Introduction：The narrator，an elderly lawyer，relates the story of the strangest man he has ever known。He hired a scrivener called Bartleby。At first the scrivener did an extraordinary quantity of writing silently，palely and mechanically。But later he behaved eccentrically：he refused to verify the accuracy of his copy，and then refused to do anything in the office。No matter what the lawyer said and did，Bartleby still did nothing and had no intention to leave。
1 I am a rather elderly man。The nature of my avocations for the last thirty years，has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men，of whom，as yet，nothing，that I know of，has ever been written—I mean，the law-copyists，or scriveners。I have known very many of them，professionally and privately，and，if I pleased，could relate divers histories，at which good-natured gentlemen might smile，and sentimental souls might weep。But I waive the biographies of all other scriveners，for a few passages in the life of Bartleby，who was a scrivener，the strangest I ever saw，or heard of。While，of other law-copyists，I might write the plete life，of Bartlebynothing of that sort can be done。I believe that no materials exist，for a full and satisfactory biography of this man。It is an irreparable loss to literature。Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable，except from the original sources，and in his case，those are very small。What my own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby，that is all I know of him，except，indeed，one vague report，which will appear in the sequel。
2 Ere introducing the scrivener，as he first appearedto me，it is fit I make some mention of myself，my employees，my business，my chambers，and general surroundingsbecause some such description is indispensable to an adequate understanding of the chief character about to be presented。
3 Imprimis：I am a man who，from his youth upwards，has been filledwith a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best。Hence，though I belong to a profession proverbially energetic and nervous，even to turbulence，at times，yet nothing of that sort have I ever suffered to invade my peace。I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury，or in any way draws downpublic applausebut，in the cool tranquility of a snug retreat，do a snug business among rich men’s bonds，and mortgages，and title-deeds。All who know me，consider me an eminently safe man。The late John Jacob Astor，a personage little given to poetic enthusiasm，had no hesitation in pronouncing my firstgrand point to be prudencemy next，method。I do not speak it in vanity，but simply record thefact，that I was not unemployed in my profession by the late John Jacob Astora name which，I admit，I love to repeat，for it hath a rounded and orbicular sound to it，and rings like unto bullion。I will freely add，that I was not insensible to the late John Jacob Astor’s good opinion。
avocation：n。嗜好，副業
scrivener：n。抄寫員，謄寫員
waive：v。放棄，擱置
ascertainable：adj。可確定探知的，可發現的
ere：prep。在……之前
imprimis：adv。第一，首先
conviction：n。信念
turbulence：n。混亂，無秩序
tranquility：n。寧靜
snug：adj。安逸的
retreat：n。隱秘居處
given to：慣於
prudence：n。謹慎
4 Some time prior to the period at which this little history begins，my avocations had been largely increased。The good old office，now extinct in the State of New York，of a Master in Chancery，had been conferred upon me。It was not a very arduous office，but very pleasantly remunerative。I seldom lose my tempermuch more seldom indulge in dangerous indignation at wrongs and outragesbut I must be permitted to be rash here，and declare，that I consider the sudden and violent abrogation of the office of Master of Chancery，by the new Constitution，as a—premature actinasmuch as I had counted upon a life-lease of the profits，whereas I only received those of a few short years。But this is by the way。
5 My chambers were up stairs，at No。—Wall street。At one end，they looked upon the white wall of the interior of a spacious sky-light shaft，penetrating thebuilding from top to bottom。This view might have been considered rather tame than otherwise，deficient in what landscape painters call“life”。But，if so，the view from the other end of my chambers offered，at least，a contrast，if nothing more。In that direction，my windows manded an unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall，black by age and everlasting shadewhich wall required no spy-glass tobring out its lurking beauties，but，for the benefit of all near-sighted spectators，was pushed up to within ten feet of my window panes。Owing to the great height of the surrounding buildings，and my chambers being on the second floor，theinterval between this wall and mine not a little resembled a huge square cistern。
