A Tent in Agony 痛苦的帳篷

斯蒂芬·克萊恩

Four men once came to a wet place in the roadless forest to fish. They pitched their tent fair upon the brow1 of a pine-clothed ridge of riven2 rocks whence a bowlder3 could be made to crash through the brush4 and whirl past the trees to the lake below. On fragrant hemlock boughs5 they slept the sleep of unsuccessful fishermen， for upon the lake alternately the sun made them lazy and the rain made them wet. Finally they ate the last bit of bacon and smoked and burned the last fearful and wonderful hoecake.

Immediately a little man volunteered to stay and hold the camp while the remaining three should go the Sullivan county miles to a farmhouse for supplies. They gazed at him dismally. “Theres only one of you—the devil make a twin，” they said in parting malediction6， and disappeared down the hill in the known direction of a distant cabin. When it came night and the hemlocks began to sob7 they had not returned. The little man sat close to his companion， the campfire， and encouraged it with logs. He puffed fiercely at a heavy built brier8， and regarded a thousand shadows which were about to assault him. Suddenly he heard the approach of the unknown， crackling the twigs and rustling9 the dead leaves. The little man arose slowly to his feet， his clothes refused to fit his back， his pipe dropped from his mouth， his knees smote10 each other. “Hah！” he bellowed hoarsely in menace. A growl replied and a bear paced into the light of the fire. The little man supported himself upon a sapling11 and regarded his visitor.

The bear was evidently a veteran and a fighter， for the black of his coat had become tawny12 with age. There was confidence in his gait and arrogance in his small， twinkling eye. He rolled back his lips and disclosed his white teeth. The fire magnified the red of his mouth. The little man had never before confronted the terrible and he could not wrest13 it from his breast. “Hah！” he roared. The bear interpreted this as the challenge of a gladiator. He approached warily. As he came near， the boots of fear were suddenly upon the little mans feet. He cried out and then darted around the campfire. “Ho！” said the bear to himself， “this thing wont fight—it runs. Well， suppose I catch it.” So upon his features there fixed the animal look of going—somewhere. He started intensely around the campfire. The little man shrieked and ran furiously. Twice around they went.

The hand of heaven sometimes falls heavily upon the righteous. The bear gained.

In desperation the little man flew into the tent. The bear stopped and sniffed at the entrance. He scented the scent of many men. Finally he ventured in.

The little man crouched in a distant corner. The bear advanced， creeping， his blood burning， his hair erect， his jowls14 dripping. The little man yelled and rustled clumsily under the flap at the end of the tent. The bear snarled awfully and made a jump and a grab at his disappearing game15. The little man， now without the tent， felt a tremendous paw grab his coat tails. He squirmed16 and wriggled out of his coat like a schoolboy in the hands of an avenger. The bear bowled triumphantly and jerked the coat into the tent and took two bites， a punch and a hug before he discovered his man was not in it. Then he grew not very angry， for a bear on a spree17 is not a black-haired pirate. He is merely a hoodlum18. He lay down on his back， took the coat on his four paws and began to play uproariously with it. The most appalling， blood-curdling19 whoops20 and yells came to where the little man was crying in a treetop and froze his blood. He moaned a little speech meant for a prayer and clung convulsively21 to the bending branches. He gazed with tearful wistfulness22 at where his comrade， the campfire， was giving dying flickers and crackles. Finally， there was a roar from the tent which eclipsed23 all roars; a snarl which it seemed would shake the stolid24 silence of the mountain and cause it to shrug its granite25 shoulders. The little man quaked26 and shrivelled27 to a grip and a pair of eyes. In the glow of the embers28 he saw the white tent quiver and fall with a crash. The bears merry play had disturbed the center pole and brought a chaos of canvas upon his head.

Now the little man became the witness of a mighty scene. The tent began to flounder29. It took flopping30 strides in the direction of the lake. Marvellous sounds came from within—rips and tears， and great groans and pants31. The little man went into giggling hysterics.

The entangled monster failed to extricate32 himself before he had walloped33 the tent frenziedly to the edge of the mountain. So it came to pass that three men， clambering34 up the hill with bundles and baskets， saw their tent approaching. It seemed to them like a white-robed phantom pursued by hornets. Its moans riffled35 the hemlock twigs.

The three men dropped their bundles and scurried36 to one side， their eyes gleaming37 with fear. The canvas avalanche38 swept39 past them. They leaned， faint and dumb， against trees and listened， their blood stagnant. Below them it struck the base of a great pine tree， where it writhed40 and struggled. The three watched its convolutions41 a moment and then started terrifically for the top of the hill. As they disappeared， the bear cut loose with a mighty effort. He cast one dishevelled42 and agonized look at the white thing， and then started wildly for the inner recesses of the forest.

The three fear-stricken individuals ran to the rebuilt fire. The little man reposed by it calmly smoking. They sprang43 at him and overwhelmed him with interrogations. He contemplated darkness and took a long， pompous puff. “Theres only one of me—and the devil made a twin，” he said.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?■

一次，四個(gè)男子來(lái)到無(wú)路可循的森林里的一處濕地捕魚(yú)。他們把帳篷穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地搭在山嶺上地勢(shì)較高的地方。山嶺長(zhǎng)滿(mǎn)了松樹(shù)，到處是裂開(kāi)的巖石，從山頂一個(gè)圓石塊能橫沖直撞地穿過(guò)灌木叢，旋轉(zhuǎn)翻滾著繞過(guò)樹(shù)木，落進(jìn)下面的湖里。四個(gè)人就在芳香的鐵杉樹(shù)枝上睡覺(jué)，捕魚(yú)時(shí)不是被日頭曬得懶洋洋的，就是被突如其來(lái)的雨水淋得濕漉漉的，結(jié)果一無(wú)所獲。終于，他們吃掉了僅剩的一點(diǎn)兒培根，吸著煙，最后一張玉米餅還給烤糊了，味道糟糕，但他們吃得很香。

不一會(huì)兒，他們中的小個(gè)子男人主動(dòng)提出留下守著營(yíng)地，讓另外三人穿越沙利文縣，走很遠(yuǎn)的路，到一處農(nóng)舍拿補(bǔ)給品。三人陰惻惻地看著他?！斑@里就只剩下你一個(gè)人了——不過(guò)，魔鬼會(huì)和你做伴喲?！彼麄冸x開(kāi)時(shí)用詛咒的口吻說(shuō)道，然后朝著遠(yuǎn)處一座小木屋的已知方向走去，最后消失在下山路上。夜晚來(lái)臨，鐵杉樹(shù)開(kāi)始被風(fēng)吹得沙沙作響，那三個(gè)人還沒(méi)回來(lái)。小個(gè)子男人坐在陪伴他的篝火旁，不斷添著木頭，以便讓火燒得更旺。他狠狠地吸著由歐石楠根部制成的粗大煙斗，盯著似乎要向他撲來(lái)的上千個(gè)影子。突然，他聽(tīng)到有不明物體正在靠近——小樹(shù)枝噼啪作響，地上的枯葉發(fā)出窸窸窣窣的聲音。小個(gè)子男人慢慢站起身來(lái)，披著的衣服不自覺(jué)地滑落，嘴里叼著的煙斗也掉落下來(lái)，雙膝打顫?！肮　彼硢〉睾鸾幸宦曄雵樆?duì)方?；貞?yīng)他的是一聲咆哮，與此同時(shí)，火光中出現(xiàn)了一頭熊的身影。小個(gè)子男人靠在一顆小樹(shù)上才沒(méi)摔倒，他打量著這位不速之客。

這頭熊黑色的皮毛已隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)變成了黃褐色，顯然是個(gè)好斗的獵捕老手了。它步伐自信，閃爍的小眼睛露出傲慢的神情。它雙唇咧開(kāi)，白牙盡現(xiàn)，嘴巴在火光的映照下顯得更紅了。小個(gè)子男人之前從未面對(duì)過(guò)如此可怕的場(chǎng)景，他無(wú)法克服心中的恐懼?！肮　彼蠛暗?。熊將此解讀為一名角斗士向它發(fā)出挑戰(zhàn)，它開(kāi)始警惕地向小個(gè)子男人靠近。隨著熊的靠近，恐懼讓小個(gè)子男人突然腳下生風(fēng)，他大叫一聲，開(kāi)始繞著篝火飛奔起來(lái)?！班?！”熊暗想，“這東西不會(huì)打架，只會(huì)跑。好吧，那就看看我能不能抓住它?！毙艿哪樕下冻瞿繕?biāo)既定的神情，繞著篝火起興地追上來(lái)。小個(gè)子男人一邊尖叫，一邊狂跑。他們倆就這樣繞著篝火跑了兩圈。

上天有時(shí)也會(huì)對(duì)正義一方下狠手，熊，就快要追上了。

在絕望之際，小個(gè)子男人飛身鉆進(jìn)了帳篷。熊停下了腳步，在帳篷入口嗅著氣味，它聞到帳篷里有許多人的氣味。終于，它還是冒險(xiǎn)鉆了進(jìn)去。

小個(gè)子男人蜷縮在帳篷最里的一個(gè)角落里。熊一步一步緩緩地向里靠近，它血脈僨張，毛發(fā)豎起，口水從下頜滴落。小個(gè)子男人驚呼著，要從帳篷一端的門(mén)簾下鉆出去，毛手毛腳地把簾布弄得沙沙作響。熊咆哮一聲，跳起來(lái)抓住了這個(gè)想要逃跑的獵物。沒(méi)有了帳篷的掩護(hù)，小個(gè)子男人現(xiàn)在感覺(jué)到一只巨大的熊掌抓住了他的外套下擺。他像一個(gè)被復(fù)仇者抓在手里的小學(xué)生一樣，扭動(dòng)著身體，從外套中掙脫了出來(lái)。熊得意地一撈，把外套猛拽進(jìn)帳篷，咬了兩口，然后重重一擊，緊接著又是一個(gè)熊抱，然后才發(fā)現(xiàn)它的獵物并不在這件外套里。但它沒(méi)有特別生氣，一只正在興頭上的熊并不會(huì)像是窮兇極惡的海盜，它頂多是個(gè)惡棍。它仰面躺下，用它的四個(gè)熊掌抓起外套玩耍起來(lái)，肆意吼叫著。小個(gè)子男人正躲在外面一棵樹(shù)的樹(shù)梢上哭喊，聽(tīng)到這令人膽寒的吼叫聲，嚇得魂飛魄散。他死死抓住彎曲的樹(shù)枝，手都快抽筋了，呻吟般念叨著什么，像是在祈禱。他眼含淚光，依依不舍地凝視著他的伙伴——那堆篝火，它忽明忽暗地閃爍著，噼啪作響，即將熄滅。最終，帳篷里發(fā)出一聲咆哮，這聲音足以蓋過(guò)世上一切吼叫，似乎要打破大山的沉寂，讓大山剛毅的肩膀晃動(dòng)起來(lái)。小個(gè)子男人顫抖著，縮成一團(tuán)，似乎只剩下緊緊握住樹(shù)枝的手和眼睛。借著篝火余燼的微光，他看到白色帳篷抖動(dòng)著砸落在地上。熊的歡樂(lè)玩耍弄倒了帳篷中央的竿子，帆布亂作一團(tuán)，罩在了熊的頭上。

此時(shí)，小個(gè)子男人目睹了一副場(chǎng)景——帳篷掙扎著、撲騰著，跌跌撞撞闊步奔向湖泊的方向。帳篷里傳出各種不尋常的聲音——猛烈的撕扯聲以及巨大的嚎叫聲和喘息聲。見(jiàn)此場(chǎng)景，小個(gè)子男人發(fā)瘋般地咯咯傻笑起來(lái)。

這頭困獸瘋狂地?fù)舸驇づ瘢恢闭垓v到山邊也沒(méi)能掙脫出來(lái)。就在此時(shí)，那三個(gè)男子帶著包袱和籃子往山上爬，看到他們的帳篷正滾下來(lái)，向他們靠近。在他們看來(lái)，這東西就像一個(gè)被黃蜂追趕的白袍幽靈，它的低吼讓周?chē)蔫F杉樹(shù)枝都震顫起來(lái)。

三人丟下包袱，快跑到一邊，眼里閃爍著恐懼。這個(gè)帆布幽靈以排山倒海之勢(shì)從他們身邊沖了過(guò)去。他們靠在樹(shù)上，感到天旋地轉(zhuǎn)，一時(shí)說(shuō)不出話，只能用耳朵聽(tīng)著，血液都快凝固了。帳篷滾下去撞到一棵大松樹(shù)樹(shù)干根部停了下來(lái)，在那兒痛苦地扭滾掙扎。三個(gè)人呆看了一會(huì)兒那團(tuán)蜷縮的怪物，才回過(guò)神飛快地跑向山頂，不見(jiàn)了身影。費(fèi)了好大一番工夫，熊才從帳篷里脫身。熊看了一眼那團(tuán)白色的東西，眼神散亂，表情痛苦，隨后便瘋狂跑向森林的深處。

三個(gè)被嚇壞的男子跑回重新生起的篝火旁。小個(gè)子男人正坐在那里，平靜地吸著煙。他們立刻向他狂轟亂炸問(wèn)了很多問(wèn)題。他只是凝視著黑暗，有些浮夸地長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)地吸了一口煙斗，開(kāi)口說(shuō)道：“這里就只有我一個(gè)人——不過(guò)，剛才有魔鬼和我做伴?！? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? □

（譯者單位：中央民族大學(xué)外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院）

1 brow山頂;坡頂。? 2 riven分裂的。? 3 bowlder巨礫;漂石。? 4 brush灌木叢。? 5 bough大樹(shù)枝，粗樹(shù)枝。? 6 malediction咒罵。

7 sob（風(fēng)等）發(fā)出嗚咽聲。? 8 = briar歐石楠（其堅(jiān)硬根部可制煙斗）;（用歐石楠根制成的）煙斗。? 9 rustle使（紙或樹(shù)葉等）沙沙作響。? 10 smite重?fù)簦橙耍? 11 sapling小樹(shù)，幼樹(shù)。? 12 tawny黃褐色的;茶色的。? 13 wrest奪取。

14 jowl下頜垂肉。? 15 game獵物。

16 squirm（因緊張、尷尬或疼痛）動(dòng)來(lái)動(dòng)去，來(lái)回扭動(dòng)。? 17 on a spree狂歡。? 18 hoodlum惡棍。? 19 blood-curdling使人毛骨悚然的。? 20 whoop（尤指為表示高興或贊同而）吶喊，大叫。? 21 convulsively痙攣性地。? 22 wistful傷感的;留戀的。? 23 eclipse使失色。? 24 stolid淡漠的。? 25 granite 堅(jiān)毅。? 26 quake顫抖，哆嗦。? 27 shrivel萎縮。? 28 ember余火未盡的木塊（或煤塊）。

29 flounder艱苦掙扎;不知所措。? 30 flop（沉重或笨拙地）落下，移動(dòng)。? 31 pant喘息。? 32 extricate使脫離;解救。? 33 wallop（尤指用手或物體）猛擊，重?fù)簟? 34 clamber（手腳并用費(fèi)力地）攀登，攀爬。? 35 riffle拂亂;使起漣漪。? 36 scurry碎步快跑。? 37 gleam閃爍。? 38 avalanche雪崩。? 39 sweep（尤指快速有力地）移動(dòng)，沖。? 40 writhe（因痛苦等）扭動(dòng);蠕動(dòng)。? 41 convolution盤(pán)繞;蜷曲。

42 dishevelled凌亂的;不整潔的。? 43 spring突如其來(lái)地做;冷不防地問(wèn)。

Provoking Quotes About Moms and Mothering

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? —Honoré de Balzac

Never fear spoiling children by making them too happy. Happiness is the atmosphere in which all good affections grow.

—Thomas Bray

The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them. ? ? ? —Frank A. Clark