Chapter 26

Solid and certain as a rock; one rule I was gut¹-sure I could bank on. Yet it took nothing more than my kid brother coming to spend a month with us to show me that there are other ways of winning—like winning by giving in, by being soft, by not gritting² your goddamn teeth and getting your best hold ...winning by not, for damned sure, being one of the Ten Toughest Hombres west of the Rockies. And show me as well that there’s times when the only way you can win is by being weak, by losing, by doing your worst instead of your best. And learning that come near to doing me in. When I climbed out of that cold water into the boat and saw that the skinny boy in specs was none other than Leland Stamper—fumbling and mumbling³ and flustered⁴ with the running of the boat and no more capable than he ever was when it came to handling any machinery⁵ bigger than a wristwatch—I was plenty tickled⁶. Truth. And plenty pleased and surprised too, though I didn’t let on. I said some dumb thing or other, than just went on sitting there, cool and matter-of-fact, like him being out here in the middle of the Wakonda Auga where nobody’d seen him for a good dozen years was just the most ordinary old thing that had happened all day to me—like, if anything, I was a little disappointed, maybe, that he hadn’t been there yesterday or the day before. I don’t know why. Not for any real meanness. But I never been one to carry on about things like homecomings, and I guess I said what I did because I was uneasy and wanted to devil him some, the way I devil Viv when she starts getting soapy and makes me uneasy. But I see from his face that it hits him wrong, and that I’d got to him a lot more than I’d intended. I’d done a lot of thinking about Lee in the last year, remembering him the way he was at four and five and six. Partly, I imagine, because the news of his mom got me thinking about the old days, but some because he was the only little kid I’ve ever been around and there’d be lots of times when I’d think, That’s what our kid’d been like now. That’s what our kid’d be saying now. And in some ways he was good to compare to, in some ways not. He always had a lot of savvy⁷ but never much sense; by the time he started school he knew his multiplication⁸ tables all the way to the sevens, but never was able to figure why three touchdowns come to twenty-one points if a team kicked all their conversions⁹, though I took him to ball games till the world looked level. I remember—let’s see, I guess when he was nine or ten or so—I tried to teach him to throw jump passes. I’d run out and he’d pass. He wasn’t none too bad an arm, either, and I figured he should make somebody a good little quarterback someday if he would get his butt¹⁰ in gear to match his brains; but after ten or fifteen minutes he’d get disgusted and say, “It’s a stupid game anyway; I don’t care if I ever learn to pass.” And I’d say, “Okay, look here: you’re quarterbacking the Green Bay Packers. It’s fourth down and three in the third quarter, fourth, and three, and you’re behind, nineteen to ten, a quarter to go. You’re on their thirty. Okay ...what do you do?” He’d shuffle¹¹ around, looking around, looking at the ball. “I don’t know. I don’t care.” “You’d go for the three-point field goal, nutty, and why don’t you care?” “I just don’t is all.” “Don’t you want your team to get the league championship? You need that field goal three points. Then, see, after the field goal you got a chance to pick up the six and one and put you out ahead nineteen to twenty.” “No, I don’t.” “Don’t?” “Care if they win the league championship. None at all.” And I’d finally get pissed. “Okay then, why are you playing if you don’t care?” And he’d walk off from the ball. “I’m not. I never will.” Like that. And it was the same in a lot of other ways. He couldn’t seem to get his teeth into anything. Except books. The things in books was darn near more real to him than the things breathing and eating. That’s why he was so easy to shuck, I guess, because he was just content as you please to accept whatever demon¹³ I might happen to trot¹⁴ in—especially if I made it kinda vague. Like . . . well, another thing comes to mind: When he was a little kid he’d always be out on the dock in a life jacket waiting when we come in from work; bright orange life jacket, like an orange popsicle. He’d stand there, hugging a piling and watching us through his glasses, and like as not the first thing I’d say would be some kind of bull. “Lee, bub,” I’d say, “you got any idea what I found up on them hills today?” “No.” He’d look away from me with a frown on his face, telling himself he wasn’t gonna get took this time. Not after I’d shucked him so bad the day before. No sirree bob! Not little bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, book-reading Leland Stanford who already knew the multiplication tables up to the sevens and could add a dozen figures in his head. So he’d stand, and fiddle¹⁵, and flip¹⁶ rocks into the river while we packed away the gear. But you could bet he was interested, for all his ignoring. I’d act like I’d dismissed the subject, keep on working. Finally he’d say, “No ...I don’t think you found anything.” I’d shrug¹⁷ and keep on packing the gear in the boathouse. “Maybe you saw something is all, but you never found anything.” I’d give him a long look like I was oh, trying to dee-cide whether to tell him or not, him being just a kid and all; he’d start getting fidgety. “Come on, Hank; what was it you saw?” And I’d say, “It was a Hide-behind, Lee.” Then I’d look around to see if anybody might be overhearing such a god-awful news; nobody but the dogs. I’d lower my voice. “Yessir, a honest-to-goodness Hide-behind. Shoot. I been hopin’ we wouldn’t have any more trouble with those fellows. Had enough of ’em in the thirties. But now, oh gracious me...” Then I’d maybe click my tongue and shake my head, make to look over the boat or something, like what’d been said was aplenty. Or like it didn’t look to me he was even interested. But all the time knowing I’d sunk the hook clean to the shank. He’d follow me to the house, keeping still long as he could, scared to ask because I’d fooled him so last week with that whopper about the one-winged pinnacle¹⁸ grouse¹⁹ that flew in circles, or the sidehill dodger²⁰ that had its uphill leg inches shorter than its downhill leg so’s it could maneuver²¹ easy on the slopes. He’d be still. He knew better. But always, finally, if I waited long enough, he’d have to break down and ask. “Okay, then, what’s a Hide-behind supposed to be?” “A Hide-behind?” I’d give him what Joe Ben called my ten-count squint²², then say, “You never heard tell of the Hide-behind? I’ll be a sonofabitch. Hey, Henry, goddammit . . . listen to this: Leland Stanford here never heard tell of the Hide-behind. What do you think of that?” The old man would turn at the door, his tight little hairy gut pooching out where he’d already unbuttoned his pants and long johns to get comfortable, and give the kid a look like there was just no more hope for such a ninny. “It figures.” Then go on in the house. “Lee, bub,” I would tell him, toting him on in the house on my hip¹², “the Hide-behind is one of the worst cree-churs a logging man can be plagued with. One of the very worst. He’s little, not big at all, actually, but fast, oh Christ, fast as quicksilver. And he stays behind a man’s back all the time so no matter how quick you turn he’s run the other way, out of your seeing. You can hear one of ’em sometimes when it’s real still in the swamp, and when the wind ain’t blowing. Or sometimes you can catch just the least glimpse of him outa the corner of your eye. You ever notice, when you’re alone out in the woods, seein’ just a speck²³ of something outa the corner of your eye? Then when you turn, whooshee, nothing?” He’d nod yes, eyes big as saucers. “And the Hide-behind will hang right in there behind a fellow and wait; he makes sure they’re all alone, the two of them—because the Hide-behind is scared to glom on to a man if somebody else might be around who could get him before he can wrench²⁴ his fangs²⁵ loose and make a getaway, he’s wide open then—stay right behind a fellow till he’s deep in the woods and bam! Lay it to him.” And he’d look from me to the old man reading the paper, half believing and half suspicious, and think it over awhile. Then he’d ask, “Okay, if he’s always behind you how’d you know he was there?” I’d sit and pull him in closer. Pull him right to where I could whisper to him.

