作者：Francis Bret Harte 布雷特·哈特
出版社：外语教学与研究出版社
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
斯卡格斯太太的丈夫们(外研社双语读库)试读：
PART I—WEST
第一部——西部
The sun was rising in the foothills. But for an hour the black mass of Sierra eastward of Angel's had been outlined with fire, and the conventional morning had come two hours before with the down coach from Placerville. The dry, cold, dewless California night still lingered in the long canyons and folded skirts of Table Mountain. Even on the mountain road the air was still sharp, and that urgent necessity for something to keep out the chill, which sent the barkeeper sleepily among his bottles and wineglasses at the station, obtained all along the road.
太阳正从山麓小丘上升起。但有一小时，安杰尔矿区往东一片漆黑的内华达山麓被火红的朝霞勾勒出轮廓。两小时以前，伴随着从普莱瑟维尔下行的公共马车，传统的早晨已经来临。干燥、寒冷、没有露水的加利福尼亚之夜仍在泰布尔山长长的峡谷和褶曲的边缘地带徘徊。甚至在山路上，空气依旧寒冷，一路上都迫切需要采取措施抵御严寒。严寒让车站酒吧间老板在酒瓶和玻璃酒杯间睡眼惺忪。
Perhaps it might be said that the first stir of life was in the bar-rooms. A few birds twittered in the sycamores at the roadside, but long before that glasses had clicked and bottles gurgled in the saloon of the Mansion House. This was still lit by a dissipated-looking hanging-lamp, which was evidently the worse for having been up all night, and bore a singular resemblance to a faded reveller of Angel's, who even then sputtered and flickered in HIS socket in an arm-chair below it,—a resemblance so plain that when the first level sunbeam pierced the window-pane, the barkeeper, moved by a sentiment of consistency and compassion, put them both out together.
或许可以这样说，生活中最早的骚动可能就在酒吧间。几只鸟儿在路边的梧桐树上鸣啭，但早在这之前，大厦饭店的酒馆里就已经觥筹交错、酒水汩汩作响。酒馆里一盏看起来快要熄灭的吊灯仍亮着。亮了一个通宵后情况显然变得更糟，特别像安杰尔矿区一个憔悴的寻欢作乐者。那家伙在吊灯下一把托座般的扶手椅上，当时甚至是唾沫飞溅、摇摇晃晃的——太相像了，以至于当第一缕阳光透过窗玻璃时，出于惯例和怜悯的心情，酒馆老板关掉了吊灯,打发走了那个寻欢作乐者。
Then the sun came up haughtily. When it had passed the eastern ridge it began, after its habit, to lord it over Angel's, sending the thermometer up twenty degrees in as many minutes, driving the mules to the sparse shade of corrals and fences, making the red dust incandescent, and renewing its old imperious aggression on the spiked bosses of the convex shield of pines that defended Table Mountain. Thither by nine o'clock all coolness had retreated, and the "outsides" of the up stage plunged their hot faces in its aromatic shadows as in water.
接着太阳倨傲不逊地升起了。它越过东部的山脊后，习惯性地开始到安杰尔矿区耍威风，温度二十分钟就上升了二十度。烈日把骡子赶到稀疏的畜栏和篱笆阴凉处，让红土也变得炽热，还重新开始了它那让人熟悉的对泰布尔山松树防护林的傲慢挑衅。那儿的松林像凸圆的盾牌，松树枝则像盾牌上短粗的饰钉。这个地方到九点钟的时候，所有的凉意都已退去，上层公共马车的“车顶乘客”都把晒得发烫的面孔转到芳香的树阴里，宛如浸入水中。
It was the custom of the driver of the Wingdam coach to whip up his horses and enter Angel's at that remarkable pace which the woodcuts in the hotel bar-room represented to credulous humanity as the usual rate of speed of that conveyance. At such times the habitual expression of disdainful reticence and lazy official severity which he wore on the box became intensified as the loungers gathered about the vehicle, and only the boldest ventured to address him. It was the Hon. Judge Beeswinger, Member of Assembly, who today presumed, perhaps rashly, on the strength of his official position.
