THE STORM

 They saw a little ship that was far at sea and that went by the name of the Petite Espérance. And because of its uncouth¹ rig and its lonely air and the look that it had of coming from strangers' lands they said: "It is neither a ship to greet nor desire, nor yet to succor² when in the hands of the sea."

 

And the sea rose up as is the wont³ of the sea and the little ship from afar was in his hands, and frailer⁴ than ever seemed its feeble masts with their sails of fantastic cut and their alien flags. And the sea made a great and very triumphing voice, as the sea doth. And then there arose a wave that was very strong, even the ninth-born son of the hurricane and the tide, and hid the little ship and hid the whole of the far parts of the sea. Thereat said those who stood on the good dry land:

 

"'Twas but a little, worthless alien ship and it is sunk at sea, and it is good and right that the storm have spoil." And they turned and watched the course of the merchant-men, laden⁵ with silver and appeasing⁶ spice; year after year they cheered them into port and praised their goods and their familiar sails. And many years went by.

 

And at last with decks and bulwarks⁷ covered with cloth of gold; with age-old parrots that had known the troubadours, singing illustrious songs and preening⁸ their feathers of gold; with a hold full of emeralds and rubies⁹; all silken with Indian loot; furling as it came in its way-worn alien sails, a galleon¹⁰ glided¹¹ into port, shutting the sunlight from the merchantmen: and lo! it loomed¹² the equal of the cliffs.

 

"Who are you?" they asked, "far-travelled wonderful ship?"

 

And they said: "The Petite Espérance."

 

"O," said the people on shore. "We thought you were sunk at sea."

 

"Sunk at sea?" sang the sailors. "We could not be sunk at sea—we had the gods on board."

1 uncouth   

adj.无教养的，粗鲁的

参考例句：

• She may embarrass you with her uncouth behavior.她的粗野行为可能会让你尴尬。
• His nephew is an uncouth young man.他的侄子是一个粗野的年轻人。

2 succor   

n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助

参考例句：

• In two short hours we may look for succor from Webb.在短短的两小时内，韦布将军的救兵就可望到达。
• He was so much in need of succor,so totally alone.他当时孑然一身，形影相吊，特别需要援助。

3 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

4 frailer   

脆弱的( frail的比较级 )； 易损的； 易碎的

参考例句：

• Somehow he looked older and frailer in his city clothes. 不知怎么回事，他穿着城市服装，显得衰老一点。

5 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

6 appeasing   

安抚，抚慰( appease的现在分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争）

参考例句：

• Mr. Chamberlain had cherished the hope of appeasing and reforming him and leading him to grace. 张伯伦先生则满心想安抚他，感化他，教他温文知礼。
• A pleasing preacher is too often an appeasing preacher. 一昧讨好的传道人通常是姑息妥协的传道人。

7 bulwarks   

n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙

参考例句：

• The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty. 新闻自由是自由最大的保障之一。 来自辞典例句
• Surgery and X-irradiation nevertheless remain the bulwarks of cancer treatment throughout the world. 外科手术和X射线疗法依然是全世界治疗癌症的主要方法。 来自辞典例句

8 preening   

v.（鸟）用嘴整理（羽毛）( preen的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Will you stop preening yourself in front of the mirror? 你别对着镜子打扮个没完行不行？
• She was fading, while he was still preening himself in his elegance and youth. 她已显老，而他却仍然打扮成翩翩佳公子。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 rubies   

红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。

10 galleon   

n.大帆船

参考例句：

• The story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea.在1628年，有一艘大帆船在处女航开始时就沉没了，这个沉船故事一定是最神奇的海上轶事之一。
• In 1620 the English galleon Mayfolwer set out from the port of Southampton with 102 pilgrims on board.1620年，英国的“五月花”号西班牙式大帆船载着102名

11 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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：

• A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
• The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》