I stopped overnight at the sheep-ranch of Rush Kinney, on the Sandy Fork of the Nueces. —
我在纽塞斯河桑迪河岸的Rush Kinney的养羊场过夜。 —

Mr. Kinney and I had been strangers up to the time when I called “Hallo!” at his hitching-rack; —
在我在他的马棚上高喊“哈啰！”之前，金尼先生和我是陌生人。 —

but from that moment until my departure on the next morning we were, according to the Texas code, undeniable friends.
但是从那一刻起，直到我第二天早上离开，根据德克萨斯法典，我们成为了无可否认的朋友。

After supper the ranchman and I lugged our chairs outside the two-room house, to its floorless gallery roofed with chaparral and sacuista grass. —
晚饭后，牧场主和我把椅子搬到了没有地板的两居室房子外面，坐在屋顶上，屋顶由刺柏和软草覆盖着。 —

With the rear legs of our chairs sinking deep into the hardpacked loam, each of us reposed against an elm pillar of the structure and smoked El Toro tobacco, while we wrangled amicably concerning the affairs of the rest of the world.
我们的椅子的后腿深深地陷入了硬土，我们每个人都靠在结构的榆树柱子上，吸着El Toro烟草，友好地争论着世界其他地方的事务。

As for conveying adequate conception of the engaging charm of that prairie evening, despair waits upon it. —
至于传达对那个草原晚上迷人魅力的充分概念，绝望等待着它。 —

It is a bold chronicler who will undertake the description of a Texas night in the early spring. —
敢于尝试描述德克萨斯州早春夜晚的记录者。 —

An inventory must suffice.
一份清单就足够了。

The ranch rested upon the summit of a lenient slope. —
这座庄园坐落在一个温和的山坡上。 —

The ambient prairie, diversified by arroyos and murky patches of brush and pear, lay around us like a darkened bowl at the bottom of which we reposed as dregs. —
周围的大草原被溪流和杂乱的灌木丛覆盖着，就像一个黑暗的碗，我们就像残渣一样躺在碗底。 —

Like a turquoise cover the sky pinned us there. —
天空像一张碧绿的覆盖物把我们困住。 —

The miraculous air, heady with ozone and made memorably sweet by leagues of wild flowerets, gave tang and savour to the breath. —
空气中弥漫着臭氧的芬芳，还有无数野花散发的香气，让呼吸感到刺激而愉悦。 —

In the sky was a great, round, mellow searchlight which we knew to be no moon, but the dark lantern of summer, who came to hunt northward the cowering spring. —
天空中有一盏巨大、圆形、柔和的探照灯，我们知道那不是月亮，而是夏天的黑暗灯笼，它从北方追逐春天的胆怯。 —

In the nearest corral a flock of sheep lay silent until a groundless panic would send a squad of them huddling together with a drumming rush. —
最近的圈舍里，一群羊静静地躺着，直到一阵无稽之谈的恐慌让它们一群一群地聚集在一起，嘈杂地奔跑着。 —

For other sounds a shrill family of coyotes yapped beyond the shearing-pen, and whippoorwills twittered in the long grass. —
除此之外，一群尖叫的土狼在剪羊毛笼外嗥叫，而夜鹰在长草中呢喃。 —

But even these dissonances hardly rippled the clear torrent of the mocking-birds’ notes that fell from a dozen neighbouring shrubs and trees. —
但即使这些不和谐的声音也几乎无法波动那些嘲鸟歌声的清澈之流，它们从附近的十几棵灌木丛和树上传来。 —

It would not have been preposterous for one to tiptoe and essay to touch the stars, they hung so bright and imminent.
它对一个人小心翼翼地踮着脚尖，试图触摸那些明亮而临近的星星来说，并不荒谬。

Mr. Kinney’s wife, a young and capable woman, we had left in the house. —
金尼先生的妻子，一个年轻而有能力的女人，我们留在了屋子里。 —

She remained to busy herself with the domestic round of duties, in which I had observed that she seemed to take a buoyant and contented pride. —
她留下来忙碌于家务事务，我注意到她似乎对此感到自豪和满足。 —

