《能言馬與男孩》第8期:道旁遇險(3)

Shasta soon learned, when he heard Bree talking like that, to prepare for a gallop.
After they had travelled on for weeks and weeks past more bays and headlands and rivers and villages than Shasta could remember, there came a moonlit night when they started their journey at evening, having slept during the day. They had left the downs behind them and were crossing a wide plain with a forest about half a mile away on their left. The sea, hidden by low sandhills, was about the same distance on their right. They had jogged along for about an hour, sometimes trotting and sometimes walking, when Bree suddenly stopped.
"What's up?" said Shasta.
"S-s-ssh!" said Bree, craning his neck round and twitching his ears. "Did you hear something? Listen."
"It sounds like another horse - between us and the wood," said Shasta after he had listened for about a minute.
"It is another horse," said Bree. "And that's what I don't like."
"Isn't it probably just a farmer riding home late?" said Shasta with a yawn.
"Don't tell me!" said Bree. "That's not a farmer's riding. Nor a farmer's horse either. Can't you tell by the sound? That's quality, that horse is. And it's being ridden by a real horseman. I tell you what it is, Shasta. There's a Tarkaan under the edge of that wood. Not on his war horse - it's too light for that. On a fine blood mare, I should say."
"Well, it's stopped now, whatever it is," said Shasta.
"You're right," said Bree. "And why should he stop just when we do? Shasta, my boy, I do believe there's someone shadowing us at last."
"What shall we do?" said Shasta in a lower whisper than before. "Do you think he can see us as well as hear us?"
"Not in this light so long as we stay quite still," answered Bree. "But look! There's a cloud coming up. I'll wait till that gets over the moon. Then we'll get off to our right as quietly as we can, down to the shore. We can hide among the sandhills if the worst comes to the worst."
They waited till the cloud covered the moon and then, first at a walking pace and afterwards at a gentle trot, made for the shore.
The cloud was bigger and thicker than it had looked at first and soon the night grew very dark. Just as Shasta was saying to himself, "We must be nearly at those sandhills by now," his heart leaped into his mouth because an appalling noise had suddenly risen up out of the darkness ahead; a long snarling roar, melancholy and utterly savage. Instantly Bree swerved round and began galloping inland again as fast as he could gallop.
"What is it?" gasped Shasta.
"Lions!" said Bree, without checking his pace or turning his head.
After that there was nothing but sheer galloping for some time. At last they splashed across a wide, shallow stream and Bree came to a stop on the far side. Shasta noticed that he was trembling and sweating all over.

沙斯塔不久就明白了，他聽到布早這杆呼叫時，就該準備馳騁了。
他們一個星期又一個星期地往前跋涉，經過的海灣、海岬、河流和村莊沙斯塔記也記不清。這之後的一個月夜，他們正趕路——他們是白天睡覺，黃昏時上路的。他們把丘陵地帶甩在後面了，正在穿過一個遼闊的平原，平原左邊半里之遙有個樹林。大海在他們的右邊差不多遠，被低低的沙丘擋住了，他們已經慢吞吞地走了大約半個鐘頭光景，有時小跑，有時溜達。布里突然站住了。
“出了什麼事？”沙斯塔問。
“噓——噓。”布里說道，它伸長着脖子張望，扇動着耳朵。”你可聽到什麼聲音？仔細聽聽。”
“那像是另一匹馬兒的聲音——就在咱們和那樹林之間。”沙斯塔靜聽了一會兒後說道。
“那是另外一匹馬兒，”布里說，”那可是我不喜歡的局面。”
“說不定是個農民剛好騎馬晚歸。”沙斯塔打了個呵欠說道。
“不會吧！”布早說，”那可不是農民騎馬的聲音。也不是農民的馬兒的腳步聲。你能辨別聲音嗎？那馬兒的腳步聲挺帥，而且騎馬的是個真正的騎手。我告訴你真相吧，沙斯塔。有個泰坎在樹林邊緣。他騎的不是戰馬——戰馬的腳步聲重得多，這聲音太輕飄了。他騎的是匹純種好馬，我敢說。”
“哦，現在它停步了，不管它是什麼馬兒。”沙斯塔說。
“你說得對，”布里說，”爲什麼我們剛停步它也就停步了呢？沙斯塔，我的孩子，我深信有人終於像影子一樣盯上我們了。”
“我們怎麼辦呢？”沙斯塔低語道，聲音比以前更低了，”你認爲他能聽見我們、看見我們嗎？”
“在這種光線裏，只要我們悄沒聲兒地待着，他就看不見我們。”布里答道，”瞧有大塊雲上來了。等到那塊雲遮住了月亮，我們就趕快逃到右邊去，逃到下面的海岸上去。萬一發生最糟糕的情況，我們就可以在沙丘之間藏身。”
他們等到那雲遮住了月亮，就奔海岸而去，開頭是不緊不慢的步子，後來就改爲小跑了。
雲塊比最初看去時更大更厚實，夜晚很快就變得十分黑暗。正當沙斯塔在心裏跟自己說”現在我們必定快要到達那些沙丘了”時，他的心跳到他的嘴巴挈來了，因爲突然之間從前面的黑瞎中發出一個令人喪膽的聲音，那是一聲長長的咆哮，憂鬱而又十分野蠻。布里立刻轉過身來，開始重新向內陸奔馳，盡其所能地迅速奔馳。
“這是什麼？”沙斯塔氣喘吁吁地問道。
“獅子”布里說道，既不放慢腳步，也不轉過頭來。
這之後，就只有徹頭徹尾的奔馳了，奔馳了好一陣子。
最後，他們水花四濺地橫渡一條寬闊而不深的溪流，到了對岸布里這才站住了。沙斯塔注意到他自己渾身發抖，全身都在冒冷汗。