THE CALL OF THE WILD

Old longings nomadic leap,

Chafing at custom's chain;

Again from its brumal sleep

Wakens the ferine strain.

Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tidewater dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost.

Buck lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller's place, it was called. It stood back from the road, half-hidden among the trees, through which glimpses could be caught of the wide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was approached by graveled driveways which wound about through wide-spreading lawns and under the interlacing boughs of tall poplars. At the rear things were on even a more spacious scale than at the front. There were great stables, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants’cottages, an endless and orderly array of outhouses, long grape arbors, green pastures, orchards, and berry patches. Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well, and the big cement tank where Judge Miler's boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon.

And over this great demesne Buck ruled. Here he was born, and here he had lived the four years of his life. It was true, there were other dogs. There could not but be other dogs on so vast a place, but they did not count. They came and went, resided in the populous kennels, or lived obscurely in the recesses of the house after the fashion of Toots, the Japanese pug, or Ysabel, the Mexican hairless, strange creatures that rarely put nose out of doors or set foot to ground. On the other hand, there were the fox terriers, a score of them at least, who yelped fearful promises at Toots and Ysabel looking out of the windows at them and protected by a legion of housemaids armed with brooms and mops.

But Buck was neither house dog nor kennel dog. The whole realm was his. He plunged into the swimming tank or went hunting with the Judge's sons; he escorted Mollie and Alice, the Judge's daughters, on long twilight or early morning rambles; on wintry nights he lay at the Judge's feet before the roaring library fire; he carried the Judge's grandsons on his back, or rolled them in the grass, and guarded their footsteps through wild adventures down to the fountain in the stable yard, and even beyond, where the paddocks were, and the berry patches. Among the terriers he stalked imperiously, and Toots and Ysabel he utterly ignored, for he was king-king over all creeping, crawling, flying things of Judge Miller's place, humans included.

His father, Elmo, a huge St. Bernard, had been the Judge's inseparable companion, and Buck bid fair to follow in the way of his father. He was not so large-he weighed only one hundred and forty pounds-for his mother, She, had been a Scotch shepherd dog.Nevertheless, one hundred and forty pounds, to which was added the dignity that comes of good living and universal respect, enabled him to carry himself in right royal fashion. During the four years since his puppyhood he had lived the life of a sated aristocrat; he had a fine pride in himself, was even a trifle egotistical, as country gentlemen sometimes become because of their insular situation. But he had saved himself by not becoming a mere pampered house dog. Hunting and kindred outdoor delights had kept down the fat and hardened his muscles; and to him, as to the cold-tubbing races, the love of water had been a tonic and a health preserver.

And this was the manner of dog Buck was in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike strike dragged men from all the world into the frozen North. But Buck did not read the newspapers, and he did not know that Manuel, one of the gardener's helpers, was an undesirable acquaintance. Manuel had one besetting sin. He loved to play Chinese lottery. Also, in his gambling, he had one besetting weakness-faith in a system; and this made his damnation certain. For to play a system requires money, while the wages of a gardener's helper do not lap over the needs of a wife and numerous progeny.

The Judge was at a meeting of the Raisin Growers’Association, and the boys were busy organizing an athletic club, on the memorable night of Manuel's treachery. No one saw him and Buck go off through the orchard on what Buck imagined was merely a stroll. And with the exception of a solitary man, no one saw them arrive at the little flag station known as College Park. This man talked with Manuel, and money chinked between them.

“You might wrap up the goods before you deliver them,”the stranger said gruffly, and Manuel doubled a piece of stout rope around Buck's neck under the collar.

“Twist it, and you'll choke him plenty,”said Manuel, and the stranger grunted a ready affirmative.

Buck had accepted the rope with quiet dignity. To be sure, it was an unwonted performance but he had learned to trust in men he knew, and to give them credit for a wisdom that outreached his own. But when the ends of the rope were placed in the stranger's hands, he growled menacingly. He had merely intimated his displeasure, in his pride believing that to intimate was to command. But to his surprise the rope tightened around his neck, shutting off his breath. In a quick rage he sprang at the man, who met him halfway, grappled him close by the throat, and with a deft twist threw him over on his back. Then the rope tightened mercilessly, while Buck struggled in a fury, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his great chest panting futilely. Never in all his life had he been so vilely treated, and never in all his life had he been so angry. But his strength ebbed, his eyes glazed, and he knew nothing when the train was flagged and the two men threw him into the baggage car.

The next he knew, he was dimly aware that his tongue was hurting and that \he was being jolted along in some kind of a conveyance. The hoarse shriek of a locomotive whistling a crossing told him where he was. He had traveled too often with the Judge not to know the sensation of riding in a baggage car. He opened his eyes, and into them came the unbridled anger of a kidnaped king. The man sprang for his throat, but Buck was too quick for him. His jaws closed on the hand, nor did they relax till his senses were choked out of him once more.

“Yep, has fits,”the man said, hiding his mangled hand from the baggage man, who had been attracted by the sounds of struggle.“I'm taking him up for the boss to‘Frisco. A crack dog doctor there thinks that he can cure him.”

