加利福尼亚人的故事
Thirtyfive years ago I was out prospecting on the Stanislaus， tramping all day long with pick and pan and horn， and washing a hatful of dirt here and there， always expecting to make a rich strike， and never doing it. It was a lovely reason， woodsy woodsy adj.树林中的， 树林多的， balmy balmy adj.芳香的， 温和的， 止痛的， (空气)温和的， delicious， and had once been populous， long years before， but now the people had vanished and the charming paradise paradise n.天堂 was a solitude. They went away when the surface diggings gave out. In one place， where a busy little city with banks and newspapers and fire companies and a mayor and aldermen had been， was nothing but a wide expanse expanse n.宽阔的区域， 宽阔， 苍天， 膨胀扩张 of emerald turf， with not even the faintest sign that human life had ever been present there. This was down toward Tuttletown. In the country neighborhood thereabouts， along the dusty roads， one found at intervals the prettiest little cottage homes， snug and cozy， and so cobwebbed with vines snowed thick with roses that the doors and windows were wholly hidden from sightsign that these were deserted homes， forsaken years ago by defeated and disappointed families who could neither sell them nor give them away. Now and then， half an hour apart， one came across solitary solitary adj.孤独的 log cabins of the earliest mining days， built by the first goldminers， the predecessors predecessor n.前辈， 前任， (被取代的)原有事物 of the cottagebuilders. In some few cases these cabins were still occupied， and when this was so， you could depend upon it that the occupant occupant n.占有者， 居住者 was the very pioneer who had built the cabin， and you could depend on another thing， too—that he was there because he had once had his opportunity to go home to the States rich， and had not done it， had rather lost his wealth， and had then in his humiliation humiliation n.羞辱， 蒙耻 resolved to sever all communication with his home relatives and friends， and be to them thenceforth thenceforth adv.从那时， 其后 as one dead.Round about California in that day were scattered a host of these living dead men—pridesmitten poor fellows， grizzled and old at forty， whose secret thoughts were made all of regrets and longings—regrets for their wasted lives， and longings to be out of the struggle and done with it all.
三十五年前，我曾到斯达尼斯劳斯河找矿。我手拿着鹤嘴锄，带着淘盘，背着号角，成天跋涉。我走遍了各处，淘洗了不少的含金沙，总想着找到矿藏发笔大财，却总是一无所获。这是一个风景秀丽的地区，树木葱茏，气候温和，景色宜人。很多年前，这儿人烟稠密，而现在，人们早已消失殆尽了，富有魅力的极乐园成了一个荒凉冷僻的地方。他们把地层表面给挖了个遍，然后就离开了这里。有一处，一度是个繁忙热闹的小城市，有过几家银行，几家报纸和几支消防队，还有过一位市长和众多的市政参议员。可是现在，除了广袤无垠的绿色草皮之外，一无所有，甚至看不见人类生命曾在这里出现过的最微小的迹象。这片荒原一直延伸到塔特尔镇。在那一带附近的乡间，沿着那些布满尘土的道路，不时可以看到一些极为漂亮的小村舍，外表整洁舒适，像蛛网一样密密麻麻的藤蔓，像雪一样浓厚茂密的玫瑰遮掩了小屋的门窗。这是一些荒废了的住宅，很多年前，那些遭到失败、灰心丧气的家庭遗弃了它们，因为这些房屋既卖不出去也送不出去。走上半小时的路程，时而会发现一些用圆木搭建起来的孤寂的小木屋，这是在最早的淘金时代由第一批淘金人修建的，他们是建造小村舍的那些人的前辈。偶尔，这些小木屋仍然有人居住。那么，你就可以断定这居住者就是当初建造这个小木屋的拓荒人，你还能断定他之所以住在那儿的原因——虽然他曾有机会回到家乡，回到州里去过好日子，但是他不愿回去，而宁愿丢弃财产，他感到羞耻，于是决定与所有的亲人朋友断绝往来，好像他已经死去似的。那年月，加利福尼亚附近散居着许许多多这样的活死人——这些可怜的人，自尊心受到严重打击，四十岁就白发斑斑，未老先衰。隐藏在他们内心深处的只有悔恨和渴望——悔恨自己虚度的年华，渴望远离尘嚣，彻底与世隔绝。
It was a lonesome land！ Not a sound in all those peaceful expanses of grass and woods but the drowsy drowsy adj.昏昏欲睡的， 催眠的， (街、市等)沉寂的 hum of insects， no glimpse of man or beast， nothing to keep up your spirits and make you glad to be alive. And so， at last， in the early part of the afternoon， when I caught sight of a human creature， I felt a most grateful uplift. This person was a man about fortyfive years old， and he was standing at the gate of one of those cozy cozy adj.舒适的， 安逸的， 惬意的 little roseclad cottages of the sort already referred to. However， this one hadnt a deserted look， it had the look of being lived in and petted and cared for and looked after， and so had its front yard， which was a garden of flowers， abundant abundant adj.丰富的， 充裕的， 丰富， 盛产， 富于， gay， and flourishing. I was invited in， of course， and required to make myself at home—it was the custom of the country.
这是一片孤寂荒芜的土地！除了使人昏昏欲睡的昆虫的嗡嗡声，辽阔的草地和树林静寂安宁，别无声息，杳无人烟，兽类绝迹，任什么也不能使你打起精神，使你觉得活着是件乐事。因此，在一天过了正午不久，当我终于发现一个人的时候，我油然生出一种感激之情，精神极为振奋。这是一个四十五岁左右的男人，他正站在一间覆盖着玫瑰花的小巧舒适的村舍门旁。这是那种我已提到过的村舍，不过，这一间可没有被遗弃的样子；它的外观表明有人住在里面，而且它还受到主人的宠爱，关心和照料。它的前院也同样受到如此厚待，这是一个花园，繁茂的鲜花正盛开着，五彩缤纷，绚丽多姿。当然，我受到了主人的邀请，主人叫我不要客气——这是乡下的惯例。
It was delightful to be in such a place， after long weeks of daily and nightly familiarity familiarity n.熟悉， 通晓， 亲密， 熟悉， 精通 with miners cabins—with all which this implies of dirt floor， nevermade beds， tin plates and cups， bacon and beans and black coffee， and nothing of ornament but war pictures from the Eastern illustrated papers tacked to the log walls. That was all hard， cheerless， materialistic materialistic adj.唯物论的， 唯物主义的 desolation desolation n.荒芜， 荒废， 荒凉， 忧伤， 悲哀， but here was a nest which had aspects to rest the tired eye and refresh that something in ones nature which， after long fasting， recognizes， when confronted by the belongings of art， howsoever cheap and modest they may be， that it has unconsciously been famishing and now has found nourishment nourishment n.食物， 营养品. I could not have believed that a rag carpet could feast me so， and so content me， or that there could be such solace to the soul in wallpaper and framed lithographslithograph n.平版（指石版或金属板）印刷， 平版画 vt.以平版印刷， and brightcolored tidies and lampmats， and Windsor chairs， and varnished whatnots， with seashells and books and china vases on them， and the score of little unclassifiable tricks and touches that a womans hand distributesdistribute vt.分发， 分配， 散布， 分布， 分类， 分区 v.分发 about a home， which one sees without knowing he sees them， yet would miss in a moment if they were taken away. The delight that was in my heart showed in my face， and the man saw it and was pleased， saw it so plainly that he answered it as if it had been spoken.