I on the other hand had a weak constitution. I couldn’t digest any real food and lived on little more than coffee. My arms and legs were as thin as stems. And what work did I do there, you may well ask. I was chief garbage man for the dormitory.
另一方面，我的体质很弱。我不能消化任何真正的食物，只能靠咖啡为生。我的胳膊和腿像茎一样细。你可能会问，我在那里做什么工作。我是宿舍的首席清洁工。
Our company had a big project to build a reinforced concrete reservoir out in a suburb surrounded by hills. At night a portion of the project was closed to us by means of a big square gate made of brass. One cold evening I was depositing the garbage from supper behind our dormitory when I saw a torch and the shape of a man passing through the grass gate. I walked over.
我们公司有一个大项目，要在郊区群山环绕的地方修建一个钢筋混凝土水库。到 了晚上，工程的一部分通过一个黄铜制的大方门关闭了。一个寒冷的晚上，我正把晚饭后的垃圾放在宿舍后面，突然看见一个火把和一个男人的身影穿过草坪。我走过去。
Of all the males in our company’s dormitory, I felt the most affection for Tom. He was a genius, I thought, but the other guys took him for a nut. He came from far away, and at first had a strong Spanish accent. Now, after a year with the company, he spoke English very well. But his English accent had an exaggerated precision that the other guys didn’t like. In the crude environment of the dormitory, Tom’s accent seemed artificial. But he was a big man, a giant, and strong as an ox, and the others feared him and left him alone.
在我们公司宿舍的所有男生中，我最喜欢汤姆。我认为他是个天才，但其他人都把他当成疯子。他是从很远的地方来的，一开始带着浓重的西班牙口音。现在，在公司工作一年后，他的英语说得非常好。但是他的英语口音有一种夸张的精确度，其他人不喜欢。在宿舍的简陋环境中，汤姆的口音显得矫揉造作。但是他是一个高大的男人，一个巨人，强壮如牛，其他人都怕他，留下他一个人。
“Don’t you know we shouldn’t?” I said. “You still haven’t adjusted to the company.”
“难道你不知道我们不应该这样做吗？”我说。“你还没有适应这家公司。”
“I knew it was you,” I said to Tom. “It’s open,” he said. “Shall we go in?”
“我就知道是你，”我对汤姆说。“门是开着的，”他说。“我们进去吧？”
Tom and I penetrated all the way to the crane, and no watchman had yet pursued us.
汤姆和我一直钻到了起重机那儿，还没有看门人来追我们。
“Adjust?” he said. “I’d rather quit. Come. What are you afraid of? Don’t you want to investigate this portion?” He knew I did. Already it seemed inevitable that I would to with him. I only feared that the torch would be noticeable on the TV monitor of the chief watchman.
“调整？”他说。“我宁愿辞职。来吧。你在害怕什么？难道你不想调查一下这部分吗？”他知道是我干的。我和他在一起似乎已经是不可避免的了。我只是担心火炬会在首席看守的电视屏幕上显示出来。
“Turn off the torch,” I said, and we walked through the brass square gate.
“把手电筒关掉，”我说，然后我们穿过了铜制的广场大门。
This giant crane was used for moving and placing the reinforced concrete blocks. In the dark we recognized it by its shape — an immense pillar of zigzag rods. At the top of it, we knew, at the peak, would be the flag. And far over our heads, up in the dark sky, would be the crane’s giant arm. On the arm was the banner that we saw everyday, with the letters ABC, the initial letters of our company’s name. We had ABC written on our shirts, too, and on the chairs and beds with which our dormitory was furnished.
这个巨大的起重机用来移动和放置钢筋混凝土。在黑暗中，我们可以通过它的形状认出它——一根巨大的之字形柱子。在它的顶端，我们知道，在顶端，将是一面旗帜。在我们的头顶上，在黑暗的天空中，是起重机的巨大臂膀。手臂上是我们每天都能看到的横幅，上面写着ABC，我们公司名字的首字母。我们的衬衫和宿舍里摆放的椅子和床上也都写着 ABC。
“Let’s go up!” said Tom. I laughed — but Tome had spoken in earnest. Strong as he was, he really had no concept of authority.
“我们上去吧！”汤姆说。我笑了，但汤姆说话是认真的。尽管他很强壮，但他真的没有权威的概念。
To the banner? Oh, no. This was too much.
对着横幅？哦不这太过分了。
“Tom, you are a nut!” I said, wanting to show him that I was reluctant. But in the end he convinced me, and we mounted the ladder to the lift. There were two buttons, a red one and a green one. I pressed the latter, just to see if the lift might be operational. It was. I pressed the red button and stopped it. Tome got in. I pressed the green one again and we rose and rose and finally reached the top. We were at the peak of the pillar, just underneath the flag. Even in the dark we were close enough to see it. Before us the crane’s giant arm led of like a road into the night. Its rods and all zigzag, made me feel that over there would be, I saw, a square gate, some garbage and a dormitory. But no. Off the end of that zigzag road really would be nothing but dark night. The geometry of the crane scared me.
“汤姆，你是个疯子！”我说，想让他知道我不情愿。但是最后他说服了我，我们爬上梯子到了电梯。有两个纽扣，一个红的，一个绿的。我按了后一个按钮，只是想看看电梯是否能正常运行。是的。我按下红色按钮，停了下来。汤姆被录取了。我又按了一下那个绿色的，我们一起爬上去，最后到达了山顶。我们在柱子的顶端，就在国旗的下面。即使在黑暗中，我们也足够近地看到它。在我们面前的是一只巨大的鹤臂，它像一条通往黑夜的道路一样指引着我们。它的木条和所有的之字形，让我觉得在那里会有，我看到，一个正方形的大门，一些垃圾和一个宿舍。但是没有。弯弯曲曲的道路尽头真的只有漆黑的夜晚。起重机的几何形状吓了我一跳。
“I want to see the ABC!” said Tome. “Come on!” why was his voice so urgent?
