9 I Learn to Season My Food

In Which I Learn to Season My Food The fire warden made a fire some time in the colder hours of the night. At dawn he was asleep beside white smouldering ashes. I crawled back to the gorge, fed Frightful rabbit bites, and slipped back to the edge of the meadow to check a box trap I had set the day before. I made it by tying small sticks together like a log cabin. This trap was better than any of the other snares. I had caught numerous rabbits, several squirrels, and a ground-hog. I saw, as I inched towards it, that it was closed. The sight of a closed trap excites me to this day. I still can't believe that animals don't understand why delicious food is in such a ridiculous spot.

我学会给食物调味 夜里降温的时候，防火员生起了一堆火 天亮时，他已经在冒着闷烟的白灰烬旁睡着了 我爬回峡谷，喂惊狂吃了几块碎兔肉，再悄悄溜回草甸边，检查我前一天设下的箱形陷阱 我做这个陷阱时，把小木棍像搭小木屋那样绑在一起 这个陷阱比我其他所有陷阱都好用 我已经抓到过好多兔子、好几只松鼠，还有一只土拨鼠 我慢慢凑近陷阱，就看见陷阱已经关上了 直到今天，一看见合上的陷阱，我还是会兴奋不已 我到现在都想不通，动物怎么就看不出来，好吃的怎么会放在这么奇怪的地方

Well, this morning I pulled the trap deep into the woods to open it. The trapped animal was light. I couldn't guess what it was. It was also active flipping and darting from one corner to the next. I peeped in to locate it, so that I could grab it quickly behind the head without getting bitten. I was not always successful at this, and had scars to prove it. I put my eye to the crack. A rumpus arose in the darkness. Two bright eyes shone, and out through that hole that was no wider than a string bean came a weasel. He flew right out at me, landed on my shoulder, gave me a lecture that I shall never forget, and vanished under the scant cover of trillium and bloodroot leaves. He popped up about five feet away and stood on his hind feet to lecture me again. I said, "Scat!" so he darted right to my knee, put his broad furry paws on my pants, and looked me in the face. I shall never forget the fear and wonder that I felt at the bravery of that

这不，今天早上，我把陷阱拖到树林深处才打开 陷阱里的猎物很轻 我猜不出抓到了什么 它还很活跃，在里头翻来扑去，从一个角落窜到另一个角落 我眯眼找它的位置，这样就能一把抓住它的后颈，不会被咬 我以前可不是每次都成功，身上还留着伤疤作证呢 我把眼睛凑到陷阱的缝隙上 黑暗里瞬间掀起一阵骚动 一双亮闪闪的眼睛，接着一只黄鼠狼从那个还没四季豆宽的洞里钻了出来 它猛地朝我扑来，落在我的肩膀上，对我训了一顿，我永生难忘，接着它就钻进延龄草和血根草稀疏的叶子下不见了 它在五英尺外冒出头，踮着后脚站着，又训了我一顿 我喊道："走开！" 于是它直接窜到我的膝盖上，把毛茸茸的宽爪子搭在我的裤子上，直勾勾盯着我的脸 我永远忘不了，面对这份勇气时，我心里涌起的恐惧与惊奇

weasel. He stood his ground and berated me. I could see by the flashing of his eyes and the curl of his lip that he was furious at me for trapping him. He couldn't talk, but I knew what he meant. Wonder filled me as I realized he was absolutely unafraid. No other animal, and I knew quite a few by now, had been so brave in my presence. Screaming, he jumped on me. This surprised and scared me. He leapt from my lap to my head, took a mouthful of hair and wrestled it. My goose bumps rose. I was too frightened to move. A good thing too, because I guess he figured I was not going to fight back and his scream of anger changed to a purr of peace. Still, I couldn't move. Presently down he climbed, as stately as royalty and off he marched, never looking back. He sank beneath the leaves like a fish beneath the water. Not a stem rippled to mark his way.

