成長的禮物——《小紅馬》片段選譯及賞析

約翰·斯坦貝克（John Steinbeck，1902~1968），20世紀(jì)美國最具影響力的作家之一。他的許多作品都是以社會底層人物為主人公，展現(xiàn)他們善良、質(zhì)樸的品格，創(chuàng)造出了“斯坦貝克式的英雄”形象，對后來的美國文學(xué)，尤其是西部文學(xué)的發(fā)展產(chǎn)生了重大影響。其代表作有中篇小說《小紅馬》（The Red Pony）、《人鼠之間》（Of Mice and Men）以及長篇小說《憤怒的葡萄》（The Grapes of Wrath）、《月亮下去了》（The Moon Is Down）等。

《小紅馬》是斯坦貝克的兒童文學(xué)名著，書中共包含了四個獨立的故事，每個故事都圍繞住在加利福尼亞農(nóng)場的蒂福林一家（the Tiflins）展開。這四個故事分別講述了小男孩喬迪·蒂福林（Jody Tiflin）與小紅馬、老人、母馬以及外祖父之間發(fā)生的故事。

下文節(jié)選自本書第三個故事“The Promise”，主要講述了蒂福林先生決定讓喬迪再養(yǎng)一匹小馬駒的故事。

“Ma'am, ma'am, there's a catalog^[1].”

Mrs. Tiflin was in the kitchen spooning clabbered milk^[2] into a cotton bag. She put down her work and rinsed^[3] her hands under the tap. “Here in the kitchen, Jody. Here I am.”

He ran in and clattered^[4] his lunch pail^[5] on the sink. “Here it is. Can I open the catalog, ma'am? ”

Mrs. Tiflin took up the spoon again and went back to her cottage cheese^[6]. “Don't lose it, Jody. Your father will want to see it.” She scraped^[7] the last of the milk into the bag. “Oh, Jody, your father wants to see you before you go to do your chores.”

The boy laid the catalog gently on the sink board. “Do you—is it something I did? ”

Mrs. Tiflin laughed. “Always a bad conscience^[8]. What did you do? ”

“Nothing, ma'am, ” he said lamely^[9].

His mother hung the full bag on a nail where it could drip into the sink. “He just said he wanted to see you when you got home. He's somewhere down by the barn.”

Jody turned and went out the back door. Hearing his mother open the lunch pail and then gasp with rage, a memory stabbed him and he trotted^[10] away toward the barn, conscientiously^[11] not hearing the angry voice that called him from the house.

Carl Tiflin and Billy Buck, the ranch-hand, stood against the lower pasture fence. They were talking slowly and aimlessly. In the pasture half a dozen horses nibbled^[12] contentedly at the sweet grass^[13]. The mare, Nellie, stood backed up against the gate, rubbing her buttocks^[14] on the heavy post.

Jody sidled^[15] uneasily near. He dragged one foot to give an impression of great innocence and nonchalance^[16].

The two men glanced sideways at him.

“I wanted to see you, ” Carl said in the stern tone he reserved for children and animals.

“Yes, sir, ” said Jody guiltily.

“Billy, here, says you took good care of the pony before it died.”

No punishment was in the air. Jody grew bolder. “Yes, sir, I did.”

“Billy says you have a good patient hand with horses.”

Jody felt a sudden warm friendliness for the ranch-hand.

Billy put in, “He trained that pony as good as anybody I ever seen.”

Then Carl Tiflin came gradually to the point.“If you could have another horse would you work for it? ”

Jody shivered. “Yes, sir.”

“Well, look here, then. Billy says the best way for you to be a good hand with horses is to raise a colt.”

“It's the only good way, ” Billy interrupted.

“Now, look here, Jody, ” continued Carl. “Jess Taylor, up to the ridge ranch, has a fair stallion, but it'll cost five dollars. I'll put up the money, but you'll have to work it out all summer. Will you do that? ”

Jody felt that his insides were shriveling. “Yes, sir, ” he said softly.

“And no complaining? And no forgetting when you're told to do something? ”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, all right, then. Tomorrow morning you take Nellie up to the ridge ranch and get her bred. You'll have to take care of her, too, till she throws the colt.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You better get to the chickens and the wood now.”

Jody slid away. His shoulders swayed a little with maturity and importance.

He went to his work with unprecedented seriousness. This night he did not dump the can of grain to the chickens so that they had to leap over each other and struggle to get it. No, he spread the wheat so far and so carefully that the hens couldn't find some of it at all. And in the house, after listening to his mother's despair over boys who filled their lunch pails with slimy, suffocated reptiles, and bugs, he promised never to do it again. Indeed, Jody felt that all such foolishness was lost in the past. He was far too grown up ever to put toads in his lunch pail any more. He carried in so much wood and built such a high structure with it that his mother walked in fear of an avalanche of oak. When he was done, when he had gathered eggs that had remained hidden for weeks, Jody walked down again past the cypress tree, and past the bunkhouse toward the pasture. A fat toad that looked out at him from under the watering trough had no emotional effect on him at all.

“媽，媽，有一本產(chǎn)品冊子?！?/p>

廚房里，蒂福林太太將凝乳一勺勺舀進棉布袋。她放下手中的活兒，在水龍頭下面洗了洗手?！霸趶N房這兒，喬迪。我在這里?！?/p>