门半开着，他们俩进来了。

　　John!

　　约翰！

　　From the bathroom came an unpleasant and characteristic sound.

　　一种不愉快的、带他的特性的声音从浴室传来。

　　"Is there anything the matter?" Helmholtz called.

　　“出了什么事吗？”赫姆霍尔兹叫道。

　　There was no answer. The unpleasant sound was repeated, twice; there was silence.

　　没有回答。不愉快的声音又出现了，两次。没有声音了。

　　Then, with a click the bathroom door opened and, very pale, the Savage emerged.

　　浴室门咔哒一声开了。野蛮人走了进来，非常苍白。

　　"I say," Helmholtz exclaimed solicitously, "you do look ill, John!"

　　“我说呀，”赫姆霍尔兹很关心地说，“你脸上的确带病容，约翰！”

　　"Did you eat something that didn't agree with you?" asked Bernard.

　　“你吃了什么不受用的东西吗？”伯纳问。

　　The Savage nodded. "I ate civilization."

　　野蛮人点点头，“我吃了文明。”

　　What?

　　吃了什么？

　　"It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then," he added, in a lower tone, "I ate my own wickedness."

　　“我中毒了；受了污染。而且，”他放低了声音说，“我吞下了自己的邪恶。”

　　"Yes, but what exactly? … I mean, just now you were …"

　　“不错，可究竟是出了什么事？……我是说你刚才在……？”

　　"Now I am purified," said the Savage. "I drank some mustard and warm water."

　　“我现在已经清洗了自己，”野蛮人说，“我拿芥末冲温水喝了。”

　　The others stared at him in astonishment. "Do you mean to say that you were doing it on purpose?" asked Bernard.

　　两人瞪大了眼惊异地望着他。“你是说你是故意那么做的？”伯纳问。

　　"That's how the Indians always purify themselves." He sat down and, sighing, passed his hand across his forehead.

　　“印第安人就是那么清洗自己的。”他坐了下来，叹了一口气，用手抹了抹前额。

　　"I shall rest for a few minutes," he said. "I'm rather tired."

　　“我要休息几分钟，”他说，“我相当疲倦了。”

　　"Well, I'm not surprised," said Helmholtz.

　　“喔，这我倒并不意外，”赫姆霍尔兹

　　After a silence, "We've come to say good-bye," he went on in another tone. "We're off tomorrow morning."

　　沉默了一会儿，说，“我们是来告别的。”他换了个口气说了下去，“明天我们就走了。”

　　"Yes, we're off to-morrow," said Bernard on whose face the Savage remarked a new expression of determined resignation.

　　“是的，明天我们就走了。”伯纳说。野蛮人在他脸上看见了一种完全决心听天由命的表情。

　　"And by the way, John," he continued,

　　“顺带说一句，约翰，”他说了下去，

　　leaning forward in his chair and laying a hand on the Savage's knee,

　　坐在椅子上，身子前倾，把手放在野蛮人的膝盖上，

　　"I want to say how sorry I am about everything that happened yesterday." He blushed.

　　“我要说明我对昨天发生的事有多么抱歉，”他脸红了，

　　"How ashamed," he went on, in spite of the unsteadiness of his voice, "how really …"

　　“有多么惭愧，”尽管说时声音颤抖，“事实上是多么……”

　　The Savage cut him short and, taking his hand, affectionately pressed it.

　　野蛮人打断了他的话，动情地抓住他的手，捏了捏。