Origins

The place he is most often found is Central Park. When someone asked, his answer was blunt: why do you think I spend all my time in the park?

“Why do you think I spend all my time in the park?”

“不然你以为我为什么整天泡在公园里？”TL

He has never been coy about his years. When an enemy closes in on him, he asks right back: trying to beat up an old man? To Billy he put it this way: so you’d be fine taking an old man’s money, but you’re not fine losing to an old man. His opponents, for their part, are happy enough to call him by that name.

He knows a good many people in this city. He knows Bebop’s mother Shelly as well, and has asked Bebop to give her his regards; Celeste calls him “Sol”; Thomas Jefferson, out in Ivy’s part of town, is where he goes to play chess. Jezebel's, the ambassador at Mirage’s side, Lady Geist’s husband — he speaks of them all as though he were talking about the neighbors.

“Hey Sol.”

“嘿，老所。”TL

He takes the game as the measure of a life. Get him onto the pieces and he can go on about each one like a prized possession: the rook is reliable dollars, and anyone with half a brain knows you can’t leave the rook alone; the queen can make all the difference. If you control the pace of battle, you control the outcome. He prefers to play defensively, and to wait for his opponent to make a mistake.

“The rook is reliable dollars. You know what it's gonna do, you know it's gonna deliver, and anyone with half a brain knows you can't leave the rook alone.”

“车就是可靠的收益。你知道它会做什么，知道它一定能送达，任何有点脑子的人都明白，车是绝不能放着不管的。”TL

“The queen can make all the difference”

“王后能扭转乾坤。”TL

The way he treats people lies hidden at this table too. Viscous asked him why people like to talk to him so much. Because, he answered, I give them my honest opinion, not just say what they want to hear. You can be honest without being cruel; kindness takes more effort than indifference. When Viscous said that was sad, he answered in two words: I agree.

Nor has he any ambition to remake the world. Seven asked him why he wastes his days in the park, and told him he could be changing the world. He answered: I don’t want to change the world. I want to know it. Experience it. And then: I’m content, and that’s something you’ll never be, even with all the power you could dream of.

“I don't want to change the world. I want to know it. Experience it.”

“我不想改变世界。我想了解它，体验它。”TL

Toward death he is just as calm. He told Haze that if he dies trying to make the world a little better, there are worse ways to go; and if this is the end, he wants to spend it in Central Park.

“I've lived a long life, a good life. If I die trying to make the world a little better, there are worse ways to go.”

“我活了很久，活得很好。如果我为了让世界好一点而死，这已经算不错的死法了。”TL

Old Friends and Foes

Baba: An Old Acquaintance From the Park

Baba is among those who know him best. The two of them bicker like neighbors of many years.

Baba was excited to see him cut loose, but he said: I don’t know if I’ll ever cut loose, but I will certainly be more aggressive than normal. Only after she pushed him a little did he give ground: maybe a little. Even an old friend can’t shake this old man’s restraint by much.

“Oh, I don't know if I'll ever cut loose, but I will certainly be more aggressive than normal.”

“哦，我不知道自己会不会放开手脚，但肯定会比平时更主动些。”TL

When they come to blows, he calls her by that old name: oh, Yaga, we shouldn’t be fighting; and he wishes they were on the same side. When she strikes him down, she tells him to go back to hustling tourists. Beneath the scolding lies concern. Afterward, he thought she had probably hesitated.

“Oh, Yaga, we shouldn't be fighting.”

“哦，亚加，我们不该打架的。”TL

“Go back to hustling tourists.”

“回去接着去坑游客吧。”TL

Billy: The Lecturer and the Contrarian

Billy complains that he was hustled, that it wasn’t a fair game; Solomon answers: I didn’t make you place a wager. You thought I was a mark. You were wrong. Bringing him down, he counsels: you have your youth, Billy, don’t waste it being mad at the world. Billy shoots back: stop acting like you’re better than the rest of us.

“I didn't make you place a wager. You thought I was a mark. You were wrong. Grow from the experience.”

