血字的研究 55犹他之花(5)

He was a tall, savage-looking young fellow, mounted on a powerful roan horse, and clad in the rough dress of a hunter, with a long rifle slung¹ over his shoulders.

这是一个高高身材、面目粗野的年轻小伙子，骑着一匹身带灰白斑点的骏马，身上穿着一件结实的粗布猎服，肩上背着一只长筒来复枪。

"I guess you are the daughter of John Ferrier," he remarked; "I saw you ride down from his house.

他说："我想，你是约翰·费瑞厄的女儿吧。我看见你从他的庄园那边骑了过来。

When you see him, ask him if he remembers the Jefferson Hopes of St. Louis. If he's the same Ferrier, my father and he were pretty thick."

你见着他的时候，请你问问他还记不记得圣路易地方的杰弗逊·侯波这一家人。如果他就是那个费瑞厄的话，我的父亲过去和他还是非常亲密的朋友呢。"

"Hadn't you better come and ask yourself?" she asked, demurely².

她一本正经地说："你自己去问问他，不更好么？"

The young fellow seemed pleased at the suggestion, and his dark eyes sparkled with pleasure.

这个小伙子听到了这个建议，似乎感到很高兴，他的黑色眼睛中闪耀着快乐的光辉。

"I'll do so," he said; "we've been in the mountains for two months, and are not over and above in visiting condition. He must take us as he finds us."

他说："我要这样做的。我们在大山中已经呆了两个月了，现在这副模样不便去拜访。可是他见着我们的时候，他一定会招待我们的。"

"He has a good deal to thank you for, and so have I," she answered; "he's awful fond of me. If those cows had jumped on me he'd have never got over it."

她回答说："他一定要大大地感谢你哩。我也要谢谢你。他非常喜欢我，要是那些牛把我踩死的话，他不知道要怎样伤心哩。"

"Neither would I," said her companion.

她的同伴说："我也会很伤心呢。"

"You! Well, I don't see that it would make much matter to you, anyhow. You ain't even a friend of ours."

"你？啊，我怎么也看不出这和你又有什么关系。你还不算是我们的朋友呢。"

The young hunter's dark face grew so gloomy over this remark that Lucy Ferrier laughed aloud.

这个年青猎人听了这句话后，黝黑的面孔不由得阴沉下来，露茜见了不觉大声笑了起来。

"There, I didn't mean that," she said; "of course, you are a friend now. You must come and see us.

她说："你瞧，我的意思不是那样。当然，现在你已经是朋友了。你一定要来看看我们。

Now I must push along, or father won't trust me with his business any more. Good-bye!"

现在我必须走了，不然的话，父亲以后就不会再把他的事情交给我办啦。再见罢！"

"Good-bye," he answered, raising his broad sombrero, and bending over her little hand.

"再见。"他一面回答，一面举其他那顶墨西哥式的阔檐帽，低下头去吻了一下她的小手。

She wheeled her mustang round, gave it a cut with her riding-whip, and darted³ away down the broad road in a rolling cloud of dust.

她掉转马头，扬鞭打马，在烟尘滚滚之中沿着大道飞驰而去。

Young Jefferson Hope rode on with his companions, gloomy and taciturn.

小杰弗逊·侯波和他的伙伴们骑着马继续前进。

He and they had been among the Nevada Mountains prospecting⁴ for silver, and were returning to Salt Lake City in the hope of raising capital enough to work some lodes which they had discovered.

一路上，他心情抑郁，默默无言。他和他们一直在内华达山脉中寻找银矿，现在正在返回盐湖城去，打算筹集一笔足够的资金开采他们所发现的那些矿藏。

He had been as keen as any of them upon the business until this sudden incident had drawn⁵ his thoughts into another channel.

以前，对于这种事业，他一向是和他的任何一个伙伴一样地非常热衷的；但是，这件意外的遭遇却把他的思想引上了另一条道路上去。

The sight of the fair young girl, as frank and wholesome⁶ as the Sierra breezes, had stirred his volcanic⁷, untamed heart to its very depths.

这个美丽的少女，好象山上的微风那样清新、纯洁；这就深深触动了他的那颗火山般的奔放不羁的心。

When she had vanished from his sight, he realized that a crisis had come in his life, and that neither silver speculations⁸ nor any other questions could ever be of such importance to him as this new and all-absorbing one.

当她的身影从他的视线中消逝以后，他感觉到这是他生命上最紧要的关头，银矿也好，其他任何问题也罢，对他说来，都比不上这件刚刚发生的，吸引他全部心神的事情来得重要。

The love which had sprung up in his heart was not the sudden, changeable fancy of a boy, but rather the wild, fierce passion of a man of strong will and imperious temper.

在他心中出现的爱情，已经不是一个孩子的那种忽生忽灭、变化无常的幻想，而是一个意志坚定、个性刚毅的男人的那种奔放强烈的激情。

He had been accustomed to succeed in all that he undertook.

他平生所做的事情，从来没有不是称心如愿的。

He swore in his heart that he would not fail in this if human effort and human perseverance⁹ could render him successful.

因此，他暗暗发誓，只要通过人类的努力和恒心能够使他获得成功的话，那么这一次他也决不会失败。

1 slung   

抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• He slung the bag over his shoulder. 他把包一甩，挎在肩上。
• He stood up and slung his gun over his shoulder. 他站起来把枪往肩上一背。

2 demurely   

adv.装成端庄地，认真地

参考例句：

• "On the forehead, like a good brother,'she answered demurely. "吻前额，像个好哥哥那样，"她故作正经地回答说。 来自飘（部分）
• Punctuation is the way one bats one's eyes, lowers one's voice or blushes demurely. 标点就像人眨眨眼睛，低声细语，或伍犯作态。 来自名作英译部分

3 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 prospecting   

n.探矿

参考例句：

• The prospecting team ploughed their way through the snow. 探险队排雪前进。
• The prospecting team has traversed the length and breadth of the land. 勘探队踏遍了祖国的山山水水。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

7 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

8 speculations   

n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断

参考例句：

• Your speculations were all quite close to the truth. 你的揣测都很接近于事实。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations. 这种可能性引起了有趣的推测。 来自《用法词典》

9 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。