“噢，不管怎么说，”她说，“我给你带来了一样你意想不到的东西。”
I was too sick and worn out to care about a surprise；but I knew from her look that I had to say“Wha t？”or hurt her feelings，so I said“Wha t？”
我病得厉害，浑身无力，所以不管什么意想不到的东西也引不起我多少兴趣。但是，从她的神态来看，我想我该问一声“是什么东西？”否则会伤她的心的，所以我问道：“是什么东西？”
“One of Mis s P ris s y’s pups ！”she said.
“普里西小姐生的一条小狗！”她说。
She brought her hands from behind her back.
In the right one，she held a dog pup which was aboutas big as a year - old possum. It was a dirtywhite with blue spots all over it. She held it by theloose skin at the back of its neck，and it hungthere，half - asleep.
她把手从背后伸出来，她的右手提着一只小狗，大约象一岁左右的负鼠那么大。这是一只浑身布满了蓝点点的灰白色的小狗。她拎着它那很松的后颈皮，这狗似睡非睡地吊在那儿。
“Born in a ba dge r ho le ，”she said.“Se ve n ofthem. I brought you the be s t one ！”
“生在一只獾洞里，”她说，“一共有七只，我把最好的一只给你带来了。”
I’d beard that one all my life- that if a pupdidn’t whimper when you held him up by the looseskin，he would be sure to turn out a good one. Ididn’t think much of that. Papa always thought itmore important what colour the inside of a pup’smouth was. If the pup’s mouth was black inside，Papa said that was the one to choose. And that’sthe way I felt about it.
我经常听人家这么说，如果你抓住狗的后颈皮把它拎起来，而它不叫的话，它将来一定会成为一只好狗。对这种说法我大不以为然。
爸爸一直认为狗的口腔颜色更为重要。爸爸说，如果狗嘴里的颜色是黑的话，就该选那一只。我也是这样认为的。
But just then I didn’t care if the pup’s mouthwas pea - green on the inside. All I wanted was formy leg to stop hurting.
但是，在那个时候，我才不管狗嘴里的颜色是不是豆绿色的呢，我只要我的腿不再疼就行了。
I said，“Little Arlis s will like it，”then I knew I’dsaid the wrong thing. I could tell by the look in hereyes that I’d hurt her feelings，after all.
我 说：“小阿里斯会喜欢它的。”但是，我知道我说错了话。从她的眼神里我看得出来，我毕竟还是伤了她的感情。
She didn”t say anything. She just got very stilland quiet and kept looking at me till I couldn’t standit and had to look away. Then she turned and went out
她什么也没说，只是一动不动、一声不响地看着我，直看得我受不了而不得不避开她的目光。然后她转
of the cabin and gave the pup to Little Arliss.
身走出木屋，把小狗给了小阿里斯。
It made me mad，her looking at me like that.
What did she think I’d say anyhow？ Here I waslaid up with a bad hog cut，hurting so much it wasall I could do to get my breath，and she wanted meto make a big fuss over a little old sad - lookingspotted pup.
她那样地看着我，使我很恼火。
那么她以为我会说些什么呢？ 严重的戳伤使我卧床不起，痛得我只有喘气的份儿，而她却要我为一只蹩脚的可怜巴巴的小花狗而大事纷扰。
I had a dog. Old Yeller was all cut up，worsethan I was，but he was getting well. Mama had toldme that. So what use did I have for a pup？ It wouldbe all right for Little Arliss to play with. Keep himfrom under Mama’s feet. But when Old Yeller andI got well and took to the woods again，we wouldn’
t have time to wait about for a fool pup which wastoo little to follow.
我已经有一只狗了。阿黄浑身是伤，情况比我还糟，不过，它正在恢复中，这是妈妈对我这样说的。
所以我还要一只小狗干什么呢？ 给小阿里斯玩玩倒很不错。这可以使他不再去纠缠妈妈。不过，一旦我和阿黄痊愈后要到森林里去的时候，我们可没时间去等候一只傻乎乎的、小得没法跟上我们的小狗的。
I lay in bed feeling angry all day. I was thinkinghow silly it was of Lisbeth to think I shouldwant a pup when I already had a grown dog. I laythere just waiting for a chance to tell her so，too，but she never came back to give me the chance.
She stayed outside and played with Little Arliss andthe pup till her grandpa got round to leaving. ThenI saw her and Little Arliss come past the door，goingtowards where her grandpa was saddling hishorse.She looked in at me，then looked away，and Iknew I wasn’t mad at her any more. I felt sort of
我躺在床上整天都在生闷气，我一直在想丽丝贝真傻，我已经有一只大狗了，她居然以为我还想要一只小狗呢。我躺在那儿，想着找一个机会把我的这种想法告诉她，可她再也没有进来过。她呆在外面和小阿里斯一道跟小狗玩，一直玩到她祖父总算想起要走的时候。接着，我看到她和小阿里斯经过我的门口，朝她祖父在备马鞍的地方走去。她探头朝屋里看了我一下，然后就把目光移开了，我知道我再也
mean. I wished now I could think of the right thingto say about the pup，so that I could call her backand tell her. I didn’t want her to go off home withher feelings still hurt.
不生她的气了，我感到有些过意不去。现在，我倒真希望能够想出一些恰当的话来谈论那只小狗，这样我就能把她叫回来说给她听了。我不愿看到她带着受伤的感情离开这儿回家去。
But before I could think of anything，I heardher grandpa say to Mama，“Now，Mrs.Coa te s ，you”
re a ll in a ba d wa y h e re with your ma n gone a nd tha tboy la id up.I’ve be e n s itting o ut he re thinking.It’smy job，you know，to s e e tha t e ve rybody’s ta ke n ca reof while the me n a re gone ，a nd wh a t I think is tha t I’llju s t le a ve o ur girl Lisbe th he re to he lp you a ll out.”
但是，我还没来得及想出该讲的话，却听见她祖父在对妈妈说：
“啊，科茨夫人，你的丈夫不在家，孩子又卧床不起。你们的日子可不好过啊。我坐在那儿一直在想，男人们不在家的时候，你知道，我有责任来关心大家。我的想法是把我们的丽丝贝留下来帮助你们。”
Mama said in a surprised voice，“Why，Mr.
S e a rcy，the re”s no ne e d for tha t. It’s ve ry kind ofyou，but we s ha ll be a ll right.”
妈妈吃惊地说：“哟，塞西先生，不必啦，你真好，但是我们自己能行。”
“No，now，Mrs.Coa te s ，you”ve got a lot to do a llby yo urs e lf，a nd my Lisbe th ，s he”ll be gla d to he lp.”
“啊，不，科茨夫人，你一个人要做的事太多了，我的丽丝贝会乐于帮助你的。”
“But，”Mama said，“s he”s such a little girl，Mr.
S e a rcy. She ma y not e ve r h a ve s ta ye d a night awa yfrom home be fore .”
“可是，”妈妈说，“她还是个小女孩呢，塞西先生。她以前可能还从来没有离开过家在外面过夜呢。”
“S he”s little ，”Bud Searcy said，“bu t s he”sWilling. S he”s like me.Wh e n p e ople a re in tro uble ，s he”ll gla dly do he r bit. You jus t ke e p he r he re now.
You”ll s e e wha t a big he lp s he”ll be .”
“她的确还小呢，”巴德·塞西说，“可是她愿意帮助别人。像我一样，当别人有困难的时候，她很高兴能尽自己的一份力量。你就让她呆在这儿吧，将来你会发现她还挺管用的呢。”
Bud Searcy wouldn’t listen to anything moreMama said. He just told Lisbeth to be a good girland help Mama out，just as she was used to helpingat home. Then he got on his horse，and rode off.
巴德·塞西不愿再听妈妈说推辞的话，他只是叮嘱丽丝贝要乖乖的，象在家里时一样帮妈妈做事，然后跨上马走了。