He waited a long time till Little Arliss askedwhat，then went on，“We ll，it’s like this.I’ve hung a -round the re in tha t c ow camp e a ting my own c ookinga long time.S o lon g I a lmos t do n”t throw a s ha dowa ny more.Now if you c ould ta lk your mama into g ivingme a re a lly we ll - cooke d me a l I re ckon I shouldbe be tte r off with tha t tha n with a one - e a re d ye llowdog.Don’t you ？”
他停了好大一会儿，直到小阿里斯问他要做什么事后才继续往下说：“噢，是这样的： 我住在牛群那边的帐篷里已经有很长时间了，一直吃我自己做的饭，所以人瘦得不象样了。现在如果你能说服妈妈给我做一顿丰盛美味的饭，我想这要比有一只只有一个耳朵的黄狗合算。
你愿意这样吗？”
I didn’t wait to hear any more. I ran off. I wasso happy I was almost bursting. I knew that if Ididn’t get out of sight quickly，this Burn Sanderson
我没有呆在那儿听他再说下去。
我跑开了。我高兴得差点儿叫出声来。我知道如果我不赶快躲开，这位
was going to catch me crying.
伯恩·桑德生就要看到我哭了。
That day Mama cooked the best dinner I everate. We had roast meat and fried catfish and squirrelpie and black - eyed peas and combread andflour gravy and butter and wild honey and plum jellyand fresh buttermilk. I ate so much that I thoughtmy eyes were going to pop out of my head，and stillI didn’t do anything like as well as Burn Sanderson，He was a thin man，not nearly as big as Papa.
and I couldn’t think where he was putting all thatfood. But long before he sighed and sat back in hischair at last，I was sure of one thing： he wouldn’thave any trouble throwing a shadow on the groundfor the rest of that day. A good，black shadow.
那天妈妈烧了一桌我从来没有吃到过的丰盛的晚餐。我们吃了烤肉，油煎鲇鱼，松鼠馅饼，黑豇豆，玉米面包，糊状卤汁，还有白脱，野蜂蜜，桃子酱和新鲜的奶油。我吃了很多很多，我想我的眼睛都要从脑袋上爆出来了，可么我还是没法与伯恩· 桑德生比。他瘦瘦的个儿，没有爸爸高大，我简直无法想象他把吃的那些食物都装到哪儿去了。
他终于舒了一口气，靠坐在椅子上，可是，有一点我早在这以前就已经肯定： 那天的余下时光，他可以不费劲地在地上落下他的影子，一个真正的黑影。
After dinner，he sat for a time，talking to meand Mama and making Little Arliss some toy horsesout of dried cornstalks. Then he said his thank -your to Mama and told me to come with him. I followedwhile he led his horse down to the spring forwater. I remembered how Papa had led me awayfrom the cabin like this the day he left，and knewthat Burn Sanderson had something he wanted totalk about.
饭后，他又坐了一会儿，一面跟我和妈妈闲谈，一面用晒干了的玉米秆给小阿里斯做玩具马。然后他向妈妈连声道谢并且要我跟他一块儿去走一走。他牵马到山泉边饮水，我就跟在他的后面。我记得爸爸离开的那天也是这样把我从木屋里叫到外面来。我知道桑德生有事要和我谈。
At the spring，he slipped the bits out of his horse’
s mouth to let him drink，and then turned to me.
在泉边，他从马嘴里取出嚼子让它饮水，然后转向我。
“Now. boy，”he said，“I didn”t wa nt to te ll you rmama this ，be ca us e I didn’t wa nt to frig hte n he r. Butthe re”s ra bie s a bout，a nd I wa nt you to be o n thelo okout for it.”
“啊，孩子，”他说，“我不想把这事告诉你妈妈，因为怕吓着了她。
附近出现了狂犬病，我希望你多加小心。”
I felt afraid. I didn’t know much about rabies，but after what Bud Searcy said about his uncle whodied chained to a tree，knew it was something bad.
I stared at Burn Sanderson and didn”t say anything.
