2019年经济学人 太空行走第一人阿里克谢·列昂诺夫(2)

 

In the vacuum of space his space suit expanded, until he could not get back into the craft without bleeding it of oxygen. Moreover, in minutes, the craft's orbit would take it into total darkness. Training kicked in; he kept his nerve and at last, drenched¹ in sweat, tumbled head-first back through the airlock. Then the craft's reentry went wrong. The guidance system failed and they had to steer² manually, bumping down in a snowy forest 1,600km from the landing site.

在太空的真空中，列昂诺夫的太空服膨胀了，直到他要把氧气放出来才能回到飞船。还有，在几分钟内，飞船将驶入完全黑暗的轨道。这时候训练就发挥了作用，列昂诺夫保持冷静，最后他被汗水浸湿，头朝下从气闸回到飞船。然后飞船再入大气层时出了问题。导航系统失灵，他们不得不手动驾驶，在距离着陆点1600公里的一片积雪森林中颠簸而下。

They waited two nights to be rescued, wondering whether bears or wolves would get them first. Yet the elation³ did not leave him. Partly this was because the mishaps⁴ were officially hushed up, leaving only his triumph. And there were other reasons. First, he had survived. Astonishingly, he always did when danger felt his collar. His car flipped⁵ over on a frozen lake, and he didn't drown. In 1969 he got caught in a hail of bullets when he was riding in a motorcade behind Leonid Brezhnev, then Soviet⁶ leader; four passed through his coat, but not through him.

他们等了两个晚上才获救，不知道熊或者狼会不会先来把他们吃掉。然而他还是享有了这份兴奋。部分原因是这些不幸被官方掩盖了，只留下他的胜利。还有其他的原因。首先，他存活了下来。令人惊讶的是，他总是能化险为夷。列昂诺夫的汽车在冰冻的湖面上侧翻了，他没有被淹死。1969年，他跟在当时苏联领导人列昂尼德·勃列日涅夫后面的车队里，身中数弹，有四发子弹穿过他的大衣，但是没有穿过他。

In 1971 he was bumped from the Soyuz 11 flight to the Salyut 1 space station, and was furious, but the craft opened prematurely⁷ on reentry, and the crew died. The space-walk was another brush with annihilation from which he emerged, just about, in one piece. It had also affected⁸ him in a particular way. He had gone on this mission not just as a cosmonaut, but as an artist, self-taught from childhood, when he had painted pictures on the white stoves of his neighbours in the remote Siberian village where his parents farmed. A passion to be a fighter pilot, then a cosmonaut, diverted him from that, but he preserved his insatiable love of looking at things.

1971年，他所在的联盟号11号飞船撞到了礼炮1号空间站。撞击非常严重，但是飞船在重返大气层时被提前打开了，机组人员牺牲。太空行走是列昂诺夫的又一次与毁灭擦肩而过的经历，差不多完好无损。它也以一种特别的方式影响到列昂诺夫。他不仅是作为一个宇航员来执行这次任务，同时也是作为一名艺术家。列昂诺夫从孩童时开始自学成才。他父母亲是偏远的西伯利亚村庄的农民，那时他在邻居家白色的壁炉上画画。他志愿要成为一名战斗机飞行员，然后改成了宇航员，但是他保留了自己永不满足的观察事物的兴趣。

1 drenched   

adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

3 elation   

n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意

参考例句：

• She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负，她显得十分高兴。
• His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。

4 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。