The Able McLaughlins

E-text prepared by Tim Lindell, David E.

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THE ABLE McLAUGHLINS

艾布尔·麦克劳林斯

[Illustration]

[图示]

THE ABLE McLAUGHLINS

艾布尔·麦克劳林斯

MARGARET WILSON

玛格丽特·威尔逊

[Illustration]

[图示]

Harper & Brothers Publishers New York and London

哈珀兄弟出版社纽约和伦敦

THE ABLE McLAUGHLINS

艾布尔·麦克劳林斯

Copyright, 1923 By Harper & Brothers Printed in the U.

版权所有，1923 Harper & Brothers 美国印刷。

S.

S。

A.

A.

THE ABLE McLAUGHLINS

艾布尔·麦克劳林斯

The ABLE McLAUGHLINS

艾布尔·麦克劳林斯

CHAPTER I

第一章

The prairie lay that afternoon as it had lain for centuries of September afternoons, vast as an ocean; motionless as an ocean coaxed into very little ripples by languid breezes; silent as an ocean where only very little waves slip back into their element.

那天下午，大草原就像九月的几个世纪的下午一样，辽阔得像海洋一样。一动不动，就像被微风吹起的海洋一样；像海洋一样​​寂静，只有很少的波浪重新回归它们的元素。

One might have walked for hours without hearing anything louder than high white clouds casting shadows over the distances, or the tall slough grass bending lazily into waves.

一个人可能走了几个小时，却听不到比高高的白云在远处投下阴影或高高的腐草懒洋洋地弯曲成波浪更大的声音。

One might have gone on startled only by the falling of scarlet swamp-lily seeds, by sudden goldfinches, or the scratching of young prairie chickens in the shorter grasses.

人们可能只会被掉落的猩红色沼泽百合种子、突然出现的金翅雀或小草原鸡在矮草丛中抓挠的声音吓到。

For years now not even a baby buffalo had called to its mother in those stretches, or an old squaw broken ripening wild grapes from the creek thicket.

多年来，甚至连小水牛都没有在这片土地上叫过它的母亲，也没有一只老鸦从溪丛中摘下成熟的野葡萄。

Fifteen years ago one might have gone west for months without hearing a human voice.

十五年前，一个人可能会向西走几个月，却听不到人的声音。

Even that day a traveler might easily have missed the house where little David and the fatter little Sarah sat playing, for it was less in the vastnesses about it than one short bubble in a wave’s crest.

即使在那天，旅行者也可能很容易错过小大卫和胖乎乎的小莎拉坐在一起玩耍的房子，因为它在广阔的环境中比波峰上的一个小气泡还要小。

Ten years ago the children’s father had halted his ox team there, finishing his journey from Ayrshire, and his eight boys and girls alighting upon the summer’s crop of wild strawberries, had harvested it with shrieks of delight which broke forever the immediate part of the centuries’ silence.

十年前，孩子们的父亲将他的牛队停在那里，结束了从艾尔郡出发的旅程，他的八个男孩和女孩登上了夏季收获的野草莓，带着喜悦的尖叫声收获了它，这永远打破了几个世纪的沉默。

A solitary man would have left the last source of human noise sixty miles behind him, where the railroad ended.

一个孤独的人会把人类噪音的最后一个来源留在身后六十英里处，也就是铁路的终点。

But this farsighted pioneer had brought with him a strong defense against the hush that maddens.

但这位有远见的先驱者带来了强有力的防御措施，以抵御令人发狂的寂静。

He had a real house now.

他现在有了一套真正的房子。

The log cabin in which he and his nine, his brother and his ten, his two sisters and their sixteen had all lived that first summer, was now but a mere woodshed adjoining the kitchen.

第一个夏天，他和他的九个人、他的兄弟和他的十个人、他的两个姐妹和他们的十六个人都住过的小木屋，现在只是一个毗邻厨房的木棚。

The house was a fine affair, built from lumber hauled but forty miles--so steadily the railroad crept westward--and finished, the one half in wild cherry cut from the creek, and the other half in walnut from the same one source of wood.

这座房子是一件精美的东西，用四十英里运来的木材建造而成——铁路如此稳定地向西延伸——完工了，一半是从小溪里砍下来的野樱桃，另一半是用同一木材来源的胡桃木建造的。

Since the day of the first McLaughlin alighting there had arrived, altogether, to settle more or less near him, on land bought from the government, his three brothers and four sisters, his wife’s two brothers and one sister, bringing with them the promising sum of sixty-nine children, all valiant enemies of quietness and the fleeing rattlesnakes.

自从麦克劳克林第一次下船的那天起，他的三个兄弟和四个姐妹、他妻子的两个兄弟和一个姐妹就全部抵达了，或多或少地在他附近从政府购买的土地上定居下来，并带来了有望达到的六十九个孩子，他们都是安静和逃跑的响尾蛇的勇敢敌人。

Some of the little homes they had built for themselves could be seen that afternoon, like distant specks on the ocean.

那天下午，他们为自己建造的一些小房子就清晰可见，就像大海上遥远的斑点。

But Sarah and David had no eyes just then for distant specks.

但莎拉和大卫当时并没有注意到远处的斑点。

They had grown tired of watching the red calf sleep, and Davie was trying to make it get up.

他们已经厌倦了看着红牛犊睡觉，戴维正试图让它起床。

Finally in self-defense, it rose, and having found itself refreshed, began gamboling about, trying its length of rope, its tail satisfactorily erect.

最后，出于自卫，它站了起来，发现自己精神焕发，开始到处乱跳，尝试着绳子的长度，它的尾巴令人满意地直立起来。

The two had to retreat suddenly to the doorstep where Hughie sat, so impetuous it grew.

两人不得不突然退到休吉坐的门口，心情变得越来越急躁。

Hughie was not, like the others, at home because he was too small to go to school.

休吉和其他人一样不在家，因为他太小了，无法上学。

Indeed, no!

确实，不！

Hughie was ten, and at home to-day because he had been chilling, the day before, with the fever that rose from the newly-broken prairie.

休吉十岁了，今天在家，因为前一天他因为新开的大草原发烧而感到寒冷。

The three of them sat quiet only a moment.

三人只安静地坐了一会儿。

“Why does he frisk his tail so?” Davie asked.

“他为什么这么摇尾巴？”戴维问道。

“He’s praising the Lord,” replied Hughie, wise and wan.

“他在赞美上帝，”休伊回答道，他既聪明又憔悴。

“Is he now!” exclaimed Davie, impressed.

“现在就是他了！”戴维惊讶地喊道。

“Does God like it?”

“上帝喜欢吗？”

“Fine,” said Hughie.

“好吧，”休伊说。

That was an easy one.

那是一件容易的事。

“It’s in the Psalm.

“这是诗篇里的。

Creeping things and all ye cattle.”

爬行的东西和所有的牛。”

Davie sat for some time sharing his Maker’s pleasure in the antics of happy calves.

戴维坐了一会儿，在小牛们快乐的滑稽动作中分享着造物主的喜悦。

Then bored--perhaps like his Maker--he turned to other things.

然后，他感到无聊——也许像他的创造者一样——转向其他事情。

He rose, and went down the path towards the road, and stood looking down it, in the direction from which the older children must come, surely soon now, from school.

他站起来，沿着小路朝大路走去，站在那里俯视着大路，那是大孩子们肯定很快就会放学的方向。

Only here and there along that path where they would appear was the grass not higher than the children’s heads; in some places it was higher than a man on horseback.

只有他们出现的那条小路上，到处都是不高过孩子们头顶的草。在某些地方，它比骑马的人还高。

There seemed no children in sight.

视线中似乎没有孩子。

But wasn’t that someone coming down there on the other road?

但那不是有人从另一条路过来吗？

“I see somebody coming on the road, Hughie!” he called.

“我看到有人在路上过来，休伊！”他打电话来。

“You _do_ not!” answered Hughie.

“你_不_！”休吉回答道。

It wasn’t at all likely anybody was coming.

根本不可能有人来。

Yet in case anything so unusual was happening, he would just have a look.

不过万一有什么不寻常的事情发生，他也只是看看而已。

Sarah waddled after him.

莎拉摇摇晃晃地跟在他后面。

Ship ahoy!

船啊嘿！

Was that really something moving down there in the further slough?

那真的是更深的泥沼里有东西在移动吗？

The three stood still, peering across the prairie, hands sheltering eyes, barefooted, the boys in the most primitive of homemade overalls, Sarah in an apron unadorned, the golden autumn sunshine blowing around them.

三人一动不动地站着，凝视着草原，双手遮住眼睛，赤着脚，男孩们穿着最原始的自制工装裤，莎拉穿着朴素的围裙，金色的秋日阳光洒在他们周围。

They stood looking....

他们站着看着……

Then the home-coming children emerged from the tall grass into which the younger ones were strongly forbidden to go, because children sometimes got fatally lost in it, and at this signal the three ran to meet them, crying out the news.

然后，回家的孩子们从高高的草丛中出现，年幼的孩子们被强烈禁止进入，因为孩子们有时会在其中迷路而致命，听到这个信号，三个人跑去迎接他们，哭着宣布这个消息。

Gaining the little rise of ground again, upon which the house stood, they all paused together to look at whatever it was that drew near, Mary, the oldest of them, the teacher, Jessie and Flora, James and Peter.

再次到达房子所在的小高地时，他们都停下来看看正在靠近的东西，玛丽，他们中最年长的，老师，杰西和弗洛拉，詹姆斯和彼得。

Yes!

是的！

There was no doubt about it now!

现在已经毫无疑问了！

“’Tis a team!” cried Peter.

“这是一个团队！”彼得喊道。

“’Tis a pair of grays!” he added in a moment.

“这是一双灰色的！”他随即补充道。

They were all perfectly motionless from curiosity now.

他们现在都因为好奇而一动不动。

Who had grays in that neighborhood?

那个街区谁有灰色人种？

“There’s two men in it,” Mary affirms.

“里面有两个男人，”玛丽肯定道。

Then Peter yells,

然后彼得大喊：

“One is wearing blue!” They can scarcely breathe now.

“一个穿着蓝色的衣服！”他们现在几乎无法呼吸。

Blue!

蓝色的！

Can it be blue!

可以是蓝色的吗！

This is too much for Mary.

这对玛丽来说太过分了。

“Run, Peter!” she cries.

“快跑，彼得！”她哭了。

“Tell mother!

“告诉妈妈！

Get father!

快去找爸爸吧！

It has the looks of a soldier!” It is three weeks now since the last battle, since word has come from Wully.

一看就是军人的样子！”自从武利传来消息以来，距离上次战斗已经过去三个星期了。

The little girls are jumping about in excitement.

小姑娘们兴奋得跳来跳去。

The children’s shouts had not at all disturbed the mother in the kitchen, where she sat sewing, until--could she believe her ears?--they were shouting, “’Tis Wully, mother!

孩子们的叫喊声根本没有打扰厨房里的母亲，她正坐在厨房里做针线活，直到——她能相信自己的耳朵吗？——孩子们喊道：“这是武利，妈妈！

’Tis Wully!” She ran out of the house, down the path.

这是武利！”她跑出了家门，顺着小路跑了出去。

“It never is!” she says, unsteadily.

“从来都不是！”她语气不稳定地说。

But she can see someone in blue, someone standing up, waving a cap now.

但她现在可以看到一个穿蓝色衣服的人站起来，挥舞着帽子。

She can see his white face.

她能看到他苍白的脸。

The children bolt down the road.

孩子们沿着马路狂奔。

She can see him, her black-bearded first-born.

她能看到他，她长着黑胡子的长子。

The driver is whipping up the horses.

车夫正在鞭策马匹。

Home from battles, pale to the lips, he is in her arms.

他从战场回到家，脸色苍白，躺在她的怀里。

But she is paler.

但她的脸色更苍白。

“Run for your father!” she cries, to whoever will heed her.

“快去找你父亲吧！”她向任何愿意听她说话的人哭泣。

The children are pulling at him boisterously.

孩子们吵闹地拉扯他。

The strange driver is patting his horses, his back to the family reunited.

陌生的车夫拍着马，背对着家人团聚。

Hugged, and kissed, and patted and loved, the bearded Wully turns to the stranger.

拥抱、亲吻、拍拍、爱护，留着胡须的武利转向陌生人。

“This is Mr. Knight, of Tyler, mother.

“这是奈特先生，泰勒的母亲。

He brought me all the way.”

他一路带我来。”

“’Tis a kind thing you have done!” she exclaims, shaking his hand devoutly.

“你做了一件好事！”她大声说道，虔诚地握着他的手。

“Oh, he was a soldier.

“哦，他是一名士兵。

And he didn’t look able to walk so far.”

而且他看起来走不动那么远。”

“You’re not sick!” she cries to Wully, scanning his face.

“你没有病！”她一边对着武利大喊，一边扫视着他的脸。

Certainly he was not sick, now.

当然，现在他没有生病。

He could have walked it, but he was glad he didn’t have to, he adds, smiling engagingly at the stranger.

他本可以走过去，但他很高兴自己不必这样做，他补充道，对陌生人迷人地微笑着。

They stand together awkwardly, joy-smitten, looking at one another, excited beyond words.

他们尴尬地站在一起，欣喜若狂，互相看着对方，激动得难以言表。

Then the mother leads the way to the unpainted house, the children hanging to Wully, dancing about.

然后，母亲领着路走向那座未粉刷的房子，孩子们抱着武利，跳舞。

The fifteen-year-old Andrew was working in the farther part of the field just below the house that afternoon, when he saw, from a distance, his father, called by Peter, suddenly leave his plow, and run towards the house surely faster than an old man ever runs.

那天下午，十五岁的安德鲁正在房子下面较远的田地里干活，这时他远远地看到彼得叫来的父亲突然放下犁，朝房子跑去，速度肯定比老人跑得快。

His own team was fly-bitten and restless, and he left it just long enough to see that in front of the house there was a team and a light wagon.

他自己的队伍被苍蝇叮咬了，焦躁不安，他离开队伍的时间刚好看到房子前面有一支队伍和一辆轻型马车。

He unhitched his half-broken young steers, urged them impatiently to the nearest tying place, and hurried to the house.

他解开半折断的小公牛，不耐烦地催促它们到最近的拴马处，然后匆匆朝屋里走去。

What he saw there made so great an impression on him, that fifty-seven years later, when that stranger’s grandson was one of the disheartened veterans of the World War who came to his office looking for work, the whole scene rose before him in such poignancy that he had to turn his head away abruptly, remembering....

他在那里看到的一切给他留下了如此深刻的印象，以至于五十七年后，当那个陌生人的孙子是一名心灰意冷的世界大战老兵之一，来到他的办公室寻找工作时，整个场景如此令人心酸地出现在他面前，他不得不猛地转过头去，回忆起来……

There in the kitchen, in his mother’s chair sat the stranger in the fine clothes, with a drink of whisky in his hand which his father had just poured out.

厨房里，陌生人坐在他母亲的椅子上，穿着漂亮的衣服，手里拿着一杯他父亲刚刚倒出来的威士忌。

There on the bed sat his great gaunt brother in blue, one trouser leg rolled up to his hairy knee.

床上坐着他那身蓝色衣服、憔悴的哥哥，一条裤腿卷到毛茸茸的膝盖处。

There on a strip of carpet in front of the bed knelt his mother with a strange white face, soaking bloody rags away from evil-looking sores on that precious foot.

床前的一条地毯上跪着他的母亲，脸色奇特苍白，正在用沾满血的破布擦掉那只珍贵的脚上看上去很邪恶的疮口。

There by the cupboard stood Mary, tearing something white into bandages, with the children huddled around her, awed by the sight of their mother.

玛丽站在柜子旁边，正在把一些白色的东西撕成绷带，孩子们挤在她周围，看到他们的母亲感到敬畏。

Andy saw all that the moment that Wully, taking up one of the children’s old jokes, cried out to him, in a voice that belied his foot, a greeting that the young ones had loved deriding.

当武利拿起孩子们的一个老笑话，用他脚下的声音向他大声喊叫时，安迪就看到了这一切，这是年轻人喜欢嘲笑的一种问候。

“Lang may your lum reek, Andy!” There wasn’t really anything wrong with Wully, it seemed.

“安迪，愿你的 lum 臭气熏天！”看起来武利确实没有什么问题。

That wasn’t a wound, he affirmed.

他断言那不是伤口。

It was only a scratch.

这只是一个擦伤。

He really couldn’t say just how it had happened.

他实在说不上来到底是怎么发生的。

It wasn’t anything!

本来就没什么啊！

It might not be anything to a soldier, but to his mother it was the mark of imminent death for her dearest son.

对于一名士兵来说，这可能没什么，但对于他的母亲来说，这是她最亲爱的儿子即将死亡的标志。

She began rubbing it gently with lambs’ fat.

她开始用羔羊的脂肪轻轻擦拭它。

Wully, bethinking himself, pulled from a pocket a paper-wrapped bundle of sweeties for the children, who saw such things but seldom.

武利想了想，从口袋里掏出一包纸包好的糖果给孩子们，孩子们很少见到这样的东西。

They were intent upon the contents of that, and the stranger was talking to his father, when Andy, still standing awkwardly in the door, saw a thing happen which was a landmark in his understanding.

他们全神贯注地听着里面的内容，陌生人正在和他的父亲说话，这时安迪仍然尴尬地站在门口，看到发生了一件对他的理解具有里程碑意义的事情。

He saw his mother, who had made fast the last bandage, and was carefully pulling down the trouser leg, suddenly bend over and _kiss_ that leg!

他看见母亲已经绑好最后一条绷带，正小心翼翼地拉下裤腿，突然弯下腰，亲吻那条腿！

Such passion he saw in that gesture that he realized vaguely then some great fierce hidden thing in life, escaping secrecy only at times, a terrible thing called love ...

他在那个动作中看到了如此的激情，以至于他隐约意识到生活中隐藏着某种伟大而凶猛的东西，只是有时才逃避秘密，一种叫做爱的可怕的东西……

which breaks forth upon occasions ...

有时会爆发......

even in old women like his mother.

即使是像他母亲这样的老女人。

He turned his face away suddenly as from some forbidden nakedness, and fixed his eyes upon Wully.

他突然把脸转开，仿佛是为了躲避某种被禁止的裸体，眼睛盯着武利。

That hero, quite unabashed, was pulling his mother, who had risen, down to a seat beside him on the bed.

那个英雄毫不掩饰地拉着已经站起来的母亲坐在床边的座位上。

She sat there, unconscious of the roomful, just looking at him, looking ...

她坐在那里，对房间里的人浑然不觉，只是看着他，看着……

as if she could never see his face enough.

仿佛她永远看不够他的脸。

She watched him devouringly when presently, with the attention of them all, he began light-heartedly telling about his escape.

她狼吞虎咽地看着他，不久之后，在大家的注视下，他开始轻松地讲述他的逃跑经历。

Half of his regiment had been made prisoners, including his major.

他的团里一半人都被俘虏了，包括他的少校。

They had been marched away towards a train, to be sent south, and he had marched among them until he dropped.

他们被送往南方的火车，他在他们中间行进，直到倒下。

He told his captors that they could shoot him if they would, but he couldn’t go a step further.

他告诉绑架者，如果愿意的话，他们可以开枪射杀他，但他不能更进一步。

They had left him lying helpless there by the roadside, a guard standing over him.

他们让他无助地躺在路边，一名警卫站在他身边。

And before the wagon came along, which was to pick them up, the guard had slept, and Wully, stronger to run to freedom than to march to prison, had made his escape.

在接他们的马车到来之前，守卫已经睡着了，而武利则逃走了，他更愿意奔向自由，而不是进军监狱。

Starved and hiding, he had crept night by night towards the Mississippi, and there he had seen a boat which was bringing Northern wounded men home, tie up at the river bank to bury its dead.

饥饿和躲藏，他连夜爬向密西西比河，在那里他看到一艘正在把北方伤员带回家的船停泊在河岸上埋葬死者。

Its captain had taken pity on him, chilling and nauseated, and had brought him to Davenport.

它的船长怜悯他，感到寒冷和恶心，并把他带到了达文波特。

Then when he had got by train to the nearest Iowa town, this stranger had shown him this kindness....

然后，当他乘火车到达最近的爱荷华州小镇时，这个陌生人向他展示了这种善意……

Oh, his mother needn’t worry about his being shot for a deserter.

哦，他妈妈不用担心他因为逃兵而被枪杀。

They knew him too well in his company, if there was any of them left.

如果还有人的话，他们在他的公司里太了解他了。

And hadn’t his chum, Harvey Stow, been home four times to visit, without permission from anyone, and had he ever been punished for it?

他的好友哈维·斯托不是未经任何人许可就回家探望过四次吗？他有没有因此受到过惩罚？

As soon as he had something to eat, and he could find where to report, he would be going back--yes, certainly--going back, however much his mother caught her breath at the mention of it.

一旦他吃点东西，找到去哪里报到，他就会回去——是的，当然——回去，不管他的母亲一提到这件事就喘不过气来。

It was so interesting to hear him talk that the men could scarcely leave for their duties.

听他说话真是太有趣了，人们几乎无法离开去履行自己的职责。

But there were the horses to feed, and the cows to milk, and the kind strange team to reward.

但还有马要喂养，有奶牛要挤奶，还有善良的奇怪团队要奖励。

Mr. Knight followed the boys to the barn and watched with amusement how reverently they rubbed down and bedded and fed the guests of the stable.

奈特先生跟着孩子们来到谷仓，饶有兴致地看着他们恭敬地为马厩里的客人擦身、铺床、喂食。

And when they came in again, there sat the scrubbed soldier, in a fresh hickory shirt and clean jeans, in his mother’s chair, his swathed foot on a stool--the stool was Hughie’s thought--and the New York _Tribune_ in his hand--the paper was Flora’s contribution.

当他们再次进来时，那个擦洗得干干净净的士兵坐在他母亲的椅子上，穿着一件新的山核桃木衬衫和干净的牛仔裤，他的脚踩在凳子上——凳子是休吉的想法——他手里拿着《纽约论坛报》——报纸是弗洛拉投稿的。

He was talking grinningly to his mother.

他正笑着和他的母亲说话。

A white cloth was spread on the table, and the mother, shining, uplifted with joy, was wiping pink-banded cups which Wully remembered to have seen taken from the sacred shelf only when her Scot cousin, who had come to this country to enlighten the darkness of the Yankees by taking the presidency of one of their colleges, had come west to visit this family.

桌子上铺着一块白布，母亲神采飞扬，心情愉悦，正在擦拭粉色镶边的杯子，武利记得那是在她的苏格兰表弟来到这个国家，担任北方大学一所校长，以揭露北方基队的黑暗面时，才看到这些杯子从神圣的架子上拿下来的。

Not since then had the Scottish sheets been out of the chest, and now they were airing on the line.

从那时起，苏格兰床单就没有被从箱子里拿出来过，现在它们正在网上播出。

’Twas an occasion magnificent to consider!

这是一个值得考虑的伟大时刻！

When they sat down at the table for supper--and they had not long to wait, for the mother was that woman of whom tradition says she could make a pair of jean pants in twenty minutes--they had fried prairie chicken, and potatoes and scons and egg-butter, and stewed wild plums, sweetened with sugar at forty cents a pound.

当他们坐在餐桌旁吃晚饭时——他们没等多久，因为母亲就是那个传统上说她能在二十分钟内做出一条牛仔裤的女人——他们吃了炸草原鸡、土豆、烤饼和鸡蛋黄油，还有炖野李子，加糖加糖，每磅四十美分。

The father instituted the feast by a long prayer.

父亲通过长时间的祈祷来设立这个节日。

“Of course!” thought the stranger.

“当然！”陌生人想。

“They’re Scotch!” He counted the children.

“他们是苏格兰威士忌！”他数了数孩子们。

There were ten.

有十个。

“You’ve a fine family,” he commented.

“你有一个美好的家庭，”他评论道。

“Not so bad when they’re all here,” returned the mother complacently.

“他们都在的话，还不错。”母亲得意地回答道。

“There’s a boy and a girl away at school.” She paused abruptly.

“有一个男孩和一个女孩在学校。”她突然停了下来。

“Our boy younger than Wully was killed at Fort Donaldson,” explained the father.

“我们比武利小的男孩在唐纳森堡被杀，”父亲解释道。

“Ah!

“啊！

My son was wounded there.

我儿子在那里受伤了。

Lost a hand.” There was a moment’s silence.

失去了一只手。”一阵沉默。

Then Wully said, wanting the subject changed,

然后武利想换个话题说：

“It’s over now, mother.

“现在已经结束了，妈妈。

Grant’ll get them now.”

格兰特现在就会得到它们。”

They proceeded to talk of the coming election.

他们继续谈论即将到来的选举。

Five families of Covenanting Scotch in the neighborhood were deserting the principles of their forefathers and taking out naturalization papers, hoping to vote for Lincoln.

附近的五个苏格兰契约家庭抛弃了祖先的原则，拿出入籍文件，希望投票给林肯。

The visitor wondered vaguely what kind of Scotch that might be.

来访者隐约想知道这可能是一种什么样的苏格兰威士忌。

He had no chance to ask.

他没有机会询问。

The mother seemed to have read every word of the last _Tribune_.

母亲似乎读完了最后一本《论坛报》的每一个字。

He had hardly time for that himself.

他自己几乎没有时间这样做。

She seemed a woman of wide information.

她看起来是一位见多识广的女人。

Apparently she knew the position of every unit of the army.

显然她知道军队各个单位的位置。

Supper was over.

晚饭结束了。

Flora handed her father The Book, and moved the candle near him.

弗洛拉把这本书递给她的父亲，并将蜡烛移到他附近。

He found the place, and said,

他找到了那个地方，说道：

“The twenty-third Psalm.”

“诗篇第二十三首。”

To the man’s surprise, the mother began the song in a clear, sure voice, and the children all joined, without hesitation, as if this was a part of a familiar routine.

让男人惊讶的是，母亲用清晰、笃定的声音开始唱这首歌，孩子们毫不犹豫地加入了这首歌，仿佛这是熟悉的例行公事的一部分。

The boys and girls were obviously thinking of the guests of honor.

男孩和女孩们显然都在想着主宾。

The mother’s face was turned to her son.

母亲的脸转向了儿子。

But the father was looking away in a dream to something he seemed to see through the wall before him.

但父亲在梦中把目光移开，看着他似乎透过墙壁看到的东西。

When the singing was over, he began reading from The Book words that clearly had some exalted meaning to him, though what it might be the stranger could not imagine.

歌声结束后，他开始朗读书中的文字，这些文字对他来说显然具有某种崇高的意义，尽管陌生人无法想象它是什么。

“Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.

“门啊，抬起你们的头，永恒的门，抬起你们的头，荣耀之王将会进来。

Who is this King of glory?

这位王者荣耀是谁呢？

The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.” It sounded impressive, read with a subdued ring in the voice.

耶和华大有能力，耶和华在争战中大有能力。”听起来令人印象深刻，读起来声音低沉。

Then he shut the book, in a high silence, and they all moved their chairs back, and knelt down.

然后他合上书，一片寂静，大家都把椅子向后移，跪了下来。

The stranger knelt, too, somewhat tardily.

陌生人也跪了下来，动作有些迟缓。

Not that he objected to prayers, of course.

当然，他并不是反对祈祷。

He was a religious man himself in a way.

在某种程度上，他本人就是一个宗教人士。

His wife often went to church.

他的妻子经常去教堂。

He could see the rapt face of the father praying in great, sonorous phrases which sounded vaguely familiar.

他可以看到父亲全神贯注的脸，用宏大而响亮的话语祈祷，听起来有些熟悉。

Of all the children he could see, not one had an eye open.

在他能看到的所有孩子中，没有一个是睁开眼睛的。

They were thanking the Lord for the boy’s return.

他们感谢主让男孩回来。

“Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” They proceeded to pray for everyone in the United States, the President and his cabinet, the generals and the colonels and the captains, all the privates, all the sick and homesick, for those destroyed by war, for the mourning and all small children, for slaves in their freedom, and masters in their poverty, and then for the stranger, that he might hear the Judge say unto him, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.

“我的灵魂啊，请赞美主，赞美我内心的一切，赞美他的圣名。”他们接着为美国的每个人祈祷，总统和他的内阁，将军、上校和上尉，所有列兵，所有病人和思乡病者，为那些被战争摧毁的人，为哀悼者和所有小孩，为自由的奴隶，为贫困的主人，然后为陌生人祈祷，以便他能听到法官对他说：“来吧，你们蒙我父赐福的，继承从世界之初就为你们准备的王国。

For I was sick, and ye ministered unto me”; “that the beauty of the Lord, as now, might be upon him forever.” The stranger had scarcely got over that when they all began saying the Lord’s Prayer together.

因为我病了，你们服侍我”； “愿主的荣美永远临在他身上，像现在一样。”当陌生人刚从这件事中恢复过来时，他们就开始一起念主祷文。

“Nothing lacking but the collection,” he thought, somewhat resentfully.

“除了收藏之外，什么都不缺。”他有些怨恨地想。

Not having heard a sermon for some time, he had forgotten that.

有一段时间没有听讲道了，他已经忘记了这一点。

When they rose from their knees, Sarah and David were found asleep.

当他们从膝盖上站起来时，莎拉和大卫被发现睡着了。

Andy picked them up and carried them away to bed.

安迪把他们抱起来，带到床上。

And even while Mr. Knight was wondering how many of the children he would have to sleep with, the mother took the sheets from beside the stove, and as she started for the fine parlor, whose bed was to be got ready for the guest, she said,

就在奈特先生想知道他要和多少个孩子一起睡觉时，母亲从炉子旁边拿走了床单，当她走向漂亮的客厅时，她说：

“Wully is to have the kitchen bed by himself.

“厨房的床要由武利自己使用。

You all just go upstairs and leave him alone.”

你们都上楼去吧，别管他了。”

The stranger had the decency to go soon to his bed.

陌生人很有礼貌地很快就上床睡觉了。

It wasn’t a half-bad bed, either.

这床也还不错。

And he was tired.

他很累。

It had been a sudden impulse, this driving the soldier home, with a new team, over no road at all.

这是一种突然的冲动，驱使士兵带着一支新队伍，不经过任何道路回家。

But he was glad he had come.

但他很高兴他来了。

He had wanted to see this country.

他很想去看看这个国家。

The new horses had jogged along very well.

新马跑得很好。

Moreover, he had made friends among the Scotch, and he was a politician.

此外，他还与苏格兰人结交了朋友，而且他还是一名政治家。

He thought of his son with Sherman’s army.

他想到了他的儿子和谢尔曼的军队。

He thought of the soldier’s impressive mother.

他想起了这名士兵令人印象深刻的母亲。

He smiled over the number of children.

他对孩子的数量微笑着。

He slept.

他睡着了。

But long after the house was quiet, Wully lay talking to his father and mother, who sat on his kitchen bed.

但房子安静了很久之后，武利就躺在厨房的床上和他的父母交谈。

He told them of marches and battles and fevers and skirmishes, none of which had endangered him at all, of course, of the comradeship among the boys from the Yankee settlement down the creek, and of the hope everywhere, now, that the end was near.

他向他们讲述了行军、战斗、发烧和小冲突，当然，这些都没有威胁到他，还有来自小溪下游的北方佬定居点的男孩们之间的同志情谊，以及现在无处不在的希望，即末日即将来临。

Then gradually there fell a silence over them, an understanding silence, wherein each knew the other’s thoughts.

然后渐渐地，他们陷入了沉默，一种理解的沉默，彼此都知道对方的想法。

They were all thinking of that first terrible home-coming of his, of the things that led up to it.

他们都在想着他第一次可怕的回家，以及导致这一切的事情。

He remembered how “the boys” had been eating breakfast in camp, when the orders came that meant their first battle.

他记得“孩子们”是如何在营地吃早餐的，当命令到来时，这意味着他们的第一场战斗。

He had been in an agony of fear lest he might be afraid.

他一直处于恐惧的痛苦之中，生怕自己会害怕。

The one good thing about it was that Allen, his brother, had been sent away on a detail not an hour before.

唯一的好处是，不到一小时前，他的兄弟艾伦因一个细节而被送走。

He would go into battle without having his brother to worry about.

他将投入战斗，无需担心他的兄弟。

That trembling, as he advanced, had not been fear, but only ague so severe he might have stayed behind if he had chosen.

他前进时的颤抖并不是恐惧，而是剧烈的疟疾，如果他选择的话，他可能会留在后面。

But he had advanced with the rest of them, and in the darkness when he tried to sleep after it was over, he knew he need not fear cowardice again.

但他已经和其他人一起前进了，结束后在黑暗中试图入睡时，他知道自己不必再害怕怯懦了。

They had won the day, and they exulted as fiercely as they had fought.

他们赢得了胜利，他们欣喜若狂，就像他们战斗时一样。

Had not their regiment been one of three which, not getting their orders to retreat, had stood firmly till fresh troops came to save the day!

难道他们的团不是没有得到撤退命令的三个团之一，而是坚守阵地，直到新的部队来拯救世界！

But the next morning’s task had mocked terrifyingly their victory.

但第二天早上的任务却极大地嘲笑了他们的胜利。

He could have pleaded fever to escape from that....

他本可以借口发烧来逃避这一点……

Some on the snow-covered hillside were digging great trenches, some were throwing body after body into them, some were shoveling earth in upon them.

白雪覆盖的山坡上，有的人在挖大沟，有的人把一具又一具的尸体扔进去，有的人在上面铲土。

He had bent down to tug at a stiff thing half hidden by snow, he had turned it over, a head grotesquely twisted backward, a neck mud-plastered, horrible, bloody.

他弯下腰​​去拉一个半藏在雪中的僵硬的东西，他把它翻了过来，头怪诞地向后扭动，脖子上沾满了泥，可怕的，血淋淋的。

Then he had cried out, and fallen down.

然后他就大叫一声，倒在地上。

That thing, with the lower face shot away, was Allen!

那个下脸被打飞的东西，就是艾伦！

His comrades, hunting about, found the bodies of the others of the little squad that had been hurriedly recalled.

他的战友们四处寻找，发现了匆忙召回的小队其他人的尸体。

That night Wully had planned to desert.

那天晚上，武利原计划开小差。

He had announced his intention to his lieutenant who came to sit beside him.

他向坐在他旁边的副官宣布了他的意图。

They might drum him out of camp as a deserter if they would.

如果他们愿意的话，他们可能会把他当作逃兵赶出营地。

He was telling them plainly what he intended doing.

他清楚地告诉他们他打算做什么。

He would never fight again.

他再也不会打架了。

But before he was able to walk, his comrades had got him a furlough.

但在他能够走路之前，他的战友们就给他安排了休假。

They understood only too well his fever and his delirium, and they remembered how he had gone through the battle, vomiting and ague-shaken, firing with a hand too weak to aim, and vomiting again, and shaking and firing.

他们非常了解他的发烧和精神错乱，他们还记得他是如何经历这场战斗的，呕吐和疟疾颤抖，用虚弱的手开枪瞄准，然后再次呕吐，颤抖着开枪。

All the way home he had planned how to break the news to his mother.

回家的路上他一直在计划如何把这个消息告诉他的母亲。

But when he had seen her, his grief which before had had no outlet, suddenly burst forth, so that even as she asked him, he was sobbing it all out to her.

可当他看到她的时候，原本无处发泄的悲伤突然爆发出来，以至于她在问他的时候，他都哭着向她倾诉。

He had never told her, of course, how Allen’s sweet singing mouth had been destroyed.

当然，他从来没有告诉过她，艾伦那张甜美的歌声是如何被毁掉的。

For Allen had been a gay lad, playing the fiddle, and singing many songs, sometimes little lovable ones he made as he sang, about pumpkins, or the old red rooster, or anything that might please the little children.

因为艾伦是一个快乐的小伙子，拉小提琴，唱很多歌曲，有时是他边唱边创作的可爱的小歌曲，关于南瓜，或者老红公鸡，或者任何可能让小孩子高兴的东西。

For Wully, no home-coming could ever again be so terrible as that one.

对于武利来说，再也没有一次回家比那一次更可怕了。

But his father and mother who sat beside him there were trying not to know that just such news might come at any time of this one, who must go back to death’s place.

但坐在他身边的父母却极力不知道，这个必须回到死亡之地的人随时可能会收到这样的消息。

Wully lay telling them little things he could recall of those last days.

武利躺在床上，向他们讲述他所记得的最后几天的一些小事。

Had he told them of the time that the captain had stood, unbeknown to Allen, behind a bush, listening to him imitate all the company’s officers?

他有没有告诉过他们，有一次艾伦不知道，上尉站在灌木丛后面，听他模仿连队所有的军官？

There had never been a day that Allen had not been called upon to make fun for his comrades.

艾伦每天都被要求为他的战友取笑。

Laughter had bubbled up within him and gushed out even in stark times.

即使在严酷的时刻，笑声也会在他内心涌动并喷涌而出。

There was no detail of his nonsense not precious to the two who listened.

他胡言乱语的每一个细节对于听他讲话的两个人来说都是珍贵的。

It was late before they left him, and he soon slept.

他们离开他时已经很晚了，他很快就睡着了。

Towards morning, his mother slept.

凌晨时分，母亲睡着了。

Soon after daylight the stranger came into the kitchen.

天刚亮，陌生人就走进了厨房。

The mother was standing half hidden by the steam that rose from the milk pails that she was scalding out.

母亲站在那儿，半身子被她正在烫的牛奶桶升起的蒸汽所掩盖。

The oldest sister at a table where candlelight and dawn struggled together, was packing a school lunch into a basket.

烛光与黎明并存的餐桌上，最年长的姐姐正在把学校的午餐装进篮子里。

A small girl was buttoning fat Sarah into her dress.

一个小女孩正在把胖胖的萨拉扣到裙子上。

Two small boys were struggling with their shoes on the floor.

两个小男孩的鞋子在地板上挣扎。

Wully presently hobbled in from out of doors, declaring himself recovered, a giant refreshed.

不久，武利从门外一瘸一拐地走了进来，宣称自己康复了，神清气爽。

The stranger noticed that when they found their places at the table, there was a larger child beside each smaller one, to look after him.

陌生人注意到，当他们在桌子上找到座位时，每个较小的孩子旁边都有一个较大的孩子来照顾他。

There was one little fellow who looked like the soldier, and a half-grown sister with beautiful regular features like his.

其中有一个看起来像士兵的小家伙，还有一个和他一样五官漂亮的半大妹妹。

But the others were all alike, with deeply set dark blue eyes, long upper lips, and lower faces heavy, keen, determined.

但其他人都很相似，深蓝色的眼睛，长长的上嘴唇，下脸沉重、敏锐、坚定。

He could have appreciated what the mother said sometimes simply, to the neighbors, when they remarked how good her children were: “Yes, they’re never any care when they’re well.

当邻居们称赞她的孩子们多么优秀时，他本可以欣赏这位母亲有时简单地对邻居说的话：“是的，当他们健康的时候，他们从来不会受到任何关心。

If we had one or two, we might let them have tantrums.

如果我们有一两个，我们可能会让他们发脾气。

But who could live in a house with thirteen ill bairns?” Since by that she meant, of course, naughty children, her question seemed indeed unanswerable.

但谁能住在有十三个病童的房子里呢？”当然，既然她指的是顽皮的孩子，她的问题似乎确实无法回答。

Now they sat eating lustily their cornmeal, and she talked with leisure and understanding.

现在，他们正坐在那儿，狼吞虎咽地吃着玉米面，而她则悠闲而善解人意地交谈着。

When the meal was finished, Flora handed her father The Book again.

吃完饭后，弗洛拉又把《书》递给了她的父亲。

“By Golly!” said the stranger to himself, “they’re going to do it again!” And they did.

“天啊！”陌生人自言自语道：“他们又要重蹈覆辙了！”他们做到了。

The mother lifted the Psalm from memory, and then they repeated some part of the Bible.

母亲从记忆中取出诗篇，然后他们重复了圣经的某些部分。

The stranger was the more ill at ease because young Hughie’s eyes were fixed accusingly upon him.

陌生人更加局促不安，因为年轻的休吉用指责的目光盯着他。

Again the father prayed for all the inhabitants of the world, by name or class.

父亲再次为世界上所有居民祈祷，无论他们的名字或阶级。

When the boys brought the guest’s wonderful team to the door, all the family gathered to bid him good-by.

当男孩们把客人的精彩团队带到门口时，全家人都聚集在一起向他告别。

“I wish you well, sir, for your kindness,” the father said, and the mother, at a loss to know how to thank him sufficiently, added,

“先生，我祝你一切顺利，感谢你的好意。”父亲说，而母亲不知道该如何感谢他，又补充道：

“We’ll never forget this, neither us nor our children!” It was that trembling choked back in her voice that gave the stranger’s grandson his work with the firm of Andrew McLaughlin, in the fall of 1920.

“我们永远不会忘记这一点，无论是我们还是我们的孩子！” 1920 年秋天，正是她声音中的颤抖让这位陌生人的孙子得以在安德鲁·麦克劳林公司工作。

The beautiful grays started impatiently away, the men went to their work, and the children to their school.

美丽的灰人不耐烦地开始走开，男人们去工作，孩子们去学校。

In the kitchen his mother bandaged Wully’s feet, and put the wee’uns out of door to play while he had a sleep.

在厨房里，他的母亲给武利的脚包扎了绷带，并在他睡觉的时候把孩子们放到门外玩耍。

At half past eleven he woke.

十一点半他醒了。

His mother was sitting in the doorway, shelling beans.

他的母亲坐在门口剥豆子。

How was he to guess that she was late with her dinner preparations because again and again she had to stop, and look at this child of hers grown a strange man in the midst of horrors unimaginable?

他怎么能猜到她迟到了准备晚餐，因为她不得不一次又一次停下来，看着她的这个孩子在难以想象的恐怖中成长为一个陌生的男人？

He lay very still looking at her.

他静静地躺着，看着她。

The kettle was singing on the stove.

炉子上的水壶在唱歌。

Through the door, he saw the red calf sleeping in the sunshine.

透过门，他看到了正在阳光下睡觉的红色小牛。

A wave of joy, of ecstasy complete passed over him.

一阵喜悦和狂喜席卷了他。

Oh, the heaven of home, the peace of it, of a good bed, of a mother calmly getting dinner!

哦，家的天堂，它的宁静，一张好床，一个母亲平静地吃晚饭！

“I’m starved, mother!” he sang out suddenly to her.

“我饿坏了，妈妈！”他突然对她唱歌。

She hurried to the cellar, and brought him cool milk and two cookies.

她赶紧跑到地窖，给他带来了凉牛奶和两块饼干。

The children, hearing him, came in to watch him.

孩子们听见他的话，就进来观看他。

He sat down in the doorway, and began throwing beans up, and catching them skillfully, to win the friendship of the doubtful little Sarah.

他在门口坐下，开始扔豆子，并熟练地接住它们，以赢得心存疑虑的小莎拉的友谊。

David watched him eagerly.

大卫热切地看着他。

Presently Hughie said:

休吉随即说道：

“Mother, why did yon strange man not say the Psalm?”

“妈妈，为什么那个奇怪的人不念诗篇呢？”

“You mus’na stare so at visitors, Hughie!”

“你不能这么盯着访客看，休伊！”

“But why, mother?

“但是为什么呢，妈妈？

Why did he not say it?”

他为什么不说？”

“Maybe he did’na ken it.”

“也许他没有意识到。”

“Did’na ken what?”

“不知道什么吗？”

“The Psalm.”

“诗篇。”

“Did’na ken the fifteenth Psalm, and him a man grown!” Hughie had never seen anyone before who couldn’t say the fifteenth Psalm.

“读完第十五首诗篇，他就长大了！”休吉以前从未见过不会念诗篇第十五篇的人。

“Aw, mother!” he exclaimed remonstratingly.

“噢，妈妈！”他抗议地喊道。

“Even Davie knows that!”

“连戴维都知道！”

Wully chuckled.

乌利笑道。

He knew the world.

他了解这个世界。

He had seen cities.

他见过城市。

He had marched across states.

他曾跨州游行。

He had eaten ice cream.

他吃过冰淇淋。

CHAPTER II

第二章

Wully slept the whole afternoon, and that evening the aunts and uncles and cousins began coming to see him.

武利睡了整个下午，那天晚上，阿姨、叔叔和表兄弟开始来看他。

He and Allen, being among the oldest of the clan’s young fry, had been the first to enlist, though since then two of the McNairs, a Stevenson, and a McElhiney had grown old enough to fight.

他和艾伦是家族中最年长的年轻鱼苗之一，是最先入伍的，尽管从那时起，麦克奈尔家族中的两个人，一个史蒂文森和一个麦克埃尔希尼已经长大到可以参加战斗了。

Allen’s death and Wully’s spectacular career had endeared him to the neighbors.

艾伦的去世和武利辉煌的职业生涯使他深受邻居们的喜爱。

They had suffered with him, they thought.

他们想，他们和他一起受过苦。

Two years before, when they had gathered to offer their consolation to the family because he was reported dead, they had found his mother rejecting sympathy with as much decision as was civil.

两年前，当他们因为他被报道死亡而聚集在一起向家人表示安慰时，他们发现他的母亲以尽可能文明的决定拒绝同情。

The United States government might be a powerful organization, but it could never make her believe that Wully had been shot in the back, running away from duty.

美国政府也许是一个强大的组织，但它永远无法让她相信武利是在逃避职责时背后中枪的。

The Stowes doubtless did well to array themselves in mourning for Harvey, but she knew her son was alive.

毫无疑问，斯托夫妇为哈维哀悼，做得很好，但她知道她的儿子还活着。

And sure enough, after three weeks a letter came, no larger than the palm of her hand.

果然，三周后收到了一封信，信的大小还没有她的手掌那么大。

She knew it had come when she saw a nephew running towards the house to give it to her.

当她看到一个侄子跑向房子要把它交给她时，她知道它已经来了。

On one side, the little paper had said that Wully was alive and well in a prison in Texas, and on the other, crowded together, were ten names of comrades imprisoned with him, and Harvey Stowe’s name was written first and largest.

小报一边说，伍利在得克萨斯州的一所监狱里还活着，而且活得很好，另一方面，和他一起关押的十个战友的名字挤在一起，哈维·斯托的名字写在第一位，也是最大的。

That minute she had buttoned the bit of paper into Andy’s shirt pocket, and sent him fifteen miles down the creek to tell the Stowes to take off their mourning, and the clan, hearing the news from the mad-riding Andy had gathered to rejoice with her.

那一刻，她把那张纸扣进安迪的衬衣口袋里，派他顺河而下十五英里，告诉斯托一家停止哀悼，而家族听到疯狂的安迪传来的消息后，聚集在一起与她一起欢呼。

And now that the exciting Wully was home again, they brought him wild turkeys, and the choice of the wild plums, an apple or two, first fruit of their new orchards, and whatever else their poverty afforded.

现在，令人兴奋的武利又回到了家，他们给他带来了野火鸡、精选的野李子、一两个苹果、新果园的初熟水果，以及贫困所能提供的一切。

Mrs. Stowe came to see him, bringing a package of sugar.

斯托夫人带着一包糖来看望他。

But the Stowes were well-to-do.

但斯托一家却很富裕。

The others were exclusively what Allen had dubbed “the ragged lairds of the Waupsipinnikon.”

其他人就是艾伦所称的“沃西平尼孔的衣衫褴褛的领主”。

Not that their creek was really the Waupsipinnikon.

并不是说他们的小溪真的是Waupsipinnikon。

Allen had only crossed that chuckling stream on his first journey with his father, but he had delighted in a name so whimsical, so rollicking, and had used it largely.

艾伦在第一次与父亲一起旅行时才跨过那条咯咯笑的小溪，但他对这个如此异想天开、如此欢快的名字感到很高兴，并且经常使用它。

Pigs and chickens of his christening bore it unharmed.

受他洗礼的猪和鸡都安然无恙地承受了它。

And he put it into the song he used to sing sometimes, when the prairie’s youth and beauty were tired of dancing to his fiddle.

当草原的青春和美丽厌倦了随着他的小提琴起舞时，他把它放进了他有时唱的歌里。

All the neighbors were mentioned in it:

里面提到了所有的邻居：

The McWhees, the McNabs, the McNorkels, The Gillicuddies, the McElhineys, the McDowells, The Whannels, the McTaggerts, the Strutheres, The Stevensons, the McLaughlins, and the Sprouls.

麦克韦斯家族、麦克纳布家族、麦克诺克尔家族、吉利卡迪家族、麦克埃尔海尼家族、麦克道威尔家族、沃纳尔家族、麦克塔格特家族、斯特鲁瑟尔家族、史蒂文森家族、麦克劳林家族和斯普劳尔家族。

In his pronunciation the meter was perfect, and Sprouls and McDowells rhymed perfectly, both of them, with “holes.” For an encore he would show his appreciative audience how the head of each family mentioned “asked the blessing,” always politely and stubbornly refusing to imitate the master of the house in which the fun was going on--at least until the master had retired.

他的发音格律完美，斯普劳尔斯和麦克道威尔斯都用“洞”押韵完美。在重演时，他会向心怀感激的观众展示每个家庭的家长如何提到“祈福”，总是礼貌而固执地拒绝模仿正在进行欢乐的房子的主人——至少直到主人退休为止。

Between the visits of the ragged lairds and their offspring, Wully got so much sleep that on the fourth day he announced himself able to help with the fall plowing.

在衣衫褴褛的地主和他们的后代来访期间，武利睡得很好，以至于第四天他宣布自己可以帮忙秋耕。

His mother refused to have such a suggestion considered, and they compromised on his digging carrots in the garden.

他的母亲拒绝考虑这样的建议，他们妥协了让他在花园里挖胡萝卜。

At that task she found him doggedly working away after an hour, white and trembling.

在完成这项任务时，她发现他在一个小时后顽强地工作，脸色苍白，浑身颤抖。

For a week he recovered from the fever that came on, sleeping by day and by night.

在接下来的一周里，他从发烧中恢复过来，日夜睡觉。

The twelfth day he was so well that he rode to look over the “eighty” his father had bought for him with the two hundred dollars that had accrued to him during the fourteen months he lay in prison, trying to carve enough wooden combs to earn what would keep him from starving.

第十二天，他的情况非常好，他骑着马去看看父亲用他在监狱里十四个月里积累的两百美元为他买的“八十”，试图雕刻足够的木梳来挣钱让他免于挨饿。

His father explained that he might have brought land further on at a dollar and a half an acre.

他的父亲解释说，他可能会以一英亩半的价格进一步购买土地。

But this was the choice bit of land, and, moreover, it joined the home farm.

但这是一块精选的土地，而且，它还加入了家庭农场。

And this bit of ground, rising just here was obviously the place for the house to be built.

而就在此处隆起的这一块地面，显然就是要建造房屋的地方。

Wully smiled indulgently at the idea of his building a house.

想到盖房子的想法，武利露出了宽容的微笑。

But he wasn’t to smile about it, his father protested.

但他的父亲抗议道，他不能对此微笑。

Indeed, they would some way get an acre broken this fall yet in time to plant maple seed, and poplar, for the first windbreak, so that the little trees would be ready for their duty.

事实上，今年秋天他们会以某种方式砍掉一英亩土地，及时种植枫树种子和杨树，作为第一道防风林，这样小树就能做好履行职责的准备。

The elder McLaughlin sighed with satisfaction as he talked.

麦克劳克林长老一边说着，一边满意地叹了口气。

Even yet he had scarcely recovered from that shock of incredulous delight at his first glimpse of the incredible prairies; acres from which no frontiersman need ever cut a tree; acres in which a man might plow a furrow of rich black earth a mile long without striking a stump or a stone; a state how much larger than all of Scotland in which there was no record of a battle ever having been fought--what a home for a man who in his childhood had walked to school down a path between the graves of his martyred ancestors--whose fathers had farmed a rented sandpile enriched by the blood of battle among the rock of the Bay of Luce.

即便如此，当他第一眼看到这片令人难以置信的大草原时，他还是难以从难以置信的喜悦中恢复过来。拓荒者无需砍伐树木的土地；一个人可以在其中犁出一英里长的肥沃黑土，而不会碰到树桩或石头；这个州比整个苏格兰大得多，却没有打过一场战斗的记录——对于一个童年时沿着殉难祖先坟墓之间的小路步行去上学的人来说，这是一个多么好的家啊——他的父亲在卢斯湾的岩石间租来了一个沙堆，里面充满了战斗的鲜血。

Even yet he could scarcely believe that there existed such an expanse of eager virgin soil waiting for whoever would husband it.

但即便如此，他还是不敢相信，有如此广阔的处女地等待着谁来耕种。

Ten years of storm-bound winters, and fever-shaken, marketless summers before the war, had not chilled his passion for it--nor poverty so great that sometimes it took the combined efforts of the clan to buy a twenty-five cent stamp to write to Scotland of the measureless wealth upon which they had fallen.

战前十年暴风雨肆虐的冬天，以及战前狂热、无市场的夏天，都没有冷却他的热情——贫困也没有消退到有时需要家族齐心协力才能买一张二十五美分的邮票，写信给苏格兰，讲述他们所拥有的无边财富。

From the time he was ten years old, he had dreamed of America.

从他十岁起，他就梦想着美国。

He had had to wait to realize his dream till his landlord had sold him out for rent overdue.

他必须等到房东把他逾期的租金卖掉，才能实现他的梦想。

What Wully remembered gallingly about that sale was that his grandmother had been present at it, and her neighbors, thinking she bought the poor household stuff to give back to her son, refused to bid for it against her.

武利对那次拍卖的记忆令人难堪的是，他的祖母当时也在场，而她的邻居们认为她买了那些可怜的家居用品是为了回馈给她的儿子，因此拒绝与她竞争。

Then, having got it all cheap, she sold it at considerable profit, and pocketed the money.

然后，她便宜了一切，然后以可观的利润将其出售，并将钱装进自己的口袋。

That was why, taught by his father, he despised everything that suggested Scottish stinginess.

这就是为什么在他父亲的教导下，他鄙视一切暗示苏格兰人吝啬的东西。

Nor had he wept a tear when the old woman died, soon after, and his father, taking his share of her hoardings, had departed for his Utopia.

不久之后，当老妇人去世时，他也没有流一滴眼泪，而他的父亲则拿走了她的那一份宝藏，前往他的乌托邦。

Some of the immigrants had long since lost their illusions.

一些移民早已失去了幻想。

But not John McLaughlin.

但约翰·麦克劳克林不是。

He loved his land like a blind and passionate lover.

他像一个盲目而热情的情人一样热爱他的土地。

Really there was nothing glorious that one was not justified in imagining about a nation to be born to such an inheritance.

确实，如果一个人没有理由想象一个国家诞生于这样的遗产，那就没有什么光荣的了。

And he told Wully that he might at least console himself with the thought that those months in prison had made him possessor of such land, that with the possible exception of the fabled Nile valley, there was probably in the world no richer.

他告诉武利，他至少可以安慰自己，监狱里的几个月让他拥有了这样的土地，除了传说中的尼罗河谷之外，世界上可能没有比这更富有的地方了。

And the McLaughlins prided themselves on the fact that they were no American “soil-scratchers,” exhausting debauchers of virgin possibilities.

麦克劳克林一家为自己不是美国的“掠夺者”而感到自豪，他们不是那些耗尽处女可能性的放荡者。

Their rich soil, they promised themselves, was to be richer by far for every crop it yielded.

他们向自己保证，他们肥沃的土壤将因每一种作物的出产而变得更加肥沃。

The next day Wully felt so well that he must have something to do.

第二天，武利感觉很好，他一定有事可做。

On the morrow the bi-weekly mail would be in, and if it brought orders for him, he would be returning to his regiment.

第二天，每两周一次的邮件就会送达，如果它给他带来了命令，他就会返回他的团。

He stood in the doorway looking toward his father’s very young orchard, and considering the possibilities of the afternoon.

他站在门口，看着父亲刚刚建成的果园，考虑着下午的可能性。

Of course, he might ride over and see Stowe’s sweetheart, who had come to see him the other time he was home ill.

当然，他可能会骑马过去看看斯托的心上人，上次他生病在家时斯托的情人来看过他。

But he dreaded talking to a strange woman.

但他害怕和一个陌生的女人说话。

She was pretty, certainly.

她确实很漂亮。

That was why he was afraid of her.

这就是他害怕她的原因。

If he had been Allen, now, with an excuse for going to see a pretty girl, his horse would have been in a lather before he arrived.

如果他是艾伦，现在，借口去看一个漂亮女孩，他的马在他到达之前就会起泡了。

Wully had envied Stowe, sometimes, his eagerness for just a certain letter.

有时，武利羡慕斯托对某一封信的渴望。

It must, he thought in certain moods, after all be rather pleasant to have someone so dear that a man like Stowe would endanger his honor, and life itself by stealing away to see her.

他在某些心情下想，毕竟有一个如此亲爱的人，像斯托这样的人会因为偷偷去见她而危及他的荣誉和生命本身，这一定是相当令人愉快的。

Stowe was to be married as soon as he got home.

斯托一回家就要结婚。

He was so close a friend that he talked to Wully about that.

他是一位非常亲密的朋友，所以他和武利谈论了这件事。

If Stowe had had a site for a house waiting him, as Wully had, he would have talked his friend deaf.

如果斯托像武利那样有一个建房子的场地在等着他，他就会把他的朋友说得充耳不闻。

But just the same, Wully wasn’t going to see his sweetheart.

但同样，武利也不会去见他的爱人。

He would do anything for Stowe but that.

他愿意为斯托做任何事情，但除此之外。

Easing his conscience by that assurance, he heard his mother speaking to him.

听到母亲对他说话，他的良心得到了安慰。

If he wanted something to do, would he ride over to Jeannie McNair’s for her?

如果他想做点什么，他会骑车去珍妮·麦克奈尔那里接她吗？

She wanted to know if Jeannie had any news yet from Alex.

她想知道珍妮是否有亚历克斯的消息。

When would that man be back, she wondered indignantly.

她愤愤不平地想，那个男人什么时候才能回来。

Who ever heard of a man harvesting a wheat crop, and starting back to Scotland, leaving his family alone with the snakes--she always added the snakes because the McNair cabin was on low land which those reptiles rather affected--and all to prevent his half brothers from getting a bit more of a poor inheritance than they were entitled to!

谁听说过一个男人收割了小麦作物，然后返回苏格兰，留下他的家人独自和蛇在一起——她总是加上蛇，因为麦克奈尔的小屋位于低地，那些爬行动物相当影响——这一切都是为了防止他同父异母的兄弟得到比他们应得的更多的贫穷遗产！

If Wully went on her errand, he was to take poor Jeannie a few prairie chickens, and those three young ducks she had raised for her, alone there with her bairns!

如果武利去执行她的任务，他会带可怜的珍妮几只草原鸡，还有她为她养的那三只小鸭子，带着她的小鸭子！

And if he was going, he must put on his uniform.

如果他要去的话，他必须穿上制服。

He demurred.

他表示反对。

She insisted.

她坚持说。

Why, Jeannie had never seen him in his uniform!

哎呀，珍妮从来没有见过他穿制服！

He smiled to hear her imply that not to have seen him so arrayed was the greatest of her deplorable privations.

他微笑着听到她暗示没有看到他如此打扮是她最大的不幸。

Yet he went and put it on, nevertheless, for it was the most handsome suit he had ever had, always before having been clothed in the handiwork of his mother and sisters.

尽管如此，他还是穿上了它，因为这是他穿过的最漂亮的衣服，之前一直都是他母亲和姐妹们亲手制作的。

When he was ready to go, the ducks caught and tied, a bit of jelly safely wrapped, as he stood by the horse, in his mother’s sight the most beautiful soldier in the American armies, she said:

当他准备出发时，鸭子被抓住并绑住，安全地包裹着一点果冻，而他站在马旁，在他母亲的眼中，他是美国军队中最美丽的士兵，她说：

“Jeannie’s Jimmie was just your age, you mind, Wully.”

“你介意吧，武利，珍妮的吉米正好和你同龄。”

She watched him riding away, the fondness of her face ministering to the joyous sense of well-being that swept over him.

她看着他骑马远去，她脸上的慈爱让他感到幸福快乐。

How unspeakably lovely the country was!

这个国家是多么可爱啊！

How magnificent its richness!

其丰富程度何等壮丽！

He had never felt it so keenly before.

他以前从未有过如此强烈的感受。

He must be getting like his father.

他一定越来越像他父亲了。

Or perhaps it looked so much more impressive because he had seen so much swampy desolation in the South.

或者也许它看起来更令人印象深刻，因为他在南方看到了如此多的沼泽荒凉。

The grass he rode through seemed to bend under the sparkling of the golden sunshine.

他骑过的草地在金色阳光的照耀下似乎弯曲了。

He came to the creek, and as he crossed it he remembered with a pang the time his companions had staggered thankfully and hastily to drink out of a pool covered with green slime.

他来到小溪边，当他跨过小溪时，他痛苦地想起有一次他的同伴们摇摇晃晃地庆幸地匆忙地从一个满是绿色粘液的水池里喝水。

He turned with disgust from the memory.

他因回忆而厌恶地转过身来。

He wouldn’t even think of those things to spoil his few days at home.

他根本不会去想这些事情来破坏他在家里的几天。

He gave himself up to the persuasive peace around him.

他屈服于周围令人信服的平静。

He rode along, completely, unreasonably happy.

他骑着马一路前行，心情非常愉快。

He began to sing.

他开始唱歌。

Singing, he remembered Allen.

唱歌时，他想起了艾伦。

How was it that he was here singing, and Allen, the singer, was dead!

怎么他在这里唱歌，而歌手艾伦却死了！

But the afternoon’s glow took away soon even the bitterness of that question.

但下午的阳光很快就消除了这个问题的苦涩。

He came presently in sight of the McNairs’ cabin.

不久他就看到了麦克奈尔夫妇的小屋。

Though every other man of the neighborhood had been able, thanks to the wartime price of wheat, to build for his family a more decent shelter than the first one, that Alex McNair, fairly crazy with land-hunger, added acre to acre, regardless of his family’s needs.

尽管由于战时小麦的价格，附近的其他人都能够为他的家人建造一个比第一个更体面的住所，但亚历克斯·麦克奈尔对土地的渴望相当疯狂，不顾家人的需要，一英亩又一英亩地增加。

Such a man Wully scorned with all the arrogance of youth.

武利以年轻人的傲慢态度蔑视这样的人。

He had, moreover, understood and shared something of his mother’s pity for her beloved friend, McNair’s wife.

此外，他理解并分享了母亲对她心爱的朋友麦克奈尔妻子的同情。

He remembered distinctly that when his parents had been leaving the Ayrshire home for America, Jeannie had put into his hand a poke of sweeties to be divided by him among the other children during the journey.

他清楚地记得，当他的父母离开艾尔郡的家去美国时，珍妮把一小块糖果塞到他手里，让他在旅途中分给其他孩子。

That had been a happy farewell, because Jeannie and her five were soon to follow.

这是一次愉快的告别，因为珍妮和她的五个孩子很快就会跟上来。

But when the ten flourishing McLaughlins again saw Jeannie on this side of the water, of her five there remained only her little Chirstie, and a baby boy.

但是，当十个兴旺的麦克劳林一家再次看到水这边的珍妮时，她的五个人中只剩下了她的小克里斯蒂和一个男婴。

The bodies of the other three she had seen thrown out of the smallpox-smitten ship which the feasting sharks were following.

她看到另外三具尸体被从那艘被天花感染的船上扔了出来，而鲨鱼正在追赶这艘饱受天花的船只。

Since then she had been a silent woman, though Wully’s mother spoke of her sometimes, sighing, as a girl of high spirits and wit.

从那时起，她就成了一个沉默寡言的女人，尽管武利的母亲有时叹息地说起她，说她是一个精神抖擞、机智的女孩。

Now, however much other Ayrshire women might rejoice in a dawning nation, the memory of those bloody mouths stood always between her and hope.

现在，无论其他艾尔郡妇女如何为这个正在崛起的国家感到高兴，那些血淋淋的嘴巴的记忆始终挡在她和希望之间。

She endured the new solitude without comment or complaint.

她忍受着新的孤独，没有任何评论或抱怨。

Homesick for a hint of old-country decency, she hung the walls of her cabin with the linen sheets of her dowry, sheets that must have come out of the poisonous ship.

她想念故乡的一丝礼仪，于是在小屋的墙壁上挂满了嫁妆的亚麻床单，这些床单肯定是从有毒的船上拿出来的。

Wully’s mother admired that immaculate room without one sigh of envy.

武利的母亲很欣赏这间完美无缺的房间，没有一丝羡慕的叹息。

White sheets would keep clean a long time in that cabin, with only the two bairns.

在那个只有两个婴儿床的小屋里，白色的床单可以保持很长时间干净。

But she thanked God that in her crowded cabin there was not room for one sheet on the wall.

但她感谢上帝，在她拥挤的小屋里，墙上没有空间放一张床单。

Moreover, in the new land, Jeannie had lost two babies, so that now for her labor and travail, she had only the Scottish two, and a baby girl.

此外，在这片新土地上，珍妮失去了两个孩子，现在，由于她的辛苦劳作，她只剩下了苏格兰的两个孩子和一个女婴。

With another baby imminent, her husband had “trapassed” away to Scotland!

由于另一个孩子即将出生，她的丈夫“迷失”到了苏格兰！

He was too “close” to have taken her with him.

他太“近”了，无法带她一起去。

But not for the wealth of Iowa would she have exposed her children again to sea.

但为了爱荷华州的财富，她不会让她的孩子们再次暴露在海上。

She would stay and save them on dry land.

她会留下来并在陆地上拯救他们。

She wouldn’t be left altogether alone.

她不会完全孤身一人。

Her brother’s family lived but two miles away.

她哥哥的家人就住在两英里外。

Wully rode up to the house unperceived, though not one tree, not one kindly bush protected it against the immensity of the solitude around it.

武利神不知鬼不觉地骑马来到了房子，尽管没有一棵树，没有一棵友善的灌木丛保护它免受周围无边的孤独的影响。

He tied his horse, and was at the door before Jeannie saw him.

他拴好马，在珍妮看见他之前就到了门口。

Then she exclaimed:

然后她惊呼道：

“If it is’na Isobel’s Wully!” She shook his hand, and patted him on his shoulder, and reached up and kissed him.

“如果是伊泽贝尔的武利就好了！”她握着他的手，拍拍他的肩膀，然后伸手吻了他。

He didn’t mind that.

他并不介意。

She was practically an aunt, so intimate were the families.

她简直就是个阿姨，一家人都很亲密。

In her silent excitement she brought him into her wretched little cabin.

在她沉默的兴奋中，她把他带进了她那间简陋的小屋。

And there stood another woman.

那里还站着另一个女人。

By the window--a young woman--turning towards him with sunshine on her white arms--and on the dough she was kneading--sunshine on her white throat--and on the little waves of brown hair about her face--sunshine making her fingertips transparent pink--a woman like a strong angel--beautiful in light!

窗边——一个年轻的女人——转向他，阳光洒在她洁白的手臂上——还有她正在揉捏的面团上——阳光洒在她洁白的喉咙上——洒在她脸上那一缕缕棕色的头发上——阳光把她的指尖照得透明粉红色——一个像坚强的天使一样的女人——在光线下美丽极了！

Wully just stared.

武利只是盯着看。

“It’s only Chirstie.” Jeannie was surprised at his surprise.

“只有克里斯蒂。”珍妮对他的惊讶感到惊讶。

Only Chirstie!

只有克里斯蒂！

“She was just a wee’un when I saw her,” he stammered.

“当我看到她时，她还只是个小孩子，”他结结巴巴地说。

“I did’na ken she was so bonny!” Fool that he was!

“我没想到她这么漂亮！”他真是个傻瓜！

Idiot!

笨蛋！

Yammering away in bits of a forsaken dialect!

用一种被遗弃的方言喋喋不休！

What would the girl think of him!

那个女孩会怎么看他！

“It’s more than four years you’ve been away,” Jeannie reminded him kindly.

“你离开已经四年多了。”珍妮善意地提醒他。

She began plying him with questions.

她开始不断地问他问题。

He answered them realizing that the girl was covering her bread with a white cloth freshly shaken from its folds--that she was washing her hands, and pulling down her sleeves--and seating herself near him composedly enough.

他回答他们时，意识到女孩正在用一块刚从褶皱中抖落的白布盖住面包——她正在洗手，拉下袖子——然后平静地坐在他身边。

His mother was well, he said.

他说，他的母亲很好。

They were all well.

他们都很好。

It was twelve days now since he had come home.

距离他回家已经十二天了。

Yes, he was tired of the war.

是的，他厌倦了战争。

The more he saw of the girl, the tireder he got.

他越看这个女孩，就越感到疲倦。

The other boys from the neighborhood were all alive and well as far as he knew.

据他所知，附近的其他男孩都还活着，而且都安然无恙。

He looked at that girl as much as he dared.

他尽可能多地看着那个女孩。

He could think of nothing to say--that is, of nothing he dared yet to say.

他想不出有什么可说的——也就是说，想不出他还敢说什么。

He was most stupidly embarrassed, trying not to appear foolish.

他感到非常尴尬，他努力不让自己显得愚蠢。

He stammered out that his mother had sent over some things, some squashes--he would go and bring them in.

他结结巴巴地说，他妈妈送来了一些东西，一些南瓜——他要去把它们带进来。

He went out to get them.

他出去接他们。

Oh, it wasn’t squashes!

哦，这不是南瓜！

It was ducks!

原来是鸭子啊！

The girl giggled deliciously.

女孩甜甜地笑起来。

Her mother smiled.

她的母亲微笑着。

Wully was more at his ease.

武利更加自在了。

Now where should they put the ducks?

现在他们应该把鸭子放在哪里？

They were all standing together now in the dooryard, the three ducks, the three humans.

现在他们都站在前院里，三只鸭子，三个人。

There was no place ready for the gifts.

没有地方准备礼物。

Well, Wully would make a coop for them.

好吧，武利会为他们建造一个鸡舍。

Just give him a few sticks.

只要给他几根棍子就可以了。

But there were no sticks.

但没有棍子。

Then Chirstie thought of some bits of wood behind the barn.

然后克里斯蒂想到了谷仓后面的一些木头。

They went and got them.

他们去拿了它们。

She stood, shy because of the ardor of his eyes, by her mother, watching his skill in making duck shelters.

她站在母亲身边，因为他目光的热情而害羞，看着他制作鸭棚的技巧。

He could have gone on making them forever.

他本可以永远继续制作它们。

But the work was done.

但工作已经完成了。

He grew embarrassed again.

他又尴尬了。

He must be going.

他一定要走了。

Not before he had had tea!

不是在他喝茶之前！

He didn’t really care for tea.

他其实并不喜欢喝茶。

He would have--just a drink of water.

他只想喝一杯水。

No sooner had he said that word than he regretted it painfully.

这句话刚出口，他就后悔了。

There was no fresh water.

没有淡水。

But Chirstie would go get some.

但克里斯蒂会去拿一些。

He knew that one of the things that annoyed his mother most about the McNair place was that Alex had never even dug a second well.

他知道麦克奈尔家最让他母亲恼火的事情之一就是亚历克斯甚至从未挖过第二口井。

The water was all still carried a quarter of a mile from the old well in the slough.

水仍然从泥沼中的老井四分之一英里处输送过来。

Chirstie was ready to start for his drink at once.

克里斯蒂立即准备开始喝酒。

Was he not a soldier, and a fine looking one, her eyes inquired demurely, whom she would be honored to serve?

难道他不是一名士兵，而且是一位英俊的士兵，她的眼神端庄地询问着，她会很荣幸为他服务吗？

No, he would get it himself.

不，他自己会得到的。

“Go along, the two of you!” said Jeannie.

“你们两个一起走吧！”珍妮说。

And as they started, she stood in the door looking after them, and on her face there grew a sore and tender smile.

当他们出发时，她站在门口看着他们，脸上浮现出痛苦而又温柔的笑容。

He took the pail.

他接过桶。

She reached for the big stick.

她伸手去拿那根大棍子。

That was to kill rattlesnakes.

那是为了杀死响尾蛇。

He took that, too, shocked by the thought of death near her feet.

他也接受了这一点，一想到死亡就在她脚边，他就感到震惊。

They walked silently together, in a path just wide enough for one.

他们默默地走在一条只够一个人走的小路上。

Their hands touched at times.

他们的手时不时地碰触。

He grew bold to turn and study her beauty.

他大胆地转身观察她的美丽。

Their eyes met, but she said never a word.

他们四目相对，但她什么也没说。

On they went, silently.

他们默默地继续前行。

He could hear his heart beating presently.

此刻他能听到自己的心跳声。

He forgot that his feet had ever been sore.

他忘记了自己的脚曾经酸痛过。

He could have walked on that way with her to Ayrshire.

他本可以和她一起走那条路去艾尔郡。

They came to the well.

他们来到井边。

His hand trembled as he let the pail down into it.

当他把桶放进去时，他的手颤抖着。

That may have been the ague.

这可能就是疟疾。

He filled the cup, and gave it to her to drink, looking straight at her.

他倒满杯子，递给她喝，目光直视着她。

She put it to her lovely lips and drank, looking across the prairie.

她把酒放在可爱的嘴唇上，喝了下去，目光越过草原。

She handed it back to him, and he took it, and her hand.

她把它递还给他，他接过它，还有她的手。

The grass about the well was very high.

井边的草很高。

Some way--he put out his arms, and she was in them.

不知怎的——他伸出双臂，而她就在其中。

“Chirstie!” he whispered.

“克里斯蒂！”他低声说道。

“I didn’t know that you were here!

“我不知道你在这里！

I didn’t know that you were the lassie for me!” He kissed her fearfully.

我不知道你是我的小姑娘！”他恐惧地吻了她。

He kissed her without fear, many times.

他毫不畏惧地吻了她很多次。

She said only “Oh!” He held her close.

她只说了一声“哦！”他紧紧地抱住她。

After a time--how long a time it must have been to have worked so mightily!--she sighed and said:

过了一段时间——这得花多少时间啊，才得这么辛苦啊！——她叹了口气，说道：

“We must go back.”

“我们必须回去。”

Hand in hand they went back, until they came to the edge of the tall grass.

他们手拉手往回走，直到来到高高的草丛边。

They couldn’t miss the last of that opportunity.

他们不能错过最后的机会。

Out in the short grass she pulled her hand away.

在外面的矮草丛中，她把手抽开。

No one must see yet, she said.

她说，还不能让任何人看到。

Of course not.

当然不是。

Not yet.

还没有。

No, he said to Jeannie, he couldn’t stay for tea.

不，他对珍妮说，他不能留下来喝茶。

He had had his drink.

他已经喝完了酒。

He had indeed drunk deep.

他确实喝得很深。

He rode out into the loveliness of the distances, unconscious of everything but that girl in the sunlight.

他骑马驶向美丽的远方，除了阳光下的那个女孩外，他对一切都一无所知。

He was shaken through with the excitement of her lips.

他被她嘴唇的兴奋所震撼。

Her name sang itself riotously through his brain.

她的名字在他的脑海中狂歌般地响起。

Perhaps in a thousand miles there was not a man so surprised as that one.

或许方圆一千英里之内，没有人比他更惊讶了。

But he was not thinking of his emotions.

但他并没有考虑自己的情绪。

He was thinking of what he had found.

他正在思考他所发现的东西。

He was looking through vistas opened suddenly into the meaning of life.

他突然看到了生命的意义。

He was seeing glimpses of its space and graciousness.

他瞥见了它的空间和优雅。

He laughed aloud abruptly remembering the site his father had chosen for his house.

他突然想起父亲为他的房子选择的地点，突然放声大笑。

And yesterday a house had meant nothing to him!

而昨天房子对他来说毫无意义！

He was getting too near home.

他离家太近了。

He had come to the creek.

他已经来到了小溪边。

He stopped his horse, and sat still, going over again and again that supreme moment.

他停下马，一动不动地坐着，一遍又一遍地回忆着那个至高无上的时刻。

He had never kissed a girl before in his life.

他这辈子从来没有吻过一个女孩。

Allen had kissed them whenever he had gotten a good chance--or any chance at all.

艾伦一有好机会，或者任何机会，就会亲吻它们。

Now, to-day, with Chirstie, it had been just simply the only thing to do.

现在，今天，和克里斯蒂一起，这只是唯一要做的事情。

She was already by the significance of that caress a part of him.

从那个爱抚的意义来看，她已经成为他的一部分了。

Oh, no wonder Stowe had come home four times!

噢，难怪斯托已经回家四次了！

And now his holiday was all but over.

现在他的假期快结束了。

He vowed rashly he would not go back!

他发誓，他不会贸然回去！

Never!

绝不！

If only he had come and found her the first of his twelve days!

要是他在十二天的第一天就来找到她就好了！

He wondered why he had left her.

他想知道他为什么离开她。

He might have stayed for supper.

他可能留下来吃晚饭了。

But no, not with her mother there!

但不，她妈妈不在身边！

He was glad he had come away.

他很高兴自己能离开。

To think of him, who had marched through states and territories, finding a girl like that, the very queen of beauty, right there on the prairie!

想想他，走过各州和领地，在草原上找到了一个这样的女孩，美丽的女王！

He could scarcely remember how she had looked when he had seen her last.

他几乎记不起最后一次见到她时她的样子。

Just some kind of a little girl--no stunning queen like this.

只是一个小女孩——没有像这样令人惊叹的女王。

The song of her name rose and fell in his mind rhythmically.

她的名字的歌声在他的脑海里有节奏地起起落落。

The sun grew low while he sat exulting.

当他兴高采烈地坐着时，太阳已经西沉了。

A chill came into the air.

空气中弥漫着一股寒意。

He couldn’t endure to take his excitement home to the light.

他无法忍受将自己的兴奋带回家见光。

He would wait till they would all be at supper.

他会等到他们都吃晚饭了。

How glad his mother would be when sometime she heard of his love!

当他的母亲有一天听到他的爱时，她会多么高兴啊！

He knew it was the very thing she would have chosen for him.

他知道这正是她为他选择的。

When he came into the kitchen she said, with relief:

当他走进厨房时，她松了口气说道：

“You’re a long time away, Wully!”

“你好久不见了，武利！”

He replied without a waver:

他毫不犹豫地回答道：

“I stopped for a swim in the creek.”

“我停下来在小溪里游泳。”

She sat looking at him, wondering why he was pale again, and silent.

她坐在那里看着他，想知道为什么他又脸色苍白，一言不发。

He was far from well, she was thinking.

他的情况很不妙，她想。

And before the meal was over, he was wondering why the children’s chatter was so strangely tiresome.

饭还没结束，他就想知道为什么孩子们的喋喋不休如此令人厌烦。

Wouldn’t they ever get away to bed, and leave him to his memories?

难道他们就不能上床睡觉，把他留在回忆里吗？

Even with that babbling about, he could feel her face against his....

即使胡言乱语，他仍能感觉到她的脸贴着他的……

His Uncle Peter’s Davie came in with the mail after supper, bringing a paper with a notice for the scattered men of his regiment, and paroled prisoners.

晚饭后，彼得叔叔的戴维带着邮件进来了，带来了一张纸，上面写着给他团里分散的士兵和假释囚犯的通知。

They were to have reported yesterday to headquarters.

他们本来应该昨天向总部报告。

He tried to appear eager to go.

他试图表现出渴望离开的样子。

His mother lifted the Psalm, when the visitors were gone, and left the children to quaver through it.

当访客离开后，他的母亲举起圣诗，让孩子们颤抖着读它。

And when he was lying in his bed, vowing desperately he would not go back, she came to him.

当他躺在床上，拼命发誓不再回去时，她来到了他身边。

“I canna’ thole your going, Wully!” she cried to him, and her cry braced him.

“我无法阻止你离开，武利！”她向他哭诉，她的哭声支撑着他。

He remembered with shame how she had made him go back after Allen’s death, how she had signaled fiercely to him to keep the mention of anything else from the children.

他羞愧地记得艾伦死后她是如何让他回去的，她是如何严厉地示意他不要向孩子们提及任何其他事情。

As if he, her son, could not do whatever he must do, and do it well!

好像他这个儿子，该做的事都做不到，也做不好！

She had been ashamed of him before the children, then.

那时，她在孩子们面前为他感到羞耻。

He remembered that, and grew brave now.

他记住了这一点，现在变得勇敢了。

He hated to remember what a baby he had been.

他不愿回忆起自己曾经是一个多么小的婴儿。

As if, however terrible the war might be, it hadn’t to be fought out, some way, by men!

就好像，无论战争有多么可怕，它都不能以某种方式由人类来解决！

As if he must escape from the hell other men must endure!

仿佛他必须逃离其他人必须忍受的地狱！

He was glad now he had occasion to strengthen the strengthener.

他很高兴现在有机会强化强化剂。

“It’s almost over now, mother!” he kept saying.

“现在快结束了，妈妈！”他不停地说。

Almost over, indeed, and a bullet the death of a second!

确实，快要结束了，一颗子弹一秒钟就死了！

What was the use of saying that when an hour could kill thousands?

当一个小时可以杀死数千人时，说有什么用呢？

She sat stroking his hair, her face turned away from him, so that he suspected tears.

她坐在那里抚摸着他的头发，脸背对着他，让他怀疑自己在流泪。

She felt like an old broken woman, worn out not by years and childbearing, but by this war.

她感觉自己就像一个破碎的老妇人，不是因为岁月和生育而疲惫不堪，而是因为这场战争。

All that night she lay sleepless, praying for her son.

那天晚上，她彻夜未眠，为儿子祈祷。

He lay sleepless in the room next to her, never giving her a thought.

他躺在她旁边的房间里睡不着觉，没有想到她。

He gave all his thoughts, he gave all he had, to the girl of the slough well.

他把自己所有的心思，他的一切，都给了泥井姑娘。

The dream of the night wore away, and the nightmare of the morning was upon him.

夜晚的美梦渐渐消失，清晨的噩梦降临在他身上。

His father was calling him long before daybreak.

天还没亮，他父亲就打电话给他。

He was starting away, in the darkness, in the cold, away from Chirstie, towards his duty.

他在黑暗中，在寒冷中，离开了克里斯蒂，开始了他的职责。

His feet ached.

他的脚很痛。

His back ached.

他的背很痛。

His head ached.

他的头很痛。

His heart ached.

他的心隐隐作痛。

He was one new great pain.

他是一个新的巨大痛苦。

It didn’t seem possible that life could be so hard.

生活似乎不可能如此艰难。

But on his father drove, through the first shivering glimpses of dawn, towards the train.

但他的父亲在黎明的第一缕颤抖的曙光中驱车朝火车走去。

CHAPTER III

第三章

After more than three months spent in hospitals, Wully came home the next March, honorably discharged from the army.

在医院度过了三个多月后，伍利于第二年三月回家，光荣退伍。

His father met him at the end of the railroad, and before dawn they started westward over the all but impassable paths called roads.

他的父亲在铁路的尽头遇见了他，黎明前他们沿着几乎无法通行的道路向西行进。

Rain began falling when the sun should have begun shining.

当阳光应该开始照射时，雨开始下。

Hour after slow hour of the morning their horses strained and plunged and splashed through deep, black mud.

清晨，一小时又一小时，他们的马在深深的黑色泥浆中奋力冲刺、溅起水花。

At every slough the men alighted to pull and tug at the sunken wagon, and returned bemired to their wet blankets.

每到一个泥沼，人们就下车去拖拉那辆沉没的马车，然后又浑身湿漉漉地回到湿漉漉的毯子上。

From noon till dusk they rode on, pulling grain sacks helmetwise down over their caps to protect the back of their necks from trickles of water, rearranging their soaked garments, hearing, when their voices fell silent, only the splashing of the horses’ feet down into the thawed mud, and the sucking of the water around hoofs reluctantly lifted to take the next step.

从中午一直骑到黄昏，他们把粮袋拉到头盔上，盖在帽子上，以保护脖子后面不被水滴到，重新整理湿透的衣服，当他们的声音消失时，只听到马蹄溅入解冻的泥巴里的声音，以及马蹄不情愿地抬起来迈出下一步的吸水声。

Darkness set in early, but they made the ford while there was still a soggy twilight.

天色很早就黑了，但他们还是趁着暮色还湿漉漉的时候涉过浅滩。

More soaked, more dripping, they went on, peering into the wall of blackness which settled down in front of them.

他们继续前行，浑身湿透，水滴更多，凝视着面前的黑墙。

They were hungry.

他们很饿。

They were tired.

他们累了。

They were chilled to the bone.

他们浑身冰冷入骨。

Wully’s teeth chattered in spite of all he could do to prevent them.

尽管他竭尽全力阻止，但武利的牙齿还是打战了。

And they were both immeasurably happy.

他们俩都无比幸福。

On they went, caressing the fine joy in their hearts.

他们继续前行，抚摸着心中的美好喜悦。

The father had his son home safe from battles.

父亲让儿子远离战斗安全回家。

The son, each shivering step, was nearing the queen of the afternoon light.

儿子颤抖着迈出的每一步，都在接近午后阳光的女王。

At half-past eight they drew near the welcoming lighted window towards which they had strained their eyes so eagerly.

八点半，他们走近那扇亮着灯光的欢迎窗户，他们热切地注视着这扇窗户。

If the boy had had a lesser mother, if he had been well, he would have gone on through the four miles of pouring darkness to Chirstie.

如果这个男孩有一个不那么伟大的母亲，如果他身体健康，他就会穿过四英里的倾盆大雨到达克里斯蒂。

But here was shelter and rest for his feebleness, a fire, food, light, a mother, and the children, caresses sprung from the warmest places in human hearts--all things, in short, that a man needs, except one.

但这里为他的虚弱提供了庇护所和休息处，有火、食物、光、母亲和孩子，还有从人心中最温暖的地方涌出的爱抚——简而言之，所有的东西都是一个人所需要的，除了一个。

It seemed that the very kitchen breathed in great, deep sighs of thankfulness and content, this great night of its life, the night Wully got home from the army.

似乎整个厨房都在呼吸着感激和满足的深深的叹息，这是生命中最伟大的夜晚，是武利从军队回家的那个晚上。

The younger children sat watching him till they sank down from their chairs asleep, for no one thought to send them away to bed.

年幼的孩子们坐在那儿看着他，直到他们从椅子上躺下来睡着了，因为没有人想到要送他们去睡觉。

He had so many things to tell them that he forgot how weary he was.

他有太多事情要告诉他们，以至于他忘记了自己有多累。

Now that his danger was over, he had no need of minimizing for his mother’s sake the discomforts he had been suffering.

现在他的危险已经过去了，他没有必要为了母亲的缘故而淡化他所遭受的不适。

He said feelingly what he thought of a government that couldn’t get letters from a soldier’s home in Iowa to a military hospital in New Orleans.

他深情地表达了他对政府的看法，政府无法将信件从爱荷华州士兵的家中送到新奥尔良的一家军事医院。

He shouldn’t have minded the fever so much if he could have heard from home, and if he had been stronger he would likely have been more sensible about not getting letters.

如果他能听到家里的消息，他就不应该那么在意发烧，而且如果他坚强些，他可能会更明智地不收到信件。

It seemed to him he had been confined in a madhouse devised for his torture.

在他看来，他似乎被关在一个专为折磨他而设计的疯人院里。

He would have preferred a battle months long to those endless, helpless, sick-minded days.

他宁愿进行长达数月的战斗，也不愿度过那些无休无止、无助、病态的日子。

And now he never wanted to speak of that time or hear of it again as long as he lived.

现在，他一生都不想再提起那段时光，也不想再听到那段时光。

Young Peter had torn his coat half off his back at play that day, and it must be mended before school time next morning.

那天，小彼得在玩耍时把背上的外套撕掉了一半，第二天早上上学之前必须把它补好。

It was a piece of patching not long or difficult, but his mother laid it down to look at her Wully--she laid it down and took it again a dozen times before it was done.

那是一块补丁，不长也不难，但他的母亲把它放下来看着她的沃利——她把它放下，又拿了十几次才完成。

She couldn’t deny her eyes the sight of his white, thin, beautiful face.

她无法否认自己的眼睛看到了他白皙、瘦削、美丽的脸庞。

He ought to go to bed.

他该去睡觉了。

She could see that.

她看得出来。

She urged him to again and again, as they sat around the stove.

当他们围坐在火炉旁时，她一次又一次地催促他。

But he had always one more thing to tell as he started to go.

但当他开始走的时候，他总是还有一件事要说。

He had never written in full about getting back to his regiment after his last visit home, had he?

他从来没有完整地写过关于上次回家后回到团里的事，不是吗？

Well, when he got back, there was not an officer left whom he had known.

好吧，当他回来的时候，他认识的军官已经没有了。

And the one to whom he had to tell his tale of escaping from his guard--oh, he was a new man, most hated by the boys--he had put Wully and two others in prison in the loft of a barn, on bread and water.

而他不得不向那个人讲述他逃离看守的故事——哦，他是一个新人，最受男孩们憎恨的人——他把武利和另外两个人关进了谷仓阁楼的监狱，只吃面包和水。

And every night the guard, who knew them, used to hand up on the end of bayonets all the food they could desire.

每天晚上，熟悉他们的警卫都会用刺刀把他们想要的所有食物递给他们。

And the officer heard of it, and was more angry.

那军官听说了，更加生气了。

He was a man who raged.

他是一个愤怒的人。

And he changed the guard, and yet the men who hated his being there, in place of the colonel they had liked, Wully’s friends, managed some way to feed the prisoners, so that really in the loft they had nothing to do but to sleep well-fed, and rest.

他换了警卫，然而那些讨厌他在那里的人，取代了他们喜欢的上校，武利的朋友们，想方设法给囚犯们提供食物，这样他们在阁楼上就无事可做，只能吃得饱饱的，休息一下。

And presently the new colonel waxed more raging and swearing, and sent the three away to another place to be disciplined, sent them--guess where, of all places--to Colonel Ingersoll for punishment!

不久，新上校变得更加愤怒和咒骂，把三人送到另一个地方接受纪律处分，把他们——猜猜是哪里——送到英格索尔上校那里接受惩罚！

“What?

“什么？

Not that infidel!”

不是那个异教徒！”

Yes, exactly, and that was just how Wully had felt about it!

是的，正是如此，这正是武利对此的感受！

The prisoners made Wully their spokesman in the first hearing.

在第一次听证会上，囚犯们指定武利为他们的发言人。

Colonel Ingersoll listened to them kindly till he had finished speaking.

英格索尔上校和蔼地听着他们讲完。

He had a boil on the back of his neck and was not able to turn his head, and he sat there, just looking at Wully, a long time, too long, Wully began to fear.

他脖子后面长了一个疖子，无法转动头，他坐在那儿，只是看着武利，时间长了，太久了，武利开始害怕了。

And then he said:

然后他说：

“I wouldn’t punish you if you were my man, McLaughlin.

“如果你是我的人，我就不会惩罚你，麦克劳克林。

And I don’t see why I should because you aren’t.” And he called an orderly and told him to take the men to a mess.

我不明白为什么我应该这么做，因为你不是。”他叫来一名勤务兵，让他带着这些人去收拾残局。

“Ingersoll did that?

“英格索尔做到了？

That infidel?”

那个异教徒？”

“Yes.”

“是的。”

His mother was leaning forward, Peter’s coat forgotten.

他的母亲向前倾着身子，彼得的外套被忘记了。

“Yon’s a grand man,” she cried with conviction.

“勇是一位伟人，”她坚定地喊道。

“He’s an infidel,” her husband reminded her.

“他是个异教徒，”她的丈夫提醒她。

“He’s a grand man for a’ that!” she asserted.

“他是一个伟大的人！”她断言。

“But he’s an _infidel_!”

“但他是一个异教徒！”

“He’s a grand man, I’m telling you, for a’ that!” After that, every time she sang the antichrist’s praise to her neighbors she had the last word of characterization.

“我告诉你，他是一位伟人！”此后，每当她向邻居们歌颂敌基督时，她都有最后的定论。

(After all, _her_ family had not been Covenanters.) Presently she laid the coat down again--the children were in bed now, and Wully, too, with only his father and mother beside him in the kitchen.

（毕竟，她的家人并不是圣约者。） 不久，她又把外套放下了——孩子们现在已经上床睡觉了，武利也上床了，厨房里只有他的父母在他身边。

“Your father told you about Jeannie’s death, Wully?” His father _had_ told him briefly about it on the way home.

“你父亲告诉你珍妮的死讯了，武利？”他父亲在回家的路上简单地告诉了他这件事。

He didn’t say to his mother that the news had thrilled him with the certainty that now his plans could have no opposition, since Chirstie was left quite unprotected, and must be needing him.

他没有对母亲说，这个消息让他很兴奋，他确信现在他的计划不会有任何反对，因为克里斯蒂完全没有受到保护，而且一定需要他。

He was ashamed of the hope he had had from it, when he saw his mother’s face harden with grief and resentment as she went on to relate the details of her friend’s death, a death grim enough to be in keeping with Jeannie’s life.

当他看到母亲继续讲述她朋友死亡的细节时，她的脸因悲伤和怨恨而变得冷酷，她为自己所抱有的希望感到羞愧，这种死亡足以与珍妮的生活相一致。

For her part, she hoped to live till Alex McNair got home, till she could get one good chance to tell him what she thought of him!

就她而言，她希望能活到亚历克斯·麦克奈尔回家，直到她能有一个好机会告诉他她对他的看法！

Oh, it had been altogether a terrible winter, almost as bad as that worst early one, just one fierce-driven blizzard after another.

哦，那真是一个可怕的冬天，几乎和早期最糟糕的冬天一样糟糕，只是一场又一场猛烈的暴风雪。

Jeannie had known in that darkening afternoon that it was no common illness coming over her.

在那个天色渐暗的下午，珍妮知道她患上的并不是常见的疾病。

Chirstie, terrified by her isolation, had begged to be allowed at once to go for her aunt.

克里斯蒂对自己的孤独感到害怕，请求允许立即去找她的姨妈。

But even then so thick was the storm raging that from the window she could not see the barn, and to venture out into the storm could mean only death.

但即便如此，暴风雨仍然如此猛烈，从窗户里她看不到谷仓，冒险进入暴风雨中就意味着死亡。

As the night had hurled itself upon the poor little shelter, almost hidden under drifts, and the maniac wind unchecked by a tree, unhindered by a considerable hill for a thousand miles, tore on in its deadly course, inside the cabin where the candle flickered gustily out, Jeannie had whispered to her children that she was dying.

夜幕降临在几乎被雪堆掩盖的可怜的小庇护所上，狂风肆虐，没有一棵树，没有一座大山，绵延一千英里，在蜡烛猛烈地熄灭的小屋里，以致命的方式撕扯着，珍妮低声对她的孩子们说，她快死了。

One thing they must promise her so that she might die in peace.

他们必须向她保证一件事，这样她才能平静地死去。

They must not venture out for help, even in the morning, unless the storm was over.

除非暴风雨结束，否则即使是在早上，他们也不能冒险出去寻求帮助。

She lay then moaning inarticulately, which was frightful for the children, but not so frightful as the silence that followed, when they could in no way make her answer their cries of agony.

她躺着，含糊不清地呻吟着，这对孩子们来说很可怕，但还不如接下来的沉默更可怕，因为他们根本无法让她回应他们痛苦的呼喊。

All that night Chirstie sat watching beside her, relighting the candle, while the other children slept.

整个晚上，当其他孩子都在睡觉时，克里斯蒂坐在她旁边，重新点燃蜡烛。

In the quieted morning she had helped her brother dig an entrance to the stable, and together they had got the horse out.

在一个安静的早晨，她帮哥哥挖了一个马厩的入口，然后他们一起把马牵了出来。

She had wrapped him as securely as possible, and sent him across the blinding snow to his uncle’s, John Keith’s.

她尽可能把他包裹得严严实实，然后送他穿过耀眼的雪地，来到他叔叔约翰·基思的家。

And when Aunt Libby finally got there, she found the baby playing on the floor, the dinner cooking on the stove, and Chirstie on her mother’s bed unconscious.

当利比阿姨终于到达那里时，她发现婴儿在地板上玩耍，晚餐在炉子上煮着，而克里斯蒂则躺在母亲的床上，不省人事。

Tears were running down Isobel McLaughlin’s face as she finished.

伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林说完后，泪流满面。

Though she never doubted that God was infinitely kind, she wondered at times why that something else, called life, or nature, should be so cruel.

尽管她从不怀疑上帝是无限仁慈的，但她有时想知道为什么其他东西，称为生命或自然，会如此残酷。

She wondered why it was that while with her all things prospered, with the good Jeannie nothing ever refrained from turning itself into tragedy.

她想知道为什么在她身边一切都繁荣昌盛，而在善良的珍妮身边一切都不可避免地变成了悲剧。

And besides all that, now that the spring seemed coming, that stubborn girl Chirstie, refusing longer to stay with her Aunt Libby, had suddenly taken her small brother and sister, and gone back to her empty house, and there she was, living alone, with no company but occasionally a neighboring girl, or her distressed Aunt Libby.

除此之外，现在春天似乎即将到来，那个顽固的女孩克里斯蒂拒绝再和她的利比阿姨呆在一起，突然带着她的弟弟和妹妹回到了她空荡荡的房子里，她就在那里，独自生活，没有人陪伴，除了偶尔有一个邻居女孩，或者她心疼的利比阿姨。

Wully’s mother had gone to her, and begged her to come and stay with her.

武利的母亲去找她，恳求她过来和她住在一起。

Other faithful friends had invited her to their home, but they had begged and pleaded in vain.

其他忠实的朋友也邀请她到家里做客，但他们的恳求和恳求都徒劳无功。

Chirstie would listen to no one.

克里斯蒂不会听任何人的。

It was a most unfitting and dangerous thing, a young girl like that alone there.

一个这样的年轻女孩独自待在那里，是一件最不合适、最危险的事情。

She kept saying her father would be home any day now, but Isobel McLaughlin would prophesy that he would not be back till he had a new wife to bring with him.

她一直说她的父亲现在随时都会回家，但伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林预言，在他娶了新妻子之前，他不会回来。

They would all see whether she was right about that or not!

他们都得看看她说得对不对！

Wully, the ardent, jumped instantly to the hope that Chirstie had known he was coming, and had gone back to the cabin to be there alone to receive him.

热心的乌利立刻满怀希望，希望克里斯蒂知道他要来，并独自回到小屋迎接他。

That was the explanation of her “stubbornness” and indeed it was a brave thing for a girl to do for her lover.

这就是她的“固执”的解释，对于一个女孩来说，为自己的爱人做这件事确实是一件勇敢的事情。

Alone there she would be this rainy night, grieving for her mother and waiting for him!

这个雨夜，她独自一人，哀悼母亲，等待他！

Of course she would marry him at once!

她当然会立刻嫁给他！

He would put in a crop there for her father.

他会在那里为她父亲种庄稼。

Tomorrow, not later than the next day, at most, they would be married!

明天，不晚于后天，最多，他们就结婚了！

He slept but excitedly that night....

那天晚上他睡得很开心......

In the morning it was still raining.

早上，雨还在下。

Breakfast and worship over, he went to the barn, where the men were setting about those rainy-day tasks which all well-regulated farms have in waiting.

早餐和礼拜结束后，他去了谷仓，那里的人们正在处理所有管理良好的农场都在等待的雨天任务。

In the old thatched barn, three sides of which were stacked slough grass, his father was greasing the wagon’s axles; Andy was repairing the rope ox harness; Peter and Hughie were struggling to lift wee Sarah into their playhouse cave in a haystack side of the barn, and having at length all but upset the wagon on themselves, propped up as it was by only three wheels, they had to be shooed away to play on the cleaner floor of the new barn.

旧茅草谷仓的三边都堆满了腐草，父亲正在给马车的车轴上油。安迪正在修理牛绳。彼得和休吉费力地把小莎拉抱进谷仓干草堆一侧的游戏室洞穴里，最后他们几乎把只有三个轮子支撑的马车翻倒了，他们不得不被赶走，到新谷仓更干净的地板上玩耍。

Wully took up a hoe that needed sharpening for the weeding of the corn that was to be planted.

武利拿起一把需要磨尖的锄头，为即将种植的玉米除草。

They talked of the new machine that was being made for the corn planting.

他们谈论了为玉米种植而制造的新机器。

Wully answered absent-mindedly that he had seen one in Davenport once.

武利心不在焉地回答说他在达文波特见过一次。

He spoke with one eye on the hoe, and one on the heavens.

他说话时一只眼睛看着锄头，一只眼睛看着天空。

After an hour’s waiting, the sky still forbade a journey.

等了一个小时，天色依旧不准。

But his father, presently, looking up from his work, saw him climbing on a horse, wrapping himself in bedraggled blankets as best he might, against the downpour.

但不久，他的父亲从工作中抬起头来，看到他爬上一匹马，尽最大努力用脏兮兮的毯子裹住自己，以抵御倾盆大雨。

He naturally asked in surprise:

他自然惊讶地问道：

“Wherever are you going, Wully?”

“武利，你要去哪里？”

Wully replied:

武利 回复:

“Just down the road!”

“就在路边！”

Fancy that, now!

想象一下，现在！

A McLaughlin answering his father in a tone that implied that what he asked was none of his business!

麦克劳克林回答他父亲的语气，暗示着他问的问题不关他的事！

But it was Wully who was answering, just home after four years of absence.

但接听电话的是伍利，他在阔别四年后刚刚回到家。

His father was amused.

他的父亲被逗乐了。

The thought came gradually into his slow mind that there would be a lassie in this.

他迟钝的脑子里渐渐浮现出一个念头：这里面会有一个姑娘。

A feverish man wasn’t riding out through a rain like that one without some very good reason.

一个发烧的人不会没有充分的理由在这样的雨中骑马出去。

What lassie would it be?

会是哪个小姐姐呢？

He must ask his wife about it.

他必须向他的妻子询问这件事。

The path which Wully took required caution, but the cause demanded speed.

武利所走的道路需要谨慎，但事业需要速度。

The way seemed to have stretched out incredibly since he had last gone over it.

自从他上次走过以来，这条路似乎变得难以置信地延伸。

After riding a hundred miles or so, he got to the little shanty of a barn on the McNair place.

骑行了大约一百英里后，他到达了麦克奈尔家谷仓的小棚屋。

Chirstie’s twelve-year-old brother Dod was there, and Wully gave his horse to his care.

克里斯蒂十二岁的弟弟多德也在场，武利则把他的马交给了他照顾。

That horse had to be watched carefully, Wully vowed.

必须仔细看管那匹马，武利发誓。

He had never seen such tricks as it had been doing on the way over.

他从来没有见过像它过来的路上那样的把戏。

Dod must not take his eyes from it.

多德决不能把目光从它身上移开。

Wully hurried to the house.

武利急忙跑到屋里。

The door of the house opened, and-- Oh, damn, and all other oaths!--Scotch and army!

房子的门打开了，然后——哦，该死的，还有其他所有的誓言！——苏格兰威士忌和军队！

Chirstie’s _aunt_ stood there in it, Libby Keith.

克里斯蒂的姨妈站在那儿，莉比·基思。

She was Wully’s aunt, too, that sister of his father’s who had married Jeannie McNair’s brother, John Keith!

她也是武利的姨妈，是他父亲的妹妹，嫁给了珍妮·麦克奈尔的兄弟约翰·基思！

This was the first time that Wully had wanted really to curse an aunt, though he liked this one but dutifully.

这是武利第一次真正想要咒骂一个阿姨，虽然他喜欢这样，但很尽职。

She saw him, and her voice fell in dismay.

她看到了他，声音里充满了沮丧。

“Lawsie me!” she bewailed.

“劳西我！”她哀叹道。

“I thought it was my Peter!”

“我以为那是我的彼得！”

Bad enough to be taken for her Peter at any time!

太糟糕了，随时都会被当作她的彼得！

And she had to stand there stupidly a moment, to recover from the disappointment, as it were, and then looking straight at him, it was like her to ask:

她不得不傻傻地站了一会儿，从失望中恢复过来，然后直视着他，就像她在问：

“Is it you, Wully?” As if she couldn’t see that it was!

“是你吗，武利？”就好像她看不到一样！

Standing there filling the door, hiding the room from him!

站在那里堵住门，把房间藏起来，不让他看见！

“Whatever is the matter?”

“有什么事吗？”

Where was the girl?

那个女孩在哪里？

Was his aunt a permanent blockade?

难道他姨妈是永久封锁的吗？

He came vigorously towards her, hurrying her slow cordiality.

他猛烈地朝她走来，催促着她缓慢的热情。

There she was!

她就在那儿！

There was Chirstie!

那里有克里斯蒂！

She had seen him.

她见过他。

He went towards her----

他向她走去——

And she shrank away from him!

而她却从他身边退缩了！

Not only had she not an impulse of welcome, she shrank away from him!

她非但没有一丝欢迎的冲动，反而畏缩不前！

She gave him her hand because she couldn’t help herself.

她向他伸出了手，因为她无法控制自己。

“Chirstie!” he faltered.

“克里斯蒂！”他支吾着。

“Are you back?” she asked.

“你回来了？”她问道。

She pulled her hand away in a panic.

她惊慌地抽回了手。

“It’s a fine day,” he heard her murmur.

“今天天气很好，”他听到她低声说道。

It was the bitterest day of his life!

这是他一生中最痛苦的一天！

He sat down weakly.

他有气无力地坐了下来。

Men stagger down helplessly that way when bullets go through them.

当子弹穿过时，人们就那样无助地踉踉跄跄地倒下。

The damnable aunt began now welcoming him fondly.

可恶的阿姨现在开始热情地欢迎他。

He didn’t know what he was answering her.

他不知道自己在回答她什么。

It couldn’t be possible, could it, that Chirstie didn’t want to see him?

克里斯蒂不可能不想见他，不是吗？

She had taken a seat just as far away from him as the room permitted.

在房间允许的情况下，她坐在离他尽可能远的地方。

She sat about her knitting industriously.

她坐在那儿勤奋地编织着毛衣。

Sometimes she raised her eyes to look into the fire, but never once did she raise them to satisfy Wully’s hunger.

有时她会抬起眼睛看火，但从来没有抬起眼睛来满足武利的饥饿。

His eagerness, her refusal, became apparent at length to even the stupid aunt.

他的热切，她的拒绝，最终连愚蠢的姨妈都看出来了。

She understood that Wully had got home only the night before, and in the morning, rain and all, had ridden over to see the girl who didn’t want to see him.

她知道武利前一天晚上才回到家，第二天早上，冒着雨，骑着马去看那个不想见他的女孩。

He really was looking very ill.

他看上去确实病得很重。

Well, well!

好吧，好吧！

Isobel McLaughlin would have been mightily “set up” by such a match.

伊索贝尔·麦克劳克林可能会因为这样一场比赛而受到极大的“刺激”。

If Chirstie had not been Peter’s own cousin, Libby Keith would have liked nothing better than the girl for her son.

如果克里斯蒂不是彼得的表弟，利比·基思最喜欢这个女孩做她的儿子了。

She had fancied at times her son had thought of it, too.

她有时觉得她的儿子也想到了这一点。

Her sympathy was with the soldier.

她同情那个士兵。

She rose heavily after really only a few minutes, and said:

真的只过了几分钟，她就重重地站了起来，说道：

“I doubt the setting hens have left the nests, Chirstie.”

“我怀疑筑巢母鸡已经离开巢穴了，克里斯蒂。”

She put a shawl over her head, and went to the door, and closed it after her.

她用一条围巾盖住了头上，然后走到门边，关上了门。

Wully jumped to his feet, and went to bend down over his sweetheart.

武利跳了起来，弯下身子伏在他的爱人身上。

“What’s the matter, Chirstie?

“怎么了，克里斯蒂？

What’s the matter?

怎么了？

What have I done?”

我做了什么？

She shrank back into her chair.

她缩回椅子里。

“You haven’t forgotten!

“你没有忘记！

You remember that afternoon!

你还记得那个下午！

I thought now that you are alone here, we needn’t wait!”

我想现在你一个人在这里，我们不必等待！”

“Sit down in your chair!” she commanded.

“坐到你的椅子上！”她命令道。

“Don’t!”

“不！”

He didn’t.

他没有。

He couldn’t.

他不能。

“You’re in my light!”

“你在我的光芒里！”

He drew back only a little way.

他只向后退了一点点。

“I didn’t say it all, but you know!

“虽然我没说，但是你也知道！

Didn’t you get my letters either?”

你也没有收到我的信吗？”

She moved farther away from him.

她离他越来越远。

“Now that I think of it, I guess I did.

“现在想起来，我想我做到了。

I got one or two.” She looked as if she was trying to recall something trivial!

我有一两个。”她看起来就像是在回忆一些琐碎的事情！

He stood absolutely dazed, looking at her hard face.

他呆呆地站着，看着她冷酷的脸。

Then she said:

然后她说：

“It’s near dinner time.

“快到晚饭时间了。

You’ll be going back.”

你会回去的。”

“I _will_ not!” he cried, outraged.

“我不会！”他愤怒地喊道。

“I came for you, Chirstie!

“我是来找你的，克里斯蒂！

I thought we could be married right away.

我以为我们可以马上结婚。

That’s what I meant.

这就是我的意思。

You knew that!” He bent over her again, and she struggled away angrily.

你知道这一点！”他再次向她弯腰，她愤怒地挣脱。

She went to the door, and called:

她走到门口，喊道：

“Auntie!

“阿姨！

Wully’s going!

武利要出发了！

Do you want to see him?”

你想见他吗？

Aunt Libby came heavily in.

莉比姨妈沉重地走了进来。

She urged him to stay for dinner.

她催促他留下来吃晚饭。

At least she would make him something hot.

至少她会给他做一些热的东西。

Why, he was all wet from the ride!

哎呀，他骑得浑身湿透了！

“Don’t bother about me!” he said angrily, hardly knowing his own voice.

“不用管我！”他愤怒地说，几乎不认识自己的声音。

“I just rode over to see a calf of Stevenson’s.

“我刚刚骑马去看史蒂文森的一头小牛。

I’ll be on my way!” Out of the house he rushed, leaving his aunt to meditate upon her theories.

我这就上路！”他冲出家门，留下姨妈思考她的理论。

Turning back, he saw, through tears, that the girl was looking after him.

回过头，他泪流满面地看到女孩正在看着他。

He wouldn’t ride towards the Stevensons.

他不会骑马去史蒂文森家。

He would ride straight home, and she would know why he had come.

他会直接骑车回家，而她会知道他来这里的原因。

He was chilling severely now, from the shock of her denial, from rage and humiliation and sorrow.

他现在浑身发冷，因为她的否认而感到震惊，因为愤怒、羞辱和悲伤。

He hardly knew whether it was tears or rain in his face.

他几乎不知道脸上流的是泪水还是雨水。

“Fool!” he kept saying to himself.

“傻子！”他不断地对自己说。

_Fool_ that he had been!

他真是个_傻瓜_！

Why had he ever taken so much for granted?

为什么他把一切都视为理所当然？

He had had only a little letter from her, a shy letter.

他只收到了她的一封小信，一封害羞的信。

But he had never doubted she wrote often to him, letters which, like his mother’s, had never reached him.

但他从不怀疑她经常给他写信，而这些信就像他母亲的信一样，从未到达过他的手中。

Of course she had never really said that she would wait for him.

当然，她从来没有真正说过要等他。

She had never promised.

她从来没有答应过。

But that was what that afternoon meant to him.

但这就是那个下午对他的意义。

It must be that some other man had won her.

一定是其他男人赢得了她。

They must all be wanting her.

他们一定都想要她。

While he had been lying in that hospital, living only on the dreams of their lovemaking, some other man had taken his place against her face.

当他躺在医院里，只靠做爱的梦想生活时，另一个男人取代了他的位置，贴在她的脸上。

Or could it be that the tragic death of her mother had made her cold?

又或者是母亲的惨死让她心寒了？

It was no use trying to imagine that, for what ordinary, unkissed girl of the neighborhood would not have given him a decent welcome home?

想象一下，哪个普通的、没有被亲吻的邻居女孩不会给他一个体面的欢迎回家，这是没有用的？

A mere acquaintance would have been more glad to see him back than she had been.

如果只是一个熟人，见到他回来一定会比她更高兴。

Glad!

高兴的！

She had not only not been glad.

她不仅不高兴。

She had shrunk away in fear, and dread, even disgust.

她因恐惧而畏缩，甚至厌恶。

If it had been but mourning for her mother, she would have come to him.

如果只是为了哀悼她的母亲，她就会来找他。

If he had been disconsolate, he would have known where to go for comfort!

如果他心情郁闷，他一定知道该去哪里寻求安慰！

He had simply been a fool to suppose he had won her.

他简直是个傻瓜，竟然以为自己赢得了她。

Still, there was that afternoon to justify his hope.

尽管如此，那天下午还是证明了他的希望。

Could it be possible that that had meant nothing to her?

难道这对她来说毫无意义吗？

Could he believe that that had been to her an accustomed experience?

他能相信这对她来说是一种习以为常的经历吗？

If only her face had blossomed just a little for him, that was all he would have asked.

如果她的脸能为他绽放一点点就好了，这就是他所要求的。

He could have waited, respecting her bereavement.

他本可以等待，尊重她的丧亲之痛。

But that shrinking away, that fear--what could he make of that?

但那种退缩、那种恐惧——他能对此做些什么呢？

And he had supposed, fool that he was, that she felt toward him somewhat as he had felt toward her!

他以为，他真是个傻瓜，她对他的感觉就像他对她的感觉一样！

She wanted nothing of him but his absence.

除了他的缺席，她别无所求。

All the family would hear now of his visit from Aunt Libby.

现在全家人都会从莉比姨妈那里听到他来访的消息。

Not that he would mind that, if only she had welcomed it!

他并不介意，只要她愿意就好了！

The wound was sickening him.

伤口让他感到恶心。

CHAPTER IV

第四章

His mother’s curiosity about the lassie disappeared at the first glimpse she got of his face.

当他母亲第一眼看到他的脸时，她对这个姑娘的好奇心就消失了。

She put him to bed, with hot drinks and heated stones, with quilt after quilt wrapped about him.

她把他放到床上，给了他热饮和加热的石头，并给他盖上一床又一床被子。

But still he chilled and shivered.

但他仍然感到寒冷和颤抖。

He was so wretched that she had no heart to reprove him for that rash outing through the rain.

他实在是太可怜了，她无心责备他冒雨外出的行为。

For a long time he remained fever-shaken and low-spirited, the last one certainly she would venture to ask about a girl.

很长一段时间，他一直处于发烧状态，情绪低落，她肯定是最后一个敢于询问女孩的事情的。

Day after day he lay contrasting in his mind those two hours with Chirstie, contrasting his dreams with the reality, while the rain continued to sweep across the prairies in gray and windy majesty.

他日复一日地躺着，在脑海中对比与克里斯蒂的那两个小时，对比自己的梦想与现实，而雨继续在灰蒙蒙的风中席卷大草原。

One day Andy returned dripping from the post office with the news of Lee’s surrender.

有一天，安迪从邮局回来，浑身湿透，带来了李投降的消息。

Wully celebrated the event with an unusually hard chill.

武利怀着异常寒冷的心情庆祝了这件事。

The tidings of Lincoln’s death sickened him desperately.

林肯去世的消息使他感到极度恶心。

He got to thinking he was never again to be a strong man.

他开始认为自己再也无法成为一个坚强的人了。

And he could see no reason for wanting to be.

他看不出有什么理由愿意这样做。

After a few weeks the rains ceased, and the spring flooded her sunshine over the fields with high engendering ecstasy.

几周后，雨停了，春天的阳光洒满田野，令人心旷神怡。

The McLaughlins, man and boy, from dawn to darkness went over their ground, getting the prodigal soil into the best possible tilth, scattering the chosen seed by hand.

麦克劳林夫妇，一个男人和一个男孩，从黎明到天黑都在他们的土地上耕耘，把浪费的土壤尽可能地耕作得最好，用手撒下选定的种子。

Even on the holy Sabbath of the Lord, Wully’s father walked contentedly through his possessions, dreaming of the coming harvest, and of the eventual great harvest of a nation.

即使在主的神圣安息日，武利的父亲也心满意足地走过他的财产，梦想着即将到来的丰收，梦想着一个国家最终的大丰收。

It was lambing time, and calving time, and time for little pigs and chickens.

这是产羔的时间，产犊的时间，也是小猪和小鸡的时间。

The very cocks went about crowing out their conquering energy all over the yard, till it seemed to Wully, sitting wearily on the doorstep, that he was the only thing in the world sick and useless and alone.

那些公鸡在院子里到处发出它们征服的能量，直到疲倦地坐在门口的武利看来，他是世界上唯一生病、无用和孤独的东西。

May passed, and June.

五月过去了，六月也过去了。

Thoughtful men sighed when they spoke of the soldier, and hated war the more.

有思想的人一谈起军人就会叹息，更加痛恨战争。

Five years ago he had gone away a strong, high-spirited lad, and now he dragged himself brokenly around the dooryard, the wreck of a man.

五年前，他离开时还是一个坚强、意气风发的小伙子，现在他拖着疲惫的身子在前院里走来走去，就像一个男人的残骸。

His mother, trying to tempt his appetite, was at her wits’ end.

他的母亲为了吊起他的胃口，却束手无策。

She sometimes thought if he had been a younger boy she would have given him a thoroughly good spanking.

她有时想，如果他是个小男孩，她一定会狠狠地打他一顿屁股。

She didn’t know what to make of him.

她不知道该怎么看待他。

Had he not always been the happiest, most even-tempered of her flock?

难道他不一直是她羊群中最快乐、最温和的一个吗？

Had there not been times when he and Allen had made bets about which one would begin chilling first, when malaria, like everything else, had been a joke with them?

难道他和艾伦曾经打赌谁先开始发冷，而疟疾和其他一切事物一样，对他们来说是一个笑话吗？

She had never seen a child as unhappy, as irritable as her Wully was now.

她从来没有见过哪个孩子像她的沃利现在这样不高兴、这么易怒。

There was no way of pleasing him.

没有办法让他高兴。

All he wanted was to be left alone, to lie with his face in his arms on the bed, scarcely speaking civilly when she tried to get him to eat something.

他只想一个人呆着，把脸埋在床上，当她试图让他吃点东西时，他几乎不说礼貌的话。

But whenever she said to herself that he ought to be spanked, at once her heart reproved her.

但每当她对自己说他应该被打屁股时，她的心立刻就会责备她。

How could she imagine all that he had been through, all the strain of those years?

