《风语河岸柳》第3章 野树林(2)

But the summer passed and the Badger¹ never came along.

但是夏天过去了，獾还是没来过。

Soon the days grew shorter, and the cold weather kept the animals inside their comfortable houses.

不久，白天越来越短，寒冷的天气使得动物们都呆在他们舒适的家里。

The Rat³ slept a lot in the winter, going to bed early and getting up late.

水鼠在冬季也是早睡迟起，瞌睡很多。

During his short day, he wrote songs and did small jobs in the house.

在短短的白天里，他在家里写些歌，干些小活。

And, of course, there were always animals calling in for a comfort² able talk round the fire, telling stories and remembering the good times and the adventures⁴ of the past summer.

当然，总是有些动物来串门，围坐在火炉边舒舒服服地闲聊，说说故事，回忆逝去的夏日里的美好时光和冒险经历。

One afternoon, while the Rat was sleeping peacefully in front of the fire, the Mole⁵ decided⁶ to go out by himself and take a walk in the Wild Wood.

一天下午，水鼠在火炉前安睡，鼹鼠决定独个儿出去，到野树林里散散步。

'Perhaps, 'he thought, 'I'll meet Mr Badger, and then I can introduce myself. '

也许，他想，我能碰见獾先生，然后我可以作个自我介绍。

It was a cold afternoon, with a hard grey sky.

那天下午很冷，天空阴沉沉的。

The Mole hurried along, enjoying the quietness of the winter day, and after a time he saw in front of him the black shape of the Wild Wood.

鼹鼠向前赶着路，享受着冬日里的宁静，一会儿，他就看见了前面野树林黑黝黝的轮廓。

He was not at all frightened at first. It was a strange, dark place, but the Mole found that exciting.

这是一个陌生的，阴暗的地方，他起先一点也不害怕，反而觉得很兴奋。

He went deeper and deeper into the wood, where the light was less and the trees grew close together.

他向森林深处走着走着，光线越来越淡，树木长得越来越密。

Everything was very still now, and the darkness⁷ seemed to come down quickly, shutting the Mole off from the outside world.

现在一切非常安静，黑暗似乎一下子笼罩下来，将鼹鼠与外面的世界隔绝开来。

Then the faces began.

然后，出现了许多脸。

Out of the corner of his eye, the Mole thought that he saw a face looking at him from a hole a little narrow⁸ face, with hard unfriendly eyes.

从他的眼角，鼹鼠觉得他看见了一张脸正从一个洞里盯着他：一张小小的，窄窄的脸，一双锐利而不友善的眼睛。

When he turned to look straight at it, the thing had disappeared⁹.

当他转过去直视它时，那小东西便不见了。

1 badger   

v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠

参考例句：

• Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
• If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他，我相信他会同意。

2 comfort   

n.安慰，舒适，安慰者；vt.安慰，使（痛苦等）缓和

参考例句：

• The child turned to its mother for comfort.那孩子向母亲寻求安慰。
• She lives there in comfort.她舒适地生活在那里。

3 rat   

n.鼠，卑鄙的人，变节者；vi.背叛，捕鼠；vt.弄蓬松，告发

参考例句：

• The rat is hated by many people.老鼠被很多人憎恶。
• He stopped up the rat holes.他塞住了那些老鼠洞。

4 adventures   

冒险活动( adventure的名词复数 )； 冒险经历； 奇遇

参考例句：

• her adventures travelling in Africa 她在非洲旅行时的冒险经历
• She entertained them by narrating her adventures in Africa. 她讲述她在非洲的历险来使他们开心。

5 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 darkness   

n.黑暗，冥冥，夜色；罪恶，无知

参考例句：

• Darkness closed down on the city.黑夜降临于该城。
• Darkness was falling fast.天很快黑了下来。

8 narrow   

n.狭窄部份，海峡，隘路；adj.狭窄的，精密的，有限的；v.变窄，使...狭窄

参考例句：

• The bridge is too narrow for two cars to pass.这桥太窄，并排通不过两辆车。
• The captain sailed his ship through the narrow channel.船长驾驶他的船穿过了狭窄的航道。

9 disappeared   

v.不见，消失( disappear的过去式和过去分词 )；不复存在；奭

参考例句：

• The plane disappeared behind a cloud. 飞机消失在云层里。
• He double-crossed the rest of the gang and disappeared with all the money. 他骗了其他同伙，携款潜逃了。