第六章（第4/15页）

A faint smile like a sneer came on the man's face. "Nay, yo mun ax'er," he replied callously, in broad vernacular.

那男人脸上闪过一丝睥睨的微笑。“恁自己去问她就是。”他冷冷地答道，仍操着那口浓重的方言。

Connie felt as if he had hit her in the face, and she changed colour. Then she gathered her defiance, and looked at him, her dark blue eyes blazing rather vaguely.

康妮感觉像挨了一记耳光，气得颜色更变。她调动起所有轻蔑，瞪着眼前的男人，可深蓝色双眸中闪烁着的光芒依然游移。

"I asked you," she panted.

“我问的是你。”她呼吸急促。

He gave a queer little bow, lifting his hat. "You did, your Ladyship," he said; then, with a return to the vernacular: "but I canna tell yer." And he became a soldier, inscrutable, only pale with annoyance.

他扬起帽子，姿势怪异地轻鞠一躬。“没错，夫人，”他说，接着又换成那套土腔土调，“可俺不能不告诉恁。”此刻的他俨然变成战士，难以捉摸，只是因为恼怒而面色铁青。

Connie turned to the child, a ruddy, black-haired thing of nine or ten. "What is it, dear? Tell me why you're crying!" she said, with the conventionalized sweetness suitable. More violent sobs, self-conscious. Still more sweetness on Connie's part.

康妮转向那女孩，小姑娘大概九岁或十岁，脸蛋红扑扑的，头发乌黑。“怎么回事，宝贝？告诉我你为什么哭。”她换上哄小孩的温柔口吻。或许是感觉有所倚靠，孩子哭得更凶了。而康妮的态度则愈发温和。

"There, there, don't you cry! Tell me what they've done to you!”...an intense tenderness of tone. At the same time she felt in the pocket of her knitted jacket, and luckily found a sixpence.

“好啦，好啦，别哭了。告诉我他们对你做了什么。”……语调中饱含着柔情。她边说，边在毛衣口袋里摸索着，幸运地找到一枚六便士硬币。

"Don't you cry then!" she said, bending in front of the child. "See what I've got for you!” Sobs, snuffles, a fist taken from a blubbered face, and a black shrewd eye cast for a second on the sixpence. Then more sobs, but subduing. "There, tell me what's the matter, tell me!" said Connie, putting the coin into the child's chubby hand, which closed over it.

“不要哭了，”她弯下腰，对女孩说，“看看我给你找到什么。”女孩呜咽着，抽着鼻涕，一个小拳头从布满泪痕的脸蛋上移开，露出一只机灵的黑眼睛，目光在硬币上停留片刻。接着又抽泣起来，但哭声已经减弱许多。“听话，告诉我到底怎么回事，乖乖跟我说。”康妮说着，把硬币塞进女孩胖乎乎的手里，那只小手紧紧将钱攥住。

"It's the...it's the...pussy!” Shudders of subsiding sobs.

“是因为……是因为……猫咪！”抽噎声逐渐减弱，身体瑟瑟发抖。

"What pussy, dear?" After a silence the shy fist, clenching on sixpence, pointed into the bramble brake.

“什么猫咪，亲爱的？”沉默半晌，她怯生生地抬起拳头，指向不远处的荆棘丛，手里依然紧握着那枚硬币。

"There!"

“在那儿！”

Connie looked, and there, sure enough, was a big black cat, stretched out grimly, with a bit of blood on it.

康妮望过去，发现是只硕大的黑猫，面目狰狞地躺在那里，血迹斑斑。

"Oh!" she said in repulsion.

“噢！”她嫌恶地叫道。

"A poacher, your Ladyship," said the man satirically.

“是只偷腥的野猫，夫人。”那男子话中有话。

She glanced at him angrily. "No wonder the child cried," she said, "if you shot it when she was there. No wonder she cried!"