1 Frightful Takes Off

Frightful Takes Off Frightful had not been quite two weeks old when she first saw Sam Gribley. He had lifted her from her nest on a cliff. Small as she was, she had jabbed him with her already powerful talons as he carried her to the ground. "I'm going to call you Frightful," he had said. "You are a raving beauty." Then he carried her to the gigantic hemlock tree on the mountain and into its hollowed-out bole. This was Sam's home. He fed her four and five times a day. He carried her on his gloved fist and talked to her. Before long, Frightful thought of him as her mother. He nurtured her like a peregrine falcon mother would. When she was older, Sam made a perch for her and placed it outside his tree. He taught her to fly to his hand. When she was full-grown, he took her hunting with him. By now, the memory of her parents was pushed far back in her mind. Sam was her family. At night and on winter days, Sam brought Frightful inside the huge old tree. She perched on his rustic bedstead and warmed herself by the clay

可怕起飞 可怕第一次见到山姆·格里博利的时候，还不满两周大 他把她从悬崖的鸟巢里抱了出来 别看她当时个头很小，在山姆带她下地面的路上，她已经能用有力的爪尖戳他了 "我就叫你可怕吧，"他说 "你真是个美得惊人的小家伙" 之后，他带着她来到山上的巨铁杉树，钻进了树身的空心洞里 这里就是山姆的家 他一天要给她喂四五次吃的 他戴着手套，把她托在拳头上，还会陪着她说话 没过多久，可怕就把他当成了自己的妈妈 他像游隼妈妈一样精心养育着她 可怕长大一些后，山姆给她做了栖木，放在树屋外面 他教她飞到自己的手掌上来 等她完全长大，山姆就带她一起去打猎 到这个时候，她对亲生父母的记忆已经被推到了脑海深处 山姆就是她的家人 夜晚和冬日里，山姆会把可怕带回这棵古树的树洞里 她停在他粗陋的床架上，靠着陶制

fireplace. On spring and summer days, she would sit on her perch outside and watch the birds, the butterflies, and busy Sam. Patiently she waited for him to take her hunting. It was her greatest pleasure. She loved the sky. She loved the updrafts and coiling winds, and she loved "waiting on," hovering above Sam until he kicked up game. Then she stooped, the wind singing in her feathers. Frightful was an excellent hunter who rarely missed. The food was shared. Their lives depended on each other. She must find Sam again now. Frightful crouched to fly. She could not see. She folded her gray-blue wings to her body and straightened up. Hooded and tethered, she had traveled with two strange men for several days. One of them had taken her from the perch beside the big hemlock tree. He had a deep jerky voice and a face like a condor's. She looked intently at him before he slipped the falconer's hood over her head.

壁炉取暖 春天和夏天，她会坐在外面的栖木上，看着小鸟、蝴蝶，还有忙忙碌碌的山姆 她耐心等着山姆带她去打猎 这是她最大的快乐 她热爱天空 她热爱上升气流和打旋的风，还喜欢“蹲守猎物”——在山姆头顶盘旋，等他惊出猎物 接着她猛地俯冲，风在她羽毛间轻轻歌唱 可怕是个很棒的猎手，几乎从来不会失手 打来的食物他们一起分享 他们的生活彼此相依 现在，她必须重新找到山姆 可怕弓起身子，准备起飞 她看不见东西 她把灰蓝色的翅膀收拢在身侧，直起身子 她被头罩罩着、绳索拴着，跟着两个陌生男人走了好几天 其中一个男人把她从大铁杉旁的栖木上抓走了 他嗓音低沉断断续续，脸长得跟神鹫一样 在他把猎鹰头罩套到她头上前，她紧紧盯着他看了许久

