She laughed aloud. As she had intended, Gerald was startled by the sound; then he recognized her, and a look both sheepish and defiant came over his florid face. He dismounted with difficulty, because his knee was stiff, and, slipping the reins over his arm, stumped toward her.
她這時大聲笑起來。不出所料,杰拉爾德聽見笑聲大吃一驚,但隨即便認出了她,紅潤的臉上堆滿了邊討好邊挑戰的神情。他艱難地跳下馬來,因為雙膝已經麻木了;然后把韁繩搭在胳臂上、蹣跚地向她走來。
“Well, Missy,” he said, pinching her cheek, “so, you’ve been spying on me and, like your sister Suellen last week, you’ll be telling your mother on me?”
“小姐,好啊,"他說著,擰了一下她的面頰,"那么,你是在偷看我了,而且像你的蘇倫妹妹上星期干過的那樣,準備到你母親面前去告我的狀了吧?"
There was indignation in his hoarse bass voice but also a wheedling note, and Scarlett teasingly clicked her tongue against her teeth as she reached out to pull his cravat into place. His breath in her face was strong with Bourbon whisky mingled with a faint fragrance of mint. Accompanying him also were the smells of chewing tobacco, well-oiled leather and horses—a combination of odors that she always associated with her father and instinctively liked in other men.
他那沙破低沉的聲音里含有怒意,同時也帶有討好的意味,這時思嘉便挑剔而又嗲聲嗲氣地伸出手來將他領結拉正了。他撲面而來的的呼吸讓她嗅到了一股強烈的混和薄荷香味的波旁威士忌酒味。他身上還散發著咀嚼煙草和擦過油的皮革以及馬汗的氣味----這是一股各種味道的混雜,她經常把它同父親聯系起來,以致在別人身上聞到時也本能地喜歡。
“No, Pa, I’m no tattletale like Suellen,” she assured him, standing off to view his rearranged attire with a judicious air.
“爸,不會的,我不是蘇倫那種搬弄是非的人,"她請他放心,一面略略向后退了一下,帶著嬤嬤的神氣端詳他的服飾。
Gerald was a small man, little more than five feet tall, but so heavy of barrel and thick of neck that his appearance, when seated, led strangers to think him a larger man. His thickset torso was supported by short sturdy legs, always incased in the finest leather boots procurable and always planted wide apart like a swaggering small boy’s. Most small people who take themselves seriously are a little ridiculous; but the bantam cock is respected in the barnyard, and so it was with Gerald. No one would ever have the temerity to think of Gerald O’Hara as a ridiculous little figure.
杰拉爾德身高只有五英尺多,是個矮個兒,但腰身很壯,脖子很粗,坐著時那模樣叫陌生人看了還以為他是個比較高大的人。他那十分笨重的軀干由經常裹在頭等皮靴里的短粗的雙腿支撐著,而且經常大大分開站著,像個搖搖擺擺的孩子。凡是自己以為了不起的矮人,那模樣大都是有點可笑的;可是一只矮腳的公雞在場地上卻備受尊敬,杰拉爾德也就是這樣。誰也沒有膽量把杰拉爾德當作可笑的矮個兒看待。