He talked till dinner - time，said not a word allthrough dinner，and then went on talking as soon ashe’d got down the last mouthful.
他滔滔不绝地一直谈到吃晚饭的时候，而在整个用膳时间里他却一言不发。但是当他把最后一口食物咽下去后又接着讲了起来。
He told us how some strange animal thatwasn’t a coyote，a possum，or a coon had startedrobbing the settlement.Or perhaps，even，it wassomebody. Nobody knew. All they knew was theywere losing meat they’d hung up，eggs from thenests，and sometimes even combread the womenhad put out to cool.
他告诉我们，有一种既不是小狼，又不是负鼠，也不是浣熊的怪兽，盗窃了村子里居民的东西。甚至，也许是一个什么人。谁也说不准。他们只知道吊着的肉和鸡窝里的蛋都不翼而飞了，有时甚至连妇女们晾在外面冷却的玉米面包也不见了。
While Bud Searcy was talking I began to havean uneasy feeling. The feeling didn’t get any betterwhen Lisbeth asked me to come down to the springwith her.
巴 德· 塞西在讲这些事的时候，我产生了一种不安的感觉。当丽丝贝邀我到山泉那儿去的时候，这种惶惶然的感觉依然存在。
We had walked right down to the spring withOld Yeller and the long - haired dog following，beforeLisbeth looked up at me and said，“It’s him.”
我们径直向山泉走去，阿黄和那只长毛狗跟随在后面。然后丽丝贝抬起头看着我说：“就是它。”
“Wha t do you me a n ？”I said. “你这话什么意思？”我问道。
“I me a n it’s your big ye llow dog ，”she said.“Is aw him.”
“我是说，是你们的大黄狗，”
她说，“我看到的。”
“Do wha t？ ”I asked. “它干了什么？”我追问道。
“S te a l some e ggs ，”she said.“From one of ou rne s ts .”
“偷鸡蛋吃，”她说，“从我们家的一只鸡窝里偷蛋吃。”
I stopped then and looked straight at her andshe looked straight back at me and I couldn”tstand it and had to look down.
我站住了，两眼盯着她，她针锋相对，两眼也直盯着我。我受不了她的目光，只得朝地下看。
“But I’m not going to te ll，”she said.
“不过我不会告诉别人的，” 她说。
I didn’t believe her.“I think you will，”Isaid.
我信不过她。“我看你会告诉别人的，”我说。
“No ，I won”t，”she said，shaking her head.“Iwouldn”t，e ve n b e fore I knew he wa s your dog.”
“不，不会的，”她摇摇头说，“即使我不知道这是你们的狗我也不会这样做的。”
“Why？” “为什么？”
“Be ca us e Mis s P ris sy is going to ha ve pup s .”
“因为普丽西小姐要生小狗了。”
“Mis s Pris sy？”
“普丽西小姐？”
That’s the name of my dog，and she’s going to
“这是我那只狗的名字。她就
have pups and your dog will be their papa，and Iwouldn’t want their papa to get shot.
要生小狗了，你们的狗将是它们的爸爸，我不愿意让它们的爸爸被人家打死。”
I looked at her again，and again I had to lookdown. I wanted to thank her，but I didn’t know theright words. So I fished around in my pocket for anIndian arrowhead I’d found the day before，and Igave it to her.
我又朝她看了一下，不得不再一次把目光移到地上。我想谢谢她，但是想不出恰当的话。因此我从口袋里摸出一只我前一天弄到的印第安箭头，把它送给了她。
She took it，and looked at it for a bit with hereyes shining，and then she put it deep into a longpocket she had in her dress.
她接过去，用亮晶晶的眼睛对它看了一会儿，然后把它放进她裙子上一只长口袋的袋底。
“I wont’t ne ver，ne ver te ll，”she said，then turnedand ran off to the cabin as fast as she could go.
“我永远不会告诉别人，永远，永远，”她说，然后，她转身朝木屋飞快地跑去。
I went and sat by the spring for a while. If Lisbethhad caught Old Yeller stealing stuff from thesettlements，then somebody else might too. And ifthey did，they would be sure to shoot him.
我走到山泉边坐了一会。如果丽丝贝撞见过阿黄在村里偷食，那么别人也可能会看到。如果他们看到它偷食吃，肯定要开枪把它打死。
After Bud Searcy had eaten a big supper andtalked a lot more，he rode off home with Lisbethriding behind him. I went then and got the eggs andkept three back. I called Old Yeller. I broke theeggs on a flat stone right under his nose and triedto get him to eat them. But he wouldn’t. It was asif he’d never heard that eggs were good to eat. Allhe’d do was stand there wagging his tail and try tolick me in the face.
巴德·塞西饱餐一顿又长谈一通之后，便骑马打道回府，丽丝贝坐在他后面。他们走后，我去把鸡蛋拿来，留下三只，然后把阿黄叫来。
就在它鼻子底下的那块石板上，我把蛋打碎让它来吃。但是阿黄不吃，似乎从来没听说过蛋是美味的食品。它只是站在那儿摇着尾巴，还想舐我的脸呢！
It made me mad.“You thie ving dog，”I said.“Iough t to ge t a c lub a nd bre a k your ba ck-in te n differe nt pla ce s .”
这使我非常恼火。“你这只偷嘴的狗，”我说，“我应该拿根棍子打断你的脊梁骨，断得一节一节的。”
But I didn’t mean it，and I didn’t say it veryloud. I knew that if I did he’d fall over and startyelling as if he was about to die. And there I’dbe-in a fight with Little Arliss again.
我不过讲讲而已，而且讲得很轻。我知道如果讲得响一些，它就会躺倒在地狂吠乱叫，好象就要死了似的。这样我又得跟小阿里斯干一仗了。
“Whe n the y s hoot you ，I’m going to la ugh ，”Itold him.
“他们开枪打你的时候，我要哈哈大笑呢，”我对他说。
But I knew I wouldn’t.
但是我知道我是笑不出来的。
