Burmese Days 缅甸岁月 Chapter 14
时间：2015-11-12 01:23:03
（单词翻译:单击）
Like long curved needles threading through embroidery2, the two canoes that carried Flory and Elizabeth threaded their way up the creek3 that led inland from the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy. It was the day of the shooting trip--a short afternoon trip, for they could not stay a night in the jungle together. They were to shoot for a couple of hours in the comparative cool of the evening, and be back at Kyauktada in time for dinner.
The canoes, each hollowed out of a single tree-trunk, glided4 swiftly, hardly rippling5 the dark brown water. Water hyacinth with profuse6 spongy foliage7 and blue flowers had choked the stream so that the channel was only a winding8 ribbon four feet wide. The light filtered, greenish, through interlacing boughs10. Sometimes one could hear parrots scream overhead, but no wild creatures showed themselves, except once a snake that swam hurriedly away and disappeared among the water hyacinth.
'How long before we get to the village?' Elizabeth called back to Flory. He was in a larger canoe behind, together with Flo and Ko S'la, paddled by a wrinkly old woman dressed in rags.
'How far, grandmama?' Flory asked the canoe-woman.
The old woman took her cigar out of her mouth and rested her paddle on her knees to think. 'The distance a man can shout,' she said after reflection.
'About half a mile,' Flory translated.
They had come two miles. Elizabeth's back was aching. The canoes were liable to upset at a careless moment, and you had to sit bolt upright on the narrow backless seat, keeping your feet as well as possible out of the bilge, with dead prawns11 in it, that sagged12 to and fro at the bottom. The Burman who paddled Elizabeth was sixty years old, half naked, leaf-brown, with a body as perfect as that of a young man. His face was battered13, gentle and humorous. His black cloud of hair, finer than that of most Burmans, was knotted loosely over one ear, with a wisp or two tumbling across his cheek. Elizabeth was nursing her uncle's gun across her knees. Flory had offered to take it, but she had refused; in reality, the feel of it delighted her so much that she could not bring herself to give it up. She had never had a gun in her hand until today. She was wearing a rough skirt with brogue shoes and a silk shirt like a man's, and she knew that with her Terai hat they looked well on her. She was very happy, in spite of her aching back and the hot sweat that tickled14 her face, and the large, speckled mosquitoes that hummed round her ankles.
The stream narrowed and the beds of water hyacinth gave place to steep banks of glistening15 mud, like chocolate. Rickety thatched huts leaned far out over the stream, their piles driven into its bed. A naked boy was standing16 between two of the huts, flying a green beetle17 on a piece of thread like a kite. He yelled at the sight of the Europeans, whereat more children appeared from nowhere. The old Burman guided the canoe to a jetty made of a single palm-trunk laid in the mud--it was covered with barnacles and so gave foothold--and sprang out and helped Elizabeth ashore18. The others followed with the bags and cartridges20, and Flo, as she always did on these occasions, fell into the mud and sank as deep as the shoulder. A skinny old gentleman wearing a magenta21 paso, with a mole22 on his cheek from which four yard-long grey hairs sprouted23, came forward shikoing and cuffing24 the heads of the children who had gathered round the jetty.
'The village headman,' Flory said.
The old man led the way to his house, walking ahead with an extraordinary crouching25 gait, like a letter L upside down--the result of rheumatism26 combined with the constant shikoing needed in a minor27 Government official. A mob of children marched rapidly after the Europeans, and more and more dogs, all yapping and causing Flo to shrink against Flory's heels. In the doorway28 of every hut clusters of moonlike, rustic29 faces gaped30 at the 'Ingaleikma'. The village was darkish under the shade of broad leaves. In the rains the creek would flood, turning the lower parts of the village into a squalid wooden Venice where the villagers stepped from their front doors into their canoes.
The headman's house was a little bigger than the others, and it had a corrugated31 iron roof, which, in spite of the intolerable din1 it made during the rains, was the pride of the headman's life. He had foregone the building of a pagoda32, and appreciably33 lessened34 his chances of Nirvana, to pay for it. He hastened up the steps and gently kicked in the ribs35 a youth who was lying asleep on the veranda36. Then he turned and shikoed again to the Europeans, asking them to come inside.
'Shall we go in?' Flory said. 'I expect we shall have to wait half an hour.'
'Couldn't you tell him to bring some chairs out on the veranda?' Elizabeth said. After her experience in Li Yeik's house she had privately37 decided38 that she would never go inside a native house again, if she could help it.
There was a fuss inside the house, and the headman, the youth and some women dragged forth40 two chairs decorated in an extraordinary manner with red hibiscus flowers, and also some begonias growing in kerosene41 tins. It was evident that a sort of double throne had been prepared within for the Europeans. When Elizabeth had sat down the headman reappeared with a teapot, a bunch of very long, bright green bananas, and six coal-black cheroots. But when he had poured her out a cup of tea Elizabeth shook her head, for the tea looked, if possible, worse even than Li Yeik's.
The headman looked abashed42 and rubbed his nose. He turned to Flory and asked him whether the young thakin-ma would like some milk in her tea. He had heard that Europeans drank milk in their tea. The villages should, if it were desired, catch a cow and milk it. However, Elizabeth still refused the tea; but she was thirsty, and she asked Flory to send for one of the bottles of soda-water that Ko S'la had brought in his bag. Seeing this, the headman retired43, feeling guiltily that his preparations had been insufficient44, and left the veranda to the Europeans.
Elizabeth was still nursing her gun on her knees, while Flory leaned against the veranda rail pretending to smoke one of the headman's cheroots. Elizabeth was pining for the shooting to begin. She plied45 Flory with innumerable questions.
'How soon can we start out? Do you think we've got enough cartridges? How many beaters shall we take? Oh, I do so hope we have some luck! You do think we'll get something, don't you?'
'Nothing wonderful, probably. We're bound to get a few pigeons, and perhaps jungle fowl46. They're out of season, but it doesn't matter shooting the cocks. They say there's a leopard47 round here, that killed a bullock almost in the village last week.'
'Oh, a leopard! How lovely if we could shoot it!'
'It's very unlikely, I'm afraid. The only rule with this shooting in Burma is to hope for nothing. It's invariably disappointing. The jungles teem48 with game, but as often as not you don't even get a chance to fire your gun.'
'Why is that?'
'The jungle is so thick. An animal may be five yards away and quite invisible, and half the time they manage to dodge49 back past the beaters. Even when you see them it's only for a flash of a second. And again, there's water everywhere, so that no animal is tied down to one particular spot. A tiger, for instance, will roam hundreds of miles if it suits him. And with all the game there is, they need never come back to a kill if there's anything suspicious about it. Night after night, when I was a boy, I've sat up over horrible stinking50 dead cows, waiting for tigers that never came.'
Elizabeth wriggled51 her shoulder-blades against the chair. It was a movement that she made sometimes when she was deeply pleased. She loved Flory, really loved him, when he talked like this. The most trivial scrap52 of information about shooting thrilled her. If only he would always talk about shooting, instead of about books and Art and that mucky poetry! In a sudden burst of admiration53 she decided that Flory was really quite a handsome man, in his way. He looked so splendidly manly54, with his pagri-cloth shirt open at the throat, and his shorts and puttees and shooting boots! And his face, lined, sunburned, like a soldier's face. He was standing with his birthmarked cheek away from her. She pressed him to go on talking.
He described the shooting, years ago, of a mangy old man-eater who had killed one of his coolies. The wait in the mosquito-ridden machan; the tiger's eyes approaching through the dark jungle, like great green lanterns; the panting, slobbering noise as he devoured56 the coolie's body, tied to a stake below. Flory told it all perfunctorily enough--did not the proverbial Anglo Indian bore always talk about tiger-shooting?--but Elizabeth wriggled her shoulders delightedly once more. He did not realize how such talk as this reassured57 her and made up for all the times when he had bored her and disquieted58 her. Six shock-headed youths came down the path, carrying dahs over their shoulders, and headed by a stringy but active old man with grey hair. They halted in front of the headman's house, and one of them uttered a hoarse59 whoop60, whereat the headman appeared and explained that these were the beaters. They were ready to start now, if the young thakin-ma did not find it too hot.
