电锯在院子里呜呜噜噜卡卡嗒嗒地叫着。

The buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard

尘土飞扬中落下炉膛长度的木头，

And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,

和风拂过飘出阵阵甜香。

Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.

如果你有心举目，

And from there those that lifted eyes could count

可以看到五座大山相连，

Five mountain ranges one behind the other

在夕阳下深入到远方的弗蒙特州。

Under the sunset far into Vermont.

电锯呜噜卡嗒，呜噜卡嗒，

And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,

空转卡嗒，触木呜噜。

As it ran light, or had to bear a load.

没什么事情发生，日子好像就要这样结束了。

And nothing happened: day was all but done.

就是这么一天，我琢磨着他们可能说过

Call it a day, I wish they might have said

让那个男孩子休息一会儿，

To please the boy by giving him the half hour

这样他就不用整天想着怎么赶工，

That a boy counts so much when saved from work.

省下半小时的时间。

His sister stood beside them in her apron

他的姐姐穿着围裙在他身边坐下，

To tell them "Supper." At the word, the saw,

告诉他“吃晚饭”。话音刚落，

As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,

那电锯，好像知道“晚饭”是个啥意思，

Leaped out at the boy's hand, or seemed to leap—

跳到了男孩的手上，或者看起来跳了——

He must have given the hand. However it was,

他肯定送上了自己的手。无论如何，

Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!

手和电锯都没拒绝对方。但是手！

The boy's first outcry was a rueful laugh,

男孩的第一声叫是懊丧的笑声，

As he swung toward them holding up the hand

他摆身转向它们捡起了那只手，

Half in appeal, but half as if to keep

一半是被它吸引，另一半是好像想让它停止泄出阳气。

The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all—

然后这个男孩看到了一切——

Since he was old enough to know, big boy

他已经足够成熟可以看到，大男孩做着男人的工作，

Doing a man's work, though a child at heart—

虽然心中还是一个小孩儿——

He saw all spoiled. "Don't let him cut my hand off—

他看到一切都搞砸了。“不要让他们切掉我的手，

The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!"

那个医生，他来的时候，不要让他切我的手，姐！”

So. But the hand was gone already.

但是呢，手已经离他而去。

The doctor put him in the dark of ether.

医生用乙醚让他进入黑暗，

He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.

他躺着吹出了最后一口气。

And then—the watcher at his pulse took fright.

然后监控他脉博的人着慌了，

No one believed. They listened at his heart.

但没人相信。他们听他的心脏，

Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it.

弱-更弱-没了！就这么结束了。

No more to build on there. And they, since they

现在做啥也于事无补。然后，既然他们

Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.

不是死的那个，又转身去做他们自己的事情了。