Part 3 In The Shadow Chapter 2

　　About a fortnight later, as the sky was darkening at the approach of therains, and the heat more heavily weighed over yellow Tonquin, Sylvestre brought to Hanoi, was sent to Ha-Long, and placed on board a hospital-ship about to return to France.

　　He had been carried about for some time on different stretchers, withintervals of rest at the ambulances. They had done all they could for him;but under the insufficient¹ conditions, his chest had filled with water on thepierced side, and the gurgling air entered through the wound, which wouldnot close up.

　　He had received the military medal, which gave him a moment's joy.

　　But he was no longer the warrior² of old--resolute of gait, and steady in hisresounding voice. All that had vanished before the long-suffering andweakening fever. He had become a home-sick boy again; he hardly spokeexcept in answering occasional questions, in a feeble and almost inaudiblevoice. To feel oneself so sick and so far away; to think that it wanted somany days before he could reach home! Would he ever live until then,with his strength ebbing³ away? Such a terrifying feeling of distancecontinually haunted him and weighed at every wakening; and when, aftera few hours' stupor⁴, he awoke from the sickening pain of his wounds, withfeverish heat and the whistling sound in his pierced bosom⁵, he imploredthem to put him on board, in spite of everything. He was very heavy tocarry into his ward⁶, and without intending it, they gave him some crueljolts on the way.

　　They laid him on one of the iron camp bedsteads placed in rows,hospital fashion, and then he set out in an inverse⁷ direction, on his longjourney through the seas. Instead of living like a bird in the full wind ofthe tops, he remained below deck, in the midst of the bad air of medicines,wounds, and misery⁸.

　　During the first days the joy of being homeward bound made him feela little better. He could even bear being propped⁹ up in bed with pillows,and at times he asked for his box. His seaman's chest was a deal box,bought in Paimpol, to keep all his loved treasures in; inside were lettersfrom Granny Yvonne, and also from Yann and Gaud, a copy-book intowhich he had copied some sea-songs, and one of the works of Confuciusin Chinese, caught up at random¹⁰ during pillage¹¹; on the blank sides of itsleaves he had written the simple account of his campaign.

　　Nevertheless he got no better, and after the first week, the doctorsdecided that death was imminent¹². They were near the Line now, in thestifling heat of storms. The troop-ship kept on her course, shaking her beds,the wounded and the dying; quicker and quicker she sped over the tossingsea, troubled still as during the sway of the monsoons¹⁴.

　　Since leaving Ha-Long more than one patient died, and was consignedto the deep water on the high road to France; many of the narrow beds nolonger bore their suffering burdens.

　　Upon this particular day it was very gloomy in the travelling hospital;on account of the high seas it had been necessary to close the iron port-lids,which made the stifling¹³ sick-room more unbearable¹⁵. Sylvestre was worse;the end was nigh. Lying always upon his wounded side, he pressed upon itwith both hands with all his remaining strength, to try and allay¹⁶ the waterydecomposition that rose in his right lung, and to breathe with the otherlung only. But by degrees the other was affected¹⁷ and the ultimate agonyhad begun.

　　Dreams and visions of home haunted his brain; in the hot darkness,beloved or horrible faces bent¹⁸ over him; he was in a never-endinghallucination, through which floated apparitions¹⁹ of Brittany and Iceland.

　　In the morning was called in the priest, and the old man, who was used toseeing sailors die, was astonished to find so pure a soul in so strong andmanly a body.

　　He cried out for air, air! but there was none anywhere; the ventilatorsno long gave any; the attendant, who was fanning him with a Chinese fan,only moved unhealthy vapours over him of sickening staleness, whichrevolted all lungs. Sometimes fierce, desperate fits came over him; hewished to tear himself away from that bed, where he felt death wouldcome to seize him, and rush above into the full fresh wind and try to liveagain. Oh! to be like those others, scrambling²⁰ about among the rigging,and living among the masts. But his extreme effort only ended in thefeeble lifting of his weakened head; something like the incompletedmovement of a sleeper²¹. He could not manage it, but fell back in the hollowof his crumpled²² bed, partly chained there by death; and each time, after thefatigue of a like shock, he lost all consciousness.

　　To please him they opened a port at last, although it was dangerous,the sea being very rough. It was going on for six in the evening. When thedisk was swung back, a red light entered, glorious and radiant. The dyingsun appeared upon the horizon in dazzling splendour, through a torn rift²³ ina gloomy sky; its blinding light glanced over the waves, and lit up thefloating hospital, like a waving torch.

　　But no air rushed in; the little there was outside, was powerless toenter and drive before it the fevered atmosphere. Over all sides of thatboundless equatorial sea, floated a warm and heavy moisture, unfit forrespiration. No air on any side, not even for the poor gasping²⁴ fellows ontheir deathbeds.

　　One vision disturbed him greatly; it was of his old grandmother,walking quickly along a road, with a heartrending look of alarm; fromlow-lying funereal²⁵ clouds above her, fell the drizzling²⁶ rain; she was on herway to Paimpol, summoned thither²⁷ to be informed of his death.

