Volpert walked from the railway embankment down to the village. He wanted to buy or borrow a few good ropes. The machine parts he was transporting in a sidecar for the line repair had been jiggling and rattling on the route. They would be damaged if not fastened down. His mechanic Ernst Hänisch was waving to him from the next farmstead. He had already found there what he was looking for. “Good morning,” Volpert said. Hänisch stood next to the farmer, a square-built, mediumsized man between the ages of thirty and forty. “Mr. Zillich here will let us use a couple of his ropes. I told him we’d send them back with the next train. He doesn’t want anything for them.” “I can also sell you four brand-new ones,” the farmer said. “They’re out in my field cart.” He spoke slowly and deliberately like everyone did in these parts, as if words cost money and he hesitated to part with each one. His eyes were small, dark, and vigilant, his nostrils as round and attentive as an extra pair of eyes. His nose was short and turned up, his mouth small. In fact all his facial features were small, they took up very little space on his large head. Even his ears were small. The flaps of his ears were strangely flipped over, to the front instead of the back, as if to catch as much sound as possible. Volpert said, “Good, I’ll take the new ones, too.” His gaze remained fixed on one ear.

中文翻译：

---

结束

沃尔珀特从铁路路堤走到村子里。他想买或借几条好绳子。他用边车运送修理线路的机器零件一直在路上摇晃和嘎嘎作响。如果不固定，它们会被损坏。他的机械师 Ernst Hänisch 从隔壁农庄向他招手。他已经在那里找到了他要找的东西。“早上好，”沃尔珀特说。Hänisch 站在农夫旁边，他是一个 30 到 40 岁的方形体型中等身材的男人。“先生。Zillich在这里让我们使用他的一些绳索。我告诉他我们会用下一班火车把他们送回去。他不想要他们的任何东西。” “我也可以卖给你四个全新的。”农夫说。“他们在我的野战车里。” 他像这些地方的每个人一样缓慢而刻意地说，仿佛言语要花钱，他犹豫着要不要分开。他的眼睛又小又黑，而且警惕，他的鼻孔又圆又细，就像多出来的一双眼睛。他的鼻子又短又翘，嘴巴小。事实上，他所有的五官都很小，在他大脑袋上只占很小的空间。连耳朵都那么小。他的耳瓣奇怪地翻转过来，往前而不是往后，仿佛是为了尽可能多地捕捉声音。沃尔珀特说：“很好，我也要买新的。” 他的目光始终停留在一只耳朵上。他的耳瓣奇怪地翻转过来，往前而不是往后，仿佛是为了尽可能多地捕捉声音。沃尔珀特说：“很好，我也要买新的。” 他的目光始终停留在一只耳朵上。他的耳瓣奇怪地翻转过来，往前而不是往后，仿佛是为了尽可能多地捕捉声音。沃尔珀特说：“很好，我也要买新的。” 他的目光始终停留在一只耳朵上。