美国小学英语教材6:第190课 非洲的放牧女孩琳珐(3)

A collection of beehive-shaped huts of roughly woven straw showed dark against the sunset.

日落时，一堆粗糙编织成的蜂窝形状的稻草映衬出了暗色。

Cooking fires lighted up, briefly¹, a face or a moving figure,

厨房用火会突然照亮人的脸或正在移动的人，

as the village women bent² over the evening meal or passed to and fro carrying wood for the fires.

村里面的女人为晚饭弯腰做饭，或是为烧火拿着木材而走来走去。

A larger group showed where the men squatted³ together, smoking and talking in quiet tones.

一大群蹲在一起的一定是男人，安静地在那里抽烟聊天。

Rimfa was hailed by various members of the tribe as she rode in. Driving the cattle within the small corral of thorn bushes,

当琳珐骑着牛进来时，她受到了各路部落民众的赞扬，驱使着牛进入一小片荆棘丛，

she tied Moy's rope to a stake and found her way to her own fire, as she was hungry after her long day in the open.

她将“老头”拴在了桩子上，并向自己的火苗走去，在户外待了一天，她很饿了。

The African native eats only two meals a day as a rule. That night, after the dinner was finished, Rimfa's father said,

一般非洲土著人每天只吃两顿饭，那一晚就在晚饭结束后，琳珐的爸爸说，

Your brother will be well enough in a few days now to take over the care of the herd⁴.

你的哥哥再过几天就可以痊愈，就可以接管牧牛的工作了。

But father, she commenced in protest, but her father broke in: It is more fitting that you stay at home and learn the duties of a woman.

但她抗议着对父亲说，但她的父亲打断了她，你待在家里学着女人该做的事情更合适。

You are almost of the marriage age. No man will care for a wife that has worked as a boy works, and knows nothing of household duties.

你差不多到了结婚的年龄了，没有男人会找一个干男人工作的妻子，而且不知道任何家务活。

But I can spin, and pound the corn as well as any girl in the village, Rimfa replied.

琳珐回应道，我的纺织和捣碎玉米的能力不比任何村里的女孩查，

It is near the time for the tornado⁵, her father went on to explain. It is the task of a man, not a girl,

她的父亲继续解释，龙卷风就要来了，这是男人的工作，不是女孩的，

to drive the cattle in the storm season. It is enough. I have spoken.

在飓风季节里牧牛，够了，我已经说了。

It isn't as though the herd were not safe with me, thought the little girl as she walked away.

小女孩一边离开一边想，并不是牛群跟了我就不安全。

He knows I can take as good care of it, better, in fact, than any boy in the village.

他知道我可以和村里其他男孩照顾得一样好，事实上比他们好。

Only a few more days of her life under the hot blue sky; of watching the crown birds flap heavily, with shrill⁶ voices,

她在烈日蓝天下的日子就多了几天，看冠鸟猛烈地拍打着翅膀，发出刺耳的声音，

across the sun-baked country; of drowsily⁷ lying, almost asleep,

声音响彻烈日灼烧的乡村，她睡意浓浓地躺在那里，几乎要睡着了。

yet awake for every movement of the herd, beneath the shade of the huge tree; of watching the tornadoes⁸ sweep up across the plains.

但每次牛群有动作她都会醒来，她躺在树荫下，看着龙卷风在平原上肆虐。

It was early in the season yet, and the rains had not, so far, touched the plain.

这只是暴风季的初期，到目前为止大雨还没有光临平原。

1 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

3 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》

4 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。

5 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

6 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

7 drowsily   

adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地

参考例句：

• She turned drowsily on her side, a slow creeping blackness enveloping her mind. 她半睡半醒地翻了个身，一片缓缓蠕动的黑暗渐渐将她的心包围起来。 来自飘（部分）
• I felt asleep drowsily before I knew it. 不知过了多久，我曚扙地睡着了。 来自互联网

8 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网