由于补充说明有字数限制，以下是我最不懂的部分。全文网上都查得到。but there ** an earlier part to th** story supplied by my grandfather.
when murlock built h** cabin he was young,strong and full of hope.he began the hard work of creating a farm.he kept a gun-a rifle—for hunting to support himself.
he had married a young woman,in all ways worthy of h** honest love and loyalty.she shared the dangers of life with a willing spirit and a light heart.there ** no known record of her name or details about her.they loved each other and were happy.
one day murlock returned from hunting in a deep part of the forest.he found h** wife sick with fever and confusion.there was no doctor or nei**or within miles.she was in no condition to be left alone while he went to find help.so murlock tried to take care of h** wife and return her to good health.but at the end of the third day she fell into unconsciousness and died.
from what we know about a man like murlock,we may try to imagine some of the details of the story told by my grandfather.
when he was sure she was dead,murlock had sense enough to remember that the dead must be prepared for burial.he made a m**take now and again while performing th** special duty.he did certain things wrong.and others which he did correctly were done over and over again.
he was surpr**ed that he did not cry—surpr**ed and a little ashamed.surely it ** unkind not to cry for the dead.
tomorrow,"he said out loud,"i shall h**e to make the coffin and dig the gr**e;and then i shall m**s her,when she ** no longer in sight.but now-she ** dead,of course,but it ** all right—it must be all right,somehow.things cannot be as bad as they seem.
he stood over the body of h** wife in the d**appearing light.he fixed the hair and made fin**hing touches to the rest.he did all of th** without thinking but with care.and still through h** mind ran a feeling that all was right-that he should h**e her again as before,and everything would be explained.
murlock had no experience in deep sadness.h** heart could not contain it all.h** imagination could not understand it.he did not know he was so hard struck.that knowledge would come later and never le**e.
deep sadness ** an art**t of powers that affects people in different ways.to one it comes like the stroke of an arrow,shocking all the emotions to a sharper life.to another,it comes as the blow of a crushing strike.we may believe murlock to h**e been affected that way.
soon after he had fin**hed h** work he sank into a chair by the side of the table upon which the body lay.he noted how white h** wife's face looked in the deepening darkness.he laid h** arms upon the table's edge and dropped h** face into them,tearless and very sleepy.
at that moment a long,screaming sound came in through the open window.it was like the cry of a lost child in the far deep of the darkening forest!but the man did not move.he heard that unearthly cry upon h** failing sense,again and nearer than before.maybe it was a wild animal or maybe it was a dream.for murlock was asleep.
some hours later,he awoke,lifted h** head from h** arms and l**tened closely.he knew not why.there in the black darkness by the side of the body,he remembered everything without a shock.he strained h** eyes to see-he knew not what.
h** senses were all alert.h** breath was suspended.h** blood was still as if to ass**t the silence.who—what had awakened him and where was it!suddenly the table shook under h** arms.at the same time he heard,or imagined he heard,a light,soft step and then another.the sounds were as bare feet walking upon the floor!he was afraid beyond the power to cry out or move.he waited—waited there in the darkness through what seemed like centuries of such fear.fear as one may know,but yet live to tell.he tried but failed to speak the dead woman's name.he tried but failed to stretch h** hand across the table to learn if she was there.h** throat was powerless.h** arms and hands were like lead.
then something most frightful happened.it seemed as if a he**y body was thrown against the table with a force that pushed against h** chest.at the same time he heard and felt the fall of something upon the floor.it was so violent a crash that the whole house shook.a fight followed and a confusion of sounds impossible to describe.
murlock had r**en to h** feet.extreme fear had caused him to lose control of h** senses.he threw h** hands upon the table.nothing was there!there ** a point at which fear may turn to insanity;and insanity incites to action.with no definite plan and acting like a madman,murlock ran quickly to the wall.he seized h** loaded rifle and without aim fired it.
the flash from the rifle lit the room with a clear brightness.he saw a huge fierce panther dragging the dead woman toward the window.the wild animal's teeth were fixed on her throat!then there was darkness blacker than before,and silence.
when he returned to consciousness the sun was high and the forest was filled with the sounds of singing birds.the body lay near the window,where the animal had left it when frightened away by the light and sound of the rifle.
the clothing was ruined.the long hair was in d**order.the arms and legs lay in a careless way.and a pool of blood flowed from the horribly torn throat.the ribbon he had used to tie the wr**ts was broken.the hands were tightly closed.
and between the teeth was a piece of the animal's ear.