3 I Start Over

Chapter 3 IN WHICH I Start Over I turn the pages to find a blank page in my journal for today's events. "June 17 "It's just a year since Alice moved in and stayed. "And it's somewhere around three o'clock in the afternoon according to my sundial." I doodle with my pencil for a moment, then go on. "Frightful was consficated today by the—" I stop. Putting my arms on the desk and my head on my arms, I see my falcon going down the mountain on the conservation officer's fist. Presently, I hear the leather hinges on the door of the root cellar squeak as Alice goes in. She doesn't seem to have noticed that Frightful is gone or she

第三章 我重新启程 我翻开日记本，找出一页空白纸，准备记录今天发生的事。 “6月17日” 爱丽丝搬来住下，刚好整整一年了。 “根据我的日晷估算，现在大概是下午三点钟。” 我拿铅笔乱涂了一会儿，接着继续写。 “‘福莱特今天被——没收了’ 我停了笔。 我把胳膊搭在桌上，脑袋枕在胳膊上，眼前浮现出我的猎鹰站在保护区管理员的拳头上走下山的样子。 没过一会儿，我听见爱丽丝走进地窖时，窖门的皮铰链发出吱呀的声响。 她好像没发现福莱特不见了，不然她

would be calling me. I am grateful. I just want to be by myself. As I listen to Alice's footsteps pass my tree and fade along the path to her tree house, Leon Longbridge comes vividly back to mind. I hear his voice, see his blue eye and brown eye, and suddenly I think of something. Why didn't he show me his badge or some identification? I should think a person confiscating an endangered species would certainly have to show a person his authority to take the bird. Maybe he's not even a conservation officer. "I'm going to Delhi and ask the sheriff," I say, hoping he isn't and that I can get her back. I make preparations for the trip by filling my belt pouch with nuts and smoked venison. I never leave my mountaintop without food. Anything can happen to delay me—a twisted ankle, a storm, a trout waiting to be caught. As I close the root cellar door, I find a piece of paper tucked in one of the leather hinges I made from my brother Jake's old belt. It's a note from Alice. She's always leaving me messages, usually not on paper but in the mud, written in pine

肯定会来找我了。 我对此很感激。 我只想一个人待着。 我听着爱丽丝的脚步声走过我的树屋，沿着通往她树屋的小路渐渐远去，里昂·朗布里奇的样子一下子清晰浮现在我脑海。 我想起他的声音，想起他一只蓝眼睛一只棕眼睛的模样，突然想到一件事。 他为什么不给我看徽章或者其他身份证件呢？ 我觉得，没收濒危鸟类的人，肯定得向当事人出示执法证件才能把鸟带走啊。 搞不好他根本就不是什么保护区管理员。 “我要去德里找警长问问”，我说道，心里盼着他确实是假的，这样我就能把福莱特救回来了。 我开始准备行程，往腰包里塞满了坚果和熏鹿肉。 我每次离开山顶都一定会带吃的。 什么事都可能耽误行程——崴脚呀，暴风雨呀，说不定还有鳟鱼等着我钓呢。 我关上地窖门的时候，发现我用哥哥杰克旧皮带做的皮铰链里夹着一张纸。 那是爱丽丝留给我的便条。 她总给我留消息，通常不写在纸上，要么写在泥地上，写在松

needles, or scratched on a leaf. Once she floated a birch-bark note downstream to me while I was fishing. "I'm thinking waterfalls," this one reads. That's Alice—tantalizing—"thinking waterfalls." I'm sure she is. Ever since she set foot in the Catskills, she has talked about, and gone out of her way to find, cascades, cataracts, waterfalls, rills, riffles and niagaras. For whatever reason she's thinking about waterfalls now, I'm glad she is. She's preoccupied and I don't have to tell her about Frightful yet. I'll tell her in a note. That won't be as difficult as saying it to her face. I won't have to see the sorrow in her eyes or be witness to what she might do. I return to my desk and tear a sheet out of my journal. "Dear Alice," I begin. "It is easier for me to write this than tell it to you. Frightful has been confiscated by the conservation officer. She's an endangered species, and the laws concerning her are rigid. I'm going to Delhi to see

针叶上，要么刻在树叶上。 有一回我钓鱼的时候，她把一张桦树皮便条顺着溪水漂给我。 这张便条上写着：“我想去看瀑布。” 这就是爱丽丝，总吊人胃口——“想去看瀑布。” 我敢肯定她就是想去。 自从她踏进卡茨基尔山，她就一直念叨着找瀑布，还特意绕路去找叠瀑、巨瀑、小瀑布、溪流、急滩大大小小的各种瀑布。 不管她现在因为什么想去看瀑布，我都很开心她想去。 她忙着想瀑布的事，我暂时不用告诉她福莱特的事。 我会写在便条里告诉她。 这样比当面说要轻松很多。 我不用看见她眼睛里的难过，也不用面对她难过的反应。 我回到书桌边，从日记本里撕下一张纸。 我开头写道：“亲爱的爱丽丝。” “这件事写下来比当面告诉你更容易。 福莱特被保护区管理员没收了。 她是濒危物种，针对她的相关法律非常严格。 我要去德里问问

if there is anything I can do to get her back. I don't think there is, but it will make me feel better. "Keep the charcoal going under the fish on the smoking rack. Turn them once more. They ought to be done by late afternoon. Wrap them in maple leaves and store them in the grape vine basket in the root cellar. Hastily, Sam." I leave the note on the path to her tree house, check the door on the sluice that carries the water to the waterwheel to make sure it's tightly closed, and depart. The course I run is straight down the mountain to the county road, where I leave the cool shelter of the woods and trot over the hot asphalt to town. The traffic increases as I near the bridge over Delhi Creek, so I slow down. The heat and stench of exhaust from the cars is almost unbearable and I want to turn back. I don't. I have to know. Walking here on the streets, I feel conspicuous in my mountain clothes, but I guess I'm not. The summer visitors in Delhi are dressed in old pants and T-shirts, too. I look no stranger than any of

