As it was I must have walked for a great distance since I ate four times and slept twice before I reached the sea, but at last I did so, and my pleasure at the sight of it was greatly enhanced by the chance discovery of a hidden canoe among the bushes through which I had stumbled just prior to coming upon the beach.
I can tell you that it did not take me long to pull that awkward craft down to the water and shove it far out from shore. My experience with Ja had taught me that if I were to steal another canoe I must be quick about it and get far beyond the owner's reach as soon as possible.
I must have come out upon the opposite side of the island from that at which Ja and I had entered it, for the mainland was nowhere in sight. For a long time I paddled around the shore, though well out, before I saw the mainland in the distance. At the sight of it I lost no time in directing my course toward it, for I had long since made up my mind to return to Phutra and give myself up that I might be once more with Perry and Ghak the Hairy One.
I felt that I was a fool ever to have attempted to escape alone, especially in view of the fact that our plans were already well formulated3 to make a break for freedom together. Of course I realized that the chances of the success of our proposed venture were slim indeed, but I knew that I never could enjoy freedom without Perry so long as the old man lived, and I had learned that the probability that I might find him was less than slight.
Had Perry been dead, I should gladly have pitted my strength and wit against the savage4 and primordial5 world in which I found myself. I could have lived in seclusion6 within some rocky cave until I had found the means to outfit7 myself with the crude weapons of the Stone Age, and then set out in search of her whose image had now become the constant companion of my waking hours, and the central and beloved figure of my dreams.
But, to the best of my knowledge, Perry still lived and it was my duty and wish to be again with him, that we might share the dangers and vicissitudes9 of the strange world we had discovered. And Ghak, too; the great, shaggy man had found a place in the hearts of us both, for he was indeed every inch a man and king. Uncouth10, perhaps, and brutal11, too, if judged too harshly by the standards of effete12 twentieth-century civilization, but withal noble, dignified13, chivalrous14, and loveable.
Chance carried me to the very beach upon which I had discovered Ja's canoe, and a short time later I was scrambling15 up the steep bank to retrace16 my steps from the plain of Phutra. But my troubles came when I entered the canyon17 beyond the summit, for here I found that several of them centered at the point where I crossed the divide, and which one I had traversed to reach the pass I could not for the life of me remember.
It was all a matter of chance and so I set off down that which seemed the easiest going, and in this I made the same mistake that many of us do in selecting the path along which we shall follow out the course of our lives, and again learned that it is not always best to follow the line of least resistance.
By the time I had eaten eight meals and slept twice I was convinced that I was upon the wrong trail, for between Phutra and the inland sea I had not slept at all, and had eaten but once. To retrace my steps to the summit of the divide and explore another canyon seemed the only solution of my problem, but a sudden widening and levelness of the canyon just before me seemed to suggest that it was about to open into a level country, and with the lure18 of discovery strong upon me I decided19 to proceed but a short distance farther before I turned back.
The next turn of the canyon brought me to its mouth, and before me I saw a narrow plain leading down to an ocean. At my right the side of the canyon continued to the water's edge, the valley lying to my left, and the foot of it running gradually into the sea, where it formed a broad level beach.
Clumps20 of strange trees dotted the landscape here and there almost to the water, and rank grass and ferns grew between. From the nature of the vegetation I was convinced that the land between the ocean and the foothills was swampy21, though directly before me it seemed dry enough all the way to the sandy strip along which the restless waters advanced and retreated.
Curiosity prompted me to walk down to the beach, for the scene was very beautiful. As I passed along beside the deep and tangled22 vegetation of the swamp I thought that I saw a movement of the ferns at my left, but though I stopped a moment to look it was not repeated, and if anything lay hid there my eyes could not penetrate23 the dense24 foliage25 to discern it.
Presently I stood upon the beach looking out over the wide and lonely sea across whose forbidding bosom26 no human being had yet ventured, to discover what strange and mysterious lands lay beyond, or what its invisible islands held of riches, wonders, or adventure. What savage faces, what fierce and formidable beasts were this very instant watching the lapping of the waves upon its farther shore! How far did it extend? Perry had told me that the seas of Pellucidar were small in comparison with those of the outer crust, but even so this great ocean might stretch its broad expanse for thousands of miles. For countless27 ages it had rolled up and down its countless miles of shore, and yet today it remained all unknown beyond the tiny strip that was visible from its beaches.
