Bald-the-third, my serving matron, was stiff with anger. A filthy beggar had erected a mat shed against the wall of our residence at Nanking, and settled down to live just by the gate which led from our garden to the hill path.
我的女佣变得怒气冲冲，因为有个脏兮兮的乞丐在我们南京的居所墙外搭了个草棚，就这样在连接花园和山间小路的门边住下了。
He would have to go, she declared. Disease would be carried over the wall by every breeze. We should all be sick. Probably Small Girl would die of cholera.
她说这人必须得搬走，不然风会裹挟着他的病菌飘到墙里来。到时候我们都得遭殃，小姐说不定还要死于霍乱。
Bald-the-third went out to clear him away. Sometime later I discovered her seated on the sewing-room floor hemstitching a sheet, an occupation she often uses to calm herself when she has been overwrought.
然后她就出去了，要赶他离开。但过了一会儿，我见她坐在缝纫室地板上缝起被单来了。通常在心神不宁的时候，她会用这个办法来平息自己。
“Has the beggar gone?” I asked.
“要饭的走了吗？”我问。
“No—he is still there,” she answered.
“没有——他还在那里。”她回答。
“Oh! He defeated you in argument, did he?” I pressed her.
“哦！你没吵过他，是不是？”我追问道。
“I did not speak to him,” she said. “He has a sprig of jasmine growing in a broken pot, and has given it the least drafty place in his miserable shelter. He certainly hadn't much tea, but he was sharing what he had with the flower. I do not think that such a man will do us any harm. People can be too concerned regarding physical health and neglect the health of the spirit. I've sent him out a gift of rice and fish.”
“我没跟他讲话。”她说，“那个人拿破盆种了一小枝茉莉，放在草棚里风最小的地方。茶他肯定没多少，但是他把这仅有的东西拿出一些分给了花。我觉得这种人不至于伤害我们。人不能成天想着身体健康，反倒把精神健康给忽略了。我还给他拿了点儿米和鱼。”
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