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Unit12,“Take Over,Bos n!”Oscar Schisgall1Hour afterhour Ikept the gun pointedat theother ninemen.From the lifeboats stern,where Idsat mostof thetwenty daysof ourdrifting,I couldkeep themall covered.If I had toshootat suchclose quarters,I wouldntmiss.They realizedthat.Nobody jumpedat me.But intheway theyall glaredI could see howtheyd cometo hatemy guts.2Especially Barrett,whod beenbosns mate;Barrett saidin hisharsh,cracked voice,“Youre afool,Snyder.Y-you canthold outforever!Youre halfasleep now!,z3I didntanswer.He wasright.How longcan aman stayawake Ihadnt daredto shutmyeyes inmaybe seventy-two hours.Very soonnow Iddoze off,and theinstant thathappenedthey5d jumpon thelittle waterthat wasleft.4The last canteen layunder mylegs.There wasntmuch init aftertwenty days.Maybe apint.Enough togive eachof thema few drops.Yet I couldseein theirbloodshot eyesthattheyd gladlykill mefor thosefew drops.As aman Ididnt countany more.I was no longerthirdofficer4of thewrecked Montala.I wasjust agun thatkept themaway from the watertheycraved.And with their tongueswollen and their cheekssunken,they werehalf crazy.5The wayI judgedit,we must be sometwo hundredmiles eastof Ascension.Now that thestorms wereover,the Atlanticswells werelong andeasy,and themorning sunwas hot-so hotitscorched yourskin.My owntongue wasthick enoughto clogmy throat.Id havegiven therestof mylife fora singlegulp ofwater.6But I was the man withthe gun—the onlyauthority inthe boat—and I knew this:oncethe waterwas gonewed havenothing tolook forwardto butdeath.As longas wecould lookforwardto gettinga drinklater,there wassomething tolive for.We hadto makeit lastas longaspossible.If Idgiven into thecurses,wed haveemptied thelastcanteendays ago.By nowwedall bedead.7The menwerent pullingon theoars.They5d stoppedthat longago,too weakto goon.The nineof themfacing mewere apack ofbearded,ragged,half-naked animals,and Iprobablylooked asbad asthe rest.Some sprawledover thegunwales,dozing.The restwatchedme asBarrett did,ready tospring theinstant Irelaxed.8When theywerent lookingat myface theylooked at the canteenunder mylegs.9Jeff Barrett was thenearest one.A constantthreat.The bosnsmate wasa heavyman,bald,with ascarred andbrutal face.Hed beenin ahundred fights,and theydleft theirmarkson him.10Barrett hadbeen ableto sleep—in fact,hed sleptthrough mostof the night-and Ienviedhim that.His eyeswouldnt close.They kept watching me,narrow anddangerous.11Every nowand thenhe tauntedme inthat hoarse,broken voice:〃12Why dont you quitYou canthold out!