The Sounding of the CallWhen Buck earned sixteen hundred dollars in five minutes for JohnThornton, he made it possible for his master to pay off certain debts andto journey with his partners into the East after a fabled lost mine, thehistory of which was as old as the history of the country. —
当巴克为约翰·桑顿赚取了一千六百美元，帮助主人还清了某些债务，使他能够与伙伴们前往东方寻找一个传说中的失落矿山，其历史与国家历史同样悠久。 —

Many menhad sought it; few had found it; —
许多人曾经寻找过这个矿山，但很少有人找到； —

and more than a few there were who hadnever returned from the quest. —
也有不少人对这个追求未归； —

This lost mine was steeped in tragedyand shrouded in mystery. No one knew of the first man. —
这个失落的矿山充满了悲剧和神秘。没有人知道最初的那个人。 —

The oldesttradition stopped before it got back to him. —
最古老的传说也只能追溯到他的居住。 —

From the beginning therehad been an ancient and ramshackle cabin. —
从一开始就有一座古老而破旧的小屋。 —

Dying men had sworn to it,and to the mine the site of which it marked, clinching their testimonywith nuggets that were unlike any known grade of gold in the Northland.
垂死的人曾对此发过誓，小屋记载了矿山的位置，他们还用着冰墩没人知晓的北方黄金岩的金块作为证据。

But no living man had looted this treasure house, and the dead weredead; —
但没有活着的人去抢过这里的财宝，死去的人再也无法回来； —

wherefore John Thornton and Pete and Hans, with Buck and half adozen other dogs, faced into the East on an unknown trail to achievewhere men and dogs as good as themselves had failed. —
因此，约翰·桑顿和皮特、汉斯，以及巴克和另外六只狗，面向东方踏上了未知的征途，这是别人曾经失败过的地方。 —

They sleddedseventy miles up the Yukon, swung to the left into the Stewart River,passed the Mayo and the McQuestion, and held on until the Stewartitself became a streamlet, threading the upstanding peaks which markedthe backbone of the continent.
他们从尤康河滑行了七十英里，向左转进了斯图尔特河，路过梅约河和麦克奎斯顿河，一直前行直至斯图尔特河自己成为了一个小溪，穿过了那些巍峨的山峰，这些山峰标志着这片大陆的脊梁。

John Thornton asked little of man or nature. He was unafraid of thewild. —
约翰·桑顿对人与自然不求什么。他并不惧怕荒野。 —

With a handful of salt and a rifle he could plunge into thewilderness and fare wherever he pleased and as long as he pleased.
只凭着一把盐和一支步枪，他便能迸入荒野，随心所欲地行走并肆意狩猎。

Being in no haste, Indian fashion, he hunted his dinner in the course ofthe day’s travel; —
他像印第安人一样，不急不躁，在一天的旅行中猎取晚餐； —

and if he failed to find it, like the Indian, he kept ontravelling, secure in the knowledge that sooner or later he would come toit. —
如果没能找到，他会像印第安人一样继续前行，坚信迟早会找到。 —

So, on this great journey into the East, straight meat was the bill offare, ammunition and tools principally made up the load on the sled, andthe time-card was drawn upon the limitless future.
因此，在这次伟大的东方之行中，肉食是主菜，弹药和工具主要占据了雪橇的负荷，时间表上画着无限未来。

To Buck it was boundless delight, this hunting, fishing, andindefinite wandering through strange places. —
对巴克来说，这种打猎、钓鱼和漫无目的地穿越陌生地方是无穷的快乐。 —

For weeks at a time theywould hold on steadily, day after day; —
几周的时间里，他们会持续不断地坚持，日复一日； —

and for weeks upon end theywould camp, here and there, the dogs loafing and the men burning holesthrough frozen muck and gravel and washing countless pans of dirt bythe heat of the fire. —
数周久后，他们会在这里或那里露营，狗懒散地躺着，人们在火堆旁烧穿过冻结淤泥和沙砾的无数铁锅，洗涤无数盘污垢。 —

Sometimes they went hungry, sometimes theyfeasted riotously, all according to the abundance of game and the fortuneof hunting. —
有时候他们饥肠辘辘，有时候又狂欢地大吃大喝，这全取决于猎物的丰盛和运气。 —

Summer arrived, and dogs and men packed on their backs,rafted across blue mountain lakes, and descended or ascended unknownrivers in slender boats whipsawed from the standing forest.
夏天到了，狗和人背着背包，乘皮筏横渡蔚蓝山湖，在纤细的木船上下降或上升未知河流。

The months came and went, and back and forth they twisted throughthe uncharted vastness, where no men were and yet where men had beenif the Lost Cabin were true. —
月复一月，他们在未知辽阔地域中来回穿梭，那里无人，但如果失落的小屋是真实的话，那里曾经有人。 —

They went across divides in summerblizzards, shivered under the midnight sun on naked mountains betweenthe timber line and the eternal snows, dropped into summer valleys amidswarming gnats and flies, and in the shadows of glaciers pickedstrawberries and flowers as ripe and fair as any the Southland couldboast. —
他们穿越夏天在暴风雪中的分水岭，在裸露山顶上日复一日地在夜半阳光下发抖，从树线到永久积雪之间的裸山上，在夏天的山谷中避开疯狂的小蚊虫，在冰川的阴影下摘草莓和鲜花，就像南方的任何地方一样成熟美丽。 —

In the fall of the year they penetrated a weird lake country, sadand silent, where wild- fowl had been, but where then there was no life norsign of life– only the blowing of chill winds, the forming of ice insheltered places, and the melancholy rippling of waves on lonely beaches.
在一年的秋天，他们进入了一个怪异而寂静的湖泊地带，那里曾有野鸟栖息，但那时没有生命，也没有生命的迹象——只有寒冷的风吹过，遮蔽的地方冰封，寂寥的海滩上凄美的涟漪。

And through another winter they wandered on the obliterated trailsof men who had gone before. —
他们度过又一个冬天，沿着之前人类遗留的已经消逝的小径漫游。 —

Once, they came upon a path blazedthrough the forest, an ancient path, and the Lost Cabin seemed very near.
有一次，他们偶然发现了一条在森林中开辟的古老小径，一个神秘的小径，失落的小屋似乎就在附近。

But the path began nowhere and ended nowhere, and it remainedmystery, as the man who made it and the reason he made it remainedmystery. —
但那条小径无头无尾，始终是个谜，就像开辟它的人和开辟它的原因一样是个谜。 —

Another time they chanced upon the time-graven wreckage ofa hunting lodge, and amid the shreds of rotted blankets John Thorntonfound a long-barrelled flint-lock. —
另一次，他们碰巧发现了一个过时的狩猎小屋的残骸，在烂棄的毯子中约翰·桑顿发现了一个长管打火枪。 —

He knew it for a Hudson BayCompany gun of the young days in the Northwest, when such a gun wasworth its height in beaver skins packed flat, And that was all–no hint asto the man who in an early day had reared the lodge and left the gunamong the blankets.
他知道这是西北早期哈德逊湾公司的一支枪，那时这样的枪价值可以用邦地兽皮堆砌成的高度来衡量, 这就是全部了——没有线索表明曾经在早期搭建了小屋并将枪留在毯子中的人是谁。

　　Spring came on once more, and at the end of all their wandering theyfound, not the Lost Cabin, but a shallow placer in a broad valley wherethe gold showed like yellow butter across the bottom of the washing-pan.
春天又来临了，经过漫长的徘徊他们找到的并不是失落的小屋，而是一个宽阔山谷里的浅浅沉淀处，那里的金子在洗盘底部闪光像黄色奶油。

They sought no farther. Each day they worked earned them thousandsof dollars in clean dust and nuggets, and they worked every day. —
他们不再寻找。每天努力工作让他们挣到数以千计的干净金粉和金块，而他们每天都在努力工作。 —

Thegold was sacked in moose-hide bags, fifty pounds to the bag, and piledlike so much firewood outside the spruce-bough lodge. —
黄金被装在麋鹿皮袋里，每袋五十磅，像柴禾一样堆放在云杉树枝小屋外面。 —

Like giantsthey toiled, days flashing on the heels of days like dreams as theyheaped the treasure up.
他们像巨人一样辛苦劳作，日子如梦一般飞逝，把宝藏堆积起来。

There was nothing for the dogs to do, save the hauling in of meatnow and again that Thornton killed, and Buck spent long hours musingby the fire. —
狗狗们没什么事可做，除了不时拉些杀死的肉交给桑顿，巴克则长时间坐在火边沉思。 —

The vision of the short-legged hairy man came to him morefrequently, now that there was little work to be done; —
矮腿毛茸茸的人的幻像更频繁地出现在他脑海，因为现在没什么事可做。 —

and often, blinkingby the fire, Buck wandered with him in that other world which he remembered.
经常，巴克眨着眼，想起他在记忆中的另一个世界，与那个人一起漫步。

The salient thing of this other world seemed fear. —
另一个世界的显著特征似乎是恐惧。 —

When hewatched the hairy man sleeping by the fire, head between his knees andhands clasped above, Buck saw that he slept restlessly, with many startsand awakenings, at which times he would peer fearfully into thedarkness and fling more wood upon the fire. —
当他看着矮腿毛茸茸的人在火边睡觉，头埋在膝盖间，双手紧握在头顶时，巴克发现他睡得不安宁，经常惊醒，这时他会恐惧地望向黑暗，并往火里扔更多的木柴。 —

Did they walk by thebeach of a sea, where the hairy man gathered shell- fish and ate them as hegathered, it was with eyes that roved everywhere for hidden danger andwith legs prepared to run like the wind at its first appearance. —
如果他们在海滩上散步，矮腿毛茸茸的人捡贝壳吃，一边捡一边四处警惕寻找隐藏的危险，准备随时像风一样奔跑。 —

Throughthe forest they crept noiselessly, Buck at the hairy man’s heels; —
他们悄无声息地穿过森林，巴克跟着矮腿毛茸茸的人； —

and theywere alert and vigilant, the pair of them, ears twitching and moving andnostrils quivering, for the man heard and smelled as keenly as Buck.
他们都警惕且警觉，耳朵动来动去，鼻孔颤动，因为他像巴克一样，听觉和嗅觉非常灵敏。

The hairy man could spring up into the trees and travel ahead as fast ason the ground, swinging by the arms from limb to limb, sometimes adozen feet apart, letting go and catching, never falling, never missing hisgrip. —
矮腿毛茸茸的人可以跳上树中，像在地面上一样快速前进，从一根树枝摆到另一根，有时相隔十几英尺，纵身放手抓住，从不失手，从不掉下来。 —

In fact, he seemed as much at home among the trees as on theground; —
事实上，他在树间就像在地面上一样得心应手； —

and Buck had memories of nights of vigil spent beneath treeswherein the hairy man roosted, holding on tightly as he slept.
巴克记得在树下守夜的经历，矮腿毛茸茸的人就在上面睡觉时，他牢牢抓着不松手。

And closely akin to the visions of the hairy man was the call stillsounding in the depths of the forest. —
与矮腿毛茸茸的人的幻像紧密相连的是依然在森林深处回响的呼唤。 —

It filled him with a great unrestand strange desires. —
它使他充满了巨大的不安和奇怪的欲望。 —

It caused him to feel a vague, sweet gladness, andhe was aware of wild yearnings and stirrings for he knew not what.
这使他感到一种模糊的、甜蜜的喜悦，他意识到自己有着狂野的渴望，对他不知道的事物有着蠢蠢欲动。

Sometimes he pursued the call into the forest, looking for it as though itwere a tangible thing, barking softly or defiantly, as the mood mightdictate. —
有时他会追随那声音进入森林，像追逐着一个实实在在的东西一样，根据心情不同，或轻声吠叫，或振振有词。 —

He would thrust his nose into the cool wood moss, or into theblack soil where long grasses grew, and snort with joy at the fat earthsmells; —
他会把鼻子伸入凉爽的树苔中，或深深地扎进黑色的长草生长的泥土里，对肥沃的泥土气味感到欢欣； —

or he would crouch for hours, as if in concealment, behindfungus- covered trunks of fallen trees, wide-eyed and wide-eared to allthat moved and sounded about him. —
或者他会蹲在那里几个小时，仿佛隐藏着，躲在覆盖着真菌的倒下的树干后面，眼睛瞪大，耳朵竖起，留心着周围所有的动静。 —

