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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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● watch：监视。by turns：轮流的；一下子看着屋内的女人，一下子看着屋外的男人。
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● managed：设法。slip：滑下去；轻轻地放进去，由面包自动落下。blouse：女装的上衣，腰间有带拴住，东西放在里面，不会掉出来的。skirt：裙子。blouse和skirt是西洋女子普通的服装。这个女人的服装本文开始时并未描写，这里假如她不演出一幕“陆郎怀桔”的故事，作者恐怕仍旧要略而不提的。
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● eyed这个字当动词用，有“监视”或“冷眼旁观”的意思。suspiciously：猜疑地，用猜疑的眼光。
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“Going far?” the woman asked.
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“Yes,” Ruth answered.
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“Come far?” the woman asked.
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“Yes,” Ruth said.
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“Who is that man with you?”
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“He’s my husband,” Ruth told her.
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The woman looked out into the yard again, then back at Ruth. She did not say anything more for a while.
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● 很简洁的一段对白。可是屋主人的猜疑，乞食女人的无意对答，已活跃纸上。如多用文字描写，恐怕反而要减少这场面的紧张和尴尬了。
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● 本文一开始就描写那一男一女的视线，现在这几段所着力描写的也是那屋主人的眼光；她来回地看那一男一女。
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Ruth tried to put another piece of potato into her skirt pocket, but by then the women was watching her more closely than ever.
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“I don’t believe he is your husband,” the woman said.
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“Well,” Ruth answered, “he is.”
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“I wouldn’t call him much of a husband to let you walk through the country begging food like you did just a little while ago.”
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“He’s been sick,” Ruth said quickly, turning in the chair to face the woman. “He was sick in bed for five weeks before we started out.”
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“Why didn’t you stay where you were, instead of making tramps out of yourselves? Can’t he hold a job, or don’t he want to work?”
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● by then的by=at or before (a specified limit)。by now与by then的用法很常见，now或then在这里是名词，作宾语用。单用then，只表示“那时”，by then有双重意思：“在那个时候”，或者“甚至在那个时候以前”。Ruth又要伸手偷马铃薯，可是“到了那个时候”，屋主人监视得更严了。
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