They were so beautiful where they were! Neither did he pick the spikes of cardinal flowers,
它们就在这里才是最美的，他也没有摘带刺的红衣主教玫瑰花，
brilliant against their background of black mud or green grass.
在黑色泥土或绿草的映衬下，红衣主教显得十分艳丽。
This small boy had but one purpose in mind. He was after gold, yes, yellow gold, the gold of the lotus,
小男孩心里只有一个念头，他正在找寻金黄色的，没错，金黄色的莲花，
and his nose told him while yet a mile away that his favorite lilies were in bloom and awaiting his coming.
他的鼻子告诉他，在不到一英里的地方，他最喜欢的百合争先盛开，等待着他的光临。
He would get them, a big bunch of them, yellow lilies for his mother.
他会摘下百合，一大包黄色百合给妈妈。
He was tired now, yet knew it not. He had come a long, long trail since eight that morning;
他累了，但他自己没有觉得，从早上八点就一直长途跋涉；
fully nine miles, seven of them lonely miles beyond the last house.
整整9英里，经过最后一栋房屋后还走了7英里。
Anyone might have wondered what so small a boy was doing so far from home,
任何人都会想这个小男孩不远千里离家是为了做什么，
for he was undersized in spite of his twelve years. But he was a self-reliant lad, and he had a purpose.
尽管已经12岁了，他看起来个头不高，但他却非常独立，他有自己的目的。
What mattered that it had taken so much time for the journey; there had been so many interesting things to see.
重要的是这段路程花了太多时间，途中有许多好看的。
At noon he had rested and drunk at a cooling and refreshing spring under an overhanging cliff
中午，他在悬崖峭壁下的泉水旁休息，泉水沁人心脾，让人十分凉爽，
where he had often been before with his older brothers. The rest of the way was strange to him;
他曾经和哥哥们经常来这里，剩余的路程对他是陌生的，
yet he had made no mistake when he left the railroad and the hills and struck out across the wide river bottom to the lily pond.
他的路线是正确的，当时他离开铁路，路过山岭，从宽河底径直来到了莲花池。
He had been there before by boat and the river route;
他之前坐船或途径水路时来过这里；
so he knew when he came to the winding slough that he had found the right place.
当来到蜿蜒曲折的泥沼后，他就知道这条路是正确的。
He took off his clothes, tied them in a bundle, then held shoes and all upon his head and waded in.
他脱掉了衣服，把它们捆绑在一起，把鞋和衣服举到头顶后向前跋涉。
Halfway across, a sudden fright overtook him as the water weeds gripped about his legs, but only for a moment.
走到中间时，他突然吓了一跳，水草缠住了他的腿，但只是一小会。
Quickly turning on his back he kicked loose, and thus swimming above the weeds,
他迅速用脚甩走了水草，之后在水草上方游泳，
though without the use of his hands, was soon on the other side. He then took up his march to where the lotus grew.
尽管没有用手，他不一会就到了河对面，随后往莲花走去。
Soon he stopped to admire the beauty of the garden spider, whose web strung across his path.
不一会，他停下来欣赏美丽的园蛛，园蛛网缠绕了他的路。
He gently frightened her so that she started swinging like a pendulum, as these spiders do when disturbed.
他把园蛛吓了一跳，随后园蛛开始像钟摆一样晃动，这是蜘蛛受到干扰后会做的事情。
