So Big

SO BIG

这么大

BY EDNA FERBER

作者：艾德娜·费伯

AUTHOR OF THE GIRLS, FANNY HERSELF, ROAST BEEF MEDIUM, ETC.

《女孩们》、《范妮本人》、《烤牛肉中等》等的作者。

NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS

纽约格罗塞特和邓拉普出版社

Made in the United States of America

美国制造

COPYRIGHT, 1924, BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY.

版权所有，1924，DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY。

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

版权所有。

COPYRIGHT, 1923, 1924, BY THE CROWELL PUBLISHING COMPANY.

版权所有，1923 年、1924 年，由克罗威尔出版公司所有。

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES AT THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N.

美国 N 州花园城乡村生活出版社印刷

Y.

Y。

So Big

这么大

Until he was almost ten the name stuck to him.

直到他快十岁的时候，这个名字就一直萦绕在他的心头。

He had literally to fight his way free of it.

他确实必须奋力摆脱它。

From So Big (of fond and infantile derivation) it had been condensed into Sobig.

从《So Big》（源于喜爱和婴儿的衍生）它被浓缩为《Sobig》。

And Sobig DeJong, in all its consonantal disharmony, he had remained until he was a ten-year-old schoolboy in that incredibly Dutch district southwest of Chicago known first as New Holland and later as High Prairie.

而索比格·德容（Sobig DeJong），虽然辅音不和谐，但他一直待在芝加哥西南部那个令人难以置信的荷兰地区，直到他十岁的时候才被称为“新荷兰”，后来被称为“高草原”。

At ten, by dint of fists, teeth, copper-toed boots, and temper, he earned the right to be called by his real name, Dirk DeJong.

十岁时，凭借拳头、牙齿、铜趾靴子和脾气，他赢得了以真名德克·德容 (Dirk DeJong) 称呼的权利。

Now and then, of course, the nickname bobbed up and had to be subdued in a brief and bitter skirmish.

当然，这个绰号时不时地会浮现出来，但又不得不在一场短暂而激烈的冲突中被平息。

His mother, with whom the name had originated, was the worst offender.

这个名字的起源是他的母亲，她是罪魁祸首。

When she lapsed he did not, naturally, use schoolyard tactics on her.

当她犯错时，他自然不会对她使用校园策略。

But he sulked and glowered portentously and refused to answer, though her tone, when she called him So Big, would have melted the heart of any but that natural savage, a boy of ten.

但他生闷气，凶狠地怒视着他，拒绝回答，尽管她叫他“这么大”时的语气会融化任何人的心，除了那个天生的野蛮人，一个十岁的男孩。

The nickname had sprung from the early and idiotic question invariably put to babies and answered by them, with infinite patience, through the years of their infancy.

这个昵称源自于婴儿时期总是向婴儿提出的愚蠢问题，而他们则以无限的耐心回答。

Selina DeJong, darting expertly about her kitchen, from washtub to baking board, from stove to table, or, if at work in the fields of the truck farm, straightening the numbed back for a moment’s respite from the close-set rows of carrots, turnips, spinach, or beets over which she was labouring, would wipe the sweat beads from nose and forehead with a quick duck of her head in the crook of her bent arm.

塞琳娜·德容熟练地在她的厨房里穿梭，从洗衣盆到烤盘，从炉灶到餐桌，或者，如果在卡车农场的地里干活，她会在紧挨着的一排排胡萝卜、萝卜、菠菜或甜菜上劳作，伸直麻木的背部休息片刻，她会用弯曲的手臂弯下的头快速地擦去鼻子和额头上的汗珠。

Those great fine dark eyes of hers would regard the child perched impermanently on a little heap of empty potato sacks, one of which comprised his costume.

她那双又大又漂亮的黑眼睛会注视着那个暂时栖息在一小堆空土豆袋上的孩子，其中一个是他的服装。

He was constantly detaching himself from the parent sack heap to dig and burrow in the rich warm black loam of the truck garden.

他不断地将自己从母麻袋堆中分离出来，在卡车花园肥沃温暖的黑壤土中挖掘和挖洞。

Selina DeJong had little time for the expression of affection.

塞琳娜·德容 (Selina DeJong) 几乎没有时间表达爱意。

The work was always hot at her heels.

工作总是紧随其后。

You saw a young woman in a blue calico dress, faded and earth-grimed.

你看到一个穿着蓝色印花布连衣裙的年轻女子，衣服已经褪色，沾满泥土。

Between her eyes was a driven look as of one who walks always a little ahead of herself in her haste.

她的双眼之间有一种奋发的神情，就像一个在匆忙中总是走在前面的人。

Her dark abundant hair was skewered into a utilitarian knob from which soft loops and strands were constantly escaping, to be pushed back by that same harried ducking gesture of head and bent arm.

她浓密的黑发被串成一个实用的旋钮，柔软的发圈和发丝不断地从旋钮中逸出，并被同样匆忙的头和弯曲的手臂低下的姿势推到后面。

Her hands, for such use, were usually too crusted and inground with the soil into which she was delving.

对于这种用途，她的手通常都结满了硬皮，并且与她所钻探的土壤融为一体。

You saw a child of perhaps two years, dirt-streaked, sunburned, and generally otherwise defaced by those bumps, bites, scratches, and contusions that are the common lot of the farm child of a mother harried by work.

你看到一个大约两岁的孩子，身上有污垢，晒伤了，而且通常都被撞伤、咬伤、抓伤和挫伤所玷污，这些都是母亲因工作而忙碌的农家孩子的常见遭遇。

Yet, in that moment, as the woman looked at the child there in the warm moist spring of the Illinois prairie land, or in the cluttered kitchen of the farmhouse, there quivered and vibrated between them and all about them an aura, a glow, that imparted to them and their surroundings a mystery, a beauty, a radiance.

然而，在那一刻，当女人在伊利诺斯州草原温暖潮湿的春天里，或者在农舍杂乱的厨房里看着孩子时，他们之间以及他们周围的一切都在颤动和振动，一种光环，一种光芒，赋予他们和他们的周围一种神秘、美丽和光辉。

“How big is baby?” Selina would demand, senselessly.

“宝宝多大了？”塞琳娜无意识地问道。

“How big is my man?”

“我的男人多大了？”

The child would momentarily cease to poke plump fingers into the rich black loam.

孩子会暂时停止将丰满的手指插入肥沃的黑壤土中。

He would smile a gummy though slightly weary smile and stretch wide his arms.

他会露出粘糊糊但略带疲倦的微笑，并张开双臂。

She, too, would open her tired arms wide, wide.

她也会张开疲惫的双臂。

Then they would say in a duet, his mouth a puckered pink petal, hers quivering with tenderness and a certain amusement, “_So-o-o-o_ big!” with the voice soaring on the prolonged vowel and dropping suddenly with the second word.

然后他们会二重唱，他的嘴像粉红色的花瓣一样皱起，她的嘴因温柔和某种乐趣而颤抖，“_如此-o-o-o_大！”声音在长元音时飙升，在第二个词时突然下降。

Part of the game.

游戏的一部分。

The child became so habituated to this question that sometimes, if Selina happened to glance round at him suddenly in the midst of her task, he would take his cue without the familiar question being put and would squeal his “_So-o-o-o_ big!” rather absently, in dutiful solo.

孩子已经习惯了这个问题，有时，如果塞琳娜在做任务的时候突然回头看了他一眼，他就会在没有提出熟悉问题的情况下接受暗示，并尖叫着“太-o-o-o_大了！”相当心不在焉，尽职尽责地独奏。

Then he would throw back his head and laugh a triumphant laugh, his open mouth a coral orifice.

然后他会仰起头，发出胜利的笑声，张开的嘴像珊瑚一样的孔。

She would run to him, and swoop down upon him, and bury her flushed face in the warm moist creases of his neck, and make as though to devour him.

她会跑到他身边，俯冲到他身上，把通红的脸埋进他脖子温暖湿润的皱纹里，做出要吞掉他的样子。

“So big!”

“好大啊！”

But of course he wasn’t.

但他当然不是。

He wasn’t as big as that.

他没有那么大。

In fact, he never became as big as the wide-stretched arms of her love and imagination would have had him.

事实上，他从来没有变得像她的爱和想象所张开的双臂那样伟大。

You would have thought she should have been satisfied when, in later years, he was the Dirk DeJong whose name you saw (engraved) at the top of heavy cream linen paper, so rich and thick and stiff as to have the effect of being starched and ironed by some costly American business process; whose clothes were made by Peter Peel, the English tailor; whose roadster ran on a French chassis; whose cabinet held mellow Italian vermouth and Spanish sherry; whose wants were served by a Japanese houseman; whose life, in short, was that of the successful citizen of the Republic.

你可能会认为，在后来的几年里，当他成为德克·德容（Dirk DeJong）时，你会认为她应该感到满意，你会在厚重的奶油色亚麻纸的顶部看到他的名字（刻），如此丰富、厚实、僵硬，以至于具有经过某种昂贵的美国商业流程浆洗和熨烫的效果；但他的名字却被刻在厚厚的奶油色亚麻纸上。他的衣服是由英国裁缝彼得·皮尔（Peter Peel）制作的；其敞篷跑车采用法国底盘；他的柜子里放着醇厚的意大利苦艾酒和西班牙雪利酒；一位日本家庭主妇满足了他们的需求；简而言之，他的生活是共和国成功公民的生活。

But she wasn’t.

但她不是。

Not only was she dissatisfied: she was at once remorseful and indignant, as though she, Selina DeJong, the vegetable pedler, had been partly to blame for this success of his, and partly cheated by it.

她不仅不满意，而且立刻感到悔恨和愤慨，仿佛她，菜贩塞琳娜·德容，对他的成功负有部分责任，部分受到了欺骗。

When Selina DeJong had been Selina Peake she had lived in Chicago with her father.

当塞琳娜·德容（Selina DeJong）还是塞琳娜·皮克（Selina Peake）时，她和父亲住在芝加哥。

They had lived in many other cities as well.

他们也曾在许多其他城市居住过。

In Denver during the rampant ’80s.

在 80 年代猖獗的丹佛。

In New York when Selina was twelve.

塞琳娜十二岁时在纽约。

In Milwaukee briefly.

在密尔沃基短暂停留。

There was even a San Francisco interlude which was always a little sketchy in Selina’s mind and which had ended in a departure so hurried as to bewilder even Selina who had learned to accept sudden comings and abrupt goings without question.

甚至还有一段在旧金山的插曲，在塞琳娜的脑海里总是有点粗略，最后却以匆忙的离开而告终，甚至让塞琳娜感到困惑，因为她已经学会了毫无疑问地接受突然的到来和突然的离开。

“Business,” her father always said.

“生意，”她父亲总是说。

“Little deal.” She never knew until the day of his death how literally the word deal was applicable to his business transactions.

“没什么大不了的。”直到他去世的那天，她才知道“交易”这个词在字面上是如何适用于他的商业交易的。

Simeon Peake, travelling the country with his little daughter, was a gambler by profession, temperament, and natural talents.

西蒙·皮克（Simeon Peake）带着他的小女儿周游全国，他的职业、性情和天赋都是一名赌徒。

When in luck they lived royally, stopping at the best hotels, eating strange, succulent sea-viands, going to the play, driving in hired rigs (always with two horses.

幸运的时候，他们过着皇室般的生活，住在最好的酒店，吃奇怪的多汁海鲜，去看戏，开着租来的马车（总是有两匹马。

If Simeon Peake had not enough money for a two-horse equipage he walked).

如果西蒙·皮克（Simeon Peake）没有足够的钱买两匹马，他就步行）。

When fortune hid her face they lived in boarding houses, ate boarding-house meals, wore the clothes bought when Fortune’s breath was balmy.

当财富遮住脸时，他们住在寄宿处，吃寄宿餐，穿在财富呼吸温和时买的衣服。

During all this time Selina attended schools, good, bad, private, public, with surprising regularity considering her nomadic existence.

在这段时间里，塞琳娜在好学校、坏学校、私立学校、公立学校上学，考虑到她的游牧生活，其规律性令人惊讶。

Deep-bosomed matrons, seeing this dark-eyed serious child seated alone in a hotel lobby or boarding-house parlour, would bend over her in solicitous questioning.

胸怀深沉的主妇们，看到这个黑眼睛、严肃的孩子独自坐在酒店大堂或寄宿公寓的客厅里，都会俯下身子，关切地询问她。

“Where is your mamma, little girl?”

“小姑娘，你妈妈在哪儿？”

“She is dead,” Selina would reply, politely and composedly.

“她死了，”塞琳娜会礼貌而平静地回答。

“Oh, my poor little dear!” Then, with a warm rush, “Don’t you want to come and play with my little girl?

“哦，我可怜的小宝贝！”然后，热情地说道：“你不想来和我的小女儿一起玩吗？

She loves little girls to play with.

她喜欢和小女孩一起玩。

H’m?” The “m” of the interrogation held hummingly, tenderly.

嗯？”审讯中的“m”轻柔地哼着。

“No, thank you very much.

“不，非常感谢。

I’m waiting for my father.

我在等我的父亲。

He would be disappointed not to find me here.”

如果他没有在这里找到我，他会很失望。”

These good ladies wasted their sympathy.

这些善良的女士们浪费了她们的同情心。

Selina had a beautiful time.

赛琳娜度过了一段美好的时光。

Except for three years, to recall which was to her like entering a sombre icy room on leaving a warm and glowing one, her life was free, interesting, varied.

除了三年，回想起来，这对她来说就像是离开温暖而明亮的房间，进入阴暗冰冷的房间，她的生活是自由的、有趣的、多姿多彩的。

She made decisions usually devolving upon the adult mind.

她做出的决定通常由成年人来决定。

She selected clothes.

她挑选衣服。

She ruled her father.

她统治着她的父亲。

She read absorbedly books found in boarding-house parlours, in hotels, in such public libraries as the times afforded.

她全神贯注地阅读在寄宿公寓客厅、酒店以及当时公共图书馆里找到的书籍。

She was alone for hours a day, daily.

她每天都有好几个小时独自一人。

Frequently her father, fearful of loneliness for her, brought her an armful of books and she had an orgy, dipping and swooping about among them in a sort of gourmand’s ecstasy of indecision.

她的父亲害怕她感到孤独，常常给她带来一大堆书，而她则纵情狂欢，在书本中翻来覆去，有一种美食家优柔寡断的狂喜。

In this way, at fifteen, she knew the writings of Byron, Jane Austen, Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Felicia Hemans.

就这样，十五岁的她就知道了拜伦、简·奥斯丁、狄更斯、夏洛特·勃朗特、费利西亚·赫曼斯的作品。

Not to speak of Mrs. E.

更不用说E女士了。

D.

D .

E.

E.

N.

N。

Southworth, Bertha M.

索思沃斯，伯莎·M.

Clay, and that good fairy of the scullery, the _Fireside Companion_, in whose pages factory girls and dukes were brought together as inevitably as steak and onions.

克莱，还有厨房里的好仙女，《炉边伴侣》，在她的书页中，工厂女孩和公爵们不可避免地像牛排和洋葱一样聚集在一起。

These last were, of course, the result of Selina’s mode of living, and were loaned her by kind-hearted landladies, chambermaids, and waitresses all the way from California to New York.

当然，这些都是塞琳娜生活方式的结果，是从加利福尼亚到纽约的好心女房东、女服务员和女服务员借给她的。

Her three dark years—from nine to twelve—were spent with her two maiden aunts, the Misses Sarah and Abbie Peake, in the dim, prim Vermont Peake house from which her father, the black sheep, had run away when a boy.

她的三年黑暗岁月——从九岁到十二岁——是和她的两个未婚姑姑莎拉·皮克小姐和艾比·皮克小姐一起在佛蒙特州皮克一所昏暗、古板的房子里度过的，她的害群之马父亲小时候就从那里逃走了。

After her mother’s death Simeon Peake had sent his little daughter back east in a fit of remorse and temporary helplessness on his part and a spurt of forgiveness and churchly charity on the part of his two sisters.

母亲去世后，西蒙·皮克（Simeon Peake）出于悔恨和暂时的无助，以及他的两个姐妹的宽恕和教会慈善事业，将他的小女儿送回了东部。

The two women were incredibly drawn in the pattern of the New England spinster of fiction.

这两个女人都被小说中新英格兰老处女的模式所吸引。

Mitts, preserves, Bible, chilly best room, solemn and kittenless cat, order, little-girls-mustn’t.

手套、蜜饯、《圣经》、寒冷的最好的房间、庄严而没有小猫的猫、秩序，小女孩绝对不能。

They smelled of apples—of withered apples that have rotted at the core.

它们闻起来有苹果的味道——有苹果核腐烂的枯萎苹果的味道。

Selina had once found such an apple in a corner of a disorderly school-desk, had sniffed it, regarded its wrinkled, sapless pink cheek, and had bitten into it adventuresomely, only to spit out the mouthful in an explosive and unladylike spray.

塞琳娜曾经在杂乱的课桌角落里发现过这样一个苹果，闻了闻，看了看它那布满皱纹、毫无血色的粉红脸颊，冒险地咬了一口，结果却喷出一口爆炸性的、不淑女的喷雾。

It had been all black and mouldy at its heart.

它的中心已经发黑发霉了。

Something of this she must have conveyed, in her desperation, to her father in an uncensored letter.

在绝望中，她一定在一封未经审查的信中向她父亲传达了这一点。

Without warning he had come for her, and at sight of him she had been guilty of the only fit of hysteria that marked her life, before or after the episode.

他毫无征兆地来找她，一看到他，她就犯了她一生中唯一一次歇斯底里的罪，无论是在这件事发生之前还是之后。

So, then, from twelve to nineteen she was happy.

所以，从十二岁到十九岁，她是幸福的。

They had come to Chicago in 1885, when she was sixteen.

1885 年，他们来到芝加哥，当时她 16 岁。

There they remained.

他们留在那里。

Selina attended Miss Fister’s Select School for Young Ladies.

塞琳娜就读于菲斯特小姐的年轻女子精选学校。

When her father brought her there he had raised quite a flutter in the Fister breast—so soft-spoken was he, so gentle, so sad-appearing, so winning as to smile.

当她父亲带她去那里时，他在费斯特的胸中引起了很大的震动——他说话是如此轻声细语，如此温柔，如此悲伤，如此迷人，以至于微笑。

In the investment business, he explained.

在投资业务方面，他解释道。

Stocks and that kind of thing.

股票之类的。

A widower.

一个鳏夫。

Miss Fister said, yes, she understood.

菲斯特小姐说，是的，她明白。

Simeon Peake had had nothing of the look of the professional gambler of the day.

西蒙·皮克完全不像当时的职业赌徒。

The wide slouch hat, the flowing mustache, the glittering eye, the too-bright boots, the gay cravat, all were missing in Simeon Peake’s makeup.

宽大的软帽、飘逸的小胡子、闪闪发光的眼睛、太亮的靴子、欢快的领带，这些都在西蒙·皮克的妆容中消失了。

True, he did sport a singularly clear white diamond pin in his shirt front; and his hat he wore just a little on one side.

确实，他的衬衫前面确实佩戴了一枚异常透明的白色钻石别针；他的帽子只戴在一侧。

But then, these both were in the male mode and quite commonly seen.

但那时，这两者都是男性模式，而且很常见。

For the rest he seemed a mild and suave man, slim, a trifle diffident, speaking seldom and then with a New England drawl by which he had come honestly enough, Vermont Peake that he was.

在其他方面，他看起来是一个温和而温文尔雅的人，身材苗条，有点害羞，很少说话，然后带着新英格兰的慢吞吞的声音，他是诚实的佛蒙特州皮克人。

Chicago was his meat.

芝加哥是他的肉。

It was booming, prosperous.

那是一片繁荣、繁荣。

Jeff Hankins’s red plush and mirrored gambling house, and Mike McDonald’s, too, both on Clark Street, knew him daily.

杰夫·汉金斯 (Jeff Hankins) 的红色毛绒镜子赌场和迈克·麦当劳 (Mike McDonald) 都位于克拉克街，每天都认识他。

He played in good luck and bad, but he managed somehow to see to it that there was always the money to pay for the Fister schooling.

他的比赛时好时坏，但他设法确保总有钱支付费斯特的学费。

His was the ideal poker face—bland, emotionless, immobile.

他是一张理想的扑克脸——温和、无感情、一动不动。

When he was flush they ate at the Palmer House, dining off chicken or quail and thick rich soup and the apple pie for which the hostelry was famous.

当他脸红的时候，他们就在帕尔默之家吃饭，吃的是鸡肉或鹌鹑，还有浓汤和苹果派，这家旅馆以苹果派而闻名。

Waiters hovered solicitously about Simeon Peake, though he rarely addressed them and never looked at them.

服务员关心地在西蒙·皮克周围徘徊，尽管他很少与他们交谈，也从不看他们。

Selina was happy.

赛琳娜很高兴。

She knew only such young people—girls—as she met at Miss Fister’s school.

她只认识这样的年轻人——女孩——就像她在菲斯特小姐的学校遇到的那样。

Of men, other than her father, she knew as little as a nun—less.

除了她父亲之外，她对男人的了解就和修女一样少——更少。

For those cloistered creatures must, if only in the conning of their Bible, learn much of the moods and passions that sway the male.

对于那些与世隔绝的生物来说，即使只是在圣经的指导下，也必须了解影响男性的情绪和激情。

The Songs of Solomon alone are a glorious sex education.

仅《所罗门之歌》就是光荣的性教育。

But the Bible was not included in Selina’s haphazard reading, and the Gideonite was not then a force in the hotel world.

但《圣经》并没有被塞琳娜随意阅读，而基甸派当时也不是酒店界的一股力量。

Her chum was Julie Hempel, daughter of August Hempel, the Clark Street butcher.

她的密友是克拉克街屠夫奥古斯特·亨佩尔的女儿朱莉·亨佩尔。

You probably now own some Hempel stock, if you’re lucky; and eat Hempel bacon and Hempel hams cured in the hickory, for in Chicago the distance from butcher of 1885 to packer of 1890 was only a five-year leap.

如果幸运的话，您现在可能拥有一些亨普尔股票；吃在山核桃里腌制的亨普尔培根和亨普尔火腿，因为在芝加哥，从 1885 年的屠夫到 1890 年的包装工之间的距离只有五年的飞跃。

Being so much alone developed in her a gift for the make-believe.

如此孤独的生活让她养成了一种假装的天赋。

In a comfortable, well-dressed way she was a sort of mixture of Dick Swiveller’s Marchioness and Sarah Crewe.

从穿着舒适、衣着考究的角度来看，她是迪克·斯维勒尔饰演的侯爵夫人和莎拉·克鲁的混合体。

Even in her childhood she extracted from life the double enjoyment that comes usually only to the creative mind.

甚至在她的童年时期，她就从生活中汲取了通常只有创造性思维才能获得的双重享受。

“Now I’m doing this.

“现在我正在做这个。

Now I’m doing that,” she told herself while she was doing it.

现在我正在这样做，”她边做边告诉自己。

Looking on while she participated.

她参加时在一旁观看。

Perhaps her theatre-going had something to do with this.

也许她去剧院的经历与此有关。

At an age when most little girls were not only unheard but practically unseen, she occupied a grown-up seat at the play, her rapt face, with its dark serious eyes, glowing in a sort of luminous pallor as she sat proudly next her father.

在大多数小女孩不仅闻所未闻，而且几乎见不到的年龄，她在戏剧中占据了一个大人的座位，当她自豪地坐在父亲旁边时，她全神贯注的脸和严肃的黑色眼睛闪烁着一种明亮的苍白。

Simeon Peake had the gambler’s love of the theatre, himself possessing the dramatic quality necessary to the successful following of his profession.

西蒙·皮克有着赌徒般对戏剧的热爱，他本人也拥有成功从事其职业所必需的戏剧品质。

In this way Selina, half-hidden in the depths of an orchestra seat, wriggled in ecstatic anticipation when the curtain ascended on the grotesque rows of Haverly’s minstrels.

就这样，当幕布升起，哈弗利那一排怪诞的吟游诗人出现时，半藏在管弦乐队座位深处的塞琳娜在欣喜若狂的期待中扭动着身体。

She wept (as did Simeon) over the agonies of The Two Orphans when Kitty Blanchard and McKee Rankin came to Chicago with the Union Square Stock Company.

当基蒂·布兰查德和麦基·兰金随联合广场股票公司来到芝加哥时，她（和西蒙一样）为两个孤儿的痛苦哭泣。

She witnessed that startling innovation, a Jewish play, called Samuel of Posen.

她亲眼目睹了这一惊人的创新，一部名为《波森的塞缪尔》的犹太戏剧。

She saw Fanny Davenport in Pique.

她在皮克身上看到了范妮·达文波特。

Simeon even took her to a performance of that shocking and delightful form of new entertainment, the Extravaganza.

西蒙甚至带她去看了一场令人震惊又令人愉悦的新娱乐表演——盛会。

She thought the plump creature in tights and spangles, descending the long stairway, the most beautiful being she had ever seen.

她认为这个穿着紧身衣、闪闪发光的胖女人从长长的楼梯上走下来，是她见过的最美丽的生物。

“The thing I like about plays and books is that anything can happen.

“我喜欢戏剧和书籍的一点是，任何事情都有可能发生。

Anything!

任何事！

You never know,” Selina said, after one of these evenings.

你永远不会知道，”在其中一个晚上之后，塞琳娜说道。

“No different from life,” Simeon Peake assured her.

“和生活没有什么不同，”西蒙·皮克向她保证。

“You’ve no idea the things that happen to you if you just relax and take them as they come.”

“如果你只是放松并接受它们发生的事情，你就不会知道发生在你身上的事情。”

Curiously enough, Simeon Peake said this, not through ignorance, but deliberately and with reason.

奇怪的是，西蒙·皮克这样说并不是出于无知，而是故意且有道理的。

In his way and day he was a very modern father.

以他的方式和时代，他是一位非常现代的父亲。

“I want you to see all kinds,” he would say to her.

“我想让你看到各种各样的东西，”他会对她说。

“I want you to realize that this whole thing is just a grand adventure.

“我想让你意识到，这整件事只是一场伟大的冒险。

A fine show.

一场精彩的表演。

The trick is to play in it and look at it at the same time.”

诀窍是一边玩一边看。”

“What whole thing?”

“到底是什么事情？”

“Living.

“生活。

All mixed up.

一切都混在一起了。

The more kinds of people you see, and the more things you do, and the more things that happen to you, the richer you are.

你见的人越多，做的事越多，发生在你身上的事越多，你就越富有。

Even if they’re not pleasant things.

即使它们不是什么令人愉快的事情。

That’s living.

这就是生活。

Remember, no matter what happens, good or bad, it’s just so much”—he used the gambler’s term, unconsciously—“just so much velvet.”

请记住，无论发生什么，无论好坏，都只是这么多”——他无意识地用了赌徒的术语——“天鹅绒就是这么多。”

But Selina, somehow, understood.

但塞琳娜不知何故明白了。

“You mean that anything’s better than being Aunt Sarah and Aunt Abbie.”

“你的意思是，任何事情都比成为莎拉姨妈和艾比姨妈更好。”

“Well—yes.

“嗯——是的。

There are only two kinds of people in the world that really count.

世界上只有两种人是真正有价值的。

One kind’s wheat and the other kind’s emeralds.”

一种是小麦，另一种是祖母绿。”

“Fanny Davenport’s an emerald,” said Selina, quickly, and rather surprised to find herself saying it.

“范妮·达文波特是一颗祖母绿，”塞琳娜很快说道，她对自己这么说感到相当惊讶。

“Yes.

是的。

That’s it.”

就是这样。”

“And—and Julie Hempel’s father—he’s wheat.”

“而且——还有朱莉·亨佩尔的父亲——他是小麦。”

“By golly, Sele!” shouted Simeon Peake.

“天哪，塞勒！”西蒙·皮克喊道。

“You’re a shrewd little tyke!”

“你真是个精明的小家伙！”

It was after reading “Pride and Prejudice” that she decided to be the Jane Austen of her time.

读完《傲慢与偏见》后，她决定成为她那个时代的简·奥斯丁。

She became very mysterious and enjoyed a brief period of unpopularity at Miss Fister’s owing to her veiled allusions to her “work”; and an annoying way of smiling to herself and tapping a ruminative toe as though engaged in visions far too exquisite for the common eye.

她变得非常神秘，并且由于隐晦地暗示了她的“工作”，在菲斯特小姐那里有一段时间不受欢迎。还有一种令人厌烦的自嘲微笑，沉思般地敲着脚趾，仿佛正沉浸在对普通人来说过于精致的幻象中。

Her chum Julie Hempel, properly enough, became enraged at this and gave Selina to understand that she must make her choice between revealing her secret or being cast out of the Hempel heart.

她的好友朱莉·亨佩尔对此感到愤怒，并让塞琳娜明白，她必须在揭露自己的秘密和被逐出亨佩尔的心之间做出选择。

Selina swore her to secrecy.

塞琳娜向她发誓保守秘密。

“Very well, then.

“那么，很好。

Now I’ll tell you.

现在我告诉你。

I’m going to be a novelist.” Julie was palpably disappointed, though she said, “Selina!” as though properly impressed, but followed it up with: “Still, I don’t see why you had to be so mysterious about it.”

我要成为一名小说家。”朱莉显然很失望，尽管她说：“塞琳娜！”好像给人留下了深刻的印象，但接着说道：“不过，我不明白你为什么必须对此如此神秘。”

“You just don’t understand, Julie.

“你只是不明白，朱莉。

Writers have to study life at first hand.

作家必须亲自研究生活。

And if people know you’re studying them they don’t act natural.

如果人们知道你在研究他们，他们就会表现得不自然。

Now, that day you were telling me about the young man in your father’s shop who looked at you and said——”

现在，那天你告诉我你父亲店里的那个年轻人看着你说——”

“Selina Peake, if you dare to put that in your book I’ll never speak——”

“塞琳娜·皮克，如果你敢把这句话写进你的书里，我永远不会说话——”

“All right.

“好吧。”

I won’t.

我不会。

But that’s what I mean.

但这就是我的意思。

You see!”

你看！”

Julie Hempel and Selina Peake, both finished products of Miss Fister’s school, were of an age—nineteen.

朱莉·亨佩尔和塞琳娜·皮克都是菲斯特小姐学校的成品，当时才十九岁。

Selina, on this September day, had been spending the afternoon with Julie, and now, adjusting her hat preparatory to leaving, she clapped her hands over her ears to shut out the sounds of Julie’s importunings that she stay to supper.

九月的这个日子，塞琳娜一直在和朱莉一起度过一个下午，现在，她调整了一下帽子，准备离开，她用手捂住耳朵，以隔绝朱莉催促她留下来吃晚饭的声音。

Certainly the prospect of the usual Monday evening meal in Mrs. Tebbitt’s boarding house (the Peake luck was momentarily low) did not present sufficient excuse for Selina’s refusal.

当然，周一晚上在特比特夫人的寄宿处享用通常的晚餐（皮克的运气暂时很低）并没有为塞琳娜的拒绝提供充分的理由。

Indeed, the Hempel supper as sketched dish for dish by the urgent Julie brought little greedy groans from Selina.

事实上，亨佩尔的晚餐是由急切的朱莉一盘一盘地画出来的，引起了塞琳娜小小的贪婪的呻吟。

“It’s prairie chickens—three of them—that a farmer west of town brought Father.

“这是镇西的一个农民给父亲带来的草原鸡，三只。

Mother fixes them with stuffing, and there’s currant jell.

妈妈用馅料把它们固定起来，还有醋栗果冻。

Creamed onions and baked tomatoes.

奶油洋葱和烤西红柿。

And for dessert, apple roll.”

甜点是苹果卷。”

Selina snapped the elastic holding her high-crowned hat under her chignon of hair in the back.

塞琳娜拉断了将高冠帽子固定在脑后发髻下的松紧带。

She uttered a final and quavering groan.

她发出最后一声颤抖的呻吟。

“On Monday nights we have cold mutton and cabbage at Mrs. Tebbitt’s.

“周一晚上，我们在特比特太太家吃冷羊肉和卷心菜。

This is Monday.”

今天是星期一。”

“Well then, silly, why not stay!”

“那么，傻瓜，为什么不留下来呢！”

“Father comes home at six.

“父亲六点钟回家。

If I’m not there he’s disappointed.”

如果我不在，他就会失望。”

Julie, plump, blonde, placid, forsook her soft white blandishments and tried steel against the steel of Selina’s decision.

朱莉，丰满，金发，平静，放弃了她柔和的白色甜言蜜语，并尝试用钢铁来对抗塞琳娜的决定。

“He leaves you right after supper.

“晚饭后他就离开你了。

And you’re alone every night until twelve and after.”

每晚你都独自一人，直到十二点及之后。”

“I don’t see what that has to do with it,” Selina said, stiffly.

“我不明白这有什么关系，”塞琳娜僵硬地说。

Julie’s steel, being low-grade, melted at once and ran off her in rivulets.

朱莉的钢质低劣，立刻就熔化了，从她身上流淌成溪流。

“Of course it hasn’t, Selie dear.

“当然没有，亲爱的塞利。

Only I thought you might leave him just this once.”

只是我以为你可能会离开他这一次。”

“If I’m not there he’s disappointed.

“如果我不在，他就会失望。

And that terrible Mrs. Tebbitt makes eyes at him.

那个可怕的特比特太太向他投来了目光。

He hates it there.”

他讨厌那里。”

“Then I don’t see why you stay.

“那我就不明白你为什么留下来了。

I never could see.

我从来都看不到。

You’ve been there four months now, and I think it’s horrid and stuffy; and oilcloth on the stairs.”

你已经在那里呆了四个月了，我觉得那很可怕而且很闷。还有楼梯上的油布。”

“Father has had some temporary business setbacks.”

“父亲的生意暂时遇到了一些挫折。”

Selina’s costume testified to that.

塞琳娜的服装证明了这一点。

True, it was modish, and bustled, and basqued, and flounced; and her high-crowned, short-rimmed hat, with its trimming of feathers and flowers and ribbons had come from New York.

确实，它很时髦，很热闹，有巴斯克风格，还有荷叶边。她那顶饰有羽毛、花朵和丝带的高冠短边帽子来自纽约。

But both were of last spring’s purchasing, and this was September.

但这都是去年春天购买的，而今年是九月份。

In the course of the afternoon they had been looking over the pages of Godey’s _Ladies’ Book_ for that month.

整个下午，他们一直在翻阅戈迪那个月的《女士书》。

The disparity between Selina’s costume and the creations pictured there was much as the difference between the Tebbitt meal and that outlined by Julie.

塞琳娜的服装和照片中的作品之间的差异，就像特比特餐和朱莉概述的餐之间的差异一样。

Now Julie, fond though defeated, kissed her friend good-bye.

现在，朱莉虽然失败了，但仍然深情地向她的朋友吻别。

Selina walked quickly the short distance from the Hempel house to Tebbitt’s, on Dearborn Avenue.

塞琳娜快步从亨佩尔家步行不远，来到位于迪尔伯恩大道的特比特家。

Up in her second-floor room she took off her hat and called to her father, but he had not yet come in.

在二楼的房间里，她脱下帽子，呼唤父亲，但他还没有进来。

She was glad of that.

她对此很高兴。

She had been fearful of being late.

她一直害怕迟到。

She regarded her hat now with some distaste, decided to rip off the faded spring roses, did rip a stitch or two, only to discover that the hat material was more faded than the roses, and that the uncovered surface showed up a dark splotch like a wall-spot when a picture, long hung, is removed.

她现在有些厌恶地看着自己的帽子，决定撕掉褪色的春天玫瑰，确实撕了一两针，却发现帽子的材料比玫瑰更褪色，而且当长期悬挂的照片被取下时，未覆盖的表面呈现出黑色的斑点，就像墙上的斑点一样。

So she got a needle and prepared to tack the offending rose in its accustomed place.

于是她拿起一根针，准备把那朵有问题的玫瑰钉在原来的位置。

Perched on the arm of a chair near the window, taking quick deft stitches, she heard a sound.

她坐在靠近窗户的椅子扶手上，快速灵巧地缝着针，突然听到了声音。

She had never heard that sound before—that peculiar sound—the slow, ominous tread of men laden with a heavy inert burden; bearing with infinite care that which was well beyond hurting.

她以前从未听过那种声音——那种奇特的声音——男人背负着惰性重担的缓慢、不祥的脚步声；以无限的关怀去承受那远远超出伤害的事情。

Selina had never heard that sound before, and yet, hearing it, she recognized it by one of those pangs, centuries old, called woman’s instinct.

塞琳娜以前从未听过这种声音，然而，一听到它，她就通过一种数百年历史的痛苦认出了它，这种痛苦被称为女人的本能。

Thud—shuffle—thud—shuffle—up the narrow stairway, along the passage.

咚——拖着——咚——拖着——沿着狭窄的楼梯走上走廊。

She stood up, the needle poised in her hand.

她站了起来，手里拿着针。

The hat fell to the floor.

帽子掉到了地板上。

Her eyes were wide, fixed.

她的眼睛睁得大大的，目光坚定。

Her lips slightly parted.

她的嘴唇微微张开。

The listening look.

聆听的样子。

She knew.

她知道。

She knew even before she heard the hoarse man’s voice saying, “Lift ’er up there a little on the corner, now.

甚至在她听到那个嘶哑的男人的声音说：“现在，把她抬到拐角处一点儿的地方。”她就知道了。

Easy—e-e-easy.” And Mrs. Tebbitt’s high shrill clamour: “You can’t bring it in there!

简单——e-e-简单。”特比特夫人尖声叫嚷：“你不能把它带进去！

You hadn’t ought to bring it in here like this!”

你不应该把它就这样带到这里来！”

Selina’s suspended breath came back.

赛琳娜悬着的呼吸又恢复了。

She was panting now.

她现在气喘吁吁。

She had flung open the door.

她猛地打开了门。

A flat still burden partially covered with an overcoat carelessly flung over the face.

一个扁平的负担，部分覆盖着一件大衣，不小心地扔在脸上。

The feet, in their square-toed boots, wobbled listlessly.

穿着方头靴子的脚无精打采地摇晃着。

Selina noticed how shiny the boots were.

塞琳娜注意到这双靴子多么闪亮。

He was always very finicking about such things.

他对这类事情总是很挑剔。

Simeon Peake had been shot in Jeff Hankins’s place at five in the afternoon.

下午五点，西蒙·皮克（Simeon Peake）代替杰夫·汉金斯（Jeff Hankins）被枪杀。

The irony of it was that the bullet had not been intended for him at all.

讽刺的是，这颗子弹根本不是针对他的。

Its derelict course had been due to feminine aim.

它被遗弃的路线是由于女性的目标造成的。

Sped by one of those over-dramatic ladies who, armed with horsewhip or pistol in tardy defence of their honour, spangled Chicago’s dull ’80s with their doings, it had been meant for a well-known newspaper publisher usually mentioned (in papers other than his own) as a bon vivant.

在一位过于戏剧化的女士的催促下，她们手持马鞭或手枪，迟迟不肯捍卫自己的荣誉，她们的行为让芝加哥沉闷的 80 年代熠熠生辉。

The lady’s leaden remonstrance was to have been proof of the fact that he had been more vivacious than bon.

这位女士的严厉抗议是为了证明他比好人更活泼。

It was, perhaps, because of this that the matter was pretty well hushed up.

或许正是因为如此，这件事才被掩盖得很好。

The publisher’s paper—which was Chicago’s foremost—scarcely mentioned the incident and purposely misspelled the name.

出版商的报纸——芝加哥最重要的报纸——几乎没有提及这一事件，还故意拼错了名字。

The lady, thinking her task accomplished, had taken truer aim with her second bullet, and had saved herself the trouble of trial by human jury.

这位女士认为她的任务已经完成，她的第二颗子弹瞄准了更真实的目标，从而省去了人类陪审团审判的麻烦。

Simeon Peake left his daughter Selina a legacy of two fine clear blue-white diamonds (he had had the gambler’s love of them) and the sum of four hundred and ninety-seven dollars in cash.

西蒙·皮克 (Simeon Peake) 留给女儿塞琳娜 (Selina) 的遗产是两颗精致的蓝白色钻石（他对它们有着赌徒般的喜爱）和总计四百九十七美元的现金。

Just how he had managed to have a sum like this put by was a mystery.

他究竟是如何存下这笔钱的，还是个谜。

The envelope containing it had evidently once held a larger sum.

装着它的信封显然曾经装过一笔更大的钱。

It had been sealed, and then slit.

它被密封，然后被切开。

On the outside was written, in Simeon Peake’s fine, almost feminine hand: “For my little daughter Selina Peake in case anything should happen to me.” It bore a date seven years old.

外面用西蒙·皮克（Simeon Peake）纤细、近乎女性化的笔迹写着：“为我的小女儿塞琳娜·皮克（Selina Peake）写的，以防我发生任何事情。”上面写着七岁的日期。

What the original sum had been no one ever knew.

最初的金额是多少，没有人知道。

That any sum remained was evidence of the almost heroic self-control practised by one to whom money—ready money in any sum at all—meant only fuel to feed the flames of his gaming fever.

剩下的钱证明了一个人近乎英勇的自我控制能力，对他来说，金钱——任何数额的现金——都只是为他的游戏狂热提供燃料。

To Selina fell the choice of earning her own living or of returning to the Vermont village and becoming a withered and sapless dried apple, with black fuzz and mould at her heart, like her aunts, the Misses Sarah and Abbie Peake.

