【有声英语文学名著】英国病人 48

She woke when the caterpillar¹ moved from the collar of her dress onto her cheek, and she opened her eyes, saw him crouched² over her. He plucked it from her face, not touching³ her skin, and placed it in the grass. She noticed he had already packed up his equipment.

“You were supposed to hold onto me!” She said.

“I did. Till you moved away.” 

“I wasn’t taken advantage of, was I?” Adding, “Just joking,” as she saw him beginning to blush. 

“Do you want to go down to the house?” 

“Yes, I’m hungry.” 

She could hardly stand up, the dazzle of sun, her tired legs. How long they had been there she still didn’t know. She could not forget the depth of her sleep, the lightness of the plummet⁴. 

A party began in the English patient’s room when Caravaggio revealed the gramophone he had found somewhere. 

“I will use it to teach you to dance, Hana.

Your young friend who doesn’t drink managed to find bottles of wine yesterday in San Domenico. We have not just music. Give me your arm.

“What happened to you today?”

“He dismantled⁵ a large bomb, a difficult one. Let him tell you about it.”

1 caterpillar   

n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫

参考例句：

• A butterfly is produced by metamorphosis from a caterpillar.蝴蝶是由毛虫脱胎变成的。
• A caterpillar must pass through the cocoon stage to become a butterfly.毛毛虫必须经过茧的阶段才能变成蝴蝶。

2 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

3 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

4 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。

5 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。