13 The Dawn Breaks over Me

Chapter 13 IN WHICH The Dawn Breaks over Me As we near Rensselaerville, we sit down in the shade of a white ash and plan what to do next. I will go to the falls to see how Alice is. Bando will go to the library to find out where the hacking will be held on the vast preserve. That decided, we arise and I start off. Bando holds me back. "You know, Sam," he says, "I've been thinking about this hacking business in the paper. There's something strange about it. First of all, six o'clock in the evening is a bad time of day to hack a bird. My friend, Steve, at the peregrine mew, puts the fledglings out early in the morning so they'll have all day to look around and learn the environment before they fly off". "And secondly, the news of the hacking wasn't on the front page like the pig show. It was in the paid personals. I think it was paid for because it's a message for one man, Skri, whoever he is. He was

第十三章 黎明降临在我身上 我们快到伦斯勒维尔时，在一棵白蜡树的树荫下坐下，商量接下来的计划 我要去瀑布看看爱丽丝怎么样了 班多要去图书馆，查清这场野化放归会在这片广阔保护区的哪里举办 商量好后，我们起身出发，我先走了 班多拉住了我 "你知道吗，山姆，"他说，"我一直在想报纸上登的这场野化放归的事 这里头有点不对劲 首先，晚上六点根本不适合放归幼鸟 我在游隼驯养点的朋友史蒂夫，会一大早把幼鸟放出来，这样它们飞走前能有一整天时间熟悉周围环境" "其次，放归的消息不像猪展那样登在头版 它登在付费个人广告栏里 我觉得这是有人付费登的，因为它其实是给一个叫斯克里的人的口信，不管他是谁 他之前

probably told to watch the newspaper for the date and place to meet." "To hack birds?" "I don't think they're hacking birds. I think it's a cover-up for something else. But I don't know what." Bando turns to go, his black eyebrows pulled together in puzzlement. "I'll meet you at the library," he calls. "Okay," I reply, and, eager to see Alice, take off at a run down a dirt road, then cut over to Tenmile Creek, passing through a forest of yellow birch and maples. I follow the stream to the falls, a beauty that splashes down an eighty-foot staircase. The water hums, whispers, and spins white threads before pooling at the bottom. This is it, I say to myself, this has to be where Alice is. I jump down the rock staircase, pausing on ledges to look for signs of her camp, and come upon the ruins of an old mill. I poke around briefly, then go on to the bottom of the cascade. Finding no clues, I am on my way back up the falls when I see it.

应该早就被告知要盯着报纸，找约会面的时间和地点。" "是去放归鸟儿吗？" "我觉得他们根本不是去放归鸟儿 我觉得这是给别的事打掩护 但我不知道是什么事。" 班多转身走开，黑色的眉毛困惑地挤在一起 "咱们图书馆见，"他喊道 "好的，"我答应着，急着见到爱丽丝，沿着土路一路跑起来，接着抄近路去滕迈尔溪，穿过一片黄桦和枫树林 我顺着溪流走到瀑布，这瀑布真美，沿着八十英尺高的阶梯岩壁倾泻而下 溪水哼鸣、低语，翻搅出串串白浪，最后汇入下方水潭 就是这儿了，我对自己说，爱丽丝肯定就在这儿 我沿着岩石台阶往下走，不时在岩架停下找她营地的痕迹，接着撞见了一座老磨坊的废墟 我随便逛了逛，便继续走到瀑布底部 没找到任何线索，我往回走的时候，看见了它

"Alice's castle," I say, clambering up to a ledge where a stone wall with stones placed one on two, two on one, protects a natural cave from rain and wind. I crawl in and give out a whoop. I've found her at last. Who else would make a bed of boughs and put a rabbit-skin pillow on it? Who else would have a container made out of two huge sycamore leaves sewn together with wild grapevine thread and filled with daylily buds? My heart is beating as fast as a bird's. Alice is here, but she's also not here. She must be out foraging. I'll sit on the ledge and wait for her. Now that I've found her what do I do? When I started tracking her, I was only going to make sure she didn't get into a scrape. Since I know she's playing On the Track and we're supposed to find each other, I think I'll just hide until she conies back and say "Boo!" like she does when she finds me. Then I'll hug her. To wait out of her sight, I climb into a young hemlock with limbs that hang over the falls and sit among the dense needles. From here I can see the

"爱丽丝的城堡，"我边说边爬向一处岩架，岩架上错错落落地砌着石墙，替这个天然山洞遮风挡雨 我爬进去，大声欢呼起来 我终于找到她了 除了她还有谁会用树枝铺床，还在上面放一个兔皮枕头呀？ 除了她还有谁会用两片大大的悬铃木叶子，拿野葡萄藤缝成容器，还装满萱草花蕾呀？ 我的心跳快得像小鸟扑翅膀 爱丽丝在这里，可又好像不在这里 她肯定出去觅食了 我坐在岩架上等她回来 既然我已经找到她了，我接下来该做什么呢？ 我刚开始追踪她的时候，只是想确保她不会遇上麻烦 既然我知道她在玩追踪游戏，我们本来就该找到彼此，那我就藏起来等她回来，然后跳出来喊"吓！"，就像她找到我的时候那样 然后我要抱抱她 为了躲在她看不见的地方，我爬上一棵年轻的铁杉，它的枝桠垂在瀑布上方，我坐在浓密的针叶中间 从这儿我能看见

creek, the gorge, and a pine plantation. From whichever direction Alice comes, I'll spot her. As I settle in, I note that the sun has crossed the meridian. A yellow-shafted flicker chisels for an insect in a tree, and a kingfisher alights on an aspen bough. Alice has still not come back. Suddenly the kingfisher screams his alarm note, and the forest becomes still. Wild eyes join mine, looking for the danger. Into the clearing below me slips a large eastern coyote. Gray as a wolf and almost as big, her movements are agile and swift. She lifts her head to inspect a scent on the wind. Her eyes are yellow fire. I can't see her too well, but I can make out a large bird in her mouth. This is the first eastern coyote I've ever seen, although Miss Turner said that this nearly extinct animal is making a comeback. Before the first settlers arrived in America, the big gray coyote of the woods lived and hunted all over the Northeast. With the cutting and burning of the forests for farming, its habitat was eliminated. Without the forest foods of ruffed grouse, turkeys, raccoons, and wood rats, the eastern coyote almost died out.

溪流、峡谷，还有一片人工松林 不管爱丽丝从哪个方向来，我都能先看到她 我坐稳之后，发现太阳已经过了正午 一只黄轴扑动䴕在树上凿虫子，一只翠鸟停在杨树枝上 爱丽丝还是没有回来 突然翠鸟发出一声警报尖叫，整个森林一下子安静下来 林中的野物和我一起睁大眼睛，搜寻危险 一只大大的东部郊狼溜进了我下方的空地 它像狼一样灰，个头也差不多和狼一样大，动作敏捷轻快 它抬起头，分辨风里的气味 它的眼睛像燃烧的黄色火焰 我看不太清它，但能看清它嘴里叼着一只大鸟 这是我第一次见到东部郊狼，不过特纳小姐之前说过，这种几乎灭绝的动物现在正慢慢恢复种群数量 第一批拓荒者来到美洲之前，这种森林里的大灰郊狼曾在整个东北部生存捕猎 人们为了开荒砍树烧林，它们的栖息地消失了 没有了林子里的披肩鸡、火鸡、浣熊和林鼠这些食物，东部郊狼几乎灭绝了

