7 I Am Sent East by Northeast

Chapter 7 IN WHICH I Am Sent East by Northeast Just before sunrise I strike out across the field to Mrs. Strawberry's weatherworn farmhouse. Tucked in a grove of old lilacs, it is surrounded by barns and outbuildings that are sagging toward the ground. These mountains do not love a farm. At the gate, Slats trots up and tries to shove his way into the yard with me. "Phbbbbbb," I say, blowing through my lips. According to Mrs. Strawberry, this is horse talk for "You're annoying." Frightful doesn't have such a word in her vocabulary, but then her ancestors were never pestered by flies as were Slats's. I lift the latch and push him back. He paws the ground. "You can't come in," I say. "So stop begging." Pawing the ground is a horse's way of begging.

第七章 我被派往东北偏东 日出前不久，我穿过田野，走向斯特劳贝里太太那饱经风霜的农舍。 它藏在一片老紫丁香树丛中，四周环绕着快要塌到地面的谷仓和附属屋舍。 这些山可不爱农场。 到了门口，斯拉茨小跑过来，想跟着我挤进院子。 “噗————”我撅着嘴吹了口气。 按斯特劳贝里太太的说法，这是马语里“你好烦”的意思。 芙莱特的词汇里可没有这句话，毕竟芙莱特的祖先可不像斯拉茨的祖先那样总被苍蝇烦扰。 我拉开门闩，把它推了回去。 它用蹄子刨着地。 “你不能进来，”我说。 “别求我了。” 刨地是马讨要东西的方式。

As I step into the yard, I glance up at my mountain. It's strong and beautiful, with the sun rising behind it. The view from here is its western side. No matter from which direction you look, it's an inspiring sight. Why on earth would Alice want to leave? A green frog pipes, a star shoots, and a light comes on in Mrs. Strawberry's farm kitchen. I knock. "Sam!" she says, opening the door. "What are you doing here?" She is wearing the brown felt hat she always wears in and out of doors and is smiling her I'm-REALLY-glad-to-see-you smile. It softens the lines around her sharp nose and pointed chin. "Come in," she says. "Have some breakfast." Slats grabs the gate in his teeth and rattles it, then thrashes his head up and down. "No, you can't come in, Slats!" Mrs. Strawberry calls. "He's annoyed," she says to me. "Alice hasn't been around to ride him since she started her new project." I hold my breath—she knows.

我踏进院子，抬头望了望我的大山。 它雄伟又漂亮，太阳正从它身后升起。 从这儿看去，是山的西侧。 不管你从哪个方向看，它都是一副振奋人心的模样。 艾丽丝到底为什么要离开呢？ 绿蛙鸣叫，流星划过，斯特劳贝里太太的农场厨房亮了灯。 我敲了敲门。 “山姆！” 她边开门边说道。 “你怎么来这儿啦？” 她不管出门在家都戴着那顶棕色毡帽，脸上挂着真心欢迎我的笑容。 这笑容柔化了她尖鼻子和尖下巴周边的纹路。 “进来吧，”她说。 “吃点早饭。” 斯拉茨用牙咬住大门晃个不停，接着还上下甩动脑袋。 “不行，你不能进来，斯拉茨！” 斯特劳贝里太太大声喊道。 “它闹脾气啦，”她对我说。 自从艾丽丝开始她的新项目，就没过来骑过它了。 我屏住呼吸——她知道了。

"Does Alice have a new project?" "Yes, indeedy, she's up to something again." "Do you know what it is?" I try to sound as if I were asking if Alice were in the barn pitching hay. "Don't you?" she asks. "No." "I don't either. Never asked." "She's left home—to find a new one, I think." "My goodness," she replies. "That's quite a project." My face must look troubled because the next thing Mrs. Strawberry says is, "Don't you worry, Sam. Whatever Alice is up to, she's all right. Go on home and do your chores." "I'm not worried—just curious. She took her maps." "Hmm. Sounds like she's going far." "That's what I think. And she's got a good start. The last time I saw her was five days ago. The first day the haze rolled in. The next day I left for Delhi without seeing her. When I returned, she was gone."

“艾丽丝有新项目了？” “没错，她肯定又在捣鼓新鲜事了。” “你知道是什么事吗？” 我尽量装得随意，就好像只是问艾丽丝是不是在谷仓堆干草。 “你不知道吗？”她反问。 “不知道。” 我也不知道。 从没问过。 “她离开家了——我想，她是去找新家了。” “天哪，”她说道。 “这可真是个大项目呢。” 我的脸色肯定很难看，所以斯特劳贝里太太马上说：“别担心，山姆。 不管艾丽丝在做什么，她都不会有事的。 回家做你的活儿去吧。” “我不是担心——就是好奇而已。 她把地图带走了。” 嗯。 听起来她要去很远的地方。” “我也这么想。 而且她已经走了好久了。 我最后一次见她是五天前。 就是大雾飘来的第一天。 第二天我没见到她，就动身去德里了。 我回来的时候，她已经走了。”

"I saw her three days ago," Mrs. Strawberry says. She steps over to a flowerpot to pick off dead geraniums. Three days ago—that means she started the day after Frightful was confiscated. I make a quick calculation. Alice and I can walk about twenty miles a day. That could put her sixty miles from here. Sixty miles, which way? in what direction? If I knew in which direction she was going, I might be able to look at a map and figure out her destination. I'd sure like to know where she's headed. She should have told me. At least I told Dad that I was going to run away to Great-grandfather Gribley's farm. He didn't believe me, but he should have. Alice hasn't even given me a hint— at least I don't recognize one if she has. I linger, hoping Mrs. Strawberry's memory will keep clearing and she will remember more about "what Alice is up to," as we all say. Slats takes the gate in his teeth and shakes it again. "Ee-he-eeeeeeee," squeals Mrs. Strawberry. She's imitating the cry of a challenging horse, like western cowboys do to discipline their steeds.

“我三天前还见过她，”斯特劳贝里太太说。 她走到花盆边，摘掉枯死的天竺葵枝叶。 三天前——也就是说，她是在芙莱特被带走后的第二天出发的。 我飞快算了算。 艾丽丝和我一天能走大约二十英里。 那她现在应该离这儿有六十英里远了。 六十英里，往哪个方向？ 到底是哪个方向？ 如果我知道她走的方向，说不定就能对着地图算出她的目的地。 我真的很想知道她要去哪里。 她本该告诉我的。 至少我当初告诉爸爸，我要跑去曾祖父格里布利的农场离家出走。 他那时候不信我，但我好歹说了呀。 艾丽丝连一点提示都没给我——就算留了，我也没看出来。 我磨磨蹭蹭不走，盼着斯特劳贝里太太能多想起点细节，多说点关于艾丽丝计划的线索。 斯拉茨又用牙咬住大门晃了起来。 “咿——赫——咿————”斯特劳贝里太太尖声叫着。 她在模仿野马挑衅的叫声，就像西部牛仔驯马时那样。

Hearing a threat in his own language, Slats trots off. "You just have to be stern with that horse," she says. "It's like Alice and her pig. She can get that pig to do anything with a stern bit of pig talk." "Her pig," I exclaim. "I knew she had a pig friend, but I didn't know it was hers." "It is now. Mr. Reilly"—she points to a farm down the road—"who owns Crystal, or who did own her, gave Crystal to her." "That was very nice of him." "Not really. Alice gave the pig a name so he didn't have the heart to butcher her. And the pig loves Alice. Crystal won't eat if she isn't around. Pigs are very affectionate, especially to children, and particularly to a child who learns to say, "I love you" in pig-ese." I keep listening, my picture of Alice and her pig taking on new dimensions. "Now that I think about it," Mrs. Strawberry goes on, "Alice might have been going off to find her own place." She draws on her memory. "She was leading her pig on a leash."

听懂了自己语言里的警告，斯拉茨小跑着走开了。 “对付这匹马就得严厉点，”她说。 “就像艾丽丝和她的猪一样。 她用严厉的猪语说话，就能让那头猪乖乖听话。” “她的猪！”我惊呼。 “我知道她有个猪朋友，但我不知道那是她的猪呀。” “现在确实是她的了。 赖利先生”——她指着路那头的农场——“原本是克丽丝托的主人，现在把它送给艾丽丝了。” “他人真好呀。” “其实也不是。 艾丽丝给猪起了名字，他就不忍心杀它了。 而且这头猪特别喜欢艾丽丝。 艾丽丝不在，克丽丝托连饭都不吃。 猪可重感情了，尤其喜欢小孩子，特别是会用猪语说“我爱你”的孩子。” 我继续听着，我心里艾丽丝和她的猪的模样，变得越来越清晰丰满。 “现在我想想，”斯特劳贝里太太接着说，“艾丽丝说不定是出去找属于她自己的地方了。” 她努力回忆着。 “那时候她还用绳子牵着猪走呢。”

"Alice took her pig?" I smile. She can't go very fast or far with a pig, and—a pig can be easily tracked. Of course, I'm not going to follow her, although it would be easier than playing On the Track, the game we made up when went berrying or food gathering. You track the other person by observing broken sticks or footprints or even clues that a person sets out, like an acorn under a pine tree. It's fun. I'll just find their first few tracks and figure out where Alice is. Then I'll go home. Mrs. Strawberry is watching me closely. "Are you worried about her, Sam?" "Not at all," I answer, thinking how easy it will be to find pig prints and pig droppings. She studies my face again. She doesn't believe me. "I can't help you very much," she goes on, "but I can tell you this, she and the pig were walking across my fallow field, toward your mountain. I thought they were going home." "South?" I ask eagerly.

“爱丽丝带走了她的猪？” 我笑了笑。 带着猪她走不快也走不远，而且——猪很容易被追踪到。 当然啦，我才不打算跟着她，不过这可比我们玩追踪游戏容易多了——那是我们出去采浆果、收集食物时，自己发明的游戏。 追踪别人的时候，你要观察断枝、脚印，甚至对方留下的线索，比如松树下摆的一颗橡果。 这个游戏可好玩了。 我只要找到开头几处踪迹，就能知道爱丽丝在哪里了。 找到我就回家。 草莓太太正紧紧盯着我。 “你在担心她吗，萨姆？” “一点也不，”我回答，心里想着找猪脚印和猪粪便有多容易。 她又把我的脸打量了一番。 她根本不信我的话。 “我帮不上你什么大忙，”她接着说，“不过我可以告诉你，她和那头猪走过我的休耕地，朝着你们那座山去了。 我还以为她们要回家呢。” “南边？” 我急切地问道。