书城童书义犬阿黄
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第22章

The fall of sand nearly buried the hogs. That’swhat saved me right at the start. I remember bumpingon to the back of one old hog,then finding my feet ina thick fog of dry sand - dust. I jumped blindly to oneside as far as I could. I broke into a run but I was toolate. A tusk caught me in the right leg.

塌落下去的沙土差一点儿把这些猪都给活埋了。开始时就是这件事救了我的命。我记得撞在一头老猪的背上,然后发现自己的脚埋在一层厚厚的干燥的沙土里。我盲目地使劲往一旁跳去。我拔腿就逃,可是已经太晚了。一颗獠牙戳进了我的右腿。

A sharp pain shot up into my body. Iscreamed.I tripped and went down. I screamed louderthen,knowing I could never get to my feet intime to get away from the angry hogs rushing downon me.

我感到一阵剧痛,尖声叫了起来。我绊了一下,跌倒下去。我叫得更响了,心想我永远也没法站起来及时地避开那些向我冲来的愤怒的猪群了。

It was Old Yeller who saved me. He threw himselfbetween me and the killer hogs. Teeth bared,he met them head on. He yelled with pain as thewicked tusks ripped into him. He took the terriblecuts that were meant for me,but he held hisground. He gave me that one - in - a - hundredchance to get away.

是阿黄救了我。它插身挡在我和那些充满了杀机的猪群中间。它龇牙咧嘴地一头朝它们扑去。当那些该死的长牙戳进它身子的时候,它痛得嚎叫起来了。它承受了那些本当是对准我的可怕的戳刺,但是毫不退缩。它给了我千载难逢的逃跑良机。

I took it.I was on my feet again. In wild fright I

我抓住这一时机,再次站起身

ran along the dry river - bed and up a bank. Then Idived through the forest of prickly pear. I ran untila forked stick tripped me and I fell.

来。我丧魂落魄地沿着干涸的河床奔跑,然后爬上了岸。接着我一头栽进霸王树林子,逃了出去。我狂奔着,直到一根带丫的树枝把我绊倒在地。

That fall,or perhaps it was the long prickly -pear pins that were hurting me in the hip,seemedto bring me out of my fright. I sat up,still breathinghard and with the blood hammering in my ears. ButI was all right in my mind again. I pulled the pinsout of my hip,and then rolled up my torn pants tolook at my leg. The blood was running out of thecut and right down into my shoe.

这一跤,也或许是霸王树上长长的刺戳痛了我的屁股,使我似乎从恐怖中清醒过来了。我坐了起来,仍旧气喘吁吁,血液扑通扑通地击打着我的耳鼓。但是现在我的头脑倒清醒了。我把屁股上的刺拔出来,接着把扯破了的裤腿卷起来察看我的腿。血正从伤口里流出来,顺着腿一直流进了我的鞋子里。

I sat and stared at it. Then I got a grip on myselfagain. I wiped away the blood. The cut was abad one,clean to the bone and very long. But itdidn’t hurt much,not yet,that is. The main hurtingwould start later,I thought ,when the bleedingstopped and my leg started to get stiff. I knew I’dbetter hurry and tie up the place and get home asquickly as I could. Once that leg started gettingstiff,I might not make it.

我 坐在那里,怔怔地看着它。

然后我又使自己振作起来。我把血擦净。伤势很重,伤口深得能一直见到骨头,而且很长。但是并不很痛,也就是说,当时还不怎么痛。我想大痛还在后面,要到血止了,腿变得僵硬的时候才会发作。我知道最好赶快把它包扎起来,尽快回家去。

一旦腿僵硬了,我就可能回不去了。

I took my knife and cut a piece off the tail ofmy shirt.I put it round my leg as tight as I could. Igot up to see if I could walk with the leg wrappedas tight as I had it,and I could. But when I set out,it wasn’t Towards home. It was back along the trail

我拿出刀子,从我衬衣的下摆割下一块布。我尽力把它紧紧地裹在腿上。我站起来,试一试在把腿扎得那么紧后还能不能走路。行,还能够走动。但是当我动身回家

through the prickly pear.

时,却不是朝着回家的方向,而是沿着那条穿过霸王树林的小道往回走。

I don”t quite know what made me do it. Ididn’t think to myself,“Old Ye lle r s a ve d my lifea nd I c a n”t go off a nd le a ve h im. He”s sure to bede a d ,bu t it would look ve ry ba d to go h ome withoutfinding out. I sha ll ha ve to go ba ck,e ve n if my h urt le ggive s out be fore I c a n ge t home .”

我也闹不清是什么驱使我这样做的。我并没有这样想,“阿黄救了我的命,我不能把它扔下而一走了事。它一定已经死了,但是不弄个明白就回家,那太不象话了。即使我那受伤的腿在我回到家以前就动弹不得,我也得往回走。”

I didn’t think anything like that. I just startedwalking that way,and kept walking till I foundhim.

我并没有这样去想,只是一个劲儿地朝那边走去,一直走到我找到它为止。

He lay in the river - bed,just about where I’dleft it to go running through the prickly pear. He’dtried to follow me,but was too hurt to keep going.

He was curled up under a big piece of rock thathad slipped off a high bank and,leaning againstanother,had made a sort of cave. He’d crept thereaway from the hogs. The hogs were gone now,but Icould see their tracks in the sand round the rocks,where they’d tried to get at him from behind. Iwouldn’t have seen him,hidden there under thatpiece of rock,if he hadn”t let out a tiny whimperas I walked past.