登陆注册
5697500000020

第20章 WATER!WATER!(1)

IN two hours'time,about four o'clock,I woke up.As soon as the first heavy demand of bodily fatigue had been satisfied the torturing thirst from which I was suffering asserted itself.I could sleep no more.I had been dreaming that I was bathing in a running stream with green banks,and trees upon them,and I awoke to find myself in that arid wilderness,and to remember that,as Umbopa had said,if we did not find water that day we must certainly perish miserably.No human creature could live long without water in that heat.I sat up and rubbed my grimy face with my dry and horny hands.My lips and eyelids were stuck.together,and it was only after some rubbing and with an effort that I was able to open them.It was not far off the dawn,but there was none of the bright feel of dawn in the air,which was thick with a hot murkiness I cannot describe.The others were still sleeping.Presently it began to grow light enough to read,so I drew out a little pocket copy of the "Ingoldsby Legends"I had brought with me,and read the."Jackdaw of Rheims."When I got to where "A nice little boy held a golden ewer,Embossed,and filled with water as pure As any that flows between Rheims and Namur,"I literally smacked my cracked lips,or,rather,tried to smack them.The mere thought of that pure water made me mad.If the cardinal had been there with his bell,book,and candle,I would have whipped in and drank his water up,yes,even if he had already filled it with the suds of soap worthy of washing the hands of the pope,and I knew that the whole concentrated curse of the Catholic Church should fall upon me for so doing.I almost think I must have been a little light-headed with thirst and weariness and want of food;for I fell to thinking how astonished the cardinal and his nice little boy and the jackdaw would have looked to see a burned-up brown-eyed,grizzled-haired little elephant-hunter suddenly bound in and put his dirty face into the basin and swallow every drop of the precious water.The idea amused me so that I laughed or rather cackled aloud,which woke the others up,and they began to rub their dirty faces and get their gummed-up lips and eyelids apart.

As soon as we were all well awake we fell to discussing the situation,which was serious enough.Not a drop of water was left.We turned the water-bottles upside down and licked the tops,but it was a failure;they were as dry as a bone.Good,who had charge of the bottle of brandy,got it out and looked at it longingly;but Sir Henry promptly took it away from him,for to drink raw spirit would only have been to precipitate the end.

"If we do not find water we shall die,"he said.

"If we can trust to the old don's map there should be some about,"I said;but nobody seemed to derive much satisfaction from that remark,it was so evident that no great faith could be put in the map.It was now gradually growing light,and as we sat blankly staring at each other Iobserved the Hottentot Ventv?gel rise and begin to walk about with his eyes on the ground.Presently he stopped short and,uttering a guttural exclamation,pointed to the earth.

"What is it?"we exclaimed,and simultaneously rose and went to where he was standing pointing at the ground.

"Well,"I said,"it is pretty fresh Springbok spoor;what of it?""Springboks do not go far from water,"he answered in Dutch.

"No,"I answered,"I forgot;and thank God for it."This little discovery put new life into us;it is wonderful how,when one is in a desperate position,one catches at the slightest hope,and feels almost happy in it.On a dark night a single star is better than nothing.

Meanwhile Ventv?gel was lifting his snub nose,and sniffing the hot air for all the world like an old Impala ram who scents danger.

Presently he spoke again.

"I smell water,"he said.

Then we felt quite jubilant,for we knew what a wonderful instinct these wild-bred men possess.

Just at that moment the sun came up gloriously and revealed so grand a sight to our astonished eyes that for a moment or two we forgot even our thirst.

For there,not more than forty or fifty miles from us,glittering like silver in the early rays of the morning sun,were Sheba's breasts;and stretching away for hundreds of miles on each side of them was the great Suliman Berg.Now that I,sitting here,attempt to describe the extraordinary grandeur and beauty of that sight,language seems to fail me.I am impotent even before its memory.There,straight before us,were two enormous mountains,the like of which are not,I believe,to be seen in Africa,if,indeed,there are any other such in the world,measuring each at least fifteen thousand feet in height,standing not more than a dozen miles apart,connected by a precipitous cliff of rock,and towering up in awful white solemnity straight into the sky.These mountains standing thus,like the pillars of a gigantic gateway,are shaped exactly like a woman's breasts.Their bases swelled gently up from the plain,looking,at that distance,perfectly round and smooth;and on the top of each was a vast round hillock covered with snow,exactly corresponding to the nipple on the female breast.The stretch of cliff which connected them appeared to be some thousand feet in height,and perfectly precipitous,and on each side of them,as far as the eye could reach,extended similar lines of cliff,broken only here and there by flat,table-topped mountains,something like the world famed one at Cape Town;a formation,by the way,very common in Africa.

To describe the grandeur of the whole view is beyond my powers.

同类推荐
  • 孑楼诗词话

    孑楼诗词话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 咸宾录

    咸宾录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 春日游苑喜雨应诏

    春日游苑喜雨应诏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 鉴诫录

    鉴诫录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 赠严司直

    赠严司直

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 明伦汇编交谊典宴集部

    明伦汇编交谊典宴集部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Lyrics

    Lyrics

    Few of Richard Matheson's readers know that he had hopes for writing popular music. At a very early age, Matheson taught himself how to write sheet music, but his family could not afford art supplies and so he had to give up composition. But music never left his mind and when Matheson found a creative new outlet through his writing (cheaper than music, requiring only a pencil and paper), he quickly began composing both prose stories as well as poetry. He picked up music composition again at the age of seventeen, adding music to his poems. Here in Lyrics are the compositions that Matheson created, in publication for the very first time.
  • 回到过去当神话

    回到过去当神话

    前世放弃歌星梦想的安良穿越了,来到和地球平行的华夏世界,回到决定他人生之路的重要转折点上。这里没有Beyond,没有哥哥,没有杰伦!也没有《悟空传》,没有《诛仙》,没有《斗破苍穹》!更没有《速度与激情》,没有《变形金刚》,没有《泰坦尼克号》!So,渴望实现梦想,让家人过上好日子的你,还在等什么?感兴趣的书友可加普通Q群:274091522(本书粉丝即可)PS:《回神》系列第二部《世界级歌神》,第三部《唱歌一直爽》已经开始连载,欢迎大家品读。
  • 唐多令和林江仙

    唐多令和林江仙

    唐多令和林江仙,大学时代神仙眷侣。唐掌门以横行霸道无法无天著称,林大侠以纵容女友和为女友收拾烂摊子而著称。三年后,林江仙调任分公司总经理,发现自己宠出来的野蛮女友已成为下属的贤淑娇妻!蒲哲为了跟上司拉关系请上司住到家中,却不知道是在引狼入室。豪放派女友成了婉约派贤妻,面对前男友最拿手的宠,和老公一味的憨,唐多令又该怎么办呢?唐多令说:婚姻之外还能存在什么伟大的感情?林江仙说:别拿任何东西和我对你的感情相比,我的感情无与伦比!蒲哲说:我知道林总是个正人君子,我老婆也是个好女人!这场好人与好人的战争……
  • 世界中小企业经营案例大集

    世界中小企业经营案例大集

    本书汇集了大量中小企业的经营案例,收录了包括英特尔、联想、松下、上海主人印刷厂等多家企业的经营故事。通过本书,您能了解到中小企业领域的发展实践,您既可体验鲜活而精彩的中小企业案例,聆听专家对中小企业难点问题的解答,又可掌握实用工具,并紧扣前沿,与广大经理人和精英切磋中小企业经营之道。
  • 小雪的梦

    小雪的梦

    这本书是我记录我的一些奇异梦境,觉得好玩就以小说的形式记录下来了,希望大家能喜欢。
  • 朝鲜战争:未曾透露的真相

    朝鲜战争:未曾透露的真相

    《朝鲜战争:未曾透露的真相》是一部研究朝鲜战争的全面又精彩的综合性著作。美国政论家约瑟夫·古尔登充分利用1970年代末开始解密的有关朝战的官方档案,收集到美国政府重要决策所依赖的原始情报数据,此后四年间采访众多当事者和知情人,经过精准梳理和敏锐把握,完成了这部内幕之作。而这批“五角大楼朝战文件”资料已经被小布什政府重新加密,这使得本书所揭示的真相更为难得可贵。
  • 田园俏娇娘

