英國語文第五冊(雙語):滑冰者和狼(4)
At last I came opposite the house, and my hounds—I knew their deep voices—roused by the noise, bayed furiously from their kennels. I heard their chains rattle; how I wished they would break them!—then I should have had protectors to match the fiercest denizens of the forest. The wolves, taking the hint conveyed by the dogs, stopped in their mad career, and after a few moments turned and fled.
最后我到了離家相反方向的地方，我的獵狗——我從狗窩里它們發(fā)出的聲音中知道了它們和我一起。我多希望它們能撕裂狼群！然后我就有了保護者來與森林中的鳥類競爭。狼群從獵狗留下的痕跡，停住了瘋狂的步伐，然后過了一會兒轉身離開了。
I watched them until their forms disappeared over a neighbouring hill; then, taking off my skates, I wended my way to the house, with feelings which may be better imagined than described. But even yet I never see a broad sheet of ice by moonlight without thinking of that snuffing breath, and those fearful things that followed me so closely down that frozen river.
我看著它們直到它們的泡沫消失在臨近的小山坡，我脫下冰鞋，朝家的方向走，心里的感覺只能用只可意會不可言傳來形容。但我甚至都沒有看月光下廣闊的冰面，一直想著那狼群的呼吸和曾經(jīng)在結冰的河面上離我如此之近的可怕的事。
Such is the strange tale of escape from the winter wolves of America. In Russia they are no less dreaded; and the traveller, even when flying over the snow in his swift sledge, often finds the speed of his horses barely sufficient to rescue him from the hungry pack. On such occasions their merciless rapacity often proves his means of escape; for no sooner does he shoot down one of the foremost, than the whole pack crowd round it and tear it to pieces! By such means time is gained, and the affrighted horses, fleeing at their utmost speed, at length dash with the sledge into the shelter of the long wished-for station.
這在美國時一件離奇的逃離冬天狼群的事跡，這與俄羅斯狼群一樣令人害怕，即使是乘坐快速的雪橇，也常常發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的馬近乎要使自己落入饑餓狼群的口中了。在這樣的情況下，它們的殘忍常常證實了存在逃生的機會，因為一旦它們追逐到了零頭獵物，那么整群狼群就可以一哄而上將獵物撕成碎塊！這個時候機會就來了，受驚嚇的馬兒們以最快的速度飛馳，一直到雪橇到達保護站。
