I never cared especially for feuds, believing them to be even more overrated products of our country than grapefruit, scrapple, or honeymoons. —
我从不特别在乎纷争，认为它们比我国的葡萄柚、油渣肉或蜜月更加被高估。 —

Nevertheless, if I may be allowed, I will tell you of an Indian Territory feud of which I was press-agent, camp-follower, and inaccessory during the fact.
然而，如果我被允许的话，我将告诉你一个我曾经作为宣传代理人、跟随者和某事件的辅助人员参与过的印第安领土的纷争。

I was on a visit to Sam Durkee’s ranch, where I had a great time falling off unmanicured ponies and waving my bare hand at the lower jaws of wolves about two miles away. —
我正在参观萨姆·德基的牧场，在那里，我玩得很开心，经常从没有修饰过的小马上摔下来，对着大约两英里外的狼敞开双手。 —

Sam was a hardened person of about twenty- five, with a reputation for going home in the dark with perfect equanimity, though often with reluctance.
萨姆是一个大约二十五岁的坚强的人，以在黑暗中坦然地（尽管常常勉强）回家而闻名。

Over in the Creek Nation was a family bearing the name of Tatum. I was told that the Durkees and Tatums had been feuding for years. —
在克里克族领地上，有一个叫做泰特姆的家族。据我所知，德基家族和泰特姆家族多年来一直在纷争中。 —

Several of each family had bitten the grass, and it was expected that more Nebuchadnezzars would follow. —
两个家族中的一些人已经离世，预计将会有更多的人离世。 —

A younger generation of each family was growing up, and the grass was keeping pace with them. —
每个家族都有一代年轻人在成长，而草地也在与他们同步生长。 —

But I gathered that they had fought fairly; —
但我了解到他们是公平战斗的； —

that they had not lain in cornfields and aimed at the division of their enemies’ suspenders in the back – partly, perhaps, because there were no cornfields, and nobody wore more than one suspender. —
他们没有躺在玉米地里，瞄准敌人背后的吊带——这可能部分原因是因为那里没有玉米地，也没有人戴多条吊带。 —

Nor had any woman or child of either house ever been harmed. —
两家中的任何妇女或儿童从未受到伤害。 —

In those days – and you will find it so yet – their women were safe.
在那些日子里，而且你现在仍可发现，他们的女人是安全的。

Sam Durkee had a girl. (If it were an all-fiction magazine that I expect to sell this story to, I should say, “Mr. Durkee rejoiced in a fiancée.” ) Her name was Ella Baynes. They appeared to be devoted to each other, and to have perfect confidence in each other, as all couples do who are and have or aren’t and haven’t. —
山姆·德基有一个女孩。（如果这是一本全都是虚构故事的杂志，我会说，“德基先生为他的未婚妻感到高兴。”她的名字叫艾拉·贝恩斯。他们看起来彼此非常依恋，对彼此完全信任，就像所有那些已经是或者不是和没有的夫妇一样。 —

She was tolerably pretty, with a heavy mass of brown hair that helped her along. —
她长得相貌尚可，有一头浓密的棕色头发，让她更加美丽。 —

He introduced me to her, which seemed not to lessen her preference for him; —
他把我介绍给了她，但这似乎并没有减少她对他的偏好； —

so I reasoned that they were surely soul-mates.
所以我推断他们肯定是心灵伴侣。

Miss Baynes lived in Kingfisher, twenty miles from the ranch. —
贝恩斯小姐住在金鱼镇，离牧场有20英里远。 —

Sam lived on a gallop between the two places.
山姆住在两个地方之间的一个加骑速度上。

One day there came to Kingfisher a courageous young man, rather small, with smooth face and regular features. —
有一天，有个勇敢的年轻人来到金翡翠，他个子很矮，脸部光滑，五官端正。 —

He made many inquiries about the business of the town, and especially of the inhabitants cognominally. —
他询问了镇上的生意以及住户的情况。 —

He said he was from Muscogee, and he looked it, with his yellow shoes and crocheted four-in-hand. —
他说他来自马斯科吉市，看起来确实是这样，因为他穿着黄鞋，打着编织的领带。 —

