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Eighteen hundred years passed. Scientists were restoring the ancient city; excavators were working their way through the stones and trash that had buried the entire town. Much had already been brought to light—statues, bronze instruments, bright mosaics, household articles; even delicate paintings had been preserved by the fall of ashes that had taken over two thousand lives. Columns were dug up, and the Forum was beginning to emerge.
1800年过去了，科学家们正在修复这座古城。挖掘机正在清理那些曾经掩埋了整座城市的石头和垃圾。很多东西得以重见天日：雕像、青铜乐器、鲜艳的马赛克、家居用品，以及被掉落的火山灰保存得完好的精美画作。那火山灰曾经夺走了2000余个生命。柱子也被挖了出来，广场渐渐地呈现在眼前了。
It was at a place where the ruins lay deepest that the Director paused.
修复行动的指挥者在遗迹埋藏得最深的地方停了下来。
"Come here," he called to his assistant. "I think we've discovered the remains of a building in good shape. Here are four huge millstones that were most likely turned by slaves or mules—and here is a whole wall standing with shelves inside it. Why! It must have been a bakery. And here's a curious thing. What do you think I found under this heap where the ashes were thickest? The skeleton of a dog!"
他对助手说：“快来，我觉得我们找到了一座完整的建筑遗迹了。这里是四块巨大的磨盘，原来可能是由奴隶或者骡子推转的。这里是一堵完整的墙，在墙上有许多架子。天啊！这原先肯定是一家面包店。这里还有一个奇怪的东西。你猜我在这一堆最厚的火山灰里发现了什么？是一条狗的骨架！”
"Amazing!" gasped his assistant. "You'd think a dog would have had sense enough to run away at the time. And what is that flat thing he's holding between his teeth? It can't be a stone."
“太不可思议了！”助手气喘吁吁地说，“那时狗一定意识到了危险，知道应该逃跑。它叼着的那扁扁的东西是什么？一定不是石头。”
"No. It must have come from this bakery. You know it looks to me like some sort of cake hardened with the years. And, bless me, if those little black pebbles aren't raisins. A raisin cake almost two thousand years old! I wonder what made him want it at such a moment?"
“不是石头。肯定是面包店里的东西。我觉得它看起来像是某种蛋糕，因为年代久远所以变硬了。天啊，那些黑色的颗粒不会是葡萄干吧。这葡萄干蛋糕得有将近2000年的历史了！我想知道这只狗在那个时刻为什么想要那块蛋糕。”
"I wonder," murmured the assistant.
“我也想知道，”助手喃喃地说。
