“You go and catch some more fish, and I’ll see if I have caught any old chap as he went home to dinner.”
“你再去钓几条鱼，我看看有没有钓到回家吃饭的老家伙。”
Off ran Tommy; and the other boy went slowly back to the brook, wishing with all his might he was at home eating sweet corn and berry pie.
汤米跑开了;另一个男孩慢慢地回到小溪边，一心希望自己是在家里吃着甜玉米和浆果派。
The trout had evidently gone to their dinners, for not one bite did poor Billy get; and he was just falling asleep when a loud shout gave him such a fright that he tumbled into the brook up to his knees.
鳟鱼显然是去吃晚餐了，因为可怜的比利一口也没吃到;他刚要入睡，就听到一声大叫，吓得他跌进了齐膝深的小河里。
“I’ve got him! Come and see! He’s a bouncer,” roared Tommy, from the berry bushes some way off.
“我抓住他了!”快来看!他是个保镖，”汤米从远处的浆果丛里吼道。
Billy scrambled out, and went as fast as his wet boots would let him, to see what the prize was.
比利爬了出来，湿靴子让他尽可能快地跑，想看看奖品是什么。
He found Tommy dancing wildly round a fat gray animal, who was fighting to get his paws out of the trap, and making a queer noise as he struggled about.
他发现汤米疯狂地围着一只胖胖的灰色动物跳舞，那只动物正在挣扎着把爪子从陷阱里拔出来，挣扎着发出奇怪的声音。
“What is it?” asked Billy, getting behind a tree as fast as possible; for the thing looked fierce, and he was very timid.
“什么事?”比利问，尽可能快地躲到树后;因为那东西看起来很凶猛，而他又很胆小。
“A raccoon, I guess, or a big woodchuck.
“一只浣熊，我猜，或者一只大土拨鼠。
Won’t his fur make a fine cap?
他的皮毛不是可以做一顶漂亮的帽子吗?
I guess the other fellows will wish they’d come with us,” said Tommy, prancing to and fro, without the least idea what to do with the creature.
我想其他的家伙会希望它们跟我们一起去的。”汤米说着，蹦蹦跳跳地跑来跑去，根本不知道该拿这家伙怎么办。
“He’ll bite.
“他会咬人。
We’d better run away and wait till he’s dead,” said Billy.
我们最好逃走，等他死了再说。”比利说。
“Wish he’d got his head in, then I could carry him off; but he does look savage, so we’ll have to leave him awhile, and get him when we come back.
“真希望他能把头伸进去，那样我就能把他带走;不过他看起来确实很野蛮，所以我们得先把他放一段时间，等我们回来再找他。
But he’s a real beauty.” And Tommy looked proudly at the bunch of gray fur scuffling in the sand.
但他是个真正的美人。”汤米骄傲地看着那堆在沙滩上扭打的灰色毛皮。
“Can we ever eat him?” asked hungry Billy, ready for a fried crocodile if he could get it.
“我们能吃掉他吗?”饥饿的比利问道，如果他能弄到的话，他已经准备好吃一条炸鳄鱼了。
“If he’s a raccoon, we can; but I don’t know about woodchucks.
“如果他是只浣熊，我们可以;但我不了解土拨鼠。
The fellows in my books don’t seem to have caught any.
我书里的人似乎没有抓到什么。
He’s nice and fat; we might try him when he’s dead,” said Tommy, who cared more for the skin to show than the best meal ever cooked.
他又好又胖;我们可以等它死了再试一试，"汤米说，他更关心的是它的皮，而不是有史以来最好的一顿饭。
The sound of a gun echoing through the wood gave Tommy a good idea,—
一声枪响在树林里回荡，这使汤米有了一个好主意
“Let’s find the man and get him to shoot this chap; then we needn’t wait, but skin him right away, and eat him too.”
“我们去找那个人，叫他开枪打死这个家伙;那我们就不用等了，马上剥了它的皮，把它吃掉吧。”
Off they went to the camp; and catching up their things, the two hunters hurried away in the direction of the sound, feeling glad to know that some one was near them, for two or three hours of wood life made them a little homesick.
他们就往营里去了。两个猎人收拾好他们的东西，朝着声音传来的方向匆匆走开了，他们很高兴知道有人在附近，因为两三个小时的森林生活让他们有点想家了。
They ran and scrambled, and listened and called; but not until they had gone a long way up the mountain did they find the man, resting in an old hut left by the lumbermen.
他们跑着，爬着，听着，叫着;但是直到他们上山走了很长一段路，他们才找到了那个人，他躺在伐木工人留下的一间旧茅屋里。
The remains31 of his dinner were spread on the floor, and he lay smoking, and reading a newspaper, while his dog dozed at his feet, close to a well-filled game-bag.
晚餐的残羹剩饭摊在地板上，他躺着抽烟看报，他的狗在他脚边打着盹儿，旁边是一个装得满满的狩猎袋。
He looked surprised when two dirty, wet little boys suddenly appeared before him,—one grinning cheerfully, the other looking very dismal and scared as the dog growled and glared at them as if they were two rabbits.
当两个又脏又湿的小男孩突然出现在他面前时，他显得很吃惊——一个高兴地咧嘴笑着，另一个看起来很沮丧和害怕，因为那只狗咆哮着，像瞪着两只兔子一样瞪着他们。
“Hollo!” said the man.
“你好!那人说。
“Hollo!” answered Tommy.
