美国小学英语教材6:第137课 汤姆和他的财宝箱(14)

 Maybe it was blown here by the storm, suggested Tom. 汤姆认为或许是风暴吹到这里的。

Like enough; like enough, said Parson Jones. Like enough, after the wretches¹ had buried the chest and killed the poor man, 牧师琼斯说很有可能，非常有可能，在风暴来临之前，这些坏蛋埋葬了宝藏并杀害了那名可怜的人，

they were so blown about by the storm that the paper shook out of the man's pocket, and thus blew away without his knowing about it. 它们都被风暴刮跑了，这张纸从这名男子的口袋中吹了出来，而他却浑然不知。

But let us find the box! cried out Tom Chist. Aye, aye, said the good man; only stay a little, 但让我们找到盒子，汤姆叫嚷道，老绅士说好的，好的，只是等一会，

my boy, until we make sure what we're about. I've got my pocket compass here, 我的孩子，我们先要确定它的位置，我带了迷你指南针，

but we must have something to measure off the feet when we have found the peg². 一旦我们发现了钉子，我们需要什么东西来量尺寸。

You run across to Tom Brooke's house and fetch his measuring rod. 你向汤姆·布鲁克的房屋跑去，把他的测量杆拿来。

While you're gone I'll pace off the distance marked on the paper with my pocket compass here. 你走后，我会利用迷你指南针，用步子量一量纸上的数据。

CAPTAIN KIDD's BOX OF TREASURE 基德船长的宝藏

Tom Chist was gone for almost an hour, though he ran nearly all the way back. When he returned panting, 汤姆走了近一个小时了，他几乎是跑着回来的，当他回来后气喘吁吁，

Parson Jones was nowhere to be seen; but Tom saw his footsteps leading away inland, 琼斯牧师不见了，但汤姆发现了他往内陆走的脚印，

and he followed the marks in the smooth surface across the sand humps and down into the hollows. 在舒缓的平面上，他沿着这些记号穿越了沙峰，进入了凹陷处。

By and by he found the good gentleman in a spot which he at once knew as soon as he laid his eyes upon it. 不一会他发现了老绅士，汤姆一看到这个地方就立刻明白了。

It was the open space where the pirates had driven their first peg, and where Tom had afterward³ seen them kill the poor black man. 这是海盗将第一根钉子插入沙子里的空旷地区，也是汤姆随后看到他们杀害黑人的地方。

Tom gazed around as though expecting to see some sign of the tragedy, but the space was as smooth as a floor, 汤姆四下环视，似乎在找寻悲剧发生的一些痕迹，但这片地区像地面一样光滑，

excepting where Parson Jones, who was now stooping over something on the ground, had trampled⁴ it all around about. 除了这四周已被牧师琼斯所践踏，他正弯下腰看着什么东西。

When Tom Chist saw him the parson was still bending over, 当汤姆看到他时，他还是弯着腰，

scraping away the sand from something he had found. It was the first peg! 他在沙子中发现了什么，他正扫除这些沙土。这是第一个钉子。

 

1 wretches   

n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋

参考例句：

• The little wretches were all bedraggledfrom some roguery. 小淘气们由于恶作剧而弄得脏乎乎的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The best courage for us poor wretches is to fly from danger. 对我们这些可怜虫说来，最好的出路还是躲避危险。 来自辞典例句

2 peg   

n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定

参考例句：

• Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall.把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。

3 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

4 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。