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Now, how could I find out about this Mencken? There was a huge library near the riverfront, but I knew that Negroes were not allowed to patronize its shelves any more than they were the parks and playgrounds of the city. I had gone into the library several times to get books for the white men on the job. Which of them would now help me to get books?
我怎样才能了解到门肯到底是怎么样的一个人呢？该市江畔倒有一个大图书馆，但是我知道，它是不允许黑人光顾的，就像市内的公园和运动场不让黑人光顾一样。我曾几次去该图书馆，为在这里干活的白人借过书。现在他们之中有谁肯帮我弄到书呢？
I weighed the personalities of the men on the job. There was Don, a Jew; but I distrusted him. His position was not much better than mine and I knew that he was uneasy and insecure; he had always treated me in an offhand, bantering way that barely concealed his contempt. I was afraid to ask him to help me to get books; his frantic desire to demonstrate a racial solidarity with the whites against Negroes might make him betray me.
我掂量了一下在这里干活的一些人的为人。有一个叫唐的，是个犹太人，但我不信任他。他的处境不比我好多少，我知道他不自在，觉得什么都没有保障。他对我总是敷衍，嘲弄，不难看出他对我的轻蔑。我不敢叫他帮我借书。他拼命想表露他与白人的种族团结和对黑人的歧视，他很可能出卖我。
Then how about the boss? No, he was a Baptist and I had the suspicion that he would not bequite able to comprehend why a black boy would want to read Mencken. There were other white men on the job whose attitudes showed clearly that they were Kluxers or sympathizers, and theywere out of the question.
那么老板怎么样呢？不行。他是个浸礼会教徒，我怀疑他不会理解一个黑人孩子为什么要看门肯的书。在这里工作的还有其他白人，他们的态度清楚地表明他们是三K党徒或其同情者，他们是决不会帮忙的。
