我骑过一头黑水牯（双语创作）
我骑过一头黑水牯（双语创作）
我骑过一头黑水牯
I once rode a Black Water Buffalo
原创：斧子
中译英：斧子的二当家
审校、朗诵：Michael
两头公牛轰隆隆斗起来，隔着老远，就对着冲锋，低下头，以角相撞，然后牛头死死顶着，你推我顶，争斗不休，声势吓人。
英文朗读来自汉语故事00:0006:46
七岁不到吧，我就开始放牛。总共放了七、八年牛。
I haven't reached seven years old when I started herding cattle. The herding time takes seven or eight years in total.
一般都是清早就到牛栏里喂干稻草，或煮熟的稻谷，或酒糟。然后就是下午放学后，我回到家里，大人们也从田里做完事牵着牛回来了，傍晚时分我就出去放牛。水牛喜欢吃草、叶子和水生植物。
It usually started early in the morning, feeding with dry straw, cooked rice grain, or distilled grain in the cowshed. Then, in the afternoon after school, I used to come back home, while the adults came back from the fields and brought the cows. In the evening, I used to go outside to herd cattle. Buffaloes like to eat grass, leaves and aquatic plants.
全屋场几头水牛，我负责的是那头黑水牯，是一头暴躁的大公牛。有一米九高，三米多长，九百多斤。平时蛮温顺，我用树枝条随便抽打，它都不反抗。
There were a few buffaloes in the entire village, and I was in charge of the Black Water Buffalo, a big, angry bull. It was 1.9 meters tall, over 3 meters long, and weighted over 450 kilograms. It was usually so docile it didn't even fight back when I whipped him with a stick.
水牛感官敏锐、嗅觉发达。角粗大而扁，向后方弯曲。腿短蹄大，体格粗壮，被毛稀疏，役力强，发病率低，易调教，以耐粗、耐劳著称。皮厚，汗腺极不发达，热时需浸水散热，故名。据联合国粮农组织(FAO)统计资料，我国水牛饲养量为 2275.9 万头，居世界第二位。
Buffaloes have keen senses and a real strong sense of smell. Their horns are large and flat, curving backwards. Short legs and big hooves, strong physique, sparse coat, strong workforce, low incidence rate, easy to adjust, known to be resistant to rough, hard work. Thick skin with undeveloped sweat gland. When it's hot, it needs to be soaked with water to dissipate the heat - that’s where the name Water Bull comes from. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, China's Buffalo population ranks second in the world, with 22.759 million pieces.
水牛喜欢到泥潭里打滚，借以散热和防止昆虫的叮咬。水牛是一夫多妻制。雌牛孕期最长大约300至340天。雌牛1岁半性成熟。公牛也是1.5岁开始有性欲，尾追爬跨发情母牛，2岁半至3岁开始配种，4至8岁精力最旺，配种能力最强，以后逐渐下降。
Buffaloes like to wallow in the mud to dissipate heat and prevent insect bites. Buffaloes are polygamous. The maximum gestation period for a cow is about 300 to 340 days. Females are sexually mature at the age of a year and a half. The bulls also begin to have sexual desire at the age of 1.5. They chase after the heifer’s tail, climb on their body and press their own body on heifer’s ass. They begin to breed at the age of two and a half to three, and they are most energetic at the age of four to eight with the greatest ability of breeding, which gradually declines.
我记得，当年那头水牛，满两岁了，大人们就拿绳子捆紧它的四条腿，绑在一棵大树下。然后，把火钳烧的通红，从水牛的鼻子中间穿过去。那就是穿绳子的地方。从此以后，就有一根绳子伴随着水牛的一生，直到死才会解下来。
I remember one buffalo that was two years old. The adults tied his legs with ropes under a big tree. Then, they heated up the clamps until they got red and put them through the buffalo's nose. This is where the rope would go. From that moment on, there will be a rope with the buffalo for his lifetime, and it would not be untied until his death.
水牛3岁正式使役，4至12岁为使役能力最强的时期，使役期可达12至18岁。一般寿命为20岁，最高可达25岁。
The Water Buffalo is officially serving from the age of three. The service period can be up to 12 to 18 years, and the period from 4 to 12 is the period of maximum serviceability. The average life span is 20 years, with a maximum of 25 years.
秋季膘情良好，气温也较适宜，雌牛发情比例达70%至80%，为母牛发情旺季。母牛繁殖年限为14至15岁，营养状况好，劳役轻者可达18岁左右，个别可达20岁以上。产犊密度大多数5年产3犊或3年产2犊，一般终生可产牛犊8至10头。
In autumn the weather is good, the temperature is also more suitable. The female cattle estrus rate is up to 70% to 80%, which is a peak seasons for cows. The breeding period of the cow is 14 to 15 years old. If the nutritional condition is good, and the laboring is not heavy, the breeding period may last to 18 years old or so, occasionally, lasts to 20 years old or above. Most Asian buffaloes can give birth to 3 calves in 5 years or 2 calves in 3 years, but generally 8 to 10 calves over a lifetime.
我跟隔壁村的大军，一向互相看不顺眼。大家是同学，吵嘴打架是常事。有时候，放牛互相遇见了，就鼓励手下的水牛斗架。我的黑水牯，可以说是水牛中的霸王，身高力大，威风凛凛，又特别好色。大军的那头牛，是在发情期时的年轻水牛，生性凶猛，也是不肯轻易认输的狠角色。那一次，我故意牵一头发情的母牛在前面过一趟，黑水牯就主动尾追爬跨，大军的公牛就发飚。两头公牛轰隆隆斗起来，隔着老远，就对着冲锋，低下头，以角相撞，然后牛头死死顶着，你推我顶，争斗不休，声势吓人。一次又一次，越斗眼睛越红。
Me and Da Jun from the next village have always hated each other. We were classmates and we fought all the times. Sometimes, when the bulls met each other, we would encourage our buffaloes to fight. My Black Water could be said to be the king of buffaloes - tall, commanding, and particularly lecherous. The buffalo of Da Jun was young, in the rutting period. The natural disposition was fierce and unwilling to give up easily. On that occasion, I deliberately led a horny cow walking in front, my Black Water took the initiative to chase after her tail and climb across her ass, and the buffalo of Da Jun got very angry. The two bulls rumbled into a battle, charging at each other from a distance, lowering their heads, striking each other with their horns, then pushing each other, both fighting with a frightening force. Over and over again, the more they fought, the redder their eyes were.
最后的结局，是大军的水牛惨败，牛角都斗断了一边，鲜血淋漓。为了这件事，我挨了大人们的怒骂，还差一点儿挨打。
In the end, the buffalo of Da Jun failed miserably, the horns were all broken and the blood was dripping. I got scolded and almost beaten by the adults for that.
在没有大人们看见的地方，我喜欢骑坐在黑水牯背上，任由它到处吃草。大人们是坚决反对小孩子骑坐在水牛身上的，只要看见，就会大声喝骂，甚至于动手教训。每次偷偷摸摸骑坐后，我都有一种快感，感觉自己做了一件很了不起的大事，特别得意。
Out of the adults’ sight, I used to like to ride on the back of Black Water and let it graze everywhere. Adults firmly opposed to children sitting on the buffaloes. Whenever they saw it, they would shout and scold and even hit you to teach you a lesson. Every time I rode secretly, I had a sense of pleasure and felt that I had done a great thing, and I was particularly proud of it.
情窦初开的时候，听大人们讲过牛郎和织女的故事，也懵懵懂懂希望，能够撞上一位美丽的仙女，发生一段缠绵悱恻的爱情故事。
When I started the onset of puberty, I heard the grown men telling the story of the cowherd and the weaving maid. I also had an ignorant hope that I could bump into a beautiful fairy and had a romantic love story.
长大后，读书看到老子骑牛过函谷关，留下一本道教经典《道德经》后飘然而去，就会想起，当年我也骑过牛啊。
When I grew up and read the story about Laozi, creator of the Taoist classic “Daodejing”, who crossed the Hangu Valley and travelled on a cattle, I remembered that I once rode a bull.
听老人们传说，男人若梦见公水牛，是吉祥的征兆，说明辛辛苦苦的拼搏会有极大的回报。而女人若梦见自己杀死许多水牛，预示不贪图物质或生理享受，有着坚强的意志，会干出一番惊人的事业，将赢得男人的称赞，好梦成真。
According to the old people's legend, if a man dreams of a male buffalo, it is a sign of good luck that the hard work will have a great reward. And if a woman dreams that she has killed many buffaloes, it means that she has a strong will, does not seek for material or physical enjoyment, she will do something amazing, win the admiration of men, and her dreams will come true.
有一次无聊，在网上冲浪，无意中看到西方心理学的解梦观点，说若梦见水牛，预示顽固的强大的但很愚蠢的敌人，会激烈地反对你，但通过巧妙周旋，你将躲过许多不幸。
Once bored, surfing on the Internet, I came across the idea of western psychology, saying that if you dream of buffaloes, a stubborn, powerful but stupid enemy will oppose you. But if you act in a clever way, you will avoid a lot of misfortunes.
看样子，水牛真是个好东西！
It looks like Buffalo is really a good thing!
作者简介
斧子，出版著作有：散文诗集《等你归来》，湖南文艺出版社；散文诗集《欠债校长》，香港商务印书馆；中短篇小说集《月下天鹅与祝塘的绝版爱情》，团结出版社；中短篇小说集《隐身保镖》，团结出版社；中短篇小说集《财哥的第一次婚姻》，中国文联出版社......
Axe, published:Prose poetry collection "Waiting for you" , Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House;Prose poetry collection "Principal in debt", The Hong Kong commercial press (HKPC);A short and medium story collection, "The extinct edition of love between Swan under the Moon and Zhu Tang", United publishing house;A short and medium story collection, "Invisible bodyguard", United publishing house;A short and medium story collection, "The first marriage of brother Qian," and published by the China Federation of Literary Unions ...
Hi there! I’m Michael. Big fan of China, its culture and cuisine. Made a choice in 2017 to pack my things and come here from Europe. I love traveling, jogging and listening to music.
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