In one room we had supped. Presently, from the other, as Kinney and I sat without, there burst a volume of sudden and brilliant music. —
我们曾在一个房间里吃过晚餐。不久之后，当金尼和我坐在外面的时候，突然传来一阵华丽而闪耀的音乐。 —

If I could justly estimate the art of piano-playing, the construer of that rollicking fantasia had creditably mastered the secrets of the keyboard. —
如果我能够公正评价钢琴演奏的艺术，那个演绎这个欢快幻想曲的人对键盘的秘密掌握得很出色。 —

A piano, and one so well played, seemed to me to be an unusual thing to find in that small and unpromising ranch- house. —
在那个小而寒冷的农舍里，找到一架钢琴，而且演奏得如此出色，对我来说是一件不寻常的事情。 —

I must have looked my surprise at Rush Kinney, for he laughed in his soft, Southern way, and nodded at me through the moonlit haze of our cigarettes.
我一定对拉什·金尼表示了我的惊讶，因为他用他那温和的南方口音笑了笑，透过我们烟雾缭绕的月色昏暗中对我点了点头。

“You don’t often hear as agreeable a noise as that on a sheep-ranch,” he remarked; —
“你很少听到像羊牧场上那样令人愉快的声音，”他说道。 —

“but I never see any reason for not playing up to the arts and graces just because we happen to live out in the brush. —
“但我从未看到任何理由不去追求艺术和优雅，只是因为我们碰巧住在丛林里。 —

It’s a lonesome life for a woman; —
这对于一个女人来说是孤独的生活； —

and if a little music can make it any better, why not have it? —
如果一点音乐能让它变得更好，为什么不要呢？ —

That’s the way I look at it.”
我就是这么看的。

“A wise and generous theory,” I assented. —
“一个明智而慷慨的理论，”我表示同意。” —

“And Mrs. Kinney plays well. —
金尼太太演奏得很好。 —

I am not learned in the science of music, but I should call her an uncommonly good performer. —
我对音乐科学不甚了解，但我会说她是一个非常好的表演者。 —

She has technic and more than ordinary power.”
她有技术和超过一般的能力。

The moon was very bright, you will understand, and I saw upon Kinney’s face a sort of amused and pregnant expression, as though there were things behind it that might be expounded.
你会明白，月亮非常明亮，我看到金尼的脸上有一种笑意和寓意深长的表情，仿佛背后还有一些可以解释的事情。

“You came up the trail from the Double-Elm Fork,” he said promisingly. —
“你从双榆河的小径上来的，” 他有所期待地说。 —

“As you crossed it you must have seen an old deserted jacal to your left under a comma mott.”
“当你穿过它时，你一定看到了你左边一个废弃的矮小建筑，下面有逗号点状斑点。”

“I did,” said I. “There was a drove of javalis rooting around it. —
“是的，”我说。”有一群野猪在周围觅食。 —

I could see by the broken corrals that no one lived there.”
从破损的栅栏来看，那里没有人住。”

“That’s where this music proposition started,” said Kinney. —
“这个音乐计划的起源就在那里，”金尼说。 —

“I don’t mind telling you about it while we smoke. —
“我们边抽烟边给你讲讲。 —

That’s where old Cal Adams lived. —
就是在那个老卡尔·亚当斯住过的地方。 —

He had about eight hundred graded merinos and a daughter that was solid silk and as handsome as a new stake-rope on a thirty-dollar pony. —
他养了大约八百头等级羊毛，并且有一个女儿，像新翻毛的三十美元小马上的崭新绳索一样美丽。 —

And I don’t mind telling you that I was guilty in the second degree of hanging around old Cal’s ranch all the time I could spare away from lambing and shearing. —
我不介意告诉你，除了做羊的时候，我抽空总是在老卡尔的牧场晃荡。 —

Miss Marilla was her name; —
她叫玛丽拉小姐； —

and I had figured it out by the rule of two that she was destined to become the chatelaine and lady superior of Rancho Lomito, belonging to R. Kinney, Esq., where you are now a welcome and honoured guest.
我按照“二人规则”算出她注定要成为朗米托牧场的女主人和兰乔·金尼绅士的夫人，你现在是我们受欢迎和尊敬的客人。

