小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 英文短篇小说 » The Girl of the Golden Gate » CHAPTER XII
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER XII
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
 A moment of awful silence followed the destructive work of the boulder1. Even the wind seemed to pause in its flight and the sea in its surging to behold2 what man would do in the face of this disaster.
 
Rowgowskii and the two coolies lay in a heap on a mass of loosened earth on which they had been swept down the hill in the wake of the rock. Emily had risen to her feet where Lavelle had left her seated. Her gaze was fixed3 on him. He stood with his back to her and facing the boat. Chang stood to the eastward4 of her, motionless. His gaze, too, was fixed on the master.
 
Lavelle was the first to move. A stride carried him to the boat. A glance revealed to him a hole in the starboard bilge through which he might have crawled without difficulty, big man though he was. Four of the ribs5 were smashed. The keel was shattered for half its length. Any but the stoutest6 heart must have admitted the craft to be an irreparable, hopeless wreck7.
 
With a weird8 cry of insensate rage Chang, who had run to Lavelle's side, turned away toward Rowgowskii and the coolies. No one who saw him and the manner in which he carried his long knife could have doubted but that the serang meant to visit instant death upon the mutineers. His gigantic form trembled with the passionate9 intention of the slayer10. Rowgowskii and the coolies stood in a paralysis11 of fear.
 
A word from Lavelle stopped the serang.
 
"More better kill! Now!" cried the giant to his master and with a characterization of the mutineers that was blood-chilling in its anathema12.
 
"Give me that knife," ordered Lavelle quietly. Meeting his gaze and holding it for a moment Chang thrust the blade into Lavelle's hand. He was conquered, but the glow of an heroic splendor13 was upon him.
 
"Kill me—kill Chang, your servant, master."
 
There was a bare note of defiance14 in the Chinaman's voice. He dropped his hands at his sides in token of submission15 and bent16 his head for the blow he invited.
 
"I will kill when I choose to kill. Go. Clear out this boat," said Lavelle.
 
"You are master," answered the serang, and he turned to summon the mutineers.
 
Rowgowskii and the coolies under Chang's driving began a rapid transportation of all of the boat's provisions and equipment to a point halfway17 up the hillside indicated by Lavelle. The master knew that this was no time for punishment. He must have every ounce of strength he could command.
 
Straightening up from a contemplation of the hole in the boat, his brain busy with plans of repair, he looked toward the sea.
 
"I'm not beaten unless you drown me in the next three hours," he flung in a mutter at the growling18 deep.
 
Turning away, he found Emily Granville beside him. She was looking up at him through a mist of tears. Her own misery19 of body and soul had been swept away in the instant she had heard the boulder go crunching20 through the boat's thin skin. She could think only of what this cruel stab of fate must mean to the man captaining the handful of life which he had been chosen to save. Her capacity to think of another and not of herself in this common crisis was a sign of growth which would have pleased her if it had been possible to pause in self-analysis.
 
And this man, meeting her pitying eyes, smiled at her quizzically! If he had confronted her with a hopeless curse she would not have been surprised. Now she could but gasp21 in amazement22. The comforting words which she had planned to speak would not lend themselves to utterance23. In this second she realized that thus would he meet death—undaunted; smiling.
 
"Fate is treating you—very unkindly, Miss Granville," said he. He spoke24 in his usual low tone.
 
"Us," she corrected him, resenting, as she had come to do all that day, his insistence25 upon classifying her apart.
 
"Us, then," he answered with a nod.
 
"Does this mean——Is this the end?" she asked calmly, and she drew his eyes to the hole in the boat. His answer was a question.
 
"Do you feel that it is the end?"
 
"No," the woman answered, searching his face and reading there a message of infinite faith.
 
Yet even as she spoke the island was a-quiver under the increasing force of the sea's assaults. Nor had it been still at any time since they had put foot on it.
 
"No man may tell the life of a floating island," Lavelle explained. "In weather like this it is very—very short——"
 
"Can you repair this boat? Do you intend to mend this hole?"
 
