“我要，” 马龙向他保证。“酒精也是一种食物。你知道一个人完全靠酒精能维持多久吗？”
“I do,” Malone assured him. “Alcohol is a food. Do you know how long it’s possible for a human being to exist entirely on alcohol?”
“不知道，” 杰克说。“总有人在我有机会弄清楚之前就把我弄清醒了。但你说你还没吃晚饭。你说过……”
“No,” Jake said. “Someone always sobered me up before I had a chance to find out. But you said you hadn’t had any dinner. You said—”
“没错，” 马龙赶紧说，想起来了。他看了看菜单，发现一种特制牛排要三十分钟才能做好，女孩回来的时候他就点了这个。“等一下。” 他一口气喝下那杯黑麦威士忌，把杯子递给她，说：“先把这个倒满。这是紧急情况。”
“That’s right,” Malone said hastily, remembering. He looked over the menu, found a special steak that took thirty minutes to prepare, and ordered it when the girl returned. “Wait a minute.” He downed the rye in one shuddering gulp, handed her the glass and said, “Fill this up first. It’s an emergency.”
现在的问题是要怎么消磨时间。
It was just a matter of using up time, now.
杰克静静地坐着，焦虑地看着这位小律师。他的行为有点不太正常。
Jake sat silent, watching the little lawyer anxiously. There was something about his behavior that didn’t seem quite normal.
最后牛排送来了。马龙厌恶地看着它。“我说要全熟的。”
Eventually the steak arrived. Malone glared at it. “I said well done.”
“你非常明确地说要三分熟的。” 女孩告诉他。
“You very positively said rare,” the girl told him.
马龙皱着眉头看着她，用叉子戳了刺牛排，把它举起来，露出一条宽宽的鲜红的条纹。“这叫三分熟？这甚至能叫熟了吗？” 他厌恶地把牛排扔下去。“该死，我见过伤得比这还重的牛都能康复。”
Malone scowled at her, poked a fork into the steak and lifted it up so that a broad stripe of scarlet showed. “Call this rare? Call this even cooked?” He flopped it down disgustedly. “Damn it, the steers hurt worse than this, and get well.”
女服务员深吸了一口气。“您要我把它拿回去吗，先生？”
The waitress drew a long breath. “Do you wish me to take it back, sir?”
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“给我拿一份全熟的来，” 律师坚定地说。“我说全熟，是要煎得脆脆的。”
“Bring it to me well done,” the lawyer said firmly. “And when I say well done, it means crisp.”
她盯着他，拿起牛排。
She stared at him and picked up the steak.
“我等的时候再给我拿一杯黑麦威士忌。”
“And bring another rye while I’m waiting.”
杰克倾过身子，满脸焦虑的表情。“马龙，你最近感觉怎么样？”
Jake leaned across the table, his face wrinkled with anxiety. “Malone, how have you been feeling lately?”
“我这辈子从没感觉这么好过。” 马龙向他保证。
“Never felt better in my life,” Malone assured him.
杰克张了张嘴又闭上了。
Jake opened his mouth and closed it again.
牛排终于又送回来了。马龙厌恶地看着它。显然，里基特酒吧不想让任何人饿着肚子离开。他惋惜地想起晚上早些时候他和冯?弗拉纳根一起吃的咸牛肉、炸土豆和苹果派，然后遗憾地叹了口气。
The steak returned at last. Malone eyed it distastefully. Rickett’s evidently didn’t want anyone to go away hungry. He thought regretfully of the corned beef he had shared earlier in the evening with von Flanagan, the corned beef and fried potatoes and apple pie, and sighed regretfully.
“你刚才说什么了吗？” 杰克问。
“Did you say something?” Jake asked.
“我说如果我们饿死了，那也不是因为没食物。”
“I said if we starve to death, it won’t + 断句不一致，已修正为 “I said if we starve to death, it won’t be for lack of food.”
三十分钟后，他只吃了正好三平方英寸的牛排。然后他把盘子推开，摇了摇头。真爱的事业是伟大的，值得巨大的自我牺牲，但他实在吃不下一口了。
Thirty minutes later he had consumed exactly three square inches of the steak. Then he pushed the plate away from him and shook his head. The cause of true love was a good one, and deserved great self-sacrifice, but he was damned if he could manage another mouthful.
