A Curious dream: Containing a moral By mark Twain Night before last I had a singular dream. I seemed to be sitting on a doorstep(in no particular city perhaps) ruminating, and the time of night appeared to be about twelve or one o'clock. The weather was balmy and delicious. There was no human sound in the air, not even a footstep. There was no sound of any kind to emphasize the dead stillness, except the occasional hollow bark ing of a dog in the distance and the fainter answer of a further dog2. Presently up the street I heard a bony clack-clacking and guessed it was the castanets of a serenading party. In a minute more a tall skeleton, hooded, and half clad in a tattered and moldy shrouds, whose shreds were flapping aboutt the ribby? latticework of its person, swung by me with a stately stride and disappeared in the gray gloom of the starlight. It had a broken and worm-eaten coffin on its shoulder and a bundle of something in its hand i knew what the clack-clack ing was then; it was this party's joints working together, and hi elbows knocking against his sides as he walked. I may say I was surprised. Before I could collect my thoughts and enter upon any speculations as to what this apparition might portend, I heard another one coming for I recognized his clack-clack. He had two-thirds of a coffin on his shoulder and some foot and head boards under his arm9.I mightily wanted, to peer under his hood and speak to him, but when he turned and smiled upon me with his cavernous sockets and his projecting grin as he went by, I thought I would not detain him. He was hardly gone when I heard the clacking again, and another one issued from the shadowy half-light. This one was bend ing under a heavy gravestone 2, and dragging a shabby coffin after him by a string. When he got to me he gave me a steady look for a moment or two, and then rounded to and backed me. sa Ease this down for a fellow, will you? I eased the gravestone down till it rested on the ground and in doing so noticed that it bore the name of "John Baxter Copmanhurst, "with"May, 1839, "as the date of his death. Deceased sat wearily down by me, and wiped his os frontis3 with his major maxillary--chiefly from former habit I judged, for I could not see that he balmy and delicious:天气温和宜人。 There was no sound of any kind to emphasize the dead stillness, except the occasional hollow barking of a do in the distance and the fainter answer of a further dog:没有任何声音来衬托这死一般的寂静,除了几声空洞的 狗吠和更远处隐约应和着的狗叫 3cack- clacking:吧嗒吧嗒的碰击声, 4 castanets:响板(西班牙人常用的舞蹈伴奏乐器,多为硬木或象牙制成,套在拇指上合击发声) 5 half clad in a tattered and moldy shroud:半裹在破烂发霉的裹尸布里。 6 flap about:悬挂在身体 7riby:肋骨凸显的,瘦骨嶙峋的。 party:[]<谑>人 9 some foot and head boards under his arm:腋下夹着头脚的棺材板 cavernous sockets:空洞无物的眼窝。 I1 issued:出现 12 bending under a heavy gravestone:弯腰扛着一个沉重的墓碑。 13 os frontis:根据上下文,应指前额骨
A Curious Dream: Containing a Moral By Mark Twain Night before last I had a singular dream. I seemed to be sitting on a doorstep (in no particular city perhaps) ruminating, and the time of night appeared to be about twelve or one o'clock. The weather was balmy and delicious1 . There was no human sound in the air, not even a footstep. There was no sound of any kind to emphasize the dead stillness, except the occasional hollow barking of a dog in the distance and the fainter answer of a further dog2 . Presently up the street I heard a bony clack-clacking3 , and guessed it was the castanets4 of a serenading party. In a minute more a tall skeleton, hooded, and half clad in a tattered and moldy shroud5 , whose shreds were flapping about6 the ribby7 latticework of its person, swung by me with a stately stride and disappeared in the gray gloom of the starlight. It had a broken and worm-eaten coffin on its shoulder and a bundle of something in its hand. I knew what the clack-clacking was then; it was this party's 8 joints working together, and his elbows knocking against his sides as he walked. I may say I was surprised. Before I could collect my thoughts and enter upon any speculations as to what this apparition might portend, I heard another one coming for I recognized his clack-clack. He had two-thirds of a coffin on his shoulder and some foot and head boards under his arm9 . I mightily wanted, to peer under his hood and speak to him, but when he turned and smiled upon me with his cavernous sockets10 and his projecting grin as he went by, I thought I would not detain him. He was hardly gone when I heard the clacking again, and another one issued11 from the shadowy half-light. This one was bending under a heavy gravestone12, and dragging a shabby coffin after him by a string. When he got to me he gave me a steady look for a moment or two, and then rounded to and backed up to me, saying: "Ease this down for a fellow, will you?" I eased the gravestone down till it rested on the ground, and in doing so noticed that it bore the name of "John Baxter Copmanhurst," with "May, 1839," as the date of his death. Deceased sat wearily down by me, and wiped his os frontis13 with his major maxillary--chiefly from former habit I judged, for I could not see that he 1 balmy and delicious: 天气温和宜人。 2 There was no sound of any kind to emphasize the dead stillness, except the occasional hollow barking of a dog in the distance and the fainter answer of a further dog：没有任何声音来衬托这死一般的寂静，除了几声空洞的 狗吠和更远处隐约应和着的狗叫。 3 clack-clacking：吧嗒吧嗒的碰击声。 4 castanets：响板（西班牙人常用的舞蹈伴奏乐器，多为硬木或象牙制成，套在拇指上合击发声）。 5 half clad in a tattered and moldy shroud：半裹在破烂发霉的裹尸布里。 6 flap about：悬挂在身体周围。 7 ribby：肋骨凸显的，瘦骨嶙峋的。 8 party：[口] <谑> 人。 9 some foot and head boards under his arm：腋下夹着头脚的棺材板。 10 cavernous sockets：空洞无物的眼窝。 11 issued：出现。 12 bending under a heavy gravestone：弯腰扛着一个沉重的墓碑。 13 os frontis：根据上下文，应指前额骨
brought away any perspiration It is too bad, too bad, "said he, drawing the remnant of the shroud about him 14and leaning his jaw pensively on his hand. Then he put his left foot up on his knee and fell to scratching his anklebone absently with a rusty nail which he got out of his coffin What is too bad. friend? Oh, everything, everything. I almost wish I never had died You surprise me. Why do you say this? Has anything gone wrong? What is the matter? "Matter! Look at this shroud-rags. Look at this gravestone, all battered up. Look at that disgraceful old coffin. All a man's property going to ruin and destruction before his eyes, and ask him if anything is wrong? Fire and brimstone! Calm yourself, calm yourself, "I said. "It is too bad-it is certainly too bad,but then I had not supposed that you would much mind such matters situated as you are "Well, my dear sir, I do mind them. My pride is hurt, and my comfort is impaired--destroyed, I might say. I will state my case--I will put it to you in such a ay that you can comprehend it, if you will let me, said the poor skeleton, tilting the hood of his shroud back, as if he were clearing for action, and thus unconsciously giving himself a jaunty and festive air very much at variance with 6 the grave character of his position in life--so to speak--and in prominent contrast with his distressful mood saId I reside in the shameful old graveyard a block or two above you here, in this street--there,now, I just expected that cartilage would let go! 8--third rib from the bottom, friend, hitch the end of it to my spine with a string, if you have got such thing about you, though a bit of silver wire is a deal pleasanter, and more durable and becoming, if one keeps it polished--to think of shredd ing out and going to pieces in this way, just on account of the ind ifference and neglect of one's posterity! " --and the poor ghost grated his teeth in a way that gave me a wrench and a shiver --for the effect is mightily increased by the absence of muffling flesh and cuticle 20 " I reside in that old graveyard, and have for these thirty years; and I tell you things are changed since i first laid this old tired frame there. and turned over and stretched out for a long sleep, with a delicious sense upon me of being done with-i bother, and grief, ad anxiety, and doubt, and fear, forever and ever, and listening with comfortable and increasing satisfaction to the sexton, s work, from the startling clatter of his first spadeful on my coffin till it dulled away 22 to the faint patting that shaped the roof of 14 drawing the remnant of the shroud about him:把身上的布又裹了裹 1 Fire and brimstone: brimstone指地狱之火的燃料, fire and brimstone指地狱般的灾难 16 so much at variance with:与..格格不入。 proceed:请讲。 18 I just expected that cartilage would let go!!你瞧,我这块软骨都快掉下来了! l9 grated his teeth:(恨恨地)把牙齿咬得咯咯响。 20 for the effect is mightily increased by the absence of muffling flesh and cuticle:因为没有血肉和皮肤捂住, 这声音的效果更加强烈 with a delicious sense upon me of being done with:心想终于可以摆脱烦恼、悲伤了 2 dull away:声音渐渐沉闷消失
