Chapter 33

 I held my breath and waited. The door closed and I heard Hank’s pleading whisper. “I’m sorry, kitten. Please, I was just hacked¹ off at McKeever. Not you. C’mon to bed and we’ll see about it in the morning. I’ll talk to the old man about it in the morning. C’mon, Viv, kitten, please. ...Please...?” As quietly as possible I climbed back into bed and covered up, and lay for a long time before I fell asleep, listening to Hank beg in a tired, irritated, and most unheroic whisper from next door. (He closes his eyes, smiling slightly. “I used to think in his comic-book domain² there could be no equals: There was but one Captain Marvel³ and little Billy was his prophet . . .”) And I thought again of the limp I had noticed earlier that afternoon in Hank’s swimming stride. A limp and a whine⁴: these were the first of much evidence I would try to amass⁵ to convince myself that this man wasn’t really so much; he wasn’t really going to be so hard to measure up to or pull down when the time came. (“I used to try. Eyes clenched⁶ prayerfully I used to exhaust every possible pronunciation of that magic Shazam before resigning myself that no one, especially me, could ever hope to contest that mighty⁷ Orange Giant of the cleft⁸ chin and codpiece . . .”) And that it wasn’t going to be really so hard finding—this time, this second try—(“I used to try . . .”) finding my magic word. (“But it didn’t occur to me until now . . . that I might not only have been saying the wrong Shazam, but that I must also have been seeking lightning from the wrong source . . .”) And fell asleep to dream of flying instead of falling . . . Next door to Lee, alone in her room, Viv broods as she combs out her hair for bed: maybe she should have said something to Hank before letting him storm off to bed; something to let him know she doesn’t really care what Dolly McKeever says—or her pimply⁹ old man either ...but ... why can’t he see it my way just once? Then scolds herself for her self-indulgence and rises to turn out the light. In Wakonda the Real Estate Man finishes his carving¹⁰ and places it alongside the others: well, the face doesn’t resemble that general this time, by gosh—although, there is something kind of familiar about the features, ridiculously familiar, frighteningly familiar—and feels the carving knife go sweaty in his palm. And in Portland, Floyd Evenwrite turns his practiced cursing on the union flunky who has not made a duplicate and won’t be able to compile a report in less than two weeks because he is going to the hospital in the morning to have a hernia tucked ...the damn little snake! And Simone falls asleep before her candlelit Virgin¹¹, certain that the little wooden figure is convinced of her purity, but more than ever tangled¹² in her own doubts. And Jenny rises from bed with a pain in her stomach, throws the leftovers¹³ of her boiled tree toads¹⁴ into the slop jar, and burns her illustrated¹⁵ copy of Macbeth in the stove. And the old boltcutter, having shouted so long across the river and drunk so much thunderbird, begins to forget that the voice calling to him is his own. And the vines and tides climb; and mildew¹⁶ stalks the front-room rug where Hank left wet footprints; and the river roams the fields like a glistening¹⁷ bird of prey¹⁸. To know a thing you have to trust what you know, and all that you know, and as far as you know in whatever direction your knowing drags you. I once had a pet pine squirrel named Omar who lived in the cotton secret and springy dark of our old green davenport; Omar knew that davenport; he knew from the Inside what I only sat on from the Out, and trusted his knowledge to keep him from being squashed by my ignorance. He survived until a red plaid blanket—spread to camouflage¹⁹ the worn-out Outside— confused him so he lost his faith in his familiarity with the In. Instead of trying to incorporate a plaid exterior²⁰ into the scheme of his world he moved to the rainspout at the back of the house and was drowned in the first fall shower, probably still blaming that blanket: damn this world that just won’t hold still for us! Damn it anyway! Of Hank’s wife the loungers lounging outside the union office or sitting in the Snag know this: “She come from outa state. She reads books but’s no back-East big-city bluenose like old Henry’s second woman. And she’s mighty nice, to my thinking.” “Maybe so, but—” “Oh, she’s a dust-bowl girl. And skinny as second-growth pine. But I wouldn’t kick her from between the sheets.” “No; neither would I but—” “She’s a very sweet kid, Viv is. Always friendly when you run into her . . .” “Yeah, I know all that, but ...there’s something peculiar²¹ about her, you know?” “Well, hell, remember where she’s living at; the fact that any woman survives over in that snake pit is a case for Ripley. And bound to make her a little ding-y . . .” “I don’t mean that. I mean—well, say, how come Hank don’t ever bring her around town?” “Same reason nobody brings in his old woman, Mel, you dumb cluck: cause she’d cramp²² his style if he wanted to cut up a little. Hank ain’t above honky-tonking some. Remember how he used to go tearing off to the beach with Anne May Grissom or Barbara the Barmaid from Yachats or one of those carhops out at the A and W Root Beer place hanging on to him and that motorcycle for dear life?” “Yeah, Mel; and besides . . . it probably ain’t too pleasant for her in town, people feeling like they do. So he keeps her home and happy, as the saying goes . . .” “Yeah, but that’s one of the things I mean: what kind of woman would stand for that noise like she has? I tell you, there’s something funny about her . . .” “Maybe so, but—funny something and all—I still wouldn’t kick her out from between the sheets.” And refuse to speak more about that funny something. They also know many other things about Viv that they never speak of, as though they fear that to admit noticing the girl’s peculiar floating walk, or her slender, flickering²³ hands, or her white neck, or the way she sometimes wears a small cluster of leaves on her blouse like a corsage, would be admitting more than a passing attention. Talk of Simone’s billowing breasts is frequently heard in front of the union hall, as well as occasional debates arguing how many feet of number-four line some intrepid²⁴ adventurer would need for an exploration of Indian Jenny’s cavern²⁵. In fact, except for Viv, any local female anatomy²⁶ is target for talk; but when Viv comes up in the conversation the men act as though they have noticed only the scantiest²⁷ qualities: Nice kid... friendly . . . little on the lean side but meat’s sweeter close to the bone. As though that is all she has going. As though by omission²⁸ they categorically deny noticing more. Viv came from Colorado, from a hot, flat, swart town where scorpions²⁹ hid in black cracks in the clay and tumbleweeds lined the fences to watch the cattle trucks roll by. Rocky Ford³⁰ was the town’s name, and, across a white wooden arch that supported a green wooden watermelon and spanned the incoming railroad, was lettered the town’s fame: “The Watermelon Capitol of the World.” The arch has fallen now, but when Hank came wheeling across from New York—July, zigzagging³¹ west from Connecticut on the Harley he’d bought with his muster³²-out pay—the painted legend and the wooden watermelon both glazed³³ bright green in the sulphur sun and a wide oilcloth banner announced the Annual Watermelon Fair, All the Melon a Man can Eat . . . FREE!!!! “Hard to beat a deal like that,” Hank concluded amiably³⁴ and geared the cycle down to avoid the crowd mingling³⁵ through the streets in flowered shirts and billowing slacks, sullen³⁶ straw hats and hazy³⁷ blue bib overalls³⁸. He called to the first baked face that turned slowly in the direction of his cycle, “Hey, Dad, which way to the free melons?” The question had surprising effect. The baked face shattered in a pattern of cracks like a clay pond bed drying suddenly in the terrific sun. “Sure!” the mouth croaked³⁹. “Sure! I work myself rag-assed t’ give melons away t’ the first, t’ the first smelly hobo who comes—” Then, as the face had shattered, the voice crumbled⁴⁰, becoming a rusty⁴¹ outraged⁴² squeak⁴³ like a well sucking dust. Hank drove on, leaving the man clutching at his swollen⁴⁴ red neck. “I’d probably do better,” he decided⁴⁵, “asking one of the townspeople, or the tourists ...and leave the poor devils from the farms alone. They act a little salty about free produce.” He drove slowly, down a main street bright with red and white striped bunting and rodeo posters, feeling the sweat start on his forehead now that he’d slackened his speed. This is Hank’s bell. He liked driving a motorcycle on a July afternoon with his shirt unbuttoned for the wind to whip his sweat chill. He even liked smart-ass boys tossing torpedoes⁴⁶ at the wheels to make the cycle rear in fright. He liked the look of people milling about the sidewalks with bright satin ribbons pinned to their breast pockets, dangling⁴⁷ little wooden melons. He liked cranky children, smeared⁴⁸ with mustard, clutching long sticks to fat green balloons striped to look like watermelons; and hot women sitting shadowed in pick-ups fanning their cheeks with Watchtower pamphlets; and the melons stacked on gleaming straw in the backs of these pick-ups lettered across the tailgate with white shoe polish. four bits each three for a dollar. He liked the month. His money belt held almost a thousand dollars in muster pay and he liked being free from the bone-dissolving grasp of the United States Military with a thousand dollars’ muster pay sweated against his hide under his pants, a good new used cycle between his legs, and a whole country to roam across at just the speed he chose. This is Hank’s bell ringing. ... Yet—yet with all these myriad⁴⁹ joys going for him, Hank had never in his life been more unhappy and less able to explain why. Because in spite of all these things so enjoyable, there was something off kilter. He couldn’t say exactly what was off, but after days of denying it he was finally grudgingly⁵⁰ admitting that he and the world just were not seeing eye to eye. And it griped him that this was so.

1 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

2 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

3 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

4 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

5 amass   

vt.积累，积聚

参考例句：

• How had he amassed his fortune?他是如何积累财富的呢？
• The capitalists amass great wealth by exploiting workers.资本家剥削工人而积累了巨额财富。

6 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

8 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

9 pimply   

adj.肿泡的；有疙瘩的；多粉刺的；有丘疹的

参考例句：

• Now, we won't submit to impertinence from these pimply, tipsy virgins. 现在我们决不能忍受这群长着脓包、喝醉了的小兔崽子们的无礼举动。 来自辞典例句
• A head stuck out cautiously-a square, pimply, purplish face with thick eyebrows and round eyes. 车厢里先探出一个头来，紫酱色的一张方脸，浓眉毛，圆眼睛，脸上有许多小疱。 来自互联网

10 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

11 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

12 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

13 leftovers   

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

• He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。
• She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

14 toads   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All toads blink when they swallow. 所有的癞蛤蟆吞食东西时都会眨眼皮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Toads have shorter legs and are generally more clumsy than frogs. 蟾蜍比青蛙脚短，一般说来没有青蛙灵活。 来自辞典例句

15 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

16 mildew   

n.发霉；v.（使）发霉

参考例句：

• The interior was dark and smelled of mildew.里面光线很暗，霉味扑鼻。
• Mildew may form in this weather.这种天气有可能发霉。

17 glistening   

adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》

18 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

19 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

20 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

21 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

22 cramp   

n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚

参考例句：

• Winston stopped writing,partly because he was suffering from cramp.温斯顿驻了笔，手指也写麻了。
• The swimmer was seized with a cramp and had to be helped out of the water.那个在游泳的人突然抽起筋来，让别人帮着上了岸。

23 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

24 intrepid   

adj.无畏的，刚毅的

参考例句：

• He is not really satisfied with his intrepid action.他没有真正满意他的无畏行动。
• John's intrepid personality made him a good choice for team leader.约翰勇敢的个性适合作领导工作。

25 cavern   

n.洞穴，大山洞

参考例句：

• The cavern walls echoed his cries.大山洞的四壁回响着他的喊声。
• It suddenly began to shower,and we took refuge in the cavern.天突然下起雨来，我们在一个山洞里避雨。

26 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

27 scantiest   

adj.（大小或数量）不足的，勉强够的( scanty的最高级 )

参考例句：

• Barney knew scantiest amount of French and not a syllable of anything else. 巴尼只懂一点点法文，其他外语一个字都不会。 来自互联网
• The thong bikini offered the scantiest coverage yet imagined in the rear of the suit. 这种皮带式比基尼在泳衣的后部提供了可以想像的最少的覆盖。 来自互联网

28 omission   

n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长

参考例句：

• The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
• The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

29 scorpions   

n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You promise me that Black Scorpions will never come back to Lanzhou. 你保证黑蝎子永远不再踏上兰州的土地。 来自电影对白
• You Scorpions are rather secretive about your likes and dislikes. 天蝎：蝎子是如此的神秘，你的喜好很难被别人洞悉。 来自互联网

30 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

31 zigzagging   

v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的现在分词 )；盘陀

参考例句：

• She walked along, zigzagging with her head back. 她回头看着，弯弯扭扭地向前走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We followed the path zigzagging up the steep slope. 我们沿着小径曲曲折折地爬上陡坡。 来自互联网

32 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

33 glazed   

adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神

参考例句：

• eyes glazed with boredom 厌倦无神的眼睛
• His eyes glazed over at the sight of her. 看到她时，他的目光就变得呆滞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

34 amiably   

adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地

参考例句：

• She grinned amiably at us. 她咧着嘴向我们亲切地微笑。
• Atheists and theists live together peacefully and amiably in this country. 无神论者和有神论者在该国和睦相处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

35 mingling   

adj.混合的

参考例句：

• There was a spring of bitterness mingling with that fountain of sweets. 在这个甜蜜的源泉中间，已经掺和进苦涩的山水了。
• The mingling of inconsequence belongs to us all. 这场矛盾混和物是我们大家所共有的。

36 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

37 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

38 overalls   

n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣

参考例句：

• He is in overalls today.他今天穿的是工作裤。
• He changed his overalls for a suit.他脱下工装裤，换上了一套西服。

39 croaked   

v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说

参考例句：

• The crow croaked disaster. 乌鸦呱呱叫预报灾难。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• 'she has a fine head for it," croaked Jacques Three. “她有一个漂亮的脑袋跟着去呢，”雅克三号低沉地说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

40 crumbled   

（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏

参考例句：

• He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
• Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

41 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

42 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

43 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

44 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

45 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

46 torpedoes   

鱼雷( torpedo的名词复数 )； 油井爆破筒； 刺客； 掼炮

参考例句：

• We top off, take on provisions and torpedoes, and go. 我们维修完，装上给养和鱼雷就出发。
• The torpedoes hit amidship, and there followed a series of crashing explosions. 鱼雷击中了船腹，引起了一阵隆隆的爆炸声。

47 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

48 smeared   

弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上

参考例句：

• The children had smeared mud on the walls. 那几个孩子往墙上抹了泥巴。
• A few words were smeared. 有写字被涂模糊了。

49 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

50 grudgingly   

参考例句：

• He grudgingly acknowledged having made a mistake. 他勉强承认他做错了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their parents unwillingly [grudgingly] consented to the marriage. 他们的父母无可奈何地应允了这门亲事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》