Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 It was two summers ago. She and Mom were hiking together on one of their favorite trails. It was just the two of them — Dad had stayed at the cabin to watch Kevin, and Pops's knees had been giving him trouble. Mel was always happy to have Mom to herself. They were walking along a babbling stream when suddenly Mom gasped. Mel followed her

第七章那是两年前的夏天。 她和妈妈一起在她们最喜欢的一条小路上徒步旅行。 只有他们两个人——爸爸一直呆在小木屋里照看凯文，老爷子的膝盖一直给他带来麻烦。 梅尔总是很高兴能和妈妈独处。 他们沿着潺潺的小溪走着，妈妈突然倒吸了一口气。 梅尔跟着她

worried gaze across the water. There, under a tree, was a large bear, lying on its side. It looked like it was sleeping. Even from ten feet away, they could tell it was a grizzly — it had the hump between its shoulders. That was the main difference between grizzly bears and black bears.

忧虑地凝视着对岸的水。 那里，在一棵树下，有一只大熊，侧身躺着。 它看起来像是在睡觉。 即使在十英尺外，他们也能看出来那是一只灰熊——它的肩膀之间有一个隆起。 这就是灰熊和黑熊的主要区别。

It was important to know the difference. Because grizzlies were more aggressive and powerful than black bears. Grizzly attacks were very rare. They usually only happened when a grizzly was surprised or felt threatened. And this bear would be very surprised — and feel very threatened — when it woke up and saw Mel and Mom standing there. How had this bear not heard them coming? Mom and Mel always made noise when they were hiking. That was rule number one here in grizzly country: to make noise so you never surprised a bear. They talked loudly. They sang. They clapped. Mom and Mel were the loudest hikers in Glacier. Why hadn't this grizzly woken up? And then they figured it out. "Mel," Mom had said, grabbing Mel's arm. "The bear is dead." And that's when Mel noticed the bear's eyes. They were open wide, staring, unblinking.

了解其中的区别是很重要的。 因为灰熊比黑熊更具攻击性和力量。 灰熊的袭击非常罕见。 它们通常只发生在灰熊感到惊讶或受到威胁的时候。 当这只熊醒来看到梅尔和妈妈站在那里时，它会非常惊讶，感到非常受到威胁。 这只熊怎么会没听到他们的到来呢？ 妈妈和梅尔徒步旅行时总是制造噪音。 在灰熊出没的地方，这是第一条规则：制造噪音，这样你就不会吓到熊。 他们大声交谈。他们唱的。 他们鼓掌。妈妈和梅尔是冰川镇最吵的徒步旅行者。 为什么灰熊还没有醒来？ 然后他们算出来了。 “梅尔，”妈妈说着，抓住梅尔的胳膊。 “熊死了。”就在那时，梅尔注意到了熊的眼睛。 眼睛睁得大大的，瞪着眼睛，一眨也不眨。

They stood there for a moment. "Come," Mom said. "Let's go see." They crossed the creek and knelt down next to the bear. Mel's body jangled with a mix of fear and excitement. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Glacier's most fearsome creature right up close. It was enormous, with shaggy brown fur dusted with gray. Mel studied the bear's rounded ears, its shiny black nose, the giant snout. Mom pointed out the bulges on the side of the jaw. Those were the muscles that gave grizzlies such a powerful bite — strong enough to chomp through metal. "What a magnificent creature," Mom said. She spoke very quietly, as if they were in an art museum. Or at church. "It's very old," Mom said. "You can tell by its teeth." The bear's mouth was open just wide enough to see inside. Its teeth were worn down and chipped.

他们在那儿站了一会儿。 “来吧，”妈妈说。“我们去看看。” 他们穿过小溪，跪在熊旁边。 梅尔的身体因恐惧和兴奋交织在一起而吱吱作响。 这是一个千载难逢的机会，可以近距离看到冰川上最可怕的生物。 它体型巨大，毛茸茸的棕色皮毛上还夹杂着灰色。 梅尔仔细研究了熊圆圆的耳朵、闪亮的黑鼻子和巨大的鼻子。 妈妈指着他下巴一侧的凸起。 正是这些肌肉赋予了灰熊如此强大的咬合力——足以咬穿金属。 “多么了不起的生物啊，”妈妈说。 她说话的声音很轻，好像他们是在艺术博物馆里。 或者在教堂。“它很旧了，”妈妈说。 “你看它的牙齿就知道了。” 熊的嘴张得刚好能看到里面。 它的牙齿都磨坏了。

Three of its four long teeth — the canines — were gone. Mel gently put her hands on the bear's side. They disappeared up to her wrists in its glossy fur. But what amazed Mel most about the grizzly — and gave her goose bumps — were the bear's paws. They were enormous, practically like baseball mitts, furry on top, with thick black pads on the bottom. She knew how powerful they could be: One smack could knock out a moose. And those claws… long and white and slightly curved. Mel touched the tip of one with her finger. It felt as strong as steel. Mom and Mel sat with the bear for a long time, until the sun started to drop down in the sky. Then they gathered as many fallen pine branches as they could. They laid them carefully over the grizzly's body. They said a little prayer. And they left the bear in its wild resting place. "We'll never forget this," Mom had said.

它的四颗长牙——犬齿——中有三颗不见了。 梅尔轻轻地把手放在熊的侧面。 他们消失在她的手腕在它的光滑的皮毛。 但最让梅尔惊讶的是灰熊的爪子，这让她起了鸡皮疙瘩。 它们很大，简直像棒球手套，上面有毛，下面有厚厚的黑色护垫。 她知道它们的威力有多大：一巴掌就能打晕一头驼鹿。 那些爪子，又长又白，有点弯曲。 梅尔用手指碰了碰其中一根的尖端。 它感觉像钢铁一样坚固。 妈妈和梅尔和熊一起坐了很长时间，直到太阳开始在天空中落下。 然后，他们收集了尽可能多的松树枝。 他们小心翼翼地把它们放在灰熊的身上。 他们做了一个小小的祷告。 他们把熊留在野外休息的地方。 “我们永远不会忘记这件事，”妈妈说。

Mom was right. Mel could still remember every detail of that day. That grizzly didn't seem like a ferocious beast. It was beautiful, like one of Glacier's lakes or waterfalls. Nothing like that monster they'd seen tonight.

妈妈是对的。梅尔仍然记得那天的每一个细节。 那只灰熊看起来不像凶猛的野兽。 它很美，就像冰川的湖泊或瀑布一样。 一点也不像他们今晚看到的那个怪物。