The young man in straitened circumstances who comes to New York City to enter literature has but one thing to do, provided he has studied carefully his field in advance. —
穷困潦倒的年轻人来到纽约市，想要从事文学创作，只需做一件事情，前提是他已经事先认真研究过这个领域。 —

He must go straight to Madison Square, write an article about the sparrows there, and sell it to the Sun for $15.
他必须径直前往麦迪逊广场，写一篇关于那里的麻雀的文章，然后将其卖给太阳报，获得15美元。

I cannot recall either a novel or a story dealing with the popular theme of the young writer from the provinces who comes to the metropolis to win fame and fortune with his pen in which the hero does not get his start that way. —
我想不起来有哪部描写来自乡下的年轻作家来大都会找名利的小说或故事，其中的主人公不是通过这种方式开始他的事业。 —

It does seem strange that some author, in casting about for startlingly original plots, has not hit upon the idea of having his hero write about the bluebirds in Union Square and sell it to the Herald. —
但是在大都市小说中搜索的结果无疑更多地涉及麻雀和古老的花园广场，而且太阳报总是写支票。 —

But a search through the files of metropolitan fiction counts up overwhelmingly for the sparrows and the old Garden Square, and the Sun always writes the check.
当然，很容易理解为什么这位初出茅庐的作家在城市的第一次尝试总是成功的。

Of course it is easy to understand why this first city venture of the budding author is always successful. —
让人感到奇怪的是，在寻找相当原创的情节时，没有哪位作家想到让他的主人公写关于联合广场上的蓝鸟的文章，然后将其卖给先驱报。 —

He is primed by necessity to a superlative effort; —
他被必要性激发起了最极致的努力； —

mid the iron and stone and marble of the roaring city he has found this spot of singing birds and green grass and trees; —
在这喧嚣城市的铁石和大理石间，他找到了这个鸟鸣翠绿的地方； —

every tender sentiment in his nature is baffling with the sweet pain of homesickness; —
他内心的每一份温柔情感都被甜蜜的思乡之痛所迷惑；他的天赋被唤起， —

his genius is aroused as it never may be again; —
恐怕再也不会有这样的时刻了； —

the birds chirp, the tree branches sway, the noise of wheels is forgotten; —
鸟儿鸣叫，树枝摇摆，车轮的嘈杂声被忘却； —

he writes with his soul in his pen–and he sells it to the Sun for $15.
他用心灵书写，将其以15美元的价格卖给了太阳报；

I had read of this custom during many years before I came to New York. When my friends were using their strongest arguments to dissuade me from coming, I only smiled serenely. —
在我来到纽约之前的多年间，我读过关于这个风俗的介绍。当我的朋友们劝说我不要来时，我只是平静地微笑着； —

They did not know of that sparrow graft I had up my sleeve.
他们并不知道我袖藏的那个麻雀骗局；

When I arrived in New York, and the car took me straight from the ferry up Twenty-third Street to Madison Square, I could hear that $15 check rustling in my inside pocket.
当我抵达纽约，汽车直接从渡轮站把我带上第二十三街，到达麦迪逊广场时，我可以听到那张15美元的支票在我的内侧口袋里沙沙作响。

I obtained lodging at an unhyphenated hostelry, and the next morning I was on a bench in Madison Square almost by the time the sparrows were awake. —
我在一家没有连字符的旅店住宿，第二天早上我坐在麦迪逊广场的一张长椅上，几乎是在麻雀醒来的时候。 —

Their melodious chirping, the benignant spring foliage of the noble trees and the clean, fragrant grass reminded me so potently of the old farm I had left that tears almost came into my eyes.
他们优美的鸟鸣声，高大树木上仁慈的春天叶子和干净香气四溢的草地，让我如此强烈地想起了我离开的那个古老农场，几乎让我眼泪盈眶。

Then, all in a moment, I felt my inspiration. The brave, piercing notes of those cheerful small birds formed a keynote to a wonderful, light, fanciful song of hope and joy and altruism. —
然后，突然间，我感到了灵感。这些欢快小鸟的勇敢、尖锐的音符形成了一首奇妙、轻盈、幻想的希望、喜悦和利他主义的歌曲。 —

Like myself, they were creatures with hearts pitched to the tune of woods and fields; —
就像我一样，它们是心系森林和田野的生物； —

as I was, so were they captives by circumstance in the discordant, dull city–yet with how much grace and glee they bore the restraint!
像我一样，它们被环境所困，在不和谐、乏味的城市中——但它们以多么优雅和欢快地忍受着这种束缚！

And then the early morning people began to pass through the square to their work–sullen people, with sidelong glances and glum faces, hurrying, hurrying, hurrying. —
然后早晨的人们开始穿过广场去上班——忧郁的人们，斜着眼光、面无表情，匆匆忙忙。 —

And I got my theme cut out clear from the bird notes, and wrought it into a lesson, and a poem, and a carnival dance, and a lullaby; —
我将主题从鸟儿的音符中清晰地提炼出来，并将其制作成一堂课、一首诗、一个狂欢舞蹈和一个摇篮曲； —

and then translated it all into prose and began to write.
然后将其全部转化为散文并开始写作。

For two hours my pencil traveled over my pad with scarcely a rest. —
两个小时内，我的铅笔几乎没有停下来就在纸上行走。 —

Then I went to the little room I had rented for two days, and there I cut it to half, and then mailed it, white-hot, to the Sun.
然后我去了我租了两天的小房间，在那里将它剪成了一半，然后用邮寄给太阳的方式送出。

The next morning I was up by daylight and spent two cents of my capital for a paper. —
第二天早上，天还没亮我就起床了，花了两分钱买了一份报纸。 —

If the word “sparrow” was in it I was unable to find it. —
如果里面有“麻雀”这个词，我就无法找到它。 —

I took it up to my room and spread it out on the bed and went over it, column by column. Something was wrong.
我将报纸带到我房间，铺在床上，一栏一栏地研究。有些地方是错的。

Three hours afterward the postman brought me a large envelope containing my MS. and a piece of inexpensive paper, about 3 inches by 4–I suppose some of you have seen them–upon which was written in violet ink, “With the Sun’s thanks.”
三个小时后，邮差给我送来了一个大信封，里面装着我的手稿，还有一张廉价纸，大约3英寸乘4英寸——我猜你们中有些人可能见过——上面用紫色墨水写着“太阳谢意”。

I went over to the square and sat upon a bench. No; —
我去了广场，在一张长椅上坐着。 —

I did not think it necessary to eat any breakfast that morning. —
不，那天早上我觉得没有必要吃早餐。 —

The confounded pests of sparrows were making the square hideous with their idiotic “cheep, cheep.” I never saw birds so persistently noisy, impudent, and disagreeable in all my life.
那些该死的麻雀们正用他们愚蠢的“吱吱”声让广场变得可恶。我从未见过如此喧闹、放肆和讨人嫌的鸟儿。

By this time, according to all traditions, I should have been standing in the office of the editor of the Sun. That personage–a tall, grave, white-haired man–would strike a silver bell as he grasped my hand and wiped a suspicious moisture from his glasses.
按照传统，我应该此刻站在太阳报编辑办公室里。那位人物是一个高大、庄重、白发的男人，在紧握我的手时会一边敲响一只银铃，一边擦拭眼镜上可疑的水迹。

“Mr. McChesney,” he would be saying when a subordinate appeared, “this is Mr. Henry, the young man who sent in that exquisite gem about the sparrows in Madison Square. —
“麦克切斯尼先生，”当一个下属出现时，他会说道，” 这位是亨利先生，是那篇关于麦迪逊广场的麻雀绝妙之作的投稿人。 —

You may give him a desk at once. Your salary, sir, will be $80 a week, to begin with.”
你可以立刻给他一个办公桌。先生，你的起薪将是每周80美元。”

This was what I had been led to expect by all writers who have evolved romances of literary New York.
这就是所有创作出纽约文学情节的作家所期望的事情。

Something was decidedly wrong with tradition. —
传统显然有些不对劲。 —

I could not assume the blame, so I fixed it upon the sparrows. —
我无法承担责任，所以我把责任归咎于那些麻雀。 —

I began to hate them with intensity and heat.
我开始强烈而炽热地憎恨它们。

At that moment an individual wearing an excess of whiskers, two hats, and a pestilential air slid into the seat beside me.
就在那时，一个满脸络腮胡子，戴着两顶帽子，散发着一股臭气的人滑到了我旁边的座位上。

“Say, Willie,” he muttered cajolingly, “could you cough up a dime out of your coffers for a cup of coffee this morning?”
“嘿，威利，”他亲切地咕哝道，“能不能从你的私房钱里借我十分钱买杯咖啡呢？”

“I’m lung-weary, my friend,” said I. “The best I can do is three cents.”
“我已经疲倦不堪了，朋友，” 我说。“我能拿出来的最多只有三分钱。”

“And you look like a gentleman, too,” said he. —
“而你看上去像个绅士，”他说。 —

“What brung you down?–boozer?”
“是酗酒让你落到这地步吗？”

“Birds,” I said fiercely. —
“鸟儿。”我愤怒地说。 —

“The brown-throated songsters carolling songs of hope and cheer to weary man toiling amid the city’s dust and din. —
“那些褐喉鸣鸟，在城市的尘嚣中给辛劳努力的人们奏响希望与欢乐的歌声。 —

The little feathered couriers from the meadows and woods chirping sweetly to us of blue skies and flowering fields. —
“小小的羽毛使者从草地和树林中甜美地鸣叫着，告诉我们蓝天和开满鲜花的田野。 —

The confounded little squint-eyed nuisances yawping like a flock of steam pianos, and stuffing themselves like aldermen with grass seeds and bugs, while a man sits on a bench and goes without his breakfast. —
“这些该死的斜眼毛病小煞星，喳喳叫个不停，像一群响如钢琴的蒸汽机，一边吃着草籽和虫子，一边让一个人坐在板凳上连早餐都免了。 —

Yes, sir, birds! look at them!”
“对，先生，就是这些鸟！你看看它们！”

As I spoke I picked up a dead tree branch that lay by the bench, and hurled it with all my force into a close congregation of the sparrows on the grass. —
我一边说着，一边捡起一根躺在板凳旁边的枯树枝，用力将它扔进了草地上聚集的一群麻雀中。 —

The flock flew to the trees with a babel of shrill cries; —
一群羊群发出刺耳的喊叫声飞到了树上， —

but two of them remained prostrate upon the turf.
但有两只仍然趴在草地上。

In a moment my unsavory friend had leaped over the row of benches and secured the fluttering victims, which he thrust hurriedly into his pockets. —
片刻之间，我那个不怀好意的朋友跃过长凳的一排，并迅速抓住了那些在挣扎的猎物，匆忙地塞进他的口袋里。 —

Then he beckoned me with a dirty forefinger.
然后他用那支肮脏的手指向我招手。

“Come on, cully,” he said hoarsely. “You’re in on the feed.”
“走吧，老哥，”他沙哑地说道。“你也能分一杯羹。”

Thank you very much!
非常感谢你！

Weakly I followed my dingy acquaintance. —
虚弱地，我跟着我的邋遢的伴侣。 —

He led me away from the park down a side street and through a crack in a fence into a vacant lot where some excavating had been going on. —
他带我离开了公园，走到了一条边街，穿过一个篱笆的裂缝，来到一个正在挖掘的空地上。 —

Behind a pile of old stones and lumber he paused, and took out his birds.
他在一堆破石头和木材后停了下来，拿出他的鸟。

“I got matches,” said he. —
“我有火柴，”他说道。 —

“You got any paper to start a fire with?”
“你有纸可以点火吗？”

I drew forth my manuscript story of the sparrows, and offered it for burnt sacrifice. —
我掏出我关于麻雀的手稿故事，并拿出来作为燃烧的牺牲品。 —

There were old planks, splinters, and chips for our fire. —
我们有旧木板、碎片和木屑可以用来点火。 —

My frowsy friend produced from some interior of his frayed clothing half a loaf of bread, pepper, and salt.
我的邋遢朋友从他破旧的衣服里拿出半个面包、胡椒和盐。

In ten minutes each of us was holding a sparrow spitted upon a stick over the leaping flames.
每个人都抓住一只用树枝串起来的麻雀，放在跳跃的火焰上。

“Say,” said my fellow bivouacker, “this ain’t so bad when a fellow’s hungry. —
“说吧，”我的同伴说，“一个人饿了的时候，这还不错。 —

It reminds me of when I struck New York first–about fifteen years ago. —
这让我想起了十五年前我第一次来到纽约的时候。” —

I come in from the West to see if I could get a job on a newspaper. —
我从西部来，看看能否在报纸上找到一份工作。 —

I hit the Madison Square Park the first mornin’ after, and was sitting around on the benches. —
我第一天早上到达麦迪逊广场公园，并坐在长椅上。 —

I noticed the sparrows chirpin’, and the grass and trees so nice and green that I thought I was back in the country again. —
我注意到麻雀在鸣叫，草和树也是那么绿，我以为自己又回到了乡村。 —

Then I got some papers out of my pocket, and–”
然后我从兜里拿出一些报纸，然后——”

“I know,” I interrupted. “You sent it to the Sun and got $15.”
“我知道，”我打断他，“你把它寄给太阳报，得到了15美元。”

“Say,” said my friend, suspiciously, “you seem to know a good deal. —
“喂，”我的朋友怀疑地说，“你似乎知道得很多。 —

Where was you? —
你在哪里呢？ —

I went to sleep on the bench there, in the sun, and somebody touched me for every cent I had–$15.”
我就坐在那个长椅上，在阳光下睡着了，然后有人把我身上的每一分钱都拿走了——15美元。”