The pirate attack had been a complete surprise: a sure proof that the unscrupulous Hook had conducted it improperly1, for to surprise redskins fairly is beyond the wit of the white man.
By all the unwritten laws of savage2 warfare3 it is always the redskin who attacks, and with the wiliness of his race he does it just before the dawn, at which time he knows the courage of the whites to be at its lowest ebb4. The white men have in the meantime made a rude stockade5 on the summit of yonder undulating ground, at the foot of which a stream runs, for it is destruction to be too far from water. There they await the onslaught, the inexperienced ones clutching their revolvers and treading on twigs6, but the old hands sleeping tranquilly7 until just before the dawn. Through the long black night the savage scouts8 wriggle9, snake-like, among the grass without stirring a blade. The brushwood closes behind them, as silently as sand into which a mole10 has dived. Not a sound is to be heard, save when they give vent11 to a wonderful imitation of the lonely call of the coyote. The cry is answered by other braves; and some of them do it even better than the coyotes, who are not very good at it. So the chill hours wear on, and the long suspense12 is horribly trying to the paleface who has to live through it for the first time; but to the trained hand those ghastly calls and still ghastlier silences are but an intimation of how the night is marching.
That this was the usual procedure was so well known to Hook that in disregarding it he cannot be excused on the plea of ignorance.
The Piccaninnies, on their part, trusted implicitly13 to his honour, and their whole action of the night stands out in marked contrast to his. They left nothing undone14 that was consistent with the reputation of their tribe. With that alertness of the senses which is at once the marvel15 and despair of civilised peoples, they knew that the pirates were on the island from the moment one of them trod on a dry stick; and in an incredibly short space of time the coyote cries began. Every foot of ground between the spot where Hook had landed his forces and the home under the trees was stealthily examined by braves wearing their mocassins with the heels in front. The found only one hillock with a stream at its base, so that Hook had no choice; here he must establish himself and wait for just before the dawn. Everything being thus mapped out with almost diabolical16 cunning, the main body of the redskins folded their blankets around them, and in the phlegmatic17 manner that is to them, the pearl of manhood squatted18 above the children’s home, awaiting the cold moment when they should deal pale death.
Here dreaming, though wide-awake, of the exquisite19 tortures to which they were to put him at break of day, those confiding20 savages21 were found by the treacherous22 Hook. From the accounts afterwards supplied by such of the scouts as escaped the carnage, he does not seem even to have paused at the rising ground, though it is certain that in that grey light he must have seen it: no thought of waiting to be attacked appears from first to last to have visited his subtle mind; he would not even hold off till the night was nearly spent; on he pounded with no policy but to fall to. What could the bewildered scouts do, masters as they were of every war-like artifice23 save this one, but trot24 helplessly after him, exposing themselves fatally to view, the while they gave pathetic utterance25 to the coyote cry.
Around the brave Tiger Lily were a dozen of her stoutest26 warriors27, and they suddenly saw the perfidious28 pirates bearing down upon them. Fell from their eyes then the film through which they had looked at victory. No more would they torture at the stake. For them the happy hunting-grounds now. They knew it; but as their father’s sons they acquitted29 themselves. Even then they had time to gather in a phalanx that would have been hard to break had they risen quickly, but this they were forbidden to do by the traditions of their race. It is written that the noble savage must never express surprise in the presence of the white. Thus terrible as the sudden appearance of the pirates must have been to them, they remained stationary30 for a moment, not a muscle moving; as if the foe31 had come by invitation. Then, indeed, the tradition gallantly32 upheld, they seized their weapons, and the air was torn with the war-cry; but it was now too late.
It is no part of ours to describe what was a massacre33 rather than a fight. Thus perished many of the flower of the Piccaninny tribe. Not all unavenged did they die, for with Lean Wolf fell Alf Mason, to disturb the Spanish Main no more, and among others who bit the dust were Geo. Scourie, Chas. Turley, and the Alsatian Foggerty. Turley fell to the tomahawk of the terrible Panther, who ultimately cut a way through the pirates with Tiger Lily and a small remnant of the tribe.