塞琳娜面临着选择：是自己谋生，还是回到佛蒙特州的村庄，成为一个枯萎无汁的干苹果，心上长满黑色的绒毛和霉菌，就像她的姨妈莎拉·皮克小姐和艾比·皮克小姐一样。

She did not hesitate.

她没有犹豫。

“But what kind of work?” Julie Hempel demanded.

“但是什么样的工作呢？”朱莉·亨佩尔问道。

“What kind of work can you do?” Women—that is, the Selina Peakes—did not work.

“你能做什么工作？”女性——也就是塞琳娜·皮克斯——没有工作。

“I—well, I can teach.”

“我——好吧，我可以教书。”

“Teach what?”

“教什么？”

“The things I learned at Miss Fister’s.”

“我在菲斯特小姐那里学到的东西。”

Julie’s expression weighed and discredited Miss Fister.

朱莉的表情沉重，让菲斯特小姐名誉扫地。

“Who to?” Which certainly justified her expression.

“给谁？”这确实证明了她的表达是合理的。

“To children.

“给孩子们。

People’s children.

人民的孩子。

Or in the public schools.”

或者在公立学校。”

“You have to do something first—go to Normal, or teach in the country, don’t you?—before you can teach in the public schools.

“你必须先做点什么——去师范学校，或者在乡下教书，不是吗？——然后才能在公立学校教书。

They’re mostly old.

他们大多已经老了。

Twenty-five or even thirty—or more!” with nineteen’s incapacity to imagine an age beyond thirty.

二十五甚至三十——或者更多！”十九岁的人无法想象三十岁以后的年龄。

That Julie was taking the offensive in this conversation, and Selina the defensive, was indicative of the girl’s numbed state.

在这次谈话中，朱莉采取进攻，而塞琳娜采取防守，这表明了女孩的麻木状态。

Selina did not then know the iron qualities her friend was displaying in being with her at all.

塞琳娜当时根本不知道她的朋友在和她在一起时所表现出的钢铁品质。

Mrs. Hempel had quite properly forbidden Julie ever to see the dead dissolute gambler’s daughter again.

亨佩尔夫人非常恰当地禁止朱莉再见到那个死去的放荡赌徒的女儿。

She had even sent a note to Miss Fister expressing her opinion of a school which would, by admitting such unselected ladies to its select circle, expose other pupils to contamination.

她甚至给菲斯特小姐寄了一张便条，表达了她对一所学​​校的看法，该学校如果接纳这些未经挑选的女士进入其精选圈子，就会使其他学生受到污染。

Selina rallied to Julie’s onslaught.

塞琳娜奋起反抗朱莉的攻击。

“Then I’ll just teach a country school.

“那我就去教一所乡村学校。

I’m good at arithmetic.

我擅长算术。

You know that.” Julie should have known it, having had all her Fister sums solved by Selina.

你知道这一点。”朱莉应该知道这一点，因为塞琳娜已经解决了她所有的费斯特难题。

“Country schools are just arithmetic and grammar and geography.”

“乡村学校只有算术、语法和地理。”

“You!

“你！

Teaching a country school!”

在乡村学校教书！”

She looked at Selina.

她看着赛琳娜。

She saw a misleadingly delicate face, the skull small and exquisitely formed.

她看到一张精致得让人误会的脸，头骨虽小却形状精美。

The cheek bones rather high—or perhaps they looked so because of the fact that the eyes, dark, soft, and luminous, were unusually deep-set in their sockets.

颧骨相当高——或许是因为那双乌黑、柔和、明亮的眼睛异常深陷在眼窝里。

The face, instead of narrowing to a soft curve at the chin, developed unexpected strength in the jaw line.

脸部并没有在下巴处缩小为柔和的曲线，而是在下巴线条上产生了意想不到的力量。

That line, fine, steel-strong, sharp and clear, was of the stuff of which pioneer women are made.

那线条细腻、坚韧、锋利、清晰，正是先锋女性的特质。

Julie, inexperienced in the art of reading the human physiognomy, did not decipher the meaning of it.

朱莉缺乏看相术的经验，无法解读其中的含义。

Selina’s hair was thick, long, and fine, so that she piled it easily in the loops, coils, and knots that fashion demanded.

塞琳娜的头发又密又长又细，因此她可以轻松地将头发打成时尚所需的圈、圈和结。

Her nose, slightly pinched at the nostrils, was exquisite.

她的鼻子，鼻孔微微收缩，很精致。

When she laughed it had the trick of wrinkling just a little across the narrow bridge; very engaging, and mischievous.

当她笑的时候，它有一种特技，在狭窄的桥上稍微起皱。非常迷人，而且很顽皮。

She was thought a rather plain little thing, which she wasn’t.

人们认为她是一个相当普通的小东西，但事实并非如此。

But the eyes were what you marked and remembered.

但眼睛是你标记和记住的。

People to whom she was speaking had a way of looking into them deeply.

与她交谈的人有一种深入研究他们的方式。

Selina was often embarrassed to discover that they were not hearing what she had to say.

塞琳娜经常尴尬地发现他们没有听到她所说的话。

Perhaps it was this velvety softness of the eyes that caused one to overlook the firmness of the lower face.

也许正是这种天鹅绒般柔软的眼睛，让人忽略了下脸的坚毅。

When the next ten years had done their worst to her, and Julie had suddenly come upon her stepping agilely out of a truck gardener’s wagon on Prairie Avenue, a tanned, weather-beaten, toil-worn woman, her abundant hair skewered into a knob and held by a long gray hairpin, her full calico skirt grimed with the mud of the wagon wheel, a pair of men’s old side-boots on her slim feet, a grotesquely battered old felt hat (her husband’s) on her head, her arms full of ears of sweet corn, and carrots, and radishes, and bunches of beets; a woman with bad teeth, flat breasts, a sagging pocket in her capacious skirt—even then Julie, staring, had known her by her eyes.

当接下来的十年对她造成了最坏的影响时，朱莉突然发现她敏捷地从草原大道上一辆卡车园丁的马车上走下来，她是一个晒黑了、饱经风霜、劳累不堪的女人，她丰沛的头发盘成一团，用一根长长的灰色发夹固定着，她的印花布裙子沾满了马车车轮上的泥土，她纤细的脚上穿着一双男式旧靴子，穿着破旧的毛毡。头上戴着（她丈夫的）帽子，怀里满是甜玉米穗、胡萝卜、萝卜和一串串甜菜；一个牙齿不好、胸部平坦、宽大的裙子上有一个下垂的口袋的女人——即使在那时，朱莉也能通过她的眼睛认出她。

And she had run to her in her silk suit and her fine silk shirtwaist and her hat with the plume and had cried, “Oh, Selina!

她穿着丝绸套装和精美的丝绸衬衫，戴着带有羽毛的帽子，跑向她，哭道：“哦，塞琳娜！

My dear!

亲爱的！

My dear!”—with a sob of horror and pity—“My dear.” And had taken Selina, carrots, beets, corn, and radishes, in her arms.

我亲爱的！”——带着恐惧和怜悯的抽泣——“亲爱的。”并把塞琳娜、胡萝卜、甜菜、玉米和萝卜抱在怀里。

The vegetables lay scattered all about them on the sidewalk in front of Julie Hempel Arnold’s great stone house on Prairie Avenue.

草原大道朱莉·亨佩尔·阿诺德的大石屋前的人行道上，蔬菜散落在他们周围。

But strangely enough it had been Selina who had done the comforting, patting Julie’s silken shoulder and saying, over and over, “There, there!

但奇怪的是，安慰的却是塞琳娜，她拍着朱莉光滑的肩膀，一遍又一遍地说：“好了，好了！

It’s all right, Julie.

没关系，朱莉。

It’s all right.

没关系。

Don’t cry.

别哭。

What’s there to cry for!

有什么可哭的！

Sh!

嘘！

.

。

.

。

.

。

It’s all right.”

没关系。”

Selina had thought herself lucky to get the Dutch school at High Prairie, ten miles outside Chicago.

塞琳娜认为自己很幸运，能在距芝加哥十英里的海普雷里上学荷兰语学校。

Thirty dollars a month!

一个月三十块钱！

She was to board at the house of Klaas Pool, the truck farmer.

她要寄宿在卡车农场主克拉斯·普尔的家里。

It was August Hempel who had brought it all about; or Julie, urging him.

是奥古斯特·亨佩尔促成了这一切。或者朱莉在催促他。

Now, at forty-five, August Hempel, the Clark Street butcher, knew every farmer and stockman for miles around, and hundreds besides scattered throughout Cook County and the State of Illinois.

现在，四十五岁的克拉克街屠夫奥古斯特·亨佩尔认识方圆数英里内的每一位农民和畜牧者，此外还有数百名分散在库克县和伊利诺伊州各地的农民和畜牧者。

To get the Dutch school for Selina Peake was a simple enough matter for him.

让塞琳娜·皮克进入荷兰学校对他来说是一件很简单的事情。

The High Prairie district school teacher had always, heretofore, been a man.

迄今为止，高草原区学校的老师一直是男性。

A more advantageous position presenting itself, this year’s prospective teacher had withdrawn before the school term had begun.

更有利的是，今年的准老师在开学前就退出了。

This was in September.

那是在九月份。

High Prairie school did not open until the first week in November.

High Prairie 学校直到 11 月第一周才开学。

In that region of truck farms every boy and girl over six was busy in the fields throughout the early autumn.

在那个卡车农场地区，整个初秋，每个六岁以上的男孩和女孩都在田里忙碌。

Two years of this, and Selina would be qualified for a city grade.

再过两年，Selina就获得了市级的资格。

August Hempel indicated that he could arrange that, too, when the time came.

奥古斯特·亨佩尔表示，当时机成熟时他也可以安排。

Selina thought this shrewd red-faced butcher a wonderful man, indeed.

塞琳娜觉得这个精明的红脸屠夫确实是一个了不起的人。

Which he was.

他就是这样。

At forty-seven, single-handed, he was to establish the famous Hempel Packing Company.

四十七岁时，他单枪匹马创立了著名的亨帛包装公司。

At fifty he was the power in the yards, and there were Hempel branches in Kansas City, Omaha, Denver.

五十岁的时候，他已经是造船厂的掌权者，在堪萨斯城、奥马哈和丹佛都有亨普尔分公司。

At sixty you saw the name of Hempel plastered over packing sheds, factories, and canning plants all the way from Honolulu to Portland.

六十岁时，你会看到从檀香山到波特兰的整个包装棚、工厂和罐头厂都贴满了亨普尔的名字。

You read:

您读到：

Don’t Say Ham: Say Hempel’s.

不要说火腿：说亨佩尔火腿。

Hempel products ranged incredibly from pork to pineapple; from grease to grape-juice.

汉帛产品种类繁多，从猪肉到菠萝；从油脂到葡萄汁。

An indictment meant no more to Hempel, the packer, than an injunction for speeding to you.

对于包装工亨佩尔来说，起诉书的意义并不比对你超速行驶的禁令更重要。

Something of his character may be gleaned from the fact that farmers who had known the butcher at forty still addressed this millionaire, at sixty, as Aug.

他的一些性格也许可以从以下事实中看出：四十岁就认识屠夫的农民仍然称呼这位六十岁的百万富翁为“八月”。

At sixty-five he took up golf and beat his son-in-law, Michael Arnold, at it.

六十五岁时，他开始打高尔夫球，并在这项运动上击败了他的女婿迈克尔·阿诺德。

A magnificent old pirate, sailing the perilous commercial seas of the American ’90s before commissions, investigations, and inquisitive senate insisted on applying whitewash to the black flag of trade.

一位伟大的老海盗，在 90 年代危险的商业海洋中航行，在委员会、调查和好奇的参议院面前坚持粉饰贸易的黑旗。

Selina went about her preparations in a singularly clear-headed fashion, considering her youth and inexperience.

考虑到塞琳娜的年轻和缺乏经验，她以一种异常清醒的方式进行了准备工作。

She sold one of the blue-white diamonds, and kept one.

她卖掉了一颗蓝白色钻石，并保留了一颗。

She placed her inheritance of four hundred and ninety-seven dollars, complete, in the bank.

她将她继承的四百九十七美元全部存入银行。

She bought stout sensible boots, two dresses, one a brown lady’s-cloth which she made herself, finished with white collars and cuffs, very neat (the cuffs to be protected by black sateen sleevelets, of course, while teaching); and a wine-red cashmere (mad, but she couldn’t resist it) for best.

她买了一双结实实用的靴子，两件衣服，一件是她自己做的棕色女式布料，白色的衣领和袖口，非常整洁（当然，在教学时，袖口要用黑色缎子袖子保护起来）；最好是酒红色羊绒衫（很疯狂，但她无法抗拒）。

She eagerly learned what she could of this region once known as New Holland.

她热切地想了解这个曾经被称为新荷兰的地区。

Its people were all truck gardeners, and as Dutch as the Netherlands from which they or their fathers had come.

这里的人民都是卡车园丁，就像他们或他们的父亲来自的荷兰一样，都是荷兰人。

She heard stories of wooden shoes worn in the wet prairie fields; of a red-faced plodding Cornelius Van der Bilt living in placid ignorance of the existence of his distinguished New York patronymic connection; of sturdy, phlegmatic, industrious farmers in squat, many-windowed houses patterned after the north Holland houses of their European memories.

她听说过在潮湿的草原上穿木鞋的故事；科尼利厄斯·范德比尔特 (Cornelius Van der Bilt) 红着脸，步履蹒跚，生活平静，对他与纽约杰出的父系关系的存在一无所知；坚强、冷漠、勤劳的农民住在矮矮的、多窗的房子里，这些房子的样式模仿了他们欧洲记忆中的北荷兰房屋。

Many of them had come from the town of Schoorl, or near it.

他们中的许多人来自斯库尔镇或其附近。

Others from the lowlands outside Amsterdam.

其他人则来自阿姆斯特丹以外的低地。

Selina pictured it another Sleepy Hollow, a replica of the quaint settlement in Washington Irving’s delightful tale.

塞琳娜把它想象成另一个断头谷，是华盛顿·欧文令人愉快的故事中古朴的定居点的复制品。

The deserting schoolmaster had been a second Ichabod Crane, naturally; the farmer at whose house she was to live a modern Mynheer Van Tassel, pipe, chuckle, and all.

那位开小差的校长自然是第二个伊卡博德·克莱恩。她将在那个农民家里过着现代的 Mynheer Van Tassel 生活，有烟斗、咯咯笑等等。

She and Julie Hempel read the tale over together on an afternoon when Julie managed to evade the maternal edict.

一个下午，朱莉设法逃避了母亲的法令，她和朱莉·亨佩尔一起读了这个故事。

Selina, picturing mellow golden corn fields; crusty crullers, crumbling oly-koeks, toothsome wild ducks, sides of smoked beef, pumpkin pies; country dances, apple-cheeked farmer girls, felt sorry for poor Julie staying on in the dull gray commonplaceness of Chicago.

Selina，描绘着醇厚的金色玉米田；硬皮油条、脆皮油条、美味的野鸭、熏牛肉配菜、南瓜派；乡村舞会，苹果脸颊的农家女孩，为可怜的朱莉留在芝加哥的暗灰色平凡中感到难过。

The last week in October found her on the way to High Prairie, seated beside Klaas Pool in the two-horse wagon with which he brought his garden stuff to the Chicago market.

十月的最后一周，她在前往高草原的路上，坐在克拉斯·普尔旁边的两匹马拉马车里，他用这辆马车将花园里的东西运到了芝加哥市场。

She sat perched next him on the high seat like a saucy wren beside a ruminant Holstein.

她坐在他旁边的高位上，就像一只俏皮的鹪鹩坐在一头反刍荷斯坦牛旁边。

So they jolted up the long Halsted road through the late October sunset.

于是，他们在十月下旬的日落中沿着漫长的霍尔斯特德公路颠簸而行。

The prairie land just outside Chicago had not then been made a terrifying and epic thing of slag-heaps, smoke-stacks, and blast furnaces like a Pennell drawing.

那时，芝加哥郊外的大草原还没有像彭内尔的画作那样，变成了充满炉渣堆、烟囱和高炉的可怕而史诗般的景象。

To-day it stretched away and away in the last rays of the late autumn sunlight over which the lake mist was beginning to creep like chiffon covering gold.

今天，它在深秋的最后一缕阳光中延伸开来，湖面上的薄雾开始像覆盖着金色的雪纺一样蔓延开来。

Mile after mile of cabbage fields, jade-green against the earth.

一英里又一英里的卷心菜田，在大地的映衬下呈翠绿色。

Mile after mile of red cabbage, a rich plummy Burgundy veined with black.

一英里又一英里的红甘蓝，浓郁的李子酒红色，带有黑色的脉络。

Between these, heaps of corn were piled-up sunshine.

其间，成堆的玉米堆满了阳光。

Against the horizon an occasional patch of woods showed the last russet and bronze of oak and maple.

地平线上偶尔出现一小片树林，露出最后的赤褐色和青铜色的橡树和枫树。

These things Selina saw with her beauty-loving eye, and she clasped her hands in their black cotton gloves.

这些都是塞琳娜用爱美的眼睛看到的，她双手紧握着黑色的棉手套。

“Oh, Mr. Pool!” she cried.

“噢，普尔先生！”她哭了。

“Mr. Pool!

“普尔先生！

How beautiful it is here!”

这里多么美丽啊！”

Klaas Pool, driving his team of horses down the muddy Halsted road, was looking straight ahead, his eyes fastened seemingly on an invisible spot between the off-horse’s ears.

克拉斯·普尔（Klaas Pool）赶着他的马队沿着泥泞的霍尔斯特德道路行驶，他直视前方，他的眼睛似乎盯着那匹马耳朵之间的一个看不见的地方。

His was not the kind of brain that acts quickly, nor was his body’s mechanism the sort that quickly responds to that brain’s message.

他的大脑不是那种反应很快的大脑，他的身体机制也不是那种能快速响应大脑信息的大脑。

His eyes were china-blue in a round red face that was covered with a stubble of stiff golden hairs.

他的眼睛是瓷蓝色的，圆圆的红脸上长着一撮硬邦邦的金色胡茬。

His round moon of a head was set low and solidly between his great shoulders, so that as he began to turn it now, slowly, you marvelled at the process and waited fearfully to hear a creak.

他圆圆的月亮般的脑袋低矮而牢固地放在他巨大的肩膀之间，所以当他现在开始慢慢地转动它时，你会对这个过程感到惊讶，并害怕地等待听到嘎吱声。

He was turning his head toward Selina, but keeping his gaze on the spot between his horse’s ears.

他把头转向塞琳娜，但目光却始终停留在马耳之间。

Evidently the head and the eyes revolved by quite distinct processes.

显然，头部和眼睛的旋转过程截然不同。

Now he faced Selina almost directly.

现在他几乎直接面对着赛琳娜。

Then he brought his eyes around, slowly, until they focussed on her cameo-like face all alight now with her enjoyment of the scene around her; with a certain elation at this new venture into which she was entering; and with excitement such as she used to feel when the curtain rose with tantalizing deliberateness on the first act of a play which she was seeing with her father.

然后他慢慢地环顾四周，直到他们的目光集中在她浮雕般的脸上，现在她对周围的景色充满了享受。她对即将进入的这个新事业感到某种兴奋；她和父亲一起观看戏剧的第一幕，当幕布以诱人的、从容的方式升起时，她会感到兴奋。

She was well bundled up against the sharp October air in her cloak and muffler, with a shawl tucked about her knees and waist.

她穿着斗篷和围巾，在十月刺骨的空气中裹得严严实实，膝盖和腰间围着一条围巾。

The usual creamy pallor of her fine clear skin showed an unwonted pink, and her eyes were wide, dark, and bright.

她原本细腻白皙的皮肤呈现出一种不寻常的粉红色，她的眼睛又大又黑又明亮。

Beside this sparkling delicate girl’s face Klaas Pool’s heavy features seemed carved from the stuff of another clay and race.

除了这张闪闪发光的精致女孩脸之外，克拉斯·普尔厚重的五官似乎是用另一种粘土和种族的材料雕刻而成的。

His pale blue eyes showed incomprehension.

他淡蓝色的眼睛流露出不解的神情。

“Beautiful?” he echoed, in puzzled interrogation.

“美丽的？”他在困惑的审问中附和道。

“What is beautiful?”

“什么是美丽的？”

Selina’s slim arms flashed out from the swathings of cloak, shawl, and muffler and were flung wide in a gesture that embraced the landscape on which the late afternoon sun was casting a glow peculiar to that lake region, all rose and golden and mist-shimmering.

赛琳娜纤细的手臂从斗篷、披肩和围巾中闪现出来，张开，拥抱着周围的风景，午后的阳光在湖边投射出一种特有的光芒，一切都是玫瑰色、金色和薄雾闪烁的。

“This!

“这个！

The—the cabbages.”

那——卷心菜。”

A slow-dawning film of fun crept over the blue of Klaas Pool’s stare.

克拉斯·普尔蓝色的目光中慢慢浮现出一段有趣的电影。

This film spread almost imperceptibly so that it fluted his broad nostrils, met and widened his full lips, reached and agitated his massive shoulders, tickled the round belly, so that all Klaas Pool, from his eyes to his waist, was rippling and shaking with slow, solemn, heavy Dutch mirth.

这部电影几乎不知不觉地蔓延开来，冲进了他宽大的鼻孔，碰到并张开了他丰满的嘴唇，触及并搅动了他厚重的肩膀，挠痒了圆滚滚的腹部，以致整个克拉斯池，从他的眼睛到腰部，都随着缓慢、庄严、沉重的荷兰式的欢笑而荡漾和颤抖。

“Cabbages is beautiful!” his round pop eyes staring at her in a fixity of glee.

“卷心菜真漂亮！”他圆圆的眼睛一动不动地高兴地盯着她。

“Cabbages is beautiful!” His silent laughter now rose and became audible in a rich throaty chortle.

“卷心菜真漂亮！”他无声的笑声现在升起，变成了沙哑的笑声。

It was plain that laughter, with Klaas Pool, was not a thing to be lightly dismissed, once raised.

显然，克拉斯·普尔的笑声一旦被提起，就不是一件可以轻易忽视的事情。

“Cabbages——” he choked a little, and spluttered, overcome.

“卷心菜——”他有点哽咽，结结巴巴地说，克服了。

Now he began to shift his gaze back to his horses and the road, by the same process of turning his head first and then his eyes, so that to Selina the mirthful tail of his right eye and his round red cheek with the golden fuzz on it gave him an incredibly roguish brownie look.

现在他开始把目光转移回他的马和道路上，同样的过程是先转动头，然后转动眼睛，这样，在塞琳娜看来，他右眼的欢快尾巴和带有金色绒毛的圆红脸颊给了他一种令人难以置信的顽皮布朗尼外观。

Selina laughed, too, even while she protested his laughter.

塞琳娜也笑了，尽管她在抗议他的笑声。

“But they are!” she insisted.

“但他们确实是！”她坚持说。

“They _are_ beautiful.

“它们很漂亮。

Like jade and Burgundy.

就像翡翠和勃艮第。

No, like—uh—like—what’s that in—like chrysoprase and porphyry.

不，就像——呃——就像——那是什么——就像绿玉髓和斑岩。

All those fields of cabbages and the corn and the beet-tops together look like Persian patches.”

所有那些种着卷心菜、玉米和甜菜的田地看起来就像是波斯的地块。”

Which was, certainly, no way for a new school teacher to talk to a Holland truck gardener driving his team along the dirt road on his way to High Prairie.

对于一位新来的学校老师来说，这当然是不可能与一位开着他的团队沿着土路前往高草原的荷兰卡车园丁交谈的。

But then, Selina, remember, had read Byron at seventeen.

但后来，塞琳娜，请记住，十七岁就读过拜伦。

Klaas Pool knew nothing of chrysoprase and porphyry.

克拉斯·普尔对绿玉髓和斑岩一无所知。

Nor of Byron.

拜伦也没有。

Nor, for that matter, of jade and Burgundy.

就这一点而言，翡翠和勃艮第也不是。

But he did know cabbages, both green and red.

但他确实认识卷心菜，有绿色的，也有红色的。

He knew cabbage from seed to sauerkraut; he knew and grew varieties from the sturdy Flat Dutch to the early Wakefield.

他对卷心菜从种子到酸菜都了如指掌。他了解并种植了从坚固的 Flat Dutch 到早期的 Wakefield 等品种。

But that they were beautiful; that they looked like jewels; that they lay like Persian patches, had never entered his head, and rightly.

但他们很美丽；它们看起来像珠宝；它们就像波斯的斑块一样，从来没有进入他的脑海，这是正确的。

What has the head of a cabbage, or, for that matter, of a robust, soil-stained, toiling Dutch truck farmer to do with nonsense like chrysoprase, with jade, with Burgundy, with Persian patterns!

卷心菜的头，或者就此而言，一个强壮、沾满泥土、辛苦劳作的荷兰卡车农民的头，与绿玉髓、玉石、勃艮第、波斯图案等胡言乱语有什么关系！

The horses clopped down the heavy country road.

马匹踏着沉重的乡间小路。

Now and again the bulk beside Selina was agitated silently, as before.

塞琳娜身边的大块头时不时地像以前一样默默地激动起来。

And from between the golden fuzz of stubble beard she would hear, “Cabbages!

她会从金色的胡茬间听到：“卷心菜！

Cabbages is ——” But she did not feel offended.

卷心菜是——”但她并没有感到被冒犯。

She could not have been offended at anything to-day.

她今天不可能对任何事情感到生气。

For in spite of her recent tragedy, her nineteen years, her loneliness, the terrifying thought of this new home to which she was going, among strangers, she was conscious of a warm little thrill of elation, of excitement—of adventure!

因为尽管她最近遭遇了悲剧，她十九岁了，她孤独，她对​​即将前往的这个新家感到恐惧，在陌生人中间，她还是意识到一种温暖的、兴奋的、兴奋的、冒险的兴奋！

That was it.

就是这样。

“The whole thing’s just a grand adventure,” Simeon Peake had said.

“整件事只是一场伟大的冒险，”西蒙·皮克说道。

Selina gave a little bounce of anticipation.

Selina露出了一丝期待。

She was doing a revolutionary and daring thing; a thing that the Vermont and now, fortunately, inaccessible Peakes would have regarded with horror.

她正在做一件革命性的、大胆的事情；佛蒙特州和现在（幸运的是）难以到达的皮克山都会对此感到恐惧。

For equipment she had youth, curiosity, a steel-strong frame; one brown lady’s-cloth, one wine-red cashmere; four hundred and ninety-seven dollars; and a gay, adventuresome spirit that was never to die, though it led her into curious places and she often found, at the end, only a trackless waste from which she had to retrace her steps, painfully.

在装备方面，她有青春、好奇心、钢铁般的骨架；一件棕色女布，一件酒红色羊绒；四百九十七美元；一种永不消亡的快乐、冒险的精神，尽管它把她带到了一些奇怪的地方，但最后她常常发现，只是一片无路可走的荒原，她不得不痛苦地折返。

But always, to her, red and green cabbages were to be jade and Burgundy, chrysoprase and porphyry.

但对她来说，红色和绿色的卷心菜始终是翡翠和勃艮第、绿玉髓和斑岩。

Life has no weapons against a woman like that.

生活没有武器对付这样的女人。

So now, as they bumped and jolted along the road Selina thought herself lucky, though she was a little terrified.

所以现在，当他们在路上颠簸颠簸时，塞琳娜觉得自己很幸运，尽管她有点害怕。

She turned her gaze from the flat prairie land to the silent figure beside her.

她将目光从平坦的草原转向身旁沉默的身影。

Hers was a lively, volatile nature, and his uncommunicativeness made her vaguely uncomfortable.

她的性格活泼、反复无常，而他的沉默寡言让她隐约感到不舒服。

Yet there was nothing glum about his face.

但他的脸上却没有任何阴郁的表情。

Upon it there even lingered, in the corners of his eyes and about his mouth, faint shadows of merriment.

在他的眼角和嘴边，甚至还残留着淡淡的欢乐的阴影。

Klaas Pool was a school director.

克拉斯·普尔（Klaas Pool）是一名学校校长。

She was to live at his house.

她要住在他家里。

Perhaps she should not have said that about the cabbages.

也许她不应该对卷心菜说这样的话。

So now she drew herself up primly and tried to appear the school teacher, and succeeded in looking as severe as a white pansy.

所以现在她端起身子，试图表现出学校老师的样子，结果成功地让自己看起来像一朵白色的三色堇一样严肃。

“Ahem!” (or nearly that).

“咳咳！” （或差不多）。

“You have three children, haven’t you, Mr. Pool?

“你有三个孩子，不是吗，普尔先生？

They’ll all be my pupils?”

他们都会成为我的学生吗？”

Klaas Pool ruminated on this.

克拉斯·普尔对此进行了沉思。

He concentrated so that a slight frown marred the serenity of his brow.

他全神贯注，眉头的平静破坏了他的眉头。

In this double question of hers, an attempt to give the conversation a dignified turn, she had apparently created some difficulty for her host.

她提出这个双重问题，试图让谈话变得有尊严，但显然给主人制造了一些困难。

He was trying to shake his head two ways at the same time.

他试图同时以两种方式摇头。

This gave it a rotary motion.

这使它产生旋转运动。

Selina saw, with amazement, that he was attempting to nod negation and confirmation at once.

赛琳娜惊讶地发现，他正试图同时点头表示否定和肯定。

“You mean you haven’t—or they’re not?—or——?”

“你的意思是你没有——或者他们没有？——或者——？”

“I have got three children.

“我有三个孩子。

All will not be your pupils.” There was something final, unshakable in his delivery of this.

不会全部都是你的学生。”他的这句话中有某种最终的、不可动摇的东西。

“Dear me!

“亲爱的我！

Why not?

为什么不呢？

Which ones won’t?”

哪些不会？”

This fusillade proved fatal.

这次连射被证明是致命的。

It served permanently to check the slight trickle of conversation which had begun to issue from his lips.

它永远可以抑制他嘴唇上开始发出的轻微的谈话声。

They jogged on for perhaps a matter of three miles, in silence.

他们默默地慢跑了大约三英里。

Selina told herself then, sternly, that she must not laugh.

赛琳娜当时严厉地告诉自己，绝对不能笑。

Having told herself this, sternly, she began to laugh because she could not help it; a gay little sound that flew out like the whir of a bird’s wing on the crisp autumnal sunset air.

她严肃地告诉自己这一点，然后开始笑，因为她无法控制自己。一种欢快的小声音，像鸟儿翅膀在秋日夕阳的清新空气中发出的呼呼声一样飞出。

And suddenly this light sound was joined by a slow rumbling that swelled and bubbled a good deal in the manner of the rich glubby sounds that issue from a kettle that has been simmering for a long time.

突然，这轻柔的声音中加入了缓慢的隆隆声，隆隆声膨胀并冒出大量气泡，就像从已经煮了很长时间的水壶中发出的丰富而粘稠的声音一样。

So they laughed together, these two; the rather scared young thing who was trying to be prim, and the dull, unimaginative truck farmer because this alert, great-eyed, slim white creature perched birdlike on the wagon seat beside him had tickled his slow humour-sense.

于是他们两个一起笑了；一个相当害怕、试图表现得拘谨的年轻人，还有一个迟钝、缺乏想象力的卡车农场主，因为这个警觉的、大眼睛的、苗条的白色生物像鸟一样栖息在他旁边的马车座位上，勾起了他缓慢的幽默感。

Selina felt suddenly friendly and happy.

塞琳娜突然感到友善和快乐。

“Do tell me which ones will and which won’t.”

“请告诉我哪些会，哪些不会。”

“Geertje goes to school.

“吉尔杰去上学。

Jozina goes to school.

乔吉娜去上学。

Roelf works by the farm.”

罗尔夫在农场工作。”

“How old is Roelf?” She was being school teacherly again.

“罗尔夫多大了？”她又开始在学校当老师了。

“Roelf is twelve.”

“罗尔夫十二岁了。”

“Twelve!

“十二个！

And no longer at school!

而且已经不在学校了！

But why not!”

但为什么不呢！

“Roelf he works by the farm.”

“罗尔夫他在农场工作。”

“Doesn’t Roelf like school?”

“罗尔夫不喜欢上学吗？”

“But sure.”

“但是可以肯定。”

“Don’t you think he ought to go to school?”

“你不觉得他应该去上学吗？”

“But sure.”

“但是可以肯定。”

Having begun, she could not go back.

既然开始了，她就无法回头。

“Doesn’t your wife want Roelf to go to school any more?”

“你的妻子不想让罗尔夫再去上学吗？”

“Maartje?

“马杰？

But sure.”

但可以肯定。”

She gathered herself together; hurled herself behind the next question.

她集中精神；赶紧提出下一个问题。

“Then why _doesn’t_ he go to school, for pity’s sake!”

“那他为什么不去上学呢，天哪！”

Klaas Pool’s pale blue eyes were fixed on the spot between the horse’s ears.

克拉斯·普尔淡蓝色的眼睛盯着马耳之间的位置。

His face was serene, placid, patient.

他的脸色平静、平静、耐心。

“Roelf he works by the farm.”

“罗尔夫他在农场工作。”

Selina subsided, beaten.

塞琳娜平静下来，被殴打。

She wondered about Roelf.

她想知道罗尔夫的情况。

Would he be a furtive, slinking boy, like Smike?

他会像斯迈克一样，是一个鬼鬼祟祟、鬼鬼祟祟的男孩吗？

Geertje and Jozina.

吉尔杰和乔齐娜。

Geertje—Gertrude, of course.

Geertje——当然是格特鲁德。

Jozina?

乔吉娜？

Josephine.

约瑟芬.

Maartje?—m-m-m-m—Martha, probably.

Maartje？——嗯——嗯——玛莎，可能吧。

At any rate, it was going to be interesting.

无论如何，这会很有趣。

It was going to be wonderful!

那将会是美妙的！

Suppose she had gone to Vermont and become a dried apple!

假设她去了佛蒙特州，变成了一个干苹果！

Dusk was coming on.

黄昏即将来临。

The lake mist came drifting across the prairie and hung, a pearly haze, over the frost-nipped stubble and the leafless trees.

湖水的雾气飘过草原，像珍珠般的薄雾，笼罩在被霜冻的残茬和光秃秃的树木上。

It caught the last light in the sky, and held it, giving to fields, trees, black earth, to the man seated stolidly beside the girl, and to the face of the girl herself an opalescent glow very wonderful to see.

它捕捉到了天空中的最后一道光，并保持住了它，给田野、树木、黑色的土地，给坐在女孩旁边的男人，给女孩自己的脸带来一种非常美妙的乳白色光芒。

Selina, seeing it, opened her lips to exclaim again; and then, remembering, closed them.

赛琳娜见状，再次张嘴惊呼；然后，记起，关上它们。

She had learned her first lesson in High Prairie.

她在高草原学到了第一课。

The Klaas Pools lived in a typical High Prairie house.

克拉斯·普尔一家住在一栋典型的高草原房屋里。

They had passed a score like it in the dusk.

他们在黄昏时就通过了这样的分数。

These sturdy Holland-Americans had built here in Illinois after the pattern of the squat houses that dot the lowlands about Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Rotterdam.

这些坚固的荷兰裔美国人按照阿姆斯特丹、哈勒姆和鹿特丹周围低地的低矮房屋的模式在伊利诺伊州建造了这里。

A row of pollards stood stiffly by the roadside.

一排立柱僵硬地立在路边。

As they turned in at the yard Selina’s eye was caught by the glitter of glass.

当他们在院子里转弯时，塞琳娜的眼睛被闪闪发光的玻璃吸引住了。

The house was many-windowed, the panes the size of pocket-handkerchiefs.

房子有很多窗户，窗玻璃有手帕那么大。

Even in the dusk Selina thought she had never seen windows sparkle so.

即使在黄昏，塞琳娜也认为她从未见过窗户如此闪闪发光。

She did not then know that spotless window-panes were a mark of social standing in High Prairie.

当时她并不知道一尘不染的窗玻璃是高草原社会地位的标志。

Yard and dwelling had a geometrical neatness like that of a toy house in a set of playthings.

院子和住宅的几何形状整齐，就像一套玩具中的玩具屋。

The effect was marred by a clothes-line hung with a dado of miscellaneous wash—a pair of faded overalls, a shirt, socks, a man’s drawers carefully patched and now bellying grotesquely in the breeze like a comic tramp turned bacchanal.

这种效果被一条晾衣绳上挂着杂七杂八的水洗墙裙所破坏了——一条褪色的工装裤、一件衬衫、袜子、一个男人的抽屉，经过精心修补，现在在微风中怪诞地鼓起，就像一个滑稽的流浪汉变成了酒鬼。

Selina was to know this frieze of nether garments as a daily decoration in the farm-wife’s yard.

塞琳娜知道这种下衣饰带是农妇院子里的日常装饰。

Peering down over the high wheel she waited for Klaas Pool to assist her in alighting.

她俯视着高高的轮子，等待克拉斯·普尔协助她下车。

He seemed to have no such thought.

他似乎没有这样的想法。

Having jumped down, he was throwing empty crates and boxes out of the back of the wagon.

跳下来后，他把空板条箱和盒子从马车后面扔了出来。

So Selina, gathering her shawls and cloak about her, clambered down the side of the wheel and stood looking about her in the dim light, a very small figure in a very large world.

于是，塞琳娜裹紧围巾和斗篷，从方向盘的一侧爬下来，站在昏暗的灯光下环顾四周，在这个广阔的世界里，她只是一个很小的人物。

Klaas had opened the barn door.

克拉斯打开了谷仓的门。

Now he returned and slapped one of the horses smartly on the flank.

现在他回来了，狠狠地拍了一匹马的侧腹。

The team trotted obediently off to the barn.

小队听话地小跑着向谷仓走去。

He picked up her little hide-bound trunk.

他拿起她用兽皮包裹的小箱子。

She took her satchel.

她拿起她的书包。

The yard was quite dark now.

院子里现在已经很黑了。

As Klaas Pool opened the kitchen door the red mouth that was the open draught in the kitchen stove grinned a toothy welcome at them.

当克拉斯·普尔打开厨房门时，厨房炉灶里的那张红嘴咧着嘴笑了，露出牙齿欢迎他们。

A woman stood over the stove, a fork in her hand.

一个女人站在炉子旁边，手里拿着一把叉子。

The kitchen was clean, but disorderly, with the disorder that comes of pressure of work.

厨房很干净，但是杂乱，是工作压力带来的杂乱。

There was a not unpleasant smell of cooking.

饭菜的味道并不难闻。

Selina sniffed it hungrily.

赛琳娜饥肠辘辘地嗅了嗅。

The woman turned to face them.

女人转身面对他们。

Selina stared.

赛琳娜凝视着。

This, she thought, must be some other—an old woman—his mother perhaps.

她想，这一定是另一个人——一位老妇人——也许是他的母亲。

But: “Maartje, here is school teacher,” said Klaas Pool.

但是：“Maartje，这是学校老师，”克拉斯·普尔说。

Selina put out her hand to meet the other woman’s hand, rough, hard, calloused.

塞琳娜伸出手去迎接另一个女人的手，粗糙、坚硬、布满老茧。

Her own, touching it, was like satin against a pine board.

她自己的手摸起来，就像松木板上的缎子。

Maartje smiled, and you saw her broken discoloured teeth.

Maartje 微笑着，你看到她破损变色的牙齿。

She pushed back the sparse hair from her high forehead, fumbled a little, shyly, at the collar of her clean blue calico dress.

她把高额头上稀疏的头发拨到脑后，害羞地摸索着干净的蓝色印花布连衣裙的领子。

“Pleased to meet you,” Maartje said, primly.

“很高兴见到你，”马杰一本正经地说。

“Make you welcome.” Then, as Pool stamped out to the yard, slamming the door behind him, “Pool he could have come with you by the front way, too.

“让你很受欢迎。”然后，当普尔跺着脚走向院子，关上身后的门时，“普尔，他也可以从前面的路跟你一起来。

Lay off your things.” Selina began to remove the wrappings that swathed her—the muffler, the shawl, the cloak.

放下你的东西。”塞琳娜开始解开裹在她身上的包裹物——围巾、披肩、斗篷。

Now she stood, a slim, incongruously elegant little figure in that kitchen.

现在她站在厨房里，身材苗条，优雅得不协调。

The brown lady’s-cloth was very tight and basqued above, very flounced and bustled below.

棕色的女式布料上面很紧，很厚，下面很荷叶边，很繁琐。

“My, how you are young!” cried Maartje.

“哎呀，你还年轻啊！”玛尔杰喊道。

She moved nearer, as if impelled, and fingered the stuff of Selina’s gown.

她走近了一些，仿佛受到了推动，用手指抚摸着塞琳娜的礼服。

And as she did this Selina suddenly saw that she, too, was young.

当她这么做的时候，塞琳娜突然发现自己也很年轻。

The bad teeth, the thin hair, the careless dress, the littered kitchen, the harassed frown—above all these, standing out clearly, appeared the look of a girl.

糟糕的牙齿，稀疏的头发，不经意的衣服，乱七八糟的厨房，苦恼的皱眉——在这一切之上，最显眼的是一个女孩的样子。

“Why, I do believe she’s not more than twenty-eight!” Selina said to herself in a kind of panic.

“哎呀，我相信她不超过二十八岁！”赛琳娜有些惊慌地自言自语道。

“I do believe she’s not more than twenty-eight.”

“我确实相信她不超过二十八岁。”

She had been aware of the two pigtailed heads appearing and vanishing in the doorway of the next room.

她注意到两个辫子头在隔壁房间门口时隐时现。

Now Maartje was shooing her into this room.

现在，Maartje 正在把她赶进这个房间。

Evidently her hostess was distressed because the school teacher’s formal entrance had not been made by way of parlour instead of kitchen.

女主人显然很苦恼，因为学校老师的正式入口不是从客厅而是从厨房进来的。

She followed Maartje Pool into the front room.

她跟着马尔杰·普尔走进前屋。

Behind the stove, tittering, were two yellow-haired little girls.

炉子后面有两个黄头发的小女孩，正在窃笑。

Geertje and Jozina, of course.

当然是吉尔杰和乔齐娜。

Selina went over to them, smiling.

赛琳娜微笑着向他们走过去。

“Which is Geertje?” she asked.

“哪个是吉尔杰？”她问道。

“And which Jozina?” But at this the titters became squeals.

“那哪个乔吉娜呢？”但此时，窃笑声变成了尖叫声。

They retired behind the round black bulwark of the woodburner, overcome.

他们撤退到燃木工的圆形黑色舷墙后面，克服了困难。

There was no fire in this shining ebon structure, though the evening was sharp.

尽管夜色已深，但这座闪闪发光的黑檀木建筑里并没有生火。

Above the stove a length of pipe, glittering with polish as was the stove itself, crossed the width of the room and vanished through a queer little perforated grating in the ceiling.

炉子上方有一根管道，和炉子本身一样闪闪发光，穿过房间的宽度，消失在天花板上一个奇怪的小穿孔格栅中。

Selina’s quick glance encompassed the room.

赛琳娜快速扫视了整个房间。

In the window were a few hardy plants in pots on a green-painted wooden rack.

窗户里有几株耐寒的植物，盆栽在漆成绿色的木架上。

There were geraniums, blossomless; a cactus with its thick slabs of petals like slices of gangrenous ham set up for beauty in a parlour; a plant called Jacob’s ladder, on a spindling trellis.

那里有天竺葵，没有开花；一株仙人掌，花瓣厚厚，就像是放在客厅里用来装饰的坏疽火腿片；一种叫做雅各布梯的植物，长在纺锤形的格子上。

The bony scaffolding of the green-painted wooden stand was turned toward the room.

漆成绿色的木架上的骨头脚手架转向了房间。

The flowers blindly faced the dark square of the window.

花朵盲目地面向窗户的黑暗方形。

There was a sofa with a wrinkled calico cover; three rocking chairs; some stark crayons of incredibly hard-featured Dutch ancients on the wall.

有一张沙发，上面盖着皱巴巴的印花布。三张摇椅；墙上挂着一些用蜡笔画出的荷兰古人的硬朗形象。

It was all neat, stiff, unlovely.

一切都很整洁、僵硬、不可爱。

But Selina had known too many years of boarding-house ugliness to be offended at this.

但塞琳娜多年来已经了解了寄宿公寓的丑陋，因此不会对此感到生气。

Maartje had lighted a small glass-bowled lamp.

马尔杰点燃了一盏小玻璃灯。

The chimney of this sparkled as had the window panes.

烟囱和窗玻璃一样闪闪发光。

A steep, uncarpeted stairway, enclosed, led off the sitting room.

一条陡峭的、没有铺地毯的封闭楼梯通向起居室。

Up this Maartje Pool, talking, led the way to Selina’s bedroom.

沿着马特杰池，一路交谈着，来到了塞琳娜的卧室。

Selina was to learn that the farm woman, often inarticulate through lack of companionship, becomes a torrent of talk when opportunity presents itself.

塞琳娜了解到，由于缺乏陪伴而常常口齿不清的农妇，一旦有机会就会变得滔滔不绝。

They made quite a little procession.

他们进行了相当多的游行。

First, Mrs. Pool with the lamp; then Selina with the satchel; then, tap-tap, tap-tap, Jozina and Geertje, their heavy hob-nailed shoes creating a great clatter on the wooden stairs, though they were tip-toeing in an effort to make themselves unheard by their mother.

首先是普尔夫人拿着灯；然后是塞琳娜背着书包；然后，乔吉娜和吉尔特，踏踏踏踏，她们沉重的平头鞋在木楼梯上发出巨大的咔哒声，尽管她们踮起脚尖，努力不让母亲听到。

There evidently had been an arrangement on the subject of their invisibility.

显然，关于他们的隐身问题已经有了安排。

The procession moved to the accompaniment of Maartje’s, “Now you stay downstairs didn’t I tell you!” There was in her tone a warning; a menace.

队伍在 Maartje 的伴奏下移动，“现在你呆在楼下，我不是告诉过你了吗！”她的语气里带着警告。一个威胁。

The two pigtails would hang back a moment, only to come tap-tapping on again, their saucer eyes at once fearful and mischievous.

两条辫子会垂下来一会儿，然后又会敲打起来，它们的碟形眼睛既恐惧又顽皮。

A narrow, dim, close-smelling hallway, uncarpeted.

走廊狭窄、昏暗、气味难闻，没有铺地毯。

At the end of it a door opening into the room that was to be Selina’s.

尽头有一扇门，通向塞琳娜的房间。

As its chill struck her to the marrow three objects caught her eye.

当寒冷刺入她的骨髓时，三个物体引起了她的注意。

The bed, a huge and not unhandsome walnut mausoleum, reared its sombre height almost to the room’s top.

这张床是一座巨大的、不难看的胡桃木陵墓，它阴森的高度几乎达到了房间的顶部。

Indeed, its apex of grapes did actually seem to achieve a meeting with the whitewashed ceiling.

事实上，它的葡萄尖似乎确实与粉刷过的天花板相遇了。

The mattress of straw and corn-husks was unworthy of this edifice, but over it Mrs. Pool had mercifully placed a feather bed, stitched and quilted, so that Selina lay soft and warm through the winter.

稻草和玉米壳做的床垫与这座大厦格格不入，但普尔太太仁慈地在上面放了一张缝制和绗缝的羽毛床，这样塞琳娜就可以柔软温暖地度过整个冬天。

Along one wall stood a low chest so richly brown as to appear black.

沿着一堵墙立着一个低矮的箱子，深棕色的，看起来像是黑色的。

The front panel of this was curiously carved.

它的前面板雕刻着奇怪的图案。

Selina stooped before it and for the second time that day said: “How beautiful!” then looked quickly round at Maartje Pool as though fearful of finding her laughing as Klaas Pool had laughed.

赛琳娜在它面前弯下腰，当天第二次说道：“多美啊！”然后迅速环视玛尔杰·普尔，好像害怕发现她像克拉斯·普尔那样笑。

But Mrs. Pool’s face reflected the glow in her own.

但普尔夫人的脸上却映出了她自己的光芒。

She came over to Selina and stooped with her over the chest, holding the lamp so that its yellow flame lighted up the scrolls and tendrils of the carved surface.

她走到塞琳娜身边，弯下腰，与她一起站在胸前，拿着灯，黄色的火焰照亮了雕刻表面的卷轴和卷须。

With one discoloured forefinger she traced the bold flourishes on the panel.

她用一根变色的食指描绘了面板上大胆的花边。

“See?

“看到了吗？

How it makes out letters?”

它是如何拼出字母的？”

Selina peered closer.

赛琳娜凑近了看。

“Why, sure enough!

“怎么，果然啊！

This first one’s an S!”

第一个是S！”

Maartje was kneeling before the chest now.

马尔杰现在跪在箱子前。

“Sure an S.

“当然是S。

For Sophia.

为了索菲亚。

It is a Holland bride’s chest.

这是荷兰新娘的胸部。

And here is K.

这是K。

And here is big D.

这是大D。

It makes Sophia Kroon DeVries.

它造就了索菲亚·克鲁恩·德弗里斯。

It is anyways two hundred years.

无论如何，已经有两百年了。

My mother she gave it to me when I was married, and her mother she gave it to her when she was married, and her mother gave it to her when she was married, and her——”

我结婚时，我妈妈给了我，她结婚时，她妈妈给了她，她结婚时，她妈妈给了她，而她——”

“I should think so!” exclaimed Selina, rather meaninglessly; but stemming the torrent.

“我应该也是这样想的！”塞琳娜毫无意义地喊道。但阻止了洪流。

“What’s in it?

“里面有什么？

Anything?

有什么吗？

There ought to be bride’s clothes in it, yellow with age.”

里面应该有新娘的衣服，因为年代久远，已经泛黄了。”

“It is!” cried Maartje Pool and gave a little bounce that imperilled the lamp.

“这是！”玛尔杰·普尔叫道，轻轻弹了一下，灯就受到了威胁。

“No!” The two on their knees sat smiling at each other, wide-eyed, like schoolgirls.

“不！”跪下的两人相视一笑，睁大眼睛，就像女学生一样。

The pigtails, emboldened, had come tap-tapping nearer and were peering over the shoulders of the women before the chest.

辫子变得更加大胆，已经越来越近，越过女人的肩膀在胸前凝视着。

“Here—wait.” Maartje Pool thrust the lamp into Selina’s hand, raised the lid of the chest, dived expertly into its depths amidst a great rustling of old newspapers and emerged red-faced with a Dutch basque and voluminous skirt of silk; an age-yellow cap whose wings, stiff with embroidery, stood out grandly on either side; a pair of wooden shoes, stained terra-cotta like the sails of the Vollendam fishing boats, and carved from toe to heel in a delicate and intricate pattern.

“这里——等等。”玛尔杰·普尔把灯塞到塞琳娜手里，掀起柜子的盖子，在旧报纸发出的沙沙声中熟练地潜入柜子深处，然后红着脸走了出来，穿着一条荷兰巴斯克风格的宽大丝绸裙子。一顶陈旧的黄色帽子，两侧有硬挺的刺绣翅膀，非常引人注目。一双木鞋，带有像福伦丹渔船帆一样的赤陶色，从脚趾到脚跟都雕刻着精致而复杂的图案。

A bridal gown, a bridal cap, bridal shoes.

新娘礼服、新娘帽、新娘鞋。

“Well!” said Selina, with the feeling of a little girl in a rich attic on a rainy day.

“出色地！”塞琳娜说道，语气就像是一个雨天住在富丽堂皇的阁楼里的小女孩。

She clasped her hands.

她双手合十。

“May I dress up in it some time?”

“我可以找个时间穿上它吗？”

Maartje Pool, folding the garments hastily, looked shocked and horrified.

玛尔杰·普尔急忙叠好衣服，一脸震惊和惊恐。

“Never must anybody dress up in a bride’s dress only to get married.

“任何人都不能仅仅为了结婚而穿上新娘礼服。

It brings bad luck.” Then, as Selina stroked the stiff silken folds of the skirt with a slim and caressing forefinger: “So you get married to a High Prairie Dutchman I let you wear it.” At this absurdity they both laughed again.

它会带来厄运。”然后，当塞琳娜用纤细而爱抚的食指抚摸裙子僵硬的丝绸褶皱时：“所以你嫁给了一个高草原荷兰人，我让你穿上它。”听到这荒谬的事，他们俩又笑了起来。

Selina thought that this school-teaching venture was starting out very well.

塞琳娜认为这个学校教学事业起步很好。

She would have _such_ things to tell her father—then she remembered.

她本来有_这样_的事情要告诉她父亲——然后她想起来了。

She shivered a little as she stood up now.

她现在站起来时有点发抖。

She raised her arms to take off her hat, feeling suddenly tired, cold, strange in this house with this farm woman, and the two staring little girls, and the great red-faced man.

她举起双臂摘下帽子，突然感到疲倦、寒冷、陌生，在这个房子里，还有这个农妇、两个瞪着眼睛的小女孩，还有那个红脸大汉。

There surged over her a great wave of longing for her father—for the gay little dinners, for the theatre treats, for his humorous philosophical drawl, for the Chicago streets, and the ugly Chicago houses; for Julie; for Miss Fister’s school; for anything and any one that was accustomed, known, and therefore dear.

她心中涌起一股对父亲的渴望——渴望快乐的小晚餐，渴望剧院的款待，渴望他幽默而富有哲理的慢吞吞的语气，渴望芝加哥的街道，以及丑陋的芝加哥房屋；为了朱莉；费斯特小姐的学校；任何事物、任何人，都是习惯的、已知的，因此是珍贵的。

Even Aunt Abbie and Aunt Sarah had a not unlovely aspect, viewed from this chill farmhouse bedroom that had suddenly become her home.

即使是艾比姨妈和莎拉姨妈，从这间突然变成她家的寒冷农舍卧室里看去，也有一种不那么可爱的样子。

She had a horrible premonition that she was going to cry, began to blink very fast, turned a little blindly in the dim light and caught sight of the room’s third arresting object.

她有一种可怕的预感，她要哭了，开始快速眨眼，在昏暗的灯光下有点盲目地转动，看到了房间里第三个引人注目的物体。

A blue-black cylinder of tin sheeting, like a stove and yet unlike.

一个蓝黑色的锡皮圆柱体，像火炉，但又不同。

It was polished like the length of pipe in the sitting room below.

它被抛光得像下面客厅里的一根管子。

Indeed, it was evidently a giant flower of this stem.

确实，这显然是这根茎上的一朵巨大的花。

“What’s that?” demanded Selina, pointing.

“那是什么？”塞琳娜指着问道。

Maartje Pool, depositing the lamp on the little wash-stand preparatory to leaving, smiled pridefully.

玛尔杰·普尔把灯放在小盥洗台上准备离开，自豪地微笑着。

“Drum.”

“鼓。”

“Drum?”

“鼓？”

“For heat your room.” Selina touched it.

“为了给你的房间供暖。”赛琳娜触碰了它。

It was icy.

天气很冷。

“When there is fire,” Mrs. Pool added, hastily.

“发生火灾时，”普尔夫人急忙补充道。

In her mind’s eye Selina traced the tin tube below running along the ceiling in the peaceful and orderly path of a stove-pipe, thrusting its way through the cylindrical hole in the ceiling and here bursting suddenly into swollen and monstrous bloom like an unthinkable goitre on a black neck.

塞琳娜在脑海中描绘着下面的锡管，沿着天花板沿着火炉管的安静而有序的路径延伸，穿过天花板上的圆柱形孔，在这里突然爆发出肿胀和巨大的花朵，就像黑色脖子上不可思议的甲状腺肿一样。

Selina was to learn that its heating powers were mythical.

塞琳娜得知它的加热能力是神话般的。

Even when the stove in the sitting room was blazing away with a cheerful roar none of the glow communicated itself to the drum.

即使客厅里的炉子发出欢快的轰鸣声，也没有任何光芒传递到鼓上。

It remained as coolly indifferent to the blasts breathed upon it as a girl hotly besieged by an unwelcome lover.

它对吹来的气流保持着冷漠的态度，就像一个被不受欢迎的情人热力围攻的女孩一样。

This was to influence a number of Selina’s habits, including nocturnal reading and matutinal bathing.

这影响了塞琳娜的一些习惯，包括夜间读书和晨间洗澡。

Selina was a daily morning bather in a period which looked upon the daily bath as an eccentricity, or, at best, an affectation.

塞琳娜每天早上洗澡，在那个时期，人们认为每天洗澡是一种怪癖，或者充其量是一种做作。

It would be charming to be able to record that she continued the practice in the Pool household; but a morning bath in the arctic atmosphere of an Illinois prairie farmhouse would not have been eccentric merely, but mad, even if there had been an available kettle of hot water at 6.30 A.

如果能够记录下她在普尔家继续这种做法，那将是一件很有趣的事。但是，即使有一壶 6.30 A 的热水，在伊利诺伊州草原农舍的北极气氛中早上洗澡也不仅是古怪的，而且是疯狂的。

M., which there emphatically was not.

M.，这显然不是。

Selina was grateful for an occasional steaming basin of water at night and a hurried piecemeal bath by the mythical heat of the drum.

塞琳娜很感激晚上偶尔能喝上一盆热气腾腾的水，并在鼓的神话般的高温下匆忙地洗澡。

“Maartje!” roared a voice from belowstairs.

“玛尔杰！”楼下传来一声咆哮。

The voice of the hungry male.

饥饿男子的声音。

There was wafted up, too, a faint smell of scorching.

还飘来一股淡淡的烧焦的味道。

Then came sounds of a bumping and thumping along the narrow stairway.

然后狭窄的楼梯上传来了碰撞声和重击声。

“Og heden!” cried Maartje, in a panic, her hands high in air.

“哎呀赫登！”玛尔杰惊慌失措地喊道，双手高举在空中。

She was off, sweeping the two pigtails with her in her flight.

她飞走了，一边扫着两条辫子。

There were sounds of scuffling on the stairway, and Maartje’s voice calling something that sounded like hookendunk to Selina.

楼梯上传来扭打的声音，马杰的声音对塞琳娜喊着一些听起来像胡肯德克的东西。

But she decided that that couldn’t be.

但她认为那不可能。

The bumping now sounded along the passage outside her room.

现在，她房间外的过道上响起了撞击声。

Selina turned from her satchel to behold a gnome in the doorway.

塞琳娜从书包里转身，看到门口有一个侏儒。

Below, she saw a pair of bow-legs; above, her own little hide-bound trunk; between, a broad face, a grizzled beard, a lack-lustre eye in a weather-beaten countenance.

下面，她看到了一双罗圈腿；上面是她自己用兽皮包裹的小箱子；中间是一张宽阔的脸，灰白的胡须，饱经风霜的脸上有一只毫无光泽的眼睛。

“Jakob Hoogendunk,” the gnome announced, briefly, peering up at her from beneath the trunk balanced on his back.

“雅各布·霍根邓克，”侏儒简单地宣布道，同时从背上平衡的箱子下面抬头看着她。

Selina laughed delightedly.

赛琳娜高兴地笑了。

“Not really!

“不是真的！

Do come in.

请进来。

This is a good place, don’t you think?

这是个好地方，你不觉得吗？

Along the wall?

沿着墙？

Mr.—Mr. Hoogendunk?”

先生——先生。霍根邓克？”

Jakob Hoogendunk grunted and plodded across the room, the trunk lurching perilously above his bow-legged stride.

雅各布·霍根邓克咕哝着，沉重地穿过房间，箱子在他罗圈腿的大步之上危险地摇晃着。

He set it down with a final thump, wiped his nose with the back of his hand—sign of a task completed—and surveyed the trunk largely, as if he had made it.

他最后重重地把它放下，用手背擦了擦鼻子——任务完成的标志——然后仔细地审视了箱子，就好像他已经成功了一样。

“Thank you, Mr. Hoogendunk,” said Selina, and put out her hand.

“谢谢你，霍根邓克先生，”塞琳娜伸出手说道。

“I’m Selina Peake.

“我是塞琳娜·皮克。

How”—she couldn’t resist it—“how did you leave Rip?”

“你怎么”——她无法抗拒——“你怎么离开瑞普的？”

It was characteristic of her that in this grizzled hired man, twisted with rheumatism, reeking of mould and manure, she should see a direct descendant of those gnarled and bearded bowlers so mysteriously encountered by Rip Van Winkle on that fatal day in the Kaatskills.

她的特点是，在这个头发花白、因风湿病而扭曲、散发着霉菌和粪便臭味的雇工身上，她应该看到瑞普·范·温克尔在卡特基尔的那致命的一天神秘地遇到的那些粗糙、留着胡须的投球手的直系后裔。

The name, too, appealed to her in its comic ugliness.

这个名字也因其滑稽的丑陋而吸引了她。

So she laughed a soft little laugh; held out her hand.

于是她轻声笑起来；伸出了她的手。

The man was not offended.

那人并没有被冒犯。

He knew that people laughed when they were introduced.

他知道人们在被介绍时都会笑。

So he laughed, too, in a mixture of embarrassment and attempted ease, looking down at the small hand extended to him.

所以他也笑了，既尴尬又试图放松，低头看着向他伸出的小手。

He blinked at it curiously.

他好奇地眨着眼睛。

He wiped his two hands down his thighs, hard; then shook his great grizzled head.

他用两只手沿着大腿用力擦拭。然后摇了摇头。

“My hand is all muck.

“我的手全是泥。

I ain’t washed up yet,” and lurched off, leaving Selina looking rather helplessly down at her own extended hand.

我还没洗完呢，”然后摇摇晃晃地走了，留下塞琳娜无助地低头看着自己伸出的手。

His clatter on the wooden stairway sounded like cavalry on a frozen road.

他在木楼梯上发出的嘎嘎声听起来就像是结冰的道路上的骑兵。

Left alone in her room Selina unlocked her trunk and took from it two photographs—one of a mild-looking man with his hat a little on one side, the other of a woman who might have been a twenty-five-year-old Selina, minus the courageous jaw-line.

塞琳娜独自一人留在房间里，打开行李箱，从里面拿出两张照片——一张是一个看上去温和的男人，帽子稍微偏向一侧，另一张是一个女人，可能是二十五岁的塞琳娜，但没有勇敢的下巴线条。

Looking about for a fitting place on which to stand these leather-framed treasures she considered the top of the chill drum, humorously, then actually placed them there, for lack of better refuge, from which vantage point they regarded her with politely interested eyes.

她寻找一个合适的地方来放置这些皮革框架的宝藏，她幽默地认为是寒冷的鼓的顶部，然后实际上把它们放在那里，因为缺乏更好的避难所，从这个有利的位置，他们用礼貌而感兴趣的眼睛看着她。

Perhaps Jakob Hoogendunk would put up a shelf for her.

也许雅各布·霍根邓克会为她搭一个架子。

That would serve for her little stock of books and for the pictures as well.

这可以用来存放她的少量书籍和图片。

She was enjoying that little flush of exhilaration that comes to a woman, unpacking.

她很享受女人打开行李时那种小小的兴奋。

There was about her trunk, even though closed but this very day, the element of surprise that gilds familiar objects when disclosed for the first time in unfamiliar surroundings.

她的行李箱虽然关着，但就在今天，当她在陌生的环境中第一次发现熟悉的物品时，她的箱子里充满了惊喜的元素。

She took out her neat pile of warm woollen underwear, her stout shoes.

她拿出整齐的一堆温暖的羊毛内衣和厚底的鞋子。

She shook out the crushed folds of the wine-coloured cashmere.

她抖掉酒色羊绒衫上的皱褶。

Now, if ever, she should have regretted its purchase.

现在，如果有的话，她应该会后悔购买它。

But she didn’t.

但她没有。

No one, she reflected, as she spread it rosily on the bed, possessing a wine-coloured cashmere could be altogether downcast.

当她将玫瑰色的羊绒铺在床上时，她想，拥有一件酒色羊绒衫的人不会是完全沮丧的。

The wine cashmere on the bed, the photographs on the drum, her clothes hanging comfortably on wall-hooks with a calico curtain on a cord protecting them, her stock of books on the closed trunk.

床上放着酒红色羊绒，鼓上放着照片，她的衣服舒适地挂在墙上的挂钩上，用绳子上的印花布窗帘保护着它们，她的书放在封闭的行李箱里。

Already the room wore the aspect of familiarity.

房间里已经有了熟悉的感觉。

From belowstairs came the hiss of frying.

楼下传来油炸的嘶嘶声。

Selina washed in the chill water of the basin, took down her hair and coiled it again before the swimmy little mirror over the wash-stand.

塞琳娜在盆里的冷水里洗了澡，把头发脱下来，在盥洗台上那面会游泳的小镜子前重新盘起来。

She adjusted the stitched white bands of the severe collar and patted the cuffs of the brown lady’s-cloth.

她调整了一下严肃衣领上缝制的白色带子，拍了拍棕色女装的袖口。

The tight basque was fastened with buttons from throat to waist.

紧身巴斯克服装从喉咙到腰部都用纽扣固定。

Her fine long head rose above this trying base with such grace and dignity as to render the stiff garment beautiful.

她美丽的长头从这个令人难受的底座上抬起来，优雅而高贵，使硬挺的衣服显得美丽。

The skirt billowed and puffed out behind, and was drawn in folds across the front.

裙子在后面翻滚膨胀，前面被拉成褶皱。

It was a day of appalling bunchiness and equally appalling tightness in dress; of panniers, galloons, plastrons, reveres, bustles, and all manner of lumpy bedevilment.

这一天，人们的衣着都极其拥挤，同样令人震惊。驮包、大帆船、胸甲、尊座、裙撑和各种凹凸不平的东西。

That Selina could appear in this disfiguring garment a creature still graceful, slim, and pliant was a sheer triumph of spirit over matter.

塞琳娜穿着这件毁容的衣服，看起来仍然优雅、苗条、柔顺，这绝对是精神战胜物质的胜利。

She blew out the light now and descended the steep wooden stairway to the unlighted parlour.

她现在关了灯，走下陡峭的木楼梯，来到没有灯光的客厅。

The door between parlour and kitchen was closed.

客厅和厨房之间的门关着。

Selina sniffed sensitively.

赛琳娜敏感地吸了吸鼻子。

There was pork for supper.

晚饭有猪肉。

She was to learn that there always was pork for supper.

她得知晚饭总是有猪肉。

As the winter wore on she developed a horror of this porcine fare, remembering to have read somewhere that one’s diet was in time reflected in one’s face; that gross eating made one gross looking.

随着冬天的过去，她对这种猪食产生了恐惧，记得在哪里读过，一个人的饮食会及时反映在一个人的脸上；那种恶心的饮食让人看起来很恶心。

She would examine her features fearfully in the swimmy mirror—the lovely little white nose—was it coarsening?

她会在游泳镜中恐惧地检查自己的容貌——那可爱的小白鼻子——是不是变粗了？

The deep-set dark eyes—were they squinting?

那双深陷的黑眼睛——是眯着的吗？

The firm sweet lips—were they broadening?

坚挺甜美的嘴唇——它们张开了吗？

But the reflection in the glass reassured her.

但玻璃上的倒影让她放心了。

She hesitated a moment there in the darkness.

她在黑暗中犹豫了一会儿。

Then she opened the kitchen door.

然后她打开厨房的门。

There swam out at her a haze of smoke, from which emerged round blue eyes, guttural talk, the smell of frying grease, of stable, of loam, and of woollen wash freshly brought in from the line.

一团烟雾向她飘来，从烟雾中浮现出圆圆的蓝眼睛、喉咙里的说话声、煎炸油脂的气味、马厩的气味、粘土的气味和刚从生产线运来的羊毛洗涤的气味。

With an inrush of cold air that sent the blue haze into swirls the outer kitchen door opened.

随着一阵冷空气的涌入，蓝色的薄雾卷成漩涡，厨房外门打开了。

A boy, his arm piled high with stove-wood, entered; a dark, handsome sullen boy who stared at Selina over the armload of wood.

一个男孩进来了，他的手臂上堆满了柴火。一个皮肤黝黑、英俊、阴沉的男孩，隔着木头盯着塞琳娜。

Selina stared back at him.

赛琳娜回头看着他。

There sprang to life between the boy of twelve and the woman of nineteen an electric current of feeling.

十二岁的男孩和十九岁的女人之间突然产生了一股感情的电流。

“Roelf,” thought Selina; and even took a step toward him, inexplicably drawn.

“罗尔夫，”塞琳娜想。甚至向他迈出了一步，莫名其妙地被吸引了。

“Hurry then with that wood there!” fretted Maartje at the stove.

“那快点把木头搬过来吧！”玛尔杰在炉子旁焦急地说道。

The boy flung the armful into the box, brushed his sleeve and coat-front mechanically, still looking at Selina.

男孩把怀里的东西扔进盒子里，机械地拂了拂袖子和衣襟，仍然看着赛琳娜。

A slave to the insatiable maw of the wood-box.

木箱贪得无厌的胃的奴隶。

Klaas Pool, already at table, thumped with his knife.

克拉斯·普尔已经坐到了餐桌旁，用刀重重地敲击着。

“Sit down!

“坐下吧！

Sit down, teacher.” Selina hesitated, looked at Maartje.

老师请坐。”塞琳娜犹豫了一下，看着马尔杰。

Maartje was holding a frying pan aloft in one hand while with the other she thrust and poked a fresh stick of wood into the open-lidded stove.

玛尔杰一手高举着煎锅，另一只手将一根新鲜的木头塞进开着盖子的炉子里。

The two pigtails seated themselves at the table, set with its red-checked cloth and bone-handled cutlery.

两条辫子坐在桌子旁，桌子上放着红格子桌布和骨柄餐具。

Jakob Hoogendunk, who had been splashing, snorting, and puffing porpoise-fashion in a corner over a hand-basin whose cubic contents were out of all proportion to the sounds extracted therefrom, now seated himself.

雅各布·霍根邓克一直坐在角落里的一个洗手池上，用海豚式的方式喷水、喷鼻息、喷水，洗手池的立方体内容物与从中提取的声音完全不成比例，现在他自己坐下了。

Roelf flung his cap on a wall-hook and sat down.

罗尔夫把帽子扔到墙上的挂钩上，然后坐了下来。

Only Selina and Maartje remained standing.

只有塞琳娜和马尔杰还站着。

“Sit down!

“坐下吧！

Sit down!” Klaas Pool said again, jovially.

坐下吧！”克拉斯·普尔又高兴地说道。

“Well, how is cabbages?” He chuckled and winked.

“那么，卷心菜怎么样？”他咯咯地笑着，眨了眨眼睛。

Jakob Hoogendunk snorted.

雅各布·霍根邓克哼了一声。

A duet of titters from the pigtails.

辫子发出的二重唱。

Maartje at the stove smiled; but a trifle grimly, one might have thought, watching her.

炉边的马尔杰微笑着；但看着她的人可能会觉得有点冷酷。

Evidently Klaas had not hugged his joke in secret.

显然，克拉斯并没有暗中接受他的玩笑。

Only the boy Roelf remained unsmiling.

只有男孩罗尔夫没有笑。

Even Selina, feeling the red mounting her cheeks, smiled a little, nervously, and sat down with some suddenness.

就连赛琳娜，也感觉到脸颊泛红，紧张地笑了笑，突然坐了下来。

Maartje Pool now thumped down on the table a great bowl of potatoes fried in grease; a platter of ham.

马尔杰·普尔把一大碗用油煎的土豆重重地放在桌子上。一盘火腿

There was bread cut in chunks.

有切成块的面包。

The coffee was rye, roasted in the oven, ground, and taken without sugar or cream.

咖啡是黑麦咖啡，在烤箱中烘烤，研磨，不加糖或奶油。

Of this food there was plenty.

这些食物有很多。

It made Mrs. Tebbitt’s Monday night meal seem ambrosial.

这让特比特夫人周一晚上的晚餐显得很美味。

Selina’s visions of chickens, oly-koeks, wild ducks, crusty crullers, and pumpkin pies vanished, never to return.

塞琳娜对鸡肉、油煎鸭、野鸭、硬皮油条和南瓜派的幻想消失了，再也没有回来。

She had been very hungry, but now, as she talked, nodded, smiled, she cut her food into infinitesimal bites, did not chew them so very well, and despised herself for being dainty.

她本来很饿，但现在，当她说话、点头、微笑时，她把食物切成小口，不好好咀嚼，并鄙视自己的美味。

A slight, distinctive little figure there in the yellow lamplight, eating this coarse fare bravely, turning her soft dark glance on the woman who was making countless trips from stove to table, from table to stove; on the sullen handsome boy with his purplish chapped hands and his sombre eyes; on the two round-eyed, red-cheeked little girls; on the great red-faced full-lipped man eating his supper noisily and with relish; on Jakob Hoogendunk, grazing greedily.

黄色灯光下，有一个瘦小而独特的小身影，勇敢地吃着这顿粗粮，用她那柔和的深色目光扫视着那个无数次从炉灶到桌子、从桌子到炉灶的女人；落在那个闷闷不乐的英俊男孩身上，他的手发紫，干裂，眼睛阴沉；两个圆眼睛、红脸颊的小女孩；那个红脸双唇的大汉，津津有味地吃着晚饭；雅各布·霍根邓克 (Jakob Hoogendunk) 贪婪地吃着草。

.

。

.

。

.

。

“Well,” she thought, “it’s going to be different enough, that’s certain.

“嗯，”她想，“肯定会有所不同。

.

。

.

。

.

。

This is a vegetable farm, and they don’t eat vegetables.

这是菜场，他们不吃蔬菜。

I wonder why.

我想知道为什么。

.

。

.

。

.

。

What a pity that she lets herself look like that, just because she’s a farm woman.

可惜，仅仅因为她是一个农妇，她就让自己变成这样。

Her hair screwed into that knob, her skin rough and neglected.

她的头发拧在那个旋钮上，她的皮肤粗糙且被忽视。

That hideous dress.

那件丑陋的衣服。

Shapeless.

无形。

She’s not bad looking, either.

她长得也不难看。

A red spot on either cheek, now; and her eyes so blue.

现在两边脸颊上都有一个红点；她的眼睛那么蓝。

A little like those women in the Dutch pictures Father took me to see in—where?—where?—New York, years ago?—yes.

有点像父亲带我去看的荷兰照片中的那些女人——哪里？——哪里？——几年前的纽约？——是的。

A woman in a kitchen, a dark sort of room with pots of brass on a shelf; a high mullioned window.

一个女人在厨房里，这是一个黑暗的房间，架子上放着黄铜罐；高高的竖框窗

But that woman’s face was placid.

但那女子脸色却很平静。

This one’s strained.

这个很紧张。

Why need she look like that, frowsy, harried, old!

为什么她要看起来那样，邋遢、疲惫、苍老！

.

。

.

。

.

。

The boy is, somehow, foreign looking—Italian.

不知怎的，这个男孩看上去有点像外国人——意大利人。

Queer.

奇怪。

.

。

.

。

.

。

They talk a good deal like some German neighbours we had in Milwaukee.

他们像我们在密尔沃基的一些德国邻居一样谈论很多。

They twist sentences.

他们扭曲句子。

Literal translations from the Dutch, I suppose.” .

我想是荷兰语的直译。” 。

.

。

.

。

Jakob Hoogendunk was talking.

雅各布·霍根邓克正在讲话。

Supper over, the men sat relaxed, pipe in mouth.

晚饭结束后，男人们轻松地坐着，嘴里叼着烟斗。

Maartje was clearing the supper things, with Geertje and Jozina making a great pretense at helping.

马尔杰正在收拾晚饭的东西，吉尔杰和乔齐娜假装在帮忙。

If they giggled like that in school, Selina thought, she would, in time, go mad, and knock their pigtailed heads together.

塞琳娜想，如果他们在学校里那样咯咯地笑，她迟早会发疯，把他们的辫子头撞到一起。

“You got to have rich bottom land,” Hoogendunk was saying, “else you get little tough stringy stuff.

“你必须有肥沃的低地，”胡根邓克说，“否则你会得到一些坚硬的、粘稠的东西。

I seen it in market Friday, laying.

我星期五在市场上看到它，正在产蛋。

Stick to vegetables that is vegetables and not new-fangled stuff.

坚持吃蔬菜，而不是新奇的东西。

Celery!

芹菜！

What is celery!

芹菜是什么！

It ain’t rightly a vegetable, and it ain’t a yerb.

它不完全是一种蔬菜，也不是一种yerb。

Look how Voorhees he used as much as one hundred fifty pounds nitrate of sody, let alone regular fertilizer, and what comes from it?

看看沃里斯如何使用了多达一百五十磅的硝酸盐大豆，更不用说普通肥料了，这会产生什么？

Little stringy stuff.

小细丝状的东西。

You got to have rich bottom land.”

你必须有肥沃的洼地。”

Selina was interested.

赛琳娜很感兴趣。

She had always thought that vegetables grew.

她一直以为蔬菜会生长。

You put them in the ground—seeds or something—and pretty soon things came popping up—potatoes, cabbages, onions, carrots, beets.

你把它们埋在地里——种子什么的——很快就会长出来——土豆、卷心菜、洋葱、胡萝卜、甜菜。

But what was this thing called nitrate of soda?

但是这个叫做硝酸苏打的东西是什么？

It must have had something to do with the creamed cabbage at Mrs. Tebbitt’s.

这肯定和特比特太太家的奶油卷心菜有关。

And she had never known it.

而她却从来不知道。

And what was regular fertilizer?

什么是普通肥料？

She leaned forward.

她向前倾身。

“What’s a regular fertilizer?”

“什么是普通肥料？”

Klaas Pool and Jakob Hoogendunk looked at her.

克拉斯·普尔和雅各布·霍根邓克看着她。

She looked at them, her fine intelligent eyes alight with interest.

她看着他们，她那双聪明的眼睛充满了兴趣。

Pool then tipped back his chair, lifted a stove-lid, spat into the embers, replaced the lid and rolled his eyes in the direction of Jakob Hoogendunk.

普尔然后把椅子向后倾斜，掀起炉盖，向余烬吐口水，盖上盖子，然后朝雅各布·霍根邓克的方向翻了个白眼。

Hoogendunk rolled his slow gaze in the direction of Klaas Pool.

霍根邓克缓慢地将视线投向克拉斯·普尔的方向。

Then both turned to look at this audacious female who thus interrupted men’s conversation.

然后两人都转头看向这个大胆的女子，她打断了男人的谈话。

Pool took his pipe from his mouth, blew a thin spiral, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

普尔从嘴里取下烟斗，吹了一根细细的螺旋，用手背擦了擦嘴。

“Regular fertilizer is—regular fertilizer.”

“普通肥料就是——普通肥料。”

Jakob Hoogendunk nodded his solemn confirmation of this.

雅各布·霍根邓克郑重地点点头，确认了这一点。

“What’s in it?” persisted Selina.

“里面有什么？”塞琳娜坚持道。

Pool waved a huge red hand as though to waft away this troublesome insect.

普尔挥舞着一只红色的大手，仿佛要把这只麻烦的虫子吹走。

He looked at Maartje.

他看着马尔杰。

But Maartje was slamming about her work.

但 Maartje 对她的工作进行了猛烈抨击。

Geertje and Jozina were absorbed in some game of their own behind the stove.

吉尔杰和乔齐娜在炉子后面全神贯注地玩着自己的游戏。

Roelf, at the table, sat reading, one slim hand, chapped and gritty with rough work, outspread on the cloth.

罗尔夫坐在桌边看书，一只纤细的手摊开在桌布上，手上因粗糙的工作而干裂、布满沙砾。

Selina noticed, without knowing she noticed, that the fingers were long, slim, and the broken nails thin and fine.

塞琳娜不知不觉地注意到，手指又长又细，断掉的指甲又薄又细。

“But what’s in it?” she said again.

“但是里面有什么？”她又说道。

Suddenly life in the kitchen hung suspended.

厨房里的生活突然暂停了。

The two men frowned.

两个人皱起了眉头。

Maartje half turned from her dishpan.

玛蒂从洗碗盘上半转过身。

The two little girls peered out from behind the stove.

两个小女孩从炉子后面向外张望。

Roelf looked up from his book.

罗尔夫从书本上抬起头来。

Even the collie, lying in front of the stove half asleep, suddenly ran his tongue out, winked one eye.

就连趴在炉子前半睡半醒的牧羊犬，也突然伸出舌头，眨着一只眼睛。

But Selina, all sociability, awaited her answer.

但塞琳娜却很善于交际，等待着她的答复。

She could not know that in High Prairie women did not brazenly intrude thus on men’s weighty conversation.

她不可能知道，在高草原，女人不会如此厚颜无耻地介入男人的重要谈话。

The men looked at her, unanswering.

男人们看着她，没有回答。

She began to feel a little uncomfortable.

她开始感觉有点不舒服。

The boy Roelf rose and went to the cupboard in the kitchen corner.

男孩罗尔夫站起身来，走到厨房角落的橱柜前。

He took down a large green-bound book, and placed it in Selina’s hand.

他取下一本绿色封面的大书，放在赛琳娜的手里。

The book smelled terribly.

这本书的味道很难闻。

Its covers were greasy with handling.

它的盖子因搬运而变得油腻。

On the page margins a brown stain showed the imprint of fingers.

页边距上有一处棕色污迹，上面有手指的印记。

Roelf pointed at a page.

罗尔夫指着一页。

Selina followed the line with her eye.

赛琳娜的目光顺着那条线看去。

Good Basic Fertilizer for Market-Garden Crops.

适合市场花园作物的良好基肥。

Then, below:

然后，如下：

Nitrate of soda.

硝酸盐苏打水。

Ammonium sulfate.

硫酸铵。

Dried blood.

血干了。

Selina shut the book and handed it back to Roelf, gingerly.

塞琳娜合上书，小心翼翼地递还给罗尔夫。

Dried blood!

血干了！

She stared at the two men.

她盯着两个男人。

“What does it mean by dried blood?”

“血干了是什么意思？”

Klaas answered stubbornly, “Dried blood is dried blood.

克拉斯固执地回答：“干血就是干血。

You put in the field dried blood and it makes grow.

你把干血放在田里，它就会生长。

Cabbages, onions, squash.” At sight of her horrified face he grinned.

卷心菜、洋葱、南瓜。”看到她惊恐的脸，他笑了。

“Well, cabbages is anyway beautiful, huh?” He rolled a facetious eye around at Jakob.

“嗯，卷心菜还是很漂亮，对吧？”他滑稽地向雅各布翻了个白眼。

Evidently this joke was going to last him the winter.

显然这个笑话会让他持续整个冬天。

Selina stood up.

赛琳娜站了起来。

She wasn’t annoyed; but she wanted, suddenly, to be alone in her room—in the room that but an hour before had been a strange and terrifying chamber with its towering bed, its chill drum, its ghostly bride’s chest.

