主笔转过身来向我说：“我约了人来吃饭，得准备一下。请你帮帮忙，给我看看校样，招待招待客人吧。”
I wincedwince v.退缩 a little at the idea of attending to the customers， but I was too bewildered by the fusilladefusillade n.枪炮的齐射， 猛射， 连续射击 vt.齐射 that was still ringing in my ears to think of anything to say.
我一听说叫我招待客人，不免稍觉畏怯，可是刚才那一阵枪声还在我耳朵里响，我简直吓得魂不附体，因此也就想不出什么话来回答。
He continued， “Jones will be here at three—cowhide him. Gillespie will call earlier， perhaps—throw him out of the window. Ferguson will be along about fourkill him. That is all for today， I believe. If you have any odd time， you may write a blisteringblistering adj.酷热的 article on the police—give the chief inspectorinspector n.检查员， 巡视员 rats. The cowhides are under the table， weapons in the drawer—ammunition there in the corner—lint and bandagesbandage n.绷带 up there in the pigeonholes. In case of accident， go to Lancet， the surgeon， down—stairs. He advertises—we take it out in trade.”
他继续说：“琼斯4点钟会到这儿来——赏他一顿鞭子吧！吉尔斯配也许还要来得早一点——把他从窗户里摔出去！福格森大约4点钟会来——打死他吧！我想今天就只这些事了。要是你还有得时间多的话，你可以写一篇挖苦警察的文章——把那督察长臭骂一顿。牛皮鞭子在桌子底下，武器在抽屉里——子弹在那个犄角里——棉花和绷带在那上面的文件架里。要是出了事，你就到楼下去找外科医生蓝赛吧。他在我们报上登广告——我们给他抵账就是了。”
He was gone. I shuddered. At the end of the next three hours I had been through perilsperil n.危险 so awful that all peace of mind and all cheerfulness were gone from me. Gillespie had called and thrown me out of the window. Jones arrived promptly， and when I got ready to do the cowhiding he took the job off my hands. In an encounter with a stranger， not in the bill of fare， I had lost my scalpscalp v.剥头皮 n.头皮. Another stranger， by the name of Thompson， left me a mere wreck and ruin of chaotic rags. And at last， at bay in the corner， and beset by an infuriated mob of editors， blacklegs， politicians， and desperadoes， who raved and swore and flourished their weapons about my head till the air shimmered with glancing flashes of steel， I was in the act of resigning my berth on the paper when the chief arrived， and with him a rabblerabble n.乌合之众， 下层社会， 拨火棍 vt.聚众闹事，用拨火棍搅动 of charmed and enthusiastic friends. Then ensued a scene of riot and carnage such as no human pen， or steel one either， could describe. People were shot， probed， dismembered， blown up， thrown out of the window. There was a brief tornado of murky blasphemyblasphemy n.亵渎(话)， with a confused and frantic wardance glimmering through it， and then all was over. In five minutes there was silence， and the gory chief and I sat alone and surveyed the sanguinarysanguinary adj.残暴的 ruin that strewed the floor around us.
他走了。我浑身发抖。后来那三个钟头完了的时候，我已经经历了几场惊心动魄的危险，以致安宁的心境和愉快的情绪通通无影无踪了。吉尔斯配是光顾过的，他反而把我摔到窗户外面了。琼斯又即时来到，我正预备赏他一顿皮鞭子的时候，他倒给代劳了。还有一位不在清单之列的陌生人和我干了一场，结果我让他剥掉了头皮。另外还有一位名叫汤普生的客人把我一身的衣服撕得一塌糊涂，全成了碎布片儿。后来我被逼到一个角落里，被一大群暴怒的编辑、赌鬼、政客和横行无忌的恶棍们围困着，他们都大声叫嚣和谩骂，在我头上挥舞着武器，弄得空中晃着钢铁的闪光，我就在这种情况中写着辞去报馆职务的信，正在这时候，主笔回来了，和他同来的还有乱七八糟的一群兴高采烈的、热心帮忙的朋友。于是又发生了一场斗殴和残杀，那种骚乱的情况，简直非笔墨所能形容。人们被枪击、刀刺、砍断肢体、炸得血肉横飞、摔到窗户外面去。一阵短促的风暴般的阴沉的咒骂，夹杂着混乱和狂热的临阵舞蹈，朦胧地发出闪光，随后就鸦雀无声了。五分钟之内就平静了下来，只剩下血淋淋的主笔和我坐在那里，察看着四周的地板上到处铺满了的这一场厮杀的一塌糊涂的战绩。
He said， “Youll like this place when you get used to it.”
他说：“你慢慢习惯了，就会喜欢这个地方。”