她怎么能想象他这些年所经历的一切，所有的压力？

The poor laddie, so wretched, and his own mother having no patience with him!

这个可怜的小伙子，太可怜了，他自己的母亲对他没有耐心！

In all these weeks Wully had seen the girl only a few times, and none of them an occasion much less painful than the first.

在这几个星期里，武利只见过这个女孩几次，而且每次都比第一次更痛苦。

Once he had been well enough to go to church.

有一次他身体好了，可以去教堂了。

He had waited till she came out of the door, and then, before them all, he had gone over to the wagon where she was seating herself with her brother.

他一直等到她走出门，然后，当着所有人的面，他走到了马车旁，她和她哥哥坐在那儿。

She had drawn away from him as if he had been a rattler, he said to himself bitterly.

她离开了他，就好像他是一只响尾蛇一样，他痛苦地对自己说。

What did she suppose he had done, anyway, that she didn’t want even to look in his direction?

无论如何，她认为他做了什么，以至于她甚至不想朝他的方向看？

He had gone again to her desperately one evening, determined to find out what it all meant.

一天晚上，他绝望地再次去找她，决心弄清楚这一切意味着什么。

She had indeed been alone when he came within sight, but, seeing him, she had called sharply to Dod to come and sit beside her.

当他出现在她的视线范围内时，她确实是独自一人，但是，看到他后，她大声叫道德过来坐在她身边。

As if she were afraid of him!

就好像她很怕他一样！

As if he would hurt her!

仿佛他会伤害她！

She was even more distant now than she had been when he was in New Orleans, when he could at least think of her with hope.

现在，她比他在新奥尔良时更加遥远，那时他至少可以满怀希望地想到她。

Once he had driven over with his mother to see her, had ridden along in forbidding silence, wondering how much his mother knew of that first visit, dreading lest she might mention Chirstie’s name significantly to him.

有一次，他和母亲一起开车去看她，一路上保持着令人生畏的沉默，想知道母亲对第一次来访了解多少，担心她会向他提起克里斯蒂的名字。

He had not condescended to go into the house that time, but finding Dod’s hoe, he had weeded their little patch of corn, weeded it fiercely and well, to let her see how he would have worked for her if only she had been willing.

那次他并没有屈尊进屋，而是找到了多德的锄头，给他们那一小块玉米地锄了草，锄得又狠又好，让她看看如果她愿意的话，他会如何为她干活。

His mother had not said a word about the girl as they rode home together, but she sighed deeply, from time to time, so that he guessed Chirstie had not even been cordial to her.

当他们一起骑车回家时，他的母亲没有对这个女孩说过一句话，但她时不时地深深地叹了口气，所以他猜克里斯蒂对她甚至没有热情。

He tried hard enough, as he grew stronger, to shake off his depression.

随着他变得越来越坚强，他非常努力地试图摆脱抑郁。

There were plenty of girls in the world whom he might marry, weren’t there?

世界上有很多女孩可以让他结婚，不是吗？

The trouble was, he hated other girls.

问题是，他讨厌其他女孩。

Still, he couldn’t let merely one woman make him unhappy, could he?

但他总不能让一个女人让他不高兴吧？

Not much!

不多！

He used to be happy all the time, before he got to thinking about her so much.

在他开始如此想念她之前，他曾经一直都很快乐。

He would brace up, he vowed, and forget her.

他发誓，他会振作起来，忘记她。

But Harvey Stowe came home in July, and came at once to see him, a strong and hilarious Harvey, who wouldn’t take any excuses.

但哈维·斯托七月回到家，立刻来看望他，一个坚强而搞笑的哈维，不会找任何借口。

Wully must come over to his wedding.

武利必须过来参加他的婚礼。

Wully would not.

武利不会。

Likely he would go to another man’s wedding!

很可能他会去参加另一个男人的婚礼！

He would have fever that day if he hadn’t had it for a week!

如果一周不发烧的话，他那天就会发烧了！

But he went.

但他去了。

The day after, thinking of his friend’s happiness as he walked through his father’s wheat, he sat down to rest in a path which it shaded, and stretched himself out in it.

第二天，他想起朋友走过父亲的麦田时的幸福，就在麦子遮荫的小路上坐下来休息，伸了个懒腰。

There suddenly and poignantly, for the first time in his life, he envied Allen and wanted to die.

突然间，他有生以来第一次强烈地嫉妒艾伦，想要死。

He wanted to die with so keen a despair that never afterwards could he hear the cocksure rail against suicide.

他怀着如此强烈的绝望想要死去，以至于此后他再也听不到反对自杀的自信的抱怨。

He hated living vehemently, and wanted to escape from it.

他讨厌激烈的生活，想要逃离它。

There was no use saying one girl couldn’t make him unhappy.

说一个女孩不能让他不高兴是没有用的。

He was meant for Chirstie, and without her life had no meaning.

他是为克里斯蒂而生的，没有她，生命就没有意义。

Some way, it had just that combination of demure eyes and white arms to stimulate his desire till it was without mercy.

不知怎的，它就是那端庄的眼睛和雪白的手臂的组合，刺激着他的欲望，直到毫不留情。

He could not go on without her.

没有她，他无法继续下去。

He wished there had been a battle that day, which he could have gone into.

他希望那天有一场战斗，他本来可以参加。

He would have shot himself dead with his first bullet.

他会用第一颗子弹射死自己。

That was the climax of his despair, though he was far from knowing it.

那是他绝望的顶峰，尽管他远没有意识到。

The next Sunday he walked with his brothers to the church where the lairds of the Waupsipinnikon, ragged but clean, worshiped the God of their fathers.

下个星期天，他和兄弟们一起步行去了教堂，沃西平尼康的领主们衣衫褴褛但干净整洁，在那里崇拜他们祖先的上帝。

The little church they had built out of their wartime prosperity stands on a green knoll on Gib McWhee’s farm.

他们在战时的繁荣中建造的小教堂矗立在吉布·麦克威农场的一个绿色小山丘上。

Entering it, one saw then, as one sees nowadays, a large unadorned square room, with only one beauty, and that so great that any church in the world might well envy it.

进入其中，人们看到的，就像现在看到的那样，是一间朴素的方形大房间，只有一种美感，而且如此之大，世界上任何一个教堂都会羡慕它。

Eight high, narrow windows it has, pointedly arched, of clear glass, and whatever one thinks of a style of ecclesiastical architecture which draws one’s attention from the sermon to the prairies, those eight windows frame pictures of billowing, cloud-shadowed, green distances in which surely sensible eyes can never sufficiently luxuriate.

它有八扇高而窄的窗户，呈尖拱形，透明玻璃制成，无论人们如何看待一种将人们的注意力从布道吸引到大草原的教会建筑风格，这八扇窗户所构成的画面都是滚滚的、云影缭绕的、绿色的远方，明智的眼睛永远无法充分欣赏其中。

Up the scrubbed aisle, into pews varnished into yellow wave patterns, family after family filed decorously that morning, mothers and infants in arms and strong men--there were as yet no old men in that world.

那天早上，沿着擦洗干净的过道，走进涂有黄色波浪图案的长椅上，一家又一家地整齐地列队，怀里抱着母亲和婴儿，还有强壮的男人——那个世界上还没有老人。

Wully went to the family pew.

武利走向家族长椅。

Before the war he had usually sought out a place where the overflow of big boys sat as far as possible away from the source of blessings.

战前，他通常会寻找一个地方，让大男孩们尽可能远离祝福之源。

The McLaughlin pew held only twelve, and that uncomfortably.

麦克劳克林的长椅只能容纳十二个人，这让人很不舒服。

But there had never been more than twelve children at church together, since small Sarah had been born after her brothers had gone to war.

但教堂里的孩子从来没有超过十二个，因为小莎拉是在她的兄弟们参战后出生的。

The congregation sang their Psalms out of books now.

会众现在用书本唱诗篇。

No more lining-out of numbers in a congregation so well-established and prosperous.

在一个如此稳固和繁荣的会众中，不再会有那么多人排队。

The man of God read the Scriptures, and then at last came that welcomed long prayer, good for fifteen minutes at least.

神人读了圣经，最后迎来了长长的祷告，至少十五分钟。

Wully, sitting determinedly in a certain well-considered place in the pew, bowing his head devoutly and bending just a bit to one side, could watch Chirstie through his fingers, where she sat on the other side of the church in the pew just behind the McLaughlins.

武利坚定地坐在长椅上某个经过深思熟虑的位置，虔诚地低着头，稍微向一侧弯曲，可以通过手指观察克里斯蒂，她坐在教堂另一侧的麦克劳林夫妇后面的长椅上。

Her eyes were closed, but his did a week’s duty.

她的眼睛闭着，但他的眼睛却完成了一周的任务。

There was no doubt about it.

毫无疑问。

She was getting thinner and thinner.

她越来越瘦了。

It wasn’t just his imagination.

这不仅仅是他的想象。

She was paler.

她脸色更苍白了。

She was unhappy.

她很不高兴。

He had noticed that week by week.

他每周都注意到这一点。

Surely she was not happy!

她肯定不高兴！

The minister was an indecent man, cutting that prayer short in so unceremonious a fashion.

这位牧师是一个不检点的人，以如此不礼貌的方式缩短了祈祷。

Wully wondered the elders didn’t notice his carelessness.

武利怀疑长老们没有注意到他的粗心。

But after the sermon there would be another prayer, just a glimpse long.

但讲道结束后，会有另一场祈祷，只是短暂的一瞥。

He had that to look forward to.

他对此充满期待。

He made a mental note of the text, which the children would be expected to repeat at the dinner table, and then settled down, to be disturbed no more by sermons.

他在心里记下了课文，孩子们应该在餐桌上重复这些课文，然后安静下来，不再被布道打扰。

He had long ago acquired a certain immunity to them.

他早就对它们产生了一定的免疫力。

A breeze cooled the warm worshiping faces, and from outside came the soothing hum of bees, and the impatient stamping of fly-bitten horses.

一阵微风吹过，温暖的崇拜面孔变得凉爽起来，外面传来蜜蜂舒缓的嗡嗡声和被苍蝇咬伤的马不耐烦的跺脚声。

The minister’s voice was rich and low.

部长的声音浑厚而低沉。

The younger children slept first, unashamedly, against the older ones next them, and then, gradually, one God-fearing farmer and another, exhausted by the week’s haying, nodded, struggled, surrendered, and slept.

年幼的孩子毫无羞耻地首先睡在旁边的大孩子身上，然后，渐渐地，一个敬畏上帝的农民和另一个因一周的干草而精疲力尽的农民点点头，挣扎，投降，然后睡着了。

Wully was wide awake, waiting for the last prayer.

武利完全清醒，等待着最后的祈祷。

There was no time to be lost, when the petitions were so short.

请愿书如此之短，不能浪费时间。

He turned his head, and there--oh, Chirstie was looking at him!

他转过头，发现——哦，克里斯蒂正在看着他！

With head bowed, but eyes wide open, she was _looking_ at him!

她低着头，睁大眼睛，正看着他！

Hungrily, tenderly, pitifully, just as he wanted her to look!

饥渴、温柔、可怜，一如他想要的样子！

Their eyes met, and her face blossomed red.

两人目光交汇，她的脸涨得通红。

She turned her head hastily away.

她连忙扭过头去。

Let her turn away!

让她转身走开！

Let her pray!

让她祈祷吧！

He _knew_, now!

他_知道_了，现在！

That was enough!

这就够了！

For some reason she didn’t mean him to understand.

出于某种原因，她并不想让他理解。

But he had found out!

但他已经发现了！

It was all right.

一切都好。

He could wait.

他可以等。

He could wait any length of time, if only she would look at him again in that way!

他可以等多久，只要她能再用那样的眼神看着他就好了！

The congregation had risen, and had begun the Psalm.

会众起立，开始唱诗篇。

He would tell her, then and there, how glad he was, how he understood!

他会当场告诉她，他是多么高兴，他是多么理解！

He lifted up his voice and sang, sang louder than anyone else.

他提高嗓门唱歌，唱得比谁都大声。

That was what Allen used to do, when the service particularly bored him.

当艾伦对这项服务特别感到厌烦时，他就是这么做的。

He would sing the last Psalm louder and clearer than the whole congregation, with the face of an earnest, humble angel, while his elders admired, and his contemporaries hid their amusement as best they might.

他会以一位真诚、谦卑的天使的面容，比整个会众更响亮、更清晰地唱最后一首诗篇，而他的长辈们则钦佩不已，而他的同代人则尽可能地隐藏他们的乐趣。

Chirstie would know Wully was sending her a joyous, patient answer.

克里斯蒂会知道武利正在给她一个快乐而耐心的答复。

What did it matter that in going out she never once would turn towards him?

出去的时候她一次也没有回头看他，这又有什么关系呢？

Perhaps that was the way of women.

也许这就是女人的方式。

They don’t just tell you all that is in their hearts.

他们不只是告诉你他们内心的一切。

It was all very well.

一切都很好。

He knew what she was thinking.

他知道她在想什么。

After dinner, he said he was going down to the swimming hole, where the assembly of cousins proved week by week that the heat had prevailed over the shorter catechism.

晚饭后，他说他要去游泳池，堂兄弟们的聚会一周又一周地证明，炎热的天气战胜了较短的教义问答。

But instead he rushed eagerly and cautiously over to Chirstie.

但他却急切而谨慎地冲向克里斯蒂。

He knew there might be someone with her on Sunday, and he left his horse some distance away, intending, if he saw others there, to come back and wait.

他知道周日可能有人和她在一起，于是他把他的马留在了远处，打算如果他看到其他人在那里，就回来等待。

There was not a sound to be heard as he crept up, though he stopped, listening.

当他蹑手蹑脚地爬上去时，没有听到任何声音，但他停下来倾听。

He hesitated, and drew nearer.

他犹豫了一下，又靠近了一些。

Then he saw her.

然后他看到了她。

She was sitting in the little plot of shade the cabin made, on the doorstep, and her head was bowed on her arms.

她坐在小屋门口台阶上的一小块阴凉处，低着头，枕在手臂上。

On a bit of rag carpet on the ground, her little sister was sleeping.

地上铺着一块碎布地毯，妹妹正在睡觉。

Chirstie didn’t hear him.

克里斯蒂没有听到他的话。

He went cautiously nearer, not wanting to startle her.

他小心翼翼地靠近，不想惊动她。

He stood still, scarcely knowing how to be the least unwelcome.

他一动不动地站着，几乎不知道如何表现得最不受欢迎。

What was this he saw?

他看到的这是什么？

What was this?

这是什么？

She was crying!

她在哭！

He stood still, watching her carefully.

他静静地站着，仔细地看着她。

She was shaken with sobbing.

她抽泣得浑身发抖。

CHAPTER V

第五章

His impulse was to run and take her in his arms, but he knew now that he must be careful.

他的冲动是想跑过去把她抱在怀里，但他现在知道他必须小心。

You can’t be impetuous, it seems, with women, at least not with that one.

看来，你不能对女人表现得鲁莽，至少不能对那个女人。

He had tried that once, and learned his lesson.

他曾经尝试过一次，并吸取了教训。

He slipped behind the barn, and stood wondering what to do.

他溜到谷仓后面，站在那里想知道该怎么办。

After a few seconds he peered around cautiously.

几秒钟后，他小心翼翼地环顾四周。

There she sat, crying shakenly.

她坐在那里，颤抖着哭泣。

He tried vainly to imagine a reason.

他徒劳地试图想象一个原因。

Perhaps her uncle was complaining of having the responsibility of her and the children alone there.

也许她叔叔在抱怨要独自承担她和孩子们的责任。

Perhaps she was actually in want, perhaps in want of food.

也许她真的很需要，也许需要食物。

Perhaps the other girls had been talking about going away to school, and she was heartbroken because her mother’s plans for her education were not to be carried out.

也许其他女孩一直在谈论要去上学，而她伤心欲绝，因为她母亲对她的教育计划没有实现。

Maybe she had just seen a snake.

也许她刚刚看到了一条蛇。

He remembered his mother saying that after Jeannie McNair had had to kill a snake, she used to sit down and cry.

他记得他母亲说过，珍妮·麦克奈尔不得不杀死一条蛇后，她常常坐下来哭泣。

Some women did things like that, he knew, not his mother and sisters, but some.

他知道，有些女人会做这样的事，不是他的母亲和姐妹，而是一些女人。

He peered around at her again, most uncomfortable.

他再次环顾四周，感到非常不舒服。

Her sobbing was terrible to see.

她的抽泣令人难受。

He felt like a spy.

他感觉自己像个间谍。

He refrained from going to her, because something warned him that if she had not welcomed him before, she was less likely to do so now, when her face would be distorted with tears.

他没有走向她，因为有什么东西警告他，如果她以前没有欢迎他，那么现在她就不太可能这样做了，届时她的脸会因泪水而扭曲。

But he remembered that prayer look with hot longing.

但他记得那种祈祷的神情，带着炽热的渴望。

He stood hesitating.

他站着犹豫。

Presently he looked again.

过了一会儿，他又看了看。

She was just lifting her head to wipe her nose, and she saw him.

她正抬起头擦鼻子，就看到了他。

She gave a little cry and, jumping up, ran into the cabin, and slammed the door behind her.

她轻轻地叫了一声，跳起来，跑进小屋，关上门。

As if he were a robber!

就好像他是一个强盗一样！

Then she came out, even more insultingly, more afraid, and caught up the sleeping baby, and carried her away to safety.

然后她出来了，更加侮辱，更加害怕，抱起熟睡的婴儿，把她带到了安全的地方。

She needn’t barricade the house against him, need she?

她不需要在房子里设置路障来阻挡他，不是吗？

Wully thought, angrily.

武利愤怒地想。

Then he remembered her face in church.

然后他想起了她在教堂里的脸。

He would sit down and wait a while.

他会坐下来等一会儿。

He would wait till Dod came home, and see what he could learn from the lad.

他会等到多德回家，看看他能从这个小伙子身上学到什么。

But when he looked again towards the house, there she was, sitting inside the door, and in her hands she had her father’s old gun!

但当他再次向房子看去时，她就在那里，坐在门内，手里拿着她父亲的旧枪！

How preposterous!

多么荒谬啊！

How outrageous!

多么令人愤慨啊！

If she didn’t want him as a lover, she might at least remember he was Wully McLaughlin, a decent, harmless man!

如果她不想让他成为情人，她至少可以记得他是伍利·麦克劳克林，一个正派、无害的男人！

Waiting for him with a gun!

拿着枪等着他！

Could it be that the girl was losing her mind?

难道这丫头是疯了？

Her mother had never recovered from that shock of hers.

她的母亲从未从震惊中恢复过来。

Could Chirstie have been unbalanced by her mother’s death!

难道克里斯蒂因母亲的去世而精神失常吗？

He wouldn’t think it!

他不会想到！

That would be disloyalty.

那将是不忠诚。

But somebody, his mother, their aunt, somebody ought to go to her by force, and get her away from this lonely place.

但应该有人，他的母亲，他们的姨妈，有人应该用武力去找她，带她离开这个孤独的地方。

Who could tell what a girl might do with a gun!

谁知道一个女孩拿着枪会做什么！

One thing he knew, he wasn’t going away and leave her there alone, so madly armed, and weeping.

他知道一件事，他不会走开，把她孤零零地留在那里，疯狂地武装起来，哭泣着。

After a while Dod came home, a red-faced, sweating little lad, and sat down contentedly with the soldier in the shade of the barn.

过了一会儿，多德回到了家，一个红着脸、满头大汗的小伙子，心满意足地和士兵一起坐在谷仓的阴凉处。

He was, of course, barefooted and clothed in jeans, and his fitful haircut did no great honor to Chirstie’s skill as a barber.

当然，他赤着脚，穿着牛仔裤，他那断断续续的发型并没有给克里斯蒂的理发师技术带来多大的荣耀。

Surely he must know what she was crying about.

他肯定知道她在哭什么。

And he would know that Wully would not be one to make light of her grief.

他也知道武利不会是一个轻视悲伤的人。

“What’s happened, Dod?” he began at once.

“发生什么事了，多德？”他立刻开始说道。

“When I came up, Chirstie was sitting on the doorstep crying.

“当我赶到时，克里斯蒂正坐在门口哭泣。

What’s the matter?

怎么了？

Don’t you mind her?”

你不介意她吗？”

Dod was instantly resentful.

多德顿时心生怨恨。

“It’s nothing I done.” He was decided and scornful.

“我什么也没做。”他态度坚决，态度轻蔑。

“She won’t even let me go swimming a minute.

“她甚至不让我去游泳一分钟。

She wants me to stay here all the time.

她希望我一直留在这里。

She cries all the time, no matter what I do!”

不管我做什么，她总是哭！”

This was worse than Wully had expected.

这比武利预想的还要糟糕。

“Was she crying before now?” he asked.

“她之前哭过吗？”他问道。

“She cries _all_ the time, I tell you.” He spoke carelessly.

“我告诉你，她一直在哭。”他漫不经心地说着。

Girls’ tears were nothing to him.

女孩的眼泪对他来说根本不算什么。

“She cries when she’s eating.

“她吃饭的时候会哭。

She gets up in the morning crying.

她早上起来哭着。

She’s daft!”

她真是个傻子！”

“You mustn’t say that, Dod!” said Wully sharply.

“你不许这么说，多德！”武利尖锐地说。

“Can’t a girl grieve for her mother without being called daft?

“一个女孩为她的母亲悲伤就不能不被称为愚蠢吗？

That’s no way for a man to speak!”

这不是一个男人能说话的方式！”

Dod was abashed, but unconvinced.

多德感到羞愧，但不相信。

“She’s not grieving for mother,” he answered, defending himself.

“她并没有为母亲悲伤，”他回答道，为自己辩护。

“She’s grieving for herself.”

“她为自己感到悲伤。”

This sounded good to Wully.

这对武利来说听起来不错。

He hoped she was unhappy for the same reason he was.

他希望她和他一样不快乐。

“How do you know?” he demanded.

“你怎么知道？”他问道。

“She says so.

“她是这么说的。

I says for her not to cry about mother, and she says she wasn’t.

我让她不要为母亲哭泣，她说她没有。

‘I’m crying for myself,’ she says.”

她说：“我为自己哭泣。”

Wully had no longer any scruples about finding out everything he could from the boy.

武利不再有任何顾忌地想从这个男孩身上找出他能找到的一切。

“What’s she sitting with that gun in her hands for, Dod?

“多德，她手里拿着枪坐在那里干什么？

Does she shoot many chickens?”

她射杀了很多鸡吗？”

“Her?

“她？

She couldn’t hit a barn.

她不能撞到谷仓。

She’s afraid.

她很害怕。

That’s what’s the matter with her.”

这就是她的问题所在。”

“What’s she afraid of?”

“她怕什么？”

“Nothing.

“没有什么。

What’s there to be afraid of here?

这里有什么好怕的呢？

I don’t know what’s got into her!”

真不知道她怎么了！”

“Tell me now, Dod!” begged Wully.

“现在告诉我，多德！”武利恳求道。

“My mother would want to know.

“我妈妈想知道。

Does Uncle John see that you have everything you need?”

约翰叔叔看到你有你需要的一切了吗？”

“That’s not it!” exclaimed the boy, proudly.

“不是这个！”男孩自豪地喊道。

“We have enough.

“我们已经够了。

Some of them would come here and stay all the time, but she don’t want them.

他们中的一些人会来这里并一直呆在那里，但她不想要他们。

She won’t have anybody here.

她这里不会有人。

And we’re not going to church again.” This last he undoubtedly considered a decision worthy of the most tearless girl.

我们不会再去教堂了。”这最后的决定无疑是一个最值得落泪的女孩的决定。

Wully, who seized upon trifling straws, saw promise in this.

武利抓住了微不足道的救命稻草，看到了其中的希望。

She wasn’t going to church again, and she had wanted a good look at him!

她不会再去教堂了，她只是想好好看看他！

But what was it--why should she be so silly?

但这到底是怎么回事——她为什么要这么傻呢？

Why wouldn’t she let him make her happy?

她为什么不让他让她幸福呢？

She wouldn’t need to be afraid if he was with her.

有他在，她就不需要害怕。

He saw that Dod knew not much more than he did about the explanation of his difficulties.

他发现多德对他的困难的解释并不比他了解得多。

But Dod at any time might find something enlightening.

但多德随时可能会发现一些有启发性的东西。

Wully coveted his help.

武利渴望得到他的帮助。

“It really beats all the way you run this farm with your father gone,” he affirmed.

“在你父亲去世的情况下，你经营这个农场的方式真的很糟糕，”他肯定道。

“When he gets back, I’d like to hire you myself.” He saw the boy relishing his praise.

“等他回来后，我想亲自雇用你。”他看到男孩很享受他的赞美。

“You must treat Chirstie like a man, Dod.

“你必须像对待一个男人一样对待克里斯蒂，多德。

You mustn’t blame her for crying.

你不能责怪她哭了。

It’s the way women do, sometimes.

有时，这就是女人的做法。

You say to her when you go in that my mother is always waiting to do for her.

你进去的时候对她说，我妈妈一直在等着给她做事。

She’s the one that can help her.

能帮助她的人就是她。

She don’t need to cry any more.

她不需要再哭了。

We can fix things right.

我们可以把事情解决好。

You say that to her, Dod, and to-morrow I’ll ride over and see what it is.

你对她这么说，多德，明天我会骑过去看看那是什么。

You tell her we’ll fix everything for her.”

你告诉她我们会为她解决一切问题。”

He went away in uncertainty and distress.

他在不确定和痛苦中离开了。

He ought to tell his mother how things were.

他应该告诉他妈妈事情的经过。

The idea of that girl sitting there with a gun, as if she didn’t recognize him!

那个女孩拿着枪坐在那里，好像她不认识他一样！

Or maybe it would be better to go to his Aunt Libby Keith.

或者也许去他的利比·基思姨妈那里更好。

She ought to know.

她应该知道。

He didn’t like going to anybody.

他不喜欢去找任何人。

It was his affair.

这是他的事。

He couldn’t think of insinuating to anyone that the girl was--well, not quite right in her mind.

他无法向任何人暗示这个女孩——嗯，她心里不太对劲。

He must be very careful.

他必须非常小心。

And then her face came before him, loving him.

然后她的脸出现在他面前，爱着他。

After all, it was just his affair and hers.

毕竟，这只是他和她的事情。

There was some reason why she must wait.

她必须等待是有原因的。

But she loved him!

但她爱他！

His mind dwelt on that, rather than on his inexplicable rejecting.

他的心思集中在这一点上，而不是他莫名其妙的拒绝上。

He decided that in the morning he would ride over to the Keiths’ and ask in a roundabout way, what the trouble was with Chirstie.

他决定早上骑车去基思家，拐弯抹角地问一下克里斯蒂出了什么问题。

But in the morning he felt so certain that she loved him, in spite of everything, that he announced to his father that he was going over to cut slough grass on his eighty, to use in thatching his new barn, having decided to go to Keiths’, less conspicuously, in the evening.

但到了早上，他确信她爱他，尽管发生了一切，他向父亲宣布，他将在八十岁时去割除腐草，用于为他的新谷仓盖茅草，并决定晚上去基思家，不那么引人注目。

This was the first time he had as much as mentioned his own farm all summer.

这是整个夏天他第一次提到自己的农场。

His father was pleased, but his mother protested.

父亲很高兴，但母亲却反对。

Why should he begin such work on the hottest morning of the summer, when he hadn’t really been able to help in the haying at all?

为什么他要在夏天最热的早晨开始这样的工作，而他根本无法帮忙割草呢？

He might easily be overcome with the heat, in his condition.

以他的情况，他可能很容易被炎热所征服。

But Wully, it seemed, was at last feeling as well as he had ever felt.

但武利似乎终于恢复了他从未有过的感觉。

He had been loafing too long.

他已经闲逛太久了。

He must begin to get something done on his own place.

他必须开始在自己的位置上完成一些事情。

So down in his slough he worked away with all his might, and now that his heart was light, and his fever broken, it was no contemptible strength he could exert.

于是，他在沼泽里拼尽了全力，现在他的心情轻松了，发烧也退了，他无法再发挥任何可鄙的力量了。

About the time he was so hot, so soaked through with sweat that he must sit down for a rest, he saw a horseman coming towards him.

正当他浑身热得汗流浃背，必须坐下来休息时，他看见一个骑马的人向他走来。

And upon that meeting there depended the destiny of generations.

几代人的命运都取决于那次会议。

He smiled when he saw who it was.

当他看到那人是谁时，他笑了。

Peter Keith was a cousin of both Chirstie’s and his, the only remaining child of their Aunt Libby’s and Uncle John Keith’s, the smallest adult of Wully’s seventy-one cousins, being not more than five feet seven.

彼得·基思是奇斯蒂和他的表兄弟，是利比姨妈和约翰·基思叔叔唯一剩下的孩子，是武利七十一个表兄弟中最小的成年人，身高不超过五英尺七英寸。

And he was by far the most worthless of them.

而他却是他们当中最没有价值的一个。

Of course Peter would be riding leisurely over after the mail in the middle of the morning, while the haying was to be finished, and the wheat was white and heavy for harvest.

当然，一大清早，彼得会在收完邮件后悠闲地骑马过来，此时干草即将完成，小麦又白又重，等待收割。

His excuse this summer for not working was that he had a disabled foot.

今年夏天他不工作的借口是他的脚有残疾。

He said that he had accidentally discharged his gun into it.

他说他不小心把枪射进了里面。

Peter Keith was such a man that when he told that story, his hearers’ faces grew shrewd and thoughtful, trying to decide whether or not he really was lazy enough to hurt his own foot in order to get out of work.

彼得·基思就是这样一个人，当他讲述这个故事时，听众的表情变得精明而深思熟虑，试图判断他是否真的懒到为了失业而伤了自己的脚。

There was no place for laziness in a world where men existed only by toil.

在一个人们只靠辛劳生存的世界里，懒惰是没有容身之所的。

It was like chronic cowardice in the face of the enemy.

这就像面对敌人时的长期怯懦。

Peter’s mother, to be sure, said he wasn’t strong.

可以肯定的是，彼得的母亲说他并不坚强。

Libby Keith’s way of hanging over him, of listening to his rather ordinary cough, her constant babying of him, was what was spoiling Peter, many said.

许多人说，莉比·基思一直在他身边，听着他相当普通的咳嗽，她对他的不断宠爱，才是宠坏彼得的原因。

Wully had always been more tolerant of him than some of the cousins were, because he could never imagine a man feigning so shameful a thing as physical weakness.

武利对他一向比一些堂兄弟更加宽容，因为他无法想象一个人会假装身体虚弱这样可耻的事情。

If Peter didn’t want to farm, why insist, he argued.

他认为，如果彼得不想种田，为什么还要坚持呢？

If he wanted to go west, to get into something else, let him go.

如果他想去西部，想从事其他的事情，那就让他走吧。

He _might_ be good for something somewhere.

他_可能_在某些方面有好处。

But his doting mother would never listen to such hard-heartedness.

但他慈爱的母亲绝不会听这样的狠心。

The two of them made themselves a shade in the grass, and talked away intimately.

两人在草地上乘凉，亲密地聊着天。

Wully was more affable than usual, having resolved upon first sight of Peter to learn something from him.

武利比平时更加和蔼可亲，一见到彼得就决定向他学习一些东西。

Peter was always full of neighborhood news.

彼得总是充满邻里新闻。

Tam McWhee had bought ten acres more of timber, and the Sprouls were beginning to break their further forty, and so on, and so on.

塔姆·麦克威又买了十英亩木材，斯普劳尔一家又开始突破四十英亩，等等，等等。

Wully was screwing up his courage to introduce the subject that was interesting him, in some casual way.

武利鼓起勇气以某种随意的方式介绍他感兴趣的话题。

Peter was the last man with whom he cared to discuss Chirstie.

彼得是他最不愿意谈论克里斯蒂的人。

But he was exactly the one who might know something valuable.

但他正是那个可能知道一些有价值的东西的人。

He delayed, the question at the tip of his tongue, till even the lazy Peter thought it was time to be riding on, and rose to go.

他拖延了这个问题，直到连懒惰的彼得也认为是时候骑马了，然后起身要走。

His foot wasn’t really much hurt, but he hadn’t renounced his limp.

他的脚并没有受到太大的伤害，但他并没有放弃跛行。

It was then or never with Wully, so he said, trying to appear uninterested:

武利曾经是这样，或者从来没有这样过，所以他说道，试图表现出不感兴趣：

“I was riding by McNairs’ yesterday, and I saw Chirstie sitting there crying.

“昨天我骑车经过麦克奈尔，我看到克里斯蒂坐在那儿哭。

What do you suppose she would be crying about, Peter?”

你认为她会因为什么而哭泣，彼得？”

Peter gave him a sharp look, and grew red in one moment.

Peter锐利地看了他一眼，脸一下子涨红了。

“How the devil should _I_ know what girls cry about?” he asked angrily.

“我到底怎么知道女孩子在哭什么？”他愤怒地问道。

“It’s none of my business!

“这不关我的事！

Nor yours, either!”

也不是你的！”

A cry of frightened anger like that sent an excitement through Wully.

这样一声惊恐而愤怒的叫喊让武利兴奋不已。

“You know very well what it is!” he cried.

“你很清楚那是什么！”他哭了。

“You’ve got to tell me!

“你一定要告诉我！

It’s some of your doings!”

这是你的一些行为！”

Peter was jumping into his saddle.

彼得跳上马鞍。

“I’ll tell you like hell!” he shouted.

“我就告诉你吧！”他喊道。

“You’ll tell me before you go!”

“走之前你先告诉我一声！”

“Let go my bridle!

“放开我的缰绳！

Let go, I tell you!

放手吧，我告诉你！

It’s none of your business!”

这不关你的事！”

His face told terrible secrets that Wully had never till that moment imagined suspecting.

他的脸透露着可怕的秘密，直到那一刻，武利才想到要怀疑。

Now he was pulling him down from his horse.

现在他正把他从马上拉下来。

“Let me alone!

“让我一个人静一静吧！

It’s not my fault!

这不是我的错！

Take your hands off me!

把你的手从我身上拿开！

I never meant to hurt her!” Peter was fighting desperately for his freedom.

我从来没想过要伤害她！”彼得正在为自己的自由而拼命奋斗。

Wully was trying to control his insane rage.

武利试图控制自己疯狂的愤怒。

“Stand still and tell me what it is!

“站住，告诉我那是什么！

I’m not going to hurt you!” he cried scornfully.

我不会伤害你的！”他轻蔑地喊道。

“What are you afraid of?

“你怕什么？

Don’t be a baby!” But his grasp never relaxed.

别把自己当小孩子了！”但他的抓握却从未放松过。

The boy was afraid he would be shaken to death.

男孩担心自己会被摇死。

“Let me alone!

“让我一个人静一静吧！

Take your hands off me!

把你的手从我身上拿开！

Let me go, and I’ll tell you!

放开我，我告诉你！

It’s none of your business, anyway!” He was free now, and trembling.

反正也不关你的事！”他现在自由了，而且浑身发抖。

“I didn’t mean to get her into trouble.

“我并不是故意给她惹麻烦。

I wish I’d never seen her!

我希望我从未见过她！

I offered to marry her once----”

我曾经提出要娶她一次——”

He dodged Wully’s blinded blow.

他躲开了武利盲目的一击。

“_You_ marry her!” he cried murderously.

“_你_娶她！”他杀气腾腾地喊道。

“_You_ marry her!” The first realization of his meaning had filled Wully with a lust to kill.

“_你_娶她！”武利第一次意识到他的意思时就充满了杀戮的欲望。

Peter had sprung away.

彼得已经跳开了。

He gained his horse.

他得到了他的马。

Wully ran after him.

武利追赶他。

All the oaths he had ever heard came back to him in his need.

他曾经听到过的所有誓言在他需要的时候又回到了他的身边。

He ran furiously after the fleeing seducer.

他疯狂地追赶逃跑的诱惑者。

He called after him ragingly.

他在他身后愤怒地喊道。

He threw himself down, too shocked to think plainly.

他倒在地上，震惊得无法清晰地思考。

So that was Chirstie’s sickening secret!

这就是克里斯蒂令人作呕的秘密！

That was why she was afraid of him!

所以她才怕他！

That was why she was defending herself with that poor old gun!

这就是为什么她要用那把可怜的旧枪来保护自己！

This was why she had left her uncle’s house, and avoided others!

这就是她离开舅舅家，避开别人的原因！

Chirstie, betrayed and desolate.

克里斯蒂，被背叛和荒凉。

Oh, it was well he was trained in killing!

哦，还好他受过杀人训练！

He would go after Peter Keith, and make short work of him.

他会去追彼得·基思，并很快解决掉他。

He would break every bone in his body.

他会折断他身上的每一根骨头。

There was no death long enough, large enough, bitter enough, for Peter Keith.

对于彼得·基思来说，没有一次死亡足够长、足够大、足够痛苦。

Wully lay there weak with rage, crying out curses.

武利气得虚弱地躺在那里，大声咒骂。

Anger, what little he knew of it, had always been to him an exhausting disease.

愤怒，虽然他对此知之甚少，但对他来说一直是一种令人筋疲力尽的疾病。

He gave himself up to it.

他屈服了。

He was so dazed by this revelation that he never thought how time was passing till he heard the voice of a little brother calling him.

他被这个启示弄得目瞪口呆，根本没有想到时间过得怎么样，直到他听到了一个小弟弟的声音在呼唤他。

It was long after dinner time.

晚餐时间已经过去很久了。

Why didn’t he come home?

他为什么不回家？

His mother was anxious about him.

他的母亲很担心他。

Was he ill?

他生病了吗？

He rose, and stumbled along home.

他站起来，跌跌撞撞地走回家。

The sight of that kitchen was a blow to him, so innocent, so habitual it looked, so remote from violence and revenge.

那个厨房的景象对他来说是一个打击，看起来如此天真，如此习惯，远离暴力和报复。

The dishes had been gathered from the table.

桌子上的菜已经收起来了。

The girls were beginning to wash them.

女孩们开始洗衣服。

His mother came forward solicitously.

他的母亲热切地走上前来。

What was the matter, she wanted to know.

到底是怎么回事，她想知道。

Wully stood blinking.

武利站在那里，眨着眼睛。

Murder?

谋杀？

Had he thought of murder in a place of peace?

他有想过在安静的地方杀人吗？

Instantly he had come far back on that road to his habitual self, when with a shock he came against the criminal fact of Peter.

当他震惊地发现彼得的犯罪事实时，他立刻又回到了原来的样子。

He was ill, he cried.

他病了，他哭了。

He wanted to rest.

他想休息一下。

He couldn’t eat.

他不能吃饭。

He shut the door of his room and sat down bewildered on the edge of his bed.

他关上房门，茫然地坐在床边。

Thoughts of the old security and of the new violence clashed in his mind.

旧的安全和新的暴力的想法在他的脑海中发生冲突。

His gun stood in the corner.

他的枪放在角落里。

He reached out and took it, and sat fingering it, like a man in a baffling dream.

他伸手接过它，然后坐下来抚弄它，就像一个人在一个莫名其妙的梦中一样。

At length from the kitchen there came a burst of happy laughter.

厨房里终于传来一阵愉快的笑声。

That was his sister laughing.

那是他姐姐的笑声。

His sister Mary.

他的妹妹玛丽.

Laughing.

笑。

Yes, Mary was laughing, and Chirstie sat there sobbing, sobbing and shaking!

是的，玛丽在笑，而克里斯蒂坐在那儿抽泣，抽泣着，颤抖着！

In that unbetrayed kitchen one of the children had said something absurd, that had delighted Mary.

在那个未被背叛的厨房里，一个孩子说了一些荒唐的话，这让玛丽很高兴。

He knew that outburst.

他知道那种爆发。

Mary was a girl safe, and Chirstie was undone.

玛丽是个安全的女孩，而克里斯蒂则被毁了。

A girl people would scoff at!

一个会被人嘲笑的女孩！

Not while he was alive!

他活着的时候就没有！

He threw himself down on the bed.

他倒在床上。

He began thinking only of the girl.

他开始只想着那个女孩。

If he killed that snake, who would Chirstie turn to--who, if she no longer had him?

如果他杀了那条蛇，克里斯蒂会向谁求助——如果她不再拥有他的话？

She was alone.

她独自一人。

Defending herself, fighting for herself.

为自己辩护，为自己而战。

That was what she thought of men!

这就是她对男人的看法！

She didn’t know any better!

她不知道更好！

He would kill Peter, certainly.

他肯定会杀了彼得。

But what was to become of her then?

但那时她会怎样呢？

After a while, lying there, he began to see a way out.

过了一会儿，他躺在那里，开始看到出路。

He saw it dimly at first--it grew persuasive.

起初他看得很模糊——后来变得很有说服力。

Peter had been always talking about running away west, had he?

彼得一直在谈论逃往西部，不是吗？

Well, he would run away that very night.

好吧，他当天晚上就会逃跑。

Either that, or Wully would destroy him.

要么那样，要么武利就会毁了他。

Wully would have that girl, as she was, if he had to fight the whole country for her.

如果武利必须为她而战整个国家，他就会得到那个女孩，就像她一样。

His terrible anger still shook him.

他可怕的愤怒仍然震撼着他。

But there was Chirstie to save, for himself--and for herself.

但克里斯蒂需要拯救，为了他自己——也为了她自己。

If he killed Peter, what good would that do her?

如果他杀了彼得，对她有什么好处？

It would make her notorious.

这会让她臭名昭著。

The way he saw was better than that.

他所看到的方式比那更好。

It was an ugly way.

这是一种丑陋的方式。

But it was safe for her.

但这对她来说是安全的。

A situation hideous forced upon them, a thing which had to be faced out, like the war, from which there was no escape but victory.

一种可怕的情况强加在他们身上，一种必须面对的事情，就像战争一样，除了胜利之外别无选择。

If he got rid of Peter, why should he not have her?

如果他摆脱了Peter，为什么他不能拥有她呢？

Possession of her was worth letting the betrayer go scot free for, wasn’t it?

拥有她就值得让背叛者逍遥法外，不是吗？

She had no one but himself now.

现在除了他自己，她已经没有人了。

And yesterday, in her straits, in her despair, she had turned her face towards him!

而昨天，在她的困境中，在她的绝望中，她竟然把脸转向了他！

By supper time his mind was perfectly clear about the course he would take.

到了晚饭时间，他的头脑已经完全清楚自己要走的路了。

He rose, and ate something, excitedly, reassuring his mother that the sun had not prostrated him.

他站起来，兴奋地吃了点东西，向母亲保证太阳没有把他晒倒。

He felt all right.

他感觉一切都好。

He had only to settle with Peter, and then----!

他只要和Peter和解，然后——！

Peter was sitting securely between his father and mother in front of the house when Wully rode up, that evening, and demanded a word with him in private.

那天晚上，当武利骑马过来并要求与他私下交谈时，彼得正稳稳地坐在屋前的父母中间。

Peter hesitated.

彼得犹豫了。

He did not dare to fear his cousin before them.

他不敢在他们面前害怕自己的表弟。

He went cautiously out through the dusk towards him.

他在黄昏中小心翼翼地朝他走去。

Daylight was almost gone, but Wully turned his back deliberately towards those who sat casually watching.

天快亮了，但武利故意背对着那些漫不经心地坐着观看的人。

He didn’t want them to see the hate he felt mounting over his face.

他不想让他们看到他脸上的仇恨。

He didn’t want anyone ever to suspect what he was going to do.

他不想让任何人怀疑他要做什么。

He spoke to his cousin only a few sentences.

他只和他的表弟说了几句话。

Then he turned, and rode swiftly away.

然后他转身，快步策马而去。

He came to Chirstie’s.

他来到了克里斯蒂店。

She was sitting there in the dusk, her head bowed in that despairing way.

她在黄昏中坐在那里，绝望地低着头。

He gave his horse to Dod with a command, and strode over to where she sat.

他把马交给了多德，下了命令，然后大步走到她坐的地方。

She needn’t try to resist him now.

她现在不需要试图反抗他。

It was useless.

这是没用的。

“I know the whole thing!” he whispered.

“我知道全部事情了！”他低声说道。

“I’ve got it all settled.” He took her in his arms.

“我已经把一切都解决了。”他把她抱在怀里。

She needn’t struggle.

她不需要挣扎。

“It’s all right.

“没关系。”

He’ll never frighten you again.

他再也不会吓到你了。

You can’t get away.

你无法逃脱。

I’ve come for you!”

我是来找你的！”

Dawn found them sitting there together.

黎明发现他们坐在一起。

Indeed, Wully had to urge his horse along to get home in time for breakfast.

事实上，武利必须赶着他的马才能及时回家吃早餐。

The McLaughlins were assembled for their unexciting morning cornmeal, all at the table together, when Wully announced, in a fine loud voice, among them:

麦克劳克林一家人正聚集在一起，吃着平淡无奇的早餐玉米面，大家都坐在餐桌旁，这时武利用优美而响亮的声音向他们宣布：

“I’m going to be married to-day, mother!”

“今天我就要结婚了，妈妈！”

Her spoon was halfway to her mouth.

她的勺子已经到了嘴边。

It was some time before it reached its destination.

过了一段时间，它才到达目的地。

“Wully!” she gasped.

“威利！”她喘着气。

“Well, you needn’t be so surprised.

“嗯，你不用这么惊讶。

I am.”

我是。”

“Is it Chirstie?”

“是克里斯蒂吗？”

Could they ask that!

他们能问这个吗！

“I’m _that_ pleased!” she cried.

“我很高兴！”她哭了。

Oh, she wouldn’t have liked anything else as well!

哦，她也不会喜欢别的东西！

She looked at him narrowly, with delight.

她眯着眼睛看着他，眼中满是喜悦。

“But you canna just be married to-day, and the harvesting coming on!”

“但你不能今天就结婚，收获就快来了！”

“You bet I can!” replied her American.

“你打赌我可以！”她的美国人回答道。

Indeed, he never could!

确实，他永远做不到！

Not to Chirstie!

不是克里斯蒂！

They must do something for Jeannie’s Chirstie, make her some clothes.

他们必须为珍妮的克里斯蒂做点什么，给她做一些衣服。

Wully scoffed at the idea.

武利对这个想法嗤之以鼻。

She had plenty of clothes, of course.

当然，她有很多衣服。

They were going to drive to town and be married, and he would buy her whatever she needed.

他们要开车进城结婚，她需要什么他都会给她买。

He refused to listen to them.

他拒绝听他们的。

Chirstie might decide not to have him, if he gave her time.

如果他给她时间，克里斯蒂可能会决定不娶他。

“Havers!” exclaimed his mother.

“哈弗斯！”他母亲惊呼道。

As if Chirstie didn’t know her own mind!

就好像克里斯蒂不知道自己的想法一样！

That was no way to talk!

那就没办法说话了！

Isobel couldn’t imagine, of course, that Wully had any real reason for such misgivings.

当然，伊莎贝尔无法想象武利有任何真正的理由产生这样的疑虑。

Was it likely a girl would not have her Wully!

难道一个女孩就不会拥有她的武利吗！

If he would just listen to her a moment, and wait even till the morrow, they would call the friends in and have a wedding worthy of Chirstie’s mother.

如果他愿意听她一会儿，甚至等到明天，他们就会把朋友们叫来，举办一场像克里斯蒂母亲那样的婚礼。

It occurred to him that under the circumstances a plan so respectable might have advantages for Chirstie, if only she would consent.

他突然想到，在这种情况下，只要克里斯蒂同意，如此受人尊敬的计划可能对她有利。

And his father began planning how soon he could spare men and horses to begin hauling lumber for the house.

他的父亲开始计划多久才能腾出人力和马匹来为房子搬运木材。

CHAPTER VI

第六章

The McLaughlin house shone ready for the guests the next evening.

第二天晚上，麦克劳克林的房子焕然一新，准备迎接客人。

The light that glimmered out through the dusk came from as many new kerosene lamps as could be borrowed from the neighbors.

黄昏中闪烁的灯光来自邻居们借来的尽可能多的新煤油灯。

Inside the house beds had been removed to make room for dancing, though Isobel McLaughlin sighed to remember that there would be at best an indifferent fiddler, not one with a rhythmic dancing soul--like her Allen.

屋内的床被移走了，以便为跳舞腾出空间，但伊莎贝尔·麦克劳林叹了口气，想起最多只能是一个冷漠的小提琴手，而不是像她的艾伦那样具有节奏舞蹈灵魂的人。

Indoors mosquitoes hummed through the light and odor of the lamps, and out of doors they attacked whoever turned away from the series of smudges the boys had built, and were carefully guarding from flame, between the house and the barn.

室内，蚊子在灯的灯光和气味中嗡嗡作响，而在室外，蚊子攻击那些避开男孩们搭建的一系列污迹的人，并在房子和谷仓之间小心翼翼地防范火焰。

Wagonloads of well-wishers came driving up as it grew dark, and with each arrival the pile of pieced quilts on the chairs in the bedroom grew higher, and the collection of wedding presents in the dooryard grew noisier, and broke loose, and ran, and was pursued with shouts by the assembled half-grown boys.

天黑了，一车车的祝福者开过来了，随着每一次到来，卧室椅子上的拼缝被子堆得越来越高，前院里收集的结婚礼物也变得越来越吵闹，他们挣脱了束缚，逃跑了，被聚集在一起的半大男孩们喊叫着追赶。

Some guests brought ducks, and some hens with small chickens.

有的客人带来了鸭子，有的还带来了母鸡和小鸡。

Some gave maudlin geese, and some bewildered and protesting young pigs.

有的给了伤感的鹅，有的给了困惑和抗议的小猪。

The Squire gave a heifer calf.

乡绅送了一头小母牛。

The Keiths, poor distracted Aunt Libby and Uncle John Keith, brought two heavy chairs he had made the winter before from walnut.

基思一家，可怜的利比姨妈和约翰·基思叔叔，心烦意乱，带来了两把他去年冬天用胡桃木做的沉重椅子。

The bride was not visible.

新娘不见踪影。

Wully had guarded her carefully, even from a minute alone with his mother, ever since he had arranged her wedding.

自从他安排了她的婚礼以来，武利就一直小心翼翼地守护着她，甚至从与母亲单独相处的一分钟开始也是如此。

He told his mother now that Chirstie had consented, she was worried about what her father would say when he heard about it.

他现在告诉母亲，克里斯蒂已经同意了，她担心父亲听到这件事后会说什么。

And because it was so soon after her mother’s death.

因为那是在她母亲去世后不久。

Isobel McLaughlin reassured her.

伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林向她保证。

The wedding was the best possible solution of the situation.

婚礼是解决这种情况的最佳方案。

Let them just leave Chirstie’s father to her!

让他们把克里斯蒂的父亲留给她吧！

She comforted the girl earnestly, being distressed by her face.

她苦恼地看着女孩的脸，语重心长地安慰着她。

She hoped in her heart that the marriage would put an end to the girl’s newly developed and stubborn depression.

她内心希望这桩婚姻能够结束女孩新近出现的、顽固的抑郁症。

She couldn’t understand why now that the guests were arriving, the bride should still seem just terrified.

她不明白，为什么现在客人都到了，新娘却仍然显得很害怕。

No less word described her condition.

毫不夸张地说，她的处境是这样描述的。

Isobel McLaughlin could do nothing but leave her with Wully.

伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林无能为力，只能把她留给武利。

In his room, where he sat holding her close against him, every time she said, “I can’t do this, Wully!

在他的房间里，每次她说：“我不能这么做，武利！”时，他就坐在那儿，紧紧地抱住她。

I won’t!” he kissed her again, powerfully.

我不会！他再次吻了她，用力地。

She must go through with it now, he whispered to her.

她现在必须完成这件事，他低声对她说。

Even the minister was waiting for them now.

就连部长现在也在等着他们。

He led her forth, at last, into the parlor.

最后，他领着她走进了客厅。

She was wearing the white dress her mother had made for her the summer before, which Mrs. McLaughlin had ironed that day, and freshened with her daughter Mary’s cherry-colored ribbons.

她穿着母亲去年夏天为她做的白色连衣裙，麦克劳克林夫人当天熨烫过这条裙子，并用女儿玛丽的樱桃色丝带使它焕然一新。

Wully, harassed by the trivial necessity for respectable garments, was wearing the suit his mother had made for his brother John to wear to college in the fall.

武利因着装得体的琐碎必需品而烦恼，他穿着他母亲为他弟弟约翰做的西装，供他秋天穿去上大学。

It didn’t fit Wully altogether, but then, it scarcely fitted John at all.

它完全不适合武利，但是，它也几乎不适合约翰。

In a space in the midst of their unsuspecting kinsmen they stood, the bride as pale as death, the groom nervously hiding his fear that at the critical minute his bride might altogether reject him.

他们站在毫无戒心的亲戚中间，新娘脸色苍白如死人，新郎紧张地隐藏着他的恐惧，担心在关键时刻他的新娘可能会完全拒绝他。

He kept watching her covertly as the minister tried the patience of man and God by the length of his prayer.

当牧师通过祈祷的长度来考验人和上帝的耐心时，他一直偷偷地看着她。

He tried to stand near enough her to support her.

他试图站得离她足够近以支撑她。

When the invocations ceased, everyone in the room lifted his head--except the bride.

当祈祷停止时，房间里的每个人都抬起了头——除了新娘。

The minister explained interminably the nature of holy matrimony.

牧师没完没了地解释神圣婚姻的本质。

He exhorted the pair to mutual faithfulness.

他劝告两人要相互忠诚。

Wully felt her tremble.

武利感到自己在颤抖。

“Will you have this man to be your husband?” he asked at length.

“你愿意让这个男人做你的丈夫吗？”他详细问道。

She kept silent.

她保持沉默。

She couldn’t raise her head.

她无法抬起头。

Wully felt his heart beginning to beat furiously.

武利感到自己的心脏开始剧烈跳动。

She was going to refuse him, in spite of all he had done.

不管他做了什么，她都会拒绝他。

There was an awful moment.

有一个可怕的时刻。

The room seemed to be hushed and waiting.

房间里似乎一片安静，等待着。

It was terrible, the length of that moment of silence.

那一刻的沉默太长了，太可怕了。

At last he spoke forth simply.

最后他简单地说了出来。

“You wouldn’t think she would.

“你不会认为她会的。

But she will.

但她会的。

Won’t you, Chirstie?”

你愿意吗，克里斯蒂？”

Those standing near heard his words, and as the outraged divine whispered sternly, “Answer!” he bent down and kissed her.

附近的人听到了他的话，愤怒的神灵厉声道：“回答！”他弯下腰吻了她。

She looked around like one in a nightmare.

她环顾四周，就像是在一场噩梦中。

Her lips moved.

她的嘴唇动了动。

The minister accepted the sign.

部长接受了这个标志。

He proceeded with the ceremony.

他继续举行仪式。

The smile which Wully’s words had occasioned spread from those standing nearest even to those who were looking in at the windows--those who pretended to be leaving room for the rest, but were really thinking of their unsuitable bare feet.

武利的话引起的微笑从那些站得离那些向窗外看的人最近的人身上蔓延开来——那些假装为休息留出空间的人，但实际上是在考虑自己不合适的赤脚。

The minister had made them man and wife.

牧师让他们结为夫妻。

The crowd gathered around them.

人群聚集在他们周围。

The squire gave Chirstie a resounding smack on her cheek.

乡绅在克里斯蒂的脸颊上狠狠地拍了一下。

Girls were pressing around her, the roomful was gathering near her.

女孩们围着她，满屋子的人都聚集在她身边。

But she swayed, and fell against her husband, and fainted quite away.

但她身子一晃，倒在她丈夫身上，昏了过去。

Of course that fainting was altogether the smartest feature of the hurried wedding.

当然，这次晕倒完全是这场匆忙婚礼中最聪明的特点。

Not many hard-working prairie women had bodies which permitted such gentility.

拥有如此优雅体态的勤劳的草原妇女并不多。

It was a distinguished thing to do.

这是一件很了不起的事情。

The women who saw it forgot for a while to comment on the strange appearance of the bride, which they understood more fully later.

看到它的女人们一时忘了评论新娘的奇怪外表，后来她们才更清楚地理解了这一点。

At the time it seemed no more than a proper honor to pay Jeannie McNair’s memory.

当时，悼念珍妮·麦克奈尔似乎只是一种适当的荣誉。

When she was herself again, Wully found a place for her out of doors.

当她恢复正常后，武利在户外为她找到了一个地方。

Planks laid on boxes and chairs made seats for supper out there where the smoke defended them, and since there was no back for her to lean against, she having just fainted and all, it was only proper that Wully’s arm do its duty around her.

盒子和椅子上铺着的木板成了外面吃晚饭的座位，烟雾保护着它们，而且由于没有靠背可以靠，她刚刚晕倒了，所以武利的手臂在她身边尽职尽责是理所当然的。

And it was necessary that it give her little strengthening messages, while inside the more zealous young things danced to the fiddle that was not Allen’s.

当内心更加热心的年轻人随着不是艾伦的小提琴跳舞时，它有必要给她一些强化的信息。

Out in the warm starlight and the smoke, the older guests talked to the bride and groom.

在温暖的星光和烟雾中，年长的客人与新娘和新郎交谈。

Aunt Libby joined them again, when by chance they were for a moment alone.

莉比姨妈再次加入了他们，当时他们正巧有一会儿单独相处的时间。

“Tell me again what it was Peter said, Wully!” she begged.

“再告诉我彼得说了什么，武利！”她恳求道。

He felt Chirstie shrinking against him.

他感觉到克里斯蒂在他身边缩了缩。

“He told me in the morning that he had decided to go this time for sure.

“他早上告诉我，他决定这次一定要去。

I told him he was foolish.

我告诉他他很愚蠢。

And I rode over again to give him some advice in the evening.”

晚上我又骑过去给他一些建议。”

Chirstie’s hand stirred nervously within his, and he held it more firmly.

克里斯蒂的手在他的手中紧张地颤动着，他握得更紧了。

“And did he not say where he was going?”

“他没说他要去哪里吗？”

“He only said west.”

“他只说西边。”

“That’s all he said in his note!” She sighed broken-heartedly.

“他在纸条上就是这么说的！”她心碎地叹了口气。

“It’s a strange thing he wouldn’t heed you, Wully!”

“他不听你的话，这真是奇怪，武利！”

Wully gritted his teeth.

武利咬牙切齿。

“He certainly heeded me that time!” he thought grimly to himself.

“那次他果然听我的！”他暗自想。

He had already told his aunt those nicely dovetailing lies half a dozen times, and each time he had felt them crushing his wife.

他已经对姨妈说过六遍那些恰到好处的谎言，每一次他都感觉到这些谎言压垮了他的妻子。

He wished his aunt would go away and leave them in peace.

他希望姨妈走开，让他们安静。

After all, her cursed Peter hadn’t got a taste of what he deserved!

毕竟，她该死的Peter还没有尝到应有的滋味！

Finally the wedding was over.

婚礼终于结束了。

Time, however it drags, must eventually pass.

时间，无论多么拖沓，最终都必须过去。

They had driven away together, after he had changed John’s good clothes for a fresh hickory shirt and jeans, leaving Dod at the McLaughlins’.

在他把约翰的好衣服换成新的山核桃木衬衫和牛仔裤后，他们一起开车离开了，把多德留在了麦克劳林家。

They had had twenty-four hours of the unfathomable luxury of unhindered intimacy.

他们已经度过了二十四小时无拘无束的亲密无间的奢侈时光。

The baby sister was asleep.

小妹妹睡着了。

It was bedtime again.

又到了睡觉时间。

The new family sat down for prayers.

新家庭坐下来祈祷。

Not that Wully was a man deeply religious.

武利并不是一个虔诚的宗教徒。

But, as far as he knew, daily family prayers was one of the things a decent man does for his family.

但是，据他所知，每天的家庭祈祷是一个正派男人为家人所做的事情之一。

They had read that morning, according to custom, the first chapter of Genesis, and that had been most satisfactory, even quite personally interesting now, all about male and female created He them.

那天早上，按照惯例，他们读了创世记的第一章，这是最令人满意的，甚至现在个人也很有趣，所有关于男性和女性创造了他们。

It had come over Wully with a chuckle that divine commands have seldom been as satisfactory to humans as that first one was.

武利轻笑道，神圣的命令很少能像第一个命令那样令人类满意。

And now, in the evening, he had read the first chapter of the New Testament.

现在，在晚上，他读完了新约第一章。

He resented that.

他对此感到不满。

He wouldn’t have read it if he had remembered what was in it.

如果他记得里面的内容，他就不会读它。

That story of Mary’s humiliation might seem ever so slightly to reflect upon his wife.

玛丽受辱的故事似乎很轻微地反映了他的妻子。

And that right he denied even to the Word of God.

他甚至否认神的话语的这一权利。

They were sitting together on the doorstep, and his lips were not far from her ear.

他们一起坐在门口，他的唇离她的耳边不远。

“Yon was a strange man, now, Chirstie!” he began.

“现在，你是个奇怪的人，克里斯蒂！”他开始说道。

“What man?”

“什么人？”

“That Joseph in Matthew.

“马太福音中的那个约瑟。

I fear he hadn’t very good sense.”

我担心他的判断力不太好。”

“Why, Wully!

“为什么，武利！

And him a man in the Bible!”

他是圣经里的人物！”

“I don’t care!

“我不在乎！

He didn’t know much!

他知道的不多！

He didn’t know enough to take his own lassie till an angel told him!

在天使告诉他之前，他还不知道如何带走自己的女儿！

A man like that!

这样的男人啊！

He was daft.

他很愚蠢。

Or else----”

不然的话——”

“I wonder at you, Wully!

“我很奇怪你，武利！

Or else what?”

不然怎么办？”

“I doubt the lassie wasn’t really bonnie.

“我怀疑那个小姑娘不是真正的邦妮。

Not like mine!”

不像我的！”

A deeper embrace.

更深的拥抱。

More kisses.

更多的亲吻。

“Oh, _Wully_!”

“哦，_武利_！”

CHAPTER VII

第七章

It was growingly inevitable that the news, the determined news, must be broken.

越来越不可避免的是，这个消息，这个决定性的消息，必须被打破。

Wully, with his whole heart shrinking from the task, made light of it to Chirstie.

武利全心全意地回避这项任务，对克里斯蒂轻描淡写。

Wasn’t having her better than anything he had ever imagined!

拥有她并没有比他想象的更好！

He hadn’t really known at all at the time how greatly he was enriching himself.

当时他根本不知道自己的财富有多大。

If he had been ready then to shoulder whatever blame there might be, he was ready now to do it a dozen times over.

如果说他当时已经准备好承担可能发生的任何责任，那么现在他已经准备好承担十几次了。

He didn’t mind in the least telling his parents about it.

他一点也不介意把这件事告诉父母。

Accidents of the sort happen among even the most respectable people from time to time.

即使是最受尊敬的人也会时不时地发生此类事故。

It was in vain that he tried to reassure her.

他试图安抚她，但徒劳无功。

It might be all very well for him to talk so, but when everyone knew about her-- Oh, what should she do then!

他这样说也许很好，但是当每个人都知道她的时候——哦，那她该怎么办啊！

Was it that she doubted him, then?

难道她怀疑他了？

Wasn’t he going to be with her?

他不是要和她在一起吗？

If by chance there should be one neighbor rash enough to see anything not perfect about his marriage, he would tell her for sure there would never be another!

如果碰巧有一个邻居鲁莽地发现他的婚姻有任何不完美的地方，他会肯定地告诉她，再也不会有第二个了！

It was his mother she thought most about!

她最想念的还是他的母亲！

What would his mother ever do when she heard it?

当他的母亲听到这个消息时，她会怎么做呢？

That was nothing!

那没什么！

Wully would go and explain it all to her, after his fashion--falsely, his wife insisted on saying wretchedly.

武利会按照他的方式去向她解释这一切——这是错误的，他的妻子坚持用可悲的语气说。

His mother would be angry, of course, at first, and give him the scolding of his life.

当然，他的母亲一开始会很生气，并责骂他一生。

But she’d soon get over it, and come over bringing Chirstie a lot of baby clothes.

但她很快就克服了这个困难，过来给克里斯蒂带来了很多婴儿衣服。

Chirstie would see if she wouldn’t!

克里斯蒂会看看她是否不肯！

Why hadn’t he explained it to her then, the last time he went over for that purpose, if it was so light a matter?

如果事情这么轻的话，上次他为此目的而去的时候，为什么不向她解释一下呢？

The children happened to be all at home that day because the teacher was ill, and he had got no word alone with her.

那天孩子们正好都在家，因为老师生病了，他没有单独和她说任何消息。

He didn’t add that he had been highly relieved to find them all there.

他没有补充说，当他发现他们都在那里时，他感到非常欣慰。

He would go over at once, so that the burden would be off Chirstie’s mind.

他会立刻过去，这样克里斯蒂就可以摆脱这个负担。

Having arrived at the scene of his humiliation the next morning, he saw his father coming from the cornfield with his hands and pockets full of chosen ears of seed corn.

第二天早上，他到达受辱现场，看到父亲从玉米地里走出来，手里和口袋里装满了精选的玉米穗。

Wully met him in the path just behind the barn, and they greeted each other without a sign of affection.

武利在谷仓后面的小路上遇见了他，他们互相打招呼，但没有表现出任何感情。

What did Wully think of these ears?

武利觉得这双耳朵怎么样？

Wully felt them critically, one after another, with his thumb, and found them good.

武利用拇指一个接一个地仔细地感受它们，发现它们很好。

His father started on towards the barn.

他的父亲开始朝谷仓走去。

“I want to tell you something, father.”

“我想告诉你一件事，父亲。”

He stopped without a word, and stood listening.

他一言不发地停下来，站着听。

“We’re going to have a baby.”

“我们要生孩子了。”

“’Tis likely.”

“很有可能。”

“I mean--in December.”

“我是说——十二月。”

“December?

“十二月？

In December!”

十二月！”

“Yes.

是的。

That’s what I mean.”

这就是我的意思。”

John McLaughlin’s long keen face, which changed expression only under great provocation, now surrendered to surprise.

约翰·麦克劳林那张敏锐​​的长脸，只有在受到极大的刺激时才会改变表情，现在却屈服于惊讶。

He stood still, looking at his son penetratingly a long time.

他一动不动地站着，目光深邃地看着儿子良久。

Wully kicked an imaginary clod back and forth in the path.

武利在小路上来回踢着一块想象中的土块。

Presently the father said, with more bitterness than Wully had ever heard in his voice,

不久，父亲说道，语气中的苦涩程度是武利从未听过的：

“It seems we have brought the old country to the new!”

“看来我们已经把旧国家带入了新国家！”

Wully pondered this unexpected deliverance without looking up.

武利没有抬头，思考着这意外的解脱。

After a little the older man added, sighing,

过了一会儿，老者叹了口气，补充道：

“I prayed my sons might be men who could wait.”

“我祈祷我的儿子们能够成为能够等待的人。”

“A lot he knows about waiting!” thought Wully, half angrily.

“他对等待很了解！”武利有些生气地想。

“Thirteen of us!”

“我们十三个人！”

“You tell mother about it, father,” he pleaded, knowing his entreaty useless.

“父亲，你告诉母亲这件事，”他恳求道，他知道自己的恳求毫无用处。

“I _will_ not!”

“我不会！”

“I wish you would.

“我希望你愿意。

I can’t--very well!”

我不能——很好！”

“You’d best!”

“你最好！”

Wully stood watching him tie the yellow ears into clusters on the sheltered side of the barn.

武利站在那里，看着他把黄色的耳朵绑成一簇，放在谷仓有遮蔽的一侧。

He was trying with all his might to gather courage to face his mother.

他竭尽全力鼓起勇气面对母亲。

He hadn’t felt such a nervous hesitancy since the first time he went into action.

自从第一次行动以来，他还没有感觉到如此紧张的犹豫。

He remembered only too well the last time he had really stirred her displeasure.

他记得太清楚了，上次他真正引起了她的不满。

Allen and he had quarreled, and had nursed their anger, in spite of her remonstrances, for two days.

艾伦和他争吵了两天，并且不顾她的抗议，一直在发怒。

He had growled out something to his brother across the supper table, and after that, she had put the little children to bed, and had set her two sons down before the fireplace--it was in the first house they were living then.

他在餐桌对面向他的兄弟咆哮了些什么，之后，她让孩子们上床睡觉，并将她的两个儿子放在壁炉前——那是在他们当时居住的第一所房子里。

She had drawn her chair near them, and had proceeded quietly and grimly to flay them with her tongue.

她把椅子拉到他们身边，然后悄悄地、冷酷地用舌头剥他们的皮。

She had continued with deliberateness till they were glad to escape half crying to bed.

她一直小心翼翼地继续，直到他们高兴地半哭着上床睡觉。

He remembered still how she had begun.

他仍然记得她是如何开始的。

It might be natural, she said, for brothers to quarrel.

她说，兄弟之间争吵可能是很自然的事情。

But she believed that it would never again be natural for her sons to quarrel in her presence.

但她相信她的儿子们再也不会在她面前吵架了。

And she had been perfectly right about that.

她的这一点是完全正确的。

What she would say now, upon an occasion like this with her dismaying self-control, he couldn’t even imagine.

他甚至无法想象，在这样的场合，她的自制力令人沮丧，她现在会说什么。

It would be nothing common, he felt sure.

他确信这并不常见。

On the bed which she had just finished spreading with a “drunkard’s path” quilt, they sat down together in a low room of the second story, where three beds full of boys were accustomed to sleep.

在她刚铺好“醉汉路”被子的床上，他们一起坐在了二楼一间低矮的房间里，那里习惯了睡三张床的男孩。

She kissed him fondly when he came to her, saying it was a lonely house with him away so much.

当他来到她身边时，她深情地吻了他，说他离开了这么久，房子很孤独。

She wondered why they had not been at church.

她想知道他们为什么没去教堂。

Was Chirstie not well again?

克里斯蒂的身体又不好了吗？

“I have something to tell you, mother,” he stammered.

“我有件事要告诉你，妈妈，”他结结巴巴地说。

“I’m listening,” she said encouragingly, her eyes studying him tenderly.

“我在听，”她鼓励地说，眼睛温柔地看着他。

How beautiful a head he had!

他的头多么漂亮啊！

How beautiful a man he was!

他是一个多么美丽的男人啊！

“We’re going to have a baby!

“我们要生孩子了！

In December, mother!”

十二月，妈妈！”

Over her face there spread swiftly a smile of soft amusement.

她的脸上迅速绽放出柔和而有趣的微笑。

She had always looked that way when one of her children said something especially innocent and lovable.

当她的一个孩子说一些特别天真可爱的话时，她总是这样。

“You don’t mean December, Wully!

“你说的不是十二月，武利！

Dinna ye ken that?

迪娜你知道吗？

The wee’uns can’na just hurry so!”

小家伙们可不能这么着急啊！”

He couldn’t look at her.

他无法看她。

“I know what I mean!” he said, doggedly.

“我知道我的意思！”他固执地说。

“I mean December.

“我是说十二月。

I understand.” The silence became so ominous that at length he had to steal a look at her.

我明白了。”沉默变得如此不祥，最终他不得不偷​​偷看了她一眼。

Her incredulous face was flushed red with shame and anger.

她难以置信的脸因羞愧和愤怒而涨得通红。

He rose to defend his love from her.

他站起来，向她捍卫自己的爱。

“You aren’t to say a word against her.

“你不许说任何反对她的话。

It wasn’t _her_ fault!”

这不是她的错！”

Then the storm broke.

然后暴风雨爆发了。

“Do you think I’m likely to say a word against the poor, greetin’ bairn!” she cried.

“你认为我可能会对穷人说一句话吗，问候拜恩！”她哭了。

“Her sitting there alone among the wolves and snakes, and a son of mine to bring her to shame!

“她独自坐在狼群和蛇中间，而我的儿子却让她蒙羞！

I’ll never lift my head again!” Her rush of emotion quite choked her.

我再也不会抬起头来了！”汹涌的情绪让她窒息。

“My fine, brave soldier of a son!” she burst out, recovering herself.

“我优秀、勇敢的战士儿子！”她爆发了，恢复了自己的状态。

“You did well, now, to choose a lassie alone, with neither father nor mother to defend her from you!”

“现在，你独自选择了一个姑娘，没有父亲或母亲来保护她，你做得很好！”

“Mother!” he cried.

“母亲！”他哭了。

“Jeannie’s wee Chirstie!” she went on.

“珍妮的小克里斯蒂！”她继续说道。

“No one else could please you, I suppose!

“我想，没有人能让你高兴！

Oh, she did well to die when her son was but a laddie!”

哦，当她的儿子还只是个小伙子时，她就死了就好了！”

Wretchedly ashamed of his deceit as he was, he was not able to take more of her reproof without trying to defend himself.

尽管他为自己的欺骗感到羞愧，但他无法接受她更多的责备而不试图为自己辩护。

“I didn’t mean any harm!” he mumbled.

“我没有恶意！”他咕哝道。

“I didn’t think.” That was what Peter had said.

“我没想到。”这就是彼得所说的。

“And _why_ did you not think!” she demanded, furiously.

“而_为什么_你没有想到！”她愤怒地问道。

“Have you no mind of your own!

“你没有自己的主见吗！

You didn’t know what you were doing, I suppose!

我想你不知道自己在做什么！

Oh, that I should have a son who is a fool!”

哦，但愿我有一个傻儿子！”

How terrible mothers are!

妈妈们是多么可怕啊！

Fool was a word she hated so greatly that she never allowed her children to pronounce it.

“傻瓜”这个词她非常讨厌，所以她从来不让她的孩子们说出这个词。

It was her ultimate condemnation.

这是她最终的谴责。

He had never heard her use it before.

他以前从未听她使用过它。

And now she used it for him!

而现在，她却用在了他的身上！

“This is why you have been ailing all summer!

“这就是为什么你整个夏天都在生病！

You’d reason to be!

你有理由这样做！

Did you think you could do evil and prosper?”

你以为你可以作恶而繁荣吗？”

He wasn’t going to stand any more of that tone.

他不会再忍受这种语气了。

He got up.

他站了起来。

“I’ll be going,” he exclaimed.

“我这就去，”他喊道。

“There’s no place for me here!” No sooner had he used those words than he regretted them.

“这里没有我的容身之地！”这句话刚出口，他就后悔了。

They might seem to appeal to her pity.

它们似乎会引起她的怜悯。

That was what he had said once when he was a little lad, upon seeing a new baby in her arms, and afterwards, whenever she had shown him a new child, she had reminded him of it gayly.

当他还是个小伙子的时候，当他看到她怀里的一个新生儿时，他就说过这句话，后来，每当她给他看一个新生儿时，她都会愉快地提醒他。

“Don’t go!” she answered, unrelenting.

“别走！”她毫不留情地回答。

“There is always a place for you, whatever you elect to do.

“无论你选择做什么，总有一个适合你的地方。

This is a sore stroke, Wully!” Then she added, wearily and passionately,

这是一次痛苦的中风，武利！”然后她疲倦而热情地补充道：

“When I was a girl, I wanted to be some great person.

“当我还是个女孩的时候，我想成为一个伟大的人。

And when you all were born, I wanted only to have you great men.

当你们出生时，我只想拥有你们这些伟人。

And when you grew up, I prayed you might be at least honest.

当你长大后，我祈祷你至少能诚实。

And I’m not to have even that, it seems.”

看来我连这个都不能拥有。”

He had heard her say that before.

他以前听她说过这句话。

He was so sorry for her pain that he hardly knew what to do.

他对她的痛苦感到非常抱歉，以至于他几乎不知道该怎么办。

If only there had been any other way out!

如果还有其他出路就好了！

Maybe Chirstie had been right in demanding he tell at least his mother the truth.

也许克里斯蒂要求他至少告诉他母亲真相是正确的。

But he would not!

但他不会！

He would share his wife’s blame.

他会分担妻子的责任。

“I’m sorry about it, mother,” he pleaded.

“我很抱歉，妈妈，”他恳求道。

“I’m _sick_ about it.

“我对此感到_恶心_。

I’ve done what I could to make it right!”

我已经尽我所能去弥补了！”

“To make it right!

“为了把事情做好！

Do you think you can ever make wrong right!

你认为你可以做错事做对吗！

You have spoiled your own marriage.

你已经破坏了你自己的婚姻。

You’ll never be happy in it!”

你永远不会从中得到快乐！”

“Don’t worry about that!”

“这个不用担心！”

“And you the oldest!” she added, suddenly.

“而你是最年长的！”她突然补充道。

“I suppose the other six will be doing the same, now!”

“我想其他六个人现在也会做同样的事情！”

“If a brother of mine did a thing like that, I’d kill him!” cried Wully fiercely.

“如果我的兄弟做出这样的事，我一定会杀了他！”乌利激烈地叫道。

It soothed her to have something not tragic to reprove him for.

有一些不那么悲惨的事情来责备他，这让她感到宽慰。

“Wully,” she said severely, “don’t you speak words like them here!

“沃利，”她严厉地说，“你不许在这里说这样的话！

’Tis something you learned in the army!

这是你在军队里学到的东西！

A fine one you’d be to say who should live and who should die!

你应该说谁应该活，谁应该死，这是一个很好的说法！

We dinna say the like here!”

我们不会在这里说这样的话！”

“I can’t please you any way!” he cried, stung by her upbraidings.

“我无论如何也无法取悦你！”他被她的责骂刺痛了，大声喊道。

“Strange ways you have of trying!” she retorted.

“你的尝试方式很奇怪！”她反驳道。

He said nothing.

他什么也没说。

She cried again, presently,

过了一会儿，她又哭了，

“If only it had been some other girl, Wully!

“如果是其他女孩就好了，武利！

Not Jeannie’s!”

不是珍妮的！”

What could he answer?

他能回答什么？

“Mother, you come and see her!

“妈妈，你快来看她吧！

She needs someone!”

她需要一个人！”

“Thanks to _you_!

“谢谢_你_！

To my son!

为了我的儿子！

I won’t can speak to her, that shamed I’ll be of you!” She thought a bitter moment.

我不能和她说话，我会为你感到羞耻！”她苦涩地想了一会儿。

“Alex McNair’ll be home before December.

“亚历克斯·麦克奈尔将在十二月之前回家。

You’d best come here to me!

你最好到我这里来！

Wully, if any other mouth in the world had told me this, I wouldn’t have believed it!

武利，如果世界上有其他人告诉我这件事，我都不会相信！

You were always a good boy.

你一直都是个好孩子。

Always!

永远！

Before the war!”

战前！”

“I’ve got to go!” he cried in answer.

“我得走了！”他哭着回答。

He rushed away, damning Peter Keith into the nethermost hell.

他冲走了，将彼得·基思扔进了最底层的地狱。

The open air was some relief.

露天的空气让人松了口气。

If only women wouldn’t take these things so hard!

要是女人不那么难受这些事情就好了！

Well, that was over.

好吧，一切都结束了。

The worst part.

最糟糕的部分。

Any taunt that he might ever have to defend himself from would be easy, after that.

