On the ship， Buck and Curly joined two other dogs. One of them was a big， snow-white fellow from Spitzbergen who had been brought away by a sea-captain. He was called Spitz and was friendly， in an untrustworthy sort of way. He smiled into one's face while he was planning some dishonest trick - as when he stole from Buck's food at the first meal. Francois struck him before Buck could attack him; and the only thing Buck could do was to take back his bone. Buck decided that Francois had treated him fairly， and his opinion of him began to rise.The other dog， called Dave， made no advances， nor received any. Also， he did not attempt to steal from them. He was a dull， unfriendly fellow， and he showed Curlyplainly that all he desired was to be left alone. He showed him， too， 'that there would be trouble if he was not left alone. Dave ate and slept， and took interest in nothing， not ev.？n when the ship sailed through rough seas. When Buck and Curly grew excited， half wild with fear， he raised his head as though annoyed， looked at them， and went to sleep again.Day and night the ship sailed on. One day was very like another， but Buck noticed that the weather was growing colder. At last， one morning， the ship stopped， and every-one on board was excited. Buck felt excited， as did the other dogs， and he knew that a change was near. Fran-cois put a rope round them， and brought them off the ship. At the first step， Buck's feet went down in some-thing very like mud. It was white and soft. He sprang back with a quick growl. More of this white stuff was falling through the air. He shook himself， but more of it fell on him. He smelt it curiously， then tasted some of it on his tongue. It bit like fire， and the next moment was gone. This puzzled him. He tried it again， with the same result. Those who were watching laughed loudly. It was his first snow.在船上，巴克和科利与另外两条狗放在一起。其中有一条狗个头高大，毛色雪白，是一个船长从斯匹次卑尔根带来的。他叫斯皮茨，很和善，但有些虚情假意。他明里对人笑，暗里却打着鬼主意一比如吃第一顿饭的时候，他就从巴克的那份中偷了一些。巴克还没来得及教训他，斯皮茨就光挨了弗朗索瓦的揍，巴克唯一可做的就是把骨头叼回来。他断定弗朗索瓦做事很公平，心里对他的评价渐渐高起来。另一条狗叫戴夫，他既不接近别的狗，也不让别的狗接近他。而且，他从来不会企图偷吃他们的东西。他郁郁寡欢，是个不友善的家伙，他向科利明确表示他所需要的就是独自呆着。他还向科利表示，如果不让他独自呆着，那就会有麻烦了。戴夫吃了就睡，’对任何事情都不感兴趣。即使当船行驶在波涛汹涌的大海中时，他也无动于衷。当巴克和科利有些紧张，像是惊弓之鸟时，而他却像是被惹火了似地抬头看他们一眼，然后又接着睡他的觉去了。船日夜不停地航行着。一天又一天，没有多大变化，但巴克注意到天气越来越冷了。一天清晨，船终于到了岸。船上所有的狗都兴奋不已。巴克像所有其他的狗一样十分激动，他知道不久就要有变化了。弗朗索瓦给他们套上绳子，把他们带下了船。巴克迈出第一步的时候，他的脚陷进了像泥一样的东西里。这东西白白的，软软的。他随即大叫一声，跳了回去。这种白色的东西又有一些正从空中飘落下来。他抖抖身体，但又有一些落在身上。他好奇地嗅嗅，又用舌头尝了一点儿。这东西像火一样扎嘴，但眨眼功夫就消失了。这让他困惑不解，他又试了一次，结果还是一样。那些旁观的人全都哄堂大笑起来。这是巴克一生中第一次碰到雪。This first act of stealing showed that Buck was fit to take care of himself in this cruel and unfriendly country. It showed that he was able to change himself to fit into changing conditions. If he had been unable to do this， he would have quickly died. It showed that he was losing his respect for the feelings of others and for the things that belonged to them.Whoever kept this respect in the Northland was a fool and would fail in life.Buck did not reason this out. He was fit， and that was all. Without knowing it， he changed himself to the new way of life. During all his life he had never run from a fight. The man with the club had beaten into him the law of the wild. Before that happened， he Could have died in order to defend something that belonged to Judge Miller. Now he was able to forget all finer feelings and so savehimself. He did not steal for the joy of it， but because he was hungry. He did not steal openly， but secretly because he respected the law of the wild. The things he did were done