我感到害怕。我本来不大知道狂犬病是怎么回事儿。可是听了巴德·塞西关于他那位用链条把自己拴在树上死掉的叔叔那件事之后，我知道这是非常糟糕的事。我睁大着双眼看着伯恩· 桑德生，没说什么。
“I’ve s hot two wolve s a nd a fox tha t ha d it. ”hesaid，“a nd I know of a woma n who ha d to kill thre e o rfour ca ts tha t he r c hildre n ha d be e n pla ying with. Shewa sn”t s ure.but S he couldn”t ta ke a ny cha nce s .
And you c a n’t e ithe r.”
“我打死了两只患这种病的狼和一只狐狸，”他说。“我认识一个女人，她不得不杀掉三、四只跟她的孩子们在一起玩耍的猫。她也吃不大准，可是她不敢存什么侥幸心理。
你也不能这样。”
“But how will I know wha t to shoo t a nd wha t notto ？”I wanted to know.
“但是我怎么知道什么东西该打死，什么不该打死呢？ ”我追问。
“We ll，it’s ha rd to te ll a t firs t，”he said.“Untilthe y go soa py a t th e mouth，a nd ke e p fa lling a bout a llove r the pla ce.Whe ne ve r you s e e a n a nima l like tha tyou know for s ure.But you mus t wa tch for othe rs tha ta re n”t tha t ba d ye t. You ta ke a pe t c a t. If he s ta rts tos pit a nd fight for no re a son，yo u mu s t shoot him. It’sthe s ame with a dog.He”ll ge t ma d a t nothing a ndwa nt to bite you.Ta ke a fox or a wildca t. You knowthe y’ll run awa y from you. S o whe n the y d on’t run，“是啊，开始是难以区别，”他说，“直到它们口吐白沫，到处跌跌冲冲乱跑时才能知道，你只要看到有哪只动物象这种样子的时候，你就可以肯定了。但是你必须注意另一些还没有病到这种程度的动物。
就拿一只家猫来说吧，如果它开始嘴吐口水并且无缘无故地抓人咬人时，你就得打死它。狗也是这样。
s hoot the m. S hoot a nythin g tha t”s no t n a tura l，a nddon”t fool a round a bout it. It’s too la te onc e the y’vebitte n or s cra tch e d you .”
它会平白无故地发火，想咬人。再拿狐狸和野猪来说吧，你知道这些家伙平时看到人就逃，所以当它们不是这样的时候，就要把它们打死。
任何不正常的东西都得打死，可不能稀里糊涂。一旦你被它们咬了或者抓破了，可就晚了。”
Talk like that made my heart jump up in mythroat till I couldn’t get my breath. I looked downat the ground and started kicking some stones.
这些话使我的心怦怦直跳，连气都透不过来了。我的眼睛看着地面，脚踢着石子。
“Don”t be frighte ne d ，boy. I’m only te lling yoube c a us e I know your pa pa le ft yo u to look a fte rthings.I know you ca n ha ndle wha te ve r you ha ve to.
I’m jus t te lling you to be on the loo kout，a nd not to le ta nything - a nyth ing - ge t a t you or your family with ra -bie s.Think you ca n do it？”
“别害怕，孩子。我所以只告诉你因为我知道你爸爸让你照料家里。我知道你能对付任何你必须对付的事。我告诉你只是为了要你提高警惕，不要让任何患狂犬病的动物--任何动物--伤害你或你们家里的人。你看你能做到这一点吗？”
I stood up straight.“I ca n do it，”I told him.
我笔直地站着。“我能做到，”
我对他说。
Then Burn Sanderson smiled. He put a hand onmy shoulder，just as Papa did the day he left.
伯恩·桑德生笑了。他把一只手搭在我的肩上，就象爸爸离家那天搭着我的肩膀一样。
“Good boy，”he said.“Tha t’s th e wa y a ma nta lks .”
“好孩子，”他说，“这才是男子汉说话的气派。”
For a minute he gripped my shoulder，then herode off.
他紧紧地捏了一下我的肩膀，然后骑马走了。
I was so scared and mixed up about the danger
狂犬病的危险把我吓坏了，搞
of rabies that it was well into the next day before Ithought about thanking him for giving us Old Yeller.
得我昏头昏脑的，直到第二天我才想起他给了我们阿黄，我们该谢谢他才是呢。
