【转载翻译】Quality by John Galsworthy （品质 约翰·高尔斯华绥）

德式英文用蓝色标出

I knew him from the days of my extreme youth, because he made my father's boots; inhabiting with his elder brother two little shops let into one, in a small by-street -- now no more, but then most fashionably placed in the West End.

我很年轻时就认识他了，因为他承做我父亲的靴子。他和他哥哥合开一家店，店房有两间打通的铺面，开设在一条横街上——这条街现在已经不存在了，但是在那时，它却是坐落在伦敦西区的一条新式街道。

That tenement had a certain quiet distinction; there was no sign upon its face that he made for any of the Royal Family -- merely his own German name of Gessler Brother’s; and in the window a few pairs of boots. I remember that it always troubled me to account for those unvarying boots in the window; for he made only what was ordered, reaching nothing down, and it seemed so inconceivable that what he made could ever have failed to fit.  Had he bought them to put there?  That, too, seemed inconceivable. He would never have tolerated in his house leather on which he had not worked himself.  Besides, they were too beautiful -- the pair of pumps, so inexpressibly slim, the patent leathers with cloth tops, making water come into one's mouth, the tall brown riding-boots with marvelous sooty glow, as if, though new, they had been worn a hundred years.  Those pairs could only have been made by one who saw before him the Soul of Boot -- so truly were they prototypes incarnating the very spirit of all foot-gear.  These thoughts, of course, came to me later, though even when I was promoted to him, at the age of perhaps fourteen, some inkling haunted me of the dignity of himself and brother.  For to make boots -- such boots are he made -- seemed to me then, and still seemed to me, mysterious and wonderful.

那座店房有某种朴素安静的特色，门面上没有注明任何为王室服务的标记，只有包含他自己日耳曼姓氏的“格斯拉兄弟”的招牌;橱窗里陈列着几双靴子。我还记得，要想说明橱窗里那些靴子为什么老不更换，我总觉得很为难，因为他只承做定货，并不出售现成靴子;要说那些都是他做得不合脚而被退出来的靴子，那似乎是不可想像的。是不是他买了那些靴子来做摆设的呢?这好像也不可思议。把那些不是亲手做的皮靴陈列在自己的店里，他是决不能容忍的。而且，那几双靴子太美观了——有一双轻跳舞靴，细长到非言语所能形容的地步;那双带布口的漆皮靴，叫人看了舍不得离开;还有那双褐色长筒马靴，闪着怪异的黑而亮的光辉，虽然是簇新的，看来好像已经穿过一百年了。只有亲眼看过靴子灵魂的人才能做出那样的靴子——这些靴子体现了各种靴子的本质，确实是模范品。我当然在后来才有这种想法，不过，在我大约十四那年，我够格跟他定做成年人靴子的时候，对他们两兄弟的品格就有了模糊的印象。因为从那时起一直到现在，我总觉得，做靴子，特别是做像他所做的靴子，简直是神妙的工艺。

I remember well my shy remark, one day, while stretching out to him my youthful foot:

"Isn’t it awfully hard to do, Mr. Gessler?"

And his answer, given with a sudden smile from out of the sardonic redness of his beard: "Id is an Ardt !"

我清楚地记得：有一天，我把幼小的脚伸到他跟前时，羞怯地问道：“格斯拉先生，做靴子是不是很难的事呢?”

他回答说：“这是一种手艺。”从他的含讽带刺的红胡根上，突然露出了一丝的微笑。

Himself, he was a little as if made from leather, with his yellow crinkly face, and crinkly reddish hair and beard, and neat folds slanting down his cheeks to the corners of his mouth, and his guttural and one-toned voice; for leather is a sardonic substance, and stiff and slow of purpose. And that was the character of his face, save that his eyes, which were grey-blue, had in them the simple gravity of one secretly possessed by the Ideal.  His elder brother was so very like him -- though watery, paler in every way, with a great industry -- that sometimes in early days I was not quite sure of him until the interview was over.  Then I knew that it was he, if the words, "I will ask my brudder," had not been spoken; and that, if they had, it was his elder brother.

他本人有点儿像皮革制成的人：脸庞黄皱皱的，头发和胡子是微红和鬈曲的，双颊和嘴角间斜挂着一些整齐的皱纹，话音很单调，喉音很重;因为皮革是一种死板板的物品，本来就有点僵硬和迟钝。这正是他的面孔的特征，只有他的蓝灰眼睛含蓄着朴实严肃的风度，好像在迷恋着理想。他哥哥虽然由于勤苦在各方面都显得更瘦弱、更苍白，但是他们两兄弟却很相像，所以我在早年有时候要等到跟他们定好靴子的时候，才能确定他们到底谁是谁。后来我搞清楚了：如果没有说“我要问问我的兄弟”，那就是他本人;如果说了这句话，那就是他哥哥了。

When one grew old and wild and ran up bills, one somehow never ran them up with Gessler Brothers.  It would not have seemed becoming to go in there and stretch out one's foot to that blue iron-spectacled glance, owing him for more than -- say -- two pairs, just the comfortable reassurance that one was still his client.

一个人年纪大了而又荒唐起来以至于赊账的时候，不知怎么的，他决不赊格斯拉兄弟俩的账。如果有人拖欠他几双——比如说——两双以上靴子的价款，竟心安理得地确信自己还是他的主顾，所以走进他的店铺，把自己的脚伸到那蓝色铁架眼镜底下，那就未免有点儿太不应该了。

For it was not possible to go to him very often -- his boots lasted terribly, having something beyond the temporary -- some, as it were, essence of boot stitched into them.

人们不可能时常到他那里去，因为他所做的靴子非常经穿，一时穿不坏的——他好像把靴子的本质缝到靴子里去了。

One went in, not as into most shops, in the mood of: "Please serve me, and let me go!" but restfully, as one enters a church; and sitting on the single wooden chair, waited -- for there was never anybody there.  Soon, over the top edge of that sort of well -- rather dark, and smelling soothingly of leather -- which formed the shop, there would be seen his face, or that elder brother, peering down.  A guttural sound. and the tip-tap of bast slippers beating the narrow wooden stairs: and he would stand before one without coat, a little bent, in leather apron, with sleeves turned back, blinking -- as if awakened from some dream of boots, or like an owl surprised in daylight and annoyed at this interruption.

人们走进他的店堂，不会像走进一般店铺那样怀着“请把我要买的东西拿来，让我走吧”的心情，而是心平气和地像走进教堂那样。来客坐在那张仅有的木椅上等候，因为他的店堂里从来没有人的。过了一会儿，可以看到他的或他哥哥的面孔从店堂里二楼楼梯口往下边张望——楼梯口是黑洞洞的，同时透出沁人脾胃的皮革气味。随后就可以听到一阵喉音，以及趿拉着木皮拖鞋踏在窄狭木楼梯的踢踏声;他终于站在来客的面前，上身没有穿外衣，背有点儿弯，腰间围着皮围裙，袖子往上卷起，眼睛眨动着——像刚从靴子梦中惊醒过来，或者说，像一只在日光中受了惊动因而感到不安的猫头鹰。

And I would say: “How do you do, Mr. Gessler?  Could you make me a pair of Russia leather boots?"

于是我就说：“你好吗，格斯拉先生?你可以给我做一双俄国皮靴吗?”

Without a word he would leave me, retiring whence he came, or into the other portion of the shop, and I would continue to rest in the wooden chair, inhaling the incense of his trade. Soon he would come back, hoiding in his thin, veined hand a piece of gold-brown leather.  With eyes fixed on it, he would remark: "What a beautiful biece!"  When I, too, had admired it. he would speak again.  "When do you wand dem?"  And I would answer: "Oh! As soon as you conveniently can."  And he would say: “To-morrow fordnighd?"  Or if he were his elder brother:  "I will ask my brudder ."

他会一声不响地离开我，退回到原来的地方去，或者到店堂的另一边去;这时，我就继续坐在木椅上休息，欣赏皮革的香味。不久后，他回来了，细瘦多筋的手里拿着一张黄褐色皮革。他眼睛盯着皮革对我说：“多么美的一张皮啊!”等我也赞美一番以后，他就继续说：“你什么时候要?”我回答说：“啊!你什么时候方便，我就什么时候要。”于是他就说：“半个月以后，好不好?”如果答话的是他的哥哥，他就说：“我要问问我的弟弟。

Then I would rnurmur:  "Thank you! Good-morning, Mr. Gessler," "Goot-morning!" he would reply, still looking at the leather in his hand.  And as I moved to the door, I would hear the tip-tap of his bast slippers restoring him, up the stairs, to his dream of boots.  But if it were some new kind of foot-gear that he did not yet made me, then indeed he would observe ceremony -- divesting me of my boot and holding it long in his hand looking at it with eyes at once critical and loving, as if recalling the glow with which he had created it. and rebuking the way in which one had disorganized this master-piece.  Then, placing my foot on a piece of paper, he would two or three times ticket the outer edges with a pencil and pass his nervous fingers over my toes, feeling himself into the heart of my requirements.