“I will say that old Cal wasn’t distinguished as a sheepman. —
“我得说老卡尔并不擅长养羊。 —

He was a little, old stoop-shouldered hombre about as big as a gun scabbard, with scraggy white whiskers, and condemned to the continuous use of language. —
他是个有点老态龙钟的小个子，就像枪套一样小，长着稀疏的白胡子，并不停地说话。 —

Old Cal was so obscure in his chosen profession that he wasn’t even hated by the cowmen. —
老卡尔在他选择的职业中如此默默无闻，以至于连牛仔们都不讨厌他。 —

And when a sheepman don’t get eminent enough to acquire the hostility of the cattlemen, he is mighty apt to die unwept and considerably unsung.
当一个牧羊人不足以引起牛仔们的敌意时，他很可能会毫无声名地离世。

“But that Marilla girl was a benefit to the eye. —
不过，那个玛丽拉女孩是个令人赏心悦目的姑娘， —

And she was the most elegant kind of a housekeeper. —
而且她是一位非常优雅的管家。 —

I was the nearest neighbour, and I used to ride over to the Double-Elm anywhere from nine to sixteen times a week with fresh butter or a quarter of venison or a sample of new sheep-dip just as a frivolous excuse to see Marilla. —
我是最近的邻居，经常骑马去双榆树牧场，每周大概九到十六次，带上新鲜黄油、一刻钟的鹿肉，或者一瓶新羊毛蘸液，只是为了无聊地找个借口去看玛丽拉。 —

Marilla and me got to be extensively inveigled with each other, and I was pretty sure I was going to get my rope around her neck and lead her over to the Lomito. —
玛丽拉和我之间渐渐产生了深厚的感情，我相当有把握能把她拐到洛米托牧场去。 —

Only she was so everlastingly permeated with filial sentiments toward old Cal that I never could get her to talk about serious matters.
可是她对老卡尔总是怀着孝顺的感情，我从来就没能把她诱导谈论起严肃的事情来。

“You never saw anybody in your life that was as full of knowledge and had less sense than old Cal. He was advised about all the branches of information contained in learning, and he was up to all the rudiments of doctrines and enlightenment. —
在你的一生中从未见过像老卡尔那样既充满知识又缺乏常识的人。他对学问中包含的各个分支都了如指掌，并且对教义和启蒙的基础知识也非常熟悉。 —

You couldn’t advance him any ideas on any of the parts of speech or lines of thought. —
无论你对任何语法部分或思维线索提出什么想法，他都不会进一步探讨。 —

You would have thought he was a professor of the weather and politics and chemistry and natural history and the origin of derivations. —
你会认为他是天气、政治、化学、自然历史和词源起源的教授。 —

Any subject you brought up old Cal could give you an abundant synopsis of it from the Greek root up to the time it was sacked and on the market.
无论你提出什么主题，老卡尔都可以给你详尽的概述，从希腊词根一直到它上市前被洗劫一空的时间。

“One day just after the fall shearing I rides over to the Double-Elm with a lady’s magazine about fashions for Marilla and a scientific paper for old Cal.
“一天，在秋季修剪毛后，我骑着小马来到双榆牧场，给玛丽拉带去一本女性时尚杂志，给老卡尔带去一份科学论文。

“While I was tying my pony to a mesquite, out runs Marilla, ‘tickled to death’ with some news that couldn’t wait.
“当我把小马拴在槐树上时，玛丽拉兴冲冲地跑了出来，因为有些不能等的消息，她高兴得面红耳赤。

”‘Oh, Rush,’ she says, all flushed up with esteem and gratification, ‘what do you think! —
“哦，拉什，”她激动地说道，满脸自豪和满足感， “你猜猜看！ —

Dad’s going to buy me a piano. Ain’t it grand? —
爸爸要给我买一架钢琴。真是太棒了！ —

I never dreamed I’d ever have one.”
我从未梦想过我会有一架自己的钢琴。

”‘It’s sure joyful,’ says I. ‘I always admired the agreeable uproar of a piano. —
“真是令人欢喜。”我说道，“我一直很喜欢钢琴那种愉快的喧闹声。” —

It’ll be lots of company for you. —
“它会给你带来很多陪伴。 —

That’s mighty good of Uncle Cal to do that.’
卡尔叔叔真是太好了。”

