美国语文第五册 第198期:癫狂的火车司机(8)

 　　At that moment a tall, stout¹ German student came over the platform where we stood,  就在那时，一位高大健壮学生模样的德国人走到我们站立的过道，

　　and saw that the madman had his heavy pistol aimed at us.  看到那疯子正用沉重的手枪对准我们，

　　He grasped a huge stick of wood, and, with a steadiness of nerve which I could not have commanded,  那学生抓起一块大砖木，屏气凝神片刻，

　　he hurled² it with such force and precision that he knocked the pistol from the maniac's hand.  准确猛力地砸向那疯子手里的手枪，一道我来不及下令的闪电出手，

　　I saw the movement, and on the instant that the pistol fell, I sprang forward, and the German followed me.  就在那惊心动魄的刹那，手枪落地了，我猛扑向前，那位德国学生紧接身后，

　　I grasped the man by the arm; but I should have been nothing in his mad power, had I been alone.  我抓住克罗尔的胳膊，假如我独自一人，或许根本无法制服他的疯狂举动；

　　He would have hurled me from the platform, had not the student at that moment struck him upon the head with a stick of wood,  如果身边德国学生不用那块砖木猛击他的头部，那根他走到过道时顺手操起的木块，

　　which he caught as he came over the tender.  克罗尔很可能将我用力摔出过道。

　　Kroller settled down like a dead man, and on the next instant I shut off the steam and opened the valve.  克罗尔像具尸体应声瘫倒在地，我即刻关闭了蒸汽开关，打开阀门。

　　As the free steam shrieked³ and howled in its escape,  逸出的蒸汽尖锐地嘶叫着，

　　the speed began to decrease, and in a few minutes more the danger was passed.  火车开始慢慢地减速。几分钟后，危险排除了。

　　As I settled back, entirely⁴ overcome by the wild emotions that had raged within me, we began to turn the river;  我仰坐在地，内心完全陷入狂噪不安的暴怒。火车绕过那条河，

　　and before I was fairly recovered, the fireman had stopped the train in the station house at Schwetz.  我尚未完全恢复到正常状态，待回过神来，那位锅炉工已将火车停在了希维切车站的站台上。

　　Martin Kroller, still insensible, was taken from the platform;  此刻马丁仍然不省人事，我们将他从火车上抬下，

　　and, as we carried him to the guard room, one of the guard recognized him, and told us that he had been there about two weeks before. 然后送到车站警卫室，一位警卫认出了他。他告诉我们，大约两星期前，克罗尔曾来过希维切。

1 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

2 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。