IT WAS Joe Dillon who introduced the Wild West to us. He had a little library made up of old numbers of The Union Jack, Pluck and The Halfpenny Marvel. Every evening after school we met in his back garden and arranged Indian battles. He and his fat young brother Leo, the idler, held the loft of the stable while we tried to carry it by storm; or we fought a pitched battle on the grass. But, however well we fought, we never won siege or battle and all our bouts ended with Joe Dillon's war dance of victory. His parents went to eight-o'clock mass every morning in Gardiner Street and the peaceful odour of Mrs. Dillon was prevalent in the hall of the house. But he played too fiercely for us who were younger and more timid. He looked like some kind of an Indian when he capered round the garden, an old tea-cosy on his head, beating a tin with his fist and yelling:

是乔·狄龙把荒野西部介绍给我们的。他有一些由《联合杰克》、《勇气》和《半便士奇闻》的过期期刊组成的少许藏书。每天晚上放学之后，我们会在他家的后花园里碰头，玩印第安人的打仗游戏。他和他的胖弟弟利奥，那个懒人，会占据马厩的阁楼，而我们则通过强攻努力去夺取它；或者我们会在草地上玩对阵战。不过，无论我们玩得多卖力，我们从来都没有打赢过包围战或对阵战；所有的较量都是以乔·狄龙庆祝胜利的战争舞蹈收场。他的父母每天早上都会去加德纳街参加八点钟弥撒。狄龙太太身上那种平和的气息弥漫在房子的门厅里。可是对于我们这些比他年纪小、胆子也小的人来说，他却玩得过于拼命了。当他在花园里蹦来蹦去的时候，他看上去有点像是个印第安人，头上戴着一个茶壶保暖套，一只拳头敲打着一个锡铁罐，嘴里则喊叫着：

"Ya! yaka, yaka, yaka!" Everyone was incredulous when it was reported that he had a vocation for the priesthood. Nevertheless it was true.

“呀！呀咳，呀咳，呀咳！”据称他有心要当神父，大家都表示怀疑。不过这却是真的。

A spirit of unruliness diffused itself among us and, under its influence, differences of culture and constitution were waived. We banded ourselves together, some boldly, some in jest and some almost in fear: and of the number of these latter, the reluctant Indians who were afraid to seem studious or lacking in robustness, I was one. The adventures related in the literature of the Wild West were remote from my nature but, at least, they opened doors of escape. I liked better some American detective stories which were traversed from time to time by unkempt fierce and beautiful girls. Though there was nothing wrong in these stories and though their intention was sometimes literary they were circulated secretly at school. One day when Father Butler was hearing the four pages of Roman History clumsy Leo Dillon was discovered with a copy of The Halfpenny Marvel.

一种无法无天的精神在我们中间蔓延开来，在它的影响下，教养和体质的差异被完全忽视了。我们聚集成伙，有些人是为了显示自己的勇气，有些人是为了好玩，还有一些则几乎是出于害怕：最后这些人为数不少，他们害怕自己显得仿佛只会读书或者不够健壮，所以才勉勉强强地充当了印第安人，我就是其中的一员。文学作品中叙述的有关荒野西部的冒险故事离我的本性相距甚远，但至少，它们打开了逃避之门。我更喜欢读一些美国侦探小说，不时会有野性顽皮而又漂亮的女孩在沿路兜售。尽管这些小说里并没有什么不好的地方，而且它们的创作意图有时也很具有文学性，但在学校里它们却只能私下传阅。一天，当巴特勒神父在听我们诵读罗马历史的四页书时，发现了笨手笨脚的利奥·狄龙带着一本《半便士奇闻》。

"This page or this page? This page? Now, Dillon, up! 'Hardly had the day'... Go on! What day? 'Hardly had the day dawned'... Have you studied it? What have you there in your pocket?”