brought away any perspiration. "It is too bad, too bad," said he, drawing the remnant of the shroud about him 14and leaning his jaw pensively on his hand. Then he put his left foot up on his knee and fell to scratching his anklebone absently with a rusty nail which he got out of his coffin. "What is too bad, friend?" "Oh, everything, everything. I almost wish I never had died." "You surprise me. Why do you say this? Has anything gone wrong? What is the matter?" "Matter! Look at this shroud-rags. Look at this gravestone, all battered up. Look at that disgraceful old coffin. All a man's property going to ruin and destruction before his eyes, and ask him if anything is wrong? Fire and brimstone!" 15 "Calm yourself, calm yourself," I said. "It is too bad-it is certainly too bad, but then I had not supposed that you would much mind such matters situated as you are." "Well, my dear sir, I do mind them. My pride is hurt, and my comfort is impaired--destroyed, I might say. I will state my case--I will put it to you in such a way that you can comprehend it, if you will let me," said the poor skeleton, tilting the hood of his shroud back, as if he were clearing for action, and thus unconsciously giving himself a jaunty and festive air very much at variance with16 the grave character of his position in life--so to speak--and in prominent contrast with his distressful mood. "Proceed,"17 said I. "I reside in the shameful old graveyard a block or two above you here, in this street--there, now, I just expected that cartilage would let go!18 - -third rib from the bottom, friend, hitch the end of it to my spine with a string, if you have got such a thing about you, though a bit of silver wire is a deal pleasanter, and more durable and becoming, if one keeps it polished--to think of shredding out and going to pieces in this way, just on account of the indifference and neglect of one's posterity!"--and the poor ghost grated his teeth19 in a way that gave me a wrench and a shiver --for the effect is mightily increased by the absence of muffling flesh and cuticle20. "I reside in that old graveyard, and have for these thirty years; and I tell you things are changed since I first laid this old tired frame there, and turned over, and stretched out for a long sleep, with a delicious sense upon me of being done with21 bother, and grief, and anxiety, and doubt, and fear, forever and ever, and listening with comfortable and increasing satisfaction to the sexton's work, from the startling clatter of his first spadeful on my coffin till it dulled away22 to the faint patting that shaped the roof of 14 drawing the remnant of the shroud about him：把身上的布又裹了裹。 15 Fire and brimstone：brimstone 指地狱之火的燃料，fire and brimstone 指地狱般的灾难。 16 so much at variance with：与…格格不入。 17 proceed：请讲。 18 I just expected that cartilage would let go! 你瞧，我这块软骨都快掉下来了！ 19 grated his teeth：（恨恨地）把牙齿咬得咯咯响。 20 for the effect is mightily increased by the absence of muffling flesh and cuticle：因为没有血肉和皮肤捂住， 这声音的效果更加强烈。 21 with a delicious sense upon me of being done with：心想终于可以摆脱烦恼、悲伤了。 22 dull away：声音渐渐沉闷消失
my new home-delicious! My I wish you could try it to-night! "and out of my reverie deceased fetched me a rattling slap with a bony hand Yes, sir, thirty years ago I laid me down there, and was happy. For it was out in the country then--out in the breezy, flowery, grand old woods, and the lazy winds gossiped with the leaves, and the squirrels capered24 over us and around us, and the ing things visited us, and the birds filled the tranquil solitude with music. Ah, it was worth ten years of a man's life to be dead then! Everything was pleasant. I was in a good neighborhood, for all the dead people that lived near me belonged to the best families in the city. Our posterity appeared to think the world of us5. They kept our graves in the very best cond ition; the fences were always in faultless repair, head-boards were kept painted or whitewashed, and were replaced with new ones as soon as they began to look rusty or decayed; monuments were kept upright, railings intact and bright, the rose-bushes and shrubbery trimmed, trained, and free from blemish, the walks clean and smooth and graveled26. But that day is gone by. Our descendants have forgotten us. My grandson lives in a stately house built with money made by these old hands of mine27, and I sleep in a neglected grave with invading vermin that gnaw my shroud to build them nests withal28! I and friends that lie with me founded and secured the prosperity of this fine city, and the stately bantling 29of our loves leaves us to rot in a dilapidated cemetery which neighbors curse and strangers scoff at. See the difference between the old time and this --for instance: Our graves are all caved in 0 now our head-boards have rotted away and tumbled down our railings reel this way and that, with one foot in the air, after a fashion of unseemly levity; our monuments lean wearily, and our gravestones bow their heads discouraged there be no adornments any more--no roses, nor shrubs, nor graveled walks, nor anything that is a comfort to the eye, and even the paintless old board fence that did make a show of holding us sacred from companionship with beasts and the defilement of heedless feet ,, has tottered till it overhangs the street, and only advertises the presence of our dismal resting-place and invites yet more derision to it And now we cannot hide our poverty and tatters in the friendly woods, for the city has stretched its withering 33 arms abroad and taken us in and all that remains of the cheer of our old home is the cluster of lugubrious forest trees that stand bored and weary of a city life, with their feet in our coffins, looking into the hazy distance and wishing they were there. I tell you it is disgraceful! You begin to comprehend--you begin to see how it is. While our descendants are living sumptuously on our money, right around us in the city, we have to fight 23 deceased:死者。 a4 capered:蹦蹦跳跳,雀跃 23 Our posterity appeared to think the world of us:我们的后代对我们十分敬重。 26 graveled:用沙砾铺好 27 My grandson lives in a stately house built with money made by these old hands of mine:我的孙子住在用我勤 苦赚来的钱筑起的豪华房子里 28 build them nests withal:虫子想用我的裹尸布给自己做窝 <贬>小杂种,娃娃们。 cave in:塌陷,倒坍 3 railings reel this way and that:护栏东倒西歪 32 the defilement of heedless feet:(保护我们的墓碑)不被莽撞的动物践踏 3 withering:咄咄逼人的,破坏性的
my new home-delicious! My! I wish you could try it to-night!" and out of my reverie deceased23 fetched me a rattling slap with a bony hand. "Yes, sir, thirty years ago I laid me down there, and was happy. For it was out in the country then--out in the breezy, flowery, grand old woods, and the lazy winds gossiped with the leaves, and the squirrels capered24 over us and around us, and the creeping things visited us, and the birds filled the tranquil solitude with music. Ah, it was worth ten years of a man's life to be dead then! Everything was pleasant. I was in a good neighborhood, for all the dead people that lived near me belonged to the best families in the city. Our posterity appeared to think the world of us25. They kept our graves in the very best condition; the fences were always in faultless repair, head-boards were kept painted or whitewashed, and were replaced with new ones as soon as they began to look rusty or decayed; monuments were kept upright, railings intact and bright, the rose-bushes and shrubbery trimmed, trained, and free from blemish, the walks clean and smooth and graveled26. But that day is gone by. Our descendants have forgotten us. My grandson lives in a stately house built with money made by these old hands of mine27, and I sleep in a neglected grave with invading vermin that gnaw my shroud to build them nests withal28! I and friends that lie with me founded and secured the prosperity of this fine city, and the stately bantling 29of our loves leaves us to rot in a dilapidated cemetery which neighbors curse and strangers scoff at. See the difference between the old time and this --for instance: Our graves are all caved in30 now; our head-boards have rotted away and tumbled down; our railings reel this way and that31, with one foot in the air, after a fashion of unseemly levity; our monuments lean wearily, and our gravestones bow their heads discouraged; there be no adornments any more--no roses, nor shrubs, nor graveled walks, nor anything that is a comfort to the eye; and even the paintless old board fence that did make a show of holding us sacred from companionship with beasts and the defilement of heedless feet32, has tottered till it overhangs the street, and only advertises the presence of our dismal resting-place and invites yet more derision to it. And now we cannot hide our poverty and tatters in the friendly woods, for the city has stretched its withering33 arms abroad and taken us in, and all that remains of the cheer of our old home is the cluster of lugubrious forest trees that stand, bored and weary of a city life, with their feet in our coffins, looking into the hazy distance and wishing they were there. I tell you it is disgraceful! "You begin to comprehend--you begin to see how it is. While our descendants are living sumptuously on our money, right around us in the city, we have to fight 23 deceased：死者。 