For four days Felix remained on the island recovering his strength. By degrees the memory of the scenes he had witnessed grew less vivid, and his nerves regained1 their tone. The fifth morning he sailed again, making due south with a gentle breeze from the west, which suited the canoe very well. He considered that he was now at the eastern extremity2 of the Lake, and that by sailing south he should presently reach the place where the shore turned to the east again. The sharp prow3 of the canoe cut swiftly through the waves, a light spray flew occasionally in his face, and the wind blew pleasantly. In the cloudless sky swallows and swifts were wheeling, and on the water half a dozen mallards moved aside to let him pass.
About two hours after he started he encountered a mist, which came softly over the surface of the water with the wind, and in an instant shut out all view. Even the sun was scarcely visible. It was very warm, and left no moisture. In five minutes he passed through and emerged again in the bright sunlight. These dry, warm mists are frequently seen on the Lake in summer, and are believed to portend4 a continuance of fine weather.
Felix kept a good distance from the mainland, which was hilly and wooded, and with few islands. Presently he observed in the extreme distance, on his right hand, a line of mountainous hills, which he supposed to be the southern shore of the Lake, and that he was sailing into a gulf5 or bay. He debated with himself whether he should alter his course and work across to the mountains, or to continue to trace the shore. Unless he did trace the shore, he could scarcely say that he had circumnavigated the Lake, as he would leave this great bay unexplored. He continued, therefore, to sail directly south.
The wind freshened towards noon, and the canoe flew at a great pace. Twice he passed through similar mists. There were now no islands at all, but a line of low chalk cliffs marked the shore. Considering that it must be deep, and safe to do so, Felix bore in closer to look at the land. Woods ran along the hills right to the verge6 of the cliff, but he saw no signs of inhabitants, no smoke, boat, or house. The sound of the surf beating on the beach was audible, though the waves were not large. High over the cliff he noted7 a kite soaring, with forked tail, at a great height.
Immediately afterwards he ran into another mist or vapour, thicker, if anything, and which quite obscured his view. It seemed like a great cloud on the surface of the water, and broader than those he had previously8 entered. Suddenly the canoe stopped with a tremendous jerk, which pitched him forward on his knees, the mast cracked, and there was a noise of splitting wood. As soon as he could get up, Felix saw, to his bitter sorrow, that the canoe had split longitudinally; the water came up through the split, and the boat was held together only by the beams of the outrigger. He had run aground on a large sharp flint embedded9 in a chalk floor, which had split the poplar wood of the canoe like an axe10. The voyage was over, for the least strain would cause the canoe to part in two, and if she were washed off the ground she would be water-logged. In half a minute the mist passed, leaving him in the bright day, shipwrecked.
Felix now saw that the waters were white with suspended chalk, and sounding with the paddle, found that the depth was but a few inches. He had driven at full speed on a reef. There was no danger, for the distance to the shore was hardly two hundred yards, and judging by the appearance of the water, it was shallow all the way. But his canoe, the product of so much labour, and in which he had voyaged so far, his canoe was destroyed. He could not repair her; he doubted whether it could have been done successfully even at home with Oliver to help him. He could sail no farther; there was nothing for it but to get ashore13 and travel on foot. If the wind rose higher, the waves would soon break clean over her, and she would go to pieces.
With a heavy heart, Felix took his paddle and stepped overboard. Feeling with the paddle, he plumbed14 the depth in front of him, and, as he expected, walked all the way to the shore, no deeper than his knees. This was fortunate, as it enabled him to convey his things to land without loss. He wrapped up the tools and manuscripts in one of his hunter’s hides. When the whole cargo15 was landed, he sat down sorrowfully at the foot of the cliff, and looked out at the broken mast and sail, still flapping uselessly in the breeze.
It was a long time before he recovered himself, and set to work mechanically to bury the crossbow, hunter’s hides, tools, and manuscripts, under a heap of pebbles16. As the cliff, though low, was perpendicular17, he could not scale it, else he would have preferred to conceal18 them in the woods above. To pile pebbles over them was the best he could do for the present; he intended to return for them when he discovered a path up the cliff. He then started, taking only his bow and arrows.
