He got up, and although still bloated with food, he could not resist tearing off a strip or two more of the roasted horse, then munching5 on one of[20] these he began wandering through the swirling6 steam, the wolf cubs7 following him.
Presently he found himself walking through a layer of black ash that was still warm and felt very comfortable to his feet. He knew as he recalled the valley before the eruption8 that this had been a huge forest. The heat from the hot lava9 lake somewhere down there in the bottom of the valley had fired this and burned it to cinders10. Only an occasional rampike, charred11 and gaunt and weird12 looking in the blowing steam, told of the forest that grew there before. The hairy boy looked at these mute monuments to the wrath of the Fire Demon with a mingled13 feeling of awe14 and wonder. To see these tree giants charred and blackened, their twisted limbs shorn from them and scattered15 half burned on the ground, revived to a certain extent the fear that he had had. He stood and stared at the charred mass a long time before going on, and then not until he had broken himself a stout16 knotted club from one of the fire hardened rampikes, as if to provide himself with some sort of a weapon with which to face the mysterious danger of the Fire Demon.
Yet, despite his fear and trepidation17, the hairy boy was enough a master of his will power to[21] force himself into exploring the valley further. Deeper he pushed his way through the misty18, swirling steam, realizing the while that the air and the earth were growing hotter. From this he understood that he was approaching what had appeared to him from the hilltop to be a red hot lake where the lava had gathered in the valley bottom.
The steam grew thicker and hotter and ahead of him and on either hand he heard peculiar19 hissing20 noises, that agitated21 him a great deal, for he could not know that it was the hot lava cooling off by its contact with the cold and moist earth. He went on but he went with great stealth and caution, always peering through the steam with club raised as if expecting at any moment to come face to face with the Demon that made the fire.
Suddenly the hissing grew more intense and the air very much hotter. At the same time loomed22 through the steam a vast stretch of smooth, black, polished rock that took queer forms as if it were so much soft dough23 that had been poured over the ground and allowed to harden. All about its edges, where it came into contact with the ground, jets of steam were spurting24 out, each hissing and curling like huge evanescent reptiles25. The hairy boy[22] gasped26 and drew back. Then he stopped and stood staring, club upraised. He was alert and ready for danger, but he was frankly27 curious too. He could not understand why this black rock that never had been in the valley before could give out such intense heat and cause the snaky spouts28 of steam that hissed29 so ominously30 and lingered in the air like a swamp fog. He crouched31 on his haunches and stared for a long, long time while the wolf-dog cubs, crowding close to him, looked at the black rock curiously32 while their tongues lolled because of the intense heat.
Finally the hairy boy got to his feet. His curiosity was mastering his fear and suspicion. He began to approach the edge of the hot lava bed very cautiously. As he advanced the heat grew more intense until his hairy coat dripped perspiration33 and water from the condensing steam. Closer and closer he moved until he was almost within touching34 distance of a big black globule of the cooling lava that was detached from the main mass. Then he reached out with the stick he still carried and tapped it curiously.
A strange thing happened. Each time the stick came into contact with the hot rock a wisp of blue smoke went up as the heat scorched35 the wood.[23] This was puzzling to the hairy boy. Why did this happen? He tapped and tapped again; then he examined the scorched end of the stick and felt of it. It was very hot. It burned him. He grunted36 and pulled his hand away. Then he sat and thought for a long time until his slow brain reasoned that the rock burned the stick, and the heat that the stick carried from the rock burned his hand. The stick carried the heat from the rock for a little while; then the heat mysteriously disappeared.
Still he sat and thought and slowly a question took shape in his mind. If the stick carried the heat for a little while just by tapping on the rock, why wouldn’t it carry heat for a long while if he held the stick onto the rock a long time? Perhaps it would, then that would be a way of taking with him the good of the Fire Demon and leaving behind the bad. He wanted the heat the Fire Demon could give but he wanted to leave behind the power it had to kill and destroy.
He decided37 to try an experiment. He reached forth38 and held the stick against the rock. Slowly the blue smoke appeared. It grew and grew in quantity; then suddenly a tiny red flame began to[24] lick at the end of the stick, for the lava had set the pitchy knot on fire.
When the hairy boy saw the flame he grunted in terror, dropped the stick and leaped backward in fear. Of course, the tiny flame went out. The boy sat and watched the stick for a long time, and his brain was so busy that his round head positively39 hurt. What were these sinister40 red and orange things that had licked at the end of the stick? Were they the fingers of the Fire Monster? If they were, why had they not held the stick and consumed it?
He picked up the stick and tried the experiment again. Once more the flames appeared, but went out when the stick was dropped. Again he tried, but this time he held the stick longer. While he held it he found that the flames waxed stronger and grew bigger. He studied them curiously, holding the stick at arm’s length, and, while he watched, he wondered whether, after all, these flames were not the beneficial thing that the Fire Monster had to give him. They were hot. He could carry them by carrying the stick away. Yet he could kill them by merely dropping the stick or tapping it on the ground. He tried it again and again, and each time he lit the stick and put[25] it out he sensed a feeling of elation41 within him. He felt as if he were doing a masterly thing. He could awaken or conquer the Fire Monster at will. It was wonderful; almost a triumph. The hairy boy felt as proud as he had the day he had leaped out from behind a rock and slain42 his first wild goat with a stone hammer that he had borrowed from his father’s cave.
He was so elated by the knowledge that he was master of the fire that he began to dance up and down in a peculiarly weird sort of a way and drum on his chest with his fists, chanting the while, “Og, og, og, og, og,” which to him meant “I am a great man now; no longer a boy. I am the conqueror43; Og, the conqueror.” And thus it was that he gave himself a name, after the manner of the hairy folk. Og he was to be thenceforth, for he felt that he had won this name, for among the hairy men only the people who had achieved something notable were entitled to a name.
After that for almost an hour he amused himself by lighting44 and putting out the stick and slowly a sense of self-confidence grew within him, and he no longer had the awe and fear of the Fire Demon. Indeed he held the burning end of the stick quite close to him, watched the flames curiously,[26] felt their heat, broke off slivers45 from the other end of the club, lit them and knocked them out. Once he breathed hard upon one of these splinters and it went out. Here was a discovery, indeed. With his very breath he could kill the Fire Demon. He blew hard upon the flames that curled about the pitchy knots of his club to prove it and they went out too. After that he lost all fear of the Fire Monster. Anything so weak that he could conquer it with his breath was not at all to be feared.
He held the stick to the lava to light it again, his mind intent on what he was doing; indeed he had been so fascinated with his experiments that he had forgotten everything, even the wolf-dog cubs. He had not noticed how the hair on the back of their necks bristled46 or how they cowered47 with tails between their legs while they looked furtively48 into the swirling steam behind them. In truth, the first that he realized that anything was amiss was when both cubs with a frightened snarl49 tried to crowd between his legs for protection. At the same moment a snort sounded behind him, followed by a strident trumpeting50.
Og, flaming stick in hand, jumped up with a start to behold52 but vaguely53 through the steam a[27] massive hairy and tusked54 head with upraised trunk and sinister little eyes, looming55 above him. Og knew only too well what it was and his heart all but stopped when he saw the evil thing. His people called it The Mountain That Walked, the great shaggy haired mammoth56. They were so big and so strong and so fearless that even Sabre Tooth, the great cave tiger, slunk from them.
For one horror-fraught second the hairy boy stared at the terrible, massive head and trunk that waved slowly back and forth above him. He knew the great beast had marked him as an enemy. He knew that the curled trunk would strike swiftly and surely, that the great coils would close about him and that with one powerful toss he would be hurled57 skyward to fall and be trampled58 under the heavy feet of the ponderous59 beast. It was a terrible death to face and Og shrank back and shuddered60 as he watched the great trunk. He was so frightened he was no longer master of himself. It was as if the wicked little eyes had hypnotized him and held him spellbound. Slowly, with a weaving motion, a sinister swaying from side to side, the great trunk bent61 toward him, ready to strike.
Suddenly the boy thought of the stick; the fire[28] brand that he held in his hand. It gave him courage. With a wild yell he leaped and whirled the burning club above his head aiming a blow at the big beast. The flaming end swept within a foot of the great animal’s face and with a snort it drew back. In that instant the hairy boy, still clinging to the lighted stick, bolted off through the fog of steam, the wolf cubs at his heels.
As swift as the wind he ran, and the giant mammoth, now thoroughly62 aroused, vented63 a thunderous trumpet51 and raced after him with an awkward shambling gait.
Although he was clumsy and ponderous the mammoth covered the ground as swiftly as Og did, his long trunk reaching out before him ready to seize his victim the instant he came within reach.
Had it been a long race Og most certainly would have been captured. He knew this too and he fled with swiftness borne of utter panic for he could hear the heavy thuds of ponderous feet close behind him, and the whistling, snorting of its breath seemed almost at his back. But fortunately as he raced on through the steam fog there suddenly appeared before him a great crevice64 rent in the hillside by the earthquake that had attended[29] the volcanic65 eruption. It was like a deep but narrow wound in the hill, and Og knew that if he climbed into this the great mammoth could not follow. True, his snake-like trunk could reach inside but Og felt that if he could crawl beyond its length the animal could not force his body into the narrow opening.
With safety in sight Og leaped forward with renewed speed and literally66 hurled himself into the crevice, the wolf-dog cubs falling over each other to scramble67 in behind him. In a panic all three struggled, stumbled and crawled over rocks and earth clods and forced themselves back into the deepest, narrowest confines of this crack in the earth. There in the darkness that was lighted only by the tiny flames of the still burning torch that Og had clung to, they waited.
Presently The Mountain That Walked, with thunderous tread and whistling breath, reached the crevice. For a moment the great beast stopped and peered inside. Then scenting68 his enemy within he reached his snaky trunk into the earthy cave, and groped about.
The hairy boy and the wolf cubs shrank back trembling. To have this horrible thing within a few feet of their faces, was a terrible experience[30] and for a time it shattered the courage of the trio. But when it became apparent that the animal could not reach them Og grew braver, so brave in fact that presently he fell to shouting terrible insults at the beast and brandishing69 his fiery70 stick. Indeed he mustered71 the courage to crawl close enough to the twisting trunk to jam the fire stick into its folds.
With a roar the trunk was withdrawn72 immediately and the hairy boy, laughing with glee, turned toward the cowering73 wolf cubs as if seeking their approval for his brave deed.
But the smile on his face was transformed into an expression of horror, for as he looked toward the end of the crevice he saw to his consternation74 that the walls on either side were slowly drawing closer together. Clods of earth and heavy stones were falling, jarred loose by the slow but irresistible75 movement of the walls. The earth that had been pushed upward by volcanic action was slowly settling again. The crevice was closing and they would be buried alive.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
awaken
|
|
| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
demon
|
|
| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
wariest
|
|
| 谨慎的，小心翼翼的( wary的最高级 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
wrath
|
|
| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
munching
|
|
| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
swirling
|
|
| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
cubs
|
|
| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
eruption
|
|
| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
lava
|
|
| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
cinders
|
|
| n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
charred
|
|
| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
weird
|
|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
awe
|
|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
trepidation
|
|
| n.惊恐，惶恐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
misty
|
|
| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
hissing
|
|
| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
agitated
|
|
| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
loomed
|
|
| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
dough
|
|
| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
spurting
|
|
| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的现在分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺； 溅射 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
reptiles
|
|
| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
spouts
|
|
| n.管口( spout的名词复数 )；（喷出的）水柱；（容器的）嘴；在困难中v.（指液体）喷出( spout的第三人称单数 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
hissed
|
|
| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
ominously
|
|
| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
crouched
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
perspiration
|
|
| n.汗水；出汗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
scorched
|
|
| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
grunted
|
|
| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
positively
|
|
| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
sinister
|
|
| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
elation
|
|
| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
slain
|
|
| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
conqueror
|
|
| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
lighting
|
|
| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
slivers
|
|
| （切割或断裂下来的）薄长条，碎片( sliver的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
bristled
|
|
| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
cowered
|
|
| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
furtively
|
|
| adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
snarl
|
|
| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
trumpeting
|
|
| 大声说出或宣告（trumpet的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
trumpet
|
|
| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
behold
|
|
| v.看，注视，看到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
tusked
|
|
| adj.有獠牙的，有长牙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
looming
|
|
| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
mammoth
|
|
| n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
hurled
|
|
| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
trampled
|
|
| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
ponderous
|
|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
shuddered
|
|
| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
vented
|
|
| 表达，发泄（感情，尤指愤怒）( vent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
crevice
|
|
| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
volcanic
|
|
| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
literally
|
|
| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
scramble
|
|
| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
scenting
|
|
| vt.闻到（scent的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
brandishing
|
|
| v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
fiery
|
|
| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
mustered
|
|
| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
withdrawn
|
|
| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
cowering
|
|
| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
consternation
|
|
| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
irresistible
|
|
| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |