CHAPTER III

Then I was alone. Around me only the wood of eternally greencedars covered with snow, the bare bushes, the frozen river and, asfar as I could see out through the branches and the trunks of thetrees, only the great ocean of cedars³ and snow. Siberian taiga!

How long shall I be forced to live here? Will the Bolsheviki findme here or not? Will my friends know where I am? What ishappening to my family? These questions were constantly as burningfires in my brain. Soon I understood why Ivan guided me so long.

We passed many secluded⁴ places on the journey, far away from allpeople, where Ivan could have safely left me but he always saidthat he would take me to a place where it would be easier to live.

And it was so. The charm of my lone¹ refuge was in the cedar² woodand in the mountains covered with these forests which stretched toevery horizon. The cedar is a splendid, powerful tree with wide-spreading branches, an eternally green tent, attracting to itsshelter every living being. Among the cedars was alwayseffervescent life. There the squirrels were continually kicking upa row, jumping from tree to tree; the nut-jobbers cried shrilly⁵; aflock of bullfinches with carmine⁶ breasts swept through the treeslike a flame; or a small army of goldfinches broke in and filledthe amphitheatre of trees with their whistling; a hare scooted fromone tree trunk to another and behind him stole up the hardlyvisible shadow of a white ermine, crawling on the snow, and Iwatched for a long time the black spot which I knew to be the tipof his tail; carefully treading the hard crusted snow approached anoble deer; at last there visited me from the top of the mountainthe king of the Siberian forest, the brown bear. All thisdistracted me and carried away the black thoughts from my brain,encouraging me to persevere⁷. It was good for me also, thoughdifficult, to climb to the top of my mountain, which reached up outof the forest and from which I could look away to the range of redon the horizon. It was the red cliff on the farther bank of theYenisei. There lay the country, the towns, the enemies and thefriends; and there was even the point which I located as the placeof my family. It was the reason why Ivan had guided me here. Andas the days in this solitude⁸ slipped by I began to miss sorely thiscompanion who, though the murderer of Gavronsky, had taken care ofme like a father, always saddling my horse for me, cutting the woodand doing everything to make me comfortable. He had spent manywinters alone with nothing except his thoughts, face to face withnature--I should say, before the face of God. He had tried thehorrors of solitude and had acquired facility in bearing them. Ithought sometimes, if I had to meet my end in this place, that Iwould spend my last strength to drag myself to the top of themountain to die there, looking away over the infinite sea ofmountains and forest toward the point where my loved ones were.

However, the same life gave me much matter for reflection and yetmore occupation for the physical side. It was a continuousstruggle for existence, hard and severe. The hardest work was thepreparation of the big logs for the naida. The fallen trunks ofthe trees were covered with snow and frozen to the ground. I wasforced to dig them out and afterwards, with the help of a longstick as a lever, to move them from their place. For facilitatingthis work I chose the mountain for my supplies, where, althoughdifficult to climb, it was easy to roll the logs down. Soon I madea splendid discovery. I found near my den¹⁰ a great quantity oflarch, this beautiful yet sad forest giant, fallen during a bigstorm. The trunks were covered with snow but remained attached totheir stumps¹¹, where they had broken off. When I cut into thesestumps with the ax, the head buried itself and could withdifficulty be drawn¹² and, investigating the reason, I found themfilled with pitch. Chips of this wood needed only a spark to setthem aflame and ever afterward⁹ I always had a stock of them tolight up quickly for warming my hands on returning from the hunt orfor boiling my tea.

The greater part of my days was occupied with the hunt. I came tounderstand that I must distribute my work over every day, for itdistracted me from my sad and depressing thoughts. Generally,after my morning tea, I went into the forest to seek heathcock orblackcock. After killing¹³ one or two I began to prepare my dinner,which never had an extensive menu. It was constantly game soupwith a handful of dried bread and afterwards endless cups of tea,this essential beverage¹⁴ of the woods. Once, during my search forbirds, I heard a rustle¹⁵ in the dense¹⁶ shrubs¹⁷ and, carefully peeringabout, I discovered the points of a deer's horns. I crawled alongtoward the spot but the watchful¹⁸ animal heard my approach. With agreat noise he rushed from the bush and I saw him very clearly,after he had run about three hundred steps, stop on the slope ofthe mountain. It was a splendid animal with dark grey coat, withalmost a black spine¹⁹ and as large as a small cow. I laid my rifleacross a branch and fired. The animal made a great leap, ranseveral steps and fell. With all my strength I ran to him but hegot up again and half jumped, half dragged himself up the mountain.

The second shot stopped him. I had won a warm carpet for my denand a large stock of meat. The horns I fastened up among thebranches of my wall, where they made a fine hat rack.