because it was easier to do them than not to do them.His improvement was quick. His body became hard as iron and he did not care about pain. He could eat any-thing， no matter how bad it was. Once eaten， his stomach got everything from it; and his blood carried it to the farthest parts of his body. His sight and smell became sharp， while his hearing became so good that in his sleep he heard the faintest sound and knew whether it brought peace or danger. He learned to bite the ice with his teeth when it collected at the end of his feet. When he was thirsty and there was a thick covering of ice over the water hole， he broke it by jumping up and striking it with his front legs.The best thing he could do was to smell the wind and tell in what direction it would blow the following day. It did not matter how still the air was when he dug his nest by tree or bank， he was always safe and warm when the wind blew later.这头一回的偷窃行为表明，巴克有能力在这块冷酷无情的土地上照顾自己。这表明他能够不断地改变自己，来适应多变的环境。如果他不能这样做的话，他早就一命呜呼了。这表明他已经开始失去对别人情感与属于他们的东西的尊重。在最北部地区这块土地上，谁要是还保存着这种尊重，谁就是一个傻瓜，就会在生活中败下去。巴克并不是推断出这些道理来的，他适合这么做，这就行了。他不知不觉地改变自己，顺应了这种新的生活方式。在他的一生中他从来没有临阵脱逃过。那个拿大头棒的人已经将野性的法则牢牢地敲进了他的脑袋。在那之前，他也许会为了维护米勒法官的某点利益而效命，而现在，他可以忘却一切崇高的情感，来拯救自己。他偷东西不是为了作乐，只是因为他太饿了。他并不明目张胆地偷，而是暗地里偷，因为他尊重野性的法则。他做过的事情之所以做了，是因为做比不做更容易。他进步很快。他的身体变得如钢铁般坚硬，他对痛苦毫不在意。他什么东西都能吃，不论食物有多差。一旦吃下去，他的肠胃都能将其中的一切全部吸收，而他的血液会将吸收的一切传送到身体最边缘的部位。他目光尖锐，嗅觉灵敏，而他的耳朵即使在睡梦中也听得到最最轻微的声响，并能判断出这声音传来是安还是危。他学会用牙齿将自己结在脚趾上的冰棱咬碎。当他感到口渴，而取水孔上盖着厚冰时，他就跳起来，用前腿击冰，将其捣破。他的绝招是只要闻一闻风的气息，他就能判断出第二天的风向。他在树边或是岸旁挖巢穴时，不论空气多么纹丝不动都没有关系。在起风时他总是安全又暖和。In the days that followed， Buck still continued to de-fend the other dogs against Spitz. But he did it in secret， when Francois was not there. The other dogs began to lose their respect for Spitz and even disobey him. Dave and Sol-leks remained faithful， but the rest of the team went from bad to worse. Things no longer went right. There was a lot of noisy quarrelling. Trouble was always present， and at the bottom of it was Buck.He kept Francois busy， for Francois now lived in fear of the life-and-death struggle between the two dogs; he knew this struggle must come sooner or later. On more than one night the sounds of quarrelling among the other dogs caused him to leave his bed， fearing that Buck and Spitz were fighting.But there was no suitable chance， and they reached Daw-son one cold afternoon with the fight still to come. There were many men and dogs in Dawson， and Buck found them all at work. It seemed the natural order of things that dogs should work. All day they swung up and down the main street in long teams. Their bells still sounded in the night as they went by. They pulled loads of wood， carried things up to the mines， and did all kinds of work that horses did in the Santa Clara Valley. Here and there Buck met Southland dogs， but most of the dogs were the wild wolf kind. Every night， regularly， at nine， at twelve， at three， they all howled. It was a strange song of the night， and it was Buck's delight to join in it. 在后来的日子里，巴克仍然继续保护其他的狗，与斯皮茨对抗。不过他的行动是暗做的，专挑弗朗索瓦不在的时候。其他的狗开始渐渐不把斯皮茨放在眼里，甚至公然违抗他。戴夫和索莱克斯依然很忠诚，但队里其他狗的态度却越来越坏。局面没有再好转。狗之间吵得很凶。一波未平，一波又起，而在暗地里兴风作浪的正是巴克。弗朗索瓦被他弄得招架不住，因为他时时提心吊胆，怕这两条狗之间的一场殊死搏斗。他知道这场搏斗迟早会发生。不止一个晚上，他被其他狗之间的吵闹声惊扰得下床去察看，担心是巴克和斯皮茨在撕杀。但是一直没有合适的机会，当他们在一个寒冷的下午到达道森时，这场战斗依然没有发生。在道森有很多人和狗，巴克发现他们都在干活儿。狗干活仿佛是一件天经地义的事。从早到晚他们都排着长队在大街上来来回回转着。夜里依然听到他们经过时发出的清脆的铃声。他们拉着一捆捆的木材，将东西运到矿区，还干着在圣克拉拉山谷里只有马才干的各种杂活。巴克在这儿到处都可遇到南方的狗，但是大多数的狗都是野狼一样。通常在每天夜里的九点，十二点和凌晨三点，他们会一齐长嗥。这是一种奇特的黑夜之歌，而要加入进去正是巴克的乐趣所在。……
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