〃13Tonight,I said.WeH ration the restof the water tonight.〃14By tonightsome ofusll bedead!We wantit now!15Tonight,“I said.16Couldnt heunderstand thatif wewaited untilnight thefewdropswouldn,tbesweatedout ofus sofast ButBarrettwasbeyond allreasoning.His mindhad alreadycracked withthirst.I sawhim beginto rise,a calculatinglook in his eyes.I aimedthegunat hischest-andhe satdown again.17Id grabbedmy Lugeron instinct,twenty daysago,just beforerunning forthelifeboat.Nothing elsewould havekept Barrettandthe rest awayfromthe water.18These fools—couldnt theysee Iwanted adrink asbadly asany of them ButI wasincommand here—that wasthe difference.I wasthe manwiththegun,themanwho hadtothink.Each of the otherscould affordto thinkonly ofhimself;Ihadto thinkofthemall.19Barretts eyeskeptwatchingme,waiting.I hatedhim.I hatedhim allthe morebecausehed slept.He hadthat advantagenow.He wouldntkeel over.20And longbefore noonIknewI couldntfight anymore.My eyelidswere tooheavy tolift.As theboat roseand fellon thelong swells,I couldfeel sleepcreeping over me likeparalysis.Ibent my head.It filledmy brainlike acloud.I wasgoing,going...21Barrett stoodoverme,and I couldnt evenlift thegun.In avague wayIcouldguess whatwouldhappen.Hed grabthewaterfirst andtake hisdrop.By thattime theothers wouldbescreaming andtearing athim,and hedhave toyield the canteen.Well,there wasnothingmore Icould doabout it.〃22I whispered,Take over,bosn.23Then Ifell facedown inthe bottomoftheboat.Iwasasleep beforeI stoppedmoving...24When ahand shookmy shoulder,Icouldhardly raisemyhead.Jeff Barrettshoarse voice〃said,“Here!Take yourshare othewater!25Somehow Ipropped myselfup onmy arms,dizzy andweak.I lookedatthemen,and Ithoughtmy eyeswere going.Their figureswere dim,shadowy;but thenI realizedit wasntbecauseof myeyes.It wasnight.The seawas black;there werestars overhead,Id slepttheday away.26So wewere inour twenty-first nightadrift—thenightin whichthe trampCroton finallypickedus up-but now,as Iturned myhead toBarrett therewasnosign ofany ship.He kneltbesideme,holding outthecanteen,his otherhand withgun steadyonthemen.27I