評注：梅爾維爾的這部短篇小說被公認為是再現現代辦公室生活的最早作品之一。在第5段中，作者生動刻畫了現代都市中狹小、枯燥、壓抑的辦公大樓。這種缺乏生氣和人情味的工作空間也暗示了現代生活的枯燥，乏味，而抄寫員的工作在這種背景下又極具典型性。
6 At the period just preceding the advent of Bartleby，I had two persons as copyists in my employment，and a promising lad as an office-boy。First，Turkeysecond，Nippersthird，Ginger Nut。These may seem names，the like of which are not usually found in the Directory。In truth，they were nicknames，mutually conferred upon each other by my three clerks，and were deemed expressive of their respective persons or characters。Turkey was a short，pursy Englishman，of about my own age—that is，somewhere not far from sixty。In the morning，one might say，hisface was of a fine florid—hue，but after twelve o’clock，meridian—his dinnerhour—it blazed like a grate full of Christmas coalsand continued blazing—but，as it were，with a gradual wane—till 6 o’clock，P。M。or thereaboutsafter which，I saw no more of the proprietor of the face，which，gaining its meridian withthe sun，seemed to set with it，to rise，culminate，and decline the following day，with the like regularity and undiminished glory。There are many singular coincidences I have known in the course of my life，not the least among which was the fact，that，exactly when Turkey displayed his fullest beams from his red and radiant countenance，just then，too，at that critical moment，began the daily period when I considered his business，capacities as seriously disturbed for the remainder of the twenty-four hours。Not that he was absolutely idle，or averse to business，thenfar from it。
The difficulty was，he was apt to be altogether too energetic。There was a strange，inflamed，flurried，flighty recklessness of activity about him。He would be incautious in dipping his pen into his inkstand。All his blots upon my documents were dropped there after twelve o’clock，meridian。
Indeed，not only would he be reckless，and sadly given to making blots in the afternoon，but，some days，he went further，and was rather noisy。At such times，too，his face flamed with augmented blazonry，as if cannel coal had been heaped on anthracite。He made an unpleasant racket with hischairspilled his sand-boxinmending his pens，impatiently split them all to pieces，and threw them on the floor in a sudden passionstood up and leaned over his table，boxing his papers about in a most indecorous manner，very sad to behold in an elderly man like him。Nevertheless，as he was in many ways a most valuable person to me，and all thetime before twelve o’clock，meridian，was the quickest，steadiest creature，too，acplishing a great deal of work in a style not easily to be matched—for thesereasons，I was willing to overlook his eccentricities，though，indeed，occasionally，I remonstrated with him。
I did this very gently，however，because，though the civilest，nay，the blandest and most reverential of men in the morning，yet，in the afternoon，he was disposed，upon provocation，to be slightly rash with his tongue—in fact，insolent。Now，valuing his morning services as I did，and resolved not to lose them—yet，at the same time，made unfortable by his inflamed ways after twelve o’clock—and being a man of peace，unwilling by my admonitions to call forth unseemly retorts from him，I took upon me，one Saturday noon（he was always worse on Saturdays）to hint to him，very kindly，that，perhaps，now that he was growing old，it might be well to abridge his laborsinshort，he need not e to my chambers after twelve o’clock，but，dinner over，had best go hometo his lodgings，and rest himself till tea-time。But nohe insisted upon his afternoon devotions。His countenance became intolerably fervid，as he oratoricallyassured me—gesticulating with a long ruler at the other end of the room—that if his services in the morning were useful，how indispensable，then，in the afternoon？
avocation：n。職業
confer upon sb。：授予某人職位
arduous：adj。艱苦的
remunerative：adj。有利可圖的
indignation：n。憤怒
abrogation：n。廢除
Master of Chancery：法院推事
be deficient in：缺乏，不足
unobstructed：adj。不被阻擋的
cistern：n。（抽水馬桶的）貯水池
hue：n。色調，色彩，色澤
radiant：adj。絢麗的，容光煥發的
countenance：n。容貌
averse：adj。不願意，反對
augmented：adj。增加的，增強的
anthracite：n。無煙煤
indecorous：adj。不和禮節的，不雅的
eccentricities：n。怪僻
remonstrate with sb。：規勸某人
nay：adv。而且
bland：adj。溫和的
reverential：adj。可敬的
be disposed to do sth。：有……的傾向
insolent：adj。粗野的，無禮的
admonition：n。警告
retort：n。反駁
abridge：v。刪減
7 “With submission，sir，”said Turkey，on this occasion，“I considermyself your right-hand man。In the morning I but marshal and deploy my columnsbut in theafternoon I put myself at their head，and gallantly charge the foe，thus”—and he made a violent thrust with the ruler。
