Especially do I remember the hunger we endured on the mountains between Long Lake and Far Lake, and the calf6 we caught sleeping in the thicket7. Also, there are the Tree People who dwelt in the forest between Long Lake and the mountains. It was they who chased us into the mountains and compelled us to travel on to Far Lake.
First, after we left the river, we worked toward the west till we came to a small stream that flowed through marshlands. Here we turned away toward the north, skirting the marshes8 and after several days arriving at what I have called Long Lake. We spent some time around its upper end, where we found food in plenty; and then, one day, in the forest, we ran foul9 of the Tree People. These creatures were ferocious10 apes, nothing more. And yet they were not so different from us. They were more hairy, it is true; their legs were a trifle more twisted and gnarly, their eyes a bit smaller, their necks a bit thicker and shorter, and their nostrils11 slightly more like orifices in a sunken surface; but they had no hair on their faces and on the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet, and they made sounds similar to ours with somewhat similar meanings. After all, the Tree People and the Folk were not so unlike.
I found him first, a little withered12, dried-up old fellow, wrinkled-faced and bleary-eyed and tottery13. He was legitimate14 prey15. In our world there was no sympathy between the kinds, and he was not our kind. He was a Tree-Man, and he was very old. He was sitting at the foot of a tree—evidently his tree, for we could see the tattered16 nest in the branches, in which he slept at night.
I pointed17 him out to Lop-Ear, and we made a rush for him. He started to climb, but was too slow. I caught him by the leg and dragged him back. Then we had fun. We pinched him, pulled his hair, tweaked his ears, and poked18 twigs19 into him, and all the while we laughed with streaming eyes. His futile20 anger was most absurd. He was a comical sight, striving to fan into flame the cold ashes of his youth, to resurrect his strength dead and gone through the oozing21 of the years—making woeful faces in place of the ferocious ones he intended, grinding his worn teeth together, beating his meagre chest with feeble fists.
Also, he had a cough, and he gasped22 and hacked23 and spluttered prodigiously24. Every time he tried to climb the tree we pulled him back, until at last he surrendered to his weakness and did no more than sit and weep. And Lop-Ear and I sat with him, our arms around each other, and laughed at his wretchedness.
From weeping he went to whining25, and from whining to wailing26, until at last he achieved a scream. This alarmed us, but the more we tried to make him cease, the louder he screamed. And then, from not far away in the forest, came a “Goëk! Goëk!” to our ears. To this there were answering cries, several of them, and from very far off we could hear a big, bass27 “Goëk! Goëk! Goëk!” Also, the “Whoo-whoo!” call was rising in the forest all around us.
Then came the chase. It seemed it never would end. They raced us through the trees, the whole tribe of them, and nearly caught us. We were forced to take to the ground, and here we had the advantage, for they were truly the Tree People, and while they out-climbed us we out-footed them on the ground. We broke away toward the north, the tribe howling on our track. Across the open spaces we gained, and in the brush they caught up with us, and more than once it was nip and tuck. And as the chase continued, we realized that we were not their kind, either, and that the bonds between us were anything but sympathetic.
They ran us for hours. The forest seemed interminable. We kept to the glades28 as much as possible, but they always ended in more thick forest. Sometimes we thought we had escaped, and sat down to rest; but always, before we could recover our breath, we would hear the hateful “Whoo-whoo!” cries and the terrible “Goëk! Goëk! Goëk!” This latter sometimes terminated in a savage29 “Ha ha ha ha haaaaa!!!”
And in this fashion were we hunted through the forest by the exasperated30 Tree People. At last, by mid-afternoon, the slopes began rising higher and higher and the trees were becoming smaller. Then we came out on the grassy31 flanks of the mountains. Here was where we could make time, and here the Tree People gave up and returned to their forest.
The mountains were bleak32 and inhospitable, and three times that afternoon we tried to regain33 the woods. But the Tree People were lying in wait, and they drove us back. Lop-Ear and I slept that night in a dwarf34 tree, no larger than a bush. Here was no security, and we would have been easy prey for any hunting animal that chanced along.
In the morning, what of our new-gained respect for the Tree People, we faced into the mountains. That we had no definite plan, or even idea, I am confident. We were merely driven on by the danger we had escaped. Of our wanderings through the mountains I have only misty35 memories. We were in that bleak region many days, and we suffered much, especially from fear, it was all so new and strange. Also, we suffered from the cold, and later from hunger.
It was a desolate36 land of rocks and foaming37 streams and clattering38 cataracts39. We climbed and descended40 mighty41 canyons42 and gorges43; and ever, from every view point, there spread out before us, in all directions, range upon range, the unceasing mountains. We slept at night in holes and crevices44, and on one cold night we perched on top a slender pinnacle45 of rock that was almost like a tree.
And then, at last, one hot midday, dizzy with hunger, we gained the divide. From this high backbone46 of earth, to the north, across the diminishing, down-falling ranges, we caught a glimpse of a far lake. The sun shone upon it, and about it were open, level grass-lands, while to the eastward47 we saw the dark line of a wide-stretching forest.
