巴克，是本书的主人公，它是只体形壮硕的狗，原本在南方过着养尊处优的生活，可是接连被偷、被卖的悲惨遭遇之后，它终于明白了这是个弱肉强食的世界，维有凶残无情，自己才能有一线生计。最后，他如愿以偿，成了最受北极淘金者们的喜爱，但最后……

本书为杰克·伦敦代表作《野性的呼唤》该书讲述了文明世界的大狗巴克逐渐回归野性、重返荒野的过程，这一过程充满了野性与人性之间的交织与角斗，而最终野性占据了主导。表面写的是狗，实质反映了人的世界。作者在揭示野性的力量、残酷的生存法则的同时，最终肯定和礼赞的仍然是人性的力量。

CHAPTER ONE Kidnap in California

第一章 加州被绑

CHAPTER Two The man in the red sweater

第二章 红衣男人

CHAPTER THREE Northland

第三章 北方地区

CHAPTER FOUR Buck makes an enemy

第四章 巴克树敌

CHAPTER FIVE Fight to the death

第五章 殊死搏斗

CHAPTER SIX Disaster on the lake

第六章 湖面遇难

CHAPTER SEVEN For the love of a man

第七章 为了一个人的爱

CHAPTER EIGHT Searching for gold

第八章 寻找金子

CHAPTER NINE Indian attack！

第九章 印第安人的攻击！

CHAPTER TEN The call of the wild

第十章 野性的呼唤

Buck could not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing. Not just for him, but for all strong, long-haired dogs along the Californian coast. And why? All because men, searching in the Arctic darkness, had found gold. Thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs to pull their sledges, and the dogs they wanted had to be heavy, with strong muscles and furry coats to protect them from the frost.

But Buck knew nothing about this. He lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley, in California. Judge Miller's place, it was called. The whole place was his. He dived into the swimming tank;he went hunting with the Judge's sons; he looked after the Judge's daughters on their walks; he carried the Judge's grandsons on his back and on winter nights, he lay at the Judge's feet before the roaring fire.

Buck had ruled this kingdom for four years. Buck's father was a St. Bernard dog; but Buck was not quite as heavy --only a hundred and forty pounds, because his mother was a small shepherd dog. He liked hunting and this had hardened his muscles. He could have been mistaken for a gigantic wolf, except for the splash of white hair on his chest and brown flecks on his nose and above his eyes.

So this was Buck in the autumn of 1897, when the gold rush to the Klondike was at its peak. But Buck did not know about the gold, and he did not know that Manuel, one of the gardeners, needed money. One day, Manuel took Buck for a walk through the orchard and down to the railway station. There he put a rope around Buck's neck, under his collar.

"Twist it, an' you'll choke 'im, " Manuel told the stranger at the station.

Buck accepted the rope because he had learned to trust in the men he knew. But when the rope was put in the stranger's hands, he growled with anger. To his surprise, the rope tightened around his neck. Buck could hardly breathe. He jumped at the stranger angrily; but he grabbed Buck by the throat and flung him over his back. The rope tightened again. Buck hung there unconscious.

When he opened his eyes again, Buck was on a train. He sprang angrily towards the man sitting next to him. He took Buck by the throat and squeezed the breath out of him. Half-conscious, Buck felt the man taking off his dog collar and the rope. Then he was flung into a wooden cage.

Several times during the journey, whenever a door opened, Buck jumped to his feet, expecting the Judge or his sons to fetch him. But they never came. The journey was long. Buck was put onto a waggon,a truck, a ferry steamer, and an express train where he did not eat or drink for two nights. He had never been so badly treated in his life. The shock of it brought on a fever, and his throat and tongue became dry and swollen. His eyes were bloodshot. Buck looked like an angry monster.

The Judge would not have recognised him now.

P7-9

杰克·伦敦1876年生于美国加利福尼亚州。15岁时，他离家去北美各地旅游，过着流浪汉般的生活，在当地图书馆里长时间阅读书籍，后来，他决定到加利福尼亚大学学习。

19世纪90年代，杰克被淘金潮的热浪吸引，离开了大学。人们在位于加拿大西北部育空地区的克朗代克河里发现了金子，3万人来到这里，希望能发财。道森镇就是借助淘金者发展起来的，它现在依然是这个地区的主要城镇。

淘金潮期间，许多人是第一次从南方(英国人称它为“南方地区”)来到阿拉斯加边境(英国人称它为“北方地区”)。他们不适应寒冷的天气，很多人死在路上。在长达几个月的漫长冬季，只能乘坐由哈斯基狗拉的雪橇出行，体形硕大而强壮的狗十分短缺。狗贩子从南方偷狗卖到寒冷的北方。本书的主人公巴克就是被倒卖的狗之一。

很不走运，杰克·伦敦从克朗代克回来，一粒金子也没有找到。但他在那儿构思了这个故事——《野性的呼唤》。该书于1903年出版并成为一大畅销书。之后，1906年，另一部描写狗的畅销书《白牙》出版。

到1913年，杰克·伦敦是全世界稿酬最高、拥有读者最多的作家之一。不幸的是，他由于大肆酗酒而浪费了一大笔钱。1916年，40岁的杰克·伦敦自杀了。