Chapter14 Indian Camp 印第安人的营地-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《草原小屋Little House on the Prairie》下

Chapter 14 Indian Camp DAY after day was hotter than the day before.The wind was hot. “As if it came out of an oven,”Ma said. The grass was turning yellow.The whole world was rippling green and gold under the blazing sky. At noon the wind died.No birds sang.Everything was so still that Laura could hear the squirrels chattering in the trees down by the creek.Suddenly black crows flew overhead,cawing their rough,sharp caws.Then everything was still again. Ma said that this was midsummer. Pa wondered where the Indians had gone.He said they had left their little camp on the prairie.And one day he asked Laura and Mary if they would like to see that camp. Laura jumped up and down and clapped her hands,but Ma objected “It is so far,Charles,.”she said.“And in this heat.” Pa's blue eyes twinkled."This heat doesn't hurt the Indians and it won't hurt us,”he said.“Come on,girls!'" "Please,can't Jack come,too?"Laura begged.Pa had taken his ·204· 14 印第安人的营地 天气一天比一天热了。连风都是热烘烘的。妈 ①oven /'Avan/n.烤炉， 烤箱 妈说：“这风好像是从火炉里吹出来的。” ②rippling/riplin/a.起 草渐渐变黄。光灿灿的天空下，整个世界荡漾 涟漪的，潺漏流水般 声音的 着金波碧浪。 中午，风停了。鸟儿不唱了。四周沉浸在寂静 中，劳拉能听到松鼠在河边的树上吱吱乱叫。突 ③squimel/'skwira/n. 松鼠 然，一群乌鸦从头顶飞过，发出刺耳的尖叫声。而 后，一切又恢复了平静。 妈妈说，这是仲夏。 爸爸纳闷印第安人上哪儿去了。他说，印第安 人离开了草原上的小营地。一天，他问劳拉和玛丽 想不想去看看那个营地 劳拉欢呼雀跃，拍着手，但妈妈却不赞同她们 ④object/'obd3ikt/g 去。 反对 “太远了，查尔斯，”她说，“天气又这么热。” 爸爸眨巴着蓝幽幽的眼睛。“暑热热不坏印第 安人就热不坏我们，”他说，“走吧，姑娘们！” “求你了，让杰克也去，行吗？”劳拉乞求道。 ·205· Little House on the Prairie gun,but he looked at Laura and he looked at Jack,then he looked at Ma,and he put the gun up on its pegs again. “All right,Laura”he said..“T'll take Jack,Caroline,and leave you the gun.” Jack jumped around them,wagging his stump of a tail.As soon as he saw which way they were going,he set off,trotting ahead.Pa came next,and behind him came Mary,and then Laura.Mary kept her sunbonnets on,but Laura let hers dangle down her back. The ground was hot under their bare feet.The sunshine pierced through their faded dresses and tingled on their arms and backs.The air was really as hot as the air in an oven,and it smelled faintly like baking bread.Pa said the smell came from all the grass seeds parching in the heat. They went farther and farther into the vast prairie.Laura felt smaller and smaller.Even Pa did not seem as big as he really was.At last they went down into the little hollow where the Indians had camped. Jack started up a big rabbit.When it bounded out of the grass Laura jumped.Pa said quickly,"Let him go,Jack!We have meat enough."So Jack sat down and watched the big rabbit go bounding away down the hollow. Laura and Mary looked around them.They stayed close to Pa.Low bushes grew on the sides of the hollow-buck-brush with sprays of berries faintly pink,and sumac holding up green cones but showing here and there a bright red leaf.The goldenrod's plumes were turning gray,and the ox-eyed daisies'yellow petals hung down from the crown centers. All this was hidden in the secret little hollow.From the house Laura had seen nothing but grasses,and now from this hollow she could not see the house.The prairie seemed to be levela,but it was ·206· 草原小屋【 爸爸已拿好枪，但他看了看劳拉，看了看杰克，又 ①peg /peg/n.钉 看了看妈妈，便又把枪放到木桩上。 “好吧，劳拉，”他说，“我带着杰克，卡罗琳， 枪给你留下。” ②wag /waeg/.摇摆 杰克摇着尾巴橛子，围着他们撒欢。它一看清 ③stump/stAmp/m.残 株，烟蒂 他们要走哪条路，就在前面跑开了。爸爸跟着杰 ④trot/trDt/.快步走， 小跑步走 克，他后面是玛丽，劳拉走在最后。玛丽戴着太阳 5 sunbonnet 帽，劳拉却让太阳帽任意垂在背上。 'sAnbonit/n.太阳 帽 赤脚走在地上，感到火烫火烫的。阳光晒透了 他们褪色的衣服，晒疼了他们的胳膊和背。天气真 ⑥tingle /tingl/刺 痛 的像火炉里的热气一样热，连气味都有点像烤面包 的味儿。爸爸说，这是草种子被烤干的气味。 parching /'pa:tfi a. 他们在茫茫大草原上越走越远。劳拉觉得自己 烘烤似的，焦干似的 越来越小。连爸爸看上去都没有实际上那么高大 了。最后，他们走进一个小谷地，这就是印第安人 扎过营的地方。 杰克惊起了一只大兔子。那只兔子从草丛里蹦 出来的时候，把劳拉吓了一跳。爸爸急忙说：“让 它去吧，杰克！我们有的是肉吃。”杰克只好蹲下， 眼睁睁地看着大兔子向下面的谷地跑开了。 劳拉和玛丽紧紧地挨着爸爸，观察周围的情形。 谷地边上长着低矮的灌木一灌木丛中结满浆果的 8sumac umek,sju/n盐 枝条泛着淡淡的粉色，盐肤木顶起翠绿的球果，到 肤木 处伸展着红艳艳的叶子。黄花属植物的羽状花冠正 ⑨cone /kaun/n.圆锥 体，球果 在变成灰白色，牛眼雏菊黄灿灿的花瓣从花冠中垂 0 plume /plu:m/n羽 毛 挂下来。 所有这一切都隐蔽在这个神秘的小谷地里。劳 I level/lev(aWa.平 拉平时从家里往外看到的都是草，看不到别的东 坦的，齐平的 西，现在从这个谷地里望出去，却看不见家了。大 ·207· Little House on the Prairie not level. Laura asked Pa if there were lots of hollows on the prairie,like this one.He said there were. "Are Indians in them?"she almost whispered.He said he didn't know.There might be. She held tight to his hand and Mary held to his other hand,and they looked at the Indians'camp.There were ashes where Indian camp fires had been.There were holes in the ground where tent-poles had been driven.Bones were scattered where Indian dogs had gnawed them.All along the sides of the hollow,Indian ponies had bitten the grasses short. Tracks of big moccasins and smaller moccasins were everywhere, and tracks of little bare toes.And over these tracks were tracks of rabbits and tracks of birds,and wolves'tracks. Pa read the tracks for Mary and Laura.He showed them tracks of two middle-sized moccasins by the edge of a camp fire's ashes.An Indian woman had squatted there.She wore a leather skirt with fringes5; the tiny marks of the fringe were in the dust.The track of her toes inside the moccasins was deeper than the track of her heels,because she had leaned forward to stir something cooking in a pot on the fire. Then Pa picked up a smoke-blackened forked stick.And he said that the pot had hung from a stick laid across the top of two upright,forked sticks.He showed Mary and Laura the holes where the forked sticks had been driven into the ground.Then he told them to look at the bones around that camp fire and tell him what had cooked in that pot. They looked,and they said,"Rabbit."That was right;the bones were rabbits'bones. Suddenly Laura shouted,"Look!Look!"Something bright blue glittered in the dust.She picked it up,and it was a beautiful blue ·208· 草原小屋【 草原看上去平展展的，一览无余，但实际上它并不 是水平的。 