×

We use cookies to help make LingQ better. By visiting the site, you agree to our cookie policy.

image

Way Of The Lawless by Max Brand, CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1

Beside the rear window of the blacksmith shop Jasper Lanning held his withered arms folded against his chest. With the dispassionate eye and the aching heart of an artist he said to himself that his life work was a failure. That life work was the young fellow who swung the sledge at the forge, and truly it was a strange product for this seventy-year-old veteran with his slant Oriental eyes and his narrow beard of white. Andrew Lanning was not even his son, but it came about in this way that Andrew became the life work of Jasper.

Fifteen years before, the father of Andy died, and Jasper rode out of the mountain desert like a hawk dropping out of the pale-blue sky. He buried his brother without a tear, and then sat down and looked at the slender child who bore his name. Andy was a beautiful boy. He had the black hair and eyes, the well-made jaw, and the bone of the Lannings, and if his mouth was rather soft and girlish he laid the failing to the weakness of childhood. Jasper had no sympathy for tenderness in men. His own life was as littered with hard deeds as the side of a mountain with boulders. But the black, bright eyes and the well-made jaw of little Andy laid hold on him, and he said to himself: "I'm fifty-five. I'm about through with my saddle days. I'll settle down and turn out one piece of work that'll last after I'm gone, and last with my signature on it!" That was fifteen years ago. And for fifteen years he had labored to make Andy a man according to a grim pattern which was known in the Lanning clan, and elsewhere in the mountain desert. His program was as simple as the curriculum of a Persian youth. On the whole, it was even simpler, for Jasper concentrated on teaching the boy how to ride and shoot, and was not at all particular that he should learn to speak the truth. But on the first two and greatest articles of his creed, how Jasper labored!

For fifteen years he poured his heart without stint into his work! He taught Andy to know a horse from hock to teeth, and to ride anything that wore hair. He taught him to know a gun as if it were a sentient thing. He taught him all the draws of old and new pattern, and labored to give him both precision and speed. That was the work of fifteen years, and now at the end of this time the old man knew that his life work was a failure, for he had made the hand of Andrew Lanning cunning, had given his muscles strength, but the heart beneath was wrong.

It was hard to see Andy at the first glance. A film of smoke shifted and eddied through the shop, and Andy, working the bellows, was a black form against the square of the door, a square filled by the blinding white of the alkali dust in the road outside and the blinding white of the sun above. Andy turned from the forge, bearing in his tongs a great bar of iron black at the ends but white in the middle. The white place was surrounded by a sparkling radiance. Andy caught up an eight-pound hammer, and it rose and fell lightly in his hand. The sparks rushed against the leather apron of the hammer wielder, and as the blows fell rapid waves of light were thrown against the face of Andrew.

Looking at that face one wondered how the life work of Jasper was such a failure. For Andy was a handsome fellow with his blue-black hair and his black, rather slanting eyes, after the Lanning manner. Yet Jasper saw, and his heart was sick. The face was a little too full; the square bone of the chin was rounded with flesh; and, above all, the mouth had never changed. It was the mouth of the child, soft—too womanly soft. And Jasper blinked.

When he opened his eyes again the white place on the iron had become a dull red, and the face of the blacksmith was again in shadow. All Jasper could see was the body of Andy, and that was much better. Red light glinted on the sinewy arms and the swaying shoulders, and the hammer swayed and fell tirelessly. For fifteen years Jasper had consoled himself with the strength of the boy, smooth as silk and as durable; the light form which would not tire a horse, but swelled above the waist into those formidable shoulders.

Now the bar was lifted from the anvil and plunged, hissing, into the bucket beside the forge; above the bucket a cloud of steam rose and showed clearly against the brilliant square of the door, and the peculiar scent which came from the iron went sharply to the nostrils of Jasper. He got up as a horseman entered the shop. He came in a manner that pleased Jasper. There was a rush of hoofbeats, a form darting through the door, and in the midst of the shop the rider leaped out of the saddle and the horse came to a halt with braced legs.

