Part 3 In The Shadow Chapter 1

Hark! a bullet hurtles through the air!

　　Sylvestre stops short to listen!

　　He is upon an infinite meadow, green with the soft velvet¹ carpet ofspring. The sky is gray, lowering, as if to weigh upon one's veryshoulders.

　　They are six sailors reconnoitring among the fresh rice-fields, in amuddy pathway.

　　Hist! again the whizz, breaking the silence of the air--a shrill,continuous sound, a kind of prolonged /zing/, giving one a strongimpression that the pellets buzzing by might have stung fatally.

　　For the first time in his life Sylvestre hears that music. The bulletscoming towards a man have a different sound from those fired byhimself: the far-off report is attenuated², or not heard at all, so itis easier to distinguish the sharp rush of metal as it swiftly passesby, almost grazing one's ears.

　　Crack! whizz! ping! again and yet again! The balls fall in regularshowers now. Close by the sailors they stop short, and are buried inthe flooded soil of the rice-fields, accompanied by a faint splash,like hail falling sharp and swift in a puddle³ of water.

　　The marines looked at one another as if it was all a piece of odd fun,and said:

　　"Only John Chinaman! pish!"To the sailors, Annamites, Tonquinese, or "Black Flags" are all of thesame Chinese family. It is difficult to show their contempt andmocking rancour, as well as eagerness for "bowling⁴ over the beggars,"when they speak of "the Chinese."Two or three bullets are still flying about, more closely grazing;they can be seen bouncing like grasshoppers⁵ in the green. The slightshower of lead did not last long.

　　Perfect silence returns to the broad verdant⁶ plain, and nowhere cananything be seen moving. The same six are still there, standing⁷ on thewatch, scenting⁸ the breeze, and trying to discover whence the volleycame. Surely from over yonder, by that clump⁹ of bamboos, which lookslike an island of feathers in the plain; behind it several pointedroofs appear half hidden. So they all made for it, their feet slippingor sinking into the soaked soil. Sylvestre runs foremost, on hislonger, more nimble legs.

　　No more buzz of bullets; they might have thought they were dreaming.

　　As in all the countries of the world, some features are the same; thecloudy gray skies and the fresh tints¹⁰ of fields in spring-time, forexample; one could imagine this upon French meadows, and these youngfellows, running merrily over them, playing a very different sportfrom this game of death.

　　But as they approach, the bamboos show the exotic delicacy¹¹ of theirfoliage, and the village roofs grow sharper in the singularity oftheir curves, and yellow men hidden behind advance to reconnoitre;their flat faces are contracted by fear and spitefulness. Thensuddenly they rush out screaming, and deploy¹² into a long line,trembling, but decided¹³ and dangerous.

　　"The Chinese!" shout the sailors again, with their same brave smile.

　　But this time they find that there are a good many--too many; and oneof them turning round perceives other Chinese coming from behind,springing up from the long tall grass.

　　At this moment, young Sylvestre came out grand; his old granny wouldhave been proud to see him such a warrior¹⁴. Since the last few days hehad altered. His face was bronzed, and his voice strengthened. He wasin his own element here.

　　In a moment of supreme¹⁵ indecision the sailors hit by the bulletsalmost yielded to an impulse of retreat, which would certainly havebeen death to them all; but Sylvestre continued to advance, clubbinghis rifle, and fighting a whole band, knocking them down right andleft with smashing blows from the butt-end. Thanks to him thesituation was reversed; that panic or madness that blindly deceivesall in these leaderless skirmishes had now passed over to the Chineseside, and it was they who began to retreat.

　　It was soon all over; they were fairly taking to their heels. The sixsailors, reloading their repeating rifles, shot them down easily; uponthe grass lay dead bodies by red pools, and skulls¹⁶ were emptying theirbrains into the river.

　　They fled, cowering¹⁷ like leopards¹⁸. Sylvestre ran after them, althoughhe had two wounds--a lance-thrust in the thigh¹⁹ and a deep gash²⁰ in hisarm; but feeling nothing save the intoxication²¹ of battle, thatunreasoning fever that comes of vigorous blood, gives lofty courage tosimple souls, and made the heroes of antiquity²².

