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第2章 The 1,000,000 BankNote(2)

They saw many honest faces go by that were not intelligentintelligent adj.聪明的, 伶俐的, 有才智的, [计]智能的 enough, many that were intelligent, but not honest enough, many that were both, but the possessors were not poor enough, or, if poor enough, were not strangers. There was always a defect, until I came along, but they agreed that I filled the bill all around, so they elected me unanimously, and there I was now waiting to know why I was called in. They began to ask me questions about myself, and pretty soon they had my story. Finally they told me I would answer their purpose. I said I was sincerely glad, and asked what it was. Then one of them handed me an envelope, and said I would find the explanationexplanation n.解释, 解说, 说明, 辩解, 互相讲明 inside. I was going to open it, but he said no, take it to my lodgings, and look it over carefully, and not be hasty or rash. I was puzzled, and wanted to discuss the matter a little further, but they didnt, so I took my leave, feeling hurt and insultedinsult n.侮辱, 凌辱 vt.侮辱, 凌辱 to be made the butt of what was apparently some kind of a practical joke, and yet obliged to put up with it, not being in circumstances to resent affrontsaffront n.公开侮辱, 轻蔑 vt.公开侮辱, 冒犯, 面对 from rich and strong folk.

他们检阅着一张张经过窗前的脸。有的虽然老实,却不够聪明;有的够聪明,却不够老实;还有不少又聪明又老实的,可人穷得不彻底;等到是个赤贫的,又不是外地人——总是不能尽如人意。就在这时,我来了;他们俩认定我具备所有条件,于是一致选定了我;可我呢,正等着知道叫我进来到底要干什么。他们开始问一些有关我个人的问题,很快就弄清楚了我的来龙去脉。最后,他们告诉我,我正合他们的心意。我说,我打心眼里高兴,可不知道这心意到底是什么意思。这时,俩人当中的一位交给我一个信封,说打开一看便知。我正要打开,可他又不让;要我带到住处去仔仔细细地看,不要草率从事,也不用慌慌张张。我满腹狐疑,想把话头再往外引一引,可是他们不干。我只好揣着一肚子被侮辱与被损害的感觉往外走,他们明摆着是自己逗乐,拿我耍着玩;不过,我还是得顺着他们,这时的处境容不得我对这些阔佬大亨耍脾气。

I would have picked up the pear now and eaten it before all the world, but it was gone, so I had lost that by this unlucky business, and the thought of it did not soften my feeling towards those men. As soon as I was out of sight of that house I opened my envelope, and saw that it contained money! My opinion of those people changed, I can tell you! I lost not a moment, but shovedshove n.<口>推, 挤 vt.<口>推挤, 猛推, 强使 vi.推 note and money into my vest pocket, and broke for the nearest cheap eating house. Well, how I did eat! When at last I couldnt hold any more, I took out my money and unfolded it, took one glimpseglimpse n.一瞥, 一看 v.瞥见 and nearly fainted. Five millions of dollars! Why, it made my head swimswim n.游泳, 漂浮, 潮流, 眼花 adj.游泳时穿戴的vi.游泳, 游, 漂浮, 旋转, 覆盖, 充溢, 眩晕, 浸 vt.游过,使浮起 adj.游泳时穿戴的。

本来,我能把那个梨捡起来,明目张胆地吃进肚子去了,可现在那个梨已经无影无踪;就因为那倒霉的差事,把我的梨弄丢了。想到这里,我对那两个人就气不打一处来。走到看不见那所房子的地方,我打开信封一看,里边装的是钱哪!说真的,这时我对他们可是另眼相看喽!我急不可待地把信和钱往马甲兜里一塞,撒腿就朝最近的小吃店跑。好,这一顿猛吃呀!最后,肚子实在塞不下东西去了,我掏出那张钞票来展开,只扫了一眼,我就差点昏倒。五百万美元!乖乖,我懵了。

I must have sat there stunnedstun vt.使晕倒, 使惊吓, 打晕 n.晕眩, 打昏, 惊倒 and blinking at the note as much as a minute before I came rightly to myself again. The first thing I noticed, then, was the landlord. His eye was on the note, and he was petrifiedpetrify v.石化,吓呆。 He was worshiping, with all his body and soul, but he looked as if he couldnt stir hand or foot. I took my cue in a moment, and did the only rational thing there was to do. I reached the note towards him, and said, carelessly: “Give me the change, please.”

