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Chapter 6 A footprint
第六章 一个脚印
Then, one year, something strange and terrible happened.
有一年，古怪而且可怕的事情发生了。
I often walked along the shore, and one day I saw something in the sand.
我经常沿着海岸走，一天我看见在沙滩上有些东西。
I went over to look at it more carefully, and stopped in sudden surprise.
我跑过去想瞧个仔细，但却在震惊中停了下来。
It was a footprint—the footprint of a man!
那是一个脚印——一个人的脚印！
Who could this be?
这是谁的呢？
Afraid, I looked around me. I listened. I waited. Nothing. I was more and more afraid.
我害怕极了，环顾四周，我倾听着、我等候着，却什么也没有，我越来越怕。
Perhaps this man was one of those wild people who killed and ate other men!
也许，这是一个杀死并吃掉其他人的野人！
I looked everywhere, but there was nobody, and no other footprint.
我到处看，但都没有人，也没有别的脚印。
I turned and hurried home.
我转过身匆忙赶回家。
'There's someone on my island,' I said to myself.
“岛上有人，”我自言自语，
'Perhaps he knows about me...Perhaps he's watching me now from behind a tree...Perhaps he wants to kill me.'
“也许他知道我……也许他现在正从树后面观察我……也许他想杀了我。”
That night I couldn't sleep.
那一夜我不能入睡。
The next day I got all my guns ready and I put more wood and young trees around my house.
第二天我把所有的枪备好并在房子的周围堆上更多的木头和小树。
Nobody could see me now.
现在没有人能够看见我。
But, after fifteen years alone on the island, I was afraid, and I did not leave my cave for three days.
可是，岛上独自生活了十五年后，我还是害怕，以至于一连三天没离开过我的山洞。
In the end, I had to go out to milk my goats.
最终，我还是不得不出去给我的山羊挤奶，
But for two years I was afraid.
但两年里我一直提心吊胆。
I stayed near my home and I never used my guns because I didn't want to make a noise.
我呆在房子的附近，从来不使用我的枪因为我不想弄出声音。
I could not forget the footprint,
我忘不掉那个脚印，
but I saw and heard nothing more, and slowly I began to feel happier.
但由于再也没有听到其他什么，渐渐地，我的感觉开始好起来。
One day, a year later, I was over on the west side of the island.
一年以后的一天，我来到小岛的西侧，
From there I could see the other islands, and I could also see a boat, far out to sea.
从那儿我能看到其他岛和远处大海中的船。
'If you have a boat,' I thought, 'it's easy to sail across to this island.
“如果有一只船，”我想，“穿过海面来到这个岛是挺容易，
Perhaps that explains the footprint—it was a visitor from one of the other islands.'
也许，这样可以解释这脚印——是一个来自其他岛的来访者。”
I began to move more freely around the island again, and built myself a third house.
我又开始在岛上自由自在地走动并给自己建了第三所房子。
It was a very secret place in a cave.
它是在一个山洞里非常隐蔽的地方。
'No wild man will ever find that,' I said to myself.
“没有野人能够找到它，”我对自己说。
Then one year something happened which I can never forget.
然而有一年，有些事出现令我永远不能忘记。
I was again on the west side of the island and was walking along the shore.
我又一次在岛的西侧沿着海岸散步。
Suddenly, I saw something which made me feel ill.
突然，我瞧见令我作呕的东西，
There were heads, arms, feet, and other pieces of men's bodies everywhere.
那儿到处是人头、手臂、脚和一些人体其他部位的碎块。
For a minute, I couldn't think, and then I understood.
那一刻，我简直无法思考，随即，我就明白了。
Sometimes there were fights between the wild men on the other islands.
以前另一个岛上的野人之间发生了一场战斗，
Then they came here to my island with their prisoners, to kill them, cook them, and eat them.
然后他们带着他们的俘虏来到了我的岛上，杀了俘虏，接着烹了吃掉。
Slowly, I went home, but I was very angry.
慢慢地，我走回家中，我愤怒。
How could men do this?
人怎么能够做这样的事？
For many months I watched carefully for the smoke from fires, but I didn't see anything.
几个月来，我仔细观察火堆升起的烟，但我什么也没看见。
Somehow the wild men came and went, and I never saw them.
究竟野人如何来来去去我却从来没有发现过。
I was angry and afraid.
我又愤怒又害怕。
I wanted to shoot them all, but there were many of them and only one of me.
我想把他们全都杀了，但他们很多人而我只有一个人。
'Perhaps I can shoot two or three.' I said to myself, 'but then they will kill and eat me.'
“也许，我可以杀死两、三个，”我自言自语，“可是，然后他们却会杀了我并把我吃掉。”
Then, one morning in my twenty-third year on the island,
此后，正是我在岛上的第23个年头的一个早上，
I was out in my fields and I saw the smoke from a fire.
我正在我的地里劳作，我看见一堆火上升起的烟，
Quickly, I went up the hill to watch.
飞快地，我爬上山去观察。
There were nine men around the fire, and they were cooking their terrible food.
有9个人围绕着火堆，正在烹煮着可怕的食物。
Then these wild men danced round the fire, singing and shouting.
接着那些野人围绕着火堆跳起了舞，唱着叫着。
This went on for about two hours, and then they got into their boats and sailed away.
这样整整持续了两个小时，然后他们上了小船离去。
I went down to the shore and saw the blood of the dead men on the sand.
我下到海滩上，目睹了沙滩上死人的淋漓鲜血。
'The next time they come, I'm going to kill them,' I said angrily.
“下次他们来，我一定会杀了他们，”我愤怒地说。
