“‘Why not？’ I answered him. ‘Theyre welcome， and so are you. And come to my house， the same as ever.’ You see， Mr. Nettlewick， you cant make a friend of a thief， but neither can you make a thief of a friend， all at once.”
“‘为什么不可以呢？’我回答说，‘他们尽可以来，你也可以来。你还是同平时一样来我家好了。’你明白，内特尔威克先生，你不能认贼作友，也不能突然之间认友做贼。”
The examiner made no answer. At that moment was heard the shrill whistle of a locomotivelocomotiven.机车， 火车头adj.运动的 pulling into the depot. That was the train on the little， narrowgauge road that struck into San Rosario from the south. The major cocked his ear and listened for a moment， and looked at his watch. The narrowgauge was in on time—10∶35. The major continued：“So Bob hung around the office， reading the papers and smoking. I put another deputy to work in his place， and after a while， the first excitement of the case wore off.
稽核并不搭腔。那会儿传来了火车进站的尖厉的汽笛声，那是从南方到圣罗萨里奥来的窄轨火车准点到站了——十点三十五分。少校接下去说：“鲍勃还是待在办公室里，看看报纸，抽抽烟。我派了另一个警官代替他的职务。过些时候，这件案子引起的最初一阵轰动也逐渐过去了。
“One day when we were alone in the office Bob came over to where I was sitting. He looked sort of grim and blue—the same look he used to get when hed been up watching for Indians all night or herdriding.
“一天，办公室里只有我们两个人，鲍勃走近我坐的地方。他脸色阴沉发青——当他通宵警戒印第安人或者赶牛群时脸色也是这样。
“‘Tom，’ says he， ‘its harder than standing off redskins； its harder than lying in the lava desert forty miles from water； but Im going to stick it out to the end. You know thats been my style. But if youd tip me the smallest kind of a sign—if youd just say， “Bob I understand，” why， it would make it lots easier.’
“‘汤姆，’他说，‘这比警戒红种人更难熬；比躺在沙漠里离水源还有四十英里时更难熬；不过我仍旧准备坚持到底。你知道我的脾气就是这样。如果你给我一个小小的暗示——只消说，“鲍勃，我明白，”那就使我轻松多了。
“I was surprised. ‘I dont know what you mean， Bob，’ I said. ‘Of course， you know that Id do anything under the sun to help you that I could. But youve got me guessing.’
“我很惊奇。‘我不懂你的意思，鲍勃。’我说。‘当然，你知道只要我办得到，我愿意做任何事情来帮助你。可是我不懂你的意思’
“‘All right， Tom.’ was all he said， and he went back to his newspaper and lit another cigar.
“‘好吧，汤姆。’他只说了这么一句话，便回到自己的座位上，点了一支雪茄，去看报纸了。
“It was the night before court met when I found out what he meant. I went to bed that night with that same old， lightheaded， nervous feeling come back upon me. I dropped off to sleep about midnight. When I awoke I was standing half dressed in one of the courthouse corridorscorridorn.走廊。 Bob was holding one of my arms， our family doctor the other， and Alice was shaking me and half crying. She had sent for the doctor without my knowing it， and when he came they had found me out of bed and missing， and had begun a search.
“法院开庭的前一夜，我才弄清楚他的意思。那晚我睡觉时，又有先前那种头昏不安的感觉。午夜左右我才入睡。醒来时，我发现自己站在办公室的走廊里，衣服也没有穿整齐。鲍勃擒住我的一条胳臂，我们的家庭医生捏着另一条，艾丽斯摇撼着我，几乎要哭了。她没有告诉我，便去请医生，医生来时，发现我下了床，不见了，他们便到处寻找。
“‘Sleepwalking.’ said the doctor.
“‘梦游症。’医生说。
“All of us went back to the house， and the doctor told us some remarkable stories about the strange things people had done while in that condition. I was feeling rather chilly after my trip out， and， as my wife was out of the room at the time， I pulled open the door of an old wardrobewardroben.衣柜， 衣橱， 衣室， 衣服， 行头， 剧装 that stood in the room and dragged out a big quilt I had seen in there. With it tumbled out the bag of money for stealing which Bob was to be tried—and convicted—in the morning.
“我们大伙回到家里，医生讲了许多有关梦游病人干怪事的故事给我们听。我出外一次，觉得很冷，这时候我老婆不在屋里，我便打开一个旧衣柜的门，拖出一条我见过的大被子。跟被子一起拖出来的是那袋钱，第二天早上鲍勃就要为偷它的罪名受到审讯判决。
“‘How the jumping rattlesnakes did that get there？’ I yelled， and all hands must have seen how surprised I was. Bob knew in a flash.
“‘那袋钱怎么会他妈的到这里来的？’我嚷了起来，在场的人一定看到我是多么惊讶。鲍勃恍然大悟了。
“‘You darned old snoozersnooze vi.<口>（尤指在白天）小睡， 打盹儿 vt.懒散地打发日子n.打盹儿， 瞌睡，’ he said， with the oldtime look on his face， ‘I saw you put it there. I watched you open the safe and take it out， and I followed you. I looked through the window and saw you hide it in that wardrobe.’
“‘你这个老混蛋，’他说，恢复了从前的神气，‘我看见你放在那里面的。我看见你打开保险箱把它取出来，我便跟着你。我从窗子外面看见你把它藏在衣柜里。’
“‘Then， you blanketyblank， flopeared， sheepheaded coyote， what did you say you took it， for？’
“‘那你这个该死的垂耳朵、绵羊头的山狗，你干嘛说是你拿的？’
“‘Because，’ said Bob， simply， ‘I didnt know you were asleep.’
“‘因为，’鲍勃简单地说，‘我不知道你当时是处在睡眠状态。’
“I saw him glance toward the door of the room where Jack and Zilla were， and I knew then what it meant to be a mans friend from Bobs point of view.”
“我看他朝杰克和齐拉住的屋子瞥了一眼，我便明白，从鲍勃的观点看来，交朋友是什么意思了。”
Major Tom paused， and again directed his glance out of the window. He saw some one in the Stockmens National Bank reach and draw a yellow shade down the whole length of its plateglass， big front window， although the position of the sun did not seem to warrant such a defensive movement against its rays.
汤姆少校停住了，又朝窗外瞥了一眼。他看见国家畜牧银行里有人把黄颜色的窗帘拉下来，完全遮住了前面的大玻璃窗，虽然这时候太阳还没有照射到，没有必要拉窗帘来挡住阳光。
Nettlewick sat up straight in his chair. He had listened patiently， but without consuming interest， to the majors story. It had impressed him as irrelevant to the situation， and it could certainly have no effect upon the consequences. Those Western people， he thought， had an exaggeratedexaggeratedadj.夸大的， 言过其实的， 夸张的 sentimentality. They were not businesslike. They needed to be protected from their friends. Evidently the major had concluded. And what he had said amounted to nothing.
内特尔威克在椅子上坐坐端正。他虽然不感兴趣，却还是不厌其烦地听完了少校的故事。他觉得这个故事同当前的情况毫无关系，更不可能对这件事产生什么影响。他想，这些西部人未免太感情用事，没有生意头脑。他们实在应该提防他们的朋友。少校显然已经讲完了。他说的话并不解决问题。
“May I ask，” said the examiner， “if you have anything further to say that bears directly upon the question of those abstracted securities？”