And so， in privacy， he thought long and deeply over the matter， resolving to do what should seem best. It was easy to PROMISE reform， indeed he had already promised it. But would that do any real good， any permanent good？ No， it would be but temporarytemporary adj.暂时的 —he knew his weakness， and confessed it to himself with sorrow—he could not keep the promise. Something surer and better must be devised； and he deviseddevise vt.设计， 发明， 图谋， 作出（计划）， 想出（办法），遗赠给 n.遗赠 it. At cost of precious money which he had long been saving up， shilling by shilling， he put a lightningrod on the house.
他私下里把这件事深刻反思了好长时间，决心今后大面上要过得去。发誓洗心革面并不难，其实他已经这样做了。可是，这样做真有什么好处，有什么长远的好处吗？没有，这都是暂时的——他深知自己的弱点，很痛心地自认这个弱点——说得到但是做不到。一定要想更好、更保险的办法不可，这样的办法他到底想出来了。他从自己一分一厘节省的血汗钱里拿出一笔来，在房顶上安了一个避雷针。
At a subsequent time he relapsedrelapse n.复发， 回复原状 vi.故态复萌， 旧病复发。
时隔不久，他故态复萌了。
What miracles habit can do！ And how quickly and how easily habits are acquired—both trifling habits and habits which profoundly change us. If by accident we wake at two in the morning a couple of nights in successionsuccession n.连续， 继承， 继任， 演替， [农业］ 轮栽， 连续性， we have need to be uneasy， for another repetition can turn the accident into a habit， and a months dallying with whiskey—but we all know these commonplace facts.
习惯这东西能创造出多少奇迹啊！而习惯又是多么快。多么容易形成啊——无论是不起眼的小习惯，还是脱胎换骨改造我们的大习惯，全都如此。如果一连两天偶然都在凌晨两点睁眼，我们就必须小心了。因为再来一次，这偶然就变成了习惯；还有，只消一个月的酗酒放荡——不过，这些都是人所共知的事实，不说也罢。
The castlebuilding habit， the daydreaming habit—how it grows！ What a luxury it becomes， how we fly to its enchantmentsenchantment n.迷惑， 着迷， 魔法， 妖术， 魅力 at every idle moment， how we revel in them， steep our souls in them， intoxicateintoxicate vt.使陶醉， 醉人 ourselves with their beguiling fantasies—oh yes， and how soon and how easily our dram life and our material life become so intermingled and so fused together that we cant quite tell which is which， any more.
耽于幻想的习惯、白日做梦的习惯——这种习惯发展得多快啊！它已经成了一种享乐。一有闲暇，我们就被它勾走了魂，深陷其中，它侵蚀了我们的心灵，让我们沉醉于蛊惑人心的妄想之中——是啊，我们的梦幻生活和我们的真实生活混淆不清，真假难辨，这是多么迅速，多么轻而易举的事情啊！
By and by Aleck subscribed to a Chicago daily and for the WALL STREET POINTER. With an eye single to finance she studied these as diligently all the week as she studied her Bible Sundays. Sally was lost in admiration， to note with what swift and sure stridesstride v.大步走（过）， 跨过， 大步行走 n.步幅 her genius and judgment developed and expanded in the forecasting and handling of the securities of both the material and spiritual markets. He was proud of her nerve and daring in exploiting worldly stocks， and just as proud of her conservativeconservative adj.保守的， 守旧的 n.保守派 caution in working her spiritual deals. He noted that she never lost her head in either case， that with a splendid courage she often went short on worldly futures， but heedfully drew the line there—she was always long on the others. Her policy was quite sane and simple， as she explained it to him： what she put into earthly futures was for speculationspeculation n.思索， 做投机买卖， what she put into spiritual futures was for investment， she was willing to go into the one on a margin， and take chances， but in the case of the other， “margin her no margins”—she wanted to cash in a hundred cents per dollars worth， and have the stock transferredtransferred 转移的， 调动的， 转让的 on the books.
不久，艾莱柯订了一份芝加哥的日报和一份《华尔街指数》。她用了整整一个星期，拿出每周日读圣经的劲头来，勤奋研读这两份报纸，重点研究财经版。萨利注意到，她预测和把握物质和精神市场证券行情的天赋和判断力正在迅速而稳步地发展壮大。对此，萨利佩服得五体投地。他为艾莱柯闯荡世俗股市的勇气和胆略感到骄傲，对她处理精神事务时戒急用忍的心态也同样自豪。他注意到艾莱柯无论在哪一方面都从不丧失理智；她颇有胆量，在尘世的期货市场上总是做短线，但是她小心翼翼地到此为止——在其他方面，她做的都是长线。她的策略既稳健又简明，就像她对萨利解释的那样：她在世俗期货方面的投入是投机，而在精神期货方面的投入则是投资。对前者她不惜走钢丝，碰运气；对后者她却“不肯弄险”——她不光要翻倍，还要股票过了户才算数。
It took but a very few months to educate Alecks imagination and Sallys. Each days training added something to the spread and effectivenesseffectiveness n.效力 of the two machines. As a consequence， Aleck made imaginary money much faster than at first she had dreamed of making it， and Sallys competency in spending the overflow of it kept pace with the strain put upon it， right along. In the beginning， Aleck had given the coal speculation a twelvemonthtwelvemonth n.十二个月， 一年 in which to materialize， and had been loath to grant that this term might possibly be shortened by nine months. But that was the feeble work， the nursery work， of a financial fancy that had had no teaching， no experience， no practice. These aids soon came， then that nine months vanishedvanish vi.消失， 突然不见， [数］成为零 n.[语］弱化音， and the imaginary tenthousanddollar investment came marching home with three hundred per cent. Profit on its back！
没过几个月，艾莱柯和萨利的想像力就培养起来了。每日的训练开拓了这两部机器的活动范围，提高了效率。结果，艾莱柯在想像中赚钱的速度比开始时设想的快得多，萨利和她比翼齐飞，花富余钱的本领也与日俱增。开始时，艾莱柯把投资煤矿的收益期定为十二个月，她对这个期限也许会缩短为九个月的问题不予考虑。可那只是还没启蒙时的小儿科，是在金融方面未经指导、没有经验和缺乏实践的花拳绣腿。不久她就开了窍，九个月的期限消失了，那笔想像中的一万块钱投资翻了三倍后阔步归来。利润凯旋了！