3 I Find Gribley’s Farm

The Manner in Which I Find Gribley's Farm The next day I told Bill good-bye, and as I strode, warm and fed, on to the road, he called to me, "I'll see you tonight. The back door will be open if you want a roof over your head." I said, "Okay," but I knew I wouldn't see Bill again. I knew how to make fire, and that was my weapon. With fire I could conquer the Catskills. I also knew how to fish. To fish and to make a fire. That was all I needed to know, I thought. Three rides that morning took me to Delhi. Somewhere around here was Greatgrandfather's beech tree with the name Gribley carved on it. This much I knew from Dad's stories.

我找到格里布利农场的经过 第二天我跟比尔道别，吃饱喝足、浑身暖乎乎地踏上大路，他冲我喊道：“今晚我等你回来。 “要是你想找地方落脚，我家后门不锁。” 我说：“好呀，” 但我心里清楚，我不会再见到比尔了。 我已经学会生火了，那就是我的武器。 有了火，我就能征服卡茨基尔山。 我还学会了钓鱼。 会钓鱼，会生火。 我当时想，这就足够我用了。 那天早上我搭了三趟车，来到了德里镇。 曾曾祖父那棵刻着格里布利姓氏的山毛榉，就在这附近的某个地方。 这些我都是从爸爸讲的故事里得知的。

By six o'clock I still had not found anyone who had even heard of the Gribleys, much less Gribley's beech, and so I slept on the porch of a schoolhouse and ate chocolate bars for supper. It was cold and hard, but I was so tired I could have slept in a wind tunnel. At dawn I thought real hard: Where would I find out about the Gribley farm? Some old map, I said. Where would I find an old map? The library? Maybe. I'd try it and see. The librarian was very helpful. She was sort of young, had brown hair and brown eyes, and loved books as much as I did. The library didn't open until ten-thirty. I got there at nine. After I had lolled and rolled and sat on the steps for fifteen or twenty minutes, the door whisked open, and this tall lady asked me to come on in and browse around until opening time.

直到六点钟，我都没碰到一个哪怕听说过格里布利家的人，更别说格里布利的山毛榉了，于是我睡在一所学校的门廊上，晚饭吃了几条巧克力。 那地方又冷又硬，但我实在太累了，就算睡在风洞里我也能睡着。 天亮的时候我使劲琢磨：我该上哪儿打听格里布利农场的消息呢？ 我想到了，找一张旧地图呀。 哪儿能找到旧地图呢？ 图书馆？ 说不定可以。 我打算去碰碰运气。 图书管理员特别热心帮忙。 她年纪轻轻，长着棕色的头发和棕色的眼睛，和我一样爱书。 图书馆要十点半才开门。 我九点就到了。 我在台阶上晃悠躺坐了十五二十分钟，门猛地开了，一位高个子女士叫我进去，说开门前我可以先随便转转。

All I said to her was that I wanted to find the old Gribley farm, and that the Gribleys hadn't lived on it for maybe a hundred years, and she was off. I can still hear her heels click, when I think of her, scattering herself around those shelves finding me old maps, histories of the Catskills, and files of letters and deeds that must have come from attics around Delhi. Miss Turner– that was her name– found it. She found Gribley's farm in an old book of Delaware County. Then she worked out the roads to it, and drew me maps and everything. Finally she said, "What do you want to know for? Some school project?" "Oh, no, Miss Turner, I want to go and live there." "But Sam, it is all forest and trees now. The house is probably only a foundation covered with moss."

我只跟她说了，我想找废弃的格里布利农场，格里布利一家人差不多一百年没在这儿住了，她立刻就帮我找了起来。 现在我想起她，还能听见她鞋跟踩地的咔嗒声，她在书架间来回奔走，给我找了老地图、卡茨基尔山的史籍，还有一堆肯定是从德里各处阁楼翻出来的信件和地契。 特纳女士——这是她的名字——找到了！ 她在一本特拉华县的旧书里找到了格里布利农场的记载。 接着她帮我梳理出通往农场的路，还给我画了地图，帮我做了所有准备。 最后她问我：“你打听这个是做什么呀？ 是学校的作业吗？” “哦不是，特纳女士，我想去那儿生活。” “可是山姆，那里现在全是森林树木了。 原来的房子大概只剩下长满苔藓的房基了。”

