Chapter24 Indians Ride Away 印第安人骑马离开-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《草原小屋Little House on the Prairie》下

Chapter 24 Indians Ride Away THERE was another long night of sleep.It was so good to lie down and sleep soundly.Everything was safe and quiet.Only the owls called "Who-oo?Who-oo?"In the woods along the creek,while the great moon sailed slowly over the curve of the sky above the endless prairie. In the morning the sun shone warmly.Down by the creek the frogs were croaking④.“Garrump!Garrump!"”they cried by the edge of the pools."Knee deep!Knee deep!Better go'round." Ever since Ma had told them what the frogs were saying,Mary and Laura could hear the words plainly. The door was open to let in the warm spring air.After breakfast Pa went out,whistling merrily.He was going to hitch Pet and Patty to the plow again.But his whistling suddenly stopped.He stood on the doorstep,looking toward the east,and he said,"Come here,Caroline. And you,Mary and Laura." Laura ran out first,and she was surprised.The Indians were coming. They did not come on the creek road.They came riding up out of ·354· 24 印第安人骑马离开 ①lie down躺下 又睡了一个长夜。躺在床上香甜地睡上一觉非 常舒服。一切都祥和安全，周围一片恬静。只有猫 头鹰在沿河的树林里叫着：“呼一哦，呼一哦？” ②sail/sel/.航行 而在一望无边的草原上空的穹隆中，一轮皓月在慢 ③frog/frog/n.蛙 慢地飘游。 ④croa/kraok/v.暇 嗄叫 早晨的太阳放射出温暖的光芒。在草原下面的 河边，青蛙在用嘶哑的声音叫着，“呱呱！呱呱！” 它们在池边叫着：“膝盖深！膝盖深！最好绕道 走。” 自从妈妈告诉她们青蛙说的是什么的时候以来， 玛丽和劳拉就能听清楚它们说的话了。 门开着，让春天温暖的空气吹进屋来。早饭后， 爸爸兴致勃勃地吹着口哨出门了。他又要去给皮特 ⑤doorstep /'do:step/ 和帕蒂套上犁。但是，他的口哨声突然停了。他站 n门阶 在门前的台阶上，向东边瞭望，他说：“来，卡罗 琳，还有你们，玛丽和劳拉。” 劳拉先跑出去，她感到非常惊讶。印第安人来 了。 ·355· Little House on the Prairie the creek bottoms far to the east. First came the tall Indian who had gone riding by the house in the moonlight.Jack was growling and Laura's heart beat fast.She was glad to be close to Pa.But she knew this was the good Indian,the Osage chief who had stopped the terrible war-cries. His black pony came trotting②willingly③，sniffing④the wind that blew its mane 5 and tail like fluttering banners.The pony's nose and head were free;it wore no bridle.Not even one strap was on it anywhere.There was nothing to make it do anything it didn't want to do. Willingly it came trotting along the old Indian trail as if it liked to carry the Indian on its back. Jack growled savagely,trying to get loose from his chain.He remembered this Indian who had pointed a gun at him.Pa said,"Be still,Jack."Jack growled again,and for the first time in their lives Pa struck him.“Lie down！Be still!”Pa said..Jack cowered⑦down and was still. The pony was very near now,and Laura's heart beat faster and faster.She looked at the Indian's beaded moccasin,she looked up along the fringed legging that clung to the pony's bare side.A bright-colored blanket was wrapped around the Indian.One bare brown-red arm carried a rifle lightly across the pony's naked shoulders.Then Laura looked up at the Indlan's fierce,still,brown face. It was a proud,still face.No matter what happened,it would always be like that.Nothing would change it.Only the eyes were alive in that face,and they gazed steadily far away to the west.They did not move. Nothing moved or Changed,except the eagle feathers standing straight up from the scalplock on the shaved head.The long feathers swayed and dipped,waving and spinning in the wind as the tall Indian on the black pony passed on into the distance. ·356· 草原小屋【 他们不是从河边的道路来的。他们骑着马从远 在东边的河边低地出来。 领头的是那天在月光下骑着马从小屋前经过的 ①chief /tfi:f/h,首领 那个高个子印第安人。杰克吠叫着，劳拉的心跳得 ②trot/trot/.u快步 走，小跑步走 很快。她很高兴她和爸爸挨得很近。但是她知道这 ③willingly/wilml/ad. 自动地，欣然地 是个善良的印第安人，他就是那位使可怕的战斗呐 ④snif/snrf.嗅 喊停下来的奥赛治首领。 ⑤mane /mein/n.(马 等的)鬃毛 他的小黑马情绪饱满地小跑而来，呼吸着风， banner/"bena/h.旗 它的鬃毛和尾巴被风吹得像飘扬的旗帜。马的鼻子 帜，横幅 和头是没有束缚的，没套辔头，没有缰绳，甚至马 身上也没有系一根带子。没有任何东西使它做它不 愿做的事儿。它兴致勃勃地沿着古老的印第安足迹 向这边小跑着，好像很高兴在背上载着印第安人。 杰克凶猛地吠叫着，试图从锁住它的链条中挣 ⑦cower /kau3/g畏 脱出来。它记得这个印第安人，因为他曾把枪口对 缩，退缩 准它。爸爸说：“安静点，杰克，”杰克仍吠叫不 止，于是它平生第一次遭到爸爸抽打，“躺下！安 静点！”爸爸说，杰克畏缩着蹲下，不再出声。 小马已经来得很近了，劳拉的心越跳越快。她 看到印第安人那饰以五颜六色的小珠子的鹿皮软 ⑧rifle /raifV/n.步枪 鞋，她从靠着马的裸腹的那加穗的皮革裹腿往上 ⑨stil/st山a.静止的， 不动的 看。一块颜色鲜艳的毯子包着那个印第安人。一只 赤裸裸的棕红色胳膊轻轻地提着横在小马的赤裸肩 0 alive/'larv/a.活着 上的步枪。然后，劳拉往上看，看着那印第安人凶 的 ⑧gaze/geiz/v.凝视， 猛、平静、棕色的脸。 注视 R eagle /i:gh,鹰 那是一张骄傲、平静的脸。不管发生什么，它 Bscalplock n.印第安 总是那个样子。似乎任何事情都不能改变它。那张 人头顶上的头发 脸上只有那一双眼睛在活动，两眼坚定地盯着遥远 的西方。除了挺立在光头顶上那绺头发上的鹰羽以 357· Little House on the Prairie "Du Chene himself,"Pa said,under his breath,and he lifted his hand in salute But the happy pony and the motionless2 Indian went by.They went by as if the house and stable and Pa and Ma and Mary and Laura were not there at all. Pa and Ma and Mary and Laura slowly turned and looked at that Indian's proud straight back.Then other ponies and other blankets and shaved heads and eagle feathers came between.One by one3 on the path,more and more savage warriors were riding behind Du Chene. Brown face after brown face went by.Ponies'manes and tails blew in the wind,beads glittered,fringe flapped,eagle feathers were waving on all the naked heads.Rifles lying on the ponies'shoulders bristled all along the line. Laura was excited about the ponies.There were black ponies,bay 5 ponies,gray and brown and spotted ponies.Their little feet went trippety-trip-trip,trippety-trip,pat-patter,pat-patter,trippety pat-patter, all along the Indian trail.Their nostrils widened at Jack and their bodies shied away from him,but they came on bravely,looking with their bright eyes at Laura. "Oh,the pretty ponies!See the pretty ponies!"she cried,clapping her hands.