Considering men in relation to money, there are three kinds whom I dislike: —
就男性在金钱方面而言，我不喜欢三种人： —

men who have more money than they can spend; —
那些有多于他们能花掉的钱的男人； —

men who have more money than they do spend; —
那些有多于他们花费的钱的男人； —

and men who spend more money than they have. —
以及那些花费多于他们所拥有的钱的男人。 —

Of the three varieties, I believe I have the least liking for the first. —
在这三种中，我认为我最不喜欢第一种。 —

But, as a man, I liked Spencer Grenville North pretty well, although he had something like two or ten or thirty millions– I’ve forgotten exactly how many.
不过，作为一个男人，我还是挺喜欢斯宾塞·格伦维尔·诺思的，尽管他大概有两千万、一亿、三千万这样的财富，我忘记具体是多少了。

I did not leave town that summer. —
那个夏天我没有离开城市。 —

I usually went down to a village on the south shore of Long Island. —
通常我会去长岛南岸的一个村庄。 —

The place was surrounded by duck- farms, and the ducks and dogs and whippoorwills and rusty windmills made so much noise that I could sleep as peacefully as if I were in my own flat six doors from the elevated railroad in New York. But that summer I did not go. —
那个地方被鸭场环绕，鸭子、狗、夜莺和生锈的风车发出很多噪音，但我却能像在纽约市高架铁路六个街区外的公寓里一样安静地睡觉。但那个夏天我没有去。 —

Remember that. One of my friends asked me why I did not. I replied:
记住这一点。我的一个朋友问我为什么没有去，我回答道：

“Because, old man, New York is the finest summer resort in the world.” You have heard that phrase before. —
“因为，老人，纽约是世界上最好的夏季度假胜地。”你以前听过这句话。 —

But that is what I told him.
但这就是我告诉他的。

I was press-agent that year for Binkly & Bing, the theatrical managers and producers. —
那一年，我是Binkly & Bing剧院经纪和制片公司的宣传经纪人。 —

Of course you know what a press-agent is. Well, he is not. That is the secret of being one.
当然，你知道什么是宣传经纪人。但他不是宣传经纪人。这就是成为宣传经纪人的秘密。

Binkly was touring France in his new C. & N. Williamson car, and Bing had gone to Scotland to learn curling, which he seemed to associate in his mind with hot tongs rather than with ice. —
Binkly正在法国巡回演出他的新C. & N. Williamson汽车，而Bing则去苏格兰学冰壶，他把它与火烫器联系在一起，而不是与冰联系起来。 —

Before they left they gave me June and July, on salary, for my vacation, which act was in accord with their large spirit of liberality. —
在他们离开之前，他们给了我六月和七月的假期，按薪水支付，这个举动符合他们慷慨的大方精神。 —

But I remained in New York, which I had decided was the finest summer resort in–
但我留在纽约，因为我已经决定它是最好的夏季度假胜地——

But I said that before.
但是我以前就这么说过了。

On July the 10th, North came to town from his camp in the Adirondacks. —
7月10日，North从他在阿迪朗达克的营地回到城里。 —

Try to imagine a camp with sixteen rooms, plumbing, eiderdown quilts, a butler, a garage, solid silver plate, and a long-distance telephone. —
试想一下一个有十六个房间、有自来水、用鸭绒被子、有管家、有车库、有实心银餐具和长途电话的营地。 —

Of course it was in the woods–if Mr. Pinchot wants to preserve the forests let him give every citizen two or ten or thirty million dollars, and the trees will all gather around the summer camps, as the Birnam woods came to Dunsinane, and be preserved.
当然是在树林里——如果平格特先生想要保护森林，就让他给每个公民二百万或一亿或三千万美元，树木们就会聚集在夏令营周围，就像伯纳姆树林来到邓辛纳恩一样，得以保护。

North came to see me in my three rooms and bath, extra charge for light when used extravagantly or all night. —
North来到我的三室一厅和浴室里，用电过度或整夜使用要额外收费。 —

He slapped me on the back (I would rather have my shins kicked any day), and greeted me with out-door obstreperousness and revolting good spirits. —
他拍了我一下背（我宁愿被他踢一下小腿），并用粗鲁且恶心人的高昂情绪向我打招呼。 —