"That's just what I want. I am going to trap animals and eat nuts and bulbs and berries and make myself a house. You see, I am Sam Gribley, and I thought I would like to live on my Great-grandfather's farm." Miss Turner was the only person that believed me. She smiled, sat back in her chair, and said, "Well, I declare." The library was just opening when I gathered the notes we had made and started off. As I pushed open the door, Miss Turner leaned over and said to me, "Sam, we have some very good books on plants and trees and animals, in case you get stuck." I knew what she was thinking, and so I told her I would remember that. With Miss Tuner's map, I found the first stone wall that marked the farm. The old roads to it were all grown up and mostly gone, but by locating the stream at the bottom of the

“这正是我想要的。 我要捕猎，吃坚果、球根和浆果，给自己搭一个房子。 你看，我叫山姆·格里布利，我想住在我曾曾祖父的农场上。” 特纳女士是唯一一个相信我的人。 她笑了，往椅背上一靠，说道：“哇，真了不起呀。” 我整理好我们记的笔记动身的时候，图书馆刚好开门。 我推开门的时候，特纳女士探过身对我说：“山姆，我们有很多很棒的关于植物、树木和动物的书，万一你遇到难处可以用哦。” 我明白她的心思，就跟她说我会记着这话的。 靠着特纳女士画的地图，我找到了标记农场边界的第一堵石墙。 通往农场的老路都长满了植物，大多已经消失不见，只要找到位于山脚下的

mountain I was able to begin at the bridge and go north and up a mile and a half. There, caterpillaring around boulders, rollercoastering up ravines and down hills, was the mound of rocks that had once been Greatgrandfather's boundary fence. And then, do you know, I couldn't believe I was there. I sat on the old grey stones a long time, looking through the forest, up that steep mountain, and saying to myself, "It must be Sunday afternoon, and it's raining, and Dad is trying to keep us all quiet by telling us about Great-grandfather's farm; and he's telling it so real that I can see it." And then I said, "No I am here, because I was never this hungry before." I wanted to run all the way back to the library and tell Miss Turner that I had found it. Partly because she would have liked to have known, and partly because Dad had said to me as I left, "If you find the place, tell someone at

溪流，就能从桥那里出发，往北往上走一英里半。 当年曾曾祖父用来分界的石围栏，如今变成了一堆乱石，像毛毛虫一样绕着巨石，像过山车一样忽上忽下穿过峡谷、翻过丘陵。 然后你知道吗，我都不敢相信我真的到这儿了。 我在灰扑扑的老石头上坐了好久，望着森林深处，望着那座陡峭的山，对自己说：“现在肯定是周日下午，外面下着雨，爸爸为了让我们安静下来，正在讲曾曾祖父农场的故事；他讲得太生动了，我仿佛都看见了。” 然后我又说：“不对，我真的在这儿了，因为我从来没这么饿过。” 我真想一路跑回图书馆，告诉特纳女士我已经找到农场了。 一半是因为她肯定会想知道这个消息，另一半是因为我动身时爸爸跟我说：“如果你找到了那个地方，告诉在

Delhi. I may visit you someday." Of course, he was kidding, because he thought I'd be home the next day, but after many weeks, maybe he would think I meant what I said, and he might come to see me. However, I was too hungry to run back. I took my hook and line and went back down the mountain to the stream. I caught a big old catfish. I climbed back to the stone wall in great spirits. It was getting late and so I didn't try to explore. I went right to work making a fire. I decided that even if I didn't have enough time to cut boughs for a bed, I was going to have cooked fish and a fire to huddle around during those cold night hours. May is not exactly warm in the Catskills. By firelight that night I wrote this:

德里的人。 我说不定哪天会去看你。” 当然啦，他是在开玩笑，他本来以为我第二天就会回家，不过过几个星期，说不定他就会明白我是认真的，可能会来看我。 不过我太饿了，根本没力气跑回去。 我拿上鱼钩鱼线，下山回到溪边。 我钓到了一条好大的鲶鱼。 我心情大好，爬回了石墙那里。 天越来越晚，我没打算再继续探索了。 我马上动手生起火。 我打定主意，哪怕没时间砍树枝铺床，我也要先做熟鱼、生好火，挨过寒冷的夜晚。 五月的卡茨基尔山可不怎么暖和。 那天晚上，借着火光，我写下了这段话：