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The rates of ferriage were fixed at twenty-five cents for a team, fifteen cents for a man on horseback, ten cents for a single animal, and five cents for a foot-passenger.
渡船的收费标准定为：一组二十五美分，骑马的人十五美分，单个动物十美分，步行乘客五美分。
Two cards, with these rates neatly printed on them by Ruth in large letters, were tacked up on the anchorage posts, so that passengers might not have any chance to dispute with the ferryman, or “superintendent of ferries,” as he liked to be called.
露丝用大字整齐地将这些收费标准印在两张卡片上，然后将它们钉在锚柱上，这样乘客就没有机会与渡船夫争论，或者像他喜欢被称呼的那样，"渡船夫总管"。
Leaving him in charge of the boat—for he was not yet strong enough for more active work—and leaving Mr. March at work upon the house, Mr. Elmer, Mark, Jan, and four colored men, taking the mules with them, set out bright and early on Tuesday morning for the mill, to begin work on the dam.
把他留在船上负责——因为他还不够强壮，无法从事更积极的工作——把马奇先生留在房子上工作，埃尔默先生、马克、简和四个有色人种，带着骡子，在星期二早上早早出发前往磨房，开始在大坝上工作。
They found the pond empty, and exposing a large surface of black mud studded with the stumps of old trees, and the stream from the sulphur spring rippling along merrily in a channel it had cut for itself through the broken portion of the dam.
他们发现池塘空了，露出一大片黑色的泥土，上面布满了老树的树桩，硫磺泉的水流在自己穿过大坝破裂部分的渠道中欢快地流淌。
While two men were set to digging a new channel for this stream, so as to lead it through the sluice-way, and leave the place where the work was to be done free from water, the others began to cut down half a dozen tall pines, and hew them into squared timbers.
当两个人开始为这条溪流挖掘一条新的通道，以便将其引导通过水闸，让要进行工作的地方没有水时，其他人开始砍伐半打高大的松树，并将它们砍成方形木材。
A deep trench was dug along the whole length of the broken part of the dam for a foundation, and into this was lowered one of the great squared timbers, forty feet long, that had six mortice-holes cut in its upper side.
沿着大坝破损部分的全长挖了一条深沟作为基础，在这条沟里放下了一根四十英尺长的巨大方木，它的上侧有六个榫眼。
Into these holes were set six uprights, each ten feet long, and on top of these was placed as a stringer, another forty-foot timber.
在这些洞里设置了六根每根十英尺长的立柱，在这些立柱的顶部作为纵梁放置了另一根四十英尺长的木材。
Heavy timber braces, the outer ends of which were let into mud-sills set in trenches dug thirty feet outside the dam, were sunk into the stringer, and the work of filling in with earth on the inside was begun.
沉重的木材支撑，其外端嵌入在大坝外三十英尺处挖掘的沟渠中的泥板中，沉入纵梁中，开始在内部填土的工作。
In two weeks the work was finished; the whole dam had been raised and strengthened, the floodgates were closed, and the pond began slowly to fill up.
两周后，工作完成了；整个大坝都被抬高和加固了，闸门关闭了，池塘开始慢慢地填满。
In the mean time the saw-mill machinery had been bought, the frame for the saw-mill had been cut and raised, and Mr. March, having finished the repairs on the house, was busy setting up the machinery and putting it in order.
与此同时，锯木厂的机器已经买来了，锯木厂的框架已经切割和升起，马奇先生完成了房屋的维修，正忙着安装机器并使其有序。
By the middle of February, or six weeks after the Elmers had landed in Wakulla, their influence had become very decidedly felt in the community.
到二月中旬，也就是 Elmers 一家在 Wakulla 登陆六周后，他们在社区中的影响力已经非常明显。
With their building, fencing, ploughing, and clearing, they had given employment to most of the working population of the place, and had put more money into circulation than had been seen there at any one time for years.
他们的建筑、围栏、犁地和清理工作，为当地大部分劳动人口提供了就业机会，并且投入的资金比多年来任何时候都要多。
The ten-acre field in front was ploughed, fenced, and planted, half in corn and half—no, not with orange-trees, but half was set out with young cabbage-plants; a homely crop, but one which Mr. Elmer had been advised would bring in good returns.
