The huge beast had unwittingly trod upon the soft ground and was caught fast. This was one enemy that sapped his courage of its last drop, and now it held him in its death-grip. Maddened by his vain struggles, he had worked himself into a frenzy9 of terror; squealing10, bellowing11 and thrashing his trunk about like a great flail12.
The Muskman grinned with fiendish pleasure. He advanced to the quagmire13 and squatted15 comfortably at its edge. He felt perfectly16 safe and was only anxious lest he might miss any portion[57] of the grand and glorious scene. It was a small slough, and the terrified Mammoth stood so near firm ground that only a few steps were needed to bring him safely clear. He seemed to realize this, for he strained and tugged17 mightily18 to escape the mire14 that sucked him down, directing his efforts toward the pit-edge nearest him. One after another he pulled his feet from the slime, but only one at a time, and as fast as one was free the others sank deeper. The more he struggled, the more securely was he trapped. This was the way with all mired19 animals. Cave-men often used these made-to-order traps as aids in the capture of large game. Gonch had seen many a horse, bison or ox in a similar predicament, but never had it been his good fortune to come upon an elephant so caught.
“Pic’s friend; so much the better,” he sneered20. At the sound of his voice the Mammoth became quiet. In his terror he had not before perceived the man squatting21 beside him. He squealed22 plaintively23 as much as to say: “Friends should ever help each other,” and stood waiting, trembling and expectant. Gonch never moved, but grinned fiendishly at the great beast begging for assistance. He gathered a handful of dirt and threw it in the Mammoth’s face.
The latter recoiled24 in surprise, then his ears flapped wildly and he bellowed25 loudly with rage. This change of sentiment helped him as nothing else could. He heaved and pulled, using his trunk[58] as a lever on the pit-edge, forgetting all fear in his eagerness to reach and chastise26 the man.
Gonch arose and retreated several steps to where several detached limestone27 blocks lay embedded28 in the soil. He secured one, the biggest he could lift, and returned to the Mammoth.
The latter must have known what was in store for him, for as Gonch hurled29 the stone at the base of his trunk the Mammoth suddenly ducked and received the blow upon his head-peak, a bony prominence30 reinforced within by air-cells and protected from without by a thick mop of shaggy hair. A painful bruise31, but no real damage done. Gonch procured32 another stone and made ready to try again.
And then something swept down upon him with the weight and fury of an avalanche33 and sent him sprawling34 in the grass. As he lay helpless, wondering what had happened, he saw a rotund, short-legged animal bringing itself up short upon its haunches. Gonch trembled as the beast turned as though to make a second charge. However, to his great relief, the Rhinoceros35 paid no further attention to him, but devoted36 himself entirely37 to the Mammoth, walking along the margin38 of the morass39 and studying the situation his friend was in, with the utmost deliberation.
Gonch crawled away to hide himself behind a stone and watch.
It took the Woolly Rhinoceros several minutes to realize his friend’s plight40 and to devise ways and[59] means for effecting a rescue. Having determined41 his course, he anchored his forefeet firmly and as close to the pit as he dared, then extended his head toward the Mammoth. The latter responded by raising his trunk and curling its flexible tip about the other’s nose-horn, a formidable affair about two feet long, as smooth and glossy42 as polished steel. When assured that his partner had secured a firm grip, the Woolly Rhinoceros settled back his full weight, at the same time pushing hard with his legs.
The Mammoth’s trunk tautened until it seemed about to break. His feet drew clear of the mire one by one, slowly but surely; and now that the Rhinoceros was relieving him of so much of his dead weight, he clung to that nose-horn with the persistence43 of one drowning. Even when his right forefoot touched solid ground, he did not release this hold. “Friends should ever help each other” might not be considered a slogan applicable to beasts, but Gonch saw it being applied44 now and in most marvelous fashion.
“I am asleep,” he thought. “What I now see is but a dream.” The Mammoth had by this time freed his front limbs and was resting with his feet and elbows on the pit-edge. Meanwhile the Rhinoceros maintained the tension on his partner’s trunk, hanging on as determinedly45 as a bull-dog. Having rested, the Mammoth now concentrated every ounce of his strength for the final heave. The Rhinoceros, too, put on more power until his[60] friend’s nose-spout stretched almost to the breaking point.
The Mammoth’s hindquarters slowly emerged from the engulfing46 slime. The soft ooze47 slobbered and sighed as the rear pillar limbs drew clear, and the next moment both beasts stood shoulder to shoulder, stamping and snorting with rage.
They sniffed48 vigorously, but the wind told no tales, for it blew from them—the wrong way. Lucky Gonch! The time had not yet come for him to be impaled49 upon the horn of a rhinoceros or crushed beneath an elephant’s ponderous50 feet. The breeze was his friend and the eyesight of his enemies was comparatively poor. He made himself as small as possible and lay motionless behind the stone, entirely unconscious that the grunts51 and squeals52 he heard were animal conversation.
“He must have gone away,” said Wulli. “I can neither see nor smell him.”
“To smell him is to know him,” the Mammoth grumbled53. “Never have I known a man to bear such an odor.”
