A True Love of Life Learn English through story level 2
two men moved painfully down the bank
and fell among the rocks that were
scattered everywhere
they were tired and weak
their faces showed an ancient appearance
that results from
difficulty long endured
they were heavily burdened with blanket
packs which were tied to their shoulders
each man carried a gun
they walked in a leaning position the
shoulders forward the head farther
forward
the eyes fixed upon the ground
i wish we had a couple of those
cartridges that are lying in our cash
said the second man
his voice was completely without
expression
and the first man walking into the milky
stream that flowed over the rocks made
no reply
the other man followed at his heels
they did not remove their shoes although
the water was icy cold
it was so cold that their feet soon were
without feeling
in places the water dashed against their
knees
and both men found it difficult to
remain standing
the man who followed slipped upon a
smooth rock and nearly fell
he recovered his footing with great
effort at the same time uttering a sharp
cry of pain
he seemed faint
and stretched one hand forward seeking
support against
the air
when he had steadied himself he stepped
forward
but he slipped again and nearly fell
then he stood still and looked at the
other man who had never turned his head
the man stood still for fully a minute
as if you were deciding something
then he called out
i said i say bill i hurt my foot
bill struggled to head through the milky
water
he did not look around
the man watched him go and although his
face lacked expression as before
his eyes
and the look of a wounded animal
the other man climbed the farther bank
of the stream and continued straight
ahead
without looking back
the man in the stream watched him
his lips trembled a little
bill
he cried
it was the despairing cry of a strong
man in trouble
but bill’s head did not turn
the man watched him go struggling
forward up the hill toward the skyline
he watched him go until he passed over
the hilltop and disappeared
then he turned his gaze and slowly
examined the circle of the world that
remained to him
now that bill was gone
the sun was low in the sky almost hidden
by a cover of clouds
the man looked at his watch while
supporting his weight on one leg
it was four o’clock in the afternoon
the season was near the end of july or
first of august
he did not know the exact date within a
week or two
but that was enough to know that the sun
marked the northwest
he looked to the south and decided that
somewhere beyond those hills lay the
great bear lake
also he knew that behind the same hills
the arctic circle cut its way across the
plains of northern canada
called the barrens
this stream in which he stood flowed
into the copper mine river
which in turn flowed north
and emptied into the arctic ocean
he had never been there but he had seen
it once on a map
again his gaze completed the circle of
the world about him
it was not a cheerful sight
everywhere was soft skyline
the hills were all low-lying
there were no trees
no grasses
there was nothing but a vast emptiness
that brought fear into his eyes
bell
he whispered once
and twice
ill
he stood trembling in the milky water
feeling the vastness pressing in upon
him with great force
he began to shake as with a disease
until the gun falling from his hand into
the stream
brought him back to reality
he fought with his fear and regained his
self-control
he recovered the gun from the water
he pushed his pack more toward his left
shoulder
this helped to take a portion of its
weight off the foot he had hurt
then he proceeded slowly and carefully
in great pain at the bank of the stream
he did not stop with a worry that was
madness unmindful of the pain
he hurried up the hill to the top over
which his companion had disappeared
but at the top he saw a valley empty of
life
he fought with his fear again and won
then once more he moved the pack farther
toward his left shoulder and struggled
down the hill
the bottom of the valley was very wet
thick plant life held the moisture close
to the surface and the water flowed from
under his feet at every step
he picked his way carefully across the
valley and followed the other man’s
footsteps along the rocks
which made small islands in the sea of
white plant life
although alone he was not lost
farther on he knew he would come to
where dead pine trees bordered the shore
of a little lake
in the language of that country was
called
the land of little sticks
into that lake flowed a small stream
water of which was not milky
there was grass along that stream but no
trees
he would follow the stream until it
divided
he would cross this place of dividing to
