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“Saddle a pony for me,” he said.
“給我備一匹小馬。”他說。
“I’ll carry the mail on.”
“我去把信拿上去。”
“You’d never make it,” he was told.
“你不可能成功的，”他被告知。
“Snow’s drifting now.
“雪正在漂移。
If a man was fresh, he might get through, seeing the wind’s at his back going east.
如果一個人精力充沛，他可能會闖過難關(guān)，因為他背后的風(fēng)正在向東吹。
But you’re a kid.
但你還是個孩子。
You’re played out now.
沒用的。
You haven’t got a chance.”
你沒有機會?！?/div>
“Get that pony ready,” commanded William fiercely.
“準(zhǔn)備好那匹小馬，”威廉義正言辭道。
“I’m going to make it.
“我會做到的。
The mail’s got to go through.”
郵件一定送達(dá)。”
Of that long, wearisome ride William never afterwards had any very clear recollection.
關(guān)于那漫長而令人厭煩的旅程，威廉后來再也沒有清晰的記憶。
He knew only that he rode, trusting to the animal under him to keep to the trail, that he dozed in the saddle, waking up to change horses at the two remount stations and falling asleep again as soon as he was in the saddle.
他只知道他騎著馬，相信他下面的動物會跟著他走，他在馬鞍上打瞌睡，醒來后在換馬站換馬，一上馬鞍就又睡著了。
Then he felt his pony stopping, forced open his eyelids, and found they were at the ferry.
然后他覺得他的小馬停了下來，使勁睜開眼睛，發(fā)現(xiàn)他們在渡口。
He slept again as it bore him across the river, and was pounded into wakefulness on the other side.
馬兒載著他過河時，他又睡著了，在河對岸，他醒了過來。
He realized that it was broad daylight, and had been for hours.
他意識到已經(jīng)是大白天了，已經(jīng)好幾個小時了。
Slowly up the path to the settlement William rode.
威廉騎著馬慢慢地沿著通往定居地的道路走。
He fell off his horse in front of the office of Russell, Majors and Waddell, pushed open the door, staggered inside, tossed his saddlebags at the feet of Mr.Majors, and said thickly:
走到拉塞爾、梅杰斯和瓦德爾的辦公室前，威廉從馬上摔了下來，推開門，踉踉蹌蹌地走了進(jìn)去，他把馱包扔到梅杰斯先生的腳邊，粗聲粗氣地說:
“The mail has come through, sir!”
“郵件送達(dá)了，先生！”
Many hours later he awoke to find that it was another day.
許多個小時后，他醒來發(fā)現(xiàn)已經(jīng)是新的一天了。
Beside his bunk stood his employer.
他的老板站在床邊。
“William,” he said, “the train from the East is due in two hours.
“威廉，”他說，“從東方來的火車兩小時后到達(dá)。
Do you think you can be ready to carry the mail on the first relay west?”
你認(rèn)為你能做好準(zhǔn)備在第一次向西傳遞時把郵件送到嗎?
The boy struggled upright, full of amazement and joy.
男孩筆直地掙扎著，充滿了驚奇和快樂。
“What do you mean, sir?” he managed to ask.
“什么意思，先生?”他嘗試著問道。
“This,” said Mr. Majors; “if you still want to ride for the Pony Express, there’s a job waiting for you.”
“是這樣，”梅杰斯先生說；“如果你還想成為“快馬郵遞”的騎手，這剛好有一份工作?！?/p>
