Who Has Won to Mastership"Eh? Wot I say? I spik true w'en I say dat Buck1 two devils."This was Francois's speech next morning when he discovered Spitzmissing and Buck covered with wounds. He drew him to the fire andby its light pointed2 them out.
"Dat Spitz fight lak hell," said Perrault, as he surveyed the gapingrips and cuts.
"An' dat Buck fight lak two hells," was Francois's answer. "An' nowwe make good time. No more Spitz, no more trouble, sure."While Perrault packed the camp outfit3 and loaded the sled, the dog-driver proceeded to harness the dogs. Buck trotted4 up to the placeSpitz would have occupied as leader; but Francois, not noticing him,brought Sol-leks to the coveted5 position. In his judgment6, Sol-leks wasthe best lead-dog left. Buck sprang upon Sol-leks in a fury, driving himback and standing7 in his place.
"Eh? eh?" Francois cried, slapping his thighs8 gleefully. "Look at datBuck. Heem keel dat Spitz, heem t'ink to take de job.""Go 'way, Chook!" he cried, but Buck refused to budge9.
He took Buck by the scruff of the neck, and though the dog growledthreateningly, dragged him to one side and replaced Sol-leks. The olddog did not like it, and showed plainly that he was afraid of Buck.
Francois was obdurate12, but when he turned his back Buck againdisplaced Sol-leks, who was not at all unwilling13 to go.
Francois was angry. "Now, by Gar, I feex you!" he cried, comingback with a heavy club in his hand.
Buck remembered the man in the red sweater, and retreated slowly;nor did he attempt to charge in when Sol-leks was once more broughtforward. But he circled just beyond the range of the club, snarling14 withbitterness and rage; and while he circled he watched the club so as tododge it if thrown by Francois, for he was become wise in the way ofclubs. The driver went about his work, and he called to Buck when hewas ready to put him in his old place in front of Dave. Buck retreatedtwo or three steps. Francois followed him up, whereupon he againretreated. After some time of this, Francois threw down the club,thinking that Buck feared a thrashing. But Buck was in open revolt.
He wanted, not to escape a clubbing, but to have the leadership. It washis by right. He had earned it, and he would not be content with less.
Perrault took a hand. Between them they ran him about for thebetter part of an hour. They threw clubs at him. He dodged15. Theycursed him, and his fathers and mothers before him, and all his seed tocome after him down to the remotest generation, and every hair on hisbody and drop of blood in his veins17; and he answered curse with snarland kept out of their reach. He did not try to run away, but retreatedaround and around the camp, advertising18 plainly that when his desirewas met, he would come in and be good.
Francois sat down and scratched his head. Perrault looked at hiswatch and swore. Time was flying, and they should have been on thetrail an hour gone. Francois scratched his head again. He shook itand grinned sheepishly at the courier, who shrugged19 his shoulders insign that they were beaten. Then Francois went up to where Sol-leksstood and called to Buck. Buck laughed, as dogs laugh, yet kept hisdistance. Francois unfastened Sol-leks's traces and put him back in hisold place. The team stood harnessed to the sled in an unbroken line, to the sled.
His intention was to rest Dave, letting him run free behind the sled.
Sick as he was, Dave resented being taken out, grunting21 and growlingwhile the traces were unfastened, and whimpering broken-heartedlywhen he saw Sol-leks in the position he had held and served so long.
For the pride of trace and trail was his, and, sick unto death, he could notbear that another dog should do his work.
When the sled started, he floundered in the soft snow alongside thebeaten trail, attacking Sol-leks with his teeth, rushing against him andtrying to thrust him off into the soft snow on the other side, striving toleap inside his traces and get between him and the sled, and A the whilewhining and yelping22 and crying with grief and pain. The half-breedtried to drive him away with the whip; but he paid no heed23 to thestinging lash24, and the man had not the heart to strike harder. Daverefused to run quietly on the trail behind the sled, where the going waseasy, but continued to flounder alongside in the soft snow, where thegoing was most difficult, till exhausted25. Then he fell, and lay where hefell, howling lugubriously26 as the long train of sleds churned by.
