美国小学英语教材6:第17课 森林恐怖之王(6)

 　　My eyes raced down the barrel of my rifle in frantic¹ fear lest the tiger be gone. 我的眼睛扫过枪管，生怕老虎会消失。

　　The tiger was there, to the right of the buffalo², a picture of savage³ life and death. 老虎在这里，在水牛的左边，俨然是野兽生死搏斗的架势。

　　So he must have stood many times over his kills, cautious, yet bold in his great strength, 他一定多次站在战利品旁边，小心翼翼地，但他的力量强大无边，

　　lording it over all the jungle and inspiring terror in every living thing. 成为了森林霸王，让所有生灵胆颤心惊。

　　I dared not extend my gun as I wished; I leveled it as best I could, stepping backwards⁴, 我不敢像我想的那样，将枪伸出去，我尽量将枪举起来，并往后退，

　　and aimed at the head for the brain-shot I had been told was the best. 并瞄准他的头部，人们告诉我打头是最好的。

　　Ready? I breathed; then, before Herbert's signal came back, 准备好了吗？我深呼吸，在哈波特的信号发出之前，

　　the tiger began to move his head from side to side, looking up at us. 老虎转过头，向我们这边看去。

　　I had been told to wait till he began to eat, when I would have a chance for a clear aim, but I dared not wait. 有人告诉我说要等他开始吃东西，那时我的目标是最清晰的，但我不敢再等了。

　　I shifted my aim hastily from the brain to a black stripe across the backbone⁵ at the top of the shoulder. 我将目标从头部马上转为肩胛骨最高处脊椎骨上的一条黑色斑纹。

　　I never felt so cold and tense in my life. 我从未这么紧张过。

　　Ready breathed Herbert. I was to fire at any time now, and he was to follow with his big gun in case mine had missed. 哈波特深深吸了一口气，说到准备好了吗？我可以随时开枪，万一我没有打中，他将补上一枪。

　　He was giving me the shot, but we weren't going to lose that tiger if we could help it. 他想让我打上一枪，我们都不想错过这只老虎。

　　I fired on the instant, and the roar of his gun followed mine. Then the roar of the tiger drowned them both. 我立即开了枪，随后他的枪声也响了，老虎的叫声将枪声淹没了。

　　I tore out around the corner of the blind where I could see in the open, and Herbert plunged⁶ after me. 我绕到隐蔽点一个能够看到空地的角落，赫伯特也冲了过来。

　　The tiger was down; we could not see him in the deep grass, but his snarling⁷ roars told us he was out there. 老虎倒下了，我们无法在丛林中找到他，但他的咆哮声告诉我们他不在这。

　　He's down! We said, and then, He's gone! for now we had a clearer outlook 我们说到他倒下了，他走了，我们能看到更加清晰的全景，

　　and saw that he was gone from beside the buffalo. The snarls⁸ were going away. 他已经不在水牛旁边了，咆哮声消失了。

1 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

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 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

4 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

5 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

6 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

7 snarling   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• "I didn't marry you," he said, in a snarling tone. “我没有娶你，"他咆哮着说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• So he got into the shoes snarling. 于是，汤姆一边大喊大叫，一边穿上了那双鞋。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

8 snarls   

n.（动物的）龇牙低吼( snarl的名词复数 )；愤怒叫嚷（声）；咆哮（声）；疼痛叫声v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的第三人称单数 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• I don't know why my hair snarls easily. 我不知道我的头发为什么容易缠结。 来自辞典例句
• She combed the snarls out of her hair. 她把头发的乱结梳理通。 来自辞典例句