温达姆公共马车的车夫习惯策马扬鞭，驶入安杰尔矿区。对轻信的人，旅馆酒吧间的木版画就把这种引人注目的速度描绘成那种交通工具通常的速度。这样的时候，驭者座上的车夫一贯的表情是：轻蔑、缄默、慵懒而冠冕堂皇的严肃。当闲荡的人们聚拢到马车边时，这种表情会加强，只有最大胆的人才敢斗胆跟他说话。今天是州议会议员比斯温格法官阁下滥用了职权，他这么做可能有些草率。
"Any political news from below, Bill?"he asked, as the latter slowly descended from his lofty perch, without, however, any perceptible coming down of mien or manner.“下面有什么政治新闻吗，比尔？”他问道。后者正慢吞吞地从高高的座位上下来，而神态或态度却没有任何变温和的迹象。
"Not much," said Bill, with deliberate gravity. "The President o' the United States hezn't bin hisself sens you refoosed that seat in the Cabinet. The ginral feelin' in perlitical circles is one o' regret."Irony, even of this outrageous quality, was too common in Angel's to excite either a smile or a frown. Bill slowly entered the bar-room during a dry, dead silence, in which only a faint spirit of emulation survived.“没多少新闻。”比尔故意严肃地说。“自从你拒绝了那个内阁职位，美利坚合众国总统就不对劲了。政界的人们普遍感到遗憾。” 讽刺，甚至是这种肆无忌惮的讽刺，在安杰尔矿区太司空见惯了，因此既不会引人发笑，也不会让人皱眉。在一片冷冰冰的死寂中，比尔慢吞吞地走进酒吧间。在那种氛围中，唯有微弱的针锋相对的精神幸存。
"Ye didn't bring up that agint o' Rothschild's this trip?" asked the barkeeper, slowly, by way of vague contribution to the prevailing tone of conversation.“这一趟你没把罗思柴尔德的代理商带上来吧？”酒吧间老板慢条斯理地问，给盛行的谈话腔调做了些许贡献。
"No," responded Bill, with thoughtful exactitude. "He said he couldn't look inter that claim o' Johnson's without first consultin' the Bank o' England."“没带。”比尔想了想，准确地回答，“他说要是不先咨询英格兰银行，他就不能调查约翰逊的采矿地。”
The Mr. Johnson here alluded to being present as the faded reveller the barkeeper had lately put out, and as the alleged claim notoriously possessed no attractions whatever to capitalists, expectation naturally looked to him for some response to this evident challenge. He did so by simply stating that he would "take sugar" in his, and by walking unsteadily toward the bar, as if accepting a festive invitation. To the credit of Bill be it recorded that he did not attempt to correct the mistake, but gravely touched glasses with him, and after saying "Here's another nail in your coffin,"—a cheerful sentiment, to which "And the hair all off your head," was playfully added by the others,—he threw off his liquor with a single dexterous movement of head and elbow, and stood refreshed.
这里提及的这位约翰逊先生当时也在场，他就是酒吧间老板撵走的那个憔悴的狂欢者。由于人们都知道那个所说的采矿地对资本家没有任何吸引力，自然指望他对这一明显的挑战做出某种反应。他做出的反应只是说他杯里要“加糖”，还跌跌撞撞地朝吧台晃去，像是接受节日邀请。不论有无记载，比尔值得赞扬的一点是，他并没有试图纠正错误，而是一本正经地跟他碰杯，说：“祝你早日完蛋！”——别人会给这句欢快的祝词戏谑地加上一句：“并祝你头发全部掉光！”——他胳膊一动、脑袋一扬，灵巧的动作过后，杯酒下肚，精神振奋。
"Hello, old major!" said Bill, suddenly setting down his glass. "Are YOU there?"“嗨，该死的少校！”比尔突然放下酒杯说，“你，听见没有？”
It was a boy, who, becoming bashfully conscious that this epithet was addressed to him, retreated sideways to the doorway, where he stood beating his hat against the doorpost with an assumption of indifference that his downcast but mirthful dark eyes and reddening cheek scarcely bore out. Perhaps it was owing to his size, perhaps it was to a certain cherubic outline of face and figure, perhaps to a peculiar trustfulness of expression, that he did not look half his age, which was really fourteen.
那是个小伙子，他羞涩地意识到这个绰号是用来称呼他的，便侧身退到门口，站在那里用帽子敲门柱，假装漠不关心。可是，他低垂而欢快的黑眼珠和涨红的面颊却几乎不能证明他是漠不关心的。也许是由于他的体型，也许是由于他那天使般圆胖的脸型和身材，也许是由于特别轻信的表情，他看上去还不到实际年龄的一半，他实际上都十四了。
Everybody in Angel's knew the boy. Either under the venerable title bestowed by Bill, or as "Tom Islington," after his adopted father, his was a familiar presence in the settlement, and the theme of much local criticism and comment. His waywardness, indolence, and unaccountable amiability—a quality at once suspicious and gratuitous in a pioneer community like Angel's—had often been the subject of fierce discussion. A large and reputable majority believed him destined for the gallows; a minority not quite so reputable enjoyed his presence without troubling themselves much about his future; to one or two the evil predictions of the majority possessed neither novelty nor terror.
