美国小学英语教材6:第11课 摄像机猎象记(9)

 　　We had scarcely gone to bed when we heard a boom. We dashed out only to find that she had disappeared. 听到巨响之后我们无法入眠，冲出去发现它不见了。

　　We were too excited to wait till morning to develop the plates; so we rushed to do this task at once. 我们都非常兴奋，没等到天亮就冲洗了相片，我们立马操作起来。

　　The pictures were wonderfully clear. What a thrill we camera hunters got from every good picture, 照片非常清晰，每一张绝妙照片都会让我们摄影捕猎者非常激动，

　　a greater thrill than any mere¹ game-hunter can know. 狩猎者是无法体会这种兴奋的。

　　Although we doubted that she would return, we set up the apparatus² again the following night. 尽管我们怀疑它会回来，第二天晚上，我们再次架好设备。

　　Again we heard the flashlight boom and again we rushed to develop the film. 我们再一次听到闪光灯的声响，之后再一次匆忙冲洗相片。

　　The third night we heard the crashing of branches on the edge of the forest. 第三个晚上，我们听到森林边有冲撞树枝的声音。

　　There was the old lady contentedly³ feeding. When she had finished her meal, 一只老母象在觅食，看起来很满足，当她觅食结束后，

　　she strolled slowly down the line of houses where my gun bearers and camera boys slept, 她慢慢地走向一排排房屋，枪支搬运工和看管摄像机的男孩在屋内睡觉，

　　quietly ripping off the thatched roofs as she went. 她一边走一边掀起茅草屋房顶。

　　In a moment the natives came tumbling out of their huts, greatly frightened. The old tembo disappeared. 不一会，这些当地男孩跌跌撞撞地出了茅草屋，显得非常害怕，这只老象消失了。

　　One astonishing thing about elephants is the way they can vanish so noiselessly into the forest, in spite of their great size. 最让人们觉得不可思议的是，大象可以安安静静地消失在丛林深处，尽管它们体型庞大。

　　I have seen them melt out of sight with little or no movement that could be noticed. 我看到过大象消失的场景，我几乎毫无察觉。

　　I say again that I like elephants. The majority of them are kind; 我要在重复一遍，我喜欢大象，多数大象都很友善，

　　they know their place in life and are content to keep it. 它们知道自己的位置，并满足于保护它。

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

3 contentedly   

adv.心满意足地

参考例句：

• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。
• "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.