生火

寒冷的小路

The Cold Trail

天亮了，天气又冷又灰，非常冷，非常灰。那天早上，男人离开了育空主路。育空是加拿大极北的一条大河，也是那周围的土地。一条小路就是穿过荒野的小道，是人和狗踩出来的。

The day began cold and grey, very cold and grey. That morning the man left the main Yukon trail. The Yukon is a big river in the far north of Canada, and the land around it. A trail is a narrow way through wild land, made by the feet of people and dogs.

男人爬上了一个很高的土坡。在坡顶上，有一条小路向东边伸进大片深色的树林。走这条路的人不多。土坡很陡，男人在坡顶停下来看了看手表。已经九点了。

The man climbed a high bank of earth. At the top, a small trail went east into the woods of big dark trees. Not many people used it. The bank was steep, and at the top the man stopped and looked at his watch. It was nine o’clock.

天上没有太阳，也没有云。天气很晴，但是所有东西看起来又黑又伤心。男人并不担心。他知道太阳还要过几天才会出来。然后，有一天，它会在南边出来一会儿，接着再落下去。

There was no sun in the sky, and there were no clouds either. It was a clear day, but everything looked dark and sad. The man did not worry about that. He knew the sun was going to stay away for a few more days. Then, one day, it was going to show itself in the south for a moment and go down again.

他回头看了看身后的路。育空河有一英里宽，上面结着三英尺厚的冰。冰上面还有三英尺厚的雪。在他能看到的远处，全都是白色的。只有一条黑线穿过了这片白色。

He looked back at the way behind him. The Yukon was a mile wide, and it lay under three feet of ice. On top of the ice there were three more feet of snow. Everything was white, as far as he could see. Only one dark line went across the white.

这条黑线就是小路，也就是主路。往南走五百英里可以到海边。往北走七十英里可以到道森镇，然后再走更远。

This dark line was the trail, the main trail. To the south it went five hundred miles to the sea. To the north it went seventy miles to the town of Dawson, and then much further.

但是漫长的小路、不见的太阳和可怕的冷，都没有让男人多想。这是他在这里过的第一个冬天。他是新来的，而且他没有想象力。他对日常生活中的事情反应快又细心，但他从来不想那些事情有什么意义。

But the long trail, the missing sun and the terrible cold did not touch the man’s mind. It was his first winter in this country. He was new here, and he had no imagination. He was quick and careful in the things of everyday life, but he never asked what they meant.

在那个地方，人们用老度数来算冷不冷。水在三十二度结冰，零下五十度就冷得可怕了。对男人来说，零下五十度只是很冷，让人不舒服。那只意味着要戴连指手套、护耳暖帽、厚袜子和暖和的鹿皮软鞋。连指手套是一种很厚的手套，大拇指在一个地方，其他手指在一个地方。鹿皮软鞋是一种皮做的软鞋，就像当地人穿的鞋一样。

In that country, people measured the cold in old degrees. Water froze at thirty-two degrees, and fifty below zero was terribly cold. To the man, fifty below zero was only cold and unpleasant. It meant mittens, warm hats over the ears, thick socks and warm moccasins. A mitten is a thick glove with one place for the thumb and one for the other fingers. Moccasins are soft shoes of leather, like the shoes of the native people.

他从来不想人在寒冷中有多弱小。对他来说，零下五十度就是零下五十度，没有别的了。

He never thought about how weak a man is in the cold. For him, fifty below zero was fifty below zero, and nothing more.

他转身继续走，吐了一口口水。空中传来一声很响的爆裂声，他吓得跳了一下。他又吐了一口。口水还没落到雪地上，就在空中爆开了。他知道在零下五十度，口水落到雪上会爆开。但这口口水是在空中爆开的。

He turned to go on, and he spat. There was a sharp, loud crack, and he jumped. He spat again. Again the spit cracked in the air, before it fell to the snow. He knew that at fifty below, spit cracked on the snow. But this spit cracked in the air.

所以，天比零下五十度还要冷。冷多少呢？他不知道，他也不在乎。他要去那个老矿区，就是人们以前挖金子的地方。矿区在亨德森溪边。溪就是一条小河。伙伴们已经在那儿了。

So it was colder than fifty below. How much colder? He did not know, and it did not matter to him. He was going to the old claim, a place where men dug for gold. It was on Henderson Creek. A creek is a small river. The boys were already there.

伙伴们翻过山去了那里。男人绕了远路，因为他想看看育空河小岛上的树。他想在冬天过后去伐木。

The boys went there over the hills. The man came the long way round, because he wanted to look at the trees on the islands in the Yukon. He wanted to cut them for logs after the winter.

“我六点就能到营地了，”他想。那时候天刚黑不久，但伙伴们会在那里。火会生好，热晚饭也会准备好。

“I’ll be in camp at six o’clock,” he thought. It was a little after dark then, but the boys were going to be there. A fire was going to be ready, and a hot supper too.

他用手按了按外衣下鼓鼓的一大包。那是他的午饭。午饭也在他的衬衫里，包在一块手绢里，贴着光溜溜的皮肤。只有这样才不会让饼子冻硬。他想到饼子就笑了。每个饼子都切开了，沾满了腊肉油，里面还有一大块煎腊肉。

He pressed his hand against a big lump under his jacket. It was his lunch. It was under his shirt too, in a handkerchief, against his bare skin. It was the only way to stop the biscuits from freezing. He smiled when he thought of them. Each biscuit was open, wet with bacon fat, and had a thick piece of fried bacon inside.