安杰尔矿区的每个人都认得这个小伙子。要么是作为比尔授予他的那个令人尊敬的头衔“少校”，要么是随养父的姓作为“汤姆·伊斯林顿”，他的姓名大家都熟悉，还常常成为本地人批评和评论的话题。他任性、懒散，又亲切友好得令人难以理解——这样的品质，在像安杰尔矿区这样的拓荒者社会里，既让人怀疑，又没有必要——常常会成为激烈讨论的话题。绝大多数声誉良好的人认为，他注定会被送上绞刑架；少数不那么有声望的人喜欢和他在一起，不会自寻烦恼去担忧他的未来；对个别人来说，大多数人那种恶意的预测既不新颖、也不恐怖。
"Anything for me, Bill?" asked the boy, half mechanically, with the air of repeating some jocular formulary perfectly understood by Bill.“有我什么东西吗，比尔？”小伙子近乎机械地问，那神态像是在重复比尔能完全明白的某种诙谐的俗套话。
"Anythin' for you!" echoed Bill, with an overacted severity equally well understood by Tommy,—"anythin' for you? No! And it's my opinion there won't be anythin' for you ez long ez you hang around barrooms and spend your valooable time with loafers and bummers. Git!"“有你什么东西！”比尔回应道，话语间带着汤姆同样能完全理解的夸张的严厉，“有你什么东西？没有！要我看，只要你在酒吧间闲荡，消磨宝贵的时光跟游手好闲的人鬼混，就不会有你什么东西。蠢货！”
The reproof was accompanied by a suitable exaggeration of gesture (Bill had seized a decanter) before which the boy retreated still good-humoredly. Bill followed him to the door. "Dern my skin, if he hezn't gone off with that bummer Johnson," he added, as he looked down the road.
这句责备还伴以与之相配的夸张手势（比尔抓起了一个玻璃酒瓶）。在那个手势面前，小伙子仍和和气气地向后退去。比尔跟着他走到门口。“该死的家伙，要是他没有跟那个流浪汉约翰逊走开的话......”他顺着大路看过去时，加上一句。
"What's he expectin', Bill?" asked the barkeeper.“他在盼着什么呢，比尔？”酒吧间老板问。
"A letter from his aunt. Reckon he'll hev to take it out in expectin'. Likely they're glad to get shut o' him."“姑妈给他写的一封信。估计盼信盼得把他累坏了。可能他们乐意甩掉他。”
"He's leadin' a shiftless, idle life here," interposed the Member of Assembly.“他正在这儿过着得过且过、懒懒散散的生活。”州议会议员插话说。
"Well," said Bill, who never allowed any one but himself to abuse his protege, "seein' he ain't expectin' no offis from the hands of an enlightened constitooency, it IS rayther a shiftless life."After delivering this Parthian arrow with a gratuitous twanging of the bow to indicate its offensive personality, Bill winked at the barkeeper, slowly resumed a pair of immense, bulgy buckskin gloves, which gave his fingers the appearance of being painfully sore and bandaged, strode to the door without looking at anybody, called out, "All aboard," with a perfunctory air of supreme indifference whether the invitation was heeded, remounted his box, and drove stolidly away.“噢，”比尔说，除了自己他从不允许任何人辱骂受他保护的人，“既然他不指望从开明的选民手中弄个官儿，那的的确确是得过且过的生活。”比尔嘣地一声拉起弓弦，放了这支不必要的回马箭。这种尖刻的话表明了他那进攻性的个性。之后，他朝酒吧间老板眨眨眼，慢吞吞地重新戴上一副巨大的、鼓鼓囊囊的鹿皮手套，手指看上去就像是缠着绷带又肿又疼。他谁都不看，大步流星地走到门口，漠不关心地敷衍着喊了声：“大家上车！”，而根本不管大家是否注意到他的邀请。他重新登上驭者座，毫无热情地驱车而去。
Perhaps it was well that he did so, for the conversation at once assumed a disrespectful attitude toward Tom and his relatives. It was more than intimated that Tom's alleged aunt was none other than Tom's real mother, while it was also asserted that Tom's alleged uncle did not himself participate in this intimate relationship to the boy to an extent which the fastidious taste of Angel's deemed moral and necessary. Popular opinion also believed that Islington, the adopted father, who received a certain stipend ostensibly for the boy's support, retained it as a reward for his reticence regarding these facts. "He ain't ruinin' hisself by wastin' it on Tom," said the barkeeper, who possibly possessed positive knowledge of much of Islington's disbursements. But at this point exhausted nature languished among some of the debaters, and he turned from the frivolity of conversation to his severer professional duties.
也许，他这么一走了之倒也好，因为在谈话当中，他一度对汤姆及其亲戚显出不尊敬的态度。汤姆所谓的姑妈不是别人，正是他的生母，这一点已经广为人知。同时谈话也宣称，汤姆所谓的姑父本人并未卷入与小伙子的亲密关系中。安杰尔矿区里爱挑剔的人认为，这种关系尚未发展到合乎道德、必不可少的程度。人们也普遍认为，养父伊斯林顿表面上接受一笔津贴供养小伙子，实际上他保留这笔津贴是作为对这些事情保持缄默的奖赏。“他才不会把钱浪费在汤姆身上而毁掉自己。”酒吧间老板说，他可能对伊斯林顿的大部分支出都了解得一清二楚。可就在这时，有些爱争论的人已经饱受疲惫的折磨，于是酒吧间老板结束了这种轻浮的谈话，转而去履行他比较严肃的工作职责。
It was also well that Bill's momentary attitude of didactic propriety was not further excited by the subsequent conduct of his protege. For by this time Tom, half supporting the unstable Johnson, who developed a tendency to occasionally dash across the glaring road, but checked himself mid way each time, reached the corral which adjoined the Mansion House. At its farther extremity was a pump and horse-trough. Here, without a word being spoken, but evidently in obedience to some habitual custom, Tom led his companion. With the boy's assistance, Johnson removed his coat and neckcloth, turned back the collar of his shirt, and gravely placed his head beneath the pump-spout. With equal gravity and deliberation, Tom took his place at the handle. For a few moments only the splashing of water and regular strokes of the pump broke the solemnly ludicrous silence. Then there was a pause in which Johnson put his hands to his dripping head, felt of it critically as if it belonged to somebody else, and raised his eyes to his companion. "That ought to fetch IT," said Tom, in answer to the look. "Ef it don't," replied Johnson, doggedly, with an air of relieving himself of all further responsibility in the matter, "it's got to, thet's all!"
