“让我在这儿站会儿，饱饱眼福。好家伙！这是宫殿呀——就是宫殿！想要什么，就有什么，暖融融的炭火，连晚餐都备好了。亨利，这不光让我明白了你到底有多阔；还让我彻头彻尾地明白了我自个儿到底有多穷——穷极了，惨透了，废物，没出路，没盼头了！”
Plagueplague n.瘟疫， 麻烦， 苦恼， 灾祸 vt.折磨， 使苦恼， 使得灾祸 take it！ This language gave me the cold shudders. It scared me broad awake， and made me comprehend that I was standing on a halfinch crustcrust n.外壳， 硬壳， 面包皮 vt.盖以硬皮 vi.结硬皮， with a crater underneath. I didnt know I had been dreaming—that is， I hadnt been allowing myself to know it for a while back， but now—oh， dear！ Deep in debt， not a cent in the world， a lovely girls happiness or woe in my hands， and nothing in front of me but a salary which might never—oh， would never—materializematerialize v.物化！ Oh， oh， oh！ I am ruined past hope！ Nothing can save me！
天杀的！这一说让我打了个寒噤。他的话让我如梦初醒，我认识到自己是站在半寸厚的地壳上，下面就是火山口。我本来不知道自己是在做梦，——也就是说，我没容自己抽出时间来闹个明白；可是如今——乖乖！欠了一屁股债，一文不名，把一个姑娘的吉凶祸福攥在手心里，我自己却还前途未卜，只有一份也许是画饼充饥的薪水——唉，也许根本——就兑不了现！唉唉唉！我算是毁了，没有希望，没救了！
“Henry， the mere unconsidered drippings of your daily income would—”
“亨利，你每天的收入只要漫不经心地散那么一星半点的，就可以——”
“Oh， my daily income！ Here， down with this hot Scotch， and cheer up your soul. Heres with you！ Or， no—youre hungry， sit down and—”
“哼，我每天的收入！来，喝了这杯热酒，打起精神头来。咱们干一杯吧！啊，不行——你还饿着哪；坐下，来——”
“Not a bite for me， Im past it. I cant eat， these days， but Ill drink with you till I drop. come！”
“我没觉得饿，饿过劲了。这些天我一直吃不下；不过，我一定陪你喝个够，喝到趴下为止。干！”
“Barrel for barrel， Im with you！ Ready？ Here we go！ Now， then， Lloyd， unreelunreel v.回卷， 退绕， 解开 your story while I brew.”
“一人一杯，我奉陪！准备好了？一起干！劳埃德，我一边兑酒，你一边讲讲你那点事。”
“Unreel it？ What， again？”
“讲一讲？怎么，再说一回？”
“Again？ What do you mean by that？”
“再说？这是什么意思？”
“Why， I mean do you want to hear it over again？”
“嗨，我是说，你想从头到尾再听一遍？”
“Do I want to hear it over again？ This is a puzzlerpuzzler n.使困惑的人， 难题。 Wait， dont take any more of that liquid. You dont need it.”
“我想再听一遍？这可把我闹迷糊了。等等，你别再灌这黄汤了。你不能再喝了。”
“Look here， Henry， you alarm me. Didnt I tell you the whole story on the way here？”
“嗨嗨，亨利，你吓着我了。到这儿来的路上我不是把什么都对你说了吗？”
“You？”
“你？”
“Yes， I.”
“是啊，我。”
“Ill be hanged if I heard a word of it.”
“我要是听见了一个字，我就不得好死。”
“Henry， this is a serious thing. It troubles me. What did you take up yonder at the ministers？”
“亨利，这事可严重了。别折腾我了。刚才在公使那里你到底搞什么鬼来着？”
Then it all flashedflash [计］Macromedia 公司开发的动画编辑工具 n.闪光，闪现， 一瞬间 vi.闪光， 闪现， 反射， 使迅速传遍 vt.使闪光，反射 adj.闪光的， 火速的 on me， and I owned up like a man. “I took the dearest girl in this world—prisoner！”
这时我才恍然大悟，我敢作敢当，也就实话实说了。 “我把世界上最可爱的姑娘俘虏了！”
So then he came with a rush， and we shook， and shook， and shook till our hands ached， and he didnt blame me for not having heard a word of a story which had lasted while we walked three miles. He just sat down then， like the patient， good fellow he was， and told it all over again. Synopsized， it amounted to this： He had come to England with what he thought was a grand opportunity， he had an “option” to sell the Gould and Curry Extension for the “locators” of it， and keep all he could get over a million dollars. He had worked hard， had pulled every wire he knew of， had left no honest expedientexpedient adj.有利的 n.权宜之计 untried， had spent nearly all the money he had in the world， had not been able to get a solitary capitalist to listen to him， and his option would run out at the end of the month. In a word， he was ruined. Then he jumped up and cried out： “Henry， you can save me！ You can save me， and youre the only man in the universe that can. Will you do it？ Wont you do it？”
于是他冲了过来跟我握手，握呀，握呀，握得手都疼了；我们走了三英里路，他讲了一路故事，这故事我一句也没听见：这件事他不怪我了。接着，这个不急不躁的老好人坐下来，又把故事从头讲起。长话短说，他的经历大致如下：他来到英国时，本来以为遍地都是机会；他做了古尔德和加利矿业公司招股的代理，为勘探商出售开采权，超出一百万的部分全部归他。他竭尽全力，用上了全部关系，试遍了一切光明正大的手段，差不多花光了所有的钱，可是，没找到一个资本家愿听他的游说，而他的代理权这个月底就要到期了，他算是完了。说到这里，他跳起来大声嚷嚷着：“亨利，你能救我！你能救我，这世界上能救我的只有你了。你愿意拉我一把吗？你拉不拉？”
“Tell me how. Speak out， my boy.”
