Old longings nomadic leap, Chafing at custom's chain; Again from its brumal sleep Wakens the ferine strain.

长久的渴望四下奔窜，因世俗的羁绊而恼怒不已；沉沉的冬眠之中，野性再次被唤醒。

Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tidewater dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost.

巴克没读过报纸，要不然他就能知道一场灾难正在酝酿之中。这场灾难不只关系到他自己，还关系到从普吉特海湾到圣迭戈每一条强壮、耐寒的滨海长毛犬。因为人们通过在北极的黑暗中探索发现了一种黄色金属，再加上轮船和运输公司又把这个发现说得天花乱坠，所以成千上万的人都正在涌向北方。这些人需要很多狗，而且这些狗必须是大型犬。他们要有强壮的体力去从事艰苦的工作，要有厚厚的毛皮去抵御严寒。

Buck lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller's place, it was called. It stood back from the road, half-hidden among the trees, through which glimpses could be caught of the wide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was approached by graveled driveways which wound about through wide-spreading lawns and under the interlacing boughs of tall poplars. At the rear things were on even a more spacious scale than at the front. There were great stables, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants' cottages, an endless and orderly array of outhouses, long grape arbors, green pastures, orchards, and berry patches. Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well, and the big cement tank where Judge Miler's boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon.

巴克住在充满阳光的圣克拉拉山谷中的一所大房子里。这里被称作法官米勒先生的家。这栋房子旁边有条大道，树阴遮住了房子的一半。透过树阴往里看，房子四周围着开阔而阴凉的走廊。房子紧靠着砂石铺就的大车道，大车道在宽广的草地中蜿蜒而过，上方是纵横交错的高大白杨树的枝条。房屋后面要比前面宽敞得多。这里有由十几个马夫和男仆管理的大马厩，有一排排被藤蔓覆盖的仆人住的小屋，还有一列整齐有序、望不到头的外屋，以及长长的葡萄棚架、绿色的牧场、果园和成块的浆果地。此外，还有一间自流井的泵房和一个水泥贮水池。米勒法官家的那些男仆们早上跳进水池子里泡一泡，直到炎热的下午都会感觉很凉快。

And over this great demesne Buck ruled. Here he was born, and here he had lived the four years of his life. It was true, there were other dogs. There could not but be other dogs on so vast a place, but they did not count. They came and went, resided in the populous kennels, or lived obscurely in the recesses of the house after the fashion of Toots, the Japanese pug, or Ysabel, the Mexican hairless, strange creatures that rarely put nose out of doors or set foot to ground. On the other hand, there were the fox terriers, a score of them at least, who yelped fearful promises at Toots and Ysabel looking out of the windows at them and protected by a legion of housemaids armed with brooms and mops.

这一大片领地都是由巴克统治的。他出生在这里，并已经在这里生活四年了。是的，这里是还有别的狗。在这么大的一块地方自然还有别的狗，但他们根本就无足轻重。他们来去匆匆，要么住在很拥挤的狗窝里，要么默默地生活在房子的隐秘处，像日本哈巴狗图茨或墨西哥无毛狗伊莎贝尔那样。这些家伙都很奇怪，他们很少将鼻子伸出门外或跑到庭院里。另外，还有至少二十只猎狐犬，图茨和伊莎贝尔只要透过窗口向他们看一眼，他们就害怕地大叫起来，像求饶似的，于是一群拿着扫帚和拖把的女仆就过来保护他们。

But Buck was neither house dog nor kennel dog. The whole realm was his. He plunged into the swimming tank or went hunting with the Judge's sons; he escorted Mollie and Alice, the Judge's daughters, on long twilight or early morning rambles; on wintry nights he lay at the Judge's feet before the roaring library fire; he carried the Judge's grandsons on his back, or rolled them in the grass, and guarded their footsteps through wild adventures down to the fountain in the stable yard, and even beyond, where the paddocks were, and the berry patches. Among the terriers he stalked imperiously, and Toots and Ysabel he utterly ignored, for he was king—king over all creeping, crawling, flying things of Judge Miller's place, humans included.