another stream flowing to the west
this he would follow
until it emptied into the river dece
here he would find a cache under an
upturned boat
covered with many rocks
in this cash there would be cartridges
for his empty gun
and fish hooks lines
everything he needed for catching food
would be there
also he would find flour a little meat
and some beans
bill would be waiting for him there
and they would find a boat
and rose south down the beast to the
great bear lake
and south across the lake they would go
ever south
until they came to the mackenzie river
and south always south they would go
while the winter raced after them
and the ice formed in the streams
the days grew cold
south they would go
to some warm place where the trees grew
tall
full
and there was food without end
these were the thoughts of the man as he
struggled forward
but as strongly as he struggled with his
body
he struggled equally with his mind
he tried to believe that bill had not
deserted him
surely bill would wait for him into cash
he was forced to think this thought
otherwise
it would not be any reason to continue
and he would
lie down and die
as the ball of the sun sank slowly into
the northwest
he recalled every inch of his and bill’s
flight south ahead of the oncoming
winter
and he thought again and again of the
food in the cash
it had been two days since he had
anything to eat
it was a far longer time since he had
had enough to eat
often he picked muskeg berries put them
into his mouth and ate them
a muskeg berry is a small seed and a
drop of water
in the mouth the water melts away and
the seed tastes bitter
the man knew there was no real food
value in the berries but he ate them
patiently with a hope greater than his
experience
at nine o’clock that night he hit his
toe on a rocky surface
and from weakness and tiredness he fell
to the ground
he lay for some time without movement on
his side
he took his pack from his back and
dragged himself into a sitting position
it was not yet dark
while some light remained he felt among
the rocks for pieces of dried plants
when he had gathered a pile he built a
fire
and put a tin pot of water on it to boil
he unwrapped his pack
the first thing he did was to count his
matches
there was 67
he counted them three times to be sure
he divided them into several portions
wrapping them in paper
he put one portion in his empty tobacco
pack
another in the inside band of his hat
and a third under his shirt against his
flesh
this accomplished he began to worry
whether he had counted correctly
he unwrapped them all and counted them
again
yes
there were 67
he dried his wet shoes and socks by the
fire
the moccasins were badly torn
his socks were worn through in places
and his feet were bleeding
the area between his foot and leg the
ankle
very painful
he examined it
it had swelled until it was as large as
his knee
he cut a long strip from one of his two
blankets and bound the ankle tightly
he cut other strips and bound them about
his feet to serve both for moccasins and
socks
then he drank the pot of hot water
wound his watch
and pulled his blankets around him
he slept like a dead man
the brief darkness at midnight came and
went
then the sun rose in the northeast
it can be better said that day dawned in
that quarter of the sky because
the sun was
hidden by gray clouds
at six o’clock in the morning he waked
quietly lying on his back
he gazed straight up into the gray sky
and knew that he was hungry
as he lifted himself on his elbow he was
frightened by a loud noise
there was a caribou looking at him
curiously
the animal was not more than 50 feet
away
and instantly into the man’s mind came
the picture of
caribou meat hooking over a fire
from habit
he reached for the empty gun and aimed
it
the caribou leaped away and disappeared
across the rocks
the man cursed
threw the empty gun on the ground
he uttered a cry of pain as he started
to drag himself to his feet
it was a slow task
when he finally stood on his feet he
needed another minute or two to
straighten himself
so that he could stand as a man should
stand
he climbed a small hill and looked about
there were no trees no bushes there was
nothing but grassy gray plants and
some gray rocks and
gray streams
the sky was gray there was no sun or
promise of son
he had no idea where north was
and he had forgotten how he had come to
this spot the night before
but he was not lost he knew that soon he
would come to the land of the little
sticks
he felt that glade to the left somewhere
not far
possibly it was over the next low hill
he returned to prepare his pack for
traveling
he assured himself of the existence of
his three separate portions of matches
although he
did not stop to count
but he did pause trying to decide
what to do about a bag made from mu skin
it was not large
it could be covered by his two hands
but he knew it weighed 15 pounds
as much as all the rest of the pack
this worried him
he finally set it to one side and
proceeded to roll the pack
he paused again
gaze at the moosekin bag
he picked it up quickly with a quick
glance around him
it was as if he thought the cruel
wasteland was
trying to steal it
when he rose to his feet the bag was
included in the pack on his back
he started walking to the left
stopping now and again to eat
muskegberries
his ankle had stiffened but the pain of
it was
nothing compared with the pain of his
stomach
his hunger was so great he could not
keep his mind steady on the course he
had to follow to arrive at the land of
the little sticks
the berries did not help his hunger
their bitter taste only made his tongue
and mouth soar
he came to a valley where some birds
rose from the rocky places
was the sound of their cry
he threw stones at them but could not
hit them
he placed his pack on the ground and
followed them as a cat advances on a
bird
sharp rocks cut through his trousers
until his knees left a trail of blood
but the hurt was
lost in the pain of his hunger
he moved his body through the wet plants
becoming
wet and cold in the process
but he did not notice this so great was
his desire for food
always the birds rose before him
their cry of
sounded as if they were laughing at him
he cursed them and cried aloud at them
with their own cry
once he came upon one that must have
been asleep
he did not see it until it flew up in
his face from behind some rocks
he grasped the air as suddenly as the
rise of the bird
and there remained in his hand
three tail feathers
as he watched its flight
he hated it
he felt it
it had done him some great wrong
then he returned to where he had left
his pack
and lifted it again to his back
as the day continued he came into
valleys where game was more plentiful
twenty or more caribou passed by with an
easy shooting distance of a gun
he felt a wild desire to run after them
certain that he could catch them
a small black animal came toward him
carrying a bird in his mouth
the man shouted
it’s a fearful cry but
the animal leaping away in fright
did not drop the bird
late in the afternoon he followed a
stream which flowed through some thick
grass
he grasped these grasses firmly near the
root and pulled up what looked like a
vegetable
it was round
white
eagerly he sank his teeth into it
it was tender on the outside and gave
the promise of food
but its inside was hard and stringy
and like the berries
it had no food value
nevertheless he threw off his pack and
went among the grasses on his hands and
knees
eating the grass like a cow
he was very tired and often wished to
rest
to lie down and sleep
but he was led on not so much by his
desire to find the land of the little
sticks
as by his hunger
he looked into every pool of water
searching without success for things to
eat
then
as the night darkened
he discovered a single small fish
in one of these
pools he plunged his whole arm in
but the fish escaped his grasp
he reached for it with both hands and
stirred the mud at the bottom of the
pool
during his excitement he fell in getting
wet as high as his shoulders
then the water was too cloudy with mud
to allow him to see the fish
he was forced to wait until the mud had
again settled to the bottom
then he tried again until the water was
again filled with mud
but he could not wait
he took a tin container from his pack
and began to empty the water from the
pool he threw it out wildly at first and
so short a distance that it flowed into
the pool again
he worked more carefully
trying to be calm
but his heart was pounding and his hands
were trembling
at the end of a half an hour the pool
was nearly dry
not a cup full of water remained
and there
was no fish
then he discovered a narrow opening
among the stones through which it had
escaped into a larger pool
a pool which he could not empty in a
night and a day
if he had known of the opening
he could have closed it with a rock
before he began
and the fish
would have been his
thus he thought
and he sank down upon the wet earth
at first he cried softly to himself
and then he cried loudly to the uncaring
wasteland around him
he built a fire and warmed himself by
drinking hot water
then he built a camp on the rocks as he
had done the night before
the last things he did were to be
certain that his matches were dry
and to wind his watch
the blankets were wet
his ankle pained him
but he knew only that he was hungry
through his restless sleep he dreamed of
feasts and food
served in all imaginable manners
when he awakened
he was cold and sick
there was no sun
the gray of the earth and sky had become
deeper
a cold wind was blowing and snow was
whitening the hilltops
the air about him grew white with snow
as he made a fire and boiled more water
but it was wet snow half rain
at first it melted as soon as it hit the
earth
but it continued falling
covering the ground
and destroying his fire
this was a signal for him to put his
pack
on his back
and struggle forward
he knew not where
he was not concerned with the land of
the little sticks
nor was bill and the cash under the
upturned boat by the river dece
he was mad because of hunger
he did not notice the course he followed
except that it led him through the
bottoms of the valleys
he felt his way through the wet snow to
the watery muskeg berries
and was guided by touch as he pulled up
the grass by the roots
but it had no taste
and did not satisfy his hunger
he had no fire that night nor hot water
he pulled his blanket around him to
sleep the broken sleep of hunger
the snow became a cold rain
he awakened many times to feel it
falling on his upturned face
day came
it was a grey day with no sun
it had ceased raining
the sharpness of his hunger had departed
there was a dull pain in his stomach
but it did not trouble him so much
he was more in control of himself
and once again he was interested in the
land of little sticks
and the cash by the river dece
he cut the remains of one of his
blankets into strips and bound his
bleeding feet
he used one of the strips on his swelled
ankle and prepared himself for a day of
travel
when he was ready to pick up his pack
he paused long before deciding to keep
the moose skinned bag
but when he departed
it went with him
the snow had melted under the rain and
only the hilltop showed white
the sun appeared and he succeeded in
locating the way he had been traveling
but now he knew that he was lost
perhaps he had wandered too far to the
left
he now turned to the right to return to
his true course
although the hunger pains were not as
great as they had been
he realized that he was weak
he was forced to pause for frequent
rests
at those times
he ate the muskeg berries and grasses
his tongue felt
dry and large
and it tasted bitter in his mouth
his heart troubled him very much
when he had traveled a few minutes it
would begin pounding
then it would leap in a series of beats
that made him feel faint
in the middle of the day he found two
small fish in a large pool
it was impossible to empty it
but he was calmer now and he managed to
catch them
they were no bigger than his little
finger
but now he was not particularly hungry
the dull pain in his stomach had been
growing duller
it almost seemed that his stomach was
asleep
he ate the fish with great care
the eating was an act of pure reason
although he had no desire to eat
he knew that he must eat to live
in the evening he caught three more
small fish eating two and saving the
third for breakfast
the sun had dried the wet plants
and he was able to build a fire
he had not traveled more than ten miles
that day
the next day traveling whenever his
heart permitted
he went no more than five miles
but his stomach did not give him any
pain
it seemed to be sleeping
he was now in a strange country too
and the caribou were becoming more
plentiful there were wolves also
their howls could be heard across the
land
and once
he saw three of them crossing his path
another night passed
and in the morning
being more reasonable he untied the
leather string that held the moose skin
bag
from its open mouth poured a yellow
stream of gold dust
he divided the gold into two equal parts
one half wrapped in a piece of a blanket
he hid among the other large formation
of
rocks the other half he returned to his
bag
he also began to use strips of the one
remaining blanket for his feet
he still kept his gun
because there were cartridges in that
cache by the river dees
this was a cloudy day and this day
hunger waked in him again
he was very weak
it was no uncommon thing now for him to
fall
once he fell into a bird’s nest
there were four tiny birds
a day or so old
no more than a mouthful
he ate them greedily putting them alive
into his mouth and crushing them like
eggshells between his teeth
the mother bird flew about him with
cries of anger
he used his gun as a club with which to
hit her
flew beyond his reach
he threw stones at her and by chance
broke a wing
she then ran away dragging the broken
wing with him following her
the little birds had not satisfied his
hunger
he jumped along on his painful ankle
throwing stones and screaming loudly at
times
at other times he struggled along
silently
picking himself up patiently when he
fell
o rubbing his eyes with his hand
when faintness threatened to overpower
him
the bird led him across some wet ground
in the bottom of the valley he
discovered footprints in the wet grasses
they were not his own he could see that
they must be bills
but he could not stop because the mother
bird was running ahead
you would catch her first then he would
return and examine the footprints
he tired the mother bird
but he tired himself also
she lay on her side breathing heavily
he lay on his side a dozen feet away
unable to move toward her
and as he recovered
she recovered
she flew beyond reach as his hungry hand
stretched out to catch her
the hunt started again
night darkened
and she escaped
he fell because of weakness
cutting his face
he did not move for a long time
then he rolled on his side
he wound his
watch and lay there until morning
it was another gray day
half of his last blanket had been used
for foot wrappings
he failed to find bill’s trail again
it was not important
his hunger drove him on
he wondered if bill 2 were lost
by the middle of the day the weight of
his pack became too great again he
divided the gold
this time merely pouring half of it on
the ground
in the afternoon he threw away the rest
of it
there remained now only the half of the
blanket
the tin container
and the gun
hallucination began to trouble him
he felt certain that
one cartridge remained
it was in his gun and he had not seen it
however he knew all the time that the
gun was empty
but the hallucination continued he
fought it for hours
then he opened his gun eagerly
only to find nothing inside
he struggled ahead for half an hour
when the hallucination arose again
again he fought it and still it
continued
to give himself relief he again opened
the gun
and found it empty
at times his mind wandered even further
but these moments away from reality were
brief
because always the pains of hunger
forced him to return
one says his mind was wandering
he was returned to reality by a sight
that almost caused him to faint
before him stood a horse
a horse
he could not believe his eyes
a thick cloud was in his eyes flashing
with points of light
he rubbed his eyes fiercely to clear his
sight
then he saw before him
not a horse
but a great brown bear
the animal was studying him with
curiosity
the man had brought his gun half the
distance to his shoulder before he
realized what he was doing
he lowered it and drew his hunting knife
from its cover
before him was meat and life
he ran his finger along the edge of the
knife
it was sharp
the point was sharp
he would throw himself on the bear and
kill it
but his heart began its pounding
then came its wild leap and he began to
feel faint
his wild courage was replaced by a great
fear
in his weakness
what if the animal attacked him
he drew himself up tall grasping the
knife and
staring hard at the bear
the bear advanced a couple of steps and
stood up
if the man ran
the bear would run after him
but the man did not run
he was alive now
with the courage of fear
the bear moved away to one side with a
threatening noise
he himself was fearful of this strange
creature that appeared unafraid
but the man did not move
he stood still until the danger was
passed
then
he yielded to a fit of trembling and
sank to his knees on the wet grass
he regained control of himself and then
started to move forward
afraid now in a new manner
it was not the fear that he would die
from lack of food
he was afraid that he would be destroyed
by forces other than starving
there were the wolves
across the wasteland their howls could
be heard
making the air itself a threat most real
to him
now and again the wolves in groups of
two and three crossed his path
but they stayed away from him
they were not in sufficient numbers to
attack and besides
they were hunting caribou
caribou did not battle
while this strange creature that walked
on two legs
might bite
in the afternoon he came upon scattered
bones where the wolves had made a kill
what remained had been a young caribou
an hour
before he studied the bones claimed of
any flesh
they were still pink with the life in
them which had not yet died
might he look like that before the day
was done
was this life
a fleeting thing without meaning
it was only life that pained
there was no hurt and death
to die was to sleep
it meant
rest
then why was he not content to die
but he did not think about these things
for very long
he was soon seated in the grass a bone
in his mouth
biting at the bit of life that made it
yet pink
the sweet meaty taste drove him mad
he closed his teeth firmly on the bones
sometimes it was the bone that broke
sometimes his teeth
then he crushed the bones between the
rocks he pounded them into tiny pieces
and ate them
he was in such a hurry that he pounded
his fingers too
he felt surprised at the fact that his
fingers did not hurt much when they were
caught under the rock
then came frightful days of snow and
rain
he did not know when he made camp and
when he broke camp
he traveled in the night as much as in
the day
he rested whenever he fell
moving ahead
whenever the dying life in him started
up again
he as a man no longer struggled
it was the life in him unwilling to die
that drove him on
he did not suffer nor feel pain
but his mind was filled with
hallucinations and wild dreams
but he still ate the crushed bones of
the young caribou
which he had gathered and carried with
him
he crossed no more hills
but followed a large stream which flowed
through a wide valley
he did not see this stream
nor this valley
he saw nothing except hallucinations
one morning he awakened with his mind
clear
lying on his back on a rocky surface
the sun was shining bright and warm
far away he heard the noises made by the
young caribou
he remembered rain and wind
and snow
but whether he had been beaten by the
storm for two days
or two weeks
he did not know
for some time he lay without movement
the friendly sun poured down upon him
and filled his body with its warmth
a fine day he thought
perhaps he could succeed in locating
himself
by a painful effort
he rolled on his side
below him flowed a wide river
its unfamiliarity puzzled him
slowly he followed it with his eyes as
it curved among the bare hills
they were more bare and lower than any
hills he had yet seen
slowly without excitement
he followed the course of the strange
stream toward the skyline
and saw that it emptied into a bright
and shining sea
he was still unexcited
most unusual he thought
it was probably a trick of his mind
he was certain of this when he also saw
a ship floating in the shining sea
he closed his eyes for a while
then opened them
it was strange how the sight continued
yet it was not
strange
he knew there were no seas or ships in
the middle of this land as he had known
there was no cartridge in the empty gun
he heard a noise behind him
it seemed like the dry sound that comes
from the throat when air is forced out
in a cough
very slowly because of his weakness and
stiffness
he rolled to his other side
he could see nothing near but
he waited patiently
again came the cough
and there between two rocks
he saw the gray head of a wolf
the sharp ears did not stand up as
straight as he had seen them on other
wolves
the eyes were dull
and the head seemed to hang
the animal opened and shut its eyes
frequently in the sunshine
it seemed sick
as he looked
it coughed again
this was real he thought
he turned on the other side to see the
reality of the world which had been
hidden from him before by his
hallucination
but the sea still shone and the ship was
still there
was it
reality
he closed his eyes for a long while and
thought
and then he remembered
he had been traveling north by east
away from the dece divide and into the
copper mine valley
this wide river was the copper mine
that
shining sea was the arctic ocean that
ship was
a fishing boat which had wandered east
from the mouth of the mackenzie river
now it was lying in coronation golf
he remembered the map that he had seen
long ago and it was
all clear and reasonable to him
he sat up and turned his attention to
immediate affairs
he had worn holes through the blanket
wrappings
and his feet were like
shapeless pieces of meat
his last blanket was gone
his gun and knife were both lost
he’d also lost his hat somewhere
the matches and the band
the matches against his chest was safe
and dry inside the paper
he looked at his watch
it marked 11 o’clock and was still going
this proved that he had kept it wound
he was calm
although very weak he had no feeling of
pain
he was not hungry
the thought of food was
not even pleasant to him
he did was done entirely by reasoning
he tore off the legs of his trousers to
the knees and bound them about his feet
somehow he had succeeded in keeping the
tin container
he would have some hot water before he
began what he knew was to be an awful
journey to the ship
his movements were slow he shook as if
with the disease
when he started to gather dried grasses
he found
he could not rise to his feet
he tried again and again
then he contented himself with moving
about on his hands and knees
once
he went near the sick wolf
the animal dragged itself out of the way
licking its face with the tongue which
seemed hardly to have the strength to
curl
the man noticed that the tongue was not
the customary healthy red
but was a
yellowish brown and covered with
a half dried coating
after he drank some hot water the man
found he was able to stand
he could even walk as well as a dying
man might be supposed to walk
but every minute or two he was forced to
rest
his steps were unsteady as were the
steps of the wolf behind him
that night when the shining sea was
hidden in the blackness
he knew he was nearer to it by no more
than four miles
through the night he heard the cough of
the sick wolf
now and then the noises of the young
character
there was life all around him
but it was strong life
very much alive and
well he knew the sick wolf was following
the sick man’s steps in the hope that
the man would die first
in the morning when he opened his eyes
he saw it looking at him with a hungry
stare
it stood with its tail between its legs
like an unhappy dog
the sun rose brightly and all morning
the man headed toward the ship on the
shining sea
the weather was perfect
it was the brief return of summer which
was usual in that country
might continue for a week
or tomorrow or the next day it might be
gone
in the afternoon the man came to a track
it was that of another man who did not
walk but who dragged himself on his
hands and knees
the man thought
it might be bill
but he thought about it without any
interest
he had no curiosity
feeling an emotion
left him
he was no longer able to feel pain
yet the life that was in him drove him
ahead
he was very tired but it refused to die
it was because it refused to die that
still ate musket berries and small fish
drank his hot water and kept a careful
eye on the sick wolf
he followed the track of the other man
who dragged himself along
soon he came to the end of it
there were a few freshly cleaned bones
where the grass was marked by the
footprints of many wolves
he saw a moose skinned bag
exactly like his own
it had been torn by sharp teeth
he picked it up
although its weight was almost too much
for his weak fingers
bill had carried it to the end
now he would have the last laugh
he would live and carry it to the ship
in the shining sea
he laughed aloud making an inhuman sound
and the sick wolf howled with him
the man ceased suddenly
how could he laugh at bill
if that were bill
if those bones so pinky white and clean
were bill
he turned away
bill had deserted him but he would not
take the gold nor would he eat bill’s
bones
bill would have done so however had
their situations been exchanged
he came to a pool of water bending over
it in search of fish he threw his head
back as if he had been struck
he had caught sight of his face in the
water
so awful was it that his feelings were
stirred long enough to be shocked
there were three fish in the pool which
was too large to empty
after several attempts to catch them in
his tin container he stopped
he was afraid because of his great
weakness that he might fall and sink
into the water
it was for this reason too
that he did not trust himself to ride
down the river atop one of the many logs
to be found along its banks
that day he lessened the distance
between him and the ship
by three miles
the next day he traveled only two miles
because he was now dragging himself on
his hands and knees as bill had done
at the end of the fifth day the ship was
still seven miles away
he was unable to travel as much as a
mile a day
however the summer weather continued
and he continued to move toward the ship
and always the sick wolf
coughed at his heels
his knees had become red meat like his
feet
although he bound them with the shirt
from his back
it was a red track he left behind him on
the grass and stones
once glancing back
he saw the wolf licking his bloody track
hungrily
he saw clearly what his own end might be
unless he could kill the wolf
then began as awful an event as has ever
been told
two sick creatures
dragging their dying bodies across a
wasteland and hunting each other’s lives
had it been a well wolf it would not
have mattered so much to the man
but the thought of feeding the mouth of
that nearly dead
thing was hateful
his mind had begun to wander again and
he was troubled by hallucination
his reasonable moments grew shorter
he was awakened once from a faint sleep
by a cough close to his ear
the wolf leaped back losing its footing
and falling in its weakness
it was a funny sight
but he could not laugh
nor was he afraid
he was too far gone for that
but his mind was for the moment clear
and he lay
and considered
the ship was no more than four miles
away
he could see it quite well when he
rubbed his eyes
he could also see the white sail of a
small boat cutting the water of the
shining sea
but he could never drag himself those
four miles
he knew that
and was very calm about the fact
he knew that he could not travel another
half a mile
and yet
he wanted to live