“告诉我能帮你干什么。照直说，伙计。”
“Give me a million and my passage home for my ‘option’！ Dont， dont refuserefuse vt.拒绝， 谢绝 n.废物， 垃圾！”
“给我一百万，外加回家的路费，换我的‘代理权’！别，你可别拒绝！”
I was in a kind of agonyagony n.苦恼， 极大的痛苦。 I was right on the point of coming out with the words， “Lloyd， Im a pauper myself—absolutely penniless， and in debt！” But a whitehot idea came flaming through my head， and I gripped my jaws together， and calmed myself down till I was as cold as a capitalistcapitalist n.资本家， 资本主义者 adj.资本主义的。 Then I said， in a commercial and selfpossessed way： “I will save you， Lloyd—”
我有苦说不出。一句话已经到了嘴边：“劳埃德，我自己也是个要饭的——连一个小钱也没有，还欠着债。”可是，这时我脑子里电光石火般闪出一个念头来，我咬紧牙关，极力让自己冷静下来，直到冷静得像一个资本家。我用生意人沉着镇定的口气说：“劳埃德，我拉你一把——”
“Then Im already saved！ God be merciful to you forever！ If ever I—”
“那我就已经有救了！上帝永远保佑你！有朝一日——”
“Let me finish， Lloyd. I will save you， but not in that way， for that would not be fair to you， after your hard work， and the risks youve run. I dont need to buy mines， I can keep my capital moving， in a commercial center like London， without that， its what Im at， all the time， but here is what Ill do. I know all about that mine， of course， I know its immense value， and can swear to it if anybody wishes it. You shall sell out inside of the fortnight for three millions cash， using my name freely， and well divide， share and share alike.”
“劳埃德，让我说完。我要拉你一把，可不是那样拉；你吃了这么多苦，冒了这么多风险，那样办对你来说不公平。我用不着买矿山；在伦敦这样的商务中心，我用不着那样做也能赚钱；过去、现在我都不干这样的生意；不过我有一个办法。我对那座矿山的事情自然了如指掌；我知道那座矿山很有价值，为了它，谁让我赌咒发誓都成。你可以随意用我的名义去推销，在两三个星期里头就能卖得三百万现款，我们来对半分好了。”
Do you know， he would have danced the furniture to kindlingwood in his insaneinsane adj.患精神病的， 精神病患者的， 极愚蠢的 joy， and broken everything on the place， if I hadnt trippedtrip n.（短途）旅行， 绊倒， 摔倒， 失足， 往返， 差错，支吾， 旅程 vt.使跌倒， 使犯错， 使失败， 挑剔 vi.轻快地走， 摔倒， 绊倒， 失足， 结巴， 远足， 犯错， 旅行 him up and tied him.
你不知道，当时要不是我下了个绊，再把他绑起来的话，他定会在那阵狂喜中把我的家具都踩成劈柴，把坛坛罐罐全都打个稀巴烂。
Then he lay there， perfectly happy， saying： “I may use your name！ Your name—think of it！ Man， theyll flock in droves， these rich Londoners， theyll fight for that stock！ Im a made man， Im a made man forever， and Ill never forget you as long as I live！”
后来，他说：“我可以用你的名义！你的名义——那还了得！嘿，这些伦敦阔佬准会成群结队地往这儿赶，为了认购股份非打起来不可！我赚了，我发了，今生今世我永远忘不了你！”
In less than twentyfour hours London was abuzzabuzz adj.嗡嗡的， 嘁嘁喳喳的， 活泼的！ I hadnt anything to do， day after day， but sit at home， and say to all comers： “Yes； I told him to refer to me. I know the man， and I know the mine. His character is above reproachreproach v.责备 and the mine is worth far more than he asks for it.”
没过二十四小时，伦敦城就开了锅！我每天不干别的事，只是坐在屋里对来打听的人说：“没错，是我对他说的，有人问就来找我。我知道这个人，也知道这座矿山。他的人品无可挑剔，那矿山比他要的价值钱多啦。”