3级-《野性的呼唤》-第3课

前情提要

巴克被送到了西雅图，一个胖子将它从运货的木箱里放了出来。巴克想攻击胖子，却被他棍棒相加，打的动弹不得……

故事原文

The Call of the Wild 3

野性的呼唤 3

'He knows how to teach a dog a lesson(1),' said one of the men on the wall. Then the four men jumped down and went back to the station.

“他可知道如何把狗制得服服帖帖的。”墙上的一个人说。然后这4个人跳下来，回车站去了。

'His name is Buck,' said the fat man to himself, reading the letter that had come with the box. 'Well, Buck, my boy,' he said in a friendly voice, 'we've argued a little, and I think the best thing to do now is to(2) stop. Be a good dog and we'll be friends. But if you're a bad dog, I'll have to use my club again. Understand?'

“他的名字叫巴克。”那胖子自言自语道，读着写在木箱上的字母。“咳，巴克，我的孩子，”他用友好的语气说道，“我们有场小小的争斗，现在我想我们最好停战。做一只好狗，我们会成为朋友的。但是你要是使坏，我就不得不再用棍子对付你，明白吗？”

As he spoke, he touched Buck's head, and although Buck was angry inside, he did not move. When the man brought him water and meat, Buck drank and then ate the meat, piece by piece, from the man's hand.

他一边说，一边抚摸着巴克的头。虽然巴克愤恨难平，他却没有再反抗。当那人给他拿来水和肉时，巴克喝了水，又从那人的手上一片又一片地吃肉。

Buck was beaten (he knew that) but he was not broken. He had learnt that a man with a club was stronger than him. Every day he saw more dogs arrive, and each dog was beaten by the fat man. Buck understood that a man with a club must be obeyed, although he did not have to be a friend.

巴克挨了打（他现在知道怎么回事了），但他并未就此垮掉。他知道拿棍子的人比他强大。每一天他都看见许多狗被送进来。每条狗都被那胖子痛打。巴克明白了他必须听从拿棍子的人，虽然那人不一定是朋友。

Men came to see the fat man and to look at the dogs. Sometimes they paid money and left with one or more of the dogs. One day a short, dark man came and looked at Buck.

人们来找胖子看狗。有时他们付钱后牵走一只或更多的狗。一天，一个又矮又黑的人来了，他看见了巴克。

'That's a good dog!' he cried. 'How much do you want for him?'

“那可是条好狗！”他叫道，“你卖多少钱？”

'Three hundred dollars. It's a good price, Perrault,' said the fat man.

“300美元。这是个好价钱，佩罗。”那胖子说。

Perrault smiled and agreed that it was a good price. He knew dogs, and he knew that Buck was an excellent dog. 'One in(3) ten thousand,' Perrault said to himself.

佩罗笑了，他知道这价钱合适。他是选狗的行家里手，清楚巴克是一条优秀的狗。“万里挑一。”佩罗心里说。

Buck saw money put into the fat man's hand, and he was not surprised when he and another dog called Curly were taken away(4) by Perrault. He took them to a ship, and later that day Buck and Curly stood and watched the coast get further and further away. They had seen the warm south for the last time.

巴克看见那胖子收了钱，并且当他和另一条叫科莉的狗被佩罗带走时，他对此已经不以为奇了。他把他们带上船，那天巴克和科莉站在船上看着越来越远的海岸，这是他们最后一次看见温暖的南方了。

Perrault took Buck and Curly down to the bottom of the ship. There they met another man, Francois. Perrault was a French-Canadian, but Francois was half-Indian, tall and dark. Buck learnt quickly that Perrault and Francois were fair men, calm and honest. And they knew everything about dogs.

佩罗把巴克和科莉带到船尾，在那里他们见到另一个人，弗朗索瓦斯。佩罗是法国与加拿大的混血儿，弗朗索瓦斯则有一半印第安人的血统，长得又黑又高。巴克很快就了解到佩罗和费朗索瓦斯为人不错，沉稳可靠。他们对于狗的习性可谓了如指掌。

There were two other dogs on the ship. One was a big dog called Spitz, as white as snow. He was friendly to Buck at first, always smiling. He was smiling when he tried to steal Buck's food at the first meal. Francois was quick and hit Spitz before Buck had time to move. Buck decided that this was fair, and began to like Francois a little.

船上还有两只别的狗。其中一只大狗叫斯皮兹，浑身雪白。他起初对巴克倒挺友好，时时冲他微笑致意。但吃第一顿饭时，他就企图偷吃巴克的食物，而脸上居然还微笑着。在巴克还来不及采取任何行动之前，弗朗索瓦斯就迅速给了斯皮兹一下。巴克觉得这事处理得挺公道，他对弗朗索瓦斯有了一点儿好感。

Dave, the other dog, was not friendly. He wanted to be alone all the time. He ate and slept and was interested in nothing.

另一只狗戴夫并不友善。他喜欢独自待着。他除了吃就是睡，对一切都漠不关心。

One day was very like another, but Buck noticed that the weather was getting colder. One morning, the ship's engines stopped, and there was a feeling of(5) excitement in the ship. Francois leashed the dogs and took them outside. At the first step Buck's feet went into something soft and white. He jumped back in surprise. The soft, white thing was also falling through the air, and it fell onto him. He tried to smell it, and then caught some on his tongue. It bit like fire, and then disappeared. He tried again and the same thing happened. People were watching him and laughing, and Buck felt ashamed, although he did not know why. It was his first snow.

日子在平静中一天天地过去，但巴克留意到天气在渐渐地变冷。一个早晨，船的马达终于停止了，船上有一种令人兴奋的气氛。弗朗索瓦斯用绳子拴住狗，把他们带出船舱。巴克一迈脚就陷进一种轻软洁白的东西里，他惊恐地跳了回去。那轻软洁白的东西也正从空中飘下来，落在他的身上。他尝试着嗅嗅它，然后又用舌头舔舔它，那东西嚼起来像火一样灼烧，但转瞬就无影无踪了。他又试了试，还是同样的结果。人们看着他笑了起来。虽然巴克不知道为什么，但他害了羞。这毕竟是他第一次接触到雪。

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点

1. teach sb. a lesson 给某人一个教训

例句：

He was treating me badly, so I left - I just wanted to teach him a lesson.

他对我很不好，所以我走了。我只想给他点教训。

Having my car stolen really taught me a lesson - I'll never leave it unlocked again.

我的车被盗的确给了我一个教训——我再也不会不锁车了。

2. the best thing to do now is to do sth. 现在最好的事是做某事

例句：

The best thing to do now is to take a walk after you get a cold.

感冒后，你最好要多走动。

The best thing to do now is to know your goals and go on with it.

最好的事就是你知道自己的目标，并且坚持下去。

3. in （表示比率） 每……中

例句：

The chances of that happening must be one in a million!

这种事情发生的几率一定是百万分之一！

One in five products were found to be defective.

五分之一的产品被发现有缺陷。

4. take away 拿走， 移走

takeaway 外卖

takeaway box 打包盒

例句：

I can't eat any more, thanks - you can take it away now.

我吃不下了，谢谢你，你可以都带走。

Can I have a takeaway box please?

我能拿个打包盒吗？

5. a feeling of... 一种……的感觉/气氛

例句：

Being a teacher always gives me a feeling of pride and achievement.

做老师总是会让我觉得自豪，有成就感。

It’s a great feeling when you try something new and it works.

当你尝试新事物并成功时，这是一种很棒的感觉。​