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CHAPTER X IN THE ICE
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 From Unalaska, into which port we put to have the captain's leg attended to, the brig stood northwesterly for the spring whaling on the bowhead and right whale grounds off the Siberian coast. We were a week's sail from the Fox Islands when we encountered our first ice. It appeared in small chunks1 floating down from the north. The blocks became more numerous until they dappled the sea. They grew in size. Strings2 and floes appeared. Then we brought up against a great ice field stretching to the north as far as the eye could see. It was all floe3 ice broken into hummocks4 and pressure ridges6 and pinnacles8, with level spaces between. There were no towering 'bergs such as are launched into the sea from the glaciers9 on the Greenland coast and the Pacific coast of Alaska. The highest 'berg I saw on the voyage was not more than forty feet high. It was composed of floe ice which had been forced upward by the pressure of the pack.
 
The crow's nest was now rigged and placed in position on the cross-trees abaft10 the fore-mast, between the topsail and the fore-top-gallant-sail yard. It was a square box of heavy white canvas nailed upon a wooden frame-work. When a man stood in it the canvas sides reached to his breast and were a protection against the bitter winds. From early morning until dark an officer and a boat-steerer occupied the crow's nest and kept a constant lookout11 for whales.
 
As soon as we struck the ice the captain's slop-chest was broken open and skin clothes were dealt out to the men. Accoutred for cold weather, I wore woolen12 underwear and yarn13 socks next my flesh; an outer shirt of squirrel skin with hood14 or parka; pants and vest of hair seal of the color and sheen of newly minted silver; a coat of dogskin that reached almost to my knees; a dogskin cap; deer-skin socks with the hair inside over my yarn socks; walrus-hide boots and walrus-hide mittens15 over yarn mittens. The walrus-boots were fastened by a gathering16 string just below the knees and by thongs17 of tanned skin about the ankle. Some of the men wore heavy reindeer-skin coats. The skin clothes worn by the officers and boat-steerers were of finer quality and more pretentious18. Perhaps the handsomest costume was that of Little Johnny. It consisted of coat, vest, and trousers of silvery hair-seal, with the edges of the coat trimmed with the snowwhite fur of fur-seal pups. With this he wore a black dogskin cap and walrus-hide boots.
 
While we were among the ice, the officer in the crow's nest directed the course of the brig. Whaling officers are great fellows to show their skill by just grazing dangerous ice. Many a time we green hands stood with our hearts in our mouths as the ship seemed about to crash into a 'berg bows-on.
 
"Starboard, sir," the helmsman would respond.
 
"Starboard," would come the order from aloft.
 
The bow would swing slowly to one side and the 'berg would go glancing along the rail so close perhaps that we could have grabbed a snowball off some projection19.
 
"Steady," the officer would call.
 
"Steady, sir." The bow would stop in its lateral20 swing.
 
"Port."
 
"Port, sir." The bow would swing the other way.
 
"Steady." We would be upon our old course again.
 
Once I remember the mate was in the crow's nest and had been narrowly missing ice all day for the fun of the thing—"showing off," as we rather disturbed green hands said. A 'berg about thirty feet high, a giant for Behring Sea waters, showed a little ahead and to leeward21 of our course. The mate thought he could pass to windward. He kept the brig close to the wind until the 'berg was very near. Then he saw a windward passage was impossible and tried suddenly to go to leeward.
 
"Hard up your wheel," he cried.
 
"Hard up it is, sir."
 
The bow swung toward the 'berg—swung slowly, slowly across it. The tip of the jib-boom almost rammed22 a white pinnacle7. Just when everybody was expecting the brig to pile up in wreck23 on the ice, the great 'berg swept past our starboard rail. But we had not missed it. Its jagged edges scraped a line an inch deep along our side from bow to stern.
 
Shooting okchug (or, as it is sometimes spelled, ooksook) or hair seals was a favorite amusement in the spring ice. The mate was an expert with a rifle. He shot many as they lay sunning themselves on ice cakes. Okchugs are as large as oxen and are covered with short silvery hair so glossy24 that it fairly sparkles. If an okchug was killed outright25, its head dropped over upon the ice and it lay still. If only slightly wounded, the animal flounced off into the sea. If vitally hurt, it remained motionless with its head up and glaring defiance26, whereupon a boat's crew would row out to the ice cake and a sailor would finish the creature with a club.
 
It was exciting to step on a small ice cake to face a wounded and savage27 okchug. The animal would come bouncing on its flippers straight at one with a vicious barking roar. The nose was the okchug's most vulnerable point. A tap on the nose with a club would stretch the great creature out dead. It required a cool head, a steady nerve, and a good aim to deliver this finishing stroke upon the small black snout. If one missed or slipped on the ice, the possible consequences would not have been pleasant. We tanned the skins of the okchugs and made them into trousers or "pokes28." The meat was hung over the bows to keep in an ice-box of all outdoors. Ground up and made into sausages, it was a pièce de resistance on the forecastle bill of fare.
 
One night in the latter part of May we saw far off a great light flaring29 smokily across the sea. It was what is known in whaler parlance30 as a bug-light and was made by blazing blubber swinging in an iron basket between the two smokestacks of a whale-ship's try-works. By it the crew of that distant ship was working at trying out a whale. The bug-light signaled to all the whaling fleet the first whale of the season.
 
The great continent of ice drifting southward gradually closed round the fleet. The ships had worked so far in there was no escape. In the early part of June the brig was frozen in. For three weeks the vessel31 remained motionless in solid ice with every stitch of canvas furled. No water or land was in sight—nothing but one great sweep of broken and tumbled ice as far as the eye could see. Those three ice-bound June weeks were given over to idleness. A stove was placed in the forecastle and was kept going night and day. This made it possible to keep comfortable and to read.
 
We went on frequent seal hunts. We strolled across the frozen sea to visit the other ships, the nearest of which was two miles away. Visiting is called "gamming" by whalers. We learned the gossip of the fleet, who had taken the first whale, how many whales had been caught, the adventures of the ships, the comedies and tragedies of the whaling season.
 
We established, too, what we called the "Behring Sea Circulating Library." There were a number of books in every forecastle. These greasy32, dog-eared volumes were passed about from ship to ship. Perhaps there were twenty books aboard the brig which had been read by almost every member of the crew, forward and aft. Before we got out of the ice, we had exchanged these volumes for an entirely33 new lot from other ships.
 
One morning I awoke with the ship rocking like a cradle. I pulled on my clothes and hurried on deck. The ice fields were in wild commotion34. Great swells35 from some storm upon the open sea to the south were rolling under them. Crowded and tumultuous waves of ice twenty feet high chased each other across the frozen fields from horizon to horizon. The ship would sink for a moment between ridges of ice and snow, and then swing up on the crest36 of an ice mountain. Great areas of ice would fall away as if the sea had opened beneath them. Then they would shoot up and shut out half the sky. The broken and jagged edges of these white and solid billows appeared for an instant like a range of snowy sierras which, in another instant, would crumble37 from view as if some seismic38 cataclysm39 had shaken them down in ruin. The air was filled with grinding, crushing, ominous40 noises and explosions.
 
The ship was in imminent41 peril42. In that mad turmoil43 of ice it seemed certain she would be ground to pieces. Captain Shorey, who was hobbling about on crutches44, ordered a cask of bread, a cask of water, and a barrel of beef hoisted45 on deck ready to be thrown out on an ice cake in case the brig were wrecked46 and we were cast away.
 
In the grinding of the floes, the ship became wedged in between two immense pieces of ice. The great bergs washed closer and closer. When they rose on some tremendous billow, great caverns47, washed out by the sea, appeared in their sides like mouths, edged with splinters and points of blue and glittering ice, like fangs48. As they rose and fell, it seemed the two white monsters were opening and closing devouring49 maws for us while the suck of the water in their ice caves made noises like the roar of hungry beasts of prey50.
 
A cable was run out hurriedly over the bow and a bowline at the end of it was slipped over a hummock5 of ice. With the inboard end wound around the windlass, all hands worked like beavers51 to heave the brig out of her dangerous position. It was all the crew could do to swing the windlass bars up and down. The ship went forward slowly, almost imperceptibly, and all the time the great bergs swept closer and closer. For a long time it looked as if we were doomed52. There was no doubt about the ship's fate if the bergs struck it. But inch by inch, heave by heave, we hauled her through. Ten minutes later, the ice monsters came together with a force that would have crushed an ironclad.
 
Gradually patches of clear water began to appear in the ice. It was as though the white fields were opening great blue eyes. Little lakes and zigzag53 lanes of water formed. Sails were set. The brig began to work her way along. Soon she was swinging on heavy billows—not white billows of ice but green billows of water, thick with ice in stars and constellations54.
 

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1 chunks a0e6aa3f5109dc15b489f628b2f01028     
厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 ); (某物)相当大的数量或部分
参考例句:
  • a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
  • Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大,还能再切小一点吗?
2 strings nh0zBe     
n.弦
参考例句:
  • He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上,随意地拨着吉他的弦。
  • She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
3 floe ijHx4     
n.大片浮冰
参考例句:
  • Two penguins are standing on ice floe.两只企鹅站在一块浮冰上。
  • Somehow the seal manages to reach a tiny ice floe.不知何故,海豹设法到达了一块小浮冰上。
4 hummocks 58eb27f03a91d04270c63ee25bf89b00     
n.小丘,岗( hummock的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Interesting hummocks swirls and are found on the surface of the landslide. 在山体滑坡的表面,我们能够看到有趣的山包,盘绕的丘陵和悬崖。 来自互联网
5 hummock XdCzX     
n.小丘
参考例句:
  • He crawled up a small hummock and surveyed the prospect.他慢腾腾地登上一个小丘,看了看周围的地形。
  • The two young men advanced cautiously towards the hummock.两个年轻人小心翼翼地向小丘前进。
6 ridges 9198b24606843d31204907681f48436b     
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊
参考例句:
  • The path winds along mountain ridges. 峰回路转。
  • Perhaps that was the deepest truth in Ridges's nature. 在里奇斯的思想上,这大概可以算是天经地义第一条了。
7 pinnacle A2Mzb     
n.尖塔,尖顶,山峰;(喻)顶峰
参考例句:
  • Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
  • It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。
8 pinnacles a4409b051276579e99d5cb7d58643f4e     
顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 ); 顶点; 尖顶; 小尖塔
参考例句:
  • What would be the pinnacles of your acting and music? 对你而言什麽代表你的演技和音乐的巅峰?
  • On Skye's Trotternish Peninsula, basalt pinnacles loom over the Sound of Raasay. 在斯开岛的特洛登尼许半岛,玄武岩尖塔俯瞰着拉塞海峡。
9 glaciers e815ddf266946d55974cdc5579cbd89b     
冰河,冰川( glacier的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
  • It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川,又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分(高一)
10 abaft xzxzyF     
prep.在…之后;adv.在船尾,向船尾
参考例句:
  • Abaft every acknowledged man,there is a woman.每个成功男人的背地,都有一个女人。
  • The captain ordered the crews to stand abaft the main deck.船长命令船员们站在主甲板后面。
11 lookout w0sxT     
n.注意,前途,瞭望台
参考例句:
  • You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
  • It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来,公司的前景可就不妙了。
12 woolen 0fKw9     
adj.羊毛(制)的;毛纺的
参考例句:
  • She likes to wear woolen socks in winter.冬天她喜欢穿羊毛袜。
  • There is one bar of woolen blanket on that bed.那张床上有一条毛毯。
13 yarn LMpzM     
n.纱,纱线,纺线;奇闻漫谈,旅行轶事
参考例句:
  • I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。
  • The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
14 hood ddwzJ     
n.头巾,兜帽,覆盖;v.罩上,以头巾覆盖
参考例句:
  • She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
  • The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。
15 mittens 258752c6b0652a69c52ceed3c65dbf00     
不分指手套
参考例句:
  • Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
  • I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。
16 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
17 thongs 2de3e7e6aab22cfe40b21f071283c565     
的东西
参考例句:
  • Things ain't what they used to be. 现在情况不比从前了。
  • Things have been going badly . 事情进展得不顺利。
18 pretentious lSrz3     
adj.自命不凡的,自负的,炫耀的
参考例句:
  • He is a talented but pretentious writer.他是一个有才华但自命不凡的作家。
  • Speaking well of yourself would only make you appear conceited and pretentious.自夸只会使你显得自负和虚伪。
19 projection 9Rzxu     
n.发射,计划,突出部分
参考例句:
  • Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
  • The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。
20 lateral 83ey7     
adj.侧面的,旁边的
参考例句:
  • An airfoil that controls lateral motion.能够控制横向飞行的机翼。
  • Mr.Dawson walked into the court from a lateral door.道森先生从一个侧面的门走进法庭。
21 leeward 79GzC     
adj.背风的;下风的
参考例句:
  • The trees all listed to leeward.树木统统向下风方向倾。
  • We steered a course to leeward.我们向下风航驶。
22 rammed 99b2b7e6fc02f63b92d2b50ea750a532     
v.夯实(土等)( ram的过去式和过去分词 );猛撞;猛压;反复灌输
参考例句:
  • Two passengers were injured when their taxi was rammed from behind by a bus. 公共汽车从后面撞来,出租车上的两位乘客受了伤。
  • I rammed down the earth around the newly-planted tree. 我将新栽的树周围的土捣硬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
23 wreck QMjzE     
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难
参考例句:
  • Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
  • No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。
24 glossy nfvxx     
adj.平滑的;有光泽的
参考例句:
  • I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
  • She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。
25 outright Qj7yY     
adv.坦率地;彻底地;立即;adj.无疑的;彻底的
参考例句:
  • If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事,你应该直率地对我说。
  • You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。
26 defiance RmSzx     
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗
参考例句:
  • He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
  • He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。
27 savage ECxzR     
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人
参考例句:
  • The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
  • He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。
28 pokes 6cad7252d0877616449883a0e703407d     
v.伸出( poke的第三人称单数 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交
参考例句:
  • He pokes his nose into everything. 他这人好管闲事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Only the tip of an iceberg pokes up above water. 只有冰山的尖端突出于水面。 来自辞典例句
29 flaring Bswzxn     
a.火焰摇曳的,过份艳丽的
参考例句:
  • A vulgar flaring paper adorned the walls. 墙壁上装饰着廉价的花纸。
  • Goebbels was flaring up at me. 戈塔尔当时已对我面呈愠色。
30 parlance VAbyp     
n.说法;语调
参考例句:
  • The term "meta directory" came into industry parlance two years ago.两年前,商业界开始用“元目录”这个术语。
  • The phrase is common diplomatic parlance for spying.这种说法是指代间谍行为的常用外交辞令。
31 vessel 4L1zi     
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。
32 greasy a64yV     
adj. 多脂的,油脂的
参考例句:
  • He bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean his greasy oven.昨天他买了强力清洁剂来清洗油污的炉子。
  • You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时,你会厌恶油腻的气味。
33 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
34 commotion 3X3yo     
n.骚动,动乱
参考例句:
  • They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵,引起了一阵骚乱。
  • Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间,整条街道变得一片混乱。
35 swells e5cc2e057ee1aff52e79fb6af45c685d     
增强( swell的第三人称单数 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情)
参考例句:
  • The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
  • A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。
36 crest raqyA     
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖
参考例句:
  • The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
  • He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。
37 crumble 7nRzv     
vi.碎裂,崩溃;vt.弄碎,摧毁
参考例句:
  • Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
  • Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂,意志永不动摇。
38 seismic SskyM     
a.地震的,地震强度的
参考例句:
  • Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
  • The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。
39 cataclysm NcQyH     
n.洪水,剧变,大灾难
参考例句:
  • The extinct volcano's eruption would mean a cataclysm for the city.死火山又重新喷发,对这座城市来说意味着大难临头。
  • The cataclysm flooded the entire valley.洪水淹没了整个山谷。
40 ominous Xv6y5     
adj.不祥的,不吉的,预兆的,预示的
参考例句:
  • Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
  • There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。
41 imminent zc9z2     
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。
42 peril l3Dz6     
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物
参考例句:
  • The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
  • The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。
43 turmoil CKJzj     
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱
参考例句:
  • His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
  • The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
44 crutches crutches     
n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑
参考例句:
  • After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
  • When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后,不得不靠拐杖走路。
45 hoisted d1dcc88c76ae7d9811db29181a2303df     
把…吊起,升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
  • The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。
46 wrecked ze0zKI     
adj.失事的,遇难的
参考例句:
  • the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
  • the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞
47 caverns bb7d69794ba96943881f7baad3003450     
大山洞,大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Within were dark caverns; what was inside them, no one could see. 里面是一个黑洞,这里面有什么东西,谁也望不见。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
  • UNDERGROUND Under water grottos, caverns Filled with apes That eat figs. 在水帘洞里,挤满了猿争吃无花果。
48 fangs d8ad5a608d5413636d95dfb00a6e7ac4     
n.(尤指狗和狼的)长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 );(蛇的)毒牙;罐座
参考例句:
  • The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
49 devouring c4424626bb8fc36704aee0e04e904dcf     
吞没( devour的现在分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光
参考例句:
  • The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
  • He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。
50 prey g1czH     
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨
参考例句:
  • Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
  • The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
51 beavers 87070e8082105b943967bbe495b7d9f7     
海狸( beaver的名词复数 ); 海狸皮毛; 棕灰色; 拼命工作的人
参考例句:
  • In 1928 some porpoises were photographed working like beavers to push ashore a waterlogged mattress. 1928年有人把这些海豚象海狸那样把一床浸泡了水的褥垫推上岸时的情景拍摄了下来。
  • Thus do the beavers, thus do the bees, thus do men. 海狸是这样做的,蜜蜂是这样做的,人也是这样做的。
52 doomed EuuzC1     
命定的
参考例句:
  • The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
  • A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。
53 zigzag Hf6wW     
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
参考例句:
  • The lightning made a zigzag in the sky.闪电在天空划出一道Z字形。
  • The path runs zigzag up the hill.小径向山顶蜿蜒盘旋。
54 constellations ee34f7988ee4aa80f9502f825177c85d     
n.星座( constellation的名词复数 );一群杰出人物;一系列(相关的想法、事物);一群(相关的人)
参考例句:
  • The map of the heavens showed all the northern constellations. 这份天体图标明了北半部所有的星座。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • His time was coming, he would move in the constellations of power. 他时来运转,要进入权力中心了。 来自教父部分


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