We called him Old Yeller. The name had sort of two meanings. One was that his short hair was a dirty yellow. The other was that when he opened his mouth the sound he let out was more of a yell than a bark.
我們管它叫阿黃。阿黃這個名字有那麼兩層意思： 一是它那短短的狗毛呈灰黃色；二是它張口發出的聲音與其說是犬吠還不如說是狂叫。
I remember like yesterday how he strayed in out of nowhere to our log cabin on Birdsong Creek. He made me so mad at first that I wanted to kill him. Then，later，when I had to kill him，it was like having to shoot a friend. That’s how much I”d come to think of Old Yeller.
我對此事記憶猶新，就象昨天剛發生的一樣： 它不知從哪兒鑽了出來，溜進了我們鳥鳴河畔的小木屋。起先它使我火冒三丈，都想把它給宰了。可是，後來到了找不得不把它殺死時，就好象不得不槍殺一位朋友似的。可見我對阿黃的關注已經到了何等的程度了。
He came the year Papa and the other settlers had to go along the trail to Kansas. This was to get cash，a thing all Texans were short of in those years. We had plenty of grass，wood and water，wild game，and good ground for growing corn.
它來到我家的那年正好爸爸和其他的一些移民要沿著山間小道上堪薩斯去，為了去弄些現金，那年頭所有得克薩斯州的人都缺少這玩意兒。我們有大量的牧草，豐富的森林，充足的水源，還有不少野味以及大片種植玉米的肥沃土地。
“In fa ct，”as Papa told the others，“a ll we ne e d is mo ne y，a nd tha t we ca n ge t by s e lling our ca ttle in Ka ns a s .”
就象爸爸對別人說的那樣，“事實上，我們所需要的隻不過是錢。而錢呢，我們可以到堪薩斯去賣牛來換取。”
The men talked it over with each other and with the women. Kansas was more than six hundred miles north of our Texas hill country. It would take months to drive the cattle and then ride back home，and all that time the women and children would have to be left to look after themselves the best they could.
男人們互相商量，也和婦女們商量。堪薩斯在我們得克薩斯山區北麵六百多英裏遠的地方。把牛趕到那兒，然後騎馬回來得花幾個月的時間。在這段時間裏，婦女和孩子們隻得留在家裏，盡可能自己照顧自己了。
Still，they needed money，and they decided to go. They told their families what to do if the Indians came，or if the coons took to eating the corn，or the bears were killing too many hogs. Then they collected their cattle，burned a trail brand on their hips，and started out.
可是，他們需要錢，所以還是決定去走一趟。他們關照家人如果印第安人來該怎樣對付，如果浣熊來吃玉米或者熊把豬弄死得太多了又該怎麼辦。他們把牛趕攏，在它們的臀部烙上印記，然後就上路了。
I remember how it was the day Papa left. He was standing in front of the cabin with his horse，his gun，and his bedroll. I remember how tall and straight and handsome he looked. And I remember how Mama was trying not to cry because he was leaving，and how Little Arliss，who was only five and didn”t know much，wasn’t trying at all. He was crying all right. Not because Papa was leaving，but because he couldn’t go too.