劳拉问爸爸，草原上是不是有许多这样的小谷 ①whisper /(h)wIspa/ 地。爸爸说多的是。 比耳语，密谈 “印第安人就住在这些谷地吗？”她几乎是在耳 语。爸爸说他也不清楚，也许是吧。 劳拉紧紧拽住爸爸的手，玛丽拽住他的另一只 手，他们查看着印第安人的营地。那儿有一堆堆灰 ②gnaw /n的：/.咬， 烬，是印第安人烧过营火的地方。地上有不少洞 ③pony/'pn/n.小 马 眼，是插过帐篷杆子的痕迹。地上到处都是印第安 人的狗啃过的骨头。谷地一带的草都让印第安人的 马吃矮了。 ④moccasin/mDkasin/ n.鹿皮鞋 遍地都是大大小小的鹿皮软鞋的足迹，还有小 小的脚趾印。这些脚印上面又留着兔子、鸟、狼的 踪迹。 爸爸给玛丽和劳拉讲解各种足迹。他让她们看 ⑤fringe /frind3/n边 营火灰烬旁两个中等尺寸的鹿皮软鞋脚印。一个印 缘，端 第安女人曾经在这里蹲过，她穿一件带穗的皮裙， 6heel /hi:lVn脚后跟 浮土上留下穗子的细小印记。在她鞋印里的脚趾印 要比脚后跟的深，说明她当时身体朝前倾斜，去搅 动锅里煮的东西。 接着爸爸捡起一根被烟熏黑的叉形棍子。他说， 两根叉形棍垂直插在地里，上面横搭一根木棍，做 饭的锅就挂在这根木棍上。他把地上栽叉形棍的洞 眼指给她俩看。随后，又让她们去看营火周围的骨 头，告诉他那个锅里曾经做过什么食物。 她俩看完以后，说：“是兔子。”她们说对了， ⑦glitter'glta/.灿 那些骨头是兔子骨头。 烂，闪烁，辉耀 突然，劳拉喊道：“快看！快看！”土里面有个 ·209· Little House on the Prairie bead Laura shouted with joy. Then Mary saw a red bead,and Laura saw a green one,and they forgot everything but beads.Pa helped them look.They found white beads and brown beads,and more and more red and blue beads.All that afternoon they hunted for beads in the dust of the Indian camp.Now and then Pa walked up to the edge of the hollow and looked toward home, then he came back and helped to hunt for more beads.They looked all the ground over carefully. When they couldn't find any more,it was almost sunset.Laura had a handful of beads,and so did Mary.Pa tied them carefully in his handkerchief3,Laura's beads in one corner and Mary's in another corner.He put the handkerchief in his pocket,and they started home. The sun was low behind their backs when they came out of the hollow.Home was small and very far away.And Pa did not have his gun. Pa walked so swiftly that Laura could hardly keep up.She trotted as fast as she could,but the sun sank faster.Home seemed farther and farther away.The prairie seemed larger,and a wind ran over it, whispering something frightening.All the grasses shook as if they were scared. Then Pa turned around and his blue eyes twinkled at Laura.He said, "Getting tired,little half-pint It's a long way for little legs." ·210· 草原小屋 ①bead/bi:dn珠子， 发蓝光的亮晶晶的东西。她捡起来一看，啊，是一 滴 颗漂亮的蓝珠子。劳拉高兴得大叫起来。 接着，玛丽看到一颗红色珠子，劳拉又看到一 颗绿色的。除了珠子，她们把什么都忘了。爸爸也 帮她们寻找。他们又发现了白色的、棕色的珠子， 还有越来越多的红色和蓝色的。那天下午，她们一 直在印第安营地的浮土里找珠子。爸爸不时走上谷 地边缘朝家里的方向望望，然后又回来帮她们寻找 珠子。他们仔仔细细地找遍了所有的地面。 ②handful'haendfol/n. 他们再也找不到珠子的时候，太阳都要落山了。 一把 劳拉有满满一把珠子，玛丽也一样。爸爸小心翼翼 ③handkerchief /haenkot fi:f/n手 地用手帕把珠子包好，劳拉的包在一角，玛丽的包 帕 在另一角。他把包着珠子的手帕装在兜里，就动身 回家了。 他们走出谷地，太阳已经在身后落得很低。家 看上去很小，而且非常远。爸爸又没有带枪。 ④swiftly /'swiftl/ad 爸爸走路真快，劳拉几乎跟不上了。她使劲小 很快地 跑着往前赶，但太阳落得更快。家似乎离得越来越 ⑤ank/senk/sink的 过去式 远，大草原也好像比原来更大了。一阵风吹过，刷 刷地声音挺疹人。草都摇摇晃晃，仿佛受了惊吓。 爸爸转过身，亮闪闪的蓝眼睛看着劳拉。他说： “跑累了，小不点？小腿儿走这路是太长了。” 爸爸抱起她，尽管她是个大女孩了，他把她稳 half-pintn.半品脱 211· Little House on the Prairie He picked her up,big girl that she was,and he settled her safe against his shoulder.He took Mary by the hand,and so they all came home together. Supper was cooking on the fire,Ma was setting the table,and Baby Carrie played with little pieces of wood on the floor.Pa tossed the handkerchief to Ma. “T'm later than I meant,Caroline,”he said..“But look what the girls found."He took the milk-bucket and went quickly to bring Pet and Patty from their picket-lines and to milk the cow. Ma untied the handkerchief and exclaimed at what she found.The beads were even prettier than they had been in the Inidan camp. Laura stirred her beads with her finger and watched them sparkle and shine.“These are mine,.”she said.. Then Mary said,“Carrie can have mine.” Ma waited to hear what Laura would say.Laura didn't want to say anything.She wanted to keep those pretty beads.Her chest felt all hot inside,and she wished with all her might that Mary wouldn't always be such a good little girl.But she couldn't let Mary be better than she was. So she said,slowly,"Carrie can have mine,too." "That's my unselfish,good little girls,"said Ma. She poured Mary's beads into Mary's hands,and Laura's into Laura's hands,and she said she would give them a thread to string them on.The beads would make a pretty necklace for Carrie to wear around her neck. Mary and Laura sat side by side on their bed,and they strung those pretty beads on the thread that Ma gave them.Each wet her end of the thread in her mouth and twisted it tightly.Then Mary put her end of the thread through the small hole in each of the beads,and Laura put her end through her beads,one by one. ·212· 草原小屋【 稳当当地扛在肩头。他拉着玛丽的手，就这样，他 们三口儿一起回到家。 晚饭正在火上烧着，妈妈在收拾桌子，小卡里 在地板上玩小木片。爸爸把手帕扔给妈妈。“卡罗 ①toss/tDs//.投掷 琳，比我计划的时间回来得晚了，”他说，“不过 你看看，孩子们找到了什么。”他拿起牛奶桶，急 忙去拴马索那里牵回帕蒂和皮特，又去给母牛挤 奶。 妈妈解开手帕，看到里面的东西，惊奇地叫了 ②exclaim/ks'klem/ 起来。那些珠子比她们在印第安营地看到时更漂亮 大叫，呼喊，大声 叫 了。 ③sparkle/'spu:ky 劳拉用手指拨弄着她的珠子，盯着这些亮晶晶 闪耀，冒火花 的珠子，说：“这些珠子是我的。” 接着玛丽说：“卡里可以玩我的。” 妈妈等着听劳拉说什么。劳拉不想说什么。她 ④chest/tfest/m.胸， 想自己拥有这些漂亮的珠子。听了玛丽的话，她心 胸部 里热辣辣的，一肚子气，她满心希望玛丽别充当这 样的好女孩。但她又不能让玛丽表现得比自己好。 于是，她慢吞吞地说：“卡里也可以用我的。” 5 unselfish /An'selfif/ “这才是我的不自私的好孩子。”妈妈说。 a无私的 妈妈把玛丽的珠子倒进玛丽的两只手里，把劳 拉的倒进劳拉的双手，并且说，要给她们一根线把 珠子串起来。这些珠子可以串成一条漂亮的项链， 戴在卡里的脖子上。 玛丽和劳拉双双坐到床上，用妈妈给的线串那 6strung /strAn/.捆 些美丽的珠子。她们各自用嘴抿湿线头，用指头把 扎，系上，收紧 线头捻紧。然后，玛丽把线头穿过每颗珠子的小 ⑦wist /twist/.拧， 眼，劳拉将线头穿过她的珠子，一颗又一颗地穿过 扭曲 去。 她们都没言语。也许玛丽觉得心里甜滋滋的， ·213