When, hearing footsteps on the verandah of the big house, he lifted his head, the shadow had passed away and on his face there was an expression of watchful16 alertness. Willems was coming down the plankway, into the courtyard. The light within trickled17 through the cracks of the badly joined walls of the house, and in the illuminated18 doorway19 appeared the moving form of Aissa. She also passed into the night outside and disappeared from view. Babalatchi wondered where she had got to, and for the moment forgot the approach of Willems. The voice of the white man speaking roughly above his head made him jump to his feet as if impelled20 upwards21 by a powerful spring.
“Where’s Abdulla?”
Babalatchi waved his hand towards the hut and stood listening intently. The voices within had ceased, then recommenced again. He shot an oblique22 glance at Willems, whose indistinct form towered above the glow of dying embers.
“Make up this fire,” said Willems, abruptly23. “I want to see your face.”
With obliging alacrity24 Babalatchi put some dry brushwood on the coals from a handy pile, keeping all the time a watchful eye on Willems. When he straightened himself up his hand wandered almost involuntarily towards his left side to feel the handle of a kriss amongst the folds of his sarong, but he tried to look unconcerned under the angry stare.
“You are in good health, please God?” he murmured.
“Yes!” answered Willems, with an unexpected loudness that caused Babalatchi to start nervously25. “Yes! . . . Health! . . . You . . . ”
He made a long stride and dropped both his hands on the Malay’s shoulders. In the powerful grip Babalatchi swayed to and fro limply, but his face was as peaceful as when he sat — a little while ago — dreaming by the fire. With a final vicious jerk Willems let go suddenly, and turning away on his heel stretched his hands over the fire. Babalatchi stumbled backwards26, recovered himself, and wriggled27 his shoulders laboriously28.
“Tse! Tse! Tse!” he clicked, deprecatingly. After a short silence he went on with accentuated29 admiration30: “What a man it is! What a strong man! A man like that”— he concluded, in a tone of meditative31 wonder —“a man like that could upset mountains — mountains!”
He gazed hopefully for a while at Willems’ broad shoulders, and continued, addressing the inimical back, in a low and persuasive32 voice —
“But why be angry with me? With me who think only of your good? Did I not give her refuge, in my own house? Yes, Tuan! This is my own house. I will let you have it without any recompense because she must have a shelter. Therefore you and she shall live here. Who can know a woman’s mind? And such a woman! If she wanted to go away from that other place, who am I— to say no!
I am Omar’s servant. I said: ‘Gladden my heart by taking my house.’ Did I say right?”
“I’ll tell you something,” said Willems, without changing his position; “if she takes a fancy to go away from this place it is you who shall suffer. I will wring33 your neck.”
“When the heart is full of love there is no room in it for justice,” recommenced Babalatchi, with unmoved and persistent34 softness. “Why slay35 me? You know, Tuan, what she wants. A splendid destiny is her desire — as of all women. You have been wronged and cast out by your people. She knows that. But you are brave, you are strong — you are a man; and, Tuan — I am older than you — you are in her hand. Such is the fate of strong men. And she is of noble birth and cannot live like a slave. You know her — and you are in her hand. You are like a snared36 bird, because of your strength. And — remember I am a man that has seen much — submit, Tuan! Submit! . . . Or else . . . ”
He drawled out the last words in a hesitating manner and broke off his sentence. Still stretching his hands in turns towards the blaze and without moving his head, Willems gave a short, lugubrious37 laugh, and asked —
“Or else what?”
“She may go away again. Who knows?” finished Babalatchi, in a gentle and insinuating38 tone.
This time Willems spun39 round sharply. Babalatchi stepped back.
“If she does it will be the worse for you,” said Willems, in a menacing voice. “It will be your doing, and I. . .”
Babalatchi spoke, from beyond the circle of light, with calm disdain40.
“Hai — ya! I have heard before. If she goes — then I die. Good! Will that bring her back do you think — Tuan? If it is my doing it shall be well done, O white man! and — who knows — you will have to live without her.”
Willems gasped41 and started back like a confident wayfarer43 who, pursuing a path he thinks safe, should see just in time a bottomless chasm44 under his feet. Babalatchi came into the light and approached Willems sideways, with his head thrown back and a little on one side so as to bring his only eye to bear full on the countenance45 of the tall white man.
“You threaten me,” said Willems, indistinctly.
“I, Tuan!” exclaimed Babalatchi, with a slight suspicion of irony46 in the affected47 surprise of his tone. “I, Tuan? Who spoke of death? Was it I? No! I spoke of life only. Only of life. Of a long life for a lonely man!”
They stood with the fire between them, both silent, both aware, each in his own way, of the importance of the passing minutes. Babalatchi’s fatalism gave him only an insignificant48 relief in his suspense49, because no fatalism can kill the thought of the future, the desire of success, the pain of waiting for the disclosure of the immutable50 decrees of Heaven. Fatalism is born of the fear of failure, for we all believe that we carry success in our own hands, and we suspect that our hands are weak. Babalatchi looked at Willems and congratulated himself upon his ability to manage that white man. There was a pilot for Abdulla — a victim to appease51 Lingard’s anger in case of any mishap52. He would take good care to put him forward in everything. In any case let the white men fight it out amongst themselves. They were fools. He hated them — the strong fools — and knew that for his righteous wisdom was reserved the safe triumph.
Willems measured dismally53 the depth of his degradation55. He — a white man, the admired of white men, was held by those miserable56 savages58 whose tool he was about to become. He felt for them all the hate of his race, of his morality, of his intelligence. He looked upon himself with dismay and pity. She had him. He had heard of such things. He had heard of women who . . . He would never believe such stories. . . . Yet they were true. But his own captivity59 seemed more complete, terrible, and final — without the hope of any redemption. He wondered at the wickedness of Providence60 that had made him what he was; that, worse still, permitted such a creature as Almayer to live. He had done his duty by going to him. Why did he not understand? All men were fools. He gave him his chance. The fellow did not see it. It was hard, very hard on himself — Willems. He wanted to take her from amongst her own people. That’s why he had condescended61 to go to Almayer. He examined himself. With a sinking heart he thought that really he could not — somehow — live without her. It was terrible and sweet. He remembered the first days. Her appearance, her face, her smile, her eyes, her words. A savage57 woman! Yet he perceived that he could think of nothing else but of the three days of their separation, of the few hours since their reunion. Very well. If he could not take her away, then he would go to her. . . . He had, for a moment, a wicked pleasure in the thought that what he had done could not be undone62. He had given himself up. He felt proud of it. He was ready to face anything, do anything. He cared for nothing, for nobody. He thought himself very fearless, but as a matter of fact he was only drunk; drunk with the poison of passionate63 memories.
He stretched his hands over the fire, looked round and called out —
“Aissa!”
She must have been near, for she appeared at once within the light of the fire. The upper part of her body was wrapped up in the thick folds of a head covering which was pulled down over her brow, and one end of it thrown across from shoulder to shoulder hid the lower part of her face. Only her eyes were visible — sombre and gleaming like a starry64 night.
Willems, looking at this strange, muffled65 figure, felt exasperated66, amazed and helpless. The ex-confidential clerk of the rich Hudig would hug to his breast settled conceptions of respectable conduct. He sought refuge within his ideas of propriety67 from the dismal54 mangroves, from the darkness of the forests and of the heathen souls of the savages that were his masters. She looked like an animated68 package of cheap cotton goods! It made him furious. She had disguised herself so because a man of her race was near! He told her not to do it, and she did not obey. Would his ideas ever change so as to agree with her own notions of what was becoming, proper and respectable? He was really afraid they would, in time. It seemed to him awful. She would never change! This manifestation69 of her sense of proprieties70 was another sign of their hopeless diversity; something like another step downwards71 for him. She was too different from him. He was so civilized72! It struck him suddenly that they had nothing in common — not a thought, not a feeling; he could not make clear to her the simplest motive73 of any act of his . . . and he could not live without her.
The courageous74 man who stood facing Babalatchi gasped unexpectedly with a gasp42 that was half a groan75. This little matter of her veiling herself against his wish acted upon him like a disclosure of some great disaster. It increased his contempt for himself as the slave of a passion he had always derided76, as the man unable to assert his will. This will, all his sensations, his personality — all this seemed to be lost in the abominable77 desire, in the priceless promise of that woman. He was not, of course, able to discern clearly the causes of his misery78; but there are none so ignorant as not to know suffering, none so simple as not to feel and suffer from the shock of warring impulses. The ignorant must feel and suffer from their complexity79 as well as the wisest; but to them the pain of struggle and defeat appears strange, mysterious, remediable and unjust. He stood watching her, watching himself. He tingled80 with rage from head to foot, as if he had been struck in the face. Suddenly he laughed; but his laugh was like a distorted echo of some insincere mirth very far away.
From the other side of the fire Babalatchi spoke hurriedly —
“Here is Tuan Abdulla.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
disapproving
|
|
| adj.不满的，反对的v.不赞成( disapprove的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
unwillingly
|
|
| adv.不情愿地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
irresolutely
|
|
| adv.优柔寡断地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
resolute
|
|
| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
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。 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
pensively
|
|
| adv.沉思地，焦虑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
engrossed
|
|
| adj.全神贯注的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
exclamation
|
|
| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
plaintive
|
|
| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
fixedly
|
|
| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
accomplishment
|
|
| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
watchful
|
|
| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
trickled
|
|
| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
illuminated
|
|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
impelled
|
|
| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
upwards
|
|
| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
oblique
|
|
| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
alacrity
|
|
| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
nervously
|
|
| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
backwards
|
|
| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
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） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
laboriously
|
|
| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
accentuated
|
|
| v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
meditative
|
|
| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
persuasive
|
|
| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
wring
|
|
| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
persistent
|
|
| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
slay
|
|
| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
snared
|
|
| v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
lugubrious
|
|
| adj.悲哀的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
insinuating
|
|
| adj.曲意巴结的，暗示的v.暗示( insinuate的现在分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
spun
|
|
| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
disdain
|
|
| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
gasp
|
|
| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
wayfarer
|
|
| n.旅人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
chasm
|
|
| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
countenance
|
|
| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
irony
|
|
| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
insignificant
|
|
| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
suspense
|
|
| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
immutable
|
|
| adj.不可改变的，永恒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
appease
|
|
| v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
mishap
|
|
| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
dismally
|
|
| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
dismal
|
|
| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
degradation
|
|
| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
miserable
|
|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
savages
|
|
| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
captivity
|
|
| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
providence
|
|
| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
condescended
|
|
| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
undone
|
|
| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
passionate
|
|
| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
starry
|
|
| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
muffled
|
|
| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
exasperated
|
|
| adj.恼怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
propriety
|
|
| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
animated
|
|
| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
manifestation
|
|
| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
proprieties
|
|
| n.礼仪，礼节；礼貌( propriety的名词复数 )；规矩；正当；合适 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
downwards
|
|
| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
civilized
|
|
| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
motive
|
|
| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
courageous
|
|
| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
groan
|
|
| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
derided
|
|
| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
abominable
|
|
| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
complexity
|
|
| n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
tingled
|
|
| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |