The snowshoe trail began behind the lodge and climbed gently through a forest of tall pines. Jarrah walked at the back of the family line. Her father's old red hat was pulled down over her ears. In front of her, Ulrich, their young dog, was pulling at his leash with all his strength.
雪鞋小径从山间小屋后面开始，缓缓穿过一片高大的松林。贾拉走在一家人队伍的最后面。爸爸的旧红帽子被她拉下来盖住了耳朵。她前面，家里的小狗乌尔里希正使出全身力气拽着牵引绳。
At the first clearing, her mother let him run free. For ten minutes, he raced in happy circles. Then a white hare jumped out from behind a rock, and Ulrich shot after it. He crossed the clearing and disappeared into the trees before anybody could call him back.
到了第一片林间空地，妈妈放开了它。有十分钟，它高高兴兴地绕着圈子飞跑。接着，一只白色的野兔从一块岩石后面跳了出来，乌尔里希立刻箭一般追了上去。它穿过空地，钻进了树林，谁也来不及喊住它。
"Ulrich!" Jarrah shouted. The only answer was the soft sound of snow falling from a branch.
“乌尔里希！”贾拉喊道。回答她的，只有雪从树枝上滑落的轻轻响声。
"Stay on the trail," her father said. "We don't want to lose two of you."
“待在小径上，”爸爸说，“我们可不想丢了两个。”
"I'm not going far," Jarrah said. "I only need to see which way he went."
“我不会走远的，”贾拉说，“我只想看看它往哪边去了。”
At the edge of the clearing, she found his paw prints, deep and wide apart. Next to them ran the thin line of the hare's. She followed them for twenty steps, stopping every few seconds to listen. The trail markers, bright orange tags on the pine trunks, were still visible behind her. She made a rule: if she could not see one, she would turn around.
在空地边上，她找到了它的爪印，又深又分得很开。旁边是野兔那一道细细的足迹。她顺着足迹走了二十步，每隔几秒就停下来听一听。小径上的标记，也就是松树干上那些鲜橙色的小牌子，在她身后依然看得见。她给自己定了一条规矩：只要看不见一个，就转身回去。
"Ulrich!" she called again, and held her breath. Far to the left, she heard a faint, high whine.
“乌尔里希！”她又喊了一声，屏住了呼吸。远远的左边，传来一声微弱而尖细的呜咽。
She followed the prints around a fallen tree and down a short slope. The tracks changed. The paw marks became deep holes, and then a messy hollow. It looked as if the dog had been jumping and sinking again and again. At the bottom stood a thick bush covered in snow, and under it, she saw two brown ears.
她顺着爪印绕过一棵倒下的树，走下一道短坡。足迹变了。爪印变成了深坑，后来成了一个乱糟糟的雪窝。看上去像是小狗一次又一次地跳起来又陷下去。下面有一丛盖满雪的粗灌木，灌木下面，她看到了两只棕色的耳朵。
Ulrich was stuck up to his chest in a drift. He was shaking, but his tail was wagging. Jarrah knelt and dug the snow away with her mittens. Then she pulled gently on his harness until he came free.
乌尔里希陷在雪堆里，雪没到了它的胸口。它在发抖，可尾巴还在摇。贾拉跪下来，用连指手套把雪刨开。然后她轻轻拉着它的胸背带，直到它脱身出来。
She carried him in her arms back to the trail, counting the orange markers as she went. Her family was waiting with worried faces. "He is fine," Jarrah said, "and so am I. Next time, he stays on the leash."
她抱着它回到小径上，一路数着橙色的标记。家人正等在那里，一脸担心。“它没事，”贾拉说，“我也没事。下次，它必须拴着绳子。”
Ulrich licked her chin, and she could not stop smiling the whole way back to the lodge.
乌尔里希舔了舔她的下巴，她一路笑着回到了山间小屋，怎么也止不住。
