Lesson 2

Our vicar is always raising money for one cause or another, but he has never managed to get enough money to have the church clock repaired.
我们的牧师总是在为这样或那样的原因筹集资金，但他从未设法筹集到足够的钱来修理教堂的时钟。
The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged many years ago and has been silent ever since.
那口曾经日夜报时的大钟在许多年前被损坏了，从那时起就再也没响过。
One night, however, our vicar woke up with a start: the clock was striking the hours!
然而一天晚上，我们的牧师惊跳着醒了过来：时钟正敲响着报时！
Looking at his watch, he saw that it was one o’clock, but the bell struck thirteen times before it stopped.
看着他的手表，他看到当时是一点钟，但钟声在停止前敲响了十三下。
Armed with a torch, the vicar went up into the clock tower to see what was going on.
牧师拿着手电筒爬上钟楼，想看看究竟发生了什么事。
In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.
在火光中，他看见了一个身影，并立即认出他就是我们当地的杂货商比尔·威尔金斯。
‘Whatever are you doing up here Bill?’ asked the vicar in surprise.
“你究竟在这上面做什么，比尔？”牧师惊讶地问道。
‘I’m trying to repair the bell,’ answered Bill.
“我正在尝试修理这口钟，”比尔回答道。
‘I’ve been coming up here night after night for weeks now.
我已经连续好几周，每晚都来到这里。
You see, I was hoping to give you a surprise.’
你看，我当时正想给你一个惊喜。’
‘You certainly did give me a surprise!’ said the vicar.
“你确实给了我一个惊喜！”牧师说。
‘You’ve probably woken up everyone in the village as well.
“你大概也把村子里的每个人都吵醒了。”
Still, I’m glad the bell is working again.’
尽管如此，我很高兴铃铛又响了。’
‘That’s the trouble, vicar,’ answered Bill.
“那就是麻烦所在，牧师，”比尔回答道。
‘It’s working all right, but I’m afraid that at one o’clock it will strike thirteen times and there’s nothing I can do about it.’
“它运行正常，但我担心在一点钟时它会敲响十三下，而我对此无能为力。”
‘We’ll get used to that, Bill,’ said the vicar.
“我们会习惯的，比尔，”牧师说。
‘Thirteen is not as good as one, but it’s better than nothing.
‘13不如1好，但总比没有强。
Now let’s go downstairs and have a cup of tea.’
现在让我们到楼下去喝杯茶吧。’