You’ll never find the village of Royston Valley on maps. Traditionally, locals do not abbreviate it to “R.V.” or abridge it to “Royston”. This would be to abandon a tradition. Royston Valley is an aberration and its inhabitants, who consider themselves aboriginals, are aberrant. 

在地图上，你永远也找不到罗伊斯顿山谷这个村庄。依照传统，当地人不会把罗伊斯顿山谷缩写为R.V. 或缩短为“罗伊斯顿”，因为那意味着摒弃传统。罗伊斯顿山谷有些异常，它的居民自认为是土著居民，其行为也有些反常。外乡人来到罗伊斯顿山谷就无法逃脱。

Strangers arriving in Royston Valley cannot abscond. Locals abominate them, their situation is abject and they are at the mercy of the local people, who are aboveboard with each other, but hold rules in abeyance with regard to strangers. Rumors abound that hikers in the nearby hills have been abducted and ... well, who knows?

当地人憎恨外乡人，因此外乡人在这里地位很卑微，任由当地人摆布。当地人对待自己人光明磊落，而对外乡人则暂不实行这些规则。这里存在大量谣传：徒步旅行者在附近小山上遭绑架并……嗨，到底怎么回事，谁知道呢？

The villagers live in almost absolute isolation and don’t want the outside world to absorb them. They are abstemious and abstain from most of the modern things that other English people, who are now rarely abstentious, enjoy. Their abstention would be famous if anyone knew of it. A few people keep abreast of events in the outside world, in case anything that could affect the village happens. One of these people discovered that a road to Royston Valley was being built. The locals thought this abominable. 

这里的村民们过着一种几乎与外界完全隔绝的生活，他们不想被外面的世界所同化。他们生活很有节制， 戒绝了大多数现代的东西，而这些正是其他很少节制的英国人所享受的。如果有人了解到这一点，这里的人肯定会因为节制而出名。有几个人常常及时了解外界发生的事件，不落后于形势的发展，以防任何危害村庄的事情发生。其中有人发现一条通往罗伊斯顿山谷的公路正在修建中。当地人认为这很讨厌。

How could they stop the abhorrent road? They would have to fight until the threat abated and construction was abrogated. Everyone discussed the abolition of the road to their centuries old abode. Several attempts to stop the road were made, but these failed, abashing the locals, forcing the mayor to abdicate, and leading to rumors that a villager was abetting the road builders. As a result, each villager publicly abnegated any connection to the road builders through ablution.

怎样才能阻止修建这条可恶的公路呢？他们必须坚决斗争，直至威胁减小，筑路工程取消为止。就如何废止修建这条通往他们古老住所的公路，大家展开了讨论。几次阻止修路的尝试都失败了， 这使当地人感到很窘迫，市长也被迫辞职，还引发了谣言：有村民怂恿并帮助修路者。结果，每位村民都通过洗礼公开否认与修路者有任何联系。

One woman refused to abide by this and abase herself in this way. She claimed to abhor the road, wanted to abolish it, and would give a verbal abnegation. Villagers tried to reason with her, saying that, to abjure, ablution was necessary, but the discussion soon became abrasive. Someone pointed out her frequent absenteeism from the village in recent days and the woman was forced to tell her story to absolve herself. 

有个女人却拒不遵从这种做法，她拒绝以这种方式来降低自己的尊严。她声称自己也憎恨这条路，想废止它，而且她可以口头否认。村民试图说服她。他们说，要表示郑重否认，必须通过洗礼；但辩论中人们的态度很快就变得粗暴起来。有人指出她最近经常离开村子、长期在外，这个女人被迫讲明内情以使自己免受惩罚。

Through a series of abscissions and abrasions, she had created a single body from the dead bodies of farm animals. Put together, the body looked frightening. She had left it in the path of the road. A few days later, the road builders discovered it and abraded the mud from it. What they saw horrified them and work came to an abrupt halt on the now abortive road.

经过一系列的切除和磨损，她利用农场的动物死尸造出了一具尸体。这具拼凑而成的尸体看上去令人毛骨悚然。她把它放在正在修建的公路上。几天后, 修路者发现了这具尸体。他们把上面的泥巴磨掉，眼前的一切让他们惊恐不已，于是他们突然停工，公路建设无果而终了。