It might be, lying thus, that hehoped to surprise this call he could not understand. —
躺在那里，他可能希望突然听到这个他无法解释的召唤声。 —

But he did notknow why he did these various things. —
但他不知道自己为何会做这些不同的事情。 —

He was impelled to do them,and did not reason about them at all.
他被这种不可抗拒的冲动所驱使。他会躺在营地里，在炎热的白天慵懒地打盹，突然间，他的头抬起，耳朵竖起，专心地聆听，然后跳起来跑开，一直奔跑，穿过森林的小道，越过那些青苔覆盖的开阔地。

Irresistible impulses seized him. He would be lying in camp,dozing lazily in the heat of the day, when suddenly his head would liftand his ears cock up, intent and listening, and he would spring to his feetand dash away, and on and on, for hours, through the forest aisles andacross the open spaces where the niggerheads bunched. —
他喜欢在干涸的水道里奔跑，喜欢潜伏观察树林中的鸟类生活。 —

He loved torun down dry watercourses, and to creep and spy upon the bird life in thewoods. —
有时他会躺在灌木丛中整整一天，观察山鹧鸪的打鼓和走来走去。 —

For a day at a time he would lie in the underbrush where hecould watch the partridges drumming and strutting up and down. —
但他尤其喜欢在夏日午夜的朦胧暮色中奔跑，倾听着森林中微弱而慵懒的低语，像读一本书一样阅读着森林的迹象和声音，寻找着那个神秘的东西在召唤——白天或黑夜，时时刻刻，召唤他前去。 —

Butespecially he loved to run in the dim twilight of the summer midnights,listening to the subdued and sleepy murmurs of the forest, reading signsand sounds as man may read a book, and seeking for the mysterioussomething that called–called, waking or sleeping, at all times, for him to come.
有一天晚上，他在睡梦中突然惊醒，眼瞳炯炯有神，鼻孔颤动，嗅着气味，他的鬃毛波浪般竖立。

One night he sprang from sleep with a start, eager-eyed, nostrilsquivering and scenting, his mane bristling in recurrent waves. —
森林里传来召唤声（或其中的一种音符，因为这个召唤是多种音符组成的），清晰明了，前所未有地，—一个长而嘹亮的吼叫声，像，却又不像，任何哈士奇狗发出的声音。 —

From theforest came the call (or one note of it, for the call was many noted),distinct and definite as never before,–a long-drawn howl, like, yet unlike,any noise made by husky dog. —
他觉得这个声音是如此熟悉，就像以前听到过一样。 —

And he knew it, in the old familiar way,as a sound heard before. —
他跃过睡眠中的营地，迅速无声地穿过树林。 —

He sprang through the sleeping camp and inswift silence dashed through the woods. —
He dashed through the woods. —

As he drew closer to the cryhe went more slowly, with caution in every movement, till he came to anopen place among the trees, and looking out saw, erect on haunches,with nose pointed to the sky, a long, lean, timber wolf.
他走近哭声时，变得更加缓慢，每一个动作都充满谨慎，直到他来到树木间的一个开阔地，往外望去，看见一只长长的、瘦削的木狼直立着，鼻子指向天空。

He had made no noise, yet it ceased from its howling and tried tosense his presence. —
它没有发出任何声音，但停止了哀嚎，试图感知他的存在。 —

Buck stalked into the open, half crouching, bodygathered compactly together, tail straight and stiff, feet falling withunwonted care. —
巴克蹑手蹑脚地走进开阔地，半蹲着，身体紧凑地收拢在一起，尾巴笔直而僵硬，脚部谨慎地落地。 —

Every movement advertised commingled threateningand overture of friendliness. —
每一个动作都传达出威胁和友好的交际。 —

It was the menacing truce that marks themeeting of wild beasts that prey. —
这是野兽相遇时表现出的威胁与友好并存的敌意。 —

But the wolf fled at sight of him.
但狼一见他便逃走。

He followed, with wild leapings, in a frenzy to overtake. —
他跟着，狂跃着，疯狂地追赶。 —

He ran himinto a blind channel, in the bed of the creek where a timber jam barredthe way. —
他追入一个幽渺的渠道，在溪床上一处木料阻挡了去路。 —

The wolf whirled about, pivoting on his hind legs after thefashion of Joe and of all cornered husky dogs, snarling and bristling,clipping his teeth together in a continuous and rapid succession of snaps.
狼急速转身，以Joe和所有陷入绝境的哈士奇狗常用的方式，站在后腿上转动，咆哮着、狼狈着，紧闭着牙齿，不停地快速地咬合。

Buck did not attack, but circled him about and hedged him in withfriendly advances. —
巴克没有攻击，而是围绕他盘旋，并用友好的进攻将他困住。 —

The wolf was suspicious and afraid; for Buck madethree of him in weight, while his head barely reached Buck’s shoulder.
狼充满了怀疑和害怕；因为巴克比他重三倍，而他的头仅仅达到巴克的肩膀。

　　Watching his chance, he darted away, and the chase was resumed.
等待机会，他飞奔而去，追逐重新开始。

Time and again he was cornered, and the thing repeated, though he wasin poor condition, or Buck could not so easily have overtaken him. —
他一次又一次陷入困境，情况重复，尽管他状态不佳，否则巴克不可能如此容易地追上他。 —

Hewould run till Buck’s head was even with his flank, when he would whirlaround at bay, only to dash away again at the first opportunity.
他会跑到巴克的头与他的侧身齐平时，他会转身为攻，只有在第一个机会出现时才会再次逃跑。

But in the end Buck’s pertinacity was rewarded; —
但最终，巴克的执着得到了回报； —

for the wolf, findingthat no harm was intended, finally sniffed noses with him. —
对于狼来说，他发现并不是有意要伤害它，最终与他亲热地碰了鼻子。 —

Then theybecame friendly, and played about in the nervous, half- coy way withwhich fierce beasts belie their fierceness. —
接着它们变得友好起来，用一种紧张而半羞怯的方式玩耍，这种方式是凶猛动物掩饰自己凶猛的方式。 —