I cannot forget one very interesting but wild picture, which wasstaged for me several kilometres from my den. There was a smallswamp covered with grass and cranberries²⁰ scattered²¹ through it,where the blackcock and sand partridges usually came to feed on theberries. I approached noiselessly behind the bushes and saw awhole flock of blackcock scratching in the snow and picking out theberries. While I was surveying this scene, suddenly one of theblackcock jumped up and the rest of the frightened flockimmediately flew away. To my astonishment²² the first bird begangoing straight up in a spiral flight and afterwards droppeddirectly down dead. When I approached there sprang from the bodyof the slain²³ cock a rapacious²⁴ ermine that hid under the trunk of afallen tree. The bird's neck was badly torn. I then understoodthat the ermine had charged the cock, fastened itself on his neckand had been carried by the bird into the air, as he sucked theblood from its throat, and had been the cause of the heavy fallback to the earth. Thanks to his aeronautic²⁵ ability I saved onecartridge.

So I lived fighting for the morrow and more and more poisoned byhard and bitter thoughts. The days and weeks passed and soon Ifelt the breath of warmer winds. On the open places the snow beganto thaw²⁶. In spots the little rivulets²⁷ of water appeared. Anotherday I saw a fly or a spider awakened²⁸ after the hard winter. Thespring was coming. I realized that in spring it was impossible togo out from the forest. Every river overflowed²⁹ its banks; theswamps became impassable; all the runways of the animals turnedinto beds for streams of running water. I understood that untilsummer I was condemned³⁰ to a continuation of my solitude. Springvery quickly came into her rights and soon my mountain was freefrom snow and was covered only with stones, the trunks of birch andaspen trees and the high cones³¹ of ant hills; the river in placesbroke its covering of ice and was coursing full with foam³² andbubbles.

1 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

2 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

3 cedars   

雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The old cedars were badly damaged in the storm. 风暴严重损害了古老的雪松。
• Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 1黎巴嫩哪，开开你的门，任火烧灭你的香柏树。

4 secluded   

adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• Some people like to strip themselves naked while they have a swim in a secluded place. 一些人当他们在隐蔽的地方游泳时，喜欢把衣服脱光。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This charming cottage dates back to the 15th century and is as pretty as a picture, with its thatched roof and secluded garden. 这所美丽的村舍是15世纪时的建筑，有茅草房顶和宁静的花园，漂亮极了，简直和画上一样。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 shrilly   

尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的

参考例句：

• The librarian threw back his head and laughed shrilly. 图书管理员把头往后面一仰，尖着嗓子哈哈大笑。
• He half rose in his seat, whistling shrilly between his teeth, waving his hand. 他从车座上半欠起身子，低声打了一个尖锐的唿哨，一面挥挥手。

6 carmine   

n.深红色，洋红色

参考例句：

• The wind of the autumn color the maples carmine.秋风给枫林涂抹胭红。
• The dish is fresh,fragrant,salty and sweet with the carmine color.这道菜用材新鲜，香甜入口，颜色殷红。

7 persevere   

v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
• It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。

8 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

9 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

10 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

11 stumps   

（被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分

参考例句：

• Rocks and stumps supplied the place of chairs at the picnic. 野餐时石头和树桩都充当了椅子。
• If you don't stir your stumps, Tom, you'll be late for school again. 汤姆，如果你不快走，上学又要迟到了。

12 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

15 rustle   

v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声

参考例句：

• She heard a rustle in the bushes.她听到灌木丛中一阵沙沙声。
• He heard a rustle of leaves in the breeze.他听到树叶在微风中发出的沙沙声。

16 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

17 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

18 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

19 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

20 cranberries   

n.越橘( cranberry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tart flavour of the cranberries adds piquancy. 越橘的酸味很可口。
• Look at the fresh cranberries. 你看这些新鲜的蔓越橘。 来自无师自通 校园英语会话

21 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

22 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

23 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

24 rapacious   

adj.贪婪的，强夺的

参考例句：

• He had a rapacious appetite for bird's nest soup.他吃燕窝汤吃个没够。
• Rapacious soldiers looted the houses in the defeated city.贪婪的士兵洗劫了被打败的城市。

25 aeronautic   

adj.航空（学）的

参考例句：

• Something akin to panic swept the National Aeronautic and Space Agency. 一种近乎恐慌的心情席卷了国家宇航局。 来自辞典例句
• They are widely used in electronic instruments aeronautic instruments etc. 此类轴承在各类电子仪器中得以广泛运用。 来自互联网

26 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

27 rivulets   

n.小河，小溪( rivulet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Rivulets of water ran in through the leaks. 小股的水流通过漏洞流进来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rivulets of sweat streamed down his cheeks. 津津汗水顺着他的两颊流下。 来自辞典例句

28 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 overflowed   

溢出的

参考例句：

• Plates overflowed with party food. 聚会上的食物碟满盘盈。
• A great throng packed out the theater and overflowed into the corridors. 一大群人坐满剧院并且还有人涌到了走廊上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

30 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

31 cones   

n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒

参考例句：

• In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
• Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

32 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。