Chapter 44

The sun climbed through the sky, reached its zenith, beganto come down. I spent the entire day perched on the oar,moving only as much as was necessary to stay balanced. Mywhole being tended towards the spot on the horizon that wouldappear and save me. It was a state of tense, breathlessboredom. Those first hours are associated in my memory withone sound, not one you'd guess, not the yipping of the hyenaor the hissing² of the sea: it was the buzzing of flies. Therewere flies aboard the lifeboat. They emerged and flew about inthe way of flies, in great, lazy orbits except when they cameclose to each other, when they spiralled together with dizzyingspeed and a burst of buzzing. Some were brave enough toventure out to where I was. They looped around me, soundinglike sputtering³, single-prop airplanes, before hurrying home.
Whether they were native to the boat or had come with oneof the animals, the hyena¹ most likely, I can't say. But whatevertheir origin, they didn't last long; they all disappeared withintwo days. The hyena, from behind the zebra, snapped at themand ate a number. Others were probably swept out to sea bythe wind. Perhaps a few lucky ones came to their life's termand died of old age.
As evening approached, my anxiety grew. Everything aboutthe end of the day scared me. At night a ship would havedifficulty seeing me. At night the hyena might become activeagain and maybe Orange Juice too.
Darkness came. There was no moon. Clouds hid the stars.
The contours of things became hard to distinguish. Everythingdisappeared, the sea, the lifeboat, my own body. The sea wasquiet and there was hardly any wind, so I couldn't evenground myself in sound. I seemed to be floating in pure,abstract blackness. I kept my eyes fixed⁴ on where I thoughtthe horizon was, while my ears were on guard for any sign ofthe animals. I couldn't imagine lasting⁵ the night.
Sometime during the night the hyena began snarling⁶ and thezebra barking and squealing⁷, and I heard a repeated knockingsound. I shook with fright and – I will hide nothing here –relieved myself in my pants. But these sounds came from theother end of the lifeboat. I couldn't feel any shaking thatindicated movement. The hellish beast was apparently⁸ stayingaway from me. From nearer in the blackness I began hearingloud expirations and groans⁹ and grunts¹⁰ and various wet mouthsounds. The idea of Orange Juice stirring was too much formy nerves to bear, so I did not consider it. I simply ignoredthe thought. There were also noises coming from beneath me,from the water, sudden flapping sounds and swishing soundsthat were over and done with in an instant. The battle for lifewas taking place there too.
The night passed, minute by slow minute.

1 hyena   

n.土狼，鬣狗

参考例句：

• African hyena noted for its distinctive howl.非洲鬣狗，以其特别的嚎叫而闻名。
• The hyena's public image is not aided by its ridiculous appearance.鬣狗滑稽的外表无助于改善它在公众心中的形象。

2 hissing   

n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
• His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

3 sputtering   

n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出

参考例句：

• A wick was sputtering feebly in a dish of oil. 瓦油灯上结了一个大灯花，使微弱的灯光变得更加阴暗。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Jack ran up to the referee, sputtering protest. 贾克跑到裁判跟前，唾沫飞溅地提出抗议。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

6 snarling   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• "I didn't marry you," he said, in a snarling tone. “我没有娶你，"他咆哮着说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• So he got into the shoes snarling. 于是，汤姆一边大喊大叫，一边穿上了那双鞋。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

7 squealing   

v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Pigs were grunting and squealing in the yard. 猪在院子里哼哼地叫个不停。
• The pigs were squealing. 猪尖叫着。

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 groans   

n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• There were loud groans when he started to sing. 他刚开始歌唱时有人发出了很大的嘘声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was a weird old house, full of creaks and groans. 这是所神秘而可怕的旧宅，到处嘎吱嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 grunts   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈

参考例句：

• With grunts of anguish Ogilvie eased his bulk to a sitting position. 奥格尔维苦恼地哼着，伸个懒腰坐了起来。
• Linda fired twice A trio of Grunts assembling one mortar fell. 琳达击发两次。三个正在组装迫击炮的咕噜人倒下了。