(单词翻译:单击)
At this point we had all become thoroughly familiar with the creek bed, and had tracked up and down it
这时候，我们对河床已经非常熟悉了，我们沿着河床来回追踪
until the whole area was redolent with our odors.
直到整个区域都充满了我们的气味。
Fast and I spent most of our time dedicated to the serious business of play,
我和Fast把大部分时间都花在了玩耍这件严肃的事情上，
and I was beginning to understand how important it was to him for the game to wind up with me on my back,
我开始明白，对他来说，骑在我背上结束游戏有多么重要，
his mouth chewing my face and throat.
他的嘴咬着我的脸和喉咙。
Sister never challenged him, but I still wasn't sure I liked what everyone seemed to assume was the natural order of our pack.
姐姐从来没有挑战过他，但我仍然不确定我是否喜欢每个人似乎都习以为常的家庭秩序。
Hungry, of course, didn't care about his status, so when I was frustrated I bit his ears.
当然了，Hungry并不关心他的地位，所以当我沮丧时，就会咬他的耳朵。
One afternoon I was drowsily watching Sister and Fast yank on a scrap of cloth they'd found
一天下午，我迷迷糊糊地望着姐姐和Fast 撕咬着她们找到的一块布
when my ears perked up—an animal of some kind was coming, something large and loud.
这时我的耳朵竖了起来，有一种动物走了过来，又大又响。
I scrambled to my feet, but before I could race down the creek bed to investigate the noise
我爬了起来，但我还没来得及跑下河床去听那声音
Mother was there, her body rigid with warning.
母亲就已经到了那里，她的身体因发出警告而变得僵硬。
I saw with surprise that she had Hungry in her teeth, carrying him in a fashion that we'd left behind weeks ago.
我惊奇地看到，她嘴里叼着Hungry，是几周前她抱着我们的样子。
She led us into the dark culvert and crouched down, her ears flat against her head.
她把我们带进黑暗的涵洞，蹲了下来，耳朵贴着头。
The message was clear, and we heeded it, shrinking back from the tunnel opening in silence.
这个信息很清楚，我们注意到了它，并在沉默中从隧道的开口向后缩。
When the thing came into view, striding along the creek bed,
当那东西出现时，它正沿着河床大步走着，
I felt Mother's fear ripple across her back.
我感到母亲的恐惧在她的背上荡漾开来。
It was big, it stood on two legs, and an acrid smoke wafted from its mouth as it shambled toward us.
它很大，用两条腿站着，嘴里冒着刺鼻的烟，蹒跚地向我们走来。
I stared intently, absolutely fascinated.
我目不转睛地盯着，完全被迷住了。
For reasons I couldn't fathom I was drawn to this creature, compelled, and I even tensed, preparing to bound out to greet it.
出于我无法理解的原因，我被这个生物吸引住了，被迫的，甚至是紧张的，准备冲出去迎接它。
One look from my mother, though, and I decided against it.
但母亲看了我一眼，我就决定不出去了。
This was something to be feared, to be avoided at all costs. It was, of course, a man.
那是个可怕的生物，要不惜一切代价避开他们。当然，那是个男人。
The first one I'd ever seen.
这是我第一次见到人。
The man never glanced in our direction. He scaled the bank and disappeared from view,
那人根本没有朝我们这边看一眼。他爬上河岸，消失在视野中，
and after a few moments Mother slid out into the sunlight and raised her head to see if the danger had passed.
过了一会儿，母亲溜到阳光下，抬起头来看看危险是否已经过去了。
She relaxed, then, and came back inside, giving each of us a reassuring kiss.
然后她放松下来，回到洞里，给了我们每个人一个安慰的吻。