但是，巴克既不是看家狗也不是窝里养的狗。这整片领土都是他的。他有时会一头扎进游泳池，有时会和法官的儿子们一起打猎。在漫长的黄昏或清晨，他陪着法官的女儿莫莉和艾丽斯散步。在寒冷的冬夜里，他围着书房里烧得旺旺的炉火，躺在法官的脚下。他给法官的孙子们当马骑，或和他们在草地上打滚嬉戏；他护着他们进行激动人心的探险，走到马厩院子的泉水旁，甚至越过泉水走到牧场那边和成片的浆果地里。在那群猎狐犬之中，他骄傲而昂首阔步地走着，而对图茨和伊莎贝尔，他则完全漠视。因为他是王——他在米勒法官家的这个地盘上统治着一切匍匐着的、爬行着的和飞翔着的生物，就连某些人也包括在内。

His father, Elmo, a huge St. Bernard, had been the Judge's inseparable companion, and Buck bid fair to follow in the way of his father. He was not so large—he weighed only one hundred and forty pounds—for his mother, She, had been a Scotch shepherd dog. Nevertheless, one hundred and forty pounds, to which was added the dignity that comes of good living and universal respect, enabled him to carry himself in right royal fashion. During the four years since his puppyhood he had lived the life of a sated aristocrat; he had a fine pride in himself, was even a trifle egotistical, as country gentlemen sometimes become because of their insular situation. But he had saved himself by not becoming a mere pampered house dog. Hunting and kindred outdoor delights had kept down the fat and hardened his muscles; and to him, as to the cold-tubbing races, the love of water had been a tonic and a health preserver.

他的父亲埃尔莫是一条巨大的圣伯纳犬，一直是法官密不可分的伙伴，而巴克有望沿着他父亲的路走下去。只是巴克没有他父亲那么大，他只有140磅重，因为他母亲是一条苏格兰牧羊犬。但是，140磅的体重，加上优越生活和普遍尊重所赋予的高贵气质，使他带着一种王者派头。在这四年的幼年时期，他一直都过着一种心满意足的贵族式生活。他很为自己感到骄傲，甚至有一点自负，就像那些乡绅，因为处在孤立的状态，有时会变得自大。但是他已经保全了自己，没让自己变成一条被宠坏的看家狗。打猎和诸如此类的户外嗜好使他控制了脂肪增长，也使他的肌肉变得更加结实；对他来说，作为需要冷水浴的宗族成员，对水的热爱一直都能使他精神振奋、保持健康。

And this was the manner of dog Buck was in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike strike dragged men from all the world into the frozen North. But Buck did not read the newspapers, and he did not know that Manuel, one of the gardener's helpers, was an undesirable acquaintance. Manuel had one besetting sin. He loved to play Chinese lottery. Also, in his gambling, he had one besetting weakness—faith in a system; and this made his damnation certain. For to play a system requires money, while the wages of a gardener's helper do not lap over the needs of a wife and numerous progeny.

这就是巴克1897年秋天的生活方式。当时克朗代克矿藏的发现把世界各地的人都拽到了严寒的北方。可是巴克不读报，他也不知道那个园丁助手曼纽尔会是个令人憎恶的家伙。他有个积重难返的恶习。他爱玩一种中国的赌钱游戏。而在赌博时，他又有个难以克服的弱点，那就是太守规矩，这使他必然要受到惩罚。因为下赌注需要钱，而他一个园丁助手的工资还不够养活老婆和那么一大群孩子。

The Judge was at a meeting of the Raisin Growers' Association, and the boys were busy organizing an athletic club, on the memorable night of Manuel's treachery. No one saw him and Buck go off through the orchard on what Buck imagined was merely a stroll. And with the exception of a solitary man, no one saw them arrive at the little flag station known as College Park. This man talked with Manuel, and money chinked between them.

那时法官正在葡萄种植者协会开会，仆人们在忙着组织一个运动俱乐部，就在这个难忘的晚上，曼纽尔做了件背信弃义的事。没有人看见他和巴克穿过了果园，而巴克自己也以为这只是散步。除了一个孤零零的男子，没有人看见他们到了一个叫做“大学公园”的小旗站。这个男子和曼纽尔谈了几句，钱币便在他们中间叮当作响。

"You might wrap up the goods before you deliver them," the stranger said gruffly, and Manuel doubled a piece of stout rope around Buck's neck under the collar.

“交货前，你得把这东西缠好了。”那个陌生人粗鲁地说。曼纽尔拿了条粗绳子，把它绕在巴克脖子上的项圈下。

"Twist it, and you'll choke him plenty," said Manuel, and the stranger grunted a ready affirmative.

曼纽尔说：“用劲拧，你得紧紧地勒住它。”于是陌生人嘟哝了一声，爽快地答应了。

Buck had accepted the rope with quiet dignity. To be sure, it was an unwonted performance but he had learned to trust in men he knew, and to give them credit for a wisdom that outreached his own. But when the ends of the rope were placed in the stranger's hands, he growled menacingly. He had merely intimated his displeasure, in his pride believing that to intimate was to command. But to his surprise the rope tightened around his neck, shutting off his breath. In a quick rage he sprang at the man, who met him halfway, grappled him close by the throat, and with a deft twist threw him over on his back. Then the rope tightened mercilessly, while Buck struggled in a fury, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his great chest panting futilely. Never in all his life had he been so vilely treated, and never in all his life had he been so angry. But his strength ebbed, his eyes glazed, and he knew nothing when the train was flagged and the two men threw him into the baggage car.

巴克泰然自若地接受了绳子。当然，他这么做是不同寻常的。但他已经学会了要信任他所认识的人，并相信他们的智慧超过他自己的智慧。但是当绳子的两端抓在陌生人手里的时候，他气势汹汹地狂吠起来。他只是暗示了自己的不愉快，并骄傲地认为暗示就是命令。但让他感到诧异的是，这条绳子紧紧地绕在他的脖子上，让他喘不上气来。一怒之下，他跳起来扑向这个人。那人没等他扑到身上就紧紧地抓住了他的喉咙，灵巧地一拧，将他仰面摔在地上。然后那人残忍地绷紧了绳子。当巴克愤怒地挣扎时，舌头都从嘴里伸出来了，巨大的胸脯徒然地喘着粗气。有生以来他从没被这么卑贱地对待过，有生以来他也从来没有如此愤怒过。但是他的力气渐渐耗尽了，双目怒视着。当火车被招呼停下来，两人把他扔进行李车厢时，他什么都不知道了。

The next he knew, he was dimly aware that his tongue was hurting and that he was being jolted along in some kind of a conveyance. The hoarse shriek of a locomotive whistling a crossing told him where he was. He had traveled too often with the Judge not to know the sensation of riding in a baggage car. He opened his eyes, and into them came the unbridled anger of a kidnaped king. The man sprang for his throat, but Buck was too quick for him. His jaws closed on the hand, nor did they relax till his senses were choked out of him once more.

接下来他隐约地意识到他的舌头受了伤，意识到他在一个什么交通工具里颠簸摇晃。火车头发出粗哑刺耳的尖叫声，呼啸着驶过一个交叉路口，让他知道自己身在何处。他随法官旅行过很多次，对乘坐行李车是什么感觉了然于心。他睁开双眼，眼里闪现怒火，那种愤怒就像被绑架的国王的强烈愤怒一样无法抑制。那个人跳起来撬他的喉咙，但是巴克反应太快了。他用牙紧紧地咬住那个人的手，直到他再次感觉要窒息了才松开。

"Yep, has fits," the man said, hiding his mangled hand from the baggage man, who had been attracted by the sounds of struggle. "I'm taking 'im up for the boss to 'Frisco. A crack dog doctor there thinks that he can cure him."

“瞧，这狗痉挛病发作了。”那个男人边说着边藏起被咬烂的手，以免被走过来的行李员看到。刚才搏斗的声响把行李员吸引过来了。“我帮老板把他带到旧金山去。那里有一流的兽医，说是能把他治好。”

Concerning that night's ride, the man spoke most eloquently for himself, in a little shed back of a saloon on the San Francisco water front.

在旧金山码头一个酒馆的小后屋里，关于那晚的行程，那人口若悬河地说了自己的事。

"All I get is fifty for it," he grumbled, "and I wouldn't do it over for a thousand, cold cash."

他发牢骚道：“我弄这条狗才挣50美元，下次哪怕是给我1000美元现金我也不干。”

His hand was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief, and the right trouser leg was ripped from knee to ankle.

他的手用一块血迹斑斑的手绢包扎着，右边的裤腿从膝盖到脚踝全被撕破了。

"How much did the other mug get?" the saloon-keeper demanded.

“那另一个混蛋挣了多少钱？”酒馆老板问道。

"A hundred," was the reply. "Wouldn't take a sou less, so help me."

他回答道：“100美元。他不肯少一分钱，所以帮帮忙吧。”

"That makes a hundred and fifty," the saloon-keeper calculated, "and he's worth it, or I'm a squarehead."

“那就是150美元啦。”酒店老板算了算，说道，“他绝对值这点钱，要不然我就是个笨蛋了。”

The kidnaper undid the bloody wrappings and looked at his lacerated hand. "If I don't get hydrophobia—”

诱拐狗的那个人拆去了带血的绷带，看了看自己被咬伤的手。“我不会得狂犬病吧？”

"It'll be because you was born to hang," laughed the saloon-keeper. "Here, lend me a hand before you pull your freight," he added.

酒馆老板大笑着说：“那可说不定，因为你天生就该被吊死。”他又说道：“来，没走之前过来再帮我一把。”

Dazed, suffering intolerable pain from throat and tongue, with the life half throttled out of him, Buck attempted to face his tormentors. But he was thrown down and choked repeatedly, till they succeeded in filing the heavy brass collar from off his neck. Then the rope was removed, and he was flung into a cage-like crate.

巴克头昏目眩，喉咙和舌头也疼得难以忍受。尽管被勒得简直只剩半条命了，他还试图反抗折磨他的人。但他一次次被摔倒在地，被扼住喉咙，直到他们成功地将套在他脖子上的那粗重的黄铜项圈锉掉。接着，他们把绳子拿走了，又把巴克猛地扔进一个像笼子一样的装货箱里。

There he lay for the remainder of the weary night, nursing his wrath and wounded pride. He could not understand what it all meant. What did they want with him, these strange men? Why were they keeping him pent up in this narrow crate? He did not know why, but he felt oppressed by the vague sense of impending calamity. Several times during the night he sprang to his feet when the shed door rattled open, expecting to see the Judge, or the boys at least. But each time it was the bulging face of the saloon-keeper that peered in at him by the sickly light of a tallow candle. And each time the joyful bark that trembled in Buck's throat was twisted into a savage growl.

他躺在那里，忍受着剩下来的痛苦长夜，也医治着自己的愤怒和受伤的自尊心。他不明白发生的一切到底意味着什么。这些奇怪的人，他们要他做什么？为什么他们一直把他关在这个狭窄的装货箱里？巴克不知道为什么，但他模糊地感觉到有种灾难正向他逼近，他感到很压抑。那天晚上，小屋的门咯吱打开的时侯，他好几次都跳了起来，期望能看到法官，或者至少也应该能看到那些仆人们。可每一次都是酒馆老板那张肿胀的脸，这人在微弱的烛光下盯着他。每一次，巴克喉咙里颤抖着发出的欢快叫声都变成了凶猛的咆哮声。

But the saloon-keeper let him alone, and in the morning four men entered and picked up the crate. More tormentors, Buck decided, for they were evil-looking creatures, ragged and unkempt; and he stormed and raged at them through the bars. They only laughed and poked sticks at him, which he promptly assailed with his teeth till he realized that was what they wanted. Whereupon he lay down sullenly and allowed the crate to be lifted into a wagon. Then he, and the crate in which he was imprisoned, began a passage through many hands. Clerks in the express office took charge of him; he was carted about in another wagon; a truck carried him, with an assortment of boxes and parcels, upon a ferry steamer; he was trucked off the steamer into a great railway depot, and finally he was deposited in an express car.

酒馆老板让他独自呆着。早晨，来了四个人，他们抬起了装货箱。巴克认定这些人全是来折磨他的，因为他们看上去都像魔鬼似的，穿着破破烂烂，不修边幅。他隔着栅栏愤怒地冲他们狂吠。他们只是笑笑，用棍子戳戳他。他敏捷地用牙咬棍子来攻击，后来才意识到这正好是他们想让他做的。意识到这一点后，他愠怒地躺了下来，任凭他们把箱子抬到了货车上。然后他和那个关他的箱子就开始从一个个人的手上传递。快递办公室的职员们负责看管他，他被装进另一辆货车。接着，一辆卡车将他和各种各样的箱子、包裹一起运上了一艘渡轮。然后，他又随卡车从渡轮上下来，来到了一个很大的火车站。最后，他被装进一辆邮政快车。

For two days and nights this express car was dragged along at the tail of shrieking locomotives; and for two days and nights Buck neither ate nor drank. In his anger he had met the first advances of the express messengers with growls, and they had retaliated by teasing him. When he flung himself against the bars, quivering and frothing, they laughed at him and taunted him. They growled and barked like detestable dogs, mewed, and flapped their arms and crowed. It was all very silly, he knew; but therefore the more outrage to his dignity, and his anger waxed and waxed. He did not mind the hunger so much, but the lack of water caused him severe suffering and fanned his wrath to fever-pitch. For that matter, high-strung and finely sensitive, the ill treatment had flung him into a fever, which was fed by the inflammation of his parched and swollen throat and tongue.

两天两夜，这辆邮政快车被沿途一路呼啸的火车头拉着向前开进。这两天两夜，巴克没吃没喝。他愤怒至极，第一次看见快递邮差向他走过来，他就狂吠起来，而那些人就以戏弄他作为报复。他猛地扑向箱子的栏杆，哆嗦着、口吐白沫，于是他们就嘲笑他、奚落他。他们就像那些可恶的狗一样对他乱吼乱叫，还发出猫叫似的声音，而且还挥着胳膊，欢呼着。他知道，这一切都太愚蠢了。可他们越是践踏他的尊严，他就越是愤怒，这种愤怒不断加剧。他一点都不在乎自己有多么饿，但缺水却使他非常痛苦，这使他的愤怒被煽动到疯狂至极的程度。因此，紧张的神经、极度的敏感以及那些人的虐待使他燥热起来，而喉咙和舌头又干又肿的炎症症状，又激化了他的躁动情绪。

He was glad for one thing: the rope was off his neck. That had given them an unfair advantage; but now that it was off, he would show them. They would never get another rope around his neck. Upon that he was resolved. For two days and nights he neither ate nor drank, and during those two days and nights of torment, he accumulated a fund of wrath that boded ill for whoever first fell foul of him. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he was metamorphosed into a raging fiend. So changed was he that the Judge himself would not have recognized him; and the express messengers breathed with relief when they bundled him off the train at Seattle. Four men gingerly carried the crate from the wagon into a small, high-walled back yard. A stout man, with a red sweater that sagged generously at the neck, came out and signed the book for the driver. That was the man, Buck divined, the next tormentor, and he hurled himself savagely against the bars. The man smiled grimly, and brought a hatchet and a club.

让他高兴的是：他脖子上的绳子被解下了。那绳子使那些人占了优势，这很不公平。但现在那绳子不在了，他要表现给他们看。他们再也不能给自己的脖子系上绳子。对此，他决心已定。两天两夜，巴克没吃没喝，在这痛苦的两天两夜里，他积累了所有的愤怒，不管是谁要是先冒犯他，他都要狠狠地报复。他双眼充血，变成了一个狂暴的魔鬼。他的变化如此之大，就是法官本人也很可能认不出他来了。快递邮差们在西雅图把他绑着弄下火车，才算是松了口气。四个人小心翼翼地把箱子从货车抬到一个由高墙围着的小后院里。一个壮汉走了出来，他穿着领口松垂的红毛衣，给司机在本子上签了字。巴克猜测那个人就是下一个要折磨自己的人，他狠命地朝栏杆撞去。那个人冷酷地笑了笑，手里拿着一把斧子和一根大棒。

"You ain't going to take him out now?" the driver asked.

司机问：“你不是现在就要把他放出来吧？”

"Sure," the man replied, driving the hatchet into the crate for a pry.

“对！”这人答道，把斧子劈在箱子上，往里看了看。

There was an instantaneous scattering of the four men who had carried it in, and from safe perches on top the wall they prepared to watch the performance.

把他抬进来的那四个人一下子散开了。为了安全起见，他们爬到了墙头上，准备看巴克会干什么。

Buck rushed at the splintering wood, sinking his teeth into it, surging and wrestling with it. Wherever the hatchet fell on the outside, he was there on the inside, snarling and growling, as furiously anxious to get out as the man in the red sweater was calmly intent on getting him out.

巴克冲向裂开的木头，用牙齿奋力撕咬着，猛冲过去与之搏斗。斧子落在箱子哪里，他就在哪里咆哮。他狂怒焦躁地想早点出来，而那个穿红毛衣的人也想放他出来，只不过，前者有多焦躁后者就有多冷静。

"Now, you red-eyed devil," he said, when he had made an opening sufficient for the passage of Buck's body. At the same time he dropped the hatchet and shifted the club to his right hand.

“来，你这个红眼的魔鬼！”当他把木箱弄得足以让巴克的身子出来的时候，他说道。与此同时，他把斧子扔到了一边，把大棒换到了右手上。

And Buck was truly a red-eyed devil, as he drew himself together for the spring, hair bristling, mouth foaming, a mad glitter in his bloodshot eyes. Straight at the man he launched his one hundred and forty pounds of fury, surcharged with the pent passion of two days and nights. In mid-air, just as his jaws were about to close on the man, he received a shock that checked his body and brought his teeth together with an agonizing clip. He whirled over, fetching the ground on his back and side. He had never been struck by a club in his life, and did not understand. With a snarl that was part bark and more scream he was again on his feet and launched into the air. And again the shock came and he was brought crushingly to the ground. This time he was aware that it was the club, but his madness knew no caution. A dozen times he charged, and as often the club broke the charge and smashed him down.

巴克真变成红眼睛的魔鬼了。他竭尽全身力气跳了出来，毛发竖立，口吐白沫，充血的眼里闪着狂暴的光。他带着两天两夜来被压抑的愤怒，用他那140磅重的身体向那个人直冲过去。半空中，就在他要咬住那个人的时候，他被猛地一击，身体无法向前了，他所有的牙齿就像被折磨人的夹子夹住了似的，都挤在了一起。他在空中转了一圈，后背和侧身完全撞在了地上。在他的一生中，他从没被大棒袭击过，因而不明白是怎么回事。随着一声咆哮——像是狂吠又更像是尖叫，他又重新站了起来，蹦到了空中。又被一击，他被完全击倒在地。这次他明白了，原来那是根大棒，但他的疯狂使他不再谨慎小心了。他进攻了十几次，而那根大棒每一次都能将他击退，并把他击倒在地。

After a particularly fierce blow he crawled to his feet, too dazed to rush. He staggered limply about, the blood flowing from nose and mouth and ears, his beautiful coat sprayed and flecked with bloody slaver. Then the man advanced and deliberately dealt him a frightful blow on the nose. All the pain he had endured was nothing compared with the exquisite agony of this. With a roar that was almost lion-like in its ferocity, he again hurled himself at the man. But the man, shifting the club from right to left, cooly caught him by the under jaw, at the same time wrenching downward and backward. Buck described a complete circle in the air, and half of another, then crashed to the ground on his head and chest.

在遭到一次特别狠的击打之后，他趴倒在地上，头晕目眩，再也无法进攻了。他四肢无力地摇摆着，血从鼻子、嘴和耳朵里流出来，美丽的毛皮被带血的口水喷溅得到处都是血点。接着，那个人走上前来，故意冲他的鼻子猛地一击。他之前承受的所有疼痛，和这一次剧痛相比都显得微不足道。伴着一声几乎是狮子般残暴的吼叫，他又一次猛地扑向那个人。可是那个人把大棒从右手换到左手，冷静地抓住了他的下颚，同时向下后方一拧。巴克在空中划了一整个圈，接着又转了半圈，然后头和胸脯狠狠地砸在了地上。

For the last time he rushed. The man struck the shrewd blow he had purposely withheld for so long, and Buck crumpled up and went down, knocked utterly senseless.

最后他又猛冲了一次。那个人机警地向他一击，他故意等了很久才击打过去。巴克便缩成了一团，垮了下来，被打得完全失去了知觉。

"He's no slouch at dog-breaking, that's what I say," one of the men on the wall cried with enthusiasm.

墙上一个人狂热地喊道：“我得说一句，他驯起狗来可真利索。”

"Druther break cayuses any day, and twice on Sundays," was the reply of the driver, as he climbed on the wagon and started the horses.

司机的回应却是：“还是宁愿驯卡尤塞马，周日会驯两回呢。”他爬上货车，赶着马走了。

Buck's senses came back to him, but not his strength. He lay where he had fallen, and from there he watched the man in the red sweater.

巴克恢复了意识，但还是一点力气都没有。他还躺在倒下的那个地方，看着那个穿红毛衣的男人。

“'Answers to the name of Buck,'" the man soliloquized, quoting from the saloon-keeper's letter which had announced the consignment of the crate and contents. "Well, Buck, my boy," he went on in a genial voice, "we've had our little ruction, and the best thing we can do is to let it go at that. You've learned your place, and I know mine. Be a good dog and all will go well and the goose hang high. Be a bad dog, and I'll whale the stuffing outa you. Understand?"

“名符其实，他太适合叫巴克这个名字了。”这人自言自语地念着酒馆老板的信，上面列着箱子里的货物清单。接着，他用一种温和的语气说：“好了，巴克，我的孩子，不打不相交，现在我们最好让过去的都过去。你已经知道了你的处境。我呢，也知道我的地位。做一条好狗吧，那么一切就都会顺利，前景美好。要是当一条坏狗呢，我就要用鞭子挫败你的锐气了。明白了吗？”

As he spoke he fearlessly patted the head he had so mercilessly pounded, and though Buck's hair involuntarily bristled at touch of the hand, he endured it without protest. When the man brought him water, he drank eagerly, and later bolted a generous meal of raw meat, chuck by chunk, from the man's hand.

他说这话的时候，毫不畏惧地拍着他刚才那么残忍地击打的狗头。虽然巴克的毛发在那只手触摸时又下意识地竖了起来，但他忍着没有反抗。这个人给他拿来了水，他迫不及待地喝着。后来他又狼吞虎咽地吃了一顿那人递过来的大块大块的生肉。

He was beaten (he knew that); but he was not broken. He saw, once for all, that he stood no chance against a man with a club. He had learned the lesson, and in all his afterlife he never forgot it. That club was a revelation. It was his introduction to the reign of primitive law, and he met the introduction halfway. The facts of life took on a fiercer aspect; and while he faced that aspect uncowed, he faced it with all the latent cunning of his nature aroused. As the days went by, other dogs came, in crates and at the ends of ropes, some docilely, and some raging and roaring as he had come; and, one and all, he watched them pass under the dominion of the man in the red sweater. Again and again, as he looked at each brutal performance, the lesson was driven home to Buck: a man with a club was a lawgiver, a master to be obeyed, though not necessarily conciliated. Of this last Buck was never guilty, though he did see beaten dogs that fawned upon the man, and wagged their tails, and licked his hand. Also he saw one dog, that would neither conciliate nor obey, finally killed in the struggle for mastery.

他被揍了一顿，他很明白，但他没被打倒。他一次就学明白了，面对手持大棒的人，自己没有丝毫胜算。巴克已经得到了一次教训，在他以后的生命里，他永远不会忘记这一教训。那根大棒就是一个启示。它带他认识了原始定律的统治，巴克在生命中途才认知这些。生命的现实呈现出其残酷的一面。当他毫不畏惧地面对这种景象时，他本性中所有潜在的狡黠被唤起了，他借此来面对现实。随着日子一天天过去，又来了很多狗。有的用装货箱关着，有的用绳子拴着；有的很温顺，有的怒吼着、咆哮着，就像他刚来时一样。一个接着一个，他看到最后他们都被那个穿红毛衣的人驯服了。一次次目睹那残忍的一幕，巴克终于完全领悟了那一教训：拿着大棒的人是立法人，是要服从的主人，不过也没必要去讨他欢心。巴克从来没有因为不讨那人欢心而遭罪，可他也确实看见那些挨过打的狗们向那个人献媚，摇尾乞怜，舔着他的手。他也看到一只狗，既不谄媚又不服从，为了不被征服最后被活活打死了。

Now and again men came, strangers, who talked excitedly, wheedlingly, and in all kinds of fashions to the man in the red sweater. And at such times that money passed between them the strangers took one or more of the dogs away with them. Buck wondered where they went, for they never came back; but the fear of the future was strong upon him, and he was glad each time when he was not selected.

时不时地有陌生人来，兴致勃勃地以各种方式同那个穿红毛衣的男人说话。随后一叠钞票从一只手传到另一只手，接着那些陌生人便牵走了一条或者好几条狗。巴克想知道那些狗被带到哪里去了，因为他们再也没有回来。对未来的恐惧重重地压在他心头，每次未被选中，他都感到非常高兴。

Yet his time came, in the end, in the form of a little weazened man who spat broken English and many strange and uncouth exclamations which Buck could not understand.

然而该来的还是来了。那天，来了一个身材矮小、面黄肌瘦的男人，说着一口蹩脚的英语。巴克听不懂他那奇怪又粗鲁的感叹语。

"Sacredam!" he cried, when his eyes lit upon Buck. "Dat one dam bully dog! Eh? How much?"

“我的天啊！”当他的目光落到巴克身上的时候，他大喊起来。“这简直就是一流的好货啊！是吧？多少钱？”

"Three hundred, and a present at that," was the prompt reply of the man in the red sweater. "And seeing it's government money, you ain't got no kick coming, eh, Perrault?"

“三百，简直就相当于白送你！”穿红毛衣的男人马上回答，“佩罗，你花的是国家的钱，还有什么不满意的？”

Perrault grinned. Considering that the price of dogs had been boomed skyward by the unwonted demand, it was not an unfair sum for so fine an animal. The Canadian Government would be no loser, nor would its dispatches travel the slower. Perrault knew dogs, when he looked at Buck he knew that he was one in a thousand—"One in ten thousand," he commented mentally.

佩罗咧了一下嘴。他考虑到现在狗完全供不应求，价格直线上升，像这样的一条好狗，他开的价钱不算贵。加拿大政府并不愿意吃亏，但是他们的公文送起来也绝不能慢。佩罗是个内行，他一眼看到巴克就知道这狗是千里挑一的好狗。他心中评论道：“万里挑一呀”。

Buck saw money pass between them, and was not surprised when Curly, a good-natured Newfoundland, and he were led away by the little weazened man. That was the last he saw of the man in the red sweater, and as Curly and he looked at receding Seattle from the deck of the Narwhal, it was the last he saw of the warm Southland. Curly and he were taken below by Perrault and turned over to a black-faced giant called Francois. Perrault was a French Canadian, and swarthy; but Francois was a French Canadian half-breed, and twice as swarthy. They were a new kind of men to Buck (of which he was destined to see many more), and while he developed no affection for them, he none the less grew honestly to respect them. He speedily learned that Perrault and Francois were fair men, calm and impartial in administering justice, and too wise in the way of dogs to be fooled by dogs.

过一会儿，巴克便看到钱在他们手上交易完了。果不其然，接着他和柯利——一只温顺的纽芬兰狗，一块被那个面黄肌瘦的矮个子男人带走了。这是他最后一次看见这个穿红毛衣的男人。在“独角鲸”号的甲板上，他和柯利望着渐渐远去的西雅图，这也是他这辈子最后一次看见温暖的南方了。后来，巴克和柯利一起被佩罗带进甲板下面的船舱里，交给了一个名叫弗朗索瓦的黑脸大个子。佩罗是法裔加拿大人，肤色黝黑；弗朗索瓦也是法裔加拿大人，而且是白人和美洲印第安人的混血儿，比佩罗还黑一倍。对巴克来说，这两个人属于未曾遇到过的新一类型（命中注定这种人以后他还会见到好多）。虽然巴克对他们没有什么喜爱之情，却还是渐渐由衷地尊敬起他们来。他很快就发现佩罗和弗朗索瓦两个人为人不错，做事沉着可靠，都是非常公正的人。巴克还觉得，他们对狗非常了解，绝对不会轻易上这些狗的当。

In the 'tween-decks of the Narwhal, Buck and Curly joined two other dogs. One of them was a big, snow-white fellow from Spitzbergen who had been brought away by a whaling captain, and who had later accompanied a Geological Survey into the Barrens.

