春阴的下午，吉光屯唯一的茶馆子里的空气又有些紧张了，人们的耳朵里，仿佛还留着一种微细沉实的声息――“熄掉他罢！”
One overcast afternoon in spring, the atmosphere in the only teahouse in the village of Goodlight clotted with tension, a faint, but persistent imperative lingering in the ears of the assembled company: 'Put it out!”
但当然并不是全屯的人们都如此。
The anxiety was not, of course, universal.
这屯上的居民是不大出行的，动一动就须查黄历〔２〕，看那上面是否写着“不宜出行”；倘没有写，出去也须先走喜神方，迎吉利。
for the people who live here are not much given to going out.Whenever they do, they are sure to consult the Yellow Almanac to make sure the entry for that day does not read: Not favorable for going abroad.
If it does not, and they actually do go abroad, then to assure themselves of encountering good fortune, before wending their ways toward their actual destinations, they first take a few steps in that direction whence the Almanac says the God of Good Luck is to be sought on that particular day.1
不拘禁忌地坐在茶馆里的不过几个以豁达自居的青年人，但在蛰居人的意中却以为个个都是败家子。
And so it is that the only people sitting in the tearoom (tough-minded souls not kept indoors by such taboos) are a few of the younger set who pride themselves on being enlightened.
In the minds of the rest of the hibernating villagers, however, every last one of them is a prodigal son bent on bringing his family to ruin.
现在也无非就是这茶馆里的空气有些紧张。
And now the atmosphere of this very tearoom is charged with excitement.
“还是这样么？”
“Still no change?”“
三角脸的拿起茶碗，问。
one of them - Triangle-Face, to his friends - asked, picking up his bowl of tea.
“听说，还是这样，”方头说，“还是尽说‘熄掉他熄掉他’。
'So I hear,' another - Square-Head - replied. '"Put it out!
Put it out! " - all he ever says.
眼光也越加发闪了。
And the look in his eyes gets wilder all the time.
见鬼！
Hell and damnation!
这是我们屯上的一个大害，你不要看得微细。
Don't think it's a joke the fellow's a menace to our village.
造庙的时候，他的祖宗就捐过钱，现在他却要来吹熄长明灯。
When the temple was goin' up, his ancestors gave to it too, but now he wants to blow out the Eternal Lamp in that very temple!
我们上县去，送他忤逆！”
Let's send him to the county court as an unfilial son!”
阔亭捏了拳头，在桌上一击，慷慨地说。
Brimming over with public-spirited self-righteousness, Kuoting makes a fist and brings it down hard on the table,
一只斜盖着的茶碗盖子也噫的一声，翻了身。
causing the cover of a teabowl that is not squarely placed to flip over and clatter against the tabletop.
要送忤逆，须是他的父母，母舅……”方头说。
Only parents or maternal uncles can charge an undutiful son…” objected Square Head.
“可惜他只有一个伯父……”阔亭立刻颓唐了。
"Trouble is, he's only got one uncle and that's on his father's side," comments Kuoting, the edge of his enthusiasm immediately dulled.
“阔亭！”
"By the way, Kuoting,"
“吹熄了灯，我们的吉光屯还成什么吉光屯，不就完了么？
"If he blew out the Eternal Lamp, what kind of village would our Luckylight Village be?There just wouldn't be a 'lucky light' village any more, that's all.
老年人不都说么：这灯还是梁武帝〔３〕点起的，一直传下来，没有熄过；连长毛〔４〕造反的时候也没有熄过……。
And don't all the elders say that that lamp was lit by Emperor Wu way back in the Liang Dynasty and that it's been handed down to us without ever goin' out since then―not even durin' the times of the Long Hair Rebellion?2
你看，啧，那火光不是绿莹莹的么？
"Have you ever noticed," Zhuang clicks his tongue in admiration, "the beautiful emerald glow of that flame?
外路人经过这里的都要看一看，都称赞……。
Folk from other parts passing this way always ask to see it and admire it.. .
啧，多么好……。
He clicks his tongue again. ” It's soooo . . . beautiful!
他现在这么胡闹，什么意思？……”
What does he mean by carrying on like this? ...””