世界小史 第187期:雷声

 　　Have you ever watched a storm approaching on a hot summer's day?

　　你在炎热的夏天见过一场雷雨来临的情景吗？

　　It's especially spectacular in the mountains.

　　这在山区尤其壮观。

　　At first there's nothing to see, but you feel a sort of weariness that tells you something is in the air.

　　起先人们根本就什么征兆也没看出，但是人们从自身的疲惫上感觉到，好像就要发生什么事。

　　Then you hear thunder – just a rumble¹ here and there – you can't quite tell where it is coming from.

　　后来人们听见雷声，一会儿这儿一会儿那儿。人们不清楚，这雷声是从哪儿来的

　　All of a sudden, the mountains seem strangely near. There isn't a breath of wind, yet dense² clouds pile up in the sky.

　　后来群山一下子看上去今得令人毛骨悚然，一丝风也没有，然而乌云却在翻滚着。

　　And now the mountains have almost vanished behind a wall of haze³.

　　群山几乎消失在一片茫茫雾气的后面。

　　Clouds rush in from all sides, but still there's no wind.

　　乌云从四面八方移过来，但是人们感觉不到风。

　　There's more thunder now, and everything around looks eerie⁴ and menacing. You wait and wait.

　　雷声更频繁了，一切显得阴森可怕，鬼气森然。人们等呀等呀，

　　And then, suddenly, it erupts. At first it is almost a release. The storm descends⁵ into the valley.

　　后来突然爆发起来了，起先这几乎像一种解脱，狂风刮进山谷，

　　There's thunder and lightning everywhere. The rain clatters⁶ down in huge drops.

　　四面八方都是电闪雷鸣，大雨狂泻而下。

　　The storm is trapped in the narrow cleft⁷ of the valley and thunderclaps echo and reverberate⁸ off the steep mountain sides.

　　雨水在狭窄的山谷凹地里不断冲刷着，悬崖峭壁发出雷鸣的回声。

1 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

2 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

3 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

4 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

5 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 clatters   

盘碟刀叉等相撞击时的声音( clatter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I thought, 'Aye aye, hit it before he comes and clatters me. 我想，'埃赞成，击出他来之前和clatters我。

7 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

8 reverberate   

v.使回响，使反响

参考例句：

• The decision will reverberate and will jar the country.这项决定将引起反响并震撼这个国家。
• Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my hear.痛苦呼喊的一遍遍的在我的心中回响。