“My fa the r wa s a n old ma n，”Robin answered.
“The fight wa s not e qua l. You a nd I will ma ke a be tte rpa ir，s ir.”
“我父亲当时年纪大了。那场较量不算势均力敌，你我倒是旗鼓相当，先生。”罗宾说。
“I wa s thinking th e s ame thing ，”Alan said.
“这倒正合我的意思。”艾伦说。
I was getting out of bed，and Duncan wasstanding by them. We were both watching to preventa fight. Now it was coming. Duncan，with awhite face，pushed between them.
我从床上往起爬，邓肯站在他们旁边。我们俩都在准备防止一场恶斗。看来，他们这时非动手不可了。邓肯脸色惨白，挤过去站在他们中间，说：
“Ge ntle me n. ”he said,“I ha ve be e n thinking ofs ome thing e ls e . He re a re my pipe s . You a re both fa -mous pipe rs . But who is the be tte r pip e r of the two？
Le t us judge now.”
“二位，我一直在考虑另外一件事。我这里有风笛，你们都是有名的风笛手，可是不知道谁吹得更好。
咱们评评吧。”
“Why s ir ，”Alan said，and he still looked atRobin,“ca n you pla y？Are you a pipe r?”
艾伦仍然盯着罗宾，说：“喂，先生，你会吹吗？你是个风笛手吗？”
“I am a n e xpe rt pipe r！”answered Robin.
“我是一个顶呱呱的风笛手！”
罗宾回答说。
“Tha t is a ve ry bold word！”Alan said.
“话说得过分了。”艾伦说。
“I ha ve prove d it be fore n ow，”Robin said,“a nda ga ins t be tte r me n tha n you.”
“这早有定论，而且跟我比赛过的对手比你高明得多。”罗宾说。
“We will try tha t，”Alan said.
“咱们试试看。”艾伦说。
Duncan quickly brought out his bagpipes，andoffered the two men food and drink. The two enemiessat down with polite words. They ate anddrank a little. They were still on the edge of a
邓肯很快拿出他的风笛，并且端上了酒和菜。这两个冤家对手谦让着坐了下来，吃了几口菜，喝了一点酒。但他们之间仍然随时可能吵
quarrel. Then Robin took the pipes and played agay little dance tune.
起来。后来，罗宾拿起风笛，吹了一支轻快的短小舞曲。
“Ye s ，you ca n blow，”Alan said. He took the instrumentand played the same music. Then he repeatedthe tune in various ways，and decorated itwith light little notes.
“不错，你吹得可以。”艾伦说。
他拿起风笛，把那个舞曲又吹了一遍。然后，他换了几种手法，加进去一些轻快短小的饰音，再吹了几遍。
Robin’s playing had pleased me，but Alan’swas even better.
罗宾的吹奏很动听，可是艾伦吹奏得更优美。
“Tha t’s no t ve ry ba d ，Mr Stewa rt，”said Robin，“but I don ’t think much o f a ll thos e e xtra little note s .
The y did n’t ma ke th e tune sound much be tte r.”
罗宾说：“吹得不错，斯图尔特先生，可我认为那些饰音加得并不高明，并没有给原来的曲子锦上添花。”
The blood rushed to Alan’s face.
艾伦的脸一下子涨红了。他大声嚷道：
“You a re lying，s ir. ”He bold the handle ofsword.
“你在撒谎，先生。”他的手抓住了刀柄。
“He re I win you a t the pipe s ，”saidRobin.“Ma s tyou c ha nge them for the sword？”
“这么说，吹风笛你服输了，只好动力啦?”罗宾说。
“We ll，Mr Ma e gre gor ，”Alan said,“I will ta ke sba c k the lie ，for the pre s e nt. Dunc a n will judge be -twe e n us .”
“好吧，麦格雷戈先生，我暂时收回刚才说你撒谎的话。让邓肯给咱们作个评判吧。”艾伦说。
“Dunc a n will not judge ，”Robin said.“You a re abe tte r judge yours e lf. It is true . you a re a good pipe r，for a S tewa rt. Give me th e pipe s .”
“邓肯评判不了。你自己更能评判。说句良心话，一个斯图尔特家的人能吹成这样，还真不容易。
把风笛给我。”罗宾说。
Alan did so. Robin then repeated Alan ’smusic. and corrected some parts of it. Then he beganagain. He used the same tune，but decorated it
艾伦把风笛递了过去。罗宾拿起风笛，重复了一遍艾伦吹法，并且修正了几处。他接着又吹了一次，
in a very neat clever way. I was astonished at hisart.
还是那个曲子，可是他加的饰音很巧妙，很干脆。我真没有想到他会有这么高的技巧。
Alau s face was dark and hot. He sat and bithis fingers.
艾 伦的脸色显得阴沉，激动。
他坐在那儿咬着手指。
“Enough！”be said. You can play the pipes.
Now we’ll try something else. He got up to fight.
“够了！”他说。“你会吹风笛。
现在咱们比别的。”他站起身要动手。
Robin held out his hand and asked for silence.
He began again. This time he played a slowtune. It was a tine noble piece of music，and heplayed it well. Now，it was a special tune of the Appinstewart and a chief favourite with Alan.
罗 宾伸出手，示意艾伦安静。
他又吹起了风笛。这次他吹的是一曲缓慢的曲子，记雅而又庄严，吹奏技巧也很高。原来那是亚品地区斯图尔特旅人的一首专门的曲调，是艾伦最喜欢的曲子。
When he heard the first notes，his facechanged. When Robin repeated the tune morequickly，Alan moved with the music. When Robinhad finished playing，Alan could not be angry. Hethought only of the music.
艾伦一听到开始的几个音符，面部表情就变了。罗宾用较快的速度重复这首曲调时，艾伦随着曲子的节奏摇起身子。等罗宾吹完以后，艾伦想生气也生不起来了。他被那美妙的音乐陶醉了。他说：
“Robin Oig ，”he said,“you a re a gre a t pipe r！
You a re much be tte r tha n I. I think I am be tte r withthe sword tha n you . But if we fought，I could not kill agood pipe r like you ！”
“罗宾·奥伊格，你真是一位了不起的风笛手！比我强得多。我想我的刀法比你高明。可是，咱们要是交起手来，我真能杀死象你这样高明的风笛手！”
The quarrel had now ended. All night theyplayed and ate and drank. It was late in the morningwhen Robin went home.
一场争端就这样平息了。整整一夜，他们又吃又唱，又吹奏风笛。
罗宾回家时，已经是大清早了。