After some time of this thewolf started off at an easy lope in a manner that plainly showed he wasgoing somewhere. —
过了一会儿，狼开始以轻松的步伐跑开，表明它明显是要去某个地方。 —

He made it clear to Buck that he was to come, andthey ran side by side through the sombre twilight, straight up the creekbed, into the gorge from which it issued, and across the bleak dividewhere it took its rise.
它明确告诉巴克他要跟着，并且他们并肩穿过昏暗的黄昏，直奔小溪床，穿过它流出的峡谷，越过寒冷的山脊。

On the opposite slope of the watershed they came down into a levelcountry where were great stretches of forest and many streams, andthrough these great stretches they ran steadily, hour after hour, the sunrising higher and the day growing warmer. —
在分水岭的对面斜坡上，他们到了一片树林和许多河流的平原地带，他们穿过这些广阔的地方，稳定地奔跑，一小时又一小时，太阳升得更高，天气变得更加温暖。 —

Buck was wildly glad. Heknew he was at last answering the call, running by the side of his woodbrother toward the place from where the call surely came. —
巴克兴奋极了。他知道自己终于在回应召唤，在与他的树林兄弟并肩奔跑，向着召唤之处奔去。 —

Oldmemories were coming upon him fast, and he was stirring to them as ofold he stirred to the realities of which they were the shadows. —
旧记忆迅速涌上心头，他像往昔一样热切地对待它们，就像他对现实的反应一样。 —

He haddone this thing before, somewhere in that other and dimly rememberedworld, and he was doing it again, now, running free in the open, theunpacked earth underfoot, the wide sky overhead.
他曾经做过这件事，在另一个模糊记忆的世界中的某处，他又正在做同样的事情，现在，在户外自由奔跑，脚下是未经开垦的土地，头顶是广阔的天空。

They stopped by a running stream to drink, and, stopping, Buckremembered John Thornton. —
他们在一条流水旁停下来喝水，停下时，巴克想起了约翰·桑顿。 —

He sat down. The wolf started ontoward the place from where the call surely came, then returned to him,sniffing noses and making actions as though to encourage him. —
他坐下来。狼开始往召唤之处奔去，然后回到他身边，碰鼻子，做出鼓励他的动作。 —

ButBuck turned about and started slowly on the back track. —
但是巴克转身缓慢地沿原路返回。 —

For the betterpart of an hour the wild brother ran by his side, whining softly. —
野生的兄弟在他身边跑了大半小时，轻轻地呜咽。 —

Thenhe sat down, pointed his nose upward, and howled. —
然后它坐下，抬起鼻子，开始嚎叫。 —

It was a mournfulhowl, and as Buck held steadily on his way he heard it grow faint andfainter until it was lost in the distance.
那是一声哀伤的嚎叫，而当巴克继续坚定地前行时，他听到它渐渐变得微弱，直到在远方消失。

　　John Thornton was eating dinner when Buck dashed into camp andsprang upon him in a frenzy of affection, overturning him, scramblingupon him, licking his face, biting his hand–“playing the general tom-fool,” as John Thornton characterized it, the while he shook Buck backand forth and cursed him lovingly.
约翰·桑顿正在吃晚餐，巴克冲进营地，疯狂地投入他的怀抱，扑倒他，爬上他，舔他的脸，咬他的手。“表现得像个笨家伙一样，”约翰·桑顿这样描述，同时他摇晃着巴克，亲切地诅咒着他。

For two days and nights Buck never left camp, never let Thorntonout of his sight. —
两天两夜，巴克从未离开营地，从未让桑顿离开他的视线。 —

He followed him about at his work, watched himwhile he ate, saw him into his blankets at night and out of them in themorning. —
他在桑顿工作时跟着他，看着他吃饭，看着他晚上躺在被窝里，早上起床。 —

But after two days the call in the forest began to sound moreimperiously than ever. —
但是两天后，森林里的呼唤变得比以往更加迫切。 —

Buck’s restlessness came back on him, and hewas haunted by recollections of the wild brother, and of the smiling landbeyond the divide and the run side by side through the wide foreststretches. —
巴克的不安又袭上心头，他开始想起与他通向大片森林地区的那只野生兄弟并行奔跑的情景。 —

Once again he took to wandering in the woods, but the wildbrother came no more; —
他再次开始在树林里闲逛，但野生兄弟再也没有出现； —

and though he listened through long vigils, themournful howl was never raised.
虽然他经常通宵凝视，却再也没有听到哀怨的嚎叫声。

He began to sleep out at night, staying away from camp for days at atime; —
他开始夜不归宿，有时连续数日不回营地； —

and once he crossed the divide at the head of the creek and wentdown into the land of timber and streams. —
有一次，他越过溪流源头的山脊进入了那片遍布林木和溪流的区域。 —

There he wandered for aweek, seeking vainly for fresh sign of the wild brother, killing his meatas he travelled and travelling with the long, easy lope that seems neverto tire. —
他在那里徘徊了一个星期，徒劳地寻找野生兄弟的新踪迹，边走边打猎，保持着那种似乎永不疲倦的长跑。 —

He fished for salmon in a broad stream that emptied somewhereinto the sea, and by this stream he killed a large black bear, blinded bythe mosquitoes while likewise fishing, and raging through the foresthelpless and terrible. —
他在一条流向大海的宽阔河流中捕鱼，也在那条河流中杀死了一只巨大的黑熊，被蚊子叮咬致盲，震怒地在森林中无助而可怕地肆虐。 —

Even so, it was a hard fight, and it aroused thelast latent remnants of Buck’s ferocity. —
尽管如此，这是一场艰苦的战斗，激起了巴克最后一丝隐藏的凶残心。 —

And two days later, when hereturned to his kill and found a dozen wolverenes quarrelling over thespoil, he scattered them like chaff; —
两天后，当他回到猎物处发现十几只猛犸兽正在争抢食物时，他像扔谷物一样将它们驱散； —

and those that fled left two behindwho would quarrel no more.
逃走的那些留下了两只再也不会争吵的猛犸兽。

