評論
打印
2 The law of club and tooth
2 暴力原則
Buck's first day at Dyea Beach was terrible．
巴克在戴依海岸的第一天糟透了。
Every hour there was some new， frightening surprise．
每時每刻都會有令他驚恐而又新奇的東西。
There was no peace， no rest—only continual noise and movement．
這里沒有靜謐，也沒有休憩——只有無休止的喧囂和來來往往。
And every minute there was danger， because these dogs and men were not town dogs and men．
在這里每一分鐘都會有危險，因為這些人和狗都不是來自城鎮，
They knew only the law of club and tooth．
他們只承認大棒和牙齒。
Buck had never seen dogs fight like these dogs； they were like wolves．
巴克從未見過像這群狗一樣爭斗的狗，他們像狼一樣兇狠。
In a few minutes he learnt this from watching Curly．
不過幾分鐘，他便從科莉的遭遇中悟出了這個道理。
She tried to make friends with a dog， a big one， al－though not as big as she was．
她試圖同一只狗做朋友，一只大狗，雖然他不及科莉塊頭大；
There was no warning．
但連警告都沒有，
The dog jumped on Curly， his teeth closed together，
這狗猛地撲向科莉，犬牙交錯。
then he jumped away，and Curly's face was torn open from eye to mouth．
然后他跳到一邊，而科莉的臉從眼睛到嘴都被撕開了。
Wolves fight like this，biting and jumping away，but the fight did not finish then．
只有狼才這樣攻擊、撕咬和跳開，但是戰斗并未結束。
Thirty or forty more dogs ran up and made a circle around the fight， watching silently．
三四十條狗跑過來，圍著戰場站成一圈，靜靜地觀望著。
Curly tried to attack the dog who had bitten her；
科莉竭力想反擊那條咬她的狗；
he bit her a second time， and jumped away．
他又一次咬住了她，然后跳開。
When she attacked him again， he knocked her backwards， and she fell on the ground．
當她再度進攻時，他把她向后撞倒在地。
She never stood up again，
她再也沒有站起來，
because this was what the other dogs were waiting for．
因為這正是其它的狗等待的。
They moved in， and in a moment she was under a crowd of dogs．
他們沖了進來，然后不消一會兒，她就葬身在數條狗的撕扯踐踏之下了。
It was all very sudden．
這一切都發生得那么突然。
Buck saw Spitz run out from the crowd with his tongue out of his mouth， laughing．
巴克看見斯皮茲從狗群中跑出來，耷拉著舌頭，臉上還掛著微笑。
Then he saw Francois with an axe， and two or three other men with clubs jump in among the dogs．
然后他看見弗朗索瓦斯手拿斧頭和另外兩三人拿著木棍跳進狗群。
Two minutes later the last of the dogs was chased away．
兩分鐘之后，最后一只狗也被趕開了。
But Curly lay dead in the snow，her body torn almost to pieces．
但是科莉已經倒死在雪地上，她幾乎被撕成了碎片。
Curly's death often came backto Buck in his dreams．
科莉之死后來常常出現在巴克的夢中。
He understood that once a dog was down on the ground，
他明白一旦一條狗倒在地上，
he was dead He also remembered Spitz laughing,
就意味著死去。他還記得斯皮茲的笑容，
and from that moment he hated him．
從那時起，他對他生出一種仇恨來。
Then Buck had another surprise．
這之后，巴克又有了一個新的驚奇。
Francois put a harness on him．
弗朗索瓦斯把挽具套到他的身上。
Buck had seen harnesses on horses， and now he was made to work like a horse，
巴克以前只看見馬被套上馬具，而現在他不得不像馬一樣工作了，
pulling Francois on a sledge into the forest and returning with wood for the fire．
把弗朗索瓦斯用雪撬拉進森林然后再裝滿食物拉回來做飯吃。
Buck worked with Spitz and Dave．
巴克和斯皮茲還有戴夫一起工作。
The two other dogs had worked in a har－ness before， and Buck learnt by watching them．
這兩條狗以前拉過雪撬，于是巴克就通過模仿他們來學習。
He also learnt to stop and turn when Francois shouted．
他還學會了聽從弗朗索瓦斯的指示停步和轉彎。
‘Those three are very good dogs，’Francois told Perrault．
“這三條狗可真不賴，”弗朗索瓦斯告訴佩諾特，
‘That Buck pulls very well， and he's learning quickly．’
“那個巴克拉得非常好，他一學就會。”
Perrault had important letters and official papers to take to Dawson City，
佩諾特要把一些重要的信件和官方文件帶到道桑鎮去，
so that afternoon he bought two more dogs， two brothers called Billee and Joe．
所以那天下午他又買了兩只狗。這兩個是同胞兄弟，
Billee was very friendly， but Joe was the opposite．
分別叫貝利和喬。貝利性情很隨和，喬則正相反。
In the evening Perrault bought one more dog， an old dog with one eye．
一天晚上，佩諾特又買了一只獨眼老狗，
His name was Sol-leks， which means The Angry One．
他叫索拉克斯，意思是“憤怒者”，
Like Dave， he made no friends； all he wanted was to be alone．
同戴夫一樣，他喜歡獨來獨往，沒有朋友。
That night Buck discovered another problem．
晚上巴克遇到另一個難題。
Where was he going to sleep？
他該去哪兒睡覺呢？
Francois and Perrault were in their tent，
弗朗索瓦斯和佩諾特睡在帳篷里，
but when he went in， they shouted angrily and threw things at him．
可是當他走進去時，他們生氣地沖他叫嚷著，扔東西攆他。
Outside it was very cold and windy．
外面是酷冷和狂風的世界。
He lay down in the snow， but he was too cold to sleep．
他躺在雪地上，凍得睡不著。
He walked around the tents trying to find the other dogs．
他圍著帳篷打轉兒，想找到自己的同伴。
But， to his surprise， they had disappeared．
但是，讓他吃驚的是，所有的狗都不見了蹤影。
He walked around Perrault's tent，very， very cold， wondering what to do．
他圍著佩諾特的帳篷走著，他是何等的寒冷啊，可是他卻不知所措。
Suddenly， the snow under his feet fell in， and he felt something move．
突然，他腳下的雪地塌陷了下去，他踩在一個活物上。
He jumped back， waiting for the attack，
他跳回去，等著一場惡斗。
but heard on-ly a friendly bark．
但是他卻聽見一聲友好的低吠。
There， in a warm hole under the snow，was Billee．
原來是貝利躺在雪地下一個溫暖的洞穴里。
So that was what you had to do．
這就是不得已而為之的事情。
Buck chose a place， dug himself a hole and in a minute he was warm and asleep．
巴克選了一個地方，挖了一個洞，不一會兒他就又暖和又瞌睡。
He slept well， although his dreams were bad．
他睡得很香，盡管做了很多惡夢。
When he woke up， at first he did not know where he was．
當他醒過來的時候，起初不知自己身在何處。
It had snowed in the night and the snow now lay thick and heavy above him．
雪下了一整夜，積雪又厚又重地壓在身上。
Suddenly he was afraid—the fear of a wild animal when it is caught and cannot escape．
驀地，他感到了恐懼——一種野獸被抓住而無從脫身的恐懼。
Growling， he threw himself at the snow， and a moment later， he had jumped upwards into the daylight．
咆哮著，他用身體撞著積雪。一會兒，他就跳了上來，外面已經是白晝了。
He saw the tents and remembered everything，
他看見帳篷，記起了發生的每一件事，
from the time he had gone for a walk with Manuel to the moment he had dug the hole the night before．
從他和曼紐埃勒散步的那一刻起直到前一夜他挖洞睡覺的時候。
‘What did I say？’ shouted Francois to Perrault，
“我說什么來著，”
when he saw Buck come up out of the snow．‘That Buck learns quickly．’
弗朗索瓦斯看見巴克從雪中跳出來時嚷道。“那個巴克一學就會！”
Perrault smiled slowly．
佩諾特慢慢地綻開了笑容。
He was carrying important papers，and he needed good dogs．
他隨身帶著重要的文件，他需要優秀的狗。
He was very pleased to have Buck．
有巴克在著實令他高興。
They bought three more dogs that morning，
那個早晨，他們又買了3條狗。
and a quarter of an hour later all nine dogs were in harness and on their way up the Dyea Canyon．
一小時又一刻鐘之后，9條狗都套上了挽具，直奔泰依峽谷而去。
Buck was not sorry to be moving， and although it was hard work， he almost enjoyed it．
巴克并不覺得奔跑是一件壞事情，雖然這活兒不輕，他卻幾乎著了迷。
He was also surprised to see that Dave and Solleks no longer looked bored and miserable．
讓他更驚奇的是他看到戴夫和索拉克斯不再萎靡不振，無精打采。
Pulling in a harness was their job， and they were happy to do it．
套上挽具拉雪撬是他們的工作，他們是樂此不疲的。
Dave was sledge－dog， the dog nearest to the sledge．
戴夫最靠近雪撬，也就是所謂的雪撬狗。
In front of him was Buck， then came Sol-leks．
他前面是巴克，后面是索拉克斯。
In front of them were the six other dogs， with Spitz as leader at the front．
他們前面是另外6條狗，斯皮茲跑在最前頭，他是領隊。
Francois had put Buck between Dave and Sol－leks because they could teach him the work．
弗朗索瓦斯把巴克放到戴夫和索拉克斯之間，因為他們能教他如何工作。
Buck learnt well，and they were good teachers．
巴克學的很快，而他倆也是好老師。
When Buck pulled the wrong way， Dave always bit his leg， but only lightly．
當巴克拉錯了的時候，戴夫就咬他的腿，但只是輕輕的。
Once， when they stopped， Buck got tied up in his harness，
有一次，當他們停下來時，巴克在挽具里扭了結，
and it took ten minutes to get started again．
他們花了10分鐘才起程。
Both Dave and Sol－leks gave him a good beating for that mistake．
戴夫和索拉克斯為此狠狠揍了他一頓，
Buck understood， and was more careful after that．
但巴克自知罪責難逃，從此加倍小心。
It was a hard day's journey， up the Dyea Canyon and into the mountains．
這一天旅途異常辛勞，翻過泰依峽谷進入山區。
They camped that night at Lake Bennett．
那晚他們在貝耐湖湖邊宿營。
Here there were thousands of gold miners．
這兒有成千上萬的淘金者。
They were building boats to sail up the lake when the ice melted in the spring．
他們正在制造小船準備著春天冰雪消融時過河。
Buck made his hole in the snow and slept well，
巴克挖了一個雪洞，美美地睡了一覺，
but was woken up very early and harnessed to the sledge．
但他很早就被叫起來套上挽具拉雪撬。
The first day they had travelled on snow that had been hardened by many sledges and they covered sixty kilometres．
第一天，他們在雪地里奔波，雪已經被數百個雪撬碾過，壓得結結實實的，他們趕了60公里路。
But the next day， and for days afterwards， they were on new snow．
但是第二天和以后的日子里，他們在新雪上奔跑。
The work was harder and they went slowly．
這工作非常辛苦，他們進程緩慢。
Usually， Perrault went in front，on snowshoes， flattening the snow a little for the dogs．
通常是由佩諾特穿著雪地靴走在前面，為狗把雪地踏得平實一些。
Francois stayed by the sledge．
弗朗索瓦斯呆在雪撬上，
Sometimes the two men changed places， but there were many small lakes and rivers，
有時他們調換一下。但佩諾特對付冰比較在行，
and Perrault understood ice better．
而路上有許多小湖泊和河流。
He always knew when the ice across a river was very thin．
他總是知道什么時候河上的冰層最薄。
Day after day Buck pulled in his harness．
巴克日復一日地拉著雪撬。
They started in the morning before it was light，
他們天不亮就起程，
and they stopped in the evening after dark， ate a piece of fish，
直走到日落西山才停下來，吃一點魚，
and went to sleep in their holes under the snow．
然后鉆到雪洞里睡覺。
Buck was always hungry．
巴克總是吃不飽。
Francoisgave him 750 grams of dried fish a day， and it was never enough．
弗朗索瓦斯一天喂給他750克干魚，但他仍然不夠吃。
The other dogs were given only 500 grams；
其余的狗每天只能得到500克魚吃；
they were smaller and could stay dive on less food．
他們體型較小，進食少一些仍可以生存。
Buck learnt to eat quickly；
巴克學會了快速進食；
if he was too slow， the other dogs stole his food．
因為如果他吃的慢了，別的狗就會偷他的食物吃。
He saw Pike， one of the new dogs， steal some meat from the sledge when Perrault wasn't looking．
他見到新來的狗中一只叫派克的狗趁佩諾特沒看見時從雪撬上偷肉吃。
The next day Buck stole some and got away unseen．
第二天巴克也偷了嘴，但沒有被發覺。
Perrault was very angry， but he thought another dog，Dub，
佩諾特非常生氣，但他還以為是另一條叫達布的狗干的，
had taken it and so punished him instead of Buck．
他教訓了它一頓，而巴克得以幸免。
Buck was learning how to live in the north．
巴克適應了北方的生存方式。
In the south he had never stolen， but there he had never been so hungry．
在南方他從未于過偷竊的行當，但在那兒他也從來不用餓肚子。
He stole cleverly and secretly， remembering the beatings from the man with the club．
他偷得巧妙又隱蔽，牢牢記著那個拿大棒的男人給他的痛打。
Buck was learning the law of club and tooth．
巴克正在學會如何對付大棒和牙齒。
He learnt to eat any food—anything that he could get his teeth into．
他學會了吃各種食物——吃只要他咬得動的任何一種東西。
He learnt to break the ice on water holes with his feet when he wanted to drink He was stronger， harder，
他學會了用腳破冰取水來解渴。他變得更加強壯、威猛，
and could see and smell better than ever before ．
嗅覺和視覺也比以前更發達了。
In a way，he was remembering back to the days when wild dogs travelled in packs through the forest，
從某種意義上說，他逐漸地恢復野性，
killing for meat as they went．
像以前的野狗一樣穿梭在叢林中捕食。
It was easy for him to learn to fight like a wolf， because it was in his blood．
對他來說，學會像狼一樣廝殺易如反掌，因為這是與他血脈相通的本性。
In the evenings， when he pointed his nose at the moon and howled long and loud，
晚上，當他仰首望月，凄厲地長嗥時，
he was remembering the dogs and wolves that had come before him．
他記起來他的祖先。