　　One whom he was pursuing turned round, and with a spasm²³ of desperateterror took a deliberate aim at him. Sylvestre stopped short, smilingscornfully, sublime²⁴, to let him fire, and seeing the direction of theaim, only shifted a little to the left. But with the pressure upon thetrigger the barrel of the Chinese jingal deviated²⁵ slightly in the samedirection. He suddenly felt a smart rap upon his breast, and in aflash of thought understood what it was, even before feeling any pain;he turned towards the others following, and tried to cry out to themthe traditional phrase of the old soldier, "I think it's all up withme!" In the great breath that he inhaled²⁶ after having run, to refillhis lungs with air, he felt the air rush in also by a hole in hisright breast, with a horrible gurgling, like the blast in a brokenbellows. In that same time his mouth filled with blood, and a sharppain shot through his side, which rapidly grew worse, until it becameatrocious and unspeakable. He whirled round two or three times, hisbrain swimming too; and gasping²⁷ for breath through the rising red tidethat choked him, fell heavily in the mud.

1 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

2 attenuated   

v.（使）变细( attenuate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变薄；（使）变小；减弱

参考例句：

• an attenuated form of the virus 毒性已衰减的病毒
• You're a seraphic suggestion of attenuated thought . 你的思想是轻灵得如同天使一般的。 来自辞典例句

3 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

4 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

5 grasshoppers   

n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的

参考例句：

• Grasshoppers die in fall. 蚱蜢在秋天死去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are usually a lot of grasshoppers in the rice fields. 稻田里通常有许多蚱蜢。 来自辞典例句

6 verdant   

adj.翠绿的，青翠的，生疏的，不老练的

参考例句：

• Children are playing on the verdant lawn.孩子们在绿茵茵的草坪上嬉戏玩耍。
• The verdant mountain forest turns red gradually in the autumn wind.苍翠的山林在秋风中渐渐变红了。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 scenting   

vt.闻到（scent的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Soames, scenting the approach of a jest, closed up. 索来斯觉察出有点调侃的味儿来了，赶快把话打断。 来自辞典例句
• The pale woodbines and the dog-roses were scenting the hedgerows. 金银花和野蔷薇把道旁的树也薰香了。 来自辞典例句

9 clump   

n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走

参考例句：

• A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
• It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。

10 tints   

色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹

参考例句：

• leaves with red and gold autumn tints 金秋时节略呈红黄色的树叶
• The whole countryside glowed with autumn tints. 乡间处处呈现出灿烂的秋色。

11 delicacy   

n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴

参考例句：

• We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。
• He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

12 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

13 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。

14 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

15 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

16 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

17 cowering   

v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He turned his baleful glare on the cowering suspect. 他恶毒地盯着那个蜷缩成一团的嫌疑犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He stood over the cowering Herb with fists of fury. 他紧握着两个拳头怒气冲天地站在惊魂未定的赫伯面前。 来自辞典例句

18 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

19 thigh   

n.大腿；股骨

参考例句：

• He is suffering from a strained thigh muscle.他的大腿肌肉拉伤了，疼得很。
• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。

20 gash   

v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝

参考例句：

• The deep gash in his arm would take weeks to heal over.他胳膊上的割伤很深，需要几个星期的时间才能痊愈。
• After the collision,the body of the ship had a big gash.船被撞后，船身裂开了一个大口子。

21 intoxication   

n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning

参考例句：

• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。
• Predator: Intoxication-Damage over time effect will now stack with other allies. Predator:Intoxication,持续性伤害的效果将会与队友相加。

22 antiquity   

n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹

参考例句：

• The museum contains the remains of Chinese antiquity.博物馆藏有中国古代的遗物。
• There are many legends about the heroes of antiquity.有许多关于古代英雄的传说。

23 spasm   

n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作

参考例句：

• When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后，他虚弱无力，一直冒汗。
• He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦，一脚踢向椅子。

24 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。

25 deviated   

v.偏离，越轨( deviate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• On this occasion the plane deviated from its usual flight path. 这一次那架飞机偏离了正常的航线。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His statements sometimes deviated from the truth. 他的陈述有时偏离事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 inhaled   

v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼，深深吸了一口气。
• Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”