They set out. The side of the village away from the creek was protected by a hedge of cactus61 six feet high and twelve thick. One went up a narrow lane of cactus, then along a rutted, dusty bullock-cart track, with bamboos as tall as flagstaffs growing densely63 on either side. The beaters marched rapidly ahead in single file, each with his broad dah laid along his forearm. The old hunter was marching just in front of Elizabeth. His longyi was hitched64 up like a loin-cloth, and his meagre thighs66 were tattooed67 with dark blue patterns, so intricate that he might have been wearing drawers of blue lace. A bamboo the thickness of a man's wrist had fallen and hung across the path. The leading beater severed68 it with an upward flick69 of his dah; the prisoned water gushed70 out of it with a diamond-flash. After half a mile they reached the open fields, and everyone was sweating, for they had walked fast and the sun was savage71.
'That's where we're going to shoot, over there,' Flory said.
He pointed72 across the stubble, a wide dust-coloured plain, cut up into patches of an acre or two by mud boundaries. It was horribly flat, and lifeless save for the snowy egrets. At the far edge a jungle of great trees rose abruptly73, like a dark green cliff. The beaters had gone across to a small tree like a hawthorn74 twenty yards away. One of them was on his knees, shikoing to the tree and gabbling, while the old hunter poured a bottle of some cloudy liquid on to the ground. The others stood looking on with serious, bored faces, like men in church.
'What ARE those men doing?' Elizabeth said.
'Only sacrificing to the local gods. Nats, they call them--a kind of dryad. They're praying to him to bring us good luck.'
The hunter came back and in a cracked voice explained that they were to beat a small patch of scrub over to the right before proceeding75 to the main jungle. Apparently76 the Nat had counselled this. The hunter directed Flory and Elizabeth where to stand, pointing with his dah. The six beaters, plunged77 into the scrub; they would make a detour78 and beat back towards the paddy-fields. There were some bushes of the wild rose thirty yards from the jungle's edge, and Flory and Elizabeth took cover behind one of these, while Ko S'la squatted79 down behind another bush a little distance away, holding Flo's collar and stroking her to keep her quiet. Flory always sent Ko S'la to a distance when he was shooting, for he had an irritating trick of clicking his tongue if a shot was missed. Presently there was a far-off echoing sound--a sound of tapping and strange hollow cries; the beat had started. Elizabeth at once began trembling so uncontrollably that she could not keep her gun-barrel still. A wonderful bird, a little bigger than a thrush, with grey wings and body of blazing scarlet80, broke from the trees and came towards them with a dipping flight. The tapping and the cries came nearer. One of the bushes at the jungle's edge waved violently--some large animal was emerging. Elizabeth raised her gun and tried to steady it. But it was only a naked yellow beater, dah in hand. He saw that he had emerged and shouted to the others to join him.
Elizabeth lowered her gun. 'What's happened?'
'Nothing. The beat's over.'
'So there was nothing there!' she cried in bitter disappointment.
'Never mind, one never gets anything the first beat. We'll have better luck next time.'
They crossed the lumpy stubble, climbing over the mud boundaries that divided the fields, and took up their position opposite the high green wall of the jungle. Elizabeth had already learned how to load her gun. This time the beat had hardly started when Ko S'la whistled sharply.
'Look out!' Flory cried. 'Quick, here they come!'
A flight of green pigeons were dashing towards them at incredible speed, forty yards up. They were like a handful of catapulted stones whirling through the sky. Elizabeth was helpless with excitement. For a moment she could not move, then she flung her barrel into the air, somewhere in the direction of the birds, and tugged81 violently at the trigger. Nothing happened--she was pulling at the trigger-guard. Just as the birds passed overhead she found the triggers and pulled both of them simultaneously82. There was a deafening83 roar and she was thrown backwards84 a pace with her collar- bone almost broken. She had fired thirty yards behind the birds. At the same moment she saw Flory turn and level his gun. Two of the pigeons, suddenly checked in their flight, swirled85 over and dropped to the ground like arrows. Ko S'la yelled, and he and Flo raced after them.