我盯着那张大钞头晕眼花,想必足足过了一分钟才清醒过来。这时候,首先映入我眼帘的是小吃店老板。他的目光粘在大钞上,像五雷轰顶一般。他正在全心全意地祷告上帝,看来手脚都不能动弹了。我一下子计上心来,做了这时按人之常情应该做的事。我把那张大钞递到他眼前,小心翼翼地说:“请找钱吧。”

Then he was restoredrestore vt.恢复, 使回复, 归还, 交还, 修复, 重建 to his normal condition, and made a thousand apologies for not being able to break the bill, and I couldnt get him to touch it. He wanted to look at it, and keep on looking at it, he couldnt seem to get enough of it to quenchquench vt.结束, 熄灭,淬火 vi.熄灭, 平息 the thirst of his eye, but he shrank from touching it as if it had been something too sacred for poor common clay to handle. I said: “I am sorry if it is an inconvenienceinconvenience n.麻烦, 不方便之处, but I must insist. Please change it, I havent anything else.”

他恢复了常态,连连道歉说他找不开这张大票,不论我怎么说他也不接。他心里想看,一个劲地打量那张大票;好像怎么看也饱不了眼福,可就是战战兢兢地不敢碰它,就好像凡夫俗子一接那票子上的仙气就会折了寿。我说:“不好意思,给您添麻烦了,可这事还得办哪。请您找钱吧,我没带别的票子。”

But he said that wasnt any matter, he was quite willing to let the trifletrifle n.琐事, 少量, 蛋糕, 小事 v.开玩笑, 玩弄, 闭混,浪费, 嘲弄 stand over till another time. I said I might not be in his neighborhood again for a good while, but he said it was of no consequence, he could wait, and, moreover, I could have anything I wanted, any time I chose, and let the account run as long as I pleased. He said he hoped he wasnt afraid to trust as rich a gentleman as I was, merely because I was of a merry dispositiondisposition n.部署, and chose to play larks on the public in the matter of dress. By this time another customer was entering, and the landlordlandlord n.房东, 地主, (旅馆等的)老板 hinted to me to put the monster out of sight, then he bowed me all the way to the door, and I started straight for that house and those brothers, to correct the mistake which had been made before the police should hunt me up, and help me do it. I was pretty nervous, in fact, pretty badly frightened, though, of course, I was no way in fault, but I knew men well enough to know that when they find theyve given a tramp a millionpound bill when they thought it was a onepounder, they are in a franticfrantic adj.狂乱的, 疯狂的 rage against him instead of quarreling with their own nearsightedness, as they ought. As I approached the house my excitement began to abateabate vt.使(数量、程度等)减少, 减轻, 除去, 缓和, 打折扣vi.(数量、程度等)减少, 减轻, 失效, 缓和, (法令等)被废除, for all was quiet there, which made me feel pretty sure the blunder was not discovered yet. I rang. The same servant appeared. I asked for those gentlemen.

他却说没关系,这点小钱儿何足挂齿,日后再说吧。我说,我一时半会儿不会再到这儿来了;可他说那也不要紧,他可以等着,而且,我想什么时候来就什么时候来,想点什么就点什么,这账呢,想什么时候结就什么时候结。他说,我只不过因为好逗个乐子,愿意打扮成这样来跟老百姓开个玩笑,他总不至于因此就信不过像我这么有钱的先生吧。这时候又进来了一位顾客,小吃店老板示意我收起那张巨无霸,然后作揖打躬地一直把我送了出来。我径直奔那所宅子去找两兄弟,让他们在警察把我抓起来之前纠正这个错误。尽管这不是我的错,可我还是提心吊胆——说实在的,简直是胆战心惊。我见人见得多了,我明白,要是他们发现把一百万镑的大钞错当一镑给了一个流浪汉,他们决不会怪自己眼神不好,非把那个流浪汉骂个狗血喷头。快走到那宅子的时候,我看到一切如常,断定还没有人发觉这错票的事,也就不那么紧张了。我摁了门铃。原先那个仆人又出来了。我求见那两位先生。

“They are gone.” This in the lofty, cold way of that fellows tribe.

“他们走了。”他用这类人那种不可一世的冷冰冰的口气说。

“Gone? Gone where?”

“走了?去哪儿了?”

“On a journey.”

“出远门了。”

“But whereaboutswhereabouts n.下落, 行踪, 所在之处 adv.在何处n.(用作单或复)行踪, 下落, 所在?”

“可——上哪儿啦?”

“To the Continent, I think.”

“我想是去欧洲大陆了吧。”

“The Continent?”

“欧洲大陆?”

“Yes, sir.”

“没错,先生。”

“Which way—by what route?”

“怎么走的——走的是哪条路呀?”

“I cant say, sir.”

“我说不上,先生。”

“When will they be back?”

“什么时候回来呢?”

“In a month, they said.”

“他们说,得一个月吧。”

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