hunter myself.’
“‘如果那样的话，它们的奔跑能力会提高，’我说。‘我自己也懂点狩猎。’

”‘I must be going in now,’ says she. ‘I oughtn’t to have spoken to you at all. —
“‘我得回去了，’她说。‘我根本不该和你说话。 —

I hope you’ll have a pleasant trip back to Minneapolis – or Pittsburgh, was it? Good-bye!’
‘希望你回明尼阿波利斯或者匹兹堡的旅程愉快 – 或者是匹兹堡吗？再见！’

”‘Good-night,’ says I, ‘and it wasn’t Minneapolis. What’s your name, first, please?’
“‘晚安，’我说，‘明尼阿波利斯不对。请问你的名字，名字先说一下。’

“She hesitated. Then she pulled a leaf off a bush, and said:
“她犹豫了一下。然后她从树上摘了一片叶子，说道：

”‘My name is Jessie,’ says she.
“‘我叫杰西，’她说。

”‘Good-night, Miss Allyn,’ says I.
“‘晚安，艾琳小姐，’我说。

“The next morning at eleven, sharp, I rang the door-bell of that World’s Fair main building. —
“第二天早上十一点整，我按响了那个世博会主楼的门铃。 —

After about three-quarters of an hour an old nigger man about eighty showed up and asked what I wanted. —
大约三刻钟后，一个大约八十岁的黑人老头出现了，问我想干啥。 —

I gave him my business card, and said I wanted to see the colonel. He showed me in.
我递给他我的名片，并说我想见见上校。他带我进去了。

“Say, did you ever crack open a wormy English walnut? That’s what that house was like. —
说，你有没有打开过一颗虫子多的英式核桃？那房子就像那样。 —

There wasn’t enough furniture in it to fill an eight-dollar flat. —
里面放不下足够的家具来填满一间8美元的公寓。 —

Some old horsehair lounges and three-legged chairs and some framed ancestors on the walls were all that met the eye. —
一些旧的马毛沙发、三脚椅和墙上的几张祖先的画框就是眼前的一切。 —

But when Colonel Allyn comes in, the place seemed to light up. —
但是当阿林上校进来时，整个地方似乎一下子亮了起来。 —

You could almost hear a band playing, and see a bunch of old-timers in wigs and white stockings dancing a quadrille. —
你几乎可以听到一支乐队演奏和看见一群头戴假发、穿着白长袜跳着四方舞的老人。 —

It was the style of him, although he had on the same shabby clothes I saw him wear at the station.
那是他的风格，尽管他身上穿的还是我在车站看到的那身破旧的衣服。

“For about nine seconds he had me rattled, and I came mighty near getting cold feet and trying to sell him some plate-glass. —
“在大约九秒钟内，我被他吓得心神不宁，几乎要做决定反悔，试着要给他卖点平板玻璃。 —

But I got my nerve back pretty quick. He asked me to sit down, and I told him everything. —
但是我很快就重拾了勇气。他请我坐下，我把事情都告诉了他。 —

I told him how I followed his daughter from Cincinnati, and what I did it for, and all about my salary and prospects, and explained to him my little code of living–to be always decent and right in your home town; —
我告诉他，我如何从辛辛那提一直跟踪着他的女儿，以及我为此所做的一切，还有关于我的薪水和前景的一切，并向他解释了我生活的小原则 - 始终在家乡保持体面和正确的行为； —

and when you’re on the road, never take more than four glasses of beer a day or play higher than a twenty-five-cent limit. —
当你在外出时，每天不要喝超过四杯啤酒，也不要打超过25美分的牌局限额。 —

At first I thought he was going to throw me out of the window, but I kept on talking. —
起初，我以为他要把我从窗户扔出去，但我还是继续说下去。 —

Pretty soon I got a chance to tell him that story about the Western Congressman who had lost his pocket-book and the grass widow–you remember that story. —
很快，我有机会给他讲述关于西部国会议员丢失钱包和那个为草寡妇的故事 - 你记得那个故事吧。 —

