《蒙大拿女孩》开篇：英文原著带中文翻译

“That girl the murderer of a man—of Lee Holly! That pretty little girl? Bosh! I don’t believe it.”

「那个姑娘杀了人，杀了李·霍利！那个漂亮的小姑娘？胡说！我不信。」

“I did not say she killed him; I said she was suspected. And even though she was cleared, the death of that renegade adds one more to the mysteries of our new West. But I think the mere suspicion that she did it entitles her to a medal, or an ovation of some sort.”

「我没说她杀了他，我说的是她受了怀疑。就算她被洗清了，那个恶棍的死也给我们这个新西部增添了一桩谜案。不过我觉得，光是怀疑她干了这事，就够给她发一枚奖章，或者来一场欢呼什么的。」

The speakers were two men in complete hunting costume. That they were strangers in the Northwest was evidenced by the very lively interest they took in each bit of local color in landscape or native humanity. Of the latter, there was a most picturesque variety. There were the Northern red men in their bright blankets, and women, too, with their beadwork and tanned skins for sale. A good market-place for these was this spot where the Kootenai River is touched by the iron road that drives from the lakes to the Pacific. The road runs along our Northern boundary so close that it is called the “Great Northern,” and verily the land it touches is great in its wildness and its beauty.

说话的是两个一身猎装的男人。他们对西北部来说显然是外乡人，这从他们对风景和当地人的每一处地方色彩都兴致勃勃就能看出来。当地人真是形形色色，最有画面感不过了。有裹着鲜艳毯子的北方红种人，也有女人，带着珠绣和鞣制的皮子来卖。这地方正是个好集市，就在库特奈河被那条从湖区直通太平洋的铁路碰到的地方。铁路沿着我们北方边界延伸，近得被叫作「大北方」，而它触及的这片土地，论荒蛮与美丽，确实当得起一个「大」字。

The two men, with their trophies of elk-horn and beaver paws, with their scarred outfit and a general air of elation gained from a successful “outing,” tramped down to the 2 little station after a last lingering view toward far hunting grounds. While waiting for the train bound eastward, they employed their time in dickering with the Indian moccasin-makers, of whom they bought arrows and gaily painted bows of ash, with which to deck the wall of some far-away city home.

这两个男人带着麋鹿角和海狸爪的战利品，带着磨损的装备，浑身洋溢着一次成功「出游」后的得意，朝远处猎场最后留恋地望了一眼，便踏着步子下到那座小车站。等东去的火车时，他们跟做莫卡辛鞋的印第安人讨价还价，买了些箭和刷了彩漆的白蜡木弓，好拿去装点远方某座城市住宅的墙壁。

While thus engaged, a little fleet of canoes was sighted skimming down the river from that greater wilderness of the North, penetrated at that time only by the prospector, or a chance hunter; for the wealth of gold in those high valleys had not yet been more than hinted at, and the hint had not reached the ears of the world.

正这么忙着，一小队独木舟映入眼帘，从北方那片更辽阔的荒野顺流而下。那时节，只有探矿人或偶尔的猎人才会深入那片荒野，因为那些高山河谷里的黄金财富还只是初露端倪，而这端倪也还没传到世人耳中。

Even the Indians were aroused from their lethargy, and watched with keen curiosity the approaching canoes. When from the largest there stepped forth a young girl—a rather remarkable-looking young girl—there was a name spoken by a tall Indian boatman, who stood near the two strangers. The Indians nodded their heads, and the name was passed from one to the other—the name ’Tana—a soft, musical name as they pronounced it. One of the strangers, hearing it, turned quickly to a white ranchman, who had a ferry at that turn of the river, and asked if that was the young girl who had helped locate the new gold find at the Twin Springs.

连印第安人也从懒散中醒过神来，怀着强烈的好奇注视着渐近的独木舟。当最大的那条船上走下一个年轻姑娘，一个模样相当出众的年轻姑娘时，站在两个陌生人附近的一个高个子印第安船夫说出了一个名字。印第安人纷纷点头，名字从一个人传到另一个人，那名字是「塔娜」，他们念出来时轻柔又悦耳。其中一个陌生人听见了，赶紧转向一个白人牧场主，那人在河湾处有个渡口，问他那是不是帮着在双泉找到新金矿的年轻姑娘。

“Likely,” agreed the ranchman. “Word came that she was to cut the diggings and go to school a spell. A Mr. Haydon, who represents a company that’s to work the mine, sent down word that a special party was to go East over the road from here to-day; so I guess she’s one of the specials. She came near going on a special to the New Jerusalem, she did, not many days ago. I reckon you folks heard how Lee Holly—toughest man in the 3 length of the Columbia—was wiped off the living earth by her last week.”

「多半是，」牧场主应道。「有消息说她要停了挖矿，去上阵子学。有位海登先生，代表一家要来开矿的公司，传下话来，说今天有个特别一行人要从这儿坐火车去东部，所以我猜她也是其中一位。前些日子她差点就坐特别班车去了新耶路撒冷呢。我估摸你们也听说了，李·霍利，哥伦比亚河沿岸最难缠的家伙，上礼拜被她从活人世上抹掉了。」

“We heard she was cleared of it,” assented the stranger.

「我们听说她洗清了嫌疑。」陌生人附和道。

“Yes, so she was, so she was—cleared by an alibi, sworn to by Dan Overton. You don’t know Dan, I suppose? Squarest man you ever met! And he don’t have to scratch gravel any more, either, for he has a third interest in that Twin Spring find, and it pans out big. They say the girl sold her share for two hundred thousand. She doesn’t look top-heavy over it, either.”

「对，是洗清了，是洗清了，靠不在场证明洗清的，丹·奥弗顿宣誓作证的。你大概不认识丹吧？你见过的最正直的人！而且他也不用再刨地了，他在双泉那个发现里有三分之一的股份，出金量很大。听说那姑娘把自己的份子卖了二十万。她倒也没为这事飘起来。」