Chapter 28

 How Kutnar descended¹ the precipitous wall of the Scarp, he never knew nor did he care. A slip of hand or foot would have sent him to his death, a thing he feared not, for it meant only peace and rest to his aching heart. His motions were those of one imprudent and entirely² heedless of danger. He lowered his body from one rock projection³ to another in such reckless fashion that the wonder is he did not fall. Some good angel must have been watching over him. His long journey downward was entirely without mishap⁴ and he reached the foot of the Scarp in safety.

 

Here a tremendous surprise awaited him. Pic’s body had disappeared. In its stead, a man sat upon the rock-platform with feet dangling⁵ over the edge. His body was bruised⁶ and bleeding. His eyes were closed and his head hung forward upon his chest. Had not the Mammoth’s trunk curled around his waist, given him support, he must have fallen. But he was alive for his muscles twitched⁷ feebly and he mumbled⁸ strange words that neither Hairi nor Wulli could understand.

 

For an instant, Kutnar stared open-mouthed unable to realize the great mercy that some good[219] spirit had reserved as his portion. “Alive!” he said in a low voice as though fearing to disturb the dead. “I am dreaming. It cannot be.”

 

“Alive, yes he is. Oowee, oowee!” squealed⁹ the Rhinoceros¹⁰ jumping up and down with joy. “And now you too are safe.”

 

Kutnar sprang to his father with a glad cry and threw his arms about him. Pic opened his eyes. “Kutnar,” he murmured feebly; then his eyes closed again and he rambled¹¹ on deliriously¹² about wolves and hyenas¹³ and snow and various other things that had not the remotest connection with the present occasion. It was a most unintelligible¹⁴ discourse¹⁵ but his audience listened with rapt attention and beamed happily, for it all meant that Pic was alive.

 

Yes he still lived, thanks to his great strength and endurance. But for them, he could not have survived the terrible battering¹⁶ he had received. His body was a mass of welts and contusions, the result of merciless pounding. Scarcely a square inch of it had been spared by the Castillan clubs. No man could have lived under a third of those blows, had they been delivered by flint-axes, which cleaved¹⁷ through the flesh and inflicted¹⁸ ghastly wounds. Pic had demonstrated with his own body that ineffective weapons made not only poor hunters but poor warriors¹⁹ as well. However he was not yet out of danger in spite of his having survived the damage inflicted by his enemies. Bad bruises²⁰, loss of blood and resulting weakness might have[220] finally put an end to him, had it not been for the care and treatment bestowed²¹ upon him by his friends.

 

Hairi found a spring bubbling from the mountain slope and brought a trunkful, doling²² it out to Kutnar who laved his father’s wounds and cooled his fever. The boy then hurried to the grotto²³ of the underground vault²⁴ and returned with Pic’s bearskin robe. The invalid²⁵ was bundled up in this and tucked away under the rock-shelter to rest. This done, Kutnar went off to re-fill his pebble²⁶ pouch²⁷ and kill food for Pic so that he might eat when he had rested and regained²⁸ his strength. Meanwhile Hairi and Wulli stood guard. When Kutnar returned, the two beasts descended the mountain slope to graze and the boy went on duty. Such nursing could not help but produce results. Pic recovered rapidly and before many days, the quartette was ready to depart. Still bundled up in his bearskin suit, Pic was lifted to the Mammoth’s neck and with Kutnar sitting behind to steady him, they marched down the slope and around the mountain to the River Pas. They crossed this and went north along the right bank until they came in sight of Castillo. A faint haze²⁹ arising in the distance from the cave-entrance, showed that it was still the home of men. “What will they do with Totan and Gonch gone?” said Kutnar, and his father answered, “Rather what will they do now that they no longer have a boy to feed them?”

 

This was the last they saw of the Castillan[221] stronghold, for here they turned in the direction of the rising sun. A long journey lay before them but their hearts were light and full of joy of companionship. Kutnar was found, Pic was himself again and now they were bound for a goal of rest and contentment—home.

The End

1 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

4 mishap   

n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸

参考例句：

• I'm afraid your son had a slight mishap in the playground.不好了，你儿子在操场上出了点小意外。
• We reached home without mishap.我们平安地回到了家。

5 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

6 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

7 twitched   

vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Her lips twitched with amusement. 她忍俊不禁地颤动着嘴唇。
• The child's mouth twitched as if she were about to cry. 这小孩的嘴抽动着，像是要哭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

9 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 )

参考例句：

• He squealed the words out. 他吼叫着说出那些话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The brakes of the car squealed. 汽车的刹车发出吱吱声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。

11 rambled   

（无目的地）漫游( ramble的过去式和过去分词 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论

参考例句：

• We rambled through the woods. 我们漫步走过树林。
• She rambled on at great length but she didn't get to the heart of the matter. 她夹七夹八地说了许多话也没说到点子上。

12 deliriously   

adv.谵妄（性）；发狂；极度兴奋/亢奋；说胡话

参考例句：

• He was talking deliriously. 他胡说一通。 来自互联网
• Her answer made him deliriously happy. 她的回答令他高兴得神魂颠倒。 来自互联网

13 hyenas   

n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
• We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏，干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句

14 unintelligible   

adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的

参考例句：

• If a computer is given unintelligible data, it returns unintelligible results.如果计算机得到的是难以理解的数据，它给出的也将是难以理解的结果。
• The terms were unintelligible to ordinary folk.这些术语一般人是不懂的。

15 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

16 battering   

n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The film took a battering from critics in the US. 该影片在美国遭遇到批评家的猛烈抨击。
• He kept battering away at the door. 他接连不断地砸门。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 cleaved   

v.劈开，剁开，割开( cleave的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His spade cleaved the firm sand with a satisfying crunch. 他的锹凿开了坚实的砂土，发出令人舒心的嘎扎声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Eagles cleaved the sky. 鹰击长空。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

19 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

20 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

22 doling   

救济物( dole的现在分词 )； 失业救济金

参考例句：

• "What are you doling?'she once demanded over the intercom. 有一次他母亲通过对讲机问他：“你在干什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• Many scrollbars are quite parsimonious in doling out information to users. 很多滚动条都很吝啬，给用户传递的信息太少。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

23 grotto   

n.洞穴

参考例句：

• We reached a beautiful grotto,whose entrance was almost hiden by the vine.我们到达了一个美丽的洞穴，洞的进口几乎被藤蔓遮掩著。
• Water trickles through an underground grotto.水沿着地下岩洞流淌。

24 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

25 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

26 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

27 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

28 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

29 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。