Chapter 84

I was on the tarpaulin¹, wrapped in a blanket, sleeping anddreaming and awakening² and daydreaming³ and generallypassing the time. There was a steady breeze. From time totime spray was blown off the crest⁴ of a wave and wet theboat. Richard Parker had disappeared under the tarpaulin. Heliked neither getting wet nor the ups and downs of the boat.
But the sky was blue, the air was warm, and the sea wasregular in its motion. I awoke because there was a blast. Iopened my eyes and saw water in the sky. It crashed downon me. I looked up again. Cloudless blue sky. There wasanother blast, to my left, not as powerful as the first. RichardParker growled⁵ fiercely. More water crashed against me. It hadan unpleasant smell.
I looked over the edge of the boat. The first thing I sawwas a large black object floating in the water. It took me a fewseconds to understand what it was. An arching wrinkle aroundits edge was my clue. It was an eye. It was a whale. Its eye,the size of my head, was looking directly at me.
Richard Parker came up from beneath the tarpaulin. Hehissed. I sensed from a slight change in the glint of the whaleseye that it was now looking at Richard Parker. It gazed forthirty seconds or so before gently sinking under. I worried thatit might strike us with its tail, but it went straight down andvanished in the dark blue. Its tail was a huge, fading, roundbracket.
I believe it was a whale looking for a mate. It must havedecided that my size wouldn't do, and besides, I alreadyseemed to have a mate.
We saw a number of whales but none so close up as thatfirst one. I would be alerted to their presence by their spouting⁶.
They would emerge a short distance away, sometimes three orfour of them, a short-lived archipelago of volcanic⁷ islands. Thesegentle behemoths always lifted my spirits. I was convinced thatthey understood my condition, that at the sight of me one ofthem exclaimed, "Oh! It's that castaway with the pussy⁸ catBamphoo was telling me about. Poor boy. Hope he hasenough plankton⁹. I must tell Mumphoo and Tomphoo andStimphoo about him. I wonder if there isn't a ship around Icould alert. His mother would be very happy to see him again.
Goodbye, my boy. I'll try to help. My name's Pimphoo." Andso, through the grapevine, every whale of the Pacific knew ofme, and I would have been saved long ago if Pimphoo hadn'tsought help from a Japanese ship whose dastardly crewharpooned her, the same fate as befell Lamphoo at the handsof a Norwegian ship. The hunting of whales is a heinous¹⁰ crime.
Dolphins were fairly regular visitors. One group stayed withus a whole day and night. They were very gay. Their plungingand turning and racing¹¹ just beneath the hull¹² seemed to haveno purpose other than sporting fun. I tried to catch one. Butnone came close to the gaff. And even if one had, they weretoo fast and too big. I gave up and just watched them.
I saw six birds in all. I took each one to be an angelannouncing nearby land. But these were seafaring birds thatcould span the Pacific with hardly a flutter of the wings. Iwatched them with awe¹³ and envy and self-pity.
Twice I saw an albatross. Each flew by high in the airwithout taking any notice of us. I stared with my mouth open.
They were something supernatural and incomprehensible.
Another time, a short distance from the boat, two Wilson'spetrels skimmed by, feet skipping on the water. They, too, tookno notice of us, and left me similarly amazed.
We at last attracted the attention of a short-tailed shearwater.
It circled above us, eventually dropping down. It kicked out itslegs, turned its wings and alighted in the water, floating aslightly as a cork¹⁴ It eyed me with curiosity. I quickly baited ahook with a bit of flying fish and threw the line its way. I putno weights on the line and had difficulty getting it close to thebird. On my third try the bird paddled up to the sinking baitand plunged¹⁵ its head underwater to get at it. My heartpounded with excitement. I did not pull on the line for someseconds. When I did, the bird merely squawked andregurgitated what it had just swallowed. Before I could tryagain, it unfolded its wings and pulled itself up into the air.
Within two, three beatings of its wings it was on its way.
I had better luck with a masked booby. It appeared out ofnowhere, gliding¹⁶ towards us, wings spanning over three feet. Itlanded on the gunnel within hand's reach of me. Its roundeyes took me in, the expression puzzled and serious. It was alarge bird with a pure snowy white body and wings that werejet-black at their tips and rear edges. Its big, bulbous head hada very pointed¹⁷ orange-yellow beak¹⁸ and the red eyes behind theblack mask made it look like a thief who had had a very longnight. Only the oversized, brown webbed feet left something tobe desired in their design. The bird was fearless. It spentseveral minutes tweaking its feathers with its beak, exposing softdown. When it was finished, it looked up and everything fellinto place, and it showed itself for what it was: a smooth,beautiful, aerodynamic airship. When I offered it a bit ofdorado, it pecked it out of my hand, jabbing the palm.
I broke its neck by leveraging¹⁹ its head backwards²⁰, one handpushing up the beak, the other holding the neck. The featherswere so well attached that when I started pulling them out,skin came off – I was not plucking the bird; I was tearing itapart. It was light enough as it was, a volume with no weight.
I took the knife and skinned it instead. For its size there wasa disappointing amount of flesh, only a little on its chest. Ithad a more chewy texture²¹ than dorado flesh, but I didn't findthere was much of a difference in taste. In its stomach, besidesthe morsel²² of dorado I had just given it, I found three smallfish. After rinsing²³ them of digestive juices, I ate them. I ate thebird's heart, liver and lungs. I swallowed its eyes and tonguewith a gulp²⁴ of water. I crushed its head and picked out itssmall brain. I ate the webbings ‘of its feet. The rest of the birdwas skin, bone and feathers. I dropped it beyond the edge ofthe tarpaulin for Richard Parker, who hadn't seen the birdarrive. An orange paw reached out.
Days later feathers and down were still floating up from hisden and being blown out to sea. Those that landed in thewater were swallowed by fish.
None of the birds ever announced land.

