It was a month of calms: long days when the lagoon12, unruffled by the faintest cat's-paw, shimmered13 in the blinding sunlight, while the sea outside seemed to slumber14, stirring gently and drowsily15 along the reef. Once, at midday, a three-masted schooner with all sails furled and Diesel16 engines going, came in to waken the town with the hoarse17 clamor of her exhaust. An hour later I met her skipper on the street.
"Your friend Hall is homeward bound," he told me. "I spoke18 the Potii Ravarava, a bit of a thirty-ton 344 native schooner, off Nukatavake, and he was aboard of her—she ought to be in some time this week."
The days passed in the rapid and dreamy fashion peculiar19 to the South Seas. From time to time I thought of Hall and his diminutive20 schooner drifting about becalmed among the coral islands, or perhaps only a score of miles off Tahiti, helpless to reach the sighted land. The Potii Ravarava was a full week overdue21 when the calm weather came to an end. The heat was intense that afternoon, and toward sunset towering masses of cloud began to pile up along the horizon to the north. The sky grew black; there was a tense hush22 in the air, vibrant23 with the far-off rumble24 of thunder. When I strolled out along the waterfront the people were gathering25 in anxious groups before their houses; I heard snatches of talk: "Have you noticed the glass? Things have an ugly look.... Hope it doesn't mean another cyclone26.... The town will catch it if the sea begins to rise."
I had heard of the hurricane of 1906, when the sea rose and reached clean into the harbor, driving the population of Papeete to the hills. On Motu Uta, an islet in the bay, a white man was living with his Paumotuan wife. When the angry seas began to race in over the reef without a pause, sweeping27 the islet from end to end, the watchers ashore28 gave the pair up for lost. But the woman was a Low-Islander, and just before dawn, when the coconut29 palm in which she had taken refuge was swept away, she swam six hundred yards to shore and landed through a surf a sea otter30 would have hesitated to attempt. Next day they found the drowned and battered31 body of her husband drifting 345 with dead pigs and horses and a litter of wreckage32 from the lower portions of the town.
Possibly Tahiti was in for another hurricane. When I glanced at my barometer33 after dinner, it was falling with ominous34 rapidity, and at bedtime the glass stood lower than I had seen it in the South Seas. In the small hours of the morning a servant came to waken me. There was a new sound in the air—the uproar35 of surf breaking on the inner shore of the lagoon.
"The sea is rising," said Tara; "the waves are breaking under the purau trees, and if you do not come quickly to help me our canoe will be washed away."
The stars were hidden by black clouds, and though scarcely a breath of air stirred, the level of the lagoon was four feet above its normal limit, and the sheltered water, usually so calm, was agitated36 by a heavy swell37. Then the rain came—drumming a thunderous monotone on my tin roof—and after the rain the wind. At dawn, though a seventy-mile gale38 was blowing out of the northeast, it was obvious that all danger of a hurricane was past. At midday the glass began to rise and before dark the wind was falling away perceptibly.
More than once during the night I had thought of Hall out somewhere on the wild and lonely sea to the east. The Potii Ravarava was reputed an able little boat—with proper offing she would probably come through worse than this. But she had no engine, and if she had been caught in the Paumotu—the Dangerous Archipelago, where unknown currents and a maze39 of reefs make navigation ticklish40 in the best of weather—there was cause for anxiety.
The storm blew itself out in two days' time, and on the evening of the third day I was standing41 on the 346 water front with a group of traders and schooner captains. They were speaking of the Potii Ravarava, by this time the object of mild misgivings42, when one of the skippers gave a sudden shout.
"There she is now!" he announced and, looking up, I saw a deeply laden little schooner, with patched grayish sails, rounding the point of Fareute. Presently she turned into the wind, dropped anchor, and sent a boat ashore—a few moments later I was welcoming Hall—very thin, raggedly43 dressed, and brown as a Paumotuan. His eyes were smiling, but they had in them a look unmistakable when once seen—the expression of a hunger greater than most of us have known.
