It is worth a paragraph to say that this remarkable scene can be witnessed every evening in numerous cafes in the City of New York. Tons of brew have been consumed over theories to account for it. Some have conjectured conjecture n.v.推测，臆说，猜想 hastily that all Southerners in town hie themselves to cafes at nightfall. This applause of the “rebel” air in a Northern city does puzzle a little，but it is not insolvable. The war with Spain，many years generous mint and watermelon crops，a few longshot winners at the New Orleans racetrack，and the brilliant banquets given by the Indiana and Kansas citizens who compose the North Carolina Society have made the South rather a “fad” in Manhattan. Your manicure manicure n.修指甲 v.修剪 will lisp softly that your left forefinger reminds her so much of a gentlemans in Richmond，Va. Oh，certainly，but many a lady has to work now—the war，you know.
值得花上一段来讲讲纽约市内众多的咖啡馆每天晚上处处可见的这种引人入胜的场面。成吨的饮料挥霍于阐释各种理论。有人轻率地猜测，城里所有的南方人在夜幕降临之际都赶紧上咖啡馆。在北方的一座城市里如此赞许这种“反叛”气氛真有点叫人迷惑不解，但并非不可解答。对西班牙的战争，多年来薄荷和西瓜等农作物的丰收，新奥尔良的跑道上暴出冷门的获胜者，由印第安纳和堪萨斯的居民所组成的“北卡罗来纳社团”举办盛大的宴会已经使南方成了曼哈顿的“时尚”。你修剪指甲暗示着你的左手食指会提醒她你是个弗吉尼亚州里士满的绅士。呵，当然了，不过，现在不少女士不得不工作——战争，你是知道的。
When “Dixie” was being played a darkhaired young man sprang up from somewhere with a Mosby guerrilla yell and waved frantically his softbrimmed hat. Then he strayed through the smoke，dropped into the vacant vacant adj.空的，空白的，空灵的，头脑空虚的，神情茫然的，空闲的，空缺的 chair at our table and pulled out cigarettes.
正当演奏着“迪克西”时，一位黑发年轻小伙子不知从什么地方蹦了出来，一声莫斯比游击队队员的吼声，疯狂地挥舞着软边帽，迂回地穿过烟雾，落座于我们桌旁的空椅子上，抽出一支烟来。
The evening was at the period when reserve is thawed. One of us mentioned three Wurzburgers to the waiter，the darkhaired young man acknowledged his inclusion inclusion n.包含，内含物 in the order by a smile and a nod. I hastened to ask him a question because I wanted to try out a theory theory n.理论，学说，……论，原理，意见，推测 I had.
这夜晚到了打破缄默的时候了。我们当中有人向侍者要了三杯维尔茨堡酒，黑发小伙子明白也包括他的一杯在内，便笑了笑点了点头。我赶忙问他一个问题，因为我要证实我的一种理论。
“Would you mind telling me，” I began，“whether you are from—”
“你不介意告诉我，你是哪儿的人……”
The fist of E. Rushmore Coglan banged the table and I was jarred into silence.
E.拉什莫尔·科格兰的拳头砰一声砸在桌上，把我吓得沉默了。
“Excuse me，” said he，“but thats a question I never like to hear asked. What does it matter where a man is from？ Is it fair to judge a man by his postoffice address？ Why，Ive seen Kentuckians who hated whiskey，Virginians who werent descended from Pocahontas，Indianians who hadnt written a novel，Mexicans who didnt wear velvet velvet n.天鹅绒，柔软，光滑 adj.天鹅绒的，柔软的，光滑的 trousers with silver dollars sewed along the seams，funny Englishmen，spendthrift spendthrift n.挥霍者 Yankees，coldblooded Southerners，narrowminded Westerners，and New Yorkers who were too busy to stop for an hour on the street to watch a onearmed grocers clerk do up cranberries cranberry n.[植］酸果蔓的果实 in paper bags. Let a man be a man and dont handicap him with the label of any section.”
“原谅我，”他说，“但我从不喜欢听到这种问话。是哪里人又有什么相干呢？从一个人的通讯地址来判断人公正吗？唉，我见过肯塔基人厌恶威士忌，弗吉尼亚人不是从波卡洪塔丝传下来的，印第安纳人没写过一本小说。墨西哥人不穿缝口上钉银币的丝绒裤，有趣的英国人，挥霍的北方佬，冷酷的南方人，气量狭小的西方人，纽约人太匆忙，以至于不能花上一小时在街上瞧瞧杂货店的独臂售货员怎样把越橘装进纸袋。让人真正像人，不要用任何地域的标签给他设置障碍。”
“Pardon me，” I said，“but my curiosity was not altogether an idle one. I know the South，and when the band plays ‘Dixie’ I like to observe. I have formed the belief that the man who applauds that air with special violence and ostensible ostensible adj.可公开得，（指理由等）表面的，虚假的 sectional loyalty is invariably a native of either Secaucus，N.J.，or the district between Murray Hill Lyceum and the Harlem River，this city. I was about to put my opinion to the test by inquiring of this gentleman when you interrupted with your ownlarger theory，I must confess.”
“请原谅，”我说，“但我的好奇心不是毫无根据的。我了解南方，当乐队奏起‘迪克西’时，我喜欢观察。我相信那位为这只乐曲喝彩特别卖劲、假装对南方最为忠诚的人一定来自新泽西州的塞考卡，或者在本市默里·希尔·吕克昂和哈莱姆河之间。我正要询问这位绅士来证实我的看法，恰好被你的理论所打断，当然是更大的理论，我必须承认。”
And now the darkhaired young man spoke to me，and it became evident that his mind also moved along its own set of grooves.
现在，黑发小伙子对我说，很明显，他的思想也是按自己的一套习惯运行。
“I should like to be a periwinkle periwinkle n.长春花属的植物，玉黍螺，” said he，mysteriously，“on the top of a valley，and sing toorallooralloo.”
“我倒喜欢成为一枝长春花，”他玄妙地说，“长在峡谷之巅，高唱嘟——拉卢——拉卢。”
This was clearly too obscure，so I turned again to Coglan.
这显然过于朦胧了，因此，我又转向科格兰。
“Ive been around the world twelve times.” said he. “I know an Esquimau in Upernavik who sends to Cincinnati for his neckties，and I saw a goatherder in Uruguay who won a prize in a Battle Creek breakfast food puzzle competition. I pay rent on a room in Cairo，Egypt，and another in Yokohama all the year around. Ive got slippers waiting for me in a teahouse in Shanghai，and I dont have to tell em how to cook my eggs in Rio de Janeiro or Seattle. Its a mighty little old world. Whats the use of bragging about being from the North，or the South，or the old manor manor n.（封建领主的）领地，庄园 house in the dale，or Euclid avenue，Cleveland，or Pikes Peak，or Fairfax County，Va.，or Hooligans Flats or any place？ Itll be a better world when we quit being fools about some mildewed town or ten acres of swampland swampland n.沼泽地 just because we happened to be born there.”