Well, that got him to laughing, and I’ll bet that was the first laugh those ancestors and horsehair sofas had heard in many a day.
嗯，那让他笑了起来，我打赌那是那些祖先和马毛沙发好多天以来听到的第一声笑声。

“We talked two hours. I told him everything I knew; —
“我们谈了两个小时。我告诉他我所知道的一切； —

and then he began to ask questions, and I told him the rest. —
然后他开始问问题，我告诉他剩下的一切。 —

All I asked of him was to give me a chance. —
我向他求一次机会。 —

If I couldn’t make a hit with the little lady, I’d clear out, and not bother any more. At last he says:
如果我无法赢得这位小姐的心，我会离开，不再打扰。最后他说：

”‘There was a Sir Courtenay Pescud in the time of Charles I, if I remember rightly.’
“如果我没记错的话，查尔斯一世时期有个叫柯特内伊·佩斯卡德的爵士。”

”‘If there was,’ says I, ‘he can’t claim kin with our bunch. —
“如果真有的话，他也不能称我们一族的亲戚。” —

We’ve always lived in and around Pittsburgh. —
我们一直生活在匹兹堡附近。 —

I’ve got an uncle in the real- estate business, and one in trouble somewhere out in Kansas. —
我有一个在房地产业务的叔叔，还有一个在堪萨斯某处陷入麻烦的。 —

You can inquire about any of the rest of us from anybody in old Smoky Town, and get satisfactory replies. —
你可以问问老烟镇的任何人，他们会对我们其他人的情况有满意的回答。 —

Did you ever run across that story about the captain of the whaler who tried to make a sailor say his prayers?’ says I.
你听说过关于捕鲸船长试图逼水手祷告的故事吗？”我说。

”‘It occurs to me that I have never been so fortunate,’ says the colonel.
“我觉得我从来没有那么幸运过。”上校说。

“So I told it to him. Laugh! I was wishing to myself that he was a customer. —
“所以我告诉了他。笑吧！我心里却希望他是个客户。” —

What a bill of glass I’d sell him! And then he says:
要是我能卖给他一大堆玻璃！然后他说：

”‘The relating of anecdotes and humorous occurrences has always seemed to me, Mr. Pescud, to be a particularly agreeable way of promoting and perpetuating amenities between friends. —
“讲述轶事和幽默事件，一直以来对我来说，佩斯卡德先生，是促进和永续朋友之间愉快交往的一种特别宜人的方式。” —

With your permission, I will relate to you a fox-hunting story with which I was personally connected, and which may furnish you some amusement.’
在得到您的允许后，我将向您讲述一个与我个人有关的狐狸狩猎故事，希望能给您带来一些娱乐。

So he tells it. It takes forty minutes by the watch. Did I laugh? Well, say! —
于是他开始讲了起来，用表计时间花了40分钟。我的反应呢？嗯，可以说是笑得前仰后合了！ —

When I got my face straight he calls in old Pete, the super-annuated darky, and sends him down to the hotel to bring up my valise. —
当我把脸挤直的时候，他叫来了老皮特，那个年迈的黑奴，让他去旅店取我的手提箱。 —

It was Elmcroft for me while I was in the town.
在我在这个城镇期间，我住在埃尔姆克罗夫特。

“Two evenings later I got a chance to speak a word with Miss Jessie alone on the porch while the colonel was thinking up another story.
“两天晚上后，我有机会在门廊上和杰西小姐独处一会儿，当上校想出另一个故事的时候。

”‘It’s going to be a fine evening,’ says I.
“我说：“今晚会是个好晚上。”

”‘He’s coming,’ says she. ‘He’s going to tell you, this time, the story about the old negro and the green watermelons. —
她说：“他来了。这次他要给你讲那个有关老黑人和绿西瓜的故事。 —

It always comes after the one about the Yankees and the game rooster. —
它总是紧随着关于洋鬼子和斗鸡的那个故事之后。 —

