野性的呼喚02 暴力原則

2 The law of club and tooth
2 暴力原則

Buck’s first day at Dyea Beach was terrible. Every hour there was some new， frightening surprise. There was no peace， no rest—only continual noise and movement. And every minute there was danger， because these dogs and men were not town dogs and men. They knew only the law of club and tooth.
巴克在戴依海岸的第一天糟透了。每時(shí)每刻都會(huì)有令他驚恐而又新奇的東西。這里沒有靜謐，也沒有休憩——只有無休止的喧囂和來來往往。在這里每一分鐘都會(huì)有危險(xiǎn)，因?yàn)檫@些人和狗都不是來自城鎮(zhèn)，他們只承認(rèn)大棒和牙齒。
Buck had never seen dogs fight like these dogs; they were like wolves. In a few minutes he learnt this from watching Curly. She tried to make friends with a dog， a big one， al-though not as big as she was. There was no warning. The dog jumped on Curly， his teeth closed together， then he jumped away，and Curly’s face was torn open from eye to mouth.
巴克從未見過像這群狗一樣爭斗的狗，他們像狼一樣兇狠。不過幾分鐘，他便從科莉的遭遇中悟出了這個(gè)道理。她試圖同一只狗做朋友，一只大狗，雖然他不及科莉塊頭大;但連警告都沒有，這狗猛地?fù)湎蚩评?，犬牙交錯(cuò)。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. Thirty or forty more dogs ran up and made a circle around the fight， watching silently. Curly tried to attack the dog who had bitten her; he bit her a second time， and jumped away. When she attacked him again， he knocked her backwards， and she fell on the ground. She never stood up again， because this was what the other dogs were waiting for. They moved in， and in a moment she was under a crowd of dogs.
只有狼才這樣攻擊、撕咬和跳開，但是戰(zhàn)斗并未結(jié)束。三四十條狗跑過來，圍著戰(zhàn)場站成一圈，靜靜地觀望著?？评蚪吡ο敕磽裟菞l咬她的狗;他又一次咬住了她，然后跳開。當(dāng)她再度進(jìn)攻時(shí)，他把她向后撞倒在地。她再也沒有站起來，因?yàn)檫@正是其它的狗等待的。他們沖了進(jìn)來，然后不消一會(huì)兒，她就葬身在數(shù)條狗的撕扯踐踏之下了。
It was all very sudden. Buck saw Spitz run out from the crowd with his tongue out of his mouth， laughing. Then he saw Francois with an axe， and two or three other men with clubs jump in among the dogs. Two minutes later the last of the dogs was chased away. But Curly lay dead in the snow，her body torn almost to pieces.Curly’s death often came backto Buck in his dreams. He understood that once a dog was down on the ground， he was dead He also remembered Spitz laughing， and from that moment he hated him.
這一切都發(fā)生得那么突然。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。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(jìn)狗群。兩分鐘之后，最后一只狗也被趕開了。但是科莉已經(jīng)倒死在雪地上，她幾乎被撕成了碎片?？评蛑篮髞沓３３霈F(xiàn)在巴克的夢中。他明白一旦一條狗倒在地上，就意味著死去。他還記得斯皮茲的笑容，從那時(shí)起，他對他生出一種仇恨來。
Then Buck had another surprise. Francois put a harness on him. Buck had seen harnesses on horses， and now he was made to work like a horse， pulling Francois on a sledge into the forest and returning with wood for the fire. Buck worked with Spitz and Dave.The two other dogs had worked in a har-ness before， and Buck learnt by watching them. He also learnt to stop and turn when Francois shouted.
這之后，巴克又有了一個(gè)新的驚奇。弗朗索瓦斯把挽具套到他的身上。巴克以前只看見馬被套上馬具，而現(xiàn)在他不得不像馬一樣工作了，把弗朗索瓦斯用雪撬拉進(jìn)森林然后再裝滿食物拉回來做飯吃。巴克和斯皮茲還有戴夫一起工作。這兩條狗以前拉過雪撬，于是巴克就通過模仿他們來學(xué)習(xí)。他還學(xué)會(huì)了聽從弗朗索瓦斯的指示停步和轉(zhuǎn)彎。
‘Those three are very good dogs，’Francois told Perrault.‘That Buck pulls very well， and he’s learning quickly.’
“這三條狗可真不賴，”弗朗索瓦斯告訴佩諾特，“那個(gè)巴克拉得非常好，他一學(xué)就會(huì)。”
Perrault had important letters and official papers to take to Dawson City， so that afternoon he bought two more dogs， two brothers called Billee and Joe.Billee was very friendly， but Joe was the opposite. In the evening Perrault bought one more dog， an old dog with one eye .His name was Sol-leks， which means The Angry One. Like Dave， he made no friends; all he wanted was to be alone.
