You could say it was not a bad place, 60 West. A nursing home(养老院，护理院) for prisoners in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. Single-storey, red-brick, with lawns in front and the Stars and Stripes flying. A care home or a prison, what was the difference? Since he was an old guy, close to 100, hardly any(几乎没有). Corridors to shuffle(拖着脚走，蹒跚) round with his stick. A big window to stare out of, and a patio outside where he could sit and watch birds. When he was in Osborn prison decades before he used to stuff(填塞，塞满) his baggy clothes with bread for them. Now he didn’t trouble.
可以说，60西街并不是个糟糕的地方。那是康涅狄格州洛基山的一所囚犯养老院。单层红砖建筑，门前有草坪，星条旗飘扬。养老院或监狱，有什么区别？既然他已是个年近百岁的老人，几乎没什么区别。走廊里他拄着拐杖蹒跚而行。有一扇大窗户可以向外眺望，外面有个露台，他可以坐在那里看鸟。几十年前在奥斯本监狱时，他常把面包塞进宽松的衣服里喂鸟。现在他不费那个心了。
In fact Frank Smith didn’t sit on his patio at all. His head was elsewhere. It was almost constantly in the courtroom and offices, mostly in his native Connecticut, where his case had been decided. At his trial in 1950, at 25, he had been convicted(被判有罪) of first-degree murder. Four years later, in the pardons office, his sentence had been commuted(减刑). First-degree carried the death penalty, the electric chair. Second-degree meant imprisonment for life. In his case, as it turned out, that meant more than 70 years. People said this made him the longest-serving prisoner in American history. What very few considered was whether even that lesser penalty should have been imposed on him.(很少有人考虑的是，即使那较轻的刑罚是否应该施加于他。)
事实上，弗兰克·史密斯根本不坐在露台上。他的心在别处。几乎总是在法庭和办公室里，主要是在他的家乡康涅狄格州，那里决定了他的案子。1950年，25岁的他在审判中被判一级谋杀罪。四年后，在赦免办公室，他的刑罚被减刑。一级谋杀罪可判死刑，坐电椅。二级谋杀罪意味着终身监禁。就他而言，事实证明，这意味着超过70年。人们说这使他成为美国历史上服刑时间最长的囚犯。很少有人考虑的是，即使那较轻的刑罚是否应该施加于他。
The case concerned the killing of Grover Hart, night watchman at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich. Obviously a swank(炫耀的，高档的) sort of place. In the very early morning of July 23rd 1949 two young men robbed it. The haul(赃物，收获) wasn’t much, mostly ties, tie-clips and the manager’s hat. But Hart disturbed them at it, so both of them shot him. He had just enough life left in him to tell police that one of the men was small and wore a bandanna(印花大头巾) round his face. The cops already knew him for that. And, true, he was very small. Now, after 70 years, he was almost a wisp(一缕，纤细之物).
案件涉及格罗弗·哈特被杀，他是格林威治印第安港游艇俱乐部的守夜人。显然是个高档地方。1949年7月23日凌晨，两个年轻人抢劫了那里。赃物不多，主要是领带、领带夹和经理的帽子。但哈特打扰了他们，所以两人都向他开枪。他临死前还有足够力气告诉警察，其中一个人个子矮小，脸上围着印花头巾。警察已经因此认识他了。而且，确实，他非常矮小。现在，70年后，他几乎瘦弱如丝。