I began to get pretty thoroughly ashamed of him for his childishness， and at last， when he repeated that imploring question still another time， I lost my patience for the moment， and spoke pretty brutally to him. It seemed to shrivel him up and cow him， and he looked so wounded and so humble after that， that I detested myself for having done the cruel and unnecessary thing. And so I was glad when Charley， another veteran， arrived toward the edge of the evening， and nestled up to Henry to hear the letter read， and talked over the preparations for the welcome. Charley fetched out one hearty speech after another， and did his best to drive away his friends bodings and apprehensions.
他就这样反反复复地说了好几遍。我开始为他的幼稚可笑感到非常害臊，终于，在他又一次乞求地问我时，我失去了耐心。我跟他讲话时态度很粗鲁。这似乎使他完全萎缩了，还把他吓唬住了。这以后他看起来是这样受了伤害，态度是这样的谦卑，以致我憎恨自己干了这件残酷的、不必要的事。因此，当夜幕开始降临的时候，另一个老淘金人查利到来时，我非常高兴。他紧挨在亨利身旁听他读信，商量欢迎她的准备工作。查利一句接一句地说出热情亲切的话语，尽力驱散他朋友的不祥和恐惧之感。
“Anything happened to her？ Henry， thats pure nonsense. There isnt anything going to happen to herm just make your mind easy as to that. What did the letter say？ Said she was well， didnt it？ And said shed be here by nine oclock， didnt it？ Did you ever know her to fail of her word？ Why， you know you never did. Well， then， dont you fret， shell be here， and thats absolutely certain， and as sure as you are born. Come， now， lets get to decorating—not much time left.”
“她出过什么事吗？亨利，那纯粹是胡说。什么事儿也不会发生在她身上的，你就放宽心吧。信上怎么说来着？说她很好，不是吗？说她九点到家，不是吗？你见过她说话不算数吗？唔，你从来没见过。好啦，那就别再烦恼啦，她会回来的，那是绝对肯定的，就像你的出生一样确定无疑。来吧，让我们来布置屋子吧——没有多少时间啦！”
Pretty soon Tom and Joe arrived， and then all hands set about adoring the house with flowers. Toward nine the three miners said that as they had brought their instrumentsinstrument n.工具， 手段， 器械， 器具， 手段 they might as well tune up， for the boys and girls would soon be arriving now， and hungry for a good， oldfashioned breakdown. A fiddle， a banjo， and a clarinet—these were the instruments. The trio took their places side by side， and began to play some rattling dancemusic， and beat time with their big boots.
很快汤姆和乔也来了。于是大家就动手用鲜花把屋子装饰起来。快到九点时，这三个矿工说，他们还带来了乐器，也可以奏起来了，因为小伙子们和姑娘们很快就要到了，他们都非常想跳一跳美妙的，老式的“布雷克道恩”舞。一把小提琴，一把班卓琴，还有一只单簧管——这些就是乐器。他们一起奏起了三重奏，奏的是一些轻快的舞曲，还一面用大靴子踏着节拍。
It was getting very close to nine. Henry was standing in the door with his eyes directed up the road， his body swaying to the torturetorture n.折磨， 痛苦， 拷问， 拷打 vt.拷问， 曲解， 折磨， 使弯曲 of his mental distress. He had been made to drink his wifes health and safety several times， and now Tom shouted， “All hands stand by！ One more drink， and shes here！ ”
时间快到九点了。亨利站在门口，眼睛直盯着大路，内心的痛苦折磨得他有些站立不稳。伙伴们几次让他举起杯来为他妻子的健康和平安干杯。这时汤姆高声喊道：“请大家举杯！再喝一杯，她就到家啦！”
Joe brought the glasses on a waiter， and served the party. I reached for one of the two remaining glasses， but Joe growledgrowl v.咆哮， 发牢骚地说 n.咆哮声， 怨言 under his breath， “Drop that！ Take the other.”
