4. The Northwest Territories

4 The Northwest Territories Stanley awoke to a poke in the ribs. The sun was shining brightly, and the wind had nearly stopped. "We're coming down!" Nick shouted. "Fast!" Stanley looked down…. Nick was right! They were hurtling toward a frozen landscape at a dangerous speed.

斯坦利醒来时肋骨被戳了一下。 太阳明亮地照耀着，风几乎停了。 “我们下来了!”尼克喊道。 “快!”斯坦利往下看.... 尼克是对的!他们正以危险的速度冲向冰天雪地。

"Three, two, one… Roll!" Stanley cried. He arched his back even more—like a parachute— and they crashed softly to the ground, tumbling head over heels through snow and brush. When they gathered themselves enough to sit up, they were stunned to find a man in a coat with a huge fur collar towering over them. "An Eskimo!" Nick breathed. "That's Inuit," the man corrected him, smiling. "We're native people. I am Tulugaq." He extended one hand to each boy and pulled them to their feet easily. Beside them, a furry dog was yapping and dancing around. "This is Amarok. It means 'wolf,' but he's very friendly. He watched you fall from the sky…. He's never seen birds as big as you!"

“三，二，一……滚!”斯坦利哭了。 他弓起背，更像一个降落伞，他们轻轻地坠落在地上，头朝下在雪地和灌木丛中翻滚。 当他们鼓起勇气坐起来的时候，他们惊讶地发现一个穿着大衣的男人高高耸立在他们身上，大衣的领子很大。 “一个爱斯基摩人!”尼克呼吸。 “那是因纽特人，”那人微笑着纠正他。 “我们是当地人。我是图卢加人。” 他向每个男孩伸出一只手，轻松地把他们拉起来。 在他们旁边，一只毛茸茸的狗在汪汪地叫着，跳着舞。 “这是阿马洛克。它的意思是“狼”，但他非常友好。 他看着你从天上坠落.... 他从来没见过像你这么大的鸟!”

Nick straightened up. "I'm bigger than he is!" Tulugaq frowned a little. "Well, no matter, you both look half frozen—follow me." Nick and Stanley followed the Inuit man across the frozen tundra and into a little wooden house. "Hey—you don't live in an igloo?" Nick asked. Tulugaq rolled his eyes and laughed a hearty laugh. "There is a lot you don't know about my culture," the man said. "Come inside and you will see that we are very modern." Inside the house, Stanley and Nick were grateful to warm themselves by a roaring fire. Tulugaq introduced the boys to his wife, his grandmother, and half a dozen children who were scampering about, passing around bowls of caribou stew. The boys ate as Tulugaq told stories about his people. Then, everyone was eager to hear the story of how Nick and Stanley had arrived. "You traveled so far!" Tulugaq's grandmother marveled. "You floated right over the Rocky Mountains and into the Northwest Territories!" "I steered," boasted Nick. Tulugaq's wife patted Stanley's hand. "Your family must be very worried. Here, use our phone

尼克直起身子。“我比他大!”图鲁加克皱了皱眉。 “嗯，没关系，你们俩看起来都僵住了——跟我来。” 尼克和斯坦利跟着那个因纽特人穿过冻土带，走进一间小木屋。 “嘿——你不是住在冰屋里吧?”尼克问。 图鲁加克转了转眼珠，哈哈大笑。 “关于我们的文化，你还有很多不了解的地方，”那人说。 “进来吧，你会看到我们非常现代化。” 在屋子里，斯坦利和尼克很高兴能在熊熊燃烧的炉火旁取暖。 图鲁加克把孩子们介绍给了他的妻子、祖母和六个孩子。孩子们蹦蹦跳跳地传递着一碗炖驯鹿肉。 男孩们一边吃，一边听图鲁加克讲他的族人的故事。 然后，每个人都渴望听到尼克和斯坦利是如何到达的故事。 “你走了这么远!”图鲁加克的祖母惊叹不已。 “你漂过了落基山脉，进入了西北地区!”“我掌舵，”尼克得意地说。 图卢加格的妻子拍了拍斯坦利的手。 “你的家人一定很担心。 给，用我们的电话

to call them, to let them know you are safe." Stanley called the ski resort, eager to hear his parents' voices and to tell Arthur all about his adventure. "I'm sorry," the receptionist said. "The Lambchop family checked out yesterday." Nick grabbed the phone. "How about my family? Connect me to Doctor Dave's room—it's the VIP suite!" "Sorry," said the receptionist. "Doctor Dave and his party checked out yesterday also." Stanley and Nick were too stunned to speak. Tulugaq turned to his wife and said something in Inuit. Then he put his hand on Stanley's shoulder. "We must visit the shaman now. Come." Stanley and Nick left with Tulugaq, still quite upset. Why would their families have left without them? And where could they have gone? "The shaman is wise," Tulugaq told them as they traveled across the village. "He will have an answer." But Nick and Stanley were not reassured. In fact, they were so worried, they barely even noticed that they traveled over a frozen river on a bridge of ice. Where were their families?

打电话给他们，让他们知道你很安全。” 斯坦利给滑雪场打了电话，渴望听到父母的声音，并告诉亚瑟他的冒险经历。 “对不起，”接待员说。 “兰博切一家昨天退房了。” 尼克抓起电话。“我的家人怎么办?” 帮我接戴夫医生的房间——这是VIP套房!”“对不起，”接待员说。 “戴夫医生和他的团队昨天也出院了。” 斯坦利和尼克吓得说不出话来。 图卢加克转向他的妻子，用因纽特语说了些什么。 然后他把手放在斯坦利的肩膀上。 “我们现在必须去拜访萨满。 来了。”斯坦利和尼克带着图鲁加克离开了，他们仍然很沮丧。 为什么他们的家人会丢下他们离开? 他们会去哪里呢? “萨满很有智慧，”图鲁加克在他们穿过村庄时告诉他们。 “他会有答案的。”但尼克和斯坦利并不放心。 事实上，他们太担心了，甚至没有注意到他们是在一座冰桥上走过一条结冰的河。 他们的家人在哪里?

At last they came to a small, ancient hut. Tulugaq ducked inside and waved for the boys to follow him. In the dim light from an oil lamp, the boys could see that the walls were hung with animal furs and weavings and ancient artifacts. Suddenly, one of the furs—huge, and with a monstrous mask on top—leaped to life and came straight for them! The monster pulled off his mask to reveal… a very tiny, very wrinkled old Inuit man. He hugged Tulugaq and the two spoke for a moment in their language. Then Tulugaq pointed to the boys and the old shaman turned. His eyes widened when he saw Stanley's shape. He walked all around him, eyeing him closely from all angles. The shaman seemed so impressed and respectful that Stanley didn't feel a bit embarrassed by all the curiosity.

最后，他们来到了一间古老的小茅屋。 图鲁加克躲进屋里，挥手示意孩子们跟他走。 在昏暗的油灯下，孩子们可以看到墙上挂着动物皮毛、织物和古代工艺品。 突然，一个巨大的、头上戴着怪物面具的毛皮动物跳了起来，径直向他们扑来!怪物扯下他的面具，露出一个非常瘦小、满脸皱纹的因纽特老人。 他拥抱了图鲁加克，两人用他们的语言交谈了一会儿。 然后图鲁加格指着孩子们，老萨满转过身来。 当他看到斯坦利的身影时，他睁大了眼睛。 他围着他转，从各个角度仔细地打量着他。 萨满似乎对他印象深刻，很有礼貌，斯坦利一点也不为大家的好奇感到尴尬。

Next the shaman handed a skin drum to Tulugaq. Tulugaq began to beat it, and the shaman began to chant and dance around the room. Faster and faster he whirled, almost as if he was in a trance. Finally he spun to a stop and seemed to come back to himself. He smiled broadly, without a tooth in his head, and said something to Tulugaq. "He says you boys are going to make a great journey together," Tulugaq translated. "You will go to the great falling waters. There, something will happen that will bond you to each other for life. Like brothers!"

接着，萨满递给图鲁加克一个皮鼓。 图鲁加克开始敲打它，萨满开始在房间里吟诵和跳舞。 他旋转得越来越快，几乎像进入了恍惚状态。 最后他转过身来停了下来，似乎恢复了知觉。 他笑得很开心，头上没有一颗牙，对图鲁加克说了些什么。 “他说你们两个男孩将一起踏上一段伟大的旅程，”图鲁加克翻译道。 你必往大瀑布那里去。 在那里，会发生一些事情，让你们一辈子都在一起。 像兄弟!”