There were so many things to do on the Farm that the boy and I spent the first few days on a dead run.
农场里有好多事情要做,所以我和那个男孩头几天都忙得团团转。
An enormous horse stared at me from over a fence when I approached,
当我走近时,一匹巨大的马隔着篱笆瞪着我,
though she was unwilling to play or do anything but look blankly at me, even when I climbed under the fence and barked at her.
不过,她不愿意玩耍,也不愿做任何事,只是茫然地看着我,即使我爬到栅栏下对她吠叫,她也毫无反应。
Instead of a creek there was a pond, big and deep enough for Ethan and me to swim in.
这里没有小溪,只有一个池塘,又大又深,足够伊森和我在里面游泳。
A family of ducks lived on its banks and drove me crazy by taking to the water and paddling away when I approached,
河岸上住着一群鸭子,当我靠近它们时,它们会游到水里并越划越远,好气啊。。
but then the mother duck would swim back toward me whenever I grew tired of barking at them, so I’d bark some more.
但是,每当我叫累了的时候,那只鸭妈妈就会朝我游回来。她一游回来,我就会再叫几声。
In the scheme of things, I put ducks right down there with Smokey the cat when it came to their value to the boy and myself.
在这期间,我觉得对我和伊森来说,鸭子们就像那只猫斯莫基一样。
Dad left after a few days, but Mom stayed with us on the Farm that whole summer. She was happy.
爸爸待了几天就走了,但妈妈整个夏天都和我们呆在农场里。那段日子,她很开心。
Ethan slept on the porch, a room on the front of the house, and I slept right with him and no one even pretended the arrangement should be different.
伊森睡在门廊上,那是房子前面的一个房间里,我和他睡在一起,甚至没有人觉得有什么不对劲儿。
Grandpa liked to sit in a chair and scratch my ears, and Grandma was always slipping me little treats.
爷爷喜欢坐在椅子上挠我的耳朵,奶奶总是给我塞些小点心。
The love from them made me squirm with joy.
他们对我的爱让我高兴的静不下来。
There was no yard, just a big open field with a fence designed to let me in and out at any point I desired, like the world’s longest dog door, only without a flap.
那里没有院子,只有一片开阔的田野,栅栏设计的方式让我可以随意进出,它就像是世界上最长的狗门,只是没有翻盖。
The horse, whose name was Flare, stayed inside the fence and spent the day eating grass, though I never saw her throw up once.
那匹名叫耀斑的马整天待在围栏里吃草,但我一次也没见她把草吐出来过。
The piles she left in the yard smelled as if they’d taste pretty good but were actually dry and bland, so I only ate a couple of them.
她留在院子里的那坨东西闻起来好像味道很好,但实际上是干的,索然无味,所以我只吃了一点点。