1-27

 

27.

The first time I killed anything, Tiggy said: Well done, darling!

She dipped her long, slender fingers into the rabbit’s body, under the flap of smashed fur,scooped out a dollop of blood and smeared¹ it tenderly across my forehead, down my cheeks andnose. Now, she said, in her throaty voice, you are blooded.

Blooding—a tradition from the ages. A show of respect for the slain², an act of communion bythe slayer³. Also, a way to mark the crossing from boyhood into…not manhood. No, not that. Butsomething close.

And so, notwithstanding my hairless torso and chirpy voice, I considered myself, post-blooding, to be a full-fledged stalker. But around my fifteenth birthday I was informed that I’d beundertaking the true stalker initiation⁴.

Red deer.

It happened at Balmoral. Early morning, fog on the hills, mist in the hollows. My guide,Sandy, was a thousand years old. He looked as if he’d stalked mastodons. Proper old-school, thatwas how Willy and I described him and other such gents. Sandy talked old-school, smelt⁵ old-school, and definitely dressed old- school. Faded camo jacket over ragged⁶ green sweaters,Balmoral tweed plus fours, socks covered with burrs, Gore-Tex walking boots. On his head was aclassic tweed flat cap, thrice my age, browned by eons of sweat.

I crept beside him through the heather, through the bog⁷, all morning long. My stag appearedahead. Inching closer, ever closer, we finally stopped and watched the stag munch⁸ some dry grass.

Sandy made sure we were still downwind.

Now he pointed⁹ at me, pointed at my rifle. Time.

He rolled away, giving me space.

He raised his binoculars¹⁰. I could hear his rattly¹¹ breath as I took slow aim, squeezed the trigger.

One sharp, thunderous crack. Then, silence.

We stood, walked forward. When we reached the stag I was relieved. Its eyes were alreadycloudy. The worry was always that you’d merely cause a flesh wound and send the poor animaldashing into the woods to suffer alone for hours. As its eyes turned more and more opaque¹², Sandyknelt before it, took out his gleaming knife, bled it from the neck and slit¹³ open the belly¹⁴. Hemotioned for me to kneel. I knelt.

I thought we were going to pray.

Sandy snapped at me: Closer!

I knelt closer, close enough to smell Sandy’s armpits. He placed a hand gently behind myneck, and now I thought he was going to hug me, congratulate me. Atta boy. Instead he pushed myhead inside the carcass.

I tried to pull away, but Sandy pushed me deeper. I was shocked by his insane strength. Andby the infernal smell. My breakfast jumped up from my stomach. Oh please oh please do not letme vomit¹⁵ inside a stag carcass. After a minute I couldn’t smell anything, because I couldn’tbreathe. My nose and mouth were full of blood, guts¹⁶, and a deep, upsetting warmth.

Well, I thought, so this is death. The ultimate blooding.

Not what I’d imagined.

I went limp. Bye, all.

Sandy pulled me out.

I filled my lungs with fresh morning air. I started to wipe my face, which was dripping, butSandy grabbed my hand. Nae, lad, nae.

What?

Let it dry, lad! Let it dry!

We radioed back to the soldiers in the valley. Horses were sent. While waiting, we got down towork, gave the stag a full gralloching, the Old Scottish word for disemboweling. We removed thestomach, scattered¹⁷ the junky bits on the hillside for hawks¹⁸ and buzzards, carved out the liver andheart, snipped¹⁹ the penis, careful not to pop the cord, which would douse²⁰ you with urine, a stenchthat ten Highland²¹ baths wouldn’t cleanse²².

The horses arrived. We slung²³ our gralloched stag across a white drum stallion, sent it off to thelarder, then walked shoulder to shoulder back to the castle.

As my face dried, as my stomach settled, I felt swelling²⁵ pride. I’d been good to that stag, as I’dbeen taught. One shot, clean through the heart. Besides being painless, the instant kill hadpreserved the meat. Had I merely wounded him, or let him get a glimpse of us, his heart would’veraced, his blood would’ve filled with adrenaline, his steaks and fillets would’ve been inedible²⁶. Thisblood on my face contained no adrenaline, a credit to my marksmanship.

I’d also been good to Nature. Managing their numbers meant saving the deer population as awhole, ensuring they’d have enough food for winter.

Finally, I’d been good to the community. A big stag in the larder²⁴ meant plenty of good meatfor those living around Balmoral.

These virtues²⁷ had been preached to me from an early age, but now I’d lived them, and feltthem on my face. I wasn’t religious, but this “blood facial” was, to me, baptismal. Pa was deeplyreligious, he prayed every night, but now, in this moment, I too felt close to God. If you lovedNature, Pa always said, you had to know when to leave it alone, and when to manage it, andmanaging meant culling²⁸, and culling meant killing²⁹. It was all a form of worship.

At the larder Sandy and I took off our clothes and checked each other for ticks. Red deer inthose woods were rife³⁰ and once a tick got onto your leg it would burrow³¹ deep under the skin, oftencrawl up into your balls. One poor gamekeeper had recently been felled by Lyme disease.

I panicked. Every freckle³² looked like doom³³. Is that a tick? Is that?

Nae, lad, nae!

I got dressed.

Turning to Sandy to say goodbye, I thanked him for the experience. I wanted to shake hishand, give him a hug. But a small, still voice inside me said:

Nae, lad. Nae.

 

1 smeared   

弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上

参考例句：

• The children had smeared mud on the walls. 那几个孩子往墙上抹了泥巴。
• A few words were smeared. 有写字被涂模糊了。

2 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

3 slayer   

n. 杀人者，凶手

参考例句：

• The young man was Oedipus, who thus unknowingly became the slayer of his own father. 这位青年就是俄狄浦斯。他在不明真相的情况下杀死了自己的父亲。
• May I depend on you to stand by me and my daughters, then, deer-slayer? 如此说来，我可以指望你照料我和女儿了，杀鹿人？

4 initiation   

n.开始

参考例句：

• her initiation into the world of marketing 她的初次涉足营销界
• It was my initiation into the world of high fashion. 这是我初次涉足高级时装界。

5 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。

6 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

7 bog   

n.沼泽；室...陷入泥淖

参考例句：

• We were able to pass him a rope before the bog sucked him under.我们终于得以在沼泽把他吞没前把绳子扔给他。
• The path goes across an area of bog.这条小路穿过一片沼泽。

8 munch   

v.用力嚼，大声咀嚼

参考例句：

• We watched her munch through two packets of peanuts.我们看她津津有味地嚼了两包花生米。
• Getting them to munch on vegetable dishes was more difficult.使他们吃素菜就比较困难了。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 binoculars   

n.双筒望远镜

参考例句：

• He watched the play through his binoculars.他用双筒望远镜看戏。
• If I had binoculars,I could see that comet clearly.如果我有望远镜，我就可以清楚地看见那颗彗星。

11 rattly   

格格响的，吵闹的

参考例句：

12 opaque   

adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的

参考例句：

• The windows are of opaque glass.这些窗户装着不透明玻璃。
• Their intentions remained opaque.他们的意图仍然令人费解。

13 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

14 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。

15 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

16 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

18 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

19 snipped   

v.剪( snip的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He snipped off the corner of the packet. 他将包的一角剪了下来。 来自辞典例句
• The police officer snipped the tape and untied the hostage. 警方把胶带剪断，松绑了人质。 来自互联网

20 douse   

v.把…浸入水中，用水泼；n.泼洒

参考例句：

• Men came with buckets of water and began to douse the flames.人们提来一桶桶水灭火。
• He doused the flames with a fire extinguisher.他用灭火器把火焰扑灭。

21 highland   

n.(pl.)高地，山地

参考例句：

• The highland game is part of Scotland's cultural heritage.苏格兰高地游戏是苏格兰文化遗产的一部分。
• The highland forests where few hunters venture have long been the bear's sanctuary.这片只有少数猎人涉险的高山森林，一直都是黑熊的避难所。

22 cleanse   

vt.使清洁，使纯洁，清洗

参考例句：

• Health experts are trying to cleanse the air in cities. 卫生专家们正设法净化城市里的空气。
• Fresh fruit juices can also cleanse your body and reduce dark circles.新鲜果汁同样可以清洁你的身体,并对黑眼圈同样有抑制作用。

23 slung   

抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• He slung the bag over his shoulder. 他把包一甩，挎在肩上。
• He stood up and slung his gun over his shoulder. 他站起来把枪往肩上一背。

24 larder   

n.食物贮藏室，食品橱

参考例句：

• Please put the food into the larder.请将您地食物放进食物柜内。
• They promised never to raid the larder again.他们答应不再随便开食橱拿东西吃了。

25 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

26 inedible   

adj.不能吃的，不宜食用的

参考例句：

• The food was totally inedible.食物完全无法下咽。
• These chemicals make the fruit inedible.这些化学品使这种水果不宜食用。

27 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

28 culling   

n.选择，大批物品中剔出劣质货v.挑选，剔除( cull的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mathematicians turned to culling periodic solutions. 数学家们转而去挑选周期解。 来自辞典例句
• It took us a week to find you, a week of culling out prejudice and hatred. 我们花了一个星期的时间找到你们，把偏见和憎恨剔除出去。 来自演讲部分

29 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。

30 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

31 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

32 freckle   

n.雀簧；晒斑

参考例句：

• The girl used many kinds of cosmetics to remove the freckle on her face.这个女孩用了很多种的化妆品来去掉她脸上的雀斑。
• Do you think a woman without freckle or having a whiter skin would be more attractive?你认为一位没有雀斑或肤色较白的女性会比较有吸引力？

33 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。