3 The wild animal
3 野性
The wild animal was strong in Buck, and as he travelled across the snow, it grew stronger and stronger.
巴克身上有着强烈的野性。当他在雪野上奔跑时,这野性也就越来越强烈。
And as Buck grew stronger, he hated Spitz more and more, although he was careful never to start a fight.
在他日益强壮的同时,虽然他加倍小心不挑起争端,他对斯皮兹的仇恨也与日俱增。
But Spitz was always showing his teeth to Buck, trying to start a fight.
但是斯皮兹却常常对着巴克龇牙咧嘴,试图找碴打架。
And Buck knew that if he and Spitz fought, one of them would die.
巴克心中很清楚,两犬相争,必有一死。
The fight almost happened one night when they stopped by Lake Laberge.
一天晚上,当他们停驻在雷伯格湖畔的时候,一场恶战一触即发。
There was heavy snow and it was very cold.
那里天寒地冻,积雪深厚。
The lake was frozen and Francois, Perrault, and the dogs had to spend the night on the ice, under a big rock.
湖面冻住了,弗朗索瓦斯、佩诺特和狗们不得不在冰上的一个巨岩下过夜。
Buck had made a warm hole in the snow and was sorry to leave it to get his piece of fish.
巴克在雪下为自己做了一个暖和的洞穴,这使他很不情愿起身去吃掉自己的那份鱼。
But when he had eaten. and returned to his hole, he found Spitz in it.
但当他吃完回到洞里时,发现斯皮兹已经占据了那里。
Buck had tried not to fight Spitz be-fore, but this was too much.
以前,巴克总是避免同斯皮兹冲突。但这一次却忍无可忍,
He attacked him angrily.
他愤怒地进攻了。
Spitz was surprised. He knew Buck was big, but he didn’ t know he was so wild.
斯皮兹吃了一惊。他知道巴克个头高大,却未料到他这样凶猛。