“Well， yes， people write poems when they are in love， but a wise man will not print them. A lieutenant in love， and poor. This is a triangle， or more properly speaking， the half of the broken die of fortune.” The lieutenant felt this very keenly， and therefore leaned his head against the windowframe， and sighed deeply. “The poor watchman in the street，” said he， “is far happier than I am. He knows not what I call poverty. He has a home， a wife and children， who weep at his sorrow and rejoice at his joy. Oh， how much happier I should be could I change my being and position with him， and pass through life with his humblehumble adj.卑下的， 微贱的， 谦逊的， 粗陋的vt.使……卑下， 挫， 贬抑 expectations and hopes！ Yes， he is indeed happier than I am.”
是的，当一个人在恋爱的时候，他会写诗的，不过头脑清醒的人不至于把这种诗印出来罢了。这位中尉是正在恋爱和穷困之中，而且他的恋爱还是一个三角——也可以说是一个打碎了的幸福的四角的一半。中尉尖锐地感觉到自己的处境，因此他把头靠着窗框，深深地叹了一口气。“街上那个穷苦的守夜人比我要快乐得多。他不知道我所谓的‘穷困’。他有一个家、一个老婆和许多孩子——他们为他的苦恼而流眼泪，为他的快乐而欢笑。啊！如果我能变成他，我会比现在要幸福得多，因为他的确比我幸福！”
At this moment the watchman again became a watchman， for having， through the goloshes of Fortune， passed into the existence of the lieutenant， and found himself less contented than he expected， he had preferred his former condition， and wished himself again a watchman.
在一瞬间，守夜人又恢复到守夜人的原状。原来他是由于“幸运的套鞋”的魔力才变成中尉的，我们已经知道他并不感到满意，而情愿回复他的本来面目。因此守夜人又变成了守夜人。
“That was an ugly dream，” said he， “but droll enough. It seemed to me as if I were the lieutenant up yonderyonder adv.在那边adj.更远的， 那边的， but there was no happiness for me. I missed my wife and the little ones， who are always ready to smother me with kisses.” He sat down again and nodded， but he could not get the dream out of his thoughts， and he still had the goloshes on his feet. A falling star gleamed across the sky. “There goes one！” cried he. “However， there are quite enough left， I should very much like to examine these a little nearer， especially the moon， for that could not slip away under ones hands. The student， for whom my wife washes， says that when we die we shall fly from one star to another. If that were true， it would be very delightful， but I dont believe it. I wish I could make a little spring up there now， I would willingly let my body lie here on the steps.”
“这真是一个丑恶的梦！”他说，“但是也够滑稽。我觉得我曾经变成了楼上的中尉，但这并不是一件很痛快的事情。我想念我的老婆和孩子们，他们这时正准备着大批的吻，要把我亲个半死。”他又坐下来，点点头。这梦并不马上在他的思想中消逝，因为他脚上仍然穿着那双套鞋。这时天上有一颗流星滑落下来了。“它落下来了！”他说。“但是落也落不完的，多着呢。我倒想更仔细地瞧瞧这些东西，特别是这一轮月亮，因为它不会从手里滑走的。我的女人经常替一位大学生洗衣服，那位大学生常常说，我们死了以后，就从这颗星飞到那颗星。这话并不可靠，不过，假如真是这样，那倒也很妙。如果我能飞到那儿去，即使我的躯壳躺在楼梯上，我也不在乎。”
There are certain things in the world which should be uttered very cautiouslycautiously adv.慎重地， doubly so when the speaker has on his feet the goloshes of Fortune. Now we shall hear what happened to the watchman.
在这世界上，有些话我们说出来的时候，必须万分谨慎，尤其是当我们穿上了“幸运的套鞋”的时候。请听听发生在守夜人身上的故事吧。
Nearly every one is acquainted with the great power of steam， we have proved it by the rapidity with which we can travel， both on a railroad or in a steamship across the sea. But this speed is like the movements of the sloth， or the crawling march of the snail， when compared to the swiftness with which light travels， light flies nineteen million times faster than the fleetest racehorse， and electricity is more rapid still. Death is an electric shock which we receive in our hearts， and on the wings of electricity the liberated soul flies away swiftly， the light from the sun travels to our earth ninetyfive millions of miles in eight minutes and a few seconds， but on the wings of electricity， the mind requires only a second to accomplish the same distance. The space between the heavenly bodies is， to thought， no farther than the distance which we may have to walk from one friends house to another in the same town， yet this electric shock obliges us to use our bodies here below， unless， like the watchman， we have put on the goloshes of Fortune.
就我们人说来，我们差不多都知道蒸汽输送东西是多么迅速，这种事我们已经在铁道上或在海上的轮船中试验过。但是跟光线的速度比起来，这不过只等于树獭的动作或蜗牛的爬行罢了。光比最快的骏马还要快1900万倍，可是电的速度更要快。死不过是我们心中所受到的一种触电，被解放了的灵魂，骑在电的翅膀上，就可以远走高飞。太阳只需八分和几秒钟就可以走完将近两亿里的路程。灵魂骑上电力，要走同样的路程，只需几秒钟就够了。就解放了的灵魂说来，各种行星之间的距离，不会比我们住在同一城市中的朋友的房子之间的距离大，甚至于还不会比住在近邻的朋友的房子之间的距离大。不过在人间的世界里，除非我们像守夜人一样穿上了“幸运的套鞋”，我们的心一触电，我们就永远跟身体分家了。
In a very few seconds the watchman had travelled more than two hundred thousand miles to the moon， which is formed of a lighter material than our earth， and may be said to be as soft as new fallen snow. He found himself on one of the circular range of mountains which we see representedrepresent vt.表现， 描绘， 声称， 象征， 扮演vi.提出异议 in Dr. Madlers large map of the moon. The interior had the appearance of a large hollow， bowlshaped， with a depth about half a mile from the brim. Within this hollow stood a large town， we may form some idea of its appearance by pouring the white of an egg into a glass of water. The materials of which it was built seemed just as soft， and pictured forth cloudy turrets and saillike terraces， quite transparent， and floating in the thin air. Our earth hung over his head like a great dark red ball.
在几秒钟之内，守夜人走了20多万英里，到月亮上面去了。我们知道，组成月球的物质比我们的地球要轻得多，而且还很柔软，像刚下的雪一样。他来到一群数不清的山组成的大环形山——我们早就在麦特勒博士所绘的月球图上看到这些环形山——他来到其中的一座山上。你也看到过的吧？在这一环大山当中，有一个像锅一样的深坑，它凹下去有八九里深。坑下面有一个城市。它的形状很像装在玻璃杯里的水中的蛋白。这儿的尖塔、圆屋顶和像船帆一样的阳台，浮在透明的、稀薄的空气中，也是同样的轻，同样的白。我们的地球浮在他的头上像一个火红的大球。
Presently he discovered a number of beings， which might certainly be called men， but were very different to ourselves. They had also a language of their own. No one could have expected the soul of the watchman to understand it， and yet he did understand it. The spirit of the watchman therefore understood very well the language of the inhabitantsinhabitant n.居民， 居住者 of the moon. They were disputing about our earth， and doubted whether it could be inhabited. The atmosphere， they asserted， must be too dense for any inhabitants of the moon to exist there. They maintained that the moon alone was inhabited， and was really the heavenly body in which the old world people lived.
他马上看见了许多的生物。这些东西无疑就是我们所谓的“人类”了，不过他们的样子跟我们显然不同。他们也说一种语言，但是谁也不能指望守夜人的灵魂能够听懂。但是他居然听懂了。守夜人的灵魂懂得月球上居民的语言，而且懂得很透彻。关于我们的地球他们争论了一番，他们怀疑地球上能不能住人，地球上的空气对于聪明的月球上的居民说来一定是太厚，不适宜于居住。他们认为只是月球上才能有生物，而且月球才是最初人类所居住的地方。