書蟲2級《森林王子》1．莫格利的兄弟們

1. Mowgli's brothers

One very warm evening in the Seeonee hills in Southern India, Father Wolf woke up from his day's rest. Next to him lay Mother Wolf, with their four cubs beside her.

It's time to look for food,' said Father Wolf, and he stood up to leave the cave.

Good luck,' said a voice. It was the jackal, Tabaqui, who eats everything and anything, even pieces of old clothes from the villages. The wolves of India do not like him, because he runs around making trouble and telling bad stories about them.

Shere Khan, the tiger, is coming to look for food here,' said Tabaqui.

He can't,' cried Father Wolf. 'By the Law of the Jungle he must tell us first, before he comes here to hunt.'

Shere Khan has a bad leg, so he can kill only cows. In the village near him the people are angry. That is why he is coming here — to start hunting in a new place. Listen, you can hear him now,' said Tabaqui.

He is a stupid animal,' said Father Wolf, and he listened to the angry noise of a tiger who has not eaten. 'No one will find anything to eat in the jungle now.'

But Shere Khan is hunting man, not animal, tonight,' said Tabaqui.

The Law of the Jungle says that animals must not hunt man, because man-killing brings men with guns. Then everybody in the jungle is in danger.

Father and Mother Wolf listened to Shere Khan in the jungle not far away. Then, suddenly, they heard a noise much nearer to them.

It's a man. A man's cub. Look!' said Father Wolf.

And there in front of them stood a baby who could just walk. He looked up at Father Wolf and laughed.

Is that a man's cub?' asked Mother Wolf. 'I have never seen one. Bring it here.'

The baby, small and with no clothes, pushed its way between the cubs to get near to Mother Wolf. 'Look,' she said, 'he is taking his meal with the others.'

I have heard that this has happened before,' said Father Wolf, 'but I have never seen it until now. Look at him. He is not afraid.'

Suddenly, it was dark, and Shere Khan was pushing his great head in through the mouth of the cave.

We are pleased that you visit us, Shere Khan,' said Father Wolf, but his eyes were angry. 'What do you need?'

I am hunting a man's cub,' said Shere Khan. 'Its father and mother have run away. Give it to me.'

Father Wolf knew that Shere Khan could not get inside the cave because he was too big.

The man's cub belongs to us,' he said. 'The Pack — the other wolves and I — will decide. If we want to kill him, we will kill him, not you.'

The man's cub belongs to me! It is I, Shere Khan, who speaks!' And Shere Khan's roar filled the cave with noise.

No!' came the angry voice of Mother Wolf. 'The man's cub belongs to me! We will not kill him. He will live, to run with the other wolves, to be my son. Now go away, fish-killer, eater of cubs! Go!'

Shere Khan went. He knew that he could not fight Mother Wolf in the cave. 'But I will have this man-cub one day, you thieves!' he shouted from the jungle.

Do you really want to keep him, Mother?' said Father Wolf.

Keep him?' said Mother Wolf. 'Yes. He came here by night, alone and hungry, but he was not afraid. Yes, I will keep him. And I will call him Mowgli, the frog.'

But what will the other wolves of the Pack say?'

By the Law of the Jungle all wolf-cubs must come to the Pack when they can walk. The wolves look at the cubs carefully. Then the cubs are free to run anywhere because all the adult wolves know them and will not attack them.

*　　*　　*

When the four wolf-cubs could run a little, Father Wolf took them and Mowgli and Mother Wolf to the Meeting Rock. Here, the hundred wolves of the Wolf-Pack met every month when the moon was full.

The leader of the Pack was Akela, a great grey wolf. Each new wolf-cub came to stand in front of him and Akela said, 'Look well, O Wolves. Look well!'

At the end, Father Wolf pushed Mowgli into the circle of wolves. Then from the trees outside the circle they heard the voice of Shere Khan.

The man-cub belongs to me. Give him to me!'

Akela did not move but said only, 'Look well! Who speaks for this man-cub? Two voices, who are not his father and mother, must speak for him.'

There is only one other animal who can come to these wolf-meetings — Baloo, the sleepy brown bear. His job is to teach the Law of the Jungle to the wolf-cubs.

I speak for the man-cub,' came Baloo's deep voice. 'Let him run with the Pack. I myself will teach him.'

We need another voice to speak for him,' said Akela.

