“是的。關(guān)于冷族的故事和狼的傳說一樣古老,有些則更近些。根據(jù)傳說的內(nèi)容,我的曾祖父曾經(jīng)認(rèn)識他們中的一些人。他和他們訂下了條約,讓他們遠(yuǎn)離我們的土地。”他轉(zhuǎn)了轉(zhuǎn)眼睛。
"Your great-grandfather?" I encouraged.
“你的曾祖父?”我鼓勵著他說下去。
"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf—well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."
“他是部落的長老,和我爸爸一樣。你知道,冷族和狼是天生的死敵——嗯,好吧,不是普通的狼,而是那些可以化成人形的狼,比方說我們的祖先。你可以稱他們?yōu)槔侨恕?rdquo;
"Werewolves have enemies?"
“狼人會有敵人嗎?”
"Only one."
“只有一個。”
I stared at him earnestly, hoping to disguise my impatience as admiration.
我誠懇地看著他,希望能掩飾住自己不安,讓他理解為欽佩。
"So you see," Jacob continued, "the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did — they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces." He winked at me.
“所以,你看,”雅克布繼續(xù)說道。“冷族向來是我們的敵人。但在我曾祖父的時候,我們的領(lǐng)地里來了一群不太一樣的冷族。他們不像別的冷族一樣狩獵——他們也不會威脅到我們的部族。所以我的曾祖父和他們簽下了休戰(zhàn)協(xié)定。只要他們保證離我們的領(lǐng)土遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)的,我們就不拆穿他們蒼白的真面目。”他向我眨著眼睛。
"If they weren't dangerous, then why… ?" I tried to understand, struggling not to let him see how seriously I was considering his ghost story.
“如果他們并不危險,那為什么……?”我試圖理解他的話,但努力不讓他發(fā)現(xiàn)我在認(rèn)真地思考著他的幽靈故事。
"There's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they're civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." He deliberately worked a thick edge of menace into his tone.
“人類和冷族靠得太近總是有風(fēng)險的,即使他們像這個小團(tuán)體一樣已經(jīng)文明開化了。你永遠(yuǎn)不能知道他們什么時候會忍耐不住饑餓。”他故意讓自己的口吻里帶上了濃濃的恐嚇的味道。