斯图亚特把他的信装到一个信封里，然后走向店主。

"Where can I get hold of a canoe?" he asked.

“我上哪里能找到一艘独木舟？”他说。

"Right here," replied the storekeeper.

“就在这里，”店主回答。

He walked over to his souvenir counter and took down a little birchbark canoe with the words SUMMER MEMORIES stamped on the side.

他走到他的纪念品柜台，从上面拿下一艘很小的用桦树皮制成的独木舟，舟身上还刻着一行字：“夏天的记忆。”

Stuart examined it closely.

斯图亚特仔细地检查了一番。

"Does she leak?" asked Stuart.

“她不会漏水吧？”斯图亚特问。

"It's a nice canoe," replied the storekeeper, bending it gently back into shape with his fingers.

“这是艘不错的独木舟，”店主用手指轻叩着舟身。

It will cost you seventy-five cents plus a penny tax.

它只需花掉你七十五美分，外加一美分的税。

Stuart took out his money and paid the man.

斯图亚特掏出钱付给了那个男人。

Then he looked inside the canoe and noticed that there were no paddles.

然后他又朝独木舟里面看，这才注意到那里没有船桨。

"What about paddles?" he said, making his voice sound businesslike.

“船桨在哪里？”他显得很认真地说。

The storekeeper hunted around among the souvenirs but he couldn't seem to find any paddles,

店主在那些纪念品中间到处打量着，可是却找不到什么船桨，

so he went over to the ice cream counter and came back with two little cardboard spoons—the kind you use for eating ice cream on picnics.

于是他便走到冰淇淋柜台那里，找出了两个硬纸板做的小勺子——就是那种你在野餐时用来舀冰淇淋吃的小勺。

"These will work out all right as paddles," he said.

“这东西用来做船桨很合适，”他说。

Stuart took the spoons, but he was disgusted with the looks of them.

斯图亚特接过小勺。可是当他再看看那独木舟时，便有些不高兴了。

"They may work out all right," said Stuart, "but I would hate to meet an American Indian while I had one of these things in my hand."

“船和船桨也许都很合适，”斯图亚特说，“可要是我的双手都拿着这些东西，就无法对付一个印第安人的突然袭击了。”

The storekeeper carried the canoe and the paddles out in front of the store and set them down in the street.

店主只好替他把独木舟和船桨拿到店外的街路上。

He wondered what this tiny boatman would do next, but Stuart never hesitated.

他对这个小船夫下一步怎么做很感兴趣，但斯图亚特可丝毫没有犹豫。

Taking a piece of thread from his pocket, he lashed the paddles to the thwarts, swung the canoe lightly up on his head,

他从衣兜里拿出一根线，把船桨捆在独木舟里，再把独木舟轻轻翻过来扣到头上，

and walked off with it as calmly as though he were a Canadian guide.

然后就沉着地往前走去，就像一个常做这类事的加拿大专家一样。