There You Go

My first rattler was in southwest Colorado, at the ranch of some friends.

我的第一只响尾蛇是在科罗拉多州西南部，在一些朋友的牧场里。

I was on horseback and never got near the snake.

我骑在马背上，从未靠近过蛇。

My second and third came half a century later.

半个世纪后，我的第二次和第三次出现了。

The two snakes were entwined in the middle of the trail, engaged in a mating ritual, apparently unaware of my running partner and me pounding down an old jeep trail in the Magdalena Mountains, headed directly for them.

两条蛇在小路中间纠缠在一起，进行着交配仪式，显然没有意识到我和我的跑步伙伴沿着马格达莱纳山脉的一条旧吉普车小路，径直朝它们驶去。

But we saw them.

但我们看到了他们。

It took just seconds to come to a full standstill, staring at where they lay, a ropey, writhing mass of flesh, 10 feet ahead of us.

只花了几秒钟就完全静止了，盯着他们躺着的地方，一团绳状的、扭动的肉，就在我们前方 10 英尺处。

“Look!

“看！

Look!

看！

That’s the rattle!

这就是拨浪鼓！

There’s a head!” we exclaimed.

有一个头！”我们惊呼道。

My friend wanted a picture.

我的朋友想要一张照片。

I wanted to get away.

我想离开。

Snakes do not scare me particularly.

蛇并不特别让我害怕。

In Asturias, where snake encounters and bites are rare, the snakes are small; few are venomous.

在阿斯图里亚斯，蛇的遭遇和咬伤很少见，而且蛇的体型很小。少数有毒。

What I’ve seen mostly are grass snakes—no bigger around than my thumb, and reclusive, never a threat.

我见过的大多是草蛇——没有我的拇指那么大，而且隐居，从来不构成威胁。

I watch them slither away.

我看着他们溜走。

But triple the size, and I’ll rethink an encounter.

但规模扩大三倍，我会重新考虑一次遭遇。

Snakes that are five or six feet long and as big around as my arm give me pause, even when they aren’t venomous.

五六英尺长、和我的手臂一样大的蛇让我停下来，即使它们没有毒。

We skirted the rattlers, both of us skittish because we had to step off the trail and into the brush.

我们绕过响尾蛇，我们俩都很紧张，因为我们必须离开小路，进入灌木丛。

Two rattlers in plain sight in the road suggested to me a mountainside crawling with snakes.

路上两只响尾蛇的身影让我想起了爬满蛇的山坡。

And almost running into a pair of snakes suggested how easily we might almost run into a pair of bears, or even cougars.

差点撞上一对蛇表明我们很容易撞上一对熊，甚至美洲狮。

Danger could be lurking behind every rock or tree.

每块岩石或每棵树后面都可能潜藏着危险。

It lurked behind none—no more snakes on that visit.

它没有潜伏在任何东西后面——那次访问中不再有蛇。

This past July, I was back in Magdalena for my annual visit.

去年七月，我回到马格达莱纳进行年度访问。

On my first morning, I took my customary run up to the old Kelly Mine.

第一天早上，我按照惯例跑到老凯利矿。

The long view of the plain below was glorious.

下面平原的远景非常壮丽。

Then I started back.

然后我开始回去。

Close to town, I saw a dark object on my side of the road.

靠近城镇时，我看到路边有一个黑色的物体。

I slowed.

我放慢了速度。

Not a stick or piece of hose but a snake.

不是一根棍子或一段软管，而是一条蛇。

Alive.

活。

Big.

大的。

Halfway across my lane, headed toward the other, not moving but clearly alert.

穿过我的车道的一半，朝另一条车道走去，一动不动，但显然很警惕。

It had not been there 30 minutes earlier, when I’d been going in the opposite direction.

30 分钟前，当我朝相反的方向走时，它还没有出现。

I looked around for a stick to prod the snake off the road and into the field.

我环顾四周，寻找一根棍子，可以将蛇从路上戳到田野里。

But not a one did I find on either side of the road.

但我在路两边都没有找到一个。

The snake still wasn’t moving.

蛇还是一动不动。

I found a chip of wood and tossed it toward the snake in hopes of startling the creature into movement.

我找到了一块木头，把它扔向蛇，希望能吓到它动起来。

Anywhere was better than the blacktop.

任何地方都比柏油路好。

My hunk of wood landed short and made no impression on the animal.

我的那块木头落地得很短，没有给动物留下任何印象。

I gathered up some gravel from the edge of the road, and scattered it toward the snake.

我从路边捡起一些碎石，朝蛇的方向撒去。

Again, no reaction.

又没反应。

I looked around for some tool to use to goad it into movement, but saw nothing.

我环顾四周寻找可以用来刺激它运动的工具，但什么也没看到。

While I stood there, in the right lane, looking at the snake angled toward me in the left lane, a vehicle from Pierson Road arrived at the intersection with Kelly Road.

当我站在右车道上，看着左车道上向我倾斜的蛇时，一辆来自皮尔逊路的车辆到达了凯利路的交叉路口。

It was going to skirt me, which would put it in the snake’s lane.

它会绕过我，这样它就会进入蛇道。

Quickly I switched lanes to protect my snake while the truck went by.

当卡车经过时，我很快改变了车道以保护我的蛇。

But it didn’t go by.

但它并没有过去。

It headed straight for us and stopped, straddling the two lanes, and a big man with a cowboy hat leaned over his open window.

它径直向我们驶来，停在两条车道上，一个戴着牛仔帽的大个子靠在他开着的窗户上。

He didn’t even look at me, but down at the snake.

他甚至没有看我，而是低头看着蛇。

So did I.

我也是。

“That’s just a bull snake,” the man pronounced after a minute.

“那只是一条牛蛇，”一分钟后，该男子宣布道。

“It won’t hurt you.”

“它不会伤害你。”

“It won’t hurt me?” I repeated.

“不会伤害我吧？”我重复了一遍。

“I just want to get it off the road before a car comes and squashes it.”

“我只想在汽车驶来并压扁它之前将其从道路上移走。”

The man opened the door of the pickup and stepped into the road.

男子打开皮卡车的车门，走到马路上。

He took a step toward the snake, then raised his booted foot.

他向蛇迈出一步，然后抬起穿着靴子的脚。

Not to harm the snake, as I’d momentarily feared, but to shoo it off the road.

不是像我暂时担心的那样伤害蛇，而是把它从路上赶走。

“Go on,” he said, poking with his toe.

“继续，”他用脚趾戳戳说。

“Go on.

“继续吧。

There you go.

就这样吧。

Go.” And the hissing snake turned back and slithered off the pavement.

走吧。”发出嘶嘶声的蛇转过身来，从人行道上滑了下来。

“There you go,” said the man to me, climbing back into his truck.

“给你，”那人对我说，爬回他的卡车。

“Thank you!” I said.

“谢谢你！”我说。

He started the truck up and turned it back into his lane and drove on toward town.

他发动卡车，把它调回自己的车道，然后朝镇上开去。

I looked for the snake, but it was gone, vanished among the tufts of grass and weeds along the road.

我寻找那条蛇，但它不见了，消失在路边的草丛和杂草中。

So I resumed my run, trailing the man.

于是我继续奔跑，追随那个人。

But he was gone, too, disappeared into the morning sun.

但他也消失了，消失在早晨的阳光中。