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HOW POTTS SAVED THE NIGHT EXPRESS Ray Stannard Baker
波茨挽救夜行快車 雷·斯坦納德·貝克爾
The men who command our ships, pilot our airplanes, and run the great locomotives that pull our trains cannot be weaklings.
操縱帆船，駕駛飛機，操作火車頭的人決不能軟弱。
They must be able to think and act with quickness and courage, for the lives of others depend upon them.
他們要能夠思考和行動，而且要動作敏捷，有勇氣，人們的生命依靠他們。
Many a brave deed that these men do never gets into the newspapers, because such deeds are all in the day's work for them.
這些人的英勇事跡從未上過報紙，因為這些事跡是他們的日常工作。
It was past midnight when Potts came out of Galesburg, Illinois, pulling the Chicago express from Burlington.
那是后半夜，波茨離開了伊利諾伊州蓋爾斯堡，他駕駛著芝加哥快車從伯靈頓出發。
There was a full moon, making the whole country almost as bright as day;
月亮很圓，將整個國家照亮地就像白天一樣光明，
the September air was warm and sweet with the smell of the woods.
九月的天氣溫暖和煦，有樹木的氣味。
Harrison, the fireman, was swinging the black door of the fire-box and shoveling in the coal.
消防員哈里森搖擺著火箱的黑門，火箱正在消耗煤。
Potts, with his left hand resting carelessly on the throttle lever,
波茨的左手愜意地放在節流桿上，
leaned out of the cab window and wished that all night runs might be made in nights like this one.
他向駕駛窗外傾斜，希望所有夜晚都能像今晚一樣。
Under him quivered the great steel giant that he had grown to love as a friend, and behind him trailed the long, dark, voiceless train.
他的下面是顫抖的巨大鋼鐵巨人，他早就愛上了它，并把它當做朋友，它后面拖拽著長長的，暗色無聲列車。
There were eleven cars in all, four baggage cars, three day coaches, three sleepers, and a mail car, one of the heaviest trains on the road.
總共有11節車廂，四節行李廂，三節硬座車廂，三節軟臥車廂，一節郵政，這也是公路上最重的火車之一。
Packed away inside of them were two hundred fifty persons or more, bound eastward from Burlington, Omaha, Denver, and the Far West.
車廂中有250多名乘客，他們從伯靈頓、奧馬哈、丹佛以及遠西地區，前往東部地區。
They dozed, secure in their faith that the steady but unknown hand that guided the engine would bring them safe into Chicago.
他們在打盹，并堅信這雙穩重但未知的雙手將操縱引擎，安全地將他們帶入芝加哥。
At the blinking of the Altona semaphore Potts drew down on the whistle lever, and the engine gave one long cheer for the little town
在阿爾托納信號標的閃爍下，波茨向下拉汽笛桿，引擎在小鎮上發出了長長的轟鳴聲，
which it intended to pass with no other notice. As the train slowed to schedule speed, a few straggling buildings came up suddenly into the moonlight,
它本來想在不注意的情況下通過，隨著火車減慢到規定速度，幾棟零星的建筑突然出現在月光中，
stood for a moment in plain view, and then darted backward again into the darkness.
在清晰的背景下矗立了一會，之后又快速往回進入了黑暗中。
Altona was passed with a clear track and a long upgrade ahead.
我們越過了阿爾托納，前面還有很長的向上斜坡。
A mile eastward blinked a semaphore, white and safe, and to its left, close down to the track,
向西一英里處亮起了白色信號，在它的左邊，靠近鐵軌處，
there were three other lights, a large one and two small ones. Tramp freight, said Potts to himself,
還有三盞燈，一個大的兩個小的，波茨對自己說不定期航船，
as he saw the lights of the stranger slowly brighten. There was no need of further reducing speed.
他看到信號燈逐漸變亮，無需再次減速。
It was a double track all the way, and the passenger must make time.
一路上都是雙軌，乘客必須留出時間。
The two trains would slip by each other with the usual shrieks of friendly greeting.
兩輛火車將擦肩而過，發出刺耳的問候聲。
