斑点带子案 42多行不义必自毙(1)

How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil?

我怎么也忘不了那次可怕的守夜。

I could not hear a sound, not even the drawing of a breath,

我听不见一点声响，甚至连喘气的声音也听不见，

and yet I knew that my companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me,

可是我知道，我的伙伴正睁大眼睛坐着，和我只有咫尺之隔，

in the same state of nervous tension in which I was myself.

并且一样处于神经紧张的状态。

The shutters¹ cut off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness.

百叶窗把可能照到房间的最小光线都遮住了，我们在伸手不见五指的漆黑中等待着。

From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird,

外面偶尔传来猫头鹰的叫声，

and once at our very window a long drawn² catlike whine³, which told us that the cheetah⁴ was indeed at liberty.

有一次就在我们的窗前传来两声长长的猫叫似的哀鸣，这说明那只印度猎豹确实在到处乱跑。

Far away we could hear the deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour.

我们还听到远处教堂深沉的钟声，每隔一刻钟就沉重地敲响一次。

How long they seemed, those quarters!

每刻钟仿佛都是无限漫长！

Twelve struck, and one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for whatever might befall.

敲了十二点、一点、两点、三点，我们一直沉默地端坐在那里等待着可能出现的任何情况。

1 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

4 cheetah   

n.(动物)猎豹

参考例句：

• The cheetah is generally credited as the world's fastest animal.猎豹被公认是世界上跑得最快的动物。
• The distribution of the cheetah ranges from Africa to Central Asia.印度豹的足迹遍及从非洲到中亚的广大地区。