1 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

2 gritting   

v.以沙砾覆盖（某物），撒沙砾于( grit的现在分词 )；咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• Gritting my teeth, I did my best to stifle one or two remarks. 我咬紧牙关，硬是吞回了几句话。 来自辞典例句
• It takes gritting your teeth. It takes discipline. 你得咬紧牙关，你得有严格的纪律。 来自辞典例句

3 mumbling   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him mumbling to himself. 我听到他在喃喃自语。
• He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg. 宴会结束时，他仍在咕哝着医院里的事。说着说着，他在一块冰上滑倒，跌断了左腿。

4 flustered   

adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The honking of horns flustered the boy. 汽车喇叭的叫声使男孩感到慌乱。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was so flustered that she forgot her reply. 她太紧张了，都忘记了该如何作答。 来自辞典例句

5 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

6 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

7 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

8 multiplication   

n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法

参考例句：

• Our teacher used to drum our multiplication tables into us.我们老师过去老是让我们反覆背诵乘法表。
• The multiplication of numbers has made our club building too small.会员的增加使得我们的俱乐部拥挤不堪。

9 conversions   

变换( conversion的名词复数 )； （宗教、信仰等）彻底改变； （尤指为居住而）改建的房屋； 橄榄球（触地得分后再把球射中球门的）附加得分

参考例句：

• He kicked a penalty goal and two conversions, ie in Rugby football. 他一次罚球得分，两次触地后射门得分（在橄榄球赛中）。
• Few of the intermediates or enzymes involved in these conversions have been isolated from higher plants. 在这些转变中包含的少数中间产物或酶已经从高等植物中分离出来。

10 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

11 shuffle   

n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走

参考例句：

• I wish you'd remember to shuffle before you deal.我希望在你发牌前记得洗牌。
• Don't shuffle your feet along.别拖着脚步走。

12 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

13 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

14 trot   

n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧

参考例句：

• They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
• The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。

15 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

16 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

17 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

18 pinnacle   

n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰

参考例句：

• Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
• It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。

19 grouse   

n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦

参考例句：

• They're shooting grouse up on the moors.他们在荒野射猎松鸡。
• If you don't agree with me,please forget my grouse.如果你的看法不同，请不必介意我的牢骚之言。

20 dodger   

n.躲避者；躲闪者；广告单

参考例句：

• They are tax dodgers who hide their interest earnings.他们是隐瞒利息收入的逃税者。
• Make sure she pays her share she's a bit of a dodger.她自己的一份一定要她付清--她可是有点能赖就赖。

21 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

22 squint   

v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的

参考例句：

• A squint can sometimes be corrected by an eyepatch. 斜视有时候可以通过戴眼罩来纠正。
• The sun was shinning straight in her eyes which made her squint. 太阳直射着她的眼睛,使她眯起了眼睛。

23 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

24 wrench   

v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受

参考例句：

• He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
• It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。

25 fangs   

n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座

参考例句：

• The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》