名篇背诵：A Valley (Ⅰ) 山谷(一)

A Valley (Ⅰ) 山谷(一)

沃尔特·V. T. 克拉克(Walter V. T. Clark)

The Ox-Bow was a little valley up in the heart of the range. Gil and I had stayed there a couple of days once, on the loose . It was maybe two or three miles long and half or three quarters of a mile wide. The peaks were stacked up on all sides of it, showing snow most of the summer. The creek in the middle of it wound back on itself like a snake trying to get started on loose sand, and that shape had named the valley. There was sloping meadow on both sides of the creek, and in the late spring millions of purple and gold violets grew there, violets with blossoms as big as the ball of a man's thumb. Beyond the meadow, on each side, there was timber to the tops of the hills. It was a lovely, chill, pine-smelling valley, as lonely as you could want. Scarcely anybody came there unless there was a dry season. Just once in a while, if you passed in the late summer, you'd see a sheepherder small out in the middle, with his dogs and flock. The rest of the time the place belonged to squirrels, chipmucks and mountain jays. They would all be lively in the edge of the wood, scolding and flirting.

on the loose 散漫，寻欢作乐

- stack [stæk] vi. 堆积

- chipmuck [ˈtʃɪpmʌk] n. 金花鼠

牛轭是位于放牧区腹地的一个小山谷。吉尔和我在那里住过两三天，到处闲逛。小山谷约两三英里长，半英里或四分之三英里宽，四面群峰叠嶂，山顶积雪即使在夏天也很少融化。山谷的中部，一条小溪往回盘旋流淌，形状像银蛇在松散的沙地上起身要发起攻击似的，银蛇似的小溪弓身像牛轭，小山谷由此得名。小溪两侧是草地，顺着坡势倾斜，暮春时节，千百万株紫色的、金黄色的紫罗兰在这里生长，开的花大得像人的大拇指下面和掌心相连的球形部分。在小溪两岸草地更远的地方，是一直延伸到山顶的木材林地。这是个可爱、凉爽、散发出松树清香的山谷，要多孤寂有多孤寂。这里人迹罕至，难得在夏末，可以看见牧羊人小小的身影夹在狗和羊群之中。一年中其他时间，这里属于松鼠、金花鼠等小动物的领地。它们在树林边缘很活跃，打情骂俏，吵吵闹闹。

沃尔特·V. T. 克拉克（Walter Van Tilburg Clark）是一位美国作家，他生活在20世纪，最著名的作品包括《龙城风云》（The Ox-Bow Incident，1940）和《雪山恨》（Track of the Cat，1949）。这些作品都涉及到西部题材和人性的深度探索，特别是在暴力、道德和正义的背景下展开。《龙城风云》描绘了一个发生在西部小镇的群众私刑案件，引发了关于正义与冷酷的深刻讨论。《雪山恨》则是一部情节紧张的小说，讲述了一家人在孤立的雪山小屋中的生存斗争和内心冲突。沃尔特·V. T. 克拉克以其深刻的人物刻画和对西部社会的见解而广受赞誉。