登陆注册
7167600000034

第34章 A PERILOUS ADVENTURE

Three or four lads are standing in the channel below the great Natural Bridge of Virginia. They see hundreds of names carved in the limestone buttresses, and resolve to add theirs to the number. This done, one of them is seized with the mad ambition of carving his name higher than the highest there! His companions try to dissuade him from attempting so dangerous a feat, but in vain. He is a wild, reckless youth; and, afraid now to yield, lest he should be thought a coward, he carves his way up and up the limestone rock, till he can hear the voices, but not the words, of his terror-stricken playmates.

One of them runs off to the village and tells the boy"s father of his perilous situation. Others go for help in other directions; and ere long there are hundreds on the bridge above, all holding their breath, and awaiting the fearful catastrophe. The poor boy can just distinguish the tones of his father, who is shouting with all the energy of despair, "William! William ! don"t look down ! Your Mother, and Henry, and Harriet are all here praying for you! Don"t look down! Keep your eyes towards the top! "The boy does not look down. His eye is fixed towards heaven, and his young heart on Him who reigns there. He grasps againhis knife. He cuts another niche, and another foot is added to the hundreds that remove him from the reach of human help from below.

The sun is half-way down in the west. Men are leaning over the outer edge of the bridge with ropes in their hands. But fifty more niches must be cut before the longest rope can reach the boy! Two minutes more, and all will be over. That blade is worn to the last half-inch. The boy"s head reels. His last hope is dying in his heart; his life must hang upon the next niche he cuts. That niche will be his last.

At the last cut he makes, his knife-his faithful knife- drops from his little, nerveless hand, and, ringing down the precipice, falls at his mother"s feet ! An involuntary groan of despair runs through the crowd below, and all is still as the grave. At the height of nearly three hundred feet, the devoted boy lifts his hopeless heart and closing eyes to commend his soul to God.

Hark! A shout falls on his ears from above! A man who is lying with half his length over the bridge has caught a glimpse of the boy"s head and shoulders. Quick as thought the noosed rope is within reach of the sinking youth. No one breathes. With a faint, convulsive effort, the swooning boy drops his arm into the noose.

Not a lip moves while he is dangling over that fearful abyss; but, when a sturdy arm reaches down and draws up the lad, and holds him up before the tearful, breathless multitude, such shouting and such leaping and weeping for joy had neverbefore greeted a human being so recovered from the jaws of death.

Eliiiu Burritt

Author.-Elihu Burritt (1810-1879), the " Learned Blacksmith," an American writer who spent his leisure in study and became a mathematician and a wonderful linguist. He was an earnest apostle of international peace. His best-known work is Sparks from the Anvil.

General.-The story is graphically told in a series of word-pictures-theboys at the foot of the cliff and the wild lad climbing; the father"s distress; attempts at rescue; the climax, when the boy is about to fall; the rescue; the rejoicings. Can you visualize these scenes? Do you think fifty niches too many for two minutes" work? Is there confusion of thought in para- graph four? Why did the rescuers use several ropes? Remember that natural bridges arc generally the result of the action of water which works through loose soil or soft rock beneath a harder layer. Virginia is an American State named after the " Virgin Queen, " Elizabeth. The famous Natural Bridge of Virginia is in Rockbridge county, near Lexington. Consult an atlas.

同类推荐
  • Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984)(英文版)

    Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984)(英文版)

    《1984》是英国作家乔治奥威尔创作的一部政治讽刺小说,小说创作于1948年,出版于1949年。书中讲述了一个令人感到窒息和恐怖的,以追逐权力为最终目标的假想的未来极权主义社会,通过对这个社会中一个普通人温斯顿史密斯的生活描写,投射出了现实生活中极权主义的本质。
  • 日常生活英语口语看这本就够

    日常生活英语口语看这本就够

    全书分6大类:生活、学习、工作场景等,共涵盖148个话题,如下:生活口语30个情景话题;旅游口语16个情景话题;休闲口语24个情景话题;交际口语20个情景话题;职场口语29个情景话题;商务口语29个情景话题。另外本书诚邀资深外教为每个句子进行了朗读配音。
  • 用英语介绍中国:这里是上海

    用英语介绍中国:这里是上海

    阅读可以提升人格情操,增长知识,提高语言文化的综合素质,其更本质、更核心的意义在于培养学习者的兴趣,而兴趣才是一切学习者的学习动力、成功源泉。本书为读者奉上原汁原味的人文阅读精华,详细介绍了人们最感兴趣的上海历史文化、城市风景、上海生活、名人逸事等,带您全方位地了解上海。读者在学习英语的同时,又能品味这座东方文化名城的独特魅力。
  • 美国名家短篇小说赏析(高级)

    美国名家短篇小说赏析(高级)

    本书精选了八位美国文学巨匠的8篇美国短篇小说的精华之作,每篇文章前有简短的引言,文中还附有编者的评注和分析及作者简介。
  • 每天都是精彩:英语诵读美文240篇(英汉对照)

    每天都是精彩:英语诵读美文240篇(英汉对照)

    《每天都是精彩:英语诵读美文240篇(英汉对照)》按照自然时间排序,每一月份收录的小品文风格各异、体裁不同,但却相辅相成、相得益彰,便于你把脉时光的步伐,体味四季的轮回。每篇小品文后都列有生词注音释义,便于你诵读记忆,扩大词汇量。
热门推荐
  • 永天纪

    永天纪

    且说太初之始,六道浑噩,罪苦众生,诸神愿我尽未来劫,使不灭雷霆降世,广设方便,使令解脱。曰:劫数在天,劫数无天,玉宇清澄,无天永天。泣血誓天,待青阳重现,我必登天,踏碎凌霄殿,再造永生天!
  • 道家哲学智慧

    道家哲学智慧

    在战国时代,儒墨并称“显学”。韩非说:“世之显学,儒墨也”。道家是隐者之学,故不在显学之列,而其理论之湛深,思想之缜密,实超过了儒墨两家。孔子罕言天道,“夫子之言性与天道,不可得而闻也”。孟子虽说过“圣人之于天道也”,但也未多讲天道。道家老子不但谈论天道,而且提出“先天地生”的永恒性绝对性的“道”。孔子“祖述尧舜,宪章文武”,总结了夏商周三代的文化成就,墨子“背周道而用夏政”,老子则揭示了有史以来文化的流弊,对于文化发展提出批评意见。儒家虽反对苛政,而肯定区分贵贱上下的等级制度。墨家虽然宣称“官无常贵,民无终贱”,而仍承认贵贱之分,以“贵不傲贱”为理想。
  • 狼前遇

    狼前遇

    我,骉子,南下了,海水忒咸,北上大草原,唯有骏马蓝天,终归回了郎前峪,生在这里死在这里,梦见山水柏油路和娘。嗨,内谁,就是你,人生如戏,鬼才是主角,落幕未见分晓,卸了妆你也好看,管他什么校服旗袍,穿着舒服扔掉了痛心。
  • 穿越之云予君思

    穿越之云予君思

    封锦轩:就算她不爱我,我也要禁锢她一生!封锦煜:如果可以,永远不要回来…白奕寒:从一开始,就是错误。刑西扬:从来,我都在。“白奕寒,终究是你变了”“封锦煜,忘了我,重新开始吧!”“封锦轩,你从未相信我!”“刑西扬,永远不要背叛我”
  • 冰封一剑

    冰封一剑

    本小说定位玄幻加武侠。支持原创冰封一剑,谨以此书献给那些曾经堕落而无悔的岁月。一个是追风少年,立志要做武功天下第一;一个是恶魔之子,为拯救万民赴汤蹈火;一个是天地王者,为梦想不惜身败名裂;当三个顶级高手碰在一起的时候,天地变色,日月无光,山崩海裂。一个是乖巧清纯,为爱如痴如醉;一个是外柔内刚,为爱敢爱敢恨;一个是聪明沉稳,为爱奋不顾身,6个人将演绎一段怎样惊天动地的故事!
  • 泥丸李祖师女宗双修宝筏

    泥丸李祖师女宗双修宝筏

    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。
  • 古荒圣帝

    古荒圣帝

    从地球无意中来到灵翼大陆从弱小变强大从懵懂变成熟经历生死无谓无求一战封天
  • 异世血承

    异世血承

    血痕大陆,各种各样的修炼体系积聚的世界,在这里每个人都是修炼者!大陆上大家族一般都有自己的家族的专属绝学—血承功法!本书等级制度:徒级师级大师级王级皇级帝级尊级圣级还有传说的神级。
  • 异世之公式也疯狂

    异世之公式也疯狂

    穿越了?不怕,金手指招来……《公式大全》?“我XX你个OO的贼老天。”李业仰天长嚎,“你丫玩儿我”
  • 中国古典文学四大名著(第六卷)

    中国古典文学四大名著(第六卷)

    四大名著是指《三国演义》、《西游记》、《水浒传》及《红楼梦》四部中国古典章回小说。这四部著作历久不衰,是汉语文学中不可多得的作品。其中的故事、场景,已经深深地影响了中国人的思想观念、价值取向。“四大名著”的最初提法是“四大奇书”,中国在明末清初最先有了这种说法。李渔曾在醉田堂刊本《三国志演义》序中称:“冯梦龙亦有四大奇书之目,曰三国也,水浒也,西游与金瓶梅也……”清代乾隆年间问世的《红楼梦》原名《石头记》被公认是中国古典小说的最高峰。本书将这四部书进行了新的编排,选取其中的经典篇章予以出版。