“这一页还是这一页？这一页？好了，狄龙，起来！‘那一天几乎还没有’……接着往下念！哪一天？‘那一天几乎还没有破晓’……你看过了没有？你口袋里装的是什么？”

Everyone's heart palpitated as Leo Dillon handed up the paper and everyone assumed an innocent face. Father Butler turned over the pages, frowning.

利奥·狄龙把那报纸交上去的时候，我们每个人都心惊肉跳，但每个人的脸上却又都装出一副无辜的样子。巴特勒神父翻了几页，皱起了眉头。

"What is this rubbish?" he said. "The Apache Chief! Is this what you read instead of studying your Roman History? Let me not find any more of this wretched stuff in this college. The man who wrote it, I suppose, was some wretched fellow who writes these things for a drink. I'm surprised at boys like you, educated, reading such stuff. I could understand it if you were... National School boys. Now, Dillon, I advise you strongly, get at your work or...”

“这是什么垃圾东西？”他说道，“阿帕奇酋长！这就是你不读你的《罗马史》而在看的东西？以后别让我在这所学校里再看到这种拙劣的东西。写这种东西的人，我想，一定是个该死的家伙，写这些玩意就是为了买酒喝。我很吃惊，像你们这样的男孩子，受过教育，还读这种东西。倘若你们是……国立学校的孩子，我倒还可以理解。听着，狄龙，我严正告诫你，好好用功，否则……”

This rebuke during the sober hours of school paled much of the glory of the Wild West for me and the confused puffy face of Leo Dillon awakened one of my consciences. But when the restraining influence of the school was at a distance I began to hunger again for wild sensations, for the escape which those chronicles of disorder alone seemed to offer me. The mimic warfare of the evening became at last as wearisome to me as the routine of school in the morning because I wanted real adventures to happen to myself. But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad.

在上学期间清醒的时刻听来的这番训诫使荒野西部在我看来所具有的荣光黯淡了不少，利奥·狄龙那张惶惑无措的胖脸也唤醒了我的一片良知。但是当我远离学校的约束影响时，我又开始渴求不羁的感觉，渴求只有那些乱世纪事才能提供给我的逃避。傍晚时分的模拟战争游戏最后变得和上午学校的例行功课一样无聊乏味，因为我想要有真正的冒险故事发生在自己身上。但是真正的冒险故事，我想，是不会发生在老呆在家里的人身上的：必须得到外面的世界去寻找。

The summer holidays were near at hand when I made up my mind to break out of the weariness of school-life for one day at least. With Leo Dillon and a boy named Mahony I planned a day's miching. Each of us saved up sixpence. We were to meet at ten in the morning on the Canal Bridge. Mahony's big sister was to write an excuse for him and Leo Dillon was to tell his brother to say he was sick. We arranged to go along the Wharf Road until we came to the ships, then to cross in the ferryboat and walk out to see the Pigeon House. Leo Dillon was afraid we might meet Father Butler or someone out of the college; but Mahony asked, very sensibly, what would Father Butler be doing out at the Pigeon House. We were reassured: and I brought the first stage of the plot to an end by collecting sixpence from the other two, at the same time showing them my own sixpence. When we were making the last arrangements on the eve we were all vaguely excited. We shook hands, laughing, and Mahony said:

暑假临近的时候，我下定决心至少有一天要打破学校生活的沉闷。和利奥·狄龙及一个名叫马奥尼的男孩一起，我制定了逃学一天的计划。我们每个人都攒了六便士。我们约好上午十点在运河桥上碰头。马奥尼的姐姐会给他写张事假条，而利奥·狄龙则会让他哥哥说他病了。我们计划沿着码头路往前走，一直走到有船的地方，然后坐渡轮过去，再走远些去看鸽棚。利奥·狄龙担心我们会碰上巴特勒神父或者学校里的什么人；而马奥尼则非常理智地反问说，巴特勒神父大老远地去鸽棚干什么。我们都放心了：然后我把他们两个的六便士收了上来，同时也给他们看了我自己的六便士，这样，这次阴谋的第一个阶段就告结束。在出发前夜做最后的安排时，我们都隐隐约约地感到有些激动。我们互相握手，大笑，马奥尼说：

"Till tomorrow, mates!"

“就等明天了，伙伴们！”

That night I slept badly. In the morning I was firstcomer to the bridge as I lived nearest. I hid my books in the long grass near the ashpit at the end of the garden where nobody ever came and hurried along the canal bank. It was a mild sunny morning in the first week of June. I sat up on the coping of the bridge admiring my frail canvas shoes which I had diligently pipeclayed overnight and watching the docile horses pulling a tramload of business people up the hill. All the branches of the tall trees which lined the mall were gay with little light green leaves and the sunlight slanted through them on to the water. The granite stone of the bridge was beginning to be warm and I began to pat it with my hands in time to an air in my head. I was very happy.

那天晚上我睡得很不好。早上我第一个来到桥上，因为我住得最近。我把书藏在了花园尽头灰窖旁边从来没什么人去的高草丛中，然后就匆匆沿着运河河岸走去。那是六月第一周里一个温和晴朗的早晨。我端坐在桥栏上，一边欣赏着自己头天晚上辛辛苦苦用白黏土涂白的磨坏了的灯芯绒鞋子，一边看着温顺的马儿拉着街车往山上爬，车上坐满了做生意的人。林荫路两边种着高高的树木，所有的树枝上都生意盎然地绽放着浅绿色的小叶，阳光透过这些枝叶斜射到水面上。大桥的花岗岩石面变得暖和起来，应和着脑子里想着的一种曲调，我开始用手轻拍起石面来。我非常快乐。

When I had been sitting there for five or ten minutes I saw Mahony's grey suit approaching. He came up the hill, smiling, and clambered up beside me on the bridge. While we were waiting he brought out the catapult which bulged from his inner pocket and explained some improvements which he had made in it. I asked him why he had brought it and he told me he had brought it to have some gas with the birds. Mahony used slang freely, and spoke of Father Butler as Old Bunser. We waited on for a quarter of an hour more but still there was no sign of Leo Dillon. Mahony, at last, jumped down and said:

坐了有五分钟或十分钟的时候，我看见马奥尼身穿灰色外套朝这边走来。他沿着小山走了上来，微笑着，然后攀上桥栏坐在了我的身边。我们等着的时候，他从鼓鼓囊囊的内揣口袋里掏出了弹弓，向我解释了他所做的一些改进。我问他为什么要带弹弓，他告诉我说他带它是为了和鸟儿们寻开心。马奥尼很随意地使用着俚语，把巴特勒神父说成是老邦瑟。我们又等了一刻钟，但仍然不见利奥·狄龙的影子。最后，马奥尼跳下来说：

"Come along. I knew Fatty'd funk it.” "And his sixpence...?" I said.

“走吧。我早知道胖子会临阵脱逃。”“那他的六便士？”我说道。

"That's forfeit," said Mahony. "And so much the better for us—a bob and a tanner instead of a bob.”

“没收了，”马奥尼说，“这样对我们更好——有一先令六便士而不只是一先令。”

We walked along the North Strand Road till we came to the Vitriol Works and then turned to the right along the Wharf Road. Mahony began to play the Indian as soon as we were out of public sight. He chased a crowd of ragged girls, brandishing his unloaded catapult and, when two ragged boys began, out of chivalry, to fling stones at us, he proposed that we should charge them. I objected that the boys were too small and so we walked on, the ragged troop screaming after us: "Swaddlers! Swaddlers!"thinking that we were Protestants because Mahony, who was dark-complexioned, wore the silver badge of a cricket club in his cap. When we came to the Smoothing Iron we arranged a siege; but it was a failure because you must have at least three. We revenged ourselves on Leo Dillon by saying what a funk he was and guessing how many he would get at three o'clock from Mr. Ryan.

