I suppose you know all about the stage and stage people. —
我想你对舞台和舞台人员应该非常了解。 —

You’ve been touched with and by actors, and you read the newspaper criticisms and the jokes in the weeklies about the Rialto and the chorus girls and the long-haired tragedians. —
你接触过演员，读过报纸上对百老汇和合唱女郎、长发悲剧演员的批评和笑话。 —

And I suppose that a condensed list of your ideas about the mysterious stageland would boil down to something like this:
我想你对神秘的舞台世界有一些想法，总结起来大概就是这样：

Leading ladies have five husbands, paste diamonds, and figures no better than your own (madam) if they weren’t padded. —
一线女演员有五个丈夫，假钻石，并且身材也不比你（女士）好，如果没有假胸垫的话。 —

Chorus girls are inseparable from peroxide, Panhards and Pittsburg. —
合唱女郎和过氧化氢、潘哈德车和匹兹堡密不可分。 —

All shows walk back to New York on tan oxford and railroad ties. —
所有的演出都是走着回纽约的，穿着棕色鞋和铁轨。 —

Irreproachable actresses reserve the comic-landlady part for their mothers on Broadway and their step-aunts on the road. —
无可指责的女演员在百老汇上为她们的母亲保留了喜剧女房东的角色，在路上为她们的继母保留了这个角色。 —

Kyrle Bellew’s real name is Boyle O’Kelley. —
柯尔·贝卢的真名是博伊尔·奥凯利。 —

The ravings of John McCullough in the phonograph were stolen from the first sale of the Ellen Terry memoirs. —
约翰·麦卡洛在留声机中的胡言乱语是从艾伦·特里回忆录的首次销售中偷来的。 —

Joe Weber is funnier than E. H. Sothern; —
乔·韦伯比E·H·索瑟恩更有趣； —

but Henry Miller is getting older than he was.
但亨利·米勒比他年轻时要老。

All theatrical people on leaving the theatre at night drink champagne and eat lobsters until noon the next day. —
所有在晚上离开剧院的戏剧人都会喝香槟和吃龙虾，直到第二天中午。 —

After all, the moving pictures have got the whole bunch pounded to a pulp.
毕竟，移动画面已经把整群人打得粉身碎骨。

Now, few of us know the real life of the stage people. —
现在，我们很少了解舞台人的真实生活。 —

If we did, the profession might be more overcrowded than it is. —
如果我们了解的话，这个行业可能会更加拥挤。 —

We look askance at the players with an eye full of patronizing superiority - and we go home and practise all sorts of elocution and gestures in front of our looking glasses.
我们以一种充满傲慢优越感的眼光看待演员们，并回家在镜子前练习各种演说和姿势。

Latterly there has been much talk of the actor people in a new light. —
最近，人们开始以一种新的眼光谈论演员们。 —

It seems to have been divulged that instead of being motoring bacchanalias and diamond-hungry loreleis they are businesslike folk, students and ascetics with children and homes and libraries, owning real estate, and conducting their private affairs in as orderly and unsensational a manner as any of us good citizens who are bound to the chariot wheels of the gas, rent, coal, ice, and wardmen.
似乎已经泄露出来，他们并不像我们想象的那样充满豪华和贪婪，而是像我们这样的好公民一样经商、学术、克制，有孩子、有家庭和图书馆，拥有房地产，并以有条理和不引人注意的方式处理自己的私事。

Whether the old or the new report of the sock-and-buskiners be the true one is a surmise that has no place here. —
无论是旧的还是新的报告都不属实，这里只是一个猜测。 —

I offer you merely this little story of two strollers; —
我仅仅提供给你们这个关于两个漫步者的小故事。 —

and for proof of its truth I can show you only the dark patch above the cast-iron of the stage-entrance door of Keetor’s old vaudeville theatre made there by the petulant push of gloved hands too impatient to finger the clumsy thumb-latch - and where I last saw Cherry whisking through like a swallow into her nest, on time to the minute, as usual, to dress for her act.
作为证明真实性的唯一证据，我只能指给你们看，在Keetor旧音乐剧院的舞台入口的铸铁门上有一个黑色的痕迹，是被不耐烦地戴着手套推开笨拙的拇指锁造成的 - 而我最后一次看到Cherry像燕子一样迅速飞入自己的巢穴，按时准备着自己的表演服装。

The vaudeville team of Hart & Cherry was an inspiration. —
Hart & Cherry的音乐喜剧团队是一种灵感。 —

But Hart had been roaming through the Eastern and Western circuits for four years with a mixed-up act comprising a monologue, three lightning changes with songs, a couple of imitations of celebrated imitators, and a buck-and-wing dance that had drawn a glance of approval from the bass-viol player in more than one house - than which no performer ever received more satisfactory evidence of good work.
但是哈特已经在东部和西部巡回表演四年了，他的节目内容杂糅不清，包括独白、三次快速换装唱歌、模仿著名模仿者的表演和一段引起贝斯弦乐器演奏者赞许的踢踏舞，比任何表演者都更能得到令人满意的好工作证明。

The greatest treat an actor can have is to witness the pitiful performance with which all other actors desecrate the stage. —
演员最大的享受就是目睹其他演员对舞台的亵渎而无可奈何的表演。 —

In order to give himself this pleausre he will often forsake the sunniest Broadway corner between Thirty-fourth and Forty-fourth to attend a matinee offering by his less gifted brothers. —
为了能够享受这种乐趣，他经常放弃在百老汇最阳光明媚的34至44街角落，去看一场他没有那么有才华的同行们的日场表演。 —

Once during the lifetime of a minstrel joke one comes to scoff and remains to go through with that most difficult exercise of Thespian muscles - the audible contact of the palm of one hand against the palm of the other.
一位支持民间笑话的参与者一度前来嘲笑，最终也会坚持做到赞颂那对/掌与掌之间最困难的表演肌肉锻炼——手掌与另一只手掌之间的可听见的接触声。

One afternoon Bob Hart presented his solvent, serious, well-known vaudevillian face at the box-office window of a rival attraction and got his d. —
一个下午，鲍勃·哈特用他认真而严肃的面孔来到了竞争对手的售票窗口，得到了一张管弦乐座的券。 —

h. coupon for an orchestra seat.
A、B、C和D依次在公告栏上发光，然后消失，每一个都让哈特深陷困境。

A, B, C, and D glowed successively on the announcement spaces and passed into oblivion, each plunging Mr. Hart deeper into gloom. —
观众中的其他人尖叫、扭动、吹口哨和鼓掌； —

Others of the audience shrieked, squirmed, whistled, and applauded; —
但是鲍勃·哈特，那个“集全部芥末和整个表演于一身”的人，坐在那里，面带愁容，双手分开得像一个男孩给他的奶奶织成线团一样。 —

but Bob Hart, “All the Mustard and a Whole Show in Himself,” sat with his face as long and his hands as far apart as a boy holding a hank of yarn for his grandmother to wind into a ball.
但是当H登场时，那个“芥末人”突然挺直了身子。

But when H came on, “The Mustard” suddenly sat up straight. —
H是快乐的字母预示者薇诺娜·樱桃，在角色歌曲和模仿中。樱桃几乎不足两口吃下； —

H was the happy alphabetical prognosticator of Winona Cherry, in Character Songs and Impersonations. There were scarcely more than two bites to Cherry; —
但是她给出货物，用粉色绳子捆好，账单记到了老人的帐上。 —

but she delivered the merchandise tied with a pink cord and charged to the old man’s account. —
在鲍勃·哈特看到H之后，他的脸立刻明亮起来。 —

She first showed you a deliciously dewy and ginghamy country girl with a basket of property daisies who informed you ingenuously that there were other things to be learned at the old log school-house besides cipherin’ and nouns, especially “When the Teach-er Kept Me in.” Vanishing, with a quick flirt of gingham apron-strings, she reappeared in considerably less than a “trice” as a fluffy “Parisienne” - so near does Art bring the old red mill to the Moulin Rouge. And then -
她最初展现给你的是一位美味而露水般的乡村女孩，手拿着一筐自家种的雏菊。她天真地告诉你，在那座古老的圆木小学里，不仅仅学习算术和名词，尤其是“当老师让我留堂时有哪些事要学”。带着蕾丝边的围裙扬眉带笑地消失了一会儿，然后又以不到”一瞬”的时间以一位蓬松的“巴黎女郎”重新出现，艺术将古老的红色磨坊与红磨坊带得如此之近。然后——

But you know the rest. And so did Bob Hart; but he saw somebody else. —
但是你了解剩下的故事。鲍勃·哈特也一样了解，但他看到了别人。 —

He thought he saw that Cherry was the only professional on the short order stage that he had seen who seemed exactly to fit the part of “Helen Grimes” in the sketch he had written and kept tucked away in the tray of his trunk. —
他觉得樱桃是短剧舞台上唯一一个看起来完美适合他写下并一直藏在行李箱托盘里的那个角色“海伦·格里姆斯”。 —

Of course Bob Hart, as well as every other normal actor, grocer, newspaper man, professor, curb broker, and farmer, has a play tucked away somewhere. —
当然，像鲍勃·哈特一样，每一个正常的演员、杂货商、记者、教授、大街经纪和农民都有一出藏在某处的戏剧。 —

They tuck ‘em in trays of trunks, trunks of trees, desks, haymows, pigeonholes, inside pockets, safe-deposit vaults, handboxes, and coal cellars, waiting for Mr. Frohman to call. —
他们将它们放在树干的托盘中，树的干箱子里，书桌上，干草堆里，鸽舍里，内袋里，保险箱里，手提箱里和煤炭地窖里，等待弗罗曼先生的召唤。 —

They belong among the fifty-seven different kinds.
它们属于57种不同的品种之中。

But Bob Hart’s sketch was not destined to end in a pickle jar. —
但是鲍勃·哈特的小品并没有命中一个泡菜罐的命运。 —

He called it “Mice Will Play.” He had kept it quiet and hidden away ever since he wrote it, waiting to find a partner who fitted his conception of “Helen Grimes.” And here was “Helen” herself, with all the innocent abandon, the youth, the sprightliness, and the flawless stage art that his critical taste demanded.
他将其命名为“老鼠将会玩耍”。他一直保持着沉默，将其隐藏起来，直到找到符合他对“海伦格赖姆斯”的概念的搭档。而在这里，“海伦”本人以他的批判性品味要求的天真放纵、青春、活泼和完美的舞台艺术全都具备。

After the act was over Hart found the manager in the box office, and got Cherry’s address. —
演出结束后，哈特在售票处找到经理，并索要了樱桃的地址。 —

At five the next afternoon he called at the musty old house in the West Forties and sent up his professional card.
第二天下午五点，他在西部四十多岁的那所发霉的老房子前拜访，递上了他的职业名片。

By daylight, in a secular shirtwaist and plain voile skirt, with her hair curbed and her Sister of Charity eyes, Winona Cherry might have been playing the part of Prudence Wise, the deacon’s daughter, in the great (unwritten) New England drama not yet entitled anything.
在白天，Winona Cherry穿着世俗的女衬衫和简单的薄纱裙，她的头发弯曲，她的目光像慈善会的姐妹们那样，或许可以扮演普鲁登斯·怀斯，这位还没有被任何名字所命名的纽英伦剧作中的牧师之女。

“I know your act, Mr. Hart,” she said after she had looked over his card carefully. —
“我知道你的表演，哈特先生。”她在仔细看过他的名片后说道。 —

“What did you wish to see me about?”
“你找我有什么事吗？”

“I saw you work last night,” said Hart. “I’ve written a sketch that I’ve been saving up. —
“我昨晚看了你的表演，”哈特说。“我写了一篇一直憋在心里的小品。 —

It’s for two; and I think you can do the other part. —
是两个人演的; 我觉得你可以演另一个角色。 —

I thought I’d see you about it.”
所以我就来找你了。”

“Come in the parlor,” said Miss Cherry. “I’ve been wishing for something of the sort. —
“进客厅吧，”Cherry小姐说。“我一直想找些类似的事情来做。 —

I think I’d like to act instead of doing turns.”
我想我更喜欢演戏而不是做小品。”

Bob Hart drew his cherished “Mice Will Play” from his pocket, and read it to her.
Bob Hart从口袋里拿出了他珍藏的《猫玩耍》，并开始给她读起来。

“Read it again, please,” said Miss Cherry.
“请再读一遍，”Cherry小姐说。

And then she pointed out to him clearly how it could be improved by introducing a messenger instead of a telephone call, and cutting the dialogue just before the climax while they were struggling with the pistol, and by completely changing the lines and business of Helen Grimes at the point where her jealousy overcomes her. —
然后她清楚地向他指出了如何通过引入信使而不是电话呼叫来改进，以及在他们与手枪搏斗之前删去高潮的对话，以及在海伦·格赖姆斯的嫉妒克服她之时，完全改变她的台词和动作。 —

Hart yielded to all her strictures without argument. —
哈特毫不争论地顺从了她的所有指责。 —

She had at once put her finger on the sketch’s weaker points. —
她立刻找出了这个稿的弱点。 —

That was her woman’s intuition that he had lacked. —
那是她作为女人的直觉，而他所缺乏的。 —

At the end of their talk Hart was willing to stake the judgment, experience, and savings of his four years of vaudeville that “Mice Will Play” would blossom into a perennial flower in the garden of the circuits. —
谈话结束时，哈特愿意以他四年杂耍表演的判断、经验和积蓄去打赌，“老鼠会玩耍”将会在巡回演出的花园中盛开。 —

Miss Cherry was slower to decide. After many puckerings of her smooth young brow and tappings on her small, white teeth with the end of a lead pencil she gave out her dictum.
樱桃小姐决定得较慢。经过她纤细的额头多次皱起和用铅笔尖敲击她洁白的小牙齿之后，她发表了自己的判决。

“Mr. Hart,” said she, “I believe your sketch is going to win out. —
“哈特先生，”她说，”我相信你的稿子会成功的。 —

That Grimes part fits me like a shrinkable flannel after its first trip to a handless hand laundry. —
那个格莱姆斯部分就像是第一次洗过的无袖无领毛衣一样合适我。 —

I can make it stand out like the colonel of the Forty-fourth Regiment at a Little Mothers’ Bazaar. —
我可以让它像第四十四团的上校在一个小母亲义卖会上脱颖而出。 —

And I’ve seen you work. I know what you can do with the other part. —
而且我见过你的工作。我知道你能用另一个部分做出什么。 —

But business is business. How much do you get a week for the stunt you do now?”
但是生意就是生意。你现在的这个花招每周能拿多少钱？

“Two hundred,” answered Hart.
“两百，”哈特回答道。

“I get one hundred for mine,” said Cherry. “That’s about the natural discount for a woman. —
“我的花招每周只能拿一百，”樱桃说道，“那大概是女性的自然折扣。 —

But I live on it and put a few simoleons every week under the loose brick in the old kitchen hearth. —
但我靠这个生活，并且每周在旧厨房壁炉下的一个松动砖块下面放几个银币。 —

The stage is all right. —
舞台挺好的。 —

I love it; but there’s something else I love better - that’s a little country home, some day, with Plymouth Rock chickens and six ducks wandering around the yard.
我喜欢它；但还有另一样东西我更喜欢 - 那就是有一天拥有一个小农舍，院子里有普利茅斯岩鸡和六只鸭子自由走动。

“Now, let me tell you, Mr. Hart, I am STRICTLY BUSINESS. If you want me to play the opposite part in your sketch, I’ll do it. —
“现在，先生哈特，听我说，我是非常务实的。如果你希望我在你的小品中扮演相反的角色，我会答应。 —

And I believe we can make it go. And there’s something else I want to say: —
而且我相信我们可以成功。还有另外一件事我想说： —

There’s no nonsense in my make-up; I’m on the level, and I’m on the stage for what it pays me, just as other girls work in stores and offices. —
我的妆容中没有废话；我是很实在的，我在舞台上表演是因为它给我带来收入，就像其他女孩在商店和办公室工作一样。 —

I’m going to save my money to keep me when I’m past doing my stunts. —
我要存钱，以备将来不再表演时使用。 —

No Old Ladies’ Home or Retreat for Imprudent Actresses for me.
对于我来说，没有老年人之家或不谨慎女演员的避风港。

“If you want to make this a business partnership, Mr. Hart, with all nonsense cut out of it, I’m in on it. —
“如果你想把这变成一个没有废话的合作伙伴关系，哈特先生，我愿意。 —

I know something about vaudeville teams in general; but this would have to be one in particular. —
我对杂技团队有一些了解；但这个要特别考虑。 —

I want you to know that I’m on the stage for what I can cart away from it every pay-day in a little manila envelope with nicotine stains on it, where the cashier has licked the flap. —
我希望你知道，我上舞台是为了能在每个发薪日从中带走一点放有尼古丁污渍的小茶色信封，这是出纳员舔过的密封口。 —

It’s kind of a hobby of mine to want to cravenette myself for plenty of rainy days in the future. —
把我自己用覆雨布保护起来，以备将来众多雨天。 —

I want you to know just how I am. I don’t know what an all-night restaurant looks like; —
我希望你了解我是什么样的。我不知道夜店长什么样子； —

I drink only weak tea; I never spoke to a man at a stage entrance in my life, and I’ve got money in five savings banks.”
我只喝淡茶，我从来没有在舞台门口与男人说过话，我在五家储蓄银行中有存款。

“Miss Cherry,” said Bob Hart in his smooth, serious tones, “you’re in on your own terms. —
“Cherry小姐，”Bob Hart用他平稳、认真的声调说道，“你能够按照自己的条件行事。 —

I’ve got ‘strictly business’ pasted in my hat and stenciled on my make-up box. —
我在我的帽子上写着“纯粹的生意”，我的化妆箱上刻着这个字样。 —

When I dream of nights I always see a five-room bungalow on the north shore of Long Island, with a Jap cooking clam broth and duckling in the kitchen, and me with the title deeds to the place in my pongee coat pocket, swinging in a hammock on the side porch, reading Stanleys ‘Explorations into Africa.’ And nobody else around. You never was interested in Africa, was you, Miss Cherry?”
当我做梦的时候，总是梦见一个位于长岛北岸的五居室平房，里面有一个日本人在厨房里煮蛤蜊汤和鸭子，而我则把房产证书放在我的绸缎外套口袋里，在门廊的吊床上荡来荡去，读着斯坦利的《探索非洲》。 而周围没有其他人。你从来对非洲不感兴趣，对吗，Cherry小姐？

“Not any,” said Cherry. “What I’m going to do with my money is to bank it. —
“一点也没有，”Cherry说道。“我要用我的钱存银行。 —

You can get four percent on deposits. Even at the salary I’ve been earning, I’ve figured out that in ten years I’d have an income of about $50 a month just from the interest alone. —
存款可以拿到4%的利息。即使按照我过去的工资计算，我算出来，十年后我就可以每月从利息中获得大约50美元的收入。 —

Well, I might invest some of the principal in a little business - say, trimming hats or a beauty parlor, and make more.”
嗯，我也许会将部分本金投资于一个小生意——比如修剪帽子或开一个美容院，这样可以赚更多的钱。”

“Well,” said Hart, “You’ve got the proper idea all right, all right, anyhow. —
“好吧，”哈特说道，”你完全把握住了正确的想法，无论如何。 —

There are mighty few actors that amount to anything at all who couldn’t fix themselves for the wet days to come if they’d save their money instead of blowing it. —
几乎没有演员在能外出演出时不去挥霍金钱的情况下，他们本来能为将来的雨天储蓄起来。 —

I’m glad you’ve got the correct business idea of it, Miss Cherry. I think the same way; —
切莉小姐，我很高兴你对此有正确的商业意识。我也是这么想的； —

and I believe this sketch will more than double what both of us earn now when we get it shaped up.”
我相信当我们把这个稿子改进起来后，它会使我们两个目前的收入至少翻一番。

The subsequent history of “Mice Will Play” is the history of all successful writings for the stage. —
「老鼠玩耍」的后续历史就是所有成功的舞台作品的历史。 —

Hart & Cherry cut it, pieced it, remodeled it, performed surgical operations on the dialogue and business, changed the lines, restored ‘em, added more, cut ‘em out, renamed it, gave it back the old name, rewrote it, substituted a dagger for the pistol, restored the pistol - put the sketch through all the known processes of condensation and improvement.
哈特和切莉剪切、拼接、重新设计它，对对话和表演进行手术般的操作，改变台词，恢复它们，再添加更多，删除一些，更改名字，重新改写，将匕首替换为手枪，又恢复了手枪 - 将这个稿子经过所有已知的浓缩和改进过程。

They rehearsed it by the old-fashioned boardinghouse clock in the rarely used parlor until its warning click at five minutes to the hour would occur every time exactly half a second before the click of the unloaded revolver that Helen Grimes used in rehearsing the thrilling climax of the sketch.
他们在很少使用的客厅里，老式寄宿楼上的时钟作为参考，排练了那个揭示人心的高潮，直到五分钟前那个警示声一直在每次进行演练的同时准确地响起，恰好在海伦·格里姆斯用来排演这个激动人心的高潮的没有弹药的左轮手枪的点击声的半秒之前。

Yes, that was a thriller and a piece of excellent work. —
是的，那是一部惊悚片，也是一部出色的作品。 —

In the act a real 32-caliber revolver was used loaded with a real cartridge. —
在这个场景中，使用了一把真正的32口径左轮手枪，装有真正的子弹。 —

Helen Grimes, who is a Western girl of decidedly Buffalo Billish skill and daring, is tempestuously in love with Frank Desmond, the private secretary and confidential prospective son-in-law of her father, “Arapahoe” Grimes, quarter-million-dollar cattle king, owning a ranch that, judging by the scenery, is in either the Bad Lands or Amagensett, L. I. Desmond (in private life Mr. Bob Hart) wears puttees and Meadow Brook Hunt riding trousers, and gives his address as New York, leaving you to wonder why he comes to the Bad Lands or Amagansett (as the case may be) and at the same time to conjecture mildly why a cattleman should want puttees about his ranch with a secretary in ‘em.
海伦·格赖姆斯是一个西方女孩，具有颇具野牛比尔般的技能和大胆，她对弗兰克·德斯蒙德深深地陷入了爱河。弗兰克是她父亲（阿拉帕霍）格赖姆斯的私人秘书和未来的女婿，一个拥有25万美元的牛肉大王，拥有一个根据风景判断可能位于恶地或Amagensett的牧场。德斯蒙德（在私人生活中是鲍勃·哈特先生）穿着护腿和草地布鲁克猎衣，地址为纽约，让你想知道为什么他会来到恶地或Amagensett（具体是哪个地方）以及为什么一个牛肉商会想要在他的秘书身上穿护腿。

Well, anyhow, you know as well as I do that we all like that kind of play, whether we admit it or not - something along in between “Bluebeard, Jr.,” and “Cymbeline” played in the Russian.
总之，不管我们承不承认，我们都喜欢那种类型的戏剧——介于《蓝胡子二世》和用俄语演出的《辛白林》之间。

There were only two parts and a half in “Mice Will Play.” Hart and Cherry were the two, of course; —
《鼠猫戏》中只有两个半个角色。哈特和樱桃当然是其中两个。 —

and the half was a minor part always played by a stage hand, who merely came in once in a Tuxedo coat and a panic to announce that the house was surrounded by Indians, and to turn down the gas fire in the grate by the manager’s orders.
那个半个角色始终由一个舞台工作人员扮演，他一直穿着燕尾服，一次性地进来宣布房子被印第安人包围了，并按照经理的指示关闭了壁炉里的煤气火。

There was another girl in the sketch - a Fifth Avenue society swelless - who was visiting the ranch and who had sirened Jack Valentine when he was a wealthy club-man on lower Third Avenue before he lost his money. —
这个小品里还有一个女孩，是第五大道上的社交名流，她曾在杰克·瓦伦丁还是洛尔三大道上的富翁时期迷得晕头转向。 —

This girl appeared on the stage only in the photographic state - Jack had her Sarony stuck up on the mantel of the Amagan - of the Bad Lands droring room. —
这个女孩只在舞台上以照片的形式出现-杰克把她的萨罗尼照贴在了阿马甘荒地的客厅壁炉台上。 —

Helen was jealous, of course.
海伦自然会嫉妒。

And now for the thriller. Old “Arapahoe” Grimes dies of angina pectoris one night - so Helen informs us in a stage-ferryboat whisper over the footlights - while only his secretary was present. —
现在来揭开惊险的一幕。老”阿拉帕霍”格莱姆斯在一个晚上死于心绞痛-海伦越过台下的脚灯以轻声说出-只有他的秘书在场。 —

And that same day he was known to have had $647, 000 in cash in his (ranch) library just received for the sale of a drove of beeves in the East (that accounts for the price we pay for steak! —
同一天，他以卖了东部的一群牛获得了64.7万美元的现金，这笔现金存放在他的牧场图书馆中（这就解释了我们购买牛排的价格！）。 —

). The cash disappears at the same time. Jack Valentine was the only person with the ranchman when he made his (alleged) croak.
就在同一时间，现金消失了。杰克·瓦伦泰恩是和那个农场主在一起的唯一一个人，当他声称自己已经被害死的时候。

“Gawd knows I love him; but if he has done this deed -” you sabe, don’t you? —
“天知道我爱他；但是如果他做了这个事情的话 -” 你明白，对吧？ —

And then there are some mean things said about the Fifth Avenue Girl - who doesn’t come on the stage - and can we blame her, with the vaudeville trust holding down prices until one actually must be buttoned in the back by a call boy, maids cost so much?
然后有一些关于第五大道女孩的恶意谣言 - 她不上舞台 - 我们能怪她吗？娱乐产业联盟抬高着票价，以至于一个人必须由一个叫号员扣在背后，女仆的成本太高。

But, wait. Here’s the climax. Helen Grimes, chaparralish as she can be, is goaded beyond imprudence. —
但是，请等等。这里才是高潮。海伦·格赖姆斯，尽管容易冲动，但她还是被逼得不得不这样做。 —

She convinces herself that Jack Valentine is not only a falsetto, but a financier. —
她使自己相信杰克·瓦伦泰恩不仅是个假扮者，还是一个金融家。 —

To lose at one fell swoop $647,000 and a lover in riding trousers with angles in the sides like the variations on the chart of a typhoid-fever patient is enough to make any perfect lady mad. So, then!
一下子失去了64.7万美元和一位穿着马裤、侧面有角度的情人，足以让任何完美的女士发疯。所以，然后！

They stand in the (ranch) library, which is furnished with mounted elk heads (didn’t the Elks have a fish fry in Amagensett once? —
在（牧场）图书馆里，他们站在那里，里面摆放着装饰有麋鹿头的东西（难道Elks曾经在阿马根塞特进行过炸鱼宴吗？） —

), and the d’enouement begins. I know of no more interesting time in the run of a play unless it be when the prologue ends.
情节的高潮开始了。我认为在一部戏剧的演出中，没有比这更有趣的时刻，除非是前言结束。

Helen thinks Jack has taken the money. Who else was there to take it? —
海伦认为杰克拿了钱。还有谁会拿走呢？ —

The box-office manager was at the front on his job; the orchestra hadn’t left their seats; —
售票处经理在他的岗位上；乐队还没有离开他们的位置； —

and no man could get past “Old Jimmy,” the stage door-man, unless he could show a Skye terrier or an automobile as a guarantee of eligibility.
除非能出示一只天空猎犬或一辆汽车作为资格担保，否则任何人都无法越过“老吉米”这个大门看守。

Goaded beyond imprudence (as before said), Helen says to Jack Valentine: —
受激过度（如前所述），海伦对杰克·瓦伦泰恩说： —

“Robber and thief - and worse yet, stealer of trusting hearts, this should be your fate!”
“强盗和小偷 - 更糟糕的是，偷走信任之心的人，这应该是你的命运！”

With that out she whips, of course, the trusty 32-caliber.
她迅速掏出了可靠的32口径手枪。

“But I will be merciful,” goes on Helen. “You shall live - that will be your punishment. —
“但我会慈悲的，”海伦继续说道。“你会活下来，这将是你的惩罚。 —

I will show you how easily I could have sent you to the death that you deserve. —
我会向你展示，我是多么容易地可以将你送上你应得的死亡。 —

There is her picture on the mantel. I will send through her more beautiful face the bullet that should have pierced your craven heart.”
壁炉架上有她的照片。我将通过她更美丽的面容射出本应穿透你卑鄙的心脏的子弹。”

And she does it. And there’s no fake blank cartridges or assistants pulling strings. Helen fires. —
她真的这样做了。没有虚假的空壳子弹或助手拉线。海伦开枪了。 —

The bullet - the actual bullet - goes through the face of the photograph - and then strikes the hidden spring of the sliding panel in the wall - and lo! —
子弹 - 真正的子弹 - 穿过照片的脸部，然后击中墙壁上隐藏的滑动面板的弹簧 - 看啊！ —

the panel slides, and there is the missing $647, 000 in convincing stacks of currency and bags of gold. —
面板滑开了，里面有遗失的647, 000美元以及一大堆金币，金子。 —

It’s great. You know how it is. Cherry practised for two months at a target on the roof of her boarding house. —
真是太棒了。你知道的。樱桃在她寄宿舍的屋顶上练习了两个月的目标射击。 —

It took good shooting. In the sketch she had to hit a brass disk only three inches in diameter, covered by wall paper in the panel; —
这需要非常高的射击水平。在那幅素描中，她必须击中一个只有三英寸直径的黄铜盘，盘子上覆盖着墙纸在面板上； —

and she had to stand in exactly the same spot every night, and the photo had to be in exactly the same spot, and she had to shoot steady and true every time.
而且她每晚都必须站在完全相同的位置，照片也必须在完全相同的位置，她每次拍摄都必须稳定而准确。

Of course old “Arapahoe” had tucked the funds away there in the secret place; —
当然，“阿拉帕霍”老人把资金藏在那个秘密地方； —

and, of course, Jack hadn’t taken anything except his salary (which really might have come under the head of “obtaining money under”; —
而且，当然，杰克除了他的薪水没有拿走任何东西（这可能真的属于“以获取金钱”一项，这不是关键）；当然，这位纽约女孩真的和布朗克斯的一个混凝土房屋承包商订婚了； —

but that is neither here nor there); and, of course, the New York girl was really engaged to a concrete house contractor in the Bronx; —
并且，自然地，杰克和海伦最终陷入了半纳尔逊式的境地 - 就是这样。 —

and, necessarily, Jack and Helen ended in a half-Nelson - and there you are.
在哈特和切里完美地演绎了《老鼠会玩》之后，他们在一个可容纳的杂耍剧院进行了试映。

After Hart and Cherry had gotten “Mice Will Play” flawless, they had a try-out at a vaudeville house that accommodates. —
这出小品是一部拆台的作品。这是一种罕见的才华之作，它从屋顶上涌入了剧院。 —

The sketch was a house wrecker. It was one of those rare strokes of talent that inundates a theatre from the roof down. —
看台上哭泣，而座位上的管弦乐队，因为准备好了，也随之泪流满面。 —

The gallery wept; and the orchestra seats, being dressed for it, swam in tears.
画廊里哭泣，而管弦乐席位，因为准备好了，也泪流满面。

After the show the booking agents signed blank checks and pressed fountain pens upon Hart and Cherry. —
演出结束后，预订代理人给了哈特和樱莓空白支票，并递给他们铺满钢笔。 —

Five hundred dollars a week was what it panned out.
每周收入是五百美元。

That night at 11:30 Bob Hart took off his hat and bade Cherry good night at her boarding-house door.
那天晚上11点半，鲍勃·哈特脱下帽子，在樱莓的寄宿房门口向她道晚安。

“Mr. Hart,” said she thoughtfully, “come inside just a few minutes. —
“哈特先生，”她思索着说道，”请进来坐坐几分钟吧。 —

We’ve got our chance now to make good and make money. —
我们现在有机会证明自己，赚钱。 —

What we want to do is to cut expenses every cent we can, and save all we can.”
我们要节省一切开支，尽可能地存钱。”

“Right,” said Bob. “It’s business with me. You’ve got your scheme for banking yours; —
“没错，”鲍勃说。”对我来说是生意。你有你的计划可以保住你的钱； —

and I dream every night of that bungalow with the Jap cook and nobody around to raise trouble. —
我每晚都梦见那间有日本厨师的平房，周围没有人惹麻烦。 —

Anything to enlarge the net receipts will engage my attention.”
为了增加净收入，我会全身心投入。”

“Come inside just a few minutes,” repeated Cherry, deeply thoughtful. —
“请进来坐坐几分钟，”樱莓反复思考着说道。 —

