All right，I was willing to go out and hunt a fatdeer. I was always willing to go hunting. And whileI was out I might do some thinking about Little Arlissand that thieving stray dog. But I was sure mythinking wouldn’t go the way Mama wanted.
好吧，我愿意出去打只肥鹿回来。我总是乐意去打猎的。在外面的时候，我可能会考虑一下关于小阿里斯和那只偷嘴的野狗的事。但是，可以肯定我不会象妈妈所希望的那样去思考问题的。
After I’d milked the cows I got my gun andcaught Jumper. I rode along Birdsong Creek andacross the top of a rocky hill.I didn’t need a saddle.
I was thinking how good it would be if I wasriding my own horse and not just an old mule.
挤完牛奶后，我就拿了枪，牵出了“跳高能手”。我骑着骡子，沿鸟鸣河前进，并翻过了一座小山。我不需要鞍子。我一直在想假如我骑的是自己的马而不只是一头老骡子的话该有多好啊。
Jumper had no gun sense. In the first placehe’d start banging his tail and his feet at the flies.
That would frighten off my game. Then，as soon ashe heard gunfire he’d run round in circles brayingas if he’d been shot. So I had to tie him up insome bushes and go the rest of the way on foot.
“跳高能手”没有枪声感。首先，它老是劈劈啪啪地甩尾巴，蹬蹄子赶苍蝇。这会把我的猎物给吓跑的。其次，它一听到枪声会团团转地乱跑乱叫，好象它自己被击中了似的。因此，我不得不把它拴在树丛里，再步行走完余下的路程。
It was a fine morning for hunting. The sun was
那 倒是个挺不错的打猎的早
hot on the tall green grass and even greener trees. Ifound a big tree where the wind was coming towardsme and I could look a long way across the grass. Isat with my back against the tree and my gun on myknees. Then I made myself as still as the tree.
晨。火辣辣的太阳照射在高高的翠绿的野草和深绿的树丛上。我选了一棵大树，那儿风向朝我，还可以越过草地望得很远。我背靠大树坐下，枪放在膝盖上，然后，象树那样，一动也不动地坐在那里。
Papa had taught me to do that when I was little，just as he taught me to hunt downwind from mygame. He always said，“It’s whe n you move tha t youc a tch a de e r’s e ye.If a d e e r c a n”t sme ll you a ndc a n’t s e e you move ，he won”t e ve r know you”rethe re .”
我小时候，爸爸就教我这样做，就象他教我应该在猎物的下风处狩猎那样。他总是说：“只有当你身体移动时，才会引起鹿的注意。如果鹿既闻不到你的气味也看不见你移动，它根本不会知道你在那儿。”
To start with all I saw were some hogs，and Iknew better than to shoot them. They ran wild inthe woods and had tusks that could give you a deepcut. If you made a bad shot and started one hogscreaming，all the others would be after you.
开始，我只看到一些猪，我当然知道不该开枪打它们。它们在树林里到处乱跑，它们的獠牙可以在你的身上戳一个深深的窟窿。如果你一枪打空，把一只猪激得怪声尖叫，所有其他的猪都不会放过你的。
Then I began to watch two squirrels playingfollow my leader in the top of a tree near the one Isat under. The squirrels were running and jumpingand showing off their tails in the sunlight. Whenone of them jumped not quite far enough and fellright down to the ground，the second squirreldanced up and down on his branch he was laughingso much.
后来，我又开始观赏两只松鼠在毗邻我所倚坐的那棵树的树顶上玩着“照我做”游戏。它们在阳光下奔跑着，跳跃着，舒展着它们的尾巴。当一只松鼠因为跳得不够远而掉到地上时，另一只则在枝头上跳上跳下，笑得可高兴哩。
It was so funny I couldn’t help laughing my-
这真有趣，我忍不住笑出声来，
self，and that gave the deer a fright.
而笑声使鹿吃了一惊。
Where that deer came from and how she evergot so near without my seeing her，I don’t know.
She was looking straight at me，quite still，butbreathing hard in her fright.
鹿打哪儿跑来的，它怎么会走到离我那么近而我却竟然没有发觉，我全然不知道。它直怔怔地盯着我看，一动也不动，只是吓得直喘粗气。
I couldn’t move my gun or she’d be off，and Ididn’t think I was a good enough shot to down arunning deer. I thought it better to wait. But I waitedand waited，and still she kept looking at me，trying to decide what I was.
我没法动我的枪，否则它就会逃之夭夭，而我知道自己并不是一个能够射中一只奔跑着的鹿的猎手。我想还是等一等为好。可是，我等啊等啊，它还是愣在那儿看着我，想弄明白我究竟是个什么东西。
In the end she started coming towards me. Ididn’t know what to do. Sooner or later she’d findout what I was，and then she’d be gone before Icould shoot. But she kept coming towards me，andmy heart was in my mouth. I just couldn’t wait anylonger. I put my gun up，and as I moved so didshe. She moved so fast I couldn”t really see her.
But all the same I fired.
最后，它起步向我走来，我不知道该怎么办。它迟早会发现我是什么的，那样的话，我还来不及开枪，它就会逃跑了。可是，它继续朝我走来，我感到不知所措。我实在再也等不下去了。我举起了枪，我一动，它就逃了。它的动作如此神速，我几乎看不见它了。不过，我还是开了枪。
When I could see her again through the smokethe deer was running，but slowly，and with her tailright down. This meant that I’d hit her but hadn’tmade a killing shot.
当我透过烟雾再次看到它时，它还在奔跑，但是跑得很慢，尾巴拖在下面。这意味着我已经打中了它，但没有击中要害。
I didn”t like that. It was one thing to kill formeat.As Papa said，every animal has to kill to live.
But to hurt an animal was something else. And such
我可不愿意是这样。为了肉食而杀死它是一码事。正象爸爸说的，任何一种动物都要为生存而互
a pretty animal too. I couldn’t bear to think of thedeer being hurt perhaps for days before in the endshe died.
相残杀。可是伤害动物又是另一码事，何况还是一头如此漂亮的小鹿呢。我不忍心去想那只受伤的鹿，在它最终死去之前，或许还要忍受好几天的痛苦。
Then suddenly，so far off I could only just see，the deer ran straight into a tree. She didn’t get up，so I ran towards her through the tall grass as fast asI could.
突 然间--因为离得太远，我只不过刚能看得见它--这只鹿一头撞到一棵树上。它再也没有站起来，所以我尽快地穿过高高的草丛向它跑去。
When I reached the place I found her dead，shot through the middle，very near the heart .
当我跑到那儿时，发现它已经死了。子弹穿过它身体中部紧靠心脏的地方。
Then I didn’t feel bad any more. I hadn’t hurtthe deer too much. I’d got meat for the family，shooting an animal on the run，just like Papa.
这 样，我再也不感到难过了。
我没有使它受到太大的折磨。就象爸爸那样，我击中了一只奔跑着的动物，给家里弄到了肉食。
I rode towards the cabin，sitting behind thedeer which I’d tied across Jumper’s back. I waspleased with myself as a hunter of meat for the family.