3级-《野性的呼唤》-第4课

前情提要

佩罗从胖子手中将巴克买到手，和巴克一起被带走的还有科莉。他们乘船一路向北。来到北方，巴克第一次见到了雪……

故事原文

The Call of the Wild 4

野性的呼唤 4

2  The law of club and tooth

2 暴力原则

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(1) 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。每时每刻都会有令他惊恐而又新奇的东西。这里没有和平，也没有休憩——只有无休止的喧嚣和来来往往。在这里每一分钟都会有危险，因为这些人和狗都不是来自城镇，他们只认得大棒和牙齿。

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(2) a dog, a big one, although 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(3) from eye to mouth.

巴克从未见过像这群狗一样争斗的狗，他们像狼一样凶狠。不过几分钟，他便从科莉的遭遇中悟出了这个道理。她试图同一只狗做朋友，一只大狗，虽然他不及科莉块头大；但连警告都没有，这只狗猛地扑向科莉，犬牙交错。然后他跳到一边，而科莉的脸从眼睛到嘴都被撕开了。

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(4) of dogs.

狼才这样攻击，撕咬后就跳开，但是战斗并未结束。三四十条狗跑过来，围着战场站成一圈，静静地观望着。科莉想反击那条咬她的狗；他又一次咬住了她，然后跳开。当她再度进攻时，他把她向后撞倒在地。她再也没有站起来，因为这正是其它的狗等待的。他们冲了进来，瞬间，她就身处在群狗的撕扯践踏之下了。

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(5). Curly's death often came back to 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.

这一切都发生得那么突然。巴克看见斯皮兹从狗群中跑出来，耷拉着舌头，脸上还挂着微笑。然后他看见弗朗索瓦斯手拿斧头和另外两三个拿着木棍的人跳进狗群。两分钟之后，最后一只狗也被赶开了。但是科莉已经躺在雪地上，死了，她几乎被撕成了碎片。科莉之死后来常常出现在巴克的梦中。他明白一旦一条狗倒在地上，就意味着死亡。他还记得斯皮兹的笑容，从那时起，他对他生出一种仇恨来。

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(6), 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 harness before, and Buck learnt by watching them. He also learnt to stop and turn when Francois shouted.

这之后，巴克又遇到一件新奇的事。弗朗索瓦斯把挽具套到他的身上。巴克以前只看见马被套上马具，而现在他不得不像马一样工作了，把弗朗索瓦斯用雪橇拉进森林，然后再装满木头拉回来生火用。巴克和斯皮兹还有戴夫一起工作。这两条狗以前拉过雪橇，于是巴克就通过模仿他们来学习。他还学会了听从弗朗索瓦斯的指示停步和转弯。

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点

1. continual 持续的，一再的

continue 继续

例句：

He just felt continual energy within himself.

他总是有持续不断的精力。

2. make friends (with sb.) （和某人）交朋友

例句：

He finds it difficult to make friends in big cities.

他发现在大城市交朋友很难。

I've made a lot of friends in this job.

我从事这项工作结交了很多朋友。

3. tear open 撕开

例句：

He picked up the envelope and tore it open.

他捡起信封打开了。

People in the West think a good wife is able to tear open all kinds of tin.

西方人认为一个好妻子能够打开各种罐头。

4. crowd 人群

the crowd 普通人， 群众

the crowds 人群

例句：

She prefers to be one of the crowd.

她不希望自己被人注意到。

You can avoid the crowds if you go in the off-season.

你在淡季去可以避开人群。

5. tear sth. to pieces 把……撕成碎片， 批评

例句：

His girlfriend was so cross that she tore the paper to pieces.

他女朋友特别生气， 把纸撕成了碎片。

If you don't behave well, your teacher or parents will tear you to pieces.

如果你表现不好的话， 你的老师或父母会批评你的。

6. work like a horse 像马一样工作（拼命工作）

work like a dog 像狗一样工作（拼命工作）

例句：

Your parents work like a dog to afford you everything.

你父母努力工作才能供得起你。

Young people work like a dog to be able to pay for the house.

年轻人得非常努力工作才能买得起房。