她并没有生气；她并没有生气。但她突然想独自待在自己的房间里——一个小时前，这个房间还是一个奇怪而可怕的房间，里面有高耸的床、冰冷的鼓声、幽灵般的新娘胸部。

Now it had become a refuge, snug, safe, infinitely desirable.

现在它已经成为一个避难所，舒适、安全、无限令人向往。

She turned to Mrs. Pool.

她转向普尔夫人。

“I—I think I’ll go up to my room.

“我——我想我该回我的房间去了。

I’m very tired.

我很累。

The ride, I suppose.

我想，这趟旅程。

I’m not used .

我不习惯。

.

。

.” Her voice trailed off.

”。她的声音渐渐减弱。

“Sure,” said Maartje, briskly.

“当然，”马杰轻快地说。

She had finished the supper dishes and was busy with a huge bowl, flour, a baking board.

她已经吃完了晚饭，正忙着准备一个大碗、面粉和烤板。

“Sure go up.

“当然上去。

I got my bread to set yet and what all.”

我的面包还没凝固呢。”

“If I could have some hot water——”

“如果我能喝点热水就好了——”

“Roelf!

“罗尔夫！

Stop once that reading and show school teacher where is hot water.

停止阅读并告诉学校老师哪里有热水。

Geertje!

格特耶！

Jozina!

乔吉娜！

Never in my world did I see such.” She cuffed a convenient pigtail by way of emphasis.

在我的世界里我从未见过这样的事情。”她扎了一条方便的辫子以示强调。

A wail arose.

一声哀号响起。

“Never mind.

“没关系。”

It doesn’t matter.

没关系。

Don’t bother.” Selina was in a sort of panic now.

别麻烦了。”塞琳娜现在有些恐慌。

She wanted to be out of the room.

她想离开房间。

But the boy Roelf, with quiet swiftness, had taken a battered tin pail from its hook on the wall, had lifted an iron slab at the back of the kitchen stove.

但男孩罗尔夫却悄悄地迅速地从墙上的挂钩上取下了一个破烂的锡桶，拿起了厨房炉子后面的一块铁板。

A mist of steam arose.

一股蒸汽雾气升起。

He dipped the pail into the tiny reservoir thus revealed.

他把桶浸入露出的小水库中。

Then, as Selina made as though to take it, he walked past her.

然后，当塞琳娜准备接过它时，他从她身边走过。

She heard him ascending the wooden stairway.

她听到他走上木楼梯的声音。

She wanted to be after him.

她想追随他。

But first she must know the name of the book over which he had been poring.

但首先她必须知道他正在研读的那本书的名字。

But between her and the book outspread on the table were Pool, Hoogendunk, dog, pigtails, Maartje.

但在她和桌上摊开的书之间，有普尔、霍根邓克、狗、辫子、马杰。

She pointed with a determined forefinger.

她用坚定的食指指着。

“What’s that book Roelf was reading?”

“罗尔夫正在读的那本书是什么？”

Maartje thumped a great ball of dough on the baking board.

玛尔杰在烤盘上重击了一大团面团。

Her arms were white with flour.

她的手臂沾满了面粉。

She kneaded and pummelled expertly.

她熟练地揉捏和捶打。

“Woorden boek.”

“木书。”

Well.

出色地。

That meant nothing.

那没什么意义。

Woorden boek.

木书。

Woorden b—— Dimly the meaning of the Dutch words began to come to her.

伍登·b——她开始隐隐约约地明白了荷兰语单词的含义。

But it couldn’t be.

但事实并非如此。

She brushed past the men in the tipped-back chairs, stepped over the collie, reached across the table.

她从坐在向后倾斜的椅子上的男人们身边擦身而过，跨过柯利牧羊犬，把手伸过桌子。

Woorden—word.

伍登——字。

Boek—book.

书——书。

Word book.

单词书。

“He’s reading the dictionary!” Selina said, aloud.

“他在看字典呢！”赛琳娜大声说道。

“He’s reading the dictionary!” She had the horrible feeling that she was going to laugh and cry at once; hysteria.

“他在看字典呢！”她有一种可怕的感觉，觉得自己又要笑又要哭。歇斯底里。

Mrs. Pool glanced around.

普尔夫人环顾四周。

“School teacher he gave it to Roelf time he quit last year for spring planting.

“罗尔夫去年辞职去春耕时，学校老师把它交给了他。

A word book.

一本单词书。

In it is more as a hundred thousand words, all different.”

其中十万字之多，皆异。”

Selina flung a good-night over her shoulder and made for the stairway.

塞琳娜在肩上道了声晚安，然后朝楼梯走去。

He should have all her books.

他应该拥有她所有的书。

She would send to Chicago for books.

她会派人去芝加哥买书。

She would spend her thirty dollars a month buying books for him.

她每个月会花三十美元给他买书。

He had been reading the dictionary!

他一直在看字典！

Roelf had placed the pail of hot water on the little wash-stand, and had lighted the glass lamp.

罗尔夫把那桶热水放在小盥洗台上，并点亮了玻璃灯。

He was intent on replacing the glass chimney within the four prongs that held it firm.

他打算将玻璃烟囱更换到固定玻璃烟囱的四个尖头内。

Downstairs, in the crowded kitchen, he had seemed quite the man.

在楼下拥挤的厨房里，他看起来就是个十足的男人。

Now, in the yellow lamplight, his profile sharply outlined, she saw that he was just a small boy with tousled hair.

如今，黄色的灯光下，他的轮廓轮廓分明，她看到的只是一个头发凌乱的小男孩。

About his cheeks, his mouth, his chin one could even see the last faint traces of soft infantile roundness.

在他的脸颊、嘴巴、下巴周围，人们甚至可以看到最后一丝婴儿般柔和的圆润痕迹。

His trousers, absurdly cut down from a man’s pair by inexpert hands, hung grotesquely about his slim shanks.

他的裤子是由不熟练的人从男人的裤子上剪下来的，怪诞地挂在他细长的小腿上。

“He’s just a little boy,” thought Selina, with a quick pang.

“他只是个小男孩，”塞琳娜心想，心里一阵剧痛。

He was about to pass her now, without glancing at her, his head down.

他现在就要从她身边经过，没有看她一眼，低着头。

She put out her hand; touched his shoulder.

她伸出手；摸了摸他的肩膀。

He looked up at her, his face startlingly alive, his eyes blazing.

他抬头看着她，他的脸充满了活力，眼睛里闪烁着光芒。

It came to Selina that until now she had not heard him speak.

赛琳娜发现，到现在为止，她还没有听到他说话。

Her hand pressed the thin stuff of his coat sleeve.

她的手按着他衣袖上薄薄的东西。

“Cabbages—fields of cabbages—what you said—they _are_ beautiful,” he stammered.

“卷心菜——卷心菜地——你说的——它们很漂亮，”他结结巴巴地说。

He was terribly in earnest.

他非常认真。

Before she could reply he was out of the room, clattering down the stairs.

她还没来得及回答，他就走出了房间，啪嗒啪嗒地下了楼梯。

Selina stood, blinking a little.

塞琳娜站了起来，眨了眨眼睛。

The glow that warmed her now endured while she splashed about in the inadequate basin; took down the dark soft masses of her hair; put on the voluminous long-sleeved, high-necked nightgown.

当她在不够大的水池里溅水时，温暖她的光芒现在一直持续着。取下她那一团又黑又软的头发；穿上宽松的长袖高领睡衣。

Just before she blew out the lamp her last glimpse was of the black drum stationed like a patient eunuch in the corner; and she could smile at that; even giggle a little, what with weariness, excitement, and a general feeling of being awake in a dream.

就在她吹灭灯之前，她最后一眼看到了那面黑色的鼓，它像一位耐心的太监一样站在角落里。她对此可以微笑；甚至咯咯地笑一下，带着疲倦、兴奋和一种在梦中醒来的感觉。

But once in the vast bed she lay there utterly lost in the waves of terror and loneliness that envelop one at night in a strange house amongst strange people.

但一旦躺在那张大床上，她就完全迷失在恐惧和孤独的浪潮中，这种恐惧和孤独在夜间笼罩在陌生的房子里，周围是陌生的人。

She lay there, tensed and tight, her toes curled with nervousness, her spine hunched with it, her leg muscles taut.

她躺在那里，浑身紧绷，脚趾因紧张而卷曲，脊椎也随之弓起，腿部肌肉紧绷。

She peeked over the edge of the covers looking a good deal like a frightened brownie, if one could have seen her; her eyes very wide, the pupils turned well toward the corners with the look of listening and distrust.

如果有人能看到她的话，她从被子的边缘往外看，看起来就像一只受惊的布朗尼蛋糕。她的眼睛睁得大大的，瞳孔向眼角方向转动，带着倾听和不信任的神情。

The sharp November air cut in from the fields that were fertilized with dried blood.

十一月的凛冽空气从沾有干血的田野中吹来。

She shivered, and wrinkled up her lovely little nose and seemed to sniff this loathsome taint in the air.

她颤抖着，皱起可爱的小鼻子，似乎在嗅空气中这种令人厌恶的污物。

She listened to the noises that came from belowstairs; voices gruff, unaccustomed; shrill, high.

她听着楼下传来的声音；声音粗哑，不习惯；尖锐，高。

These ceased and gave place to others less accustomed to her city-bred ears; a dog’s bark and an answering one; a far-off train whistle; the dull thud of hoofs stamping on the barn floor; the wind in the bare tree branches outside the window.

这些声音停止了，让位给了其他不太习惯她在城市长大的耳朵的人。狗的叫声和回应声；远处传来火车汽笛声；马蹄踩在谷仓地板上发出沉闷的撞击声；风吹过窗外光秃秃的树枝。

Her watch—a gift from Simeon Peake on her eighteenth birthday—with the gold case all beautifully engraved with a likeness of a gate, and a church, and a waterfall and a bird, linked together with spirals and flourishes of the most graceful description, was ticking away companionably under her pillow.

她的手表——西蒙·皮克在她十八岁生日时送给她的礼物——金质表壳上精美地刻着一扇门、一座教堂、一座瀑布和一只鸟的图案，以最优雅的螺旋和花饰连接在一起，在她的枕头下滴答作响。

She felt for it, took it out and held it in her palm, under her cheek, for comfort.

她摸索着，把它拿出来，放在掌心里，放在脸颊下面，寻求安慰。

She knew she would not sleep that night.

她知道那天晚上她睡不着。

She knew she would not sleep——

她知道她不会睡觉——

She awoke to a clear, cold November dawn; children’s voices; the neighing of horses; a great sizzling and hissing, and scent of frying bacon; a clucking and squawking in the barnyard.

她在十一月的黎明中醒来，天气晴朗而寒冷。孩子们的声音；马匹的嘶鸣；一阵巨大的滋滋声和嘶嘶声，还有煎培根的香味；谷仓里传来咯咯声和嘎嘎声。

It was six o’clock.

当时是六点钟。

Selina’s first day as a school teacher.

塞琳娜作为学校老师的第一天。

In a little more than two hours she would be facing a whole roomful of round-eyed Geertjes and Jozinas and Roelfs.

两个多小时后，她将面对满屋子的圆眼睛的吉尔特杰斯、乔兹纳斯和罗尔夫斯。

The bedroom was cruelly cold.

卧室里冷得可怕。

As she threw the bed-clothes heroically aside Selina decided that it took an appalling amount of courage—this life that Simeon Peake had called a great adventure.

当塞琳娜英勇地把床单扔到一边时，她决定这需要巨大的勇气——西蒙·皮克将这种生活称为一次伟大的冒险。

Every morning throughout November it was the same.

整个十一月的每个早晨都是一样的。

At six o’clock: “Miss Peake!

六点钟：“皮克小姐！

_Oh_, Miss Peake!”

_哦_，皮克小姐！”

“I’m up!” Selina would call in what she meant to be a gay voice, through chattering teeth.

“我起来了！”塞琳娜会通过牙齿打颤，发出她本意的同性恋声音。

“You better come down and dress where is warm here by the stove.”

“你最好下来，在炉子旁边暖和的地方穿衣服。”

Peering down the perforations in the floor-hole through which the parlour chimney swelled so proudly into the drum, Selina could vaguely descry Mrs. Pool stationed just below, her gaze upturned.

塞琳娜从地板上的孔眼往下看，客厅的烟囱傲然地伸进了鼓里，塞琳娜可以隐约看到站在下面的普尔太太，她的目光向上。

That first morning, on hearing this invitation, Selina had been rocked between horror and mirth.

第一天早上，听到这个邀请，塞琳娜的心情在惊恐与欢笑之间摇摆不定。

“I’m not cold, really.

“我不冷，真的。

I’m almost dressed.

我差不多穿好了。

I’ll be down directly.”

我就直接下来。”

Maartje Pool must have sensed some of the shock in the girl’s voice; or, perhaps, even some of the laughter.

玛尔杰·普尔一定感觉到了女孩声音中的一些震惊；或者，也许，甚至是一些笑声。

“Pool and Jakob are long out already cutting.

“普尔和雅各布早就已经退出了。

Here back of the stove you can dress warm.”

在炉子后面，你可以穿得暖和。”

Shivering and tempted though she was, Selina had set her will against it.

尽管瑟琳娜浑身颤抖，受到诱惑，但她还是坚决反对。

A little hardening of the muscles around her jaw so that they stood out whitely beneath the fine-grained skin.

她下巴周围的肌肉稍微变硬，在细纹皮肤下显得白皙。

“I won’t go down,” she said to herself, shaking with the cold.

“我不会下去。”她冷得浑身发抖，自言自语道。

“I won’t come down to dressing behind the kitchen stove like a—like a peasant in one of those dreadful Russian novels.

“我不会像那些可怕的俄罗斯小说中的农民一样在厨房炉子后面穿得像一个农民。

.

。

.

。

.

。

That sounds stuck up and horrid.

这听起来既固执又可怕。

.

。

.

。

.

。

The Pools are good and kind and decent.

泳池很好、很友善、很体面。

.

。

.

。

.

。

But I _won’t_ come down to huddling behind the stove with a bundle of underwear in my arms.

但我不会缩在炉子后面，怀里抱着一包内衣。

Oh, _dear_, this corset’s like a casing of ice.”

哦，亲爱的，这件紧身胸衣就像一层冰壳。”

Geertje and Jozina had no such maidenly scruples.

吉尔杰和乔齐娜没有这种少女般的顾虑。

Each morning they gathered their small woollen garments in a bundle and scudded briskly to the kitchen for warmth, though their bedroom just off the parlour had by no means the degree of refrigeration possessed by Selina’s clammy chamber.

每天早上，他们都会把小羊毛衣服收成一捆，然后轻快地跑到厨房取暖，尽管他们的卧室就在客厅附近，但其制冷程度却远不及塞琳娜潮湿的房间。

Not only that, the Misses Pool slept snugly in the woollen nether garments that invested them by day and so had only mounds of woollen petticoats, woollen stockings, and mysterious grimy straps, bands, and fastenings with which to struggle.

不仅如此，泳池小姐们睡在白天穿的羊毛下衣里，所以只有成堆的羊毛衬裙、羊毛长袜和神秘而肮脏的带子、带子和扣件来挣扎。

Their intimate flannels had a cactus quality that made the early martyrs’ hair shirts seem, in comparison, but a fleece-lined cloud.

他们贴身的法兰绒具有仙人掌的质感，相比之下，早期烈士的毛衬衫看起来不过是羊毛衬里的云彩。

Dressing behind the kitchen stove was a natural and universal custom in High Prairie.

在高草原，在厨房炉灶后面穿衣服是一种自然而普遍的习俗。

By the middle of December as Selina stuck her nose cautiously out of the covers into the midnight blackness of early morning you might have observed, if it had been at all light, that the tip of that elegant and erstwhile alabaster feature had been encarmined during the night by a mischievous brush wielded by that same wight who had been busy painting fronds and lacy ferns and gorgeous blossoms of silver all over the bedroom window.

到了十二月中旬，当塞琳娜小心翼翼地将鼻子从被子里探出，进入清晨午夜的黑暗中时，你可能会发现，如果光线充足的话，那优雅而昔日的雪花石膏特征的尖端在夜间被同一只鬼魂挥舞着的顽皮的画笔染红了，那个鬼魂正忙着在卧室的窗户上画叶子、花边蕨类植物和华丽的银色花朵。

Slowly, inch by inch, that bedroom window crept down, down.

卧室的窗户慢慢地、一寸一寸地缓缓落下。

Then, too, the Pools objected to the icy blasts which swept the open stairway and penetrated their hermetically sealed bedrooms below.

然后，普尔夫妇也反对冰冷的冲击波席卷敞开的楼梯，并渗透到他们下面密封的卧室。

Often the water in the pitcher on her washstand was frozen when Selina awoke.

当塞琳娜醒来时，盥洗台上水罐里的水经常结冰。

Her garments, laid out the night before so that their donning next morning might occupy a minimum of time, were mortuary to the touch.

她的衣服在前一天晚上就已经摆好了，以便第二天早上穿上它们可以占用最少的时间，摸起来就像太平间一样。

Worst of all were the steel-stiffened, unwieldy, and ridiculous stays that encased the female form of that day.

最糟糕的是那些包裹着当时女性身体的钢制、笨重且可笑的支柱。

As Selina’s numbed fingers struggled with the fastenings of this iciest of garments her ribs shrank from its arctic embrace.

当塞琳娜麻木的手指挣扎着系上这件最冰冷的衣服时，她的肋骨因北极的拥抱而收缩。

“But I won’t dress behind the kitchen stove!” declared Selina, glaring meanwhile at that hollow pretense, the drum.

“但我不会在厨房炉子后面穿衣服！”塞琳娜宣称，同时瞪着那个空洞的假装，鼓。

She even stuck her tongue out at it (only nineteen, remember!).

她甚至还伸出舌头（记住，只有十九岁！）。

For that matter, it may as well be known that she brought home a piece of chalk from school and sketched a demon face on the drum’s bulging front, giving it a personal and horrid aspect that afforded her much satisfaction.

就这一点而言，众所周知，她从学校带了一支粉笔回家，在鼓鼓起的正面画了一张恶魔的脸，赋予它个人和可怕的一面，这让她非常满意。

When she thought back, years later, on that period of her High Prairie experience, stoves seemed to figure with absurd prominence in her memory.

多年后，当她回想起那段在高草原的经历时，炉子似乎在她的记忆中占据了极其突出的位置。

That might well be.

很可能是这样。

A stove changed the whole course of her life.

一个炉子改变了她的整个人生轨迹。

From the first, the schoolhouse stove was her bête noir.

从一开始，校舍的炉子就是她最讨厌的东西。

Out of the welter of that first year it stood, huge and menacing, a black tyrant.

在第一年的混乱中，它站了起来，巨大而险恶，是一个黑色暴君。

The High Prairie schoolhouse in which Selina taught was a little more than a mile up the road beyond the Pool farm.

塞琳娜任教的高草原校舍位于泳池农场对面一英里多一点的地方。

She came to know that road in all its moods—ice-locked, drifted with snow, wallowing in mud.

她逐渐熟悉了这条路的各种情况——冰封的、飘着雪的、在泥泞中打滚的。

School began at half-past eight.

八点半上课。

After her first week Selina had the mathematics of her early morning reduced to the least common denominator.

第一周后，塞琳娜把早上的数学知识简化到了最小公分母。

Up at six.

六点起床。

A plunge into the frigid garments; breakfast of bread, cheese, sometimes bacon, always rye coffee without cream or sugar.

一头扎进冰冷的衣服里；早餐有面包、奶酪，有时还有培根，总是黑麦咖啡，不加奶油或糖。

On with the cloak, muffler, hood, mittens, galoshes.

穿上斗篷、围巾、兜帽、手套、套鞋。

The lunch box in bad weather.

恶劣天气时的午餐盒。

Up the road to the schoolhouse, battling the prairie wind that whipped the tears into the eyes, ploughing the drifts, slipping on the hard ruts and icy ridges in dry weather.

沿着通往校舍的路，与吹动眼泪的草原风作斗争，犁过雪堆，在干燥的天气里在坚硬的车辙和冰冷的山脊上滑倒。

Excellent at nineteen.

十九岁就很优秀了

As she flew down the road in sun or rain, in wind or snow, her mind’s eye was fixed on the stove.

当她在阳光下、雨中、风中或雪中飞翔时，她的注意力都集中在炉子上。

The schoolhouse reached, her numbed fingers wrestled with the rusty lock.

校舍到了，她麻木的手指与生锈的锁搏斗着。

The door opened, there smote her the schoolroom smell—a mingling of dead ashes, kerosene, unwashed bodies, dust, mice, chalk, stove-wood, lunch crumbs, mould, slate that has been washed with saliva.

门打开了，教室的味道扑面而来——死灰、煤油、没洗过的尸体、灰尘、老鼠、粉笔、炉柴、午餐屑、霉菌、用唾液洗过的石板混合在一起。

Into this Selina rushed, untying her muffler as she entered.

塞琳娜冲了进去，走进去时解开了围巾。

In the little vestibule there was a box piled with chunks of stove-wood and another heaped with dried corn-cobs.

小前厅里有一个盒子，里面堆满了大块柴火，另一个盒子里堆满了干玉米棒子。

Alongside this a can of kerosene.

除此之外还有一罐煤油。

The cobs served as kindling.

玉米棒子充当引火物。

A dozen or more of these you soaked with kerosene and stuffed into the maw of the rusty iron pot-bellied stove.

将一打或更多这样的东西用煤油浸泡，然后塞进生锈的铁锅炉子的肚子里。

A match.

一场比赛。

Up flared the corn-cobs.

玉米棒子向上张开。

Now was the moment for a small stick of wood; another to keep it company.

现在是时候使用一根小木棍了；另一个陪伴它。

Shut the door.

关上门。

Draughts.

草稿。

Dampers.

阻尼器。

Smoke.

抽烟。

Suspense.

悬念。

A blaze, then a crackle.

一阵火焰，然后是噼啪声。

The wood has caught.

木头已经卡住了。

In with a chunk now.

现在有一大块。

A wait.

等一下。

Another chunk.

另一块。

Slam the door.

关上门。

The schoolhouse fire is started for the day.

校舍火灾当天起火。

As the room thawed gradually Selina removed layers of outer garments.

随着房间逐渐解冻，塞琳娜脱掉了几层外衣。

By the time the children arrived the room was livable.

当孩子们到达时，房间已经适合居住了。

Naturally, those who sat near this monster baked; those near the windows froze.

当然，坐在这个怪物附近的人都会被烤焦；靠近窗户的人都冻僵了。

Sometimes Selina felt she must go mad beholding the writhings and contortions of a roomful of wriggling bodies scratching at backs, legs, and sides as the stove grew hotter and flesh rebelled against the harsh contact with the prickling undergarments of an over-cautious day.

有时，当火炉变得越来越热，肉体开始反抗与过于谨慎的一天中刺痛的内衣的剧烈接触时，塞琳娜觉得她一定要疯了，看到一屋子蠕动的身体在背部、腿部和侧面抓挠。

Selina had seen herself, dignified, yet gentle, instructing a roomful of Dutch cherubs in the simpler elements of learning.

塞琳娜看到自己，端庄而温柔，指导一屋子的荷兰小天使学习更简单的知识。

But it is difficult to be dignified and gracious when you are suffering from chilblains.

但当你患有冻疮时，就很难保持尊严和仁慈。

Selina fell victim to this sordid discomfort, as did every child in the room.

塞琳娜成了这种肮脏不适的受害者，房间里的每个孩子也是如此。

She sat at the battered pine desk or moved about, a little ice-wool shawl around her shoulders when the wind was wrong and the stove balky.

当风向不对、炉子不稳时，她要么坐在破旧的松木桌子旁，要么走来走去，肩上围着一条冰羊毛小披肩。

Her white little face seemed whiter in contrast with the black folds of this sombre garment.

她雪白的小脸在这件暗色衣服的黑色褶皱的衬托下显得更白。

Her slim hands were rough and chapped.

她纤细的双手粗糙且干裂。

The oldest child in the room was thirteen, the youngest four and a half.

房间里最大的孩子十三岁，最小的四岁半。

From eight-thirty until four Selina ruled this grubby domain; a hot-and-cold roomful of sneezing, coughing, wriggling, shuffling, dozing children, toe scuffling on agonized heel, and heel scrunching on agonized toe, in a frenzy of itching.

从八点半到四点，塞琳娜统治着这片肮脏的领地。房间里忽冷忽热，挤满了打喷嚏、咳嗽、蠕动、拖着脚、打瞌睡的孩子，脚趾在痛苦的脚后跟上扭动，脚后跟在痛苦的脚趾上磨蹭，极度瘙痒。

“Aggie Vander Sijde, parse this sentence: The ground is wet because it has rained.”

“Aggie Vander Sijde，解析一下这句话：地面湿漉漉的，因为下雨了。”

Miss Vander Sijde, eleven, arises with a switching of skirts and a tossing of pigtail.

十一岁的范德·西德小姐起身，换了裙子，甩了甩辫子。

“‘Ground’ the subject; ‘is wet’ the predicate; ‘because’ .

“‘接地’主语；‘湿’谓语；‘因为’。

.

。

.”

”。

Selina is listening with school-teacherly expression indicative of encouragement and approval.

塞琳娜用学校老师的表情倾听，流露出鼓励和认可。

“Jan Snip, parse this sentence: The flower will wither if it is picked.”

“Jan Snip，解析一下这句话：花若被摘，就会枯萎。”

Brown lady’s cloth; ice-wool shawl; chalk in hand.

棕色女士布料；冰羊毛披肩；手中的粉笔。

Just a phase; a brief chapter in the adventure.

只是一个阶段；冒险中的一个简短的章节。

Something to remember and look back on with a mingling of amusement and wonder.

一些值得记住和回顾的事情，其中​​夹杂着乐趣和惊奇。

Things were going to happen.

事情即将发生。

Such things, with life and life and life stretching ahead of her!

这样的事情，她的生命、生命、生命都在前方展开！

In five years—two—even one, perhaps, who knows but that she might be lying on lacy pillows on just such a bleak winter morning, a satin coverlet over her, the morning light shaded by soft rose-coloured hangings.

五年后——两年——甚至一年，也许，谁知道，在这样一个凄凉的冬日早晨，她可能会躺在花边枕头上，身上盖着缎子被子，晨光被柔和的玫瑰色窗帘遮住。

(Early influence of the _Fireside Companion_.)

（《炉边伴侣》的早期影响。）

“What time is it, Celeste?”

“现在几点了，塞莱斯特？”

“It is now eleven o’clock, madame.”

“现在已经十一点了，女士。”

“Is that all!”

“就这些了！”

“Would madame like that I prepare her bath now, or later?”

“夫人希望我现在给她准备洗澡水，还是稍后？”

“Later, Celeste.

“稍后，塞莱斯特。

My chocolate now.

现在是我的巧克力了

My letters.”

我的信。”

“.

”。

.

。

.

。

and if is the conjunction modifying .

if 是修饰 的连词。

.

。

.”

”。

Early in the winter Selina had had the unfortunate idea of opening the ice-locked windows at intervals and giving the children five minutes of exercise while the fresh cold air cleared brains and room at once.

初冬时节，塞琳娜突发奇想，每隔一段时间就打开冰封的窗户，让孩子们锻炼五分钟，让新鲜的冷空气立刻净化大脑和房间。

Arms waved wildly, heads wobbled, short legs worked vigorously.

手臂疯狂地挥舞，头部摇晃，短腿有力地工作。

At the end of the week twenty High Prairie parents sent protests by note or word of mouth.

本周末，二十位高草原家长通过纸条或口头表达了抗议。

Jan and Cornelius, Katrina and Aggie went to school to learn reading and writing and numbers, not to stand with open windows in the winter.

简和科尼利厄斯、卡特里娜和阿吉上学是为了学习阅读、写作和数字，而不是在冬天站在开着的窗户里。

On the Pool farm the winter work had set in.

泳池农场的冬季工作已经开始。

Klaas drove into Chicago with winter vegetables only once a week now.

克拉斯现在每周只开车一次带着冬季蔬菜前往芝加哥。

He and Jakob and Roelf were storing potatoes and cabbages underground; repairing fences; preparing frames for the early spring planting; sorting seedlings.

他和雅各布以及罗尔夫正在地下储存土豆和卷心菜；修理栅栏；准备早春种植的框架；排序幼苗。

It had been Roelf who had taught Selina to build the schoolhouse fire.

教塞琳娜生校舍火的是罗尔夫。

He had gone with her on that first morning, had started the fire, filled the water pail, initiated her in the rites of corn-cobs, kerosene, and dampers.

第一天早上他就和她一起去了，生了火，装满了水桶，给她做了玉米棒子、煤油和阻尼器的仪式。

A shy, dark, silent boy.

一个害羞、黑暗、沉默的男孩。

She set out deliberately to woo him to friendship.

她故意开始与他建立友谊。

“Roelf, I have a book called ‘Ivanhoe.’ Would you like to read it?”

“罗尔夫，我有一本叫做《艾芬豪》的书。你想读一下吗？”

“Well, I don’t get much time.”

“嗯，我的时间不多了。”

“You wouldn’t have to hurry.

“你不必着急。

Right there in the house.

就在房子里。

And there’s another called ‘The Three Musketeers’.”

还有一个叫‘三剑客’。”

He was trying not to look pleased; to appear stolid and Dutch, like the people from whom he had sprung.

他试图表现出不高兴的样子。显得冷漠而荷兰人，就像他的后代一样。

Some Dutch sailor ancestor, Selina thought, or fisherman, must have touched at an Italian port or Spanish and brought back a wife whose eyes and skin and feeling for beauty had skipped layer on layer of placid Netherlanders to crop out now in this wistful sensitive boy.

塞琳娜想，某个荷兰水手的祖先，或者渔夫，一定曾在意大利或西班牙的港口碰过，带回了一位妻子，她的眼睛、皮肤和对美的感觉已经跳过了一层又一层平静的荷兰人，现在在这个渴望敏感的男孩身上显现出来。

Selina had spoken to Jakob Hoogendunk about a shelf for her books and her photographs.

塞琳娜曾与雅各布·霍根邓克谈论过一个放她的书和照片的架子。

He had put up a rough bit of board, very crude and ugly, but it had served.

他搭了一块粗糙的木板，非常简陋而且丑陋，但已经有用了。

She had come home one snowy afternoon to find this shelf gone and in its place a smooth and polished one, with brackets intricately carved.

一个下雪的下午，她回到家，发现这个架子不见了，取而代之的是一个光滑、锃亮的架子，上面刻着复杂的支架。

Roelf had cut, planed, polished, and carved it in many hours of work in the cold little shed off the kitchen.

罗尔夫在厨房旁寒冷的小棚子里花了好几个小时对它进行切割、刨平、抛光和雕刻。

He had there a workshop of sorts, fitted with such tools and implements as he could devise.

他在那里有一个类似作坊的地方，配备了他能设计出的各种工具和器具。

He did man’s work on the farm, yet often at night Selina could faintly hear the rasp of his handsaw after she had gone to bed.

他在农场里干着男人的活，但塞琳娜常常在晚上上床睡觉后隐约听到他手锯的刺耳声。

He had built a doll’s house for Geertje and Jozina that was the black envy of every pigtail in High Prairie.

他为吉尔杰和乔吉娜建造了一座玩偶之家，这让高草原上的每个辫子都羡慕不已。

This sort of thing was looked upon by Klaas Pool as foolishness.

这种事情在克拉斯·普尔看来是愚蠢的。

Roelf’s real work in the shed was the making and mending of coldframes and hotbeds for the early spring plants.

罗尔夫在棚屋里的真正工作是为早春植物制作和修补冷架和温床。

Whenever possible Roelf neglected this dull work for some fancy of his own.

只要有可能，罗尔夫就会为了自己的一些幻想而忽略这项枯燥的工作。

To this Klaas Pool objected as being “dumb.” For that matter, High Prairie considered Pool’s boy “dumb like.” He said such things.

克拉斯·普尔对此表示反对，称其“愚蠢”。就此而言，高草原认为普尔的男孩“像个傻瓜”。他说了这样的话。

When the new Dutch Reformed Church was completed after gigantic effort—red brick, and the first brick church in High Prairie—bright yellow painted pews—a red and yellow glass window, most handsome—the Reverend Vaarwerk brought from New Haarlem to preach the first sermon—Pool’s Roelf was heard to hint darkly to a group of High Prairie boys that some night he was going to burn the church down.

当新的荷兰归正会教堂经过巨大的努力——红砖和高草原的第一座砖砌教堂——明亮的黄色油漆长凳——红黄相间的玻璃窗，最漂亮——从新哈勒姆带来的瓦尔维克牧师进行第一次布道而竣工时，人们听到普尔的罗尔夫向一群高草原男孩阴暗地暗示，有一天晚上他要烧毁这座教堂。

It was ugly.

太丑了。

It hurt you to look at it, just.

只是看着它，你就会感到受伤。

Certainly, the boy was different.

当然，这个男孩不一样。

Selina, none too knowledgeous herself, still recognized that here was something rare, something precious to be fostered, shielded, encouraged.

塞琳娜自己也不太了解，但她仍然认识到这是一种罕见的、值得培养、保护和鼓励的珍贵东西。

“Roelf, stop that foolishness, get your ma once some wood.

“罗尔夫，别再犯傻了，给你妈妈找点木头来。

Carving on that box again instead finishing them coldframes.

再次在那个盒子上雕刻，而不是在冷框上完成它们。

Some day, by golly, I show you.

天哪，有一天我会告诉你。

I break every stick .

我折断每一根棍子。

.

。

.

。

dumb as a Groningen .

像格罗宁根人一样愚蠢。

.

。

.”

”。

Roelf did not sulk.

罗尔夫没有生闷气。

He seemed not to mind, particularly, but he came back to the carved box as soon as chance presented itself.

他似乎并不特别介意，但一有机会他就回到了雕花盒子前。

Maartje and Klaas Pool were not cruel people, nor unkind.

马尔杰和克拉斯·普尔并不是残忍的人，也不是不友善的人。

They were a little bewildered by this odd creature that they, inexplicably enough, had produced.

他们对这个他们莫名其妙地创造出来的奇怪生物感到有点困惑。

It was not a family given to demonstration of affection.

这不是一个注重表达爱意的家庭。

Life was too grim for the flowering of this softer side.

生活对于温柔的一面来说太过严峻。

Then, too, they had sprung from a phlegmatic and unemotional people.

而且，他们也出身于一个冷漠、缺乏感情的民族。

Klaas toiled like a slave in the fields and barn; Maartje’s day was a treadmill of cooking, scrubbing, washing, mending from the moment she arose (four in the summer, five in the winter) until she dropped with a groan in her bed often long after the others were asleep.

克拉斯像奴隶一样在田野和谷仓里劳作。玛尔杰的一天就像是在跑步机上做饭、擦洗、洗衣、缝补，从她起床的那一刻起（夏天四次，冬天五次），直到她在床上呻吟着倒在床上，通常在其他人都睡了很久之后。

Selina had never seen her kiss Geertje or Jozina.

塞琳娜从未见过她亲吻吉尔杰或乔齐娜。

But once she had been a little startled to see Maartje, on one of her countless trips between stove and table, run her hand through the boy’s shock of black hair, down the side of his face to his chin which she tipped up with an indescribably tender gesture as she looked down into his eyes.

但有一次，她有点惊讶地看到玛尔杰，在她无数次往返于炉子和桌子之间的一次中，她的手穿过男孩乱七八糟的黑发，顺着他的脸侧一直到下巴，她低头看着他的眼睛，用一种难以形容的温柔姿势抬起下巴。

It was a movement fleeting, vague, yet infinitely compassionate.

这是一种转瞬即逝、模糊但又无限慈悲的运动。

Sometimes she even remonstrated when Klaas berated Roelf.

有时，当克拉斯斥责罗尔夫时，她甚至会提出抗议。

“Leave the boy be, then, Klaas.

“那就别管这孩子了，克拉斯。

Leave him be, once.”

就一次吧，别管他了。”

“She loves him best,” Selina thought.

“她最爱他，”塞琳娜想。

“She’d even try to understand him if she had time.”

“如果有时间，她甚至会尝试去理解他。”

He was reading her books with such hunger as to cause her to wonder if her stock would last him the winter.

他如饥似渴地读着她的书，让她怀疑她的书能否够他过冬。

Sometimes, after supper, when he was hammering and sawing away in the little shed Selina would snatch Maartje’s old shawl off the hook, and swathed in this against draughty chinks, she would read aloud to him while he carved, or talk to him above the noise of his tools.

有时，晚饭后，当他在小棚子里敲打锯木时，塞琳娜会从钩子上抓起马杰的旧围巾，用它包住防风的缝隙，她会在他雕刻时大声朗读给他听，或者在他工具的噪音中与他交谈。

Selina was a gay and volatile person.

塞琳娜（Selina）是一个同性恋且反复无常的人。

She loved to make this boy laugh.

她喜欢逗这个男孩笑。

His dark face would flash into almost dazzling animation.

他黝黑的脸会闪现出几乎令人眼花缭乱的动画。

Sometimes Maartje, hearing their young laughter, would come to the shed door and stand there a moment, hugging her arms in her rolled apron and smiling at them, uncomprehending but companionable.

有时，玛尔杰听到他们年轻的笑声，会来到棚子门口，站在那里一会儿，用卷起的围裙拥抱双臂，对他们微笑，虽然不理解，但很友好。

“You make fun, h’m?”

“你开玩笑吧，嗯？”

“Come in, Mrs. Pool.

“请进，普尔夫人。

Sit down on my box and make fun, too.

也请坐在我的盒子上开玩笑吧。

Here, you may have half the shawl.”

给你，你可能有一半的披肩。”

“Og Heden!

“奥格赫登！

I got no time to sit down.” She was off.

我没时间坐下来。”她下班了。

Roelf slid his plane slowly, more slowly, over the surface of a satin-smooth oak board.

罗尔夫把他的飞机慢慢地、更慢地滑过光滑的橡木板的表面。

He stopped, twined a curl of shaving about his finger.

他停下来，把一卷剃须毛缠绕在手指上。

“When I am a man, and earning, I am going to buy my mother a silk dress like I saw in a store in Chicago and she should put it on every day, not only for Sunday; and sit in a chair and make little fine stitches like Widow Paarlenberg.”

“当我是一个男人，有了收入，我会给我母亲买一件丝绸连衣裙，就像我在芝加哥一家商店看到的那样，她应该每天都穿上它，而不仅仅是周日；然后坐在椅子上，像寡妇帕伦伯格那样做一些精致的针线。”

“What else are you going to do when you grow up?” She waited, certain that he would say something delightful.

“你长大后还想做什么？”她等待着，确信他会说一些令人愉快的话。

“Drive the team to town alone to market.”

“独自驾驶团队进城去市场。”

“Oh, Roelf!”

“哦，罗尔夫！”

“Sure.

“当然。”

Already I have gone five times—twice with Jakob and three times with Pop.

我已经去过五次了——两次是和雅各布一起去的，三次是和波普一起去的。

Pretty soon, when I am seventeen or eighteen, I can go alone.

很快，当我十七岁或十八岁的时候，我就可以一个人去。

At five in the afternoon you start and at nine you are in the Haymarket.

下午五点出发，九点到达干草市场。

There all night you sleep on the wagon.

整个晚上你都睡在马车上。

There are gas lights.

有煤气灯。

The men play dice and cards.

男人们玩骰子和纸牌。

At four in the morning you are ready when they come, the commission men and the pedlers and the grocery men.

凌晨四点，当佣金人员、小贩和杂货店人员来时，你就已经准备好了。

Oh, it’s fine, I tell you!”

哦，没关系，我告诉你！”

“Roelf!” She was bitterly disappointed.

“罗尔夫！”她非常失望。

“Here.

” “这里。

Look.” He rummaged around in a dusty box in a corner and, suddenly shy again, laid before her a torn sheet of coarse brown paper on which he had sketched crudely, effectively, a mêlée of great-haunched horses; wagons piled high with garden truck; men in overalls and corduroys; flaring gas torches.

你看。”他在角落里一个布满灰尘的盒子里翻找，突然又害羞了，把一张撕破的粗糙牛皮纸放在她面前，他在上面粗略而有效地画了一群大马的混战；货车堆满了花园卡车；穿着工装裤和灯芯绒的男士；燃烧的气体火炬。

He had drawn it with a stub of pencil exactly as it looked to him.

他用一小截铅笔把它画出来，与他所看到的一模一样。

The result was as startling as that achieved by the present-day disciple of the impressionistic school.

其结果与当今印象派弟子所取得的成果一样令人震惊。

Selina was enchanted.

赛琳娜被迷住了。

Many of her evenings during November were spent thus.

十一月的许多夜晚都是这样度过的。

The family life was lived in a kitchen blue with pipe smoke, heavy with the smell of cooking.

一家人的生活是在蓝色的厨房里度过的，厨房里冒着烟气，饭菜的味道很浓。

Sometimes—though rarely—a fire was lighted in the parlour stove.

有时——尽管很少——客厅的炉子里会生火。

Often she had school papers to correct—grubby sheaves of arithmetic, grammar, or spelling lessons.

她经常要批改学校的试卷——一堆脏兮兮的算术、语法或拼写课。

Often she longed to read; wanted to sew.

她常常渴望读书。想要缝纫。

Her bedroom was too cold.

她的卧室太冷了。

The men sat in the kitchen or tramped in and out.

男人们要么坐在厨房里，要么大摇大摆地进进出出。

Geertje and Jozina scuffled and played.

