最危险的游戏
作者:By Richard Edward Connell Jr.
来源:《英语学习》2018年第12期
Rainsford heard a sound. It came out of the darkness, a high screaming sound, the sound of an animal in an extremity(极端状态)of anguish and terror. He did not recognize the animal that made the sound; he did not try to; with fresh vitality(生命力)he swam toward the sound. He heard it again; then it was cut short by another noi, crisp, staccato(断断续续的).
“Pistol(手枪)shot,” muttered Rainsford, swimming on.
Ten minutes of determined effort brought another sound to his ears—the most welcome he had ever heard—the muttering and growling(隆隆响)of the a breaking on a rocky shore. He was almost on the rocks before he saw them; on a night less calm he would have been shattered against them. With his remaining strength he dragged himlf fr
om the swirling waters. Jagged(锯齿状的)crags(险崖)appeared to jut up into the opaqueness(不透明); he forced himlf upward, hand over hand. Gasping, his hands raw(刺痛的), he reached a flat place at the top. Den(稠密的)jungle came down to the very edge of the cliffs. What perils(危险)that tangle of trees and underbrush(矮树丛)might hold for him did not concern Rainsford just then. All he knew was that he was safe from his enemy, the a, and that utter weariness was on him. He flung himlf down at the jungle edge and tumbled headlong into the deepest sleep of his life.