绿野仙踪 第83期:找寻恶女巫(4)

 Now this same morning the Wicked¹ Witch came to the door of her castle and looked out with her one eye that could see far off.  这天早晨，恶女巫来到城堡的门口，用她的单眼四处望着，瞭望远处。

She saw all her wolves lying dead, and the strangers still traveling through her country.  她发现恶狼们全都躺着死了，那些陌生的客人，仍旧在她的国土上向前行进。

This made her angrier than before, and she blew her silver whistle twice. 这使得她更加愤怒了，吹了两声银笛。

Straightway a great flock² of wild crows came flying toward³ her, enough to darken the sky. 立刻飞来一大群野乌鸦，遮黑了一大片天空。

And the Wicked Witch said to the King Crow, "Fly at once to the strangers; peck⁴ out their eyes and tear them to pieces." 女巫命令乌鸦王说：“火速飞到那些陌生的客人走的地方去；啄掉他们的眼睛，把他们撕成碎片罢。”

The wild crows flew in one great flock toward Dorothy and her companions.  野乌鸦们疯狂地飞向多萝茜和她的同伴。

When the little girl saw them coming she was afraid. 当这小女孩子看到黑压压的一群鸟儿飞来时，惊慌万分。

But the Scarecrow said, "This is my battle, so lie down beside me and you will not be harmed." 稻草人却镇定地说：“这次我来解决；请你们躺在我的身旁，就不会伤害到你们了。”

So they all lay upon the ground except the Scarecrow, and he stood up and stretched out his arms.  这时，除了稻草人站着外，他们一起躺在地上，他伸出手臂。

And when the crows saw him they were frightened, as these birds always are by scarecrows, and did not dare to come any nearer.  起初这些乌鸦们看见了他，都很害怕，因为这些鸟儿们，都是被稻草人吓惯了的，远远的徘徊在空中。

But the King Crow said: "It is only a stuffed⁵ man. I will peck his eyes out." 然而乌鸦王说道：“那只是一个稻草人。我去啄掉他的眼睛。”

The King Crow flew at the Scarecrow, who caught it by the head and twisted its neck until it died.  乌鸦王猛然向稻草人冲过去，稻草人掐住它的脖子，绞着，一直把它绞到死去。

And then another crow flew at him, and the Scarecrow twisted its neck also.  接着另一只乌鸦向他冲来，也被它绞死了。

There were forty crows, and forty times the Scarecrow twisted a neck, until at last all were lying dead beside him.  就这样，稻草人扭绞了四十次脖子，所有的乌鸦都死了，躺在他的旁边。

Then he called to his companions to rise, and again they went upon their journey. 稻草人喊起他的同伴们，又踏上旅途。

1 wicked   

adj.邪恶的，恶劣的，缺德的；淘气的

参考例句：

• Let everyone know all the wicked things she has done.把她干的坏事给大家抖搂抖搂。
• The wicked must be wiped out.恶人必须除掉。

2 flock   

n.羊群，一群，大量；vi.群集，聚集，成群

参考例句：

• A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open.一群顾客在等候着商店开门。
• A few sheep have been lost from the flock.羊群里少了几只羊。

3 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

4 peck   

v.啄，啄食；n.啄痕，啄食，（口）轻吻；配克，（口）大量

参考例句：

• The cock gave me a peck.那只公鸡啄了我一下。
• She gave him a light peck of farewell.她给了他一个匆匆的吻道别。

5 stuffed   

adj.充满的；饱的v.塞住( stuff的过去式和过去分词 )；把…装进；把…装满；（使）吃撑

参考例句：

• stuffed animals in glass cases 玻璃柜里的动物标本
• I was stuffed to the gills with chocolate cake. 我嘴里塞满了巧克力蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》