24 capered：蹦蹦跳跳，雀跃。 25 Our posterity appeared to think the world of us：我们的后代对我们十分敬重。 26 graveled：用沙砾铺好。 27 My grandson lives in a stately house built with money made by these old hands of mine：我的孙子住在用我勤 苦赚来的钱筑起的豪华房子里 28 build them nests withal：虫子想用我的裹尸布给自己做窝 29 bantling：<贬>小杂种，娃娃们。 30 cave in：塌陷，倒坍。 31 railings reel this way and that：护栏东倒西歪。 32 the defilement of heedless feet：（保护我们的墓碑）不被莽撞的动物践踏 33 withering：咄咄逼人的，破坏性的
hard to keep skull and bones together. Bless you, there isn't a grave in our cemetery that doesn't leak not one. Every time it rains in the night we have to climb out and roost in the trees and sometimes we are wakened suddenly by the chilly water trickling down the back of our necks. Then I tell you there is a general heaving up of old graves and kicking over of old monuments, and scampering of old skeletons for might have seen as many as fifteen of us roosting on one limb, with our joint s rattle the trees! 34Bless me, if you had gone along there some such nights after twelve y drearily and the wind wheezing through our ribs! Many a time we have perched there for three or four dreary hours, and then come down, stiff and chilled through and drowsy, and borrowed each other's skulls to bail out our graves with35--if you will glance up in my mouth now as I tilt my head back, you can see that my head-piece is half full of old dry sed iment how top-heavy b and stupid it makes me sometimes! Yes sir, many a time if you had happened to come along just before the dawn you'd have caught us bailing out the graves and hanging our shrouds on the fence to dry. Why, I had an elegant shroud stolen from there one morning--think a party by the name of Smith took it, that resides in a plebeian graveyard over yonder--I think so because the first time I ever saw him he hadn,'t anything on but a check shirt, and the last time I saw him, which was at a soc ial gathering in the new cemetery, he was the best-dressed corpse in the company--and it is a significant fact that he left when he saw me, and presently an old woman from here missed her coffin--she generally took it with her when she went anywhere, because she was liable to take cold and bring on the spasmod ic rheumatism that originally killed her if she exposed herself to the night air much. She was named Hotchkiss--Anna Matilda Hotchkiss--you might know her? She has two upper front teeth, is tall, but a good deal inclined to stoop, one rib on the left side gone, has one shred of rusty hair hanging from the left side of her head, and one little tufts just above and a little forward of her right ear, has her underjaw wired on one side where it had worked loose, small bone of left forearm gone--lost in a fight has a kind of swagger in her gait 9 and a ' 40 way of going with her arms akimbo and her nostrils in the air has been pretty free and easy, and is all damaged and battered up till she looks like a queensware crate in ruins42--maybe you God forbid! 43 I involuntarily ejaculated, for somehow I was not looking for that form of question, and it caught me a little off my guard. But I hastened to make amends for my rudeness, and say, "I simply meant I had not had the honor--for I would not deliberately speak discourteously of a friend of yours. You were say ing that 34 Then I tell you there is a general heaving up of old graves and kicking over of old monuments, and scampering of old skeletons for the trees!这时候没有一个老骷髅不忙着掀起坟头,踢翻墓碑,奔向大树 3 borrowed each other's skulls to bail out our graves with:借彼此的头盖骨把坟墓里的水舀干 3top- heavy:头重脚轻的。 3 bring on the spasmodic rheumatism:痉挛性风湿病发作 38tuf:一绺毛发 has a kind of swagger in her gait:步态盛气凌人 40 gallus:<苏格兰>勇敢的,调皮的 4 her arms akimbo:双手叉腰 42 a queensware crate in ruins:一片废墟里装女王陶的板条箱 43 God forbid:哦但愿不会!
hard to keep skull and bones together. Bless you, there isn't a grave in our cemetery that doesn't leak not one. Every time it rains in the night we have to climb out and roost in the trees and sometimes we are wakened suddenly by the chilly water trickling down the back of our necks. Then I tell you there is a general heaving up of old graves and kicking over of old monuments, and scampering of old skeletons for the trees! 34Bless me, if you had gone along there some such nights after twelve you might have seen as many as fifteen of us roosting on one limb, with our joints rattling drearily and the wind wheezing through our ribs! Many a time we have perched there for three or four dreary hours, and then come down, stiff and chilled through and drowsy, and borrowed each other's skulls to bail out our graves with35 --if you will glance up in my mouth now as I tilt my head back, you can see that my head-piece is half full of old dry sediment how top-heavy36 and stupid it makes me sometimes! Yes, sir, many a time if you had happened to come along just before the dawn you'd have caught us bailing out the graves and hanging our shrouds on the fence to dry. Why, I had an elegant shroud stolen from there one morning--think a party by the name of Smith took it, that resides in a plebeian graveyard over yonder--I think so because the first time I ever saw him he hadn't anything on but a check shirt, and the last time I saw him, which was at a social gathering in the new cemetery, he was the best-dressed corpse in the company--and it is a significant fact that he left when he saw me; and presently an old woman from here missed her coffin--she generally took it with her when she went anywhere, because she was liable to take cold and bring on the spasmodic rheumatism37 that originally killed her if she exposed herself to the night air much. She was named Hotchkiss--Anna Matilda Hotchkiss--you might know her? She has two upper front teeth, is tall, but a good deal inclined to stoop, one rib on the left side gone, has one shred of rusty hair hanging from the left side of her head, and one little tuft38 just above and a little forward of her right ear, has her underjaw wired on one side where it had worked loose, small bone of left forearm gone--lost in a fight has a kind of swagger in her gait39 and a 'gallus'40 way of going with: her arms akimbo41 and her nostrils in the air has been pretty free and easy, and is all damaged and battered up till she looks like a queensware crate in ruins42 --maybe you have met her?" "God forbid!"43 I involuntarily ejaculated, for somehow I was not looking for that form of question, and it caught me a little off my guard. But I hastened to make amends for my rudeness, and say, "I simply meant I had not had the honor--for I would not deliberately speak discourteously of a friend of yours. You were saying that 34 Then I tell you there is a general heaving up of old graves and kicking over of old monuments, and scampering of old skeletons for the trees! 这时候没有一个老骷髅不忙着掀起坟头，踢翻墓碑,奔向大树 35 borrowed each other's skulls to bail out our graves with：借彼此的头盖骨把坟墓里的水舀干 36 top-heavy：头重脚轻的。 37 bring on the spasmodic rheumatism：痉挛性风湿病发作。 38 tuft：一绺毛发 39 has a kind of swagger in her gait：步态盛气凌人 40 gallus：<苏格兰>勇敢的，调皮的。 41 her arms akimbo：双手叉腰。 42 a queensware crate in ruins：一片废墟里装女王陶的板条箱。 43 God forbid：哦但愿不会！
you were robbed--and it was a shame, too--but it appears by what is left of the shroud you have on that it was a costly one in its day. How did-" A most ghastly expression began to develop among the decayed features and shriveled integuments of my guest's face44, and I was beginning to grow uneasy and distressed, when he told me he was only working up a deep, sly smile, with a wink in it, to suggest that about the time he acquired his present garment a ghost in a neighboring cemetery missed one. This reassured me, but I begged him to confine himself to speech thenceforth, because his facial expression was uncertain. Even with the most elaborate care it was liable to miss fire. Smiling should especially be avoided. What he might honestly consider a shining success was likely to strike me in a very different light. I said I liked to see a skeleton cheerful, even decorously playful, but I did not think smiling was a skeleton's best hold Yes, friend, said the poor skeleton, "the facts are just as I have given them to you. Two of these old graveyards--the one that I resided in and one further along have been deliberately neglected by our descendants of to-day until there is no occupying them any longer. Aside from the osteolog ical+8 discomfort of it--and that is no light matter this rainy weather-the present state of things is ruinous to property. We have got to move or be content to see our effects wasted away and utterly destroyed Now, you will hardly believe it, but it is true, nevertheless, that there isn 't a single coffin in good repair among all my acquaintance--now that is an absolute fact. I do not refer to low people who come in a pine box mounted on an express-wagon", but I am talking about your high-toned silver-mounted burial-case, your monumental sort, that travel under black plumes at the head of a procession 0 and have choice of cemetery lots--I mean folks like the Jarvises, and the Bledsoe and Burlings, and such. They are all about ruined. The most substantial 5I people in our set2, they were. And now look at them--utterly used up and poverty-stricken. One of the Bledsoe actually traded his monument to a late barkeeper for some fresh shavings to put under his head. I tell you it speaks volumes, for there is nothing a corpse takes so much pride in as his monument. He loves to read the inscription. He comes after a while to believe what it says himself, and then you may see him sitting on the fence night after night enjoying it. Epitaphs are cheap, and they do a poor chap a world of good after he is dead, especially if he had hard luck while he was alive. I wish they were used more. Now I don't complain, but confidentially i do think it was a little shabby in my descendants to give me nothing but this old slab of a gravestone--and all the more that there isn't a compliment on it. It used to have GONE TO HIS JUST REWARDS on it, and I was proud when I first saw it, but by and by I noticed that whenever an old 4 A most ghastly expression began to develop among the decayed features and shriveled integuments of my guest's face:一种极其可怖的表情在这位来客腐败萎缩的脸上浮现出来 45 miss fire:无济于事,达不到预期效果 46 strike me in a very different light:(微笑)给我带来完全不一样的感受 47 best hold:最拿手的表情。 48 osteological:骨骼学的 a pine box mounted wagon:装在四轮货车上运来的松木棺材 s0 at the head of a procession:棺木后紧跟着大批人马 substantial:富有的 s2 In our set:在我们这个圈子、阶层里 53 shavings:刨花(垫在头下面) s4 GONE TO HIS JUST REWARD:死得其所
you were robbed--and it was a shame, too--but it appears by what is left of the shroud you have on that it was a costly one in its day. How did--" A most ghastly expression began to develop among the decayed features and shriveled integuments of my guest's face 44, and I was beginning to grow uneasy and distressed, when he told me he was only working up a deep, sly smile, with a wink in it, to suggest that about the time he acquired his present garment a ghost in a neighboring cemetery missed one. This reassured me, but I begged him to confine himself to speech thenceforth, because his facial expression was uncertain. Even with the most elaborate care it was liable to miss fire 45. Smiling should especially be avoided. What he might honestly consider a shining success was likely to strike me in a very different light46. I said I liked to see a skeleton cheerful, even decorously playful, but I did not think smiling was a skeleton's best hold47 . "Yes, friend," said the poor skeleton, "the facts are just as I have given them to you. Two of these old graveyards--the one that I resided in and one further along have been deliberately neglected by our descendants of to-day until there is no occupying them any longer. Aside from the osteological48 discomfort of it--and that is no light matter this rainy weather--the present state of things is ruinous to property. We have got to move or be content to see our effects wasted away and utterly destroyed. "Now, you will hardly believe it, but it is true, nevertheless, that there isn't a single coffin in good repair among all my acquaintance--now that is an absolute fact. I do not refer to low people who come in a pine box mounted on an express-wagon49, but I am talking about your high-toned, silver-mounted burial-case, your monumental sort, that travel under black plumes at the head of a procession50 and have choice of cemetery lots-- I mean folks like the Jarvises, and the Bledsoes and Burlings, and such. They are all about ruined. The most substantial 51 people in our set52, they were. And now look at them--utterly used up and poverty-stricken. One of the Bledsoes actually traded his monument to a late barkeeper for some fresh shavings53 to put under his head. I tell you it speaks volumes, for there is nothing a corpse takes so much pride in as his monument. He loves to read the inscription. He comes after a while to believe what it says himself, and then you may see him sitting on the fence night after night enjoying it. Epitaphs are cheap, and they do a poor chap a world of good after he is dead, especially if he had hard luck while he was alive. I wish they were used more. Now I don't complain, but confidentially I do think it was a little shabby in my descendants to give me nothing but this old slab of a gravestone--and all the more that there isn't a compliment on it. It used to have: 'GONE TO HIS JUST REWARD'54 "on it, and I was proud when I first saw it, but by and by I noticed that whenever an old 44 A most ghastly expression began to develop among the decayed features and shriveled integuments of my guest's face：一种极其可怖的表情在这位来客腐败萎缩的脸上浮现出来 45 miss fire：无济于事，达不到预期效果。 46 strike me in a very different light：（微笑）给我带来完全不一样的感受。 47 best hold：最拿手的表情。 48 osteological：骨骼学的 49 a pine box mounted on an express-wagon：装在四轮货车上运来的松木棺材 50 at the head of a procession：棺木后紧跟着大批人马 51 substantial: 富有的 52 in our set：在我们这个圈子、阶层里 53 shavings：刨花（垫在头下面） 54 GONE TO HIS JUST REWARD：死得其所