3级-《野性的呼唤》-第6课

前情提要

巴克跟随着其他的狗学会了很多技能，佩罗要把一些重要的信件和官方文件带到道桑镇去，巴克成了他的最优选择……

故事原文 

The Call of the Wild 6

野性的呼唤 6

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(1), 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.

那个早晨，他们又买了3条狗。一刻钟之后，9条狗都套上了挽具，直奔泰依峡谷而去。巴克并不觉得奔跑是一件坏事情，虽然这活儿不轻，他却几乎着了迷。让他更惊奇的是他看到戴夫和索拉克斯不再萎靡不振，无精打采。套上挽具拉雪橇是他们的工作，他们是乐此不疲的。

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(2) in his harness, and it took ten minutes to get started again. Both Dave and Sol-leks gave(3) him a good beating for that mistake. Buck understood, and was more careful after that.

戴夫最靠近雪橇，也就是所谓的雪橇狗。他前面是巴克，然后是索拉克斯。他们的前面是另外6条狗，斯皮兹跑在最前头，他是领队。弗朗索瓦斯把巴克放到戴夫和索拉克斯之间，因为他们能教他如何工作。巴克学得很好，而他俩也是好老师。当巴克拉错的时候，戴夫就咬他的腿，但只是轻轻的。有一次，当他们停下来时，巴克在挽具里扭了结，他们花了10分钟才重新起程。戴夫和索拉克斯为此狠狠揍了他一顿，但巴克自知罪责难逃，从此更加倍小心。

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(4) 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(5) 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.

这一天旅途异常辛劳，翻过泰依峡谷进入山区。那晚他们在贝耐湖湖边宿营。这儿有成千上万的淘金者。他们正在建造小船准备着春天冰雪消融时过河。巴克挖了一个雪洞，美美地睡了一觉，但他很早就被叫起来套上挽具拉雪橇。第一天，他们在雪地里奔波，雪已经被数百个雪橇碾过，压得结结实实的，他们赶了60公里路。但是第二天和以后的日子里，他们在新雪上奔跑。这工作非常辛苦，他们进程缓慢。通常是由佩罗穿着雪地靴走在前面，为狗把雪地踏得平实一些。弗朗索瓦斯待在雪橇上，有时他们调换一下。但佩罗对付冰比较在行，而路上有许多小湖泊和河流。他总是知道什么时候河上的冰层最薄。

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点

1. hard work 努力工作

例句：

I have no secret of success but hard work.

成功无秘诀， 只是努力干。

You should be proud of your hard work.

你应该为自己的辛苦付出感到骄傲。

2. get/be tied up 打结，困住

例句：

He quickly realizes he's tied up and struggles to get free.

他马上意识到自己被困住了， 他奋力挣扎想摆脱束缚。

I was on my way to see a movie but got tied up talking to Pete on the way there.

我正在去看电影的路上，但是在去的路上我和 Pete 说话脱不开身。

3. give 引起

cause 引起

例句：

Your words gave me an idea.

你的话使我产生了一个想法。

The fresh air gave us an appetite.

新鲜的空气使得我们胃口大开。

4. harden 使变硬

hard 坚硬的

例句：

Attitudes towards the haters hardened even more since the attack.

那次攻击之后，对仇恨者们的态度变得更加强硬了。

But difficulties did not harden his heart.

但是困难并没有让他硬下心肠来。

5. flatten 把……弄平， 使紧贴

flat 平的

flat tone 平调

例句：

He flattened himself against the wall.

他紧贴着墙壁。