I met him once when I rode in for the mail. —
我有一次在去拿邮件的时候遇到了他。 —

He said his name was Beverly Travers, which seemed rather improbable.
他说他的名字叫贝弗利·特拉弗斯，这个名字似乎不太真实。

There were active times on the ranch, just then, and Sam was too busy to go to town often. —
那时牧场上很忙，山姆忙得没时间经常去镇上。 —

As an incompetent and generally worthless guest, it devolved upon me to ride in for little things such as post cards, barrels of flour, baking-powder, smoking-tobacco, and – letters from Ella.
作为一个无能和一无是处的客人，我被指派去买一些小东西，比如明信片、一桶面粉、发酵粉、烟草 - 还有艾拉的信。

One day, when I was messenger for half a gross of cigarette papers and a couple of wagon tires, I saw the alleged Beverly Travers in a yellow-wheeled buggy with Ella Baynes, driving about town as ostentatiously as the black, waxy mud would permit. —
有一天，当我为半打烟纸和一对货车轮胎充当信使时，我看到了传说中的贝弗利·特拉弗斯，他和埃拉·贝恩斯一起坐在一辆黄轮马车上，在城里如黑色的黏土一样浓烈地炫耀。 —

I knew that this information would bring no balm of Gilead to Sam’s soul, so I refrained from including it in the news of the city that I retailed on my return. —
我知道这个消息对山姆的心灵不会带来任何治愈，所以我没有在我回去之后的城市新闻中包含这个消息。 —

But on the next afternoon an elongated ex-cowboy of the name of Simmons, an oldtime pal of Sam’s, who kept a feed store in Kingfisher, rode out to the ranch and rolled and burned many cigarettes before he would talk. —
但在第二天下午，山姆的一个名叫西蒙斯的身材高大的前牛仔朋友，他在金费舍经营着一家饲料店，骑马来到农场，并在他说话之前卷了很多烟并点燃。 —

When he did make oration, his words were these:
当他开始发言时，他说的是这些话：

“Say, Sam, there’s been a description of a galoot miscallin’ himself Bevel-edged Travels impairing the atmospheric air of Kingfisher for the past two weeks. —
“听着，山姆，有一个自称为贝弗利·特拉弗斯的家伙在金费舍空气中徘徊了两个星期。 —

You know who he was? He was not otherwise than Ben Tatum, from the Creek Nation, son of old Gopher Tatum that your Uncle Newt shot last February. —
你知道他是谁吗？他不是别人，就是本·塔图姆，来自克里克族，是你叔叔纽特去年二月打死的猪鼠塔图姆的儿子。” —

You know what he done this morning? He killed your brother Lester – shot him in the co’t-house yard.”
你知道他今早做了什么吗？他杀了你的兄弟莱斯特 - 在法院院子里射死了他。

I wondered if Sam had heard. He pulled a twig from a mesquite bush, chewed it gravely, and said:
我想知道山姆是否听说了。他从一棵刺柏灌木丛上拔下一根枝条，认真地咀嚼着，说道：

“He did, did he? He killed Lester?”
“他真的杀了莱斯特？”

“The same,” said Simmons. “And he did more. —
“没错，”西蒙斯说道，“他还做了更多的事情。 —

He run away with your girl, the same as to say Miss Ella Baynes. —
他带走了你的女孩，就是说埃拉·贝恩斯小姐。 —

I thought you might like to know, so I rode out to impart the information.”
我想你可能想知道这个消息，所以我骑马出来告诉你。”

“I am much obliged, Jim,” said Sam, taking the chewed twig from his mouth. —
“谢谢你，吉姆，”山姆说着，从嘴里取下了咀嚼过的树枝。 —

“Yes, I’m glad you rode Out. Yes, I’m right glad.”
“是的，我很高兴你骑过来。是的，我真的很高兴。”

“Well, I’ll be ridin’ back, I reckon. That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats. —
“嗯，我想我该骑回去了。我留在饲料店里的那个小伙子连干草和燕麦都分不清楚。” —

