It was in a fight with Musha-Wunk that this quality of Shasta's body first made itself known. Musha-Wunk was a bully4, and one of the leaders of those who enjoyed teasing Shasta whenever they had a chance. So one day Musha-Wunk and his companions came upon Shasta when he was sitting by himself amongst the bunch-grass of the creek5.
At first, when Musha-Wunk began to tease and probe him with a stick, Shasta pretended not to mind, and got up and walked away.
Even when Musha-Wunk followed and stabbed him again, he took it all in good part, and caught hold of the stick with a laugh. But Musha-Wunk snatched the stick away with a vicious pull and struck Shasta with it across the face.
What followed came so quickly that those who watched held their breath in astonishment6. The leap of a wolf is so swift that it must be seen to be believed. When Shasta leaped on the bully, the other boys saw something that seemed to hurl7 itself through the air, strike savagely9, and bound away. Musha-Wunk, taken utterly10 by surprise, went down under the blow. He was on his feet in an instant, but almost before he was up, Shasta had hurled11 himself on him again. This time Musha-Wunk seized him before he could leap away, and both boys rolled over together. Musha-Wunk was the heavier of the two. He had bigger bones and a more powerful body. If he could have held Shasta down, he would certainly have had the best of it. But to hold Shasta down was like sitting on a small volcano. There was a violent eruption12 of arms and legs, and Musha-Wunk was lifted into the air! While he was still struggling to his feet, Shasta was on him again.
It was the wolf in Shasta which urged him to these lightning attacks and counter-attacks which made the eyes blink. Once the wild-beast spirit in him was fully13 roused, nothing could stand against it. The wolf-blood raced in his veins14; the wolf-light flashed in his eyes. There broke out of his throat fierce sounds which certainly were not human. As he fought, he seemed to himself to be a wolf again, with the uncontrollable wolf-fury raging in his heart. Yet it was not merely wild rage that was in him. At the back of his mind, he knew that he was fighting for his freedom, for his self-respect. Once he allowed himself to be beaten by Musha-Wunk, he knew that the other boys would have no mercy upon him.
The time for gentleness and forbearance was gone by. The fight was none of his making. Musha-Wunk had forced it upon him, because he was a bully, and because he had judged Shasta to be a coward. The other boys stood round in a silent ring, watching the fight with glittering eyes. Their very silence showed how deeply they were moved; though, Indian-like, they gave no vent15 to their feeling by any outward sign. They were like a circle of animals, watching, with a fierce animal joy, a combat waged to the death. And presently a terror, as of death itself, came to Musha-Wunk, the bully, as he fought. He had thought that to conquer Shasta would be a very easy thing. He wanted to give him a good thrashing, see the blood flow, and leave the wolf-boy half dead at the finish. But now he knew, when too late, that he had roused something which it was not in his power to subdue16. By his own folly17 and cruelty, he had drawn18 upon himself a vengeance19 which was not of men, but of the wolves. He ceased to take the offensive. All he wanted now was to defend himself as best he could against Shasta's lightning attacks. It was when he tried to hold Shasta that the marvellous elasticity20 of the wolf-boy's body showed itself. No matter how Musha-Wunk bent21 it this way and that, straining every muscle till the veins stood out on his throat, Shasta's firm flesh and wonderful sinews resisted every effort to break him into submission22. He twirled himself into the most astonishing positions, upsetting Musha-Wunk every time the bully seemed for a moment to have gained the upper hand.
The fight finished as suddenly as it had begun. Musha-Wunk had received so severe a punishing that at last he could bear it no longer. It was not his body alone that suffered. In his mind the terror was growing. It was a horrible feeling that what he fought was a boy outwardly only, and was in reality more than half a wolf! The sudden leap, the break away, the deadly leap again—this was how the wolves fought. It was not to be met in any familiar human way. Taking advantage of a moment when Shasta seemed to pause, Musha-Wunk turned and fled towards the camp.