But no such path was to be found; he walked on and on till weary, and still the cliff ran like a wall on his left hand. After an hour’s rest, he started again; and, as the sun was declining, came suddenly to a gap in the cliff, where a grassy19 sward came down to the shore. It was now too late, and he was too weary, to think of returning for his things that evening. He made a scanty20 meal, and endeavoured to rest. But the excitement of losing the canoe, the long march since, the lack of good food, all tended to render him restless. Weary, he could not rest, nor move farther. The time passed slowly, the sun sank, the wind ceased; after an interminable time the stars appeared, and still he could not sleep. He had chosen a spot under an oak on the green slope. The night was warm, and even sultry, so that he did not miss his covering, but there was no rest in him. Towards the dawn, which comes very early at that season, he at last slept, with his back to the tree. He awoke with a start in broad daylight, to see a man standing21 in front of him armed with a long spear.
Felix sprang to his feet, instinctively22 feeling for his hunting-knife; but he saw in an instant that no injury was meant, for the man was leaning on the shaft23 of his weapon, and, of course, could, if so he had wished, have run him through while sleeping. They looked at each other for a moment. The stranger was clad in a tunic24, and wore a hat of plaited straw. He was very tall and strongly built; his single weapon, a spear of twice his own length. His beard came down on his chest. He spoke25 to Felix in a dialect the latter did not understand. Felix held out his hand as a token of amity26, which the other took. He spoke again. Felix, on his part, tried to explain his shipwreck11, when a word the stranger uttered recalled to Felix’s memory the peculiar27 dialect used by the shepherd race on the hills in the neighbourhood of his home.
He spoke in this dialect, which the stranger in part at least understood, and the sound of which at once rendered him more friendly. By degrees they comprehended each other’s meaning the easier, as the shepherd had come the same way and had seen the wreck12 of the canoe. Felix learned that the shepherd was a scout28 sent on ahead to see that the road was clear of enemies. His tribe were on the march with their flocks, and to avoid the steep woods and hills which there blocked their course, they had followed the level and open beach at the foot of the cliff, aware, of course, of the gap which Felix had found. While they were talking, Felix saw the cloud of dust raised by the sheep as the flocks wound round a jutting29 buttress30 of cliff.
His friend explained that they marched in the night and early morning to avoid the heat of the day. Their proposed halting-place was close at hand; he must go on and see that all was clear. Felix accompanied him, and found within the wood at the summit a grassy coombe, where a spring rose. The shepherd threw down his spear, and began to dam up the channel of the spring with stones, flints, and sods of earth, in order to form a pool at which the sheep might drink. Felix assisted him, and the water speedily began to rise.
The flocks were not allowed to rush tumultuously to the water; they came in about fifty at a time, each division with its shepherds and their dogs, so that confusion was avoided and all had their share. There were about twenty of these divisions, besides eighty cows and a few goats. They had no horses; their baggage came on the backs of asses32.
After the whole of the flocks and herds31 had been watered several fires were lit by the women, who in stature33 and hardihood scarcely differed from the men. Not till this work was over did the others gather about Felix to hear his story. Finding that he was hungry they ran to the baggage for food, and pressed on him a little dark bread, plentiful34 cheese and butter, dried tongue, and horns of mead35. He could not devour36 a fiftieth part of what these hospitable37 people brought him. Having nothing else to give them, he took from his pocket one of the gold coins he had brought from the site of the ancient city, and offered it.
They laughed, and made him understand that it was of no value to them; but they passed it from hand to hand, and he noticed that they began to look at him curiously38. From its blackened appearance they conjectured39 whence he had obtained it; one, too, pointed40 to his shoes, which were still blackened, and appeared to have been scorched41. The whole camp now pressed on him, their wonder and interest rising to a great height. With some trouble Felix described his journey over the site of the ancient city, interrupted with constant exclamations42, questions, and excited conversation. He told them everything, except about the diamond.
Their manner towards him perceptibly altered. From the first they had been hospitable; they now became respectful, and even reverent43. The elders and their chief, not to be distinguished44 by dress or ornament45 from the rest, treated him with ceremony and marked deference46. The children were brought to see and even to touch him. So great was their amazement47 that any one should have escaped from these pestilential vapours, that they attributed it to divine interposition, and looked upon him with some of the awe48 of superstition49. He was asked to stay with them altogether, and to take command of the tribe.
The latter Felix declined; to stay with them for awhile, at least, he was, of course, willing enough. He mentioned his hidden possessions, and got up to return for them, but they would not permit him. Two men started at once. He gave them the bearings of the spot, and they had not the least doubt but that they should find it, especially as, the wind being still, the canoe would not yet have broken up, and would guide them. The tribe remained in the green coombe the whole day, resting from their long journey. They wearied Felix with questions, still he answered them as copiously50 as he could; he felt too grateful for their kindness not to satisfy them. His bow was handled, his arrows carried about so that the quiver for the time was empty, and the arrows scattered51 in twenty hands. He astonished them by exhibiting his skill with the weapon, striking a tree with an arrow at nearly three hundred yards.
Though familiar, of course, with the bow, they had never seen shooting like that, nor, indeed, any archery except at short quarters. They had no other arms themselves but spears and knives. Seeing one of the women cutting the boughs52 from a fallen tree, dead and dry, and, therefore, preferable for fuel, Felix naturally went to help her, and, taking the axe, soon made a bundle, which he carried for her. It was his duty as a noble to see than no woman, not a slave, laboured; he had been bred in that idea, and would have felt disgraced had he permitted it. The women looked on with astonishment53, for in these rude tribes the labour of the women was considered valuable and appraised54 like that of a horse.
Without any conscious design, Felix thus in one day conciliated and won the regard of the two most powerful parties in the camp, the chief and the women. By his refusing the command the chief was flattered, and his possible hostility55 prevented. The act of cutting the wood and carrying the bundle gave him the hearts of the women. They did not, indeed, think their labour in any degree oppressive; still, to be relieved of it was pleasing.
The two men who had gone for Felix’s buried treasure did not return till breakfast next morning. They stepped into the camp, each with his spear reddened and dripping with fresh blood. Felix no sooner saw the blood than he fainted. He quickly recovered, but he could not endure the sight of the spears, which were removed and hidden from his view. He had seen blood enough spilt at the siege of Iwis, but this came upon him in all its horror unrelieved by the excitement of war.
The two shepherds had been dogged by gipsies, and had been obliged to make a round to escape. They took their revenge by climbing into trees, and as their pursuers passed under thrust them through with their long spears. The shepherds, like all their related tribes, had been at feud56 with the gipsies for many generations. The gipsies followed them to and from their pastures, cut off stragglers, destroyed or stole their sheep and cattle, and now and then overwhelmed a while tribe. Of late the contest had become more sanguinary and almost ceaseless.
Mounted on swift, though small, horses, the gipsies had the advantage of the shepherds. On the other hand, the shepherds, being men of great stature and strength, could not be carried away by a rush if they had time to form a circle, as was their custom of battle. They lost many men by the javelins57 thrown by the gipsies, who rode up to the edge of the circle, cast their darts58, and retreated. If the shepherds left their circle they were easily ridden over; while they maintained formation they lost individuals, but saved the mass. Battles were of rare occurrence; the gipsies watched for opportunities and executed raids, the shepherds retaliated59, and thus the endless war continued. The shepherds invariably posted sentinels, and sent forward scouts60 to ascertain61 if the way were clear. Accustomed to the horrid62 scenes of war from childhood, they could not understand Felix’s sensitiveness.
They laughed, and then petted him like a spoilt child. This galled63 him exceedingly; he felt humiliated64, and eager to reassert his manhood. He was willing to stay with them there for awhile, nothing would have induced him to leave them now till he had vindicated65 himself in their sight. The incident happened soon after sunrise, which is very early at the end of June. The camp had only waited for the return of these men, and on their appearance began to move. The march that morning was not a long one, as the sky was clear and the heat soon wearied the flocks. Felix accompanied the scout in advance, armed with his bow, eager to encounter the gipsies.
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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portend
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| v.预兆，预示；给…以警告 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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embedded
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| a.扎牢的 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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plumbed
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| v.经历( plumb的过去式和过去分词 )；探究；用铅垂线校正；用铅锤测量 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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spoke
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| 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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amity
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| n.友好关系 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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buttress
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| n.支撑物；v.支持 | |
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herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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asses
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| n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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mead
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| n.蜂蜜酒 | |
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devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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conjectured
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| 推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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scorched
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| 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 | |
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42
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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45
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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46
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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47
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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48
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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49
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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50
copiously
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| adv.丰富地，充裕地 | |
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51
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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52
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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53
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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54
appraised
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| v.估价( appraise的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
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55
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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56
feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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57
javelins
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| n.标枪( javelin的名词复数 ) | |
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58
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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59
retaliated
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| v.报复，反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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61
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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62
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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63
galled
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| v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱 | |
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64
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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65
vindicated
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| v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的过去式和过去分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护 | |
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