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The small boy's illness seemed not serious. Yet he was clearly very worried about something. Whatever was it?
小男孩的病似乎并不太重。但他顯然在為什么事憂心忡忡。究竟是什么事呢？
A Day's Wait
一天的等待
by Ernest Hemingway
歐內斯特·海明威
He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move.
他走進我們房間關窗戶的時候，我們還未起床。我見他一副病容，全身哆嗦，臉色蒼白，步履緩慢，好像一動就會引起疼痛。
“What's the matter, Schatz?”
“你怎么啦，寶貝？”
“I've got a headache.”
“我頭痛。”
“You better go back to bed.”
“你最好回床上去睡。”
“No. I'm all right.”
“不，我沒啥病。”
“You go to bed. I'll see you when I'm dressed.”
“你先去睡。我穿好衣服來看你。”
But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever.
可是當我來到樓下時，他已穿好衣服，坐在火爐旁。這個9歲的男孩，看上去病得厲害，一副可憐的模樣。我用手摸了摸他的額頭，知道他發燒了。
“You go up to bed,” I said, “You're sick.”
“你到樓上去睡，”我說，“你病了。”
“I'm all right,” he said.
“我沒有病，”他說。
When the doctor came he took the boy's temperature.
醫生來后，量了孩子的體溫。
“What's it?” I asked him.
“多少度？”我問醫生。
“One hundred and two.”
“102度。”
Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different colored capsules with instructions for giving them. One was to bring down the fever, another a purgative, the third to overcome an acid condition. The germs of influenza can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was a light epidemic of flu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia.
下樓后，醫生留下用不同顏色膠囊包裝的三種藥丸，并囑咐如何服用。一種藥退燒，另一種潤腸、通便，還有一種是去酸。他解釋說，流感細菌只能在酸性環境中生存。他似乎對流感很內行，并說，如果發燒不超過104度，就用不著擔心。這是輕度流感，只要當心不引起肺炎，就無危險。