"Hello!" he said. "Come along to the hotel—it must be dinner time. By Jove! I feel as though I could eat a raw shark!"
When he had eaten two dinners complete—from soup to black coffee, and beginning with soup again—he lit a cigarette and told me the story of his return from the Low Islands.
"It was all right," he began, "until we left Hao. The palm tops were still in sight on the horizon when the breeze died away, and we drifted for seven whole days in a broiling44, glassy calm. It was a curious experience, but one I would not care to repeat.
"You've seen the schooner—she's not much bigger than a sea-going canoe. There were four of us aboard—Miti the skipper, a Paumotuan and a seaman45 by instinct, though he knows nothing of latitude5 or longitude46; two sailors, one of whom has a horrible case of elephantiasis; and myself. We had a tremendous load of copra for so small a boat; the hold was crammed47 with it and the cabin stuffed to the ceiling. Opposite 347 the companionway they had left out a few bags at the top, giving a space two feet high and just wide enough for two men to sleep side by side in case of rain or bad weather. Our stove was merely a box of sand in which a fire could be lighted, set in a little box of a galley48 tacked49 to the forward deck. If we had had anything to cook, the galley might have been useful; but Miti had given away nearly all of the ship's provisions to his relatives on Hao. They gave him a feast while some copra was being loaded, and when the job was finished he gave a feast in return. The two sailors looked sour while they watched the people opening their biscuit and salmon50 and bully-beef, but, after all, the prevailing51 winds are fair, and normally the passage to Tahiti wouldn't take more than ten days. Miti overdid52 the giving-away business, however. When we took stock of our kaikai on the first day of the calm I found he had saved only half a tin of biscuit and a few cans of salmon. In addition to this, we had a parting gift of a sack of drinking nuts and a couple of dozen ripe nuts some one was sending to Tahiti for seed. I had grown fed up on the sort of water these schooners53 carry—stale, and full of wriggling54 young mosquitoes—and by great good fortune I had a three-gallon demijohn, sent by Tino, of the Winship, which I filled with fresh rain water at Hao.
"My demijohn lasted precisely55 a day and a half. All hands drank out of it, but I did not complain of their lavishness—there was supposed to be a barrel of water somewhere below. Those were thirsty days. We rigged up an awning56 with part of an old mainsail; I spent most of my time lying in the hot shade, reading the one book I had with me—Froissart's Chronicles of England, France, and Spain. 348 The days seemed interminable.... The starlight paled; the sun rose to glare down hour after hour on the face of a motionless and empty sea, and set at last on a horizon void of clouds. Sometimes I dozed57; sometimes I watched the reflections of the bowsprit. It was painted gray, with a bright-red tip—and, seen in the faintly heaving water, it looked like a long, gray snake spitting fire as it writhed58 in graceful59 undulations. The sufferer from elephantiasis turned out to be an extraordinary man; it was not worth while to keep watches during the calm, and, as there was no work of any importance, he retired60 to the stifling61 cubby-hole among the copra sacks and slept—slept from dawn to darkness and from dark to dawn again. Now and then, at long intervals62, he appeared on deck; once I went aft for a look at him, lying naked except for a pareu—mouth open and swollen63 limbs sprawled64 on the uneven65 surface of the copra. Miti and Teriaa showed a different side of native character. The schooner belonged to the captain, and keeping her trim gave him the same delight a man feels in buying pretty clothes for his mistress. The young sailor was Miti's nephew, and the pair of them worked tirelessly in the sun, scraping her rail and topsides in preparation for a fresh coat of paint. It was strange, when I was deep in Froissart's sieges and battles and stories of court life, to glance up from my book and see the vacant rim66 of the horizon, the silhouette67 of the foremast against a hot blue sky, and the two Kanakas endlessly at work—scrape, scrape, scrape; an exchange of low-toned remarks; a chuckle68 as they heard the gentle snores of the sleeping man below.
