The Dominant1 Primordial2 BeastThe dominant primordial beast was strong in Buck4, and under thefierce conditions of trail life it grew and grew. Yet it was a secret growth.
His newborn cunning gave him poise5 and control. He was too busyadjusting himself to the new life to feel at ease, and not only did he notpick fights, but he avoided them whenever possible. A certaindeliberateness characterized his attitude. He was not prone6 to rashnessand precipitate7 action; and in the bitter hatred8 between him and Spitz hebetrayed no impatience9, shunned10 all offensive acts.
On the other hand, possibly because he divined in Buck a dangerousrival, Spitz never lost an opportunity of showing his teeth. He evenwent out of his way to bully11 Buck, striving constantly to start the fightwhich could end only in the death of one or the other. Early in the tripthis might have taken place had it not been for an unwonted accident.
At the end of this day they made a bleak13 and miserable14 camp on theshore of Lake Le Barge15. Driving snow, a wind that cut like a white-hotknife, and darkness had forced them to grope for a camping place.
They could hardly have fared worse. At their backs rose aperpendicular wall of rock, and Perrault and Francois were compelled tomake their fire and spread their sleeping robes on the ice of the lakeitself. The tent they had discarded at Dyea in order to travel light. Afew sticks of driftwood furnished them with a fire that thawed16 downthrough the ice and left them to eat supper in the dark.
Close in under the sheltering rock Buck made his nest. So snug18 andwarm was it, that he was loath19 to leave it when Francois distributed thefish which he had first thawed over the fire. But when Buck finishedhis ration20 and returned, he found his nest occupied. A warning snarltold him that the trespasser21 was Spitz. Till now Buck had avoidedtrouble with his enemy, but this was too much. The beast in him roared.
He sprang upon Spitz with a fury which surprised them both, and Spitzparticularly, for his whole experience with Buck had gone to teach himthat his rival was an unusually timid dog, who managed to hold his ownonly because of his great weight and size.
Francois was surprised, too, when they shot out in a tangle23 from thedisrupted nest and he divined the cause of the trouble. "A-a- ah!" hecried to Buck. "Gif it to heem, by Gar! Gif it to heem, the dirty t'eef!"Spitz was equally willing. He was crying with sheer rage andeagerness as he circled back and forth24 for a chance to spring in. Buckwas no less eager, and no less cautious, as he likewise circled back andforth for the advantage. But it was then that the unexpected happened,the thing which projected their struggle for supremacy25 far into the future,past many a weary mile of trail and toil26.
An oath from Perrault, the resounding27 impact of a club upon a bonyframe, and a shrill30 yelp31 of pain, heralded32 the breaking forth ofpandemonium. The camp was suddenly discovered to be alive withskulking furry34 forms, - starving huskies, four or five score of them, whohad scented35 the camp from some Indian village. They had crept inwhile Buck and Spitz were fighting, and when the two men sprangamong them with stout36 clubs they showed their teeth and fought back.
They were crazed by the smell of the food. Perrault found one withhead buried in the grub-box. His club landed heavily on the gaunt ribs,and the grub-box was capsized on the ground. On the instant a score ofthe famished37 brutes38 were scrambling39 for the bread and bacon. Theclubs fell upon them unheeded. They yelped40 and howled under the rainof blows, but struggled none the less madly till the last crumb41 had been devoured42.
In the meantime the astonished team-dogs had burst out of theirnests only to be set upon by the fierce invaders43. Never had Buck seensuch dogs. it seemed as though their bones would burst through theirskins. They were mere44 skeletons, draped loosely in draggled hides,with blazing eyes and slavered fangs45. But the hunger-madness made them terrifying, irresistible47. There was no opposing them. The team-dogs were swept back against the cliff at the first onset48. Buck wasbeset by three huskies, and in a trice his head and shoulders were rippedand slashed49. The din28 was frightful51. Billee was crying as usual.
Dave and Sol-leks, dripping blood from a score of wounds, werefighting bravely side by side. Joe was snapping like a demon33. Once,his teeth closed on the fore52 leg of a husky, and he crunched54 downthrough the bone. Pike, the malingerer55, leaped upon the crippled animal,breaking its neck with a quick flash of teeth and a jerk, Buck got afrothing adversary56 by the throat, and was sprayed with blood when histeeth sank through the jugular57. The warm taste of it in his mouthgoaded him to greater fierceness. He flung himself upon another, andat the same time felt teeth sink into his own throat. It was Spitz,treacherously attacking from the side.
Perrault and Francois, having cleaned out their part of the camp,hurried to save their sled-dogs. The wild wave of famished beastsrolled back before them, and Buck shook himself free. But it was onlyfor a moment. The two men were compelled to run back to save thegrub, upon which the huskies returned to the attack on the team. Billee,terrified into bravery, sprang through the savage58 circle and fled awayover the ice. Pike and Dub59 followed on his heels, with the rest of theteam behind. As Buck drew himself together to spring after them, outof the tail of his eye he saw Spitz rush upon him with the evidentintention of overthrowing62 him. Once off his feet and under that massof huskies, there was no hope for him. But he braced63 himself to theshock of Spitz's charge, then joined the flight out on the lake.
Later, the nine team-dogs gathered together and sought shelter in theforest. Though unpursued, they were in a sorry plight64. There was notone who was not wounded in four or five places, while some werewounded grievously. Dub was badly injured in a hind60 leg; Dolly, thelast husky added to the team at Dyea, had a badly torn throat; Joe hadlost an eye; while Billee, the good-natured, with an ear chewed and rentto ribbons, cried and whimpered throughout the night. At daybreakthey limped warily65 back to camp, to find the marauders gone and thetwo men in bad tempers. Fully66 half their grub supply was gone. Thehuskies had chewed through the sled lashings and canvas coverings. Infact, nothing, no matter how remotely eatable, had escaped them. Theyhad eaten a pair of Perrault's moose-hide moccasins, chunks67 out of theleather traces, and even two feet of lash50 from the end of Francois's whip.
He broke from a mournful contemplation of it to look over his wounded dogs.
"Ah, my frien's," he said softly, "mebbe it mek you mad dog, dosemany bites. Mebbe all mad dog, sacredam! Wot you t'ink, eh, Perrault?"The courier shook his head dubiously68. With four hundred miles oftrail still between him and Dawson, he could ill afford to have madnessbreak out among his dogs. Two hours of cursing and exertion69 got theharnesses into shape, and the wound-stiffened team was under way,struggling painfully over the hardest part of the trail they had yetencountered, and for that matter, the hardest between them and Dawson.
The Thirty Mile River was wide open. Its wild water defied thefrost, and it was in the eddies70 only and in the quiet places that the iceheld at all. Six days of exhausting toil were required to cover thosethirty terrible miles. And terrible they were, for every foot of them wasaccomplished at the risk of life to dog and man. A dozen times,Perrault, nosing the way broke through the ice bridges, being saved bythe long pole he carried, which he so held that it fell each time across thehole made by his body. But a cold snap was on, the thermometerregistering fifty below zero, and each time he broke through he wascompelled for very life to build a fire and dry his garments.
Nothing daunted71 him. It was because nothing daunted him that hehad been chosen for government courier. He took all manner of risks,resolutely thrusting his little weazened face into the frost and strugglingon from dim dawn to dark. He skirted the frowning shores on rim3 icethat bent72 and crackled under foot and upon which they dared not halt.
Once, the sled broke through, with Dave and Buck, and they were half-frozen and all but drowned by the time they were dragged out. Theusual fire was necessary to save them. They were coated solidly withice, and the two men kept them on the run around the fire, sweating andthawing, so close that they were singed73 by the flames.
At another time Spitz went through, dragging the whole team afterhim up to Buck, who strained backward with all his strength, his foreThe Call of the Wild25paws on the slippery edge and the ice quivering and snapping all around.
But behind him was Dave, likewise straining backward, and behind thesled was Francois, pulling till his tendons cracked.
Again, the rim ice broke away before and behind, and there was noescape except up the cliff. Perrault scaled it by a miracle, whileFrancois prayed for just that miracle; and with every thong74 and sledlashing and the last bit of harness rove into a long rope, the dogs werehoisted, one by one, to the cliff crest75. Francois came up last, after thesled and load. Then came the search for a place to descend76, whichdescent was ultimately made by the aid of the rope, and night foundthem back on the river with a quarter of a mile to the day's credit.
By the time they made the Hootalinqua and good ice, Buck wasplayed out. The rest of the dogs were in like condition; but Perrault, tomake up lost time, pushed them late and early. The first day theycovered thirty-five miles to the Big Salmon77; the next day thirty-fivemore to the Little Salmon; the third day forty miles, which brought themwell up toward the Five Fingers.
Buck's feet were not so compact and hard as the feet of the huskies.
His had softened78 during the many generations since the day his last wildancestor was tamed by a cave-dweller or river man. AU day long helimped in agony, and camp once made, lay down like a dead dog.
Hungry as he was, he would not move to receive his ration of fish,which Francois had to bring to him. Also, the dog-driver rubbedBuck's feet for half an hour each night after supper, and sacrificed thetops of his own moccasins to make four moccasins for Buck. This wasa great relief, and Buck caused even the weazened face of Perrault totwist itself into a grin one morning, when Francois forgot the moccasinsand Buck lay on his back, his four feet waving appealingly in the air, andrefused to budge79 without them. Later his feet grew hard to the trail,and the worn-out foot-gear was thrown away.
At the Pelly one morning, as they were harnessing up, Dolly, whohad never been conspicuous80 for anything, went suddenly mad. Sheannounced her condition by a long, heartbreaking wolf howl that sentevery dog bristling81 with fear, then sprang straight for Buck. He hadnever seen a dog go mad, nor did he have any reason to fear madness;yet he knew that here was horror, and fled away from it in a panic.
Straight away he raced, with Dolly, panting and frothing, one leapbehind; nor could she gain on him, so great was his terror, nor could heleave her, so great was her madness. He plunged82 through the woodedbreast of the island, flew down to the lower end, crossed a back channelfilled with rough ice to another island, gained a third island, curved backto the main river, and in desperation started to cross it. And all the time,though he did not took, he could hear her snarling83 just one leap behind.
Francois called to him a quarter of a mile away and he doubled back,still one leap ahead, gasping84 painfully for air and putting all his faith inthat Francois would save him. The dog-driver held the axe86 poised87 inhis hand, and as Buck shot past him the axe crashed down upon madDolly's head.
Buck staggered over against the sled, exhausted88, sobbing89 for breath,helpless. This was Spitz's opportunity. He sprang upon Buck, andtwice his teeth sank into his unresisting foe90 and ripped and tore the fleshto the bone. Then Francois's lash descended91, and Buck had thesatisfaction of watching Spitz receive the worst whipping as yetadministered to any of the teams.
"One devil, dat Spitz," remarked Perrault. "Some dam day heem keel dat Buck.""Dat Buck two devils, " was Francois's rejoinder. "All de tam Iwatch dat Buck I know for sure. Lissen: some dam fine day heem getmad lak hell an' den12 heem chew dat Spitz all up an) spit heem out on desnow. Sure. I know."From then on it was war between them. Spitz, as lead-dog andacknowledged master of the team, felt his supremacy threatened by thisstrange Southland dog. And strange Buck was to him, for of the manySouthland dogs he had known, not one had shown up worthily92 in campand on trail. They were all too soft, dying under the toil, the frost, andstarvation. Buck was the exception. He alone endured and prospered,matching the husky in strength, savagery93, and cunning. Then he was amasterful dog, and what made him dangerous was the fact that the clubof the man in the red sweater had knocked all blind pluck and rashnessout of his desire for mastery. He was preeminently cunning, and couldbide his time with a patience that was nothing less than primitive94.
It was inevitable95 that the clash for leadership should come. Buckwanted it. He wanted it because it was his nature, because he had beengripped tight by that nameless, incomprehensible pride of the trail andtrace--that pride which holds dogs in the toil to the last gasp85, which luresthem to die joyfully97 in the harness, and breaks their hearts if they are cutout of the harness. This was the pride of Dave as wheel-dog, of Sol-leks as he pulled with all his strength; the pride that laid hold of them atbreak of camp, transforming them from sour and sullen98 brutes intostraining, eager, ambitious creatures; the pride that spurred them on allday and dropped them at pitch of camp at night, letting them fall backinto gloomy unrest and uncontent. This was the pride that bore upSpitz and made him thrash the sled-dogs who blundered and shirked inthe traces or hid away at harness-up time in the morning. Likewise itwas this pride that made him fear Buck as a possible lead-dog. Andthis was Buck's pride, too.
He openly threatened the other's leadership. He came between himand the shirks he should have punished. And he did it deliberately99.
One night there was a heavy snowfall, and in the morning Pike, themalingerer, did not appear. He was securely hidden in his nest under afoot of snow. Francois called him and sought him in vain. Spitz waswild with wrath100. He raged through the camp, smelling and digging inevery likely place, snarling so frightfully that Pike heard and shivered inhis hiding-place.
But when he was at last unearthed101, and Spitz flew at him to punishhim, Buck flew, with equal rage, in between. So unexpected was it,and so shrewdly managed, that Spitz was hurled102 backward and off hisfeet. Pike, who had been trembling abjectly103, took heart at this openmutiny, and sprang upon his overthrown104 leader. Buck, to whom fairplay was a forgotten code, likewise sprang upon Spitz. But Francois,chuckling at the incident while unswerving in the administration ofjustice, brought his lash down upon Buck with all his might. Thisfailed to drive Buck from his prostrate105 rival, and the butt106 of the whip wasbrought into play. Half- stunned107 by the blow, Buck was knockedbackward and the lash laid upon him again and again, while Spitzsoundly punished the many times offending Pike.
In the days that followed, as Dawson grew closer and closer, Buckstill continued to interfere108 between Spitz and the culprits; but he did itcraftily, when Francois was not around, With the covert109 mutiny of Buck,a general insubordination sprang up and increased. Dave and Sol-lekswere unaffected, but the rest of the team went from bad to worse.
Things no longer went right. There was continual bickering111 andjangling. Trouble was always afoot, and at the bottom of it was Buck.
He kept Francois busy, for the dog- driver was in constant apprehension112 ofthe life-and-death struggle between the two which he knew must takeplace sooner or later; and on more than one night the sounds ofquarrelling and strife113 among the other dogs turned him out of hissleeping robe, fearful that Buck and Spitz were at it.
But the opportunity did not present itself, and they pulled intoDawson one dreary114 afternoon with the great fight still to come. Herewere many men, and countless115 dogs, and Buck found them all at work.
It seemed the ordained116 order of things that dogs should work. All daythey swung up and down the main street in long teams, and in the nighttheir jingling117 bells still went by. They hauled cabin logs and firewood,freighted up to the mines, and did all manner of work that horses did inthe Santa Clara Valley. Here and there Buck met Southland dogs, but inthe main they were the wild wolf husky breed. Every night, regularly,at nine, at twelve, at three, they lifted a nocturnal song, a weird118 and eeriechant, in which it was Buck's delight to join.
With the aurora119 borealis flaming coldly overhead, or the starsleaping in the frost dance, and the land numb120 and frozen under its pall121 ofsnow, this song of the huskies might have been the defiance122 of life, onlyit was pitched in minor123 key, with long- drawn124 wailings and half-sobs, andwas more the pleading of life, the articulate travail125 of existence. It wasan old song, old as the breed itself--one of the first songs of the youngerworld in a day when songs were sad. It was invested with the woe126 ofunnumbered generations, this plaint by which Buck was so strangelystirred. When he moaned and sobbed127, it was with the pain of livingthat was of old the pain of his wild fathers, and the fear and mystery ofthe cold and dark that was to them fear and mystery. And that heshould be stirred by it marked the completeness with which he harkedback through the ages of fire and roof to the raw beginnings of life in thehowling ages.
