Shark's Tooth

时间：2014-07-18 06:25:14

（单词翻译:单击）

Shark's Tooth
Joshua Mehigan
 
 
At twilight1 on the beach I found a shark's tooth. 
 After three days of looking, and then not, 
 I stepped onto the sand, and there it was. 
 It happened as I twisted loose a shoe, 
 impatient to shake off the week's bad luck, 
 and looked up to appraise2（评价） the sky and sea. 
 There was no reason it should catch my eye. 
 Except for the western wall of one far building 
 turned by the setting sun the color of Mars, 
 everything I could see was shades of blue. 
 The tooth was small, what kind of shark uncertain. 
 But there it was, dangerous, big enough 
 in a place of such unfathomable（深不可测的） proportions 
 that I could seem, on balance, not much bigger. 
 It pointed3 at me from my open palm. 
 Was it an omen4? The sky was getting darker. 
 I had been waiting patiently for something. 
 I held it in my hand, and I forgot it, 
 and dark-blue pelicans5 plied6 the dark-blue water, 
 where I could read the future of that sky. 
 A searchlight scanned the heavens and found the heavens. 
 The waves grew quiet. For a moment, foam 
 crackled like faraway applause. Red lights 
 blinked on the pier7, which lay down lower beneath 
 a purple Asia of dissolving cloud. 
 The light grew eerier8 and eerier, 
 and, slowly, the horizon disappeared. 
 
Since then, I've found my way back every year, 
 and I have searched for hours, both day and night, 
 from when the first soul comes to stare and stand, 
 made taller by her reflection on the shore, 
 until the tranquil9 miles of cool sand lie 
 dimpled with shadows, twenty thousand footprints, 
 only disturbed by my feet shuffling10 toward 
 the yearly-more-immaculate parapet 
 of sea grapes slowly darkening. And often 
 I hold my shark's tooth like a sort of charm, 
 a talisman12（护身符） to ward11 off superstition 
 and, through the one small stray coincidence, 
 bring sharply to my mind the thought of countless 
 coincidences that will never happen. 
 Each year, once more, I pass the place I found it. 
 I see it on the surface of the sand, 
 three or four paces from the wooden stairs, 
 where people made attentive13 by long views 
 pass by all day; where it had sat inside 
 the spreading shadow of a chirping14 dune 
 two minutes' walk at low tide from the water, 
 farther up than Poseidon normally rides; 
 where I might spend my life and never find one 
 poised on a peak between two child-sized footprints, 
 like a gift, or like bait, held out to me.

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1 twilight gKizf     
n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期
参考例句：
  • Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
  • Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。
2 appraise JvLzt     
v.估价，评价，鉴定
参考例句：
  • An expert came to appraise the value of my antiques.一位专家来对我的古玩作了估价。
  • It is very high that people appraise to his thesis.人们对他的论文评价很高。
3 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的，直截了当的
参考例句：
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
4 omen N5jzY     
n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示
参考例句：
  • The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
  • Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了？
5 pelicans ef9d20ff6ad79548b7e57b02af566ed5     
n.鹈鹕( pelican的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • Kurt watched the Pelicans fire their jets and scorch the grass. 库尔特看着鹈鹕运兵船点火，它们的喷焰把草烧焦。 来自互联网
  • The Pelican Feeding Officers present an educational talk while feeding the pelicans. 那个正在喂鹈鹕的工作人员会边喂鹈鹕边给它上一节教育课。 来自互联网
6 plied b7ead3bc998f9e23c56a4a7931daf4ab     
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
参考例句：
  • They plied me with questions about my visit to England. 他们不断地询问我的英国之行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They plied us with tea and cakes. 他们一个劲儿地让我们喝茶、吃糕饼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 pier U22zk     
n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱
参考例句：
  • The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
  • The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。
8 eerier 73531a6ffed13975e62fdc6466375efe     
adj.（因阴森怪诞而）引起恐惧的，可怕的( eerie的比较级 )
参考例句：
  • It' s eerier in a dark wood. 在黑暗的树林里令人恐怖不安。 来自互联网
9 tranquil UJGz0     
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的
参考例句：
  • The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。
  • The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。
10 shuffling 03b785186d0322e5a1a31c105fc534ee     
adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式
参考例句：
  • Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
11 ward LhbwY     
n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开
参考例句：
  • The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
  • During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。
12 talisman PIizs     
n.避邪物，护身符
参考例句：
  • It was like a talisman worn in bosom.它就象佩在胸前的护身符一样。
  • Dress was the one unfailling talisman and charm used for keeping all things in their places.冠是当作保持品位和秩序的一种万应灵符。
13 attentive pOKyB     
adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的
参考例句：
  • She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
  • The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。
14 chirping 9ea89833a9fe2c98371e55f169aa3044     
鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )
参考例句：
  • The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫，把我们吵醒了。
  • The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。

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