It looked as if I’d never get back to the placewhere I’d left Old Yeller. To begin with，I’d made forhome too fast and it had been a long way. By the timeI got there I was so hot and tired that I was shaking.
And my hog - cut leg was playing me up badly. Ithadn’t gone stiff like I thought it would. I’d used ittoo much. It was because I’d used it so much that thepart inside was jumping long before I got home even.
And after I got there it wouldn’t stop.
看来好象我永远也回不到我把阿黄留下的那个地方了。首先，我往家走时，路赶得太急，而且路程又相当远。我到家的时候又热又累，浑身都发抖了。我那条被猪咬伤的腿疼得要命。腿倒并没有象我想象的那样变得僵硬。路走得太多了。
正因为如此，所以甚至早在我到家之前伤口里面就在那儿突突地跳动了。到家以后它还是跳个不停。
That frightened Mama. I kept trying to tell herhow bad Old Yeller was，and how we’d have tohurry back to him. But she wouldn’t listen to me.
这可把妈妈吓坏了。我不断地向她诉说阿黄的情况有多糟，我们非得赶快回到它那儿去不可。可是她就是不听我的。
“We”re not going a nywhe re till we”ve cle a ne dup tha t le g，”she told me.“I’ve s e e n hog cuts be -fore.If you le a ve them the y ca n b e a s da nge rous a ss na ke bite.Now，jus t hold s till till I finish ，”she said.
“不把你的这条腿洗干净，我们哪儿也不去，”她对我说。“以前我也见过猪咬的伤口。如果听之任之，它们就会象蛇咬的伤口那样危险。好了，不要动，让我把它洗干净，”她说。
I saw that it wasn”t any use，so I held still
我知道再讲也没有用，所以我
while she got hot water and washed the cut. Butwhen she poured turpentine into it I couldn”t holdstill. I jumped and yelled and screamed. It felt as ifshe’d burnt me with a red - hot iron. It hurt morethan when the hog tore me. I yelled so much withthe pain that Little Arliss broke out crying too. Butwhen at last the pain left my leg，the jumping insidehad stopped.
一动不动地让她去打热水洗伤口。
可是当她把松节油倒进伤口时，我就熬不住了。我跳了起来，痛得嗷嗷直叫。我觉得好象她是在用一只烧得通红的熨斗烫我一样。这比猪咬找时还疼。我痛得乱喊乱叫，弄得阿里斯也放声大哭起来。但是当疼痛终于停止时，伤口里面的那种跳动也停止了。
Mama got some clean white rags and tied upthe place. Then she said，“Now，you lie down on tha tbe d a nd re s t. I d on”t wa nt to s e e you ta ke a nothe rs te p on tha t le g for a we e k.”
妈妈拿了几块干净的白布帮我把伤口包扎好，然后说：“好了，你躺到床上去休息吧。一个星期之内我不许你用这条腿走一步路。”
I was so shocked I couldn’t say a word. All Icould do was stare at her. Old Yeller was lying faroff there in the hills，about to die if he didn”t gethelp，and Mama was telling me that I couldn”twalk.
我惊讶得一句话也说不出来。
我只是愣头愣脑地看着她。阿黄躺在远处的山里，如果没人去救它，它就要死去，而妈妈却跟我说我不能走动。
I got up from the chair I’d been sitting on. andI said to her，“Mama ，I’m going ba ck for Old Ye lle r.
I told h im I’d c ome ba c k，a nd tha t’s wha t I’m goingto do. ”Then I walked out through the door.
我从坐着的那只椅子上站起来对她说：“妈妈，我要回去接阿黄。
我答应它我要回去的，我一定要做到。”说完我就从门里走了出去。
By the time I’d caught Jumper，Mama had herbonnet on. She was ready，and she was coming. Allshe said was，“How’ll we bring him ba c k？”
当 我把“跳高能手”牵出来的时候，妈妈已经戴好了帽子。她已经准备好了，她也要去。她只是说了声：“我们怎么把它弄回来呢？”
“On Jumpe r，”I said.“I’ll ride Jump e r a nd holdOld Ye lle r in my a rms .”
“放‘ 跳高能手’身上，”我答道。
“我骑在背上，把阿黄抱在怀里。”
“You c a n”t do tha t，”she said.“He”s too biga nd he a vy. I might lift him up to you，but you c ouldn’thold him in your a rms for so long. You”d be wornout.”
“这不行，”她说，“阿黄又大又重，我也许能把它举起来递给你，但是你不可能抱着它坚持那么久。你会累坏的。”
“I’ll hold him，”I said.“If I’m worn out，I’llre s t. The n we”ll go on a ga in .”
“我会抱着它的，”我说。“如果我累了，我就休息一下，然后我们继续赶路。”
Mama stood looking out over the hills for a minutewhile she thought.She was sort of talking toherself：“We ca n”t us e the ca rt. The re a re n”t a nyroa ds a nd the c ountry’s too rough.”
