“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.”
“我父親當時年紀大了。那場較量不算勢均力敵，你我倒是旗鼓相當，先生。”羅賓說。
“I wa s thinking th e s ame thing ，”Alan said.
“這倒正合我的意思。”艾倫說。
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.
我從床上往起爬，鄧肯站在他們旁邊。我們倆都在準備防止一場惡鬥。看來，他們這時非動手不可了。鄧肯臉色慘白，擠過去站在他們中間，說：
“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，我一直在考慮另外一件事。我這裏有風笛，你們都是有名的風笛手，可是不知道誰吹得更好。
咱們評評吧。”
“Why s ir ，”Alan said，and he still looked atRobin，“ca n you pla y？Are you a pipe r？”
艾倫仍然盯著羅賓，說：“喂，先生，你會吹嗎？你是個風笛手嗎？”
“I am a n e xpe rt pipe r！”answered Robin.
“我是一個頂呱呱的風笛手！”
羅賓回答說。
“Tha t is a ve ry bold word！”Alan said.
“話說得過分了。”艾倫說。
“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.”
“這早有定論，而且跟我比賽過的對手比你高明得多。”羅賓說。
“We will try tha t，”Alan said.
“咱們試試看。”艾倫說。
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
鄧肯很快拿出他的風笛，並且端上了酒和菜。這兩個冤家對手謙讓著坐了下來，吃了幾口菜，喝了一點酒。但他們之間仍然隨時可能吵
quarrel. Then Robin took the pipes and played agay little dance tune.