杰克说：“你不再吃点了吗？”
Jake said. “Don’t you want any more?”
律师摇了摇头。“我不知道我怎么了。我最近胃口不好。也许我们再喝一杯，然后就走。”
The lawyer shook his head. “Don’t know what’s the matter with me. I’ve been off my feed lately. Maybe we’d deetter have one more drink, and then go.”
当他们走到门口的时候，刚好差二十分钟到十一点。
By the time they were at the door, it was just twenty minutes to eleven.
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“很晚了，” 杰克遗憾地说，“但莫娜?麦克莱恩不会介意的。我们现在最好直接去她家。”
“It’s late,” Jake said regretfully, “but Mona McClane won’t mind. We’d better go right up there now.”
马龙摇了摇头。“你到了那儿都不知道要说什么。在你能提问之前你需要信息。如果你让我再给你一条信息作为依据，你就可以问她任何你想问的问题了。”
Malone shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re going to say when you do get there. You need information before you can ask questions. If you’ll just let me get you one more piece of information to go on, you can ask her all the questions you want.”
“好吧，” 杰克说，“但要快点。”
“All right,” Jake said, “but make it snappy.”
律师蹦蹦跳跳地穿过人行道，上了一辆出租车。杰克跟着他上了车，砰地关上了门。
The lawyer bounded across the sidewalk and into a cab. Jake followed him and slammed the door.
“去罗斯福路高架车站，” 马龙对司机说，“开快点！”
“The Roosevelt Road elevated station,” Malone told the driver, “and drive like mad!”
出租车开到密歇根大道桥一半的时候，杰克才喘过气来问道：“但到底为什么……”
The cab was halfway to the Michigan Avenue bridge before Jake recovered enough breath to ask, “But why the hell—”
马龙说：“嘘！” 把手指放在嘴唇上，摇了摇头，然后指了指出租车司机。
Malone said, “Sssh!” put his fingers to his lips, shook his head, and pointed to the cab driver.
在麦迪逊街，杰克倾过身子小声说：“但为什么……”
At Madison Street Jake leaned over and whispered, “But why—”
马龙小声回答：“因为那个钟。” 然后又摇了摇头。“别问我这么多问题。我知道我在做什么。”
Malone whispered back, “Because of the clock,” and shook his head again. “Don’t ask me so many questions. I know what I’m doing.”
“你喝醉了。” 杰克气愤地说。
“You’re drunk,” Jake said indignantly.
“我还是知道我在做什么。”
“I still know what I’m doing.”
在高架车站的入口处又有一个尴尬的时刻，马龙又一次默默地向上天求助。就在这时，他的目光落在了车站的钟上。
There was another difficult moment just inside the doors of the elevated station, and Malone had another quiet conference with providence. In the midst of it, his eye fell on the station clock.
他示意杰克不要打扰他，拿出手表，仔细地检查着，仿佛怀疑它是一个危险的装置，然后站在那里，手里拿着手表，一会儿看看手表，一会儿看看车站的钟。他就这样一动不动地站了整整十五分钟。时间一到，他合上手表，放回口袋里。
小主，
He motioned to Jake not to disturb him, took out his watch, examined it as carefully as if he suspected it of being an infernal machine, and then stood, holding it in his hand, looking first at it and then at the station clock. He stood perfectly still, doing this, for exactly fifteen minutes. At the end of that time he closed his watch and put it back in his pocket.
杰克完全忘记了莫娜?麦克莱恩。
Jake had pletely forgotten Mona McClane.
“听着，马龙。你确定你感觉还好吗？你不想躺一会儿吗？”
“Look here, Malone. Are you sure you feel all right? Wouldn’t you like to lie down for a little while?”
马龙觉得上天终于了解了自己的想法。
Malone decided providence had had an idea of its own.
“也许我想躺一会儿，” 他感激地、有点虚弱地说。“就几分钟。肯定是我吃了什么东西不对劲。”
“Maybe I would like to lie down,” he said gratefully and a little weakly. “Just for a few minutes. It must have been something I ate.”
