书城童书义犬阿黄
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第16章

发生了什么事。然后它看到了阿黄。它蹬踢四蹄,高翘着尾巴向阿黄扑去。从逃跑的样子看来,阿黄似乎给吓破了胆。后来,它却象一道闪光似的,飞快地绕过树丛跑了回来。瞬息间,它又跟在“阿花”后面,向它逼近。

Without making a sound,he ran up beside her,made his jump,and set his teeth in her nose.

它 悄无声息地跑到“阿花”的身边,纵身一跳,一口咬住了它那只牛鼻子。

I suppose it was the weight of him that did it.

Anyway,he just set his teeth in her nose,madehimself into a tight ball ,and hung on. It made thecow turn head over heels. She landed flat on herback with all four feet sticking up. After taking thatsecond fall ,she didn’t seem to have much fight leftin her. She went quietly back into the bushes to hercalf.

我猜想是阿黄身体的重量才使它咬住了阿花的鼻子。不管怎么,它就是咬住那只牛鼻子,把身子紧紧地缩成一团,悬吊在那儿。这一招使那头牛栽了一个大跟斗。它四脚朝天,摔倒在地。看起来,摔过第二跤后,它的斗志已经所剩无几了。

它默默地回到树丛中它那头小牛的身边去了。

I followed her,with Old Yeller beside me,andwe drove her out and across the hills. Not once didshe turn on us again. She did try to run off two orthree times,but all I had to do was send Old Yellerin to head her off. And the second she caught sightof him,she couldn’t turn fast enough to get headedback the right way.

我尾随着它,阿黄在我的旁边。

我们一起把它赶出了树丛,翻过一座又一座小山。它再也没有向我们发起进攻。有两三次它确实想逃跑,但是我只要打发阿黄把它赶回来就行了。它一见阿黄就忙不迭地转回来,规规矩矩地上路。

It was the same when we got her into the cow- pen. Her bag was heavy with milk the calf

我们把它赶进牛栏的时候也是如此。它的乳房沉甸甸的,奶很多,

couldn’t hold. Mama said we should get the milkout. She came with a bucket and I took it,knowingthere would be a big kicking fight before I couldhope to get any milk.

小牛吃也吃不完。妈妈说我们得把奶挤出来。她提来了一只桶,我拿起桶,心里明白非得经过一场大踢大闹才可望挤到奶。

The kicking fight started. As soon as I touchedSpot’s bag,she reached out with a flying backfoot,meaning to kick my head off and coming closeto doing it. I was on top of the fence as fast as anysquirrel could have been.

踢闹挣扎开始了。我一触及阿花的乳房,它就飞起后腿踢将过来,想给我当头一下子,差一点儿没踢着我。我就象松鼠那样敏捷地跳到了栅栏上。

Mama was shaking her head.“I wa s h oping Shewouldn”t be like this ,”She said.“I a lwa ys ha te ha vingto tie up a cow to bre a k he r for milking ,but its e ems the re”s no othe r wa y.”

妈妈直摇头。“我一直希望它不要这个样子呢,”她说。“我一向不愿意为了让我们能够安安稳稳地挤奶而不得不把奶牛捆绑起来。但现在看起来没有别的办法了。”

I thought how much trouble it would be havingto tie up Spot by her head and feet twice a day everyday for a month or more. I looked at Old Yellerwho was standing just outside the pen.

我想,一个多月中每天两次把“阿花”的头脚捆起来,该有多麻烦啊。我看了一眼正站在牛棚外面的阿黄。

“Ye lle r ,”I said,“you come in he re .”

“阿黄,”我叫道,“你进来。”

Yeller came jumping through the fence.

阿黄跳进了栅栏。

Mama said,“Why,s on,you ca n”t te a ch a c owto s ta nd with a dog in the pe n. Spe cia lly a c ow with ayoung ca lf. S he”ll be fighting a t him a ll the time ,thinking he”s a wolf or some thing trying to ge t he rc a lf.”

妈妈说:“怎么啦,孩子,你不可能教会一头牛与一条狗一起呆在牛栏里和平相处的,特别是一头带着牛犊的母牛,它会和狗斗个不停,把它当作想要夺走它的小牛犊的狼或者其他什么东西。”

I laughed.“P e rha ps it won”t work,”I said,“but

我笑了起来。“也许不行,”我

I ca n te ll you one thing. Sh e won”t be fighting OldYe lle r!”

说,“但是有一点我可以告诉你,它不会和阿黄打架的!”

She didn’t. She put down her horns and rolledher eyes as I brought Old Yeller up to her.

它没有和阿黄斗起来。当我把阿黄带近它身边的时候,它低垂着牛角,眼睛骨碌碌地转。

“Now,Ye lle r,”I said,“you s ta nd he re a ndwa tch he r.”

“好吧,阿黄,”我说,“你站在这儿看着它。”

Old Yeller seemed to know just what I wanted.

He walked right up to where he could almost touchhis nose to hers,and stood there wagging his littletail.And she didn’t go for him or run from him. Allshe did was stand there and sort of shake. I wentand milked her bag,and she didn”t once try tokick me. She just seemed to hold herself very stillwhen I first touched her.

阿 黄似乎知道我究竟想干什么。它一直走到它的鼻子几乎可以碰到牛鼻子的地方,站在那儿摇着它那条短尾巴。那牛既没有朝它走去也没有逃开。它只是站在那儿,有点儿发抖。我走过去挤它的奶,它一次也没有想踢我。当我刚碰到它时,它似乎只是直挺挺地站着。

It was a big surprise to Mama.“We ll,tha t be a tse ve rything ,”she said.“Why,we s ha ll ha ve he r broken to milking in a we e k’s time .”

这使妈妈大为惊讶。“嘿,这可真是战无不胜啊,”她说。“哎,一星期之后我们会使它服服贴贴地让我们挤奶的。”

Mama was right. Three days after we started Icould drive Spot into the pen,go right up to her andmilk her,and all she’d do was stand there andstare at Old Yeller.

妈妈说得很对。我们开始挤奶后的第三天,我就能把“阿花”赶进牛栏,径直走到它跟前去挤奶了,而它只是站在那里,目不转睛地看着阿黄。

By the end of the second week she was standingand smiling and chewing quietly-the gentlestcow I ever milked.

到了第二个星期末,它站在那儿,微笑着,静静地咀嚼着--成了我所挤过奶的奶牛中最温顺的一头。

After all that,I’m sure you can see why Inearly died when a man rode up one day and askedus to give him back Old Yeller.

经过了这一切,我相信你会明白为什么有一天一个男人骑着马来到我家,要我们把阿黄归还给他时,我简直要死过去了。