After dinner，I didn’t wait for Mama to tell me that I needed to finish the ploughing where Papa had left off the day before. I got up from the table straight after the meal and went out to get our mule，Jumper，ready. If I got an early start I could finish the corn patch by sundown.
饭后，我并没有等妈妈告诉我应该把爸爸前一天犁剩下的那块地继续犁完。一吃完饭，我就从桌子边站起来，出去把我们那头叫做“跳高能手”的骡子准备好。如果我早点儿开始，在太阳下山时就能把活儿干完了。
Jumper was a dark mule with a black stripe running down his back from mane to tail. Papa had named him Jumper because nobody yet had ever built a fence he couldn”t jump over. Papa said Jumper could get clean head to see the other side of it.
“跳高能手”是一头黑黝黝的骡子，背上的一条黑色花纹从鬃毛一直延伸到尾巴。爸爸给它起名叫“跳高能手”，因为无论谁扎的篱笆墙它都能跳过去。爸爸说，要是它想看看月亮的另一边；它也能一跃而越过月亮的。
Jumper was a pretty good mule though. The only thing was that sometimes when we were ploughing together he would decide for himself that it was time to stop work. We might be out in the middle of a field when Jumper would decide to stop for dinner. He’d turn round there and then，and head for the cabin，making the corn flat with the plough and taking no notice of my pulling back on the reins and shouting，“Whoa ！”
“跳高能手”是一匹挺好的骡子。唯一的毛病是当我们在一块儿犁田时，它有时会自作主张地决定歇工。有时我们可能只犁到一半，它也竟会决定停工去“进餐”。它当机立断地掉转身子，朝小屋走去，拖在身后的那张犁压倒了地里的玉米，尽管我勒住缰绳，叱喝着： “吁！”它睬也不睬。
Later that evening Jumper tried it again，but I was ready for him. With Papa gone，I knew I had to那天傍晚，它又来这一招了，但是我对此已作好了准备。爸爸走
teach Jumper a good lesson. In fact，all afternoon I’ d been holding a big wooden stick between the handles of the plough.
了，我想我得好好地教训它一下。
事实上，整个下午我一直把一根大木棒放在犁扶手的中间。
When the sun went down and Jumper decided to stop work I still had three or four rows of corn to finish. He let out a long bray and thrashed his tail. He left the row he was in the middle of，and- going across the young corn- headed for the cabin.
当太阳落山，“跳高能手”决定要收工时，我还有三、四垄玉米地没犁完。它长长地叫了声，摆了摆尾巴，扔下犁了一半的那垄地--穿过玉米苗子--朝小屋走去。
I didn”t even shout“Whoa ！”at him. I ran up beside him with my stick and hit him so hard under the chin that he stopped dead still in surprise. Just as if he couldn”t believe I was man enough to hit him that hard.
我甚至连“吁！”都没有对它喊一声，就提起木棒，赶到它身边，朝它下巴狠狠地打去。它惊呆了，站在那儿一动也不动，就好象不相信我有那么大的勇气能够如此凶狠地揍它。
I held up my stick again.“Jumpe r，”I said，“if you don”t ge t ba c k the re a nd finish this ploughing jo b，you’re going to ge t more of th e s ame.D’you unde rs ta nd？”
我又举起了木棒，“跳高能手，”我喝道，“要是你不回到那边把地犁完，你还要挨更多下这样的痛打，懂不懂？”
He seemed to understand all right. Anyhow he stayed on the job till we’d finished every row of corn. The only thing he did that he wouldn’t have done with Papa was to keep his head turned towards me so that he could watch me every step of the way.
看来它倒是懂了。不管怎么样，它坚守岗位一直到把最后一垄玉米田犁完。他所做的唯一的一件事( 这件事它从来也没有在爸爸眼前做过) 就是老把头转向我，这样它就能不断地观察我的行动。
When at last I got back to the cabin，Mama had done the milking，and she and Little Arliss were waiting for me to come before starting supper. In当我终于回到家时，妈妈已经挤好了牛奶，他和小阿里斯正在等我回来吃晚饭，就象爸爸回家晚了，just the way we generally waited for Papa when he came in late.
我们通常都等着他吃饭那样。
I got into bed with Little Arliss that night feeling pretty pleased with myself. I lay there and listened to owls hooting in the woods beside Birdsong Creek. I’d made a good start. I’d done my work without having to be told. I’d shown Little Arliss and Jumper that I wasn’t someone they could fool about with. And Mama could already see I was man enough to have supper kept waiting for me.
那天晚上，我和小阿里斯一起上床睡觉时，感到洋洋自得。我躺在那儿倾听猫头鹰在鸟鸣河畔的树林里啼叫。我已经有了一个良好的开端。我做起事来不用别人吩咐。我已经向小阿里斯和“跳高能手” 表明，我不是一个他们可糊弄的人了。而且，妈妈也意识到我已经是一个真正的男子汉了，家里的人得等我回来后才能吃饭。
I felt I could handle things while Papa was gone just about as well as he could.
我感到在爸爸外出期间，我差不多能够象他那样妥善地处理事情了。