    田园俏娇娘

    (正文番外已全部完结~)大婚当日嫁给一个傻子,醒来便被拳打脚踢。撵出大宅住到半山坡的茅草屋,没米没粮,身边跟着纯真俊俏的傻相公,这日子怎么过?捡蘑菇能发家?那是人家餐桌上的家常菜。种药材能赚钱?可惜即将入冬,地都刨不动。……为了养活全家,能吃的全吃了,最后终于找到属于她的致富之路!这时候想来分一杯羹?呸!来一个打一个,来两个打一双!不论是谁,休想争抢属于她的财富。只是……什么时候俊美相公看她的眼神不那么纯良了?小剧场:某女:“快看,买了你最喜欢的糖葫芦。”某男:“……”某女:“快看,你最喜欢的草垛,去爬吧。”某男:“……”某男凑到她耳边,暧昧道:“娘子,其实我最爱的是……”
  • 五虎平南

    五虎平南

    《五虎平南》(又名《五虎平南狄青后传》)承续《征西》故事,叙述以狄青为首的五虎将率兵南征,平定广源州依智高叛乱的经过,以及狄青的两个孪生子狄龙、狄虎在出征中与敌方女将段红玉、王兰英之间的爱情纠葛,同时也穿插了包拯、狄青与朝中奸佞斗争的线索。
  • 农妇庄园鱼米香

    农妇庄园鱼米香

    前世做什么事都差临门一脚的霉女倩兮,眼看着终于盼到天上掉馅饼了,却又被直接砸到了一个不毛之地。穷也就算了,一来就被嫁了出去,嫁也就算了,新婚之夜,直接被丈夫的鬼脸吓晕死过去!于是,丑夫说了:“你嫌我丑陋,没关系,再等几年,我弟弟就长大了。”翻白眼,弟弟长大跟她啥关系?还能弟娶其嫂咋的?再说了,她怎么看他弟弟都是个智障,还说的好像比他高大上似的!据说,他的大哥出家为僧,所以是个秃头;还有个兄弟风流倜傥,却从小就过继给亲戚了!得,整个一篮子的烂杏!&不过俗话说,嫁鸡随鸡,嫁狗随狗,嫁根扁担扛着走。她的丈夫虽然丑,可是他上得战场下得厨房,打猎一流情商爆表,有责任感、有率真劲、还有人鱼线!她是上辈子拯救了银河系才能拥有这样的实用男!帅有个屁用,到头来还不是被卒吃掉!开动她的现代化智商,承包池塘,喂鱼、种菜;开垦山坡,打猎、种树。不是说了吗?农村怎样才能富,少生孩子多种树,农村怎么才不穷,少生孩子喂狗熊,喂、狗、熊!荒田没人耕,耕开有人争,这不,小夫妻日子刚刚红火,突然那过继出去的兄弟就回来了,望着她色眯眯地说:风景还是这边独好。无独有偶,一群土匪扫荡了庙宇,大哥被逼还了俗,抱着经书一本正经地说:不负如来不负卿。倩兮风中凌乱,说好的节操呢?她、被、骗、了!&片段:“老佛爷,眼看着,儿童节快到了,我能有个愿望吗?”小不点嘟着腮帮儿用了个老气横秋的媚眼看着。“准奏。”倩兮束着围裙捋着袖管卡吃卡吃的炒着菜。“妹妹。”小不点数着指头说:“扎西有妹妹,索朗也有妹妹……”倩兮撇嘴,“阿妈不是教育过你,少生孩子多种树才能富吗?”小不点不服气的撇嘴,“阿爸说,富了就能生孩子。”倩兮挑眉。“阿爸还说,孩子多了才能多挣钱……”倩兮表情抽了抽,长臂一挥:“挣钱是吧,去!劈柴!”