然后，我会含糊地说：“谢谢你，再见吧，格斯拉先生。”他一边说“再见”，一边继续注视手里的皮革。我向门口走去的时候，就又听到他的趿拉着木皮拖鞋的踢踏声把他送回到楼上做他的靴子的梦了。但是假如我要定做的事他还没有替我做过的新式样靴子，那他一定要照手续办事了——叫我脱下靴子，把靴子老拿在手里，以立刻变得又批评又爱抚的眼光注视着靴子，好像在回想他创造这双靴子时所付出的热情，好像在责备我竟这样穿坏了他的杰作。以后，他就把我的脚放在一张纸上，用铅笔在外沿上搔上两三次，跟着用他的敏感的手指来回地摸我的脚趾，想摸出我要求的要点。

I cannot forget that day on which I had occasion to say to him: "Mr. Gessler, that last pair of town walking-boots creak-ed, you know."

He looked at me for a time without replying, as if expecting me lo withdraw or qualify the statement, then said:

"Id shouldn'd 'ave greaked."

"It did, I'm afraid."

"You goddem wed before dey found demselves?"

"I don't think so."

At that he lowered his eyes, as if hunting for memory of those boots. and I felt sorry I had mentioned this grave thing.

"Zend dem back!" he said, “I will look at dem."

A feeling of compassion for my creaking boots surged up in me, so well could I imagine the sorrowful long curiosity of regard which he would bend on them.

"Zome boods," he said slowly, "are bad from birdt.  If I can do noding wid dem, I dake dem off your bill."

有一天，我有机会跟他谈了一件事，我忘不了那一天。我对他说：“格斯拉先生，你晓得吗，上一双在城里散步的靴子咯吱咯吱地响了。”

他看了我一下，没有做声，好像在盼望我撤回或重新考虑我的话，然后他说：

“那双靴子不该咯吱咯吱地响呀。”

“对不起，他响了。”

“你是不是在靴子还经穿的时候把它弄湿了呢?”

“我想没有吧。”

他听了这句话以后，蹙蹙眉头，好像在搜寻对那双靴子的回忆;我提起了这件严重的事情，真觉得难过。

“把靴子送回来!”他说，“我想看一看。”

由于我的咯吱咯吱响的靴子，我内心里涌起了一阵怜悯的感情;我完全可以想像到他埋头细看那双靴子时的历久不停的悲伤心情。

“有些靴子，”他慢慢地说，“做好的时候就是坏的。如果我不能把它修好，就不收你这双靴子的工钱。”

Once (once only) I went absently-mindedly into his shop in a pair of boots bought in an emergency at some large firm's.  He took my order without showing me any leather, and I could feel his eyes penetrating the inferior integument of my foot.  At last he said:

“Dose are nod my boods."

有一次(也只有这一次)，我穿着那双因为急需才在一家大公司买的靴子，漫不经心地走进他的店铺。他接受了我的定货，但没有皮革给我看;我可以意识到他的眼睛在细看我脚上的次等皮革。他最后说：

“那不是我做的靴子。”

The cone was not one of anger, nor of sorrow, not even of contempt, but there was in it something quiet that froze the blood.  He put his hand down and pressed a finger on the place where the left boot, endeavoring to be fashionable, was not quite comfortable.

他的语调里没有愤怒，也没有悲哀，;连鄙视的情绪也没有，不过那里面却隐藏着可以冰冻血液的潜在因素。为了讲究时髦，我的左脚上的靴子有一处使人很不舒服;他把手伸下去，用一个手指在那块地方压了一下。

"Id 'urds you dere," he said.  "Dose big virms 'ave no self-respect.  Drash!"  And then, as if something had given way within him, he spoke long and bitterly.  It was the only time I ever heard him discuss the conditions and hardships of his trade.

