第7章 THE PRAIRIE ON FIRE (I) 大草原失火记（一）

[The prairies.—Between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains there is a vast extent of grassy plains called Prairies.The soil is fertile and the vegetation luxuriant; and before their occupation by the white man the tall grass waved in the wind over the wide expanse, resembling the rolling of an emerald ocean. These plains furnished food for countless herds of buffaloes, elks, antelopes, and other animals that feed on herbage. They moved continually to and fro in vast masses, as the seasons changed and the state of the pasture drove them to new fields.

Different regions of the prairies had different characters. The wide undulating plains, frequented by buffaloes and covered with grass, were called Rolling Prairies, from their general resemblance to the long, heavy swell of the ocean, when subsiding after a storm; and Dry Prairies,because they were generally destitute of water.These were the most common and extensive.

Other regions abounded in springs, and were covered with shrubs and bushes. These were called Bushy Prairies.

Lastly,there were the Alluvial or Wet Prairies,which wore covered with rich verdure and gorgeous flowers, and which in the rainy season were frequently overflowed.

Sometimes a prairie was set on fire, either accidentally or by design. Such a prairie on fire was one of the most terrible things in nature. The ocean of flame rolled onward and onward before the wind, with irresistible might, devouring everything that lay in its path. Droves of wild horses, buffaloes, antelopes, rushed madly before the advancing flames, beasts of prey forgetting their enmities in the midst of the common danger. Crowds of vultures and other birds of prey followed the course of the fire, and seized upon the carcasses which the flames had not completely consumed.]

The sleep of the fugitives lasted for several hours. The trapper was the first to shake off its influence, as he had been the last to court its refreshment. Rising just as the gray light of day began to brighten that portion of the studded vault which rested on the eastern margin of the plain, he summoned his companions from their warm lairs, and pointed out the necessity of their being once more on the alert.

“See, Middleton! exclaimed Inez, in a sudden burst of youthful pleasure, that caused her for a moment to forget her situation, how lovely is that sky; surely it contains a promise of happier times!”

“It is glorious!” returned her husband. “Glorious and heavenly is that streak of vivid red; and here is a still brighter crimson. Rarely have I seen a richer rising of the sun.”“Rising of the sun!” slowly repeated the old man, lifting his tall person from his seat with a deliberate and abstracted air, while he kept his eye riveted on the changing and certainly beautiful tints that were garnishing the vault of heaven. “Rising of the sun! —I like not such risings of the sun. Ah's me! the Indians have circumvented us. The prairie is on fire!”

“Oh, dreadful!” cried Middleton, catching Inez to his bosom, under the instant impression of the imminence of their danger.” There is no time to lose, old man; each instant is a day. Let us fly!

“Whither?” demanded the trapper, motioning him, with calmness and dignity, to arrest his steps. “In this wilderness of grass and reeds, we are like a vessel in the broad lakes without a compass. A single step on the wrong course might prove the destruction of us all. It is seldom danger is so pressing that there is not time enough for reason to do its work, young officer; therefore let us await its biddings.”

“For my part,” said Paul Hover, looking about him with an unequivocal expression of concern, “I acknowledge that should this dry bed of weeds get fairly into flame, a bee would have to make a flight higher than common, to prevent his wings from being scorched. Therefore, old trapper, I agree with the captain, and say, Mount and run!”

“Ye are wrong—ye are wrong; —man is not a beast, to follow the gift of instinct, and to snuff up his knowledge by a taint in the air or a rumbling in the ground; but he must see, and reason, and then conclude. So, follow me a little to the left, where there is a rising in the ground whence we may make our reconnoitering.”

The old man waved his hand with authority, and led the way, without further parlance, to the spot he had indicated, followed by the whole of his alarmed companions. An eye less practised than that of the trapper might have failed in discovering the gentle elevation to which he alluded, and which looked on the surface of the meadow like a growth a little taller than common.

When they reached the place, however, the stunted grass itself announced the absence of that moisture which had fed the rank weeds of most of the plain, and furnished a clew to the evidence by which he had judged of the formation of the ground hidden beneath. Here a few minutes were lost in breaking down the tops of the surrounding herbage—which, notwithstanding the advantage of their position, rose even above the heads of Middleton and Paul—and in obtaining a look-out that might command a view of the surrounding sea of fire.

The examination which his companions so instantly and so intently made, rather served to assure them of their desperate situation than to appease their fears. Huge columns of smoke were rolling up from the plain, and thickening in gloomy masses around the horizon. The red glow which gleamed upon their enormous folds, now lighted their volumes with the glare of the conflagration, now flashed to another point, as the flame beneath glided ahead, leaving all behind enveloped in awful darkness, and proclaiming louder than words the character of the imminent and rapidly approaching danger.

“This is terrible!” exclaimed Middleton, folding the trembling Inez to his heart. “At such a time as this, and in such a manner!”

