Father’s attention was riveted11 by the sight and sound of blood dripping from the Japanesesoldier’s nose into the steel helmet, each drop splashing crisply and sending out rings ofconcentric circles in the deepening pool. Father had barely passed his fifteenth birthday. The sunhad nearly set on this ninth day of the eighth lunar month of the year 1939, and the dying embersof its rays cast a red pall12 over the world below. Father’s face, turned unusually gaunt by the fiercedaylong battle, was covered by a layer of purplish mud. He squatted13 down upriver from thecorpse of Wang Wenyi’s wife and scooped14 up some water in his hands; the sticky water oozedthrough the cracks between his fingers and dropped noiselessly to the ground. Sharp pains rackedhis cracked, swollen15 lips, and the brackish16 taste of blood seeped17 between his teeth and slid downhis throat, moistening the parched18 membranes19. He experienced a satisfying pain, and even thoughthe taste of blood made his stomach churn, he scooped up handful after handful of water,drinking it down until it soaked up the dry, cracked fistcake in his stomach. He stood up straightand took a deep breath of relief.
Night was definitely about to fall; the ridge3 of the sky’s dome20 was tinged21 with the final sliverof red. The scorched22 smell from the burned-out hulks of the trucks had faded. A loud bang madeFather jump. He looked up, just in time to see exploded bits of truck tyres settling slowly into theriver like black butterflies, and countless23 kernels24 of Japanese rice – some black, some white –soaring upward, then raining down on the still surface of the river. As he spun25 around, his eyessettled on the tiny figure of Wang Wenyi’s wife lying at the edge of the river, the blood from herwounds staining the water around her. He scrambled26 to the top of the dike27 and yelled: ‘Dad!’
Granddad was standing28 on the dike, the flesh on his face wasted away by the day’s battle, thebones jutting29 out beneath his dark, weathered skin. In the dying sunlight Father noticed thatGranddad’s short-cropped hair was turning white. With fear in his aching heart, Father nudgedhim timidly.
‘Dad,’ he said, ‘Dad! What’s wrong with you?’
Tears were running down Granddad’s face. He was sobbing30. The Japanese machine gun thatDetachment Leader Leng had so magnanimously left behind sat at his feet like a crouching31 wolf,its muzzle32 gaping33.
‘Say something, Dad. Eat that fistcake, then drink some water. You’ll die if you don’t eat ordrink.’
Granddad’s head drooped34 until it rested on his chest. He seemed to lack the strength to supportits weight. He knelt at the top of the dike, holding his head in his hands and sobbing. After amoment, or two, he looked up and cried out: ‘Douguan, my son! Is it all over for us?’
Father stared wide- eyed and fearfully at Granddad. The glare in his diamondlike pupilsembodied the heroic, unrestrained spirit of Grandma, a flicker35 of hope that shone and lit upGranddad’s heart.
‘Dad,’ Father said, ‘don’t give up. I’ll work hard on my shooting, like when you shot fish atthe inlet to perfect your seven-plum-blossom skill. Then we’ll go settle accounts with that rottenson of a bitch Pocky Leng!’
Granddad sprang to his feet and bellowed36 three times – half wail37, half crazed laughter. A lineof dark-purple blood trickled38 out of the corner of his mouth.
‘That’s it, son, that’s the way to talk!’
He picked up one of Grandma’s fistcakes from the dark earth, bit off a chunk39, and swallowedit. Cake crumbs40 and flecks41 of bubbly blood stuck to his stained teeth. Father heard Granddad’spainful cries as the dry cake stuck in his throat and saw the rough edges make their way down hisneck.
‘Dad,’ Father said, ‘go drink some water to soak up the cake in your belly42.’
Granddad stumbled along the dike to the river’s edge, where he knelt among the water plantsand lapped up the water like a draught43 animal. When he’d had his fill, he drew his hands backand buried his head in the river, holding it under the water for about half the time it takes tosmoke a pipeful of tobacco. Father started getting nervous as he gazed at his dad, frozen like abronze frog at the river’s edge. Finally, Granddad jerked his dripping head out of the water andgasped for breath. Then he walked back up the dike to stand in front of Father, whose eyes wereglued to the cascading44 drops of water. Granddad shook his head, sending forty-nine drops, largeand small, flying like so many pearls.
‘Douguan,’ he said, ‘come with Dad. Let’s go see the men.’
Granddad staggered down the road, weaving in and out of the sorghum field on the westernedge, Father right on his heels. They stepped on broken, twisted stalks of sorghum and spentcartridges that gave off a faint yellow glint. Frequently they bent47 down to look at the bodies oftheir fallen comrades, who lay amid the sorghum, deathly grimaces48 frozen on their faces.
Granddad and Father shook them in hope of finding one who was alive; but they were dead, all ofthem. Father’s and Granddad’s hands were covered with sticky blood. Father looked down at twosoldiers on the westernmost edge of the field: one lay with the muzzle of his shotgun in hismouth, the back of his neck a gory49 mess, like a rotten wasps’ nest; the other lay across a bayonetburied in his chest. When Granddad turned them over, Father saw that their legs had been brokenand their bellies50 slit51 open. Granddad sighed as he withdrew the shotgun from the one soldier’smouth and pulled the bayonet from the other’s chest.
Father followed Granddad across the road, into the sorghum field to the east, which had alsobeen swept by machine-gun fire. They turned over the bodies of more soldiers lying strewnacross the ground. Bugler52 Liu was on his knees, bugle53 in hand, as though he were blowing it:
‘Bugler Liu!’ Granddad called out excitedly. No response. Father ran up and nudged him. ‘UncleLiu!’ he shouted, as the bugle dropped to the ground. When Father looked more closely, hediscovered that the bugler’s face was already as hard as a rock.
In the lightly scarred section of field some few dozen paces from the dike, Granddad andFather came upon Fang54 Seven, whose guts55 had spilled out of his belly, and another soldier,named Consumptive Four, who, after taking a bullet in the leg, had fainted from blood loss.
Holding his bloodstained hand above the man’s mouth, Granddad detected a faint sign of dry, hotbreath from his nostrils56. Fang Seven had stuffed his own intestines57 back into his abdomen58 andcovered the gaping wound with sorghum leaves. He was still conscious. When he spottedGranddad and Father, his lips twitched60 and he said haltingly, ‘Commander?.?.?. done for?.?.?. Whenyou see my old lady?.?.?. give some money.?.?.?. Don’t let her remarry.?.?.?. My brother?.?.?. nosons?.?.?. If she leaves?.?.?. Fang family line ended.?.?.?.’ Father knew that Fang Seven had a year-old son, and that there was so much milk in his mother’s gourdlike breasts that he was growingup fair and plump.
‘I’ll carry you back, little brother,’ Granddad said.
He bent over and pulled Fang Seven onto his back. As Fang screeched61 in pain, Father saw theleaves fall away and his white, speckled intestines slither out of his belly, releasing a breath offoul hot air. Granddad laid him back down on the ground. ‘Elder brother,’ Fang pleaded, ‘put meout of my misery62.?.?.?. Don’t torture me.?.?.?. Shoot me, please.?.?.?.’
Granddad squatted down and held Fang Seven’s hand. ‘Little brother, I can carry you over tosee Zhang Xinyi, Dr Zhang. He’ll patch you up.’
‘Elder brother?.?.?. do it now.?.?.?. Don’t make me suffer.?.?.?. Past saving?.?.?.’
Granddad squinted63 into the murky64, late-afternoon August sky, in which a dozen or so starsshone brightly, and let out a long howl before turning to Father. ‘Are there bullets in your gun,Douguan?’
‘Yes.’
Father handed his pistol to Granddad, who released the safety catch, took another look into thedarkening sky, and spun the cylinder65. ‘Rest easy, brother. As long as Yu Zhan’ao has food to eat,your wife and child will never go hungry.’
Fang Seven nodded and closed his eyes.
Granddad raised the revolver as though he were lifting a huge boulder66. The pressure of themoment made him quake.
Fang Seven’s eyes snapped open. ‘Elder brother?.?.?.’
Granddad spun his face away, and a burst of flame leaped out of the muzzle, lighting67 up FangSeven’s greenish scalp. The kneeling man shot forward and fell on top of his own exposed guts.
Father found it hard to believe that a man’s belly could hold such a pile of intestines.
‘Consumptive Four, you’d better be on your way, too. Then you can get an early start on yournext life and come back to seek revenge on those Jap bastards69!’ He pumped the last cartridge46 intothe heart of the dying Consumptive Four.
Though killing70 had become a way of life for Granddad, he dropped his arm to his side and letit hang there like a dead snake; the pistol fell to the ground.
Father bent over and picked it up, stuck it into his belt, and tugged71 on Granddad, who stood asthough drunk or paralysed. ‘Let’s go home, Dad, let’s go home.?.?.?.’
‘Home? Go home? Yes, go home! Go home?.?.?.’
Father pulled him up onto the dike and began walking awkwardly towards the west. The coldrays of the half-moon on that August 9 evening filled the sky, falling lightly on the backs ofGranddad and Father and illuminating72 the heavy Black Water River, which was like the great butclumsy Chinese race. White eels45, thrown into a frenzy73 by the bloody74 water, writhed75 and sparkledon the surface. The blue chill of the water merged76 with the red warmth of the sorghum borderingthe dikes to form an airy, transparent77 mist that reminded Father of the heavy, spongy fog that hadaccompanied them as they set out for battle that morning. Only one day, but it seemed like tenyears. Yet it also seemed like the blink of an eye.
Father thought back to how his mother had walked him to the edge of the fog-enshroudedvillage. The scene seemed so far away, though it was right there in front of his eyes. He recalledhow difficult the march through the sorghum field had been, how Wang Wenyi had beenwounded in the ear by a stray bullet, how the fifty or so soldiers had approached the bridgelooking like the droppings of a goat. Then there was Mute’s razor-sharp sabre knife, the sinistereyes, the Jap head sailing through the air, the shrivelled ass2 of the old Jap officer . . . Mothersoaring to the top of the dike as though on the wings of a phoenix78?.?.?. the fistcakes?.?.?. fistcakesrolling on the ground?.?.?. stalks of sorghum falling all around?.?.?. red sorghum crumpling79 likefallen heroes.?.?.?.
