但是他也常常到相熟的公馆里去做活，或者做包工，或者做零工。
But from time to time, he was employed by some rich people he knew well to work at their residences, either as a hired hand on contract or as an odd jobber.
我们家里需要木匠的时候，总是去找他。
Whenever my family needed a carpenter, he was always the man we wanted.
我就在这时候认识他。
That was how I got to know him.
他在我们家里做活，我只要有空，就跑去看他工作。
While he was in our home, I will come out to watch him work in my spare time.
我那是注意的，并不是他本人，倒是他的那些工具：什么有轮齿的锯子啦，有两个耳朵的刨子啦，会旋转的钻子啦，像画图的板斧一般的斧子啦。
What attracted my attention, however, was not the man himself, but the tools he used, such as the saw with toothed blade, the plane with two ear-like handles, the revolving drill, the hatchet that looked like the broad axe in drawings -- things entirely strange to me.
一块粗糙的木头经过了斧子劈，锯子锯，刨子刨，就变成了一方或者一条光滑整齐的木板，在经过钻子、凿子等等工具以后，又变成了各种各样的东西；
A piece of coarse wood, after being processed with the hatchet, saw and plane, would become pieces of smooth and tidy wood, square or rectangular in shape.
像美丽的窗格，镂花的壁板等等细致的物件，都是这样制成的。
After further treatment with the chisel, drill, etc., they would end up as various kinds of exquisite articles, such as beautiful window lattices, ornamental engravings on wooden partitions.
老陈和他的徒弟的工作，使我的眼界宽了不少。
The work which Lao Chen and his apprentices did was as real eye-opener to me.
那时我还在家里读书，祖父聘请了一位前清的老秀才来管叫我们。
I was then studying at home under the tutorship of an old scholar of the Qing Dynasty whom my grandfather had engaged.
老秀才不知道教授的方法，他只教我们认一些字，呆板地读一些书。
All he did was make me learn some Chinese characters and do some dull reading.
此外，他就把我们关在书房里，端端正正地坐在凳子上，让时间白白的过去。
Apart from that, he had me cooped up in my study and sit bolt upright doing nothing while time was slipping through my fingers.
过惯了这种单调的生活以后，无怪乎我特别喜欢老陈了。
Because of this monotonous life, it was no wonder that I developed a particular liking for Carpenter Lao Chen.
老陈常常弯着腰，拿了尺子和墨线盒在木板上面画什么东西。
He was often bent over drawing something on a plank with a ruler and an ink marker.
我们便安静地站在旁边专心地望着，连眼珠也不转一下。
And I would stand by and watch quietly and intently, my eyes riveted on him.
他画好了墨线，便拿起锯子或者凿子来。
After making the line with the in marker, he would pick up the saw or the chisel.
我有时候觉得有些地方很奇怪，不明白，就问他，他很和气地对我一说明。
Sometimes, when something puzzled me, I would ask him questions out of curiosity, and he would explain patiently everything in detail.
他的态度比那个老秀才的好得多。
He was much more agreeable than the old scholar.
家里的人看见我对老陈的工作感到这么大的兴趣，并不来干涉我，却嘲笑地唤我做老陈的徒弟，父亲甚至开玩笑的说要把我送到老陈那里学做木匠。
My folks, however, showed no sign of disapproval when they found me so much interested in Lao Chen's work, but only teasingly called me an apprentice of his.
因此有一个时候我居然相信父亲真有这样的想法，而且我对老陈说过要跟他学做木匠的话。
Once I even believed that father had meant what he said, and I even told Lao Chen that that was exactly what I had in mind.
穷人的小孩才学做木匠，" 老陈听见我的话，马上就笑起来。
Only poor people's kids learn carpentry.
做官有什么好？
What's the good of being a government official?
修房子，做家具，才有趣啊！
It's great fun to build houses and make furniture.
我做木匠，我要给自己修房子，爬到上面去，爬得高高的，" 我看见他不相信我的话，把它只当作小孩子的胡说，我有些生气，就起劲地争论道。
If I'm a carpenter, I'll climb high up, very high up, to build a house for myself.
"爬得高，会跌下来，" 老陈随口说了这一句，他的笑容渐渐地收起来了。
You may fall down if you climb high," said he casually, the smile on his face fading away.