staredatthecanteen asif itwere amirage.Hadnt theyfinished thatpint ofwater thismorningWhen Ilooked upat Barrettsugly face,it wasgrim.He musthave guessedmythoughts.;28You said,Take over,bosn didntyou hegrowled.aIve beenholding offthese apesallday.He heftedthe Lugerinhishand.uWhen youreboss-man/7he added,uin commandandresponsible fortherest—you—you sureget tosee thingsdifferent,dontyou,,水手长,接手吧!〃奥斯卡・希斯高尔
1.一小时又一小时,我用枪指着其他九个人我站在救生艇尾部,把所有人都控制在我的火力下,在海上漂流的二十天里,我大多数时间都坐在艇尾距离这么近,要是我不得不开枪,肯定命中他们很清楚这一点谁也不敢贸然袭击不过,从他们愤怒的目光里,我看得出他们有多恨我
2.当过水手长的巴雷特尤其如此他用沙哑的声音说“斯奈德,你是个笨蛋你一一你不可能永远这么坚持下去吧!你现在都半睡半醒啦!〃
3.我没吭声他说得对一个人能连续多久保持清醒?差不多七十二小时了,我连眼睛都不敢眨一下用不了多久我就会睡过去,我眼睛一闭他们就会向剩下的那丁点儿水扑过去
4.最后一个水壶就放在我腿下都二十天了里面也没什么水了可能只有一品脱只够每个人喝几滴而已然而,从他们布满血丝的眼睛我能看出来,为了那可怜兮兮的几滴水,他们真恨不得能把我杀了在他们眼里,我已经不算是一个人了我不再是失事的蒙塔拉号的三副,而只是阻止他们得到所渴望的水的一把枪他们舌头肿胀双颊凹陷,已经处于半疯狂状态……
5.据我判断,我们肯定在阿森松岛以东约两百英里处暴风雨已经平息,大西洋的浪涛变得平缓了,早晨的阳光炎热,热得灼人我自己的舌头也肿得把喉咙塞住了我愿意放弃余生只为能喝一口水
6.然而,我是带枪的人,是救生艇上唯一的权威我心里明白一旦水没了,我们就没有什么盼头了,只有等死只要我们还能期盼着到时能喝上一点水,我们就有个念想我们必须让那点水维持得尽可能久一点要是我对咒骂和咆哮让步,我们好几天前就已经把最后一壶水喝得精光到现在可就一个活口都没有了
7.水手们没有划桨他们早就不划了,身体实在太虚弱,没法继续划桨我面前的九个人是一群胡子拉硝、衣不蔽体的野兽,我自己的模样估计也好不到哪儿去
8.他们不是瞪着我的脸,就是盯着我腿下的那只水壶
9.杰夫•巴雷特靠我最近,一直是个威胁这水手长个头魁梧,秃顶,脸上有伤疤,一副凶相他身经百战,身上伤疤累累
10.巴雷特已经睡足了一一事实上,他差不多整晚上都在睡一一我真羡慕他的福分他的眼睛一直睁着,一直眯成一条缝威胁地盯着我
11.他时不时用他那沙哑的破嗓子奚落我
12.“你为什么不认输?你坚持不了多久啦!〃
13.“今天晚上,〃我说,“我们晚上就把剩下那点水分来喝了〃
14.“到晚上有些人就死啦!我们现在就要分!〃
15.“到晚上分〃我说
16.难道他不明白,等到晚上才喝的话,那几滴水就不会那么快变成汗水?可巴雷特已经听不进任何道理了,他的头脑由于口渴已经疯狂了我看他要站起来,眼睛流露出狡猾的眼神我用枪对准他的胸膛一一他又坐下来了
17.二十天前,就在奔向救生艇时,我出于本能抓起我那把德国造鲁格尔半自动手枪换了别的任何东西,都不可能保护住那点水不被巴雷特和其他人喝掉
18.这帮笨蛋一一难道他们看不出我也像大家一样渴望喝上一点水吗?不过这儿由我负责——这就是区别我是拿着枪的人,就得思考其余的每个人顾自己就好了;我可得顾全大局
19.巴雷特一直双眼盯着我,等待着时机我恨他因为他休息过了,我更恨他他现在有这个优势他不会突然倒下
20.离正午之前还有很久,我知道自己已完全无力跟谁搏斗了我的眼皮沉重得抬不起来了当救生艇随着平缓的波浪起伏时,我可以感觉睡意慢慢笼罩我的全身,我快要瘫了我乖下头睡意像一片云一样笼罩了我的头脑我慢慢,慢慢地,失去了知觉……
21.巴雷特密切注视着我,可我连枪都举不起了我能隐约猜出接下来会发生的事情他肯定会头一个抓住水壶喝下他的那一份水,那会儿其余的人会冲他吼叫,拉扯他,而他只得让出水壶唉,事已至此,我也无能为力了
22.我悄声说“水手长,接手吧
23.接着我便脸朝下摔跌到船舱底里身体还没着地,我已经睡着了……
24.当一只手摇晃我的肩膀时,我连头也抬不起来杰夫•巴雷特的沙哑嗓音说“来!喝口水!〃
25.我尽力用双手撑起身体,晕晕沉沉,虚弱无力我看着水手们,但我觉得我的视力已经不行了,只能隐隐约约看到一些朦胧的人影,然后我意识到不是我的眼睛有问题,而是夜色的关系海面一片漆黑,头顶繁星闪烁;我睡了整整一天
26.这是我们在海上漂流的第二十一夜了一一就在这一夜偶然路过的货船格罗汤号终于搭救了我们一一但这会儿,我扭头看到巴雷特时,船还没有任何踪迹他跪在我身旁,递过水壶,另一只手稳稳握住枪对着其他人
27.我凝视着水壶,仿佛它是幻象他们难道不是今天上午就把那品脱水喝完了吗?我抬头看着巴雷特那张丑陋的脸,那张脸上毫无表情他肯定猜透了我的心思
28.“你说过‘水手长,接手吧’,不是吗?〃他咆哮着说,“我整天都在防着这帮野人,〃他举起那把鲁格尔半自动手枪“要是你当头儿,”他补充道,“当指挥,要对其他人负责一一你一一你看问题的角度肯定就不一样了,不是吗?〃。