“这里痛吧，”他说，“这些大公司真不顾体面。可耻!”跟着，他心里好像有点儿沉不住气了，所以说了一连串的挖苦话。我听到他议论他的职业上的情况和艰难，这是惟一的一次。

"Dey get id all." he said. "dey get id by adverdisement, nod by work. Dey dake it away from us, who lofe our boods.  Id gomes to this -- bresently I haf no work.  Every year id gets less -- you will see." And looking at his lined face I saw things I had never noticed before, bitter things and bitter struggle -- and what a long of grey hairs there seemed suddenly in his red beard!

“他们把一切垄断了，”他说，“他们利用广告而不靠工作把一切垄断去了。我们热爱靴子，但是他们抢去了我们的生意。事到如今——我们很快就要失业了。生意一年年地清淡下去——过后你会明白的。”我看看他满是褶皱的面孔，看到了我以前未曾注意到的东西：惨痛的东西和惨痛的奋斗——他的红胡子好像突然添上好多花白须毛了!

As best I could, I explained the circumstances of the purchase of those ill-omened boots. But his face and voice made so deep an impression that during the next few minutes I ordered many pairs.  Nemesis fell! They lasted more terribly than ever.  And I　was not able conscientiously to go to him for nearly two years.

我尽一切可能向他说明我买这双倒霉靴子时的情况。但是他的面孔和声调使我获得很深刻的印象，结果在以后几分钟里，我定了许多靴子。这下可糟了!这些靴子比以前的格外经穿。差不多穿了两年，我也没想起要到他那里去一趟。

When at last I went I was surprised to find that outside one of the two little windows of his shop another name was painted, also that of a boot-maker -- making, of course, for the Royal Family.  The old familiar boots, no longer in dignified isolation, were huddled in the single window.  Inside, the now contracted well of the one little shop was more scented and darker than ever.  And it was longer than usual. too, before a face peered down, and the tip-tap of the bast slippers began.  At last he stood before me, and gazing through those rusty iron spectacles, said:"Mr. ---, isn'd it?"

后来，我再去他那里的时候，我很惊奇地发现：他的店铺外边的两个橱窗中的一个漆上了另外一个人的名字——也是个靴匠的名字，当然是为王室服务的啦。那几双常见的旧靴子已经失去了孤高的气派，挤缩在单独的橱窗里了。在里面，现在已缩成了一小间，店堂的楼梯井口比以前更黑暗、更充满着皮革气味。我也比平时等了更长的时间，才看到一张面孔向下边窥视，随后才有一阵趿拉着木皮拖鞋的踢踏声。最后，他站在我的面前;他透过那副生了锈的铁架眼镜注视着我说：“你是不是——先生?”

"Ah! Mr. Gessler," I stammered, " but your boots are really too good.  you know!  See.  these are quite decent still!" And I stretched out to him my foot.  He looked at it.

"Yes." he said, "beople do nod wand good boods, id seems."

To get away from his reproachful eyes and voice I hastily remarked:  "What have you done to your shop?"

He answered quietly: "Id was too exbensif.  Do you wand some boods?"

“啊!格斯拉先生!”我结结巴巴地说：“你要晓得，你的靴子实在太解释了!看，这双还很像样的呢!”我把脚向他伸过去。他看了看这双靴子。

“是的，”他说，“人好像不要结实靴子了。”

为了避开他的带责备的眼光和语调，我赶紧接着说：“你的店铺怎么啦?”

他安静地回答说：“开销太大了。你要做靴子吗?”

I ordered three pairs, though I had only wanted two, and quickly left.  I had, I do not know quite what feeling of being part, in his mind, of a conspiracy against him; or not perhaps so much against him as against his idea of boot.  One does not, I suppose, care to feel like that; for it was again many months before my next visit to his shop, paid, I remember, with the feeling:  "Oh! well, I can't leave the old boy -- so  here  goes!  Perhaps it'll be his elder brother!"

虽然我只需两双，我却向他定做了三双;我很快就离开了那里。我有一种难以描述的感觉，以为他的心里把握看成对他存坏意的一分子;也许不一定跟他本人作对，而是跟他的靴子理想作对。我想，人们是不喜欢那样的感觉的;因为过了好几个月以后，我又到他的店铺里去;我记得，我去看他的时候，心里有这样的感觉：“呵!怎么啦，我撇不开这位老人——所以我就去了!也许会看到他的哥哥呢!”

For his elder brother, I knew, had not character enough to reproach me, even dumbly.

And, to my relief, in the shop there did appear to be his elder brother, handling a piece of leather.

"Well, Mr. Gessler," I said, "how are you?”

He came close, and peered at me.