“我要看 ABC！”汤姆说。“来吧！”为什么他的声音这么急？
“Let’s walk out to the banner!”
“让我们走向横幅！”
But he had set off. I was very scared, but somehow rose to the challenge and went with him. It became a contest: who would be the first one to touch the long banner? I was halfway along the arm when I heard the water of the reservoir, far underneath us. It was then that I remembered that the chief crane operator, before stopping his work for the day, would always swing the giant arm so that it projected out over the water.
但他出发了。我非常害怕，但不知怎么地，我挺身而出，和他一起走了。这变成了一场竞赛：谁会是第一个触摸长长的横幅的人？当我沿着胳膊走到一半的时候，我听到了水库的水声，就在我们脚下。就在那时，我想起了起重机总操作员，在停下他的工作一天之前，总是会挥动那个巨大的手臂，这样它就能在水面上投射出来。
“Tom, you are too bold,” I said. “You really have no concept…”
“汤姆，你太大胆了，”我说。“你真的没有概念…”
Now I was really scared. I held on to a rod. I could feel the coffee I had drunk could and undigested inside me. I did not have Tom’s ox-like constitution.
现在我真的很害怕。我抓住一根棍子。我可以感觉到我喝过的咖啡在我体内可能消化不了。我没有汤姆那种牛一样的体格。
What did the want that ABC banner for?
他们要那个 ABC 横幅干什么？
Tom had reached the banner. He was a dark shape, loosening the knots that held the banner to the rods.
汤姆到达了横幅。他是一个黑色的身影，正在松开旗帜上的绳结。
“Tom!” I said. I did not possess hi boldness, and not his urgency.
“汤姆！”我说。我没有他的胆量，也没有他的急切。
“You can’t quit now!” Said Tom. But I could not move. I was trapped.
“你现在不能放弃！”汤姆说。但是我动弹不得。我被困住了。
“I possess the ABC!” he said, in that precise English of his. The dark shape on the arm put a thumb up to show me that he had got what he wanted. He put his other hand on what he thought was a rod, but it was the wire that would shock him.
“我掌握了基本知识！”他用他那一口流利的英语说道。手臂上的黑色轮廓竖起了大拇指，向我表明他得到了他想要的东西。他把另一只手放在他认为是杆子的东西上，但是电线会使他受到电击。
They said later that the nuts on the box that surrounded the wire were loose and had come unscrewed. The box had fallen away, and the wire was exposed.
他们后来说，包围电线的盒子上的螺母松了，拧松了。盒子掉了，电线露出来了。
Tome never panicked. He looked at me as if I were far away. But his legs would not hold him up. Wrapped in the banner, he fell, like a baby bird from a nest. It was I who panicked, when I heard him hit and vanish underneath the water of the reservoir. Maybe his fall had not been fatal, but would my beloved Tom now drown? It was possible.
汤姆从不惊慌。他看着我，好像我在很远的地方。但是他的腿支撑不住他。他被旗帜包裹着，像一只鸟儿从窝里掉了下来。当我听到他撞上水库的水，然后消失在水库的水下时，我惊慌失措。也许他的坠落并不致命，但我心爱的汤姆现在会淹死吗？这是可能的。
I began to cal for help.
我开始打电话求助。
We spent an anxious fortnight in the dormitory. While the others would talk about his vitality, I stared at jeans and socks of the vanishing nut. The dorm was a different place without his precise English. An X-ray scan had revealed that he would need an operation. And of course the big ox had to recover from the exposure to the cold water.
我们在宿舍里焦急地度过了两个星期。当其他人谈论他的活力时，我盯着消失的坚果的牛仔裤和袜子。没有他精确的英语，宿舍是个不同的地方。X光扫描显示他需要动手术。当然，这头大公牛必须从暴露在冷水中恢复过来。
There was a mention in the media of Tom’s shock and fall, and the TV guys were going to come and see what we were doing at the reservoir project, until their investigation was canceled. But the authorities did investigate our company. Their investigation revealed that the square gate had been left open, and the box surrounding the wire had come off.
媒体提到了汤姆的震惊和跌倒，电视台的人本来要来看看我们在水库工程做什么，直到他们的调查被取消。但是当局确实调查了我们公司。他们的调查显示，这个方形的大门是开着的，围绕着电线的盒子已经脱落了。
The company reinforced the square gate with more brass, and put a new box back onto the arm, screwing its nuts tightly. They tightened up the knots of the new banner, and even put anew banner all down the crane’s pillar, this latter one having not only the initials ABC but all the letters of the name of the suburb. And they put a bigger flag on the crane.
公司用更多的黄铜加固了方形闸门，并把一个新的盒子放回到扶手上，拧紧了它的螺母。他们收紧了新横幅的结，甚至在起重机的柱子下面放了一个新横幅，后者不仅有缩写ABC，而且有郊区名字的所有字母。他们在起重机上插了一面更大的旗子。
The company enhanced the authority of the chief watchman. Now we had to sign in when were came back to the dormitory, and sign out. Even when I took out the garbage in the evening, I had to sign in and out! Besides, they furnish their chief garbage man with a torch in case I should see any shapes of people.
这家公司加强了首席守夜人的权威。现在我们必须在回宿舍的时候签到，然后签字离开。甚至在晚上我倒垃圾的时候，我还要登记进出！此外，他们还给他们的首席清洁工配备了手电筒，以防我看到任何形状的人。
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