Love of Life 热爱生命That day he decreased the distance between him and the ship by three miles; the next day by two－for he was crawling now as Bill had crawled; and the end of the day found the ship still seven mailes away and him unable to make even a mile a day. Still the indian summ er held on, and he continued to crawl and faint ,turn and turn about; and ever the sick wolf coughed and wheezed at his heels. His knees had become raw meat like his feet, and though he paddled them with the shirt from his back it was a red track he left behind him on the moss and stones. Once , glancing back, he saw the wolf licking hungrily his bleeding trail, and he saw sharply what his own end might be－unless－unless he could get the wolf. Then began as grim a tragedy of existence as was ever played－a sick man that crawled, a sick wolf that limped, two creatures dragging their dying carcasses across the desolation and hunting each other’s lives. 这一天，他和那条船之间的距离又缩短了三英里，到了第二天，他又继续缩短了两英里－因为他现在就和比尔先生先前一样在地上匍匐前进，到了第五天晚上的时候，他发现那条船依然离他还有七英里的距离，而他每天的进程还不到一英里。幸好深秋的天气依然晴朗，他继续爬，一次又一次地晕死过去，可是醒来他又继续地往前爬，不停地回头张望着；而那头病狼也在不停地咳嗽着，发出艰难的喘息声，可依然紧紧尾随其后。他的膝盖－就和他的双脚一样－早给磨得血肉模糊，其实他一早就脱下了身上的衬衣裹住了膝盖，可都没有用，他一路爬下来，他身后的苔藓和岩石上也就留下了一道触目惊心的血渍。有一次他回头的时候，他看见那头饿狼正贪婪地舔着他的血渍，一时间他清楚地意识到自己的结局－除非－除非他把那头狼解决掉。就这样，一幕从来没有上演的求生悲剧开始了－病人在前面爬，瘸腿的病狼尾随其后，两个生灵就这样在荒漠里拖着垂死的躯壳，随时准备猎取对方的生命。 Had it been a well wolf, it would not have mattered so much...