"I am breddy well," he said slowly, "but, my elder brudder is dead."

因为我晓得，他哥哥很老实，甚至在暗地里也不至于责备我。

我的心安下了，在店堂出现的正是他的哥哥，他正在整理一张皮革。

“啊!格斯拉先生，”我说，“你好吗?”

他走近我的跟前，盯着看我。

“我过得很好，”他慢慢地说，“但是我哥哥死掉了。”

And I saw that it was indeed himself -- but now aged and wan!   And never before had I heard him mention his brother.  Much shocked, I murmured: "Oh! I am sorry!”

我这才看出来，我所遇到的原本是他本人。但是多么苍老，多么消瘦啊!我以前从没听他提到他的哥哥。我吃了一惊，所以喃喃地说：“啊!我为你难过!”

" Yes," he answered, " he was a good man, he made a good bood; but he is dead."   And he touched the top of his head, where the hair had suddenly gone as thin as it had been on that of his poor brother, to indicate, I suppose, the cause of death.  “He could nod ged over losing de oder shop.  Do you wand any boods?"  And he held up the leather in his hand: “Id's a beaudiful biece."

“的确，”他回答说，“他是个好人，他会做好靴子;但是他死掉了。”他摸摸头顶，我猜想，他好像要表明他哥哥死的原因;他的头发突然变得像他的可怜哥哥的头发一样稀薄了。“他失掉了另外一间铺面，心里老是想不开。你要做靴子吗?”他把手里的皮革举起来说，“这是一张美丽的皮革。”

I ordered several pairs.  It was very long before they came -- but they were better than ever.   One simply could not wear them out.  And soon after that I went abroad.

我定做了几双靴子。过了很久，靴子才送到——但是这几双靴子比以前的更结实，简直穿不坏。不久以后，我到国外去了一趟。

It was over a year before I was again in London.  And the first shop I went to was my old friend's.  I had left a man of sixty, I came back to one of seventy-five, pinched and worn and tremulous, who genuinely, this time, did not at first know me.

过了一年多，我才又回到伦敦。我所去的第一个店铺就是我的老朋友的店铺。我离去时，他是个六十岁的人，我回来时，他仿佛已经七十五岁了，显得衰老、瘦弱，不断地发抖，这一次，他起先真的不认识我了。

Oh! Mr. Gessler," I said, sick at heart; "how splendid your boots are.  See, I I’ve been wearing this pair nearly all the time I’ve been abroad, and they're not half worn out, are they?"

“啊!格斯拉先生，”我说，心里有些烦闷，“你做的靴子好极啦!看，我在国外时差不多一直穿着这双靴子的;连一半也没有穿坏呀，是不是?”

He looked long at my boots -- a pair of Russia leather, and his face seemed to regain steadiness. Putting his hand on my instep, he said: "Do dey vid you here?  I'ad drouble wid dat bair, I remember.”

I assured him that they had fitted beautifully.

“Do you wand any boods?" he said. "I can make dem quickly; id is a slack dime."                       

I answered: "Please, please! I want boots all round -- every kind!"

“I will make a vresh model.  Your food must be bigger."  And with utter slowness, he traced round my foot, and felt my toes, only once looking up to say:   

"Did I dell you my brudder was dead?".

To watch him was painful, so feeble had he grown; I was glad to get away.

他细看我这双俄国皮靴，看了很久，脸上似乎恢复了镇静的气色。他把手放在我的靴面上说：

“这里还合脚吗?我记得，费了很大劲才把这双靴子做好。”

我向他确切地说明：那双靴子非常合脚。

“你要做靴子吗?”他说，“我很快就可以做好;现在我的生意很清淡。”

我回答说：“劳神，劳神!我急需靴子——每种靴子都要!”

“我可以做时新的式样。你的脚恐怕长大了吧。”他非常迟缓地照我的脚形画了样子，又摸摸我的脚趾，只有一次抬头看着我说：

“我哥哥死掉了，我告诉过你没有?”

他变得衰老极了，看了实在叫人难过;我真高兴离开他。

I had given those boots up, when one evening they came.  Opening the parcel, I set the four pairs out in a row.  Then one by one I tried them on. There was no doubt about it.  In shape and fit, in finish and quality of leather, they were the best he had ever made me.  And in the mouth of one of the town walking-boots I found his bill.  The amount was the same as usual, but it gave me quite a shock.  He had never before sent it in till quarter day.  I flew downstairs and wrote a cheque, and posted it at once with my own hand.

