Chapter 79

There were sharks every day, mainly makos and bluesharks, but also oceanic whitetips, and once a tiger sharkstraight from the blackest of nightmares. Dawn and dusk weretheir favourite times. They never seriously troubled us. Onoccasion one knocked the hull¹ of the lifeboat with its tail. Idon't think it was accidental (other marine² life did it too, turtlesand even dorados). I believe it was part of a shark's way ofdetermining the nature of the lifeboat. A good whack³ on theoffender's nose with a hatchet⁴ sent it vanishing post-haste intothe deep. The main nuisance of sharks was that they madebeing in the water risky⁵, like trespassing⁶ on a property wherethere's a sign saying Beware of Dog. Otherwise, I grew quitefond of sharks. They were like curmudgeonly⁷ old friends whowould never admit that they liked me yet came round to seeme all the time. The blue sharks were smaller, usually no morethan four or five feet long, and the most attractive, sleek⁸ andslender, with small mouths and discreet⁹ gill slits¹⁰. Their backswere a rich ultramarine and their stomachs snow white, coloursthat vanished to grey or black when they were at any depth,but which close to the surface sparkled with surprisingbrilliance. The makos were larger and had mouths burstingwith frightening teeth, but they too were nicely coloured, anindigo blue that shimmered¹¹ beautifully in the sun. The oceanicwhitetips were often shorter than the makos – some of whichstretched to twelve feet – but they were much stockier andhad enormous dorsal¹² fins¹³ that they sailed high above thesurface of the water, like a war banner, a rapidly moving sightthat was always nerve-racking to behold¹⁴. Besides, they were adull colour, a sort of greyish brown, and the mottled white tipsof their fins held no special attraction.
I caught a number of small sharks, blue sharks for the mostpart, but some makos too. Each time it was just after sunset,in the dying light of the day, and I caught them with my barehands as they came close to the lifeboat.
The first one was my largest, a mako over four feet long. Ithad come and gone near the bow several times. As it waspassing by yet again, I impulsively¹⁵ dropped my hand into thewater and grabbed it just ahead of the tail, where its bodywas thinnest. Its harsh skin afforded such a marvellously goodgrip that without thinking about what I was doing, I pulled. AsI pulled, it jumped, giving my arm a terrific shake. To myhorror and delight the thing vaulted¹⁶ in the air in an explosionof water and spray. For the merest fraction of a second Ididn't know what to do next. The thing was smaller than I –but wasn't I being a foolhardy Goliath here? Shouldn't I let go?
I turned and swung, and falling on the tarpaulin¹⁷, I threw themako towards the stern. The fish fell from the sky into RichardParker's territory. It landed with a crash and started thwackingabout with such thunder that I was afraid it would demolishthe boat. Richard Parker was startled. He attacked immediately.
An epic¹⁸ battle began. Of interest to zoologists¹⁹ I can reportthe following: a tiger will not at first attack a shark out ofwater with its jaws²⁰ but will rather strike at it with its forepaws.
Richard Parker started clubbing the shark. I shuddered²¹ atevery blow. They were simply terrible. Just one delivered to ahuman would break every bone, would turn any piece offurniture into splinters, would reduce an entire house into a pileof rubble²². That the mako was not enjoying the treatment wasevident from the way it was twisting and turning and beatingits tail and reaching with its mouth.
Perhaps it was because Richard Parker was not familiar withsharks, had never encountered a predatory fish – whatever thecase, it happened: an accident, one of those few times when Iwas reminded that Richard Parker was not perfect, that despitehis honed instincts he too could bumble. He put his left pawinto the mako's mouth. The mako closed its jaws. ImmediatelyRichard Parker reared onto his back legs. The shark wasjerked up, but it wouldn't let go. Richard Parker fell backdown, opened his mouth wide and full-out roared. I felt a blastof hot air against my body. The air visibly shook, like the heatcoming off a road on a hot day. I can well imagine thatsomewhere far off, 150 miles away, a ship's watch looked up,startled, and later reported the oddest thing, that he thought heheard a cat's meow coming from three o'clock. Days later thatroar was still ringing in my guts²³. But a shark is deaf,conventionally speaking. So while I, who wouldn't think ofpinching a tiger's paw, let alone of trying to swallow one,received a volcanic²⁴ roar full in the face and quaked andtrembled and turned liquid with fear and collapsed²⁵, the sharkperceived only a dull vibration²⁶.
Richard Parker turned and started clawing the shark's headwith his free front paw and biting it with his jaws, while hisrear legs began tearing at its stomach and back. The sharkheld on to his paw, its only line of defence and attack, andthrashed its tail. Tiger and shark twisted and tumbled about.
With great effort I managed to gain enough control of mybody to get onto the raft and release it. The lifeboat driftedaway. I saw flashes of orange and deep blue, of fur and skin,as the lifeboat rocked from side to side. Richard Parker'ssnarling was simply terrifying.
At last the boat stopped moving. After several minutesRichard Parker sat up, licking his left paw.
In the following days he spent much time tending his fourpaws. A shark's skin is covered with minute tubercles thatmake it as rough as sandpaper. He had no doubt cut himselfwhile repeatedly raking the shark. His left paw was injured, butthe damage did not seem permanent; no toes or claws weremissing. As for the mako, except for the tips of the tail andthe mouth area, incongruously untouched, it was a half-eaten,butchered mess. Chunks²⁷ of reddish grey flesh and clumps²⁸ ofinternal organs were strewn about.
I managed to gaff some of the shark's remains²⁹, but to mydisappointment the vertebrae of sharks do not hold fluid. Atleast the flesh was tasty and unfishy, and the crunchiness ofcartilage was a welcome respite³⁰ from so much soft food.
Subsequently I went for smaller sharks, pups really, and Ikilled them myself. I found that stabbing them through the eyeswith the knife was a faster, less tiresome³¹ way of killing³² themthan hacking³³ at the tops of their heads with the hatchet.

1 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 whack   

v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• He gave me a whack on the back to wake me up.他为把我弄醒，在我背上猛拍一下。

4 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。

5 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。

6 trespassing   

[法]非法入侵

参考例句：

• He told me I was trespassing on private land. 他说我在擅闯私人土地。
• Don't come trespassing on my land again. 别再闯入我的地界了。

7 curmudgeonly   

adj.小气的，不和悦的

参考例句：

• Under Mr Obama nobody will dare to seem so curmudgeonly. 在奥巴马时代，没有人敢表现得如此小气。 来自互联网

8 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

9 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

10 slits   

n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子

参考例句：

• He appears to have two slits for eyes. 他眯着两眼。
• "You go to--Halifax,'she said tensely, her green eyes slits of rage. "你给我滚----滚到远远的地方去！" 她恶狠狠地说，那双绿眼睛冒出了怒火。

11 shimmered   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea shimmered in the sunlight. 阳光下海水闪烁着微光。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A heat haze shimmered above the fields. 田野上方微微闪烁着一层热气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 dorsal   

adj.背部的，背脊的

参考例句：

• His dorsal fin was down and his huge pectorals were spread wide.它的脊鳍朝下耷拉着，巨大的胸鳍大张着。
• The shark's dorsal fin was cut off by the fisherman.鲨鱼的背鳍被渔夫割了下来。

13 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

14 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

15 impulsively   

adv.冲动地

参考例句：

• She leant forward and kissed him impulsively. 她倾身向前，感情冲动地吻了他。
• Every good, true, vigorous feeling I had gathered came impulsively round him. 我的一切良好、真诚而又强烈的感情都紧紧围绕着他涌现出来。

16 vaulted   

adj.拱状的

参考例句：

• She vaulted over the gate and ran up the path. 她用手一撑跃过栅栏门沿着小路跑去。
• The formal living room has a fireplace and vaulted ceilings. 正式的客厅有一个壁炉和拱形天花板。

17 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。

18 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

19 zoologists   

动物学家( zoologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Zoologists refer barnacles to Crustanceans. 动物学家把螺蛳归入甲壳类。
• It is now a source of growing interest for chemists and zoologists as well. 它现在也是化学家和动物学家愈感兴趣的一个所在。

20 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

21 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

23 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》

24 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

25 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

26 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。

27 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

28 clumps   

n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声

参考例句：

• These plants quickly form dense clumps. 这些植物很快形成了浓密的树丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bulbs were over. All that remained of them were clumps of brown leaves. 这些鳞茎死了，剩下的只是一丛丛的黃叶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

30 respite   

n.休息，中止，暂缓

参考例句：

• She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
• Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。

31 tiresome   

adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

32 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

33 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。