顽童流浪记3

The sun was high when I woke up. I guessed it was after eight o'clock. I lay there in the grass and cool shade. I felt comfortable and satisfied there. A couple of squirrels sat on a branch and spoke to me. I was too lazy to cook breakfast. Then I thought I heard a loud sound "Boom!" way up the river. Soon I heard it again. I went to see what it was. I saw a ferryboat that was full of people. They were firing a cannon over the water and were trying to make my body come up to the top of the water. I was very hungry then, but it was dangerous to make a fire to cook. I thought,"If they see the smoke on the island, they will come and catch me."

　　They floated loaves of bread for the drowned body. I waited at the water's edge for the bread to come. After a while a big loaf came along, but I missed it. When the second loaf came near the shore where I was, I got it with a long stick. Then I sat down on a log among the leaves and began to eat it while watching the ferryboat. When the boat came very close to the island, I could see everybody on it─Daddy, Judge Thatcher, and Tom Sawyer, and his old Aunt Polly. They were watching carefully to find my body somewhere on the shore. When the boat went out of sight, I felt I was all right.

　　I got my things out of the canoe and made a kind of tent with the blankets. I caught a catfish and cooked it. It was a very big catfish. When it got dark, I started my campfire and had supper. Then I caught some more fish for breakfast. But by and by I got lonesome. So I went to the bank and counted the stars and drifting logs and rafts that came down, and then I went to sleep.

　　I did the same thing for three days and three nights. On the fourth day I decided to explore the island. I found plenty of ripe strawberries. At first I thought I was deep in the woods, but I wasn't far from the shore of the island. Although I had my gun along, I shot nothing. Once I almost stepped on a big snake. It went away slithering off through the bushes. I ran after it and came to a place where there were ashes of a campfire. It was still smoking.

　　I was very surprised to find it there. I looked around and listened carefully, but I saw nobody around. When I got back to my camp, I didn't feel safe. Then I got everything into the canoe again. I put out the fire and scattered the ashes around.

　　I climbed one of the trees and stayed there for two hours, but I saw nothing.

　At last I got down, but I stayed in the thick woods and I was on the lookout all the time. I was very hungry because I had only had berries to eat all day. So when it was dark, I started to cook supper in the woods.
　　I said to myself, "I have to stay here all night." Just then I heard somebody coming along. I put back everything in the canoe. I slept in it that night, but I couldn't sleep well.

　　As soon as the morning came, I went back to the place where I had heard the sound of footsteps. I went slowly and looked out through the leaves. To my surprise, it was Jim! Jim was Miss Watson's black boy. I never thought I would see him in such a place.
　　"Hello, Jim!" I said. When he saw me, he bounced up and looked at me with his mouth open. "Oh, don't hurt me. I haven't done anything bad to ghosts. You're Huck's ghost,aren't you? Please go away," said Jim. So I told him how I came to the island. At last he understood. I was so glad to be with him. I wasn't lonesome anymore.　

　　Then I said, "Let's cook something for breakfast. Let's make a good campfire."
　　"What is the use of making a campfire? To cook strawberries? You have a gun, and we can get something better than strawberries," said Jim. "I came here the night after you were killed. I haven't had anything to eat since then." So we went over to my canoe, and while Jim was building a fire, I brought some cornmeal, bacon and coffee, as well as the coffee pot and the frying pan.

　　I caught a big catfish. Jim cleaned it with his knife. When breakfast was ready, we sat on the grass and ate it. Jim was so hungry that he had two cups of coffee, three pieces of fish and a lot of bacon and corn bread.
"Huck, who was it that killed you in the cabin?" Jim asked as soon as he finished eating.
　　I told him the truth. Then I asked him, did you come here?" He didn't say anything for a minute, but then he said, "Never tell this to anybody. In fact, I ran off. The other day, a slave trader came to Miss Watson. I knew she was going to sell me to him. So I decided to run off. I came here in the boat which I stole". His eyes were full of tears. When I told him that I didn't blame him, he looked happy.

　　I wanted to go and look at a place in the middle of the island. So we went out to the place. Soon we arrived at the place, because the island was only three miles long and a quarter of a mile wide. This place was a very long steep hill about forty feet high. The sides of the hill were so steep, and the bushes were so thick that we had a hard time getting to the top.
　　There we found a cavern which was large enough for two rooms. Jim could stand in it. He said, "Let's bring in our things from the canoe. Here we will never be found. Without dogs, they will never find us. By the way, it looks like rain. Young birds are flying low. We had better bring our things here at once."

　　So we went down to the place where the canoe was hidden. Jim carried all the things we had. I took some fish off the lines and began to get ready for supper. There was a flat space near the door of the cavern. It was a good place to build a fire, so we cooked dinner there.
　　We spread the blankets inside, and ate our dinner there. Soon it got dark and began to rain. The wind blew hard, too.

　　"This home of ours is really comfortable, Jim. Pass me another piece of fish and some hot corn bread," I said.

　　我醒来时，太阳已高挂天空。我想大约有八点多了。我找了凉爽树荫的草地躺下，感到舒畅与满足。一对松鼠坐在树枝上对着我吱吱叫着。我懒得根本不想做早餐。接着，我仿佛听到河的上游处传来一声『轰隆』巨响。不久，我又听到一声。我上前去看个究竟。我发现一艘渡船，上面挤满了人。他们在向水面上发射大炮，企图使我的尸首浮出水面。此刻，我感到非常饥饿，但要生火煮饭实在太危险了。我心想：『如果他们看到岛上有炊烟，必然会前来抓我。』

　　他们放下一条条的面包在河流上，以吊慰我已溺毙的尸体。我就在岸边等待漂来的面包。一会儿之后，一大条面包漂了过来，但我未能抓到。当第二条面包接近我站的岸边时，我用一根长棍子捞了起来。然后我坐在树叶间一根圆木上，边吃着面包，边望着渡轮。当渡轮缓缓接近小岛时，我可以看到船上的每一个人。爹地、撒切尔法官、汤姆还有他的老姑妈波莉都在船上。他们正仔细地观察，期望在岸边某处能找到我的尸体。当船驶远不见时，我才觉得自己平安了。

　　我从独木舟上搬下所有的东西，并用毯子搭成一顶帐棚。我抓了一条鲶鱼来煮。那是一条很大的鲶鱼。天色暗时我燃起营火，享受了晚餐。后来我又抓了些鱼供早餐用。但没多久我感到孤独起来，所以就到河边去数天上的星星及漂来的圆木和木筏，然后就去睡了。

　　三天三夜，我都重复做着同样的事情。到了第四天，我决定在岛上探险。我发现到好多成熟的草莓。刚开始我以为我深入林中，但实际上离小岛的岸边并没多远。虽然我带着枪，但并未开过一枪。有一次我差点踩到一条大蛇。它穿过树丛间溜走了。我在后面追它，结果来到一处有营火灰烬的地方。那堆灰烬仍在冒烟。

　　我发现后感到十分讶异。于是环顾四周，仔细倾听，但没见到一个人。我回到帐篷时，心中觉得很不安全。于是我再度收拾起所有的东西，放入独木舟。我熄灭营火，把灰烬四处撒开。

　　我爬上一棵树，在上面待了两个小时，却什么也没发现。

　　最后我爬下来，但我仍藏身在密林中，始终保持警戒。因为整天我只靠草莓裹腹，所以倍感饥饿。因此夜幕低垂后，我开始在林中煮晚餐。

　　我自言自语道：『我必须整晚留在这里。』就在这时，我听到有人接近的声音。我随即把所有东西放回独木舟内。那晚我睡在独木舟上，但睡不好。

　　天一亮，我便走回听到脚步声之处。我小心翼翼地缓缓前进，并从树叶间隙中探视。令我感到惊讶的是，那原来是吉姆！吉姆是华森小姐的黑奴。我从未料想到会在这种地方遇见他。

　　我说：『嗨，吉姆！』吉姆看到我时，他跳了起来，吓得张大嘴巴看着我。然后他说：『天啊！别伤害我。我没有做对不起鬼魂的事。你是哈克的鬼魂，对不对？请你走开吧！』于是我详细告诉他来岛上的经过。最后他终于明白了。我好高兴与吉姆在一起。我已不再孤单。

　然后我说：『我们弄点早餐吧，咱们好好生个火。』

　　吉姆说：『生火有什么用？煮草莓吗？你有枪，我们可猎点比草莓更好吃的东西。在你遇害的当天夜里，我就来到这里，一直到现在都没吃什么东西。』于是我们两人便到我的独木舟那里。当吉姆生火时，我就拿来一些玉米粉、熏肉、咖啡、咖啡壶以及平底锅。

　　我钓到一条大鲶鱼。吉姆用刀子把它料理干净。早餐备妥后，我们坐在草地上享用。吉姆非常饥饿，一口气喝了两杯咖啡，吃了三片鱼，还吃了好多的熏肉及玉米面包。

　　吉姆一吃完早餐后就问道：『哈克，究竟是谁在小木屋中杀害你？』

　　我把真相告诉了他，接着问他：『你又为什么来这里？』他沉默了一会儿，然后说道：『不要告诉任何人。事实上，我是逃跑的。前几天，一个黑奴贩子来找华森小姐。我得悉她要把我卖给他，所以我决定逃跑。我偷了一艘小船划到此地。』他的双眼热泪盈眶。我说我并不怪他后，他露出快乐的表情。

　　我想去瞧瞧岛中央的一个地方。于是我们两人便出发前往。因为这岛只有三英里长和四分之一英里宽，我们很快便到达了目的地。此处是一个高约四十英尺的陡峭小丘。由于小丘四周陡峭，树丛茂密，我们费了很大的力气才爬到顶上。

　　我们在那里发现了一个有两间房大的洞窟。吉姆可在里面站立。他说：『我们把独木舟上的东西搬进来吧！在这里我们绝不会被人发现。如果不带狗来，他们永远也找不到我们。对了，看来似乎要下雨了。小鸟儿飞得很低。我们最好立刻把东西搬来。』

于是我们走回藏匿独木舟的地方。吉姆背负着我们所有的东西。我从鱼线上取下一些鱼，开始准备晚餐。洞窟门前有一块平地，是生火的好地方。我们便在那里一起弄晚餐。

　　我们在洞内铺开毛毯开始用餐。不久，天色渐暗而且开始下起雨来。风也很大。

我说：『吉姆，我们这个家可真舒服。请再递给我一片鱼和一些热玉米面包。』