With the last remnant of his strength he managed to stagger alongbehind till the train made another stop, when he floundered past the sledsto his own, where he stood alongside Sol-leks. His driver lingered amoment to get a light for his pipe from the man behind. Then hereturned and started his dogs. They swung out on the trail withremarkable lack of exertion27, turned their heads uneasily, and stopped insurprise. The driver was surprised, too; the sled had not moved. Hecalled his comrades to witness the sight. Dave had bitten through bothof Sol-leks's traces, and was standing directly in front of the sled in hisproper place.
He pleaded with his eyes to remain there. The driver was perplexed28.
His comrades talked of how a dog could break its heart through beingdenied the work that killed it, and recalled instances they had known,where dogs, too old for the toil29, or injured, had died because they werecut out of the traces. Also, they held it a mercy, since Dave was to dieanyway, that he should die in the traces, heart-easy and content. So hewas harnessed in again, and proudly he pulled as of old, though morethan once he cried out involuntarily from the bite of his inward hurt.
Several times he fell down and was dragged in the traces, and once thesled ran upon him so that he limped thereafter in one of his hind20 legs.
But he held out till camp was reached, when his driver made a placefor him by the fire. Morning found him too weak to travel. Atharness-up time he tried to crawl to his driver. By convulsive efforts hegot on his feet, staggered, and fell. Then he wormed his way forwardslowly toward where the harnesses were being put on his mates. Hewould advance his fore16 legs and drag up his body with a sort of hitchingmovement, when he would advance his fore legs and hitch30 ahead againfor a few more inches. His strength left him, and the last his mates sawof him he lay gasping31 in the snow and yearning32 toward them. But theycould hear him mournfully howling till they passed out of sight behind abelt of river timber.
Here the train was halted. The Scotch33 half-breed slowly retracedhis steps to the camp they had left. The men ceased talking. Arevolver-shot rang out. The man came back hurriedly. The whipssnapped, the bells tinkled35 merrily, the sleds churned along the trail; butBuck knew, and every dog knew, what had taken place behind the belt ofriver trees.
ready for the trail. There was no place for Buck save at the front.
Once more Francois called, and once more Buck laughed and kept away.
"T'row down de club," Perrault commanded.
Francois complied, whereupon Buck trotted in, laughingtriumphantly, and swung around into position at the head of the team.
His traces were fastened, the sled broken out, and with both men runningthey dashed out on to the river trail.
Highly as the dog-driver had forevalued Buck, with his two devils,he found, while the day was yet young, that he had undervalued. At abound36 Buck took up the duties of leadership; and where judgment wasrequired, and quick thinking and quick acting37, he showed himself thesuperior even of Spitz, of whom Francois had never seen an equal.
But it was in giving the law and making his mates live up to it, thatBuck excelled. Dave and Sol-leks did not mind the change inleadership. It was none of their business. Their business was to toil,and toil mightily38, in the traces.
So long as that were not interfered39 with,they did not care what happened. Billee, the good-natured, could leadfor all they cared, so long as he kept order. The rest of the team,however, had grown unruly during the last days of Spitz, and theirsurprise was great now that Buck proceeded to lick them into shape.
Pike, who pulled at Buck's heels, and who never put an ounce moreof his weight against the breast-band than he was compelled to do, wasswiftly and repeatedly shaken for loafing; and ere the first day was donehe was pulling more than ever before in his life. The first night in camp,Joe, the sour one, was punished roundly-- a thing that Spitz had neversucceeded in doing. Buck simply smothered40 him by virtue41 of superiorweight, and cut him up till he ceased snapping and began to whine42 for mercy.
The general tone of the team picked up immediately. It recoveredits old-time solidarity43, and once more the dogs leaped as one dog in thetraces. At the Rink Rapids two native huskies, Teek and Koona, wereadded; and the celerity with which Buck broke them in took awayFrancois's breath.
