They bethought them of making a halt on the bank of the lake; partly to recruit their strength after the long-continued fatigue2, and partly, if possible, to replenish3 their larder4.
Saloo got ready his blow-gun and poisoned arrows; Captain Redwood looked to his rifle; while the ship-carpenter, whose speciality was fishing, and who for this purpose had brought his hooks and lines along with him, determined5 on trying what species of the finny tribe frequented the inland lake, in hopes they might prove less shy at biting than their brethren of the sea-coast stream.
Again the three men started off, Murtagh traversing in solitude6 the edge of the lake, while Captain Redwood, with his rifle—accompanied by Saloo, carrying his sumpitan and quiver of poisoned arrows—struck direct into the woods.
Henry and Helen remained where they had passed the night, under the shadow of a spreading tree; which, although of a species unknown to the travellers, had been cautiously scrutinised by them, and seemed to be neither a durion nor a upas. They were cautioned not to stir a step from the spot till the others should return.
Though in other respects a good, obedient boy, Henry Redwood was not abundantly gifted with prudence7. He was a native-born New Yorker, and as such, of course, precocious8, courageous9, daring, even to a fault—in short, having the heart of a man beating within the breast of a boy. So inspired, when a huge bird, standing10 even taller than himself on its great stilt-like legs—it was the adjutant stork11 of India (ciconia argalia)—dropped down upon the point of a little peninsula which projected into the lake, he could not resist the temptation of getting a shot at it.
Grasping the great ship’s musket—part of the paraphernalia12 they had brought along with them, and which was almost as much as he could stagger under—he started to stalk the great crane, leaving little Helen under the tree.
Some reeds growing along the edge of the lake offered a chance by which the game might be approached, and under cover of them he had crept almost within shot of it, when a cry fell upon his ear, thrilling him with a sudden dread13.
It was the voice of his sister Helen, uttered in tones of alarm?
Turning suddenly, he wondered not that her cries were continued in the wildest terror, mingled14 with convulsive ejaculations. A man had drawn15 near her, and oh! such a man! Never in all his experience, nor in his darkest and most distorted dreams, had he seen, or dreamt of, a human being so hideous16, as that he now saw, half-standing, half-crouching, only a short distance from his sister’s resting-place.
It was a man who, if he had only been in an erect17 attitude, would have stood at least eight feet in height, and this would have been in an under-proportion to the size of his head, the massive breadth of his body across the breast and shoulders, and the length of his arms. But it was not his gigantic size which made him so terrible, or which electrified18 the heart of the boy, at a safe distance, as it had done that of the girl, nearer and in more danger. It was the tout19 ensemble20 of this strange creature in human shape—a man apparently21 covered all over with red hair, thick and shaggy, as upon the skin of a wolf or bear; bright red over the body and limbs, and blacker upon the face, where it was thinnest—a creature, in short, such as neither boy nor girl had ever before seen, and such as was long believed to exist only in the imagination of the ancients, under the appellation22 of “satyr.”
点击收听单词发音
1 kindled | |
(使某物)燃烧,着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 ); 激起(感情等); 发亮,放光 | |
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2 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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3 replenish | |
vt.补充;(把…)装满;(再)填满 | |
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4 larder | |
n.食物贮藏室,食品橱 | |
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5 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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6 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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7 prudence | |
n.谨慎,精明,节俭 | |
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8 precocious | |
adj.早熟的;较早显出的 | |
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9 courageous | |
adj.勇敢的,有胆量的 | |
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10 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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11 stork | |
n.鹳 | |
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12 paraphernalia | |
n.装备;随身用品 | |
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13 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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14 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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15 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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16 hideous | |
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的 | |
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17 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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18 electrified | |
v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 );使兴奋 | |
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19 tout | |
v.推销,招徕;兜售;吹捧,劝诱 | |
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20 ensemble | |
n.合奏(唱)组;全套服装;整体,总效果 | |
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21 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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22 appellation | |
n.名称,称呼 | |
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