9
Angel in the Storm
'Help me, Mr Donovan! Please help!'
'How can I help you, woman?' Daniel shouted at Mrs Dawson. 'How can anyone help?' He was too cold, too frightened, too tired. He couldn't think now.
'Please help my children!' cried Mrs Dawson. 'Keep them warm for me — they're so cold!'
Daniel put his arms around the woman and her children. It was true. The children were cold — very cold. Their eyes were open, but they were not moving. He tried to warm them with his hands. He shook them, but they did not move.
'It's no good, woman!' he said. 'No one can...'
'They're not dead yet!' screamed Mrs Dawson. 'I know they're not dead!' She looked into her children's faces. 'Wake up, Simon! Sarah! God will save us soon. Please don't die!'
Daniel was tired and angry. 'Don't be stupid, woman!' he shouted at her. 'We're all going to die, don't you understand? No one knows we're here!'
Mrs Dawson stared at him. Her face was wet with rain, and her hair was blowing in her eyes.
'God will send someone!' she said. 'He must! I know He will!'
'Who's He going to send? An angel?' Daniel laughed angrily, and looked at the wild, empty sea.
But Mrs Dawson was still screaming. 'Someone must come!' she shouted. 'We can't die here! Go to the top of the rock and look again! Tell them about my children!'
'Your children are... ' But he was afraid to say it. He turned away, angry with himself, and climbed to the top of the rock. The wind screamed in his ears. He looked across to the lighthouse and saw nothing — only waves, and more waves. 'I hate the sea!' he thought. 'It's like a great grey animal with a hundred white teeth. I hate it! It wants to kill us all!'
And then he saw the boat.
He saw it only for a second. It was on top of a white wave. It went down behind the wave, but then it came up again. Down, and up again. And it was coming nearer! A little boat with two people in it. He held the rock and stared at it. The boat came nearer, and nearer still. Then a great mountain of a wave came, with white angry teeth, and the little boat went down behind it.
'No!' Daniel cried. 'No, please God! No!'
The boat came up on top of the wave, with white water all around it. The oars were up, out of the water. For a second the boat began to turn on its side, then the oars went down into the water and the boat came down the side of the wave. Daniel could see the two people in the boat now. One was a man. One was a young woman.
He got up and ran down the rock. He was crying and laughing at the same time. 'It's all right, Mrs Dawson!' he shouted. 'It's all right! Look there! Look! Your angel is coming!'


* * *
hate v. to feel intense dislike toward 憎恨，厌恶

9.暴风雨中的天使
“帮帮我，多诺万先生!请帮帮我!”
“我怎么帮您，女士?”丹尼尔朝道森夫人喊道，“谁能帮您?”他太冷了，太害怕了，也太疲惫了。他现在已经无法思考。
“请救救我的孩子!”道森夫人哭喊道，“帮我暖暖他们——他们太冷了!”
丹尼尔搂住这个女人和她的孩子。没错，孩子们很冷——特别冷。他们的眼睛睁着，却不动。他试着用双手温暖这两个孩子。他摇晃他们，但他们一动不动。
“没用了，女士!”他说，“没人能……”
“他们还没死!”道森夫人尖叫起来，“我知道他们没死!”她盯着孩子们的脸，说：“醒醒，西蒙!萨拉!上帝马上就会来救我们了。求求你们不要死!”
丹尼尔又累又气。“别傻了，女士!”他向她喊道，“我们都会死，你还不明白吗?没人知道我们在这里!”
道森夫人盯着他。她的脸被雨水打湿了，头发被吹到了眼睛里。
“上帝会派人来的!”她说，“他一定会的!我知道他一定会的!”
“他派谁来?天使吗?”丹尼尔恼怒地笑起来，眼睛望着狂暴而空旷的大海。
但道森夫人还在尖叫。“肯定有人会来!”她喊道，“我们不能死在这儿!再去礁石顶上看一遍!告诉他们我的孩子们在这儿!”
“您的孩子们已经……”但他不敢说出来。他很生自己的气，转过身爬到礁石顶上。狂风在他耳边呼啸。他远眺灯塔，但什么也没看见，只有一波未平一波又起的海浪。“我恨这大海!”他想，“它就像一只长着一百颗白牙的灰色巨兽!我恨它!它想杀光我们所有人!”
就在这时，他看见了那只小船。
他看见了它，就那么一秒钟。小船在一个白浪的浪尖上。它一会儿被波浪挡住，一会儿又再次出现。再消失，再出现。而且它正在靠近!那艘小船上有两个人!他抓住礁石，目不转睛地看着。小船近了，又近了。突然一个大山般的巨浪卷过来，龇着白牙，来势汹汹，小船隐没在它的身后。
“不!”丹尼尔喊起来，“不，求求你，上帝!不要!”
小船又出现在浪尖上，四周被浪花包围着。船桨朝上举起，不在水里。有那么一刻小船开始往一侧倾斜，这时船桨没入水里，小船便顺着波浪降下来。现在丹尼尔可以看清船里的两个人了，一个男人和一个年轻的姑娘。
他站起来跑下礁石，又哭又笑。“这下好了，道森夫人!”他喊道，“没事了!往那儿看!看!您的天使来了!”