Now came great news！ Stunning newsjoyous news， in fact. It came from a neighboring state， where the familys only survivingsurviving 继续存在的 未死的 依然健在的 relative lived. It was Sallys relative—a sort of vague and indefinite uncle or second or third cousin by the name of Tilbury Foster， seventy and a bachelor， reputed well off and corresponding sour and crustycrusty adj.有硬壳的， 顽固的， 脾气暴躁的。 Sally had tried to make up to him once， by letter， in a bygone time， and had not made that mistake again. Tilbury now wrote to Sally， saying he should shortly die， and should leave him thirty thousand dollars， cash， not for love， but because money had given him most of his troubles and exasperationsexasperation n.恼怒， and he wished to place it where there was good hope that it would continue its malignantmalignant adj.恶性的 work. The bequest would be found in his will， and would be paid over. PROVIDED， that Sally should be able to prove to the executors that he had TAKEN NO NOTICE OF THE GIFT BY SPOKEN WORD OR BY LETTER， HAD MADE NO INQUIRIES CONCERNING THE MORIBUNDS PROGRESS TOWARD THE EVERLASTING TROPICS， AND HAD NOT ATTENDED THE FUNERAL.
一个天大的消息！这个让人惊喜交加的消息是从邻州传来的，这一家人惟一在世的亲戚就住在那里。那人是萨利的亲戚——不是远房的族叔，就是隔了两三房的堂兄。这位亲戚名叫提尔伯里·福斯特，是个七十岁的单身汉，据说家道殷实，性子倔，多少有点儿古怪。以前萨利曾经写信和他联系过一次，以后就再也没有干过那种傻事。这一次是提尔伯里写信给萨利，说他快不行了，死后有三万块钱留给萨利；这倒不是出于亲情，而是因为一辈子的烦恼大多由钱这东西而来，所以他想死后把这些钱放到一个理想的地方，好让它们继续捣乱。这笔遗产将在他的遗嘱里做出交代，会如数付清。要拿到这笔钱，萨利必须向遗嘱执行人证明三点：一、萨利不以口头或书面方式表露出对这笔赠款的兴趣；二、不过问弥留者迈向黄泉路的进程；三、不参加葬礼。
As soon as Aleck had partially recovered from the tremendous emotions created by the letter， she sent to the relatives habitat and subscribedsubscribe v.捐款， 订阅， 签署（文件）， 赞成， 预订 for the local paper.
还没等从这封信掀起的感情风暴中完全苏醒过来，艾莱柯就写了一封信到这位亲戚的居住地去，订阅当地的报纸。
Man and wife entered into a solemnsolemn adj.庄严的， 隆重的， 严肃的 compact， now， to never mention the great news to any one while the relative lived， lest some ignorant person carry the fact to the deathbed and distort it and make it appear that they were disobediently thankful for the bequest， and just the same as confessing it and publishing it， right in the face of the prohibitionprohibition n.禁止， 阻止， <美>禁酒令。
夫妻两人郑重约定：那位亲戚在世期间，决不向任何人提及这件大事，以免哪个不懂事的家伙拿这件事到快死的人那里去拨弄是非，好像是他们触犯禁令，故意张扬，辜负了馈赠这笔遗产的一番美意。
For the rest of the day Sally made havoc and confusionconfusion n.混乱， 混淆 with his books， and Aleck could not keep her mind on her affairs， not even take up a flowerpot or book or a stick of wood without forgetting what she had intended to do with it. For both were dreaming.“Thirty thousand dollars！”All day long the music of those inspiring words sang through those peoples heads.
在这一天剩下的时间里，萨利记账记得漏洞百出，艾莱柯也心不在焉，一会儿端起个花盆，一会儿拿起本书，一会儿又拣起块木头，不知道自己要做什么。两个人都浮想联翩。“三万块钱！”整整一天，这四个令人心旌摇荡的字如仙乐一般在他们脑海中回荡。
From his marriageday forth， Alecks grip had been upon the purse， and Sally had seldom known what it was to be privilegedprivileged adj.有特权的， 有特别恩典的 to squandersquander v.浪费 a dime on nonnecessities.
从结婚那天起，艾莱柯就把钱包攥得紧紧的，除了必需的开销，萨利从来没花过一个小钱。
“Thirty thousand dollars！” the song went on and on. A vast sum， an unthinkableunthinkable adj.不能想像的， 想像不到的， 不可思议的， 过分的 sum！
“三万块钱！”仙乐在继续回荡。一笔巨款，简直不可思议！
All day long Aleck was absorbed in planning how to investinvest v.投（资）， 购买（有用之物）～， 授予， 投资 it， Sally in planning how to spend it.
整整一天，艾莱柯绞尽脑汁，思量怎么拿这笔钱去赚钱，萨利想的却是怎么花这笔钱。
There was no romancereading that night. The children took themselves away early， for their parents were silent， distraughtdistraught adj.发狂的， and strangely unentertaining. The goodnight kisses might as well have been impressed upon vacancyvacancy n.空， 空白， 空缺， 空闲， 清闲， 空虚， for all the response they got， the parents were not aware of the kisses， and the children had been gone an hour before their absence was noticed. Two pencils had been busy during that hournotemaking， in the way of plans. It was Sally who broke the stillness at last. He said， with exultationexultation n.狂喜， 大悦， 欢欣， 得意：“Ah， itll be grand， Aleck！ Out of the first thousand well have a horse and a buggy for summer， and a cutter and a skin laprobe for winter.”
这天晚上的朗读项目停了。爸爸妈妈一言不发，心情烦躁，一点儿玩的心思也没有，孩子们也就早早地离开了。道晚安时的亲吻像给了空气，没有任何反应，爸爸妈妈根本没有意识到孩子们的吻，一个小时后他们才发觉孩子们离开起居室了。在这一个小时里，最忙的是两支铅笔，夫妇俩一直把它们拿在手里运筹帷幄。最后，萨利打破了沉默，兴高采烈地说： “太好了，艾莱柯！夏天咱们先拿出一千块钱来，买一匹马，一辆马车，冬天再拿出一千块钱来，买一架雪橇和一副皮雪橇障子。”
Aleck responded with decision and composurecomposure n.镇静， 沉着—“Out of the CAPITAL？ Nothing of the kind. Not if it was a million！”
艾莱柯的回答既果断又冷静：“动这笔钱？不行。这笔钱哪怕有一百万也不能动！”
Sally was deeply disappointed， the glow went out of his face.“Oh， Aleck！” he said， reproachfully. “Weve always worked so hard and been so scrimpedscrimp vt.过度缩减， 克扣 vi.节省或精打细算 adj.不足的， 吝啬的， and now that we are rich， it does seem—”
萨利深感失望，涨红了脸。“艾莱柯！”他气呼呼地说，“咱们苦干了这么多年，一个钱掰成两半花，如今咱们有钱了，总要——”
He did not finish， for he saw her eye soften， his supplicationsupplication n.恳求， 祈愿， 哀求 had touched her. She said， with gentle persuasivenesspersuasive n.说服者， 劝诱 adj.善说服的：“We must not spend the capital， dear， it would not be wise. Out of the income from it—”
看到她的眼神柔和了下来，萨利就没有说完。萨利的恳求打动了艾莱柯。她柔声细语地规劝萨利：“亲爱的，咱们不能动这笔本钱，那不是好办法。拿这笔钱的利息——”
“That will answer， that will answer， Aleck！ How dear and good you are！ There will be a noble income and if we can spend that—”
“那也行，那也行，艾莱柯！你真可爱，你真好！利息也不少啊，咱们要是能花——”
“Not ALL of it， dear， not all of it， but you can spend a part of it. That is， a reasonable part. But the whole of the capital—every penny of it—must be put right to work， and kept at it. You see the reasonablenessreasonableness n.合理， 妥当 of that， dont you？”
“不能全花了，亲爱的，不能全花了，不过你可以花一部分。不大不小的一部分。可是那个整数不能花——一分一厘都要拿去生利，利滚利。你说在不在理？”
“Why， yes. Yes， of course. But well have to wait so long. Six months before the first interest falls due.”
“啊，在理，在理。当然在理。不过咱们还得等这么长时间，六个月才能拿到第一笔利息哪。”
“Yes—maybe longer.”
“对——也许还要晚一点儿。”
“Longer， Aleck？ Why？ Dont they pay halfyearly？”