老沙狐大概是聞到死馬肉味兒跑來的。它沒有逃開去，它是餓壞了。它的另外兩隻患子呢？身邊隻帶著一個，看來這一隻是最弱的，生活中往往最弱的孩子最受母親的保護， 看來動物類也一樣。它也瞅著這邊的人們。它先是衝他們咧開嘴，醚了故牙，伸出舌尖舔了舔幹嘴唇，接著，這個奇怪的畜牲支撐在後條腿上立起來，袒露出花自美麗的胸脯，衝著人們舞動了幾下兩隻前爪。大概這是它們狐狸的表示友好的禮節吧。那隻小患的尖嘴始終沒有鬆開母親的於幾癟的奶子，也隨著母親立在後腿上。站在母親的兩腿中間，像一個吊在那兒的吊瓜。老沙狐似乎感覺到了這邊的仇恨的氣氛，可是它仍然沒有逃走，兩隻發紅的眼睛反而含滿哀steps, her eyes moist. He soon disappeared intothe darkness of the sandy sea. From time to timea few laborious coughs could be heard in the dis-tance.
Willow was startled from her sleep by ashout. The night before. when she had taken thetwo men to the dead horse, they had been sotired out they had had to make camp in theopen.
"What's that? Look!" shouted Beardy.
She looked. Forty meters to the east, on asand hill, stood the fox, her fur like a flickeringball of fire, extremely attractive in the morningrays as she suckled a cub, her maternal posturerevealing no inclination to interrupt the feedingand run for her life.
"That damned beast! So it's here." Thesight of the fox worked Beardy up so much thathe grabbed his gun.
The fox must have been attracted by thesmell of the dead horse. Her hunger had led herhere. Where were her other two cubs? The one憐、乞求地瞅著人們 這個地球的主宰。
沙柳瞅著這奇異的景象驚呆了。
“媽的，毛色真漂亮！我一輩子沒打著這麼漂亮的狐狸！這次算是沒白受罪！”大胡子興奮了，有些手忙腳亂。
他伸出抖動的食指瞄準起來。
“不要開槍！我求求你，不要開槍！”沙柳猛地驚醒，發瘋般地向大胡子撲過來。
可是，晚了。
“砰！”一聲清脆的槍響，震動了寂靜的莽古斯沙漠的早晨，莽莽無際的沙漠裏久久傳蕩著那個可怕的回聲。
老沙狐倒下了。它的胸脯中了彈，鮮紅的血像水一般淌出來，染紅了它雪白美麗的皮毛，滴進下邊鬆軟的沙土裏，那片沙土很快變成了黑褐色。它的一雙眼睛還沒有來得及閉合，還留有一絲微弱的生命的餘光，呆直地望著沙漠的藍天，透出無可奈何的哀怨。眼角掛著兩滴淚。它那隻可憐的小患子，仍然撲在母親的肚皮上，貪婪地吮吸那隻已經供不出奶的帶血的奶頭。with her must be the weakest, which often getsthe most protection, with animals as with humanbeings. The fox gazed at the group of three,opening her mouth and licking her dry lips.Then unexpectedly she stood up on her hind legs,showing her beautiful white chest, and wavedher forelegs at the people; perhaps this was howfoxes greeted. The cub rose between her two legsalong with its mother and held on to the nipple,hanging there like a gourd. Then the fox seemedto sense the danger. But instead of runningaway, she looked with pleading, pitiful red eyesat the human beings who were masters of theworld.
The girl was stunned by what she saw.
"Its fur is damn pretty. I've never got sucha beautiful fox in all my life. I haven't sufferedfor nothing." Beardy was flustered with excite-ment.
He took aim with a quivering finger.
"Don't shoot. Please. You mustn't!" Star-tied, Willow threw herself madly at Beardy.
Too late.
A sharp shot shook the quiet morning of thedesert. Its terrible echo reverberated there for a大胡子見到這情景傻呆了，兩隻眼變得茫接著，抱住頭低吟一句：“天啊，我幹什麼
他頹然坐倒在沙地L。望了望那隻死孤和它的不斷哀鳴的小患， 又望了望手中往下垂落的獵槍。一生認為捕殺獵物是天經地義的他，今天突然感到惶惑，迷茫，懷疑起自己的行為。他覺得周圍的曠漠荒沙在擴展，同時向他擠壓過來，人在這裏顯得多麼弱小無助、孤單而無能為力啊！
此刻，從沙漠深處，走出來一個人。他一邊走，一邊咳嗽著，一夜間，他似乎蒼老了許多。臉上的皺褶裏落滿沙塵，帽子不知丟到哪兒去了，灰白的頭發像一把亂草似的蓬蓬著，瘦弱詢樓的身體看上去經不起一陣風吹，可他居然還邁動著堅實的步子。他是循著老沙狐的腳印一步一步找來的。他突然發現了這邊發生的事情，不相信似地用衣袖擦拭著老沙眼，愣怔了片刻，爾後緩緩走過去，跪在老沙狐旁。他的手劇烈地哆嗦著，輕輕撫摸死孤的頭頸，慢慢給它閉合上那雙含淚的眼睛。這時，兩滴苦澀的淚水從他那long time.