"Nevaire such a dog as dat Buck!" he cried. "No, nevaire! Heemworth one t'ousan' dollair, by Gar! Eh? Wot you say, Perrault?"And Perrault nodded. He was ahead of the record then, and gainingday by day. The trail was in excellent condition, well packed and hard,and there was no new-fallen snow with which to contend. It was nottoo cold. The temperature dropped to fifty below zero and remainedthere the whole trip. The men rode and ran by turn, and the dogs werekept on the jump, with but infrequent stoppages.
The Thirty Mile River was comparatively coated with ice, and theycovered in one day going out what had taken them ten days coming in.
In one run they made a sixty-mile dash from the foot of Lake Le Bargeto the White Horse Rapids. Across Marsh44, Tagish, and Bennett (seventymiles of lakes), they flew so fast that the man whose turn it was to runtowed behind the sled at the end of a rope. And on the last night of thesecond week they topped White Pass and dropped down the sea slopewith the lights of Skaguay and of the shipping45 at their feet.
It was a record run. Each day for fourteen days they had averagedforty miles. For three days Perrault and Francois threw chests up anddown the main street of Skaguay and were deluged46 with invitations todrink, while the team was the constant centre of a worshipful crowd ofdog-busters and mushers. Then three or four western bad men aspiredto clean out the town, were riddled47 like pepper-boxes for their pains, andpublic interest turned to other idols48. Next came official orders.
Francois called Buck to him, threw his arms around him, wept over him.
And that was the last of Francois and Perrault. Like other men, theypassed out of Buck's life for good.
A Scotch half-breed took charge of him and his mates, and incompany with a dozen other dog-teams he started back over the wearytrail to Dawson. It was no light running now, nor record time, butheavy toil each day, with a heavy load behind; for this was the mail train,carrying word from the world to the men who sought gold under theshadow of the Pole.
Buck did not like it, but he bore up well to the work, taking pride init after the manner of Dave and Sol-leks, and seeing that his mates,whether they prided in it or not, did their fair share. It was amonotonous life, operating with machine-like regularity49. One day wasvery like another. At a certain time each morning the cooks turned out,fires were built, and breakfast was eaten. Then, while some broke camp,others harnessed the dogs, and they were under way an hour or so beforethe darkness fell which gave warning of dawn. At night, camp wasmade. Some pitched the flies, others cut firewood and pine boughs50 forthe beds, and still others carried water or ice for the cooks. Also, thedogs were fed. To them, this was the one feature of the day, though itwas good to loaf around, after the fish was eaten, for an hour or sowith the other dogs, of which there were fivescore and odd. Therewere fierce fighters among them, but three battles with the fiercestbrought Buck to mastery, so that when he bristled51 and showed his teeththey got out of his way.
Best of all, perhaps, he loved to lie near the fire, hind legs crouchedunder him, fore legs stretched out in front, head raised, and eyes blinkingdreamily at the flames. Sometimes he thought of Judge Miller's bighouse in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley, and of the cementswimming-tank, and Ysabel, the Mexican hairless, and Toots, theJapanese pug; but oftener he remembered the man in the red sweater, thedeath of Curly, the great fight with Spitz, and the good things he hadeaten or would like to eat. He was not homesick. The Sunland wasvery dim and distant, and such memories had no power over him. Farmore potent53 were the memories of his heredity that gave things he hadnever seen before a seeming familiarity; the instincts (which were butthe memories of his ancestors become habits) which had lapsed54 in laterdays, and still later, in him, quickened and become alive again.
Sometimes as he crouched52 there, blinking dreamily at the flames, itseemed that the flames were of another fire, and that as he crouched bythis other fire he saw another and different man from the half-breed cookbefore him. This other man was shorter of leg and longer of arm, withmuscles that were stringy and knotty55 rather than rounded and swelling56.
The hair of this man was long and matted, and his head slanted57 backunder it from the eyes. He uttered strange sounds, and seemed verymuch afraid of the darkness, into which he peered continually, clutchingin his hand, which hung midway between knee and foot, a stick with aheavy stone made fast to the end. He was all but naked, a ragged11 andfire-scorched skin hanging part way down his back, but on his bodythere was much hair. In some places, across the chest and shouldersand down the outside of the arms and thighs, it was matted into almost athick fur. He did not stand erect58, but with trunk inclined forward fromthe hips34, on legs that bent59 at the knees. About his body there was apeculiar springiness, or resiliency, almost catlike, and a quick alertnessas of one who lived in perpetual fear of things seen and unseen.
At other times this hairy man squatted60 by the fire with head betweenhis legs and slept. On such occasions his elbows were on his knees, hishands clasped above his head as though to shed rain by the hairy arms.
And beyond that fire, in the circling darkness, Buck could see manygleaming coals, two by two, always two by two, which he knew to bethe eyes of great beasts of prey61. And he could hear the crashing of theirbodies through the undergrowth, and the noises they made in the night.
And dreaming there by the Yukon bank, with lazy eyes blinking at thefire, these sounds and sights of another world would make the hair torise along his back and stand on end across his shoulders and up his neck,till he whimpered low and suppressedly, or growled10 softly, and the half-breed cook shouted at him, "Hey, you Buck, wake up!" Whereupon theother world would vanish and the real world come into his eyes, and hewould get up and yawn and stretch as though he had been asleep.
It was a hard trip, with the mail behind them, and the heavy workwore them down. They were short of weight and in poor conditionwhen they made Dawson, and should have had a ten days' or a week'srest at least. But in two days' time they dropped down the Yukon bankfrom the Barracks, loaded with letters for the outside. The dogs weretired, the drivers grumbling62, and to make matters worse, it snowed everyday. This meant a soft trail, greater friction63 on the runners, and heavierpulling for the dogs; yet the drivers were fair through it all, and did theirbest for the animals.
Each night the dogs were attended to first. They ate before thedrivers ate, and no man sought his sleeping-robe till he had seen to thefeet of the dogs he drove. Still, their strength went down. Since thebeginning of the winter they had travelled eighteen hundred miles,dragging sleds the whole weary distance; and eighteen hundred mileswill tell upon life of the toughest. Buck stood it, keeping his mates upto their work and maintaining discipline, though he, too, was very tired.
Billee cried and whimpered regularly in his sleep each night. Joe wassourer than ever, and Sol-leks was unapproachable, blind side or other side.
But it was Dave who suffered most of all. Something had gonewrong with him. He became more morose64 and irritable65, and whencamp was pitched at once made his nest, where his driver fed him.
Once out of the harness and down, he did not get on his feet again tillharness-up time in the morning. Sometimes, in the traces, when jerkedby a sudden stoppage of the sled, or by straining to start it, he would cryout with pain. The driver examined him, but could find nothing. Allthe drivers became interested in his case. They talked it over at meal-time, and over their last pipes before going to bed, and one night theyheld a consultation66. He was brought from his nest to the fire and waspressed and prodded67 till he cried out many times. Something waswrong inside, but they could locate no broken bones, could not make it out.
By the time Cassiar Bar was reached, he was so weak that he wasfalling repeatedly in the traces. The Scotch half-breed called a halt andtook him out of the team, making the next dog, Sol-leks, fast
收听单词发音 |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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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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coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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budge
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| v.移动一点儿；改变立场 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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fore
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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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advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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grunting
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| 咕哝的，呼噜的 | |
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yelping
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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lugubriously
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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tinkled
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| （使）发出丁当声，（使）发铃铃声( tinkle的过去式和过去分词 )； 叮当响着发出，铃铃响着报出 | |
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abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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solidarity
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| n.团结；休戚相关 | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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deluged
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| v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付 | |
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riddled
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| adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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idols
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| 偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像 | |
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regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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lapsed
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| adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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knotty
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| adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的 | |
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swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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slanted
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| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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60
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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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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62
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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63
friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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64
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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65
irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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prodded
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| v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
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