Seven days from the time they pulled into Dawson, they droppeddown the steep bank by the Barracks to the Yukon Trail, and pulled forDyea and Salt Water. Perrault was carrying despatches if anythingmore urgent than those he had brought in; also, the travel pride hadgripped him, and he purposed to make the record trip of the year.
Several things favored him in this. The week's rest had recuperated128 thedogs and put them in thorough trim. The trail they had broken into thecountry was packed hard by later journeyers. And further, the policehad arranged in two or three places deposits of grub for dog and man,and he was travelling light.
They made Sixty Mile, which is a fifty-mile run, on the first day; andthe second day saw them booming up the Yukon well on their way toPelly. But such splendid running was achieved not without greattrouble and vexation on the part of Francois. The insidious129 revolt ledby Buck had destroyed the solidarity130 of the team. It no longer was asone dog leaping in the traces. The encouragement Buck gave the rebelsled them into all kinds of petty misdemeanors. No more was Spitz aleader greatly to be feared. The old awe17 departed, and they grew equalto challenging his authority. Pike robbed him of half a fish one night,and gulped131 it down under the protection of Buck. Another night Duband Joe fought Spitz and made him forego the punishment they deserved.
And even Billee, the good-natured, was less good-natured, and whinednot half so placatingly132 as in former days. Buck never came near Spitzwithout snarling and bristling menacingly. In fact, his conductapproached that of a bully, and he was given to swaggering up and downbefore Spitz's very nose.
The breaking down of discipline likewise affected110 the dogs in theirrelations with one another. They quarrelled and bickered133 more thanever among themselves, till at times the camp was a howling bedlam134.
Dave and Sol-leks alone were unaltered, though they were made irritableby the unending squabbling. Francois swore strange barbarous oaths,and stamped the snow in futile135 rage, and tore his hair. His lash wasalways singing among the dogs, but it was of small avail. Directly hisback was turned they were at it again. He backed up Spitz with hiswhip, while Buck backed up the remainder of the team. Francois knewhe was behind all the trouble, and Buck knew he knew; but Buck wastoo clever ever again to be caught red-handed. He worked faithfully inthe harness, for the toil had become a delight to him; yet it was agreater delight slyly to precipitate a fight amongst his mates and tanglethe traces.
At the mouth of the Tahkeena, one night after supper, Dub turned upa snowshoe rabbit, blundered it, and missed. In a second the wholeteam was in full cry. A hundred yards away was a camp of theNorthwest Police, with fifty dogs, huskies all, who joined the chase.
The rabbit sped down the river, turned off into a small creek136, up thefrozen bed of which it held steadily137. It ran lightly on the surface of thesnow, while the dogs ploughed through by main strength. Buck led thepack, sixty strong, around bend after bend, but he could not gain. Helay down low to the race, whining138 eagerly, his splendid body flashingforward, leap by leap, in the wan96 white moonlight. And leap by leap,like some pale frost wraith139, the snowshoe rabbit flashed on ahead.
All that stirring of old instincts which at stated periods drives menout from the sounding cities to forest and plain to kill things bychemically propelled leaden pellets, the blood lust140, the joy to kill--allthis was Buck's, only it was infinitely141 more intimate. He was rangingat the head of the pack, running the wild thing down, the living meat, tokill with his own teeth and wash his muzzle142 to the eyes in warm blood.
There is an ecstasy143 that marks the summit of life, and beyond whichlife cannot rise. And such is the paradox144 of living, this ecstasy comeswhen one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness thatone is alive. This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to theartist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame; it comes to thesoldier, war-mad on a stricken field and refusing quarter; and it came toBuck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf-cry, straining after thefood that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through themoonlight. He was sounding the deeps of his nature, and of the partsof his nature that were deeper than he, going back into the womb ofTime. He was mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave ofbeing, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint145, and sinew in that itwas everything that was not death, that it was aglow146 and rampant,expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly147 under the stars and overthe face of dead matter that did not move.
