When December was well along, Grey Beaver1 went on a journey upthe Mackenzie. Mit-sah and Kloo-kooch went with him. One sled he drovehimself, drawn2 by dogs he had traded for or borrowed. A second andsmaller sled was driven by Mit-sah, and to this was harnessed a team ofpuppies. It was more of a toy affair than anything else, yet it was thedelight of Mit-sah, who felt that he was beginning to do a man's work inthe world. Also, he was learning to drive dogs and to train dogs; while thepuppies themselves were being broken in to the harness. Furthermore, thesled was of some service, for it carried nearly two hundred pounds ofoutfit and food.
White Fang3 had seen the camp-dogs toiling4 in the harness, so that hedid not resent overmuch the first placing of the harness upon himself.
About his neck was put a moss-stuffed collar, which was connected bytwo pulling-traces to a strap6 that passed around his chest and over his back.
It was to this that was fastened the long rope by which he pulled at thesled.
There were seven puppies in the team. The others had been bornearlier in the year and were nine and ten months old, while White Fangwas only eight months old. Each dog was fastened to the sled by a singlerope. No two ropes were of the same length, while the difference in lengthbetween any two ropes was at least that of a dog's body. Every rope wasbrought to a ring at the front end of the sled. The sled itself was withoutrunners, being a birch-bark toboggan, with upturned forward end to keep itfrom ploughing under the snow. This construction enabled the weight ofthe sled and load to be distributed over the largest snow-surface; for thesnow was crystal-powder and very soft. Observing the same principle ofwidest distribution of weight, the dogs at the ends of their ropes radiatedfan-fashion from the nose of the sled, so that no dog trod in another'sfootsteps.
There was, furthermore, another virtue7 in the fan-formation. The ropesof varying length prevented the dogs attacking from the rear those that ranin front of them. For a dog to attack another, it would have to turn uponone at a shorter rope. In which case it would find itself face to face withthe dog attacked, and also it would find itself facing the whip of the driver.
But the most peculiar9 virtue of all lay in the fact that the dog that strove toattack one in front of him must pull the sled faster, and that the faster thesled travelled, the faster could the dog attacked run away. Thus, the dogbehind could never catch up with the one in front. The faster he ran, thefaster ran the one he was after, and the faster ran all the dogs. Incidentally,the sled went faster, and thus, by cunning indirection, did man increase hismastery over the beasts.
Mit-sah resembled his father, much of whose grey wisdom hepossessed. In the past he had observed Lip-lip's persecution12 of White Fang;but at that time Lip-lip was another man's dog, and Mit-sah had neverdared more than to shy an occasional stone at him. But now Lip-lip washis dog, and he proceeded to wreak13 his vengeance14 on him by putting himat the end of the longest rope. This made Lip-lip the leader, and wasapparently an honour! but in reality it took away from him all honour, andinstead of being bully15 and master of the pack, he now found himself hatedand persecuted16 by the pack.
Because he ran at the end of the longest rope, the dogs had always theview of him running away before them. All that they saw of him was hisbushy tail and fleeing hind10 legs - a view far less ferocious17 and intimidatingthan his bristling18 mane and gleaming fangs19. Also, dogs being soconstituted in their mental ways, the sight of him running away gavedesire to run after him and a feeling that he ran away from them.
The moment the sled started, the team took after Lip-lip in a chase thatextended throughout the day. At first he had been prone20 to turn upon hispursuers, jealous of his dignity and wrathful; but at such times Mit-sahwould throw the stinging lash21 of the thirty-foot cariboo-gut whip into hisface and compel him to turn tail and run on. Lip-lip might face the pack,but he could not face that whip, and all that was left him to do was to keephis long rope taut22 and his flanks ahead of the teeth of his mates.
But a still greater cunning lurked23 in the recesses24 of the Indian mind. Togive point to unending pursuit of the leader, Mit-sah favoured him over theother dogs. These favours aroused in them jealousy25 and hatred26. In theirpresence Mit-sah would give him meat and would give it to him only. Thiswas maddening to them. They would rage around just outside thethrowing-distance of the whip, while Lip-lip devoured27 the meat and Mit-sah protected him. And when there was no meat to give, Mit-sah wouldkeep the team at a distance and make believe to give meat to Lip-lip.
