日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 47 The day broke, humid and overcast, with the wind warm and the sky a dense blanket of grey clouds that looked like bunched-up, dirty cotton sheets. The sea had not changed. It heaved the lifeboat up and down in a regular motion. The zebra... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 46 Clouds that gathered where ships were supposed to appear, and the passing of the day, slowly did the job of unbending my smile. It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose f... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 45 I was cold. It was a distracted observation, as if it didnt concern me. Daybreak came. It happened quickly, yet by imperceptible degrees. A corner of the sky changed colours. The air began filling with light. The calm sea opened up around... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 44 The sun climbed through the sky, reached its zenith, began to come down. I spent the entire day perched on the oar, moving only as much as was necessary to stay balanced. My whole being tended towards the spot on the horizon that would ap... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 43 The last trace I saw of the ship was a patch of oil glimmering on the surface of the water. I was certain I wasnt alone. It was inconceivable that the Tsimtsum should sink without eliciting a peep of concern. Right now in Tokyo, in Panama... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 42 She came floating on an island of bananas in a halo of light, as lovely the Virgin Mary. The rising sun was behind her. Her flaming hair looked stunning. I cried, Oh blessed Great Mother, Pondicherry fertility goddess, provider of milk an... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 41 The elements allowed me to go on living. The lifeboat did not sink. Richard Parker kept out of sight. The sharks prowled but did not lunge. The waves splashed me but did not pull me off. I watched the ship as it disappeared with much burb... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 40 Richard Parker did not jump into the water after me. The oar I intended to use as a club floated. I held on to it as I reached for the lifebuoy, now vacant of its previous occupant. It was terrifying to be in the water. It was black and c... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 39 I landed with a trampoline-like bounce on the half-unrolled tarpaulin covering a lifeboat forty feet below. It was a miracle I didnt hurt myself. I lost the life jacket, except for the whistle, which stayed in my hand. The lifeboat had be... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 38 I dont understand. For days the ship had pushed on, bullishly indifferent to its surroundings. The sun shone, rain fell, winds blew, currents flowed, the sea built up hills, the sea dug up valleys-the Tsimtsum did not care. It moved with... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 37 The ship sank. It made a sound like a monstrous metallic burp. Things bubbled at the surface and then vanished. Everything was screaming: the sea, the wind, my heart. From the lifeboat I saw something in the water. I cried, Richard Parker... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 36 The cities are large and memorably crowded in India, but when you leave them you travel through vast stretches of country where hardly a soul is to be seen. I remember wondering where 950 million Indians could be hiding. I could say the s... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 35 We left Madras on June 21st, 1977, on the Panamanian-registered Japanese cargo ship Tsimtsum. Her officers were Japanese, her crew was Taiwanese, and she was large and impressive. On our last day in Pondicherry I said goodbye to Mamaji, t... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 34 Father said, Well sail like Columbus! He was hoping to find India, I pointed out sullenly. We sold the zoo, lock, stock and barrel. To a new country, a new life. Besides assuring our collection of a happy future, the transaction would pay... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 33 He shows me family memorabilia. Wedding photos first. A Hindu wedding with Canada prominently on the edges. A younger him, a younger her. They went to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. Had a lovely time. Smiles to prove it. We move back... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 32 There are many examples of animals coming to surprising living arrangements. All are instances of that animal equivalent of anthropomorphism: zoomorphism, where an animal takes a human being, or another animal, to be one of its kind. The... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-23 Chapter 31 They met once, Mr. and Mr. Kumar, the baker and the teacher. The first Mr. Kumar had expressed the wish to see the zoo. All these years and Ive never seen it. Its so close by, too. Will you show it to me? he asked. Yes, of course, I repli... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 30 Hes married. I am bent down, taking my shoes off, when I hear him say, I would like you to meet my wife. I look up and there beside him is... Mrs. Patel. Hello, she says, extending her hand and smiling. Piscine has been telling me lots ab... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 29 Why do people move? What makes them uproot and leave everything theyve known for a great unknown beyond the horizon? Why climb this Mount Everest of formalities that makes you feel like a beggar? Why enter this jungle of foreignness where... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 28 I loved my prayer rug. Ordinary in quality though it was, it glowed with beauty in my eyes. Im sorry I lost it. Wherever I laid it I felt special affection for the patch of ground beneath it and the immediate surroundings, which to me is... 阅读全文>>