“I’ve got a proposition to make to you that will reduce our expenses a lot and help you work out your own future and help me work out mine - and all on business principles.”
“我有一个提议，可以大大减少我们的开支，帮助你实现自己的未来，也帮助我实现自己的未来-而且都是基于商业原则的。”

“Mice Will Play” had a tremendously successful run in New York for ten weeks - rather neat for a vaudeville sketch - and then it started on the circuits. —
“玩耍的老鼠”在纽约连续演出了十个星期，对于一个杂耍小品来说非常成功，然后它开始巡回演出。 —

Without following it, it may be said that it was a solid drawing card for two years without a sign of abated popularity.
不用说，它作为一种吸引力持续了两年，没有任何减少的迹象。

Sam Packard, manager of one of Keetor’s New York houses, said of Hart & Cherry:
山姆·帕卡德，基特尔（Keetor）的纽约剧院经理，对哈特与雪梅说：

“As square and high-toned a little team as ever came over the circuit. —
“他们是一对正直而高调的小团队，不管到哪里都保持一致。 —

It’s a pleasure to read their names on the booking list. —
看到他们的名字出现在订票名单上是一种享受。 —

Quiet, hard workers, no Johnny and Mabel nonsense, on the job to the minute, straight home after their act, and each of ‘em as gentlemanlike as a lady. —
他们非常安静，努力工作，没有约翰尼和梅布尔的胡闹，在表演结束后立刻回家，他们俩都像女士一样有礼貌。 —

I don’t expect to handle any attractions that give me less trouble or more respect for the profession.”
我不指望有其他的演艺项目可以给我带来更少的麻烦或者对这个行业更多的尊重。”

And now, after so much cracking of a nutshell, here is the kernel of the story:
现在，在这么多的核桃开裂之后，故事的核心就在这里：

At the end of its second season “Mice Will Play” came back to New York for another run at the roof gardens and summer theatres. —
在第二个演出季结束后，“玩耍的老鼠”回到纽约，在屋顶花园和夏季剧院再次演出。 —

There was never any trouble in booking it at the top-notch price. —
以一流的价格预订从来没有任何麻烦。 —

Bob Hart had his bungalow nearly paid for, and Cherry had so many savings-deposit bank books that she had begun to buy sectional bookcases on the instalment plan to hold them.
鲍勃·哈特的小屋几乎付清，而樱桃有那么多储蓄存折，她已经开始用分期付款方式购买分段书架来存放它们。

I tell you these things to assure you, even if you can’t believe it, that many, very many of the stage people are workers with abiding ambitions - just the same as the man who wants to be president, or the grocery clerk who wants a home in Flatbush, or a lady who is anxious to flop out of the Count-pan into the Prince-fire. —
我告诉你这些事情是要向你保证，即使你不能相信，舞台剧人有许多，非常多，他们怀有坚定的抱负 - 就像那个想当总统的人，或者那个想在弗拉特布什拥有一所户型的杂货店职员，或者那个渴望从伯爵夫人变成王子夫人的女士。 —

And I hope I may be allowed to say, without chipping into the contribution basket, that they often move in a mysterious way their wonders to perform.
而我希望我可以不插手捐款篮子，说一句话，他们经常以神秘的方式移动他们灵巧的表演。

But, listen.
但是，听着。

At the first performance of “Mice Will Play” in New York at the Westphalia (no hams alluded to) Theatre, Winona Cherry was nervous. —
在纽约Westphalia（不提到火腿）剧院的“老鼠会玩”首次演出中，维诺娜·樱桃很紧张。 —

When she fired at the photograph of the Eastern beauty on the mantel, the bullet, instead of penetrating the photo and then striking the disk, went into the lower left side of Bob Hart’s neck. —
当她朝壁炉架上的东方美女照片开枪时，子弹没有穿透照片然后打到光盘上，而是进入了鲍勃·哈特的脖子左下方。 —

Not expecting to get it there, Hart collapsed neatly, while Cherry fainted in a most artistic manner.
哈特毫不意外地优雅地倒下，而雪莉则以一种非常艺术的方式晕倒了。

The audience, surmising that they viewed a comedy instead of a tragedy in which the principals were married or reconciled, applauded with great enjoyment. —
观众们猜测他们看到的是一场喜剧，而不是一场婚姻大团圆或复合的悲剧，他们热烈地鼓掌欢笑。 —

The Cool Head, who always graces such occasions, rang the curtain down, and two platoons of scene shifters respectively and more or less respectfully removed Hart & Cherry from the stage. —
冷静的头脑总在这种场合展现，他拉下了帷幕，两个拥有各自尊敬程度的道具组队分别移走了哈特和雪莉。 —

The next turn went on, and all went as merry as an alimony bell.
接下来的节目开始了，一切如同支付赡养费的钟声般欢快。

The stage hands found a young doctor at the stage entrance who was waiting for a patient with a decoction of Am. B’ty roses. —
舞台工作人员在舞台入口找到了一个等待携带美国草莓花混合药物的病人的年轻医生。 —

The doctor examined Hart carefully and laughed heartily.
医生仔细检查了哈特并大笑起来。

“No headlines for you, Old Sport,” was his diagnosis. —
“老兄，你不会上头条了，”这是他的诊断。 —

“If it had been two inches to the left it would have undermined the carotid artery as far as the Red Front Drug Store in Flatbush and Back Again. As it is, you just get the property man to bind it up with a flounce torn from any one of the girls’ Valenciennes and go home and get it dressed by the parlor-floor practitioner on your block, and you’ll be all right. —
如果再左移两英寸，它会损害颈动脉一直到弗拉特布什的红前药店再返回来。而现在，你只需要让财产经纪人用任意一个女孩的瓦朗西安莱斯蕾丝条绑起来，然后回家找家附近的医生处理一下，你就没事了。 —

Excuse me; I’ve got a serious case outside to look after.”
不好意思，我外面有个严重的病例要照看。

After that, Bob Hart looked up and felt better. —
在那之后，鲍勃·哈特抬头感觉好多了。 —

And then to where he lay came Vincente, the Tramp Juggler, great in his line. —
然后，在他躺的地方来了文森特，即大名鼎鼎的流浪杂耍演员。 —

Vincente, a solemn man from Brattleboro, Vt., named Sam Griggs at home, sent toys and maple sugar home to two small daughters from every town he played. —
文森特，来自佛蒙特州布拉特尔伯罗的一个庄重的人，在每个他表演的城镇上都给他两个小女儿寄玩具和枫糖。 —

Vincente had moved on the same circuits with Hart & Cherry, and was their peripatetic friend.
文森特曾和哈特和切里一起演出，他们是他漂泊的朋友。

“Bob,” said Vincente in his serious way, “I’m glad it’s no worse. —
“鲍勃，”文森特以他严肃的口吻说，“很高兴事情没那么糟。 —

The little lady is wild about you.”
这个小姑娘对你很痴迷。”

“Who?” asked Hart.
“谁？”哈特问。

“Cherry,” said the juggler. “We didn’t know how bad you were hurt; —
“切里，”这个杂技演员说，“我们都不知道你受了多重伤； —

and we kept her away. It’s taking the manager and three girls to hold her.”
“我们把她拦住了。经理和三个女孩都抓住她了。”

“It was an accident, of course,” said Hart. “Cherry’s all right. —
“这当然是个意外,“哈特说道。 “樱桃没事。” —

She wasn’t feeling in good trim or she couldn’t have done it. There’s no hard feelings. —
“她身体不舒服，否则她就不会做这种事了。我们没恶意。” —

She’s strictly business. The doctor says I’ll be on the job again in three days. —
“她是纯商业行为。医生说我三天后能回来上班。” —

Don’t let her worry.”
“不要让她担心。”

“Man,” said Sam Griggs severely, puckering his old, smooth, lined face, “are you a chess automaton or a human pincushion? —
“兄弟，”萨姆·格里格斯严肃地说道，他的老脸上有皱纹， “你是个国际象棋机器人还是人类钉子垫子？ —

Cherry’s crying her heart out for you - calling ‘Bob, Bob,’ every second, with them holding her hands and keeping her from coming to you.”
“樱桃为你伤心地哭个不停 - 每秒钟都在喊’鲍勃，鲍勃’，他们拉着她的手阻止她过来见你。”

“What’s the matter with her?” asked Hart, with wide-open eyes. —
“她怎么了?” 哈特睁大眼睛问道。 —

“The sketch’ll go on again in three days. I’m not hurt bad, the doctor says. —
“这个节目三天后还会进行。我没有受重伤，医生说。 —

She won’t lose out half a week’s salary. —
她不会因此损失半周的工资。 —

I know it was an accident. What’s the matter with her?”
我知道这是个意外。她怎么了?”

“You seem to be blind, or a sort of a fool,” said Vincente. —
“你好像是瞎子，或者有点傻，”文森特说。 —

“The girl loves you and is almost mad about your hurt. What’s the matter with you? —
“这个女孩爱你，对你受伤非常伤心疯狂。你怎么了？” —

Is she nothing to you? I wish you could hear her call you.”
她对你来说一无是处吗？我希望你能听到她呼唤你的声音。

“Loves me?” asked Bob Hart, rising from the stack of scenery on which he lay. —
“她爱我？”博布·哈特从他躺着的道具堆中站起来问道。 —

“Cherry loves me? Why, it’s impossible.”
“雪梅爱我？哦，这不可能。

“I wish you could see her and hear her,” said Griggs.
“我希望你能见到她，听到她的声音，”格里格斯说。

“But, man,” said Bob Hart, sitting up, “it’s impossible. —
“但是，伙计，”博布·哈特坐起身来说，”这不可能。 —

It’s impossible, I tell you. I never dreamed of such a thing.”
“这是不可能的，我告诉你。我从来没有想过会有这样的事。

“No human being,” said the Tramp Juggler, “could mistake it. —
“没有人，”流浪杂耍艺人说道，”会弄错的。 —

She’s wild for love of you. How have you been so blind?”
她为你的爱而疯狂。你怎么会如此盲目？

“But, my God,” said Bob Hart, rising to his feet, “it’s too late. It’s too late, I tell you, Sam; —
“但是，天啊，”鲍勃·哈特站起身来说道，” 太晚了。太晚了，我告诉你，山姆； —

it’s too late. It can’t be. You must be wrong. —
太晚了。这不可能。你一定弄错了。 —

It’s impossible. There’s some mistake.
这是不可能的。一定有什么误会。

“She’s crying for you,” said the Tramp Juggler. —
“她为你而哭泣，”街头艺人说道。 —

“For love of you she’s fighting three, and calling your name so loud they don’t dare to raise the curtain. Wake up, man.”
“她为了你正在与三个人战斗，并高声呼喊你的名字，以至于他们不敢拉起帷幕。醒醒吧，人啊。”

“For love of me?” said Bob Hart with staring eyes. “Don’t I tell you it’s too late? —
“为了我？”鲍勃·哈特用惊讶的眼神说道。”我不是告诉你已经太晚了吗？ —

It’s too late, man. Why, Cherry and I have been married two years!”
太晚了，伙计。为什么呢，Cherry和我已经结婚两年了！