“计划吹啦。”小利亚诺说。“以后你同我说话，请称呼我堂·弗朗西斯科·马里盖。我保证答应。我们不去碰马里盖上校的钱。就你我两人来说，他的小铁皮保险箱同拉雷多第一国民银行的定时保险库一样安全可靠。”
“Youre going to throw me down， then， are you？” said the consul.
“那你是想出卖我了，是吗？”领事说。
“Sure.” said the Kid cheerfully. “Throw you down. Thats it. And now Ill tell you why. The first night I was up at the colonels house they introduced me to a bedroom. No blankets on the floor—a real room， with a bed and things in it. And before I was asleep， in comes this artificialartificial adj.人造的， 假的， 非原产地的 mother and tucks in the covers. ‘Panchito，’ she says， ‘my little lost one， God has brought you back to me. I bless His name forever.’ It was that， or some truck like that， she said. And down comes a drop or two of rain and hits me on the nose. And all that stuck by me， Mr. Thacker. And its been that way ever since. And its got to stay that way. Dont you think that its for whats in it for me， either， that I say so. If you have any such ideas， keep em to yourself. I havent had much truck with women in my life， and no mothers to speak of， but heres a lady that weve got to keep fooled. Once she stood it， twice she wont. Im a lowdown wolf， and the devildevil n.魔鬼， 恶棍 may have sent me on this trail instead of God， but Ill travel it to the end. And now， dont forget that Im Don Francisco Urique whenever you happen to mention my name.”
“当然。”小利亚诺快活地说，“出卖你。说得对。现在我把原因告诉你。我到上校家的第一晚，他们领我到一间卧室里。不是在地板上铺一张床垫——而是一间真正的卧室，有床有家具。我入睡前，我那位假母亲走了进来，替我掖好被子。‘小宝贝’，她说，‘我的走失的小宝贝，天主把你送了回来。我永远赞美他的名。’她说了一些诸如此类的废话。接着落了几点雨，滴在我的鼻子上。这情形我永远忘不了，撒克先生。那以后一直是这样，将来也是这样。我说这番话，别以为我为自己的好处打算。你不要以小人之心度君子之腹。我几乎没有跟女人多说过话，也没有母亲可谈，但是对于这位太太，我们却不得不继续瞒下去。她已经忍受了一次痛苦；第二次她可受不了。我像是一条卑贱的野狼，送我走上这条路的可能不是上帝，而是魔鬼，但是我要走到头。喂，你以后提起我的名字时，别忘了我是堂·弗朗西斯科·乌里盖。”
“Ill expose you today， you—you doubledyed traitortraitor n.叛逆者， 叛国者.” stammered Thacker.
“我今天就揭发你，你——你这个双料叛徒。”撒克结结巴巴地说。
The Kid arose and， without violence， took Thacker by the throat with a hand of steel， and shoved him slowly into a corner. Then he drew from under his left arm his pearlhandled 45s and poked the cold muzzle of it against the consuls mouth.
小利亚诺站起来，并不粗暴地用他有力的手掐住撒克的脖子，慢慢地把他推到一个角落去。接着，他从左腋窝下抽出他那支珍珠贝柄的四五口径手枪，用冰冷的枪口戳着领事的嘴巴。
“I told you why I come here.” he said， with his old freezing smile. “If I leave here， youll be the reason. Never forget it， pardner. Now， what is my name？”
“我已经告诉过你。我怎么会来到这里的。”他露出以前那种叫人心寒的微笑说。“如果我再离开这里，那将是由于你的缘故。千万别忘记，伙计。喂，我叫什么名字呀。”
“Er—Don Francisco Urique.” gasped Thacker.
“呃——堂·弗朗西斯科·马里盖。”撒克喘着气说。
From outside came a sound of wheels， and the shouting of some one， and the sharp thwacks of a wooden whipstock upon the backs of fat horses.
外面传来车轮声，人的哈哈声和木鞭鞭打肥马背上的响亮的啪啪声。
The Kid put up his gun， and walked toward the door. But he turned again and came back to the trembling Thacker， and held up his left hand with its back toward the consul.
小利亚诺收起手枪，向门口走去。但他又扭过头，回到哆嗦着的撒克面前，向领事扬起了左手。
“Theres one more reason，” he said slowly， “why things have got to stand as they are. The fellow I killed in Laredo had one of them same pictures on his left hand.”
“这种情况为什么要维持下去，”他慢慢地说，“还有一个原因。我在拉雷多杀掉的那个人，左手背上也有一个同样的刺花。”
Outside， the ancient landau of Don Santos Urique rattled to the door. The coachmancoachman n.马车夫 ceased his bellowing. Senora Urique， in a voluminous gay gown of white lace and flying ribbonsribbon n.缎带， 丝带， 带， 带状物， 带子， leaned forward with a happy look in her great soft eyes.
外面，堂·桑托斯·乌里盖的古色古香的四轮马车咔嗒咔嗒地驶到门口。马车夫停止了吆喝。乌里盖太太穿着一套缀着许多花边和缎带的漂亮衣服，一双柔和的大眼睛里露出幸福的神情，她向前探着身子。
“Are you within， dear son？” she called， in the ripplingrippling adj.起涟漪的， 潺潺流水般声音的 Castilian.
“你在里面吗，亲爱的儿子？”她用银铃般的西班牙语喊道。
“Madre mia， yo vengo ［mother， I come］.” answered the young Don Francisco Urique.
“妈妈，我来啦。”年轻的堂·弗朗西斯科·马里盖回答说。