在那之后，任何他可能需要为自己辩护的嘲笑都会变得很容易。

After her unkissed son had gone, Isobel McLaughlin, reeling from the blow he had dealt her, sat with her hands covering her face.

在她未被亲吻的儿子走后，伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林因他对她的打击而浑身不自在，双手捂着脸坐着。

Nothing but Wully’s own recital could ever have made her believe such a story!

除了武利自己的叙述之外，没有什么能让她相信这样的故事！

It was even thus incredible.

即便如此，也令人难以置信。

If only it had been any other girl but Jeannie’s!

要是不是珍妮的女孩就好了！

And her dead!

而她死了！

Scarcely dead, either, till her son, betraying years of trust, had shamed her daughter!

还没等她死，她的儿子就背叛了多年的信任，羞辱了她的女儿！

If Jeannie had been alive, she would have gone to her, in humiliation, though it killed her!

如果珍妮还活着，她就会带着羞辱去找她，尽管这会杀了她！

Now there was not even that comfort!

现在连那种安慰都没有了！

There was only Chirstie left, and her in such a state!

只剩下克里斯蒂一个人了，而且她还是这个样子！

It was not possible to believe her good, beautiful son had done such a base thing!

简直不敢相信，她的好儿子竟然做出了如此卑鄙的事！

If it had been any boy but Wully!

要是不是武利，要是哪个男孩就好了！

Had he ever given her a moment of anxiety before?

他以前有给过她一丝不安吗？

Did not the whole clan like him, knowing him for a quiet, honorable, sweet-tempered boy, eminently trustworthy!

整个家族不都喜欢他吗，都知道他是一个安静、正直、脾气温和、非常值得信赖的男孩！

And now a thing like this to fall upon her!

如今，这样的事情竟然降临在她的身上！

She refused to remember that Allen’s irresponsibility, his extravagant pleasure in the society of women, of any size or kind of woman, had made her anxious many an hour.

她不记得艾伦的不负责任，他在女性社交中的过度快乐，无论大小或类型的女性，已经让她焦虑了好几个小时。

That son, from the time he was twelve, had fairly glowed when there was a woman about to admire him.

那儿子从十二岁起，只要有女人倾慕他，就相当容光焕发。

But Wully had only chuckled over his brother’s kaleidoscopic love affairs, things so foreign to his nature.

但武利只是对他哥哥千变万化的风流韵事嗤之以鼻，这些事情与他的本性如此格格不入。

His mother, remembering Allen’s escapades, exempted the dead loyally from blame.

他的母亲记得艾伦的越轨行为，忠实地免除了死者的责任。

If Wully had been like that, she might have understood this tale.

如果武利是那样的话，她可能会理解这个故事。

But he was not like that.

但他不是那样的。

He had never been at all like that.

他从来没有这样过。

It must be the army that had wrought such evil changes in him.

一定是军队给他带来了如此邪恶的变化。

That was what had undone her years of teaching.

这就是毁掉她多年教学的原因。

That was what had made all this frontier sacrifice barren.

这就是为什么所有这些边疆牺牲都毫无结果的原因。

Was it not for the children’s sake they had endured this vast wilderness, and endured it in vain if the children were to be of this low and common sort?

难道他们不是为了孩子们才忍受了这片茫茫荒野，如果孩子们都这么卑微、庸俗的话，他们就白白忍受了吗？

In their Utopia it was not to have been as it had been in the old country, with each family having a scholar or two in it, and the rest toilers.

在他们的乌托邦里，情况并不像在古老的国家那样，每个家庭有一两个学者，其余的都是苦役。

Here they were all to have been scholars and great men.

在这里，他们都将成为学者和伟人。

And now the war had taken away Wully’s schooling and Allen’s life--and not only Wully’s schooling, which was after all, not essential to life, but that ultimate gift, his very sense of being a McLaughlin.

现在，战争夺走了武利的学业和艾伦的生活——不仅夺走了武利的学业（毕竟，这对生活来说不是必需的），而且夺走了他的终极天赋，即他作为麦克劳克林人的感觉。

Some Americans might have smiled to know that this immigrant family never for a moment considered Americans in general their equal, or themselves anything common.

一些美国人可能会微笑地知道，这个移民家庭从来没有把美国人视为与他们平等，或者把自己视为普通人。

They were far too British for that.

他们太英国化了，不适合这样做。

Until lately it had never occurred to them that anyone else might manage some way to be equal to a Scot.

直到最近，他们还从未想过其他人可以通过某种方式与苏格兰人平等。

Until the war, when some young McLaughlin had shown signs of intolerable depravity, his father had entirely extinguished the last glimmer of it by saying, as he took his pipe out of his economical mouth, “Dinna ye act like a Yankee!” So withering was that reproach that no iniquity ever survived it.

直到战争之前，当一些年轻的麦克劳克林表现出难以忍受的堕落迹象时，他的父亲从他那节俭的嘴里拿出烟斗时说：“迪娜，你们表现得像个北方佬！”这种责备是如此令人沮丧，以至于没有任何罪孽能幸免于难。

Now that that Yankee of the Yankees, Harvey Stowe, had been a very brother to Wully through campaigns and prisons, that denunciation was to be heard no more.

既然北方佬中的北方佬哈维·斯托在竞选和监狱中与武利结为兄弟，那么这种谴责就不会再听到了。

But surely, Isobel McLaughlin moaned, her husband and herself had not let the children think that they were anything common.

但毫无疑问，伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林抱怨道，她的丈夫和她自己并没有让孩子们认为他们是普通人。

Had she not hated all that democracy that justified meanness of life, and pointed out faithfully to her children its fallacy?

难道她不痛恨所有为卑鄙生活辩护的民主制度，并忠实地向她的孩子们指出它的谬误吗？

She remembered the first time she had taken them all to a Fourth of July celebration in the Yankee settlement, where a barefooted, tobacco-spitting, red-haired orator of the day, after an hour of boastings and of braggings, had shouted out his climax, saying that in this free land we are all kings and queens.

她记得第一次带他们去参加洋基定居点举行的国庆节庆祝活动时，当时一位赤脚、吐着烟草、红发的演说家，经过一个小时的自吹自擂后，大声喊出他的高潮，说在这片自由的土地上，我们都是国王和王后。

“A fine old king, yon!” she had chuckled again and again, explaining his folly to her flock.

“一位优秀的老国王，哟！”她一次又一次地咯咯笑，向她的羊群解释他的愚蠢行为。

A man like that had no idea what a king was!

这样的人根本不知道什么是国王！

He most likely had never even seen a gentleman!

他大概连绅士都没见过吧！

She recalled that Wully, once when he was quite a small boy, had alone and unaided found and identified a gentleman whose team was struggling in a swamp.

她回忆起武利有一次，当他还是个小男孩的时候，他独自一人、在没有帮助的情况下找到并辨认了一位绅士，他的团队正在沼泽地里挣扎。

He was a poor old gentleman, trying manfully to get an orphan grandson to a son’s home farther west, and Wully had brought him proudly home, and his mother had “done” for him till he was able to travel on.

他是一位贫穷的老绅士，勇敢地试图将一个孤儿孙子带到更西边的儿子家里，武利自豪地把他带回家，他的母亲为他“做了”，直到他能够继续旅行。

Having him in the house had been like having a pitiable angel with them.

有他在家里就像有一个可怜的天使和他们在一起。

When he was better, they had called all the neighbors in, and the old New Englander had preached them a sermon.

当他病情好转时，他们把所有的邻居都叫了进来，这位老新英格兰人给他们讲道。

He had preached to the children about the Lamb of God, using as his text the lamb tied near the door, and they had never forgotten how gentleness, he said, had made God great.

他曾向孩子们宣讲上帝的羔羊，并以系在门边的羔羊为文本，他说，他们永远不会忘记温柔如何使上帝变得伟大。

And when he had been starting on, John McLaughlin had taken a bill from his pocket--and bills were things not often seen by the children--and given it to him humbly, for the benefits his presence had bestowed upon the family.

当他开始工作时，约翰·麦克劳克林从口袋里掏出一张钞票——钞票是孩子们不常看到的东西——并谦虚地交给他，因为他的出现给这个家庭带来了好处。

Afterwards when his mother had asked Wully how he had known the stranger would be welcome, he had said he knew he was some great man by the way he spoke to his floundering horses.

后来，当他的母亲问武利他怎么知道这个陌生人会受到欢迎时，他说，从他对挣扎的马说话的方式来看，他知道他是一个伟人。

Oh, surely in that wilderness Wully had known the better ways of living.

哦，当然，在那片荒野里，武利知道更好的生活方式。

And he had chosen despicable ways!

而且他还选择了卑鄙的手段！

She was only an old, tired, disappointed woman.

她只是一个年老、疲惫、失望的女人。

If her first-born, that lad Wully, had done a thing like this, what might not the rest of them choose to do!

如果她的长子，那个乌利小伙子都做了这样的事，其他人还有什么不会选择做的呢！

Pride did not let her remember that if the family had been in no generation without a man of more or less eminence, neither had it been without a precedent for Wully’s conduct.

骄傲并没有让她记住，如果说这个家族历代都没有一位或多或少显赫的男人，那么武利的行为也并非没有先例。

She was a woman who had sympathy with the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

她是一位同情西庇太儿子们母亲的女人。

If she had been there with Christ, she would have asked unashamed for four places on his right, and for four on his left, the nearest eight seats for her eight sons.

如果她和基督在一起，她会毫不羞耻地要求在他右边有四个座位，在他左边有四个座位，最近的八个座位给她的八个儿子。

What dreams she had dreamed for them!

她为他们做了什么梦想啊！

Once she had beheld the President of the United States consulting his cabinet, and behold, her Wully was the President, and Allen the Vice-President, and the Cabinet consisted of her younger lads, even young Hughie sitting there, still only nine, with a freckled little nose, and a wisp of a curling lock straying down from his cowlick towards eyes shining with contemplated mischief.

有一次她看到美国总统在咨询他的内阁，瞧，她的乌利是总统，艾伦是副总统，内阁由她的年轻小伙子组成，甚至还有年轻的休吉坐在那里，当时才九岁，长着一个长着雀斑的小鼻子，一缕卷发从他的发髻上垂下来，流向闪烁着深思熟虑的恶作剧的眼睛。

She had felt at the time that such a dream might be somewhat, perhaps, foolish, and profiting by Joseph’s distant but well-known experience, she had told it only to her husband.

她当时觉得这样的梦可能有点愚蠢，而且受益于约瑟夫遥远但众所周知的经历，她只告诉了她的丈夫。

He diagnosed her case in one instant.

他一瞬间就诊断出她的病情。

“You dreamed that wide awake, woman!” She had thought at times that Allen was to be another Burns, a maker of songs for a new country.

“你做梦还那么清醒，女人！”她有时认为艾伦会成为另一个伯恩斯，一个为新国家创作歌曲的人。

In her dreams, to be great was to be one of three things, a Burns, a Lincoln, or a Florence Nightingale.

在她的梦想中，伟大就是成为三件事之一：伯恩斯、林肯或弗洛伦斯·南丁格尔。

And now one dream, her first and longest, was permanently over.

现在，她的第一个也是最长的一个梦想永远结束了。

Wully was a man now, and a man who brought women to ruin.

武利现在是个男人了，而且是一个毁掉女人的男人。

Sometimes it seemed to her as she lay there moaning that surely the girl must have enticed him into this evil.

有时，当她躺在那里呻吟时，她觉得肯定是这个女孩引诱他陷入了这种邪恶之中。

Then she came swiftly to blaming the whole thing on Alex McNair.

然后她很快就把整件事归咎于亚历克斯·麦克奈尔。

If he had come home when he should have, if he had not left the girl unprotected there, this would never have happened.

如果他在该回家的时候回家，如果他没有把女孩留在无人保护的地方，这一切就不会发生。

Blaming Alex violated no fond loyalty.

责怪亚历克斯并没有违背忠诚。

In time it came to seem to her that the whole fault was his.

随着时间的推移，她觉得这一切都是他的错。

But that afternoon, the small McLaughlins coming home from school found a state of affairs new in their experience.

但那天下午，麦克劳林一家放学回家后发现了一种新的情况。

There was absolutely no sign of a baby in the house, and yet their mother was in bed!

屋子里完全没有婴儿的迹象，而他们的母亲却躺在床上！

Once she said when they asked her anxiously, that her head ached.

有一次，当他们焦急地问她时，她说，她的头很痛。

And once she said that her heart was troubling her.

有一次她说她的心在困扰。

CHAPTER VIII

第八章

The autumn seemed to set itself against the house that Wully had determined to have ready for occupancy before winter.

秋天似乎与沃利决定在冬天之前准备好入住的房子作斗争。

Week after week the roads continued so deep in mud that six oxen could not manage to haul a load of lumber the mere twenty-six miles.

一周又一周，道路泥泞不堪，六头牛根本无法将一车木材拖运二十六英里。

Chirstie was not as much disappointed by the delay as her husband; she rather liked being hidden away, just then, on the outskirts of the settlement, in her father’s lonely cabin.

克里斯蒂并不像她丈夫那样对延误感到失望。她更喜欢此时此刻，在定居点的郊区，在她父亲孤独的小屋里。

She had seen no one but Wully’s mother, and her aunts into whose chagrined ears the humbled Isobel McLaughlin had poured a story as sympathetic as possible, blaming Alex McNair for this fruit of his unfatherly desertion.

除了武利的母亲和姑姑们之外，她没有见过任何人，卑微的伊泽贝尔·麦克劳林向她们懊恼的耳朵倾诉了一个尽可能富有同情心的故事，指责亚历克斯·麦克奈尔造成了他无情的遗弃的后果。

Mrs. McLaughlin had come at once to see Chirstie after Wully’s revelation, apparently utterly pleased over the prospect of a grandchild, never intimating by a syllable that she saw anything deplorable in the unchristian haste of his advent.

武利透露此事后，麦克劳克林夫人立即来看望克里斯蒂，她显然对孙子的前景感到非常高兴，但她从没有从一个音节中看出，她在他非基督教般的匆忙降临中看到了任何可悲的地方。

Her kindness had naturally humbled the girl more than any reproof could have done, and after a long cry the two had been friends, both relieved that estrangement was a thing of the past.

她的善意自然比任何责备都更让女孩感到谦卑，哭了很久之后，两人成了朋友，两人都松了口气，因为疏远已成为过去。

One afternoon late in November Mrs. McLaughlin came as far as Chirstie’s with her husband, who was going on to the Keiths’ on an errand.

十一月底的一个下午，麦克劳克林夫人和她的丈夫来到了奇斯蒂家，她的丈夫正要去基思家出差。

It seemed to Chirstie then, and often afterwards, that one who had not seen loving-kindness incarnate in her mother-in-law, had never seen it at all.

在克里斯蒂看来，无论是当时还是后来的情况，凡是没见过婆婆身上体现出慈爱的人，就根本没有见过。

Her own mother had been a sad, repressed woman, well-loved, indeed, by her children, but as far different as possible from this great, cordial, brimming woman, who seemed so capable of anything that might ever be required of her.

她自己的母亲是一个悲伤、压抑的女人，确实深受孩子们的喜爱，但与这个伟大、亲切、热情的女人有很大不同，她似乎有能力完成任何可能需要她做的事情。

One couldn’t imagine her hesitating, complaining, broken in spirit.

人们无法想象她的犹豫、抱怨、精神崩溃。

Chirstie sat beside her sewing, an awe-filled pupil in the things of maternity.

克里斯蒂坐在她的缝纫旁边，她是一个对母性事物充满敬畏的学生。

It was comforting, when one was feeling daily more wretched, to be assured by the mother of thirteen huskies that a baby is just nothing whatever but a joy, no trouble worth speaking of.

当一个人每天都感到更加不幸时，十三只哈士奇的母亲向他保证，婴儿只不过是一种快乐，没有什么麻烦值得一提，这是令人欣慰的。

Did Chirstie remember that her brother Jimmie had been just Wully’s age?

克里斯蒂还记得她哥哥吉米和武利年纪相仿吗？

Many was the time Jeannie McNair and Isobel McLaughlin had sat together waiting for those two, and sewing, and Jeannie had said so and so, and Isobel had answered thus and thus.

很多时候，珍妮·麦克奈尔和伊莎贝尔·麦克劳林坐在一起等待这两个人，还有缝纫，珍妮如此如此说，伊莎贝尔如此如此回答。

Once she had said to Chirstie’s grandmother that she wouldn’t like to have just a common bairn, and the old woman had replied that there was not the least chance of it, for no woman yet had mothered just a common child.

有一次，她对克里斯蒂的祖母说，她不想生一个普通的孩子，老妇人回答说，这种可能性一点也没有，因为还没有哪个女人养过一个普通的孩子。

In Scotland, too, when a baby was born, one had to lose the flavor of joy wondering where its food was to come from.

在苏格兰也是如此，当婴儿出生时，人们不得不失去好奇食物从何而来的喜悦之情。

But in this land crying aloud to the heavens for inhabitants, there was no anxiety of that sort to dull one’s happiness.

但在这片向天大声呼唤居民的土地上，并不存在那种会削弱幸福感的焦虑。

What had it been to them but an omen of the new home’s abundance, that the John McLaughlins had had twins born the year of their arrival, that the Squires had had twins within six months, and that before the year was gone, the Weirs, from the same Ayrshire village, were also blessed in the same way.

对他们来说，这不过是新家富裕的预兆：约翰·麦克劳林一家在他们抵达的那年生下了双胞胎，乡绅们在六个月内就生下了双胞胎，而在这一年过去之前，来自同一个艾尔郡村庄的威尔一家也以同样的方式得到了祝福。

To be sure, Squire McLaughlin had uttered a word which might not have been taken to signify altogether pure satisfaction with these godsends, the morning after the double increase in his family.

可以肯定的是，麦克劳克林乡绅在他的家庭成员人数翻倍后的第二天早上，说了一句话，这句话可能不会被认为表示对这些天赐之物完全满意。

He had gone to his barn, and finding that his dearly-bought cow, which was to have furnished him milkers, had given birth to twins, he had sighed a sigh which became a tradition, and murmured, “Bull calves, and lassie wee’uns!” The men had laughed at that, but the women considered it a rather cheap thing of the old wag, even as a joke.

他去了他的谷仓，发现他花重金买来的母牛生下了双胞胎，这头母牛原本是给他提供挤奶工的，他叹了口气，这成了一种传统，并低声说道：“公牛犊，还有小姑娘！”男人们对此嗤之以鼻，但女人们认为这是一种相当廉价的老笑话，即使是作为一个笑话。

And so they talked on, until the clouds covered the sun again, and they heard the wind rising noisily as they drew near the fire to consider their knitting in the light of it.

他们就这样继续说着，直到乌云再次遮住了太阳，当他们走近火堆，在火光下思考编织时，他们听见风声呼啸而过。

The elder Mrs. McLaughlin, who was, as usual, doing most of the talking, looked enviously around the kitchen from time to time.

老麦克劳克林太太一如既往地在说话，她时不时地羡慕地环顾厨房。

She knew she was considered a capable woman.

她知道自己被认为是一个有能力的女人。

And she had a fine family--yes, certainly, a fine family--in spite of this--affair of Wully’s.

她有一个美好的家庭——是的，当然，一个美好的家庭——尽管如此——武利的风流韵事。

But she could never keep house as Jeannie did, or even Chirstie.

但她永远无法像珍妮甚至克里斯蒂那样持家。

She could, of course, polish her kitchen to some such a degree of luster for special occasions, but to maintain such a brightness was out of the question for her.

当然，她可以在特殊场合把厨房擦亮到这种程度的光泽，但要保持这样的亮度对她来说是不可能的。

There had been no white sheets on the wall here for some time now.

这里的墙上已经有一段时间没有贴白床单了。

But each little pane in the window glowed from its daily polishing.

但窗户上的每一块小玻璃都因每天的抛光而闪闪发光。

The bits of rag carpet seemed always scarcely yet to have lost the marks of their folding, so recently had they been spread down after washing.

破布地毯的碎片似乎总是还没有失去折叠的痕迹，所以最近才被清洗后铺开。

Even the fireplace was more kept than any other fireplace.

就连壁炉也比其他壁炉保存得更完好。

The back of it had always just been scraped and scrubbed and whitewashed.

它的背面总是被刮擦、擦洗、粉刷过。

Isobel wondered if her son realized the degree of this beautiful neatness.

伊莎贝尔想知道她的儿子是否意识到这种美丽整洁的程度。

After a while they heard a wagon drive in, and Mrs. McLaughlin, thinking it was her husband, rose and began leisurely wrapping her knitting.

过了一会儿，他们听到一辆马车开进来的声音，麦克劳克林夫人以为是她的丈夫，便站起身来，开始悠闲地包裹她的针织品。

There was no hurry about going.

去的时候并不着急。

Her man had best come in and warm himself.

她的男人最好进来暖暖身子。

She stood buttoning her old gray faded coat about her.

她站在那里，扣着褪色的灰色旧外套的扣子。

It had been made, mantle-fashion, in Scotland, before she had grown so large, and she had increased its capacity by the simple device of putting broad black strips of cloth down either side of the front, where it fastened.

在她长得这么大之前，它是在苏格兰制作的，披风时尚，她通过简单的装置增加了它的容量，将宽阔的黑色布条放在前面的两侧，固定在那里。

Afterwards it had needed new sleeves, and hadn’t apparently sulked about having new ones of a brownish gray homespun woolen.

后来它需要新的袖子，并且显然没有因为新的棕灰色土纺羊毛袖子而生闷气。

It had nothing to sulk about, in fact.

事实上，它没有什么可生闷气的。

It was still given plenty of honor as a good serviceable garment.

作为一件耐用的好衣服，它仍然被赋予了很多荣誉。

Mistress McLaughlin was wrapping round and round her throat a knitted scarf, pulling it carefully up around her ears, when the door opened....

麦克劳克林太太正把一条针织围巾围在脖子上，小心翼翼地拉到耳朵上，这时门开了……

And in walked--not John McLaughlin, but that tall, gaunt, thin-faced Alex McNair!

走进来的不是约翰·麦克劳克林，而是那个高大、憔悴、瘦脸的亚历克斯·麦克奈尔！

With those little round, black, piercing eyes shining out from under straight black brows!...

那双又圆又黑、锐利的小眼睛从笔直的黑眉毛下闪闪发光！

And after him, a woman!

在他之后，还有一个女人！

A woman in olive green silk, with black fringe around a puffy overskirt, and such fur and gloves as Isobel McLaughlin had seen only in her travels, and Chirstie never remembered seeing in all her life!

一个穿着橄榄绿色丝绸的女人，蓬松的罩裙周围有黑色的流苏，还有伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林只在她的旅行中见过的皮毛和手套，而克里斯蒂一生都不记得见过！

The two of them!

他们两个！

Coming right into the room!

直接进房间了！

McNair, seeing Isobel standing there, cried, blinking,

麦克奈尔看到伊莎贝尔站在那里，眨着眼睛哭道：

“Weel, weel!

“威尔，威尔！

You here, Isobel!

你在这里，伊莎贝尔！

Weel, weel!

威尔，威尔！

This is Barbara, Isobel!”

这是芭芭拉，伊莎贝尔！”

Chirstie had shrunk in fear and confusion, back into her seat.

克里斯蒂因恐惧和困惑而缩回到座位上。

But the elder woman showed no signs of confusion.

但老妇人并没有表现出困惑的迹象。

She looked the grand wee body over majestically and replied:

她威严地审视着那巨大的躯体，回答道：

“Is’t, indeed!

“确实不是！

I hope she fares better than Jeannie, Alex, dying here alone.”

我希望她比珍妮、亚历克斯孤独地死在这儿过得更好。”

Alex had bent down to kiss his daughter, and seemed to be not so much impressed by this greeting as the little woman was.

亚历克斯弯下腰去亲吻他的女儿，他似乎没有像小女人那样对这个问候印象深刻。

She continued:

她继续说道：

“I have just been sitting a while with my son’s wife.

“我刚刚和我儿子的妻子坐了一会。

You may not remember Chirstie was married, you having so grand a time in Scotland!”

你可能不记得克里斯蒂结婚了，你在苏格兰度过了一段美好的时光！”

“Warm yourself!” he said to his wife, indicating a chair.

“暖暖身子吧！”他指着一把椅子对妻子说道。

“I’ll be bringing in the kist.” He went out of the door, which had not yet been shut, so suddenly and quickly had it all happened.

“我会把气团带进来的。”他出了门，门还没有关上，这一切发生得太突然、太快了。

Mrs. McLaughlin’s manner changed at once, and she began helping the amazing stranger out of her wraps.

麦克劳克林夫人的态度立刻改变了，她开始帮助这个令人惊奇的陌生人摆脱困境。

How could those two who watched, so impressed by the richness of them, and so unbetraying of their impressions, how could they have imagined, seeing her, the deceitfulness of those little innocent hesitating airs!

那些观看的两个人，对他们的丰富性印象如此深刻，又如此不辜负他们的印象，他们怎么可能想象到，看到她时，那些天真的犹豫神态的欺骗性！

The garments were scarcely laid gingerly on the bed until Alex returned, carrying, with Bob McNorkel’s help, a great box, which they seemed to plan to leave in the middle of the floor.

衣服才小心翼翼地放在床上，直到亚历克斯回来，在鲍勃·麦克诺克尔的帮助下，搬着一个大盒子，他们似乎打算把它留在地板中央。

Chirstie remonstrated and gave them directions.

克里斯蒂向他们提出抗议并给了他们指示。

It seemed from Alex’s grunting and hard-breathing words as the box was put in the only possible place for it, that he and his bride had ridden out with Bob, who had to be hurrying on.

当盒子被放在唯一可能的地方时，从亚历克斯咕哝着、气喘吁吁的话语中可以看出，他和他的新娘已经和鲍勃一起骑马出去了，而鲍勃必须赶紧赶路。

Alex went out of the door with him, and after Alex, Isobel the avenger.

亚历克斯和他一起出了门，在亚历克斯之后，是复仇者伊莎贝尔。

“I’ll just have a word with you!” she said to him, stepping inside the barn to be out of the wind.

“我就跟你说句话吧！”她一边对他说，一边走进谷仓避风。

It was a powerful word.

这是一个强有力的词。

Had she not planned it many a night as she lay sleepless thinking of Jeannie and her daughter!

如果她不是计划好了很多个晚上，因为她躺在床上想着珍妮和她的女儿而无法入睡！

“I mind the day you brought Jeannie home a bride,” she began.

“我介意你把珍妮带回家当新娘的那一天，”她开始说道。

“’Twas no day like this.” None of them would ever forget the day she died deserted.

“今天可不是这样的一天。”他们谁也不会忘记她被遗弃而死去的那一天。

Never had Isobel McLaughlin had an occasion worthier of her tongue, and never a stronger motive for making the best of the occasion.

伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林从未有过这样值得她倾诉的场合，也从未有过如此强烈的动机来充分利用这个机会。

McNair was a slow-moving, slow-thinking man, not without tenderness.

麦克奈尔是一个行动迟缓、思维迟缓的人，但也不乏温柔。

Isobel’s recital of grim detail after grim detail as he stood there amazed, remorseful, humiliated, angry, tired of his journey, and chilled to the bone, overwhelmed him.

伊莎贝尔站在那里，惊讶、悔恨、羞辱、愤怒、厌倦了他的旅程，并感到彻骨的寒冷，伊莎贝尔一一讲述了一个又一个严峻的细节，这让他不知所措。

He could scarcely follow her.

他几乎无法跟上她。

It seemed that the whole clan was bitter against him, not only because of his wife’s death, but because, some way, his absence had brought disgrace beyond disgrace upon the McLaughlins.

整个家族似乎都对他怀有怨恨，不仅因为他妻子的死，还因为在某种程度上，他的缺席给麦克劳林一家带来了更大的耻辱。

He could scarcely understand.

他几乎无法理解。

Wully and Chirstie had waited and waited for him to come home, and he _would_ not, and fine results these were of his delay!

武利和克里斯蒂一直在等他回家，但他不肯回家，而这些都是他的拖延带来的好结果！

They were married now, but not soon enough....

他们现在结婚了，但还不够快......

The girl feared to marry without his permission....

女孩害怕未经他的允许就结婚......

If he had only come when they wrote for him to....

如果他们写信给他时他就来了……

He wasn’t to blame the Keiths or any of the neighbors for this.

他不应该为此责怪基思一家或任何邻居。

They had done what they could.

他们已经尽力了。

He was to be very careful what he said to Wully, none too pleased with him, and always hot-headed ...

他对武利说话要非常小心，对他不太满意，而且总是头脑发热……

and to Chirstie....

还有克里斯蒂......

It was all his own fault, he was to remember....

都是他自己的错，他要记住……

The man was staggered.

男人愣住了。

He liked this news all the less because all the day the little new wife’s spirits had been sinking as they traveled over the prairies away from the world.

他更不喜欢这个消息，因为一整天，当他们穿越草原远离尘世时，小新婚妻子的情绪一直在低落。

Now to bring her into a disgrace of this sort!

现在却让她遭受这样的耻辱！

He was shivering.

他浑身发抖。

He wanted to get in to the fire.

他想要进入火中。

“I have nothing against Wully!” he murmured to the woman who bearded him.

“我对武利没有任何敌意！”他对那个留着胡子的女人低声说道。

“He’s a fine man for the lassie!”

“他是个适合姑娘的好男人！”

Nevertheless, when they were inside again, Isobel watching saw his face darken with anger as he realized Chirstie’s condition.

然而，当他们再次进屋时，伊莎贝尔看到他意识到克里斯蒂的状况，脸色因愤怒而变得阴沉。

She saw too that the girl had seen it, and she determined not to leave the house till Wully would come.

她也看到那个女孩也看到了，所以她决定在武利到来之前不离开家。

She busied herself to make tea for the strange woman, sparing her daughter-in-law with the consideration which so beautiful and so fruitful a woman deserved.

她忙着为这个陌生女人泡茶，不去关心她的儿媳妇，这是一个如此美丽、如此多产的女人应得的照顾。

She sat herself to make the wee body feel at home.

她自己坐下来，让这个小小的身体有一种宾至如归的感觉。

Dod came in from school, and she noticed without relenting the warmth of his father’s greeting.

多德从学校回来，她注意到他父亲的热情问候。

Even the little lassie was persuaded to go to his lap.

就连小姑娘也被劝到了他的腿上。

Alex was probably wishing Isobel would go home and leave his family in peace.

亚历克斯可能希望伊莎贝尔能够回家，让家人安息。

But she would wait.

但她会等待。

McNair was telling something about the passage across when Wully opened the door.

当武利打开门时，麦克奈尔正在讲述有关过境的事情。

He paused a moment, seeing the room full.

他停顿了一下，看到房间里挤满了人。

He looked at them in surprise, and they looked at him with various degrees of admiration.

他惊讶地看着他们，他们也用不同程度的钦佩看着他。

He came from cutting and hauling home wood for the winter and the wind had made his cheeks as red as the fringe of the scarf around his neck, and his eyes as blue as the knit wool of it.

他刚刚砍完木头，拖回家过冬，风吹得他的脸颊像围巾的边缘一样红，眼睛像围巾上的羊毛一样蓝。

In the old coat wrapped about him, he filled the door, a huge young man one would not like for an enemy.

他裹着一件旧外套，挤满了门，一个高大的年轻人，人们不喜欢把他当作敌人。

His mother had just begun to tell the strange woman that this was her son, when Alex rose and stretched out his hand.

他的母亲刚刚开始告诉那个陌生女人这是她的儿子，亚历克斯站了起来，伸出了手。

“Come away, man!

“走开，伙计！

Come away!” he cried cordially.

走开！”他亲切地喊道。

It was not the kind of meeting Wully had anticipated.

这不是武利所期待的那种会面。

But what could he do, with his mother and the women right there, but acknowledge the little woman’s salutation, and give his hand to Chirstie’s father?

但是，他的母亲和女人们都在场，他除了接受小女人的问候，并将手伸向克里斯蒂的父亲之外，还能做什么呢？

And taking his cue from his mother, he smiled so warmly down upon the wee body, that then and there she began liking her stepson-in-law.

他听从母亲的暗示，对着这个小小的身体微笑，如此温暖，以至于她开始喜欢她的继女婿。

His mother began at once giving him instructions.

他的母亲立即开始给他指示。

He and Chirstie had best begin packing their things.

他和克里斯蒂最好开始收拾行李。

His father would be along any minute now, and they would all go home together.

他的父亲现在随时都会来，他们都会一起回家。

Wully would no longer be needed at McNair’s, and with all that work to be done on his own house----

麦克奈尔不再需要武利了，所有的工作都要在他自己的房子里完成——

McNair interrupted her decidedly,

麦克奈尔果断地打断了她的话：

“Huts, Isobel!

“小屋，伊莎贝尔！

Ye canna take Chirstie away the night!” One would almost think she was the McLaughlins’ daughter to hear Isobel!

你不能今晚把克里斯蒂带走！”听到伊莎贝尔的声音，人们几乎会认为她是麦克劳林夫妇的女儿！

That manipulator of events smothered the retort that came to her, upon this.

事件的操纵者扼杀了她的反驳。

She simply enlarged innocently upon the inconvenience of Wully’s having to ride every day from this place to his own, such a distance.

她只是天真地夸大了武利每天必须骑车从这个地方到他自己的地方的不便，这么远。

McNair could understand that, but nevertheless they weren’t going one step to-night.

麦克奈尔可以理解这一点，但尽管如此，他们今晚也没有迈出一步。

Wully winked slyly at his wife.

武利狡猾地对妻子眨了眨眼。

He didn’t know exactly how his mother had worked it all, but it did him good to hear his father-in-law begging for the privilege of his company for a while--that man he had expected to have such a time with!

他不知道他的母亲到底是怎么做到这一切的，但是听到他的岳父乞求他能陪伴他一段时间，这对他来说是件好事——他本来希望能和他一起度过这样一段时光！

Isobel yielded gracefully at length.

伊莎贝尔最后优雅地让步了。

They might stay the night with Alex, but they mustn’t stay longer.

他们可以和亚历克斯一起过夜，但不能停留更长时间。

With her big girls both away at school, she was that lonely for Chirstie!

由于她的两个大女儿都不在学校，她对克里斯蒂感到多么孤独！

Then the elder McLaughlin came in and the greetings were all gone over again, with this difference, that John McLaughlin, being less quick at taking hints from his wife than his son had been, showed just enough coldness to McNair to let him see that Isobel’s account of the clan’s opinion of him was not exaggerated.

然后老麦克劳克林进来了，大家又重新打了招呼，不同的是，约翰·麦克劳克林不像他儿子那么容易从妻子那里得到暗示，他对麦克奈尔表现出了足够的冷漠，让他看到伊莎贝尔对家族对他的看法的描述并没有夸大其词。

Naturally after the worthy McLaughlins had departed with so little of the old cordiality, Alex was more eager than ever to placate Wully, who, divining that Chirstie dreaded her father’s outburst against her, stood very much upon his dignity, a rather forbidding son-in-law.

自然地，在可敬的麦克劳林一家带着如此少的旧有的热情离开后，亚历克斯比以往任何时候都更渴望安抚武利，武利预见到克里斯蒂害怕她父亲对她发脾气，非常尊重他的尊严，一个相当令人生畏的女婿。

When the young two were alone in the kitchen that night, Chirstie said, weary with the day’s excitement, and her first taste of shame before strangers;

那天晚上，当两个年轻人独自在厨房时，克里斯蒂说道，她厌倦了这一天的兴奋，也厌倦了在陌生人面前的第一次羞耻感；

“Whatever’ll she say in the morning, when you’re not here, Wully?”

“明天早上你不在的时候她会说什么，武利？”

He answered;

他回答说：

“What do you care what she says?

“你管她说什么？

Anyway, she don’t look like she’d say anything.

无论如何，她看起来似乎什么也不会说。

Just you hold your head high, and she won’t dare!”

只要你昂首挺胸，她就不敢！”

“It’s well enough for you to talk of holding your head high!

“你能昂起头来说话就够了！

But how can I?”

但我又能怎样呢？”

“I’ll stay about in the morning, and in the afternoon we’ll go home.

“早上我会留下来，下午我们就回家。

I’ll say we must go.”

我会说我们必须走了。”

So they planned, little knowing how useless it was to fear the wee body.

所以他们计划着，却不知道害怕这个小身体是多么无用。

In the next room, she was saying to her husband;

在隔壁房间，她对丈夫说：

“Ye never telt me you lived in a sty!”

“你从来没有告诉过我你住在猪圈里！”

“Huts, woman!

“小屋，女人！

’Tis no sty!”

“这不是麦粒肿！”

“And I thinking you like a laird, with so many fine acres!”

“我还以为你像个领主，拥有那么多美丽的土地呢！”

“It’s a new country!”

“这是一个新国家！”

“It’s an old sty!” Had she not from the train seen many a little snug place among comforting hills, livable little places!

“这是一个古老的麦粒肿！”如果她没有在火车上看到许多舒适的山丘中舒适的小地方，宜居的小地方！

But that had been, to be sure, far from this, in the east.

但可以肯定的是，在东方，情况远非如此。

The further west they came, the more they traveled into desolation.

越往西走，就越荒凉。

Lonely enough places she had seen, but none so unpromising as this sty.

她见过很多荒凉的地方，但没有一个像这个猪圈这样毫无希望。

Could it be expected that a man with so disconsolate a bride would add to her woe by rehearsing the fresh scandal of the family into which she had come?

难道一个男人带着如此悲伤的新娘，会通过排演她所进入的家庭的新丑闻来加剧她的痛苦吗？

She remarked at length that it was a terrible thing for a lassie with the baby coming.

她最后说，对于一个即将生孩子的姑娘来说，这是一件可怕的事情。

Why had he not told her of that before?

为什么他之前没有告诉她这件事？

He hadn’t remembered to.

他不记得了。

It was a fine place for bairns.

那是个养婴儿的好地方。

Just let her wait till the spring came.

就让她等到春天来吧。

She remarked that it was many months till spring.

她说距离春天还有好几个月。

He snored, more or less successfully.

他或多或少成功地打起了鼾。

The next morning the new mother unpacked the great kist to get out the presents she had brought for her stepchildren.

第二天早上，新妈妈打开了大袋子，拿出她给继子们带来的礼物。

She unpacked till the poor room lay heaped high and hidden under richness.

她把行李打开，直到这间破旧的房间堆得高高的，隐藏在丰富的东西之下。

Wee Jeannie had a fine doll.

小珍妮有一个漂亮的洋娃娃。

Dod had fur-lined mittens.

多德戴着毛皮衬里的手套。

Chirstie had a collar of lace more soft and fine than she had ever seen.

克里斯蒂的蕾丝衣领比她见过的更柔软、更精致。

And the wee body presented these things with that timid, conciliatory air that made her career later so hard to understand.

娇小的身体以一种胆怯、安抚的态度呈现出这些事情，这让她后来的职业生涯变得如此难以理解。

She apologized for having nothing for the baby.

她为没有给孩子什么东西而道歉。

If she had known about that, she would have brought it something good.

如果她知道这一点，她会给它带来一些好东西。

When was it to be born, she asked, point-blank.

她直截了当地问，什么时候出生。

Chirstie, blushing to the unruly little curls about her forehead, said in December.

克里斯蒂的脸涨得通红，额头那一头不守规矩的小卷发，在十二月说道。

This seemed to relieve her stepmother greatly.

这似乎让继母松了一口气。

By that time, she declared, she could make a fine little dress for it, out of stuff she had in another box.

她宣称，到那时，她可以用另一个盒子里的东西为它制作一件精美的小裙子。

Another box!

另一个盒子！

Were there then other boxes?

