Chapter 70

Butchering a turtle was hard work. My first one was a smallhawksbill. It was its blood that tempted¹ me, the "good,nutritious, salt-free drink" promised by the survival manual. Mythirst was that bad. I took hold of the turtle's shell andgrappled with one of its back flippers. When I had a goodgrip, I turned it over in the water and attempted to pull itonto the raft. The thing was thrashing violently. I would neverbe able to deal with it on the raft. Either I let it go – or Itried my luck on the lifeboat. I looked up. It was a hot andcloudless day. Richard Parker seemed to tolerate my presenceat the bow on such days, when the air was like the inside ofan oven and he did not move from under the tarpaulin³ untilsunset.
I held on to one of the turtle's back flippers with one handand I pulled on the rope to the lifeboat with the other. It wasnot easy climbing aboard. When I had managed it, I jerkedthe turtle in the air and brought it onto its back on thetarpaulin. As I had hoped, Richard Parker did no more thangrowl once or twice. He was not up to exerting himself in suchheat.
My determination was grim and blind. I felt I had no timeto waste. I turned to the survival manual as to a cookbook. Itsaid to lay the turtle on its back. Done. It advised that a knifeshould be "inserted into the neck" to sever⁵ the arteries⁶ andveins running through it. I looked at the turtle. There was noneck. The turtle had retracted⁷ into its shell; all that showed ofits head was its eyes and its beak⁸, surrounded by circles ofskin. It was looking at me upside down with a sternexpression. I took hold of the knife and, hoping to goad⁹ it,poked a front flipper². It only shrank further into its shell. Idecided on a more direct approach. As confidently as if I haddone it a thousand times, I jammed the knife just to the rightof the turtle's head, at an angle. I pushed the blade deep intothe folds of skin and twisted it. The turtle retreated evenfurther, favouring the side where the blade was, and suddenlyshot its head forward, beak snapping at me viciously. I jumpedback. All four flippers came out and the creature tried to makeits getaway. It rocked on its back, flippers beating wildly andhead shaking from side to side. I took hold of a hatchet¹⁰ andbrought it down on the turtle's neck, gashing¹¹ it. Bright redblood shot out. I grabbed the beaker and collected about threehundred millilitres, a pop can's worth. I might have got muchmore, a litre I would guess, but the turtle's beak was sharpand its front flippers were long and powerful, with two clawson each. The blood I managed to collect gave off no particularsmell. I took a sip¹². It tasted warm and animal, if my memoryis right. It's hard to remember first impressions. I drank theblood to the last drop.
I thought I would use the hatchet to remove the tough bellyshell, but it proved easier with the sawtoothed edge of theknife. I set one foot at the centre of the shell, the other clearof the flailing¹⁴ flippers. The leathery skin at the head end of theshell was easy cutting, except around the flippers. Sawing awayat the rim⁴, however, where shell met shell, was very hardwork, especially as the turtle wouldn't stop moving. By the timeI had gone all the way around I was bathed in sweat andexhausted. I pulled on the belly¹³ shell. It lifted reluctantly, with awet sucking sound. Inner life was revealed, twitching¹⁵ andjerking – muscles, fat, blood, guts¹⁶ and bones. And still theturtle thrashed about. I slashed¹⁷ its neck to the vertebrae. Itmade no difference. Flippers continued to beat. With two blowsof the hatchet I cut its head right off. The flippers did notstop. Worse, the separated head went on gulping¹⁸ for air andblinking its eyes. I pushed it into the sea. The living rest of theturtle I lifted and dropped into Richard Parker's territory. Hewas making noises and sounded as if he were about to stir.
He had probably smelled the turtle's blood. I fled to the raft.
I watched sullenly¹⁹ as he loudly appreciated my gift andmade a joyous²⁰ mess of himself. I was utterly²¹ spent. The effortof butchering the turtle had hardly seemed worth the cup ofblood.
I started thinking seriously about how I was going to dealwith Richard Parker. This forbearance on his part on hot,cloudless days, if that is what it was and not simple laziness,was not good enough. I couldn't always be running away fromhim. I needed safe access to the locker²² and the top of thetarpaulin, no matter the time of day or the weather, no matterhis mood. It was rights I needed, the sort of rights that comewith might.
It was time to impose myself and carve out my territory.

1 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

2 flipper   

n. 鳍状肢，潜水用橡皮制鳍状肢

参考例句：

• The seal's flipper is homologous with the human arm. 海豹的鳍肢与人类的手臂同源。
• It's almost like a flipper action as she kicks down. 她向下踢腿时有鱼鳍的效果。

3 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。

4 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

5 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

6 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 retracted   

v.撤回或撤消( retract的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回

参考例句：

• He made a false confession which he later retracted. 他作了假供词，后来又翻供。
• A caddy retracted his statement. 一个球童收回了他的话。 来自辞典例句

8 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

9 goad   

n.刺棒，刺痛物；激励；vt.激励，刺激

参考例句：

• The opposition is trying to goad the government into calling an election.在野反对党正努力激起政府提出选举。
• The writer said he needed some goad because he was indolent.这个作家说他需要刺激，因为他很懒惰。

10 hatchet   

n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀

参考例句：

• I shall have to take a hatchet to that stump.我得用一把短柄斧来劈这树桩。
• Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.别用斧头拍打朋友额头上的苍蝇。

11 gashing   

v.划伤，割破( gash的现在分词 )

参考例句：

12 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

13 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

14 flailing   

v.鞭打( flail的现在分词 )；用连枷脱粒；（臂或腿）无法控制地乱动；扫雷坦克

参考例句：

• He became moody and unreasonable, flailing out at Katherine at the slightest excuse. 他变得喜怒无常、不可理喻，为点鸡毛蒜皮的小事就殴打凯瑟琳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His arms were flailing in all directions. 他的手臂胡乱挥舞着。 来自辞典例句

15 twitching   

n.颤搐

参考例句：

• The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 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：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 gulping   

v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的现在分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• She crawled onto the river bank and lay there gulping in air. 她爬上河岸，躺在那里喘着粗气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• And you'll even feel excited gulping down a glass. 你甚至可以感觉到激动下一杯。 来自互联网

19 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

20 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

21 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

22 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。