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Asalamalakim had a name twice as long and three times as hard.
阿薩拉馬拉吉姆的名字有兩倍那么長，三倍那么難念。
After I tripped over it two or three times he told me to just call him Hakim-a-barber.
我試著念了兩三次都念錯了，于是他就叫我干脆稱呼他哈吉姆阿巴波就行了。
I wanted to ask him was he a barber, but I didn't really think he was, so I don't ask.
我本想問他究竟是不是開巴波(理發)店的，但我覺得他不像是個理發師，所以就沒有問。
You must belong to those beet-cattle peoples down the road, I said.
“你一定屬于馬路那邊的那些養牛部族，”我說。
They said Asalamalakirn when they met you too, but they didn't Shake hands.
那些人見人打招呼也是說“阿薩拉馬拉吉姆”，但他們不同人握手。
Always too busy feeding the cattle, fixing the fences, putting up salt-lick shelters, throwing down hay.
他們總是忙忙碌碌的：喂牲口，修籬笆，扎帳篷，堆草料，等等。
When the white folks poisoned some of the herd the men stayed up all night with rifles in their hands.
當白人毒死了一些牛以后，那些人便徹夜不眠地端著槍戒備。
I walked a mile and a half just to see the sight.
為了一睹這種情景，我走了一英里半的路程。
Hakim-a-barber said, I accept some of their doctrines, but farming and raising cattle is not my style.
哈吉姆阿巴波說，“我接受他們的一些觀念，但種田和養牛卻不是我干的事業。”
(They didn't tell me, and I didn't ask, whether Wangero (Dee) had really gone and married him.)
(他們沒有告訴我，我也沒開口去問，萬杰蘿(迪伊)究竟是不是同他結婚了。)
We sat down to eat and right away he said he didn't eat collards and pork was unclean.
我們開始坐下吃飯，他馬上聲明他不吃羽衣甘藍，豬肉也不干凈。
Wangero, though, went on through the chitlins and corn bread, the greens and every-thing else.
萬杰蘿卻是豬腸、玉米面包、蔬菜，什么都吃。
She talked a blue streak over the sweet potatoes.
吃紅薯時她更是談笑風生。
Everything delighted her. Even the fact that we still used the benches her daddy made for the table when we couldn't afford to buy chairs.
一切都令她高興，就連我們仍在使用著當初她爸爸因為買不起椅子而做的條凳這種事情也令她感興趣。
Oh, Mama! she cried. Then turned to Hakim-a-barber.
“啊，媽媽!”她驚叫道。接著轉頭向著哈吉姆阿巴波。
I never knew how lovely these benches are.
“我以前還從來不知道這些條凳有這么可愛，
You can feel the rump prints, she said, running her hands underneath her and along the bench.
在上面還摸得出屁股印跡來，”她一邊說著，一邊將手伸到屁股下面去摸凳子。
