Цитаты из книги «Белый клык / White Fang»

The land itself was lifeless, so lonely and cold that it was not even sad

But before and after the dogs walked the two men who were not yet dead. Their bodies were covered with fur and leather; eyelashes, cheeks and lips were covered with the crystals from their frozen breath; so they looked like undertakers at the funeral of some ghost. But they were men, going through the land of silence, adventurers on colossal adventure. They travelled on without speaking to save their breath. On every side was the pressing silence. It affected their minds as the many atmospheres of deep water affect the body of the diver. It pressed all the false self-values of the human soul out of them, like juices from the grape. They felt small, having little wisdom against the great blind elements. An hour went by, and a second hour. The light of the short sunless day was beginning to fade, when a faint far cry sounded on the air and then slowly died away. There was anger and hunger in it. The front man turned his head and his eyes met the eyes of the man behind. And then, across the narrow oblong box, they nodded to each other. There was a second cry, somewhere behind. A third and answering cry sounded in the air. “They’re after us, Bill,” said the man at the front. “There’s little meat,” answered his comrade. “I haven’t seen a rabbit for days.” They spoke no more, but listened attentively. When it became dark they took the dogs into a cluster of trees and made a camp. The coffin served for seat and table. The dogs clustered on the far side of the fire, snarled among themselves, but didn’t go into the darkness. “Seems to me, they’re staying remarkably close to camp,” Bill said. His companion nodded, then took his seat on the coffin and began to eat. “Henry, did you notice how the dogs behaved when I was feeding them?” “They played more than usual.”

Dark forest was on both sides of the waterway.

Bill opened his mouth to speak, but changed his mind. Instead, he pointed towards the wall of darkness that pressed about them from every side. Nothing could be seen there but a pair of eyes gleaming like coals. Henry indicated with his head a second pair, and a third. A circle of the gleaming eyes was around their camp. The unrest of the dogs was increasing. One of them came too close to the fire and yelped with pain and fright. The circle of eyes withdraw a bit, but it appeared again when the dogs became quiet. “Henry, it’s a misfortune to be out of ammunition.” Bill had finished his pipe and was helping his companion to spread the bed of fur and blanket. “How many cartridges did you leave?” Henry asked. “Three. And I wish it was three hundred!” He shook his fist angrily at the gleaming eyes, and put his moccasins before the fire. “And I wish it was not so cold” he went on. “It has been fifty below zero for two weeks now. And I wish I’d never started on this trip, Henry. I don’t like it. And I wish the trip was over, and you and I were sitting by the fire in Fort McGurry and playing cards.” Henry grunted and crawled into bed. Then he was woken by his comrade’s voice. “Say, Henry, that other one that came in and got a fish – why didn’t the dogs bite it? That’s what’s bothering me.” “You’re bothering too much, Bill. Just shut up now, and go to sleep. You have a stomach ache, that’s what’s bothering you.” The men slept, breathing heavily, side by side, under the one covering. The fire died down, and the gleaming eyes drew closer. The dogs kept together in fear. Once their noise became so loud that Bill woke up. He got out of bed carefully and threw more wood on the fire. The circle of eyes drew back. He glanced at the dogs, then rubbed his eyes and looked at them again. Then he crawled back into the blankets. “Henry,” he said. “Oh, Henry.” Henry groaned, “What’s wrong now?” “Nothing, only there’s seven of them again. I just counted.” Henry grunted again and fell asleep. In the morning it was he who awoke first and woke up his companion. It was still dark, though it was already six o’clock; and Henry started preparing breakfast, while Bill rolled the blankets and made the sled ready. “Say, Henry,” he asked suddenly, “how many dogs did you say we had?” “Six.” “Wrong,” Bill said triumphantly. “Seven again?” “No, five; one’s gone.” “The hell!” Henry cried in anger, left the cooking and went to count the dogs. “You’re right, Bill,” he concluded. “Fatty’s gone. They just swallowed him alive, damn them!” “He always was a fool dog.” “But not fool enough to commit suicide. I bet none of the

Part I Chapter I. The Trail of the Meat Dark forest was on both sides of the waterway. The trees had been damaged by a recent wind and seemed to lean on each other. Silence ruled over the land. The land itself was lifeless, so lonely and cold that it was not even sad. There was laughter in it, but laughter more terrible than any sadness. It was the masterful wisdom of eternity laughing at the uselessness of life. It was the frozen-hearted Northland Wild. But there was life. Down the frozen waterway ran a string of dogs. Their fur was in frost. Their breath froze in the air. Leather harness was on the dogs, and leather traces attached them to a sled

Dark forest was on both sides of the waterway. The trees had been damaged by a recent wind and seemed to lean on each other. Silence ruled over the land. The land itself was lifeless, so lonely and cold

adventurers on colossal adventure.

adventurers on colossal adventure