“The gates of heaven are open to all who truly believe,” murmured the gentle wife.“This resignation is maddening! But we are men, and will make a struggle for our lives! —How now, my brave and spirited friend; —shall we yet mount and push across the flames; or shall we stand here, and see those we most love perish in this frightful manner without an effort?”

“I am for a swarming-time and a flight before the hive is too hot to hold us,” said the bee hunter, to whom it will be at once seen that the half-distracted Middleton had addressed himself.—“Come, old trapper, you must acknowledge this is but a slow way of getting out of danger. If we tarry here much longer, it will be in the fashion that the bees lie round the straw after the hive has been smoked for its honey. You may hear the fire begin to roar already; and I know by experience that when the flame once gets fairly into the prairie grass, he is no sloth that can outrun it.”

“Think you,” returned the old man, pointing scornfully at the mazes of the dry and matted grass which environed them, “that mortal feet can outstrip the speed of fire on such a path?”

“What say you, friend doctor?” cried the bewildered Paul, turning to the naturalist with that sort of helplessness with which the strong are often apt to seek aid of the weak, when human power is baffled by the hand of a mightier Being; —“what say you? Have you no advice to give away in a case of life and death?”

The naturalist stood, tablets in hand, looking at the awful spectacle with as much composure as though the conflagration had been lighted in order to solve the difficulties of some scientific problem. Aroused by the question of his companion, he turned to his equally calm though differently occupied associate, the trapper, demanding with the most provoking insensibility to the urgent nature of their situation—“Venerable hunter, you have often witnessed similar prismatic experiments—”

He was rudely interrupted by Paul, who struck the tablets from his hand with a violence that betrayed the utter intellectual confusion which had overset his equanimity.

Words

abstracted,absent.

acknowledge,admit.

advantage,superiority.

alluded,referred.

appease,allay.

brighten,illumine.

carcasses,dead bodies.

clew(or clue),guide.

conflagration,burning.

deliberate,calm.

demanded,asked.

desperate,forlorn.

destruction,ruin.

devouring,consuming.

elevation,rising.

emerald,green.

contours prodigious.

environed,surrounded.

exclaimed,shouted.

experience,personal proof.

fashion,manner.

frightful,terrible.

furnished,afforded.

garnishing,adorning.

imminence,neatness.

influence,power.

insensibility,indifference.

intently,eagerly.

luxuriant,exuberant.

margin,border.

necessity,urgency.

prairies,meadows.

reconnoitering,examinations.

refreshment,comfort.

resemblance,likeness.

resignation,calmness.

riveted,fixed.

scornfully,reproachfully.

spectacle,sight.

trembling,quivering.

undulating,waving.

unequivocal,unmistakable.

ordure,greenness.

Questions

For what did Inez and her husband mistake the red streak on the horizon? Who undeceived them? Whom did he suspect of firing the prairie? For what purpose? What did most of the travellers advise? Who opposed this? Where did he lead the party?

【大草原——在密西西比河和落基山脉中间，有一片广袤的绿色平原，叫作大草原。那里土地肥沃，植物茂盛，在白人占领那里之前，高高的草在风中摇曳，遍布整个地区，就像一片翡翠般的海洋。这片平原地区为无数的水牛、麋鹿和羚羊以及其他的食草动物提供了食物。这些动物在这广袤的土地上，随着季节的轮转和草木的生长而不断迁徙，去往新的栖息地。

不同地区的大草原有各自特点。广大而连绵起伏的平原，经常被水牛占据，平原上面长满了绿草，这样的平原叫作滚动的大草原，因为在暴风雨之后，它们很像绵长而臃肿的大海的波浪；而干燥的大草原，则是得名于它们通常缺水。这样的大草原是最常见的，分布也最广泛。

还有的草原在春天大量出现，上面被灌木覆盖。这样的草原叫作灌木大草原。

最后，还有冲积大草原或者叫湿地大草原，它们上面长着茂盛的植物和美丽的花朵，而在雨季的时候，这些地方经常被过于繁茂的花朵占满。

有时候，大草原上会失火，这其中有的是意外，有的则是有意为之。大草原失火是自然界最可怕的景象之一。海洋一样的火焰在风的吹动下不断涌动，势不可挡，把出现在它面前的一切都吞噬掉。野马群、水牛群、羚羊群都疯了似的赶在大火到来前逃命。秃鹫和其他的猎食鸟类则跟随着火的方向，伺机抓住那些没有被火完全烧掉的尸体。】

逃亡的人们已经睡了几个钟头了。布置陷阱的人是第一个从睡梦中醒来的，同时他也是最后一个进入梦乡的。天色刚刚泛白，照亮了那位于平原区东部边缘的土丘的时候，他就起身了，他把伙伴们从温暖的洞穴中叫了出来，告诉他们依然要保持警惕。

“看，米德尔顿！”恩兹叫道，她突然发出年轻人似的叫喊，这让她暂时忘记自己的处境，“天空是多么蓝啊，这肯定预示着好日子的到来啦！”