"Hey, you!" called the rider as he tossed the reins over the head of his horse. "Here's a hoss that needs iron on his feet. Fix him up. And look here"—he lifted a forefoot and showed the scales on the frog and sole of the hoof—"last time you shoed this hoss you done a sloppy job, son. You left all this stuff hangin' on here. I want it trimmed off nice an' neat. You hear?" The blacksmith shrugged his shoulders.

"Spoils the hoof to put the knife on the sole, Buck," said the smith. "That peels off natural." "H'm," said Buck Heath. "How old are you, son?" "Oh, old enough," answered Andy cheerily. "Old enough to know that this exfoliation is entirely natural." The big word stuck in the craw of Buck Heath, who brought his thick eyebrows together. "I've rid horses off and on come twenty-five years," he declared, "and I've rid 'em long enough to know how I want 'em shod. This is my hoss, son, and you do it my way. That straight?" The eye of old Jasper in the rear of the shop grew dim with wistfulness as he heard this talk. He knew Buck Heath; he knew his kind; in his day he would have eaten a dozen men of such rough words and such mild deeds as Buck. But searching the face of Andy, he saw no resentment. Merely a quiet resignation.

"Another thing," said Buck Heath, who seemed determined to press the thing to a disagreeable point. "I hear you don't fit your shoes on hot. Well?" "I never touch a hoof with hot iron," replied Andy. "It's a rotten practice." "Is it?" said Buck Heath coldly. "Well, son, you fit my hoss with hot shoes or I'll know the reason why." "I've got to do the work my own way," protested Andy. A spark of hope burned in the slant eyes of Jasper.

"Otherwise I can go find another gent to do my shoein'?" inquired Buck.

"It looks that way," replied the blacksmith with a nod. "Well," said Buck, whose mildness of the last question had been merely the cover for a bursting wrath that now sent his voice booming, "maybe you know a whole pile, boy—I hear Jasper has give you consid'able education—but what you know is plumb wasted on me. Understand? As for lookin' up another blacksmith, you ought to know they ain't another shop in ten miles. You'll do this job, and you'll do it my way. Maybe you got another way of thinkin'?" There was a little pause.

"It's your horse," repeated Andy. "I suppose I can do him your own way." Old Jasper closed his eyes in silent agony. Looking again, he saw Buck Heath grinning with contempt, and for a single moment Jasper touched his gun. Then he remembered that he was seventy years old. "Well, Buck?" he said, coming forward. For he felt that if this scene continued he would go mad with shame.

There was a great change in Buck as he heard this voice, a marked respect was in his manner as he turned to Jasper. "Hello, Jas," he said. "I didn't know you was here." "Come over to the saloon, Buck, and have one on me," said Jasper. "I guess Andy'll have your hoss ready when we come back." "Speakin' personal," said Buck Heath with much heartiness, "I don't pass up no chances with no man, and particular if he's Jasper Lanning." He hooked his arm through Jasper's elbow. "Besides, that boy of yours has got me all heated up. Where'd he learn them man-sized words, Jas?" All of which Andy heard, and he knew that Buck Heath intended him to hear them. It made Andy frown, and for an instant he thought of calling Buck back. But he did not call. Instead he imagined what would happen. Buck would turn on his heel and stand, towering, in the door. He would ask what Andy wanted. Andy chose the careful insult which he would throw in Buck's face. He saw the blow given. He felt his own fist tingle as he returned the effort with interest. He saw Buck tumble back over the bucket of water.

By this time Andy was smiling gently to himself. His wrath had dissolved, and he was humming pleasantly to himself as he began to pull off the worn shoes of Buck's horse.


