草丛里有一只空水果罐头，是以前过路人扔在那儿的。吉文斯看到它，满意地哼了一声。在他那件缚在马鞍后面的上衣口袋里，有一些碾碎的咖啡豆。清咖啡和烟卷！牧牛人有了这两样东西，还奢望别的什么呢？
In two minutes he had a little fire going clearly. He started， with his cancan vt.装进罐中， 把食品装罐 n.罐头， 铁罐 conj.能， 可以， for the water hole. When within fifteen yards of its edge he saw， between the bushes， a sidesaddled pony with downdropped reins cropping grass a little distance to his left. Just rising from her hands and knees on the brink of the water hole was Josefa ODonnell. She had been drinking water， and she brushed the sand from the palmspalm n.手掌， 棕榈， (象征胜利的)棕榈叶 vt.与……握手，藏……于掌中， 蒙混 of her hands. Ten yards away， to her right， half concealed by a clumpclump n.土块 v.丛生 of sacuista， Givens saw the crouching form of the Mexican lion. His amber eyeballs glared hungrily， six feet from them was the tip of the tail stretched straight， like a pointers. His hindquarters rocked with the motion of the cat tribe preliminarypreliminary adj.预备的， 初步的 to leaping.
不出两分钟，他生起了一小堆明亮的篝火。他拿着罐头朝水坑走去。在离水坑十五码时，他从灌木枝叶的空隙中看到左边不远处有一匹备有女鞍的小马，耷拉着缰绳在啃草。约瑟法·奥唐奈趴在水坑旁边喝了水，站了起来，正在擦去掌心的泥沙。吉文斯还看到在她右边十来码远的荆棘丛中，有一头蹲着的墨西哥狮子。它的硫磺色的眼睛射出饥饿的光芒，眼睛后面六英尺的地方是像猎狗猛扑前那样伸得笔直的尾巴。它挪动后腿，那是猫科动物跳跃前的常态。
Givens did what he could. His sixshooter was thirtyfive yards away lying on the grass. He gave a loud yellyell vi.大叫， 忍不住笑， 呼喊 vt.叫着说 n.叫声， 喊声， and dashed between the lion and the princess.
吉文斯做了他力所能及的事。他的六响手枪放在三十五码以外的草地上。他暴喊一声，蹿到狮子和公主中间。
The “rucus”， as Givens called it afterward， was brief and somewhat confused. When he arrived on the line of attack he saw a dim streak in the air， and heard a couple of faintfaint n.昏晕， 昏倒 adj.虚弱地， 衰弱的， 软弱的，无力的， 微弱的， 暗淡的， 模糊的 vi.昏晕， 昏倒，变得微弱， 变得没气力 crackscrack n.裂缝， 噼啪声 v.(使)破裂， 裂纹， (使)爆裂 adj.最好的， 高明的. Then a hundred pounds of Mexican lion plumped down upon his head and flattened him， with a heavy jar， to the ground. He remembered calling out， “Let up， now—no fair gouging！” And then he crawled from under the lion like a worm， with his mouth full of grass and dirt， and a big lump on the back of his head where it had struck the root of a waterelm. The lion lay motionless. Givens， feeling aggrievedaggrieved adj.受虐待的， 权利受到不法侵害的， 抱不平的， and suspicious of fouls， shook his fist at the lion， and shouted， “Ill rastle you again for twenty—” and then he got back to himself.
吉文斯事后所说的这场“格斗”是短暂而有点混乱的。当他冲到战线上时，他看见空中掠过一道模糊的影子，又听到两声隐约的枪响。紧接着，百磅重的墨西哥狮子落到了他头上，噗的一声重重地把他压倒在地。他还记得自己喊道：“让我起来——这种打法不公道！”然后，他像毛虫似的从狮子身下爬出来，满嘴的青草和污泥，后脑勺磕在水榆树根上，鼓了一个大包。狮子一动不动地瘫在地上。吉文斯大为不满，并且觉得受骗了。他对狮子晃晃拳头，嚷道：“我跟你再来二十四回合——”，接着他恢复过来。
Josefa was standing in her tracks， quietly reloadingreload vt.再装 vi.再装填弹药 her silvermounted 38. It had not been a difficult shot. The lions head made an easier mark than a tomatocan swinging at the end of a string. There was a provokingprovoking adj.激怒的， teasing， maddening smile upon her mouth and in her dark eyes. The wouldberescuing knight felt the fire of his fiasco burn down to his soul. Here had been his chance， the chance that he had dreamed of， and Momus， and not Cupid， had presided over it. The satyrs in the wood were， no doubt， holding their sides in hilarious， silent laughter. There had been something like vaudeville—say Signor Givens and his funny knockaboutknockabout adj.粗糙的， 喧闹的， 到处闲荡的 n.闹剧，小游艇， 流浪汉 act with the stuffed lion.
