He was a very quiet, self-possessed sort of man, sitting a moment on top of the wall to sound the damp darkness for warnings of the dangers it might conceal. But the plummet of his hearing brought nothing to him save the moaning of wind through invisible trees and the rustling of leaves on swaying branches. A heavy fog drifted and drove before the wind, and though he could not see this fog, the wet of it blew upon his face, and the wall on which he sat was wet.

他是那种很安静很镇定的人，在墙头上坐一会儿，聆听潮湿夜色中潜藏的危险的征兆。但他的听力陡然下降，他几乎什么都听不到，只听见风吹过看不见的树木发出的萧萧声和树枝晃动时叶子发出的沙沙声。被风驱赶着的浓雾弥漫开来，他虽然看不到这雾，但它的湿气吹到了他的脸上，而且他坐着的墙头也是湿的。

Without noise he had climbed to the top of the wall from the outside, and without noise he dropped to the ground on the inside. From his pocket he drew an electric night-stick, but he did not use it. Dark as the way was, he was not anxious for light. Carrying the night-stick in his hand, his finger on the button, he advanced through the darkness.

他悄无声息地从外侧爬上墙头，然后又跳到内侧的地上，仍旧没弄出一点声响。他从兜里摸出一根手电筒，却并没有用它。路很黑，但他并不急于照亮它。他手里握着手电筒，手指放在按钮上，在黑暗中前进。

The ground was velvety and springy to his feet, being carpeted with dead pine-needles and leaves and mold which evidently had been undisturbed for years. Leaves and branches brushed against his body, but so dark was it that he could not avoid them. Soon he walked with his hand stretched out gropingly before him, and more than once the hand fetched up against the solid trunks of massive trees. All about him he knew were these trees; he sensed the loom of them everywhere; and he experienced a strange feeling of microscopic smallness in the midst of great bulks leaning toward him to crush him. Beyond, he knew, was the house, and he expected to find some trail or winding path that would lead easily to it.

地上软绵绵的，踩上去很有弹性，到处都是枯萎的松针、树叶和菌类，很明显已经多年没有人和动物来过了。叶子和树枝擦过他的身体，可是因为天太黑了，所以他也躲不开它们。不久，他便把手伸在前面摸索着走，接着，他那伸出的手不止一次地碰到大树坚固的树干。他知道自己身边全是这种树，也感觉到它们在各个角落若隐若现，而且他有一种奇怪的感觉，自己似乎很渺小，周围巨大的树木都在向他倾斜，像是要压扁他。他知道远处就是那座房子，他希望能找到一条轻松通向它的小径或是蜿蜒小路。

Once, he found himself trapped. On every side he groped against trees and branches, or blundered into thickets of underbrush, until there seemed no way out. Then he turned on his light, circumspectly, directing its rays to the ground at his feet. Slowly and carefully he moved it about him, the white brightness showing in sharp detail all the obstacles to his progress. He saw, an opening between huge-trunked trees, and advanced through it, putting out the light and treading on dry footing as yet protected from the drip of the fog by the dense foliage overhead. His sense of direction was good, and he knew he was going toward the house.

有一次，他发现自己被困住了。无论他往哪个方向走，要么是摸到树枝和树干，要么就撞上灌木矮丛，直到似乎无路可循。接着他打开灯，谨慎地照亮脚下的地面。他缓慢地、小心地移动着手电，照亮自己的周围，这束白光照亮了他前进路上所有的障碍，分毫毕现。他看见巨大的树干中有个洞，然后就穿了过去，然后关上手电筒，踩在干干的路面上。由于那路面上方全是浓密的树叶，因而没有被雾水打湿，表面是干的。他的方向感很强，他知道自己正朝房子的方向走去。

And then the thing happened—the thing unthinkable and unexpected. His descending foot came down upon something that was soft and alive, and that arose with a snort under the weight of his body. He sprang clear, and crouched for another spring, anywhere, tense and expectant, keyed for the onslaught of the unknown. He waited a moment, wondering what manner of animal it was that had arisen from under his foot and that now made no sound nor movement and that must be crouching and waiting just as tensely and expectantly as he. The strain became unbearable. Holding the night-stick before him, he pressed the button, saw, and screamed aloud in terror. He was prepared for anything, from a frightened calf or fawn to a belligerent lion, but he was not prepared for what he saw. In that instant his tiny searchlight, sharp and white, had shown him what a thousand years would not enable him to forget—a man, huge and blond, yellow-haired and yellow-bearded, naked except for soft-tanned moccasins and what seemed a goat-skin about his middle. Arms and legs were bare, as were his shoulders and most of his chest. The skin was smooth and hairless, but browned by sun and wind, while under it heavy muscles were knotted like fat snakes. Still, this alone, unexpected as it well was, was not what had made the man scream out. What had caused his terror was the unspeakable ferocity of the face, the wild-animal glare of the blue eyes scarcely dazzled by the light, the pine-needles matted and clinging in the beard and hair, and the whole formidable body crouched and in the act of springing at him. Practically in the instant he saw all this, and while his scream still rang, the thing leaped, he flung his night-stick full at it, and threw himself to the ground. He felt its feet and shins strike against his ribs, and he bounded up and away while the thing itself hurled onward in a heavy crashing fall into the underbrush.

接着就发生了那件事——出人意料、不敢想象。正下落的脚踩在一个软软的活物上，在他的重压下那东西哼了一声。他跳到了别处，蹲在一边准备再跳到别的地方，紧张地等待着不明物的袭击。他等了一会儿，琢磨着是什么动物从他的脚下爬起来，现在却悄无声息，没有一点动静了。它肯定也正蹲在那里等着，和他一样紧张而又期待。这种紧张的气氛变得令人难以忍受。他把手电筒举在身前，按了下按钮，看了过去，接着就恐惧地大声尖叫起来。他做好心理准备去面对各种动物，从受惊的小牛、小鹿到凶猛的狮子，可是对自己看到的这个东西一点心理准备都没有。在那一瞬间，他那小小的探照光，强烈而明亮，向他展示了一个他一千年都不会忘记的——人，巨大的体型，白皙的皮肤，黄色的头发，黄色的胡子，光着身子，只穿一双软面棕色鹿皮鞋，还有一件山羊皮似的东西挂在他的腰部。他的胳膊和腿是光着的，肩膀和大部分胸膛也是。他的皮肤光滑无毛，但因为风吹日晒而呈棕色，皮肤下面是打结的健壮的肌肉，就如同一条条肥蛇。只有这些，虽然出乎意料，但不足以让那个男人尖叫。让他害怕的是它脸上露出不可名状的凶残，蓝眼睛里闪着野兽般的光芒，在灯光的照射下并不显得晕眩，胡子和头发上缠粘着松树针，巨大的身体蹲在那里，正准备跳向他。实际上，在他看见这一切，还在尖叫的那一瞬，那东西就跳了过来，他把手电筒朝它砸了过去，自己则跌倒在地上。他感觉那个东西的双脚和胫骨撞到了他的肋骨，接着他跳起来然后又躲到一边去，而那时那东西猛地跳起又重重掉进矮树丛里。

As the noise of the fall ceased, the man stopped and on hands and knees waited. He could hear the thing moving about, searching for him, and he was afraid to advertise his location by attempting further flight. He knew that inevitably he would crackle the underbrush and be pursued. Once he drew out his revolver, then changed his mind. He had recovered his composure and hoped to get away without noise. Several times he heard the thing beating up the thickets for him, and there were moments when it, too, remained still and listened. This gave an idea to the man. One of his hands was resting on a chunk of dead wood. Carefully, first feeling about him in the darkness to know that the full swing of his arm was clear, he raised the chunk of wood and threw it. It was not a large piece, and it went far, landing noisily in a bush. He heard the thing bound into the bush, and at the same time himself crawled steadily away. And on hands and knees, slowly and cautiously, he crawled on, till his knees were wet on the soggy mold, When he listened he heard naught but the moaning wind and the drip-drip of the fog from the branches. Never abating his caution, he stood erect and went on to the stone wall, over which he climbed and dropped down to the road outside.