White Fang took kindly28 to the work. He had travelled a greaterdistance than the other dogs in the yielding of himself to the rule of thegods, and he had learned more thoroughly29 the futility30 of opposing theirwill. In addition, the persecution he had suffered from the pack had madethe pack less to him in the scheme of things, and man more. He had notlearned to be dependent on his kind for companionship. Besides, Kichewas well-nigh forgotten; and the chief outlet31 of expression that remainedto him was in the allegiance he tendered the gods he had accepted asmasters. So he worked hard, learned discipline, and was obedient.
Faithfulness and willingness characterised his toil5. These are essentialtraits of the wolf and the wild-dog when they have become domesticated,and these traits White Fang possessed11 in unusual measure.
A companionship did exist between White Fang and the other dogs,but it was one of warfare32 and enmity. He had never learned to play withthem. He knew only how to fight, and fight with them he did, returning tothem a hundred-fold the snaps and slashes33 they had given him in the dayswhen Lip-lip was leader of the pack. But Lip-lip was no longer leader -except when he fled away before his mates at the end of his rope, the sledbounding along behind. In camp he kept close to Mit-sah or Grey Beaveror Kloo-kooch. He did not dare venture away from the gods, for now thefangs of all dogs were against him, and he tasted to the dregs thepersecution that had been White Fang's.
With the overthrow34 of Lip-lip, White Fang could have become leaderof the pack. But he was too morose35 and solitary36 for that. He merelythrashed his team-mates.
Otherwise he ignored them. They got out of hisway when he came along; nor did the boldest of them ever dare to rob himof his meat. On the contrary, they devoured their own meat hurriedly, forfear that he would take it away from them. White Fang knew the law well:
TO OPPRESS THE WEAK AND OBEY THE STRONG. He ate his shareof meat as rapidly as he could. And then woe37 the dog that had not yetfinished! A snarl38 and a flash of fangs, and that dog would wail39 hisindignation to the uncomforting stars while White Fang finished hisportion for him.
Every little while, however, one dog or another would flame up inrevolt and be promptly40 subdued41. Thus White Fang was kept in training. Hewas jealous of the isolation42 in which he kept himself in the midst of thepack, and he fought often to maintain it. But such fights were of briefduration. He was too quick for the others. They were slashed43 open andbleeding before they knew what had happened, were whipped almostbefore they had begun to fight.
As rigid44 as the sled-discipline of the gods, was the disciplinemaintained by White Fang amongst his fellows. He never allowed themany latitude45. He compelled them to an unremitting respect for him. Theymight do as they pleased amongst themselves. That was no concern of his.
But it WAS his concern that they leave him alone in his isolation, get outof his way when he elected to walk among them, and at all timesacknowledge his mastery over them. A hint of stiff-leggedness on theirpart, a lifted lip or a bristle46 of hair, and he would be upon them, mercilessand cruel, swiftly convincing them of the error of their way.
He was a monstrous47 tyrant48. His mastery was rigid as steel. Heoppressed the weak with a vengeance. Not for nothing had he beenexposed to the pitiless struggles for life in the day of his cubhood, whenhis mother and he, alone and unaided, held their own and survived in theferocious environment of the Wild. And not for nothing had he learned towalk softly when superior strength went by. He oppressed the weak, but herespected the strong. And in the course of the long journey with GreyBeaver he walked softly indeed amongst the full-grown dogs in the campsof the strange man- animals they encountered.
The months passed by. Still continued the journey of Grey Beaver.
White Fang's strength was developed by the long hours on trail and thesteady toil at the sled; and it would have seemed that his mentaldevelopment was well-nigh complete. He had come to know quitethoroughly the world in which he lived. His outlook was bleak49 andmaterialistic. The world as he saw it was a fierce and brutal50 world, a worldwithout warmth, a world in which caresses51 and affection and the brightsweetnesses of the spirit did not exist.