Sam had begged and pleaded with the man not to take her away, but he had pushed Sam aside and carried her down the mountain to a pickup truck. A leather perch had been presented to her feet. She had stepped up on it as Sam had taught her to do. A door had closed, and she was inside a camper on the truck. The motor rumbled, and she was moving. A falcon bell tinkled nearby. A sharpshinned hawk had shifted his feet. A prairie falcon called out a single note. They, like herself, were sensing the direction of the moving pickup—east, northeast, east, then straight north. Several feedings later, the second man put Frightful on a perch in the pine forest. The prairie falcon and the sharp-shinned hawk were there, too. She could hear their bells tinkling. Although they were birds who would readily attack her, she was not afraid of them. Frightful was a peregrine falcon. She was faster and more agile than any other bird or beast the world around. Her long pointed wings; wide shoulders; and strong, tapered body were sculpted by the wind, the open sky, and the nature of her ancestral prey—swift birds.

山姆苦苦哀求男人不要带走她，可男人把山姆推到一边，带着她下山走到一辆皮卡车边 她脚边放上了一个皮制栖架 她照着山姆教她的那样，踩了上去 一扇门关上了，她待在卡车的露营车厢里 发动机轰隆隆作响，车开动了 旁边的猎鹰铃叮当作响 一只尖胫鹰挪了挪脚爪 一只草原隼叫了一声 它们和可怕一样，感知着皮卡前进的方向——东，东北，东，然后一直向北 喂过几次食后，第二个男人把可怕放到了松树林的栖木上 草原隼和尖胫鹰也被放在了这里 她能听到它们的铃铛叮铃作响 就算这些鸟随时都会攻击她，她也一点都不害怕 可怕是一只游隼 她比天底下所有鸟兽都飞得更快、更灵活 她修长的尖翼、宽阔的肩、强壮匀称的身体，都是风、开阔天空，还有祖先代代追捕敏捷飞鸟的天性打磨出来的

Frightful sat calmly under her hood, turning the sounds in the pine forest into mental images. A song sparrow caroled. A cardinal chirped. They told her she was in a forest clearing edged with bushes where song sparrows and cardinals lived. A northern waterthrush trilled. Frightful envisioned a dashing stream shaded by a majestic forest, the summer home of the northern waterthrush. She heard the stream in the distance. It had many voices as it spilled down a stairway of rocks. Suddenly the cardinal screamed an alarm. A predator was approaching. The songbirds stopped chittering. The forest became silent. Even the insects ceased stridulating. Frightful pulled her feathers to her breast. The enemy was low and coming toward her. The sharp-shinned hawk flew off his perch in terror. His bell tinkled. He was stopped by his leash, which was knotted to a steel ring at the base of his perch and to the jesses on his legs. He jumped forward, fell back, and beat the earth with his wings. A killing snarl colored the air red.

可怕平静地坐在头罩下，把松树林里的声音转换成脑海里的画面 一只歌雀在欢唱 一只红雀在啁啾 它们告诉她，她待在一片林中空地，空地边围着灌木丛，正是歌雀和红雀住的地方 一只北方水鸫在鸣啭 可怕脑海里浮现出一条奔腾的小溪，藏在雄伟森林的树荫下，那是北方水鸫的夏天家园 她听到了远处小溪的声音 溪水顺着层叠的岩石往下淌，传出各种各样的声响 突然，红雀发出一声尖叫警报 有猎食者正在靠近 鸣禽们都停下了叽叽喳喳 森林一下子变得安静 连虫子都停止了鸣叫 可怕把羽毛收紧贴在胸口 敌人就在低处，正朝她走来 尖胫鹰吓得从栖木上飞了起来 他的铃铛叮铃一响 绳子拉住了他：绳子一头系在栖木底座的钢圈上，另一头拴在他腿的脚绳上 他往前跳，又摔回去，翅膀拼命拍打着地面 一声带着杀气的咆哮让空气都绷紧了

An eastern coyote had killed the sharp-shinned hawk. The killer, bird in her mouth, ran toward her pups in the woods. With a jerk, she, too, was stopped by the leash. She turned back and dug at the base of the perch until it toppled and fell. The next sound Frightful heard was the clink of the ring at the end of the leash bouncing over the ground. The sounds faded into the woods. A wind twisted Frightful's silky pantaloons of pinstriped feathers, which hung down over her enamel-shiny legs. Her tail flicked. She was nervous. Human footsteps approached. Their sound did not conjure up the image of the men she had been traveling with. Wary, she lifted her wings to fly. A hand touched the front of her legs, and she stepped up onto it as Sam had taught her to do. "Hello, Frightful." Her name; but not Sam's voice. The tone was soft, like the call of a mourning dove. "What are you doing here?" the voice asked, and Frightful recognized Alice, Sam's sister. In her mind's eye, she saw a rosy face with sea-blue eyes

一只东部郊狼咬死了那只雀鹰。 这头咬死猎物的郊狼叼着雀鹰，朝树林里自己的幼崽跑去。 她猛地一挣，也被牵绳拽住了。 她转过身刨啃栖木的根部，直到栖木轰然歪倒在地。 芙莱特接下来听到的，是牵绳末端的铁环蹦过地面的叮当声。 声音渐渐消失在树林深处。 一阵风吹乱了芙莱特腿上带细条纹的柔滑羽裤，这层羽毛盖着她亮得像搪瓷的小腿。 她甩了甩尾巴。 她紧张极了。 有人类的脚步声越来越近。 这声音没法让她想起之前和她同行的那个人。 她满心警惕，张开翅膀准备飞走。 一只手碰到了她的小腿前侧，她就按照山姆教她的那样站了上去。 “你好呀，芙莱特。” 喊的是她的名字，可声音不是山姆的。 语气软软的，就像哀鸽的鸣叫声。 “你怎么会在这里呀？” 声音问道，芙莱特认出这是山姆的妹妹爱丽丝。 她的脑海里浮现出一张红润的脸庞，还有一双海蓝色的眼睛

and yellow hair. Frightful relaxed. Alice was family. She liked Alice, who ran and jumped. She also darted. Frightful liked movement. A spot in her eyes that connected to many nerves gave her an instant focus on movement. Running, leaping Alice was a member of Frightful's home forest. Sam must not be far away. Frightful eased her grip on Alice's bare hand. She lifted her talons. "Frightful," Alice said softly. "You've got to get out of here." The young girl's voice brought back images of the one mountain among thousands of mountains, the one hemlock tree among millions of trees—and Sam. "I'm cutting your jesses," she whispered. "You are surrounded by enemies! Fly, fly far away. "Fly away, Frightful! Sam is not allowed to have you. He has to have a falconer's license, and he's too young to get one. Fly, Frightful! Fly far!" A quick slash of a knife, and Frightful's jesses and leash dropped away. The hood was flipped off. And Frightful could see. "Fly!" Alice urged.

还有黄色的头发。 芙莱特放松下来了。 爱丽丝是自家人。 她喜欢爱跑爱跳的爱丽丝。 爱丽丝还爱猛冲乱跑。 芙莱特最喜欢移动的东西。 她眼睛里有一块连着许多神经的区域，能让她立刻锁定移动的目标。 跑跑跳跳的爱丽丝，本来就是芙莱特家森林里的一员。 那山姆肯定也离得不远了。 芙莱特稍稍放松了扣在爱丽丝光手上的爪子。 她抬起了爪子。 “芙莱特，”爱丽丝轻声唤道。 “你得赶紧离开这儿。” 小姑娘的声音让芙莱特想起了万山中的那座山，万树中的那棵铁杉——还有山姆。 “我要剪断你的脚绊，”她轻声说。 “你的周围全都是敌人！ 快飞，飞得远远的。 “快飞走，芙莱特！ 山姆不能养你了。 他必须要有驯鹰许可证，可他年纪太小还拿不到。 快飞呀，芙莱特！ 飞得远远的！” 刀子快速一划，芙莱特的脚绊和牵绳都掉了下去。 头罩也被摘了下来。 芙莱特终于能看见了。 “飞呀！” 爱丽丝催促道。