Concerning that night's ride, the man spoke most eloquently for himself, in a little shed back of a saloon on the San Francisco water front.

“All I get is fifty for it,”he grumbled,“and I wouldn't do it over for a thousand, cold cash.”

His hand was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief, and the right trouser leg was ripped from knee to ankle.

“How much did the other mug get?”the saloon-keeper demanded.

“A hundred,”was the reply.“Wouldn't take a sou less, so help me.”

“That makes a hundred and fifty,”the saloon-keeper calculated,“and he's worth it, or I'm a squarehead.”

The kidnaper undid the bloody wrappings and looked at his lacerated hand.“If I don't get hydrophobia—”

“It'll be because you was born to hang,”laughed the saloon-keeper.“Here, lend me a hand before you pull your freight,”he added.

Dazed, suffering intolerable pain from throat and tongue, with the life half throttled out of him, Buck attempted to face his tormentors. But he was thrown down and choked repeatedly, till they succeeded in filing the heavy brass collar from off his neck. Then the rope was removed, and he was flung into a cage-like crate.

There he lay for the remainder of the weary night, nursing his wrath and wounded pride. He could not understand what it all meant. What did they want with him, these strange men? Why were they keeping him pent up in this narrow crate? He did not know why, but he felt oppressed by the vague sense of impending calamity. Several times during the night he sprang to his feet when the shed door rattled open, expecting to see the Judge, or the boys at least. But each time it was the bulging face of the saloon-keeper that peered in at him by the sickly light of a tallow candle. And each time the joyful bark that trembled in Buck's throat was twisted into a savage growl.

But the saloon-keeper let him alone, and in the morning four men entered and picked up the crate. More tormentors, Buck decided, for they were evil-looking creatures, ragged and unkempt; and he stormed and raged at them through the bars. They only laughed and poked sticks at him, which he promptly assailed with his teeth till he realized that was what they wanted. Whereupon he lay down sullenly and allowed the crate to be lifted into a wagon. Then he, and the crate in which he was imprisoned, began a passage through many hands. Clerks in the express office took charge of him; he was carted about in another wagon; a truck carried him, with an assortment of boxes and parcels, upon a ferry steamer; he was trucked off the steamer into a great railway depot, and finally he was deposited in an express car.

For two days and nights this express car was dragged along at the tail of shrieking locomotives; and for two days and nights Buck neither ate nor drank. In his anger he had met the first advances of the express messengers with growls, and they had retaliated by teasing him. When he flung himself against the bars, quivering and frothing, they laughed at him and taunted him. They growled and barked like detestable dogs, mewed, and flapped their arms and crowed. It was all very silly, he knew; but therefore the more outrage to his dignity, and his anger waxed and waxed. He did not mind the hunger so much, but the lack of water caused him severe suffering and fanned his wrath to fever-pitch. For that matter, high-strung and finely sensitive, the ill treatment had flung him into a fever, which was fed by the inflammation of his parched and swollen throat and tongue.

He was glad for one thing: the rope was off his neck. That had given them an unfair advantage; but now that it was off, he would show them. They would never get another rope around his neck. Upon that he was resolved. For two days and nights he neither ate nor drank, and during those two days and nights of torment, he accumulated a fund of wrath that boded ill for whoever first fell foul of him. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he was metamorphosed into a raging fiend. So changed was he that the Judge himself would not have recognized him; and the express messengers breathed with relief when they bundled him off the train at Seattle.

Four men gingerly carried the crate from the wagon into a small, high-walled back yard. A stout man, with a red sweater that sagged generously at the neck, came out and signed the book for the driver. That was the man, Buck divined, the next tormentor, and he hurled himself savagely against the bars. The man smiled grimly, and brought a hatchet and a club.

“You ain't going to take him out now?”the driver asked.

“Sure,”the man replied, driving the hatchet into the crate for a pry.

There was an instantaneous scattering of the four men who had carried it in, and from safe perches on top the wall they prepared to watch the performance.

Buck rushed at the splintering wood, sinking his teeth into it, surging and wrestling with it. Wherever the hatchet fell on the outside, he was there on the inside, snarling and growling, as furiously anxious to get out as the man in the red sweater was calmly intent on getting him out.

“Now, you red-eyed devil,”he said, when he had made an opening sufficient for the passage of Buck's body. At the same time he dropped the hatchet and shifted the club to his right hand.

And Buck was truly a red-eyed devil, as he drew himself together for the spring, hair bristling, mouth foaming, a mad glitter in his bloodshot eyes. Straight at the man he launched his one hundred and forty pounds of fury, surcharged with the pent passion of two days and nights. In mid-air, just as his jaws were about to close on the man, he received a shock that checked his body and brought his teeth together with an agonizing clip. He whirled over, fetching the ground on his back and side. He had never been struck by a club in his life, and did not understand. With a snarl that was part bark and more scream he was again on his feet and launched into the air. And again the shock came and he was brought crushingly to the ground. This time he was aware that it was the club, but His madness knew no caution. A dozen times he charged, and as often the club broke the charge and smashed him down.

After a particularly fierce blow he crawled to his feet, too dazed to rush. He staggered limply about, the blood flowing from nose and mouth and ears, his beautiful coat sprayed and flecked with bloody slaver. Then the man advanced and deliberately dealt him a frightful blow on the nose. All the pain he had endured was nothing compared with the exquisite agony of this. With a roar that was almost lion-like in its ferocity, he again hurled himself at the man. But the man, shifting the club from right to left, cooly caught him by the under jaw, at the same time wrenching downward and backward. Buck described a complete circle in the air, and half of another, then crashed to the ground on his head and chest.

For the last time he rushed. The man struck the shrewd blow he had purposely withheld for so long, and Buck crumpled up and went down, knocked utterly senseless.

“He's no slouch at dog-breaking, that's what I say,”one of the men on the wall cried with enthusiasm.

“Druther break cayuses any day, and twice on Sundays,”was the reply of the driver, as he climbed on the wagon and started the horses.

Buck's senses came back to him, but not his strength. He lay where he had fallen, and from there he watched the man in the red sweater.

“‘Answers to the name of Buck,’”the man soliloquized, quoting from the saloon-keeper's letter which had announced the consignment of the crate and contents.“Well, Buck, my boy,”he went on in a genial voice,“we've had our little ruction, and the best thing we can do is to let it go at that. You've learned your place, and I know mine. Be a good dog and all will go well and the goose hang high. Be a bad dog, and I'll whale the stuffing outa you. Understand?”

As he spoke he fearlessly patted the head he had so mercilessly pounded, and though Buck's hair involuntarily bristled at touch of the hand, he endured it without protest. When the man brought him water, he drank eagerly, and later bolted a generous meal of raw meat, chuck by chunk, from the man's hand.

He was beaten (he knew that); but he was not broken. He saw, once for all, that he stood no chance against a man with a club. He had learned the lesson, and in all his afterlife he never forgot it. That club was a revelation. It was his introduction to the reign of primitive law, and he met the introduction halfway. The facts of life took on a fiercer aspect; and while he faced that aspect uncowed, he faced it with all the latent cunning of his nature aroused. As the days went by, other dogs came, in crates and at the ends of ropes, some docilely, and some raging and roaring as he had come; and, one and all, he watched them pass under the dominion of the man in the red sweater. Again and again, as he looked at each brutal performance, the lesson was driven home to Buck: a man with a club was a lawgiver, a master to be obeyed, though not necessarily conciliated. Of this last Buck was never guilty, though he did see beaten dogs that fawned upon the man, and wagged their tails, and licked his hand. Also he saw one dog, that would neither conciliate nor obey,finally killed in the struggle for mastery.

Now and again men came, strangers, who talked excitedly, wheedlingly, and in all kinds of fashions to the man in the red sweater. And at such times that money passed between them the strangers took one or more of the dogs away with them. Buck wondered where they went, for they never came back; but the fear of the future was strong upon him, and he was glad each time when he was not selected.

Yet his time came, in the end, in the form of a little weazened man who spat broken English and many strange and uncouth exclamations which Buck could not understand.

“Sacredam!”he cried, when his eyes lit upon Buck.“Dat one dam bully dog! Eh? How much?”

“Three hundred, and a present at that,”was the prompt reply of the man in the red sweater.“And seeing it's government money, you ain't got no kick coming, eh, Perrault?”

Perrault grinned. Considering that the price of dogs had been boomed skyward by the unwonted demand, it was not an unfair sum for so fine an animal. The Canadian Government would be no loser, nor would its dispatches travel the slower. Perrault knew dogs, when he looked at Buck he knew that he was one in a thousand—“One in ten thousand,”he commented mentally.

Buck saw money pass between them, and was not surprised when Curly, a good-natured Newfoundland, and he were led away by the little weazened man. That was the last he saw of the man in the red sweater, and as Curly and he looked at receding Seattle from the deck of the Narwhal, it was the last he saw of the warm Southland. Curly and he were taken below by Perrault and turned over to a black-faced giant called Francois. Perrault was a French Canadian, and swarthy; but Francois was a French Canadian half-breed, and twice as swarthy. They were a new kind of men to Buck (of which he was destined to see many more), and while he developed no affection for them, he none the less grew honestly to respect them. He speedily learned that Perrault and Francois were fair men, calm and impartial in administering justice, and too wise in the way of dogs to be fooled by dogs.

In the 'tween-decks of the Narwhal, Buck and Curly joined two other dogs. One of them was a big, snow-white fellow from Spitzbergen who had been brought away by a whaling captain, and who had later accompanied a Geological Survey into the Barrens.

He was friendly, in a treacherous sort of way, smiling into one's face the while he meditated some underhand trick, as, for instance, when he stole from Buck's food at the first meal. As Buck sprang to punish him, the lash of Francois's whip sang through the air, reaching the culprit first; and nothing remained to Buck but to recover the bone. That was fair of Francois, he decided, and the half-breed began his rise in Buck's estimation.

The other dog made no advances, nor received any; also, he did not attempt to steal from the newcomers. He was a gloomy, morose fellow, ant he showed Curly plainly that all he desired was to be left alone, and further, that there would be trouble if he were not left alone.“Dave”he was called, and he ate and slept, or yawned between times, and took interest in nothing, not even when the Narwhal crossed Queen Charlotte Sound and rolled and pitched and bucked like a thing possessed. When Buck and Curly grew excited, half-wild with fear, he raised his head as though annoyed, favored them with an incurious glance, yawned, and went to sleep again.

Day and night the ship throbbed to the tireless pulse of the propeller, and though one day was very like another, it was apparent to Buck that the weather was steadily growing colder. At last, one morning, the propeller was quiet, and the Narwhalwas pervaded with an atmosphere of excitement. He felt it, as did the other dogs, and knew that a change was at hand. Francois leashed them and brought them on deck. At the first step upon the cold surface, Buck's feet sank into a white mushy something very like mud. He sprang back with a snort. More of this white stuff was falling through the air. He shook himself, but more of it fell upon him. He sniffed it curiously, then licked some up on his tongue. It bit like fire, and the next instant was gone. This puzzled him. He tried it again, with the same results. The onlookers laughed uproariously, and he felt ashamed, he knew not why, for it was his first snow.

野性的呼喚

往昔流浪欲望涌，

面對(duì)陳規(guī)雷霆?jiǎng)樱?

野性歷經(jīng)一冬眠，

今又喚醒自夢(mèng)中。

巴克不看報(bào)紙，否則它早會(huì)知道麻煩就要來了，這不僅是它自己的麻煩，也是從皮吉特海峽到圣地亞哥，海邊每一條身強(qiáng)力壯長(zhǎng)著暖暖和和長(zhǎng)毛的狗的麻煩。因?yàn)槿藗冊(cè)诒睒O的黑暗中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種黃色金屬，加上輪船和運(yùn)輸公司大肆宣揚(yáng)那次發(fā)現(xiàn)，所以成千上萬的男人涌向了北方那個(gè)地區(qū)。這些人需要狗，他們需要的狗是體型巨大、肌肉發(fā)達(dá)，既能艱苦跋涉，毛皮又能御寒的狗。

巴克住在陽(yáng)光燦爛的圣克拉拉山谷的一座大房子里。人們把這座房子稱為“米勒法官的住宅”。房子遠(yuǎn)離大路，半隱半現(xiàn)在樹林中。透過樹林，可以瞥見房子四周寬敞涼爽的游廊。幾條碎石車道蜿蜒著穿過開闊的草坪通向這座房子，路邊是高高的白楊，枝杈交錯(cuò)著。房后甚至比房前更有氣勢(shì)。那里有幾座大馬廄，有十幾個(gè)馬夫和男仆，有一排排爬滿藤蔓的仆人小屋，數(shù)不清的外屋排列得井然有序，有長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的葡萄架，有綠色牧場(chǎng)，有果園，有漿果地，還有自流井泵站和大水泥池，米勒法官家的男孩們上午在那里嬉水，炎熱的下午在那里乘涼。

巴克統(tǒng)治著這一大片領(lǐng)地。它出生在這里，已經(jīng)在這里生活了四年。的確，這里還有別的狗。這么遼闊的一個(gè)地方不可能沒有其他狗，但它們都不重要。它們來來去去，要么住在那些擁擠的狗窩里，要么默默無聞地住在房子的幽深處，像日本哈巴狗托茨和墨西哥禿頭狗伊莎貝爾一樣——它們是一些很少把鼻子伸出門外或走到外面的怪家伙。另一方面，還有一些獵狐犬，至少有二十條，它們狂吠嚇唬托茨和伊莎貝爾，這兩條狗只敢從窗戶向外看著它們，由許多手拿掃帚和拖把的女仆們保護(hù)著。

但是，巴克既不是看門狗，也不是養(yǎng)狗場(chǎng)的狗。整個(gè)領(lǐng)地都是它的。它跟法官的兒子們一起跳進(jìn)游泳池游泳或去打獵；它陪法官的女兒莫利和愛麗絲在漫長(zhǎng)的黃昏或早晨散步；冬夜，它臥在法官腳邊，在書房烤著熊熊爐火；它要么馱著法官的孫子們，要么跟他們?cè)诓莸厣洗驖L，保護(hù)他們穿過野外去冒險(xiǎn)，直至馬廄院的水槽邊，甚至遠(yuǎn)到小牧場(chǎng)和漿果地。在獵狐犬中，它昂首闊步、不可一世，而對(duì)托茨和伊莎貝爾，它則完全熟視無睹，因?yàn)樗鞘最I(lǐng)——主宰著米勒法官住處的所有飛禽走獸，包括人類。

巴克的父親埃爾莫是一條奇大無比的圣伯納德大犬，常常形影不離陪伴著法官，巴克有希望步它父親的后塵。它沒有那么大的個(gè)頭——它只有一百四十磅重——因?yàn)樗哪赣H舍普是一條蘇格蘭牧羊犬。不過，一百四十磅的體重，再加上養(yǎng)尊處優(yōu)的生活和大家的尊敬帶來的高貴品性，使自己具有了十足的王者風(fēng)范。在幼年成長(zhǎng)的四年里，它過著心滿意足的貴族生活；它對(duì)自己感到很得意，甚至有點(diǎn)兒自高自大，就像沒有見過世面的鄉(xiāng)紳們有時(shí)表現(xiàn)的那樣。但是，它沒有淪為一條被矯慣的看門狗。打獵之類的戶外娛樂運(yùn)動(dòng)減少了它的脂肪，鍛煉了它的肌肉；對(duì)它來說，像洗冷水浴的物種一樣，愛好玩水也起到了強(qiáng)身健體的作用。

這就是一八九七年秋天巴克犬的行為特點(diǎn)，當(dāng)時(shí)“克朗代克發(fā)現(xiàn)”把世界各地的人吸引到了冰天雪地的北方。但是，巴克不看報(bào)紙，也不知道曼努埃爾——園林主的一個(gè)助手——是一個(gè)不受歡迎的老相識(shí)。曼努埃爾有一個(gè)改不掉的惡習(xí)。他愛打中國(guó)牌九。而且，他在賭博時(shí)有一個(gè)改不掉的毛病——就是對(duì)某種下賭注方法堅(jiān)信不疑；這也使他注定要倒霉。因?yàn)檫@樣賭需要錢，而一個(gè)園林主助手的工錢連養(yǎng)活妻子和一大堆孩子都滿足不了。

在曼努埃爾背叛的那個(gè)難忘之夜，法官在參加“葡萄干種植者協(xié)會(huì)”的一個(gè)會(huì)議，男孩們正在忙著組織一個(gè)運(yùn)動(dòng)俱樂部。誰(shuí)也沒有看到曼努埃爾和巴克穿過果園離開，巴克以為只是去散散步。只有一個(gè)人看到他們到了一個(gè)叫大學(xué)公園的信號(hào)停車站。這個(gè)人跟曼努埃爾交談著，接著兩人之間就響起了叮叮當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)臄?shù)錢聲。

“你捆一下再交貨吧。”那個(gè)陌生人粗聲地說。于是，曼努埃爾用一條粗繩在巴克項(xiàng)圈下的脖子上繞了兩圈。

“擰一下，你就會(huì)讓它透不過氣來的。”曼努埃爾說，陌生人咕噥了一聲，算是同意。

巴克不失體面地默默接受了那條繩子。固然，這是一個(gè)不同尋常的行動(dòng)，但它已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)了信任它認(rèn)識(shí)的人，之所以對(duì)他們信任，是因?yàn)樗麄儽茸约郝斆鳌５牵?dāng)繩子的兩端放到陌生人手里時(shí)，它發(fā)出了威脅的低吼。它只是明確表示自己的不滿，它自豪地相信，明確表示就是發(fā)出命令。但讓它吃驚的是，它脖子上的繩子勒得太緊，勒得它喘不過氣來。巴克馬上勃然大怒，向那個(gè)人撲去。那個(gè)人極力不讓它碰著，勒緊它的脖子，敏捷熟練地?cái)Q了一下，就把它仰面摔倒在地。隨后，繩子被無情地勒緊，巴克狂怒掙扎，舌頭從嘴里伸出來，寬大的胸部徒勞地喘息著。它長(zhǎng)這么大，從來沒有受過如此虐待，也從來沒有發(fā)過這么大的火。但是，它的力氣越來越小，眼睛變得模糊；當(dāng)火車到站停下，兩個(gè)人把它扔進(jìn)行李車廂后，它就什么也不知道了。

接下來，它知道的是，它模糊感覺到舌頭刺痛，它正在某種運(yùn)輸工具里晃來晃去。火車頭通過道口時(shí)發(fā)出的刺耳汽笛聲告訴它自己身在何處。它經(jīng)常跟法官一起旅行，卻不知道坐行李車廂是什么感覺。它睜開眼睛，眼里冒出無法控制的怒火，就像被綁架的國(guó)王那樣。那個(gè)人撲向它的脖子，但巴克比他的動(dòng)作還快，一口咬住他那只手，直到它又一次被勒得失去知覺才松開。

“對(duì)，狗病突然發(fā)作了。”說著，那個(gè)人藏起了他那只血肉模糊的手，以免被搏斗聲吸引過來的行李員看到。“我要替老板把它帶到舊金山。那里的一個(gè)一流獸醫(yī)認(rèn)為他能治好這條狗的病。”

在舊金山海邊一家酒吧后面的小棚里，那個(gè)人口若懸河地說起了那天夜里乘車的經(jīng)歷。

“我只得到五十塊，”他抱怨說，“就是給我一千塊現(xiàn)金，我也不會(huì)再干了。”

他的手上裹著一塊血手帕，右腿褲從膝蓋撕破到了腳踝。

“那個(gè)小子得了多少？”酒吧老板問道。

“一百，”他答道，“少一個(gè)子都不行，所以要幫幫我。”

“那要一百五十塊，”酒吧老板算道，“它值這么多錢，不然我就是笨蛋。”

綁架者解開血手帕，看著那只受傷的手。“要是我不得到狂犬病藥——”

“那是因?yàn)槟闾焐驮撍溃本瓢衫习逍Φ溃昂伲瑤臀乙话眩倮愕呢洠彼a(bǔ)充說。

盡管頭昏眼花，喉嚨和舌頭疼痛難忍，勒得半死，但巴克還是極力對(duì)付那些折磨它的人。然而，它被一次又一次地打翻在地，勒緊脖子，最后他們終于銼斷了它脖子上那個(gè)粗大的銅項(xiàng)圈。隨后，他們解開繩子，把它扔進(jìn)了一只籠子似的板條箱里。

那天夜里剩下的時(shí)間，它疲倦地躺在板條箱里，自尊受到了傷害，懷恨在心。它不明白這到底是怎么回事。這些陌生人，他們想對(duì)他干什么？他們?yōu)槭裁匆阉P(guān)進(jìn)這個(gè)窄小的板條箱里？它不知道為什么，但它心情壓抑，有一種大禍臨頭的模糊感覺。那天夜里，它一聽到棚門咔嗒作響，就跳起來，盼望見到法官，或者至少見到男孩們。但是，每次都是一臉橫肉的酒吧老板，借助暗淡的燭光，伸頭在凝視著它。每次巴克喉嚨顫抖要發(fā)出的歡叫，都變成兇猛的低吼。

但是，酒吧老板沒有管它；第二天早上，四個(gè)人走進(jìn)來，抬起了板條箱。巴克斷定，他們又是來折磨它的人，因?yàn)樗麄円荒槂聪啵律酪h褸，頭發(fā)蓬亂；于是，它隔著板條箱沖他們狂怒咆哮。他們只是哈哈一笑。用棍子捅它，它馬上用牙齒咬住那些棍子，直到明白這正是他們的用意，它才松口。因此，它悶悶不樂地臥下來，任由他們把箱子抬進(jìn)一輛貨車。隨后，它和那只囚禁它的箱子經(jīng)過了好多人的手。先是快運(yùn)站的業(yè)務(wù)員們看管它；接著另一輛貨車又把它運(yùn)走；一輛卡車載著它，跟一堆箱子和包裹上了一艘渡輪；下了渡輪后，它又進(jìn)了一個(gè)大火車站，最后被放進(jìn)了一節(jié)快車廂里。

這節(jié)快車廂被尖鳴的火車頭拖著走了兩天兩夜，巴克兩天兩夜沒吃沒喝。信差們最初向它示好時(shí)，它心里有氣，就沖他們低吼，他們就通過戲弄它，進(jìn)行報(bào)復(fù)。當(dāng)它渾身顫抖，口吐白沫，撲向箱壁時(shí)，他們就嘲笑它、奚落它。他們時(shí)而像癩皮狗一樣吼叫，時(shí)而喵喵叫，揮舞手臂，揚(yáng)揚(yáng)得意。它知道，這都非常無聊；但因此也傷害了它的自尊，它的火氣越來越大。饑餓它并不是十分在乎，但缺水喝卻使它痛苦不堪，這更煽起了它心中的怒火。為此，它高度緊張，極其敏感，虐待已經(jīng)點(diǎn)燃了它的怒火，加上口干舌燥，喉嚨發(fā)腫，火燒火燎。

它對(duì)一件事感到高興，那就是去掉了它脖子上的繩子。是繩子使他們得到一種不公平的優(yōu)勢(shì)；但既然去掉了，它就要給他們好看。他們絕不能再向它脖子上套繩子了。它對(duì)這件事下定了決心。兩天兩夜，它沒吃沒喝，在這痛苦煎熬的兩天兩夜中，它心里蓄滿了怒火，所以第一個(gè)碰它的人，無論是誰(shuí)，都會(huì)倒霉。它眼睛充滿血絲，變成了兇神惡煞。它變得和過去迥然不同，就是法官看到，也不會(huì)認(rèn)出它來；到了西雅圖，那些信差把它卸下火車后才松了口氣。

四個(gè)人小心翼翼地把板條箱從貨車上卸下來，抬進(jìn)一個(gè)壘有高墻的小后院。一個(gè)身穿領(lǐng)口松垮紅毛衣的矮胖子走出來，在車夫的登記簿上簽了字。巴克猜想，就是那個(gè)人，下一個(gè)折磨我的人。于是，它猛地?fù)湎蛳浔凇Ｄ莻€(gè)人咧著嘴冷笑了一聲，拿來一把短柄斧和一根棒子。

“你現(xiàn)在不打算把它弄出來嗎？”車夫問。

“當(dāng)然要放。”這個(gè)人一邊回答，一邊用斧頭去撬板條箱。

那四個(gè)向院子里抬箱子的人頓時(shí)散開，爬到了墻頭安全的地方，準(zhǔn)備看熱鬧。

巴克沖向那塊裂開的木頭，牙齒牢牢咬住，連沖帶扭。外面的斧頭砍向哪里，它就在里面低吼咆哮著沖到哪里，迫不及待想出去，正如紅衣人沉著冷靜一心要讓它出來一樣。

“好了，你這紅眼鬼。”說著，他已經(jīng)撬開了一個(gè)口子，足以讓巴克的身體鉆過去。與此同時(shí)，他扔下斧頭，把棍子換到了右手。

巴克也真的成了紅眼鬼，只見它收攏身體，毛發(fā)豎起，嘴冒白沫，充血的眼睛閃著瘋狂的光芒，縱身躍起，將一百四十磅兇神惡煞般、憋了兩天兩夜的身體，直接撲向那個(gè)人。躍到半空中，就在它的嘴要咬住那個(gè)人時(shí)，它受到了沖擊；這一擊攔住了它的身體，使它的牙齒痛苦地碰在一起。它旋轉(zhuǎn)了一圈，倒在地上。它這輩子從來沒有挨過棍子，所以不明白是怎么回事。它狂吠一聲，這一聲一半是咆哮，更多的是尖叫，它又一次站起來，躍向空中，結(jié)果再一次被擊中，重重地摔倒在地。這一次，它明白原來是那根棍子，但它狂怒不已，無所顧忌。它進(jìn)攻了十幾次，那根棍子一次次阻擋它的沖鋒，把它打倒在地。

在受到特別猛烈的一擊后，它爬起來，頭昏眼花，無法奔跑，踉踉蹌蹌來回轉(zhuǎn)圈，鮮血從鼻子里、嘴里和耳朵里流了出來，漂亮的毛皮濺滿了血。接下來，那個(gè)人走上前，蓄意在它的鼻子上狠狠打了一棍。它曾經(jīng)受到的所有痛苦和這次的劇痛相比不足掛齒。它狂吼一聲，簡(jiǎn)直像猛獅一樣兇，又一次撲向那個(gè)人。但是，那個(gè)人把棍子從右手換到左手，冷靜地抓住它的下頜，同時(shí)向下向后猛扭。巴克在空中繞了一個(gè)圈，接著又繞了半圈，然后頭才著地重重摔倒。

巴克最后沖了一次。那個(gè)人故意忍了好久，才狠命地打了它一下；巴克縮成一團(tuán)，倒在地上，被打得完全失去了知覺。

“我說，他馴狗還真有兩下。”墻頭上有個(gè)人熱情地叫道。

“德魯塞哪天不馴馬，星期天還要治它們兩次呢。”車夫爬上貨車趕馬啟程時(shí)答道。

巴克恢復(fù)知覺，但沒有恢復(fù)體力。它臥在倒下的地方，望著那個(gè)穿紅毛衣的人。

“名叫巴克，”那個(gè)人自言自語(yǔ)，引用酒吧老板信上的話，那封信寫明了板條箱和內(nèi)容的交付情況。“好了，巴克，我的伙計(jì)，”他接著用親切的聲音說，“我們剛才鬧了點(diǎn)兒不愉快，我們所能做的最好的事兒就是讓它到此為止。你我都已經(jīng)了解對(duì)方的情況了。做一條好狗，萬事大吉，前途有望。做一條壞狗，我就要打得你魂飛魄散。明白嗎？”

他一邊說，一邊無所畏懼地拍著他曾經(jīng)殘酷無情打過的腦袋；雖然那只手一摸巴克的毛發(fā)就不由自主地豎起，但它還是乖乖忍受。當(dāng)那個(gè)人給它端來水時(shí)，它迫不及待地喝了下去，后來還從那個(gè)人手里一塊接一塊狼吞虎咽地吃下了不少生肉。

它被打敗了（它明白這一點(diǎn)），但它沒有被打垮。它徹底明白了，它沒有希望跟手拿棍子的人斗。它已經(jīng)吸取了這次教訓(xùn)，而且今后一輩子都絕不會(huì)忘記。那根棍子就是一個(gè)啟示。它把巴克引入了原始法則的統(tǒng)治天地，而且巴克是半路才被引入的。無法更改的種種事實(shí)呈現(xiàn)出更殘忍的一面；而當(dāng)它無所畏懼地面對(duì)這一面時(shí)，它用本性喚起的一切潛在的狡猾也在醒來。隨著一天天過去，其他的狗也來了，有的是用板條箱運(yùn)來的，有的是用繩子牽來的，有的溫順，有的跟它來時(shí)一樣狂怒咆哮。它看著它們?cè)谀莻€(gè)穿紅毛衣的人的控制下一個(gè)個(gè)走過去。巴克一次次看著殘忍的場(chǎng)面，教訓(xùn)非常深刻：手拿棍棒的人就是立法者，是必須服從的主人，盡管不一定要博得他的好感。對(duì)最后這一點(diǎn)，巴克從不愧疚，盡管它的確見過一些被打敗的狗討好那個(gè)人，又是搖尾，又是舔他的手。它還見過一條狗既不討好也不服從，最后在爭(zhēng)奪統(tǒng)治權(quán)的斗爭(zhēng)中被打死了。

不時(shí)會(huì)有一些人來這，是一些陌生人，他們眉飛色舞地跟那個(gè)穿紅毛衣的人說著謊話，千方百計(jì)奉承那個(gè)人。每當(dāng)金錢易手時(shí)，那些陌生人就會(huì)牽走一條或幾條狗。巴克不知道這些狗去了哪里，因?yàn)樗鼈冊(cè)僖矝]有回來；但是，它對(duì)未來懷著強(qiáng)烈的恐懼，而且每次未被選中，它都非常高興。

然而，最后終于輪到它了，來的是一個(gè)身材矮小、外貌枯槁的小個(gè)子，英語(yǔ)說得非常蹩腳，還有巴克聽不懂的許多粗俗的怪叫。

“見鬼！”當(dāng)他的目光落在巴克的身上時(shí)，他嚷道，“這條公狗真他媽的棒！呃？多少錢？”

“三百，就算白送了，”穿紅毛衣的人馬上答道，“既然這是政府的錢，你就不要再壓價(jià)了，好嗎，佩羅？”

佩羅咧嘴笑了笑。因?yàn)楣饭┎粦?yīng)求，且狗價(jià)飛漲，所以對(duì)這么好的一條狗來說，這價(jià)錢不能不算公平。加拿大政府絕不會(huì)損失什么，其公文也不會(huì)傳遞得更慢。佩羅懂狗；他看著巴克，就知道這條狗是千里挑一——“萬里挑一。”他心里評(píng)論說。

巴克看到錢在他們之間轉(zhuǎn)了手。所以，當(dāng)那個(gè)干瘦小個(gè)子牽走它和一條性情溫和的紐芬蘭犬柯莉時(shí)，它并不吃驚。這是它最后看到這個(gè)穿紅毛衣的人，而且當(dāng)它和柯莉在“獨(dú)角鯨號(hào)”的甲板上望著漸漸遠(yuǎn)去的西雅圖時(shí)，也是它最后看到溫暖的南方。佩羅把它和柯莉帶到底艙，交給一個(gè)名叫弗朗索瓦的黑臉大漢。佩羅是法裔加拿大人，皮膚黝黑；而弗朗索瓦是法裔加拿大人混血兒，皮膚要黑上一倍。對(duì)巴克來說，他們又是一類人（它注定會(huì)見到更多類型的人），盡管它對(duì)他們并沒有產(chǎn)生任何感情，但它依然真誠(chéng)地尊重他們。它很快就明白了，佩羅和弗朗索瓦為人公正，執(zhí)法冷靜無私，而且對(duì)狗了如指掌，不會(huì)被狗欺騙。

在“獨(dú)角鯨號(hào)”的甲板間，巴克和柯莉跟另兩條狗待在了一起。其中一條是從斯匹茨卑爾根群島來的渾身雪白的大家伙，它先被一位捕鯨船船長(zhǎng)帶走，后來又跟隨一支地質(zhì)勘探隊(duì)到了北美洲的荒漠。

它很友好，不過也有些奸詐，心里想著什么詭計(jì)時(shí)會(huì)沖你面帶笑意；比如，當(dāng)它第一頓飯偷吃巴克的食物時(shí)，就是這樣。巴克跳起來要懲罰它時(shí)，弗朗索瓦的鞭子啪的一聲在空中抽響，先打在肇事者的身上；巴克只需去弄回那塊骨頭就是了。它斷定，弗朗索瓦是公平的；巴克越來越尊重這個(gè)混血兒。

另一條狗既不獻(xiàn)殷勤，也不搭理他人；它也不企圖偷新來者的東西。它是一個(gè)郁郁寡歡、悶悶不樂的家伙，還對(duì)柯莉明確表示，它想做的就是獨(dú)自待著，而且進(jìn)一步表示，要是不讓它單獨(dú)待著，就會(huì)有麻煩。它名叫戴夫，吃吃睡睡，偶爾打打哈欠，對(duì)什么都不感興趣，即使在“獨(dú)角鯨號(hào)”穿越夏洛特皇后海峽，像著魔似的搖擺、顛簸和晃動(dòng)時(shí)，也不感興趣。當(dāng)巴克和柯莉緊張不安，嚇得半瘋時(shí)，戴夫抬起頭，好像受到了打攪似的，淡漠地看了它們一眼，打了個(gè)哈欠，又睡去了。

隨著螺旋槳不知疲倦地律動(dòng)著，輪船夜以繼日地航行著；盡管每天都非常相似，但巴克明顯感到天氣越來越冷了。后來一天早晨，螺旋槳平靜下來。“獨(dú)角鯨號(hào)”上彌漫著激動(dòng)的氣氛。它感覺到了這種氣氛，其他狗也感覺到了，明白不久就有變化了。弗朗索瓦給它們拴上皮帶，把它們牽到了甲板上。巴克一踏上寒冷的艙面，蹄子就陷進(jìn)了一種白乎乎、軟綿綿、酷似爛泥的東西。它噴了噴鼻息跳了回去。更多的這種白色東西正在穿越天空向下落。它抖了抖身體，但身上落得越來越多。它好奇地嗅了嗅，然后用舌頭舔了一些，感覺像火一樣，但轉(zhuǎn)眼就消失了。這使它迷惑不解。它又試了一下，結(jié)果還是一樣。旁觀的人哄笑起來，它感到窘迫，但又不明白為什么，因?yàn)檫@是它第一次見到雪。