He came to a pool of water. Stooping over in quest ofminnows, he jerked his head back as though he had been stun He had caught sight of his reflected face. So horrible was it that sensibility awoke long enough to be shocked. There were three minnows in the pool，which was too large to drain; and after several ineffectual attempts to catch them in the tin bucket he forbore. He was afraid，because of his great weakness, that he might fall in and drown. It was for this reason that he did not trust himself to the river astride one of the many drift-logs which lined its sand-spits.

他来到一潭水边。他向前伏着身子，看看水里有没有米诺鱼，这时，头突然往后一仰，就像被什么东西蛰了一下。他是看见了自己的倒影。那形象极为恐怖，精神敏感甚至因此保持了一定时间的清醒，让他自己都为之一惊。水里面有三条米诺鱼，但水潭太大，不可能排干。他想用铁罐子逮鱼，但是试了几下都没成功，也就放弃了。他担心自己现在极度虚弱，有可能一下掉进去给淹死。也是由于这个原因，他才没有靠两腿跨在一根漂木上来渡河，尽管河边的沙坑里有成排的这种漂木。

http://ww1/large/6de70557jw1f50u4us11bj205y08wq3g.jpgLondon "Love of Life" 节选及翻译" TITLE="Jack London "Love of Life" 节选及翻译" />

That day he decreased the distance between him and the boat by three miles; the next day by two---for he was crawling as Bill had crawled; and the end of the fifth day he found the boat still seven miles away and him unable to make even a mile a day. Still the Indian Summer held on, and he continued to crawl and faint, turn and turn about; and ever the sick wolf coughed and wheezed at his heels. His knees had become raw meat like his feet, and though he padded them with the shin from his back it was a red track he left behind him on the moss and stones. Once, glancing back, he saw the wolf licking hun­grily his bleeding trail, and he saw sharply what his own end might be---unless---unless he could get the wolf. Then began as grim a tragedy of existence as was ever played—a sick man that crawled, a sick wolf that limped, two creatures dragging their dying carcasses across the desolation and hunting each other’s lives.

那天，他拖着步子走，自己同船的距离少了三英里；第二天是两英里——因为他现在也是像比尔那样爬行前进。等到第五天结束的时候，他发现自己还离着七英里，可是自己一天移动不到一英里。小阳春还在继续着，他还在继续爬着向前，常常昏过去，然后醒过来，偶尔转转身子。那只狼则一直跟在他身后，发出咳嗽似的声音，喘唔着。膝盖磨破了，里面的肉露了出来，就像他脚上的肉，尽管他拿背上的衬衣把膝盖裹了起来，他所过之处，身后的青苔和石头印着一条红色的轨迹。有一回，他回头一看，发现狼如饥似渴地舔着他的红色印迹，他清楚的看到了自己将会是怎样一个下场，除非……除非他干掉那只狼。接下来，一场比任何悲剧都要残忍的生存悲剧上演了——一位爬行的病夫，一条跛脚的病狼，这两头生物拖着自己将要死亡的躯体在荒野上前行，都想着置对方于死地。

Had it been a well wolf，it would not have mattered so much to the man; but the thought of going to feed the maw of that loathsome and all but dead thing was repugnant to him. He was finicky. His mind had begun to wander again, and to be perplexed by hallucinations, while his lucid intervals grew rarer and shorter.

如果那是只健康的狼，被它吃了，他不会太在乎。可是一想到自己要被那只令人作呕、差不多要死的东西填进肚子，他感到恶心。他是有点讲究过头。意识又开始游离，幻觉也在迷惑着他，清醒的时刻变得越来越少、持续的时间也越来越短。

He was awakened once from a faint by a wheeze close in his ear. The wolf leaped lamely back，losing its footing and falling in its weakness. It was ludicrous, but he was not amused. Nor was he even afraid. He was too far gone for that. But his mind was for the moment clear, and he laid and considered. The ship was no more than four miles away. He could see it quite distinctly when he rubbed the mists out of his eyes, and he could see the white sail of a small boat cutting the water of the shining sea. But he could never crawl those four miles. He knew that, and was very calm in the knowledge. He knew that he could not crawl half a mile. And yet he wanted to live. It was unreasonable that he should die after all he had undergone. Fate asked too much him. And, dying, he declined to die. It was stark madness, perhaps, but in the very grip of Death he defied Death and refused to die.

有一次，贴在耳朵上的一声喘唔让他从昏厥中醒了过来。那头狼瘸着往后一跳，因为身体虚弱，这一跳结果没站稳，摔倒在地。那场景非常滑稽，但是他没有被逗笑，也甚至没有丝毫害怕，他已经极度衰弱，对害怕都不再有感觉。但是意识在那一刻还是清醒的，他躺在那，考虑着。船离他的距离不到四英里了。他揉干净眼睛，甚至可以相当清楚地看见那艘船，他看到了一艘在波光粼粼的海面上破水前行的小船的白矾。但是他绝不可能再爬这四英里，他心里清楚，而且就算这样清楚，他也不慌乱。他知道自己半英里都爬不了，可是他想要活下去。经历了那么多之后，他如果就这样死了，实在是讲不过去。命运对他太过苛求。而，死去，他拒绝死。也许这是赤裸裸的疯狂，但是在死神的钳制之下，他公然挑战它——拒绝死。

He composed himself with infinite precaution. He steeled himself to keep above the suffocatinglanguor that lapped like a rising tide through all the wells 0f his being. It was very like a sea, this deadly languor, that rose and rose and drowned his consciousness bit by bit. Sometimes he was all but submerged, swimming through oblivion with a falter­ing stroke; and again, by some strange alchemy of soul, he would find another shred of will and strike out more strongly.

他闭上了眼睛，心中升起无穷的警惕，镇静了下来。他鞭策着自己的意识，避免自己被那令人窒息的疲倦所吞没，这疲倦就像是上涨的海潮，不断拍打着他存在的所有的泉井。这致命的疲倦，像极了大海，不停的涨啊、涨啊，一点接一点的淹没了他的意识。有时候，他几乎完全被吞噬，用无力的双手在水中拍打，在无意识里游着，接下来，在灵魂产生的奇怪魔力的作用下，他又找到了一丝的意志力，更有力地冲出无意识。

Without movement he lay on his back, and he could hear, slowly drawing near and nearer, the wheezing intake and output of the sick wolfs breath. It drew closer, ever closer, through an infinitude of time, and he did not move. It was at his ear. The harsh dry tongue grated like sandpaper against his cheek. His hands shot out——or at least he willed them to shoot out. The fingers were curved like talons, but they closed on jaw. Swiftness and certitude require strength, and the man has not this strength.

他一动不动地仰面躺在地上，能听见那头病狼喘着的呼吸，离他越来越近。时间化成了无数小的点滴，狼越来越近，不断接近，而他一动不动。它到了他耳边，那粗粝、没有丝毫水分的舌头贴着他的面颊，发出砂纸般的摩擦声。他的双手猛地向上伸，如果不是这样，那也至少是他用意志力让手伸出来。手指弯曲成了爪形，但是却什么也没抓住。要想动作迅疾精准，就得有力气，而他这时没用丁点力气。

The patience of the wolf was terrible. The man’s patience was no less terrible. For half a day he lay motionless，fighting off unconsciousness and waiting for the thing that was to feed upon him and upon which he wished to feed. Sometimes the languid sea rose over him and he dreamed long dreams; but ever through it all，waking and dreaming, he waited for the wheezingbreath and the harsh caress of the tongue.

那头狼的耐心极大，这人的耐心也丝毫不弱。整整半天，他躺在那，一动不动，驱除不断侵袭的无意识，等着旁边的东西吃掉自己，而他自己是也想着吃掉那东西的。有时候，疲倦之海完全将他吞没，他做起长长的梦来。但是从入梦到梦醒，他时而清醒，时而昏去，等待着狼的喘息声、狼舌的坚硬抚摸。

He did not hear the breath, and he slipped slowly from some dream to the feel of the tongue along his hand. He waited. The fangs pressed softly; the pressure increased; the wolf was exerting its last strength in an effort to sink teeth in the food for which it had waited so long. But the man had waited long, and the lacerated hand closed on the jaw. Slowly, while the wolf struggled feebly and the hand clutched feebly，the other hand crept across to a grip. Five minutes later the whole weight of the man’s body was on top of the wolf. The hands had not sufficient strength to choke the wolf, but the face of the man was pressed close to the throat of the wolf and the mouth of the man was full of hair. At the end of half an hour the man was aware of a warm trickle in his throat. It was not pleasant. It was like molten lead being forced into his stomach, and it was forced by his will alone. Later the man rolled over on his back and slept.

他没有听到喘息，接着，在昏迷中的他慢慢地感觉到狼在舔他的手。他沉住气等着。狼牙轻轻地向下用力，压力越来越大，这是狼在使尽最后一丝力气，咬进这让它等了如此之久的食物。他等了很长时间，用被狼牙撕裂的手慢慢靠近狼的下巴。然后，慢慢地，狼无力地挣扎着，这只手微弱地握着，另一只手穿过来，与这只手紧紧相握。五分钟后，男人的整个身子压住了狼。男人的双手力量不够，无法让狼窒息而死。男人的脸紧紧贴住狼的喉咙，嘴里满是狼的体毛。半小时后，他意识到一股暖流流进自己喉咙。那种感觉不好受，就像是熔铅被强行灌进他的胃里，而且还只是在自己的意识强迫之下。后来，男人转过身子，仰面睡着了。[未完]