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很多年以前，有两个密克马克勇士气势汹汹地吵了起来，他们来自两个敌对的村子。 先是唇剑舌枪，继而拔刀相向。两人就在一条小河边你来我往地打了起来。他们就像两头凶狠的灰熊，用尖刀猛刺对方，撕扯对方的衣服和头发。 突然，其中的一名勇士在泥泞的岸上滑了一下,跌进了河里。同时，他那把血淋淋的尖刀也从手中滑落，沉到了水底，掉到了一块石头上。他弯下伤痕累累的身子去抓尖刀，血水染红了河水，但是他的手就是碰不着刀子。 在岸上，战胜的密克马克勇士看到对手沉到了血红的河水里一动不动，刀子离他的手指只差一根发丝的距离。他再也没有能够从河里起来。几个小时后,倒下去的勇士的族人发现 了他，把他轻轻地从潺潺的溪水中救了出来。但是当他们试图从他身下的石头那儿取回那把带血的刀子时，尽管河水不深，可刀子总是滑掉，他们没法抓住。 离小河边的那个血腥之日已经过去很多年了，那把带血的尖刀还是躺在潺潺的溪水下面。无论什么时候，无论是谁想去抓，刀子总是从手中滑走。尽管小河不深，可感觉就像是去抓海底下的东西。甚至春季的急流也冲不动这把神秘的刀子，也洗不掉上面的血溃。 就因为这个原因，这条小河被称作"沃肯”——密克马克人的意思是"刀子”，白人把它称 作“血染的小溪”。 注:密克马克，加拿大境内印第安人的一个部落。 Bloody Creek Many and many a year ago, two Micmac warriors from rival villages got into a terrible argument. Harsh words were exchanged, and then knives were pulled. The warriors battled back and forth on the banks of a small creek. They fought with the ferocity of grizzlies, tearing at each other with their knives, ripping at each others clothes and hair. Suddenly, one of the warriors slipped on the muddy bank and fell into the waters of the creek. His bloody knife slipped from his hand and sank down and down to the bottom, landing upon a rock. The warrior bent his pain-wracked body towards the knife as his blood filled the waters of the creek, but it was just beyond his fingertips.. On the bank above，the victorious Micmac warrior saw his rival sink into the blood¬stained waters and lay still, the knife just a hair-breadth beyond his fingertips. He did not rise again. The fallen man’s people found him a few hours later and tenderly rescued his body from the rippling waters of the creek. But when they tried to retrieve his bloody knife from the rock beneath him, it always slipped beyond their reach, though the creek was not deep. Many and many a year has passed since that bloody day by the creek, and still the blood -stained knife lies beneath the rippling waters of the creek. Whenever anyone tries to reach it, the knife slips out of reach. It is like trying to touch something on the bottom of the sea, although the creek itself is not deep. Even the rushing waters of the spring season do not move the mysterious knife or wash away the blood staining its blade. For this reason, the creek is called Wokun — meaning “knife” by the Micmac people, and the white men call it "Bloody Creek”. |
