美國語文第五冊 第20期：請別多管閑事（06）
"Come, come," said the old gentleman, one snake is quite enough to have in the house at a time;
“得了，得了，”老人說道，有時，家里有條蛇還是不錯的，
therefore, the sooner you are gone the better.
這樣的話，還是快走為好！
With that he dismissed him, without waiting a moment for his reply.
說話間，老人即刻令人將艾爾伯特送走，容不得他半點解釋。
William Smith next entered the room, and being left alone soon began to amuse himself in looking at the curiosities around him.
接下來，威廉姆.史密斯走進房間，周圍一旦沒人，他馬上開始東張西望，到處巡脧周圍好玩的物件。
William was not only curious and prying, but dishonest, too, and observing that the key was left in the drawer of a bookcase,
威廉姆好奇心忒重，喜歡包打聽，人還不夠誠實。他留意到書柜抽屜上留下的鑰匙，
he stepped on tiptoe in that direction.
于是踮起腳尖走過去。
The key had a wire fastened to it, which communicated with an electrical machine, and William received such a shock as he was not likely to forget.
鑰匙上拴有一根金屬線，線那頭連接一臺電機，那種電擊可能讓他終生難忘。威廉姆從電擊中緩過神，
No sooner did he sufficiently recover himself to walk, than he was told to leave the house, and let other people lock and unlock their own drawers.
剛能挪步，就被告知即刻回家，至于那些抽屜是否打開還是關(guān)閉，已與他全然無關(guān)。
The other boy was Harry Gordon, and though he was left in the room full twenty minutes, he never during that time stirred from his chair.
接下來的哈利.戈登也被單獨留在屋里長達二十分鐘，他沒有離開座椅到處走動。
Harry had eyes in his head as well as the others, but he had more integrity in his heart;
哈利眼力不錯，他與其他少年一樣，但他更具有別人沒有的誠實。
neither the dish cover, the cherries, the drawer knob, the closet door, the round box, nor the key tempted him to rise from his feet;
盤蓋也好，莓果也罷，或是抽屜把手，或是壁櫥柜門，或是圓盒，或是鑰匙，沒有東西可以誘惑哈利。
and the consequence was that, in half an hour after, he was engaged in the service of the old gentleman at Elm Tree Hall.
半小時后，哈利最終被留在榆樹山莊。哈利忠心耿耿地為老人服務(wù)，為他養(yǎng)老送終。
He followed his good old master to his grave, and received a large legacy for his upright conduct in his service.
由于哈利為人正派，舉止端莊，最終繼承了老人的財產(chǎn)。
