我进了一家咖啡馆——正在调制饮料时，有个人抓起你刚放下的苏格兰威士忌的热汤匙。我问他是怎样理解“包打听”这个俗语的名称、描述、称谓、刻画或称号的。
“Why，” said he， carefully， “it means a fly guy thats wise to the allnight push—see？ Its a hot sport that you cant bump to the rail anywhere between the Flatirons—see？ I guess thats about what it means.”
“嗨，”他小心地说，“他是个飞行员，惯于通宵达旦的攻击——明白吗？他是你在平顶脊之间的任何地方都难于碰上的性情激烈的赌徒——懂吗？我估计就这个意思。”
I thanked him and departed.
我谢过他，离开了。
On the sidewalk a Salvation lassie shook her contributioncontribution n.捐献， 贡献， 投稿 receptacle gently against my waistcoat pocket.
在人行道上，一位募捐少女对着我的马甲兜轻轻摇着募捐盒。
“Would you mind telling me，” I asked her， “if you ever meet with the character commonly denominated as ‘A Man About Town’ during your daily wanderings？”
“你是否乐意告诉我，每天你募捐的时候可否遇到通常称为‘包打听’的一类人呢？”
“I think I know whom you mean.” she answered， with a gentle smile. “We see them in the same places night after night. They are the devils body guard， and if the soldiers of any army are as faithful as they are， their commanders are well served. We go among them， diverting a few pennies from their wickednesswickedness n.邪恶， 不道德 to the Lords service.”
“我想，我懂得你指的什么人。”她微笑着答道，“我夜复一夜地在同一场合见着他们。他们是魔鬼的卫士，假如任何军队的士兵都像他们那么忠心耿耿的话，他们的长官就被服侍得周到极了。我们在他们中间募捐，花几分钱把他们的邪恶变成为上帝服务。”
She shook the box again and I dropped a dimedime n.<美> 一角硬币 into it.
她又摇盒子，我投进了一块银币。
In front of a glittering hotel a friend of mine， a critic， was climbing from a cab. He seemed at leisure， and I put my question to him. He answered me conscientiously， as I was sure he would.
在一个灯光闪耀的旅馆前，我的一位批评家朋友正走下马车。他显得悠闲自在，于是，我又问了他。正如我确信的那样，他认认真真地回答了我的问题。
“There is a type of ‘Man About Town’ in New York.” he answered. “The term is quite familiar to me， but I dont think I was ever called upon to define the character before. It would be difficult to point you out an exact specimenspecimen n.范例， 标本， 样品， 样本， 待试验物. I would say， offhand， that it is a man who had a hopeless case of the peculiar New York disease of wanting to see and know. At 6 oclock each day life begins with him. He follows rigidly the conventions of dress and manners， but in the business of poking his nose into places where he does not belong he could give pointers to a civet cat or a jackdawjackdaw n.寒鸦. He is the man who has chased Bohemia about the town from rathskeller to roof garden and from Hester street to Harlem until you cant find a place in the city where they dont cut their spaghettispaghetti n.意大利式细面条 with a knife. Your ‘Man About Town’ has done that. He is always on the scent of something new. He is curiosity， impudenceimpudence n.轻率， 厚颜无耻 and omnipresenceomnipresence n.遍在. Hansoms were made for him， and goldbanded cigars， and the curse of music at dinner. There are not so many of him， but his minority report is adopted everywhere.
“在纽约，有‘包打听’一类人。”他答道，“我十分熟悉这个俗语，但我想以前还没有人叫我对此下个定义。要指出确切的标本也很困难。我毫不考虑地说，这类人有种特殊的纽约病的绝症，还缺乏了解。每天早晨六点钟，他的活便伴随生活开始了。他刻板地按习惯穿着，按礼仪行事，但把鼻子伸进与他毫无干系的事情方面，他甚至可以给香猫或寒鸦出谋划策。这种人在城里一直追逐豪放不羁的生活，从设在地下室的酒吧或饭店到屋顶花园，从赫克托大街到哈莱姆区，而且，你在城里根本找不到一个地方没有他们用小刀切割意大利式的细面条。你的‘包打听’就干这个。他总是追踪新奇事物，好奇，厚颜无耻，无所不在。双轮双座马车是专为他造的，抽金牌雪茄，正餐时诅咒音乐。他得不到多少人支持，但有关他的谣传则遍城皆是。