'Look out!' said Flory, 'here's an imperial pigeon. Let's have him!'
A large heavy bird, with flight much slower than the others, was flapping overhead. Elizabeth did not care to fire after her previous failure. She watched Flory thrust a cartridge19 into the breech and raise his gun, and the white plume86 of smoke leapt up from the muzzle87. The bird planed heavily down, his wing broken. Flo and Ko S'la came running excitedly up, Flo with the big imperial pigeon in her mouth, and Ko S'la grinning and producing two green pigeons from his Kachin bag.
Flory took one of the little green corpses88 to show to Elizabeth. 'Look at it. Aren't they lovely things? The most beautiful bird in Asia.'
Elizabeth touched its smooth feathers with her finger-tip. It filled her with bitter envy, because she had not shot it. And yet it was curious, but she felt almost an adoration89 for Flory now that she had seen how he could shoot.
'Just look at its breast-feathers; like a jewel. It's murder to shoot them. The Burmese say that when you kill one of these birds they vomit90, meaning to say, "Look, here is all I possess, and I've taken nothing of yours. Why do you kill me?" I've never seen one do it, I must admit.'
'Are they good to eat?'
'Very. Even so, I always feel it's a shame to kill them.'
'It's only a knack92, you'll soon pick it up. You know how to hold your gun, and that's more than most people do when they start.'
However, at the next two beats, Elizabeth could hit nothing. She had learned not to fire both barrels at once, but she was too paralysed with excitement ever to take aim. Flory shot several more pigeons, and a small bronze-wing dove with back as green as verdigris93. The jungle fowl were too cunning to show themselves, though one could hear them cluck-clucking all round, and once or twice the sharp trumpet-call of a cock. They were getting deeper into the jungle now. The light was greyish, with dazzling patches of sunlight. Whichever way one looked one's view was shut in by the multitudinous ranks of trees, and the tangled94 bushes and creepers that struggled round their bases like the sea round the piles of a pier95. It was so dense62, like a bramble bush extending mile after mile, that one's eyes were oppressed by it. Some of the creepers were huge, like serpents. Flory and Elizabeth struggled along narrow game-tracks, up slippery banks, thorns tearing at their clothes. Both their shirts were drenched96 with sweat. It was stifling97 hot, with a scent98 of crushed leaves. Sometimes for minutes together invisible cidadas would keep up a shrill99, metallic100 pinging like the twanging of a steel guitar, and then, by stopping, make a silence that startled one.
As they were walking to the fifth beat they came to a great peepul tree in which, high up, one could hear imperial pigeons cooing. It was a sound like the far-off lowing of cows. One bird fluttered out and perched alone on the topmost bough9, a small greyish shape.
'Try a sitting shot,' Flory said to Elizabeth. 'Get your sight on him and pull off without waiting. Don't shut your left eye.'
Elizabeth raised her gun, which had begun trembling as usual. The beaters halted in a group to watch, and some of them could not refrain from clicking their tongues; they thought it queer and rather shocking to see a woman handle a gun. With a violent effort of will Elizabeth kept her gun still for a second, and pulled the trigger. She did not hear the shot; one never does when it has gone home. The bird seemed to jump upwards101 from the bough, then down it came, tumbling over and over, and stuck in a fork ten yards up. One of the beaters laid down his dah and glanced appraisingly102 at the tree; then he walked to a great creeper, thick as a man's thigh65 and twisted like a stick of barley103 sugar, that hung far out from a bough. He ran up the creeper as easily as though it had been a ladder, walked upright along the broad bough, and brought the pigeon to the ground. He put it limp and warm into Elizabeth's hand.
She could hardly give it up, the feel of it so ravished her. She could have kissed it, hugged it to her breast. All the men, Flory and Ko S'la and the beaters, smiled at one another to see her fondling the dead bird. Reluctantly, she gave it to Ko S'la to put in the bag. She was conscious of an extraordinary desire to fling her arms round Flory's neck and kiss him; and in some way it was the killing104 of the pigeon that made her feel this.