这倒也不错。被保护人随后的行为没有进一步激起比尔随时都可能爆发的说教癖好。因为这时汤姆半搀半扶着踉踉跄跄的约翰逊，走到毗连大厦饭店的畜栏处。约翰逊喜欢偶尔奔向耀眼、刺目的马路，但每次奔到半路就突然停下了。畜栏的远端是一个装有抽水机的马饲料槽。在这里，他们没有说话，但显然是出于某种习惯，汤姆领着他的伙伴。在小伙子的帮助下，约翰逊脱掉外套，解下领饰，把衬衣领子翻回去，庄重地把头伸到抽水机喷水孔下。汤姆也同样庄重而不紧不慢地站到抽水机把手边。片刻的工夫，仅仅是水花飞溅声和抽水机有规律的抽水声就打破了庄重得有些荒唐的寂静。然后他们停顿了一下，其间约翰逊双手抱住湿淋淋的脑袋，一丝不苟地摸着，好像那脑袋是别人的，然后他抬眼看着同伴。“那应该完成‘它’。”汤姆说道，作为对约翰逊抬眼看他的回应。“如果没有完成，”约翰逊固执地回答，那神情表明在这件事上他要免除自己所有进一步的责任，“必须完成，就是这么回事！”
If "it" referred to some change in the physiognomy of Johnson, "it" had probably been "fetched" by the process just indicated. The head that went under the pump was large, and clothed with bushy, uncertain-colored hair; the face was flushed, puffy, and expressionless, the eyes injected and full. The head that came out from under the pump was of smaller size and different shape, the hair straight, dark, and sleek, the face pale and hollow-cheeked, the eyes bright and restless. In the haggard, nervous ascetic that rose from the horse-trough there was very little trace of the Bacchus that had bowed there a moment before. Familiar as Tom must have been with the spectacle, he could not help looking inquiringly at the trough, as if expecting to see some traces of the previous Johnson in its shallow depths.
如果“它”指的是约翰逊面貌上的某种变化，那么“它”可能已经被刚刚提到的那个过程“完成”了。伸到抽水机下面的那个脑袋大大的，上面布满浓密的、不确定是什么颜色的头发；脸红通通、胖乎乎的，面无表情；圆鼓鼓的眼睛里充满血丝。从抽水机下伸出来的那个脑袋与前面描述的那个脑袋相比要小一些，而且形状也不相同。笔直的头发乌黑油亮，面部白皙，双颊凹陷，眼睛明亮而焦躁不安。约翰逊从马饲料槽那里直起身，形容枯槁、神经紧张，如同苦行僧一般。在他身上几乎看不到他刚才弯下腰时那种酷似酒神巴克斯的神采。尽管汤姆肯定对这一场面很熟悉，他还是忍不住好奇地看着马饲料槽，好像指望在浅浅的槽底看到一些约翰逊先前的神采。
A narrow strip of willow, alder, and buckeye—a mere dusty, ravelled fringe of the green mantle that swept the high shoulders of Table Mountain—lapped the edge of the corral. The silent pair were quick to avail themselves of even its scant shelter from the overpowering sun. They had not proceeded far, before Johnson, who was walking quite rapidly in advance, suddenly brought himself up, and turned to his companion with an interrogative "Eh?"
一小片狭长的柳树、桤木和七叶树林——那只是覆盖泰布尔山高耸山肩的、颜色发暗并且散开线的绿斗篷外缘——环绕着畜栏的边缘。两个人一声不吭，虽然树阴稀疏，他们还是迅速利用树阴来躲避酷热难当的烈日。约翰逊快步走在前面，他们还没走多远，他就突然停下，转身问同伴：“嗯？”
"I didn't speak," said Tommy, quietly.“我没说话。”汤姆平静地说。
"Who said you spoke?" said Johnson, with a quick look of cunning. "In course you didn't speak, and I didn't speak, neither. Nobody spoke. Wot makes you think you spoke?" he continued, peering curiously into Tommy's eyes.“谁说你说了？”约翰逊带着敏锐而狡猾的神色说，“刚刚你没有说话，我也没有说话。谁都没有说话。是什么让你觉得你说话了？”他继续说，好奇地凝视着汤姆的眼睛。
The smile which habitually shone there quickly vanished as the boy stepped quietly to his companion's side, and took his arm without a word.
这时，小伙子脸上经常洋溢的微笑突然消失了，他静静地走到同伴身边，搀扶着他的胳膊，一声不吭。
"In course you didn't speak, Tommy," said Johnson, deprecatingly. "You ain't a boy to go for to play an ole soaker like me. That's wot I like you for. Thet's wot I seed in you from the first. I sez, 'Thet 'ere boy ain't goin' to play you, Johnson! You can go your whole pile on him, when you can't trust even a bar-keep.'Thet's wot I said. Eh?"“刚刚你没有说话，汤姆。”约翰逊不以为然地说，“你可不是个喜欢戏弄像我这样的酒鬼的孩子。那就是我喜欢你的原因。我一开始就在你身上看到了这一点。我说：‘这个小伙子不会戏弄你，约翰逊！当你连酒吧间老板都不信任时，你可以把全部财产都托付给这个小伙子。’这就是我所说的话。嗯？”
This time Tommy prudently took no notice of the interrogation, and Johnson went on:"Ef I was to ask you another question, you wouldn't go to play me neither,—would you, Tommy?”
这一回汤姆很谨慎，他不去理睬这声询问。于是约翰逊继续说：“如果我问你另一个问题，你也不会戏弄我——是吗，汤姆？”
"No," said the boy.“不会的。”小伙子说。
"Ef I was to ask you," continued Johnson, without heeding the reply, but with a growing anxiety of eye and a nervous twitching of his lips,—“ef I was to ask you, fur instance, ef that was a jackass rabbit thet jest passed,—eh?—you'd say it was or was not, ez the case may be. You wouldn't play the ole man on thet?"“要是我问你，”约翰逊继续说，根本没有注意到小伙子的回答。不过他的眼神越来越焦虑，嘴唇也紧张得抽搐，“要是我问你，比方说，刚刚过去的是不是只蠢兔子——嗯？——你就如实说是或者不是。你不会就此戏弄我这个老头子吧？”
"No," said Tommy, quietly, "it WAS a jackass rabbit."“不会的。”汤姆平静地说，“那确实是只蠢兔子。”
"Ef I was to ask you," continued Johnson, "ef it wore, say, fur instance, a green hat with yaller ribbons, you wouldn't play me, and say it did, onless,"—he added, with intensified cunning,—"onless it DID?"“要是我问你，”约翰逊继续说，“要是它，比方说，戴一顶飘着黄丝带的绿帽子，你不会戏弄我，不会说它戴了，除非，”——他更为狡猾地加上一句，“除非它的确戴了帽子，是吗？”
"No," said Tommy, "of course I wouldn't; but then, you see, IT DID."“不会的。”汤姆说，“当然不会。不过，你瞧，它的确戴了帽子。”
"It did?"“它戴了吗？”
"It did!" repeated Tommy, stoutly; "a green hat with yellow ribbons—and—and—a red rosette.”“它戴了！”汤姆坚定地重复道，“一顶飘着黄丝带的绿帽子——和——和一个玫瑰花饰。”
"I didn't get to see the ros-ette," said Johnson, with slow and conscientious deliberation, yet with an evident sense of relief; "but that ain't sayin' it warn't there, you know. Eh?"“我可没看到玫瑰花饰。”约翰逊缓慢、认真、从容不迫地说道，不过明显松了一口气，“但是那并不是说玫瑰花饰就不在那里，你知道的。嗯？”
Tommy glanced quietly at his companion. There were great beads of perspiration on his ashen-gray forehead and on the ends of his lank hair; the hand which twitched spasmodically in his was cold and clammy, the other, which was free, had a vague, purposeless, jerky activity, as if attached to some deranged mechanism. Without any apparent concern in these phenomena, Tommy halted, and, seating himself on a log, motioned his companion to a place beside him. Johnson obeyed without a word. Slight as was the act, perhaps no other incident of their singular companionship indicated as completely the dominance of this careless, half-effeminate, but self-possessed boy over this doggedly self-willed, abnormally excited man.
汤姆平静地瞥了同伴一眼。他苍白的前额和平直的发梢上布满了豆大的汗珠。汤姆手里握着的一只手痉挛性地抽搐着，又冷又湿；另一只手悬空着，做出一种说不清的、毫无目的的痉挛动作，仿佛被连接到某种混乱的机械装置上。汤姆对这些现象没有任何明显的关注，他停下来坐在一根原木上，示意他的同伴坐在他旁边。约翰逊啥也没说就照办了。尽管这一举动微不足道，但是在他们特殊的伙伴关系中，没有什么别的事情更能表明这个漫不经心、缺乏男子气概、却又沉着镇静的小伙子完全能支配这个顽固任性、兴奋得有些失常的人。
"It ain't the square thing," said Johnson, after a pause, with a laugh that was neither mirthful nor musical, and frightened away a lizard that had been regarding the pair with breathless suspense,—"it ain't the square thing for jackass rabbits to wear hats, Tommy,—is it, eh?”“这可不公道。”约翰逊停了一下，然后笑着说。那笑声既不欢快也不悦耳，吓跑了一只一直都屏住呼吸、焦虑不安地注视着这两个人的蜥蜴，“蠢兔子戴帽子，太不公道了，汤姆——是吗，嗯？”
"Well," said Tommy, with unmoved composure, "sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. Animals are mighty queer." And here Tommy went off in an animated, but, I regret to say, utterly untruthful and untrustworthy account of the habits of California fauna, until he was interrupted by Johnson.“噢。”汤姆面不改色、镇定自若地说，“它们有时戴，有时不戴。动物是特别古怪的。”然后汤姆开始生动地说起了加利福尼亚各种动物的习性，一直说到约翰逊打断他为止。但是我要遗憾地说，他的叙述完全不真实，也不可信。
"And snakes, eh, Tommy?" said the man, with an abstracted air, gazing intently on the ground before him.“还有蛇，嗯，汤姆，是吗？”那个人心不在焉地说，同时还目不转睛地凝视着他面前的地面。
"And snakes," said Tommy; "but they don't bite, at least not that kind you see. There!—don't move, Uncle Ben, don't move; they're gone now. And it's about time you took your dose."“还有蛇。”汤姆说，“可是它们不咬人，至少不是你看到的那种。你瞧！——别动，本大叔，别动，它们走了。是你该吃药的时候了。”
Johnson had hurriedly risen as if to leap upon the log, but Tommy had as quickly caught his arm with one hand while he drew a bottle from his pocket with the other. Johnson paused, and eyed the bottle. "Ef you say so, my boy," he faltered, as his fingers closed nervously around it; "say 'when,' then."He raised the bottle to his lips and took a long draught, the boy regarding him critically. "When," said Tommy, suddenly. Johnson started, flushed, and returned the bottle quickly. But the color that had risen to his cheek stayed there, his eye grew less restless, and as they moved away again, the hand that rested on Tommy's shoulder was steadier.
约翰逊匆忙站起来，好像要跳上原木，不过汤姆也同样迅速地用一只手扶住他的胳膊，另一只手从他口袋里取出一个瓶子。约翰逊停了下来，看着那个瓶子。“如果你这么说，孩子，”他一边结结巴巴地说，一边用手指紧紧握住瓶子，“那么，说‘什么时候’吧。”他把瓶子举到唇边，喝了一大口，小伙子密切地注视着他。“什么时候。”汤姆突然说。约翰逊吓了一跳，满脸通红，快速把瓶子还了回去。但是他脸颊上的红晕并没有褪去，他的目光也不那么紧张不安了。当他们又往前走时，搭在汤姆肩上的那只手抖得不那么厉害了。
Their way lay along the flank of Table Mountain,—a wandering trail through a tangled solitude that might have seemed virgin and unbroken but for a few oyster-cans, yeast-powder tins, and empty bottles that had been apparently stranded by the "first low wash" of pioneer waves. On the ragged trunk of an enormous pine hung a few tufts of gray hair caught from a passing grizzly, but in strange juxtaposition at its foot lay an empty bottle of incomparable bitters,—the chef-d'oeuvre of a hygienic civilization, and blazoned with the arms of an all-healing republic. The head of a rattlesnake peered from a case that had contained tobacco, which was still brightly placarded with the high-colored effigy of a popular danseuse. And a little beyond this the soil was broken and fissured, there was a confused mass of roughly hewn timber, a straggling line of sluicing, a heap of gravel and dirt, a rude cabin, and the claim of Johnson.
他们走的路位于泰布尔山的侧面——那是一条曲折的小径，穿过草木缠绕的荒凉地带。要不是因为先驱者浪潮“第一批浅浅的冲刷”而搁浅的几个牡蛎罐子、发酵粉罐头和空瓶子，这条小径可能看上去就像是未开垦的处女地。一棵巨松凹凸不平的树干上挂着几簇从过路的灰熊身上扯下的灰毛。但是，树下是一只曾装着极苦无比的药水的空瓶子——保健文明的杰作。瓶子上还铭刻着一个包治百病的团体的徽章。这种蛮荒与文明的并置，让人觉得奇怪。一条响尾蛇的脑袋从一只曾装有烟草的盒子里探出来，向外凝视，盒子上粘贴着一位受欢迎的芭蕾舞女演员色彩艳丽的肖像画。再远一点，土壤干裂，有一堆胡乱劈开、横七竖八的木材，一排零乱的排水槽，一堆砾石和泥土，一个简陋的小屋，以及约翰逊的采矿地。
Except for the rudest purposes of shelter from rain and cold, the cabin possessed but little advantage over the simple savagery of surrounding nature. It had all the practical directness of the habitation of some animal, without its comfort or picturesque quality; the very birds that haunted it for food must have felt their own superiority as architects. It was inconceivably dirty, even with its scant capacity for accretion; it was singularly stale, even in its newness and freshness of material. Unspeakably dreary as it was in shadow, the sunlight visited it in a blind, aching, purposeless way, as if despairing of mellowing its outlines or of even tanning it into color.
