I often wonder what mother finds to say when she is shut up by the hour together.

我常常纳闷, 妈妈整天忙碌, 她没有时间怎么祷告呢?

My skill, greater in this one point than theirs, surprised and charmed them.  Mary would sit and watch me by the hour together: then she would take lessons; and a docile, intelligent, assiduous pupil she made.

我的技巧在这一点上比他们高明，这让他们感到惊讶和着迷。玛丽会按小时坐在一起看我：然后她会上课；她培养了一个温顺、聪明、勤奋的学生。

I quite long to be among them, sometimes, of the winter evenings; for it is but dull business for a lonesome elderly man, like me, to be nodding, by the hour together, with no company but his air-tight stove.

有时候，我很想成为他们中间的冬天的夜晚；因为对于像我这样孤独的老人来说，一个小时一起点头，除了他那气密的炉子，没有人陪伴，这简直是一件无聊的事情。