Her eyes opened in wonderment, for he nodded affirmatively.
 
"Remember what Browning said: 'To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall. And, baffled, get up and begin again——'"
 
"All clear, master!" called Chang, interrupting Lavelle and leaping out of the boat with the mast and oars26 in his arms.
 
Lavelle summoned all hands. They heaved the boat over on its undamaged side. With a strength which peril27 had trebled, they dragged it out of the miry, jelly-like ground on which it lay and brought it to a ledge28 on the hill. Man's work though it was, Emily Granville gave her hands to it, with a strange new will, heaving and pulling beside Lavelle until he called that the task was done. And the while she kept repeating to herself, "'To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall. And, baffled, get up and begin again.'"
 
Just as the boat was laid on the ledge the sun dropped behind the horizon.
 
Rowgowskii had seen some wood while he and the coolies had been on the hilltop. Of his own volition29 he climbed after it and brought down sufficient to make a fire. There was driftwood also in the bed of the creek30 or gully and Chang sent the coolies to gather it.
 
As the fire sprang up Lavelle worked the faster where he ripped out the boat's after air tank. With its metal he planned to cover the hole.
 
No thought of food nor drink had he, though he ordered Chang to serve rations31 to the rest. Emily carried a cracker32 and a cup of water to him, but he would not pause.
 
"Give me plenty of light; that's all," he answered her urging. "Light to work by——"
 
A racking shudder33 passed through the island. It flung Emily headlong. The earth on which Lavelle knelt slid from under him. The island's middle, following the base line of the hill, rose like a monster cat arching its spine34 and hurled35 him backward, stunned36, breathless, helpless.
 
There was a breath-long silence. It ended with a chorus of wild cries. Then, the great earth mass fell with a thunderous crash, rending37 the island in twain. The triumphant38 sea leaped out of the breach39 it had made and swept the crumbling40 shore with a mighty41 wave.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 boulder BNbzS     
n.巨砾;卵石,圆石
参考例句:
  • We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲,把大石头搬开了。
  • He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。
2 behold jQKy9     
v.看,注视,看到
参考例句:
  • The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
  • The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。
3 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
4 eastward CrjxP     
adv.向东;adj.向东的;n.东方,东部
参考例句:
  • The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
  • The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去,他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。
5 ribs 24fc137444401001077773555802b280     
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹
参考例句:
  • He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
  • Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。
6 stoutest 7de5881daae96ca3fbaeb2b3db494463     
粗壮的( stout的最高级 ); 结实的; 坚固的; 坚定的
参考例句:
  • The screams of the wounded and dying were something to instil fear into the stoutest heart. 受伤者垂死者的尖叫,令最勇敢的人都胆战心惊。
7 wreck QMjzE     
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难
参考例句:
  • Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
  • No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。
8 weird bghw8     
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的
参考例句:
  • From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来,他好像有点怪。
  • His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。
9 passionate rLDxd     
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的
参考例句:
  • He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
  • He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。
10 slayer slayer     
n. 杀人者,凶手
参考例句:
  • The young man was Oedipus, who thus unknowingly became the slayer of his own father. 这位青年就是俄狄浦斯。他在不明真相的情况下杀死了自己的父亲。
  • May I depend on you to stand by me and my daughters, then, deer-slayer? 如此说来,我可以指望你照料我和女儿了,杀鹿人?
11 paralysis pKMxY     
n.麻痹(症);瘫痪(症)
参考例句:
  • The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
  • The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
12 anathema ILMyU     
n.诅咒;被诅咒的人(物),十分讨厌的人(物)
参考例句:
  • Independence for the Kurds is anathema to Turkey and Iran.库尔德人的独立对土耳其和伊朗来说将是一场梦魇。
  • Her views are ( an ) anathema to me.她的观点真叫我讨厌。
13 splendor hriy0     
n.光彩;壮丽,华丽;显赫,辉煌
参考例句:
  • Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
  • All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。
14 defiance RmSzx     
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗
参考例句:
  • He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
  • He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。
15 submission lUVzr     
n.服从,投降;温顺,谦虚;提出
参考例句:
  • The defeated general showed his submission by giving up his sword.战败将军缴剑表示投降。
  • No enemy can frighten us into submission.任何敌人的恐吓都不能使我们屈服。
16 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
17 halfway Xrvzdq     
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途
参考例句:
  • We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路,天就黑了。
  • In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上,最忌讳的是有始无终。
18 growling growling     
n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼
参考例句:
  • We heard thunder growling in the distance. 我们听见远处有隆隆雷声。
  • The lay about the deck growling together in talk. 他们在甲板上到处游荡,聚集在一起发牢骚。
19 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
参考例句:
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
20 crunching crunching     
v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 );嘎吱作响;(快速大量地)处理信息;数字捣弄
参考例句:
  • The horses were crunching their straw at their manger. 这些马在嘎吱嘎吱地吃槽里的草。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog was crunching a bone. 狗正嘎吱嘎吱地嚼骨头。 来自《简明英汉词典》
21 gasp UfxzL     
n.喘息,气喘;v.喘息;气吁吁他说
参考例句:
  • She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
  • The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。
22 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
23 utterance dKczL     
n.用言语表达,话语,言语
参考例句:
  • This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
  • My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽,泣不成声。
24 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
25 insistence A6qxB     
n.坚持;强调;坚决主张
参考例句:
  • They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
  • His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。
26 oars c589a112a1b341db7277ea65b5ec7bf7     
n.桨,橹( oar的名词复数 );划手v.划(行)( oar的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
  • The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
27 peril l3Dz6     
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物
参考例句:
  • The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
  • The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。
28 ledge o1Mxk     
n.壁架,架状突出物;岩架,岩礁
参考例句:
  • They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
  • Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上,摔倒了。
29 volition cLkzS     
n.意志;决意
参考例句:
  • We like to think that everything we do and everything we think is a product of our volition.我们常常认为我们所做和所想的一切都出自自己的意愿。
  • Makin said Mr Coombes had gone to the police of his own volition.梅金说库姆斯先生是主动去投案的。
30 creek 3orzL     
n.小溪,小河,小湾
参考例句:
  • He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
  • People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。
31 rations c925feb39d4cfbdc2c877c3b6085488e     
定量( ration的名词复数 ); 配给量; 正常量; 合理的量
参考例句:
  • They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
  • The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。
32 cracker svCz5a     
n.(无甜味的)薄脆饼干
参考例句:
  • Buy me some peanuts and cracker.给我买一些花生和饼干。
  • There was a cracker beside every place at the table.桌上每个位置旁都有彩包爆竹。
33 shudder JEqy8     
v.战粟,震动,剧烈地摇晃;n.战粟,抖动
参考例句:
  • The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材,他浑身一阵战栗。
  • We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。
34 spine lFQzT     
n.脊柱,脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊
参考例句:
  • He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
  • His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。
35 hurled 16e3a6ba35b6465e1376a4335ae25cd2     
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂
参考例句:
  • He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
  • The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
36 stunned 735ec6d53723be15b1737edd89183ec2     
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
  • The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。
37 rending 549a55cea46358e7440dbc8d78bde7b6     
v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 );分裂;(因愤怒、痛苦等而)揪扯(衣服或头发等);(声音等)刺破
参考例句:
  • The cries of those imprisoned in the fallen buildings were heart-rending. 被困于倒塌大楼里的人们的哭喊声令人心碎。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • She was rending her hair out in anger. 她气愤得直扯自己的头发。 来自《简明英汉词典》
38 triumphant JpQys     
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的
参考例句:
  • The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
  • There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。
39 breach 2sgzw     
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破
参考例句:
  • We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
  • He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。
40 crumbling Pyaxy     
adj.摇摇欲坠的
参考例句:
  • an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
  • The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。
41 mighty YDWxl     
adj.强有力的;巨大的
参考例句:
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533