吉尔杰和乔吉娜扭打在一起玩耍。

Maartje scuttled about like a harried animal, heavy-footed but incredibly swift.

马特杰像一只受困的动物一样急速奔跑，脚步沉重，但速度却快得令人难以置信。

The floor was always gritty with the sandy loam tracked in by the men’s heavy boots.

地板上总是布满砂砾，沙壤土被男人们沉重的靴子踩过。

Once, early in December, Selina went into town.

有一次，十二月初，塞琳娜进城。

The trip was born of sudden revolt against her surroundings and a great wave of nostalgia for the dirt and clamour and crowds of Chicago.

这次旅行源于她对周围环境的突然反抗以及对芝加哥的肮脏、喧嚣和人群的怀旧浪潮。

Early Saturday morning Klaas drove her to the railway station five miles distant.

星期六一早，克拉斯开车送她到五英里外的火车站。

She was to stay until Sunday.

她要待到周日。

A letter had been written Julie Hempel ten days before, but there had been no answer.

十天前朱莉·亨佩尔写了一封信，但没有得到答复。

Once in town she went straight to the Hempel house.

一到城里，她就直奔亨佩尔家。

Mrs. Hempel, thin-lipped, met her in the hall and said that Julie was out of town.

嘴唇薄的亨佩尔太太在大厅里遇见了她，并说朱莉出城了。

She was visiting her friend Miss Arnold, in Kansas City.

她正在堪萨斯城拜访她的朋友阿诺德小姐。

Selina was not asked to stay to dinner.

赛琳娜没有被要求留下来吃晚饭。

She was not asked to sit down.

没有人请她坐下。

When she left the house her great fine eyes seemed larger and more deep-set than ever, and her jaw-line was set hard against the invasion of tears.

当她离开家时，她那双漂亮的大眼睛似乎比以往任何时候都更大、更深邃，她的下巴轮廓坚挺，抵御着泪水的侵袭。

Suddenly she hated this Chicago that wanted none of her; that brushed past her, bumping her elbow and offering no apology; that clanged, and shrieked, and whistled, and roared in her ears now grown accustomed to the prairie silence.

突然间，她讨厌这个不需要她的芝加哥。那辆车从她身边擦身而过，撞到了她的肘部，没有表示任何歉意。她的耳朵里叮叮当当、尖叫、吹口哨、咆哮，现在她已经习惯了草原的寂静。

“I don’t care,” she said, which meant she did.

“我不在乎，”她说，这意味着她在乎。

“I don’t care.

“我不在乎。”

Just you wait.

就你等着吧。

Some day I’m going to be—oh, terribly important.

有一天我会——哦，非常重要。

And people will say, ‘Do you know that wonderful Selina Peake?

人们会说，‘你认识那个出色的塞琳娜·皮克吗？

Well, they say she used to be a country school teacher and slept in an ice-cold room and ate pork three times a .

嗯，据说她曾经是一名乡村学校的老师，睡在冰冷的房间里，一天吃三顿猪肉。

.

。

.’ There!

” 在那里！

I know what I’m going to do.

我知道我要做什么。

I’m going to have luncheon and I’ll order the most delicious things.

我要去吃午饭，我会点最美味的东西。

I think I’ll go to the Palmer House where Father and I .

我想我会去我和父亲住的帕尔默故居。

.

。

.

。

no, I couldn’t stand that.

不，我受不了。

I’ll go to the Auditorium Hotel restaurant and have ice cream; and chicken broth in a silver cup; and cream puffs, and all kinds of vegetables and little lamb chops in paper panties.

我去礼堂酒店餐厅吃冰淇淋；和银杯里的鸡汤；还有奶油泡芙，还有各种蔬菜和纸内裤里的小羊排。

And orange pekoe tea.”

还有橙子白毫茶。”

She actually did order all these things and had a group of amazed waiters hovering about her table waiting to see her devour this meal, much as a similar group had stared at David Copperfield when he was innocent of having bolted the huge dinner ordered in the inn on his way to London.

事实上，她确实点了所有这些东西，一群惊讶的服务员在她的桌子周围盘旋，等着看她狼吞虎咽地吃掉这顿饭，就像大卫·科波菲尔在去伦敦的路上无辜地把在旅馆里点的丰盛晚餐一扫而空时，一群类似的人盯着他看。

She ate the ice cream and drank the orange pekoe (mainly because she loved the sound of its name; it made her think of chrysanthemums and cherry blossoms, spices, fans, and slant-eyed maidens).

她吃了冰淇淋，喝了橙子白毫（主要是因为她喜欢这个名字的发音；这让她想起菊花和樱花、香料、扇子和斜眼少女）。

She devoured a crisp salad with the avidity of a canary pecking at a lettuce leaf.

她狼吞虎咽地吃着清脆的沙拉，就像金丝雀啄生菜叶一样贪婪。

She flirted with the lamb chops.

她对着羊排调情。

She remembered the size of her father’s generous tips and left a sum on the table that temporarily dulled the edge of the waiter’s hatred of women diners.

她记得父亲慷慨的小费数额，并在桌上留下了一笔钱，暂时平息了服务员对女性食客的仇恨。

But the luncheon could not be said to have been a success.

但午宴并不能说是成功的。

She thought of dinner, and her spirit quailed.

想到晚餐，她的心就颤抖起来。

She spent the time between one and three buying portable presents for the entire Pool household—including bananas for Geertje and Jozina, for whom that farinaceous fruit had the fascination always held for the farm child.

她花了一到三点的时间为整个普尔一家购买便携式礼物，包括给吉尔杰和乔齐娜买香蕉，对他们来说，这种粉状水果总是对农场孩子着迷。

She caught a train at four thirty-five and actually trudged the five miles from the station to the farm, arriving half frozen, weary, with aching arms and nipped toes, to a great welcome of the squeals, grunts, barks, and gutturals that formed the expression of the Pool household.

她在四点三十五分赶上了火车，实际上从车站长途跋涉了五英里来到了农场，抵达时浑身冻僵，疲惫不堪，手臂酸痛，脚趾被咬破，尖叫声、咕噜声、吠叫声和喉音构成了普尔一家人的表情，热烈欢迎她。

She was astonished to find how happy she was to return to the kitchen stove, to the smell of frying pork, to her own room with the walnut bed and the book shelf.

她惊讶地发现，回到厨房的炉灶，回到炸猪肉的香味，回到自己的房间，有胡桃木床和书架，她是多么高兴。

Even the grim drum had taken on the dear and comforting aspect of the accustomed.

就连阴沉的鼓声也呈现出惯有的亲切而令人安慰的一面。

High Prairie swains failed to find Selina alluring.

高草原上的情人们没有发现塞琳娜的魅力。

She was too small, too pale and fragile for their robust taste.

她太小、太苍白、太脆弱，不适合他们强烈的品味。

Naturally, her coming had been an event in this isolated community.

当然，她的到来在这个与世隔绝的社区里是一件大事。

She would have been surprised to know with what eagerness and curiosity High Prairie gathered crumbs of news about her; her appearance, her manner, her dress.

如果她知道高草原是多么热切和好奇地收集有关她的消息，她一定会感到惊讶。她的外表，她的举止，她的衣着。

Was she stuck up?

她被困住了吗？

Was she new fangled?

她是新人吗？

She failed to notice the agitation of the parlour curtains behind the glittering windows of the farmhouses she passed on her way to school.

她没有注意到她在上学途中经过的农舍闪闪发光的窗户后面客厅窗帘的骚动。

With no visible means of communication news of her leaped from farm to farm as flame leaps the gaps in a forest fire.

由于没有可见的通讯手段，她的消息从一个农场传到另一个农场，就像火焰在森林大火的缝隙中跳跃一样。

She would have been aghast to learn that High Prairie, inexplicably enough, knew all about her from the colour of the ribbon that threaded her neat little white corset covers to the number of books on her shelf.

如果她得知高草原竟然从她整齐的小白色紧身胸衣封面上的丝带颜色到书架上的书籍数量，都了解她的一切，那她一定会大吃一惊。

She thought cabbage fields beautiful; she read books to that dumb-acting Roelf Pool; she was making over a dress for Maartje after the pattern of the stylish brown lady’s-cloth she wore (foolishly) to school.

她觉得白菜地很美丽；她给那个装傻的罗尔夫·普尔读书；她正在根据她（愚蠢地）穿去学校的时尚棕色女装的图案，为 Maartje 改制一件衣服。

Now and then she encountered a team on the road.

她在路上时不时地遇到一队人。

She would call a good-day.

她会说美好的一天。

Sometimes the driver answered, tardily, as though surprised.

有时司机回答得很慢，好像很惊讶。

Sometimes he only stared.

有时他只是凝视着。

She almost never saw the High Prairie farm women, busy in their kitchens.

她几乎从未见过在厨房忙碌的高草原农场妇女。

On her fifth Sunday in the district she accompanied the Pools to the morning service at the Dutch Reformed Church.

在该地区的第五个星期日，她陪同普尔夫妇参加了荷兰归正会教堂的早间礼拜。

Maartje seldom had the time for such frivolity.

玛尔杰很少有时间做这种无聊的事情。

But on this morning Klaas hitched up the big farm wagon with the double seat and took the family complete—Maartje, Selina, Roelf, and the pigtails.

但今天早上，克拉斯挂上了一辆带双人座的农用大马车，带着全家人——马特耶、塞琳娜、罗尔夫和辫子。

Maartje, out of her kitchen calico and dressed in her best black, with a funereal bonnet made sadder by a sparse and drooping feather whose listless fronds emerged surprisingly from a faded red cotton rose, wore a new strange aspect to Selina’s eyes, as did Klaas in his clumsy sabbaticals.

玛杰从厨房里的印花布中走出来，穿着她最好的黑色衣服，戴着一顶葬礼帽，头上稀疏下垂的羽毛使她显得更加悲伤，羽毛无精打采的叶子令人惊讶地从褪色的红色棉玫瑰中露出来，在塞琳娜的眼中呈现出一种新的奇怪的面貌，就像克拉斯在他笨拙的休假时一样。

Roelf had rebelled against going, had been cuffed for it, and had sat very still all through the service, gazing at the red and yellow glass church window.

罗尔夫拒绝前往，因此被戴上手铐，在整个仪式中他一动不动地坐着，凝视着教堂红黄相间的玻璃窗。

Later he confided to Selina that the sunlight filtering through the crude yellow panes had imparted a bilious look to the unfortunates seated within its range, affording him much secret satisfaction.

后来他向塞琳娜吐露，透过粗糙的黄色窗玻璃的阳光给坐在其范围内的不幸者带来了一种阴郁的表情，这给了他很多秘密的满足感。

Selina’s appearance had made quite a stir, of which she was entirely unaware.

Selina的出现引起了不小的轰动，而她却浑然不觉。

As the congregation entered by twos and threes she thought they resembled startlingly a woodcut in an old illustrated book she once had seen.

当三三两两的会众进来时，她觉得他们惊人地像她曾经看过的一本旧插图书中的木刻。

The men’s Sunday trousers and coats had a square stiff angularity, as though chopped out of a block.

男式周日长裤和外套呈方形，棱角分明，仿佛是从一块块上切下来的。

The women, in shawls and bonnets of rusty black, were incredibly cut in the same pattern.

这些女人披着生锈的黑色围巾，戴着帽子，有着令人难以置信的相同图案。

The unmarried girls, though, were plump, red-cheeked, and not uncomely, with high round cheek-bones on which sat a spot of brick-red which imparted no glow to the face.

未婚姑娘则身材丰满，脸颊红润，并不难看，颧骨又高又圆，上面有一点砖红色，一点也不给脸上添光彩。

Their foreheads were prominent and meaningless.

他们的额头突出，毫无意义。

In the midst of this drab assemblage there entered late and rustlingly a tall, slow-moving woman in a city-bought cloak and a bonnet quite unlike the vintage millinery of High Prairie.

在这群单调的人群中间，一位高个子、动作缓慢的女人迟到了，沙沙作响地进来了，她穿着城里买的斗篷，戴着帽子，与高草原的老式女帽截然不同。

As she came down the aisle Selina thought she was like a full-sailed frigate.

当塞琳娜走下过道时，她觉得自己就像一艘全帆护卫舰。

An ample woman, with a fine fair skin and a ripe red mouth; a high firm bosom and great thighs that moved rhythmically, slowly.

身材魁梧的女人，皮肤白皙细腻，嘴巴红润熟透；高而坚挺的胸部和粗壮的大腿，有节奏地、缓慢地移动。

She had thick, insolent eyelids.

她的眼皮又厚又傲慢。

Her hands, as she turned the leaves of her hymn book, were smooth and white.

当她翻动赞美诗集时，她的手光滑白皙。

As she entered there was a little rustle throughout the congregation; a craning of necks.

当她进来时，会众里响起一阵沙沙声。伸长脖子

Though she was bustled and flounced and panniered, you thought, curiously enough, of those lolling white-fleshed and unconventional ladies whom the sixteenth century painters were always portraying as having their toe nails cut with nothing on.

尽管她忙忙碌碌、衣着荷叶边、衣冠楚楚，但奇怪的是，你会想到那些懒洋洋、白肉、非传统的女士，十六世纪的画家总是把她们描绘成剪了脚趾甲，什么也没穿。

“Who’s that?” whispered Selina to Maartje.

“那是谁？”塞琳娜对马尔杰低声说道。

“Widow Paarlenberg.

“帕伦伯格寡妇。

She is rich like anything.”

她就像任何东西一样富有。”

“Yes?” Selina was fascinated.

“是的？”赛琳娜被迷住了。

“Look once how she makes eyes at him.”

“看看她是怎么看他的。”

“At him?

“针对他？

Who?

谁？

Who?”

谁？

“Pervus DeJong.

“佩尔乌斯·德容。

By Gerrit Pon he is sitting with the blue shirt and sad looking so.”

作者：Gerrit Pon，他穿着蓝色衬衫坐在那儿，看上去很悲伤。”

Selina craned, peered.

塞琳娜伸长脖子，凝视着。

“The—oh—he’s very good looking, isn’t he?”

“那个——哦——他很帅，不是吗？”

“Sure.

“当然。”

Widow Paarlenberg is stuck on him.

帕伦伯格寡妇被困在他身边。

See how she—Sh-sh-sh!—Reverend Dekker looks at us.

看看她——嘘嘘嘘！——德克尔牧师如何看着我们。

I tell you after.”

以后再告诉你。”

Selina decided she’d come to church oftener.

塞琳娜决定更频繁地去教堂。

The service went on, dull, heavy.

仪式继续进行，沉闷而沉重。

It was in English and Dutch.

它是英语和荷兰语的。

She heard scarcely a word of it.

她几乎没有听到这件事。

The Widow Paarlenberg and this Pervus DeJong occupied her thoughts.

帕伦伯格寡妇和佩尔乌斯·德容占据了她的思绪。

She decided, without malice, that the widow resembled one of the sleekest of the pink porkers rooting in Klaas Pool’s barnyard, waiting to be cut into Christmas meat.

她毫无恶意地认为，这位寡妇就像克拉斯普尔谷仓里最光滑的粉红色猪肉之一，等待着被切成圣诞肉。

The Widow Paarlenberg turned and smiled.

帕伦伯格寡妇转身微笑。

Her eyes were slippery (Selina’s term).

她的眼睛很滑（Selina 的说法）。

Her mouth became loose and wide with one corner sliding down a trifle into something very like a leer.

她的嘴变得松弛而张开，一个角向下滑落，形成一种非常像斜视的表情。

With one surge the Dutch Reformed congregation leaned forward to see how Pervus DeJong would respond to this public mark of favour.

荷兰归正会会众一时间热议起来，想看看佩尔乌斯·德容将如何回应这一公开的支持。

His gaze was stern, unsmiling.

他的目光严厉，没有一丝笑意。

His eyes were fixed on that extremely dull gentleman, the Reverend Dekker.

他的目光注视着那位极其迟钝的绅士德克尔牧师。

“He’s annoyed,” thought Selina, and was pleased at the thought.

“他很生气，”塞琳娜想，同时又为这个想法感到高兴。

“Well, I may not be a widow, but I’m sure that’s not the way.” And then: “Now I wonder what it’s like when _he_ smiles.”

“好吧，我可能不是寡妇，但我确信不是那样的。”然后：“现在我想知道她微笑时是什么样子。”

According to fiction as Selina had found it in the _Fireside Companion_ and elsewhere, he should have turned at this moment, irresistibly drawn by the magnetism of her gaze, and smiled a rare sweet smile that lighted up his stern young face.

根据塞琳娜在《炉边伴侣》和其他地方找到的小说，他此时应该转过身来，不可抗拒地被她目光的磁性所吸引，微笑着罕见地甜蜜微笑，照亮了他严肃的年轻脸庞。

But he did not.

但他没有。

He yawned suddenly and capaciously.

他突然大大地打了个哈欠。

The Reformed Dutch congregation leaned back feeling cheated.

改革宗荷兰会众感觉自己被欺骗了，向后靠去。

Handsome, certainly, Selina reflected.

确实很帅，塞琳娜想道。

But then, probably Klaas Pool, too, had been handsome a few years ago.

不过，也许克拉斯·普尔几年前也很帅。

The service ended, there was much talk of the weather, seedlings, stock, the approaching holiday season.

仪式结束后，人们谈论了很多关于天气、秧苗、库存、即将到来的假期的话题。

Maartje, her Sunday dinner heavy on her mind, was elbowing her way up the aisle.

玛尔杰（Maartje）正忙着周日的晚餐，正用肘部挤过过道。

Here and there she introduced Selina briefly to a woman friend.

她时不时地向一位女性朋友简短地介绍塞琳娜。

“Mrs. Vander Sijde, meet school teacher.”

“Vander Sijde 女士，见见学校老师。”

“Aggie’s mother?” Selina would begin, primly, only to be swept along by Maartje on her way to the door.

“阿吉的妈妈？”塞琳娜会一本正经地开始，但在走向门口的路上却被马特杰拉着走。

“Mrs. Von Mijnen, meet school teacher.

“Von Mijnen 女士，见见学校老师。

Is Mrs. Von Mijnen.” They regarded her with a grim gaze.

是冯·迈宁夫人。”他们用冷酷的目光看着她。

Selina would smile and nod rather nervously, feeling young, frivolous, and somehow guilty.

塞琳娜会微笑并相当紧张地点头，感觉自己年轻、轻浮，甚至有些内疚。

When, with Maartje, she reached the church porch Pervus DeJong was unhitching the dejected horse that was harnessed to his battered and lopsided cart.

当她和马尔杰一起到达教堂门廊时，佩尔乌斯·德容正在解开那匹垂头丧气的马，那匹马拴在他那辆破旧、不平衡的马车上。

The animal stood with four feet bunched together in a drooping and pathetic attitude and seemed inevitably meant for mating with this decrepit vehicle.

这只动物四只脚并拢站着，一副低垂而可怜的样子，似乎不可避免地要与这辆破旧的车辆交配。

DeJong untied the reins quickly, and was about to step into the sagging conveyance when the Widow Paarlenberg sailed down the church steps with admirable speed for one so amply proportioned.

德容迅速解开缰绳，正要踏上那辆下垂的马车，这时帕尔伦伯格寡妇沿着教堂的台阶飞驰而下，对于身材匀称的人来说，速度令人钦佩。

She made straight for him, skirts billowing, flounces flying, plumes waving.

她径直走向他，裙子翻滚，荷叶边飘扬，羽毛飘扬。

Maartje clutched Selina’s arm.

Maartje 抓住了 Selina 的手臂。

“Look how she makes!

“看看她做的怎么样！

She asks him to eat Sunday dinner I bet you!

她请他吃周日晚餐我敢打赌！

See once how he makes with his head no.”

看看他如何用他的头做事。”

Selina—and the whole congregation unashamedly watching—could indeed see how he made with his head no. His whole body seemed set in negation—the fine head, the broad patient shoulders, the muscular powerful legs in their ill-fitting Sunday blacks.

塞琳娜——以及毫无羞耻地观看的全体会众——确实可以看到他是如何用他的头做的。他的整个身体似乎都处于否定状态——精致的头部、宽阔耐心的肩膀、穿着不合身的周日黑色衣服的肌肉有力的双腿。

He shook his head, gathered up the reins, and drove away, leaving the Widow Paarlenberg to carry off with such bravado as she could muster this public flouting in full sight of the Dutch Reformed congregation of High Prairie.

他摇了摇头，收起缰绳，开车走了，留下帕伦伯格寡妇在高草原荷兰归正会众目睽睽之下鼓起勇气，肆无忌惮地扬长而去。

It must be said that she actually achieved this feat with a rather magnificent composure.

不得不说，她确实以相当惊人的冷静完成了这一壮举。

Her round pink face, as she turned away, was placid; her great cowlike eyes mild.

当她转过身去时，她粉红色的圆脸显得很平静。她那双母牛般的大眼睛很温和。

Selina abandoned the pink porker simile for that of a great Persian cat, full-fed and treacherous, its claws all sheathed in velvet.

塞琳娜放弃了粉红猪肉的比喻，取而代之的是一只巨大的波斯猫，它吃饱了，而且很奸诈，它的爪子都包裹着天鹅绒。

The widow stepped agilely into her own neat phaeton with its sleek horse and was off down the hard snowless road, her head high.

寡妇敏捷地跨进她自己整洁的四轮马车，驾着一匹光滑的马，昂着头沿着坚硬的无雪道路行驶。

“Well!” exclaimed Selina, feeling as though she had witnessed the first act of an exciting play.

“出色地！”赛琳娜感叹道，感觉自己仿佛亲眼目睹了一场激动人心的戏剧的第一幕。

And breathed deeply.

并深呼吸。

So, too, did the watching congregation, so that the widow could be said to have driven off in quite a gust.

围观的众人也是如此，所以寡妇可以说是疾风而去。

As they jogged home in the Pool farm wagon Maartje told her tale with a good deal of savour.

当他们乘坐泳池农场的马车慢跑回家时，玛尔杰饶有趣味地讲述了她的故事。

Pervus DeJong had been left a widower two years before.

两年前，佩尔乌斯·德容 (Pervus DeJong) 成为鳏夫。

Within a month of that time Leendert Paarlenberg had died, leaving to his widow the richest and most profitable farm in the whole community.

不到一个月，莱德特·帕伦伯格就去世了，给他的遗孀留下了整个社区最富有、最赚钱的农场。

Pervus DeJong, on the contrary, through inheritance from his father, old Johannes, possessed a scant twenty-five acres of the worst lowland—practically the only lowland—in all High Prairie.

相反，佩尔乌斯·德容（Pervus DeJong）从他父亲老约翰尼斯那里继承了遗产，拥有不到二十五英亩的高地草原上最差的低地——实际上是唯一的低地。

The acreage was notoriously barren.

这片土地是出了名的贫瘠。

In spring, the critical time for seedlings and early vegetable crops, sixteen of the twenty-five were likely to be under water.

春天是幼苗和早期蔬菜作物生长的关键时期，二十五粒作物中有十六粒可能会被水淹没。

Pervus DeJong patiently planted, sowed, gathered crops, hauled them to market; seemed still never to get on in this thrifty Dutch community where getting on was so common a trait as to be no longer thought a virtue.

佩尔乌斯·德容（Pervus DeJong）耐心地种植、播种、收割庄稼，然后把它们运到市场上。在这个节俭的荷兰社会里，似乎永远都过不去，在那里，过得去是一种普遍的特征，以至于不再被认为是一种美德。

Luck and nature seemed to work against him.

运气和自然似乎对他不利。

His seedlings proved unfertile; his stock was always ailing; his cabbages were worm-infested; snout-beetle bored his rhubarb.

结果证明他的幼苗不能生育。他的股票总是表现不佳；他的卷心菜长满了虫子；鼻甲虫让他的大黄感到厌烦了。

When he planted largely of spinach, hoping for a wet spring, the season was dry.

当他种植大量菠菜，希望春天湿润时，季节却很干燥。

Did he turn the following year to sweet potatoes, all auguries pointing to a dry spring and summer, the summer proved the wettest in a decade.

第二年他是否转向种植红薯，所有的预兆都指向干燥的春季和夏季，事实证明夏季是十年来最潮湿的。

Insects and fungi seemed drawn to his fields as by a malevolent force.

昆虫和真菌似乎被邪恶的力量吸引到了他的田地里。

Had he been small, puny, and insignificant his bad luck would have called forth contemptuous pity.

如果他身材矮小、微不足道、无足轻重，他的厄运就会招致轻蔑的怜悯。

But there was about him the lovableness and splendour of the stricken giant.

但他身上却充满了受灾巨人的可爱和光辉。

To complete his discomfort, his household was inadequately ministered by an elderly and rheumatic female connection whose pies and bread were the scandal of the neighbouring housewives.

更让他感到不舒服的是，一位患有风湿病的年老女性亲戚对他的家庭照顾得不够充分，她的馅饼和面包是邻居家庭主妇们的丑闻。

It was on this Pervus DeJong, then, that the Widow Paarlenberg of the rich acres, the comfortable farmhouse, the gold neck chain, the silk gowns, the soft white hands and the cooking talents, had set her affections.

帕伦伯格寡妇拥有丰富的土地、舒适的农舍、金颈链、丝绸长袍、柔软白皙的双手和烹饪天赋，正是在这个佩尔乌斯·德容身上倾心的。

She wooed him openly, notoriously, and with a Dutch vehemence that would have swept another man off his feet.

她公开地、臭名昭著地向他求爱，其荷兰式的热情足以让另一个男人为之倾倒。

It was known that she sent him a weekly baking of cakes, pies, and bread.

据了解，她每周都会给他送去烘焙的蛋糕、馅饼和面包。

She urged upon him choice seeds from her thriving fields; seedlings from her hotbeds; plants, all of which he steadfastly refused.

她催促他从她繁茂的田地里挑选种子。来自她的温床的幼苗；植物，所有这些他都坚决拒绝。

She tricked, cajoled, or nagged him into eating her ample meals.

她欺骗、哄骗或唠叨他，让他吃她丰盛的饭菜。

She even asked his advice—that subtlest form of flattery.

她甚至征求他的建议——这是最微妙的奉承形式。

She asked him about sub-soiling, humus, rotation—she whose rich land yielded, under her shrewd management, more profitably to the single acre than to any ten of Pervus’s.

她向他询问有关深土、腐殖质、轮作的问题——在她精明的管理下，她肥沃的土地所带来的收益比佩尔乌斯的任何十英亩土地都更有利可图。

One Jan Bras managed her farm admirably under her supervision.

简·布拉斯 (Jan Bras) 在她的监督下出色地管理了自己的农场。

DeJong’s was a simple mind.

德容的头脑很简单。

In the beginning, when she said to him, in her deep, caressing voice, “Mr. DeJong, could I ask you a little advice about something?

一开始，当她用低沉、充满爱抚的声音对他说：“德容先生，我可以向你请教一些事情吗？

I’m a woman alone since I haven’t got Leendert any more, and strangers what do they care how they run the land!

我是一个孤独的女人，因为我已经不再拥有伦德特了，而陌生人又关心他们如何管理这片土地！

It’s about my radishes, lettuce, spinach, and turnips.

这是关于我的萝卜、生菜、菠菜和萝卜的。

Last year, instead of tender, they were stringy and full of fibre on account that Jan Bras.

去年，由于简·布拉斯（Jan Bras）的缘故，它们不再柔软，而是粘稠且富含纤维。

He’s for slow growing.

他赞成缓慢成长。

Those vegetables you’ve got to grow quick.

那些蔬菜必须长得快。

Bras says my fertilizer is the fault, but I know different.

布拉斯说我的肥料有问题，但我知道情况并非如此。

What you think?”

你觉得怎么样？

Jan Bras, getting wind of this, told it abroad with grim humour.

简·布拉斯（Jan Bras）得知此事后，以冷酷的幽默向国外讲述了此事。

Masculine High Prairie, meeting Pervus DeJong on the road, greeted him with: “Well, DeJong, you been giving the Widow Paarlenberg any good advice here lately about growing?”

充满阳刚之气的高草原在路上遇到了佩尔乌斯·德容，他向他打招呼：“嗯，德容，你最近在这里给帕伦伯格寡妇关于成长方面有什么好的建议吗？”

It had been a particularly bad season for his fields.

对于他的田地来说，这是一个特别糟糕的季节。

As High Prairie poked a sly thumb into his ribs thus he realized that he had been duped by the wily widow.

当高草原狡猾地将拇指戳进他的肋骨时，他意识到自己被狡猾的寡妇欺骗了。

A slow Dutch wrath rose in him against her; a male resentment at being manipulated by a woman.

他心里慢慢地升起了一股荷兰人的愤怒，对她产生了厌恶。男性对被女性操纵的怨恨。

When next she approached him, cajolery in her voice, seeking guidance about tillage, drainage, or crops, he said, bluntly: “Better you ask Harm Tien his advice.” Harm Tien was the district idiot, a poor witless creature of thirty with the mind of a child.

当她再次走近他时，声音中带着哄骗，寻求有关耕作、排水或农作物的指导，他直言不讳地说：“你最好问问田先生的建议。”哈姆·田是当地的一个白痴，一个可怜的、愚蠢的三十岁的人，头脑还像个孩子。

Knowing well that the entire community was urging him toward this profitable match with the plump, rich, red-lipped widow, Pervus set his will like a stubborn steer and would have none of her.

佩尔乌斯深知整个社区都在敦促他与这位丰满、富有、红唇的寡妇进行这场有利可图的婚姻，他像一头顽固的小公牛一样坚定了自己的意志，不想要她。

He was uncomfortable in his untidy house; he was lonely, he was unhappy.

他在凌乱的房子里感到不舒服。他很孤独，他不快乐。

But he would have none of her.

但他不会拥有她。

Vanity, pride, resentment were all mixed up in it.

虚荣、骄傲、怨恨都混杂在其中。

The very first time that Pervus DeJong met Selina he had a chance to protect her.

佩尔乌斯·德容第一次见到塞琳娜时，他就有机会保护她。

With such a start, the end was inevitable.

既然有了这样的开始，结局也就不可避免了。

Then, too, Selina had on the wine-coloured cashmere and was trying hard to keep the tears back in full view of the whole of High Prairie.

然后，塞琳娜也穿着酒红色的羊绒衫，在整个高草原的众目睽睽之下，努力忍住眼泪。

Urged by Maartje (and rather fancying the idea) Selina had attended the great meeting and dance at Adam Ooms’s hall above the general store near the High Prairie station.

在马尔杰（并且相当喜欢这个想法）的敦促下，塞琳娜参加了在高草原车站附近杂货店上方的亚当·乌姆斯大厅举行的盛大聚会和舞会。

Farmer families for miles around were there.

方圆数英里内都有农民家庭。

The new church organ—that time-hallowed pretext for sociability—was the excuse for this gathering.

新的教堂风琴——这个古老的社交借口——是这次聚会的借口。

There was a small admission charge.

有一小笔入场费。

Adam Ooms had given them the hall.

亚当·乌姆斯把大厅给了他们。

The three musicians were playing without fee.

三位音乐家免费演奏。

The women were to bring supper packed in boxes or baskets, these to be raffled off to the highest bidder whose privilege it then was to sup with the fair whose basket he had bought.

妇女们将把晚餐装在盒子或篮子里，然后抽奖给出价最高的人，然后他的特权就是与他买下篮子的集市一起共进晚餐。

Hot coffee could be had at so much the cup.

一杯热咖啡就可以喝了。

All the proceeds were to be devoted to the organ.

所有收益都将捐献给该风琴。

It was understood, of course, that there was to be no lively bidding against husbands.

当然，大家都知道，不能对丈夫进行激烈的竞价。

Each farm woman knew her own basket as she knew the countenance of her children, and each farmer, as that basket came up at auction, named a cautious sum which automatically made him the basket’s possessor.

每个农场妇女都知道自己的篮子，就像她知道孩子们的面容一样，而每个农民，当那个篮子在拍卖会上出现时，都会谨慎地指定一个金额，这自动使他成为篮子的所有者。

The larger freedom had not come to High Prairie in 1890.

1890 年，海普雷里还没有获得更大的自由。

The baskets and boxes of the unwed women were to be the fought-for prizes.

未婚女子的篮子和盒子就是争夺的奖品。

Maartje had packed her own basket at noon and had driven off at four with Klaas and the children.

中午，玛尔杰收拾好自己的篮子，四点钟带着克拉斯和孩子们开车离开。

She was to serve on one of those bustling committees whose duties ranged from coffee making to dish washing.

她将在那些忙碌的委员会之一任职，其职责范围从煮咖啡到洗碗。

Klaas and Roelf were to be pressed into service.

克拉斯和罗尔夫将被迫服役。

The pigtails would slide up and down the waxed floor of Ooms’s hall with other shrieking pigtails of the neighbourhood until the crowd began to arrive for the auction and supper.

这些辫子会和附近其他尖叫的辫子一起在奥姆斯大厅的打蜡地板上上下滑动，直到人群开始到来参加拍卖和晚餐。

Jakob Hoogendunk would convey Selina to the festivities when his chores were done.

当雅各布·霍根邓克（Jakob Hoogendunk）完成家务后，他会带塞琳娜（Selina）参加庆祝活动。

Selina’s lunch basket was to be a separate and distinct affair, offered at auction with those of the Katrinas and Linas and Sophias of High Prairie.

塞琳娜的午餐篮将成为一个单独且独特的物品，与卡特里娜飓风和高草原的利纳斯和索菲亚斯的午餐篮一起拍卖。

Not a little apprehensive, she was to pack this basket herself.

她一点也不担心，她要自己收拾这个篮子。

Maartje, departing, had left copious but disjointed instructions.

离开时，马杰留下了大量但杂乱无章的指示。

“Ham .

“火腿。”

.

。

.

。

them big cookies in the crock .

罐子里有大饼干。

.

。

.

。

pickles .

泡菜。

.

。

.

。

watch how you don’t spill .

注意如何不溢出。

.

。

.

。

plum preserves .

李子蜜饯。

.

。

.”

”。

Maartje’s own basket was of gigantic proportions and staggering content.

马尔杰自己的篮子体积庞大，内容惊人。

Her sandwiches were cubic blocks; her pickles clubs of cucumber; her pies vast plateaus.

她的三明治是立方体的；她的泡菜黄瓜棒；她的馅饼广阔的高原。

The basket provided for Selina, while not quite so large, still was of appalling size as Selina contemplated it.

给赛琳娜提供的篮子虽然不是那么大，但在赛琳娜看来，也已经是大得吓人了。

She decided, suddenly, that she would have none of it.

她突然决定，她不会接受这些。

In her trunk she had a cardboard box such as shoes come in.

她的行李箱里有一个纸板箱，比如鞋子。

Certainly this should hold enough lunch for two, she thought.

当然，这足够两个人吃午餐了，她想。

She and Julie Hempel had used such boxes for picnic lunches on their Saturday holidays.

她和朱莉·亨佩尔在周六假期时用这样的盒子来野餐。

She was a little nervous about the whole thing; rather dreaded the prospect of eating her supper with a High Prairie swain unknown to her.

她对整件事感到有点紧张。她相当害怕与一个她不认识的高草原情人一起吃晚饭。

Suppose no one should bid for her box!

假设没有人应该竞标她的盒子！

She resolved to fill it after her own pattern, disregarding Maartje’s heavy provender.

她决定按照自己的模式来填充它，不顾玛尔杰的厚重的饲料。

She had the kitchen to herself.

厨房是她一个人的。

Jakob was in the fields or out-houses.

雅各布在田野里或户外屋里。

The house was deliciously quiet.

房子里安静得出奇。

Selina rummaged for the shoe box, lined it with a sheet of tissue paper, rolled up her sleeves, got out mixing bowl, flour, pans.

赛琳娜翻找鞋盒，垫上一张纸巾，卷起袖子，拿出搅拌碗、面粉、平底锅。

Cup cakes were her ambition.

杯子蛋糕是她的梦想。

She baked six of them.

她烤了六个。

They came out a beautiful brown but somewhat leaden.

它们呈美丽的棕色，但有点铅灰色。

Still, anything was better than a wedge of soggy pie, she told herself.

尽管如此，任何东西都比一块湿透的馅饼好，她告诉自己。

She boiled eggs very hard, halved them, devilled their yolks, filled the whites neatly with this mixture and clapped the halves together again, skewering them with a toothpick.

她把鸡蛋煮得很硬，把它们切成两半，把蛋黄去掉，用这种混合物整齐地填满蛋白，然后把两半再次拍在一起，用牙签把它们串起来。

Then she rolled each egg separately in tissue paper twisted at the ends.

然后，她将每个鸡蛋分别用两端扭曲的薄纸卷起来。

Daintiness, she had decided, should be the keynote of her supper box.

她决定，精致应该是她晚餐盒的基调。

She cut bread paper-thin and made jelly sandwiches, scorning the ubiquitous pork.

她把面包切成纸一样薄，做了果冻三明治，对随处可见的猪肉不屑一顾。

Bananas, she knew, belonged in a lunch box, but these were unobtainable.

她知道，香蕉应该放在午餐盒里，但这些是买不到的。

She substituted two juicy pippins, polished until their cheeks glittered.

她换了两个多汁的皮皮饼，擦得光滑，直到它们的脸颊闪闪发光。

The food neatly packed she wrapped the box in paper and tied it with a gay red ribbon yielded by her trunk.

食物装得整整齐齐，她用纸把盒子包起来，并用行李箱里的一条鲜艳的红丝带系起来。

At the last moment she whipped into the yard, twisted a brush of evergreen from the tree at the side of the house, and tucked this into the knot of ribbon atop the box.

在最后一刻，她猛地冲进院子，从房子旁边的树上拧了一枝常青树，把它塞进盒子顶上的丝带结里。

She stepped back and thought the effect enchanting.

她退后一步，觉得这种效果很迷人。

She was waiting in her red cashmere and her cloak and hood when Hoogendunk called for her.

当胡根邓克叫她时，她穿着红色羊绒衫、斗篷和兜帽正在等待。

They were late arrivals, for outside Ooms’s hall were hitched all manner of vehicles.

他们迟到了，因为乌姆斯大厅外面停满了各种各样的车辆。

There had been a heavy snowfall two days before.

两天前下了一场大雪。

This had brought out bob-sleds, cutters, sleighs.

这就催生了雪橇、雪橇、雪橇。

The horse sheds were not large enough to shelter all.

马棚不够大，无法容纳所有人。

Late comers had to hitch where they could.

迟到者必须尽可能搭便车。

There was a great jangling of bells as the horses stamped in the snow.

马匹在雪地里跺脚，发出一阵叮当作响的铃声。

Selina, balancing her box carefully, opened the door that led to the wooden stairway.

塞琳娜小心翼翼地平衡着自己的箱子，打开了通往木楼梯的门。

The hall was on the second floor.

大厅在二楼。

The clamour that struck her ears had the effect of a physical blow.

耳边传来的喧闹声就像是身体上的打击。

She hesitated a moment, and if there had been any means of returning to the Pool farm, short of walking five miles in the snow, she would have taken it.

她犹豫了一会儿，如果有什么办法可以返回泳池农场，只要不用在雪地里步行五英里，她就会选择它。

Up the stairs and into the din.

走上楼梯，进入喧嚣之中。

Evidently the auctioning of supper baskets was even now in progress.

显然，晚餐篮子的拍卖现在正在进行中。

The roar of voices had broken out after the sale of a basket and now was subsiding under the ear-splitting cracks of the auctioneer’s hammer.

拍卖篮子售出后，喧闹声此起彼伏，现在在拍卖师的锤子震耳欲聋的敲击声中逐渐平息。

Through the crowded doorway Selina could catch a glimpse of him as he stood on a chair, the baskets piled before him.

透过拥挤的门口，塞琳娜可以看到他站在椅子上，篮子堆在他面前。

He used a barrel elevated on a box as his pulpit.

他用一个放在盒子上的桶作为他的讲坛。

The auctioneer was Adam Ooms who himself had once been the High Prairie school teacher.

拍卖师是亚当·乌姆斯（Adam Ooms），他本人曾经是高草原学校的老师。

A fox-faced little man, bald, falsetto, the village clown with a solid foundation of shrewdness under his clowning and a tart layer of malice over it.

一个狐狸脸的小个子男人，光头，假声，村里的小丑，他的小丑外表下有着坚实的精明基础，而其外表下却有一层尖酸刻薄的恶意。

High and shrill came his voice.

他的声音高亢而尖锐。

“What am I bid!

“我出价什么！

What am I bid!

我出价什么！

Thirty cents!

三十美分！

Thirty-five!

三十五！

Shame on you, gentlemen.

先生们，你们真丢脸。

What am I bid!

我出价什么！

Who’ll make it forty!”

谁能做到四十呢！”

Selina felt a little thrill of excitement.

赛琳娜感到一丝兴奋。

She looked about for a place on which to lay her wraps.

她四处寻找可以裹上裹布的地方。

Every table, chair, hook, and rack in the hallway was piled with clothing.

走廊里的每张桌子、椅子、挂钩、架子上都堆满了衣服。

She espied a box that appeared empty, rolled her cloak, muffler, and hood into a neat bundle and, about to cast it into the box, saw, upturned to her from its depths, the round pink faces of the sleeping Kuyper twins, aged six months.

她看到一个空盒子，她把斗篷、围巾和兜帽卷成整齐的一捆，正准备把它扔进盒子里，看到从盒子深处朝她仰起的是睡着的凯珀双胞胎的粉红色圆脸，六个月大。

From the big hall now came a great shouting, clapping of hands, stamping, cat-calls.