We were two days in gaining the lake, and we were weak with hunger; but on its shore, sleeping snugly48 in a thicket, we found a part-grown calf. It gave us much trouble, for we knew no other way to kill than with our hands. When we had gorged49 our fill, we carried the remainder of the meat to the eastward forest and hid it in a tree. We never returned to that tree, for the shore of the stream that drained Far Lake was packed thick with salmon50 that had come up from the sea to spawn51.
Westward52 from the lake stretched the grass-lands, and here were multitudes of bison and wild cattle. Also were there many packs of wild dogs, and as there were no trees it was not a safe place for us. We followed north along the stream for days. Then, and for what reason I do not know, we abruptly53 left the stream and swung to the east, and then to the southeast, through a great forest. I shall not bore you with our journey. I but indicate it to show how we finally arrived at the Fire People’s country.
We came out upon the river, but we did not know it for our river. We had been lost so long that we had come to accept the condition of being lost as habitual54. As I look back I see clearly how our lives and destinies are shaped by the merest chance. We did not know it was our river—there was no way of telling; and if we had never crossed it we would most probably have never returned to the horde55; and I, the modern, the thousand centuries yet to be born, would never have been born.
And yet Lop-Ear and I wanted greatly to return. We had experienced homesickness on our journey, the yearning56 for our own kind and land; and often had I had recollections of the Swift One, the young female who made soft sounds, whom it was good to be with, and who lived by herself nobody knew where. My recollections of her were accompanied by sensations of hunger, and these I felt when I was not hungry and when I had just eaten.
But to come back to the river. Food was plentiful57, principally berries and succulent roots, and on the river bank we played and lingered for days. And then the idea came to Lop-Ear. It was a visible process, the coming of the idea. I saw it. The expression in his eyes became plaintive58 and querulous, and he was greatly perturbed59. Then his eyes went muddy, as if he had lost his grip on the inchoate60 thought. This was followed by the plaintive, querulous expression as the idea persisted and he clutched it anew. He looked at me, and at the river and the far shore. He tried to speak, but had no sounds with which to express the idea. The result was a gibberish that made me laugh. This angered him, and he grabbed me suddenly and threw me on my back. Of course we fought, and in the end I chased him up a tree, where he secured a long branch and poked me every time I tried to get at him.
And the idea had gone glimmering61. I did not know, and he had forgotten. But the next morning it awoke in him again. Perhaps it was the homing instinct in him asserting itself that made the idea persist. At any rate it was there, and clearer than before. He led me down to the water, where a log had grounded in an eddy62. I thought he was minded to play, as we had played in the mouth of the slough63. Nor did I change my mind as I watched him tow up a second log from farther down the shore.
It was not until we were on the logs, side by side and holding them together, and had paddled out into the current, that I learned his intention. He paused to point at the far shore, and resumed his paddling, at the same time uttering loud and encouraging cries. I understood, and we paddled energetically. The swift current caught us, flung us toward the south shore, but before we could make a landing flung us back toward the north shore.
Here arose dissension. Seeing the north shore so near, I began to paddle for it. Lop-Ear tried to paddle for the south shore. The logs swung around in circles, and we got nowhere, and all the time the forest was flashing past as we drifted down the stream. We could not fight. We knew better than to let go the grips of hands and feet that held the logs together. But we chattered64 and abused each other with our tongues until the current flung us toward the south bank again. That was now the nearest goal, and together and amicably65 we paddled for it. We landed in an eddy, and climbed directly into the trees to reconnoitre.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
mariners
|
|
| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
wrecked
|
|
| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
isle
|
|
| n.小岛，岛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
wilderness
|
|
| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
hazy
|
|
| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
calf
|
|
| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
thicket
|
|
| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
marshes
|
|
| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
foul
|
|
| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
ferocious
|
|
| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
nostrils
|
|
| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
withered
|
|
| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
tottery
|
|
| adj.蹒跚的，摇摇欲倒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
14
legitimate
|
|
| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
prey
|
|
| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
tattered
|
|
| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
poked
|
|
| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
twigs
|
|
| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
futile
|
|
| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
oozing
|
|
| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
hacked
|
|
| 生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
prodigiously
|
|
| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
whining
|
|
| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
wailing
|
|
| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
bass
|
|
| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
glades
|
|
| n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
exasperated
|
|
| adj.恼怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
grassy
|
|
| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
bleak
|
|
| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
regain
|
|
| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
dwarf
|
|
| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
misty
|
|
| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
desolate
|
|
| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
foaming
|
|
| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
clattering
|
|
| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
cataracts
|
|
| n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
canyons
|
|
| n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
gorges
|
|
| n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
crevices
|
|
| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
pinnacle
|
|
| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
backbone
|
|
| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
eastward
|
|
| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
snugly
|
|
| adv.紧贴地；贴身地；暖和舒适地；安适地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
gorged
|
|
| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
salmon
|
|
| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
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： |
|
|
|
|
52
westward
|
|
| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
habitual
|
|
| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
horde
|
|
| n.群众，一大群 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
yearning
|
|
| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
plentiful
|
|
| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
plaintive
|
|
| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
perturbed
|
|
| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
inchoate
|
|
| adj.才开始的，初期的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
glimmering
|
|
| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
eddy
|
|
| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
slough
|
|
| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
chattered
|
|
| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
amicably
|
|
| adv.友善地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |