1. Some people--not you nor I, because we are so awfully self-possessed--but some people, find great difficulty in saying good-bye when making a call or spending the evening. As the moment draws near when the visitor feels that he is fairly entitled to go away he rises and says abruptly, "Well, I think I..." Then the people say, "Oh, must you go now? Surely it's early yet!" and a pitiful struggle ensues.
有些人——當然，并非你我，因為我們都是非常有自制力的人——不過，確實有那么一些人，在與某人打電話時，或者傍晚造訪別人家時，在需要告別離開的時候就會感到非常難以啟齒。時間越來越晚，到了那么一個時刻，客人終于覺得自己有資格離開了，于是他突然站起身來，唐突地說：“好吧，我想我......”然后，主人說：“哦，您必須現在走嗎？時間還早呢！”隨之而來的便是客人內心中可憐的掙扎與糾結。
2. I think the saddest case of this kind of thing that I ever knew was that of my poor friend Melpomenus Jones, a curate--such a dear young man, and only twenty-three! He simply couldn't get away from people. He was too modest to tell a lie, and too religious to wish to appear rude. Now it happened that he went to call on some friends of his on the very first afternoon of his summer vacation. The next six weeks were entirely his own--absolutely nothing to do.
我認為我所知道的這類事情中經歷最悲慘的應該算是我可憐的朋友米爾博米納斯·瓊斯。他是一位助理牧師，一位年僅23歲可愛的年輕人。他就是那種不會與別人告別的人。他為人非常謙虛謹慎，不會撒謊，而且非常虔誠，在別人面前總是彬彬有禮的樣子。一次，他碰巧在暑假的第一天下午去拜訪他的幾位朋友。接下來的六個星期時間可以完全由他自由支配——實際上是完全無事可做。
3. He chatted awhile, drank two cups of tea, then braced himself for the effort and said suddenly: "Well, I think I..." But the lady of the house said, "Oh, no! Mr. Jones, can't you really stay a little longer?" Jones was always truthful. "Oh, yes," he said, "of course, I--er--can stay." "Then please don't go." He stayed. He drank eleven cups of tea. Night was falling. He rose again. "Well now," he said shyly, "I think I really..."
他聊了一會兒，喝了兩杯茶，然后努力振作起精神，突然說道：“好吧，我想我......”不過，房子的女主人說：“哦，不！瓊斯先生，您真的不能再多呆一會兒嗎？“瓊斯一直是個實在人。 “哦，可以，”他說，“當然，我……呃……可以再呆會兒。” “那請不要走。”于是，他留了下來。他喝了11杯茶。夜幕降臨，他再次站起身來。“好了，”他害羞地說，“我想我真的......”
4. "You must go?" said the lady politely. "I thought perhaps you could have stayed to dinner...""Oh well, so I could, you know," Jones said, "if..." "Then please stay, I'm sure my husband will be delighted." "All right," he said feebly, "I'll stay," and he sank back into his chair, just full of tea, and miserable. Papa came home. They had dinner. All through the meal Jones sat planning to leave at eight-thirty. All the family wondered whether Mr. Jones was stupid and sulky, or only stupid.
“您必須現在走嗎？”女主人禮貌地說。“我想也許您可以留下來吃晚餐......”“哦，好吧，我可以留下了吃晚餐，您知道的，”瓊斯說，“只要......”“那就請留下來吧，我相信我丈夫知道您留下來吃晚餐會很高興的。” “好吧，”他弱弱地說，“我會留下來的。”然后，他又坐回到椅子上，不停地喝茶，同時忍受著內心中的痛苦不堪。孩子爸爸回家了。他們一家人和瓊斯先生共進晚餐。進餐時，瓊斯自始至終都在盤算著自己要在8點半離開。而，正在招待他的一家人都很納悶，瓊斯先生究竟是在生氣和犯傻，還是僅僅是傻了。
5. After dinner mamma undertook to "draw him out," and showed him photographs. She showed him all the family museum, several gross of them--photos of papa's uncle and his wife, and mamma's brother and his little boy, an awfully interesting photo of papa's uncle's friend in his Bengal uniform, an awfully well-taken photo of papa's grandfather's partner's dog, and an awfully wicked one of papa as the devil for a fancy-dress ball. At eight-thirty Jones had examined seventy-one photographs. There were about sixty-nine more that he hadn't. Jones rose.
飯后，孩子媽媽試圖把他從這種狀態中“拉”出來，于是她給他看了很多照片。她向他展示了她家“家庭博物館”的全部家當，其中包括：孩子爸爸的叔叔和嬸嬸的照片、 孩子媽媽的兄弟和他的孩子的照片、孩子爸爸的叔叔的朋友身著孟加拉軍服拍攝的一張非常有趣的照片、一張拍攝得非常棒的孩子爸爸的祖父的老伴的狗的照片，以及孩子爸爸參加化妝舞會時拍攝的一張非常搞怪的魔鬼裝扮照片。時間來到了八點半，瓊斯已經認真地欣賞了71張照片，還有至少大約69張照片沒來得及看。瓊斯再次站起身來。
6. "I must say good night now," he pleaded. "Say good night!" they said, "why it's only half-past eight! Have you anything to do?" "Nothing," he admitted, and muttered something about staying six weeks, and then laughed miserably. Just then it turned out that the favourite child of the family, such a dear little romp, had hidden Mr. Jones's hat; so papa said that he must stay, and invited him to a pipe and a chat. Papa had the pipe and gave Jones the chat, and still he stayed. Every moment he meant to take the plunge, but couldn't.
“我現在必須說晚安了，”他央求著說。“說晚安？！”他們說，“為什么？現在剛剛八點半！您是有其他事情嗎？” “沒別的事情，”他承認道，并咕噥著要在這邊呆六個星期，然后苦笑起來。就在這時，他們發現家里最受寵的孩子，就是那個調皮可愛的小女孩，把瓊斯先生的帽子藏了起來。于是，孩子爸爸說瓊斯先生必須留下來，并邀請他抽支煙斗，再聊會兒天。孩子爸爸手里拿著煙斗，跟瓊斯聊天。于是，他又一次沒走成。他時時刻刻想的都是再冒險嘗試一次離開，但他沒有做到。

7. Then papa began to get very tired of Jones, and fidgeted and finally said, with jocular irony, that Jones had better stay all night, they could give him a shake-down. Jones mistook his meaning and thanked him with tears in his eyes, and papa put Jones to bed in the spare room and cursed him heartily.
隨后，孩子爸爸開始對瓊斯感到厭煩，變得坐立不安，最終用帶些詼諧、諷刺的口吻說，瓊斯最好留下過夜，讓他們給他一次適應新環境的機會。瓊斯誤解了他的意思，含著眼淚對他表示了感謝。于是，孩子爸爸把瓊斯帶到了客房睡覺，并在內心里狠狠地詛咒了他。
8. After breakfast next day, papa went off to his work in the City, and left Jones playing with the baby, broken-hearted. His nerve was utterly gone. He was meaning to leave all day, but the thing had got on his mind and he simply couldn't. When papa came home in the evening he was surprised and chagrined to find Jones still there. He thought to jockey him out with a jest, and said he thought he'd have to charge him for his board, he! he! The unhappy young man stared wildly for a moment, then wrung papa's hand, paid him a month's board in advance, and broke down and sobbed like a child.
第二天早餐后，孩子爸爸出門到城里上班去了，留下瓊斯陪嬰兒玩。此時的瓊斯內心已幾近崩潰，僅有的一點兒勇氣也已蕩然無存。一整天，他都在想著離開，但也只是想想而已，根本沒有付諸行動。當孩子爸爸晚上回到家時，他驚訝并失望地發現瓊斯居然還在家里。他想以一種開玩笑的方式把他趕出家門，并告訴他，他認為他得向他收取住宿費，嘿嘿！那個悶悶不樂的年輕人瞪大眼睛盯著看了好一會兒，然后緊緊握住孩子爸爸的手，預付了一個月的住宿費，隨后像個孩子一樣失聲痛哭起來。
9. In the days that followed he was moody and unapproachable. He lived, of course, entirely in the drawing-room, and the lack of air and exercise began to tell sadly on his health. He passed his time in drinking tea and looking at the photographs. He would stand for hours gazing at the photographs of papa's uncle's friend in his Bengal uniform--talking to it, sometimes swearing bitterly at it. His mind was visibly failing.
在接下來的日子里，他情緒低落，不愛搭理人。當然，他整日都宅在客廳里，呼吸不到新鮮空氣并且缺乏鍛煉，開始令他的健康狀況變糟。一天到晚，他除了喝茶就是看照片。他會連續站著幾個小時，凝視著孩子爸爸叔叔的朋友穿著孟加拉軍服的照片——甚至會對著它說話，有時還會對著它惡毒地咒罵。顯然，他的精神狀況正在變得越來越糟。
10. At length the crash came. They carried him upstairs in a raging delirium of fever. The illness that followed was terrible. He recognized no one, not even papa's uncle's friend in his Bengal uniform. At times he would start up from his bed and shriek, "Well, I think I..." and then fall back upon the pillow with a horrible laugh. Then, again, he would leap up and cry, "Another cup of tea and more photographs! More photographs! Har! Har!"
他終于崩潰了。他們把發著高燒且極度狂躁的他帶到了樓上。接下來，他的病情變得更加嚴重。他誰也認不出了，甚至穿著孟加拉軍服的孩子爸爸叔叔的朋友也是一樣。偶爾，他會突然從床上起身并尖叫道：“好吧，我想我......”然后又躺回到枕頭上，發出可怕的笑聲。然后，他會再一次突然起身并驚叫道：“再喝杯茶，再看幾張照片！再看幾張照片！哈！哈！”
11. At length, after a month of agony, on the last day of his vacation, he passed away. They say that when the last moment came, he sat up in bed with a beautiful smile of confidence playing upon his face, and said, "Well--the angels are calling me; I'm afraid I really must go now. Good afternoon." And the rushing of his spirit from its prison-house was as rapid as a hunted cat passing over a garden fence.
經過一個月的痛苦掙扎，在他假期的最后一天，他終于離開了人世。他們說，當最后一刻來臨時，他起身坐在床上，臉上露出美麗又自信的笑容，然后說道： “好吧，天使們在呼喚我；不好意思，我現在真的必須離開了。下午好。”。然后，他的靈魂沖破這所“牢房”——房子——的束縛，就如同一只被追趕的貓越過花園圍欄時一樣迅速。