Love of Life

破书一堆

Jack London

1 Two men walked slowly, one after the other, through the shallow(浅的) water of a stream. All they could see were stones and earth. The stream ran cold over their feet. They had blanket packs on their backs. They had guns, but no bullets; but no food.

2 Suddenly the man who followed fell over a stone. He hurt his foot badly and called: “Hey, Bill, I’ve hurt my foot.” Bill continued straight on without looking back.

3 The man was alone in the empty land, but he was not lost. He knew the way to their camp, where he would find food and bullets. He struggled to his feet and limped(跛行) on. Bill would be waiting for him there, and together they would go south to the Hudson Bay Company. He had not eaten for two days. Often he stopped to pick some small berries and put them into his mouth. The berries were tasteless, and did not satisfy, but he knew he must eat them.

4 In the evening he built a fire and slept like a dead man. When he woke up, the man took out a small sack(袋子). It weighed fifteen pounds. He wasn’t sure if he could carry it any longer. But he couldn’t leave it behind. He had to take it with him. He put it back into his pack, rose to his feet and staggered on.

5 His foot hurt, but it was nothing compared with his hunger, which made him go on until darkenss fell. His blanket was wet, but he knew only that he was hungry. Through his restless sleep he dreamed of banquets(宴会) and of food. The man woke up cold and sike, and found himself lost. But the small sack was still with him. As he dragged(慢吞吞地行进) himself along, the sack became heavier and heavier. The man opened the sack, which was full of small pieces of gold. He left half the gold on a rock.

6 Eleven days passed, days of rain and cold. One day he found the bones of a deer. There was no meat on them. The man broke the bones and he sucked and chewed(咀嚼) on them like an animal. Would he, too, be bones tomorrow? And why not? This was life. Only life hurt. There was no hurt in death. To die was to sleep. Then why was he not ready to die? He, as a man, no longer strove(努力奋斗). It was the life in him, unwilling(不情愿的) to die, that drove him on.

7 One morning he woke up beside a river. Slowly he followed it with his eyes and saw it emptying(流入) into a shining sea. When he saw a ship on the sea, he closed hie eyes. He knew there could be no ship, no sea, in this land. A vision, he told himself. He heard a noice behind him, and turned around. A wolf, old and sick, was coming slowly toward him. This was real, he thought. The man turned back, but the sea and the ship were still there. He didn’t understand. Had he been walking north, away from the camp, toward the sea? He stood up and started slowly toward the ship, knowing full well the sick wolf was following him. In the afternoon, he found some bones of a man. Beside the bones was a small sack of gold, like his own. So Bill had carried his gold to the end. He would carry Bill’s gold to the ship. Ha-ha! He would have the last laugh on Bill. His laughing sounded like the low cry of an animal. The wolf cried back. The man stopped suddenly and turned away. How could he laugh about Bill’s bones and take his gold?

8 The man was very sick, now. he crawled(爬) about, on hands and knees. Ha had lost everything-his blanket, his gun, and his gold. Only the wolf stayed with him hour after hour. At last he could go on no further. He fell. The wolf came close to him, but the man was ready. He got on top of the wolf and held it mouth closed. Then he bit it with his last strength. The wolf’s blood streamed into his mouth. Only love of life gave him enough strength. He held the wolf with his teeth and killed it, then he fell on his back and slept.

9 The men on the ship saw a strange object lying the beach. It was moving toward them-perhaps twenty feet an hour. The men went over to look and could hardly believe it was a man.

10 Three weeks later, when the man felt better, he told them his story. But there was one strange thing-he seemed to afraid that there wasn’t enough food on the ship. The men also noticed that he was getting fat. They gave him less food, but still he grew fatter with each day. The one day they saw him put a lot of bread under his shirt. They examined his bed and found food under his blanket. The men understood. He would recover from it. They said.

Lesson Seven    Love of Life

Word  List 单词表

slowly  adv.  缓慢地
shallow  adj.  浅的
stream  n.  溪流，小河
stream  v.（像流水般）流动  
earth  n.  泥土
run  v.  （指液体）流动
bullet  n.  子弹
(fall) over  prep.被……绊倒  
hey  interj.  喂！（表示惊喜或引起注意）
struggle  v.  挣扎，奋斗
limp  v.  跛行，一瘸一拐地走
berry  n.  浆果（如草莓、桑葚等）
tasteless  adj.无味的  
build  v.  建造
build a fire  生火
sack  n.  袋子
stagger  v.  蹒跚，摇摇晃晃
darkness  n.  黑暗
fall  v.  降临，来临
restless  adj.  没有得到休息的，不安定的
banquet  n.  宴会

drag  v.  慢吞吞地行进
deer  n.  鹿
suck  v.吮吸，啜饮  
chew  v.  咀嚼，嚼碎
strive(strove,striven)  v.  努力奋斗
unwilling  adj.  不愿意的，不情愿的
drive  v.  迫使
empty  v.  （河流等）流入，流进
shining  adj.  发光的，闪光的
vision  n.  幻觉，幻象
wolf  n.  狼
sick  adj.  有病的，生病的
full  adv.  很，非常，充分
ha  interj.  瞧！（表示惊奇、惊喜、疑惑等）
laughing  n.  笑，笑声
sound  v.  听起来
crawl  v.爬，爬行  
knee  n.  膝盖
hold  v.使保持（某种状态）
  
Proper  Names 专有名词


Jack London  杰克·伦敦(人名)
Bill  比尔(人名)
The Hudson Bay Company 哈得孙湾公司

Useful Expressions  常用短语   

struggle to one’s feet (挣扎着)站起来  
wait for  等待
wake up  醒来
leave…behind  留下，遗留，忘记带
dream of  梦见；梦想
turn back  回到原处
empty into  注入，流入
turn around  转身
recover from  （从疾病等）恢复过来
be on hands and knees  四肢着地伏在地上
compared with  与……相比  
Compared with that of the other students ,your pronunciation is beautiful.  
be afraid of sth./sb.  害怕（某物或某人）
    I’m afraid  of the dog.  
be afraid (that)  担心，恐怕
    I’m afraid (that) he won’t come today.  
be afraid of doing sth.  担心，惟恐
    I’m afraid of hurting her.
    I’m afaid to walk in the dark.  
no longer /not…any longer  不再，再也不
    He couldn’t wait any longer.
    I’m no longer afraid.