美国小学英语教材6:第13课 森林恐怖之王(2)

 　　The land was ghostly with the first signs of morning, 清晨第一缕阳光让大地变得十分诡异。

　　and through the grayness the giant pines rose darkly like columns in some dim underground vault¹. 在灰暗中，一棵棵巨松在黑暗中耸立，像是黑暗地下墓穴中的柱子。

　　The guide circled in and out the trees, and our horses followed closely. 向导在树之间绕来绕去，我们的骏马紧随其后。

　　Then we dismounted and stole through the brush on foot till we were on the edge of the ravine, directly above the dead buffalo². 之后我们下马，徒步穿过灌木丛，来到山涧之间，我们处在死水牛的正上方。

　　More than halfway³ down the steep slope was the bush; across which a screen of reeds had been built, 山坡非常陡峭，超一半山坡都是灌木丛，这期间穿插着一排排芦苇，

　　and the buffalo was a hundred and fifty feet beyond that, directly in front of the green wall of the jungle. 那头水牛在其150英尺远的地方，就在“森林绿墙”的正前方。

　　Down the slope we crept, crouching⁴ low, 我们弯下腰，在陡坡上慢慢前行，

　　and being as silent-footed as possible in the attempt to deceive the stealthy beast, 我们轻声慢步，试图迷惑潜伏在深处的野兽，

　　who might be in any bush before us at the moment. 它或许随时都能出现在前面的灌木丛中。

　　If he saw us, the hunt was probably finished before it was begun. 如果他看到了我们，狩猎还没开始或许就结束了。

　　We should spend our weary hours there in vain. 那么我们的辛苦就白费了。

　　We reached the shelter of the blind and cautiously raised the leaves that covered the tiny holes left for peepholes. 我们来到了隐蔽之处，掀开了遮住窥视孔的叶子。

　　There was a long stretch of tall, waving grass sloping down before us with bushes on each side, 在我们面前还有一长条长长的，上下挥舞的草丛向我们的方向倾斜，两边是灌木丛，

　　then the dark blue that we knew to be the dead buffalo, and beyond, the blotting⁵ darkness of the jungle. 深蓝色的东西应该是死水牛，远处像是被墨汁染过的黑色丛林。

　　My husband, Herbert, and I took our positions, each with an eye at a peephole, our guns leaning beside us. 我的丈夫哈波特和我站好位置，盯着窥视孔，枪斜放在我们身后。

　　The tracker squatted⁶ on his heels at our side, patient and motionless. 跟踪人在我们身边蹲下，很有耐心，一动不动。

　　It was growing lighter⁷ and lighter; the darkness paled as the brightness gained in the east. 天快亮了，黑暗渐渐远去，东方的黎明将要降临。

　　There were little morning noises, the familiar sounding crow of the wild cock, 清晨没有一点噪音，还能听到野公鸡熟悉的啼鸣声，

　　the cropping of a family of wild pigs on the grassy⁸ slope to the right, the bark of a distant deer. 左边，几只野猪在长满草的斜坡上发出啃咬声，远处传来鹿的嚎叫声。

1 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

2 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

3 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

4 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

5 blotting   

吸墨水纸

参考例句：

• Water will permeate blotting paper. 水能渗透吸水纸。
• One dab with blotting-paper and the ink was dry. 用吸墨纸轻轻按了一下，墨水就乾了。

6 squatted   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• He squatted down beside the footprints and examined them closely. 他蹲在脚印旁仔细地观察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He squatted in the grass discussing with someone. 他蹲在草地上与一个人谈话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

8 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。