I always was a good backward jumper with my eyes shut， so I obeyed. My head struck the edge of the bathroom door， which had been left open and was only three feet away. The doctor was very sorry. He had overlooked the fact that the door was open. He closed it.
因为我一向善于闭上眼往后跳，于是照办了。我的脑袋撞到浴室门沿上，因为那扇门开着，并且只有三英尺远。大夫感到十分抱歉。他忘了门是开着的。他走过去把它关上。
“Now touch your nose with your right forefinger.” he said.
“现在你用右手食指碰你的鼻子。”他说。
“Where is it？” I asked.
“在哪儿？”我问。
“On your face.” said he.
“在你脸上。”他说。
“I mean my right forefinger，” I explained.
“我说的是我的右手食指。”我解释说。
“Oh， excuse me.” said he. He reopened the bathroom door， and I took my finger out of the crack of it.
“哦，对不起。”他说。他重新打开浴室门，我从门缝里抽出手指。
After I had performed the marvellousmarvellous adj.绝妙的；了不起的 digitonasal feat I said，“I do not wish to deceive you as to symptomssymptom n.［医］［植］症状， 征兆， Doctor， I really have something like a pain in the back of my head.” He ignored the symptom and examined my heart carefully with a latestpopularairpennyintheslot eartrumpet. I felt like a ballad.
我出色地完成了指鼻试验后说：“大夫，我不愿意向你隐瞒症状，我的后脑勺现在确实有一种近乎疼痛的感觉了。”他不理会这个症状，却用一个最近流行的投币听音乐器的耳机似的玩意儿来检查我的心脏。我觉得自己成了民谣。
“Now，” he said， “gallop like a horse for about five minutes around the room.”
“现在，”他说，“你在屋子里绕着屋子像马一样快跑五分钟。”
I gave the best imitation I could of a disqualified Percheron being led out of Madison Square Garden. Then， without dropping in a penny， he listened to my chest again.
我尽可能模仿一头落选后从麦迪逊广场公园里牵出来的佩尔切隆良种马。随后，大夫没有投入硬币就听我的胸口。
“No glanders in our family， Doc.” I said.
“我家族成员中没有害马鼻疽的，大夫。”我说。
The consulting physician held up his forefinger within three inches of my nose. “Look at my finger.” he commanded.
会诊大夫举起食指，离我的鼻子有三英尺远。“瞧我的手指。”他命令道。
“Did you ever try Pears—” I began， but he went on with his test rapidly.
“你有没有试用过皮尔氏的——”我开口说，但他迅速地继续试验。
“Now look across the bay. At my finger. Across the bay. At my finger. At my finger. Across the bay. Across the bay. At my finger. Across the bay.” This for about three minutes.
“现在瞧海湾外面。瞧我手指。瞧海湾外面。瞧我手指。瞧我手指。瞧海湾外面。瞧海湾外面。瞧我手指。瞧海湾外面。”这样持续了将近三分钟。
He explained that this was a test of the action of the brain. It seemed easy to me. I never once mistook his finger for the bay. Ill bet that if he had used the phrases， “Gaze， as it were， unpreoccupied， outward—or rather laterally—in the direction of the horizon， underlaid， so to speak， with the adjacent fluid inlet，” and “Now， returning—or rather， in a manner， withdrawing your attention， bestowbestow vt.给予， 安放 it upon my upraised digit”—Ill bet， I say， that Henry James himself could have passed the examination.
他解释说，这是大脑活动试验。我觉得轻而易举。我从没有把他的手指当作海湾。假如他换一种说法，比如说：“你装作无忧无虑的模样朝外面眺望——或者看偏一些——把目光投向地平线的方向，也就是说，投向港湾水天相连的地方，”然后说，“现在不妨回首——或者说，撤回你的关注，把它加在我屹然竖立的指头上”——如果这么说的话，我敢担保，只有亨利·詹姆斯才能顺利通过试验。
After asking me if I had ever had a grand uncle with curvature of the spine or a cousin with swelled ankles， the two doctors retired to the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bath tub for their consultationconsultation n.请教， 咨询， 磋商， ［医］会诊. I ate an apple， and gazed first at my finger and then across the bay.
问了我有没有脊柱弯曲的舅公和脚脖子肿大的表兄弟后，两位大夫退到浴室，坐在澡盆边上进行诊断讨论。我吃了个苹果，先瞧瞧手指，再瞧瞧海湾外面。
The doctors came out looking grave. More： they looked tombstones and Tennesseepaperspleasecopy. They wrote out a diet list to which I was to be restricted. It had everything that I had ever heard of to eat on it， except snailssnail n.蜗牛， 迟钝的人 v.捉蜗牛， 缓慢移动. And I never eat a snail unless it overtakes me and bites me first.
两位大夫神情严肃地出来了。更糟的是：他们像墓碑一样，一言不发。他们开了一张饮食清单，我必须严格遵守。凡是我听说过可以吃的东西，清单上都有，除了蜗牛。事实上，我从没有吃过蜗牛，除非它赶上我，先咬我一口。
“You must follow this diet strictly.” said the doctors.
“你必须严格按照清单进食。”两位大夫说。
“Id follow it a mile if I could get onetenth of whats on it.” I answered.
“假如我能吃到清单上十分之一的东西，再严格我也干。”我回答说。
“Of next importance，” they went on， “is outdoor air and exercise. And here is a prescriptionprescription n.指示， 规定， 命令， 处方， 药方that will be of great benefit to you.”
“其次，”两位大夫接着说，“户外空气和运动也很重要。这儿有一张处方，会对你大有帮助。”
Then all of us took something. They took their hats， and I took my departure.I went to a druggistdruggist n.药商， 药剂师， 药材商 and showed him the prescription.
于是我们各干各的，他们拿起帽子准备走了，我也告辞。我到药剂师那儿，递过处方。
“It will be 2.87 for an ounce bottle.” he said.
“这张方子配起来共两块八毛七一瓶，一盎司的瓶子。”他说。
“Will you give me a piece of your wrapping cord？” said I.
“你能给我一些包扎绳吗？”我问。
I made a hole in the prescription， ran the cord through it， tied it around my neck， and tucked it inside. All of us have a little superstitionsuperstition n.迷信， and mine runs to a confidence in amulets.
我把处方捅一个窟窿，穿在绳子上，然后往脖子上一套，塞在衣服里面。我们大家都有点儿小迷信，我的毛病在于迷信护身符。
Of course there was nothing the matter with me， but I was very ill. I couldnt work， sleep， eat， or bowl. The only way I could get any sympathy was to go without shaving for four days. Even then somebody would say， “Old man， you look as hardy as a pine knot. Been up for a jaunt in the Maine woods， eh？”
当然，我没有什么问题，不过我病得很厉害。我不能工作、睡觉、吃饭，或者玩滚水球戏。我能博得同情的惟一办法是接连四天不刮胡子。即使如此，也有人说，“老兄，你结实得像松树疙瘩。你去缅因州森林里旅游了一次，是吗？”
Then， suddenly， I remembered that I must have outdoor air and exercise. So I went down South to Johns. John is an approximateapproximate adj.近似的， 大约的 v.近似， 接近， 接近， 约计 relative by verdict of a preacher standing with a little book in his hands in a bower of chrysanthemums while a hundred thousand people looked on. John has a country house seven miles from Pineville. It is at an altitude and on the Blue Ridge Mountains in a state too dignified to be dragged into this controversycontroversy n.论争， 辩论， 论战. John is mica， which is more valuable and clearer than gold.
我突然想起我需要户外空气和锻炼。于是我到南方约翰那里去。约翰根据牧师的裁决，同我沾上亲戚关系。那牧师手里捧着一本小书，站在菊花盛开的凉亭里，周围是成千上万看热闹的人。约翰有一所乡间住宅，离派因维尔六英里。住宅坐落在蓝岭山脉，高高在上，与世无争。约翰像是云母石，比金子更可贵，更晶莹。
He met me at Pineville， and we took the trolley car to his home. It is a big， neighbourless cottage on a hill surrounded by a hundred mountains. We got off at his little private station， where Johns family and Amaryllis met and greeted us. Amaryllis looked at me a trifletrifle n.琐事， 少量， 蛋糕， 小事 v.开玩笑， 玩弄， 浪费， 嘲弄 anxiously.
他在派因维尔迎接我，我们搭空中吊运车去他家。那是一所宽大的平房，周围山峦重叠，没有别的住家。我们在他家的私人小站下了车，约翰的家人和阿马丽里斯已在等候我们了。阿马丽里斯有点担心似的瞅着我。
A rabbit came bounding across the hill between us and the house. I threw down my suit—case and pursued it hotfoot. After I had run twenty yards and seen it disappear， I sat down on the grass and wept disconsolately.
我们去约翰家的山路上，前面蹦出一只兔子。我扔下手提箱，使劲追赶。我跑了二十码后，兔子不见了。我一屁股坐在草地上，伤心地哭起来。