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动物们都痛苦地低垂着头，他们饥渴难当，因为天气太热了根本找不到食物，他们气喘吁吁地寻找着岩石或灌木丛下的阴凉处。 “为什么要这么热啊” 兔子呻吟着，"我们做了什么要承受这样的折磨？”他抬头斜视着太阳狂减道：“滚幵吧！你烤得一切都太热了！” 太阳毫不在意，继续狂泻他的烈焰，逼得兔子又退回到岩石的阴影里。“要教训一下太阳了，"兔子嘟嚷着，‘‘我有聪明的头脑去和他战斗。如果他不停止发光，我就杀了他！" 惩罚太阳的决心使兔子忘记了自己的疲乏，他不顾让人难以忍受的热浪出发了，朝着世界东方的边际奔去，太阳每天早晨都从那儿升起。 他一边奔跑，一边练习弓箭，使自己变得勇敢强壮，他与挡在途中的任何东西斗争。他与地鼠和蜥蜴战斗；用飞棍掷向甲虫、蚂蚁和蜻蜓；用弓箭射向巨大的仙人掌。他的确成了一只非常凶猛的兔子。 他到达了世界的边际，此时太阳已经离开了天空，不见了踪影。 "胆小鬼！"兔子冷笑道，“他是害怕战斗，但他不会那么轻易就逃得掉。”于是他安顿下来，在一缓灌木丛后面等待。 那时候太阳不像现在这样慢慢升起。相反，他用力一跳，跃出地平线，冲到天空中。兔子知道他必须迅速行动才能伏击他，便专注地盯着太阳通常出现的那个位置。 然而，太阳已经听到了兔子的威胁，也看到了他的战斗。他知道此刻兔子正在草丛中潜伏着，他根本就不害怕这个弱小的家伙，觉得或许牺牲这小家伙可以给自己一些娱乐。 太阳偏离了一下他通常出现的位置横扫过天际，兔子还不知道发生了什么。当兔子从震惊中回过神儿来，射出弓箭的时候，太阳已经高高悬在他头顶上，无法企及了。 兔子用力跺脚，愤怒地大叫。太阳大笑不停，比以前更加炽烈地照耀着大地。 尽管都要热死了，兔子也决不放弃。第二天早上他又试了一次，但这次太阳又从不同的地方升了起来，再次逃开了他。 ， 日复一日，每天都是同样的情况。有时太阳从兔子的右边跳出，有时从左边，有时从他的正前边，总是兔子最想不到的地方。 然而一天早上，太阳变得马虎起来。他比平常懒散很多，慢吞吞地升起来。这次，兔子可准备好了。他迅速拉弓，箭在空中呼啸而过，深深地插进了太阳的胁部。 兔子欢喜雀跃！他终于射中了仇敌！他欣喜若狂地跳上跳下，在地上打滚，抱紧了身体，翻着筋斗。这时他又朝太阳看了一眼，突然停下了。 在他的箭刺中太阳的地方，出现了一个裂开的伤口，液体状的火焰从伤口里汩汩涌出。顷刻间，仿佛整个世界都燃烧起来了，火焰喷射而出冲向兔子，发出噼啪声和轰鸣声。 兔子一刻也不敢停,惊恐地拔腿以最快的速度逃离了火场。他发现了一棵棉白杨，便冲着它疾奔过去。 ‘‘所有的东西都在燃烧！"兔子哭了起来，“你能把我藏起来吗？” 棉白杨忧伤地摇了摇他细长的树枝。"我能做什么呢？”他说道，"我也会被烧毁的。” 兔子继续往前跑，身后的火焰离他越来越近。他能感觉到火焰在他背后的气息，一棵刺茎藜树站在路边。 “快把我藏起来！把我藏起来1”兔子气喘吁吁地叫道，"火烧过来了。” “我可帮不了你，”刺茎藜树回答道，“我会连枝带根都被烧光。” 兔子惊恐万分，几乎喘不过气来，他不停地跑着，但慢慢地没了力气。他能感到大火正舔食着他的脚后跟，他的毛也被烧焦了。突然，他听到一个声音在叫他。 “快点儿，到我下面来！大火烧得太快，只能烧焦我的顶部。”这是一株小小的绿色灌木的声音，他开着一束束像棉花似的花朵，遮满枝头。兔子感激万分地跳到他下面，呆在那里颤抖不已，眼睛紧闭着，耳朵紧贴在身体上。 随着一声雷鸣般的怒吼，一大片火焰从头顶上跃过小灌木丛被烧得噼里邮啦，咝咝作响。渐渐地，噪音退去了，一切又恢复了平静。 兔子抬起头来谨慎地环视四周。地上到处都黑乎乎地，冒着烟，但大火已经过去了。他安全了！ 保护了他的小灌木已经不再是绿色的了，它已经被大火烧焦，变成了金黄色。现在人们把它叫做黄色沙漠灌木，因为虽然它刚长出来时是绿色的，但一遇到太阳光就会变成黄色。 兔子再也没有从恐惧中恢复过来。直到今天，他脖子后面仍然有大火烧过时留下的褐色斑点。他不再凶残好斗，即使最轻微的声响也会让他惊恐地逃跑躲藏。 至于太阳，他也大不一样了。现在，他变得非常明壳，没有人敢长时间看着他，朝他瞄准搭弓射箭；每次升起之前，他都是警惕地窥视地平线一番，才整个映入人们眼帘。 It was the height of summer, the time of year called Hadotso, the Great Heat. All day long, from a blue and cloudless sky, the blazing sun beat down upon the earth. No rain had fallen for many days and there was not the slightest breath of wind to cool the stifling1 air. Everything was hot and dry. Even the rose-red cliffs of the canyons2 and mesas3 seemed to take on a more brilliant colour than before. The animals drooped4 with misery. They were parched5 and hungry, for it was too hot to hunt for food and, panting6 heavily, they sought what shade they could find under the rocks and bushes. Rabbit was the unhappiest of all. Twice that day the shimmering heat had tempted him across the baked earth towards visions of water and cool, shady trees. He had exhausted himself in his desperate attempts to reach them, only to find the mirages7 dissolve8 before him, receding9 further and further into the distance. Now. tired and wretched, he dragged himself into the shadow of an overhanging rock and crouched there listlessly. His soft fur was caked with the red dust of the desert. His head swam and his eyes ached from the sun’s glare. “Why does it have to be so hot?” he groaned. “What have we done to deserve such torment?” He squinted10 up at the sun and shouted furiously, “Go away! You are making everything too hot!” Sun took no notice at all and continued to pour down his fiery beams, forcing Rabbit to retreat once more into the shade of the rock. “Sun needs to be taught a lesson,’’ grumbled Rabbit. “I have a good mind to go and fight him. If he refuses to stop shining, I will kill him!” His determination to punish Sun made him forget his weariness and, in spite of the oppressive11 heat, he set off at a run towards the eastern edge of the world where the Sun came up each morning. As he ran, he practised with his bow and arrows and, to make himself brave and strong, he fought with everything which crossed his path. He fought with the gophers and the lizards. He hurled12 his throwing stick at beetles, ants and dragonflies. He shot at the yucca and the giant cactus. He became a very fierce rabbit indeed. By the time he reached the edge of the world, Sun had left the sky and was nowhere to be seen. “The coward!” sneered Rabbit. “He is afraid to fight, but he will not escape me so easily.” and he settled to wait behind a clump of bushes. In those days, Sun did not appear slowly as he does now. Instead he rushed up over the horizon and into the heavens with one mighty bound. Rabbit knew that he would have to act quickly in order to ambush13 him and he fixed his eyes intently on the spot where the Sun usually appeared. Sun, however, had heard all Rabbit’s threats and had watched him fighting. He knew that he was lying in wait among the bushes. He was not at all afraid of this puny14 creature and he thought that he might have some amusement at his expense15. He rolled some distance away from his usual place and swept up into the sky before Rabbit knew what was happening. By the time Rabbit had gathered his startled wits and released his bowstring16，Sun was already high above him and out of range. Rabbit stamped and shouted with rage and vexation17. Sun laughed and laughed and shone even more fiercely than before. Although almost dead from heat, Rabbit would not give up. Next morning he tried again, but this time Sun came up in a different place and evaded him once more. Day after day the same thing happened. Sometimes Sun sprang up on Rabbit’s right, sometimes on his left and sometimes straight in front of him, but always where Rabbit least expected him. One morning, however, Sun grew careless. He rose more leisurely than usual, and this time, Rabbit was ready. Swiftly he drew his bow. His arrow whizzed through the air and buried itself deep in Sun’s side. Rabbit was jubilant18! At last he had shot his enemy! Wild with joy, he leaped up and down. He rolled on the ground, hugging himself. He turned somersaults. He looked at Sun again 一 and stopped short. Where his arrow had pierce Sun, there was a gaping wound and, from that wound, there gushed a stream of liquid fire. Suddenly it seemed as if the whole world had been set ablaze19. Flames shot up and rushed towards Rabbit, crackling and roaring. Rabbit paused not a moment longer. He took to his heels in panic and ran as fast as he could away from the fire. He spied a lone cottonwood tree and scuttled20 towards it. “Everything is burning!” he cried. “Will you shelter me?” The cottonwood shook its slender branches moumftilly. “What can I do?” it asked. “I will be burned to the ground.” Rabbit ran on. Behind him, the flames were coming closer. He could feel their breath on his back. A greasewood tree lay in his path. “Hide me! Hide me!” Rabbit gasped. “The fire is coming.” “I cannot help you，，’ answered the greasewood tree. “I will be burned up roots and branches.” Terrified and almost out of breath, Rabbit continued to run, but his strength was failing. He could feel the fire licking at his heels and his fur was beginning to singe21. Suddenly he heard a voice calling to him. “Quickly, come under me! The fire will pass over me so swiftly that it will only scorch my top.” It was the voice of a small green bush with flowers like bunches22 of cotton capping its thin branches. Gratefiilly, Rabbit dived below it and lay there quivering, his eyes tightly shut, his ears flat against his body. With a thunderous roar, the sheet of flame leaped overhead. The little bush crackled and sizzled. Then, gradually, the noise receded and everything grew quiet once more. Rabbit raised his head cautiously and looked around. Everywhere the earth lay black and smoking, but the fire had passed on. He was safe! The little bush which had sheltered him was no longer green. Burned and scorched by the fire, it had turned a golden yellow. People now call it the desert yellow brush, for, although it first grows green, it always turns yellow when it feels the heat of the sun. Rabbit never recovered from his fright. To this day, he bears brown spots where the fire scorched the back of his neck. He is no longer fierce and quarrelsome, but runs and hides at the slightest noise. As for Sun, he too was never quite the same. He now makes himself so bright that no one can look at him long enough to sight an arrow and he always peers very warily23 over the horizon before he brings his full body into view. |
