11 Frightful Learns Her ABC's

In Which Frightful Learns Her ABC's Free time was spent scraping the fur off the deer hide to get it ready for tanning. This much I knew: in order to tan hide, it has to be steeped in tannic acid. There is tannic add in the woods in oak trees, but it took me several weeks to figure out how to get it. You need a lot of oak chips in water. Water and oak give off tannic acid. My problem was not oak or water but getting a vessel big enough to put the deer hide in. Coming home from the stream one night I had an inspiration. It had showered the day before, and as Frightful and I passed an old stump, I noticed that it had collected the rain. "A stump, an

本章讲可怕学习字母，我利用空闲刮掉鹿皮上的毛，为鞣制做准备。 这一点我很清楚：想要鞣制鹿皮，就得把它泡在单宁酸里。 树林里的橡树就含有单宁酸，可我花了好几个星期才搞懂怎么提取它。 你需要把很多橡木块泡进水里。 水和橡树会释放出单宁酸。 我的问题既不是缺橡树也不是缺水，而是找不到足够大的容器装下鹿皮。 一天我从小溪回家，突然想到了一个好主意。 前一天刚下过雨，我和可怕经过一个老树桩时，发现树桩里积了雨水。 “一个树桩，一棵

oak stump, would be perfect," I said right out loud to that pretty bird. So I felled an oak over by the gorge, burned a hole in it, carried waiter to it, and put my deerskin in it. I let it steep, oh, maybe five days before I took it out and dried it. It dried stiff as a board, and I had to chew, rub, jump on it, and twist it to get it soft. When this was done, however, I had my door. I hung it on pegs inside my entrance, and because it was bigger than it had to be, I would cut off pieces now and then when I needed them. I cut off two thin strips to make jesses, or leg straps, for Frightful. All good falcons wear jesses and leashes so they can be tethered for their training. I smoked the meat I couldn't eat and stored it. I used everything I could on that animal. I even used one of its bones for a spearhead. I was tired of catching frogs by the jump-andmiss system. I made two sharp points, and strapped them to the end of a long stick, one

橡木桩肯定完美，”我大声对那只漂亮的小鸟说。 于是我在峡谷边砍了一棵橡树，在树干上烧出一个洞，抬水进去，再把鹿皮放进去。 我让它泡着，嗯，大概五天后才拿出来晾干。 它干了之后硬得像木板，我又是咬、又是揉、还跳上去踩、扭它，才把它弄软。 等这一切做完，我就有了我的门。 我把它挂在入口内侧的木钉上，这块鹿皮比需要的更大，所以我需要用的时候就随时剪几块下来。 我剪了两条细皮条，给可怕做脚绊，也就是绑腿带。 所有训练好的猎鹰都要系脚绊和牵绳，训练时可以拴住它们。 我吃不完的肉熏制后储存起来。 这头鹿身上能利用的地方我全都用上了。 我甚至拿它的一根骨头做了矛尖。 我早就受够那种扑半天还扑空的抓青蛙方法了。 我削了两个尖头，把它们绑在长木棍的一端，一个

on each side, to make a kind of fork. It worked beautifully. Frogs were one of my favourite meals, and I found I could fix them many ways; however, I got to like frog soup fixed in this way; "Clean skin, and boil until tender. Add wild onions, also water lily bulbs and wild carrots. Thicken with acorn flour. Serve in turtle shell." By now my two pairs of pants were threadbare and my three sweaters were frayed. I dreamed of a deerskin suit, and watched my herd with clothes in mind. The deer for my suit did not come easily. I rigged up a figure-four trap under the log, and baited it with elderberries rolled into a ball. That just mushed up and didn't work. Then I remembered that deer like salt. I made a ball of hickory salt with turtle fat to hold it together. Every evening Frightful and I, sometimes accompanied by The Baron Weasel, would go

绑在两侧各一个，做成了一种叉形猎具。 它用起来顺手极了。 青蛙是我最爱的食物之一，我发现它有很多种做法；我最爱的是这么煮青蛙汤：“洗干净去皮，煮到软烂。 加入野洋葱，还有睡莲根茎和野胡萝卜。 用橡子粉勾芡。 盛在龟壳里端上桌。” 这时候我的两条裤子都磨破了，三件毛衣也已经抽丝磨损了。 我梦想能有一身鹿皮衣服，我看鹿群的时候，心里想的都是做衣服的事。 能做衣服的鹿可没那么容易到手。 我在木头底下搭了一个四字形陷阱，把接骨木揉成球做诱饵。 结果诱饵揉得稀烂，根本没用。 然后我想起鹿喜欢盐。 我用龟脂肪把山核桃盐捏成球做诱饵。 每天晚上我和可怕，有时候黄鼠狼男爵也会跟着我们，走去

to the edge of the meadow and look towards the aspen grove to see if the great log had fallen. One night we saw three deer standing around it quietly, reaching towards the smell of salt. At that moment, The Baron jumped at my pants leg, but got my ankle with an awful nip. I guess I had grown some; my pants and socks did not meet any more. I screamed, and the deer fled. I chased The Baron home. I had the uneasy feeling that he was laughing as he darted, flipped, buckled, and disappeared.

到草甸边，看向杨树林，看看陷阱的大木头有没有掉下来。 一天晚上，我们看见三只鹿安安静静站在陷阱边，伸着头闻盐的味道。 就在这一刻，男爵扑向我的裤腿，结果狠狠咬在了我的脚踝上。 我想我应该是长高了，我的裤子和袜子已经接不到一块儿了。 我疼得大叫，鹿全都吓跑了。 我追着男爵回了家。 他蹦跳着、翻转着、扭身跑掉消失的时候，我隐隐觉得他正在偷笑。

The Baron was hard to understand. What did he want from me? Occasionally I left him bites of turtle or venison, and although he smelled the offerings, he never ate them. The

男爵真让人猜不透。 他到底想从我这里得到什么呢？ 我偶尔会给他留几块龟肉或者鹿肉，他闻过这些食物，却从来不吃。 这

catbird would get them. Most animals stick around if you feed them. But The Baron did not eat anything. Yet he seemed to like me. Gradually it occurred to me that he didn't have a mate or a family. Could he be a lonely bachelor, taking up with odd company for lack of an ordinary life? Well, whatever, The Baron liked me for what I was, and I appreciated that. He was a personable little fellow. Every day I worked to train Frightful. It was a long process. I would put her on her stump with a long leash and step back a few feet with some meat in my hand. Then I would whistle. The whistle was supposed eventually to mean food to her. So I would whistle, show her the meat, and after many false flaps she would finally fly to my hand. I would pet her and feed her. She could fly fairly well, so now I made sure that she never ate unless she flew to my fist.

猫鸟就会把吃的叼走。 大多数动物你喂它们，就会待在你身边。 可男爵从来不吃我的东西。 但他好像就是喜欢我。 我慢慢反应过来，他没有配偶也没有家人。 他该不会是个孤单的单身汉，找不到正常同伴才来和我做伴吧？ 好吧，不管怎么说，男爵喜欢本来样子的我，我很感激这一点。 他是个讨喜的小家伙。 我每天都训练可怕。 训练是个漫长的过程。 我会把她放在她的树桩上，拴上长牵绳，然后拿着肉后退几步。 接着我就吹口哨。 这个口哨声最终对她来说意味着有食物。 所以我吹口哨，给她看肉，折腾很多次乱飞之后，她最终会飞到我的手上。 我会摸摸她，喂她吃肉。 她已经飞得很不错了，所以现在我规定，除非她飞到我的拳头上，否则她绝对吃不到东西。