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Chapter 12 The Children Are Carried Off
第十二章 孩子们被抓走了
The pirate attack had been a complete surprise: a sure proof that the unscrupulous Hook had conducted it improperly,
海盗的袭击纯粹是一次出其不意的奇袭；这就足以证明胡克指挥不当，
for to surprise redskins fairly is beyond the wit of the white man.
因为，要对印第安人进行奇袭，是白人的智力所达不到的。
By all the unwritten laws of savage warfare it is always the redskin who attacks,
按照半开化民族的不成文法，首先发起攻击的总是印第安人；
and with the wiliness of his race he does it just before the dawn, at which time he knows the courage of the whites to be at its lowest ebb.
印第安人是很狡黠的，他们总是在拂晓前出击，因为他们知道，这是白人战斗勇气最低落的时候。
The white men have in the meantime made a rude stockade on the summit of yonder undulating ground,
同时，白人也在那片起伏不平的山地的最高点筑起了一道简陋的栅栏。
at the foot of which a stream runs, for it is destruction to be too far from water.
山脚下，奔流着一条小河；因为离水太远就不能生存。
There they await the onslaught, the inexperienced ones clutching their revolvers and treading on twigs,
他们就在那儿等待着袭击。没有经验的人，紧握手枪，踏着枯枝来回走动；
but the old hands sleeping tranquilly until just before the dawn.
老手们却安安逸逸地睡觉，一直睡到天亮。
Through the long black night the savage scouts wriggle, snake-like, among the grass without stirring a blade.
在漆黑的漫漫长夜里，印第安人的侦察兵在草丛里像蛇一样地匍匐潜行，连一根草叶都不拨动，
The brushwood closes behind them, as silently as sand into which a mole has dived.
就像鼹鼠钻进沙地后，沙土无声地合拢一样。
Not a sound is to be heard, save when they give vent to a wonderful imitation of the lonely call of the coyote.
一点声响也听不到，除了他们偶尔惟妙惟肖地学着草原狼，发出一声凄凉的嗥叫。
The cry is answered by other braves; and some of them do it even better than the coyotes, who are not very good at it.
这声嗥叫又得到其他人的呼应，有的人叫得比那不擅长嗥叫的草原狼更好。
So the chill hours wear on, and the long suspense is horribly trying to the paleface who has to live through it for the first time;
寒夜就这样渐渐地挨过，长时间的担惊受怕对于那些初次体验的白人来说，真是特别难熬的；
but to the trained hand those ghastly calls and still ghastlier silences are but an intimation of how the night is marching.
可是，在那些有经验的老手看来，那些阴森可怖的嗥叫声，以及更加阴森可怖的寂静无声，只不过说明黑夜是如何度过的罢了。
That this was the usual procedure was so well known to Hook that in disregarding it he cannot be excused on the plea of ignorance.
这种情况，胡克原是一清二楚的，如果他忽略了，就不能看作是他的无知而原谅他。
The Piccaninnies, on their part, trusted implicitly to his honour, and their whole action of the night stands out in marked contrast to his.
印第安人呢，他们完全相信胡克是信守自己的准则的，他们在这夜的行动，正和胡克的行动相反。
They left nothing undone that was consistent with the reputation of their tribe.
使他们的部落闻名的那些事，他们都一一照办了。
With that alertness of the senses which is at once the marvel and despair of civilised peoples,
他们灵敏的感觉，是文明人既惊羡又害怕的，
they knew that the pirates were on the island from the moment one of them trod on a dry stick;
只要一个海盗踩响了一根干树枝，他们立刻就知道海盗们已经来到了岛上；
and in an incredibly short space of time the coyote cries began.
眨眼间，就开始了草原狼的嗥叫声。
