評論
打印
"Why do you take the path straight up?" I asked. "Look at these other paths! What are they doing here?"
“你為什么要走這條直上直下的小路呢？”我又問。“你瞧其他那些路！它們通向哪里呢？”
Within the distance of few yards, several paths left the main path and circled around the slope, climbing the mountain gradually.
就在幾碼之外，有好幾條小路離開了這條主道，環繞山坡蜿蜒向上。
"All paths go to the same place," he answered.
“這些路都是通向同一個地方的。”他回答說。
"Then why take the steep one?" I asked.
“那為什么要走這條陡的呢？”我問。
"I'll explain later," he gasped.
“我回頭再給你解釋。”他喘著氣說。
My curiosity was roused. I thought he had found a new kind of wild grass, or a new kind of tree. For I remembered the time he found a coffee tree in our woods. It is, as far as I know, the only one of its kind growing in our county.
我的好奇心一下子被勾起來了。我想也許他找到了一種新草或是新樹種。因為我記得他曾經在我們的林地中發現過一棵咖啡樹，據我所知，在我們這個縣，這種咖啡樹還只有我們這一棵。
We finally reached the tall straight pines whose branches reached toward the blue depth of sky, for the white cloud was now gone. I saw a small clearing of not more than three-fourths of an acre in the heart of this wilderness right on the mountaintop.
我們最終到達了那些高大挺拔的松樹生長的地方。松樹的枝干直插藍天深處，剛才的白云已經飄走了。我看到在山頂這片樹林的中心地帶，有一塊不到四分之三英畝的空地。
"Now, son," he said as he pushed down the top wire so he could cross the fence. "This is something I want you to see!"
“好了，兒子。”他說著就把最上面的鐵絲往下按了按，以便跨過鐵絲網進去。“這就是我想給你看的東西！”
"Who did this?" I asked. "Who cleared the land and fenced it?"
“這是誰弄的？”我問。“是誰開辟了這塊地，又拉了這個鐵絲網？”
"I cleared the land. And I fenced it!"
“是我！是我開的地，也是我拉的鐵絲網。”
"But why did you do this?" I asked him. "Look at all the fertile land we have in the valley!"
“可是，你干嗎這么做呢？”我問他，“我們在山谷里已經有那么多肥沃的土地了！”
