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“We won’t bother you,” Ruth said as quickly as she could. “All we wanted was to ask you if you could give us a little something to eat. Just a potato, if you have any, or bread, or something.”
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“I don’t know what you are doing here,” the woman said. “I don’t like to have strange people around my house.”
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She almost closed the door, but in a moment the crack widened, and her face could be seen once more.
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“I’ll feed the girl,” she said finally, “but I can’t let the man have anything. I don’t have enough for both of you, anyway.”
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● bother you：麻烦你。
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● All we wanted：我们所需要的（不过是）。这句话的动词都用过去式，表示她拍墙叫门时候所需要的是什么东西。
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● I can’t let the man have anything：单身男女清晨在山野间赶路，是惹人疑心的，屋中人不肯施舍给那男的，不是没有道理。又从I’ll feed the girl一句看来，那个女人年龄想必很轻。
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Ruth turned quickly around, her heels digging into the sandy earth. She looked at Ring. He nodded his head eagerly.
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He could see the word forming on her lips even though he could not hear it. She shook her head.
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Ring went several steps toward her.
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“We’ll try somewhere else,” she said.
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“No,” he said. “You go in and eat what she’ll give you. I’ll try the next house we come to.”
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She still did not wish to go into the house without him. The woman opened the door a foot or more, and waited for her to come up the steps.
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Ring sat down on a bench under a tree.
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“I’m going to sit here and wait until you go in and get something to eat for yourself,” he said.
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● digging：转身时脚后跟（heels）在沙土上钻了一下。
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● the word：大约是“no”字。forming on her lips：嘴唇已经圆起来，预备说这个字了。She shook her head：又是简单的叙述，可是包含很深的情感：何忍自己得食，而见那男人被摈诸门外呢？她预备到别家人家去试试。
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● opened the door a foot or more：呼应前面的opened a few inches。
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Ruth went up the steps slowly to the porch and entered the door. When she was inside, the woman pointed out a chair by a table, and Ruth sat down.
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There were potatoes, warmed over from the night before, and cold biscuits. These were put on the table in front of her, and then the woman poured a cup of hot coffee and set it beside the plate.
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● steps：台阶。porch：门的入口处，上面通常有屋檐盖住。
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● warmed over：昨夜所煮的马铃薯，早晨再热一次。
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Ruth began to eat as quickly as she could, sipping the hot black coffee and chewing the potatoes and bread while the brown-faced woman stood behind her at the door, where she could watch Ring and her by turns.
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Twice Ruth managed to slip pieces of bread into her blouse, and finally she got half a potato into the pocket of her skirt. The woman eyed her suspiciously when she was not watching Ring in the yard outside.
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● sipping：啜饮。bread：即上文提到的biscuits（软饼，非英国式的饼干）。
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