Silently, another animal jumped down into the circle. It was Bagheera the panther, black as the night, clever, strong, and dangerous.

O Akela, will you let me speak?' said Bagheera softly. 'The Law of the Jungle says it is possible to buy the life of a cub. It is bad to kill a man-cub. He cannot hurt you. Let him live with you, and I will give you a fat cow, newly killed, which lies in the jungle not far away.'

The voices of the wolves replied, 'Let him live.' They were always hungry and they wanted to get the dead cow. Soon they went away, and there were only Akela, Bagheera, Baloo, and Mowgli's wolf family left. They could hear the angry roars of Shere Khan in the night.

It is good,' said Akela. 'Men are clever. Perhaps this man-cub will help us when he is older. Take him away,' he said to Father Wolf, 'and teach him well.'

And so, because of Baloo's good word and the present of a cow, Mowgli now belonged to the Seeonee Wolf-Pack.

*　　*　　*

The story of Mowgli's life among the wolves fills many books, but we must jump ten or eleven years now. Father Wolf, Baloo, and Bagheera taught Mowgli well, and he learnt everything about the jungle. He knew the meaning of every sound in the trees, of every song of the birds, of every splash in the water. He learnt to climb trees like a monkey, to swim in the rivers like a fish, and to hunt for his food as cleverly as any animal in the jungle.

cub n. a young lion, bear etc. 幼獸

jackal n. a wild animal like a dog that lives in Asia and Africa and eats the remaining parts of dead animals（亞洲和非洲的）豺；胡狼

pack n. a group of wild animals that hunt together（野獸的）一群

speak for to speak in support of someone 替……說話

panther n. a black leopard 黑豹

splash n. the sound of a liquid hitting something or being moved around quickly（液體的）濺潑聲；灑落聲

1．莫格利的兄弟們

溫暖的夜色籠罩著印度南部的西奧尼群山。休憩了一天的狼爸爸醒了過來。他的身邊躺著狼媽媽，還有四只小狼崽。

“該出去找點兒吃的了。”狼爸爸說道。他站起身，準備離開洞穴。

“祝你好運。”一個聲音說道。是豺狼塔巴奎，一個什么都吃的家伙，連從村子里找到的舊衣裳碎片也不放過。印度的狼群都不喜歡他，因為他到處亂竄，制造麻煩，還老是講他們的壞話。

“老虎希爾汗就要到這里來覓食了。”塔巴奎說道。

“豈有此理，”狼爸爸叫道，“按照‘森林法則’，他在來這里捕獵之前，必須提前通知我們。”

“希爾汗的一條腿不好使，只能抓牛來吃。附近的村民氣壞了。所以他就到這里來了——換個新地方開始捕獵。聽，他來了。”塔巴奎說道。

“這個愚蠢的家伙，”聽著饑餓的老虎憤怒的吼叫聲，狼爸爸說道，“這下子再也沒有誰能在森林里找到吃的了。”

“可是希爾汗今晚是來吃人的，不是吃動物。”塔巴奎說道。

根據(jù)“森林法則”，動物是不可以獵殺人的，因為一旦有人被殺，人們就會帶著槍來到這里。這樣一來，森林里所有的動物都會陷入危險之中。

狼爸爸和狼媽媽聽著不遠處的叢林中希爾汗的動靜。突然，他們聽到從更近的地方傳來一個聲音。

“是人，一個人崽兒。看！”狼爸爸叫道。

他們面前站著一個剛學會走路的嬰兒。他抬起頭，看著狼爸爸，然后笑了。

“那就是人崽兒嗎？”狼媽媽說道，“我還從來沒見過呢，快把他帶過來。”

孩子個頭很小，身上也沒有穿衣服。他在狼崽們之間擠出一條路來，想走到狼媽媽的身邊。“看，”她說，“他和其他孩子一樣來吃奶了。”

“我聽說以前曾發(fā)生過這樣的事，”狼爸爸說道，“但是我直到今天才親眼看到。你瞧，他一點兒都不害怕。”

突然，洞里暗了下來，原來是希爾汗的大腦袋從洞口擠了進來。

“歡迎來訪，希爾汗，”狼爸爸嘴上說道，眼中卻透出一股怒氣，“有何貴干？”

“我正在抓一個人崽兒。”希爾汗回答道，“他的父母已經(jīng)逃走了。把他給我。”

狼爸爸知道希爾汗沒法鉆進洞來，因為他的個頭太大。

“這個人崽兒是我們的，”他說，“怎么處置他，我和其他狼自有主張。如果我們想殺死他，我們就會殺了他，而不是由你來決定。”

“這個人崽兒是我的！應該由我希爾汗說了算！”整個山洞都回蕩著希爾汗的怒吼聲。

“沒門兒！”狼媽媽發(fā)出了憤怒的叫聲，“這個人崽兒是我的。我們不會殺死他。他會活下去，和狼群一起奔跑，并且成為我的兒子。滾開，你這個只敢抓魚和小孩吃的家伙，滾！”

希爾汗離開了，自知自己無法在洞穴里和母狼爭斗。“總有一天我會抓到這個人崽兒的，你們這些小偷！”森林中傳來了他的吼聲。

“你真的想留下他嗎，孩子他媽？”狼爸爸問道。

“留下他？”狼媽媽回答道，“當然。他晚上一個人來到這里，還餓著肚子，可是他一點兒都不害怕。是的，我要留下他。我還要給他取個名字，就用那只青蛙的名字，叫莫格利。”

“但是狼族里的其他狼會怎么說？”

根據(jù)“森林法則”，狼崽們學會走路以后，他們都必須來到狼族里所有狼的面前。群狼會仔細端詳這些狼崽。然后，狼崽們就可以四處奔跑了，因為所有的成年狼已經(jīng)認識了他們，不會再攻擊他們了。

*　　*　　*

四只狼崽會跑以后，狼爸爸帶著他們和莫格利跟狼媽媽一起來到了聚會石邊。每逢月圓，狼族數(shù)以百計的狼都會在這里舉行一次聚會。

狼族的首領是一只名叫阿克拉的大灰狼。一只只新露面的幼狼紛紛走到了他的面前，阿拉克說著：“大家看仔細！看仔細點！”

最后，狼爸爸將莫格利推到了狼群中間。就在這時，狼群圍成的圈子外面的樹林里傳來了希爾汗的聲音。

“這個人類的孩子是我的，把他還給我！”

阿克拉沒有動，只是說道：“看仔細點！誰愿意為這個人類的嬰兒說情？必須有他父母之外的兩個人為他說情。”

狼群的聚會只允許除了狼之外的一個動物參加，那就是每天都昏昏欲睡的棕熊巴魯。他的任務就是教幼狼們學會“森林法則”。

“我來替這個人類的孩子說說情，”巴魯用他那低沉的聲音說道，“讓他和狼族待在一起吧，我來負責教導他。”

“我們還需要一個人來替他說情。”阿克拉說道。

另一只動物無聲無息地躍到了狼群中間，原來是黑豹巴格拉。他全身漆黑，聰明、強壯而危險。

“噢，阿克拉，你愿意讓我說上兩句嗎？”巴格拉輕聲說道，“‘森林法則’說可以交換下一個小崽兒的性命。殺掉人崽兒沒什么好果子吃。他傷害不了你們，所以讓他和你們一起生活吧。我愿意給你們一頭剛剛殺死的肥牛，就在不遠處的林子里。”

狼群回答道：“讓他留下來吧。”他們總是饑腸轆轆，所以對那頭死牛很感興趣。很快他們便四下散去，只剩下阿克拉、巴格拉、巴魯以及莫格利一家。夜色中能聽到希爾汗發(fā)出陣陣怒吼。

“很好，”阿克拉說道，“人類很聰明，說不定這個孩子長大以后還可以幫助我們。把他帶走吧，”他對狼爸爸說，“好好教導他。”

就這樣，由于巴魯?shù)拿姥约由吓５墓?，莫格利成為了西奧尼山上狼族的一員。

*　　*　　*

有關莫格利在狼群中的故事能夠?qū)懮虾脦妆緯?，但是現(xiàn)在我們必須跳過十來年。狼爸爸、巴魯和巴格拉悉心教導莫格利，讓他學會了有關森林的一切事情。對于林間的每一種聲音，鳥兒的每一支歌以及水中的每一次水花飛濺，他都知道其中的含義。他學會了像猴子一樣爬樹，像魚兒一樣在河里游泳，以及像任何動物一樣在林中敏捷地捕獵。