被吓住的全城

字幕原文

"He had a habit of visiting us teachers at home. “他有个习惯，总爱到我们这些老师家里坐坐。

He'd sit down and say nothing, 一坐下来就一言不发，

as if he were looking for something. 就好像在搜寻什么东西似的。

He'd sit like that for an hour, then leave. 他就这么干坐上一个小时，然后起身走人。

He called it keeping on good terms with his colleagues. 他管这叫跟同事搞好关系。

And we were all afraid of him. 可我们大家都怕他。

Even the headmaster was afraid of him. 就连校长都怕他。

Think of it: our teachers were thoughtful, 你想想看：我们的老师可都是有思想、

decent people, raised on great books. 知书达理的正派人，是读着名著名篇长大的。

And yet this little man, with his galoshes and his umbrella, 可偏偏就是这么个穿着套鞋、拿着雨伞的小矮子，

kept the whole school under his thumb for fifteen years. 居然把整所学校治得服服帖帖，整整压制了十五年。

And not just the school. 而且何止是学校啊。

The whole town! 是整个镇子！

Ladies stopped putting on plays at home, 太太小姐们不敢在家里排家庭话剧了，

in case he heard about it. 生怕传到他耳朵里去。

People were afraid to speak loudly, to write letters, to read books." 大家连大声说话、写信、看书都提心吊胆的。”

It takes surprisingly few timid people to make a whole town timid. 要想让整个小镇都变得畏首畏尾，其实只要极少数几个胆小怕事的人就够了，少得叫人不可思议。

"And you should have seen how he lived at home." “你真该瞧瞧他在自己家里是怎么过日子的。”