”‘I’m all undecided,’ says Marilla, ‘between a piano and an organ. —
“我还在犹豫不决。”玛丽拉说道，“我无法决定是买钢琴还是风琴。 —

A parlour organ is nice.’
客厅里的风琴也不错。”

”‘Either of ‘em,’ says I, ‘is first-class for mitigating the lack of noise around a sheep-ranch. —
“两种乐器都很好，”我说道，“可以很好地弥补在养羊场时缺乏噪音的问题。” —

For my part,’ I says, ‘I shouldn’t like anything better than to ride home of an evening and listen to a few waltzes and jigs, with somebody about your size sitting on the piano- stool and rounding up the notes.’
“就我而言，”我说道，“我再也找不到比在傍晚骑马回家，听着几支华尔兹和小快步，在钢琴凳上坐着一个像你这样大小的人，讲完乐曲结尾的东西了。”

”‘Oh, hush about that,’ says Marilla, ‘and go on in the house. —
“别再提了。”玛丽拉说道，“进去屋子里吧。 —

Dad hasn’t rode out to-day. —
爸爸今天没出去骑马。 —

He’s not feeling well.’
他不舒服。”

“Old Cal was inside, lying on a cot. —
卡尔老先生在屋里躺在床上。 —

He had a pretty bad cold and cough. I stayed to supper.
他感冒得挺厉害，还咳嗽。我留下来吃晚饭。

”‘Going to get Marilla a piano, I hear,’ says I to him.
“听说你要给玛丽拉买架钢琴。”我对他说道。

”‘Why, yes, something of the kind, Rush,’ says he. —
”‘是的，兰什，确实是这样，”他说。 —

‘She’s been hankering for music for a long spell; —
“她渴望听音乐已经有一段很长时间了； —

and I allow to fix her up with something in that line right away. —
我打算马上给她弄一个这样的东西。今年秋天， —

The sheep sheared six pounds all round this fall; —
这些绵羊剪了六磅的毛； —

and I’m going to get Marilla an instrument if it takes the price of the whole clip to do it.’
如果需要花掉整个毛片的钱，我也会给玛丽拉买一个乐器的。”

”‘Star wayno,’ says I. ‘The little girl deserves it.’
“‘一定是的，星辰沃诺，”我说。 “小女孩应该得到这样的东西。”

”‘I’m going to San Antone on the last load of wool,’ says Uncle Cal, ‘and select an instrument for her myself.’
”‘我要在最后一束羊毛上去圣安东尼奥，” 卡尔舅舅说。 “我要亲自为她挑选一个乐器。”

”‘Wouldn’t it be better,’ I suggests, ‘to take Marilla along and let her pick out one that she likes?’
”‘带玛丽拉同去让她自己挑选一个不是更好吗？” 我建议。

“I might have known that would set Uncle Cal going. —
我应该知道这会引起卡尔舅舅的反应。 —

Of course, a man like him, that knew everything about everything, would look at that as a reflection on his attainments.
当然，像他这样什么事情都知道个一清二楚的人会觉得这是对他造诣的一种贬低。

”‘No, sir, it wouldn’t,’ says he, pulling at his white whiskers. —
”‘不，先生，不是的。” 他拉着他的白胡须说。 —

‘There ain’t a better judge of musical instruments in the whole world than what I am. —
“世界上没有比我更好的乐器评判者了。 —

I had an uncle,’ says he, ‘that was a partner in a piano-factory, and I’ve seen thousands of ‘em put together. —
他说：“我有个叔叔，他是一个钢琴厂的合伙人，我见过成千上万的钢琴组装起来。” —

I know all about musical instruments from a pipe-organ to a corn-stalk fiddle. —
我对乐器了如指掌，从风琴到玉米秆小提琴都难不倒我。 —

There ain’t a man lives, sir, that can tell me any news about any instrument that has to be pounded, blowed, scraped, grinded, picked, or wound with a key.’
没有一个人可以告诉我关于敲击、吹奏、刮奏、研磨、拨奏或用键盘调节的任何乐器的新闻，先生。

”‘You get me what you like, dad,’ says Marilla, who couldn’t keep her feet on the floor from joy. —
“‘你给我拿你喜欢的东西，爸爸，”玛丽拉说，喜悦中连脚都离地了。 —