他任由杰克带他上了一辆出租车。杰克告诉司机马龙下榻的酒店地址，又补充道：“开慢点。”
He allowed Jake to lead him to a taxi. Jake gave the driver the address of Malone’s hotel, and added, “Drive rather slowly.”
“开非常慢，” 马龙坐得笔直，拍了拍司机的肩膀说。“请开得非常慢、非常小心。我妻子要生孩子了。”
“Drive very slowly,” Malone said, sitting bolt upright and tapping the driver on the shoulder. “Please drive very slowly and carefully. My wife’s going to have a baby.”
他靠在座位上，闭上了眼睛。
He leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes.
司机拐上密歇根大道，从后视镜里看了杰克一眼，用手指指了指自己的额头，示意询问。杰克摇了摇头，做了一个拿着瓶子对着嘴喝的手势。
The driver, turning onto Michigan Avenue, caught Jake’s eye in the rear-view mirror and tapped his forehead questioningly. Jake shook his head and made the gesture of a man holding a bottle to his lips.
“我没有，” 马龙愤慨地说，眼睛都没睁开。司机同情地向杰克点了点头，继续开车。
“I am not,” Malone said indignantly, without opening his eyes. The driver nodded sympathetically to Jake, and drove on.
在酒店房间里，马龙任由杰克帮他脱衣服，扶他上床。等被子盖到他下巴的时候，时间已经是差一刻十二点了。他松了一口气。杰克不会在这个时候去拜访莫娜?麦克莱恩了。
小主，
In his hotel room, Malone allowed Jake to help undress him and get him into bed. By the time the covers were tucked under his chin, the time was quarter to twelve. He sighed with relief. Jake wouldn’t call on Mona McClane at this hour of the night.
“睡一晚你就会好的，” 杰克向他保证。“你能保证呆在床上，不乱跑吗？”
“You’ll be all right after a night’s sleep,” Jake assured him. “Will you promise to stay in bed and not go roaming around?”
“保证，” 马龙说着，闭上了眼睛。从一只眼睛的余光里，他看到杰克小心翼翼地把所有的裤子藏起来，最后环顾了一下房间，然后轻轻地走了出去，随手关上了门。
“Promise,” Malone said, shutting his eyes. Out of the corner of one of them he could see Jake carefully hiding all the pants, taking a last look around the room, and going out quietly, closing the door behind him.
这位小律师深吸了一口气。这是个忙碌的晚上，但他避免了杰克和海伦可能发生的灾难性的碰面。明天又是新的一天，但他会兵来将挡，水来土掩。
The little lawyer drew a long breath. It had been a busy evening, but he’d warded off a possibly disastrous meeting between Jake and Helene. Tomorrow would be another day, but he’d meet it as it came.
半小时后，他正要入睡，电话铃响了。海伦的声音从听筒里传来，气喘吁吁又兴奋不已。
He was just dropping off to sleep half an hour later when the telephone rang. Helene’s voice, breathless and excited, came from the receiver.
“马龙，我在大厅。马上下来。我让一个报童正替我开着车在街区周围转。”
“Malone, I’m down in the lobby. Come down right away. I’ve got a newsboy driving the car around the block.”
他想不出比 “嗯？” 更好的回答了。
He couldn’t think of anything better than, “Huh?”
“你醒着吗？听着，你这个笨蛋。我绑架了谋杀杰拉尔德?图伊兹的人。”
“Are you awake? Then listen, you blockhead. I’ve kidnaped the man who murdered Gerald Tuesday.”
马龙慢慢地数到十，然后平静地说：“有赏金吗？”
Malone counted to ten slowly and then said calmly, “Is there a reward?”
他听到电话那头传来愤怒又含混不清的嘟囔声。
He heard an indignant and unintelligible sputtering noise at the other end of the wire.
“他现在在哪儿？”
“Where is he now?”
“在车后座，盖着一些毯子下面。我把他打晕了。”
“In the back of the car, under some blankets. I knocked him out.”
马龙叹了口气。“也许我最好马上下去。”
Malone sighed. “Maybe I’d better e right down.”
“也许你该下来，” 海伦告诉他，“而且也许你最好快点。因为我开的是一辆偷来的车。” 她挂了电话。
“Maybe you had,” Helene told him, “and maybe you’d better hurry. Because I’m driving a stolen car.” She hung up.