(单词翻译:单击)
Chapter Thirteen
第十三章
A year or so later, in the spring, Smokey the cat got sick.
大约一年以后的春天，斯莫基生病了。
He lay around moaning and didn’t protest when I put my nose down in his face to investigate this new behavior.
他躺在那里呻吟着，当我做出把鼻子伸到他脸上去查看它这种以前我从未见过的行为时，他并没有表现出拒绝。
Mom became very worried and took Smokey for a car ride.
妈妈非常担心，开车带着斯莫基去了什么地方。
When Mom came home, she was sad, probably because cats are no fun in a car.
妈妈回家时很伤心，可能是因为把猫放在车里是很无趣的事情。
A week or so later, Smokey died.
大约一周后，斯莫基死了。
After dinner the family went into the backyard, where Ethan had excavated a big hole,
晚饭后，一家人来到后院，伊森挖了一个大坑，
and they wrapped Smokey’s body in a blanket and put it in the hole and covered it with dirt.
他们用毯子把斯莫基的尸体裹起来，把它放进洞里，然后用泥土把它盖上。
Ethan hammered a piece of wood into the soil next to the mound of wet dirt, and he and Mom cried a little.
伊森把一块木头敲进那堆湿润泥土旁边的小土堆里，他和妈妈都抹泪了。
I nuzzled them both to remind them that there was really no need to grieve,
我把鼻子凑近他们，想告诉他们不用悲伤，
since I was okay and really a much better pet than Smokey ever was.
因为我现在很好，而且作为宠物，我比斯莫基好多了。
The next day, after Mom and the boy left for school, I went out into the yard and dug Smokey back up, figuring they couldn’t have meant to bury a perfectly good dead cat.
第二天，妈妈和伊森去学校之后，我来到院子里，把斯莫基挖了出来，心想着他们不可能是想埋葬一只已经确定死了的猫。
That summer we didn’t go to the Farm at all.
那年夏天，我们一直没有去农场。
Ethan and some friends in the neighborhood would get up every day and go to people’s houses and cut grass with loud lawn mowers.
伊森和一些邻居朋友每天都会起床去别人家，用声音很大的割草机割草。
The boy would take me along with him but always tied me to a tree.
伊森也会带我一起去，但总是把我绑在一棵树上。
I loved the smell of the newly cut grass, but I did not care for lawn mowing in general and felt this activity was somehow involved in us not visiting the Farm.
我喜欢新割的草的味道，但我不喜欢修剪草坪，我感觉这种活动与我们不去农场有点关系。
Grandpa and Grandma did drive in for a week, but it wasn’t nearly as much fun,
爷爷和奶奶确实开车来这里待了一个星期，但这里的生活没有农场里那么有趣，
especially when Dad and Grandpa exchanged some harsh words when they were alone in the backyard peeling husks off of corn.
特别是爸爸和爷爷在后院剥玉米皮的时候，他们会对彼此恶语相向。
I felt the anger in both of them and wondered if it was a reaction to the fact that the corn husks were inedible,
我能感觉到他们两人的愤怒，我不知道这是否跟玉米皮不能吃有关，
something I’d verified by both smelling and chewing.
这是我通过闻和嚼验证出来的。
