美国语文第四册 第158期:河口剧场(2)

 　　At the tenth representation, my dramatic career was brought to a close by an unfortunate circumstance. 第十场演出时发生了意外，我的舞台生涯也随之结束了。

　　We were playing the drama of "William Tell, the Hero of Switzerland." 当时我们正在演出《瑞士英雄威廉·退尔》。

　　Of course I was William Tell, in spite of Fred Langdon, who wanted to act that character himself. 当然，威廉·退尔由我扮演，尽管弗雷德·兰登也觊觎这个角色。

　　I wouldn't let him, so he withdrew from the company, taking the only bow and arrow we had. 我没有让他演，他愤怒地退出了剧场，带走了唯一的弓箭。

　　I made a crossbow out of a piece of whalebone, and did very well without him. 我用鲸须另外做了一张弓，因此没有弗雷德·兰登也能演下去。

　　We had reached that exciting scene where Gesler, the Austrian tyrant¹, commands Tell to shoot the apple from his son's head. 演到奥地利暴君格斯勒命令威廉·退尔箭射放在自己儿子头上的苹果了。

　　Pepper Whitcomb, who played all the juvenile² and women parts, was my son. 剧中扮演孩子的是佩珀·惠特科姆，他包揽了所有儿童和女性角色。

　　To guard against mischance, a piece of pasteboard was fastened by a handkerchief over the upper portion of Whitcomb's face,  为了防止意外，惠特科姆面部上方用手帕包了一块纸板挡着，

　　while the arrow to be used was sewed up in a strip of flannel³. 箭头也用法兰绒布条缝了起来。

　　I was a capital marksman, and the big apple, only two yards distant, turned its russet cheek fairly towards me. 我是个神射手，而金黄色的大苹果离我只有二码远。

　　I can see poor little Pepper now, as he stood without flinching⁴, waiting for me to perform my great feat⁵. 我看到小佩珀站在那儿，毫无畏惧地等着我的壮举。

　　I raised the crossbow amid the breathless silence of the crowded audience, 我举起弩在拥挤的观众的一片死寂，

　　consisting of seven boys and three girls, exclusive of Kitty Collins, who insisted on paying her way in with a clothespin. 观众包括七个男孩和三个女孩，还有基蒂·克林斯，因为她坚持用衣夹支付入场费。

　　I raised the crossbow, I repeat. 我拉了两次弓。

　　Twang! went the whipcord; but, alas⁶! instead of hitting the apple, the arrow flew right into Pepper Whitcomb's mouth,  砰！弓弦响了；哎呀！箭没有射中苹果，笔直飞入惠特科姆张开的嘴里。

　　which happened to be open at the time, and destroyed my aim. 这是在当时是开放的，并摧毁了我的目标。

1 tyrant   

n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。

2 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

3 flannel   

n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服

参考例句：

• She always wears a grey flannel trousers.她总是穿一条灰色法兰绒长裤。
• She was looking luscious in a flannel shirt.她穿着法兰绒裙子，看上去楚楚动人。

4 flinching   

v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He listened to the jeers of the crowd without flinching. 他毫不畏惧地听着群众的嘲笑。 来自辞典例句
• Without flinching he dashed into the burning house to save the children. 他毫不畏缩地冲进在燃烧的房屋中去救小孩。 来自辞典例句

5 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

6 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。