The hut's walls rose without difficulty, and everything went smoothly11 until the problem of the roof confronted me. Of what use the four walls without a roof? And of what could a roof be made? There were the spare oars13, very true. They would serve as roof-beams; but with what was I to cover them? Moss would never do. Tundra15 grass was impracticable. We needed the sail for the boat, and the tarpaulin16 had begun to leak.
'Winters used walrus-skins on his hut,' I said.
'There are the seals,' she suggested.
So next day the hunting began. I did not know how to shoot, but I proceeded to learn. And when I had expended17 some thirty shells for three seals, I decided18 that the ammunition19 would be exhausted20 before I acquired the necessary knowledge. I had used eight shells for lighting22 fires before I hit upon the device of banking23 the embers with wet moss, and there remained not over a hundred shells in the box.
'We must club the seals,' I announced, when convinced of my poor marksmanship. 'I have heard the sealers talk about clubbing them.'
'They are so pretty,' she objected. 'I cannot bear to think of it being done. It is so directly brutal24, you know, so different from shooting them.'
'That roof must go on,' I answered grimly. 'Winter is almost here. It is our lives against theirs. It is unfortunate we haven't plenty of ammunition, but I think, anyway, that they suffer less from being clubbed than from being all shot up. Besides, I shall do the clubbing.'
'That's just it,' she began eagerly, and broke off in sudden confusion.
'Of course,' I began, 'if you prefer-'
'But what shall I be doing?' she interrupted, with that softness I knew full well to be insistence25.
'Gathering firewood and cooking dinner,' I answered lightly.
She shook her head. 'It is too dangerous for you to attempt alone.'
'I know, I know,' she waived26 my protest. 'I am only a weak woman, but just my small assistance may enable you to escape disaster.'
'But the clubbing?' I suggested.
'Of course you will do that. I shall probably scream. I'll look away when-'
'The danger is most serious,' I laughed.
'I shall use my judgment27 when to look and when not to look,' she replied, with a grand air.
The upshot of the affair was that she accompanied me next morning. I rowed into the adjoining cove14 and up to the edge of the beach. There were seals all about us in the water, and the bellowing28 thousands on the beach compelled us to shout at each other to make ourselves heard.
'I know men club them,' I said, trying to reassure29 myself, and gazing doubtfully at a large bull, not thirty feet away, upreared on his fore21 flippers and regarding me intently. 'But the question is, how do they club them?'
'Let us gather tundra grass and thatch30 the roof,' Maud said.
She was as frightened as I at the prospect31, and we had reason to be, gazing at close range at the gleaming teeth and dog-like mouths.
'I always thought they were afraid of men,' I said. 'How do I know they are not afraid?' I queried32 a moment later, after having rowed a few more strokes along the beach. 'Perhaps if I were to step boldly ashore33, they would cut for it and I could not catch up with one.'
And still I hesitated.
'I heard of a man once that invaded the nesting-grounds of wild geese,' Maud said. 'They killed him.'
'The geese?'
'Yes, the geese. My brother told me about it when I was a little girl.'
'But I know men club them,' I persisted.
'I think the tundra grass will make just as good a roof,' she said.
Far from her intention, her words were maddening me, driving me on. I could not play the coward before her eyes.
'Here goes,' I said, backing water with one oar12 and running the bow ashore.
I stepped out and advanced valiantly34 upon a long-maned bull in the midst of his wives. I was armed with the regular club with which the boat-pullers killed the wounded seals gaffed aboard by the hunters. It was only a foot and a half long, and in my superb ignorance I never dreamed that the club used ashore when raiding the rookeries measured four or five feet. The cows lumbered35 out of my way, and the distance between me and the bull decreased. He raised himself on his flippers with an angry movement. We were a dozen feet apart. Still I advanced steadily36, looking for him to turn tail at any moment and run.
At six feet the panicky thought rushed into my mind: What if he will not run? Why, then I shall club him, came the answer. In my fear I had forgotten that I was there to get the bull instead of to make him run. And just then he gave a snort and a snarl37 and rushed at me. His eyes were blazing, his mouth was wide open; the teeth gleamed cruelly white. Without shame, I confess that it was I that turned tail and footed it. He ran awkwardly, but he ran well. He was but two paces behind when I tumbled into the boat, and as I shoved off with an oar his teeth crunched38 down upon the blade. The stout39 wood was crushed like an egg-shell. Maud and I were astounded40. A moment later he had dived under the boat, seized the keel in his mouth, and was shaking the boat violently.
'My!' said Maud. 'Let's go back.'
I shook my head. 'I can do what other men have done, and I know that other men have clubbed seals. But I think I'll leave the bulls alone next time.
'I wish you wouldn't,' she said.
'Now don't say, "Please, please,"' I cried, half angrily, I do believe.
She made no reply, and I knew my tone must have hurt her.
'I beg your pardon,' I said, or shouted, rather, in order to make myself heard above the roar of the rookery. 'If you say so, I'll turn and go back; but honestly, I'd rather stay.'
'Now, don't say that this is what you get for bringing a woman along,' she said. She smiled at me whimsically, gloriously, and I knew there was no need for forgiveness.
I rowed a couple of hundred feet along the beach so as to recover my nerves, and then stepped ashore again.
'Do be cautious!' she called after me.
I nodded my head and proceeded to make a flank attack on the nearest harem. All went until I aimed a blow at an outlying cow's head and fell short. She snorted and tried to scramble42 away. I ran in close and struck another blow, hitting the shoulder instead of the head.
'Look out!' I heard Maud scream.
In my excitement I had not been taking notice of other things, and I looked up to see the lord of the harem charging down upon me. Again I fled to the boat, hotly pursued; but this time Maud made no suggestion of turning back.
'It would be better, I imagine, if you let harems alone and devoted43 your attention to lonely and inoffensive-looking seals,' was what she said. 'I think I have read something about them- Dr. Jordan's book, I believe. They are the young bulls, not old enough to have harems of their own. He called them the holluschickie, or something like that. It seems to me, if we find where they haul out-'
'It seems to me that your fighting instinct is aroused,' I laughed.
She flushed quickly and prettily44. 'I'll admit I don't like defeat any more than you do, nor any more than I like the idea of killing45 such pretty, inoffensive creatures.'
'Pretty!' I sniffed46. 'I failed to mark anything preeminently pretty about those foamy-mouthed beasts that raced me.'
'Your point of view,' she laughed. 'You lacked perspective. Now if you did not have to get so close to the subject-'
'The very thing!' I cried. 'What I need is a longer club. And there's that broken oar ready to hand.'
'It just comes to me,' she said, 'that Captain Larsen was telling me how the men raided the rookeries. They drive the seals, in small herds48, a short distance inland before they kill them.'
'I don't care to undertake the herding49 of one of those harems,' I objected.
'But there are the holluschickie,' she said. 'The holluschickie haul out by themselves, and Dr. Jordan says that paths are left between the harems, and that as long as the holluschickie keep strictly50 to the paths they are unmolested by the masters of the harem.'
'There's one now,' I said, pointing to a young bull in the water. 'Let's watch him and follow him if he hauls out.'
He swam directly to the beach and clambered out into a small opening between two harems, the masters of which made warning noises, but did not attack him. We watched him travel slowly inland, threading about among the harems along what must have been the path.
'Here goes,' I said, stepping out; but I confess my heart was in my mouth as I thought of going through the heart of that monstrous51 herd47.
'It would be wise to make the boat fast,' Maud said.
She had stepped out beside me, and I regarded her with wonderment.
She nodded her head determinedly52. 'Yes, I'm going with you, so you may as well secure the boat and arm me with a club.'
'Let's go back,' I said dejectedly. 'I think tundra grass will do, after all.'
'You know it won't,' was her reply. 'Shall I lead?'
With a shrug53 of the shoulders, but with the warmest admiration54 and pride at heart for this woman, I equipped her with the broken oar and took another for myself. It was with nervous trepidation55 that we made the first few rods of the journey. Once Maud screamed in terror as a cow thrust an inquisitive56 nose toward her foot, and several times I quickened my pace for the same reason. But, beyond warning coughs from each side, there were no signs of hostility57. It was a rookery that had never been raided by the hunters, and in consequence the seals were mild-tempered and at the same time unafraid.
In the very heart of the herd the din2 was terrific. It was almost dizzying in its effect. I paused and smiled reassuringly58 at Maud, for I had recovered my equanimity59 sooner than she. I could see that she was still badly frightened. She came close to me and shouted:
'I'm dreadfully afraid!'
And I was not. Though the novelty had not yet worn off, the peaceful comportment of the seals had quieted my alarm. Maud was trembling.
'I'm afraid, and I'm not afraid,' she chattered60, with shaking jaws61. 'It's my miserable62 body, not I.'
'It's all right; it's all right,' I reassured63 her, my arm passing instinctively64 and protectingly around her.
I shall never forget, in that moment, how instantly conscious I became of my manhood. The primitive65 deeps of my nature stirred. I felt myself masculine, the protector of the weak, the fighting male. And, best of all, I felt myself the protector of my loved one. She leaned against me, so light and lily-frail, and as her trembling eased away it seemed as though I became aware of prodigious66 strength. I felt myself a match for the most ferocious67 bull in the herd, and I know, had such a bull charged upon me, that I would have met him unflinchingly and cooly, and I know that I would have killed him.
'I am all right now,' she said, looking up at me gratefully. 'Let us go on.'
And that the strength in me had quieted her and given her confidence filled me with an exultant68 joy. The youth of the race seemed burgeoning69 in me, over-civilized man that I was, and I lived for myself the old hunting days and forest nights of my remote and forgotten ancestry70. I had much for which to thank Wolf Larsen, was my thought as we went along the path between the jostling harems.
A quarter of a mile inland we came upon the holluschickie- sleek71 bulls, living out the loneliness of their bacherlorhood and gathering strength against the day when they would fight their way into the ranks of the benedicts.
Everything now went smoothly. I seemed to know just what to do and how to do it. Shouting, making threatening gestures with my club, and even prodding72 the lazy ones, I quickly cut out a score of the young bachelors from their companions. Whenever one made an attempt to break back toward the water, I headed him off. Maud took an active part in the drive, and with her cries and flourishings of the broken oar was of considerable assistance. I noticed, though, that whenever one looked tired and lagged she let him slip past. But I noticed, also, whenever one, with a show of fight, tried to break past, that her eyes glinted and showed bright and she rapped him smartly with her club.
'My, it's exciting!' she cried, pausing from sheer weakness. 'I think I'll sit down.'
I drove the little herd (a dozen strong, now, what of the escapes she had permitted) a hundred yards farther on; and by the time she joined me I had finished the slaughter73 and was beginning to skin. An hour later went proudly back along the path between the harems. And twice again we came down the path burdened with skins, till I thought we had enough to roof the hut. I set the sail, laid one tack41 out of the cove, and on the other tack made our own little inner cove.
'It's just like home-coming,' Maud said, as I ran the boat ashore.
I heard her words with a responsive thrill, it was all so dearly intimate and natural, and I said:
'It seems as though I have lived this life always. The world of books and bookish folk is very vague, more like a dream-memory than an actuality. I surely have hunted and forayed and fought all the days of my life. And you, too, seem a part of it. You are-' I was on the verge74 of saying, 'my woman, my mate,' but glibly75 changed it to, 'standing76 the hardship well.'
But her ear had caught the flaw. She recognized a flight that midmost broke. She gave me a quick look.
'Not that. You were saying-'
'That you are living the life of a savage77 and living it quite successfully,' I said easily.
'Oh,' was all she replied; but I could have sworn there was a note of disappointment in her voice.
But 'my woman, my mate,' kept ringing in my head for the rest of the day and for many days. Yet never did it ring more loudly than the night, as I watched her draw back the blanket of moss from the coals, blow up the fire, and cook the evening meal. It must have been latent savagery78 stirring in me for the old words, so bound up with the roots of the race, to grip me and thrill me. And grip and thrill they did, till I fell asleep, murmuring them to myself over and over again.
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1
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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pittance
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| n.微薄的薪水，少量 | |
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entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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7
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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8
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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tundra
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| n.苔原，冻土地带 | |
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tarpaulin
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| n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽 | |
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17
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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18
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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26
waived
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| v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等） | |
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27
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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28
bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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30
thatch
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| vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋) | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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32
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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valiantly
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| adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳 | |
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lumbered
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| 砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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38
crunched
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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40
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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41
tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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42
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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43
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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44
prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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45
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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46
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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47
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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48
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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49
herding
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| 中畜群 | |
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50
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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51
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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52
determinedly
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| adv.决意地；坚决地，坚定地 | |
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53
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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54
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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55
trepidation
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| n.惊恐，惶恐 | |
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56
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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57
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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58
reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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59
equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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60
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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61
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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62
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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63
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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64
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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65
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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66
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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67
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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68
exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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69
burgeoning
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| adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝） | |
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70
ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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71
sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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72
prodding
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| v.刺，戳( prod的现在分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
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73
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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74
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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75
glibly
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| adv.流利地，流畅地；满口 | |
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76
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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77
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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78
savagery
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| n.野性 | |
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