"Nearly every day our hopes were raised by deceitful 349 cat's-paws, heralded69 by far-off streaks70 of blue. Some died before they reached us; others, after a preliminary rustle71 and flutter, filled our sails and set the schooner to moving gently on her course ... only to die away and leave the sea glassy as before.
"On the second day the sharks began to gather in their uncanny fashion, as they always do about a vessel72 becalmed or in distress73. I spent hours watching them—ugly blots74 in the clear blue water, waiting with a grim and hopeful patience for some happening which would provide them with a meal. They circled about the schooner in deliberate zigzags75, or lay motionless in the shadow of her side, attended always by their odd little striped pilot fish. I learned to recognize one ponderous76 old gray shark; he had a brace77 of pilot fish, one swimming on each side of his head—and he wasn't afraid of us in the least. Sometimes he lay for an hour within a yard of the vessel's side; I could see the texture78 of his rough skin and the almost imperceptible motion of fins79 and tail. I can understand now the hatred80 sharks inspire in men who follow the sea—it wasn't long before I decided81 to try to kill the big, insolent82 brute83. We hadn't as much as a hook and line on board, but finally, with a file and the point of a rusty84 boat hook, I improvised85 a makeshift sort of spear. Armed with this, I waited by the rail until my victim came in range, and then lunged down with all my strength. The spear glanced off his tough hide; he swam away in a leisurely manner, turned, and a moment later was again beneath me. This time I struck him fair on the back, but it was like trying to kill an elephant with a penknife. I think the point of my boat hook punctured86 him, but he only circled off again and returned 350 to give me another chance. In the end I gave up and left him in possession of the field.
"The nights, when the air had cooled and the stars were blazing overhead, were so beautiful that one hated to fall asleep. Reflection made sky and sea alike—dark backgrounds for the myriad87 lights of the constellations88. Lying on deck while the others slept, I used to regret that I had not learned something of astronomy—the average native sailor knows more about the stars than I. Orion I knew; the Pleiades, which the natives, with a rather pretty fancy, call Matariki, the Little Eyes; and the Scorpion89, believed in heathen times to be the great fish hook of Maui, flung into the sky by the god, when he had finished pulling up islands from the bottom of the Pacific. Each night I watched the rising of the Southern Cross, and low down in the south I saw the Magellanic clouds, streamers of star dust, like vapor90 impalpable and remote. In spite of my companions, sleeping quietly on deck, those nights gave me a sense of overwhelming loneliness: the languid air; the solitary91 ship, immobile on the face of a lifeless sea; the immense expanse of the universe, ablaze92 with the light of distant suns....
"When our water gave out I began to prefer the nights to the days. My demijohn, as I told you, lasted only a day and a half. After that we used the drinking nuts, and not until the last of them was gone did anyone think of investigating the water cask. There was consternation93 when we discovered that it contained only three or four inches of rusty water—either it leaked or the skipper was remarkably94 careless. Hoping all the time for a breeze or a squall of rain, we began on the half sack of ripe nuts—thin, sharp 351 stuff for drinking, but the lot of them went in a day. Then we went on rations95, dealt out from the barrel with a soup spoon. Finally the barrel was dry, and we went two days with nothing of any kind to drink. It was no joke—if you've ever had a real thirst, you'll know what I mean. The natives stood it wonderfully well; Miti did not once complain, though he remarked to me that when he got ashore he was planning to "drink too much coconut"! The victim of feefee continued his slumberous96 routine—I wondered if he were dreaming of rustling97 palms and shaded, gurgling rivulets98. It was my first experience of thirst; odd what an utter animal one becomes at such a time. Waking and sleeping, my head was filled with dreams of water, brooks99, rivers, lakes of cool, fresh water, in which to bury one's face and drink. I dreamed of lochs and highland100 burns in Scotland; of the gorge101 of Fautaua on Tahiti, where only a few months before I had stood in the mist, listening to the roar of the cataract102.
"Well, it wasn't much fun—another day or two might have been unendurable. We had one comfort, at any rate—if you're thirsty enough, you don't worry about eating. By the time we had finished the salmon and biscuit we had ceased to bother about food. On the last night of the calm none of us slept, unless it was the sailor in his den1 among the copra sacks. At dawn Miti touched my shoulder and pointed103 to the south, where the paling stars were obscured by banks of cloud. An hour later the rain water was streaming out of the scuppers and spouting104 off one end of our awning into the barrel, hastily recoopered in case of leaks. When the squall passed and the sun shone down on a dark-blue 352 leaping sea we were running before a fine breeze from the southeast.
"Now that our thirst was satisfied and we had plenty of water in reserve we discovered suddenly that we were starving. Miti prowled about below and came on deck with a package of rice, stowed away during some previous voyage. It was a valuable find, for we had nothing else to eat. There was copra, of course, which the natives will eat in a pinch, but the rancid smell of the stuff was too much for me. The wind held, and finally a day came when the skipper announced that we ought to raise Tahiti soon. About midday his nephew, who was perched in the shrouds105, sang out that he had sighted land. I had a look and saw on the horizon a flat blur106, like the palm tops of a distant atoll. As we drew near the land rose higher and higher out of the sea—it was Makatea, and we were more than a hundred miles north of our course. No meal I have ever eaten tasted so good as the dinner Miti's relatives gave us that night!
"We got away next morning, with a liberal stock of provisions and an additional passenger for Tahiti—a philosophic107 pig, who traveled lashed109 under one of the seats of the ship's boat. For three hours we ran before a fresh northwesterly breeze, but about nine o'clock the wind dropped and soon the sails were hanging limp in a dead calm. I began to suspect that the man with the swollen legs was a Jonah of the first order. This time, however, the calm was soon over; heavy greenish-black clouds were drifting down on us from the north; the sunlight gave place to an evil violet gloom. Miti and his two men sprang into a sudden activity; they battened down the forward hatch, put 353 extra lashings on the boat, double-reefed the foresail, and got in everything else. Then, in the breathless calm, a downpour of rain began to lash108 the sea with a strange, murmuring sound. I thought of an ominous old verse:
"If the wind before the rain,
Sheet your topsails home again;
If the rain before the wind,
Then your topsail halyards mind.
"It was a disagreeable moment. Even the pig felt it, for when the sailors moved him to a place in the bow of the dory he refrained from the usual shrill110 protest. One detail sticks in my memory—when the skipper had taken his place at the wheel he gave a sudden order; the man with the swollen legs shuffled111 hastily to where the boat was lashed down and pulled out the plug from its bottom. Then came the wind.
"It swept down on us from the north-northeast, from the quarter in which hurricanes begin—and the first furious gust112 was a mild sample of what was to come. When Miti got her laid to, heading at a slight angle into the seas, I realized the splendid qualities of the little Potii Ravarava. No small vessel could have kept her decks dry in the sea that made up within an hour. The captain never left the wheel, and I doubt if there's a finer helmsman in the South Seas, but before noon the galley—with our entire supply of food—was swept clean overboard, and time after time the lashed-down boat was filled. The pig had worked himself free except for one hind113 leg, tied to a bottom board with a rough strip of hibiscus bark, and as the water drained out slowly through the unplugged hole astern the agitated surface would be broken by his 354 snout, emitting sputtering114 screams. He lived through it, by the way.
"All of us, I believe, thought that we were in for a hurricane. Every hour the violence of the wind increased; it was a gale from the north-northeast—the wind called by the ancient Polynesians the Terrible Maoake. It seemed to rush at us in paroxysms of fury, tearing off the entire crests115 of waves and hurling116 solid water about as though it were spray. The forward hatch leaked badly; when I think of that storm my memory is filled with a nightmare of endless pumping.
"A day and a night passed, and dawn found us riding a mountainous sea, but the wind was abating117 and our decks were dry. The victim of elephantiasis had been taking spells with me at the pump. He is a man, that fellow, in spite of his loathsome118 infirmity. The pump began to suck up bubbles and froth. Miti's eyes are sharp.
"'Enough pumping,' he shouted. 'Go and sleep, you two!'
"We obeyed the order with alacrity119. Sleeping on deck was out of the question; without an instant of hesitation120 I crawled in among the copra sacks beside my repulsive121 companion. When I awoke it was evening and we were running, with a heavy following wind. Miti was still at the helm; red eyed from want of sleep, but whirling the spokes122 dexterously123 as each big sea passed beneath us and gazing ahead for the first glimpse of Tahiti. The clouds broke just before dark, and we had a glimpse of the high ridges124 of Taiarapu, dead ahead. We got sail on her at that, and stood off to the northwest, past the Bay of Taravao and the sunken reefs of Hitiaa. Toward morning we raised Point Venus Light, but the wind failed in the lee of the island, and it took us all day to reach Papeete harbor."
Hall finished his story in the dark. The last of the diners had gone long since, and, save for ourselves, the broad veranda125 was empty.
"What are your plans?" I asked. "Our year in the South Seas is up. Where are you going now?"
"I have no plans," he said, "except that I doubt if I shall ever go north again. I may be wrong, but I believe I've had enough of civilization to last me the rest of my life. We are happy here. Why should we leave the islands?"
I fancy the South Seas have claimed the pair of us.
THE END
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1
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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shimmered
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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drowsily
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| adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地 | |
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diesel
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| n.柴油发动机，内燃机 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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overdue
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| adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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vibrant
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| adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的 | |
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rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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cyclone
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| n.旋风，龙卷风 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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coconut
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| n.椰子 | |
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otter
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| n.水獭 | |
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battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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barometer
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| n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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ticklish
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| adj.怕痒的；问题棘手的；adv.怕痒地；n.怕痒，小心处理 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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raggedly
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| 破烂地，粗糙地 | |
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broiling
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| adj.酷热的，炽热的，似烧的v.（用火）烤（焙、炙等）( broil的现在分词 )；使卷入争吵；使混乱；被烤（或炙） | |
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seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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48
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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tacked
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| 用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝 | |
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50
salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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51
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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52
overdid
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| v.做得过分( overdo的过去式 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
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53
schooners
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| n.（有两个以上桅杆的）纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 ) | |
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54
wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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55
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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56
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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57
dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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60
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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61
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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62
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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63
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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64
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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65
uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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66
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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67
silhouette
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| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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68
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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69
heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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70
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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71
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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72
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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73
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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74
blots
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| 污渍( blot的名词复数 )； 墨水渍； 错事； 污点 | |
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75
zigzags
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| n.锯齿形的线条、小径等( zigzag的名词复数 )v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的第三人称单数 ) | |
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76
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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77
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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78
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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79
fins
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| [医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌 | |
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80
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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81
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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82
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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83
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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84
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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85
improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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86
punctured
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| v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气 | |
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87
myriad
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| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
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88
constellations
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| n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人） | |
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scorpion
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| n.蝎子，心黑的人，蝎子鞭 | |
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90
vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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91
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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92
ablaze
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| adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的 | |
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93
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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94
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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95
rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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96
slumberous
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| a.昏昏欲睡的 | |
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97
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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98
rivulets
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| n.小河，小溪( rivulet的名词复数 ) | |
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99
brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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100
highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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101
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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102
cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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103
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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104
spouting
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| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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105
shrouds
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| n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密 | |
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106
blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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107
philosophic
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| adj.哲学的，贤明的 | |
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108
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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109
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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110
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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111
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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112
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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113
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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114
sputtering
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| n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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115
crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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116
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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117
abating
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| 减少( abate的现在分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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118
loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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119
alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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120
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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121
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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122
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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123
dexterously
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| adv.巧妙地，敏捷地 | |
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124
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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125
veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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