The other Indian boys looked on in astonishment at this ending to the fight. They would hardly believe their eyes that the big and masterful Musha-Wunk should be defeated so utterly by the little wolf-boy that at last he should flee in terror. They gazed at Shasta, the victor, in awe24, keeping a respectful distance for fear lest the wolf in him might turn suddenly upon them. It did not need Shasta's quick eyes to perceive this fear upon them; his mind caught it as it oozed25, in spite of themselves, into the air. Swift, as always, to act when his mind had once clearly seen a thing, he made a quick step forward, crouching26 as if to spring. To the alarmed Indian boys it seemed as if his whole body quivered with rage. In its crouching position it seemed to take on itself mysteriously the actual outlines of a wolf. Certainly the eyes between the long and shaggy locks of hair shot out a light that was not human, but of that deep brute27 world, old and savage8, in the thick lair28 of the trees.
It was enough. Without waiting an instant longer, the whole band broke asunder29 and took to their heels in flight.
Shasta watched their departure with a joyful30 triumph. Now at last he had proved that the wolf-spirit in him was not to be broken, and that those who provoked or insulted it did so at their own peril31. It was the upright, free spirit of the wild. And as such it was a good spirit, and belonged to the early freshness of the world. In Shasta, it would not attack or injure things as long as they left him alone. But once his freedom or peace were threatened, then he would resist with all the strength in his power.
When the last flying form had disappeared behind the rising ground, Shasta turned towards the trees. The excitement that was in him danced and bubbled in his blood. He was tired and sore in his body, but his heart was high—high as the tops of the spruces and the pines. He felt that he must go and tell his heart to the trees.
He went far into the forest, and then sat down. The trees were all about him—close on every side. It was as if they were crowding up to him to hear what he had to say. The big silence of them did not make him lonely or afraid. They were solemn and yet companionable, and full of wise "medicine"—which he understood, but could not put into speech.
The Indian camp was very far away now. Musha-Wunk and the others were little things that did not matter. It was the trees that mattered now—the trees and the wolves.
Only his fine ear could have detected that soft footfall coming down the trail! And when he turned his eyes, it did not surprise him that he looked straight into those of a big grey wolf.
What Shasta said to the wolf and what the wolf said to Shasta cannot be set down in words. Though it was neither Nitka nor Shoomoo, it was a wolf-brother of three seasons back, and the two recognized each other in some mysterious way. And so Shasta was able to learn all he wanted to know about the den23 upon the Bargloosh, and how his foster-parents fared. It was over nine months now since he had seen them, but, according to the wolf-brother, nothing was amiss. Upon the Bargloosh everything went much as it had gone in the old days when Shasta was a little naked man-cub, and had no notion of wearing clothes. The wolf-brother did not approve of the clothing Shasta wore, though it was only a little tanned buckskin tunic32 falling to the knee. For that was one of Shasta's peculiarities33, that though he suffered the upper part of his body to be clad, he would not allow them to interfere34 with the freedom of his legs. Moccasins he would only wear in winter, when the frost bit hard, or in the summer when he had a fit upon him to decorate his feet. Running-Laughing had made him the summer moccasins, and had embroidered35 them most cunningly with elk-teeth and porcupine36 quills37. Shasta walked stiffly, with a sense of grandeur38, when he wore the summer moccasins, looking down at his feet as if they belonged to some great medicine-man or important chief.
The wolf-brother sniffed39 at the tunic disapprovingly40. The Indian smell of it upset him, and made his hackles rise. So Shasta, to please him, took it off, and let him see that it was only a loose skin that did not matter, and could easily be thrown away. After that things went more smoothly41, and they talked companionably together in the shadow of the trees. And when the evening light began to be golden about the tops of the spruces, and the forest to stir, and shake off the drowsy42 weight of the afternoon, the wolf-brother departed as suddenly and softly as he had come, and Shasta, having watched him go regretfully, turned homewards to the camp.
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1
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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2
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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3
suppleness
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| 柔软； 灵活； 易弯曲； 顺从 | |
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4
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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5
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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6
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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7
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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8
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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9
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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10
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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11
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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12
eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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13
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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14
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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15
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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16
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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17
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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18
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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19
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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20
elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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21
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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22
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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23
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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24
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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25
oozed
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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26
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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27
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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28
lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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29
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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30
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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31
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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32
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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33
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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34
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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35
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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36
porcupine
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| n.豪猪， 箭猪 | |
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37
quills
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| n.（刺猬或豪猪的）刺( quill的名词复数 )；羽毛管；翮；纡管 | |
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38
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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39
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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40
disapprovingly
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| adv.不以为然地，不赞成地，非难地 | |
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41
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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42
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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