To what extent Hook is to blame for his tactics on this occasion is for the historian to decide. Had he waited on the rising ground till the proper hour he and his men would probably have been butchered; and in judging him it is only fair to take this into account. What he should perhaps have done was to acquaint his opponents that he proposed to follow a new method. On the other hand, this, as destroying the element of surprise, would have made his strategy of no avail, so that the whole question is beset34 with difficulties. One cannot at least withhold35 a reluctant admiration36 for the wit that had conceived so bold a scheme, and the fell genius with which it was carried out.
What were his own feelings about himself at that triumphant37 moment? Fain would his dogs have known, as breathing heavily and wiping their cutlasses, they gathered at a discreet38 distance from his hook, and squinted39 through their ferret eyes at this extraordinary man. Elation40 must have been in his heart, but his face did not reflect it: ever a dark and solitary41 enigma42, he stood aloof43 from his followers44 in spirit as in substance.
The night’s work was not yet over, for it was not the redskins he had come out to destroy; they were but the bees to be smoked, so that he should get at the honey. It was Pan he wanted, Pan and Wendy and their band, but chiefly Pan.
Peter was such a small boy that one tends to wonder at the man’s hatred45 of him. True he had flung Hook’s arm to the crocodile, but even this and the increased insecurity of life to which it led, owing to the crocodile’s pertinacity46 , hardly account for a vindictiveness47 so relentless48 and malignant49. The truth is that there was a something about Peter which goaded50 the pirate captain to frenzy51. It was not his courage, it was not his engaging appearance, it was not--. There is no beating about the bush, for we know quite well what it was, and have got to tell. It was Peter’s cockiness.
This had got on Hook’s nerves; it made his iron claw twitch52, and at night it disturbed him like an insect. While Peter lived, the tortured man felt that he was a lion in a cage into which a sparrow had come.
The question now was how to get down the trees, or how to get his dogs down? He ran his greedy eyes over them, searching for the thinnest ones. They wriggled53 uncomfortably, for they knew he would not scruple54 to ram55 them down with poles.
In the meantime, what of the boys? We have seen them at the first clang of the weapons, turned as it were into stone figures, open-mouthed, all appealing with outstretched arms to Peter; and we return to them as their mouths close, and their arms fall to their sides. The pandemonium56 above has ceased almost as suddenly as it arose, passed like a fierce gust57 of wind; but they know that in the passing it has determined58 their fate.
Which side had won?
The pirates, listening avidly59 at the mouths of the trees, heard the question put by every boy, and alas60, they also heard Peter’s answer.
“If the redskins have won,” he said, “they will beat the tom-tom; it is always their sign of victory.”
Now Smee had found the tom-tom, and was at that moment sitting on it. “You will never hear the tom-tom again,” he muttered, but inaudibly of course, for strict silence had been enjoined61 . To his amazement62 Hook signed him to beat the tom-tom, and slowly there came to Smee an understanding of the dreadful wickedness of the order. Never, probably, had this simple man admired Hook so much.
Twice Smee beat upon the instrument, and then stopped to listen gleefully.
“The tom-tom,” the miscreants63 heard Peter cry; “an Indian victory!”
The doomed64 children answered with a cheer that was music to the black hearts above, and almost immediately they repeated their good-byes to Peter. This puzzled the pirates, but all their other feelings were swallowed by a base delight that the enemy were about to come up the trees. They smirked65 at each other and rubbed their hands. Rapidly and silently Hook gave his orders: one man to each tree, and the others to arrange themselves in a line two yards apart.
1 improperly | |
不正确地,不适当地 | |
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2 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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3 warfare | |
n.战争(状态);斗争;冲突 | |
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4 ebb | |
vi.衰退,减退;n.处于低潮,处于衰退状态 | |
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5 stockade | |
n.栅栏,围栏;v.用栅栏防护 | |
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6 twigs | |
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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7 tranquilly | |
adv. 宁静地 | |
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8 scouts | |
侦察员[机,舰]( scout的名词复数 ); 童子军; 搜索; 童子军成员 | |
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9 wriggle | |
v./n.蠕动,扭动;蜿蜒 | |
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10 mole | |
n.胎块;痣;克分子 | |
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11 vent | |
n.通风口,排放口;开衩;vt.表达,发泄 | |
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12 suspense | |
n.(对可能发生的事)紧张感,担心,挂虑 | |
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13 implicitly | |
adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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14 undone | |
a.未做完的,未完成的 | |
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15 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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16 diabolical | |
adj.恶魔似的,凶暴的 | |
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17 phlegmatic | |
adj.冷静的,冷淡的,冷漠的,无活力的 | |
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18 squatted | |
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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19 exquisite | |
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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20 confiding | |
adj.相信人的,易于相信的v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的现在分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等) | |
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21 savages | |
未开化的人,野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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22 treacherous | |
adj.不可靠的,有暗藏的危险的;adj.背叛的,背信弃义的 | |
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23 artifice | |
n.妙计,高明的手段;狡诈,诡计 | |
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24 trot | |
n.疾走,慢跑;n.老太婆;现成译本;(复数)trots:腹泻(与the 连用);v.小跑,快步走,赶紧 | |
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25 utterance | |
n.用言语表达,话语,言语 | |
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26 stoutest | |
粗壮的( stout的最高级 ); 结实的; 坚固的; 坚定的 | |
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27 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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28 perfidious | |
adj.不忠的,背信弃义的 | |
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29 acquitted | |
宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 ); 使(自己)作出某种表现 | |
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30 stationary | |
adj.固定的,静止不动的 | |
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31 foe | |
n.敌人,仇敌 | |
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32 gallantly | |
adv. 漂亮地,勇敢地,献殷勤地 | |
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33 massacre | |
n.残杀,大屠杀;v.残杀,集体屠杀 | |
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34 beset | |
v.镶嵌;困扰,包围 | |
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35 withhold | |
v.拒绝,不给;使停止,阻挡 | |
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36 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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37 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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38 discreet | |
adj.(言行)谨慎的;慎重的;有判断力的 | |
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39 squinted | |
斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 ); 眯着眼睛; 瞟; 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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40 elation | |
n.兴高采烈,洋洋得意 | |
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41 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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42 enigma | |
n.谜,谜一样的人或事 | |
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43 aloof | |
adj.远离的;冷淡的,漠不关心的 | |
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44 followers | |
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件 | |
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45 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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46 pertinacity | |
n.执拗,顽固 | |
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47 vindictiveness | |
恶毒;怀恨在心 | |
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48 relentless | |
adj.残酷的,不留情的,无怜悯心的 | |
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49 malignant | |
adj.恶性的,致命的;恶意的,恶毒的 | |
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50 goaded | |
v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 );激励;(用尖棒)驱赶;驱使(或怂恿、刺激)某人 | |
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51 frenzy | |
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动 | |
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52 twitch | |
v.急拉,抽动,痉挛,抽搐;n.扯,阵痛,痉挛 | |
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53 wriggled | |
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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54 scruple | |
n./v.顾忌,迟疑 | |
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55 ram | |
(random access memory)随机存取存储器 | |
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56 pandemonium | |
n.喧嚣,大混乱 | |
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57 gust | |
n.阵风,突然一阵(雨、烟等),(感情的)迸发 | |
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58 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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59 avidly | |
adv.渴望地,热心地 | |
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60 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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61 enjoined | |
v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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63 miscreants | |
n.恶棍,歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 ) | |
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64 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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65 smirked | |
v.傻笑( smirk的过去分词 ) | |
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