He shot Lester in the back.”
“他从背后射了莱斯特。”

“Shot him in the back?”
“背后射了他？”

“Yes, while he was hitchin’ his hoss.”
“是的，在他拴马的时候。”

“I’m much obliged, Jim.”
“非常感谢你，吉姆。”

“I kind of thought you’d like to know as soon as you could.”
“我想你可能想尽快知道。”

“Come in and have some coffee before you ride back, Jim?”
“进来喝杯咖啡再骑回去吧，吉姆？”

“Why, no, I reckon not; I must get back to the store.”
“为什么，不，我猜不是；我必须回到商店去。”

“And you say – “
“那你说——”

“Yes, Sam. Everybody seen ‘em drive away together in a buckboard, with a big bundle, like clothes, tied up in the back of it. —
“是的，山姆。每个人都看到他们一起坐着一辆北美布车离开了，车后面有一个大包裹，像是衣物，被绑在车上。” —

He was drivin’ the team he brought over with him from Muscogee. —
“他开着他从马斯科吉带来的马队。” —

They’ll be hard to overtake right away.”
“他们很难立即追上。”

“And which – “
“还有哪个——”

“I was goin’ on to tell you. They left on the Guthrie road; —
“我要告诉你。他们走的是古斯里路；” —

but there’s no tellin’ which forks they’ll take – you know that.”
“但是没法确定他们会走哪个岔路口——你知道的。”

“All right, Jim; much obliged.”
“好的，吉姆；非常感谢。”

“You’re welcome, Sam.”
“不客气，山姆。”

Simmons rolled a cigarette and stabbed his pony with both heels. —
西蒙斯卷了一支烟，用双脚刺激着他的小马。 —

Twenty yards away he reined up and called back:
二十码远的地方他勒住缰绳回头喊道：

“You don’t want no – assistance, as you might say?”
“你不需要——帮助，可以这么说吗？”

“Not any, thanks.”
“不需要，谢谢。”

“I didn’t think you would. Well, so long!”
“我就知道。好了，再见！”

Sam took out and opened a bone-handled pocket-knife and scraped a dried piece of mud from his left boot. —
山姆拿出并打开了骨柄折刀，从他的左鞋子上刮下一块干掉的泥浆。 —

I thought at first he was going to swear a vendetta on the blade of it, or recite “The Gipsy’s Curse.” The few feuds I had ever seen or read about usually opened that way. —
起初我以为他要在刀上发誓报仇，或者念出《吉普赛人的诅咒》。我曾见过或读过的几场冲突大多是以这种方式开始的。 —

This one seemed to be presented with a new treatment. —
这一次似乎是以一种新的方式展现出来。 —

Thus offered on the stage, it would have been hissed off, and one of Belasco’s thrilling melodramas demanded instead.
如果这在舞台上呈现，它肯定会遭到嘘声，而要求上演贝拉斯科惊险的音乐剧。

“I wonder,” said Sam, with a profoundly thoughtful expression, “if the cook has any cold beans left over!”
“我想知道，”山姆带着深思的表情说道，” 厨师还有剩下的冷豆吗！”

He called Wash, the Negro cook, and finding that he had some, ordered him to heat up the pot and make some strong coffee. —
他叫来了黑人厨师沃什，并发现他还有一些，于是命令他把锅烧热并煮些浓咖啡。 —

Then we went into Sam’s private room, where he slept, and kept his armoury, dogs, and the saddles of his favourite mounts. —
然后我们进入山姆的私人房间，他在那里睡觉，保管着他的军火库、狗和他最喜欢的鞍具。 —

He took three or four six-shooters out of a bookcase and began to look them over, whistling “The Cowboy’s Lament” abstractedly. —
他从书架上拿出三四把六连发手枪，开始检查它们，一边心不在焉地哼着《牛仔的悲歌》。 —

Afterward he ordered the two best horses on the ranch saddled and tied to the hitching-post.
之后，他下令将牧场上最好的两匹马套上鞍挂在系马桩上。

Now, in the feud business, in all sections of the country, I have observed that in one particular there is a delicate but strict etiquette belonging. —
现在，在全国的各个地方，我注意到 feuds（家族宿怨）领域中有一个微妙但严格的礼仪。 —

You must not mention the word or refer to the subject in the presence of a feudist. —
你不能在宿怨者面前提及这个词或者涉及这个话题。 —

It would be more reprehensible than commenting upon the mole on the chin of your rich aunt. —
那将比评论你富裕姨妈下巴上的胎记更令人不齿。 —

I found, later on, that there is another unwritten rule, but I think that belongs solely to the West.
我后来发现，这里还有另一条不成文的规定，但我认为这仅适用于西部。

It yet lacked two hours to supper-time; but in twenty minutes Sam and I were plunging deep into the reheated beans, hot coffee, and cold beef.
离晚饭时间还有两个小时；但在二十分钟内，山姆和我都陷入了热豆子、热咖啡和冷牛肉之中。

Nothing like a good meal before a long ride,” said Sam. “Eat hearty.”
在长途骑行之前何止一顿好饭，”山姆说道，”尽情享用吧。”

I had a sudden suspicion.
我突然有了一个怀疑。

“Why did you have two horses saddled?” I asked.
“你为什么要套鞍两匹马呢？” 我问道。

“One, two – one, two,” said Sam. “You can count, can’t you?”
“一，二 – 一，二”，山姆说。”你会数数，对吧？”

His mathematics carried with it a momentary qualm and a lesson. —
他的数学带来了一阵短暂的不安和一堂课。 —

The thought had not occurred to him that the thought could possibly occur to me not to ride at his side on that red road to revenge and justice. —
他从未想到，我可能会在复仇与正义的红色道路上选择不和他并肩前行的想法。 —

It was the higher calculus. I was booked for the trail. —
这是高级微积分。我被预订参加审判。 —

I began to eat more beans.
我开始多吃豆子。

In an hour we set forth at a steady gallop eastward. —
一个小时后，我们稳定的疾驰向东。 —

Our horses were Kentucky-bred, strengthened by the mesquite grass of the west. —
我们的马是肯塔基马，以西部的豆科草强化。 —

Ben Tatum’s steeds may have been swifter, and he had a good lead; —
也许本·塔图姆的马更快，而且他领先一步。 —

but if he had heard the punctual thuds of the hoofs of those trailers of ours, born in the heart of feudland, he might have felt that retribution was creeping up on the hoof-prints of his dapper nags.
但如果他听到了我们这些来自仇恨之地的追踪者的蹄声，他可能会感到报应正悄悄地跟在他那炫耀的马蹄印后面。

I knew that Ben Tatum’s card to play was flight – flight until he came within the safer territory of his own henchmen and supporters. —
我知道本·塔图姆能够有所作为的底牌是逃跑-逃到他自己的手下和支持者所在的更安全的地方。 —

He knew that the man pursuing him would follow the trail to any end where it might lead.
他知道追踪他的人会一直沿着这条路径追踪到底。

During the ride Sam talked of the prospect for rain, of the price of beef, and of the musical glasses. —
骑行期间，山姆谈论了雨水的前景，牛肉的价格和音乐杯。 —

You would have thought he had never had a brother or a sweetheart or an enemy on earth. —
你会以为他从未有过一个兄弟、一个甜心或者一个地球上的敌人。 —

There are some subjects too big even for the words in the “Unabridged.” Knowing this phase of the feud code, but not having practised it sufficiently, I overdid the thing by telling some slightly funny anecdotes. —
有些主题太大，甚至连《不删减版》里的字词也无法表达。知道这阶段的争斗规则，但是没有足够练习，我把事情弄得过火了，讲了一些稍微有趣的轶事。 —

Sam laughed at exactly the right place – laughed with his mouth. —
萨姆在恰当的时候笑了——用嘴笑了。 —

When I caught sight of his mouth, I wished I had been blessed with enough sense of humour to have suppressed those anecdotes.
当我瞥见他的嘴时，我希望我足够有幽默感能够禁止那些轶事。

