I remr a time when a shortage occurred. My friend Swinton andIhad to have three dollars, and we had to have it before thecloseof the day. Being a man of strong religious faith, he didn＇tseemto have any doubt that we would succeed, but I hadn＇t thesameconfidence.

　　记得那时恰逢缺钱花,我和朋友斯温顿必须在天黑之前弄到3美元。作为一个有强烈宗教信仰的人,他似乎毫不怀疑我们一定能弄到钱,但我却没有同样的信心。

　　Swinton told me to give myself no uneasiness, no concern, andhesaid in a simple, confident, unquestioning way,″The Lordwillprovide.″

　　斯温顿告诉我别紧张,放宽心,然后简洁、自信且不容质疑地说道：“上帝会安排的。”

　　I wandered around the streets for an hour trying to think upsomeway to get that money, but nothing suggested itself. At last,Iwalkedsintosthe Ebbitt Hotel and sat down. Presently a dogcameover tome. He was a charming creature. I stroked his smoothbrownhead, and we were a pair of lovers center away.

　　我在街上转了一个小时,试图想出一个能得到那笔钱的方法。但什么主意也想不出来。最后我走进爱伯特旅馆,坐下歇歇。这时,一条狗向我跑来。这是条可爱的小狗。我抚摸着它光滑的棕色的头,我们立刻成了一对情侣。

　　Pretty soon, General Miles, the hero of the nation, camewalkingby in his blue and gold uniform. He saw the dog and stopped.TheGeneral came forward and stroked the dog and said,″He is veryfine.He is a wonder. Would you sellhim？″

　　不久,本地的英雄迈尔斯将军身着蓝色、镶着金边的制服走了出来。他看到了这只漂亮的小狗,停了下来。他摸了摸小狗,问道：“它很可爱,真是个奇迹。你能卖给我吗？”

　　I said,″Yes.″

　　我说：“卖。”

　　″How much do you ask forhim？″

　　“你要多少钱？”

　　″Three dollars.″

　　“3美元。”

　　The General was obviously surprised. He said,″Only threedollars？That dog is a most uncommon dog. If he were mine, Iwouldn＇t takeless than a hundred for him. I am afraid you are notaware of hisvalue. Reconsider your price if you wish. I would notlike tocheatyou.″

　　将军显然很惊讶。他说：“就要3美元？这可是条好狗。如果是我的狗,我至少也要卖100元。我估计你不知道它的价值。你愿意的话就重新出个价吧,我不想骗你。”

　　But I replied,″No. Three dollars. That is his price.″

　　但我回答道：“不,3美元,就这个价。”

　　″Very well, since you insist uponit,″said the General, and hegaveme the three dollars and led the dog away,disappearingupstairs.

　　“那好吧,既然你坚持。”将军说完,给了我3美元,然后牵起狗上楼了。 In about ten minutesagentle－faced, middle－aged gentleman came along and began tolookaround, here and there, under tables and everywhere. I saidtohim,″Is it a dog you are lookingfor？″

　　10分钟后,一个面容和善的中年人走了过来,他边走边四处张望。我问他：“你是不是在找一条狗？”

　　″Yes. Have you seenhim？″

　　“是的,你见过它？”

　　″Yes,″ I said.″He was here a minute ago, and I saw him followagentleman away. I think I could find him for you if you wouldlikeme totry.″

　　“是的,”我说：“它刚才还在这里,我见它跟一位先生走了。如果你愿意让我试一下,我想我可以帮你找到它。”

　　I have seldom seen a person looked so grateful. He said thathewould like me to try. I assured him I would do it withgreatpleasure, but that as it might take a little time, I hoped hewouldnot mind paying me for my trouble. He replied that he would doitmost gladly－－repeating that phrase,″most glad ly″－－anasked mehowmuch.

　　我很少见过有人这么感激我。他说他很想让我试一试。我说非常乐意帮忙,但要费些功夫,希望他能付些报酬。他说他非常乐意,而且又强调一遍：“非常乐意。”并问我需要多少钱。

　　I said,″Three dollars.″

　　我说：“3美元。”

　　He looked surprised and exclaimed,″Dearme, it is nothing！ Iwillpay you ten quite willing ly.″

　　他似乎很惊讶：“天哪,这算得了什么！我愿意付10美元。”

　　But Isaid,″No, three is the price.″ Swinton had said thatthreedollars was the amount the Lord would provide, and it seemedto methat it would be wrong to take a penny more than waspromised.

　　但是我说：“不,就这个价。”斯温顿说过上帝安排给我的是3美元,所以多要一分钱对我来说都是错误的。

　　I got the number of the General＇s room from the clerk at thefrontdesk of the hotel, and when I reached the room, I found theGeneralthere, stroking his dog and quite happy. I said,″I amsorry, but Ihave to take the dogback.″

　　我从旅馆前台服务员那里打听到将军的房间号码。当我到达那间房间时我发现他正得意地抚摸着小狗。我说：“对不起,我必须带这条狗回去。”

　　He seemed astonished and said,″Take him back？ Why？ he is mydog.You sold him tome, and at your own price.″

　　他看起来很惊讶,说：“带它回去？凭什么？它现在是我的,你已经按你的价格把它卖给我了。”

　　″Yes,″ I said,″that＇s true. But I have to have him because themanwants himback.″

　　“是的,”我说：“没错,可是我不得不带它回去,因为有人在找它。”

　　″Who？″

　　“谁？”

　　″The man that ownshim.″

　　“它的主人。”

　　″It is the strangest thing I have ever heardof. The idea ofyourselling a dog that didn＇t belong toyou.″

　　“这是我听到过的最奇怪的事,你竟然想把别人的狗卖了……”

　　″You said yourself that the dog was probably worth ahundreddollars. I only asked you for three. You can＇t denyit.″

　　“你自己说那狗很可能值100美元,可我只要了你3美元。这点你不能否认吧。”

　　″Oh,what in the world does that have to do withit？ The truthofthe matter is that you didn＇t own the dog －－can＇t you see that？Youseem to think if you sell it cheap. Now then…″

　　“可这是两回事,事情的真相是你不是这条狗的主人———你难道不明白？你想如果把它卖得便宜些,就……”

　　″Please don＇t argue any more aboutit. You can＇t get aroundthefact that the price was perfectly fair, perfectlyreasonable－－considering that I didn＇t own the dog－－and so arguingabout it isonly a waste of words. I have to have him back becausethe manwants him. Don＇t you see that I have no choice in thematter？ Putyourself in my place. Suppose you had sold a dog thatdidn＇t belongto you. Suppose you…″

　　“别再争了。你不能否认这个事实这价格很公平,很合理———考虑到我并不拥有这条狗———所以争吵下去只是白费口舌,我必须带它回去是因为它的主人在找它。你难道没看出我已别无选择了吗？你也替我想想吧。假如你也卖了一条本不属于你的狗,假如你……”

　　″Oh,″ he said, sighing,″don＇t mix me up any more with yourcrazyreasoning！ Take him along and give me arest.″

　　“够了,”他叹了口气说：“别再用你那愚蠢的推理把我搞糊涂了！牵走吧,让我休息一会儿。”

　　So I paid him back the three dollars and led the dogdownstairsand passed him over to his owner and collected three formytrouble.

　　我赶紧把3美元还给他,牵着那只狗下楼了,并把它交给它的主人,然后从他手里拿到了3美元的酬劳。

　　I could never have used the three dollars that I had sold thedogfor because it was not centerly my own. But the three I gotforreturning him to his owner was centerly and properly minebecause Ihad earnedit. That man might never have gotten his dogback at allif it hadn＇t been forme. It is as I have always said, Iwas neverable to use money which I had acquired in questionableways.

　　我决不会花卖狗得来的3美元,因为那狗不属于我,但我把狗还给它的主人,挣到了3美元,这是正当的,因为这是我劳动所得。如果没有我,也许它的主人永远也找不回它了。正如我常说的：“我从来不用来路不明的钱。”（2001）

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