Julie (Excerpt VI)《朱莉》（节选六）

琼·克雷格黑德·乔治 吴文安

Raw Bones took a few steps and stared across the river. Julie followed his glance. Kapu and Zing were standing just back of the invisible border. Their ears and ruffs were up. Their eyes were pinned on Raw Bones. He glared back. Julie thought some great decision was in the making; then Raw Bones suddenly relaxed his gaze， rotated his ears， and stepped closer to Julie. He sniffed her scents as if reading some message she had carried from the other side of the river.

Julie wondered： Had Kapu not called her back because he had marked her with a scent message？

Raw Bones stared across the river and whined the whine of friendship.

Silver bounded forward.

Kapu and Zing leaped over their invisible border and rushed into the bottomland.

Raw Bones and Silver splashed into the river， sending water six feet in the air.

The four met， exchanged signals， and chased a moose that Julie had not even seen. Back on the tundra stood Aaka and Amy.

The moose knew the call of death. He lifted his huge hoofs and ran effortlessly， rack and head back. The wolves leaped at his side. They circled out and loped back， keeping up with the prey without sound. Kapu signaled with his eyes. The wolves took positions for the kill.

Then Kapu stopped dead in his tracks and so did the others. He had called the hunt off. Panting， lips pulled back in smiles， the four watched the moose for a moment， then turned and trotted away. The moose slowed down， looked back， and as if nothing had happened， lowered his head. He browsed unafraid. The predator and prey， over the millennia， seemed to have worked out some understanding with life and death.

Having chased the moose， the four wolves ran down the gravel shore， ears up， tails flowing behind them. They sped along as if there were nothing more important in the universe than running. Julie was spellbound. They seemed to be performing a ritual of wolfdom. They had not killed the moose， just chased it together. Now they seemed to be running joyously， as if they were celebrating the first law of their kind—cooperation. An elder had put it to Julie another way： “We are all here for each other; the Eskimos， the mammals， the river， the ice， the sun， plants， birds， and fish. Let us celebrate cooperation.” That， Julie felt， was just what they were doing.

Through some mysterious signals the wolves had told each other they would join forces and become one pack. And， it seemed to Julie， she had been the messenger. How it had all come to be she did not know.

生骨往前走了几步，盯着河对岸看。朱莉随着他的目光望去。卡普和津就站在那条看不见的边界之后。他们的耳朵和颈毛都直立着。他们的目光盯在生骨身上。生骨也在盯着他们。朱莉想，他们这是在做一个重大的决定。接下来，生骨突然不再紧盯对岸，而是转了转耳朵，朝朱莉走近了几步。生骨嗅了嗅朱莉身上的气味，似乎在阅读她从河对岸带来的某种信息。

朱莉想：卡普没有叫她回去，是因为在她身上标记了某种气味信息吗？

生骨又盯着河对岸，发出一声表示友好的长啸。

银白欢快地朝前跑去。

卡普和津跳过了那条看不见的边界，冲到了河谷底部。

生骨和银白冲入水中，溅起高高的水花。

四只狼汇聚到一起，互相交换信号，然后朝着朱莉没有看见的一只北美麋鹿追去。在远处的冻原上，阿卡和艾米两只小狼都站着不动。

麋鹿似乎听到了死神的召唤。他抬起宽大的蹄子毫不费力地跑起来，边跑边扭过头和鹿角朝后看。群狼跳到他身边，绕到外围，再慢跑回来，一声不响地跟着猎物。卡普用眼光示意。群狼各就各位准备猎杀。

突然，卡普停下来一动不动，其他的狼也是如此。卡普取消了猎杀行动。四只狼喘着粗气，嘴唇收缩露出微笑，盯着麋鹿看了一会儿，然后转身慢慢跑开了。麋鹿放慢脚步，回头观望，好像什么都没有发生过，然后低下头吃草，毫不惊慌。经过了千万年的对抗，猎食者和猎物似乎对生与死达成了某种共识。

追完麋鹿，四只狼就沿着满是碎石的河滩奔跑，耳朵直立着，尾巴在身后摇摆。他们快速跑动，似乎世界上没有什么比奔跑更重要的事情了。朱莉感到茫然。狼群似乎在舉行一个狼族的仪式。他们没有杀死麋鹿，只是一起追逐。如今他们似乎在快乐地奔跑，好像在庆祝狼族的第一法则——合作。有位老者曾经跟朱莉这样讲过：“在这里我们互为彼此;爱斯基摩人、哺乳动物、河流、冰雪、太阳、植物、鸟儿和鱼。让我们为彼此的合作而庆祝。”狼群所做的，朱莉觉得，正是在庆祝合作。

正是通过某些神秘的信号，这些狼告诉彼此他们应该联合起来成为一个族群。而朱莉似乎正好担当了信使的角色。但这一点究竟是如何做到的朱莉却一无所知。