'As he had got the Bugis irretrievably committed to action, and had made himself responsible for success on his own head, he was so elated that in the lightness of his heart he absolutely tried to be civil with Cornelius. But Cornelius became wildly jovial13 in response, and it was almost more than he could stand, he says, to hear his little squeaks14 of false laughter, to see him wriggle15 and blink, and suddenly catch hold of his chin and crouch16 low over the table with a distracted stare. The girl did not show herself, and Jim retired17 early. When he rose to say good-night, Cornelius jumped up, knocking his chair over, and ducked out of sight as if to pick up something he had dropped. His good-night came huskily from under the table. Jim was amazed to see him emerge with a dropping jaw18, and staring, stupidly frightened eyes. He clutched the edge of the table. "What's the matter? Are you unwell?" asked Jim. "Yes, yes, yes. A great colic in my stomach," says the other; and it is Jim's opinion that it was perfectly19 true. If so, it was, in view of his contemplated20 action, an abject21 sign of a still imperfect callousness22 for which he must be given all due credit.
'Be it as it may, Jim's slumbers23 were disturbed by a dream of heavens like brass24 resounding25 with a great voice, which called upon him to Awake! Awake! so loud that, notwithstanding his desperate determination to sleep on, he did wake up in reality. The glare of a red spluttering conflagration26 going on in mid-air fell on his eyes. Coils of black thick smoke curved round the head of some apparition27, some unearthly being, all in white, with a severe, drawn28, anxious face. After a second or so he recognised the girl. She was holding a dammar torch at arm's-length aloft, and in a persistent29, urgent monotone she was repeating, "Get up! Get up! Get up!"
'Suddenly he leaped to his feet; at once she put into his hand a revolver, his own revolver, which had been hanging on a nail, but loaded this time. He gripped it in silence, bewildered, blinking in the light. He wondered what he could do for her.
'She asked rapidly and very low, "Can you face four men with this?" He laughed while narrating30 this part at the recollection of his polite alacrity31. It seems he made a great display of it. "Certainly -of course -- certainly -- command me." He was not properly awake, and had a notion of being very civil in these extraordinary circumstances, of showing his unquestioning, devoted32 readiness. She left the room, and he followed her; in the passage they disturbed an old hag who did the casual cooking of the household, though she was so decrepit33 as to be hardly able to understand human speech. She got up and hobbled behind them, mumbling34 toothlessly. On the verandah a hammock of sail-cloth, belonging to Cornelius, swayed lightly to the touch of Jim's elbow. It was empty.
'The Patusan establishment, like all the posts of Stein's Trading Company, had originally consisted of four buildings. Two of them were represented by two heaps of sticks, broken bamboos, rotten thatch35, over which the four corner-posts of hardwood leaned sadly at different angles: the principal storeroom, however, stood yet, facing the agent's house. It was an oblong hut, built of mud and clay; it had at one end a wide door of stout36 planking, which so far had not come off the hinges, and in one of the side walls there was a square aperture37, a sort of window, with three wooden bars. Before descending38 the few steps the girl turned her face over her shoulder and said quickly, "You were to be set upon while you slept." Jim tells me he experienced a sense of deception39. It was the old story. He was weary of these attempts upon his life. He had had his fill of these alarms. He was sick of them. He assured me he was angry with the girl for deceiving him. He had followed her under the impression that it was she who wanted his help, and now he had half a mind to turn on his heel and go back in disgust. "Do you know," he commented profoundly, "I rather think I was not quite myself for whole weeks on end about that time." "Oh yes. You were though," I couldn't help contradicting.
'But she moved on swiftly, and he followed her into the courtyard. All its fences had fallen in a long time ago; the neighbours' buffaloes40 would pace in the morning across the open space, snorting profoundly, without haste; the very jungle was invading it already. Jim and the girl stopped in the rank grass. The light in which they stood made a dense41 blackness all round, and only above their heads there was an opulent glitter of stars. He told me it was a beautiful night -- quite cool, with a little stir of breeze from the river. It seems he noticed its friendly beauty. Remember this is a love story I am telling you now. A lovely night seemed to breathe on them a soft caress42. The flame of the torch streamed now and then with a fluttering noise like a flag, and for a time this was the only sound. "They are in the storeroom waiting," whispered the girl; "they are waiting for the signal." "Who's to give it?" he asked. She shook the torch, which blazed up after a shower of sparks. "Only you have been sleeping so restlessly," she continued in a murmur43; "I watched your sleep, too." "You!" he exclaimed, craning his neck to look about him. "You think I watched on this night only!" she said, with a sort of despairing indignation..
'He says it was as if he had received a blow on the chest. He gasped44. He thought he had been an awful brute45 somehow, and he felt remorseful46, touched, happy, elated. This, let me remind you again, is a love story; you can see it by the imbecility, not a repulsive47 imbecility, the exalted48 imbecility of these proceedings49, this station in torchlight, as if they had come there on purpose to have it out for the edification of concealed50 murderers. If Sherif Ali's emissaries had been possessed51 -- as Jim remarked -- of a pennyworth of spunk52, this was the time to make a rush. His heart was thumping53 -- not with fear -- but he seemed to hear the grass rustle54, and he stepped smartly out of the light. Something dark, imperfectly seen, flitted rapidly out of sight. He called out in a strong voice, "Cornelius! O Cornelius!" A profound silence succeeded: his voice did not seem to have carried twenty feet. Again the girl was by his side. "Fly!" she said. The old woman was coming up; her broken figure hovered55 in crippled little jumps on the edge of the light; they heard her mumbling, and a light, moaning sigh. "Fly!" repeated the girl excitedly. "They are frightened now -- this light -- the voices. They know you are awake now -- they know you are big, strong, fearless . . ." "If I am all that," he began; but she interrupted him: "Yes -- to-night! But what of to-morrow night? Of the next night? Of the night after -- of all the many, many nights? Can I be always watching?" A sobbing56 catch of her breath affected57 him beyond the power of words.
'He told me that he had never felt so small, so powerless -- and as to courage, what was the good of it? he thought. He was so helpless that even flight seemed of no use; and though she kept on whispering, "Go to Doramin, go to Doramin," with feverish58 insistence59, he realised that for him there was no refuge from that loneliness which centupled all his dangers except -- in her. "I thought," he said to me, "that if I went away from her it would be the end of everything somehow." Only as they couldn't stop there for ever in the middle of that courtyard, he made up his mind to go and look into the storehouse. He let her follow him without thinking of any protest, as if they had been indissolubly united. "I am fearless -- am I?" he muttered through his teeth. She restrained his arm. "Wait till you hear my voice," she said, and, torch in hand, ran lightly round the corner. He remained alone in the darkness, his face to the door: not a sound, not a breath came from the other side. The old hag let out a dreary60 groan61 somewhere behind his back. He heard a high-pitched almost screaming call from the girl. "Now! Push!" He pushed violently; the door swung with a creak and a clatter62, disclosing to his intense astonishment63 the low dungeon-like interior illuminated64 by a lurid65, wavering glare. A turmoil66 of smoke eddied67 down upon an empty wooden crate68 in the middle of the floor, a litter of rags and straw tried to soar, but only stirred feebly in the draught69. She had thrust the light through the bars of the window. He saw her bare round arm extended and rigid70, holding up the torch with the steadiness of an iron bracket. A conical ragged71 heap of old mats cumbered a distant corner almost to the ceiling, and that was all.
