Chapter 62
I slept in fits that night. Shortly before sunrise I gave up trying to fall asleep again and lifted myself on an elbow. I spied with my little eye a tiger. Richard Parker was restless. He was moaning and
growling1 and pacing about the lifeboat. It was impressive. I assessed the situation. He couldn't be hungry. Or at least not dangerously hungry. Was he thirsty? His tongue hung from his mouth, but only on occasion, and he was not panting. And his stomach and paws were still wet. But they were not dripping wet. There probably wasn't much water left in the boat. Soon he would be thirsty.
I looked up at the sky. The cloud cover had vanished. But for a few wisps on the horizon, the sky was clear. It would be another hot, rainless day. The sea moved in a
lethargic2 way, as if already
exhausted3 by the oncoming heat.
I sat against the mast and thought over our problem. The biscuits and the fishing gear assured us of the solid part of our diet. It was the liquid part that was the rub. It all came down to what was so abundant around us but
marred4 by salt. I could perhaps mix some sea water with his fresh water, but I had to
procure5 more fresh water to start with. The cans would not last long between the two of us - in fact, I was
loath6 to share even one with Richard Parker - and it would be foolish to rely on rainwater.
The solar stills were the only other possible source of drinkable water. I looked at them doubtfully. They had been out two days now. I noticed that one of them had lost a little air. I pulled on the rope to tend to it. I topped off its
cone7 with air. Without any real expectation I reached underwater for the distillate
pouch8 that was clipped to the round buoyancy
chamber9. My fingers took hold of a bag that was unexpectedly fat. A shiver of thrill went through me. I controlled myself. As likely as not, salt water had leaked in. I unhooked the pouch and, following the instructions, lowered it and
tilted10 the still so that any more water from beneath the cone might flow into it. I closed the two small taps that led to the pouch, detached it and pulled it out of the water. It was rectangular in shape and made of thick, soft, yellow plastic, with calibration marks on one side. I tasted the water. I tasted it again. It was salt-free.
"My sweet sea cow!" I exclaimed to the solar still. "You've produced, and how! What a delicious milk. Mind you, a little rubbery, but I'm not complaining. Why, look at me drink!"
I finished the bag. It had a capacity of one litre and was nearly full. After a moment of sigh-producing, shut-eyed satisfaction, I reattached the pouch. I checked the other stills. Each one had an udder similarly heavy. I collected the fresh milk, over eight litres of it, in the fish bucket. Instantly these
technological11 contraptions became as precious to me as cattle are to a farmer. Indeed, as they floated
placidly12 in an arc, they looked almost like cows grazing in a field. I ministered to their needs, making sure that there was enough sea water inside each and that the
cones13 and
chambers14 were
inflated15 to just the right pressure.
After adding a little sea water to the bucket's contents, I placed it on the side bench just beyond the
tarpaulin16. With the end of the morning coolness, Richard Parker seemed safely settled below. I tied the bucket in place using rope and the tarpaulin hooks on the side of the boat. I carefully
peeked17 over the gunnel. He was lying on his side. His
den18 was a
foul19 sight. The dead mammals were heaped together, a
grotesque20 pile of decayed animal parts. I recognized a leg or two, various patches of hide, parts of a head, a great number of bones. Flying-fish wings were
scattered21 about.
I cut up a flying fish and tossed a piece onto the side bench. After I had gathered what I needed for the day from the
locker22 and was ready to go, I tossed another piece over the tarpaulin in front of Richard Parker. It had the intended effect. As I drifted away I saw him come out into the open to fetch the
morsel23 of fish. His head turned and he noticed the other morsel and the new object next to it. He lifted himself. He hung his huge head over the bucket. I was afraid he would tip it over. He didn't. His face disappeared into it, barely fitting, and he started to lap up the water. In very little time the bucket started shaking and
rattling24 emptily with each strike of his tongue. When he looked up, I stared him aggressively in the eyes and I blew on the whistle a few times. He disappeared under the tarpaulin.
It occurred to me that with every passing day the lifeboat was resembling a zoo enclosure more and more: Richard Parker had his sheltered area for sleeping and resting, his food
stash25, his
lookout26 and now his water hole.
The temperature climbed. The heat became
stifling27. I spent the rest of the day in the shade of the
canopy28, fishing. It seems I had had beginner's luck with that first dorado. I caught nothing the whole day, not even in the late afternoon, when
marine29 life appeared in abundance. A turtle turned up, a different kind this time, a green sea turtle, bulkier and smoother-shelled, but curious in the same
fixed30 way as a hawksbill. I did nothing about it, but I started thinking that I should.
The only good thing about the day being so hot was the sight the solar stills presented. Every cone was covered on the inside with drops and
rivulets31 of
condensation32.
The day ended. I calculated that the next morning would make it a week since the Tsimtsum had sunk.
