“Well， I should think so！” said Ileen. “Ive seen pictures of her that werent so much. she had an awfully long nose.”
“是啊，一点不错！”艾琳说。“我见过她的画像，真不怎么样。她的鼻子长得要命。”
“If I may say so，” I went on， “you remind me of Cleopatra， Miss Ileen.”
“恕我冒昧，”我接着说，“艾琳小姐，你叫我想起了克里奥帕特拉。”
“Why， my nose isnt so long！” said she， opening her eyes wide and touching that comely feature with a dimpled forefinger.
“哟，我的鼻子可没有那么长！”她睁大眼睛，举起丰腴的食指指着她秀丽的鼻子。
“Why—er—I mean，” said I—“ I mean as to mental endowments.”
“哦——呃——我指的是天赋才智。”我说。
“Oh！” said she， and then I got my smile just as Bud and Jacks had got theirs.
“哦！”她说；然后我也像巴德和杰克斯一样领受到我那一份微笑。
“Thank every one of you，” she said， very， very sweetly， “for being so frank and honest with me. Thats the way I want you to be always. Just tell me plainly and truthfully what you think， and well all be the best friends in the world. And now， because youve been so good to me， and understand so well how I dislike people who do nothing but pay me exaggeratedexaggerated adj.夸大的， 言过其实的， 夸张的 compliments， Ill sing and play a little for you.”
“多谢你们各位，”她非常、非常甜蜜地说，“对我那么坦率，那么真诚。我就是要你们永远这样。你们把心里的想法直言不讳地告诉我，我们就是世界上最亲密的好朋友。现在，为了你们对我这样好，这样了解我是多么讨厌一味捧我的人，我要为你们唱唱歌，弹弹琴。”
Of course， we expressed our thanks and joy， but we would have been better pleased if Ileen had remained in her low rockingchair face to face with us and let us gaze upon her. For she was no Adelina Patti—not even on the fare—wellest of the divas farewell tours. She had a cooing little voice like that of a turtledove that could almost fill the parlor when the windows and doors were closed， and Betty was not rattling the lids of the stove in the kitchen. She had a gamutgamut n.［音乐］全音阶， 长音阶， 全音域 that I estimate at about eight inches on the piano， and her runs and trills sounded like the clothes bubbling in your grandmothers iron washpot. Believe that she must have been beautiful when I tell you that it sounded like music to us.
当然，我们表示感激和喜悦；不过假如艾琳坐在那把矮矮的摇椅里不动窝，让我们面对面地瞧着她，我们一定会更高兴。因为艾琳不是艾德莱纳·帕蒂，连那位歌剧演员的告别巡回演出的最后一场的水平都够不上。她的嗓音很低，像斑鸠的咕咕，假如把门窗都关好，厨房里的贝蒂又不把炉盖搞得卡卡直响的话，客厅里几乎可以听到。我估计她唱的音域在钢琴键上只有几英寸左右，她顺着音阶顺序连唱的声调和声音像你姥姥用铁锅煮衣服的噗噗声。我说我们觉得她的唱歌像音乐时，你该相信她确实长得漂亮。
Ileens musical taste was catholiccatholic n.天主教徒 adj.天主教的. She would sing through a pile of sheet music on the lefthand top of the piano， laying each slaughtered composition on the righthand top. The next evening she would sing from right to left. Her favorites were Mendelssohn， and Moody and Sankey. By request she always wound up with Sweet Violets and When the Leaves Begin to Turn.
艾琳的音乐兴趣相当广泛。她把钢琴架上左边的一擦活页乐谱一份份地唱下去，“宰”掉一份，就搁到右边去。第二天晚上，她再从右边唱到左边。她最喜爱的是门德尔松，还有穆迪和桑基。经我们要求，她总是拿《甜蜜的紫罗兰》和《当叶子变黄的时候》两支歌作为结束。
When we left at ten oclock the three of us would go down to Jacks little wooden station and sit on the platform， swinging our feet and trying to pump one another for dews as to which way Miss Ileens inclinationsinclination n.倾斜， 弯曲， 倾度， 倾向， 爱好 seemed to lean. That is the way of rivals—they do not avoid and glower at one another， they conveneconvene v.召集， 集合 and converse and construe—striving by the art politic to estimate the strength of the enemy.
