4.Maheegun My Brother(1627)

Passage Four

Eric Acland is a pen name used by Valerie Kaye who was born in England in 1906 and died in Quebec, Canada in 1982. The text is adapted from Boys' Life published in August,1974. Boys' Life is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America.

埃里克·阿克兰是瓦莱丽·凯伊的笔名，她1906年出生于英国，1982年在加拿大魁北克去世。本文改编自1974年8月出版的《男孩的生活》。《男孩生活》是美国童子军的月刊。

Maheegun My Brother

Eric Acland

【1】The year I found Maheegun, spring was late in coming. That day, I was spearing fish with my grandfather when I heard the faint crying and found the shivering wolf cub. As I bent down, he moved weakly toward me. I picked him up and put him inside my jacket. Little Maheegun gained strength after I got the first few drops of warm milk in him. He wiggled and soon he was full and warm. My grandfather finally agreed to let me keep him.

【2】That year, which was my 14th, was the happiest of my life. Not that we didn't have our troubles. Maheegun was the most mischievous wolf cub ever. He was curious too. Like looking into Grandma's sewing basket—which he upset, scattering thread and buttons all over the floor. At such times, she would chase him out with a broom, and Maheegun would poke his head around the corner, waiting for things to quiet down.

【3】That summer, Maheegun and I became hunting partners. We hunted the grasshoppers that leaped about like little rockets. And in the fall, after the first snow, our games took us to the nearest meadows in search of field mice. By then, Maheegun was half grown. Gone was the puppy-wool coat. In its place was a handsome black mantle.

【4】The winter months that came soon after were the happiest I could remember. They belonged only to Maheegun and myself. Often we would make a fire in the bushes. Maheegun would lay his head between his front paws, with his eyes on me as I told him stories. It all served to fog my mind with pleasure so that I forgot my Grandpa's repeated warnings, and one night left Maheegun unchained.

【5】The following morning, in sailed Mrs. Yesno, wild with anger, who demanded Maheegun be shot because he had killed her rooster. The next morning, my grandpa announced that we were going to take Maheegun to the north shack.

【6】By the time we reached the lake where the trapper's shack stood, Maheegun seemed to have become restless. Often he would sit with his nose to the sky, turning his head this way and that as if to check the wind. The warmth of the stove soon brought sleep to me. But something caused me to wake up with a start. I sat up, and in the moon-flooded cabin was my grandfather standing beside me.

【7】"Come and see, son," whispered my grandfather. Outside, the moon was full, and the world looked all white with snow. He pointed to a rock that stood high at the edge of the lake. On the top was the clear outline of a great wolf sitting still, ears pointed, alert, listening.

【8】"Maheegun," whispered my grandfather. Slowly the wolf raised his muzzle. "Oooo-oo-wow-wowoo-oooo!" The whole white world thrilled to that wild cry. Then, after a while, from the distance came a softer call in reply. Maheegun stirred, with the deep rumble of pleasure in his throat. He slipped down the rock and headed out across the ice.

【9】"He's gone," I said. "Yes, he's gone to that young she-wolf." My grandfather slowly filled his pipe. "He will take her for life, hunt for her, protect her. This is the way the Creator planned life. No man can change it." I tried to tell myself it was all for the best, but it was hard to lose my brother.

【10】For the next two years, I was as busy as a squirrel storing nuts for the winter. But once or twice when I heard wolf cries from distant hills, I would still wonder if Maheegun, in his battle for life, found time to remember me.

【11】It was not long after that I found the answer. Easter came early that year, and during the holidays, I went to visit my cousins. My uncle was to bring me home in his truck. But he was detained by some urgent business. So I decided to come back home on my own.

【12】A mile down the road, I slipped into my snowshoes and turned into the bush. The strong sunshine had dimmed. I had not gone far before big flakes of snow began drifting down. The snow thickened fast; I could not locate the tall pine that stood on the north slope of Little Mountain. I circled to my right and stumbled into a snow-filled creek bed. By then, the snow had made a blanket of white darkness, but I knew only too well there should have been no creek there.

【13】I tried to travel west but only to hit the creek again. I knew I had gone in a great circle and I was lost. There was only one thing to do. Camp for the night and hope that by morning the storm would have blown itself out. I quickly made a bed of boughs and started a fire with the bark of an old dead birch.

【14】The first night, I was comfortable enough. But when the first gray light came, I realized that I was in deep trouble. The storm was even worse. Everything had been smothered by the fierce whiteness. The light of another day still saw no end to the storm. I began to get confused. I couldn't recall whether it had been storming for three or four days.

【15】Then came the clear dawn. A great white stillness had taken over, and with it, biting cold. My supply of wood was almost gone. There must be more. Slashing off green branches with my knife, I cut my hand, and blood spurted freely from my wound. It was some time before the bleeding stopped. I wrapped my hand with a piece of cloth I tore off from my shirt. After some time, my fingers grew cold and numb, so I took the bandage off and threw it away.

【16】How long I squatted over my dying fire I don't know, but then I saw the gray shadow between the trees. It was a timber wolf. He had followed the blood spots on the snow to the blood-soaked bandage.

【17】"Yap... yap... yap... yoooo!" The howl seemed to freeze the world with fear. It was the food cry. He was calling, "Come, brothers, I have found meat." And I was the meat! Soon his hunting partner came to join him. Any time now, I thought, their teeth would pierce my bones.

【18】Suddenly the world exploded in snarls. I was thrown against the branches of the shelter. But I felt no pain. And a great silence had come. Slowly I worked my way out of the snow and raised my head. There, about 50 feet away, crouched my two attackers with their tails between their legs. Then I heard a noise to my side and turned my head. There stood a giant black wolf. It was Maheegun, and he had driven off the others.

【19】"Maheegun... Maheegun," I sobbed, as I moved through the snow toward him. "My brother, my brother," I said, giving him my hand. He reached out and licked at the dried blood.

【20】I got my little fire going again, and as I squatted by it, I started to cry. Maybe it was relief or weakness or both—I don't know. Maheegun whimpered too.

Maheegun stayed with me through the long night, watching me with those big eyes. The cold and loss of blood were taking their toll.

【21】The sun was midway across the sky when I noticed how restless Maheegun had become. He would run away a few paces—head up, listening—then run back to me. Then I heard it was dogs. It was the searching party! I put the last of my birch bark on the fire and fanned it into life. The sound of the dogs grew louder, then the voices of men. Suddenly, as if by magic, the police dog team came up out of the creek bed, and a man came running toward my fire. It was my grandfather.

【22】The old hunter stopped suddenly when he saw the wolf. He raised his rifle. "Don't shoot!" I screamed and ran toward him, falling through the snow, "It's Maheegun. Don't shoot!" He lowered his rifle. Then I fell forward on my face, into the snow.

【23】I woke up in my bedroom. It was quite some time before my eyes came into focus enough to see my grandfather sitting by my bed. "You have slept three days," he said softly. "The doc says you will be all right in a week or two." "And Maheegun?" I asked weakly. "He should be fine. He is with his own kind."

第四课

美尔根，我的兄弟

【1】我发现美尔根的那年，春天姗姗来迟。那天，我正和爷爷一起用鱼叉钓鱼，突然听到微弱的哭声，发现了瑟瑟发抖的小狼崽。当我弯下腰时，他虚弱地向我走来。我把他抱起来，放在我的夹克里。我给小美尔根喂了几滴热牛奶后，他恢复了体力。他扭动了一下，很快就吃饱了，暖和了。我祖父终于同意让我养他了。

【2】那年是我14岁，是我一生中最快乐的一年。并不是说我们没有麻烦。美尔根是有史以来最调皮的小狼崽。他也很好奇。比如看奶奶的缝纫篮子,他把篮子打翻了，把线和纽扣弄得满地都是。在这种时候，她会拿着扫帚把他赶出去，而美尔根会把头探到角落里，等着事情平静下来。

【3】那年夏天，美尔根和我成了打猎的伙伴。我们追捕那些像小火箭一样跳来跳去的蚱蜢。秋天，在第一场雪之后，我们的游戏把我们带到最近的草地上寻找田鼠。那时，美尔根已经长大了一半。小狗毛外套不见了。取而代之的是一件漂亮的黑色斗篷。

【4】不久之后的冬季是我记忆中最快乐的时光。它们只属于美尔根和我。我们经常在灌木丛中生火。当我给他讲故事时，美尔根会把头放在前爪之间，眼睛盯着我。这一切都使我的头脑被快乐蒙蔽了，以至于我忘记了爷爷一再的警告，一天晚上，我把美尔根的锁链解开了。

【5】第二天早上，耶斯诺夫人怒气冲冲地出现了，她要求枪毙美尔根，因为他杀死了她的公鸡。第二天早上，爷爷宣布我们要把美尔根带到北边的小屋去。

【6】当我们到达猎人小屋所在的湖边时，美尔根似乎变得焦躁不安了。他经常坐着，鼻子对着天空，把头转来转去，好像在检查风。火炉的温暖很快使我睡着了。但有什么东西把我惊醒了。我坐起来，在月光下的小屋里，祖父站在我身边。

【7】“过来看看，孩子，”祖父低声说。外面是一轮圆月，整个世界都被白雪覆盖着。他指了指矗立在湖岸高处的一块岩石。山顶上有一只大灰狼的清晰轮廓，静静地坐着，竖起耳朵，警觉地倾听着。

【8】“美尔根，”祖父低声说。狼慢慢地抬起嘴。“呜，呜，呜，呜!”整个白色的世界都为那狂野的叫声而激动。过了一会儿，远处传来一声柔和的呼唤作为回答。美尔根动了动，喉咙里高兴得发出低沉的隆隆声。他从岩石上滑下来，穿过冰面。

【9】“他走了，”我说。“是的，他去找那只小母狼了。”爷爷慢慢地把烟斗装满了烟。“他会永远带走她，为她捕猎，保护她。这是造物主计划生命的方式。没有人能改变它。”我试着告诉自己这是最好的结果，但失去兄弟让我很难过。

【10】在接下来的两年里，我像松鼠一样忙着为冬天储藏坚果。但有那么一两次，当我听到远处山上传来狼的叫声时，我还是会怀疑，正在为生存而战的美尔根是否有时间想起我。

【11】没过多久我就找到了答案。那年复活节来得很早，在假期里，我去拜访了我的堂兄弟姐妹。我叔叔要用他的卡车送我回家。但他被一些紧急事务耽搁了。所以我决定自己回家。

【12】沿着这条路走了一英里，我穿上雪鞋，拐进了灌木丛。强烈的阳光减弱了。我没走多远，大片的雪花就开始飘落下来。雪很快地厚了起来;我找不到矗立在小山北坡上的那棵高大的松树。我向右转了一圈，跌跌撞撞地掉进了一个被雪覆盖的河床。到那时，雪已经覆盖了一片白色的黑暗，但我很清楚那里应该没有小溪。

【13】我试着向西走，结果又撞上了小溪。我知道我已经绕了一个大圈，我迷路了。只有一件事可做。扎营过夜，希望到早上暴风雨会自行平息。我很快地用树枝搭了一张床，用一棵枯死的老桦树的树皮生起了火。

【14】第一个晚上，我很舒服。但当第一道灰色的光出现时，我意识到我有大麻烦了。暴风雨更加猛烈。一切都被猛烈的白茫茫笼罩着。又是一天的阳光仍然没有给暴风雨划上句号。我开始感到困惑。我想不起来到底是下了三四天的暴风雨。

【15】然后是晴朗的黎明。一片白茫茫的寂静笼罩了四周，随之而来的是刺骨的寒冷。我的木材储备几乎用光了。肯定还有更多。我用刀砍下绿色的树枝，割伤了我的手，鲜血从我的伤口喷涌而出。过了一段时间血才止住。我用从衬衫上撕下来的一块布包了手。过了一段时间，我的手指变得又冷又麻木，于是我把绷带取下来扔掉了。

【16】我不知道在即将熄灭的炉火旁蹲了多久，但后来我看到了树间灰色的影子。那是一只灰狼。他顺着雪地上的血迹找到了被血浸透的绷带。

【17】“耶……耶……耶……呜!”那嚎叫似乎吓得整个世界都僵住了。这是食物的叫声。他喊着说，弟兄们，来吧，我找到肉了。而我是肉!不久，他的狩猎伙伴也来了。我想，它们的牙齿随时都会刺穿我的骨头。

【18】突然间，世界一片混乱。我被抛到庇护所的树枝上。但我感觉不到疼痛。接着是一阵巨大的沉默。我慢慢地从雪中爬出来，抬起头来。大约50英尺外，我的两个攻击者夹着尾巴蹲在那里。这时我听到身边有声音，转过头去。那里站着一只巨大的黑狼。那是美尔根，他赶走了其他人。

【19】“美尔根……我一边抽泣着，一边穿过雪地朝他走去。“我的兄弟，我的兄弟，”我说着，把手伸给他。他伸出手舔了舔干了的血。

【20】我又生起了小火，蹲在火旁哭了起来。也许是解脱，也许是软弱，或者两者兼而有之，我不知道。美尔根也呜咽起来。

美尔根陪着我度过了漫漫长夜，用那双大眼睛看着我。寒冷和失血对他们造成了伤害。

【21】当我注意到美尔根变得多么焦躁不安时，太阳已经升到半空中了。他会跑开几步，抬头听着，然后再跑回我身边。然后我听到那是狗。是搜索队!我把最后一点桦树皮放在火上，煽得它生气起来。狗的叫声越来越大，然后是人的说话声。突然，就像变魔术一样，一队警犬从河床上来了，一个人朝我的火堆跑过来。是我的祖父。

【22】老猎人看见狼时突然停了下来。他举起步枪。“别开枪!”我尖叫着向他跑去，在雪地里摔倒了。“是美尔根。不要开枪!”他放下步枪。然后我向前扑倒在雪地里。

【23】我在卧室里醒来。过了好长一段时间，我的眼睛才看清祖父坐在我床边。“你已经睡了三天了，”他轻声说。“医生说再过一两个星期你就会好的。”“美尔根呢?”我虚弱地问。“他应该没事。他和他的同类在一起。”