1 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。

2 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

3 daydreaming   

v.想入非非，空想( daydream的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Stop daydreaming and be realistic. 别空想了，还是从实际出发吧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Bill was sitting and daydreaming so his mother told him to come down to earth and to do his homework. 比尔坐着空想， 他母亲要他面对现实，去做课外作业。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 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。

5 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 spouting   

n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水

参考例句：

• He's always spouting off about the behaviour of young people today. 他总是没完没了地数落如今年轻人的行为。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blood was spouting from the deep cut in his arm. 血从他胳膊上深深的伤口里涌出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 pussy   

n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪

参考例句：

• Why can't they leave my pussy alone?为什么他们就不能离我小猫咪远一点？
• The baby was playing with his pussy.孩子正和他的猫嬉戏。

9 plankton   

n.浮游生物

参考例句：

• Plankton is at the bottom of the marine food chain.浮游生物处于海洋食物链的最底层。
• The plankton in the sea feeds many kinds of animals. 海的浮游生物成为很多种动物的食物。

10 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

11 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

12 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。

13 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

14 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

15 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

16 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

17 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

18 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。

19 leveraging   

促使…改变( leverage的现在分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• De-leveraging is a painful process: it has barely begun. 去杠杆化是个痛苦的过程：它才刚刚开始。
• Archimedes said, saying: Give me a fulcrum, I can leveraging the Earth. 阿基米德说过一句话：给我一个支点，我可以撬动地球。

20 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

21 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

22 morsel   

n.一口，一点点

参考例句：

• He refused to touch a morsel of the food they had brought.他们拿来的东西他一口也不吃。
• The patient has not had a morsel of food since the morning.从早上起病人一直没有进食。

23 rinsing   

n.清水，残渣v.漂洗( rinse的现在分词 )；冲洗；用清水漂洗掉（肥皂泡等）；（用清水）冲掉

参考例句：

• Pablo made a swishing noise rinsing wine in his mouth. 巴勃罗用酒漱着口，发出咕噜噜噜的声音。 来自辞典例句
• The absorption of many molecular layers could be reestablished by rinsing the foils with tap water. 多分子层的吸附作用可用自来水淋洗金属箔而重新实现。 来自辞典例句

24 gulp   

vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽

参考例句：

• She took down the tablets in one gulp.她把那些药片一口吞了下去。
• Don't gulp your food,chew it before you swallow it.吃东西不要狼吞虎咽，要嚼碎了再咽下去。