Chapter 86

"Richard Parker, a ship!"I had the pleasure of shouting that once. I was overwhelmedwith happiness. All hurt and frustration¹ fell away and Ipositively blazed with joy.
"We've made it! We're saved! Do you understand,Richard Parker? WE'RE SAVED! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"I tried to control my excitement. What if the ship passed toofar away to see us? Should I launch a rocket flare²? Nonsense!
"It's coming right towards us, Richard Parker! Oh, I thankyou, Lord Ganesha! Blessed be you in all your manifestations,Allah-Brahman!"It couldn't miss us. Can there be any happiness greater thanthe happiness of salvation³? The answer – believe me – is No.
I got to my feet, the first time in a long time I had madesuch an effort.
"Can you believe it, Richard Parker? People, food, a bed. Lifeis ours once again. Oh, what bliss⁴!"The ship came closer still. It looked like an oil tanker⁵. Theshape of its bow was becoming distinct. Salvation wore a robeof black metal with white trim.
"And what if…?"I did not dare say the words. But might there not be achance that Father and Mother and Ravi were still alive? TheTsimtsum had had a number of lifeboats. Perhaps they hadreached Canada weeks ago and were anxiously waiting fornews from me. Perhaps I was the only person from the wreckunaccounted for.
"My God, oil tankers⁶ are big!"It was a mountain creeping up on us.
"Perhaps they're already in Winnipeg. I wonder what ourhouse looks like. Do you suppose, Richard Parker, thatCanadian houses have inner courtyards in the traditional Tamilstyle? Probably not. I suppose they would fill up with snow inwinter. Pity. There's no peace like the peace of an innercourtyard on a sunny day. I wonder what spices grow inManitoba?"The ship was very close. The crew better be stopping shortor turning sharply soon.
"Yes, what spices…? Oh my God!"I realized with horror that the tanker was not simply comingour way – it was in fact bearing down on us. The bow was avast wall of metal that was getting wider every second. A hugewave girdling it was advancing towards us relentlessly⁷. RichardParker finally sensed the looming⁸ juggernaut. He turned andwent "Woof! Woof!" but not doglike – it was tiger-like:
powerful, scary and utterly⁹ suited to the situation.
"Richard Parker, it's going to run us over! What are wegoing to do? Quick, quick, a flare! No! Must row. Oar¹⁰ inoarlock… there! HUMPF! HUMPF! HUMPF! HUMPF!
HUMPF! HUM–"The bow wave pushed us up. Richard Parker crouched¹¹, andthe hairs on him stood up. The lifeboat slid off the bow waveand missed the tanker by less than two feet.
The ship slid by for what seemed like a mile, a mile of high,black canyon¹² wall, a mile of castle fortification with not a singlesentinel to notice us languishing¹³ in the moat. I fired off arocket flare, but I aimed it poorly. Instead of surging over thebulwarks and exploding in the captain's face, it ricocheted offthe ship's side and went straight into the Pacific, where it diedwith a hiss¹⁵. I blew on my whistle with all my might. I shoutedat the top of my lungs. All to no avail.
Its engines rumbling¹⁶ loudly and its propellers¹⁷ choppingexplosively underwater, the ship churned past us and left usbouncing and bobbing in its frothy wake. After so many weeksof natural sounds, these mechanical noises were strange andawesome and stunned¹⁸ me into silence.
In less than twenty minutes a ship of three hundredthousand tons became a speck¹⁹ on the horizon. When I turnedaway, Richard Parker was still looking in its direction. After afew seconds he turned away too and our gazes briefly²⁰ met.
My eyes expressed longing²¹, hurt, anguish¹⁴, loneliness. All he wasaware of was that something stressful and momentous²² hadhappened, something beyond the outer limits of hisunderstanding. He did not see that it was salvation barelymissed. He only saw that the alpha here, this odd,unpredictable tiger, had been very excited. He settled down toanother nap. His sole comment on the event was a crankymeow.
"I love you!" The words burst out pure and unfettered,infinite. The feeling flooded my chest. "Truly I do. I love you,Richard Parker. If I didn't have you now, I don't know what Iwould do. I don't think I would make it. No, I wouldn't. Iwould die of hopelessness. Don't give up, Richard Parker, don'tgive up. I'll get you to land, I promise, I promise!"

1 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

2 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

3 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

4 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

5 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

6 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

7 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。

8 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

9 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。

10 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

11 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

12 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

13 languishing   

a. 衰弱下去的

参考例句：

• He is languishing for home. 他苦思家乡。
• How long will she go on languishing for her red-haired boy? 为想见到她的红头发的儿子，她还将为此烦恼多久呢？

14 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

15 hiss   

v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满

参考例句：

• We can hear the hiss of air escaping from a tire.我们能听到一只轮胎的嘶嘶漏气声。
• Don't hiss at the speaker.不要嘘演讲人。

16 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

17 propellers   

n.螺旋桨，推进器( propeller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The water was thrashing and churning about under the propellers. 水在螺旋桨下面打旋、翻滚。 来自辞典例句
• The ship's propellers churned the waves to foam. 轮船的推进器将海浪搅出泡沫。 来自辞典例句

18 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

19 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

20 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

21 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

22 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。