“到我的牧场去，”牧场主说，“一直待到恢复。不出六个月，准保你换一个人。”他一把抓起麦圭尔，拖他朝火车走去。
“What about the money？” said McGuire， struggling weakly to escape.
“费用怎么办？”麦圭尔说，想挣脱可又挣脱不掉。
“Money for what？” asked Raidler， puzzled. They eyed each other， not understanding， for they touched only as at the gear of bevelled cogwheelsat right angles， and moving upon different axes.
“什么费用？”雷德勒莫名其妙地说。他们你看着我，我看着你，可是互相并不了解，因为他们的接触只像是格格不入的斜齿轮，在不同方向的轴上转动。
Passengers on the southbound saw them seated together， and wondered at the conflux of two such antipodesantipodes n.相对极. McGuire was five feet one， with a countenance belonging to either Yokohama or Dublin. Brightbeady of eye， bony of cheek and jaw， scarred， toughened， broken and reknit， indestructibleindestructible adj.不能破坏的， 不可毁灭的， grisly， gladiatorialgladiatorial adj.斗剑者的， 争论的 as a hornethornet n.大黄蜂类， 难缠的人物， he was a type neither new nor unfamiliar. Raidler was the product of a different soil. Six feet two in height， miles broad， and no deeper than a crystal brook， he represented the union of the West and South. Few accurate pictures of his kind have been made， for art galleries are so small and the mutoscopemutoscope n.(早期的)电影放映机 is as yet unknown in Texas. After all， the only possible medium of portrayalportrayal n.描画， 描写 of Raidlers kind would be the fresco—something high and simple and cool and unframed.
南行火车上的乘客们，看见这两个截然不同的类型凑在一起，不禁暗暗纳闷。麦圭尔只有五英尺一英寸高，容貌既不像横滨人，也不像都柏林人。他的眼睛又亮又圆，面颊和下巴瘦骨嶙峋，脸上满是打破后缝起来的伤痕，神气显得又可怕，又不屈不挠，像大黄蜂那样好勇斗狠。他这种类型既不新奇，也不陌生。雷德勒却是不同土壤上的产物。他身高六英尺二英寸，肩膀宽阔，但是像清澈的小溪那样，一眼就能望到底。他这种类型可以代表西部同南部的结合。能够正确地描绘他这种人的画像非常少，因为艺术馆是那么小，而得克萨斯还没有电影院、总之，要描绘雷德勒这种类型只有用壁画——用某种崇高、朴实、冷静和不配镜框的图画。
They were rolling southward on the International. The timber was huddling into little， dense green motts at rare distances before the inundationinundation n.洪水 of the downright， vert prairies. This was the land of the ranchesranch n.大农场 v.经营牧场， the domain of the kings of the kine.
他们坐在国际铁路公司的火车上驶向南方。在一望无际的绿色大草原上，远处的树木汇成一簇簇青葱茂密的小丛林。这就是牧场所在的地方，是统治牛群的帝王的领土。
McGuire sat， collapsed into his corner of the seat， receiving with acid suspicionsuspicion n.猜疑， 怀疑 the conversation of the cattleman. What was the “game” of this big “geezer” who was carrying him off？ Altruism would have been McGuires last guess. “He aint no farmer，” thought the captive， “and he aint no con man， for sure. Whats his lay？ You trail in， Cricket， and see how many cards he draws. Youre up against it， anyhow. You got a nickel and gallopin consumption， and you better lay low. Lay low and see wats his game.”
