英语灵异故事-The Church And The Handprint (教堂与掌印) 01

I'll be the first to admit, when you look at the church out in Fauquier County, it looks like a quaint¹ country church.

　　Built back before the civil war, Grace Episcopal Church is a stone and stucco structure out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by forest and fields. It has two graveyards² with it, one to the side and one around back butting³ up to the forest. The only way to it is down a dusty, windy dirt road. At night, it is dark. And when I say dark, I mean darker than a well digger's behind. Pitch black comes to mind.

　　During the Civil War, Grace Episcopal, since it stood (at the time) on a major thoroughfare, was used as a military hospital and surgical⁴ area. People died there naturally. It was gruesome, from what I understand.

　　My story actually concerns my fifth visit to the Church (and my next-to-last, I might add). My boyfriend, Shawn, (now husband) and I had decided⁵ to go out there after I had told him about it and how it was supposedly haunted. I had told him that some odd things had happened to me there before, but nothing really all that creepy. He was curious and so we went with his stepfather, Walt, joining us.

　　I drove up to the church and parked in the front between two large oak trees. We walked through the gate of the picket⁶ fence and proceeded to look around. I had never had a creepy feeling there before, but tonight just 'felt' different, for some reason.　

当你看到福奥奎尔郡的教堂， 我会第一个承认那是一个古怪的乡村教堂。

　　格雷斯国教教堂是在南北战争之前建造的，位于一个远离人烟的地方，是岩石和灰泥结构，教堂的周围环绕着森林和农田。 教堂共有两块墓地，一块就在教堂旁边，另一块在教堂后面的森林边上。 到那的唯一通道是一条尘土飞扬、经常刮风的土路。晚上的时候，那里黑得伸手不见五指。我所说的黑，是指比挖井人的屁股还要黑。脑海中应该想到的是一片漆黑。

　　南北战争时，格雷斯国教教堂因为地处主要交通要道，所以被用作战时医院和手术区。自然地，会有人死在那。但就我个人理解，这是很可怕的。

　　实际上我要讲的故事发生在我第五次去那教堂的时候（我得补充一下那也是我倒数第二次去那）。我告诉男朋友肖恩（他现在是我的丈夫）关于这个教堂以及这里闹鬼的事情后，我俩决定到教堂去。我告诉他之前我在那有过奇怪的经历，但并不吓人。他很好奇，所以我俩还有他的继父沃尔特一起去了那。

　　我开车到那，把车停在教堂前的两棵大橡树之间。我们走过尖桩篱栅门，四处观望。我之前从没有过害怕的感觉，但今晚不知为何“感觉”不一样。

1 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

2 graveyards   

墓地( graveyard的名词复数 )； 垃圾场； 废物堆积处； 收容所

参考例句：

• He takes a macabre interest in graveyards. 他那么留意墓地，令人毛骨悚然。
• "And northward there lie, in five graveyards, Calm forever under dewy green grass," 五陵北原上，万古青蒙蒙。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

3 butting   

用头撞人（犯规动作）

参考例句：

• When they were talking Mary kept butting in. 当他们在谈话时，玛丽老是插嘴。
• A couple of goats are butting each other. 两只山羊在用角互相顶撞。

4 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

5 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。

6 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。