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The Big Buffalo Bass
大布法羅河鱸魚
Weldon Stone
韋爾登·斯通
I had first heard of him two years before, when I had just begun to fall in love with the Big Buffalo River. That day I had been walking slowly downstream, doing more exploring than fishing, when I came to a spring shaded by a giant tree. I drank my fill, rolled a cigarette, and sat down to rest. Suddenly, across the river, I spotted a squirrel in a scrubby pine, and then, lower down, I saw a man sitting on a rock. He had a gun held ready and he was staring into the river below him.
我第一次聽說他還是在兩年前，那時我剛剛開始喜歡上大布法羅河。那天，我正沿著河邊慢慢往下游走，與其說是在釣魚不如說是在進行考察，后來我來到了一棵大樹遮陰的泉水旁。我先喝了個飽，卷了一支煙，坐下來休息。突然，在河對面，我發現一棵、松樹上有一只松鼠，再往下看，一個男人正坐在一塊巖石上，他端著桿槍，眼睛盯著下面的河水，做好了隨時開槍的準備。
I whistled. The man looked at me, and I pointed to the squirrel. He casually lifted the gun and fired. The report of the gun, rebounding from the bluff, was deafening.
我吹了聲口哨。那人看了看我，我用手指了指那松鼠。他漫不經心地端起槍，開了火。槍聲從周圍峭壁上回蕩過來，震耳欲聾。
A few minutes later he appeared on the spring path and dropped the squirrel at my feet.
幾分鐘后，他出現在泉水邊的小道上，把松鼠丟在了我的腳下。
It's yours he said and, leaning his rifle against the tree, kneeled down and drank from the spring.
“它是你的，”他說著，把他的來復槍靠在樹上，跪下去，喝起泉水來。
But you shot it, I protested.
“但那是你打下來的，”我表示不同意。
I don't hanker after squirrel meat, he replied, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“我可不愛吃松鼠肉，”他一邊回答，一邊用手背擦了擦嘴。
I pulled out my sack of tobacco and offered it. He rolled a cigarette and handed it back to me without a word.
我拿出自己的煙袋遞給他。他卷了一支煙，然后一言不發地把煙袋又還給了我。
Well, he said finally, "I reckon I'll go on home," and, picking up his rifle, he walked away.
“好了，”他最后開口道，“我想我該回家了?！彼闷饋韽蜆?，走開了。
He had scarcely disappeared when I heard a rustling of leaves behind me and a man stepped out of the undergrowth in back of the spring.
他剛剛消失，我就聽到身后有樹葉沙沙作響，一個人從泉水后面的灌木叢中走了出來。
