Chapter 83

The storm came on slowly one afternoon. The clouds lookedas if they were stumbling along before the wind, frightened.
The sea took its cue. It started rising and falling in a mannerthat made my heart sink. I took in the solar stills and the net.
Oh, you should have seen that landscape! What I had seen uptill now were mere¹ hillocks of water. These swells² were trulymountains. The valleys we found ourselves in were so deepthey were gloomy. Their sides were so steep the lifeboat startedsliding down them, nearly surfing. The raft was gettingexceptionally rough treatment, being pulled out of the water anddragged along bouncing every which way. I deployed⁴ both seaanchors fully⁵, at different lengths so that they would notinterfere with each other.
Climbing the giant swells, the boat clung to the sea anchorslike a mountain climber to a rope. We would rush up until wereached a snow-white crest⁶ in a burst of light and foam⁷ and atipping forward of the lifeboat. The view would be clear formiles around. But the mountain would shift, and the groundbeneath us would start sinking in a most stomach-sickeningway. In no time we would be sitting once again at the bottomof a dark valley, different from the last but the same, withthousands of tons of water hovering⁸ above us and with onlyour flimsy lightness to save us. The land would move oncemore, the sea-anchor ropes would snap to tautness⁹, and theroller coaster would start again.
The sea anchors did their job well – in fact, nearly too well.
Every swell³ at its crest wanted to take us for a tumble, but theanchors, beyond the crest, heaved mightily¹⁰ and pulled usthrough, but at the expense of pulling the front of the boatdown. The result was an explosion of foam and spray at thebow. I was soaked through and through each time.
Then a swell came up that was particularly intent on takingus along. This time the bow vanished underwater. I wasshocked and chilled and scared witless. I barely managed tohold on. The boat was swamped. I heard Richard Parker roar.
I felt death was upon us. The only choice left to me wasdeath by water or death by animal. I chose death by animal.
While we sank down the back of the swell, I jumped ontothe tarpaulin¹¹ and unrolled it towards the stern, closing inRichard Parker. If he protested, I did not hear him. Fasterthan a sewing machine working a piece of cloth, I hookeddown the tarpaulin on both sides of the boat. We wereclimbing again. The boat was lurching upwards¹² steadily¹³. It washard to keep my balance. The lifeboat was now covered andthe tarpaulin battened down, except at my end. I squeezed inbetween the side bench and the tarpaulin and pulled theremaining tarpaulin over my head. I did not have much space.
Between bench and gunnel there was twelve inches, and theside benches were only one and a half feet wide. But I wasnot so foolhardy, even in the face of death, as to move ontothe floor of the boat. There were four hooks left to catch. Islipped a hand through the opening and worked the rope.
With each hook done, it was getting harder to get the next. Imanaged two. Two hooks left. The boat was rushing upwardsin a smooth and unceasing motion. The incline was over thirtydegrees. I could feel myself being pulled down towards thestern. Twisting my hand frantically¹⁴ I succeeded in catching¹⁵ onemore hook with the rope. It was the best I could do. This wasnot a job meant to be done from the inside of the lifeboat butfrom the outside. I pulled hard on the rope, something madeeasier by the fact that holding on to it was preventing mefrom sliding down the length of the boat. The boat swiftlypassed a forty-five-degree incline.
We must have been at a sixty-degree incline when wereached the summit of the swell and broke through its crestonto the other side. The smallest portion of the swell's supplyof water crashed down on us. I felt as if I were beingpummelled by a great fist. The lifeboat abruptly¹⁶ tilted¹⁷ forwardand everything was reversed: I was now at the lower end ofthe lifeboat, and the water that had swamped it, with a tigersoaking in it, came my way. I did not feel the tiger – I hadno precise idea of where Richard Parker was; it waspitch-black beneath the tarpaulin – but before we reached thenext valley I was half-drowned.
For the rest of that day and into the night, we went up anddown, up and down, up and down, until terror becamemonotonous and was replaced by numbness¹⁸ and a completegiving-up. I held on to the tarpaulin rope with one hand andthe edge of the bow bench with the other, while my body layflat against the side bench. In this position – water pouring in,water pouring out – the tarpaulin beat me to a pulp¹⁹, I wassoaked and chilled, and I was bruised²⁰ and cut by bones andturtle shells. The noise of the storm was constant, as wasRichard Parker's snarling²¹.
Sometime during the night my mind noted²² that the stormwas over. We were bobbing on the sea in a normal way.
Through a tear in the tarpaulin I glimpsed the night sky. Starryand cloudless. I undid²³ the tarpaulin and lay on top of it.
I noticed the loss of the raft at dawn. All that was left of itwere two tied oars²⁴ and the life jacket between them. They hadthe same effect on me as the last standing²⁵ beam of aburnt-down house would have on a householder. I turned andscrutinized every quarter of the horizon. Nothing. My littlemarine town had vanished. That the sea anchors, miraculously,were not lost – they continued to tug²⁶ at the lifeboat faithfully –was a consolation²⁷ that had no effect. The loss of the raft wasperhaps not fatal to my body, but it felt fatal to my spirits.
The boat was in a sorry state. The tarpaulin was torn inseveral places, some tears evidently the work of RichardParker's claws. Much of our food was gone, either lostoverboard or destroyed by the water that had come in. I wassore all over and had a bad cut on my thigh²⁸; the wound wasswollen and white. I was nearly too afraid to check thecontents of the locker²⁹. Thank God none of the water bags hadsplit. The net and the solar stills, which I had not entirelydeflated, had filled the empty space and prevented the bagsfrom moving too much.
I felt exhausted³⁰ and depressed³¹. I unhooked the tarpaulin atthe stern. Richard Parker was so silent I wondered whether hehad drowned. He hadn't. As I rolled back the tarpaulin to themiddle bench and daylight came to him, he stirred andgrowled. He climbed out of the water and set himself on thestern bench. I took out needle and thread and went aboutmending the tears in the tarpaulin.
Later I tied one of the buckets to a rope and bailed³² theboat. Richard Parker watched me distractedly. He seemed tofind nearly everything I did boring. The day was hot and Iproceeded slowly. One haul brought me something I had lost. Iconsidered it. Cradled in the palm of my hand was all thatremained between me and death: the last of the orangewhistles.

