英文早读第53篇，选自巴菲特年度信，友才翻译。
Our partnership's fundamental reason for existence is to compound funds at a better-than-average rate with less exposure to long-term loss of capital than the above investment media. We certainly cannot represent that we will achieve this goal. We can and do say that if we don't achieve this goal over any reasonable period excluding an extensive speculative boom, we will cease operation.
我们合伙基金存在的基础原因是以高于平均速度复利资金并比上面这些投资媒介减少长期资金损失的可能。我们当然不能表明我们会实现这一目标。我们可以并确实说到如果我们不能在任何合理时期内实现这个目标，除非是市场广泛的投机性暴涨，我们会停止运作。
Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company
邓普斯特磨具制造公司
In our most recent annual letter, I described Harry Bottle as the "man of the year". If this was an understatement.
在我们最近一封年度信中，我形容哈利波特是“年度人物”，如果这是保守的说法。
Last year Harry did an extraordinary job of converting unproductive assets into cash which we then, of course, began to invest in undervalued securities. Harry has continued this year to turn under-utilized assets into cash, but in addition, he has made the remaining needed assets productive. Thus we have had the following transformation in balance sheets during the last nineteen months:
去年，哈利做了卓越的工作在将没有产出的资产转化为现金，这些我们之后当然开始投资到了低估的股票上。哈利今年继续将欠使用资产转化为现金，但是额外的，他也将剩下的必须的资产变的高产。因此，我们在最近19个月中的资产负债表中有了下面的转变：
I have included above the conversion factors we have previously used in valuing Dempster for B.P.L. purposes to reflect estimated immediate sale values of non-earning assets.
我已经包含了上面的转化因子为了巴菲特基金的目的来反映评估非盈利资产的快速销售价格，这些我们在之前评估邓普斯特时也用到了。
As can be seen, Harry has converted the assets at a much more favorable basis than was implied by my valuations. This largely reflects Harry's expertise and, perhaps, to a minor degree my own conservatism in valuation.
可以看到，哈利已经将资产以比以我估值更加令人满意的结果转化了。这里很大程度上反映了哈利的专业，或许较小程度上反映了我在估值上的保守。
As can also be seen, Dempster earned a very satisfactory operating profit in the first half (as well as a substantial unrealized gain in securities) and there is little question that the operating business, as now conducted, has at least moderate earning power on the vastly reduced assets needed to conduct it. Because of a very important seasonal factor and also the presence of a tax carry forward, however, the earning power is not nearly what might be inferred simply by a comparison of the 11/30/62 and 6/30/63 balance sheets. Partly because of this seasonality, but more importantly, because of possible developments in Dempster before 1963 yearend, we have left our Dempster holdings at the same 51.26 valuation used at yearend 1962 in our figures for B.P.L.'s first half. However, I would be very surprised if it does not work out higher than this figure at yearend.
同样可以看到，邓普斯特在上半年度获得了非常令人满意的运营利润（同样也有巨大的股票未实现利润）和在运营业务上一个非常小的问题，如现在实行的，有了最低的盈利在大幅减少需要的资产后。因为有很重要的季节因素和前期税款结转的原因，然而，盈利并不几乎等于根据62年11月30日和63年6月30日资产负债表推断的那样。部分因为季节性，但更重要的，因为邓普斯特在1963年底前可能的发展，我们将邓普斯特持股价格以和1962年低同样的51.26美金估值在巴菲特基金上半年度数据中。然而，如果在年底数据比这个好，我是不会很意外的。
One sidelight for the fundamentalists in our group: B.P.L. owns 71.7% of Dempster acquired at a cost of 1,262,577.27. On June 30, 1963 Dempster had a small safe deposit box at the Omaha National Bank containing securities worth 2,028,415,25. Our 71.7% share of 2,028,415.25 amounts to 1,454,373,70. Thus, everything above groud (and part of it underground) is profit. My security analyst friends may find this a rather primitive method of accounting, but I must confess that I find a bit more substance in this fingers and toes method than in any prayerful reliance that someone will pay me 35 times next year's earnings.
一个我们组织基础要义的侧面反映：巴菲特基金持有邓普斯特71.7%股份以126.2577万美金花费。在1963年6月30日，邓普斯特在奥马哈国立银行有一个小的保险柜包括价值202.8415万美金的股票。我们71.7%的持股在202.8415美金中价值145.4373万美金。因此，在这之上所有的一些都是盈利。我的股票分析朋友们可能发现这是一个相当原始的会计方法，但是我承认我发现用笨手笨脚的方法比任何祷告依赖于某人会按下一年度盈利的35被支付给我更可靠。
15.extensive：广阔的；大量的；广泛的
16.speculative：投机的；猜测的；推测的；试探的；风险性的
17.cease：停止；终止；结束
18.understatement：轻描淡写；保守的说法；不充分的叙述
19.infer：推断；推理；推论；暗示；意指
20.sidelight：（车辆前面的）测灯；意外线索；侧面了解的情况；间接消息
21.primitive：原始的；落后的；远古的；发展水平低的
22.accounting：会计；认为是；视为
23.confess：承认（自己感到羞愧或尴尬的事）；坦白（错误或罪行）；忏悔；悔过；告罪
24.substance：物质；实质；物品；重要性；主旨；要点；基本内容
25.prayerful：虔诚的
26.reliance：依赖；依靠；信任
27.fundamental：基础的
