About half-past ten the cracked bell of the small church began to ring, and presently the people began to gather for the morning sermon. —
大约十点半，小教堂的破碎的钟声开始响起，不久人们就开始聚集在这里参加早间布道。 —

The Sunday-school children distributed themselves about the house and occupied pews with their parents, so as to be under supervision. —
主日学校的孩子们分散在屋子里，和他们的父母坐在长椅上，以便在监督下。 —

Aunt Polly came, and Tom and Sid and Mary sat with her—Tom being placed next the aisle, in order that he might be as far away from the open window and the seductive outside summer scenes as possible. —
波莉阿姨来了，汤姆、西德和玛丽和她坐在一起——汤姆被安排在走道旁边，为了尽可能远离开放的窗户和诱人的外面夏天的景色。 —

The crowd filed up the aisles: the aged and needy postmaster, who had seen better days; —
人群沿着过道前进着：那位年迈而贫穷的邮局长，曾经看到更好的日子； —

the mayor and his wife—for they had a mayor there, among other unnecessaries; —
市长和他的妻子——因为在那里他们有一位市长，还有其他一些不必要的人； —

the justice of the peace; the widow Douglas, fair, smart, and forty, a generous, good-hearted soul and well-to-do, her hill mansion the only palace in the town, and the most hospitable and much the most lavish in the matter of festivities that St. Petersburg could boast; —
和蔼、聪明、四十岁的窈窕寡妇道格拉斯，慷慨、善良、富有，她的山上的豪宅是镇上唯一的宫殿，也是最具好客和最慷慨的节日场所。 —

the bent and venerable Major and Mrs. Ward; lawyer Riverson, the new notable from a distance; —
司令官和夫人沃德，一个已弯腰殷殷的夫妇；律师里弗逊，远处的名人； —

next the belle of the village, followed by a troop of lawn-clad and ribbon-decked young heart-breakers; —
紧随其后是村里的花朵，后面跟着一群穿着青草制成的衣服和缀有丝带的年轻情场高手； —

then all the young clerks in town in a body—for they had stood in the vestibule sucking their cane-heads, a circling wall of oiled and simpering admirers, till the last girl had run their gantlet; —
然后是整个镇上的年轻文员们一起来了——因为他们一直站在门厅里咕噜咕噜地吮吸着他们的甜头，形成了一圈油腻而假笑的追求者，直到最后一个女孩经过他们的关卡； —

and last of all came the Model Boy, Willie Mufferson, taking as heedful care of his mother as if she were cut glass. —
最后来的是模范少年威利·马弗森，像对待脆弱的玻璃一样细心照料他的母亲。 —

He always brought his mother to church, and was the pride of all the matrons. —
他总是陪妈妈去教堂，是所有妇人的骄傲。 —

The boys all hated him, he was so good. And besides, he had been “thrown up to them” so much. —
男孩们都讨厌他，因为他太好了。而且，他们听说他已经成为了他们的楷模。 —

His white handkerchief was hanging out of his pocket behind, as usual on Sundays—accidentally. —
他的白手帕像往常一样不小心地挂在他的后口袋里，这在星期天是习惯的。 —

Tom had no handkerchief, and he looked upon boys who had as snobs.
汤姆没有手帕，所以他认为有手帕的男孩是势利小人。

The congregation being fully assembled, now, the bell rang once more, to warn laggards and stragglers, and then a solemn hush fell upon the church which was only broken by the tittering and whispering of the choir in the gallery. —
众人已经全数聚集起来，这时钟再次敲响一次，提醒那些拖拉和走散的人，然后教堂陷入了庄严的寂静之中，只有合唱团在楼上窃笑和窃窃私语。 —

The choir always tittered and whispered all through service. —
合唱团始终在全程服务中窃笑和窃窃私语。 —

There was once a church choir that was not ill-bred, but I have forgotten where it was, now. —
曾经有一个不粗鲁的教堂合唱团，但我现在忘记了它在哪里。 —

It was a great many years ago, and I can scarcely remember anything about it, but I think it was in some foreign country.
那是很多年前的事了，我几乎对它一无所知，但我认为它是在某个外国。

The minister gave out the hymn, and read it through with a relish, in a peculiar style which was much admired in that part of the country. —
牧师宣布了一首赞美诗，并用一种在那个地区非常受欢迎的特殊风格讲读了一遍。 —

His voice began on a medium key and climbed steadily up till it reached a certain point, where it bore with strong emphasis upon the topmost word and then plunged down as if from a spring-board:
他的声音从中音键开始，持续上升，直到达到某个点，在那里它强烈强调最后一个词，然后像从跳板上跳下一样迅速下降：

Shall I be car-ri-ed toe the skies, on flow’ry beds of ease,
我将被抬上天堂，在盛开的花朵之间，安享。

Whilst others fight to win the prize, and sail thro’ blood -y seas?
在其他人为了赢得奖品而在浴血奋战的海上航行时，

He was regarded as a wonderful reader. At church “sociables” he was always called upon to read poetry; —
他被视为一位出色的朗诵者。在教堂的“社交聚会”上，他总是被要求朗诵诗歌； —

and when he was through, the ladies would lift up their hands and let them fall helplessly in their laps, and “wall” their eyes, and shake their heads, as much as to say, “Words cannot express it; —
当他朗诵结束时，女士们会举起他们的手，然后无助地摔在腿上，摇摇头，仿佛在说，“无法用语言表达； —

it is too beautiful, TOO beautiful for this mortal earth.”
太美了，太美了，超越了人间。”

After the hymn had been sung, the Rev. Mr. Sprague turned himself into a bulletin-board, and read off “notices” of meetings and societies and things till it seemed that the list would stretch out to the crack of doom—a queer custom which is still kept up in America, even in cities, away here in this age of abundant newspapers. —
唱完圣歌后，斯普拉格牧师变成了一个布告栏，宣读着各种会议和社团活动的“通知”，好像这个列表要一直延伸到世界的末日——这是一种奇怪的习俗，即使在充斥着各种报纸的美国城市里，这种习俗仍然保持着。 —

Often, the less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it.
通常，要是没有足够的理由来证明一种传统习俗的存在，就越难摆脱它。

And now the minister prayed. A good, generous prayer it was, and went into details: —
然后，牧师开始祈祷。这是一场善良而慷慨的祷告，并且详细地表达了以下内容： —

it pleaded for the church, and the little children of the church; —
祈求保佑教堂和教堂的小孩； —

for the other churches of the village; for the village itself; for the county; for the State; —
为村子里的其他教堂祈祷；为村子本身祈祷；为县祈祷；为州祈祷； —

for the State officers; for the United States; —
为州政府官员祈祷；为美国祈祷； —

for the churches of the United States; for Congress; —
为美国的教堂祈祷；为国会祈祷； —

for the President; for the officers of the Government; for poor sailors, tossed by stormy seas; —
为总统祈祷；为政府官员祈祷；为在暴风骤雨中被抛来抛去的可怜的水手祈祷； —

for the oppressed millions groaning under the heel of European monarchies and Oriental despotisms; —
为在欧洲君主制和东方专制的脚下受苦的数百万人民祈祷； —

for such as have the light and the good tidings, and yet have not eyes to see nor ears to hear withal; —
为那些拥有光明和福音却无法看见或听见的人祈祷； —

for the heathen in the far islands of the sea; —
为遥远海岛上的异教徒祈祷； —

and closed with a supplication that the words he was about to speak might find grace and favor, and be as seed sown in fertile ground, yielding in time a grateful harvest of good. Amen.
并以一个恳求作结：他所要说的话能够获得恩典和喜悦，并如同撒在肥沃土地上的种子，最终产生可喜的丰收。阿门。

There was a rustling of dresses, and the standing congregation sat down. —
会众们起身的时候，衣物发出沙沙声，然后坐下来了。 —

The boy whose history this book relates did not enjoy the prayer, he only endured it—if he even did that much. —
这本书记录了一个男孩的历史，他并不喜欢祷告，他只是忍受着——即使他可能连那么多都不愿意。 —

He was restive all through it; he kept tally of the details of the prayer, unconsciously—for he was not listening, but he knew the ground of old, and the clergyman’s regular route over it—and when a little trifle of new matter was interlarded, his ear detected it and his whole nature resented it; —
他在整个祷告过程中都很不安，他无意识地计算着祷告的细节，因为他并没有在听，但他对这块地早已了如指掌，知道传教士通常的路径，当有些微小的新事物插入其中时，他的耳朵能察觉到，他的整个本性都对此感到愤慨； —

he considered additions unfair, and scoundrelly. —
他认为这种增加不公平，是不道德的。 —

In the midst of the prayer a fly had lit on the back of the pew in front of him and tortured his spirit by calmly rubbing its hands together, embracing its head with its arms, and polishing it so vigorously that it seemed to almost part company with the body, and the slender thread of a neck was exposed to view; —
祷告进行中，一只苍蝇停在他前排的座位背后，它让他感到痛苦，冷静地搓着手，用胳膊抱住头部，如此用力地擦拭，以至于似乎差点和身体分离，细长的脖颈暴露出来； —

scraping its wings with its hind legs and smoothing them to its body as if they had been coat-tails; —
它用后腿刮着翅膀，把它们平均贴合在身体上，就好像它们是衣尾； —

going through its whole toilet as tranquilly as if it knew it was perfectly safe. —
它非常平静地完成了自己整个的打扮，仿佛深知自己完全安全。 —

As indeed it was; for as sorely as Tom’s hands itched to grab for it they did not dare—he believed his soul would be instantly destroyed if he did such a thing while the prayer was going on. —
的确如此；因为尽管汤姆的手痒得要命，想要抓住它，但他不敢这样做——他相信如果他在祈祷进行时这样做，他的灵魂会立即被毁灭。 —

But with the closing sentence his hand began to curve and steal forward; —
但是在最后一句话结束时，他的手开始弯曲并悄悄伸出。 —

and the instant the “Amen” was out the fly was a prisoner of war. —
“阿门”一出口，那只苍蝇就成了战争的俘虏。 —

His aunt detected the act and made him let it go.
他的姨妈察觉到了这个行动，并让他放开了苍蝇。

The minister gave out his text and droned along monotonously through an argument that was so prosy that many a head by and by began to nod—and yet it was an argument that dealt in limitless fire and brimstone and thinned the predestined elect down to a company so small as to be hardly worth the saving. —
牧师传达了他的讲道主题，并单调地嘟哝着一个枯燥无聊的论点，以无穷无尽的火与硫磺为题，将那些注定被选中的人减少到了一个几乎不值得救赎的小群体。 —

Tom counted the pages of the sermon; after church he always knew how many pages there had been, but he seldom knew anything else about the discourse. —
汤姆数了数布道词的页数；每次教堂结束后，他总是知道有几页，但他对布道词的其他内容很少了解。 —

However, this time he was really interested for a little while. —
然而，这次他真的感兴趣了一小会儿。 —

The minister made a grand and moving picture of the assembling together of the world’s hosts at the millennium when the lion and the lamb should lie down together and a little child should lead them. —
那位部长绘制了一个宏伟而动人的画面，描述了世界军队在千禧年时聚集在一起，狮子和羔羊躺在一起，而一个小孩带领着它们。 —

But the pathos, the lesson, the moral of the great spectacle were lost upon the boy; —
但这场伟大的景象的悲伤、教训和道德意义对这个男孩来说毫无意义； —

he only thought of the conspicuousness of the principal character before the on-looking nations; —
他只想着这位主角在众国面前的显眼地位； —

his face lit with the thought, and he said to himself that he wished he could be that child, if it was a tame lion.
他的脸上闪过一丝兴奋的神情，他暗自希望自己能成为那个孩子，就算是一个温顺的狮子也可以；

Now he lapsed into suffering again, as the dry argument was resumed. —
现在，他再次感到苦恼，因为枯燥的争论又开始了； —

Presently he bethought him of a treasure he had and got it out. —
不一会儿，他想起了他拥有的一个宝藏，于是他找出来了； —

It was a large black beetle with formidable jaws—a “pinchbug,” he called it. —
那是一个拥有可怕颚部的大黑甲虫——他称之为“夹子虫”； —

It was in a percussion-cap box. The first thing the beetle did was to take him by the finger. —
夹子虫首先夹住了他的手指； —

A natural fillip followed, the beetle went floundering into the aisle and lit on its back, and the hurt finger went into the boy’s mouth. —
这一自然反应使夹子虫摔倒在过道上，仰面朝天，而痛苦的手指进入了男孩的嘴里。 —

The beetle lay there working its helpless legs, unable to turn over. —
这只甲壳虫躺在那里，无助地动着它的腿，无法翻身。 —

Tom eyed it, and longed for it; but it was safe out of his reach. —
汤姆盯着它，渴望着，但它在他够不到的地方。 —

Other people uninterested in the sermon found relief in the beetle, and they eyed it too. —
其他对传道毫无兴趣的人在这只甲壳虫上找到了宣泄，他们也盯着它看。 —

Presently a vagrant poodle dog came idling along, sad at heart, lazy with the summer softness and the quiet, weary of captivity, sighing for change. —
不久一个流浪的贵宾狗懒散地经过，心情沮丧，夏日的柔软和宁静使它懒洋洋的，对被困乏了，渴望着改变。 —

He spied the beetle; the drooping tail lifted and wagged. —
它发现了这只甲壳虫，下垂的尾巴抬高并摇摆。 —

He surveyed the prize; walked around it; —
它审视着这个宝贝；绕着它走了一圈； —

smelt at it from a safe distance; walked around it again; grew bolder, and took a closer smell; —
从一个安全的距离闻了闻它；再绕了一圈；变得更加勇敢，贴近地闻了闻； —

then lifted his lip and made a gingerly snatch at it, just missing it; made another, and another; —
然后扬起嘴唇，小心翼翼地抓了一下，刚刚错过了；又抓了一次，又一次； —

began to enjoy the diversion; subsided to his stomach with the beetle between his paws, and continued his experiments; —
开始享受这个游戏；最后趴在地上，把甲壳虫夹在爪子中，继续它的实验； —

grew weary at last, and then indifferent and absent-minded. —
最终感到厌倦，然后变得漠不关心和心不在焉。 —

His head nodded, and little by little his chin descended and touched the enemy, who seized it. —
它的头点了点，一点一点地下降，碰到了敌人，敌人立刻抓住了它。 —

There was a sharp yelp, a flirt of the poodle’s head, and the beetle fell a couple of yards away, and lit on its back once more. —
一声尖叫，贵宾犬的头一拧，甲虫跌落在几码开外，背朝下倒地。 —

The neighboring spectators shook with a gentle inward joy, several faces went behind fans and hand-kerchiefs, and Tom was entirely happy. —
周围的观众们内心充满喜悦，一些人藏在扇子和手帕后面，汤姆完全快乐。 —

The dog looked foolish, and probably felt so; —
狗看起来很愚蠢，可能也感到如此； —

but there was resentment in his heart, too, and a craving for revenge. —
但他的心中也充满了愤怒，渴望报复。 —

So he went to the beetle and began a wary attack on it again; —
于是他走向甲虫，再次开始小心翼翼地攻击； —

jumping at it from every point of a circle, lighting with his fore-paws within an inch of the creature, making even closer snatches at it with his teeth, and jerking his head till his ears flapped again. —
他从圆圈的每一个角度跳向它，前爪距离甲虫仅有一寸之遥，用牙齿更加紧急地抓住它，并剧烈地甩动着头，耳朵扑扑作响。 —

But he grew tired once more, after a while; —
过了一会儿，他再次感到疲惫； —

tried to amuse himself with a fly but found no relief; —
试图用一只苍蝇来娱乐自己，但找不到解脱； —

followed an ant around, with his nose close to the floor, and quickly wearied of that; —
他跟随着一只蚂蚁，鼻子贴着地板，但很快就厌倦了； —

yawned, sighed, forgot the beetle entirely, and sat down on it. —
他打了个哈欠，叹了口气，完全忘记了甲虫，坐在了它身上。 —

Then there was a wild yelp of agony and the poodle went sailing up the aisle; —
随后一声野兽般的痛苦尖叫声响起，贵宾犬飞越过走道； —

the yelps continued, and so did the dog; he crossed the house in front of the altar; —
尖叫声不断，狗也不停下来，它穿过祭坛前的房子； —

he flew down the other aisle; he crossed before the doors; he clamored up the home-stretch; —
它飞跃过另一排座位；它横穿门前；它猛冲到终点； —

his anguish grew with his progress, till presently he was but a woolly comet moving in its orbit with the gleam and the speed of light. —
随着前进，它的痛苦愈发增长，最终它只是一个毛茸茸的彗星，以光速闪烁着； —

At last the frantic sufferer sheered from its course, and sprang into its master’s lap; —
最终这只痛苦万分的贵宾犬窜入主人的膝间； —

he flung it out of the window, and the voice of distress quickly thinned away and died in the distance.
主人将它抛出窗外，声音瞬间消散并在远处消失。

By this time the whole church was red-faced and suffocating with suppressed laughter, and the sermon had come to a dead standstill. —
此时整个教堂的人都满脸通红、忍俊不禁，讲道也完全停滞不前。 —

The discourse was resumed presently, but it went lame and halting, all possibility of impressiveness being at an end; —
讲道随后重新开始，但变得拙劣而蹒跚，无法再产生任何震撼人心的效果。 —

for even the gravest sentiments were constantly being received with a smothered burst of unholy mirth, under cover of some remote pew-back, as if the poor parson had said a rarely facetious thing. —
即使是最严肃的感情也会不断地被一阵掩盖在偏远的座位背后的邪恶嬉笑所打断，好像这个可怜的牧师说了一件极为诙谐的事情。 —

It was a genuine relief to the whole congregation when the ordeal was over and the benediction pronounced.
整个教众都感到真正的解脱，当这一切过去并且祝福宣读完毕时。

Tom Sawyer went home quite cheerful, thinking to himself that there was some satisfaction about divine service when there was a bit of variety in it. —
汤姆很高兴地回家，心里暗自想着，如果宗教仪式有一些变化，确实有一些满足感。 —

He had but one marring thought; he was willing that the dog should play with his pinchbug, but he did not think it was upright in him to carry it off.
他只有一个扰人的念头，他愿意让狗和他的捏虫一起玩，但他不认为狗将其带走是正直的。