文/琼·克雷格黑德·乔治 译析/吴文安

By Jean Craighead George

My Side of the Mountain (Excerpt III)《我的山林》（节选三）

文/琼·克雷格黑德·乔治 译析/吴文安

ByJean Craighead George

The fire warden made a fire some time in the colder hours of the night. At dawn he was asleep beside white smoldering ashes. I crawled back to the gorge, fed Frightful rabbit bites,and slipped back to the edge of the meadow to check a box trap I had set the day before. I made it by tying small sticks together like a log cabin. This trap was better than the snares or deadfalls.It had caught numerous rabbits, several squirrels, and a groundhog.

[2] I saw, as I inched toward it, that it was closed. The sight of a closed trap excites me to this day. I still can’t believe that animals don’t understand why delicious food is in such a ridiculous spot.

[3] Well, this morning I pulled the trap deep into the woods to open it. The trapped animal was light. I couldn’t guess what it was. It was also active,flipping and darting from one corner to the next. I peeked in to locate it, so that I could grab it quickly behind the head without getting bitten. I was not always successful at this, and had scars to prove it.

护林防火员在夜里寒冷的时候生了一会儿火。清晨，他躺在白色余烬旁边睡着了。我爬回峡谷，给“惊悚”喂了几口兔子肉。然后又溜回草地边缘，检查我前天设置的一个箱子陷阱。就是把小木棍绑在一起，像个圆木屋。这个陷阱比套索和重物陷阱好用。我用它抓了好多兔子、几个松鼠，还有一个土拨鼠。

[2]我一点点靠近，看到箱子陷阱门关上了。直到今天，看到陷阱门关上还让我很激动。食物竟然会放在如此可笑的地方，这一点动物们竟然搞不明白，简直难以置信。

[3]这天早上，我把小箱子拖到树林深处才打开。抓到的动物很轻。我猜不到是什么。它也非常活跃，不停地转动，从箱子一角冲到另一角。我往里瞅，想看它在哪儿，这样才能从后脖颈处快速抓住它不被咬。我并不是每次都能抓住，手臂上的伤疤就能证明。

[4] I put my eye to the crack. A rumpus arose in the darkness. Two bright eyes shone, and out through that hole that was no wider than a string bean came a weasel. He flew right out at me, landed on my shoulder, gave me a lecture that I shall never forget,and vanished under the scant cover of trillium and bloodroot leaves.

[5] He popped up about five feet away and stood on his hind feet to lecture me again. I said, “Scat!” so he darted right to my knee, put his broad furry paws on my pants, and looked me in the face. I shall never forget the fear and wonder that I felt at the bravery of that weasel.He stood his ground and berated me. I could see by the flashing of his eyes and the curl of his lip that he was furious at me for trapping him. He couldn’t talk,but I knew what he meant.

[6] Wonder filled me as I realized he was absolutely unafraid. No other animal, and I knew quite a few by now,had been so brave in my presence.Screaming, he jumped on me. This surprised and scared me. He leapt from my lap to my head, took a mouthful of hair and wrestled it. My goose bumps rose. I was so frightened to move. A good thing, too, because I guess he figured I was not going to fight back and scream of anger changed to a purr of peace. Still, I couldn’t move.

[4]我把眼睛靠近缝隙。黑暗中传来一阵吵闹。两只明亮的眼睛闪了闪，从菜豆荚那么宽的缝隙里钻出了一个黄鼠狼。他径直朝我冲了过来，落到我的肩膀上，朝我尖叫一番，那叫声难听极了。然后他就消失在稀疏的延龄草和血根草叶下面。

[5]他从五英尺之外的地方钻了出来，后腿直立，又朝着我尖叫一番。我说“走开！”，他却冲到我的膝盖上，把毛茸茸的宽爪放在我裤子上，盯着我的脸看。黄鼠狼这么勇敢，让我又害怕又好奇，永远都忘不了。他原地不动，朝我尖叫。……