Now, as she came running through the trees she drank in the air thirstily through her long nose. For it was her nose that brought her news of the forest, telling her what creatures were abroad, and whether there was a chance of a kill. This evening the air was full of smells, and heavy with the heat of the long summer day; but many of them were wood smells, tree smells, green smells; not the scent5 of the warm fur and the warm flesh and the good blood that ran in the warm bodies and made them spill the secret of themselves along the air. And it was this warm, red, running smell for which Nitka was so thirsty, and of which there was so little spilt upon the creeping dusk. Yet now and then a delicate whiff of it would come, and Nitka would sniff6 harder, swinging her head into the wind. And sometimes it grew stronger and sometimes weaker, and sometimes would cease altogether, swallowed up in the scent of the things that were green. And then, all of a sudden, the smell came thick and strong, flowing like a stream along the drift of the air.
In the wild, your scent is yourself. What you smell like, that you are. And so, accordingly as the wind blows, you spill yourself, even against your will, either backwards8 or forwards, on the currents of the air.
Nitka increased her pace, and as she ran the smell grew sweeter and stronger, and made her mad for the kill. It was not long before her sharp eyes gave her sight of a deer feeding in an open glade9. Nitka stooped her long body to the earth, and began to stalk her prey10. All about her the forest seemed to hold back its breath.
It was no noise which Nitka made which betrayed her presence. She herself came stooping nearer like a shadow on four feet. And as it was up-wind that she came, she spilt herself upon the air backwards, not forwards, to the deer. Yet something there was which seemed to give it warning beyond sound, or sight, or smell.
It stopped feeding, and lifted its head. For a moment or two it stood as still as an image carved in stone; yet, as Nitka knew well, it was the stillness of warm flesh that paused before it fled. She gathered her legs under her for the deadly spring. The deer turned its head quickly, and saw a long grey shadow launch itself through the dusk. It was the last leaping shadow the deer would ever see. For the law of the forest is a stern and unpitying one—the law of Hunger, and the law of Desire.
When Nitka had finished her kill, and satisfied her hunger, she thought of the babies at home. They were too small yet for flesh food, so it was no use carrying any back to them. Nevertheless they would be wanting their supper badly, and she must go and give it to them if she would have any quiet in her mind. So she trotted11 through the forest, having first buried some pieces of the deer where she would know where to find them.
The cave in which her cubs12 were waiting was far away, for she had travelled many miles, but her instinct told her how to find it easily again, and she made a straight line for it, loping along towards the hills. She was going down-wind now, and did not catch a scent of the things in front. But as she had had her kill, that did not matter. There was one thought in her old wise head, and that thought was home.
But before she reached it, she lit upon a strange thing. It lay right in her path—a small brown bundle that now and then set up a thin wail14. Nitka observed it carefully, then ran round to the leeward15 of it to pick up its scent the better. With strange things she always did this. You never knew what a strange thing might do before your nose could give you warning. As she circled, she came upon another smell which she had smelled before—the scent of man, of which she was afraid. But it was a trail several hours old, and was growing a little stale. Nitka crept up to the peculiar16 bundle. She sniffed17 at it hard, then turned it over gently with her paw. As she did so, it stirred a little and whimpered. The smell was the smell of man, but the whimper was that of a cub13. Nitka distrusted the smell, but the whimper was good. She was not hungry now, but there were the hungry babies at home. She must not delay any longer. She caught up the bundle by the loose skin that covered it, and started off again. She had to go more slowly now, because of the bundle, and when at last she reached the cave upon the mountain-side, the night had fallen. Dark though it was, the baby wolves were awake, and ready for a famous meal; but in the odd bundle which their mother dropped inside the mouth of the den7 they were not interested enough to find out what it was. When they had had their supper they fell fast asleep, and when the rising moon cast a glimmer18 into the cave, you might have seen an old mother wolf and a family of cubs all snuggled up together and very fast asleep.
But in the morning, when they woke up, there was another cub, a cub whose clothes were not of fur, but of a strange covering which they would have called Indian blanket if they had had any word for such a thing in their furry language. However, they speedily took to worrying this odd blanket; and presently off it came and was found to be no skin at all, but only a loose cover that tore to pieces beautifully, and made you cough when you tried to swallow it. Inside, the baby had another skin that was of a reddish brown and very soft. They began to worry that also, hoping it might come off too, but it stuck fast to what was underneath19, as is the way with such skins, being specially20 prepared to stick, and the baby inside it began to squeal21 like mad.
For some reason or other, the baby did not bite back again. It just lay on its back, and waved fat arms and legs in the air. That hurt nobody, so the little wolves rolled it over and over, and tried to take pieces out of its arms and legs, and thought it was quite the biggest joke they had had in all their lives. Only the new baby did not have a sense of humour, and refused to enter into the fun. It only squealed22 louder and louder, and actually squeezed water out of its little eyes!
Then, all at once, without any warning whatever, Nitka put a stop to the fun by cuffing23 her babies right and left; and so the new baby did not have to cry alone, but was joined by all the little wolves, yelping24 with fear and pain. So from that time onward25 they learned slowly that the new baby was not to be bitten just for fun, but was somehow or other a little naked brother who had left his coat behind him in the outside world.
If you had asked Nitka why she had taken the baby's part, I don't believe she could have told you. All she knew was that there was a feeling inside her that this odd thing she had found in the forest was to be protected from harm.
That was in the early days of little Shasta's life. He was so tiny that he soon grew used to the difference between living among the wolves and living among his own kind. And soon he forgot even the dim thing he once remembered, and thought there was no life but the life of the cave where always it was shadowy and cool even in the hottest summer day. And he learned to play with the little wolves, his brothers, and wrestle26 and box with them, and go tumbling all over the cave floor with never a squeal. Only sometimes when the play seemed to grow too rough, and old Nitka thought he was having a bad time of it, she would rescue him from his playmates, and give everybody a general smacking27 all round: and then there would be peace for a little time.
So that is how it came to pass that Shasta learnt the language of the wolves, and of the other animals—and indeed for a time knew no other—and understood what they said and thought, and even felt, when there was no need of any words.
And all this knowledge was of great use afterwards, and was the saving of his life, as you shall presently be told.
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1
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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2
furry
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| adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的 | |
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ravening
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| a.贪婪而饥饿的 | |
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4
smack
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| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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6
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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7
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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8
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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9
glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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10
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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11
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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12
cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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13
cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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14
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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15
leeward
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| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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16
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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17
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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18
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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19
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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21
squeal
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| v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音 | |
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22
squealed
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
cuffing
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| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的现在分词 )；袖口状白血球聚集 | |
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24
yelping
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
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25
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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26
wrestle
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| vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付 | |
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27
smacking
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| 活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的 | |
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