黄鼠狼 它寸步不让，厉声责骂我 我从它发亮的眼睛和绷紧的嘴唇能看出，它因为被我诱捕，气得要命 它不会说话，可我完全明白它的意思 我满心惊奇，发现它竟然一点都不怕我 那时候我已经见过不少动物了，没有哪个动物在我面前这么勇敢 它尖叫着朝我扑了过来 这让我又惊讶又害怕 它从我腿上跳到我头上，叼了一口头发还扯来扯去 我吓得浑身起了鸡皮疙瘩 我吓得根本不敢动 还好我没动，因为它大概看出我不打算还手，愤怒的尖叫慢慢变成了平和的呼噜声 即便如此，我还是不敢动 没过多久它爬了下来，像王室成员一样仪态端庄，大踏步走了，连头都没回 它钻进落叶底下，就像鱼儿钻进水里一样 连一根草茎都没晃，没留下它走过的痕迹

And so The Baron and I met for the first time, and it was the beginning of a harassing but wonderful friendship. Frightful had been watching all this. She was tense with fright. So young and inexperienced, but she knew an enemy when she saw one. I picked her up and whispered into her birdy-smelling neck feathers. "You wild ones know." Since I couldn't go home, I decided to spend the day in the marsh down the west side of the mountain. There were a lot of cattails and frogs there. Frightful balanced on my fist as we walked. She had learned that in the short span of one afternoon and a night. She is a very bright bird. On our way we scared, up a deer. It was a doe. I watched her dart gracefully away, and

我和黄鼠狼男爵的第一次见面就是这样，一段麻烦不断却无比美好的友谊就此开始 惊狂刚才一直把这一切看在眼里 它吓得浑身紧绷 它那时年纪小，没什么经验，可它一眼就认出这是个敌人 我把它抱起来，对着它带着鸟儿特有气息的颈毛轻声说话 "你们这些野家伙，什么都懂。" 既然我回不了家，我决定当天去山西侧的沼泽地待着 那儿长着很多香蒲，还有好多青蛙 我们走路的时候，惊狂稳稳地站在我的拳头上面 才过了一个下午加一个晚上，它就学会这个了 它可真是一只聪明的小鸟 路上我们惊起了一头鹿 那是一头母鹿 我看着它优雅地窜远，然后

said to Frightful, "That's what I want. I need a door for my house, tethers for you, and a blanket for me. How am I going to get a deer?" This was not the first time I had said this. The forest was full of deer, and I already had drawn plans on a piece of birch bark for pit traps and snares. None seemed workable. The day passed. In the early evening we stole home, tree by tree, to find that the warden had gone. I cleaned up my front yard, scattered needles over the bare spots, and started a small fire with very dry wood that would not smoke much. No more wardens for me. I liked my tree, and although I could live somewhere else, I certainly did not want to. Once home, I immediately started to work again. I had a device I wanted to try, and put some hickory sticks in a tin can and set it to

对惊狂说："这正是我想要的 我需要鹿皮给我的屋子做门，给你做系绳，给我做毯子 我要怎么才能抓到一头鹿呢？" 这不是我第一次说这话了 林子里到处都是鹿，我已经在一块桦树皮上画好了深坑陷阱和套索的设计图 可没有一个看起来能行得通 一天就这么过去了 天刚擦黑，我们就借着树木掩护悄悄回家，发现防火员已经走了 我收拾了屋前的空地，在裸露的地方撒上松针，再用完全干燥的木材生了一小堆火，这样不会出太多烟 我可不想再被防火员找上门了 我喜欢我的树屋，就算我能搬到别的地方住，我也一点都不想搬 回到家我立刻又开始忙活 我想试一个办法，就把几根山胡桃木棍放进锡罐，架在火上

boiling while I fixed dinner. Before going to bed, I noted this on a piece of birch bark: This night I am making salt. I know that people in the early days got along without it, but I think some of these wild foods would taste better with some flavouring. I understand that hickory sticks, boiled dry, leave a salty residue. I am trying it. In the morning I added: It is quite true. The can is dry, and thick with a black substance. It is very salty, and I tried it on frogs" legs for breakfast. It is just what I have needed. And so I went into salt production for several days, and chipped out a niche inside the tree in which to store it.

煮着，同时我准备晚饭 睡觉前，我在一块桦树皮上记下：今晚我在做盐 我知道古时候的人没有盐也能过，可我觉得这些野味儿加点调味料会更好吃 我听说把山胡桃木棍煮干之后，会留下带咸味的残渣 我来试试这个方法 第二天早上我又添了一句：这事真的不假 锡罐已经烧干，罐底结了厚厚的一层黑色物质 这东西特别咸，我早餐把它抹在蛙腿上尝了尝 这正是我一直以来需要的东西 接下来好几天我都做起了制盐的活儿，还在树干内部凿出了一个小壁龛来存放盐