Chapter 67

The underside of the raft became host to a multitude of sea life, like the net but smaller in form. It started with a soft green algae that clung to the life jackets. Stiffer algae of a darker kind joined it. They did well and became thick. Animal life appeared. The first that I saw were tiny, translucent shrimp, hardly half an inch long. They were followed by fish no bigger that looked like they were permanently under X-ray; their internal organs showed through their transparent skins. After that I noticed the black worms with the white spines, the green gelatinous slugs with the primitive limbs, the inch-long, motley-coloured fish with the potbellies, and lastly the crabs, half to three-quarters of an inch across and brown in colour. I tried everything but the worms, including the algae. Only the crabs didn't have an unpalatably bitter or salty taste. Every time they appeared, I popped them one after another into my mouth like candy until there were none left. I couldn't control myself. It was always a long wait between fresh crops of crabs.

The hull of the lifeboat invited life too, in the form of small gooseneck barnacles. I sucked their fluid. Their flesh made for good fishing bait.

I became attached to these oceanic hitchhikers, though they weighed the raft down a little. They provided distraction, like Richard Parker. I spent many hours doing nothing but lying on my side, a life jacket pushed out of place a few inches, like a curtain from a window, so that I might have a clear view. What I saw was an upside-down town, small, quiet and peaceable, whose citizens went about with the sweet civility of angels. The sight was a welcome relief for my frayed nerves.

第六十七章

    小 筏子的底部成了许多海洋生物的宿主，就像货网一样，但比网要小一些。开始救生衣上长出了一种柔软的绿色海藻。后来又长出了一种颜色深一些、质地硬一些的海 藻。这些藻类长得很好，变得密集起来。接着动物出现了。我看到的第一种动物是小小的半透明的虾，还不到半英寸长。然后鱼也来了。这些鱼和虾一样大，仿佛永 远处在X光的照射之下；透过它们透明的皮肤能看见身体里面的器官。此后我还看见长着白刺的黑色虫子，长着原始足肢的绿色胶状蛞蝓，长着肥大的肚子、一英寸 长的五彩斑斓的鱼，最后还有体宽半英寸到四分之三英寸的棕色的螃蟹。

    除了虫子，我尝了所有这些生物，包括海藻在内。只有螃蟹没有难吃的苦味和成味。每次螃蟹一出现，我就把它们像糖果一样一只接一只地扔进嘴里，直到一只不剩为止。我无法控制自己。每次都要等很长时间才会再有一群螃蟹出现。

    救生艇的船壳也引来了生物，那都是些茗荷儿。我吸出它们的汁液。它们的肉可以用做很好的鱼饵。

    我 开始喜欢上了这些海洋里免费搭便车的乘客，尽管它们的重量把小筏子往下拉了一点儿。它们分散了我的注意力，就像理查德·帕克一样。我长时间地侧身躺着，把 救生衣执开几英寸，好更清楚地看见它们。我看见的是一座倒置的城镇，小巧、安静、祥和，城里的居民像可爱的天使一样文明地来来往往。这样的景象让我紧张的 神经得到了放松，我很喜欢。