3级-《野性的呼唤》-第5课

前情提要

巴克在戴依海岸的第一天糟透了，这里的每一分钟都蕴含着危险。科莉被如狼一般的群狗撕成了碎片，而巴克不得不在这样危险的环境下学着如何生存……

故事原文

The Call of the Wild 5

野性的呼唤 5

'Those three are very good dogs,' Francois told Perrault. 'That Buck pulls very well, and he's learning quickly.'

“这三条狗可真不赖，”弗朗索瓦斯告诉佩罗，“那个巴克拉得非常好，他一学就会。”

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(1). In the evening Perrault bought one more dog, an old dog with one eye. His name was Solleks, which means(2) The Angry One. Like Dave, he made no friends; all he wanted was to be alone.

佩罗要把一些重要的信件和官方文件带到道桑镇去，所以那天下午他又买了两只狗。这两个是同胞兄弟，分别叫贝利和乔。贝利性情很随和，乔则正相反。一天晚上，佩罗又买了一只独眼老狗，他叫索拉克斯，意思是“愤怒者”，同戴夫一样，他喜欢独来独往，没有朋友。

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.

那天晚上巴克遇到另一个难题。他该去哪儿睡觉呢？弗朗索瓦斯和佩罗睡在帐篷里，可是当他走进去时，他们生气地冲他叫嚷着，扔东西撵他。外面是酷冷和狂风的世界。他躺在雪地上，但是冻得睡不着。

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(3) what to do. Suddenly, the snow under his feet fell in, and he felt something move. He jumped back, waiting for the attack, but heard only a friendly bark. There, in a warm hole under the snow, was Billee.

他围着帐篷打转儿，想找到自己的同伴。但是，让他吃惊的是，所有的狗都不见了踪影。他围着佩罗的帐篷走着，那是何等的寒冷啊，可是他却不知所措。突然，他脚下的雪地塌陷了下去，他踩在一个活物上。他向后跳开，等着一场恶斗。但是他却听见一声友好的低吠。原来是贝利躺在雪地下一个温暖的洞穴里。

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.

这就是不得已而为之的事情。巴克选了一个地方，挖了一个洞，不一会儿他就暖暖和和地睡着了。他睡得很香，尽管做了很多噩梦。

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 remembered everything, from the time he had gone for a walk with Manuel to the moment he had dug the hole the night before.

当他醒过来的时候，起初不知自己身在何处。雪下了一整夜，积雪又厚又重地压在身上。蓦地，他感到了恐惧——一种野兽被抓住而无从脱身的恐惧。咆哮着，他用身体撞着积雪。一会儿，他就跳了上来，外面已经是白昼了。他看见帐篷，记起了发生的每一件事，从他和曼纽尔散步的那一刻起直到前一夜他挖洞睡觉的时候。

'What did I say?' shouted Francois to Perrault, when he saw Buck come up out of the snow. 'That Buck learns quickly.'

“我说什么来着，”弗朗索瓦斯看见巴克从雪里跳出来时嚷道，“那个巴克一学就会！”

Perrault smiled slowly. He was carrying important papers, and he needed good dogs. He was very pleased to have Buck.

佩罗慢慢地绽开了笑容。他随身带着重要的文件，需要优秀的狗。有巴克在着实令他高兴。

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点

1. opposite 对立的物（或人），对立面

例句：

My father is a very calm person, but my mother is just the opposite.

我父亲是个非常沉着的人， 而我母亲则正好相反。

People say opposites attract.

人们总是说异性相吸。

2. which means 意味着（可用于非限制性定语从句）

例句：

Tom is such a nice person, which means he's willing to help us.

Tom 是个友好的人， 这意味着他愿意帮助我们。

You want to learn English well, which means you have to manage your time and yourself.

你想学好英语，这就意味着你得管理好时间和你自己。

3. wonder 想知道，疑惑，想弄明白

例句：

I wonder how James is getting on.

我想知道詹姆斯的近况。

I wondered what that noise was.

我纳闷儿那是什么声音。