Seumas O'Kelly (1881—1918)
本文采自《愛爾蘭短篇小說故事集》（Irish Stories ＆ Tales）。愛爾蘭人與英格蘭人種族不同，其地雖久為英國所統治，然其人對英國素乏好感。十九世紀末，隨愛爾蘭民族主義之抬頭，愛爾蘭文學也力求表現其民族之特色。所謂「愛爾蘭文藝復興」（The Irish Literary Revival）之目的，即為擺脫英國文學之傳統，以新形式表現愛爾蘭人之思想與信仰。現在南愛爾蘭為一獨立國（不屬英聯邦）。愛爾蘭文學在戲劇、詩歌、小說方面亦頗多表現，為英語文學放一異彩。二十世紀最偉大小說家之一James Joyce，即為愛爾蘭人。《愛爾蘭短篇小說故事集》所收諸人，如Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, George Moore, Se n O'Faolain, Frank O'Connor等，皆文壇俊彥。Seumas O'Kelly之聲名，雖不如上述諸人，然此篇細膩動人，允稱佳作。
Mary had spent many days gathering wool from the whins on the headland. They were the bits of wool shed by the sheep before the shearing. When she had got a fleece that fitted the basket she took it down to the canal and washed it. When she had done washing it was a soft, white, silky fleece. She put it back in the brown sally basket, pressing it down with her long, delicate fingers. She had risen to go away, holding the basket against her waist, when her eyes followed the narrow neck of water that wound through the bog.
● 本文題名「Michael and Mary」，現在Michael尚未出現。
● gathering wool：拾羊毛。whins：暗色的岩石，粗玄巖。headland：山巖，想是牧羊之所。
● shed：褪脫。羊在修剪（shearing）之前，自己會褪毛。毛落山野間，貧家女子撿來，亦有微利可博。
● a fleece：原意是「一次剪下之羊毛」，這裡當然是「一次拾來的羊毛」。that fitted the basket：籃子裡盛得下的。
● had done washing：洗畢。
● sally：柳枝，是sallow之變體。pressing down：用力塞進去。long, delicate fingers：關於這個女子的美，只有這幾個字形容。
● neck of water：水道。即上述之運河（canal）。followed：眼睛跟著河道望去。bog：潮濕之泥炭地。運河在這種沼澤地上蜿蜒（wound）流過。
She could not follow the neck of yellow water very far. The light of day was failing. A haze hung over the great Bog of Allen that spread out level on all sides of her. The boat loomed out of the haze on the narrow neck of the canal water. It looked, at first, a long way off, and it seemed to come in a cloud. The soft rose light that mounted the sky caught the boat and burnished it like dull gold. It came leisurely, drawn by the one horse looking like a Golden Barque in the twilight. Mary put her brown head a little to one side as she watched the easy motion of the boat. The horse drew himself along deliberately, the patient head going up and down with every heavy step. A crane rose from the bog, flapping two lazy wings across the wake of the boat, and, reaching its long neck before it, got lost in the haze.
● 本段是風景描寫，有幾個有關色彩的形容詞，尤其要請讀者注意。色彩並不艷麗，然而很醒目。本文的浪漫情調是很明顯的，但是這裡到底只是鄉村風光，並非仙境，運河也只是一條「黃流」，並不是碧綠的。
● 天色將暮，日光漸暗（failing），她看不遠。
● Bog of Allen：這塊沼澤地大約不小，居然有它的專用名字。愛爾蘭北部有湖名Lough (=Lake) Allen，這塊沼澤地想必離此不遠。level是形容詞，形容主語that，沼澤地平平地向四周伸展開來。
● The boat：這裡不用She suddenly saw…等字樣，這種寫法在英文裡並不顯得突兀。loomed：朦朧中突然出現，通常用於形體龐大的東西。boat雖是小船，但是四周霧氣（haze）低垂，船穿霧而出，疑是駕雲（in a cloud）而來，也會使人覺得很大的。
● soft rose light：霧氣中看出來的霞光，用這幾個字恐怕是最為妥貼。mounted：升（空）。空中霞光，應該普照萬物，但是周圍都是平平的地和水，沒有突出的東西，單單照在船上，好像霞光只有一道，專照（caught：捉住）這艘小船的。burnished：磨擦（金屬，使光亮）。小船在霧氣之中，為霞光所照，色彩一定很美。但是假如真說它燦爛若黃金，未免顯得過火。這裡dull一字用得最為恰當。
● leisurely：船並不急駛。horse：中國有用民夫拉縴行船的，愛爾蘭恐怕是用馬拉縴的。馬在岸上走，船在水中行。Golden Barque：典不詳，想必愛爾蘭民間傳說中有「仙舟」這種東西，鄉村女子在暮色蒼茫之中（in the twilight），逢此奇景，很可能往這方面聯想上去的。barque即bark，小船。鄉間小船，認作仙人金槎，這就是我所謂「浪漫情調」。
● brown head：頭髮的顏色。put…to one side：側著頭。
● drew himself：馬往前走，馬本身也有重量，所以可以說「馬拉自己」。deliberately:不慌不忙地。patient：任重致遠，馬的頭表現著「耐心」。going up and down：忽俯忽仰。
● crane：鶴。四周本來一片靜寂，小船出現，打破了這種沉寂，作者特別叫一隻野鶴受驚飛起，描寫就更有生氣。中國舊詩中這種「畫龍點睛」之法很常見，讀者不妨參照。
● lazy wings：和前面船的leisurely以及馬的deliberately相呼應。wake：船身後邊的水流。reaching its neck：伸長它的頭頸。before it=before the crane。
The figure that swayed by the big arm of the tiller on The Golden Barque was vague and shapeless at first, but Mary felt her eyes following the slow movements of the body. Mary thought it was very beautiful to sway every now and then by the arm of the tiller, steering a Golden Barque through the twilight.
● figure：人的身形。朦朧中還看不仔細。swayed是不及物動詞：搖擺。tiller：舵柄；想必粗而且長，故說the big arm。
● The Golden Barque：小船的名字，我們不知道。但是在Mary想像之中，她覺得它很美，就乾脆叫它金船了。
● slow movements：一搖一擺，姿態很美。
● every now and then：一下又一下地，常常。
● steering：掌舵，駕駛。
Then she realised suddenly that the boat was much nearer than she had thought. She could see the figures of the men plainly, especially the slim figure by the tiller. She could trace the rope that slackened and stretched taut as it reached from the boat to the horse. Once it splashed the water, and there was a little spout of silver. She noted the whip looped under the arm of the driver. Presently she could count every heavy step of the horse, and was struck by the great size of the shaggy fetlocks. But always her eyes went back to the figure by the tiller.
● 她忽然發覺（realised）船已行近，各人的身形都可以看清楚（plainly），她起初還以為很遠呢。這幾段描寫，都以船的行動為線索，由遠而近，駛過她的身邊，然後消失。
● slim：細長的。那個在舵柄旁的人非但搖擺的姿態優美，身材也是細長的，值得一看再看。
● the rope：拉縴的繩，從船上伸（reached）到馬身上。馬走得快，繩子就繃緊（stretched taut）；船滑得快，繩子就松（slackened）。
● splashed：纖繩一張一弛，有時候局部落在水裡，水花四濺。spout of silver：銀色水花。和golden barque有相得益彰之妙。
● driver：趕馬的。他的鞭子彎成環狀（looped），夾在脅下。
● Presently：不久之後（船漸駛漸近）。was struck by：見所未見，印象很深。shaggy：蓬鬆松的。fetlocks：馬腳後跟上的毛。馬距毛如此之盛，是她以前所沒有注意過的。
● 最後一句很有力量：她的注意力是集中到那個掌舵的身上去了。
She moved back a little way to see The Golden Barque pass. It came from a strange, far-off world, and having traversed the bog went away into another unknown world. A red-faced man was sitting drowsily on the prow. Mary smiled and nodded to him, but he made no sign. He did not see her; perhaps he was asleep. The driver who walked beside the horse had his head stooped and his eyes on the ground. He did not look up as he passed. Mary saw his lips moving, and heard him mutter to himself; perhaps he was praying. He was a shrunken, misshaped little figure and kept step with the brute in the journey over the bog. But Mary felt the gaze of the man by the tiller upon her. She raised her eyes.
