第 14 节
作者:摄氏0度      更新:2022-11-23 12:12      字数:9321
  them flickered and died down。
  One Eye was desperate。 He ranged far and wide; and slept but little in
  the lair that had now become cheerless and miserable。 The she…wolf; too;
  left her litter and went out in search of meat。 In the first days after the birth
  of the cubs; One Eye had journeyed several times back to the Indian camp
  and   robbed   the   rabbit   snares;   but;   with   the   melting   of   the   snow   and   the
  opening of the streams; the Indian camp had moved away; and that source
  of supply was closed to him。
  When the grey cub came back to life and again took interest in the far
  white wall; he found that the population of his world had been reduced。
  Only one sister remained to him。 The rest were gone。 As he grew stronger;
  he found himself compelled   to play alone; for  the sister no longer lifted
  her head nor moved about。 His little body rounded out with the meat he
  now ate; but the food had come too late for her。 She slept continuously; a
  tiny skeleton flung round with skin in which the flame flickered lower and
  lower and at last went out。
  Then there   came a   time   when   the grey  cub no longer saw   his   father
  appearing      and   disappearing     in  the  wall   nor   lying   down    asleep   in  the
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  entrance。 This had happened at the end of a second and less severe famine。
  The she…wolf knew why One Eye never came back; but there was no way
  by which she could tell what she had seen to the grey cub。 Hunting herself
  for   meat;   up   the   left   fork   of   the   stream   where   lived   the   lynx;   she   had
  followed   a   day…old   trail   of   One   Eye。   And   she   had   found   him;   or   what
  remained   of   him;   at   the   end   of   the   trail。   There   were   many   signs   of   the
  battle that had been fought; and of the lynx's withdrawal to her lair after
  having won the victory。 Before she went away; the she…wolf had found this
  lair; but the signs told her that the lynx was inside; and she had not dared
  to venture in。
  After that; the she…wolf in her hunting avoided the left fork。 For she
  knew that in the lynx's lair was a litter of kittens; and she knew the lynx
  for   a   fierce; bad…tempered   creature   and   a   terrible   fighter。  It   was   all   very
  well for half a dozen wolves to drive a lynx; spitting and bristling; up a
  tree; but it was quite a different matter for a lone wolf to encounter a lynx
  … especially when the lynx was known to have a litter of hungry kittens at
  her back。
  But the Wild is the Wild; and motherhood is motherhood; at all times
  fiercely protective whether   in the Wild   or out of   it; and the   time was   to
  come when the she…wolf; for her grey cub's sake; would venture the left
  fork; and the lair in the rocks; and the lynx's wrath。
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  CHAPTER IV … THE WALL OF THE WORLD
  By the time his mother began leaving the cave on hunting expeditions;
  the cub had learned well the law that forbade his approaching the entrance。
  Not only had this law been forcibly and many times impressed on him by
  his mother's nose and paw; but in him the instinct of fear was developing。
  Never; in his brief cave… life; had he encountered anything of which to be
  afraid。   Yet   fear   was   in   him。   It   had   come   down   to   him   from   a   remote
  ancestry   through   a   thousand   thousand   lives。        It   was   a   heritage   he   had
  received directly from One Eye and the she…wolf; but to them; in turn; it
  had been passed down through all the generations of wolves that had gone
  before。 Fear! … that legacy of the Wild which no animal   may escape nor
  exchange for pottage。
  So the grey cub knew fear; though he knew not the stuff of which fear
  was made。 Possibly he accepted it as one of the restrictions of life。 For he
  had    already    learned    that  there   were   such    restrictions。   Hunger     he  had
  known; and when he could not appease his hunger he had felt restriction。
  The   hard   obstruction   of   the   cave…wall;   the   sharp   nudge   of   his   mother's
  nose;  the smashing stroke   of   her paw;  the   hunger unappeased   of   several
  famines; had borne in upon him that all was not freedom in the world; that
  to life there was limitations and restraints。 These limitations and restraints
  were   laws。   To   be   obedient   to   them   was   to   escape   hurt   and   make   for
  happiness。
  He   did   not   reason   the   question   out   in   this   man   fashion。   He   merely
  classified the  things that   hurt   and the things   that   did   not hurt。 And   after
  such   classification   he   avoided   the   things   that   hurt;   the   restrictions   and
  restraints; in order to enjoy the satisfactions and the remunerations of life。
  Thus it was that in obedience to the law laid down by his mother; and
  in obedience to the law of that unknown and nameless thing; fear; he kept
  away from the mouth of the cave。 It remained to him a white wall of light。
  When his mother was absent; he slept most of the time; while during the
  intervals     that   he   was    awake     he    kept   very    quiet;   suppressing      the
  whimpering cries that tickled in his throat and strove for noise。
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  Once; lying awake; he heard a strange sound in the white wall。 He did
  not know that it was a wolverine; standing outside; all a… trembling with its
  own daring; and cautiously scenting out the contents of the cave。 The cub
  knew only that the sniff was strange; a something unclassified; therefore
  unknown and terrible … for the unknown was one of the chief elements that
  went into the making of fear。
  The hair bristled upon the grey cub's back; but it bristled silently。 How
  was he to know that this thing that sniffed was a thing at which to bristle?
  It was not born of any knowledge of his; yet it was the visible expression
  of the fear that was in him; and for which; in his own life; there was no
  accounting。      But    fear  was    accompanied       by   another    instinct   …  that  of
  concealment。       The    cub   was   in   a  frenzy   of   terror;  yet  he   lay  without
  movement or sound; frozen; petrified into immobility; to all appearances
  dead。   His   mother;   coming   home;   growled   as   she   smelt   the   wolverine's
  track; and bounded into the cave and licked and nozzled him with undue
  vehemence of affection。 And the cub felt that somehow he had escaped a
  great hurt。
  But there were other forces at work in the cub; the greatest of which
  was   growth。   Instinct   and   law   demanded   of   him   obedience。   But   growth
  demanded disobedience。 His mother and fear impelled him to keep away
  from the white wall。 Growth is life; and life is for ever destined to make
  for   light。   So   there   was   no   damming   up   the   tide   of   life   that   was   rising
  within him … rising with every mouthful of meat he swallowed; with every
  breath he drew。 In the end; one day; fear and obedience were swept away
  by    the  rush   of   life;  and   the  cub   straddled     and   sprawled     toward    the
  entrance。
  Unlike   any   other   wall   with   which   he   had   had   experience;   this   wall
  seemed   to   recede   from   him   as   he   approached。   No   hard   surface   collided
  with    the   tender   little  nose   he   thrust   out  tentatively    before    him。   The
  substance of the wall seemed as permeable and yielding as light。 And as
  condition; in his eyes; had the seeming of form; so he entered into what
  had been wall to him and bathed in the substance that composed it。
  It was bewildering。 He was sprawling through solidity。 And ever   the
  light grew brighter。 Fear urged him to go back; but growth drove him on。
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  Suddenly   he   found   himself   at   the   mouth   of   the   cave。   The   wall;   inside
  which he had thought himself; as suddenly leaped back before him to an
  immeasurable   distance。   The   light   had   become   painfully   bright。   He   was
  dazzled by it。 Likewise he was made dizzy by this abrupt and tremendous
  extension of space。 Automatically; his eyes were adjusting themselves to
  the   brightness;     focusing    themselves      to  meet   the   increased    distance    of
  objects。 At   first;   the   wall   had   leaped   beyond   his   vision。   He   now   saw   it
  again;   but   it   had   taken   upon   itself