圣罗萨里奥的朋友们
The westbound train stopped at San Rosario on time at 8∶20 A.M. A man with a thick blackleather wallet under his arm left the train and walked rapidly up the main street of the town. There were other passengers who also got off at San Rosario， but they either slouched limberly over to the railroad eatinghouse or the Silver Dollar saloon， or joined the groups of idlersidlern.懒惰者， 游手好闲的人， [机］惰轮 about the station.
上午八点二十分，西行的火车准时在圣罗萨里奥停了站。一个挟着鼓鼓的黑公事包的人下了火车，快步走向镇上的大街。在圣罗萨里奥下车的旅客不止他一个，但他们不是懒洋洋地走进铁路食堂，便是到银元酒店，再不然就同车站上一堆堆的闲人混在一起。
Indecision had no part in the movements of the man with the wallet. He was short in staturestaturen.身高， 身材， （精神、道德等的）高度， but strongly built， with very light， closelytrimmed hair， smooth， determined face， and aggressiveaggressiveadj.好斗的， 敢作敢为的， 有闯劲的， 侵略性的， goldrimmed nose glasses. He was well dressed in the prevailing Eastern style. His air denoted a quiet but conscious reserve force， if not actual authority.
这个挟黑公事包的人的举止没有丝毫迟疑。他身材矮小，但是很结实，浅色的头发剪得很短，修得光光的面孔显得非常果断，鼻子上夹着一副叫人望而生畏的金丝边眼镜。他的气派如果不是代表真正的权势，至少也代表着一种安详而自信的潜在力量。
After walking a distance of three squares he came to the centre of the towns business area. Here another street of importance crossed the main one， forming the hub of San Rosarios life and commerce. Upon one corner stood the postoffice. Upon another Rubenskys Clothing Emporium. The other two diagonally opposing corners were occupied by the towns two banks， the First National and the Stockmens National. Into the First National Bank of San Rosario the newcomer walked， never slowing his brisk step until he stood at the cashiers window. The bank opened for business at nine， and the working force was already assembled， each member preparing his department for the days business. The cashier was examining the mail when he noticed the stranger standing at his window.
走过三个街口后，他来到镇上的商业中心。在这里，另一条热闹的街道同大街相交，形成了圣罗萨里奥生活和商业的核心。一个角上是邮政局。另一个角上是鲁宾斯基服装公司。其余两个相对的角上则是镇上的两家银行，第一国民银行和国家畜牧银行。新来的人走进圣罗萨里奥第一国民银行。他跨着轻快的脚步，一直走到襄理的窗口。银行要九点钟才开始营业，工作人员却都到了，各自在做他那部门的准备工作。襄理在翻阅信件时，发觉这个陌生人站在他的窗前。
“Bank doesnt open tin nine.” he remarked curtlycurtlyadv.简略地， 草率地， but without feeling. He had had to make that statement so often to early birds since San Rosario adopted city banking hours.
“银行九点开始营业。”他爱理不理地草率地说。自从圣罗萨里奥按照城市银行的办公时间营业以来，他经常要对一些早来的顾客说这句话。
“I am well aware of that.” said the other man， in cool， brittle tones. “Will you kindly receive my card？”
“我很清楚。”对方说，声调冷淡而干脆。“请你看看我的名片。”
The cashier drew the small， spotless parallelogramparallelogram n.[数］平行四边形 inside the bars of his wicket， and read： J.F.C NettlewickNational Bank Examiner襄理把那张一尘不染的小小的卡片拿过窗口里，看到的是：J.F.C.内特尔威克，国家银行稽核“Oh—er—will you walk around inside， Mr.—er—Nettlewick. Your first visit—didnt know your business， of course. Walk right around， please.” The examiner was quickly inside the sacred precinctsprecinctn.区域， 围地， 范围， 界限， 选区 of the bank， where he was ponderously introduced to each employee in turn by Mr. Edlinger， the cashier—a middleaged gentleman of deliberationdeliberationn.熟思， 从容， 商议， 考虑， discretion， and method.
“哦——呃——请到里面来吧——内特尔威克先生。您初次来——当然不知道您的身份。请进来吧。稽核很快地进入银行神圣的区域，襄理埃德林格先生——一个谨慎而精明的中年人——唠唠叨叨地把他介绍给银行的每一个职员。
“I was kind of expecting Sam Turner round again， pretty soon.” said Mr. Edlinger. “Sams been examining us now， for about four years. I guess youll find us all right， though， considering the tightness in business. Not overly much money on hand， but able to stand the storms， sir， stand the storms.”
“我原以为这几天萨姆·特纳又会来的。”埃德林格先生说。“萨姆来我们这里检查将近有四个年头了。虽然市面比较紧，我想你会发现我们这里很正常。我们手头的钱并不太多，但是抵得住风浪，先生，抵得住风浪。”
“Mr. Turner and I have been ordered by the comptroller to exchange districts.” said the examiner， in his decisive， formal tones. “He is covering my old territory in Southern Illinois and Indiana. I will take the cash first， please.”
“特纳先生和我奉审计官的指示，交换了稽核区域。”稽核果断地、一本正经地说。“他检查我从前的南伊利诺伊和印第安纳的区域。我先查现金，请。”
Perry Dorsey， the teller， was already arranging his cash on the counter for the examiners inspectioninspectionn.检查， 视察。 He knew it was right to a cent， and he had nothing to fear， but he was nervous and flustered. So was every man in the bank. There was something so icy and swift， so impersonal and uncompromising about this man that his very presence seemed an accusationaccusationn.谴责， [律］指控。 He looked to be a man who would never make nor overlook an error.
出纳员佩里·多尔西已经把现金摆在柜台上等稽核来检查。他明知一分钱也不差，没什么可以害怕的，但还是紧张慌忙。银行里每个人都是这样。这个人是如此冷漠而敏捷，无动于衷而难以通融，以至他的存在仿佛就代表着指责。他似乎是一个永远不会犯错误，也不会放过错误的人。
Mr. Nettlewick first seized the currency， and with a rapid， almost juggling motion， counted it by packages. Then he spun the sponge cup toward him and verifiedverify vt.检验， 校验， 查证， 核实 [计］打开或关闭文件的读写校验 the count by bills. His thin， white fingers flew like some expert musicians upon the keys of a piano. He dumped the gold upon the counter with a crash， and the coins whined and sang as they skimmed across the marble slab from the tips of his nimble digits. The air was full of fractional currencyfractional currencyn.<美>[总称］辅币 when he came to the halves and quarters. He counted the last nickle and dime. He had the scales brought， and he weighed every sack of silver in the vault. He questioned Dorsey concerning each of the cash memoranda—certain checks， charge slips， etc.， carried over from the previous days work—with unimpeachableunimpeachableadj.无懈可击的， 无可指责的， 无过失的，无可怀疑的 courtesy， yet with something so mysteriously momentous in his frigid manner， that the teller was reduced to pink cheeks and a stammering tongue.