美国小学英语教材5:第18课 阿拉斯加最优秀的领头狗巴尔图(5)

 　　Long before the sled reached Solomon, Balto was in charge of the journey. 早在雪橇到达所罗门驿站之前，巴尔图就开始了他的旅程。

　　He alone knew in what direction to continue traveling. 只有它知道方向。

　　Regardless of darkness, cold, and blinding snow, the dog scented¹ out the trail on the windswept ice and traveled on and on past Solomon. 巴尔图嗅出了风吹过的冰面上的踪迹，不顾黑暗、寒冷和刺眼的雪，在所罗门驿站前不停地走着。

　　The bewildered² driver missed the message from Nome; and in the face of the worst wind that he had ever known, Kasson followed blindly the leading of Balto. 困惑的司机没有收到诺姆市的消息；面对他所经历过的最恶劣的风，卡森只能跟随巴尔图的领导。

　　Many times the sled tipped over and spilled everything in the soft snow. 许多次雪橇翻了，把所有东西都洒在了松软的雪地上。

　　Again and again the driver straightened the sled and begged Balto to go on through the blackness, where no human being could have found the way. 司机一次又一次地拉直雪橇，希冀巴尔图穿过黑暗，因为没有人能找到路。

　　At last the trail turned, so that the wind was behind the travelers, and helped them instead of hindering³. 最后，这条小路转了个弯，所以就是顺风了，帮助行走而不是阻碍。

　　Then, when the dogs reached Safety, the wind went down. 然后，当狗队安全到达时，风停了。

　　The little house at Safety was dark; 赛弗提驿站的小屋一片漆黑；

　　so instead of awakening⁴ the relay⁵ driver and wasting time, Kasson and his dogteam dashed by with the serum⁶. 因此，卡森和狗队没有启动供电程序浪费时间，而是带着血清疾驰而过。

　　It was twenty-one miles from Safety to Nome, and the trail along the sea was heavy with drifted snow. 从赛弗提驿站到诺姆市有21英里，海上的雪道上积满了厚厚的积雪。

　　By this time, though, it was no longer so dark, and the driver could see the trail. 不过，这时天已经不那么黑了，司机可以看见那条路了。

　　At thirty-six minutes past five on that wild dark morning, the half-frozen team, headed by Balto, arrived at Nome with the life-saving serum. 在那个荒凉漆黑的早晨，5点36分，在巴尔图的带领下，几乎冻僵的队伍带着救命的血清抵达了诺姆市。

　　No wonder the driver almost wept, as he knelt in the snow and began pulling the slivers⁷ of ice from Balto's torn and bleeding feet. 难怪司机几乎哭了起来，他跪在雪地里，开始从巴尔图受伤流血的脚上取冰块。

　　For it was Balto alone who had known the trail that stormy night and had carried the serum safely through to suffering Nome. 因为在那个暴风雨的夜晚，只有巴尔托知道这条路，并把血清安全地运到了诺姆市。

　　Perhaps if the noble dog could speak he would merely repeat words he had heard over and over in Alaska from the brave men 也许如果这只卓越的狗会说话，它只会重复它在阿拉斯加听到的那些勇敢的人的话，

　　who serve the United States Government through sunshine and tempest, and who say,"It is all in the day's work for Uncle Sam." 在阳光和暴风雨中为美国政府服务的人说：“这是山姆大叔一天的工作。”

1 scented   

adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词)

参考例句：

• I let my lungs fill with the scented air. 我呼吸着芬芳的空气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police dog scented about till he found the trail. 警犬嗅来嗅去，终于找到了踪迹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 bewildered   

a.困惑的

参考例句：

• She was totally bewildered by his sudden change of mood. 他的情绪突变搞得她全然不知所措。
• The big city bewildered the old woman from the countryside. 大城市把乡下来的老奶奶弄糊涂了。

3 hindering   

阻碍，妨碍( hinder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• If she wants to start afresh. I have only too obvious reasons for not hindering her. 她要是想重新安家立业，那我毫无理由去妨碍她。
• The man was a disgrace to the Council, always interfering and hindering the business. 那个人对市议会来说是个大耻辱，老是捣乱和阻挠工作的进行。

4 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

5 relay   

n.接力赛，中继转播（设备）；vt.转述，转播

参考例句：

• They will relay your message.他们会转达你的口信。
• This metal tower is used to relay television signals to distant villages.这个金属塔是用于向遥远的村子转播电视讯号的。

6 serum   

n.浆液，血清，乳浆

参考例句：

• The serum is available to the general public.一般公众均可获得血清。
• Untreated serum contains a set of 11 proteins called complement.未经处理的血清含有一组蛋白质，共11种，称为补体。

7 slivers   

（切割或断裂下来的）薄长条，碎片( sliver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Margret had eight slivers of glass removed from her cheek. 从玛格列特的脸颊取出了八片碎玻璃。
• Eight slivers are drawn together to produce the drawn sliver. 在末道并条机上，八根棉条并合在一起被牵伸成熟条。