It was the next morning that the big yellow dog came.
就在第二天早晨，那只大黄狗来了。
I found him first thing when Mama told me to go and cut down a side of fresh meat which was hanging in the dog run.
妈妈要我到跑狗道那边去割一块挂在那儿的鲜肉时，我立即发现了它。
The minute I opened the door and looked up，I saw the meat was gone. It had been hanging from a pole tied up by some - strong grass. Now there were only broken ends of grass to be seen.
我一打开门，抬头一望，发现肉不翼而飞了。这块肉是用一种坚韧的草绳吊在一根柱子上的。现在只看见一些被弄断的草绳头儿了。
I looked down. At once a dog got up from where he’d been sleeping near our corn barrel. He was a big ugly smooth yellow dog. One short ear had been chewed right off，and the tail was cut off so close there was hardly enough to wag. But what I noticed most of all was how thin and hungry - looking he was-all but his belly. His belly was fat and round.
我往下一看，一只狗立即从它躺着睡觉的玉米桶旁站了起来。这是一只难看的，但皮毛却很光洁的大黄狗，一只短短的耳朵全给咬掉了，尾巴也给人家割得很短，几乎无法摇动了。但是最引起我注意的是它那又瘦又饿的样子，( 可它的肚子却是个例外) 。那只肚子倒是圆鼓鼓的。
It wasn’t hard to tell how that belly came to be要说明这只肚子怎么会变得如
so full. The side of meat had been a big one.
此饱满并非难事，那块肉可是挺大的。
Well，to lose the only meat we had left from last winter’s hog - killing was bad enough. But what made me really mad was the way the dog acted. He wasn’t sorry for what he’d done at all.He came jumping towards me，wagging that little tail and yelling Yow！Yow！Yow！just as if this was his home and I was his best friend.
唉，把去年冬天杀猪时留下的唯一的一块肉丢掉，可真是够糟糕的了。但是使我真正大光其火的却是这只狗的模样。它对自己所干的事压根儿不感到内疚。它蹦蹦跳跳地向我跑来，一边摇着它那条短尾巴，一边汪，汪，汪直叫，好象这就是它的家，而我呢，则是它最好的朋友。
“Why，you thie ving dog ！”I shouted，and kicked at him as hard as I could.
He was out of the way just in time，so my kick didn’t get him. But nobody would have known it didn’t because he fell over on the ground and lay there，with his belly up and his four feet in the air，yelling at the top of his voice. He made so much noise you”d have thought I had a stick and was breaking every bone in his body. Mama came running. She put her head round the door and said，“Wha t on e a rth，Tra vis ？”“Why，this o ld s tra y dog ha s come a nd e a te n a ll our me a t，”I said.
“啊，你这条偷嘴的狗！”我大喝一声，狠命地朝它踢了一脚。它机灵地闪身躲开了，所以我没有能踢到它。但谁也不会认为我没有踢到它，因为它翻身倒在地上，肚皮和四脚朝天，躺在那儿高声嚎叫。它叫得那样响，人家一定会以为我拿着一根棒，要把它打得粉身碎骨呢。
妈妈奔过来探头问道：“究竟出了什么事，特拉维斯？”“哎呀，这条丧家犬跑来把我们的肉都吃光了，”我答道。
I kicked at him again，but again he was quick.
He rolled out of reach，then fell back on the ground and lay there yelling louder than ever.
我又朝它踢去，可是它还是敏捷地闪开了。它一个翻滚使我打不着它，然后又倒在地上，躺在那儿叫得更响了。
Out came Little Arliss. He had no clothes on.
小阿里斯也从屋里跑了出来。
He always slept like that in the summer. He was shouting.“A dog！A dog！”He ran past me and petted the dog till he stopped yelling. Then he turned on me，fighting mad.
他光着身子，一丝不挂。夏天他总是这样睡觉的。他大声嚷嚷：“狗！狗！”他从我身边跑过去，用手轻轻地拍着那条狗，直到它停止吠叫为止。然后他转身向我扑来，发疯似的和我厮打起来了。
“You s top kic king my dog ！”he said fiercely.
“You kick my dog a nd I’ll thra s h you bla ck a nd blue .”
“不许你踢我的狗！”他气势汹汹地对我说。“你要是踢我的狗，我就把你打得鼻青眼肿!”
The stick Mama used for beating dirt out of clothes she was going to wash was by the wall. Little Arliss grabbed this in both hands and came at me.
妈妈洗衣服用来槌打污垢的木棒就靠在墙边，小阿里斯用双手抓起棒槌，朝我打了过来。
I was so surprised I just stood there with my mouth open and let him hit me before I thought of moving. Then Mama stepped in and took the stick.
我惊呆了，张着嘴站在那儿，还没有来得及想到避开就挨了他一下。这时，妈妈跑来干与，夺去了那根棒槌。
Arliss turned on her，ready to fight even without stick. Then he ran and put his arms round the big dog’s neck. He began to yell，“He”s my dog.
You ca n’t kic k h im. He”s my dog!”
阿里斯对她发起火来，甚至打算赤手空拳地干一仗。然后，他跑过去，张开双臂抱着那条大狗的头颈。他开始大喊大叫地说：“这是我的狗，你不能踢它。这是我的狗!”
The big dog was on his feet again now，wagging his tail and licking the tears off Arliss’s face with his tongue.
这时，这只大狗又站了起来，摇着尾巴，用舌头舐掉阿里斯脸上的眼泪。
Mama laughed.“We ll，Tra vis ，”she said，“it lo oks a s if we”ve got ours e lve s a dog.”
妈 妈放声笑了起来。她说： “喂，特拉维斯，看起来好象我们给自己找到一只狗了。”
“But，Mama ，”I said，“we ca n”t ke e p a n ugly“可是，妈妈，”我说，“我们可
old do g like tha t. One tha t will come right into the hous e to s te a l me a t!”
不能养一只象这样丑的老狗，不能养一只闯进屋子偷肉吃的狗啊!”
“We ll，pe rha ps we ca n”t ke e p him，”Mama said.“Pe rha ps he be longs to some body ro und he re who’ll wa nt him ba c k.”
“是啊，也许我们不能养它，”
妈妈说，“可能它是属于这儿附近什么人的，他会把它要回去的。”
“He doe sn”t be long to a ny o f the s e ttle rs ，”I said.“I know a ll the dogs .”
“它并不属于这儿的任何一家人家，”我说。“这儿所有的狗我都认得。”
“The n ，if he”s a s tra y，”Mama said，“Arlis s Ca n ha ve him. And he is a cle ve r dog ，is n’t he ？ Not ma ny dogs could think of a wa y to re a c h a s ide of me a t ha ng ing tha t high u p. He mus t ha ve got on top o f the c orn ba rre l a nd jumpe d from the re .”
“那么，如果它是一条迷了路的狗，”妈妈说，“阿里斯可以养它。这条狗倒很聪明，是不是？ 能够想法子弄到一块挂得那么高的肉的狗可并不多啊。它一定是先跳到那只玉米桶上，再从那儿跳过去的。”
“We ll，a ll right，”I said.“He”s a c le ve r dog.But I s till don”t wa nt him.”
“是啊，”我说，“它是一条聪明的狗。可是我还是不想要它。”
“Now，Tra vis ，”Mama said.“You”re not be ing fa ir. You ha d a d og whe n you we re little ，but Arlis s ha s ne ve r ha d one.He”s too little for you to pla y with ，a nd he ge ts lone ly.”
“唷，特拉维斯，”妈妈说，“这你可就不公平了。你小的时候，有过一只狗。但是阿里斯从来也没有养过狗。他太小了，你和他玩不到一块儿去，他感到很寂寞。”
I didn”t say any more. It was no use. Mama had made up her mind. But I didn’t want that meat-thieving dog on the place，and I didn”t mean to have him. I might have to put up with him for a day or so，but sooner or later I’d find a way to get rid of him.
我没再说什么。说也没用。因为妈妈已经打定了主意。似是，我可不愿意让这条偷肉吃的狗呆在这里，我没有留它的意思。我或许很容忍它一、二天，但是迟早我要想法把它打发掉的。
Mama must have known what I was thinking.
妈妈一定猜出了我的心思，她
She kept looking at me while she was getting the breakfast. She fed us corn meal cooked in a pot hung over the fireplace. She made it sweet with wild honey that Papa and I had cut out of a bee tree last autumn，and added cream off last night”s milk. It was good，but it would have been better with fried meat to go with it.
在做早饭的时候老是望着我。她用吊在壁炉上的锅子，煮玉米片给我们吃。她把玉米片煮得甜甜的，放了去年秋天爸爸和我从蜜树里取出的野蜂蜜，还加进了从昨天晚上的牛奶里炼出来的奶油。这顿饭的味道很好，但是如果和着油煎肉一起吃，那就更美了。
Mama waited till I had finished，then said，“Now，Tra vis ，a s s oon a s you”ve milke d the cows ，Ithink you s hould g e t you r gun a nd kill us a fa t youngde e r for me a t. And while you’re gon e ，I wa nt you todo some thinking a bout Little Arlis s a nd this s tra ydog .
妈 妈等我吃完早饭，对我说：
“这样吧，特拉维斯，我想你挤好奶就拿着猎枪去给我们打一头肥肥的小鹿作肉食吧。打猎的时候，我希望你好好地想想小阿里斯和这只迷路的狗的事。”