Part 2 In The Breton Land Chapter 9

Sylvestre was soon out on the ocean, rapidly whisked away over theunknown seas, far more blue than Iceland's. The ship that carried himoff to the confines of Asia was ordered to go at full speed and stopnowhere. Ere long he felt that he was far away, for the speed wasunceasing, and even without a care for the sea or the wind. As he wasa topman, he lived perched aloft, like a bird, avoiding the soldierscrowded upon the deck.

　　Twice they stopped, however, on the coast of Tunis, to take up moreZouaves and mules¹; from afar he had perceived the white cities amidsands and arid² hills. He had even come down from his top to look atthe dark-brown men draped in their white robes who came off in smallboats to peddle³ fruit; his mates told him that these were Bedouins.

　　The heat and the sun, which were unlessened by the autumn season, madehim feel out of his element.

　　One day they touched at Port Said. All the flags of Europe wavedoverhead from long staves, which gave it an aspect of Babel on afeast-day, and the glistening⁴ sands surrounded the town like a movingsea.

　　They had stopped there, touching⁵ the quays⁶, almost in the midst of thelong streets full of wooden shanties⁷. Since his departure, Sylvestrenever had seen the outside world so closely, and the movement andnumbers of boats excited and amused him.

　　With never-ending screeching⁸ from their escape-pipes, all these boatscrowded up in the long canal, as narrow as a ditch, which wound itselfin a silvery line through the infinite sands. From his post on high hecould see them as in a procession under a window, till disappearing inthe plain.

　　On the canal all kinds of costumes could be seen; men in many-colouredattire, busy and shouting like thunder. And at night the clamour ofconfused bands of music mingled⁹ with the diabolical¹⁰ screams of thelocomotives, playing noisy tunes¹¹, as if to drown the heart-breakingsorrow of the exiles who for ever passed onward¹².

　　The next day, at sunrise, they, too, glided¹³ into the narrow ribbon ofwater between the sands. For two days the steaming in the long filethrough the desert lasted, then another sea opened before them, andthey were once again upon the open. They still ran at full speedthrough this warmer expanse, stained like red marble, with theirboiling wake like blood. Sylvestre remained all the time up in histop, where he would hum his old song of "Jean-Francois de Nantes," toremind him of his dear brother Yann, of Iceland, and the good oldbygone days.

　　Sometimes, in the depths of the shadowy distance, some wonderfullytinted mountain would arise. Notwithstanding the distance and thedimness around, the names of those projected capes¹⁴ of countriesappeared as the eternal landmarks¹⁵ on the great roadways of the earthto the steersmen of this vessel¹⁶; but a topman is carried on like aninanimate thing, knowing nothing, and unconscious of the distance overthe everlasting¹⁷, endless waves.

　　All he felt was a terrible estrangement¹⁸ from the things of this world,which grew greater and greater; and the feeling was very defined andexact as he looked upon the seething¹⁹ foam²⁰ behind, and tried toremember how long had lasted this pace that never slackened night orday. Down on deck, the crowd of men, huddled²¹ together in the shadow ofthe awnings²², panted with weariness. The water and the air, even thevery light above, had a dull, crushing splendour; and the fadelessglory of those elements were as a very mockery of the human beingswhose physical lives are so ephemeral.

　　Once, up in his crow's nest, he was gladdened by the sight of flocksof tiny birds, of an unknown species, which fell upon the ship like awhirlwind of coal dust. They allowed themselves to be taken andstroked, being worn out with fatigue²³. All the sailors had them as petsupon their shoulders. But soon the most exhausted²⁴ among them began todie, and before long they died by thousands on the rigging, yards,ports, and sails--poor little things!--under the blasting sun of theRed Sea. They had come to destruction, off the Great Desert, fleeingbefore a sandstorm. And through fear of falling into the blue watersthat stretched on all sides, they had ended their last feeble flightupon the passing ship. Over yonder, in some distant region of Libya,they had been fledged in masses. Indeed, there were so many of them,that their blind and unkind mother, Nature, had driven away before herthis surplus, as unmoved as if they had been superabundant men. On thescorching funnels²⁵ and ironwork of the ship they died away; the deckwas strewn with their puny²⁶ forms, only yesterday so full of life,songs, and love. Now, poor little black dots, Sylvestre and the otherspicked them up, spreading out their delicate blue wings, with a lookof pity, and swept them overboard into the abysmal²⁷ sea.

　　Next came hosts of locusts²⁸, the spawn²⁹ of those conjured³⁰ up by Moses,and the ship was covered with them. At length, though, it surged on alifeless blue sea, where they saw no things around them, except fromtime to time the flying fish skimming along the level water.

1 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

2 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

3 peddle   

vt.(沿街)叫卖，兜售；宣传，散播

参考例句：

• She loves to peddle gossip round the village.她喜欢在村里到处说闲话。
• Street vendors peddle their goods along the sidewalk.街头摊贩沿著人行道兜售他们的商品。

4 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》

5 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

6 quays   

码头( quay的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She drove across the Tournelle bridge and across the busy quays to the Latin quarter. 她驾车开过图尔内勒桥，穿过繁忙的码头开到拉丁区。
• When blasting is close to such installations as quays, the charge can be reduced. 在靠近如码头这类设施爆破时，装药量可以降低。

7 shanties   

n.简陋的小木屋( shanty的名词复数 )；铁皮棚屋；船工号子；船歌

参考例句：

• A few shanties sprawl in the weeds. 杂草丛中零零落落地歪着几所棚屋。 来自辞典例句
• The workers live in shanties outside the factory. 工人们住在工厂外面的小棚屋内。 来自互联网

8 screeching   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
• the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景

9 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

10 diabolical   

adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的

参考例句：

• This maneuver of his is a diabolical conspiracy.他这一手是一个居心叵测的大阴谋。
• One speaker today called the plan diabolical and sinister.今天一名发言人称该计划阴险恶毒。

11 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

13 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 capes   

碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬

参考例句：

• It was cool and they were putting on their capes. 夜里阴冷，他们都穿上了披风。
• The pastor smiled to give son's two Capes five cents money. 牧师微笑着给了儿子二角五分钱。

15 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

16 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

17 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

18 estrangement   

n.疏远，失和，不和

参考例句：

• a period of estrangement from his wife 他与妻子分居期间
• The quarrel led to a complete estrangement between her and her family. 这一争吵使她同家人完全疏远了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 seething   

沸腾的，火热的

参考例句：

• The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
• The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。

20 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

21 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

22 awnings   

篷帐布

参考例句：

• Striped awnings had been stretched across the courtyard. 一些条纹雨篷撑开架在院子上方。
• The room, shadowed well with awnings, was dark and cool. 这间屋子外面有这篷挡着，又阴暗又凉快。

23 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

24 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

25 funnels   

漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱

参考例句：

• Conventional equipment such as mixing funnels, pumps, solids eductors and the like can be employed. 常用的设备，例如混合漏斗、泵、固体引射器等，都可使用。
• A jet of smoke sprang out of the funnels. 喷射的烟雾从烟囱里冒了出来。

26 puny   

adj.微不足道的，弱小的

参考例句：

• The resources at the central banks' disposal are simply too puny.中央银行掌握的资金实在太少了。
• Antonio was a puny lad,and not strong enough to work.安东尼奥是个瘦小的小家伙，身体还不壮，还不能干活。

27 abysmal   

adj.无底的，深不可测的，极深的；糟透的，极坏的；完全的

参考例句：

• The film was so abysmal that I fell asleep.电影太糟糕，看得我睡着了。
• There is a historic explanation for the abysmal state of Chinese cuisine in the United States.中餐在美国的糟糕状态可以从历史上找原因。

28 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 spawn   

n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产

参考例句：

• The fish were madly pushing their way upstream to spawn.鱼群为产卵而疯狂地向上游挤进。
• These fish will lay spawn in about one month from now.这些鱼大约一个月内会产卵。

30 conjured   

用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• He conjured them with his dying breath to look after his children. 他临终时恳求他们照顾他的孩子。
• His very funny joke soon conjured my anger away. 他讲了个十分有趣的笑话，使得我的怒气顿消。