Days went by，and somehow I couldn’t get overit. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t cry. Iwas all empty inside，and hurting. Hurting more thanI’d ever hurt in my life before. There didn’t seemto be anything that could make me better. I wasthinking every minute of my big yellow dog，and howwe’d worked together and played together，how he’
d fought off the she - bear from Little Arliss，howhe’d saved me from the killer hogs，and how he’dfought off the mad wolf from Mama and Lisbeth. Andthinking how，after all this，I’d had to shoot him justlike the red bull and our cow，Spot.
日子一天天地过去了，但不知怎的，我的心情一直没有恢复过来。
我吃不下饭，睡不着觉，哭也哭不出，心里总是空荡荡的，一阵阵地发疼。我生来从没有这样痛苦过。看来没有什么东西能使我感到好受些。我无时无刻不在思念我那只大黄狗，想着我们怎么在一起干活，一起玩耍；想着它怎么击败那头母熊，救下小阿里斯，怎样从杀气腾腾的猪群里搭救了我；又是怎样把那只疯狼从妈妈和丽丝贝身旁赶走。我还想到在它做了所有这一切之后，我又怎样不得不亲手开枪把它射死，就象打死那头红公牛以及我家的奶牛阿花一样。
Mama tried to talk to me about it，and I let her.
But although everything she said made good sense，itdidn’t do a thing to that dead feeling I had.
妈 妈就这件事想方设法开导我，我让她讲。虽然她讲的话句句在理，可对我那麻木的感情却丝毫不起作用。
Lisbeth talked to me. She was too shy to saymuch，but she told me again there was the otherdog，the spotted pup.
丽丝贝也跟我谈。她由于太腼腆而讲不了多少话。但她再一次告诉我还有另一只狗。就是那只小花狗。
“He”s pa rt Old Ye lle r，”she said.“And he wa sthe be s t one of the bu nch.”
“它是阿黄的骨肉啊，”她说，“而且，又是这一胎中最好的一只呢。”
But that didn”t help either. The spotted pupmight be part Old Yeller，but he wasn”t Old Yeller.
He hadn”t saved all our lives and then beenshot down as if he was nothing.
但这也无济于事。那只小花狗可能是阿黄的骨肉，然而，它并不是阿黄。它并没有救过我们所有这些人的性命，然后好象一钱不值似的被开枪打死了。
Then one evening the clouds came and itrained all night. That seemed to wash away the rabiessickness. Anyway，soon afterwards，it died rightaway.
一天晚上，乌云密布，下了整整一夜的雨。这场雨似乎把狂犬病冲刷掉了。不管怎么说，在这以后不久，这种病就消失了。
But we didn”t know that at the time. Whatseemed to us important about the rain was that nextmorning Papa came riding home through the mud.
不过，当时我们并不知道这个。
对我们来说，重要的是下大雨的第二天早晨爸爸骑着马，踏着泥泞回来了。
The long ride to Kansas and back had made Papathin and knotty as a fence rail. But he had moneyin his pockets，a big shouting laugh for everybody，and a saddle horse for me.
长途跋涉往返于堪萨斯使爸爸瘦了，皮肤粗糙得象围墙栏杆。但他口袋里装着钱，大声笑着跟每个人打招呼，并且还给我带了一匹备有鞍子的马。
The horse was a sort of grey with a black maneand tail. Papa put me on him at once，and made megallop him near the house. He had all the fire agrown man could want in his best horse，and yet hewas as gentle as a pet.
这是一匹长着黑颈背，黑尾巴的灰马。爸爸立即把我扶上马，让我骑着它在屋子附近奔驰着。这匹马具有成年人所希望他们的良驹所备有的那种火烈的性子，然而它又有象爱畜一样的温顺。
“Now，is n’t he gre a t？”Papa asked.
“怎么样，是一匹出色的马吧？”爸爸问我。
I said“Ye s s ir！”and knew that Papa was rightand that I ought to be pleased and thankful. But Iwasn’t. I didn”t care one way or the other aboutthe horse.
我答道：“是的，先生！”我心里明白爸爸说得很对。我应该感到高兴，应该感谢他。可是，我并没有这种心情。这匹马好也罢，不好也罢，我都无所谓。
Papa saw something was wrong. I saw him lookat Mama，and Mama shake her head. Then late thatevening，just before supper，he called me down tothe spring，where we sat and he talked.
爸爸看出一定出了什么事了。
我见他朝妈妈看了一看，妈妈摇摇头。于是，就在那天傍晚吃晚饭以前，爸爸把我叫到山泉边，我们坐在那里，他就谈了起来。
“Your mama told me a bout the dog ，”he said.
“关于那只狗的事，你妈妈给我讲过了，”他说道。
“Ye s s ir，”I said，and nothing more.
“是吗，先生，”我应了一声，就没再吭声了。
“Tha t wa s rough ，”he said.“Tha t wa s a s rougha s a nything I e ve r he a rd o f ha ppe ning to a boy. AndI’m ve ry proud of the wa y my boy s tood up to it. Youc ouldn’t a sk a ny more of a g rown ma n.”
“真叫人受不了，”他说，“这是我所听到过的对一个孩子来说最难以忍受的事了。我为我的孩子能经得起这样的事而感到骄傲。对一个成年人的要求也不过如此了。”
He stopped for a minute. He picked up somelittle stones and threw them into the water.
他停了一下，捡起几颗小石子，把它们投进水里。
“Now the thing to d o，”he went on，“is to try toforge t it a n d go on be ing a ma n.”
“现在该做的事，”他接着说，“是想办法忘掉它，继续象个男子汉大丈夫那样。”