Chapter 5

 It was another morning, the weeks of feverish¹ planting and hunting for game to trade at the frozen locker² plant at Center, were behind them. Now it was late summer on Sulle II, and even the early morning was uncomfortably warm.

Brink³ yawned and stretched luxuriously⁴ on his cot. Across the room Tzal still slept, her tousled, short-cropped hair faded by the sun, and her exposed firm flesh a ripe, golden-red. Her face was turned toward him and she was smiling faintly, as though at some pleasant dream fantasy.

Brink felt a pleasant lethargy. Tzal was a good partner, she never criticized without reason, and he trusted her judgment⁵. His eyes ranged over the cabin. It was stout⁶ and well-joined—and their hands had erected⁷ it. Their credits at the locker plant were growing, despite the disappearance⁸ of most of the wild herds⁹ of "cattle". In another eight or ten years they would have repaid the passage advances and own a valuable property.

It was odd, he thought idly, that he never considered any woman other than Tzal as his partner when he thought of the future. Actually, of course she would request a change of partners, as he also intended to do, at the year's end. If the Commission allowed it she might even specify¹¹ Bryt Carby—they worked well together in the fields and forest, and the three of them were good friends.

Suddenly he was aware of Carby's voice shouting somewhere outside. Brink pulled on his knee-length shorts and a sleeveless tunic¹², and struggled into his high, clumsily cobbled boots of "cowhide". He took down his repeating weapon and pocketed a handful of cartridges¹³.

"What's it?" asked Tzal sleepily.

"I expect something is after the herd¹⁰ again," Brink told her as he went out the heavy, double-planked door.

He could hear Carby clearly now. He was calling for Rea. Brink swore under his breath and turned to re-enter the cabin, but Carby had seen him and hailed him.

"Rea left in the night," the big man said. "She took one of the horses and a rifle. And she left a note. Says she is going back to live in one of the domes¹⁴."

Brink whistled. The "horse" she had taken, actually a ystan according to the Commission, was only half-broken and a giant animal three times as large as its Earthly counterpart.

"The loneliness must have driven her insane," the big man cried. "We've got to follow her—get her to come back."

Carby's eyes were wild. He clamped Brink's right shoulder.

"Are you coming or not, Dorav? She needs us. We've got to find her."

The big man's eyes leaked tears. Brink realized, astounded¹⁵, that the selfish, shallow, lazy woman—the woman, Rea Smyt—had won Carby's love.

"Of course, Bryt. I'll help you search."

"I will go too." Tzal's eyes were steady. "We must work together. When our child is born another woman will be needed."

Brink opened his mouth to object—closed it.

"Of course, but whether Rea is the one to...."

"She is a woman." Tzal smiled faintly and nodded.

"I'll follow her tracks, the ystan's tracks, westward¹⁶ across the park," Bryt Carby said impatiently. "She must head south or north to climb out of the valley. You, Tzal, go to the north end of the valley and pick up the trail—if it's there."

He shook the graying coarse hair out of his reddened eyes.

"You go south, Dorav. I'll meet up with you in a few hours if the trail leads in that direction. If neither of you find a trail and a day passes, I suggest that you return to the cabins."

"Best plan," Brink agreed. He called in to Tzal: "I'll saddle up."

"Right with you," his partner replied.

 

1 feverish   

adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的

参考例句：

• He is too feverish to rest.他兴奋得安静不下来。
• They worked with feverish haste to finish the job.为了完成此事他们以狂热的速度工作着。

2 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

3 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。

4 luxuriously   

adv.奢侈地，豪华地

参考例句：

• She put her nose luxuriously buried in heliotrope and tea roses. 她把自己的鼻子惬意地埋在天芥菜和庚申蔷薇花簇中。 来自辞典例句
• To be well dressed doesn't mean to be luxuriously dressed. 穿得好不一定衣着豪华。 来自辞典例句

5 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

7 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

8 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

9 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

10 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。

11 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

12 tunic   

n.束腰外衣

参考例句：

• The light loose mantle was thrown over his tunic.一件轻质宽大的斗蓬披在上衣外面。
• Your tunic and hose match ill with that jewel,young man.你的外套和裤子跟你那首饰可不相称呢，年轻人。

13 cartridges   

子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头

参考例句：

• computer consumables such as disks and printer cartridges 如磁盘、打印机墨盒之类的电脑耗材
• My new video game player came with three game cartridges included. 我的新电子游戏机附有三盘游戏带。

14 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

15 astounded   

v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶

参考例句：

• His arrogance astounded her. 他的傲慢使她震惊。
• How can you say that? I'm absolutely astounded. 你怎么能说出那种话？我感到大为震惊。

16 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。