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Eighteen hundred years passed. Scientists were restoring the ancient city; excavators were working their way through the stones and trash that had buried the entire town. Much had already been brought to light—statues, bronze instruments, bright mosaics, household articles; even delicate paintings had been preserved by the fall of ashes that had taken over two thousand lives. Columns were dug up, and the Forum was beginning to emerge.
1800年過去了，科學家們正在修復這座古城。挖掘機正在清理那些曾經掩埋了整座城市的石頭和垃圾。很多東西得以重見天日：雕像、青銅樂器、鮮艷的馬賽克、家居用品，以及被掉落的火山灰保存得完好的精美畫作。那火山灰曾經奪走了2000余個生命。柱子也被挖了出來，廣場漸漸地呈現在眼前了。
It was at a place where the ruins lay deepest that the Director paused.
修復行動的指揮者在遺跡埋藏得最深的地方停了下來。
"Come here," he called to his assistant. "I think we've discovered the remains of a building in good shape. Here are four huge millstones that were most likely turned by slaves or mules—and here is a whole wall standing with shelves inside it. Why! It must have been a bakery. And here's a curious thing. What do you think I found under this heap where the ashes were thickest? The skeleton of a dog!"
他對助手說：“快來，我覺得我們找到了一座完整的建筑遺跡了。這里是四塊巨大的磨盤，原來可能是由奴隸或者騾子推轉的。這里是一堵完整的墻，在墻上有許多架子。天啊！這原先肯定是一家面包店。這里還有一個奇怪的東西。你猜我在這一堆最厚的火山灰里發現了什么？是一條狗的骨架！”
"Amazing!" gasped his assistant. "You'd think a dog would have had sense enough to run away at the time. And what is that flat thing he's holding between his teeth? It can't be a stone."
“太不可思議了！”助手氣喘吁吁地說，“那時狗一定意識到了危險，知道應該逃跑。它叼著的那扁扁的東西是什么？一定不是石頭。”
"No. It must have come from this bakery. You know it looks to me like some sort of cake hardened with the years. And, bless me, if those little black pebbles aren't raisins. A raisin cake almost two thousand years old! I wonder what made him want it at such a moment?"
“不是石頭。肯定是面包店里的東西。我覺得它看起來像是某種蛋糕，因為年代久遠所以變硬了。天啊，那些黑色的顆粒不會是葡萄干吧。這葡萄干蛋糕得有將近2000年的歷史了！我想知道這只狗在那個時刻為什么想要那塊蛋糕。”
"I wonder," murmured the assistant.
“我也想知道，”助手喃喃地說。