But Spitz, cold and calculating even in his supreme148 moods, left thepack and cut across a narrow neck of land where the creek made a longbend around. Buck did not know of this, and as he rounded the bend,the frost wraith of a rabbit still flitting before him, he saw another andlarger frost wraith leap from the overhanging bank into the immediatepath of the rabbit. It was Spitz. The rabbit could not turn, and as thewhite teeth broke its back in mid22 air it shrieked149 as loudly as a strickenman may shriek150. At sound of this, the cry of Life plunging151 down fromLife's apex152 in the grip of Death, the fall pack at Buck's heels raised ahell's chorus of delight.
Buck did not cry out. He did not check himself, but drove in uponSpitz, shoulder to shoulder, so hard that he missed the throat. Theyrolled over and over in the powdery snow. Spitz gained his feet almostas though he had not been overthrown, slashing153 Buck down the shoulderand leaping clear. Twice his teeth clipped together, like the steel jaws154 ofa trap, as he backed away for better footing, with lean and lifting lipsthat writhed155 and snarled156.
In a flash Buck knew it. The time had come. It was to the death.
As they circled about, snarling, ears laid back, keenly watchful157 for theadvantage, the scene came to Buck with a sense of familiarity. Heseemed to remember it all,--the white woods, and earth, and moonlight,and the thrill of battle. Over the whiteness and silence brooded aghostly calm. There was not the faintest whisper of air--nothing moved,not a leaf quivered, the visible breaths of the dogs rising slowly andlingering in the frosty air. They had made short work of the snowshoerabbit, these dogs that were ill-tamed wolves; and they were now drawnup in an expectant circle. They, too, were silent, their eyes onlygleaming and their breaths drifting slowly upward. To Buck it wasnothing new or strange, this scene of old time. It was as though it hadalways been, the wonted way of things.
Spitz was a practised fighter. From Spitzbergen through the Arctic,and across Canada and the Barrens, he had held his own with all mannerof dogs and achieved to mastery over them. Bitter rage was his, butnever blind rage. In passion to rend158 and destroy, he never forgot thathis enemy was in like passion to rend and destroy. He never rushed tillhe was prepared to receive a rush; never attacked till he had first defended that attack.
In vain Buck strove to sink his teeth in the neck of the big white dog.
Wherever his fangs struck for the softer flesh, they were countered bythe fangs of Spitz. Fang46 clashed fang, and lips were cut and bleeding,but Buck could not penetrate159 his enemy's guard. Then he warmed upand enveloped160 Spitz in a whirlwind of rushes. Time and time again hetried for the snow-white throat, where life bubbled near to the surface,and each time and every time Spitz slashed him and got away. ThenBuck took to rushing, as though for the throat, when, suddenly drawingback his head and curving in from the side, he would drive his shoulderat the shoulder of Spitz, as a ram29 by which to overthrow61 him. Butinstead, Buck's shoulder was slashed down each time as Spitz leaped lightly away.
Spitz was untouched, while Buck was streaming with blood andpanting hard. The fight was growing desperate. And all the while thesilent and wolfish circle waited to finish off whichever dog went down.
As Buck grew winded, Spitz took to rushing, and he kept him staggeringfor footing. Once Buck went over, and the whole circle of sixty dogsstarted up; but he recovered himself, almost in mid air, and the circlesank down again and waited.
But Buck possessed161 a quality that made for greatness-- imagination.
He fought by instinct, but he could fight by head as well. He rushed, asthough attempting the old shoulder trick, but at the last instant swept lowto the snow and in. His teeth closed on Spitz's left fore leg. Therewas a crunch53 of breaking bone, and the white dog faced him on threelegs. Thrice he tried to knock him over, then repeated the trick andbroke the right fore leg. Despite the pain and helplessness, Spitzstruggled madly to keep up. He saw the silent circle, with gleamingeyes, lolling tongues, and silvery breaths drifting upward, closing inupon him as he had seen similar circles close in upon beaten antagonistsin the past. Only this time he was the one who was beaten.
There was no hope for him. Buck was inexorable. Mercy was athing reserved for gender162 climes. He manoeuvred for the final rush.
The circle had tightened163 till he could feel the breaths of the huskies onhis flanks. He could see them, beyond Spitz and to either side, halfcrouching for the spring, their eyes fixed164 upon him. A pause seemed tofall. Every animal was motionless as though turned to stone. OnlySpitz quivered and bristled165 as he staggered back and forth, snarling withhorrible menace, as though to frighten off impending166 death. ThenBuck sprang in and out; but while he was in, shoulder had at lastsquarely met shoulder. The dark circle became a dot on the moon-flooded snow as Spitz disappeared from view. Buck stood and lookedon, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who hadmade his kill and found it good.
收听单词发音 |
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dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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primordial
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| adj.原始的；最初的 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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barge
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| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
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thawed
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| 解冻 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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19
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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20
ration
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| n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应 | |
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21
trespasser
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| n.侵犯者；违反者 | |
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22
mid
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| adj.中央的，中间的 | |
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23
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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24
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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25
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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26
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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27
resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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28
din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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29
ram
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| (random access memory)随机存取存储器 | |
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30
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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31
yelp
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| vi.狗吠 | |
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32
heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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33
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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34
furry
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| adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的 | |
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35
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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37
famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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38
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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39
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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40
yelped
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
crumb
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| n.饼屑，面包屑，小量 | |
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42
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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43
invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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44
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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45
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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46
fang
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| n.尖牙，犬牙 | |
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47
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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48
onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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49
slashed
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| v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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50
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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51
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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52
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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53
crunch
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| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
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54
crunched
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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55
malingerer
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| n.装病以逃避职责的人 | |
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56
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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57
jugular
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| n.颈静脉 | |
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58
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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59
dub
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| vt.（以某种称号）授予，给...起绰号，复制 | |
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60
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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61
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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62
overthrowing
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| v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止 | |
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63
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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64
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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65
warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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66
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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67
chunks
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| 厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分 | |
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68
dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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69
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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70
eddies
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| （水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 ) | |
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71
daunted
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| 使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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73
singed
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| v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿] | |
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74
thong
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| n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带 | |
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75
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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76
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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77
salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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78
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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79
budge
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| v.移动一点儿；改变立场 | |
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80
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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81
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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82
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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83
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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84
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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85
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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86
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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87
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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88
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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89
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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90
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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91
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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92
worthily
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| 重要地，可敬地，正当地 | |
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93
savagery
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| n.野性 | |
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94
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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95
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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96
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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97
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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98
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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99
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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100
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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101
unearthed
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| 出土的（考古） | |
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102
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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103
abjectly
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| 凄惨地； 绝望地； 糟透地； 悲惨地 | |
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104
overthrown
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| adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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105
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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106
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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107
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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108
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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109
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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110
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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111
bickering
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| v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁 | |
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112
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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113
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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114
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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115
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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116
ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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117
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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118
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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119
aurora
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| n.极光 | |
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120
numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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121
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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122
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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123
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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124
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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125
travail
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| n.阵痛；努力 | |
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126
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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127
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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128
recuperated
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| v.恢复（健康、体力等），复原( recuperate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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129
insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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130
solidarity
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| n.团结；休戚相关 | |
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131
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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132
placatingly
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133
bickered
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| v.争吵( bicker的过去式和过去分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁 | |
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134
bedlam
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| n.混乱，骚乱；疯人院 | |
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135
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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136
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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137
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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138
whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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139
wraith
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| n.幽灵；骨瘦如柴的人 | |
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140
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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141
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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142
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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143
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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144
paradox
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| n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物) | |
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145
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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146
aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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147
exultantly
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| adv.狂欢地，欢欣鼓舞地 | |
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148
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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149
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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150
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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151
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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152
apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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153
slashing
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| adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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154
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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155
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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156
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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157
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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158
rend
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| vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取 | |
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159
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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160
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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161
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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162
gender
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| n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性 | |
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163
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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164
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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165
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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166
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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