妈妈一面站在那儿遥望了一会儿远处的山岭，一面考虑着。她有点儿自言自语似的说：“我们没法用大车，因为没有大路，而山路又是这样的崎岖不平。”
Then she turned to me and smiled.“I knowwha t. Ge t tha t cowhide off the fe nc e.I’ll go a nd ge ts ome pillows .”
然后她转身向我笑道：“我知道该怎么办了。把围墙上那张牛皮取下来。我去拿几只枕头来。”
“Cowhide ？”“牛皮？”
“Tie it ove r J umpe r”s ba ck，”she said.“I’lls how you whe n we ge t the re .”
“把它缚在‘ 跳高能手’的背上，”她说。“到那儿后，我再弄给你看。”
I didn”t know what she had in mind，but Ididn’t care. All I cared about was that she was goingwith me.
我 不知道她脑子里想的是什么，但我也不去管它。我所关心的只是她要和我一起去。
I got the cowhide and put it across Jumper’sback. He didn’t like the way it slapped him，andhe was quick to throw it off.
我把那张牛皮拿来，横放在“跳高能手”的背上。它受不了这样啪的一声把牛皮放在它身上，所以一下子就把它掀掉了。
“He y，Jumpe r！”Ishouted at him.“Hold s till！”
“喂，‘ 跳高能手’！”我向它喝道，“不准动！”
He held still next time. Mama brought the pillowsand a long piece of rope. She made me tie thecowhide to Jumper’s back with the pillows on top.
Then she lifted Little Arliss up and set him on topof the pillows.
它站住不动了。妈妈拿来了枕头和一根长绳子。她让我把牛皮绑在“跳高能手”的背上，上面放着枕头。然后，她举起小阿里斯，把他放在枕头上面。
“You ride be hind him，Tra vis ，”she said.“I’llwa lk. ”We could see the buzzards gathering longbefore we got there. We could see them circling，black against the blue sky，and dropping lower andlower with each circle. One buzzard didn”t evenbother to circle. He came straight down in a longdive，his ugly head held out and his wings shut againsthis body. He shot past ，right over our heads，and the whooshing sound he made through the airturned me cold. I was sure it was all over for OldYeller.
“特拉维斯，你坐在他后面，”
她说。“我走着去。”早在达到目的地之前我们就能看到帝鸟肩鸟在汇集拢来，看到它们黑压压的一片在蓝天上盘旋，每转一圈就离地面近一点儿。有一只帝鸟肩鸟甚至懒得盘旋，它笔直地从空中俯冲下来，伸长了它那只丑脑袋，翅膀紧贴着身子。它从我们的头顶上一闪而过，它在空中所发出的霍霍声使我不寒而栗，我断定阿黄完蛋了。
Mama was walking in front. She looked back atme. The look in her eyes told me that she wasthinking the same thing. I almost couldn’t go on.
妈妈走在前面，她回过头来朝我看看。从她的眼神可以看出，她和我想到一块儿去了。那时，我几乎没法再继续往前走了。
But when we moved down to where the pricklypears were I felt a little better. Because all at oncethere came up from the river - bed a crowd of flappingwings. Something had moved those buzzardsand I thought I could guess what it was.
但是，当我们走到长霸王树的那块地方时，我稍稍松了口气，因为突然间从河床那儿腾地飞起一群拍击着翅膀的帝鸟肩鸟。有什么东西使这些帝鸟肩鸟飞起来了。我猜出是怎么回事。
Another second and I was sure. It was Old
不一会儿我就得出了结论。那
Yeller. His yelling bark sounded thin and weak，butjust hearing it made me want to shout and run andlaugh.He was still alive！He was still able to fightback！
是阿黄。它那嚎叫声听起来十分微弱。但能听到它的吠声我就想呼喊，想奔跑，想大笑。它还活着！它还能还击呢！
The buzzards were back on the ground by thetime we got there. As soon as they saw us，though，they started trying to get off it again. For birds thatcan sail around in the air all day without seeming tomove their wings，they were pretty slow at gettingstarted. I could have shot a good ten of them beforethey got away if I’d thought of bringing my gunwith me.
当我们到那儿时，那群帝鸟肩鸟又落到了地上。但是，它们一看到我们就想再飞起来。对那些似乎不用拍动翅膀就能整天在空中飞翔的鸟来说，它们起飞时的动作却相当迟钝。如果我早想到带上枪的话，不等它们飞起来，我就能击中整整十只。
There was a sort of mad light shining in OldYeller’s eyes when I looked in at him. And when Istarted to drag the tree roots away he came at mewith teeth bared.
我朝里向阿黄看去时，它的眼睛里闪耀着一种近似疯狂的光芒。
当我把树根拖开时，它龇着牙向我扑来。