“你好!汤米回答说。
“Who are you?” asked the man.
“你是谁?”那人问。
“Hunters,” said Tommy.
“猎人，”汤米说。
“Had good luck?” And the man laughed.
“运气好吗?”那人笑了。
“First-rate.
“一流的。
Got a raccoon in our trap, and we want you to come and shoot him,” answered Tommy, proudly.
我们的陷阱里有一只浣熊，我们想让你来射杀它，”汤米自豪地回答。
“Sure?” said the man, looking interested as well as amused.
“确定吗?那人说，看上去既感兴趣又觉得有趣。
“No; but I think so.”
“不;但我认为是这样的。”
“What’s he like?”
“他长什么样?”
Tommy described him, and was much disappointed when the man lay down again, saying, with another laugh,—
汤米描述了他的样子，当那个人再次躺下时，他非常失望，又笑了起来，
“It’s a woodchuck; he’s no good.”
说: “这是一只土拨鼠;他不好。”
“But I want the skin.” “Then don’t shoot him, let him die; that’s better for the skin,” said the man, who was tired and didn’t want to stop for such poor game.
“但我想要皮。” “那就不要射他，让他死吧;这对皮肤有好处，”男人说，他很累，不想停下来玩这么糟糕的游戏。
All this time Billy had been staring hard at the sandwiches and bread and cheese on the floor, and sniffing at them, as the dog sniffed at him.
比利一直盯着地上的三明治、面包和奶酪，嗅着它们，就像狗嗅着他一样。
“Want some grub?” asked the man, seeing the hungry look.
“想吃点东西吗?”看到他饥饿的表情，那人问道。
“I just do! We left our lunch, and I’ve only had two little trout and some old berries since breakfast,” answered Billy, with tears in his eyes and a hand on his stomach.
“我就是喜欢!”我们离开了午餐，从早餐到现在，我只吃了两条小鳟鱼和一些老浆果，”比利回答说，眼里含着泪水，一只手放在肚子上。
“Eat away then; I’m done, and don’t want the stuff.” And the man took up his paper as if glad to be let alone.
“那就吃吧;我受够了，不想要这些东西了。”那人拿起他的报纸，似乎很高兴没有人打扰他。
It was lucky that the dog had been fed, for in ten minutes nothing was left but the napkin; and the boys sat picking up the crumbs, much refreshed, but ready for more.
幸好狗喂饱了，因为十分钟后，除了餐巾什么也没剩下。孩子们坐着捡起面包屑，精神抖擞，但准备吃更多。
“Better be going home, my lads; it’s pretty cold on the mountain after sunset, and you are a long way from town,” said the man, who had peeped at them over his paper now and then, and saw, in spite of the dirt and rips, that they were not farmer boys.
“我还是回家去吧，伙计们;太阳落山之后，山上很冷，而且你离城里还很远。”那人说。他不时地从报纸上偷看他们，看出他们不是农民的孩子，尽管他们身上有泥土和破洞。
“We don’t live in town; we are at Mullin’s, in the valley.
“我们不住在城里;我们在山谷里的穆林餐厅。
No hurry; we know the way, and we want to have some sport first.
不着急;我们认识路，我们想先来点乐子。
You seem to have done well,” answered Tommy, looking enviously37 from the gun to the game-bag, out of which hung a rabbit’s head and a squirrel’s tail.
你似乎做得很好，”汤米回答说，羡慕地看看枪，又看看狩猎袋，袋子里挂着一只兔子头和一只松鼠尾巴。
“Pretty fair; but I want a shot at the bear.
“很公平;但我想试一试熊
People tell me there is one up here, and I’m after him; for he kills the sheep, and might hurt some of the young folks round here,” said the man, loading his gun with a very sober air; for he wanted to get rid of the boys and send them home.
人们告诉我这上面有一只，我正在追捕它;因为他杀了羊，可能会伤害到这里的一些年轻人，”那人说，装上了枪，一副非常严肃的样子;因为他想把孩子们打发回家去。
Billy looked alarmed; but Tommy’s brown face beamed with joy as he said eagerly,—
“I hope you’ll get him.
比利显得很惊慌;但汤米棕色的脸上洋溢着喜悦，他急切地说:“。 “我希望你能抓住他。
I’d rather shoot a bear than any other animal but a lion.
除了狮子，我宁愿射杀熊也不射杀其他动物。
We don’t have those here, and bears are scarce.
我们这里没有这些，熊也很稀少。
Mullin said he hadn’t heard of one for a long time; so this must be a young one, for they killed the big one two years ago.”
That was true, and the man knew it.
穆林说他已经很久没有听说过了;所以这一定是一只年轻的，因为他们两年前就杀死了那只大的。” 这是真的，那人也知道。
He did not really expect or want to meet a bear, but thought the idea of one would send the little fellows home at once.
他其实并不指望也不想遇到熊，但他认为，一想到熊，小家伙们就会立刻回家了。
Finding one of them was unscared, he laughed, and said with a nod to Tommy,—
“If I had time I’d take you along, and show you how to hunt; but this fat friend of yours couldn’t rough it with us, and we can’t leave him alone; so go ahead your own way.
他发现其中一个不害怕，就笑了，然后对汤米点了点头，说: “如果我有时间，我会带你一起去，教你怎么打猎;可是你这个胖朋友不能和我们一起忍受，我们也不能丢下他不管;所以走你自己的路吧。