1. Four men once came to a wet place in the forest to fish. They set up their tent upon a ridge of rocks from where they could hear the trees and the lake below. On fragrant hemlock boughs they slept the sleep of unsuccessful fishermen, for upon the lake the sun made them lazy and the rain made them wet. Finally, they ate the last bit of bacon and smoked and burned the last fearful and wonderful hoecake.
一次，四个男子来到森林里的一处湿地钓鱼。他们把帐篷搭在了隆起的岩石上，在这里他们可以听到从下面的树木和湖泊处传来的声音。在散发着芳香的铁杉树的大枝上，他们的睡姿像是四个没钓到鱼的渔夫，因为挂在湖面上的烈日照得他们懒洋洋的，然后突如其来的雨水又让他们浑身变得湿淋淋的。终于，他们吃掉了最后一点儿培根，吸着烟，在火上把最后一张玉米饼烤得一塌糊涂。
2. Immediately a little man volunteered to stay and hold the camp while the remaining three should go to the nearest farmhouse for supplies. They gazed at him dismally. "There's only one of you--the devil makes a twin," they said in malediction, and disappeared down the hill.
此时，他们中的一名小个人男子自愿留下守着营地，让其余三人到距离最近的农舍寻找补给品。听到这个建议后，三人情绪低落地凝视着他。“这里就只剩下你一个人了——不过，魔鬼会和你做伴，”他们用诅咒的口吻说道，然后消失在下山的路上。
3. When it came night and the hemlocks began to close their flowers, they had not returned. The little man sat close to his companion, the campfire, and encouraged it with logs. He puffed fiercely at a pipe, and watched a thousand shadows from the campfire which seemed to want to assault him. Suddenly, he heard the approach of something unknown: crackling of twigs and rustling of dead leaves.
到了晚上，铁杉树上的花朵开始闭合时，那三个人还没回来。小个子男子坐在陪伴他的篝火旁，用原木“鼓舞”它继续燃烧。他狠狠地吸了一口烟斗，看着似乎正从篝火中向他张牙舞爪的上千个影子。突然，他听到有不明物体正在靠近——小树枝噼啪作响，地上的枯叶发出沙沙的声音。
4. The little man arose slowly to his feet, his pipe dropped from his mouth, his knees touched each other, for they were shaking with fear. "Hah!" he cried out. A growl replied and a bear paced into the light of the fire. The little man supported himself with a tree and regarded his visitor.
小个子男子慢慢站起身来，嘴里叼着的烟斗掉落下来。他两腿的膝盖相互碰触着，因为它们正因恐惧而发抖。“啊！”他喊了出来。回应他的是一声咆哮。与此同时，火光中出现了一头熊的身影。小个子男子用一棵树撑住了自己的身体，同时注视着这位不速之客。
5. The bear was clearly a fighter and a bit older, for the black of his coat had become yellowish-brown with age. There was confidence in his movements and arrogance in his small, twinkling eye. He rolled back his lips and showed his white teeth. The fire emphasized the red of his mouth. The little man had never before been confronted by something that terrible, and he could not deal with it. "Hah!" he roared. The bear interpreted this as the challenge of a gladiator. He approached warily.
这头熊显然是个好斗分子，而且年龄不小了，因为它黑色的皮毛已随着年龄的增长变成了黄褐色。它的动作中充满了自信，闪烁的小眼睛中散发着傲慢的气息。它翻开了双唇，露出了洁白的牙齿。在火光的照射下，它的嘴里显得更红。小个子男子之前从未面对过如此可怕的场景，他已束手无措。“啊！”他咆哮道。熊将此解读为角斗士间的挑战，于是开始警惕地向小个男子靠近。

6. As he came near, the boots of fear were suddenly upon the little man's feet. He cried out and then ran around the campfire. "Ho!" said the bear to himself, "this thing won't fight--it runs. Well, suppose I catch it." So he started to run around the campfire also. The little man shrieked and ran furiously. Twice around they went.
随着熊的靠近，小个子男子的双脚像是突然穿上了一双恐惧的靴子。他大喊了一声，然后开始绕着篝火跑了起来。“嚯！”熊自言自语说，“这东西不会打架，只会跑。好吧，那就看看我能不能抓住它。”于是，熊也绕着篝火跑了起来。小个子男子一边尖叫，一边疯狂地奔跑。他们俩就这样绕着篝火跑了两圈。
7. The hand of heaven sometimes falls heavily upon the righteous. The bear gained distance. In desperation the little man flew into the tent. The bear stopped and sniffed at the entrance. He scented the scent of many men. Finally, he walked in.