it was unreasonable that he should die
after all he had been through
fate
asked too much of him
and dying he could not accept death
it was madness perhaps
but in the very grasp of death he
refused to die
he closed his eyes and tried to keep
himself calm
he struggled against the awful desire
for sleep that threatened him
it was much like a sea
this deadly sleepiness
it rose and rose mastering his entire
self bit by bit
sometimes he was almost lost swimming
through its waters with a weakening
effort
then by some strange power of the soul
his will would strike out more strongly
against it
without movement he lay on his back
he could hear slowly drawing nearer and
nearer
the sound of the sick wolf’s breathing
it came closer
always closer
and he did not move
it was beside his ear
the dry tongue moved across his face
his hand struck out actually he had
willed them to strike out
the fingers were curved
but they closed on empty air
quickness requires strength and the man
had not his strength
the quiet waiting of the wolf was awful
the man’s waiting was no less awful
for half a day he lay without motion
fighting off sleep he waited for the
thing that was to feed upon him
and upon which he wished to feed
sometimes the sea of sleep rose over him
and he dreamed long dreams
but always through it all waking and
dreaming he waited for the noisy breath
and the feel of the tongue
this time he did not hear the breath
he slipped slowly from some dream to
feel the tongue along his hand
he waited
the teeth pressed softly
then more firmly
the wolf was using its last strength in
an effort to sink its teeth into the
food for which it had waited so long
but the man too had waited long
the hand closed on the wolf’s mouth
slowly while the wolf struggled weakly
the other hand moved across the wolf’s
body
five minutes later the whole weight of
the man’s body was on top of the wolf
the hands had not sufficient strength to
grasp the wolf about the throat until it
died but the face of the man was pressed
close to the throat of the wolf
and the mouth of the man was full of
hair
at the end of half an hour the man felt
some warm drops of blood in his throat
it was not pleasant
it was like hot melted metal being
forced into his stomach
and it was forced by his will alone
later the man rolled on his back
and slept
there were some scientists traveling on
the fishing ship bedford
from where they stood on the ship
they could see a strange object on the
shore
it was moving down the beach toward the
water
they were unable to decide what it was
being men of science they climbed into a
smaller boat and went ashore to examine
it
and they saw something that was alive
but
which could hardly be called a man
it was blind and did not know what it
was doing
its movements produce little effect
but still
it continued to drag itself across the
ground
at the rate of about 20 feet an hour
three weeks later the man lay in a bed
on the fishing boat with tears streaming
down his face he told who he was
and what he had experienced
he also talked without meaning about his
mother and her home in california among
the flowers
the days were not many after that
when he sat at table with the scientists
in the ship’s offices
he delighted in the sight of so much
food
and watched it carefully
as it went into the mouths of others
with the disappearance of each mouthful
an expression of sorrow came into his
eyes
he was not mad however
he hated those men at meal times
he was afraid that there would not be
enough food
he inquired of the cook
the cabin boy the captain concerning the
food supply
they reassured him numerous times
but he would not believe them
and went into the kitchen to see with
his own eyes
it was noticed that the man was getting
fat
he grew bigger with each day
the scientists shook their heads and
gave their opinions on the problem
they limited the amount of food given to
the man at his meals
but still his weight increased
the semen smiled
they knew
and when the scientists decided to
observe the man
they learned the reason
they saw him walk about the ship after
breakfast
like a man begging with an outstretched
hand he approached a semen
the semen smiled and gave him a piece of
bread
he grasped it
and looked at it as a greedy man looks
at gold
then
he put it inside his shirt
he received similar gifts from other
smiling seamen
the scientists were careful
they allowed him to continue
but they secretly examined his bed
it was lined with bread
every inch of space was filled with
bread
yet
[Music]
he was not mad
he was preparing for another possible
famine that was all
he would recover from it the scientists
said
and he did
even before the bedford sailed into san
francisco bay
you