“我没逼你下注。你把我当成冤大头，你错了。从中长点教训吧。”TL

Seven: The One Who Won’t Turn Back

What divides him from Seven is what divides contentment from desire. He urged Seven not to go through with this: it’s not too late to change course, and the husk Seven thinks he is about to cast off will cost him more than he thinks. Seven said only that it was nothing of import. You’re wrong, Solomon told him, and you’ll regret it.

“Spare me your fortune cookie wisdom.”

“少跟我说你那套签语式的鬼话。”TL

Abrams: The Chess Guy and the Detective

Abrams calls him the Chess Guy, and he returns the favor with “detective.” Whoever gave Abrams the tome, he says, did the right thing; and yet there must be another way to deal with it.

“I think whoever gave you the tome did the right thing.”

“我认为把宝书送给你的人做得对。”

“Shouldn’t you be in Central Park, hustling tourists or something?”

“你不应该在中央公园里拉客什么的吗？”

Viscous and Rem: The Children He Looks After

He calls Viscous brave: being brave isn’t about not being scared, it’s about accepting that whatever you’re afraid of is less important than what you need to do. The Adversary, he says, is a threat hanging over them all, and that is why he is standing with Viscous today. With Rem he is more of an elder. He offered to teach the child chess; Rem flatly said no, and added that no one thinks chess is fun. Another time, seeing Rem looking sad, he urged the child not to do that thing, and promised: “I’ll help you find a solution.”

“Well don't do that, we're about to get shot at. But I promise, I'll help you find a solution.”

“那可别这么做，我们马上就要挨枪子了。不过我保证，我会帮你找到办法。”TL

Rat King: An Apprentice Who Would Be a Despot

Rat King said at first that he doesn’t care about chess, then asked: can you teach me? Chess, Solomon told him, is the game of kings, and he urged him to be ready for when he is ruling Long Island; as long as he isn’t afraid to lose, they can start whenever he is ready. Rat King, on his guard, was sure he had an angle; he answered: mine is just benign. Bringing him down, though, he said: you’re just another wanna-be despot.

“You should. It's the game of kings. And when you're ruling long island you gotta be ready if some dignitary wants to play.”

“你该在乎。这是王者的游戏。等你统治长岛的时候，万一有哪位要人想下一盘，你得有所准备。”TL

Celeste and Calico: Disappointment Among Old Friends

Celeste calls him “Sol” and asked him along for pizza, and he agreed to go with her; but when she strikes him down, she says she really doesn’t need an old guy to tell her about her life. Calico he once welcomed home: I’m happy you came home. Later he told her: I’m not passing judgement, I’m showing disappointment. Bringing her down, he sighs: you never should’ve left the Baxter Society.

“I really don't need an old guy to tell me about my life”

“我真不需要一个老家伙来教我该怎么过日子。”TL

“You never should've left the Baxter Society”

“你当初就不该离开拜克斯特协会。”TL

Bebop, Ivy and Infernus: Friends He Hates to Fight

He calls Bebop “my iron friend,” yet bringing him down he says: I wish I could let you win, Bebop, but the stakes are too high. To Ivy he said he never thought the time would come when he’d have to fight her. To Infernus he said that he worked hard to turn his life around, and shouldn’t blow it now; and he added that Jezebel’s won’t be the same after this.

“I wish I could let you win Bebop, but the stakes are too high”

“真希望能让你赢，比波普，但代价太高了”

“Jezebel's won't be the same after this”

“杰泽贝尔酒吧经此一役会不一样了。”TL

Grey Talon, Haze, Kelvin and Drifter: His Counsel

Grey Talon, by his account, was once noble and is now just a murderer; vengeance won’t bring his son back. Haze he urges to stop following orders and think for herself. Kelvin he honors as a great man, yet he has also told him that his arrogance led to his expedition team’s death. Drifter is older than he is, yet he says: you’re older than me, not stronger.

“Your arrogance led to your expedition team's death, Kelvin”

“你的傲慢害死了你的探险队，开尔文。”TL

“You're older than me Drifter, not stronger.”

“孤猎，你只是比我年长，并不比我强。”TL

He does admit that Haze is not someone he’d ever want as an enemy. Paradox, for her part, says there’s a fine line between wisdom and hubris; yet he himself tells Paradox that he has no problem with her, only that she is in his way, and that he appreciates her work.

“Haze is not someone I'd ever want as an enemy”

“岚梦可不是我想树敌的对象。”TL

“There's a fine line between wisdom and hubris.”

“智慧与傲慢之间只有一线之差”

Graves: Too Late to Find Her First

Of the danger Graves is in, he seems to know more than she does: you’re in more danger than you know. She deserved a better mentor, he says, and he wishes he had found her first; yet he holds firm that he can’t let that lich come back.

“You're in more danger than you know, Graves”

“你身处的危险比你以为的要大得多，格瑞墓。”TL

“I can't let that lich come back”

“我不能让那个英灵再回来。”TL

Deadman Danny: A Salesman Quicker With His Mouth

Deadman Danny opens by saying he sees Solomon is planning on bringing some wisdom to the table. Solomon isn’t having it: don’t patronize me. Danny brings up McGinnis, complaining that Maggie loves talking with him; that’s because Maggie’s not trying to sell me something, Solomon answers, and tells Danny he should try toning it down. When he presses again — so you gonna drop the act or what? — Danny retorts that someone likes throwing stones, and he leaves it at a single line: don’t compare us.

“That's because Maggie's not trying to sell me something.”

“那是因为麦吉没想卖我东西。”TL

Having put Danny down, he said he had shut up the skeleton, then worried that Fairfax Industries might really put a bounty on him for it.

Violet: The Painter Who Belongs in School

He has seen Violet paint in the park, and can tell she has real talent. She brushed it off with “I’m ok”; he called her on it to her face: fake humility doesn’t become you. Another time he invited her to a game of chess for money. She first said she was terrible at it, and agreed only on hearing she could put rent on the line, to which he added just: “I like you.”

When it truly comes to blows, he still speaks like an elder, asking her how this is helping her art, and sighing that it isn’t going to help her authority issues. She has painted his portrait too, remarking that you would never guess this guy’s a shark.

“Would never guess this guy's a shark.”

“谁能想到这人是只老鲨鱼。”TL

Nurse Harrow: A Serious Woman Messing With Serious Magic

Nurse Harrow does dangerous work. He warned her first that she was messing with some serious magic, then pressed her on whether she knew what she was doing; her answer was blunt: if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be alive. When he pressed her on where all that pain goes, she held him off with “it’s not your concern,” and he found her not very forthcoming. She turned it around on him: he obfuscates his nature like the crone on the park bench.

That one he took. He granted that she is astute, and serious too; when she explained that in her line of work, if she slips, people die, he heard her out and said only: “I understand.”

“People die. I understand.”

“就会死人。我明白。”TL

Anecdotes

The Friend From Afar. Begging off once, he said he had an old friend coming in from the Soviet Empire, and he’d hate to keep them waiting.

“Sorry, I have an old friend coming in from The Soviet Empire and I'd hate to keep them waiting.”

“抱歉，有个老朋友要从苏联来，我可不想让他等太久。”TL

McGinnis and the Turrets. He treats McGinnis as one of the young ones, telling her she’ll beat him someday; when she heals him, he calls her “Maggie” and thanks her in earnest.

“Keep trying Maggie, you'll beat me someday”

“继续努力吧，麦吉，总有一天你能赢我。”TL

The Shopkeeper. The man who keeps the shop told him: you’re a good man, Solomon, try not to die out there.

“You're a good man Solomon, try not to die out there”

“你是个好人，所罗门，外面小心别死了。”TL

The Doorman. He didn’t expect to see the Doorman outside the Baroness, and demanded to know what had happened to his impartiality.

“Didn't expect to see you outside The Baroness”

“没想到会在男爵夫人外面见到你。”TL

Open Questions