Chapter 76

I got into the habit of cleaning up after Richard Parker. Assoon as I became aware that he had had a bowel¹ movement,I went about getting to it, a risky² operation involving nudginghis feces my way with the gaff and reaching for them from thetarpaulin. Feces can be infected with parasites³. This does notmatter with animals in the wild since they rarely spend anytime next to their feces and mostly have a neutral relationshipto them; tree dwellers⁴ hardly see them at all and land animalsnormally excrete and move on. In the compact territory of azoo, however, the case is quite different, and to leave feces inan animal's enclosure is to invite reinfection by encouraging theanimal to eat them, animals being gluttons⁵ for anything thatremotely resembles food. That is why enclosures are cleaned,out of concern for the intestinal⁶ health of animals, not to sparethe eyes and noses of visitors. But upholding the Patel family'sreputation for high standards in zookeeping was not myconcern in the case at hand. In a matter of weeks RichardParker became constipated and his bowel movements came nomore than once a month, so my dangerous janitoring washardly worth it from a sanitary⁷ point of view. It was foranother reason that I did it: it was because the first timeRichard Parker relieved himself in the lifeboat, I noticed that hetried to hide the result. The significance of this was not lost onme. To display his feces openly, to flaunt⁸ the smell of them,would have been a sign of social dominance. Conversely, tohide them, or try to, was a sign of deference⁹ – of deference tome.
I could tell that it made him nervous. He stayed low, hishead cocked back and his ears flat to the sides, a quiet,sustained growl¹⁰ coming from him. I proceeded with exceptionalalertness and deliberation, not only to preserve my life but alsoto give him the right signal. The right signal was that when Ihad his feces in my hand, I rolled them about for someseconds, brought them close to my nose and sniffed¹¹ themloudly, and swung my gaze his way a few times in a showymanner, glaring at him wide-eyed (with fear, if only he knew)long enough to give him the willies, but not so long as toprovoke him. And with each swing of my gaze, I blew in alow, menacing way in the whistle. By doing this, by badgeringhim with my eyes (for, of course, with all animals, including us,to stare is an aggressive act) and by sounding that whistle crythat had such ominous¹³ associations in his mind, I made clearto Richard Parker that it was my right, my lordly right, tofondle and sniff¹² his feces if I wanted to. So you see, it wasnot good zookeeping I was up to, but psychological bullying¹⁴.
And it worked. Richard Parker never stared back; his gazealways floated in mid-air, neither on me nor off me. It wassomething I could feel as much as I felt his balls of excrementin my hand: mastery in the making. The exercise always leftme utterly¹⁵ drained from the tension, yet exhilarated.
Since we are on the subject, I became as constipated asRichard Parker. It was the result of our diet, too little waterand too much protein. For me, relieving myself, also a monthlyact, was hardly that. It was a long-drawn, arduous¹⁶ and painfulevent that left me bathing in sweat and helpless withexhaustion, a trial worse than a high fever.

1 bowel   

n.肠(尤指人肠)；内部，深处

参考例句：

• Irritable bowel syndrome seems to affect more women than men.女性比男性更易患肠易激综合征。
• Have you had a bowel movement today?你今天有排便吗？

2 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

3 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

4 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 gluttons   

贪食者( glutton的名词复数 )； 贪图者； 酷爱…的人； 狼獾

参考例句：

• NIV for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. [和合]因为好酒贪食的，必致贫穷；好17睡觉的，必穿破烂衣服。

6 intestinal   

adj.肠的；肠壁；肠道细菌

参考例句：

• A few other conditions are in high intestinal obstruction. 其它少数情况是高位肠梗阻。 来自辞典例句
• This complication has occasionally occurred following the use of intestinal antiseptics. 这种并发症偶而发生在使用肠道抗菌剂上。 来自辞典例句

7 sanitary   

adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的

参考例句：

• It's not sanitary to let flies come near food.让苍蝇接近食物是不卫生的。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

8 flaunt   

vt.夸耀，夸饰

参考例句：

• His behavior was an outrageous flaunt.他的行为是一种无耻的炫耀。
• Why would you flaunt that on a public forum?为什么你们会在公共论坛大肆炫耀？

9 deference   

n.尊重，顺从；敬意

参考例句：

• Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗？
• The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。

10 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

11 sniffed   

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

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

13 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

14 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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。

16 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。