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In the past, I had amused myself with writing letters to the chief paper of the Territory,
过去，我曾以给州的重要报纸写信为消遣，
Virginia Daily Territorial Enterprise,
维吉尼亚州每日企业报
and had always been surprised when they appeared in print.
每次我的作品发表时我都感到很惊讶。
I had found a letter in the mail box as I came home from the hillside, and opened it. Eureka!
当我从山坡回到家的时候在信箱里找到了一封信，我拆开它。“有了！”
It was an offer to me of twenty-five dollars a week to come up to Virginia and be city editor of the Enterprise.
这是一封来自企业报的邀请，他们邀请我去维吉尼亚做城市编辑，并且每周付我25美元酬劳。
Twenty-five dollars a week was a fortune.
每周25美元实在是一笔很大的财富了。
I went up to Virginia and entered upon my new vocation.
我去了维吉尼亚开始了我的新职业。
I asked the chief editor, Mr. Goodman, for some instructions,
我向总编辑古德曼先生请教了一些事项，
and he told me to go all over town and ask all sorts of people all sorts of questions,
他让我走遍整个市镇，并且询问各种人各种问题，
make notes of the information gained, and write them out for publication.
给得到的信息做记录，并且出版它们。
It was the whole thing in a nutshell.
简而言之，这就是我要做的事情了。
I can never forget my first day's experience as a reporter.
我永远忘不了第一天做记者时的经历。
I wandered about town questioning everybody, boring everybody, and finding out that nobody knew anything.
我在镇上四处游走，逢人便问，这使他们很厌烦，结果，我发现这些人什么都不知道。
At the end of five hours, my notebook was still bare.
在最后的5小时里，我的笔记本还是空空的。
I spoke to Mr. Goodman.
我向古德曼先生说明了这些。
He said, 'Dan used to write good stories about the hay wagons when there was no news.
他说：“当没有新闻时，丹曾写下了出色的干草马车的故事。”
Are there no hay wagons around?
我们周围没有干草马车吗？
If there are, you might speak of the renewed activity in the hay business.
如果有，你可以在文章中谈及干草贸易这种复兴起来的活动。
It isn't sensational or exciting, but it fills up the newspaper and looks business like.'
它并不具轰动性也不使人兴奋，但是它能填满整张报纸而且看起来很商业。
I went out into the city again and found one wretched old hay truck dragging in from the country.
我再次来到城市里，发现一辆破旧的干草货车慢吞吞的从乡下驶来。
Next I discovered a wagon train from the East and found that it had lately come through the hostile Indian country.
紧接着我发现一列马车队从东边过来，它近来经过了敌对的印度国家。
The group was in rather rough shape.
马车队看上去很倒霉的样子。
My two columns were filled.
我的两个专栏有的写了。
When I read them over in the morning, I felt that I had found my legitimate occupation at last.
第二天早晨当我读这些文章的时候，我觉得自己终于找到了一份适合的工作。
News was what a paper needed, and I felt that I had the ability to furnish it.
报纸需要新闻，我觉得我有这种能力提供新闻。
Mr. Goodman said that I was as good a reporter as Dan.
古德曼先生说我是一个和丹一样出色的记者。
I desired no higher commendation.
这是我想得到的最高赞扬了。
