K'niik-K'naak, the region we trod, was much feared by the Polaris III natives. They were a superstitious3 bunch anyway, who panicked at the very thought of being trampled4 or gored5, and never ventured into the region of the tuskers. I, a man of clear head and no nonsense, laughed at their primitive6 fancies. I set out nonetheless into the desert, with only the barest rudiments7 necessary for survival. We could get none of the local boys for bearers, so Mimp had to carry everything. Naturally I had to have both hands free to use my Moxley .55, the best ray-rifle you can buy anywhere in the colonized8 universe.
Aside from the ray-rifle, I carried nothing save a fourteen-inch carbon-steel bolo knife slung9 to my belt, my ever-present calabash pipe, crammed10 full of steaming Yekkweed—expensive to have imported from the Martian canals, but I buy it by the carton—and my trusty f9-ultiflex binoculars11 on a short platinum12 chain.
Mimp struggled along behind me as we set off into the desert. Even his mighty13 plum-hued muscles quivered under the load of our gear, which included an inflatable pseudolog hut (with fireplace, an optional extra), a double-oven radium-powered cookout stove and a seven-pound crate14 of signal flares15, just in case we got lost.
Three days we ranged the shifting blue-white sands of K'niik-K'naak, watching everywhere for signs of the herd16 we'd heard occurred in that region. Nothing.
"Keep sharp lookout," I snapped at Mimp, over my shoulder. Mimp was like a brother, but you have to keep these aliens in their place.
"Yes, Bwana," said Mimp. (He called me Bwana, always.) "Soon we come to waterhole."
I didn't ask him how he knew. Andromedans have a knack17 for geography. In many ways, they're almost as good as an Earthman. "Good," was all I answered. It was short, to the point, and showed who was boss.
Onward18 we trekked19, a sunburnt duo casting long bronze shadows across the burning sands of K'niik K'naak. A thin plume20 of Yekkweed fumes21 marked our passage. It was nearly sunset when we spotted22 the pink glitter of that sickening slop that is the Polaris III excuse for water. I stood watching the sunset, while Mimp unloaded all the gear and began to set up camp. As the last rays faded in the sky, I turned and entered the pseudolog hut Mimp had inflated23. Hard on his lungs, of course, but I hadn't wanted to burden him with the extra weight of a hand-pump. I'm a stern man, but I'm fair.
He had my slippers24 laid out beside the armchair by the fire and a cool mint julep awaiting me on the small teakwood taboret. He was busying himself in the kitchenette, whipping up a quick souffle with one hand and tossing a small salad with the other.
"Hurry it up there," I growled25 jovially26. "Time is money, time is money!" A bit of friendly joshing is good for the relationship; shows Mimp I'm tolerant of him sharing the same quarters, without actually making me act like an equal, if you know what I mean.
"I hurry, Sahib," said Mimp. "Coming up." (He always called me Sahib.) He rushed across the room and began setting the table, with my pearl-handled silverware.
"No, not there," I yawned, picking up my julep and settling back into the armchair. "I think I'd like the table nearer the piano, so you can play Chopin Nocturnes while I dine." I added, as a kindly27 afterthought, "You can reheat your share of the souffle later, after I've gone to bed." Personally, I hate cold souffle.
"Yes, Effendi," said Mimp. (He always called me Effendi.) Rapidly, he moved the table over to the Steinway, set out the finished souffle and salad and then hurried to the piano and began laboriously28 plunking out glorious melody. I took a sip29 of my julep, then spat30 it out on the carpet.
Craven and cowering32, he fell at my feet, whining33 for mercy. But I was adamant34. You let an alien take an inch, and the next thing, he's swiped a parsec. "The knout," I said, keeping my voice emotionless and holding out my hand.
"Please, Kimosabe," whimpered Mimp, "I dared not use the water in the canteens. You know that Polaris III water is poisonous to us Andromedans, while you Earthmen can tolerate it."
"I can not!" I raged.
"I was speaking medically," he mewed piteously.