除了避雨防寒这些最原始的目的，小屋与周围简单、蛮荒的自然相比，几乎没有什么优势。它具有某种动物巢穴的实用和简单，却没有动物巢穴舒适或美观的特点。经常到这里觅食的鸟儿肯定会意识到鸟类作为建筑师的优越感。尽管装不下多少垃圾，它还是脏得让人难以想象；尽管建筑材料都是崭新的，它却异常陈旧。尽管它在阴影中阴郁得难以形容，阳光还是茫然、痛苦、毫无目的地造访它，仿佛对于把它的轮廓变得柔和些或者把它晒成深色都不抱任何希望。
The claim worked by Johnson in his intervals of sobriety was represented by half a dozen rude openings in the mountain-side, with the heaped-up debris of rock and gravel before the mouth of each. They gave very little evidence of engineering skill or constructive purpose, or indeed showed anything but the vague, successively abandoned essays of their projector. To-day they served another purpose, for as the sun had heated the little cabin almost to the point of combustion, curling up the long dry shingles, and starting aromatic tears from the green pine beams, Tommy led Johnson into one of the larger openings, and with a sense of satisfaction threw himself panting upon its rocky floor. Here and there the grateful dampness was condensed in quiet pools of water, or in a monotonous and soothing drip from the rocks above. Without lay the staring sunlight,—colorless, clarified, intense.
约翰逊偶尔清醒时会来采矿地干活，采矿地以山坡上六个简陋的洞为标志。每个洞口前面都堆有岩石和砾石的碎片。这些洞几乎不能证明工程技术或建筑目的。实际上，它们只表明规划者接连放弃的种种模模糊糊的尝试。今天，它们有了另一种用途。因为当烈日把小屋晒得几乎要燃烧起来、让那干燥的长木屋顶卷起来、让发绿的松木梁滴下香泪时，汤姆便会领着约翰逊走进一个较大的洞里，他自己则心满意足地躺到洞里的石板地上喘气。宜人的潮气在四处凝结成一滩滩宁静的水洼，或者聚积成单调柔和的水滴，从上面的岩石上滴下来。洞外是耀眼刺目的阳光——无色、纯净、强烈。
For a few moments they lay resting on their elbows in blissful contemplation of the heat they had escaped. "Wot do you say," said Johnson, slowly, without looking at his companion, but abstractly addressing himself to the landscape beyond,—"wot do you say to two straight games fur one thousand dollars?"
他们用胳膊肘支起身体躺了一小会儿，快活地想着他们已经逃脱的酷热。“你说怎么样？”约翰逊慢吞吞地说，看也没看同伴一眼，而是心不在焉地对着远处的风景说话，“连玩两局赌1000块，你说怎么样？”
"Make it five thousand," replied Tommy, reflectively, also to the landscape, "and I'm in."“加到5000块，”汤姆深思着回答，他也是在冲着风景说话，“我就加入。”
"Wot do I owe you now?" said Johnson, after a lengthened silence.“我现在欠你多少？”约翰逊沉默了好一阵后说。
"One hundred and seventy-five thousand two hundred and fifty dollars," replied Tommy, with business-like gravity.“175250块。”汤姆回答道，带着一脸的严肃。
"Well," said Johnson, after a deliberation commensurate with the magnitude of the transaction, "ef you win, call it a hundred and eighty thousand, round. War's the keerds?"“好。”面对这样一宗大交易，经过一番深思熟虑后，约翰逊说，“要是你赢了，凑个整数，18万。牌在哪里？”
They were in an old tin box in a crevice of a rock above his head. They were greasy and worn with service. Johnson dealt, albeit his right hand was still uncertain,—hovering, after dropping the cards, aimlessly about Tommy, and being only recalled by a strong nervous effort. Yet, notwithstanding this incapacity for even honest manipulation, Mr. Johnson covertly turned a knave from the bottom of the pack with such shameless inefficiency and gratuitous unskilfulness, that even Tommy was obliged to cough and look elsewhere to hide his embarrassment. Possibly for this reason the young gentleman was himself constrained, by way of correction, to add a valuable card to his own hand, over and above the number he legitimately held.
牌在他头上岩石缝里放着的一个旧锡盒里。因为经常玩，牌油腻腻、脏兮兮的。约翰逊发牌，尽管他的右手仍颤颤巍巍的——发完牌后，他的右手仍毫无目的地在汤姆周围摇摆不定，只有用力才能把手收回去。但是，尽管约翰逊先生连诚实地发牌都做不到，他还是偷偷摸摸地从一摞牌下面翻出一张杰克。他的动作慢得让人觉得丢脸，不熟练地让人觉得大可不必。因此，连汤姆都被迫咳嗽了一声，并向别处看去，以此来掩饰他的尴尬。也许就是出于这个原因，作为纠正，除了他理应握着的几张牌外，这位年轻的先生也被迫给自己手里加上了一张有价值的牌，超出了他理应拿到牌的数量。
Nevertheless, the game was unexciting, and dragged listlessly. Johnson won. He recorded the fact and the amount with a stub of pencil and shaking fingers in wandering hieroglyphics all over a pocket diary. Then there was a long pause, when Johnson slowly drew something from his pocket, and held it up before his companion. It was apparently a dull red stone.
尽管如此，纸牌游戏还是无聊而单调地进行了下去。约翰逊赢了。他用颤抖的手指握住铅笔头，在袖珍日记本上写下弯弯曲曲的象形文字，记下这件事和他赢的钱数。然后是长时间的停顿，接着约翰逊慢吞吞地从口袋里取出一件东西，把它举到同伴面前。很显然，那是块暗红色的石头。
"Ef," said Johnson, slowly, with his old look of simple cunning,—"ef you happened to pick up sich a rock ez that, Tommy, what might you say it was?"“如果——”约翰逊带着他惯有的单纯而狡猾的神情慢吞吞地说，“如果你碰巧捡了这样一块石头，汤姆，你会说它是什么？”
"Don't know," said Tommy.“不知道。”汤姆说。
"Mightn't you say," continued Johnson, cautiously, "that it was gold, or silver?"“你会不会说，”约翰逊小心翼翼地继续说，“它是金子，或银子？”
"Neither," said Tommy, promptly.“都不会。”汤姆立刻说。
"Mightn't you say it was quicksilver? Mightn't you say that ef thar was a friend o' yourn ez knew war to go and turn out ten ton of it a day, and every ton worth two thousand dollars, that he had a soft thing, a very soft thing,—allowin', Tommy, that you used sich language, which you don't?"“你会不会说它是水银？难道你不会说你有个朋友知道去哪里找水银，每天产十吨，每吨值2000块，他得到了一份美差，相当有利的买卖——汤姆，应该考虑到你有可能说这样的话，但是你没那么说。”
"But," said the boy, coming to the point with great directness, "DO you know where to get it? Have you struck it, Uncle Ben?"“但是，”小伙子非常直截了当地说，“你知道到哪里去弄矿石？你已经淘到矿了吗，本大叔？”
Johnson looked carefully around. "I hev, Tommy. Listen. I know whar thar's cartloads of it. But thar's only one other specimen—the mate to this yer—thet's above ground, and thet's in 'Frisco. Thar's an agint comin' up in a day or two to look into it. I sent for him. Eh?"
约翰逊仔细地环顾了一下四周。“我已经淘到了，汤姆。听着。我知道哪里有成车成车的矿石。但那只是另一种样品——与这种相配的——是在地面上，在圣弗朗西斯科。有个代理商过一两天就要来调查。我请他来的。嗯？”
His bright, restless eyes were concentrated on Tommy's face now, but the boy showed neither surprise nor interest. Least of all did he betray any recollection of Bill's ironical and gratuitous corroboration of this part of the story.
这时，他那明亮而焦躁不安的眼睛盯着汤姆的脸，但是小伙子既没有流露出吃惊的神情，也没有表现出感兴趣的样子。他丝毫没有表现出他回想起比尔对这件事的嘲讽和不必要的证实。
"Nobody knows it," continued Johnson, in a nervous whisper,—"nobody knows it but you and the agint in 'Frisco. The boys workin' round yar passes by and sees the old man grubbin' away, and no signs o' color, not even rotten quartz; the boys loafin' round the Mansion House sees the old man lyin' round free in bar-rooms, and they laughs and sez, 'Played out,' and spects nothin'. Maybe ye think they spects suthin now, eh?" queried Johnson, suddenly, with a sharp look of suspicion.“谁也不知道，”约翰逊继续紧张地小声说，“除了你和圣弗朗西斯科的代理商，谁也不知道。附近干活的小伙子们经过这里，看到这个老头掘呀掘，不见黄金的踪影，甚至连风化的石英都没有。在大厦饭店附近闲逛的小伙子们看见老头呆在酒吧间里，无所事事，他们笑着说：‘他没戏了！’，他们根本没有怀疑。你有没有觉得他们现在察觉到什么了，嗯？”约翰逊带着极度怀疑的神色，突然问道。
Tommy looked up, shook his head, threw a stone at a passing rabbit, but did not reply.
汤姆抬起眼，摇摇头，朝经过这里的一只兔子扔了块石头，并没有回答。
"When I fust set eyes on you, Tommy," continued Johnson, apparently reassured, "the fust day you kem and pumped for me, an entire stranger, and hevin no call to do it, I sez, 'Johnson, Johnson,' sez I,' yer's a boy you kin trust. Yer's a boy that won't play you; yer's a chap that's white and square,'—white and square, Tommy: them's the very words I used."
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