前面的十英亩田地已经犁过、围起来并种植了，一半是玉米，另一半——不，不是橘子树，而是一半种植了年轻的卷心菜苗；这是一种普通的作物，但 Elmer 先生被告知会带来良好的回报。
The ferry was running regularly and was already much used by travelers from considerable distances on both sides of the river.
渡船定期运行，已经被来自河流两岸相当距离的旅行者广泛使用。
The mill was finished and ready for business, and the millpond, instead of a mud flat, was a pretty sheet of water, fringed with palms and other beautiful trees.
工厂已经完工并准备营业，而磨坊池塘，不再是一片泥泞的平地，而是一片美丽的水域，周围环绕着棕榈树和其他美丽的树木。
Above all, Mr. Elmer’s health had so improved that he said he felt like a young man again, and able to do any amount of outdoor work.
最重要的是，埃尔默先生的健康状况有了很大改善，他说他感觉自己又像个年轻人了，能够做任何数量的户外工作。
One Sunday morning after all this had been accomplished, Mr. Elmer announced to the Sunday-school that on the following Wednesday a grand picnic would be given in a pine grove midway between the Elmer Mill and the big sulphur spring, that the ferry would be run free all that day, and that all were cordially invited to come and enjoy themselves.
在这一切完成后的一个星期天早上，埃尔默先生向主日学校宣布，下周三将在埃尔默磨坊和大硫磺泉之间的中途的松树林里举行盛大的野餐，那天渡轮将免费运行，诚挚地邀请所有人前来享受。
He also said that the Elmer Mill would be opened for business on that day, and would grind, free of charge, one bushel of corn for every family in Wakulla who should bring it with them.
他还说，埃尔默磨坊将在那天开业，并为每个带着玉米的 Wakulla 家庭免费磨一蒲式耳玉米。
This announcement created such a buzz of excitement that it was well it had not been made until after the exercises of the morning were over, for there could certainly have been no more Sunday- school that day.
这一宣布引起了如此轰动的兴奋，幸好是在早上的活动结束后才宣布的，因为那天肯定不会再有主日学校了。
For the next two days the picnic was the all-absorbing topic of conversation, and wonderful stories were told and circulated of the quantities of goodies that were being made in the “Go Bang” kitchen.
接下来的两天，野餐成为了所有人都在谈论的话题，并且流传着关于“砰砰”厨房里正在制作的大量好吃的东西的奇妙故事。
Aunt Chloe was frequently interviewed, and begged to tell exactly how much of these stories might be believed; but the old woman only shook her gayly turbaned head, and answered,
经常有人采访克洛阿姨，并恳求她确切地告诉这些故事中有多少是可以相信的；但这位老妇人只是愉快地摇了摇她戴着头巾的头，回答说，
“You’s gwine see, chillun! you’s gwine see; only jes’ hab pashuns, an’ you’s gwine be ‘warded by sich a sight ob fixin’s as make yo’ tink ole times back come, sho nuff.”
“孩子们，你们会看到的！你们会看到的；只要有耐心，你们就会看到这样的景象，让你们想起过去的时光，真的。”
At last the eagerly expected morning dawned, and though a thick fog hid one bank of the river from the other, sounds of active stir and bustle announced to each community that the other was making ready for the great event.
最后，期待已久的早晨到来了，尽管浓雾使河的一岸看不见另一岸，但活跃的动静和喧嚣声向每个社区宣布，对方正在为这一重大事件做准备。
Before this Jan and the mules had made several trips between the house and the mill, each time with a heavy wagon load of—something.
在此之前，简和骡子已经在房子和磨坊之间往返了几次，每次都带着一辆沉重的马车——装着什么东西。
Mr. Elmer, Mr. March, and Mark had gone to the mill as soon as breakfast was over, and had not been seen since.
埃尔默先生、马奇先生和马克一吃完早饭就去了磨坊，此后就再也没有人见过他们。
Aunt Chloe had been bustling about her kitchen “sence de risin’ ob de mo’nin’ star,” and was, in her own estimation, the most important person on the place that day.
克洛伊阿姨从“晨星升起”开始就在她的厨房里忙碌，在她自己看来，她是那天这个地方最重要的人。
As for Bruce he was wild with excitement, and dashed at full speed from the house to the mill, and back again, barking furiously, and trying to tell volumes of, what seemed to him, important news.
至于布鲁斯，他兴奋得发狂，从房子到磨坊，再跑回来，全速冲刺，狂吠不止，试图讲述大量在他看来重要的消息。
As soon as the fog lifted, the horn on the opposite side of the river began to blow impatient summonses for the “superintendent of ferries,” and busy times immediately began for Frank.
雾一散去，河对岸的号角就开始不耐烦地吹响，召唤“渡口总管”，弗兰克立刻开始忙碌起来。
Old gray-headed uncles, leaning on canes, who told stories of “de good ole times long befo’ de wah”; middle-aged men and women who rejoiced in the present good times of freedom, and comical little pickaninnies, who looked forward with eagerness to the good times to come to them within an hour or so.
靠拐杖的灰头发老叔叔，讲述“战前美好时光”的故事；中年男女为现在的自由美好时光而欢欣鼓舞，还有滑稽的小黑人，他们急切地期待着一个小时左右后属于他们的美好时光。
And then the teams, the queer home-made carts, most of them drawn by a single steer or cow hitched into shafts, in which the bushels of corn were brought; for everybody who could obtain a bushel of corn had taken Mr. Elmer at his word, and brought it along to be ground free of charge.
然后是队伍，奇怪的自制推车，大多数由一头拴在轴上的公牛或母牛拉着，里面装着玉米；因为每个能得到一蒲式耳玉米的人都接受了埃尔默先生的话，把它带来免费磨碎。
One of the men, after seeing his wife and numerous family of children safely on board the boat, went up to Frank with a beaming face, and said,
其中一个男人，看到他的妻子和众多孩子安全上船后，面带笑容地走到弗兰克面前，说道，
“Misto Frank, I’se bought a ok. Dar he is hitched into dat ar kyart, an’ oh! he do plough splendid!”
“弗兰克先生，我买了一头牛。它拴在那辆马车里，哦！它犁地太棒了！”
The “ok,” which poor Joe thought was the proper singular of “oxes,” as he would have called a pair of them, was a meek-looking little creature, harnessed to an old two-wheeled cart by a perfect tangle of ropes and chains.
可怜的乔认为“ok”是“oxes”的正确单数形式，就像他会把一对牛称为“oxes”一样，这是一个看起来温顺的小家伙，被一团乱七八糟的绳子和链条拴在一辆旧的两轮马车上。
He was so small that even Frank, accustomed as he was to the ways of the country, almost smiled at the idea of its “ploughing splendid.”
他是如此之小，以至于即使是弗兰克，他习惯了这个国家的方式，也几乎对它“犁地太棒了”的想法笑了起来。
He didn’t, though; for honest Joe was waiting to hear his purchase praised, and Frank praised it by saying it was one of the handsomest oxen of its size he had ever seen.
他没有笑，因为诚实的乔正等着听他的购买被赞扬，弗兰克赞扬它说，这是他见过的同体型中最漂亮的牛之一。
Joe was fully satisfied with this, and when the boat reached the other side, hurried off to find new admirers for this first piece of actual property he had ever owned, and to tell them that “Misto Frank March, who know all about oxes, say dis yere ok de han’somes’ he ebber seed.”
乔对此非常满意，当船到达另一边时，他急忙去找新的崇拜者来欣赏他拥有的第一份真正的财产，并告诉他们“弗兰克·马奇先生，他对牛了如指掌，说这头牛是他见过的最漂亮的。”
Grace Bevil, of whom Ruth had already made a great friend, waited with her at the house until the last boat-load of people had been ferried across.
露丝已经成为好朋友的格蕾丝·贝维尔和她一起在房子里等待，直到最后一批人被渡到对岸。
Then Frank called them, and after helping them into the canoe and telling them to sit quiet as ‘possums, paddled it up the wild, beautiful river to the mill.