‘Of course you know what to select. —
‘当然你知道该选什么。 —

I’d just as lief it was a piano or a organ or what.’
我宁愿是一架钢琴或管风琴或其他什么东西。

”‘I see in St. Louis once what they call a orchestrion,’ says Uncle Cal, ‘that I judged was about the finest thing in the way of music ever invented. —
“‘我在圣路易斯见过一次他们称之为自动乐器的东西，我觉得那大概是有史以来最好的音乐发明之一。 —

But there ain’t room in this house for one. Anyway, I imagine they’d cost a thousand dollars. —
但是这个房子没有足够的空间放。不管怎么说，我猜它们得要一千美元。 —

I reckon something in the piano line would suit Marilla the best. —
我想钢琴之类的东西可能最适合玛丽拉了。 —

She took lessons in that respect for two years over at Birdstail. —
她在Birdstail那边学了两年。 —

I wouldn’t trust the buying of an instrument to anybody else but myself. —
我不会相信别人来买乐器，只信任自己。 —

I reckon if I hadn’t took up sheep-raising I’d have been one of the finest composers or piano- and-organ manufacturers in the world.’
我想如果我没有从事养羊业，我可能是世界上最优秀的作曲家或钢琴和风琴制造商之一。

“That was Uncle Cal’s style. —
“这是卡尔叔叔的风格。 —

But I never lost any patience with him, on account of his thinking so much of Marilla. —
但是我从来没有对他失去耐心，因为他非常珍视玛丽拉。” —

And she thought just as much of him. —
她对他的想法也是一样的。 —

He sent her to the academy over at Birdstail for two years when it took nearly every pound of wool to pay the expenses.
用来支付费用几乎用掉了每一磅羊毛，他把她送到了伯斯泰尔的学院上了两年。

“Along about Tuesday Uncle Cal put out for San Antone on the last wagonload of wool. —
“大概是在周二的时候，卡尔叔叔乘着最后一车羊毛去了圣安东尼奥。” —

Marilla’s uncle Ben, who lived in Birdstail, come over and stayed at the ranch while Uncle Cal was gone.
卡尔叔叔离开时，住在伯斯泰尔的玛丽拉的叔叔本过来在牧场住了一段时间。

“It was ninety miles to San Antone, and forty to the nearest railroad- station, so Uncle Cal was gone about four days. —
圣安东尼奥离这里有90英里，最近的火车站有40英里，所以卡尔叔叔大约离开了四天。 —

I was over at the Double-Elm when he came rolling back one evening about sundown. —
当他在一个傍晚的日落时分滚回来时，我正在Double-Elm牧场。 —

And up there in the wagon, sure enough, was a piano or a organ–we couldn’t tell which–all wrapped up in woolsacks, with a wagon-sheet tied over it in case of rain. —
在马车上，确实有一架钢琴或风琴-我们无法分辨出来-所有东西都用羊毛袋包裹着，车帆上系着一块布以防下雨。 —

And out skips Marilla, hollering, ‘Oh, oh!’ with her eyes shining and her hair a-flying. —
于是玛丽拉跳了出来，眼睛闪闪发光，头发乱飞，大叫：“哦，哦！” —

‘Dad–dad,’ she sings out, ‘have you brought it–have you brought it?’ –and it right there before her eyes, as women will do.
“爸爸，爸爸，”她唱着，“你把它带来了吗，你把它带来了吗？”她就在她的眼前，就像女人们常常会做的那样。

”‘Finest piano in San Antone,’ says Uncle Cal, waving his hand, proud. —
“‘圣安东尼奥最好的钢琴，’卡尔叔叔挥舞着手，自豪地说。 —

‘Genuine rosewood, and the finest, loudest tone you ever listened to. —
“正宗的红木制，你从未听过的最好、最响亮的音质。 —

I heard the storekeeper play it, and I took it on the spot and paid cash down.’
我听见店主弹奏过，我立刻拿下现金付款。”

“Me and Ben and Uncle Cal and a Mexican lifted it out of the wagon and carried it in the house and set it in a corner. —
“我、本和卡尔叔叔和一个墨西哥人把它从马车上拿了下来，搬进屋里放在角落里。 —