● 船行近了，她反而要退後幾步，才可看得仔細。
● 船雖到了眼前，但是它的神秘性仍未喪失。它來自奇異的遠方，穿過沼澤地（這是現實），再駛向不可知的世界。
● drowsily：睡眼惺忪地。prow：船頭。
● 船上有兩個人，岸上有個趕馬的。這三個男人之中，只有那個掌舵的是在注意她的。而且一個是雖然經她招呼對她也不理會，一個則是狀貌猥瑣，相形之下，那個掌舵的更顯得傑出。
● 趕馬的身材瘦小（shrunken）而佝僂（misshaped），一步一步地趕著馬（brute），在沼澤地上走。
● Mary正在看這兩個人，可是她發覺掌舵的那人眼光正落在她身上，她抬起眼睛來了。
The light was uncertain and his peaked cap threw a shadow over his face. But the figure was lithe and youthful. He smiled as she looked up, for she caught a gleam of his teeth. Then the boat had passed. Mary did not smile in return. She had taken a step back and remained there quietly. Once he looked back and awkwardly touched his cap, but she made no sign.
● 光線模糊，那人戴了一頂鴨舌（peaked）帽，臉為黑影籠罩，看不清楚。（throw a shadow是成語）可是這個人的身體看來是年輕的，而且剛柔適中，富於彈性（lithe）。
● as she looked up：呼應上段的She raised her eyes。
● 此人是否在笑，她並不確切知道，可是他的牙齒露了一下白光，像是笑了。（原文只用gleam，不用white，white這個字在這裡是可以省略的。）
● Mary did not smile in return：船頭上的那個紅臉漢，沒有理她，她卻向他微笑頷首；現在掌舵的向她一笑，她反而不作表示。這是女人心理微妙處：是少女的矜持乎？抑是感觸太深，不知所措乎？
● 船已行遠，可是她還是以目送之。她看見那人回過一次頭，很笨拙地以手觸帽，向她致敬。（awkwardly：「不知怎麼是好」的尷尬表情。）
When the boat had gone by some way she sat down on the bank, her basket of wool beside her, looking at The Golden Barque until it went into the gloom. She stayed there for some time, thinking long in the great silence of the bog. When at last she rose, the canal was clear and cold beneath her. She looked into it. A pale new moon was shining down in the water.
● by有past之意。some way也是作副詞之用：走得相當遠了。bank：河岸。她坐下來，看金船消失於暮色之中。
● thinking：她在想些什麼呢？她所想的內容如果寫了出來，小說的格調恐怕反而要庸俗了。
● the canal was clear and cold：clear者，河上已經沒有船。cold一字尤見份量，意味深長。此刻唯有天際淡淡新月，空照流水而已。
Mary often stood at the door of the cabin on the headland watching the boats that crawled like black snails over the narrow streak of water through the bog. But they were not all like black snails now. There was a Golden Barque among them. Whenever she saw it she smiled, her eyes on the figure that stood by the shaft of the tiller.
● cabin：木屋之類的敝廬，這大約就是她的家。
● snails：蝸牛。船本來都像蝸牛爬行，可是現在在她心目中，有一條船是與眾不同的了。the narrow streak of water：就是那條運河。
● shaft：柄。她看船，其實只是要看那條金船。船上也只有那個掌舵的人可看而已。她笑，她的眼光落在那個人的身上——心事全在不言中。
● bog：前文我把bog譯作「沼澤地」，這是有字典為憑的。1957年2月26日那期的The New Yorker，內有「Bog for Sale」一文，讀後才知道愛爾蘭的bog和一般英美人所瞭解的bog並不相同，愛爾蘭的bog大約並不潮濕，只是「泥炭地」而已。bog的泥土是可以用來當煤炭燒的。現在把該雜誌的原文抄錄幾句如下：
An Irish bog is not what people imagine. It is not a swamp. It is simply land—usually low-lying and heather-covered—from which turf has been, or can be, cut. Turf, which is called peat outside Ireland, is a layer—perhaps fifteen or twenty feet deep—of decomposed primeval forest; when cut into rectangular slabs and dried, it is in demand as domestic fuel.
● 現在再讓我們看看「家居泥炭地，眼望金槎船」的Mary在做些什麼。
One evening she was walking by the canal when The Golden Barque passed. The light was very clear and searching. It showed every plank, battered and tar-stained, on the rough hulk, but for all that it lost none of its magic for Mary. The little shrunken driver, head down, the lips moving, walking beside the horse. She heard his low mutters as he passed. The red-faced man was stooping over the side of the boat, swinging out a vessel tied to a rope, to haul up some water. He was singing a ballad in a monotonous voice. A tall, dark, spare man was standing by the funnel, looking vacantly ahead. Then Mary's eyes travelled to the tiller.
● searching：搜索性的；發隱抉微的；無孔不入的。初次看見金船，是在暮色蒼茫霧氣低迷之中。這次雖然仍舊是黃昏，光線卻特別明亮，她對於金船有更進一步的認識。
● plank：船身（hulk）上的板條。木船上一條條的板都可看得清清楚楚，那些板條已經破爛（battered）沾有柏油污跡（tar-stained）。木船敝舊如此，其非「金船」殆無疑義。但是即使如此（for all that）木船仍舊有它的魔力（magic）。
● 前面所介紹過的幾個人，這裡重又出現，只是狀貌聲音都比較清楚了。第一個是那小個兒趕馬的，她現在看得見他嘴唇的動作，聽得見他在喃喃自語。另一個是那紅臉漢子，他俯身船舷之外，用一隻吊桶樣的東西（vessel：器皿）在河裡打水。一面取水，一面唱著山歌。還有一個高挑身材黑瘦（spare）子。那是以前沒有出現過的。此人站在煙囪邊上，茫然地往前方注視。
● 眼睛向三個人身上一轉，然後又落到掌舵那地方。請注意travelled這個字是從「旅行」衍伸出來的意義。這個字《簡明牛津字典》解釋作「用心地或是有次序地一件一件東西看過去」，該字典並舉了這樣一個例：His eye travelled over the scene.
Mary stepped back with some embarrassment when she saw the face. She backed into a hawthorn that grew all alone on the canal bank. It was covered with bloom. A shower of the white petals fell about her when she stirred the branches. They clung about her hair like a wreath. He raised his cap and smiled. Mary did not know the face was so eager, so boyish. She smiled a little nervously at last. His face lit up, and he touched his cap again.
● 她看見那個男人，總覺得有點不自在，現在仍舊如此。
● backed：這個字可以作動詞用的。她往後一退，以山楂（hawthorn）的枝葉掩身。河岸上孤零零的（all alone）就是這麼一棵樹。人入花叢，樹枝受震，群英紛落（a shower），附著（clung）在她的頭髮上，她好像戴了一頂花冠（wreath）。這是她同那個男子第二次覿面，作者對於Mary的美，並沒有描寫，但是她的嬌羞，加上頭髮上的白花瓣（petal），她那時的美，我們也不難想像了。
● raised his cap：脫帽高舉行禮。
● 帽子一脫，那人的臉就看得清楚了。Mary想不到他的臉竟是如此的熱情流露（eager），如此的稚氣可掬。
● at last：人家對她行禮，她沒法再矜持，最後只好窘迫地微微一笑。她笑了，他的臉上也容光煥發（lit是light的過去式）了。那時他的帽子已經戴上，他就舉手觸帽行禮。
The red-faced man stood by the open hatchway going into the hold, the vessel of water in his hand. He looked at Mary and then at the figure beside the tiller.
"Eh, Michael," the red-faced man said quizzically. The youth turned back to the boat, and Mary felt the blush spreading over her face.
"Michael!"
Mary repeated the name a little softly to herself. The gods had delivered up one of their great secrets.
● hatchway：甲板上的出入口。going形容hatchway這個出入口是通到船的底部（hold）的。
● quizzically：開玩笑的樣子。那紅臉漢已經猜到那男人的心事了。
● Michael：這個名字第一次出現。女的對於那個男的，已有好感，可是不知道他的名字。她恐怕非常想知道他的名字，可是作者對於這種心理狀態，決不用一字描寫（一寫恐怕就「俗」）。但是她聽見了這個名字，臉就紅到耳朵根（spreading over her face），還輕輕地自言自語念這個名字——這種暗示，不就夠了嗎？（這種暗示的寫法，中國舊詩裡很常見。）最後還說了這麼一句話：天神總算把一件大秘密讓凡人知道了。為什麼是「大秘密」呢？她的亟於想知道那人的名字，不言可喻。從此以後，那人不再是the figure beside the tiller，而是Michael了。
● gods：想是愛爾蘭古時的神，不是基督教的神。基督教的神應該用大寫G，而且也沒有複數形式的。delivered up：交出，獻出（不再吝嗇）。
She watched The Golden Barque until two square slits in the stern that served as port holes looked like two little Japanese eyes. Then she heard a horn blowing. It was the horn they blew to apprise lock-keepers of the approach of a boat. But the nearest lock was a mile off. Besides, it was a long, low sound the horn made, not the sharp, commanding blast they blew for lock-keepers. Mary listened to the low sound of the horn, smiling to herself. Afterwards the horn always blew like that whenever The Goldn Barque was passing the solitary hawthorn.
