瓊·克雷格黑德·喬治 吳文安

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.

生骨往前走了幾步，盯著河對岸看。朱莉隨著他的目光望去?？ㄆ蘸徒蚓驼驹谀菞l看不見的邊界之后。他們的耳朵和頸毛都直立著。他們的目光盯在生骨身上。生骨也在盯著他們。朱莉想，他們這是在做一個重大的決定。接下來，生骨突然不再緊盯對岸，而是轉(zhuǎn)了轉(zhuǎn)耳朵，朝朱莉走近了幾步。生骨嗅了嗅朱莉身上的氣味，似乎在閱讀她從河對岸帶來的某種信息。

朱莉想：卡普沒有叫她回去，是因為在她身上標(biāo)記了某種氣味信息嗎？

生骨又盯著河對岸，發(fā)出一聲表示友好的長嘯。

銀白歡快地朝前跑去。

卡普和津跳過了那條看不見的邊界，沖到了河谷底部。

生骨和銀白沖入水中，濺起高高的水花。

四只狼匯聚到一起，互相交換信號，然后朝著朱莉沒有看見的一只北美麋鹿追去。在遠(yuǎn)處的凍原上，阿卡和艾米兩只小狼都站著不動。

麋鹿似乎聽到了死神的召喚。他抬起寬大的蹄子毫不費力地跑起來，邊跑邊扭過頭和鹿角朝后看。群狼跳到他身邊，繞到外圍，再慢跑回來，一聲不響地跟著獵物?？ㄆ沼醚酃馐疽?。群狼各就各位準(zhǔn)備獵殺。

突然，卡普停下來一動不動，其他的狼也是如此?？ㄆ杖∠双C殺行動。四只狼喘著粗氣，嘴唇收縮露出微笑，盯著麋鹿看了一會兒，然后轉(zhuǎn)身慢慢跑開了。麋鹿放慢腳步，回頭觀望，好像什么都沒有發(fā)生過，然后低下頭吃草，毫不驚慌。經(jīng)過了千萬年的對抗，獵食者和獵物似乎對生與死達(dá)成了某種共識。

追完麋鹿，四只狼就沿著滿是碎石的河灘奔跑，耳朵直立著，尾巴在身后搖擺。他們快速跑動，似乎世界上沒有什么比奔跑更重要的事情了。朱莉感到茫然。狼群似乎在舉行一個狼族的儀式。他們沒有殺死麋鹿，只是一起追逐。如今他們似乎在快樂地奔跑，好像在慶祝狼族的第一法則——合作。有位老者曾經(jīng)跟朱莉這樣講過：“在這里我們互為彼此;愛斯基摩人、哺乳動物、河流、冰雪、太陽、植物、鳥兒和魚。讓我們?yōu)楸舜说暮献鞫鴳c祝。”狼群所做的，朱莉覺得，正是在慶祝合作。

正是通過某些神秘的信號，這些狼告訴彼此他們應(yīng)該聯(lián)合起來成為一個族群。而朱莉似乎正好擔(dān)當(dāng)了信使的角色。但這一點究竟是如何做到的朱莉卻一無所知。