The sign says five yuan for the ferry.
Does this look like a ferry to you?
Is this a ferry or not?
When my father was here, it was him. A big gondola was used to hold a horse-drawn carriage. That rope was the rope that he pulled the boat to make the transition. He went hunting and went home when the river fell. Before he came back, I had to ask for as much money as I could, because I got a cowhide and wanted someone to make it into a saddle. After that, I paid for a horse. When I waited for the horse, I put the saddle on the horse’s back and stayed away from the river.
What’s the name of this broken river? Inman asked
You don’t even know this big river is the Pfeiffer River, said the girl
So how much do you want to cross me over? Inman asked
Fifty dollars girl said
How about twenty dollars?
come on
Just about to board the ship, Inman saw some huge bubbles turning over on the surface of the water 30 feet offshore. The sticky bubbles sparkled when the moonlight broke. They were equivalent to a person walking at the speed of going backwards in the water. It was a windy night, and the water whimpered quietly around with insects chirping in the pine forest.
Have you seen it? Inman asked
Well, the girl said
What’s that?
It’s hard to say it’s from the bottom of the river
Huge bubbles churned and rushed to the surface of the water as if a drowning cow were exhaling. Inman both lived and watched the bubbles gradually drift away until the moon was covered by clouds and they disappeared in the darkness.
Maybe a catfish was digging mud at the bottom of the river to eat. The girl said that they could eat enough to support a red-headed vulture. Once I saw a dead catfish rushing to the sandbar, which was as big as a pig and could drive a black snake.
This is the kind of thing that should be born in this river. Inman thinks that the big fish is as loose as lard. He thinks that this creature lives in the duck river. There is a huge contrast between the small trout in Joeri. In those who run from the cold mountain and the stream, the length of trout rarely exceeds the palm of a man’s hand. The strips are bright and strong like pieces of silver flakes.
Inman first threw the parcel into the boat, then went to sit down at the bow of the boat. Later, with strong hands, she paddled quickly and steadily. Every time she paddled fast, she turned outward to ensure that the boat went straight ahead without having to paddle on both sides frequently, which drowned the insect screams.
The girl paddled slowly by the water on the shore until the boarding place was pulled for a long distance, and then stopped the paddle. She turned around and put the paddle in the water as a rudder. She let the hull slant and took them to the center of the river. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, and the land outside the river bank soon disappeared in the dark. They drifted with the tide in a dark world. At this time, they heard the voices of people on the east coast boarding place. It was far away on the silent river. Maybe the passerby Inman didn’t believe that the villagers were so energetic and kept chasing after it.
Even so, he turned to the girl and whispered that it was best not to let them find us. Unfortunately, it backfired. He looked up and saw the clouds shining through the halo. Soon, the moon was completely exposed from a hole in the clouds. The dark river canoe was exposed to the sun, and the white light of the boatside woke up like a lighthouse.
Like fingernails scratching on a flannel, the sound sounded in my ears and slammed, and then I heard a crisp gun.
Whitworth rifle Inman thought to himself
A hole was punched in the stern near the waterline, and the yellow river gurgled in, which was as fast as the old cow peeing. Inman looked at the boat and looked at the moonlight, but he saw six or seven people shaking and a few pistol fires, but the range was too close to reach their rifles. The man raised the barrel and pushed the gun rod to reload. The only explanation Inman could think of was that these people must have regarded tonight as a hunting, similar to killing raccoons for entertainment, or they would have returned to the village long ago.
The boatman’s girl Ma saw the clue. She shook the canoe with all her strength and let the water wet and darken the boatside. Inman tore the cuffs to block the hole in the stern. At this moment, another bullet hit the boatside’s draught, and a piece of wood water was thrown directly into it. Soon the bottom of the boat would be full.
There is no other way. We must go to the river, said the girl.
As soon as Inman returned, she planned to swim to the shore. She had never seen such a deep river since she was a child. He doubted whether she could swim that far, but what she meant was that the two of them grabbed the canoe in the water. It was used as a cover. Inman wrapped the bag with tarpaulin and tied the corners as tightly as possible to prevent the canoe from sinking completely. Then his girl jumped into the water and let them gallop with the water wrapped around them.
Although the flat mirror on the surface of the river gives people a feeling of slow stagnation, the river is constantly surging forward at an amazing speed. The canoe is almost filled with water. The shovel-shaped bow is out of the water. Inman choked a few mouthfuls. He vomited and vomited, trying to clean his mouth until he could spit nothing but foam. It was even more disgusting. He had never tasted water before.
The moon is in and out of the clouds. Every time there is enough light to aim at the projectile of the Whichworth rifle, it creeps and hits the canoe and bounces off the water. Inman girl tries to draw water with her feet, trying to make a cocked canoe approach the west bank, but the heavy boat seems to be unwilling to arrange where to go, so they can give up. The only thing she can do is to hold on to the boat and wait for the river to turn and hope that the night will bring them a turn for the better.
People in the middle of the river look wider than from the shore, and the earth recedes from both sides of the river. Everything here is so dirty and ugly, and in the dim moonlight, it is ferocious and evil. Inman hopes to completely forget this place without leaving a trace in his mind.
Far away in the river, he can still hear the insects screaming in the poisonous vines on the shore. He is a small head floating in a vast jungle surrounded by poisonous venom, waiting for the giant giant salamander like a monster to suddenly emerge from the water with long tentacles and a huge white mouth to swallow him up. His life ended with just a few bubbles of salamander excrement at the bottom of this swill tank.
In the water, Inman thinks that he wants to love the world, and every time he can do this, he has a great sense of accomplishment. Because it is too simple to hate the world, he needs to look around. He admits that it is a sign of weakness to be satisfied with everything, but he also knows that there are indeed some places where most things are pleasing to the eye, and the first obstacle to go there at the moment is a river with a width of 100 yards.
In a moment, the moon disappeared into the clouds again, and they floated across the ferry. Inman heard the voice on the shore was unusually clear as if it were close at hand. One of them was obviously the owner of the Whivoss rifle. I said I would not hit him on the nose if I hit him on the ear.
After a long time, the moon appeared again. Inman stood up and looked across the canoe. The ferry had been thrown for a long distance. From a distance, you could see those guys waving their hands and jumping with anger. As the boat went forward, they retreated and became smaller and smaller. Too many things Inman hoped to become smaller and disappear like those people. Now he can show that they didn’t come until the only evidence was that they occasionally bounced on the water for a while. The rifle was like thunder and lightning. Inman thought about how many seconds passed between bouncing into the water and hearing the weak gun. This kind of passing time can be counted by time.
The river finally turned a corner, and the ferry was out of sight. When there was no danger, they turned to the other side of the boat and drew water with their feet again. This time, the efficiency was good. Soon they landed on the shore, and one side of the canoe was smashed and could not be repaired. They walked to the parade on foot and threw the canoe in shallow water.
Back at her aunt’s house, Inman gave her some money to compensate for the loss of the old canoe, while she gave Inman some directions and told him the way to the west.
A few miles ahead, the river divides into two branches, one is Huo River, and the other is Dipper River on the left. Dipper River is from west to east, and you can walk along it for a while.
Inman continued to swim and came to the two confluence places. He went into the Woods and found a hidden place to hide. He dared not raise a fire and cook corn porridge. He ate an apple that was picked up by the roadside and blown by the wind, and added some cheese cakes. Now these things have a strong smell at the entrance. His feet kicked up a pile of rotten leaves thick enough to block the moisture. He slept on the surface for three hours. When he woke up, his face was full of pain and his hands were bruised by fighting. His forearm was covered with blisters. He was stung by poisonous vines when he fled in the lowland Woods. He touched his neck with one hand and found that it had scabbed