精彩对白
 
Mattie: How much are you paying for cotton?
 
Trader: Nine and a half, for low and middlin' and ten for ordinary.
 
Mattie: Think I'm surprise of that, really. I sold to the Wizten brothers in Little Rock for eleven cents.
 
Trader: Then I suggest you take the balance of it to the Witzen brothers.
 
Mattie: I take the balance to Witzen. At ten and a half.
 
Trader: Why'd you come here to tell me this?
 
Mattie: I thought I might shop around a place. I'm doing alright in Little Rock. I'm Mattie Ross. Daughter of Frank Ross.
 
Trader: Aw, tragic¹ thing. May I say, your father impressed me. With his manly² qualities. He was a close trader, but he acted a gentleman.
 
Mattie: My post was to sell those ponies³ back to you, that my father brought.
 
Trader: Well that I fear, is out of the question. Well, we'll see that they are shipped to you, at my earliest convenience.
 
Mattie: We don't want the ponies now, we don't need them.
 
Trader: Well that hardly concerns me. Your father brought the ponies, and paid for them. And there's an end to it. I have the bill of sale.
 
Mattie: And I want $300 for Papa's saddle horse that was stolen from your stable.
 
Trader: You'll have to take that up with the man who stole the horse.
 
Mattie: Tom Chaney stole the horse while it was in your care. You were responsible.
 
Trader: Yeah, I admire your sin. But I believe you'll find I'm not liable for such claims.
 
Mattie: You were the custodian⁴. If you were a bank that were robbed. You could not simply tell your depositors to go hang.
 
Trader: I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world as it is vexing⁵ enough. Secondly⁶ your evaluation⁷ of the horse is high. By about two hundred dollars. How old are you?
 
Mattie: If anything, my purse is low. My Judy was a fine racing⁸ mare⁹. I've seen her jump a eight rung fence with a rider at fourteen.
 
Trader: Oh, it's all very interesting. The ponies are yours, take them. Your father horse was stolen by a murderous criminal. I have provided reasonable protection for the creature as per our implicit¹⁰ agreement. My watchmen had his teeth knocked out, you can take on his suit.
 
Mattie: That would take to long.
 
Trader: You have no case.
 
Mattie: Courage would make the dartmore to long. This is by a jury. Petitioned by a widow and three small children.
 
Trader: I will pay two hundred dollars to your fathers estate. When I have in my hand a letter from your lawyer, absolving¹¹ me of all liability from the beginning of the world to today.
 
Mattie: I'll take two hundred dollars for Judy, plus one hundred for the ponies. And twenty five dollars for the grey horse that Tom Chaney left. He was easily worth, forty. That is three hundred and twenty five dollars, sold.
 
Trader: The ponies have no part in it. I will not buy them.
 
Mattie: And the price for Judy is three hundred and twenty five dollars.
 
Trader: I would not pay three hundred and twenty five dollars for winged Pegasus. As for the grey horse, it does not belong to you.
 
Mattie: The grey horse was lent to Tom Chaney by my father. Chaney only had the use of him.
 
Mattie: I would pay two hundred and twenty five dollars. And keep the grey horse. And I want the ponies.
 
Mattie: Then it's settled, then. There will be no settlement after I leave this office and go to the court of law.
 
Trader: All right, this is my last offer. Two hundred and fifty dollars. For that I get the release, previously¹² discussed. And I keep your father's saddle. The grey horse is not yours to sell.
 
Mattie: The saddle is not for sale. I will keep it. Glory Daniel will approve of the grey horse. He will come after you with a great vengeance¹³.
 
Trader: What? All right, now look, listen very carefully. As I will not bargain further. I'll will take the ponies back, and the grey horse. Which is mine. And settle... For three hundred dollars. Now you must take that or leave it. And I do not much care which it is.
 
Mattie: My Lawyer Decker would not wish me to consider anything under three hundred and twenty five dollars. But I will settle for three hundred and twenty. If I am given twenty in advance. Now here's what I have to say about that saddle.
 
妙语佳句 活学活用
 
1. manly qualities: 男子气概，阳刚之气。这里也可以翻译为“是条汉子”。
 
比如：He looks very manly in his uniform.（他穿着制服十分精神。）
 
2. pony¹⁴: 小型马，矮马。
 
3. out of the question: 可能的。
 
类似的说法还有stand no chance of，比如：This team stands no chance of winning the match.（这个队不可能在比赛中获胜。）
 
4. saddle horse: 驯马，鞍马。
 
5. go hang: 任其自然，忘却，一般用let things go hang来表示。
 
比如：Mr Johnson let his business go hang after his wife died.（太太死后，约翰逊先生对自己的事业再也无兴趣了。）
 
6. The world as it is vexing enough: 烦人的事多着呢，本来已经够烦人的了。Vex表示“使烦恼，恼怒”。
 
7. if anything: 怎么说，如果有什么区别的话。这里玛蒂是说，怎么说我的报价也已经很低了。
 
8. racing mare: 赛马。Mare一般指母马。
 
9. as per: 按照。
 
例如：As per the contract, the construction of factory is now under way. 根据合同规定，工厂的建设正在进行中。
 
10. winged Pegasus: 有翼的马，神马，这里指已经丢了的马。
 
Pegasus在希腊神话中指珀加索斯，是一匹有双翼的飞马，被其足蹄踩过的地方有泉水涌出，诗人饮用这些泉水可以获得灵感。因此也可以引申为诗人的灵感，诗才。在天文学中，Pegasus也指“天马座”。
 
11. take that or leave it: 要么接受，要么就算了。这里是卖主在威胁玛蒂接受自己的出价。