Polisi dan Lagu Pujian

Di bangkunya di Madison Square, Soapy bergerak dengan gelisah.

On his bench in Madison Square Soapy moved uneasily.

Ketika angsa-angsa liar berkaok-kaok tinggi di malam hari, dan ketika para wanita tanpa mantel kulit anjing laut mulai bersikap manis kepada suami mereka, dan ketika Soapy bergerak dengan gelisah di bangkunya di taman, Anda mungkin tahu bahwa musim dingin sudah dekat.

When wild geese honk high of nights, and when women without sealskin coats grow kind to their husbands, and when Soapy moves uneasily on his bench in the park, you may know that winter is near at hand.

Sehelai daun kering jatuh di pangkuan Soapy. Itu adalah kartu nama Jack Frost. Jack bermurah hati kepada para penghuni tetap Madison Square, dan memberikan peringatan yang wajar akan kunjungan tahunannya.

A dead leaf fell in Soapy’s lap. That was Jack Frost’s card. Jack is kind to the regular denizens of Madison Square, and gives fair warning of his annual call.

Di sudut-sudut empat jalan ia menyerahkan kartu kartonnya kepada Angin Utara, pelayan dari rumah besar Alam Terbuka, agar para penghuninya dapat bersiap-siap.

At the corners of four streets he hands his pasteboard to the North Wind, footman of the mansion of All Outdoors, so that the inhabitants thereof may make ready.

Pikiran Soapy mulai menyadari kenyataan bahwa telah tiba saatnya bagi dirinya untuk mengubah dirinya menjadi sebuah Panitia Cara dan Sarana tunggal guna bersiap menghadapi kekejaman cuaca yang akan datang. Oleh karena itu, ia bergerak dengan gelisah di bangkunya.

Soapy’s mind became cognisant of the fact that the time had come for him to resolve himself into a singular Committee of Ways and Means to provide against the coming rigour. And therefore he moved uneasily on his bench.

Ambisi musim dingin Soapy tidaklah terlalu tinggi. Di dalamnya tidak ada pertimbangan mengenai pelayaran Mediterania, atau langit Selatan yang melenakan dan melayang di Teluk Vesuvius. Tiga bulan di Pulau adalah apa yang didambakan jiwanya.

The hibernatorial ambitions of Soapy were not of the highest. In them there were no considerations of Mediterranean cruises, of soporific Southern skies drifting in the Vesuvian Bay. Three months on the Island was what his soul craved.

Tiga bulan dengan jaminan makan dan tempat tidur serta teman yang menyenangkan, aman dari Boreas dan polisi berbaju biru, tampak bagi Soapy sebagai inti dari segala hal yang diinginkan.

Three months of assured board and bed and congenial company, safe from Boreas and bluecoats, seemed to Soapy the essence of things desirable.

Selama bertahun-tahun, Blackwell’s yang ramah telah menjadi markas musim dinginnya.

For years the hospitable Blackwell’s had been his winter quarters.

Sama seperti sesama warga New York yang lebih beruntung telah membeli tiket ke Palm Beach dan Riviera setiap musim dingin, Soapy pun telah membuat persiapan sederhananya untuk hijrah tahunannya ke Pulau. Dan kini saatnya telah tiba.

Just as his more fortunate fellow New Yorkers had bought their tickets to Palm Beach and the Riviera each winter, so Soapy had made his humble arrangements for his annual hegira to the Island. And now the time was come.

Pada malam sebelumnya, tiga surat kabar hari Sabat, yang diselipkan di balik mantelnya, di sekitar pergelangan kakinya, dan di atas pangkuannya, telah gagal menepis hawa dingin saat ia tidur di bangkunya di dekat air mancur yang memancar di alun-alun tua itu.

On the previous night three Sabbath newspapers, distributed beneath his coat, about his ankles and over his lap, had failed to repulse the cold as he slept on his bench near the spurting fountain in the ancient square.

Maka Pulau itu terbayang besar dan tepat waktu di benak Soapy. Ia memandang rendah bantuan yang disediakan atas nama amal bagi orang-orang yang bergantung pada kota. Menurut pendapat Soapy, Hukum lebih ramah daripada Filantropi.

So the Island loomed big and timely in Soapy’s mind. He scorned the provisions made in the name of charity for the city’s dependents. In Soapy’s opinion the Law was more benign than Philanthropy.

Ada banyak sekali lembaga, baik kota maupun lembaga amal, tempat ia bisa pergi dan menerima penginapan serta makanan yang sesuai dengan kehidupan sederhana. Namun bagi seseorang dengan jiwa bangga seperti Soapy, pemberian amal itu ada harganya.

There was an endless round of institutions, municipal and eleemosynary, on which he might set out and receive lodging and food accordant with the simple life. But to one of Soapy’s proud spirit the gifts of charity are encumbered.

Jika tidak dengan koin, Anda harus membayar dengan kerendahan jiwa untuk setiap bantuan yang diterima dari tangan kedermawanan.

If not in coin you must pay in humiliation of spirit for every benefit received at the hands of philanthropy.

Sebagaimana Caesar memiliki Brutus-nya, setiap ranjang amal harus dibayar dengan mandi wajib, setiap potong roti ada imbalan berupa penyelidikan pribadi dan perorangan.

As Caesar had his Brutus, every bed of charity must have its toll of a bath, every loaf of bread its compensation of a private and personal inquisition.