CHAPTER 1 CAPÍTULO 1 第1章 CAPÍTULO 1 ГЛАВА 1 BÖLÜM 1 第 1 章

Beside the rear window of the blacksmith shop Jasper Lanning held his withered arms folded against his chest. بجانب النافذة الخلفية لمتجر الحداد ، أمسك جاسبر لانينج ذراعيه الذابلة مطوية على صدره. У заднего окна кузницы Джаспер Лэннинг держал иссохшие руки, скрещенные на груди. With the dispassionate eye and the aching heart of an artist he said to himself that his life work was a failure. بالعين المجردة والقلب المؤلم لفنان قال لنفسه أن حياته المهنية كانت فاشلة. С бесстрастным взглядом и ноющим сердцем художника он сказал себе, что дело всей его жизни провалилось. That life work was the young fellow who swung the sledge at the forge, and truly it was a strange product for this seventy-year-old veteran with his slant Oriental eyes and his narrow beard of white. كان هذا العمل الحياتي هو الشاب الذي كان يتأرجح على الزلاجة عند التشكيل ، وكان حقًا منتجًا غريبًا لهذا المحارب البالغ من العمر سبعين عامًا بعيونه الشرقية المائلة ولحيته البيضاء الضيقة. Делом всей жизни был молодой человек, который махал кувалдой в кузнице, и поистине это был странный продукт для этого семидесятилетнего ветерана с раскосыми восточными глазами и узкой седой бородой. Andrew Lanning was not even his son, but it came about in this way that Andrew became the life work of Jasper. Andrew Lanning was not even his son, but it came about in this way that Andrew became the life work of Jasper. Эндрю Лэннинг даже не был его сыном, но так получилось, что Эндрю стал делом всей жизни Джаспера.

Fifteen years before, the father of Andy died, and Jasper rode out of the mountain desert like a hawk dropping out of the pale-blue sky. Fifteen years before, the father of Andy died, and Jasper rode out of the mountain desert like a hawk dropping out of the pale-blue sky. Пятнадцатью годами ранее умер отец Энди, и Джаспер вылетел из горной пустыни, словно ястреб, падающий с бледно-голубого неба. He buried his brother without a tear, and then sat down and looked at the slender child who bore his name. Он без слез похоронил своего брата, а потом сел и посмотрел на стройного ребенка, носившего его имя. Andy was a beautiful boy. Энди был красивым мальчиком. He had the black hair and eyes, the well-made jaw, and the bone of the Lannings, and if his mouth was rather soft and girlish he laid the failing to the weakness of childhood. У него были черные волосы и глаза, хорошо сложенный подбородок и костяк Лэннингов, и если его рот был довольно мягким и девчачьим, он объяснял свои недостатки слабостью детства. Jasper had no sympathy for tenderness in men. Джаспер не питал симпатии к мужским нежностям. His own life was as littered with hard deeds as the side of a mountain with boulders. Его собственная жизнь была так же усеяна тяжелыми делами, как склон горы валунами. But the black, bright eyes and the well-made jaw of little Andy laid hold on him, and he said to himself: "I'm fifty-five. Но черные блестящие глаза и хорошо сложенная челюсть маленького Энди завладели им, и он сказал себе: «Мне пятьдесят пять. I'm about through with my saddle days. Я почти закончил свои седловые дни. I'll settle down and turn out one piece of work that'll last after I'm gone, and last with my signature on it!" Я успокоюсь и напишу одну работу, которая прослужит мне после моего ухода и останется с моей подписью!» That was fifteen years ago. Это было пятнадцать лет назад. And for fifteen years he had labored to make Andy a man according to a grim pattern which was known in the Lanning clan, and elsewhere in the mountain desert. И в течение пятнадцати лет он трудился над тем, чтобы сделать из Энди человека по мрачному образцу, который был известен в клане Лэннингов и повсюду в горной пустыне. His program was as simple as the curriculum of a Persian youth. Его программа была такой же простой, как учебная программа персидского юноши. On the whole, it was even simpler, for Jasper concentrated on teaching the boy how to ride and shoot, and was not at all particular that he should learn to speak the truth. В целом все было еще проще, ибо Джаспер сосредоточился на том, чтобы научить мальчика ездить верхом и стрелять, и вовсе не стремился к тому, чтобы он научился говорить правду. But on the first two and greatest articles of his creed, how Jasper labored! Но как Джаспер трудился над первыми двумя и величайшими статьями своего вероучения!