我们三个人在晚上十点钟告辞后，总是到杰克斯的木板小车站去，坐在月台上，晃荡着腿，想方设法互相摸底，了解艾琳小姐有意于谁。情敌就是这样的——他们彼此并不回避，也不怒目而视，而是聚在一起谈论分析——竭力用机智和权术来估计敌方的实力。
One day there came a dark horse to Paloma， a young lawyer who at once flaunted his shingle and himself spectacularly upon the town. His name was C. Vincent Vesey. You could see at a glance that he was a recent graduate of a southwestern law school. His Prince Albert coat， light striped trousers， broadbrimmed soft black hat， and narrow white muslin bow tie proclaimed that more loudly than any diplomadiploma n.文凭， 毕业证书， 证明权力、特权、荣誉等的证书， 奖状 could. Vesey was a compound of Daniel Webster， Lord Chesterfield， Beau Brummell， and Little Jack Horner. His coming boomed Paloma. The next day after he arrived an addition to the town was surveyed and laid off in lots.
一天，帕洛马来了个实力难测的家伙，一个刚到镇上就大吹大擂亮出招牌和本人的年轻律师。他名叫西·文森特·维齐。你一眼就可以看出，他是刚从西南部某个法学院毕业的学生。他身上的礼服大衣、浅色条纹裤、宽边黑软帽和窄窄的白细布领结，比任何文凭更能说明他的身份。维齐是丹尼尔·韦伯斯特、切斯特菲尔德勋爵、“花花公子”布鲁梅尔和小杰克·霍纳的混合物。他的来到使帕洛马也顿时兴旺起来。他抵达的第二天，镇上就测量出一片新的扩充地区，并且划成一小块、一小块的。
Of course， Vesey， to further his professional fortunes， must minglemingle v.(使)混合 with the citizenrycitizenry n.公民成市民(集合称) and outliers of Paloma. And， as well as with the soldier men， he was bound to seek popularity with the gay dogs of the place. So Jacks and Bud Cunningham and I came to be honored by his acquaintance.
当然，维齐为了推动他事业的发展，必须同帕洛马的居民和外人都混熟。他除了在本地正派人中间赢得名望之外，必定还要在浪荡子中打开局面。因此，杰克斯、巴德·坎宁安和我就有幸同他结识了。
The doctrine of predestinationpredestination n.预定， 预言 would have been discredited had not Vesey seen Ileen Hinkle and become fourth in the tourneytourney n.马上比武 vi.参加马上比武. Magnificently， he boarded at the yellow pine hotel instead of at the Parisian Restaurant. But he came to be a formidable visitor in the Hinkle parlor. His competition reduced Bud to an inspired increase of profanityprofanity n.亵渎， drove Jacks to an outburst of slang so weird that it sounded more horrible than the most trenchant of Buds imprecationsimprecation n.祈求， 诅咒， and made me dumb with gloom.
假如维齐没有见到艾琳·欣克尔，从而成为第四个角逐者的话，命中注定一说就靠不住了。他不上巴黎饭馆，而是气派十足地在黄松板旅店用餐。不过，他却成了欣克尔家客厅里不可轻视的拜访者。他的竞争使巴德触景生情，嘴里的脏话越来越多，逼得杰克斯满口俚语，俗不可耐，比巴德最恶毒的咒骂更可怕；把我搞得灰溜溜的，一言不发。
For Vesey had the rhetoric. Words flowed from him like oil from a gusher. Hyperbole， compliment， praise， appreciation， honeyed gallantrygallantry n.勇敢， golden opinions， eulogy， and unveiled panegyricpanegyric n.颂词， 推崇备至 vied with one another for preeminence in his speech. We had small hopes that Ileen could resist his oratoryoratory n.讲演术 and Prince Albert.
因为维齐的口才太好了，语言滔滔不绝地从他嘴里出来，仿佛油井喷出的石油。夸张、恭维、赞美、欣赏、甜蜜的奉承、绝妙的辞令、颂扬和不加掩饰的推崇，争先恐后地脱口而出。我们不报希望艾琳在他的雄辩和他那身打扮面前能抵挡得住。
But a day came that gave us courage.
可是有那么一天，我们产生了勇气。
About dusk one evening I was sitting on the little gallery in front of the Hinkle parlor， waiting for Ileen to come， when I heard voices inside. She had come into the room with her father， and Old Man Hinkle began to talk to her. I had observed before that he was a shrewd man， and not unphilosophicunphilosophic adj.非哲学的，缺乏哲理的.
那天傍晚，我坐在欣克尔家客厅前的小走廊上，等艾琳出来，突然听到里面有说话声。艾琳同她爸爸进了屋，欣克尔老头开口对她说话。我以前早就注意到他是个精明人，并且有他的人生哲学。