Chapter 1: Walking Home Alone第 1 章：獨自走路回家

Ponyboy Curtis, the narrator, is a fourteen-year-old greaser: a poor boy from the East Side of town who wears his hair long and greased. The greasers are rivals of the Socs (short for Socials), the rich kids from the West Side. Walking home alone from a movie, Ponyboy is followed by a red Mustang full of Socs. They pin him down and threaten him with a knife. His brothers and friends hear him yell and run to help, and the Socs drive away. Ponyboy lives with his two older brothers because their parents died in a car accident. Darry, twenty, works two jobs to keep the family together and is strict with Ponyboy. Sodapop, sixteen, dropped out of school, works at a gas station, and is cheerful and handsome. Ponyboy also describes the rest of the gang: Two-Bit Mathews, a joker; Steve Randle, Soda's best friend; Dallas (Dally) Winston, the toughest and most dangerous; and Johnny Cade, the quiet, nervous one, who was badly beaten by Socs some time before. Ponyboy feels that Darry does not like him, and he notices that he is different from the others because he loves books and movies.敘述者小馬·柯蒂斯是一個十四歲的「油頭」：來自鎮上東區的窮孩子，留著抹了髮油的長頭髮。油頭幫的對手是社會幫（Socs，Socials 的簡稱），也就是西區的有錢孩子。小馬看完電影獨自走路回家時，被一輛載滿社會幫的紅色野馬跑車跟上。他們把他壓在地上，拿刀威脅他。他的哥哥和朋友們聽到他大叫，跑過來幫忙，社會幫就開車逃走了。小馬和兩個哥哥住在一起，因為他們的父母死於車禍。二十歲的達瑞打兩份工撐起這個家，對小馬很嚴格。十六歲的蘇打汽水輟學在加油站工作，個性開朗，長得很帥。小馬也介紹了幫裡其他人：愛開玩笑的「兩毛五」馬修斯；蘇打最好的朋友史提夫·蘭朵；最強悍也最危險的達拉斯（達利）·溫斯頓；以及安靜又容易緊張的強尼·凱德，他之前曾被社會幫打得很慘。小馬覺得達瑞不喜歡他，他也發現自己和其他人不一樣，因為他喜歡看書和電影。

The book is told in the first person by Ponyboy, so we see everything through his eyes and opinions. He introduces each character with physical details, especially hair and eyes, which helps readers picture the gang. His feelings about Darry may not be fully reliable, which is worth remembering.這本書由小馬以第一人稱敘述，所以我們透過他的眼睛和看法看一切。他介紹每個角色時都會描寫外貌，尤其是頭髮和眼睛，幫助讀者想像這群人。他對達瑞的感覺不一定完全可靠，這點值得記住。