读者文摘:奇迹生还的男孩(1)

The stainless¹ steel skewer² that Xavier Cunningham found in his backyard two Septembers ago was about a foot and a half long and the width of his pinkie.

两年前，泽维尔·坎宁安在自家后院发现了一根不锈钢串肉杆，大约有一英尺半长，和他小手指的宽度差不多。

One end had four sharp prongs, and the other had a single point—it was the kind of rod used to cook rotisserie chicken over a grill³.

它一端有四个尖头，另一端只有一个尖头——那是一种用来在烤架上烤制烤鸡的杆子。

It also made the perfect spear, and Xavier and his friends Silas and Gavon, all ten years old, took turns seeing who could chuck it the farthest.

它也是个完美的矛，十岁的泽维尔和他同岁的朋友轮流比试谁掷地更远。

When they got bored, they ditched the skewer near a neighbor's tree house, sticking the four prongs in the ground as an anchor.

玩的无聊了，他们就把这个杆子放在邻居家树屋边上，把四箭头的一端插在地上，当作一个锚。

They then climbed up the tree house's ten-foot ladder.

然后他们就爬上树屋的十英尺的梯子。

Apparently⁴, the boys hadn't seen the large wasp⁵ nest wrapped around the back of the tree, for once they were in the hut they were under attack.

很明显，孩子们没有看见那只绕在树后的大马蜂窝，因为他们一进了小屋就受到了攻击。

The swarm⁶ was so aggressive that Silas kneeled in the corner and started praying.

蜂群非常凶猛，塞拉斯跪在角落里开始祈祷。

"I'll get my mom!" Xavier said as he descended⁷ the ladder. About halfway⁸ down, a wasp stung his left hand.

“我去找我妈！”泽维尔说在他从梯子上下来时，下到一半的时候，一个马蜂叮了他的左手。

Xavier swatted at it with his right, lost his balance, and fell, facedown.

泽维尔用右手猛击它，失去平衡，脸朝下倒了下去。

Before breaking his fall with his arms, he felt a sting just under his left eye.

在他用胳膊防止摔倒之前，他感受到左眼下方的刺痛。

Was that a wasp? he wondered. In fact, it was the skewer. About six inches of it was now buried in his head.

这也是马蜂蛰的吗？他在想。实际上，那是尖杆。它插进了泽维尔头部六英寸深。

Screaming, he got up and ran to his home, some 50 feet away.

尖叫着，他起身跑到50英尺外自己的家中。

Gabrielle Miller⁹, 39, was upstairs folding laundry in the house she shared with her husband, Shannon Miller, and their four children.

39岁的加布里埃尔·米勒正在楼上叠衣服，她和丈夫香农·米勒以及他们的四个孩子一起住在这栋房子里。

Shannon, a teacher, had taken two of their kids to an arcade¹⁰, while Gabrielle, who manages a title-insurance business, stayed home with Xavier and his 14-year-old sister, Chayah.

加布里埃尔经营着一家产权保险公司，香农则是一名教师。那天香农带着两个孩子去了一家游乐场，而加布里埃尔则在家里照看泽维尔和他14岁的姐姐查亚。

She heard her son screaming and thought, When will he grow out of this stuff?

她听到自己的儿子的喊声，就在想，什么时候他才能长大呢？

Xavier—called Bear by his family, after a story Shannon had told him as a toddler—always made a fuss over the smallest scratch.

香农在他蹒跚学步时给他讲了一个故事后，他的家人就叫他“熊”。泽维尔总是有一点小事就大惊小怪。

If one of their two dogs jumped up on him, he'd start screaming; he was too scared to walk Max, the coonhound he'd gotten as a puppy, because the dog pulled on the leash¹¹.

如果他们的两条狗中的一条跳到他身上，他就会尖叫起来；他太害怕了，不敢遛他小时候得到的那只猎浣熊犬马克斯，因为那只狗会拉皮带。

Gabrielle was almost down the stairs, Chayah right behind her, when Xavier pushed the front door open, shrieking¹², "Mom, Mom!" Chayah took one look and fled back upstairs in horror.

在加布里埃尔几乎要走下楼梯时，泽维尔推开前门，尖叫着：“妈妈，妈妈！”在她身后的查亚看了一眼，惊恐地跑回楼上。

Gabrielle was trying to make sense of what she was seeing. "Who shot you?!" she said.

加布里埃尔想搞清楚她看到的情况。她说，“谁射击你了？！”

It looked like there was an arrow through her son's face, and a single trickle¹³ of blood ran down from it.

看起来有一支箭插在儿子的脸上，一股鲜血流了出来。

On the back of his neck was a lump—the tip of the skewer that hadn't pierced the skin. "Chayah, go find the boys.

他脖子后面鼓了起来-箭的尖端没有穿过皮肤。“查亚，去找找别的小孩。

I'm taking Bear to the hospital!" As Gabrielle backed the car out into the road, a neighbor watching them thought, That boy's not coming home.

我带熊儿去医院！”当加布里埃尔把车倒在马路上时，一个邻居看着他们，心想：那个男孩回不了家了。

Emergency room personnel acted quickly when Xavier walked in, giving him painkillers¹⁴ and send- ing him for X-rays.

当泽维尔走进医院时，急诊室的工作人员迅速采取了行动，给他开了止痛药，并给他拍了x光片。

The skewer didn't appear to have hit his spine¹⁵, but an X-ray can't show tissue damage.

尖杆似乎没有击中他的脊柱，但x光片无法显示组织损伤。

1 stainless   

adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的

参考例句：

• I have a set of stainless knives and forks.我有一套不锈钢刀叉。
• Before the recent political scandal,her reputation had been stainless.在最近的政治丑闻之前，她的名声是无懈可击的。

2 skewer   

n.（烤肉用的）串肉杆；v.用杆串好

参考例句：

• I used a skewer to make an extra hole in my belt.我用扦子在腰带上又打了一个眼儿。
• He skewered his victim through the neck.他用扦子刺穿了受害人的脖子。

3 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 wasp   

n.黄蜂，蚂蜂

参考例句：

• A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
• Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。

6 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

7 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

8 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

9 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

10 arcade   

n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道

参考例句：

• At this time of the morning,the arcade was almost empty.在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
• In our shopping arcade,you can find different kinds of souvenir.在我们的拱廊市场，你可以发现许多的纪念品。

11 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。

12 shrieking   

v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were all shrieking with laughter. 他们都发出了尖锐的笑声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

14 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

15 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。