“Look at the spotted one.” She thought she would never be tired of watching those ponies coming by,but after a while she began to look at the women and children on their backs.The women and children came riding behind the Indian men.Little naked brown Indians,no bigger than Mary and Laura, were riding the pretty ponies.The ponies did not have to wear bridles of saddles,and the little Indians did not have to wear clothes.All their skin was out in the fresh air and the sunshine.Their straight black hair blew in the wind and their black eyes sparkled with joy.They sat on their 358· 草原小屋【 外，没有东西在动，没有东西在变。当小黑马背上 ①salute 的高个子印第安人经过小屋前、骑向远方时，那长 /s3lut,-ju:t/行 礼，致意，问候 长的鹰羽在风中摇摆、倾斜，飘扬和旋转。 ②motionless /mauf(a)nlis/a.不 “是坚强战士他本人。”爸爸屏住呼吸说，他举 动的，静止的 手向他致敬。 但是那精神抖擞的小马和那一动不动的印第安 人过去了。他们经过时好像那儿压根儿就不存在 ③one by one-个 小屋，也不存在马厩，不存在爸爸、妈妈、玛丽 个地（各个挨次） 和劳拉。 爸爸、妈妈、玛丽和劳拉慢慢地转过身去，看 ④flap /flaep/k拍打， 飘动 着那印第安人骄傲而挺直的后背。接着来的是其他 小马，其他毯子，其他光头和鹰羽。路上一个接一 个，络绎不绝的野蛮战士跟在坚强战土的后面。一 ⑤bay/ber/a.枣红色 张张棕色的脸从面前经过。马鬃和马尾随风飘扬， 的 所有的光头上的珠子在闪光，穗子在飘舞，鹰羽在 摇曳。小马肩上横着的步枪一一排开。 ⑥nostril/nDstr业n鼻 劳拉看到那么多小马很激动，其中有黑的、枣 孔 红的、灰的、棕色的，还有带斑点的。它们的小 蹄子沿着印第安人的足迹啪嗒啪嗒，啪嗒啪嗒， 轻快地走着。见到杰克，它们的鼻孔张大了，它 们的身体避开了它，但是它们还是勇敢地继续前 进，用亮晶晶的眼睛看着劳拉。“哦，好漂亮的 马！看，多漂亮的马！”她叫着，拍着手，“看那 有斑点的马。” 她想，看这些向她走来的马，她永远也看不腻， 但过了一会儿，她开始看马背上的妇女和孩子。妇 女和孩子都跟在印第安男人的后面。赤身露体的棕 色印第安小孩年龄与玛丽和劳拉相仿，他们都骑着 漂亮的小马。这些矮马都没有马鞍或笼头，印第安 359 Little House on the Prairie ponies stiff and still like grown-up Indians. Laura looked and looked at the Indian children,and they looked at her.She had a naughty wish to be a little Indian girl.Of course she did not really mean it.She only wanted to be bare naked in the wind and the sunshine,and riding one of those gay little ponies. The Indian children's mothers were riding ponies,too.Leather fringe dangled about their legs and blankets were wrapped around their bodies, but the only thing on their heads was their black,smooth hair.Their faces were brown and placid Some had narrow bundles tied on their backs,and tiny babies'heads stuck out of the top of the bundles.And some babies and some small children rode in baskets hanging at the ponies'sides,beside their mothers. More and more and more ponies passed,and more children,and more babies on their mothers'backs,and more babies in baskets on the ponies'sides.Then came a mother riding,with a baby in a basket on each side of her pony. Laura looked straight into the bright eyes of the little baby nearer her.Only its small head showed above the basket's rim.Its hair was as black as a crow3 and its eyes were black as a night when no stars shine. Those black eyes looked deep into Laura's eyes and she looked deep down into the blackness of that little baby's eyes,and she wanted that one little baby. “Pa,”she said,.“get me that little Indian baby!'” “Hush④，Laura!”Pa told her sternly The little baby was going by.Its head turned and its eyes kept looking into Laura's eyes. "Oh,I want it!I want it!"Laura begged.The baby was going farther and farther away,but it did not stop looking back at Laura."It wants to stay with me,"Laura begged."Please,Pa,please!" ·360· 草原小屋 小孩不穿衣服。他们的皮肤全部暴露在新鲜空气和 阳光中。他们的直直黑发随风飘动，他们的黝黑眼 睛闪烁着快乐的光芒。他们像印第安大人一样身子 挺直，平静地骑坐在马背上。 劳拉不断地看着印第安孩子们，他们也看着她。 她有一个淘气的心愿，想做一个印第安小女孩。当然 她并不想真的成为印第安小女孩，她只不过想在微风 中和阳光下光着身子，骑一匹那样的快乐小马。 ①placid/'plaesid/a. 安静的，平和的 印第安小孩的妈妈们也骑着矮马。皮革裹腿上 2 bundle /'bandl/n. 捆，束 的穗子围绕她们的腿悬荡，毯子包着她们的身体， 但是她们头上没有羽饰，唯一的东西是光滑滑的黑 发。她们的脸是棕色的和平静的。有些人身后背着 窄小的包裹，包裹上端冒出婴儿的脑袋。有的婴儿 或幼儿坐在挂在马匹一侧的筐子里，靠在妈妈身 旁。 接连不断的小马经过小屋，还有数不清的幼儿、 妈妈背上的婴儿，以及坐在妈妈身旁的筐子里的婴 儿从这儿过去了。接着，一位母亲骑着马过来，她 ③crow /krau/h.乌鸦 的坐骑的两侧都有一个筐子各带着一个婴儿。 劳拉的眼睛直勾勾地窥视着靠近她的小婴儿的 明亮眼睛。婴儿只有小脑袋露在筐子边沿上，他的 头发像乌鸦一样黑，两只眼睛像没有星光的黑夜一 样黑。 ④hush /hS/int肃静 ⑤ternly/'st3:nl/ad. 那一对黑眼睛死盯着劳拉的双目，而劳拉则町 严格地，严肃地 着那小婴儿的黑眼睛，她很想把那个小婴儿要来。 “爸爸，”她说，“把那个小印第安婴儿弄来给 我！” “嘘，劳拉！”爸爸厉声叫道。 小婴儿过去了，他转过头来，两只眼睛不停地 ·361· Little House on the Prairie “Hush,Laura,”Pa said.“The Indian woman wants to keep her baby.” "Oh,Pa!"Laura pleaded,and then she began to cry.It was shameful to cry,but she couldn't help it.The little Indian baby was gone.She knew she would never see it any more Ma said she had never heard of such a thing."For shame,Laura," she said,but Laura could not stop crying."Why on earth do you want an Indian baby,of all things!"Ma asked her. "Its eyes are so black,"Laura sobbed.She could not say what she meant. “Why,Laura,”Ma said,“you don't want another baby.We have a baby,our own baby.” “I want the other one,too!”Laura sobbed,loudly④ “Well,I declare!”Ma exclaimed. “Look at the Indians,Laura,”said Pa.“Look west,and then look east,and see what you see." Laura could hardly see at first.Her eyes were full of tears and sobs kept jerking out of her throat.But she obeyed Pa as best she could, and in a moment she was still.As far as she could see to the west and as far as she could see to the east there were Indians.There was no end to that long,long line. “That's an awful lot of Indians,”Pa said. More and more and more Indians came riding by.Baby Carrie grew tired of looking at Indians and played by herself on the floor.But Laura sat on the doorstep,Pa stood close beside her,and Ma and Mary stood in the doorway.They looked and looked and looked at Indians riding by. It was dinner-time,and no one thought of dinner.Indian ponies were still going by,carrying bundles of skins and tent-poles and dangling ·362· 草原小屋【 盯着劳拉看。 “哦，我要他！我要他！”劳拉恳求道。那婴儿 ①plead /pli:d/v.恳求 离得越来越远，但他一直没有停止回头看劳拉。 ②shameful/"fermful/ “他想和我呆在一起，”劳拉乞求道，“求您了，爸 a可耻的 ③any more更，再 爸，求您了。” “嘘，”爸爸说，“那个印第安妇女舍不得她的 孩子。” “噢，爸爸！”劳拉祈求他，然后她开始哭了。 哭是丢脸的，但她抑制不住。那印第安婴儿走了。 她知道她再也见不到他了。 妈妈说她从来没听说过这种事。“真没出息， 劳拉，”她说，但劳拉仍不停地哭，“到底为什么 ④loudly /laudl/ad.大 偏偏要一个印第安孩子！”妈妈说。 声地 “他的眼睛那么黑。”劳拉抽泣着说，她说不清 她自己的心意是什么。 “哎，劳拉，”妈妈说，“你不要另外一个婴儿 ⑤jerk /d33:k.痉挛 了，我们有一个，我们自己的婴儿。” ⑥throat/0raUt/n喉 “我也要那另一个！”劳拉大声鸣咽。 咙 Dobey fa'bev服从， “嘿，那可真怪！”妈妈喊道。 听从 “看看印第安人，劳拉，”爸爸说，“看看西面， 然后看看东面。看看你看到了什么。” 劳拉起初几乎不能看。她的双眼充满泪水，喉 咙不断发出抽泣声，但她尽可能地听从爸爸，过了 一会儿她平静了。她尽力向西面看，然后又极目远 望东面，到处都是印第安人。那个长长的队伍看不 到头。 “印第安人多得可怕。”爸爸说。 越来越多的印第安人马队从这儿经过。小卡里 早已看腻了，她坐在地板上自己玩。但劳拉坐在门 ·363·