The Chink's Head was a name the beach-combers gave to a wretched inn off the Rue Bouterie, kept by a one-eyed Chinaman, where for six sous you could sleep in a cot and for three on the floor. Here they made friends with others in as desperate condition as themselves, and when they were penniless and the night was bitter cold, they were glad to borrow from anyone who had earned a stray franc during the day the price of a roof over their heads. They were not niggardly, these tramps, and he who had money did not hesitate to share it among the rest. They belonged to all the countries in the world, but this was no bar to good-fellowship; for they felt themselves freemen of a country whose frontiers include them all, the great country of Cockaine.
“中国茅房”，这是一个流浪汉给一个独眼的中国人在布特里路附近开的一家鸡毛店起的名字。六个铜子可以睡在一张小床上，三个铜子儿可以打一宵地铺。他们在这里认识了不少同他们一样穷困潦倒的朋友，遇到他们分文不名、而夜里又天气奇冷的时候，他们会毫不犹豫地同哪个白天凑巧挣到一法郎的人借几文宿费。这些流浪汉并不吝啬，谁手头有钱都乐于同别人分享。他们来自世界各个地方，但是大家都很讲交情，并不因国籍不同而彼此见外，因为他们都觉得自己是一个国家——安乐乡的自由臣民；这个国家领土辽阔，把他们这些人全部囊括在自己的领域里。
"But I guess Strickland was an ugly customer when he was roused," said Captain Nichols, reflectively. "One day we ran into Tough Bill in the Place, and he asked Charlie for the papers he'd given him."
“可是思特里克兰德要是生起气来，我看可不是好惹的，”尼柯尔斯船长回忆当时的情况说，“有一天我们在广场上碰见了硬汉子彼尔，彼尔想讨回他给查理斯的身份证明。”
"'You'd better come and take them if you want them,' says Charlie.
“‘你要是想要，就自己来拿吧，’查理斯说。”
"He was a powerful fellow, Tough Bill, but he didn't quite like the look of Charlie, so he began cursing him. He called him pretty near every name he could lay hands on, and when Tough Bill began cursing it was worth listening to him. Well, Charlie stuck it for a bit, then he stepped forward and he just said: 'Get out, you bloody swine.' It wasn't so much what he said, but the way he said it. Tough Bill never spoke another word; you could see him go yellow, and he walked away as if he'd remembered he had a date."
“彼尔是个身强力壮的大汉，但是被查理斯的样子给镇住了，他只是不住口地咒骂，所有能够用上的脏字眼儿都用到了。硬汉子彼尔开口骂人是很值得一听的事。开始的时候，查理斯不动声色地听着，过了一会儿，他往前迈了一步，只说了一句：‘滚蛋，你他妈的这只猪猡。’他骂的这句话倒没什么，重要的是他骂人的样子。硬汉子彼尔马上住了口，你可以看出来他胆怯了。他连忙转身走开，好象突然记起自己还有个约会似的。”
Strickland, according to Captain Nichols, did not use exactly the words I have given, but since this book is meant for family reading I have thought it better, at the expense of truth, to put into his mouth expressions familiar to the domestic circle.
按照尼柯尔斯船长的叙述，思特里克兰德当时骂人的话同我写的并不一样，但既然这是一本供家庭阅读消遣的书，我觉得不妨违反一些真实性，还是改换几个雅俗共赏的字眼儿为好。
Now, Tough Bill was not the man to put up with humiliation at the hands of a common sailor. His power depended on his prestige, and first one, then another, of the sailors who lived in his house told them that he had sworn to do Strickland in.
且说硬汉子彼尔并不是个受了普通水手侮辱而隐忍不发的人。他的权势完全靠着他的威信；一个住在他开的寄宿舍的水手对他俩说，彼尔发誓要把思特里克兰德干掉，后来又有另外一个人告诉他们同样的消息。