Chapter 4

 Brink¹ was remembering that easy promise, a month later, as he bound the last raggedly² split shake atop the cabin roof. The cabin was but ten feet wide and twice as long, and built of smallish logs, but its cost in blistered³ flesh and exhaustion⁴ had been terrific....

Six days had passed after their arrival here in Middle Park before his unfamiliar⁵, lead-propelling rifle finally had brought down a small deerlike creature ... the hunting wasn't easy—nothing here on Sulle II was easy.

He slid off the roof and down the trunk of a small tree that he had left here atop this grassy⁶ knoll⁷. He straightened his hunched⁸ shoulders and heard the muscles grate and snap across the cartilage. He looked down over the grassy parkland, where a meandering⁹ stream watered the soil, and counted, for the hundredth time, the five young spotted¹⁰ ruminants that Carby, Tzal, and he had captured from a herd¹¹ of wild creatures.

"Cows," Carby, and Tzal, his partner, called these giant cattle-like creatures, and he followed suit. It was easier to apply the familiar names to creatures that resembled those of Earth than to use the names supplied them at the Reception Center.

"Dorav!" He heard the voice and then the pressure of two rounded soft arms were around him.

"Rea!" he grunted¹², facing her. He pushed her arms aside, all too conscious of the shielded breast that brushed the back of his hand.

"Why are you here?" he demanded. "You have work at your cabin. The walls are only half finished."

The girl smiled at him. She was very attractive in a slim boyish sort of way. The palm of her sun-tanned hand, as she laid it upon his wrist, was not calloused¹³ as were Tzal's and his own.

"My partner and yours are cutting logs above us," she said. "We can be alone for several hours...."

Brink pushed her soft palm from his arm. For the past three weeks physical exhaustion and unwonted exercise had driven any desire for her from his thoughts. She was Carby's partner for a year—and Carby was his friend.

"Don't get me wrong, Dorav!" Her eyes flashed. They were blue and very dark and clear. "I want to go back to the Earth—to York Dome¹⁴, to Sippi Dome or one of the other two domes¹⁵ in North America."

"I think we all do at times," Brink said coldly. "But it's not possible. Earth is forty or fifty light years away."

"I know a way." Rea Smyt's eyes were bright. "But I need a partner. Bryt won't go—he likes it here. And your blonde cow of a partner...."

"Tzal is okay," Brink said angrily. "Shut your mouth and go back to your own cabin before I—"

"We could go across the plains to the old ruins," Rea cried hastily, "and then journey down...."

Brink's work-roughened fingers spun¹⁶ her about facing toward Carby's cabin and the round gray tent beside it at the opposite end of the knoll.

Rea was sobbing¹⁷ angrily.

"I'll go by myself," she cried. "You fools can stay here and live like beasts—it's so simple if you only...."

Brink gave her a shove.

"If you worked as you should, you wouldn't find time to be discontented. And next year you can draw a new partner from the unattached pool."

The girl's eyes were hot as she turned and raced off along the path bisecting the knoll's green-swarded crown.

And Dorav Brink set to work building the huge stone-and-clay chimney that was to warm them in the winter ahead. The memory of Rea's words and the softness of her, kept intruding¹⁸. Suddenly, he found himself longing¹⁹ for the comforts and the security of York Dome—he had been a peace guard, serving two hours every month—life had been soft and easy....

Savagely²⁰ Brink swung his stone hammer, trying to smash his memories of mechanized, pleasant sloth²¹ as well as the harsh substance of the rocks.

1 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

2 raggedly   

破烂地，粗糙地

参考例句：

• The crowd was shouting raggedly now, instead of in chorus as at first. 群众杂乱地喊着，比第一次的口号稍稍见得不整齐。 来自子夜部分
• I took the cigarette he offered, drawing at it raggedly. 我接过他给的烟，在上面胡乱地画起来。

3 blistered   

adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂

参考例句：

• He had a blistered heel. 他的脚后跟起了泡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their hands blistered, but no one complained. 他们手起了泡，可是没有一个人有怨言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

5 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

6 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

7 knoll   

n.小山，小丘

参考例句：

• Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll.对于希尔弗来说，爬上那小山丘真不是件容易事。
• He crawled up a small knoll and surveyed the prospect.他慢腾腾地登上一个小丘，看了看周围的地形。

8 hunched   

（常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的

参考例句：

• He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
• Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。

9 meandering   

蜿蜒的河流，漫步，聊天

参考例句：

• The village seemed deserted except for small boys and a meandering donkey. 整个村子的人都像是逃光了，只留下了几个小男孩和一头正在游游荡荡的小毛驴。 来自教父部分
• We often took a walk along the meandering river after supper. 晚饭后我们常沿着那条弯弯曲曲的小河散步。

10 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

11 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

12 grunted   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

13 calloused   

adj.粗糙的，粗硬的，起老茧的v.（使）硬结，（使）起茧( callous的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）冷酷无情

参考例句：

• A most practical and emotionally calloused Youth interrupted. 一个非常讲究实际而心肠很硬的年轻人插了一嘴。 来自辞典例句
• McTeague exhibited his hard, calloused palms. 麦克梯格摊开那双生满老茧坚硬的手掌。 来自辞典例句

14 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

15 domes   

n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场

参考例句：

• The domes are circular or ovoid in cross-section. 穹丘的横断面为圆形或卵圆形。 来自辞典例句
• Parks. The facilities highlighted in text include sport complexes and fabric domes. 本书重点讲的设施包括运动场所和顶棚式结构。 来自互联网

16 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

17 sobbing   

<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的

参考例句：

• I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
• Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。

18 intruding   

v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于

参考例句：

• Does he find his new celebrity intruding on his private life? 他是否感觉到他最近的成名侵扰了他的私生活？
• After a few hours of fierce fighting,we saw the intruding bandits off. 经过几小时的激烈战斗，我们赶走了入侵的匪徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

20 savagely   

adv. 野蛮地，残酷地

参考例句：

• The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
• He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。

21 sloth   

n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散

参考例句：

• Absence of competition makes for sloth.没有竞争会导致懒惰。
• The sloth spends most of its time hanging upside down from the branches.大部分时间里树懒都是倒挂在树枝上。