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Chapter Thirty-two
第三十二章
After that day, I saw Hannah and Carly a lot.
那天以后，我经常看到汉娜和卡莉。
They came to the Farm to play more and more frequently, which was fine by me.
他们越来越频繁到来农场玩，这对我来说是件好事。
Carly understood that the Farm was my territory, something she could hardly fail to recognize, since I’d lifted my leg on every tree on the place.
卡莉明白农场是我的地盘，她也确实很难忽视这一点，因为我在这里的每棵树上都抬起脚来。
I was the Top Dog, and she didn’t try to challenge me, though she was irritatingly oblivious to the benefits that the natural order bestowed upon our admittedly small pack.
我是领头狗，她没有试图挑战我，尽管她很让人气愤地忘记了自然秩序给予我们公认的小群体的好处。
Mostly, she just acted like we were playmates and nothing more. She was, I concluded, just not very bright.
大多数时候，她只是表现得像我们是玩伴一样，仅此而已。我断定，她只是不太聪明。
Carly seemed to think that she could catch the ducks if she just crept up on them slowly enough, which was an exercise in pure stupidity.
卡莉似乎认为只要她爬得够慢，就能抓住鸭子，这纯粹是一种愚蠢的做法。
I would watch in utter disgust as she would slink through the grass, her belly in the dirt, moving just inches at a time,
我非常厌恶地看着她偷偷地穿过草地，她的肚子紧贴着泥土，每次只移动几英寸，
while all the while the mother duck watched her with an unblinking eye.
而母鸭则一直目不转睛地看着她。
Then a quick lunge, a huge splash, and the ducks would be airborne for a few feet, landing just ahead of Carly in the pond.
然后一个快速的冲刺，一个巨大的水花，鸭子就会在空中飞几英尺，在卡莉前面的池塘里着陆。
She’d swim for about fifteen minutes, working so hard her body would nearly be lifted out of the water,
她会游大约15分钟，她会很努力地游，身体几乎要被从水里举起来，
and would bark in frustration whenever she felt she was within biting distance and the ducks flapped their wings and jumped through the air a few feet out ahead.
每当她觉得自己近得能咬到鸭子时，鸭子都会扇动翅膀，跳到离她几英尺远的前方。这时候，她都沮丧地叫个不停。
When Carly finally gave up, the ducks would determinedly swim after her, quacking,
当卡莉最终放弃的时候，鸭子们会坚定地跟在她后面，嘎嘎叫着，
and sometimes Carly would spin around and head back out, thinking she had the ducks fooled.
有时卡莉会转过身去，又转回来，以为她把鸭子给骗了。
I had no patience with any of it. Ethan and I occasionally went to Carly’s house, too, but this wasn’t as fun, as all there was to do was play in the backyard.
我对卡莉的这些幼稚行为都没有耐心。伊森和我偶尔也去卡莉家，但卡莉家并不好玩，因为我们只能在后院玩耍。
The next summer, dozens of people assembled at the Farm, sitting in folding chairs to watch me perform a trick I’d first perfected with Maya and Al,
第二年夏天，几十个人聚集在农场里，坐在折叠椅上看我表演戏法，这戏法是我和玛雅、艾尔一起生活的时候练成的，
which was to walk between the chairs at a slow, dignified pace,
那就是以缓慢而庄严的步伐在椅子之间走动，
this time up to where Ethan had built some raised wooden steps so everyone could see me.
这一次，伊森在上面搭了一些木质台阶，这样大家就都能看到我了。
He untied something from my back, and he and Hannah talked and kissed and everyone laughed and applauded at me.
他解开我背上的什么东西，他和汉娜彼此说话亲吻，而大家都在因为而欢笑，为我鼓掌。