我们沿着北斯特兰德路一直走到矾油厂，然后向右拐到了码头路上。我们一走出公众的视线，马奥尼就开始扮起了印第安人。他追赶着一群衣衫褴褛的女孩们，手里挥舞着没装子弹的弹弓，当两个衣衫褴褛的男孩发扬骑士精神朝我们扔石块时，他又建议说我们应该向他们发起进攻。我反对说那两个男孩还太小，于是我们就继续往前走，而衣衫褴褛的那伙孩子则在我们身后尖叫着：“小屁孩！小屁孩！”。他们以为我们是新教徒，因为马奥尼肤色偏黑，他的帽子上还别着一个板球俱乐部的银色徽章。当我们来到熨平铁那个地方的时候，我们组织了一次围攻；不过没有玩成，因为至少得有三个人。我们就在利奥·狄龙身上发泄怨气，说他真是个胆小鬼，猜想着三点钟的时候他会从瑞安先生那里挨多少下打。

We came then near the river. We spent a long time walking about the noisy streets flanked by high stone walls, watching the working of cranes and engines and often being shouted at for our immobility by the drivers of groaning carts. It was noon when we reached the quays and as all the labourers seemed to be eating their lunches, we bought two big currant buns and sat down to eat them on some metal piping beside the river. We pleased ourselves with the spectacle of Dublin's commerce—the barges signalled from far away by their curls of woolly smoke, the brown fishing fleet beyond Ringsend, the big white sailing-vessel which was being discharged on the opposite quay. Mahony said it would be right skit to run away to sea on one of those big ships and even I, looking at the high masts, saw, or imagined, the geography which had been scantily dosed to me at school gradually taking substance under my eyes. School and home seemed to recede from us and their influences upon us seemed to wane.

然后我们来到了河边。我们在两边筑有高高石墙的嘈杂的街道上走了好一会儿，看着起重机和机车在运转，我们常常会站着不动，因而招来驾着吱扭作响大车的车夫们的喝斥。中午时分，我们走到了码头，似乎所有干活的人都在吃午饭，于是我们也买了两个大大的葡萄干面包，在河边的一根金属管道上坐下吃了起来。我们高兴地观赏着都柏林的商业景象——老远就能看见的喷着模糊烟圈的驳船，停靠在林森德那边的棕色渔船，和对面码头上正在卸货的白色大帆船。马奥尼说要是坐在那样的一艘大船上跑到海上去，那会非常有趣；看着那些高高的桅杆，我甚至看到了，或者说想象到了，在学校里一星半点学到的那点地理知识渐渐地在我的眼前变成了实实在在的东西。学校和家似乎在离我们越来越远，它们对我们的影响也似乎在减弱。

We crossed the Liffey in the ferryboat, paying our toll to be transported in the company of two labourers and a little Jew with a bag. We were serious to the point of solemnity, but once during the short voyage our eyes met and we laughed. When we landed we watched the discharging of the graceful threemaster which we had observed from the other quay. Some bystander said that she was a Norwegian vessel. I went to the stern and tried to decipher the legend upon it but, failing to do so, I came back and examined the foreign sailors to see had any of them green eyes for I had some confused notion.... The sailors' eyes were blue and grey and even black. The only sailor whose eyes could have been called green was a tall man who amused the crowd on the quay by calling out cheerfully every time the planks fell:

我们付了船费，和两个工人还有一个随身带着个包的小个子犹太人一起坐船渡过了利菲河。我们都很严肃，几乎到了肃穆的地步。不过，在这短短的旅途中，有一次目光相遇的时候，我们俩都笑了起来。上了岸之后，我们就看着那艘姿态优雅的三桅帆船卸货，在对面码头的时候我们就曾经观察过它。一旁有个人说，这是艘挪威船。我走到船尾，想从船身上的图文中解读出点什么，但却没能成功，于是我又返回来仔细端详那些外国水手，看他们中有没有谁的眼睛是绿色的，因为我一直有某种模糊的概念……但是这些水手的眼睛有的是蓝色的，有的是灰色的，甚至还有的是黑色的。只有一名水手的眼睛可以称得上是绿色的，他是个高个子，码头上的人群都冲着他直乐，因为每次木板落下的时候，他总是高兴地大喊：

"All right! All right!" When we were tired of this sight we wandered slowly into Ringsend. The day had grown sultry, and in the windows of the grocers' shops musty biscuits lay bleaching. We bought some biscuits and chocolate which we ate sedulously as we wandered through the squalid streets where the families of the fishermen live. We could find no dairy and so we went into a huckster's shop and bought a bottle of raspberry lemonade each. Refreshed by this, Mahony chased a cat down a lane, but the cat escaped into a wide field. We both felt rather tired and when we reached the field we made at once for a sloping bank over the ridge of which we could see the Dodder.

“好了!好了！”当我们看够了这个场景之后，就慢慢蹓跶到了林森德。天气变得闷热起来，杂货店橱窗里放着颜色发白的发霉饼干。我们买了些饼干和巧克力，漫步走过渔民家庭居住的肮脏街道，小心翼翼地吃了一路。我们没能找到乳品店，于是就走进一家小卖铺，一人买了一瓶山莓柠檬汽水。喝完汽水又有了劲，马奥尼开始顺着一条巷子追赶一只猫，可那只猫却逃进了一片开阔的田地。我们都觉得非常累，走到那片田地，我们就立刻朝一处倾斜的坡岸走去，从岸脊上望过去可以看到多德河。

It was too late and we were too tired to carry out our project of visiting the Pigeon House. We had to be home before four o'clock lest our adventure should be discovered. Mahony looked regretfully at his catapult and I had to suggest going home by train before he regained any cheerfulness. The sun went in behind some clouds and left us to our jaded thoughts and the crumbs of our provisions.

时间已晚，我们也都累得无法去实现参观鸽棚的计划了。我们必须得在四点钟之前回到家，以免我们的冒险被人发现。马奥尼失望地盯着他的弹弓，我则没等他重新打起精神就不得不提议坐火车回家。太阳钻到了一些云朵后面，我们俩萎靡不振，食物则仅剩残渣。

There was nobody but ourselves in the field. When we had lain on the bank for some time without speaking I saw a man approaching from the far end of the field. I watched him lazily as I chewed one of those green stems on which girls tell fortunes. He came along by the bank slowly. He walked with one hand upon his hip and in the other hand he held a stick with which he tapped the turf lightly. He was shabbily dressed in a suit of greenish-black and wore what we used to call a jerry hat with a high crown. He seemed to be fairly old for his moustache was ashen-grey. When he passed at our feet he glanced up at us quickly and then continued his way. We followed him with our eyes and saw that when he had gone on for perhaps fifty paces he turned about and began to retrace his steps. He walked towards us very slowly, always tapping the ground with his stick, so slowly that I thought he was looking for something in the grass.

田地里除了我们再无别人。我们一言不发地在坡岸上躺了一会儿，然后我看见有个人远远地从田地的那一头走了过来。我一边懒洋洋地看着他，一边嚼着一些女孩子常用来算命的绿草杆儿。他沿着坡岸慢慢地走来。他走路时，一只手搭在胯部，另一只手里拿着一根棍子，轻轻地敲打着草皮。他衣着破旧，穿着一件黑绿色的外套，戴着一顶我们过去叫作马桶帽的帽子，帽顶很高。他似乎很老了，因为他的胡子已经灰白。当他从我们脚边经过的时候，他抬眼很快瞥了一下我们俩，然后又继续走他的路。我们用目光跟随着他，看到他往前走了大概五十步之后，然后转过身又开始往回走。他非常缓慢地朝我们走来，一边还是用他的棍子不断敲打着地面，他走得太慢了，慢得让我以为他是在草里寻找什么东西。

He stopped when he came level with us and bade us goodday. We answered him and he sat down beside us on the slope slowly and with great care. He began to talk of the weather, saying that it would be a very hot summer and adding that the seasons had changed greatly since he was a boy—a long time ago. He said that the happiest time of one's life was undoubtedly one's schoolboy days and that he would give anything to be young again. While he expressed these sentiments which bored us a little we kept silent. Then he began to talk of school and of books. He asked us whether we had read the poetry of Thomas Moore or the works of Sir Walter Scott and Lord Lytton. I pretended that I had read every book he mentioned so that in the end he said:

走到我们跟前的时候，他停了下来，向我们问日安。我们回应了他，他就慢慢地、非常小心地在我们身边的斜坡上坐了下来。他开始谈论天气，说今年夏天天气会很热，还说季节变化很大，相比他小时候而言——那是很久以前了。他说一个人一生中最幸福的时刻无疑是他的学生时代，他愿意以任何代价来换得再年轻一回。当他抒发这些让我们颇感厌烦的感想时，我们都保持沉默。然后他开始谈论起学校和书本来。他问我们是否读过托马斯·穆尔的诗歌或者沃尔特·司各脱和利顿勋爵的作品。我装出自己读过他提到的每一本书的样子，以至于最后他说道：

"Ah, I can see you are a bookworm like myself. Now, " he added, pointing to Mahony who was regarding us with open eyes, "he is different; he goes in for games."

“啊，我看出来了，你和我一样也是个书虫。嗯，”他指着睁大眼睛注视着我们的马奥尼接着说道，“他就不一样了；他喜欢游戏。”

He said he had all Sir Walter Scott's works and all Lord Lytton's works at home and never tired of reading them. "Of course," he said, "there were some of Lord Lytton's works which boys couldn't read." Mahony asked why couldn't boys read them—a question which agitated and pained me because I was afraid the man would think I was as stupid as Mahony. The man, however, only smiled. I saw that he had great gaps in his mouth between his yellow teeth. Then he asked us which of us had the most sweethearts. Mahony mentioned lightly that he had three totties. The man asked me how many I had. I answered that I had none. He did not believe me and said he was sure I must have one. I was silent.

他说他家里收藏有沃尔特·司各脱爵士的全部作品和利顿勋爵的全部作品，并且他读这些书从来就没有厌倦过。“当然了，”他说，“利顿勋爵的有些作品男孩子是不能读的。”马奥尼问为什么男孩子读不了——这个问题让我感到又不安又难受，因为我害怕这个人会以为我和马奥尼一样愚蠢。然而，那个人却只是笑了笑。我看见他嘴里的那些黄牙之间有很大的缝隙。然后他问我们俩谁的小情人最多。马奥尼轻松地提到他有三个女人。那个人又问我有几个。我回答说我一个都没有。他不相信我的话，并且说他敢确信我肯定有一个。我沉默无语。

"Tell us," said Mahony pertly to the man, "how many have you yourself?"

“告诉我们，”马奥尼直白地冲那个人说道，“你自己有几个？”

The man smiled as before and said that when he was our age he had lots of sweethearts.

那个人又像先前那样笑了笑，然后说像我们这么大的时候，他有过很多情人。

"Every boy," he said, "has a little sweetheart."

“每个男孩，”他说，“都有一个小情人。”

His attitude on this point struck me as strangely liberal in a man of his age. In my heart I thought that what he said about boys and sweethearts was reasonable. But I disliked the words in his mouth and I wondered why he shivered once or twice as if he feared something or felt a sudden chill. As he proceeded I noticed that his accent was good. He began to speak to us about girls, saying what nice soft hair they had and how soft their hands were and how all girls were not so good as they seemed to be if one only knew. There was nothing he liked, he said, so much as looking at a nice young girl, at her nice white hands and her beautiful soft hair. He gave me the impression that he was repeating something which he had learned by heart or that, magnetised by some words of his own speech, his mind was slowly circling round and round in the same orbit. At times he spoke as if he were simply alluding to some fact that everybody knew, and at times he lowered his voice and spoke mysteriously as if he were telling us something secret which he did not wish others to overhear. He repeated his phrases over and over again, varying them and surrounding them with his monotonous voice. I continued to gaze towards the foot of the slope, listening to him.

他在这个问题上的态度让我觉得对于他那个年龄的人来说有些出乎寻常的开放。从我本心讲，我认为他所说的关于男孩和情人的事是有道理的。可我不喜欢他嘴里说出的词，而且我很纳闷他为什么哆嗦了一两次，仿佛他害怕什么或者突然感觉到了寒冷似的。他接着往下讲的时候，我注意到他的口音还是很纯正的。他开始跟我们谈论起女孩们的事情来，说她们有怎样柔美的发丝，她们的双手是如何的柔软，以及但凡一个人有所了解就会知道所有的女孩其实并没有她们看起来那么好。他说，没有什么比盯着一个漂亮姑娘看——看她那好看白皙的双手，看她那柔滑秀美的头发——更让他喜欢的事情了。他给我的印象的是他正在复述他已经记诵在心的东西或者说受他自己谈话中的某些语句的吸引，他的思绪正慢慢地沿着同一个轨道开始不停地绕起圈来。有时，他说话的样子仿佛他只是在谈论尽人皆知的某个事实，而有时，他又压低嗓音，神秘兮兮地说话，仿佛他在告诉我们一件秘密的事情，不希望别人偷听到。他重复着他的话语，一遍又一遍，变换着不同的表述方式，包裹在他那单调的嗓音中。我一边继续凝视着坡脚，一边听着他说。

After a long while his monologue paused. He stood up slowly, saying that he had to leave us for a minute or so, a few minutes, and, without changing the direction of my gaze, I saw him walking slowly away from us towards the near end of the field. We remained silent when he had gone. After a silence of a few minutes I heard Mahony exclaim:

过了好一会儿，他的独白停止了。他缓慢地站起身来，说他得离开我们一会儿，就几分钟，而我在没有改变凝视方向的情况下看见他慢慢离开我们朝离我们较近的地头走去。当他走开以后，我们都沉默不语。几分钟的沉默之后，我听到马奥尼叫了起来：

"I say! Look what he's doing!” As I neither answered nor raised my eyes Mahony exclaimed again:

“我说！快看他在做什么！”因为我既没有应答也没有抬眼去看，马奥尼又叫了起来：

"I say... He's a queer old josser!”

“我说……他真是个古怪的老家伙！”

"In case he asks us for our names," I said "let you be Murphy and I'll be Smith.”

“万一他问起我们的名字，”我说道，“那你就叫墨菲，我叫史密斯。”

We said nothing further to each other. I was still considering whether I would go away or not when the man came back and sat down beside us again. Hardly had he sat down when Mahony, catching sight of the cat which had escaped him, sprang up and pursued her across the field. The man and I watched the chase. The cat escaped once more and Mahony began to throw stones at the wall she had escaladed. Desisting from this, he began to wander about the far end of the field, aimlessly.

我们彼此没有再说什么。我还在考虑要不要走开的时候那个人就回来了，他又在我们身边坐了下来。而他刚一坐下，马奥尼就看见了那只逃跑了的猫，他纵身跃起，越过田地追了上去。那个人和我则看着他追。那只猫再一次逃脱了，马奥尼开始朝着猫爬上去的那堵墙扔石头。等到不扔石块了，他就开始远远地在田地的那一头漫无目的地蹓跶起来。

After an interval the man spoke to me. He said that my friend was a very rough boy and asked did he get whipped often at school. I was going to reply indignantly that we were not National School boys to be whipped, as he called it; but I remained silent. He began to speak on the subject of chastising boys. His mind, as if magnetised again by his speech, seemed to circle slowly round and round its new centre. He said that when boys were that kind they ought to be whipped and well whipped. When a boy was rough and unruly there was nothing would do him any good but a good sound whipping. A slap on the hand or a box on the ear was no good: what he wanted was to get a nice warm whipping. I was surprised at this sentiment and involuntarily glanced up at his face. As I did so I met the gaze of a pair of bottle-green eyes peering at me from under a twitching forehead. I turned my eyes away again.

