在森林中死去

二

　　她嫁给了吉克。有了一个男孩和女孩，但是那女孩死了。

　　她一心一意饲养牲畜，那就是她的工作。她在德国人那里曾经为他和他的妻子做饭。他妻子身体很壮实，臀部犹如水缸。大多数时间和她丈夫在地里一起干活。她为他们做饭，还要到牛厩里喂牛，以及养猪、养马、养鸡。作为小女孩的她，每天的每时每刻都要为了饲养牲畜而弄的精疲力竭。

　　She married Jake and had a son and daughter but the daughter died.

　　Then she settled down to feed stock. that was her job. At the German“s place she had cooked the food for the German and his wife. The wife was a strong woman with big hips and worked most of the time in the fields with her husband. She fed them and fed the cows in the barn， fed the pigs， the horses and the chickens. every moment of every day， as a young girl， was spent feeding something.

　　她嫁给吉克 格里姆斯还是必须饲养牲畜。她是一个瘦小的女人，结婚三、四年生下了二个孩子，使她纤弱的双肩弯了下来了。

　　Then she married Jake Grimes and he had to be fed. She was a slight thing， and when she had been married for three or four years， and after the two children were born， her slender shoulders became stooped.

　　在房屋周围，吉克有许多大狗。他的房屋在河边，旁边有一座已经废弃了的锯木厂。在他有一些瘦马卖的时候，可以不偷东西。他还有三、四头猪，一头牛，全部放养在住处左边的一小点土地上。吉克也干一点活。

　　Jake always had a lot of big dogs around the house， that stood near the unused sawmill near the creek. he was always trading horses when he wasn“t stealing something and had a lot of poor bony ones about. Also he kept three or four pigs and a cow. they were all pastured in the few acres left of the Grimes place and Jake did little enough work.

　　他为了准备打谷的事而负了债，拖了几年都一直没有还，人们不信任他，他们怕他会在晚上偷粮食。他不得不离开驻地去远处去找工作，但是耗费又太大，在冬天，他靠打猎和砍一点柴火到城附近去卖。在儿子长大了的时候，却也像他父亲那样，他们混在一起喝酒。他两人回家来，如果在屋里没有什么东西可以吃，老家伙就朝老妇头上打去。她本来仅有几只小鸡，也不得不赶忙去杀一只。在她把所有的鸡都杀了，就再也没有鸡蛋可以拿到镇上去卖的时候，那末她能做什么呢？

　　he went into debt for a threshing outfit and ran it for several years， but it did not pay. People did not trust him. They were afraid he would steal the grain at night. He had to go a long way off to get work and it cost too much to get there. In the winter he hunted and cut a little fire-wood， to be sold in some near-by town. when the son grew up he was just like the father. They got drunk together. If there wasn“t anything to eat in the house when they came home the old man gave his old woman a cut over the head. She had a few chickens of her own and had to kill one of them in a hurry. when they were all killed she wouldn”t have any eggs to sell when she went to town， and then what would she do？

　　她不得不为了得到饲料而策划她的生活。弄到饲料来喂猪，猪才长得壮，到秋天才能屠宰。等杀了猪，她丈夫把大多数肉拿到城里去卖。如果他不去，首先就是儿子去。有时他们会打起架来。老妇就只有站在一边发抖。

　　She had to scheme all her life about getting things fed， getting the pigs fed so they would grow fat and could be butchered in the Fall. When they were butchered her husband took most of the meat off to town and sold it. If he did not do it first the boy did. They fought sometimes and when they fought the old woman stood aside trembling.

　　她有一个沉默寡言的习惯，无论如何也不会改变。她还不到40岁，看上去就开始老了。有时，丈夫和儿子两个人出去，或者卖马，或者喝酒，或者打猎，或者偷窃去的时候，她单独一个人在房屋边和谷仓周围喃喃自语。

　　She had got the habit of silence anyway-that was fixed. Sometimes， when she began to look old-she wasn“t forty yet-and when the husband and son were both off， trading horses or drinking or hunting or stealing， she went around the house and the barnyard， muttering to herself.

　　她的问题是如何可以弄到一点什么东西做饲料。必须喂养狗。谷仓里也没有足够的饲草来喂马和喂牛。如果她不喂鸡，鸡怎么会下蛋，没有蛋拿去卖，她又怎么能进城换东西。所以她必须有使这个家维持下去的东西。

　　How was she going to get everything fed？-that was her problem. The dogs had to be fed. There wasn“t enough hay in the barn for the horses and the cow. If she didn”t feed the chickens how could they lay eggs？ Without eggs to sell how could she get things in town， things she had to have to keep the life of farm going？

　　她和她丈夫结婚不久，孩子出生后，她丈夫就继续出远门去了。她也不知道他去那里去了。有时出去一星期。孩子长大以后，他们有时两个一起出去。把她留在家里，是让她解决各种各样的问题。但是她没有钱。冬天到来的时候，她必须采集树枝做燃料，还不得不留下很少的谷子作牲畜饲料。

　　That hadn“t lasted long after their marriage and after the babies came. Where he went on his long trips she did not know. Sometimes he was gone from home for weeks， and after the boy grew up they went off together. They left everything at home for her to manage and she had no money. When it was Winter she had to gather sticks of wood for her fire， had to try to keep the stick fed with very little grain.

　　在马房里，牲畜饥俄地呼喊着她，狗也跟着她转。在冬天里，鸡下蛋也少了，鸡挤在马房的角落里。她守着这些鸡下蛋，因为在冬天里，如果鸡在马房里下蛋，鸡蛋找不到，蛋会被冻破。

　　The stock in the barn cried to her hungrily， the dogs followed her about. In the Winter the hens laid few enough eggs. They huddled in the corners of the barn and she kept watching them. If a hen lays an egg in the barn in the Winter and you do not find it， it freezes and breaks.

　　在冬季里，有一天，这个老妇人带着很少一点鸡蛋去镇上。狗在她后面跟着她。将近下午三点钟她才动身。天上不停地下着大雪。由于好几天来她的心情都不好，她去城里的一路上嘀咕着。她只穿着很单薄的衣服，一路上弯着腰走着。

　　在家里她有一只装鸡蛋的米袋藏在墙角，虽然鸡蛋不多，但是冬天的鸡蛋贵，她要用这些鸡蛋换回一些腌猪肉，一点糖和一些咖啡。有了它，可能会使屠户给她一卦猪肝。

　　One day in Winter the old woman went off to town with a few eggs and the dogs followed her. She did not get started until nearly three o“clock and the snow was heavy. She hadn”t been feeling very well for several days and so she went muttering along， scantily clad， her shoulders stooped. She had an old grain bag in which she carried her eggs， tucked away down in the bottom. There weren“t many of them， but in Winter the price of eggs is up. She would get a little meat in exchange for the eggs， some salt pork， a little sugar， and some coffee perhaps. It might be the butcher would give her a piece of liver

　　这是好长时间以来的第一次，无论谁都和她友好的讲话。当她进到屠户的铺子里的时候，只有屠户一个人在里面。屠户为见到这个看来有病的老妇人还出来为生活奔波而烦恼。这天天气很冷，下着大雪。下午，雪停了一会儿，现在又纷纷扬扬地下起来了。屠户对她谈到她丈夫和儿子的一些丑事，臭骂了他们一顿。屠户在对她说这些话的时候，她凝视着他，她的眼里显出温存而惊奇的眼神。他说，如果她丈夫或儿子沾一下牛肝或带碎肉的骨头，那么他会把这些东西收起来也不给他们。要看着他们饿死。

　　It was the first time any one had spoken to her in a friendly way for a long time. The butcher was alone in his shop when she came in and was annoyed by the thought of such a sick-looking old woman out on such a day. It was bitter cold and the snow， that had let up during the afternoon， was falling again. The butcher said something about her husband and her son ， swore at theme， and the old woman stared at him， a look of mild surprise in her eyes as he talked. He said that if either the husband or the son were going to get any of the liver or the heavy bones with scraps of meat hanging to them that had put into the grain bag， he“d see him starve first.

　　饿死， 呃？对，人必须吃东西。马虽然不是货物， 但是也可能得卖掉。 可怜的瘦牛已经有三个月挤不出奶来了。

　　马、牛、猪、狗、人。

　　Starve， eh？ Well， things had to be fed. Men had to be fed， and horses that weren“t any good but maybe could be traded off， and the poor thin cow that hadn”t given any milk for three months.

　　Horses， cows， pigs， dogs， men.