美国语文第五册 第105期:马萨诸塞州的监狱叛乱(5)

 　　Major Wainright was requested to order his men to fire down upon the convicts through the little windows,  韦恩赖特海军少将接到请求，请求下令手下陆战队员通过那些窄小窗口迅速向罪犯们开火，

　　first with powder and then with ball, till they were willing to retreat; 先用炸药，然后实弹射击，直到囚犯们愿意退却；

　　but he took a wiser as well as a bolder course, relying upon the effect which firm determination would have upon men so critically situated¹. 少将却采取一种更为睿智大胆的方案，即依赖坚不可摧的攻心战使这些暴徒陷入危境。

　　He ordered the door to be again opened, and marched in at the head of twenty or thirty men, who filed through the passage, 韦恩赖特少将命令再次打开餐厅大门，带领二三十名列队士兵率先冲了进去，

　　and formed at the end of the hall opposite to the crowd of criminals huddled² together at the other. 然后在餐厅另侧，面对拥挤成团的暴徒呈“一”字形迅速排开。

　　He stated that he was empowered to quell³ the rebellion, that he wished to avoid shedding blood, 少将对囚犯们开始喊话，说他奉命前来平息叛乱，希望能够避免流血，

　　but that he would not quit that hall alive till every convict had returned to his duty. 但他不会放弃餐厅里所有生者，直至每个罪犯愿意重新履行自身职责。

　　They seemed balancing the strength of the two parties, and replied that some of them were ready to die, 似乎衡量一番双方力量后，囚犯们最后回答，他们中已有人决心赴死，

　　and only waited for an attack to see which was the more powerful; 只有等到最后时刻，才能看出究竟哪一方更为强势。

　　swearing that they would fight to the last, unless the punishment was remitted⁴, for they would not submit to any such punishment in the prison. 他们发誓要血战到最后一个人，除非狱方解除对犯人的惩罚，否则他们不会屈从任何类似刑罚。

　　Major Wainright ordered his marines to load their pieces, and, that they might not be suspected of trifling⁵, 韦恩赖特少将命令陆战队员们子弹上膛，当然，他们手中的枪并非拨火棒。

　　each man was made to hold up to view the bullet which he afterward⁶ put in his gun. 士兵们端起枪口严阵以待，同时看着少将将他的子弹最后推入枪膛。

1 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

2 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

3 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

4 remitted   

v.免除（债务），宽恕( remit的过去式和过去分词 )；使某事缓和；寄回，传送

参考例句：

• She has had part of her sentence remitted. 她被免去部分刑期。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fever has remitted. 退烧了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 trifling   

adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的

参考例句：

• They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
• So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利，不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。

6 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。