美国小学英语教材6:第189课 非洲的放牧女孩琳珐(2)

The little African girl was tall for her age. The girls of her tribe are very slim, and their skins are lighter¹ than the usual African native's.

对于她这个年龄而言，这名非洲女孩的身高很高，部落里的其他女孩都很纤细，皮肤和非洲的土著人要更白。

She wore a cloth of brilliant blue, wound round and round her hips² like a short skirt. Lying in the shade of the tree,

她穿了一件亮蓝色的衣服，就像一件短裙一样包围着丰满的臀部，她躺在树荫下，

she had taken off her headcloth, and her crisp black hair was braided in the two plaits

她摘掉了头巾，亮晶晶的黑头发扎了两个辫子，

which came in front of the huge, round, brass³ earrings⁴ which all the girls wore.

放在又大又圆的铜耳环前面，所有女孩都要戴。

Brass finger rings and a green bead⁵ necklace completed the hot-weather costume.

铜戒指，绿珠子项链，再加上夏季服装。

As the sunset began to turn the sky into a great ceiling of gold, and purple shadows lay over the brown stubble of the land,

当日落开始将天空变成一片金黄色，紫色的阴影覆盖了田野里的棕色麦茬。

Rimfa stretched herself. Clicking to her pet, she jerked Biri's short strap⁶, and the monkey leaped lightly to her shoulder.

琳珐伸了懒腰，敲了她的重复，她猛推了比利的短带子，猴子轻快地跳到了她的肩膀上。

The largest animal of the herd⁷, old Moy, clambered slowly to his feet, a signal for the other cattle to follow.

牧群中最大的动物“老头”慢慢站了起来，这是给其它牛群的信号，它们也跟着站了起来。

Moy was a huge beast. His horns spread more than six feet from tip to tip, and his beautiful white coat was spotted⁸ with black.

“老头”是一头体型巨大的奶牛，它的角从那头到那头超过了6英尺，他漂亮的白色外衣点缀着黑点。

He stood waiting patiently for Rimfa to mount him. No other man or woman could approach him, not even her brother who usually tended the herd.

他耐心地等着琳珐骑上它，没有其它男人或女人可以靠近它，就连经常照顾牛群的哥哥也不行。

But Rimfa had clung to his tail, clambered to his hump since she was a small ginger-colored baby,

在琳珐还是一个姜黄色婴儿时，她就曾拽着他的尾巴，爬上了它的隆起部位，

and he understood almost everything that she said to him. Now she leaped to a place just behind his hump,

它甚至懂得她说的所有话的意思，如今她跳到了突起部位后面的地方，

and hung on to it, her bare heels digging sharply into his side to urge him forward. The monkey chattered⁹,

并抓牢，她赤裸的脚后跟猛烈地触碰它的身体，敦促它向前走，猴子在一边喋喋不休，

and Moy shook his long horns angrily as at some pestering¹⁰ fly.

“老头”愤怒地向惹人烦的苍蝇摇晃长牛角。

He hated Biri; and long ago he would have gored¹¹ the little beast with his huge horns

它讨厌比利，很久之前，他肯定会用他的长牛角顶伤这个小动物，

if the monkey had not been far too nimble for him and hid behind Rimfa's skirts.

要不是猴子行动敏捷，而且他躲在了琳珐的裙子下面。

LIFE IN RIMFA'S VILLAGE

琳珐的农村生活

Slowly the herd gathered and fell in behind Moy and the little girl,

慢慢地，牛群聚集在了一起，走在了“老头”和小女孩的后面，

wandering leisurely¹² back across the darkening plain toward the village above it.

慢慢悠悠地返回到昏暗的平原上，向平原上的村庄走去。

1 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。

2 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

4 earrings   

n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子

参考例句：

• a pair of earrings 一对耳环
• These earrings snap on with special fastener. 这付耳环是用特制的按扣扣上去的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 bead   

n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠

参考例句：

• She accidentally swallowed a glass bead.她不小心吞下了一颗玻璃珠。
• She has a beautiful glass bead and a bracelet in the box.盒子里有一颗美丽的玻璃珠和手镯。

6 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

7 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。

8 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

9 chattered   

（人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤

参考例句：

• They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
• We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天，像两个十多岁的孩子。

10 pestering   

使烦恼，纠缠( pester的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He's always pestering me to help him with his homework. 他总是泡蘑菇要我帮他做作业。
• I'm telling you once and for all, if you don't stop pestering me you'll be sorry. 我这是最后一次警告你。如果你不停止纠缠我，你将来会后悔的。

11 gored   

v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破( gore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was gored by a bull. 他被公牛顶伤。
• The bull gored the farmer to death. 公牛用角把农夫抵死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。