AMERICAN STORIES - The Sharks Were Hungry

AMERICAN STORIES - The Sharks Were Hungry
By Dorothy Cottrell

Broadcast: Saturday, October 09, 2004

Now the weekly Special English program American Stories. Our story today is called The Sharks Were Hungry. It was written by Dorothy Cottrell. Here is Shep O'Neal with the story.

Doctor John Perry decided¹ it was time to go home. It had been a perfect day, a day alone, the first such day in many years. He had filled his bag with all sorts of seashells enough to study for months. The island had been a good place to find shells, but now the sun was going down. He must leave before it got dark. He picked up his bag of shells and walked toward³ the edge of the island. He came to the sand reef⁴ that connected the island and the shore of the mainland⁵. He stopped for a moment to enjoy the sunset on the ocean water. Then, he began to walk along the sand reef toward the shore. He walked slowly stopping a few times to rest. He began to whistle. Along with nature all day, it had cheered him. He could see the shore.

The grey colors of evening were beginning to spread across the ocean and the sand. He hurried on, then suddenly, he stepped into the water. Before he knew what had happened, he dropped down and down. The water was covering his head. He rose to the top of the water struggling to get back on to the dry sand. He felt the water rushing about him. Somehow, he got on to the sand and sat down wet and surprised at his sudden drop. He heard the water still rushing about. Then, he saw a long grey shark. He stood up and looked around. He saw the shark swim toward the shore. And then, he saw other sharks, five, six, seven of them, but where was the sand reef? What had happened to it?

He began to walk back toward the island. While he had searched for shells on the island, the strong ocean waves had washed a large part of the sand reef away. There was nothing between him and the shore, but water and sharks.

He did not know much about sharks, but he was a good swimmer. He looked at the shore, which was now almost black against the red sky. He could swim, but what about the sharks? Do they attack in the night? He tried to remember what he had read about sharks. Did sharks find their food by smelling it? If they did, it meant they looked for food at all times, even during the night.

He decided not to swim to shore. It was too dark and he wanted to see the enemy if he was to fight it. He looked around for his bag of shells and found it a few meters away. He pulled the bag onto some dry sand, then sat down next to it.

The wind was warm. The stars began to show. The moon rose. The water looked peaceful and quiet and yellow in the moonlight. The gentle noises of night soon made him sleep, but not for long. Most of the night he lay down and looked up the stars, thinking. He thought of the people in the village, his friends. They needed him. He was their doctor, the only doctor in the village. It felt good to be needed.

He thought of wood for a fire. Wood to signal for help, but there was no wood. He thought of the sharks. Would they go away during the night? Then, he thought of food. He was hungry, but hunger was his smallest problem. The ocean was filled with fish. If he could catch one, fish would satisfy both his need to eat and drink, but hunger and thirst could wait. At last, he thought of sleep. It came at last.

He slept until the sun rose. He felt stiff⁶ when he got up. He moved about, then, looked at the water before him. It was clear and green. Far off, he could hear the noise of splashing⁷ water made by the sharks. He saw red areas on the water. He knew the sharks were killing⁸ and eating the fish. The sharks were there because the fish were there. The same waves that had washed the sand reef away had somehow pushed large schools of fish into the area. He watched the sharks kill. They swam after the schools of fish played with them and killed them even though they were not hungry. They would not let the fish swim out into the open sea.

He looked at the sea. If he swam to shore, he would be in the water five, six minutes. A lot could happen in that time. A wind blew across the water. Small waves rushed across the top and stopped him from seeing the bottom. He hoped the wind would stop. Somehow clear water seemed less dangerous.

He looked at the sharks now near the shore. They were still feeding. It was hard to think of himself being attacked by a shark. A man when he is healthy feels good, but the pain, a torn belly⁹, a missing¹⁰ leg, a badly crushed¹¹ head by those powerful teeth. "No, No", he wanted to live. To swim now might mean sudden death, but the sharks might stay here for days a week or more.

He decided to swim. But first, he looked all around. There was not a sign of a boat anywhere, no fisherman, nothing. He looked up, not a sign of a storm just a clear blue sky.

He took off all his clothes. He kept only his belt and his small knife. The sharks were far off. He silently slipped into the water. He went deep down and looked around. He was about to rise to the top and start swimming when he saw a long grey body below him. Small dots of sunlight danced on the shark's body down through the clear water. He kicked himself up to the top and struggled onto the sand. If he had not looked down, he would be half way across now with the shark chasing¹² after him. He did not think of the rest.

He stood up and looked around again. How could he make the sharks move out to the him. He saw the sharks rolling and playing. Their hunger was now gone. They were killing for fun. How could he make them move?

He pulled his knife from his belt. "Sharks can smell blood. " he thought. He put the knife against his leg and cut deep into the flesh. The blood ran out. He caught it on his white shirt. When the shirt was red and wet, he tied some cloth around his leg to stop the flow of blood. He tied a long piece of cloth to the shirt, then walked to the edge of the sand. He threw the shirt into the water. And pulled it with the piece of cloth.

The sharks smelt¹³ the blood. They came racing¹⁴ toward the shirt. He ran down the sand reef pulling the shirt. The sharks raced after it. He was leading them away from shore. Suddenly, he dropped the cloth turned toward shore and ran as fast as he could. He jumped into the water and swam. He was half way across when he turned to look back. A high bony fin² was cutting through the water toward him. He put his face in the water and kept and pulled himself forward as fast as he could. The shore was nearer now. But he thought of his belly under the water. How defenseless it was. He thought of the flat noses of the shark hitting from below.

He lifted his head again to breathe. He saw the shore very near. From behind, he felt the water rush toward him, almost pushing him, helping¹⁵ him. He kicked and shouted as loud as he could. Then a great grey body hit him. It almost rolled him over in the water. He touched the shore with his fingers and pulled himself up the stones. The shark excited by the smell of blood and the chase¹⁶ went after him. Its great body crashed against the stones. It rolled and turned as it dropped back into the water. The other sharks jumped on it. The end came quickly as the shark's blood turned the water red. The injured shark was eaten alive as it tried to escape.

Doctor Perry slowly got to his feet. So, he said, "You did not get me. " He looked down at the sharks still eating, even though, they were full of food. He climbed up the stones and walked toward the village.

You have just heard the American story "The Shark Were Hungry". It was written by Dorothy Cottrell. It was published by popular publications¹⁷ in the book -- the Argosy Book of Adverture Stories. Copyright¹⁸ nineteen forty-nine, all rights reserved. Your storyteller was Shep O'Neal for VOA Special English. This is Rich Greil.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

3 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

4 reef   

n.礁，礁石，暗礁

参考例句：

• The ship and its crew were lost on the reef.那条船及船员都触礁遇难了。
• The ship was wrecked on a coral reef.这条船在珊瑚暗礁上撞毁了。

5 mainland   

n.大陆，本土

参考例句：

• The new bridge will link the island to the mainland.新的桥梁将把该岛与大陆连接在一起。
• Hong Kong's prosperity relies heavily on mainland.香港的繁荣在很大程度上依赖于大陆。

6 stiff   

adj.严厉的，激烈的，硬的，僵直的，不灵活的

参考例句：

• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。
• You have to push on the handle to turn it,becanse it's very stiff.手柄很不灵活，你必须用力推才能转动它。

7 splashing   

v.使（液体）溅起( splash的现在分词 )；（指液体）溅落；击水声

参考例句：

• Water was splashing down from a large hole in the roof. 雨水从房顶上的一个大洞里倾泻下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The children love splashing water over each other. 儿童喜欢互相泼水。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

10 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

11 crushed   

a.压碎的，倒碎的

参考例句：

• The car was completely crushed under the truck. 小轿车被卡车压得完全变形了。
• The box was crushed when the car ran over it. 汽车辗过箱子时把它给压碎了。

12 chasing   

n.雕镂术，雕刻工作；车螺丝；抛光；螺旋板

参考例句：

• My dog likes chasing rabbits. 我的狗喜欢追捕兔子。
• The children were having fun, chasing each other's shadows. 孩子们追逐着彼此的影子，玩得很开心。

13 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

14 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

15 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

16 chase   

vt.追逐，追赶，追求；n.追赶

参考例句：

• The police grabbed the robbers after a long chase.警察经过长距离追赶后逮住了抢劫犯。
• Would you chase me if I did?如果我逃开了，你会来追吗？

17 publications   

n.发表( publication的名词复数 )；公布；出版；出版物

参考例句：

• The related publications are far too numerous to list individually. 相关出版物太多，没法一一列举。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request. 我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 copyright   

n.版权，著作权

参考例句：

• He retained the copyright of his book.他保留此书的著作权。
• This company has a proprietorship of the copyright.这家公司拥有版权所有权。