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My next essay was of a somewhat different kind.
我下一篇散文則有點不同。
I took the field in person, being in my nineteenth year, well proportioned,
我當時年僅十九歲，好在野外玩耍，倒也與年齡頗為相稱，
and already beginning to have a sincere relish for poetry, if not for declamation.
已經開始對詩歌懷有真誠的喜好，如果不是對慷慨激昂的演說真心喜歡的話。
I had always been a great reader;
我始終是一位貪婪的讀者，
and in the course of my foraging depredations I had met with "The Mariner's Dream" and "The Lake of the Dismal Swamp,"
在尋找破壞的對象期間，我與《水手的夢》和《凄涼的沼澤湖》不期而遇，
both of which I had committed to memory before I knew it.
這兩首詩在我拜讀之前就已經在我的記憶里留下了烙印。
And one day, happening to be alone with my sister, and newly rigged out in a student's gown,
有一天，碰巧就我和姐姐兩個人在家，我穿了一件簇新的學生禮服，
such as the lads at Brunswick sported when they came to show off among their old companions,
就像布倫茲維克特意向別人炫耀的男孩子，他們在向自己的伙伴顯擺時就是這個樣子。
I proposed to astonish her by rehearsing these two poems in appropriate costume.
我本來打算穿適合的衣服朗誦這兩首詩，讓她大吃一驚。
Being very proud of her brother, and very obliging,
她會為她的弟弟感到非常驕傲，非常滿足，
she consented at once,—upon condition that our dear mother, who had never seen anything of the sort, should be invited to make one of the audience.
她馬上表示同意——我親愛的媽媽從來沒有見過這個，也會邀請她來做觀眾的。
On the whole, I rather think that I succeeded in astonishing both.
總的來說，我寧愿相信自己讓她們兩人都大吃了一驚。
I well remember their looks of amazement—for they had never seen anything better or worse in all their lives,
我記得她們驚愕的樣子——因為在她們的生活中從未見過這個，
