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The Hour of Letdown
放松时刻
E.B.White
E.B.怀特
When the man came in, carrying the machine, most of us looked up from our drinks, because we had never seen anything like it before. The man set the thing down on top of the bar near the beerpulls. It took up an ungodly amount of room and you could see the bartender didn't like it any too well, having this big, ugly-looking gadget parked right there.
当那个人带着机器进来时，我们大多数人都停止了喝酒，抬头看去，因为我们以前从来没有见过这种东西。那人把它放在酒吧柜台上的啤酒泵旁边。那机器占用了很大的空间，你可以看得出，酒吧招待不愿看到这个庞大的丑陋的装賈放在那里。
"Two rye-and-water," the man said.
“两杯黑麦威士忌和水。”那人说。
The bartender went on mixing an Old Fashioned that he was working on, but he was obviously turning over the request in his mind.
招待员继续调着手头的老式鸡尾酒，但是显而易见他已经在考虑那个人的要求了
"You want a double?" he asked, after a bit.
“你要双份吗？”过了一会儿，他问。
"No," said the man. "Two rye-and- water, please." He stared straight at the bartender, not exactly unfriendly but on the other hand not actually friendly.
“不，”那人说，“请来两杯黑麦威士忌和水。”他直盯着招待员，既不失礼貌也不十分友好
Many years of catering to the kind of people that come into saloons had provided the bartender with an adjustable mind. Nevertheless, he did not adjust readily to this fellow, and he did not like the machine—that was sure. He picked up a live cigarette that was idling on the edge of the cash register, took a drag out of it, and returned it thoughtfiilly. Then he poured two shots of rye whiskey, drew two glasses of water, and shoved the drinks in front of the man. People were watching. When something a little out of the ordinary takes place at a bar, the sense of it spreads quickly all along the line and pulls the customers together.
由于多年来招待来酒吧的客人，这位招待员练就了一副随机应变的头脑。但是，他 却不乐意迁就这家伙，他也不喜欢那台机器，这是千真万确他拿起放在收款机边上的一支燃着的香烟，抽了一口，若有所思地把它放回原处。然后，他倒了两杯黑麦威士忌又接了两杯水，把他们推到那人面前。人们都在看着，每当酒吧里发生一点新奇事，人们很快就能感觉到。