● 船又駛遠，她還是以目遙送。slits：孔；通常指「長條的裂口」，但是這裡是「正方形的」。stern：船尾。port holes：船上的窗洞。船走遠了，船尾的兩個窗洞也漸縮小，最後看來只像日本人的兩隻小眼睛。西洋人通常以為東方人的眼睛小，好像東方人以為「高鼻子」是西洋人的特徵一樣。
● horn：號角，喇叭。they blew的they泛指「那船上的人」。這種用法為語法家所不取，但是很常見。apprise：通知。
● lock：運河中由水閘控制的一段水道。運河是人造的河，水面可能有幾段高，有幾段低。高低水道間，有水閘控制。船行至高低水道差異之處，先得用信號（如吹喇叭）通知管閘的人（lock-keeper）把水閘放開。
● 船上忽然吹起喇叭來了，那是為什麼呢？水閘還遠得很呢，再則，要通知開閘，喇叭的聲音是尖銳短促，帶著命令（commanding）的意味，這是Mary所知道的；但是現在喇叭的聲音是悠長遲緩，這種低聲的喇叭是吹給誰聽的呢？Mary笑起來了。
● 以後船還在那棵樹下過，行到那地方，船上就輕輕地吹起喇叭。男方的情感，作者也不直接描寫，只是用暗示。筆墨如此經濟，而情感已躍然紙上，作者真寫情好手也。
Mary thought it was very wonderful that The Golden Barque should be in the lock the one day that she was travelling with her basket to the market in the distant village. She stood a little hesitantly by the lock. Michael looked at her, a welcome in his eyes.
"Going to Bohermeen?" the red-faced man asked.
"Ay, to Bohermeen," Mary answered.
Mary hesitated, as he held out a big hand to help her to the boat. He saw the hesitation and turned to Michael.
"Now, Michael." he said.
● 後來又有一天，Mary提了籃子到遠處村莊的市場上去，路過水閘，船恰好停在那邊，Mary覺得真巧（wonderful）。看見了船，她躊躇了一下，腳步停住了。Michael對她看，眼睛裡表示歡迎。可是他還不好意思開口，由那紅臉漢代表發言的。
● Bohermeen想必就是那distant village的名字。
● 紅臉漢要扶她上船，送她一程，可是Mary不要他扶。這裡hesitate，hesitantly，hesitation三種形式都用上了。
Michael came to the side of the boat, and held out his hand. Mary took it and stepped on board. The red-faced man laughed a little. She noticed that the dark man who stood by the crooked funnel never took his eyes from the stretch of water before him. The driver was already urging the horse to the start on the bank. The brute was gathering his strength for the pull, the muscles standing out on his haunches. They glided out of the lock.
● 紅臉漢來扶，她不要；Michael伸手過來，她就接住了上船（on board）。其中必有文章，無怪紅臉漢要笑了。
● 到了船上，她又看看四周的人。煙囪是彎曲的（crooked），她這才注意到。站在煙囪邊上的黑漢子，想必是負航行之責，所以眼睛老是看著前面那條水道。
● 現在又要開船了，所以趕馬的在岸上趕馬動身。
● 馬（The brute）起步之前，先鼓足了勁，後股（haunches）上的肌肉都凸了起來。前面描寫過馬的距毛（見前面本文）。據我臆測，這種大動物的「雄姿」，對於春情業已發動的Mary多少有點挑逗作用。當然這都是「暗示」，無絲毫惡俗之氣也。
It was half a mile from one lock to another. Michael had bidden her stand beside him at the tiller. Once she looked up at him and she thought the face shy but very eager, the most eager face that ever came across the bog from the great world.
