15. 前文里提到,狼有狼道。在Never Cry Wolf的后半部分,作者描写的一些场景和事件,更是丰富了这一内涵。
比如,在下面这一段,通过阅读,我们会发现,狼与狼之间存在着一种“人道主义”,其彼此的关爱之心一点都不比人类逊色。
故事的开始,有一条母狼被某白人猎手枪杀了,成为鳏夫的公狼独自面对嗷嗷待哺的五只小狼显得有些一筹莫展。后来,公狼消失了,给观察者的感觉是公狼可能准备遗弃这些狼崽。然而,好几个小时过去之后,公狼又回来了,并带着一条成年狼:
... and both wolves entered the den. When they came out, each was carrying a pup.
Ootek followed them for several miles until he realized they were heading for a second wolf den, the location of which was also known to him. By running hard, and by taking short cuts, he reached this second den before the two wolves did, and was present when they arrived.
As soon as they appeared the female who owned the den, and who had a litter of her own, cane to the den mouth, seized the two pups one after another by the scruff of their necks and took them into the den. The two males then departed to fetch another pair of pups.
When the move was completed there were ten pups at this second den, all much of a size and age and, as far as Ootek could tell, all treated with identical care and kindness by the several adults, now including the bereaved male. (P147)
由上面这段文字我们看到,同样有五只狼崽需要哺育的母狼接纳了失去母亲的狼崽,而且,视为己出,同等对待。
16. 前文中我摘录了母狼Angeline撒娇卖萌的文字。我没想到的是,在Never Cry Wolf的后半部分,作者再次描写了母狼的调皮可爱,而且,这一段描写更加生动感人。
这段文字描写的是母狼迎接公狼回家的情景。她首先是把自己藏起来,等到公狼靠近时,突然跳出来,明显是要给公狼一个惊喜。而公狼也很配合,在母狼跳出来的时候会显出一副惊讶来,但其实,公狼凭敏锐的嗅觉,早就知道了母狼的小把戏,只是,故意不揭穿!
On these occasions she would go into hiding and when he was almost abreast of her she would spring out at him. He always appeared to be startled; but this may have been assumed emotion, for in most cases his sense of smell must have warned him of her proximity. Once the surprise was over, Angeline would nuzzle her mate, embrace him with her forepaws, fling herself down in front of him with hindquarters elevated, or skitter along beside him, bumping him affectionately with her shoulders. The whole thing seemed to be in the nature of a private little ritual of welcome. (P172)
在上面这段文字中,母狼的动作和神态简直就是一个满心欢喜的小女人。她首先拥抱打猎回来的老公,然后在他面前伏下前身,接着,在他身边小跑,然后,故意而深情地用肩膀撞击老公。
17. 狼一般都守在自己的领地里,很少有贸然闯入其他狼群领地的情况。但有一天,作者发现,在他观察的这对狼夫妻的领地,出现了两条陌生狼。作者一开始还有些担心,怕狼与狼之间出现矛盾,甚至打起来。但他很快发现,Angeline看见了陌生者后并没有发怒,而是走过去,表示了友好。接着,Angeline还把陌生者带到家里,让他们观看卧室和狼崽。
最温馨的场面出现在两条陌生狼离开的时候:
The strangers didn’t stay long. After twenty minutes the one in the ravine re-emerged; there was further nose smelling among all three wolves, and then the strangers turned away and set off back the way they had come. Angeline accompanied them for some distance, frolicking first with one and then the other of them. It was until they swung away from the shore of the bay and headed west that she turned home. (P175)
这种依依不舍的送行和告别与人类是何其相似呀!
后来,爱斯基摩人帮助作者揭开了迷底,原来,来访者是Angeline的母亲和姐姐!它们这是在走亲戚呢!
18. 再后来的一天,作者正在游泳,突然发现迁移中的鹿群里出现三条逆向行走的狼。为了跟踪观察,作者赶紧从水里出来,衣服都没来得及穿,就拿着双筒望远镜出发了:
The wolves were sauntering across the valley as if they had no more interest in the deer than in the rocks. The caribou, on their part, seemed quite unaware of any threat.
The scene was all wrong. Here was a band of wolves surrounded by numbers of deer; but although each species was obviously fully aware of the presence of the other, neither seemed perturbed, or even greatly interested.
Incredulously, I watched the three wolves trot by within fifty yards of a pair of young bucks who were lying down chewing their cuds. The bucks turned their heads to watch the wolves go by, but they didn’t rise to their feet, nor did their jaws stop working. Their disdain for the wolves seemed monumental.
The wolves passed on between two small herds of grazing deer, ignoring them and being ignored in their turn. My bewilderment increased when, as the wolves swung up a slope and disappeared over the next crest, I jumped up to follow and the two bucks who had been so apathetic in the presence of the wolves leaped to their feet, staring at me in wide-eyed astonishment. As I sprinted past them they thrust their heads forward, snorted unbelievingly, then spun on their heels and went galloping off as if pursued by devils. It seemed completely unjust that they should have been so terrified of me, while remaining so blase about the wolves. However, I solaced myself with the thought that their panic might have resulted from unfamiliarity with the spectacle of a white man, slightly pink, and clad only in boots and binoculars, racing madly across the landscape.(p 192)
这段文字我是在离高速路口收费站不远的地方阅读的。读得过于投入,以至忘记了身在何处,对过往车辆的声响也完全失聪!
更夸张的是,我竟然还一个人露出了傻笑!
(Never Cry Wolf 一共246页,本文选取的是该书的精华部分,抄录在此,供如我一样热爱英语的人士欣赏。Never Cry Wolf早在上个世纪的八十年代就已经拍成电影,汉语译名《狼踪》,感兴趣的朋友可以去网上搜索观看)
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