I have always maintained, and asserted ime to time, that woman is no mystery; that man can foretell, construe, subdue, comprehend, and interpret her. —
我一直坚持并断言，女人并非什么神秘之谜；男人可以预测、解释、征服、理解和解读她。 —

That she is a mystery has been foisted by herself upon credulous mankind. —
她是神秘的这种观点是她自己诱导给轻信的人类的。 —

Whether I am right or wrong we shall see. —
无论我是对还是错，我们将会看到。 —

As “Harper’s Drawer” used to say in bygone years: —
“哈珀的插图”在过去的年代常说： —

“The following good story is told of Miss –, Mr. –, Mr. –and Mr. –.”
“以下有关–小姐、–先生、–先生和–先生的好故事。”

We shall have to omit “Bishop X” and “the Rev. –,” for they do not belong.
我们得省略“X主教”和“牧师–”，因为他们不在此列。

In those days Paloma was a new town on the line of the Southern Pacific. —
在那个时候，帕洛玛是南太平洋线上的一个新镇。 —

A reporter would have called it a “mushroom” town; —
记者可能会称其为“蘑菇”镇， —

but it was not. —
但其实并非如此。 —

Paloma was, first and last, of the toadstool variety.
帕洛玛是土壤质的，无论何时何地都如此。

The train stopped there at noon for the engine to drink and for the passengers both to drink and to dine. —
火车在那里中午停下，机车喝水，旅客们喝酒进餐。 —

There was a new yellow-pine hotel, also a wool warehouse, and perhaps three dozen box residences. —
有一家新的黄松木酒店，也有一座羊毛仓库，大约有三十多个木箱式住宅。 —

The rest was composed of tents, cow ponies, “black-waxy” mud, and mesquite-trees, all bound round by a horizon. —
剩下的是帐篷、牛马、”黑泥”和刺柿树，都被地平线围绕着。帕洛马即将成为一座城市。 —

Paloma was an about-to- be city. —
—

The houses represented faith; the tents hope; —
这些房子代表着信念；帐篷则代表着希望； —

the twice-a- day train by which you might leave, creditably sustained the role of charity.
而这趟每天两次的火车，让你可以体面地离开，扮演着慈善的角色。

The Parisian Restaurant occupied the muddiest spot in the town while it rained, and the warmest when it shone. —
当下雨时，巴黎餐厅位于城镇最泥泞的地方；而当阳光灿烂时，又成为最温暖的地方。 —

It was operated, owned, and perpetrated by a citizen known as Old Man Hinkle, who had come out of Indiana to make his fortune in this land of condensed milk and sorghum.
这家餐厅是由一个名叫亨克尔老人的市民经营、拥有和实施的，他从印第安纳州来到这个有浓缩牛奶和高粱糖浆的土地上谋生。

There was a four-room, unpainted, weather-boarded box house in which the family lived. —
这是一座四间房的未粉刷的木板房子，家人住在里面。 —

From the kitchen extended a “shelter” made of poles covered with chaparral brush. —
厨房外面有一个由柱子搭建、上面盖满了刺柿树灌木的“遮蔽处”。 —

Under this was a table and two benches, each twenty feet long, the product of Paloma home carpentry. —
在这座遮蔽处下，摆放着一张桌子和两张长达二十英尺的长凳，这是帕洛马家庭木工的杰作。 —

Here was set forth the roast mutton, the stewed apples, boiled beans, soda- biscuits, puddinorpie, and hot coffee of the Parisian menu.
这里摆满了巴黎餐厅的烤羊肉、炖苹果、煮豆子、苏打饼干、布丁或派以及热咖啡的菜单。

Ma Hinkle and a subordinate known to the ears as “Betty,” but denied to the eyesight, presided at the range. —
霍茹思女士和一位名为“贝蒂”的下属，虽然视线上被否认，但他们主持了该地区的活动。 —

Pa Hinkle himself, with salamandrous thumbs, served the scalding viands. —
霍茹思先生本人，用有蝾螈般的拇指，为滚烫的菜肴提供服务。 —

During rush hours a Mexican youth, who rolled and smoked cigarettes between courses, aided him in waiting on the guests. —
在高峰期间，一名墨西哥青年在餐间抽烟辅助他招待客人。 —

As is customary at Parisian banquets, I place the sweets at the end of my wordy menu.
正如在巴黎宴会上惯常的那样，我将甜点放在了冗长菜单的最后。

Ileen Hinkle!
伊琳·霍茹思！

The spelling is correct, for I have seen her write it. —
拼写是正确的，因为我看过她写过。毫无疑问， —

No doubt she had been named by ear; —
她是按耳朵取名的。 —

but she so splendidly bore the orthography that Tom Moore himself (had he seen her) would have indorsed the phonography.
但是她对这种拼写表现得如此出色，以至于如果汤姆·穆尔本人（如果他看到她）会支持这种音标。

Ileen was the daughter of the house, and the first Lady Cashier to invade the territory south of an east-and-west line drawn through Galveston and Del Rio. She sat on a high stool in a rough pine grand- stand–or was it a temple? —
伊琳是这个家庭的女儿，也是第一位进入加尔维斯顿和德尔里奥之间领土的女收银员。她坐在一个粗糙的松木高凳上，是一个大厅般的场所 - 或者是一个庙宇？ —

–under the shelter at the door of the kitchen. —
在厨房门口的遮蔽处， —

There was a barbed-wire protection in front of her, with a little arch under which you passed your money. —
有一道带着铁丝网保护的门，门下有一道小拱门，你需要把钱放在拱门下。 —

Heaven knows why the barbed wire; —
天知道为什么要用铁丝网， —

for every man who dined Parisianly there would have died in her service. —
因为每个享受巴黎式餐饮的人都会为她而死。 —

Her duties were light; each meal was a dollar; —
她的工作很简单：每顿饭收一美元， —

you put it under the arch, and she took it.
你把钱放在拱门下，她就会拿走。

I set out with the intent to describe Ileen Hinkle to you. —
我原本打算向你描述一下艾琳·汉克尔， —

Instead, I must refer you to the volume by Edmund Burke entitled: —
但现在我得提醒你去看爱德蒙·伯克的著作，名为《论壮丽与美的起源的哲学探究》。 —

A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. —
这是一本详尽的论文，首先探讨了美的原始概念——圆润和光滑，我想伯克是这样说的。他说得很好。 —

It is an exhaustive treatise, dealing first with the primitive conceptions of beauty–roundness and smoothness, I think they are, according to Burke. It is well said. —
圆满是一种明显的魅力；至于光滑——一个女人脸上愈来愈多的新皱纹，她就愈发光滑。 —

Rotundity is a patent charm; —

as for smoothness–the more new wrinkles a woman acquires, the smoother she becomes.

Ileen was a strictly vegetable compound, guaranteed under the Pure Ambrosia and Balm-of-Gilead Act of the year of the fall of Adam. She was a fruit-stand blonde-strawberries, peaches, cherries, etc. —
艾琳是一个严格的蔬菜复合物，根据亚当堕落的年代的纯粹法定法令和基列巴尔姆法进行保证。她是一个水果摊的金发女郎 - 草莓，桃子，樱桃等等。 —

Her eyes were wide apart, and she possessed the calm that precedes a storm that never comes. —
她的眼睛相距甚远，她拥有一种在即将来临的风暴之前的宁静。 —

But it seems to me that words (at any rate per) are wasted in an effort to describe the beautiful. —
但在我看来，用词（至少根据常理）是在努力描述美的过程中被浪费的。 —

Like fancy, “It is engendered in the eyes.” There are three kinds of beauties–I was foreordained to be homiletic; —
就像幻想，”它在眼睛中产生。” 有三种美丽 - 我注定要宗教说教； —

I can never stick to a story.
我永远讲不完一个故事。

The first is the freckle-faced, snub-nosed girl whom you like. —
第一种是你喜欢的那个布满雀斑的鼻子扁平的女孩。 —

The second is Maud Adams. The third is, or are, the ladies in Bouguereau’s paintings. —
第二是莫德·亚当斯。第三是布格罗的画中的女士们。 —

Ileen Hinkle was the fourth. —
艾琳·汉克尔是第四个。 —

She was the mayoress of Spotless Town. There were a thousand golden apples coming to her as Helen of the Troy laundries.
她是斯波特利斯镇的女市长。有一千个金苹果来到她这里，如同特洛伊水洗厂的海伦。

The Parisian Restaurant was within a radius. —
巴黎餐厅就在附近。甚至从其周边的地方， —

Even from beyond its circumference men rode in to Paloma to win her smiles. —
人们骑马来到帕洛马赢取她的微笑。 —

They got them. —
他们得到了。 —

One meal–one smile–one dollar. But, with all her impartiality, Ileen seemed to favor three of her admirers above the rest. —
一餐就是一笑，只需一美元。然而，竟然在这么众多崇拜者中，艾琳似乎对其中三位偏爱有加。 —

According to the rules of politeness, I will mention myself last.
根据礼貌规则，我将自己放在最后一位提及。

The first was an artificial product known as Bryan Jacks–a name that had obviously met with reverses. —
第一位是一个名为布莱恩·杰克斯的人工产品，这个名字显然遭遇了逆境。 —

Jacks was the outcome of paved cities. —
杰克斯是铺装城市的产物。 —

He was a small man made of some material resembling flexible sandstone. —
他是一个由某种类似柔软砂岩的材质制成的小个子男人。 —

His hair was the color of a brick Quaker meeting-house; —
他的头发颜色像红砖的贵格会议堂； —

his eyes were twin cranberries; —
他的眼睛像双个蔓越莓； —

his mouth was like the aperture under a drop-letters-here sign.
他的嘴巴就像一个写着“请投信件于此”的信箱口。

He knew every city from Bangor to San Francisco, thence north to Portland, thence S. 45 E. to a given point in Florida. —
他熟悉从班戈尔到旧金山的每个城市，然后往北到波特兰，再然后以45度朝南偏东到佛罗里达的某个给定点。 —

He had mastered every art, trade, game, business, profession, and sport in the world, had been present at, or hurrying on his way to, every head- line event that had ever occurred between oceans since he was five years old. —
他掌握了世界上的每一门艺术、职业、游戏、商业、专业和运动，自从他五岁起，他曾亲眼目睹或匆忙赶往自己的目的地参与过每一则横跨两大洋发生的重大事件。 —

You might open the atlas, place your finger at random upon the name of a town, and Jacks would tell you the front names of three prominent citizens before you could close it again. —
你可以打开地图册，在随机位置用手指指着一个城镇的名字，而在你再次关闭之前，杰克斯就能告诉你该地区三位杰出市民的名字。 —

He spoke patronizingly and even disrespectfully of Broadway, Beacon Hill, Michigan, Euclid, and Fifth avenues, and the St. Louis Four Courts. —
他以傲慢甚至不尊重地谈论着百老汇、灯塔山、密歇根大街、尤克利得大街、第五大道和圣路易斯四庭院。 —

Compared with him as a cosmopolite, the Wandering Jew would have seemed a mere hermit. —
与他作为一名世界公民相比，流浪犹太人看起来只不过是一个隐士。 —

He had learned everything the world could teach him, and he would tell you about it.
他已经学到了世界所能教给他的一切，他会告诉你有关此事的一切。

I hate to be reminded of Pollock’s Course of Time, and so do you; —
我不想被提醒波洛克的《时间之路》，你也是一样的。 —

but every time I saw Jacks I would think of the poet’s description of another poet by the name of G. G. Byron who “Drank early; —
但是每次我见到杰克斯，我就会想起诗人对另一位名叫G. G. 拜伦的诗人的描述，他“年少时饮酒；深深地饮酒——饮下了寻常人们无法抵挡的饮品； —

deeply drank–drank draughts that common millions might have quenched; —
那杰克斯就像是一个饮过浑身经书本的学者，而我就像是岩石上的苹果。 —

then died of thirst because there was no more to drink.”
然后渴死了，因为没有更多的水可喝。

That fitted Jacks, except that, instead of dying, he came to Paloma, which was about the same thing. —
这适合杰克斯，除了他没有死，他走进了帕洛玛，那也差不多。 —

He was a telegrapher and station- and express-agent at seventy-five dollars a month. —
他是一名电报员和车站-快递员，每月拿着75美元。 —

Why a young man who knew everything and could do everything was content to serve in such an obscure capacity I never could understand, although he let out a hint once that it was as a personal favor to the president and stockholders of the S. P. Ry. Co.
一个年轻人既懂得一切又能做任何事，却愿意在如此默默无闻的职位上服役，我始终无法理解，尽管他曾经暗示过这是对S.P.铁路公司总裁和股东的个人恩惠。

One more line of description, and I turn Jacks over to you. —
再来一行描述，然后我就把杰克斯交给你。 —

He wore bright blue clothes, yellow shoes, and a bow tie made of the same cloth as his shirt.
他穿着亮蓝色的衣服，黄色的鞋子，蝴蝶领结与他衬衫上的布料相同。

My rival No.2 was Bud Cunningham, whose services had been engaged by a ranch near Paloma to assist in compelling refractory cattle to keep within the bounds of decorum and order. —
我的对手2是巴德·坎宁安，他被帕洛玛附近的一个牧场雇佣，帮助驱使不听话的牛保持礼貌和秩序。 —

Bud was the only cowboy off the stage that I ever saw who looked like one on it. —
巴德是我见过的唯一一个离开舞台的牛仔看起来像舞台上的牛仔的人。 —

He wore the sombrero, the chaps, and the handkerchief tied at the back of his neck.
他戴着索姆布雷罗帽，穿着马裤，领结着手帕系在脖子后面。

Twice a week Bud rode in from the Val Verde Ranch to sup at the Parisian Restaurant. —
每周两次，巴德从瓦尔韦尔德牧场骑马到巴黎餐厅吃饭。 —

He rode a many-high-handed Kentucky horse at a tremendously fast lope, which animal he would rein up so suddenly under the big mesquite at the corner of the brush shelter that his hoofs would plough canals yards long in the loam.
他骑着一匹傲慢的肯塔基马以极快的小跑前进，当马匹在灌木庇护所一角的大刺槐树下突然停下时，它的蹄子会在壤土上犁出长达数码的河渠。

Jacks and I were regular boarders at the restaurant, of course.
杰克斯和我当然是这家餐厅的常客。

The front room of the Hinkle House was as neat a little parlor as there was in the black-waxy country. —
辛克尔家的前房间是黑沃土地上最整洁的小客厅。 —

It was all willow rocking- chairs, and home-knit tidies, and albums, and conch shells in a row. —
这里有柳木摇椅，手工编织的茶垫，相册，还有一排海螺壳。 —

And a little upright piano in one comer.
角落里还有一架小立式钢琴。

Here Jacks and Bud and I–or sometimes one or two of us, according to our good-luck–used to sit of evenings when the tide of trade was over, and “visit” Miss Hinkle.
当生意潮水退去时，杰克斯、巴德和我，或者根据我们的好运，有时一个或两个人会坐在这里“拜访”辛克尔小姐。

Ileen was a girl of ideas. —
伊琳是一个富有思想的女孩。 —

She was destined for higher things (if there can be anything higher) than taking in dollars all day through a barbed-wire wicket. —
她注定要做比整天通过铁丝网窗口接钱更高级的事情（如果有什么比这更高级的话）。 —

She had read and listened and thought. —
她读书、倾听、思考。 —

Her looks would have formed a career for a less ambitious girl; —
她的外貌足以成为一个不那么雄心勃勃的女孩的事业； —

but, rising superior to mere beauty, she must establish something in the nature of a salon–the only one in Paloma.
但是，她超越了单纯的美丽，她必须建立一个类似沙龙的东西——帕洛玛唯一的沙龙。

“Don’t you think that Shakespeare was a great writer?” she would ask, with such a pretty little knit of her arched brows that the late Ignatius Donnelly, himself, had he seen it, could scarcely have saved his Bacon.
“你不觉得莎士比亚是一个伟大的作家吗？”她会这样问道，她眉毛微微蹙起，这么可爱的表情，即使晚年的伊格纳修斯·唐纳利（Ignatius Donnelly）看到了，也几乎无法拯救他的培根学说。

Ileen was of the opinion, also, that Boston is more cultured than Chicago; —
伊琳还认为波士顿比芝加哥更有文化；罗莎·邦乔是最伟大的女画家之一； —

that Rosa Bonheur was one of the greatest of women painters; —
—

that Westerners are more spontaneous and open-hearted than Easterners; —
西部人比东部人更自然、更豪爽； —

that London must be a very foggy city, and that California must be quite lovely in the springtime. —
伦敦一定是一个雾蒙蒙的城市，而加利福尼亚在春天一定非常可爱。 —

And of many other opinions indicating a keeping up with the world’s best thought.
还有许多其他观点，表明她紧跟世界上最好的思想。

These, however, were but gleaned from hearsay and evidence: —
然而，这些只是搜集到的传闻和证据： —

Ileen had theories of her own. One, in particular, she disseminated to us untiringly. —
艾琳有她自己的理论。其中一个，她不知疲倦地向我们传播。 —

Flattery she detested. Frankness and honesty of speech and action, she declared, were the chief mental ornaments of man and woman. —
她痛恨奉承。坦率和诚实的言行，她宣称，是男人和女人最重要的心智装饰。 —

If ever she could like any one, it would be for those qualities.
如果她能喜欢任何人，那将是因为这些品质。

“I’m awfully weary,” she said, one evening, when we three musketeers of the mesquite were in the little parlor, “of having compliments on my looks paid to me. —
“我很厌倦，”一个晚上，我们三个麻雀帮的人在小客厅里，她说，“总是有人夸我漂亮。 —

I know I’m not beautiful.”
我知道我不漂亮。”

(Bud Cunningham told me afterward that it was all he could do to keep from calling her a liar when she said that.)
（波德·坎宁安事后告诉我，当她说这话时，他差点忍不住骂她撒谎。）

“I’m only a little Middle-Western girl,” went on Ileen, “who justs wants to be simple and neat, and tries to help her father make a humble living.”
“我只是一个中西部的小姑娘，”艾琳接着说，“只想变得简单整洁，努力帮助父亲谋生。”

(Old Man Hinkle was shipping a thousand silver dollars a month, clear profit, to a bank in San Antonio.[)]
（老人亨克尔每月向圣安东尼奥的一家银行运送一千枚银元，纯利润。）

Bud twisted around in his chair and bent the rim of his hat, from which he could never be persuaded to separate. —
巴德转过椅子，弯曲了他帽子的边沿，他再也舍不得分开了。 —

He did not know whether she wanted what she said she wanted or what she knew she deserved. —
他不知道她是想要她说她想要的，还是她知道自己应得什么。 —

Many a wiser man has hesitated at deciding. Bud decided.
许多聪明的人在决定时犹豫不决，但巴德决定了。

“Why–ah, Miss Ileen, beauty, as you might say, ain’t everything. —
“为什么是这样，爱琳小姐，美丽，并不是一切。 —

Not sayin’ that you haven’t your share of good looks, I always admired more than anything else about you the nice, kind way you treat your ma and pa. —
并不是说你没有你的份额的美貌，我最欣赏的是你对待父母的友好方式。 —

Any one what’s good to their parents and is a kind of home- body don’t specially need to be too pretty.”
对父母好，并且喜欢待在家里的人，不特别需要太漂亮。

Ileen gave him one of her sweetest smiles. —
爱琳对他微笑着，“谢谢您， —

“Thank you, Mr. Cunningham,” she said. —
坎宁汉姆先生。”她说道。 —

“I consider that one of the finest compliments I’ve had in a long time. —
“我认为这是我很久以来收到的最高的赞美之一。 —

I’d so much rather hear you say that than to hear you talk about my eyes and hair. —
我宁愿听你说这些话，也不愿听你赞美我的眼睛和头发。 —

I’m glad you believe me when I say I don’t like flattery.”
我很高兴你相信我说的不喜欢奉承。

Our cue was there for us. Bud had made a good guess. —
我们听到了我们的提示。巴德猜对了。 —

You couldn’t lose Jacks. He chimed in next.
你不能输的。接下来是杰克。

“Sure thing, Miss Ileen,” he said; —
“没错，艾琳小姐，”他说， —

“the good-lookers don’t always win out. Now, you ain’t bad looking, of course-but that’s nix-cum-rous. —
“漂亮的人不总是能成功。当然，你也不难看，但是远远不够好。 —

I knew a girl once in Dubuque with a face like a cocoanut, who could skin the cat twice on a horizontal bar without changing hands. —
我曾经在迪比克遇到过一个长得像椰子一样的女孩，她可以在水平杠上连续两次换手做卷体动作。 —

Now, a girl might have the California peach crop mashed to a marmalade and not be able to do that. —
现在，一个女孩可能把加利福尼亚的桃子都捣成果酱，但也做不到那个动作。 —

I’ve seen–er–worse lookers than you, Miss Ileen; —
我见过比你还差的人，艾琳小姐； —

but what I like about you is the business way you’ve got of doing things. —
但我喜欢你的地方是你的做事办事的方式。冷静而明智， —

Cool and wise–that’s the winning way for a girl. —
这是一个女孩赢得胜利的方式。 —

Mr. Hinkle told me the other day you’d never taken in a lead silver dollar or a plugged one since you’ve been on the job. —
辛克尔先生告诉我，你在这份工作上从来没有接过一枚假银币或挤牙膏的银币。” —

Now, that’s the stuff for a girl–that’s what catches me.”
现在，这就是一个女孩应该有的东西 - 这就是吸引我的东西。

Jacks got his smile, too.
杰克也有他的笑容。

“Thank you, Mr. Jacks,” said Ileen. “If you only knew how I appreciate any one’s being candid and not a flatterer! —
“谢谢你，杰克先生，”艾琳说。”如果你只知道我是如何欣赏任何一个人坦率而不是谄媚的！ —

I get so tired of people telling me I’m pretty. —
人们总是告诉我我很漂亮， —

I think it is the loveliest thing to have friends who tell you the truth.”
我觉得有朋友告诉你真话是最可爱的事情。

Then I thought I saw an expectant look on Ileen’s face as she glanced toward me. —
然后我看到艾琳的脸上有一种期待的表情，她朝我投去一瞥。 —

I had a wild, sudden impulse to dare fate, and tell her of all the beautiful handiwork of the Great Artificer she was the most exquisite–that she was a flawless pearl gleaming pure and serene in a setting of black mud and emerald prairies–that she was–a–a corker; —
我突然有一种大胆的冲动，想向命运挑战，告诉她关于伟大工匠的美丽杰作，她是最完美的——她是一颗完美无瑕的珍珠，在黑泥和翡翠草原的环绕中闪耀纯洁和宁静——她是——一个绝妙的人； —

and as for mine, I cared not if she were as crtiel as a serpent’s tooth to her fond parents, or if she couldn’t tell a plugged dollar from a bridle buckle, if I might sing, chant, praise, glorify, and worship her peerless and wonderful beauty.
至于我的，我不在乎她对她亲爱的父母有多么残酷，或者她是否能分辨出一个有问题的钱币和马勒索的扣环，只要我能够为她歌唱，歌颂，赞美和崇拜她无与伦比和美丽的容貌。

But I refrained. I feared the fate of a flatterer. —
但是我克制住了。我担心自己会变成一个谄媚者的命运。 —

I had witnessed her delight at the crafty and discreet words of Bud and Jacks. No! —
我亲眼目睹了她对Bud和Jacks巧妙而谨慎的言辞的喜悦。不！ —

Miss Hinkle was not one to be beguiled by the plated-silver tongue of a flatterer. —
Hinkle小姐不是一个容易被谄媚者的虚假花言巧语迷惑的人。 —

So I joined the ranks of the candid and honest. —
所以我加入了真诚和坦诚的队伍。 —

At once I became mendacious and didactic.
我立即变得虚伪而教导人。

“In all ages, Miss Hinkle,” said I, “in spite of the poetry and romance of each, intellect in woman has been admired more than beauty. —
“在所有时代，Hinkle小姐，”我说，“尽管每个时代都有诗意和浪漫，但智慧在女性中被更多地赞美，而不是美貌。 —

Even in Cleopatra, herself, men found more charm in her queenly mind than in her looks.”
即使是克利奥帕特拉，男人们也更在意她的皇家心智，而不是她的外表。”

“Well, I should think so!” said Ileen. “I’ve seen pictures of her that weren’t so much. —
“哇，真是的！”Ileen说，“我看过她的照片，她的样子不怎么样。 —

she had an awfully long nose.”
她有一个相当长的鼻子。”

“If I may say so,” I went on, “you remind me of Cleopatra, Miss Ileen.”
“如果我可以这么说，”我继续说，“Ileen小姐，您让我想起了克利奥帕特拉。”

“Why, my nose isn’t so long!” said she, opening her eyes wide and touching that comely feature with a dimpled forefinger.
“嗯，我的鼻子不是那么长！”她睁大眼睛，用一个有酒窝的食指触摸着那可爱的特征。

“Why–er–I mean,” said I–” I mean as to mental endowments.”
“为什么–呃–我是说，”我说，“我是说您的智慧才华。”

“Oh!” said she; and then I got my smile just as Bud and Jacks had got theirs.
“哦！”她说，然后我得到了我的微笑，就像Bud和Jacks得到了他们的一样。

“Thank every one of you,” she said, very, very sweetly, “for being so frank and honest with me. —
“非常感谢你们每一个人，”她非常温柔地说道，“谢谢你们对我的坦率和诚实。 —

That’s the way I want you to be always. —
我希望你们始终如此。 —

Just tell me plainly and truthfully what you think, and we’ll all be the best friends in the world. —
请直截了当地告诉我你们的想法和真实感受，我们将成为世界上最好的朋友。 —

And now, because you’ve been so good to me, and understand so well how I dislike people who do nothing but pay me exaggerated compliments, I’ll sing and play a little for you.”
现在，因为你们对我太好了，也很理解我讨厌那些只会给我过分恭维的人，我将为你们唱一首歌，弹一曲琴。”

Of course, we expressed our thanks and joy; —
当然，我们表示了感谢和欢喜； —

but we would have been better pleased if Ileen had remained in her low rocking-chair face to face with us and let us gaze upon her. —
但如果Ileen留在她那低矮的摇椅上，面对面地与我们对视，让我们盯着她看，我们会更高兴。 —

For she was no Adelina Patti– not even on the fare-wellest of the diva’s farewell tours. —
因为她并不是Adelina Patti，甚至不是在这位歌唱家告别巡回演唱会的最后一站。 —

She had a cooing little voice like that of a turtle-dove that could almost fill the parlor when the windows and doors were closed, and Betty was not rattling the lids of the stove in the kitchen. —
她有着一种像乌鸦咕咕声般的小声音，当窗户和门关上时，可以几乎填满客厅，只要贝蒂不在厨房里敲炉子的盖子。 —

She had a gamut that I estimate at about eight inches on the piano; —
她在钢琴上有大约八英寸的音域。 —

and her runs and trills sounded like the clothes bubbling in your grandmother’s iron wash-pot. —
她的奔跑和颤音听起来就像奶奶的熨烫锅里衣服冒泡的声音。 —

Believe that she must have been beautiful when I tell you that it sounded like music to us.
当我告诉你听起来像音乐时，相信她一定很美丽。

“She Must Have Been Beautiful When I Tell You That It Sounded Like Music To Us”
“当我告诉你听起来像音乐时，相信她一定很美丽”

Ileen’s musical taste was catholic. —
艾琳的音乐品味是普兰的。 —

She would sing through a pile of sheet music on the left-hand top of the piano, laying each slaughtered composition on the right-hand top. —
她会用左边的顶部乐谱堆唱歌，然后把每一首被屠杀的作品放在右边的顶部。 —

The next evening she would sing from right to left. —
第二天晚上她会从右至左唱歌。 —

Her favorites were Mendelssohn, and Moody and Sankey. —
她最喜欢的是门德尔松、穆迪和桑基。 —

By request she always wound up with Sweet Violets and When the Leaves Begin to Turn.
当被要求时，她总是以《甜美的紫罗兰》和《当叶子开始转变》收场。

When we left at ten o’clock the three of us would go down to Jacks’ little wooden station and sit on the platform, swinging our feet and trying to pump one another for dews as to which way Miss Ileen’s inclinations seemed to lean. —
当我们在晚上十点离开时，我们三个会到杰克的小木制站台上坐着，荡着脚，互相探听艾琳倾向的消息。 —

That is the way of rivals–they do not avoid and glower at one another; —
这就是竞争对手的方式 - 他们不会回避彼此并怒视，只会争相奋斗。 —

they convene and converse and construe–striving by the art politic to estimate the strength of the enemy.
他们聚集、交谈和推测，通过政治手段努力估计敌人的实力。

One day there came a dark horse to Paloma, a young lawyer who at once flaunted his shingle and himself spectacularly upon the town. —
有一天，一个黑马来到了帕洛玛，一个年轻的律师，他一下子就在城里张扬他自己和他的招牌。 —

His name was C. Vincent Vesey. You could see at a glance that he was a recent graduate of a southwestern law school. —
他的名字叫C.文森特·维西。你一眼就能看出他是一位西南地区法学院的新毕业生。 —

His Prince Albert coat, light striped trousers, broad-brimmed soft black hat, and narrow white muslin bow tie proclaimed that more loudly than any diploma could. —
他的乌尔莎子服，浅色条纹裤子，宽檐黑软帽和窄细白色纱质蝴蝶结领带比起任何文凭都更能证明这一点。 —

Vesey was a compound of Daniel Webster, Lord Chesterfield, Beau Brummell, and Little Jack Horner. —
维西是丹尼尔·韦伯斯特，切斯特菲尔德勋爵，布鲁梅尔和小杰克·哈纳的结合体。 —

His coming boomed Paloma. —
他的到来轰动了帕洛玛。 —

The next day after he arrived an addition to the town was surveyed and laid off in lots.
他到达的第二天，城里又开拓了一个新的地区并分成了几个地块。

Of course, Vesey, to further his professional fortunes, must mingle with the citizenry and outliers of Paloma. —
当然，为了进一步促进他的职业发展，维西必须与帕洛玛的市民和周边人群交往。 —

And, as well as with the soldier men, he was bound to seek popularity with the gay dogs of the place. —
而且，除了士兵，他还必须寻求与城里的花花公子们的受欢迎程度。 —

So Jacks and Bud Cunningham and I came to be honored by his acquaintance.
所以我和杰克斯和巴德·坎宁安一同受到了他的朋友接纳的荣誉。

The doctrine of predestination would have been discredited had not Vesey seen Ileen Hinkle and become fourth in the tourney. —
如果不是维西看到伊琳·亨克尔并在比赛中排名第四，那么预定命运的教义就会遭到质疑。 —

Magnificently, he boarded at the yellow pine hotel instead of at the Parisian Restaurant; —
壮观的是，他选择在黄松酒店住宿，而不是在巴黎餐厅。 —

but he came to be a formidable visitor in the Hinkle parlor. —
但他成了亨克尔家客厅中一个令人敬畏的访客。 —

His competition reduced Bud to an inspired increase of profanity, drove Jacks to an outburst of slang so weird that it sounded more horrible than the most trenchant of Bud’s imprecations, and made me dumb with gloom.
他的竞争使巴德增加了让人振奋的亵渎，并使杰克斯爆发出一些奇怪的俚语，听起来比巴德的咒骂更可怕，而我则黯然沉默。

For Vesey had the rhetoric. —
因为维西有辞令才能。 —

Words flowed from him like oil from a gusher. —
言辞如潮水般从他口中涌出。 —

Hyperbole, compliment, praise, appreciation, honeyed gallantry, golden opinions, eulogy, and unveiled panegyric vied with one another for pre-eminence in his speech. —
夸张、赞美、赞赏、甜言蜜语、金玉良言、颂词和明目张胆的颂颂相互竞争，争夺在他的演讲中占主导地位。 —

We had small hopes that Ileen could resist his oratory and Prince Albert.
我们不抱希望伊琳能抵挡住他的雄辩和王子烟斗。

But a day came that gave us courage.
但有一天，给了我们勇气。

About dusk one evening I was sitting on the little gallery in front of the Hinkle parlor, waiting for Ileen to come, when I heard voices inside. —
一个傍晚，我正坐在Hinkle客厅前面的小露台上，等着Ileen来的时候，听见里面传来了声音。 —

She had come into the room with her father, and Old Man Hinkle began to talk to her. —
她和她的父亲走进了房间，老Hinkle开始和她说话。 —

I had observed before that he was a shrewd man, and not unphilosophic.
之前我觉得他是个精明的人，而且也不缺乏哲学思维。

“Ily,” said he, “I notice there’s three or four young fellers that have been callin’ to see you regular for quite a while. —
“Ily，”他说道，”我注意到还有三四个年轻人经常来看你。 —

Is there any one of ‘em you like better than another?”
你有没有一个你比其他人更喜欢的？”

“Why, pa,” she answered, “I like all of ‘em very well. —
“哦，爸爸，”她回答道，”我都很喜欢他们。 —

I think Mr. Cuninngham and Mr. Jacks and Mr. Harris are very nice young men. —
我觉得Cuninngham先生、Jacks先生和Harris先生都是非常好的年轻人。 —

They are so frank and honest in everything they say to me. —
他们对我说的每一句话都那么坦率和诚实。 —

I haven’t known Mr. Vesey very long, but I think he’s a very nice young man, he’s so frank and honest in everything he says to me.”
我和Vesey先生认识还不久，但我觉得他也是个非常好的年轻人，他对我说的每一句话都那么坦率和诚实。”

“Now, that’s what I’m gittin’ at,” says old Hinkle. —
“现在，这正是我要说的，” —

“You’ve always been sayin’ you like people what tell the truth and don’t go humbuggin’ you with compliments and bogus talk. —
老Hinkle说道。”你一直说你喜欢那些说真话、不用恭维和虚假言辞来欺骗你的人。 —

Now, suppose you make a test of these fellers, and see which one of ‘em will talk the straightest to you.”
现在，假设你对这些家伙进行一次测试，看看谁对你说得最真诚。

“But how’ll I do it, pa?”
“那我该怎么做呢，爸爸？”

“I’ll tell you how. You know you sing a little bit, Ily; —
“我告诉你怎么做。你知道你会唱一点，伊琳娜； —

you took music-lessons nearly two years in Logansport. —
你在洛根斯波特上了将近两年的音乐课。 —

It wasn’t long, but it was all we could afford then. —
虽然不长，但那是我们当时负担得起的全部了。 —

And your teacher said you didn’t have any voice, and it was a waste of money to keep on. —
你的老师说你没有音乐天赋，继续上课只是浪费钱。 —

Now, suppose you ask the fellers what they think of your singin’, and see what each one of ‘em tells you. —
现在，你可以问问这些家伙对你的唱功有什么看法，看看每个人会怎么告诉你。 —

The man that ’ll tell you the truth about it ’ll have a mighty lot of nerve, and ’ll do to tie to. —
那个能对你说实话的人一定有很大的勇气，也值得信赖。 —

What do you think of the plan?”
你觉得这个计划怎么样？”

“All right, pa,” said Ileen. “I think it’s a good idea. —
“好吧，爸爸，”伊琳娜说道。”我觉得这个主意不错。 —

I’ll try it.”
我试试看。”

Ileen and Mr. Hinkle went out of the room through the inside doors. —
伊琳娜和亨克尔先生穿过室内的门走出了房间。 —

Unobserved, I hurried down to the station. —
我不被注意到地急忙下楼去车站。 —

Jacks was at his telegraph table waiting for eight o’clock to come. —
杰克斯正在他的电报桌旁等待八点钟。 —

It was Bud’s night in town, and when he rode in I repeated the conversation to them both. —
这是巴德在城里的晚上，当他骑进来时，我把对话重复给了他们听。 —

I was loyal to my rivals, as all true admirers of all Ileens should be.
作为对所有艾琳崇拜者应有的忠诚，我对我的竞争对手保持忠诚。

Simultaneously the three of us were smitten by an uplifting thought. —
同时，我们三个都被一个鼓舞人心的想法所打动。 —

Surely this test would eliminate Vesey from the contest. —
毫无疑问，这个测试肯定会淘汰韦西。 —

He, with his unctuous flattery, would be driven from the lists. —
他用油腻的奉承话语，必将被赶出竞争。 —

Well we remembered Ileen’s love of frankness and honesty–how she treasured truth and candor above vain compliment and blandishment.
我们记得艾琳钟爱坦诚和诚实──她珍视真理和坦率胜过虚假的赞美和恭维。

Linking arms, we did a grotesque dance of joy up and down the platform, singing Muldoon Was a Solid Man at the top of our voices.
我们携手跳起了怪诞的欢乐之舞，嗓音嘹亮地唱起《穆尔顿是个可靠的人》。

That evening four of the willow rocking-chairs were filled besides the lucky one that sustained the trim figure of Miss Hinkle. —
那天晚上，除了那把幸运地承托着亨克尔小姐苗条身影的摇椅之外，还有四把柳树摇椅。 —

Three of us awaited with suppressed excitement the application of the test. —
我们三个人满怀期待地等待着这一测试的应用。 —

It was tried on Bud first.
首先对巴德进行测试。

“Mr. Cunningham,” said Ileen, with her dazzling smile, after she had sung When the Leaves Begin to Turn, “what do you really think of my voice? —
“坎宁安先生，”艾琳在演唱了《当叶子开始变色时》之后，带着她灿烂的笑容说道，“你真正认为我的声音如何？ —

Frankly and honestly, now, as you know I want you to always be toward me.”
坦白地说，真实地说，就像你知道我希望你永远对我一样。”

Bud squirmed in his chair at his chance to show the sincerity that he knew was required of him.
巴德在椅子上扭动着身子，他知道要展示出必需的真诚。

“Tell you the truth, Miss Ileen,” he said, earnestly, “you ain’t got much more voice than a weasel–just a little squeak, you know. —
“跟你讲实话，伊琳小姐，”他诚恳地说，“你的嗓音不比黄鼠狼好多少，就是一点点尖叫声，你知道的。 —

Of course, we all like to hear you sing, for it’s kind of sweet and soothin’ after all, and you look most as mighty well sittin’ on the piano-stool as you do faced around. —
当然，我们都喜欢听你唱歌，因为它有点甜美和抚慰人心，你坐在钢琴凳上看起来几乎和背对着我们时一样好看。 —

But as for real singin’–I reckon you couldn’t call it that.”
但是要说真正的唱歌——我想你不能这样称呼它。

I looked closely at Ileen to see if Bud had overdone his frankness, but her pleased smile and sweetly spoken thanks assured me that we were on the right track.
我仔细看了看伊琳，想看看巴德是否过度坦率，但她满意的微笑和甜美的感谢向我保证我们正在正确的道路上。

“And what do you think, Mr. Jacks?” she asked next. —
“你认为怎么样，杰克斯先生？”她随即问道。 —

“Take it from me,” said Jacks, “you ain’t in the prima donna class. —
“相信我，”杰克斯说道，“你还没有达到女高音歌唱家的水准。 —

I’ve heard ‘em warble in every city in the United States; —
我在美国的每个城市都听过她们的歌声， —

and I tell you your vocal output don’t go. —
我告诉你，你的嗓音就值这个了。 —

Otherwise, you’ve got the grand opera bunch sent to the soap factory–in looks, I mean; —
其他方面，你长得像大歌剧团的人被送到了肥皂厂——我是指你的外貌； —

for the high screechers generally look like Mary Ann on her Thursday out. —
对于高音喇叭手而言，他们通常看起来像周四出门的玛丽·安。 —

But nix for the gargle work. —
但对于喉咙工作来说，并不合适。 —

Your epiglottis ain’t a real side-stepper–its footwork ain’t good.”
你的会厌不是一个真正的侧步者，它的步法不好。

With a merry laugh at Jacks’ criticism, Ileen looked inquiringly at me.
听到杰克对她的批评，伊琳开心地笑着看着我。

I admit that I faltered a little. —
我承认我有点犹豫不决。 —

Was there not such a thing as being too frank? —
难道不会有这样一种事情，就是说得太直率了吗？ —

Perhaps I even hedged a little in my verdict; —
也许我在对判决上有点模棱两可， —

but I stayed with the critics.
但我依然站在评论家这一边。

“I am not skilled in scientific music, Miss Ileen,” I said, “but, frankly, I cannot praise very highly the singing-voice that Nature has given you. —
“我在科学音乐方面并不精通，伊琳小姐,“我说，“但是，坦率地说，大自然赋予你的歌声我不能给予太高的评价。 —

It has long been a favorite comparison that a great singer sings like a bird. —
长久以来，人们常常将伟大的歌手比作小鸟。嗯， —

Well, there are birds and birds. —
鸟也有各种各样。 —

I would say that your voice reminds me of the thrush’s–throaty and not strong, nor of much compass or variety–but still–er–sweet–in–er–its–way, and– er–”
我会说你的声音让我想起画眉鸟的声音——喉咙有点嘶哑，不够强劲，音域和变化不多——但是还是——呃——甜美——在——嗯——它的——方式中，还有——呃——”

“Thank you, Mr. Harris,” interrupted Miss Hinkle. —
“谢谢你，哈里斯先生，”伊琳打断道。 —

“I knew I could depend Upon your frankness and honesty.”
“我知道我可以依靠你的坦率和诚实。”

And then C. Vincent Vesey drew back one sleeve from his snowy cuff, and the water came down at Lodore.
接着，C. Vincent Vesey将他白雪般的袖子拉了回来，水便从洛多尔瀑布倾泻而下。

My memory cannot do justice to his masterly tribute to that priceless, God-given treasure–Miss Hinkle’s voice. —
我的记忆无法充分赞美他对那无价、上帝恩赐的宝藏——Hinkle小姐的声音——所作的巧妙颂扬。 —

He raved over it in terms that, if they had been addressed to the morning stars when they sang together, would have made that stellar choir explode in a meteoric shower of flaming self-satisfaction.
他用一种令人发狂的方式表达对其的赞美，如果这些话语被用于向晨星唱诗的时候，想必会让那些星辰自满地爆发出一场陨石般的流光。

He marshalled on his white finger-tips the grand opera stars of all the continents, from Jenny Lind to Emma Abbott, only to depreciate their endowments. —
他在他洁白的指尖上整理了所有大陆上的歌剧明星，从珍妮·林德到艾玛·阿伯特，只为贬低她们所具备的才能。 —

He spoke of larynxes, of chest notes, of phrasing, arpeggios, and other strange paraphernalia of the throaty art. —
他谈论喉咙艺术中的发声器官、胸腔音、乐句、琶音和其他奇特的喉部工具。 —

He admitted, as though driven to a corner, that Jenny Lind had a note or two in the high register that Miss Hinkle had not yet acquired–but– “! —
他不得不承认珍妮·林德的高音区域有一两个音符是Hinkle小姐尚未掌握的，但是——”! —

!!“-that was a mere matter of practice and training.
!!——那只是练习和训练的问题。

And, as a peroration, he predicted–solemnly predicted–a career in vocal art for the “coming star of the Southwest–and one of which grand old Texas may well be proud,” hitherto unsurpassed in the annals of musical history.
此外，他还庄严地预言了一个声乐艺术家的职业生涯，称其为“西南地区的未来之星，一个得以为之自豪的伟大德州”，在音乐史上前所未有的。

When we left at ten, Ileen gave each of us her usual warm, cordial handshake, entrancing smile, and invitation to call again. —
当我们十点钟离开时，艾琳像往常一样热情地为我们每个人握手，展示迷人的微笑，并邀请再次光临。 —

I could not see that one was favored above or below another–but three of us knew–we knew.
我看不出其中有谁被偏爱，也看不出其中谁比谁更受器重，但我们三人知道，我们知道。

We knew that frankness and honesty had won, and that the rivals now numbered three instead of four.
我们知道，坦率和诚实赢得了胜利，竞争对手现在由四人变成了三人。

Down at the station Jacks brought out a pint bottle of the proper stuff, and we celebrated the downfall of a blatant interloper.
在车站，杰克斯拿出一瓶正宗的东西，我们庆祝了一个嚣张的侵略者的失败。

Four days went by without anything happening worthy of recount.
过去的四天里，没有什么值得大书特书的事情发生。

On the fifth, Jacks and I, entering the brush arbor for our supper, saw the Mexican youth, instead of a divinity in a spotless waist and a navy-blue skirt, taking in the dollars through the barbed-wire wicket.
第五天，杰克斯和我走进凉棚享用晚餐时，看到那个墨西哥小伙子，不再穿着一件洁白腰带和海军蓝裙子，而是通过带刺铁丝的小窗口收钱。

We rushed into the kitchen, meeting Pa Hinkle coming out with two cups of hot coffee in his hands.
我们匆匆走进厨房，碰到巴·辛克尔一手拿着两杯热咖啡正往外走。

“Where’s Ileen?” we asked, in recitative.
“艾琳在哪里？”我们以朗诵的口吻问道。

Pa Hinkle was a kindly man. “Well, gents,” said he, “it was a sudden notion she took; —
巴·辛克尔是个和蔼可亲的人。“噢，先生们，”他说，“她是突然有这个念头的； —

but I’ve got the money, and I let her have her way. —
但我有钱，就让她按自己的意愿去吧。 —

She’s gone to a corn–a conservatory in Boston for four years for to have her voice cultivated. —
她去波士顿的玉米温室培养她的歌喉，要待四年呢。” —

Now, excuse me to pass, gents, for this coffee’s hot, and my thumbs is tender.”
“现在，请让我路过吧，先生们，这咖啡很烫，我的大拇指很嫩。”

That night there were four instead of three of us sitting on the station platform and swinging our feet. —
那天晚上，在火车站的月台上，我们四个人坐在那里摆动着脚。 —

C. Vincent Vesey was one of us. —
文森特·韦西也是其中之一。 —

We discussed things while dogs barked at the moon that rose, as big as a five-cent piece or a flour barrel, over the chaparral.
在犬吠声中，我们讨论着月亮升起来，像一枚五分钱硬币或一桶面粉，挂在杂草丛上。

And what we discussed was whether it is better to lie to a woman or to tell her the truth.
我们讨论的是对一个女人是说谎还是实话更好。

And as all of us were young then, we did not come to a decision.
由于我们当时都很年轻，我们没有得出决定。