佩諾特要把一些重要的信件和官方文件帶到道桑鎮(zhèn)去，所以那天下午他又買了兩只狗。這兩個(gè)是同胞兄弟，分別叫貝利和喬。貝利性情很隨和，喬則正相反。一天晚上，佩諾特又買了一只獨(dú)眼老狗，他叫索拉克斯，意思是“憤怒者”，同戴夫一樣，他喜歡獨(dú)來獨(dú)往，沒有朋友。
That night Buck discovered another problem. Where was he going to sleep?Francois and Perrault were in their tent， but when he went in， they shouted angrily and threw things at him.Outside it was very cold and windy. He lay down in the snow， but he was too cold to sleep.
晚上巴克遇到另一個(gè)難題。他該去哪兒睡覺呢?弗朗索瓦斯和佩諾特睡在帳篷里，可是當(dāng)他走進(jìn)去時(shí)，他們生氣地沖他叫嚷著，扔?xùn)|西攆他。外面是酷冷和狂風(fēng)的世界。他躺在雪地上，凍得睡不著。
He walked around the tents trying to find the other dogs.But， to his surprise， they had disappeared. He walked around Perrault’s tent，very， very cold， wondering what to do. Sud-denly， the snow under his feet fell in， and he felt something move. He jumped back， waiting for the attack， but heard on-ly a friendly bark. There， in a warm hole under the snow，was Billee.
他圍著帳篷打轉(zhuǎn)兒，想找到自己的同伴。但是，讓他吃驚的是，所有的狗都不見了蹤影。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。突然，他腳下的雪地塌陷了下去，他踩在一個(gè)活物上。他跳回去，等著一場惡斗。但是他卻聽見一聲友好的低吠。原來是貝利躺在雪地下一個(gè)溫暖的洞穴里。
So that was what you had to do. Buck chose a place， dug himself a hole and in a minute he was warm and asleep. He slept well， although his dreams were bad.
這就是不得已而為之的事情。巴克選了一個(gè)地方，挖了一個(gè)洞，不一會(huì)兒他就又暖和又瞌睡。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.It had snowed in the night and the snow now lay thick and heavy above him. Suddenly he was afraid—the fear of a wild animal when it is caught and cannot escape. Growling， he threw himself at the snow， and a moment later， he had jumped upwards into the daylight. He saw the tents and re-membered everything， from the time he had gone for a walk with Manuel to the moment he had dug the hole the night before. ‘What did I say?’ shouted Francois to Perrault， when he saw Buck come up out of the snow.‘That Buck learns quickly.’
當(dāng)他醒過來的時(shí)候，起初不知自己身在何處。雪下了一整夜，積雪又厚又重地壓在身上。驀地，他感到了恐懼——一種野獸被抓住而無從脫身的恐懼。咆哮著，他用身體撞著積雪。一會(huì)兒，他就跳了上來，外面已經(jīng)是白晝了。他看見帳篷，記起了發(fā)生的每一件事，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(shí)候。
Perrault smiled slowly. He was carrying important papers，and he needed good dogs. He was very pleased to have Buck.
“我說什么來著，”弗朗索瓦斯看見巴克從雪中跳出來時(shí)嚷道。“那個(gè)巴克一學(xué)就會(huì)!”
They bought three more dogs that morning， and a quarter of an hour later all nine dogs were in harness and on their way up the Dyea Canyon. Buck was not sorry to be moving， and although it was hard work， he almost enjoyed it. He was also surprised to see that Dave and Sol-leks no longer looked bored and miserable.Pulling in a harness was their job， and they were happy to do it.
佩諾特慢慢地綻開了笑容。他隨身帶著重要的文件，他需要優(yōu)秀的狗。有巴克在著實(shí)令他高興。
Dave was sledge-dog， the dog nearest to the sledge.In front of him was Buck， then came Sol-leks. In front of them were the six other dogs， with Spitz as leader at the front. Francois had put Buck between Dave and Sol-leks because they could teach him the work.Buck learnt well，and they were good teachers. When Buck pulled the wrong way， Dave always bit his leg， but only lightly. Once， when they stopped， Buck got tied up in his harness， and it took ten minutes to get started again.Both Dave and Sol-leks gave him a good beating for that mistake. Buck understood， and was more careful after that.
那個(gè)早晨，他們又買了3條狗。一小時(shí)又一刻鐘之后，9條狗都套上了挽具，直奔泰依峽谷而去。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。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。套上挽具拉雪撬是他們的工作，他們是樂此不疲的。
It was a hard day’s journey， up the Dyea Canyon and into the mountains. They camped that night at Lake Bennett.Here there were thousands of gold miners.They were building boats to sail up the lake when the ice melted in the spring.Buck made his hole in the snow and slept well， but was woken up very early and harnessed to the sledge. The first day they had travelled on snow that had been hardened by many sledges and they covered sixty kilometres. But the next day， and for days afterwards， they were on new snow. The work was harder and they went slowly. Usually， Perrault went in front，on snowshoes， flattening the snow a little for the dogs.Francois stayed by the sledge. Sometimes the two men changed places， but there were many small lakes and rivers，and Perrault understood ice better. He always knew when the ice across a river was very thin.
戴夫最靠近雪撬，也就是所謂的雪撬狗。他前面是巴克，后面是索拉克斯。他們前面是另外6條狗，斯皮茲跑在最前頭，他是領(lǐng)隊(duì)。弗朗索瓦斯把巴克放到戴夫和索拉克斯之間，因?yàn)樗麄兡芙趟绾喂ぷ?。巴克學(xué)的很快，而他倆也是好老師。當(dāng)巴克拉錯(cuò)了的時(shí)候，戴夫就咬他的腿，但只是輕輕的。有一次，當(dāng)他們停下來時(shí)，巴克在挽具里扭了結(jié)，他們花了10分鐘才起程。戴夫和索拉克斯為此狠狠揍了他一頓，但巴克自知罪責(zé)難逃，從此加倍小心。
Day after day Buck pulled in his harness.They started in the morning before it was light， and they stopped in the evening after dark， ate a piece of fish， and went to sleep in their holes under the snow. Buck was always hungry. Francoisgave him 750 grams of dried fish a day， and it was never enough. The other dogs were given only 500 grams; they were smaller and could stay dive on less food.
這一天旅途異常辛勞，翻過泰依峽谷進(jìn)入山區(qū)。那晚他們在貝耐湖湖邊宿營。這兒有成千上萬的淘金者。他們正在制造小船準(zhǔn)備著春天冰雪消融時(shí)過河。巴克挖了一個(gè)雪洞，美美地睡了一覺，但他很早就被叫起來套上挽具拉雪撬。第一天，他們在雪地里奔波，雪已經(jīng)被數(shù)百個(gè)雪撬碾過，壓得結(jié)結(jié)實(shí)實(shí)的，他們趕了60公里路。但是第二天和以后的日子里，他們在新雪上奔跑。21這工作非常辛苦，他們進(jìn)程緩慢。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(shí)一些。弗朗索瓦斯呆在雪撬上，有時(shí)他們調(diào)換一下。但佩諾特對付冰比較在行，而路上有許多小湖泊和河流。他總是知道什么時(shí)候河上的冰層最保
Buck learnt to eat quickly; if he was too slow， the other dogs stole his food. He saw Pike， one of the new dogs， steal some meat from the sledge when Perrault wasn’t looking.The next day Buck stole some and got away unseen. Perrault was very angry， but he thought another dog， Dub， had taken it and so punished him instead of Buck.
巴克日復(fù)一日地拉著雪撬。他們天不亮就起程，直走到日落西山才停下來，吃一點(diǎn)魚，然后鉆到雪洞里睡覺。巴克總是吃不飽。弗朗索瓦斯一天喂給他750克干魚，但他仍然不夠吃。其余的狗每天只能得到500克魚吃;他們體型較小，進(jìn)食少一些仍可以生存。
Buck was learning how to live in the north. In the south he had never stolen， but there he had never been so hungry. He stole cleverly and secretly， remembering the beatings from the man with the club.
巴克學(xué)會(huì)了快速進(jìn)食;因?yàn)槿绻缘穆耍瑒e的狗就會(huì)偷他的食物吃。他見到新來的狗中一只叫派克的狗趁佩諾特沒看見時(shí)從雪撬上偷肉吃。第二天巴克也偷了嘴，但沒有被發(fā)覺。佩諾特非常生氣，但他還以為是另一條叫達(dá)布的狗干的，他教訓(xùn)了它一頓，而巴克得以幸免。
Buck was learning the law of club and tooth.
巴克適應(yīng)了北方的生存方式。在南方他從未于過偷竊的行當(dāng)，但在那兒他也從來不用餓肚子。他偷得巧妙又隱蔽，牢牢記著那個(gè)拿大棒的男人給他的痛打。巴克正在學(xué)會(huì)如何對付大棒和牙齒。
He learnt to eat any food—anything that he could get his teeth into. He learnt to break the ice on water holes with his feet when he wanted to drink He was stronger， harder， and could see and smell better than ever before .In a way，he was remembering back to the days when wild dogs travelled in packs through the forest， killing for meat as they went.It was easy for him to learn to fight like a wolf， because it was in his blood. In the evenings， when he pointed his nose at the moon and howled long and loud， he was remembering the dogs and wolves that had come before him.
他學(xué)會(huì)了吃各種食物——吃只要他咬得動(dòng)的任何一種東西。他學(xué)會(huì)了用腳破冰取水來解渴。他變得更加強(qiáng)壯、威猛，嗅覺和視覺也比以前更發(fā)達(dá)了。從某種意義上說，他逐漸地恢復(fù)野性，像以前的野狗一樣穿梭在叢林中捕食。對他來說，學(xué)會(huì)像狼一樣廝殺易如反掌，因?yàn)檫@是與他血脈相通的本性。晚上，當(dāng)他仰首望月，凄厲地長嗥時(shí)，他記起來他的祖先。