There was another time,’ she goes on, ‘that you nearly got left–it was at Pulaski City.’
她继续说：“还有一次，你差点被落下了，那是在普拉斯基城。”

”‘Yes,’ says I, ‘I remember. My foot slipped as I was jumping on the step, and I nearly tumbled off.’
“是的，“我说， “我记得。我跳上车阶的时候脚滑了一下，差点摔下来。”

”‘I know,’ says she. ‘And–and I–I was afraid you had, John A. I was afraid you had.’
“‘我知道，’她说。‘而且-而且-我-我害怕你会这样，约翰。我害怕你会这样。’”

“And then she skips into the house through one of the big windows.”
她跳跃着穿过大窗户走进屋里。

IV
IV

“Coketown!” droned the porter, making his way through the slowing car.
“科克镇！”车站工作人员低沉地念着，穿过正在减速的车厢。

Pescud gathered his hat and baggage with the leisurely promptness of an old traveller.
佩斯庫德像老旅行者一样悠然地整理起帽子和行李。

“I married her a year ago,” said John. “I told you I built a house in the East End. The belted–I mean the colonel–is there, too. —
“我一年前娶了她，”约翰说。“我告诉过你我在东区盖了一座房子。那位有腰带的，我是说上校，也在那里。” —

I find him waiting at the gate
我看到他在门口等待。

whenever I get back from a trip to hear any new story I might have picked up on the road.”
“每次我结束一次旅行，他都会等着听我可能在路上听到的新故事。”

I glanced out of the window. Coketown was nothing more than a ragged hillside dotted with a score of black dismal huts propped up against dreary mounds of slag and clinkers. —
我瞥了一眼窗外。科克镇只不过是一片布满几十座黑暗沮丧的小屋的凌乱山坡，依靠着荒凉的矿渣和熔渣堆支撑着。 —

It rained in slanting torrents, too, and the rills foamed and splashed down through the black mud to the railroad-tracks.
也下起了斜角度的倾盆大雨，小溪在黑泥中翻腾着，溅到铁轨上。

“You won’t sell much plate-glass here, John,” said I. “Why do you get off at this end-o’-the-world?”
“约翰，你不会在这里卖掉太多的玻璃板，”我说。“你为什么下车在这个世界的尽头？”

“Why,” said Pescud, “the other day I took Jessie for a little trip to Philadelphia, and coming back she thought she saw some petunias in a pot in one of those windows over there just like some she used to raise down in the old Virginia home. —
“为什么呢？”佩斯卡德说，“前几天我带着杰西去费城玩了一趟，回来的时候，她看到一个窗户里有一个盆里的勿忘草，很像她在弗吉尼亚老家种的那些。 —

So I thought I’d drop off here for the night, and see if I could dig up some of the cuttings or blossoms for her. —
所以我想我可以在这里过夜，看看能不能为她找到一些插条或者花朵。 —

Here we are. Good-night, old man. I gave you the address. —
我们到了。晚安，老兄。我给你地址了。 —

Come out and see us when you have time.”
有时间出来看看我们。”

The train moved forward. One of the dotted brown ladies insisted on having windows raised, now that the rain beat against them. —
火车继续前行。有一个斑点的褐色女士坚持要把窗户打开，因为现在雨水打在窗户上面。 —

The porter came along with his mysterious wand and began to light the car.
服务员拿着他神秘的手杖走过来，开始点亮车厢。

I glanced downward and saw the best-seller. —
我低头一看，看到了一本畅销书。 —

I picked it up and set it carefully farther along on the floor of the car, where the rain-drops would not fall upon it. —
我把它捡起来，小心地放在车厢的地板上更远一点的地方，这样雨滴就不会落在它上面。 —

And then, suddenly, I smiled, and seemed to see that life has no geographical metes and bounds.
然后，突然间，我笑了，似乎看到了生活没有地理界限的道理。

“Good-luck to you, Trevelyan,” I said. “And may you get the petunias for your princess!”
“祝你好运，特雷维利安，”我说。“愿你为你的公主摘到牵牛花！”