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It wasn't much of a job, as Eph said, to reach up once an hour and send the hand along one space, and Aunt Tildy had to have something to look forward to.
正如伊夫所说，每小时伸一次手，调一下时针，这不算什么工作，蒂尔迪阿姨得有点期待。
Aunt Tildy was the first inmate at Todd's. She passed his house on her way to the poor farm on the very day that the news of the legacy arrived,
蒂尔迪阿姨是托德家的第一个囚犯。她在去贫瘠农场的路上路过他的家，就在遗产消息传来的那天，
and Eph had stopped the carriage and begged the overseer to leave her with him. Are you sure you can take care of her? asked the overseer, doubtfully.
伊夫拦住马车，求监督把她交给他。你确定你能照顾好她吗？监工怀疑地问。
Sure? echoed Eph with delight. Of course I'm sure. Haven't I got four hundred dollars a year for the rest of my natural born days?
当然？以弗高兴地重复着。我当然确定。我不是一年有四百块钱来维持我的生活吗？
He's a good fellow, Eph Todd, mused the overseer as he drove away, but I never heard of his having any money.
他是个好人，伊夫·托德，当他开车离开时，监工沉思着，但我从来没有听说过他有钱。
Next day the news of the legacy was known to everybody, and Aunt Tildy had been an inmate at Todd's ever since. She was deeply grateful,
第二天，关于遗产的消息被大家知道了，蒂尔迪阿姨从那以后就一直是托德家的囚犯。她非常感激，
and she really managed to keep the house after a fashion, her chief care being the clock. Then there was the inventor.
她很快就把房子收拾好了，她最关心的就是时钟。然后是发明家。
He had wasted everything he had in inventing an incubator that worked with wonderful success till the day the chickens were to come out,
他把所有的钱都浪费在发明一个孵化器上，这个孵化器工作得非常成功，直到鸡出来的那天，
when it caught fire and burned up, taking with it chickens, bam, house, and furniture, leaving the inventor standing in the field,
当它着火燃烧，带着鸡，砰，房子和家具，让发明家站在田野里，
thinly clad, and with nothing left in the world but another incubator. With this he had shown up promptly at Todd's, and there he had made his home.
衣衫褴褛，除了另一个孵化器什么也没留下。带着这个，他很快就出现在托德家，在那里他已经安家了。
Eph had obliged the inventor to keep his incubator in a little shed behind the barn, so that when this one burned up,
伊夫强迫发明家把他的孵化器放在谷仓后面的一个小棚子里，这样当这一个被烧掉的时候，
there was time to get the horse and cow out before the barn burned, and the village fire department managed to save the house.
在牲口棚被烧毁之前，有时间把马和牛赶出去，村里的消防队设法救了这所房子。
Rebuilding the barn made quite a hole in the legacy, and all the inventor had to show for it was Miltiades.
重建谷仓在遗产中留下了一个很大的洞，所有的发明家都必须证明这是弥尔顿的作品。
He had put a single turkey's egg in with a previous hatch, and though he had not raised a single chicken,
他把一只火鸡的蛋放进了先前的孵化器，尽管他没有养过一只鸡，
the turkey's egg had hatched, and the chick had grown up to be Miltiades. Miltiades was a big gobbler now.
火鸡的蛋已经孵出来了，小鸡已经长大成为弥尔顿。米尔蒂亚德斯现在是个大酒鬼。
He took care of himself, was never shut up or handled, and led a wandering life. Last of all came Fisherman Jones.
他照顾自己，从不闭嘴，从不被人摆布，过着流浪的生活。最后是渔夫琼斯。
He was old now and couldn't see very well, unable to go to the brook or pond to fish,
他已经老了，看不太清楚，不能去小溪或池塘钓鱼，
but he still started out daily with the fine new rod and reel which the legacy had bought for him, and would sit out in the sun,
但他还是每天带着遗产给他买来的新钓鱼竿和新鱼线轮，坐在阳光下，
joint his rod together, and fish in the dry pasture with perfect contentment.
把鱼竿连在一起，在乾草地上尽情钓鱼。
You would not think Fisherman Jones of much use, but it was he who caught Miltiades and made the Thanksgiving dinner possible.
你不会认为渔夫琼斯有多大用处，但正是他抓住了弥尔顿，使感恩节晚餐成为可能。
