So Pat began working his sled to the west, but it was slow and dangerous work. A sudden movement would have wrecked him. Only a gentle swaying of his body, constantly repeated, that turned the sled a mere trifle to the left, was possible. Each passing minute made it clearer that he could not hope to miss the island except by the narrowest margin. Little by little he worked to the west, but still not far enough. His speed was too great to give him much time. Once he thought of rolling off the sled and taking the chance of breaking his neck; but he could not forget that he was “carryin’ Christmas.”
于是帕特开始架着雪橇驶向左边，但这项工作缓慢而危险。突然移动一下，都会让他失事。他只能轻轻晃动身体，不断重复调整，才可能实现让雪橇向左偏一点儿。每过一份钟，他都更加清楚地认知到，除非只有很小的误差，不然他都无法偏离那座岛。他一点一点向左转，但还是没能转太多。雪橇行进的太快了，这让他没有太多的时间。他甚至突发奇想，从雪橇上滚下来，抓住机会直接调转雪橇方向；但他忘不了自己是在“过圣诞节”。
His heart almost stopped beating as he came under the shadow of the island. He knew now that he could clear the land, but there were ice-hummocks in the way. Another gentle swerve, still another; his right runner was lifted by the base of a hummock, the sled balanced for an instant on the left, and—settled back to level again. He had cleared the island. Now it was a straight course before the wind.
当他来到岛的阴影下时，他的心脏几乎停止跳动。他现在知道自己能够离开这块冰面，但路上还有很多冰丘。他轻轻地转弯，又转了一次；他右面的滑行装置遇到冰丘而翘了起来，雪橇倒向左边平衡了一会，又回到了水平。他已经避开了那座岛。现在是顺风顺水了。
“All I have to do now is to stop when the time comes, but ’tis no easy job,” exclaimed Pat. At once his mind began to busy itself with this problem. To roll off the sled would be extremely dangerous, but for the moment there seemed to be no other way. “If I could only take down the sail,” Pat muttered. He looked up at it, and then laughed. “The fool that ye are, Pat,” he said. “All ye have to do is to pull up the mast and throw it away.” Thereupon he settled himself for the enjoyment of the rest of the trip. He had to make no further change from the straight line in which he was going in order to reach his destination.
帕特喊道，“我现在要做的就是在时机成熟的时候停下来，但这并不容易做到，”他立刻开始开动脑筋思考这个问题。从雪橇上滚下来是极度危险的方式，但目前似乎没有别的办法。帕特咕哝道：“要是我能把帆放下就好了。”他抬头看了看，然后大笑起来。“你真傻，帕特，”他说。“你只要把桅杆拉起来扔掉就行了。”于是，他决定享受剩下的旅程。为了到达目的地，他不必再改变路线，可以一路直行。
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