1. Four men once came to a wet place in the forest to fish. They set up their tent upon a ridge of rocks from where they could hear the trees and the lake below. On fragrant hemlock boughs they slept the sleep of unsuccessful fishermen, for upon the lake the sun made them lazy and the rain made them wet. Finally, they ate the last bit of bacon and smoked and burned the last fearful and wonderful hoecake.
一次，四個男子來到森林里的一處濕地釣魚。他們把帳篷搭在了隆起的巖石上，在這里他們可以聽到從下面的樹木和湖泊處傳來的聲音。在散發著芳香的鐵杉樹的大枝上，他們的睡姿像是四個沒釣到魚的漁夫，因為掛在湖面上的烈日照得他們懶洋洋的，然后突如其來的雨水又讓他們渾身變得濕淋淋的。終于，他們吃掉了最后一點兒培根，吸著煙，在火上把最后一張玉米餅烤得一塌糊涂。
2. Immediately a little man volunteered to stay and hold the camp while the remaining three should go to the nearest farmhouse for supplies. They gazed at him dismally. "There's only one of you--the devil makes a twin," they said in malediction, and disappeared down the hill.
此時，他們中的一名小個人男子自愿留下守著營地，讓其余三人到距離最近的農舍尋找補給品。聽到這個建議后，三人情緒低落地凝視著他。“這里就只剩下你一個人了——不過，魔鬼會和你做伴，”他們用詛咒的口吻說道，然后消失在下山的路上。
3. When it came night and the hemlocks began to close their flowers, they had not returned. The little man sat close to his companion, the campfire, and encouraged it with logs. He puffed fiercely at a pipe, and watched a thousand shadows from the campfire which seemed to want to assault him. Suddenly, he heard the approach of something unknown: crackling of twigs and rustling of dead leaves.
到了晚上，鐵杉樹上的花朵開始閉合時，那三個人還沒回來。小個子男子坐在陪伴他的篝火旁，用原木“鼓舞”它繼續燃燒。他狠狠地吸了一口煙斗，看著似乎正從篝火中向他張牙舞爪的上千個影子。突然，他聽到有不明物體正在靠近——小樹枝噼啪作響，地上的枯葉發出沙沙的聲音。
4. The little man arose slowly to his feet, his pipe dropped from his mouth, his knees touched each other, for they were shaking with fear. "Hah!" he cried out. A growl replied and a bear paced into the light of the fire. The little man supported himself with a tree and regarded his visitor.
小個子男子慢慢站起身來，嘴里叼著的煙斗掉落下來。他兩腿的膝蓋相互碰觸著，因為它們正因恐懼而發抖。“啊！”他喊了出來。回應他的是一聲咆哮。與此同時，火光中出現了一頭熊的身影。小個子男子用一棵樹撐住了自己的身體，同時注視著這位不速之客。
5. The bear was clearly a fighter and a bit older, for the black of his coat had become yellowish-brown with age. There was confidence in his movements and arrogance in his small, twinkling eye. He rolled back his lips and showed his white teeth. The fire emphasized the red of his mouth. The little man had never before been confronted by something that terrible, and he could not deal with it. "Hah!" he roared. The bear interpreted this as the challenge of a gladiator. He approached warily.
這頭熊顯然是個好斗分子，而且年齡不小了，因為它黑色的皮毛已隨著年齡的增長變成了黃褐色。它的動作中充滿了自信，閃爍的小眼睛中散發著傲慢的氣息。它翻開了雙唇，露出了潔白的牙齒。在火光的照射下，它的嘴里顯得更紅。小個子男子之前從未面對過如此可怕的場景，他已束手無措。“啊！”他咆哮道。熊將此解讀為角斗士間的挑戰，于是開始警惕地向小個男子靠近。

6. As he came near, the boots of fear were suddenly upon the little man's feet. He cried out and then ran around the campfire. "Ho!" said the bear to himself, "this thing won't fight--it runs. Well, suppose I catch it." So he started to run around the campfire also. The little man shrieked and ran furiously. Twice around they went.
隨著熊的靠近，小個子男子的雙腳像是突然穿上了一雙恐懼的靴子。他大喊了一聲，然后開始繞著篝火跑了起來。“嚯！”熊自言自語說，“這東西不會打架，只會跑。好吧，那就看看我能不能抓住它。”于是，熊也繞著篝火跑了起來。小個子男子一邊尖叫，一邊瘋狂地奔跑。他們倆就這樣繞著篝火跑了兩圈。
7. The hand of heaven sometimes falls heavily upon the righteous. The bear gained distance. In desperation the little man flew into the tent. The bear stopped and sniffed at the entrance. He scented the scent of many men. Finally, he walked in.
上天有時候會向正義的人伸出援手。熊并沒有追上小個子男子。小個子男子在絕望之際，飛身鉆進了帳篷里。熊停下了腳步，用鼻子聞著帳篷的入口。它聞到了帳篷里有許多人的氣味。終于，它走了進去。
8. The little man crouched in a distant corner. The bear advanced, creeping, his blood burning, his hair straight up, his jaws dripping. The little man yelled and moved around clumsily in the tent. The bear made a jump to grab his game. The little man, now without the tent, felt a tremendous paw grabbing his coat. He squirmed and wriggled out of his coat like a schoolboy in the hands of his bully.
此時，小個子男子正蹲伏在帳篷里一個距離入口較遠的角落里。熊一步一步地向帳篷里爬行著，全身血液沸騰，毛發豎起，口水從下頜滴落。小個子男子大叫起來，然后笨拙地在帳篷里四處亂跑。熊跳起來抓住了它的這個獵物。小個子男子現在沒有了帳篷的掩護，感覺到一只巨大的熊掌抓住了他的外套。他像一個被學校霸凌者用手抓起來的學生一樣，蠕動著身體，從外套中逃脫了出來。
9. The bear jerked the coat into the tent and took two bites, a punch and a hug before he discovered his man was not in it. Then he grew not very angry, for a bear is not a pirate. He lay down on his back, took the coat on his four paws and began to play with it. The most appalling yells came from where the little man was crying in a treetop. He moaned a little speech meant as a prayer and clung to the bending branches. He gazed with tears in his eyes at where the campfire was giving dying flickers and crackles. Finally, there was a roar from the tent which eclipsed all roars; a snarl which it seemed would shake the silence of the mountain and cause it to shrug its shoulders. The little man saw the white tent quiver and fall with a crash. The bear's merry play had disturbed the centre pole and brought a chaos of canvas upon his head.
熊猛地把外套拉進了帳篷，咬了兩口，然后猛壓下去，緊接著又是一個熊抱，然后才發現它的獵物并不在這件外套里。但隨后，它并沒有變得很生氣，因為它是熊，并不是海盜。它背朝地躺了下來，用它的四個熊掌抓起外套，玩耍起來。此時，從一棵樹的樹梢傳來了一聲最令人膽寒的叫喊聲，這聲音來自于正躲在那里的小個子男子。他緊緊抓住彎曲的樹枝，像個祈禱者一樣用呻吟的聲音念叨著什么。他眼里含著淚水，凝視著篝火掙扎地閃爍著最后的光芒，發出最后的噼啪聲。最后，帳篷里發出一個能夠吞噬所有其他咆哮的咆哮聲，一種似乎會撼動山的寂靜，并讓山無奈地聳聳肩的咆哮聲。小個子男子看到白色的帳篷抖動著砸落在地上。熊的歡樂玩耍弄亂了帳篷中央的柱子，帆布亂作一團，罩在了熊的頭上。
10. Now the little man became the witness of a mighty scene. The tent began to flounder. It took flopping strides in the direction of the lake. Marvellous sounds came from within the tent--rips and tears, and great groans. The little man started giggling hysterically.
此時此刻，小個子男子成了這一威猛場景的見證者——帳篷開始掙扎，然后邁著大步，跌跌撞撞地去了湖泊的方向。帳篷里傳出來不可思議的聲音——猛烈的撕扯聲以及巨大的呻吟聲。小個子男子開始歇斯底里地咯咯笑。
11. So it came to pass that three men, clambering up the hill with bundles and baskets, saw their tent approaching. It seemed to them like a white phantom that moaned. The three men dropped their bundles and ran to one side, their eyes gleaming with fear. The canvas ghost swept past them. They leaned against trees and listened, their blood froze. Below them the tent struck a great pine tree. The three watched it a moment and then ran to the top of the hill. As they left, the bear cut loose from the tent with mighty efforts. He gave an agonized look at the white thing, and then started wildly back into the forest.
與此同時，那三個人正帶著包袱和籃子從山下走來。他們看到帳篷正向他們靠近。在他們看來，這東西就像一個呻吟著的白色幽靈。三個人丟下了包袱，跑到了一邊，每個人的眼睛里都充滿了恐懼。這個帆布幽靈從他們身邊一掃而過。他們靠在樹上，用耳朵聽著，血液都快凝固了。在他們下面，帳篷撞到了一棵大松樹。三個人觀察了一會兒，然后跑到了山頂。他們離開后，熊花了巨大的力氣才從帳篷里脫身。它極度痛苦地看著那個白色的東西，然后狂野地跑回到森林里。
12. The three fear-stricken men ran to the campfire. The little man was sitting by it calmly and was smoking. They immediately overwhelmed him with questions. He only contemplated for a moment, took a long, pompous puff from his pipe and said: "There's only one of me--and the devil made a twin."
這三個被嚇壞的男子跑到篝火旁。小個子男子正平靜地坐在那里，吸著煙。他們立刻向他狂轟亂炸了很多問題。他只是沉思了一會兒，然后有些浮夸地長長地吸了一口煙斗，開口說道：“這里就只剩下我一個人——不過，魔鬼會和我做伴。”