上天有时候会向正义的人伸出援手。熊并没有追上小个子男子。小个子男子在绝望之际，飞身钻进了帐篷里。熊停下了脚步，用鼻子闻着帐篷的入口。它闻到了帐篷里有许多人的气味。终于，它走了进去。
8. The little man crouched in a distant corner. The bear advanced, creeping, his blood burning, his hair straight up, his jaws dripping. The little man yelled and moved around clumsily in the tent. The bear made a jump to grab his game. The little man, now without the tent, felt a tremendous paw grabbing his coat. He squirmed and wriggled out of his coat like a schoolboy in the hands of his bully.
此时，小个子男子正蹲伏在帐篷里一个距离入口较远的角落里。熊一步一步地向帐篷里爬行着，全身血液沸腾，毛发竖起，口水从下颌滴落。小个子男子大叫起来，然后笨拙地在帐篷里四处乱跑。熊跳起来抓住了它的这个猎物。小个子男子现在没有了帐篷的掩护，感觉到一只巨大的熊掌抓住了他的外套。他像一个被学校霸凌者用手抓起来的学生一样，蠕动着身体，从外套中逃脱了出来。
9. The bear jerked the coat into the tent and took two bites, a punch and a hug before he discovered his man was not in it. Then he grew not very angry, for a bear is not a pirate. He lay down on his back, took the coat on his four paws and began to play with it. The most appalling yells came from where the little man was crying in a treetop. He moaned a little speech meant as a prayer and clung to the bending branches. He gazed with tears in his eyes at where the campfire was giving dying flickers and crackles. Finally, there was a roar from the tent which eclipsed all roars; a snarl which it seemed would shake the silence of the mountain and cause it to shrug its shoulders. The little man saw the white tent quiver and fall with a crash. The bear's merry play had disturbed the centre pole and brought a chaos of canvas upon his head.
熊猛地把外套拉进了帐篷，咬了两口，然后猛压下去，紧接着又是一个熊抱，然后才发现它的猎物并不在这件外套里。但随后，它并没有变得很生气，因为它是熊，并不是海盗。它背朝地躺了下来，用它的四个熊掌抓起外套，玩耍起来。此时，从一棵树的树梢传来了一声最令人胆寒的叫喊声，这声音来自于正躲在那里的小个子男子。他紧紧抓住弯曲的树枝，像个祈祷者一样用呻吟的声音念叨着什么。他眼里含着泪水，凝视着篝火挣扎地闪烁着最后的光芒，发出最后的噼啪声。最后，帐篷里发出一个能够吞噬所有其他咆哮的咆哮声，一种似乎会撼动山的寂静，并让山无奈地耸耸肩的咆哮声。小个子男子看到白色的帐篷抖动着砸落在地上。熊的欢乐玩耍弄乱了帐篷中央的柱子，帆布乱作一团，罩在了熊的头上。
10. Now the little man became the witness of a mighty scene. The tent began to flounder. It took flopping strides in the direction of the lake. Marvellous sounds came from within the tent--rips and tears, and great groans. The little man started giggling hysterically.
此时此刻，小个子男子成了这一威猛场景的见证者——帐篷开始挣扎，然后迈着大步，跌跌撞撞地去了湖泊的方向。帐篷里传出来不可思议的声音——猛烈的撕扯声以及巨大的呻吟声。小个子男子开始歇斯底里地咯咯笑。
11. So it came to pass that three men, clambering up the hill with bundles and baskets, saw their tent approaching. It seemed to them like a white phantom that moaned. The three men dropped their bundles and ran to one side, their eyes gleaming with fear. The canvas ghost swept past them. They leaned against trees and listened, their blood froze. Below them the tent struck a great pine tree. The three watched it a moment and then ran to the top of the hill. As they left, the bear cut loose from the tent with mighty efforts. He gave an agonized look at the white thing, and then started wildly back into the forest.
与此同时，那三个人正带着包袱和篮子从山下走来。他们看到帐篷正向他们靠近。在他们看来，这东西就像一个呻吟着的白色幽灵。三个人丢下了包袱，跑到了一边，每个人的眼睛里都充满了恐惧。这个帆布幽灵从他们身边一扫而过。他们靠在树上，用耳朵听着，血液都快凝固了。在他们下面，帐篷撞到了一棵大松树。三个人观察了一会儿，然后跑到了山顶。他们离开后，熊花了巨大的力气才从帐篷里脱身。它极度痛苦地看着那个白色的东西，然后狂野地跑回到森林里。
12. The three fear-stricken men ran to the campfire. The little man was sitting by it calmly and was smoking. They immediately overwhelmed him with questions. He only contemplated for a moment, took a long, pompous puff from his pipe and said: "There's only one of me--and the devil made a twin."
这三个被吓坏的男子跑到篝火旁。小个子男子正平静地坐在那里，吸着烟。他们立刻向他狂轰乱炸了很多问题。他只是沉思了一会儿，然后有些浮夸地长长地吸了一口烟斗，开口说道：“这里就只剩下我一个人——不过，魔鬼会和我做伴。”