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Not "arf" or "ruff" or a growl, but "woof."
不是狗吠聲、鳥叫聲，抑或是咆哮聲，而是低吠聲。
For half a second, I froze. Then I let go of the shrub I had been clinging to and fell back down the incline.
我僵住了有半秒鐘，然后，我松開緊抓著的灌木，從斜坡上滾下來。
On the way down the thought hit: bear.
滾的時候，我突然想到：熊。
I clawed at my pockets for shells and inserted one into my shotgun.
我抓著口袋里的一個子彈，放進獵槍里。
I was aiming when something about the shape stopped me.
我瞄準的時候，有東西擋住了我的視線。
Whatever it was had remained sitting at the top of the bank, looking down at me.
不管那是什么，它一直坐在河岸上端，低頭看著我。
There was just enough dawn by this time to show a silhouette. It was a dog. A big dog, a black dog, but a dog.
這時，晨光下我能看出它的輪廓，它是一條狗，一條大狗，一條黑狗，但只是一條狗而已。
I lowered the gun and wiped the mud out of my eyes. "Who owns you?" I asked.
我放下槍，擦掉眼睛里的泥。“你的主人是誰？”我問。
The dog didn't move, and I climbed the bank again. "Hello!" I called into the woods. "I have your dog here!"
狗沒有動，我又爬上了河岸，走進樹林里喊道“有人嗎！你的狗在我這兒！”
There was nobody. "So you're a stray."
沒有人回答。“所以你是一條流浪狗。”
But strays were shy and usually starved; this dog, a Labrador, was well fed, and his coat was thick.
但流浪狗很膽怯，而且通常很餓；這只拉布拉多犬吃得很好，而且皮毛很厚。
He stayed near me. "Well," I said. "What do I do with you?" On impulse, I added, "You want to hunt?"
他呆在我身邊。“好吧,”我說。“我該怎么辦？”一時心血來潮，我又問道，“你想打獵嗎?”
He knew that word. His tail hammered the ground; he wiggled and then moved off along the river.
它知道這個詞，尾巴敲打著地面，扭動了一下，然后沿河走了。
I had never hunted with a dog before, but I started to follow.
我以前從來沒有和狗打獵過，但我開始跟著狗。
It was light enough now to shoot, so I kept the gun ready.
現在可以看清楚了，可以打獵了，我準備好槍。
We had not gone 50 yards when two mallards exploded out of some thick grass near the bank and started across the river.
還沒走到50碼，兩只野鴨就從岸邊的草叢中沖出，開始過河。
I raised the gun, cocked it, aimed just above the right-hand duck, and squeezed the trigger.
我舉起槍，上了膛，瞄準了右邊的鴨子，然后扣動了扳機。
There was a crash, and the duck fell into the water.
一聲巨響，鴨子落入水中。