He scurried36 on all fours to the bureau where I kept my odds37 and ends, and came crawling back with the brutal38 leather whip. I weighed the infraction39, decided40 that three stripes should be lesson enough and I laid them onto his bare back with a steady hand. "Now," I said, wearied by the effort, "play something gay and lilting."
Hastily, he dragged himself to the Steinway and complied. Dinner was really delicious.
Next morning, before sun-up, we lay in wait for the herd behind a rock beside the waterhole. The sky was growing pale saffron near the horizon, then light yellow, and finally glaring brass41 as the sun arose. (By "sun," I mean the star Polaris, of course. Our sun is a star, you know. Or did you? I knew, naturally.) Then, afar off, I espied42 the bulky blobs in the sky that were the flying tuskers of K'niik-K'naak. No man had ever hunted one before. I felt pretty proud, let me tell you.
Onward they came through the air, their large skin-type gray wings flapping stolidly43 up and down, about three strokes to the mile. Enormous creatures they were, with fiery44 little eyes, and long trailing trunks that had a wicked little hook at the tip. But the thing that really caught one's eye was their tusks45. Ten of them. Eight originating in the mouth, and one in either fore-knee. Each tusk2 was seven feet in length, long, white, straight-tapered and flawless. But not ivory, not on these babies. Pure pearl. That lovely lustrous46 calcareous concretion! Each tusk would bring fifty thousand interplanetary credits on the open market. And there were ten per elephantine beast, and at least sixty of them in the herd.
"Look at that, will you!" I cried to Mimp. "Look, feast your ugly eyes on that gleaming fortune swooping47 down upon us, Mimp!"
"I look, I feast," he murmured servilely, huddled48 behind me behind the rock behind the tree. Aliens tend to be cowardly when their lives are in danger.
Carefully, I raised the rifle and took a bead49 on the youngest beast in that descending50 herd. It's slightly illegal to shoot the fledglings, but after all, I wasn't going to bring him back with me, so no one would know. It's just that I find that when I shoot the eldest51 in a herd of wildlife, the others miss their protector and flee. But if I shoot one of the babies, the elder ones stay around to protect it, and I get to kill lots more. Nasty, perhaps, but that's the hunting game for you.
Anyhow, I took this bead on the beast. I was just in the act of depressing the firing stud when an unwonted lightness in the weapon caught my attention. Irritated, I cracked open the firing chamber52. "Mimp!" I growled, in one of my rare real wraths. "You didn't load the ray-rifle! Even a Moxley .55 is no damned good without cartridges53!"
"A thousand pardons, boss," muttered Mimp, inclining his loathsome54 lavender face in a subservient55 bow. "I go get."
He wriggled56 away across the sand and into the hut, fortunately not disturbing the herd, which was now kneeling on the slope above the waterhole and inhaling57 that putrid58 pink liquid through their trunks. I drooled a bit, seeing the rainbow glint of sunlight on those magnificent tusks. Seconds passed, then minutes. The herd was practically slaked59, and still no crawling Mimp reappeared from the hut.
Soon they'd fly off, and cost me a fortune.
I was already pretty much in hock after paying the fare to Polaris III from Earth. (I'd been able to save a little by listing Mimp as baggage, and storing him in the hold for the flight.) Angry, irked, and pretty well enraged60, I moved swiftly toward the hut on hands and knees, scuttling61 in the doorway62 as fast as I could, lest the herd see me and flee, or attack.
In the parlor63, I stood erect64, and glanced about. There was no one in sight, but the back door was open. "Mimp!" I bellowed65, stamping across the carpet. "Where are you, you off-color blemish66!?" No reply. "This means six stripes with the knout!" I warned him.
Then I heard a faint sound, not unlike that of a fourteen-inch bolo knife being brought down hard upon the inflating-valve of a pseudolog hut. I felt at my belt. My bolo was missing. "Mimp!" I hollered, much too late.
Then the whole damned room, piano, fireplace, carpet, armchair and all, snapped in upon me, and I was wound up with those rubberized walls tighter than the center of a golfball. I think I must have swooned, then.
Much, much later, by dint67 of tooth, fingernail and sheer grit68, I had gnawed69, clawed and wrenched70 my way free of the collapsed71 hut. A stunning72 sight met my eyes. All about the waterhole, the flying tuskers were still kneeling. Every one of them was dead and already beginning to rot. But the infuriating thing was that not one of them had so much as an inch of tusk any more.
Every beast had been detusked, the priceless pearl shafts73 lopped off flush with the thick gray hides. Mimp! And with my bolo knife, already!
At least he'd left me a canteen. I tasted it. Pffaugh! Pink Polaris III slop! The dirty little—! But I saved it anyhow. I had a long lonely walk back to town ahead of me.
And there it was that I learned even worse news.
Mimp had already sold the tusks and was on his way back to Andromeda, with a fortune in his breechclout. I swore revenge, then and there, but was unable to carry it out, since I was short the rocketfare back to Earth and the authorities. (It seems that Polaris III is a neutral planet. Even the mighty word "Earthman" carries no weight there.) So I had to hock the piano, my precious Moxley .55 and what could be salvaged74 of the souffle, and even then I was only able to book passage as near Earth as Sirius II.
Luckily, they had a consulate75 there. I was able to secure a ride home, after some weeks' wait. By then, however, it was too late to avenge76 myself.
Mimp, with his stolen fortune, had paid off his planet's debt to Earth. Andromeda IV (his home planet) declared its independence, and the Earth authorities throw up their hands and shrug77 whenever I hint at extraditing him. Seems he's the new emperor there, or something. They can't afford to antagonize him. Damn!
However, I suppose you're wondering just why I get goosebumps when I recall the flying tuskers of K'niik-K'naak. Well, it wasn't so much the danger from the beasts, nor the hideous78 heat of that desert, nor my long, painful sojourn79 beneath the Steinway in the shrunken hut that was so bad.
It was those tuskers. Know how they died? Mimp had poisoned the waterhole. Unsporting, and all that, but the thing that nags80 my brain is: Why didn't I think of that?
Me! Bested by a lousy purple alien!
What's the universe coming to?
The End
The End
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收听单词发音
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1
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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tusk
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| n.獠牙，长牙，象牙 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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gored
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| v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破( gore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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rudiments
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| n.基础知识，入门 | |
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colonized
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| 开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地( colonize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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10
crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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binoculars
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| n.双筒望远镜 | |
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platinum
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| n.白金 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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crate
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| vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱 | |
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15
flares
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| n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开 | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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trekked
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| v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水 | |
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plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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21
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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23
inflated
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| adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨 | |
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24
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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25
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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jovially
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| adv.愉快地，高兴地 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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29
sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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30
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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32
cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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33
whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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adamant
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| adj.坚硬的，固执的 | |
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35
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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36
scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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infraction
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| n.违反；违法 | |
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40
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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41
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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42
espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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44
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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45
tusks
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| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
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46
lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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47
swooping
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 ) | |
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48
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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49
bead
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| n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠 | |
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50
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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51
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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52
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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53
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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54
loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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55
subservient
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| adj.卑屈的，阿谀的 | |
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56
wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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57
inhaling
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| v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 ) | |
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58
putrid
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| adj.腐臭的；有毒的；已腐烂的；卑劣的 | |
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59
slaked
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| v.满足( slake的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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61
scuttling
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| n.船底穿孔，打开通海阀（沉船用）v.使船沉没( scuttle的现在分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
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62
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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63
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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64
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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65
bellowed
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| 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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66
blemish
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| v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点 | |
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dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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68
grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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69
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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70
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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71
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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72
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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73
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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74
salvaged
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| （从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的过去式和过去分词 )； 回收利用（某物） | |
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75
consulate
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| n.领事馆 | |
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76
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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77
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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78
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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79
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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80
nags
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| n.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的名词复数 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的第三人称单数 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责 | |
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