冰与火之歌系列之《权力的游戏》第167期:第十三章 提利昂(7)

 　　From there the skulls² ranged upward in size to the three great monsters of song and story,  其他的龙头则一个比一个大，最大的三头便是歌谣和传说里最恐怖的巨兽，

　　the dragons that Aegon Targaryen and his sisters had unleashed³ on the Seven Kingdoms of old.  即伊耿·坦格利安和他的妹妹们攻打古代七国时所骑乘的那三头龙。

　　The singers had given them the names of gods: Balerion, Meraxes, Vhaghar.  吟游诗人为他们都取了神的名字：贝勒里恩、米拉西斯和瓦格哈尔。

　　Tyrion had stood between their gaping⁴ jaws⁵, wordless and awed⁶.  提利昂站在他们的血盆大口间，震慑得说不出话来。

　　You could have ridden a horse down Vhaghar’s gullet, although you would not have ridden it out again.  瓦格哈尔的咽喉之大，大到你可以骑马进去，当然别想活着出来。

　　Meraxes was even bigger. And the greatest of them, Balerion, the Black Dread⁷, could have swallowed an aurochs whole,  米拉西斯体型更加惊人。而最硕大无朋，人称"黑死神"的贝勒里恩，则可一口吞下整只野牛，

　　or even one of the hairy mammoths said to roam the cold wastes beyond the Port of Ibben. 或是传说中漫游于伊班港以北冰冷荒原上的长毛象。

　　Tyrion stood in that dank cellar for a long time, staring at Balerion’s huge, empty-eyed skull¹ until his torch burned low, 提利昂在阴湿地窖里伫立良久，盯着贝勒里恩空洞而巨大的眼窝，

　　trying to grasp the size of the living animal,  试着想像眼前这只巨兽生前的模样，

　　to imagine how it must have looked when it spread its great black wings and swept across the skies, breathing fire. 想像它开展双翼，横扫天际，口吐烈焰的景象，直到火把燃尽。

1 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

2 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

3 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 gaping   

adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

6 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。