Granddad hoisted80 Father, who was asleep on his feet, onto his back and wrapped his arms –one healthy, the other injured – around Father’s legs. The pistol in Father’s belt banged againstGranddad’s back, sending sharp pains straight to his heart. It had belonged to the dark, skinny,handsome, and well-educated Adjutant Ren. Granddad was thinking about how this pistol hadended the lives of Adjutant Ren, Fang Seven, and Consumptive Four. He wanted nothing morethan to heave the execrable thing into the Black Water River. But it was only a thought. Bendingover, he shifted his sleeping son higher up on his back, partly to relieve the excruciating pain inhis heart.
All that kept Granddad moving was a powerful drive to push on and continue the bitterstruggle against wave after murky wave of obdurate81 air. In his dazed state he heard a loudclamour rushing towards him like a tidal wave. When he raised his head he spotted59 a long fierydragon wriggling82 its way along the top of the dike. His eyes froze, as the image slipped in andout of focus.
When it was blurred83 he could see the dragon’s fangs68 and claws as it rode the clouds and sailedthrough the mist, the vigorous motions making its golden scales jangle; wind howled, cloudshissed, lightning flashed, thunder rumbled84, the sounds merging85 to form a masculine wind thatswept across a huddled86 feminine world.
When it was clear he could see it was ninety-nine torches hoisted above the heads of hundredsof people hastening towards him. The dancing flames lit up the sorghum on both banks of theriver. Granddad lifted Father down off his back and shook him hard.
‘Douguan,’ he shouted in his ear, ‘Douguan! Wake up! Wake up! The villagers are coming forus, they’re coming.?.?.?.’
Father heard the hoarseness87 in Granddad’s voice and saw two remarkable88 tears leap out of hiseyes.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
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： |
|
|
|
|
2
ass
|
|
| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
ridge
|
|
| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
flattened
|
|
| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
crouched
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
gore
|
|
| n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
sobbed
|
|
| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
ripples
|
|
| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
sorghum
|
|
| n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
discordant
|
|
| adj.不调和的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
riveted
|
|
| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
pall
|
|
| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
squatted
|
|
| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
scooped
|
|
| v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
swollen
|
|
| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
brackish
|
|
| adj.混有盐的；咸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
seeped
|
|
| v.（液体）渗( seep的过去式和过去分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
parched
|
|
| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
membranes
|
|
| n.（动物或植物体内的）薄膜( membrane的名词复数 )；隔膜；（可起防水、防风等作用的）膜状物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
dome
|
|
| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
tinged
|
|
| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
scorched
|
|
| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
countless
|
|
| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
kernels
|
|
| 谷粒( kernel的名词复数 )； 仁； 核； 要点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
spun
|
|
| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
scrambled
|
|
| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
dike
|
|
| n.堤，沟；v.开沟排水 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
jutting
|
|
| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
sobbing
|
|
| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
crouching
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
muzzle
|
|
| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
gaping
|
|
| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
drooped
|
|
| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
flicker
|
|
| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
bellowed
|
|
| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
wail
|
|
| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
trickled
|
|
| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
chunk
|
|
| n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
crumbs
|
|
| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
flecks
|
|
| n.斑点，小点( fleck的名词复数 )；癍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
belly
|
|
| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
draught
|
|
| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
cascading
|
|
| 流注( cascade的现在分词 )； 大量落下； 大量垂悬； 梯流 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
eels
|
|
| abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
cartridge
|
|
| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
grimaces
|
|
| n.（表蔑视、厌恶等）面部扭曲，鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
gory
|
|
| adj.流血的；残酷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
bellies
|
|
| n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
slit
|
|
| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
bugler
|
|
| 喇叭手； 号兵； 吹鼓手； 司号员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
bugle
|
|
| n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
fang
|
|
| n.尖牙，犬牙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
guts
|
|
| v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
nostrils
|
|
| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
intestines
|
|
| n.肠( intestine的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
abdomen
|
|
| n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
spotted
|
|
| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
twitched
|
|
| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
screeched
|
|
| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
squinted
|
|
| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
murky
|
|
| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
cylinder
|
|
| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
boulder
|
|
| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
lighting
|
|
| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
fangs
|
|
| 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： |
|
|
|
|
69
bastards
|
|
| 私生子( bastard的名词复数 )； 坏蛋； 讨厌的事物； 麻烦事 （认为别人走运或不幸时说）家伙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
killing
|
|
| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
tugged
|
|
| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
illuminating
|
|
| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
frenzy
|
|
| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
writhed
|
|
| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
merged
|
|
| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
transparent
|
|
| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
phoenix
|
|
| n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
crumpling
|
|
| 压皱，弄皱( crumple的现在分词 )； 变皱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
hoisted
|
|
| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
obdurate
|
|
| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
wriggling
|
|
| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
blurred
|
|
| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
rumbled
|
|
| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
merging
|
|
| 合并（分类） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
huddled
|
|
| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
hoarseness
|
|
| n.嘶哑， 刺耳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |