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LESSON 34 Capturing the wild horse
第三十四課 圍捕野馬
We left the buffalo camp about eight o'clock, and had a toilsome and harassing march of two hours, over ridges of hills covered with a ragged forest of scrub oaks and broken by deep gullies.
我們從水牛營地出發(fā)時大概八點鐘，爬山涉水走了兩個小時。山上滿是矮橡樹和遍地的深壑。
About ten o'clock in the morning we came to where this line of rugged hills swept down into a valley, through which flowed the north fork of Red River. A beautiful meadow, about half a mile wide, enamelled with yellow autumnal flowers, stretched for two or three miles along the foot of the hills.
大約上午十點，我們來到一處山谷，這里可通向紅河谷的北支流。一片大約半英里寬的草地上開滿了秋天的花朵，黃油油的一片，沿著山腳延伸出兩三英里外。
The meadow was finely diversified by groves and clumps of trees, so happily disposed that they seemed as if set out by the hand of Art. As we cast our eyes over this fresh and delightful valley, we beheld a troop of wild horses, quietly grazing on a green lawn about a mile distant, to our right; while to our left, at nearly the same distance, were several buffaloes, some feeding, others reposing and ruminating, among the high, rich herbage, under the shade of a clump of cotton-wood trees. The whole had the appearance of a broad beautiful tract of pasture-land on the highly ornamental estate of some gentleman farmer, with his cattle grazing about the lawns and meadows.
樹叢將草地裝點得很美，布局之精妙像是藝術之手的作品。順著山谷放眼望去，我們看到了一群野馬，在我們右邊一英里外的草地上靜靜地吃草；但是，在我們左邊大約同樣遠的地方有幾頭水牛，在又高又肥的牧草從中和楊樹林的樹蔭下，它們有的在吃草，有的躺在地上歇息。這一景象很好看，就像是在一個精心護理的農(nóng)場中，牧民們在草地上放牧的景象。
A council of war was now held, and it was determined to profit by the present favourable opportunity, and try our hand at the grand hunting man?uvre, which is called "ringing the wild horse." This requires a large party of horsemen, well mounted. They extend themselves in every direction, at certain distances apart, and gradually form a ring of two or three miles in circumference, so as to surround the game. This must be done with extreme care, for the wild horse is the most readily alarmed inhabitant of the prairie, and can scent a hunter at a great distance, if to windward.
我們開始討論要如何開始獵殺，最后決定利用當前有利時機，在大圍捕中大顯身手，我們把這個計劃稱為“圍捕野馬。“這需要很多騎術精湛的騎士。他們往四方去，在一定距離分開，漸漸形成一個兩到三英里的圓圈，以此來保衛(wèi)獵物。這需要非常小心，因為野馬上草原上最警覺的動物，如果他們迎風站立，很遠就能嗅到獵人的氣味。
The ring being formed, two or three ride toward the horses, which start off in the opposite direction.
包圍圈已經(jīng)形成，兩三個騎士從不同的方向開始向馬群方向去。
