LESSON 33 The bison, or American buffalo
第三十三课 北美野牛
The bison, or buffalo as it is popularly called in America, is now almost extinct as a wild animal,
水牛，或者是美洲人所称的野牛，现在已经濒临灭绝。
but as late as a hundred years ago it inhabited the great plains of North America and thee astern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
但是就在一个世纪前，它们还遍布北美大平原和落基山脉的山坡上。
There, vast flocks of the wild-looking animals, numbering often as many as ten thousand in a single herd, roamed over the prairies.
那里有大量的野牛，每群牛通常有一万只，在大草原上游荡。
Let us look at the bison as he may still be seen in some Canadian park,
我们还能在某些加拿大公园里看到野牛，
his red eyes glowing like coals of fire amid the mass of dark-brown or black hair which hangs over his head and neck and the whole fore part of his body,
野牛的眼睛红得像烧着的煤块，在它那深棕色或黑色的毛发中闪闪发光。它的毛发垂在头和脖子以及前半身，

mingling with a beard that descends from the lower jaw to the knee.
其中还参杂着从下巴垂到膝盖的胡子。
From his very awkward and heavy appearance, when seen at a distance, it would not be supposed that he is extremely active,
由于野牛外观奇特又笨重，从远处看不出它们有多么活跃。
capable of moving at a rapid rate, and of continuing his headlong career for an immense distance.
它们的速度非常快，即使距离非常远，
So sure of foot is he, also, that he can pass over ground where no horse could follow;
它们也能继续向前冲，它们能通过马无法行进的地方；
his limbs being in reality slender, and his body far more finely proportioned than would be supposed from its thick coating of hair.
野牛的四肢其实是细长的，这和它们去除厚厚的毛发后的身体是很成比例。