Chapter 94

When we reached land, Mexico to be exact, I was so weakI barely had the strength to be happy about it. We had greatdifficulty landing. The lifeboat nearly capsized in the surf. Istreamed the sea anchors – what was left of them – full opento keep us perpendicular¹ to the waves, and I tripped them assoon as we began riding a crest². In this way, streaming andtripping the anchors, we surfed in to shore. It was dangerous.
But we caught one wave at just the right point and it carriedus a great distance, past the high, collapsing³ walls of water. Itripped the anchors a last time and we were pushed in therest of the way. The boat hissed⁴ to a halt against the sand.
I let myself down the side. I was afraid to let go, afraid thatso close to deliverance, in two feet of water, I would drown. Ilooked ahead to see how far I had to go. The glance gave meone of my last images of Richard Parker, for at that precisemoment he jumped over me. I saw his body, so immeasurablyvital, stretched in the air above me, a fleeting⁶, furred rainbow.
He landed in the water, his back legs splayed, his tail high, andfrom there, in a few hops⁷, he reached the beach. He went tothe left, his paws gouging⁸ the wet sand, but changed his mindand spun⁹ around. He passed directly in front of me on hisway to the right. He didn't look at me. He ran a hundredyards or so along the shore before turning in. His gait wasclumsy and uncoordinated. He fell several times. At the edge ofthe jungle, he stopped. I was certain he would turn my way.
He would look at me. He would flatten¹⁰ his ears. He wouldgrowl. In some such way, he would conclude our relationship.
He did nothing of the sort. He only looked fixedly¹¹ into thejungle. Then Richard Parker, companion of my torment¹², awful,fierce thing that kept me alive, moved forward and disappearedforever from my life.
I struggled to shore and fell upon the sand. I looked about.
I was truly alone, orphaned¹³ not only of my family, but now ofRichard Parker, and nearly, I thought, of God. Of course, Iwasn't. This beach, so soft, firm and vast, was like the cheekof God, and somewhere two eyes were glittering with pleasureand a mouth was smiling at having me there.
After some hours a member of my own species found me.
He left and returned with a group. They were six or seven.
They came up to me with their hands covering their nosesand mouths. I wondered what was wrong with them. Theyspoke to me in a strange tongue. They pulled the lifeboat ontothe sand. They carried me away. The one piece of turtle meatI had brought from the boat they wrenched¹⁴ from my handand threw away.
I wept like a child. It was not because I was overcome athaving survived my ordeal¹⁵, though I was. Nor was it thepresence of my brothers and sisters, though that too was verymoving. I was weeping because Richard Parker had left me sounceremoniously. What a terrible thing it is to botch a farewell.
I am a person who believes in form, in the harmony of order.
Where we can, we must give things a meaningful shape. Forexample – I wonder – could you tell my jumbled¹⁶ story inexactly one hundred chapters, not one more, not one less? I'lltell you, that's one thing I hate about my nickname, the waythat number runs on forever. It's important in life to concludethings properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you areleft with words you should have said but never did, and yourheart is heavy with remorse¹⁷. That bungled¹⁸ goodbye hurts meto this day. I wish so much that I'd had one last look at himin the lifeboat, that I'd provoked him a little, so that I was onhis mind. I wish I had said to him then – yes, I know, to atiger, but still – I wish I had said, "Richard Parker, it's over.
We have survived. Can you believe it? I owe you moregratitude than I can express. I couldn't have done it withoutyou. I would like to say it formally: Richard Parker, thank you.
Thank you for saving my life. And now go where you must.
You have known the confined freedom of a zoo most of yourlife; now you will know the free confinement¹⁹ of a jungle. I wishyou all the best with it. Watch out for Man. He is not yourfriend. But I hope you will remember me as a friend. I willnever forget you, that is certain. You will always be with me, inmy heart. What is that hiss⁵? Ah, our boat has touched sand.
So farewell, Richard Parker, farewell. God be with you."The people who found me took me to their village, andthere some women gave me a bath and scrubbed me so hardthat I wondered if they realized I was naturally brown-skinnedand not a very dirty white boy. I tried to explain. They noddedand smiled and kept on scrubbing me as if I were the deck ofa ship.
I thought they were going to skin me alive. But they gaveme food. Delicious food. Once I started eating, I couldn't stop. Ithought I would never stop being hungry.
The next day a police car came and brought me to ahospital, and there my story ends.
I was overwhelmed by the generosity²⁰ of those who rescuedme. Poor people gave me clothes and food. Doctors andnurses cared for me as if I were a premature²¹ baby. Mexicanand Canadian officials opened all doors for me so that fromthe beach in Mexico to the home of my foster mother to theclassrooms of the University of Toronto, there was only onelong, easy corridor I had to walk down. To all these people Iwould like to extend my heartfelt thanks.

1 perpendicular   

adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The two lines of bones are set perpendicular to one another.这两排骨头相互垂直。
• The wall is out of the perpendicular.这墙有些倾斜。

2 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。

3 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

4 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

5 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。

6 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

7 hops   

跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• The sparrow crossed the lawn in a series of hops. 那麻雀一蹦一跳地穿过草坪。
• It is brewed from malt and hops. 它用麦精和蛇麻草酿成。

8 gouging   

n.刨削[槽]v.凿( gouge的现在分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…

参考例句：

• Banks and credit-card companies have been accused of gouging their customers. 银行和信用卡公司被指控欺诈顾客。 来自辞典例句
• If back-gouging is applied, grinding to bright metal is required. 如果采用火焰气刨，则应将其打磨至可见光亮的金属表面。 来自互联网

9 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

10 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

11 fixedly   

adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地

参考例句：

• He stared fixedly at the woman in white. 他一直凝视着那穿白衣裳的女人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The great majority were silent and still, looking fixedly at the ground. 绝大部分的人都不闹不动，呆呆地望着地面。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

12 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

13 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。

14 wrenched   

v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛

参考例句：

• The bag was wrenched from her grasp. 那只包从她紧握的手里被夺了出来。
• He wrenched the book from her hands. 他从她的手中把书拧抢了过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

16 jumbled   

adj.混乱的；杂乱的

参考例句：

• Books, shoes and clothes were jumbled together on the floor. 书、鞋子和衣服胡乱堆放在地板上。
• The details of the accident were all jumbled together in his mind. 他把事故细节记得颠三倒四。

17 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

18 bungled   

v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• They bungled the job. 他们把活儿搞糟了。
• John bungled the job. 约翰把事情搞糟了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

19 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

20 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

21 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。