The blood-longing became stronger than ever before. —
鲜血的渴望愈发强烈。 —

He was akiller, a thing that preyed, living on the things that lived, unaided, alone,by virtue of his own strength and prowess, surviving triumphantly in ahostile environment where only the strong survived. —
他就是个杀手，一个以捕食为生的东西，靠着自己的力量和技艺在敌对的环境中独自生存，只有强者才能在这里胜利生存。 —

Because of all thishe became possessed of a great pride in himself, which communicateditself like a contagion to his physical being. —
因为这一切，他变得充满了对自己的巨大骄傲，这种骄傲像传染病一样传达到了他的身体。 —

It advertised itself in allhis movements, was apparent in the play of every muscle, spoke plainlyas speech in the way he carried himself, and made his glorious furry coatif anything more glorious. —
这种骄傲表现在他的一举一动中，无处不显，明显地展现在每一块肌肉的运动中，他的丰盛的毛皮在他身上更加辉煌。 —

But for the stray brown on his muzzle andabove his eyes, and for the splash of white hair that ran midmost downhis chest, he might well have been mistaken for a gigantic wolf, largerthan the largest of the breed. —
他的鼻子和眼睛上方略带棕色，并且胸前有一道白色毛发，否则，他很可能会被误认为是一只比狼还大的庞大狼。 —

From his St. Bernard father he hadinherited size and weight, but it was his shepherd mother who had givenshape to that size and weight. —
他继承了圣伯纳德犬的体格和重量，但正是他的牧羊犬母亲赋予了这体格和重量以形态。 —

His muzzle was the long wolf muzzle,save that was larger than the muzzle of any wolf; —
他的鼻子是长长的狼鼻子，只是比任何狼的鼻子更大； —

and his head,somewhat broader, was the wolf head on a massive scale. —
他的头略宽，是大尺寸的狼头。 —

His cunningwas wolf cunning, and wild cunning; —
他的狡诈是狼的狡诈，野性的狡诈； —

his intelligence, shepherdintelligence and St. Bernard intelligence; —
他的智力是牧羊犬的智力和圣伯纳犬的智力； —

and all this, plus anexperience gained in the fiercest of schools, made him as formidable acreature as any that intelligence roamed the wild. —
所有这些，再加上在最激烈的学校所得的经验，使他成为一个与任何智力在荒野中漫游的生物一样可怕的存在。 —

A carnivorous animalliving on a straight meat diet, he was in full flower, at the high tide of hislife, overspilling with vigor and virility. —
作为一个以肉食为食的食肉动物，他正处在充盛的时期，生命的顶峰，充满了活力和男子气概。 —

When Thornton passed acaressing hand along his back, a snapping and crackling followed thehand, each hair discharing its pent magnetism at the contact. —
当桑顿抚摸着他的背时，手上会有一种噼啪声响，每一根毛发在接触时释放出它的潜在磁场。 —

Everypart, brain and body, nerve tissue and fibre, was keyed to the mostexquisite pitch; —
每一个部分，大脑和身体，神经组织和纤维，都被调至最为精致的状态； —

and between all the parts there was a perfect equilibriumor adjustment. —
在所有部分之间存在着完美的平衡或调节。 —

To sights and sounds and events which requiredaction, he responded with lightning-like rapidity. —
对需要行动的景象、声音和事件，他的反应如闪电般迅速。 —

Quickly as a huskydog could leap to defend from attack or to attack, he could leap twice asquickly. —
胜地对待缠绕的攻击或进攻，他能够比哈士奇犬更快地跳起来。 —

He saw the movement, or heard sound, and responded in lesstime than another dog required to compass the mere seeing or hearing.
他看到了动作，或者听到了声音，并且作出反应比另一只狗所需的时间更短。

He perceived and determined and responded in the same instant. —
他感知并决定，同时作出了回应。 —

Inpoint of fact the three actions of perceiving, determining, and respondingwere sequential; —
事实上，感知、决定和回应这三个动作是顺序发生的； —

but so infinitesimal were the intervals of time betweenthem that they appeared simultaneous. —
但它们之间的时间间隔是如此微小，以至于它们看起来是同时发生的。 —

His muscles were surchargedwith vitality, and snapped into play sharply, like steel springs. —
他的肌肉充满了活力，像弹簧一样迅速地启动。 —

Lifestreamed through him in splendid flood, glad and rampant, until itseemed that it would burst him asunder in sheer ecstasy and pour forthgenerously over the world.
生命在他身体中奔流，愉悦而狂热，直到似乎会让他欣喜若狂地爆裂开来，慷慨地流向世界。

　　”Never was there such a dog,” said John Thornton one day, as thepartners watched Buck marching out of camp.
“从未有过这样的狗，”有一天，约翰·桑顿说，当合作伙伴们看着巴克走出营地时。

　　”When he was made, the mould was broke,” said Pete.
“他一出生，模子就被打破了，”皮特说。

　　”Py jingo! I t’ink so mineself,” Hans affirmed.
“Py jingo！我也这么认为，”汉斯肯定地说。

They saw him marching out of camp, but they did not see the instantand terrible transformation which took place as soon as he was withinthe secrecy of the forest. —
他们看到他走出营地，但他们没有看到他一进入森林的隐秘处所发生的瞬间和可怕的变化。 —

He no longer marched. At once he became athing of the wild, stealing along softly, cat- footed, a passing shadow thatappeared and disappeared among the shadows. —
他不再是在行军。一下子，他变成了一个野生动物，轻巧地盗取，脚步轻盈，是一个出现和消失在阴影中的影子。 —

He knew how to takeadvantage of every cover, to crawl on his belly like a snake, and like asnake to leap and strike. —
他知道如何利用每一处掩护，像蛇一样匍匐前进，像蛇一样跳起并出击。 —

He could take a ptarmigan from its nest, kill arabbit as it slept, and snap in mid air the little chipmunks fleeing asecond too late for the trees. —
他可以从山鹧鸪的巢中取走一只，趁兔子睡觉时杀掉它，以及在树后迟到的小花栗鼠空中捕捉。 —

Fish, in open pools, were not too quickfor him; nor were beaver, mending their dams, too wary. —
鱼在开放的水潭中对他来说不太快；海狸，修理它们的坝堰时不太谨慎。 —

He killed toeat, not from wantonness; but he preferred to eat what he killed himself.
他杀死以食用，而不是为了胡作非为；但他更喜欢吃自己捕杀的食物。

　　So a lurking humor ran through his deeds, and it was his delight to stealupon the squirrels, and, when he all but had them, to let them go,chattering in mortal fear to the treetops.
这就是他所行之事中潜在的幽默，他喜欢悄悄接近松鼠，在几乎抓到它们的时候，放它们逃跑，引得它们吱吱叫，极度害怕地跑向树梢。

As the fall of the year came on, the moose appeared in greaterabundance, moving slowly down to meet the winter in the lower and lessrigorous valleys. —
随着秋天的到来，骡鹿数量日益增加，慢慢向下游动，迎接低海拔和气候不那么严寒的山谷的冬季。 —

Buck had already dragged down a stray part-growncalf; —
巴克已经拖下了一头迷失的半成年小牛; —

but he wished strongly for larger and more formidable quarry, andhe came upon it one day on the divide at the head of the creek. —
但他渴望更大更强壮的猎物，终于在一天在溪流源头的分水岭上找到了。 —

A bandof twenty moose had crossed over from the land of streams and timber,and chief among them was a great bull. —
一队有二十头骡鹿从河流和树林之地过来，它们中的首领是一头巨大的公鹿。 —

He was in a savage temper,and, standing over six feet from the ground, was as formidable anantagonist as even Buck could desire. —
它心情凶猛，站在离地面六英尺之高，是巴克所期望的对手。 —

Back and forth the bull tossed hisgreat palmated antlers, branching to fourteen points and embracingseven feet within the tips. —
这头公鹿来回摇动着它那巨大的有着十四个分叉并且在尖端之间包含着七英尺的羽毛状鹿角。 —

His small eyes burned with a vicious andbitter light, while he roared with fury at sight of Buck.
它那小而狠毒的眼睛闪烁着燃烧的恶意，同时对着巴克怒吼。

From the bull’s side, just forward of the flank, protruded a featheredarrow-end, which accounted for his savageness. —
从那头公鹿的侧面，就在肋腹前面，伸出一根羽毛状的箭尖，解释了它的凶猛。 —

Guided by that instinctwhich came from the old hunting days of the primordial world, Buckproceeded to cut the bull out from the herd. —
在得益于来自原始世界的旧狩猎日的本能的指引下，巴克开始将公鹿从群中剔除出来。 —

It was no slight task. Hewould bark and dance about in front of the bull, just out of reach of thegreat antlers and of the terrible splay hoofs which could have stampedhis life out with a single blow. —
这并不是一件轻松的任务。他会在公鹿面前叫喊跳跃，只在大鹿巨大的鹿角和可怕的扩张的蹄尖的够不到的地方。 —

Unable to turn his back on the fangeddanger and go on, the bull would be driven into paroxysms of rage. —
无法转过背对着长着尖牙的危险继续前进，公鹿会被推入到狂怒的状态。 —

Atsuch moments he charged Buck, who retreated craftily, luring him on bya simulated inability to escape. —
在这种时刻，它向巴克冲过来，巴克狡猾地后退，通过装作无法逃脱来引诱它。 —

But when he was thus separated fromhis fellows, two or three of the younger bulls would charge back uponBuck and enable the wounded bull to rejoin the herd.
但当它和同伴分离时，两三头年轻公鹿会冲回来进攻巴克，使受伤的公鹿能够重新加入群中。

There is a patience of the wild–dogged, tireless, persistent as lifeitself–that holds motionless for endless hours the spider in its web, thesnake in its coils, the panther in its ambuscade; —
野生中有一种耐心–顽强、不知疲倦、坚持如同生命本身一样–让那蜘蛛在网中、那蛇在盘绕中、那豹在埋伏中无动于衷地静止数小时不动。 —

this patience belongspeculiarly to life when it hunts its living food; —
这种耐心特别属于生活当它捕获生活食物的时候； —

and it belonged to Buckas he clung to the flank of the herd, retarding its march, irritating theyoung bulls, worrying the cows with their half-grown calves, anddriving the wounded bull mad with helpless rage. —
而巴克也拥有这种耐心，当他紧紧抓住兽群的一侧时，拖慢了它们的行进，激怒了年轻的公牛，让带着年幼牛犊的母牛焦躁不安，并让受伤的公牛无奈地被激怒。 —

For half a day thiscontinued. Buck multiplied himself, attacking from all sides,enveloping the herd in a whirlwind of menace, cutting out his victim asfast as it could rejoin its mates, wearing out the patience of creaturespreyed upon, which is a lesser patience than that of creatures preying.
这种情况持续了半天。巴克四下里攻击，从各个方面包围着整个兽群，用威胁的旋风包围，将猎物切断，让它们无法重新融入队伍，耗尽被捕食者的耐心，这种耐心比捕食者的耐心稍差一些。

As the day wore along and the sun dropped to its bed in thenorthwest (the darkness had come back and the fall nights were sixhours long), the young bulls retraced their steps more and morereluctantly to the aid of their beset leader. —
当这一天过去，太阳在西北方落下（黑暗又回来了，秋季的夜晚长达六个小时），年轻的公牛越来越不情愿地重新踱步去帮助它们被困的领导者。 —

The down-coming winter washarrying them on to the lower levels, and it seemed they could nevershake off this tireless creature that held them back. —
严冬的到来促使它们下到更低的地带，而这个不知疲倦的生物使它们无法摆脱。 —

Besides, it was notthe life of the herd, or of the young bulls, that was threatened. —
此外，威胁并不是针对整个兽群或年轻的公牛。 —

The lifeof only one member was demanded, which was a remoter interest thantheir lives, and in the end they were content to pay the toll.
只有一个成员的生命受到要求，这比它们的生命更遥远的利益，最终它们满足地付出了代价。

As twilight fell the old bull stood with lowered head, watching hismates–the cows he had known, the calves he had fathered, the bulls hehad mastered–as they shambled on at a rapid pace through the fadinglight. —
黄昏降临时，老公牛低着头站在原地，注视着他的伴侣们–他熟悉的母牛，他生的小牛犊，他所征服的公牛–它们在微弱的光线中快步前行。 —

He could not follow, for before his nose leaped the mercilessfanged terror that would not let him go. —
他不能跟随，因为在他的鼻子前跃动着毫不留情的长牙恐怖，不肯放过他。 —

Three hundredweight morethan half a ton he weighed; —
他的体重超过半吨一点三百磅； —

he had lived a long, strong life, full of fightand struggle, and at the end he faced death at the teeth of a creaturewhose head did not reach beyond his great knuckled knees.
他活过一个漫长而坚强的生命，充满了战斗和斗争，在生命的最后他面对着生死挑战，面对着一个头部无法超过他粗壮膝盖的生物的利爪。

From then on, night and day, Buck never left his prey, never gave it amoment’s rest, never permitted it to browse the leaves of trees or theshoots of young birch and willow. —
从那时起，白天黑夜，巴克从未离开他的猎物，从未让它得到片刻休息，从未让它有机会浏览树叶或年轻桦树和柳树的新芽。 —

Nor did he give the wounded bullopportunity to slake his burning thirst in the slender trickling streamsthey crossed. —
也不让受伤的公牛有机会在它们经过的纤细涓流中解渴。 —

Often, in desperation, he burst into long stretches of flight.
在绝望中，他经常爆发出长距离的逃离。

　　At such times Buck did not attempt to stay him, but loped easily at hisheels, satisfied with the way the game was played, lying down when themoose stood still, attacking him fiercely when he strove to eat or drink.
在这种时候，巴克不试图阻止他，而是轻快地跟在他的后面，满意于游戏的进程，当驼鹿静止时躺下来，当驼鹿努力进食或饮水时，激烈地攻击它。

The great head drooped more and more under its tree of horns, andthe shambling trot grew weak and weaker. —
伟大的头在角树下越来越低垂，踉跄的步子也变得越来越无力。 —

He took to standing for longperiods, with nose to the ground and dejected ears dropped limply; —
它开始经常站着，鼻子贴着地面，耷拉着无精打采的耳朵； —

andBuck found more time in which to get water for himself and in which torest. —
班克得以有更多时间给自己弄点水，并休息一下。 —

At such moments, panting with red lolling tongue and with eyesfixed upon the big bull, it appeared to Buck that a change was comingover the face of things. —
在这种时刻，喘着气，红色的舌头伸出，眼睛紧盯着雄性野牛，班克感到环境的面貌正在发生变化。 —

He could feel a new stir in the land. As themoose were coming into the land, other kinds of life were coming in.
他感觉到土地上有一种新的骚动。随着驼鹿进入这片土地，其他种类的生物也进入了。

Forest and stream and air seemed palpitant with their presence. —
森林、溪流和空气似乎都因为它们的到来而有所荡漾。 —

Thenews of it was borne in upon him, not by sight, or sound, or smell, butby some other and subtler sense. —
他并没有听到任何声音，看见任何景象，但知道这片土地莫名其妙地有了些变化； —

He heard nothing, saw nothing, yetknew that the land was somehow different; —
这种感知不是通过视觉、听觉或嗅觉传达给他的，而是通过某种其他更微妙的感觉。 —

that through it strange thingswere afoot and ranging; —
他听到了一些不同寻常的事物； —

and he resolved to investigate after he hadfinished the business in hand.
并决定在完成手头的任务后进行调查。

　　At last, at the end of the fourth day, he pulled the great moose down.
最终，在第四天结束时，他成功击倒了那头大驼鹿。

For a day and a night he remained by the kill, eating and sleeping, turnand turn about. —
在这次猎杀中，他咬了一天一夜，轮流吃饱、睡觉。 —

Then, rested, refreshed and strong, he turned his facetoward camp and John Thornton. —
再次休息、恢复体力后，他转身朝着营地和约翰·桑顿走去。 —

He broke into the long easy lope, andwent on, hour after hour, never at loss for the tangled way, headingstraight home through strange country with a certitude of direction thatput man and his magnetic needle to shame.
他进入了长时间的轻松疾跑，继续前行，小时复一小时，从不迷路，直接穿过陌生的地方，以一种令人惊羡的方向确定性，让人和他们的磁罗盘相形见绌。

As he held on he became more and more conscious of the new stir inthe land. —
当他继续前行时，他越来越意识到这片土地上的新变化。 —

There was life abroad in it different from the life which hadbeen there throughout the summer. —
在那里有一种与整个夏天不同的生机。 —

No longer was this fact borne inupon him in some subtle, mysterious way. —
他不再以某种微妙而神秘的方式强烈感受到这个事实。 —

The birds talked of it, thesquirrels chattered about it, the very breeze whispered of it. —
鸟儿谈论着它，松鼠叽叽喳喳地讲述着它，微风轻声低语着。 —

Severaltimes he stopped and drew in the fresh morning air in great sniffs,reading a message which made him leap on with greater speed. —
他几次停下来，深深地吸入清晨的空气，读懂了一条让他更快地跳跃前行的信息。 —

He wasoppressed with a sense of calamity happening, if it were not calamityalready happened; —
他感到灾难即将发生，如果不是已经发生的话； —

and as he crossed the last watershed and droppeddown into the valley toward camp, he proceeded with greater caution.
当他渡过最后一道山脊，沿着山谷往营地走去时，他加大了警惕。

　　Three miles away he came upon a fresh trail that sent his neck hairrippling and bristling, It led straight toward camp and John Thornton.
距离三英里之外，他遇到了一条新的足迹，让他的颈毛竖起来。

　　Buck hurried on, swiftly and stealthily, every nerve straining and tense,alert to the multitudinous details which told a story–all but the end.
巴克匆匆前行，迅速而隐秘，每一根神经都绷紧，紧绷着，留意着无数细节，它们诉说着一个故事—-除了结局。

His nose gave him a varying description of the passage of the life on theheels of which he was travelling. —
他的鼻子将他带入正在穿越的生命的轨迹。 —

