动物农场Animal Farm 第8章(11)

 　　A cry of lamentation¹ went up.

　　一阵哀嚎油然而起。

　　Straw was laid down outside the doors of the farmhouse², and the animals walked on tiptoe.

　　庄主院门外铺着草甸，于是，动物们踮着蹄尖从那儿走过。

　　With tears in their eyes they asked one another what they should do if their Leader were taken away from them.

　　他们眼中含着热泪，相互之间总是询问：要是他们的领袖拿破仑离开了，他们可该怎么办。

　　A rumor³ went round that Snowball had after all contrived⁴ to introduce poison into Napoleon's food.

　　庄园里此刻到处都在风传，说斯诺鲍最终还是设法把毒药掺到拿破仑的食物中了。

　　At eleven o'clock Squealer⁵ came out to make another announcement.

　　十一点，斯奎拉出来发布另一项公告。

　　As his last act upon earth, Comrade Napoleon had pronounced a solemn decree: the drinking of alcohol was to be punished by death.

　　说是拿破仑同志在弥留之际宣布了一项神圣的法令：饮酒者要处死刑。

　　By the evening, however, Napoleon appeared to be somewhat better.

　　可是到了傍晚，拿破仑显得有些好转。

　　And the following morning Squealer was able to tell them that he was well on the way to recovery.

　　次日早上，斯奎拉就告诉他们说拿破仑正在顺利康复。

　　By the evening of that day Napoleon was back at work.

　　即日夜晚，拿破仑又重新开始工作了。

　　And on the next day it was learned that he had instructed Whymper to purchase in Willingdon some booklets on brewing⁶ and distilling⁷.

　　又过了一天，动物们才知道，他早先让温普尔在威灵顿买了一些有关蒸馏及酿造酒类方面的小册子。

　　A week later Napoleon gave orders that the small paddock beyond the orchard⁸,

　　一周后，拿破仑下令，叫把苹果园那边的小牧场耕锄掉。

　　which it had previously⁹ been intended to set aside as a grazing-ground for animals who were past work, was to be ploughed up.

　　那牧场原先是打算为退休动物留作草场用的。

　　It was given out that the pasture was exhausted¹⁰ and needed re-seeding; but it soon became known that Napoleon intended to sow it with barley¹¹.

　　现在却说牧草已耗尽，需要重新耕种；但不久以后便真相大白了，拿破仑准备在那儿播种大麦。

　　About this time there occurred a strange incident which hardly anyone was able to understand.

　　大概就在这时，发生了一件奇怪的事情，几乎每个动物都百思不得其解。

　　One night at about twelve o'clock there was a loud crash in the yard, and the animals rushed out of their stalls.

　　这事发生在一天夜里十二点钟左右，当时，院子里传来一声巨大的跌撞声，动物们都立刻冲出窝棚去看。

　　It was a moonlit night.

　　那个夜晚月光皎洁。

　　At the foot of the end wall of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments were written, there lay a ladder broken in two pieces.

　　在大谷仓一头写着"七诫"的墙角下，横着一架断为两截的梯子。

　　Squealer, temporarily stunned¹², was sprawling¹³ beside it, and near at hand there lay a lantern, a paint-brush, and an overturned pot of white paint.

　　斯奎拉平躺在梯子边上，一时昏迷不醒。他手边有一盏马灯，一把漆刷子，一只打翻的白漆桶。

　　The dogs immediately made a ring round Squealer, and escorted him back to the farmhouse as soon as he was able to walk.

　　狗当即就把斯奎拉围了起来，待他刚刚苏醒过来，马上就护送他回到了庄主院。

　　None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant, except old Benjamin, who nodded his muzzle¹⁴ with a knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would say nothing.

　　除了本杰明以外，动物们都想不通这是怎么回事。本杰明呶了呶他那长嘴巴，露出一副会意了的神情，似乎看出点眉目来了，但却啥也没说。

　　But a few days later Muriel, reading over the Seven Commandments to herself, noticed that there was yet another of them which the animals had remembered wrong.

　　但是几天后，穆丽尔自己在看到七诫时注意到，又有另外一条诫律动物们都记错了。

　　They had thought the Fifth Commandment was "No animal shall drink alcohol," but there were two words that they had forgotten.

　　他们本来以为，第五条诫律是"任何动物不得饮酒"，但有两个字他们都忘了。

　　Actually the Commandment read: "No animal shall drink alcohol TO EXCESS."

　　实际上那条诫律是"任何动物不得饮酒过度"。

1 lamentation   

n.悲叹，哀悼

参考例句：

• This ingredient does not invite or generally produce lugubrious lamentation. 这一要素并不引起，或者说通常不产生故作悲伤的叹息。 来自哲学部分
• Much lamentation followed the death of the old king. 老国王晏驾，人们悲恸不已。 来自辞典例句

2 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

3 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

4 contrived   

adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的

参考例句：

• There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。
• The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。

5 squealer   

发出尖叫声的人；雏鸽；小松鸡；小鹌鹑

参考例句：

• Trust us, if you at their pictures long enough, you're bound to become another squealer. 相信我们，如果你盯着这些照片看上一段时间，必定会成为另一个尖叫粉丝。 来自互联网

6 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

7 distilling   

n.蒸馏（作用）v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )( distilled的过去分词 )；从…提取精华

参考例句：

• Water can be made pure by distilling it. 水经蒸馏可变得纯净。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• More ammonium sulphate solution is being recovered in the process of distilling oil shale. 在提炼油页岩的过程中回收的硫酸铵液比过去多了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

11 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

12 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

13 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

14 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。