酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

The Land of Footprints-Part9_Stewart Edward White(1873-1946)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页
hippopotamus. One is impressed with the busyness of the world



surrounding him; every bird or beast, the hunter and the hunted,

is the centre of many important affairs. The world swarms.



And then, some miles away a lion roars, the earth and air

vibrating to the sheer power of the sound. The world falls to a



blank dead silence. For a full minute every living creature of

the jungle or of the veldt holds its breath. Their lord has



spoken.

After dinner we sat in our canvas chairs, smoking. The guard fire



in front of our tent had been lit. On the other side of it stood

one of our askaris leaning on his musket. He and his three



companions, turn about, keep the flames bright against the

fiercer creatures.



After a time we grew sleepy. I called Saa-sita and entrusted to

him my watch. On the crystal of this I had pasted a small piece



of surgeon's plaster. When the hour hand reached the surgeon's

plaster, he must wake us up. Saa-sita was a very conscientious



and careful man. One day I took some time hitching my pedometer

properly to his belt: I could not wear it effectively myself



because I was on horseback. At the end of the ten-hour march it

registered a mile and a fraction. Saa-sita explained that he



wished to take especial care of it, so he had wrapped it in a

cloth and carried it all day in his hand!



We turned in. As I reached over to extinguish the lantern I

issued my last command for the day.



"Watcha kalele, Saa-sita," I told the askari; at once he lifted

up his voice to repeat my words. "Watcha kalele!" Immediately



from the Responsible all over camp the word came back-from

gunbearers, from M'ganga, from tent boys-"kalele! kalele!



kalele!"

Thus commanded, the boisterous fun, the croon of intimate talk,



the gently rising and falling tide of melody fell to complete

silence. Only remained the crackling of the fire and the



innumerable voices of the tropical night.

VIII. THE RIVER JUNGLE



We camped along this river for several weeks, poking indefinitely

and happily around the country in all directions to see what we



could see. Generally we went together, for neither B. nor myself

had been tried out as yet on dangerous game-those easy rhinos



hardly counted-and I think we both preferred to feel that we had

backing until we knew what our nerves were going to do with us.



Nevertheless, occasionally, I would take Memba Sasa and go out

for a little purposeless stroll a few miles up or down river.



Sometimes we skirted the jungle, sometimes we held as near as

possible to the river's bank, sometimes we cut loose and rambled



through the dry, crackling scrub over the low volcanic hills of

the arid country outside.



Nothing can equal the intense interest of the most ordinary walk

in Africa. It is the only country I know of where a man is



thoroughly and continuously" target="_blank" title="ad.连续(不断)地">continuously alive. Often when riding horseback

with the dogs in my California home I have watched them in envy



of the keen, alert interest they took in every stone, stick, and

bush, in every sight, sound, and smell. With equal frequency I



have expressed that envy, but as something unattainable to a

human being's more phlegmatic make-up. In Africa one actually



rises to continuous alertness. There are dozy moments-except you

curl up in a safe place for the PURPOSE of dozing; again just



like the dog! Every bush, every hollow, every high tuft of grass,

every deep shadow must be scrutinized for danger. It will not do



to pass carelessly any possible lurking place. At the same time

the sense of hearing must be on guard; so that no break of twig



or crash of bough can go unremarked. Rhinoceroses conceal

themselves most cannily, and have a deceitful habit of leaping



from a nap into their swiftest stride. Cobras and puff adders are

scarce, to be sure, but very deadly. Lions will generally give






文章总共2页
文章标签:名著  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号