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Mr.Thompson now thought of another force. "Stand back", he said to his wife and son. "I’llfix this thing's clock for it."He raised the spade above his head, took careful aim, and then swung down at the cube with all his strength. He was rewarded with a terrific clang. The spade bounced into the air again, almost wrenching itself out of his hands, but the cube continued serenely to occupy the precise sections of time and space as before.
汤普森先生现在想到了另一种力量。“往后站，”他对妻儿说。“我要收拾一下这个鬼玩意儿。“他把铁锹举过头，仔细瞄准，然后用尽全身力气，向立方体砸了下去。他得到的是当的一声巨响。铁锹弹回空中，几乎从他手中挣脱，但立方体仍然平静地一点不差地占据着它原来的时空。
Five minutes later, when the city editor of the largest daily heard an excited account of these events from Mr.Thompson, he was understandably skeptical. Nevertheless, he sent a reporter out to have a look. The reporter, who was a cynical and degraded person, cynical without conviction and degraded without villainy, because his station in life required it of him, also was skeptical. He stopped along the way for two or three quick ones and when he finally arrived, looking bored and smelling of strong liquor, he found not only the Thompsons but most of their near neighbors impatiently awaiting him.
五分钟后，那家最大的日报的当地新闻编辑听到了汤普森先生对这些事件的激动的叙述，他表示怀疑，这当然是可以理解的。尽管如此，他还是派了个记者去看看。这个记者是个愤世嫉俗的落魄的人，愤世嫉俗而无信念，落魄而无恶行。由于他的身份使然，他对这件事也持怀疑态度。他沿途停下来喝了两三杯酒，当他终于抵达现场时已是满脸倦容，一身酒气。他发现不光是托马斯一家还有他们的大多数近邻都已经等他等得不耐烦了。
The hole had been enlarged by succeeding workers, who had the same idea as John Thomas's father, to a diameter of four feet and a depth of two. The reporter surveyed the hole, the block of metal suspended above it, and a branch of the apple tree directly above the cube. Then he said knowingly, "Which is the kid who found it?"
跟约翰·托马斯的父亲想法相同的人们接着挖，已经把坑扩到了直径有四英尺，深达两英尺那么大。记者瞧了瞧那个坑，那悬在坑上的金属和那根伸在金属正上方的苹果树树枝，然后便会意地问道:“是哪个孩子发现它的?”
"I am," John Thomas said.
“是我，”约翰·托马斯说。
