“A month！ Oh， this is awful！ Give me some sort of idea of how to get a word to them. Its of the last importance.”
“一个月！唉，这可糟了！帮忙想想办法，看怎么能给他们传个话。这事要紧着哪。”
“I cant， indeed. Ive no idea where theyve gone， sir.”
“实在办不到。他们上哪儿了我一无所知，先生。”
“Then I must see some member of the family.”
“那，我一定要见这家的其他人。”
“Familys away， too， been abroad months—in Egypt and India， I think.”
“其他人也走了；出国好几个月了——我想，是去埃及和印度了吧。”
“Man， theres been an immenseimmense adj.极广大的， 无边的， <口>非常好的 mistake made. Theyll be back before night. Will you tell them Ive been here， and that I will keep coming till its all made right， and they neednt be afraid？”
“伙计，出了件大错特错的事。他们不到天黑就会转回来。请你告诉他们我来过，不把这事全办妥，我还会接着来，他们用不着担心。”
“Ill tell them， if they come back， but I am not expecting them. They said you would be here in an hour to make inquiries， but I must tell you its all right， theyll be here on time and expect you.”
“只要他们回来我就转告，不过，我想他们不会回来。他们说过，不出一个钟头你就会来打听，我呢，一定要告诉你什么事都没出；等时候一到，他们自然会在这儿候着你。”
So I had to give it up and go away. What a riddleriddle n.谜， 谜语， 神秘人物 v.解谜， 出谜， 迷惑 it all was！ I was like to lose my mind. They would be here “on time”。 What could that mean？ Oh， the letter would explain， maybe. I had forgotten the letter， I got it out and read it. This is what it said：我只好打住，走开了。搞的什么鬼！我真是摸不着头脑。“等时候一到”他们会在这儿。这是什么意思？哦，没准那封信上说了。我把刚才忘了的那封信抽出来一看，信上是这样说的：“You are an intelligent and honest man， as one may see by your face. We conceiveconceive vt.构思， 以为， 持有 vi.怀孕， 考虑， 设想 you to be poor and a stranger. Enclosed you will find a sum of money. It is lent to you for thirty days， without interest. Report at this house at the end of that time. I have a bet on you. If I win it you shall have any situation that is in my giftany， that is， that you shall be able to prove yourself familiar with and competent to fill.”
看面相可知，你是个又聪明、又诚实的人。我们猜，你很穷，是个外地人。你会在信封里找到一笔钱。这笔钱借你用三十天，不计利息。期满时来此宅通报。我们在你身上打了一个赌。假如我赢了，你可以在我的职权范围内随意择一职位——也就是说，你能证明自己熟悉和胜任的任何职位均可。
No signaturesignature n.签名， 署名， 信号， no address， no date.
没落款，没地址，也没有日期。
Well， here was a coil to be in！ You are posted on what had preceded all this， but I was not. It was just a deep， dark puzzle to me. I hadnt the least idea what the game was， nor whether harm was meant me or a kindness. I went into a park， and sat down to try to think it out， and to consider what I had best do.
好嘛，这真是一团乱麻！现在你当然明白这件事的前因后果，可当时我并不知道。这个谜洞对我来说深不可测、漆黑一团。这出把戏我全然不晓，也不知道对我是福还是祸。我来到一个公园坐下来，想理清头绪，看看我怎么办才好。
At the end of an hour my reasonings had crystallizedcrystallize v.明确 into this verdictverdict n.[律］（陪审团的）裁决， 判决， 判断， 定论， 结论。
我经过一个小时的推理，得出了如下结论。
Maybe those men mean me well， maybe they mean me ill， no way to decide that—let it go. Theyve got a game， or a scheme， or an experiment， of some kind on hand， no way to determine what it is—let it go. Theres a bet on me， no way to find out what it is—let it go. That disposesdispose v.处理， 处置， 部署 vt.布置， 安排， 除去， 使愿意 of the indeterminable quantities， the remainder of the matter is tangibletangible adj.切实的， solid， and may be classed and labeled with certainty. If I ask the Bank of England to place this bill to the credit of the man it belongs to， theyll do it， for they know him， although I dont， but they will ask me how I came in possession of it， and if I tell the truth， theyll put me in the asylumasylum n.庇护， 收容所， 救济院， 精神病院， naturally， and a lie will land me in jail. The same result would follow if I tried to bank the bill anywhere or to borrow money on it. I have got to carry this immense burden around until those men come back， whether I want to or not. It is useless to me， as useless as a handful of ashesashes n.灰烬， 骨灰， 尸体， 文化遗址， and yet I must take care of it， and watch over it， while I beg my living. I couldnt give it away， if I should try， for neither honest citizen nor highwayman would accept it or meddle with it for anything. Those brothers are safe. Even if I lose their bill， or burn it， they are still safe， because they can stop paymentpayment n.付款， 支付， 报酬， 偿还， 报应， 惩罚， and the Bank will make them whole， but meantime Ive got to do a months suffering without wages or profit—unless I help win that bet， whatever it may be， and get that situation that I am promised. I should like to get that， men of their sort have situations in their gift that are worth having.
那两个人也许对我是好意，也许是歹意；无从推断——这且不去管它。他们是玩把戏，搞阴谋，做实验，还是搞其他勾当，无从推断——且不去管它。他们拿我打了一个赌；赌什么无从推断——也不去管它。这些确定不了的部分清理完毕，其他的事就看得见、摸得着、实实在在，可以归为确定无疑之类了。假如我要求英格兰银行把这钞票存入那人名下，银行会照办的，因为虽然我不知道他是谁，银行却会知道；不过银行会盘问钞票怎么会到了我手里。说真话，他们自然会送我去收容所；说假话，他们就会送我去拘留所。假如我拿这钞票随便到哪儿换钱，或者是靠它去借钱，后果也是一样。无论愿不愿意，我只能背着这个大包袱走来走去，直到那两个人回来。虽然这东西对我毫无用处，形同粪土，可是我却要一边乞讨度日，一边照管它，看护它。就算我想把它给人，也出不了手，因为不管是老实的良民还是剪径的大盗，无论如何都不会收，连碰都不会碰一下。那两兄弟可以高枕无忧了。就算我把他们的钞票丢了，烧了，他们依然平安无事，因为他们能挂失，银行照样让他们分文不缺；与此同时，我倒要受一个月的罪，没薪水，也不分红——除非我能帮着赢了那个赌，谋到那个许给我的职位。我当然愿得到这职位，这种人赏下来的无论什么职位都值得一干。
I got to thinking a good deal about that situation. My hopes began to rise high. Without doubt the salary would be large. It would begin in a month， after that I should be all right. Pretty soon I was feeling firstrate. By this time I was tramping the streets again. The sight of a tailorshop gave me a sharp longing to shed my rags， and to clothe myself decently once more. Could I afford it？ No， I had nothing in the world but a million pounds. So I forced myself to go on by. But soon I was drifting back again. The temptationtemptation n.诱惑， 诱惑物 persecutedpersecute v.迫害 me cruelly. I must have passed that shop back and forth six times during that manful struggle. At last I gave in， I had to. I asked if they had a misfitmisfit n.不称职的人， 不适合的东西 vt.与……不相称vi.不适合， 不相称 suit that had been thrown on their hands. The fellow I spoke to nodded his head towards another fellow， and gave me no answer. I went to the indicated fellow， and he indicated another fellow with his head， and no words. I went to him， and he said： “ Tend to you presently.”
我对那份美差浮想联翩，期望值也开始上升。不用说，薪水绝不是个小数目。过一个月就要开始上班，从此我就会万事如意了。转眼间，我的自我感觉好极了。这时，我又在大街上逛了起来。看到一家服装店，一股热望涌上我的心头：甩掉这身破衣裳，给自己换一身体面的行头。我能买得起吗？不行；除了那一百万英镑，我在这世上一无所有。于是，我克制住自己，从服装店前走了过去。可是，不一会儿我又转了回来。那诱惑把我折磨得好苦。我在服装店前面来来回回走了足有六趟，以男子汉的气概奋勇抗争着。终于，我投降了；我只有投降。我问他们手头有没有顾客试过的不合身的衣服。我问的伙计没搭理我，只是朝另一个点点头。我向他点头示意的伙计走过去，那一个也不说话，又朝第三个人点点头，我朝第三个走过去，他说：“这就来。”