“太美了！”她丈夫回答道。天空中那一抹生动的红，是如此的美丽，如此美好，然后那红色变成了更加明亮的深红色。

“太阳升起来啦！”那老人慢慢重复道，他长长的身子从椅子里坐直了，带有一种庄重和心神不宁的神色，他的眼睛一直死盯着天穹处闪耀的美丽色彩的变幻。“太阳升起来了！我并不喜欢太阳以这样的方式升起。啊，天啊！咱们被印第安人包围了。大草原失火了！”

“哦，太可怕了！”米德尔顿喊道，在危险即将到来时，出于本能，他一把把恩兹拽到怀里。“没时间了，老人家，得争分夺秒了，咱们快逃吧！”

“去哪儿呢？”布置陷阱的人质问道，阻止住他的脚步，平静而不失尊严。”

“在这草木和芦苇丛生的荒野，我们就像失去指南针在大湖上航行的小船一样。只要走错一步就会是灭顶之灾。从没有什么危险紧急到没有时间用理智来思考的地步。所以，年轻的军官，让我们静观其变吧。”

“对于我而言，”保罗·哈维尔说道，他看着他脸上也带着同样的忧虑神色，“我承认如果这些野草丛生的地方变成了火场，蜜蜂要想不灼伤自己的翅膀也得飞得比以前高才行。因此，年老的布置陷阱的人，我同意上尉的话，我觉得应该向山上逃！”

“你们错了，你们错了，人类不是兽类，只能跟着自己的本能行动，只能通过天色的变化或者地上的一点风吹草动获取；人类必须先观察，然后推理论证，再得出结论。所以，跟我向左边走吧，那里有一片突起的土地，我们可以在那儿做一下观测。”

老人很有威严地挥动了一下手，没有再说其他的话，就领着大家向他说的那个地方走去，所有装备了武器的同伴都跟随着他。要是没有像布陷阱的人那经验丰富的双眼，是很难发现那个不起眼的高地的，那高地从草原横着望过去，不过比平常的草原只高一点点。

然而等到他们到达的时候，发现那里草木矮小，也就是说缺乏水分，而水分都滋养草原大部分地区上的杂草了，同时这帮助他判断了这个地方隐藏在草木下的土地的情况。他们在这里花了几分钟的时间刨开周围的草木——这里位置优越，草木的高度能盖得过米德尔顿和保罗的头——能获取一个观测点来看看周围的火势。

他的同伴一瞬间发出的惊呼声是如此强烈，这叫声与其说能够安抚他们的恐惧情绪，倒不如说是提醒他们自己的处境是多么危急。巨大的烟柱从草原上滚滚而起，在地平线附近变得更加浓厚，形成灰暗的一大片。红色的火光照亮了滚滚烟尘，巨大的烟尘在大火的光亮下变得明显，火光渐盛，火焰匍匐向前，把一切都吞噬在黑暗当中，以无声胜有声之势头宣告着即将到来的危险。

“太可怕了！”米德尔顿喊道，他把瑟瑟发抖的恩兹往怀里抱得更紧了。“到了这样危急的时刻，这样一种吞噬一切的势头！”

“天堂的门对那些对它深信不疑的人们已经开启，”他温柔的妻子说道。

“这种下场实在是太疯狂了！但我们是人类，我们要为自己的生命搏斗一番！就现在吧，我勇敢的充满斗志的朋友，我们是要继续向前，穿过重重火焰呢，还是要坐以待毙，亲眼看着我们最爱的人被这可怕的大火不费吹灰之力地吞噬掉？”“我赞成大家赶紧逃走，趁着蜂巢还没热到容不下我们，”捕蜂人说道。接着心事重重的米德尔顿对他说道：“来吧，年老的布置陷阱的人，你必须得承认，这是一条从危险中缓慢逃生的道路。如果我们在这里耽搁太久，蜜蜂就会在蜂巢被烟熏之后飞到草丛边。你一定已经听到了大火的呼啸声，我从过往的经验知道，只要大火烧到了大草原上的草，一会儿它就能把所有草都烧成灰烬。”

“谢谢，”老人回答道，他轻蔑地指向他们周围的那干燥茂盛的草地，“人的双脚能赶得上大火一路烧去的速度吗？”

“你说呢，医生朋友？”不知所措的保罗叫道，他把头转向那位自然主义者，一脸的无助，那无助情绪经常是弱者从强者那里寻求帮助时，当人类的力量在一个更强大力量面前不知所措的时候才有的，“你怎么说？在这生死存亡的时刻，难道你就没有一点儿建议吗？”

自然主义者站立在那里，手里拿着药片，眼睛看着这可怕的景象，尽可能地保持淡定，好像大火是被点燃来解决什么科学难题似的。听到同伴的提问，他转身面向同样神色镇定，但做着其他营生的，例如布置陷阱的人，用最挑衅的麻木声音对他们当前的紧急处境质问道：“尊敬的猎人，你不是经常见到这样的原始的实验吗？”

他被保罗粗鲁地打断了，保罗把他手中的药片重重打落在地上，将这位因为有药在手而故作镇定的纯正知识分子的困惑暴露出来了。