那么还有其他盒子吗？

Of course brides bring dowries to their husbands, the girl remembered with a pang.

新娘当然要给丈夫带来嫁妆，女孩痛苦地回忆道。

But she had brought hers only disgrace!

但她给自己带来的只是耻辱！

But the wee body talked on, in a kindly way.

但这个小小的身体却以一种和善的方式继续说道。

Chirstie watched her making friends with little Jeannie.

克里斯蒂看着她和小珍妮交朋友。

She liked her, very much.

她很喜欢她，非常喜欢。

That woman could never be anything but kind to the little sister who was to be left in her charge.

那个女人对她要照顾的妹妹绝对是仁慈的。

Oh, Chirstie could have coveted that woman’s love for herself.

哦，克里斯蒂可能会垂涎那个女人对自己的爱。

But, of course, when the truth about herself became known--and when she thought of going to the McLaughlins, to live in that house, full always of children and cousins and visitors, the center, as it were, and rallying place of the neighborhood, her spirits sank lower and lower.

但是，当然，当关于她自己的真相为人所知时——当她想到去麦克劳林一家，住在那栋总是挤满了孩子、表兄弟姐妹和访客的房子时，可以说是中心，也是邻居的集会场所时，她的情绪越来越低落。

Wully had learned before now to conquer her depression, and he talked the cold hours cunningly away as they rode towards his father’s.

武利以前就学会了克服抑郁症，当他们骑马朝父亲家走去时，他巧妙地谈论着寒冷的时光。

His reward, that evening, was to see his wife sitting there at the table, long after the meal was over, forgetful of herself, telling his ejaculating mother of the dresses, the capes, the mantles, the ribbons and feathers, reds and browns and greens and blues, puffs and ruffles and tucks, all of these out of one box, and besides the one there were three others left at the station to be brought out, full of--whatever did they suppose?

那天晚上，他的奖励是看到他的妻子坐在餐桌旁，饭后很久，忘记了自己，告诉他兴奋的母亲，裙子、斗篷、斗篷、丝带和羽毛、红色、棕色、绿色和蓝色、泡泡、荷叶边和褶边，所有这些都是从一个盒子里拿出来的，除了那一件之外，还有另外三件留在车站待带出来，里面装满了——他们猜想什么？

They couldn’t imagine!

他们无法想象！

Isobel was trying to fancy how Alex had enticed a woman so obviously rich to the wilderness.

伊莎贝尔试图想象亚历克斯是如何引诱一个如此富有的女人来到荒野的。

She was disappointed in this marriage.

她对这段婚姻感到失望。

She had hoped when Alex married again, he would get a woman who would show him how to treat a wife.

她曾希望当亚历克斯再次结婚时，他能找到一个能教他如何对待妻子的女人。

But that timid, wee body!

但那胆怯的、弱小的身体！

Meek like!

温顺的喜欢！

With faded red hair, and mild light blue eyes!

褪色的红发，温和的浅蓝色眼睛！

There would be no hope of her ever separating him from the price of a milk-crock!

她不可能让他与牛奶罐的价格分开！

Anyone could see that.

任何人都可以看到这一点。

The poor wee thing, married to Alex McNair!

这个可怜的小东西，嫁给了亚历克斯·麦克奈尔！

CHAPTER IX

第九章

Chirstie used to say afterwards, when Wully’s younger orphaned brothers and sisters would try to thank her for making her home their own, that she had never spent a happier winter in her life than the one during which she lived with her mother-in-law.

事后，当乌利的孤儿弟弟妹妹感谢她为她安顿了自己的家时，克里斯蒂常常说，她一生中从未度过过比与婆婆住在一起更快乐的冬天。

That partly explained to them her detestation of all mother-in-law jokes.

这在一定程度上向他们解释了她对所有婆婆笑话的厌恶。

She would never try to conceal her contempt for any low person--proved low by the very act--who repeated one in her hearing.

她绝不会试图掩饰自己对任何低贱之人的蔑视——只要他的行为在她的耳边重复了一遍，就证明了她的低贱。

She had never realized until that winter what a shadow her mother’s tragedy had cast over her childhood--until she came to live among the hilarious young McLaughlins.

直到那个冬天，她才意识到母亲的悲剧给她的童年蒙上了多大的阴影——直到她和一群搞笑的年轻麦克劳林一家生活在一起。

It was as if, set free from the fear and shame of the summer, her life expanded in all directions to make room for the three great loves that came to her--the first and greatest, her redeeming husband, the second, her little son, and the third her mother-in-law, who overcame her by the most insidious kindness, by such a simplicity that the charitableness of her deeds became apparent only upon later reflection.

仿佛从夏天的恐惧和耻辱中解放出来，她的生活向四面八方扩展，为降临在她身上的三种伟大的爱腾出空间——第一个也是最伟大的，她救赎的丈夫，第二个，她的小儿子，第三个她的婆婆，她的婆婆以最阴险的仁慈征服了她，她的行为如此简单，以至于只有在事后反思时，她的行为的慈善性才变得明显。

There were even hours when she sang with the children and laughed in such self-forgetfulness that her eyes grew demure and saucy again.

甚至有几个小时，她和孩子们一起唱歌、大笑，忘我的样子让她的眼神又变得端庄俏皮。

But at other times, if by chance the house was quiet by day, or at night when she was unable to sleep, the shamefulness of her position came back upon her like an attacking pain.

但有时，如果白天家里很安静，或者晚上她无法入睡，她所处的耻辱就会像一阵剧痛一样袭来。

The more she grew to appreciate Wully’s mother, the more intolerable his deception of her seemed to her.

她越是欣赏武利的母亲，她就越无法容忍他对她的欺骗。

Every time a visitor came into the kitchen, and Isobel McLaughlin stood like a high wall between Chirstie and the possibility of even a slighting insinuation, Chirstie hated more the part Wully had forced upon her.

每当有客人走进厨房，伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林就像一堵高墙，将克里斯蒂和哪怕是一点点暗示的可能性隔开，克里斯蒂更讨厌武利强加给她的那部分。

It was the only thing about which she dreamed then of disagreeing with him.

这是她当时唯一梦想与他意见不一致的事情。

She begged him, she entreated him, she really prayed him to let her tell the truth.

她恳求他，她恳求他，她真心祈求他让她说出真相。

But he would not.

但他不会。

The only way to keep a secret was to tell not even his mother!

保守秘密的唯一方法就是连他的母亲都不告诉！

Some way always he overpowered her with foolish arguments.

他总是以某种方式用愚蠢的论点压倒她。

She wouldn’t do just the only one thing he had ever asked her not to, would she?

她不会只做他唯一要求她不要做的一件事，不是吗？

The only one thing that could make him hate her, would be to betray him, now, after it was all over.

唯一能让他恨她的一件事就是背叛他，现在，一切都结束了。

It wasn’t over, not for his mother, she argued.

她辩称，这一切还没有结束，对他的母亲来说还没有结束。

She pointed out that some day it would be all known, some way.

她指出，有一天，一切都会以某种方式为人所知。

It was sin.

这是罪孽。

And were they not to be sure their sin would find them out?

难道他们不确定自己的罪会被发现吗？

How could he grin, and make such an unbelieving face about such a thing!

他怎么能对这样的事情露出如此难以置信的笑容！

She was helpless before him.

她在他面前是无助的。

He wouldn’t even let her talk about telling anyone.

他甚至不让她谈论告诉任何人。

Her only comfort was that some time it would all come out.

她唯一的安慰是总有一天一切都会真相大白。

And then he would have to say to his mother that every day she had begged him to tell her the truth!

然后他必须对他的母亲说，她每天都求他告诉她真相！

He would have to take all the blame of this unkindness, this cruelty....

他必须承担这种不仁慈、这种残忍的所有罪责……

It was only a few days before her confinement that one afternoon she sat knitting; in that house of destructive boys not even pregnant hands might lie idle.

就在她出院前几天，有一天下午，她坐在那儿织毛衣。在那个充满破坏性男孩的房子里，即使是怀孕的手也不能闲着。

She had been talking with her mother-in-law about Aunt Libby, whom they were expecting almost any moment.

她一直在和婆婆谈论莉比阿姨，他们几乎随时都在等待着她的到来。

All the neighbors were talking about Libby Keith.

所有的邻居都在谈论利比·基思。

She had been away again searching for Peter--in Chicago, this time, on a clue so slender, so foolish, that even the most malicious tongues wagged with a sigh.

她又出去找彼得了——这次是在芝加哥，线索如此渺茫、如此愚蠢，连最恶毒的人也会叹息一声。

Her husband, to satisfy her, had gone searching for the son, to Iowa City, and there he had met a man who said that one day in Chicago he had seen a lad in a livery stable, who afterwards he thought might be Peter.

她的丈夫为了满足她的要求，去爱荷华城寻找儿子，在那里他遇到了一个男人，他说有一天在芝加哥，他在一个马厩里看到了一个小伙子，后来他认为他可能是彼得。

He hadn’t recognized the boy at the time, only knowing him slightly.

当时他并没有认出这个男孩，只是略知一二。

And he didn’t remember exactly where the stable was.

他也不记得马厩到底在哪里。

He had been passing an odoriferous door, from which men were pitching out steaming manure.

他经过一扇散发着臭味的门，人们正在从门里扔出热气腾腾的粪便。

Thereupon Libby Keith had gone to Chicago.

于是利比·基思就去了芝加哥。

And now she was futilely home again.

现在她又徒劳地回到家了。

And she was coming to Isobel McLaughlin to pour out her restlessness.

她来找伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林倾诉她的不安。

Even winter weather could not keep her at home.

即使是冬天也无法让她呆在家里。

She went from house to house seeking reassurance from those who could have none to give.

她挨家挨户地向那些无能为力的人寻求安慰。

She had had no letter from her boy, and that proved to her that he was lying in some place ill, unable to write.

她没有收到儿子的来信，这证明他病倒在地，无法写字。

The neighbors scarcely dared suggest to her that Peter might be--well, the least bit careless.

邻居们几乎不敢向她暗示彼得可能——嗯，有一点粗心。

Boys were, at times, and thoughtless about writing.

男孩有时对写作不加思考。

But she would never believe that _her_ boy was like that.

但她永远不会相信她的男孩是那样的。

It was not like him.

这不像他。

He would write her, that she knew, if he was able, because he had always been such a good laddie--such an exceeding good laddie that in decency they seemed to have to agree with her.

他会写信给她，告诉她，如果他能的话，她知道，因为他一直都是一个很好的小伙子——一个非常好的小伙子，从体面上来说，他们似乎不得不同意她的观点。

Whoever went to town, went laden with her instructions for inquiry.

无论谁进城，都会带着她询问的指示。

They must ask everywhere if anyone had heard about a sick laddie trying to get back to his home.

他们必须到处询问是否有人听说有一个生病的小伙子试图回家。

Not a quiet woman, the neighbors reflected.

邻居们反映，她不是一个安静的女人。

Not one of dignity.

没有一种尊严。

One who never would scruple to disturb a world for her son.

一个永远不惜为儿子扰乱世界的人。

Some of them recalled Isobel McLaughlin when the news of Wully’s death had come to her.

当伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林得知武利去世的消息时，他们中的一些人回忆起她。

They had gone to her carrying their consolation, and she had rejected it with a gesture, going softly about her work with a face that none of them forgot.

他们带着安慰走向她，而她以一个手势拒绝了，轻柔地做着她的工作，脸上的表情让他们都没有忘记。

But Libby Keith took thankfully the crumbs of comfort they saved for her, and begged for more.

但利比·基思庆幸地接受了他们为她保留的一点点安慰，并恳求更多。

She humbled herself to ask their incredulous aid.

她谦卑地请求他们难以置信的帮助。

She had no pride left.

她已经没有什么骄傲了。

She had nothing left but her anxiety for her worthless Peter.

除了对毫无价值的彼得的焦虑之外，她一无所有。

She had had three children there in Scotland when her brother John’s letters from the new world began stirring her kinsmen.

当她哥哥约翰从新大陆寄来的信开始引起她的亲戚们的注意时，她已经在苏格兰生了三个孩子。

She lay bed-ridden reading them.

她躺在床上读这些书。

She had not moved from her bed for two months even when John had taken his departure.

即使约翰离开后，她也已经两个月没有离开过床上了。

Nor would she ever again, the doctors said.

医生说，她再也不会这样了。

She lay there suffering when her second brother, Squire McLaughlin, came to say his last words to her before leaving for America.

当她的二哥麦克劳克林爵士在前往美国之前对她说最后一句话时，她躺在那里，痛苦不堪。

Then her sisters said farewell to her there, one after another, and her cousins and her friends.

然后，她的姐妹们陆续在那里向她告别，还有她的表兄弟姐妹和朋友们。

And when she would say she would soon be joining them over there, they were kind, and saw no harm in saying that they hoped so.

当她说她很快就会去那里与他们会合时，他们很友善，并且认为说他们希望如此也没有什么坏处。

For two years she lay fighting, crying for pain, making her absurd plans.

两年来，她躺在床上，因疼痛而哭泣，制定着荒唐的计划。

Her neighbors tried to turn her mind away from such wild ideas by ridicule.

她的邻居试图通过嘲笑来让她摆脱这种疯狂的想法。

They hooted at her in disgust.

他们厌恶地向她大吼。

How was she to go to a new place--where there were no houses--nor any doctors--nor any beds!

她怎么能去一个新地方——那里没有房子，没有医生，也没有床位！

Her brothers wrote her, sternly forbidding her to think of such a thing.

她的兄弟写信给她，严厉禁止她想这种事。

But were the children of others to lord it over Utopian acres in a new world, while hers, because she had married somewhat poorly, slaved along in an old one--apprentices of some half-fed mechanic?

但是，其他人的孩子是否可以在新世界的乌托邦土地上称霸，而她的孩子，因为她的婚姻有些糟糕，在一个旧世界里苦苦挣扎——某个半饱半饱的机械师的学徒？

Her husband resisted with all his might.

丈夫极力反抗。

He was no farmer.

他不是农民。

He felt no drawings toward pioneer hardships.

他对拓荒者的艰辛没有任何感觉。

But his lack of them was in vain.

但他的缺乏是徒劳的。

She rose and took him and her three, and journeyed stoutly to her brother’s house in Iowa, where she was received with an awe that would have been greater if he could have known she was to die at the fairly mature age of ninety-two.

她站起来，带着他和她的三个人，坚定地前往爱荷华州她哥哥的家，在那里，她受到了极大的敬畏，如果他知道她会在九十二岁的相当成熟的年纪去世的话，这种敬畏会更加强烈。

She had come thus for her children’s sake to the new world.

她就是为了孩子们才来到这个新世界的。

Her oldest son, her Davie, a lad well liked by all, was the first of those who fell before the plague of typhoid.

她的大儿子戴维是一个深受大家喜爱的小伙子，他是第一个死于伤寒的人。

That bowed her down.

这让她屈服了。

She was nothing but a mother, a woman who nowadays would be called rotten with tenderness.

她只不过是一个母亲，一个如今被称为“温柔烂透”的女人。

Maternity was her whole life.

怀孕就是她的全部生活。

Then her one daughter married, her Flora, and shortly died in childbirth.

后来她的一个女儿弗洛拉（Flora）结婚了，但不久就死于难产。

These things ought not to be....

这些东西不应该是......

Then Peter, who was all she had left to spend her love on, disappeared, leaving in his place a scribbled paper.

然后彼得，她唯一可以倾注爱意的人，消失了，只留下了一张潦草的纸。

No wonder, after all, that she sought him through cold cities.

毕竟，难怪她穿过寒冷的城市来寻找他。

When she came into the McLaughlin kitchen, she bent over and patted Chirstie on the shoulder commiseratingly, sighing a sigh that recalled to the girl all the agony of Flora’s death in labor.

当她走进麦克劳克林的厨房时，她弯下腰，同情地拍拍克里斯蒂的肩膀，叹了口气，这让女孩想起了弗洛拉难产时的所有痛苦。

She was a large woman, heavily built, without grace, and with the long upper lip and heavy face that John McLaughlin and his children had, and keen, deep-set, very dark blue eyes, like theirs.

她是个身材高大的女人，体格魁梧，毫无优雅，长着约翰·麦克劳林和他的孩子们那样的长上唇和厚重的脸，还有一双锐利、深陷、非常深蓝色的眼睛，就像他们的一样。

Since that long illness of hers, her heavy cheeks hung pale and flabby.

自从长期患病以来，她厚重的脸颊变得苍白、松弛。

“So you’re back, Libby!” Isobel was constrained to speak to her softly, as one speaks to a mourner.

“莉比，你回来了！”伊莎贝尔不得不轻声对她说话，就像对哀悼者说话一样。

She deserted her spinning wheel, and took her knitting, for a visit.

她抛弃了纺车，带着她的编织物去拜访。

“I’m back.”

“我回来了。”

“You’ve no word of him?”

“你没有他的消息吗？”

“No word.” Each of her answers was accompanied by a sigh most long and deep.

“无话可说。”她的每一个回答都伴随着一声悠长而深沉的叹息。

“I suppose you looked everywhere?”

“我想你到处都找过了？”

“I went about the whole city asking for him.”

“我跑遍了整个城市来找他。”

“How could you know how to go, Libby?”

“你怎么知道怎么走，莉比？”

“That was no trouble.

“那不是什么麻烦事。

Men in barns is that kind to a body.

谷仓里的男人对身体就是这么仁慈。

I asked them in every one where the next one was, and they told me.

我问他们每一张下一张在哪里，他们都告诉了我。

Sometimes they drove me in some carriage.

有时他们用马车送我。

And there was the cars.

还有汽车。

I just said I was looking for my Peter who was sick in some stable.

我只是说我正在寻找生病在马厩里的彼得。

James McWhee went to the police and to the hospitals.

詹姆斯·麦克惠 (James McWhee) 去了警察局和医院。

There’s none better than the McWhees, Isobel.

没有人比麦克威一家更好了，伊莎贝尔。

They have a fine painted house with trees about it.

他们有一座油漆精美的房子，周围有树。

They would have me stay longer.

他们会让我停留更长时间。

James said he would be always looking for him.” She gave another great sigh.

詹姆斯说他会一直在寻找他。”她又叹了一口气。

“Ah, weel, Libby, some day he’ll find him.

“啊，好吧，利比，有一天他会找到他的。

Some day you’ll get word from him, no doubt.

毫无疑问，有一天你会收到他的消息。

It’s a fine place, Chicago.

芝加哥是个好地方。

The sick’ll be well cared for there.

病人会在那里得到很好的照顾。

It wouldn’t be like New Orleans, now.

现在它不会像新奥尔良了。

Wully says the lake is just like the ocean.

武利说这个湖就像海洋一样。

Did you see the lake, Libby?”

你看到那个湖了吗，莉比？”

“I did’na see the lake.

“我没有看到那个湖。

I was aye seeking Peter.”

我正在寻找彼得。”

Isobel was determined to have a change of subject.

伊莎贝尔决定改变话题。

“They say it beats all the great buildings they have now in Chicago.

“他们说它胜过了他们现在在芝加哥拥有的所有伟大建筑。

It’ll be changed since we saw it.”

自从我们看到它之后，它就会改变。”

“I saw no buildings but the barns.

“除了谷仓，我没有看到任何建筑物。

It passes me why they have so many.

我不明白为什么他们有这么多。

There was a real old gentleman standing by the door in one, waiting for something done to his carriage.

一位真正的老绅士站在门口，等待着对他的马车进行处理。

His son went to California in ’49, and he still seeks him.

他的儿子 49 年去了加利福尼亚，他仍在寻找他。

He said he would be looking for my Peter.

他说他会寻找我的彼得。

Yon was a fine old man.”

勇是一位很好的老人。”

Isobel tried to talk about the train, which was nothing common yet.

伊莎贝尔试图谈论火车，这还不常见。

Libby told her in reply what each man and woman in her car had answered when she asked if any had seen her poor sick laddie.

当莉比问她是否有人看到她可怜的生病的小伙子时，她车上的每个男人和女人的回答都是这样回答的。

Isobel was constrained to tell what one and another of the neighbors hoped about the lost.

伊莎贝尔被迫说出了邻居们对失踪者的希望。

The Squire had said that he would be coming back in the spring.

乡绅说他会在春天回来。

The boy could never stay in the city when the spring came, he prophesied.

他预言，春天来临时，这个男孩永远不可能留在城里。

Whereupon his mother replied that he wouldn’t stay away now if he could by any means get back to his home.

他的母亲回答说，如果他能以任何方式回到家，他现在就不会离开。

And then she wailed, through a moment of silence;

然后她哭了，沉默了一会儿。

“If I but knew he was dead, Isobel!

“如果我知道他死了就好了，伊莎贝尔！

Not wanting, some place!

不想要，某个地方！

Not grieving!”

不悲伤！”

“That’s true, Libby.

“确实如此，莉比。

I know that well.

我很清楚这一点。

I felt that way when I knew Allen was dead.

当我知道艾伦死了时我就有这种感觉。

There was--rest, then.

那么，还有——休息。

No fear, then.”

那就不用害怕了。”

They sat silent.

他们静静地坐着。

Chirstie bestirred herself guiltily to offer her bit of hope.

克里斯蒂内疚地鼓起勇气表达她的一点希望。

She felt always in a way responsible for Peter’s departure, however much Wully scouted the idea.

无论武利如何考虑这个想法，她总觉得自己对彼得的离开负有某种责任。

Wully hadn’t told him not to write to his silly mother, had he?

武利没有告诉他不要给他愚蠢的母亲写信，不是吗？

Hadn’t Peter always been whining about going west?

彼得不是一直抱怨要往西走吗？

He would have gone, Chirstie or no Chirstie.

不管有没有克里斯蒂，他都会走了。

Wully told her she naturally blamed herself for everything that happened.

武利告诉她，她很自然地为所发生的一切责怪自己。

And she acknowledged that in some moods it did seem to her that she was the cause of most of the pain she saw about her.

她承认，在某些情绪下，她确实觉得自己是她所看到的大部分痛苦的根源。

She began now about the uncertainty of the mails.

她现在开始谈论邮件的不确定性。

Didn’t her auntie know that Wully never got but a few of the letters that had been sent him during the war?

难道她姨妈不知道武利只收到了战争期间寄给他的几封信吗？

It was Chirstie’s opinion that Peter had written home, maybe many times, and the letters had miscarried.

克里斯蒂认为，彼得曾给家里写过信，也许很多次，但信件都流产了。

Maybe he had written what a good place he had to work, and how much wages he was getting.

也许他写了他工作的地方多么好，以及他的工资是多少。

They considered this probability from all sides.

他们从各个方面考虑了这个可能性。

And Libby’s attention was diverted to the girl.

利比的注意力转移到了女孩身上。

Isobel McLaughlin was not one of those, by any means, who saw in Libby’s search something half ridiculous.

无论如何，伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林都不是那些在利比的搜索中看到半荒谬的东西的人之一。

Her boys had been away too many months for that.

她的孩子们已经离开太多个月了。

She had deep sympathy for her, and for that reason Libby came to her more often than to others nearer of kin.

她对她深表同情，因此利比来找她的次数比来找其他近亲的人还要多。

But now she did wish Libby would stop asking Chirstie those pointed, foreboding questions about her condition; stop sighing terribly upon each answer.

但现在她确实希望利比不要再问克里斯蒂那些关于她的病情的尖锐、不祥的问题；别再对每个答案都叹息了。

She was making the girl nervous, and in that house there was no place for nervousness.

她让女孩感到紧张，而那所房子里没有紧张的地方。

Libby dwelt pathetically upon the details of her daughter’s death, upon the symptoms of her abnormal pregnancy.

利比悲惨地回忆起女儿死亡的细节和异常怀孕的症状。

She kept at it, in spite of all Isobel’s attempts to divert her until she was about to go.

尽管伊莎贝尔千方百计地想转移她的注意力，她还是坚持了下来，直到她要走。

She rose then, and gave a sigh that surpassed all her other sighs, adequate to one oppressed by the whole scheme of life.

然后她站了起来，叹了一口气，这叹息超过了她所有其他的叹息，对于一个被整个生活计划所压抑的人来说足够了。

She said;

她说；

“It oughtn’t to be.

“不应该的。

There should be some other way of them being born, without such suffering and pain.

他们应该有其他的方式出生，而不会有这样的痛苦。

With the danger divided between the two.

危险分为两者。

I think----”

我认为——”

But what she thought was too much for Isobel, who had no patience with those who fussed about the natural things of life.

但她的想法对伊莎贝尔来说太过分了，她对那些过分关注生活中自然事物的人没有耐心。

“Havers, Libby!” she exclaimed.

“哈弗斯，莉比！”她惊呼道。

“How can you say such things!” And, thinking only of herself and the woman before her, she cried passionately,

“你怎么能说出这样的话！”然后，她只想着自己和眼前的女人，激动地哭了起来：

“How can you say that it’s the _bearing_ of them that hurts!

“你怎么能说伤害的是他们的承受力呢！

It’s the evil they do when they’re grown that’s the great pain!

他们长大后所做的恶才是最大的痛苦！

We want them to be something great, and they won’t even be decent!

我们希望它们成为伟大的事物，但它们甚至不会是体面的！

Can you share that with anyone?”

你能与任何人分享吗？”

Her words, so poorly aimed, missed their mark, and struck Chirstie.

她的话的针对性太差，没有达到目的，让克里斯蒂受到了打击。

She bowed her head on the back of the chair in front of her.

她低下头靠在面前的椅背上。

Isobel, returning from seeing Libby away, found her sitting that way, sobbing.

伊莎贝尔送别莉比回来，发现她坐在那里哭泣。

She began comforting her.

她开始安慰她。

Chirstie wasn’t to listen to what that poor daft body said!

克里斯蒂不应该听那个可怜的愚蠢的身体说的话！

Why, Auntie Libby scarcely knew what she was saying.

哎呀，利比阿姨几乎不知道自己在说什么。

No fear of Chirstie dying.

不用担心克里斯蒂会死。

She was doing fine!

她过得很好！

And well as a woman ever was.

和以前的女人一样好。

But Chirstie couldn’t stop crying.

但克里斯蒂无法停止哭泣。

She sobbed a long time.

她抽泣了很长时间。

Isobel was putting cobs into the fire when at last Chirstie lifted her red face from her arms, and sat erect, trying to speak.

伊莎贝尔正在把玉米棒子放进火里，这时克里斯蒂终于抬起她那张通红的脸，坐直了身子，想要说话。

“I don’t care!

“我不在乎！

I _might_ die!

我可能会死！

I’m going to tell you something!” And she fell to crying again.

我要告诉你一件事！”她又哭了起来。

Isobel came and stood over her.

伊莎贝尔过来站在她身边。

A fierce hope gleamed uncertainly for a moment in her mind, and went out again.

她心中闪过一丝强烈的希望，但又熄灭了。

“What you going to tell me, Chirstie?” she asked kindly.

“你要告诉我什么，克里斯蒂？”她和蔼地问道。

“If ever you tell I told you, I suppose you’ll break up everything between us!” she sobbed.

“如果你告诉我我告诉过你，我想你会破坏我们之间的一切！”她抽泣着。

“I don’t know what Wully’ll do if he finds it out.

“我不知道武利发现后会怎么做。

Maybe he won’t have me!

也许他不会拥有我！

Maybe he’ll turn me out!”

也许他会赶我走！”

Her excitement excited Isobel.

她的兴奋让伊莎贝尔兴奋不已。

Chirstie wasn’t just hysterical, she saw.

她发现，克里斯蒂不仅仅是歇斯底里。

“You needn’t fear I’ll tell!” she exclaimed loftily.

“你不用担心我会告诉你！”她傲慢地喊道。

“I don’t go about telling secrets!”

“我不会泄露秘密！”

“Oh, it would never be the same between us again if he finds out I told you!”

“哦，如果他发现我告诉你了，我们之间的关系就再也不会一样了！”

“He’ll never find out from me!”

“他永远不会知道我的消息！”

Then Chirstie sat up, sobbing heroically.

然后克里斯蒂坐了起来，勇敢地抽泣着。

“You needn’t _say_ Wully’s doing evil!

“你不必说武利在作恶！

He isn’t!

他不是！

He _couldn’t_!

他_不能_！

This isn’t any fault of _his_!

这不是_他_的错！

It isn’t _his_ disgrace!”

这不是他的耻辱！”

“I never supposed it _was_ his fault!” said his mother.

“我从没想过这是他的错！”他的母亲说。

Chirstie never heeded the insinuation.

克里斯蒂从来没有理会这种暗示。

“I mean--it isn’t _his_!

“我的意思是——这不是_他_！

It isn’t _his_ baby!”

这不是他的孩子！”

Years might have been seen falling away from Isobel McLaughlin.

伊莎贝尔·麦克劳克林可能已经离开了很多年。

She sat down slowly on the chair against which Chirstie was leaning.

她慢慢地坐在克里斯蒂靠着的椅子上。

She could scarcely find her voice.

她几乎找不到自己的声音。

“Are you telling me it’s not Wully’s wee’un?” she asked at length.

“你是说这不是武利的小便吗？”她详细地问道。

“It’s not Wully’s!”

“这不是武利的！”

Bewildered she asked;

她困惑地问道；

“Whose is it?”

“这是谁的？”

“I can’t tell you that.

“我不能告诉你这个。

It’s not _his_.”

这不是_他_。”

“And you let us think it was!”

“你让我们这么认为！”

“Oh, mother, I couldn’t help it!

“唉，妈妈，我实在忍不住了！

Oh, I didn’t know what to do!

哦，我不知道该怎么办！

And he just did whatever he wanted to.

而他只是做了他想做的事。

He has everything his own way!

他什么事情都有他自己的办法！

He wouldn’t let me tell you!

他不让我告诉你！

Every day I’ve told him he ought to tell you.

我每天都告诉他他应该告诉你。

But he _wouldn’t_, mother.

但他_不会_，妈妈。

And if he finds out I have told you, he might even-- Oh, I don’t know what he’ll do!” She sobbed passionately.

如果他发现我告诉了你，他甚至可能——哦，我不知道他会做什么！”她激动地抽泣着。

Isobel put out her hand and began stroking her hair.

伊莎贝尔伸出手，开始抚摸她的头发。

“He’ll never find it out from me!

“他永远不会从我这里发现的！

Oh, I canna sense it!” she cried.

哦，我感觉不到！”她哭了。

“What ever made him do it?”

“是什么让他这么做的？”

“He did it to help me, mother!

“他这样做是为了帮助我，妈妈！

To help me out!

来帮助我吧！

Oh, I wanted him to tell you before we were married.

哦，我想让他在我们结婚前告诉你。

It just seemed as if I couldn’t marry him without telling you.

看来我不能不告诉你就嫁给他。

But he didn’t want anyone to know he wasn’t--like me!

但他不想让任何人知道他不像我！

He says----”

他说——”

“What does he say, Chirstie?”

“他说什么，克里斯蒂？”

“He says he doesn’t want anyone to know it isn’t _his_!

“他说他不想让任何人知道这不是_他_！

He doesn’t want them to know about--the other one!

他不想让他们知道——另一个！

Mother, I’ll make this right some time!

妈妈，我会改正的！

You trust me!

你相信我！

Some day I’m going to tell how good he is!”

总有一天我会告诉大家他有多优秀！”

Isobel began kissing her.

伊莎贝尔开始亲吻她。

“Oh, Chirstie!

“噢，克里斯蒂！

Oh, you did well to tell me.

噢，你告诉我这件事做得很好。

You needn’t fear I’ll ever let him know!

你不必担心我会让他知道！

His own mother!

他自己的母亲！

This is the best day of my life, Chirstie!” She rose, and began walking about the house in her excitement, unable to contain her delight.

这是我一生中最美好的一天，克里斯蒂！”她站起来，兴奋地在屋子里走来走去，无法抑制自己的喜悦。

“He never was an ill child, Chirstie!

“他从来都不是一个生病的孩子，克里斯蒂！

He wanted to help you out, I see.

我明白了，他想帮助你。

There never was one of the boys as good as Wully, and so gentle-like.” She began poking the fire, not realizing what she did.

从来没有一个男孩像武利一样优秀，而且如此温柔。”她开始戳火，但没有意识到自己做了什么。

“He’ll never know you told me.

“他永远不会知道你告诉我的。

Don’t you cry!

你别哭！

I knew he was good.

我知道他很好。

I never believed that story of his!

我从来不相信他的故事！

It wasn’t like him to do such a thing!

他不像是会做这种事的人！

It was like him to help you!” She went to the door presently, and called in the children who were playing outside, and when they came in, she took little Sarah passionately up in her arms.

就好像他来帮你一样！”不久，她走到门口，把正在外面玩耍的孩子们叫了进来，当他们进来时，她热情地把小莎拉抱起来。

“Your mother’s _young_ again!” she cried to the surprised child.

“你妈妈又_年轻_了！”她对着惊讶的孩子哭了。

“Young again!” She gave them both cookies.

“又年轻了！”她给了他们两块饼干。

She comforted Chirstie, stopping in her turns about the room to stroke her hair.

她一边安慰克里斯蒂，一边在房间里转来转去，停下来抚摸她的头发。

She sang snatches of Psalms.

她唱了一些诗篇片段。

“He was never an ill child!” she kept repeating.

“他从来都不是一个生病的孩子！”她不断重复。

She began making tea for the girl’s refreshment.

她开始泡茶给女孩茶点。

She looked out of the window.

她看着窗外。

She clasped and unclasped her hands excitedly.

她兴奋地握紧又松开。

She shone.

她闪闪发光。

An hour later John McLaughlin drove into the yard with a load of wood, and Wully was with him.

一小时后，约翰·麦克劳克林带着一车木头开车进入院子，沃利也和他在一起。

Isobel threw a shawl over her head, and went out through the winter nightfall to meet them.

伊莎贝尔把一条围巾盖在头上，在冬天的夜幕降临时出去迎接他们。

“Aunt Libby’s been here, Wully, talking to Chirstie about Flora till she’s having a great cry.

“沃利，利比阿姨一直在这儿，和克里斯蒂谈论弗洛拉，直到她大哭起来。

You needn’t be frightened.

你不必害怕。

She’s lying on the bed, but there’s nothing wrong with her.”

她躺在床上，但没有任何问题。”

Then, as Wully started hastily for the house, she drew close to her husband.

然后，当武利匆忙朝房子走去时，她靠近了她的丈夫。

He had begun to unhitch his horses.

他已经开始解马了。

She said;

她说；

“_John!_”

“_约翰！_”

At the sound of her voice he turned startled towards her.

听到她的声音，他惊讶地转向她。

“What ails you?” he had begun to ask, but she was saying;

“你怎么了？”他已经开始问了，但她却在说；

“Yon’s no child of Wully’s!”

“勇不是武利的孩子！”

His hands fell from the horse’s side.

他的双手从马侧落下。

“I kent it all the time!” she cried triumphantly.

“我一直都是这样的！”她得意地喊道。

“No child of Wully’s?” he repeated.

“没有武利的孩子吗？”他重复道。

“He never done it.

“他从来没有这样做过。

I said so all the time!

我一直这么说！

Now she’s told me herself!”

现在她亲自告诉我了！”

He peered at her through the blue half-darkness that rose from the snow.

他透过雪地升起的蓝色半暗凝视着她。

“Not his!

“不是他的！

God be thankit!

感谢上帝！

Whosever is it?”

到底是谁的？”

“It’s Peter Keith’s.

“这是彼得·基思的。

Whose would it be, and her in Libby’s house half the winter?

那会是谁的呢？她在莉比家里待了半个冬天？

And Peter running away the very day they were married!

而彼得在他们结婚的那天就逃跑了！

Libby’s that slack, thinking him such an angel!”

利比就是这么懒惰，以为他是个天使！”

“Did she tell you that?”

“她告诉过你这些吗？”

“She _did_ not.

“她_没有_。

But I kent it!

但我肯了！

Did I not say Wully never did so ill a thing?”

我不是说过武利从来没有做过这么伤天害理的事吗？”

“You _did_ not!”

“你_没有_！”

“It was a grand thing for him to do.

“这对他来说是一件伟大的事情。

But I can’t think what possessed him ever to take all that blame on us!”

但我想不出是什么让他把所有的责任都归咎于我们！”

“Can you not?” meditated her husband.

“你可以不吗？”她的丈夫沉思道。

“She says he doesn’t want folks to know it isn’t his.”

“她说他不想让人们知道这不是他的。”

“He wouldn’t.”

“他不会。”

“Why wouldn’t he, indeed?

“他为什么不呢？确实如此？

Would he be wanting to disgrace us all?”

他会不会想羞辱我们所有人？”

“He wouldn’t want folks to know Peter had her.

“他不想让人们知道彼得拥有她。

That’s but natural.”

这很自然。”

“It’s but natural I shouldn’t want folks to think he’d shamed Jeannie’s Chirstie.”

“我自然不希望人们认为他羞辱了珍妮的克里斯蒂。”

“So it is,” he agreed.

“确实如此，”他同意道。

“The thing looked well to the Lord, I’m thinking,” he added.

“我想，在主看来，这件事看起来不错，”他补充道。

“I wish it looked better to the neighbors,” she retorted.

“我希望邻居们看起来更好，”她反驳道。

“This is a strange thing, John.” She gave a sore sigh.

“这很奇怪，约翰。”她痛苦地叹了口气。

“Libby grieving herself daft about that gomeril a’ready, so that we won’t can say a word to anybody till he’s found.

“利比为那个戈默里尔准备好了而感到悲伤，所以在他被发现之前我们不能对任何人说一句话。

Any more sorrow’d kill her.

再多的悲伤就会要了她的命。

But when he comes back, I’ll have her tell the whole thing.

但当他回来时，我会让她讲述整个事情。

She says she’s been wanting to clear Wully!

她说她一直想清除武利！

She’s a good girl, John.

她是个好女孩，约翰。

But we’ll have just to bide our time.

但我们只能等待时机。

I’m glad I’ve no son like that lad Peter!”

我很高兴我没有像彼得小伙子这样的儿子！”

She had had to forget how he had sacrificed her pride for that girl.

她不得不忘记他是如何为了那个女孩牺牲了她的自尊。

She had to idealize her son again.

她不得不再次理想化她的儿子。

She could see that he had done a generous thing.

她看得出来，他做了一件大方的事。

And she would see that the world saw that.

她会看到全世界都看到这一点。

She could run to meet Jeannie, now, across the floor of heaven, unashamed.

她现在可以跑去见珍妮了，跨越天堂的地板，毫无羞耻。

Her husband stood enjoying her face.

她的丈夫站在那里欣赏她的脸。

He said;

他说；

“It’s early for boasting, woman.

“现在吹牛还为时过早，女人。

You’d best wait twenty years!”

你最好再等二十年！”

“Little I fear twenty years!” she retorted.

“我不怕二十年！”她反驳道。

A light shone down the path from the house.

一盏灯从房子的小路上照下来。

Wully had opened the door, and shut it, and was coming towards them.

武利打开门，又关上，正朝他们走来。

She wished she could take him up in her arms and cuddle him against her neck, kissing him as she had done in her youth.

她希望能把他抱在怀里，搂在脖子上，亲吻他，就像年轻时那样。

She said quietly to him;

她轻声对他说：

“You needn’t worry.

“你不用担心。

It’s only Auntie Libby that’s upset her.

只有莉比阿姨让她不高兴。

There’s nothing ails her.”

她没什么不舒服的。”

He said anxiously;

他焦急地说；

“Honestly, mother?”

“说实话，妈妈？”

Wonder welled up within her as she looked at him.

当她看着他时，心中涌起好奇。

There he stood before her, demanding honesty of her, while for months he had been lying great fundamental lies about her very life, which was his honor.