跌落的响声消失后，那男人停下来，伏在地上等着。他能听到那东西走来走去地搜寻他，便不敢乱动害怕暴露自己的位置。他知道他自己不免会压着那灌木丛，然后又被它追逐。他曾掏出左轮手枪，不过又改变了主意。他镇定了下来，希望能够悄无声息地逃脱。有几次他听到那东西拍打着灌木丛找他，有时候它也会停下来听听动静。这让他想到了一个主意。他的一只手正放在一块死木头上。他先仔细地在黑暗中摸索确认有抡动胳膊的空间，接着就举起木头扔了出去。木头并不大，所以滚得很远，落进灌木丛时还发出很大的声响。他听到那东西跳进灌木丛，与此同时，就稳稳地爬走了。他手脚并用地小心翼翼地慢慢向前爬行，直到膝盖被湿透的菌类弄湿。当他想听听动静的时候，只能听得到风的呜咽声和雾水从树枝滴落的声音。他一点也没有放松警惕，笔直地站着，然后朝石墙走去，从墙上翻了过去，然后落在外侧的公路上。

Feeling his way in a clump of bushes, he drew out a bicycle and prepared to mount. He was in the act of driving the gear around with his foot for the purpose of getting the opposite pedal in position, when he heard the thud of a heavy body that landed lightly and evidently on its feet. He did not wait for more, but ran, with hands on the handles of his bicycle, until he was able to vault astride the saddle, catch the pedals, and start a spurt. Behind he could hear the quick thud-thud of feet on the dust of the road, but he drew away from it and lost it. Unfortunately, he had started away from the direction of town and was heading higher up into the hills. He knew that on this particular road there were no cross roads. The only way back was past that terror, and he could not steel himself to face it. At the end of half an hour, finding himself on an ever increasing grade, he dismounted. For still greater safety, leaving the wheel by the roadside, he climbed through a fence into what he decided was a hillside pasture, spread a newspaper on the ground, and sat down.

他在一片灌木丛里摸来摸去，拽出一辆自行车，准备骑上去。正当他用脚转动齿轮，想把另一个脚蹬调整到合适的位置时，他听到砰的一声，很明显是一个笨重的身体轻盈落地的声音。他等都没等，立刻跑了起来，双手抓住车把，直到他能够跨上车座，踩住脚蹬，开始冲刺。他能够听到身后土路上咚咚咚快速的脚步声，可他躲开并甩掉了它。不幸的是，他开始朝着远离城镇的方向骑去，还冲着地势更高的山区骑去。他知道，在这条路上没什么交叉路。唯一能够回去的路径必须要经过那个可怕的怪物，可他没有决心去面对它。半小时后，他发现自己正在一条越来越陡的斜坡上，于是就下车了。为了更安全，他把车丢在路边，爬过篱笆来到一个他以为是沿山牧场的地方，然后把一张报纸铺在地上，坐了下来。

"Gosh!" he said aloud, mopping the sweat and fog from his face.

“天啊！”他大叫了一声，抹着脸上的汗水和雾水。

And "Gosh!" he said once again, while rolling a cigarette and as he pondered the problem of getting back.

“天啊！”他又说了一遍，一边卷了支烟，一边思考着怎么回去。

But he made no attempt to go back. He was resolved not to face that road in the dark, and with head bowed on knees, he dozed, waiting for daylight.

可他没打算往回走。他下定决心不在黑暗中走那段路，他蜷起腿把头靠在膝盖上打盹，等着天亮。

How long afterward he did not know, he was awakened by the yapping bark of a young coyote. As he looked about and located it on the brow of the hill behind him, he noted the change that had come over the face of the night. The fog was gone; the stars and moon were out; even the wind had died down. It had transformed into a balmy California summer night. He tried to doze again, but the yap of the coyote disturbed him. Half asleep, he heard a wild and eery chant. Looking about him, he noticed that the coyote had ceased its noise and was running away along the crest of the hill, and behind it, in full pursuit, no longer chanting, ran the naked creature he had encountered in the garden. It was a young coyote, and it was being overtaken when the chase passed from view. The man trembled as with a chill as he started to his feet, clambered over the fence, and mounted his wheel. But it was his chance and he knew it. The terror was no longer between him and Mill Valley.

不知道过了多久，他被一只小郊狼汪汪的叫声吵醒了。他向四周望了望，在身后的山崖上发现了那只郊狼，他还注意到了夜色的变化。雾散了，月亮和星星都出来了，连风也漫漫停了。加利福尼亚的这个夏夜变得格外宜人。他试着继续打个盹，可郊狼的叫声干扰着他。在他半睡半醒的时候，他听到了狂野又恐怖的唱歌声。他环顾四周，发现郊狼已经不叫了，那会儿正沿着山脊逃跑，在它后面，是他在花园里碰到的那个赤裸的动物，它已经不唱歌了，正全力追赶着那只郊狼。那是只小郊狼，当它就要被追上的时候，他们从他的视野中消失了。那男人如受寒一样发着抖，他开始跑起来，接着从篱笆上爬过去，骑上了他的车子。他知道这是他的机会。那个吓人的怪物不再夹在他和米尔山谷之间了。

He sped at a breakneck rate down the hill, but in the turn at the bottom, in the deep shadows, he encountered a chuck-hole and pitched headlong over the handle bar.

他飞快地骑车下山，可就在山底拐弯处浓密的树荫下，他遇到一处坑洼，并头向前从车把上方摔了出去。

"It's sure not my night," he muttered, as he examined the broken fork of the machine.

“我今晚运气真不好。”他咕哝着，一边检查车子上摔坏的前叉。

Shouldering the useless wheel, he trudged on. In time he came to the stone wall, and, half disbelieving his experience, he sought in the road for tracks, and found them—moccasin tracks, large ones, deep-bitten into the dust at the toes. It was while bending over them, examining, that again he heard the eery chant. He had seen the thing pursue the coyote, and he knew he had no chance on a straight run. He did not attempt it, contenting himself with hiding in the shadows on the off side of the road.

他扛着坏了的车子，艰难地往前走。最后，他来到了石墙边，对自己的遭遇半信半疑，于是在路上寻找痕迹，然后就找到了它们——鹿皮鞋印，非常大，脚趾处的泥土是深陷的。就在他弯腰去观察鞋印的时候，他又听到那可怕的唱歌声。他看过那东西追逐郊狼的场面，知道自己直接跑是逃不掉的。他根本没有试图逃跑，只是躲在公路外侧的阴暗处。

And again he saw the thing that was like a naked man, running swiftly and lightly and singing as it ran. Opposite him it paused, and his heart stood still. But instead of coming toward his hiding-place, it leaped into the air, caught the branch of a roadside tree, and swung swiftly upward, from limb to limb, like an ape. It swung across the wall, and a dozen feet above the top, into the branches of another tree, and dropped out of sight to the ground. The man waited a few wondering minutes, then started on.

接着，他又看到那个像裸体男人一样的东西，轻盈快速地跑着，边跑边唱着歌。然后，它在他的对面停了下来，他的心跳都停止了。可是它没有朝他的藏身处走去，而是跳到空中，抓住路边树上的树枝，像只猩猩一样从一根树枝快速地向上摆动到另一根树枝。它摇摆着跃过那座石墙，比墙顶还高了十二英尺，抓到另一棵树的树枝上，然后跳到地上，不见了。那男人疑惑地等了几分钟，然后动身离开了。 ry7M2UTGE2MzeH2/6CtN3DxYEeG/OwSalFgadiea6rVOPtR+3jkDQdcz2fXewJNo