《风语河岸柳》第3章 野树林(3)

He hurried on, telling himself not to be silly.

他一边向前奔着，一边告诉自己不要犯傻。

He passed an other hole, and another, and-yes!

他走过一个又一个洞，哇—是的！

Eyes were looking at him, then disappearing¹ again into the darkness².

一双双眼睛在盯着他，然后又消失在黑暗里。

Soon, every hole had a face, which watched him with eyes full of hate.

很快，每个洞里都有一张脸，用那充满仇恨的眼睛观察着他。

The Mole³ felt he had to get away from these faces. He turned off the path⁴ and hurried into the thickest part of the wood.

鼹鼠感到他得避开这些脸，于是他离开这条道，向树林最茂密处奔去。

Then the whistling⁵ began.

这时，口哨声响了。

It was soft, and far behind him, when he first heard it. Then it seemed to come from in front of him, more loudly.

他刚听到这种柔和的声音时，觉得是从身后远远的地方发出的。然后这哨声似乎又来自于他的前面，而且声音更响。

The Mole stopped and listened, then went on again.

鼹鼠停下来，听了一会儿，然后继续向前赶路。

He was trying hard to stay calm, but his heart was beating very fast.

他努力使自己平静下来，但他的心跳得飞快。

He was alone, and far from help, and the night was coming down quickly.

他孤立无援，而且夜很快就要降临了。

Then the pattering began.

然后啪喀声开始响了。

At first he thought it was only falling leaves, but then the noise grew louder and nearer, and the Mole knew what it was.

起先他以为只是落叶声，但声音越来越大，越来越近，鼹鼠知道是什么了。

It was the sound of little feet running-behind him, in front of him, on all sides of him.

这是小脚奔跑的声音—在他身后，身前，以及他的四周。

All the wood seemed to be alive, running, following, chasing⁶ something-or somebody.

整个树林似乎都活了，奔跑着，跟随着，追赶着什么东西或什么人。

The frightened Mole began to run too, but he did not know where.

鼹鼠吓坏了，也开始跑，但他不知道身在何处。

He ran into trees and bushes⁷, he fell over things and into things, he picked himself up and ran on.

他跑进树林和灌木丛里，摔倒在这个或那个东西上面或里面，然后爬起来继续跑。

At last he found a deep dark hole in the bottom⁸ of an old tree and fell into it, too tired to run another step.

最后他发现一棵老树根部有个深深的黑洞，他掉了进去，累得再也跑不动了。

He lay there, shaking with fear, and listened to the whistlings and the patterings outside.

他躺在那儿，听着外面的哨声和脚步声，吓得浑身发抖。

Now he understood why the Rat⁹ did not want to talk about it, and why other small animals from the fields and the river bank never came here.

现在他知道了为什么水鼠不想谈野树林，为什么田野和河岸上别的小动物从不来这儿，

Be cause now, the Mole had felt it himself-the Terror¹⁰ of the Wild Wood.

因为现在鼹鼠他自己感受到了它—野树林的恐惧。

1 disappearing   

v.不见，消失( disappear的现在分词 )；不复存在；掩始；隐显

参考例句：

• She caught sight of a figure disappearing into the darkness. 她看见一个人影儿在黑暗中消失了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The speeding wheels and disappearing country put Chicago farther and farther behind. 向前飞奔的车轮和向后消失的乡村把芝加哥甩得越来越远。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 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。

3 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。

4 path   

n.路线，轨道，路程，小路，小径；abbr.(=pathological)；

参考例句：

• A path lies through the woods.一条小路穿过树林。
• She walked along the path.她沿着小路走去。

5 whistling   

n.吹笛，吹口哨，啸声v.吹口哨( whistle的现在分词 )；鸣笛；呼啸着前进；空指望

参考例句：

• The bomb exploded, sending shrapnel whistling through the trees. 炸弹爆炸了，弹片呼啸着穿过树林。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He came home for dinner whistling cheerfully. 他欢快地吹着口哨回家吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 chasing   

n.雕镂术，雕刻工作；车螺丝；抛光；螺旋板

参考例句：

• My dog likes chasing rabbits. 我的狗喜欢追捕兔子。
• The children were having fun, chasing each other's shadows. 孩子们追逐着彼此的影子，玩得很开心。

7 bushes   

n.灌木（丛）( bush的名词复数 )；[机械学]（金属）衬套；[电学]（绝缘）套管；类似灌木的东西（尤指浓密的毛发或皮毛）

参考例句：

• There was someone skulking behind the bushes. 有人藏在灌木后面。
• The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 bottom   

n.底部;屁股，臀部；adj.底部的

参考例句：

• The bottom of the cup is broken.这杯子的底破了。
• The channel must have a flat bottom.沟道的底要平。

9 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。

10 terror   

n.恐怖；可怖的人(事)

参考例句：

• We were in mortal terror of being found out. 我们非常害怕被发现。
• That guy is a proper terror. 那家伙真是讨厌。