“It was five days afterward when I got another chance to ride over to Pimienta. Miss Willella and me passed a gratifying evening at Uncle Emsleys. She sang some，and exasperated the piano quite a lot with quotationsquotation n.引用语，价格，报价单，行情表 from the operas. I gave imitations of a rattlesnake，and told her about Snaky McFees new way of skinning cows，and described the trip I made to Saint Louis once. We was getting along in one anothers estimations fine. Thinks I，if Jackson Bird can now be persuaded to migrate，I win. I recollect his promise about the pancake receipt，and I thinks I will persuade it from Miss Willella and give it to him； and then if I catches Birdie off of Mired Mule again，Ill make him hop the twig.
“五天之后，我才有机会去比绵塔。威莱拉小姐和我在埃姆斯利大叔家过了一个愉快的傍晚。她唱了几首歌，在钢琴上弹了许多歌剧的调子。我学响尾蛇的模样，告诉她‘长虫’麦克菲剥牛皮的新法子，还告诉她有一次我去圣路易斯的情况。我们两个处得很投机。我想，如果现在能叫杰克逊·伯德转移牧场，我就赢了。我记起他说搞到薄饼调制配方就离开的保证，便打算劝威莱拉小姐交出来给他；以后我再在陷骡山谷以外的地方见到他，就要他的命。
“So，along about ten oclock，I put on a wheedling smile and says to Miss Willella： ‘Now，if theres anything I do like better than the sight of a red steer on green grass its the taste of a nice hot pancake smothered in sugarhouse molasses.’
“因此，十点钟左右，我脸上堆着哄人的笑容，对威莱拉小姐说：‘如果现在有什么东西比青草地上的红马更叫我高兴的话，那就是涂着糖浆的好吃的薄饼了。’
“Miss Willella gives a little jump on the piano stool，and looked at me curious.
“威莱拉小姐在钢琴凳上微微一震，吃惊地瞅着我。
“‘Yes，’ says she，‘theyre real nice. What did you say was the name of that street in Saint Louis，Mr. Odom，where you lost your hat？’
“‘是啊，’她说，‘薄饼的味道确实不错。奥多姆先生，刚才你说你在圣路易斯掉帽子的那条街叫什么来着？’
“‘Pancake Avenue.’ says I，with a wink，to show her that I was on about the family receipt，and couldnt be sidecorralled off of the subject. ‘come，now，Miss Willella，’ I says，‘lets hear how you make em. Pancakes is just whirling in my head like wagon wheels. Start her off，now—pound of flour，eight dozen eggs，and so on. How does the cataloguecatalogue n.目录 of constituentsconstituent n.委托人，要素 adj.有选举权的； 有宪法制定[修改］权的 run？’
“‘薄饼街。’我眨眨眼睛说，表示我拿定主意要搞到她的家传秘方，不会轻易转移话题的。‘喂，威莱拉小姐，’我说，‘谈谈你怎么做薄饼的吧。薄饼像车轮似的在我脑袋里打转。说吧——一磅面粉，八打鸡蛋，等等。配料的成分是怎么样的？’
“‘Excuse me for a moment，please.’ says Miss Willella，and she gives me a quick kind of sideways look，and slides off the stool. She ambled out into the other room，and directly Uncle Emsley comes in in his shirt sleeves，with a pitcher of water. He turns around to get a glass on the table，and I see a fortyfive in his hip pocket. ‘Great postholes！’ thinks I，‘But heres a family thinks a heap of cooking receipts，protecting it with firearmsfirearms n.火器，轻武器。 Ive known outfits that wouldnt do that much by a family feudfeud n.不和，（部落或家族间的）世仇，封地，争执 vi.长期不和，长期争斗。’
“‘对不起，我出去一会儿。’威莱拉小姐说。她斜着眼睛飞快地瞟我一下，放下凳子，慢慢地进到隔壁的房里去。紧接着，埃姆斯利大叔拿了一罐水，连上衣也没穿就进来了。他转过身去拿桌子上的玻璃杯时，我发现他裤袋里揣着一把四五口径的手枪。‘好家伙！’我想道，‘这个人家把食谱配方看得这么重，竟然要用火器来保护它。有的人家即使有世仇宿怨也不至于这样。’
“‘Drink this here down.’ says Uncle Emsley，handing me the glass of water. ‘Youve rid too far today，Jud，and got yourself overexcited. Try to think about something else now.’
“‘喝下去。’埃姆斯利递给我一杯水说。‘你今天骑马赶路累了，贾德，搞得太兴奋了。还是想些别的事情吧。’
“‘Do you know how to make them pancakes，Uncle Emsley？’ I asked.
“‘你知道怎么做那种薄饼吗，埃姆斯利大叔？’我问道。
“‘Well，Im not as apprised in the anatomy of them as some，’ says Uncle Emsley，‘but I reckon you take a sifter of plaster of Paris and a little dough and saleratussaleratus n.重碳酸钠，小苏打 and corn meal，and mix ‘em with eggs and buttermilk as usual. Is old Bill going to ship beeves to Kansas City again this spring，Jud？’
“‘嗯，在做薄饼方面，我不像某些人那样高明，’埃姆斯利大叔回答说，‘不过我想，你可以按照通常的办法，拿一筛子石膏粉，一小点儿生面，小苏打和玉米面，用鸡蛋和全脂牛奶搅和起来就成了。今年春天老比尔是不是又要把牛群赶到堪萨斯城去，贾德。’
“That was all the pancake specifications I could get that night. I didnt wonder that Jackson Bird found it uphill work. So I dropped the subject and talked with Uncle Emsley for a while about hollowhorn and cyclones. And then Miss Willella came and said ‘Goodnight’，and I hit the breeze for the ranch.
“那晚上，我所能打听到的有关薄饼的细节只有这么些。难怪杰克逊·伯德觉得棘手。于是我撇开这个话题不谈，和埃姆斯利大叔聊聊羊角风和旋风之类的事。没多久，威莱拉小姐进来道了晚安，我便骑马回牧场。
“About a week afterward I met Jackson Bird riding out of Pimienta as I rode in，and we stopped on the road for a few frivolous remarks.
“约摸一个星期后，我骑马去比绵塔，正遇到杰克逊·伯德从那里回来，我们便停在路上，随便聊聊。
“‘Got the bill of particulars for them flapjacksflapjack n.烙饼，大薄煎饼，烤饼，小粉盒 yet？’ I asked him.
“‘你搞到烙饼的详细说明了吗？’我问他。
“‘Well，no.’ says Jackson. ‘I dont seem to have any success in getting hold of it. Did you try？’
“‘没有呢。’杰克逊说。‘看样子，我没有希望了。你试过没有？’
“‘I did，’ says I，‘and twas like trying to dig a prairie dog out of his hole with a peanut hull. That pancake receipt must be a jookalorum，the way they hold on to it.’
“‘试过，’我说，‘可是毫无结果，正像要用花生壳把草原犬鼠从洞里挖出来一样。看他们死抱住不放的样子，那个薄饼配方准是好宝贝。’
“‘Im most ready to give it up.’ says Jackson，so discouraged in his pronunciations that I felt sorry for him，‘But I did want to know how to make them pancakes to eat on my lonely ranch，’ says he. ‘I lie awake at nights thinking how good they are.’
“‘我几乎准备放弃啦。’杰克逊说，他的口气是那么失望，连我也替他难过，‘可是我一心只想知道那种薄饼的调制方法。以便在我那寂寞的牧场上自己做来吃。’他说。‘我晚上睡不着觉，光捉摸薄饼的好滋味。’
“‘You keep on trying for it，’ I tells him，‘and Ill do the same. One of us is bound to get a rope over its horns before long. Well，solong，Jacksy.’
“‘你还是尽力想想办法，’我对他说。‘我也同时进行。用不了多久，我们中间总有一个能用套索把它兜住的。好吧，再见，杰克逊。’
“You see，by this time we were on the peacefullest of terms. When I saw that he wasnt after Miss Willella，I had more endurable contemplations of that sandyhaired snoozer. In order to help out the ambitions of his appetiteappetite n.食欲，胃口，欲望，爱好 I kept on trying to get that receipt from Miss Willella. But every time I would say ‘pancakes’ she would get sort of remote and fidgetyfidgety adj.不安的，不沉着的，烦躁的，难以取悦的 about the eye，and try to change the subject. If I held her to it she would slide out and round up Uncle Emsley with his pitcher of water and hippocket howitzerhowitzer n.榴弹炮。