For fifteen years he poured his heart without stint into his work! Пятнадцать лет он без остатка вкладывал душу в свою работу! He taught Andy to know a horse from hock to teeth, and to ride anything that wore hair. Он научил Энди знать лошадь от скакательного сустава до зубов и ездить верхом на любом, у кого есть шерсть. He taught him to know a gun as if it were a sentient thing. Он научил его знать оружие, как если бы это была разумная вещь. He taught him all the draws of old and new pattern, and labored to give him both precision and speed. Он научил его всем рисункам старых и новых рисунков и старался дать ему точность и скорость. That was the work of fifteen years, and now at the end of this time the old man knew that his life work was a failure, for he had made the hand of Andrew Lanning cunning, had given his muscles strength, but the heart beneath was wrong. Это была работа пятнадцати лет, и теперь, когда это время подошло к концу, старик понял, что дело всей его жизни потерпело неудачу, ибо он сделал руку Эндрю Лэннинга хитрой, наделил его мускулы силой, но сердце под неправильный.

It was hard to see Andy at the first glance. На первый взгляд было трудно увидеть Энди. A film of smoke shifted and eddied through the shop, and Andy, working the bellows, was a black form against the square of the door, a square filled by the blinding white of the alkali dust in the road outside and the blinding white of the sun above. По лавке клубилась и клубилась пленка дыма, и Энди, работая мехами, казался черной фигурой на квадрате двери, квадратом, заполненным ослепительно-белой щелочной пылью на дороге снаружи и ослепительно-белым солнце выше. Andy turned from the forge, bearing in his tongs a great bar of iron black at the ends but white in the middle. Энди отвернулся от горна, держа в клещах большой железный брусок, черный на концах, но белый посередине. The white place was surrounded by a sparkling radiance. Белое место было окружено сверкающим сиянием. Andy caught up an eight-pound hammer, and it rose and fell lightly in his hand. Энди схватил восьмифунтовый молоток, и он легко поднялся и упал в его руке. The sparks rushed against the leather apron of the hammer wielder, and as the blows fell rapid waves of light were thrown against the face of Andrew. Искры сыпались на кожаный фартук владельца молота, и от ударов быстрые волны света бросали на лицо Эндрю.

Looking at that face one wondered how the life work of Jasper was such a failure. Глядя на это лицо, можно было подумать, как жизнь Джаспера оказалась такой неудачной. For Andy was a handsome fellow with his blue-black hair and his black, rather slanting eyes, after the Lanning manner. Ибо Энди был красивым парнем с иссиня-черными волосами и черными, несколько раскосыми глазами, на манер Лэннинга. Yet Jasper saw, and his heart was sick. The face was a little too full; the square bone of the chin was rounded with flesh; and, above all, the mouth had never changed. Лицо было слишком полным; квадратная кость подбородка была скруглена плотью; и, главное, рот никогда не менялся. It was the mouth of the child, soft—too womanly soft. Это был рот ребенка, мягкий — слишком женский. And Jasper blinked. И Джаспер моргнул.

When he opened his eyes again the white place on the iron had become a dull red, and the face of the blacksmith was again in shadow. Когда он снова открыл глаза, белое место на железе стало тускло-красным, и лицо кузнеца снова было в тени. All Jasper could see was the body of Andy, and that was much better. Все, что мог видеть Джаспер, — это тело Энди, и это было намного лучше. Red light glinted on the sinewy arms and the swaying shoulders, and the hammer swayed and fell tirelessly. На мускулистых руках и качающихся плечах отражался красный свет, а молот без устали качался и падал. For fifteen years Jasper had consoled himself with the strength of the boy, smooth as silk and as durable; the light form which would not tire a horse, but swelled above the waist into those formidable shoulders. Пятнадцать лет Джаспер утешался силой мальчика, гладкого, как шелк, и такого же прочного; легкая фигура, которая не утомляла бы лошадь, но набухала выше талии в эти грозные плечи.

Now the bar was lifted from the anvil and plunged, hissing, into the bucket beside the forge; above the bucket a cloud of steam rose and showed clearly against the brilliant square of the door, and the peculiar scent which came from the iron went sharply to the nostrils of Jasper. Прут подняли с наковальни и с шипением бросили в ведро рядом с кузницей; над ведром поднялось облако пара и ясно выступило на фоне сверкающего квадрата двери, а специфический запах, исходивший от железа, резко ударил в ноздри Джаспера. He got up as a horseman entered the shop. Он встал, когда в магазин вошел всадник. He came in a manner that pleased Jasper. Он пришел в манере, которая понравилась Джасперу. There was a rush of hoofbeats, a form darting through the door, and in the midst of the shop the rider leaped out of the saddle and the horse came to a halt with braced legs. Послышался стук копыт, в дверь влетела какая-то фигура, и посреди лавки всадник соскочил с седла, и лошадь остановилась на расправленных ногах.

"Hey, you!" called the rider as he tossed the reins over the head of his horse. — крикнул всадник, перебрасывая поводья через голову лошади. "Here's a hoss that needs iron on his feet. «Вот лошадь, которой нужно железо на ногах. Fix him up. Исправьте его. And look here"—he lifted a forefoot and showed the scales on the frog and sole of the hoof—"last time you shoed this hoss you done a sloppy job, son. И посмотри сюда, — он поднял переднюю часть копыта и показал чешуйки на стрелке и подошве копыта, — в прошлый раз, когда ты подковывал эту лошадку, ты сделал это небрежно, сынок. You left all this stuff hangin' on here. Ты оставил все это висеть здесь. I want it trimmed off nice an' neat. Я хочу, чтобы он был аккуратно обрезан. You hear?" Ты слышишь?" The blacksmith shrugged his shoulders. Кузнец пожал плечами.

"Spoils the hoof to put the knife on the sole, Buck," said the smith. "Портит копыто, чтобы поставить нож на подошву, Бак," сказал кузнец. "That peels off natural." «Это отслаивается естественным образом». "H'm," said Buck Heath. — Гм, — сказал Бак Хит. "How old are you, son?" — Сколько тебе лет, сынок? "Oh, old enough," answered Andy cheerily. "О, достаточно старый," весело ответил Энди. "Old enough to know that this exfoliation is entirely natural." «Достаточно взрослая, чтобы знать, что это отшелушивание совершенно естественно». The big word stuck in the craw of Buck Heath, who brought his thick eyebrows together. Громкое слово застряло у Бака Хита, который сдвинул густые брови. "I've rid horses off and on come twenty-five years," he declared, "and I've rid 'em long enough to know how I want 'em shod. «Я избавлял лошадей от случая к случаю двадцать пять лет, — заявил он, — и я избавлял их достаточно долго, чтобы знать, как я хочу, чтобы они были подкованы. This is my hoss, son, and you do it my way. Это мой хозяин, сынок, и ты делаешь это по-моему. That straight?" Это прямо?" The eye of old Jasper in the rear of the shop grew dim with wistfulness as he heard this talk. Глаза старого Джаспера в задней части магазина потускнели от тоски, когда он услышал этот разговор. He knew Buck Heath; he knew his kind; in his day he would have eaten a dozen men of such rough words and such mild deeds as Buck. Он знал Бака Хита; он знал себе подобных; в свое время он съел бы дюжину таких грубых слов и таких кротких поступков, как Бэк. But searching the face of Andy, he saw no resentment. Но вглядываясь в лицо Энди, он не увидел обиды. Merely a quiet resignation. Просто тихая отставка.

"Another thing," said Buck Heath, who seemed determined to press the thing to a disagreeable point. — Еще одно, — сказал Бак Хит, который, казалось, решил довести дело до неприятного момента. "I hear you don't fit your shoes on hot. «Я слышал, ты не надеваешь туфли в жару. Well?" "I never touch a hoof with hot iron," replied Andy. «Я никогда не касаюсь копыта раскаленным железом», — ответил Энди. "It's a rotten practice." «Это гнилая практика». "Is it?" said Buck Heath coldly. "Well, son, you fit my hoss with hot shoes or I'll know the reason why." «Ну, сынок, ты наденешь на мою лошадку горячие туфли, или я узнаю, почему». "I've got to do the work my own way," protested Andy. «Я должен делать работу по-своему», — запротестовал Энди. A spark of hope burned in the slant eyes of Jasper. Искра надежды вспыхнула в раскосых глазах Джаспера.

"Otherwise I can go find another gent to do my shoein'?" "Иначе я могу пойти найти другого джентльмена, чтобы сделать мою обувь?" inquired Buck.

"It looks that way," replied the blacksmith with a nod. — Похоже на то, — кивнул кузнец. "Well," said Buck, whose mildness of the last question had been merely the cover for a bursting wrath that now sent his voice booming, "maybe you know a whole pile, boy—I hear Jasper has give you consid'able education—but what you know is plumb wasted on me. -- Что ж, -- сказал Бак, чья мягкость в последнем вопросе была лишь прикрытием взрывающейся ярости, от которой теперь его голос грохотал, -- может быть, ты знаешь целую кучу, мальчик -- я слышал, что Джаспер дал тебе неплохое образование... но то, что вы знаете, на меня потрачено впустую. Understand? As for lookin' up another blacksmith, you ought to know they ain't another shop in ten miles. Что же касается поиска другого кузнеца, то вам следует знать, что это не другая мастерская в десяти милях. You'll do this job, and you'll do it my way. Ты сделаешь эту работу, и ты сделаешь ее по-моему. Maybe you got another way of thinkin'?" Может быть, у тебя другой способ мышления?» There was a little pause. Повисла небольшая пауза.

"It's your horse," repeated Andy. — Это твоя лошадь, — повторил Энди. "I suppose I can do him your own way." "Я полагаю, что я могу сделать его по-своему." Old Jasper closed his eyes in silent agony. Старый Джаспер закрыл глаза в безмолвной агонии. Looking again, he saw Buck Heath grinning with contempt, and for a single moment Jasper touched his gun. Посмотрев еще раз, он увидел Бака Хита, презрительно ухмыляющегося, и на мгновение Джаспер коснулся своего пистолета. Then he remembered that he was seventy years old. "Well, Buck?" he said, coming forward. For he felt that if this scene continued he would go mad with shame. Ибо он чувствовал, что если эта сцена продолжится, он сойдет с ума от стыда.

There was a great change in Buck as he heard this voice, a marked respect was in his manner as he turned to Jasper. "Hello, Jas," he said. "I didn't know you was here." "Come over to the saloon, Buck, and have one on me," said Jasper. «Приходи в салун, Бак, и возьми один на меня», — сказал Джаспер. "I guess Andy'll have your hoss ready when we come back." — Я думаю, Энди приготовит твоего хозяина, когда мы вернемся. "Speakin' personal," said Buck Heath with much heartiness, "I don't pass up no chances with no man, and particular if he's Jasper Lanning." -- Говоря о личном, -- с большим сердцем сказал Бак Хит, -- я не упускаю возможности ни с одним мужчиной, особенно если это Джаспер Лэннинг. He hooked his arm through Jasper's elbow. Он взял Джаспера за локоть. "Besides, that boy of yours has got me all heated up. «Кроме того, этот твой мальчик меня сильно разозлил. Where'd he learn them man-sized words, Jas?" Где он выучил эти человеческие слова, Джас? All of which Andy heard, and he knew that Buck Heath intended him to hear them. Все это слышал Энди, и он знал, что Бак Хит хотел, чтобы он это услышал. It made Andy frown, and for an instant he thought of calling Buck back. Это заставило Энди нахмуриться, и на мгновение он подумал о том, чтобы перезвонить Баку. But he did not call. Instead he imagined what would happen. Buck would turn on his heel and stand, towering, in the door. Бак поворачивался на каблуках и стоял, возвышаясь, в дверях. He would ask what Andy wanted. Andy chose the careful insult which he would throw in Buck's face. Энди выбрал осторожное оскорбление, которое он бросит Баку в лицо. He saw the blow given. Он видел нанесенный удар. He felt his own fist tingle as he returned the effort with interest. Он почувствовал, как покалывает его собственный кулак, когда он ответил на усилие с интересом. He saw Buck tumble back over the bucket of water. Он увидел, как Бак перевалился через ведро с водой.

By this time Andy was smiling gently to himself. К этому времени Энди уже мягко улыбался самому себе. His wrath had dissolved, and he was humming pleasantly to himself as he began to pull off the worn shoes of Buck's horse. Его гнев рассеялся, и он, приятно напевая себе под нос, начал стаскивать изношенные подковы с лошади Бака.