CHAPTER X
Just before the Perkins Institution
closed for the summer, it was arranged that my teacher and I should spend our
vacation at Brewster, on
Cape Cod, with our dear friend, Mrs. Hopkins. I was delighted, for my
mind was full of the prospective (future/forthcoming/soon-to-be) joys
and of the wonderful stories I had heard about the sea. My most vivid
(clear) recollection (memories) of that summer is the ocean.
I felt the
great billows (fill with air and swell) rock (move up) and sink.
The buoyant (afloat) motion of the water filled me with exquisite
(superb), quivering (shuddering) joy. Suddenly my ecstasy (/ˈek.stə.si/ extreme feeling of happiness) gave place to terror; for my foot
struck against a rock and the next instant there was a rush of water over my
head. I thrust out my hands to grasp (grip) some support, I clutched (caught)
at the water and at the seaweed (the plants that grow in the sea) which the
waves tossed (thrown) in my face. But all my frantic (hysterical/out of
control due to worry) efforts were in vain. The waves seemed to be playing a game
with me and tossed me from one to another in their wild (violent) frolic
(play).
It was
fearful! The good (kind), firm earth had slipped from my feet, and
everything seemed to shut out from this strange, all-enveloping element—life, air,
warmth, and love. At last, however, the sea, as if weary (tired) of its new toy,
threw me back on the shore, and in another instant, I was clasped (held) in my
teacher's arms. Oh, the comfort of the long, tender embrace!
As soon as I
had recovered from my panic sufficiently to say anything, I demanded: "Who
put salt in the water?" After I had recovered from my first experience in
the water, I thought it great fun to sit on a big rock in my bathing suit and
feel wave after wave dash against the rock, sending up a shower of spray that
quite covered me.
I felt the pebbles (small stones)
rattling (creating noise) as the waves threw their ponderous (heavy)
weight against the shore; the whole beach seemed racked (troubled) by their
terrific (wonderful) onset (arrival), and the air throbbed (beat) with
their pulsations (rhythms). The breakers (wavers coming towards
the shore) would swoop (jump) back to gather themselves for a mightier
leap, and I clung to the rock, tense, fascinated (extremely interested),
as I felt the dash (rush) and roar (howl) of the rushing sea! I
could never stay long enough on the shore. The tang (strong, sharp taste
or smell) of the untainted (pure), fresh, and free sea air was like a
cool, quieting thought, and the shells and pebbles and the seaweed with tiny
living creatures attached to it never lost their fascination for me.
One day Miss
Sullivan attracted my attention to a strange object that she had captured
basking in the shallow
This feat
(act) pleased me highly, as his body was very heavy, and it took all my
strength to drag him half a mile. I would not leave Miss Sullivan in peace
until she had put the crab in a trough (container) near the well where I
was confident he would be secure. But the next morning I went to the trough, and
lo, he had disappeared! Nobody knew where he had gone, or how he had escaped.
My
disappointment was bitter at the time, but little by little I came to realize
that it was not kind or wise to force this poor dumb creature out of his
element, and after a while, I felt happy in the thought that perhaps he had
returned to the sea.
Q1.How did
Helen react when she had her first trip to the ocean?
Q2.What was
the unfortunate incident that happened with Nancy?
Q3. Describe
the incident of capturing the horsecrab and what lesson did she learn from that
incident?
