“What’s the matter with our strolling off and seeing if we can’t get a shot at something?” suggested Jack1 to Tom.
“Suits me first rate,” was the response. “Come on.”
The two lads shouldered their rifles and made off into the woods, which were not particularly thick in the vicinity of the open space where they had alighted. As they had not much time at their disposal the boys were ready to fire at the first thing they saw that looked edible2. Peering intently about they made their way forward.
Suddenly there was a rush and scramble3 in a thicket4 ahead of them and some small creatures rushed out, snorting and grunting5.
Jack’s rifle was at his shoulder like a flash. He fired two shots and Tom followed with another.
Having fired, they ran forward quickly, and found that two small animals that looked like miniature pigs had fallen before their rifles. They were indeed a variety of wild swine common enough in that district, and weighed about forty or fifty pounds apiece.
Highly delighted with the results of their marksmanship, the boys set out to return to camp. Tom carried one of the slain6 porkers while Jack shouldered the other.
“Pork chops for dinner, all right,” chuckled7 Tom, who was slightly in advance. “I guess——”
Jack, who was a few paces behind, and from whom Tom was temporarily hidden, noticed the abrupt8 breaking off of Tom’s speech.
“Well, go on,” he admonished9. “I’m listening. I——”
“Jack! Jack! Come quick!”
The cry rang through the trees sharply. Jack’s heart gave a mighty10 bound. Tom’s shout was vibrant11 with terror. Could he have encountered a band of Indians? Some wild beast?
Dropping his pig, Jack saw to the mechanism12 of his rifle and plunged13 forward. The next instant he came to a standstill, literally14 petrified15 with horror.
Tom had stumbled over a root and had fallen prone16. That much was evident. He was just scrambling17 to his feet as Jack came on the scene, but already he had perceived the same object that had caused Jack to stop short in his tracks with a sharp intake18 of his breath and a face that was white as ashes.
Looking upward the boy saw what at first appeared to be a supple19 highly-colored liana swinging and swaying from the upper branches of a fair-sized mango tree. But this “liana” as Jack had for an instant deemed it, he saw, at almost the same instant, was instinct with life!
Instead of the moving object being part of the tree, or a creeper dependent from it, its supple, cylindrical20 body and glittering scales showed it to be a monster serpent.
It was an anaconda, the giant boa-constrictor of the Brazilian forests, which has been known to attain21 the enormous length of forty feet. The monster hanging above Tom was of huge dimensions. At least fifteen feet of its scaly22 body hung from the tree. How much more was wrapped about the upper branches in sinuous23 coils, Jack could only guess.
As he gazed on Tom’s predicament his blood fairly congealed24 in his veins25. He felt incapable26 of action. As if in a dream he saw Tom struggling to rise from the ground and escape the pendent terror above him. But as he moved Jack saw, to his horror, that the anaconda slowly loosened its upper coils and hung lower.
So swiftly, yet so insensibly did it manage its gliding27 movements, that Jack had hardly taken in the details of the alarming scene before him when the monstrous28 creature’s head had reached the level of the ground.
With its jaws29 agape and forked tongue darting30, the reptile31 began slowly oscillating as if trying its range.
“Run, Tom! Run!” screamed Jack, aroused to life at last.
But Tom appeared to be incapable of motion. He paused on his hands and knees as he struggled to his feet and remained in this posture32. The horror of his situation appeared to deprive him of the power of locomotion33.
Determined34 to make an effort to save Tom even though he risked his comrade’s life in so doing, Jack raised his rifle and fired. But his hands shook so that his aim was faulty and the bullet flew wide.
But the bullet had one effect, and that the one that Jack least desired. It appeared to arouse the great snake from its deliberate movements.
With a swift, almost imperceptible motion, its head swept forward, and several feet of its coils loosened simultaneously35 from above. In another instant Jack, almost fainting from terror, saw Tom in the folds of the gigantic reptile. His comrade’s screams of deadly fear rang in Jack’s ears as he gazed on the dreadful drama being enacted36 before his eyes.
But this inertness37 only lasted for an instant. Suddenly his mind seemed to clear and he saw with startling distinctness what he must do. Rushing forward he held the rifle as close to the serpent as he dared, and fired.
The bullet took effect in the creature’s body just behind the head and caused it to loosen its folds for an instant with a furious hiss38. Its hideous39 head lunged forward at this new enemy.
Hardly knowing what he did, Jack fired again and again. The automatic spat40 bullets in a continuous stream. After the magazine was exhausted41, the frenzied42 boy still pressed the trigger. But there was no need for further shooting. The bullets had wiped out all semblance43 to a head, and the decapitated monster was lashing44 and writhing45 its entire length on the ground, for with Jack’s first bullet it had relinquished46 its grip on the boughs47 above.
Tom retained his senses long enough to scramble out of the deadly folds of the reptile, and then, staggering a few paces, he toppled over. As for Jack, shouting excitedly, he set upon the body of the great snake and in a frenzy48 beat it with all his might with the butt49 of his rifle.
He was conscious of a fierce desire to wipe the creature’s carcass from the face of the earth. It was at this juncture50 that Captain Sprowl, the professor and Mr. Chadwick came running up, much alarmed over the furious shooting they had heard.
A glance showed what had occurred, and Jack, half sobbing51, told the story while Mr. Chadwick brought Tom back to consciousness. After an examination it proved that there was not much harm done beyond a terrible fright. Tom’s body was bruised52 and sore, however, for the big snake, as is the manner of his species, had begun to crush the boy preparatory to swallowing him, when Jack’s lucky shot turned the tables.
When Tom was somewhat recovered, Professor Von Dinkelspeil drew out a pocket tape measure and began to measure the great carcass which now lay still and cold. He found that the anaconda that had come so near to proving Tom’s end was thirty-two feet in length.
“Vun of der piggest I ever heardt of,” he declared, “although Bates, der English naturalist53, says dot he heard of anacondas forty feet long, in der stomach of vun of vich de men who killed idt found a horse de snake hadt ge-swallowed.”
“Well, ‘all’s well that ends well,’ as the poet says,” quoth Captain Sprowl, “but the ugly customer yonder might have made an end of Tom, if it hadn’t been for Jack here. Shake, boy, I’m proud of you. You didn’t lose your nerve for a minute.”
“Didn’t I?” rejoined Jack with an odd smile.
At this juncture, a sudden cry from Dick made them all look round.
“The ants! Millions of ‘em!” he cried. “They’re coming this way!”
“Marching ants!” exclaimed the professor. “Annudder of der vunders of de Prazilian forests. Dey must be coming after de carcass off der snake.”
“Say, they’re covering the whole earth!” roared Dick. “Creeping carnations54 of Connecticut, I never saw such a sight!”
“Look!” cried Jack suddenly pointing in the other direction from that to which Dick was excitedly drawing attention. “There come some more of them!”
Advancing toward them was what at first sight appeared like a vast undulating carpet of dark brown color. It was about five feet in width and came onward55 through the forest like a coffee-colored river.
“Sacred cod-fish!” exclaimed Captain Sprowl. “I’ve got a notion that we’d better be doing something pretty quick.”
“What do you mean?” asked Jack, for there was an odd intonation56 in the captain’s voice.
“Getting out of here, for instance,” exclaimed the captain. “Each of them marching ants is two inches long and is armed with nippers like a pair of pincers. They are coming after the dead body of that snake, I guess, or they may only be out on the war-path as their custom is sometimes. But in any case, we’d better go away from this part of the woods, for if we don’t they’ll overflow57 us like Noah’s flood.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
edible
|
|
| n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
scramble
|
|
| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
thicket
|
|
| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
grunting
|
|
| 咕哝的，呼噜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
slain
|
|
| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
chuckled
|
|
| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
abrupt
|
|
| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
admonished
|
|
| v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
vibrant
|
|
| adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
mechanism
|
|
| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
plunged
|
|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
literally
|
|
| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
petrified
|
|
| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
prone
|
|
| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
scrambling
|
|
| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
intake
|
|
| n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
supple
|
|
| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
cylindrical
|
|
| adj.圆筒形的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
attain
|
|
| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
scaly
|
|
| adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
sinuous
|
|
| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
congealed
|
|
| v.使凝结，冻结( congeal的过去式和过去分词 )；（指血）凝结 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
veins
|
|
| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
gliding
|
|
| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
monstrous
|
|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
jaws
|
|
| n.口部；嘴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
darting
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
reptile
|
|
| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
posture
|
|
| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
locomotion
|
|
| n.运动，移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
simultaneously
|
|
| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
enacted
|
|
| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
inertness
|
|
| n.不活泼，没有生气；惰性；惯量 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
hiss
|
|
| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
hideous
|
|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
spat
|
|
| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
exhausted
|
|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
frenzied
|
|
| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
semblance
|
|
| n.外貌，外表 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
lashing
|
|
| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
writhing
|
|
| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
relinquished
|
|
| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
boughs
|
|
| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
frenzy
|
|
| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
butt
|
|
| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
juncture
|
|
| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
sobbing
|
|
| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
bruised
|
|
| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
naturalist
|
|
| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
carnations
|
|
| n.麝香石竹，康乃馨( carnation的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
onward
|
|
| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
intonation
|
|
| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
overflow
|
|
| v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |