Lesson 60 Too early and too late

In ordinary living, there can be some tolerance of unpunctuality.

在日常生活中人們可以容忍一定程度的不準(zhǔn)時(shí)。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

The intellectual, who is working on some abstruse problem, has everything coordinated and organized for the matter in hand.

一個(gè)專心鉆研某個(gè)復(fù)雜問題的知識(shí)分子，為了搞好手頭的研究，要把一切都協(xié)調(diào)一致，組織周密。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

He is therefore forgiven if late for a dinner party.

因此，他要是赴宴遲到了會(huì)得到諒解。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

But people are often reproached for unpunctuality when their only fault is cutting things fine.

但有些人不準(zhǔn)時(shí)常常因?yàn)槠婞c(diǎn)所致，

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

It is hard for energetic, quick-minded people to waste time,

他們常常受到責(zé)備，精力充沛、頭腦敏捷的人極不愿意浪費(fèi)時(shí)間，

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

so they are often tempted to finish a job before setting out to keep an appointment.

因此他們常想做完一件事后再去赴約。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

If no accidents occur on the way, like punctured tires, diversions of traffic, sudden descent of fog, they will be on time.

要是路上沒有發(fā)生如爆胎、改道、突然起霧等意外事故，他們決不會(huì)遲到。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

They are often more industrious, useful citizens than those who are never late.

他們與那些從不遲到的人相比，常常是更勤奮有用的公民。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

The over-punctual can be as much a trial to others as the unpunctual.

早到的人同遲到的人一樣令人討厭。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

The guest who arrives half an hour too soon is the greatest nuisance.

客人提前半小時(shí)到達(dá)是令人討厭的。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

Some friends of my family had this irritating habit.

我家有幾個(gè)朋友就有這有令人惱火的習(xí)慣。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

The only thing to do was ask them to come half an hour later than the other guests.

唯一的辦法就是請(qǐng)他們比別的客人晚來半小時(shí)。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

Then they arrived just when we wanted them.

這樣，他們可以恰好在我們要求的時(shí)間到達(dá)。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

If you are citing a train, it is always better to be comfortably early than even a fraction of a minted too late.

如果趕火車，早到總比晚到好，哪怕早到一會(huì)兒也好。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

Although being early may mean wasting a little time, this will be less than if you miss the train and have to wait an hour or more for the next one;

雖然早到可能意味著浪費(fèi)一點(diǎn)時(shí)間，但這比誤了火車等上一個(gè)多小時(shí)坐下班車?yán)速M(fèi)的時(shí)間要少，

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

and you avoid the frustration of arriving at the very moment when the train is drawing out of the station and being unable to get on it.

而且可以避免那種正好在火車駛出站時(shí)趕到車站，因上不去車而感到的沮喪。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

An even harder situation is to be on the platform in good time for a train and still to see it go off without you.

更難堪的情況是雖然及時(shí)趕到站臺(tái)上，卻眼睜睜地看著那趟火車啟動(dòng)，把你拋下。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

Such an experience befell a certain young girl the first time she was traveling alone.

一個(gè)小姑娘第一次單獨(dú)出門就碰到了這種情況。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

She entered the station twenty minutes before the train was due,

在火車進(jìn)站20分鐘前她就進(jìn)了車站。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

since her parents had impressed upon her that it would be unforgivable to miss it and cause the friends with whom she was going to stay to make two journeys to meet her.

因?yàn)樗母改冈偃f，如果誤了這趟車，她的東道主朋友就得接她兩趟，這是不應(yīng)該的。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

She gave her luggage to a porter and showed him her ticket.

她把行李交給搬運(yùn)工并給他看了車票。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

To her horror he said that she was two hours too soon.

搬運(yùn)工說她早到了兩個(gè)小時(shí)，她聽后大吃一驚。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

She felt inhere handbag for the piece of paper on which her father had written down al the details of the journey and gave it to the porter.

她從錢包里摸出一張紙條，那上面有她父親對(duì)這次旅行詳細(xì)說明，她把這張紙條交給了搬運(yùn)工。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

He agreed that a train did come into the station at the time on the paper and that it did stop, but only to take on mail, not passengers.

搬運(yùn)工說，正如紙條所說，確有一趟火車在那個(gè)時(shí)刻到站，但它只停站裝郵件，不載旅客。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

The girl asked to see a timetable, feeling sure that her father could not have made such a mistake.

姑娘要求看到時(shí)刻表，因?yàn)樗嘈鸥赣H不能把這么大的事弄錯(cuò)。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

The porter went to fetch one and arrive back with the station master,

搬運(yùn)工跑回去取時(shí)刻表，同時(shí)請(qǐng)來了站長(zhǎng)。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

who produced it with a flourish and pointed out a microscopic 'o' beside the time of the arrival of the train at his station;

站長(zhǎng)拿著時(shí)刻表一揮手，指著那趟列車到站時(shí)刻旁邊一個(gè)很小的圓圈標(biāo)記。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

this little 'o' indicated that the train only stopped for mail.

這個(gè)標(biāo)記表示列車是為裝郵件而停車。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

Just as that moment the train came into the station.

正在這時(shí)，火車進(jìn)站了。

Lesson 60 Too early and too late

The girl, tears streaming down her face, begged to be allowed to slip into the guard's van.

女孩淚流滿面，央求讓她不聲不響地到押車員車廂里去算了。