巴克和柯利在“独角鲸”号的船舱里还看到了另外两只狗。其中一条雪白的大狗来自斯匹次卑尔根群岛，他是由一个捕鲸船船长带出来的，后来曾跟随一个地质勘探队到荒漠之地探过险。

He was friendly, in a treacherous sort of way, smiling into one's face the while he meditated some underhand trick, as, for instance, when he stole from Buck's food at the first meal. As Buck sprang to punish him, the lash of Francois's whip sang through the air, reaching the culprit first; and nothing remained to Buck but to recover the bone. That was fair of Francois, he decided, and the half-breed began his rise in Buck's estimation.

他表面友好，实际上是个笑里藏刀的家伙。他往往一边朝着别人微笑，一边私底下搞小动作。比如，就在第一次一起吃饭的时候，他就把巴克的食物偷走了。当时巴克立刻跳起来教训他。然而，弗朗索瓦手中的鞭子已率先打在了这个坏家伙的身上。巴克只取回了一些骨头，其他的都没有了。经过这一次，巴克认为弗朗索瓦还算公正，对这个混血儿的评价稍微好了一些。

The other dog made no advances, nor received any; also, he did not attempt to steal from the newcomers. He was a gloomy, morose fellow, and he showed Curly plainly that all he desired was to be left alone, and further, that there would be trouble if he were not left alone. "Dave" he was called, and he ate and slept, or yawned between times, and took interest in nothing, not even when the Narwhal crossed Queen Charlotte Sound and rolled and pitched and bucked like a thing possessed. When Buck and Curly grew excited, half-wild with fear, he raised his head as though annoyed, favored them with an incurious glance, yawned, and went to sleep again.

另一只狗没有任何热络表现，也没有收到任何友好表示。当然，他也不会试图从新来的狗那里偷食物。他是个气质忧郁又有些乖僻的家伙。他曾明确向柯利表示自己只喜欢独来独往，不要去招惹他，否则他就会不客气。这只狗名叫戴夫。他每天除了吃，就是睡，偶尔打个呵欠，对一切事情都毫不在乎，即便是在穿过夏洛特皇后湾时，“独角鲸”号像魔鬼附体般颠簸摇晃，他也毫不在乎。当巴克和柯利变得兴奋不已，同时也被吓得狂乱无主时，戴夫只是抬起头来，像是被惹烦了，漫不经心地瞥了他们一眼，打了个呵欠，又继续睡觉了。

Day and night the ship throbbed to the tireless pulse of the propeller, and though one day was very like another, it was apparent to Buck that the weather was steadily growing colder. At last, one morning, the propeller was quiet, and the Narwhal was pervaded with an atmosphere of excitement. He felt it, as did the other dogs, and knew that a change was at hand. Francois leashed them and brought them on deck. At the first step upon the cold surface, Buck's feet sank into a white mushy something very like mud. He sprang back with a snort. More of this white stuff was falling through the air. He shook himself, but more of it fell upon him. He sniffed it curiously, then licked some up on his tongue. It bit like fire, and the next instant was gone. This puzzled him. He tried it again, with the same results. The onlookers laughed uproariously, and he felt ashamed, he knew not why, for it was his first snow.

伴着螺旋桨的不倦运转，“独角鲸”号日以继夜地向前行驶。虽然一天与另一天没什么差别，但巴克却明显感到气候越来越冷了。终于在一天早上，螺旋桨安静了下来，“独角鲸”号上弥漫着兴奋和激动的气氛。巴克和其他的狗都感觉到，他们的生活即将发生变化。弗朗索瓦给所有的狗都系上皮带，并把他们带到甲板上。巴克的脚一踏上冰冷的地面，就立刻陷进了柔软得像泥浆一样的白色的东西里。他喷出一阵鼻息，跳了回去。空中也有很多这种白色的东西飘下来。他抖了抖身子，但是又落下了更多。他好奇地用鼻子嗅了嗅，又用舌头舔了舔。那东西尝起来像火一样灼烧，但一下子就没有了。这可让他迷惑了。他又试了一次，但结果还是一样。站在一旁围观的人们放声大笑，让他觉得不好意思。他不知道人们为什么笑自己，毕竟这是他头一回见到雪。 VyN9hEWDBdDyvxT+2TKCaDFrZ5reNsX6Qi9dHU+0fy1MKWNADOiTKQVz5fcr1k5W