English Original
I subconsciously thought it odd to see Bill anywhere outside his home — I had actually never seen him anywhere but within about 10 yards of his house. He rarely ventured even outside of his backyard domain, but the fuss next-door but two drew him. Seeing him now was like looking at a lost member of Captain Scott's Antarctic Expedition — not only that, but he was walking straight into a mantrap in his carpet slippers.
Bingo was in no mood to be talked down, won over with tidbits, clucked at, cooed over, or asked: "Whassamarrer then yer silly lad? Eh, whassup with him then?"
Dad called over the rose trellis work which arched unsteadily across our shoulder-high wall: "I should leave well enough alone here, Bill!"
Bill peeked between the gaps in the trellis: "Oh, it's only old Bingo! What the dickens are you doing here, you daft bugger?"
"He'll have you, Bill, he's gone for me — you want to see what he did to the mop as I was keeping him back with!"
Bingo was anxiously glancing from one to the other, from Dad to Bill and back again. He had his mouth open, and his tongue hanging as he panted, his longer teeth visible. The dog was waiting for one of the men to make a move.
"Barrie, let me tell yer, I'm not much good with babies, I'm hopeless with cars, but dogs ... well, I've got a way with dogs," said Bill, and he pinched out the cigarette nub and placed it behind his ear.
Bill moved to open our backyard gate, and my Dad was alarmed, "Bill, leave it, I mean it! He'll bloody have you!"
By now, Bingo had lost all sense of his original mission and was hell-bent on a vengeance which he had lost control of. Bingo noticed that Bill had disappeared from the wall and detected the movement of the gate handle. The dog curled his lip and sloped toward the widening gap and Bill's slippered feet.
My Father later described Bingo's movement as reminding him of a hyena, shoulders hunched, head low, eyes sliding from side to side as he kept watch on all movement around him — a low, guttural growl creating violent mood music.
My Father moved gently to get behind the dog, and in particular, the dog's hind quarters — he meant to get a good kick at Bingo's backside. Bill saw this and gestured for my Father to stop. Bill walked slowly backward away from the gate and into the backs, and Bingo tracked him, now toe to toe with an enemy on whom he was going to unleash his thwarted venom.
中文翻译
我潜意识里觉得在比尔家以外的地方见到他很奇怪——事实上，我从未在离他家大约十码以外的地方见过他。他甚至连自家后院领地都很少踏出，但隔两户人家的喧闹吸引了他。现在看到他，就像看到了斯科特船长南极探险队的一名失踪队员——不仅如此，他还穿着地毯拖鞋，径直走向一个捕人陷阱。
宾果可没心情被安抚、被零食收买、被啧啧逗弄、被咕咕哄骗，或是被问：“怎么了，你这傻小子？嗯，他到底怎么回事？”
爸爸隔着那架在我们齐肩高墙上摇摇晃晃的玫瑰藤架喊道：“比尔，这儿的事你最好别管！”
比尔从藤架的缝隙间窥视：“哦，不过是老宾果！你这蠢货到底在这儿干嘛？”
“他会咬你的，比尔，他已经冲我来了——你想看看我用拖把挡他时，他把拖把弄成什么样了吗！”
宾果焦急地来回扫视，从爸爸看到比尔，又从比尔看回爸爸。它张着嘴，舌头耷拉着喘着气，较长的牙齿露了出来。这只狗正等着其中一人有所动作。
“巴里，我跟你说，我对付婴儿不在行，对汽车一窍不通，但对付狗嘛……嗯，我自有办法，”比尔说着，掐灭了烟头，把它夹在耳后。
比尔走过去要打开我们后院的门，我爸爸惊慌地喊道：“比尔，别动它，我是说真的！他会咬死你的！”
此时，宾果早已忘记了最初的目的，一心只想复仇，而这复仇已失控。宾果注意到比尔从墙边消失了，并察觉到了门把手的动静。狗卷起嘴唇，弓着身子朝逐渐扩大的门缝和比尔的拖鞋脚挪去。
我父亲后来描述宾果的动作让他想起一只鬣狗：肩膀耸起，头压得很低，眼睛左右扫视，监视着周围的一切动静——一声低沉、喉音般的咆哮，营造出暴力的氛围音乐。
我父亲轻轻挪动，想绕到狗的身后，特别是它的后躯部位——他打算好好踢一脚宾果的屁股。比尔看到了，示意我父亲停下。比尔慢慢地向后倒退，离开大门，退向屋后空地，宾果紧盯着他，此刻与敌人面对面，准备将受挫的毒液全部倾泻出来。