He was insolently brown and healthy-looking, and offensively well dressed.
他身体健康的棕色皮肤让人傲慢地感到不舒服，他的穿着也无礼地过于入时。

“Just ran down for a few days,” said he, “to sign some papers and stuff like that. —
“只是跑来几天，”他说，“签一些文件和那些破事。 —

My lawyer wired me to come. —
我的律师发电报让我来的。” —

Well, you indolent cockney, what are you doing in town? —
嘿，你这个懒散的伦敦人，在城里干什么？ —

I took a chance and telephoned, and they said you were here. —
我冒险打了个电话，他们说你在这里。 —

What’s the matter with that Utopia on Long Island where you used to take your typewriter and your villanous temper every summer? —
那个长岛上的乌托邦怎么了，你过去每年夏天都带着打字机和恶劣的脾气去那里？ —

Anything wrong with the–er–swans, weren’t they, that used to sing on the farms at night?”
有什么问题吗？晚上农场上的天鹅不是唱歌吗？

“Ducks,” said I. “The songs of swans are for luckier ears. —
“鸭子，”我说。 “天鹅的歌声是为了更幸运的耳朵。 —

They swim and curve their necks in artificial lakes on the estates of the wealthy to delight the eyes of the favorites of Fortune.”
它们在富人的庄园的人工湖中游泳，优美地弯曲着脖子，以让财富的宠儿们喜欢眼睛。

“Also in Central Park,” said North, “to delight the eyes of immigrants and bummers. —
“还有在中央公园，”诺斯说，” 让移民和乞丐们喜欢眼睛。 —

I’ve seen em there lots of times. —
我在那里见过它们很多次。 —

But why are you in the city so late in the summer?”
但你为什么夏天这么晚才来到城市？

“New York City,” I began to recite, “is the finest sum–”
“纽约市，”我开始背诵，”是最好的总和–”

“No, you don’t,” said North, emphatically. —
“不，你别说那老掉牙的了。 —

“You don’t spring that old one on me. —
我知道你更清楚。 —

I know you know better. —
—

Man, you ought to have gone up with us this summer. —
兄弟，你今年夏天应该和我们一起去。 —

The Prestons are there, and Tom Volney and the Monroes and Lulu Stanford and the Miss Kennedy and her aunt that you liked so well.”
普雷斯顿一家在那里，汤姆·伏尔尼和门罗和卢卢·斯坦福德以及肯尼迪小姐和你喜欢的她的阿姨。

“I never liked Miss Kennedy’s aunt,” I said.
“我从来不喜欢肯尼迪小姐的阿姨，”我说。

“I didn’t say you did,” said North. “We are having the greatest time we’ve ever had. —
“我没有说你说过这话，”North说道。“我们度过了有史以来最快乐的时光。” —

The pickerel and trout are so ravenous that I believe they would swallow your hook with a Montana copper-mine prospectus fastened on it. —
这些梭子鱼和鳟鱼太饥饿了，我相信它们会把你的鱼钩和一份蒙大拿铜矿的方案一起吞下去。 —

And we’ve a couple of electric launches; —
我们有几艘电动游艇；我告诉你， —

and I’ll tell you what we do every night or two–we tow a rowboat behind each one with a big phonograph and a boy to change the discs in ‘em. —
每隔一两个晚上我们都会拖着一只划艇，上面有一个大型留声机和一个男孩负责更换唱片。 —

On the water, and twenty yards behind you, they are not so bad. And there are passably good roads through the woods where we go motoring. —
在水上，而且在你身后的二十码开外，它们就不那么糟糕了。而且我们还有一些经过森林的路，我们会开车去。 —

I shipped two cars up there. —
我送了两辆车去那里。 —

And the Pinecliff Inn is only three miles away. —
而且Pinecliff旅馆只有三英里远。 —

You know the Pinecliff. —
你知道那个地方吗？ —

Some good people are there this season, and we run over to the dances twice a week. —
这个季节有一些好人在那里，我们会每周两次去参加舞会。 —

Can’t you go back with me for a week, old man?”
老兄，你不能和我一起回去一个星期吗？”

