12 The Chase Begins

CHAPTER 12 The Chase Begins The sky was still heavy with stars when Hawkeye woke everyone up. "Let's go," he said. "And be careful. Don't step on anything but stone or wood. That is a trail nothing but a nose can follow! Not like grass, which shows all footprints." When they reached the sandy shores of the lake, Hawkeye said, "We must be quick to meet the tide, which will wash away all sign of us." Duncan did not say a word as they paddled

第十二章追捕开始当鹰眼叫醒大家的时候，天空仍然布满了星星。 “我们走吧，”他说。“小心点。 除了石头和木头，不要踩任何东西。 这是一条只有鼻子才能追踪的线索！不像草，会留下所有的脚印。” 当他们到达沙滩岸边时，鹰眼说：“我们必须迅速赶上潮水，潮水会把我们所有的痕迹都冲走的。” 他们划桨时，邓肯一句话也没说

away. When they were safely on the water, he said, "With enemies both behind and in front of us, it's sure to be dangerous." Hawkeye smiled. "If we can stay ahead of them, we might have a chance." Chingachgook and Uncas led the canoe through small streams and between little islands. They traveled for some time, until Uncas lifted up his paddle and pointed it toward the forest. "I don't see anything!" Duncan said. "Look carefully," Hawkeye whispered. "There is smoke near that fog. Someone has lit a fire." "Well, let's go," Duncan said. "There can't be that many of them. What if they have Cora and Alice?" "There is no way to tell from that fire how many men are over there," Hawkeye said. "We don't want to rush into anything. We could land the canoe and go up through the mountains. What do you think, Uncas?" The younger Mohican did not reply. Instead,

走了。当他们安全上岸后，他说：“敌人在我们身后和前面，肯定很危险。” 鹰眼笑了。“如果我们能走在他们前面，我们或许还有机会。” 钦加古和昂卡斯领着独木舟穿过小溪和小岛。 他们走了一段时间，直到昂卡斯举起桨，指着森林。 “我什么也没看见！”邓肯说。 “仔细看，”鹰眼小声说。 “那雾附近有烟。 有人生了火。”“好吧，我们走吧，”邓肯说。 “不可能有那么多。 如果他们抓了科拉和爱丽丝怎么办？”鹰眼说：“没有办法从那堆火里知道那边有多少人。” “我们不想急于做任何事情。 我们可以让独木舟靠岸，然后上山。 你觉得呢，昂卡斯？”小莫希干人没有回答。 相反,

he dipped his paddle deep into the water. Hawkeye knew this was his answer: they moved faster and faster to shore. "There!" Hawkeye said. "They've got two canoes to go with that smoke." He pointed to the brush, where two canoes were concealed. "We've found them!" Duncan shouted. Just then, they heard a loud whoop. Someone had seen them! Men on the shore jumped into their canoes and started to chase Duncan and the others. Uncas and Chingachgook paddled with all their might. "Keep them at that distance," Hawkeye said. "There is no way they can catch up then." Just as they had almost outrun the other canoes, Uncas shouted. Another canoe was approaching them from a different direction. Hawkeye picked up his paddle and plunged it into the water.

他把桨深深地浸入水中。 鹰眼知道这就是他的答案：他们越来越快地向岸边移动。 “有!”鹰眼说。“他们派了两只独木舟带着烟。” 他指了指灌木丛，那里藏着两只独木舟。 “我们找到他们了！”邓肯喊道。 就在这时，他们听到一声响亮的喊叫。 有人看见他们了！岸上的人跳上独木舟，开始追赶邓肯和其他人。 恩卡斯和钦加古用尽全力划桨。 “让他们保持那个距离，”鹰眼说。 “那时他们是不可能赶上的。” 就在他们快跑过其他独木舟的时候，恩卡斯喊道。 另一只独木舟正从另一个方向向他们驶来。 鹰眼拿起他的桨，把它扔进水里。

"Make for the rocks," General Munro shouted. "We can fight them on land!" It was a race of speed: who could make it to shore faster? The Hurons were gaining on them. The closer they came, the harder Uncas, Chingachgook, and Hawkeye pushed their paddles into the water. The lake grew wider. Finally the distance between their canoe and that of their enemies grew larger. They pressed hard toward land. But instead of landing on the western shore of the island, Hawkeye steered the canoe away. The other canoes had given up and turned back, but Hawkeye insisted they keep going. They paddled for many more hours, until they reached a bay close to the north end of the lake. Finally they landed the canoe on the beach, and Hawkeye and Duncan went up on a bluff to look around. "See," Hawkeye pointed, "over there—that's a canoe. The Hurons will be on our trail the minute it gets dark. They will want to surprise us—to try

“往岩石那边走。”门罗将军喊道。 “我们可以在陆地上和他们作战！”这是一场速度竞赛：谁能更快地上岸？ 休伦人正在追赶他们。 他们越靠近，昂卡斯、钦加古克和鹰眼就越用力地把桨推进水里。 湖面越来越宽了。最后，他们的独木舟和敌人的独木舟之间的距离越来越远。 他们奋力向陆地挺进。 但是鹰眼并没有在岛的西海岸登陆，而是把独木舟开走了。 其他的独木舟已经放弃并返回，但鹰眼坚持他们继续前进。 他们又划了好几个小时，直到到达靠近湖北端的一个海湾。 最后，他们把独木舟停在海滩上，鹰眼和邓肯爬上悬崖四处张望。 “看，”鹰眼指了指，“那边——那是一只独木舟。 天一黑休伦人就会跟踪我们。 他们会想要给我们惊喜——去尝试

to catch us off guard." They climbed back down, and Hawkeye told Uncas and Chingachgook what he had seen. They would have to move quickly. The men picked up their canoe and started walking along a wide trail. They crossed a stream and came to a bit of rocks. Here, Hawkeye, Uncas, and Chingachgook walked carefully backwards to create a false trail. The men came to another little stream that led to the lake and got back into the canoe. Thick bushes hung on top of them, hiding the men from sight. They paddled until Hawkeye thought it was safe enough to land, and then they rested until it was dark. When the sun set, they pushed back toward the western shore. They hid the canoe on the shore and set off. It was time to find Cora and Alice.

想趁我们不备。”他们爬了下来，鹰眼把他所看到的告诉了恩卡斯和钦加古。 他们必须迅速行动。 男人们拿起独木舟，开始沿着一条宽阔的小径行走。 他们穿过一条小溪，来到一块岩石前。 在这里，鹰眼、昂卡斯和钦加古小心翼翼地向后走，制造了一条假线索。 他们来到了另一条通向湖的小溪边，回到了独木舟上。 浓密的灌木丛挂在他们的头顶，遮住了他们的视线。 他们一直划桨，直到鹰眼认为可以安全着陆，然后他们休息，直到天黑。 太阳落山时，他们向西海岸驶去。 他们把独木舟藏在岸边就出发了。 是时候去找科拉和爱丽丝了。