After the fifth beat the hunter explained to Flory that they must cross a clearing that was used for growing pineapples, and would beat another patch of jungle beyond. They came out into sunlight, dazzling after the jungle gloom. The clearing was an oblong of an acre or two hacked105 out of the jungle like a patch mown in long grass, with the pineapples, prickly cactus-like plants, growing in rows, almost smothered106 by weeds. A low hedge of thorns divided the field in the middle. They had nearly crossed the field when there was a sharp cock-a-doodle-doo from beyond the hedge.
'Oh, listen!' said Elizabeth, stopping. 'Was that a jungle cock?'
'Yes. They come out to feed about this time.'
'Couldn't we go and shoot him?'
'We'll have a try if you like. They're cunning beggars. Look, we'll stalk up the hedge until we get opposite where he is. We'll have to go without making a sound.'
He sent Ko S'la and the beaters on, and the two of them skirted the field and crept along the hedge. They had to bend double to keep themselves out of sight. Elizabeth was in front. The hot sweat trickled107 down her face, tickling108 her upper lip, and her heart was knocking violently. She felt Flory touch her heel from behind. Both of them stood upright and looked over the hedge together.
Ten yards away a little cock the size of a bantam, was pecking vigorously at the ground. He was beautiful, with his long silky neck-feathers, bunched comb and arching, laurel-green tail. There were six hens with him, smaller brown birds, with diamond-shaped feathers like snake-scales on their backs. All this Elizabeth and Flory saw in the space of a second, then with a squawk and a whirr the birds were up and flying like bullets for the jungle. Instantly, automatically as it seemed, Elizabeth raised her gun and fired. It was one of those shots where there is no aiming, no consciousness of the gun in one's hand, when one's mind seems to fly behind the charge and drive it to the mark. She knew the bird was doomed110 even before she pulled the trigger. He tumbled, showered feathers thirty yards away. 'Good shot, good shot!' cried Flory. In their excitement both of them dropped their guns, broke through the thorn hedge and raced side by side to where the bird lay.
'Good shot!' Flory repeated, as excited as she. 'By Jove, I've never seen anyone kill a flying bird their first day, never! You got your gun off like lightning. It's marvellous!'
They were kneeling face to face with the dead bird between them. With a shock they discovered that their hands, his right and her left, were clasped tightly together. They had run to the place hand-in-hand without noticing it.
A sudden stillness came on them both, a sense of something momentous111 that must happen. Flory reached across and took her other hand. It came yieldingly, willingly. For a moment they knelt with their hands clasped together. The sun blazed upon them and the warmth breathed out of their bodies; they seemed to be floating upon clouds of heat and joy. He took her by the upper arms to draw her towards him.
Then suddenly he turned his head away and stood up, pulling Elizabeth to her feet. He let go of her arms. He had remembered his birthmark. He dared not do it. Not here, not in daylight! The snub it invited was too terrible. To cover the awkwardness of the moment he bent112 down and picked up the jungle cock.
'It was splendid,' he said. 'You don't need any teaching. You can shoot already. We'd better get on to the next beat.'
They had just crossed the hedge and picked up their guns when there was a series of shouts from the edge of the jungle. Two of the beaters were running towards them with enormous leaps, waving their arms wildly in the air.
'What is it?' Elizabeth said.
'I don't know. They've seen some animal or other. Something good, by the look of them.'
They broke into a run and hurried across the field, breaking through the pineapples and the stiff prickly weeds. Ko S'la and five of the beaters were standing in a knot all talking at once, and the other two were beckoning114 excitedly to Flory and Elizabeth. As they came up they saw in the middle of the group an old woman who was holding up her ragged39 longyi with one hand and gesticulating with a big cigar in the other. Elizabeth could hear some word that sounded like 'Char109' repeated over and over again.
'What is it they're saying?' she said.
