第 46 节
作者:嘟嘟      更新:2021-02-20 05:57      字数:9322
  getting ready to go on board; and take a last look at this pretty place; and
  all its dear kind people。
  And the dear kind dogs too; and the cat and the kittens。
  * * *
  Now; come along; and bundle into the boat; if you have done bidding
  every    one   good…bye;    and   take   care  you   don't   slip  down    in  the  ice…
  groovings; as you did the other day。        There; we are off at last。
  Oh;    look   at  them   all  on  the  rock   watching    us   and  waving     their
  handkerchiefs;   and   Harper   and   Paddy  too;  and   little   Jimsy  and   Isy;   with
  their fat bare feet; and their arms round the dogs' necks。          I am so sorry to
  leave them all。
  Not sorry to go home?
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  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  No; but They have been so kind; and the dogs were so kind。                   I am
  sure they knew we were going; and were sorry too。
  Perhaps   they  were。     They  knew   we   were   going   away;   at   all   events。
  They know what bringing out boxes and luggage means well enough。
  Sam knew; I am sure; but he did not care for us。             He was only uneasy
  because   he   thought   Harper   was   going;   and   he   should   lose   his   shooting;
  and as soon as he saw Harper was not getting into the boat; he sat down
  and scratched himself; quite happy。          But do dogs think?
  Of course they do; only they do not think in words; as we do。
  But how can they think without words?
  That is very difficult for you and me to imagine; because we always
  think in words。       They must think in pictures; I suppose; by remembering
  things which have happened to them。              You and I do that in our dreams。
  I suspect that savages; who have very few words to express their thoughts
  with; think in pictures; like their own dogs。          But that is a long story。      We
  must see about getting on board now; and under way。
  * * *
  Well; and what have you been doing?
  Oh; I looked all over   the yacht;   at the   ropes and   curious things;   and
  then I looked at the mountains; till I was tired; and then I heard you and
  some gentleman talking about the land sinking; and I listened。               There was
  no harm in that?
  None at all。     But what did you hear him say?
  That   the   land   must   be   sinking   here;   because   there   were   peat…bogs
  everywhere below high…water mark。             Is that true?
  Quite true; and that peat would never have been formed where the salt
  water could get at it; as it does now every tide。
  But what was it he said about that cliff over there?
  He said that cliff on our right; a hundred feet high; was plainly once
  joined on to that low island on our left。
  What; that long bank of stones; with a house on it?
  That is no house。       That is a square lump of mud; the last remaining
  bit   of  earth   which   was    once   the  moraine    of  a  glacier。   Every   year   it
  crumbles into the sea more and more; and in a few years it will be all gone;
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  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  and nothing left but the great round boulder…stones which the ice brought
  down from the glaciers behind us。
  But how does he know that it was once joined to the cliff?
  Because that cliff; and the down behind it; where the cows are fed; is
  made up; like the island; of nothing but loose earth and stones; and that is
  why it is bright and green beside the gray rocks and brown heather of the
  moors at its foot。       He knows that it must be an old glacier moraine; and
  he has reason to think that moraine once stretched right across the bay to
  the low island; and perhaps on to the other shore; and was eaten out by the
  sea as the land sank down。
  But how does he know that the land sank?
  Of that; he says; he is quite certain; and this is what he says。 Suppose
  there was a glacier here; where we are sailing now:                 it would end in an
  ice cliff; such as you have seen a picture of in Captain Cook's Voyages; of
  which   you   are   so   fond。   You   recollect   the   pictures   of   Christmas   Sound
  and Possession Bay?          Oh yes; and pictures of Greenland and Spitzbergen
  too; with glaciers in the sea。
  Then icebergs would break off from that cliff; and carry all the dirt and
  stones   out   to   sea;   perhaps   hundreds   of   miles   away;   instead   of   letting   it
  drop here in a heap; and what did fall in a heap here the sea would wash
  down at once; and smooth it over the sea…bottom; and never let it pile up in
  a huge bank like that。       Do you understand?
  I think I do。
  Therefore; he says; that great moraine must have been built upon dry
  land;   in   the   open   air;   and   must   have   sunk   since   into   the   sea;   which   is
  gnawing at it day and night; and will some day eat it all up; as it would eat
  up all the dry land in the world; if Madam How was not continually lifting
  up fresh land; to make up for what the sea has carried off。
  Oh; look there! some one has caught a fish; and is hauling it up。 What
  a strange creature!       It is not a mackerel; nor a gurnet; nor a pollock。
  How do you know that?
  Why;   it   is   running   along   the  top   of   the  water  like   a  snake;   and   they
  never do that。      Here it comes。       It has got a long beak; like a snipe。         Oh;
  let me see。
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  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  See if you like:     but don't get in the way。       Remember you are but a
  little boy。
  What is it? a snake with a bird's head?
  No:     a snake has no fins; and look at its beak:        it is full of little teeth;
  which no bird has。        But a very curious fellow he is; nevertheless:            and
  his name is Gar…fish。       Some call him Green… bone; because his bones are
  green。
  But what kind of fish is he?        He is like nothing I ever saw。
  I believe he is nearest to a pike; though his backbone is different from
  a pike; and from all other known fishes。
  But is he not very rare?
  Oh no:     he comes to Devonshire and Cornwall with the mackerel; as
  he   has   come   here;   and   in   calm   weather   he   will   swim   on   the   top   of   the
  water; and play about; and catch flies; and stand bolt upright with his long
  nose in the air; and when the fisher…boys throw him a stick; he will jump
  over it again and again; and play with it in the most ridiculous way。
  And what will they do with him?
  Cut him up for bait; I suppose; for he is not very good to eat。
  Certainly; he does smell very nasty。
  Have you only just found out that?            Sometimes when I have caught
  one; he has made the boat smell so that I was glad to throw him overboard;
  and so he saved his life by his nastiness。           But they will catch plenty of
  mackerel now; for where he is they are; and where they are; perhaps the
  whale will be; for we are now well outside the harbour; and running across
  the open bay; and lucky for you that there are no rollers coming in from
  the Atlantic; and spouting up those cliffs in columns of white foam。
  * * *
  〃Hoch!〃
  Ah!     Who was that coughed just behind the ship?
  Who; indeed? look round and see。
  There is nobody。      There could not be in the sea。
  Lookthere; a quarter of a mile away。
  Oh!    What is that turning over in the water; like a great black wheel?
  And a great tooth on it; andoh! it is gone!
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  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  Never mind。       It will soon show itself again。
  But what was it?
  The   whale:     one   of   them;   at   least;   for   the   men   say   there   are   two
  different ones about the bay。         That black wheel was part of his back; as he
  turned down; and the tooth on it was his back…fin。
  But the noise; like a giant's cough?
  Rather    like   the  blast  of  a  locomotive      just  starting。   That    was   his
  breath。
  What? as loud as that?
  Why not?       He is a very big fellow; and has big lungs。
  How big is he?
  I cannot say:      perhaps thirty or forty feet long。          We shall be able to
  see better soon。      He will come up again; and very likely nearer us; where
  those birds are。
  I don't want him to come any nearer。
  You really need not be afraid。         He is quite harmless。
  But he might run against the yacht。
  He   might:     an