Bert's Thanksgiving
伯特的感恩節(jié)

By J. T. Trowbridge?revised?by Kristina Harding
特羅布里奇【著】. 克里斯汀娜?哈丁【修訂】.

At noon on a dreary November day, a lonesome little fellow stood at the door of a cheap restaurant in Boston, and offered a solitary copy of a morning paper for sale to the people passing. But there were really not many people passing, for it was Thanksgiving Day, and the shops were closed, and everybody who had a home to go to, and a dinner to eat, seemed to have gone home.
十一月的一個沉悶的午間，一位寂寞的小伙子站在波士頓一家廉價餐館門口，想把一份晨報賣給路人。但是由于這天是感恩節(jié)，路上沒有很多行人，商店也都關(guān)門了，那些有家可歸、有晚餐要赴的人們，似乎也都已經(jīng)回家了。

An old man, with a face that looked pinched, and who was dressed in a seedy black coat, stopped at the same doorway, and, with one hand on the latch, he appeared to hesitate between hunger and a sense of poverty, before going in. It was possible, however, that he was considering whether he could afford himself the indulgence of a morning paper, seeing it was Thanksgiving Day; so at least Bert thought, and addressed him accordingly.
這時，有一個滿臉消瘦的老人，身上穿著破舊的黑色外套，在餐館門前停了下來，一只手搭在門把上準(zhǔn)備進(jìn)去，但在進(jìn)門前，他看起來似乎在饑餓感與貧窮之間猶豫不決。而賣報紙的小伙伯特也在考慮老人能否看在今天是感恩節(jié)的份上，買一份晨報。不管怎樣，至少伯特認(rèn)為有可能，因此他走上前問了這位老人。

"Buy a paper, sir? All about the fire in East Boston, and arrest of burglars in Springfield. Only two cents."
“先生，買一份報紙嗎？今天的內(nèi)容是關(guān)于東波士頓的火災(zāi)和斯普林菲爾德的竊賊被捕。只要兩美分?！?/div>

The little old man looked at the boy, with keen gray eyes which seemed to light up the pinched look of his face, and answered in a shrill voice,"You ought to come down in your price, this time of day. You can't expect to sell a morning paper at 12 o'clock for full price."
那位瘦弱的老人看著小伙，銳利的灰色眼睛似乎為他憔悴的面色增添了一絲生機(jī)，他用尖銳的聲音回答道，“你應(yīng)該在今天把報紙的價格降下來。因為你不能指望在中午十二點(diǎn)還能以原價來賣出晨報。”

"Well, give me a cent, then," said Bert. "That's less than cost; but never mind. I'm bound to sell out, anyhow."
“好吧，那付我一美分就好?！辈卣f?！氨M管這價錢低于成本，但沒關(guān)系，我無論如何都要把它們賣出去。”

"You look cold," said the old man.
老人說，“你看起來很冷?！?/div>

"Cold," replied Bert, "I'm nearly frozen. And I want my dinner. And I'm going to have a big dinner, too, seeing it's Thanksgiving Day."
“冷？”伯特回答說，“我都要被凍僵了。我想要吃晚餐，一頓豐盛的晚餐，畢竟今天是感恩節(jié)。”

"Ah! Lucky for you, my boy!" said the old man. "You've a home to go to, and friends, too. I hope."
“歐！你是多么幸運(yùn)啊，我的孩子！”老人說，“你有家可回，還有朋友，我猜?！?/div>

"No, sir; no home, and no friend—only my mother."
“不，先生。我沒有家，也沒有朋友，我只有媽媽?！?/div>

"It's more lonesome not to eat at all," said the old man, his gray eyes twinkling. "Here, I guess I can find one cent for you—though there's nothing in the paper, I know."
“如果完全不吃點(diǎn)什么東西會更孤獨(dú)吧”，那位老人說著說著，灰色的眼睛里閃爍出了光芒。“我想我可以找出一分錢來買份報紙，雖然我知道里面并沒有什么可讀的?！?/div>

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