The beaters came crowding round Flory, all talking eagerly and pointing into the jungle. After a few questions he waved his hand to silence them and turned to Elizabeth:
'I say, here's a bit of luck! This old girl was coming through the jungle, and she says that at the sound of the shot you fired just now, she saw a leopard run across the path. These fellows know where he's likely to hide. If we're quick they may be able to surround him before he sneaks115 away, and drive him out. Shall we try it?'
'Oh, do let's! Oh, what awful fun! How lovely, how lovely if we could get that leopard!'
'You understand it's dangerous? We'll keep close together and it'll probably be all right, but it's never absolutely safe on foot. Are you ready for that?'
'Oh, of course, of course! I'm not frightened. Oh, do let's be quick and start!'
'One of you come with us, and show us the way,' he said to the beaters. 'Ko S'la, put Flo on the leash116 and go with the others. She'll never keep quiet with us. We'll have to hurry,' he added to Elizabeth.
Ko S'la and the beaters hurried off along the edge of the jungle. They would strike in and begin beating farther up. The other beater, the same youth who had climbed the tree after the pigeon, dived into the jungle, Flory and Elizabeth following. With short rapid steps, almost running, he led them through a labyrinth117 of game-tracks. The bushes trailed so low that sometimes one had almost to crawl, and creepers hung across the path like trip-wires. The ground was dusty and silent underfoot. At some landmark118 in the jungle the beater halted, pointed to the ground as a sign that this spot would do, and put his finger on his lips to enjoin119 silence. Flory took four SG cartridges from his pockets and took Elizabeth's gun to load it silently.
There was a faint rustling120 behind them, and they all started. A nearly naked youth with a pellet-bow, come goodness knows whence, had parted the bushes. He looked at the beater, shook his head and pointed up the path. There was a dialogue of signs between the two youths, then the beater seemed to agree. Without speaking all four stole forty yards along the path, round a bend, and halted again. At the same moment a frightful121 pandemonium122 of yells, punctuated123 by barks from Flo, broke out a few hundred yards away.
Elizabeth felt the beater's hand on her shoulder, pushing her downwards124. They all four squatted down under cover of a prickly bush, the Europeans in front, the Burmans behind. In the distance there was such a tumult125 of yells and the rattle126 of dahs against tree-trunks that one could hardly believe six men could make so much noise. The beaters were taking good care that the leopard should not turn back upon them. Elizabeth watched some large, pale yellow ants marching like soldiers over the thorns of the bush. One fell on to her hand and crawled up her forearm. She dared not move to brush it away. She was praying silently, 'Please God, let the leopard come! Oh please, God, let the leopard come!'
There was a sudden loud pattering on the leaves. Elizabeth raised her gun, but Flory shook his head sharply and pushed the barrel down again. A jungle fowl scuttled127 across the path with long noisy strides.
The yells of the beaters seemed hardly to come any closer, and this end of the jungle the silence was like a pall128. The ant on Elizabeth's arm bit her painfully and dropped to the ground. A dreadful despair had begun to form in her heart; the leopard was not coming, he had slipped away somewhere, they had lost him. She almost wished they had never heard of the leopard, the disappointment was so agonizing129. Then she felt the beater pinch her elbow. He was craning his face forward, his smooth, dull yellow cheek only a few inches from her own; she could smell the coco-nut oil in his hair. His coarse lips were puckered130 as in a whistle; he had heard something. Then Flory and Elizabeth heard it too, the faintest whisper, as though some creature of air were gliding131 through the jungle, just brushing the ground with its foot. At the same moment the leopard's head and shoulders emerged from the undergrowth, fifteen yards down the path.
He stopped with his forepaws on the path. They could see his low, flat-eared head, his bare eye-tooth and his thick, terrible forearm. In the shadow he did not look yellow but grey. He was listening intently. Elizabeth saw Flory spring to his feet, raise his gun and pull the trigger instantly. The shot roared, and almost simultaneously there was a heavy crash as the brute132 dropped flat in the weeds. 'Look out!' Flory cried, 'he's not done for!' He fired again, and there was a fresh thump133 as the shot went home. The leopard gasped134. Flory threw open his gun and felt in his pocket for a cartridge, then flung all his cartridges on to the path and fell on his knees, searching rapidly among them.
'Damn and blast it!' he cried. 'There isn't a single SG among them. Where in hell did I put them?'
The leopard had disappeared as he fell. He was thrashing about in the undergrowth like a great, wounded snake, and crying out with a snarling135, sobbing136 noise, savage and pitiful. The noise seemed to be coming nearer. Every cartridge Flory turned up had 6 or 8 marked on the end. The rest of the large-shot cartridges had, in fact, been left with Ko S'la. The crashing and snarling were now hardly five yards away, but they could see nothing, the jungle was so thick.
The two Burmans were crying out 'Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!' The sound of 'Shoot! Shoot!' got farther away--they were skipping for the nearest climbable trees. There was a crash in the undergrowth so close that it shook the bush by which Elizabeth was standing.
'By God, he's almost on us!' Flory said. 'We must turn him somehow. Let fly at the sound.'
Elizabeth raised her gun. Her knees were knocking like castanets, but her hand was as steady as stone. She fired rapidly, once, twice. The crashing noise receded137. The leopard was crawling away, crippled but swift, and still invisible.
'Well done! You've scared him,' Flory said.
'But he's getting away! He's getting away!' Elizabeth cried, dancing about in agitation138. She made to follow him. Flory jumped to his feet and pulled her back.
'No fear! You stay here. Wait!'
He slipped two of the small-shot cartridges into his gun and ran after the sound of the leopard. For a moment Elizabeth could not see either beast or man, then they reappeared in a bare patch thirty yards away. The leopard was writhing139 along on his belly140, sobbing as he went. Flory levelled his gun and fired at four yards' distance. The leopard jumped like a cushion when one hits it, then rolled over, curled up and lay still. Flory poked141 the body with his gun-barrel. It did not stir.
'It's all right, he's done for,' he called. 'Come and have a look at him.'
The two Burmans jumped down from their tree, and they and Elizabeth went across to where Flory was standing. The leopard--it was a male--was lying curled up with his head between his forepaws. He looked much smaller than he had looked alive; he looked rather pathetic, like a dead kitten. Elizabeth's knees were still quivering. She and Flory stood looking down at the leopard, close together, but not clasping hands this time.
It was only a moment before Ko S'la and the others came up, shouting with glee. Flo gave one sniff142 at the dead leopard, then down went her tail and she bolted fifty yards, whimpering. She could not be induced to come near him again. Everyone squatted down round the leopard and gazed at him. They stroked his beautiful white belly, soft as a hare's, and squeezed his broad pugs to bring out the claws, and pulled back his black lips to examine the fangs143. Presently two of the beaters cut down a tall bamboo and slung144 the leopard upon it by his paws, with his long tail trailing down, and then they marched back to the village in triumph. There was no talk of further shooting, though the light still held. They were all, including the Europeans, too anxious to get home and boast of what they had done.
Flory and Elizabeth walked side by side across the stubble field. The others were thirty yards ahead with the guns and the leopard, and Flo was slinking after them a long way in the rear. The sun was going down beyond the Irrawaddy. The light shone level across the field, gilding145 the stubble stalks, and striking into their faces with a yellow, gentle beam. Elizabeth's shoulder was almost touching146 Flory's as they walked. The sweat that had drenched their shirts had dried again. They did not talk much. They were happy with that inordinate147 happiness that comes of exhaustion148 and achievement, and with which nothing else in life--no joy of either the body or the mind--is even able to be compared.
'The leopard skin is yours,' Flory said as they approached the village.
'Oh, but you shot him!'
'Never mind, you stick to the skin. By Jove, I wonder how many of the women in this country would have kept their heads like you did! I can just see them screaming and fainting. I'll get the skin cured for you in Kyauktada jail. There's a convict there who can cure skins as soft as velvet149. He's doing a seven-year sentence, so he's had time to learn the job.'
'Oh well, thanks awfully.'
No more was said for the present. Later, when they had washed off the sweat and dirt, and were fed and rested, they would meet again at the Club. They made no rendezvous150, but it was understood between them that they would meet. Also, it was understood that Flory would ask Elizabeth to marry him, though nothing was said about this either.
