小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 经典英文小说 » The adventure of the broad arrow » CHAPTER I. NEW FIND.
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER I. NEW FIND.
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。

"It's possible to be damned without being dead," said Smith, as he drank his nobbler at the Pilbarra Hotel. "And miners are the men who know it, in such a place as this."
 
He looked out of the reeking1 bar-room on the light brown glare of waterless desert, with a few thirsty trees scattered2 over it.
 
"We're in the pit, so to speak," he continued, "but not the lowest, for there are drinks here still. Fill 'em up again, Bob, and have one yourself. As for me, I feel I could blue my skin and shirt for a last one before I tumble to pieces and rot finger by finger in this hole."
 
The men in the bar stood and drank with him silently. Yet one who was mad drunk with brandy and sunlight smashed his tumbler on the bar top, and pitched the bottom at a mongrel dog slinking outside in a thin shadow.
 
"What's the best news, Smith?" asked Bob, who was the only cheerful man in the crowd.
 
"The best news," answered Smith, "is that we are back, and the water's nearly done here, and the rain is not coming, and the camp is rotting. Tinned meats and fever water are doing for us. I might as well have stayed out yonder and got sun-dried in mulga and spinifex."
 
And he went off foolishly into the blazing sun, which came down at a slant3 of ninety degrees, and shone back from the hot dust with a glare that could blister4 a man under his chin.
 
The town that he strode through was of boards and canvas and corrugated5 iron. It stank6 in the still air, and, as man, or horse, or camel went by, the dust rose thick, and empty cans rang.
 
But into the stagnant7 desolation came men perpetually. They came in with gold fever, and went out with typhoid; and still their empty places filled up. The Western Australian papers screamed "no water," and the Eastern papers copied them with jealous additions; but men came in to drink thick mud and rot like silly sheep piled against a windward fence in a dry season, when the creeks8 and tanks are dry, and grass is not.
 
From Albany, Perth, and Freemantle, from Kimberley, Murchison, and Coolgardie, men rushed in, till New Find, so greatly boomed, was full of good men and thieves, of workers and loafers, of white men and of Chinamen, and they were all bent9 on gold, till the fever got them, and they yelled under canvas which was no shelter from the sun. But ants and spiders and scorpions10 gloried while men died, and the flies were thick on sick men's mouths, and ownerless dogs dug up corpses11 and died of blood-poisoning.
 
For the ways of men under ancient stresses are as the ways of ancient instinct, inevitable12 in unalterable channels. They drift where gold is, or where the thought of its possibility lies; they march like locusts13 into a ditch which is death. They pour out of the towns like ants from a disturbed ant-hill, they try the absurd, and storm the impossible; they rot and stick in the mire14; they perish, and are known no more; they wither15 like grass, and are of no avail.
 
Yet each individual man is even there the centre of his world, and thinks that he will do this and do that, and each day he does what the dead day willed, and the night subscribed16 to, but does no more and does no other. And such as these was Smith, who braved sudden death in a bitter sun as he walked through the hideous17 town to his mate's hut out west on the plain.
 
As he went out of the sunlight into shadow, which was thick darkness after the glare of the noonday light, he stumbled across some one.
 
"Where the devil are you treading?" growled18 the somnolent19 man he had disturbed.
 
"Can't see after being in the sun," said Smith. "Is that you, Tom?"
 
"Yes," said Tom the water-carter, whose job looked like giving out. For water now was bought by rich men in measured buckets, and by poor ones in mean tin pannikins. "You mean you can't see after soaking in whisky at the Pilbarra, don't you?" he added.
 
"A little of both," said Smith, lying down on a pile of dirty gunny sacks. "I've been out facing the Earth-destroyer and the Drier-up of water, and I wanted to get blind."
 
"Why are you back?" asked Tom. "I came in and saw the Baker20 yonder, and I found Hicks, too, so I just lay down. You had a bad time?"
 
The men he spoke21 of were at the far end of the hut; one was in an old bush bed made of stakes and sticks, and stretched sacking, while the other sat at the table, and scraped grease from it with a clasp knife.
 
"We funked it," said Smith. "There's no other word for it. Oh—blazes! I can't lie still."
 
He rose and went to the table, and sat opposite to Hicks. Reaching over, he borrowed the other man's knife without ceremony, and scratched his name in big capital letters in the wood. When he had finished SMITH, he jabbed the knife into the I of his name, and went on talking.
 
"We got sixty miles out across the sand, the mulga, and the porcupine22 grass; yes, sixty miles into the desert, and we saw its red rim23 dance, and its scrub crackle, and the water bags looked mean betting against the sun. So we put our tails between our legs, and crawled back sick, and ready to rot here. But when the rain comes, we're there, we're there."
 
"Why didn't you take camels?" asked Tom.
 
Smith smiled.
 
"Why didn't we organise24 an expedition? Camels and Afghans cost money. And I don't like their ways. Horses are good enough for me. You wait till the rain comes."
 
But another chipped into the talk.
 
"It'll never rain no more," said the man who lay on the bed. "I'm going home to my ma, and I'll live where there's water, and make love to the 'alf-a-crown a week slavey, and be a toff in a back street. What did I come out 'ere for? It's better to be a sneak25, and be jugged in London, than be 'ere. If they did anythin' 'alf so bad to long timers as make 'em come to such a place as this 'ere, they'd 'ave a bally h'agitation in Hengland, and a meetin' in the Park."
 
"Dry up, you Cockney baker, you," said Smith, more good-humouredly than he had yet spoken. "It's never home you'll get. You and I will fill a sand-pit here, and I'll dig yours. We'll scrape it out with a broken bottle and a kerosene26 tin, and we'll write your name on the hide of your dead dog, and plant him with you to keep you faithful company."
 
But the Cockney took it all in good part, and only pretended to weep at his mate's brutal27 suggestions.
 
"Boo-hoo, boo-hoo!" said he, "that I should ever be mates with a man whose name is Smith when mine is Mandeville."
 
"And that you stole with your passage money," said Hicks, who had not spoken yet. But now he angered Mandeville, who suggested forcibly in the very choicest Australian, that if he didn't dry up he would soon put the kibosh on him.
 
But Hicks laughed. As he was six feet four in height and five stone the heavier man, he could afford to let the Cockney say what he pleased. And Mandeville said it till Smith interfered28.
 
"Now then, leave each other alone. It's not you that's quarrelling. It's the sun, moon, and stars, the wind and sand and weather you've a fight with. Get out and claw the sand, man. Hurrah29, hurrah! Go it, dear boys, against the devil, who is the patron saint of Pilbarra."
 
He lighted his pipe and smoked, and there was silence for a space in that sweet heaven.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 reeking 31102d5a8b9377cf0b0942c887792736     
v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的现在分词 );散发臭气;发出难闻的气味 (of sth);明显带有(令人不快或生疑的跡象)
参考例句:
  • I won't have you reeking with sweat in my bed! 我就不许你混身臭汗,臭烘烘的上我的炕! 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
  • This is a novel reeking with sentimentalism. 这是一本充满着感伤主义的小说。 来自辞典例句
2 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
3 slant TEYzF     
v.倾斜,倾向性地编写或报道;n.斜面,倾向
参考例句:
  • The lines are drawn on a slant.这些线条被画成斜线。
  • The editorial had an antiunion slant.这篇社论有一种反工会的倾向。
4 blister otwz3     
n.水疱;(油漆等的)气泡;v.(使)起泡
参考例句:
  • I got a huge blister on my foot and I couldn't run any farther.我脚上长了一个大水泡,没办法继续跑。
  • I have a blister on my heel because my shoe is too tight.鞋子太紧了,我脚后跟起了个泡。
5 corrugated 9720623d9668b6525e9b06a2e68734c3     
adj.波纹的;缩成皱纹的;波纹面的;波纹状的v.(使某物)起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • a corrugated iron roof 波纹铁屋顶
  • His brow corrugated with the effort of thinking. 他皱着眉头用心地思考。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 stank d2da226ef208f0e46fdd722e28c52d39     
n. (英)坝,堰,池塘 动词stink的过去式
参考例句:
  • Her breath stank of garlic. 她嘴里有股大蒜味。
  • The place stank of decayed fish. 那地方有烂鱼的臭味。
7 stagnant iGgzj     
adj.不流动的,停滞的,不景气的
参考例句:
  • Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少,工业生产一直停滞不前。
  • Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。
8 creeks creeks     
n.小湾( creek的名词复数 );小港;小河;小溪
参考例句:
  • The prospect lies between two creeks. 矿区位于两条溪流之间。 来自辞典例句
  • There was the excitement of fishing in country creeks with my grandpa on cloudy days. 有在阴雨天和姥爷一起到乡村河湾钓鱼的喜悦。 来自辞典例句
9 bent QQ8yD     
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。
10 scorpions 0f63b2c0873e8cba29ba4550835d32a9     
n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • You promise me that Black Scorpions will never come back to Lanzhou. 你保证黑蝎子永远不再踏上兰州的土地。 来自电影对白
  • You Scorpions are rather secretive about your likes and dislikes. 天蝎:蝎子是如此的神秘,你的喜好很难被别人洞悉。 来自互联网
11 corpses 2e7a6f2b001045a825912208632941b2     
n.死尸,尸体( corpse的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云,同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
12 inevitable 5xcyq     
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的
参考例句:
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
13 locusts 0fe5a4959a3a774517196dcd411abf1e     
n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 );贪吃的人;破坏者;槐树
参考例句:
  • a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
  • In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西,什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 mire 57ZzT     
n.泥沼,泥泞;v.使...陷于泥泞,使...陷入困境
参考例句:
  • I don't want my son's good name dragged through the mire.我不想使我儿子的名誉扫地。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
15 wither dMVz1     
vt.使凋谢,使衰退,(用眼神气势等)使畏缩;vi.枯萎,衰退,消亡
参考例句:
  • She grows as a flower does-she will wither without sun.她象鲜花一样成长--没有太阳就会凋谢。
  • In autumn the leaves wither and fall off the trees.秋天,树叶枯萎并从树上落下来。
16 subscribed cb9825426eb2cb8cbaf6a72027f5508a     
v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 );签署,题词;订阅;同意
参考例句:
  • It is not a theory that is commonly subscribed to. 一般人并不赞成这个理论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I subscribed my name to the document. 我在文件上签了字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 hideous 65KyC     
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的
参考例句:
  • The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
  • They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗,是丑陋的畜牲。
18 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说
参考例句:
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道:“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 somnolent YwLwA     
adj.想睡的,催眠的;adv.瞌睡地;昏昏欲睡地;使人瞌睡地
参考例句:
  • The noise of the stream had a pleasantly somnolent effect.小河潺潺的流水声有宜人的催眠效果。
  • The sedative makes people very somnolent.这种镇静剂会让人瞌睡。
20 baker wyTz62     
n.面包师
参考例句:
  • The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
  • The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。
21 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
22 porcupine 61Wzs     
n.豪猪, 箭猪
参考例句:
  • A porcupine is covered with prickles.箭猪身上长满了刺。
  • There is a philosophy parable,call philosophy of porcupine.有一个哲学寓言,叫豪猪的哲学。
23 rim RXSxl     
n.(圆物的)边,轮缘;边界
参考例句:
  • The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
  • She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。
24 organise organise     
vt.组织,安排,筹办
参考例句:
  • He has the ability to organise.他很有组织才能。
  • It's my job to organise all the ceremonial events.由我来组织所有的仪式。
25 sneak vr2yk     
vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝);偷偷摸摸做;n.潜行;adj.暗中进行
参考例句:
  • He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
  • I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。
26 kerosene G3uxW     
n.(kerosine)煤油,火油
参考例句:
  • It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
  • Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电,有煤油灯。
27 brutal bSFyb     
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的
参考例句:
  • She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
  • They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼,骨子里却是野蛮残忍。
28 interfered 71b7e795becf1adbddfab2cd6c5f0cff     
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉
参考例句:
  • Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》
29 hurrah Zcszx     
int.好哇,万岁,乌拉
参考例句:
  • We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
  • The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533