He remarked die pregnant silence ofthe forest. —
他注意到森林中的寂静沉默。 —

The bird life had flitted. The squirrels were in hiding.
鸟儿们都飞走了。松鼠们都躲起来了。

　　One only he saw,–a sleek gray fellow, flattened against a gray dead limbso that he seemed a part of it, a woody excrescence upon the wood itself.
他只看到一个，—-一只漂亮的灰色家伙，紧贴在灰色的枯树枝上，看起来仿佛是它的一部分，一块木头上的木头突起物。

As Buck slid along with the obscureness of a gliding shadow, hisnose was jerked suddenly to the side as though a positive force hadgripped and pulled it. —
当巴克像一道滑影一样滑行时，他的鼻子突然被拉向一侧，好像有一股力量紧紧抓住并拉扯着它。 —

He followed the new scent into a thicket andfound Nig. He was lying on his side, dead where he had draggedhimself, an arrow protruding, head and feathers, from either side of his body.
他沿着新的气味走进灌木丛，找到了Nig。它侧卧着，死了，箭头从它的身体两侧突出，箭头上还留着羽毛。

A hundred yards farther on, Buck came upon one of the sled-dogsThornton had bought in Dawson. —
再往前一百码，巴克找到了约翰·桑顿在道森购买的雪橇狗之一。 —

This dog was thrashing about in adeath-struggle, directly on the trail, and Buck passed around him withoutstopping. —
这只狗在濒死挣扎，直接躺在小径上，巴克没有停下来绕过它。 —

From the camp came the faint sound of many voices, risingand falling in a sing-song chant. —
从营地传来许多声音，抑扬顿挫地唱着歌。 —

Bellying forward to the edge of theclearing, he found Hans, lying on his face, feathered with arrows like aporcupine. —
他匍匐到空地边缘，发现汉斯趴在那里，满身箭矢像箭猪一样。 —

At the same instant Buck peered out where the spruce-bough lodge had been and saw what made his hair leap straight up on hisneck and shoulders. —
同一时间，巴克向外望去，没看到那棵云杉树枝搭成的小屋，却看到让他头皮和肩膀上的毛发竖立的东西。 —

A gust of overpowering rage swept over him. —
一股无法抵挡的愤怒压倒他。 —

Hedid not know that he growled, but he growled aloud with a terribleferocity. —
他不知道自己在咆哮，但他发出了可怕的狰狞声音。 —

For the last time in his life he allowed passion to usurpcunning and reason, and it was because of his great love for JohnThornton that he lost his head. —
在他生命中最后一次，激情占据了心计和理智，仅仅因为他对约翰·桑顿极其深切的爱。 —

The Yeehats were dancing about thewreckage of the spruce-bough lodge when they heard a fearful roaringand saw rushing upon them an animal the like of which they had neverseen before. —
当他们听到可怕的吼声并看到一只他们从未见过的动物朝他们冲来时，伊哈特人正在毁坏云杉树枝搭成的小屋周围跳舞。 —

It was Buck, a live hurricane of fury, hurling himself uponthem in a frenzy to destroy. —
这是巴克，一团愤怒的活龙卷风，疯狂地扑向他们，要将他们摧毁。 —

He sprang at the foremost man (it was thechief of the Yeehats), ripping the throat wide open till the rent jugularspouted a fountain of blood. —
他扑向最前面的那个人（是伊哈特族长），撕开喉咙直到流淌出一泉血液。 —

He did not pause to worry the victim, butripped in passing, with the next bound tearing wide the throat of asecond man. —
他没有停下来去折磨受害者，而是边过去变换，下一次跳跃时撕开第二个人的喉咙。 —

There was no withstanding him. He plunged about intheir very midst, tearing, rending, destroying, in constant and terrificmotion which defied the arrows they discharged at him. —
无人能抵挡他。他在他们中间疯狂地跳来跳去，撕裂，毁灭，作出持续而可怕的动作，让他们发射的箭无法打中他。 —

In fact, soinconceivably rapid were his movements, and so closely were theIndians tangled together, that they shot one another with the arrows; —
事实上，他的动作如此惊人地快速，而印第安人纠缠在一起得如此紧密，以至于他们用箭射中了彼此； —

andone young hunter, hurling a spear at Buck in mid air, drove it throughthe chest of another hunter with such force that the point broke throughthe skin of the back and stood out beyond. —
一个年轻的猎人把一支矛投向空中的巴克，用力将其穿透了另一名猎人的胸部，以至于矛尖穿过背部的皮肤并且露在外面。 —

Then a panic seized theYeehats, and they fled in terror to the woods, proclaiming as they fledthe advent of the Evil Spirit.
然后恐慌袭击了伊哈特人，他们惊恐地逃向树林，宣称邪灵降临。

And truly Buck was the Fiend incarnate, raging at their heels anddragging them down like deer as they raced through the trees. —
而巴克真是恶魔的化身，在林间咆哮，像鹿一样拖住了他们的脚跟，让他们无处可逃。 —

It was afateful day for the Yeehats. They scattered far and wide over theThe Call of the Wild country, and it was not till a week later that the last of the survivorsgathered together in a lower valley and counted their losses. —
对于伊哈特族来说这是个命运多舛的一天。 他们四散到荒野各处，直到一周后最后的幸存者聚集在一个低谷，数着他们的损失。 —

As forBuck, wearying of the pursuit, he returned to the desolated camp. —
至于巴克，对追捕感到厌倦后，他回到了被荒废的营地。 —

Hefound Pete where he had been killed in his blankets in the first momentof surprise. —
他发现皮特在被杀的惊讶的一刹那，就裹着毯子长眠其中。 —

Thornton’s desperate struggle was fresh-written on theearth, and Buck scented every detail of it down to the edge of a deeppool. —
汤姆顿顽强的抵抗在土地上清晰可见，巴克闻到了每一个细节，一直到一个深潭的边缘。 —

By the edge, head and fore feet in the water, lay Skeet, faithful tothe last. —
在潭边，头和前爪浸在水中，忠诚的斯基特直到最后也未离开。 —

The pool itself, muddy and discolored from the sluice boxes,effectually hid what it contained, and it contained John Thornton; —
潭水本身因水槽的滤框而变得浑浊污染，有效地隐藏了它所包含的东西，那就是约翰·桑顿； —

forBuck followed his trace into the water, from which no trace led away.
因为巴克沿着他的足迹进入水中，而没有任何足迹离开。