第六十二章
那天夜里我不时地 醒来。太阳升起之前，我不再努力入睡，而是用胳膊肘撑着抬起头来。我用一双小眼睛看见了一只老虎。理查德·帕克焦躁不安。他呜咽着，咆哮着，在救生艇上走 来走去。那情景令人生畏。我估计了一下情况。他不可能饿了。至少不是饥饿难耐。他渴了吗？他的舌头从嘴里伸了出来，但只是偶尔伸出来，而且他没在喘气。他 的肚子和爪子还是湿的。但并没有在滴水。船上也许没有多少水了。很快他就会渴了。
我抬头看了看天。遮住天空的云层已经消失了。天空明净，只有地平线上飘浮着几缕云彩。今天又会是炎热无雨的一天。海面懒洋洋地起伏着，仿佛已经被即将到来的炎热弄得筋疲力尽。
我 靠着桅杆坐着，考虑着我们的问题。饼干和鱼具保证了固体食物的供应。难就难在液体食物。这个问题完全可以归结为我们周围大量存在却被盐分破坏了的海水。也 许我可以在喂他的淡水里掺一些海水，但是首先我得获取更多的淡水。那几罐水过不了多久就会被我们喝完的——实际上，我甚至连一罐都不愿意和理查德·帕克分 享——而且完全依赖雨水是很愚蠢的。
太阳能蒸馏器是可饮用水的另一个惟一可能的来源。我怀疑地看着它们。它们放在外面已经有两天了。我注意 到其中一只有点儿漏气。我拉着绳子过去照看。我给圆锥形的筒里打进空气。然后把手伸到水下去摸扣在圆形的能浮于水的容器上的装蒸馏液的袋子，心里并没有抱 什么希望。出乎意料的是，我的手指抓住了一个鼓胀的袋子。一阵兴奋的颤抖传遍我全身。我控制住了自己。很可能是咸水漏进去了。我把袋子从钩子上取下来，按 照指南上的指示，把它放低，让蒸馏器倾斜，这样圆锥形筒下面残留的水就会流进袋子里了。我关上通向袋子的两个小龙头，把袋子拿下来，从水里拎了出来。袋子 是长方形的，用又厚又软的黄色塑料做成，一边有刻度线。我尝了尝水。又尝了尝。水不含盐。
“我甜蜜的海上母牛啊！”我对太阳能蒸馏器叫道。 “你产奶了，而且产了这么多！多鲜美的奶啊！你要知道，水有一点儿橡胶味，但我不是在抱怨。嗨，看着我喝！”我喝完了袋里的水。能装一升水的袋子几乎是满 的。我闭着眼睛，满足地叹了一会儿气之后，又把袋子放了回去。我检查了其他几只蒸馏器。每一只都有和刚才那只一样饱满的乳房。我把八升多“鲜奶”搜集起 来，装在鱼桶里。这些技术发明立刻变得对我珍贵起来，就像牛对农夫一样珍贵。实际上，它们呈弧形静静地浮着，看上去几乎就像在田野里吃草的奶牛。我满足它 们的需要，确保每一只里都有足够的海水，圆锥形筒和容器里充的气压力恰恰好。
我往桶里加了一点儿海水，然后把桶放在油布边上的舷边坐板上。 早晨凉爽的时候已经过去，理查德，帕克似乎在下面安全地安顿了下来。我用绳子和船两侧的油布钩子把桶固定好。我小心地越过舷边偷偷看过去。他正侧着身子躺 着。他的窝真令人恶心。死了的哺乳动物堆在一起，形成一堆丑陋的已经腐烂的动物尸体碎块。我认出了一两条腿，好几块皮，一碎成了几块的头，很多骨头。飞鱼 的胸鳍散落得到处都是。
我切开一条飞鱼，扔了一块到舷边坐板上。我从锁柜里拿了一天需要的东西，准备走的时候，又扔了一块在理查德·帕克面 前的油布上。这一块取得了预想的效果。我漂走时，看见他走到露天里来拿那块鱼肉。他转过头，看见了另一块肉和旁边的新东西。他抬起身子，把巨大的脑袋俯在 桶上。我真担心他会把桶弄翻了。他没有。他把脸伸进桶里，刚好卡住桶口，开始舔起水来。只过了一小会儿，他的舌头每舔一次，桶便晃一下，发出表明里面已经 空了的格格声。当他抬起头来时，我挑衅地看着他的眼睛，吹了几声哨子。他消失在了油布下面。
我发现，随着时间一天天地过去，救生艇越来越像一座动物园了：理查德·帕克有自己遮风避雨的地方可以睡觉和休息，食物储藏处和嘹望台，现在又有了水坑。
气温渐渐爬升上去。热气变得令人窒息。那天接下来的时间里，我一直都待在顶篷下面的阴凉处钓鱼。似乎抓第一条鲼鳅时，我已经用完了初学者的运气。那一整天我 什么也没抓到，甚至在傍晚前海洋生物大量出现的时候也没有。一只海龟出现了，这次是一个不同的种类，是一只绿螨龟，体型更大，壳更光滑，但是也和玳瑁一样 明显地好奇。我没对它怎么样，但却开始考虑应该做点儿什么。
天这么热的惟一好处是能看到太阳能蒸馏器呈现出的样子。每一只圆锥形筒的内壁都布满了永珠和细细的水流。
一天结束了。我算了算，到明天早晨“齐姆楚姆”号就沉没一个星期了。
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