乔用托盘端来了酒，分给大家，最后剩下两杯，我拿起了其中一杯，但是乔压低了嗓子吼道：“别拿这一杯，拿那一杯。”
Which I did. Henry was served last. He had hardly swallowedswallow n.［鸟］燕子， 吞咽， 喉 vt.咽， 淹没， 吞没，取消， 忍受， 轻信， 压制， 耗尽 vi.吞下， 咽下 his drink when the clock began to strike. He listened till it finished， his face growing paler and paler， then he said， “Boys， Im sick with fear. Help me—I want to lie down！ ”
我照他说的做了。亨利接过了剩下的那杯。他刚喝完这杯酒，时钟开始敲九点。他听着钟敲完，脸色变得越来越苍白，他说：“伙伴们，我很害怕，帮帮我——我要躺下！”
They helped him to the sofa. He began to nestle and drowse， but presently spoke like one talking in his sleep， and said， “Did I hear horses feet？ Have they come？ ”
他们扶他到沙发上，他躺下去开始打起瞌睡来。可是一会儿，像人在睡梦中说话一样，他说：“我听见马蹄声了吧？是他们来了吗？”
One of the veterans answered， close to his ear， “It was Jimmy Parish come to say the party got delayed， but theyre right up the road a piece， and coming along. Her horse is lame， but shell be here in half an hour.”
一个老淘金人靠近他的耳边说：“这是吉米·帕里什，他来说他们在路上耽搁了，不过他们已经上路了，正来着呢。她的马瘸了，但再过半小时她就到家了。”
“Oh， Im so thankful nothing has happened！ ”
“啊，我真是谢天谢地没出什么事儿！”
He was asleep almost before the words were out of his mouth. In a moment those handy men had his clothes off， and had tucked him into his bed in the chamber where I had washed my hands. They closed the door and came back. Then they seemed preparing to leave， but I said， “Please dont go， gentlemen. She wont know me， I am a stranger.”
话还没说完他就几乎睡着了。这些人马上灵巧地帮他脱了衣服，把他抱到我洗手的那间卧室的床上，给他盖好了被子。他们关上了门，走了回来，于是他们似乎就准备动身离开了。我说：“别走呀，先生们，她不认识我呀，我是个生人。”
They glanced at each other. Then Joe said， “She？ Poor thing， shes been dead nineteen years！ ”
他们互相看了看，然后乔说：“她？可怜的人儿，她死了19年啦！”
“Dead？ ”
“死了？”
“That or worse. She went to see her folks half a year after she was married， and on her way back， on a Saturday evening， the Indians capturedcapture n.捕获， 战利品 vt.俘获， 捕获， 夺取 her within five miles of this place， and shes never been heard of since.”
“或许比这更糟哪。她结婚半年后回家探望她的亲人，在回来的路上，就在星期六的晚上，在离这儿五英里的地方被印第安人抢走啦。从此以后就再没听到过她的消息。”
“And he lost his mind in consequence？ ”
“结果他就精神失常了吗？”
“Never has been sane an hour since. But he only gets bad when that time of year comes round. Then we begin to drop in here， three days before shes due， to encourage him up， and ask if hes heard from her， and Saturday we all come and fix up the house with flowers， and get everything ready for a dance. Weve done it every year for nineteen years. The first Saturday there was twentyseven of us， without counting the girls， theres only three of us now， and the girls are gone. We drug him to sleep， or he would go wild， then hes all right for another year—thinks shes with him till the last three or four days come round， then he begins to look for her， and gets out his poor old letter， and we come and ask him to read it to us. Lord， she was a darling！ ”
“从那时起他就一直没再清醒过。不过他只是每年到这个时候才更糟。在她要回来的前三天，我们就开始到这儿来，鼓励他打起精神，问问他是否接到她的来信，星期六我们都到这儿来，用鲜花装点屋子，为舞会做好一切准备。19年来，我们年年都这样做。第一年的星期六我们有27个人，还不算姑娘们，现在只有我们三人了，姑娘们都走了。我们给他吃药让他睡觉，要不他会发疯的。于是他又会乖乖地等着来年——想着她和他在一起，直到这最后的三四天，他又开始寻找她，拿出那封可怜的旧信，我们就来请求他读给我们听。上帝啊，她是一个可爱的人啊！”