他站在她面前，要求她诚实，而几个月来，他一直在对她的生活撒谎，这是他的荣幸。

“Honestly?” indeed!

“诚实地？”的确！

But there he was before her, beautiful and unrealized, risen to new life in her great expectations for him.

但他就在她面前，美丽而未实现，在她对他的厚望中获得了新的生命。

She said only;

她只说；

“Honestly!

“说实话！

There’s nothing wrang!”

没什么事啊！”

CHAPTER X

第十章

Barbara McNair had watched Wully and Chirstie driving away towards Wully’s home that afternoon after her arrival at the sty in the slough.

那天下午，芭芭拉·麦克奈尔到达沼泽里的猪圈后，看着武利和克里斯蒂开车前往武利家。

It was raining then, and it rained for nearly six weeks.

那时正在下雨，而且下了将近六个星期。

She stood looking after them till they were out of sight.

她站在那里看着他们，直到他们消失在视线之外。

Then she went to the other little window.

然后她走到另一个小窗户前。

There she shut her lips tightly--regarded what her eyes discovered, two bony cows, shivering, it seemed to her, in the blown rain, trying to find shelter from the wind by huddling against the haystack that was one side of the barn.

她紧紧闭上嘴唇——不管她的眼睛发现了什么，两只瘦骨嶙峋的牛，在她看来，在狂风大雨中瑟瑟发抖，试图靠着谷仓一侧的干草堆来躲避风。

The rain was gray and sullen, the prairies sodden and brown; the cows had trampled the ground between the house and the barn into mud, into which they sank knee deep.

雨是灰色的、闷闷的，草原湿透了，变成了棕色。奶牛把房子和谷仓之间的土地踩成了泥，陷进齐膝深的泥里。

She stood contemplating.

她站着沉思。

The rain continued blowing about in imprisoning drab veils.

雨继续在囚禁单调的面纱中飘扬。

Finally she turned away, and sat down weakly.

最后她转过身，无力地坐下。

From where she sat, she saw the dripping cows shivering.

从她坐的地方，她看到滴着水的牛在瑟瑟发抖。

She sat huddled down.

她蜷缩着坐了下来。

She seemed trying to cuddle up against herself.

她似乎试图拥抱自己。

Her hands, folded in her lap, seemed the only sight not terrifying that her eyes might consider.

她的双手交叠在膝上，似乎是她的眼睛唯一能想到的不可怕的景象。

Presently the silence of the room was broken with a little sob.

不一会儿，房间里的寂静被一阵轻微的抽泣声打破。

She looked up.

她抬起头来。

Chirstie’s little sister, standing near the window, was just turning away from it.

克里斯蒂的妹妹站在窗边，正转身离开。

She had been trying to see something of Chirstie.

她一直想看看克里斯蒂的一些情况。

She felt deserted.

她感到被遗弃了。

Big tears were running slowly down her face.

大颗大颗的泪水从她的脸上缓缓流下。

She looked like a neglected, ragged, little heartbroken waif.

她看起来就像一个被忽视、衣衫褴褛、心碎的小流浪儿。

Barbara started from her chair.

芭芭拉从椅子上站起来。

That moment her face showed she had forgotten the surrounding desolations.

那一刻，她的表情表明她已经忘记了周围的荒凉。

She ran and gathered the child into her arms.

她跑过去，把孩子抱进怀里。

She sat down with her in her lap.

她坐下来，把她放在腿上。

The little Jeannie, finding herself caressed, began crying lustily.

小珍妮发现自己被爱抚，开始放声大哭。

The new mother kissed her.

新妈妈吻了她。

She caressed her.

她抚摸着她。

She soothed her, coaxing her into quietness.

她安抚她，哄她安静​​下来。

She told her little stories.

她讲述了她的小故事。

She sang little songs, examining thoughtfully the poor little garments she wore.

她唱着小歌，若有所思地审视着她穿的那些破烂的小衣服。

Dusk came upon them as they sat consoling one another.

当他们坐着互相安慰时，黄昏降临了。

Barbara demanded help then of the child.

芭芭拉随后请求孩子的帮助。

Jeannie must show her where all the things were kept which were needed for the supper.

珍妮必须告诉她晚餐所需的所有东西都存放在哪里。

They would make some little cakes together.

他们会一起做一些小蛋糕。

Jeannie grew important and happy.

珍妮变得重要而快乐。

Dod’s eyes fairly bulged with amazement when he saw that supper table.

当多德看到那张餐桌时，惊讶得眼睛都瞪得大大的。

Nothing of the sort had been set before him in that kitchen.

厨房里没有摆在他面前的任何东西。

His new mother made no apologies.

他的新母亲没有道歉。

She had been thinking to herself that it had been food of the most primitive sort that had been set before her by Chirstie on the three occasions upon which they had sat down to eat since she had arrived; doubtless Chirstie wasn’t feeling very well, and she was at best but a young housekeeper, whose omissions one could easily overlook.

她心里一直在想，自从她到达以来，他们坐下来吃饭的时候，克里斯蒂已经三次在她面前摆上最原始的食物了。毫无疑问，克里斯蒂的心情不太好，她充其量不过是一个年轻的管家，她的疏漏很容易被人忽视。

Barbara was pleased with what she had managed to prepare on the strange stove and in the newfangled oven.

芭芭拉对她在奇怪的炉子和新奇的烤箱中设法准备的东西感到很满意。

She saw her husband scowling at the table.

她看到她的丈夫皱着眉头看着桌子。

“I dinna like so many cakes!” he remarked severely.

“我不喜欢这么多蛋糕！”他严厉地说。

One must begin with these women at once, he seemed to be thinking.

他似乎在想，必须立即从这些女人开始。

He had forgotten apparently that his bride came from the very land of cakes, though he wasn’t to be allowed to forget it often in the future.

他显然忘记了他的新娘来自蛋糕之乡，不过以后不许他经常忘记这一点。

She said apologetically;

她抱歉地说；

“They’re not so good, I doubt.

“我怀疑，他们不太好。

I couldn’t find any currants in the house.

我在家里找不到任何葡萄干。

When we get currants you’ll like them fine.”

当我们收到葡萄干时，你一定会喜欢的。”

“There’s too much in them now!” he declared bravely.

“现在里面的东西太多了！”他勇敢地宣称。

“We don’t have cake every day.”

“我们不是每天都吃蛋糕。”

“I do,” she said placidly.

“我愿意，”她平静地说。

“I like a wee cake with my tea.”

“我喜欢喝茶时吃个小蛋糕。”

Alex McNair was not entirely a stingy man--not the most stingy man in the neighborhood.

亚历克斯·麦克奈尔并不完全是一个小气的人——不是附近最小气的人。

He wasn’t like Andy McFee, for example, who was so careful of expenditure that when his corn got a little high in the summer he always took off his shirt and hoed the weeds in his skin, to save the wear of the cloth; and who persisted in habits of frugality so that, in his old age, when he rode about in his grandson’s Pierce-Arrow, he removed his shoes upon seating himself, to save them from harm, and persisted in this till an able grand-daughter-in-law urged him not to misuse shoe-strings with such extravagance.

例如，他不像安迪·麦克菲那样精打细算，夏天当玉米价格有点高时，他总是脱掉衬衫，锄掉皮肤上的杂草，以防止衣服磨损；他一直保持节俭的习惯，以至于到了晚年，当他骑着孙子的皮尔斯箭四处走动时，他一坐下就脱掉鞋子，以免鞋子受到伤害，并一直如此，直到一位能干的孙儿媳妇劝他不要如此奢侈地滥用鞋带。

Nor was he like the elder John McKnight, who when he went to mill always took with him a hen tied in a little basket, to eat the oats that fell from his horse’s midday feeding.

他也不像老约翰·麦克奈特，老约翰·麦克奈特去磨坊时总是带着一只母鸡，拴在一个小篮子里，吃中午喂马时掉下来的燕麦。

McNair thought such extremes foolish.

麦克奈尔认为这种极端行为是愚蠢的。

He even laughed at McKnight’s device.

他甚至嘲笑麦克奈特的装置。

How much easier it was simply to gather the oats up by hand, as he did, dust and all, and to take them home for the hens in his pocket.

像他一样，用手把燕麦收集起来，灰尘和所有东西，然后带回家给他口袋里的母鸡，这是多么容易啊。

By this plan the oats were saved, and the hen had a whole day at home to convert useless angleworms into salable eggs.

通过这个计划，燕麦被拯救了，母鸡在家里有一整天的时间，将无用的角虫转化为可销售的鸡蛋。

He was not, this proves, an entirely stingy man, yet--the idea of cakes like those for just a common supper!

这证明他并不是一个完全吝啬的人，然而——像这样的蛋糕只是一顿普通的晚餐！

He would have to show that woman his disapproval, his disgust, his sharp pain at such extravagance.

他必须向那个女人表明他对这种奢侈行为的不满、厌恶和剧痛。

He did his best then, and in the days that followed, to impress her.

当时以及接下来的日子里，他尽了最大努力，给她留下深刻的印象。

But she was difficult.

但她很难。

She never lifted her voice in perturbation, and she never heeded a word he said.

她从未因不安而提高声音，也从未在意他说的任何一句话。

When the howling of the wind woke him up at night, he would hear her sighing, “It’s still raining!” When she looked shrinkingly out of the window in the morning, she murmured, “It’s still at it!” When he came in for dinner, she would ask, “Does it never stop?” At supper she sighed, like a weary child, “’Tis a fine land, this!”--for all the world as if he was to blame for the weather.

夜里，当呼啸的风声把他吵醒时，他会听见她叹息：“还在下雨呢！”早上，当她畏缩地望向窗外时，她低声说道：“还在呢！”当他进来吃晚饭时，她会问：“它永远不会停止吗？”晚饭时，她像一个疲倦的孩子一样叹了口气，“这真是一块好土地！”——对全世界来说，好像他应该为天气负责。

She had been housekeeping for him but two days, when he pointed out the woodpile to her.

当他指给她看柴堆时，她才替他做家务两天。

“Bring the wood into the house,” she said, as if that was a man’s task.

“把木头搬进屋里，”她说，好像这是男人的任务。

“I don’t like going out in the rain.” “The rain’ll not hurt you,” he assured her, going about his work.

“我不喜欢下雨天出去。” “雨不会伤害你的，”他一边向她保证，一边继续工作。

When he came in at noon, the fire was out, the room was cold, and she and the little girl were asleep and comfortable in bed.

中午他进来的时候，火已经灭了，房间里很冷，她和小女孩正在床上舒服地睡着。

“I don’t like going out in the wet,” she repeated simply, as if she had done nothing outrageous in defying him.

“我不喜欢在湿漉漉的时候出去。”她简单地重复道，仿佛她并没有做出任何违抗他的过分举动。

He had to wait for dinner till the wood was brought in, and dried, and the fire made.

他必须等到木头运进来、晒干、生火后才吃晚饭。

The next day she refused, in the same passive, happy way, to bring water from the slough well.

第二天，她以同样被动而快乐的方式拒绝从泥井里取水。

She simply remarked she wouldn’t think of going so far in the mud, and waited till he brought the water.

她只是说她不会想到在泥泞中走那么远，并等到他送来水。

He never knew that she had hidden enough water for thirsty hours in a jug under the bed, and was prepared to stand a long siege.

他从来不知道，她在床下的水壶里藏了足够口渴时喝的水，并做好了长期围攻的准备。

And then his boots were to be tallowed and dried near the fire.

然后他的靴子要涂上牛油并在火旁晾干。

His wife Jeannie had always tallowed his boots.

他的妻子珍妮总是给他的靴子涂油。

The new wife looked mildly surprised that he should have expected such a duty from her, and left the boots standing, muddy and soaked, just where they were, till he was driven to caring for them himself.

新婚妻子看上去有些惊讶，他竟然料到她会承担这样的责任，于是他把沾满泥水、湿透的靴子留在原处，直到他不得不亲自照顾它们。

And she kept asking him hour by hour, mildly, when he was going to town for her other boxes.

她一小时一小时地、温和地问他什么时候去城里拿她的其他盒子。

She asked him so often, so kindly, that he was forced in despair to attempt the journey through the rain, thinking that maybe if she had something to sew, she would cease making cakes by the hour.

她如此频繁地、如此友善地请求他，以至于他被迫在绝望中尝试冒雨旅行，心想也许如果她有东西要缝，她就会在一小时内停止做蛋糕。

And when he started, she gave him a great list of groceries to bring back, and ordered more sugar than his family ate in years.

当他开始时，她给了他一大堆要带回来的杂货清单，并订购了比他家人多年来吃的糖还要多的东西。

He growled at this--just growled.

他对此咆哮——只是咆哮。

There had been enough sugar in the house when she came to last till spring.

当她活到春天的时候，家里已经有足够的糖了。

They could not use sugar as if it were water!

他们不能像使用水一样使用糖！

Why not?

为什么不呢？

she asked, simply.

她简单地问道。

Wasn’t he a great lord, with acres?

他不是一个拥有数英亩土地的伟大领主吗？

She liked sugar.

她喜欢吃糖。

He brought back with him only a little sugar, and most of it the coarse brown kind, and a jug of sorghum which was to last till spring.

他只带回了一点点糖，大部分是粗棕色的，还有一罐高粱，可以持续到春天。

She fell upon her boxes eagerly, and adorned the sty amazingly with rich looking things which never really seemed at home there.

她急切地趴在箱子上，用看起来很华丽的东西装饰着猪圈，这些东西看起来从来没有真正在家里过。

She made a new dress for her little stepdaughter at once, and set about making Chirstie’s baby a robe.

她立即​​为小继女做了一件新衣服，并开始为克里斯蒂的孩子做一件长袍。

She seemed almost to have resigned herself to the deluge.

她似乎几乎已经听天由命了。

She spoke with gayety about her ark to the children, and told them to keep their eyes open for the dove.

她兴高采烈地向孩子们讲述她的方舟，并告诉他们要睁大眼睛寻找鸽子。

And then, just when she seemed to be getting settled, the winter set in.

然后，就在她似乎安定下来的时候，冬天来临了。

Rains she had seen, and could understand, and snows, too, in moderate fashion.

她见过雨，也能理解，也见过雪，但程度适中。

But snow like this, continuing; winds like these, whirling darkening wild clouds of whiteness to burst against windows and doors, rocking the little sty as if it were an insecure cradle--winds with horror howling in them, howling all night through the shaken darkness, triumphant, unconquerable winds against which no life could stand--she had never imagined anything like them.

但雪就是这样，持续着；像这样的风，旋转着白色的狂野的黑色云朵，吹过门窗，摇晃着小猪圈，仿佛它是一个不安全的摇篮——风中带着恐怖的呼啸，整夜呼啸着穿过震动的黑暗，胜利的、不可战胜的风，没有生命可以抵挡——她从来没有想象过像这样的风。

She had never before risen in the morning to find doors drifted tight shut, windows banked with white.

她以前从来没有在早上起床时发现门关得严严实实，窗户上贴满了白色。

She had never seen men burrow out of windows to dig open their doors, and tunnel a way to their barns.

她从未见过有人从窗户里挖洞，打开门，挖一条通向谷仓的路。

The well was as distant as if it had been in Patagonia.

这口井很遥远，就像在巴塔哥尼亚一样。

The newborn calf froze in the barn with its first breath.

刚出生的小牛在第一次呼吸时就被冻在谷仓里了。

The men’s ears froze, their hands froze, their feet froze.

男人们的耳朵冻住了，手冻住了，脚也冻住了。

Everything in the house froze solid.

屋子里的一切都冻僵了。

The bread had to be thawed out in a steamer over a kettle before they could get a bite to eat in the morning.

面包必须在水壶上的蒸锅中解冻，然后才能在早上吃东西。

The milk had to be pounded into little bits and melted.

牛奶必须被捣碎成小块并融化。

The cold--its intensity, its cruelty, staggered her.

寒冷——它的强烈、它的残酷，让她感到震惊。

Her work would be done early in the morning, while the men were yet melting snow at the stove to water their beasts--that is, all the work she chose to do.

她的工作会在一大早完成，而男人们还在炉子上融化雪来浇灌他们的牲畜——这就是她选择做的所有工作。

To conquer those long, dark hours she worked away on the baby dress.

为了克服那些漫长而黑暗的时光，她努力制作婴儿连衣裙。

When it was all finished--alas, too soon for one having endless time to beguile--she looked at it with satisfaction.

当一切都完成后——唉，对于一个有无尽时间去欺骗的人来说太早了——她满意地看着它。

She had made every stitch of it by hand.

每一针都是她亲手缝制的。

It was a yard and a half long, with seven clusters of seven tiny tucks around the skirt, with hand embroidery between some of the rows, and darned net between others.

它有一码半长，裙子周围有七组，每组七个小褶裥，一些行之间有手工刺绣，其他行之间还有织补网。

It was ruffled and shirred, and smocked and featherstitched and hemstitched, eyeleted and piped and gathered.

它有褶边、平行绉缝、缩褶、羽毛缝制、缝边、孔眼、滚边和褶皱。

And a tiny darned net bonnet, which went with it, was worthy of it.

与之配套的一顶小该死的网状帽子也配得上它。

It had taken many weeks to complete it.

花了好几个星期才完成。

And always when her eyes were worn by the fine stitching in the flickering candle light, she made cakes, for a change, sparing white sugar with noble economy, using only brown sugar, whatever eggs were unfrozen, fresh butter, and thick cream, and raisins and currants while they lasted.

每当她的眼睛被闪烁的烛光中的精细缝线弄得睁不开时，她就会做蛋糕，作为一种改变，节约白糖，只用红糖，任何未冷冻的鸡蛋，新鲜黄油，浓奶油，还有葡萄干和葡萄干，只要它们能保存。

From the day that Wully took Chirstie home, until the first week of January, Barbara McNair had but one visitor in her prison, and that one was her sister-in-law, Libby Keith.

从武利带克里斯蒂回家的那天起，直到一月的第一周，芭芭拉·麦克奈尔的监狱里只有一个访客，那就是她的嫂子利比·基思。

She had to turn to Dod to companionship, which no boy could have grudged to so unfailing a source of cakes as his new mother.

她必须向多德寻求陪伴，没有哪个男孩会像他的新妈妈那样不情愿地为她提供源源不绝的蛋糕。

His Spartan scorn of the cold brought her, many a time, near to tears.

他对寒冷的斯巴达式蔑视让她很多次差点落泪。

He was anointing his frozen ears one morning, and when she cried out in pity of him, he remarked indifferently that this was nothing.

一天早上，他正在给冻僵的耳朵涂油，当她可怜他时，他冷漠地说道，这没什么。

She ought to have seen last year, the time his mother died.

她应该在去年看到他母亲去世的时候。

With what keen sympathy could she appreciate that story now.

她现在能以多么强烈的同情心来欣赏这个故事。

She asked without hesitation;

她毫不犹豫地问道；

“It was no colder than this, was it?” She couldn’t imagine anything worse.

“没有比这更冷的了，不是吗？”她无法想象还有更糟糕的事情。

Oh, said Dod, they were alone last winter, and his mother and Chirstie had sometimes to help shovel out.

哦，多德说，去年冬天他们独自一人，他的母亲和克里斯蒂有时不得不帮忙铲雪。

But they had had Chirstie’s husband, hadn’t they, to do that hard work for them?

但他们有克里斯蒂的丈夫为他们做那些艰苦的工作，不是吗？

Indeed they hadn’t!

事实上他们没有！

Dod himself had been the man of the farm.

多德本人就是农场的主人。

Wully had come but lately.

武利来不久。

Not lately, surely, she exclaimed.

当然不是最近，她惊呼道。

Yes, only in harvest.

是的，只有在收获时。

They had been married right in harvest.

他们在收获季节结婚了。

He was sure of it.

他对此深信不疑。

What month would harvest be in this land?

这片土地几月份可以收获？

she had asked hurriedly.

她急忙问道。

He informed her, and took up his story.

他通知了她，并讲述了他的故事。

He had had to go alone that morning after his mother’s death to his uncle’s, to get help, and hadn’t it taken them three hours to get the sled over the two miles of drifted snow.

母亲去世后的那天早上，他不得不独自去叔叔那里寻求帮助，他们不是花了三个小时才把雪橇搬过两英里的流雪吗？

He told all the tale, even how the little sister was playing alone, and Chirstie had fainted.

他把整个故事都讲了一遍，甚至连小妹妹独自玩耍的情况都讲了出来，克里斯蒂晕了过去。

All that afternoon there came little words of pity to Barbara McNair as she fondled her little Jeannie; sometimes, when she was making that great, most magnificent cake which appeared unashamed on the supper table, she had to stop and wipe her eyes.

整个下午，当芭芭拉·麦克奈尔抚摸着她的小珍妮时，她都在说些怜悯的话。有时，当她正在制作那个毫无羞耻地出现在晚餐桌上的伟大、最华丽的蛋糕时，她不得不停下来擦擦眼睛。

Alex McNair had but begun to disapprove of that delicacy when she ordered him so sharply to hold his tongue that he all but obeyed.

亚历克斯·麦克奈尔刚刚开始不赞成这种美味佳肴，她如此严厉地命令他闭嘴，以至于他几乎服从了。

And after supper, she made him lift down her kists, which because of the narrowness of the sty had to sit one above another in her bedroom.

晚饭后，她让他把她的小袋子放下来，由于猪圈太窄，她的小袋子不得不一个一个叠放在她的卧室里。

She opened the third one from the top, and took out a dress, wine-colored and soft, and looked at it carefully a long time, examining the seams.

她打开从上往下数第三个，取出一件酒色柔软的裙子，仔细看了半天，检查接缝。

Then she sat down, and by candle light began to rip it apart, basque and polonaise and all, to make a dress for the erring Chirstie.

然后她坐下来，在烛光下开始把它拆开，巴斯克和波兰舞曲等等，为犯错的克里斯蒂做一件衣服。

It was the next afternoon that she saw a bobsled drive in.

第二天下午，她看到一辆雪橇驶入。

She could see the bundled driver when he was yet some distance from the house, but as he drew near, and stopped, she saw another great beshawled bundle rise from behind the sideboards of the sled.

当司机离房子还有一段距离时，她就能看到那个裹着包袱的司机，但当他走近并停下来时，她看到另一个披着披肩的大包袱从雪橇的侧板后面升起。

This bundle came at once towards the house, wiped its feet carefully on the doorstep, and, unwrapping layer after layer of covering, revealed itself Isobel McLaughlin.

这包东西立即朝房子走来，在门阶上小心地擦了擦脚，然后一层又一层地展开，露出了伊莎贝尔·麦克劳林。

Mrs. McNair could hardly have been more surprised if she had seen an angel descending from heaven.

如果麦克奈尔夫人看到天使从天而降，她一定会感到无比惊讶。

That any woman would be riding around the country in weather like this had not entered her mind.

她没想到会有哪个女人会在这样的天气里骑车环游全国。

Her concern seemed mildly amusing to her guest, who quickly disclaimed any conduct especially praiseworthy.

对于她的客人来说，她的担忧似乎有些好笑，她很快就否认了任何特别值得赞扬的行为。

It wasn’t really cold now, she explained.

她解释说，现在不太冷。

It was thawing.

它正在解冻。

This was what is called the January thaw.

这就是所谓的一月解冻。

A body can’t just stay cooped up in the house all the winter, and besides--and this was the great affair--Mistress McNair would be glad to know that she had a fine strong grandson, born a week ago, the mother doing well!

一个身体不能整个冬天都关在房子里，而且——这是一件伟大的事情——麦克奈尔夫人会很高兴知道她有一个优秀强壮的孙子，一周前出生，母亲状况良好！

Mrs. McLaughlin had wanted to bring the news herself, she was that pleased!

麦克劳克林夫人本来想亲自带来这个消息，她太高兴了！

She had stopped, too, at a neighbor’s, Maggie Stewart’s, who had a baby exactly the same age, a woman whom always before Mrs. McLaughlin had helped through her confinement.

她也在邻居玛吉·斯图尔特家停了下来，玛吉·斯图尔特有一个和她同龄的孩子，在麦克劳克林夫人坐月子之前，她总是帮助她度过难关。

She didn’t add she had made that visit with the hope of lessening the fierceness of Maggie’s slander-loving tongue, though if a good opportunity came she intended explaining to this newcomer the unusual circumstances of the child’s birth, which sooner or later she would be sure to hear some way.

她没有补充说，她这次来访是希望减少玛吉爱诽谤的凶狠舌头，不过如果有好机会，她打算向这个新来的人解释孩子出生的不寻常情况，迟早她肯定会以某种方式听到。

But no opportunity came.

但没有机会来。

The new Mrs. McNair was so unfeignedly glad to see her, she brought out that wonderful little robe so timidly, that Mrs. McLaughlin had to admire it even more than it deserved.

新的麦克奈尔夫人很高兴见到她，她如此胆怯地拿出那件漂亮的小袍子，麦克劳克林夫人不得不对它赞叹不已。

Chirstie hadn’t many new things for her baby, because there were so many little things of the young McLaughlins saved for future need.

克里斯蒂没有给她的孩子带来太多新东西，因为年轻的麦克劳林一家保留了很多小东西以备将来之需。

Not that any of them had had so fine a garment as this Mrs. McNair had made.

并不是说他们中的任何一个人都拥有过麦克奈尔夫人制作的如此精美的衣服。

Speed, rather than elaborateness, had always been Mrs. McLaughlin’s motto, necessarily.

麦克劳克林夫人的座右铭必然是速度，而不是复杂。

But Chirstie would be that proud of such a little dress!

但克里斯蒂一定会对这样的小裙子感到自豪！

Mrs. McLaughlin could just see her delighted with it.

麦克劳克林夫人看得出来她很高兴。

This seemed to comfort Mrs. McNair, who then ventured to show the red dress, all pressed and ready to be put together again, by a method which she hoped would make it large enough for Chirstie--that is, if Chirstie would not be offended by having a made-over dress offered to her.

这似乎让麦克奈尔夫人感到安慰，她随后大胆地展示了那条红色连衣裙，全部熨烫好，准备再次组装起来，她希望这种方法能让它对克里斯蒂来说足够大——也就是说，如果克里斯蒂不会因为有人提供给她一件改头换面的衣服而冒犯的话。

Mrs. McLaughlin again thanked her, and assured her that she need not worry about that.

麦克劳克林夫人再次感谢她，并向她保证不必担心这一点。

Then Mrs. McNair wondered if Mrs. McLaughlin would take home to the girl her part of her mother’s housekeeping things, which the new mother had wrapped and made ready for her.

然后麦克奈尔夫人想知道麦克劳克林夫人是否会把她母亲的一部分家务用品带回家给女孩，这些东西是新妈妈为她准备好的。

She had divided the few sheets and spoons and cups into two parts, one for each of the sisters--that is, she hoped Mrs. McLaughlin and Chirstie would be satisfied with such a division.

她把那几张床单、勺子和杯子分成两部分，姐妹俩各一份——也就是说，她希望麦克劳克林太太和克里斯蒂对这样的划分感到满意​​。

Mrs. McLaughlin, feeling sure that Alex had no knowledge of a plan so bountiful, protested that Chirstie didn’t really need the things, that Wully could get her what she needed in the town.

麦克劳克林夫人确信亚历克斯不知道如此丰盛的计划，她抗议说克里斯蒂并不真正需要这些东西，沃利可以在镇上为她提供她需要的东西。

But Mrs. McNair wouldn’t hear of such a plan for a minute.

但麦克奈尔夫人一分钟都没有听说过这样的计划。

The lassie must have her share of what had been her mother’s.

这个小姑娘一定也得到了她母亲的那一份。

She forebore to mention that she had brought a great deal of household stuff, of a quality much superior to any she found awaiting her.

她忍住没有提及她带来了大量的家居用品，其质量比她发现的任何东西都要好得多。

Mrs. McLaughlin, impressed by this spontaneous liberality, began to wonder if, after all, the avenging hand of God might not be seen in this second marriage of Alex McNair.

麦克劳克林夫人被这种自发的慷慨所感动，开始怀疑，在亚历克斯·麦克奈尔的第二次婚姻中，上帝的复仇之手是否最终不会出现。

The hostess was overflowing with questions, the burden of them all being just the one unanswerable one that constantly confronted her--namely, how did civilized persons live through winters of this sort?

女主人的疑问溢于言表，而这一切的重担却是她不断面对的一个无法回答的问题——那就是，文明人是如何度过这样的冬天的？

Why did they endure life in small prisons buried under snow?

为什么他们要忍受被雪埋在小监狱里的生活？

Had there ever before been a winter equal to this one?

以前有过像这样的冬天吗？

And did Mrs. McLaughlin look forward with composure to living through such another one?

麦克劳克林夫人是否期待着平静地经历另一次这样的经历？

Mrs. McLaughlin recalled with amusement and sympathy her own horror of her first winter, enlarging upon her experience.

麦克劳克林夫人既有趣又同情地回忆起她自己第一个冬天的恐怖经历，并详细阐述了她的经历。

Had not she and her husband and their ten, and the Squire and his ten lived through one winter all together in an unfinished cabin, with a row of beds three deep built right around the walls, and a curtain across the middle of it!

她和她的丈夫以及他们的十个人，以及乡绅和他的十个人，不是在一间未完工的小屋里一起度过了一个冬天吗？靠着墙放了一排三层深的床，床中间还挂着帘子！

Often in those terrible nights she had risen from her bed to go about and feel the legs of her wee sleepers, to be sure they were not all freezing solid.

在那些可怕的夜晚，她常常从床上爬起来，走来走去，摸摸小睡者的腿，以确保它们没有被冻得硬邦邦的。

Of course there had not really been as much danger as she imagined, but one of the McKnights had frozen to death that winter, being overtaken on his drunken way homeward by a great storm.

当然，危险并没有她想象的那么大，但是那年冬天，麦克奈特一家的一个人在喝醉酒回家的路上遭遇了一场大风暴，被冻死了。

That had shocked her until she was really foolish about her children.

这让她很震惊，直到她真的对自己的孩子感到愚蠢。

Her twins had been born that year, too, before the cabin was sealed, and the first snow had drifted in upon the bed where she lay.

那年，她的双胞胎也出生了，当时小屋还没有被密封，第一场雪已经飘到了她躺着的床上。

Fine strong bairns they were, too.

他们也是好强壮的孩子。

The cold didn’t really hurt anyone.

寒冷并没有真正伤害任何人。

Moreover, it drove the fever away, so that they welcomed its coming in the fall, when the whole family would be shaking at one time.

而且，它还能退烧，让他们在秋天迎接它的到来，那时全家人都会发抖。

Fever wasn’t as bad now, either, as it had been at first, though she still fed her family quinine regularly every Saturday during the spring and summer.

现在发烧也不像一开始那么严重了，尽管在春季和夏季，她仍然每周六定期给家人喂奎宁。

When the land had all been plowed once or twice, there would be no more of it, ’twas said.

据说，当土地全部犁过一两次后，就不再有土地了。

And there had been much typhoid at first, before they had realized how much more defilable the new wells were than those in the old places had been.

起初，伤寒病很严重，后来他们才意识到新井比老地方的井脏得多。

Five of the McLaughlin children had escaped typhoid altogether, which was very lucky indeed, and none of them had died of it, although many of the young ones of the settlement had.

麦克劳克林的五个孩子完全摆脱了伤寒，这确实是非常幸运的，尽管定居点的许多年轻人都死于伤寒，但他们中没有一个人死于伤寒。

These things had all made a good deal of nursing necessary, for thirteen, but undoubtedly the worst days were over.

这些事情都使得十三岁的孩子需要大量的护理，但毫无疑问，最糟糕的日子已经过去了。

And it was these winters which made the children strong as little lions.

正是这些冬天，让孩子们变得像小狮子一样坚强。

Every tree that was planted, moreover, every year’s growth of their cherished windbreaks, took away something of the winter’s severity.

此外，种植的每一棵树，以及他们珍视的防风林每年的生长，都在一定程度上减轻了冬天的严酷。

And when spring came, besides, in the glory of that season one forgot the cold, and all one’s troubles.

此外，当春天来临时，在这个季节的光辉中，人们忘记了寒冷，忘记了所有的烦恼。

When would spring be coming?

春天什么时候到来？

asked the longing stranger.

渴望的陌生人问道。

Would it be in February, now that January was said to be thawing?

据说一月正在解冻，是在二月吗？

No, not February.

不，不是二月。

Nor in March.

三月也不行。

Sometimes it was a bit springlike by the first of April.

有时到了四月一日，天气就有点像春天了。

But the spring really opened in May.

但春天在五月才真正开启。

Everyone got out then.

然后大家就都出去了。

Oh, sometimes if the roads were good, the women got out to church in April.

哦，有时候，如果路况良好，妇女们会在四月去教堂。

Once even there had been a large congregation in March.

甚至有一次，三月份还举行过一次大型集会。

Mrs. McNair sighed.

麦克奈尔夫人叹了口气。

It was a shame, now, commented her visitor, that she should have had to be alone so much of her first season.

她的访客评论道，现在真是太遗憾了，她在第一个赛季的大部分时间里都必须独自一人。

If there had been an older daughter, now ...

如果有一个大女儿的话，现在……

if Chirstie had been at home with her....

如果克里斯蒂和她一起在家的话……

Mrs. McNair wondered timidly if Chirstie couldn’t come home for a visit, when it got a little less freezing.

麦克奈尔夫人胆怯地想知道当天气稍微不那么冷时，克里斯蒂是否不能回家探望。

Mrs. McLaughlin, thinking quickly that Chirstie would surely be happy with this simple gift-giving woman, thought it possible that Wully might bring her over for a few days in March.

麦克劳克林夫人很快想到，克里斯蒂肯定会对这个简单的送礼物的女人感到满意，并认为武利可能会在三月份带她过来住几天。

At least in April.

至少四月份是这样。

And when she saw the poor, wee body seize upon this hope of companionship, she felt more sure than ever that Chirstie would enjoy the visit.

当她看到这个可怜的弱小身体抓住了这种陪伴的希望时，她比以往任何时候都更加确信克里斯蒂会喜欢这次访问。

If only she would come, that dress should be made for her, Mrs. McNair ventured to promise.

麦克奈尔夫人大胆地承诺，只要她能来，那件衣服就会为她做。

And she went on to get more information.

她继续获取更多信息。

What sort of a little house would it be, now, that Wully was building for his wife?

现在，武利正在为他的妻子建造一座什么样的小房子呢？

What could houses be like in these parts?

这些地区的房子会是什么样子？

How many rooms would it have?

会有多少个房间？

Isobel explained that there were to be three rooms on the first floor, a parlor, a kitchen and a bedroom, and two bedrooms above.

伊索贝尔解释说，一楼有三个房间，一个客厅，一个厨房和一间卧室，上面还有两间卧室。

Certainly it would be plastered, all white and clean.

当然，它会被抹上灰泥，全白干净。

Doubtless it would be painted in time, not just at first, of course, but as soon as Wully could manage it.

毫无疑问，它会及时被绘制，当然不仅仅是一开始，而是一旦武利能够做到这一点。

Of course it would have a fence around it, like those Mrs. McNair had seen from the train, and trees, most certainly.

当然，它周围会有栅栏，就像麦克奈尔夫人在火车上看到的那样，当然还有树木。

They had been planted last fall.

它们是去年秋天种下的。

Trees were one thing essential on the prairies.

树木是草原上必不可少的东西之一。

Well, likely flowers, too, in time, although women as yet had so much to do that there weren’t many flowers about.

好吧，随着时间的推移，很可能也会有鲜花，尽管当时女性还有很多事情要做，所以周围没有太多鲜花。

Mrs. McLaughlin had herself often sighed for a few wee rosebushes.

麦克劳克林夫人自己也时常为几株小玫瑰花而叹息。

And she had a fine young orchard set out and flourishing.

她还有一座美丽的年轻果园，枝繁叶茂。

Had not Alex McNair been in these parts as long as the McLaughlins, the new wife asked.

新婚妻子问道，亚历克斯·麦克奈尔在这些地方的任职时间不是和麦克劳林一家一样长吗？

And Mrs. McLaughlin, hiding her malice sweetly, didn’t doubt but what he would be setting out an orchard soon.

麦克劳克林夫人甜蜜地隐藏着她的恶意，她并不怀疑他很快就会开垦一座果园。

“The poor wee body!” she said to herself.

“可怜的小身体！”她对自己说。

“Her wanting flowers, and a man like Alex!”

“她想要鲜花，还有像亚历克斯这样的男人！”

The pitied one set out such a tea, she sent her guest home with such an abundance of sweeties for her bairns, that Mrs. McLaughlin talked hopefully about her all the way home to her husband.

可怜的人给她准备了这样的茶，送她的客人回家，还给她的孩子带了这么多的糖果，麦克劳克林夫人在回家的路上满怀希望地向她的丈夫谈论着她。

She solemnly affirmed that that new wife would give away Alex McNair’s last sock, if she could find anyone to take it; and for her part, she hoped fervently that she could.

她郑重地保证，如果她能找到人来拿走亚历克斯·麦克奈尔的最后一只袜子，新婚妻子就会把它送给她。就她而言，她热切地希望自己能做到。

That evening as Alex sat smoking his pipe, with his stocking feet well into the oven, his wife asked him artlessly:

那天晚上，亚历克斯坐在一边抽烟斗，袜子脚伸进烤箱，他的妻子天真地问他：

“Will Chirstie’s man have much, now?”

“现在克里斯蒂的人有很多吗？”

“What would he have but his land?”

“除了他的土地，他还能拥有什么？”

“But he’s building a fine house!”

“但他正在建造一座漂亮的房子！”

“He would.

“他会的。

The McLaughlins were ever spenders and poor.

麦克劳林一家一向挥霍无度，而且很穷。

Not that the house would cost much,” he added.

并不是说房子会花很多钱，”他补充道。

“Now what would such a house as his be costing?” It seemed a natural question.

“那么像他这样的房子要花多少钱呢？”这似乎是一个很自然的问题。

“Four hundred dollars.

“四百美元。

Or maybe five.”

或者也许是五个。”

She was surprised, for once, almost excited.

这一次她感到惊讶，甚至兴奋。

“You could build a castle with your money from Scotland!”

“你可以用苏格兰的钱建造一座城堡！”

“Likely!” he commented, knocking his pipe’s ashes into the stove.

“有可能！”他边说边把烟斗的灰烬敲进炉子里。

“But a little house like the new one would do me fine!”

“但是像新房子这样的小房子对我来说就很好了！”

“Don’t say new house to me, woman!” he roared.

“别对我说新房子，女人！”他咆哮道。

A great deal of good his roaring did him!

他的咆哮对他有很大的好处！

It was as if she never heard him protesting.

就好像她从来没有听到他抗议一样。

“I canna live in a sty,” she explained, for the thousandth time, and she said new house to him without ceasing, without haste or rest, by night and by day, apropos of everything he mentioned, till he began to wonder if he were indeed a God-fearing Presbyterian, with such murder in his heart.

“我不能住在猪圈里，”她第一千次解释道，她不停地向他说“新房子”，不急不躁，不休息，日夜不息，谈到他提到的一切，直到他开始怀疑自己是否真的是一个敬畏上帝的长老会教徒，心中怀着这样的杀戮。

He couldn’t quite beat a woman--a small woman--no matter how utterly she might deserve punishment.

他无法完全击败一个女人——一个小女人——无论她多么应该受到惩罚。

He could scarcely do that.

他几乎做不到这一点。

But he sometimes wondered if there was any other measure of relief for him.

但他有时想知道是否还有其他措施可以缓解他的痛苦。

He thought longingly of the silences of Chirstie’s mother.

他怀念着克里斯蒂母亲的沉默。

He remembered story after story of men who had beat their wives.