晚間露營
The moment the porters got in, they dropped their loads and rushed off to see about getting a sleeping-place in the huts of the village.
搬運工們一進來就放下他們運載的貨物,然后沖出去四處查看,在村子的棚屋中找到一個睡覺的地方。
Sometimes the porters would bring back some of the village men to help set up the tents for the white people and to carry the different bags and boxes to the right places.
有時搬運工們會帶回來一些村里的男人,幫著白人搭建帳篷,把不同的包裹和箱子擺在合適的地方。
As soon as the cook had his tent up and his fire going, he began getting dinner. Sometimes the dinner was at two o'clock, sometimes at four or at six. When dinner was to be late, the travelers would eat the crackers and chocolate they carried in their pockets, and open a bottle of lime juice, which is the finest-tasting thing in the world on a hot day in Africa.
廚師一搭起帳篷,生起火就開始準備晚餐了。晚餐有時在兩點鐘,有時在四點鐘或六點鐘。晚餐太晚時,旅行者們會吃口袋里的咸餅干和巧克力,并打開一瓶酸橙汁,在非洲炎熱的日子里,酸橙汁是世界上最美味的東西。
Often the rain would come pouring down just as the meal was ready.
通常,當飯菜準備好時,雨就會傾盆而下。
If it didn't rain too hard, the cook-boys used to dash from the cooking-tent to the dining-tent with the food. The rain did not often last long, and the sun always came out again.
如果雨下得不太大,那些幫廚男孩們端著食物從烹飪帳篷里沖到進餐帳篷里。雨通常持續不了很長時間,雨后太陽又會出來。

The native women from the villages used to bring in food for the porters, and lay it out in rows. The food was usually bananas or meal tied in banana leaves. Then the porters would line up, and each man would take what was opposite him and go off and cook it. Sometimes the white people bought oxen for the porters from a chief who had cattle; and sometimes they fed the porters antelope meat.
村落的土著婦女們通常給搬運工們帶來食物,并把它們一排排放好。這些食物通常是香蕉或者裹在香蕉葉子里的飯菜。這時搬運工們就排好隊,每個人將他正前方對著的食物拿去烹調。白人們有時會從養牛的首領那里給搬運工們買一頭公牛;有時他們給搬運工們買羚羊肉吃。
Before dinner was over Alice was always nodding into her plate, and off she would go with Priscilla to their tent. When the little girl was snuggled down cosily in her blankets, Priscilla would tie the tent flaps shut so that no insect could slip inside, and then go out and join the others in the camp chairs.
晚餐還沒吃完,愛麗絲總是困得點頭,頭快要垂進盤子里了,然后她就和普麗西拉一起離開,回到她們的帳篷里。當小女孩舒服地躺在她的毯子里時,普里西拉會拉上帳篷的門簾,這樣就不會有蟲子溜進帳篷里了,然后她再出去,加入到坐在露營餐椅上的其他人中。
Alice would fall asleep hearing the murmur of the white people in front of her tent, and farther away, like a humming of bees, the chatter of the porters about their little fires. The porters never seemed to sleep. They would have laughed and talked all night if the white people had let them. That was the fun they got out of the trip.
聽著帳篷前大人們的竊竊私語以及遠處搬運工們圍著他們的小火堆,像蜜蜂一樣喋喋不休地嘮叨著,愛麗絲睡著了。搬運工們似乎從不睡覺。如果白人允許的話,他們能整晚說笑。那是他們從旅行中得到的樂趣。
They used to shout with laughter over the doings of the white people they were traveling with, over the strange cloths they wore, and the strange way they ate. Alice used to hear the word "Wazungu" (Stranger), followed by laughter and song, until Uncle Akeleys shout, "Pana kilele" (No noise) put an end to the fun-making and made everybody settle down for the night.
黑人們經常會因為白人的行為、怪異的衣著以及奇怪的吃飯方式而大聲笑起來。愛麗絲過去常聽到“Wazungu”(怪人)一詞,接著就是笑聲和歌聲,直到??死资迨宓囊宦暣蠛啊癙ana kilele”(安靜)才會使搞笑的時刻結束,大家都安頓下來過夜。