JEWEL❶ AND I come up from the field,following the path in single file;排成一行，文件. Although I am fifteen feet ahead of him,anyone watching us from the cottonhouse can see Jewel's frayed and broken straw吸管;麦秆，稻草 hat a full head above my own.
朱尔和我，从田野走出，于小路走成单行。虽然，我在他前方约十五尺，但任谁从棉花房里看我们，都能看到朱尔那顶破旧的草帽，它比我那顶高出一个脑袋。
The path runs straight as a plumb-line用铅锤线测量, 检查, 探测, worn smooth by feet and baked brickhard by July,between the green rows of laid-by cotton,to the cottonhouse in the center of the field,where it turns and circles the cottonhouse at four soft right angles and goes on across the field again,worn so by feet in fading precision精确;准确;细致.
小径笔直，像条铅垂线，被人们踩得光滑，让七月的骄阳炙烤，硬得像砖。小路两旁，栽种着一排排碧绿的棉花秧。田野的中央是棉花房。小路在那拐弯，以四个柔和的直角绕房一周，又继续穿越田野，那也是脚踩出来的，远处，渐渐看不清了。
The cottonhouse is of rough logs, from between which the chinking缝隙;漏洞;碰击声; has long fallen. Square,with a broken roof set at a single pitch沥青;球场;(尤指乐音的)音高;投球，倾斜度,it leans in empty and shimmering闪烁(的) dilapidation破败;破损；崩塌；荒废 in the sunlight,a single broad window in two opposite walls giving onto the approaches of the path.
棉花房用粗圆木盖成，木头间的填料早已脱落。这是座方正的房屋，宛如小广场，破败屋顶呈单斜面，在阳光下歪歪斜斜矗着，空荡荡的，反照着阳光，一副颓败不堪的样子，相对的两面墙上，各有一扇宽敞的窗子正对着小路。
When we reach it I turn and follow the path which circles the house. Jewel,fifteen feet behind me,looking straight ahead,steps in a single stride进步;步伐;大步 through the window. Still staring straight ahead,his pale eyes like wood set into his wooden face,he crosses the floor in four strides with the rigid刚硬的，坚硬的，坚固的，僵硬的 gravity of a cigar store Indian❷ dressed in patched补丁;修补程序 overalls工作服;外套;罩衣;工装服 and endued赋予；使穿上，授予 with life from the hips臀部 down,and steps in a single stride through the opposite window and into the path again just as I come around the corner. In single file and five feet❸ apart and Jewel now in front,we go on up the path toward the foot of the bluff陡岸;唬人;虚张声势.
当我们逼近房子时，我顺着小路，拐着弯绕过房子，而在我后面的朱尔却目不斜视，他距离我大约十五英尺，一抬腿，大踏步跨进了窗户。他一直凝视前方，灰白的眼睛呆呆地嵌在那张木然的脸上。他用了四步跨过房间地板，姿势僵硬，像雪茄烟店门口的呆滞的印第安人。他穿着打满补丁的工作服，却下盘灵活。紧接着，他一步跨过对面窗户，重新来到小路上。这时，我刚从拐角绕过来。我们依旧排成单行，朱尔在前我在后，两人相距约五尺。我们顺着小路，朝陡崖脚下走去。
Tull's wagon马车 stands beside the spring, hitched跃上;攀上,搭上 to the rail栏杆;铁路;轨道;扶手;铁轨;围栏,the reins控制;缰绳;掌管;主宰,保护带 wrapped包，裹，缠绕，围紧 about the seat stanchion(用以支撑的)杆，支柱. In the wagon bed are two chairs. Jewel stops at the spring and takes the gourd葫芦 from the willow柳树;柳;柳木 branch and drinks. I pass him and mount攀登;登上;安排 the path,beginning to hear Cash's saw锯;拉锯.
屠尔的马车停在泉边，拴在栅栏上，缰绳绕在座架杆上。马车里放着两把椅子。朱尔在泉边停下，从柳枝取下水瓢舀水喝。我越过他爬上小路，开始听见卡什锯木头的声音。
When I reach the top he has quit sawing. Standing in a litter of chips,he is fitting two of the boards together. Between the shadow spaces they are yellow as gold,like soft gold,bearing on their flanks侧面，侧翼 in smooth undulations起伏;波动 the marks of the adze❹锛子，平头斧子 blade刀片;刀刃: a good carpenter木匠;木工,Cash is.
等我来到山顶时，他已经不锯了。他站在碎木屑堆里，正把两块木板拼接起来。让两旁的阴影一衬，木板金灿灿的，像软金块，木板两侧有平滑的斧刃波状印痕，卡什这小伙真是个好木匠。
He holds the two planks木板;板条 on the trestle支架，条凳,fitted along the edges in a quarter of the finished box. He kneels and squints斜视;瞇着眼看 along the edge of them,then he lowers them and takes up the adze. A good carpenter.
他把两块板条靠在锯架上，把它们拼接在木盒的四分之一角上。木盒是提前已经做好的。他跪下来眯着眼瞄准木板的边，然后把它们放低，并拿起斧子。他真是个好木匠。
Addie Bundren could not want a better one, better box to lie in. It will give her confidence and comfort. I go on to the house,followed by the Chuck❺. Chuck. Chuck of the adze.
艾琳不可能找到一个更好的木匠和一副更称心的寿材了。这能给她带来自信和舒适。我继续朝屋子走去，耳旁是斧子的劈断声——“𠳐𠳐𠳐”。
By William Faulkner
威廉福克纳著
黄思明译
按：
❶.JEWEL，英文名翻译多有不同，为了接近中文的姓氏，我特意把它翻译成了“朱尔”，下面的“Addie Bundren”翻译成了“艾琳”，实际上英文有好几个音节，我为了统一用两个中文字，所以才这么翻译。此外，还有Tull和Cash分别被我译成了“屠尔”和“卡什”，不到万不得已，所有名字我全部翻译成两个汉字，主要是为了方便记忆。中学时代，阅读欧美小说，最痛苦的莫过于记忆人物名字，现在终于轮到我来翻译，我还能不尽量简单吗？╯□╰
❷.第四段有一句he crosses the floor in four strides with the rigid gravity of a cigar store Indian，重点在rigid上，是用来形容朱尔的那种“僵硬的”特质，这本书写于二十世纪三四十年代，大概率印第安土著给这些高高在上的美国人一种僵硬呆滞的感觉，所以我才如此翻译。这里面，我们还可以窥见“上等人”肆意拿印第安土著做比较，我没看到多少尊敬和平等。
❸.第一段和第四段都有一个词feet，它在英语中既可以表示脚，也可以表示“英尺”，我们翻译时去掉那个“英”字，默认为是“英尺”，1英尺等于30.48cm，大概和人走一小步差不多，中文里的一尺则是33.33cm，毕竟我们用三尺表示一米嘛，如果忽悠精确度，英尺和市尺相差也不大。
❹.adze[ædz]，锛子，一种小锄头，平头斧，锛念（bēn），好字也不常见，形状大概如下面的插图所示。由于不常见嘛，我翻译直接用“斧子”代替，也是为了方便阅读。英文通用的斧头，多用ax，要记得复数形式是axes哦。
❺.最后一句有一个拟声词“Chuck. Chuck. Chuck”，中文里好像没有这个“恰咔”对应的拟声词，所以我干脆用“𠳐𠳐𠳐”来代替了。当然，我也可以“恰咔，恰咔，恰咔”，但是，倘若不解释，亲爱的你肯定会读不懂啊。
