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They parted when they were seventeen and did not meet again for years;
17岁时两人分开，多年未曾见面。
Humphrey went into the navy as he had planned, and Jonathan, with mallet and chisel in hand
汉弗莱去了他想去的海军，乔纳森手持木槌和凿子，
and with that sober, earnest air that always clung to him, was already at work in his father's shipyard.
他还是那样沉着冷静，一丝不苟，他已经在父亲的船坞上班了。
In time he became master of the entire business, while Humphrey was scouring the seas,
过了一段时间，他成为了整个领域的主人，汉弗莱依然漂浮在海上，
sailing on just those far voyages of which he had so often dreamed.
去往那些他曾梦想过的地方。
Jonathan had his dreams also, but he did not speak of them, only toiled away at building the heavy, sturdy vessels,
乔纳森也有自己的梦想，但他从未谈起，只是在努力建造笨重的轮船，
that carried America's trade overseas early in the last century.
在世纪之初，这些船将美国货物运到海外。
Honest ships they were and reliable, as sure of coming to port as though they had belonged to the age of steam,
这种舰船很结实，可以保证它们顺利返航，好似它们属于蒸汽时代，
but oh, how long it took them to make a voyage! When alone in his dingy little office,
但它们要多久才能进行一次远航，当他独自在自己狭小，肮脏的办公室时，
Jonathan, with the door fastened, would push aside the pile of plans and drawings and would get out the model of a strange vessel,
房门紧闭，乔纳森会把一摞摞计划和图纸放在一边，拿出一个奇怪的轮船模型，
sharp, slender, and graceful, with a hull like a racing yacht.
这艘船纤细，华丽轻盈，船体很像急速的快艇。
He would set it upon the bench to carve a little here,
他会将模型放在长凳上一点点雕刻，
to alter a curve by a hair's breadth there, or merely to stand staring at it sometimes for hours at a time, staring and thinking.
细致入微地进行雕刻，有时就是盯着模型长达几个小时，一边紧盯一边思考。
One day when he was standing, utterly lost in his thoughts, there came a knock at the door,
一天他站着思考事情，突然传来了敲门声，
followed quickly by a second one and a third, all during the moment that it took the shipmaster to put out of sight his beloved model.
马上又来了第二声，第三声，这时船长将注意力移出了他心爱的模型。
When the door was opened, there strode in a tall sunburned person in blue uniform.
当房门打开时，站着一位穿蓝色制服，高大黝黑的男子。
It was Captain Humphrey Reynolds, come at last to see his old comrade, bringing a roll of government papers under his arm.
他就是汉弗莱·雷诺兹上尉，他来看他的老朋友，胳臂抱着一卷政府文件。
