In a small clearing of dried, cracked black mud, he saw the man. He stopped in his tracks, trying to calm his breathing.
Scaramanga was lying stretched out, his back supported by a clump2 of sprawling3 mangrove4 roots. His hat and his high stock had gone, and the whole of the right-hand side of his suit was black with blood upon which insects crawled and feasted. But the eyes in the controlled face were still very much alive. They swept the clearing at regular intervals5, questing. Scaramanga's hands rested on the roots beside him. There was no sign of a gun.
Scaramanga's face suddenly pointed6, like a retriever's, and the roving scrutiny7 held steady. Bond could not see what had caught his attention, but then a patch of the dappled shadow at the edge of the clearing moved and a large snake, beautifully diamonded in dark and pale brown, zigzagged9 purposefully across the black mud towards the man.
Bond watched, fascinated. He guessed it was a boa of the Epicrates family, attracted by the smell of blood. It was perhaps five feet long and quite harmless to man. Bond wondered if Scaramanga would know this. He was immediately put out of his doubt. Scaramanga's expression had not changed, but his right hand crept softly down his trouser leg, gently pulled up the cuff10, and removed a thin, stiletto-style knife from the side of his short Texan boot. Then he waited, the knife held ready across his stomach, not clenched11 in his fist, but pointed in the flick12-knife fashion. The snake paused for a moment a few yards from the man and raised its head high to give him a final inspection13. The forked tongue licked out inquisitively14, again and again, then, still with its head held above the ground, it moved slowly forward.
Not a muscle moved in Scaramanga's face. Only the eyes were dead-steady, watchful15 slits17. The snake came into the shadow of his trouser leg and moved slowly up towards the glistening18 shirt. Suddenly the tongue of steel that lay across Scaramanga's stomach came to life and leaped. It transfixed the head of the snake exactly in the centre of the brain and pierced through it, pinning it to the ground and holding it there while the powerful body thrashed wildly, seeking a grip on the mangrove roots, on Scaramanga's arm. But immediately, when it had a grip, its convulsions released its coils which flailed19 off in another direction.
The death struggles diminished and finally ceased altogether. The snake lay motionless. Scaramanga was careful. He ran his hand down the full length of the snake. Only the tip of the tail lashed20 briefly21. Scaramanga extracted the knife from the head of the snake, cut off its head with a single hard stroke, and threw it, after reflection, accurately22 towards a crab23 hole. He waited, watching, to see if a crab would come out and take it. None did. The thud of the arrival of the snake's head would have kept any crab underground for many minutes, however enticing24 the scent25 of what had made the thud.
James Bond, kneeling in the bush, watched all this, every nuance26 of it, with the most careful attention. Each one of Scaramanga's actions, every fleeting27 expression on his face, had been an index of the man's awareness28 of his aliveness. The whole episode of the snake was as revealing as a temperature chart or a lie detector29. In Bond's judgment30, Scaramanga, for all his blood-letting and internal injuries, was still very much alive. He was still a most formidable and dangerous man.
Scaramanga, his task satisfactorily completed, minutely shifted his position, and, once again, made his penetrating31 examination of the surrounding bush.
As Scaramanga's gaze swept by him without a flicker32, Bond blessed the darkness of his suit-a black patch of shadow among so many others. In the sharp blacks and whites from the midday sun, Bond was well camouflaged33.
Satisfied, Scaramanga picked up the limp body of the snake, laid it across his stomach, and carefully slit16 it down its underside as far as the anal vent34. Then he scoured35 it and carefully etched the skin away from the red-veined flesh with the precise flicks36 and cuts of a surgeon. Every scrap37 of unwanted reptile38 he threw towards crab holes, and, with each throw, a flicker of annoyance39 crossed the granite40 face that no one would come and pick up the crumbs41 from the rich man's table. When the meal was ready, he once again scanned the bush, and then, very carefully, coughed and spat42 into his hand. He examined the results and flung his hand sideways. On the black ground, the sputum made a bright pink scrawl43. The cough didn't seem to hurt him or cause him much effort. Bond guessed that his bullet had hit Scaramanga in the right chest and had missed a lung by a fraction. There was haemorrhage and Scaramanga was a hospital case, but the blood-soaked shirt was not telling the whole truth.
Satisfied with his inspection of his surroundings, Scaramanga bit into the body of the snake and was at once, like a dog with its meal, absorbed by his hunger and thirst for the blood and juices of the snake.
Bond had the impression that if he now came forward from his hiding place Scaramanga, like a dog, would bare his teeth in a furious snarl44. He got quietly up from his knees, took out his gun, and, his eyes watching Scaramanga's hands, strolled out into the centre of the little clearing.
Bond was mistaken. Scaramanga did not snarl. He barely looked up from the cut-off length of snake in his two hands and, his mouth full of meat, said, "You've been a long while coming. Care to share my meal?"