At the village Flory paid the beaters eight annas each, superintended the skinning of the leopard, and gave the headman a bottle of beer and two of the imperial pigeons. The skin and skull151 were packed into one of the canoes. All the whiskers had been stolen, in spite of Ko S'la's efforts to guard them. Some young men of the village carried off the carcass in order to eat the heart and various other organs, the eating of which they believed would make them strong and swift like the leopard.
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| n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品 | |
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3
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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4
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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5
rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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6
profuse
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| adj.很多的，大量的，极其丰富的 | |
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7
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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8
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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9
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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11
prawns
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| n.对虾，明虾( prawn的名词复数 ) | |
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12
sagged
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| 下垂的 | |
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13
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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14
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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15
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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16
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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17
beetle
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| n.甲虫，近视眼的人 | |
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18
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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19
cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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20
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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21
magenta
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| n..紫红色（的染料）；adj.紫红色的 | |
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22
mole
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| n.胎块；痣；克分子 | |
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23
sprouted
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| v.发芽( sprout的过去式和过去分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
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24
cuffing
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| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的现在分词 )；袖口状白血球聚集 | |
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25
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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26
rheumatism
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| n.风湿病 | |
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27
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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28
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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29
rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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30
gaped
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| v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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31
corrugated
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| adj.波纹的；缩成皱纹的；波纹面的；波纹状的v.（使某物）起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词) | |
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32
pagoda
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| n.宝塔（尤指印度和远东的多层宝塔），（印度教或佛教的）塔式庙宇 | |
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33
appreciably
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| adv.相当大地 | |
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34
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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35
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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36
veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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37
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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38
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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39
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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40
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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41
kerosene
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| n.(kerosine)煤油，火油 | |
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42
abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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44
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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45
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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46
fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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47
leopard
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| n.豹 | |
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48
teem
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| vi.(with)充满，多产 | |
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49
dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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50
stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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51
wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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52
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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53
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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54
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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55
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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56
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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57
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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58
disquieted
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| v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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60
whoop
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| n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息 | |
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61
cactus
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| n.仙人掌 | |
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62
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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63
densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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64
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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65
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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66
thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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67
tattooed
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| v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击 | |
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68
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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69
flick
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| n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动 | |
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70
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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71
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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72
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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73
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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74
hawthorn
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| 山楂 | |
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75
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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76
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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77
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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78
detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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79
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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80
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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81
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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82
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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83
deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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84
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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85
swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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86
plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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87
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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88
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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89
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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90
vomit
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| v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物 | |
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91
enviously
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| adv.满怀嫉妒地 | |
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92
knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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93
verdigris
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| n.铜锈；铜绿 | |
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94
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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95
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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96
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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97
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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98
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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99
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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100
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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101
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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102
appraisingly
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| adv.以品评或评价的眼光 | |
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103
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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104
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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105
hacked
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| 生气 | |
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106
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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107
trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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108
tickling
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| 反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法 | |
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109
char
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| v.烧焦；使...燃烧成焦炭 | |
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110
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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111
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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112
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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113
hurrah
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| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
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114
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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115
sneaks
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| abbr.sneakers (tennis shoes) 胶底运动鞋（网球鞋）v.潜行( sneak的第三人称单数 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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116
leash
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| n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住 | |
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117
labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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118
landmark
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| n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标 | |
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119
enjoin
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| v.命令；吩咐；禁止 | |
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120
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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121
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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122
pandemonium
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| n.喧嚣，大混乱 | |
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123
punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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124
downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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125
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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126
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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127
scuttled
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| v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
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128
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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129
agonizing
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| adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式) | |
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130
puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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131
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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132
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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133
thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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134
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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135
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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136
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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137
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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138
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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139
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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140
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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141
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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142
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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143
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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144
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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145
gilding
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| n.贴金箔，镀金 | |
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146
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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147
inordinate
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| adj.无节制的；过度的 | |
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148
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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149
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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150
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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151
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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