He had no affection for Grey Beaver. True, he was a god, but a mostsavage god. White Fang was glad to acknowledge his lordship, but it wasa lordship based upon superior intelligence and brute53 strength. There wassomething in the fibre of White Fang's being that made his lordship a thingto be desired, else he would not have come back from the Wild when hedid to tender his allegiance. There were deeps in his nature which hadnever been sounded. A kind word, a caressing54 touch of the hand, on thepart of Grey Beaver, might have sounded these deeps; but Grey Beaver didnot caress52, nor speak kind words. It was not his way. His primacy wassavage, and savagely55 he ruled, administering justice with a club, punishingtransgression with the pain of a blow, and rewarding merit, not bykindness, but by withholding56 a blow.
So White Fang knew nothing of the heaven a man's hand mightcontain for him. Besides, he did not like the hands of the man-animals. Hewas suspicious of them. It was true that they sometimes gave meat, butmore often they gave hurt. Hands were things to keep away from. Theyhurled stones, wielded57 sticks and clubs and whips, administered slaps andclouts, and, when they touched him, were cunning to hurt with pinch andtwist and wrench58. In strange villages he had encountered the hands of thechildren and learned that they were cruel to hurt. Also, he had once nearlyhad an eye poked59 out by a toddling60 papoose. From these experiences hebecame suspicious of all children. He could not tolerate them. When theycame near with their ominous61 hands, he got up.
It was in a village at the Great Slave Lake, that, in the course ofresenting the evil of the hands of the man-animals, he came to modify thelaw that he had learned from Grey Beaver: namely, that the unpardonablecrime was to bite one of the gods. In this village, after the custom of alldogs in all villages, White Fang went foraging62, for food. A boy waschopping frozen moose-meat with an axe63, and the chips were flying in thesnow. White Fang, sliding by in quest of meat, stopped and began to eatthe chips. He observed the boy lay down the axe and take up a stout64 club.
White Fang sprang clear, just in time to escape the descending65 blow. Theboy pursued him, and he, a stranger in the village, fled between two tepeesto find himself cornered against a high earth bank.
There was no escape for White Fang. The only way out was betweenthe two tepees, and this the boy guarded. Holding his club prepared tostrike, he drew in on his cornered quarry66. White Fang was furious. Hefaced the boy, bristling and snarling67, his sense of justice outraged68. Heknew the law of forage69. All the wastage of meat, such as the frozen chips,belonged to the dog that found it. He had done no wrong, broken no law,yet here was this boy preparing to give him a beating. White Fang scarcelyknew what happened. He did it in a surge of rage. And he did it so quicklythat the boy did not know either. All the boy knew was that he had in someunaccountable way been overturned into the snow, and that his club-handhad been ripped wide open by White Fang's teeth.
But White Fang knew that he had broken the law of the gods. He haddriven his teeth into the sacred flesh of one of them, and could expectnothing but a most terrible punishment. He fled away to Grey Beaver,behind whose protecting legs he crouched70 when the bitten boy and theboy's family came, demanding vengeance. But they went away withvengeance unsatisfied. Grey Beaver defended White Fang. So did Mit-sahand Kloo-kooch. White Fang, listening to the wordy war and watching theangry gestures, knew that his act was justified71. And so it came that helearned there were gods and gods. There were his gods, and there wereother gods, and between them there was a difference. Justice or injustice72,it was all the same, he must take all things from the hands of his own gods.
But he was not compelled to take injustice from the other gods. It was hisprivilege to resent it with his teeth. And this also was a law of the gods.
Before the day was out, White Fang was to learn more about this law.
Mit-sah, alone, gathering73 firewood in the forest, encountered the boy thathad been bitten. With him were other boys. Hot words passed. Then all theboys attacked Mit-sah. It was going hard with him. Blows were rainingupon him from all sides. White Fang looked on at first. This was an affairof the gods, and no concern of his. Then he realised that this was Mit-sah,one of his own particular gods, who was being maltreated. It was noreasoned impulse that made White Fang do what he then did. A mad rushof anger sent him leaping in amongst the combatants. Five minutes laterthe landscape was covered with fleeing boys, many of whom drippedblood upon the snow in token that White Fang's teeth had not been idle.
When Mit-sah told the story in camp, Grey Beaver ordered meat to begiven to White Fang. He ordered much meat to be given, and White Fang,gorged and sleepy by the fire, knew that the law had received itsverification.
It was in line with these experiences that White Fang came to learn thelaw of property and the duty of the defence of property. From theprotection of his god's body to the protection of his god's possessions wasa step, and this step he made. What was his god's was to be defendedagainst all the world - even to the extent of biting other gods. Not only wassuch an act sacrilegious in its nature, but it was fraught74 with peril75. Thegods were all-powerful, and a dog was no match against them; yet WhiteFang learned to face them, fiercely belligerent76 and unafraid. Duty roseabove fear, and thieving gods learned to leave Grey Beaver's propertyalone.
One thing, in this connection, White Fang quickly learnt, and that wasthat a thieving god was usually a cowardly god and prone to run away atthe sounding of the alarm. Also, he learned that but brief time elapsedbetween his sounding of the alarm and Grey Beaver coming to his aid. Hecame to know that it was not fear of him that drove the thief away, but fearof Grey Beaver. White Fang did not give the alarm by barking. He neverbarked. His method was to drive straight at the intruder, and to sink histeeth in if he could. Because he was morose and solitary, having nothing todo with the other dogs, he was unusually fitted to guard his master'sproperty; and in this he was encouraged and trained by Grey Beaver. Oneresult of this was to make White Fang more ferocious and indomitable,and more solitary.
The months went by, binding77 stronger and stronger the covenantbetween dog and man. This was the ancient covenant78 that the first wolfthat came in from the Wild entered into with man. And, like all succeedingwolves and wild dogs that had done likewise, White Fang worked thecovenant out for himself. The terms were simple. For the possession of aflesh-and-blood god, he exchanged his own liberty. Food and fire,protection and companionship, were some of the things he received fromthe god. In return, he guarded the god's property, defended his body,worked for him, and obeyed him.
The possession of a god implies service. White Fang's was a service ofduty and awe79, but not of love. He did not know what love was. He had noexperience of love. Kiche was a remote memory. Besides, not only had heabandoned the Wild and his kind when he gave himself up to man, but theterms of the covenant were such that if ever he met Kiche again he wouldnot desert his god to go with her. His allegiance to man seemed somehowa law of his being greater than the love of liberty, of kind and kin8.
收听单词发音 |
1
beaver
|
|
| n.海狸，河狸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
fang
|
|
| n.尖牙，犬牙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
toiling
|
|
| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
toil
|
|
| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
strap
|
|
| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
kin
|
|
| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
hind
|
|
| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
persecution
|
|
| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
wreak
|
|
| v.发泄；报复 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
vengeance
|
|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
bully
|
|
| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
persecuted
|
|
| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
ferocious
|
|
| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
bristling
|
|
| a.竖立的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
fangs
|
|
| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
prone
|
|
| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
lash
|
|
| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
taut
|
|
| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
lurked
|
|
| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
recesses
|
|
| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
jealousy
|
|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
devoured
|
|
| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
futility
|
|
| n.无用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
outlet
|
|
| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
warfare
|
|
| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
slashes
|
|
| n.（用刀等）砍( slash的名词复数 )；（长而窄的）伤口；斜杠；撒尿v.挥砍( slash的第三人称单数 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
overthrow
|
|
| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
morose
|
|
| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
woe
|
|
| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
snarl
|
|
| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
wail
|
|
| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
isolation
|
|
| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
slashed
|
|
| v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
rigid
|
|
| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
latitude
|
|
| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
bristle
|
|
| v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
monstrous
|
|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
tyrant
|
|
| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
bleak
|
|
| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
caresses
|
|
| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
caress
|
|
| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
brute
|
|
| n.野兽，兽性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
caressing
|
|
| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
savagely
|
|
| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
withholding
|
|
| 扣缴税款 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
wielded
|
|
| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
wrench
|
|
| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
poked
|
|
| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
toddling
|
|
| v.（幼儿等）东倒西歪地走( toddle的现在分词 )；蹒跚行走；溜达；散步 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
ominous
|
|
| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
foraging
|
|
| v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
axe
|
|
| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
descending
|
|
| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
quarry
|
|
| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
snarling
|
|
| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
outraged
|
|
| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
forage
|
|
| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
crouched
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
justified
|
|
| a.正当的，有理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
injustice
|
|
| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
fraught
|
|
| adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
peril
|
|
| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
belligerent
|
|
| adj.好战的，挑起战争的；n.交战国，交战者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
binding
|
|
| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
covenant
|
|
| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
awe
|
|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |