Julie of the Wolves (Excerpt VI)《狼女朱莉》（節選六）

瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治 吳文安

As she worked on her hands and knees， she felt a rhythmical beat， like the rumble of Eskimo drums. Pressing her ear to the ground she heard the vibration of many feet—a herd of caribou was not far away.

The fog thinned more and Kapu came into view. As alert as an eagle， he was sniffing the wind and wagging his tail as if reading some amusing wolf story. She sniffed， too， but for her the pages were blank.

The vibrations in the earth grew stronger; Miyax drew back， as out of the fog came a huge caribou， running her way. His head was out straight and his eyes rolled wildly. At his neck， leaping with the power of an ocean wave， was Amoroq. Nails was diving in and out under his legs， and at his flank dashed Silver. Miyax held her breath， wondering whether to run or dodge.

Then Amaroq jumped， floated in the air for an instant， and sank his teeth into the shoulder of the beast. He hung on while Silver attacked from the side. Then he dropped to the ground as the bull bellowed. The fog closed in briefly， and when it thinned the caribou was poised above Amaroq， his cleaver-like hoofs aimed at his head. There was a low grunt， a flash of hoofs， and the huge feet cut uselessly into the sod; for Amaroq had vaulted into the air again and had sunk his teeth in the animal’s back. Snarling， using the weight of his body as a tool， he rode the circling and stumbling beast. Silver leaped in front of the bull trying to trip him or slow him down. Nails had a grip on one hind leg. The caribou bucked， writhed， then dropped to his knees. His antlers pierced the ground; he bellowed and fell.

He was dying， his eyes glazed with the pain-killing drug of shock; yet his muscles still flexed. His hoofs flailed at the three who were ending the hunt with slashes and blood-letting bites.

After what seemed to Miyax an eternity， the bull lay still. Amaroq tore open his side as if it were a loaf of bread and， without ceremony， fell to the feast.

Kapu and the little wolves came cautiously up to the huge animal and sniffed. They did not know what to do with this beast. It was the first one they had seen and so they wandered curiously around the kill， watching their elders. Amaroq snarled with pleasure as he ate， then licked his lips and looked at Kapu. Kapu pounced on a piece of meat and snarled， too; then he looked at Amaroq again. The leader growled and ate. Kapu growled and ate.

米婭克斯正跪在地上用手挖野菜，突然感到有節奏的撞擊聲，好像愛斯基摩鼓的隆隆聲。她把耳朵貼到地上，聽到很多只腳的震動——不遠處有一群北美馴鹿。

濃霧變得淡了些，看得見卡普了。卡普像一只機警的鷹，正在嗅著空氣，搖著尾巴，似乎在閱讀某個有趣的狼故事。米婭克斯也聞了聞，但對她而言，什么都感覺不到。

地上的震動越來越強烈;米婭克斯往后退去，因為有一只巨大的馴鹿從霧中出現，朝她奔過來。馴鹿的頭往前伸著，眼睛咕嚕嚕亂轉。馴鹿的脖子上，像狂怒的大海波濤上下躍動著的，是巨狼阿馬羅克。“指甲”一邊追著跑，一邊在馴鹿的腿之間進進出出。馴鹿的旁邊還飛奔著“銀白”。米婭克斯摒住呼吸，琢磨著該跑開還是躲避。

然后阿馬羅克跳起來，在空中懸停了一小會兒，隨后牙齒深深陷進馴鹿的肩膀里。阿馬羅克一直咬住不放，同時“銀白”從馴鹿的側面展開攻擊。接著阿馬羅克掉到地上，公馴鹿慘叫不已。濃霧立刻包圍上來，一切又模糊了。濃霧變淡時，馴鹿就在阿馬羅克上方，利刃一般的蹄子對準了阿馬羅克的頭。接下來一聲低哼，蹄影翻飛，馴鹿的大腳失去準頭插入草地;因為阿馬羅克再一次跳到空中，尖牙深深插入馴鹿的后背。阿馬羅克嚎叫著，利用自己身體的重量，騎壓在一邊轉圈一邊跌跌撞撞的馴鹿身上。“銀白”跳到公馴鹿的前面，試圖絆倒他或讓他慢下來。“指甲”咬住了馴鹿的一條后腿。馴鹿弓背跳起來，身子扭曲，隨后跪在地上，鹿角插進土里，慘叫數聲，摔倒了。

馴鹿奄奄一息，目光呆滯，似乎因為驚愕而暫時忘記了疼痛;但馴鹿的肌肉還在抽搐。馴鹿的蹄子朝著三只狼亂踢一番，而三只狼猛烈撕咬，讓馴鹿流血不止，無力掙扎。

對米婭克斯而言，似乎過了很久，公馴鹿才躺著不動。阿馬羅克撕開了馴鹿的半邊身子，好像撕開一長條面包似的。隨后毫不客氣地就開始了大塊朵頤。

卡普和其他小狼小心翼翼地走近這個龐然大物，用鼻子嗅嗅。他們不知道該如何下口。這是他們第一次見到這樣的獵物，于是好奇地圍著獵物轉圈，看長輩們如何進食。阿馬羅克一邊進食一邊高興地嚎叫，然后舔舔嘴唇，看著卡普。卡普撲向一塊肉，然后也嚎叫起來;接著他又看看阿馬羅克。頭狼低吼一聲，然后吃肉。卡普緊跟著低吼，也開始吃肉。