我对这几双靴子并不存什么指望，但有一天晚上靴子送到了。我打开包裹，把四双靴子排成一排;然后，一双一双地试穿这几双靴子。一点问题也没有。不论在式样或尺寸上，在加工或皮革质量上，这些靴子都是他给我做过的最好的靴子。在那双城里散步穿的靴口里，我发现了他的帐单。单上所开的价钱与过去的完全一样，但我吓了一跳。他从来没有在四季结账日以前把帐单开来的。我飞快地跑下楼去，填好一张支票，而且马上亲自把支票寄了出去。

A week later, passing the little street, I thought I would go in and tell him how splendidly the new boots fitted.   But when I came to where his shop had been, his name was gone.  Still there, in the window, were the slim pumps, the patent leathers with cloth tops, the sooty riding boots.

一个星期以后，我走过那条小街，我想该进去向他说明：他替我做的新靴子是如何的合脚。但是当我走近他的店铺所在地时，我发现他的姓氏不见了。橱窗里照样陈列着细长的轻跳舞靴、带布口的漆皮靴，以及漆亮的长筒马靴。

I went in, very much disturbed.   In the two little shops -- again made into one -- was a young man with an English face.

"Mr, Gessler in?" I said.

He gave me a strange, ingratiating look.  

"No, sir," he said, “no.   But we can attend to anything with pleasure.  We've taken the shop over.  You've seen our name, no doubt, next door.  We make for some very good people."

我走了进去，心里很不舒服。在那两间门面的店堂里——现在两间门面又合二为一了——只有一个长着英国人面貌的年轻人。

“格斯拉先生在店里吗?” 我问道。

他诧异地同时讨好地看了我一眼。

“不在，先生，”他说，“不在。但是我们可以很乐意地为你服务。”我们已经把这个店铺过户过来了。毫无疑问，你已经看到隔壁门上的名字了吧。我们替上等人做靴子。”

”Yes, yes,"  I said;  "but Mr. Gessler?'

"Oh!"  he answered; "dead."

"Dead!  But I only received these boots from him last Wednesday week."

"Ah!" he said: “ 'a shockin' go.  Poor old man starved 'imself."                          

“Good  God !"

“是的，是的，”我说，“但是格斯拉先生呢?”

“啊!”他回答说，“死掉了!”

“死掉了?但是上星期三我才收到他给我做的靴子呀!”

“啊!”他说，“真是怪事。可怜的老头儿是饿死的。”

“慈悲的上帝啊!”

"Slow starvation, the doctor called ft!  You see he went to work in such a way!  Would keep the shop on; wouldn't bave a soul touch his boots except himself.  When he got an order, it took him such a time.  People won't wait.   He lost everybody.  And there he'd sit, goin' on and on -- I will say that for him -- not a man in London made a better boot!  But look at the competition!  He never advertised!   Would 'avd the best leather, too, and do it all 'imself.  Well, there it is.  What could you expect with his ideas?"

“慢性饥饿，医生是这样说的!你要晓得，他是这样去做活的!他想把店铺撑下去;但是除了自己以外，他不让任何人碰他的靴子。他接了一份定货后，要费好长时间去做它。顾客可不愿等待呀。结果，他失去了所有的顾客。他老坐在那里，只管做呀做呀——我愿意代他说句话——在伦敦，没有一个人可以做出比他更好的皮革，而且还要亲自做。好啦，这就是他的下场。照他的想法，你对他能有什么指望呢?”

“But starvation -- !"                                 

"That may be a bit flowery, as the sayin' is -- but I know myself he was sitiin' over his boots day and night, to the very last. You see I use to watch him.  Never gave himself time to eat; never had a penny in the house.  All went in rent and leather.  How he lived so long I don't know.  He regular let his fire go out.   He was a character.  But he made good boots."

“但是饿死——”

“这样说，也许有点儿夸张——但是我自己知道，他从早到晚坐在那里做靴子，一直做到最后的时刻。你知道，我往往在旁边看着他。他从不让自己友吃饭的时间;店里从来不存一个便士。所有的钱都用在房租和皮革上了。他怎么能活得这么久，我也莫名其妙。他经常断炊。他是个怪人。但是他做了顶好的靴子。”

  "Yes," I said, "He made good boots.”

“是的，”我说，“他做了顶好的靴子。”