“Let us find and punish him.” The huge Elephant ground his teeth as he said this. Although slow to anger, he could neither forgive nor forget.
Gonch peered cautiously over the stone. The two beasts were walking away side by side.
[61]
“Friends Should Ever Help Each Other”
[62]
“A happy ending to an unpleasant dream,” he thought as he watched the pair disappearing behind rocks and trees. He raised himself into a crouching55 position just as a big-eared head arose with him from the grass, about ten paces distant. It was a maneless head with repulsive56 features and slopping jaws57. It grinned horribly at the man, and yet made no move to attack him. “One would think the beast my friend,” thought Gonch as he stood erect58 with ax held ready to defend himself.
“A hyena, but never have I seen such a big one. The Mammoth has cheated us both,” he said aloud to the beast. “We must wait and hope for the chance that may come again.”
The Hyena licked his muzzle59 and leered at the man, then turned and walked slowly away. A sloping back and bushy tail trailed behind the huge head. Such trust in human nature was astounding60. The Muskman might have glided61 stealthily after and slain62 the brute63 before it could turn and defend itself. He was standing64 motionless, watching the gray back melt away in the meadow grass, when he heard sounds in the opposite direction. The bushes waved and crackled, and he made out a human form coming through them and rapidly toward him.
Gonch dropped flat in the grass and lay still. The crackling sounds and he who made them came nearer. The Muskman could now see his face. He breathed a deep sigh of relief. In a moment he was on his feet and advancing to meet the newcomer. It was the boy Kutnar.
点击收听单词发音
1 maker | |
n.制造者,制造商 | |
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2 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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3 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
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4 trumpet | |
n.喇叭,喇叭声;v.吹喇叭,吹嘘 | |
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5 bellows | |
n.风箱;发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的名词复数 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的第三人称单数 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫 | |
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6 mammoth | |
n.长毛象;adj.长毛象似的,巨大的 | |
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7 bogged | |
adj.陷于泥沼的v.(使)陷入泥沼, (使)陷入困境( bog的过去式和过去分词 );妨碍,阻碍 | |
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8 slough | |
v.蜕皮,脱落,抛弃 | |
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9 frenzy | |
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动 | |
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10 squealing | |
v.长声尖叫,用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 ) | |
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11 bellowing | |
v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的现在分词 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫 | |
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12 flail | |
v.用连枷打;击打;n.连枷(脱粒用的工具) | |
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13 quagmire | |
n.沼地 | |
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14 mire | |
n.泥沼,泥泞;v.使...陷于泥泞,使...陷入困境 | |
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15 squatted | |
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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16 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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17 tugged | |
v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18 mightily | |
ad.强烈地;非常地 | |
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19 mired | |
abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德(色温单位)v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20 sneered | |
讥笑,冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21 squatting | |
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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22 squealed | |
v.长声尖叫,用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 plaintively | |
adv.悲哀地,哀怨地 | |
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24 recoiled | |
v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 );退缩;报应;返回 | |
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25 bellowed | |
v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的过去式和过去分词 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫 | |
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26 chastise | |
vt.责骂,严惩 | |
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27 limestone | |
n.石灰石 | |
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28 embedded | |
a.扎牢的 | |
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29 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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30 prominence | |
n.突出;显著;杰出;重要 | |
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31 bruise | |
n.青肿,挫伤;伤痕;vt.打青;挫伤 | |
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32 procured | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
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33 avalanche | |
n.雪崩,大量涌来 | |
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34 sprawling | |
adj.蔓生的,不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 );蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展;四肢伸展坐着(或躺着) | |
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35 rhinoceros | |
n.犀牛 | |
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36 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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37 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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38 margin | |
n.页边空白;差额;余地,余裕;边,边缘 | |
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39 morass | |
n.沼泽,困境 | |
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40 plight | |
n.困境,境况,誓约,艰难;vt.宣誓,保证,约定 | |
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41 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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42 glossy | |
adj.平滑的;有光泽的 | |
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43 persistence | |
n.坚持,持续,存留 | |
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44 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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45 determinedly | |
adv.决意地;坚决地,坚定地 | |
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46 engulfing | |
adj.吞噬的v.吞没,包住( engulf的现在分词 ) | |
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47 ooze | |
n.软泥,渗出物;vi.渗出,泄漏;vt.慢慢渗出,流露 | |
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48 sniffed | |
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说 | |
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49 impaled | |
钉在尖桩上( impale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50 ponderous | |
adj.沉重的,笨重的,(文章)冗长的 | |
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51 grunts | |
(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说; 石鲈 | |
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52 squeals | |
n.长而尖锐的叫声( squeal的名词复数 )v.长声尖叫,用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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53 grumbled | |
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声 | |
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54 hyena | |
n.土狼,鬣狗 | |
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55 crouching | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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56 repulsive | |
adj.排斥的,使人反感的 | |
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57 jaws | |
n.口部;嘴 | |
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58 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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59 muzzle | |
n.鼻口部;口套;枪(炮)口;vt.使缄默 | |
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60 astounding | |
adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊,使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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61 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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62 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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63 brute | |
n.野兽,兽性 | |
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64 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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