突然，斯图亚特睁开眼坐了起来。

He thought about the letter he had sent and he wondered whether it had ever been delivered.

他想不起来他写的那封信到底邮了没有。

It was an unusually small letter, of course, and might have gone unnoticed in the letterbox.

那封信非常的小，也许不会被人发现。

This idea filled him with fears and worries.

这念头使他恐惧并担忧起来。

But soon he let his thoughts return to the river, and as he lay there a whippoorwill began to sing on the opposite shore, darkness spread over the land, and Stuart dropped off to sleep.

可不久他的思绪便又回到小河上了，在夜鸱开始在对岸唱歌，黑暗笼罩了大地的时候，斯图亚特终于睡着了。

The next day dawned cloudy.

第二天有些多云。

Stuart had to go up to the village to have the oil changed in his car,

斯图亚特要到镇子里去给他的车加油，

so he hid the canoe under some leaves, tied it firmly to a stone,

因此便把他的独木舟系在一块石头上藏到树叶下，

and went off on his errand, still thinking about Harriet and wishing it were a nicer day.

然后才满怀着对哈丽雅特的渴望和这一天的期盼走了。

The sky looked rainy.

天看起来好像要下雨。

Stuart returned from the village with a headache, but he hoped that it would be better before five o'clock.

斯图亚特从镇子里回来时有点头痛，他希望在五点钟前可以好起来。

He felt rather nervous, as he had never taken a girl canoeing before.

他非常的燥乱，因为他从没有过和一个女孩同乘独木舟的经验。