White Fang (Colmillo blanco)

During one of the roughest winter the wild North ever saw, taking refuge inside a narrow cave, a she-wolf gave birth to a litter (camada) of pups(cachorros).

All of their fur(pelaje) had a reddish(rojizo) gleam(destello) to it, like their mother's except for one of them, which had his father's grey coat. This silvery puppy was the fiercest of them all, and always prevailed in the pups' daily struggle to nurse.

As food was scarce that winter, the she-wolf had little milk to give her children. The ferocious little grey puppy was soon the litter's sole survivor.

Out hunting one day, the grey cub’s(del cachorro) father came across a lynx(lince). The two creatures clashed(se enfrentaron), and both were killed in the fight. When the she-wolf saw that her partner did not return, she went out in search of food, leaving her son in the cave.

It was the first time that the put was alone, and he seized(aprovechó) the chance him to stay away from. He was so curious about that wall of light that, conquering(superando) the fear that had, stirred(moverse) up inside him, he mustered(reunión) the courage to cross it.

It was dazzling (deslumbrante)! The light grew more intense, blinding him for a few moments. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the outside world, he was dazed by the sight stretching out before him: a huge expanse marked by streams(arroyos), trees, mountains and an infinite sky.

Vanquishing the terror he felt, he tried to take his first step into this unknown world, but his front leg found nothing to rest(apoyar, descansar) upon, and he tumbled(se cayó) down the hillside which stretched out below.

At the foot of the slope he began to walk, clumsily(torpemente), slipping(patinando) on pebbles(guijarros) and being slapped(azotado) right in the face by the many branches in his way. Out of pure curiosity he climbed onto a fallen tree trunk, but slipped(resbaló) and fell into a bush(arbusto).

Inside the bush was a hidden nest with seven chicks(polluelos) inside, who fearfully flapped their feathers(plumas) and loudly chirped(chillaron) at the sight of him.

The pup was startled(sobresaltado), but as soon as he realized that the chicks were small and couldn’t hurt him his hunting instinct took over and he devoured them.

The pup soon began to hunt with his mother, and learned to move ably(hábilmente) around the cave.

So at ease (tan a gusto) was he in his territory that he grew careless. That is how one day, on his way to the river, he suddenly found himself before a group of men sitting around a campfire.

It was the first time that he had seen human being, (seres humanos) and the long experience of his ancestors, ingrained(arraigado) in his instinct, told him that they were gods (dioses).

One of the men approached him and the pup growled(gruñó), showing his teeth.

“Look! White fangs!” the man said. The others laughed.

Then the man tried to touch him and the pup, terrified, bit him to defend himself from what he considered an attack.

Furious, the man dealt him a blow (le asestó un golpe) that sent him rolling on the ground, and was about to give him another when the she-wolf suddenly appeared out of the dense foliage.

“It’s Kiche!” the man shouted with surprise, pointing to the recent arrival, who was amicably wagging(meneando) her tail.

Kiche, the pup’s mother, had been born of a wolf and a dog, and had lived amongst men before running away into the forest, so she meekly accepted the leash(correa) the man placed on her before taking her to his camp.

The pup followed her, without quite understanding what was happening. Thus began his life amidst men and their dogs, under the name of White Fang.

It was a tough time, during which he had to learn to fight for respect, as the other puppies at the camp saw him as a threat(amenaza), and constantly attacked him.

One day, Grey Beaver, Kiche’s owner, handed over(entregó) the she-wolf to an outsider(forastero) to pay off a debt.

When White Fang saw that his mother was about to leave in a canoe with a stranger, he jumped into the boat to accompany her, but the man smacked him(le golpeó) back to the shore(orilla), and the canoe began to disappear down the river.

In desperation White Fang jumped in and swam behind his mother, until Grey Beaver caught up with him in his canoe and gave him a serious beating.

Over time, White Fang forgot about Kiche and accepted that it was useless to defy(desafiar) the authority of the godlike men. He became a loyal dog, disciplined in his work, which was to pull Grey Beaver’s sleigh(trineo).

His relation with the other dogs, however, was very different; a constant war of bites and growls(gruñidos). His law was to obey the strong and crush(machacar) the weak.

One day, Grey Beaver went off to sell his wares(mercancías) in the rugged Yukon. That was where White Fang saw white men for the first time.

Their large wooden structures and the huge ships in which they traveled made him feel that their power was truly awesome. He was far from impressed, on the other hand, by the white men’s dogs. They were all very different shapes and sizes, and none of them knew how to fight.

White fang saw all dogs as his enemies, and began to enjoy their constant clashes in the wild Yukon. He grew so fast and lethal that he acquired quite a reputation. Considered invincible, he caught the attention of a man named Beauty Smith.

Beauty Smith wanted to buy White Fang, but Grey Beaver, who had gotten rich selling his goods, refused to sell him. Beauty Smith was a wicked man who knew the power that whiskey had over men. So he began to visit Grey Beaver, taking him a bottle each time, until the Indian acquired a thirst for drunkenness.

Grey Beaver ended up spending his entire fortune on liquor, and selling White Fang in exchange for more whiskey.

Beauty Smith turned White Fang into a fighting dog. Many times he forced him to fight to the death while men gathered round, shouting and placing their bets. White Fang had defeated many dogs until one day, in a fight with a bulldog, he lost his footing and his smaller enemy’s jaws clamped onto his neck.

White Fang struggled to break free from the bulldog’s bite, but his attempts were futile. He was on the verge of dying, when a man he had never seen before broke up the fight to save him.

Weedon Scott, the man who had spared him, bought the battered(maltratado) white Fang and healed(curó) his wounds.

At his side, White Fang learned that the hands of the godlike men could do more than hit, and for the first time in his life he felt love for his master, becoming his faithful shadow.

But Weedon Scott was from further south, and soon had to return to his home in San Francisco, which was no place for a wolfdog.

The day of his departure Weedon Scott  bid White Fang a fond farewell(cariñosa despedida), and then asked his assistant to lock the dog in a cabin so that he wouldn’t follow him.

His assistant obeyed, but White Fang, sensing that something was amiss, escaped from the cabin by shattering a window, and followed his owner to the port.

Weedon Scott was about to board a steamer(buque de vapor) when he saw the dog arrive, gashed(herido) by the broken glass, and he decided to take him whit him.

In his new home White Fang had to learn not to fight, and to respect men other than his master. But his greatest challenge was learning to live with Collie, the she-dog at the house.

She was a sheep-dog(perro pastor), and saw in him an ancient enemy, a sheep-devouring wolf, so she made life miserable for him.

White Fang patiently abided(sufrió) Collie’s nipping(mordidas de Collie) until, one day, at the end of the summer, he noticed that it was no longer laced with contempt(desprecio). Suddenly, Collie wanted to play.

White Fang quickly forgot about all Collie’s pestering(molestar importunar) and happily ran alongside her across their master’s territory, as he had run long ago with his parents, Kiche and the grey wolf, through the icy forests of the great North.

From that day forward they were inseparable. A few months later, White Fang was astonished(asombrado) to find his companion, basking in the sun, surrounded by half a dozen puppies.