● 別人都看過了，最後向Michael抬頭一望。Michael的臉是羞澀的，可是很eager，Michael是從外鄉來的（是從「廣大的世界」來的），行船經過她家鄉的泥炭地，這種人Mary以前也見過，可是論到臉上神情的熱烈，那是要數Michael第一了。
Afterwards, whenever Mary had the time, she would make a cross-cut through the bog to the lock. She would step in and make the mile journey with Michael on The Golden Barque. Once, when they were journeying together, Michael slipped something into her hand. It was a quaint trinket, and shone like gold.
"From a strange sailor I got it," Michael said.
● make a cross-cut：走對角線穿過。按正路走，也許路徑要長了。
● step in：上船。make the mile journey：航行一英里。mile是名詞，但英文中名詞作形容詞用（attributive）的情形很多。
● slipped：偷偷地放。slip本有「滑」的意思，這個字當然比put更傳神，比gave her something也好多了。slipped表示一種確切的動作，這是煉字的功夫，用心寫作的人，決不以能用put，give這類的字就滿足的。
● quaint：別緻的。trinket：首飾。
● Michael送她東西，可以說是表示愛情。但是他說From a strange sailor I got it，又為全文結束，作一伏筆。他同那些大船上的水手是有來往的，關於Michael的生活，我們所知道的就是這麼一點。但是這一點漸漸加強，就決定了這篇小說的結局。
Another day that they were on the barque, the blinding sheets of rain that often swept over the bog came upon them. The red-faced man and the dark man went into the hold. Mary looked about her, laughing. But Michael held out his great waterproof for her. She slipped into it and he folded it about her. The rain pelted them, but they stood together, Michael holding the big coat folded about her. She laughed a little nervously.
● Another day that中的that有when之意。sheets of rain：猛雨。blinding：使人睜不開眼睛。
● the dark man：就是那「高挑身材黑瘦子」。hold：船的底部。人進去避雨。
● Mary不畏風雨，反而大笑。這和她的個性以及當時她喜悅的心情有關。作者的描寫，就是這麼一觸即走，不多敘述。
● waterproof此處作名詞用，就是稍後的big coat：雨衣。
● slipped：此字第二次出現。大致可以使人想到嬌小玲瓏的身材，「鑽」進一件大雨衣裡的神情。about：在（她）周圍；替她裹好。
● pelted：（石子、冰雹、雨點等）密集打擊。
● holding the big coat folded中的folded是過去分詞。
"You will be wet," she said.
Michael did not answer. She saw the eager face coming down close to hers. She leaned against him a little and felt the great strength of his arms about her. They went sailing away together in The Golden Barqut through all the shining seas of the gods.
● Michael那件雨衣，讓給Mary穿了，自己讓雨淋。這一方面是描寫男人強毅的個性，一方面表示他們的愛情又進一步。現在他們倆相偎相依；這種熱情場面不易描寫，稍一不慎，就可能流為惡俗。但是作者筆墨經濟：只重複前面所用過的eager一字。最初她只注意男人的身材，後來她看清楚他的臉，他的臉可能是很英俊的，但作者故意不用 handsome等字樣，只說是eager。現在the eager face向她貼近。他們的愛情就分這麼三個階段。
● 在運河裡他們只可以共航一英里左右，但是外面風吹雨淋，男人擁抱著她，她已有「陶醉」之感。所以她覺得他們是在「神聖光亮的海上」航行，駛向遠處（sailing away）。
"Michael," Mary said once, "is it not lovely?"
"The wide ocean is lovely," Michael said. "I always think of the wide ocean going over the bog."
"The wide ocean!" Mary said with awe. She had never seen the wide ocean. Then the rain passed. When the two men came up out of the hold Mary and Michael were standing together by the tiller.
● 這幾段又從夢想回到現實，而小說不快樂的結局也漸漸接近了。Mary在陶醉之中，覺得這樣行船很可愛。Michael是否有和Mary同樣的陶醉之感，我們不知道；因為這篇小說以Mary為主體，思想情感等，皆以Mary的觀點為出發。但是從對白之中，我們可以看見：Mary所想的是縹緲仙鄉之海，而Michael所想的是現實的五大洋。兩種境界也許都是浪漫的，但是兩人的想法不易接近。Mary發現兩人雖相偎相依，然而是「同床異夢」：Michael有他自己的理想，並不能把全部精神貢獻給她；所以她凜然驚覺地（with awe）說：「The wide ocean!」
● going over the bog是形容主語I的。going有「行船」之意。
Mary did not go down to the lock after that for some time. She was working in the reclaimed ground on the headland. Once the horn blew late in the night. It blew for a long time, very softly and lowly. Mary sat up in bed listening to it, her lips parted, the memory of Michael on The Golden Barque before her. She heard the sound dying away in the distance. Then she lay back on her pillow, saying she would go down to him when The Golden Barque was on the return journey.