'He explained to me that he was bitterly disappointed at this. His fortitude72 had been tried by so many warnings, he had been for weeks surrounded by so many hints of danger, that he wanted the relief of some reality, of something tangible73 that he could meet. "It would have cleared the air for a couple of hours at least, if you know what I mean," he said to me. "Jove! I had been living for days with a stone on my chest. " Now at last he had thought he would get hold of something, and -- nothing! Not a trace, not a sign of anybody. He had raised his weapon as the door flew open, but now his arm fell. "Fire! Defend yourself," the girl outside cried in an agonising voice. She, being in the dark and with her arm thrust in to the shoulder through the small hole, couldn't see what was going on, and she dared not withdraw the torch now to run round. "There's nobody here!" yelled Jim contemptuously, but his impulse to burst into a resentful exasperated74 laugh died without a sound: he had perceived in the very act of turning away that he was exchanging glances with a pair of eyes in the heap of mats. He saw a shifting gleam of whites. "Come out!" he cried in a fury, a little doubtful, and a dark-faced head, a head without a body, shaped itself in the rubbish, a strangely detached head, that looked at him with a steady scowl75. Next moment the whole mound76 stirred, and with a low grunt77 a man emerged swiftly, and bounded towards Jim. Behind him the mats as it were jumped and flew, his right arm was raised with a crooked78 elbow, and the dull blade of a kriss protruded79 from his fist held off, a little above his head. A cloth wound tight round his loins seemed dazzlingly white on his bronze skin; his naked body distened as if wet.
'Jim noted80 all this. He told me he was experiencing a feeling of unutterable relief, of vengeful elation81. He held his shot, he says, deliberately82. He held it for the tenth part of a second, for three strides of the man -- an unconscionable time. He held it for the pleasure of saying to himself, That's a dead man! He was absolutely positive and certain. He let him come on because it did not matter. A dead man, anyhow. He noticed the dilated83 nostrils84, the wide eyes, the intent, eager stillness of the face, and then he fired.
'The explosion in that confined space was stunning85. He stepped back a pace. He saw the man jerk his head up, fling his arms forward, and drop the kriss. He ascertained86 afterwards that he had shot him through the mouth, a little upwards87, the bullet coming out high at the back of the skull88. With the impetus89 of his rush the man drove straight on, his face suddenly gaping90 disfigured, with his hands open before him gropingly, as though blinded, and landed with terrific violence on his forehead, just short of Jim's bare toes. Jim says he didn't lose the smallest detail of all this. He found himself calm, appeased91, without rancour, without uneasiness, as if the death of that man had atoned92 for everything. The place was getting very full of sooty smoke from the torch, in which the unswaying flame burned blood-red without a flicker93. He walked in resolutely94, striding over the dead body, and covered with his revolver another naked figure outlined vaguely95 at the other end. As he was about to pull the trigger, the man threw away with force a short heavy spear, and squatted96 submissively on his hams, his back to the wall and his clasped hands between his legs. "You want your life?" Jim said. The other made no sound. "How many more of you?" asked Jim again. "Two more, Tuan," said the man very softly, looking with big fascinated eyes into the muzzle97 of the revolver. Accordingly, two more crawled from under the mats, holding out ostentatiously their empty hands.'
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1
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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2
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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backbone
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| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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6
stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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7
strutting
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| 加固，支撑物 | |
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8
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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9
exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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squeaks
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| n.短促的尖叫声，吱吱声( squeak的名词复数 )v.短促地尖叫( squeak的第三人称单数 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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15
wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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16
crouch
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| v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏 | |
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17
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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18
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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19
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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20
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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callousness
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23
slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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25
resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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27
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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28
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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30
narrating
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| v.故事( narrate的现在分词 ) | |
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31
alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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32
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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34
mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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thatch
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| vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋) | |
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37
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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38
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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40
buffaloes
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| n.水牛（分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种）( buffalo的名词复数 )；（南非或北美的）野牛；威胁；恐吓 | |
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41
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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42
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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43
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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44
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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45
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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remorseful
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| adj.悔恨的 | |
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47
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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48
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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49
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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50
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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51
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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52
spunk
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| n.勇气，胆量 | |
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53
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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54
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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55
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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56
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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59
insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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60
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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61
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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62
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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67
eddied
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| 起漩涡，旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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69
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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76
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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77
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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protruded
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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81
elation
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| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
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82
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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83
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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85
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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86
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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87
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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88
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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89
impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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90
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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91
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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92
atoned
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| v.补偿，赎（罪）( atone的过去式和过去分词 )；补偿，弥补，赎回 | |
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93
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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94
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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95
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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96
squatted
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| 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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97
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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