现在，大厅里传来一阵大喊大叫、拍手声、跺脚声、猫叫声。

Another basket had been disposed of.

另一个篮子已被处理掉。

Oh, dear!

哦亲爱的！

In desperation Selina placed her bundle on the floor in a corner, smoothed down the red cashmere, snatched up her lunch box and made for the doorway with the childish eagerness of one out of the crowd to be in it.

绝望中，塞琳娜把包袱放在角落里的地板上，抚平红色羊绒，抓起午餐盒，带着人群中孩子气的渴望走进门口。

She wondered where Maartje and Klaas Pool were in this close-packed roomful; and Roelf.

她想知道在这个拥挤的房间里，马尔杰和克拉斯·普尔在哪里；和罗尔夫。

In the doorway she found that broad black-coated backs shut off sight and ingress.

在门口，她发现宽阔的黑色涂层后背挡住了视线和入口。

She had written her name neatly on her lunch box.

她在饭盒上工整地写下了自己的名字。

Now she was at a loss to find a way to reach Adam Ooms.

现在她不知如何找到联系亚当·乌姆斯的方法。

She eyed the great-shouldered expanse just ahead of her.

她注视着前方那片宽阔的肩膀。

In desperation she decided to dig into it with a corner of her box.

无奈之下，她决定用盒子的一角往里挖。

She dug, viciously.

她恶狠狠地挖着。

The back winced.

背脊抽搐了。

Its owner turned.

它的主人转身。

“Here!

“这里！

What——!”

什么——！”

Selina looked up into the wrathful face of Pervus DeJong.

塞琳娜抬头看着佩尔乌斯·德容愤怒的脸。

Pervus DeJong looked down into the startled eyes of Selina Peake.

佩尔乌斯·德容低头看着塞琳娜·皮克惊讶的眼睛。

Large enough eyes at any time; enormous now in her fright at what she had done.

任何时候眼睛都足够大；现在她对自己所做的事情感到非常恐惧。

“I’m sorry!

“对不起！

I’m—sorry.

我——抱歉。

I thought if I could—there’s no way of getting my lunch box up there—such a crowd——”

我想如果我可以的话——没有办法把我的午餐盒拿到那里——这么多人——”

A slim, appealing, lovely little figure in the wine-red cashmere, amidst all those buxom bosoms, and overheated bodies, and flushed faces.

一个身着酒红色羊绒的苗条、迷人、可爱的小身影，在那些丰满的胸部、过热的身体和通红的脸庞之中。

His gaze left her reluctantly, settled on the lunch box, became, if possible, more bewildered.

他的目光不情愿地离开她，落在饭盒上，如果可能的话，变得更加困惑。

“That?

“那个？

Lunch box?”

饭盒？”

“Yes.

是的。

For the raffle.

为了抽奖。

I’m the school teacher.

我是学校老师。

Selina Peake.”

塞琳娜·皮克。”

He nodded.

他点点头。

“I saw you in church Sunday.”

“周日我在教堂见到你了。”

“You did!

“你做到了！

I didn’t think you.

我没想到你。

.

。

.

。

.

。

Did you?”

你是吗？

“Wait here.

“在这里等一下。

I’ll come back.

我会回来的。

Wait here.”

在这里等一下。”

He took the shoe box.

他接过鞋盒。

She waited.

她等待着。

He ploughed his way through the crowd like a Juggernaut, reached Adam Ooms’s platform and placed the box inconspicuously next a colossal hamper that was one of a dozen grouped awaiting Adam’s attention.

他像主宰者一样穿过人群，到达亚当·乌姆斯的讲台上，把盒子放在一个巨大的篮子旁边，不显眼，这是等待亚当注意的十几个篮子之一。

When he had made his way back to Selina he again said, “Wait,” and plunged down the wooden stairway.

当他回到塞琳娜身边时，他再次说了句“等等”，然后就冲下了木楼梯。

Selina waited.

赛琳娜等待着。

She had ceased to feel distressed at her inability to find the Pools in the crowd, a-tiptoe though she was.

尽管她踮着脚尖，却无法在人群中找到普尔斯，她不再为此感到苦恼。

When presently he came back he had in his hand an empty wooden soap-box.

不久他回来了，手里拿着一个空的木制肥皂盒。

This he up-ended in the doorway just behind the crowd stationed there.

他把这个东西倒在门口，就在人群后面。

Selina mounted it; found her head a little above the level of his.

塞琳娜安装了它；发现她的头略高于他的头。

She could survey the room from end to end.

她可以从头到尾审视整个房间。

There were the Pools.

还有泳池。

She waved to Maartje; smiled at Roelf.

她向马尔杰挥手致意。对罗尔夫微笑。

He made as though to come toward her; did come part way, and was restrained by Maartje catching at his coat tail.

他假装要朝她走来。确实走到了一半，但被马杰抓住了他的外套尾巴。

Selina wished she could think of something to say.

塞琳娜希望她能想出一些话来说。

She looked down at Pervus DeJong.

她低头看着佩尔乌斯·德容。

The back of his neck was pink, as though with effort.

他的后颈呈粉红色，似乎是经过了努力。

She thought, instinctively, “My goodness, he’s trying to think of something to say, too.” That, somehow, put her at her ease.

她本能地想：“天哪，他也在想说什么。”不知何故，这让她感到轻松。

She would wait until he spoke.

她会等到他说话。

His neck was now a deep red.

他的脖子现在变成了深红色。

The crowd surged back at some disturbance around Adam Ooms’s elevation.

亚当·奥姆斯的高度周围出现了一些骚动，人群涌了回来。

Selina teetered perilously on her box, put out a hand blindly, felt his great hard hand on her arm, steadying her.

塞琳娜在盒子上摇摇欲坠，盲目地伸出一只手，感觉到他那只坚硬的大手放在她的手臂上，稳住了她。

“Quite a crowd, ain’t it?” The effort had reached its apex.

“人很多，不是吗？”努力已经达到了顶峰。

The red of his neck began to recede.

脖子上的红色开始退去。

“Oh, quite!”

“噢，确实如此！”

“They ain’t all High Prairie.

“他们并不都是高草原。

Some of ’em’s from Low Prairie way.

其中一些来自低草原路。

New Haarlem, even.”

甚至是新哈勒姆。”

“Really!”

“真的吗！”

A pause.

停顿一下。

Another effort.

另一项努力。

“How goes it school teaching?”

“学校教学怎么样？”

“Oh—it goes pretty well.”

“哦——进展顺利。”

“You are little to be school teacher, anyway, ain’t you?”

“无论如何，你还不足以当学校老师，不是吗？”

“Little!” She drew herself up from her vantage point of the soap-box.

“小的！”她从肥皂盒的有利位置站起身来。

“I’m bigger than you are.”

“我比你大。”

They laughed at that as at an exquisite piece of repartee.

他们嘲笑这就像嘲笑一场精彩的妙语连珠。

Adam Oom’s gavel (a wooden potato masher) crashed for silence.

亚当·乌姆（Adam Oom）的木槌（木制土豆捣碎器）发出一声巨响，让大家安静下来。

“Ladies!” [Crash!] “And gents!” [Crash!] “Gents!

“女士们！” [崩溃！]“还有先生们！” [崩溃！] “先生们！

Look what basket we’ve got here!”

看看我们这里有什么篮子！”

Look indeed.

看确实。

A great hamper, grown so plethoric that it could no longer wear its cover.

一个大礼篮，已经变得太多，以至于无法再戴上盖子了。

Its contents bellied into a mound smoothly covered with a fine white cloth whose glistening surface proclaimed it damask.

它的内容物被堆成一个小堆，光滑地覆盖着一块细白布，其闪闪发光的表面表明它是锦缎。

A Himalaya among hampers.

礼篮中的喜马拉雅山。

You knew that under that snowy crust lay gold that was fowl done crisply, succulently; emeralds in the form of gherkins; rubies that melted into strawberry preserves; cakes frosted like diamonds; to say nothing of such semi-precious jewels as potato salad; cheeses; sour cream to be spread on rye bread and butter; coffee cakes; crullers.

你知道，在那雪白的外壳下，是金子，那是烤得酥脆、多汁的鸡肉；小黄瓜形状的祖母绿；融化成草莓蜜饯的红宝石；像钻石一样磨砂的蛋糕；更不用说像土豆沙拉这样的半宝石了；奶酪；涂在黑麦面包和黄油上的酸奶油；咖啡蛋糕；油条。

Crash!

碰撞！

“The Widow Paarlenberg’s basket, ladies—_and_ gents!

“帕伦伯格寡妇的篮子，女士们——先生们！

The Widow Paarlenberg!

帕伦伯格寡妇！

I don’t know what’s in it.

我不知道里面有什么。

You don’t know what’s in it.

你不知道里面有什么。

We don’t have to know what’s in it.

我们不必知道里面有什么。

Who has eaten Widow Paarlenberg’s chicken once don’t have to know.

谁吃过寡妇帕伦伯格的鸡，谁就不必知道。

Who has eaten Widow Paarlenberg’s cake once don’t have to know.

不必知道谁吃过帕伦伯格寡妇的蛋糕。

What am I bid on Widow Paarlenberg’s basket!

我对帕伦伯格寡妇的篮子出价多少！

What am I bid!

我出价什么！

WhatmIbidwhatmIbidwhatmIbid!” [Crash!]

什么同上，同上，同上！” [崩溃！]

The widow herself, very handsome in black silk, her gold neck chain rising and falling richly with the little flurry that now agitated her broad bosom, was seated in a chair against the wall not five feet from the auctioneer’s stand.

寡妇本人坐在离拍卖台不到五英尺的靠墙椅子上，身着黑色丝绸，非常英俊，金颈链随着她宽阔的胸膛的轻微波动而上下起伏。

She bridled now, blushed, cast down her eyes, cast up her eyes, succeeded in looking as unconscious as a complaisant Turkish slave girl on the block.

她现在勒住了，脸红了，低下眼睛，抬起眼睛，成功地看起来像街区里一个温顺的土耳其女奴一样昏迷不醒。

Adam Ooms’s glance swept the hall.

亚当·奥姆斯的目光扫过整个大厅。

He leaned forward, his fox-like face fixed in a smile.

他身体前倾，狐狸般的脸上挂着微笑。

From the widow herself, seated so prominently at his right, his gaze marked the young blades of the village; the old bucks; youths and widowers and bachelors.

坐在他右边显眼的寡妇身上，他的目光注视着村里年轻的刀锋。老家伙；年轻人、鳏夫和单身汉。

Here was the prize of the evening.

这是当晚的奖品。

Around, in a semi-circle, went his keen glance until it reached the tall figure towering in the doorway—reached it, and rested there.

他敏锐的目光绕着半圆转了一圈，直到到达门口那高耸的身影——到达了，然后停在那里。

His gimlet eyes seemed to bore their way into Pervus DeJong’s steady stare.

他那双锐利的眼睛似乎钻进了佩尔乌斯·德容坚定的目光中。

He raised his right arm aloft, brandishing the potato masher.

他高举右臂，挥舞着土豆捣碎器。

The whole room fixed its gaze on the blond head in the doorway.

整个房间的目光都集中在门口的金发脑袋上。

“Speak up!

“说吧！

Young men of High Prairie!

高草原的年轻人！

Heh, you, Pervus DeJong!

呵呵，你，佩尔乌斯·德容！

WhatmIbidwhatmIbidwhatmIbid!”

什么同上，同上，同上！”

“Fifty cents!” The bid came from Gerrit Pon at the other end of the hall.

“五十美分！”投标来自大厅另一端的格里特·庞（Gerrit Pon）。

A dashing offer, as a start, in this district where one dollar often represented the profits on a whole load of market truck brought to the city.

作为一个开始，在这个地区，一美元常常代表运往城市的一整车市场卡车的利润，这是一个大胆的提议。

Crash!

碰撞！

went the potato masher.

土豆捣碎器走了。

“Fifty cents I’m bid.

“我出价五十美分。

Who’ll make it seventy-five?

谁能达到七十五？

Who’ll make it seventy-five?”

谁能达到七十五？”

“Sixty!” Johannes Ambuul, a widower, his age more than the sum of his bid.

“六十！”约翰内斯·阿姆布尔（Johannes Ambuul）是一位鳏夫，他的年龄超过了他的出价总和。

“Seventy!” Gerrit Pon.

“七十！”格里特·庞.

Adam Ooms whispered it—hissed it.

亚当·奥姆斯低声说道——嘶嘶地说。

“S-s-s-seventy.

“七十。”

Ladies and gents, I wouldn’t repeat out loud sucha figger.

女士们先生们，我不会大声重复这样的想法。

I would be ashamed.

我会感到羞愧。

Look at this basket, gents, and then you can say .

先生们，看看这个篮子，然后你就可以说。

.

。

.

。

s-s-seventy!”

七十！”

“Seventy-five!” the cautious Ambuul.

“七十五！”谨慎的安布尔。

Scarlet, flooding her face, belied the widow’s outward air of composure.

寡妇脸上泛着猩红，掩盖了她外表的镇静。

Pervus DeJong, standing beside Selina, viewed the proceedings with an air of detachment.

站在塞琳娜旁边的佩尔乌斯·德容以一种超然的态度看待整个过程。

High Prairie was looking at him expectantly, openly.

高草原满怀期待地、公开地看着他。

The widow bit her red lip, tossed her head.

寡妇咬着红唇，摇摇头。

Pervus DeJong returned the auctioneer’s meaning smirk with the mild gaze of a disinterested outsider.

佩尔乌斯·德容以一个公正的局外人的温和目光回应了拍卖师意味深长的傻笑。

High Prairie, Low Prairie, and New Haarlem sat tense, like an audience at a play.

高草原、低草原和新哈勒姆都紧张地坐着，就像戏剧中的观众一样。

Here, indeed, was drama being enacted in a community whose thrills were all too rare.

确实，这里正在上演戏剧，而这个社区的刺激实在是太罕见了。

“Gents!” Adam Ooms’s voice took on a tearful note—the tone of one who is more hurt than angry.

“先生们！”亚当·奥姆斯的声音带着泪水——这种语气更多的是受伤而不是愤怒。

“Gents!” Slowly, with infinite reverence, he lifted one corner of the damask cloth that concealed the hamper’s contents—lifted it and peered within as at a treasure.

“先生们！”带着无限的崇敬，他慢慢地掀起包裹着礼篮内容的锦缎布的一角——举起它，凝视着里面，就像在看一件宝藏。

At what he saw there he started back dramatically, at once rapturous, despairing, amazed.

看到那里的景象，他戏剧性地向后退了一步，既欣喜若狂，又绝望又惊讶。

He rolled his eyes.

他翻了个白眼。

He smacked his lips.

他咂嘴。

He rubbed his stomach.

他揉了揉肚子。

The sort of dumb show that, since the days of the Greek drama, has been used to denote gastronomic delight.

自希腊戏剧时代以来，这种愚蠢的表演就被用来表示美食的乐趣。

“Eighty!” was wrenched suddenly from Goris Von Vuuren, the nineteen-year-old fat and gluttonous son of a prosperous New Haarlem farmer.

“八十！”戈里斯·冯·弗伦 (Goris Von Vuuren) 突然被从戈里斯·冯·弗伦 (Goris Von Vuuren) 手中夺走，戈里斯·冯·弗伦 (Goris Von Vuuren) 是一位十九岁的肥胖贪吃的新哈勒姆农民的儿子。

Adam Ooms rubbed brisk palms together.

亚当·奥姆斯轻快地搓着手掌。

“Now then!

“那么现在！

A dollar!

一美元！

A dollar!

一美元！

It’s an insult to this basket to make it less than a dollar.” He lifted the cover again, sniffed, appeared overcome.

如果这个篮子的价格低于一美元，那是对它的侮辱。”他再次掀开被子，吸了吸鼻子，看上去有些不知所措。

“Gents, if it wasn’t for Mrs. Ooms sitting there I’d make it a dollar myself and a bargain.

“先生们，如果不是奥姆斯太太坐在那里，我自己就能赚到一美元，而且很划算。

A dollar!

一美元！

Am I bid a dollar!” He leaned far forward over his improvised pulpit.

我出价一美元吗！”他在临时搭建的讲坛上向前倾身。

“Did I hear you say a dollar, Pervus DeJong?” DeJong stared, immovable, unabashed.

“我听到你说一美元了吗，佩尔乌斯·德容？”德容凝视着，一动不动，毫不掩饰。

His very indifference was contagious.

他的冷漠很有感染力。

The widow’s bountiful basket seemed to shrink before one’s eyes.

寡妇那丰盛的篮子似乎在眼前缩小了。

“Eighty-eighty-eighty-eighty—gents!

“八十八八八——先生们！

I’m going to tell you something.

我要告诉你一件事。

I’m going to whisper a secret.” His lean face was veined with craftiness.

我要悄悄说出一个秘密。”他瘦削的脸上布满狡猾的血管。

“Gents.

“先生们。

Listen.

听着。

It isn’t chicken in this beautiful basket.

这个漂亮的篮子里的不是鸡肉。

It isn’t chicken.

这不是鸡肉。

It’s”—a dramatic pause—“it’s _roast duck!_” He swayed back, mopped his brow with his red handkerchief, held one hand high in the air.

这是”——一个戏剧性的停顿——“这是_烤鸭！_”他向后摇晃，用红色手帕擦着额头，一只手高举在空中。

His last card.

他的最后一张牌。

“Eighty-five!” groaned the fat Goris Von Vuuren.

“八十五！”胖子戈里斯·冯·乌伦呻吟道。

“Eighty-five!

“八十五！

Eighty-five!

八十五！

Eightyfiveeightyfiveeightyfive eighty-five!

八十五八五八十五八十五！

Gents!

先生们！

Gen-tle-men!

先生们！

Eighty-five once!

八十五一次！

Eighty-five—twice!” [Crash!] “Gone to Goris Von Vuuren for eighty-five.”

八十五——两次！” [崩溃！]“去Goris Von Vuuren 买八十五块钱。”

A sigh went up from the assemblage; a sigh that was the wind before the storm.

人群中发出一声叹息。叹息是暴风雨前的风。

There followed a tornado of talk.

接下来是一场龙卷风般的谈话。

It crackled and thundered.

它噼啪作响，雷鸣般。

The rich Widow Paarlenberg would have to eat her supper with Von Vuuren’s boy, the great thick Goris.

富有的寡妇帕伦伯格必须和冯·乌伦的儿子、大胖子戈里斯一起吃晚饭。

And there in the doorway, talking to teacher as if they had known each other for years, was Pervus DeJong with his money in his pocket.

佩尔乌斯·德容（Pervus DeJong）站在门口，和老师说话，就像他们已经认识多年一样，他的口袋里揣着钱。

It was as good as a play.

这就像一场戏一样精彩。

Adam Ooms was angry.

亚当·乌姆斯很生气。

His lean, fox-like face became pinched with spite.

他瘦削的、狐狸般的脸因怨恨而变得紧绷。

He prided himself on his antics as auctioneer; and his chef d’œuvre had brought a meagre eighty-five cents, besides doubtless winning him the enmity of that profitable store customer, the Widow Paarlenberg.

他为自己作为拍卖师的滑稽行为感到自豪。他的厨师只带来了微薄的八十五美分，而且无疑还赢得了那位利润丰厚的商店顾客帕伦伯格寡妇的敌意。

Goris Von Vuuren came forward to claim his prize amidst shouting, clapping, laughter.

Goris Von Vuuren 在欢呼声、鼓掌声和笑声中上台领奖。

The great hamper was handed down to him; an ample, rich-looking burden, its handle folded comfortably over its round stomach, its white cover so glistening with starch and ironing that it gave back the light from the big lamp above the auctioneer’s stand.

大礼篮被递给了他。它是一件宽大、看上去富丽堂皇的负担，它的把手舒适地折叠在圆圆的肚子上，它的白色盖子因淀粉和熨烫而闪闪发光，反射着拍卖师台上方大灯的光线。

As Goris Von Vuuren lifted it his great shoulders actually sagged.

当戈里斯·冯·乌伦（Goris Von Vuuren）举起它时，他巨大的肩膀实际上下垂了。

Its contents promised satiety even to such a feeder as he.

即使像他这样的喂食者，它的内容也保证了饱腹感。

A grin, half sheepish, half triumphant, creased his plump pink face.

他粉红的胖脸上露出了一丝笑容，半是羞涩，半是得意。

Adam Ooms scuffled about among the many baskets at his feet.

亚当·奥姆斯在脚边的许多篮子里扭打着。

His nostrils looked pinched and his skinny hands shook a little as he searched for one small object.

当他寻找一个小物体时，他的鼻孔看起来很紧，瘦骨嶙峋的双手微微颤抖。

When he stood upright once more he was smiling.

当他再次站直时，他脸上带着微笑。

His little eyes gleamed.

他的小眼睛闪闪发亮。

His wooden sceptre pounded for silence.

他的木权杖敲击着，要求安静。

High in one hand, balanced daintily on his finger tips, he held Selina’s little white shoe box, with its red ribbon binding it, and the plume of evergreen stuck in the ribbon.

他高高举起一只手，指尖优雅地保持着塞琳娜的白色小鞋盒，上面系着红色丝带，丝带上粘着常绿的羽毛。

Affecting great solicitude he brought it down then to read the name written on it; held it aloft again, smirking.

他装出一副非常关心的样子，把它拿下来，读了上面写的名字。再次高举它，微笑着。

He said nothing.

他什么也没说。

Grinning, he held it high.

他微笑着，高举着它。

He turned his body at the waist from side to side, so that all might see.

他把腰部的身体左右转动，让所有人都可以看到。

The eyes of those before him still held a mental picture of the huge hamper, food-packed, that had just been handed down.

眼前的人的脑海里还浮现着刚刚递过来的装满食物的大礼篮。

The contrast was too absurd, too cruel.

这种对比太荒谬、太残酷。

A ripple of laughter swept the room; rose; swelled to a roar.

一阵笑声席卷整个房间。玫瑰;膨胀为咆哮。

Adam Ooms drew his mouth down solemnly.

亚当·奥姆斯严肃地闭上了嘴。

His little finger elegantly crooked, he pendulumed the box to right and left.

他的小指优雅地弯曲着，左右晃动着盒子。

He swerved his beady eyes from side to side.

他把圆圆的眼睛从一边转向另一边。

He waited with a nice sense of the dramatic until the laughter had reached its height, then held up a hand for silence.

他带着一种戏剧性的感觉等待着，直到笑声达到高潮，然后举起一只手示意安静。

A great scraping “Ahem!” as he cleared his throat threatened to send the crowd off again.

一声精彩的刮擦“咳咳！”他清了清嗓子，威胁要再次送走人群。

“Ladies—_and_ gents!

“女士们——先生们！

Here’s a dainty little tidbit.

这是一个精致的小花絮。

Here’s something not only for the inner man, but a feast for the eye.

这不仅是内心的享受，也是一场视觉盛宴。

Well, boys, if the last lot was too much for you this lot ought to be just about right.

好吧，孩子们，如果最后一批对你来说太多了，那么这一批应该正好合适。

If the food ain’t quite enough for you, you can tie the ribbon in the lady’s hair and put the posy in your buttonhole and there you are.

如果食物对你来说还不够，你可以把丝带系在女士的头发上，然后把花束放在你的扣眼里，就这样了。

_There_ you are!

_那儿_你来了！

What’s more, the lady herself goes with it.

更何况，这位女士本人也同意。

You don’t get a country girl with this here box, gents.

先生们，你不会找到一个乡村女孩拿着这个盒子。

A city girl, you can tell by looking at it, just.

都市女孩，一看就知道，就是。

And who is she?

她是谁？

Who did up this dainty little box just big enough for two?” He inspected it again, solemnly, and added, as an after-thought, “If you ain’t feeling specially hungry.

谁设计了这个只够两个人吃的精致小盒子？”他又严肃地检查了一遍，想了想又补充道：“如果你不觉得特别饿的话。

Who?——” He looked about, apishly.

谁？——”他狡猾地环顾四周。

Selina’s cheeks matched her gown.

塞琳娜的脸颊与她的礼服很相配。

Her eyes were wide and dark with the effort she was making to force back the hot haze threatening them.

她的眼睛又大又黑，努力驱赶威胁着它们的热雾。

Why had she mounted this wretched soap-box!

她为什么要装这个破肥皂盒！

Why had she come to this hideous party!

她为什么要来参加这个可怕的聚会！

Why had she come to High Prairie!

她为什么要来高草原！

Why!

为什么！

.

。

.

。

.

。

“Miss Selina Peake, that’s who.

“塞琳娜·皮克小姐，就是她。

Miss Se-li-na Peake!”

塞莉娜·皮克小姐！”

A hundred balloon faces pulled by a single cord turned toward her as she stood there on the box for all to see.

当她站在盒子上让所有人都看到时，用一根绳子拉着一百个气球脸转向她。

They swam toward her.

他们游向她。

She put up a hand to push them back.

她伸出一只手，将他们推开。

“What’m I bid!

“我出价什么！

What’m I bid!

我出价什么！

What’m I bid for this here lovely little toothful, gents!

先生们，我要出价买这个可爱的小牙齿！

Start her up!”

启动她吧！”

“Five cents!” piped up old Johannes Ambuul, with a snicker.

“五分钱！”老约翰内斯·阿姆布尔窃笑道。

The tittering crowd broke into a guffaw.

窃笑的人群爆发出一阵狂笑。

Selina was conscious of a little sick feeling at the pit of her stomach.

赛琳娜感觉自己的胃底有点不舒服。

Through the haze she saw the widow’s face, no longer sulky, but smiling now.

透过薄雾，她看到寡妇的脸不再闷闷不乐，而是微笑着。

She saw Roelf’s dear dark head.

她看到了罗尔夫亲爱的黑脑袋。

His face was set, like a man’s.

他的脸很严肃，就像一个男人的脸。

He was coming toward her, or trying to, but the crowd wedged him in, small as he was among those great bodies.

他正朝她走来，或者说正试图朝她走来，但人群把他挤了进去，尽管他在那些巨大的身体之中，但他却很小。

She lost sight of him.

她看不见他了。

How hot it was!

天气多热啊！

how hot .

多热啊。

.

。

.

。

An arm at her waist.

一只手臂搭在她的腰上。

Some one had mounted the little box and stood teetering there beside her, pressed against her slightly, reassuringly.

有人登上了小盒子，摇摇晃晃地站在她身边，轻轻地压着她，让她放心。

Pervus DeJong.

佩尔乌斯·德容。

Her head was on a level with his great shoulder now.

她的头现在与他的肩膀处于同一水平线上。

They stood together in the doorway, on the soap-box, for all High Prairie to see.

他们一起站在门口的肥皂盒上，让高草原的所有人都看到。

“Five cents I’m bid for this lovely little mouthful put up by the school teacher’s own fair hands.

“我出价五美分，买下这口可爱的小口食物，是学校老师亲手亲手制作的。

Five cents!

五分钱！

Five——”

五——”

“One dollar!” Pervus DeJong.

“一美元！”佩尔乌斯·德容。

The balloon faces were suddenly punctured with holes.

气球表面突然被刺破了几个洞。

High Prairie’s jaw dropped with astonishment.

高草原惊得下巴都掉下来了。

Its mouth stood open.

它的嘴张开着。

There was nothing plain about Selina now.

塞琳娜现在没有任何明显的地方。

Her dark head was held high, and his fair one beside it made a vivid foil.

她的黑头高高地昂着，旁边他白皙的头形成了生动的衬托。

The purchase of the wine-coloured cashmere was at last justified.

购买酒红色羊绒终于是合理的了。

“And ten!” cackled old Johannes Ambuul, his rheumy eyes on Selina.

“还有十个！”老约翰内斯·安布尔咯咯地笑道，他那双湿淋淋的眼睛看着塞琳娜。

Art and human spitefulness struggled visibly for mastery in Adam Ooms’s face—and art won.

在亚当·乌姆斯的脸上，艺术和人类的恶意明显地在争夺主宰权——而艺术赢了。

The auctioneer triumphed over the man.

拍卖师战胜了那个人。

The term “crowd psychology” was unknown to him, but he was artist enough to sense that some curious magic process, working through this roomful of people, had transformed the little white box, from a thing despised and ridiculed, into an object of beauty, of value, of infinite desirability.

“群体心理”这个词对他来说并不陌生，但他是一位足够艺术家，能够感觉到某种奇怪的魔法过程，在这屋子里的人中起作用，已经将这个小白盒子从一个被鄙视和嘲笑的东西变成了一个美丽的、有价值的、无限渴望的物体。

He now eyed it in a catalepsy of admiration.

现在他以一种钦佩的目光注视着它。

“One-ten I’m bid for this box all tied with a ribbon to match the gown of the girl who brought it.

“我出价一十分，买下这个盒子，上面系着丝带，与带来它的女孩的礼服相匹配。

Gents, you get the ribbon, the lunch, _and_ the girl.

先生们，你们得到丝带、午餐和女孩。

And only one-ten bid for all that.

而且只有十分之一的人出价。

Gents!

先生们！

Gents!

先生们！

Remember, it ain’t only a lunch—it’s a picture.

请记住，这不仅仅是一顿午餐，而且是一张照片。

It pleases the eye.

令人赏心悦目。

Do I hear one——”

我有没有听到——”

“Five bits!” Barend DeRoo, of Low Prairie, in the lists.

“五位！”来自 Low Prairie 的 Barend DeRoo 也在名单中。

A strapping young Dutchman, the Brom Bones of the district.

一位身材魁梧的年轻荷兰人，是该地区的“布罗姆骨头”。

Aaltje Huff, in a fit of pique at his indifference, had married to spite him.

阿尔杰·哈夫对他的冷漠感到愤怒，于是结了婚来报复他。

Cornelia Vinke, belle of New Haarlem, was said to be languishing for love of him.

据说，新哈勒姆的美女科妮莉亚·文克（Cornelia Vinke）正因对他的爱而苦苦挣扎。

He drove to the Haymarket with his load of produce and played cards all night on the wagon under the gas torches while the street girls of the neighbourhood assailed him in vain.

他带着一车农产品开车到干草市场，在煤气灯下在马车上打了一整夜的牌，而附近的街头女孩却徒劳地攻击他。

Six feet three, his red face shone now like a harvest moon above the crowd.

身高六英尺三英寸，他的红脸现在在人群上方闪闪发光，就像一轮丰收的月亮。

A merry, mischievous eye that laughed at Pervus DeJong and his dollar bid.

一只快乐而顽皮的眼睛嘲笑着佩尔乌斯·德容和他的美元出价。

“Dollar and a half!” A high clear voice—a boy’s voice.

“一美元半！”一个高亢清晰的声音——一个男孩的声音。

Roelf.

罗尔夫.

“Oh, no!” said Selina aloud.

“哦，不！”赛琳娜大声说道。

But she was unheard in the gabble.

但她的喋喋不休却无人听见。

Roelf had once confided to her that he had saved three dollars and fifty cents in the last three years.

罗尔夫曾经向她吐露，过去三年里他节省了三美元五十美分。

Five dollars would purchase a set of tools that his mind had been fixed on for months past.

五美元就可以购买一套他过去几个月一直在思考的工具。

Selina saw Klaas Pool’s look of astonishment changing to anger.

赛琳娜看到克拉斯池的神情由惊讶转为愤怒。

Saw Maartje Pool’s quick hand on his arm, restraining him.

看到马尔杰·普尔敏捷的手放在他的手臂上，制止了他。

“Two dollars!” Pervus DeJong.

“两块钱！”佩尔乌斯·德容。

“Twotwotwotwotwotwo!” Adam Ooms in a frenzy of salesmanship.

“二二二二二！”亚当·奥姆斯（Adam Ooms）热衷于推销。

“And ten.” Johannes Ambuul’s cautious bid.

“还有十个。”约翰内斯·阿姆布尔（Johannes Ambuul）的谨慎出价。

“Two and a quarter.” Barend DeRoo.

“两点一刻。”巴伦德·德鲁.

“Two-fifty!” Pervus DeJong.

“两点五十分！”佩尔乌斯·德容。

“Three dollars!” The high voice of the boy.

“三块钱！”男孩的声音很高。

It cracked a little on the last syllable, and the crowd laughed.

最后一个音节有点噼啪作响，人群哈哈大笑。

“Three-three-three-three-threethreethree.

“三三三三三三三。

Three once——”

三一次——”

“And a half.” Pervus DeJong.

“还有一半。”佩尔乌斯·德容。

“Three sixty.”

“三点六十。”

“Four!” DeRoo.

“四个！”德罗。

“And ten.”

“还有十个。”

The boy’s voice was heard no more.

男孩的声音再也听不到了。

“I wish they’d stop,” whispered Selina.

“我希望他们停下来。”塞琳娜低声说道。

“Five!” Pervus DeJong.

“五！”佩尔乌斯·德容。

“Six!” DeRoo, his face very red.

“六！”德罗的脸很红。

“And ten.”

“还有十个。”

“Seven!”

“七！”

“It’s only jelly sandwiches,” said Selina to DeJong, in a panic.

“这只是果冻三明治，”塞琳娜惊慌地对德容说。

“Eight!” Johannes Ambuul, gone mad.

“八！”约翰内斯·安布尔，疯了。

“Nine!” DeRoo.

“九！”德罗。

“Nine!

“九个！

Nine I’m bid!

九 我中标了！

Nine-nine-nine!

九九九！

Who’ll make it——”

谁能做到——”

“Let him have it.

“让他拥有吧。

The cup cakes fell a little.

纸杯蛋糕掉了一点。

Don’t——”

别——”

“Ten!” said Pervus DeJong.

“十个！”佩尔乌斯·德容说道。

Barend DeRoo shrugged his great shoulders.

巴伦德·德鲁耸耸他的肩膀。

“Ten-ten-ten.

“十、十、十。

Do I hear eleven?

我听到十一点了吗？

Do I hear ten-fifty!

我听到十点五十分了吗！

Ten-ten-ten tententententententen!

十十十帐篷腾腾腾腾！

Gents!

先生们！

Ten once.

一次十个。

Ten twice!

十两次！

Gone!—for ten dollars to Pervus DeJong.

走了！——给 Pervus DeJong 十美元。

And a bargain.” Adam Ooms mopped his bald head and his cheeks and the damp spot under his chin.

而且很便宜。”亚当·奥姆斯擦了擦他的光头、脸颊和下巴下面的湿点。

Ten dollars.

十美元。

Adam Ooms knew, as did all the countryside, this was not the sum of ten dollars merely.

亚当·奥姆斯（Adam Ooms）知道，就像所有乡村人一样，这不仅仅是十美元的总和。

No basket of food, though it contained nightingales’ tongues, the golden apple of Atalanta, wines of rare vintage, could have been adequate recompense for these ten dollars.

尽管里面有夜莺的舌头、亚特兰大的金苹果、珍稀年份的葡萄酒，但没有一篮子食物足以补偿这十块钱。

They represented sweat and blood; toil and hardship; hours under the burning prairie sun at mid-day; work doggedly carried on through the drenching showers of spring; nights of restless sleep snatched an hour at a time under the sky in the Chicago market place; miles of weary travel down the rude corduroy road between High Prairie and Chicago, now up to the hubs in mud, now blinded by dust and blowing sand.

他们代表着汗水和鲜血；辛劳和艰辛；正午草原烈日下的几个小时；工作在春雨中顽强地进行着；在芝加哥市场的天空下，失眠的夜晚有时会被夺走一个小时；沿着高草原和芝加哥之间简陋的灯芯绒道路行驶了数英里，疲惫不堪，现在到达了泥泞的枢纽，现在又被灰尘和风沙遮蔽了视线。

A sale at Christie’s, with a miniature going for a million, could not have met with a deeper hush, a more dramatic babble following the hush.

佳士得拍卖会上，一幅微型画售价一百万，引起了最深沉的静默，静默后的喧嚣声也最为戏剧化。

They ate their lunch together in one corner of Adam Ooms’s hall.

他们在亚当·奥姆斯大厅的一角一起吃午餐。

Selina opened the box and took out the devilled eggs, and the cup cakes that had fallen a little, and the apples, and the sandwiches sliced very, very thin.

塞琳娜打开盒子，拿出了芥末蛋，还有掉了一点的纸杯蛋糕，还有苹果，还有切成薄片的三明治。

The coldly appraising eye of all High Prairie, Low Prairie, and New Haarlem watched this sparse provender emerge from the ribbon-tied shoe box.

高草原、低草原和新哈勒姆的所有人都用冷漠的目光注视着这些稀疏的谷物从系着丝带的鞋盒里出来。

She offered him a sandwich.

她给了他一个三明治。

It looked infinitesimal in his great paw.

在他的大爪子里，它看起来微不足道。

Suddenly all Selina’s agony of embarrassment was swept away, and she was laughing, not wildly or hysterically, but joyously and girlishly.

突然，塞琳娜所有的尴尬痛苦都一扫而空，她笑起来，不是狂野或歇斯底里，而是快乐而少女。

She sank her little white teeth into one of the absurd sandwiches and looked at him, expecting to find him laughing, too.

她把洁白的小牙齿咬进了一个可笑的三明治里，看着他，希望看到他也在笑。

But he wasn’t laughing.

但他没有笑。

He looked very earnest, and his blue eyes were fixed hard on the bit of bread in his hand, and his face was very red and clean-shaven.

他看上去很认真，蓝色的眼睛死死地盯着手里的那块面包，脸涨得通红，胡子刮得干干净净。

He bit into the sandwich and chewed it solemnly.

他咬了一口三明治，郑重地咀嚼着。

And Selina thought: “Why, the dear thing!

塞琳娜想：“哎呀，亲爱的！

The great big dear thing!

伟大的伟大的亲爱的事情！

And he might have been eating breast of duck .

他可能正在吃鸭胸肉。

.

。

.

。

Ten dollars!” Aloud she said, “What made you do it?”

十块钱！”她大声说道：“是什么让你这么做的？”

“I don’t know.

“我不知道。

I don’t know.” Then, “You looked so little.

我不知道。”然后，“你看上去好小啊。

And they were making fun.

他们正在开玩笑。

Laughing.” He looked very earnest, and his blue eyes were fixed hard on the sandwich, and his face was very red.

笑了。”他看上去很认真，蓝色的眼睛死死地盯着三明治，脸涨得通红。

“That’s a very foolish reason for throwing away ten dollars,” Selina said, severely.

“这就是扔掉十块钱的非常愚蠢的理由。”赛琳娜严肃地说。

He seemed not to hear her; bit ruminantly into one of the cup cakes.

他似乎没有听见她说话。反刍地咬了其中一个纸杯蛋糕。

Suddenly: “I can’t hardly write at all, only to sign my name and like that.”

突然：“我根本不会写字，只能签上自己的名字之类的。”

“Read?”

“读？”

“Only to spell out the words.

“只是为了拼出单词。

Anyways I don’t get time for reading.

反正我没有时间读书。

But figuring I wish I knew.

但我想我希望我知道。

’Rithmetic.

’有算术。

I can figger some, but those fellows in Haymarket they are too sharp for me.

我可以猜出一些，但是干草市场的那些家伙对我来说太敏锐了。

They do numbers in their head—like that, so quick.”

他们在脑子里计算数字——就这样，速度这么快。”

Selina leaned toward him.

赛琳娜向他倾身。

“I’ll teach you.

“我来教你。

I’ll teach you.”

我来教你。”

“How do you mean, teach me?”

“你的意思是，教我？”

“Evenings.”

“晚上。”

He looked down at his great calloused palms, then up at her.

他低头看着自己布满老茧的大手掌，然后又抬头看着她。

“What would you take for pay?”

“你愿意拿什么作为报酬？”

“Pay!

“付钱！

I don’t want any pay.” She was genuinely shocked.

我不想要任何报酬。”她真的很震惊。

His face lighted up with a sudden thought.

他的脸因突然的想法而变得明亮。

“Tell you what.

“告诉你什么。

My place is just this side the school, next to Bouts’s place.

我的住处就在学校这边，靠近布茨的住处。

I could start for you the fire, mornings, in the school.

早上，我可以为你在学校生火。

And thaw the pump and bring in a pail of water.

解冻泵并放入一桶水。

This month, and January and February and part of March, even, now I don’t go to market on account it’s winter, I could start you the fire.

这个月，还有一月、二月和三月的一部分，甚至，现在我不去市场了，因为现在是冬天，我可以给你生火。

Till spring.

直到春天。

And I could come maybe three times a week, evenings, to Pool’s place, for lessons.” He looked so helpless, so humble, so huge; and the more pathetic for his hugeness.

我可能每周会来三次，晚上，去普尔那里上课。”他看起来是那么无助，那么卑微，那么伟大；更可悲的是他的巨大。

She felt a little rush of warmth toward him that was at once impersonal and maternal.

她感到一丝温暖涌向他，既不带个人色彩，又充满母性。

She thought again, “Why, the dear thing!

她又想了想：“哎呀，亲爱的！

The great helpless big thing!

伟大无助的大事！

How serious he is!

他是多么认真啊！

And funny.” He was indeed both serious and funny, with the ridiculous cup cake in his great hand, his eyes wide and ruminant, his face ruddier than ever, his forehead knotted with earnestness.

而且很有趣。”他确实是既严肃又有趣，他的大手上拿着那可笑的纸杯蛋糕，眼睛睁得大大的，沉思着，脸色比以前更红润，额头认真地打结。

She laughed, suddenly, a gay little laugh, and he, after a puzzled pause, joined her companionably.

她突然大笑起来，欢快的小笑，他困惑地停顿了一下后，友好地加入了她。

“Three evenings a week,” repeated Selina, then, from the depths of her ignorance.

“一周三个晚上。”赛琳娜从无知的深处重复道。

“Why, I’d love to.

“为什么，我很愿意。

I’d—love to.”

我很愿意。”

The evenings turned out to be Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

结果晚上是周二、周四和周六。

Supper was over by six-thirty in the Pool household.

泳池家的晚饭于六点三十分结束。

Pervus was there by seven, very clean as to shirt, his hair brushed till it shone; shy, and given to dropping his hat and bumping against chairs, and looking solemn.

佩尔乌斯七点钟就到了，他的衬衫非常干净，头发梳理得闪闪发亮。他很害羞，经常脱下帽子，撞到椅子上，看上去很严肃。

Selina was torn between pity and mirth.

塞琳娜在怜悯和欢笑之间左右为难。

If only he had blustered.

如果他当时咆哮就好了。

A blustering big man puts the world on the defensive.

一个气势汹汹的大个子让全世界都处于防守状态。

A gentle giant disarms it.

一个温柔的巨人解除了它的武装。

Selina got out her McBride’s Grammar and Duffy’s Arithmetic, and together they started to parse verbs, paper walls, dig cisterns, and extract square roots.

塞琳娜拿出了麦克布莱德的语法和达菲的算术，他们一起开始解析动词、纸墙、挖水箱和提取平方根。

They found study impossible at the oilcloth-covered kitchen table, with the Pool household eddying about it.

他们发现在铺着油布的餐桌上学习是不可能的，泳池一家人都在忙着学习。

Jakob built a fire in the parlour stove and there they sat, teacher and pupil, their feet resting cosily on the gleaming nickel railing that encircled the wood burner.

雅各布在客厅的炉子里生了火，他们坐在那儿，老师和学生，他们的脚舒适地搁在围绕木火炉的闪闪发光的镍栏杆上。

On the evening of the first lesson Roelf had glowered throughout supper and had disappeared into the work-shed, whence issued a great sound of hammering, sawing, and general clatter.

第一节课的那天晚上，罗尔夫整个晚饭都怒视着他，然后消失在工作棚里，那里发出了巨大的锤击声、锯齿声和一般的咔嗒声。

He and Selina had got into the way of spending much time together, in or out of doors.

他和塞琳娜已经习惯了花很多时间在一起，无论是在室内还是室外。

They skated on Vander Sijde’s pond; together with the shrieking pigtails they coasted on the little slope that led down from Kuyper’s woods to the main road, using sleds that had been put together by Roelf.

他们在范德西德的池塘上滑冰；他们带着尖叫的辫子，在从凯珀树林通向大路的小斜坡上滑行，使用的是罗尔夫组装的雪橇。

On bad days they read or studied.

心情不好的时候，他们会读书或学习。

Not Sundays merely, but many week-day evenings were spent thus.

不仅仅是周日，很多工作日的晚上都是这样度过的。

Selina was determined that Roelf should break away from the uncouth speech of the countryside; that he should at least share with her the somewhat sketchy knowledge gained at Miss Fister’s select school.

塞琳娜决心让罗尔夫摆脱乡村粗俗的言语；他至少应该与她分享在菲斯特小姐所选择的学校获得的一些粗略的知识。

She, the woman of almost twenty, never talked down to this boy of twelve.

她，这个快二十岁的女人，从不居高临下地对这个十二岁的男孩说话。

The boy worshipped her inarticulately.

男孩含糊地崇拜她。

She had early discovered that he had a feeling for beauty—beauty of line, texture, colour, and grouping—that was rare in one of his years.

她很早就发现他对美有一种感觉——线条之美、纹理之美、色彩之美和组合之美——这在他那个年纪是很少见的。

The feel of a satin ribbon in his fingers; the orange and rose of a sunset; the folds of the wine-red cashmere dress; the cadence of a spoken line, brought a look to his face that startled her.

手指上有缎带的感觉；夕阳的橙色和玫瑰色；酒红色羊绒连衣裙的褶皱；说话的节奏使他脸上的表情让她吃了一惊。

She had a battered volume of Tennyson.

她有一本破旧的丁尼生著作。

When first she read him the line beginning, “Elaine the fair, Elaine the lovable, Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat——” he had uttered a little exclamation.

当她第一次给他读到开头的那句台词时，“美丽的伊莱恩，可爱的伊莱恩，阿斯托拉特的百合女仆伊莱恩——”他发出了一声小小的感叹。

She, glancing up from her book, had found his eyes wide, bright, and luminous in his lean dark face.

她从书本上抬起头来，发现他的眼睛睁得大大的，明亮的，在他瘦削的黑脸上闪闪发亮。

“What is it, Roelf?”

“什么事，罗尔夫？”

He had flushed.

他脸红了。

“I didn’t say nothing—anything.

“我什么也没说——什么也没说。

Start over again how it goes, ‘Elaine——’”

重新开始吧，‘伊莱恩——’”

She had begun again the fragrant lines, “Elaine the fair, Elaine the lovable .

她又开始吟诵那句芬芳的诗句：“美丽的伊莱恩，可爱的伊莱恩……”

.

。

.”

”。

Since the gathering at Ooms’s hall he had been moody and sullen; had refused to answer when she spoke to him of his bid for her basket.

自从在乌姆斯大厅聚会以来，他一直情绪低落、闷闷不乐。当她向他谈到他对她的篮子的竞价时，她拒绝回答。

Urged, he would only say, “Oh, it was just fun to make old Ooms mad.”

在催促下，他只会说：“哦，让老奥姆斯生气真是太有趣了。”

Now, with the advent of Pervus DeJong, Roelf presented that most touching and miserable of spectacles, a small boy jealous and helpless in his jealousy.

现在，随着佩尔乌斯·德容的出现，罗尔夫呈现出最感人、最悲惨的景象，一个小男孩的嫉妒和嫉妒中的无助。

Selina had asked him to join the tri-weekly evening lessons; had, indeed, insisted that he be a pupil in the class round the parlour stove.

塞琳娜邀请他参加每三周一次的晚间课程。事实上，他坚持让他成为班上客厅火炉旁的学生。

Maartje had said, on the night of Pervus DeJong’s first visit, “Roelf, you sit, too, and learn.

在佩尔乌斯·德容第一次来访的那天晚上，马尔杰曾说过：“罗尔夫，你也坐下来学习。

Is good for you to learn out of books the way teacher says.” Klaas Pool, too, had approved the plan, since it would cost nothing and, furthermore, would in no way interfere with Roelf’s farm work.

按照老师说的方式从书本上学习对你有好处。”克拉斯·普尔也批准了这个计划，因为它不需要任何成本，而且绝不会干扰罗尔夫的农场工作。

“Sure; learn,” he said, with a large gesture.

“当然；学习，”他做出一个大手势说道。

Roelf would not.

罗尔夫不会。

He behaved very badly; slammed doors, whistled, scuffled on the kitchen floor, made many mysterious trips through the parlour up the stairs that led off that room, ascending with a clatter; incited Geertje and Jozina to quarrels and tears; had the household in a hubbub; stumbled over Dunder, the dog, so that that anguished animal’s yelps were added to the din.

他的行为非常恶劣；砰地一声关上门，吹着口哨，在厨房地板上扭打着，在客厅里进行了许多神秘的旅行，登上通向那个房间的楼梯，嘎嘎作响地上升；煽动Geertje和Jozina争吵和流泪；家里闹得沸沸扬扬；绊倒了狗邓德，那只动物痛苦的叫声加入了喧闹之中。

Selina was frantic.

赛琳娜心急如焚。

Lessons were impossible amidst this uproar.

在这场骚动中，上课是不可能的。

“It has never been like this before,” she assured Pervus, almost tearfully.

“以前从来没有这样过，”她几乎泪流满面地向佩尔乌斯保证。

“I don’t know what’s the matter.

“我不知道发生了什么事。

It’s awful.”

太糟糕了。”

Pervus had looked up from his slate.

佩尔乌斯从石板上抬起头来。

His eyes were calm, his lips smiling.

他的眼神很平静，嘴角带着笑意。

“Is all right.

“没事了。

In my house is too still, evenings.

晚上，我家太安静了。

Next time it goes better.

下次会更好。

You see.”

你看。”

Next time it did go better.

下次确实会进展得更好。

Roelf disappeared into his work-shed after supper; did not emerge until after DeJong’s departure.

晚饭后，罗尔夫消失在他的工作棚里。直到德容离开后才出现。

There was something about the sight of this great creature bent laboriously over a slate, the pencil held clumsily in his huge fingers, that moved Selina strangely.

这个伟大的生物在一块石板上费力地弯腰，巨大的手指笨拙地握着铅笔，这种景象让塞琳娜感到奇怪的感动。

Pity wracked her.

怜悯使她心碎。

If she had known to what emotion this pity was akin she might have taken away the slate and given him a tablet, and the whole course of her life would have been different.

如果她知道这种怜悯与什么情感相似，她可能会拿走石板并给他一块石板，她的整个人生轨迹就会有所不同。

“Poor lad,” she thought.

“可怜的小伙子，”她想。

“Poor lad.” Chided herself for being amused at his childlike earnestness.

“可怜的小伙子。”责备自己被他孩子般的认真逗乐了。

He did not make an apt pupil, though painstaking.

尽管他很努力，但他并没有成为一个聪明的学生。

Usually the top draught of the stove was open, and the glow of the fire imparted to his face and head a certain roseate glory.

通常，炉子的顶部通风口是敞开的，火光给他的脸和头带来某种玫瑰色的光彩。

He was very grave.

他的表情非常严肃。

His brow wore a troubled frown.

他的眉头苦恼地皱起。

Selina would go over a problem or a sentence again and again, patiently, patiently.

Selina会耐心地、耐心地一遍又一遍地思考一个问题或一句话。

Then, suddenly, like a hand passed over his face, his smile would come, transforming it.

然后，突然间，就像一只手抚过他的脸，他的笑容随之而来，改变了它。

He had white strong teeth, too small, and perhaps not so white as they seemed because of his russet blondeur.

他的牙齿又白又坚固，但太小了，也许因为他有一头黄褐色的金发，所以牙齿并不像看上去那么白。

He would smile like a child, and Selina should have been warned by the warm rush of joy that his smile gave her.

他会像个孩子一样微笑，塞琳娜应该被他的微笑给她带来的温暖的喜悦所警告。

She would smile, too.

她也会微笑。

He was as pleased as though he had made a fresh and wonderful discovery.

他很高兴，仿佛有了一个新鲜而奇妙的发现。

“It’s easy,” he would say, “when you know it once.” Like a boy.

“这很容易，”他会说，“只要你知道一次。”像个男孩。

He usually went home by eight-thirty or nine.

他通常八点三十分或九点回家。

Often the Pools went to bed before he left.

普尔斯夫妇常常在他离开前就去睡觉了。

After he had gone Selina was wakeful.

他走后，塞琳娜醒了。

She would heat water and wash; brush her hair vigorously; feeling at once buoyant and depressed.

她会烧水、洗衣服；用力梳理头发；感觉既轻松又沮丧。

Sometimes they fell to talking.

有时他们会说话。

His wife had died in the second year of their marriage, when the child was born.

他的妻子在他们结婚第二年孩子出生时就去世了。

The child, too, had died.

孩子也死了。

A girl.

一个女孩。

He was unlucky, like that.

他就这么不幸。

It was the same with the farm.

农场也是如此。

“Spring, half of the land is under water.

“春天，一半的土地都在水里。

My piece, just.

我的作品，只是。

Bouts’s place, next to me, is high and rich.

布茨的住处就在我旁边，又高又富有。

Bouts, he don’t even need deep ploughing.

回合，他甚至不需要深耕。

His land is quick land.

他的土地是快速土地。

It warms up in the spring early.

春天天气变暖得早。

After rain it works easy.

雨后，工作起来很容易。

He puts in fertilizer, any kind, and his plants jump, like.

他放入任何种类的肥料，他的植物就会跳起来。

My place is bad for garden truck.

我的地方不适合花园卡车。

Wet.

湿。

All the time, wet; or in summer baked before I can loosen it again.

一直湿漉漉的；或者在夏天烘烤之前我可以再次松开它。

Muckland.”

马克兰。”

Selina thought a moment.

赛琳娜想了一会儿。

She had heard much talk between Klaas and Jakob, winter evenings.

冬天的夜晚，她听过克拉斯和雅各布之间的很多谈话。

“Can’t you do something to it—fix it—so that the water will run off?

“你就不能对它做点什么——修复它——让水流掉吗？

Raise it, or dig a ditch or something?”

把它举起来，或者挖一条沟什么的？”

“We-e-ell, maybe.

“我们——嗯，也许吧。

Maybe you could.

也许你可以。

But it costs money, draining.”

但这要花钱，而且很耗电。”

“It costs money not to, doesn’t it?”

“不这么做是要花钱的，不是吗？”

He considered this, ruminatively.

他沉思地思考着这一点。

“Guess it does.

“猜猜是这样。

But you don’t have to have ready cash to let the land lay.

但你不必准备好现金来出租土地。

To drain it you do.”

要把它排干，你就这么做。”

Selina shook her head impatiently.

赛琳娜不耐烦地摇摇头。

“That’s a very foolish, short-sighted way to reason.”

“这是一种非常愚蠢、短视的推理方式。”

He looked helpless as only the strong and powerful can look.

他看上去很无助，只有强者才会有这样的表情。

Selina’s heart melted in pity.

赛琳娜的心被怜悯融化了。

He would look down at the great calloused hands; up at her.

他会低头看着那双布满老茧的大手；抬头看着她。

One of the charms of Pervus DeJong lay in the things that his eyes said and his tongue did not.

佩尔乌斯·德容的魅力之一在于他的眼睛说的和他的舌头没有说的事情。

Women always imagined he was about to say what he looked, but he never did.

女人总是想象他会说出他的样子，但他从来没有这样做过。

It made otherwise dull conversation with him most exciting.

这使得与他原本枯燥的谈话变得异常有趣。

His was in no way a shrewd mind.

他的头脑一点也不精明。

His respect for Selina was almost reverence.

他对赛琳娜的尊重近乎崇敬。

But he had this advantage: he had married a woman, had lived with her for two years.

但他有一个优势：他已经娶了一个女人，并且和她一起生活了两年。

She had borne him a child.

她为他生了一个孩子。

Selina was a girl in experience.

Selina是一个经验丰富的女孩。

She was a woman capable of a great deal of passion, but she did not know that.

她是一个充满激情的女人，但她自己并不知道。

Passion was a thing no woman possessed, much less talked about.

激情是任何女人都没有的东西，更不用说谈论了。

It simply did not exist, except in men, and then was something to be ashamed of, like a violent temper, or a weak stomach.

它根本不存在，除了男人之外，而且是值得羞耻的事情，就像暴躁的脾气或胃虚弱一样。

By the first of March he could speak a slow, careful, and fairly grammatical English.

到了三月一号，他已经可以说一口缓慢、仔细且相当合乎语法的英语了。

He could master simple sums.

他可以掌握简单的算术。

By the middle of March the lessons would cease.

到三月中旬，课程就会停止。

There was too much work to do about the farm—night work as well as day.

农场里有太多的工作要做——白天和晚上都有。

She found herself trying not to think about the time when the lessons should cease.

她发现自己努力不去想什么时候该结束课程。

She refused to look ahead to April.

她拒绝展望四月。

One night, late in February, Selina was conscious that she was trying to control something.

二月底的一个晚上，塞琳娜意识到她正在试图控制某些事情。

She was trying to keep her eyes away from something.

她试图让自己的目光从某样东西上移开。

She realized that she was trying not to look at his hands.

她意识到自己正在努力不去看他的手。

She wanted, crazily, to touch them.

她疯狂地想要触碰它们。

She wanted to feel them about her throat.

她想感受它们在她喉咙里的感觉。

She wanted to put her lips on his hands—brush the backs of them, slowly, moistly, with her mouth, lingeringly.

她想把嘴唇放在他的手上——用嘴慢慢地、湿润地拂过他的手背，挥之不去。

She was terribly frightened.

她非常害怕。

She thought to herself: “I am going crazy.

她心里想：“我快疯了。

I am losing my mind.

我快失去理智了。

There is something the matter with me.

我有事。

I wonder how I look.

我想知道我看起来怎么样。

I must look queer.”

我看起来一定很奇怪。”

She said something to make him look up at her.

她说了些什么，让他抬头看她。

His glance was mild, undismayed.

他的眼神很温和，没有惊慌。

So this hideous thing did not show in her face.

所以这种狰狞的东西并没有表现在她的脸上。

She kept her eyes resolutely on the book.

她的目光坚定地盯着书本。

At half-past eight she closed her book suddenly.

八点半，她突然合上了书。

“I’m tired.

“我累了。

I think it’s the spring coming on.” She smiled a little wavering smile.

我想，春天即将来临。”她微笑着，笑容有些摇摆。

He rose and stretched himself, his great arms high above his head.

他站起来，伸了个懒腰，巨大的手臂高举过头顶。

Selina shivered.

赛琳娜浑身发抖。

“Two more weeks,” he said, “is the last lesson.

“还有两周，”他说，“就是最后一课了。

Well, do you think I have done pretty good—well?”

嗯，你认为我做得很好吗——嗯？”

“Very well,” Selina replied, evenly.

“很好。”赛琳娜平静地回答。

She felt very tired.

她感觉很累。

The first week in March he was ill, and did not come.

三月的第一周他生病了，没有来。

A rheumatic affliction to which he was subject.

他患有风湿病。

His father, old Johannes DeJong, had had it before him.

他的父亲老约翰内斯·德容（Johannes DeJong）在他之前就已经经历过这种情况。

Working in the wet fields did it, they said.

他们说，在潮湿的田野里工作就做到了这一点。

It was the curse of the truck farmer.

这是卡车农场主的诅咒。

Selina’s evenings were free to devote to Roelf, who glowed again.

塞琳娜的夜晚可以自由地奉献给罗尔夫，他再次焕发了光芒。

She sewed, too; read; helped Mrs. Pool with the housework in a gust of sympathy and found strange relief therein; made over an old dress; studied; wrote all her letters (few enough), even one to the dried-apple aunts in Vermont.

她也做缝纫工作。读;他怀着同情之心帮助普尔太太做家务，并从中得到了一种奇怪的解脱。旧衣服改造；研究过；她写了所有的信（足够少），甚至包括一封写给佛蒙特州干苹果阿姨的信。

She no longer wrote to Julie Hempel.

她不再给朱莉·亨佩尔写信。

She had heard that Julie was to be married to a Kansas man named Arnold.

她听说朱莉将嫁给堪萨斯州的一个名叫阿诺德的男人。

Julie herself had not written.

朱莉本人没有写信。

The first week in March passed.

三月的第一周过去了。

He did not come.

他没有来。

Nor did he come the following Tuesday or Thursday.

接下来的星期二或星期四他也没有来。

After a terrific battle with herself Selina, after school on Thursday, walked past his house, busily, as though bent on an errand.

周四放学后，塞琳娜与自己进行了一场激烈的斗争，她忙碌地走过他家，仿佛一心要办事。

Despised herself for doing it, could not help herself, found a horrible and tortuous satisfaction in not looking at the house as she passed it.

她鄙视自己这样做，无法控制自己，当她经过房子时不看房子，她发现一种可怕而曲折的满足感。

She was bewildered, frightened.

她很困惑，很害怕。

All that week she had a curious feeling—or succession of feelings.

那一周她都有一种奇怪的感觉——或者说是一连串的感觉。

There was the sensation of suffocation followed by that of emptiness—of being hollow—boneless—bloodless.

一种窒息的感觉，随之而来的是空虚——空虚——没有骨头——没有血。

Then, at times, there was a feeling of physical pain; at others a sense of being disembowelled.

然后，有时会感到身体疼痛；其他人则有一种被掏空的感觉。

She was restless, listless, by turns.

她时而焦躁不安，时而无精打采。

Period of furious activity followed by days of inertia.

一段激烈的活动之后是几天的惰性。

It was the spring, Maartje said.

马杰说，那是春天。

Selina hoped she wasn’t going to be ill.

塞琳娜希望她不会生病。

She had never felt like that before.

她以前从未有过这样的感觉。

She wanted to cry.

她想哭。

She was irritable to the point of waspishness with the children in the schoolroom.

她对教室里的孩子们很烦躁，甚至变得很尖刻。

On Saturday—the fourteenth of March—he walked in at seven.

星期六——三月十四日——他七点钟走进来。

Klaas, Maartje, and Roelf had driven off to a gathering at Low Prairie, leaving Selina with the pigtails and old Jakob.

克拉斯、马尔杰和罗尔夫开车去低草原参加聚会，留下扎着辫子的塞琳娜和老雅各布。

She had promised to make taffy for them, and was in the midst of it when his knock sounded at the kitchen door.

她答应给他们做太妃糖，正当她准备的时候，他敲响了厨房的门。

All the blood in her body rushed to her head; pounded there hotly.

全身的血液都涌到了头上；热气腾腾地敲打着那里。

He entered.

他进来了。

There slipped down over her a complete armour of calmness, of self-possession; of glib how do you do Mr. DeJong and how are you feeling and won’t you sit down and there’s no fire in the parlour we’ll have to sit here.

她全身披上了一层冷静、沉着的铠甲。油嘴滑舌，你好吗，德容先生，你感觉怎么样，你不坐下来吗？客厅里没有火，我们只能坐在这里。

He took part in the taffy pulling.

他参加了太妃糖拉力赛。

Selina wondered if Geertje and Jozina would ever have done squealing.

塞琳娜想知道吉尔杰和乔齐娜是否会尖叫。

It was half-past eight before she bundled them off to bed with a plate of clipped taffy lozenges between them.

八点半了，她把他们抱到床上，中间夹着一盘切好的太妃糖糖片。

She heard them scuffling and scrimmaging about in the rare freedom of their parents’ absence.

她听到他们在父母不在的难得的自由中扭打、扭打。

“Now, children!” she called.

“现在，孩子们！”她打电话来。

“You know what you promised your mother and father.”

“你知道你向父母承诺过什么。”

She heard Geertje’s tones mimicking her mincingly, “You know what you promised your mother and father.” Then a cascade of smothered giggles.

她听到吉尔杰的语气装腔作势地模仿着她，“你知道你向你的父母承诺了什么。”然后是一连串令人窒息的咯咯笑声。

Pervus had been to town, evidently, for he now took from his coat pocket a bag containing half a dozen bananas—that delicacy of delicacies to the farm palate.

佩尔乌斯显然已经进城了，因为他现在从外套口袋里拿出一个袋子，里面装着六根香蕉——这是农场味觉中的美味佳肴。

She half peeled two and brought them in to the pigtails.

她把两片剥了一半，扎进辫子里。

They ate them thickly rapturous, and dropped off to sleep immediately, surfeited.

他们吃得津津有味，很快就睡着了，吃得饱饱的。

Pervus DeJong and Selina sat at the kitchen table, their books spread out before them on the oilcloth.

佩尔乌斯·德容和塞琳娜坐在厨房的桌子旁，书本铺在他们面前的油布上。

The sweet heavy scent of the fruit filled the room.

房间里充满了浓郁的水果香。

Selina brought the parlour lamp into the kitchen, the better to see.

塞琳娜把客厅的灯搬进了厨房，这样看得更清楚。

It was a nickel-bellied lamp with a yellow glass shade that cast a mellow golden glow.

那是一盏镍灯肚，黄色玻璃灯罩，散发出柔和的金色光芒。

“You didn’t go to the meeting,” primly.

“你没有去参加会议。”一本正经地说道。

“Mr. and Mrs. Pool went.”

“普尔先生和夫人去了。”

“No. No, I didn’t go.”

“不，不，我没去。”

“Why not?”

“为什么不呢？”

She saw him swallow.

她看见他吞咽下去。

“I got through too late.

“我来得太晚了。

I went to town, and I got through too late.

我进城了，但来得太晚了。

We’re fixing to sow tomato seeds in the hotbeds to-morrow.”

我们决定明天在温床上播种番茄种子。”

Selina opened McBride’s Grammar.

塞琳娜打开了《麦克布莱德语法》。

“Ahem!” a school-teacherly cough.

“咳咳！”学校老师的咳嗽声

“Now, then, we’ll parse this sentence: Blucher arrived on the field of Waterloo just as Wellington was receiving the last onslaught of Napoleon.

现在，我们来解析这句话：布吕歇尔抵达滑铁卢战场时，惠灵顿正在接受拿破仑的最后一次进攻。

‘Just’ may be treated as a modifier of the dependent clause.

“Just”可以被视为从属子句的修饰语。

That is: ‘Just’ means: at the time _at which_.

也就是说：“刚刚”的意思是：在时间_at which_。

Well.

好吧。

_Just_ here modified _at the time_.

_当时_刚刚_在这里修改过。

And Wellington is the .

惠灵顿是。

.

。

.”

”。

This for half an hour.

这样就持续了半个小时。

Selina kept her eyes resolutely on the book.

塞琳娜的目光坚定地盯着书本。

His voice went on with the dry business of parsing and its deep resonance struck a response from her as a harp responds when a hand is swept over its strings.

他的声音继续着干巴巴的解析工作，其深沉的共鸣引起了她的回应，就像手扫过琴弦时竖琴的回应一样。

Upstairs she could hear old Jakob clumping about in his preparations for bed.

在楼上，她听见老雅各布正在准备睡觉。

Then there was only stillness overhead.

然后头顶上只剩下一片寂静。

Selina kept her eyes resolutely on the book.

塞琳娜的目光坚定地盯着书本。

Yet she saw, as though her eyes rested on them, his large, strong hands.

然而，她的目光仿佛停留在他们身上，看到了他那双大而有力的手。

On the backs of them was a fine golden down that deepened at his wrists.

他们的背上有一层细密的金色绒毛，一直延伸到手腕处。

Heavier and darker at the wrists.

手腕处更重、更黑。

She found herself praying a little for strength—for strength against this horror and wickedness.

她发现自己在祈祷有力量——对抗这种恐怖和邪恶的力量。

This sin, this abomination that held her.

这种罪孽、这种憎恶束缚着她。

A terrible, stark, and pitiful prayer, couched in the idiom of the Bible.

这是一个可怕的、赤裸裸的、可怜的祈祷，用圣经的成语表达出来。

“Oh, God, keep my eyes and my thoughts away from him.

“哦，上帝，让我的眼睛和思想远离他。

Away from his hands.

远离他的手。

Let me keep my eyes and my thoughts away from the golden hairs on his wrists.

让我的目光和思绪远离他手腕上的金色毛发。

Let me not think of his wrists.

让我不要去想他的手腕。

.

。

.

。

.

。

The owner of the southwest ¼ sells a strip 20 rods wide along the south side of his farm.

西南 1/4 农场的主人出售农场南侧 20 杆宽的地带。

How much does he receive at $150 per acre?”

每英亩 150 美元，他能赚多少钱？”

He triumphed in this transaction, began the struggle with the square root of 576.

他在这次交易中取得了胜利，开始了与576平方根的斗争。

Square roots agonized him.

平方根让他很痛苦。

She washed the slate clean with her little sponge.

她用小海绵把石板擦干净了。

He was leaning close in his effort to comprehend the fiendish little figures that marched so tractably under Selina’s masterly pencil.

他正在努力地靠近，试图理解塞琳娜精湛的铅笔下那些恶魔般的小人物。

She took it up, glibly.

她轻松地接了起来。

“The remainder must contain twice the product of the tens by the units plus the square of the units.” He blinked.

“余数必须是十乘以单位的乘积加上单位的平方的两倍。”他眨了眨眼睛。

Utterly bewildered.

彻底迷惑了。

“_And_,” went on Selina, blithely, “twice the tens, times the units, plus the square of the units, is the same as the sum of twice the tens, and the units, times the units.

“_而且_，”赛琳娜愉快地继续说道，“十的两倍乘以个位，加上个位的平方，等于十的两倍加上个位再乘以个位的和。

_Therefore_”—with a flourish—“add 4 units to the 40 and multiply the result by 4.

_因此_”——夸张地说——“40 加上 4 个单位，然后将结果乘以 4。

_Therefore_”—in final triumph—“the square root of 576 is 24.”

_因此_”——最终胜利——“576 的平方根是 24。”

She was breathing rather fast.

她的呼吸有些急促。

The fire in the kitchen stove snapped and cracked.

厨房炉子里的火突然噼啪作响。

“Now, then, suppose you do that for me.

“现在，假设你为我做这件事。

We’ll wipe it out.

我们会把它消灭掉。

There!

在那里！

What must the remainder contain?”

剩下的必须包含什么？”

He took it up, slowly, haltingly.

他缓慢而犹豫地拿起它。

The house was terribly still except for the man’s voice.

屋子里静得可怕，只有男人的声音。

“The remainder .

“剩下的。

.

。

.

。

twice .

两次。

.

。

.

。

product .

产品。

.

。

.

。

tens .

几十。

.

。

.

。

units .

单位。

.

。

.” A something in his voice—a note—a timbre.

”。他的声音里有某种东西——一个音符——一种音色。

She felt herself swaying queerly, as though the whole house were gently rocking.

她感觉自己在奇怪地摇晃，仿佛整个房子都在轻轻摇晃。

Little delicious agonizing shivers chased each other, hot and cold, up her arms, down her legs, over her spine.

一阵阵令人愉悦的、痛苦的颤抖互相追逐，忽热忽冷，顺着她的手臂，顺着她的腿，越过她的脊椎。

.

。

.

。

.

。

“plus the square of the units is the same as the sum twice the tens .

“加上单位的平方等于十的两倍之和。

.

。

.

。

twice .

两次。

.

。

.

。

the tens .

几十个。

.

。

.

。

the tens .

几十个。

.

。

.” His voice stopped.

”。他的声音戛然而止。

Selina’s eyes leaped from the book to his hands, uncontrollably.

赛琳娜的目光不受控制地从书上跳到了他的手上。

Something about them startled her.

他们身上的某些东西让她吃了一惊。

They were clenched into fists.

他们握紧了拳头。

Her eyes now leaped from those clenched fists to the face of the man beside her.

她的目光从紧握的拳头跳到了身边男人的脸上。

Her head came up, and back.

她的头抬起来，又转回来。

Her wide startled eyes met his.

她惊讶地睁大眼睛与他对视。

His were a blaze of blinding blue in his tanned face.

他晒黑的脸上闪着耀眼的蓝色光芒。

Some corner of her mind that was still working clearly noted this.

她大脑中仍在运转的某个角落清楚地注意到了这一点。

Then his hands unclenched.

然后他的手松开了。

The blue blaze scorched her, enveloped her.

蓝色的火焰灼烧着她，将她笼罩。

Her cheek knew the harsh cool feel of a man’s cheek.

她的脸颊熟悉男人脸颊那种冰凉的感觉。

She sensed the potent, terrifying, pungent odour of close contact—a mixture of tobacco smoke, his hair, freshly laundered linen, an indefinable body smell.

她感觉到近距离接触时散发出的强烈、可怕、刺鼻的气味——烟草烟雾、他的头发、刚洗过的亚麻布的混合物，还有一种难以形容的体味。

It was a mingling that disgusted and attracted her.

这是一种让她厌恶又吸引她的混合体。

She was at once repelled and drawn.

她立刻感到排斥又被吸引。

Then she felt his lips on hers and her own, incredibly, responding eagerly, wholly to that pressure.

然后她感觉到他的嘴唇贴在她和她自己的嘴唇上，令人难以置信，她热切地、完全地回应了这种压力。

They were married the following May, just two months later.

第二年五月，也就是两个月后，他们就结婚了。

The High Prairie school year practically ended with the appearance of the first tender shoots of green that meant onions, radishes, and spinach above the rich sandy loam.

高草原学年实际上随着第一批嫩芽的出现而结束，这意味着洋葱、萝卜和菠菜在肥沃的沙壤土上生长。

Selina’s classes broke, dwindled, shrank to almost nothing.

塞琳娜的课程中断、减少、缩减到几乎为零。

The school became a kindergarten of five-year-old babies who wriggled and shifted and scratched in the warm spring air that came from the teeming prairie through the open windows.

学校变成了五岁婴儿的幼儿园，他们在温暖的春天空气中扭动、移动、抓挠，这些空气从开着的窗户从茂密的草原吹来。

The schoolhouse stove stood rusty-red and cold.

校舍的炉子呈锈红色，冰冷。

The drum in Selina’s bedroom was a black genie deprived of his power now to taunt her.

塞琳娜卧室里的鼓是一个黑色的精灵，现在被剥夺了力量来嘲笑她。

Selina was at once bewildered and calm; rebellious and content.

塞琳娜既困惑又平静。叛逆又满足。

Over-laying these emotions was something like grim amusement.

覆盖在这些情绪之上的是一种可怕的娱乐。

Beneath them, something like fright.

在他们的下面，有一种类似恐惧的东西。

High Prairie, in May, was green and gold and rose and blue.

五月的高草原是绿色、金色、玫瑰色和蓝色。

The spring flowers painted the fields and the roadside with splashes of yellow, of pink, of mauve, and purple.

春天的花朵把田野和路边染成了黄色、粉色、淡紫色和紫色。

Violets, buttercups, mandrakes, marsh-marigolds, hepatica.

紫罗兰、毛茛、曼德拉草、沼泽万寿菊、肝花。

The air was soft and cool from the lake.

湖边的空气柔和而凉爽。

Selina had never known spring in the country before.

塞琳娜以前从未见过乡村的春天。

It made her ache with an actual physical ache.

这让她感到身体疼痛。

She moved with a strange air of fatality.

她的动作带着一种奇怪的致命气息。

It was as if she were being drawn inexorably, against her will, her judgment, her plans, into something sweet and terrible.

就好像她被无情地、违背她的意愿、她的判断、她的计划，卷入某种甜蜜而可怕的事情中。

When with Pervus she was elated, gay, voluble.

和佩尔乌斯在一起时，她兴高采烈、快乐、健谈。

He talked little; looked at her dumbly, worshippingly.

他很少说话；呆呆地、崇拜地看着她。

When he brought her a withered bunch of trilliums, the tears came to her eyes.

当他给她带来一束枯萎的延龄草时，她的眼泪夺眶而出。

He had walked to Updike’s woods to get them because he had heard her say she loved them, and there were none nearer.

他步行到厄普代克的树林去拿它们，因为他听到她说她爱它们，而附近没有人。

They were limp and listless from the heat, and from being held in his hand.

由于炎热和被他握在手中，它们变得软弱无精打采。

He looked up at her from where he stood on the kitchen steps, she in the doorway.

他站在厨房的台阶上抬头看着她，而她就在门口。

She took them, laid her hand on his head.

她接过它们，把手放在他的头上。

It was as when some great gentle dog brings in a limp and bedraggled prize dug from the yard and, laying it at one’s feet, looks up at one with soft asking eyes.

这就好像一只温柔的大狗带来了从院子里挖出来的一只跛行、脏兮兮的战利品，把它放在一个人的脚边，抬头用温柔的询问的眼睛看着一个人。

There were days when the feeling of unreality possessed her.

有时候，她有一种不真实的感觉。

She, a truck farmer’s wife, living in High Prairie the rest of her days!

她，一个卡车农场主的妻子，余生都住在高草原！

Why, no!

为什么，不！

No!

不！

Was this the great adventure that her father had always spoken of?

这就是她父亲口中常说的伟大冒险吗？

She, who was going to be a happy wayfarer down the path of life—any one of a dozen things.

她，将成为人生道路上的一个快乐的旅行者——任何一打事情。

This High Prairie winter was to have been only an episode.

这个高草原的冬天本来只是一个插曲。

Not her life!

不是她的命！

She looked at Maartje.

她看着玛杰。

Oh, but she’d never be like that.

哦，但她永远不会那样。

That was stupid, unnecessary.

那是愚蠢的，没有必要的。

Pink and blue dresses in the house, for her.

家里有粉色和蓝色的衣服，是为她准备的。

Frills on the window curtains.

窗帘上有褶边。

Flowers in bowls.

碗里的花。

Some of the pangs and terrors with which most prospective brides are assailed she confided to Mrs. Pool while that active lady was slamming about the kitchen.

当那位活跃的女士在厨房里忙忙碌碌时，她向普尔太太吐露了大多数准新娘所遭受的一些痛苦和恐惧。

“Did you ever feel scared and—and sort of—scared when you thought about marry, Mrs. Pool?”

“当你想到结婚的时候，你有没有感到害怕，或者有点害怕，普尔太太？”

Maartje Pool’s hands were in a great batch of bread dough which she pummelled and slapped and kneaded vigorously.

玛尔杰·普尔的双手握着一大堆面包面团，她用力敲打、拍打、揉捏。

She shook out a handful of flour on the baking board while she held the dough mass in the other hand, then plumped it down and again began to knead, both hands doubled into fists.

她在烤盘上抖出一把面粉，另一只手拿着面团，然后把它攥在下面，再次开始揉面，双手握成拳头。

She laughed a short little laugh.

她短促地笑了一声。

“I ran away.”

“我逃跑了。”

“You did!

“你做到了！

You mean you really ran—but why?

你的意思是你真的跑了——但为什么呢？

Didn’t you lo—like Klaas?”

你难道不喜欢克拉斯吗？

Maartje Pool kneaded briskly, the colour high in her cheeks, what with the vigorous pummelling and rolling, and something else that made her look strangely young for the moment—girlish, almost.

玛尔杰·普尔轻快地揉捏着，脸颊涨红，加上剧烈的敲击和滚动，以及其他一些东西，让她此刻看起来异常年轻——几乎像个少女。

“Sure I liked him, I liked him.”

“我当然喜欢他，我喜欢他。”

“But you ran away?”

“但是你逃跑了？”

“Not far.

不远。

I came back.

我回来了。

Nobody ever knew I ran, even.

甚至没有人知道我跑了。

But I ran.

但我跑了。

I knew.”

我知道。”

“Why did you come back?”

“你怎么回来了？”

Maartje elucidated her philosophy without being in the least aware that it could be called by any such high-sounding name.

玛尔杰阐明了她的哲学，却丝毫没有意识到它可以用任何如此冠冕堂皇的名字来称呼。

“You can’t run away far enough.

“你逃得不够远。

Except you stop living you can’t run away from life.”

除非你停止生活，否则你无法逃避生活。”

The girlish look had fled.

少女般的神情消失了。

She was world-old.

她已经是世界老将了。

Her strong arms ceased their pounding and thumping for a moment.

她有力的手臂暂时停止了敲击和重击。

On the steps just outside Klaas and Jakob were scanning the weekly reports preparatory to going into the city late that afternoon.

克拉斯和雅各布在外面的台阶上浏览每周报告，准备当天下午晚些时候进城。

Selina had the difficult task of winning Roelf to her all over again.

塞琳娜面临着重新赢得罗尔夫的艰巨任务。

He was like a trusting little animal, who, wounded by the hand he has trusted, is shy of it.

他就像一头信任别人的小动物，被自己信任的手伤害了，却变得害羞了。

She used blandishments on this boy of thirteen such as she had never vouchsafed the man she was going to marry.

她对这个十三岁的男孩用甜言蜜语，比如她从未向她将要结婚的男人提供过保证。

He had asked her, bluntly, one day: “Why are you going to marry with him?” He never spoke the name.

有一天，他直言不讳地问她：“你为什么要嫁给他？”他从来没有说出这个名字。

She thought deeply.

她深深地想道。

What to say?

说什么？

The answer ready on her tongue would have little meaning for this boy.

她嘴上的答案对于这个男孩来说没有什么意义。

There came to her a line from Lancelot and Elaine.

她听到兰斯洛特和伊莱恩的一句话。

She answered, “To serve him, and to follow him through the world.” She thought that rather fine-sounding until Roelf promptly rejected it.

她回答说：“为他服务，跟随他走遍世界。”她认为这听起来不错，直到罗尔夫立即拒绝了。

“That’s no reason.

“这不是理由。

An answer out of a book.

书上的答案。

Anyway, to follow him through the world is dumb.

无论如何，跟随他走遍世界都是愚蠢的。

He stays right here in High Prairie all his life.”

他一生都待在高草原。”

“How do you know!” Selina retorted, almost angrily.

“你怎么知道！”赛琳娜几乎是愤怒地反驳道。

Startled, too.

也吓了一跳。

“I know.

“我知道。

He stays.”

他留下来了。”

Still, he could not withstand her long.

尽管如此，他还是无法忍受她太久。

Together they dug and planted flower beds in Pervus’s dingy front yard.

他们一起在佩尔乌斯肮脏的前院挖并种植了花坛。

It was too late for tulips now.

现在对于郁金香来说已经太晚了。

Pervus had brought her some seeds from town.

佩尔乌斯从城里给她带来了一些种子。

They ranged all the way from poppies to asters; from purple iris to morning glories.

它们的种类繁多，从罂粟花到紫菀花。从紫色鸢尾花到牵牛花。

The last named were to form the back-porch vine, of course, because they grew quickly.

当然，最后命名的是形成后门廊的藤蔓，因为它们生长得很快。

Selina, city-bred, was ignorant of varieties, but insisted she wanted an old-fashioned garden—marigolds, pinks, mignonette, phlox.

塞琳娜在城市长大，对品种一无所知，但坚持说她想要一个老式花园——金盏花、粉红花、木犀草、福禄考。

She and Roelf dug, spaded, planted.

她和罗尔夫挖土、铲土、种植。

The DeJong place was markedly ugly even in that community of squat houses.

即使在那个低矮房屋社区里，德容的地方也明显丑陋。

It lacked the air of sparkling cleanliness that saved the other places from sordidness.

它缺乏那种让其他地方免于肮脏的闪闪发光的清洁空气。

The house, even then, was thirty years old—a gray, weather-beaten frame box with a mansard roof and a flat face staring out at the dense willows by the roadside.

即使在那时，这所房子已经有三十年的历史了——一座灰色的、饱经风霜的框架盒子，有斜折屋顶，平坦的脸凝视着路边茂密的柳树。

It needed paint; the fences sagged; the window curtains were awry.

它需要油漆；栅栏下垂了；窗帘歪了。

The parlour was damp, funereal.

客厅潮湿、阴森。

The old woman who tended the house for Pervus slopped about all day with a pail and a wet gray rag.

为佩尔乌斯照料房子的老妇人整天提着水桶和湿漉漉的灰色抹布到处走动。

There was always a crazy campanile of dirty dishes stacked on the table, and the last meal seemed never to catch up with the next.

桌子上总是堆满脏盘子，上一顿饭似乎永远赶不上下一顿饭。

About the whole house there was a starkness, a bareness that proclaimed no woman who loved it dwelt therein.

整个房子一片荒凉、空旷，表明里面没有住过任何一个爱它的女人。

Selina told herself (and Pervus) that she would change all that.

塞琳娜告诉自己（和珀乌斯）她会改变这一切。

She saw herself going about with a brush and a can of white paint, leaving beauty in her wake, where ugliness had been.

她看到自己拿着一把画笔和一罐白色颜料走来走去，在她身后留下了曾经丑陋的美丽。

Her trousseau was of the scantiest.

她的嫁妆是最简陋的。

Pervus’s household was already equipped with such linens as they would need.

佩尔乌斯的家里已经配备了他们需要的床单。

The question of a wedding gown troubled her until Maartje suggested that she be married in the old Dutch wedding dress that lay in the bride’s chest in Selina’s bedroom.

婚纱的问题一直困扰着她，直到 Maartje 建议她穿着塞琳娜卧室新娘胸前的古老荷兰婚纱结婚。

“A real Dutch bride,” Maartje said.

“一位真正的荷兰新娘，”马尔杰说。

“Your man will think that is fine.” Pervus was delighted.

“你的男人会认为这样很好。”佩尔乌斯很高兴。

Selina basked in his love like a kitten in the sun.

Selina就像阳光下的小猫一样沐浴在他的爱中。

She was, after all, a very lonely little bride with only two photographs on the shelf in her bedroom to give her courage and counsel.

毕竟，她是一个非常孤独的小新娘，卧室的架子上只有两张照片可以给她勇气和建议。

The old Dutch wedding gown was many inches too large for her.

旧的荷兰婚纱对她来说太大了很多英寸。

The skirt-band overlapped her slim waist; her slender little bosom did not fill out the generous width of the bodice; but the effect of the whole was amazingly quaint as well as pathetic.

裙带搭在她纤细的腰上，她纤细的小胸部并没有填满宽大的紧身胸衣。但整体的效果却是令人惊讶的古怪而又可悲。

The wings of the stiffly embroidered coif framed the white face from which the eyes looked out, large and dark.

绣得硬邦邦的头巾的翅膀勾勒出那张白色的脸，从脸上露出一双又大又黑的眼睛。

She had even tried to wear the hand-carved shoes, but had to give that up.

她甚至尝试过穿上手工雕刻的鞋子，但不得不放弃。

In them her feet were as lost as minnows in a rowboat.

她的脚在其中就像划艇里的小鱼一样迷失了方向。

She had much difficulty with the queer old buttons and fastenings.

她对那些奇怪的旧纽扣和紧固件感到很困难。

It was as though the dead and gone Sophia Kroon were trying, with futile ghostly fingers, to prevent this young thing from meeting the fate that was to be hers.

就好像死去的索菲亚·克鲁恩正在用徒劳的幽灵般的手指试图阻止这个年轻人遭遇她的命运。

They were married at the Pools’.

他们在普尔斯结婚。

Klaas and Maartje had insisted on furnishing the wedding supper—ham, chickens, sausages, cakes, pickles, beer.

克拉斯和马尔杰坚持准备婚礼晚餐——火腿、鸡肉、香肠、蛋糕、泡菜和啤酒。

The Reverend Dekker married them and all through the ceremony Selina chided herself because she could not keep her mind on his words in the fascination of watching his short stubby beard as it waggled with every motion of his jaw.

德克牧师与他们结婚了，在整个仪式上，塞琳娜都在责备自己，因为她无法集中注意力在他的话上，因为她着迷地看着他短而粗的胡子随着他下巴的每一个动作而摇摆。

Pervus looked stiff, solemn, and uncomfortable in his wedding blacks—not at all the handsome giant of the everyday corduroys and blue shirt.

佩尔乌斯穿着他的黑色婚礼服，显得僵硬、庄重、不自在——完全不像日常灯芯绒和蓝色衬衫那样英俊的巨人。

In the midst of the ceremony Selina had her moment of panic when she actually saw herself running shrieking from this company, this man, this house, down the road, on, on toward—toward what?

在仪式进行到一半的时候，塞琳娜感到一阵惊慌，她真的看到自己尖叫着从这家公司、这个男人、这栋房子里跑出来，沿着路，一直、一直跑向——跑向什么？

The feeling was so strong that she was surprised to find herself still standing there in the Dutch wedding gown answering “I do” in the proper place.

这种感觉如此强烈，以至于她惊讶地发现自己仍然穿着荷兰婚纱站在原地，在正确的地方回答“我愿意”。

The wedding gifts were few.

结婚礼物很少。

The Pools had given them a “hanging lamp,” coveted of the farmer’s wife; a hideous atrocity in yellow, with pink roses on its shade and prisms dangling and tinkling all around the edge.

普尔夫妇给了他们一盏“吊灯”，这是农夫妻子梦寐以求的。黄色的可怕暴行，其灯罩上有粉红色的玫瑰，棱镜在边缘晃来晃去，叮当作响。

It was intended to hang suspended from the parlour ceiling, and worked up and down on a sort of pulley chain.

它原本打算悬挂在客厅的天花板上，并在一种滑轮链上上下移动。

From the Widow Paarlenberg came a water set in red frosted glass shading to pink—a fat pitcher and six tumblers.

帕伦伯格寡妇送来了一套红色磨砂玻璃装的水，颜色逐渐变成粉红色——一个大水罐和六个玻璃杯。

Roelf’s gift, the result of many weeks’ labour in the work-shed, was a bride’s chest copied from the fine old piece that had saved Selina’s room from sheer ugliness.

罗尔夫的礼物是在工作棚里工作了数周的成果，是一个新娘的胸部，它是从那件精美的旧作品中复制而来的，这件作品使塞琳娜的房间免于丑陋。

He had stained the wood, polished it.

他给木头染色，擦亮。

Had carved the front of it with her initials—very like those that stood out so boldly on the old chest upstairs—S.

在它的正面刻上了她名字的首字母——非常像楼上旧柜子上那些醒目的名字——S。

P.

P。

D.

D .

And the year—1890.

年份——1890年。

The whole was a fine piece of craftsmanship for a boy of thirteen—would not have discredited a man of any age.

对于一个十三岁的男孩来说，这一切都是一件精美的工艺品——不会让任何年龄的男人名誉扫地。

It was the one beautiful gift among Selina’s clumsy crude wedding things.

这是塞琳娜笨拙简陋的婚礼用品中唯一一份美丽的礼物。

She had thanked him with tears in her eyes.

她含着泪水向他道谢。

“Roelf, you’ll come to see me often, won’t you?

“罗尔夫，你会经常来看我的，不是吗？

Often!” Then, as he had hesitated, “I’ll need you so.

经常！”然后，正如他犹豫的那样，“我非常需要你。

You’re all I’ve got.” A strange thing for a bride to say.

你就是我的全部了。”对于新娘来说，这句话很奇怪。

“I’ll come,” the boy had said, trying to make his voice casual, his tone careless.

“我会来的。”男孩说道，试图让自己的声音变得随意，语气漫不经心。

“Sure, I’ll come oncet in a while.”

“当然，我过段时间就来一次。”

“Once, Roelf.

“曾经，罗尔夫。

_Once_ in a while.”

_一次_偶尔。”

He repeated it after her, dutifully.

他尽职尽责地跟在她后面重复了一遍。

After the wedding they went straight to DeJong’s house.

婚礼结束后，他们直奔德容家。

In May the vegetable farmer cannot neglect his garden even for a day.

五月，菜农一天也不能忽视他的花园。

The house had been made ready for them.

房子已经为他们准备好了。

The sway of the old housekeeper was over.

老管家的势力结束了。

Her kitchen bedroom was empty.

她的厨房卧室空无一人。

Throughout the supper Selina had had thoughts which were so foolish and detached as almost to alarm her.

整个晚餐期间，塞琳娜一直在想一些愚蠢而超然的想法，几乎让她惊慌失措。

“Now I am married.

“现在我结婚了。

I am Mrs. Pervus DeJong.

我是佩尔乌斯·德容夫人。

That’s a pretty name.

这是一个漂亮的名字。

It would look quite distinguished on a calling card, very spidery and fine:

它在名片上看起来非常显眼，非常蜘蛛网状且精美：

┌───────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ MRS. PERVUS DEJONG │ │ │ │ _At Home Fridays_ │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────┘

┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ 先生。 PERVUS DEJONG │ │ │ │ _星期五在家_ │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────┘

She recalled this later, grimly, when she was Mrs. Pervus DeJong, at home not only Fridays, but Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

后来她冷酷地回忆起这件事，当时她还是佩尔乌斯·德容夫人，不仅周五在家，周六、周日、周一、周二、周三和周四也在家。

They drove down the road to DeJong’s place.

他们沿着路开车去德容的住处。

Selina thought, “Now I am driving home with my husband.

Selina 心想：“现在我和丈夫开车回家了。

I feel his shoulder against mine.

我感觉到他的肩膀抵着我的。

I wish he would talk.

我希望他能说话。

I wish he would say something.

我希望他能说点什么。

Still, I’m not frightened.”

尽管如此，我并不害怕。”

Pervus’s market wagon was standing in the yard, shafts down.

佩尔乌斯的货车停在院子里，车轴朝下。

He should have gone to market to-day; would certainly have to go to-morrow, starting early in the afternoon so as to get a good stand in the Haymarket.

他今天应该去市场的；明天肯定得从下午早些时候出发，以便在干草市场占个好位置。

By the light of his lantern the wagon seemed to Selina to be a symbol.

在他的灯笼的照耀下，马车对塞琳娜来说似乎是一个象征。

She had often seen it before, but now that it was to be a part of her life—this the DeJong market wagon and she Mrs. DeJong—she saw clearly what a crazy, disreputable, and poverty-proclaiming old vehicle it was, in contrast with the neat strong wagon in Klaas Pool’s yard, smart with green paint and red lettering that announced, “Klaas Pool, Garden Produce.” With the two sleek farm horses the turnout looked as prosperous and comfortable as Klaas himself.

她以前经常看到它，但现在它已经成为她生活的一部分——这辆德容市场马车和她的德容夫人——她清楚地看到这是一辆多么疯狂、声名狼藉、宣告贫困的旧车，与克拉斯普尔院子里那辆整洁坚固的马车形成鲜明对比，马车上涂着绿色油漆，上面写着“克拉斯普尔，花园农产品”的红色字样。带着两匹光滑的农场马，出席者看起来就像克拉斯本人一样繁荣和舒适。

Pervus swung her down from the seat of the buggy, his hand about her waist, and held her so for a moment, close.

佩尔乌斯把她从马车的座位上摇了下来，他的手搂着她的腰，紧紧地抱住了她一会儿。

Selina said, “You must have that wagon painted, Pervus.

塞琳娜说：“你必须把那辆马车涂漆了，珀乌斯。

And the seat-springs fixed and the sideboard mended.”

座椅弹簧固定了，餐具柜也修好了。”

He stared.

他凝视着。

“Wagon!”

“马车！”

“Yes.

“是的。

It looks a sight.”

看起来很壮观。”

The house was tidy enough, but none too clean.

房子很整洁，但不太干净。

Old Mrs. Voorhees had not been minded to keep house too scrupulously for a man who would be unlikely to know whether or not it was clean.

对于一个不太可能知道房子是否干净的人来说，沃里斯老太太并不介意把房子打扫得太仔细。

Pervus lighted the lamps.

佩尔乌斯点亮了灯。

There was a fire in the kitchen stove.

厨房的炉子里生着火。

It made the house seem stuffy on this mild May night.

在这个温和的五月夜晚，这让房子显得闷热。

Selina thought that her own little bedroom at the Pools’, no longer hers, must be deliciously cool and still with the breeze fanning fresh from the west.

塞琳娜想，她在普尔斯家的小卧室，不再是她的了，一定非常凉爽，而且还有从西边吹来的新鲜微风。

Pervus was putting the horse into the barn.

佩尔乌斯正在把马放进马厩。

The bedroom was off the sitting room.

卧室位于客厅旁边。

The window was shut.

窗户关着。

This last year had taught Selina to prepare the night before for next morning’s rising, so as to lose the least possible time.

去年的这一年，让Selina学会了在前一天晚上为第二天早上的起床做好准备，这样才能尽可能少地浪费时间。

She did this now, unconsciously.

她现在无意识地这样做了。

She took off her white muslin underwear with its frills and embroidery—the three stiff petticoats, and the stiffly starched corset-cover, and the high-bosomed corset and put them into the bureau drawer that she herself had cleaned and papered neatly the week before.

她脱下带有褶边和刺绣的白色平纹细布内衣——三件僵硬的衬裙，硬挺的紧身胸衣罩，还有高胸紧身胸衣，把它们放进衣柜抽屉里，一周前她自己已经把它清理干净并用纸整齐地贴好。

She brushed her hair, laid out to-morrow’s garments, put on her high-necked, long-sleeved nightgown and got into this strange bed.

她梳了梳头发，铺好明天的衣服，换上高领长袖睡衣，钻进了这张陌生的床。

She heard Pervus DeJong shut the kitchen door; the latch clicked, the lock turned.

她听到佩尔乌斯·德容关上了厨房的门；闩锁发出喀哒声，锁转动了。

Heavy quick footsteps across the bare kitchen floor.

沉重而快速的脚步声穿过光秃秃的厨房地板。

This man was coming into her room .

这个男人正走进她的房间。

.

。

.

。

“You can’t run far enough,” Maartje Pool had said.

“你跑得还不够远，”马尔杰·普尔说道。

“Except you stop living you can’t run away from life.”

“除非你停止生活，否则你无法逃避生活。”

Next morning it was dark when he awakened her at four.

第二天早上四点钟，他叫醒了她，天已经黑了。

She started up with a little cry and sat up, straining her ears, her eyes.

她轻轻地哭了一声，坐了起来，竖起耳朵和眼睛。

“Is that you, Father?” She was little Selina Peake again, and Simeon Peake had come in, gay, debonair, from a night’s gaming.

“是你吗，父亲？”她又变成了小塞琳娜·皮克，而西蒙·皮克刚从一晚的游戏中回来，心情愉快、温文尔雅。

Pervus DeJong was already padding about the room in stocking feet.

佩尔乌斯·德容已经穿着袜子在房间里走来走去。

“What—what time is it?

“什么——现在几点了？

What’s the matter, Father?

怎么了，神父？

Why are you up?

你怎么起来了？

Haven’t you gone to bed .

你还没去睡觉吗。

.

。

.” Then she remembered.

”。然后她想起来了。

Pervus DeJong laughed and came toward her.

佩尔乌斯·德容笑着朝她走来。

“Get up, little lazy bones.

“起来吧，小懒骨头。

It’s after four.

四点以后了。

All yesterday’s work I’ve got to do, and all to-day’s.

昨天的所有工作我都要做，今天的也都是我要做的。

Breakfast, little Lina, breakfast.

早餐，小丽娜，早餐。

You are a farmer’s wife now.”

你现在是农民的妻子了。”

VIII

八

By October High Prairie Housewives told each other that Mrs. Pervus DeJong was “expecting.” Dirk DeJong was born in the bedroom off the sitting room on the fifteenth day of March, of a bewildered, somewhat resentful, but deeply interested mother; and a proud, foolish, and vainglorious father whose air of achievement, considering the really slight part he had played in the long, tedious, and racking business, was disproportionate.

到了十月，高草原家庭主妇们互相告诉对方，佩尔乌斯·德容夫人正在“怀孕”。三月十五日，德克·德容出生在客厅旁边的卧室里，他的母亲感到困惑，有些怨恨，但又对此很感兴趣。一个骄傲、愚蠢、虚荣的父亲，考虑到他在漫长、乏味、痛苦的工作中所扮演的微不足道的角色，他所取得的成就是不相称的。

The name Dirk had sounded to Selina like something tall, straight, and slim.

德克这个名字对塞琳娜来说听起来像是又高又直又苗条。

Pervus had chosen it.

佩尔乌斯选择了它。

It had been his grandfather’s name.

这是他祖父的名字。

Sometimes, during those months, Selina would look back on her first winter in High Prairie—that winter of the icy bedroom, the chill black drum, the schoolhouse fire, the chilblains, the Pool pork—and it seemed a lovely dream; a time of ease, of freedom, of careless happiness.

有时，在这几个月里，塞琳娜会回顾她在高草原的第一个冬天——那个冬天，冰冷的卧室、寒冷的黑鼓、校舍的火灾、冻疮、泳池猪肉——这似乎是一个可爱的梦;一段安逸、自由、无忧无虑的幸福时光。

That icy room had been her room; that mile of road traversed on bitter winter mornings a mere jaunt; the schoolhouse stove a toy, fractious but fascinating.

那个冰冷的房间曾经是她的房间；在寒冷的冬日早晨走过的那一英里路只是一次短途旅行；校舍里的炉子就像一个玩具，脾气暴躁，但很迷人。

Pervus DeJong loved his pretty young wife, and she him.

佩尔乌斯·德容爱他年轻漂亮的妻子，她也爱他。

But young love thrives on colour, warmth, beauty.

但年轻的爱情却因色彩、温暖和美丽而蓬勃发展。

It becomes prosaic and inarticulate when forced to begin its day at four in the morning by reaching blindly, dazedly, for limp and obscure garments dangling from bedpost or chair, and to end that day at nine, numb and sodden with weariness, after seventeen hours of physical labour.

当被迫在凌晨四点开始新的一天，盲目地、茫然地伸手去拿挂在床柱或椅子上的松软、晦涩的衣服，并在经过十七个小时的体力劳动后，在九点结束这一天时，它变得平淡无奇、含糊不清。

It was a wet summer.

那是一个潮湿的夏天。

Pervus’s choice tomato plants, so carefully set out in the hope of a dry season, became draggled gray spectres in a waste of mire.

佩尔乌斯精心挑选的番茄植株是为了希望能度过一个旱季，结果却变成了拖在废泥沼泽中的灰色幽灵。

Of fruit the field bore one tomato the size of a marble.

田里结出了一颗大理石大小的西红柿。

For the rest, the crops were moderately successful on the DeJong place.

其余方面，德容地区的农作物收成还算顺利。

But the work necessary to make this so was heartbreaking.

但要做到这一点所需的工作却令人心碎。

Pervus and his hired helper, Jan Steen, used the hand sower and hand cultivator.

佩尔乌斯和他雇来的助手扬·斯蒂恩使用了手动播种机和手动耕耘机。

It seemed to Selina that they were slaves to these buds, shoots, and roots that clamoured with a hundred thousand voices, “Let me out!

在塞琳娜看来，它们似乎是这些芽、芽、根的奴隶，它们用十万个声音叫嚣：“放我出去！

Let me out!” She had known, during her winter at the Pools’, that Klaas, Roelf, and old Jakob worked early and late, but her months there had encompassed what is really the truck farmer’s leisure period.

放我出去吧！”在普尔斯的冬天里，她知道克拉斯、罗尔夫和老雅各布工作早起晚归，但她在那里的几个月实际上是卡车农场主的闲暇时间。

She had arrived in November.

她十一月抵达。

She had married in May.

她五月份结婚了。

From May until October it was necessary to tend the fields with a concentration amounting to fury.

从五月到十月，必须集中精力耕种田地。

Selina had never dreamed that human beings toiled like that for sustenance.

塞琳娜做梦也没想到，人类竟然为了生存而如此辛苦劳作。

Toil was a thing she had never encountered until coming to High Prairie.

辛苦是她来到高草原之前从未遇到过的事情。

Now she saw her husband wrenching a living out of the earth by sheer muscle, sweat, and pain.

现在，她看到她的丈夫靠着肌肉、汗水和痛苦，从地球上艰难地谋生。

During June, July, August, and September the good black prairie soil for miles around was teeming, a hotbed of plenty.

六月、七月、八月和九月期间，方圆几英里的优质黑色草原土壤肥沃，是富饶的温床。

There was born in Selina at this time a feeling for the land that she was never to lose.

此时的Selina心里生出了一种对这片土地的感情，她永远都不会失去这片土地。

Perhaps the child within her had something to do with this.

也许这与她体内的孩子有关。

She was aware of a feeling of kinship with the earth; an illusion of splendour, of fulfilment.

她感觉到一种与大地的亲近感；一种辉煌、成就的幻象。

Sometimes, in a moment’s respite from her work about the house, she would stand in the kitchen doorway, her flushed face turned toward the fields.

有时，她干完家务，稍事休息，就会站在厨房门口，红着脸转向田野。

Wave on wave of green, wave on wave, until the waves melted into each other and became a verdant sea.

一波又一波绿色，一波又一波，直到波浪相互融合，变成一片翠绿的海洋。

As cabbages had been cabbages, and no more, to Klaas Pool, so, to Pervus, these carrots, beets, onions, turnips, and radishes were just so much produce, to be planted, tended, gathered, marketed.

对于克拉斯·普尔来说，卷心菜就是卷心菜，不再是卷心菜了，所以，对于佩尔乌斯来说，这些胡萝卜、甜菜、洋葱、萝卜和小萝卜都只是那么多的农产品，需要种植、照料、采集和销售。

But to Selina, during that summer, they became a vital part in the vast mechanism of a living world.

但对塞琳娜来说，那个夏天，他们成为了生命世界的庞大机制中至关重要的一部分。

Pervus, earth, sun, rain, all elemental forces that laboured to produce the food for millions of humans.

Pervus、大地、阳光、雨水，所有的自然力量都在为数以百万计的人类生产食物。

The sordid, grubby little acreage became a kingdom; the phlegmatic Dutch-American truck farmers of the region were high priests consecrated to the service of the divinity, Earth.

这片肮脏肮脏的小土地变成了一个王国。该地区冷漠的荷兰裔美国卡车农民是供奉大地神的大祭司。

She thought of Chicago’s children.

她想到了芝加哥的孩子们。

If they had red cheeks, clear eyes, nimble brains it was because Pervus brought them the food that made them so.

如果说他们有红润的脸颊、清澈的眼睛、敏捷的大脑，那是因为佩尔乌斯给他们带来了食物，才使他们如此。

It was before the day when glib talk of irons, vitamines, arsenic entered into all discussion pertaining to food.

就在那一天之前，关于铁、维生素、砷的油嘴滑舌的谈论进入了所有与食物有关的讨论。

Yet Selina sensed something of the meaning behind these toiling, patient figures, all unconscious of meaning, bent double in the fields for miles throughout High Prairie.

然而，塞琳娜感觉到了这些辛苦、耐心的人物背后的某种意义，他们全然没有意识到自己的意义，在高草原上绵延数英里的田野里弯着腰。

Something of this she tried to convey to Pervus.

她试图将这一点传达给佩尔乌斯。

He only stared, his blue eyes wide and unresponsive.

他只是盯着看，蓝色的眼睛睁得大大的，毫无反应。

“Farm work grand!

“农活真好！

Farm work is slave work.

农场工作是奴隶工作。

Yesterday, from the load of carrots in town I didn’t make enough to bring you the goods for the child so when it comes you should have clothes for it.

昨天，我在城里买了一堆胡萝卜，没有赚到足够的钱给你带孩子的东西，所以当孩子来的时候，你应该给孩子准备衣服。

It’s better I feed them to the livestock.”

我最好把它们喂给牲畜。”

Pervus drove into the Chicago market every other day.

佩尔乌斯每隔一天开车进入芝加哥市场。

During July and August he sometimes did not have his clothes off for a week.

七月和八月期间，他有时一周都没有脱衣服。

Together he and Jan Steen would load the wagon with the day’s garnering.

他和扬·斯蒂恩一起把当天的收获装到马车上。

At four he would start on the tedious trip into town.

四点钟他就开始了进城的乏味之旅。

The historic old Haymarket on west Randolph Street had become the stand for market gardeners for miles around Chicago.

伦道夫西街历史悠久的老干草市场已成为芝加哥周边数英里内的市场园丁的摊位。

Here they stationed their wagons in preparation for the next day’s selling.

他们把马车停在这里，准备第二天的销售。

The wagons stood, close packed, in triple rows, down both sides of the curb and in the middle of the street.

马车密密麻麻地排成三排，停在路边两侧和街道中央。

The early comer got the advantageous stand.

先到者获得了有利的位置。

There was no regular allotment of space.

没有定期分配空间。

Pervus tried to reach the Haymarket by nine at night.

佩尔乌斯试图在晚上九点之前到达干草市场。

Often bad roads made a detour necessary and he was late.

路况不好，常常需要绕道而行，结果他就迟到了。

That usually meant bad business next day.

这通常意味着第二天的生意会很糟糕。

The men, for the most part, slept on their wagons, curled up on the wagon-seat or stretched out on the sacks.

大多数人都睡在马车上，蜷缩在马车座位上，或者伸直躺在麻袋上。

Their horses were stabled and fed in near-by sheds, with more actual comfort than the men themselves.

他们的马匹被安置在附近的马厩里，并在附近的马棚里喂食，比男人们自己更舒适。

One could get a room for twenty-five cents in one of the ramshackle rooming houses that faced the street.

花二十五美分就可以在临街的一间摇摇欲坠的出租屋里租到一间房间。

But the rooms were small, stuffy, none too clean; the beds little more comfortable than the wagons.

但房间又小又闷，而且不太干净。床比马车舒服一点。

Besides, twenty-five cents!

而且，二十五美分！

You got twenty-five cents for half a barrel of tomatoes.

半桶西红柿卖二十五美分。

You got twenty-five cents for a sack of potatoes.

一袋土豆卖二十五美分。

Onions brought seventy-five cents a sack.

洋葱卖七十五美分一袋。

Cabbages went a hundred heads for two dollars, and they were five-pound heads.

两块钱卖一百颗卷心菜，五磅重。

If you drove home with ten dollars in your pocket it represented a profit of exactly zero.

如果你口袋里装着十美元开车回家，那么利润恰好为零。

The sum must go above that.

总和必须高于这个数字。

No; one did not pay out twenty-five cents for the mere privilege of sleeping in a bed.

不;人们不会仅仅为了睡在一张床上而支付二十五美分。

One June day, a month or more after their marriage, Selina drove into Chicago with Pervus, an incongruous little figure in her bride’s finery perched on the seat of the vegetable wagon piled high with early garden stuff.

六月的一天，也就是他们结婚一个月多后，塞琳娜和佩尔乌斯一起开车去芝加哥。佩尔乌斯穿着新娘的华丽服饰，坐在运菜车的座位上，上面堆满了早期的花园植物，这个身材与佩尔乌斯不相称。

They had started before four that afternoon, and reached the city at nine, though the roads were still heavy from the late May rains.

那天下午四点前他们就出发了，九点就到达了城里，尽管由于五月下旬的降雨，道路仍然崎岖不平。

It was, in a way, their wedding trip, for Selina had not been away from the farm since her marriage.

从某种程度上来说，这是他们的婚礼之旅，因为塞琳娜自从结婚以来就没有离开过农场。

The sun was bright and hot.

太阳又亮又热。

Selina held an umbrella to shield herself from the heat and looked about her with enjoyment and interest.

Selina打着伞避暑，饶有兴趣地打量着四周。

She chattered, turned her head this way and that, exclaimed, questioned.

她喋喋不休，把头转来转去，大喊大叫，提出疑问。

Sometimes she wished that Pervus would respond more quickly to her mood.

有时她希望佩尔乌斯能更快地回应她的情绪。

A gay, volatile creature, she frisked about him like a friendly bright-eyed terrier about a stolid, ponderous St. Bernard.

她是一个快乐、情绪不稳定的生物，她在他身边跳来跳去，就像一只友好的、眼睛明亮的小猎犬在一只冷漠、笨重的圣伯纳德身上跳来跳去。

As they jogged along now she revealed magnificent plans that had been forming in her imagination during the past four weeks.

当他们慢跑时，她透露了过去四个星期以来她在想象中形成的宏伟计划。

It had not taken her four weeks—or days—to discover that this great broad-shouldered man she had married was a kindly creature, tender and good, but lacking any vestige of initiative, of spirit.

没过四个星期，或者几天，她就发现这个她嫁给的宽肩膀的伟大男人是一个善良的人，温柔而善良，但缺乏任何主动性和精神的痕迹。

She marvelled, sometimes, at the memory of his boldness in bidding for her lunch box that evening of the raffle.

有时，她会惊叹于他在抽奖当晚为她的午餐盒竞价的大胆行为。

It seemed incredible now, though he frequently referred to it, wagging his head doggishly and grinning the broadly complacent grin of the conquering male.

现在看来，这似乎令人难以置信，尽管他经常提到这一点，小狗般地摇着头，咧着征服者般的自满笑容。

But he was, after all, a dull fellow, and there was in Selina a dash of fire, of wholesome wickedness, of adventure, that he never quite understood.

但他毕竟是个迟钝的家伙，塞琳娜身上有一丝火焰、善良的邪恶和冒险精神，但他从来没有完全理解。

For her flashes of flame he had a mingled feeling of uneasiness and pride.

对于她闪烁的火焰，他有一种混合着不安和骄傲的感觉。

In the manner of all young brides, Selina started bravely out to make her husband over.

像所有年轻新娘一样，塞琳娜勇敢地开始改变她的丈夫。

He was handsome, strong, gentle; slow, conservative, morose.

他英俊、坚强、温柔；缓慢、保守、忧郁。

She would make him keen, daring, successful, buoyant.

她会让他变得敏锐、大胆、成功、活泼。

Now, bumping down the Halsted road, she sketched some of her plans in large dashing strokes.

现在，她沿着霍尔斯特德路颠簸行驶，用大胆的笔画勾画出了自己的一些计划。

“Pervus, we must paint the house in October, before the frost sets in, and after the summer work is over.

“佩尔乌斯，我们必须在十月份霜冻来临之前、夏季工作结束之后粉刷房子。

White would be nice, with green trimmings.

白色搭配绿色装饰就很好了。

Though perhaps white isn’t practical.

虽然白色也许不太实用。

Or maybe green with darker green trimmings.

或者也许是绿色，带有深绿色的装饰。

A lovely background for the hollyhocks.” (Those that she and Roelf had planted showed no signs of coming up.) “Then that west sixteen.

蜀葵的美丽背景。” （她和罗尔夫种下的那些没有任何长出来的迹象。）“然后是西十六。

We’ll drain it.”

我们会把它排干的。”

“Yeh, drain,” Pervus muttered.

“是啊，排水。”佩尔乌斯嘀咕道。

“It’s clay land.

“这是粘土地。

Drain and you have got yet clay.

沥干后你就得到了粘土。

Hard clay soil.”

坚硬的粘土。”

Selina had the answer to that.

赛琳娜已经给出了答案。

“I know it.

“我知道。

You’ve got to use tile drainage.

你必须使用瓷砖排水。

And—wait a minute—humus.

还有——等一下——腐殖质。

I know what humus is.

我知道腐殖质是什么。

It’s decayed vegetables.

这是腐烂的蔬菜。

There’s always a pile by the side of the barn; and you’ve been using it on the quick land.

谷仓旁边总是有一堆东西；而且你一直在快速土地上使用它。

All the west sixteen isn’t clay.

整个西部十六都不是粘土。

Part of it’s muckland.

其中一部分是泥土。

All it needs is draining and manure.

它所需要的只是排水和肥料。

With potash, too, and phosphoric acid.”

还有钾肥和磷酸。”

Pervus laughed a great hearty laugh that Selina found surprisingly infuriating.

佩尔乌斯大笑起来，赛琳娜发现这笑声出人意料地令人恼怒。

He put one great brown hand patronizingly on her flushed cheek; pinched it gently.

他把一只棕色的大手居高临下地放在她泛红的脸颊上。轻轻地捏了一下。

“Don’t!” said Selina, and jerked her head away.

“不！”塞琳娜说着，猛地扭过头去。

It was the first time she had ever resented a caress from him.

这是她第一次对他的爱抚产生怨恨。

Pervus laughed again.

佩尔乌斯又笑了。

“Well, well, well!

“好啦好啦！

School teacher is a farmer now, huh?

学校老师现在是农民吧？

I bet even Widow Paarlenberg don’t know as much as my little farmer about”—he exploded again—“about this, now, potash and—what kind of acid?

我敢打赌，就连帕伦伯格寡妇也不如我的小农夫了解得那么多”——他再次爆发了——“关于这个，现在，钾肥和——什么样的酸？

Tell me, little Lina, from where did you learn all this about truck farming?”

告诉我，小莉娜，你是从哪里学到这些关于卡车种植的知识的？”

“Out of a book,” Selina said, almost snappishly.

“从书上看出来的，”塞琳娜几乎是不耐烦地说道。

“I sent to Chicago for it.”

“我派人去芝加哥取了。”

“A book!

“一本书！

A book!” He slapped his knee.

一本书！”他拍了拍膝盖。

“A vegetable farmer out of a book.”

“书中的菜农。”

“Why not!

“为什么不呢！

The man who wrote it knows more about vegetable farming than anybody in all High Prairie.

写这本书的人比整个高草原的任何人都更了解蔬菜种植。

He knows about new ways.

他知道新方法。

You’re running the farm just the way your father ran it.”

你正在按照你父亲经营农场的方式经营农场。”

“What was good enough for my father is good enough for me.”

“对我父亲来说足够好的事情对我来说也足够了。”

“It isn’t!” cried Selina, “It isn’t!

“才不是呢！”赛琳娜叫道：“不是的！

The book says clay loam is all right for cabbages, peas, and beans.

书上说粘壤土适合种植卷心菜、豌豆和豆类。

It tells you how.

它告诉你如何做。

It tells you how!” She was like a frantic little fly darting and pricking him on to accelerate the stolid sluggishness of his slow plodding gait.

它告诉你怎么做！”她就像一只疯狂的小苍蝇，扑向他，刺他，加速他缓慢而迟缓的步态。

Having begun, she plunged on.

开始之后，她就一头扎进去。

“We ought to have two horses to haul the wagon to market.

“我们应该有两匹马来把马车拖到市场。

It would save you hours of time that you could spend on the place.

这会节省你在这个地方花费的时间。

Two horses, and a new wagon, green and red, like Klaas Pool’s.”

两匹马，还有一辆新马车，绿色和红色的，就像克拉斯·普尔的车一样。”

Pervus stared straight ahead down the road between his horse’s ears much as Klaas Pool had done so maddeningly on Selina’s first ride on the Halsted road.

佩尔乌斯直视着马耳间的道路，就像塞琳娜第一次在霍尔斯特德路上骑马时克拉斯·普尔所做的那样令人抓狂。

“Fine talk.

“说得好。

Fine talk.”

说得好。”

“It isn’t talk.

“这不是谈话。

It’s plans.

这是计划。

You’ve got to plan.”

你必须做好计划。”

“Fine talk.

“说得好。

Fine talk.”

说得好。”

“Oh!” Selina beat her knee with an impotent fist.

“哦！”塞琳娜用无力的拳头捶着膝盖。

It was the nearest they had ever come to quarrelling.

这是他们最近一次发生争吵。

It would seem that Pervus had the best of the argument, for when two years had passed the west sixteen was still a boggy clay mass, and unprolific; and the old house stared out shabby and paintless, at the dense willows by the roadside.

看来佩尔乌斯是最有说服力的人，因为两年过去了，西十六仍然是一片沼泽粘土，生产力不高。老房子望着路边茂密的柳树，破旧而没有油漆。

They slept that night in one of the twenty-five-cent rooming houses.

那天晚上，他们睡在一套二十五美分的出租屋里。

Rather, Pervus slept.

相反，佩尔乌斯睡着了。

The woman lay awake, listening to the city noises that had become strange in her ears; staring out into the purple-black oblong that was the open window, until that oblong became gray.

女人睁着眼睛躺在床上，听着城市里的喧闹声，这些声音在她耳中变得陌生起来。凝视着窗外紫黑色的长方形，那是打开的窗户，直到那个长方形变成灰色。

She wept a little, perhaps.

也许她哭了一点。

But in the morning Pervus might have noted (if he had been a man given to noting) that the fine jaw-line was set as determinedly as ever with an angle that spelled inevitably paint, drainage, humus, potash, phosphoric acid, and a horse team.

但到了早上，佩尔乌斯可能会注意到（如果他是一个善于注意到的人的话），精致的下巴线条一如既往地坚定地形成了一个角度，不可避免地意味着油漆、排水、腐殖质、钾肥、磷酸和马队。

She rose before four with Pervus, glad to be out of the stuffy little room with its spotted and scaly green wall paper, its rickety bed and chair.

她和佩尔乌斯一起在四点前起身，很高兴能离开这个闷热的小房间，房间里的绿色墙纸有斑点和鳞片，床和椅子都摇摇晃晃的。

They had a cup of coffee and a slice of bread in the eating house on the first floor.

他们在一楼的餐厅里喝了一杯咖啡，吃了一片面包。

Selina waited while he tended the horse.

当他照顾马时，塞琳娜等待着。

The night-watchman had been paid another twenty-five cents for watching the wagonload through the night as it stood in a row with the hundreds of others in the Haymarket.

守夜人又得到了二十五美分，因为他整晚都在监视这辆马车，因为它与干草市场上的数百辆马车排成一排。

It was scarcely dawn when the trading began.

天刚亮，交易就开始了。

Selina, watching it from the wagon seat, thought that this was a ridiculously haphazard and perilous method of distributing the food for whose fruition Pervus had toiled with aching back and tired arms.

塞琳娜在马车座位上看着这一切，她认为这是一种可笑的随意和危险的分配食物的方法，而佩尔乌斯为了这些食物的成果而辛苦劳作，背部酸痛，手臂疲惫。

But she said nothing.

但她什么也没说。

She kept, perforce, to the house that first year, and the second.

第一年和第二年她都被迫留在这所房子里。

Pervus declared that his woman should never work in the fields as did many of the High Prairie wives and daughters.

佩尔乌斯宣称他的女人永远不应该像许多高草原的妻子和女儿那样在田里干活。

Of ready cash there was almost none.

现金几乎没有。

Pervus was hard put to it to pay Jan Steen his monthly wage during May, June, July, and August, when he was employed on the DeJong place, though Steen got but a pittance, being known as a poor hand, and “dumb.” Selina learned much that first year, and the second, but she said little.

佩尔乌斯很难向简·斯蒂恩支付五月、六月、七月和八月期间的月工资，当时他在德容工厂工作，尽管斯蒂恩只得到微薄的工资，被认为是穷人和“笨蛋”。塞琳娜在第一年和第二年学到了很多东西，但她说的很少。

She kept the house in order—rough work, and endless—and she managed, miraculously, to keep herself looking fresh and neat.

她把家里打理得井井有条——辛苦劳作，没完没了——而且她奇迹般地让自己看起来清新整洁。

She understood now Maartje Pool’s drab garments, harassed face, heavily swift feet, never at rest.

她现在明白了玛杰·普尔的单调乏味的衣服、疲惫不堪的脸、脚步沉重、从不休息的样子。

The idea of flowers in bowls was abandoned by July.

到了七月，碗里花的想法就被放弃了。

Had it not been for Roelf’s faithful tending, the flower beds themselves, planted with such hopes, would have perished for lack of care.

如果没有罗尔夫的忠实照料，那些满怀希望的花坛本身就会因缺乏照料而枯死。

Roelf came often to the house.

罗尔夫经常来家里。

He found there a tranquillity and peace never known in the Pool place, with its hubbub and clatter.

他发现这里有一种在喧闹喧哗的泳池区所没有的宁静与安宁。

In order to make her house attractive Selina had actually rifled her precious little bank hoard—the four hundred and ninety-seven dollars left her by her father.

为了让她的房子更有吸引力，塞琳娜实际上掏空了她宝贵的小银行积蓄——她父亲留给她的四百九十七美元。

She still had one of the clear white diamonds.

她还拥有一颗清澈的白钻石。

She kept it sewed in the hem of an old flannel petticoat.

她把它缝在一件旧法兰绒衬裙的下摆上。

Once she had shown it to Pervus.

有一次她把它拿给佩尔乌斯看。

“If I sell this maybe we could get enough money to drain and tile.”

“如果我卖掉这个，也许我们可以获得足够的钱来排水和铺瓷砖。”

Pervus took the stone, weighed it in his great palm, blinked as he always did when discussing a subject of which he was ignorant.

佩尔乌斯接过石头，用大手掌掂量着，眨着眼睛，就像他在讨论一个他不知道的话题时总是做的那样。

“How much could you get for it?

“你能卖多少钱？

Fifty dollars, maybe.

五十美元，也许吧。