我去看第一审计官。他打发我去看第二审计官。第二审计官打发我去看第三审计官，第三审计官打发我去看腌牛肉组第一查账员。这一位才开始有点儿像是在认真地办事。他查看了他的账册和所有未归档的文件，可是没找到牛肉合同底本。我去找腌牛肉组第二查账员。他查看了他的账册和未归档的文件，但是最后毫无结果。然而我的勇气却随之提高了。在那一星期里，我甚至一直找到了该组的第六查账员；第二个星期里，我走遍了债权部；第三个星期里，我开始在错挡合同部里从事查询，结束了在那里进行的工作，而且在错账部里获得一个据点。我只花了三天工夫就消灭了它。现在只剩下一个地方可以让我去了。我去围攻杂碎司司长。意思是说，我去围攻他的办事员——因为他本人不在。有十六个年轻貌美的姑娘在屋子里记账，再有七个年轻漂亮的男办事员在指导她们。小娘们扭转头来笑，办事员朝她们对笑，大伙喜气洋洋，好像听到了结婚的钟声敲响。两三个正在看报的办事员下死眼把我盯了两下，又继续看报，谁也不说什么。好的是，自从走进腌牛肉局的第一个办公室那天起，直到走出错账部的最后一个办公室时止，我已经积累了那么多经验，我已经习惯于四级助理普通办事员的这种敏捷的反应。这时候我已经练就了一套功夫：从走进办公室时候起，直等到一个办事员开始跟我说话时止，我能一直金鸡独立地站着，最多只改换一两次姿势。
So I stood there till I had changed four different times. Then I said to one of the clerks who was reading： “Illustrious Vagrant， where is the Grand Turk？ ”
于是，我站在那里，一直站到我改换了四个姿势，然后我对一个正在看报的办事员说： “大名鼎鼎的坏蛋，土耳其皇帝在哪儿？”
“What do you mean， sir？ Whom do you mean？ If you mean the Chief of the Bureau， he is out.”
“您这是什么意思，先生？您说的是谁？如果您说的是局长，那么他出去了。”
“Will he visit the harem today？ ”
“他今儿会去后宫吗？”
The young man glaredglare n.炫目的光， 显眼， 怒目而视， （冰等的表面）光滑的表面 v.闪耀 upon me a while， and then went on reading his paper. But I knew the ways of those clerks. I knew I was safe if he got through before another New York mail arrived. He only had two more papers left. After a while he finished them， and then he yawnedyawn v.打呵欠， 张开， 裂开n.呵欠 and asked me what I wanted.
年轻人直勾勾地向我瞧了一会儿，然后继续看他的报。可是我熟悉那些办事员的一套。我知道，只要他能在纽约的另一批邮件递到之前看完了报纸，我的事就有把握了。现在他只剩下两张报纸了。又过了不多一会儿，他看完了那两张报纸，接着，打了个哈欠，问我有什么事情。
“Renowned and honored Imbecile： on or about—”
“赫赫有名尊贵的痴子，大约在……”
“You are the beefcontract man. Give me your papers.”
“您就是那个为牛肉合同打交道的人呀，把您的单据给我吧。”
He took them， and for a long time he ransacked his odds and ends. Finally he found the Northwest Passage， as I regarded it—he found the long lost record of that beef contract—he found the rock upon which so many of my ancestorsancestor n.祖先， 祖宗 had split before they ever got to it. I was deeply moved. And yet I rejoiced—for I had survived. I said with emotion， “Give it me. The government will settle now.” He waved me back， and said there was something yet to be done first.
他接过了那些单据，好半晌一直翻他那些杂碎儿。最后，他发现了那份已经失落多年的牛肉合同记录——我还以为他是发现了西北航道，以为他是发现了那块我们许多祖先还没驶近它跟前就被撞得粉身碎骨的礁石。当时我深受感动。但是我很高兴——因为我总算保全了性命。我激动地说：“把它给我吧。这一来政府总要解决这个问题了。”他挥手叫我后退，说还有一步手续得先给办好。
“Where is this John Wilson Mackenzie？ ” said he.
“这个约翰·威尔逊·麦肯齐呢？”他问。
“Dead.”
“死了。”
“When did he die？ ”
“他是什么时候死的？”
“He didnt die at all—he was killed.”
“他根本不是自己死的——他是被杀害的。”
“How？ ”
“怎么杀害的？”
“Tomahawked.”
“被战斧砍死的。”
“Who tomahawked him？ ”
“谁用战斧砍死他的？”
“Why， an Indian， of course. You didnt suppose it was the superintendentsuperintendent n.主管， 负责人， 指挥者， 管理者 of a Sundayschool， did you？ ”
“唷，当然是印第安人啰。您总不会猜想那是一位主日学校校长吧？”
“No. An Indian， was it？ ”
“不会的。是一个印第安人吗？”
“The same.”
“正是。”
“Name of the Indian？ ”
“那印第安人叫什么？”
His name？ I dont know his name.
“他叫什么？我可不知道他叫什么。”
“Must have his name. Who saw the tomahawking done？ ”
“必须知道他叫什么。是谁瞧见他用战斧砍的？”
“I dont know.”
“我不知道。”
“You were not present yourself， then？ ”
“这么说，当时您不在场？”
“Which you can see by my hair. I was absent.
“这您只要瞧瞧我的头发就可以知道了。当时我不在场。”
“Then how do you know that Mackenzie is dead？ ”
“那么您又是怎样知道麦肯齐已经死了？”
“Because he certainly died at that time， and have every reason to believe that he has been dead ever since. I know he has， in fact.”
“因为他肯定是那时候死了，我有充分的理由相信，他打那时候起就不在了。真的，我知道他已经死了。”
“We must have proofs. Have you got this Indian？ ”
“我们必须要有证明。您找到那个印第安人了吗？”
“Of course not.”
“当然没找到。”
“Well， you must get him. Have you got the tomahawk？ ”
“我说，您必须找到他，您找到了那把战斧吗？”
“I never thought of such a thing.”
“我从来没想到这种事情。”