But only once did he stop, and that was to help a man in distress. When one sees a tent blown down and a lone man vainly trying to get it up again and anchor it while the wind is blowing a gale, he finds it hard to go on without giving a helping hand. So Pat lost half an hour and made a friend—a thing for which he had cause to be thankful later.
但他中途只停了一次，去幫助一個(gè)陷入困境的人。若一個(gè)人看到有個(gè)帳篷被風(fēng)吹倒了，另一個(gè)人孤零零地試圖在大風(fēng)中把它扶起來錨定，卻只是徒勞時(shí)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己很難不伸出援手而繼續(xù)前行。于是帕特花了半個(gè)小時(shí)與那個(gè)人成為了朋友，他后來很感激自己做了這件事。
“Of course,” he muttered to himself, “I’m Santy Claus this night, but I never knew the old man had such a hard job of it.”
“當(dāng)然，”他自言自語道，“今晚我是圣誕老人，但我從來不知道圣誕老人的工作這么辛苦。”
When he finally reached Traverse City, he found the stores open and doing a brisk Christmas-eve trade. The shopping took time, and further time was required to get thoroughly warmed and rested. The sixteen-mile trip down, facing the wind, had been hard; the fact that it had come after a day’s work had made it harder; the wind had chilled him; and it required all his courage to face the return journey.
當(dāng)他終于到達(dá)特拉弗斯城時(shí)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)商店還在開門營業(yè)，而且圣誕夜生意興隆。買東西花了不少時(shí)間，而且他還需要更多的時(shí)間來徹底暖和過來并休息一下。迎著風(fēng)走了16英里的旅途很是艱難；他一整天都在勞作，使這段旅程變得更加艱難；風(fēng)使他感到寒冷；他需要所有的勇氣來面對(duì)返程。
But he started as soon as he was in condition to do so. He had bought a big sled; on this he had packed his purchases, including a whole pig that was to provide the holiday luxury of fresh meat. The load was not a particularly heavy one, but any load would seem heavy in such circumstances.
但他一休整好就出發(fā)了。他買了一個(gè)大雪橇；他把買來的東西打包放在上面，包括一整頭豬，買豬是為了給圣誕節(jié)提供新鮮的肉類。負(fù)載不是特別重，但在這種情況下，任何負(fù)載都會(huì)顯得很重。
“The sled weighs a ton!” he growled, although he knew his own weariness was largely to blame for the trouble he experienced.
“這個(gè)雪橇重一噸！”他咆哮著，盡管他知道疲乏是他遇到麻煩的主要原因。
He resolutely pushed on until he came to the tent that he had helped to anchor on his down trip; here he stopped to speak to the fisherman.
他堅(jiān)定地往前走，直到走到了之前前行過程中自己幫助錨定的帳篷；他停在這里和漁夫說話。
“You look bad,” remarked the man.
“你看起來很糟糕，”那人說。
“’Tis the way I feel,” returned Pat.
“我感覺很糟糕，”帕特回答說。
“Come inside out of the wind and rest,” urged the fisherman.
“快進(jìn)來避會(huì)風(fēng)，休息一下，”漁夫催促道。
“Got to go on，” said Pat.
帕特說：“我得繼續(xù)走了。”
“Why?” asked the fisherman.
“為什么？漁夫問道。
“I’m Santy Claus,” was the reply.
“我是圣誕老人，”帕特回答說。
評(píng)論
打印