约瑟法站在原来的地方，若无其事地在重新填装她那把镶银把柄的三八口径手枪。这样射击并不困难。狮子脑袋同悬在绳子上的蕃茄罐头相比，目标要大多了。她嘴角和黑眼睛里带着一丝挑逗、嘲弄和叫人恼火的笑意。这位救人未遂的侠士觉得丢脸的火焰一直烧到他的灵魂。这本来是他的大好机会，梦寐以求的机会。可是成全他的不是爱神丘比特，而是嘲弄之神莫摩斯。毫无疑问，森林中的精灵们一定在捧着肚子窃窃暗笑。这简直成了一出滑稽戏——吉文斯先生同滑稽狮子一起演出的滑稽闹剧。
“Is that you， Mr. Givens？” said Josefa， in her deliberate， saccharinesaccharine n.<美>糖精 adj.糖质的， 含糖的 contraltocontralto n女低音， 女低音歌手. “You nearly spoilt my shot when you yelled. Did you hurt your head when you fell？”
“是你吗，吉文斯先生？”约瑟法说，她的声调徐缓低沉，像糖精一般甜。“你那一声叫喊几乎害得我脱靶。你摔倒时有没有伤到头？”
“Oh， no，” said Givens， quietly， “that didnt hurt.” He stooped ignominiously and dragged his best Stetson hat from under the beast. It was crushed and wrinkled to a fine comedy effect. Then he knelt down and softly stroked the fiercefierce adj.凶猛的， 猛烈的， 热烈的， 暴躁的<美>极讨厌的，难受的， <英方>精力旺盛的， openjawed head of the dead lion.
“哦，没什么，”吉文斯平静地说，“摔得不重。”他屈辱地弯下腰，把他那顶最好的斯特森帽子从狮子身下抽出来。帽子压得一团糟，很有喜剧效果。接着，他跪下去，轻轻地抚摸着死狮子那张着大嘴、令人生畏的脑袋。
“Poor old Bill！” he exclaimed mournfullymournfully adv.悲哀地.
“可怜的老比尔！”他伤心地说。
“Whats that？” asked Josefa， sharply.
“那是怎么回事？”约瑟法敏捷地问道。
“Of course you didnt know， Miss Josefa.” said Givens， with an air of one allowing magnanimitymagnanimity n.宽宏大量 to triumph overtriumph over v.击败， 成功， 得胜 grief. “Nobody can blame you. I tried to save him， but I couldnt let you know in time.”
“你当然不明白，约瑟法小姐，”吉文斯说，同时露出宽恕而不是悲哀的神情，“谁也不能怪你。我想救它，但是无法及时让你知道。”
“Save who？”
“救谁呀？”
“Why， Bill. Ive been looking for him all day. You see， hes been our camp pet for two years. Poor old fellow， he wouldnt have hurt a cottontailcottontail n.［动］棉尾兔(一种产于北美洲的野兔) rabbit. Itll break the boys all up when they hear about it. But you couldnt tell， of course， that Bill was just trying to play with you.”
“还不是老比尔。我找了它一整天。你明白，两年来它一直是我们营地里的宠物。可怜的老东西，它连一只白尾灰兔都不会伤害的。营地里的弟兄们知道这件事后，都会伤心的。当然你当然不知道比尔只不过是同你闹着玩。”
Josefas black eyes burned steadily upon him. Ripley Givens met the test successfully. He stood rumpling the yellowbrown curls on his head pensively. In his eye was regretregret n.遗憾， 悔恨， 抱歉， 歉意 vt.为……感到遗憾，后悔， 惋惜， 哀悼， 懊悔 vi.感到抱歉， not unmingled with a gentle reproachreproach v.责备. His smooth features were set to a pattern of indisputable sorrow. Josefa waveredwaver n.动摇， 开始退让， 踌躇， 挥动者 vi.摇摆， 颤抖，摆动， 摇曳， 犹豫.
约瑟法的黑眼睛炯炯有神地盯着他。里普利·吉文斯顺利地混过了这一关。他沉思地站着，把他那黄褐色的头发揉得乱蓬蓬的。他眼睛里露出懊丧的神情，还掺杂着一些温和的责怪。他那清秀的脸上显出一种无可非议的哀伤。约瑟法倒有点拿不准了。
“What was your pet doing here？” she asked， making a last stand. “Theres no camp near the White Horse Crossing.”
“那你们的宠物跑到这儿来干吗？”她穷追不舍地问道。“白马渡口附近又没有营地。”