It was one of them upright instruments, and not very heavy or very big.
那是一架立式乐器，不是很重，也不是很大。

“And then all of a sudden Uncle Cal flops over and says he’s mighty sick. —
“然后卡尔叔叔突然跌倒了，说他病得很重。 —

He’s got a high fever, and he complains of his lungs. —
他发高烧，抱怨肺部疼痛。 —

He gets into bed, while me and Ben goes out to unhitch and put the horses in the pasture, and Marilla flies around to get Uncle Cal something hot to drink. —
他上床睡觉，而我和本出去解下马车，将马放到草地上，玛丽拉忙着给卡尔叔叔准备些热饮。 —

But first she puts both arms on that piano and hugs it with a soft kind of a smile, like you see kids doing with their Christmas toys.
但是她先把双臂搭在钢琴上，用一种温柔的微笑拥抱着它，就像你看到孩子们对待他们的圣诞礼物一样。

“When I came in from the pasture, Marilla was in the room where the piano was. —
“当我从牧场回来时，玛丽拉正在钢琴所在的房间里。 —

I could see by the strings and woolsacks on the floor that she had had it unwrapped. —
我可以看到地板上的绳子和羊毛袋，说明她已经把它解开了。 —

But now she was tying the wagon-sheet over it again, and there was a kind of solemn, whitish look on her face.
但现在她又把篷布重新绑在上面，脸上带着一种庄重的、苍白的表情。

”‘Ain’t wrapping up the music again, are you, Marilla?’ I asks. —
“‘你又要把音乐包起来了吗，玛丽拉？’我问道。 —

‘What’s the matter with just a couple of tunes for to see how she goes under the saddle?’
‘为什么不弹几首曲子看看它在鞍座下怎么样呢？’

”‘Not to-night, Rush,’ says she. —
“‘今晚不行，拉什，’她说。 —

‘I don’t want to play any to-night. Dad’s too sick. —
‘我不想今晚弹奏。爸爸太生病了。 —

Just think, Rush, he paid three hundred dollars for it –nearly a third of what the wool-clip brought!’
想想吧，拉什，他花了三百美元买下它——几乎是乌羊毛交易额的三分之一！’

”‘Well, it ain’t anyways in the neighbourhood of a third of what you are worth,’ I told her. —
“‘嘿，无论如何也不能有你值得的三分之一，’我告诉她。 —

‘And I don’t think Uncle Cal is too sick to hear a little agitation of the piano-keys just to christen the machine.
“‘我觉得卡尔叔叔不会因为一点点弹奏钢琴而不舒服，只是为了给这台机器点名吧。

”‘Not to-night, Rush,’ says Marilla, in a way that she had when she wanted to settle things.
“‘今晚不要，拉什，’玛丽拉说，她有一种想要解决问题的方式。

“But it seems that Uncle Cal was plenty sick, after all. —
“但看来卡尔叔叔真的病得很重。 —

He got so bad that Ben saddled up and rode over to Birdstail for Doc Simpson. —
他病得很厉害，本就骑马去伯斯泰尔找辛普森医生。 —

I stayed around to see if I’d be needed for anything.
我呆在这里看看是否需要我做些什么。

“When Uncle Cal’s pain let up on him a little he called Marilla and says to her: —
“当卡尔叔叔的疼痛稍微减轻了一些时，他叫住玛丽拉对她说： —

‘Did you look at your instrument, honey? And do you like it?’
‘亲爱的，你看过你的乐器了吗？你喜欢吗？’

”‘It’s lovely, dad,’ says she, leaning down by his pillow; —
“‘太可爱了，爸爸，’她靠在他的枕头旁说道； —

‘I never saw one so pretty. —
‘我从没见过这么漂亮的。 —

How dear and good it was of you to buy it for me!’
你买给我真是太好了！’

”‘I haven’t heard you play on it any yet,’ says Uncle Cal; ‘and I’ve been listening. —
“‘我还没听过你弹奏它呢，’卡尔叔叔说道；‘我一直在听着。 —

My side don’t hurt quite so bad now–won’t you play a piece, Marilla?’
我的肋骨不那么痛了，玛丽拉，你能弹个曲子吗？’