The fascination28 of speculation29 was strong upon me. It was as though I had been carried back to the birth time of our own outer world to look upon its lands and seas ages before man had traversed either. Here was a new world, all untouched. It called to me to explore it. I was dreaming of the excitement and adventure which lay before us could Perry and I but escape the Mahars, when something, a slight noise I imagine, drew my attention behind me.
As I turned, romance, adventure, and discovery in the abstract took wing before the terrible embodiment of all three in concrete form that I beheld30 advancing upon me.
A huge, slimy amphibian31 it was, with toad-like body and the mighty32 jaws33 of an alligator35. Its immense carcass must have weighed tons, and yet it moved swiftly and silently toward me. Upon one hand was the bluff36 that ran from the canyon to the sea, on the other the fearsome swamp from which the creature had sneaked37 upon me, behind lay the mighty untracked sea, and before me in the center of the narrow way that led to safety stood this huge mountain of terrible and menacing flesh.
A single glance at the thing was sufficient to assure me that I was facing one of those long-extinct, prehistoric38 creatures whose fossilized remains39 are found within the outer crust as far back as the Triassic formation, a gigantic labyrinthodon. And there I was, unarmed, and, with the exception of a loin cloth, as naked as I had come into the world. I could imagine how my first ancestor felt that distant, prehistoric morn that he encountered for the first time the terrifying progenitor40 of the thing that had me cornered now beside the restless, mysterious sea.
Unquestionably he had escaped, or I should not have been within Pellucidar or elsewhere, and I wished at that moment that he had handed down to me with the various attributes that I presumed I have inherited from him, the specific application of the instinct of self-preservation which saved him from the fate which loomed41 so close before me today.
To seek escape in the swamp or in the ocean would have been similar to jumping into a den2 of lions to escape one upon the outside. The sea and swamp both were doubtless alive with these mighty, carnivorous amphibians42, and if not, the individual that menaced me would pursue me into either the sea or the swamp with equal facility.
There seemed nothing to do but stand supinely and await my end. I thought of Perry—how he would wonder what had become of me. I thought of my friends of the outer world, and of how they all would go on living their lives in total ignorance of the strange and terrible fate that had overtaken me, or unguessing the weird43 surroundings which had witnessed the last frightful44 agony of my extinction45. And with these thoughts came a realization46 of how unimportant to the life and happiness of the world is the existence of any one of us. We may be snuffed out without an instant's warning, and for a brief day our friends speak of us with subdued47 voices. The following morning, while the first worm is busily engaged in testing the construction of our coffin48, they are teeing up for the first hole to suffer more acute sorrow over a sliced ball than they did over our, to us, untimely demise49. The labyrinthodon was coming more slowly now. He seemed to realize that escape for me was impossible, and I could have sworn that his huge, fanged50 jaws grinned in pleasurable appreciation51 of my predicament, or was it in anticipation52 of the juicy morsel53 which would so soon be pulp54 between those formidable teeth?
He was about fifty feet from me when I heard a voice calling to me from the direction of the bluff at my left. I looked and could have shouted in delight at the sight that met my eyes, for there stood Ja, waving frantically55 to me, and urging me to run for it to the cliff's base.
I had no idea that I should escape the monster that had marked me for his breakfast, but at least I should not die alone. Human eyes would watch me end. It was cold comfort I presume, but yet I derived57 some slight peace of mind from the contemplation of it.
To run seemed ridiculous, especially toward that steep and unscalable cliff, and yet I did so, and as I ran I saw Ja, agile58 as a monkey, crawl down the precipitous face of the rocks, clinging to small projections59, and the tough creepers that had found root-hold here and there.
The labyrinthodon evidently thought that Ja was coming to double his portion of human flesh, so he was in no haste to pursue me to the cliff and frighten away this other tidbit. Instead he merely trotted60 along behind me.