I laughed. “Northy,” said I–“if I may be so familiar with a millionaire, because I hate both the names Spencer and Grenville–your invitation is meant kindly, but–the city in the summer-time for me. —
我笑了。“Northy，”我说，“如果我能这样称呼一个百万富翁的话，因为我讨厌Spencer和Grenville这两个名字 - 你的邀请是善意的，但是 - 夏天我更喜欢城市的。” —

Here, while the bourgeoisie is away, I can live as Nero lived-barring, thank heaven, the fiddling-while the city burns at ninety in the shade. —
在这儿，当资产阶级们不在的时候，我可以像尼禄一样生活，感谢上天，只是没有弹琴，当城市在摄氏九十度的酷暑中燃烧。 —

The tropics and the zones wait upon me like handmaidens. —
热带和温带都像侍女一样等待着我。 —

I sit under Florida palms and eat pomegranates while Boreas himself, electrically conjured up, blows upon me his Arctic breath. —
我坐在佛罗里达州的棕榈树下吃石榴，而北风本人，通过电子方式召唤出来，给我吹起极寒的气息。 —

As for trout, you know, yourself, that Jean, at Maurice’s, cooks them better than any one else in the world.”
至于鳟鱼，你也知道，让·在莫里斯家里做得比世界上任何人都好。”

“Be advised,” said North. “My chef has pinched the blue ribbon from the lot. —
“务必注意，”北方说。“我的厨师从所有人手中夺走了蓝丝带。 —

He lays some slices of bacon inside the trout, wraps it all in corn-husks–the husks of green corn, you know–buries them in hot ashes and covers them with live coals. —
他在鳟鱼里放入一些培根条，用玉米叶包裹起来-你知道，就是生玉米的外壳-埋在热灰里，用活炭覆盖。 —

We build fires on the bank of the lake and have fish suppers.”
我们在湖岸上生火，搞一顿鱼宴。”

“I know,” said I. “And the servants bring down tables and chairs and damask cloths, and you eat with silver forks. —
“我知道，”我说。“仆人们摆上桌子、椅子和精美的桌布，你们用银叉进餐。 —

I know the kind of camps that you millionaires have. —
我知道你们这些百万富翁们有什么样的营地。 —

And therc are champagne pails set about, disgracing the wild flowers, and, no doubt, Madame Tetrazzini to sing in the boat pavilion after the trout.”
那里到处都是香槟桶，玷污着野花，毫无疑问，还有特特拉津尼夫人在捕鱼亭子里唱歌。

“Oh no,” said North, concernedly, “we were never as bad as that. —
“哦不，”诺斯关切地说，” 我们从来没有那么糟糕过。 —

We did have a variety troupe up from the city three or four nights, but they weren’t stars by as far as light can travel in the same length of time. —
我们确实请了一个杂耍团从城里过来演出过三四个晚上，但他们并不是明星，就算光线以光速前进的距离，也不会到达他们。 —

I always like a few home comforts even when I’m roughing it. —
我总是喜欢一些家常舒适的感觉，即使我在进行粗放度假。 —

But don’t tell me you prefer to stay in the city during summer. —
但是别告诉我你喜欢在城里过夏天。 —

I don’t believe it. —
我不相信。 —

If you do, why did you spend your summers there for the last four years, even sneaking away from town on a night train, and refusing to tell your friends where this Arcadian village was?”
如果你真的喜欢，在过去的四年里，为什么你要留在城里过夏天，甚至悄悄搭夜车逃离城市，拒绝告诉你的朋友这个田园村庄在哪里？

“Because,” said I, “they might have followed me and discovered it. —
“因为，”我说，”他们可能会跟着我发现它。 —

But since then I have learned that Amaryllis has come to town. —
但是后来我知道阿玛丽丽斯来到了城里。 —

The coolest things, the freshest, the brightest, the choicest, are to be found in the city. —
最凉爽、最新鲜、最明亮、最优质的东西都在城市里。 —

If you’ve nothing on hand this evening I will show you.”
如果你今晚没事的话，我可以带你去看看。

“I’m free,” said North, “and I have my light car outside. —
北方说：“我有时间，车子停在外面。我猜， —

I suppose, since you’ve been converted to the town, that your idea of rural sport is to have a little whirl between bicycle cops in Central Park and then a mug of sticky ale in some stuffy rathskeller under a fan that can’t stir up as many revolutions in a week as Nicaragua can in a day.”
既然你已经转向城市，你对乡村运动的理解是在中央公园的自行车警察之间来一次小旋转，然后在闷热的啤酒馆里喝一杯粘稠的麦酒，这里的电扇一周转不了几圈，而尼加拉瓜一天就能搅动多少次。”

“We’ll begin with the spin through the Park, anyhow,” I said. —
“反正我们先从公园里开始转一圈，”我说。 —

I was choking with the hot, stale air of my little apartment, and I wanted that breath of the cool to brace me for the task of proving to my friend that New York was the greatest–and so forth.
我被我小小公寓里热气腾腾、污浊的空气呛得透不过气来，我希望那股凉爽的呼吸能让我迎接证明纽约是最伟大等等的任务。

“Where can you find air any fresher or purer than this?” I asked, as we sped into Central’s boskiest dell.
“你能找到比这更清新纯净的空气吗？”我们飞速驶入中央公园最茂密的地方时，我问道。

“Air!” said North, contemptuously. “Do you call this air? —
北方鄙视地说：“空气！你把这个称为空气？ —

–this muggy vapor, smelling of garbage and gasoline smoke. —
这种污浊的蒸汽，散发着垃圾和汽油烟味。 —

Man, I wish you could get one sniff of the real Adirondack article in the pine woods at daylight.”
天哪，我希望你能在黎明时分在真正的阿迪朗达克的松树林里闻一口。”

“I have heard of it,” said I. “But for fragrance and tang and a joy in the nostrils I would not give one puff of sea breeze across the bay, down on my little boat dock on Long Island, for ten of your turpentine-scented tornadoes.”
“我听说过这个地方，”我说道。“但如果没有海风从湾区吹过来，在我长岛上的小船码头上，带来芬芳、气味和一种让人陶醉的感觉，我宁可不要你们这里十个满是松香味的龙卷风。”

“Then why,” asked North, a little curiously, “don’t you go there instead of staying cooped up in this Greater Bakery?”
“那为什么，”北问道，有点好奇，“你不去那里，而是呆在这个大面包厂里呢？”

“Because,” said I, doggedly, “I have discovered that New York is the greatest summer–”
“因为，”我顽强地说，“我发现纽约是最热的夏天——”

“Don’t say that again,” interrupted North, “unless you’ve actually got a job as General Passenger Agent of the Subway. —
“再别说那个了，”北打断我，“除非你真的成了地铁的总客运经理。 —

You can’t really believe it.”
你不可能真的相信这一点。”

I went to some trouble to try to prove my theory to my friend. —
我费了一些心思，试图向朋友证明我的理论。 —

The Weather Bureau and the season had conspired to make the argument worthy of an able advocate.
天气局和季节合谋，使这个论点值得一个有能力的辩护者。

The city seemed stretched on a broiler directly above the furnaces of Avernus. —
这个城市似乎直接被烈焰所包围，就在阴间的熔炉上方。 —

There was a kind of tepid gayety afoot and awheel in the boulevards, mainly evinced by languid men strolling about in straw hats and evening clothes, and rows of idle taxicabs with their flags up, looking like a blockaded Fourth of July procession. —
大街上弥漫着一种温和的快乐氛围，主要是由懒散的男人们穿着稻草帽和晚装闲逛而引发的，还有一排排升起旗帜的闲置的出租车，看起来像是被封锁的独立日队伍。 —

The hotels kept up a specious brilliancy and hospitable outlook, but inside one saw vast empty caverns, and the footrails at the bars gleamed brightly from long disacquaintance with the sole-leather of customers. —
酒店外表继续保持着虚华的光彩和热情好客的外观，但在内部，人们可以看到广阔的空旷大厅，酒吧的脚轨因为长期没接触到顾客的皮革而闪闪发光。 —

In the cross-town streets the steps of the old brownstone houses were swarming with “stoopers,” that motley race hailing from sky-light room and basement, bringing out their straw doorstep mats to sit and fill the air with strange noises and opinions.
在横贯城市的街道上，旧式棕石砌成的房屋台阶上挤满了来自天窗房间和地下室的人群，他们拿出稻草门垫坐下，充斥着奇怪的噪音和意见。

North and I dined on the top of a hotel; and here, for a few minutes, I thought I had made a score. —
我和北方在一家酒店顶层用餐；在这里，有一小段时间我以为自己取得了胜利。 —

An east wind, almost cool, blew across the roofless roof. —
一股几乎凉爽的东风吹过无顶的屋顶。 —

A capable orchestra concealed in a bower of wistaria played with sufficient judgment to make the art of music probable and the art of conversation possible.
一支业务娴熟的乐团藏身在紫藤的花架下，演奏得足够出色，使音乐成为可能，使交谈的艺术成为可能。

Some ladies in reproachless summer gowns at other tables gave animation and color to the scene. —
其他桌子上穿着无可指责的夏季裙装的一些女士给场景增添了活力和色彩。 —

And an excellent dinner, mainly from the refrigerator, seemed to successfully back my judgment as to summer resorts. —
从主要来自冰箱的一顿极好的晚餐似乎成功地支持了我的度假胜地判断。 —

But North grumbled all during the meal, and cursed his lawyers and prated so of his confounded camp in the woods that I began to wish he would go back there and leave me in my peaceful city retreat.
但North在整餐过程中一直抱怨，咒骂他的律师，啰嗦着他那该死的营地在树林里，我开始希望他能回去那里，让我享受宁静的城市避暑胜地。

After dining we went to a roof-garden vaudeville that was being much praised. —
用餐后，我们去了一家备受赞誉的天台花园杂耍表演。 —

There we found a good bill, an artificially cooled atmosphere, cold drinks, prompt service, and a gay, well-dressed audience. North was bored.
在那里，我们找到了一个很好的演出单元，一个人工冷却的气氛，冷饮，迅速的服务和一个快活、着装考究的观众。North感到厌烦。

“If this isn’t comfortable enough for you on the hottest August night for five years,” I said, a little sarcastically, “you might think about the kids down in Delancey and Hester streets lying out on the fire-escapes with their tongues hanging out, trying to get a breath of air that hasn’t been fried on both sides. —
“如果这对你来说在五年来最热的八月晚上都还不够舒服，”我有点讽刺地说，“你可能会考虑一下在Delancey街和Hester街躺在防火梯上的孩子们，张着舌头试图呼吸一口没有被两面油炸过的空气。 —

The contrast might increase your enjoyment.”
“对比可能会增加你的享受。”

“Don’t talk Socialism,” said North. “I gave five hundred dollars to the free ice fund on the first of May. I’m contrasting these stale, artificial, hollow, wearisome ‘amusements’ with the enjoyment a man can get in the woods. —
“别说社会主义的话，”诺思说。“五月一号我捐了五百块钱给免费冰的基金。我在将这些陈旧、虚假、空洞、令人厌倦的‘娱乐’与一个人在树林中获得的乐趣进行对比。 —

You should see the firs and pines do skirt- dances during a storm; —
你应该看看松树和杉树在暴风雨中起舞； —

and lie down flat and drink out of a mountain branch at the end of a day’s tramp after the deer. —
并且躺下来伏在山间溪流边，在追逐鹿的一天结束后喝水。 —

That’s the only way to spend a summer. —
这是度过夏天的唯一方式。走出去， —

Get out and live with nature.”
与大自然生活在一起。”

“I agree with you absolutely,” said I, with emphasis.
“我完全同意你的观点，”我强调道。

For one moment I had relaxed my vigilance, and had spoken my true sentiments. —
有一刻，我放松了警惕，倾吐了我的真实感受。 —

North looked at me long and curiously.
北方长久而好奇地看着我。

“Then why, in the name of Pan and Apollo,” he asked, “have you been singing this deceitful paean to summer in town?”
“那么，为什么，以潘和阿波罗之名，” 他问道，”你在城里唱着这欺骗性的夏天赞歌呢？”

I suppose I looked my guilt.
我想我看上去有一种内疚的表情。

“Ha,” said North, “I see. May I ask her name?”
“哈，”北方说，”我懂了。我可以问问她的名字吗？”

“Annie Ashton,” said I, simply. —
“Annie Ashton，”我简单地说道，” —

“She played Nannette in Binkley & Bing’s production of The Silver Cord. She is to have a better part next season.”
她在Binkley＆Bing的《银线》剧中扮演Nannette角色。下个季度她将有一个更好的角色。”

“Take me to see her,” said North.
“带我去见她，”北方说道。

Miss Ashton lived with her mother in a small hotel. —
Ashton小姐和她的母亲住在一家小旅馆里。 —

They were out of the West, and had a little money that bridged the seasons. —
他们来自西部，有一点点过渡期间的钱。 —

As press- agent of Binkley & Bing I had tried to keep her before the public. —
作为Binkley＆Bing的新闻代理人，我一直试图让她保持在公众视野中。 —

As Robert James Vandiver I had hoped to withdraw her; —
作为罗伯特·詹姆斯·范迪弗，我希望能脱身而退； —

for if ever one was made to keep company with said Vandiver and smell the salt breeze on the south shore of Long Island and listen to the ducks quack in the watches of the night, it was the Ashton set forth above.
因为如果有人适合与上述提到的范迪弗一起并在长岛南岸闻到盐风，听到夜间鸭子呱呱叫的话，那就是Ashton小姐了。

But she had a soul above ducks–above nightingales; aye, even above birds of paradise. She was very beautiful, with quiet ways, and seemed genuine. —
但是她的灵魂超越了鸭子，超越了夜莺，甚至超越了天堂鸟。她非常美丽，性格安静，看起来非常真实。 —

She had both taste and talent for the stage, and she liked to stay at home and read and make caps for her mother. —
她对舞台有品味和才华，喜欢呆在家里读书，为母亲做帽子。 —

She was unvaryingly kind and friendly with Binkley & Bing’s press-agent. —
她对宾克利和彬格的新闻代理人总是友善和善良。 —

Since the theatre had closed she had allowed Mr. Vandiver to call in an unofficial role. —
自从剧院关闭以来，她允许范迪弗先生以非正式的身份去找她。 —

I had often spoken to her of my friend, Spencer Grenville North; —
我经常向她提起我的朋友斯宾塞·格伦维尔·诺斯； —

and so, as it was early, the first turn of the vaudeville being not yet over, we left to find a telephone.
所以，因为还早，综艺表演的第一场还没有结束，我们离开找电话。

Miss Ashton would be very glad to see Mr. Vandiver and Mr. North.
阿什顿小姐会非常高兴见到范迪弗先生和诺斯先生。

We found her fitting a new cap on her mother. —
我们看到她给母亲试戴新帽子。 —

I never saw her look more charming.
我从未见过她看起来更迷人。

North made himself disagreeably entertaining. —
诺斯表现得很讨厌又有趣。 —

He was a good talker, and had a way with him. —
他说话很好听，有一种魅力。 —

Besides, he had two, ten, or thirty millions, I’ve for gotten which. —
此外，他拥有两百万、十亿或三十亿，我忘记具体是多少了。 —

I incautiously admired the mother’s cap, whereupon she brought out her store of a dozen or two, and I took a course in edgings and frills. —
我毫不谨慎地欣赏了母亲的帽子，于是她拿出了她拥有的一两打帽子，我还参加了一门关于镶边和褶边的课程。 —

Even though Annie’s fingers had pinked, or ruched, or hemmed, or whatever you do to ‘em, they palled upon me. —
尽管安妮的手指经过了乎红、褶皱或走边等处理，但我对它们渐渐失去了兴趣。 —

And I could hear North drivelling to Annie about his odious Adirondack camp.
我听到诺思对安妮说他可恶的阿迪朗达克营地的事。

Two days after that I saw North in his motor-car with Miss Ashton and her mother. —
在那之后的两天，我看到诺思带着阿什顿小姐和她的母亲坐在他的汽车里。 —

On the next afternoon he dropped in on me.
第二天下午，他顺便来找我。

“Bobby,” said he, “this old burg isn’t such a bad proposition in the summer-time, after all. Since I’ve keen knocking around it looks better to me. —
“鲍比，”他说，“这个老小镇在夏天其实也不错。在我四处走动之后，它对我来说看起来比较好。 —

There are some first-rate musical comedies and light operas on the roofs and in the outdoor gardens. —
天台上有一些非常好的音乐喜剧和轻歌剧，还有户外花园。 —

And if you hunt up the right places and stick to soft drinks, you can keep about as cool here as you can in the country. —
如果你找对地方并且只喝非酒精饮料，你在这里就能保持和乡村一样的凉爽。 —

Hang it! —
可恶！ —

when you come to think of it, there’s nothing much to the country, anyhow. —
想想看，乡村其实没什么特别的。 —

You get tired and sunburned and lonesome, and you have to eat any old thing that the cook dishes up to you.”
你会感到疲倦、晒伤和孤独，只能吃厨师给你盛的任何东西。

“It makes a difference, doesn’t it?” said I.
“这有差别，对吧？”我说。

“It certainly does. Now, I found some whitebait yesterday, at Maurice’s, with a new sauce that beats anything in the trout line I ever tasted.”
“当然有。我昨天在莫里斯那里找到了一些新酱白饭鱼，比我尝过的任何一种鲑鱼都好吃。”

“It makes a difference, doesn’t it?” I said.
“这有差别，对吧？”我说。

“Immense. The sauce is the main thing with whitebait.”
“相当大。酱料是白饭鱼的主要美味。”

“It makes a difference, doesn’t it?” I asked, looking him straight in the eye. —
“这有差别，对吧？”我直视他的眼睛问道。 —

He understood.
他明白了。

“Look here, Bob,” he said, “I was going to tell you. —
“听着，鲍勃，”他说，“我本来要告诉你的。 —

I couldn’t help it. —
我不能控制。” —

I’ll play fair with you, but I’m going in to win. —
“我会与你公平竞争的，但我要去赢得她。 —

She is the ‘one particular’ for me.”
她是我唯一的人。”

“All right,” said I. “It’s a fair field. —
“好吧，”我说， —

There are no rights for you to encroach upon.”
“竞争公平。你无权侵犯。”

On Thursday afternoon Miss Ashton invited North and myself to have tea in her apartment. —
星期四下午，阿什顿小姐邀请了诺斯和我在她的公寓喝茶。 —

He was devoted, and she was more charming than usual. —
他很热情，她比平时更迷人。 —

By avoiding the subject of caps I managed to get a word or two into and out of the talk. —
通过避开帽子这个话题，我设法插入了一两句话。 —

Miss Ashton asked me in a make- conversational tone something about the next season’s tour.
阿什顿小姐以一种轻松的口吻问我关于下个季度的巡回演出的事情。

“Oh,” said I, “I don’t know about that. —
“噢，”我说，“我不知道那个。 —

I’m not going to be with Binkley & Bing next season.”
我下个季度不会和宾克利和宾格一起工作。”

“Why, I thought,” said she, “that they were going to put the Number One road company under your charge. —
“为什么呢，”她说，“我以为他们会让你负责一路公司的工作。 —

I thought you told me so.”
我记得你告诉过我。”

“They were,” said I, “but they won’t. —
“是的，他们本来打算这样的，但他们不会了。 —

. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. —
”我说，“我告诉你我打算干什么。 —

I’m going to the south shore of Long Island and buy a small cottage I know there on the edge of the bay. —
“我准备去朗岛的南岸买一栋我熟悉的小屋，就在海湾边上。 —

And I’ll buy a catboat and a rowboat and a shotgun and a yellow dog. —
“然后我会买一艘大猫船，一艘划艇，一把猎枪和一条黄色的狗。 —

I’ve got money enough to do it. —
我有足够的钱办到这一切。 —

And I’ll smell the salt wind all day when it blows from the sea and the pine odor when it blows from the land. —
“当来自海域的咸海风吹来时，我整天都能闻到它们，当来自陆地的松树气味飘过来时，我也能闻到。 —

And, of course, I’ll write plays until I have a trunk full of ‘em on hand.
“当然，我会写剧本，一直写到箱子里装满为止。

“And the next thing and the biggest thing I’ll do will be to buy that duck-farm next door. —
“接下来要做的最重要的事情就是买下隔壁的养鸭场。鲁迪，很少有人懂鸭子。 —

Few people understand ducks. —
我可以花上几个小时观察它们。 —

I can watch ‘em for hours. —
” —

They can march better than any company in the National Guard, and they can play ‘follow my leader’ better than the entire Democratic party. —
他们比国民警卫队中的任何一家公司都 march 得更好，他们玩“follow my leader”的技巧也比整个民主党更强。 —

Their voices don’t amount to much, but I like to hear ‘em. —
他们的声音并不重要，但我喜欢听到它们。 —

They wake you up a dozen times a night, but there’s a homely sound about their quacking that is more musical to me than the cry of ‘Fresh strawber-rees!’ under your window in the morning when you want to sleep.
它们会在夜间叫醒你数十次，但它们的嘎嘎声对我来说比“新鲜草莓”的喊声更有家的感觉。 当你想要睡觉时，它们却在早上的时候一直在你的窗外叫。

“And,” I went on, enthusiastically, “do you know the value of ducks besides their beauty and intelligence and order and sweetness of voice? —
“而且，”我满腔热情地接着说，“你知道鸭子的价值除了它们的美貌、智慧、组织和甜美的声音之外吗？ —

Picking their feathers gives you an unfailing and never ceasing income. —
拔掉它们的羽毛能够给你带来稳定而不断的收入。 —

On a farm that I know the feathers were sold for $400 in one year. —
在我所知道的一个农场里，羽毛一年卖了400美元。 —

Think of that! And the ones shipped to the market will bring in more money than that. —
想象一下！而被运到市场上的那些鸭子将会带来比这更多的钱。 —

Yes, I am for the ducks and the salt breeze coming over the bay. —
是的，我支持鸭子和从海湾吹来的咸风。 —

I think I shall get a Chinaman cook, and with him and the dog and the sunsets for company I shall do well. —
我想我会找一个中国厨师，和他一起以及和狗和美丽的日落为伴，我会过得很好。 —

No more of this dull, baking, senseless, roaring city for me.”
再也不要让我为这个乏味、烘焙、毫无意义、喧嚣的城市所困扰了。

Miss Ashton looked surprised. North laughed.
阿什顿小姐看起来很惊讶，诺思笑了起来。

“I am going to begin one of my plays tonight,” I said, “so I must be going.” And with that I took my departure.
我说：“我今晚要开始演一出戏，所以我必须走了。”然后我就离开了。

A few days later Miss Ashton telephoned to me, asking me to call at four in the afternoon.
几天后，阿什顿小姐给我打电话，要求我下午四点去拜访她。

I did.
我去了。

“You have been very good to me,” she said, hesitatingly, “and I thought I would tell you. —
她犹豫着说：“你对我很好，我想我应该告诉你。 —

I am going to leave the stage.”
我打算离开舞台。”

“Yes,” said I, “I suppose you will. —
我说：“是啊，我想你应该会这样做。 —

They usually do when there’s so much money.”
当有这么多钱的时候，他们通常都会离开。”

“There is no money,” she said, “or very little. Our money is almost gone.”
她说：“没有钱，或者几乎没有。我们的钱快要用完了。”

“But I am told,” said I, “that he has something like two or ten or thirty millions–I have forgotten which.”
我说：“但我听说他有两亿、十亿或三十亿之类的财产，我忘了是哪个数。”

“I know what you mean,” she said. —
她说：“我知道你在说什么。 —

“I will not pretend that I do not. —
我不会假装不知道。 —

I am not going to marry Mr. North.”
我不打算嫁给诺思先生。”

“Then why are you leaving the stage ?” I asked, severely. “What else can you do to earn a living?”
我严厉地问：“那你为什么要离开舞台？你还能做什么谋生？”

She came closer to me, and I can see the look in her eyes yet as she spoke.
她走近我，我还能看到她说话时眼神的表情。

“I can pick ducks,” she said.
“我会摘鸭子的,“她说。

We sold the first year’s feathers for $350.
我们把第一年的羽毛卖了350美元。