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

3 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

4 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 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。

7 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

8 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

9 tautness   

拉紧，紧固度

参考例句：

• For a string of specified length, tautness and density only certain notes can be generated. 一根确定长度、松紧和密度的弦只能发出某某音。 来自辞典例句

10 mightily   

ad.强烈地；非常地

参考例句：

• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet. 他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
• This seemed mightily to relieve him. 干完这件事后，他似乎轻松了许多。

11 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。

12 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

13 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

14 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

15 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

16 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

17 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

18 numbness   

n.无感觉，麻木，惊呆

参考例句：

• She was fighting off the numbness of frostbite. 她在竭力摆脱冻僵的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sometimes they stay dead, causing' only numbness. 有时，它们没有任何反应，只会造成麻木。 来自时文部分

19 pulp   

n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆

参考例句：

• The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
• The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。

20 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

21 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

22 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

23 Undid   

v. 解开, 复原

参考例句：

• The officer undid the flap of his holster and drew his gun. 军官打开枪套盖拔出了手枪。
• He did wrong, and in the end his wrongs undid him. 行恶者终以其恶毁其身。

24 oars   

n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
• The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

26 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

27 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

28 thigh   

n.大腿；股骨

参考例句：

• He is suffering from a strained thigh muscle.他的大腿肌肉拉伤了，疼得很。
• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。

29 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。

30 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

31 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

32 bailed   

保释，帮助脱离困境( bail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Fortunately the pilot bailed out before the plane crashed. 飞机坠毁之前，驾驶员幸运地跳伞了。
• Some water had been shipped and the cook bailed it out. 船里进了些水，厨师把水舀了出去。