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Once when I was hitchhiking unsuccessfully in the rain, a trucker pulled over, locking his brakes so hard that he skidded on the grass shoulder. The driver told me he was once robbed at knifepoint by a hitchhiker. "But I hate to see a man stand out in the rain," he added. "People don't have no heart anymore."
有一次我在雨中沒能搭上便車。一名長途卡車司機停了車，他把剎車踩得那么重，車子都在草地路肩上滑行了一段。司機告訴我他有一次被搭便車的人持刀搶劫了。“但我不愿意看到有人在雨里站著。”他補充說，“現在大家都沒有良心了。”
I found, however, that people were generally compassionate. A middle-aged Iowa couple shepherded me around for an hour, trying to help me find a campground. In South Dakota a woman whose family had given me a night's lodging handed me two stamped post cards: one to let her know how my trip turned out; the other to send the next day, telling her where I was so she wouldn't worry about me.
然而，我發現，總體而言，人們還是挺有同情心的。艾奧瓦州一對中年夫婦為了幫我找宿營地領著我走了一個小時。在南達科他州，一個女人讓我在她家住了一晚之后遞給我兩張貼了郵票的明信片：一張是讓她知道我這趟旅行結果如何；另一張是要第二天寄出的，告訴她我在哪里，免得她為我擔心。
Hearing I had no money and would take none, people in every state bought me food or shared whatever they happened to have with them. A park ranger in Ukiah, Calif., gave me some carrots. A college student handed me sacks filled with organic tomatoes and melons. A woman in Iowa gave me two bundles of graham crackers, two cans of soda, two cans of tuna, two apples and two pieces of chicken.
聽說我沒錢，又不愿意接受錢，每個州的人們都會給我買食物或者和我分享他們手頭上有的東西。在加州的尤凱亞，一位國家公園管理員給了我一些胡蘿卜，一名大學生給了我幾大袋有機西紅柿和瓜類。艾奧瓦州的一名婦女給了我兩大包全麥餅干、兩罐果汁汽水、兩個金槍魚罐頭、兩個蘋果和兩塊雞肉。
The people who had the least to give often gave the most. In Oregon a home painter named Mike noted the chilly weather and asked if I had a coat. When I replied, "a light one," he drove me to his house, rummaged through his garage and handed me a bulky green Army-style jacket.
擁有最少的人往往給予的最多。在俄勒岡一個叫邁克的房屋油漆工注意到天氣十分寒冷，就問我有沒有外套。我回答說“有件薄的”，他開車帶我去他家，翻遍了車庫，遞給我一件肥大的綠色軍大衣。
