包打听
There were two or three things that I wanted to know. I do not care about a mysterymystery n.神秘， 神秘的事物. So I began to inquireinquire v.询问， 问明， 查究.
有两三件事我想弄明白，我才不管它神秘不神秘呢。因此，我开始去打听。
It took me two weeks to find out what women carry in dress suit cases. And then I began to ask why a mattressmattress n.床垫， 空气垫， (用以护堤等的)沉床 is made in two pieces. This serious queryquery n.质问， 询问， 怀疑， 疑问 v.询问， 表示怀疑 was at first received with suspicionsuspicion n.猜疑， 怀疑 because it sounded like a conundrumconundrum n.(答案有双关意义的)谜语， 难题. I was at last assured that its double form of construction was designed to make lighter the burden of woman， who makes up beds. I was so foolish as to persist， begging to know why， then， they were not made in two equal pieces， whereupon I was shunned.
我花了两个星期才弄清楚女人的衣箱里装了些什么。接着又开始打听为什么床垫要用双层。这种正儿八经的询问一开始就遭到怀疑，因为听起来显得难以启齿。最后，我总算明白，床垫的双层结构是设计来减轻理床女人的重量的。我真愚蠢透顶，还要继续追问，为什么不作成同样大小的呢？对此，我可吃了闭门羹。
The third draught that I craved from the fount of knowledge was enlightenmentenlightenment n.启迪， 教化 concerning the character known as A Man About Town. He was more vague in my mind than a type should be. We must have a concreteconcrete adj.具体的， 有形的 n.混凝土 v.用混凝土修筑，浇混凝土， 凝结 idea of anything， even if it be an imaginary idea， before we can comprehend it. Now， I have a mental picture of John Doe that is as clear as a steel engravingengraving n.雕刻术， 雕版， 雕版图. His eyes are weak blue， he wears a brown vest and a shiny black serge coat.
出于求知的欲望，我急于要弄懂第三个问题，即“包打听”的性格特征。在我的头脑里，他的形象简直模糊得不能再模糊了。弄清任何事情之前，我们总得先有个具体概念，哪怕是个想像的概念也罢。现在，我的脑海中已经有了一幅约翰·多伊的清晰画面，清晰得如同铭刻在钢板上一样。他的眼睛浅蓝，穿着棕色马甲和磨光了的黑色哔叽外套。
He stands always in the sunshine chewing something， and he keeps halfshutting his pocket knife and opening it again with his thumbthumb n.拇指 vt.以拇指拨弄， 笨拙处理， 弄坏， 翻阅，作搭车手势 vi.用拇指翻书页. And， if the Man Higher Up is ever found， take my assurance for it， he will be a large， pale man with blue wristlets showing under his cuffs， and he will be sitting to have his shoes polisbed within sound of a bowling alley， and there will be somewhere about him turquoisesturquoise n.［矿］绿宝石， 绿松石色， 青绿色 adj.绿松色的.
他一直站在阳光下，口里嚼着东西，他不停地用拇指把小刀反复地一开一合。如果能找到一个更高级一点的人，我敢肯定，他将是一位高大而苍白的人，袖口露出蓝色的护腕，他老坐在那儿擦皮鞋，伴着滚木球小巷的轰隆声，周围全是绿松石。
But the canvas of my imagination， when it came to limning the Man About Town， was blank. I fancied that he bad a detachabledetachable adj.可分开的， 可分离的， 可分遣的 sneersneer v.冷笑， 讥笑， 嘲笑 n.冷笑， 嘲笑 (like the smile of the Cheshire cat) and attached cuffs， and that was all. Whereupon I asked a newspaper reporter about him.
不过，当我在想像的画布上勾勒“包打听”，画布又变成了一片空白。我设想，他有一种可以拆散的微笑（好似龇牙露齿的笑容），连接的袖口，就这个样儿。对此，我请教了一位新闻记者。
“Why，” said he， “a ‘Man About Town’ something between a ‘rounder’ and a ‘clubman’. He isnt exactly—well， he fits in between Mrs. Fishs receptions and private boxing bouts. He doesnt—well， he doesnt belong either to the Lotos Club or to the Jerry McGeogheghan Galvanised Iron Workers Apprentices Left Hook Chowder Association. I dont exactly know how to describe him to you. Youll see him everywhere theres anything doing. Yes， I suppose hes a type. Dress clothes every evening， knows the ropes， calls every policeman and waiter in town by their first names. No， he never travels with the hydrogenhydrogen n.氢 derivativesderivative adj.引出的， 系出的 n.派生的事物， 派生词. You generally see him alone or with another man.”
“嗨，”他说，“‘包打听’界于流浪者和俱乐部成员之间，不完全是——呵，他适合于出席菲什先生的招待会和私人拳击赛之间的场合。他不——呵，他既不属于莲花俱乐部，也不属于杰里·麦盖根马口铁工人学徒左钩杂烩协会。我真不知道该如何确切地描述他。哪里发生什么事，你就会在哪儿见到他。是的，他是一种类型的人。每天傍晚，他穿得整整齐齐，熟悉内情，对城里的警察和侍者直呼其名。不，他从不伴随氢化物旅行。通常情况下，你只见他独自一人，或者同另一个男人在一起。”
My friend the reporter left me， and I wandered further afield. By this time the 3126 electric lights on the Rialto were alight. People passed， but they held me not. Paphian eyes rayed upon me， and left me unscathed. Diners， heimgangers， shopgirls， confidence men， panhandlerspanhandlers ［pl.］［美］西弗吉尼亚、得克萨斯 、爱达荷(West Virginia， Texas， Idaho)各州人的别名， actors， highwaymen， millionaires and outlandersoutlander n.外国人， 外地人 hurried， skipped， strolled， sneaked， swaggered and scurriedscurry vi.急赶， 急跑， 急转， 以轻快而交替的步子走动n.急赶， 急跑， 急转 by me， but I took no note of them. I knew them all， I had read their hearts， they had served. I wanted my Man About Town. He was a type， and to drop him would be an error—a typograph—but no！ Let us continue.
这位记者朋友离我而去，我到野外闲逛。这时候，丽都街的三千一百二十六颗电灯泡亮了。人们拥挤过去，但没能挡住我向前。妓女的眼光刺在我身上，对我毫无损伤。就餐人、城市守护神、售货女郎、骗子、乞丐、演员、强盗、百万富翁和外地人，从我身边匆匆而过，忙忙慌慌，有的闲逛，有的鬼鬼祟祟，有的昂首阔步，有的急转而去，可我并没有留意他们。我熟知他们，早已明察他们的内心世界，他们一直在服务啊！我要找的是“包打听”。他是一种类型，不找到他将会成为一大过失——一种活版印刷——但是，不！让我们继续吧。
Let us continue with a moral digressiondigression n.离题， 脱轨， 扯到枝节上. To see a family reading the Sunday paper gratifies. The sections have been separated. Papa is earnestly scanning the page that pictures the young lady exercising before an open window， and bending—but there， there！ Mamma is interested in trying to guess the missing letters in the word NwYok. The oldest girls are eagerly perusing the financial reports， for a certain young man remarked last Sunday night that he had taken a flyer in Q.， X. & Z. Willie， the eighteenyearold son， who attends the New York public school， is absorbed in the weekly article describing how to make over an old skirt， for he hopes to take a prize in sewing on graduation day.
我们以道德方面的题外话继续下去吧。目睹一家老小阅读星期天的报纸令人感到由衷的喜悦，各版分头阅读。爸爸正热切地审视那页印着年轻太太在开着的窗口做操的照片，向前躬着身子——但，那儿，你看！妈妈正兴味十足地竭力猜准填字游戏Ｎ—ｗＹｏ—ｋ中的字母。年纪最大的女儿们正急不可待地仔细阅读金融报道，因为上星期晚上某个年轻小伙子说他曾搭乘Ｑ．，Ｘ．和Ｚ．威利航班飞机，而正在纽约上公立学校的十八岁的儿子却聚精会神于每周一篇讲述如何改制旧衬衫的文章，因为他希望在毕业典礼那天获得缝纫奖。
Grandma is holding to the comiccomic n.滑稽演员 adj.滑稽的， 喜剧的 supplementsupplement n.补遗， 补充， 附录， 增刊 v.补充 with a twohours grip， and little Tottie， the baby， is rocking along the best she can with the real estatc transfers. This view is intended to be reassuring， for it is desirabledesirable adj.值得要的， 合意的， 令人想要的， 悦人心意的 that a few lines of this story be skipped. For it introduces strong drink.
祖母把喜剧副刊握了整整两个小时，婴孩小托蒂尽其所能随着她那不动产转让而摇来摇去。这幅画面是用来消除疑虑的，因为几行故事一滑而过，使你称心如意。它给人增添一种烈性饮料。
I went into a cafe to—and while it was being mixed I asked the man who grabs up your hot Scotch spoon as soon as you lay it down what he understood by the term， epithetepithet n.绰号， 称号， description， designation， characterisation or appellationappellation n.名称， 称呼， viz， a “Man About Town”.