Love of Life
Two men walked slowly, one after the other, through the low water of a river. It ran cold over their feet. They had blanket packs on their backs; guns, but no bullets; matches, but no food.
Suddenly the man behind fell over a stone, hurt his foot badly and called: "Hey, Bill, I've hurt my foot." Bill continued without looking back.
The man was alone but not lost in the empty land. He knew the way to camp, and its food and bullets. He struggled to his feet and limped on. He had not eaten for two days. He picked some small round, tasteless fruits. They did not satisfy, but he knew he must eat them.
In the evening he built a fire and slept like a dead man. When he woke up, he took out a small bag weighing fifteen pounds. He wasn't sure he could carry it any longer. But he couldn't leave it behind. He had to take it with him. He put it back into his pack, rose to his feet and continued.
His foot hurt, but it was nothing compared with his hunger, which made him go on until darkness fell. His blanket was wet, but he knew only he was hungry. In his troubled sleep, he dreamed of rich meals. He woke up cold, sick and lost; the small bag was still with him. As he pulled himself along, the bag became heavier and heavier. He opened the bag, full of small pieces of gold. He left half the gold on a rock. 1. ______
Eleven cold, rainy days passed. Once he found some animal bones with no meat on them. He broke them and ate them like an animal. Would he, too, be bones tomorrow? Why not? This was life. Only life hurt. There was no hurt in death. To die was to sleep. Then why was he not ready to die? He, as a man, no longer desired. Life in him, unwilling to die, drove him on.
One morning he woke up beside a river. Slowly he followed it with his eyes and saw it emptying into a shining sea. When he saw a ship, he closed his eyes. He knew there could be no ship, no sea, here. An imagined picture, he thought. Hearing a noise, he turned around. A wolf（狼）, old and sick, was coming slowly toward him. This was real, he thought. He turned back; the sea and the ship were still there. He didn't understand. Had he been walking north, away from the camp, toward the sea? He started slowly toward the ship, knowing full well the sick wolf was following him. In the afternoon, he found the bones of a man. Beside the bones was a small bag of gold, like his own. Bill had carried his gold to the end; he would carry Bill's gold to the ship. Ha-ha! He would have the last laugh on Bill. His laughing sounded like the low cry of an animal. The wolf cried back. The man stopped suddenly and turned away. How could he laugh about Bill's bones and take his gold? 2. ______ 3. ______
He was very sick, now. He inched about on hands and knees, having lost everything— his blanket, his gun, and his gold. Only the wolf stayed with him hour after hour. At last he could go no further. He fell. The wolf came close to him, but the man was ready. He got on top of the wolf and held its mouth closed and bit it with his last strength. The wolf's blood flowed into his mouth. He held the wolf with his teeth and killed it; then he fell on his back and slept. 4. ______ 5. ______
The men on the ship saw a strange object lying on the beach. It was moving toward them — perhaps twenty feet an hour. They went to look and could hardly believe it was a man.
Three weeks later, when he felt better, he told them his story. But there was one strange thing: he feared there wasn't enough food on the ship. They also noticed he was getting fat. They gave him less food, but still he grew fatter with each day. Then one day they saw him put some bread under his shirt. They searched his bed and found food under his blanket. They understood.
