雙語故事:基德•卡森智鬥灰熊

【英文原文】

摘要：基德•卡森（1809-1868）是美國著名的邊疆英雄。他不但是個好向導、好獵手，出色的軍人，而且是印第安人的好朋友。

Kit Carson (1809-1868) was one of the great heroes of American frontier — a good guide, hunter, soldier, and friend of the Indians. There are many stories about him, and his fight with the bears is one of them.

One day, when Kit was hunting a moose, his shot woke up two grizzly bears who had been napping near by. The bears jumped to their feet and ran out of the woods. Kit didn’t have time to aim again. All he could do was to turn on his heels and run for his life. But he was unlucky, for as he ran he slipped and his gun went flying out of his hands. Kit climbed up a tree immediately, and the bears followed him. Kit broke a dead branch of the tree, and when the bears camp up close enough, he gave them sharp strokes on the nose. Soon the bears could stand it no longer. Their noses burning with pain, they lowered themselves to the ground. But they didn’t leave. Poor Kit had to spend the whole night up in the tree. When dawn came, Kit could see the bears still sleeping below. Then he had an idea. He broke the dead branch into pieces. Taking careful aim, he threw down one of the pieces. It hit one of the bears right on the nose. The bear opened his eyes and roared. Then he closed his eyes again. Kit threw down a bigger piece of wood. This time the bear jumped up and, howling with pain, turned and attacked the other bear. In no time, the two bears were fighting madly. They had forgotten all about Kit. Kit hurried down from the tree, and ran away to a safe place.

【中文譯文】

基德•卡森（1809-1868）是美國著名的邊疆英雄。他不但是個好向導、好獵手，出色的軍人，而且是印第安人的好朋友。關於他，有許多傳說，他智鬥灰熊的故事就是其中一個。

有一天，基德去打獵，看見一頭駝鹿，就開了一槍。不料，槍聲驚醒了兩頭正在睡覺的灰熊。灰熊從林子裏躥出來，基德來不及再開槍，掉頭就跑。不巧，此時他腳下一滑，手裏的槍飛了出去。慌忙中，他爬上了一棵樹，那兩頭灰熊也緊跟着往上爬。基德折下一根枯枝，等灰熊靠近了，就使勁抽打熊鼻子。灰熊疼痛難耐，就爬下去了。但它們沒有離開，基德只好在樹上過夜。天亮時，基德看見灰熊仍在下面睡着。這時他想起一個好主意。他把枯枝折成小段，瞄準後丟了一段下去，枯枝正好打中一頭熊的鼻子。那頭熊吼了一聲，又合上了眼。基德接着扔下去更大一段枯枝，那頭熊疼得嗷嗷叫，跳起來咬它的同伴。不一會兒，兩頭灰熊就打得難解難分，早把基德拋到了腦後。基德趁機爬下樹來，逃脫了灰熊的追逐。