过了一会儿，那个人开始对我说起话来。他说我的朋友是一个非常顽皮的男孩，并且问我他在学校里是不是常常挨鞭子。我很想愤怒地反驳说我们不是国立学校的男生，不会像他说的那样挨鞭子，不过我最终还是保持着沉默。他开始谈论起体罚学生的话题。他的思绪，仿佛再次被自己的话语所吸引，似乎绕着新的中心开始慢慢地转起圈来。他说男孩子要是那种样子他们就应该挨打，而且应该是好好地挨一顿打。一个男孩要是又顽皮又难管教的话，没有什么能对他有好处，只能是结结实实地打一顿。打手掌或扇耳光都不管用：他需要的就是好好地挨一顿鞭打，直到打得浑身发热。我对这种论调感到吃惊，不由自主地抬眼去看他的脸。我这样做的时候，他那蹙起的额头下露出的一双墨绿色的眼睛也正在凝视着我。我又移开了自己的目光。

The man continued his monologue. He seemed to have forgotten his recent liberalism. He said that if ever he found a boy talking to girls or having a girl for a sweetheart he would whip him and whip him; and that would teach him not to be talking to girls. And if a boy had a girl for a sweetheart and told lies about it then he would give him such a whipping as no boy ever got in this world. He said that there was nothing in this world he would like so well as that. He described to me how he would whip such a boy as if he were unfolding some elaborate mystery. He would love that, he said, better than anything in this world; and his voice, as he led me monotonously through the mystery, grew almost affectionate and seemed to plead with me that I should understand him.

那个人继续着他的独白。他似乎已经忘记了自己刚才那种开明的态度。他说要是他发现一个男孩跟女孩们说话或者有个女孩作情人，他会揍他一顿，好好地揍他一顿；那样就会教他记住不要随便和女孩们说话。要是一个男孩有个女孩作情人但却对此事撒谎的话，他会抽他一顿鞭子，一顿世界上任何男孩都没挨过的鞭子。他说世界上再没有什么事能让他如此喜欢的了。他向我描述他会怎样鞭打这样一个男孩，仿佛是在揭示某个复杂的秘密。他愿意那么做，他说，胜过世界上的任何事情；他的嗓音，在单调乏味地引导我感受这个秘密的过程中，渐渐变得几乎充满了爱意，似乎在恳求我应该要理解他。

I waited till his monologue paused again. Then I stood up abruptly. Lest I should betray my agitation I delayed a few moments pretending to fix my shoe properly and then, saying that I was obliged to go, I bade him good-day. I went up the slope calmly but my heart was beating quickly with fear that he would seize me by the ankles. When I reached the top of the slope I turned round and, without looking at him, called loudly across the field:

我等待着，直到他的独白再次停止。然后我迅速站起身来。担心会暴露自己的烦躁不安，我耽搁了片刻，假装整理了一下我的鞋子，然后说我必须得走了，就跟他道日安告别了。我镇静地爬上坡岸，但心却跳得很快，害怕他会抓住我的脚脖子。爬到坡顶之后，我转过身来，不去看他，朝田地的那头大声叫了起来：

"Murphy!"

“墨菲！”

My voice had an accent of forced bravery in it and I was ashamed of my paltry stratagem. I had to call the name again before Mahony saw me and hallooed in answer. How my heart beat as he came running across the field to me! He ran as if to bring me aid. And I was penitent; for in my heart I had always despised him a little.

我的声音中有一种强装勇敢的腔调，我为自己的卑鄙伎俩感到羞愧。我不得不又喊了一次那个名字马奥尼才看见我，然后吆喝着作了应答。当他越过田地朝我跑来的时候，我的心跳得可真是快啊！他跑过来，俨然是来拯救我。而我却很是懊悔；因为在我心目中一直以来都有点看不起他。