Miss Martha Meacham kept the little bakery on the corner (the one where you go up three steps, and the bell tinkles when you open the door). Miss Martha was forty, she had two false teeth and a sympathetic heart. Two or three times a week an interesting customer came in. He was a middle-aged man, wearing spectacles and a brown beard trimmed carefully. He spoke English with a strong German accent. His clothes were worn and darned in places, and wrinkled and baggy in others. But he looked neat, and had very good manners.
玛莎·米查姆女士在街角开着一家小面包店（就是那家门口有三阶台阶，客户进门会有铃铛响起的小店）。玛莎女士刚好四十岁，嘴里镶着两颗假牙，拥有一颗同情心。有一位非常有趣的顾客每周都会光顾玛莎的小店三两次。他是一位中年男子，戴着眼镜，留着精心修剪过的棕色胡须，讲着带有很重德国口音的英语。他穿的衣服很旧，有几处补丁，没补丁的部位也是皱巴巴而且松松垮垮的。但他显得很整洁，人也很有风度。
He always bought two loaves of stale bread. Fresh bread was five cents a loaf. Stale ones were two for five. Never did he want anything else but stale bread. Once Miss Martha saw red and brown paint stains on his fingers. She was sure therefore that he was an artist and very poor. No doubt he lived in a garret, where he painted pictures and ate stale bread and dreamed of the good things to eat in her bakery.
他每次来店里都会买两个陈面包。新鲜面包是5美分一个，陈面包则是5美分两个。除了陈面包以外，他什么也没在店里买过。一次，玛莎看到他手指上有红褐色的漆渍。于是，她确信他是一位穷困潦倒的画家。他一定是住在一个阁楼里，在那里一边画画，一边啃着陈面包，梦想着能够在她的面包店里吃顿好的。
Often when Miss Martha sat down to her chops and light rolls and jam and tea she would sigh, and wish that the gentle-mannered artist would share her tasty meal instead of eating his dry crust in that draughty attic.
当玛莎坐下来喝着茶，吃着排骨、果酱卷时，经常会发出叹息声，心里希望这位温文尔雅的画家能跟她共享美味佳肴，而不是回到那个四面漏风的阁楼里吃难以下咽的干面包皮。
Often when he came in to buy his bread, he would chat for a while across the showcase with her. He seemed to like Miss Martha's cheerful words. She couldn’t help thinking about him all the time. How gentle and kindly his eyes shone behind his spectacles! What a broad brow he had! And poor thing, to only live on stale bread!
当他来到店里买面包的时候，他经常会隔着陈列柜与她闲聊几句。他似乎很喜欢玛莎女士令人愉快的谈话方式。玛莎总是会情不自禁地想到他。他的双眼透过眼镜的镜片闪烁着的目光，是那么温柔，那么和善！他的眉毛真宽啊，真可怜，他只能靠吃陈面包度日。
He kept on buying stale bread. Never a cake, never a pie. She thought he began to look thinner and discouraged. Her heart longed to add something good to eat to his meagre purchase, but she knew the pride of artists.
日子一天天过去，他每次来到店里仍然只买陈面包，从来没买过蛋糕或馅饼。玛莎觉得他开始变得日益消瘦、日益消沉。她内心渴望在他每次购买陈面包时，额外给他一些好吃的东西，但她很清楚画家骄傲的性格。
One day the customer came in as usual, laid his nickel on the showcase, and called for his stale loaves. While Miss Martha was reaching for them there was a great noise coming from outside. The customer hurried to the door to look what happened, as anyone would have done. Suddenly inspired, Miss Martha seized the opportunity. On the bottom shelf behind the counter was a pound of fresh butter. With a bread knife Miss Martha made a deep slash in each of the stale loaves, inserted a generous quantity of butter, and pressed the loaves tight again.
一天，这位顾客像往常一样来到店里，把5美分硬币放在陈列柜上，照常要买两个陈面包。玛莎正在为他找面包时，外面传来一阵巨响。这位顾客像其他人一样立刻跑到门口去看个究竟。此时此刻，一个念头突然闪现在玛莎的脑海中，于是她抓住了这次机会。柜台后面的底架上放有一磅新鲜黄油。玛莎用面包刀分别在这两个陈面包上深深地斜切了一刀，然后在切口内加入了好多黄油，最后重新将面包压紧。
When the customer turned once more she was tying the paper around them. When he left, after an unusually pleasant little chat, Miss Martha smiled to herself, her heart pounding. For a long time that day her mind dwelt on the subject. She imagined the scene when he would discover her little deception.
当这位顾客转回身时，她正在用纸给面包打包。他们像往常一样闲聊了一会儿，这次他们聊得比平时都要开心。他离开后，玛莎暗自露出了会心的微笑，尽管心还在怦怦跳。那天，这件事萦绕在她脑海里很长一段时间。她想象着当他发现她善意的欺骗行为时的场景。
He would slice into a loaf and-- ah! Miss Martha blushed. Would he think of the hand that placed it there as he ate? Would he --The front door bell jangled viciously. Somebody wanted to come in, making a lot of noise. Miss Martha hurried to the door. Two men were there. One was a young man smoking a pipe -- a man she had never seen before. The other was her artist.
他会将面包切成一小块一小块的——啊，就是这样的！玛莎的脸红了。他吃面包时会想到是谁的手帮他放的黄油吗？他真的会这么想吗？——前门铃声拼命地响着。这嘈杂的声音是因为有人要进到店里来。玛莎赶紧跑到门口。店里来了两个男子。其中一个年纪不大，嘴里叼着烟斗，她以前从未见过。另一个就是她满脑子想的那位画家。
His face was very red, his hat was on the back of his head, his hair was wildly rumpled. "Dummkopf!" he shouted with extreme loudness; and then "Tausendonfer!" or something like it in German. The young man tried to draw him away." I vill not go," he said angrily, "you haf ruined it!" he cried, his blue eyes blazing behind his spectacles. "I vill tell you. You vas von meddingsome old cat!"
他的脸很红，帽子已经戴到了后脑勺，头发乱蓬蓬的。“Dummkopf（笨蛋）！”他歇斯底里地喊道。然后，又喊道：“Tausendonfer（简直是五雷轰顶）！”——诸如此类的德语。那个年轻人试图把他拉走。“我不走，”他愤怒地说，“是你毁了它！”他嚷道，蓝色的眼睛透过眼镜释放出愤怒的火焰。“我告诉你，你是个多管闲事的老巫婆！”
Miss Martha leaned weakly against the shelves. The young man took the other by the collar. "Come on," he said, "you've said enough." He dragged the angry customer out at the door to the sidewalk, and then came back. "Guess you ought to be told, ma'am," he said, "what this row is about. That's Blumberger. He's an architectural draftsman. I work in the same office with him.
玛莎瘫靠在货架上。年轻人抓着画家的衣领说：“就这样吧！你说得够多了。”他把这位愤怒的顾客拖到门外的人行道上，然后又回到了店里。“女士，我觉得我应该让您知道真相，”他说，“关于为什么会发生这次吵闹。那个人名叫布隆伯格。他是一名建筑绘图员。我们在同一个办公室工作。”
"He's been working hard for three months drawing a plan for a new city hall. It was a prize competition. You know, a draftsman always makes his drawing in pencil first. When it's done he rubs out the pencil lines with handfuls of stale bread crumbs. That's better than India rubber."Blumberger's been buying the bread here. Well, to-day -- well, you know, ma'am, that butter isn't -- well, Blumberger's plan isn't good for anything now…"
“他为绘制新市政厅的平面图已经连续努力工作三个月了。这幅图要参加大奖评选。您知道，绘图员总是先用铅笔绘图。图纸完成后，再用一把陈面包的面包屑擦掉铅笔线条。这样做比用弹性橡皮效果好。“布隆伯格一直在这里买面包。呃，今天，呃，您知道，女士，面包里有黄油——布隆伯格的图纸全毁了......”