As I approached the foot of the cliff I saw what Ja intended doing, but I doubted if the thing would prove successful. He had come down to within twenty feet of the bottom, and there, clinging with one hand to a small ledge8, and with his feet resting precariously61 upon tiny bushes that grew from the solid face of the rock, he lowered the point of his long spear until it hung some six feet above the ground.
To clamber up that slim shaft62 without dragging Ja down and precipitating63 both to the same doom64 from which the copper-colored one was attempting to save me seemed utterly65 impossible, and as I came near the spear I told Ja so, and that I could not risk him to try to save myself.
But he insisted that he knew what he was doing and was in no danger himself.
"The danger is still yours," he called, "for unless you move much more rapidly than you are now, the sithic will be upon you and drag you back before ever you are halfway66 up the spear—he can rear up and reach you with ease anywhere below where I stand."
Well, Ja should know his own business, I thought, and so I grasped the spear and clambered up toward the red man as rapidly as I could—being so far removed from my simian67 ancestors as I am. I imagine the slow-witted sithic, as Ja called him, suddenly realized our intentions and that he was quite likely to lose all his meal instead of having it doubled as he had hoped.
When he saw me clambering up that spear he let out a hiss68 that fairly shook the ground, and came charging after me at a terrific rate. I had reached the top of the spear by this time, or almost; another six inches would give me a hold on Ja's hand, when I felt a sudden wrench69 from below and glancing fearfully downward saw the mighty jaws of the monster close on the sharp point of the weapon.
I made a frantic56 effort to reach Ja's hand, the sithic gave a tremendous tug70 that came near to jerking Ja from his frail71 hold on the surface of the rock, the spear slipped from his fingers, and still clinging to it I plunged72 feet foremost toward my executioner.
At the instant that he felt the spear come away from Ja's hand the creature must have opened his huge jaws to catch me, for when I came down, still clinging to the butt73 end of the weapon, the point yet rested in his mouth and the result was that the sharpened end transfixed his lower jaw34.
With the pain he snapped his mouth closed. I fell upon his snout, lost my hold upon the spear, rolled the length of his face and head, across his short neck onto his broad back and from there to the ground.
Scarce had I touched the earth than I was upon my feet, dashing madly for the path by which I had entered this horrible valley. A glance over my shoulder showed me the sithic engaged in pawing at the spear stuck through his lower jaw, and so busily engaged did he remain in this occupation that I had gained the safety of the cliff top before he was ready to take up the pursuit. When he did not discover me in sight within the valley he dashed, hissing74, into the rank vegetation of the swamp and that was the last I saw of him.
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1
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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3
formulated
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| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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primordial
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| adj.原始的；最初的 | |
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seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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7
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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vicissitudes
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| n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废 | |
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10
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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11
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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12
effete
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| adj.无生产力的，虚弱的 | |
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13
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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14
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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15
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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16
retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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17
canyon
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| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
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18
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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19
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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20
clumps
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| 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 | |
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21
swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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22
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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23
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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24
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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26
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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27
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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28
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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29
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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30
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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31
amphibian
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| n.两栖动物；水陆两用飞机和车辆 | |
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32
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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33
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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34
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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35
alligator
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| n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼) | |
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36
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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37
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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38
prehistoric
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| adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的 | |
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39
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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40
progenitor
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| n.祖先，先驱 | |
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41
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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42
amphibians
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| 两栖动物( amphibian的名词复数 )； 水陆两用车； 水旱两生植物； 水陆两用飞行器 | |
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43
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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44
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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45
extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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46
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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47
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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48
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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49
demise
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| n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让 | |
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50
fanged
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| adj.有尖牙的，有牙根的，有毒牙的 | |
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51
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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52
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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53
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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54
pulp
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| n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆 | |
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55
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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56
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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57
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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58
agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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59
projections
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| 预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物 | |
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60
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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61
precariously
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| adv.不安全地；危险地；碰机会地；不稳定地 | |
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62
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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63
precipitating
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| adj.急落的，猛冲的v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的现在分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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64
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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65
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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66
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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67
simian
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| adj.似猿猴的；n.类人猿，猴 | |
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68
hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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69
wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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70
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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71
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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72
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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73
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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74
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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