然后弗兰克叫他们，在帮助他们进入独木舟并告诉他们像负鼠一样安静地坐着后，他沿着这条狂野美丽的河流划向磨坊。
This was a novel experience to the little Wakulla girl, who had never in her life before traveled so easily and swiftly.
对于小瓦库拉女孩来说，这是一次新奇的经历，她以前从未如此轻松快捷地旅行过。
She afterwards told her mother that, as she looked far down into the clear depths of the water above which they glided, she thought she knew how angels felt flying through the air.
后来她告诉她的母亲，当她远远地望着他们滑行的水面的清澈深处时，她觉得她知道天使在空中飞行的感觉。
By the time they reached the mill more than a hundred persons were assembled near it, and Mr. Elmer was talking to them from the steps. They were in time to hear him say,
当他们到达磨坊时，已有一百多人聚集在它附近，埃尔默先生正在台阶上对他们讲话。他们及时听到他说：
“The Elmer Mill is now about to be opened for business and set to work. A bushel of corn belonging to Uncle Silas Brim, the oldest man present, has been placed in the hopper, and will be the first ground.”
“埃尔默磨坊现在即将开业并开始工作。属于在场最年长的人西拉斯·布林姆叔叔的一蒲式耳玉米已被放入料斗，将是第一个被磨的。”
Then Mark, who, as president of the Elmer Mill and Ferry Company, was allowed the honor of so doing, pressed a lever that opened the floodgates.
然后，作为埃尔默磨坊和渡轮公司的总裁，马克被允许这样做的荣幸，按下了打开闸门的杠杆。
A stream of water dashed through the race, the great wheel began to turn, and, as they heard the whir of the machinery, the crowd cheered again and again.
一股水流冲过水道，大轮子开始转动，当他们听到机器的呼呼声时，人群一次又一次地欢呼。
In a little while Uncle Silas Brim’s corn was returned to him in the form of a sack of fine yellow meal.
过了一会儿，西拉斯·布林姆叔叔的玉米以一袋精细的黄色面粉的形式还给了他。
After that the bushels of corn poured in thick and fast, and for the rest of the day the Elmer Mill continued its pleasant work of charity.
之后，一蒲式耳的玉米源源不断地涌进来，在接下来的一天里，埃尔默磨坊继续着它愉快的慈善工作。
As the novelty of watching the mill at work wore off, the people began to stroll towards the grove near the sulphur spring, in which an odd-looking structure had been erected the day before, and now attracted much attention.
随着观看磨坊工作的新奇感逐渐消失，人们开始漫步走向硫磺泉附近的树林，那里前一天竖起了一个奇怪的结构，现在吸引了很多人的注意。
It was a long, low shed, or booth, built of poles thatched with palm-leaves woven so close that its interior was completely hidden.
它是一个长而低的棚子，或摊位，由杆子建造，用棕榈叶编织的茅草覆盖得如此紧密，以至于它的内部完全隐藏。
Mrs. Elmer, Mrs. Bevil, Mrs. Carter, Ruth, Grace, and Aunt Chloe were known to be inside, but what they were doing was a mystery that no one could solve.
埃尔默夫人、贝维尔夫人、卡特夫人、露丝、格蕾丝和克洛伊阿姨都知道在里面，但她们在做什么是一个没有人能解开的谜。
“Yo’ g’way, chile! Who ebber heerd ob sich nonsens? ‘Tain’t no witches ob no kine; hits somefin’ to eat, I tell yo’. I kin smell hit,” said an old aunty, who sniffed the air vigorously as she spoke.
“你走开，孩子！谁听说过这种胡说八道？不是什么女巫，也不是什么牛；是吃的东西，我告诉你。我能闻到它，”一位老阿姨说，她说话时用力嗅着空气。
This opinion was strengthened when Aunt Chloe appeared at the entrance of the booth, before which hung a curtain of white muslin, and in a loud voice commanded all present to provide themselves “wif palmetter leafs fo’ plateses, an’ magnole leafs fo’ cupses.”
当克洛伊阿姨出现在摊位的入口处时，这种观点得到了加强，入口处挂着一块白色的薄纱窗帘，她大声命令所有在场的人“用棕榈叶做盘子，用木兰叶做杯子”。
When all had so provided themselves, they were formed, two by two, into a long procession by several young colored men whom Mr. Elmer had appointed to act as marshals, the white curtain was drawn aside, and they were invited to march into the booth.
当所有人都这样准备好后，他们被埃尔默先生任命为司仪的几个年轻黑人分成两两一组，组成了一个长长的队伍，白色的窗帘被拉开，他们被邀请进入摊位。
As they did so, a sight greeted their eyes that caused them to give a sort of suppressed cheer of delight.
当他们这样做时，一个景象映入他们的眼帘，使他们发出了一种压抑的欢呼声。
The interior was hung and trimmed with great bunches of sweet-scented swamp azalea, yellow jasmine, and other wild spring flowers, of which the woods were full.
内部挂满了一大束芬芳的沼泽杜鹃花、黄色茉莉花和其他野生春天的花朵，树林里到处都是。
But it was not towards the flowers that all eyes were turned, nor they that drew forth the exclamations of delight; it was the table, and what it bore.
但并不是所有的目光都转向了花朵，也不是它们引起了人们的欢呼；是桌子，以及它所承载的东西。
It reached from one end of the booth to the other, and was loaded with such a variety and quantity of good things as none of them had ever seen before.
它从摊位的一端延伸到另一端，上面堆满了各种各样和数量的好东西，他们以前从未见过。
On freshly-cut palm leaves were heaped huge piles of brown crullers, and these were flanked by pans of baked beans.
在刚切好的棕榈叶上堆满了巨大的棕色油炸圈饼，这些油炸圈饼两侧是烤豆锅。
Boiled hams appeared in such quantities that Uncle Silas Brim was heard to say, “Hit do my ole heart good to see sich a sight ob hog meat.”
煮火腿的数量如此之多，以至于西拉斯·布林叔叔听到有人说：“看到这么多猪肉，我的老心真高兴。”
Knives and forks had been provided for everybody, and there were a few tin cups which were reserved for coffee.
为每个人提供了刀叉，还有几个锡杯是留给咖啡的。
As plates were very scarce, palmetto leaves had to be used instead; and for those who wished to drink water, the magnolia leaves, bent so that the ends lapped, made excellent cups.
由于盘子非常稀缺，不得不使用棕榈叶代替；而对于那些想喝水的人来说，弯曲的木兰叶，使两端重叠，成了极好的杯子。
How the beans and crullers were appreciated, and how rapidly the pies and cakes disappeared!
豆子和油炸圈饼是多么受欢迎，馅饼和蛋糕又是多么迅速地消失了！
How much and how quickly they ate on that occasion can still be learned from any resident of Wakulla; for they talk of “de feed at de openin’ ob dat ar Elmer Mill” to this day.
他们在那次场合吃了多少，吃得有多快，至今还可以从瓦库拉的任何居民那里得知；因为他们至今还在谈论“在那个埃尔默磨坊开张时的盛宴”。
Mark says it was the opening of about a hundred mills, all provided with excellent machinery for grinding.
马克说，这是大约一百个磨坊的开张，所有磨坊都配备了用于研磨的优质机器。
After dinner they sang, and listened to the music of Ruth’s organ, which had been brought from the house for the occasion, and placed at one end of the booth.
晚饭后，他们唱歌，听露丝的风琴音乐，这架风琴是为这次活动从房子里搬来的，放在摊位的一端。
Not only a few danced, but all danced—old and young; and those who stopped to rest patted time on their knees to encourage the others.
不仅有几个人跳舞，而是所有人都跳舞——老人和年轻人；那些停下来休息的人在膝盖上拍打时间，以鼓励其他人。
About four o’clock in the afternoon, or about “two hour by sun in the evening,” as the Wakulla people say, the last bushel of corn was ground.
大约在下午四点，或者按照 Wakulla 人的说法，是“傍晚太阳下两个小时”，最后一蒲式耳的玉米被磨完了。
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