"No thanks. I prefer my snake grilled45 with hot butter sauce. Just keep on eating. I like to see both hands occupied."
Scaramanga sneered46. He gestured at his blood-stained shirt. "Frightened of a dying man? You limeys come pretty soft."
"The dying man handled that snake quite efficiently47. Got any more weapons on you?" Scaramanga moved to undo48 his coat. "Steady! No quick movements. Just show your belt, armpits, pat the thighs49 inside and out. I'd do it myself only I don't want what the snake got. And while you're about it, just toss the knife into the trees. Toss. No throwing, if you don't mind. My trigger finger's been getting a bit edgy50 today. Seems to want to go about its business on its own. Wouldn't like it to take over. Yet, that is."
Scaramanga, with a flick of his wrist, tossed the knife into the air. The sliver51 of steel spun52 like a wheel in the sunshine. Bond had to step aside. The knife pierced the mud where Bond had been standing53 and stood upright. Scaramanga gave a harsh laugh. The laugh turned into a cough. The gaunt face contorted painfully. Too painfully? Scaramanga spat red, but not all that red. There could be only slight haemorrhage. Perhaps a broken rib54 or two. Scaramanga could be out of hospital in a couple of weeks. Scaramanga put down his piece of snake and did exactly as Bond had told him, all the while watching Bond's face with his usual cold, arrogant55 stare. He finished and picked up the piece of snake and began gnawing56 it. He looked up. "Satisfied?"
"Sufficiently57." Bond squatted58 down on his heels. He held his gun loosely, aiming somewhere halfway59 between the two of them. "Now then, let's talk. Afraid you haven't got too much time, Scaramanga. This is the end of the road. You've killed too many of my friends. I have the licence to kill you and I am going to kill you. But I'll make it quick. Not like Margesson. Remember him? You put a shot through both of his knees and both of his elbows. Then you made him crawl and kiss your boots. You were foolish enough to boast about it to your friends in Cuba. It got back to us. As a matter of interest, how many men have you killed in your life?"
"With you, it'll make the round fifty." Scaramanga had gnawed60 the last segment of backbone61 clean. He tossed it towards Bond. "Eat that, scum, and get on with your business. You won't get any secrets out of me, if that's the pitch. And don't forget. I've been shot at by experts and I'm still alive. Maybe not precisely62 kicking, but I've never heard of a limey who'd shoot a defenceless man who's badly wounded. They haven't got the guts63. We'll just sit here, chewing the fat, until the rescue team comes. Then I'll be glad to go for trial. What'll they get me for, eh?"
"Well, just for a start, there's that nice Mr. Rotkopf with one of your famous silver bullets in his head in the river back of the hotel."
"That'll match with the nice Mr. Hendriks with one of your bullets somewhere behind his face. Maybe we'll serve a bit of time together. That'd be nice, wouldn't it? They say the jail at Spanish Town has all the comforts. How about it, limey? That's where you'll be found with a shiv in your back in the sack-sewing department. And by the same token, how d'you know about Rotkopf?"
"Your bug64 was bugged65. Seems you're a bit accident-prone these days, Scaramanga. You hired the wrong security men. Both your managers were from the C.I.A. The tape'll be on the way to Washington by now. That's got the murder of Ross on it too. See what I mean? You've got it coming from every which way."
"Tape isn't evidence in an American court. But I see what you mean, shamus. Mistakes seem to have got made. So okay,"-Scaramanga made an expansive gesture of the right hand-"take a million bucks67 and call it quits?"
"I was offered three million on the train."
"I'll double that."
"No. Sorry." Bond got to his feet. The left hand behind his back was clenched with the horror of what he was about to do. He forced himself to think of what the broken body of Margesson must have looked like, of the others that this man had killed, of the ones he would kill afresh if Bond weakened. This man was probably the most efficient one-man death-dealer in the world. James Bond had him. He had been instructed to take him. He must take him- lying down wounded or in any other position. Bond assumed casualness, tried to make himself the enemy's cold equal. "Any messages for anyone, Scaramanga? Any instructions? Anyone you want looking after? I'll take care of it if it's personal. I'll keep it to myself."
Scaramanga laughed his harsh laugh, but carefully. This tune68 the laugh didn't turn into the red cough. "Quite the little English gentleman! Just like I spelled it out. S'pose you wouldn't like to hand me your gun and leave me to myself for five minutes like in the books? Well, you're right, boyo! I'd crawl after you and blast the back of your head off." The eyes still bored into Bond's with the arrogant superiority, the cold superman quality that had made him the greatest pro66 gunman in the world-no drinks, no drugs-the impersonal69 trigger man who killed for money and, by the way he sometimes did it, for the kicks.
Bond examined him carefully. How could Scaramanga fail to break when he was going to die in minutes? Was there some last trick the man was going to spring? Some hidden weapon? But the man just lay there, apparently70 relaxed, propped71 up against the mangrove roots, his chest heaving rhythmicallv, the granite of his face not crumbling72 even minutely in defeat. On his forehead there was not as much sweat as there was on Bond's. Scaramanga lay in dappled black shadow. For ten minutes James Bond had stood in the middle of the clearing in blazing sunshine. Suddenly he felt the vitality73 oozing74 out through his feet into the black mud. And his resolve was going with it. He said, and he heard his voice ring out harshly, "All right, Scaramanga, this is it." He lifted his gun and held it in the two-handed grip of the target man. "I'm going to make it as quick as I can."
Scaramanga held up a hand. For the first time his face showed emotion. "Okay, fella." The voice, amazingly, supplicated75. "I'm a Catholic, see? Just let me say my last prayer. Okay? Won't take long, then you can blaze away. Every man's got to die sometime. You're a fine guy as guys go. It's the luck of the game. If my bullet had been an inch maybe two inches, to the right, it'd be you that's dead in place of me. Right? Can I say my prayer, mister?"
James Bond lowered his gun. He would give the man a few minutes. He knew he couldn't give him more. Pain and heat and exhaustion76 and thirst. It wouldn't be long before he lay down himself, right there on the hard cracked mud, just to rest. If someone wanted to kill him, they could. He said, and the words came out slowly, tiredly, "Go ahead, Scaramanga. One minute only."
"Thanks, pal8." Scaramanga's hands went up to his face and covered his eyes. There came a drone of Lathi which went on and on. Bond stood there in the sunshine, his gun lowered, watching Scaramanga, but at the same tune not watching him, the edge of his focus dulled by the pain and the heat and the hypnotic litany that came from behind the shuttered face and the horror of what Bond was going to have to do-in one minute, perhaps two.
The fingers of Scaramanga's right hand crawled imperceptibly sideways across his face, inch by inch, centimetre by centimetre. They got to his ear and stopped. The drone of the Lathi prayer never altered its slow, lulling77 tempo78.
And then the hand leaped behind the head and the tiny golden Derringer roared, and James Bond spun round as if he had taken a right to the jaw79 and crashed to the ground.
At once Scaramanga was on his feet and moving forward like a swift cat. He snatched up the discarded knife and held it forward like a tongue of silver flame.
But James Bond twisted like a dying animal on the ground and the iron in his hand cracked viciously again and again-five times-and then fell out of his hand onto the black earth as his gun hand went to the right side of his belly80 and stayed there, clutching at the terrible pain.
The big man stood for a moment and looked up at the deep blue sky. His fingers opened in a spasm81 and let go the knife. His pierced heart stuttered and limped and stopped. He crashed flat back and lay, his arms flung wide, as if someone had thrown him away.
After a while, the land crabs82 came out of their holes and began nosing at the scraps83 of the snake. The bigger offal could wait until the night.
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收听单词发音
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1
antennae
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| n.天线；触角 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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3
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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4
mangrove
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| n.(植物)红树，红树林 | |
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5
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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6
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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pal
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| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 | |
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9
zigzagged
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| adj.呈之字形移动的v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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11
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
flick
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| n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动 | |
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13
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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inquisitively
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| 过分好奇地； 好问地 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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17
slits
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| n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子 | |
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18
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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19
flailed
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| v.鞭打( flail的过去式和过去分词 )；用连枷脱粒；（臂或腿）无法控制地乱动；扫雷坦克 | |
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20
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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21
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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23
crab
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| n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气 | |
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24
enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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25
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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nuance
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| n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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awareness
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| n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智 | |
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detector
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| n.发觉者，探测器 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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31
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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32
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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33
camouflaged
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| v.隐蔽( camouflage的过去式和过去分词 )；掩盖；伪装，掩饰 | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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35
scoured
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| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
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36
flicks
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的第三人称单数 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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37
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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38
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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39
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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40
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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41
crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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42
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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43
scrawl
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| vt.潦草地书写；n.潦草的笔记，涂写 | |
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44
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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45
grilled
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| adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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46
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
efficiently
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| adv.高效率地，有能力地 | |
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48
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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49
thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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50
edgy
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| adj.不安的；易怒的 | |
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51
sliver
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| n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开 | |
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52
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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53
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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54
rib
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| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
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55
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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56
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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57
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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58
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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59
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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60
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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61
backbone
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| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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63
guts
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| v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠 | |
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64
bug
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| n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器 | |
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65
bugged
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| vt.在…装窃听器（bug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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66
pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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bucks
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| n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
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68
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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69
impersonal
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| adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的 | |
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70
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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71
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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73
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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74
oozing
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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75
supplicated
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| v.祈求，哀求，恳求( supplicate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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77
lulling
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的现在分词形式） | |
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78
tempo
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| n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度 | |
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79
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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80
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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81
spasm
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| n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作 | |
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82
crabs
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| n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 ) | |
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83
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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