看看有没有什么办法能把她救回来。 我觉得希望不大，但至少这样我会好受一点。 “记得看好熏鱼架上的鱼，别让炭火灭了。 再给鱼翻一次面。 傍晚的时候应该就熏好了。 熏好后用枫叶包起来，存进地窖的葡萄藤篮子里。 匆忙留言的，萨姆。” 我把便条放在通往她树屋的小路上，检查了给水车送水的水闸，确认门关紧了，就出发了。 我一路直跑下山，跑到县道上，离开树林凉爽的树荫，小跑着踩过滚烫的沥青路往镇上赶。 快到德里溪的大桥时，车辆越来越多，我就放慢了脚步。 汽车尾气的热气和臭味简直难以忍受，我都想掉头回去了。 但我没有掉头。 我必须搞清楚真相。 走在镇上的街道上，我穿一身山里的衣服，觉得很惹眼，不过其实大概没人在意。 德里镇来过夏的游客也都穿旧裤子和T恤，和我一样。 我看起来并不比任何

them in my moccasins and the jeans my brother Jake gave me when he left. Once I was laughed at when I wore my deerskin clothes to town, but in these clothes no one even notices me. And I wouldn't care if they did. I want to find Leon Longbridge. I round a corner and pause. The library is to the left, the Delaware county courthouse and sheriffs office are to the right. I strike out for the sheriff's office. Inside a woman is working at a typewriter. Above the door to another room is a sign reading COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE, and under it is a card saying Conservation Officer on duty today. I'll soon know the truth. "Madam?" My voice squeaks and I clear my throat. "Madam." "Excuse me a minute," she answers and types on. Presently, the typing stops. The woman takes off her glasses and smiles. "I was wondering, madam," I begin, then hesitate as I try to word this just right. "I was wondering, is Mr.—Do you have a conservation officer by the name of Leon Longbridge?"

他们奇怪，我穿的是鹿皮鞋，还有我哥哥杰克离开时送给我的牛仔裤。 以前我穿鹿皮衣服去镇上，被人嘲笑过，可穿这身衣服，根本没人注意我。 而且就算有人注意，我也不在乎。 我要找到里昂·朗布里奇。 我转过一个拐角，停下了脚步。 左边是图书馆，右边是特拉华县法院和警长办公室。 我朝着警长办公室走了过去。 屋里有一位女士正在打字。 另一扇房门上方挂着牌子，写着“县警长办公室”，牌子下面还有一张卡片，写着“今日有保护区管理员值班”。 我很快就能知道真相了。 “女士？” 我的声音发颤，我清了清嗓子。 “女士。” “稍等一下哦”，她回答完继续打字。 没过一会儿，打字声停了。 女士摘下眼镜，对我笑了笑。 “请问，女士”，我开口问道，接着又犹豫了，想把话说得准确一点。 “请问，你们这儿有没有一位名叫里昂·朗布里奇的保护区管理员呀？”

"Leon Longbridge?" She is scratching a mosquito bite on her neck, and my heart skips a beat, for she looks as if she has never heard of him. "Oh, yes," she says. "Leon Longbridge is the environmental conservation officer. He just happens to be here today. He has a big territory to cover, so he's usually in the field. You're lucky." "Can he confiscate an endangered species if somebody has one?" "Yes, indeed, he can. He can even make arrests. Do you want to see him?" I swallow hard in disappointment. "No, thank you." I walk slowly out the door. Back on the sidewalk, I move fast, weaving in and out of the strolling people, barely noticing them. I am thinking over and over and over again: There is nothing I can do to get Frightful back. She is gone. She is gone. Sam, I say to myself as I start across the bridge, you must stop these thoughts and start thinking about what to do now that you have no falcon.

“里昂·朗布里奇？” 她正在挠脖子上被蚊子咬的包，我的心猛地一跳，因为她看起来完全没听过这个名字。 “哦，我知道，”她说。 “里昂·朗布里奇是环保官员。 他今天刚好在这里。 他要管好大一片区域，所以平时都待在野外。 你们运气可真好。” “要是有人私藏濒危物种，他能没收吗？” “当然，他当然可以。 他甚至还能抓人呢。 你想见他吗？” 我满心失望，狠狠咽了口唾沫。 “不了，谢谢。” 我慢慢走出了门。 回到人行道上，我加快脚步，在散步的人群里穿来穿去，根本没在意这些人。 我翻来覆去不停地想：我根本没办法把惊涛找回来了。 她走了。 她走了。 我开始过桥的时候对自己说：萨姆，别再想这些了，好好想想，现在没了游隼你该怎么办。