At this sultry noontide, I am cupbearer to the parched populace,
在這個悶熱難當?shù)闹形?,我成了為那些干渴市民斟水上茶的跑堂?/p>
for whose benefit an iron goblet is chained to my waist Like a dramseller on the public square, on a muster day,
我盡心為他們服務,腰上別掛個鐵制酒杯,就像公眾廣場游行集會上的酒廠推銷員。
I cry aloud to all and sundry, in my plainest accents, and at the very tiptop of my voice.
對那些南來北往的人,我用最道地的口音,對那些南來北往的人大聲叫喊,
Here it is, gentlemen! Here is the good liquor! Walk up, walk up, gentlemen, walk up, walk up!
快來看呀,女士們,先生們,清爽甘甜的飲料!快點來呀,快來看呀!
Here is the superior stuff! Here is the unadulterated ale of father Adam!
女士們,先生們,快點來呀,快來看呀!這可是上等的飲料,貨真價實的亞當父親的麥酒!
better than Cognac, Hollands, Jamaica, strong beer, or wine of any price; here it is, by the hogshead or the single glass, and not a cent to pay.
比法國白蘭地酒、荷蘭杜松子酒、牙買加酒、高濃度啤酒,甭管多高價錢的酒還要棒!飲料大賣啦!無論你要上一大桶,還是只喝一小杯,統(tǒng)統(tǒng)無需付一個子兒。
Walk up, gentlemen, walk up and help yourselves!
快來呀,女士們,先生們,快點呀,趕快來敞開肚子喝個痛快吧!
It were a pity if all this outcry should draw no customers.
萬一這樣大聲吆喝還不能吸引顧客,那可真夠遺憾的。
Here they come. A hot day, gentlemen. Quaff and away again, so as to keep yourselves in a nice, cool sweat.
看!有人來了。天這么熱,先生們,大口狂飲吧,喝好再離開。多么透徹清涼!多么暢快淋漓!
You, my friend, will need another cupful to wash the dust out of your throat,
我的朋友們,你們還得再來一杯,好好漱漱你們滿嘴塵土的喉嚨,
if it be as thick there As It Is on your cowhide shoes, I see that you have trudged half a score of miles today,
如果滿臉風塵仆仆,想必今天你長途跋涉而來。
and, like a wise man, have passed by the taverns, and stopped at the running brooks and well curbs.
每當路過客?;蚓起^,你總會在河溪旁或井欄邊停下腳步,那才是明智的首選。
Otherwise, betwixt heat without and fire within, you would have been burnt to a cinder, or melted down to nothing at all—in the fashion of a jellyfish.
否則,面對內熱與外火的里外夾攻,你很可能被灼成一團熱碳慢慢燃盡,或類似軟耷無力的海蜇最后干涸死去。