Though he prayed for a moose, just one moose, all game seemed to have deserted the land, and nightfall found the exhausted man crawling into camp, lighthanded, heavyhearted. An uproar from the dogs and shrill cries from Ruth hastened him.
Bursting into the camp, he saw the girl in the midst of the snarling pack, laying about her with an ax. The dogs had broken the iron rule of their masters and were rushing the grub.
He joined the issue with his rifle reversed, and the hoary game of natural selection was played out with all the ruthlessness of its primeval environment. Rifle and ax went up and down, hit or missed with monotonous regularity; lithe bodies flashed, with wild eyes and dripping fangs; and man and beast fought for supremacy to the bitterest conclusion. Then the beaten brutes crept to the edge of the firelight, licking their wounds, voicing their misery to the stars.
The whole stock of dried salmon had been devoured, and perhaps five pounds of flour remained to tide them over two hundred miles of wilderness. Ruth returned to her husband, while Malemute Kid cut up the warm body of one of the dogs, the skull of which had been crushed by the ax. Every portion was carefully put away, save the hide and offal, which were cast to his fellows of the moment before.
Morning brought fresh trouble. The animals were turning on each other. Carmen, who still clung to her slender thread of life, was downed by the pack. The lash fell among them unheeded. They cringed and cried under the blows, but refused to scatter till the last wretched bit had disappeared-bones, hide, hair, everything.
Malemute Kid went about his work, listening to Mason, who was back in Tennessee, delivering tangled discourses and wild exhortations to his brethren of other days.
Taking advantage of neighboring pines, he worked rapidly, and Ruth watched him make a cache similar to those sometimes used by hunters to preserve their meat from the wolverines and dogs. One after the other, he bent the tops of two small pines toward each other and nearly to the ground, making them fast with thongs of moosehide. Then he beat the dogs into submission and harnessed them to two of the sleds, loading the same with everything but the furs which enveloped Mason. These he wrapped and lashed tightly about him, fastening either end of the robes to the bent pines. A single stroke of his hunting knife would release them and send the body high in the air.
Ruth had received her husband’s last wishes and made no struggle. Poor girl, she had learned the lesson of obedience well. From a child, she had bowed, and seen all women bow, to the lords of creation, and it did not seem in the nature of things for woman to resist. The Kid permitted her one outburst of grief, as she kissed her husband-her own people had no such custom-then led her to the foremost sled and helped her into her snowshoes. Blindly, instinctively, she took the gee pole and whip, and ’mushed’ the dogs out on the trail. Then he returned to Mason, who had fallen into a coma, and long after she was out of sight crouched by the fire, waiting, hoping, praying for his comrade to die.
It is not pleasant to be alone with painful thoughts in the White Silence. The silence of gloom is merciful, shrouding one as with protection and breathing a thousand intangible sympathies; but the bright White Silence, clear and cold, under steely skies, is pitiless.
An hour passed-two hours-but the man would not die. At high noon the sun, without raising its rim above the southern horizon, threw a suggestion of fire athwart the heavens, then quickly drew it back. Malemute Kid roused and dragged himself to his comrade’s side. He cast one glance about him. The White Silence seemed to sneer, and a great fear came upon him. There was a sharp report; Mason swung into his aerial sepulcher, and Malemute Kid lashed the dogs into a wild gallop as he fled across the snow.
寂静的雪野
[美国]杰克·伦敦
杰克·伦敦（1876-1916），美国最著名的作家之一，批判现实主义者。他出身贫困，童年就以从事繁重劳动谋生，先后做过工人、水手、司炉、淘金者，甚至流浪汉。艰苦的生活使他深切体会到损贫利富的社会的弊垢，他对社会问题深感兴趣，自称是社会学者，从事过工人运动。他的短篇小说独树一帜，情节紧凑，人物栩栩如生，深受读者喜爱。代表作有《狼的儿子》《荒野的呼唤》《铁蹄》等。
“卡门撑不了几天啦！”梅森吐出一块冰，悲伤地打量着这只可怜的狗，紧接着把它的脚放到自己的嘴里，继续咬它脚趾间冻得死死的冰。
“我从来没有见过一只狗起了这么一个傲慢的名字，居然还能成为功臣。”他处理完卡门的脚之后便把它推到一边说：“它们就是这样背负着责任逐渐地死去。那些有着聪明名字的狗，比如卡西亚、西瓦什或是哈斯基，你见过它们出问题吗？没有吧！看看咱们的舒库姆，它是……”正说着，这只精瘦的狗突然野性大发，白晃晃的牙齿差点咬住了梅森的喉咙。
“你准备咬我吗？啊？”他迅速用狗鞭子的柄在狗的耳朵后面打了一下，舒库姆倒在了雪地里，轻轻地哆嗦着，黄色的口水顺着它的尖牙滴了下来。
“就像我刚才说的，看看咱们的舒库姆——它就是这么精神，我敢跟你打赌，不出一个星期，它就会把卡门吃了。”“我打赌肯定会是另一种情况。”马尔穆特·基德边说边翻了一下放在火边解冻的面包。“旅行结束前，我们会把舒库姆吃了。露丝，你说呢？”这个印第安女人往咖啡里加了一块冰，目光从马尔穆特·基德转向她的丈夫，然后停留在那些狗的身上，却没有给出任何回答。这是显而易见的，说什么并不重要。带着不足六天的食物穿越两百英里的无人区，别说狗了，人的食物都不够。所以，不得不承认，这是别无选择的。两个男人和一个女人围坐在火边开始享用这少得可怜的食物。这是一天中的休息时间，狗带着皮套趴在那里，嫉妒地看着有东西吃的人们。
“从明天开始就不再有午餐了。”马尔穆特·基德说。“我们得注意点这些狗，它们开始变得有恶意了。刚刚就差点扑倒一个人，要是有机会的话，它们还会这样做的。”“我曾经担任过美以美教会的主席，还在主日学校教过课。”不合时宜地说了句这个之后，梅森开始盯着他那块冒着热气的鹿皮靴愣神，直到露丝给她续加咖啡的时候才缓过神来。
“感谢上帝，我们还有这么多茶！我曾经见过茶的生长，在田纳西州。现在谁要是能给我一个热玉米饼，我愿意给他任何东西！别担心了，露丝，你不会再忍受太久的饥饿了，也不用再穿鹿皮靴了。”听到这个，露丝不再沮丧，眼睛里流露出对丈夫的爱意。她的丈夫是她见到的第一个白人，第一个对待女人不像对待动物或是那些只会干活的畜生的人。
“是的，露丝。”她的丈夫继续说着一些只有他们之间才明白的话。“等我们料理完这些事，就出去。咱们坐着白人的独木舟去大海。是的，大海是如此汹涌，像山一样的海浪不停地跳上跳下；大海又是如此遥远，远得你睡十觉、二十觉，甚至四十觉醒来之后还是看不到边。”他一边掰着手指头数日子一边说着。“周围一直是大海，坏坏的大海。然后，你会到一个大村庄，人多得像明年夏天的蚊子。棚屋，哇塞，那是一个高，简直有十棵二十棵松树叠起来那么高。”
“嗨，舒库姆呀！”他无力地暂停了，以恳求的眼光看着马尔穆特·基德，然后比划着努力要把20棵松树按顺序排好。马尔穆特·基德带着愉快地讥讽微笑着，露丝的眼中却充满了快乐的惊奇感，因为她半信半疑，觉得梅森在说笑话，但他的这种殷勤愉悦了这个可怜女人的心。