Finally, without any preliminary indication, he began to weep. If the men struggling on the plain had had time and greater vision, they could have seen this strange tiny figure seated on a boulder7, surveying them while the tears streamed. It was as simple as some powerful symbol.
As the magic clear light of day amid the mountains dimmed the distances, and the plain shone as a pallid8 blue cloth marked by the red threads of the firing, the child arose and moved off to the unwelcoming door of his home. He called softly for his mother, and complained of his hunger in the familiar formula. The pearl-coloured cow, grinding her jaws9 thoughtfully, stared at him with her large eyes. The peaceful gloom of evening was slowly draping the hills.
The child heard a rattle10 of loose stones on the hillside, and facing the sound, saw a moment later a man drag himself up to the crest11 of the hill and fall panting. Forgetting his mother and his hunger, filled with calm interest, the child walked forward and stood over the heaving form. His eyes too were now large and inscrutably wise and sad like those of the animal in the house.
Peza rolled over quickly and gazed up into the fearless cherubic countenance13. He did not attempt to reply. He breathed as if life was about to leave his body. He was covered with dust; his face had been cut in some way, and his cheek was ribboned with blood. All the spick of his former appearance had vanished in a general dishevelment, in which he resembled a creature that had been flung to and fro, up and down, by cliffs and prairies during an earthquake. He rolled his eye glassily at the child.
They remained thus until the child repeated his words. "Are you a man?"
Peza gasped14 in the manner of a fish. Palsied, windless, and abject15, he confronted the primitive16 courage, the sovereign child, the brother of the mountains, the sky and the sea, and he knew that the definition of his misery17 could be written on a grass-blade.
点击收听单词发音
1 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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2 slant | |
v.倾斜,倾向性地编写或报道;n.斜面,倾向 | |
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3 colossal | |
adj.异常的,庞大的 | |
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4 contemplated | |
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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5 herded | |
群集,纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 ); 放牧; (使)向…移动 | |
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6 uproar | |
n.骚动,喧嚣,鼎沸 | |
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7 boulder | |
n.巨砾;卵石,圆石 | |
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8 pallid | |
adj.苍白的,呆板的 | |
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9 jaws | |
n.口部;嘴 | |
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10 rattle | |
v.飞奔,碰响;激怒;n.碰撞声;拨浪鼓 | |
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11 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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12 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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13 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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14 gasped | |
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要 | |
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15 abject | |
adj.极可怜的,卑屈的 | |
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16 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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17 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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