Only a few lived on in the Adirondacks and the Catskill Mountains. Then things turned around for woodland creatures. Like my mountain, the tilled land eroded and grew stones, not crops, and the farms were abandoned. The forests returned and the forest animal community returned with them, including the eastern coyote, which now ranges from Canada to the Bronx in New York City. I sit perfectly still. Miss Turner said the eastern coyote is a clever hunter. Perhaps I can learn something from her. The kingfisher keeps screaming his alarm cry but from a safe distance. The coyote ignores him, then moving so effortlessly she seems to float, she stops directly under me and drops the bird she is carrying. She teases it with her nose. I lean forward and a branch snaps. The coyote vanishes, gray into green. Bird feathers ride the little whirlwind her passage stirred. Annoyed at myself for scaring her, I settle back again and wait for Alice. The shadows grow longer. A crow flies silently into a tree across the stream and, after checking

只有少数郊狼在阿迪朗达克和卡茨基尔山里活了下来 后来，森林动物们的处境慢慢好转了 就像我住的这座山一样，耕地被侵蚀后长不出庄稼，只剩石头，所有农场都被废弃了 森林长回来了，森林里的动物群落也回来了，包括东部郊狼，现在它们的活动范围从加拿大一直延伸到纽约的布朗克斯区 我一动不动坐着 特纳小姐说东部郊狼是很聪明的猎手 说不定我能从它身上学到点东西 翠鸟一直叫着警报，但只站在安全的距离叫 郊狼没理它，动作轻盈得仿佛飘在地上，它停在我正下方，放下了嘴里叼的鸟 它用鼻子逗弄那只鸟 我往前探身，一根树枝咔嚓断了 郊狼一下就不见了，灰色身影融进了绿色树丛 它跑过带起的小旋风里，飘着几根鸟羽毛 我气自己吓走了它，重新坐好，继续等爱丽丝 影子变得越来越长 一只乌鸦静静飞到小溪对岸的树上，查看完

the land and sky, drops to the ground near the coyote's prey. Cautiously it walks up to it and pecks. Suddenly there's a gray streak of coyote, a jaw snap, and the crow is dead. She is a clever hunter. That bird was a trap. Well, if that isn't neat. I'm going to do that, too. I take my sling and a stone from my pocket and move to a limb where I can swing my arm if another creature comes to the bait. I see the bird pretty well and it puzzles me. I come down lower. On its legs are jesses, swivel, and leash. Dropping to the ground, I pick up a sharp-shinned hawk. The trappings are very professional, the bird fat and in good health. I wonder if this was one of the birds to be put at hack. It can't be. It's an adult. Only juveniles are hacked. It must belong to one of the hackers. He's brought her along to fly and exercise her. I backtrack the coyote by following feathers and find that she killed her prey in a clearing not far from the falls. Feathers are scattered everywhere. I circle the area. Whoever was here left sometime today. The dirt that put out the fire is still warm. I look around for

从天而降，落在郊狼猎物旁的地上。 它小心翼翼地走过去，啄了一口。 突然一道灰影闪过——郊狼猛合下颌，乌鸦当场毙命。 她可真是个聪明的猎手。 那只鸟就是她设的陷阱。 哇，这招可太妙了。 我也想要这么做。 我拿上弹弓，从口袋摸出一块石头，爬到一根树枝上，这样再有猎物靠近诱饵，我就能挥臂动手了。 我把这只鸟看得清清楚楚，越看越纳闷。 我爬得更低了些。 它的腿上系着驯鹰带、转环和牵绳。 我落到地上，捡起这只尖翅鹰。 这些装备非常专业，这只鹰膘肥体壮，状态很好。 我琢磨着它会不会是准备野放的鹰之一？ 不可能啊。 这是一只成年鹰。 只有幼鹰才会野放。 那它肯定属于某个驯鹰人。 他带这只鹰出来飞行锻炼。 我顺着羽毛追踪郊狼的踪迹，发现它在离瀑布不远的空地上杀死了这只鹰。 羽毛散得到处都是。 我绕着这片区域走了一圈。 今天来过这儿的人早就走了。 用来压灭火的泥土还带着余温。 我四处寻找