● go down：她所住的地方較高，運河那邊地勢較低。
● reclaimed ground：本系荒蕪，後經墾殖適於耕種的土地。
● horn：男的以喇叭表示愛情，前面已經說過了。
● sat up：夜已深，Mary想已入睡，聽見喇叭輕柔緩慢的聲音，她坐了起來。her lips parted：這是nominative absolute phrase。嘴唇張了開來，或者用句文言老調「櫻唇微啟」；這樣一個簡單的動作，表示她諦聽的神情，她的期待，她的慾望。以這幾個簡單的字，代替大段心理描寫，非高手莫辦也。
● on the return journey：船回來時，在水閘那個地方，還要停留一個時候。她決心（注意作者不用resolved等比較難以捉摸的字，只是用很簡單的saying一字）那時再到船上去一次。
The figure that stood by the tiller on the return was not Michael's. When Mary came to the lock the red-faced man was telling out the rope, and where Michael always stood by the tiller there was the short strange figure of a man with a pinched, pockmarked face.
● 「若干時候以後，船回來了，Mary又趕去了……」這種話在敘事明快的文章裡，是可以省去的。
● 掌舵的已經換了一個人，遠遠一看身材就知道不對。
● telling out the rope：船上的繩本來是圈好的，現在用到它，一圈一圈地（telling，有「計數」之意）把它拉出來。
● 現在舵工換了一個矮小個兒，一臉苦相（pinched），且有麻子（pockmarked）。
When the red-faced man wound the rope round the stump at the lock, bringing the boat to a stand-still, he turned to Mary.
"Michael is gone voyaging," he said.
"Gone voyaging?" Mary repeated.
"Ay," the man answered. "He would be always talking to the foreign sailors in the dock where the canal ends. His eyes would be upon the big masts of the ships. I always said he would go."
● 繩拉出來是預備碇泊之用，現在繩是繞在木樁之上。bringing to a stand-still是成語：使停止。voyaging：通常指「長程航海」。
● foreign sailors：呼應前面的a strange sailor。dock：船塢。where the canal ends：運河的終點。
● masts：桅桿。ships和barque有大小之別。
● 紅臉漢幾句簡單的話，很清楚地把Michael的理想說明了。
Mary stood there while The Golden Barque was in the lock. It looked like a toy ship packed in a wooden box.
"A three-master he went in," the red-faced man said, as they made ready for the start. "I saw her standing out for the sea last night. Michael is under the spread of big canvas. He had the blood in him for the wide ocean, the wild blood of the rover."And the red-faced man, who was the boss of the boat, let his eyes wander up the narrow neck of water before him.
● 據Mary看來，斯船已不復是金船。小船在水閘裡停著，只像是一隻裝（packed）在木盒裡的玩具船。
● three-master：三桅大船。
● they：泛指船上的人。made ready：管水閘的人把水位調整好了，船又可以開航了。
● her：船習慣用陰性代名詞代替。
● under the spread of big canvas：巨帆張起，Michael站在下面。
● in him：在他身體裡面。the wild blood加強前面的the blood…for the wild ocean：他有愛好海洋的血，流浪人的血。
● boss：主人。紅臉漢雖不能出海遠航，他的心未嘗不追隨Michael於海上焉，所以他的眼睛往前看。
Mary watched The Golden Barque moving away, the grotesque figure standing by the tiller. She stayed there until a pale moon was shining below her, turning over a little trinket in her fingers. At last she dropped it into the water.
It made a little splash, and the vision of the crescent was broken.
● 船又開走了，可是掌舵的是那個怪模樣（grotesque）的人了。
● a pale moon：這個景致前面已出現過。景猶是也，船猶是也，唯人事之變遷大矣。
● a little trinket：不用the，而用a，好像這是任何一件首飾而已。事實上，讀者當然知道這是那一件了。
● the crescent：新月。河裡起了一些水花，新月的影子也破碎了。這是具體生動的描寫，然而也有象徵的意義。象徵些什麼，這裡也不用說了。