8 “But the blots，Turkey，”intimated I。
9 “Truebut，with submission，sir，behold these hairs！I am getting old。Surely，sir，a blot or two of a warm afternoon is not to be severely urged against gray hairs。Old age—even if it blot the page—is honorable。With submission，sir，we both are getting old。”
with submission：請原諒
marshal：v。安排
deploy：v。布置
gallantly：adv。勇敢地
foe：n。敵人
blot：n。墨跡
intimate：v。明白表示
behold：v。看10This appeal to my fellow-feeling was hardly to be resisted。At all events，I saw that go he would not。So，I made up my mind to let him stay，resolving，nevertheless，to see to it，that，during the afternoon，he had to do with my less important papers。
11 Nippers，the second on my list，was a whiskered，sallow，and，upon the whole，rather piratical-looking young man，of about five and twenty。I always deemedhim the victim of two evil powers—ambition and indigestion。Theambition was evinced by a certain impatience of the duties of a mere copyist，an unwarrantable usurpation of strictly professional affairs，such as the original drawing up of legal documents。The indigestion seemed betokened in an occasional nervous testiness and grinning irritability，causing the teeth to audibly grind together overmistakes mitted in copyingunnecessary maledictions，hissed，rather than spoken，in the heat of businessand especially by a continual discontent with theheight of the table where he worked。Though of a very ingeniousmechanical turn，Nippers could never get this table to suit him。He put chips under it，blocks of various sorts，bits of pasteboard，and at last went so far as to attempt an exquisite adjustment，by final pieces of folded blotting-paper。But no invention would answer。If，for the sake of easing his back，he brought the table lid at a sharp angle well up towards his chin，and wrote there like a man using the steeproof of a Dutch house for his desk，then he declared that it stopped the circulation in his arms。If now he lowered the table to his waistbands，and stooped over it in writing，then there was a sore aching in his back。In short，the truthof the matter was，Nippers knew not what he wanted。
Or，if he wanted anything，it was to be rid of a scrivener’s table altogether。Among the manifestations ofhis diseased ambition was a fondness he had for receiving visits from certain ambiguous-looking fellows in seedy coats，whom he called his clients。Indeed，I was aware that not only was he，at times，considerable of a ward-politician，but he occasionally did a little business at the Justices’courts，and was not unknown on the steps of the Tombs。I have good reasons to believe，however，that one individual who called upon him at my chambers，and who，with a grand air，he insisted was his client，was no other than a dun，and the alleged title-deed，a bill。But，with all his failings，and the annoyances he caused me，Nippers，like his patriot Turkey，was a very useful man to mewrote a neat，swift handand，when he chose，was not deficient in a gentlemanly sort of deportment。Added to this，he always dressed in a gentlemanly sort of wayand so，incidentally，reflected credit upon my chambers。Whereas，with respect to Turkey，I had much ado to keep him from being a reproach to me。His clothes were aptto look oily and smell of eating-houses。He wore his pantaloons very loose and baggy in summer。
His coats were execrablehis hat not be to handled。But while the hat was a thing of indifference to me，inasmuch as his natural civility and deference，as a dependent Englishman，always led him to doff it the moment he entered the room，yet his coat was another matter。Concerning his coats，I reasoned with himbut with no effect。The truth was，I suppose，that a man with so small an ine could not afford to sport such a lustrous face and a lustrous coat at one and the same time。
As Nippers once observed，Turkey’s money went chiefly for red ink。One winterday，I presented Turkey with a highly-respectable looking coat of my own—a padded gray coat，of a most fortable warmth，and which buttoned straight up from the knee to the neck。I thought Turkey would appreciate the favor，and abate hisrashness and obstreperousness of afternoons。But noI verily believe that buttoning himself up in so downy and blanket-like a coat had a pernicious effect upon him—upon the same principle that too much oats are bad for horses。In fact，precisely as a rash，restive horse is said to feel his oats，so Turkey felt his coat。It made him insolent。He was a man whom prosperity harmed。