His heart full of the na?ve joys proper to his age, his mind preoccupied3 by the caterpillars and their processions, Jules walked at a good pace, forgetting heat and fatigue4. He had untied5 his cravat6 and thrown his blouse back on his shoulders. A holly7 stick, cut by his uncle from the hedge, served him as a third leg.
In the meantime the crickets chirped8 louder than usual; frogs croaked9 in the ponds; flies became teasing and persistent10; sometimes a breath of air all at once blew along the road and raised a whirling column of dust. Jules did not notice these signs, but his uncle did, and from time to time looked up at the sky. Masses of reddish mist in the south seemed to give him some concern. “Perhaps we shall have rain,” said he; “we must hurry.”
About three o’clock they were at the pine wood. Uncle Paul cut a branch bearing a magnificent nest. He had guessed right: all the caterpillars had returned to their lodging11, perhaps in prevision of bad weather. Then they sat in the shade of a group of pines, to rest a little before returning. Naturally they talked about caterpillars.
“The processionaries, you told me,” said Jules, “leave their nests to scatter12 over the pines and eat the leaves. There are, in fact, a great many branches almost reduced to sticks of dry wood. Look at that pine I am pointing at; it is half stripped of leaves, as if fire had passed over it. I like the way the processionaries travel, but I can’t help pitying those fine trees that wither13 under the miserable14 caterpillar1’s teeth.”
“If the owner of these pines understood his interests better,” returned Uncle Paul, “he would, in the winter, when the caterpillars are assembled in their silk bags, have the nests collected and burn them, in order to destroy the detestable breed that will gnaw15 the young shoots, browse16 the buds, and arrest the tree’s development. The harm is much greater in our orchards17. Various caterpillars live in companies on our fruit trees and spin nests in the same way as the processionaries. When summer comes, the starveling vermin scatter all over the trees, destroying leaves, buds, shoots. In a few hours the orchard18 is shorn and the crop is destroyed in its budding. So it is necessary to keep a careful lookout19 for caterpillar nests, remove them from the tree before spring, and burn them, so that nothing can escape; the future of the crop depends on it. It is fortunate that several kinds of creatures, little birds especially, come to our aid in this war to the death between man and the caterpillar; otherwise the worm, stronger than man on account of its infinite number, would ravage20 our crops. But we will talk of the little birds another time; the weather is threatening, we must go.”
See how the reddish mist in the south, thicker and darker every moment, has become a large black cloud visibly invading the still clear part of the sky. Wind precedes it, bending the tops of the pines like a field of grain. There rises from the soil that odor of dust which the dry earth gives forth21 at the beginning of a storm.
“We must not think of starting now,” cautioned Uncle Paul. “The storm is coming; it will be upon us in a few minutes. Let us hurry and find shelter.”
Rain forms in the distance like a dim curtain extending clear across the sky. The sheet of water advances rapidly; it would beat the fastest racing22 horse. It is coming, it has come. Violent flashes of lightning furrow23 it, thunder roars in its depths.
At a clap of thunder heavier than the others Jules starts. “Let us stay here, Uncle,” says the frightened child; “let us stay under this big bushy pine. It doesn’t rain here under cover.”
“No, my child,” replies his uncle, who perceives that they are in the very heart of the storm; “let us get away from this dangerous tree.”
And, taking Jules by the hand, he leads him hastily through the hail and rain. Beyond the wood Uncle Paul knows of an excavation24 hollowed out in the rock. They arrive there just as the storm breaks with all its force.
They had been there a quarter of an hour, silent before the solemn spectacle of the tempest, when a flash of fire, of dazzling brightness, rent the dark cloud in a zigzag25 line and struck a pine with a frightful26 detonation27 that had no reverberation28 or echo, but was so violent that one would have said the sky was falling. The fearful spectacle was over in the twinkling of an eye. Wild with terror, Jules had let himself fall on his knees, with clasped hands. He was crying and praying. His uncle’s serenity29 was undisturbed.
“Take courage, my poor child,” said Uncle Paul as soon as the first fright had passed. “Let us embrace each other and thank God for having kept us safe. We have just escaped a great danger; the thunderbolt struck the pine under which we were going to take shelter.”
“Oh, what a scare I had, Uncle!” cried the boy. “I thought I should die of it. When you insisted on hurrying away in spite of the rain, did you know that the bolt would strike that tree?”
“No, my dear, I knew nothing about it, nor could any one know; only certain reasons made me fear the neighborhood of the big branching pine, and prudence30 dictated31 the search for a less dangerous shelter. If I yielded to my fears, if I listened to the voice of prudence, let us give thanks to God, who gave me presence of mind at that moment.”
“You will tell me what made you avoid the dangerous shelter of the tree, will you not?”
“Very willingly; but when we are all together, so that each one may profit by it. No one ought to ignore the danger one runs in taking shelter under a tree during a storm.”
In the meantime the rain-cloud with its lightnings and thunders had moved on into the distance. On one side, the sun was setting radiant; on the opposite side, in the wake of the storm, the rainbow bent32 its immense bright arch of all colors. Uncle Paul and Jules started on their way, without forgetting the famous caterpillars’ nest which might have cost them so dear.
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1
caterpillar
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| n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫 | |
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caterpillars
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| n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带 | |
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3
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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7
holly
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| n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
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8
chirped
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| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的过去式 ) | |
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croaked
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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10
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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11
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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12
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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13
wither
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| vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡 | |
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14
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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15
gnaw
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| v.不断地啃、咬；使苦恼，折磨 | |
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16
browse
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| vi.随意翻阅，浏览；(牛、羊等)吃草 | |
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17
orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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19
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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20
ravage
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| vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废 | |
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21
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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22
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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23
furrow
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| n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹 | |
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24
excavation
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| n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地 | |
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25
zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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26
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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27
detonation
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| n.爆炸；巨响 | |
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28
reverberation
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| 反响； 回响； 反射； 反射物 | |
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29
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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30
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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31
dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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32
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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