Chapter 40

Richard Parker did not jump into the water after me. Theoar I intended to use as a club floated. I held on to it as Ireached for the lifebuoy, now vacant of its previous occupant. Itwas terrifying to be in the water. It was black and cold and ina rage. I felt as if I were at the bottom of a crumbling² well.
Water kept crashing down on me. It stung my eyes. It pulledme down. I could hardly breathe. If there hadn't been thelifebuoy I wouldn't have lasted a minute.
I saw a triangle slicing the water fifteen feet away. It was ashark's fin³. An awful tingle⁴, cold and liquid, went up and downmy spine⁵. I swam as fast as I could to one end of the lifeboat,the end still covered by the tarpaulin⁶. I pushed myself up onthe lifebuoy with my arms. I couldn't see Richard Parker. Hewasn't on the tarpaulin or on a bench. He was at the bottomof the lifeboat. I pushed myself up again. All I could see,briefly, at the other end, was the zebra's head thrashing about.
As I fell back into the water another shark's fin glided⁷ rightbefore me.
The bright orange tarpaulin was held down by a strongnylon rope that wove its way between metal grommets in thetarpaulin and blunt hooks on the side of the boat. I happenedto be treading water at the bow. The tarpaulin was not assecurely fixed⁸ going over the stem – which had a very shortprow, what in a face would be called a snub nose – as it waselsewhere around the boat. There was a little looseness in thetarpaulin as the rope went from one hook on one side of thestem to the next hook on the other side. I lifted the oar¹ in theair and I shoved its handle into this looseness, into thislifesaving detail. I pushed the oar in as far as it would go. Thelifeboat now had a prow⁹ projecting over the waves, ifcrookedly. I pulled myself up and wrapped my legs around theoar. The oar handle pushed up against the tarpaulin, buttarpaulin, rope and oar held. I was out of the water, if only bya fluctuating two, three feet. The crest¹⁰ of the larger waves keptstriking me.
I was alone and orphaned¹¹, in the middle of the Pacific,hanging on to an oar, an adult tiger in front of me, sharksbeneath me, a storm raging about me. Had I considered myprospects in the light of reason, I surely would have given upand let go of the oar, hoping that I might drown before beingeaten. But I don't recall that I had a single thought duringthose first minutes of relative safety. I didn't even noticedaybreak. I held on to the oar, I just held on, God onlyknows why.
After a while I made good use of the lifebuoy. I lifted it outof the water and put the oar through its hole. I worked itdown until the ring was hugging me. Now it was only with mylegs that I had to hold on. If Richard Parker appeared, itwould be more awkward to drop from the oar, but one terrorat a time, Pacific before tiger.

1 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

2 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

3 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

4 tingle   

vi.感到刺痛，感到激动；n.刺痛，激动

参考例句：

• The music made my blood tingle.那音乐使我热血沸腾。
• The cold caused a tingle in my fingers.严寒使我的手指有刺痛感。

5 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

6 tarpaulin   

n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽

参考例句：

• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。
• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。

7 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

9 prow   

n.(飞机)机头，船头

参考例句：

• The prow of the motor-boat cut through the water like a knife.汽艇的船头像一把刀子劈开水面向前行驶。
• He stands on the prow looking at the seadj.他站在船首看着大海。

10 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

11 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。