"Well, if the fresh air bothers you, why don't you put a handkerchief over your nose and breathe through your mouth?"
“嗳,要是新鲜空气真让你烦心的话,你干吗不用手帕捂住鼻子,用嘴来呼吸?”
"Okay, I'll try it. If I'd known I was coming to a place that had nothing but fresh air, I would have brought a surgical mask."
"对呀,我来试试。如果早知道我来的地方只有新鲜空气,我就会带一只口罩来了。”
We drove in silence. About fifteen minutes later he asked, "How do you feel now?"
我们开着车,沉默无语。过了刻把钟,他问:“这会儿你觉得怎么样?”
"Okay, I guess, but I sure miss sneezing."
“我想还可以吧,不过我倒是很想能再打个喷嚏。”
"We don't sneeze too much here," the man admitted. "Do they sneeze a lot where you come from?"
“我们这儿的人不常打喷嚏,”那人并不讳言。“你们那儿的人常打喷嚏吗?”
"All the time. There are some days when that's all you do."
“时时刻刻都在打。有些日子你就是光打喷嚏不干别的。”
"Do you enjoy it?"
“你们很喜欢打喷嚏啰?”
"Not necessarily, but if you don't sneeze, you'll die. Let me ask you something. How come there's no air pollution around here?"
“那倒未必,可要是不打喷嚏你不就没命了嘛。我问你,这一带怎么会没有空气污染的呢?”
"Flagstaff can't seem to attract industry. I guess we're really behind the times. The only smoke we get is when the Indians start signaling each other. But the wind seems to blow it away." The fresh air was making me feel dizzy "Isn't there a diesel bus around here that I could breathe into for a couple of hours?"
“弗拉格斯塔夫似乎引不起工业界的兴趣。我想我们确实太落伍了。我们只有在印第安人发信号相互传递信息时,才会有点烟雾。可是一阵风似乎就将它吹散了。”新鲜空气搞得我头昏眼花。“附近难道没有烧柴油的公共汽车,好让我钻进去呼吸一两个小时?”
"Not at this time of day. I might be able to find a truck for you."
“这时候可没有公共汽车。也许我可以给你找辆卡车。”
We found a truck driver, and slipped him a five-dollar bill, and he let me put my head near his exhaust pipe for a half hour. I was immediately revived and able to give my speech.
我们找到一位卡车司机,塞给他一张五美元的钞票,于是他便让我把头贴近卡车排气管吸了半小时。我立刻恢复了元气,能够发表演讲了。
Nobody was as happy to leave Flagstaff as I was. My next stop was Los Angeles, and when 1 got off the plane, I took one big deep breath of the smog-filled air, my eyes started to water, I began to sneeze, and I felt like a new man again.
我离开弗拉格斯塔夫时的那股快活劲儿,没有谁能同我相比。我下一站是洛杉矶;我一下飞机,便深深地吸了一大口满是烟雾的空气,我的双眼开始流眼泪,我开始打喷嚏,于是我觉得自己脱胎换骨变了个人似的。