内卡河上木筏行
RaftingDowntheNeckar
马克·吐温MarkT>
马克·吐温（1835—1910），美国杰出的小说家，美国文学史上最重要的作家之一，也是美国文学史上第一个用口语进行写作的作家，开创了一代文风，被福克纳称为“美国文学之父”。马克·吐温幼年家境贫寒，被迫放弃学业外出谋生。丰富的生活经历对他后期的创作影响很大。19世纪70年代到90年代是他创作的鼎盛时期，其代表作有《哈克贝里·费恩历险记》和它的姊妹篇《汤姆·索亚历险记》等。
&heHole
&hesenewwordsbeforeyoureadthisarticle。
1。raft[rɑ:ft，r?ft]n。筏
2。smash[sm??]v。粉碎
3。feverish['fi:v?ri?]adj。发热的；极度兴奋的
4。splendor['splend?]n。光彩；壮丽
&helahatIaswereartists，ourpartyroseperceptiblyieem;werosestillhigherwhehatedestriantourofEurope。
&oldusallabouttheHeidelbergroad，andwhichwerethebestplacestoavoidandwhichthebestoarryat;hechargedmelessthancostforthethingsIbrokei;heputupafinelunforusaaquantityht-greenplums，thepleasainGermany;hewassoanxioustodoushonorthathewouldnotallowustowalkoutofHeilbronn，butcalledupGotzven'shorseanddmadeusride。
Imadeasketchoftheturnout。ItisnotaWork，itisonlywhatartistscalla“study”—athingtomakeafiurefrom。Thissketchhasseveralblemishesinit;forihewagonisnasfastasthehorseis。Thisisersetoutofthewayistoosmall，heisoutofperspective，aswesay。Thetwoupperlihehorse’sback，theyarethereiobeawheelmissing—thiswouldbecorreafinishedWork，ofcourse。Thatthingflyingoutbehindisnotaflag，itisa。Thatupthereisthesun，butIdidenoughdista。Idonotremember，now，whatthatthingisthatisinfrontofthemanwh，butIthinkitisahaystaan。ThisstudywasexhibitedintheParisSalonof1879，butdidnottakeaheydonotgivemedalsforstudies。
Wedischargedthecarriageatthebridge。Theriverwasfulloflogs—long，slender，barklesspinelogs—aherailse，ahemeherintorafts。Theseraftseandstrutosuittheessaremeheheywerefromfiftytoonehundredyardslong，andtheygraduallytaperedfromaniheirsterns，tbreadthattheirbow-ends。Themainpartofthesteeriheboole;thethree-logbreadththerefurnishesroomforoeersmalelogsareneraroundthatanaverageyounglady’swaist。Thesoftheseveralsesoftheraftaresladpliant，sothattheraftmaybereadilybentintoanysortofcurverequiredbytheshapeoftheriver。
TheNemanyplaarroersacrossit，ifhehasoisalsosharplysuchplaces，theraftsmanhastodosomeprettyniugpilotiurns。Theriverisnotalwaysallowedtospreadoveritswholebed—whichisasmuchasthirty，aimesfortyyardswide—butissplitintothreeequalbodiesofwater，bystohrowthemaih，ahee。Ihesenarrow-edgeddikesprojectfourorfiveihesurface，liketheergedroof，butinhighwatertheyareoverflowed。AhatfulofrainmakeshighwaterintheNedabasketfulproduoverflow。
TherearedikesabreasttheSchlossHotel，aisviolentlysoiflasscage，watgthelong，narroalhthetralel，grazi-bankdikeandaimingcarefullyforthemiddlearchofthestebelow;Iwatchedtheminthisway，andlostallthistimehopihemhitthebridge-pieraselfsometimeorother，butointed。Onewassmashedthere，butIhadjuststeppedintomyroomamomenttolightapipe，soIlostit。
WhileIwaslookingdowhatminHeilbronn，thedaredevilspiritofadventurecamesuddenlyuponme，andIsaidtomyrades:
“IamgoingtoHeidelbergonaraft。Willyouvehme?”
Theirfacespaledalittle，buttheyassehasgoodagraceastheycould。Harriswaocablehismhtithisdutytodothat，ashewasallshehadinthisworld—so，whileheattehis，Iwentdowaahewithahearty“Ahoy，shipmate!”whichputusupoermsatondweentereduponbusiness。IsaidweedestriantourtoHeidelberg，andwouldliketotakepassagewithhim。IsaidthispartlythroughyoungZ，whospokeGermanveryartlythroughMr。Xwhospokeitpeculiarly。IderstandGermahemaniaveItalkitbestthroughaer。
&ainhitcheduphistrousers，thenshiftedhisquidthoughtfully。Presentlyhesaidjusteghewouldsay—thathehaders，andthereforewasafraidthelawwouldbeafterhimiergotorahappened。SoIcharteredtheraftaookalltheresponsibilitiesonmyself。
Witharattlingsoarboardwatttotheirworkahecableshottheane，andourbarkmovedoffwithastatelystride，andsoonwasbowlingalongatabouttwoknotsanhour。
roupedamidships。Atfirstthetalkwasalittlegloomy，andranmainlyuponessoflife，theuyofit，theperilswhichbesetit，andtheneedandwisdomofbeingalaredfortheworst;thisshadedoffintolow-voicedreferehedahedeep，aers;butasthegrayeastbegahemysterioussolemnityahedawothejoy-sohetalktookacheeriertone，andaeadily。
Germany，inthesummer，istheperfeofthebeautiful，butnobodyhasuood，andrealized，amostpossibilitiesofthissoftayunlesshehasvoyageddowntheNearaft。Themotionofaraftistheion;itisgentle，andgliding，andsmooth，aallfeverishactivities，itsoothestosleepallnervoushurryandimpatiesrestfulihetroublesaionsandsorrowsthatharassthemindvanishaway，aenesadream，acharm，adeepandtraasy。Howittrastsiririanism，anddustyanddeafeningrailroadrush，andtediousjoltiiredh>
&slippilyalohegreenandfragrantbanks，withasenseofpleasureahatgrew，ahetime。Sometimesthebankswerewiththickmassesofhollyhidthegroundbehiimeswehadnoblehillsononehand，clotheddehfoliagetotheirtops，aherhandopenlevelsblazingwithpoppies，ortherichblueoftheetimeswedriftedintheshadowofforests，aimesalongthemarginoflochesofvelvetygrass，freshandgreenandbright，atirelesscharmtotheeye。Aheywereeverywhere;theysweptbadforthacrosstherivertly，andtheirjubilantmusieverstilled。
Itandsatisfyioseethesuhenewm，andgradually，patiently，lovingly，clotheitonwithsplendoraftersplendllory，tillthemiraplete。Howdifferentisthismarvelobservedfromaraft，fromwhatitiswhehroughthedingywindowsofarailway-statiochedvillagewhilehemurifiedsandwidwaitsforthetrain。
参考译文
当旅店老板得知我和我的代理人是艺术家时，我们在他心中的地位就提升了一大截，得知我们正在欧洲徒步旅行后，我们的地位就更高了。
他向我们介绍了海德堡的路线情况，告诉我们最好绕过哪些地方，最好在哪些地方多逗留些时日；对那晚我所使用的物品，他只收取了低于成本的费用；还为我们准备了一桌丰盛的午餐，并送了很多德国人最喜爱的绿李子。因为我们赏光，他坚决不答应我们步行离开海尔布隆，于是，叫了葛兹·封·贝利欣根的马车来载我们离开。
我用素描的形式把马车画了下来。它算不上是件作品，只是画家所谓的“习作”——能够完整作画的素材。这幅素描有几处败笔，如：马车的速度与马的步伐不一致，这是不对的。而且，给马车让路的人实在太小了，就是我所说的不符合透视画法。最上边的两条线不是马背的曲线，而是缰绳；似乎还丢了一只车轮——当然在完成的画中，这些败笔都会被纠正。马车后面飞舞的不是旗帜，而是车上的篷帘。画中还有太阳，不过，我没有空出足够的空间。现在，我记不清奔跑的那个人前面是什么了，不过我想那可能是堆干草，或者是个女人。1879年的巴黎画廊上，这幅习作被展览出来，但是并没有获得任何奖项，因为展览不为习作设奖。