麦圭尔有气无力地坐在座位角落里，猜疑地同牧场主谈着话。这个大家伙把他带走，究竟是在玩什么把戏？麦圭尔怎么也不会想到利他主义上去。“他不是农人，”这个俘虏想道，“他也绝对不是骗子。他是干什么的呢？走着瞧吧，蟋蟀，看他还有些什么花招。反正你现在不名一文。你有的只是五分钱和奔马性肺结核，你还是静静等着。静等着，看他要什么把戏。”
At Rincon， a hundred miles from San Antonio， they left the train for a buckboard which was waiting there for Raidler. In this they travelled the thirty miles between the station and their destination. If anything could， this drive should have stirred the acrimoniousacrimonious adj.严厉的， 辛辣的 McGuire to a sense of his ransom. They sped upon velvety wheels across an exhilarant savannasavanna n.热带(或亚热带)稀树大草原. The pair of Spanish ponies struck a nimble， tireless trot， which gait they occasionally relieved by a wild， untrammelled gallop. The air was wine and seltzer， perfumed， as they absorbed it， with the delicate redolence of prairie flowers. The road perished， and the buckboardbuckboard n.四轮马车的一种 swam the uncharted billows of the grass itself， steered by the practised hand of Raidler， to whom each tiny distant mott of trees was a signboardsignboard n.招牌， 布告板， each convolutionconvolution n.回旋， 盘旋， 卷绕 of the low hills a voucher of course and distance. But McGuire reclined upon his spine， seeing nothing but a desert， and receiving the cattlemans advances with sullen distrust. “Whats he up to？” was the burden of his thoughts， “what kind of a gold brick has the big guy got to sell？” McGuire was only applying the measure of the streets he had walked to a range bounded by the horizon and the fourth dimension.
到了离圣安东尼奥一百英里的林康。他们下了火车，乘上在那儿等候雷德勒的四轮马车。从火车站到他们的目的地还有三十英里，就是坐马车去的。如果有什么事能使麦圭尔觉得像是被绑架的话，那就是坐上这辆马车了。他们的马车轻捷地穿过一片令人赏心悦目的大草原。那对西班牙种的小马轻快地、不停地小跑着，间或任性地飞跑一阵子。他们呼吸的空气中有一股草原花朵的芳香，像美酒和矿泉水那般沁人心脾。道路消失了，四轮马车在一片航海图上没有标出的青草的海洋中游大，由老练的雷德勒掌舵；对他来说，每一簇遥远的小丛林都是一个路标，每一片起伏的小山都代表方向和里程。但是麦圭尔仰天靠着，他看到的只是一片荒野。他随着牧场主行进，心里既不高兴，也不信任。“他打算干什么？”这个想法成了他的包袱；“这个大家伙葫芦里卖的是什么药？”麦圭尔只能用他熟悉的城市里的尺度来衡量这个以地平线为界限的牧场。
A week before， while riding the prairies， Raidler had come upon a sick and weakling calf deserted and bawling. Without dismountingdismounting 拆卸， 拆散， 拆除 he had reached and slung the distressed bossy across his saddle， and dropped it at the ranch for the boys to attend to. It was impossible for McGuire to know or comprehend that， in the eyes of the cattleman， his case and that of the calf were identical in interest and demand upon his assistance. A creature was ill and helpless， he had the power to render aid—these were the only postulatespostulate n.假定， 基本条件， 基本原理 vt.要求， 假定 vi.要求 required for the cattleman to act. They formed his system of logic and the most of his creed. McGuire was the seventh invalid whom Raidler had picked up thus casually in San Antonio， where so many thousands go for the ozone that is said to linger about its contracted streets. Five of them had been guests of Solito Ranch until they had been able to leave， cured or better， and exhausting the vocabulary of tearful gratitudegratitude n.感谢的心情. One came too late， but rested very comfortably， at last， under a ratama tree in the garden.
一星期以前，雷德勒在草原上驰骋时，发现一头被遗弃的病小牛在哞哞叫唤。他没下马就抓起那头可怜的小牛，往鞍头一拴，带回牧场，让手下人去照顾。麦圭尔不可能知道，也不可能理解，在牧场主看来，他的情况同那头小牛完全一样，都需要帮助。一个动物害了病，无依无靠；而雷德勒又有能力提供帮助——他单凭这些条件就采取了行动。这些条件组成了他的逻辑体系和行为准则。据说，圣安东尼奥狭窄的街道上弥漫着臭氧，成千害肺病的人便去那儿疗养。在雷德勒凑巧碰到并带回牧场的病人中间，麦圭尔已经是第七个了。在索利托牧场做客的五个病人，先后恢复了健康或者明显好转，感激涕零地离开了牧场。一个来得太迟了，但终于非常舒适地安息在园子里一株枝叶被覆的树下。
So， then， it was no surprise to the ranchhold when the buckboard spun to the door， and Raidler took up his debile protege like a handful of rags and set him down upon the gallery.
因此，当四轮马车飞驰驶到门口，雷德勒把那个虚弱的被保护人像一团破布似的提起来，放到回廊上的时候，牧场上的人并不觉得奇怪。
