美国小学英语教材5:第60课 长牙象彭博·库巴(6)

 Year by year, too, more little elephants were added to the herd¹. 一年又一年，更多的小象加入了象群。

Now, some fathers have a way of slipping off into the forests when the youngsters are trotting² around, letting the mothers have all the bother of bringing up the children, but Kubwa was too much of an overlord for that. 现在，有的象爸爸有办法在小象们小跑的时候溜进森林里，让象妈妈承担抚养孩子的所有麻烦，但库巴太霸道了。

He never left his herd. 他从未离开过象群。

He bossed the mothers, and he saw to it that the mothers bossed the children. 他对象妈妈发号施令，并确保象妈妈对小象们发号施令。

None of the tricks that he used to play on his mother for him! 他以前对他母亲耍的花招，现在一个也没有了!

Every year he grew bigger and stronger, and his tusks³ grew heavier and longer. 每年它都长得越来越大，越来越强壮，象牙也越来越重，越来越长。

They were very long for their weight, sharp and fierce like swords, and very curving, growing toward each other. 象牙渴望更重，像剑一样锋利和凶猛，而且非常弯曲，彼此靠近。

He used to thrust them into an enemy with such wicked force that no elephant would stand up to him. 他曾经用如此邪恶的力量把象牙推到一个敌人面前，以至于没有一头大象敢反抗他。

After a time they grew so long that they began to cross in front of him. 过了一段时间，它们长得太长了，开始在他面前形成十字。

They were about seven feet long when they began to cross, and they grew so long that they extended about two feet more beyond the crossing. 刚要形成十字的时候，约有七尺长，长得以至于延伸出十字两英尺长。

He could do a great deal with two feet of tusks, but not nearly so much as he wanted the other elephants to keep on believing he could. 他可以用两英尺长的长牙做很多事情，但远不如他希望其他大象继续相信他能做到的那么多。

That crossing would stop his thrust short! He lost all the seven-foot length behind it. 那个十字路口会使他的冲力突然停止！他失去了后面所有的7英尺长的象牙。

He knew this, and he wondered if the other elephants of the herd ever thought of it. 他知道这一点，他想知道象群里的其他大象是否也想到过。

Those crossed tusks of his gave him a good deal of secret uneasiness as he grew older and older. 当他越来越老的时候，那些交叉的长牙给了他许多秘密的不安。

 

1 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

2 trotting   

小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• The riders came trotting down the lane. 这骑手骑着马在小路上慢跑。
• Alan took the reins and the small horse started trotting. 艾伦抓住缰绳，小马开始慢跑起来。

3 tusks   

n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头

参考例句：

• The elephants are poached for their tusks. 为获取象牙而偷猎大象。
• Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地区则使用象牙、猴尾和盐。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）