读者文摘:谁拯救了身陷火海的小女孩(1)

At first, Michael Surrell didn't see the black smoke or flames shooting from the windows of his neighbors' home.

起初，迈克尔·索雷尔没有看到邻居家窗户里冒出黑烟或火焰。

He and his wife had just parked around the corner from their own house in Allentown, Pennsylvania,

他和他的妻子刚刚把车停在宾夕法尼亚州艾伦镇他们家的拐角处，

when they got a call from one of his daughters: "The house next door is on fire!"

这时他们接到了一个女儿的电话：“旁边的房子着火了！”

He went to investigate. That's when he saw two women and a girl hysterical¹ on their porch.

他去一探究竟。就在那时他看到两个女人和一个女孩在门廊上歇斯底里。

"The baby's in there!" one of the women cried. Though the fire department had been called, Surrell, then 64, instinctively² ran inside.

其中一个女人哭着说，“宝宝还在里面！”尽管已经拨打了消防部门的电话，但是64岁的索雷尔还是本能地冲了进去。

"The baby" was 8-year-old Tiara Roberts, the woman's granddaughter and a playmate of Surrell's three youngest kids, then 8, 10, and 12.

女人所说的宝宝是8岁的蒂娜拉·罗伯茨，她是这个女人的孙女，也是索雷尔三个最小的孩子的玩伴，当时他们分别是8岁、10岁和12岁。

The other two on the porch were Tiara's aunt and cousin.

门廊上的另外两个人是蒂娜拉的姨妈和堂兄。

Entering the burning house was like "running into a bucket of black paint," Surrell says.

索雷尔说，进到着火的房子就像是“撞到一桶黑漆”。

The thick smoke caused him to stumble blindly around, burned his eyes, and made it impossible to breathe.

浓烟使他盲目地跌跌撞撞地走着，他的眼睛被烧伤，无法呼吸。

The conditions would have been hazardous³ for anyone, but for Surrell, who has chronic⁴ obstructive pulmonary disease, they were life-threatening.

这种情况对任何人都有害，但是对患有慢性阻塞性肺病的索雷尔来说，它们是会威胁生命的。

After a few minutes in the smoke-filled house, he retreated outside to catch his breath. "Where is Tiara?" he asked desperately⁵.

在充满浓烟的房子里待了几分钟后，他撤出来吸口气。他焦急地问道，“蒂娜拉在哪里？”

"The second floor," her aunt shouted back. Surrell knew he couldn't hold his breath for long.

她的姨妈喊道，“在二楼。”索雷尔知道他不能憋气太久。

So he uttered a little prayer: "Well, Lord, this is it. You gotta help me, because I'm not coming out without that little girl."

所以他许了个小愿望：“老天，就是这样。你得帮帮我，因为我是不能把那个小女孩救出来的。”

Taking a deep breath, he went in a second time. The darkness was overwhelming. Yet because the house had a similar layout to his, he found the stairs and made it to the second floor.

深吸一口气，他再次跑了进去。黑暗几乎将他吞噬。但是，因为这个房间有和他家类似的格局，所以他找到了楼梯，爬上了二楼。

He turned to the right and was met by intense heat. He was already out of breath.

他转向右边，酷热扑面而来。他已经上气不接下气了。

"Baby girl, where are you?" His throat and lungs burned as if he'd inhaled⁶ fire instead of the smoke and soot⁷ in the air.

“小女孩，你在哪里？”他的喉咙和肺都灼伤了，好像他吸入的是火，而不是空气中的烟尘。

Every blink stung his eyes. All he could hear was the crackling and popping of burning wood.

每一次眨眼都刺痛他的眼睛。他只能听到燃烧的木头发出的噼啪声。

1 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

2 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

4 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

5 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

6 inhaled   

v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼，深深吸了一口气。
• Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。