The Most Dangerous Game
by Richard Connell
"General," said Rainsford firmly, "I wish to leave this island at once."
The general raid his eyebrows; he emed hurt. "But, my dear fellow," the general protested, "you've only just come. You've had no hunting--"
"I wish to go today," said Rainsford. He saw the dead black eyes of the general on him, studying him. General Zaroff's face suddenly brightened.
"Tonight," said the general, "we will hunt--you and I."
Rainsford shook his head. "No, general," he said. "I will not hunt."
The general shrugged his shoulders and delicately. "As you wish, my friend," he said. "The choice rests entirely with you. But may I not venture to suggest that you will find my idea of sport more 天气的英文interesting than Ivan's?"
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He nodded toward the corner to where the giant stood, scowling, his thick arms crosd on his hogshead of chest.跑堂的
"You don't mean--" cried Rainsford.
"My dear fellow," said the general, "have I not told you I always mean what I say about hunting? This is really an inspiration.." The general raid his glass, but Rainsford sat staring at him.副部级大学
"You'll find this game worth playing," the general said enthusiastically." Your brain against mine. Your woodcraft against mine. Your strength and stamina against mine. Outdoor chess! And the stake is not without value, eh?"
"And if I win--" began Rainsford huskily.
"I'll cheerfully acknowledge my defeat if I do not find you by midnight of the third day," said General Zaroff. "My boat莲藕的英文 will place you on the mainland near a town." The general read what Rainsford was thinking.ud to do
英汉字典在线翻译"Oh, you can trust me," said the Cossack. "I will give you my word as a gentleman and a sportsman. Of cour you, in turn, must agree to say nothing of your visit here."
"I'll agree to nothing of the kind," said Rainsford.形同陌路什么意思
The general sipped his wine. Then in a businesslike air, he went on, "Ivanwill supply you with hunting clothes, food, a knife. I suggest you wear moccasins; they leave a poorer trail. I suggest, too, that you avoid the big swamp in the southeast corner of the island. We call it Death Swamp. There's quicksand there. One foolish fellow tried it. The deplorable part of it was that Lazarus followed him. You can imagine my feelings, Mr. Rainsford. I loved Lazarus; he was the finest hound in my pack. Well, I must beg you to excu me now. I always' take a nap after lunch. You'll hardly have time for a nap, I fear. You'll want to start, no doubt. I shall not follow till dusk. Hunting at night is so much more exciting than by day, don't you think? General Zaroff, with a deep, courtly bow, strolled from the room.
Rainsford had fought his way through the bush for two hours. "I must keep my nerve. I m
ust keep my nerve," he said through tight teeth.
He had not been entirely clearheaded when the chateau gates snapped shut behind him. His whole idea at first was to put distance between himlf and General Zaroff; and, to this end, he had plunged along, spurred on by a sharp feeling of panic. Now he had got a grip on himlf, had stopped, and was taking stock of himlf and the situation. He saw that straight flight was futile; inevitably it would bring him face to face with the a. He was in a picture with a frame of water, and his operations, clearly, must take place within that frame.
"I'll give him a trail to follow," muttered Rainsford, and he struck off from the rude path he had been following into the trackless wilderness. He executed a ries of intricate loops; he doubled on his trail again and again, recalling all the lore of the fox hunt, and all the dodges of the fox. Night found him leg-weary, with hands and face lashed by the branches, on a thickly wooded ridge. He knew it would be insane to blunder on through the dark, even if he had the strength. His need for rest was imperative and he thought, "I
have played the fox, now I must play the cat of the fable." A big tree with a thick trunk and outspread branches was near by, and, taking care to leave not the slightest mark, he climbed up into the crotch, and, stretching out on one of the broad limbs, after a fashion, rested. Rest brought him new confidence and almost a feeling of curity. Even so zealous a hunter as General Zaroff could not trace him there, he told himlf; only the devil himlf could follow that complicated trail through the jungle after dark. But perhaps the general was a devil--初一英语视频
An apprehensive night crawled slowly by like a wounded snake and sleep did not visit Rainsford, although the silence of a dead world was on the jungle. Toward morning when a dingy gray was varnishing the sky, the cry of some startled bird focud Rainsford's attention in that direction. Something was coming through the bush, coming slowly, carefully, coming by the same winding way Rainsford had come. He flattened himlf down on the limb and, through a screen of leaves almost as thick as tapestry, he watched. . . . That which was approaching was a man.
It was General Zaroff. He made his way along with his eyes fixed in utmost concentration on the ground before him. He paud, almost beneath the tree, dropped to his knees and studied the ground. Rainsford's impul was to hurl himlf down like a panther, but he saw that the general's right hand held something metallic--a small automatic pistol.
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