　　He was struggling now, with the death-rattle in his throat. From thecorners of his mouth they sponged away the water and blood, which hadwelled up in quantities from his chest in writhing²⁸ agony. Still the grand,glorious sun lit up all, like a conflagration²⁹ of the whole world, with blood-laden clouds; through the aperture³⁰ of the port-hole, a wide streak³¹ ofcrimson fire blazed in, and, spreading over Sylvestre's bed, formed a haloaround him.

　　At that very moment that same sun was to be seen in Brittany, wheremidday was about to strike. It was, indeed, the same sun, beheld³² at theprecise moment of its never-ending round; but here it kept quite anotherhue. Higher up in the bluish sky, it kept shedding a soft white light ongrandmother Yvonne, sitting out at her door, sewing.

　　In Iceland, too, where it was morning, it was shining at that samemoment of death. Much paler there, it seemed as if it only showed its faceby some miracle. Sadly it shed its rays over the fjord where /La Marie/floated; and now its sky was lit up by a pure northern light, which alwaysgives the idea of a frozen planet's reflection, without an atmosphere. With a cold accuracy, it outlined all the essentials of that stony³³ chaos³⁴ that isIceland; the whole of the country as seen from /La Marie/ seemed fixed³⁵ inone same perspective and held upright. Yann was there, lit up by a strangelight, fishing, as usual, in the midst of this lunar-like scenery.

　　As the beam of fiery³⁶ flame that came through the port-hole faded, andthe sun disappeared completely under the gilded³⁷ billows, the eyes of thegrandson rolled inward toward his brow as if to fall back into his head.

　　They closed his eyelids³⁸ with their own long lashes³⁹, and Sylvestrebecame calm and beautiful again, like a reclining marble statue of manlyrepose.

1 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

2 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。

3 ebbing   

（指潮水）退( ebb的现在分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落

参考例句：

• The pain was ebbing. 疼痛逐渐减轻了。
• There are indications that his esoteric popularity may be ebbing. 有迹象表明，他神秘的声望可能正在下降。

4 stupor   

v.昏迷；不省人事

参考例句：

• As the whisky took effect, he gradually fell into a drunken stupor.随着威士忌酒力发作，他逐渐醉得不省人事。
• The noise of someone banging at the door roused her from her stupor.梆梆的敲门声把她从昏迷中唤醒了。

5 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

6 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

7 inverse   

adj.相反的，倒转的，反转的；n.相反之物；v.倒转

参考例句：

• Evil is the inverse of good.恶是善的反面。
• When the direct approach failed he tried the inverse.当直接方法失败时，他尝试相反的做法。

8 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

9 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

10 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

11 pillage   

v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物

参考例句：

• The invading troops were guilty of rape and pillage.侵略军犯了抢劫和强奸的罪。
• It was almost pillage.这简直是一场洗劫。

12 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

13 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

14 monsoons   

n.（南亚、尤指印度洋的）季风( monsoon的名词复数 )；（与季风相伴的）雨季；（南亚地区的）雨季

参考例句：

• In Ban-gladesh, the monsoons have started. 在孟加拉，雨季已经开始了。 来自辞典例句
• The coastline significantly influences the monsoons in two other respects. 海岸线在另外两个方面大大地影响季风。 来自辞典例句

15 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

16 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

17 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

18 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

19 apparitions   

n.特异景象( apparition的名词复数 )；幽灵；鬼；（特异景象等的）出现

参考例句：

• And this year occurs the 90th anniversary of these apparitions. 今年是她显现的九十周年纪念。 来自互联网
• True love is like ghostly apparitions: everybody talks about them but few have ever seen one. 真爱就如同幽灵显现：所有人都谈论它们，但很少有人见到过一个。 来自互联网

20 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

22 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

23 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

24 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！”

25 funereal   

adj.悲哀的；送葬的

参考例句：

• He addressed the group in funereal tones.他语气沉痛地对大家讲话。
• The mood of the music was almost funereal.音乐的调子几乎像哀乐。

26 drizzling   

下蒙蒙细雨，下毛毛雨( drizzle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The rain has almost stopped, it's just drizzling now. 雨几乎停了，现在只是在下毛毛雨。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。

27 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

28 writhing   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was writhing around on the floor in agony. 她痛得在地板上直打滚。
• He was writhing on the ground in agony. 他痛苦地在地上打滚。

29 conflagration   

n.建筑物或森林大火

参考例句：

• A conflagration in 1947 reduced 90 percent of the houses to ashes.1947年的一场大火，使90%的房屋化为灰烬。
• The light of that conflagration will fade away.这熊熊烈火会渐渐熄灭。

30 aperture   

n.孔，隙，窄的缺口

参考例句：

• The only light came through a narrow aperture.仅有的光亮来自一个小孔。
• We saw light through a small aperture in the wall.我们透过墙上的小孔看到了亮光。

31 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

32 beheld   

v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

33 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

34 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

35 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

36 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

37 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

38 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

39 lashes   

n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• Mother always lashes out food for the children's party. 孩子们聚会时，母亲总是给他们许多吃的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Never walk behind a horse in case it lashes out. 绝对不要跟在马后面，以防它突然猛踢。 来自《简明英汉词典》