“But no; she puts Uncle Cal off and soothes him down like you’ve seen women do with a kid. —
“但是不；她把卡尔大叔拒之门外，像你见过的女人安抚孩子一样。” —

It seems she’s made up her mind not to touch that piano at present.
看起来她已经下定决心暂时不碰那台钢琴了。

“When Doc Simpson comes over he tells us that Uncle Cal has pneumonia the worst kind; —
“当辅导医师辛普森来的时候，他告诉我们卡尔大叔得的是最严重的肺炎； —

and as the old man was past sixty and nearly on the lift anyhow, the odds was against his walking on grass any more.
而且由于这位老人已经过了60岁，而且生命力本就不强，他能够踏上草地的几率已经很低了。

“On the fourth day of his sickness he calls for Marilla again and wants to talk piano. —
“在他生病的第四天，他再次叫了玛丽拉，并想谈谈钢琴的事情。 —

Doc Simpson was there, and so was Ben and Mrs. Ben, trying to do all they could.
辛普森医生在那里，本和本夫人也在，他们正尽力帮忙。

”‘I’d have made a wonderful success in anything connected with music,’ says Uncle Cal. ‘I got the finest instrument for the money in San Antone. —
“‘我在与音乐有关的任何事情上都可以取得巨大的成功，’卡尔大叔说道，‘我在圣安东尼奥市为这台钢琴花的钱是物有所值的。 —

Ain’t that piano all right in every respect, Marilla?’
玛丽拉说道，‘这台钢琴完全没问题。它的音色是我听过的最好的。但是你不觉得你现在可以睡一会儿了吗，爸爸？’

”‘It’s just perfect, dad,’ says she. —
“‘不，我不觉得， —

‘It’s got the finest tone I ever heard. —
’卡尔大叔说道，‘我想听听那台钢琴。 —

But don’t you think you could sleep a little while now, dad?’
我不相信你甚至都没试过它。

”‘No, I don’t,’ says Uncle Cal. ‘I want to hear that piano. —
“‘它简直完美无缺，’她说道。‘它的音色太棒了。 —

I don’t believe you’ve even tried it yet. —
但是你不觉得你现在可以睡一会儿了吗，爸爸？’ —

I went all the way to San Antone and picked it out for you myself. —
我特意去了圣安东尼奥，亲自为你挑选了这个。 —

It took a third of the fall clip to buy it; —
这可花了我整整三分之一的秋天收获。 —

but I don’t mind that if it makes my good girl happier. —
但是如果这能让我乖乖女更开心的话，我并不介意。 —

Won’t you play a little bit for dad, Marilla?’
玛里拉，你能给爸爸弹一点吗？

“Doc Simpson beckoned Marilla to one side and recommended her to do what Uncle Cal wanted, so it would get him quieted. —
“Doc Simpson示意玛里拉走到一边，并建议她按照卡尔大叔的要求去做，这样他会安静下来。 —

And her uncle Ben and his wife asked her, too.
并且她的大伯本和大婶也问过她。

”‘Why not hit out a tune or two with the soft pedal on?’ I asks Marilla. ‘Uncle Cal has begged you so often. —
“我对玛里拉说，’为什么不弹几首用软踏板的曲子呢？卡尔大叔这么多次都求过你了。 —

It would please him a good deal to hear you touch up the piano he’s bought for you. —
听到你弹奏那个他给你买的钢琴，一定会让他非常高兴。 —

Don’t you think you might?’
你觉得可能吗？

“But Marilla stands there with big tears rolling down from her eyes and says nothing. —
“可是玛里拉站在那里，眼泪扑簌簌地流下来，一言不发。 —

And then she runs over and slips her arm under Uncle Cal’s neck and hugs him tight.
然后她跑过去，把胳膊伸到卡尔大叔的脖子下，紧紧地拥抱着他。

”‘Why, last night, dad,’ we heard her say, ‘I played it ever so much. —
“我们听到她说，‘昨晚，爸爸，我弹了好多次了。 —

Honest–I have been playing it. —
真的，我一直在弹。 —

And it’s such a splendid instrument, you don’t know how I love it. —
这真是个好架子琴，你不知道我有多喜欢它。 —

Last night I played “Bonnie Dundee” and the “Anvil Polka” and the “Blue Danube”–and lots of pieces. —
昨晚我演奏了《邦尼·邓迪》和《铁砧波尔卡》以及《蓝色多瑙河》，还有许多曲目。 —

You must surely have heard me playing a little, didn’t you, dad? —
爸爸，你肯定听过我弹了一点吧？ —

I didn’t like to play loud when you was so sick.’
你病得这么重，我不想弹得太大声。

”‘Well, well,’ says Uncle Cal, ‘maybe I did. —
“哦，好吧，”卡尔叔叔说，”也许我是弹过了。 —

Maybe I did and forgot about it. —
也许我弹过了但忘记了。 —

My head is a little cranky at times. —
有时候我有点脑瓜子不大正常。 —

I heard the man in the store play it fine. —
我在商店里听到一个人演奏得很好。 —

I’m mighty glad you like it, Marilla. —
马丽拉，你喜欢真是太好了。 —

Yes, I believe I could go to sleep a while if you’ll stay right beside me till I do.’
是的，如果你一直待在我身边，我相信我能睡一会儿。

“There was where Marilla had me guessing. —
马丽拉就是让我猜不透了。 —

Much as she thought of that old man, she wouldn’t strike a note on that piano that he’d bought her. —
尽管她很看重那个老头，但她绝对不会弹她那台由他买给她的钢琴。 —

I couldn’t imagine why she told him she’d been playing it, for the wagon-sheet hadn’t ever been off of it since she put it back on the same day it come. —
我无法想象她为什么告诉他她一直在弹奏，因为自那天她把那块车篷盖回去后，它从来没被揭开过。 —

I knew she could play a little anyhow, for I’d once heard her snatch some pretty fair dance-music out of an old piano at the Charco Largo Ranch.
我知道她至少会弹一点，因为我曾听她在Charco Largo牧场的一架旧钢琴上弹奏过一些相当不错的舞曲。

“Well, in about a week the pneumonia got the best of Uncle Cal. They had the funeral over at Birdstail, and all of us went over. —
“嗯，大约一周后，肺炎占据了卡尔叔叔的上风。他们在伯德斯泰尔举行了葬礼，我们所有人都去了那里。 —

I brought Marilla back home in my buckboard. —
我开着我的牛车把玛丽拉带回家。 —

Her uncle Ben and his wife were going to stay there a few days with her.
她的本·叔叔和他的妻子打算在那里陪她待几天。

“That night Marilla takes me in the room where the piano was, while the others were out on the gallery.
“那天晚上，当大家都在走廊外时，玛丽拉带我进了那间有钢琴的房间。

”‘Come here, Rush,’ says she; ‘I want you to see this now.’
“’过来，Rush，’她说；’我想让你现在看看这个。’

“She unties the rope, and drags off the wagon-sheet.
她解开绳子，拖掉了货车的帆布。

“If you ever rode a saddle without a horse, or fired off a gun that wasn’t loaded, or took a drink out of an empty bottle, why, then you might have been able to scare an opera or two out of the instrument Uncle Cal had bought.
“如果你曾经骑过一匹没有马的马鞍，或者开过一把没有子弹的枪，或者从一个空瓶子里喝过酒，那么你可能能从卡尔叔叔买的这个乐器里弹出一两个乐曲。

“Instead of a piano, it was one of the machines they’ve invented to play the piano with. —
“它不是一架钢琴，而是一种用来演奏钢琴的机器。 —

By itself it was about as musical as the holes of a flute without the flute.
它本身的音乐性就如同没有长笛的长笛孔一样。

“And that was the piano that Uncle Cal had selected; —
“这就是卡尔叔叔挑选的钢琴； —

and standing by it was the good, fine, all-wool girl that never let him know it.
而站在旁边的则是那个好、优秀的、绝对可靠的女孩，她从不让他知道。”

“And what you heard playing a while ago,” concluded Mr. Kinney, “was that same deputy-piano machine; —
“而你刚才听到的那个声音，”金尼先生总结道，“就是同一个副钢琴机； —

only just at present it’s shoved up against a six-hundred-dollar piano that I bought for Marilla as soon as we was married.”
只不过现在它被推到了一个我为玛丽拉买的六百美元的钢琴旁边，我们刚结婚的时候买的。”