Our first sight of them we had in Guthrie. —
我们在古瑟里第一次看见他们。 —

Tired and hungry, we stumbled, unwashed, into a little yellow-pine hotel and sat at a table. —
疲惫而饥饿，我们踉踉跄跄地进了一家小黄松酒店，坐在一张桌子旁。 —

In the opposite corner we saw the fugitives. —
在对面的角落，我们看见了逃犯。 —

They were bent upon their meal, but looked around at times uneasily.
他们专注于进餐，但是不时心神不宁地四处看着。

The girl was dressed in brown - one of these smooth, half-shiny, silky-looking affairs with lace collar and cuffs, and what I believe they call an accordion-plaited skirt. —
那个女孩穿着一件棕色的衣服——一种看起来光滑、半亮的衣服，带着蕾丝领和袖口，以及一条他们称之为伸缩褶皱的裙子。 —

She wore a thick brown veil down to her nose, and a broad-brimmed straw hat with some kind of feathers adorning it. —
她戴着一顶带有羽毛装饰的宽沿草帽，薄纱面纱遮住了她的鼻子。 —

The man wore plain, dark clothes, and his hair was trimmed very short. He was such a man as you might see anywhere.
这个男人穿着朴素的黑色衣服，头发修剪得很短。他就是一个你可能在任何地方见到的人。

There they were – the murderer and the woman he had stolen. —
他们就在那里-凶手和他抢走的女人。 —

There we were – the rightful avenger, according to the code, and the supernumerary who writes these words.
我们就在那里-根据法则来说是正义的复仇者，以及写下这些话的临时演员。

For one time, at least, in the heart of the supernumerary there rose the killing instinct. —
至少在这个时刻，临时演员的内心中涌起了杀戮的本能。 —

For one moment he joined the force of combatants – orally.
有一刻他加入了作战人员的行列-口头上。

“What are you waiting for, Sam?” I said in a whisper. “Let him have it now!”
在低声说道：“你在等什么呢，山姆？”“现在就给他。”

Sam gave a melancholy sigh.
山姆发出了一个忧郁的叹息。

“You don’t understand; but he does,” he said. “He knows. —
他说：“你不理解，但他明白。他知道。 —

Mr. Tenderfoot, there’s a rule out here among white men in the Nation that you can’t shoot a man when he’s with a woman. —
先生，根据本土白人的规定，你不能在他与女人在一起的时候开枪。 —

I never knew it to be broke yet. You can’t do it. —
我从来没见过被违反过。你做不到。 —

You’ve got to get him in a gang of men or by himself. That’s why. He knows it, too. We all know. —
你必须让他与一群人在一起或者独自一个人。这就是原因。他也知道。我们都知道。 —

So, that’s Mr. Ben Tatum! One of the ‘pretty men’! —
所以，那就是本·塔图姆先生！一个“帅气的男人”之一！ —

I’ll cut him out of the herd before they leave the hotel, and regulate his account!”
在他们离开酒店之前，我会把他从人群中割离出来，并控制他的账户！

After supper the flying pair disappeared quickly. —
晚饭后，这对飞行的情侣迅速消失了。 —

Although Sam haunted lobby and stairway and halls half the night, in some mysterious way the fugitives eluded him; —
尽管山姆整晚都在大厅、楼梯和走廊里游荡，但不知何种神秘的方式，逃亡者们还是躲过了他； —

and in the morning the veiled lady in the brown dress with the accordion-plaited skirt and the dapper young man with the close-clipped hair, and the buckboard with the prancing nags, were gone.
而早上，那个头戴面纱、穿着棕色连衣裙和打着手风琴褶边的女士，还有那个留着修剪整齐发型的时髦小伙子，还有那辆拉着腾跃的马的马车，都已经离开了。

It is a monotonous story, that of the ride; so it shall be curtailed. —
骑行的故事很单调，所以会降低篇幅。 —

Once again we overtook them on a road. We were about fifty yards behind. —
我们再次在一条道路上追上了他们。我们离他们大概有五十码。 —

They turned in the buckboard and looked at us; then drove on without whipping up their horses. —
他们转身看着我们，然后没有鞭策马儿，驱车前行。 —

Their safety no longer lay in speed. Ben Tatum knew. —
他们的安全不再依赖于速度。本·塔图姆知道。 —

He knew that the only rock of safety left to him was the code. —
他知道对他唯一的安全保障就是规矩。 —

There is no doubt that, had he been alone, the matter would have been settled quickly with Sam Durkee in the usual way; —
毫无疑问，如果他一个人的话，事情就会以通常的方式迅速解决，和山姆·德基一样； —

but he had something at his side that kept still the trigger-finger of both. —
但他的身边有一件东西，可以使双方的扳机保持静止。 —

It seemed likely that he was no coward.
看起来他很可能不是个懦夫。

So, you may perceive that woman, on occasions, may postpone instead of precipitating conflict between man and man. —
所以，你可以看出女人在某些场合上可能会推迟而不是加速人与人之间的冲突。 —

But not willingly or consciously. She is oblivious of codes.
但她并不是有意或有意识地这样做。她对规则毫不在意。

Five miles farther, we came upon the future great Western city of Chandler. —
再走五英里，我们来到了未来将会变成壮观西部城市的钱德勒。 —

The horses of pursuers and pursued were starved and weary. —
追逐者和被追逐者的马都饥肠辘辘、疲惫不堪。 —

There was one hotel that offered danger to man and entertainment to beast; —
有一家旅馆对于人来说带来危险，对于兽类来说提供娱乐； —

so the four of us met again in the dining room at the ringing of a bell so resonant and large that it had cracked the welkin long ago. —
所以我们四个人在钟声响起的时候再次在餐厅里见面，那声音悠远而响亮，已经在很久以前就裂开了天空。 —

The dining room was not as large as the one at Guthrie.
餐厅的大小没有格思里的那个大。

Just as we were eating apple pie – how Ben Davises and tragedy impinge upon each other! —
就在我们吃苹果派的时候——本·戴维斯和悲剧是如何相互影响的啊！ —

– I noticed Sam looking with keen intentness at our quarry where they were seated at a table across the room. —
——我注意到萨姆专注地盯着他们坐在房间另一边的一张桌子上的目标。 —

The girl still wore the brown dress with lace collar and cuffs, and the veil drawn down to her nose. —
女孩仍穿着带蕾丝领口和袖口的棕色连衣裙，头巾遮住她的鼻子。 —

The man bent over his plate, with his close cropped head held low.
那个男人低头俯身在自己的盘子上。

“There’s a code,” I heard Sam say, either to me or to himself, “that won’t let you shoot a man in the company of a woman; —
“有一个规矩，”我听到萨姆对我或自己说，“不能在女人陪伴下射杀一个男人； —

but, by thunder, there ain’t one to keep you from killing a woman in the company of a man!”
但是，见鬼，没有规矩可以阻止你在男人陪伴下杀死一个女人！”

And, quicker than my mind could follow his argument, he whipped a Colt’s automatic from under his left arm and pumped six bullets into the body that the brown dress covered – the brown dress with the lace collar and cuffs and the accordion-plaited skirt.
我发现他的论点比我思考的快，他从左臂底下拔出一把柯尔特自动手枪，向覆盖着棕色连衣裙的身体开了六枪-带着蕾丝领口和袖口以及皱褶裙摆的棕色连衣裙。

The young person in the dark sack suit, from whose head and from whose life a woman’s glory had been clipped, laid her head on her arms stretched upon the table; —
那个身穿暗色袋状西装的年轻人，头发和生活中被剪掉一部分女人的荣光，将头埋在放在餐桌上展开的双臂上； —

while people came running to raise Ben Tatum from the floor in his feminine masquerade that had given Sam the opportunity to set aside, technically, the obligations of the code.
当人们跑过来把本·塔图姆从地板上扶起时，在他女性装束的伪装下，给萨姆提供了摆脱，从技术上讲，规矩束缚的机会。